Browsing by Author "Benson, Mark"

Now showing 1 - 12 of 12
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    Caregiving in later life: an attachment explanatory model
    Rojiani, Rhonda Hurst (Virginia Tech, 1993)
    In this study I proposed and tested a causal model between disruptions in childhood attachment, dimensions of adult attachment, and caregiving in later life. The research was intended to fill a void in both the attachment and the gerontological caregiving literatures. Like the construct of attachment, John Bowlby conceptualized caregiving as an expression of a specific underlying behavioral control system. He and subsequent attachment theorists proposed caregiving quality to be the most critical determinant of both attachment and subsequent personality and emotional development. Gerontologists have studied caregiving from an exchange, equity, and symbolic interactionist perspectives but in general, theory has been underutilized and underdeveloped. This study provides an alternative theoretical perspective. With it’s multidisciplinary origins, attachment theory provides a framework for integrating research on seemingly disparate topics. An interdisciplinary linkage is begun by placing caregiving within the perspective of the lifespan development of prosocial behavior. The sample (N=3,848) consisted of respondents aged 50 to 95 years, from the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH), a national multistage probability sample. A series of regressions were used to test the explanatory model. Model variables included respondents’ psychosocial characteristics: sex, age, number of childhood separations from mother, current symbolic and physical proximity to mother, adult relationship with mother, emotional support, marital relationship, physical and mental disability, and income. In order to assess propensity for caregiving, the criterion variable was operationalized as number of care recipients per respondent. The variables that accounted for a statistically significant amount of variation in caregiving were maternal proximity, and respondent's age, in that order. Contrary to the predictions, sex, emotional support, marital status, income, and disability level, were not related to caregiving. These findings suggest people may be motivated to provide care not simply by structural factors but by developmental needs with some underlying and unknown physiological component. These results warrant further study of how the dimensions of proximity to multiple attachment figures, and developmental age affect caregiving and attachment behaviors.
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    The effects of differential attachment to mothers and fathers on adolescent identity
    Harris, Paula Baller (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1989)
    The purpose of this study was to clarify the effects of differential attachment to mothers and fathers on male and female identity development. A total of 135 male and 145 female late adolescents responded to the revised Inventory of Parent Attachment (Armsden & Greenberg, 1989) and the Extended Version of the Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status (Bennion & Adams, 1986). Factor analysis revealed one factor for the attachment measures, and reliability estimates verified their psychometric adequacy. Participants reported higher attachment to mother than to father. The need for separate measures of attachment to each parent was confirmed by correlational analysis. Gender effects were noted for identity status but none were found for attachment. Consideration of these results led to the suggestion that males and females have different agendas for identity resolution. Regression analysis indicated an association between discrete same-sex and cross-sex attachments to parents and identity status classifications. The findings suggest that future research continue to explore the effects of differential attachment on identity development.
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    Empirical validation of treatment targets for the management of diabetes in children
    Weist, Mark D. (Virginia Tech, 1991)
    In the present study we used an empirical validation approach to determine psychosocial variables related to adaptive management of diabetes in two samples of diabetic children and their families. Children from the Kansas University Medical Center (n = 31) and children from the Virginia Diabetes Association (n = 25) provided results of the glycosylated hemoglobin test (a measure of diabetic control); completed self-report measures on variables of anxiety, coping, family adjustment, and health locus of control; and underwent structured interviewing. Parents completed parallel self-report measures, as well as an assessment of child behavior. In addition, a subsample of parent-child dyads participated in a role-play measure of family interactions around the child’s diabetes. All demographic variables and psychosocial measures were not Significantly different across the Kansas and Virginia samples. Children in optimal control of diabetes had more structured and organized family environments, more frequently believed that ''powerful others'' were responsible for their health, and showed lower levels of negative coping with family problems than children in nonoptimal diabetic control. Surprisingly, children in optimal diabetic control showed poorer knowledge of diabetes and its management than children in nonoptimal control. Psychological interventions to promote adaptive diabetic control should incorporate findings related to family environment, locus of control, and the child’s style of coping with family problems.
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    Family Process - Autism Spectrum Disorders
    Benson, Mark (2012-10-12)
    Slides for a talk about family process and the importance of parenting dimensions in adolescent development. The slides list findings to date, and propose research into the influence of family on outcomes for those diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.
