Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Sonya L. Britt and Martin Seay / This three essay dissertation examined questions related to personal financial difficulties of military members with the aim of suggesting the most effective focal points for those involved in development of policy or programs or working directly with military members on improving their personal financial condition. The introduction (Chapter 1) describes the nature of the problem, the level of attention it has received within the civilian and military leadership structure, and generally what has been done to address it before presenting an outline of the chapters which follow. The first essay (Chapter 2) relies on theoretical guidance from stress and coping theory to examine determinants of a military member’s choice of problem-focused over emotion-focused coping strategies. The study used primary data collected from a sample of soldiers (n = 688) at a large Midwestern military installation. Its results indicated that military members with an internal locus of control and those who performed positive financial behaviors in response to a financial stressor reported lower levels of financial stress. Taking its theoretical guidance from the theory of planned behavior, the second essay (Chapter 3) examined the relationship of the behavioral antecedents of attitude toward behavior, subjective beliefs, and perceived behavioral control with behaviors related to establishing and maintaining an adequate emergency fund and maintaining positive cash flow, the term used for keeping spending at levels below income over time. The study analyzed primary data from a sample of soldiers at a large Midwestern military installation (n = 93). Of the 11 models analyzed, most were statistically significant, though, individually, the behavioral antecedents themselves did not yield statistical significance as often. Although fewer definitive findings emerged from the cash flow group of models, results of the emergency fund group indicated that attitude toward behavior and perceived behavioral control are positively influential on behaviors related to maintaining an emergency fund. The third essay (Chapter 4) detailed a study which tested the theoretical assumption that better informed consumers make better financial choices. The study examined self-assessed financial knowledge, a self-assessed measure of confidence in day-to-day personal financial management termed financial confidence, and objectively measured financial knowledge as potential determinants of certain positive and negative financial behaviors. The positive behaviors were maintenance of positive cash flow and an adequate emergency fund, and the negative behaviors were engaging in high-cost borrowing through auto title lenders, payday lenders, pawn shops, and rent-to-own stores, collectively termed alternative financial services (AFS). The study analyzed secondary data from a sample of military members collected by the 2012 National Financial Capability Study which yielded a set of 949 responses useable for the study described in this chapter. Subjective knowledge was found to be associated with emergency fund maintenance, but not positive cash flow, while objective financial knowledge and financial confidence were found to be positively associated with positive cash flow, but not emergency fund maintenance. Females and those with higher incomes were found to be more likely to maintain positive cash flow, while those with three or more dependent children and those having experienced a recent income shock were less likely to do so. Females, members with graduate degrees, and members with a higher investing risk tolerance were more likely to maintain emergency funds, though members with two or more children and those having experienced a recent income shock were less likely to do so. Subjective financial knowledge was found to be positively related to AFS use, while objective financial knowledge and financial confidence were found to be negatively associated with AFS use. Members with more dependent children and those having experienced recent income shocks were more likely to have used AFS, while those with higher incomes were less likely to have done so. The conclusion (Chapter 5) summarizes the findings of all three essays, their implications, and suggests directions for future research. It re-emphasizes the unique contributions of the essays to personal finance literature pertaining to military members and its importance for policy makers, military leaders, and anyone involved in developing or administering personal financial improvement programs for the benefit of military members.

Master of Science / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Melinda Markham / Resiliency in the low-income population includes individual as well as familial and community achievement. In order to break down the barriers of poverty, all three must be interconnected. This report provides a review of the current literature on factors that affect individuals and families to become resilient and what programs are available for support along the way. Circles Manhattan is one program in the Manhattan, Kansas community that rallies around individuals and families in poverty and works to see them through to earning 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. This report also provides an evaluation of the Circles Manhattan Circle Leader training using pre-evaluation, post-evaluation, and weekly evaluation tools. Based on the results of the evaluation, recommendations are made for the future of Circles Manhattan as well as for researchers studying the topic of resiliency and poverty.

