Bachelor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2008, School Of Interdisciplinary Studies - Interdisciplinary Studies

By implementing a service-learning experience in an introductory gerontology course, this project explored intergenerational service-learning as a potential way to address current issues in intergenerational relationships, specifically by improving attitudes toward aging and older adults. It found positive outcomes for the younger and older adult participants. Students exhibited more positive or balanced views of aging and older adults, and felt that the experience contributed to their education. Residents in an assisted living community enjoyed the interactions with the students and expressed that the experience contributed to their lives. While the study had several significant limitations, it provided numerous significant suggestions for future service-learning initiatives. Intergenerational service-learning has a promising future as a contact intervention and as a pedagogical practice. Although further research is needed, it has been shown to contribute to students' learning and educational experience, positively impact their attitudes toward aging and older adults, and add to older adults'quality of life. As society prepares for the significant cultural and societal changes that the aging population will bring, it is essential that intergenerational relationships are encouraged, supported, and utilized in order to fulfill psychological, social, and cultural needs. Intergenerational service-learning can potentially improve intergenerational relations while resulting in other positive outcomes, such as promoting meaningful learning experiences and meeting community needs.

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2024, Sociology

Existing scholarship has highlighted the importance of maternal employment in shaping children's labor market outcomes, yet most studies overlook the dynamic and evolving nature of maternal employment. This study takes a trajectory-based approach to reassess the associations between maternal employment and adult children's labor market outcomes and further investigates how these associations differ between mother-son and mother-daughter dyads. Using mother-child dyadic data from the NLSY79 and NLSY79 Child and Young Adults (CNLSY79), the study identifies five distinct patterns of maternal employment trajectories across children's childhood: Full-time, Early Return, Late Return, Part-time, and Not Working. Results from random-effects regression models indicate that compared to children of non-working mothers, children with mothers in Full-time employed trajectory have higher probabilities of full-time employment in their adulthood, with distinct benefits observed for sons and daughters. The Early Return trajectory is especially advantageous for daughters, associated with a higher probability of full-time employment, increased working hours, and higher income. Conversely, the Late Return trajectory shows gender-divergent associations: it positively links to sons' better labor market performance, while for daughters, the pattern is less favorable. Additionally, part-time employment does not confer significant advantages compared to non-working mothers, highlighting the precarious nature of part-time work in the U.S. context. These findings highlight the critical role of maternal employment timing and continuity, emphasizing the need for policies that support early and continuous maternal employment to promote more equitable labor market outcomes across generations and genders.

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2024, Leadership and Change

In today's mainline Protestant churches, young women clergy navigate a precarious leadership space. While women's ordination is well-established in American Protestantism (Burnett, 2017), Gen-X/Millennial clergy women find themselves at the crosshairs of conflicting gender narratives and unsustainable expectations of what it means to be both a woman and an ordained pastoral leader. Through the use of feminist constructivist grounded theory methodology, this study explored the lived experiences of Gen-X/Millennial clergy women who have left active ministry or a specific pastoral position due to concerns over their own interpersonal boundaries and psychological safety. Through dimensional analysis of in-depth interviews with 20 clergy women representing eight mainline Protestant denominations, this study identified the co-core dimensions of experiencing feminized servanthood as dehumanizing and experiencing feminized servanthood as abusive. The social processes within these co-core dimensions severely compromised the clergy women's physical and psychological safety and informed their decisions to leave their respective ministry contexts. Extending from these co-core dimensions were five primary dimensions: 1) developing a sense of call; 2) differentiating self from system; 3) exposing vs. protecting toxic leaders and harmful systems; 4) nail in the coffin; and 5) reconstituting self. As a result of these findings, this study presents five theoretical propositions that address 1) the shadow side of servant leadership in the context of feminized servanthood; 2) reclaiming Gen-X/Millennial women's leadership strengths; 3) perceptions of self-differentiated women leaders as a “dissident daughter” and an “emasculating disruptor”; 4) gendered scapegoating and the disappearance of Gen-X/Millennial clergy women; and 5) reconstituting self beyond “reckoning” and “resilience.” This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD cent (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2024, Gerontology

