Sociology Theses, Dissertations, & Student Research

Adolescent Depressive Symptoms and Substance Use: The Mediating Influence of Health Service Utilization

Sarah E. Malone — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 07:45:25 PDT

A large number of American adolescents suffer from depression and the consequences have been shown to be detrimental to their well-being. Adolescent substance use is also an increasing social problem due to the high usage rates and negative lifelong consequences for users. This paper explores the relationships between victimization, substance use, psychological health service utilization, and depressive symptoms in a sample of 4,757 adolescents. Using two waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), the results revealed a positive relationship between victimization and adolescent depressive symptoms, even after controlling for several demographic variables and previous depressive symptoms. However, victimization was only moderately associated with depressive symptoms, indirectly through cigarette or marijuana use. Moreover, psychological health service utilization partially mediated the significant association between adolescent substance use (cigarette or marijuana) and adolescent depressive symptoms. In conclusion, adolescents who experience higher levels of victimization may be more likely to use cigarettes or marijuana, which is positively associated with utilizing psychological health services, thereby elevating the risk of adolescent depressive symptoms. Intervention to reduce adolescent substance use may reduce vulnerability to adolescent depressive symptoms.

Advisor: Kimberly A. Tyler

Does Exclusion From Normative Peer Groups in Early Adolescence Predict the Development of Substance Use Problems in Early Adulthood?

Cody R. Meyer — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 07:25:30 PDT

Much of the previous research pertaining to Problem Substance Use has examined genetic predisposition or personality traits associated with substance abuse or dependence. The current research examines a possible relationship between social exclusion and problem substance use. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (waves 1-3), I explore several indicators of social exclusion in adolescence, and examine how they may predict the onset of substance use problems by early adulthood. As discussed herein, there is evidence that suggests that adolescents who are rejected or excluded from normative peer groups are more likely to gravitate towards deviant peer groups, socialize with peers who abuse substances more frequently, and eventually experience more substance use problems in early adulthood. Implications of the current study could contribute to our understanding of environmental influences on adolescent substance use, as well as inform future prevention efforts.

Adviser: Lisa Kort-Butler

Sins of our Fathers (and Mothers): Impact of Parental Incarceration upon Education Outcomes

Patrick Habecker — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 14:58:08 PDT

In 2007, it was estimated that 2.3% of all children in the U.S. under the age of 18 had a parent currently in prison or jail (Glaze and Maruschak 2008). A growing body of research on the experiences of children who have had a parent to go prison or jail has exposed a number of detrimental outcomes associated with parental incarceration, including lower education outcomes (Foster and Hagan 2007), higher risk of mental health problems (Farrington et al. 2001), and increased contact with the criminal justice system later in life (Huebner and Gustafson 2007). This study used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to extend the existing literature on parental incarceration and high school completion and overall educational attainment. This study focused on examining differences in how these educational experiences change when a father is incarcerated compared to a mother, and how old the child was when their parent was first incarcerated. This study finds that parental incarceration lowers the odds of a child completing high school by 50%, and lowers their overall educational attainment by 0.33 standard deviations. Educational attainment is further decreased when a mother is incarcerated compared to a father. For both education outcomes sons fare worse than daughters. The effects of parental incarceration upon education outcomes are most severe when the child is between the ages of 11 to 14 when their parent was first incarcerated.

Advisor: Lisa A. Kort-Butler

Exploring Educational Pathways: Reintegration of the Formerly Incarcerated through the Academy

grant e. tietjen — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 09:55:29 PDT

The overarching research issue that will be addressed in this study is: what are the pathways and experiences formerly incarcerated people face when trying to acquire and/or use higher educational credentials (for example, Bachelors, Masters, and Doctoral degrees)? Another important question this study will examine is how ex-convicts successfully access academically focused higher education. There are many compelling reasons why this topic should be studied. While much research has been produced in regards to convicts and education, very little research has examined ex-inmates’ access to and utilization of academia. This study defines academia as attainment of graduate degrees or professional credentials with a focus on the expectations of working within academia, either in a teaching or research capacity. A common theme presented by participants in this study was: academia as a door to opportunity that had been left open to the formerly incarcerated. Another driving concept presented in the qualitative responses collected in this study is that access to social capital creates access to academic human capital. While research supports that formerly incarcerated people tend to possess and have access to very little human capital due to structural issues of social inequality, this research presents a societal frame in which this group successfully gains human capital. Focusing on the interaction of social and human capital within this study provides valuable insight into the scholarship of how such concepts can provide educational benefit the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated.

