Theses and Dissertations - Department of Human Development and Family Studies
Recent Submissions
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Family caregiving, family dynamics, and preparedness for the transition to end-of-life care
Taking on the role of family caregiver to an adult family member with health or functional needs can be a time consuming, stressful, and physically demanding responsibility, and often leads to adverse psychological or ... -
Couple conflict and physical health: the moderating role of dyadic processes in romantic relationships
A growing body of research suggests that there may be specific interpersonal behaviors that couples can engage in to protect themselves from the well-researched negative effects that couple conflict has on physical health ... -
Pressure to be thin and insulin sensitivity: an investigation of the potential moderating role of race/ethnicity among adolescent girls at risk for type 2 diabetes
The prevalence of youth-onset type 2 diabetes is a significant public health issue in the United States that disproportionately affects historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups. Previous research suggests that ... -
Knowledge of symptoms, social support, and parenting stress in fathers of children with ASD: implications for improved affective well-being
Parents of a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) will likely experience a more challenging and stressful parenting experience than the average parent (Hayes & Watson, 2013). Previous literature has demonstrated that ... -
Relationship between early executive function, comorbidities, and motor skills in infants with Down syndrome
Over the last decade, there has been increased research on executive function including working memory, inhibition, shifting, and planning in Down syndrome, yet there are still unanswered questions. The extant research ... -
Attention bias as a mediator of the association between interparental conflict and cortisol reactivity
The current study aimed to explore whether attention bias mediated the relationship between adolescents' appraisals of interparental conflict (IPC) and cortisol reactivity (CR). There is a robust literature on the relationship ... -
Investigation of mindfulness, adolescent psychopathology and regulatory emotional self-efficacy, An
A robust body of literature suggests that mindfulness benefits mental health and psychological well-being, but the majority of this research has only been conducted among adults; also, mechanisms that link these two concepts ... -
Effects of a brief mindfulness induction on maternal autonomic activity, The
Brief mindfulness activities are often included in preventive interventions for parents, but researchers do not know the type and combination of mindfulness components that beget the strongest effects on self-regulation. ... -
Family quality of life and coping in families of children with an ASD
Given the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnoses, this study sought to explore the impact of an ASD on Family Quality of Life (FQOL). While stress in families who have children with an ASD has been ... -
Exploratory effects of a mindfulness+lifestyle program for type 2 diabetes prevention on parental psychosocial adjustment in families of Latino adolescents
Latino adolescents have a particularly high risk of developing youth-onset type 2 diabetes (T2D) compared to other racial/ethnic groups. Latino families frequently experience high levels of stress due to a variety of ... -
Role of social relationship functioning in suicidal ideation among adolescents at-risk for adult obesity, The
Prevalence of child and adolescent obesity represents a public health crisis in the United States and globally. Having tripled over the last 50 years, current rates of obesity show that approximately 18% of children aged ... -
Association between observed mentor-mentee relationship quality and self-reported mentee and parent-reported externalizing behavior, The
Youth mentoring programs can have a significant impact in the lives of at-risk youth. A relationship between youth and an adult can act as a powerful protective factor for youth at risk of developing externalizing behaviors ... -
Parental expressed emotion and treatment outcomes in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder
This study uses a case series design to explore the effects parental expressed emotion has on the parent-child relationship and the effects of the outward affect on the treatment outcomes of interventions focused on improving ... -
Session specific measurement of the working alliance
The psychotherapy working alliance is a dynamic construct that may exhibit periods of strength or periods of strain. However, current methods to assess the working alliance is problematic in identifying fluctuations. ... -
Do mentor-mentee self-reported relationship quality measures differ or overlap from observed measures?
Mentoring programs have been rapidly growing in the United States since the mid-1990s. Studies have revealed significant positive associations between mentoring programs and increases in at-risk youths' socio-emotional, ... -
Examining barriers that predict mindfulness uptake in parents of children with autism spectrum disorder
This study aimed to investigate barriers to mindfulness practice in parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). I hypothesized that I could reliably measure three barriers to mindfulness that parents could ... -
Relationship between therapist in-session mindfulness and the working alliance, The
Therapists' levels of mindfulness are empirically supported as an influential factor in psychotherapy. The current study developed a questionnaire with which to measure the impact of therapists' levels of in-session ... -
Assessment of physical health, physical performance, and physical activity in exercise promotion intervention for older adults
This study examined the effects of an intervention program, known as AgingPlus, on indicators of physical health (i.e. systolic and diastolic blood pressure), physical performance (i.e. left- and right-hand grip strength), ... -
Detection of unhealthy communication patterns in romantic relationships
Unhealthy communication expressions are predictive of distress and poor functioning in romantic relationships yet the ability to detect these expressions is understudied. Study 1 presents the validation of a new procedure ... -
Foundations of executive function in Down syndrome
Though early features of infant cognition are predictive of executive function (EF) in typically developing (TD) children, there is little information regarding the developmental origins of EF in Down syndrome (DS). The ...
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