Frank J. Floyd

Bio: Frank J. Floyd is an academic researcher from University of Hawaii at Manoa. The author has contributed to research in topics: Intellectual disability & Longitudinal study. The author has an hindex of 23, co-authored 36 publications receiving 3432 citations. Previous affiliations of Frank J. Floyd include University of Hawaii & Georgia State University.

Life Course Impacts of Parenting a Child With a Disability

Abstract: We contrasted parents who had a child with a developmental disability, a serious mental health problem, and a normative comparison group with respect to parental attainment and well-being at mid-life. Data are from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, collected when the respondents were 18, 36, and 53 or 54, on average. Although similar at age 18, group patterns of attainment and well-being diverged thereafter. Parents of a child with a developmental disability had lower rates of employment, larger families, and lower rates of social participation but were similar to parents without a child with a disability in educational and marital status, physical health, and psychological well-being. Parents whose child had a serious mental health problem had normative patterns of educational and occupational attainment and marriage, but elevated levels of physical symptoms, depression, and alcohol symptoms at mid-life.

The relative risk and timing of divorce in families of children with an autism spectrum disorder.

Abstract: We compared the occurrence and timing of divorce in 391 parents of children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and a matched representative sample of parents of children without disabilities using a survival analysis. Parents of children with an ASD had a higher rate of divorce than the comparison group (23.5% vs. 13.8%). The rate of divorce remained high throughout the son’s or daughter’s childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood for parents of children with an ASD, whereas it decreased following the son’s or daughter’s childhood (after about age 8 years) in the comparison group. Younger maternal age when the child with ASD was born and having the child born later in the birth order were positively predictive of divorce for parents of children with an ASD. Findings have implications for interventions focused on ameliorating ongoing and long-term marital strains for parents of children with an ASD.

Parental Stress, Care Demands, and Use of Support Services for School-Age Children with Disabilities and Behavior Problems.

Abstract: Parental Stress, Care Demands, and Use of Support Services for School-Age Children With Disabilities and Behavior Problems* Frank J. Floyd and Erin M. Gallagher** Data were obtained from mothers and fathers of children (N = 231) with mental retardation (MR) or chronic illness (CI), and a nondisabled behavior-problems sample. Mothers identified fewer behavior problems in children with MR and more in children with CI than did teachers. The presence of significant behavior problems was more important than disability type in determining most forms of parental stress, and predicted mental health services use. MR group parents worried most about providing ongoing care into adulthood. Single mothers were not more stressed, but used more services than two-parent families. The results call for a wider array of community and family support services that target children with disabilities who have behavior problems. Key Words: child behavior problems, chronic illness, family adaptation, family stress, mental retardation. Previous research documents that the special child care demands faced by the parents of children with disabilities can cause significant stress for the parents and significant disruption in family relationships (e.g., Farber, 1960; Gath, 1973; Turnbull, Brotherson, & Summers, 1986). These demands persist throughout childhood and into the adult years, and require continuous adaptation by the parents to both ongoing stressors and frequent crises (Wikler, 1986). Previous longitudinal research indicates that, in turn, the psychosocial climate of the home affects the social development of children with disabilities (Nihira, Mink, & Meyers, 1985). Thus, models of family adaptation propose that when families are able to cope well with special childcare demands they may be able to enhance social and cognitive adjustment for the child, and may also avoid distress and disruption for other family members (Crnic, Friedrich, & Greenberg, 1983; Landesman, Jaccard, & Gunderson, 1989). One key to successful adaptation lies in the ability of families to access appropriate support services that both help families cope with the child's needs, and also reduce disability-related problems for the child and family (Singer, et al., 1993). Although some services are provided in school-settings, parents typically must make active efforts to seek additional and sometimes highly necessary services (Wilgosh, Waggoner, & Adams, 1988). Thus, service utilization is highly dependent on the parents' own motivation to obtain assistance. Of course, the types of services used by families will often depend on the nature of the child's disability (i.e., cognitive deficits as opposed to chronic illness), which influences the type of care demands placed on the family. However, motivation to seek and use services may also stem from other characteristics of the child and family that affect perceived needs and the family's ability to benefit from services (Dunst, Trivette, Hamby, & Pollack, 1990; Friedrich, Cohen, & Wilturner, 1988). For example, the ABC-X model of stress and coping suggests that families will make relatively greater use of support services when the child's problems exceed the family's own coping resources (Hill, 1958; McCubbin & Patterson, 1983; Orr, Cameron, & Day, 1991). Additionally, parents' use of services may be influenced by their optimism that the child and family can profit from the services (Margalit, Raviv, & Ankonina, 1992; Rimmerman & Portowicz, 1987; Sloper & Turner, 1992). Although considerable research documents that parents of children with disabilities experience stress associated with the disability that distinguishes them from the parents of children without disabilities, there is relatively little research that examines differences among disability groups. Comparison of selected groups can control for theoretically relevant conditions of child adjustment and family life, and can thus help to specify the processes by which characteristics of the child and characteristics of the family influence each other (Stoneman, 1989). …

