Family, Life Course, and Society Commons^™

Relationship Violence: Risk Factors For Adolescents, Antionette Wall

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

The term domestic violence usually elicits a picture of an adult relationship where the man batters a woman. This picture is an accurate picture, but there are other individuals who are affected by domestic violence. Couple from all socioeconomic backgrounds, including homosexual and adolescent couples can face domestic violence situations. Research on adolescent relationship violence is fairly recent. Adolescents seem to be a population missed by general society when it comes to being involved in relationship violence. This paper strives to examine risk factors such as self-esteem, rigid sex-role ideas, parents‟ in violent relationships, and friends who are in violent …

Becoming Mom: Understanding Challenges And Presentations Of Self Among Mothers, Annakeiko Frink Reichel

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

When a woman becomes a mother it is arguably one of the most life changing and defining moments of their lives. Becoming a mom and the emotions that are involved in the process are often a neglected topic in the United States. It is clear that the social world assumes mothers will automatically adjust to the role of being a mom without asking questions such as, what are the challenges moms face after having children? Or more importantly, how is a mother’s identity shaped after having children and while adjusting to the role as mom? The first author (AR) became …

Research Brief: "Military Parents’ Perceptions Of Public School Support For Their Children", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This study examines the perceptions of school climates by military connected parents, and the effect on school culture and student engagement. The findings in this study imply that military families do not feel that educators understand complex issues associated with military connected individuals, and that districts should facilitate training programs for teachers and social workers. In the future, researchers should focus on collecting data from geographically diverse areas, as well as assess different factors, such as school curriculum and deployment length of family members.

When Caring Hurts: The Work Of Strained Relationships In Transnational Families, Valerie Francisco

Faculty Publications, Sociology

The normative conception of care work is described through qualities of nurturance, love and warmth in the intimate relationships of family members. However, the work of caring for family draws from a range of affects, from warmhearted to reticent. Applied to studies of transnational families, scholars have shown that children of migrants demonstrate resentment and indignation towards their parents abroad because of their absence. Based on the definition of care work as nurturance, transnational children narrate the emotional distance to their migrant parents with cynicism. Yet, children left behind still attend to the necessary work needed to keep their families …

Ageism, Honesty, And Trust, Eric Schniter, Timothy W. Shields

ESI Publications

Age-based discrimination is considered undesirable, yet we know little about age stereotypes and their effects on honesty and trust. To investigate this aspect of ageism, we presented older adults (over age 50) and younger adults (under age 25) with incentivized belief elicitation tasks about anticipated interaction behaviors and then a series of same, different, and unknown-aged group interactions in a strategic-communication game. All adults shared consensual stereotypes about uncooperative younger adults and cooperative older adults that demonstrated “wisdom of crowds”. While the out-group was consistently stereotyped as relatively different and more dishonest and suspicious than observed to be, the in-group …

Association Between Participation In Organized Sports And Positive Youth Development Among Grade School Students, Jennifer Wilenta

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This quantitative study aims to understand the role of organized sports in youth development from a parental perspective. Specifically, it addresses whether grammar school-aged children (Mean Age = 9) who participate in organized sports have higher levels of positive youth development (PYD) compared to those who do not participate or who minimally participate. This study also explores the barriers to participation for those who do not participate. The sample was drawn from the two public grammar schools in Secaucus, N.J. during the 2012-13 academic year.

The major findings of this study do not show a difference in PYD levels based …

Physical Child Abuse And Cultural Differences In Reporting, Emily Frances Reed

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Previous research using both National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) data and other sources has found that biases do exist with regard to racial differences. The current study will build on past research of biases in the Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement and reporting. This study uses a secondary data set, the 2009 NCANDS dataset; which consists of child specific data of all investigated reports of maltreatment to state CPS agencies. This research seeks to determine if there are disparities in cases reported to and substantiated by CPS as reflected by race (Black, White, & Hispanic children) and …

Development And Testing Of The Home Safety And Beautification Checklist With Mothers Referred For Child Neglect And Substance Abuse, Michelle Pitts

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death among children in the United States accounting for nearly 40 percent of deaths in this age group. Approximately 50 percent of nonfatal injuries, and 40 percent of fatalities, occur in and around the home. Elevated rates of child injury in the home environment are associated with parental substance abuse and neglectful behaviors. Childhood injuries are preventable, yet practical and cost-effective measures to identify child home safety risks are limited. This study involved a retrospective preliminary examination of the Home Safety and Beautification Checklist (HSBC) in a sample of drug-abusing mothers referred by …

