Browsing by Author "Meszaros, Peggy S."
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- A Common-Factors Informed Mixed Methods Investigation of Clients of MFTs’ Perception of Therapy ProductivenessD'Aniello, Carissa (Virginia Tech, 2015-05-01)Many clients drop out of therapy before reaching their goals, (Bohart & Wade, 2013) though research shows that being in therapy is more effective in producing change than not being in therapy, (Lambert, 1992). Little is known about what makes therapy effective (Davis & Piercy, 2007a, b; Pinsof & Wynne, 2000). The purpose of the present study was to understand what clients believe is productive about therapy, and how clients’ assessment of therapy productiveness impacts their decision to remain in therapy or to drop out of therapy. For the qualitative strand of this simultaneous convergent mixed methods study, grounded theory was used to inductively develop a common-factors informed model describing how productive change processes influence intended retention. The convenience sample consisted of 19 current clients in therapy with a marriage and family therapist. For the quantitative strand, participation involved completing a semi-structured interview and quantitative survey. Direct, binary logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine whether perceived productiveness, goal attainment and therapeutic alliance, predicted intended treatment retention or intended dropout. The convenience sample for quantitative analysis included the 19 qualitative participants, and continued sampling until adequate statistical power was reached with 72 participants. Mixed analysis strategy was data comparison for the purpose of triangulation. Qualitative results span three categories emerged from qualitative: client factors, therapy process factors and evaluation of progress. Client factors, including presenting problem factors, expectations and motivation were considered when participants made decisions about staying in therapy or dropping out of iii therapy. Therapy process factors, including therapists’ understanding of the presenting problem, therapeutic alliance, therapists interventions and the pacing and timing of those interventions were also considered when participants made decisions about staying in therapy or dropping out of therapy. When participants evaluated the progress made because of therapy, they evaluated changes in the presenting problem, symptom reduction, and noticed this progress took place outside of therapy. Quantitative results showed that goal attainment, therapeutic alliance and productiveness significantly predicted intended retention when each was tested as an individual predictor. When tested in a full model, containing goal attainment, therapeutic alliance and productiveness; only the task domain of therapeutic alliance emerged as significant. Results confirm the importance of therapeutic tasks to clients’ decision to stay in therapy or to drop out of therapy. Results contribute to the importance of common factors in keeping clients in therapy until they reach their goals. Further, results inform research, clinical practice and training in the MFT field.
- Community Characteristics and Trajectories of Adolescent Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors: The Cumulative Advantage/Disadvantage and Subjective Appraisals of Social Support as MechanismsZhang, Jing (Virginia Tech, 2012-09-05)Studies examining neighborhood effects on adolescent outcomes have indicated that adolescents growing up in low-income neighborhoods are at higher risk of developing internalizing and externalizing behaviors. However, knowledge of the long-term effects of neighborhood disadvantages on internalizing and externalizing behaviors and the involved mechanisms across adolescence is limited. Using family life course theory and the cumulative advantage/disadvantage perspective, this study examined how community disadvantages in early adolescence accumulate over time to influence later internalizing and externalizing behaviors and the protective effects of subjective appraisals of social support by adolescents and their primary caregivers. I estimated a two-level growth curve model using three waves of data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN). Results indicated subjective appraisals of social support by both adolescents and caregivers played a protective role to buffer the negative effects of community disadvantages on internalizing and externalizing behaviors across adolescence. These results provide insight for the development of intervention programs at both family and government levels to improve adolescent outcomes.
- Computers and FamiliesGreene, Ryan Thomas (Virginia Tech, 2001-01-24)As we move into the new millennium, computers will increasingly become part of the human culture. As such, computers will continue to effect families, and there will undoubtedly be a proliferation of computer usage across family types. Because computers will be an integral part of change in the next millennium, it is important to examine their potential impact on the basic unit of society- the family. This study, descriptive in nature, provides insight on families and their interactions as related to computer use in their homes. Better understanding of computers and family life can help provide the basis for a smoother transition for families into the expanding world of information technology. As the expansion of the digital age proceeds, its impact on family life would seem to warrant investigation. Information on who is using computers in the home, how those computers are being used, and how time is spent on computers can add to our appreciation of the impact of computer technology. In addition, the perceived impact of computers needs to be assessed in relation to outcomes for family life- interaction, relationships, and familial organization.
