Department: Human Development and Family Science ![[clear]](close-x.png "Remove this limiter")
79 matches in the database.
These are records: 1 - 30.
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1.
Barnett, Althea C.
The relationship between parenting behaviors and children's academic self-efficacy in low-income families.
Degree: MS, Human Development and Family Science, 2000, Ohio State University
► This study examines the relationship between parenting behaviors and the effect of…
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▼ This study examines the relationship between parenting behaviors and the effect of these behaviors on their children's academic self-efficacy. Six hypotheses were developed to test the relationship of six parenting variables to the child's self-efficacy. The sample included 58 low-income minority students and one parent figure for each child. Results determined that of the six hypotheses tested, two showed a marginally significant correlation. The two hypotheses that received modest support were: 1. Higher levels of parent's expectations about educational attainment are positively related to the child's self-efficacy and, 2. Affection is positively related to the child's self-efficacy. The six parenting variables were then compared to each other. Our results indicated that there were three variables that were significantly related. They are (a) the relationship between parent frequency of interaction with their child and the parent involvement with their child about school-related matters, (b) the relationship between the parent involvement with their child about school-related matters and the parent's direct involvement at their child's school, and (c) the relationship between the amount of affection the parent shows to the child and the parent's direct involvement with the school. The six parent variables were correlated with the eight subscales of academic self-efficacy. Three significant relationships were found between these variables. 1. The relationship between parent interaction with their child and their child's ability to enlist parental and social resources. 2. The relationship between parent's show of affection to their child and the child's self assertiveness. 3. The relationship between the parent's educational expectations for their child and the child's ability to meet other's expectations.
Advisors/Committee Members: Newman, Barbara.
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2.
Bartholomae, Suzanne.
Financial stress and coping resources: a comparative analysis of Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics.
Degree: PhD, Human Development and Family Science, 2001, Ohio State University
► The quality of marital and family life is inextricably linked to the…
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▼ The quality of marital and family life is inextricably linked to the financial circumstance of the household. This study examined the relationships between and among objective economic stressors, personal and social coping resources, and subjective financial strain. Two waves of data from the National Survey of Families and Households were used to examine variations in the utilization patterns of coping resources during economic stress among Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics.Structural equation modeling was used to test competing models of the stress process from the life stress paradigm – the deterioration and stress-suppressing models. Findings largely support the deterioration model, however, only two factors – self-efficacy and community integration-confirmed the hypothesized paths in the deterioration model and only among the White sample. The stress-suppressing model was not supported.The pattern of relationships between economic stress, coping resources, and financial strain were markedly different among the cultural groups. For Whites, self-efficacy and community integration reduced financial distress; the remaining coping resources had no effect. For Blacks, self-efficacy reduced financial distress, bill management, savings behavior, and community integration had no effect on distress, and instrumental and expressive kin support elevated financial distress. For Hispanics, coping resources provided the least explanatory value, with only instrumental kin support reducing financial distress and self-efficacy contributing to financial distress, the other coping resources had no effect.Among Whites, savings behavior, bill management, and expressive kin support were mobilized during economic stress, however; the resources were not enough to combat financial strain. Among Blacks, coping resources played a more effective role, economic stress increased levels of savings behavior, instrumental kin support, and community integration, in effect serving a protective role. Among Hispanics, economic stress reduced savings behavior, self-efficacy, and community integration; however, economic stress increased the amount of time spent in bill management. Coping resources were not effective in reducing financial strain.Building on these findings, implications for education and future research are also discussed. The findings provide the ability to target programming and potential interventions could be guided by the theoretical frameworks tested. Future research designed to assess the influence of ethnic background on stress is needed.
Advisors/Committee Members: McKenry, Patrick C.
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3.
Bartholomew, Mitchell Kyle.
Expectant Fathers’ Attachment Orientation and Preparation for Parenthood.
Degree: MS, Human Development and Family Science, 2009, Ohio State University
► To further understand the mechanisms that influence fathers’ adjustment to parenthood, this…
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▼ To further understand the mechanisms that influence fathers’ adjustment to parenthood, this study investigated connections between expectant fathers’ attachment orientation and variables tapping their preparation for parenthood. Specifically, new fathers’ attachment Avoidance and Anxiety were examined in relation to 1) their perceived investment in the parent role, 2) their parental self-efficacy, 3) their intuitive parenting behavior, 4) their feelings about the pregnancy news, and 5) their perceptions of pregnancy plannedness. Data were collected on 119 expectant fathers during the third trimester of pregnancy. Preliminary analyses revealed few significant correlations between expectant fathers’ attachment orientations and their preparation for parenthood. Two exceptions were that expectant fathers high in attachment Avoidance demonstrated significantly less enthusiasm for the pregnancy news, and expectant fathers high in attachment Anxiety felt significantly less confidence in their ability to relate to their infants during the third trimester of pregnancy. Further analyses used hierarchical regression equations to examine the observed contributions of fathers’ attachment orientation while controlling for the potential influence of couple relationship satisfaction and Neuroticism. After controlling for these confounds, expectant fathers’ attachment Avoidance and Anxiety explained no additional variance in any of the five indices of preparation for parenthood. These findings suggest that expectant fathers’ attachment orientation has no direct influence on their preparation for parenthood over and above their degree of relationship satisfaction and Neuroticism.
