The present study was aimed at exploring the issues faced by previously incarcerated fathers and their children. A qualitative design utilizing face to face interviews was used to answer the question: according to previously incarcerate fathers, what are the differences between the reciprocal connectedness of fathers and their children prior to, during, and following incarceration? Interviews were conducted with 10 previously incarcerated fathers. Researchers found that all participants had positive relationships with their children at some point prior to incarceration. Furthermore, during incarceration the reciprocal connectedness of these relationships severely decreased due to limited or no contact. Following incarceration, fathers continued to have difficulty rebuilding the connection they once had with their children due to continued limited or nonexistent contact and mistrust by their children. Incarcerated fathers and their children are an underserved population in need of additional resources. The findings of the study add to the literature about the relationship between previously incarcerated fathers and their children, in hopes that further research and services will be developed.

The purpose of this study is to explore empowerment in Parent‑Child Interaction therapy (PCIT). Research has shown that attachment issues and child maltreatment are serious social problems that may lead to risks of child abuse and children developing mental illnesses. Interventions, like PCIT have shown to decrease these risks by improving the parent‑child interactions by enhancing parent skill levels and by decreasing parent stress levels and child behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine whether enhancing parent skills and decreasing parent stress levels would therefore increase parent empowerment. This study utilized a quantitative method to examine potential growth in parent empowerment. The current study consisted of 20 cases in which parents completed PCIT and had pre- and post- Dyadic parent‑child interaction coding system (DPICS) and Parent Stress Index (PSI) scores. Results indicated that PCIT enhanced parent skills but did not decrease stress levels as first hypothesized. Therefore, enhanced skills and decreased stress levels were found to not be a sufficient measure of parent empowerment. The PCIT literature has shown that PCIT successfully enhances parent skills, which in turn has shown to decrease the risk of child abuse. It is recommended that individual environmental factors and life stressors be considered in addition to the parents participating in PCIT to better enhance parent empowerment.

A significant focus is placed on positive outcomes for children in today’s society. However, mental health clinicians attest that poor attachments, during early childhood, are likely to have negative effects on a child’s long-term outcomes. By using the post-positivist paradigm, 10 mental health clinicians were interviewed and each provided their perspectives regarding the negative social skills and emotional regulations of young children, when parents fail to appropriately bond with their children, during their early years. Their ideas were formulated, connected, and structured to develop a theoretical statement. The resulting theory focused on the parent’s ability to develop and strengthen the parent/child relationship, through a range of interventions. Parent’s inability to form positive attachments were influenced by a variety of issues, such as, depression, drug and/or alcohol dependency, poverty, poor relationships with the child’s parent, mental illness, violence, etc. These factors resulted in poor social dynamics with the parent; thereby, hindering their bonding. Children with poor attachments tend to display poor socioemotional affects, such as, poor social, coping, and problem solving skills, tantrums, clingy, withdrawn, or aggressive behaviors, etc. These negative effects, often impacts the child throughout their developmental years.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is a debilitating condition affecting more than two percent of the general population. Typical age of onset is between 12 to 13 years of age with two thirds of individuals with BDD experiencing symptom onset before age 18, when children and adolescents typically still live in the familial home. Despite the highly debilitating nature of the disorder, the alarming rates of suicide and suicidal ideation among individuals diagnosed with BDD, and the relational problems that exist for people with BDD, there is virtually no research evaluating how relationships and attachment plays a role in the development, maintenance, or remission of this disorder. This study fills a gap in the literature regarding the lived relationship experiences of individuals diagnosed with BDD. Eight participants who struggle with BDD were interviewed. A phenomenological approach was used to capture the experiences of participants. As a result, six essential themes and 17 thematic elements emerged from the data: (1) Abject Nature of BDD, (2) BDD’s Negative Impact on Relationships, (3) Childhood Maltreatment and BDD, (4) Systemic Nature of BDD, (5) Relationships as Motivation for Working Toward Recovery, and (6) Strengths and Weaknesses in Mental Health Services for BDD. The construction of three relational cycles emerged as well from the data: Fear of Infidelity/Abandonment Cycle, Shame, Guilt and Isolation Cycle, and Impact of Positive Partnerships on BDD Cycle. One theoretical model was developed: BDD as a Distraction from Relational Pain Model. Suggestions for clinical implications of these Cycles and Model, and future research implications are also provided.

This dissertation uses a modified systematic literature review to look at working with parents and carers within child and adolescent psychotherapy, and to consider this tasks relationship to therapeutic outcomes for children and adolescents. The topic is important because psychotherapy with children and adolescents inevitably involves additional relationships. The literature indicates the way this undertaking has been regarded has varied through the history of psychodynamic child and adolescent psychotherapy. Numerous writers reflect on the ongoing neglect and absence of systematic thinking in relation to the task of work with parents and carers. This lack of attention is understood to have been influenced by the traditional model of child and adolescent psychotherapy where the source of the child or adolescent’s distress or difficulty was regarded as being primarily intrapsychic. What is now known regarding the current and active nature of the child or adolescent’s relationship with the parent or carer, and the power and persistence of the parent-child bond has resulted in an acknowledgement of the need for a more equitable balance of focus between internal and external factors. In acknowledging that the external can no longer be seen as peripheral there are compelling clinical reasons to work with parents and carers. This undertaking should not be seen as dependant on the therapist’s orientation or interest. The significant scope of possibilities for work with parents and carers within child and adolescent psychotherapy is explored; however there is a lack of data relating to the clinical effectiveness of these approaches. The future need is for systematic thinking, and the development of practice guidelines for this clinical task.

