Research on attachment suggests that attachment styles do exist in adulthood and appear to be an evolutionary product of infancy. This research was particularly focused on examining the relationship between attachment styles at various stages of the marital life cycle and the relationship of these styles of attachment to styles of love and marital quality among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).

The purpose of this study was to assess the direction and magnitude of the relationship between levels of marital satisfaction and two main housing variables--the housing burden ratio and the amount of home equity. The influence that these variables have on levels of marital satisfaction was mediated and moderated by how satisfied couples were with their homes and their finances, as well as their perceived experience of economic pressure. The results ultimately provide insights that can improve both couple well-being and financial/housing situations by pinpointing factors that account for the variance in marital satisfaction. This study used existing data from the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH). Although NSFH was collected in three longitudinal waves, this study used the second wave from 1992 as it contained the most complete information pertaining to research hypotheses. Approximately 5,000 participants were included. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analyses were used. One moderator and three mediating models were tested. Most of the sample (82%) owned homes. Approximately one third of those homeowners had entirely paid off their mortgage balances. Participants were mostly White, and were 46 years old on average. Only married participants were included in this study. Median annual income per household was $47,400 and the average housing cost burden was .139. Results indicated that the relationship between housing burden and marital satisfaction was partially mediated by economic pressure. A full mediation model existed between percent equity, economic pressure, and marital satisfaction, but no other equity variables. Results came close (p = .053) to indicating a full moderation model between housing burden, housing satisfaction, and marital satisfaction. Another partial mediation model was found between percent equity, financial satisfaction, and marital satisfaction. And finally, homeownership status negatively predicted marital satisfaction.

The objective of this study was to determine if a highly structured instructional program, as a supplement to a more traditional pre-school program would have an effect on the concept attainment of pre-school children. Two groups of eighteen pre-school children, enrolled in the Child Development Laboratory at Utah State University comprised the study sample. The eighteen children in the experimental group received the instructional program, in addition to the Child Development Laboratory school experience. Standardized pre and post tests were administered to both the experimental and control groups. A standardized test, The Boehm Test of Basic Concepts, was utilized. An hypothesis of no difference was used to guide this study. The results of the study indicated that a statistically significant difference did exist in comparing the post test scores of the two groups; thus the hypothesis of no difference was rejected. Although the results obtained were of statistical significance, the numerical value of the differences was very small. In examining variables within the experimental group, it was found that age, sex, verbal participation, and laboratory school experiences affected the study results.

This investigation assessed the relationship between adolescents of intact families and adolescents in reconstituted families with regard to the effects of perception of parental acceptance on the variables of self-esteem, academic performance, sex role identity, and use o f substances. Observed differences between adolescents of intact and reconstituted families from a structural perspective, eliminating process variables, were also examined. Participants included two hundred fifty-six high school students in grades 9 through 12 in an overseas Department of Defense Dependent School (DoDDs) . Questionnaires incorporated the measures of Perception of Parental Behavior Index; Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Survey; The Bern Sex Role Inventory (BSRI); questions on substance use; and self-reported grade point averages (GPA). Major findings include (1) Adolescents living in an intact family (process variables excluded) evidenced significantly higher GPA scores than adolescents residing in a reconstituted (step-family) situation. However, with regard to the use of substances, sex role identification, and self-esteem, no differences emerged. (2) When the effects of parental acceptance were assessed, differences among adolescents of intact families and adolescents of reconstituted families emerged among the variables of femininity, self- esteem, and substance . In contrast, sex role identification, masculinity , self-esteem, substance use , and GPA were not found to be mediated by perception of parental acceptance. The lack of significant differences in self- esteem and substance use contrasted sharply with the findings among adolescents within intact families. (3) When positive perception of parental acceptance was evidenced across eight distinct family compositions of intact and reconstituted families , as opposed to negative perception, self- esteem score s were highest , irrespective of family structure.