- Development and Validation of Supervisory and Organizational Support MeasuresAlexander, Jenny Burroughs (Virginia Tech, 2008-03-13)Recruitment and retention of public child welfare workforce is in crisis due to turnover caused by 1) dissatisfaction with job; 2) excessive stress and burnout, including vicarious trauma; and 3) a lack of support from supervisors and organizations. No instrument was found to evaluate the impact of supervisory support and the use of organizational and professional strategies. The Supervisory and Organizational Support (SOS) survey instrument was created in response to the need for reliable and valid instruments to measure issues related to child welfare workforce turnover. The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the SOS survey instrument and was designed to address the following research questions: 1) Does the instrument have demonstrated content validity? 2) Does the instrument have demonstrated construct validity as developed through factor analysis techniques? 3) Does the instrument have demonstrated reliability? 4) To what extent do the instrument and its' subscales correlate with measures of theoretically related and unrelated variables? The results of this study with a sample of 387 employees in 18 Virginia Department of Social Services agencies provide good beginning evidence of content, construct, convergent, and discriminant validity, and reliability of the SOS survey instrument. As such, the SOS survey can be used in studies of social services workforce turnover/ retention. However, to increase confidence in this recommendation, further research should address the implications and limitations of the current study and provide replication of the results with a different sample using confirmatory factor analysis. Finally, the SOS survey instrument may serve to assist in the evaluation of practice and policy efforts aimed at increasing worker retention.
- The Effects of Profanity in Violent Video Game Content on Players' Hostile Expectations, Accessibility of Aggressive Thoughts, Aggressive Feelings, and Other ResponsesIvory, Adrienne Holz (Virginia Tech, 2010-08-30)Although the effects of violent video games on aggression in users have been researched extensively and the resulting body of research shows that violent video games can increase aggressive behaviors, aggression-related feelings and thoughts, and physiological arousal, no empirical studies to date have examined whether there are similar and parallel effects of verbal aggression (e.g., profanity) in video game content. A 2 X 2 between-subjects factorial experiment (N = 321) tested the effects of profanity used by protagonists (protagonist profanity present versus absent) and antagonists (antagonist profanity present versus absent) on users' hostile expectations, accessibility of aggressive thoughts, aggressive feelings, perceived arousal, use of profanity, enjoyment, presence, and perceived performance while taking into account the potential moderating role of gender and controlling for several individual difference variables. The study's factors were manipulated via the creation of four versions of an original three-dimensional "first-person shooter" video game. Profanity used by both protagonist and antagonist characters was found to have significant effects on players' hostile expectations, an important higher-order aggressive outcome that is the most direct precursor to aggressive behaviors in the process described by the general aggression model. There was limited evidence for effects of profanity in game content on players' accessibility of aggressive thoughts, aggressive feelings, and perceived arousal. Additionally, profanity had little impact on how much players used profanity themselves, how much they enjoyed the game, feelings of presence, and how they rated their performance in the game. These trends were consistent across a range of demographic, personality, and video game experience dimensions that were measured, even though several of these individual difference variables were found to be related to some outcome variables and to each other. Therefore, while this study's findings did not necessarily indicate imitative modeling of profanity, they point to the possibility of more general effects regarding aggressive outcomes. This study's findings emphasize the need for future research investigating the effects of profanity in video games and other media.