Balancing a successful career with a family life can be challenging and impact on a person's satisfaction in their work and family roles, affecting not only the person but their partner and children as well. This study examined the influence of social support from family and work associates on the role satisfaction of female and male managers, and their children's adjustment. Participants were 96 male and 100 female managers and their families. The first aim of this study was to examine the relative importance of work and family support for satisfaction in the roles of paid worker, spouse and parent. Findings showed that social support had a domain-specific effect, with work support associated with job satisfaction, and family support associated with marital and parenting satisfaction. The second aim of the study was to evaluate gender differences in perceived social support, and the association of support with role satisfaction. Although there were considerable differences in the managers' work and family arrangements, female managers and male managers reported receiving similar levels of work and family support, and the strength of the relationship between social support and role satisfaction was similar for both genders. The final aim of the study was to examine the role of social support in the larger family system, as research has mainly focussed on the influence of social support on the support recipient. This study extended research on the relationship between social support and role satisfaction, by showing that family support was not only associated to managers' role satisfaction, but also to managers' interactions with their children, and their children's adjustment. Work support on the other hand, was related to job satisfaction, but not to parent-child interactions and child adjustment. The findings from this study could inform clinicians' treatment of families with children experiencing problems by addressing the relationship of family support with child adjustment. Findings could also inform governments' work and family agendas, which generally focus on providing assistance to employers with the development of workplace policies to improve work-family balance. Governments should also promote the role of family support, and provide information for families on how to arrange household and childcare tasks and provide support to each other to facilitate work-family balance. Furthermore, the current study showed that work support is positively related to employee's job satisfaction, which is important for employees as well as employers. Employers can promote supportive relationships among employees through establishing networking opportunities for their employees, such as breakfast meetings, workshops and seminars, and business planning days. This study showed that some people can have it all - a satisfying and successful career, a happy marriage, and fulfilling parenthood - and social support appears to play a significant role in achieving this.

Most couples eagerly anticipate the birth of their first child. However, the transition to parenthood is also associated with significant lifestyle changes and approximately 50% of couples report a moderate to severe decline in relationship satisfaction and quality. Low relationship satisfaction is associated with increased couple conflict, individual psychological distress, negative parent-child relationships and poor child outcomes. Despite our increasing knowledge of the factors that predict enhanced couple adjustment, few evidence-based programs are available to assist couples' adjustment to parenthood. In this first randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of a flexible delivery psycho-education program, entitled 'Couple CARE for Parents', 71 pregnant couples were assessed on self-report and observational measures of couple relationship and individual functioning and then randomized into either the Couple CARE for Parents program (n = 35) or a comparison program (n = 36). Couple CARE for Parents was a six unit program, comprising of an antenatal workshop, two home visits and three telephone support calls, and included skill-training in key relationship processes that are predictive of couple relationship quality, with the addition of parenting and baby care information. Among intervention couples the typical decline in female relationship satisfaction was prevented, with only 13% of intervention females reporting a decline in relationship satisfaction from pregnancy to 5 months postpartum, compared to 42% of females in the comparison program. Observed couple communication also improved as a result of the intervention, with Couple CARE for Parents couples showing reliably lower rates of negative speaker and listener skills at post-intervention relative to comparison couples. Couples were highly engaged in Couple CARE for Parents and there was a low drop out rate across the 7 month intervention period. These findings are promising and add to the early intervention studies showing positive effects of couple-focused psycho-education during the transition to parenthood by demonstrating that flexible delivery programs are feasible and attractive to couples. Providing cost-effective couple relationship education to expectant and new parent couples opens another window of opportunity for health professionals and governments to minimize the rates of relationship distress and divorce and their associated negative effects on individual, couple and family functioning.

Recent models of adolescent development and psychopathology emphasize the importance of the social regulation of emotion during adolescence (Allen & Manning, 2007; Allen & Miga, 2010), and emotion regulation as a mediating factor between multiple aspects of adolescent development and adolescent adjustment (Morris, Silk, Steinberg, Myers, & Robinson, 2007). The present dissertation investigated these two phenomena in two separate studies of adolescent development, emotion regulation, and psychological adjustment. In study one, a new measure of adolescent social regulation of emotion – the Managing Distress Interpersonally Scale, or MANDI – showed good internal consistency, test-retest reliability and factor structure across two samples (217 college students in sample one and 63 community adolescents in sample two). The MANDI also showed good convergent and discriminant validity in its relations with independent assessments of adolescent emotion regulation, relationship functioning, psychological functioning, and physiological regulation of emotion. In study two, 64 community adolescents completed self-report, interview, and physiological procedures (salivary cortisol and respiratory sinus arrhythmia), while one of their parents also completed survey measures. Emotion regulation was found to mediate the developmental context and adolescent depressive symptoms, alcohol problems, and peer aggression. Findings are discussed in terms of the utility of intervening at the level of emotion regulation for adolescents displaying difficulty with internalizing and externalizing symptoms.

