Adultspan Journal最新文献

Most long-term care for older adults in the United States is provided by informal caregivers (Ahmad, 2012), the majority of whom experience an intense range of emotions from satisfaction to loneliness. Counselors must consider this emerging population of caretakers and learn methods to encourage clinical services to address their need for support. This article delineates experiences and challenges of informal caregivers and provides suggestions for effective clinical services for caregiver populations.

The authors surveyed 458 young adults and examined the relationships among stress, self-differentiation, and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). They conducted multiple regression analyses to explore whether characteristics of self-differentiation (i.e., emotional reactivity and “I position”) were related to NSSI after controlling for the effects of stress, as well as whether emotional reactivity and I position served as mediators in the stress–NSSI relationship. I position and emotional reactivity both contributed statistically significant variance to NSSI after accounting for stress. Moreover, both I position and emotional reactivity served as partial mediators in the stress–NSSI relationship. The authors discuss counseling and research implications.

This phenomenological study examined the developmental experiences of 8 African American doctoral student mothers. Findings and related themes indicate that identity and curriculum preparation influence African American doctoral student mothers’ adult development. Implications for training and practice are included along with recommendations for future research.

The aging population in the United States is the fastest growing population, expected to double by 2050. Advances in medicine and health care have extended life expectancy; however, research exploring the mental health experience for the aging population is critical. Current research suggests that only 6% to 8% of people ages 60 years and older seek counseling services even though later life stages involve many transitions, such as income instability, retirement, and physical limitations (Myers & Harper, 2004). The aging population is underserved in the counseling field, and aging men have emerged as one of the most underserved groups. The limited research on aging men’s experiences suggests that they experience counseling differently (Greer, 2005, June; Winerman, 2005, June, Wright & Elam, 2016) and that stigma remains a significant deterrent (Englar-Carlson, Evans, & Duffey, 2014). Group counseling has emerged as an effective treatment modality to combat stigma. Men spend much of their adult life engaged in groups at work, teams, volunteer work, and friendships (Wexler, 2009). In this article, the authors discuss counseling the aging population with an emphasis on men’s issues and best practices for group counseling with older men to improve treatment retention and outcomes.

Researchers examined parent and peer attachment as predictors of emerging adulthood characteristics, including instability, feeling in-between, self-focus, identity exploration, and possibilities. Participants included 1,501 undergraduate students ages 18 to 20 years. Based on regression analyses, peer attachment was the only statistically significant predictor of emerging adult characteristics. Gender-specific differences were also found. Relevance for emerging adult counselors is discussed.