Advisors/Committee Members: Schoppe-Sullivan, Sarah.
Subjects: Developmental psychology; Families and family life
Keywords: father; attachment; anxiety; avoidance; transition to parenthood; pregnancy
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4.
Bedell, Tina Marie.
THE ROLE OF RELIGIOSITY IN FORGIVENESS.
Degree: PhD, Human Development and Family Science, 2002, Ohio State University
► Sixty-eight participants from nonprofit mental health agencies and religious institutions participated in…
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▼ Sixty-eight participants from nonprofit mental health agencies and religious institutions participated in a study investigating three hypotheses: 1) There will be a significant relationship between an individual’s religiosity and willingness to forgive a significant other who has wronged them; 2) There will be a relationship between one’s religiosity and ethnicity; and 3) There will be a relationship between remorse and forgiveness. Along with a basic demographic questionnaire and a forgiveness scale, participants responded to a religiosity measure reporting on themselves and their partner. Also, participants reported on their perceptions of their partners’ level of remorse in regards to the offense. A series of analyses showed that all hypotheses were partially supported. T-Tests revealed that African Americans reported higher levels of yearly religious service attendance as reported on self and partner and higher levels of religiosity as reported on partner than did Caucasians. African Americans also reported higher levels of forgiving for the feelings subdomain of the forgiveness scale. Correlational analyses revealed that there was a relationship between religiosity and forgiveness and remorse and forgiveness. Regression analyses revealed that remorse was a significant predictor for the thoughts subdomain for forgiveness as reported on partner and religiosity and ethnicity were significant predictors for the feelings subdomain for forgiveness as reported on self. Implications for the field of Marriage and Family Therapy are discussed and suggestions for implementing both religiosity and forgiveness into therapeutic practice are recommended.
Advisors/Committee Members: Gavazzi, Stephen M.
Subjects: Psychology, Clinical
Keywords: FORGIVENESS; RELIGIOSITY; remorse; religious; offense; therapist
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5.
Bower, Daniel Joseph.
Parent Personality and Change in Couple Relationship Satisfaction in Families with Infants.
Degree: MS, Human Development and Family Science, 2009, Ohio State University
► To further our understanding of patterns of change in couple relationship satisfaction…
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▼ To further our understanding of patterns of change in couple relationship satisfaction for parents of infants, this study examined personality characteristics as predictors of change in couple relationship satisfaction over time. Data were collected from 64 families during the third trimester of pregnancy, at 3.5 months postpartum, and at 13 months postpartum. The relationship satisfaction of each partner was assessed through a subset of items from the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. At the third trimester assessment, information was also collected regarding personality characteristics, which were assessed using the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire and the Self-Concept Clarity scale. Hierarchical Linear Modeling was used to determine which factors predicted the change that men and women experienced in their levels of couple relationship satisfaction over time. Results indicated that certain personality characteristics had a significant effect on couple relationship satisfaction over the transition to parenthood. Specifically, results indicated that higher levels of negative emotionality in both mothers and fathers forecasted lower average levels of and greater decreases in couple relationship satisfaction for themselves and their partners. Conversely, higher levels of mother self-concept clarity predicted higher levels of couple relationship satisfaction and less dramatic decreases for both partners. Interesting results were found with respect to communion, as higher levels of communion in mothers were associated with higher levels of couple relationship satisfaction for fathers, whereas higher levels of communion in fathers were associated with lower levels of couple relationship satisfaction for both themselves and their partners. Moreover, when couples were more similar in communion, mothers experienced lower average levels of couple relationship satisfaction.
Advisors/Committee Members: Schoppe-Sullivan, Sarah.
Subjects: Families and family life; Psychology
Keywords: personality similarity; transition to parenthood; personality
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7.
Buettner, Cynthia K.
Parties, police, and pandemonium: an exploratory study of mixed-issue campus disturbances.
Degree: PhD, Human Development and Family Science, 2004, Ohio State University
► This dissertation explores mixed-issue campus disturbances (celebratory riots), which are defined as…
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▼ This dissertation explores mixed-issue campus disturbances (celebratory riots), which are defined as a public conflict between aggregates of participants (mostly students) and authorities (usually the police) that did not begin as an issue-based protest gathering. These disturbances have increased in number and intensity over the past two decades, and the severity of the problem, in danger to students and public safety personnel as well as in financial costs, has prompted a variety of untested actions by universities and communities. In an effort to develop a comprehensive description and a conceptual framework for further research, this mixed-method study combined a qualitative examination of student and public accounts of the disturbance that occurred after the 2002 Ohio State University/University of Michigan football game with data obtained through two quantitative surveys; one of administrators representing 31 universities and one of OSU students experiences with off-campus parties. Despite underage drinking laws that prohibit young adults from drinking until age 21, students report, “drinking is the major glue that bonds students.” Student parties (typically in student off-campus housing neighborhoods) provide a place for students to drink with friends (over 70% reported attending an off-campus party at least once a month). Large gatherings of students at parties appear to attract “entrepreneurs,” people (many of whom are not students at the university) intent on precipitating and participating in anti-social (car tipping, arson, etc.) behavior. As police take action to break up the parties before trouble begins or to apprehend the “entrepreneurs,” they often invoke negative responses from the partiers. Bystanders inadvertently affected by large-scale police tactics against partygoers and/or entrepreneurs, often join in the confrontation with the police in response to feeling unjustly harmed. Analysis of student comments indicates that for 18-21 year olds, an underlying issue is the minimum drinking age and police and university tactics used to enforce it. This suggests further research into police training and response to gatherings of students is needed. The prevention efforts employed by universities also require additional thought and research, as student comments suggest that most of the efforts currently in practice are likely to fail.
