The purpose of this study was to examine if degree (on a continuum from negative to positive) and/or similarity of patients' and their partners' meanings of the lung cancer illness significantly influenced psychosocial adjustment in a low-income, urban sample of couples (n = 35). Findings were consistent with those of other studies. A significant actor effect (p = .00) was found for both patients and partners, with individuals viewing the illness more positively reporting better adjustment. However, no significant partner effect was found. In addition, the degree of similarity between patients' and partners' meanings was not significantly related to the psychosocial adjustment of either. Findings suggest thatlung cancer patients and their partner s who hold a highly negative view of the illness may be appropriate targets for intervention. However, it does not seem necessary that patients and partners are congruent in their meanings attached to the illness. Additional research on the relationship between meaning and psychosocial adjustment to the lung cancer illness is warranted. Implications for the development and delivery of psychosocial interventions in an oncology setting are discussed. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Family and Child Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2007. / October 19, 2007. / Meaning Adjustment, Lung Cancer, Patients, Partners, Couples / Includes bibliographical references. / Lenore McWey, Professor Directing Dissertation; Charles Figley, Outside Committee Member; Robert E. Lee, III, Committee Member; Thomas Cornille, Committee Member.

The purpose of this research was to explore and describe parenting styles in planned lesbian families with young children by using a case study design with observations and interviews as a tool for collecting evidence regarding parenting styles along with three self-reports. The scores of the self reports revealed that: 1. Six of the mothers perceived themselves to have been authoritarianly parented and four perceived to have been authoritatively parented, 2. All the mothers perceived themselves to be authoritative parents, and 3. All five couples perceived themselves to have a strong parenting alliance marked by well coordinated and respectful transactions. The findings showed that the construct validity of the theoretically derived sequences for observing parenting styles was congruent with the sequences' definitions, but not the results of the self-reports. The observational data analysis process revealed the emergence of a new sequence that codes observations of children demanding their parents to act maturely in a variety of situations according to established parental standards. In conclusion, the analysis of the observational data and the self-reports determined the authoritative parenting style of four and permissive style of six of the planned lesbian families. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Family and Child Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2009. / February 26, 2009. / Socialization, Parenting Styles, Permissive Parenting, Authoritative Parenting, Lesbian Parenting, Gay Parenting / Includes bibliographical references. / Christine A. Readdick, Professor Directing Dissertation; Gary Peterson, Outside Committee Member; Ann Mullis, Committee Member.

The purpose of this study was to determine how patients as well as members of their families cope with Chronic Hypertensive Cardiovascular Disease and the problems associated with it on a daily basis. Research was done based on Phenomenological theory because it concerns the nature of the lived experience relative to the disease and family life. I wanted to qualitatively explore perceptions, meanings, effects, and experiences among African American patients and family members of Chronic Hypertensive Cardiovascular Disease, and discover coping strategies and adjustments made for daily life. A purposive convenience sample of ten participants from five households was the sample population for this study. Of the ten participants, five were patients, two were spouses (i.e., one was female and one was male), one was a mother, one was a sister, and one was a daughter of the patients. All of the participants were African American and resided in North Florida. The ages of the participants ranged from 40 years of age to 85 years old. The participants were observed and interviewed in the comfort of their own homes to promote a familiar environment and safety. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed. Social support theory and the health belief model were the framework choices for this study. The frameworks were used to determine how and to what extent morale and hope are strengthen and to determine if a person's health and behavior are affected by his or her health beliefs. Eight different over-arching themes prevailed (e.g., fear and anxiety of the disease, dependency on the physician, family background and familiarity, need for family support, need for external support, coping strategies and techniques, socioeconomic status, and spirituality). Social support regardless as to whether it is in the form of emotional, cognitive, or instrumental, was found to significantly be associated with positive health behaviors such as exercise, medication compliance, diet, regular checkups and appointment keeping patterns. In addition, if a person believes that taking medication that has been prescribed by their physician will make them better, then they will take it. If patients feel that exercise and diet would be beneficial in decreasing either their vulnerability to or the harshness of the condition, and if they believe that the probable costs of taking action are outweighed by benefits then they will comply. Education plays an important factor as well. Patients knowledgeable about his or her disease will help influence medication compliance, exercise regimen, and diet, which will increase patient progress toward healthy living. Fear and anxiety proved to be the center core of all the themes relative to CHCD. Because of fear and anxiety about the disease, the patients and caregivers showed the dependency and belief they have in the physician. Paradoxically, that fearful state of mind had a positive effect of making the patient more aware and familiar with the disease. Also, because of fear and anxiety, the patient depended a great deal on family and external support in terms of coping strategies and techniques. It was also found that even though a patient may have close ties with family, they must interact with individuals outside the family structure (external support). This may be through agencies, health care providers, or just through some individual who has a kindred spirit and a concern for the circumstance. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Family and Child Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2003. / March 5, 2003. / Cardiovascular Health, Lifestyle Adjustments, Chronic Illness / Includes bibliographical references. / Marsha Rehm, Professor Directing Dissertation; E. Newton Jackson, Jr., Outside Committee Member; Barbara Allison, Committee Member.