Solution-focused therapy is one of the models of brief family therapy that has come into prominence during the 1980s and 90s. Whereas earlier forms of family therapy concentrated on problems and the behaviors that maintained them, solution-focused therapy places its emphasis on "exceptions" to the problem--times when it is not happening--and seeks to elaborate on and amplify these exceptions. A solution-focused therapy model has been used with individuals, couples, and groups of individuals, but a search of the relevant literature revealed no information on its use with couples' groups. The purpose of this study was to develop a solution-focused treatment plan for a couples ' group and to test its effectiveness. A single-case research design was used with a multiple baseline assessment strategy across subjects. Participants' improvement on measures of overall marital satisfaction and specific goal achievement was considered in evaluation of effectiveness. Five couples completed the program. Marital satisfaction was measured using the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (RDAS) and the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (KMS) . On both measures 7 of the 10 participants showed improvement between baseline and intervention scores. Two participants showed little change in scores and 1 subject recorded a decline in score. A self-report goal sheet utilizing a 0-10 scale was used to record progress toward individual and couple goals. Eight participants reported progress, 1 no change, and 1 a decline on both types of goals. The results of this study lend support to the supposition of positive out comes from solution-focused couples ' group work and suggest the need for further study.

This study sought to examine the relationship between ethnic identity and the grade and gender of the subjects. Changes in ethnic identity over time were also analyzed. Students attending grades four through eight of the Nyssa Migrant School summer program participated in this study. One hundred twenty-four participants completed the pretest, eighty-nine completed the posttest, with a total of seventy-nine completing both the pretest and posttest. Students responded to the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure, which examined the subcategories of belonging and exploration to comprise the overall ethnic identity level. Scores were compared by grade and by gender at pretest and at posttest. Scores were also examined in those same subgroups for a change over time in the 79 subjects completing both the pretest and posttest. Though not statistically significant, results indicated a trend for males as a whole to show a greater increase in overall ethnic identity over the course of the summer school program than their female counterparts. Results also showed an increase (although not statistically significant) in ethnic identity for the group as a whole over the course of the six-week program, warranting further investigation into the summer program's effectiveness for enhancing ethnic identity. This aforementioned increase was more pronounced in children in the older grades, supporting a developmental progression of ethnic identity. At both the pretest and posttest, adjusted means for belonging were statistically significantly higher than those for exploration, F(l, 77) = 171.03,p = .000; F(l, 77) = 141.12,p = .000, respectively. Implications of these findings for future programs and future research are discussed.

The research reported here estimates the frequency of twenty-five husband and wife family types and examines the differences between six of the most prevalent and important family types in the American population in the 1980's. The variables used for comparisons are age at first marriage, income, fertility rates and marital happiness. To further clarify the relationship between marital happiness and family types, analyses were performed controlling for fertility, and income. The data used were part of the General Social Survey of 1980, 1981, 1983, and 1984 conducted by the National Opinion Research Center. The results show that the traditional family types (wife not working) are the most frequent family types and the husband career-wife job family type (HC-WJ) report the highest percentage of marital happiness.

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No description available.

The roles of men and women are among the many elements of contemporary American society which are in a process of rapid and sometimes disruptive change. The more or less traditional ways in which men and women have viewed themselves and each other are being openly challenged by a number of significant factors. Although there have always been those exceptional persons who questioned the inevitability of seemingly given role differentiation, today’s social climate makes such questioning more common and acceptable. A few specific factors may be mentioned as being particular interest. With modern communication and mobility, the options for varied educational and employment opportunities and life styles available to both men and women have vastly increased. In a world threatened with overpopulation, there has appeared a marked decrease in family size expectations. Further, increasingly open challenges are being offered to the idea of inevitability and/or desirability of the nuclear family as the ideal life style for all persons. The modern Women’s Movement has spoken to all of the above issues and has added the unique dimension of heightened awareness of past and present role allocation for women and its associated critique of what society has apportioned to men as well. Cooperative households provide one form of intimate social organizations in which sex roles, in some form, will be expressed. It is the intent of this study to focus upon perceptions of sext roles within contemporary cooperative households. Generally, we wish to know whether or not certain group or individual factors are associated with the development of sex role patterns. If they are associated, in what ways? If they are associated, will this enable us to develop more focused questions which could be investigated in similar settings outside the population sample? Finally, we will examine whether our data and observations raise questions for further inquiry regarding sex role patterns within the nuclear family and/or society in general. As social workers we hope to gain some understanding of ways in which life in a cooperative household may provide one alternative among many for those seeking to develop roles which reflect their uniqueness as persons.