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Studies to identify the association between individuals’ attachment patterns and their marital attitudes are insufficient and necessitate more empirical study. The current study aimed to investigate the impact of attachment styles on attitudes toward marriage and the mediating role of emotional intimacy among 182 participants at a southeastern university in the United States. Differences in perceptions of the degree of emotional intimacy among securely, avoidantly, and anxiously/ambivalently attached participants were explored to analyze the mediation effect of emotional intimacy between attachment styles and marital attitudes. The research findings revealed that secure, anxious/ambivalent, and avoidant individuals tended to have different attitudes toward marriage. Their marital attitudes were mediated by the emotional intimacy levels associated with their attachment styles. Implications for educators, researchers, and practitioners are discussed.

Superdiversity as a term has captured the attention of many researchers since it was first coined in 2007. However, the very characteristics of the concept have made its methodological operationalization insufficiently clear, beyond being bridged by the great migratory movements of the 21st century. As a result, we find a considerable diversity of analytical approaches without being empirically clear what the dimensions and variables are that should accompany those related to migratory flows. In this epilogue, methodological implications are critically discussed, especially those related to social differentiation factors and a hierarchy of predefined variables. Also, future research implications are discussed. info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion

The purpose of this qualitative study was to assess how eight categories of needs are met in Hispanic American families within the context of familism. Derived from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the categories examined include the need to: (1) feel safe; (2) belong; (3) develop a positive self-concept; (4) experience close real-love relationships; (5) receive respect; (6) feel worthwhile; (7) feel competent; and, (8) experience growth. Study participants completed an online open-ended questionnaire that focused on how needs were met in families within the Hispanic culture. A conceptual model of how these needs can be met in Hispanic American families within a context of familism is proposed. Implications for how educators and practitioners can help Hispanic Americans meet these eight categories of needs and thus strengthen families are discussed.

Contemporary society has been characterized by its social complexity, which was boosted thanks to international migration flows, among other factors. This phenomenon brought us ‘superdiversity’ as a concept, which has been very well received by many social scientists, as well as criticized by others due to its similarities with previous notions such as diversity, multiculturalism, interculturalism or even intersectionality. However, this concept, with all the semantic breadth and defining ramifications that characterize it, has opened an interpretive door, and made possible an analytical framework that differs from the rest. As a result, we find superdiversity as a guiding research concept throughout all social sciences areas assuming a whole variety of approaches, without necessarily considering international migrations as a background variable. This monograph reflects this reality and is presented as a hybridization of more orthodox positions with other more flexible and interpretive ones. info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion

The United States of America is a country with a long tradition of migration in which second- and third-generation Americans have been assimilated into a cultural ‘melting pot.’ This multicultural reality highlights the many varied elements of superdiversity that make up the complex characteristics of contemporary society in this country. In the present study, the authors seek to identify some of these elements of superdiversity by viewing them qualitatively through the eyes and experiences of offspring of multicultural transnational couples with a migratory background living in the US. The primary data collection consisted of 90-minute personal interviews with 29 subjects between 15 and 30 years of age who reside in the state of Florida and whose parents identified as being from different national origins. The results show significant differences in interpretations between the classic definitions of nationality and cultural identity, highlighting personal networks as a dimension to be taken into account for the analysis of superdiversity. Implications for practice and some directions for future research are discussed. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Social emotional abilities (i.e., specific skills), defined as the set of cognitive abilities, emotion-based knowledge, and behavioral competencies (i.e., skill levels) that facilitate adaptively employing prosocial processes and behaviors (i.e., “actions”), such as emotional regulation and sympathetic and empathetic response behaviors, is contemporarily modeled and measured as emotional intelligence. This conceptualization can be problematic, however, as the two concepts are not the same and traditional methods of measuring emotional intelligence can have limited practical utility. The social emotional ability development (SEAD) theoretical model introduced in this treatise represents a pragmatic and simplified approach to the development of social emotional ability and competency as abstracted from constructs of emotional intelligence, social intelligence, and sociocultural learning theory. Further, the SEAD model reaches beyond the individual as the unit of analysis to explore, conceptualize, differentiate, investigate, and define the hierarchal, bi-directional, and contextual nature of the dimensions of social emotional ability within close relationships. Implications for how the SEAD model can be used by researchers, practitioners, educators, individuals, families, and couples across a broad spectrum of domains and interventions are discussed.

