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Natural and technological disasters are devastating events for individuals and communities. The authors examined the role of optimism and hope in predicting health indicators in a sample of disaster survivors who were exposed to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Participants were noncoastal residents, current coastal residents, and current coastal fishers who were also economically impacted by the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. All participants completed measures of optimism, hope, and the SF-36 Health Survey, which provides summary scores for mental and physical health. Logistic regressions indicated that optimism and hope were independently and positively associated with better mental health (OR = 1.21; 95% CI: 1.10, 1.32 and OR = 1.11; 95% CI: 1.05, 1.17 respectively). Neither optimism nor hope were significantly associated with physical health when considered alone. However, optimism interacted with prior lifetime trauma, where optimism only significantly predicted physical health for those with higher previous trauma scores. These results provide new evidence of optimism and hope as protective factors that may positively impact mental health after multiple disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives:Natural disasters are associated with catastrophic losses. Disaster survivors return to devastated communities and rebuild homes or relocate permanently, although the long-term psychological consequences are not well understood. The authors examined predictors of psychological outcomes in 219 residents of disaster-affected communities in south Louisiana. Method:Current coastal residents with severe property damage from the 2005 Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and exposure to the 2010 British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon oil spill were compared and contrasted with former coastal residents and an indirectly affected control group. Participants completed measures of storm exposure and stressors, religiosity, perceived social support, and mental health. Results:Non-organizational religiosity was a significant predictor of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions. Follow-up analyses revealed that more frequent participation in non-organizational religious behaviors was associated with a heightened risk of PTSD. Low income and being a coastal fisher were significant predictors of depression symptoms in bivariate and multivariate models. Perceived social support had a protective effect for all mental health outcomes, which also held for symptoms of depression and GAD in multivariate models. Conclusion:People who experienced recent and severe trauma related to natural and technological disasters are at risk for adverse psychological outcomes in the years after these events. Individuals with low income, low social support, and high levels of non-organizational religiosity are also at greater risk. Implications of these data for current views on the post-disaster psychological reactions and the development of age-sensitive interventions to promote long-term recovery are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents the findings from an exploration of religious beliefs collected from narrative accounts from 16 Latter-day Saint (LDS or Mormon) fathers of children with special needs. Six themes [...]

Chinese Christians in the United States have experienced unique challenges after their conversion to Christianity. Twenty-two highly religious Chinese Christian couples (N = 44) were interviewed to examine how religious faith influenced their marriage and family life. Questions regarding faith, marriage, family life, and challenges with religious beliefs and practices were asked. Qualitative grounded theory methods were employed to analyze the data and four themes related to the topic of challenges were identified: 1) The Challenge of Conversion to Christianity; 2) The Internal Challenge of Battling the "Old Self; 3) The Intra-marriage Challenges of Being "Unequally Yoked"; and 4) The External Challenge of "The World's Lure." Supporting interview data are presented in connection with each theme. Implications for research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors examined the effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on cognitive and psychosocial functioning in a lifespan sample of adults 6-14 months after the storms. Participants were recruited from the Louisiana Healthy Aging Study. Most were assessed during the immediate impact period and retested for this study. Analyses of pre- and post-disaster cognitive data confirmed that storm-related decrements in working memory for middle-aged and older adults observed in the immediate impact period had returned to pre-hurricane levels in the post-disaster recovery period. Middle-aged adults reported more storm-related stressors and greater levels of stress than the two older groups at both waves of testing. These results are consistent with a burden perspective on post-disaster psychological reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Three hypotheses with the potential to provide information on the role of religiosity as a promotive and protective factor in early adolescence were tested. Adolescents (N =166, M age=13years, 49% female, 49% European American, 45% African American) and mothers reported their own personal importance of religion and the frequency of their attendance of religious services. Greater mother importance and attendance was associated with greater adolescent importance and attendance. Mother importance was indirectly linked to adolescent antisocial behavior through adolescent importance. Less adolescent importance and attendance were associated with low self-control and low self-control was associated with more antisocial and rule-breaking behavior. Adolescent importance also moderated the links between low self-control and antisocial and rule-breaking behavior such that low levels of self-control were more strongly associated with more antisocial and rule-breaking behavior among adolescents reporting low religious importance compared to adolescents reporting high religious importance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Employing qualitative interviews with a diverse national sample of 184 religious families (N = 445 individuals), we present an in-depth look at how participants (a) view and frame their faith-based financial giving, (b) how they contribute to and receive from their faith communities, and (c) how the blending of faith and finances influences their marital and parental relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which aims to identify the relationship of invocation and alcohol consumption. Four diverse studies were used to identify the relationship of prayer frequency and alcohol use which include cross-section, longitudinal and experimental designs. Results indicated that higher prayer frequency reduces the tendency of alcohol consumption and problematic drinking behavior.