Advisors: L. Janelle Dance and Helen A. Moore

Tentative Transitions and Gendered Pathways: Exploring the Revolving Door of Young Adult Homelessness

Rachel M. Schmitz — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:35:19 PDT

The number of homeless young adults living in unstable conditions is a growing social problem. However, less is known about the multiple transitions young people experience as they enter into street life and how these pathways differ for males and females. While some young people may run away from home never to return, others may move between housed environments and homelessness, creating a revolving door effect. The homeless experience for young adults can also potentially lead to developmental problems in later life such as the lack of stable employment due to criminal activity and an overall cycle of homelessness that is difficult to escape. As such, this study explores the unique, gendered pathways young people experience as they exit their homes using qualitative interviews with 40 homeless young adults (16 males; 24 females) 19 to 21 years of age. Narrative analysis is used to illustrate the incremental process of youths’ exits from their homes as well as a focus on specific events that shape a young person’s life. The overarching theme of the revolving door also includes processes of early adultification and rejection from one’s family of origin. All of the themes are further elaborated using a gendered lens to examine how young men and women experience differential pathways into homelessness, which will allow researchers to expound on the gendered components of this at-risk population.

PERCEIVED STIGMA AND STIGMA MANAGEMENT OF MIDWEST SECULARS

Christopher R. H. Garneau — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 13:28:25 PDT

Prior work demonstrates that atheists and other secular individuals experience especially low trust among the American public. This line of research suggests that those with no religious belief encounter societal stigma related to their non-belief. Yet it is unknown how non-believers perceive and manage stigma. I explore perceived stigma and stigma management strategies employed by atheists, agnostics, and other secular individuals in the Midwest using a mixed methods approach. Results from survey data from more than 2,200 secular individuals as well as 24 in-depth interviews with seculars living in the Midwest show that prejudice and discrimination are common experiences for these individuals. Furthermore, perceived stigma is positively correlated with utilization of secretive and especially proactive stigma management strategies. Additionally, I examine how perceived stigmatization of secular individuals in the Midwest relates to their psychological distress. Results from mixed methods analyses show that perceived secular stigma is associated with distress related to having a secular status. This research is important because it provides a context for the consequences of having a secular status in a predominantly religious society.

Influences of Farming Background on Farm Women’s Employment Motivations

Alexis Swendener — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:31:25 PDT

An important change in the dynamics of family farming is the financial difficulties they have encountered and the resulting solution of sending a family member to earn a wage in off-farm employment. This study utilizes survey data from Washington family farm women to explore how they navigate their unique social context concerning the decision and reasons they choose to work off-farm. In particular, I examine whether women who grew upon a farm or have spent a large percentage of their lives on farms are more or less likely to work off-farm. An identity theory approach is utilized to hypothesize that the influence of farming/agrarian ideology in those with a farming background will lead to differential levels of employment and differing reasons in the decisions to either seek off-farm employment or remain on-farm. This study found that while being raised on-farm was not found to be associated with off-farm employment, increased percentage of life spent on-farm was associated with being less likely to have ever worked off-farm. This study also found that, of those who have worked off-farm, those raised on-farm and with increased percentage of life spent on-farm were less likely to indicate that they work off-farm to gain personal income. In addition, those raised on-farm were less likely to work off-farm in order to gain independence or for the challenge. This study also found that, of those who have not worked off-farm, being raised on-farm had no significant association with listing being needed on-farm or at home as reasons for not working off-farm. However, increase in percentage of a woman’s life spent on-farm was associated with indicating being both needed on the farm/ranch and needed at home as reasons for not working off-farm.

