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Item CFT Faculty: Self-Assessment of LGB-Affirming Stances and Programs(North Dakota State University, 2016) Kellerman, Jared DanielThe purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that Couple and Family Therapy (CFT) faculty were using to identify the extent to which their program was LGB-affirmative. The sample for this study included 71 faculty members from CFT training programs accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE). The online data collection for this study included one open-ended question and one Likert scale item. The thematic analysis revealed seven categories: (1) Coursework and Training, (2) Training Programs’ LGB Population, (3) Belief Systems, (4) Importance of Faculty, (5) Practical Implementation of Explicit LGB-affirmative Values, (6) Affirming Environment, and (7) Not LGB-affirming Environment. The findings of this study provided insights into how CFT faculty members are conceptualizing LGB affirmative training on an individual and program levels.Item Finding a Home for Spirituality in Couple and Family Therapy Training: An Analysis of CFT Educators' Strategies and Methods For Integrating Spirituality Into the CFT Curriculum(North Dakota State University, 2010) Kekic, JanaThe purpose of this study was to analyze the specific ways that couple and family therapy (CFT) faculty members integrate content on spirituality into the courses they teach. The study used an existing data set consisting of 93 CFT faculty members who taught in accredited master's and/or doctoral level CFT programs of which 47 were male and 46 were female. The participants completed an electronic survey for this study. The predominant religious or spiritual affiliation within the sample was Christian. The results of this study suggested that many participants were following recommendations from the literature on ways to integrate topics of spirituality into the teaching and supervision of CFT students. However, the results of this study also indicated that infusion of spirituality into the curricula is an idea worthy of further exploration in the research.Item Parents’ Experiences as They Interact with Their Transgender Children’s Schools(North Dakota State University, 2015) Baldwin, Dawn ReneeThe purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of parents and caregivers in a parenting role of a transgender child as they interacted with their children’s schools. For this study, 22 interviews with parents and caregivers were analyzed. Utilizing a queer feminist framework, analysis revealed that parents’ experiences with schools depended largely upon the school’s degree of inclusiveness regarding gender, gender identity, and gender expression. Results, educational and clinical implications, and limitations, as well as suggestions for future research are discussed.Item Defining Feminism: A Phenomenological Exploration of the Meaning Women Assign to their Feminist Identities(North Dakota State University, 2013) McDougall, Sarah DelaneyThis study explored the meaning that women assign to their feminist identities. In particular, the study examined the lived experiences of fourteen women who were active in the women's movement during the 1970s. The definitions of feminism provided were organized into six categories: (1) Working Towards Justice, (2) Valuing Self and Other Women, (3) Women with Diverse Perspectives, (4) Relevancy in Personal Lives, (5) Future Orientation, and (6) Changing Understandings of Feminism. Major findings of the study included an understanding that women hold unique experiences as feminists in relation to the larger feminist movement, an insight into the centrality of equality to understanding feminist identities, and an awareness that the results of this study contrast with the leading model of feminist identity in the literature. The findings of this study provided important implications for family therapists as this study highlights the need to explore gender-based oppression with their clients.Item The Influence of Appearance-Related Teasing by Parents, Siblings, and Peers on Adolescents' Body Image with Appearance-Related Social Comparison as a Mediator(North Dakota State University, 2011) Schaefer, Mallary KayBody image refers to how individuals experience and perceive their bodies and can be affected by many factors, including peers and family members. Adolescence is a time when body image concerns are emphasized due to the bodily changes of puberty as well as increased internalization of cultural ideals and pressure to adhere to those ideals. Appearance-related teasing is one particular sociocultural factor that is gaining attention in the research field due to the emphasis placed on appearance during adolescence. The current study examined how appearance-related teasing by peers, parents, and siblings affected young adolescents' body image both directly and indirectly via social comparison. Further, because body image is a multidimensional construct and can include body dissatisfaction and drive for muscularity, the present study examined both of these constructs separately. I collected self-report questionnaires from 73 adolescent girls and 67 boys in middle school. I used Pearson correlations, linear regression, and mediation analyses to examine these hypotheses. First, I hypothesized that adolescents who were teased about their appearance by at least one of their parents would also have siblings who teased them. I found significant correlations between both fathers' and mothers' teasing and siblings' teasing, suggesting that parents are modeling teasing behaviors to their children. Second, I hypothesized that appearance-related teasing by fathers, mothers, peers, and siblings would each be associated with body dissatisfaction for girls and drive for muscularity for boys. My findings indicated that mothers', fathers', peers', and siblings' teasing predicted girls' body dissatisfaction and that mothers' and fathers' teasing predicted boys' drive for muscularity. Therefore, appearance-related teasing appears to be detrimental behavior that negatively influences adolescents' body image. Third, I hypothesized that appearance-related social comparison would mediate the relationship between appearance-related teasing from all sources and body dissatisfaction among girls and drive for muscularity among boys. Appearance-related social comparison fully