Some highly religious individuals contribute a relatively high percent of their income (e.g., 10 - 15% or more) to their faith communities. This study used a racially and religiously diverse sample and employed qualitative methods to investigate why these individuals give. Five themes emerged from the grounded-theory analysis. Four themes concerned why families gave: a) out of a sense of obedience/duty, b) to express thanksgiving and feel joy, c) because they feel that it is a wise investment, and d) to promote social justice and charity. The final theme that emerged was that they give despite their financial challenges. Based on these findings, this study offers suggestions for how financial counselors and planners might provide culturally competent services to highly religious individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

My selected title for this response piece reflects the late David Larson's identification of religion as the university's "anti-tenure topic." Beach, Fincham, Hurt, McNair, and Stanley (hereafter, the authors) have stepped upon some dangerous soil. However, this statement is intended as a welcome, not a threat. I appreciate the authors' efforts to break new ground in an important but highly sensitive domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirty African American married couples ( N = 60 individuals) were interviewed regarding the challenges and benefits of their happy, enduring marriages. Qualitative coding and analysis revealed 4 key themes: (1) Challenges in African American Marriages, (2) Overcoming External Challenges to Marriage, (3) Resolving Intramarital Conflict, and (4) Unity and the Importance of Being “Equally Yoked.” Supporting qualitative data are presented in connection with each theme. Implications for enduring marriages among African Americans specifically are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article comments on the relationship between religion and mental health. According to the author that the connection between the religion and mental health has attracted the attention of at least some within the social science mainstream. Sociologist Rodney Stark speculates that religious commitment did significantly correlate with psychopathology. The pioneering religion and heath researcher Jeff Levin's studies suggests that this issue was still a nascent and professionally dangerous area of research.

Objective: We used qualitative data to evaluate how religious and interfaith couples may view the influences of fidelity and/or loyalty on their marriage. Background: Religion often regulates beliefs surrounding marriage and sexuality. Religion tends to support fidelity to marital vows. Previous quantitative studies indicated that higher religiosity is linked with higher levels of marital stability and satisfaction. Method: Using semistructured interviews with 261 married couples (N = 522) who were identified as both religious and relational exemplars, the potential connections and processes between religion, relationships, and fidelity or integrity were examined. Results: Three core themes emerged from systematic team‐based analyses: (1) integrity and/or fidelity strengthened marital quality and stability, (2) integrity and/or fidelity were core marital values and virtues, and (3) religion taught, developed, and motivated marital integrity and fidelity. Three subthemes were identified under this final theme: (3a) religious lifestyle, (3b) religious beliefs, and (3c) commitment to God. Contradictory voices that expressed and described challenges to marital integrity and fidelity are presented. Conclusion: Couples discussed how their faiths' teachings on integrity and/or fidelity strengthened marital quality and stability, added to their core marital values and virtues, and motivated marital integrity and/or fidelity through a religious lifestyle, religious beliefs and morals, and commitment to God that built commitment and fidelity to spouse. Implications: Therapists and educators who recognize that these deeply held values contribute to couples' stability and satisfaction within their relationship may be able to ask, understand, and harness religious strengths to facilitate commonalities and satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractPast research suggests that adoptees face a higher risk of insecure attachment and encounter more challenges related to trust and commitment in their romantic relationships compared to nonadopted individuals. However, limited studies have used nationally representative data to systematically examine these relationships, and even fewer, if any, have explored potential gender differences in this context. Using data from a representative sample of newly married couples in the United States (n = 2,110), we examined the relationship between adoption status and multiple measures of marital security, including gender as a potential moderator. Findings from OLS regression models indicate that adult adoptees exhibited similar levels of both avoidant and anxious attachment, trust, and commitment when compared to nonadoptees. Gender differences in attachment patterns were observed among nonadopted individuals, with nonadopted women showing significantly lower levels of avoidant attachment and significantly higher levels of anxious attachment compared to nonadopted men. Interestingly, however, these gender differences were not significant among adoptees, suggesting that adoption status potentially attenuates gender-related differences in attachment. Our findings support the view that adoptees demonstrate resilience and, overall, experience comparable relationship outcomes to nonadoptees in adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In March 2020, the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) resulted in lockdowns of schools and businesses alike across the United States. For working parents of preschool age children, the forced closure of child care centers created a unique situation where parents suddenly become the major source of daily care and education for their children. Objective: The present study was conducted to provide new evidence concerning young children's perceptions of the COVID-19 