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Birds Of A Feather? Friendship Utilization By Sexual Minority Students During The Transition To College, Jessica Morrow

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Friendship is important for individuals at any point in their lives, but takes on a new role during emerging adulthood as individuals make the transition into adult roles and responsibilities (Arnett 2000, 2006). Potentially even more significant is the importance of friendship to sexual minority young adults who are also forming their identities at this stage (Brandon-Friedman and Kim 2016). Since the transition to college takes place during emerging adulthood, it is important to examine how sexual minority young adults utilize their friendships with other sexual minorities as well as heterosexual peers to navigate this transition. Drawing on in-depth interviews …

Examining Retrospective Measurement Of Ambivalence About First Births And Psychological Well-Being Using A Hybrid Cross-Survey Multiple Imputation Approach, Stacy Tiemeyer

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation follows a 3 article format. First, I implement strategies for combining the three surveys and evaluating the individual unique measures of fertility intentions status to a combined survey latent class analysis. I found that the best fitting solution, based upon theories, qualitative research, and prior research with each survey alone, included four latent classes of first birth intentions: intended, unintended, and two categories of ambivalent: okay either way and conflicted. Second, using fertility intentions classes identified in the second chapter, I use three theories (Theory of Planned Behavior, Traits-Desires-Intentions-Behaviors and Theory of Conjunctural Action) to extend research …

Disentangling The Roles Of Modernization And Secularization On Fertility: The Case Of Turkey, Dogan Hatun

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Second Demographic Transition (SDT) theory argues very low fertility results from the simultaneous processes of modernization and secularization. However, this theory has primarily only been examined in the Christian countries of Northern and Western Europe. The assumption that modernization and secularization are co-occurring processes may not apply in other non-European, non-Christian contexts. Notably absent are studies of Muslim-majority nations, where modernization has occurred separate from secularization because the primary interpretation of Islam views the pursuit of secular knowledge is as important as the pursuit of religious knowledge. Therefore, there is a critical need to examine the applicability of the SDT …

Assessing Risks And Potential Protective Factors Of Dating Violence Perpetration And Victimization, Brian Ermon Tussey

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Dating violence is prevalent among college students. While past studies have used multiple theories to explain risks for dating violence perpetration and victimization, the literature on dating violence remains disjointed, using only one or two theoretical perspectives in their models of dating violence. In this study, I examine dating violence perpetration and victimization from four key theoretical perspectives: the background-situational model of dating violence, social learning theory, attachment theory, and the antisocial orientation perspective. Analyses demonstrated that elements of all four theoretical perspectives were associated with dating violence perpetration and victimization. In addition, religiosity and maternal relationship quality were important …

Disabled And Out? Social Interaction Barriers And Mental Health Among Older Adults With Physical Disabilities, Raeda Anderson

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Over one-third of older adults in the U.S. are physically disabled. Having a disability is a chronic stressor for older adults, and this chronic stress significantly compromises mental health. Because disablement likely restricts older adults' ability to engage in interpersonal interactions, the link between physical disability and mental health may reflect consequences of such unmet social needs. Social interactions are associated with better mental health, yet prior work on social context of disablement focuses on the quality of social relations or perceptions of support, not on actual access to social interactions. There remains a need to understand how and why …

Not Infertile, Can’T Have Children: Non-Reproductive Health Barriers To A Wanted Child, Jennifer A. Andersen

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Non-reproductive health barriers to a wanted baby are an understudied population in the field of infertility research. This is a concern for fertility, public health, and family scholars as the lack of information can have affects the attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors of couples with non-reproductive health barriers. Using the National Survey of Fertility Barriers (NSFB) and Survey Driven Narrative Construction, I was able to identify thirty-two women and their partners who have confronted a non-reproductive health barrier. These women did not self-identify and were grouped as such by the author. I found that the majority of the couples do not …

Protests In The Post-Cold War Era: World Systems Dynamics And Hardship Effects In Post-Colonial Countries, Shawn M. Ratcliff

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In this thesis, I explore the determinants of protests across 15 post-colonial countries from 1990 to 2010. Specifically, I investigate the direct and mediating impact of global economic dynamics and hardships experienced by populations in these countries. To that end, I employ world systems theory as well as relative deprivation and political opportunity theories. Analyses employ pooled-time series analysis based on national-level data from the Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone (GDELT), as well as data from the World Bank and the Polity IV project, which provide insight into the role of world systems dynamics on social unrest. Analyses …

Who Do You Know: Improving And Exploring The Network Scale-Up Method, Patrick Habecker

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine ways to improve and explore the network scale-up method (NSUM). This dissertation improved the NSUM by proposing a new mean of sums (MoS) estimation process, improving recursive back-estimation techniques, exploring how NSUM design changes effected estimates of personal network size, what predicts having larger personal networks, and the cognitive process used by participants taking a NSUM survey. Data was collected from an address-based survey (n=617) of Nebraskans conducted in 2014 and a series of cognitive interviews (n=19) conducted in 2016.

