Using a daily diary design, we examined fluctuations in caregiver well-being; how day-to-day variations in stressors related to the caregiving experience are linked to fluctuations in well-being; and whether caregivers who are women, or high on certain personality traits (e.g., neuroticism) are more susceptible to emotional/physical health fluctuations in the face of daily stressors. Sixty-three caregivers reported on eight consecutive days. Multilevel analyses (Hierarchical Linear Modeling) indicated significant within-person reactivity. On days when caregivers faced more tasks than usual, more care recipient behavior problems, or more family disagreements regarding care, they experienced more depressive symptoms, feelings of burden, and physical symptoms. Some within-person patterns of reactivity were moderated by gender and personality. Implications for community interventions for caregivers are discussed.

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Objective Un Abrazo Para La Familia [A Hug for the Family] is an intervention designed to increase the accessibility of cancer information to low-income and medically underserved co-survivors of cancer. Co-survivors are family members or friends of an individual diagnosed with cancer. Our goal was to increase socio-emotional support for co-survivors, and improve skills in coping with cancer. The purpose of our pilot study was to explore the effectiveness of the intervention in increasing cancer knowledge and self-efficacy among co-survivors. Methods Un Abrazo consisted of three one-hour sessions, in either Spanish or English. Sessions were delivered by a trained promotora [community health worker], in partnership with a counselor. Sixty participants completed measures of cancer knowledge and self-efficacy preceding (pre-test) and following the intervention (post-test). Results From pre- to post-test, the percentage of questions answered correctly about cancer knowledge increased (p < .001), as did ratings of self-efficacy (p < .001). Decreases were seen in “Do not know” responses for cancer knowledge (p < .01), with a negative correlation between number of “Do not knows” on cancer knowledge at pre-test and ratings of self-efficacy at pre-test (r = −.47, p < .01). Conclusions When provided an accessible format, co-survivors of cancer from underserved populations increase their cancer knowledge and self-efficacy. This is notable because research indicates that family members and friends with increased cancer knowledge assume more active involvement in the cancer care of their loved ones.

Mother-to-daughter disclosure regarding two sensitive topic areas-financial concerns and complaints/anger toward the ex-husband (the adolescent girl's father)-was examined in a sample of 62 mother/adolescent-daughter dyads following the mother's divorce. Most mothers in the current sample have disclosed to their daughters on these two topics, but with varying levels of detail and diverse motivations. Daughter perceptions of maternal disclosure were associated with daughter psychological distress, regardless of daughter age.

The findings from the current study suggest that family disagreement regarding care is a salient aspect of the context of care giving for HCGs, and is linked to depressive symptoms, feelings of burden, and physical health symptoms. Familism may play an exacerbating role in this link. Interpretations of the results and implications for research and intervention are offered.

As hypothesized, caregiving mastery played a mediating role for non-partner family socio-emotional support whereas it did not for partner socio-emotional support. Based on availability or absence of specific sources of support, caregiver intervention programs should be individually tailored to enhance their potential impact.

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Our research goals were to document levels and examine the potential discrepancies of emerging-adults' and parents' expectations for autonomous behavior during the transition to college. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 204 incoming college freshmen ( n = 150 females, n = 54 males) and 226 parents ( n = 173 mothers, n = 53 fathers) before the transition to college. Questions based on the emotional and functional items on the Psychological Separation Inventory (Hoffman, 1984) measured college students' and parents' autonomy expectations. Qualitative and quantitative analyses revealed (a) discrepancies on autonomy expectations between parents and college students do occur, (b) parents sometimes hold higher expectations for autonomy than their emerging-adult children, and (c) discrepancies on autonomy expectations occur across a variety of topics. Interventions could facilitate communication between emerging adults and parents to prevent possible discrepancies about autonomy expectancies.