Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1998. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 33-47). Also available on the Internet.

M.A. (Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Child development--Father's personality--Early child-care experience of fathers--Playfulness--Employment--Marriage status--Psychological support--Middle-class fathers.

Many American families are experiencing a high degree of stress. Without sufficient resources to counteract this stress, these families ultimately become dysfunctional. Not only do they find it difficult to function in the home setting, but they also find it difficult to function in other social contexts, such as the school community. It was hypothesized that family stress and insufficient resources can have a negative impact on home-school relations in general and parent involvement in particular. It was the purpose of this study to (a) assess the level of parent involvement of a group of Headstart parents, (b) assess the family stress level and resources of these parents; (c) determine if there is a relationship among stress, resources, and parent involvement, as well as to determine the effect race and family structure have on parent involvement; and (d) identify support resources to assist parents in coping with the stressful events in their lives. Fifty-three parents from a large, Virginia Headstart program were used in this study. Parental involvement was assessed by collecting data from Headstart records. In addition, parents were asked to respond to two inventories. These inventories-Family Inventory of Life Events (FILE) and Family Crisis Oriented Personal Scales (F-Copes)-were used to determine the stressful life events families faced while their children were enrolled in Headstart and to assess the resources available to these families for meeting the demands of these stressful events. The raw data from the parent involvement assessment and the inventories were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSSX). Specifically, descriptive statistics, simple and multiple regression, and analysis of variance were used to analyze the selected variables and the interrelationships between these variables. The results indicated that there is a negative relationship between stress and resources. Parents with fewer resources generally had higher stress levels. Family stress and resource levels had opposite effects on parent involvement. High stress levels were associated with low parent involvement, while high resource levels were associated with high parent involvement. Race and family structure had no effect on parent involvement for this sample. / Ed. D.

An explanatory model of stress and coping for dual-career women and men is presented and tested using distress, a global measure of somatic symptomatology, as the stress measure outcome. Results indicate that the men and women sampled are psychologically vested in both professional and family roles. Additionally, the women, all of whom are employed full time, report no significant associations between having younger children and role strain, parental stress, or distress. Men who have a flexible work schedule indicate significantly lower marital, parental, and professional stress, as well as lower distress. Use of cognitive restructuring coping strategies led to significantly lower distress for both genders; use of role reduction strategies was linked to higher distress levels for men. Additional findings reveal more differences than similarities by gender. / Ph. D.

Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, for the degree of Master of Arts. / This study evaluates the utility of a stress-coping paradigm for explaining differences in psychological adjustment to stress among duel-employed family members. Specifically, a model of stress was applied that encompassed a single stressful dual-employed family event, the degree of perceived stressfulness of this event, dual-employed family coping and five dimensions of personal adjustment (two work indicators, two family attitudes and one individual measure). This model was used to assess the mechanisms through which dual-employed family stress and coping are linked to psychological outcomes through two effects. first being the main effect which states that stress and coping have a uniform effect on well-being, independent of one another. The second being the moderator effect which says that coping moderates the impact of stressful episodes depending on the type, or degree, of stress encountered. Two procedures were applied for analysing data. Firstly, content analysis was applied to the single stressful life events measure and from this the existence of seven forms of dual-employed family stress were established, namely, occupational, domestic chore, child-care, role overload, marital, financial, and stressors arising from external systems encompassed under the label "other". Secondly, moderated multiple regression analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between each dependent, independent and moderator variable and provided statistical support for the operation of both main and moderator effects. This support, however, was found to vary according to context and level of stressfulness of the events. The limitations of the present study are noted as well as the practical and theoretical implications. Furthermore , the implications for future research on stress, coping and adjustment among dual-employed families are considered. / Andrew Chakane 2018