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    Fathers and young-adult children: factors affecting relationship strength
    Washle, Edwin J. (Virginia Tech, 1990)
    Until recently, most parent-child research has focused on the mother-child dyad or the father-infant or young child relationship. The present study investigated strengths of the father-young adult relationship with respect to the following variables: individuation, intimacy, intimidation, age, marital status, gender and birth order. College students at a large mid-Atlantic university and their fathers completed instruments regarding the above aspects of their relationship. The instruments administered were the Personal Authority in the Family System Questionnaire (PAFS-Q) and the Family Assessment Measure (FAM-III). Correlation, analysis of variance, and step-wise multiple regression were used for statistical analysis. Results indicated that fathers and young-adult children had significantly different perceptions of the dyadic relationship strength. There was a strong relationship between intergenerational individuation and intimacy with relationship strength. Birth order proved to be a significant factor in the assessment of intimacy, intimidation and relationship strength. Individuation and intimacy were the only variables that explained a Significant percentage of variance in dyadic relationship strength. Explanations for the findings, therapeutic implications, and suggestions for future research were explored.
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    Home environments and developmental outcomes of children born to teenage mothers
    Lee, Hyunsook Chang (Virginia Tech, 1996-12-02)
    This study examined the role of home environments in the cognitive and behavioral outcomes of children born to teenage mothers. The sample consisted of 1,011 firstborn children aged 6 to 18 and their mothers selected from the 1990 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). Multivariate regression analyses revealed that the quality of home environments mediated the effects of father presence on the behavioral adjustment of children, even taking other socio-demographic and maternal characteristics into account. Moreover, the results showed that the home environment was the best predictor for both the academic achievement and the behavioral problems of children even after controlling for such background factors as family income, number of children, maternal education, and self-esteem. Also, when other variables in the model were statistically accounted for, the mothers' age at first birth was unrelated to the quality of home environments, and with controlling for the home environment, it was not a significant predictor of either the cognitive attainment or the behavioral adjustment of children. The findings evidence the importance of home environments for the optimal development of children, and suggest that strong home environments contribute to prevent potential negative outcomes and promote positive developmental outcomes of children born to teenage mothers.
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    An investigation of the relationship between playfulness and self-esteem
    Semanic-Lauth, Susan (Virginia Tech, 1990)
    Playfulness, externality, self-perceptions, IQ, first-grade readiness, and selected demographic variables were studied in a sample of 93 first and second grade children. Playfulness and externality were obtained from teacher ratings on the Child Behaviors Inventory and self-perceptions were obtained via child interviews using Harter and Pike’s (1984) Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children. Neither playfulness nor externality correlated Significantly with any of the following self-perception scales: (a) cognitive competence, (b) peer acceptance, (c) physical competence, and (dad) maternal acceptance. Pearson correlation coefficients reflected a significant but low relationship between IQ (measured via the Block Design and Vocabulary subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised) (r = .26, p < .05) and Playfulness. A significant but low correlation was also found between Playfulness and social status (r = .26, p < .05). A principal components factor analysis, followed by varimax rotation yielded a four factor solution. Factor 1 was comprised of cognitive variables (IQ and first-grade readiness). Factor 2 was comprised of the self-perception subscales. Factor 3 was Externality and Factor 4 loaded heavily for gender. Examination of the final communality estimate indicated that playfulness contributed little to the total variance and should be interpreted as a measure of a trait which is independent of cognitive functioning, self-perceptions, externality, gender and age.
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    Preschool teacher-child relationships: an exploratory study of attachment models over time
    Martin, Doris M. (Virginia Tech, 1991)
    This exploratory study examined the nature of the relationships between two preschool teachers and four of the children in their care. Of particular interest was the influence of primary attachment models or mental representations of each individual, on the interactions between teachers and children. Data on the teacher-child interactions were gathered through classroom observations and in depth interviews. Parents of the children were interviewed to obtain information on the children's primary attachment models. Findings support the conclusion that early attachment models were influential in defining current teacher-child relationships. These findings have implications for the training of teachers and for further research.
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    Reflecting team supervision (RTS): reflexivity in therapy, supervision and research
    Scott, William R. (Virginia Tech, 1993)
    Informed by constructivist and social constructionist theory, a qualitative research study was conducted applying Andersen’s (1991) reflecting team model to explore use of self themes in the supervision process. A male and female Supervisor were paired with a male and female therapist to form two person supervision and reflecting teams. Four RTS sessions were conducted. Each RTS session involved three phases: 1) supervision of a case with the reflecting team observing, 2) reflecting team discussion of their observations with the supervision team observing, and 3) supervision follow-up by the supervision team with the reflecting team observing. The three phases of the RTS process led to three derivations of the original therapist story. The RTS process was discussed after each session in the post-session discussion. Utilizing the reflections of the reflecting team from Phase 2, a difference that makes a difference was introduced into the supervision story. In Phase 3, the supervision follow-up, the supervisor helped the therapist explore previously non-conscious use of self themes in the supervision narrative and construct a different narrative about him/herself and the case brought for supervision. The nature of the points of connection established in the socially constructed conversation between the therapist and client(s) was pertinent to the establishment of a "relational distance" between the client and the therapist that was too close or too distant. The supervisor not only helped the therapist become aware of the points of connection but also helped introduce a difference that allowed the therapist to be more maneuverable. All three phases of RTS are important to a supervision process. The role of the reflecting team in uncovering the "unsaid," and the supervisor in creating a difference possibly become less critical as supervisors develop reflexivity and incorporate these two phases into their typical supervision process.