- Family and Clinician Effects on Costs of Psychiatric Emergency Services DispositionsNielson, L. Reece (Virginia Tech, 2009-03-26)Families play a key role in psychiatric emergency services (PES). Given the cost of PES in terms of dollars and restrictiveness, clients, families, providers, payers, and policymakers involved in these services need more understanding of how families affect these key PES outcomes. Marriage and family therapy theories offer frameworks for understanding family and provider system dynamics in PES. This study explores how family presence and family quality influence restrictiveness and cost of PES dispositions, and how they moderate the effect of suicide risk, homicide risk, and inability to care for self on those outcomes. The sample of 306 clients and 33 clinicians was drawn from the records of a mobile PES unit serving a rural area. A regression-based, quantitative methodology, Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM), was employed to explore associations between restrictiveness and client risk and family factors, as well as differences in dispositions between PES clinicians. In order to extend practical implications, the same questions were also examined in monetary terms by translating restrictiveness into cost of dispositions. Results show inability to care for self and suicide risk to be the strongest predictors of increased restrictiveness and cost. Family quality appeared to reduce restrictiveness but not cost and only when not considering interactions with individual risk factors. When interactions were considered, family quality exhibited a statistically significant disordinal interaction with inability to care for self. That is, when clients were unable to care for self, positive family quality worked toward increasing restrictiveness and cost, perhaps due to families seeking help for the client. However, when clients were able to care for self, positive family quality worked in the opposite direction (i.e., toward reducing restrictiveness and cost). Theoretical and practical implications of this interaction were considered. There was found no significant variability in dispositions and associated costs between clinicians, which may be evidence of standardized clinician training and procedures. Non-standardized instrumentation, lack of comparison with other programs or sites, and limited cell sample size are limitations of the study. This study shows the complexity of family systems in PES and provides basis for recommendations for future research and clinical practice.
- Financial Literacy of College Students: Parental and Peer InfluencesJorgensen, Bryce L. (Virginia Tech, 2007-10-02)A current national concern is the low financial literacy of college students. College students are not receiving the financial knowledge necessary to be successful in today's fast paced economy. Due to an increasingly complex marketplace, college students need greater knowledge about their personal finances and the economy. The financial decisions made early in life create habits difficult to break and affect students' ability to become financially secure adults. Most recent studies show average personal financial scores declining with average scores close to a failing grade. The College Student Financial Literacy Survey (CSFLS) was created to collect data specifically for this study. The purpose of this descriptive, cross-sectional, on-line survey design study is three fold. First, I investigated the personal financial literacy (knowledge, attitudes and behavior) of a sample of undergraduate and graduate college students using the personal characteristics of gender, class rank, and socioeconomic status (SES). Second, I examined parental and peer influences on the level of financial literacy of college students. Finally, I examined how college students' financial knowledge and attitudes correlated with their financial behavior. The study found that financial knowledge, attitude, and behavior scores were low but that they significantly increased each year from freshman to masters. Further, students who were financially influenced by their parents had higher financial knowledge, attitude, and behavior scores. Finally, students with higher financial knowledge also had higher financial attitude and behavior scores.
- Information Technology Career Decision Making: Validating Models of Self-Authorship in Middle and High School Students Enrolled in Upward Bound and Talent Search Programs in Rural AppalachiaKimbrell, Monica Renee (Virginia Tech, 2013-11-21)Information Technology (IT) jobs are in demand in the United States and rural Appalachian communities are attracting IT businesses. The need to fill IT jobs creates a workforce opportunity for these communities where students have limited access to academic and career resources. The Upward Bound and Talent Search programs respond to the academic and career needs of disadvantaged students and aim to educate students about high skills jobs but little is known about interest in IT careers among middle and high school students in rural Appalachia. This study validates models of IT career interest and parental support of IT careers in girls and boys enrolled in Upward Bound or Talent Search in rural communities in Virginia using the theoretical framework of self-authorship. The theory of self-authorship explores the development of meaning-making in individuals and offers a context-specific way to study interest in IT careers. Results indicate interest in IT careers but the path to IT career interest is different among girls and boys. Girls are relying on others for career advice more often than boys and there is direct association between the information sources and interest in IT careers. Parental support is important in IT career interest for both girls and boys. Other important variables indicating an interest in IT careers are computer use and positive attitudes toward IT workers. Receiving information from sources such as parents, teachers, counselors, and friends is especially important to girls. Findings from this study can be used to inform practices and policies for Upward Bound and Talent Search.
- Intimacy and Family Among Single, Working-Class Women: A Focus on Rural AppalachiaMcCann, Brandy R. (Virginia Tech, 2004-06-10)With people living longer and coming into old age with more diverse relational experiences than previous cohorts (e.g., divorce, cohabitation), researchers anticipate that the so-called baby boomers will be more interested in pursuing romantic relationships in later life than their predecessors. On the other hand, we know that the experience of aging varies among people on the basis of their social locations (e.g., racial, gender, class). As central Appalachia is a place characterized by persistent poverty, I interviewed single, midlife White women from a community in West Virginia (N=11) to investigate (a) their experiences with family life and (b) their expectations for romantic relationships in later life. I used grounded theory methodology to develop a theory of intimacy and family life in central Appalachia. I found that the women who were more integrated into their families of origin had little or no interest in romantic relationships, regardless of their past relationship history. Women who perceived their childhoods as traumatic were less integrated into their families of origin and had a weaker sense of place, but had more interest in finding a romantic partner in later life. I concluded for those with a strong sense of place the importance of the family of origin persisted through midlife and into old age.
