abstract: Previous studies about well-being have examined either gratitude’s or social connectedness’ relationship to subjective well-being. The aim of this randomized control trial was to examine the efficacy of a gratitude-based writing micro-intervention in enhancing felt social connectedness and well-being between young adults and their parents. The trial tested the impact of engaging in gratitude-based writing about family members or enhanced caretakers on measures of social connectedness and well-being between grown children and their parents. Data from a pool of social work students in the Southwest (N=148) were used. Results revealed within-subject effects and between subject effects for psychological well-being from pretest to one month follow-up, with the intervention group reporting significantly higher psychological well-being than the control group. Results also revealed slight mean differences from pretest to posttest for perceptions of family relationships, with the intervention group reporting approaching significant better perceptions of family relationships than the control group at posttest. Findings from the study indicate that engaging in gratitude-based writing about family can improve perceptions of psychological well-being and may improve social connectedness to family. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Social Work 2018

Submitted by Irene Nascimento (irene.kessia@ufpe.br) on 2016-10-19T18:34:25Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) CLEIDE MARIA PONTES ENVIADA 19.10.16.pdf: 1706853 bytes, checksum: cfdcf95f7e1bb2b1f4282dcdeb6881f3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-10-19T18:34:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) CLEIDE MARIA PONTES ENVIADA 19.10.16.pdf: 1706853 bytes, checksum: cfdcf95f7e1bb2b1f4282dcdeb6881f3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-08-30 / CNPQ / Esta tese tem o objetivo de elaborar e propor estratégias para que o homem participe do processo da amamentação, desde criança até tornar-se pai. Realizamos um estudo bibliográfico para nos apropriar do contexto e buscar o referencial teórico — a construção histórica, social e cultural da paternidade — fundamentado em vários autores, que ancorou toda a tese. Analisando as implicações desta construção no modelo de participação do pai na amamentação, foi percebido que desde a pré-história, os meninos e, consequentemente, os homens foram alijados do mundo feminino, incluindo o aleitar. Os três outros estudos foram conduzidos pela pesquisa qualitativa, que nos possibilitou a mergulhar no universo de significados, adequando-se ao objeto da tese. Nestes estudos, para coleta de informações, optamos pelas técnicas de grupo de discussão e da entrevista semi-estruturada. As informações obtidas foram analisadas através da análise de conteúdo, na modalidade temática, e da análise do conteúdo manifesto. Os participantes foram 11 homens e nove mulheres que estavam presentes no seminário sobre amamentação, promovido pela UFPE, e 17 casais, residentes na favela do Bode, Recife-PE. Da análise das informações emergiram oito temas: envolvimento no ciclo grávido-puerperal e no processo da amamentação; significados e sentimentos sobre amamentação; significados do ato de amamentar em público; maneiras do pai tornar-se aliado no processo da amamentação; recordações ambíguas/esmaecidas sobre amamentação durante a infância; conhecimento sobre amamentação centrado na saúde da criança, responsabilidade da mulher e economia para o pai; diferentes comportamentos apresentados pelo pai durante a sua participação no ciclo grávido-puerperal direcionada à amamentação; sentimentos entrelaçados de fragilidades ao amamentar e a sexualidade do casal; além disso, os eixos norteadores (família, escola e instituição de saúde) e os subsídios (conhecimento sobre amamentação; participação do pai desde o pré-natal; ações do profissional, da companheira de acolhimento durante o amamentar e estratégias para envolver 13 o pai nesta prática), que proporcionaram a construção da proposta. Esta proposta de intervenção está centrada na implantação do ambulatório de amamentação, que compreende consulta à família, desde o pré-natal até os seis meses de vida da criança, e no projeto de socialização de meninos e meninas pró-amamentação. O desenvolvimento desta proposta, como projeto piloto, deverá acontecer numa instituição de saúde e escola, respectivamente. Desta forma, acreditamos que a sua essência irá contribuir para transformar a cultura da amamentação, onde homens e mulheres irão compartilhar os sucessos e as dificuldades, advindos desta prática milenar. Isto poderá ser um dos caminhos para aumentar a duração mediana da amamentação. / This thesis aims to develop and propose some strategies in order to include men into the breastfeeding process, since childhood. We performed a bibliographical research in order to be proficient in the context and to look for a theoretical constructo - the historical, social and cultural construction of fatherhood – based on several authors, that has permeated the entire work. Analyzing the implications of that constructo, in a model for the participation of the father in breastfeeding , we noticed that since pre-history boys, and consequently men, have been sent apart from the feminine world, including breastfeeding. Three other studies have been conducted through a qualitative research, what made it possible to enter the universe of meanings intended for the thesis. In those studies, in order to collect data, we chose the group of discussion and the semi-structured interview techniques. The results have been analyzed through content analysis, in thematic modality, and manifested content analysis. Eleven men and nine women that participated voluntarily in a seminar on breastfeeding, promoted by the Federal University of Pernambuco, and seventeen couples that lived in a peripheral region (Favela do Bode) of Recife, capital of the State of Pernambuco, Brazil, were the subjects of the research. Eight themes have emerged from the analysis: involvement in pregnancypuerperal cycle and breastfeeding, meaning and feeling concerning breastfeeding; meaning of breastfeeding in public; how to turn a father into a breastfeeding ally; ambiguous/faded memories about breastfeeding during childhood; knowledge about breastfeeding centered on the child's health, the mother's responsibility and the father's savings; different father behaviors towards breastfeeding, during his participation in the pregnancy-puerperal cycle; mixed feelings between emotional weaknesses towards breastfeeding and the couple sexual behavior. Besides, there also emerged some guiding axis (school, family and health institutions), and some basic concepts (knowledge on breastfeeding; father participation since pre-natal care; actions from the health staff, the companion, and actions to include during 15 breastfeeding, besides the strategies to involve the father on that practice) that have helped to build the proposal. This interventional proposal is centered in building an outpatient breastfeeding unit that encompasses the family, since pre-natal care till the child is six months old and a socialization program for boys and girls pro-breastfeeding. The development of the proposal, as a pilot project, should happen respectively in institutions that offer health assistance and education. We believe that this format will contribute to transform the breastfeeding culture, where men and women will share the success and the problems that happen in that ancient practice. That could be one of the ways to improve the median durations of breastfeeding.

