Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Effectiveness Of Group Interventions For Weight Loss For Youth: A Meta-Analytic Review, Monica Carolina Martinez

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Nearly 19.3% of children in the United States have obesity. There are several behavioral weight loss (BWL) programs available for children and adolescents that have proven effective in managing weight. Many of these treatments are delivered to groups of children rather than to individual youth. However, previous reviews of the literature have not explored the unique effects of group treatment modalities. Research has shown that social ties, particularly with peers, have an impact on adolescents' physical activity engagement and dietary habits. Therefore, it is important to explore how the interaction component of group delivered BWL treatments contributes to their …

What Are The Economic Barriers For A More Efficient Adoption Equilibrium? Analyzing The Perceived Challenges Lgbtq+ Persons Face In The Adoption Process, Andrew Schoonover

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

From understanding why adoption matters to drilling down why same sex male couples are not adopting at high rates, more questions are raised than answers found. But all of the complexities and intricacies boil down to one umbrella question: How can the economy shift the equilibrium (i.e., current state of adoption in America) to be more equitable, empowering, and efficient for everyone? Specifically, how can policy choices help increase the demand of gay couples to adopt -- helping to close the gap between gay and lesbian adoption rates? The “lowest hanging fruit” policy remedy for this problem is to alleviate …

A Bible Study Series: The Family-Centered, Church-Supported Paradigm Shift For Raising Children In The Faith At Salem Lutheran Church, Michael J. Nielsen

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

Nielsen, Michael J. “A Bible Study Series: The Family-Centered, Church-Supported Paradigm Shift for Raising Children in The Faith at Salem Lutheran Church.” Doctor of Ministry. Major Applied Project, Concordia Seminary, 2021. 160 pp.

In many Christian churches there is the question: “How do we keep our children after confirmation?” The answer is a simple one: Parents. This MAP examines the relationship of the family and the church when it comes to raising children in the faith. Biblically parents are called to be the primary faith formers in the lives of their children. A multi-part Bible study was created to teach …

School Recess And Changes To Children's Play Opportunities In New York City, Keyonna Hayes

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The policy, No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 in US public schools was designed to improve how children learn and test in schools, but it has resulted in the decline or removal of recess from most schools. This thesis examines two important issues. The first issue is to assess the play opportunities that public elementary schools offer to children, in terms of both the time available for recess and the quality of the spaces and resources for play during recess. The second issue is to learn, alongside the question of the quality of school recess, how parents’ work …

Child Development During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Desirae Thosath

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper examines child care programs and research in the midst of the pandemic to best facilitate healthy child development and mitigate long-term effects both during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Experiences And Challenges In Single Fatherhood: A Literature Review On Single, Custodial Fathers, Emily N. Janikowski

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Households led by single, custodial fathers (SCFs) are increasing in the United States, so the need for further research into this population is critical. To best serve this population, it is important for social work professionals to understand the challenges facing these families, their unique experiences, and the best practices. For this purpose, 33 academic journal articles about SCFs were reviewed and the following seven areas were discussed: (1) fatherhood experiences, (2) overall challenges for SCFs, (3) overall perception of SCFs, (4) economic impact, (5) deviance of youth, (6) academic achievement of the children of SCFs, and (7) applicable interventions. …

Work–Family Conflict In Low-Income Households, Maritza G. Hiciano Ramos

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The United States is the only country not offering paid parental leave. Paid leave is left at the discretion of employers and only a few states offer Paid Family Leave benefits. The FMLA was established to protect workers from losing their jobs in case they needed to care for an elderly person or for their children. However, since value is not placed in family structures there has not been much development in that area. The FMLA fails to account for the grand majority of people in the U.S., especially those of lower socioeconomic status. Moreover, the vast inequalities that exists …

A Needs Assessment For The Utilization Of Child Life Specialist Bereavement Support Services In An Emergency Veterinary Hospital Setting, Jared R. Negin-Fryers

MSU Graduate Theses

Studies indicate that there is an affective attachment bond, and related emotional involvement that exists between the companion animal and their human owners. Patient companion-animal death within the veterinary hospital, is a daily occurrence, with death rates per patient being significantly higher than in human health care. This comparatively higher death rate is due to the commonplace utilization of professionally sanctioned euthanasia to relieve animal pain and suffering. Companion animal death, may elicit grief reactions that are identical to what is experienced upon the death of a family member. A void currently exists in family centered veterinary care in terms …

Parental Self-Efficacy Of The “Unexpected Parent”, Cinthia L. Arbogast

Occupational Therapy Doctorate Capstone Projects

Background: Research focused on the “unexpected parent” is limited. This population of parent is increasing in frequency.

