Parent-Child Closeness and Coping Outcomes in Emerging Adulthood

Parents continue to play a pivotal role in their children’s social and emotional adjustment into emerging adulthood (Mounts et al., 2006). This project examined the effect of parent-emerging adult closeness on emerging adult coping responses, and whether this association varied as a function of parent-child contact. The sample consisted of 180 undergraduate students (M age = 19.6, SD = 1.05, 78% female) from the University of Vermont. Participants reported on their closeness with their parent(s), their coping responses, and their patterns of contact with their parent(s). As predicted, parent-emerging adult closeness was predictive of emerging adults’ coping responses. The relationship was not, however, moderated by mode or frequency of communication. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed

"Mothers as Candy Wrappers": Critical Infrastructure Supporting the Transition into Motherhood

Copyright © ACM. The transition into motherhood is a complicated and often unsupported major life disruption. To alleviate mental health issues and to support identity re-negotiation, mothers are increasingly turning to online mothers\u27 groups, particularly private and secret Facebook groups; these can provide a complex system of social, emotional, and practical support for new mothers. In this paper we present findings from an exploratory interview study of how new mothers create, find, use, and participate in ICTs, specifically online mothers\u27 groups, to combat the lack of formal support systems by developing substitute networks. Utilizing a framework of critical infrastructures, we found that these online substitute networks were created by women, for women, in an effort to fill much needed social, political, and medical gaps that fail to see \u27woman and mother\u27 as a whole being, rather than simply as a \u27discarded candy wrapper\u27. Our study contributes to the growing literature on ICT use by mothers for supporting and negotiating new identities, by illustrating how these infrastructures can be re-designed and appropriated in use, for critical utilization

Depression, Negative Self-Disclosure, And The Response Of Others On Facebook

Depression has a number of deleterious effects on the interpersonal functioning of adolescents and emerging adults. The interpersonal theory of depression posits that depression is developed and maintained by both the behaviors of the individual and the responses of others to the individual. Adolescents and emerging adults are spending a significant amount of time interacting on social networking sites, such as Facebook, yet few studies have looked at the interpersonal behavior of depressed youth in the context of the interpersonal theory of depression. This study examined the interpersonal behavior of 328 emerging adult college students on Facebook using questionnaires related to depressive symptoms, self-esteem, interaction styles, and Facebook self-disclosure behaviors. A sub-sample of participants (N = 171) provided access to their online profiles, allowing examination of their emotional self-disclosures via the Facebook status update function and the subsequent responses to those disclosures by their friends over a period of six months. Participants were categorized into depressed and non-depressed groups. Results indicate that participants in the depressed group expressed more negative emotion on Facebook and expressed negative emotions for different reasons than participants in the non-depressed group. Over time, positive and negative disclosures made by participants in the depressed group received significantly fewer responses from their Facebook friends, although the difference was small. These results provide mixed support for the interpersonal theory of depression in the context of social media stressing the importance of continued research on the communication and disclosure behaviors of individuals with depression in this context

Coming Out to Doctors, Coming Out to ‘‘Everyone’’: Understanding the Average Sequence of Transgender Identity Disclosures Using Social Media Data

Purpose: Gender transition is a complex life change, and transgender identity disclosures are pivotal moments that delineate the gender transition process. The purpose of this study was to quantify the average sequence in which transgender people disclose their transgender identity to different people in their lives, such as medical professionals, family members, and online networks, and to understand the emotional implications of these disclosures. Methods: We used mixed methods to identify 362 transgender identity disclosure social media posts within 41,066 total posts from 240 Tumblr transition blogs (online spaces in which transgender people document gender transitions). We manually assigned each disclosure post an audience category, and then calculated the average sequence in which people in this sample disclosed their transgender identity to different audiences. Results: Health professionals, such as physicians and therapists, were on average some of the very first people to whom transgender Tumblr bloggers disclosed their transgender identity. Such disclosures were often anxiety provoking and emotionally difficult, whether intentional or involuntary. Next, they often disclosed to friends, followed by close family (e.g., parents and siblings) and then extended family (e.g., grandparents). Mass disclosures to large portions of a person's network, such as on one's Facebook profile, usually came late in the disclosure process. Conclusion: Gender transition is a staged process that includes a series of disclosures to different audiences that follows an average sequence. Because health care providers (e.g., physicians and therapists) who work with transgender patients are often some of the very first people to whom transgender people in our sample disclosed, providers must practice extra sensitivity when responding to such disclosures.National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships Program Grant No. DGE-1321846University of California, Irvine, James Harvey Scholar AwardPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/155363/1/trgh.2019.0045.pdfDescription of trgh.2019.0045.pdf : Main articl

