Center for Families

Harnessing the power of faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends to improve our quality of life.

February 1, 2022

Perspectives on facility dogs from pediatric hospital personnel: A qualitative content analysis of patient, family, and staff outcomes

An increasing number of children's hospitals feature full-time resident facility dogs, which are specially trained to work alongside pediatric healthcare professionals to improve the patient experience. This qualitative study aimed to describe the role that facility dogs play in the...

January 31, 2022

Measuring Physical Activity Regulatory Styles and Identity Among Adults 55 Years or Older

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of modified versions of the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire and Exercise Identity Scale for use with adults ages ≥55 years to measure regulatory styles and identity related to...

January 27, 2022

Explaining the persistence of gender inequality: The work–family narrative as a social defense against the 24/7 work culture

Drs. Irene Padavic and Robin Ely as they present highlights of their 2021 Kanter Award-winning paper.

January 20, 2022

Strengths of the heart: Stressors, gratitude, and mental health in single mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic

The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has created significant economic, social, and mental health challenges for many parents. However, single mothers (who are typically both primary caregivers and wage earners for their families) may be especially vulnerable to stress and mental...

January 3, 2022

Why kids are losing interest in playing team sports

Travis Dorsch, Utah State University Families in Sport Lab, joins The News with Shepard Smith to discuss why young people are less interested in playing team sports. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbGgaxhYgAg

January 3, 2022

What Is Engaged Scholarship and How Can It Improve Your Research?

Community-engaged scholarship is increasingly viewed as a valuable strategy for strengthening the quality and impact of academic research. This approach involves partnering with relevant groups or communities—those who are the focus of a research study or who may be directly...

December 25, 2021

Examining transactional relations between behavioral self-regulation and social-emotional functioning during the transition to kindergarten.

The present study examined longitudinal associations between behavioral self-regulation and social-emotional functioning across four waves of measurement during the transition from preschool to kindergarten in a low-income sample. Participants included two cohorts of children. Children in both cohorts were 4...

December 6, 2021

Kids are losing interest in organized sports. Why that matters

For more than a century, team sports have been a mainstay of American childhood. What began as a way to keep boys in cities occupied and out of trouble has evolved into a $19-billion industry, with much of that revenue...

December 1, 2021

Pushing the boundaries: A qualitative study of how stem women adapted to disrupted work–nonwork boundaries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

National reports widely publicized that the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic’s disruption of work–nonwork boundaries impacted women’s careers negatively, as many exited their jobs to manage nonwork demands. We know less about the adaptations made by highly career-invested women to remain...

December 1, 2021

Interactions between Genetic, Prenatal, Cortisol, and Parenting Influences on Adolescent Substance Use and Frequency: A TRAILS Study

Dynamic relations between genetic, hormone, and pre- and postnatal environments are theorized as critically important for adolescent substance use but are rarely tested in multifactorial models. This study assessed the impact of interactions of genetic risk and cortisol reactivity with...