- The Life of a Website: An Inquiry into Parent-Teacher CommunicationPrimavera, Angela Helene (Virginia Tech, 2002-04-22)The purpose of this study was to document and examine the use of technology to facilitate communication among the three protagonists of learning — parents, teachers, and children in an early childhood education classroom. Specifically, the process of the co-construction of a website, by parents and teachers and subsequent use of the website for information exchange and parent involvement was documented and examined by the researcher using ethnographic methodologies. The study provides a description of the process of co-constructing the website. Through this description, the researcher came to better understanding of developing a website, parent-teacher communication, children and their learning, and herself as a teacher-researcher. The study includes examples of the website pages as well as recommendations and implications for future use of a classroom website.
- Measuring Walsh’s Family Resilience Framework: Reliability and Validity of the Family Resilience Assessment Among Women with a History of Breast CancerDuncan Lane, C.; Meszaros, Peggy S.; Savla, Jyoti S. (Informa, 2017-10-03)Walsh’s family resilience framework presents a comprehensive and inclusive lens of family process that may assist clinicians, family service professionals, and health care providers with understanding the functioning of individuals and families in their care. A mechanism for using this framework is needed, as is empirical evidence of its cogency. This article reports on the development of the Family Resilience Assessment, a 29-item survey intended to assess dimensions of Walsh’s framework. The Family Resilience Assessment is presented as a reliable and valid mechanism for assessing the family resilience framework. Results of the use of the survey with women with a history of breast cancer demonstrate that it is a reliable instrument with content and construct validity.
- Narratives about God and Gender: Women's experiencesEwing, Janice A. (Virginia Tech, 1997-04-18)The purpose of this study was to examine complexities which constitute women's narratives in a conservative Christian church context. Complexities often occur around self-perception, religious beliefs, choices and change, in regard to gender relations. A review of literature indicated that social constructions about gender influence the way individuals construct narratives and meaning about their lives, which inform them how to live. Taking into account how reality is constructed though social dialogue an emphasis was placed on understanding how individuals conform and reform knowledge. This is often accomplished through the use of language around cultural and personal narratives.
- Older People's Attitudes toward Residential Technology: The Role of Technology in Aging in PlaceAhn, Mira (Virginia Tech, 2004-02-09)Recently, technology and its impact on aging has become an expanding field of inquiry among marketers, designers, and housing professionals. A major reason for this interest is that the use of technology can help older people who experience deteriorating health to live independently. Another reason stems from an increase in the elderly population. The purpose of this study was to investigate older people's attitudes toward adopting technology as it relates to homes that could improve the quality of life and assist in aging in place. Attitudes were examined in terms of perception and acceptance of residential technology. Data for this study were gathered by an online survey. Online questionnaires were distributed to the potential sample of 9,789 e-mail addresses through the Virginia Tech alumni list serve on February 2004. The response rate was 15.8% with 1,546 eligible responses returned by February 27. The majority of the sample for this study can be described as Caucasian, married men, age 55 to 64 with good or excellent health and a post graduate college education living in owned single-family detached homes. Chi-square, ANOVA, Pearson's correlations, and path analysis were employed to test hypothesized relationships. Nine hypotheses were proposed to examine the relationships of variables based on the research framework. Results from this study cannot be generalized to a national population because of the limitations of the sampling frame. Results, however, are significant in terms of the investigation of early computer adopters who are age 55 and older living independently. Their desire to age in place was not very different from the national population. Findings about the attitudes toward computer and Internet technology indicated that respondents had surprisingly similar attitudes. Age was revealed as an important factor for both the desire to age in place and attitudes toward residential technology as a direct effect. Future research should include people with various demographic backgrounds. In addition, the results of this study imply that differentiated marketing strategies should be recommended to reach older consumers.