Background With economic growth and the diminishing influence of filial piety, the pattern of intergenerational exchange among older Chinese may shift from the traditional unidirectional pattern, where children solely support their parents, to a reciprocal pattern where older parents and adult children support each other. The challenges of old-age care, exacerbated by the one-child policy and an aging population, have become pressing issues for the government and families. Understanding the pattern of intergenerational exchange is crucial for developing old-age care policies and services that address the needs of the large aging population. Objective This study explores the pattern of intergenerational exchange within the Chinese context influenced by filial piety. It examines gender and socioeconomic status and discusses the characteristics of Chinese intergenerational exchange. Methodology The study uses secondary data from the 4th wave of the 2018 CHARLS, focusing on independent variables such as residence, socioeconomic status, intergenerational social frequency, and the gender of adult children. These factors are examined with four dependent variables measuring intergenerational exchange patterns: financial and grandchildren care support from older parents to children (downward transfers), and financial and caregiving support from adult children to older parents (upward transfer). The study employs binary logistic regression and linear regression analyses to obtain results. Results In examining upward or downward monetary transfers, rural older residents are less likely to receive financial transfers. When older parents provide grandchildren care, the likelihood of financial exchanges in both directions increases. Conversely, when older parents receive care from their children, monetary transfers in both directions decrease. Instrumental transfers between generations have mutually reinforcing relationships. Rural residents and older individuals with low (open full item for complete abstract)

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.

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2024, Sociology

The aim of this dissertation is to examine caregiving experiences that middle-aged Russian daughters (raised in a single-mother household) currently provide for their aging mothers and their expectations for their own future care needs. While there is burgeoning literature on caregiving in the United States, the issue remains largely unexplored in Russia. Most existing empirical work examines Russia in comparison with other low-income countries. This study centers the voices of the women from the Russian periphery. Unaffordable home care services, low pensions, bifurcation of the used-to-be free healthcare into state and private, the invisibility of the people with disabilities, and the absence of quality nursing homes, left adult daughters in Ufa no choice but to bear the full burden of caregiving for their mothers completely alone. For this qualitative exploratory study, 40 women from Ufa were recruited to participate in a two-hour semi-structured interview via Zoom or Skype. The age of the women ranged from 35 to 50 years with the average age being 41 years (SD=4.3). All participants completed their undergraduate education and earned a bachelor's degree. A reflective thematic analysis (Braun et al., 2022; Braun & Clarke, 2023) of the qualitative data was conducted; codes and themes were identified inductively, as they emerged from the interviews. The study found that the stress associated with caring for aging mothers was exacerbated by the incongruence of physical environment (Khrushchev-era apartments, inaccessible public transportation and buildings, poorly-maintained sidewalks) with the needs of older adults. Adult daughters were trapped in the caregiving role with no social support and long-term care facilities. This study captured a strong drive of adult Ufa daughters to give assistance to their mothers.

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2024, Antioch New England: Marriage and Family Therapy

Parentification, or parent-child role reversal, occurs when children and adolescents take on parental responsibilities within the family (Boszormenyi-Nagy & Spark, 1973). This can include caring for younger siblings, attending to their parents' emotional needs, and assisting with tasks such as translation. Parentification disrupts family dynamics as parents transfer significant responsibilities to the child (Martino & Coburn, 2022). Extensive research consistently demonstrates the negative impact of parentification on children, leading to depression, suicidal feelings, shame, guilt, worry, and social isolation (Jurkovic, 1997). It can also contribute to the development of conduct disorders. Unfortunately, these difficulties often go unnoticed. However, when it comes to language brokering, which can be viewed as a similar experience to parentification as indicated by research, it can yield some positive results, such as developing new skills, improving self-esteem, and contributing to family survival (Kam et al., 2017; Martino & Coburn, 2022). Limited research exists on factors that alleviate the impact of parentification in Latine and Hispanic households, and despite its potential harm, parentification is often rationalized by families for various reasons. Familismo, a cultural value emphasizing loyalty and community within the family (Ayon et al., 2010) may play a significant role in the experiences of Latine parentified individuals. Familismo promotes unity, support, and loyalty within the family, resulting in enhanced self-esteem, a strong sense of belonging, and deep respect for the cultural community and family members (Fuligni et al., 1999; Ayon et al., 2010, Montero & Ceballo, 2021; Walker et al., 2022). This quantitative study demonstrates that familismo acts as a moderator in the relationship between parentification and depression. Specifically, this study reveals that higher levels of familismo weaken the link between parentification and depression. This d (open full item for complete abstract)

