Family Science
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2239
Formerly known as the Department of Family Studies.
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Item Neighborhood Level Disadvantage, Race/Ethnicity and Infant Mortality in Washington DC(2010) Amutah, Ndidi N.; Anderson, Elaine A; Hofferth, Sandra L; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examines the effects of neighborhood level disadvantage and individual level characteristics such as race/ethnicity on infant mortality. Social determinants of health theory and ecological theory were used to construct a neighborhood advantage index for Washington DC. Secondary analyses were conducted using linked birth/death certificate and census data from the DC State Center for Health Statistics. Live births (55,938) and infant deaths (607) occurring in Washington DC from 2001-2007 were examined. Multilevel modeling techniques were utilized to determine the relationship between individual and neighborhood level factors on infant mortality. The research questions were: (a) Do women who are comparable on factors such as maternal education and marital status experience different rates of infant mortality by race? (b) Do women living in areas of high disadvantage experience higher rates of infant mortality than women living in areas of low disadvantage? (c) Does the effect of race/ethnicity on infant mortality change if the mother lives in a place of high disadvantage versus low disadvantage? (d) Does having an infant born preterm or low birth weight increase the risk of infant mortality? Whites have the lowest rates of infant mortality (2.8/1000), followed by Hispanics (7.4/1000), with Blacks having the highest rates (15.2/1000) after adjusting for age, education, and marital status. These findings are consistent with previous research affirming a relationship between race/ethnicity and infant mortality. Infants born in disadvantaged neighborhoods are 1.63 times more likely to die before their first birthday than those born in advantaged neighborhoods. The odds for infant mortality compared to Whites decreases especially for Blacks (5.39 to 3.10; 42% change), living in disadvantaged communities even when race/ethnicity was interacted with the neighborhood disadvantage index. This suggests that disadvantage has different consequences for different race/ethnicity populations living in those neighborhoods. The importance of place (disadvantaged or advantaged neighborhood) in relation to infant mortality at the neighborhood level in addition to improving individual level factors is discussed for program development and policymakers. Implications for health disparities, maternal and child health, social support and future public health research are presented.Item Parenting Style as a Moderator between Maternal Trauma Symptoms and Child Psychological Distress(2010) Cook, Emily; Leslie, Leigh A; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Current research suggests parents who experience symptoms of trauma transfer distress to their children. The purpose of this study was to understand the possible moderating effect of mothers' parenting style on this relationship. The level of maternal trauma, use of parenting styles, and child psychological distress was examined for a clinical sample (n=113) of mother and child dyads. Results indicated that mothers who experience high levels of trauma symptoms are more likely to parent using authoritarian or permissive behaviors. Mothers experiencing high levels of trauma symptoms who parent with a high use of authoritarian behaviors have children who experience more depression than those whose mothers use fewer authoritarian behaviors. However, mothers experiencing high levels of trauma symptoms who parent with a high use of permissive behaviors have children who experience less depression than those whose mothers use fewer permissive behaviors. The empirical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.Item The Role of Parental Employment in Childhood Obesity(2010) Benson, Lisa JoAnn; Mokhtari, Manouchehr; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Childhood obesity is a major public health concern, as it has been shown to lead to increased health care costs, reduced quality of life and significant morbidity and mortality. Childhood obesity has been linked to numerous environmental, genetic, and behavioral risk factors. Maternal employment has been shown to exert considerable influence on childhood obesity, however little is known about the role of paternal behaviors in children's overweight and obesity. The current study addresses this important knowledge gap by examining the joint impact of parental influences on children's overweight and obesity as measured by body mass index (BMI). The Child Development Supplement (CDS) of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) was used to explore the potential pathways by which maternal and paternal behaviors impact children's health. In particular, this study investigated whether father involvement as measured by paternal weekly work hours plays a significant role in the onset of childhood obesity, while taking into account the influence of maternal weekly work hours on child weight. This study found a significant relationship between maternal employment and child BMI, but found that paternal employment plays a significant role as well. The relative importance of parents' work hours on child body mass outcomes varied with