The purpose of this study was to examine 9-13 year old children's reasons and motivations for participation in physical activity. Child's activity level, age, gender, race, parental education level, and perceived child weight were examined. For the most part, no differences were found in reasons children cited for doing or not doing physical activity based on children's activity level, age, race, parental education, and children's perceived weight. However, there were gender differences for amotivational reasons cited by children for not participating in physical activity. More than boys, girls indicated that they were too busy or were not athletic enough to participate. Implications for interventions and future research are provided. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Family and Child Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Sciences. / Fall Semester, 2010. / October 27, 2010. / child physical activity, gender and physical activity, children activity level / Includes bibliographical references. / Ronald Mullis, Professor Directing Thesis; Christine Readdick, Committee Member; Tom Ratliffe, Committee Member.

The effect of expressing appreciation on positive regard for a friend or roommate and willingness to voice relationship concerns to this person was examined using a journal study format. Participants (n = 75) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions (one being an expression of appreciation condition) and they engaged in their assigned activity twice a week for three weeks. At the end of the three weeks, those assigned to the expression of appreciation in relationships condition reported higher positive regard for their friend/roommate and more comfort in voicing relationship concerns than did those in the other conditions, even when controlling for the baseline scores of these variables and frequency of participation in the intervention. In addition, positive regard mediated the relationship between condition and comfort in voicing relationship concerns. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Family and Child Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Summer Semester, 2008. / July 9, 2008. / Comfort In Voicing Relationship Concerns, Positive Regard, Appreciation, Mediation / Includes bibliographical references. / Frank Fincham, Professor Directing Thesis; Jon Maner, Outside Committee Member; Kay Pasley, Committee Member; Ming Cui, Committee Member.

