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Theses and Dissertations

2007

Articles 1 - 15 of 15

Full-Text Articles in Family, Life Course, and Society

A Model Of The Relationship Of Perceived Mental And Emotional Problems In The Family-Of-Origin On Marital Satisfaction Of Adult Offspring, Benjamin Oviatt Weinheimer Dec 2007

A Model Of The Relationship Of Perceived Mental And Emotional Problems In The Family-Of-Origin On Marital Satisfaction Of Adult Offspring, Benjamin Oviatt Weinheimer

Theses and Dissertations

The effects of perceived mental/emotional problems (psychopathology) in the family-of-origin on adult offspring marital satisfaction was tested in a model considering the mediating variables of parental marital satisfaction, mother-child relationship quality, father-child relationship quality, and resolution of issues from the family-of-origin. The nationally representative sample (n = 802) drawn from the RELATionship Evaluation (RELATE) database included mostly college educated, lower-middle-class individuals in their first marriage. This sample was used to test a structural equation model that results showed fit the data well. Results showed that historical (distal) factors (such as psychopathology in the family-of-origin) explain only a small portion of …

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Pornography Viewing As Attachment Trauma In Pair-Bond Relationships-A Theoretical Model Of Mechanisms., Spencer T. Zitzman Nov 2007

Pornography Viewing As Attachment Trauma In Pair-Bond Relationships-A Theoretical Model Of Mechanisms., Spencer T. Zitzman

Theses and Dissertations

Online sexual activities, including pornography use, have drastically increased in recent years. Many studies have examined the impact that pornography use can have on marriages and families. One of the key findings has been that pornography use can negatively impact trust in relationships. This study focused on understanding the mechanisms involved when a husband's pornography use negatively impacts his marital relationship and his wife's emotional well-being. Through qualitative analysis of interviews of 14 wives who received therapy because of their husband's pornography use, the analytic team found (1) a breakdown of expectations and assumptions central to the marriage, (2) a …

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Gender Differences And Similarities In The Work-Family Interface: The Importance Of Considering Family Life Stages, Giuseppe Martinengo Oct 2007

Gender Differences And Similarities In The Work-Family Interface: The Importance Of Considering Family Life Stages, Giuseppe Martinengo

Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the importance of considering the interaction between gender and family life stages to properly understand gender similarities and differences in the work and family interface. Data for this study come from the IBM 2004 Global Work and Life Issues Survey representing 79 countries (N=41,813). This study is a first step toward a better understanding of similarities and differences among male and female workers across the life course and it shows that work, family and life outcomes are similar across groups, independent of life stages or gender. Six family life stage groups were created: no children and …

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A Revision Of The Marital Status Inventory: Reliability And Validity With Marital And Remarital Couples, Rachel V. Jamieson Oct 2007

A Revision Of The Marital Status Inventory: Reliability And Validity With Marital And Remarital Couples, Rachel V. Jamieson

Theses and Dissertations

Predicting divorce potential has been of interest to researchers and clinicians. The Marital Status Inventory (Weiss & Ceretto, 1980) was developed to provide information about clients' perceived divorce potential. The MSI has been widely used but there have been complaints about the negatively worded items from clients, therapists, and researchers. Therefore, this study compared a revised form of the MSI (MSI-R has no negatively worded items) with the original format. There were three purposes of the study. The first was to assess the reliability and validity of the MSI-R. The second purpose was to see if the MSI-R continued to …

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Disclosure Of Abuse As A Moderating Variable For Internalized Shame In Adult Survivors Of Childhood Sexual Abuse, Ami Mariko Hood Frost Sep 2007

Disclosure Of Abuse As A Moderating Variable For Internalized Shame In Adult Survivors Of Childhood Sexual Abuse, Ami Mariko Hood Frost

Theses and Dissertations

Although previous research has established a correlation between childhood sexual abuse and internalized shame in adult survivors, very little research has been done to examine how disclosure affects that correlation. An adult female sample of survivors of childhood sexual abuse (N=467) were surveyed to determine a possible moderating effect of disclosure on internalized shame. It was predicted that 1) severity of abuse would be a significant predictor of internalized shame; 2) disclosure would be a significant predictor of internalized shame; and 3) disclosure would moderate the relationship between severity of abuse and internalized shame. Through structural equation modeling using AMOS, …

