Suchergebnisse

Communities That Care (CTC) is a prevention-planning system that helps community members plan, implement, and evaluate evidence-based prevention strategies that target common behavioral problems among youth. Recent evaluations of the system have indicated promising results. To date, most of these studies have examined broad effects across multiple implementation sites. The purpose of the current study was to determine if such promising results could be replicated in a single rural county that has been implementing the CTC system for more than a decade. The results of this utilization-focused evaluation indicate a variety of positive effects on outcomes among adolescents.

Advances in the field of prevention science have resulted in strategies that target various youth outcomes. In recent years, numerous "best practices" lists have been developed to help professionals identify such strategies. Some scholars have questioned the quality of these lists and cautioned that there are flaws in evaluations of many prevention strategies. The purpose of this paper is to review these criticisms and provide applied family scholars with suggestions regarding how to identify effective strategies.

The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of depressive symptoms among adolescents using concepts drawn from two theoretical models that underlie popular youth-focused programs. Specifically, we assessed the degree to which family-level risk factors increase the likelihood of depressive symptoms, and the degree to which community and/or school-level protective/promotive factors either buffer against risk, or directly lead to lower levels of depressive symptoms. Results indicate that three of the four hypothesized risk factors were associated with elevated levels of depressive symptoms. In addition, the protective/promotive factors had more promotive than protective effects because they were directly related to lower levels of symptoms. Implications for youth-focused programming are discussed.

ObjectiveUsing an ecological resilience model, we sought to identify protective factors that buffer against the effects of stressful deployment‐related experiences on symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among active duty U.S. Air Force personnel who were married or in a committed relationship.BackgroundStressful deployment experiences are associated with PTSD symptoms among active duty military personnel. However, certain protective factors may buffer against negative effects of such experiences.MethodAnalyses for the present study were active duty military personnel who completed the 2011 Air Force Community Assessment Survey, were married or in a committed relationship, and had completed at least one deployment at the time of the survey (N = 12,166).ResultsRegression analyses indicated that stressful deployment experiences were statistically related to elevated PTSD symptoms but also that both personal and contextual factors moderated those symptoms. Furthermore, self‐efficacy, family coping, spouse/partner support, financial resources, and religious participation moderated the relation between stressful deployment experiences and PTSD symptoms.ConclusionPTSD symptoms were positively associated with stressful deployment experiences, and symptoms were less likely to occur when service members experienced support from individual, family, and community sources.ImplicationsInterventions that promote self‐efficacy and social support from multiple ecological contexts may help reduce PTSD symptoms among combat‐exposed Air Force personnel.

This paper addresses a conundrum that merits scholarly attention—why social scientists' ability to generate high quality research has outpaced their ability to disseminate research into the policymaking process. The paper describes Family Impact Seminars, a series of seminars, briefing reports, and follow‐up activities that provide up‐to‐date, solution‐oriented information to state policymakers. In support of the proposed "three‐communities" theory, the utilization of research in policymaking appears to depend upon several pragmatic practices and procedures, ten which are detailed in the paper.

Numerous studies have focused on links between religiosity and marital outcomes. Results suggest that various aspects of religiosity predict outcomes such as marital satisfaction and commitment. However, less research has focused on identifying the processes by which these links occur. This study had two primary goals: (a) determine if perceptions of spousal values mediate associations between religiosity and marital satisfaction and (b) examine the degree to which predictors of marital satisfaction differ across different regions of the United States. Data were gathered from 1,513 married individuals living in Arkansas, Utah, and Vermont. Results indicated that religiosity and perceptions of several spousal values were significantly associated with increased marital satisfaction. Findings suggest little evidence of mediating effects of spousal values, but there was significant variation in findings across the three states.

AbstractResults of numerous studies have demonstrated a positive relation between religiosity and marital well‐being. In this study, the authors examined direct effects on marital satisfaction of religious homogamy, prayer for spousal well‐being, and forgiveness. They also examined the degree to which religiosity buffered against risks to marital well‐being. The results indicated significant positive linear relations between each indicator of religiosity and marital satisfaction. Furthermore, religiosity moderated, or buffered against, the negative effects of risk factors; specifically, religious homogamy buffered against previous divorce; prayer buffered against having a high‐stress marriage; and spousal forgiveness buffered against cohabitation before marriage, previous divorce, and stressful marriage.