The central concern in this research study was marital commitment. It was argued from a social exchange theoretical perspective that marital commitment is composed of two dimensions, normative marital commitment and interpersonal marital commitment. The specific research question looked at how five independent variables (sex, race, socio-economic status, presence or absence of children, and religiosity) were related to differing degrees of normative marital commitment and interpersonal marital commitment. / The first step in this research project was to establish a theoretical base from which to draw hypotheses. Because little has been done on marital commitment, theoretically or empirically, the building had to start with a definition of commitment itself. In this study commitment was defined as (1) a decision to follow a course of action and (2) acting on that decision over a period of time. The definition of the other major concepts (marital commitment, normative marital commitment, and interpersonal marital commitment) built around that basic skeleton definition. A discussion of a possible explanation for the forming of marital commitment and its two dimensions begins what is hoped will be a first step in a theoretical model of marital commitment. / Ten hypotheses were tested with a survey-type, exploratory, cross-sectional research design. The sample consisted of 188 persons (94 couples). These were drawn from the Florida State University married student housing complex. Individual responses formed the unit of analysis. There was an 89% return rate for the 33-item questionnaire. The instrument used for measuring interpersonal marital commitment and normative marital commitment was a modification of the Clodfelter Marital Commitment Scale. / Major conclusions to be drawn from this study include (1) females in this study scored significantly higher than males on the interpersonal marital commitment scale; (2) persons high on religiosity (as measured by attendance at church) scored significantly higher on the normative marital commitment scale than persons who were not high on religiosity; and (3) persons high on religiosity scored significantly lower on the interpersonal marital commitment scale than persons low on religiosity. These conclusions need to be tempered with the fact that this was an exploratory study done with a very homogeneous sample. / The contribution this study makes is both theoretical and empirical. Theoretically, a preliminary step is taken toward an explanation of why marital commitment and its two dimensions may occur and the possible consequences of marital commitment. / Empirically, the construction of two scales to measure interpersonal marital commitment and normative marital commitment will hopefully provide a springboard for further refinement and elaboration of measuring devices. Also, this study points to sex and religiosity as key variables to consider in any study of marital commitment. / Several suggestions are included for further research. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-11, Section: A, page: 4850. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

Positive self-esteem has been found to be associated with effective problem-solving, while negative self-esteem is associated with variety of dysfunctional behaviors. It is the purpose of this study to assess the impact of perceived parental self-esteem and power bases on adolescent self-esteem. Following the direction suggested by Modeling Theory, two basic hypotheses are addressed: (1) The greater the perceived self-esteem of the parent, the greater the self-esteem of the adolescent. (2) The greater the power of the more powerful parent, the greater the modeling of the adolescent's self-esteem after the perceived self-esteem of that parent. / A purposive subsample of 219 high school age students enrolled in a developmental research school responded to a self-report questionnaire. The responses were analyzed, utilizing zero-order correlations and multiple regression analysis. The major findings were: (1) Adolescent self-esteem is positively associated with parental self-esteem. (2) Modeling of perceived maternal self-esteem, when the mother is the most powerful parent, is inversely related to her outcome-control, legitimate, expert bases of power and positively associated with the father's legitimate power and actual use of authoritative control. (3) Modeling of paternal self-esteem, when the father is the more powerful parent, is related positively with maternal expert power, paternal legitimate power, father's occupational status and age of the adolescent. An inverse association was found between maternal legitimate power, as well as the number of older brothers the adolescent had. / Discussion: Although it appears that adolescents do, in fact, model their self-esteem after the perceived self-esteem of their parents, a social power theory of modeling does not adequately explain the findings. Apparently the types and extent of the power bases of the less powerful parent makes a substantial contribution to the modeling process. Additionally, the direction of the association between parental power and modeling in the affective realm is not consistently positive, as was predicted. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-10, Section: A, page: 4606. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes of middle and lower income blacks toward marriage counseling and marital commitment. The study was based on the assumption that the attitudes of middle and lower income blacks would differ toward marriage counseling because of the heterogeneity of the black community. / The study sample consisted of 259 individuals selected from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There were 117 middle income individuals and 142 lower income individuals. Moreover, there were slightly more females (137) than males (122) participating in the study. / Two instruments were used to test the study's hypotheses. An ATTITUDES TOWARD MARRIAGE COUNSELING scale (AMC) was used to investigate attitudes toward marriage counseling. Marital commitment was measured by a MARITAL COMMITMENT scale (MC). Both scales were created by the researcher and both scales used the Lickert Scale format. / The results from the study revealed the following: (1) middle income blacks were significantly more favorable in their attitudes toward marriage counseling than were lower income blacks; (2) females (middle and lower) were significantly more favorable in their attitudes toward marriage counseling than were middle or lower income males; (3) there were no significant differences found between middle and lower income blacks pursuant to marital commitment; and (4) females ranked higher on the Marital Commitment scale than did the males, which suggested that the females participating in the study were more committed to their marriages than were the males. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-03, Section: A, page: 1232. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