Literature suggests positive relationships with caregivers during childhood facilitate intimacy in young adulthood. The three hypotheses in this inquiry related to the students' relationship between parental intimacy and friend intimacy, gender differences in intimacy, and the perceived acceptance of parents. Subjects were 322 male and female university students, aged 17 through 25 years. Most were single, white, and middle class. During class the Children's Report of Parental Behavior, the Miller Social Intimacy Scale, and a demographic sheet were administered. ANOVA revealed that relationships between parental intimacy and friend intimacy were not significant. Females reported greater intimacy with friends than males. For both sexes, correlations between recalled parental intimacy and acceptance were higher for mothers than fathers.

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a destructive behaviour engaged in by a large proportion of youth and young adults in current society. Despite previous work, the recent revision of the DSM does not include NSSI as a distinct syndrome; instead it remains in a category for disorders requiring additional research. Thus, in order to better understand the many etiological components underlying NSSI behaviour, still more investigation is required. To this end the current investigations aimed to further elaborate upon known links between NSSI behaviour and parent-child relationships from two perspectives: first, with regard to the overall quality of relationships with parents, and second, with specific focus on the impact of attachment representations of early relationships with parents. Though both perspectives have been investigated in the past, the current studies were developed to alleviate methodological limitations of the existing literature. Study 1 adopted a person-centered approach to examine patterns of perceived relationship quality reported by self-injuring youth based on the combination of multiple relational characteristics; these patterns were then compared with several indices related to different manifestations of NSSI behaviour. Results show heterogeneity in the perceptions of parent-child relationship quality in self-injurers, such that both negative and positive family backgrounds were implicated in the behaviour. Further analyses demonstrate that the level of risk presented by a self-injuring individual can be differentiated based on perceived quality of parent-child relationship. Study 2 investigated how individuals’ internalized states of mind regarding early attachment experiences are related to NSSI, with particular attention dedicated to the relative influences of child maltreatment and attachment representation. Attachment representations reflecting deficits in emotion regulation (preoccupied, unresolved/cannot classify) were most common in self-injurers. Moreover, self-reported childhood maltreatment and attachment states of mind independently contributed to the prediction of NSSI. Lastly, findings suggest that distinct relational influences characteristic of relationships with mothers and fathers are associated with NSSI. The two studies presented here significantly contribute to existing knowledge concerning parental influences in the etiology of NSSI. These investigations add to existing knowledge of NSSI, and may ultimately aid in preventing and treating this damaging behaviour.