Relationships are significantly stressed in the Southeastern United States. Of the six states in the Gulf region (Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas), four are in ...

Relationship stability represents a major economic interest not only to Florida, but to every state in the nation. The cumulative expenses related to relationship dissolution (including lit...

Relationship mindfulness is the degree to which individuals tend to be mindful during interactions with romantic partners. In this study, we examined both the intrapersonal and interpersonal links between relationship mindfulness and psychological and relationship functioning in a sample of 219 couples who had been in their relationship for at least 1 year. Even when accounting for the general tendency to be mindful, relationship mindfulness was linked with markers of relationship well-being and psychological functioning, both intrapersonally and interpersonally. The findings bring to light the importance of considering relationship mindfulness in clinical work with couples that focuses on addressing deficiencies in relationship or psychological well-being.

In this study, household “Negative Interaction” behaviors (counterproductive behavior between home occupants) were measured by examining “Household Budgetary Constraints” (a relative measure of the balance between income and expenses), via the discriminant analysis segmentation strategy: Decision-Ade. In the current methodological study, the Decision-Ade segmentation strategy is expanded from its origins in energy-efficiency research, to family and economic issues research, thereby expanding the scholarly and programmatic “toolkit” approaches used by researchers and stakeholders in this discipline. The sample consisted of 1943 homeowners in southeast coastal United Stated (US) who were part of a larger disaster-preparedness study related to energy efficiency and occupant relationships. Among the sample, 54% (n =1049) of respondents reported the presence of “negative interaction” behaviors in their home. They also displayed misperceptions regarding their “Communication Practices” and “Engagement Practices” (how home occupants communicate and interact with one another). Interestingly, 72% of these respondents (n =1399) reported earning between $25,000 and $100,000 in annual household income, with 39% (n =758) earning > $50,000. Although this could constitute a “living wage,” those studied in this research self-reported as having “Household Budgetary Constraints,” which indicates an imbalance between income and expenses. These same respondents also were highly likely to be associated with having “negative-interaction” behaviors occurring in their home, which is considered a major deterrent to stable, healthy households in family studies research.

Using their cross-disciplinary review of Ideas that Work in College Teaching, the authors explore the pedagogical commonalities of fifteen higher education instructors from SUNY Potsdam (State University of New York at Potsdam) in an attempt to reveal the secrets of teaching success across thirteen academic disciplines—math, computer science, geology, modern languages, political science, philosophy, history, biology, psychology, sociology, physics, and art. While the specific instructional disciplines varied considerably in the content that was both studied and presented, the authors found that the principles of effective teaching were quite similar across each of these disciplines. The insights shared by these fifteen accomplished instructors provide pedagogical wisdom that all teachers can learn from regardless of context or developmental age and stage of student capability and competence. Common goals and principles associated with effective teaching in higher education are highlighted using specific examples from individual authors where appropriate. A new model of instruction is then introduced: Attention, Interact, Apply, Invite – Fact, Think, Feel, Do (AIAI-FTFD), as a potential start-to-finish approach to effective teaching in higher education. Implications for use of the model in both national and international higher education contexts are discussed.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the role that friendship, trust, and love played in the courtship and marriages of eleven German heterosexual couples (twenty-two individuals, including three couples of mixed national heritage) who reported their marriages to be happy. A conceptual model is proposed of how the components of friendship, trust, and love (i.e., love experienced as emotion, behavior, and commitment) may form a foundation for happy German marriages. Identified themes inform suggestions for how these findings can be used by educators, practitioners, and clergy to support and strengthen German marriages.

