Lower Psychological Distress Among Cu How Grandpa

Lower Psychological Distress Among Cu How Grandpa

Response Guidelines

Post a response to discussion post and offer feedback to enhance the learner’s plan to use resources to advocate for youth.

Respond with a minimum of 250 words, not including restatement of questions or the reference section. Include adequate depth and scholarly understanding of concepts appropriate for this level of education. Go beyond summarizing concepts—utilize aspects of critical thinking and advanced application, including additional investigation and research.

Michelle Drayton

The image that has been uploaded is an image of a women smoking and saying it’s what the doctor ordered. The image sends a message that pretty girls smoke, that it’s not bad because the doctor ordered it, and this is what you do to relax. In examining what message, the image sends, one could say the message is telling young girls that you must smoke in order to be cool. It could send the message that the pretty girls smoke so if I want to be considered pretty, I better smoke too. If you look at the image, besides the negative smoking message that it sends, it also sends a message to girls who may look like her and girls who look opposite of her. To the girls who resemble the cool girl, who wears her shirt off of her shoulders, they could think they need to start smoking because that is what cool girls do. To the girls who are opposite this picture, girls who may have been called ugly or fat, can think if they start smoking, they will be considered cool and people will stop teasing them. This picture could also have an affect on those with eating disorders. The woman in the picture is skinny and a girl looking at her, who struggles with body dysmorphic disorder or body images of themselves, could become bulimic or start the cycle of anorexia. This one picture may not send them to these extremes, but these pictures are seen all the time by young women, and they strive to be like the women in these pictures. They also want to be doing what the women are doing in those pictures. When your young, you are learning what your moral compass is, learning right from wrong and good from bad. Sometimes as young people, we didn’t always make the right decision and we can all point to some influence that helped us make those wrong decisions. A peer, a book, a song or a picture can change how you think about things.

I could use the Bullied: What every Parent, Teacher and Kid Needs to Know about Ending the Cycle of fear book. The book is about peer victimization, bullying and social conflict. As a counseling professional, this is a good tool to give out to parents who bring their children in for bullying. Many parents don’t know what to do or how to get to stop. Many have already exhausted their phone calls and trips to the school to see teachers and administrators to get the bully to stop. Sometimes the bully may become worse or their friends pick up the bullying if the bully is made to stop. The reason why many children don’t tell adults, because they don’t feel we are effective in getting it to stop. In order for us to have an effective modern school and be able to alleviate any potential conflicts, all parties involved – teachers, students, parents and the wider community – ought to advocate safeguarding the rights of all students through a wider culture change (Kougioumtzis, 2017).. This book could be used in schools at parent seminars, at professional trainings that teachers attend and with the children themselves. I don’t know what age group the book is written for but bullying starts as soon as a child can go to pre-k. Parents could be given this book as soon as their child starts school, so they can be prepared. I currently advocate for the children that I see that are bullied by helping parents navigate the school system and getting the bully to stop.

Response Guidelines

Read the post and respond to one.

Support your suggestions with references to the course readings, using proper APA style.

(Main Post- Lizmarie Jorge Alicea)

COLLAPSE

How grandparents accomplish raising their grandchildren?

Lee, Y., & Blitz, L. V. (2016). We’re GRAND: a qualitative design and development pilot project addressing the needs and strengths of grandparents raising grandchildren. Child & Family Social Work, 21(4), 381–390. https://doi-org.library.capella.edu/10.1111/cfs.12…

The researchers used qualitative study. The questions for their study were; “Can you tell me about how you came to be raising your grandchildren?; What types of social support do you have and what kind of additional support related to raising your grandchildren would be helpful?; How would you describe your connection to the children’s school? What barriers to involvement with the school do you encounter? Are you aware of bullying at the children’s school? If so, can you share what you have heard?” (Lee & Blitz, 2016, P. 384). The researcher performed assessments to each participant, twelve, and then a monthly focused group for eight consecutives months. Limitations of the study are the small group of participants; however, their findings were comparable with another study that used a large group of participants for their research. The monthly focused groups were helpful for the grandparents and the researchers which were able to conclude the need for school and families to engage, responding to race and diversity, and grandparents as leaders and engaged caregivers.