Advisors/Committee Members: Andrews, David W.
Keywords: mixed-issue campus disturbances; celebratory riots; off-campus parties; college student drinking; riots; police tactics
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9.
Chebra, Janice Marie.
Family correlates of sibling relationships in young adulthood.
Degree: PhD, Human Development and Family Science, 1996, Ohio State University
► Social scientists increasingly recognize the importance that siblings play throughout the life…
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▼ Social scientists increasingly recognize the importance that siblings play throughout the life course and the intrinsic and extrinsic benefits that this special kinship bond may provide. Although evidence suggests that the context of the sibling relationship changes over time, most of the research has ignored the significance of the sibling bond throughout early and middle adulthood.The present study explores the relationship of family satisfaction, family strength, and family ritual to the quality of sibling relationships for college-age young adults. This investigation offers an important test of family systems theory by evaluating the interdependence of subsystems within the larger family system. The sample was drawn from college students enrolled in introductory family courses at two Midwestern universities. Participants were undergraduates between the ages of 18-23; unmarried or never married; had no children; had at least one living sibling; and were not a twin. The final sample consisted of 283 females and 25 males (N = 308). Participants responded to a series of self-report measures included in the Sibling Survey to assess demographic and personal information about the subject, their family and siblings.Significant findings suggest the following conclusions regarding the significance of sibling and family relationships during young adulthood. First, young adults positively evaluated closeness to the sibling nearest in age. Based on retrospective reports, sibling relationships were closer in childhood and young adulthood than in adolescence. Secondly, there was a positive relationship among family strength, family satisfaction, family ritual and sibling warmth. Third, low levels of family strength and family satisfaction were related to higher sibling conflict and sibling rivalry. Fourth, high ritual routine was positively related to total sibling conflict; whereas high ritual meaning was negatively related to total sibling conflict. Fifth, high ritual routine was related to greater paternal sibling rivalry. Finally, sister-sister dyads reported higher levels of total sibling warmth, intimacy, emotional support, affection, knowledge, and admiration than sister-brother dyads. However, no statistically significant differences were found between gender dyad (sister-sister or sister-brother) and sibling conflict or sibling rivalry.
Advisors/Committee Members: Newman, Barbara M.
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11.
Craft, Shonda Marie.
The impact of mental health, sexual desire, and sexual importance on the sexual behavior of women with HIV.
Degree: PhD, Human Development and Family Science, 2006, Ohio State University
► HIV infection is increasing among women in the United States, particularly among…
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▼ HIV infection is increasing among women in the United States, particularly among racial minority groups. Risky sexual contact is the primary mode of contracting this disease for women. Traditionally, theories of women’s sexuality have focused on the biological basis of sexual behavior. These theories often failed to consider the social and cultural contexts in which sexual behavior occurs. This research study was based in the more recent emphasis on social constructionist theories of sexuality. The hypothesized theoretical model considered the extent to which indicators of mental health, sexual desire, and sexual importance would predict whether sexual behavior would occur for a sample of 96 women with HIV. The results of this study supported previous findings that depression significantly decreases the chances that sexual behavior will occur, while sexual desire and sexual importance moderately increased the chance occurrence of this variable. The results of this study suggested that the mental health of women with HIV significantly affects whether they engage in sexual behavior. However, other aspects of sexual relationships that may also significantly impact sexual behavior were not examined. In order to achieve or to maintain emotional closeness with a partner, some women may engage in sexual behavior in the absence of sexual desire. Given this, one would suspect that the relationships between sexual desire, mental health, and sexual behavior may not always be clearly defined. HIV prevention and intervention models need to be more inclusive of those factors that are most salient in the sexual relationships of women. Clinicians can help women with HIV to develop personalized strategies of safer sex that do not impede sexual or relationship satisfaction, after accounting for their mental health status and assessing their actual need for sexual behavior. Moreover, additional research is needed to examine the importance of maintaining sexual behavior for women with HIV.
Advisors/Committee Members: SEROVICH, JULIANNE.
Keywords: HIV POSITIVE, WOMEN, SEXUAL BEHAVIOR
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12.
Dashora, Pushpanjali.