Promoting physical activity is consistent with many models and perspectives on social work, such as the empowerment perspective, self-efficacy theory, resilience, the strengths perspective, good health, hardiness, and self-determination, yet it has received little attention in social work literature as an effective intervention. Among older adults, exercise has been shown to reduce costs for health care, limit injury, decrease heart disease and obesity, improve diabetes, and result in a more active life style. Moreover it has been shown to elevate mood. Recent neuroimaging studies indicate that exercise expresses neural functions similar to anti-depressant medication without the side effects. Findings of this meta-analysis found a significant overall pretest-posttest mean change effect size of -0.46 (p This meta-analysis included randomized experimental studies of exercise and follow-up with clinically depressed samples of older adults conducted 2000-2006. Clinical depression was defined according to DSM-IV-TR and ICD-10 criteria. Twenty-six independent samples describing nine studies met criteria. The null hypothesis proposed exercise would have no effect upon major depression, as defined by statistically significant differences and meaningful effect sizes. A comprehensive literature search was conducted and features of each study were coded independently by two coders, with an inter-rater reliability of 0.97. Analyses looked at overall effect, group of assignment, duration, treatment studies and follow-up, outcome measures, type of exercise, age: young-old versus old-old, and standards and protocols used to determine clinical effectiveness. All effect sizes were computed as standardized pretest-posttest mean-change measures. Weighted analyses adjusted for variable sample size. In the fixed effects model analysis, each effect size was weighted by its inverse variance; the random effects model employed a method-of-moments estimator. The significant overall pretest-posttest mean change effect size was a moderate -0.46 (p Both specific and overall findings among the studies of the analyses suggest that like cardio protection, a lifestyle change of ongoing regular moderate exercise can effect remission from clinical depression in older adult clients and protect from relapse. Findings indicate that efforts by social work researchers and practitioners are worthwhile at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels to provide professional pre-education, develop exercise interventions within practice, educate clients and others about the antidepressant nature of exercise, promote accessibility, and advocate community and regulatory improvement. Other studies suggest a neural link between exercise and remission of depression, and further intervention research should include interdisciplinary teams drawing from venues of social work, neuroscience, medicine, and exercise to explain the causal mechanism, identify the populations at risk, and investigate the prophylactic effect. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Social Work in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2007. / September 19, 2007. / Older Adults, Elderly, Physical Activity, Depression, Exercise, Randomized, Evidence-Based / Includes bibliographical references. / Bruce A. Thyer, Professor Directing Dissertation; Charles C. Ouimet, Outside Committee Member; Charles R. Figley, Committee Member.

The presence of sexual prejudice in social work remains an ongoing issue as the literature in this substantive area documents its presence among both practicing social workers as well as social work students. Institutionalized heterosexist bias creates an atmosphere ripe for differential treatment, and its presence in the social work profession has real potential to harm gay, lesbian, and bisexual clients who may be seeking those services. The Code of Ethics espoused by the National Association of Social Work (NASW) and the educational policy dictated by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) explicitly delineate antigay bias under the purview of professional issues. As social work educators attempt to train students to thwart their personal biases and encourage the promotion of social justice for all vulnerable and oppressed populations, including those who belong to a sexual minority group, garnering an understanding of the problem for their particular student population is a first essential step. The development of targeted pedagogical interventions must follow knowledge acquisition. Traditional measurement of antigay bias has focused on older notions of the problem, for example homophobia, and has failed to demarcate the precise source of prejudice. Of particular importance for social work educators is the specific source of biases found in the student population, especially one that is exposed to additional education about gays and lesbians. With that aim, this dissertation presents and evaluates a newly developed multidimensional measure of antigay bias. Items for the Sexual Prejudice Scale (SPS) were written to reflect contemporary conceptualization of antigay bias and based on a model of prejudice proposed by Haddock et al. (1993) and the perspective on prejudice espoused by conflict theory. The acquisition of prejudice may be multimodal, but its chief components remain stable—disparaging cognitions and negative affective reactions. Measurement of a latent phenomenon is improved when clear theoretical delineation of the construct is followed by accurate depiction through operationalization. Applying this approach, the SPS was designed to reflect the two primary forms of sexual prejudice—biases against gay men and those against lesbians. Within each of the gendered scales, each component of prejudice was conceived as a separate subscale to facilitate precision in measurement. These components are valuation, stereotyping, affective responses, and support for social equality. The SPS was subjected to a three stage process to establish evidence of validity, reliability, and its factor structure. A content validation study employing substantive and methodological experts was undertaken to delimit the initial item pool (N = 142). Data were then collected from students at four geographically diverse universities with CSWE accredited social work programs resulting in 851 usable surveys. The dataset was split using a random start point to generate two samples. The first sample (N = 426) was used for an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and to test the hypothesized factor structure of the SPS. Results indicated a three-factor solution (affective-valuation, stereotyping, and social equality beliefs) with correlated factors for each of the gendered scales. Initial results of the reliability analysis were good and suggested that the SPS warranted further testing. The second dataset (N = 425) was tested for evidence of factorial validity (a confirmatory factor analysis; CFA), construct validity, known groups, and predictive validity along with a final reliability analysis. Results of the CFA indicated a strong three factor model for each of the gendered scales as evidenced by the goodness-of-fit indices. Cronbach's alphas for each subscale ranged from adequate to good, and the composite scales' stratified alphas were excellent. A priori validity hypotheses were confirmed and thus provide initial evidence for the validity of the SPS. Limitations to this study include the use of a convenience sample and lack of geographic representation from the West coast and the Plains states. Because the SPS was designed for and tested with social work students, this study cannot generalize findings to other adult populations. Moreover, the high proportion of young women in the sample, which is an ongoing issue in social work research, limits understanding for males and older students. Future research will seek to provide additional evidence for the reliability and validity of the SPS and test its utility with other populations, such as practicing social workers. Testing established pedagogical interventions with a scale that elicits more information will allow researchers to determine which components of prejudice are addressed by these specific approaches and allow for modifications to be made. Additionally, studies regarding the sustainability of change would fill a major gap in the literature and provide additional information about how students will approach practice. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Social Work in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2009. / May 8, 2009. / Measurement, Sexual Prejudice, Factor Analysis / Includes bibliographical references. / Darcy Clay Siebert, Professor Directing Dissertation; Kay Pasley, Outside Committee Member; Jean Munn, Committee Member; Scott Rutledge, Committee Member.