Birth Cohort Changes In The Association Between College Education And Religious Non-Affiliation, Philip Schwadel

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

This article examines the changing association between higher education and reporting no religious affiliation in the United States. I argue that increases in higher education have led to a decline in the individual-level effect of college education on religious non-affiliation. Results from hierarchical age-period-cohort models using more than three and a half decades of repeated cross-sectional survey data demonstrate that the strong, positive effect of college education on reporti ti ng no religious affiliation declines precipitously across birth cohorts. Specifically, a bachelor’s degree has no effect on non-affiliation by the 1965–69 cohort, and a negative effect for the 1970s cohorts. …

Family Presence During Resuscitation Of Adults: The Impact Of An Online Learning Module On Critical Care Nurses' Perception And Self-Confidence, Kelly Powers

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Family presence during resuscitation (FPDR) involves offering family members the option to remain with their loved one who is undergoing life-saving measures. FPDR has been shown to enhance comfort and facilitate grieving, and 90% to 100% of patients and family members support it as an option. However, critical care nurses are not fully supportive of FPDR and approximately only one-third implement it in their care of patients. The perceived risks of FPDR are cited as a primary reason for lack of support and implementation. Yet, the perceived risks have not been proven, while the benefits have been established in research. …

Relationship Between Child Behavior Problems, Parental Stress, Child Abuse Potential, And Substance Use Among Mothers In The Child Welfare System, Kendra Tracy

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Substance abuse, elevated levels of child behavior problems, and high stress are common among mothers who maltreat their children. However, there is a dearth of research that investigates variables associated with specific types of maltreatment, such as child neglect. Complicating matters, contradictory results between studies have been found among the available research. The present study extends research in this area by investigating the relationships between substance abuse, child behavior problems, parental stress, and child abuse potential in a sample of neglectful mothers with co-occurring substance use disorders. A model is proposed in which parental stress mediates the relationship between child …

Executive Control In Hispanic Children: Considering Linguistic And Sociocultural Factors, Miriam M. Martinez

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Executive control represents a collection of high-order cognitive processes that are associated with important child outcomes, including academic achievement and social competencies. Despite the burgeoning interest in examining the development of executive control, less is known about the development of these skills among ethnic minority children. Hispanic children are currently the largest ethnic minority group in the United States and their diverse sociocultural and linguistic backgrounds provide an excellent context to study the influence of linguistic and sociocultural factors on the development of child executive control. The purpose of the three complementary studies reported in this dissertation is to contribute …

Threatening The Fabric Of Our Society: Divorce In Modern Societies, Kirsten Glaeser

Oglethorpe Journal of Undergraduate Research

With fifty percent of marriages ending in a divorce, it is a prevalent occurrence within modern day society. Divorce has become a reality for some families, allowing society to readjust and reconstruct the family paradigm. Despite the negativity that once plagued a recently divorced familie, divorce has become such a common situation within society that the effects are no longer as drastic as they once were; society has learned how to interact with and incorporate divorced families. Society itself is also not as affected by a divorce because it contributes to a couple’s definition of commitment. With the increase of …

Work-Family Conflict: The Effects Of Religious Context On Married Women’S Participation In The Labor Force, Jenna Griebel Rogers, Aaron B. Franzen

Faculty Publications

Past work shows religion’s effect on women’s career decisions, particularly when these decisions involve work-family conflict. This study argues that the religious context of a geographic area also influences women’s solutions to work-family conflict through more or less pervasive normative expectations within the community regarding women’s roles and responsibilities to the family. We use the American Community Survey linked with community-level religious proportions to test the relationship between religious contexts and women’s participation in the labor force in the contiguous United States–2054 census geographic areas. Using spatial analysis, we find that community religious concentration is related to the proportion of …

The Importance Of Access To Benefits Under The Family Medical Leave Act For Low-Income Families For Bonding And Attachment Facilitation With A Fragile Infant And The Role Of The Social Worker, Theresa Stewart Moran

21st Century Social Justice

Lack of universal family leave discriminates against low-income families with infants who require care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Birth complications tend to occur more frequently in families living with low socioeconomic status, placing a disproportionate burden on an already vulnerable population. Parents in this group tend to be employed in jobs that do not include the benefit of parental leave. Considering that attachment relationships form as the result of bonding transactions during a critical time in development, limiting contact curtails secure attachment. This, combined with other risk factors, increase the odds of lifelong negative outcomes. Family leave policy …