stay-at-home mandate as a way to reveal children's understanding of the pandemic. Method: Child and parent interviews were conducted via teleconference with their child's regular preschool teacher in the spring of 2020. Narrative data were content analyzed using open and axial coding (Saldaña, The coding manual for qualitative researchers, Sage, 2016). Results: The majority of parents reported providing their children with information on why they were home. Use of advanced language specifically referencing the coronavirus in conversation with their children was associated with more non-responding or children repeating their parent's utterances verbatim. Preschoolers who were given more simplistic explanations (e.g., germs) could expand their responses indicating understanding (e.g., you will get sick, need to wash hands, wear a mask). When parents did not offer information, children generated their own meaning and interpretations, often citing erroneous ideas (e.g., people are sick because they ate rotten bananas), reflective of how young children make sense of their world. Conclusion: These findings indicate that using simplistic and factual age-appropriate language enhances the likelihood that young children will understand and accurately perceive potentially life threatening situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has found that intergenerational transmission of religiosity results in higher family functioning and improved family relationships. Yet the Pew Research Center found that 44% of Americans reported that they had left the religious affiliation of their childhood. And 78% of the expanding group of those who identify as religiously unaffiliated ("Nones") reported that they were raised in "highly religious families." We suggest that this may be, in part, associated with religious parents exercising excessive firmness with inadequate flexibility (rigidity). We used a multiphase, systematic, team-based process to code 8000+ pages of in-depth interviews from 198 Christian, Jewish, and Muslim families from 17 states in all 8 major religio-cultural regions of the United States. We framed firmness as mainly about loyalty to God and God's purposes, and flexibility as mainly about loyalty to family members and their needs and circumstances. The reported findings provided a range of examples illustrating (a) religious firmness, (b) religious flexibility, as well as (c) efforts to balance and combine firmness and flexibility. We discuss conceptual and practical implications of treating firmness and flexibility as complementary loyalties in intergenerational faith transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Islam is a major world religion and the Muslim population is one of the fastest growing religious populations in the Western world, including in the United States. However, few research studies have examined the lived religious experience of U.S. Muslim families. Much of the attention on Islam among researchers and the media tends to be on controversial aspects of the religion. The purpose of this paper is to examine the unique religious practice of the month-long fast of Ramadan, especially its perceived role on marital and familial relationships from an insider's perspective. Content analysis of in-depth, qualitative interviews of twenty diverse Shia and Sunni Muslim families living in the United States (N = 47 individuals) yielded several emergent themes. This study presents and explores data on the focal theme: "fasting brings us closer together." These data suggest that Ramadan serves a sacred, unifying, and integrating purpose for many of the 47 practicing Muslim mothers, fathers, and youth in this study. Meanings and processes involved in Ramadan and family relationships are explored and explained. Implications and applications of the research findings are discussed and some potential directions for future research are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study seeks to explore ways that members of religious families (of Abrahamic faiths) struggle with and address the relational processes of sacrifice and self‐care. Background: Sacrifice and self‐care influence human relationships, and as such, every human has to learn how to engage in them. Families are one of the many communities in which one must address sacrifice and self‐care. Method: This study provides a qualitative exploration of sacrifice and self‐care among a sample of 198 highly religious (Abrahamic faiths) families. In‐depth analyses explored motivations, types, and related family processes among family relationships. Results: A conceptual model illustrates sacrifice and self‐care in family life using an interdependence theory approach. Five themes from the data about how families perceived and addressed these relational processes are discussed: (a) tensions between sacrifice and self‐care, (b) motivations for sacrifice and self‐care, (c) types of sacrifice, (d) types of self‐care, and (e) processes in faith and family relationships. Discussion: Religious beliefs may shape how sacrifice and self‐care processes are perceived and potential tensions are addressed through either positive or negative ways. We suggest that engaging in sacrifice and self‐care with equal quality, not quantity, might be a positive way to address the emergent tensions between these processes. Implications: Through an increased understanding of the connections and tensions between sacrifice and self‐care, researchers and practitioners will be able to better recognize how families positively address these tensions and collaboratively build resources to help family members harmonize engagement in sacrifice and self‐care to benefit relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the Parents Preparing for Success Program (PPSP), a parenting education program launched by Louisiana State University AgCenter and Louisiana Department of Social Services on December 4, 2003. It says that PPSP is composed of classes which discuss child development and parenting, co-parenting skills, and family resource management. It also discusses the indication of PPSP's success such as the removal of abusive relationships, and positive approach on child discipline.

