Parents of children with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities experience more stress in comparison to parents of normally developing children. Chronic stress could negatively influence parents' health while also impacting their ability to meet their child's needs. Despite this, there is a subset of parents who remain resilient in the face of significant stress in their lives. Knowledge of the factors that promote parental resilience could positively impact the services these families receive. The authors conducted a systematic review of research article databases and found support for coping style, optimism, and social support as resilience factors for parents of children with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. Awareness of variables that promote resilience for parents of children with intellectual and/or development disabilities is likely to inform clinical practice through offering new avenues for clinical focus in all phases of family-centered care.

This study systematically analyzed the personal reports of 20 emerging adult college students with regard to how stress affects their lives. Qualitative analyses revealed that stress influenced students' lives in both positive and negative ways. Implications of these findings for physical and mental health are discussed. Recommendations for counseling practice are provided.

Research reveals that parents of individuals with intellectual disabilities experience more stress than parents of persons of normal development. The majority of previous research has measured direct relationships between stress variables and stress perception and little attention has been given to the impact of mediating variables. The present study utilized an indirect pathway model to examine the mediating influence of coping style on the relationship between social support, severity of child disability, parental optimism and stress perception for these parents. Parents of individuals receiving mental health services through an agency in Southeastern Michigan participated in the study. Results indicated that coping style partially mediated the relationship between social support and stress perception for parents of individuals with intellectual disabilities.

We tested psychometric properties of the Markers of Adulthood (MoA) importance scale and a revised Inventory of the Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood (IDEA-8) in a large, diverse multisite and multinational sample the Emerging Adulthood Measured at Multiple Institutions 2 project. We used multilevel confirmatory factor analyses and multilevel alphas to examine external validity and internal consistency of the scales. We also performed correlational and exploratory multilevel analyses to determine the extent to which emerging adulthood dimensions overlap across scales. The IDEA-8 subscales demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties. Our research suggests that recent approaches to combine the MoA markers provide four modestly reliable factors, but perceptions of adulthood varied considerably as a function of sample. We recommend that the structure of these marker items be examined for any given sample, since their relative importance seems to vary, not just across time but also sample location.

Emerging adulthood (EA) is a critical time for identity exploration and making decisions regarding the future. Although most thrive, some emerging adults struggle with the prominent developmental features of this time. Little is known about factors that may positively influence development during EA. This study examined the mediating impact of mindfulness on the relationship between normative emerging adult processes (identity exploration, experimentation/possibilities, negativity/instability, self-focus, and feeling in-between) and self-doubt, while simultaneously considering the moderating effect of age and gender. Using data from the EA Measured at Multiple Institutions project, reports from 1,293 participants were utilized. Mindfulness mediated the relationship between various aspects of development (negativity/instability, self-focus, and feeling in-between) and self-doubt with age and gender moderating aspects of these relationships. The findings highlight the importance of mindfulness during this important developmental period.