Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2005, Human Development and Family Science

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 (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Suzanne Bartle-Haring (Advisor) Subjects: Psychology, Clinical

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2012, Human Ecology: Human Development and Family Science

The purpose of the study was to advance the understanding of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) by examining the overlap of Adult Attachment Theory and Bowen Family Systems Theory in a clinical sample of couples. This study utilized dyadic data analyses to examine how attachment styles and differentiation levels, measured in this study as separateness scores and connectedness scores, overlap in couples and then how a history of violence affected the relationship between attachment styles and differentiation levels. Few significant results were found, possibly due to the small sample for dyadic data analysis. This study found that while the majority of both male and female participants identified with the secure attachment style, high proportions of male participants ascribed to the dismissing attachment style, while high proportions of female participants ascribed to the fearful attachment style. Furthermore, participants who ascribed to the dismissing or fearful attachment styles were most commonly paired with a partner who ascribed to the secure attachment style. Results of separateness and connectedness showed that the means for separateness scores were lower than the means for connectedness scores, regardless of gender. Partial support for the hypothesize were found, which are discussed. A history of violence also had a substantial association with feelings of closeness and distance in a relationship, in that the scores for almost every variable and every relationship varied with the presence of a history of physical violence as compared to the absence of a history of physical violence. Significant main effects were found for violence on female separateness, male separateness, and female connectedness, as well as significant interaction effects of violence and female attachment. Furthermore, separateness was consistently higher and connectedness was consistently lower when violence was reported than when it was not reported. Clinical implications, limitations, and (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Suzanne Bartle-Haring PhD (Advisor); Amy Bonomi PhD (Committee Member); Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Mental Health

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2024, Human Ecology: Human Development and Family Science

Previous studies on parent to child anxiety have not examined the role of the mother and father's differentiation levels on the child's anxiety. While there have been mixed findings, some studies have found an association between parent and child anxiety. Using anxiety and differentiation data from the Flourishing Families Project (FFP) Waves I and III, this study examined differentiation's role to the association of anxiety from parent to child. The FFP data was gathered in a longitudinal study comprised of 500 total families, with this article looking at the 337 two-parent families. ANOVA and group comparison tests amongst 4 classes, all with varying levels of parental differentiation. Class 1 (both parents had high differentiation) and 3 (father low, mother high) had the lowest child anxiety. The repeated measures test was done to find whether anxiety levels varied by the differentiation profile and to determine whether the associations between child anxiety and parent anxiety varied among the profiles. Lower levels of differentiation were associated with higher levels of anxiety in both parents. Child anxiety was highest in the class 4, where both parents had low differentiation. Engaging parents in treatment for their differentiation levels could be beneficial for treating the anxiety of their children.

Committee: Ashley Landers (Committee Chair); Suzanne Bartle-Haring (Advisor) Subjects: Behavioral Sciences; Clinical Psychology; Families and Family Life; Psychology; Therapy

Doctor of Ministry, Methodist Theological School in Ohio, 2023, Practical Studies

This thesis explores the question, "How can an established congregation engage with Bowen Family Systems Theory to reveal hidden emotional processes that impact missional adaptive change?" The research took place in the context of a mid-sized Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation founded in 1851.The project utilized a Participatory Action Research (PAR) model with elders from the congregation serving as a research team along with the congregation's pastor as lead researcher. Four rounds of PAR research identified 1) a missional adaptive challenge for the congregation, 2) features of the congregation's emotional system in times of change, 3) features of the elders' nuclear family emotional systems in times of change, and 4) a systems informed missional experiment called "Laundry Love Day." This experiment incorporated what was learned about the emotional systems of the congregation and elders in order to more successfully address the missional adaptive challenge. Research was adapted midway to accommodate the COVID-19 pandemic. The project successfully demonstrated the potential benefits and difficulties of incorporating Bowen Family Systems Theory in missional adaptive change efforts. This research opens the door to further studies exploring the confluence of Bowen theory and missiology.