Adviser: Jolene Smyth

Abortion and Distress: The Role of State-Level Restrictive Policies Regarding Reproduction

Elizabeth Straley — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:01:01 PDT

Does state legal context modify the association between abortion and distress among women in the United States? Adjusting for individual characteristics that could be associated with distress based on stress and stigma frameworks, I examine if state legal context modifies the association between abortion and distress using a nationally representative sample of American women ages 25-45. The use of state-level factors as a proxy for social context in this research has not been part of previous studies of the consequences of abortion. In order to appropriately examine the cross-level modifying effects of state level legal context on abortion status with depressive symptoms (measured on a CES-D scale), I used hierarchical linear modeling. I compare women who have had abortions to women who have had an unintended birth or an intended birth. According to the stress process theory, a lack of control should be associated with higher distress; therefore I use pregnancy intention and outcome as a proxy for reproductive control. The results indicate that women who have had an intended birth experience significantly less distress than women who have had an unintended birth or an abortion, regardless of state context. Contrary to what the stigma framework suggests, state legal
context does not modify the association between abortion history and distress. State legal context does, however, modify the association between unintended pregnancy history and distress. In states with more restrictive laws the association between unintended birth history and distress is lower than in states with fewer restrictive laws. These results suggest that distress associated with pregnancy intention and outcome is only partly influenced by state contexts. The stigma associated with abortion is likely to be more national than state specific. Further research is necessary to more fully explain the association between pregnancy intention and outcome, distress, and social context.

Adviser: Julia McQuillan

Hard Work, Overcoming, and Masculinity: An Ethnographic Account of High School Wrestlers' Bodies and Cultural Worlds

Bryan Snyder — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:00:48 PDT

The dissertation explores the cultural worlds of high school wrestlers at an inner-city school in the Mountain West region of the United States. The data upon which this dissertation is based come from a ten-month ethnography, where I conducted “observant participation” (Wacquant 2011) and semi-structured, open-ended interviews with members of this school’s wrestling team. I approached both my data collection and analysis through cultural-sociological frames. Although I intend to contribute to a number of areas of specialization, in this dissertation I use high school wrestling as a site to ask basic questions about key sociological themes such as meaning, identity, and masculinity. This dissertation, at its core, asks how high school wrestlers organize and make sense of their selves and their social worlds through shared cultural schemas, which to varying degrees are informed by larger discourses of masculinity. My findings suggest that wrestlers at Central share a common set of cultural schemas that they use to navigate their social worlds, construct masculine identities, and solve a number of problems, which range from their social marginality on campus to the common outsider accusation that “wrestling is gay.” To this end, I explore the ways that individuals and groups use cultural symbols to establish membership and identities, as well as to make sense of and, at times, defend their social space. I situate my findings in relation to existing literature on symbolic boundaries, sociology of bodies, and current debates on the relationship between masculinity, sexuality, and sport.

Adviser: Julia McQuillan

The Sociology of Harriet Martineau in EASTERN LIFE, PRESENT AND PAST: The Foundations of the Islamic Sociology of Religion

Deborah A. Ruigh — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 17:28:10 PDT

This paper is a critical analysis of Harriet Martineau’s philosophical stance and epistemological modes, her systematic sociological methodology, her use of this methodology, and her sociology of religion. How to Observe Morals and Manners (1838), Eastern Life, Present and Past (1848), and other relevant works will be used to examine Martineau’s evolving epistemological modes as well as her sociology of religion. How to Observe, Martineau’s treatise on systematic sociological methodology and cultural relativism, will serve as an exemplar for analysis of Martineau’s methodological practice as evidenced in Eastern Life. The research problem herein is three-fold: (1) to examine the epistemological modes employed by Martineau in select works; (2) to determine if Martineau followed her own methodology as set forth in How to Observe while subsequently observing in the historical Middle East as evidenced in Eastern Life; and 3) to define the characteristics of Martineau’s sociology of religion.

