Family, Life Course, and Society Commons^™

I Do, And I Will: Effectual Religiosity May Strengthen The Triad Chord Of Commitment To Promote Marital Flourishing For Women Of Faith, Tamara M. Chamberlain

Theses and Dissertations

Although religiosity often associates with marital satisfaction in sociological studies, very few studies have examined religiosity strengthening marital commitment for women of faith. This study used an exemplary sample to explore how religious, heterosexual married women view religion strengthening their marital commitment. Interviews from 196 highly religious couples provided insight into the following themes and subthemes (1) personal commitment, (a) decision to marry, (b) religious beliefs and practices, and (c) requires effort and sacrifice; (2) moral commitment, (a) sexual relations before marriage, (b) promises made before God, friends, and family, and (c) fidelity and feelings about divorce; and (3) structural …

Exploring The Associations Between Young Adults' Autistic Traits And Parental Differential Treatment, Madelyn Winder Bennett

Theses and Dissertations

The current study sought to identify autistic traits that may elicit parental differential treatment (PDT). Understanding these links are important because numerous studies have shown PDT to have negative implications for healthy development. Participants (recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk) completed a survey assessing their experiences of parental differential treatment and their own autistic traits using the Autism Quotient (AQ) measure (Baron-Cohen et al., 2001). Participants were young adults ages 18-29 (M age = 25.4; 57% Female, 43% Male; 73% White, n = 739) who resided in the U.S. and had at least one living sibling. Using regression analysis, we examined …

Studying Cultural Change With Transhistorical Semantic Directions, Travis Daichi Ashby

Theses and Dissertations

This study advances the use of diachronic word embeddings in cultural sociology, contributing both methodologically and substantively. Methodologically, it synthesizes best practices for constructing semantic directions and addresses challenges arising from diachronic embeddings, including missing data and semantic drift. Substantively, it examines historical changes in schemas and conceptual metaphors related to "processing." By analyzing the changing associations between processing-related words (e.g., "raw" and "refined") and evaluative categories like authenticity, valence, and aesthetics, the study examines whether word-level changes amongst schematically-related words indicate deeper cultural shifts at the schematic level. Findings indicate a growing association between processed states and inauthenticity, a …

Partial Replication Of The Severe Outcome Questionnaire (S-Oq): Determining Benchmarks Using Ecologically Valid Data, Joshua J. Allen

Theses and Dissertations

Background: The Severe Outcome Questionnaire (S-OQ) is a self-report tool whose most recent manual was published in 2008. It measures the treatment progress of the seriously mentally ill (SMI). Objective: 1). Partially replicate the outpatient and inpatient admission, change, and internal consistency data. 2). Provide a manual extension including admission and change data for new settings of care and include treatment modality benchmarks. Method: OQ Measures provided an archival data set drawn from six different community mental health organizations from around the United States covering 101 different clinics (N = 25,511; Male = 11,524, Female = 13,987). We constructed normative …

Pilot Study For Examining The Physiological Effects Of Sustained Attention In A Structured Online Mindfulness-Based Course, Eve Barton

Theses and Dissertations

Mindfulness-based interventions (MBI's) and courses have emerged as widely recognized approaches for promoting mental health, improving cognitive functioning, and fostering overall well-being. This pilot study explored the effects of a 15-session, online, structured mindfulness course on sustained attention and subjective well-being, utilizing both objective and subjective measures. The study aimed to determine whether participants' sustained attention, assessed via a smooth pursuit eye movement (SPEM) task, improved after completing the online course. Subjective attention was measured using the Attentional Control Scale (ACS) and a single item from the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS), while subjective well-being was assessed using the Survey …

Deliberate Practice For Multicultural Orientation Training Novice Undergraduates, Eduardo E. Duran