- Perceptions of Stigma in Online Dating Narratives: Implications for Marriage and Family TherapistsRiger, Dana Frances (Virginia Tech, 2017-06-26)Despite increased usage of online dating platforms, perceptions of meeting partners online remain generally stigmatized. When people internalize stigmatized online dating narratives as self-stigma, there are implications for psychological wellbeing and relational health. In the current study, through an open-ended online survey, I explored online dating narratives and perceptions of stigma in the experiences of 110 participants who met their partners online. I used thematic analysis (Braun and Clark, 2006) to identify and illustrate resulting themes, which revealed that (a) a general stigma about meeting partners online persists; (b) individuals are more likely to share that they met their partner online if they perceive their audience to be trustworthy; (c) intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation influence how people share their online dating narratives; (d) a hierarchy of legitimacy exists amongst online dating platforms; and (e) the benefits of meeting online often outweigh the stigma. I used both symbolic interactionist and narrative therapy frameworks to explore the implications of these findings and make suggestions for marriage and family therapists (MFT) working with clients who met their partners online. As well, I proposed competencies in online relationships for MFT education.
- The Preparation of Faculty to Teach Online: A Qualitative ApproachLewis, Tracie Olds (Virginia Tech, 2007-04-02)This study used a qualitative approach to explore how faculty were prepared to teach online at institutions of higher education. Six participants, including experienced (with three or more years of experience teaching online) and non-experienced (with less than two years of experience teaching online), were purposely selected to participate. The participants were interviewed concerning their preparation experiences, the preparation activities that were most beneficial to them, and the areas in which they wanted further development for teaching online. Data from the interviews were coded and analyzed. Findings revealed that although institutions were providing activities that faculty members found to be beneficial, workshops and one-to-one assistance, activities that incorporated both technical and pedagogical strategies were still necessary. This study provides information that can be used to assist faculty when preparing to teach online and to assist institutions in redesigning and developing faculty development activities for preparing faculty to teach online.
- Quantifying the Power of Pets: The Development of an Assessment Device to Measure Attachment Between Humans and Companion AnimalsGeller, Krista Scott (Virginia Tech, 2005-04-21)This study developed and evaluated a 34-item scale designed to measure human and companion animal attachment. A total of 398 individuals, ranging in age from 18 to 87, who have a pet completed the Pet-Attachment Scale (PAS). These individuals also completed the Companion Animal Bonding Scale (CABS), which asks respondents how much caretaking they devote to their pets. The PAS and the CABS were highly correlated, r=-.68 (p<.001), with an overlapping variance of 46%. The inter-item consistency or Chronbach's Alpha of the PAS was .961, compared to a Chronbach's Alpha of .862 for the CABS. The factor analysis of the PAS revealed two factors; Companionship (12 items) and Emotional Fulfillment (7 items). Thus, the PAS can be shortened to 19 items for follow-up research. The factor analysis for the CABS revealed only one factor (i.e., caretaking), and the analysis suggested the scale could be reduced from 8 to 3 items. The strong correlations between the PAS and the CABS suggest concurrent, convergent, and construct validity for the PAS. A stepwise regression for the PAS revealed three significant predictors: 1) responsibility, 2) favorite pet chosen, and 3) gender. Women who were responsible for their pet, and did not select a particular pet as their favorite, scored highest on attachment to their pets. A stepwise regression for the CABS revealed four predictors: 1) responsibility, 2) favorite pet chosen, 3) live with this pet, and 4) gender. These predictors for the CABS were the same as for the PAS, with the addition that those who lived with their pet gave more caretaking than those who did not. Analysis of variance was used to explore the effects of the predictor variables on the PAS and the CABS. These analyses revealed significant effects of gender and age category on both pet attachment (PAS) and pet caretaking (CABS). Women in the middle age category were most attached to their pets (PAS) and gave the most caretaking to their pets (CABS). The unique feature of the PAS, not measured by the CABS, was an Emotional Fulfillment factor. Future research should distinguish between pet attachment as companionship versus emotional fulfillment.
