Browsing by Subject "Family assessment"
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Item Examining marital power through intergenerational lenses(Texas Tech University, 1993-05) Winn, Krista IAs of yet, no research has utilized family therapy intergenerational theory to investigate marital power by probing into partner's perceptions that reflect their beginnings—family-of-origin. The purpose of this study was to use a family therapy perspective to study marital power. Self-administered surveys were completed by employees (ii=436) of Texas Tech University in order to determine the relationship between key family-of-origin variables and marital interaction styles that reflect power equality/inequality. On the whole, the results revealed support for the hypotheses indicating that individuals who reported power equality in their marriages also reported higher scores on family-of-origin measures than those individuals who reported power inequality. In addition, those individuals with higher scores on the family-of-origin measures reported more cognitive flexibility than individuals with lower scores on the family-of-origin measures. Overall, this study found significant associations between intergenerational dynamics and marital power dynamics. It also examined power in a way that incorporated more "microlevel" communication issues that are more central to women's concerns as opposed to solely utilizing traditional "macrolevel" power measures.Item Generating a couple score: insider and insider-outsider reports of a marriage(Texas Tech University, 1996-08) Porter, Lawrence CraigThe present study examines one area that has not been researched well, that of using observers who know the couple well to rate then interactions or level of marital satisfaction. Observers reported on the target couple's marriage using modified forms of the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test (LWMAT) and the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (FACES HI - Couple Version). This study examined gender and generational differences in raw scores and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) when the middle generation's marriage was evaluated by then children and by then parents as well as by the target couple. Students at a large Southwestern university were recruited to participate. Through them, then grandparents, parents, and siblings over the age of 18 were invited to participate. In order to test the hypotheses, the 1917 participants were split into 3 groups. Group 1 was comprised of 46 families with a pair of family members from each generation (276). Group 2 consisted of 100 pairs of participants for each generation (600); however, the pairs were not related across generations. Group 3 consisted of 1040 participants, randomly matched within a generation without regard to gender. No significant gender differences were found. However, significant generation differences for raw scores and ICCs were found in each of the groups. For all measures, instruments, and groups, grandparents rated the parent marriage highest and had the highest level of agreement (ICC), and siblings rated the marriage lowest and had the lowest level of agreement. Significant intergenerational differences were least likely in Group 1, suggesting greater agreement among family members; however, ICCs of the parent generation did not correlate significantly with those of the grandparent or sibling generations. ICCs of related pairs (Groups 1 and 2) differed significantly from ICCs for unrelated pairs (Group 3), indicating that participants were not simply responding according to a standard of agreement. Principal Components factor analyses of the LWMAT and Faces III produced similar factor structure for each generation, supporting the use of these two self-report instruments as observer-report measures for close relations.Item Latino cultural values and marital satisfaction among women of Mexican origin(2008-08) Garcia-Bravo, Lizbeth Karina, 1978-; Ainslie, Ricardo C.; Guzman, Michele R.Very little research on marital dynamics has focused on Latinos or Mexican-origin couples, although Latinos are currently the largest minority group in the United States. Furthermore, previous studies suggest women of Mexican origin experience a gradual decline in marital satisfaction over their life course, but examination of this issue has yielded inconsistent findings. The current study was conducted to investigate the influence of three specific Latino cultural values on the marital satisfaction of women of Mexican origin: familismo (family loyalty, unity, and obligation), machismo (male dominance and responsibility to provide for and protect his family), and marianismo (women as self-sacrificing, nurturing, and pious). The goal of this study was to examine the accompanying and shifting cultural values of the acculturation process and increase understanding of the implications of Latino cultural values on marital satisfaction among women of Mexican origin in U.S. society. Two hundred and fourteen married women of Mexican origin, ranging in age from 19 to 68 (M = 37), participated in the study. Data collection was completed online through an internet survey program. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, the Short Acculturation Scale (Marin, Sabogal, Marin, Otero-Sabogal, & Perez-Stable, 1987), the Familism Scale (Lugo Steidel & Contreras, 2003), the Machismo Subscale of the Multiphasic Assessment of Cultural Constructs-Short Form (Cuellar, Arnold, & Gonzalez, 1995), the Latina Values Scale-Revised (Marano, 2000; revised by Melendez, 2004), the Relationship Assessment Scale (Hendrick, 1988), and a supplemental question regarding their tolerance for divorce. Three hypotheses were proposed in terms of the three cultural values, participant acculturation level, and husband’s generational status, with marital satisfaction as the criterion variable. A large percentage (71.5%) of the sample in the study was well-educated, with either a college, master’s, or doctoral degree; hence, the results are reflective of highly educated, Mexican-origin women. Using hierarchical regression analyses it was found that familismo was positively correlated with marital satisfaction among women of Mexican origin. In addition, neither of the hypothesized interactions (marianismo x perceived machismo (participant’s perception of her husband’s endorsement of machismo) and acculturation x husband’s generational status) was confirmed. Correlational and regression analyses revealed that both marianismo and perceived machismo were significantly and negatively correlated with marital satisfaction. Clinical and research implications, limitations of the study, and directions for future research are discussed.Item Prenatal predictors of family rituals : examining the contributions of parents' attachment representations and marital communication(2001-08) Thalhuber, Kimberly Kay; Jacobvitz, Deborah