The MoS estimator better predicted the size of a target group than …

Examining The Interplay Between Spousal And Non-Spousal Social Support And Strain On Trajectories Of Functional Limitations Among Married Older Adults, Scott A. Adams

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Marriage is a key social status related to the distribution of later life disablement. One factor within the marital relationship thought to be consequential for disablement is social support from the spouse. Nonetheless, marriage is not inherently supportive and may also be a source of chronic strain. According to the social support/stress model spousal social support is expected to result in better functional health outcomes while spousal strain is hypothesized to produce poorer functional health in later life. Beyond spousal support and strain, marriage is also embedded in a broader web of emotionally close non-spousal ties that are also likely …

Three Studies Examining The Mechanisms Linking Stress Exposure To Delinquency And Substance Use Among North American Indigenous Adolescents, Dane Steven Hautala

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Objective: The purpose of this dissertation research was to examine in three separate studies the mechanisms linking a variety of stressors to delinquency/substance use among North American Indigenous (i.e., American Indian and Canadian First Nations) youth.

Method: Data for the three empirical chapters come from an eight-wave longitudinal study of 676 Indigenous youth and their caretakers from three U.S. reservations and four Canadian First Nations reserves.

Study 1 Results: The objective was to examine the intergenerational transmission of problem behavior from female caretakers to their children via caretaker stress exposure, psychosocial functioning, and parenting practices. Early caretaker …

Changing Public Opinion Towards Lgb Rights: An Analysis Of Data From The American National Election Studies, 1992-2012, Jacob Paul Absalon

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study uses data from several waves of the American National Election Studies (ANES, 1992-2012) to examine changing attitudes regarding civil rights for Lesbian Gay Bisexual (LGB) individuals. Analyses focus on differences in attitudes toward gays and lesbians generally, attitudes regarding non-discrimination protections, and views about integration into military service during this time frame. Generally, this thesis builds on previous research in Sociology and Political Science regarding the role of status attainment characteristics, demographic markers, and ideological preferences to explain long-term trends in public opinion. Specifically, this study extends prior research by analyzing how membership in particular occupational groups has …

Understanding Transgender Community: Locating Support And Resiliency Using The Minority Stress Model, Rosalind D. Kichler

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The minority stress model (Meyer 2003) predicts stigmatized minorities, like transgender persons, suffer worse mental health due to exposure to discrimination. However support from similarly stigmatized others can ameliorate the effect of discrimination stress. Although gender and sexual minorities are often assumed to have access to and support from “the” LGBTQ community or “the” transgender community, many may not understand themselves as members of this community nor feel supported by it. Therefore it is essential to interrogate what community means to LGBTQ persons, particularly to transgender people for whom a paucity of literature exists. Based on in-depth interviews with 10 …

Fear And Loitering In Los Angeles: Contextualizing Fear In The Efficacy Framework, Benjamin J. Forthun

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Using individual-level survey, and neighborhood-level contextual and social observation data from the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey (L.A. FANS), I extend social disorganization theory by examining the role of fear in understanding the link between neighborhood structure, collective efficacy, and crime. Results indicate that the association between social cohesion and informal control is weakened in neighborhoods with high levels of resident fear. Fear is significantly associated with decreased community efficacy, and it both mediates and moderates the effect of neighborhood disadvantage and disorder on efficacy. Further, the utility of collective efficacy to protect against the effects of adverse neighborhood …

On The Street And On Campus: A Comparison Of Life Course Trajectories Among Homeless And College Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender And Queer Young Adults, Rachel M. Schmitz

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study examines the life course experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) homeless young adults and LGBTQ college students. Though both of these groups have in common their age (i.e. young adults) and LGBTQ identity, college students generally have more resources and are expected to fare better into later life compared to homeless young adults. Despite these disparities, all LGBTQ young people are likely at greater risk for negative health outcomes and social issues due to their status as sexual and/or gender minorities. Little research, however, has simultaneously examined these two groups, and how their life course …

Network Support Variation For Black Women In The United States: A Mobility Study Of Immigrant And Non-Immigrant Black Women, Lesa Annette Johnson

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Connections between socioeconomic status, social capital, and social support have been quite prominent in sociological research. However, such research still largely ignores the experiences of recently arrived African immigrants, particularly those who arrive as refugees. Black immigrants who arrived in the United States since 1965 have included an increasing number of refugees from war-torn, sub-Saharan African countries, such as the recently independent South Sudan. The numbers of women in these refugee roles has steadily increased since 1990. Black refugee women, many with children, bring diverse forms of social capital that influence their social networks and economic mobility, distinguishing them from …