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2023, Antioch New England: Marriage and Family Therapy

A family is a relational system that shapes a child's development, and it is well-established that parenting directly exasperates or reduces a child's internal and external behaviors (Foran et al., 2020; Rikuya & Toshiki, 2018). Parents are influential figures during childhood and adolescence and play a key role in their children's development (Baumrind, 1978; Maccoby & Martin, 1983). Therefore, it is of great concern that developmental challenges in children and adolescents in the U.S. continue to increase. The Centers for Disease Control (2019) confirms adolescent mental health and suicide variable trends in the U.S. continued to increase significantly between 2009 and 2019. There is cogent evidence that suggests a parent's experience of being parented themselves influences their parenting style (Van IJzendoorn, 1992; Belsky et al., 2009). Therefore, a better understanding of how to help parents improve parenting behavior and transform intergenerational transmission negative parenting behavior is important in the hope that parent interventions may have benefit across generations. Researchers have called for further study of the moderating variables that explain the ongoing and continuous transmission of parenting behaviors (Conger et al., 2009). Accordingly, this quantitative research aims to understand whether parents' levels of secular spirituality improve parenting behaviors and mitigate harmful intergenerational parenting. The Spirituality Questionnaire (Singh & Makkar, 2015) was used to measure parents secular spirituality the Parenting Styles & Dimensions Questionnaire-Short Version (Robinson et al., 1995) was used to measure parenting behavior. Of the 177 participants who completed the online self-report questionnaire, the data supports the hypothesis that a significant relationship exists between parents' spirituality levels and parenting behavior, as well as change between generation. Multiple steps of data analysis comparing group differences in parents' (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2023, Clinical Psychology (Arts and Sciences)

Victims of child maltreatment have been shown to experience significant adverse outcomes including greater involvement with the criminal justice system and violent crime perpetration. However, the effects of child abuse and neglect victimization on parent risk for child maltreatment perpetration is lesser understood. Current research on the intergenerational transmission of child maltreatment has failed to consistently identify risk factors that explain this phenomenon. The current investigation examined specific child maltreatment types as predictors of parent perpetration of child physical abuse, physical neglect, and multi-type maltreatment. Using a nationally representative dataset, the effect of childhood trauma type on parent perpetration of abuse and/or neglect was tested for 1,530 females. Additionally, parent age, child sex, and parent and child ADHD were included as risk factors of child abuse and neglect. Regression analyses revealed that history of child maltreatment by type significantly predicted parent perpetration of abuse and/or neglect. Those with histories of physical neglect and sexual abuse were at the greatest risk of perpetrating physical neglect. Further, physical abuse, physical neglect, and multi-type maltreatment were significantly associated with parent perpetration of multi-type maltreatment. Parent histories of multi-type maltreatment and physical abuse significantly predicted perpetration of physical abuse. Moreover, child sex was shown to moderate the association between multi-type maltreatment victimization and parent perpetration of multi-type maltreatment. Finally, parent age moderated the association between being a victim and perpetrator of physical neglect and being a victim and perpetrator of multi-type maltreatment. Parent age also moderated the association between parent physical neglect victimization and perpetration of multi-type maltreatment.

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2022, Arts and Sciences: Psychology

