Thesis (M. S.)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2005. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Michael Babcock. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 39-43).

Thesis (M.A.)--Bowling Green State University, 2005. / Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 123 p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--University of Wisconsin--Madison. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 122-132).

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Master of Science / Department of Psychology / Mark A. Barnett / Previous literature indicates that individuals tend to believe that a woman who stays at home with a young child is a better mother than a woman who works full time despite having a young child. However, relatively little is known about perceptions of a woman whose work/family status represents a compromise between these two extremes (e.g., a woman who stops working for 18 months after the birth of her child and, then, gradually increases her time at work). Furthermore, prior research has not adequately addressed whether perceptions of mothers in various work/family situations are related to perceptions of their children and their relations with their children. The present study was an attempt to expand the literature by exploring selected individual difference measures as potential predictors of perceptions of mothers in various work-family situations (i.e., Stay-at-Home Mother [SAHM], Working Mother [WM], and Middle Mother [MM]) and by extending the target of these perceptions beyond the mothers to their children and the mother/child relationship. Ninety-six undergraduates (a) completed a series of individual difference measures, (b) were introduced to a WM, SAHM, or a MM via audiotape, (c) observed the mother interact with her child on the identical brief videotape, and (d) rated their perceptions of the mother, child, and mother-child relationship. Contrary to prediction, none of the individual difference measures was associated with any of the participants' attitudinal ratings. However, a consistent pattern was found in which the ratings of the WM, her child, and her relation with her child were less favorable than the respective ratings for the SAHM and MM (which did not differ from one another). The implications and limitations of the present study, as well as a discussion of future directions in research on perceptions of mothers with various work-family situations, are presented.

Background: The current studies aimed to explore the effects of different variants of multiple sclerosis (MS) on social cognitive skills such as emotion perception, theory of mind (ToM) and empathy. Various aspects of empathy were measured using newly developed video paradigm that generated reliable and consistent responses in study participants. Further, the relationships between social cognition abilities and cognitive functioning, MS severity, mood and age were explored. The final aim was to establish whether difficulties in social cognition predicted restricted social participation and reduced quality of life in MS. Methods: This research measured multi-domain emotion perception, ToM and empathy using more ecologically valid measures than previous studies in participants with relapsing-remitting MS (n = 30), chronic progressive MS (n = 26) and matched healthy controls (n = 31). Executive functioning was measured using verbal fluency, whereas speed of processing was tested with the Digit Symbol Coding Task. Self-report measures were administered to assess of empathy, social participation, MS severity and mood. Results: Both MS groups presented with impairments in emotion perception and ToM but not in empathy. Cognitive functioning was associated with some measures of emotion perception and ToM. Reduced quality of life was inconsistently predicted by personal distress only and some aspects of emotion perception in individuals with MS. No aspects of social cognition were found to be a significant predictor of restricted social engagement in MS. Conclusion: Both MS samples demonstrated similar emotion perception and ToM impairments and no significant empathy impairment, though those with progressive MS reported poorer social participation. Lower levels of emotion perception and personal distress predicted some aspects of quality of life. Since the pattern of these results proved to be inconsistent, it is important to interpret the findings with caution, and to further explore socio-emotional functioning in MS.

published_or_final_version / Psychology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy