In this study, avoidance coping and problem-solving coping (inversely) predicted stress, and stress and avoidance coping inversely predicted life satisfaction among 114 African American students. Coping did not moderate racial discrimination stress or stress-life satisfaction relationships. Fostering problem solving and reducing avoidance may help to alleviate racism-related stress and foster well-being.En este estudio, evitar sobrellevar y sobrellevar la resolución de problemas (a lo inverso) de estrés predicho, estrés, y el evitar sobrellevar a la inversa predicha de la satisfacción de vida, entre 114 estudiantes Afro-Americanos. El sobrellevar no moderó el estrés de la discriminacion racial ni relaciones de satisfacción en el estrés de vida. Fomentar la resolución del problema y reducir el evitar puede ayudar a aliviar el estrés relacionado al racismo y fomentar el bienestar.

The authors tested whether self-efficacy for orthopedic rehabilitation tasks accounted for significant variance in rehabilitation outcome, over the variance accounted for by dispositional optimism, health competence, and health value. Whether health value moderated expectancy-outcome relationships also was examined. One hundred five older clients at 2 orthopedic rehabilitation facilities completed a battery of instruments; physical functioning also was assessed. After controlling for physical functioning at admission and for other variables, self-efficacy predicted significant variance in rehabilitation outcome. Health value did not moderate expectancy-outcome relationships. Results suggest that psychologists can improve patients' recovery from serious orthopedic problems by augmenting their self-efficacy beliefs.Orthopedic injury is a major health care concern in the United States for persons 65 years old and older. For example, approximately 250,000 persons are hospitalized each year for treatment of a fractured hip. Risk factors include age, gender, race, medication use, and mental distress (Allegrante, MacKenzie, Robbins, & Cornell, 1991;Forsen et al., 1999). In addition to fall-related orthopedic injuries, elderly persons also require orthopedic surgery for degenerative joint disease of the hip or knee (Orbell, Espley, Johnston, & Rowley, 1998). National health care costs from orthopedic injuries exceed $7 billion per year (Allegrante et al., 1991), and up to 60% of orthopedic patients face postsurgery complications including loss of functional capacity and independence, with many patients requiring long-term institutional care.In an attempt to ameliorate the negative effects of orthopedic surgery and aid rehabilitation, psychologists have begun to focus on psychological factors that affect the disabled patient's condition, including thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes (Bloom, 1988). Broad beliefs such as dispositional optimism (Scheier & Carver, 1985), moderately broad beliefs such as perceived health competence (Wallston, 1991), and more specific beliefs such as selfefficacy expectancies (SE; Bandura, 1997) all have predicted important outcomes among disabled persons or other populations. However, no study has examined these beliefs as predictors of rehabilitation following orthopedic surgery. Studying positive beliefs and their relationship to health-related outcomes is consistent with counseling psychology's emphasis on psychological assets and positive facets of growth (Fretz, 1982;Gelso & Fretz, 1992).

Positive psychological factors that help protect vulnerable persons from suicidal behavior are vital in understanding resiliency and suicide prevention. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether positive factors (including purpose in life, reasons for living, and coping styles) mediate the relationship between stressful life events and suicidal behaviors among 416 college student volunteers. Reasons for living inversely predicted suicidal behavior and thoughts directly as well as indirectly via an inverse relationship with depression. Purpose in life indirectly predicted suicidal behavior and thoughts via an inverse effect on depression, whereas emotion-focused coping indirectly predicted suicidal behavior and thoughts both through an effect on depression and an inverse effect on reasons for living. In addition, avoidant coping indirectly predicted suicidal behavior via a direct, positive effect on reasons for living. Reasons for living and emotion-oriented coping had the largest effects in the model. Results of this study underscore the importance of augmenting reasons for living and purpose in life among suicidal or potentially suicidal persons.

