An Examination of Race, Socioeconomic Status, and Individualism-Collectivsm as Moderators of the Work/Family Antecedent and Work-Family Conflict Relationship

This study examines the role of race, socioeconomic status, and individualism-collectivism as moderators of the relationship between selected work and family antecedents and work-family conflict and evaluates the contribution of energy-based conflict to the work-family conflict (WFC) research. The study uses data obtained from a survey questionnaire given to 414 participants recruited from an online labor market. Study hypotheses were tested through structural equation modeling. The results indicate that while moderating effects were slight, a proposed model where energy-based conflict is included outperforms traditional time/strain/behavior-based models and that established variables may drop to non-significance when additional variables are included in prediction. In addition, novel individual difference variables such as individualism and collectivism were demonstrated to have effects beyond moderating antecedent-outcome relationships in the model. The findings imply that WFC models would benefit from the inclusion of variables found in the current study.

Determinants of resource development strategies in nonprofit organizations: An analysis of children, youth and family services

This study is an exploratory analysis of an operational measure for resource development strategies, and an exploratory analysis of internal organizational contingencies influencing choices of these strategies in charitable nonprofit organizations. The study provides conceptual guidance for advancing understanding about resource development in the nonprofit sector. The statistical findings are, however, inconclusive without further rigorous examination. A three category typology based on organization technology is initially presented to define the strategies. Three dimensions of internal organizational contingencies explored represent organization identity, professional staff, and boards of directors. Based on relevant literature and key informant interviews, an original survey was administered by mail to a national sample of nonprofit organizations. The survey collected data on indicators of the proposed strategy types and selected contingencies. Factor analysis extracted two of the initial categories in the typology. The Building Resource Development Infrastructure Strategy encompasses information technology, personnel, legal structures, and policies facilitating fund development. The Building Resource Development Infrastructure Strategy encompasses the mission, service niche, and type of service delivery forming the basis for seeking financial support. Linear regressions with each strategy type as the dependent variable identified distinct and common contingencies which may partly explain choices of strategies. Discriminant analysis suggests the potential predictive accuracy of the contingencies. Follow-up case studies with survey respondents provide additional criteria for operationalizing future measures of resource development strategies, and support and expand the analysis on contingencies. The typology offers a beginning framework for defining alternative approaches to resource development, and for exploring organization capacity specific to each approach. Contingencies that may be integral components of organization capacity are funding, leadership frame, background and experience, staff and volunteer effort, board member support, and relationships in the external environment. Based on these findings, management questions are offered for nonprofit organization stakeholders to consider in planning for resource development. Lessons learned in designing and conducting this study are also provided to enhance future related research. ^

A comparative analysis of self-determined evaluations of work performance and support needs by adults with mental retardation in supported work and in sheltered workshop environments

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference in the self-determined evaluations of work performance and support needs by adults with mental retardation in supported employment and in sheltered workshop environments. The instrument, Job Observation and Behavior Scale: Opportunity for Self-Determination (JOBS: OSD; Brady, Rosenberg, & Frain, 2006), was administered to 38 adults with mental retardation from sheltered workshops and 32 adults with mental retardation from supported employment environments. Cross-tabulations with Chi-square tests and independent samples t-tests were conducted to evaluate differences between the two groups, sheltered workshop and supported work. Two Multivariate Analyses of Variance (MANOVAs) were conducted to determine the effect of work environment on Quality of Performance (QP) and Types of Support (TS) test scores and their subscales. ^ This study found that there were significant differences between the groups on the QP Behavior and Job Duties subscales. The sheltered workshop group perceived themselves as performing significantly better on job duties than the supported work group. Conversely, the supported work group perceived themselves to have better behavior than the sheltered workshop group. However, there were no significant differences between groups in their perception of support needs for the three subscales. ^ The findings imply that work environment affects the self-determined evaluations of work performance by adults with mental retardation. Recommendations for further study include (a) detailing the characteristics of supported work and sheltered workshops that support and/or discourage self-determined behaviors, (b) exploring the behavior of adults with mental retardation in sheltered workshops and supported work environments, and (c) analysis of the support needs for and understanding of them by adults with mental retardation in sheltered workshops and in supported work environments. ^

Graduate program culture and intention to persist: Working adults in cohort and non-cohort programs