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Volunteerism And Marital Quality Among Lds Senior Missionary Couples, Megan Oka Aug 2007

Volunteerism And Marital Quality Among Lds Senior Missionary Couples, Megan Oka

Theses and Dissertations

Although research has been conducted on marriage and volunteerism in later life, little is known about the impact of volunteerism on marital quality, particularly intense volunteer experiences. Missionary couples for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) leave their homes for a period ranging from 6-18 months and dedicate the majority of their time to working in church assignments. Qualitative interviews were collected from couples who had served senior couples missions for the LDS Church and returned home in the last year. The mean age of participants was 69, and the mean length of marriage for couples was …

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Sexual Satisfaction In Older Marriages: Effects Of Family-Of-Origin Distress And Marital Distress, Luke Elias Wilson Jul 2007

Sexual Satisfaction In Older Marriages: Effects Of Family-Of-Origin Distress And Marital Distress, Luke Elias Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine how sexual satisfaction in older marriages (marriages with at least one spouse between the ages of 55 and 75) was affected by family-of-origin distress (recent measure of recollection of childhood experiences) and marital distress (measure of current marital relationship) for husbands and wives. The hypotheses of this study were that both family-of-origin distress and marital distress would have negative effects on sexual satisfaction for older couples, with marital distress having a direct, negative effect on sexual satisfaction and with family-of-origin distress having an indirect, negative effect on sexual satisfaction through its influence …

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The Development Of Ready-A (Ready For Adolescents): An Adolescent Premarital Education Inventory, Lorinda A. Gutierrez Jul 2007

The Development Of Ready-A (Ready For Adolescents): An Adolescent Premarital Education Inventory, Lorinda A. Gutierrez

Theses and Dissertations

Learning about romantic relationships can be one of the central features of adolescence. However, there are not many useful and scholarly tools for adolescents to evaluate themselves and their relationship competence. Such tools can be helpful in the premarital education process. READY is a premarital assessment questionnaire instrument that is used for such purposes but it was designed for use with adults ages 18 and over. In this study READY for Adolescents (READY-A) was developed as a revision and extension of READY with age-appropriate questions to be used with adolescents. A review of literature on adolescent romantic relationships and factors …

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Paths Toward Impulsive Buying: The Effect Of Credit Use And Debt Avoidance On The Paths Between Money Attitudes And Impulsive Buying Among U.S. College Students, Jacob Prior Sybrowsky Jun 2007

Paths Toward Impulsive Buying: The Effect Of Credit Use And Debt Avoidance On The Paths Between Money Attitudes And Impulsive Buying Among U.S. College Students, Jacob Prior Sybrowsky

Theses and Dissertations

Money attitudes modeled in the home are an important part of a child's economic socialization. Although not always labeled as such, earlier literature clearly addressed this type of child learning through observation, interaction, and direct familial involvement (Rettig, 1986). Families operate as one of society's most salient economic socializing agents as they provide environments conducive to human development, information networks, role models, and grants and exchanges (Rettig, 1983). The research reported here addresses the economic socialization of children and their money attitudes as emerging adults. The current study investigated the role of money attitudes (power, anxiety, and distrust) by examining …

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Therapists' Perceived Influence Of Language: Second Language Spanish Speaking Therapists With Native Spanish-Speaking Clients, Cameron D. Mount Jun 2007

Therapists' Perceived Influence Of Language: Second Language Spanish Speaking Therapists With Native Spanish-Speaking Clients, Cameron D. Mount

Theses and Dissertations

Experiences of the bilingual client in therapy have received attention in the literature but accounts of the experience of the bilingual therapist are strikingly sparse. The purpose of this study was to focus on the bilingual therapist's perception of the impact of language on the therapeutic process. To achieve this goal, the researcher interviewed therapists who speak Spanish as a second language and work with native Spanish-speaking clients. Data analysis was completed using ethnographic research methods, which resulted in the emergence of three themes. The first theme included therapists' perceived obstacles to second-language therapy. Each of the participants in the …