The main objective of this study was to extend previous research in the area of longitudinal marital satisfaction by examining how marital issues, including decision-making, activities, affection, conflict, financial matters, stability, and values, changed over the first 5 years of marriage for 242 Utah, Latter-Day-Saint individuals. In addition, this study examined whether change occurs differently for husbands versus wives and for at-risk individuals versus non-risk individuals. The results showed that four marital issues worsened over time (activities, affection, conflict, and stability). Two of the six subscales (activities and affection) were found to differ significantly by gender. In addition, four subscales were significantly different for at-risk couples when compared with non-risk couples (decision-making, activities, conflict, and stability). Limitations and recommendations are discussed.

The purpose of the current studywas to explore social and cognitive relationships among studentswhen they are solving complex cognitive tasks in online discussion forums(self-regulated). An online course targeting interventions for risk behaviorswas developed in the Virtual Campus of Andalusia, Spain. A total of 9878 units of meaning posted in 96 online discussion forums during three academic years (2010–11, 2011–12 and 2012–13) were analyzed through the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework. The degree to which online tasks at three different levels of cognitive demand (analyze, evaluate and create) triggered cognitive and social processes were examined. The results indicate that there was a specific increasing trend in the frequency of cognitive and social activity according to the requirement of the task. This study also found that the nature of the learning taskmodulated the different components of social and cognitive presence in these contexts., This researchwas financially supported bytheMinistry of Education, Spain, under research grant FPU-0142. The authors wish to acknowl-edge support from all the participants.

In this study the marital quality of respondents who were currently receiving government assistance was compared with those who were not. Contextual variables (e.g., gender, age, age at first marriage, religiosity, education, etc.) and interactional variables (i.e., escalating negativity, criticism, negative interpretation, withdrawal) were measured as potential correlates with marital quality. Results indicated that those who received government assistance differed significantly from those who did not on all six indicators of marital quality that were measured and on 8 of 11 contextual variables measured. Findings from this study will help policymakers, therapists, and other helping professionals gain an increased awareness of the needs of these two distinct populations and how to target educational programs to best address those needs.

This article explores the relationship between religiosity, denominational homogamy, religiosity homogamy, and marital adjustment. Using a statewide sample of spouses in first marriages ( N = 1,394) and remarriages ( N = 601), the authors find that within-group differences in religiosity, denominational homogamy, and religiosity homogamy are not as prevalent for spouses in remarriages. Overall, husbands and wives in first marriages who are very religious have significantly higher marital adjustment scores than spouses who are less religious. Similarly, husbands and wives in first marriages who share the same religious denomination report higher marital adjustment scores than spouses who report different denominations. For spouses in both first marriages and remarriages, those who report that they are “both religious” have higher marital adjustment scores than spouses where both partners are not religious, or where only the wife is religious. Possible reasons for the within-group similarities and differences are explored, particularly for spouses in remarriages.

LGBTQ children are overrepresented in the foster care system in the United States. These children are also at higherrisk for homelessness and suicide. While there are some legal protections for this population, more research andadvocacy are needed to help these young people thrive despite their situations. An intersectional feminist perspectiveon advocacy and queer theory could change the landscape of political activism and training for child welfareprofessionals. In this article, three activist approaches to training are discussed as ways to revolutionize advocacy andtreatment of LGBTQ youth in child welfare. The authors propose 1) providing intersectional and feminist principles inchild welfare diversity training modules, 2) including the exploration of self-identity in these trainings, and 3)developing a better understanding of how heteronormative bias and perceptions of deviance can be perpetuated.

This paper examines, through the lens of critical race theory (CRT), beliefs often asserted by self-described,open-minded white educators about their students of color. While these teachers may perceive themselves as liberaland inclusive, their interactions with students of color are shrouded by white privilege which can be disenfranchisingto students of color. By countering these ascribed beliefs with research, theory, and qualitative experiences, theauthors aim to expose how white privilege manifests within the typical classroom and to invite all white educators toexamine their racial attitudes and beliefs. Using CRT, the authors* make recommendations for strategies to developwhite teachers into white allies.

