Sixteen graduate students from the Department of Family Social Science will share posters, papers, and presentations at this year’s National Council on Family Relations annual meeting.

In addition, FSOS faculty and alumni will also present at NCFR, being held in Orlando with a virtual satellite location at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.

One of Jessica Simpson’s two posters, “What is useful for sibling interventions in foster care? Perspectives and ideas from those with former foster care experience,” was named “Best Student Poster”Award in NCFR’s Sibling Relationships Focus Group. Simpson was first author and collaborated with fellow students Guanyu Wang, Ana Mireya Diaz, Janette Driscoll, and Haoran Zhou under the leadership of Armeda Wojciak, associate professor and Couple & Family Therapy program director.

Simpson will also present the poster, “The Family Education Diabetes Series (FEDS): Improving health in the American Indian community through innovative research- and care-partnerships,” and three papers, “Longing to belong”: The ambiguous loss of Indigenous fostered/adopted individuals;” “What is known about Indigenous adults who were adopted as children? A critical review of the literature;” and “Identifying risk factors for clinically significant behavioral problems among American Indian children in child welfare.”

Why the ambitious schedule? Simpson explained.

“Indigenous youth are overrepresented in child welfare, yet underrepresented in child welfare research,” says Simpson. “My presentations will raise awareness related to grief, loss, and challenges to identity that occur as a result of foster care and adoption, particularly for Indigenous individuals and communities.”

Graduate students Reo Wang and Jessica Simpson will also present a poster and paper during NCFR.

At the satellite virtual event at Champaign-Urbana, Reo Wang will present the poster, ” Family Gender Environment Measure Validation with a Gender Diverse Sample,” and the paper, “Sexual Stigma and Beliefs in LGBTQ+ Parent Socialization: The Mediating Roles of Positive LGBTQ+ Identity and Community Attachment.”

Wang noted the unique opportunity to discover future collaborators.

 “This conference provides a unique platform for me to disseminate my research findings to a diverse audience of scholars and practitioners in the field of family relations,” Wang says. “By presenting my work, I have the opportunity to engage in academic discourse, receive constructive feedback, and foster collaborations with other researchers.”

Poster presentations

Ana Mireya Diaz, “Examining Educational Policies for Youth in Out-of-Home Care: A Comparative Analysis of Costa Rica, Panama and Wisconsin (USA).”

Janette Driscoll, “Improving Parental Sense of Child-Caring and Support Through the Learning Through Play Calendar: Evidence in a Low-Income Setting,” and “What Is Useful For Sibling Interventions in Foster Care? Perspectives and Ideas From Those With Former Foster Care Experience.”

Nusroon Fatiha, “Reverse Migration Stress, Trauma, Coping, and Resilience in Narratives of Cambodian American Deportees and Their Families,” and “The Family Education Diabetes Series (FEDS): Improving Health in the American Indian Community through Innovative Research- and Care- Partnerships.”

Yunqi He, “Measurement of Mother’s and Father’s Parenting: A Multi-trait, Multi-method Investigation of Convergent Validity.”

Umme Kawser, “Improving parental sense of child-caring and support through the Learning Through Play calendar: Evidence in a low-income setting, “Therapist supporting and undermining behavior scale,” “Role of imams in divorce decision-making.”

Kadija Mussa, Relationship Commitment, Perception of Alternative Partner, and Relational Problem Solving.”

Somayeh Naderi, “Model of the relationship between police experiences and well-being with the mediation of social support in gender-diverse people.”

Cante Nakanishi, “Relationship Commitment, Perception of Alternative Partner, and Relational Problem Solving.”

Guanyu Wang, “Paternal Impact on Children’s Psychosocial Adjustment in Chinese Immigrant Families: A Systematic Review.”

Ting Xu, “Patterns of parent smartphone use throughout the day and associations with parent characteristics;  Role of Social Capital on Public Charter School Students’ Perceived Academic Competence.”

Yubo Xu, “Bibliometric Analysis of Family Studies in Technology Use in Parenting Over The Past Ten Years.”

Hanna Yu, “Navigating Economic Hardship: The Impact of Losing Work Hours, Working Remotely, and Childcare in Families With Children.”

Cahya H. Yunizar, “The Narratives of Women’s Lived Experience During Global Pandemic in Gejog Lesung Art Performance in Rural Indonesia,” and “Exploring Hmong Women’s Divorce Related Stressors and Ways in Navigating Social Support Post-Divorce.”

Paper presentations

Connor Callahan, “A Systemic Review of How Trans and Gender Expansive Youth and Their Parents Navigate Gender-Affirming Care” and “Testing the Construct Validity of the Family Gender Environment Measure: Gender Based Group Differences in Family Gender Environment.”

Alex Hanson, “Parent and adolescent perceptions of parent smartphone addiction: A longitudinal descriptive analysis.”

Eunyoung Park, “Bridging Innovation and Tradition: Typologies of Parent-Adolescent Communication In-Person and Using Technology.”