Long-Term Effects of the Death of a Child on Parents’ Adjustment in Midlife

Abstract: The death of a child is a traumatic event that can have long-term effects on the lives of parents. This study examined bereaved parents of deceased children (infancy to age 34) and comparison parents with similar backgrounds (n = 428 per group) identified in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. An average of 18.05 years following the death, when parents were age 53, bereaved parents reported more depressive symptoms, poorer well-being, and more health problems and were more likely to have experienced a depressive episode and marital disruption than were comparison parents. Recovery from grief was associated with having a sense of life purpose and having additional children but was unrelated to the cause of death or the amount of time since the death. The results point to the need for detection and intervention to help those parents who are experiencing lasting grief.

Coming-out across the life course: implications of age and historical context.

Abstract: Effects of age and the calendar year when individuals first self-identified as gay, lesbian, or bisexual on their sexual orientation identity development were examined in a large community sample (N=767, 47% female, 18-74-years-old). These 2 variables were used to examine the timing and sequencing of 7 coming-out experiences: first awareness of same-sex attraction; first sexual experiences with opposite-sex partners; first sexual experiences with same-sex partners; self-identification as gay, lesbian, or bisexual; disclosure to someone other than a parent; disclosure to mother; and disclosure to father. The significant effects of age revealed that self-identification in adolescence as opposed to adulthood was associated with an overall young coming-out trajectory for all milestone experiences, which occurred in both earlier and recent historical contexts. Adolescents as opposed to adult self-identifiers were also more likely to demonstrate identity-centered sequences in which self-identification preceded same-sex sexual experiences, and fewer of these individuals had any heterosexual experience. Significant historical context effects indicated recent trends toward younger disclosure of orientation to others and to parents, greater likelihood of an identity-centered sequence, and younger ages for first heterosexual but not same-sex, sexual experiences. Among women, there was a recent trend toward greater likelihood of having a bisexual identity milestone. In general, the maturational effects were independent of historical context, with the exception that only adolescent self-identifiers who came out recently disclosed to others and to parents at an average age younger than 18 years. These developmental and historical trends expand on the stage-sequential framework to show how the process of sexual orientation identity development is driven by maturational factors as well as social changes.

Psychological well-being revisited: advances in the science and practice of eudaimonia.

Abstract: This article reviews research and interventions that have grown up around a model of psychological well-being generated more than two decades ago to address neglected aspects of positive functioning such as purposeful engagement in life, realization of personal talents and capacities, and enlightened self-knowledge. The conceptual origins of this formulation are revisited and scientific products emerging from 6 thematic areas are examined: (1) how well-being changes across adult development and later life; (2) what are the personality correlates of well-being; (3) how well-being is linked with experiences in family life; (4) how well-being relates to work and other community activities; (5) what are the connections between well-being and health, including biological risk factors, and (6) via clinical and intervention studies, how psychological well-being can be promoted for ever-greater segments of society. Together, these topics illustrate flourishing interest across diverse scientific disciplines in understanding adults as striving, meaning-making, proactive organisms who are actively negotiating the challenges of life. A take-home message is that increasing evidence supports the health protective features of psychological well-being in reducing risk for disease and promoting length of life. A recurrent and increasingly important theme is resilience - the capacity to maintain or regain well-being in the face of adversity. Implications for future research and practice are considered.

Adolescent Romantic Relationships

Abstract: In this article, we review theoretical and empirical advances in research on romantic relationships between age 10 and the early twenties. First, we describe key themes in this area of research. Next, we briefly characterize the most influential theoretical formulations and distinctive methodological issues. We then describe research findings regarding pertinent social and developmental processes. We summarize the extensive findings on relationships with parents and peers as a context for romantic relationships. Finally, we characterize the growing evidence that adolescent romantic relationships are significant for individual adjustment and development, and we note promising directions for further research.