Allison J. Tracy

Mentoring College-Age Women: A Relational Approach

Despite the popularity of mentoring programs, the relational dimension of mentoring has not been elucidated. Traditional conceptions of mentoring may exclude factors that are particularly important for women and girls, thus limiting the efficacy of mentoring programs for female adolescents. We suggest that the presence of relational qualities in the mentoring relationship (e.g., empathy, engagement, authenticity, and empowerment) strongly influences the success of mentoring in the lives of young women. In this study, we use a promising new measure of mentoring, the Relational Health Index – Mentor, to explore the impact of relational aspects of mentoring in female college students. We found that mentoring relationships high in relational qualities were associated with higher self-esteem and less loneliness.

THE RELATIONAL HEALTH INDICES: A STUDY OF WOMEN'S RELATIONSHIPS

A new measure of womens relationships, the Relational Health Indices (RHI), comprises three scales that assess growth-fostering connections with peers, mentors, and communities. The RHI was developed using the Relational Model (Jordan, Kaplan, Miller, Stiver, Surrey, 1991; Miller & Stiver, 1997), a theory of womens psychological development. The 37-item measure assesses three conceptual dimensions of growth-fostering relationships: engagement, authenticity, and empowerment/zest. This study examined the psychometric properties of the RHI with a group of 450 students at a womens liberal arts college, providing evidence for the reliability, validity, and utility of the new measure. The factor analyses confirmed a three-subscale structure: engagement, authenticity, empowerment/zest. The RHIs components generally demonstrate good overall internal consistency. Furthermore, associations between RHI scales and convergent validation scales were significant and in the direction hypothesized. Correlations with adjustment scales varied across the RHI components. The RHI has potential for enriching our understanding of important, subtle qualities and complex dynamics of both dyadic and group relationships, especially among women. The instrument is available for use by researchers interested in continuing the scale and theory development.

Predicting Adolescent Self-Esteem from Participation in School Sports among Latino Subgroups

Data from the in-school survey ofthe National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health on girls and boys who claim a Mexican, Puerto Rican, or Cuban heritage were employed to test two hypotheses: (1) Participating in a school-based sport is associated with self-esteem, and (2) school attachment and a sense ofphysical well-being mediate this relationship. The first hypothesis was partially confirmed in that participation in school sports was associated with self-esteem among Mexican American adolescent girls and boys, Puerto Rican girls, and Cuban American boys, but not among Cuban American girls nor Puerto Rican boys. The second hypothesis was confirmed in that, where there was a significant relationship between participating in a school sport and self-esteem, school attachment and physical well-being mediated this relationship. The results underscore the need to study psychosocial processes separately among Latino subgroups and to examine gender within each subgroup.

Stages of change and the group treatment of batterers: a randomized clinical trial.

A stages-of-change motivational interviewing (SOCMI) treatment approach was compared with a standard cognitive behavioral therapy gender reeducation (CBTGR) approach in a sample of 528 English-speaking and Spanish-speaking male batterers who were randomly assigned to 49 26-week groups in either condition. Blind ratings of therapist adherence differentiated the two conditions. Language spoken neither predicted outcome nor interacted with treatment. The SOCMI curriculum led to significant reductions in female partners’ reports of physical aggression at follow-up, but not to changes in self-reported aggression. Men who were initially less ready to change benefited more from the SOCMI approach while men who were more ready to change benefited more from the CBTGR approach. Results suggest the importance of tailoring abuser intervention programs to individuals’ initial readiness to change.

Shall we marry? Legal marriage as a commitment event in same-sex relationships.