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Interactions Among Italian Preschool-Age Children: Aggression, Victimization, And Sociometric Status, Shawna J. Marshall Jun 2007

Interactions Among Italian Preschool-Age Children: Aggression, Victimization, And Sociometric Status, Shawna J. Marshall

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined social interactions between Italian preschoolers based upon sociometric status groupings. The sample consisted of 267 Italian preschoolers (mean age 64 months) taken from early childhood classrooms in southern Italy. Drawing on previous research, preschoolers' physical and relational aggression and physical and relational victimization as measured by peer nominations were analyzed. Structural equation modeling using Mplus was used to test the model, and SPSS 15 was used to run analyses of variance (ANOVAs) to examine the interaction between sociometric status and preschoolers' behaviors toward peers. Findings generally support previous research with American children as well as cross-cultural research …

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The Development Of The Remarital Assessment Questionnaire For Divorced Persons (Raq-D), Derrel Jay Higgins May 2007

The Development Of The Remarital Assessment Questionnaire For Divorced Persons (Raq-D), Derrel Jay Higgins

Theses and Dissertations

The development of the Remarital Assessment Questionnaire for Divorced Persons (RAQ-D) is presented. Steps of development of the questionnaire are outlined: a review of remarital literature, interviews with remarried couples, the creation of a pool of items, review of the items by clinicians, and the development of a preliminary questionnaire. Data were collected through the internet. An Exploratory Factor Analysis of the data yielded scales relating to adjustment areas that are specific to remarital couples. The resulting scales exhibited acceptable level of internal consistency. Psychometric properties of the resulting scales are reported. Implications and recommendations of further development of the …

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Economic Hardship And Children's Social Withdrawal In Romanian Families, Jennifer Denise Pearson Apr 2007

Economic Hardship And Children's Social Withdrawal In Romanian Families, Jennifer Denise Pearson

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the impact of perceived economic hardship on family processes and children's socially withdrawn (reticent) behaviors in Romania. The sample consisted of 121 Romanian mothers and fathers of 4-5 year old children, as well as children's kindergarten teachers. Drawing on Conger and colleagues' family stress model of economic hardship, the associations among mothers' and fathers' ratings of economic hardship, depression, marital conflict, psychologically controlling parenting, and teacher ratings of child social withdrawal were analyzed. Structural equation modeling using AMOS 7.0 was used to test the model. Findings generally support earlier studies with European American families, as well as …

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Religion And The Everyday Ritual Of Home Life: A Comparison Of Higher And Lower Family Functioning Groups, Rachel Wadsworth Loser Apr 2007

Religion And The Everyday Ritual Of Home Life: A Comparison Of Higher And Lower Family Functioning Groups, Rachel Wadsworth Loser

Theses and Dissertations

As scholarly interest in family religiosity has grown, scholars have called for a closer look at proximal measures of religiosity that are more connected to the individual and familial daily experience (Mahoney et al., 1999). The purpose of this paper is to explore in detail how religion and family religious rituals relate to, interface with, and affect the day-to-day activity of family life. It includes qualitative analysis of interviews with highly religious parents and children in 67 families that belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Grounded theory was employed to analyze the data and a conceptual …

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Is Marriage Education Effective? A Meta-Analytic Review Of Marriage Education Programs, Elizabeth Brinton Fawcett Jan 2007

Is Marriage Education Effective? A Meta-Analytic Review Of Marriage Education Programs, Elizabeth Brinton Fawcett

Theses and Dissertations

In the past few decades, several meta-analytic studies have attempted to answer the question: Is marriage education effective (Carroll & Doherty, 2003; Halford, Markman, Kline & Stanley, 2003; Reardon-Anderson, Stagner, Macomber, & Murray, 2004)? However, previous meta-analytic studies have been somewhat limited in their conclusions because they have reviewed a narrow portion of the marriage education spectrum (e.g. premarital education only, Carroll & Doherty, 2003), because they focused only on one particular program (e.g, Couples Communication, Butler & Wampler, 1999), because they failed to differentiate marital therapy from marital education programs (Reardon-Anderson et al., 2005), or because they excluded much …

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