Cohort programs have been instituted at many universities to accommodate the growing number of mature adult graduate students who pursue degrees while maintaining multiple commitments such as work and family. While it is estimated that as many as 40–60% of students who begin graduate study fail to complete degrees, it is thought that attrition may be even higher for this population of students. Yet, little is known about the impact of cohorts on the learning environment and whether cohort programs affect graduate student retention. Retention theory stresses the importance of the academic department, quality of faculty-student relationships and student involvement in the life of the academic community as critical determinants in students' decisions to persist to degree completion. However, students who are employed full-time typically spend little time on campus engaged in the learning environment. Using academic and social integration theory, this study examined the experiences of working adult graduate students enrolled in cohort (CEP) and non-cohort (non-CEP) programs and the influence of these experiences on intention to persist. The Graduate Program Context Questionnaire was administered to graduate students (N = 310) to examine measures of academic and social integration and intention to persist. Sample t tests and ANOVAs were conducted to determine whether differences in perceptions could be identified between cohort and non-cohort students. Multiple linear regression was used to identify variables that predict students' intention to persist. While there were many similarities, significant differences were found between CEP and non-CEP student groups on two measures. CEP students rated peer-student relationships higher and scored higher on the intention to persist measure than non-CEP students. The psychological integration measure, however, was the strongest predictor of intention to persist for both the CEP and non-CEP groups. This study supports the research literature which suggests that CEP programs encourage the development of peer-student relationships and promote students' commitment to persistence.

Sexual Health Education and Family Planning: A Vital Component of the Healthy Start Program

The paper will describe the Healthy Start program as a comprehensive sex education program and implications for preventing subsequent adolescent pregnancies.

Children with special health care needs: Comparison of the effects of home care setting, prescribed pediatric extended care setting, and long-term care setting on child and family health outcomes and health care service use

Technological advances during the past 30 years have dramatically improved survival rates for children with life-threatening conditions (preterm births, congenital anomalies, disease, or injury) resulting in children with special health care needs (CSHCN), children who have or are at increased risk for a chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional condition and who require health and related services beyond that required by children generally. There are approximately 10.2 million of these children in the United States or one in five households with a child with special health care needs. Care for these children is limited to home care, medical day care (Prescribed Pediatric Extended Care; P-PEC) or a long term care (LTC) facility. There is very limited research examining health outcomes of CSHCN and their families. The purpose of this research was to compare the effects of home care settings, P-PEC settings, and LTC settings on child health and functioning, family health and function, and health care service use of families with CSHCN. Eighty four CSHCN ages 2 to 21 years having a medically fragile or complex medical condition that required continual monitoring were enrolled with their parents/guardians. Interviews were conducted monthly for five months using the PedsQL™ Generic Core Module for child health and functioning, PedsQL™ Family Impact Module for family health and functioning, and Access to Care from the NS-CSHCN survey for health care services. Descriptive statistics, chi square, and ANCOVA were conducted to determine differences across care settings. Children in the P-PEC settings had a highest health care quality of life (HRQL) overall including physical and psychosocial functioning. Parents/guardians with CSHCN in LTC had the highest HRQL including having time and energy for a social life and employment. Parents/guardians with CSHCN in home care settings had the poorest HRQL including physical and psychosocial functioning with cognitive difficulties, difficulties with worry, communication, and daily activities. They had the fewest hours of employment and the most hours providing direct care for their children. Overall health care service use was the same across the care settings.

Sex Work and Class

Prostitution scandals stigmatize workers for their entire lives, but the politician involved is marred for only one news cycle. “White knight” feminists shame women for sexually catering to the patriarchy but talk from a place of economic privilege. Religious organizations engage in misguided attempts to “save” women who use the industry as a job. Exploitive policies aimed at curtailing sex work hurt the individuals who wish to practice safe sex for their own protection. In the guise of aiding sex workers, or saving them from themselves, those that would advocate for more restrictive policies ignore the ramifications of what these laws would entail.

Don't Get Mad, Get Even: How Employees Abused by Their Supervisor Retaliate Against the Organization and Undermine Their Spouses

My study investigated the effects of abusive supervision on work and family outcomes including supervisor-directed and organization-directed deviance and spousal undermining. Using a moderated-mediation model, the relationship of abusive supervision on outcome variables was proposed to be mediated by moral courage and moderated by leader-member exchange (a-path) and work and family role quality (b-path). Two separate studies were conducted using a sample (N=200) recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk and through relatives of students at a large US public southeastern university (N=150 dyads). Results confirm the effects of abusive supervision on work and family outcomes while analyses of contextual and conditional factors are mixed. Confirmatory factor analyses, factor loadings, and model fit statistics are provided and implications for research and practice are discussed.