child age, younger children being more affected by maternal work hours and older children impacted more by paternal work hours. This investigation revealed that parental work hours may impact both the quantity and quality of time spent with one's child. Shared parent-child activities found to have an impact on childhood obesity included yard work, laundry, shopping, building or repair work, food preparation, talking and reading. Additionally, this study found that the relative influence of maternal and paternal employment hours on child BMI differed, with paternal work hours associated with lower child body mass outcomes, and maternal employment predictive of increased risk of childhood obesity. These findings point to a complex dynamic between parental employment and child weight. This study's finding that the impact of father's hours of work on childhood obesity is significant indicates that ignoring this factor may potentially lead to biased and inconsistent findings. Thus, results of studies that omit paternal employment hours from their modeling, estimation, and inference must be interpreted with a degree of caution. Given parents' mutual interest in efficiently providing for the health and well-being of their children in terms of relative investments of time and other resources, the findings of this research provide theoretical support for the observed asymmetries in parental contributions to child health production. The results of this study point to the need for programs and policies that support parents in their individual and shared contributions to maintaining healthy weight outcomes in children.Item Negotiation of Health Risks and Risk Management for Young Adult BRCA1/2-Positive Women: Implications for Partnering and Family Formation(2010) Hoskins, Lindsey Megan; Roy, Kevin M; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In the mid-1990s, genetic testing was introduced for two breast and ovarian cancer predisposition genes: BRCA1 and BRCA2. For mutation carriers, lifetime risks of breast and ovarian cancer approach 90%, and 54%, respectively, versus general population risks of 12% and 2%. Women testing positive for mutations during young adulthood face numerous challenges related to navigating basic life course tasks, including establishing permanent couple relationships, family formation, and risk-management decision-making. These complex choices require young carriers to balance personal and family desires and provider recommendations for health maintenance and disease avoidance against their own desires/plans for personal, relationship, and family fulfillment. How they accomplish these tasks is significantly influenced by their experiences with cancer in close relatives, personal cancer risk assessment, and partner presence and support. Although the experience of older carriers and cancer survivors has been thoughtfully explored, little attention has been paid to the experiences of younger women. Using qualitative methods and grounded theory, I analyzed in-depth interviews with forty women aged 18-35 who knew themselves to be BRCA1/2-positive. Participants were recruited from: 1) an ongoing NCI Clinical Genetics Branch Breast Imaging Study; 2) the membership of FORCE, an online support network for mutation-positive individuals; and 3) snowball sampling, whereby participants referred others whom they knew to be mutation-positive. Using a semi-structured, open-ended interview format, participants were asked about family relationships and background; couple relationships; experiences and perceptions regarding family formation; and experiences and perceptions related to utilization of risk management strategies over time (i.e., surveillance, chemoprevention, risk-reducing surgery). Questions were developed using sensitizing concepts from the biopsychosocial perspective on health and illness and life course perspective, as well as attachment and feminist theories. Interviews were conducted by telephone, digitally recorded and transcribed, and analyzed using QSR N-Vivo software, version 8. The data-driven model indicates that risk perception and management decisions are closely tied to family and couple relationship experiences. Young mutation carriers aggressively and courageously utilize agency to alter their life trajectories while minimizing sacrifice to their family and relationship ideals, thereby freeing themselves from mutation-related emotional and physical constraints, and regaining control over their genetic destiny.Item SOCIO-CULTURAL DETERMINANTS OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AMONG AFRICAN AMERICAN AND WHITE FEMALE ADOLESCENTS(2009) Scott, Wakina L.; Koblinsky, Sally A.; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Low physical activity is a problem for girls, and particularly African American female adolescents. Low physical activity has been associated with increased risks of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, cigarette smoking, premature mortality, and overweight and obesity. Families and communities play an important role in influencing adolescent health; however, few studies have examined how these factors influence adolescent physical activity outcomes. Adopting an ecological theoretical framework, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between family factors (maternal control, maternal support, mother-child communication, and family cohesion), a community factor (religiosity, defined as attendance at religious