Cognitive flexibility as a mediator of family communication environments and young adults' well-being.

In this study, cognitive flexibility was tested as a mediator of family communication environments (i.e., family expressiveness, structural traditionalism, and avoidance of conflict) and young adults' well-being (i.e., self-esteem, mental health, and physical health). Participants included 395 young adults from first-marriage and postdivorce families. Using structural equation modeling, the results revealed that family expressiveness positively predicted young adults' cognitive flexibility, whereas avoidance of conflict emerged as a negative predictor. Cognitive flexibility, in turn, fully mediated the influence of both expressiveness and avoidance of conflict on well-being. Although structural traditionalism did not predict cognitive flexibility, it did have a direct, inverse effect on young adults' well-being. Among the more important implications of this study is the finding that structural traditionalism and avoidance of conflict, 2 aspects of a conformity orientation in families, generate different effects (i.e., direct vs. indirect) on young adult's well-being.

Employer perceptions of stress and resilience intervention.

OBJECTIVE: To understand employers' perceived organizational strengths in addressing stress and resilience-building to help expand theoretical knowledge and guide interventions. METHODS: Interviews and discussion groups with 46 employer representatives using grounded theory methodology for sampling and analysis of narrative data. RESULTS: Participants detailed three levels of approaches: (1) preventing stress/building resilience; (2) providing information, resources, and benefits to employees; and (3) intervening actively with troubled employees. Preventing stress through trusting work relationships and trust in stability of organizational structures emerged as a core concept explaining effectiveness of these approaches. Results are discussed using positive organizational scholarship, systems, and well-being frameworks. CONCLUSIONS: Psychosocial distress has unfavorable effects on human health and work performance. Greater attention to the systemic development and maintenance of trust in workplace relationships and systems is suggested.