Empowering Homeless Youth: An Evaluation of a Participatory Action Research Based Program.
Degree: PhD, Human Development and Family Science, 2010, Ohio State University
► A large number of the nation’s youth live on the streets, with…
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▼ A large number of the nation’s youth live on the streets, with estimates of up to 2.8 million. Homeless youth face numerous challenges including substance abuse and mental and physical health problems. Homelessness is embedded in a social system. Regardless of this, interventions for homeless youth have focused on individual characteristics associated with homelessness. The current study proposes to develop and evaluate an intervention for homeless youth, namely the Fogo process. Fifteen youth (between the ages of 18-24 years) were recruited from the streets and homeless service agencies in the Columbus area. Questionnaires were administered and a life history interview was conducted with youth. Information from interviews was used to develop a video. Three groups of two to four youth per group participated in approximately five sessions of video making. During the final video-making session, questionnaires were administered and a focus group interview was conducted with youth. The video was shown to five policy makers and a focus group interview was conducted afterwards. The purpose of showing the video to policy makers was to provide homeless youths’ voices to policy makers. The findings of this study suggest that a variety of factors in homeless youths’ ecological environment influence the onset and maintenance of homelessness. In addition, this study found that youth experience homelessness not only as a material loss but also as a loss of self. Further, the study details the strategies youth utilize in order to persevere under adversity. Finally, this study found the significance of the video in influencing policy makers’ perceptions about homelessness. This finding supports a bottom-up approach rather than a top-down approach to policy making.
Advisors/Committee Members: Slesnick, Natasha.
Subjects: Developmental psychology; Ecology; Education; Families and family life; Mental health; Personal relationships; Social research
Keywords: Homeless youth; ecological systems theory; mixed method approach; participatory video; grounded theory; policy makers
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13.
Dawson, Matthew D.
AN EMPIRICAL TEST OF A MODEL OF THE IMPACT OF ATTACHMENT STYLE ON DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS, CONFLICT RESOLUTION, AND MARITAL QUALITY.
Degree: PhD, Human Development and Family Science, 2002, Ohio State University
► Attachment theory has been used to explain various phenomena in adult relationships.…
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▼ Attachment theory has been used to explain various phenomena in adult relationships. It has been found to influence conflict resolution style, depressive symptoms, and marital quality. Many studies have explored the relationships between these variables. Most of these studies look at these variables in isolation. The present study represents the first attempt to empirically validate a model of the combined relationship of attachment on depressive symptoms, conflict resolution style, and marital quality using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Data from 65 married couples were used to test the fit of the model to the data. A moderate fit was found, and results from previous studies were supported. Implications for clinicians and future research are discussed.
Advisors/Committee Members: Serovich, Julianne M.
Keywords: Attachment Style; Marital Quality; Depressive Symptoms; Conflict Resolution; Structural Equation Modeling
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14.
Delaney, Robin Ostrom.
Therapeutic alliance in couples therapy: the influence of gender, who initiated therapy, split alliance, and the presenting problem.
Degree: PhD, Human Development and Family Science, 2006, Ohio State University
► Therapeutic alliance is an essential component of successful therapy. All forms of…
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▼ Therapeutic alliance is an essential component of successful therapy. All forms of individual psychotherapy have demonstrated a connection between outcome and therapeutic alliance. Despite the fact that therapeutic alliance is an acknowledged area of importance in individual therapy, little research has been conducted regarding how gender, the initiation of therapy, a split alliance, and the type of presenting problem impact outcome and alliance in couples therapy. It was the specific aim of this study to determine how those factors impacted therapeutic alliance for clients in couples therapy. Results of this study indicated that many couples dropped out of therapy, women initiated therapy more often than men, split alliances did impact outcome, and whose therapeutic alliance was different, higher or lower, mattered more than how different. This study demonstrated that who initiated therapy and the type of presenting problem (a couple problem versus an individual problem) did not impact therapeutic alliance in couples therapy. Possible explanations and further hypotheses are explored and areas of future research are suggested. Strengths and limitations are identified and clinical implications are noted.
Advisors/Committee Members: Serovich, Julianne.
Subjects: Health Sciences, Mental Health
Keywords: therapeutic alliance, couples therapy, split alliance
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15.
Dunning, Debra.
Seamless service: Collaboration and partnership of a non-publicly funded child care organization located within a site with multiple publicly-funded agencies.