In this era of accelerated globalized migration, it is important to understand how the processes of globalization and migration influence immigrant women's experiences and realities. Although there is a large body of literature on immigrants, there remains a dearth of research examining adaptive challenges and experiences unique to immigrant women's understanding, performance, and negotiation of gender, and the likely impact of these processes on other aspects of their everyday lives. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine how South Asian (SA) immigrant women conceptualize, negotiate, and perform femininity inter-generationally, as well as the role mother-daughter relationships play in shaping each other's femininity at the intersections of the host and home countries' cultures and gender ideologies. This research utilizes a transnational feminism perspective and an intersectionality approach to develop a contextualized understanding of the psychology of immigrant women. Data was collected via semi-structured interviews with ten SA immigrant mother-daughter pairs (N = 20) residing in the Greater Cincinnati region. Thematic narrative analysis was used to analyze the data. The first research question examined the ways mothers and daughters conceptualize and perform femininity. Findings show intergenerational similarities and differences in the ways femininity is conceptualized. Both mothers and daughters defined femininity through the ideas of nurture, physical appearance, aesthetics, and relational understanding of the world. However, mothers and daughters differed in employing a gender essentialist perspective. The mothers conceptualized femininity through an essentialist perspective with an emphasis on autonomy, and the daughters used gender fluidity perspective. The second research question examined the way femininity is negotiated by mothers and daughters. Findings show that mothers negotiate femininity by giving up on certain cultural values and practice (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2022, Sociology

Greater longevity increases the potential share of later life that individuals spend as a parent or grandparent (Margolis 2016; Margolis and Verdery 2019; Wachter 1997). Moreover, increases in marital instability raise the possibility that stepparents and step-grandparents may become an important role for many older adults. Although prior research has demonstrated that step-parenthood and step-grandparenthood are more common among non-Hispanic Black individuals (Yahirun, Park, and Seltzer 2018), we know less about how these roles vary across racial/ethnic groups. Using data from the 2015-2017 Add Health Parent Study (AHPS), this study examines racial/ethnic differences in step- versus biological parent support of adult children and grandchildren. Specifically, the study assesses instrumental support from parents to their adult children who are also parents, and thus offers a measure of indirect support to grandchildren. Additional analyses examine direct grandparent to grandchild support via anticipated childcare availability. Findings from this study suggest that biological parent families provide more instrumental support to adult children with activities such as childcare, errands, transportation, chores, or hands-on care in the past 12 months compared to stepparent families. Moreover, among individuals who did provide instrumental support to their adult child, the hours spent providing support were greater in biological parent families than stepparent families. However, race/ethnicity moderates the relationship between stepfamily structure and hours of instrumental support, such that the step- biological gap is smaller for Hispanic families compared to non-Hispanic White families. Furthermore, the additional analysis found that step-grandparents are less likely to anticipate helping their grandchild “a great deal” in the next 12 months. Findings from this study contribute to the broader literature on family complexity and racial/ethnic differences across kinship (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2022, Educational Leadership

Womanist spirituality provides the theoretical framework for this research study that integrates ethnography and contemplative inquiry within a post-critical paradigm (Berila, 2014; Dillard, 2012; Harrell, 2018; Harris, 2012; Noblit, G. W. et al., 2004; Walker, 1983). The deeply rooted values underpinning my research provide the backdrop for the pursuit of a radical collective wellbeing built on ancestral wisdoms. Guided by a womanist spirituality, the purpose of this dissertation project is to identify womanist contemplative practices that alleviate the effects of historical and contemporary trauma in African ascendant women. This study defines them as practices rooted in spiritual and/or culturally derived traditions of African ascendant women. This study sought to understand how Black women's experiences in Eurocentric heteropatriarchal institutions, like the so-called ‘academy', navigate these spaces spiritually, energetically, and emotionally.

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2022, Social Work

This study explores how parents and guardians perceive the effectiveness of college and career readiness resources in rural versus urban high schools. The population of interest of this study is parents and guardians of current or recently graduated public high school students. This study includes a quantitative survey in order to compare how the effectiveness of college and career readiness resources are perceived in urban and rural areas.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2022, Social Work