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    Relationship between familism and ego identity development of Puerto Rican and immigrant Puerto Rican adolescents
    Reguero, Julia Teresa (Virginia Tech, 1991)
    Puerto Rican adolescent ego identity development was studied within the frameworks of Erikson's psychosocial theory and Heller's conceptualization of familism. Ego identity was measured by the Revised Version of the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status-2, an instrument based on Erikson's theoretical formulations. The Heller's Familism Scale was utilized to measure familism. It was hypothesized that there is a relationship between familism and the four identity statuses: achievement, moratorium, foreclosure, and diffusion. It was also hypothesized that familism, gender, age, parent's education and occupation, and number of years living in the United States mainland affect an individual's identity status. There were two sample groups; one living in Puerto Rico (n= 180), and one living in Florida (n= 107). Correlations and multiple regression analyses were utilized to test the hypotheses of this study. The regression analysis showed that the independent variables, age, parental level of education, familism, and, for the immigrant group, number of years living in the United States mainland help explain the variance in some of the statuses scores. Some of the variance in the achievement scores can be explained by the independent variables for immigrant male and female adolescents. The independent variables helped explain the variance in the moratorium scores of the male adolescents living in Puerto Rico, and both male and female immigrant adolescents. The variance in foreclosure scores could only be explained by the independent variables when the subjects were female immigrant adolescents. Finally, the independent variables helped explain the variance in the diffusion scores for the female subjects, regardless of sample group. An analysis of variance revealed a main effect for gender in achievement scores, and diffusion scores. ANOVA also revealed a Significant difference among the subject groups diffusion scores. ANOVA identified a significant interaction between gender and sample group for the foreclosure status. Furthermore, ANOVA revealed a significant difference between male and female foreclosure scores. Also, ANOVA revealed a significant difference between sample groups. Because the independent variables explain only a small percentage of the variance in the four ego identity status scores, caution should be exercised in arriving at conclusions about the relative importance of the independent variables on ego identity.
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    Test of a model of job satisfaction for North Carolina school psychologists
    South, Peggy Hicks (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1989)
    Exploratory studies in the area of job satisfaction for school psychologists have pointed to a number of variables that predict job satisfaction, but research has not yet attempted to test a model of job satisfaction consistent with theory and previous research. The presented study developed and tested a theoretical model of the influences on job satisfaction for North Carolina school psychology practitioners. Effects of boundary role activities and role diversity, activities that extend beyond the traditional role of psychodiagnostician, were of particular interest. North Carolina school psychologists were surveyed by mail. Data collection addressed personal variables (e.g., age, current degree status, and years of experience), static system variables (e.g., urban vs. rural communities, student—to—psychologist ratio, salary per month, and characteristics of supervision), fluid system variables (e.g., opportunity to engage in boundary role activities and role diversity) and job satisfaction measured by the modified Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MMSQ). Two hundred and sixty-two of the 463 North Carolina school psychologists surveyed reported their primary role designation as practitioner and were included in the initial path analyses. Boundary role activities had a direct effect on job satisfaction, and characteristics of supervision had a smaller direct effect. Role diversity influenced boundary role activities which in turn affected job satisfaction. After reviewing demographic data, delivery models used in North Carolina, job titles, and job descriptions, the sample was redefined and Charlotte/Mecklenburg Student Services Specialists were excluded. Path analyses conducted on the redefined sample found direct effects for boundary role activities and salary per month with smaller direct effects for characteristics of supervision and role diversity. Indirect effects were also found for urban vs. rural communities and role diversity.
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    Women, work, and family: ways to well-being
    Stripling, Mary Ann Hamilton (Virginia Tech, 1990)
    The purpose of this research is to identify combinations of variables that most affect well-being among employed women. A hypothesized model of the stress and coping process examines the influence of situational demands on mediators, and mediators on well-being. Job and family strain, as well as coping resources such as spousal support, social support, and coping strategies were proposed to mediate between situational demands, represented by husband’s chore time, number of children, job flexibility, job hours, career stage, and job status and the outcome variable, well-being. Data from a national sample of 277 married, employed women representing dual-employed families were subjected to path analytic analyses using LISREL 7. Findings generally supported the proposed model. Results suggest that both role strain and coping resources mediated the stressor effects of situational demands on well-being.