Degree: PhD, Human Development and Family Science, 2004, Ohio State University
► This research study is a two-year ethnographic study examining the nature of…
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▼ This research study is a two-year ethnographic study examining the nature of collaboration, its development through stages and its relevance in the real-life collaboration of a multi-children and family publicly funded agencies and non-publicly funded child care. Along with studying the nature of the collaboration and its development is the individual story of the child care organization and how it fits into the site and its story. This study builds on the premise of a sociocultural perspective by taking a comprehensive look across contexts; situating itself in multiple layers which are independent yet interrelated. It further builds on the “situated perspective” on the individual story of the one of the agencies involved in the collaboration who is fundamentally different from the other agencies in that it is not publicly funded. The collaboration is analyzed by comparing the developmental stages of collaborations as shown in the research literature and by historical documents and interviews from key stakeholders in the collaborative process of the site. The individual story of the child care organization is told by the teachers and represents their “voice” in that this story is theirs. Along with the teachers’ viewpoint, observations in the classroom and key stakeholders collaborate the feelings and perceptions that the child care staff feels in being marginalized as child care workers. The study extends the literature base on collaboration by re-conceptualizing the development of collaboration from a linear pathway to a circular pathway surrounded by multiple contexts in which the partnership is situated and located. Thinking of collaboration as an on-going development path that should be re-visited throughout the life of the collaboration will help this particular partnership to continue to grow and develop throughout the years. It will also help this particular partnership and others who try to replicate a similar partnership among agencies and organizations to continually re-invest in the vision, the mission statement and to remember the historical contexts in which the collaboration effort was formed, developed, implemented and evaluated.
Advisors/Committee Members: McKenry, Patrick.
Keywords: CHILD CARE; YWCA; COLLABORATION; CHILD; teachers; child care workers; CARE
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17.
Edwards, Joseph Walter.
The relationship between expressed emotion and adolescent psychopathology.
Degree: PhD, Human Development and Family Science, 2006, Ohio State University
► Past research has linked expressed emotion (EE) to a range of mental…
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▼ Past research has linked expressed emotion (EE) to a range of mental disorders and poor outcomes, including relapse of schizophrenia and depression in clinical populations. The present study attempted to demonstrate exploratory relationships between EE and psychopathology in a clinical sample (n = 61) of male and female adolescents placed in residential care. Additionally, this study included an examination of the potential impact that adolescent gender would have on the association between EE and psychopathology. While previous studies have documented differences between female and male adolescent rates of depression and other mood disorder-related issues, to date there has been little evidence regarding the impact gender may have on EE levels within the family system. A self-report adjective checklist designed to measure EE levels provided measurement of the adolescents’ perspective on their mothers’ recent affective attitudes displayed toward them, as well as the adolescents’ own affective attitudes toward their mothers. Adolescent psychopathology was assessed through the use of a self-report measure completed by the adolescent. Results indicated that higher levels of EE were significantly related to higher levels of Hostility, Psychoticism, and Somatization. There were no significant gender differences on indicators of either EE or psychopathology. Subsequent analyses, after combining sub-scales of the EE measure, revealed that higher levels of EE negative adjectives were significantly associated with higher levels of the Global Severity Index (a sub-scale indicating global psychopathology), Hostility, and Psychoticism sub-scales, while the positive EE adjectives were significantly associated with the Somatization sub-scale. Finally, utilizing a multivariate analysis, positive EE adjectives were significantly associated with the Somatization sub-scale. The practical implications of the present study are discussed, as well as suggestions for future research.
Advisors/Committee Members: Gavazzi, Stephen.
Keywords: Expressed Emotion; Adolescent; Psychopathology; Residential
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21.
Erdem, Gizem.
Test of Resiliency Models on Depressive Symptomatology among Substance Abusing Runaways and Their Primary Caretakers.
Degree: MS, Human Development and Family Science, 2008, Ohio State University
► Research focus on understanding at risk youth and families is often driven…
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▼ Research focus on understanding at risk youth and families is often driven by a deficit model and few evaluations of at-risk youth and their strengths, competence and resilience are available. Models of resiliency have the potential to provide information regarding how at-risk youth and their families cope with adversity. This information can be used to identify targets for preventative interventions. In the current study, the differential utility of three models of resiliency, for predicting depressive symptomatology in a high risk sample of substance abusing runaway youth and their primary caretakers, were evaluated. Findings supported the challenge model for predicting adolescent depressive symptoms, though no model was effective for understanding resilience among their primary caretakers. In addition, risk and protective factors differed by adolescent gender and between primary caretakers and the adolescent. In summary, even in the face of significant stress and risk for depressive symptoms, family members showed significant strengths which buffered their experience of depressive symptoms. The findings also suggest that moderate levels of risk can be beneficial for the runaway adolescents, consonant with the challenge model of resiliency.
Advisors/Committee Members: Slesnick, Natasha.
Subjects: Developmental psychology
Keywords: Resilience, resiliency models, depression, homeless youth
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22.
Fish, Roy.
The economic experiences of fathers: Before, during, and after divorce.