Research indicates that parental sources of knowledge (i.e., child disclosure, parental solicitation, and parental control) play a role in the occurrence of antisocial and other problem behaviors in childhood and adolescence. Because sources of knowledge have not been examined regarding the extent to which they are specifically related to change in disruptive behavior disorder (DBD) symptoms and no research has examined the influence of child symptom clusters of DBD on parental sources of knowledge, the current study longitudinally examined reciprocal relations between child disclosure, parental solicitation, and the DBD symptom clusters of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Conduct Disorder (CD), and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). Participants were 89 children (56% males) recruited from a mid-sized southeastern community with ages ranging from 9-12 years (M = 10.4 years, SD = 1.1 years) at baseline. Results indicated that disclosure was negatively associated with both ODD and CD symptoms and solicitation was positively predictive of CD symptoms within time. However, associations were not maintained across time. Furthermore, disclosure and solicitation were unrelated to ADHD symptoms at baseline and across time. In turn, ODD symptoms were negatively related to child disclosure within as well as across time; however this association was only marginally statistically significant within time. ADHD and CD symptoms were unrelated to disclosure at both time points. Finally, only ODD symptoms were marginally statistically negatively related to parental solicitation within time, but no symptom clusters were associated with solicitation across time. Implications and future directions are discussed.

<p>Traditionally seen as a time for increasing independence and autonomy, the college experience is often the first major, long-term physical separation from parents (Chickering, 1969; Chickering & Reisser, 1993). For previous generations, living away from home provided conditions for autonomy development partially based on infrequent contact with parents. In contrast, the rapid evolution of communication technology in the recent past allows today's generation of college students to connect to their parents instantly and frequently through a variety of electronic means including cellular phone calls, text messages, emails, video chats, and social media. The current study used self-report data from 180 residential college students at a mid-sized private institution in the southeastern United States to explore parent-child communication patterns as they relate to parenting styles and the development of emotional autonomy and adjustment to college. Emotional autonomy was measured with items from the Emotional Autonomy Scale (EAS; Steinberg & Silverberg, 1986). Following Beyers, Goossens, Van Calster, & Duriez (2005), a separation scale (derived from the EAS subscales of parental deidealization, nondependence on parents, and individuation) was used as a measure of emotional autonomy. Two scales from the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (Baker & Siryk, 1989) measured students' academic and social adjustment to college.</p><p>Results indicated that, in a given week, students reported an average contact frequency (with both parents combined) of 10.92 cell phone calls, 49.88 text messages, and 6.04 email exchanges. Contact was initiated by students and parents at roughly the same rates, and females had more contact with parents than males, in general. Facebook was more popular than Twitter and Instagram for connecting with parents through social media, and the majority of students felt either neutral or positive about being "Facebook friends" with their parents. Overall, students reported high satisfaction with both the frequency and the quality of communication with their parents. Greater levels of parental closeness significantly predicted higher satisfaction with the parent-child Facebook friendship. </p><p>The relationships between the traditional parenting styles of permissive, authoritative, and authoritarian parenting (Baumrind, 1991) were investigated in relation to communication patterns, autonomy, and adjustment. Helicopter parenting was also included as a predictor variable, though it is considered separate from the traditional parenting styles (Padilla-Walker & Nelson, 2012). Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that parents' higher scores on authoritarian parenting and helicopter parenting predicted more frequent cell phone contact with parents. Parental closeness also emerged as a significant, positive predictor of frequency of cell phone and total communication. Students who talked on their cell phones more frequently overall (not including parental contacts) tended to talk to their parents more often on the phone, and the same went for texting, as well. </p><p>Helicopter parenting also predicted lower emotional autonomy, which was in line with the only previous study of helicopter parenting in emerging adulthood (Padilla-Walker & Nelson, 2012). Surprisingly, authoritative and permissive parenting significantly predicted lower emotional autonomy, while authoritarian parenting was related to greater autonomy. Analyses investigating frequency of cell phone contact with parents as a moderator of this relationship indicated that more frequent phone conversations predicted decreased autonomy when parents were more authoritative. High levels of authoritarian parenting, on the other hand, resulted in higher levels of autonomy regardless of how often students talked on the phone with parents, while high contact with less authoritarian parents predicted decreased autonomy. Frequency of cell phone contact with parents was unrelated to academic and social adjustment to college. Findings are discussed in light of previous research and situated within a framework proposing that technological advances in communication have contributed to lengthening the path to adulthood.</p> / Dissertation