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Family group chats are a popular form of technology-mediated communication. Family group chats represent an understudied area of family communication. In this qualitative multi-method study, I aimed to investigate how and why families use family group chats and how family processes are enacted within them. This grounded theory study was informed by family systems theory and uses and gratifications theory. Families participated in multi family member group interviews and were invited to submit the last one-month's history of their family group chat. Forty-nine participants from thirteen families across the United States participated in this study. I identified four themes from the data: (1) entering the chat, (2) growing and aging with the group chat, (3) accepting terms and conditions, and (4) holding the invisible string. I present a theoretical explanation of how these themes interact. Family group chats held a significant place in family life that extended family members' availability to one another and kept them in near constant contact, even when they were separated by geographic distance. I propose the possibility of family group chats as a protective factor to increase family functioning. This research generates future directions for the field and has implications for families, professionals who work with families, and group chat application developers. It provides one of the earliest investigations into family group chats from a family science perspective. / Doctor of Philosophy / Family group chats have grown in popularity over the last decade as a way for multiple family members to communicate at once. Yet, in the family science field, little is known about how families use these chats. In this study, I examined how and why families use family group chats to perform family processes, which are the interactions that make up family life. I used qualitative methods to study this topic and was guided by two theories, family systems theory and uses and gratifications theory. I invited family members to participate in a group interview and submit their family group chat text messages from the last month. Forty-nine participants from thirteen families across the United States participated in this study. I identified four themes across the family interviews and group chats: (1) entering the chat, (2) growing and aging with the group chat, (3) accepting terms and conditions, and (4) holding the invisible string. I present a visual model to explain how these themes work together. I found that family group chats held a significant place in family life that extended family members' availability to one another and kept them in near constant contact, even when they were separated by geographic distance. I suggest the possibility of family group chats as a protective factor that may improve family life. This research can guide future research on this topic and makes an impact for families, professionals who work with families, and for companies that develop group chat platforms.

Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW) / Ever since United Nations’ declaration of 1994 as the Year of the Family, the study and understanding of families has taken center stage, albeit with constant references to ‘normal’ versus ‘deviant’ families based on structural functionalism theory’s rigid definitions of what a ‘normal’ family should be. On the other hand HIV/AIDS has attracted much attention too because of its life threatening traits, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa where Zimbabwe lies. Efforts to fight the epidemic have seen the mushrooming of innovative programs, which include home–based care (HBC) services for those infected with HIV. However, although HIV and AIDS has clearly had adverse impacts on families, it is rarely discussed within perspectives that integrate family dynamics. To fill this gap this study has explored how HBC, as a response to HIV and AIDS, may change our understanding of families. Research data was gathered within the participatory action research design through methods such as focus group discussions by 35 HBC volunteers and patients, interviews of 26 of these, review of relevant family policies and other interactive participatory exercises by which research participants expressed their opinions through drawings. The evaluation showed that households were not always synonymous with families, although a thin line divided the two. Further, survival considerations are the leading priority why people find themselves in families within HBC settings. However, survival options available to women are exploitative and this has kept those in HBC settings reeling under the burden of demanding but unrewarded care work and domestic household jobs. The study teaches that families cannot be understood in aggregated terms and that individuals dictate what families become, not the other way round. The research essentially recommends policy revisions to reflect unique realities found in HBC settings, and among female HBC volunteers. This should be coupled with awareness campaigns in communities and further research on families.

abstract: Ethnic identity has consistently been associated with Latino youths' psychosocial well-being; however, an area that has received much less attention is how parents' characteristics inform their ethnic socialization efforts and, in turn, youths' ethnic identity. In addition, we know little about how this process unfolds in specific at-risk samples of youth, such as adolescent mothers. Thus, the current prospective study examined how mothers' cultural characteristics informed adolescents' and mothers' reports of ethnic socialization, and how this, in turn, informed adolescents' ethnic identity exploration and resolution among a sample of 193 adolescent mothers and their mothers. In addition, the current study tested whether mothers' ethnic identity affirmation was directly related to adolescents' ethnic identity affirmation over time. Results indicated that mothers' familism was associated with increases in mothers' reports of maternal ethnic socialization, and, in turn, with increases in ethnic identity exploration for foreign-born adolescents, and decreases in ethnic identity exploration for U.S.-born adolescents. In addition, adolescents' reports of familial ethnic socialization were associated with increases in their ethnic identity exploration and resolution. Finally, mothers' ethnic identity affirmation was associated with increases in adolescents' ethnic identity affirmation. Findings are discussed with special attention to the importance of mothers' cultural values in how they socialize their adolescents, and this impact on adolescents' ethnic identity, as well as the implications this study has for interventions focused on bolstering positive outcomes for adolescent mothers. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Family and Human Development 2012

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Nationally representative studies estimate that almost one in five adolescents in the United States is overweight. This is a major concern for individuals' physical and psychological health and the overall economy in terms of health care costs and loss of productivity. The approach of this study was to understand adolescent overweight as influenced by family processes including: parent-adolescent relationship, monitoring or parental knowledge, control, family meals, and parenting styles. Race, sex, family structure, income, and mother Body Mass Index (BMI) were also included. A sub-sample of 4,688 adolescents from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 was used to address the association between family processes, demographic variables, and adolescent Body Mass Index (BMI) percentile over four years. Due to the inclusion of siblings in the sample, the data are non-independent. Longitudinal multilevel modeling was used to adjust for this non-independence. The final model indicated that frequency of family meals, sex, race, father's parenting style, control, and mother's BMI were important predictors of adolescent BMI percentile over time. Mother's BMI was the strongest predictor of adolescent BMI percentile. More frequent family meals led to decreases in BMI percentile over time, while males, African Americans, and Latinos had higher average BMI percentiles than other groups. These findings suggest the need for intervention that focuses on mother's health and healthy behaviors in the home. At risk groups, including African American and Latino adolescents and males, should be targeted for these interventions. Additionally, the results indicated that using multilevel modeling with the NLSY97 was important due to nesting within families.

