One of the most common sources of stress is one's job and the struggle to balance the demands of one's job with those of one's family and/or romantic relationship. Prolonged exposure to stress can lead to burnout, and it can affect various aspects of one's life and one's emotional and cognitive well-being. Firefighters, police officers, and corrections officers are susceptible to burnout. If their well-being is compromised, it can impact their job performance, which can negatively impact society. The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between work-family conflict (time-based, strain-based, behavior-based), job burnout (exhaustion, depersonalization, accomplishment), and couple burnout in high-stress occupations, using the work-family conflict model. Using standard multiple regressions, strain-based work-family conflict and behavior-based work-family conflict were significant predictors of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and couple burnout. Work-family conflict scores predicted levels of personal accomplishment. In addition, emotional exhaustion was a significant predictor of couple burnout. This study provided insight into the aspects of work-family conflict and job burnout and how they predict couple burnout. Future research may include females, spouses, and other variables that may also predict burnout. Increasing education on which aspects of work-family conflict and job burnout predict couple burnout can help to increase awareness and well-being for individuals working in high-stress occupations. It can also lead to social change by encouraging changes in hiring, training, and support services, which can increase occupational retainment and allow employees to deliver the highest level of service to the populations in which they serve.

In the history of this country queer-identified individuals have faced discrimination and harassment in their places of school and work for many years. Research has found that exposure to these experiences can have a negative impact on mental health. Prior to this study, no data were available as to whether or not queer-identified Couple and Family Therapists (C/MFTs) also have faced discrimination and harassment within the field of C/MFT. This study explored the lived experiences of queer-identified C/MFTs in an attempt to identify what unique struggles this population faces, and if these struggles include coping with discrimination and harassment. Participants identified concerns over inadequate training and resources, issues related to self-disclosure, the role of being a spokesperson for the queer community, the role that context plays with regard to their experiences, the strengths of being a queer-identified C/MFT, and the relationship that the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) has had with queer-identified C/MFTs and the queer community in general. Finally, participants were asked to give words of advice to other therapists based on their own experiences. The results of the study suggest that queer-identified C/MFTs find their sexual orientation as a strength; it not only benefits their clinical work, but can enable a sense of empowerment in advocating for the rights of their community.

Romantic relationship factors have been linked to both physical and mental health outcomes. Previous research has lacked attention not only on associations among these constructs, but on ways by which gender attitudes and beliefs impact romantic heterosexual relationships. The Biobehavioral Family Model (BBFM) is a biopsychosocial approach to health that integrates couple/family emotional climate, biobehavioral reactivity (emotion regulation), and physical health outcomes into one comprehensive model. The present study was conducted to examine the ability of the BBFM to explain connections between couple processes and health while integrating an additional construct of gender attitudes and beliefs. The sample consisted of 595 adults (age range 18-65+ years) who have been in committed romantic relationships for at least two years. Data were collected through online surveys which asked participants about their relationship satisfaction, mental health symptoms, physical health, and attitudes and beliefs about gender in relationships. Confirmatory factor analyses were used to test measures of romantic partner emotional climate, gender attitudes and beliefs, biobehavioral reactivity, and disease activity. Structural equation modeling was used to test associations among all constructs. Results demonstrated some support for the BBFM in explaining health quality for the sample. Specifically, romantic partner emotional climate was positively associated with biobehavioral reactivity, and gender attitudes and beliefs were significantly associated with both biobehavioral reactivity and disease activity. Applying the BBFM while incorporating gender attitudes and beliefs through a feminist lens demonstrates ways by which couple processes affect the mental and physical health of these individuations. Recommendations for future research and clinical implications are discussed.

