This exploratory study's focus was to investigate the process divorced or widowed displaced homemakers experience as they assume the provider role after loss of spouse-provider. The family developmental approach was utilized in conjunction with the A + B + C (--->) X model of family crisis adjustment through the process change concept. The factors in the model are as follows: The A factor is the nature of the stressor event; the B factor is the resources the family control and utilizes in coping; and the C factor is the family's definition of the seriousness of the crisis situation. The process concept uses three sequential periods of disorganization, adjustment and reorganization of family structure after crisis. / The problem was to discover the adjustment patterns that emerge for women who sought either employment, education/training, or decided to remain homemakers. Nine objectives determined economic adjustments of women by marital status or occupational choice. Issues included: Temporal adjustment; perceived severity; reasons for choice of provider option; resources; outcomes. / The instrument was semi-structured, containing 47 items. Interviews took approximately one and one-half hours per respondent. Of the total population of 46 women, 34 were randomly sampled, 31 consented to be interviewed and 29 were interviewed, yielding a return rate of 88%. / Results suggest that adjustment patterns differ by marital status and by choice of provider option. / Divorced and widowed women were found to differ significantly on percepts of crisis and financial problems faced and dealt with. Thus, we cannot assume that these marital status groups are similar and can be singularily categorized as single parents with similar problems. / Divorced women were more concerned with fulfilling immediate financial needs while widows were more concerned with future destitution. All women did not seek employment immediately. Some returned to school first and a small group remained homemakers. / While the vast majority had developed employment skill, few returned to work in these capacities because pay was too poor. / The adjustment process was not found to be sequential. Events tended to overlap for both marital status groups. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-10, Section: A, page: 3428. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

A basic purpose of this study was to test whether self-esteem and/or adjustment of separated or divorced persons can be improved by participation in a postseparation/postdivorce counseling group. An additional objective was to examine whether a professional-directed format or a self-directed format is more effective in fostering these changes. An experimental pretest-posttest design was followed. The Raschke Postdivorce Problems and Stress Scale was used to measure the dependent variable of divorce adjustment. The Tennessee Self Concept Scale was utilized to measure the dependent variable of self-esteem. / The sample was composed of subjects volunteering for counseling. After stratifying for sex, the sample was randomly assigned to one of three experimental groups: 11 subjects were assigned to a professional-directed (PD) group, 11 subjects to a self-directed (SD) group, and 11 subjects to a minimal contact (MC) group. The treatment groups met for an eight week period. / The PD group met with professionally trained therapists and followed the format designed by Kessler for her "Beyond Divorce" groups. The SD group met without a professionally trained therapist and followed the same format as the PD group. / Analysis of covariance, with pretest scores as the covariate, revealed a significant difference among the three groups in improved divorce adjustment. The Least Significant Difference (LSD) procedure was used as a multiple comparison test, and revealed that the PD group experienced significantly greater mean improvement than did the MC group. A linear association among the three groups was noted, with the PD group realizing the greatest mean improvement, followed by the SD and the MC groups. / Analysis of covariance, with pretest scores as the covariate, revealed a significant difference among the three groups in self-esteem improvement. The LSD procedure revealed that both the PD group and the SD group were significantly different from the MC group. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-07, Section: A, page: 2260. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

Marital quality is examined with sexual behavior and interest, morale, and sex role orientation for two groups of men and women, aged 60 years and older, living in a retirement community or in the community-at-large. Analysis of data from 488 men and women indicates that their marital quality is not related to their residential location. The respondents claiming the highest quality marriages are significantly more likely to be sexually active and to report the highest frequencies of intercourse. The "younger" men express more sexual interest and feelings than do the women and the "older" men. Those expressing the most sexual interest are also the most active sexually. Current patterns of sexual behavior and interest reflect gradual declines from their early married years. Individuals with high morale also express high marital quality, high sexual interest, and greater sexual activity. Previous reportings relating morale to residential location, education, and sex role sharing are not supported. Marital quality is not related to sex role orientation among these elderly respondents who are all healthy, well-educated, financially stable, and religiously-oriented. Those living in the retirement community are significantly more egalitarian in their sex role beliefs and enactments than are the residents in the community-at-large. Retirement community members think they are more egalitarian than they should be; whereas, community-at-large respondents think they are less egalitarian than they should be. Those who are the least traditional in their sex role orientation report the highest levels of sexual activity during their early married years. Previous research linking sex role orientation to marital quality and education is not supported. Finally, no differences are found between members of the two residential environments in activity levels or friendships as / reported previously. Abelson's Constancy Theory is supported by the finding of a positive correlation between age and marital quality controlling for residential location. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-07, Section: A, page: 2258. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

The primary purpose of this investigation was to measure and compare the perceptions college students have regarding cohesion, adaptability and stress in their varied family forms. Secondary purposes were to provide demographic descriptions of family forms from which students come, determine variables of blended and single-parent families which may carry predictive value for cohesion and adaptability and to examine relationships between the cohesion, adaptability, and family stress measuring scales. / The sample consisted of 631 college students aged 18-22 years attending Central Missouri State University. Of the sample, 502 students were from intact families, 79 from single-parent and 50 from blended families. / Responses on a 68-item questionnaire formed the units of analysis. The instrument used for measuring perceptions of family dynamics were the Cohesion and Adaptability Scales of FACES II and the Index of Family Relations Scale. Thirteen demographic items were included. / Major conclusions to be drawn from the study include (1) students from blended and single-parent families viewed their families as less closely bonded and much more stressful than did intact family students; (2) demographic variables of blended and single-parent families (including size, composition, gender, ages at transition points and tenures in phases of change) may vary widely but are not useful in indicating how members feel about their families (with the possible exception of natural parent gender); (3) measures of cohesion, adaptability and intrafamilial stress were strongly related for the entire sample with high stress locked to distant and non-flexible family types. / This study provides initial data regarding how college students view transactional processes in their families, specifically comparing groups from different family forms. The implication is that the dramatic systemic alterations which are inherent in family dissolutions and reformations leave members vulnerable to stress and distancing as perceived by young adult children. Family life educators, researchers, and clinicians aware of the potential susceptibilities of a rapidly growing proportion of American families may wish to develop programs, materials and further information designed to strengthen these families. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-09, Section: A, page: 2899. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

Current theory on the stress associated with family life events suggests that such events are intrinsically stressful, and that their impact on levels of psychosocial functioning can best be determined through use of a self-report scale, the Family Inventory of Life Events (FILE), reflecting (a) the raw total of events occurring, or (b) the sum of standardized weights obtained from a representative group sample. Using FILE as a model, a survey was conducted to determine whether capturing individual perceptions of the stressfulness of family life events through idiographic assessment would increase the proportion of the variance explained in psychosocial outcomes. Psychosocial functioning was assessed with the current health subscale of the Health Perceptions Questionnaire, the Generalized Contentment Scale (measuring non-psychotic depression), and the Index of Family Relations. The Index of Clinical Stress was introduced as an alternative self-report measure of stress not directly associated with family life events. A convenience sample of 265 subjects, including patients and family members of patients at a family practice residency clinic, completed the survey instrument. Findings demonstrated that idiographic scoring of FILE significantly improved the prediction of depression and family relations scores. Assessing subjects' perceived adequacy of available resources further increased the explanation of these dependent measures. Implications include a reassessment of the stress concept and its measurement, and an operationalization of the social work person-in-environment model. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-08, Section: A, page: 3198. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

The purpose of this study was to identify similarities and differences between parents with normal hearing and hearing impaired preschool children. Approximately 225 packets were delivered to the preschool teachers of the hearing impaired children with the intention that they would be passed on to the parents. A total of 20 useable packets were returned, reflecting a 17% return rate. Forty-five packets were sent to parents of normal hearing children and 17 couples responded, indicating a 44% return rate. Therefore, participants included 40 parents of preschool hearing impaired preschool children and 34 parents of normal hearing preschoolers. / Levels of stress, coping strategies, cohesion and adaptability were evaluated. Due to initial group differences, child sex, child age, and couple socioeconomic status were used as covariates. / No significant differences were found in stress levels between the two groups. Significant differences were found in coping strategies of Reframing and Mobilizing the Family to Acquire and Accept Help. Reframing dealt with redefining stressful events in order to make them more manageable. Mobilizing the Family to Acquire and Accept Help was reflective of the family's ability to seek out help from others and make use of community resources. Both strategies were used significantly more often by the parents of the hearing impaired children. / The level of emotional bonding, or cohesion, did not differ significantly between the groups. The husbands' adaptability level, or ability to be flexible toward change, also did not differentiate the groups. However, there were significant differences between the groups in the wives' adaptability level. Wives in the hearing impaired group perceived the family as less adaptable as compared to wives in the normal hearing group. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-08, Section: A, page: 3200. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 31-11, Section: A, page: 6188. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1970.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 30-02, Section: A, page: 0843. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1968.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 30-12, Section: A, page: 5541. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1969.

The purpose of this study was to re-examine Kohn's theory of values by (1) determining whether or not the factor, self-direction/conformity, could be identified in a contemporary American data set, (2) testing for both maternal and paternal values, and (3) contributing to the understanding of parental values by linking empirical data with basic sociological theory. It was argued that Kohn's theory of values was inherently based on structure-functional theory and that by illuminating such points of reference the theory of values was more understandable. The basic question was: "What is it that may be important for understanding maternal and paternal values for child-rearing?" / For this study a purposive sample was drawn from the 1980 National Opinion Research Center General Social Survey (NORCGSS) which resulted in 209 mothers and 199 fathers. The respondents were Caucasian, married and never-divorced, parents of one or more children. / The major finding of this study differed from that of Kohn and revealed that in a selected set of independent variables the educational attainment of mothers is the most powerful independent variable whether investigating the values of mothers or of fathers. In the context of an alternate set of independent variables, own educational attainment was the most powerful predictor for both mothers and fathers. The theoretical proposition emerging from the research is that: the higher the educational level, the greater the likelihood of valuing self-direction; the lower the educational level, the greater the likelihood of valuing conformity. The findings are discussed within the framework of structure-functional theory and psychodynamic linkages. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-11, Section: A, page: 3456. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.