Elizabeth Dorrance Hall

Dilemmas Families Face in Talking With Returning U.S. Military Service Members About Seeking Professional Help for Mental Health Issues

Drawing on Goldsmith’s (2004) normative theory, this article maps dilemmas family members experience when talking with returning service members (SMs) about seeking mental health care. Eighty family members of United States SMs who served in Iraq or Afghanistan read a scenario where their SM was displaying posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression symptoms. Participants described goals they would pursue, barriers they might encounter, and advice they would give others in the situation. Four dilemmas of talking about mental health emerged: (a) getting you to recognize the problem without implying you’re not normal, (b) convincing you to seek help without implying you’re weak, (c) being persistent but patient, and (d) wanting you to open up without implying I can understand. Family members reported using four groups of strategies to manage these dilemmas. Directions for expanding the concept of dilemmas as “paradoxes” and for supporting military families as well as rethinking policy assumptions are discussed.

Family marginalization, alienation, and estrangement: questioning the nonvoluntary status of family relationships

ABSTRACT Despite assumptions that families are close and intact, the prevalence of family member marginalization, parent–child alienation, and parent–child estrangement is overwhelming. Largely ignored by the research community, these three family distancing processes pose significant disruptions to the entire family system. Although some of associated behaviors lead to turmoil and decreased well-being, distancing can also be a healthy solution to an unhealthy environment. This manuscript traces the history of these three processes; offering conceptualizations, strengths, and critiques of each perspective. Specifically, we discuss the way communication researchers have influenced these processes as well as how they can contribute to this sparse body of research in the future. Finally, we compare the processes and question whether families should be considered nonvoluntary.

A Multiple Goals Analysis of Families Attempting to Encourage U.S. Service Members to Seek Behavioral Health Care Linking the GPA Model and Confirmation Theory

Drawing on the goals-plans-action (GPA) model and confirmation theory, this study explores associations between family members’ primary and secondary goals, planning (i.e., subgoals related to accomplishing the primary goal), and messages encouraging military service members (SMs) to seek behavioral health care. Family members (N = 244) of SMs who had been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan described what they would say in a scenario where their SM was displaying mental health symptoms and provided importance ratings for primary and secondary goals as well as subgoals. Based on confirmation theory, messages were coded for levels of acceptance, challenge, and autonomy support. Primary goals predicted multiple dimensions of confirmation, both directly and indirectly through subgoals, but the direction of these effects often ran contrary to one another. Secondary goals also predicted confirmation after controlling for primary goal importance. Implications for the GPA model, confirmation theory, and programs that support military families are discussed.

A Cross-Cultural Examination of the Mediating Role of Family Support and Parental Advice Quality on the Relationship Between Family Communication Patterns and First-Year College Student Adjustment in the United States and Belgium

This study examines how college students’ family communication environments influence their adjustment during the first year of college in two distinct cultures: Belgium (n = 513) and the United States (n = 431). Three structural equation models were tested to determine the mediating effects of (a) perceived family support, (b) quality of academic advice from parents, and (c) quality of social advice from parents on associations between family communication patterns (FCPs) and student adjustment. Although most relationships are more complicated than predicted based on FCP theory and research, several patterns occur across models and populations. Conversation orientation tends to foster positive adjustment for both cultures while conformity orientation promotes negative adjustment for Belgian students. In addition, perceived family support and advice quality mediate several relationships between FCP and academic self-efficacy, college stress, and loneliness. Differences between the two cultures, theoretical implications for FCP, and practical implications for academic counselors are discussed along with avenues for future research.

Formative Communication Experiences and Message Production Ability in Adulthood: Family Communication Patterns and Creative Facility

Everyday experience suggests that there are individuals who are “glib,” who are “quick-witted,” and who can “think on their feet.” This ability to formulate fluent, novel messages has been termed creative facility, and previous research has identified various personality trait and information processing correlates of the phenomenon. The aim of this study was to ascertain whether formative communication experiences (i.e., family communication patterns) might be related to creative facility in a sample of young adults. The results indicated that people reporting a high family conformity orientation tended to be less fluent in formulating simple novel narratives and, further, that this effect was heightened under more cognitively demanding encoding conditions. Family conversation orientation did not have an effect on message fluency.

The communicative process of resilience for marginalized family members

This study aims to understand how people living at the edge of their familial group as marginalized members (i.e., “black sheep”) enact resilience. Inductive analysis of interviews with 30 marginal...This study aims to understand how people living at the edge of their familial group as marginalized members (i.e., “black sheep”) enact resilience. Inductive analysis of interviews with 30 marginalized family members uncovered five resilience strategies marginalized family members engage in to come to terms with their position in the family, repair family relationships, and/or create a new sense of normalcy: (a) seeking support from communication networks, (b) creating and negotiating boundaries, (c) (re)building while recognizing negative experiences, (d) downplaying the lived experience of marginalization, and (e) living authentically despite disapproval. This research extends the resilience framework by exploring situated resilience strategies engaged in by marginalized family members. Practical implications for marginalized family members, their families, and family counselors are discussed along with avenues for future research examining the marginalization of diverse employees.