Capturing The Gendiverse: A Test Of The Gender Self-Perception Scale, With Implications For Survey Data And Labor Market Measures, Alian Kasabian

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation assesses a new measure of gender. In doing so, it addresses a glaring inconsistency between how sociologists conceptualize gender and how we measure it (i.e., with sex categories) in most quantitative sociological literature. Research that only measures sex effectively hides the variability in individual social identities that is related to sociological outcomes of interest. Unfortunately, most existing quantitative gender scales are impractical for use in large scale data collection. In this work, I investigated the Gender Self-perception Scale (GSPS) as an alternative survey measure of gender using three projects. For the first project (chapter 2), I used the …

A Mediational Analysis Of The Influence Of Negative Coping Behaviors On Health Outcomes Associated With Adolescent School Bullying, Joseph C. Jochman

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Adolescent school bullying is a significant public health issue with approximately 20% of US adolescents reporting victimization or perpetration in schools. Much prior research has established that school bullying is associated with significant somatic and depressive health consequences. Additionally, prior research has examined the beneficial impact of positive coping strategies on negative health outcomes associated with school bullying. However, given that bully-involved adolescents often have less access to positive coping outlets, less research has examined the influence of negative coping behaviors on health outcomes associated with school bullying. Using the Health Behavior of School Aged Children 2005-2006 dataset, I examine …

A Model For Understanding Structure Versus Agency In The Participation Of Minors In The Commercial Sex Market, Courtney Thrash

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In 2000, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act defined any sex worker under the age of eighteen as a victim of sex trafficking and exploitation, while requiring evidence of coercion for those eighteen and over for the same charge. This definition makes explicit a common conception concerning CSEC, namely, that their status as participants in the sex economy rests upon a lack of personal and legal agency. Research on female sex workers often focuses on their victimization, such as childhood sexual abuse and neglect. Conversely, research on male sex workers often ignores their possible victimization and instead emphasizes their drug use, …

Faculty Parental Status: An Investigation Of Network Homophily, Marginalization, And Supportive Work-Family Academic Culture, Megumi Watanabe

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Serious incompatibility between work and family life among faculty is well known, and various work-family policies have become available to faculty. Due to the traditional academic work culture (e.g., the ideal worker norms and the individualism norms), however, these policies tend to be underused. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an academic work culture that is more supportive of faculty’s work-family needs. Using data collected on tenure-line faculty at a research-intensive Midwestern university, this dissertation pursues three complementary research objectives that provide new insight into the culture of academic work environments. First, based on social identity theory and homophily theory, …

Contextualizing Couples: Three Essays On Inequality, Stress, And Dyadic Functioning As A Longitudinal And Reciprocal Process, Deadric T. Williams

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In this dissertation, I use an integrated theoretical and conceptual model that consists of several theoretical frameworks to examine the following questions: (1) is there a longitudinal and reciprocal association between parental stress/distress and dyadic functioning? (2) does the association change over time? (3) does the association vary across social contexts (e.g., marital status, race/ethnicity, and poverty)? In order to explore these questions, I use longitudinal and dyadic data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study, which follows a cohort of children and their parents from birth to five years of age. Through three separate analytic studies, the results …

What You Don’T Know Can Hurt You: Early Life Course Racial Health Disparities In Undiagnosed Diabetes, Anna C. Bellatorre

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation addresses several issues related to racial health disparities in undiagnosed diabetes in American young adults in a three-article format. The first chapter examines rates of diabetes severity across age-matched samples of young adults from two large nationally representative studies. Although the purpose of this study was to explore the impact of nonresponse on prevalence estimates, I find that the prevalence discrepancies have less to do with which respondents are missing blood samples and more to do with the samples coming from initial samples that are not equivalent.

The second chapter uses an adaptation of the Stress Process Model …

A Stress Process Model Of Arrest Among Homeless Women: Exploring Risk And Protective Factors, Kari C. Gentzler

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Objective: Women constitute one of the fastest-growing segments of both the homeless and incarcerated populations. In addition, homeless women tend to have higher rates of victimization, mental illness, substance use, and criminal justice system involvement compared to non-homeless women, although this body of research is becoming dated. The current study situates homeless women’s involvement in the criminal justice system within the stress process model and proposes that these factors—childhood abuse, psychiatric disorders, and homelessness—act as stressors that increase their risk of arrest. In addition, social support and self-efficacy are examined as potential protective factors that may act as buffers against …

Is Gaining, Losing Or Keeping A Self-Identified Fertility Problem Associated With Changes In Self-Esteem?, Elizabeth A. Richardson