ABSTRACT This study is a part of an exploratory study of 50 married and unmarried same-sex couples in Massachusetts conducted by the Wellesley Centers for Women following legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts in 2004. This article examines whether and how legalization of same-sex marriage impacted same-sex partners’ commitment to one another, presentation to others as a couple, and treatment as a couple by others. Roughly one-quarter of the couples studied chose not to mark their commitment with ceremonies of any kind, while nearly three-fourths of the couples had either commitment (non-legal) ceremonies, legal weddings, or both. While decisions to legally marry largely were based on gaining legal protections, unforeseen impacts on self and relationships with family, friends, and the larger society revealed multiple layers of meaning. Implications of the study for public policy and social change are discussed.

The Relational Health Indices for Youth: An Examination of Reliability and Validity Aspects

Relational health, a termed coined by Liang et al. (2001) to reflect Relational-Cultural Theory concepts, is the presence of growth-fostering characteristics in significant relationships. Although growth-fostering relationships have been conceptualized as relevant across the lifespan, existing research has mainly explored the experiences of college students and adults. In this study, the authors seek to create a developmentally appropriate instrument called the Relational Health Indices for Youth (RHI-Y) for studying growth-fostering relationships among early and mid-adolescents. This measure adapts the original adult RHI instrument for a younger population (i.e., utilizing a simpler vocabulary and containing fewer items). Measurement development resulted in six-item scales assessing relational health in three different relationship domains: friendships, relationships with an adult mentor, and relationships with members of a community group. Results indicate that the RHI-Y scales are valid, reliable measures of growth-fostering relationships. Preliminary findings about the correlates of relational health in youth are discussed.

Predicting Stages of Change in Battered Women

Battered women’s stages of change (SOCs) are examined in this study. First, confirmatory factor analysis and latent profile analysis were conducted on 754 battered women’s responses on the Problems in Relationship Scale (Brown, 1998). Factor loadings were strong, and latent variable mixture modeling produces a two-class solution. Second, comparisons of women (including a subset of 276) suggest that they were relatively advanced in SOC. SOC was unrelated to intimate partner violence experiences, but an earlier stage was associated with ethnicity, economic and emotional dependence, preoccupied attachment, satisfaction with social supports, and women’s use of aggression. Implications for interventions and future research are described.

Can Sex Education Delay Early Sexual Debut

In this study, we examine whether a nine-lesson sex education intervention, “Get Real: Comprehensive Sex Education That Works,” implemented in sixth grade, can reduce the number of adolescents who might otherwise become “early starters” of sexual activity (defined as heterosexual intercourse) by seventh grade. Participants were 548 boys and 675 girls who completed surveys in both sixth grade (baseline) and seventh grade (follow-up). The sample was 35% Latino, 32% Black, 24% White, 3% Asian, and 6% biracial. Students randomly assigned to the control condition were 30% more likely to initiate sex by follow-up when controlling for having had sex by sixth grade, demographic variables, and a tendency to give socially desirable responses. This finding is noteworthy because previous research has identified early starters to be prone to poor outcomes in sexual health, family formation, economic security, and incarceration and few middle school interventions have shown an effect on behavioral outcomes.

The Role of Extended Family in Teen Sexual Health

Despite increasing extended family involvement in child rearing, particularly in minority families, few studies investigate their role in talking with teens about sex or how this relates to teens’ sexual behavior. This mixed-methods study assesses extended family sexuality communication through a survey of 1,492 diverse middle school students and interviews with 32 students. Logistic regression shows that participants who report having had sex are more likely to report talking with extended family than those who report not having had sex. Interview themes explored reasons for and content of teen sexuality conversations with extended family. More sexually active teens’ reporting communication with extended family is interpreted as extended family members gaining importance in sexuality communication as teens become sexually active.

Agreement Among Stepfamily Members

Abstract Despite a paucity of empirical evidence, theorists have continued to emphasize the importance of agreement among members of a stepfamily. It is argued here that methodological considerations, particularly regarding approaches to the statistical modeling of agreement, have interfered with an accumulation of empirical evidence which supports or refutes this assumption. A critique of a number of commonly used modeling approaches is presented and several new approaches that are accessible to researchers through recently developed software packages are offered as alternatives.