Little research exists on long-term outcomes for adults who have been in foster care as children, with even less research on former foster children who become foster parents themselves. Foster care and maltreatment exert significant independent and interdependent impacts on youth outcomes. While traditional research often focuses on predicting and mitigating negative outcomes, new studies indicate success using a positive youth development approach that is strengths-based targeting positive outcomes, such as strong empathy skills. These outcomes align with the demonstrated skills that lead to successful foster parenting. The current review examines the possible transition from foster child to foster parent through the lenses of parenting styles, attachment, and family systems theories, as well as positive youth development and social justice youth development theories. The authors propose utilizing theory and proven interventions to address foster youths’ attachment and emotional development needs, recognize positive outcomes for youth in foster care, and employ evidence-based training programs in place for at-risk parent groups to help break the cycle that leads to displacement. The need for more research to assist foster children, parents, case workers, and systems to promote healthy youth development is discussed.

Learning to be mindful is a powerful skill that can help you face the stresses of day-to-day life and improve both your psychological and physical health. Because you don’t need any equipment to practice mindfulness, you can practice it discreetly anywhere, at any time. This 6-page fact sheet was written by Parth Naik, Victor Harris, and Larry Forthun, and published by the UF Department of Family Youth and Community Sciences, September 2013. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fy1381

Getting married and staying married require a complicated calculus of factors that must come together to produce healthy and satisfying relationships. While couple interactional processes tend to be the most predictive of whether or not they will stay together and find happiness, background and contextual factors and individual traits also factor heavily into the equation. Finding two socks that match (and don’t wear out) is much more likely to occur when the relationship is based upon a deep and enduring friendship. Asking the question, “Will this choice enhance or diminish my marital friendship?” and then choosing to make the choices that will enhance the marital friendship more often than not are healthy strategies for success. This 5-page fact sheet was written by Victor W. Harris, Gilon Marts, and Muthusami Kumaran, and published by the UF Department of Family Youth and Community Sciences, March 2013. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fy1364

Families reuniting after an intervention that requires foster care for the children face unique challenges. Parents in these situations may need to learn about their parental roles, the basic needs for the healthy development of their children, and resources that will help the family in their reunification. Researchers and practitioners in child welfare have provided helpful information to develop workable plans to aid families in reunifying and rebuilding. This 5-page fact sheet is a brief summary of the overarching themes provided by the literature. Written by Rosalyn Monroe and Victor W. Harris and published by the UF Department of Family Youth and Community Sciences, April 2013. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fy1366

If your child is diagnosed with a mental illness, you will face major changes in your life. Being proactive about your child’s care and advocating for him or her will help you and your child handle the illness successfully. This 5-page fact sheet was written by Tracy DeCubellis, Victor W. Harris, and Martie Gillen, and published by the UF Department of Family Youth and Community Sciences, April 2013. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fy1365

Cultivating healthy dating relationships that can lead to healthy adult romantic and marriage relationships is a science that reflects a complicated calculus of the premarital influences that may shape future relationship stability, quality, and satisfaction. This 4-page fact sheet was written by Victor W. Harris, Gilon Marts, and Martie Gillen, and published by the UF Department of Family Youth and Community Sciences, March 2013. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fy1363

Defining what a healthy romantic relationship is can be challenging. Thankfully, modern research has given us a good idea of what healthy dating and marriage relationships look like. Use this fact sheet to determine what a healthy relationship looks like to you. Then take the survey to get an idea of the strengths already present in your relationship and those things you may want to work on. This 3-page fact sheet was written by Victor W. Harris and published by the UF Department of Family Youth and Community Sciences, March 2013. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fy1361

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a good fit for pedagogy in the family sciences due to the developmental and psychological theories that overlap with key features of PBL. Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and "authentic problem solving" are examples of theories that explain how PBL works. These learner-centered pedagogies increase engagement and motivation by helping students learn to solve real-world problems. Furthermore, PBL has been shown to enhance professional practice and preparation for students as they enter the workforce. Examples of how instructors can apply PBL in family science college classrooms are offered. Furthermore, a graphic organizer is presented to compare and contrast similarities and differences between PBL and ZPD theories. A sample worksheet that can be used in the classroom is also included. The goal of this paper is to give instructors a sufficient understanding of PBL and plausible examples of how it might be used in the classroom.