Degree: PhD, Human Development and Family Science, 2006, Ohio State University
► This study explored twenty Ohio fathers’ subjective economic experiences of divorce. The…
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▼ This study explored twenty Ohio fathers’ subjective economic experiences of divorce. The study also evaluated the utility of stress and gender perspectives in explaining fathers’ divorce adjustment. The “average” study participant was a White father in his late 30s with some college education earning almost $40,000 annually, who had been left by his wife after an 11 year marriage that produced one or two children. The had been divorced a year and a half, was likely to have entered another intimate relationship, and shared legal if not physical custody of his children with his former spouse. Three periods of divorce – during marriage, during separation, and postdivorce – were examined. Textual analysis of semi-structured interview data revealed the most common themes of economic tension to be: (a) during marriage – financial stress (difficulties making ends meet), money management conflicts, conflicts over division of paid/unpaid work; (b) during separation – financial stress, legal costs, dividing of marital assets; and (c) postdivorce – financial stress, child support/shared parenting expenses, lingering resentments over division of marital assets / custody. The legal divorce appeared to play a significant role in shaping/exacerbating fathers’ economic tensions during separation and following divorce. Fathers’ economic tensions appeared worse when the father perceived the legal divorce as unfair, or where the father unfavorably compared his current economic/custody circumstances to either his past circumstances or to his ex-wife’s circumstances. Economic tensions appeared worse if fathers perceived they had to “pay to play” (unfairly relinquish financial assets for a fairer custody arrangement). The findings appear to fit most closely with stress perspectives of divorce, particularly the writings of Pearlin and colleagues, and also Amato’s divorce-stress-adjustment model. The findings fit less closely with a gender role strain perspective of divorce adjustment. However, fathers’ economic tensions did appear to result from the gendered nature of the legal divorce suggesting a macrostructural gender perspective may be useful. Future scholarship should consider the role of coping (e.g., comparison making) in economic adjustment as well as how subjective attitudes towards money impact economic and relationship stress surrounding divorce. “Economic tension” is offered as a broader conceptualization of economic stress.
Advisors/Committee Members: Schultz, Jerelyn.
Keywords: divorce; divorce adjustment; fathers; men; legal divorce; economic adjustment; economic stress; economic strain; stress theory; gender theory
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23.
Gangamma, Rashmi.
Relational Ethics Among Couples in Therapy.
Degree: PhD, Human Development and Family Science, 2008, Ohio State University
► Relational ethics is one of the four dimensions in the contextual approach…
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▼ Relational ethics is one of the four dimensions in the contextual approach to therapy. Though its concepts have been widely endorsed (Goldenthal, 1996), very little research exists on its influence on relationship variables. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of relational ethics on relationship satisfaction among couples in therapy. A time-series design was adopted and data were collected at intake and end of each session until session six. A total of 39 heterosexual couples from The Ohio State University s Couple and Family Therapy clinic were included in the sample. At the end of six sessions, a total of eleven couples remained. Results showed a positive correlation between relational ethics and relationship satisfaction at baseline for both male and female partners. Multilevel Linear Modeling (MLM) using HLM6 showed significant variance in relationship satisfaction at baseline and over time within and between couples. At baseline, female partner s perception of unfairness in both horizontal and vertical relationships, and male partner s perception of unfairness in horizontal relationship emerged as significant predictors of lower relationship satisfaction among couples and between partners. Significant variance was also noted in relationship satisfaction over time between and within couples. While the baseline predictors also explained variance between couples, there was a difference in the predictors of within-couple variance. Here female partner s perception of unfairness was indicative of lower relationship satisfaction in both partners, and perception of unfairness among male partners was indicative of higher relationship satisfaction levels among female partners across time points. Longer duration of relationship emerged as a predictor of lower relationship satisfaction among couples at baseline and a slower rate of change in satisfaction levels over time. While more research is needed to provide a more comprehensive picture of the complex nature of these relationships, results provide empirical evidence for addressing relational ethics in couples therapy.
Advisors/Committee Members: Bartle-Haring, Suzanne.
Subjects: Families and family life; Mental health
Keywords: Relational Ethics; Contextual Therapy; Relationship Satisfaction
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24.
Garren, Rikki A.
How Does a Baseline Measure of Coping Predict Post-Intervention Behavioral Outcomes for Homeless Youth in Substance Use, Housing, Education, and Employment?.
Degree: MS, Human Development and Family Science, 2008, Ohio State University
► Although coping is a widely studied construct, little research has explored coping…
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▼ Although coping is a widely studied construct, little research has explored coping as a potential predictor variable. Additionally, research comparing the potential mediating effects of treatment on the relationship of coping and behavioral outcomes is sparse. The potential to use coping as a predictor tool in tailoring interventions for marginalized populations, like homeless youth, is important for reintegrating such populations back into the mainstream society. Thus, the possibility to use a baseline measure of coping to predict post-treatment outcomes in a sample of 180 homeless youth and the potential of treatment to mediate the relationship between coping and social stability outcomes were evaluated. Analysis revealed that task-oriented, emotion-oriented, and avoidance-oriented coping all predict better adjusted outcomes in specific contexts. The current findings go against the traditional view of task-oriented coping as “good” and both emotion- and avoidance-oriented coping as “bad”. Further, findings suggest that treatment, in the form of Community Reinforcement Approach, did not mediate the relationship. Implications for potential interventions are also discussed.
Advisors/Committee Members: Glassman, Michael.
Subjects: Psychology; Social work
Keywords: homeless; coping; social stability
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25.
Glade, Aaron C.
Differentiation, marital satisfaction, and depressive symptoms: an application of Bowen Theory.