The purposes of this study were to determine the effect of a short-term parent-education program and to investigate the relationship between parents' knowledge of child development and parents' attitudes toward parent-child relationships. The basic problem under consideration was to assay whether the level of parental knowledge of child development principles makes a difference in the attitudes of the parent in the relationship. Hypothesis I predicted that subjects participating in the training sessions would exhibit a significant gain in knowledge of child development. An analysis of covariance determined the gain to be significant at the .01 level. Hypothesis II stated that a significant relationship would exist between the subjects' knowledge of the defined principles of child development and the subjects' attitudes toward parent-child interactions. A Pearson Product-Moment Correlation of the scores of experimental group and control group on the PARI and the cognitive test revealed a negative correlation of -0.1363. Thus, the second hypothesis that a significant relationship would exist had to be rejected. Hypothesis III projected that a significant difference would exist between the posttest attitudes of the participants of the experimental group and those of the control group. Analysis of covariance was used to determine the significance of the scores on the PARI between the experimental group and the control group. In combining the twenty-three subtests' scores into one score for each group, it must be reported that the test showed no significant differences between the posttest attitudes of the two groups; hence the third re search hypothesis must be rejected. However, analysis of covariance between the experimental and control groups on each of the twenty-three subscales revealed a significant difference in attitudes between the two groups on eleven of the twenty-three scales.

The primary research questions dealt with whether parents consider different personality characteristics of importance for boys and girls. Data were collected by conducting a telephone survey of a random sample of parents in the city of Denton with children under the age of eighteen living in the household. Respondents were asked whether they considered the personality characteristics of responsibility, strict obedience, being respectful of the opinions of others, showing good manners, being independent, and having loyalty to a religion not important, somewhat important, or very important for boys and girls. Of the respondents fifty-nine were fathers and one hundred and twenty-one were mothers. The analysis of the data revealed that mothers and fathers have similar attitudes concerning the importance of these personality characteristics.

Differential parenting has been shown to be an important correlate and possible cause of positive and negative adjustment of sibling children. However, it is not known whether sibling differences in temperament affect this link between differential harsh parenting and sibling differences in adjustment outcomes. The current study addressed this gap in knowledge. The sample included 92 monozygotic (MZ, 63% female) twin pairs and 137 dizygotic same-sex (DZ, 52% female) twin pairs who had complete temperament survey data collected near the third annual wave in the longitudinal study. Children were 6.09 years old (SD = .69) years old at wave 1. Mothers completed questionnaires, and mother and child were observed interacting during a home visit. Within families, greater sibling differences in conduct problems were statistically predicted by greater differences in harsh parenting exposure between siblings, but not by differences in effortful control. A hypothesized two-way interaction between sibling differences in harsh parenting and differences in effortful control was not significant. Regarding statistical bidirectional “child effects”, greater sibling differences in harsh parenting exposure were statistically predicted by greater sibling differences in conduct problems and greater sibling differences in effortful control. A hypothesized two-way interaction between conduct problems and effortful control was not significant. There was evidence of a bidirectional association between differential harsh parenting and sibling differences in conduct problems. In order to study the proximal family process, it is important to investigate sibling differences using within-family designs. Results can inform parents about how their differential parenting practices may affect child behavioral outcomes, to keep in mind when they parent their children.

The current study will examine the dynamics among helicopter parenting, parent-child relationships, and college students’ psychosocial outcomes, such as self-esteem and depressive symptoms. Helicopter parenting is commonly defined as parental over-involvement to their children’s live, which can negatively affect children’s self-esteem and depressive symptoms since helicopter parenting, in general, is argued as not developmentally appropriate parenting for young adult children. However, the negative impact of helicopter parenting can be buffered when children have positive relationships with parents. Hence, the current study will examine whether college student’s self-esteem and depressive symptoms are affected by helicopter parenting and whether the parent-child relationships can moderate the link between helicopter parenting and college students’ self-esteem and depressive symptoms. The study uses about 208 undergraduate students at one of major universities in southern region in the U.S.

This dissertation focuses on the family experiences of Chinese Canadian young adults raised in immigrant families. Drawing on contextual and transactional theories of development and parenting, this dissertation investigates Chinese young adults’ experiences and interpretations of parental monitoring and their links to youth well-being and family functioning. There is a relative lack of knowledge about the nature and interpretations of Chinese immigrant parenting in young adulthood and a lack of consensus regarding the conceptualization of parental monitoring both in adolescence and in young adulthood in mainstream and immigrant populations. This research achieved several objectives in a series of three papers. In Paper 1, I uncovered the range of Chinese Canadian young adults’ perceived parental monitoring behaviours and motivations for such behaviours in a qualitative study using freelisting methodology. In Paper 2, I sought to understand the construct of monitoring in this demographic by creating a multidimensional measure of parental monitoring of Chinese Canadian young adults. In Paper 3, I explored how young adults’ unmet expectations for parental monitoring related to well-being using polynomial regressions and response surface analyses. This research addressed several gaps in the literature by extending the study of parental monitoring to young adulthood, adding to the scant literature on parenting of Chinese immigrant young adults, distinguishing between mothers’ and fathers’ parenting, and moving toward a more complete conceptualization of parental monitoring. / Graduate / 2022-07-14

No description available.