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Item At a Loss for Words: Using Performance to Explain How Friends Communicate About Infertility(2023-06) Binion, Kelsey Elizabeth; Brann, Maria; Beckman, Emily; Bute, Jennifer J.; Longtin, Krista J.In the United States, approximately one in five women are unable to get pregnant after one year of trying. Due to the pervasiveness of pronatalism in Western society, having a child is widely assumed to be a natural and expected part of womanhood. Society’s master narratives reinforce these ideals and stigmatize the experiences of women who have infertility. This multi-phase research study examined how women discuss their infertility journey with their friends. The study’s aims were to understand friendships within the context of infertility, how the relationship affects a woman’s identity, and the communicative behaviors used in conversations. Fifteen interviews were conducted with women who experienced or are experiencing infertility and had discussed their past or current challenges with a friend. Results of a phronetic iterative analysis suggested that women who have personal experience with infertility (a) disclose to close/best friends, (b) communicate their identity as “broken,” (c) desire emotional support, and (d) strategically navigate conversations as they encounter positive and negative messages. These results were transformed into a performance, which included six monologues and a talkback. The purpose of the arts-based methodology was to disseminate results and assess the performance’s impact. Seventy-three individuals attended one of the two performances in April 2023, and 50 attendees completed the post-performance evaluation. The quantitative results suggest that attendees felt informed about the complexities of infertility, gained a new perspective, received advice about how to have future conversations, and did not feel offended by the content. Through a thematic analysis, four themes emerged from the two talkback sessions and evaluation comments: being informed about infertility as a health condition, appreciating the theatrical format to learn, connecting to the performance to understand the illness experience, and feeling comfortable navigating conversations about infertility. Despite the variance in infertility experiences, friends are essential social support figures as women navigate infertility, and there are best practices when having a conversation, as demonstrated in the performance. This study’s implications include providing communication strategies to support women with infertility and recognizing that an arts-based methodology can highlight counterstories, inform about a stigmatized health issue, and engage the community.Item The prevalence and nature of unrequited love(2013) Bringle, Robert G.; Winnick, Terri A.; Rydell, Robert J.Unrequited love (UL) is unreciprocated love that causes yearning for more complete love. Five types of UL are delineated and conceptualized on a continuum from lower to greater levels of interdependence: crush on someone unavailable, crush on someone nearby, pursuing a love object, longing for a past lover, and an unequal love relationship. Study 1a found all types of UL relationships to be less emotionally intense than equal love and 4 times more frequent than equal love during a 2-year period. Study 1b found little evidence for limerent qualities of UL. Study 2 found all types of UL to be less intense than equal love on passion, sacrifice, dependency, commitment, and practical love, but more intense than equal love on turmoil. These results suggest that UL is not a good simulation of true romantic love, but an inferior approximation of that ideal.Item Social support and well being: a quantiative study of the effects of friends on the sexual well-being of older adults(2015-06) Williams, Monica May; Latham, Kenzie E.; Hensel, Devon J.; Foote, Carrie E.Social support has been shown to positively impact various aspects of health across the lifespan, including sexual health and well-being. While past research on sexual well-being has tended to focus on the earlier stages of the life course, notably adolescence and young adulthood, this is a largely ignored area of research past the reproductive stage of life. Current research finds that while social support, from partners, family, and friends alike, has generally positive influences on health in mid to late adulthood, these outcomes are varied in regards to sexual well-being. This thesis aims to (1) assess the role of friend support in the sexual well-being of older adults and (2) to explore if physical and mental health are significant mediators of this relationship, using data from Wave II of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP). This study found that sixty two percent of older adults are not having sex as much as they would like and 61% feel that their sex life is lacking in quality. Increased feelings of openness with friends was associated with satisfaction with sexual frequency (p=.055). However, a significant association could not be established between satisfaction with quality of sex life and friend support. In addition, physical and mental health status were not found to be significant mediators.Item Social Support and Well-being: A Quantitative Study of the Effects of Friendship on the Sexual Well-being of Older Adults(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2015-04-17) Williams, Monica M.Background: Social support has been shown to positively impact various aspects of health across the lifespan, including sexual health and well-being. While past research on sexual well-being has tended to focus on the earlier stages of the life course, notably adolescence and young adulthood, this is a largely ignored area of research past the reproductive stage of life. Current research finds that while social support, from partners, family, and friends alike, has generally positive influences on health in mid to late adulthood, these outcomes are varied in regards to sexual well-being. Objectives: This study aims to (1) assess the role of friend support in the sexual wellbeing of older adults and (2) to explore if physical and mental health are significant mediators of this relationship. Methods: This study uses data from Wave II of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), a longitudinal, population-based study of health and social factors, aiming to understand the well-being of older, community-dwelling adults. Using binary logistic regression, a series of models were created to evaluate whether social support of friends is a significant predictor of sexual well-being in older adults and whether that relationship is reduced with the introduction of each mediator individually. Covariates included age, race, gender, education, partner status, presence of close family members, and sexual functioning. Results: Sixty two percent of older adults are not having sex as much as they would like and 61% feel that their sex life is lacking in quality. Significant correlates of satisfaction of sex frequency include having a romantic partner (OR .209; p<.000), reliable friends (OR 1.366; p=.010) and sexual dysfunction (OR 1.257; p<.000). Significant correlates of quality of sex life included gender (OR .636; p=.001), education (OR 1.136, p=.037), and sexual dysfunction (OR 1.355; p=.000). Neither mental health nor physical health status were significant mediators of the dependent variables. Conclusion: Similar to findings related to sexual well-being and familial support and reliance (Wait and Das 2010), this study showed that having reliable friends actually decreased the likelihood of satisfaction with sex frequency, one important aspect of sexual well-being. While this relationship may be due to friendship being a proxy for romantic relationships, more research is needed to ascertain the cause of this relationship.