Processes Linking Parents’ and Adolescents’ Religiousness and Adolescent Substance Use: Monitoring and Self-Control

Empirical evidence suggests that religiousness is related negatively to adolescent substance use; yet, we know little about how such protective effects might occur. The current study examined whether parents’ and adolescents’ religiousness are associated positively with parental, religious, and self-monitoring, which in turn are related to higher self-control, thereby related to lower adolescent substance use. Participants were 220 adolescents (45% female) who were interviewed at ages 10–16 and again 2.4 years later. Structural equation modeling analyses suggested that higher adolescents’ religiousness at Time 1 was related to lower substance use at Time 2 indirectly through religious monitoring, self-monitoring, and self-control. Higher parents’ religiousness at Time 1 was associated with higher parental monitoring at Time 2, which in turn was related to lower adolescent substance use at Time 2 directly and indirectly through higher adolescent self-control. The results illustrate that adolescents with high awareness of being monitored by God are likely to show high self-control abilities and, consequently, low substance use. The findings further suggest that adolescents’ religiousness as well as their religious environments (e.g., familial context) can facilitate desirable developmental outcomes

Using Feminist Phenomenology to Explore Women’s Experiences of Domestic Violence in Pregnancy

This article presents the philosophical and theoretical dimensions of a doctoral study which aimed to explore women's experiences of domestic violence in pregnancy. The intention is to share some contributions from the literature that enabled the researcher to prepare to collect and analyse sensitive data. A qualitative methodology underpinned by feminist values and the philosophy of interpretive phenomenology was employed. The researcher aimed to locate the most congruent approach and method which would allow the women's voices to be heard and facilitate an understanding of the women's experiences of domestic violence and the impact on their general health and wellbeing during pregnancy. An overview of the context of domestic violence is provided to demonstrate the need for a gender sensitive philosophical foundation and theoretical framework for the research.Griffith Health, School of Nursing and MidwiferyFull Tex