Purpose: The purpose of this capstone study was to provide support to unexpected parents. The study focused on the area of establishing and maintaining routines and consistency as a means to decrease negative behavior in order to improve parental selfefficacy. With improved skills and perceived improved abilities, the aim of this study was to improve this performance of this group of parents during their participation in the occupation of parenting.

Theoretical Framework. The theory driving this research is the occupation-based model called the …

Incarcerated Parenting: How Family Relationships Can Be Beneficial, Bailey Porter

Liberal Arts Capstones

The United States maintains one of the highest incarceration rates in the entire world. The disturbing reality of these mass incarcerations is that they do not exclusively impact the offender, but the friends, family, and most importantly, the children of these incarcerated individuals. A startling number of children in the United States are separated from their biological parents through incarcerations. The effects of separation are rarely considered in legislation.

In the past few years, there has been a rise in programs designed to help maintain relationships between families and incarcerated individuals. One of the goals of these family programs is …

Parentified Then Removed: A Teenager’S Conceptualization Of Family Identity, Katherine Bernard Melcher

Thinking Matters Symposium Archive

Family identity construction and the socially accepted definition of family have evolved over time. From the idyllic nuclear family of the 1950s to the contemporary examples that include step parents, grandparents, same sex parents and legal guardians have transformed the way family is conceptualized. The current research is typically concerned with creating an operational definition of family, particularly for divorced families; however, there is a gap in the research focused on how children experience and identify with family identity construction. This is especially consequential for children who have been removed from their family home by child protective services. This narrative …

“Dad, Do You Want To Play With Me?” The Impact Of Fathers Who Make Time For Play, Michael S. Sitton

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

With an increase in the pace of life in the United States, there comes a recognition of the importance of prioritizing time, especially for fathers. Of the two-thirds of children who live with their father, only a percentage of them have fathers who report regular play time with their children. However, literature in the field does not explain specifically whether or not this play between father and child influences the child’s later risk taking behaviors in high school. Using data from the 2003 Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), waves 3, 4, and 6, this quantitative study sought to …

Conceptualizing The Emergence Of Social Capital In Young Children, Courtney Wong

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper explores the concept of social capital as it relates to children. Three major theorists, Coleman (1988), Putnam (1995), and Bourdieu (1986), offer different conceptualizations of social capital, but all agree that social capital exists within relationships amongst people and allows them to facilitate an action or receive some sort of benefit. Within much of social capital literature, children are mostly viewed as passive recipients of social capital from their parents and teachers, as opposed to being acknowledged as creators of their own social capital. More recent research is starting to recognize the latter and to conceptualize how children, …

A Study Exploring Parents’ And Occupational Therapists Views On Facilitating Social And Emotional Development, Salena C. Neuwar

Honors College Theses

This study examined how parents of a child with a disability and the child's occupational therapist each facilitate social and emotional development among children who have or are currently receiving occupational therapy services. This study first served to identify, through interviews, what social and emotional skills are important individually to the parent and the occupational therapist that the child gains. Through interviews, the researcher investigated the perceptions of how parents and occupational therapists facilitate social and emotional skills. The location of the therapy session was found to be a vital component among parent and occupational therapist interaction. Finally, this research …

The Predictive Relationship Between Emotional Expressiveness And Discussing Death With Children: An Exploratory Study With Online College Parents, Sally A. Gill

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Death is a sensitive topic, and discussing death with children may be difficult for parents, especially parents who are uncomfortable with emotional expression. Many factors are associated with parents' decision to discuss death; however, a dearth of recent literature existed examining the role of parental emotional expressiveness and discussing death with children. Using Jackson's communications theory within the broader family systems theory, this exploratory non-experimental quantitative study examined if one or more of the selected variables of parents' emotional expressiveness, parents' gender, and any previous discussions about death with a child adequately predicted the age of a child when parents …