Degree: PhD, Human Development and Family Science, 2005, Ohio State University
► The price of depression to our society is staggering. When attributable morbidity…
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▼ The price of depression to our society is staggering. When attributable morbidity costs (such as workplace related costs) and mortality are accounted for, it is estimated that depression costs our society $83.1 billion annually (Greenberg et al., 2003). While the monetary cost of depression is staggering, the relational costs of depression may be even more devastating to families and society. Marital relationships appear to be related to both the causes and the treatment of depression. The findings of the causal direction in the relationship between marital satisfaction and depression/depressive symptoms are mixed, however. Some (Whisman, 2001) have stated that a third variable may contribute to the observed relationship between depression/depressive symptoms and marital satisfaction. This research uses Bowen Family Systems Theory, specifically the theoretical construct of differentiation of self, to better understand the relationship between depressive symptoms and marital satisfaction across three sessions of conjoint therapy. Participants in the study were recruited through the on campus Marriage and Family Therapy Clinic at The Ohio State University. Participants completed self-report measures regarding differentiation of self, relationship satisfaction and depressive symptoms at intake. At two follow ups, following the second and third therapy sessions, participants completed self-report measures of relationship satisfaction and depressive symptoms. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to analyze data. HLM is a multilevel modeling approach which allows researchers to use couple level variables without losing individual differences. This research both confirms and extends past research comparing depressive symptoms and relationship satisfaction. First, depressive symptoms and relationship satisfaction were significantly correlated over time. Second, aspects of differentiation were found to be associated with couple relationship satisfaction and depressive symptoms in both men and women. Specifically, men’s emotional cutoff scores and I position scores and women’s emotional reactivity scores and emotional cutoff scores were found to impact the trajectories of relationship satisfaction and depressive symptoms over time. Considering the results of this analysis, systemic therapy, informed by the constructs of Bowen Theory may be an appropriate method of treating depressive symptoms within the context of conjoint marital therapy.
Advisors/Committee Members: Bartle-Haring, Suzanne.
Subjects: Psychology, Clinical
Keywords: Bowen Family Systems Theory; Bowen Theory; Marriage and Family Therapy; Differentiation; Fusion; Emotional Cutoff; Depression; Depressive Symptoms; Marital Satisfaction; Hierarchical Linear Modeling
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26.
Griffin, Stephanie A.
A qualitative inquiry into how romantic love has been portrayed by contemporary media and researchers.
Degree: PhD, Human Development and Family Science, 2006, Ohio State University
► BACKGROUND Romantic love is a hallmark of human beings. Traditionally, love research…
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▼ BACKGROUND Romantic love is a hallmark of human beings. Traditionally, love research has focused on terminology, childhood antecedents, or love style subcomponents; however, there has been little research exploring where attitudes about romantic love develop. This study explored contemporary entertainment media for love imagery. The media patterns were then compared with the research view of love to identify possible sociocultural patterns of romantic love. METHODS Award-winning films, music, and television series with romantic plots from four time periods were selected and evaluated qualitatively. Using a constant comparison method, romantic themes were identified. Each romantic relationship was further evaluated using the criteria of the Love Attitudes Scale and the Triangular Love Scale. Media from each era were holistically evaluated before moving to the next time period. This allowed for a deeper immersion into each era’s historical context. RESULTS Two sets of media archetypes and metaphors were identified. Archetypes were either images of romantic love change agents (Cupid, Knight in Shining Armor, Venus) or a relationship story line (Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Romeo and Juliet, Sleeping Beauty). The metaphors that were identified were paired opposites and included phrases about finding love (“love at first sight” – “there all the time”; “likes attract” – “opposites attract”; “hunting for anyone to love” – “hunting for a lost love”) and phrases about dealing with love (“love conquers all” – “endings”; “happily ever after” – “doomed love”). Archetype change agents and metaphors build the archetype relationship story lines. DISCUSSION The media relationships resolved into a love relationship progression pattern of Seeker, Fairy Tale, and Mature. Seekers were looking for “true love” or enjoying the sexual infatuation of early relationships. Fairy Tale couples have found each other, overcome difficulties and were committed to their love. Mature couples were long-term companions, comfortable in their relationship. Based on both the media and research imagery, there are two cultural ideals, Romantic and Companionate, each of which seems to follow a 20-year cycle. The Romantic ideal is that relationships are based on emotional and/or physical responses to the other. The Companionate ideal is that love is built on long-term friendship and empathic closeness.
Advisors/Committee Members: Schultz, Jerelyn.
Keywords: love; romantic love; Love Attitudes Scale; Triangle Love Scale; Sternberg; Hendricks; film; popular music; motion pictures; contemporary media; entertainment media; television; television series; sitcom; fairy tale; mythology; Shakespeare; qualitative
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27.
Guo, Xiamei.
Examining Maternal Depressive Symptoms in the Family Context: The Associations with Adolesent Children's Problem Behaviors and Family Environment.
