Factors influencing osteoporosis preventive behaviours: testing a path model.

AIM: This paper is a report of a study to test a model of certain factors influencing people engaging in osteoporosis preventive behaviours, and to estimate the direct and indirect effects of personal and social factors on whether people engage in those behaviours. BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis preventive behaviours, including exercise and calcium intake, help decreasing the risk of developing osteoporosis. Reasons for engaging in osteoporosis preventive behaviours are complex and influenced by personal and social factors. Years of education, self-efficacy, knowledge of osteoporosis, social support and social capital have been indicated to increase people engaging in osteoporosis preventive behaviours; but age has been shown to decrease those behaviours. METHODS: The proposed model was developed using Social Cognitive Theory and a conceptual framework for addressing the social context of health behaviour. A correlational cross-sectional study was carried out in 2005, using questionnaires and a convenience sample of 243 participants. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, correlation techniques and path analysis. RESULTS: Self-efficacy was a better predictor of engaging in osteoporosis preventive behaviours than were the other variables. Social capital had a statistically significant direct and indirect effect on osteoporosis preventive behaviours. The modified path model showed good fit with the data. CONCLUSION: The associations between personal and social factors extend our knowledge from previous studies and increase our understanding of the complex relationships among the study variables. The model provides guidance for future nursing practice, research, and education programs related to osteoporosis prevention.

Korean American maternal acceptance-rejection, acculturation, and children's social competence.

The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between maternal acceptance-rejection and children's social competence and the role that maternal acculturation (ie, American orientation, Korean orientation) played in this relationship in a sample of 53 Korean American mothers. Self-report data were analyzed using Pearson correlations and multiple hierarchical regressions. Low maternal acceptance-rejection was positively related to children's low social competence. Mothers' American orientation had a moderating effect on the relationship between maternal acceptance-rejection and children's social competence. Findings indicate the importance of providing parenting guidelines to mothers who are low on both acceptance-rejection and American orientation.

Maternal and paternal parenting, acculturation, and young adolescents' psychological adjustment in Korean American families.

PROBLEM: Maintaining healthy psychological adjustment may be more complicated for Korean American young adolescents than for their European American counterparts. Korean American families live in two cultures and the issue of acculturation challenges their parenting, which is a critical factor for young adolescents' psychological adjustment. METHODS: Hierarchical multiple regressions were used to analyze 106 family data (young adolescents, mothers, and fathers) on parenting (acceptance-rejection and behavioral control), acculturation (integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization), and young adolescents' psychological adjustment. FINDINGS: Only young adolescents' reports of maternal and paternal acceptance-rejection were related to their report of psychological adjustment. However, maternal acculturation moderated the relation between mothers' reports of maternal acceptance-rejection and behavioral control and young adolescents' report of their psychological adjustment. CONCLUSIONS: Parental acceptance-rejection is related to young adolescents' psychological adjustment when adolescents perceive themselves as accepted or rejected by parents. The relation between mothers' report of maternal acceptance-rejection and behavioral control and adolescents' psychological adjustment needs to be considered within the context of maternal acculturation.

Concept analysis of good death in the Japanese community.

PURPOSE: To describe the meaning of a good death in the Japanese community. ORGANIZING FRAMEWORK: Rogers's (2000) concept analysis strategy. METHODS: A review of the literature was done in March 2004, with a focus on older adults' experiences of good death in the Japanese community; "good death" was the subject heading or key words; and literature was published in English or Japanese. FINDINGS: Attributes of a good death include sociocultural norms, personal experiences, and continuous process. The person's experience of dying, the social context, the patient's autonomy and control over the dying process, and quality of end-of-life health care are the consequences of the concept. When good death occurs, it leads to family satisfaction, positive bereavement process, and work satisfaction for healthcare professionals. CONCLUSIONS: Integration of findings from the concept analysis and field research results in more accurate understanding of good death. Knowing the individual concept of good death enables nurses to provide culturally competent care to achieve an optimum death experience for both patients and families.

Predictors of adaptation in Icelandic and American families of young children with chronic asthma.

The purposes of this international study were to determine the predictors of adaptation and to assess potential moderating effects of parents' sense of coherence and family hardiness on the relationship of severity of illness of a child with asthma and family and caregiving demands as predictors of family adaptation. For both parents, sense of coherence and family hardiness predicted family adaptation. Icelandic mothers perceived their family's adaptation more favorably than did their American counterparts. For the fathers, family demands predicted adaptation. Sense of coherence moderated the effect of family demands on adaptation for both parents. These findings underscore the importance of strengthening individual and family resiliency as a mechanism for improving family adaptation.

Advancement of health disparities research: a conceptual approach.

Although nurse researchers have contributed in significant ways to the body of literature on health disparities, a broad framework and approach to health disparities is needed if we are to understand the complex interplay of variables that contribute to health disparities. This article reports on the work of the Center for the Advancement of Health Disparities Research and its development of a conceptual framework and method for approaching health disparities research and on a sample of nursing research consistent with this framework.

Family stress, perceived social support and coping following the diagnosis of a child's congenital heart disease.

BACKGROUND: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is now estimated to be the second most prevalent chronic illness. A child's chronic illness may have effects that have pervasive consequences for family life. Recently, attention has focused on resiliency variables, especially social support and coping strategy, regulating the impact of stress. In the resiliency model of family stress, adjustment and adaptation, social support is viewed as one of the primary moderators or mediators between stress and well-being. AIMS: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships of family stress, perceived social support, and coping and determine the resiliency factor associated with coping by families who have a child with chronic illness. DESIGN: In a secondary analysis of a large longitudinal study, the sample consisted of 92 families who had a child under age 12 who was newly diagnosed with CHD within the last 3-4 months. FINDINGS: Results from regression analysis revealed that perceived social support operated as a resiliency factor between family stress and both parental and family coping. Child and family characteristics appeared to be the important predictors of perceived social support and parental coping. Although perceived social support appeared to be an important predictor of parental and family coping, neither the moderating nor mediating model was supported in full but partial causal relations were confirmed. CONCLUSIONS: Findings provided evidence for the theoretical and empirical significance of perceived social support as a predictor of family coping. Further, these findings suggest that perceived social support is a factor influencing the resiliency of relatively high-risk groups of families who have a child with chronic illness.