Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2009, Sociology

The major aim of this dissertation was to investigate how negative spillover shapes mental health status. Following the stress process model, this study also explored whether and how sociodemographic characteristics (i.e., race, gender, and age), family characteristics (i.e., length of marriage/cohabitation, spousal/partner support, and presence of children), socioeconomic resources (i.e., education, income, mortgage-payer status, renter status), and work characteristics (i.e., total work hours, job tenure, skill discretion, decision authority, coworker support, and supervisor support) moderate the relationship between negative spillover and mental health. Data were analyzed from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States 2004-06 (N=1,430) and the key outcome measures were depressive symptoms and anxious mood. With respect to depressive symptoms, the major findings indicated that negative work-to-family spillover increased symptoms. Other findings indicated that the deleterious effects of negative work-to-family spillover were moderated by gender and spousal/partner support, wherein men and individuals with higher levels of spousal/partner support experiences lower levels of depressed mood. While negative family-to-work spillover did not have main effects on depressive symptoms, this type of spillover was moderated by spousal/partner support, which acted as a protectant against spillover even in the case of high levels of negative family-to-work spillover. Similar to depressive symptoms, negative work-to-family spillover increased anxious mood. Moreover, the effect of negative work-to-family spillover on symptoms of anxiety was moderated by length of marriage/cohabitation. Lengthy married or cohabitating relationships reduced the impact of negative work-to-family spillover on anxious mood. Negative family-to-work spillover was not related to anxious symptoms; however, despite the lack of main effects, age did moderate the relationship between th (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: C. André Christie-Mizell PhD (Committee Chair) Subjects: Mental Health; Social Psychology; Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2021, Sociology

The majority of Americans have siblings, who provide one another with warmth, support, and friendship, and also serve as a source of conflict, throughout the life course. Past research shows that sibling relationship quality influences mental health and self-concept. Over the past several decades, as more parents break up and re-partner, a substantial proportion of America's youth grow up with half-siblings or step-siblings. Limited research has examined how sibling relationship quality with half-siblings or step-siblings differs from those with full-siblings, however. Using Waves II and III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, drawing from the core sample (N = 8,402) and the residential sibling pairs sample (N = 1,753), this dissertation examines the following three questions : (1) Does residential sibling relationship quality in adolescence, measured as feelings of love, fights, and time spent together, vary across full-siblings, half-siblings, and step-siblings, controlling for variation by sibling type in family characteristics, such as mother-child relationship quality, father-child relationship quality, and family belonging? (2) Does sibling relationship quality in young adulthood, measured as visits, phone calls, help-seeking, fights, and emotional closeness, vary by sibling type, controlling for sibling relationship quality during adolescence? (3) Does the association between relationship quality with residential siblings in adolescence and mental health and self-concept in young adulthood differ across the three residential sibling types? The findings suggest that among residential siblings, with the same family characteristics, relationships with step-siblings are more distant than those with full-siblings or half-siblings, while relationships with half-siblings are similar to those with full-siblings, both in adolescence iii and young adulthood. Emotionally close relationships and fights with siblings in adolescence are as (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kei Nomaguchi Dr. (Advisor); Amy Morgan Dr. (Other); Karen Guzzo Dr. (Committee Member); I-Fen Lin Dr. (Committee Member); Wendy Manning Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2020, Psychology/Clinical

Adolescents living in disadvantaged neighborhood contexts experience higher rates of emotional and behavioral problems. Although social support promotes resilience in youth exposed to neighborhood stressors, few studies have considered both perceived quality and time exposure to support sources when investigating social support effects within neighborhood contexts. Additionally, the literature primarily focuses on the effects of perceived friend and parental support, whereas no studies have examined the role of peer-age relatives, such as siblings or cousins, on youths' behavioral outcomes. This study investigated relationships between perceptions of social support quality, time exposure to sources of support, experiences of neighborhood social processes, and emotional and behavioral health for adolescents recruited from low-income, inner-city neighborhoods. The final sample included 54 adolescents aged 11 to 18 years (43% female) who completed interviews involving detailed time diaries of their routine activities. Time diaries were coded to calculate the percentage of out-of-school wake time that adolescents spent alone and with adult and peer-age relatives and nonfamilial peers. Adolescents also completed self-report questionnaires about their perceived family and friend support, aggressive behaviors, depressive symptoms, and psychological well-being. Bivariate correlations and hierarchical multiple regressions were used to explore relationships among the perceived social support, social exposure, and behavioral health variables. Hierarchical multiple regressions were also used to determine whether neighborhood collective efficacy moderated the effects of perceived social support and social exposure on youths' behavioral outcomes. The overall pattern of findings supported that adolescents who spend more time around adult relatives report fewer depressive symptoms, regardless of their perceptions of the quality of their family support. Alternatively, adolescents (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Carolyn Tompsett Ph.D. (Advisor); Eric Dubow Ph.D. (Committee Member); Dara Musher-Eizenman Ph.D. (Committee Member); Matthew Lavery Ph.D. (Other) Subjects: Behaviorial Sciences; Clinical Psychology; Developmental Psychology; Mental Health; Social Structure

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2013, Leadership and Change

The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine what the son-father relationship experience feels like (the phenomenology of the son-father relationship), and how the relationship experience affects leadership development, specifically in the son. I chose to reverse the order of the typical reference on this topic (father-son) in order to emphasize the significance of the son (role) being the central character or object of interest, even in instances where the character is a father in addition to being a son. Additionally, it should be noted that all fathers are sons, but not all sons are fathers (biologically, and/or socially, and/or conceptually). My central research question is: How is leadership development influenced by the phenomenological characteristics of the son-father relationship experience? I address this question through a series of interviews with adolescent boys age 17 and men between 18 and 45 years of age. The foundation of my interview protocol is built on a series of theory-based questions (Wengraf, 2001) that are outlined below. Analysis of these interviews is presented along with a comparative review of the scholarly literature on leadership development in adolescents. The primary value of this research is its applicability to youth leadership development programs with respect to the potential to add an emphasis on values and practices that cultivate healthy sustainable relationships that are consistent with responsible and effective parent involvement and planning, family leadership, and community support. While there is considerable consideration being acknowledged to an anecdotal connection between how boys are, or should be, affected by the leadership qualities of their fathers, very little was articulated about how the participants felt their own leadership development was influenced by the relationship experience, particularly juxtaposed to the amount of attention the participants spent on describing their feelings and emotions about (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Philomena Essed Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Elizabeth Holloway Ph.D. (Committee Member); Michael J. Diamond Ph.D. (Committee Member); Toby Miller Ph.D. (Other) Subjects: African American Studies; African Americans; Asian American Studies; Behavioral Psychology; Black Studies; Cognitive Psychology; Communication; Counseling Education; Developmental Psychology; Early Childhood Education; Education; Education Philosophy; Educational Leadership; Educational Psychology; Educational Sociology; Elementary Education; Ethnic Studies; Experimental Psychology; Families and Family Life; Gender Studies; Hispanic American Studies; Individual and Family Studies; Literacy; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Multicultural Education; Pedagogy; Personal Relationships; Personality; Personality Psychology; Philosophy; Preschool Education; Psychology; Social Psychology; Social Research; Social Structure; Social Studies Education; Social Work; Sociology; Special Education