The purpose of this study was to adapt the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ) developed by Steger, Frazier, Oishi, and Kaler (2006) into Turkish and examine the measurement and structural invariance of this scale across Turkish (N = 815) and U.S. (N = 207) samples. Our findings indicated that the hypothesized 2-factor model of the MLQ fit the data well for both Turkish and U.S. samples. Results also provided support for the full metric invariance, partial scalar invariance, and partial invariance of residual variances of the MLQ across the 2 samples (i.e., Turkish and U.S.). Supporting the structural invariance, we found that factor variances and covariances were equivalent across the 2 groups. Internal consistency reliability analyses revealed a Cronbach's alpha value of .88 for the MLQ Presence scale and .90 for the Search scale. Our findings also provided preliminary support for the convergent validity of the Turkish version of the MLQ (MLQ-TR). Contrary to findings in other collectivist cultures, the relationship between Search and Presence was negative in Turkish culture. These results support the psychometric properties of the MLQ-TR and its partial equivalence to the original U.S. version.

In this issue of The Counseling Psychologist, Smith presents an array of important strength-related literature and offers propositions, stages, and counseling recommendations to foster resilience among youth. This article argues, however, that the strengthbased counseling model is not sufficiently operational or clearly distinguishable from other models and that more inclusion of the adult well-being literature could help to clarify key constructs and relationships among variables. The author proffers a focal operationalization of psychological resilience as generalized self-efficacy and discusses the importance of cultural moderators of resilience effects and meaning in life as a predictor of well-being. He recommends studying the incremental therapeutic benefits of strength-focused interventions.Smith (2006 [this issue]) presents a strength-based counseling model to rectify the overemphasis on pathology in many systems of counseling. Although most of the article concentrates on youth, the author intends her model to be applicable to clients of all ages.Let me first say that I am most familiar with the adult literature on wellness and psychological strengths and that I have conducted clinical work primarily with adults. For the most part, therefore, my comments will reflect knowledge of wellness as it pertains to adults.Smith (2006) has provided a compelling overview of some critical problems that youth face, a good summary of several historical roots of a focus on strengths, and solid arguments for focusing on positive features of clients and environments. One contribution of this article, then, is its stance that counselors should pay attention to client strengths as well as weaknesses and should be systematic in assessing and augmenting client strengths in counseling. The proposal to create strength categories of internal and external assets and the idea of including identifying strengths and strength and competence building as explicit counseling stages could also aid counseling by helping to ensure that counselors do not neglect important, clinically relevant strengths. The author has forwarded several helpful counseling recommendations and

To explore whether positive automatic thoughts (PATs) may function as stress buffers and mood enhancers, this study tested whether PATs and the PATs x Negative Events interaction predicted unique variance in future depression and happiness. The Life Experiences Survey, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Happiness Measures, the Hassles Scale, and both state and trait versions of the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire and the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire-Positive were administered to 152 undergraduate volunteers twice, with 6 weeks between testings. PATs predicted happiness, and PATs about social self-worth interacted with negative events to predict depression. For higher levels of such PATs, negative events had a weaker relation to depression.Portions of this article are based on reanalyses of data that were collected as part of the doctoral dissertation of Owen Richard Lightsey, Jr., at the University of Maryland, College Park. I gratefully acknowledge Bruce Fretz for his feedback regarding the design of this study and for his guidance in navigating the dissertation-protocol sargasso. I also gratefully acknowledge William D. Schafer, Ernest Rakow, and George Relyea for their advice with regard to statistical issues.

The authors investigated whether coping styles moderated the relationship between (a) impulsivity and stress and (b) stress and gambling behavior and tested whether impulsive persons who use avoidant or emotion-focused coping under high-stress conditions are most likely to gamble. Among 202 university student volunteers, 33% of men but only 3% of women reported problem or pathological gambling, and neither stress, impulsiveness, nor coping predicted gambling among women. Among men, impulsiveness, task coping, and emotion coping accounted for significant and unique variance in gambling. For higher task coping and lower emotion-focused coping, impulsiveness had a weaker relationship to gambling. Additionally, among nonimpulsive men, emotion-focused coping in high stress conditions was most likely to result in gambling.

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