Objective: The authors explored the psychosocial consequences of the COVID‐19 homestay lockdown for preschool‐age children and their parents using a mixed‐method design. Background: Few studies have examined the impact of a global pandemic on family adaptive processes among parents and their preschool age children. Method: Participants were 24 highly educated White and Asian parents with children enrolled in the Early Childhood Education Laboratory Preschool (ECELP) at Louisiana State University. Parents completed an online survey that assessed sociodemographic and health characteristics, and they participated in an interview with their children. Results: Content analysis of parent and child narratives yielded four core themes: (a) expanded family time with family needs prioritized, (b) staying informed with current pandemic news, (c) positive experiences included more time spent with family, and (d) negative experiences included disruptions to family and work‐related routines. Conclusion: Personal and professional challenges that families faced during the COVID‐19 lockdown were loss of familiar routines, managing stressors, and protecting health. Positive factors included prioritization of family needs and new opportunities for intergenerational relationships with extended family and grandparents. Implications: Parents, teachers, and extended family support adaptive family processes that promote resilience and psychosocial well‐being despite the uncertainties of a global pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore qualitatively the connections among religion, hope, and relationships. Background: Both hope and religion have often been associated with positive individual and relational outcomes. Some research has found that hope mediates or moderates the relationship between religion and various outcomes. Despite the research that has been done to understand connections between religion and hope, little research has explored these constructs together in a relational context. Method: Using thematic analysis and a team‐based approach, we completed an analysis of in‐depth interviews with a large, culturally and religiously diverse strengths‐based sample of 198 highly religious families. Results: Two themes relating to the religious antecedents of hope were identified (religious beliefs and religious practices) as well as two themes that address the application or outcomes of hope (hope in family life and the experience of religious hopes). Several subthemes were also identified and are discussed and illustrated. Conclusions: For some families, religious beliefs and specific religious practices play an important role in fostering hope, and this hope was reported to enhance various elements of individual and family life. Implications: Results provide support for integrating religion and hope into various individual and relational therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the article is to share our perspectives on the key influences of lifespan religious and spiritual development as scholars from across the lifespan (i.e., the four authors are from different generations, including Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Gen Z). Our perspectives are heavily influenced by our combined 60+ years of research experience in examining the connections between religion and family life. Our discussion is organized around Bronfenbrenner's bioecological framework and the process-person-context-time model. Within this framework, the key factors we discuss that influence religious/spiritual development include (a) process (i.e., person-religion mismatch and family processes), (b) person (i.e., age, gender/sexual orientation, mental health, personal agency, and experience), (c) context (i.e., home environment, culture, and community), and (d) time (i.e., historical events and the duration of proximal processes). Where possible, we highlight underrepresented religious and ethnic groups. The key domains that we discuss that are influenced by religious/spiritual development include individual and relational outcomes. Finally, we suggest meaningful directions for future research. Given the significant contemporary dynamism in spiritual and religious identity and involvement, in this article, we discuss research and theory that can inform and assist scholars, religious leaders, parents, as well as youth and emerging adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leading scholars of marital processes strongly recommend supplementing the current focus on marital conflict to include research on transformative processes. This qualitative study examines the connection between religion and the transformative processes of commitment and coping in marriage. The sample for this study includes 184 married couples (N = 368 individuals), making it far larger than most in-depth, qualitative interview-based studies. Participants included Christians, Jews, and Muslims with an over sampling of minorities and immigrant families living in all eight regions of the United States. For several decades studies have shown a largely positive correlation between (a) religiosity and marital commitment and (b) religiosity and (generally) positive coping, but with little explanation regarding how and why. Findings of this study indicate that there are specific religious beliefs and practices related to how these couples approach their marriages-including several that relate to the two transformative processes of commitment and coping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the intersection of religion and boundaries placed around sex using qualitative data from 198 highly religious Muslim, Christian, and Jewish families. Coding performed by two researchers resulted in six core themes that provide insight into the