The Presentation Of Childhood Parental Divorce In Adulthood: A Retrospective Phenomenological Study, Sheala Catherine Morrison

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

There has been a wealth of research aimed at developing an understanding of the way in which the experience of divorce impacts children. However, adult children of divorce have been widely underrepresented in this literature, much of which is outdated being at least ten years old. With shifting societal attitudes and the transformation of the family system since the 1990's it is crucial that the research is updated in order to stay up on the way children and families are impacted in today's society. The purpose of this study was to hear directly from adults who experienced their parents' divorce …

Subjective Well-Being Of Adolescents: Single- Versus Two-Parent Households, Diana Fletcher

Honors Theses

Adolescent well-being is an important issue in society today. There are a growing number of children being raised in single-parent households, which raises questions as to whether or not these children are worse off than children raised in two-parent households. Using the 2010 American Time Use Survey Well-Being Module, this study investigates if the subjective well-being of children raised in single-parent households is worse than that of children raised in a two-parent household. Two measures of subjective well-being-the U-index and net affect-are analyzed. The U-index measures the proportion of time a respondent spends in an unpleasant state and net affect …

Resources And Relationships: Food Insecurity And Social Capital Among Middle School Students, Don Edward Willis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the relationship between food insecurity and Social capital among 5th-7th graders attending an intermediate school in Northwest Arkansas where nearly 70 percent of students participate in the free or reduced lunch program. The central research questions are: Does Social capital have a direct impact on children's food insecurity? And, does Social capital mediate the influence of negative circumstances on children's food insecurity? This study finds that Social capital does have a significant association with food insecurity, even when controlling for multiple demographic and circumstantial factors. However, there appears to be no mediation of circumstance by Social capital. …

Do Attitudes About Spoiling Children Affect Attitudes Regarding What Infants Need For Early Social-Emotional Development, Kathleen Westover

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Infants that are raised in a warm loving environment have an increased probability of growing into responsible loving adults. Infants have the ability to make their needs known through different cues such as crying. Many parents do not understand how to respond appropriately to their infant’s cues. For instance many parents believe that if you pick up an infant every time they cry they will become spoiled. Researchers have studied the effects of responding appropriately to an infant. Infants who have their needs met when they demonstrate signs of distress learn that the world is a safe place for exploration. …

The Effects Of Parentification, Attachment, Family-Of-Origin Dysfunction And Health On Depression: A Comparative Study Between Gender And The Ethnic Groups Of South Koreans And Caucasian Americans, Sunnie Giles

Theses and Dissertations

Parentification is a process where children or adolescents assume adult roles before they are emotionally or developmentally ready, which, in turn, disrupts the development of healthy, secure attachment in childhood. Using 1,001 men and women from South Korea and the United States with equal division between males and females and multiple group comparison technique in structural equation modeling, this paper examined the relationship between parentification during childhood and depression during adulthood. It explores the cross-sectional long-term effects of parentification into adulthood, using a retrospective survey technique. This study also confirmed previous research findings that attachment, physical health and family-of-origin dysfunction, …

Examining Activity Levels And Motor Proficiency: A Comparison Of Children Who Are Overweight And At A Healthy Weight To Their Parents And Peers, Aaron Copeland, Maresa Madsen, Riley Phelps, Brandon Richards

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine relationships and differences between motor proficiency, activity level, and parental activity level in children who are at a healthy weight and children who are overweight or obese.

Methods: Forty-four children (26 children at a healthy weight and 18 children who were overweight or obese) between the ages of 8-16 (BMI: 14.3-43.6 kg/m2) and 36 parents (BMI: 18.1-44.7) participated in this study. Children and parents wore StepWatch activity monitors (SAM) to measure activity levels over a 72 hour period. Tests reflecting several determinants of motor performance were also administered to …

Positive Language In The Parent-Child Relationship: Creating An Educational Video For Parents, Katherine Y. Upchurch

Psychology and Child Development

Parenting is a role recognized across the world for centuries. It is complex and diverse, yet a common feature of cultures encompassing the majority of the world. Classifications of parenting characteristics, such as the attachment or overall parenting style, have been created to try and understand the inner-workings of the parent-child relationship. It has been shown that ethnicities, races, cultures, and/or socioeconomic classes must be taken into account when evaluating the usefulness of the various classifications. These differences in lifestyle carry diverse values and beliefs that are instilled in the family system, affecting preferred styles of parenting and their influences …

