This study examined the relationship between parental involvement, selfregulated learning (SRL), and reading achievement through analyzing the fifth grade data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (ECLS-K). The results identified six dimensions of parental involvement that are likely to foster SRL of fifth graders: School Involvement, TV Rules, Homework Help, Homework Frequency, Parental Education Expectations, and Extracurricular Activities. Of these three dimensions, Parental Education Expectations, School Involvement, and Homework Help, were found to have stronger effects on SRL; Parental Education Expectations was found to have the strongest beneficial effect on SRL. The results also suggest that SRL mediates the relationship between parental involvement and reading achievement. These results provide a framework for parents to help their children develop SRL skills and guide educators and school administrators as they intend to increase parental involvement and its effectiveness.

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The purpose of this study was to test several formats of end-of-life comfort instruments for patients and closely involved caregivers. Kolcaba's Comfort Theory was the theoretical framework utilized. Different response formats for two end-of-life (EOL) comfort questionnaires (for patients and caregivers, respectively), and horizontal and vertical visual analog scales for total comfort (TC) lines were compared in two phases. Evaluable data were collected from both members of 38 patient-caregiver dyads in each phase. Suitable dyads were recruited from two hospice agencies in northeastern Ohio. Cronbach's alpha for the EOL comfort questionnaire (six response Likert-type format) tested during phase I for patients was .98 and for caregivers was .97. Test-retest reliability for the vertical TC line tested during phase I for patients was .64 and for caregivers was .79. The implications of this study for nursing practice and research are derived from the American Nursing Association (ANA) position statement about EOL care, which states that comfort is the goal of nursing for this population. These instruments will be useful for assessing comfort in actively dying patients and comfort of their caregivers as well as for developing evidence-based practice for this population.

Coping behaviors in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) or a spinal cord injury (SCI) were compared. Data were collected on 433 subjects with MS and 257 with SCI. Coping and illness uncertainty were measured by the Ways of Coping Checklist (revised) and the Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale. Results of the multivariate analysis of covariance indicated that there was no significant difference between the groups for the use of emotion-focused coping (EFC) or problem-focused coping (PFC). However, there was a significant difference in coping depending on illness uncertainty and the appraisal of life with a disability. Subjects used more EFC at high uncertainty and more PFC at no uncertainty compared to the other levels. When situations were appraised as dangerous, EFC was used more often, and when situations were appraised as an opportunity, PFC was used. The construct of vulnerability emerged as an important antecedent variable. When vulnerability was not included in the analysis, a spurious difference in EFC was found between the groups. Multiple regression results indicated that, for both groups, the choice of coping strategies had no significant effect in explaining emotional well-being while controlling for selected sociodemographic and disability-related variables.

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