The Transgender Military Experience: Their Battle for Workplace Rights

Although there have been studies that focus on the experiences of the gay and lesbian population serving in the United States military, few have focused on the experience of active duty transgender service members. Transgender individuals transgress the binary conception of gender by deviating from societal gender norms associated with assigned sex at birth. The Department of Defense has set policies and standards that reflect a binary conception of gender, with a focus on conformity. We argue that able-bodied gender variant service personnel are just as capable of serving their country as anyone else. Because of the repercussions associated with active duty transgender military personnel, our sample is small and involves nine clandestine service members and two international service members who wanted to share their stories from a different perspective. Snowball sampling was aimed at finding current active duty and reserve transgender service members. Using a combination of telephone interviews and questionnaires, data were collected from active duty transgender service personnel throughout the United States and two from international militaries that allow transgender people to serve. Data collection focused on the overall experiences of the participants along with questions regarding workplace discrimination, suggestions for policy changes, and their views about the overturn of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Our findings add to a growing source of information about the transgender military experience in the U.S. armed forces and the importance of overturning discriminatory workplace policies that negatively impact transgender service members

Reasons for Sharing With Separate Social Media Audiences During Life Transitions

During life transitions, people sometimes turn to social media audiences separate from their typical online networks. By qualitatively analyzing open-ended data from a U.S.-based survey (N = 775), we examined why and how people discuss life transitions with these separate audiences. Survey questions asked about life events experienced, separate networks and the interactions that occurred there, and participants’ reasoning behind these online behaviors. We found that people use separate networks, especially online support groups, to interact with others anonymously, receive informational and emotional support, and have direct and focused discussions with people with similar experiences.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162570/1/LiuReasonsForSharing.pdfSEL

Trans Time: Safety, Privacy, and Content Warnings on a Transgender-Specific Social Media Site

Trans people often use social media to connect with others, find and share resources, and post transition-related content. However, because most social media platforms are not built with trans people in mind and because online networks include people who may not accept one’s trans identity, sharing trans content can be difficult. We studied Trans Time, a social media site developed particularly for trans people to document transition and build community. We interviewed early Trans Time users (n = 6) and conducted focus groups with potential users (n = 21) to understand how a trans-specific site uniquely supports its users. We found that Trans Time has the potential to be a safe space, encourages privacy, and effectively enables its users to selectively view content using content warnings. Together, safety, privacy, and content warnings create an online space where trans people can simultaneously build community, find support, and express both the mundanity and excitement of trans life. Yet in each of these areas, we also learned ways that the site can improve. We provide implications for how social media sites may better support trans users, as well as insular communities of people from other marginalized groups.Institute for Research on Women and Gender (IRWG)Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162569/1/HaimsonTransTime.pdfDescription of HaimsonTransTime.pdf : Main articleSEL

Social Role Transitions and Technology: Societal Change and Coping in Online Communities

Technological and societal changes unfold in relation to one another. Many events like becoming a parent, getting divorced, or getting a medical diagnosis dictate a change in one’s social role. Social role transition can have negative consequences including stress, stigmatization, and disempowerment. Social interactions, especially communicating with allies and those facing similar conditions, can alleviate the psychological burden of these challenges. The goal of this dissertation is to understand how people use technology to cope with social role change, and how the features of different online communities provide a range of ways to make sense of their social role transition, find support, and advocate for change. In the first study (Chapter 3), I qualitatively analyze interviews with fathers and a sam- ple of father blogs to show how fathers use do-it-yourself (DIY) language on blogs and in their online interactions as a means of redefining fatherhood. Fathers use the DIY concept to build their own father-centric online communities in order to manage some of the disad- vantages associated with the lack of parenting online communities that cater to them. This new framing of fatherhood allows fathers to make sense of their new role as parents, and at the same time, to redefine the social norms around fatherhood. In Chapter 4, I study how parents use social media sites at scale using natural language processing. The focus of the analysis is on Reddit, a social media site that allows users to comment under pseudonyms. I find that parents use pseudonymous social media sites to discuss topics that might otherwise be considered too sensitive to discuss on real-name social media sites such as Facebook (e.g., breastfeeding and sleep training). This study also outlines similarities and differences in discussion topics among mothers and father on Reddit (e.g., mothers discussing breastfeeding and fathers discussing divorce and custody). Finally, in Chapter 5, I use computational and qualitative methods to study how anony- mous accounts on Reddit (throwaway accounts) provide parents with varying levels of anonymity as they cope with social role changes by sharing potentially stigmatizing infor- mation (e.g., postpartum depression) or advocating for stigmatized identities (e.g., divorced fathers). Finally, based on my findings, I present design recommendations that could pro- mote better social support on platforms beyond Reddit.PHDInformationUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162933/1/tawfiqam_1.pd