"All The World's A Stage": Parental Ethnotheories And Children's Extracurricular Activities, Mary Annette Grove

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the United States, educators, parents, policy makers, politicians, the media, researchers, and practitioners in many academic fields have taken an interest in outcomes for children aged 6 to 14 who participate in extracurricular activities outside of school time. Very little research examines parents' beliefs about and behaviors surrounding their children's participation in extracurricular activities. Yet, it may be parents' beliefs that guide choices about and persistence in extracurricular activities. This study used a phenomenonlogical and qualitative approach toward understanding parents' ideas and beliefs about their child's participation in extracurricular activities. These ideas and beliefs or parental ethnotheories are what …

Psychometric Evaluation Of An Instrument For Assessing Policy Outcomes For Families With Children Who Have Severe Developmental Disabilities: The Beach Center Family Quality Of Life Scale, Joni Taylor Mcfelea

Health Services Research Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Beach Center Family Quality of Life Scale (BCFQLS) in a sample of families with children who have severe developmental disabilities. The study sought to determine whether or not the scale could be used to measure the quality of life of such families and to differentiate between the quality of life of two family groups—those whose child lives in the family home and those whose child lives outside the family home.

The study used an observational, cross-sectional design and both qualitative and quantitative methods. Self-identified primary caregivers of …

Social Disadvantage And Family Violence: Neighborhood Effects On Attitudes About Intimate Partner Violence And Corporal Punishment, Deeanna M. Button

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Family violence is widespread and occurs everyday in the United States. The consequences of the various forms of family violence and physical discipline are both immediate and long lasting. As nearly every family is victimized by some type of family violence (Payne and Gainey 2005), it is important that all dynamics of family life be explored. Extending the focus of family violence risk factors to include neighborhood experiences allows for the potential development of different social policies. The purpose of this thesis was to analyze the effects of perceived neighborhood characteristics, in addition to a macro-level measure of crime, on …

The Personal Impact On Female Therapists From Working With Sexually-Abused Children, Kinsey Drouet Pistorius

Theses and Dissertations

Although previous research has established that therapists who work with sexually-abused children experience symptoms of vicarious trauma, few studies have addressed the process by which the therapist is affected. In order to understand therapists' personal experiences and how working with sexually-abused children impacts them in their personal lives, the researcher interviewed therapists who were currently working with this specific population. Data analysis was completed by using ethnographic research methods and three major themes emerged during the interviews. The first theme included the "job characteristics" inherent in working with sexually-abused children. This theme refers to how the therapists entered the field …

The Relationship Between Parenting Stress And Family Cohesion In Non-Abusing Parents Of Sexually Traumatized Children, Danielle Marie Bronk

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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It Does Take A Village To Raise A Child, Rebecca J. Boyd

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Utilizing Cullen's (1994) Social Support Theory and Hunter's (1985) three dimensions of social life, this study is a quantitative, cross-sectional secondary data analysis designed to examine the relationship between institutional social support and rates of juvenile crime for counties and cities in Virginia for the year 2000. Resting on the contention that an inverse, significant relationship exists between measures of institutional support and rates of juvenile property and violent crime, this study examines types of support provided by the institutions of family, school, and the government. These measures of institutional support include 1) familial support: median income, marriage support; 2) …

Art Museums And The Family Experience: How Museums Can Help Adults Become Effective Guides For Children In Their Care, Sarah J. Stewart

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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The Effects Of Group Counseling On The Self-Esteem, Anxiety, And Behavior Of Children With Deployed Parents, Nancy Taylor Mitchum

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a six-session group counseling intervention for children who had a parent experiencing military-induced deployment. Participants were 65 children (30 boys, 35 girls) of enlisted military personnel attending elementary schools near the Norfolk Naval Base. Elementary school counselors facilitated the counseling groups.

An experimental/control group pretest-posttest design was employed. Independent variables were the child's participation in the Children of Deployed Parents-Group/control group, child gender and age. Dependent variables were self-esteem, anxiety, and behavior as measured by the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC), the Child …