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the efficacy of Multicultural Orientation (MCO) and Motivational Interviewing (MI) frameworks in enhancing undergraduates' ability to address cultural dynamics in therapeutic contexts through deliberate practice. Using a randomized control trial design, 59 participants were assigned to either an MCO as the experimental group or an MI workshop as the control group, each involving pre- and post-workshop video simulations and self-reported assessments. The workshops incorporated deliberate practice exercises with feedback to improve participants' responses to culturally rich client scenarios. Findings indicated significant improvements in cultural humility, comfort, and opportunities for the MCO group compared to the MI group. …

Psychological Treatment Behind The Walls:Insights From The Inside, Rogelio Serrano

Psychology Division Scholarship

Repeated eras of mass incarceration, criminalization of marginalized communities, and substance use policies have created a revolving door of justice involved populations. The ever-increasing prison population has repeatedly become the largest contingency of mental health clientele for an overburdened mental health system. Those who work with formerly incarcerated individuals in the community often don’t know the unique set of challenges faced by practitioners within the system. Increased understanding and coordination of care can offer opportunities for sustained recovery and reduced levels of recidivism. In this presentation participants will learn about the unique insights on mental health treatment that can be …

Young Children's Responses To Socioeconomic Status In Peer Reward And Punishment, Joshua R. Namingha, Peter Reschke Dr.

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

This research aimed to determine whether children's understanding of socioeconomic status influences their tendency to reward or punish their peers. The experimenters used the "dictator task" to evaluate children's (ages 7-8) assessments of hypothetical scenarios with participants punishing/rewarding poor and rich children. The results indicate no significant difference in punishment based on socioeconomic status, suggesting limited social class bias at this age.

Talking Shame With Boys & Girls: How Gender Shapes Parent–Child Conversations About Self-Conscious Emotions, Ashton Allen, Peter J. Reschke, Jocelyn Wikle

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

This study examines how child gender predicts parents’ use of emotion labels during a storybook task. Prior research suggests that parents may socialize emotions differently based on child gender, potentially shaping children’s emotional development. However, limited work has specifically examined gender differences in parent emotion labeling, particularly within the context of self-conscious emotions. The study utilized a sample of parent–child dyads (N = 95) from the 2023 wave of Project M.E.D.I.A., a longitudinal dataset analyzing parent emotion labeling during a shared storybook task. OLS regression models were employed to examine the association between child gender and parents’ use of emotion …

Asking The Right Questions: How Parent Question Type Shapes Children's Emotion Label Use Across Early Childhood, Ashton Allen, Peter J. Reschke

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Parent questions facilitate children's emotion label learning during parent–child conversations (Ruba et al., 2022), yet limited research has examined how different question types influence this process. Parent–child dyads (N = 296, 136 girls) were observed discussing a picture book depicting self-conscious emotions (shame, guilt, embarrassment, awe, pride) annually for five years starting at age 2. Parent-child conversations were transcribed and the frequencies of parent yes/no questions, parent open-ended questions, child emotion labels, and total word count were coded from transcriptions (mean interrater reliability ICC = .90). Five separate regression models (one per wave) predicting children’s emotion labels revealed significant effects …

Developmentalism, Christianity, And Population Decline In East Asia, Elizabeth Lacouture

Asia Pacific Perspectives

In 2024, Taiwan and South Korea had the lowest fertility rates in the world. Instead of solving this demographic conundrum, this paper examines the ways in which women, family and fertility have been described, measured, and discussed across time and space in East Asia and introduces the role of US Christian ideology in propagating population control. US Christian missionaries and networks forged in China and Korea in the nineteenth century built a foundation for the social sciences of the family in early twentieth century China that developed into US modernization theory-led demography in the Republic of China on Taiwan and …

From Story Time To Small Talk: Do Parents Use Descriptive Language Based On Gender?, Alyssa C. Connelly

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

This study examines whether parents use descriptive language differently based on gender using a wordless story book between the parent and child. Findings indicate that parents use more emotion-based language when describing female picture gender and more verb-based language for boy children. These results show ways in which gendered language may shape early self-perception and interests.

