Collaborative Health Project

1. FAMILY AND SOCIAL Collaborative Health Project Whitney Brown Ashley Clayton Ashley Linch

2. Family: DIVORCE • About two-thirds of all first marriages end in marital separation or divorce. • Most married couples who divorce experience a six-stage process. In the first stage of divorce, the marriage deteriorates and partners show less affection and begin to detach from one another. The first stage may last several years. • In the fourth stage of divorce, issues of custody, visitation rights, and child support are negotiated. • Most children have the same initial reaction to separation and divorce—they feel vulnerable and fearful. Young children exhibit these fears by having difficulty sleeping or having nightmares. (Meeks, 2011) (Meeks, 2011) (Meeks, 2011) (Meeks, 2011)

3. *Some children might have to adjust to parental dating. When parents date, children can resent the time and attention the parent is giving to that new person. (Meeks, 2011)*Some psychologists believe the adjustment to parental divorce is more difficult for elementary school children than for younger or older children. School-age children are old enough to understand they are in pain because of their parents’ separation. They are too young, however, to understand or to control their reactions to this pain. (DeBord, 1997)*Children between the ages of five and ten are often most concerned with whether they are responsible somehow. Keeping it simple and addressing their concerns makes talking to children of divorce of this age much more on point. (Divorce Guide, 2011)

4. Family and Social: Recognizing Harmful Relationships • “A healthful relationship is a relationship that promotes self respect, encourages productivity and health, and is free from violence and drug misuse and abuse. A harmful relationship is a relationship that damages self respect, interferes with productivity and health, or includes violence or drug use and abuse (Meeks, 2011).” • There are ten profiles of harmful relationship types: • 1. The people pleaser • 2. The enabler • 3. The clinger • 4. The fixer • 5. The distance • 6. The controller • 7. The center • 8. The abuser • 9. The liar • 10. The promise breaker

5. *To deal with harmful relationships, a person can ask for an outside opinion from a parent or other trusted adult, evaluate the relationship in their own mind, or talk with the friend about what you expect from a good friendship. Analyzing and developing healthful relationships are important. Youth who have trouble with healthful relationships: • Engage in aggressive behavior (Newcomb, Bukowski, & Pattee, 1993). • Report low academic achievement and high unemployment later in life (Woodward & Fergusson, 1999). • Exhibit higher degrees of loneliness and depression (Parker, Rubin, Price, & de Rosier, 1995). • * Youth with healthful relationships: • Are associated with self-esteem and contribute to forming self-image (Azmitia, 2002) • Are related to social competence (Newcomb & Bagwell, 1995) and enhanced leadership skills (Berndt, Hawkins, & Jiao, 1999). • Can buffer youth from the negative impact of family troubles (Gauze, Bukowski, Aquan-Assee, & Sippola, 1996; Bolger, Patterson, & Kupersmidt, 1998). • Lesson the likelihood of experiencing peer victimization (Hodges, Boivin, Vitaro, & Bukowski, 1999). • Influence academic achievement (Fleming, Cook, & Stone, 2002; Wentzel, Barry, & Caldwell, 2004).

6. Social: FRIENDSHIP *Friendships provide children with more than just fun playmates, it helps them develop emotionally and morally. (Fernon, 2002) *Research has found that children who lack friends can suffer from emotional and mental difficulties later in life. (Fernon, 2002) *Two characteristics, shyness and loneliness, make it difficult for children to make new friends. • *Having healthy friendships improves our quality of life. • FRIENDS: • take a personal interest in each other • support each other in their successes and encourage each other in difficult times. • share interests • help each other solve problems (Meeks, 2011) *In interacting with friends, children learn many social skills, such as how to communicate, cooperate, and solve problems. (Fernon, 2002) (Meeks, 2011)

7. What traits do YOU look for in a FRIEND???

8. WHAT ARE SOME BAD TRAITS? WHAT DO BAD FRIENDS DO TO YOU?

9. Do they look like friends?

10. Sources: (Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, 2002) DeBoard, K. (1997). Focus on kids: The effects of divorce on children. North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service . Guide, D. (2011). How To Talk To Children about Divorce-Age Appropriation. Retrieved March 18, 2011, from Free Divorce Information: http://www.divorceguide.com/free-divorce-advice/children-and-divorce/be-age-appropriate-when-explaining-divorce-to-children.html Linda Meeks, P. H. (2011). Comprehensive School Health Education: Totally Awesome Strategies for Teaching Health. Carrollton: The MacGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Azmitia, M. (2002). Self, self-esteem, conflicts, and best friendships in early adolescence. In T. M. Brinthaupt (Ed.), Understanding early adolescent self and identity: Applications and interventions (pp. 167–192). Albany: State University of New York Press. Newcomb, A. F., & Bagwell, C. L. (1995). Children’s friendship relations: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 306–347. Gauze, C., Bukowski, W. M., Aquan-Assee, J., & Sippola, L. K. (1996). Interactions between family environment and friendship and associations with self-perceived well-being during early adolescence. Child Development, 67, 2201–2216. Hodges, E., Boivin, M., Vitaro, F., & Bukowski, W. M. (1999). The power of friendship: Protection against an escalating cycle of peer victimization. Developmental Psychology, 35, 94–101. Fleming, J. E., Cook, T. D., & Stone, C. (2002). Interactive influences of perceived social contexts on the reading achievement of urban middle schoolers with learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 17, 47–64.