Committee: Dr. Emlyn Ott (Advisor); Dr. Paul Kim (Advisor) Subjects: Organizational Behavior; Religion; Religious Congregations; Theology

Doctor of Education, University of Akron, 2019, Marriage and Family Counseling/Therapy

This quantitative study investigated the role of communication on grief reaction, guilt, and relationship satisfaction in bereaved couples after the death of a child to gain a better understanding of the relationship between these variables. It also explored parental gender and time since death. Fifty-four couples were recruited through newsletters, support groups, and forums. Participants were directed to Qualtrics to fill out the following instruments: demographic questionnaire, the Attitudes towards Emotional Expression Scale to measure communication, the Revised Grief Experience Inventory to measure grief reaction, the Guilt subscale of the Grief Experience Questionnaire to measure guilt, and the Marital Satisfaction Inventory-Revised to measure relationship satisfaction. Bowen family systems theory (BFST) was used as the guiding theoretical lens. There were three parametric measures used in this study: independent two-sample t-test, the Actor Partner Interdependence Model (APIM), and hierarchical regression. For the independent t-test, all the variables showed sufficient evidence at the 5% significance level of a significant difference in the average total scores. For communication males scored significantly higher than females and for grief reaction, guilt, and relationship satisfaction females scored significantly higher than males. The APIM found a statistically significant actor effect for a woman's communication on her own grief reaction. For the hierarchical regression, the regression results indicated that this overall model did significantly predict female grief reaction. Time since death proved a significant predictor of female grief reaction. A discussion of the findings, limitations of the study, research and clinical implications, and direction for future research are addressed.

Committee: Karin Jordan Ph.D. (Advisor); Heather Katafiasz Ph.D. (Committee Member); Harvey Sterns Ph.D. (Committee Member); David Tefteller Ph.D. (Committee Member); Wondimu Ahmed Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Counseling Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, Human Ecology: Human Development and Family Science

The sibling bond is likely the longest, most resilient relationship in one's life. Subsequently, the sibling relationship is a strong predictor of outcomes across the lifespan, including positive intimate relationships, feelings of self-worth, and social skills. The purpose of this dissertation was to use Bowen Family Systems Theory (BFST) to examine individual's perception of their sibling relationships and the connection with interpersonal and intrapersonal factors, and to explore the congruence of sibling and romantic relationship distance regulation. Online research listservs were used to recruit participants (N=476). A cross-sectional descriptive survey design was used to explore quantitative survey items. The Lifespan Sibling Relationship Scale (LSRS) was used to assess the sibling relationship in childhood and adulthood. The Social Connectedness Scale-Revised (SCSR) and the Separation-Individuation Test of Adolescence (SITA) were used to measure distance regulation. Interpersonal and intrapersonal factors included depression, general perceptions of health, and couple relationship satisfaction. BFST was used to explore four hypotheses: 1) The “closest” siblings will be same-sex dyads, with sisters being the closest among all the dyads; 2) Siblings that are <= 2.5 years of age will have a closer relationships than those > 2.5 years apart in age; 3) Individuals' perceptions of the sibling relationship in childhood and adulthood are related; and 4) The sibling relationship in childhood and adulthood are predictive of inter/intrapersonal factors. In addition, three research questions were explored: 1) Are there common characteristics of the selected “influential sibling” for participants with more than one sibling?; 2) What is the relationship between sibling and couple distance regulation?; and 3) To what extent does sibling and couple distance regulation mediate the influence of the sibling relationship on inter/intrapersonal factors? Correlations co (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Keeley Pratt Ph.D. (Advisor); Suzanne Bartle-Haring Ph.D. (Committee Member); Kelly Purtell Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Families and Family Life; Individual and Family Studies; Mental Health; Personal Relationships; Therapy

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2016, Human Ecology: Human Development and Family Science

Adolescents are at an increased risk for developing depression and the incidence of major depressive disorder peaks among individuals in their 20s (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Depression among emerging adults and college students in particular, is understudied and has rarely been investigated in relation to family relationships. Guided by Bowen theory, we investigated the relationships between parent-child differentiation during adolescence and emerging adulthood, depressive symptoms and the fear of negative evaluation. 58 emerging adults, aged 20 – 25 years and their mothers, were recruited through undergraduate classes at a public, Midwestern University and the participants provided information about the variables of interest for two time points, adolescence and after the transition to college. Results of structural equation models suggested that both dimensions of differentiation, togetherness and individuality, were related to depressive symptoms in emerging adulthood. During emerging adulthood, the child's perception of togetherness with both parents was negatively related to depressive symptoms. Interestingly, while the perception of individuality with fathers was negatively related, individuality with mothers was positively related to depressive symptoms. Family differentiation was related to the fear of negative evaluation via the pathway of depressive symptoms. Overall, our results suggest that family differentiation continues to impact the well-being of emerging adults after their transition to college. Importantly, the dimension of individuality emerged as a significant factor, both during adolescence and emerging adulthood. This study provides evidence for the increased use of family therapy in the treatment of depression during emerging adulthood and for the continued assessment of family processes at the relationship versus the family-level.