Adviser: Mary Jo Deegan

A Phenomenology of the Meaning of Motherhood for African American and Hispanic Women Who Do Not Have Children in the United States

Amy M. Clark — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:45:06 PDT

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the meanings that childfree African American and Hispanic women place on motherhood and to better understand what impact these meanings may or may not have on the changing demographic of minority women who do not have children. This study used qualitative interviews and the method of phenomenology to elicit descriptions from a sample of African American and Hispanic women who do not have children. Specifically, the goal of this study was to explore how African American and Hispanic childfree women conceptualize their understanding of motherhood and to understand how these conceptualizations may impact their view of motherhood or becoming a mother. Data were collected from 17 in-depth interviews (n = 8 African American childfree women; n = 9 Hispanic childfree women) and then analyzed using phenomenological procedures. From this study six themes emerged: (1) Strong mother influence – Minority childfree women had a mother figure in their lives that shaped the requirements they felt women should fulfill in the motherhood role. (2) Familial Caregiving – Minority women without children experienced caring for children primarily within their own families or through kinship ties and neighbors that were connected to their family of origin. (3) Purposefully Not Ready – The meanings attributed to the role of motherhood by minority women in this study directly affected their decisions to become mothers themselves. (4) Motherhood is Hard Work –Minority childfree women participating in this study framed their desire to have children in part to their perception that the tasks and duties ascribed to motherhood are labor intensive. (5) Rules, Tradition, and “The Way it Should Be”- A collective notion of the importance of creating “rules” for children and abiding by “tradition” is the fifth theme in this study. Women that were interviewed also discussed the importance of raising children in a nuclear family consisting of a two parent household. Statements within this theme related to the insights that the women had regarding how children should be parented. (6) Understood Judgment - The data revealed that African American and Hispanic women experience criticism and judgment within their families and communities for not becoming a mother. Minority women within this study also indicated that criticism was expected and did not affect their desire to have children.

PREDICTORS OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM USAGE WITHIN UNITED STATES PRISONS

Grant E. Tietjen — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 07:08:55 PST

This study investigates factors that predict inmate participation in prison educational programs using the Bureau of Justice (BJS) 2004 Survey of State and Federal Inmates. I apply the theories of controlology, Marxist criminological theory, and critical education theory. I then review the literature on various types of prison educational programs. The potential predictors of educational program participation are ethnicity, age, children, marital status, class, prior education, sentence length, and type of crime. I hypothesize that people who have higher socio-economic status (SES), shorter sentence lengths, higher levels of pre-incarceration education, and inmates convicted of non-violent crimes are more likely to participate in post-secondary education while incarcerated. Using regression analysis, I examine predictors of prison educational program usage. I find that inmates with higher SES upon entry are less likely to utilize educational programs possibly due to higher median levels of previous education. It also appears that non-white inmates are more likely to utilize GED/High school programs possibly because of lower median levels of previous education upon entry. Results also indicate that the longer an inmate’s sentence is, the more likely the inmate is to use correctional education programs. I argue that educational programs should be designed which target inmates who are less likely to participate and explore theoretical explanations for educational program usage.

Religious Affiliation and Attendance as Predictors of Immigration Attitudes in Nebraska

Courtney Lyons Breitkreutz — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 08:48:35 PST

This study examines the relationship between religious affiliation, church attendance, and attitudes towards immigration. Following the ethnoreligious perspective, I predict that those who identify as Mainline Protestant, Evangelical Protestant, or Catholic will hold more positive attitudes than those who do not affiliate, which would reflect the teachings of their churches. I also predict that Catholics may have particularly positive attitudes because of social identity theory. Attending church services should be associated with more positive attitudes, according to religious restructuralism. Using 2006 telephone survey data of 1,135 Nebraskans from the Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (NASIS), I use binary logistic regression to test these theories and their effect on seven separate measures of immigration attitudes. I found that while affiliating with one of the religious groups did not lead to more positive attitudes, attending church services at least once a week was associated with more positive attitudes on the topics of government spending on immigrants and immigrants and crime. Results partially support religious restructuralism and the theory that church attendance, not merely identifying with a religious group, is what can improve attitudes towards immigration.