Degree: MS, Human Development and Family Science, 2010, Ohio State University
► This study examined the relationship between adolescents’ problem behaviors and maternal depressive…
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▼ This study examined the relationship between adolescents’ problem behaviors and maternal depressive symptoms, and the moderating effect by adolescent gender on this relationship. The current study also assessed the relationship between maternal depressive symptoms and the family environment, above and beyond adolescents’ problem behaviors and the interactive effects of gender. Data were collected from 137 mothers of runaway adolescents. The mothers reported on their children’s internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors, cohesion and conflict in the family environment, as well as their own depressive symptoms. Results showed that the problem behaviors of adolescent girls were significantly associated with maternal depressive symptoms, while boys’ problem behaviors were not. Results also showed that family cohesion was significantly related to maternal depressive symptoms above and beyond adolescent problem behaviors, whereas family conflict was not. These findings indicate that adolescent children’s problem behaviors and mothers’ perceptions of family environment might jointly contribute to maternal depressive symptoms, highlighting the potential utility of the family systems theoretical framework for understanding mothers’ emotional problems in the family context.
Advisors/Committee Members: Slesnick, Natasha.
Keywords: maternal depressive symptoms; internalizing; externalizing; family cohesion; family conflict
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28.
Hart, Margaret Sue.
Stability of child care in rural low-income families.
Degree: PhD, Human Development and Family Science, 2006, Ohio State University
► Changes in welfare laws have lead to a growing number of mothers…
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▼ Changes in welfare laws have lead to a growing number of mothers returning to the workforce, creating a growing need for stable non-maternal child care arrangements for young children. Finding and maintaining stable child care arrangements can be especially problematic for low-income women living in rural areas of the country. Accessibility and availability may be especially limited to these families due to factors such as irregular work schedules and financial constraints. The goal of the present study was to better understand what factors contribute to mothers’ decisions to change their child care arrangements. Data from a national research endeavor called Rural Families Speak (N = 474) were utilized. The present study (N = 249) focuses on a subsample of those women. Inclusion required women to have at least one child 5 years old or younger. Data were collected from families with an income at or below 200% of the poverty line and who were living in rural counties with population centers of less than 20,000. Results indicated that the most utilized type of care was informal care (40.7%). More stability than was hypothesized was found with 67% of families who reported no change in child care arrangements. Most mothers (86.4%) changed child care arrangements because of some precipitating event. Of the 81 cases experiencing change, 45.7% indicated that the change in their child care arrangements was related to their employment. Three reasons given for changes in care were work related; the mother got a job or began attending school (23.5%), the mother stopped working or attending school (14.8%), or a change in the mother’s work schedule (5%). Interview transcripts revealed seven non-work related categories of responses when considering what specifically motivated mothers to change child care arrangements including; the person who was currently providing child care became unavailable or unwilling to continue, financial considerations, and moving from the area. In light of these findings, current policies were discussed and changes were suggested that may encourage more stable child care for young children.
Advisors/Committee Members: Glassman, Michael.
Subjects: Psychology, Developmental
Keywords: child care; stability; low-income; rural
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29.
Hunt, Jennifer Marie.
A "Cohabitation Effect"? Cohabitation, Parental Divorce, and Marital Success.
Degree: MS, Human Development and Family Science, 2009, Ohio State University
► This thesis sets out to expand the literature on the “cohabitation effect”;…
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▼ This thesis sets out to expand the literature on the “cohabitation effect”; that is, the idea that couples who cohabit before marriage have greater marital instability than couples who do not live together before marriage. I test two competing hypotheses. First, the selection/cumulative risk perspective arguing that cohabiters already possess numerous risk factors associated with poor relationship outcomes, so the addition of exposure to parental divorce makes these specific cohabiters even worse off. Following this hypothesis, I predict the children of divorce who cohabit will have lower levels of marital quality and a greater risk of divorce as compared to the children of intact families who cohabit. Also, all respondents who cohabit will have lower levels of marital quality and a greater risk of divorce as compared with the children of intact families who do not cohabit. The second hypothesis favors the differential experience of cohabitation perspective. This assumes that children of divorce want to prevent what they went through while experiencing their own parents’ divorce, so they may use cohabitation as way to “weed out” a bad relationship before marriage. So I hypothesize that children of divorce who cohabit will have higher levels of marital quality and a lower risk of divorce as compared to the children of intact families who cohabit. Also, the children of divorce who do not cohabit will have lower levels of marital quality and a high risk of divorce as compared to the children of intact families who do not cohabit. Overall, the results supported the selection/cumulative risk perspective. I found that, regardless of parental divorce, premarital cohabitation, or the other controls, the number of risks for divorce an individual possessed was strongly, and significantly associated with poorer marital outcomes, even stronger than the impact of parental divorce and premarital cohabitation in every instance. In one model I did find support for the differential experience of cohabitation perspective. The experience of a parental divorce led to less reported marital happiness in both cohabiters and non-cohabiters. Yet when an individual experienced a cohabiting relationship and a parental divorce, reported marital happiness increased, even after taking into account the risk score.
Advisors/Committee Members: Kamp Dush, Claire.
Subjects: Personal relationships; Social psychology
Keywords: cohabitation; parental divorce; marital success
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