abstract: In this dissertation Mexican American (MA) youths environmental risk contexts, HPA axis functioning and mental health symptomatology were investigated in two separate studies. In the first study, environmental risk contexts were examined utilizing a person-centered approach and focusing on MA adolescents' family, peer, and cultural risk factors in fifth grade (N = 750). Environmental contexts were then linked to mental health symptomatology in seventh grade. Results revealed three distinct environmental contexts: Low risk, Moderate risk-language, and High risk-peer. Youth in the High-risk peer context reported the highest levels of symptomatology; greater major depressive disorder (MDD), anxiety, conduct disorder (CD)/oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) symptoms than youth experiencing Low risk or Moderate risk-language context. Females, in particular, experiencing the High risk peer context appeared at greatest risk for MDD symptoms. Finally, adolescents in the Moderate risk-language context displayed similar levels of symptoms to the individuals in the Low risk context, with the exception of higher anxiety. This study suggested that MA youth live in unique environmental contexts and these contexts are differentially related to mental health symptomatology. In the second study, 98 MA youth participated in a three-day diurnal cortisol protocol in hopes of linking perceptions of discrimination and HPA diurnal cortisol rhythms. Results revealed that discrimination was related to greater overall cortisol output and marginally related to the cortisol awakening response and evening levels of cortisol. Results suggest that important physiological processes underlie the experiences of discrimination. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Family and Human Development 2011

Notre projet de recherche concerne les jeunes de la rue. Plus précisément, notre projet se veut une étude d'un groupe de jeunes de la rue, garçons et filles, afin de connaïtre leur parcours ou itinéraire de vie. En fait, c'est tolu particulièrement à travers ces itinéraires que nous pourrons essayer de vérifier si ces jeunes s'intègrent au plan social. Ces jeunes ne sont peut-être pas si à l'écart qu'on le pense et qu'on le dit. Le passage à la rue serait peut-être une forme d'intégration sociale. Cet objet de recherche revêt une importance au plan théorique car c'est toute la question de la marginalité qui est touchée. En effet, ce projet de recherche touche la marginalité de front, d'une part, en mettant en évidence la marginalité de certains jeunes, soit les jeunes de la rue et, d'autre part, en abordant la façon dont la société marginalise une certaine catégorie de jeunes en particulier. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

The present study focused on employed parents with preschool children attending a licensed daycare centre. There were two purposes to this study: (1) to compare parental functioning in users of on-site and off-site daycare, and (2) to examine the relationship between child care variables and parental functioning. Sixty six employed parents with preschool children completed the study (48 mothers and 18 fathers). Parents were recruited from nine workplace daycare centres that serviced employees first (on-site group), and then community members (off-site groups). Measures assessing work attitudes, individual, family, and work-family functioning, child care variables, and demographic data were obtained twice over a span of six months. Parents in the on-site group also took part in a semi-structured interview at both assessment times. Results of multivariate analyses on the questionnaire data yielded no significant differences between users of on-site daycare and users of off-site daycare on any of the dependent variables at either assessment time and no group by time interaction. Content analyses of the interview data indicated that parents believe that on-site daycare helps them balance work and family responsibilities. According to parents, on-site daycare is convenient, it allows them to spend more time with their children, it reduces their travel time and work disruptions, increases their availability at work, and improve their work environment. However, data from these interviews also suggested that the quality of child care may be more important in helping parents balance work and family responsibilities than is the location of the centre. Multiple regression analyses on the questionnaire data further underlined the importance of child care in relation to parental functioning. The results indicated that having primary responsibility for child care and the experience of difficulties with child care was related to perceived stress and role overload. High levels of work-child care conflict were negatively related to parental satisfaction, and satisfaction with child care arrangement was positively related to parental satisfaction. Taken together, these findings underscore the importance of considering child care in the context of balancing work and family responsibilities.

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The aim of this thesis is to examine the existing data surrounding clients of prostitution. The thesis begins by establishing a theoretical basis that addresses the issues of sexuality and desire. The aim of this theoretical framework is to demonstrate that sexual desire is a social construct that varies over time and culture. Using this framework, the thesis goes on to explore the existing academic studies that have studied clients of prostitution. The information contained within these studies, for the sake of ease of analysis, was divided into two categories, which form the next two chapters of the thesis. These are; demographic composition, and; motivation for purchase. Although this thesis could draw no definite conclusions surrounding the propensity of particular demographic groups of men to be more apt to purchase sex, numerous issues were raised that merit further study. These include; the influence of male hegemony upon the propensity to purchase sex; the interconnection of power and control with sexual desire; and the current lack of information surrounding links between particular motivations and particular demographic groups.

A partir d'une etude ethnomethodologique, la these se propose d'etudier la structuration du temps de quatre familles de la region de la capitale nationale a travers leurs habitudes d'ecoute electronique. Les significations d'usages et la valeur symbolique du temps consacre aux medias domestiques sont mises en evidence a l'aide de categories analytiques portant sur la sequence, frequence, duree, rythme et planification de l'ecoute televisuelle. Les conclusions generales semblent indiquer que l'ectoute televisuelle est, d'une part, en opposition avec le temps considere productif et d'autre part, propice a la creation de routines et rituels repetitifs. Les roles sociaux de genre ainsi que les ecarts generationnels sont indicatifs des differentes experiences du temps et de l'espace au foyer.

This dissertation investigates the role of early time use socialization on social class reproduction and status attainment. I investigate the relationship between parents' class position and children's early (ages 6-12) time use patterns based on Lareau's (2003) discussion of different parenting styles across social classes. Contrary to Lareau's findings about the aversion middle class parents have to television, I find that children of more educated parents spend more time watching television than children of less educated parents, except on Fridays. Similar to Lareau's findings about increased homework time with parental education, I find that more educated parents' children spend more time doing homework than children of less educated parents, except on Fridays. This significant decline in both television and homework time on Fridays suggests that more educated parents' children trade these two activities for other activities. I also find that the traditional way of calculating the weekly time spent on a given activity ((weekday time*5)+(weekend time*2)) assumes that each day is identical (Hofferth & Sandberg, 2004), and overlooks the differences in within weekdays and weekends days, respectively. In addition, I find that controlling for type of diary reporter (adult vs. child) introduces a possible reporter bias related to the un/desirability of certain activities.