Table Of Contents

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Painting Stories And Filming Change, Coralynn V. Davis

Faculty Contributions to Books

Mithila Art has helped illuminate various aspects of the relationship between gendered Maithil social roles and Maithil women’s narratives in connection with a feminist participatory action research project conducted primarily in 2016-2017 in and around the northern Bihari town of Madhubani. While participatory action research philosophically and methodologically attends to process as much as product, Mithila Art played a role in the process and product of making a documentary film and in our capacity to understand and communicate with varied audiences about shifting Maithil gender norms. The research and filmic project provided insight into the complex relationship among the stories …

Redefining "I Do": Marital Attitudes Among Generation Z, Ryley G. Bethle

Senior Theses

This thesis attempts to explain the attitudes of Generation Z toward marriage. In a larger sense, to also understand previous generational cohorts’ marital values to discover that these values are shaped by changes in technology, individualism, and societal norms. This thesis also will lean into Twenge’s framework that poses that marital values are not influenced by individual choices, but rather an overarching generational influence. There is heavy influence of technology discussed as this generation are the first to grow up as digital natives, and the introduction of online dating has expanded their relationship landscape for better or for worse. A …

What Factors Impact Domestic Violence Across The 50 U.S States?, Elizabeth Gonzalez

Posters - 2025

* 50% of women seen in emergency departments report a history of abuse

* 5 million acts of Domestic Violence occur annually to woman aged 18 yrs and older

Giving Voice To Student Grief: Using Community-Based Participatory Research To Develop And Pilot A Translational Storytelling Intervention For Bereaved College Students, Cassidy Rae Taladay-Carter

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this dissertation was to employ community-based participatory research (CBPR, Wallerstein et al., 2018) methods to attend to a pressing issue in the community. In partnership with one local grief center, we identified the need for enhanced grief support for current emerging adult undergraduate students in our area. Nearly 50% of U.S. emerging adults enrolled in four-year residential universities experience the death of an important figure (Cox et al., 2015; Cupit et al., 2021), at a time when they are developing important facets of their narrative identity. Without the coherence and meaning structures provided by narrative identity, students …

"Health Gatekeepers": The Influence Of Women On Health Practices In Rural, Central Appalachia, Reese Lycan

Senior Theses

Women have historically assumed leadership roles in familial and community health promotion, intervention, and facilitation. While the role of women in family health is globally understood and the historical importance of female leadership has been documented, there remains a gap in knowledge regarding the role of women as “health gatekeepers”. Furthermore, when considering the Appalachian region, there are limited studies regarding women’s place in leadership as far as health is concerned. Therefore, this study employs a hermeneutic phenomenological framework to explore the lived experiences of women in relation to their family and community’s health in rural, Central Appalachia- a region …

Investigating Gender Differences In Intimate Partner Violence Using Gendered General Strain Theory, Stephanie Victoria Dragon

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a public health concern impacting communities and criminal justice systems. Nationwide IPV prevention and reduction policies were emphasized in the media during the aftermath of COVID-19 specifically regarding the identification of IPV offending behaviors through law enforcement screening tools. Research on IPV offending has clearly established a link in offenders exerting methods of power and control to harm an intimate partner through verbal abuse, coercion, sexual violence, and physical violence. Further, research also identified significant disproportional experiences of lethality in female victims at the hands of an intimate partner. However, criminological theories outside of control-based …

Hubungan Dukungan Sosial Rekan Kerja Dengan Stres Kerja (Studi Pada Pekerja Di Pt X), Aisyah Permatasari

Jurnal Ilmu Kesejahteraan Sosial

Workers are vulnerable to work-related stress due to job demands, time constraints, and limited leisure time, leading to psychological issues such as anxiety related to their work. In the context of social welfare studies, job stress affects overall workers’ well-being and disrupts their social functioning in the workplace. Social support from coworkers is potentially reduce stress in workplace, which is crucial for creating organizational well-being. It also helps workers improve job engagement, cope with fatigue, and manage stress. This study examined the relationship between social support from coworkers and job stress among 90 employees …