connection between these two domains. Frequency counts of the core themes, participant quotes, and implications are presented—including the benefits of practitioners inquiring into how clients' faith affects sexual behavior and scripts, how fidelity and vows might serve a protective function for the relationships of highly religious couples, and how religion may empower women in terms of sexual boundary setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To qualitatively explore the whats and hows of financial socialization in families, as reported by emerging adults and their parents and grandparents. Background: Previous research has examined the positive impact of financial socialization in families as well as the negative consequences of a lack of sufficient financial education. However, there is a need to explore the breadth of parent–child financial socialization methods and topics. Method: A convenience sample of 90 emerging adults (18–30 years of age), 17 of their parents, and eight of their grandparents (N = 115) were interviewed at three diverse universities regarding what and how their parents taught them about money. Parents and grandparents were also interviewed regarding what and how they taught their children about money. Results: Thematic content coding revealed three core how themes (modeling, discussion, and experiential learning) and four core what themes (financial planning, work ethic, money management, and sharing). The themes coded most often were discussion and money management. Conclusion: The findings provide a starting point for gaining insight about how and what parents teach children about money but leave many questions unanswered that future research will need to address to build efficient and effective evidence‐based approaches for parental financial socialization in future generations. Implications: Family life educators and others can use our findings to better understand how financial socialization occurs in families as a necessary step in ultimately improving financial socialization and increasing the financial capability and independence of emerging adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many Millennials (aged 18–30 in 2016) are struggling with financial capability and independence. As efforts unfold to address this issue by improving financial education, Millennials themselves can offer helpful family-centered ideas for children's financial learning. As part of the Whats and Hows of Family Financial $ocialization project, this qualitative study explored the ideas of 126 undergraduate students enrolled in family finance classes at three institutions from three regions of the United States about how and what they intend to teach their future children about finances. Thematic content analysis and coding of interviews revealed four core themes: (a) "Communicating Family Finances," (b) "Opportunities for Responsibility," (c) "The Value of Hard Work," and (d) "The Process of Saving." These findings have implications for parents, future parents, financial counselors, financial planners, family life educators, financial educators, therapists, and researchers in improving parental financial education for future generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empirical research suggests that married women may more commonly experience spousal pornography use as a relational attachment threat and are more likely to experience negative relational outcomes such as distress and loss of trust. The purpose of this study was to develop a grounded theory of married women's response to the discovery or disclosure of spousal pornography use. This study included the experiences of 30 married women who reported spousal pornography use as a threat to relational attachment, who chose to remain with their spouse, and who reported evidence of individual and relational healing thereafter. The research question, "How do married women describe the experience of learning of their spouse's pornography use and the individual and relationship sequelae that follow?" was explored using grounded theory methods to analyze deidentified blogpost accounts emphasizing response to a spouse's pornography use. The results describe a process model highlighting three interrelated informant categories-emotional response, mental response, and physical response-and one resultant category-behavioral response. Implications include (a) the importance of open communication regarding pornography use within relationships, (b) the necessity for individual and relational healing following betrayal trauma, and (c) the role of therapeutic intervention in shaping adaptive healing processes., (© 2023 American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.)

Guided by the family adjustment and adaptation response (FAAR) model and using a panel survey of 1510 adults in the US administered during the summer of 2020 and a mixed methods approach, we explored associations between changes in financial stress related to COVID-19 and relational wellbeing. Regression analyses showed that, compared to those who maintained their levels of financial stress, those who reported increased financial stress reported increased conflict and those who reported decreased financial stress reported decreased conflict. However, decreased financial stress was also associated with decreases in emotional closeness and relationship happiness, suggesting that changes in financial stress can lead to both maladaptation and bonadaptation in families. Qualitative findings provide insights into factors that may exacerbate or help alleviate financial stress related to COVID-19., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestWe have no known conflict of interest to disclose., (© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2022.)