The purpose of this study was to examine if video game usage was influenced by family structure. Family structure was measured in two ways; the first, the amount of time one spends with their family, and second, family disruption. The amount of time one spends with their family was measured with specific amounts of time; for example, the number of weekly days one would engage with his or her family. Family disruption was broken into four categories; parental marriage, parental divorce, adoption, and guardian death. Video game usage was measured in two categories; weekly days one plays video games, and daily hours one plays video games. The evidence from the 701 surveys suggests there is no correlation between video game usage and the amount of time one spends with their family. The evidence also suggests that family disruption does not influence whether or not one plays video games either. / Department of Sociology

Whereas many studies of adult children of alcoholics (COAs) have utilized clinical subjects, subjects in this study (n = 229) were relatively well functioning college students. The Children ofAlcoholics Screening Test (CAST; Jones, 1983) was utilized to define parental alcoholism.Results of a multivariate analysis of variance indicated that COAs were more likely to exhibit symptoms related to poor psychological adjustment than were their non-COA peers. No significant psychological differences in male and female COAs were found. COAs scored significantly higher than non-COAs (p.< .01) on the Alienation scale of the Psychological Screening Inventory (PSI; Lanyon, 1978), indicating the greater similarity of COAs to those with psychiatric problems. Social Nonconformity, as a measure of psychopathic behavior, was higher for COAs than for non-COAs (p. < .001). COAs from lower income families demonstrated higher scores on the Discomfort scale (p < .01), which measures symptoms. Those subjects who reported parental greater symptomatology and anxiety than those who reported no parental depression (p. ( .001). Although parental divorce rates were higher for COAs (32.4%) as compared to non-COAs (10.9%), no significant association with any of the psychological variables was found for parental divorce.In comparison to non-COAs, both male and female COAs evidenced greater problem alcohol use (p < .001) measured by the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST; Selzer, 1971). As demonstrated by a MAST score of 7 or more, 88.8% of male COAs and 30.5% of female COAs indicated serious alcohol-related problems. Parental depression was also significantly related to problem alcohol use in subjects. It was found that the MacAndrew scale (MAC; MacAndrew, 1965) was of little utility for identifying subjects with problem alcohol use. / Department of Educational Psychology

The number of children identified as emotionally disturbed has been increasing. The success rate for these children has been disappointingly low in both their academic and post-academic lives. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between children identified as emotionally disturbed and their families, and to recommend strategies and family services that could increase the success rate of this particular population.Information was obtained from two self-report instruments, FACES II and a Personal Information Questionnaire, and from social-developmental histories and psychoeducational evaluations. The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale (FACES II) is a 30-item, self-report instrument that scores a family's view of flexibility and cohesion on the Circumplex Model grid. The Circumplex Model of Marital and Family Systems is a family typology that is based on the family's degree of flexibility and cohesion. The Personal Information Questionnaire was a demographic instrument used to obtain marital status and economic factors. Grade levels and incidents of child abuse were obtained from social-developmental histories and psychoeducational evaluations.Data were collected from families with children identified as emotionally disturbed. A total of twenty-seven children, ages eight to eighteen, and one parent of each child were included in the study (N = 54). Responses to FACES II and items on the questionnaire were analyzed usingchi-square analysis.Seventy-four percent of the families were classified as dysfunctional based on their responses to FACES II. Less than half of these families rated as disengaged on the cohesion level and more than half of these families rated as rigid on the flexibility level. The school levels of these children were also significant. A higher percentage of families with children in high school were dysfunctional as compared with families with children in elementary school. Parent relational status was not significant. The functional level of the family was not affected if the parents were married, divorced, or widowed. A relationship did exist between families with children identified as emotionally disturbed and reported incidents of child abuse. The dysfunctional families had a higher rate of reported child abuse while those families who were more balanced had fewer reported incidents of child abuse. Finally, socioeconomic status was not a factor in the functional level of the families.Findings from this study may assist school personnel when providing services for children identified as emotionally disturbed and their families. Teachers of students who are emotionally disturbed and general education teachers who will service these students require an accurate understanding of the etiological factors associated with the development of a child identified as emotionally disturbed. By assessing the family's specific areas of strength and weaknesses, school and community services could be provided to meet the needs of the families and their children. / Department of Special Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether multiparous mothers of full term infants perceived newborns differently than multiparous mothers of premature infants. A convenience sample of 32 multiparous mothers was selected and placed into one of two groups according to the gestational age. Group 1 was comprised of 25 full term mothers and Group 2 was comprised of 7 preterm mothers.The Neonatal Perception Inventory - I was utilized to elicit mother's perceptions of the newborn. The instrument was found to be valid and reliable for use with multiparas. Demographic data was gathered on age, educational level, number of previous pregnancies and the classification of a high-risk pregnancy.Differences between the two groups were analyzed utilizing a ttest and Analysis of Covariance. The study's results indicated that there is no significant difference between neonatal perceptions of multiparous mothers of full term infants and multiparous mothers of premature infants. / School of Nursing