The Mediating Role of Sibling Maintenance Behavior Expectations and Perceptions in the Relationship Between Family Communication Patterns and Relationship Satisfaction

ABSTRACT Sibling relationships are influenced both by the behaviors performed within the relationship (e.g., relational work) and by the family system as a whole. This study extends family communication patterns theory (FCP) by examining whether communicative relationship maintenance plays a role in the relationship between FCP and sibling relationship satisfaction. Data from 327 adult siblings from across the United States tested using Hayes (2013) PROCESS revealed that conversation and conformity orientation had positive indirect effects on sibling relationship satisfaction through both (a) relational maintenance expectations and (b) perceptions of sibling actual maintenance behavior in nearly all models (i.e., including positivity, openness, assurances, networks, and tasks maintenance behaviors). The results suggest that the parent-child relationship remains important long after children become adults as it continues to influence interpersonal relationships with others. Future directions for communication scholars are discussed along with theoretical implications for research on family communication patterns and the maintenance strategy framework.

The process of family member marginalization: Turning points experienced by “black sheep”

Family member marginalization, or feeling different, not included, or not approved of by family, is a chronically stressful interpersonal process with negative mental and physical health consequences. Framed by hurtful communication, this study took an interpretive approach to understanding the process of marginalization in families. Across 30 marginalized family members, 184 turning points were reported, which were organized into 22 event categories and 4 supracategories. Communication events included disclosures, ceasing contact, and deception, among others. The most commonly reported turning points were “normative” life events such as weddings and having children. Five trajectories captured the process of marginalization. Ambivalent events and a new way of understanding the underlying motivations behind turning points are forwarded, with implications for interpersonal process scholars. Marginalization, social exclusion, and rejection from social groups are stressful and have consequences for mental and physical health (DeWall, Baumeister, & Masicampo, 2009). These negative outcomes may be more severe for people marginalized from their families because family members are in a unique position to hurt one another due to their interdependence, shared history, and extensive knowledge about one another (Vangelisti & Hampel, 2010). Marginalized family members are often called “black sheep” because they stand out from the rest of the group (Fitness, 2005). Family member marginalization, or feeling different, not included, or not approved of by family, is likely a chronically stressful process that needs to be better understood. Hurt, a feeling of emotional Elizabeth Dorrance Hall, Department of Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies, Family Communication and Relationships Lab, Utah State University. Correspondence should be addressed to Elizabeth Dorrance Hall, Utah State University, Department of Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies, Family Communication and Relationships Lab, 0720 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322-0720, e-mail: elizabeth.dorrance@gmail.com. injury that can be caused by communication (Vangelisti & Hampel, 2010), is an important construct in understanding how family member marginalization occurs. This study aimed to discover how marginalized family members come to live at the edge of their families by exploring how the process of marginalization unfolds. It is unknown what marginalized people go through (e.g., kinds of marginalizing events), who contributes to this process, and how (e.g., what family members say—hurtful communication—or do to cause others to feel marginalized). In the following sections, research related to family member marginalization is reviewed followed by what the hurtful communication literature can contribute to an understanding of marginalized family members. Finally, turning point analysis is presented as an ideal method of capturing the process of family member marginalization. Family member marginalization According to social identity theory (SIT), groups are instrumental in identity formation (Ashforth & Mael, 2004), and rejection from social groups can lead to uncertainty,

Examining the Relationship Between Undergraduate Student Parent Social Support-Seeking Factors, Stress, and Somatic Symptoms: A Two-Model Comparison of Direct and Indirect Effects

ABSTRACT Approximately 4.8 million undergraduate students are also raising at least one child but only 26% of these student parents will graduate within six years. This study aimed to examine how academic and parenting stress influence the relationship between support-seeking factors (i.e., the costs of seeking support and communicated support availability) and somatic health symptoms such as headaches, sleep disruption, and exercise. Two parallel mediation models (n = 185 undergraduate student parents) are compared and revealed strong patterns of indirect effects. Intrapersonal and interpersonal costs indirectly influenced somatic symptoms through academic and parenting stress. Stress also mediated the relationship between support seeking factors and somatic symptoms. Theoretical implications and practical applications are discussed.

Models of health: Exploring memorable messages received from parents about diet and exercise

Abstract As obesity is an increasingly vital health issue in the United States, this study aims to understand the memorable messages about diet and exercise received from parents throughout adolescence. Previous research suggests that parental messages continue to influence childrens beliefs, behaviors, and development long after they have left home. This study utilizes a qualitative research design to explore health-related memorable messages shared in 12 focus groups including 77 women ages 20–57. A myriad of memorable messages and modeled behaviors was reported representing three parenting styles: parental critic, parental professor, and parental protector. Results suggest that memorable messages are associated with parenting styles and family environment may influence message interpretation. Theoretical and practical implications for scholars and health educators are discussed along with directions for future research.