Families

Media literacy education has yet to adequately address the needs of parents as media literacy learners. Yet, a lack of understanding about media literacy’s meaning, for most people outside of the community of scholars and advocates engaged in its discourse, renders no clear pathway toward rectifying the omission. This study situates media, rather than media literacy, as the introductory topic, while seeking a conceptual gateway for parents as media literacy learners through insights gathered from mothers of adolescents on matters of quality, role, and impact within their home environments. Utilizing Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory of human development as a conceptual foundation, media use was framed here as a proximal process. Through exploratory mixed methods research design, data were collected from a quantitative questionnaire (n=363) and qualitative, semi-structured interviews (n=13) about three proximal process variations: (1) mother and adolescent engaged in joint media use, (2) the mother’s solitary media use, and (3) media use of their adolescent child(ren) when alone.
Quantitative results show that mothers evaluate the quality of media use in their home environments as more favorable than not for each proximal process. However, there was significant disagreement among the mothers regarding media use of their adolescent(s), when alone. Disagreement on this item guided identification of participants for the qualitative interviews.

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a disability resulting in functional impairments and heightened dependence on others. Family members of persons with TBI can assume added responsibilities during the adjustment to the disability and rehabilitation process, placing strain on the family system. Community re-integration is a primary goal of the rehabilitation process for persons with TBI as this is a step in developing autonomy and promoting independence and productive activity throughout different areas of the person's life (e.g., work, social networks, and home life). This study was designed to examine predictors of community re-integration outcomes of TBI survivors and empirically test the resiliency model of family stress, adjustment, and adaptation while incorporating family needs by surveying caregiving family members. Specific aims of the study include validating relationships of the resiliency model with individual and family outcomes in adaptation and supporting future recommendations for healthcare providers working with families with members with TBI.

Economic changes have made the immigration of women to the United States part of major political and social issues. Women from Latin America frequently immigrate alone and without legal documentation, leaving their children in the care of relatives or friends, thus becoming transnational mothers in the process. Hispanic/Latino groups comprise the largest minority in the U.S., and Latina women account for 48.9% of the total Latino population. This demographic trend is expected to continue, and Hispanic/Latino groups are projected to experience the largest population increase in the coming decades (Marshall, Urrutia-Rojas, Soto-Mas & Coggin, 2005). The separation from their family has a strong impact on the health and well-being of these women, rendering them vulnerable to health care barriers and health disparities. This qualitative research study explored the experiences of Latinas living transnational motherhood. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight Latin as living transnational motherhood between the ages 21- 39. The findings in this study describe the lived experience of Latina transnational mothers within their social, economic and cultural context. The narrative was analyzed using van Manen's (1990) interpretative hermeneutic phenomenological approach to narrative analysis. Findings indicate that Latinas experiencing transnational motherhood find meaning in mothering from afar through sacrifice, suffering, and hopefulness for a better life for their children, and for family reunification. Findings from this study inform nurses of the health care barriers that these Latinas living transnational motherhood encounter as they experience hardship in order to support their families abroad as well as themselves.