Parent's emotional expressiveness and child, parent, and family functioning

This study investigated associations between parents' expressed emotion during a series of play tasks with their child, and psychological assessments of parent, child, and family functioning. Parent and child dyads included 41 families with a child between ages 4 and 12 who sought a developmental assessment at the Youth and Family Development Program laboratory at Florida International University. Videotaped dyadic play tasks were rated, using an Emotional Expressiveness Rating Scale (EERS) developed for this study, for parents' communication of criticism, hostility, emotional over-involvement, indifference, and warmth toward their child. Associations between parent expressed emotion and parent, child, and family functioning were assessed. Negative expressed emotion in parents, particularly criticism, was correlated with externalizing child problems, high parental stress, and family conflict; parent warmth was correlated with parents' feeling rewarded by their child, and with family cohesion. The implications for mental health research and practice with parents and children are discussed.

Children with Special Health Care Needs: Comparison of the Effects of Home Care Setting, Prescribed Pediatric Extended Care Setting, and Long-Term Care Setting on Child and Family Health Outcomes and Health Care Service Use

Technological advances during the past 30 years have dramatically improved survival rates for children with life-threatening conditions (preterm births, congenital anomalies, disease, or injury) resulting in children with special health care needs (CSHCN), children who have or are at increased risk for a chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional condition and who require health and related services beyond that required by children generally. There are approximately 10.2 million of these children in the United States or one in five households with a child with special health care needs. Care for these children is limited to home care, medical day care (Prescribed Pediatric Extended Care; P-PEC) or a long term care (LTC) facility. There is very limited research examining health outcomes of CSHCN and their families. The purpose of this research was to compare the effects of home care settings, P-PEC settings, and LTC settings on child health and functioning, family health and function, and health care service use of families with CSHCN. Eighty four CSHCN ages 2 to 21 years having a medically fragile or complex medical condition that required continual monitoring were enrolled with their parents/guardians. Interviews were conducted monthly for five months using the PedsQL TM Generic Core Module for child health and functioning, PedsQL TM Family Impact Module for family health and functioning, and Access to Care from the NS-CSHCN survey for health care services. Descriptive statistics, chi square, and ANCOVA were conducted to determine differences across care settings. Children in the P-PEC settings had a highest health care quality of life (HRQL) overall including physical and psychosocial functioning. Parents/guardians with CSHCN in LTC had the highest HRQL including having time and energy for a social life and employment. Parents/guardians with CSHCN in home care settings had the poorest HRQL including physical and psychosocial functioning with cognitive difficulties, difficulties with worry, communication, and daily activities. They had the fewest hours of employment and the most hours providing direct care for their children. Overall health care service use was the same across the care settings.

Don't get mad, get even: How employees abused by their supervisor retaliate against the organization and undermine their spouses

My study investigated the effects of abusive supervision on work and family outcomes including supervisor-directed and organization-directed deviance and spousal undermining. Using a moderated-mediation model, the relationship of abusive supervision on outcome variables was proposed to be mediated by moral courage and moderated by leader-member exchange (a-path) and work and family role quality (b-path). Two separate studies were conducted using a sample (N=200) recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk and through relatives of students at a large US public southeastern university (N=150 dyads). Results confirm the effects of abusive supervision on work and family outcomes while analyses of contextual and conditional factors are mixed. Confirmatory factor analyses, factor loadings, and model fit statistics are provided and implications for research and practice are discussed.^

Adaptation of trailing spouses: Does gender matter?