Cox, C. (2018). Cultural diversity among grandparent caregivers: Implications for interventions and policy. Educational Gerontology, 44(8), 484–491. https://doi- org.library.capella.edu/10.1080/03601277.2018.1521612

The author of this articles wants to expose how the cultural diversity among minorities ethnical groups of grandparents and grandchildren impacts the responses to policy and services. “Data from the 2016 US Census indicates that the number of grandparents raising grandchildren without the presence of parents is approximately 2.9 million and this number is expected to rise. These grandparents include a disproportionate number of racial and ethnic minority groups (US Census, 2016). The diversity among these grandparents mandates that policies and programs serving them be sensitive to culture, traditions, and histories which may impact their resources, well-being and functioning, as well as their ability to interact with the formal social and health care systems” (Cox, 2018, P. 484). The diverse group of grandparents that the author explored were Latinos, African American, Chinese American, and Native American. The author concluded that is imperative to meet the needs and interventions of this minority’s ethnical groups the same way that the majority groups get their needs meet when they are involved with Protective Services. The author concluded giving a recommendation regarding the need of new policies regarding supporting grandparents that raised their grandchildren and the difference between the grandparent’s ethnicities.

Hillman, J. L., & Anderson, C. M. (2019). It’s a Battle and a Blessing: The Experience and Needs of Custodial Grandparents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 49(1), 260–269. https://doi-org.library.capella.edu/10.1007/s10803…

The researchers used a qualitative research, incorporating a group of 117 participants that are grandparents raising grandchildren with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The data was recollected thru an online survey. The researchers used open ended questions in the survey. The results of the data collected bring four categories of the grandparent’s experiences while raising their grandchildren with Autism Spectrum Disorder, these categories are issues with adult children, caregiver burden, coping and wisdom. The researchers recommend future research regarding grandparents raising children with ASD, this research need to include a racially and ethnical diversity among participants and a larger group. Also, a longitudinal and cross-cultural research can be helpful to assess the grandparent’s experiences over the time.

Lent, J. P., & Otto, A. (2018). Grandparents, Grandchildren, and Caregiving: The Impacts of America’s Substance Use Crisis. Generations, 42(3), 15–22.

The authors purpose of this article is to explain that “Children in foster care with relatives have better behavioral and mental health outcomes than those in foster care with non-relatives. Despite challenges, grandparents can provide stability and reduce trauma effects in grandchildren whose parents cannot care for them” (Lent & Otto, 2018, P. 15). The challenges that the authors refer are stressors result raising grandchildren after an intervention from the state due to substances abuse by parents. The authors emphasized in the challenges that grandparents face as caregivers, intergenerational issues, characteristics and experience of children raised by grandparents, grandparents and children well-being, support and services to help grandparents to thrive, supporting policies for grandparents. The authors conclude that the children that are raised by grandparents are more successful to overcome trauma than those in foster care. Finally, the authors provide a fact regarding the grandparents and other kinship caregivers that save taxpayers $4 billion each year when keep the children out of foster care.

Whitley, D. M., Lamis, D. A., & Kelley, S. J. (2016). Mental Health Stress, Family Resources and Psychological Distress: A Longitudinal Mediation Analysis in African American Grandmothers Raising Grandchildren. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 72(6), 563–579.https://doi org.library.capella.edu/10.1002/jclp.22272

This research purpose is to identify the effectiveness of multidisciplinary interventions among African American grandmothers raising their grandchildren and the levels of mental health stress and elevated levels of psychological distress by family resources. The researchers used a context of a prospective mediational model. Researchers found that the “Perception of family resources contributes to lower psychological distress among custodial grandmothers exhibiting low and high levels of mental health stress” (Whitley, Lamis & Kelley, 2016, P. 563). The researchers conclude that resource-focused interventions can enhance grandmother’s subjective assessments of family resources and reduce psychological distress. The researchers recommend additional research need to ascertain the consistency of findings in this research.

