Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Stress And Coping Experiences Of Women In Transition: From Welfare To Work, William Jesse Gill

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Welfare reform and the consequent emphasis on employment represent a stressful sequence of events in the lives of women who are already facing the chronic stressors associated with single parenting and poverty. The current study assessed the levels of distress, factors contributing to distress, and coping resources utilized among a sample of 60 mothers who were making the transition from welfare to work. Ninety percent of the women were single or separated, and 71 percent were African American. All were receiving public assistance from two neighboring social services agencies in Virginia.

Psychological distress was measured by the Brief Symptom Inventory …

Subsystem Variables Associated With Positive Foster Mother-Foster Child Relationships, Meg Sandow

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Many researchers have explored variables that appear to influence a foster child's placement, and both researchers and theorists have noted the need for an overarching understanding of the variables that may affect a foster child's care and progress. This study examined four interlinking subsystems of foster care: the foster child, the family of origin, the foster parent, and the social worker. Data regarding relevant variables for each of these subsystems were analyzed by means of canonical correlations, factor analyses, a multiple regression, and zero-order correlations. Participants in the study were 42 foster children from the Chesapeake and Suffolk Departments of …