It has long been recognized that childhood bereavement is a risk factor for depression in adulthood. Research also has consistently demonstrated that parental depression is linked to poor parent-child relationship quality. The current study examined whether bereavement in childhood increases likelihood of current depressive symptoms among parents and explored whether this vulnerability in the parent then alters the quality of the parent-child relationship. Archival data for a sample of 86 families (N=176 parents) are drawn from the Family & Kid Connection project led by Dr. Shelley Riggs. Instruments utilized include the Background Information Questionnaire, the Symptom Assessment-45 Questionnaire, and the Parenting Relationship Questionnaire. Using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model, Multilevel Modeling procedures explored the hypothesis that parental depression mediates the association between parents’ childhood bereavement and their perception of the parent-child relationship. Results show a significant relationship between parental (actor) depressive symptoms and parent-child attachment, indicating the need for therapeutic interventions targeting the parent-child relationship, and not just parents, for parents suffering from depression.

Body dissatisfaction has become so common that most girls and women will experience it at some point in their lives. Teasing and pressure from family members have been shown to be potent influences in the development of body dissatisfaction. However, most research conducted so far focuses on teasing and pressure from mothers, and neglects siblings altogether. I examined how appearance related teasing and pressure from siblings predicted body dissatisfaction and whether sibling intimacy mediated these relationships. Using survey data from 139 female adolescents, I found that appearance related teasing and pressure from siblings significantly predicted higher levels of body dissatisfaction. I also found significant indirect effects such that sibling teasing and pressure were associated with sibling intimacy, which was associated with body dissatisfaction, although there was no evidence of full mediation. Results indicate that siblings play an important role in the development of body dissatisfaction, and in consequence, eating disorders.

This study investigated what relationship might exist between the parents' view of their interactions with their children and the degree of person orientation in their children's vocational interests. The hypotheses of this study were that the parents of subjects with toward-person-oriented vocational interests would perceive their interactions with their children as being more loving and overtly attentive than parents of subjects with away-from-person-oriented vocational interests. It was further hypothesized that these differences would be greater for males than for females.

Life course and gender theorists emphasize the importance of contextual factors on human development and family life, including social structural positions, assignment of meaning to events, and cultural beliefs and practices. In addition, life course theorists punctuate the relevance of event timing on individual and familial growth and they seek to understand adaptive life patterns. Family scholars and gerontologists espouse the use of life course and gender theories to examine ethnic minorities' familial experiences. The present research examined relationships between immigrant post WWII mothers in mid and late life and adult daughters. Five contextual factors were examined: (1) perceptions of minority group status; (2) beliefs of having power, privilege, and prestige; (3) ethnic community involvement; (4) language and communication practices; and (5) expectations of women's relationships within families. In addition, the researcher considered the timing of mothers' immigration on relationship patterns. Twenty-two mothers and daughters participated in individual semi-structured interviews in which they discussed the associations among the contextual factors and challenging, fulfilling, and neutral relationship pathways. Thematic analysis of the mothers' and daughters' interview data and analysis of the investigator's research journal revealed that dimensions of communication, transitions and turning points, culture, and contact underscore relationship pathway. The findings from the present study contribute to theoretical perspectives, such as life course and gender theory, by illustrating the juxtaposition among factors such as generational position, culture, and gender. The implications of the research include the utility of using gender and life course perspectives jointly, the importance of considering how policies have direct and lingering affects on people's lives, the significance of social geography in ethnic minorities' lives, the need to attend to generational positions within immigrant families, and the usefulness of the research findings for support group settings and for counselors working with immigrant and ethnic minority group members. / Ph. D.

Faculty of Humanities School of Human and comminity development 0003981n Smbokazi@telkomsa.net / The main objective of this study was to explore the impact of sexual abuse of the daughter by her father, on the relationship between the mother and the sexually abused daughter. The research questions addressed were maternal responses to the disclosure of sexual abuse and the factors that influence those responses, the psychological effects of the abuse on both the child and the mother and the factors that mediate these effects, and the impact these have on the mother-daughter relationship. The data was collected from seven mothers whose daughters had been sexually abused by their intimate partners who could either be the girl’s biological father or step-father. The children’s ages had to be between 5-11 years at the time of the abuse, with disclosure having taken place in the last 2 years before the interview. This was an exploratory study, and the measures used were semi-structured interviews using open-ended questions to allow the mothers to reflect on their experiences, and allow the researcher to explore any areas that she deemed necessary. The main results of the study revealed the importance of the relationship between the mother and her daughter in incestuous families. This relationship plays an important role in prevention of sexual abuse, in stopping the already occurring abuse through the mother’s response to disclosure, and also in the post-disclosure adjustment of the child. It was evident that this relationship is adversely affected by the sexual abuse of the child by her father. The variables that were explored, as directed by the research questions had negative effects on this relationship. The findings have implications for the helping professionals dealing with childhood sexual abuse cases as they lead to the conclusion that treatment programmes need to take the mother into consideration, as she is intrinsic to the system in which the abuse takes place. Her psychological well-being influences her daughter’s post-disclosure recovery process. Recommendations were based on treatment strategies that need to be followed in clinical practice and also on further studies in the area of incest.