Advisor: Miguel Ceballos

The Effect of Caretaker Separations on Indigenous Adolescents

Melissa L. Welch — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 12:51:16 PDT

The family instability hypothesis has been researched among the general population as well as among African American and Mexican American populations, but not yet among Indigenous families. The purpose of this research was to examine whether experiencing separations from their caretakers (lasting at least one month), and the types of living arrangements that follow, affect Indigenous adolescents’ risk of meeting criteria for an internalizing, externalizing, or substance use disorder. Diagnostic criteria were assessed in Wave 6 using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children-Revised (DISC-R). The hypothesis that as the number of lifetime separations increases, the risk of meeting criteria for each of these three disorders also increases was tested using six waves of data from a sample of 572 Indigenous adolescents. The type of environments that adolescents moved into after separations that occurred during the study were assessed and categorized as either an always normative (relative care) or at least one non-normative (non-kin foster care or institutional settings) environment. Logistic regression results showed very little support for the family instability hypothesis, since the number of lifetime caretaker separations was not significantly related to meeting criteria for any type of disorder. However, this study found that moving into at least one non-normative environment after a separation experienced during the study was associated with higher odds of meeting criteria for externalizing or substance use disorders, but moving into normative environments after each separation did not significantly affect any of the three types of disorder diagnosis. This study found strong evidence that Indigenous adolescents benefit when extended family fill the primary caregiving role in the absence of the primary caretaker. The important programming and policy implications are discussed.

Race and Gender Differences and the Role of Sexual Attitudes in Adolescent Sexual Behavior

Laura E. Simon — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 11:03:42 PDT

Attitudes towards premarital sex have become more permissive in the past fifty years and adolescent sexual behavior reflects this attitudinal trend. The majority of adolescents are having sex prior to marriage and many adolescents are having sexual intercourse outside of committed relationships. Sexual behavioral trends vary by race and gender adding further intricacies in understanding adolescent sexuality. Past research examining adolescent sexual behavior has not examined the role of sexual attitudes in sexual behavior and the potential differences by race and gender. I draw on the Theory of Reasoned Action to further the understanding of the role of sexual attitudes in sexual behavior and add detailed analysis to further examine race and gender differences. This study utilizes Wave I of the National Longitudinal of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine the role of sexual attitudes and race and gender differences in sexual behavior outcomes. Three sexual categories are included; no sex, relationship sex, and nonrelationship sex. The results show that adolescent sexual behavior varies by race and gender both within and across groups. Furthermore, sexual attitudes mediate race and gender differences in sexual behavior for some groups but not for others.

Adviser: Bridget Goosby

Infertility Help Seeking and Social Support: Do Conventional Theories Explain Internet Behaviors and Outcomes

Kathleen S. Slauson-Blevins — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 13:33:12 PDT

This dissertation uses data from the National Survey of Fertility Barriers (NSFB), a nationally representative sample, to assess factors associated with face-to-face and internet help seeking (study 1) and perceived social support (study 2). In study one, I examine whether the General Help Seeking Model, a theory that has been used to explain in-person help seeking, generalizes to internet help seeking. I assess four types of help seeking: (1) no help seeking, (2) only internet help seeking, (3)only medical help seeking, and (4) both online and medical help seeking. Results suggest that online help seeking is differentiated from in person help seeking by attitudes towards medical science, infertility stigma, age, income, and educational attainment. In study two I explore whether the type of help seeking that individuals engage in and the types of activities that people do online are associated with perceived social support. Perceived social support does not differ by type of help seeking, nor are the types of online activities associated with perceptions of social support. Finally, I provide descriptive information on patterns of infertility help seeking on the internet – information that is important as the use of the internet for health related activities continues to grow. I show that use of the internet varies by several individual and social characteristics.

Motherhood Situation and Life Satisfaction: Are Reasons for Having No Children Important?

Kari C. Gentzler — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 08:56:42 PDT

The proportion of adult women without children in the United States has increased in recent years and there are multiple reasons women do not have children. Past research concerning the well-being of women relative to their motherhood status does not recognize the great diversity among women without children. I attempt to fill that gap by classifying women based on the presence or absence of children, fertility barriers, and childbearing intentions. The classification results in five motherhood situations: mothers, voluntarily childfree, women delaying motherhood, involuntarily childless with situational barriers and involuntarily childless with biomedical barriers. This study specifies the relationship between women’s life satisfaction and motherhood situation using data from the first wave of the National Survey of Fertility Barriers (N=4,712). I draw on identity theory and life course theory to compare the life satisfaction of women with and without children to see if the status (not having children) is more important than the process (the reason women have no children). I also test the moderating effects of importance of motherhood, age, and marital status. Findings show that women who delay motherhood and childless women with situational barriers are different from women who choose to be childfree or women who have biomedical barriers. Therefore it is important not only to compare mothers to non-mothers, but also to explore the reasons why women do not have children when examining differences in life satisfaction.