Trauma poses widespread and significant challenges for youth and families, with mental and physical health impacts that can last throughout the lifespan. Further, children of parents who have experienced trauma have a greater risk of experiencing trauma-related problems themselves, with a variety of mechanisms proposed for intergenerational trauma transmission. Many approaches focus on deficits such as impaired parenting, poor emotional co-regulation, or cycles of abuse that may lead to parents feeling blamed for their child's trauma problems. Additionally, trauma occurring during developmental periods of childhood and adolescence often has complex causes and sequelae, and may not include a discrete and identifiable event needed for many trauma-focused treatments. To address both issues, a strengths-based and holistic approach to trauma can help identify and build on protective factors of body-mind-spirit well-being and empowerment to support youth and families without the need to focus on specific traumatic events. This dissertation uses a multimodal approach to investigate the role of holistic wellness and strengths in both trauma theory and treatment. Informed by a strengths-based and holistic conceptual framework, the Holistic Empowerment Model of Trauma proposed in this dissertation hypothesizes that holistic body-mind-spirit wellness and a sense of empowerment play important roles in addressing or preventing trauma-related problems, with implications for both trauma treatment and the conceptualization of intergenerational trauma. The two major arms of this dissertation apply this conceptual framework to child and adolescent trauma treatment with underserved populations and to theoretical examination of mediating protective factors in intergenerational trauma. The first arm of the dissertation introduces a solution-focused body-mind-spirit (SF-BMS) group therapy intervention and conducts a pilot evaluation of the intervention for mental health and trauma (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts (MA), Wright State University, 2021, Applied Behavioral Science: Criminal Justice and Social Problems

I measure the stickiness of social mobility in terms of meritocratic assumptions through the first-known Meritocracy-Based Stickiness Measure of Mobility (MBSMoM) using mobility transition matrices and assumptions based on Full Meritocracy (FM) and Lack of Meritocracy (LM). I develop the Simple Stickiness Measure of Mobility (SSMoM) and the Weighted Stickiness Measure of Mobility (WSMoM). In addition, I create the MBSMoM which is calculated from mobility transition matrices of intragenerational, intergenerational, and multigenerational correlations using various measures of status including education, occupation, class, consumption, income, and wealth. Utilizing mobility transition matrices employed by plethora of studies, MBSMoMs are calculated as a percentage between SSMoMs or WSMoMs under assumptions of FM and LM. The MBSMoM is a standalone measure and is interpreted as the percentage between outcomes under FM and LM assumptions. I calculate MBSMoM values for 92 mobility matrices from 22 previous studies of mobility and report individual and group results.

Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, 2021, Psychology

Latinx youth in the United States report higher levels of internalizing symptoms than their White non-Latinx counterparts. Culturally unique factors and values such as language proficiency and use, respeto, familismo, religiosity and spirituality, gender role beliefs, and U.S.-centered acculturative gaps have been shown to be associated with internalizing symptomatology. However, intergenerational discrepancies in these culturally-based factors require further examination in Latinx adolescents. This study explored the relationship between cultural factors and intergenerational cultural differences on adolescent internalizing symptoms. An online survey (N = 91) included a racially and ethnically diverse sample of Latinx adolescents between the ages of 11 - 16 (mean = 14, SD = 1.27) and one of their parents.. Responses indicated that the association between cultural factors on internalizing symptoms may in part be explained by intergenerational differences in English language use and proficiency, intergenerational interpersonal religious struggles, and U.S.-centered acculturative gaps.

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2021, Counseling Psychology

Despite the considerable research on trauma for migrant communities, much remains to be known about the phenomenology of resilience and intergenerational resilience for these communities. Furthermore, Arab, Middle Eastern North African (AMENA) Americans are underserved and under researched with little attention given to their well-being, strengths, and resilience. Literature suggests that resiliency is comprised of three components including 1) an aversive experience, 2) using resources to address adversity, and 3) negotiating resources to be culturally meaningful. However, much of the resiliency research has focused on exploring the phenomenon at the individual or micro level. Limited research that addresses other levels of the environment such as the mesosystem (e.g., interactions between microsystems) and exosystem (e.g., factors that impact relationships between mesosystems) have indicated that the environment can have a greater impact on resiliency than the person's own capacity to be resilient. Thus, research has called for a socioecological perspective on resiliency and the subjective experience of intergenerational resilience for diverse cultural groups. The current study explored the lived experiences of AMENA migrant families (N = 19) related to individual and intergenerational resiliency as well as their understanding of the environment's influence on these experiences. Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to explore and analyze these topics. Results included two meta themes, six super-ordinate themes, and 19 emergent themes which inform a deeper understanding of AMENA migrants experiences of resilience. Implications for future research, practice, and advocacy are provided.