The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of a short-term intervention for youth and their families currently involved or at-risk for involvement in the juvenile justice system. The intervention was based on the PAC Success Family Literacy Initiative which is a 6-week, 12-session program. The final sample consisted of 76 participants (43 parents/caregivers and 33 youth) from 7 Florida sites. The outcomes of interest were: (a) parental/caregiver perceptions of their children's behavior, (b) parental/caregiver perceptions of children, (c) youth perceptions of self, (d) youth perceptions of parents/caregivers, and (e) recidivism rates. A second goal of the study was to evaluate the program in terms of implications for future short-term programmatic interventions. Following PAC Success, there were significant changes reported in parental/caregiver perceptions regarding their children's behaviors and also their perceptions of children. Youth did not show significant changes in negative self attributes or in perceptions of negative parental/caregiver attributes. It is interesting to note that the parents were impacted more than the youth. Full completion and partial completion of the program was also considered. In regard to recidivism, whether the participants of the program had been involved or had contact with the system in 1 and/or 4 years following program participation, differences between full completers and partial completers were not significant. A primary contribution of this work is in the area of practice and evaluation. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Family and Child Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2007. / February 28, 2007. / Juvenile Justice, Families, Adolescents, Intervention / Includes bibliographical references. / Marsha Rehm, Professor Directing Dissertation; Gary Peterson, Outside Committee Member; Penny A. Ralston, Committee Member; Kay Pasley, Committee Member.

The police have actively intervened in intimate partner violence (IPV) since the 1980's to hold batterers accountable by legal punishment, to prevent future violence, and to provide victims' safety. However, research results of the effectiveness of the police intervention are inconclusive. Moreover, the majority of studies focused on batterers, overlooking victim-related factors in examining the effectiveness of the police intervention. This paper used the National Crime Victimization Survey from 1987 to 2003 to examine whether arrest of batterers has an effect in reducing revictimization. Overall, younger, separated victims are more likely to be revictimized than the older, married women. Rape or sexual assault victims and those without injury from the previous victimization are more vulnerable to revictimization. Also, IPV incidence rates declined by half, and arrest rates of batterers were doubled from 1987 to 2004. With regard to the effect of arrest, the study results support the specific effect of arrest on victims' safety. Logistic regression analysis of data from 2,462 victims showed that when the police arrested batterers, their chance of revictimization fell by half. However, the general effect of arrest on incidence rates is not as apparent as the specific effect. The time-lagged effect of arrest on incidence rates, which was shown in this study, needs future research for meaningful interpretation because there is no theory to explain such a delayed effect. Since dual-examination of the specific effect and the general effect showed the overall effectiveness of arrest in reducing IPV incidence and revictimization, social work policy and practice fields will be able to develop informed, effective intervention strategies in IPV. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Social Work in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2006. / October 31, 2006. / NCVS, Domestic Violence, Criminal Justice, Intimate Partner Violence / Includes bibliographical references. / C. Aaron McNeece, Professor Directing Dissertation; Xu-feng Niu, Outside Committee Member; Dina J. Wilke, Committee Member.