Master of Science / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Rick J. Scheidt / Schizophrenia can be an extremely disabling individual disorder but it is also clear that it is a "family disorder" as well. Researchers have begun to assess the correlates and possible causes of this disorder on families in the United States as well as in other nations. This report reviews this research. Most research to date has focused on two aspects of the schizophrenia-family relationship: expressed emotion and sense of burden. Following a definitional review of schizophrenia, its history, and its treatment, this report reviews research conducted on expressed emotion (relative's propensity to express critical, hostile, or over involved attitudes about a patient when discussing the patient's illness with an interviewer) and sense objective and subjective of burden of care provision. A personal account is offered regarding what it was like for the writer to grow up in a family with a parent diagnosed with schizophrenia. Finally, the conclusion of this report evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of current research on the impact of schizophrenia and the family. Suggestions for future research are derived partially from the content of the personal account. These include the need for a research targeting the full family, developmentally- and contextually-appropriate theories to guide the research, and the need for more qualitative research to identify individual and family variables that should guide future empirical efforts. It is suggested that programmatic family education and counseling should begin soon after diagnosis of the disorder, be developmentally relevant, and designed to sustain family members over long periods of time.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Sandra M. Stith / Male-to-female intimate partner violence (IPV) remains a significant social problem as research into its prevalence, incidence, severity, and resulting health consequences has documented. Just as we are beginning to understand some of the pieces of this problem in the United States, researchers and domestic violence advocates have called for expanding that understanding by exploring the range of risks involved in leaving a relationship with a violent man or in seeking help. In addition to the risk of personal physical harm, women in relationships with violent men may also consider the risk of harm to others, and the financial, social and legal risks to leaving (Hamby, 2008). Others have called for a better understanding of IPV through the examination of experiences of IPV within specific groups or subpopulations, such as with immigrant women (Menjívar & Salcido, 2002). This study uses Hamby’s (2008) holistic risk assessment, Choice and Lamke’s (1997) 2-part decision-making model, and a comparison between immigrant and non-immigrant women, to expand our understanding of the decisions women make about leaving their relationship and to seek help. With a sample of 1,307 women in the United Stated, similarities and differences between immigrant and non-immigrant women in the predictors to leaving and help seeking were determined through logistic regression analysis. Results indicate support for a holistic risk assessment such as Hamby’s (2008), and demonstrate significant differences between immigrant and non-immigrant women in their risks and barriers to leaving and help seeking. Nevertheless, examinations of the predictors to leaving and help seeking demonstrate many areas of similarity between immigrant and non-immigrant women in the ways they make decisions about leaving a relationship with a violent man or seeking help. Domestic violence advocates and therapists who work with women in relationships with violent men are encouraged to explore more fully the impact of the risks of harm to others, and the financial, social and legal risks to leaving or staying, and are further encouraged to expand their ideas of what women need once they leave, given the barriers that may make leaving more difficult for them.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Farrell J. Webb / The current study was focused on the role Black grandmothers played in biraical (Black and White) racial socialization process of their grandchild or grandchildren. Racial socialization process where by the grandmothers engaged in a systemtic and deliberate attempt to ensure that their grandchildren develp an awareness and sensibilty toward their Black hertiage. There were several criteria the grandmothers had to meet. They included being born before 1975, ensuring that the grandmothers expereienced the post 70s Black pride movement. The grandmother also needed to have contact with the identified grandchild. Qualitative methods with a phenomenological lens were employed. The Black grandmothers are seen as the experts on their experiences, thus phenomenology allowed me to probe deeper into the experiences of these grandmothers and their reality. One-on-one interviews were conducted with the participants at the location and time of their choice. The results revealed the perspective and methods they exercised in racially socializing their biracial grandchildren. The participants had similar beliefs as it related to what their role in the racial socialization process was supposed to be. There were eight primary themes that emerged were community influence, spirituality, social adjustment, feelings toward “the other”, social perception, cultural indoctrination, grandma’s burden, and the road ahead. Although, each grandmother had a different journey their conclusions regarding the way to socialize their biracial grandchildren as Black was unanimous.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Walter Schumm and Kristy Archuleta / Financial literacy has become a prominent topic of discussion since the latest economic downturn. Although many studies reveal that our youth’s financial literacy is low, no study to date provides an overview as to how our youth are learning financial literacy concepts. This dissertation seeks to explore how homeschooling families prepare their children to be financially literate. This study reviewed four sensitizing concepts: (a) communication, (b) engagement, (c) outside influences, and (d) parental perspectives based on the learning theory: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Twenty primary educators in homeschooling families from a variety of states were interviewed for this study. Out of the twenty participants, eight were classified in the elementary age group, five were classified in the middle school age, and seven were classified in the high school age. Each sensitizing concept was examined for each school age group. This exploratory study found that parents who homeschool tend to focus on three main topics of personal finance: debt or the avoidance of debt, savings, and budgeting. Little evidence suggests that parents help their children with the mechanics of these behaviors. There were three important findings extracted in this study. First, the results suggest that homeschooling parents need to become better prepared to teach their children about money, and second, that personal finance should be thought of as a core subject in the elementary age years in lieu of just a life skill. Finally, this study found that there is a large focus around personal finance topics in the elementary age years and the high school years, with little attention to personal finance behaviors for the middle school age group. The results of this study provide those entities that advocate improved financial literacy an understanding as to the “how” parents who homeschool prepare their kids to understand money.

Master of Science / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Briana S. Nelson Goff / Parenting a child with Down syndrome may pose unique challenges for parents’ relationship quality. Structural equation modeling was used with a sample of 351 mothers of children with Down syndrome to test if hope mediated the associated between various coping behaviors and relationship quality. Results indicated a greater degree of religious coping and internal coping were each significantly associated with more hope, whereas support seeking was not related with more hope. Higher hope was significantly associated with greater relationship quality. An indirect effect from both religious coping and internal coping to hope, and then hope to relationship quality was identified. Implications for family professionals and future research are discussed.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Karen S. Myers-Bowman / The purpose of this study was to determine the factors influencing acculturative stress among international students from the international student perspective. This study explored how acculturative stressors, social support and stress are related. In addition the study examined the significant socio-cultural and demographic predictors of acculturative stress. The Berry's acculturation stress research framework and Bronfenbrenner's ecological perspective were used to guide this study. Data was collected using an online survey from international students across a cohort of eleven U.S universities. Of the 986 students who took the survey, only complete data from 606 students were included in the current study. Descriptive statistics, univariate and multivariate statistical analyses were employed to summarize and test the proposed hypotheses. The findings indicated that students who were experiencing increased levels of difficulty with the acculturative stressors were more likely to experience higher levels of stress. In addition international students who reported high levels of collective social support were more likely to display less impact of acculturative stressors on acculturative stress. However, the unique moderating influences of various types of social support (family, friends and important others) on the relationship between acculturative stressor and stress was not supported. The findings on the socio-cultural and demographic predictors of acculturative stress suggested that using the assimilation mode and identifying marital status in the "others" category was indicative of lower stress. Lower income and self identified lower social class prior and during acculturation were predictive of higher acculturative stress levels. Findings highlight the fundamental role of the international student's social context and its impact on his/her acculturation process and outcomes. The findings have implications for professionals and scholars who work with international students in practice, education and policy. Suggestions for future research are also included.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Walter R. Schumm / The study of family strengths, as opposed to family dysfunction, has increased over the past few decades. Six interrelated components of family strength were identified that may affect the degree of marital satisfaction of husbands and wives. The six components - worth, commitment to relationship stability, commitment to relationship growth, communication, positive interaction, and time spent together - are characteristics within a family that may have substantial connections. Identical surveys were administered to couples in three major metropolitan areas. The data for the study were a sub-sample of data collected as a mail survey as part of a larger survey of membership retention within a mainline Protestant denomination. The main mail survey contained 10 pages. For about one-third of the sample, an additional two-page survey was given concerning premarital counseling and marital satisfaction. Another third of the sample was given an additional 2-page survey on family strengths and marital satisfaction. In addition to 20 family strengths items, those surveyed were asked to respond to the three questions of the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. Data from these couples were used to test a hypothesized model of the interrelationships between the various measures of family strength using a detailed path analysis model with marital satisfaction as the dependent variable. The variables worth, commitment, communication, positive interaction, and time together functioned as intervening variables in the model with age, gender, various measures of religiosity, income, education, and age of children functioning as independent variables. The data were then analyzed by ordinary least squares regression techniques to test the model using marital satisfaction as the dependent variable. The results of testing the model indicated that strength in certain characteristics predicted strength in other characteristics at statistically significant levels (p < .05). Intrinsic religiosity predicted worth. Worth predicted commitment to stability and commitment to growth. The two areas of commitment predicted communication. Communication predicted positive interaction. Positive interaction predicted time together, and strengths in most of the characteristics predicted marital satisfaction. It is important for researchers, educators, therapists, and other professionals who work with families to gain an understanding and awareness of the current breakdown of marriage and family in our Western society. A greater understanding of family strengths and how they work together is crucial to providing families and family professionals with information useful for supporting family systems.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Joyce A. Baptist / The Chickasaw represent one non-reservation bound American Indian tribe whose experiences of family life, historical trauma and resilience has not been fully understood. Therefore, this study sought to identify the qualities common to Chickasaw families, Chickasaw families' experiences of historical trauma and the factors that contribute to Chickasaw families' ability to persevere under adversarial circumstances. Using in-depth phenomenological interviews with nine (N = 9) three-generation minimum Chickasaw families, four central themes emerged that answered the four research questions. The first theme, "Chokka-chaffa' Nanna Mó̲́đma Ímmayya/The Family Is Everything" indicated that Chickasaw families were a heterogeneously complex system with a natural orientation toward the family unit itself, whereby the families valued emotional closeness, warmth and affection, quality time together, praise, respect and openness. Families were involved with one another and were active participants in strengthening their own families and communities. Families were prideful of family members' accomplishments and valued extended kin and spirituality. Further, families were confronted with challenges, but showed an ability to "bend, but not break," often citing the very same qualities, such as involvement, pride and an orientation toward family, as contributing to their ability to solve problems and keep the family unit intact. The second theme, "Impalahá̲mmi Bíyyi'ka/They Have It Really Bad," indicated the families experienced historical trauma by mourning the loss of land, language, culture and identity and that losses went unacknowledged by their non-Native counterparts and were ongoing, thus expecting to affect younger and future generations. The third theme, "Chikashsha Poyacha Ilaa-áyya'shakatí̲'ma/We Are Chickasaw, and We Are Still Here" indicated that despite hardships, families saw resilience as a trait found within their Chickasaw heritage. Maintaining a positive outlook, a spirit of determination, a fierce loyalty toward family members and a close connection to the Chickasaw Nation further contributed to families' resilience. The fourth theme, "Hooittapila/They Help One Another" indicated that resilient qualities were passed in a multidirectional pattern throughout all generations of family members, whereby family members from all generations supported and uplifted one another. Also discussed are the study's strengths and limitations and the clinical and research implications for Chickasaw families.