The purpose of the study was to examine: (a) the influence communication strategies Mexican men and women reported using when negotiating household work with their partners; (b) the influence communication strategies perceived their partners use when negotiating with them; (c) whether spouses considered the reported strategies as being effective to make their partners do what they need/want, and (d) whether spouses perceived the influence communication strategies used by their partners effective. This dissertation consisted of two inter-related studies performed in Monterrey, Nuevo León, México. The first study was an interview project, where 24 males and females were questioned about how they influence and are influenced by their partners in regard to participating in household tasks. The population consisted of married dual-income Mexicans with at least one child. The second study used the results of Study I to probe, via questionnaire, how couples influence and are influenced by their partners in regard to participating in household tasks, the relative reported frequency of use of the different strategies, and their perceived effectiveness when using them. 92 couples participated in this study: 46 males and 46 females who live in a double-income marriage. Mexican couples perceived equity about how the household tasks are distributed within their homes. Moreover, the degree of happiness about the contribution each partner makes to the household is high, and participants reported being very satisfied with their relationship. The influence communication strategy men and women reported using most often to make their partners participate in household tasks, and the one they perceive their partners used most often is positive affect. The reported strategies that are rarely or never used or perceived are: humor, sarcasm, ignore, and threat. Positive affect was perceived by husbands and wives to be the most effective influence, while the least effective was threat and ignore. The most significant correlation between strategies reported used by husbands and perceived by wives were positive affect, delegate and ignore. The most significant correlation between strategies reported used by wives and perceived by husbands were: suggest, avoid, and reciprocation. This study found a negative and significant relationship between using the strategy ignore and marital satisfaction, and a negative and significant relationship between perceived partners’ use of the strategy threat and marital satisfaction. / text

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2010. / Description based on PDF t.p. (viewed June 30, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 67-71).

M.A. (Sociology) / This study investigated the effects of female cross border traders’ work on family well-being in the context of economic hardships in Zimbabwe. The research focused on ten Zimbabwean married women, who work as cross border traders between Harare and Johannesburg and it aimed to understand how their work as cross border traders impacted on the economic and emotional well-being of their families as well as on family resilience. Literature on cross border trading shows that the trade is a key livelihood strategy for families and households but the impacts of the traders’ increased mobility and prolonged absence from home on the emotional well-being of family members have rarely been explored. Using detailed data drawn from in depth interviews with the participants, this study sought to address this gap. The findings of the study reveal that cross border trading is no longer merely a survival strategy that meets the basic needs of families but instead, it has elevated the standards of living of the families, enabling traders to acquire highly valued property. Beyond such economic benefits, the women’s work is having significant effects on the emotional well-being of the family members. The women’s relationships with their spouses were found to be generally stable but in some cases were fraught with tensions and disagreements emanating from the trading work. In most instances, cross border trading work compromised the emotional care and the resilience of the children. The regular absence of the women from their homes presented additional responsibilities and burdens on their children. Older children, for instance, have to take care of their siblings in a context were the fathers do not play an active role in child care. The consequences of the women’s trading activities are evident but often overlooked by the families as they focus on increased material provision. The study sheds light on some of the effects of increased migration of Zimbabwean women on the family and calls for more extensive research on the family in Zimbabwe with the continued economic challenges in the country.

The stress process was examined for a sample of 94 dual-career women. The relationship between sources (role strain), mediators (coping responses, psychological resources of self-esteem and low self-denigration, number and age of children), and outcome (feelings associated with role strains) was quantitatively assessed via factor analysis to determine the efficacy of mediators in the stress process. Seven coping strategies were identified: Cognitive Restructuring, Delegating Responsibility, Limiting Responsibility, Integrating Work and Family, Avoiding Responsibility, and Using Social Support. Results indicated that strain accounts for a large portion of the variation in stress. Cognitive Restructuring was the most crucial coping response in the stress process, having the greatest effect in reducing not only strain, but also stress; low self-denigration was the most critical psychological resource, buffering both strain and stress levels. Limiting Responsibility was associated with higher levels of strain. In addition, stress was found to increase as number of children increased and as age of youngest child decreased. / Master of Science