UMD Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item The Presence of Playfulness in the Context of Couple Relationship, Relationship Satisfaction and its Associations With Symptoms of Depression(2018) Herrick, Pamela; Barros, Patricia; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The present study investigated the associations between playfulness in the context of couple relationship, relationship satisfaction, and symptoms of depression. Research suggests the potential for play to help improve relationship quality and decrease the symptoms of depression. However, the empirical evidence is limited in the literature. This study was a secondary analysis of data from 294 individuals seeking couple therapy at a university based family clinic. Two significant main effects were found in this study. Both the increase in relationship satisfaction is associated with decreased depressive symptoms and the increase of play, above and beyond relationship satisfaction, is associated with decreased depressive symptoms. Gender as a moderator was not established between playfulness and depression. Implications of these findings are discussed.Item The role of communication, life role commitments, and sexist ideologies in dual-earner marriages(2008-05-31) Sullivan, Catherine Mary; Hoffman, Mary Ann; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The dual earner family is now the norm among married couples of all races; yet research has shown that even dual-earner couples are not generally able to attain marital equality. This study investigated inequality in marital relationships as it related to wives' psychological distress and marital satisfaction by examining variables that appear to correspond with invisible power, namely the gendered ways men and women commit to various life roles, how they communicate in times of conflict, and the sexist ideologies that serve to shape these roles and behaviors. Participants were 287 married women who worked full-time outside the home and whose oldest child was under the age of six. The sample was predominantly White, highly educated and had a relatively high income. Participants completed a web-based survey, which included measures of relationship satisfaction, psychological distress, life role commitments, ambivalent sexism, constructive communication, and social support. Participants responded to several measures twice - once from their own perspective and once based on their perceptions of their husband's perspective. Results suggested that while the variables of interest, particularly constructive communication, predicted a large among of variance in relationship satisfaction, they only predicted a small amount of variance in psychological distress. The three variables that were found to predict unique variance in wives' reported marital satisfaction were constructive communication, wives' perceptions of their husband's commitment to the parental role, and wives' own commitment to the marital role. Findings support the importance of these variables for predicting women's reported marital satisfaction and the importance of examining these variables together. Overall, it was found that wives' perceptions of their husbands' perspective were more strongly predictive of wives' marital satisfaction than wives' own ratings. Results suggest that constructive communication is a particularly important tool for women in dual-earner marriages, a way that they are empowered to make marriage more satisfying and possibly as a protective factor or way to cope with what would otherwise be distressing. These findings can be used to inform the development of interventions to help dual-earner couples with young children.Item Attachment style, relationship satisfaction, intimacy, loneliness, gender role beliefs, and the expression of authentic self in romantic relationships(2008-05-28) Downing, Vanessa Lynn; Fassinger, Ruth; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The current study sought to explore the possible facilitators and inhibitors of the expression of authentic self in heterosexual romantic relationships, and specifically, to increase understanding about the possible influence of gender role attitudes. Additionally, the study sought to assess the factor structure of the Authenticity in Relationships Scale (AIRS; Lopez & Rice, 2006)--initially normed on a college population--in a sample of post-college adults involved in a range of romantic attachments. A non-experimental field survey explored how variables of interest related to each other in a sample 241 male and female heterosexuals between the ages of 25 and 38. Analyses revealed strong associations between authenticity and attachment style, relationship satisfaction, intimacy, loneliness, and egalitarianism. Findings also included significant differences in regards to authenticity, relationship satisfaction, intimacy, and loneliness among participants depending on relationship type. Exploratory factor analysis suggested that Lopez & Rice's two-factor solution did not hold for this non-college sample, and suggested a one-factor solution for the AIRS. Implications of the study and suggestions for future research building upon the findings are discussed.Item The Impact of Couple Therapy for Abusive Behavior on Partners' Negative Attributions about Each Other, Relationship Satisfaction, Communication Behavior, and Psychological Abuse(2008-05-05) Hrapczynski, Katie Marie; Epstein, Norman; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Treatments for abusive behavior commonly include cognitive restructuring to modify negative attributions. Little is known about the extent to which interventions modify attributions, and whether cognitive changes are associated with behavioral and relationship satisfaction change. This study investigated the degrees to which cognitive-behavioral couple therapy (CBCT) and a usual treatment (UT) result in therapeutic changes in couples experiencing psychological and/or mild to moderate levels of physical abuse. A sample of community couples seeking assistance for relationship problems at a university-based clinic were randomly assigned to CBCT or UT. Twenty-four couples in CBCT and 26 couples in UT completed 10 weekly 90-minute sessions. This study involved analyses of pre- and post-therapy measures of psychological abuse, relationship satisfaction, communication, and negative attributions. Findings indicated that both conditions decreased psychological abuse and negative attributions, and increased relationship satisfaction. CBCT decreased negative communication. Couples therapy is an effective treatment modality for this specialized population.