Improving External and Internal Validity of a Model of Midlife Women's Maternal-Student Role Stress

Abstract

This study's purpose was to improve both the external and internal validity of Gigliotti's model of maternal-student role stress in midlife women. It was found that the model is generalizeable to midlife women who are non-degreed undergraduate students of varied marital and immigration status and varied college major, thus improving external validity. It was also found that investigating particular types of children's situation-specific social support improved internal validity. These results support the propositions of the Neuman systems model as well as Meleis and others' transition framework. An interventional study is proposed as the next step in this program of research.

Use of Averaged Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire Scores

“…Thus, the above participant with seven immediate family members functionally inflates his/her support score. In fact, in the three samples [9–11] used in the present study, network size was very highly correlated with affect scores (.95, .94,  and .95,  resp.) and affirmation scores (.92,  .90,  and .92,  resp.)…”

“…With institutional review board approval, a secondary analysis was conducted on data from three different samples [9–11] of women who were mothers attending college for their first postsecondary school degree. The same data collection protocol was used in all three studies: participation was invited during a brief in-class presentation of the study, and participants completed the self-administered surveys on their own time and anonymously returned surveys in postage-paid envelopes addressed to the first author.…”

“…PMRS is the amount of role stress experienced by women who are both mothers and students. It has been hypothesized that increased social support is related to decreased levels of PMRS [9–11, 13]. Using the same software and criteria as above, we tested the correlations between PMRS and both raw and averaged total functional support scores and affect, affirmation, and aid scores.…”

“…This happens most often with aid, because some participants list network members who may like (affect) and agree with (affirmation) them but be unable to provide tangible help (aid) such as children, elderly parents, and peripheral network members. In fact, in the present study's third sample [11], where data were entered at this level of specificity (i.e., affect, affirmation, and aid scores from each network member), it was determined that for aid scores, 33% of participants gave a 0 aid rating to at least 1 network member, and 20% of participants gave more than 1 network member a 0 aid rating. In contrast, only 9% of participants gave a 0 affect rating, and 19% gave a 0 affirmation rating.…”

How Master of Divinity Education Changes Students: A Research-Based Model

“…The available data about seminary students suggest that many seminarians are multiple‐role students (Wheeler, Miller, and Aleshire 2007). While researchers have examined the complex lives of multiple‐role students in nursing (Gerson 1985; Gigliotti 2007) and social work (Home 1997; Hopkins, Bloom, and Deal 2005), far less is known about multiple‐role seminarians, despite Ricciuti's call for educational practices that “take into account and respect the multiple life‐and‐ministry responsibilities of our students” (2003, 147). Further research about multiple‐role students in seminaries might clarify linkages and disconnects between student lives outside of school and their engagement in theological education.…”