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2021, Psychology

Social anxiety disorders are influenced by multiple factors related to heritability, biology, and environment. Risk factors for social anxiety disorders include emotion regulation (ER) difficulties, which are measurable at both behavioral and biological levels. One posited marker of neural regulation, delta-beta coupling (hereafter, "coupling"), has been positively and negatively related to social anxiety outcomes in children and adults. Parental social anxiety symptoms have been found to positively relate to child coupling, indicating the possibility of transgenerational transmission of regulatory patterns. Thus, aim 1 investigated the direct relation between maternal coupling and child coupling while controlling for maternal social anxiety symptoms. Additionally, child coupling has been found to be related to temperamental risk for social anxiety development (i.e., dysregulated fear [DF], or high fear in low threat contexts) indicating that coupling may be an early neural marker of regulation related to social anxiety risk. However, research has produced differing results regarding the relation between coupling and social anxiety symptoms across adults and children, possibly indicating this relation is moderated by existing social anxiety risk. Aim 2 investigated the relation between child coupling and social anxiety symptoms as moderated by DF. Ninety-four mother-child dyads engaged in two laboratory visits (child age 2 years and the summer prior to kindergarten entry) in order to derive measures of DF (behavioral observation), maternal and child coupling (electroencephalography), and maternal and child social anxiety symptoms (self- and maternal-report, respectively). Aim 1 results revealed maternal coupling did not relate to child coupling while controlling for maternal social anxiety symptoms. Aim 2 results indicated a marginally significant interaction between child coupling and toddlers' DF related to social anxiety. Probing revealed a marginal relation, suc (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Sociology

In this dissertation, I seek to better understand health as the intersection of individual characteristics with broader historical and societal contexts by examining societal levels shocks as social determinants of health. In particular, I seek to understand pathways through which societal level shocks come to affect population health. The dissertation is organized as an anthology of selected research articles (some of which are already published in peer-reviewed journals). The core chapters seek to better understand recent trends in child health and mortality in Cambodia through examining intergenerational effects of traumas stemming from the Khmer Rouge genocide and famine. For these core chapters, I analyze varying levels of maternal exposure to the Khmer Rouge Era as potential determinants of child mortality, illness, and birth size using survival analysis and logistic regression. In published portions of the dissertation, I evaluated the relative impact of two additional societal ``shocks'' on demographic and health related outcomes. One of these shocks involved an environmental disaster in Merapi, Indonesia. For this research, I investigated internal displacement and other migration outcomes as social determinants of mental health in the aftermath of the disaster. The final research area investigates distance demolishing technologies as determinants of access to health care in South and Southeast Asia. Combined, these investigations highlight a variety of means whereby societal level shocks function as social determinants of health and contribute to scholarship in their respective fields of investigation.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2020, Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics

This research studies the relationship between migration and different factors that affect an individual's labor market participation. I focus on the effect of migration on risk preferences, fertility outcomes, and intergenerational transmission of education. The theoretical foundation is the utility maximization problem, where an agent maximizes constrained utility. I use reduced form analysis and secondary survey data that includes information about migration trips, migrant and non-migrant characteristics, and where applicable, location of the individual and location characteristics. The first chapter examines the relationship between childhood migration and the fertility decisions of adult women. The objective is to test whether migration before the age of twelve has a causal effect on the total number of children and the age at first pregnancy. In this analysis, I use a longitudinal dataset from Mexico, the Mexican Family Life Survey (MxFLS). The identification strategy is based on the time-gap between events, the richness of variables on the dataset, and different estimation methods. First, the parents are the ones deciding to migrate, not the individual; and there are at least three years between the migration trip and the fertility outcomes. Second, I also control for individual and parents' characteristics, and other fixed effects such as cohort, year, and location characteristics to account for endogeneity. The second chapter tests whether migration changes risk preferences. It also uses the Mexican Family Life Survey but uses a different definition for migration, adult migration. I analyze changes in risk preferences from migration by comparing measurements of risk for migrants and non-migrants at two different points in time. The identification strategy is based on a reduced-form analysis and the exploitation of the survey's panel structure and representative design. To consider endogeneity, I use migration networks as an instrumental variable for (open full item for complete abstract)