mediated the relationship between fathers' teasing and girls' body dissatisfaction and the relationship between mothers' teasing and boys drive for muscularity. My findings suggest that boys and girls who were teased about their appearance were more likely to engage in social comparison, which negatively impacted their body image. Therapists need to be aware of the role family members' and peers' appearance-related teasing play in the development of adolescents' body image in order to address the occurrence and negative effects of teasing. In addition, researchers will need to conduct future studies further investigating appearance-related teasing by family members and peers and design intervention and prevention programs to address teasing and social comparison among the family and peer contexts.Item Gender Influences on Perceptions of Marital Reconciliation(North Dakota State University, 2011) Hanten, Allyson RachelThis study examines the process of marital reconciliation. More specifically, it addresses gender influences regarding perceptions of the marital reconciliation process. Also, this study identifies how turning points in the process of marital reconciliation are similar and different between the partners in the marital dyad. A qualitative methodology was used to better understand gender similarities and differences in marital reconciliation. Interviews with six married couples, 11 participants total, were conducted for this study. This study allows for a better understanding of male and female perspectives related to potential threats to marital stability and processes that help couples resolve relationship difficulties or challenges.Item Effects of the Early Risers Program on Children's Social Skills and Parents' Emotion and Cognition(North Dakota State University, 2016) Yang, ZhenThe Early Risers Skills for Success Program provides comprehensive skills training to children with adjustment problems and offers parent training to their parents. The present study expects parenting training contributes to increases in parenting confidence and involvement and decreases in relational frustration of parents in the program compared with the control. We also want to know whether improving children’s social competence mediates the program’s effects on parents’ positive feeling and cognition. 114 early elementary school students and their parents received the intervention and training and 76 children and parents were in the control. Five waves of data were collected over two years. Parenting training was found to have no effects on parental emotion and cognitions over time. Teacher-rated social skills of children were found to have significant fixed effects on parent well-being and involvement over time. Therefore, children’s social skills mediated the program’s effects on parents’ emotion and cognition.Item LGB Affirmative Training and Clinical Competency: Differences in Couple and Family Therapy Students Who Receive Training at Religious Vs. Secular Institutions(North Dakota State University, 2013) Thompson, Keilah AnnThis study determined if any differences exist in the level of affirmative training received, beliefs about sexual orientation, and perceived clinical competency with lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) clients of 231 couple and family therapy (CFT) students who attend COAMFTE accredited institutions. Independent t-tests were used to compare mean scores of students who attend secular versus religiously affiliated institutions to determine if there was a difference in levels of affirmative training received, beliefs about sexual orientation, and perceived clinical competency with LGB clients. Significant differences were found in overall LGB affirmative training levels as well as therapist competency in working with LGB clients. Students did not report differences in the level of affirmative curriculum content pertaining to LGB topics that they received. Training implications are discussed such as COAMFTE providing more structured guidelines for schools to prepare students to work with LGB clients in a positive affirming manner.Item A Lion or a Shoe: 17-Month-Olds Observing VS. Acting on an Object in an Object Individuation Task(North Dakota State University, 2018) Jellison, Savanna Elizabeth Jean WestromObject individuation, the ability to distinguish an object that is currently perceived from one that was previously perceived, is an important cognitive ability used in everyday life. In the current study, we assessed the influence of self-action on infants’ ability to individuate objects. Using a manual search task, we tested eighteen 17- to 18-month-old infants’ ability to individuate objects. Infants either observed as an experimenter hid an object in a covered bucket or they hid the object themselves. The rationale was that if infants perceived the retrieved object as a distinct object from the one hidden, they would continue searching in the bucket for the yet-to-be-retrieved object. These results indicate that infants successfully individuated only when they were able to hide the object themselves. This outcome provides evidence that, similar to other types of object processing, object individuation is enhanced when infants are given the ability to act on objects.Item Couple and Family Therapy Students' Attitudes Toward Bisexual Clients(North Dakota State University, 2012) Nova, Elizabeth AnnFew studies have focused on student therapists' beliefs about bisexual clients and the impact of affirmative training on these beliefs. The current study explored 1) the level of experience couple and family therapy (CFT) students have with gay, lesbian and bisexual clients; 2) whether CFT students' levels of biphobia and homophobia differ; and 3) whether LGB affirmative training had an impact on self-reported levels of biphobia. Secondary data were used from data collected through electronic and paper surveys. The results revealed that CFT students have similar levels of experience working with bisexual and lesbian clients, but report significantly lower levels of experience with gay male clients. Furthermore, CFT students reported nearly identical levels of biphobia and homophobia. Finally, the results of this study suggest that more LGB affirmative training was associated with lower levels of self-reported biphobia. The findings of this study support CFT training programs implementing LGB affirmative training.