The Marriage and Family Therapy clinic at Utah State University conducted a study called the Relationship Checkup in which couple data was collected in an initial 2-hour session and feedback was provided for them in a follow-up 1-hour session. This checkup included completing self-report surveys, having an in-person interview, as well as couple interactions. The current study was carried out within the context of this broader relationship checkup, focusing on the couple support interactions, in which partners discussed a personal issue they would like to change about themselves. Although a substantial amount of attention has been given to the role of attachment during couple conflict, much less attention has been given to social support processes. Yet the purpose of therapy is not only to diminish disruptive conflict but also to enhance positive relationship processes, making a greater understanding of social support processes crucial to the therapy process. The results of this study indicate that partners with higher levels of avoidant attachment perceived they were receiving and providing less support. This reveals that couple therapists may need to assist these partners in reaching out and providing support. Additionally, results show that for women, discussing a personal issue soothed them physiologically. Therefore, rather than focusing on couple conflict, couples therapists can also build positive relationship interactions through couple social support.

There are a number of advantages to working within an integrated model framework when doing family therapy; however, few therapists test what they articulate as their model against what they really do. The purpose of this study was to test how well one therapist practiced her explicated theoretical integration in a clinical setting. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered to answer three research questions: the level of adherence to the integration, client change, and change within the integrated model over the course of the study. The sample included three couples; data from 25 video-coded sessions, the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale and Outcome Ratings Scale, client case notes, and a reflection journal were analyzed to answer the research questions. Results indicate that the therapist remained true to the described integrated model; that all couples experienced change, some positive, some negative; and small changes to the model occurred. Other findings, limitations, and clinical implications are discussed.

The purpose of this study is to understand the experience of being a father first hand, as well as to understand how society creates expectations that influcenc their fatherhood. Fathers have expectations on how they should be in order to be a good father which, amongst other things, involves participation, gratulations and a good relationship to their child. Many times the mother is in the focus as it for many people comes most naturally to have it so. This does not always correspond well with the father’s wishes and can be cause for alienation. Fathers are today very keen to shape how they take on the role as a father and are by redrawing the boundries of fatherhood also reshaping much of masculinity and what it is to be a father. This study was made with five qualitive semi-structured interviews in Skövde, Sweden, with fathers who had a partner and had one or two children under five years of age. A thematic analysis method was used for the interviews which revealed two main themes: ”Participating fathers” and ”Fatherhood - a secondary parent”. The results showed that fathers wants to be a part of the family, not just to have one. It also showed that partners and society’s expectations effects father’s ability to create their own version of fatherhood. The study shows that even if fathers are willing to change the traditional role of fatherhood, they are not capable to do so because the role of notions of masculinity, in relation to fatherhood, is very entrenched in the norm of being a father from society. The conclusion is that there needs to be more open informational discussions with fathers and meeting groups for fathers to share their experience. Aslo, a wider understanding of the impact from the couple relationships and society regarding how fathers percieve themselves as individuals is needed.

This thesis describes a program of research which aimed to explore the role of relationship self-regulation (or relationship "effort") and wisdom in relationship satisfaction. Three separate studies were conducted to examine the association between self-regulation and satisfaction, and the mechanisms for this association. Study 1 examined self-regulation, wisdom and satisfaction, using a sample of 61 couples in long-term relationships, and found that while wisdom shared little association with satisfaction, self-regulation was a significant correlate of satisfaction for men and women. Study 2 examined whether the association between self-regulation and satisfaction was mediated by communication skills in a sample of 101 couples in the early stages of their relationship. Results replicated the self-regulation/satisfaction association found in Study 1, but provided no evidence for mediation by communication. Study 3 tested for mediation of the self-regulation/satisfaction association by attributions in a sample of 73 newly-wed couples. The association between self-regulation and satisfaction was partially mediated by attributions, but self-regulation also had a direct relationship with satisfaction. It was concluded that self-regulation is an important correlate of satisfaction in relationships, and that this association cannot be fully explained by communication or attributions. Several directions for future research were provided, including the need to examine self-regulation and its predictors longitudinally, ways in which a behavioural measure of self-regulation could be developed, and the implications of self-regulation for couple therapy.