Doctor of Philosophy / Ethnic Racial Socialization (ERS) is the process Black parents utilize to convey attitudes and beliefs about the meaning of race and ethnicity, teach their children what it means to be an ethnic/racial minority and equip their children with the skills to cope with racial discrimination (Neblett, Cooper, Banks, et. al, 2013). This process includes culture specific messages, artifacts and modeled behavior that provide a toolbox of which Black children can pull from when enduring racial experiences. Research suggests ERS has the ability to act as a protective factor against negative outcomes, such as low self-esteem, anxiety and depression among minority children (Reynold and Gonzales-Backen, 2017). In this study, I examined how particular experiences influence how Black fathers engage in ERS. This qualitative study explored how Black fathers' race-related social experiences shape their ERS processes through semi-structured interviewing. This study was informed by Critical Race Theory and Extended Family Systems Theory. Grounded Theory methodology was utilized. In this study, I aimed to address the following overarching research question: How do Black fathers' social experiences shape the way they engage in ERS with their children? Twenty-two participants from fifteen states and the District of Columbia participated in this study. The data from this study suggests that fathers' race-related social experiences regarding racism and discrimination shapes their worldviews. In turn, fathers' worldviews influence the messages transmitted to their children about living in a racially charged environment. Results from this study indicate a need to examine family processes in Black families within a context where race and racism have a more central role (James, Fine, and Rudy, 2018). Through the emphasis of Black fathers' situated context, this research highlights the social context of fathers with differing experiences and worldviews that all contribute to the ERS process. This research has implications for the field and implications for families and practitioners who work with children and families.

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Approximately 63% of all incarcerated individuals in the U.S. identify as a parent (Glaze and Maruschak, 2010), with as many as 7% of children experiencing parental incarceration at some point in their lives (Murphey and Cooper, 2015). Historically, much of the parental incarceration literature has relied on between-groups comparison research, highlighting risks and determinants of pathology for youth with an incarcerated parent. However, significantly less research has attempted to understand resilience processes in the context of parental incarceration from a within-group resilience perspective. The overall goal of this dissertation research was to empirically test the theoretical Family Inequality Framework (Arditti, 2018) and better understand how family resilience processes influence the relationship between material hardship and child outcomes within the context of parental incarceration. Structural equation modeling was used to perform a mediational cross-sectional analysis. Results of these analyses suggest that parental mental health processes play an important role in mitigating adverse outcomes for families by mediating the effects of material hardship on youth academic adjustment in the context of parental incarceration. Theoretical, clinical, and policy implications, as well as future research directions are discussed. / Doctor of Philosophy / Approximately 63% of all incarcerated individuals in the U.S. identify as a parent (Glaze and Maruschak, 2010), with as many as 7% of children experiencing parental incarceration at some point in their lives (Murphey and Cooper, 2015). Historically, much of the existing research on parental incarceration is problem focused, painting these families in a negative light. In contrast, there is very little research highlighting the unique strengths and resiliences of families impacted by parental incarceration. The goal of this dissertation research was to better understand how family resilience processes, such as social support, parenting practices, and parental mental health, might reduce the negative impact of parental incarceration. Results suggest that parental mental health processes play an important role for overall family wellness during parental incarceration. In particular, the more a parent says they are doing well from a mental health perspective the better their kids appear to be doing in school. In this way, parental mental health wellness appears to provide a buffering effect against the common risks parental incarceration can introduce into a family. Theoretical, clinical, and policy implications, as well as future research directions are discussed.

This study aimed to demonstrate the effects of the contextual factors (socio-economic conditions and level of urbanization) on family processes and outcomes related to women. The family processes of interest were spousal relations relative power, feelings of mastery, and self evaluation of women in familial roles. Another aim was to investigate the effect of participation in the activities of family support and women education programs on women&#039 / s attitudes in relation to family roles. I studies with an accidental sample of 145 women in various districts of Kadik&ouml / y, istanbul. There were three groups of women (1) women living in poor districts of Kadik&ouml / y and in touch with &quot / Family Guiding/ Solidarity Center&quot / of Kadik&ouml / y Munucipality, (2) women living in the same districts but not in touch with (FG/SC), (3) women living in central-whealthy neighborhoods of Kadik&ouml / y. There were three main predictions / (1) education was predicted to determine economic status, which would influence mastery. Mastery in turn, would affect spousal relationsand decision making processes in family. Finally, spousal relations would predict self-evaluation (2) urbanization was predicted to influence modern attitudes toward spousal roles positively and traditional attitudes negatively, (3) women who were in touch with FG/SC were predicted to have more favorable attitudes toward modern spousal roles, but less favorable toward traditional spousal roles. The model of the first prediction revealed that / economic status determined mastery, which influences warmth and equality. Warmth and equality in turn influences individual&#039 / s self evaluation. As expected in the second prediction, urbanization was negatively related to traditional attitudes. Comparison of the three groups revealed that, women living in pheripheral districts showed more favorable attitudes towards traditional gender stereotypic duties of women, and maledominance than women living in central districts. Women living in pheripheral districts and intouch with FG/SC, showed more favorable attitudes toward women&#039 / s participation inlabor market than women living in the same area but not in touch with FG/SC, and women living in the central districts.