Transition From An M1 To A Mixed Neuroinflammatory Phenotype Increases Amyloid Deposition In App/Ps1 Transgenic Mice, Erica M. Weekman, Tiffany L. Sudduth, Erin L. Abner, Gabriel J. Popa, Michael D. Mendenhall, Holly M. Brothers, Kaitlyn Braun, Abigail Greenstein, Donna M. Wilcock

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: The polarization to different neuroinflammatory phenotypes has been described in early Alzheimer's disease, yet the impact of these phenotypes on amyloid-beta (Aβ) pathology remains unknown. Short-term studies show that induction of an M1 neuroinflammatory phenotype reduces Aβ, but long-term studies have not been performed that track the neuroinflammatory phenotype.

METHODS: Wild-type and APP/PS1 transgenic mice aged 3 to 4 months received a bilateral intracranial injection of adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors expressing IFNγ or green fluorescent protein in the frontal cortex and hippocampus. Mice were sacrificed 4 or 6 months post-injection. ELISA measurements were used for IFNγ protein levels and …

Recent African Immigrants’ Fatherhood Experiences In America: The Changing Role Of Fathers, Zacharia N. Nchinda

Trotter Review

This article examines the lived experiences of recent African immigrant fathers in the United States. It focuses specifically on recent African immigrant fathers with African women as wives and children below the age of 18. Its aim is a better understanding of these fathers’ involvement in the life of their children and the changes immigration has forced upon the fathers. Information for the study emanates from interviews carried out with African immigrant fathers in the Milwaukee area, supplemented by my knowledge of African immigrant communities. The categorization of the data uses a construct established by the mid-1990s DADS Project initiative …

The Effects Of Community Support On Posttraumatic Growth Outcomes For Parents Of Children With Chronic Illness, Colleen Gannon

Theses and Dissertations

Parents of children with chronic illnesses face many stressors on multiple fronts as a result of their child's care needs. Posttraumatic growth is positive psychological outcomes of stress for those who have experienced a traumatic event, such as the diagnosis of a child with a chronic illness. While much is known about the challenges of caring for a child with a chronic condition, there is little research on these parent's growth outcomes. Of the research that does exist, much focuses on internal predictors of posttraumatic growth, such as personality characteristics. The purpose of this study is to begin to investigate …

'Would You Let Your Daughter Color Her Hair Blue?', Rebekah Mccloud

UCF Forum

I recently took a ride on the new SunRail. I was among the throng onboard for a free ride and to see, as Dr. Seuss would say, “Oh, the places I could go.” When I entered the overstuffed car, a young woman immediately stood up and said to me, “Here, Momma, take my seat.” And I did. I thanked her and commented about the kindness of her gesture.

Related Foster Parents Less Likely To Receive Support Services Compared With Nonrelative Foster Parents, Wendy A. Walsh, Marybeth J. Mattingly

Carsey Publications

This brief identifies gaps in support services among foster parents using data from a nationally representative survey of children involved in the child welfare system (the second National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being). Authors Wendy Walsh and Marybeth Mattingly report that the percentage of foster parents who received recent support services (within a six month timeframe) varies dramatically by foster placement and support service type. Kinship foster parents (both formal and informal) in all households regardless of poverty status are less likely to have received training, used respite care, or participated in peer support groups in the past six …

Marriage And Child Bearing, Kong Weng Ho

Research Collection School Of Economics

This chapter considers the impact of existing incentives and policies to encourage marriage and child-birth, and other direct and indirect ways to raise the total fertility rate (TFR).

Adult Third Culture Kids: Does Their Concept Of Home Have An Impact On Their Career Paths?, Kelly B. Wisecarver

Capstone Collection

For decades, social scientists have been conducting studies about Third Culture Kids (TCKs). TCKs are children who have been raised outside of their passport countries as a result of their parents’ professions abroad. One sociologist refers to TCKs as “prototype citizens of the future,” citing their backgrounds a playing a role in today’s increasingly globalized world. How have TCKs’ multicultural backgrounds and experiences shaped them? What types of professions are they prone to? What qualities and characteristics do they commonly share and why are they an important group to study? My capstone aims to address these questions.