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Because motherhood is an expected and valued identity in the United States, becoming a mother should lead to an increase in self-esteem and perceiving a problem becoming a mother should lead to a decrease in self-esteem. Little research has examined the combined experience of both identifying with a fertility problem and becoming a mother or not over time. Guided by identity theory framework, this study uses two waves of data from the National Survey of Fertility Barriers (NSFB) to examine how change and stability in motherhood status and perceived fertility barrier status is associated with changes in self-esteem among women …

Witnessing Inter-Parental Violence At Home: Adolescents And School Achievement, Renita Dawn Robinson-Tyrance

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Children’s exposure to violence is a serious social problem, but little is known about the educational implications for adolescents witnessing violence between parents. This study uses social learning theory (SLT) to examine the relationship between high school-aged adolescent students who witness parental intimate partner violence (IPV) and academic performance demonstrated by their grade point averages (GPA). A secondary analysis of data collected from the survey of 1,132 adolescent students in a medium sized, suburban/rural city was conducted. Of the respondents, 83% of the students did not witness parental IPV between parents. Students witnessing the most parental IPV had the lowest …

Multiple Motherhoods: An Examination Of Mother Status On Life Satisfaction And Psychological Distress, Kayla M. Pritchard

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Motherhood represents a status that has substantial cultural meaning. The ways in which people think about motherhood, however, tend to be limited to biology. Among partnered or married women, this study seeks to compare variations in motherhood by recognizing women as biological mothers, stepmothers, and double mothers. Double mothers are a previously unexamined category of motherhood that refers to women who are both biological and stepmothers. Using the National Survey of Fertility Barriers, I assess potential differences in life satisfaction and psychological distress across these three mother statuses and two types of non-mothers (voluntary childfree and involuntary childless women). Factors …

The Dynamics Of Network-Religion Autocorrelation In Adolescent Friendship Networks, J Benjamin Cook

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Similarity of religious beliefs and practices among friends, or network-religion autocorrelation, is a common aspect of many social networks. Network-religion autocorrelation is important because it strengthens plausibility structures (Berger 1967), or the combination of beliefs and strong social ties to others who share those beliefs. Plausibility structures support sacred umbrellas (Smith 1998), which may help explain the relative vitality of religiosity in the United States. In this study, Stochastic Actor-Oriented Models (SAOMs) and longitudinal, full network data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) are used to test hypotheses about the dynamics of network-religion autocorrelation in adolescent …

Tentative Transitions And Gendered Pathways: Exploring The Revolving Door Of Young Adult Homelessness, Rachel M. Schmitz

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The number of homeless young adults living in unstable conditions is a growing social problem. However, less is known about the multiple transitions young people experience as they enter into street life and how these pathways differ for males and females. While some young people may run away from home never to return, others may move between housed environments and homelessness, creating a revolving door effect. The homeless experience for young adults can also potentially lead to developmental problems in later life such as the lack of stable employment due to criminal activity and an overall cycle of homelessness that …

Adolescent Depressive Symptoms And Substance Use: The Mediating Influence Of Health Service Utilization, Sarah E. Malone

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

A large number of American adolescents suffer from depression and the consequences have been shown to be detrimental to their well-being. Adolescent substance use is also an increasing social problem due to the high usage rates and negative lifelong consequences for users. This paper explores the relationships between victimization, substance use, psychological health service utilization, and depressive symptoms in a sample of 4,757 adolescents. Using two waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), the results revealed a positive relationship between victimization and adolescent depressive symptoms, even after controlling for several demographic variables and previous …

Does Exclusion From Normative Peer Groups In Early Adolescence Predict The Development Of Substance Use Problems In Early Adulthood?, Cody R. Meyer

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Much of the previous research pertaining to Problem Substance Use has examined genetic predisposition or personality traits associated with substance abuse or dependence. The current research examines a possible relationship between social exclusion and problem substance use. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (waves 1-3), I explore several indicators of social exclusion in adolescence, and examine how they may predict the onset of substance use problems by early adulthood. As discussed herein, there is evidence that suggests that adolescents who are rejected or excluded from normative peer groups are more likely to gravitate towards deviant peer groups, socialize …

Sins Of Our Fathers (And Mothers): Impact Of Parental Incarceration Upon Education Outcomes, Patrick Habecker

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In 2007, it was estimated that 2.3% of all children in the U.S. under the age of 18 had a parent currently in prison or jail (Glaze and Maruschak 2008). A growing body of research on the experiences of children who have had a parent to go prison or jail has exposed a number of detrimental outcomes associated with parental incarceration, including lower education outcomes (Foster and Hagan 2007), higher risk of mental health problems (Farrington et al. 2001), and increased contact with the criminal justice system later in life (Huebner and Gustafson 2007). This study used data from the …