- Tracing the Pink Ribbon: Development of a Family Resilience MeasureLane, Crystal Lynn Duncan (Virginia Tech, 2011-04-04)Resilience is one of the most important biopsychosocial concepts in contemporary social science. It may mediate the impact of adversity on family health, and be a potential location for intervention. There is a need for conceiving of the mechanisms within families that impact their health throughout the life cycle, including the investigation of how they handle illness. One framework that may assist in this is Walsh's family resilience framework. Previous attempts to create an empirical measure of this framework have serious issues with validity. The purpose of this study is to create a reliable and valid instrument that investigates Walsh's framework from the view of women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. The study uses feminist theory to emphasize a pluralistic application of family systems theory in the understanding and promotion of the experience of women, the promotion of all families over one family type, and the concept of intersectionality. A non-experimental quantitative design is used to develop a reliable and valid instrument that investigates Walsh's framework. A pilot study addressed the creation and revision of the Family Resilience Assessment (FRA), and a main study tested the revised FRA for emergent factors and model fit. Results indicate excellent reliability and beginning content, construct, and convergent validity. Analyses produced a better fitting model that replaces three latent variables with one and correlates two of the nine framework indicators. These preliminary analyses demonstrate that the FRA may be a valuable instrument with replication with larger samples and further revisions needed. Results further indicate that Walsh's framework is a sound method for conceiving of and better understanding family resilience. The framework may also be one way to study the mediating impact of family resilience on family health.
- Using Metaphors to Explore the Experiences of Powerlessness Among Women in Twelve-Step Substance Abuse RecoveryMatheson, Jennifer L. (Virginia Tech, 2005-04-08)Twelve-Step programs of substance abuse recovery are the most popular and most used mutual-help model in the U.S. One of the pivotal aspects of Twelve-Step is the often controversial idea of powerlessness. While a few recent dissertations have been conducted to look at issues related to women in Twelve-Step, most of what has been published in the literature on powerlessness in Twelve-Step is hypothetical, anecdotal, and theoretical. There is debate about the usefulness of the concept of powerless, especially for women in recovery, though no research was found specifically exploring this issue. The current study examines the experiences of powerlessness among women who are using Twelve-Step substance abuse recovery. Because experiences of powerlessness are abstract and may be difficult to articulate, a data collection method called ZMET (Zaltman, 2004) was utilized. This method helped women discuss their thoughts and feelings about powerlessness through the use of images of representative metaphors and analogies. Participants were 13 women who were in various stages of recovery using Twelve-Step. In-depth interviews were used to understand women's experiences of powerlessness in their recovery while two surveys were used to determine women's levels of affiliation with Twelve Step programs and their level of agreement with the First Step of Twelve Step. Overall, women felt positively about powerlessness in their recovery and felt it provided a sense of relief. Eleven of the 13 women felt powerlessness was an important aspect of their recovery while two felt it was either not relevant or not something they fully embraced. In exploring the metaphors women had for their experiences of powerlessness, a number of themes emerged. Many of the metaphors indicated processes while some were static. Themes also included metaphors of current events, nature, and babies. Other themes were: Higher Power; a general sense of powerlessness over many things in life and; choosing not to share certain experiences in Twelve-Step meetings. Implications for women in recovery, clinicians, and future research are included as well as strengths and limitations of the study.
- "We're in this together": Family Factors Contributing to the Academic Persistence of African American College Students attending an HBCUBrooks, Jada E. (Virginia Tech, 2011-11-10)Academic persistence among African American college students has become an important issue due to the consistent lack of increase in the retention rates of these students. Despite the importance of this issue in the field of education, little has been done to study how family factors may influence college student's academic success from a family science perspective. Further, students attending HBCUs are rarely utilized in empirical research even though HBCUs have proven to be effective in graduating African American students. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the ways in which African American college students' perceive family relationships and support as impacting their academic persistence. Fourteen African American college students attending an HBCU were interviewed about their perceptions of the impact of family relationships and support on their academic persistence. Participants included nine females and five males all identifying as juniors or seniors. Findings for the study included four major themes: (a) family structure and family relationships, (b) challenges/overcoming obstacles, (c) coping strategies, and (d) success and perseverance. Family structure and relationships were defined in a variety of ways by participants, which included immediate family, non-kin, and extended family. Participants faced several challenges and obstacles including transitioning to college, family issues at home, and being a burden, particularly financially, on other family members. Several coping strategies were utilized by participants. Family support, religiosity, peer relationships, and music were cited most often by participants in this study. The study concluded that family relationships and support are indeed important in academic persistence of African American college students.