AVERSIVE RACISM AND IMPLICIT BIASES IN CIVIL RIGHTS WORKERS

Anne NM Hobbs — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 09:42:52 PDT

The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of implicit mechanisms that perpetuate inequality. The vast majority of claims of discrimination in this country are filtered through the lens of a civil rights investigator. It is critical to our understanding of civil rights enforcement, and inequality overall, to assess the potential for implicit bias processes of non-judicial government employees to impact the outcome of discrimination cases. Social psychologists have long established that the human brain processes information in highly effective ways that may make it prone to stereotyping and error. I used a vignette methodology to assess whether the non-conscious biases of civil rights investigators impact the cases they investigate. Although there was no association between the race and gender of the decision-maker on case outcome, the complainant’s race and gender were associated with differential case outcomes. Males overall were more likely to have their case ruled as discrimination in a gender discrimination case. Black complaints were more likely to have their case ruled as illegal discrimination in a racial discrimination case. Black male complainants were the most likely to have their case ruled as illegal discrimination. This feasibility study reveals that implicit attitudes can be studied among civil rights workers, and that efforts should be made to minimize the impact of implicit bias processes on investigations.

Variations in Social Support and Mental Health Among Black Women by Socioeconomic Status

Lesa A. Johnson — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 07:59:15 PST

A considerable body of research focuses on the mental health of black women with low socioeconomic status. Social scientists have noted that women in low socioeconomic status groups often utilize social networks to provide protection and survival in dense and depressed communities. Still, some social scientists also suggest that the bounded solidarity of kinship networks decreases chances for women to pursue opportunities for economic mobility by creating stressful and time consuming obligations for reciprocity. Though many qualitative and community quantitative studies have been conducted regarding social support and survival among low income women, few quantitative studies have addressed variation in these networks by socioeconomic status and their association with psychological distress. This research paper seeks to expound upon the empirical research on social support among black women by focusing on its relationship to mental health. Using data from the National Survey of American Life (NSAL), a nationally representative survey designed to contextually explore mental disorders and psychological distress of African and Caribbean Black Americans, I investigate the associations between socioeconomic status, various means of social support, and mental health for African American, Afro-Caribbean, and white women in the United States.

The Relationship Between Breastfeeding and Child Care for Working Mothers in the United States

Patricia Ann Wonch Hill — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:15:17 PDT

Whether or not child care provider characteristics and factors related to the care giving environment impact breastfeeding duration for working mothers has not been systematically studied. In this dissertation, I use Ecological Health Promotion Theory to explore the relationship between child care and breastfeeding through three different analyses. First, I interviewed nine child care providers to assess their knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about infant feeding and whether they vary on these factors across individuals and child care licensing types. Second, I conducted a small mail survey of 93 licensed child care providers in order to create a scale measuring attitudes on the importance of breastfeeding, breastfeeding program supports, and confidence in providing breast milk to infants in their care, and also to assess whether their attitudes and beliefs about breastfeeding are related to overall child care quality. Third, I use the National Institutes of Child Health and Development’s Study of Early Child Care to assess whether quality child care is associated with increased breastfeeding duration after controlling for work, demographic, and socioeconomic maternal characteristics. Through these three analyses, I found that child care providers to vary in their attitudes and programmatic supports of breastfeeding. Their personal experience breastfeeding their own infants was correlated with the proportion of infants breastfed in their program, and their attitudes, beliefs, program supports, and confidence in providing breast milk. Overall child care quality, as measured by traditional indicators (education/experience), were not associated with proportion of infants breastfed, personal experience, or breastfeeding attitudes and beliefs. In the third analysis, among working and non-working mothers, the proportion of time an infant spent in relative child care was associated with longer breastfeeding duration. Also, the younger the child when full-time child care first began, the sooner their mother weaned. However, when child care onset preceded work onset, breastfeeding duration increased. Finally, among working mothers, caregiver characteristics associated with quality had no significant association with breastfeeding after controlling for maternal characteristics. Proportion of time in a child care home was negatively associated with breastfeeding, but not for care giving in relative homes, or child care centers.