The present study explored the perceptions of students who were both parenting and pursuing a master's or doctoral degree. Specifically, this study examined students' perceptions regarding the usefulness of resources that were currently and could potentially be provided to facilitate successful degree completion. Differences between mothers and fathers were examined as well as differences between master's and doctoral students. Previous literature indicated that women and men experience graduate school differently and that the genders are not represented proportionally as master's and doctoral graduates. Therefore, this study sought to explore differences in the perceptions of resources offered on campus, resources offered in the community, and potential resources. A feminist framework was used to guide all aspects of this study. The results of this study indicated that graduate student parents placed greater value on financial resources and resources related to childcare as well as having a supportive faculty advisor. Independent sample t-tests indicate there were gender differences in perceptions: specifically, women placed greater value on many of the resources studied. In addition, independent sample t-tests did not signify differences between master's and doctoral students' perceptions. These results suggest that there are many specific resources that university could offer graduate student parents in order to support them in completing their degree.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how LGB college students created meaning out of their coming out process to their parents. I recruited LGB college students who perceived support from their parents during their coming out process and asked the following research question: What are the lived experiences of LGB college students who have experienced support from their parents during the coming out process? Seven White (n = 4), African American (n = 2), and Hispanic (n = 1) college students, three men and four women aged 18-24 years, shared narratives that included time periods before, during, and after their coming out disclosures to their parents. Using an adapted phenomenological analysis, I identified nine major themes: awareness of feeling different, positive relationship with parents prior to coming out, college impacting the coming out process, feeling unsure of how parents would respond to disclosure, parents assuring continued loved and acceptance, parents affirming LGB identity, increased relational depth with parents, increased sense of authenticity, and an appreciation for family's response and support. The findings provide insight into how counselors might work most beneficially with LGB college students and their parents around the coming out process. Opportunities for future research and limitations of the study are discussed.

Autoethnography is a self-reflexive form of ethnography. Autoethnography has been conducted using diverse techniques. This research employs the autoethnographic approach using a personal narrative. Personal narrative texts are subjective, provocative and provide insight into lived experience. The researcher’s personal narrative is used to examine the subjective, lived experience of being in a dual-student, non-married, long-distance relationship. Both critiques and arguments for the use of autoethnography and personal narrative are reviewed. Directions for future research on long-distance, dual-student couples are explored as well as directions for the autoethnographic approach. / Department of Communication Studies

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-90). / 114 leaves, bound 29 cm

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of parental divorce, level of family conflict, and family history of alcoholism on the alcohol use patterns of college students. Gender differences were also explored. Multivariate Analysis of Variance revealed mixed results. Parental marital status was found to have no significant effect on college students' alcohol behavior. High family conflict had a significant impact on both level of current alcohol use and level of alcohol related problems. A positive family history of alcoholism was found to have effects on the level of alcohol related problems encountered by students. Gender played a significant role, with males reporting higher levels of alcohol-related problems. No significant interactions were found. Results, contributions and limitations of the study are discussed.

The study examined dimensions of the family context associated with variations in parent involvement and parent perceptions of children's school achievement using data from 1,085 male and 2,239 female respondents with a child between the ages of 5 and 18 years collected in the 1987-88 National Survey of Families and Households. Small but significant differences in parent perceptions of school achievement were found in favor of children being raised in a first-married two-parent home. Negative effects on school outcomes were centered on children who experienced family disruption. Living in a one-parent household with a parent who was previous married was associated with parent reports of poorer performance for elementary school children and lower grades for adolescents. Neither living in a one-parent household with a continuously single parent nor living in a stepfamily was significantly related to achievement. Parent employment status was not directly related to children's achievement but did have indirect effects through parent involvement both at home and school. Parent involvement at school and in child-centered home activities was associated with perceptions of improved school performance for elementary school children and higher grades for adolescents. Mothers were more likely to be involved in children's schooling than fathers. Single and cohabiting mothers were less involved at school than first-married mothers, but single fathers tended to be more likely to participate than their first-married counterparts. There were no significant differences between the home involvement of single mothers and their first-married counterparts but single fathers were more involved at home than first-married fathers. For both mothers and fathers, receiving tangible aid from a wide network of relatives and friends was associated with higher levels of school and home involvement. Findings suggest that educators who have negative beliefs about single parents' engagement in school-family partnerships may be influenced by these parents' low presence at school. Recognizing that single parents are as involved with their children at home as parents in traditional families can lead to educational practices that support home involvement and result in positive effects on children's academic progress. / Graduation date: 1994