Chan, K. L., Chen, M., Lo, K. M. C., Chen, Q., Kelley, S. J., & Ip, P. (2019). The Effectiveness of Interventions for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A Meta-Analysis. Research on Social Work Practice, 29(6), 607–617. https://doi.org/10.1177/104973151879847

The authors objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of intervention programs that aim to enhance the well-being of grandparent caregivers and the developmental outcomes of grandchildren and identify useful program components. The researchers used 20 relevant studies that were published in and before April 2018, that they identify thru comprehensive literature researches in electronic databases. The authors explained that their review indicates that interventions for grandparent caregivers have positive effects regarding various well-being outcomes. The authors conclusion was that “The implementation of interventions for grandparents requires ongoing research efforts to obtain high-quality evidence for program effectiveness” (Chan, Chen, Chen, Kelley & Ip, 2019, P. 615). Also, they recommend future research to develop interventions to meet the needs of different grandparent caregivers.

Response Guidelines

Respond to both post. Consider the following in your response:

• Do you agree with the construction of the research questions? Explain your thoughts.

• What do the questions do well?

• What can you suggest that might improve them?

• Support your suggestions with references to the course readings, using proper APA style.

(Iris Kelly-Wallace Post)

Research Question 1:

Are the youth of gender and sexual minorities more likely to experience homelessness than their majority counterparts?

Given the question, as posed, requires one to compare the statistical data for two populations, this makes its quantitative nature immediately discernible. It is asking about something measurable. To discern which of the two communities (sexual/gender minorities and sexual/gender majorities) are more at risk, one must find the risk factors for homelessness, the percentage of homeless youths within each population, and compare the data from there.

Research Question 2:

Are homeless youths able to foresee a future for themselves?

This question requires inquiring for anecdotal accounts from the target population themselves in order to discern the answer or to research studies that have already done so. That reliance on subjective experience rather than independently observable data is what qualifies this question as qualitative. As Venkatesh, Brown, and Sullivan state in their article (2016), these questions are broad but have been poised toward the target population in a manner that makes it nuanced and particular for them.

In How to Construct a Mixed Methods Research Design (2017), Schoonenboom and Burke touch on the importance of having a blended study that makes use of both qualitative and quantitative data. In doing so, the reader is given a richer revelation of meaning based upon the evidence provided, and this illustration of layered information can enhance the impression made on them.

(Post- Ciara Iglehart)

Topic and research questions.

Family dynamics in single parent families.

Research Question 1:

Do single parent families create structure and their dynamic based on experiences through stages of development? How does this differ from step-parent families?

Research Question 2:

To what extent does single parent family dynamic increase the risk of drug use and mental health in adolescence?

Explain why you consider one a qualitative question and the other quantitative. Support your decisions with references to the course readings, using proper APA style.

“The distinction between qualitative and quantitative data in social research is essentially the distinction between numerical and no numerical data. When we say someone is intelligent, we’ve made a qualitative assertion. A corresponding assertion about someone less fortunately endowed would be that he or she is “unintelligent.” When psychologists and others measure intelligence by IQ scores, they are attempting to quantify such qualitative assessments” (Babbie, 2016).

Research Question #1 would be a qualitative analysis because to obtain this type of information or data would not require statistical data. It would require more of an interview/observation approach in monitoring single parent families and what their structure looks like through the different development stages of their children. Some may say that even in a step parent family, there are similar behaviors that the children might display. Research Question #2 would pull more statistical data from surveying single parent families and reaching a statistical number on how many report their children were at risk or actually using drugs or going through a mental health disorder based on their dynamic of one parent