Le travail présenté dans cette thèse porte sur la modélisation et la commande des éoliennes à vitesse et calage variables afin d'atteindre les deux objectifs principaux: à vents faibles, maximiser la capture de l'énergie du vent d'une part et à vents forts, réguler la puissance électrique produite d'autre part. Dans les deux cas, il s'agira également de réduire les charges mécaniques transitoires.<br />A l'heure actuelle, les commandes des systèmes éoliens sont réalisées à l'aide de régulateurs classiques PI ou PID. Leurs performances sont satisfaisantes lorsque le vent n'est pas trop turbulent mais cependant celles-ci se dégradent notablement lors des variations rapides de la vitesse du vent. Par conséquent, il est nécessaire de disposer de systèmes de commande plus performants afin de prendre en compte la forte non-linéarité de l'aérodynamique de l'éolienne, son aspect dynamique et la nature turbulente du vent.<br />Pour cela, nous avons étudié différentes stratégies de commande, en soulignant leurs avantages et inconvénients par rapport aux performances attendues. Parmi les contrôleurs que nous avons développés, si certains sont une adaptation de techniques bien connues pour les modèles de l'éolienne, en revanche les autres apparaissent pour la première fois dans ce domaine. <br />A vents faibles, nous avons élaboré des commandes non linéaires, avec estimateur de la vitesse du vent, qui permet d'obtenir la vitesse du vent fictif qui ne peut pas être mesurée, vu la variabilité spatiotemporelle du profil du vent autour du rotor.<br />Pour la commande à vents forts, il est montré qu'une commande monovariable en calage ou en couple du générateur ne permet pas d'atteindre le double objectif de réguler à la fois la puissance électrique et la vitesse du rotor. Par conséquent, notre idée est de combiner une commande non linéaire par retour d'état dynamique en couple et une commande linéaire en pitch. Cette stratégie s'avère être la meilleure.<br />La validation des performances des contrôleurs a été réalisée avec des simulateurs aéroélastiques d'éoliennes, développés par NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO) en utilisant des profils de vent de forte turbulence. Les résultats sont satisfaisants aussi bien en termes d'optimisation de la capture de l'énergie du vent qu'en régulation de puissance.

Dans cette thèse, nous avons étudié les aspects mécanique et thermodynamique de la recombinaison homologue, un processus crucial de réparation de l'ADN. Des travaux préliminaires d'observation de molécules d'ADN étirées lors de la recombinaison homologue ont mis à jour la complexité de ce processus et la difficulté de l'observer en fluorescence. Nous avons ensuite développé une nouvelle technique appelée "pinces magnétiques sensibles au couple" nous permettant de maintenir une molécule unique d'ADN avec une force et un couple connus tout en mesurant son état de torsion avec une résolution de quelques degrés. Nous avons ainsi montré de manière directe que la polymérisation de la recombinase hRad51 a lieu par ajout de monomères chacun déroulant l'ADN de 65° en moyenne. Nous avons également été capables de mesurer le couple d'arrêt de la polymérisation. Une modélisation mécano-chimique nous a finalement permis d'évaluer le potentiel chimique de la polymérisation, en bon accord avec les données biochimiques existantes.

Dans un contexte valorisant le métissage quel qu'il soit, le couple mixte créole/métro n'est pas marginalisé sans toutefois être complètement dans la norme. Cette thèse se propose d'éclairer, au travers d'une démarche compréhensive, la mixité conjugale, objet perçu essentiellement de manière stéréotypée. Cette problématique pose trois questions. Dans quelle(s) mesure(s) le couple se perçoit-il comme mixte? A quel sentiment de soi de chaque individu cela renvoie-t-il? Qu'est-ce qui va les amener à certains moments à affirmer leurs différences et à d'autres à les taire, cherchant soit à les exacerber ou au contraire à les gommer? L'enquête, soutenue par une démarche compréhensive, a porté sur 17 couples interrogés sur leur vécu conjugal. L'analyse des entretiens et des récits de vie contribue à une redéfinition des identités créole et métropolitaine dans la rencontre intime entre créole et métro. La mixité conjugale devient alors à la fois révélatrice de la fabrique du sentiment du " nous " et des logiques d'influence à l'origine de l'élaboration de la culture commune du couple. La thèse montre comment à partir d'une situation culturellement différenciée, les individus construisent l'indifférenciation (conversion identitaire) ou la mixité conjugale (négociation).