Two hundred thirty-eight undergraduates from a midwestern university completed the Hazan and Shaver Attachment Instrument to categorize themselves into three attachment styles: secure, insecure anxious/ambivalent, and insecure avoidant. They also completed the Parental Attachment Questionnaire (PAQ), The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scales II (The FACES II), the Family Satisfaction Scale, and a Demographic Questionnaire.This study examined the attachment styles of undergraduates and measures of their parental attachments and family dynamics. It was hypothesized that the securely attached subjects would report significantly greater levels on three variables of parental attachment than would insecurely attached subjects. It was also hypothesized that securely attached subjects would report significantly higher levels on three variables of family dynamics than would insecurely attached subjects.Using multivariate analyses of variance designs, both hypotheses were supported. Subjects who were securely attached, when compared to those who were insecurely attached, reported significantly higher levels of parental attachment, in terms of: providing emotional support,fostering autonomy, and in the affective quality of their attachment to parents. Subjects who were securely attached, when compared to subjects who were insecurely attached, also reported significantly higher levels of adaptability, cohesion, and satisfaction in their families of origin.Results were discussed in relation to previous research on attachment styles and the studies of parental relationships and family dynamics in young adults. Methodological limitations were highlighted. Implications of this study and recommendations for future research were provided as well. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Although Latinos are the largest minority group in the country, research examining how different psychological and cultural variables affect Latino individuals' wellbeing is disproportionately developed and cross-cultural comparison studies are particularly scarce. To address these issues, this dissertation research examined cross-cultural adult attachment-social self-efficacy-psychosocial wellbeing conceptual mediational model while investigating the moderator effects of country membership and familismo on the proposed mediational model using a cross-cultural sample of Mexican and Mexican-American university students. A total of 595 participants, including 360 Mexican students from Mexico and 235 Mexican-American students from the United States completed the research questionnaires. Results indicated that social self-efficacy was a significant mediator for the effects of insecure attachment on life satisfaction and conflict resolution in both cultural groups and for the links between attachment insecurity and depressive symptoms in the Mexican-American group. Additionally, moderated mediation analyses showed that country membership was a significant moderator for the links between attachment avoidance and social self-efficacy when life satisfaction, conflict resolution style, and depressive symptoms were the dependent variables, as well as for the direct link between attachment anxiety and physical health symptoms. Familismo was also found to be a significant moderator for the direct effects of attachment anxiety on physical health symptoms and life satisfaction in both groups. Findings are discussed from the attachment and cross-cultural perspectives. Counseling implications, limitations, and future research directions are offered.

The purpose of the study is to examine adult attachment relationships among a group of college students and their parents. Two attachment hypotheses were tested: The mental model hypothesis for attachments with parents and romantic partners and the compensation hypothesis for attachment with God. Hypothesis 1 attempted to determine if there was agreement between parents and children about a self-reported attachment style. Support was found as students and parents had a significantly higher level of agreement when reporting a secure style of attachment between them, with sons being significantly highest. Hypothesis 2 examined agreement on attachment style between generations: Children's report of attachments to parents and parents' report of attachment to their parents. Results indicated that parents' reporting a secure style of attachment to their parents was significantly higher with their same gender parents. Hypothesis 3 produced two 15 x 15 correlation matrices including measures of romantic attachment and religiousness for children and parents. In general, further validity for measures used is provided in numerous expected correlations. Anxious and avoidant romantic attachment styles and desperate love were significantly positively related and were often negatively related to a secure style of attachment. Results indicate significant relationships between fathers' and children's (particularly daughters') romantic styles. The only significant correlation for mothers and sons was on religiousness; however, mothers and daughters, fathers and daughters, as well as mothers and fathers were all significantly positively correlated on religiousness. Hypothesis 4 results indicated that when there was disagreement with fathers on attachment style, children scored higher on a measure of religiousness, supporting the compensation hypothesis. Hypothesis 5 found that children with secure attachments to both parents and mothers with high importance of religion also scored significantly higher on importance of religion, supporting the mental model hypothesis. Overall, this study suggests that the mental model and compensation hypotheses do not compete, but rather, coexist in different contexts, perhaps with mediating events that discriminate between the two processes.

Stress plays a key role in our daily lives, influencing our emotional state, productivity, and health. One particular role in life, being a parent, has attracted significant attention in the research world in terms of the amount of stress parents experience in relation to different aspects of being parents. A life change that many parents, particularly mothers, are experiencing in increasing numbers is their return to college. This study compared reports of parenting stress and perceptions of the family environment between two groups of mothers. The first is a group of 32 mothers who were working 30 or more hours a week outside the home and were not enrolled in college while the second group consists of 31 mothers who were in college full-time and working less than 10 hours a week outside the home. All of the mothers were between the ages of 25 and 45 and had at least one child between the ages 5 and 12 years old. In both groups the mothers verified that their child(ren) was (were) without any diagnosis of an emotional, behavioral, or learning problem. A series of one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVAs) were performed. Results indicated there were no significant group effects related to the overall parenting stress expressed by the mothers. A significant group effect was noted (F = 5.31;\ p < .05) in that the working mothers reported a greater level of perceived poor health than the mothers who were attending college full-time. In relation to the mothers' perception of their family environment, a significant group effect (F = 6.23;\ p < .05) was found indicating that the working mothers reported a greater emphasis on ethical and religious issues and values.