Although the global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have many people worldwide longing for a return to “normal,” several questions remain, including, for example: Is a return to normal possible or even desirable? What would a new normal look like? What do families need to thrive in the new normal? In this issue of Family Focus, the contributing authors offer some insight into how Family Science can advance research, practice, and policy that supports families in embracing and thriving in a new “normal.”

Family Focus

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• Overview and Introduction — Ted G. Futris, Ph.D., CFLE, Professor and Extension Specialist, Family Focus Editor
• Grief, Resilience, and the Role of Family Life Education in Finding a New Normal After COVID — Judith A. Myers-Walls, Ph.D., CFLE
• Navigating the Pandemic: Protective Proximal Processes in the Microsystem of Families — Mamta Saxena, Ph.D
• Research on Chronically Stressed Individuals: How Dementia Family Caregivers’ Adaptation Informs Pandemic Experiences and the New Normal — Elizabeth B. Fauth, Ph.D.; Jacob Gossner, M.S., Ph.D. student; and Ty B. Aller, Ph.D.
• COVID-19 and Adoptive Families: Prompted Adjustments and Adaptations in Functioning — Nora McCormick, M.Sc., Ph.D. student; Abbie E. Goldberg, Ph.D.
• Making Family-Centered Practices the New Normal for Families of Infants and Toddlers With Disabilities — Jenna M. Weglarz-Ward, Ph.D.; Kimberly A. Hile, Ph.D.
• No Better Cure for Family Than Business: Business Families Finding Strength in a Pandemic — Elizabeth A. Tetzlaff, Ph.D. candidate and Albert E. James Ph.D., Associate Professor, Rowe School of Business, Dalhousie University
• When God Feels Far Away: Faith Community Changes and Spiritual Ambiguous Loss — Sloan Okrey Anderson, M.S.W., doctoral candidate

Family Focus PDF (members only)

News Articles and Member Group Updates

News articles and updates open to the public. 

Features

• Karina M. Shreffler Selected as 2024 NCFR Annual Conference Program Chair
• Family Science Impact: Reducing Unintended Pregnancy in Teens — Member Q&A With Nina Bates
• Call for Nominations for 2022 NCFR Awards
• The Benefits of the NCFR Mentoring Academy
• NCFR’s Education Section Updates Its Name and Purpose
• In Memoriam: William C. Nichols, Jr.

Regular Columns

• Are We There Yet? — Norma J. Bond Burgess, Ph.D., NCFR President
• NCFR Conference 2022 Update — Diane Cushman, NCFR Executive Director
• Second Virtual Family Life Education Summit Scheduled for Spring 2022 — Dawn Cassidy, M.Ed., CFLE, Director of Family Life Education
• 2021 NCFR Annual Conference: A Second Successful Virtual Conference — Jennifer Crosswhite, Ph.D., CFLE, Director of Research and Policy Education