services and religious youth activities) and physical activity among African American and White female adolescents. Wave I data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health was analyzed. The sample includes 736 African American and 1,692 White female adolescents in grades seven through 12. Descriptive statistics were computed for all family and community measures. Logit models were used to evaluate family and community influences on female adolescents achieving five or more bouts of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week (MVPA); and whether the relationship between maternal control, maternal support, mother-child communication, family cohesion, religiosity, and MVPA was moderated by race. Maternal control was a significant predictor of MVPA for the total sample and the White female sample, with increased levels of maternal control associated with increased adolescent physical activity. Mother-child communication and religiosity were significantly positively associated with MVPA for African American females only. Maternal support and family cohesion were not found to be significant predictors of adolescent girls' physical activity in any of the models. Race significantly influenced the strength of the relationship between mother-child communication and adolescent MVPA, and between religiosity and adolescent MVPA, with findings revealing a stronger relationship for African American female adolescents than for White female adolescents. Strategies to engage female adolescents in physical activity, particularly African American female adolescents, should focus on increasing mother-child communication and girls' involvement with religious institutions.Item Understanding Bulimia: A Qualitative Exploration of the Roles of Race, Culture, and Family(2008-07-21) Southard, Ashley Larsen; Leslie, Leigh A.; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The eating disorder, bulimia nervosa, is a serious physical and mental illness destroying the lives of millions of men, women, and their families. It is characterized by recurrent binge eating and compensatory behaviors (e.g., self-induced vomiting), and afflicts 1-5% of the general U.S. population. Unlike other eating disorders that appear to affect specific racial groups, bulimia more equally affects people of all races. Yet, very little attention has been given to learning about the ways in which women from diverse racial/cultural backgrounds experience bulimia. Thus, the present qualitative study explored the question: How do young African American, Latina, and Caucasian women describe their experiences with bulimia within their racial, cultural, and familial contexts? Open-ended, in-person interviews were conducted with 33 young adult women (ages 18-30) who self-identified as African American, Latina, or Caucasian and who experienced bulimia while living with a parent. Questions were based on sensitizing concepts taken from feminist and family systems theories, and encouraged women to explore their perceptions of how their racial, cultural, and familial contexts influenced their experiences with bulimia. A modified grounded theory approach was used to interpret the data, and findings were organized at sociocultural, familial, and individual levels. Common experiences for many of the women, regardless of race, included sociocultural pressure to be thin; unhealthy family environments that included poor communication, strained relationships, and emphasis on members' appearances; and individual management of comorbid psychological disorders and emotions. Unique processes related to African American women's and Latinas' experiences with bulimia included living in a bicultural context with cultural and familial stigmas surrounding mental health. Additionally, African American women reported overall healthier family environments, in which they had supportive relationships and more open communication. Based on these findings, the theoretical framework was enhanced with race- and culture-specific models. Implications for research related to diverse families' experiences with eating disorders, policies designed to help people of all backgrounds affected by eating disorders, as well as the development of culturally sensitive therapy interventions for families affected by bulimia are discussed.Item The Reworking of Setbacks and Missteps as a Pathway to Generativity for Low-Income Fathers(2006-12-11) Agboli, Sarah Bong; Roy, Kevin; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)For fathers who have experienced significant setbacks and missteps over their life course, attainment of normative fathering roles can be difficult. The aim of the current study was to provide insight into how men, who had not fulfilled father expectations, reworked father roles in order to be an active and generative presence in their children's lives. A secondary analysis of 28 life history interviews was conducted. The researcher examined how a father's setbacks and missteps influenced his relationship with his children and how he incorporated these events into his narrative identity and translated them into parental generativity. The strategies used to overcome the barriers created by setbacks and missteps were examined. Of particular interest were how the fathers communicated the negative aspects of their identities to their children, the narrative sequencing used, and how they reworked fatherhood roles and mainstream social norms as a means to parental generativity.