The adaptation to a new country is a complex and stressful process that is compounded when changes in status and identity have to be made. This exploratory study examined the adaptation of international company transferee spouses when they decide to follow the transferee on overseas assignments. Research to date indicates that the spouses’ dissatisfaction with life abroad is the leading cause of transferees breaking contract and prematurely returning home. The causes of this dissatisfaction are still not clear and this study sought greater clarification, particularly examining the experiences of male as well as female trailing spouses. The study, thus, takes gender as a main variable to consider. It explores how gendered expectations inherent in the structures of society inflect and inform the decisions, attitudes, and behaviors that affect the adaptations of trailing spouses living in a foreign habitus. The study is based on eight months of ethnographic research in two culturally different locations, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Brussels, Belgium. Forty-two American international company transferee spouses were recruited (seven males and thirty-five females). The data analysis revolved around five main themes: (1) the comparison of male with female trailing spouses’ experiences, (2) the effect of location on spouses’ adaptation, (3) the communities that spouses integrate into, (4) variations in personal work and family histories, and (5) conditions of exit. The analysis engaged multiple theories regarding gender, sociological adaptation, and psychological adaptation. Results indicate that both socio-cultural and psychological factors affect adaptation and that gender matters very significantly, particularly along two axes: (1) gendered structures in our society create different reasons why males and females become trailing spouses, (2) the gendered social constructions of role expectations make the experience of being a trailing husband different from being a trailing wife. In addition spouses’ status as parents (or not) and their “readiness for change” were found to be important predictors of positive spousal adaptation. In contrast, significant ties with families in the home country and strong professional identity with career projections were important predictors of negative spousal adaptation.

Adaptation of Trailing Spouses: Does Gender Matter?

The adaptation to a new country is a complex and stressful process that is compounded when changes in status and identity have to be made. This exploratory study examined the adaptation of international company transferee spouses when they decide to follow the transferee on overseas assignments. Research to date indicates that the spouses’ dissatisfaction with life abroad is the leading cause of transferees breaking contract and prematurely returning home. The causes of this dissatisfaction are still not clear and this study sought greater clarification, particularly examining the experiences of male as well as female trailing spouses. The study, thus, takes gender as a main variable to consider. It explores how gendered expectations inherent in the structures of society inflect and inform the decisions, attitudes, and behaviors that affect the adaptations of trailing spouses living in a foreign habitus. The study is based on eight months of ethnographic research in two culturally different locations, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Brussels, Belgium. Forty-two American international company transferee spouses were recruited (seven males and thirty-five females). The data analysis revolved around five main themes: (1) the comparison of male with female trailing spouses’ experiences, (2) the effect of location on spouses’ adaptation, (3) the communities that spouses integrate into, (4) variations in personal work and family histories, and (5) conditions of exit. The analysis engaged multiple theories regarding gender, sociological adaptation, and psychological adaptation. Results indicate that both socio-cultural and psychological factors affect adaptation and that gender matters very significantly, particularly along two axes: (1) gendered structures in our society create different reasons why males and females become trailing spouses, (2) the gendered social constructions of role expectations make the experience of being a trailing husband different from being a trailing wife. In addition spouses’ status as parents (or not) and their “readiness for change” were found to be important predictors of positive spousal adaptation. In contrast, significant ties with families in the home country and strong professional identity with career projections were important predictors of negative spousal adaptation.

Longitudinal effects of family factors on alcohol use and alcohol-related problems among males from pre-adolescence to adulthood

The goal of this study was to examine the longitudinal effects of five family factors on alcohol use among adolescent males. The family factors included familism (family pride, loyalty, and cohesion), parent derogation (being put down by parents), parent/child communication, family alcohol problems and family drug problems. The study focused on the effects of the family factors reported by a sample of 451 White-non-Hispanic and African American males during early and mid-adolescence on (1) the intensity of alcohol use in mid-adolescence, and (2) the number of problems associated with alcohol use during the transition to young adulthood. The study also explored racial differences in the effects of the family factors. The data for this study were derived from a two-phase longitudinal epidemiologic cohort study of male and female adolescents enrolled in middle schools in Miami, FL. Data were collected at four points between 1990 and 2001. Linear and logistical regressions were used to analyze the effects of the family variables on the dependent variables. ^ The results of the analyses indicated that all of the family variables except family drug problems were statistically significant predictors of the level of alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. Familism had a moderate influence on both of the dependent variables at all data points, while parent derogation, parent/child communication and family alcohol problems were weak predictors. While the family factors varied by race, their impact on the dependent variables did not vary substantially. ^ This study had methodological shortcomings related to measurement and design that may have contributed to the weak influence of the variables. Future studies should explore possible mediating effects of these variables, and should employ more sensitive measures that are culturally appropriate. The results suggest that, since early family factors have long-term effects on children's substance-using behaviors, the family environment should be addressed in prevention and intervention efforts. ^