The psychosocial challenges of solid organ transplant recipients during childhood.

A large proportion of pediatric solid organ transplant recipients are young children, yet dedicated studies on the challenges faced by these patients are sparse. The present article aims to provide a summary of key considerations for pediatric solid organ transplant teams, describing what challenges are more likely for younger patients and how they might identify and address these circumstances. Our findings suggest that the mental health of patients and caregivers, issues at school, neurocognitive difficulties, and self-management are areas of particular relevance for children.

Correlates of Attachment Perceptions in Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

This study explored the relationship between parents' perceptions of their child's attachment to them and parents' own affective attachment to their child, as well the relationship of these constructs to parenting stress, parent-rated child functional impairment, and parenting sense of competence. Mothers (n = 76) and fathers (n = 30) of children ages 2-10 with autism spectrum disorders participated. Overall, parents' affective attachment to their child was more consistently related to other aspects of their parenting experiences than were their perceptions of their child's attachment to them.

The relationship of religious and general coping to psychological adjustment and distress in urban adolescents.

The present study explored the relationships among stress, general and religious coping, and mental health in a sample of urban adolescents. The participants included 587 9th- through 12th-grade students attending two Catholic high schools in the New York City area. They completed a set of self-report measures assessing perceived stress, religious coping, general coping, clinical symptomology, positive and negative affect, and life satisfaction.

Protective and exacerbating factors in children and adolescents with fibromyalgia.

Objective: To investigate protective and exacerbating factors in the adjustment of youth with juvenile primary fibromyalgia syndrome (JPFS), we examined the relationship of stress, coping strategies, social support, and self-efficacy to quality of life, pain, and depression.

Method: Participants were 57 youths (ages 10 to 18 years) and their parents from rheumatology clinics at 2 children's hospitals. The youths self-reported daily hassles, coping strategies, social support, self-efficacy, quality of life, pain, and depression.

Effects of expressive writing on standardized graduate entrance exam performance and physical health functioning.

A substantial body of literature has demonstrated that expressive writing about an individual's deepest thoughts and feelings regarding a past or ongoing stressful experience results in a wide range of beneficial effects, including physical health and cognitive functioning. The authors examined the effects of writing about a future stressful experience--an impending graduate entrance exam--by comparing the exam performance and physical health functioning of participants who wrote about their deepest thoughts regarding the exam with those of participants who wrote about neutral and nonemotional topics. The experimental group reported a mean exam score that was significantly (19 percentile points) higher than that of the comparison group (i.