Committee: Suzanne Bartle-Haring Dr. (Advisor); Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan Dr. (Committee Member); Kelly Purtell Dr. (Committee Member); James Onate Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Families and Family Life; Individual and Family Studies; Mental Health; Therapy

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2013, Human Ecology: Human Development and Family Science

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between differentiation and alcohol use and how these factors interact to influence relationship satisfaction in couples. Bowen Family Systems Theory suggests that alcohol and other substances are used as a distance regulator in relationships, but this idea has not been tested in a clinical sample. Using structural equation modeling with AMOS20, I tested 3 hypotheses. The first hypothesis was that couples with higher differentiation are less likely to use alcohol because they do not need it to regulate distance. I also hypothesized that couples who used more alcohol had lower relationship satisfaction. Finally, I hypothesized that alcohol acts as a mediator between differentiation and relationship satisfaction. The models produced a poor fit to the data, suggesting nonlinearity in the data. Therefore, repeated measures ANOVA was conducted and showed significant results, suggesting that alcohol served as a successful distance regulator. Results support previous findings that alcohol recovery can have a destabilizing effect on the family system because of the important function of alcohol use in intimate relationships. This study has important clinical implications because it provides a picture of the mechanism that underlies alcohol use in intimate relationships, which is a good starting point for planning and considering the effect of therapeutic interventions.

Committee: Suzanne Bartle-Haring PhD (Advisor); Anastasia Snyder PhD (Committee Member); Keeley Pratt PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Families and Family Life; Psychotherapy

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2012, Human Ecology: Human Development and Family Science

The purpose of our study was to investigate how the process of family distance regulation influences healthy emotional separation during adolescence. We analyzed 3 waves of panel data from a study (Flourishing Families Project) of 500 families with children who were 10-13 years old at Time 1. This study includes information from the perspective of the child and his/her mother and father over a 4 year period for two parent families and from the child and his/her mother for single parent families. Findings supported our hypothesis that parents' sense of connectedness to their adolescent child, and the child's sense of attachment to each parent support the adolescent's healthy separation over time .We provide evidence for novel methods of assessing family processes, by using multiple perspectives to view change in parent-adolescent relationships over time for families with young adolescents.

Committee: Suzanne Bartle-Haring Dr. (Committee Chair); Anastasia Snyder Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Individual and Family Studies

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2008, Human Development and Family Science

Couples therapy by its very nature is a challenging and difficult task. Couples in therapy provide the therapist with two people with different personal history and with a frequently conflicted relational history. On top of this, Synder, Castellani and Whisman (2006) state that couple distress is among the most frequent concerns from people who go looking for help from mental help professionals. Client factors, those unique things clients bring with them into therapy, can have a tremendous impact on therapeutic outcomes. Various researchers suggest client factors may account for as high as 40% of the variability in outcomes (Lambert, 1992; Miller, Duncan, & Hubble, 1997; Wampold, 2001). This research explores two client factors and their impact on two therapeutic outcomes. The client factors are differentiation of self – as used in Bowen Family Systems Theory – and power. The therapeutic outcomes studied are relationship satisfaction and progress on the current problem. Participants were recruited through the Ohio State University Couples and Family Therapy clinic. Data were collected at intake and following the first six sessions of therapy. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to analyze the data. Multilevel modeling allows for analysis of the partners' initial satisfaction level and trajectory of change in satisfaction while controlling for the nonindependence of scores that is inherent in examining couple relationships. In these models, change in marital satisfaction and progress on the presenting problem were used as dependent variables and initial levels of differentiation and/or power strategies from each partner were used as explanatory variables at level 2 of the model. Results indicated that both power and differentiation provided some significant explanation for both baseline levels and changes in satisfaction and progress. Female differentiation and power variables were more consistently significant predictors for increases in both partners' rep (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Suzanne Bartle-Haring PhD (Advisor); Julie Serovich PhD (Committee Member); Jeanne Clement PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Therapy