The combination of …

Parenting Profiles: Using A Person-Centered Approach To Examine Patterns Of Parenting In Early Head Start Parents, Jan Esteraich

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The current study examined grouping patterns of parenting indicators in a low income-sample, using a person-oriented approach. Data were utilized from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project (EHSREP; 1996-2010). A subset of the data that included parent interviews and video-taped parent-child observations when child was 36 months old, was examined (n=2,121). Four parent behavior indicators and two context indicators were selected to define the profile groupings: parent supportiveness, frequency of shared bookreading, parent-child activities; type of discipline; parent distress and family conflict. These six indicators were examined using latent profile analysis. Four distinct parenting profiles emerged: supportive, engaged …

Parenting Behaviors, Adolescent Depressive Symptoms, And Problem Behavior: The Role Of Self-Esteem And School Adjustment Difficulties Among Chinese Adolescents, Cixin Wang, Yan Ruth Xia, Wenzhen Li, Stephan M. Wilson, Kevin Bush, Gary Peterson

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Cross-sectional data from 589 Chinese adolescents were used to investigate whether parenting behaviors are directly or indirectly (through self-esteem and school adjustment difficulties) associated with adolescent depressive symptoms and problem behavior. Structural equation modeling results showed that school adjustment difficulties fully mediated the relations between two parenting behaviors (parental punitiveness and paternal monitoring) and adolescent problem behavior and partially mediated the relation between maternal monitoring and adolescent problem behavior. Adolescent self-esteem partially mediated the relations between maternal punitiveness and adolescent depressive symptoms and fully mediated the relations between parental support and adolescent depressive symptoms. Parental love withdrawal was not significantly …

The Influence Of Childhood Maltreatment On Substance Abuse In Adulthood, James Michael Blinco

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the relationship between suffering physical or sexual abuse as a child and drug or alcohol use in adulthood. Data was used from the first three waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health survey. This study found that being a victim of childhood physical abuse can lead to abuse of alcohol later in life. In addition being male and African American are key factors in predicting alcohol abuse and other illegal drug use in adulthood. No significant relationship was found between being a victim of sexual abuse and abusing alcohol, using marijuana, or using any other …

Review Of Paging God: Religion In The Halls Of Medicine By Wendy Cadge, Philip Schwadel

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Research on the relationship between religion and health is rapidly becoming a core area in the sociology of religion. Much of this research is quantitative, focusing on associations between indicators of religiosity and both physical and mental health. Little research, however, explores the treatment of religion and spirituality in existing medical institutions. With urbanization, longer life spans, the decline of dangerous jobs, and other social changes, we are spending far more time in hospitals than we used to; as Wendy Cadge notes, we are considerably more likely to die in hospitals than we used to be. The growing prevalence and …

Communication, Romantic Reconciliation, And Emerging Adulthood: A Relational Dialectics Study, Ashley M. Poole

Communication & Theatre Arts Theses

Building on the extant research of on-again/off-again (on-off) romantic relationships, the current thesis focused on building upon past findings by utilizing a unique theoretical methodology in an emerging demographic. A sample of 22 emergent adult (ages 18-29) participants who were currently in or had recently experienced an on-off relationship completed face-to-face interviews discussing communicative processes during romantic reconciliation. The primary purpose of this thesis was to identify and define discursive struggles found within on-off relationships during reconciliation attempts, and understand how they are used between partners to give meaning to the terms "on" and "off" as a precursor to restructuring …

Tracing The Origins Of Success: Implications For Successful Aging, Nora M. Peterson, Peter Martin

French Language and Literature Papers

Purpose of the Study: This paper addresses the debate about the use of the term “successful aging” from a humanistic, rather than behavioral, perspective. It attempts to uncover what success, a term frequently associated with aging, is: how can it be defined and when did it first come into use? In this paper, we draw from a number of humanistic perspectives, including the historical and linguistic, in order to explore the evolution of the term “success.” We believe that words and concepts have deep implications for how concepts (such as aging) are culturally and historically perceived.

Design and Methods: We …

Research Brief: "Network Supports And Resiliency Among U.S. Military Spouses With Children With Special Health Care Needs", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This brief summarizes a study on understanding how military families who have children with special healthcare needs can successfully cope in the context of exceptional demands of the military lifestyle and how it can inform scholarship, policy and practice to the benefit of families.

Appreciating The Simple Moments More Than Onslaught Of Technology, Leandra Preston-Sidler

UCF Forum

I admit it. I’m addicted.