Contemporary study of trauma is only a few decades old, and a framework for conceptualization and measurement of trauma in children has developed even more recently. One of the most under-studied populations of children with regard to trauma exposure and trauma-related mental health and behavioral problems is delinquent youth. However, understanding and addressing trauma promises to add significantly to our understanding of the etiology and treatment of criminal behavior among children. This dissertation includes a review of the often politically charged history of trauma research and treatment, including a discussion of why the delinquency field has lagged behind other human services disciplines with regard to acknowledging and studying the importance of maltreatment and trauma. The review includes recent research on the pervasive physiological impact of serious and chronic trauma among children, and touches briefly on emerging research regarding the physiological impact of serious and chronic trauma. The review also discusses the emerging model of trauma-informed care, which promises to help create safer institutional environments with improved treatment outcomes. The analysis utilizes a large statewide dataset that includes first offense and trauma history information for 36,695 youth who were arrested for the first time and assessed using the Positive Achievement Change Tool (PACT) within 48 hours of arrest. From the original pool of 36,695, twelve-month recidivism data are available for 28,442. Research questions include an exploration of the prevalence of various types of trauma indicators including physical abuse, witnessing violence, sexual abuse, and endorsing a history of flashbacks, and trauma for all youth as well as by race, sex, and Hispanic ethnicity among this group of first-time arrested youth. Next, logistic regression analyses are used to determine whether trauma indicators in general and specific types of trauma indicators are predictive of increased risk of offending in general and offending violently in the twelve months subsequent to the first arrest. Next, logistic regression is applied to determine whether the observed relationships between trauma and later offending operate similarly for youth regardless of sex, race, and Hispanic ethnicity while controlling for demographic and prior-offense variables. Analyses reveal that, according to the PACT assessment, the girls in the study were significantly more likely to endorse each unique trauma indicator as well as trauma in general, however, there were no significant differences in exposure based on race and Hispanic ethnicity. The logistic regression analyses revealed that each unique trauma indicators and trauma in general increase the likelihood of a new charge of any type, as well as a new violent charge. The final set of analyses involved disaggregating by categories of race, sex, and Hispanic ethnicity, and conducting logistic regression analyses for each of the six categories of youth included in the study. This set of analyses revealed some differences between groups with regard to which types of trauma indicators were significantly associated with a subsequent offense or a subsequent violent offense. This study utilizes a large, statewide dataset to replicate prior findings from smaller-scale studies that have found a higher prevalence of maltreatment and trauma histories among juvenile-justice involved youth. Further, the findings support the notion that trauma histories are associated with increased risk of subsequent juvenile offending and subsequent violent juvenile offending. Additionally, the findings suggest that far more research is needed to determine how sex, race, and ethnicity play a role in how trauma is experienced and how it impacts upon later mental and behavioral health. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Social Work in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2010. / October 25, 2010. / abuse and delinquency, maltreatment and delinquency, trauma-informed practice, trauma-informed care, delinquency, trauma, child trauma, child abuse, recidivism / Includes bibliographical references. / Martell Teasley, Professor Directing Dissertation; Irene Padavic, University Representative; Aaron McNeece, Committee Member.