Matching Items (5)
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- All Subjects: Divorce
- All Subjects: Middle-aged persons--Psychology.
- Creators: Fabricius, William
- Creators: Luthar, Suniya S.
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
- Member of: ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
- Resource Type: Text
Description
It is possible that voluntary studies on the effects of divorce fail to capture the perspectives of offspring who may be deterred from volunteering by their negative experiences of the divorce of their parents. This issue of non-response bias would cause researchers to gather unrepresentative samples that ultimately create an unrepresentative picture on the effects of divorce. The problem of non-response bias may also be a possible explanation for why research shows that small differences in psychological problems exist between children of divorce and children from intact families. This study sought to identify if non-response bias compromises the external validity of a sample of college students of divorce. To answer this question we conducted this study through the use of the introductory psychology pre screening study that is administered every semester to introductory psychology students at Arizona State University. We surveyed undergraduate introductory psychology students, all of whom completed a required prescreen survey for research credit. The students who indicated they were from divorced families, or whose parents were “never married and not still together”, were invited to participate in a follow up study to “to understand young adults’ perspectives on their parents’ divorce”. The students who responded to our invitation were compared to the students who did not volunteer in terms of their prescreen data. Volunteers did not differ from non-volunteers on seven out of the ten dependent measures. Volunteers differed from non-volunteers in terms of their closeness to their fathers, in terms of the parents conflict they experienced during the two years before and the two years after their parents permanently separated. Volunteers were more likely to be closer to their fathers and more likely to have experienced more parent conflict than non-volunteers. We are unaware of any studies on the subject of divorce that have had a similar opportunity to address the issue of non-response bias and its effects on the external validity of a college sample of divorce. This study should be replicated to determine the reliability of the results.
ContributorsRussell, Megan Magdalena (Author) / Fabricius, William (Thesis director) / Doane, Leah (Committee member) / Pina, Armando (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
With divorce rates rising (Kennedy & Ruggles, 2014), it is important to consider the impact of parental marital status on children and adolescents. In this study, we looked at whether children's relationships with their parents differ based on their parents being married or divorced/separated. We hypothesized that a child's perceived relationship with their parents would be significantly influenced by parental marital status, such that those whose parents are divorced will demonstrate a negative relationship with the perception of their parents. Using data collected from the longitudinal New England Study of Suburban Youth (NESSY), we ran correlational analyses as well as an analysis of variance (ANOVA) to determine whether different aspects of attachment (Alienation, Communication, and Trust), measured with the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment \u2014 Revised for Children (IPPA-R) were significantly linked to parental marital status (Luthar & Barkin, 2012). Using our sample size of 489 students in the twelfth grade, we divided the groups into children with married parents (414) and children with divorced or separated parents (75). An ANOVA produced a significant difference between children's perceived relationship with their father and parental marital status; the adolescents' perception of the father's Alienation, Communication, and Trust were negatively associated with divorce. However, the child's perceived relationship with their mother was similar across both groups. These results suggest further research is needed to determine the effects of a child's perception of their relationship with their father during development, in particular in situations when parents have divorced before high school graduation.
ContributorsSmith, Paulina A. (Co-author) / Smith, Travis W. (Co-author) / Luthar, Suniya S. (Thesis director) / Ciciolla, Lucia (Committee member) / Curlee, Alexandria (Committee member) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / College of Letters and Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
The growing acceptance of divorce has sparked a discussion regarding the distribution of children’s parenting time with each parent. As a result, researchers are evaluating how divorce impacts children and what can be done to improve their wellbeing. This study sought to examine how a child’s age at their parent’s divorce predicts later parent-child relationships and romantic attachment style. Furthermore, it evaluates parenting time as a potential mediator to this relationship. In order to test this mediational model, we distributed a survey to nearly 1,000 college students with divorced parents. This questionnaire was composed of several batteries that assessed the following: their age at their parent’s divorce, the amount of parenting time awarded to each parent after the divorce, their relationship with each parent, and their romantic attachment style, in addition to many other variables that were used as covariates. Given the complexities of divorce, we controlled for potential third variable explanations that were found to be associated with parenting time, parent-child relationships, and romantic attachment style. We hypothesized that younger ages of divorce lead to less parenting time which in turn worsens the father-child relationship and their romantic attachment style. The data supports the mediational model in regard to the father-child relationship with no correlation found between our predictors and attachment style. This highlights the importance of equal parenting time becoming the new standard.
ContributorsSalem, Salma (Author) / Fabricius, William (Thesis director) / Corbin, William (Committee member) / Benitez, Viridiana (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
Interpersonal strain is linked with depressive symptoms in middle-aged adults. Self-compassion is an emerging resilience construct that may be advantageous in navigating relationship strain by helping individuals respond to emotions in a kind and nonjudgmental way. Although theory and empirical evidence suggests that self-compassion is protective against the impact of stress on mental health outcomes, many studies have not investigated how self-compassion operates in the context of relationship strain. In addition, few studies have examined psychological or physiological mechanisms by which self-compassion protects against mental health outcomes, depression in particular. Thus, this study examined 1) the extent to which trait self-compassion buffers the relation between family strain and depressive symptoms, and 2) whether these buffering effects are mediated by hope and inflammatory processes (IL-6) in a sample of 762 middle-aged, community-dwelling adults. Results from structural equation models indicated that family strain was unrelated to depressive symptoms and the relation was not moderated by self-compassion. Hope, but not IL-6, mediated the relation between family strain and depressive symptoms and the indirect effect was not conditional on levels of self-compassion. Taken together, the findings suggest that family strain may lead individuals to experience less hope and subsequent increases in depressive symptoms, and further, that a self-compassionate attitude does not affect this relation. Implications for future self-compassion interventions are discussed.
ContributorsMistretta, Erin (Author) / Davis, Mary C. (Thesis advisor) / Karoly, Paul (Committee member) / Infurna, Frank (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Lifespan psychological perspectives have long suggested the context in which individuals live having the potential to shape the course of development across the adult lifespan. Thus, it is imperative to examine the role of both the objective and subjective neighborhood context in mitigating the consequences of lifetime adversity on mental and physical health. To address the research questions, data was used from a sample of 362 individuals in midlife who were assessed on lifetime adversity, multiple outcomes of mental and physical health and aspects of the objective and subjective neighborhood. Results showed that reporting more lifetime adversity was associated with poorer mental and physical health. Aspects of the objective and subjective neighborhood, such as green spaces moderated these relationships. The discussion focuses on potential mechanisms underlying why objective and subjective indicators of the neighborhood are protective against lifetime adversity.
ContributorsStaben, Omar E (Author) / Infurna, Frank J. (Thesis advisor) / Luthar, Suniya S. (Committee member) / Grimm, Kevin J. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019