Autoethnography is a self-reflexive form of ethnography. Autoethnography has been conducted using diverse techniques. This research employs the autoethnographic approach using a personal narrative. Personal narrative texts are subjective, provocative and provide insight into lived experience. The researcher’s personal narrative is used to examine the subjective, lived experience of being in a dual-student, non-married, long-distance relationship. Both critiques and arguments for the use of autoethnography and personal narrative are reviewed. Directions for future research on long-distance, dual-student couples are explored as well as directions for the autoethnographic approach. / Department of Communication Studies

Clinical observations of families with a member who displays bulimia have suggested that more than one family interaction pattern exist. The purpose of this study was to investigate these clinical observations using three self-report questionnaires: FACES-III, Binge Scale, and a demographic instrument including items regarding three identifiable family types. Data was collected from hospitals who treated persons displaying bulimia and eating disorder treatment centers. A total of 70 women, ages 13 to 39, and both parents of each woman included in the study (Total N = 210).Responses to the FACES-III and certain items on the demographic questionnaire were analyzed using chi-square and one-way ANOVAs with Tukey's follow-up procedure when necessary. Each of the 70 families were identified on the Circumplex Model, but because of methodological concerns only 57 families were used to test most of the hypotheses.Hypothesis One, which stated that more than 50% of the families would be classified as either moderately or extremely dysfunctional, was accepted. Sixty-four percent of the families were labeled moderately or extremely dysfunctional. Hypothesis Two, which claimed that there would be no differences between types of families in terms of the age and birth order of the member displaying bulimia and the number of siblings in the family, was also supported. There were no significant differences found among families with regards to the age and birth order of the daughter or the number of siblings in the family. Hypothesis Three, which asserted that types of families would not differ in terms of the parents' relational status, was accepted as well, but cautiously interpreted. Of the parents, 96.5% were married, while one set was divorced and another separated. Hypothesis Four, which stated that families would differ with respect to their degree of family satisfaction, was also supported. Functional families claimed feeling more satisfied than dysfunctional families. Hypothesis Five, which claimed that types of families would differ in terms of their previous and current level of closeness, was accepted. Dysfunctional, as compared to functional, families reported significantly less family satisfaction previously and currently. Finally, Hypothesis Six, which asserted that types of families would differ with respect to their degree of chaos, perfection, and overprotection, was partially supported. Dysfunctional families claimed to experience greater degrees of chaos and perfection than functional families.Relying on the Circumplex Model of family functioning, results suggest that there are identifiable differences in the family structures of families where one member displays bulimia. Findings from this study may assist therapists when conceptualizing and treating various types of families that are struggling with the interpersonal and emotional effects of bulimia. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

This study examines the relationship between parenting styles, family environment, and gambling behavior among 1,203 CEGEP students in the greater Montreal area. Participants reported on their past year gambling behavior and their perceptions of their family environment. Their perceptions of their parents' pattern of parenting were also reported, and are identified based upon Buri's (1991) and Baumrind's (1971) authoritarian, authoritative/flexible, and permissive parenting styles. Results showed that parenting styles indirectly influence problem gambling behavior via family environment. Poor family environments, characterized by high levels of conflict and low levels of cohesion, were found to significantly increase the likelihood of gambling problems among youth. Results of this study serve as a basis for future studies to investigate the complex dynamics at play between familial influences and youth gambling behavior.

This thesis engages with what has become a ubiquitous term in masculinity studies: “crisis”. I argue that the invocation of “crisis” which implies catastrophe, disaster and trauma, and the favorable reception of this invocation both in academic and popular thinking about men, has resulted in a rush to defend and reauthorize aspects of the masculine ideal. The defense of traditional masculinity risks re-entangling men with masculinity and masculinity with patriarchy. The retying of these categorical knots challenges the deconstruction of gender that feminism and early men’s studies carried out in the second half of the twentieth century in the name of equal rights and in the name of freeing both men and women from having to conform to rigid gender stereotypes – particularly in the home. In recent work by J.M. Coetzee, John Banville and Ian McEwan the male protagonists are fathers who are forced to address a crisis of authority and legitimacy. In the first three chapters I argue that fatherhood in these novels is the site wherein the masculine ideal is least likely to be deconstructed and as such, it is in the context of the relationship between father and daughter that I argue heteromasculinity is most powerfully constructed, maintained and defended. In the fourth chapter I consider Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir Fun Home which provides a queer take on male crisis and father-daughter relationships and which represents female masculinity as a counter to the pressure to reauthorize heteromasculinity for the next historical turn.

A mail survey was conducted with 49 suicide survivors from 13 different suicide support groups across Canada. Participants were asked about their experiences of grieving a suicide and if the suicide was part of a cluster. Quantitative and qualitative research methodology was used in the coding and analysis of the data. A theory diagram was devised to test four hypotheses. Results of the regression analyses contradicted one hypothesis: showing that an increase in coping mechanisms may heighten levels of grief for a suicide survivor. The number of possible suicide linkages was highly significant with 5 of the 49 participants answering positively when asked if the suicide they were grieving was part of a cluster. Suicide bereavement groups were consistently rated as beneficial or very beneficial by participants. Lastly, content analysis of the open-ended questions showed a common experience of stigma associated with a suicidal death for survivors.

Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references. / Microfiche. / xiii, 191 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm