Learning during infancy is dependent on many factors. One such factor is physiological self-regulation. This study investigated the relationship between physiological self-regulation abilities and evidence of learning based on Visual Expectation Paradigm (VExP) performance. Alterations in High Frequency Heart Period Variability (HFHPV) assessed physiological self-regulation and were hypothesized to correspond with VExP performance. Findings revealed patterns of HFHPV change during the VExP and that HFHPV change negatively corresponded with a resting measure of HFHPV and VExP performance. Results suggested that resting HFHPV was a better predictor of learning during the VExP than patterns of HFHPV change evidenced throughout the task.

Previous research has established the influence of the division of household labor between spouses on marital satisfaction, as well as the mental health of each spouse. Less is known about how the division of labor changes during the course of marriage. The family development perspective suggests that division of labor will change in response to different stages and circumstances, while the homeostasis perspective suggests that the division of labor will remain stable throughout the life course. This study used data from a 35 year longitudinal study of married women to examine changes of household division of labor over the life course. Participants in this study were wives of medical trainees at an East Coast medical school. Data collection at Time-1 included 175 wives in 1969-1970. The wives were also contacted in 1980 (Time-2), 1990 (Time-3), and 2005 (Time-4). All the participants were white. The average age of the women at Time-1 was 25.5 years. Participation in household labor was measured using five questions reflecting how much the husband helped in traditionally female stereotyped tasks. The five tasks were: does the family wash, sets table for dinner, clears table after meals, washes the dishes, and prepares meals. Other variables were included to help explain the change in husband participation in household labor over the course of the marriage, including number of children, the number of hours worked by the wife, and the wife's level of education. Multi-level growth curve modeling was used to examine stability and change in husband participation in household tasks over time. The fixed effects in the baseline model showed a significant positive linear slope indicating more husband participation over time. The random effect for time was also significant, suggesting variability in slopes across the sample. Results from the quadratic effect for time indicated a downward linear slope, attenuated by a positive quadratic slope. Thus, the results indicate that husbands participate less in household tasks early in marriage, but their level of participation increases in midlife. No predictor variables accounted for significant variability in the initial value or rate of change in the husband's participation in household tasks.

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One of the significant contributions of this study is its inclusion of the role of social contextual factors in determining parenting. I built on the ecological model proposed by Belsky (1984). As such, the parenting model tested in this dissertation included individual level determinants of parenting: 1) parent characteristics (e.g., developmental history), and 2) child characteristics (e.g., behavior problems). Yet, rather than include a social context domain as described by Belsky, I distinguished between within family context (e.g., interparental hostility) and external to family context (e.g., work-family conflict, neighborhood disorganization) as social contextual sources of stress and support to the parent-child relationship. A second significant contribution of this study is attention to parent gender. I included assessments of both mother and father parenting and specifically test for hypothesized differences in how the predictive model might operate differently depending on the parent’s gender. It is important to note further that the accomplishment of this examination of parent gender involved the use of a methodology that is itself an important contribution to the existing work. Specifically, my methodology involves simultaneous testing of mother and father data, something that has not typically been done in past studies. Critically, this methodology controls for any overlap or similarity between mother and father parenting and thereby allows for a better test of the uniqueness of mother and father parenting and of patterns of predicting mother and father parenting. This study employed parent reported data from the NIMH-funded Ogden Youth and Family Project, a longitudinal, sequential-cohort study of families with adolescent children (N = 933). Using structural equation modeling, we found that the model adequately fit the data while direct and indirect effects on parenting were found. The individual level parenting determinants of child behavior problems and parental depression were significantly directly associated with parenting, particularly for fathers. The within family contextual variable of covert marital conflict was directly associated with father parenting, and directly and indirectly associated with mother intrusive parenting through maternal depression. As risk factors external to the family, workfamily conflict was not significantly related to parenting, and neighborhood disorganization was indirectly related to intrusive mothering (but not her supportive parenting or to father’s parenting), through elevated levels of marital conflict and depression.

There is a well-established relationship between socioeconomic position (SEP) and health among older adults, but a short-coming of existing research is its failure to link the SEP-health relationship in later life to the gendered histories of work and family life, or the policy contexts in which these histories unfold. Drawing on the life course perspective and welfare state theory, this research investigates: the dominant patterns of labour market and family experiences over the life course for current cohorts of older adults in Britain; whether health dynamics among older adults vary by gender and life course experiences; and whether SEP and social roles at age 65 mediate these relationships. The data come from a sample of individuals born between 1927 and 1940 participating in the British Household Panel Survey (N=1552). I first examined life course experiences in the labour market and the family from young adulthood to retirement age using a two-stage latent class analysis. Theoretical considerations, along with indices of model fit, suggested that four latent life paths broadly characterized the experiences of the older adults in this sample. Consistent with the social policy context in Britain in the post-World War II years, I found evidence of distinct gender patterns in role configurations at various points across the life course and in the life pathways that link these experiences over time. In the second part of the analysis, I assessed health dynamics using latent growth curve models. Only mental health dynamics were patterned by life course histories, and SEP at age 65 mediated part of this relationship. The life course histories did not have an independent influence on trajectories of chronic health problems or self-assessed health. These findings are considered in the context of our current understanding of health dynamics among older adults, including gender differences and their relationship to SEP.

There is a well-established relationship between socioeconomic position (SEP) and health among older adults, but a short-coming of existing research is its failure to link the SEP-health relationship in later life to the gendered histories of work and family life, or the policy contexts in which these histories unfold. Drawing on the life course perspective and welfare state theory, this research investigates: the dominant patterns of labour market and family experiences over the life course for current cohorts of older adults in Britain; whether health dynamics among older adults vary by gender and life course experiences; and whether SEP and social roles at age 65 mediate these relationships. The data come from a sample of individuals born between 1927 and 1940 participating in the British Household Panel Survey (N=1552). I first examined life course experiences in the labour market and the family from young adulthood to retirement age using a two-stage latent class analysis. Theoretical considerations, along with indices of model fit, suggested that four latent life paths broadly characterized the experiences of the older adults in this sample. Consistent with the social policy context in Britain in the post-World War II years, I found evidence of distinct gender patterns in role configurations at various points across the life course and in the life pathways that link these experiences over time. In the second part of the analysis, I assessed health dynamics using latent growth curve models. Only mental health dynamics were patterned by life course histories, and SEP at age 65 mediated part of this relationship. The life course histories did not have an independent influence on trajectories of chronic health problems or self-assessed health. These findings are considered in the context of our current understanding of health dynamics among older adults, including gender differences and their relationship to SEP.