Ten years of lightning data was used to examine the lightning climatology in the Mid-South and to create a model capable of predicting severe hail storms using CG lightning. Cloud to ground lightning peaked reached a maximum in July and a minimum in January. Positive CG accounted for 5.3% of all strikes. The percentage of positive strikes reached a maximum in December and a minimum in August. Artificial intelligence along with logistic regression models were used for hail prediction. The 95% confidence intervals of the contingency statistics were used to determine the performance of the models. The linear cost 100 model and logistic regression had the highest performance and were tested with an independent data set. The logistic regression model outperformed the linear cost 100 model. The performance by both models was under the median statistics but within the 95% confidence interval.

<p> Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been linked to different aspects of romantic relationship functioning. The literature demonstrates mixed results on which type of PTSD symptom is most impactful for successful romantic relationships. Many studies have examined this association both cross sectionally and longitudinally, and in many different populations. This association is of importance particularly for those highly exposed to trauma, such as those in the National Guard. The current study had two aims. The first was to examine the rates of change in Guard member’s (N = 175) PTSD and relationship functioning and their partners (N = 176) relationship functioning, across three waves following deployment. The second was to investigate the unique impact of each PTSD symptom cluster (re-experiencing, avoidance, and hyperarousal) occurring in the Guard Member on their own and their partner’s measures of relationship functioning. These aims were achieved through a secondary data analysis of a larger study that followed National Guard families from predeployment throughout reintegration. For the purposes of this analysis, Guard Member’s and their partners were assessed on relationship functioning measures 2 months, 8 months, and 13 months after deployment. The Guard member’s PTSD symptoms were assessed at the same time points. Multilevel modelling revealed that the Guard member’s PTSD symptoms and relationship functioning did not change significantly over time. Partner’s relationship functioning did not change either, with the exception of active engagement. Regression analysis revealed that Guard member’s PTSD <em>avoidance</em> symptoms are most strongly associated with both the Guard member and their partners ratings of relationship functioning. These findings identify an important area of possible intervention.  </p>

<p> Traffic operations can be described by the relationship that occurs between flow and occupancy. This paper investigates the flow-occupancy relationship of an Ontario system and a Minnesota system to see if the same general relationship occurs in different locations. It is hoped that this investigation will help to further the work being done at McMaster in developing a new incident detection algorithm.</p> <p> In comparing the two data sets, simple analytical procedures were employed to compare the full data set, the uncongested regime, and the calculated fitted lines for the uncongested data. Visual comparison was the basis for much of the analysis.</p> <p> When the comparisons were conducted the relationships were indeed very similar, signifying that the flow-occupancy relationship is the same for different locations.</p> / Thesis / Candidate in Philosophy

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference in stress from associated with the occupation of law enforcement exists across the officers' relationship domains. The sample consisted of 51 participants that was comprised of both law enforcement officers and their significant others. Unlike past studies, this study included those that were married, divorced, in a civil union, single, or cohabitating. Based on past research it was hypothesized that the stress placed on officers and their significant other would be higher than that of other relationships. An anonymous survey was sent out to a several departments. Separate one-way between subjects Analysis of Variances (ANOVAs) were conducted to compare the effects of stress on law enforcements officers and their relationships. There was no significant effect of stress found in regards to the occupation itself as it pertained to the relationship (F(1, 48) = 0.99, p = 0.32). There was no significance of stress felt in regards to the individuals relationship on its own (F(1, 48) = 1.62, p =0.21).

The phenomenon of divorce and marital maladjustment in Saudi society is the ultimate concern of this paper, with the goal of addressing this issue by conducting a study in order to understand married Saudi women’s experiences and perceptions that may be used to develop a premarital education program. This research conducted individual, semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 27 Saudi women who have been married for five years or less. The responses were discussed based on the prescriptive skills approach, the principles-based approach, and mindfulness-based approach. As evidenced in the responses of the participants, multiple relationship weaknesses are common to most of the marriages, with conflict management problems the most common weakness that Saudi women perceive in their marriages. However, a few key relationship strengths keep marital relationships intact. Based on participant feedback, premarital education programs for individuals and couples would be highly beneficial to the marital relationship health of couples in Saudi Arabia, and are a viable method for decreasing the divorce rate in Saudi Arabia.