The aim of this study was to assess identity, social intimacy, and coping mechanisms in non-clinical college youth raised in alcoholic homes in comparison to those non-clinical college youth raised in non-alcoholic homes while controlling for family environment. In order to control for family environment, four possible family types were devised to allow for comparison. These four types include a "functioning" alcoholic family, a "functioning" non-alcoholic family, a "non-functioning" alcoholic family, and a "non-functioning" non-alcoholic family. / The original sample consisted of 498 subjects who were administered a questionnaire consisting of six instruments, and a demographic section. The six instruments included the Brief Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test, the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test, the Ego Identity Scale, the Social Intimacy Scale, the Young Adult-Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences, and the Family of Origin Scale. The delimiting factors of the study reduced the final sample to 285 individuals of which 48 were adult children of alcoholics, and 237 were adult children of non-alcoholics. Only those individuals who had not experienced therapy were included in the sample, thus focusing on a non-clinical sample. / It was determined that significant differences did exist among all four family types for each variable (identity, social intimacy, and coping mechanisms). It appears that the family's ability to function is the primary factor regarding identity and coping mechanisms, with individuals from higher functioning families scoring more favorably. However, regarding social intimacy, it appears that the presence or absence of alcohol is the primary factor in that individuals from alcoholic families scored higher in social intimacy. Furthermore, identity, social intimacy, and coping mechanisms were found to have a positive relationship that was significant. In addition, identity and social intimacy were found to significantly predict family type. / This non-clinical sample of adult children of alcoholics does not appear to confront the issues that have been generated in the literature. Indeed, adult children of alcoholics are not a homogeneous group. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-10, Section: A, page: 3170. / Major Professor: Carol A. Darling. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.

This study was designed to investigate the effect of a premarital counseling program on premarital couples. More specifically, this study investigated how the Premarital Assessment Program (PAP) and the PAP modified with structured communication components impacted premarital individuals dyadic adjustment, communication, and commitment to the continuance of the relationship. / The data were collected from a sample of 42 premarital individuals who were residing in the Tallahassee, Florida area. The subjects who participated in the six week premarital counseling program were a mix of college students and community residents. The three levels of treatment were the PAP group, the modified PAP with communication training, and the control group. The findings revealed a statistically significant difference on the variable dyadic adjustment (p =.0325) and commitment to the continuance of the relationship (p =.0457). Further analysis of the significant differences on dyadic adjustment and commitment variables revealed that the treatment group that received the modified PAP with communication skills training was the group that accounted for the significant difference. The findings did not reveal a statistically significant difference on the communication variable. / All individuals in the treatment groups were provided an opportunity to respond to an open ended question concerning their experiences as participants. Of the 28 who were allowed to respond 82% chose to provide responses to the question. All the respondents reacted positively to their experience and reported increasing in their ability to communicate with their partner, learned to be more flexible in their behavior choices, and felt that they were not the only ones who had problems in their relationships. / An increased awareness of what premarital counseling programs offer to their participants is needed both for the practitioner providing premarital counseling and researchers who are interested in further studying the effects of this form of preventive counseling. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-10, Section: A, page: 3373. / Major Professor: Eileen M. Earhart. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

This study investigated the impact of touch on marital intimacy. The following questions were investigated: (a) do nonverbal exercises increase marital intimacy, (b) are the changes sustained, and (c) do subjects recognize an increase in their level of intimacy? / Twenty marital dyads were recruited, demographic and marital adjustment information was gathered, and the couples were randomly assigned to an experimental or control group. The experimental couples were asked to perform a series of nonverbal exercises centering on touch daily for one week. Both the experimental and control groups were asked to subjectively evaluate their feelings during this period. Both groups were then posttested using the Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships, (Schaefer and Olson, 1981) inventory, and the experimental group was retested on this measure after three months. Additional qualitative data were obtained from the experimental group using a questionnaire at the follow-up testing. / The posttest data were analyzed using an Analysis of Covariance with marital adjustment as the covariate. The follow-up data were analyzed using the Friedman two-way analysis of variance by ranks. / The findings of the study were difficult to interpret as the null hypothesis could not be rejected. The level of intimacy of the experimental group did change, however, the difference was not in the predicted direction--the level of expected intimacy was decreased. The level of perceived intimacy showed no significant difference except for recreational intimacy which decreased significantly. These results were sustained over a three month period. The qualitative findings indicated the subjects had no knowledge of how their intimacy level had been affected. / The conclusions that are suggested by these findings are: (a) nonverbal exercises may affect intimacy, (b) prescribing touch deceased the amount of intimacy couples desire, (c) couples do not always recognize that their level of intimacy has decreased, and (d) decreases in intimacy may last for a minimum of three months. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-03, Section: A, page: 0801. / Major Professor: Mary Hick. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

