FSoS graduate students head to NCFR

Eleven graduate students from the Department of Family Social Science head to Baltimore for  the annual meeting of the National Council on Family Relations. They will join family science researchers from across the globe in sharing their scholarly work that aims to expand the body of knowledge that helps individuals, families, and communities thrive. Students will make presentations and serve as discussants and facilitators throughout the four- day conference. 

Chalandra Bryant, FSoS director of research, professor and the Dr. Pauline Boss Professorship in  Ambiguous Loss, organized a practice session for students in advance of NCFR. She is pictured (fourth from left) with students (left to right): Elizabeth Hruska, Rachel Rineman, Pubudu Senaratne, Hanna Yu, and Haiden Hice. 

"We want our students to shine. The practice sessions are a safe place to obtain constructive  feedback and build confidence," says Bryant. "These sessions could not occur without the dedicated presence of faculty and staff who pose thought-provoking questions and  share other ways of conducting and interpreting analyses."  

Graduate students participating  

Vianney Atugonza will present the poster, "Bridging Generations: The role of in-person and  digital communication in emerging adult-grandparent relationships."  

Greyson Arnold will present their paper, "Associations Between Family-Based Microaffirmations,  Gender-Affirming Behaviors, and Life Satisfaction Among Transgender Adults."  

Haiden Hice will be a discussant for the Paper Symposium, "Relational Frameworks for Suicide  Prevention and Intervention," and present the papers, "Family Gender Environment and Gender  Minority Stress Among Trans and Gender Diverse Adults," and "Conditional Ties: LGBTQ+  Youth, Ambiguous Loss, and Family Dynamics," as well as the poster, "Microaggressions,  Minority Stress, and Mental Health: LGBTQ Student Experiences in Higher Education."  

Elizabeth Hruska will present the paper, "College Student Post-Traumatic Growth During  COVID-19: Parents’ Perceptions."  

Somayeh Naderi will present two papers: "The Relationship Between Children’s Experiences of  SOGIE Bullying and Parental Attitudes About Safe Schools Policies and Practices," and  "Demographic Characteristics Linked to Increased Police Encounters Among SGM Individuals."  

Eunyoung Park will discuss her paper, "Parental control or connection? The moderating effect of  depressive symptoms on parental internet restrictions and parent-adolescent closeness."  

Rachel Rineman will present, "Impacts of Overnight Smartphone Use on Sleep Outcomes  Among Parents of Adolescents: A Passive Sensing Approach."  

Pubudu Senaratne will discuss her paper, "Refugee Resilience: Experiences of Hmong, Syrian,  and Iraqi Refugees in Minnesota and Michigan."  

Shreya Sharma is presenting the poster, "Centering Birth Parents’ Voices in Child Welfare:  Findings from a Birth-Parent Support Intervention Development Process."  

Ting Xu will present the paper, "Objective Smartphone Use & Perceived Smartphone Addiction  Among Parents of Adolescents."  

Minghui Xin will discuss her poster, "Centering Birth Parents’ Voices in Child Welfare  Through Talking Circles and World Cafés: Preliminary Findings from a Birth-parent Support  Intervention Development Process." She will also be the student representative  of the Coparenting and Divorce Education Focus Group and will help to facilitate the meeting  with the two co-chairs.  

Hanna Yu will present "From Family Experiences to Childfree: Exploring the Decision Not to  Have Kids in Young Adults with Supervised Machine Learning."  

Family Social Science prepares students to use research to discover and apply knowledge, build interpersonal  communication skills, and develop personally and professionally. The department was among  the first to be accredited by the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy and has  had a long-standing relationship with UMN Extension and the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment  Station to bring evidence-based programming to families across the state and the nation.