Family Systems Medicine has been described as a new paradigm in the practice of medicine that will end the schism between the medical and the mental health field. Medical family therapy in particular, has created a new role for family therapists in medical settings that requires close collaboration with medical providers. The purpose of this study was to understand how those who endorse a collaborative approach to health care perceive the state of the art of this new practice. / Additionally, it has been argued that bidirectional research or the use of a multi-method approach is beneficial in bridging the gaps among theory, research and practice. In this study, a qualitative research design was used to gather information on Family Systems Medicine and the practice of medical family therapy. That information was later used to develop a survey that sampled the American subscribers of the journal of Family Systems Medicine (n = 699). Respondents were asked for their perceptions in five areas: (1) Collaboration, (2) Practice of Family Systems Medicine, (3) Referral, (4) Training, and (5) Roles of Professionals Involved. The binomial test and factorial analysis were used to test mean differences. Results indicated that the findings of the qualitative study were generalized to the random sample of those practitioners who endorse a collaborative approach to health care in four of the areas mentioned except in "Roles of Professionals Involved." / Additionally, significant differences were found between psychosocial and medical providers in the way they perceive the process of referral in Family Systems Medicine. Results also indicated that there were significant differences between medical and psychosocial providers who work in private versus not-for-profit settings in the way they perceive training in Family Systems Medicine and with whom they collaborate. Implications for practice, training, research, and theory are discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-07, Section: A, page: 2886. / Major Professor: Thomas E. Smith. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

The purpose of this study was to examine the differences between family pet owners and family non-pet owners utilizing the variables of cohesion and adaptability along with elements of the human constructed environment. In addition, for family pet owners, it was questioned whether family functioning could be predicted from elements in the human-constructed environment which consisted of family demographics and pet related variables. The Ecosystems Approach and General Systems Theory provided the theoretical orientation for this research. A survey research design was utilized in which 132 clinical members of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy in six southeastern states distributed questionnaires to 307 clients and family members who returned them to the researcher. A family property was formed from the individual data from each family, which consisted of two to five members, using the Additive Model. This yielded a sample of 141 families of which 116 were pet owners and 25 were non-pet owners. Two other models, the Discrepancy and Modified Disjunctive Models, were also utilized to examine the family data to determine which approach was most sensitive to significant differences in the sample data. The family properties for pet owners were analyzed using a multiple regression analysis. Results indicated that 24% of the variance in family adaptability could be accounted for from the independent environmental variables with the Additive and Modified Disjunctive Models. However, family cohesion was not significantly predicted using any of the models. Analyses revealed there were marked similarities between family pet owners and non-pet owners. The FACES III scale used in the questionnaire indicated that 54.6% of the families were of the Balanced type. Implications for research, theory and family therapy are presented. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-01, Section: A, page: 0307. / Major Professor: Carol Darling. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

From a systems perspective, this study explored how law enforcement officers balance the work and marriage/family relationship. Specifically, the study examined personal authority in the family system and investigated how it relates to job involvement, intimacy, and marital adjustment. Secondly, personal authority was combined with job involvement, age, number of years married, and number of years in law enforcement in order to determine the effects of these variables on intimacy and intimate relationships/marriage. / Instruments used to collect this information were a demographic data sheet, the Personal Authority Scale of the Personal Authority in Family Systems Questionnaire, Job Involvement Measure, the Emotional Intimacy Scale of the Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships, and Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test. Subjects were career police officers (n = 72) employed by the City of Tallahassee, Florida. / This ex post facto study used path analysis to calculate causal relationships. Hypothesis 1 stated that a causal relationship existed between personal authority, job involvement, and level of intimacy. The data did not support this hypothesis when using the entire sample. However, the a priori model of emotional intimacy was supported in a married/never divorced subsample. / Hypothesis 2 predicted that a negative relationship existed between personal authority and job involvement. This relationship was not supported. / Hypothesis 3 stated there was a causal relationship between personal authority, job involvement, and marital adjustment. There was not support for this hypothesis. / Additional analysis included a significant single order correlation between emotional intimacy and marital adjustment, and found that emotional intimacy and marital adjustment discriminated among groups of married and divorced officers. / Results were examined with respect to method, sample, future research, and implications for marriage therapy. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-02, Section: A, page: 0697. / Major Professor: Mary W. Hicks. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

A program of research was conducted to measure the effectiveness of the use of the bug-in-the-ear device in the supervision and training of marriage and family therapy trainees. / A reliable and objective methodology was developed for obtaining behavioral observational measures of therapist behavior. A single subject research design (SSRD) was employed which permitted the experimental analysis of individual therapy-trainee behavior in relation to the bug-in-the-ear intervention. / Baseline data on trainee use of two therapy skills, facilitate and support, were obtained and compared with trainee use of these skills when prompted and reinforced through the bug-in-the-ear device. / Participants in the study were four Ph.D. students in the Interdivisional Program in Marriage and the Family, Department of Home and Family Life, Florida State University. Each trainee worked with four clients from their regular caseload over a two-month period. / The study demonstrated a significant increase in therapy-trainee use of the targeted skills when prompted and reinforced through the bug-in-the-ear intervention. The effect was replicated with additional therapy-trainees across different sets of clients. / This study brought the methodologies of single subject research design and applied behavior analysis to marriage and family therapy training research to investigate the effect of the bug-in-the-ear device in live supervision. / Research results were evaluated in relation to causal inference, practical significance and social validity and discussed with regard to their implication for family therapy training and future research. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-07, Section: A, page: 1977. / Major Professor: Calvin Zongker. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.