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HUMAN RESOURCES AND FAMILY STUDIES

The mission of the School of Human Resources and Family Studies is to provide knowledge that enables people to enhance the quality of their lives and to achieve the greatest benefits from their resources and environment. Activities within the School of Human Resources and Family Studies encompass biological, chemical, economic, social, and psychological research that addresses issues related to the functioning of individuals and families within society. The School includes three major programs: Foods and Nutrition, Human Development and Family Studies, and Consumer Sciences.

Division of Foods and Nutrition

Faculty in Foods and Nutrition are focused on improved understanding of the contribution of food and its constituents to human health and well-being. Basic and applied research addresses critical issues concerning the fundamental properties of foods and food systems, food safety, growth and development, infant nutrition, and prevention of diseases.

Research is in progress to improve the fundamental understanding of the role of water in the processing and stability of food systems and in the application of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to the study of water mobility in foods. Two major limitations to our understanding of the deteriorative processes which occur during food spoilage are the need for theories and analytical methods which would allow prediction and measurement of the roles water plays in these processes. This research has shown that the best nucleus to use for NMR to directly measure the mobility of water is 170 which must be decoupled during NMR analysis. These findings allow for measurement of water activity in food systems at non-steady-state conditions which have led to rapid advances in use of NMR as a research tool and a quality control technique in the food industry.

Meat products are highly labile due to their high water content, high content of protein and polyunsaturated fatty acids, and high levels of myoglobin pigments. New technology allows for vacuum packaging of meat which has been shown to extend the shelf life of products by approximately threefold. While the new technology extends shelf life of products based on safety, products experience problems with off-flavors, odors, and colors which lead to rejection by consumers because of sensory characteristics. Research on the use of organic acids, such as sodium lactate, has been shown to inhibit growth of microorganisms on minimally processed meat products. This research has provided the first quantitative evidence that salts of organic acids can inhibit microbial growth and enhance both shelf life and the flavor of the meat product. This research has also shown that sodium lactate used as a salt substitute helps to potentiate the salt flavor in pork at lower levels of total sodium than when sodium chloride is used.

Research continues focused on development of quantitative measures of sensory characteristics of foods. Current studies have focused on salty tastes with efforts to reduce or modify the salt content of processed foods. Using multidimensional scaling with taste panels, investigators have shown that saltiness perception is influenced by gum properties, gum concentration, presence of calcium and potassium, and is related to binding of the sodium ion as determined by NMR analysis. Ionic gums reduced the mobility of the sodium ion and the salt taste while added potassium increased sodium mobility and enhanced saltiness.

Plant-based foods designed for specific medical purposes is an exciting new area of research. These "functional foods" can be genetically designed or uniquely processed to contain elevated levels of naturally occurring nutrients or non-nutritive substances called phytochemicals. These substances are believed to protect humans from diseases such as coronary heart disease and cancer. Our research has focused on soy products and their effects on cholesterol metabolism. Human studies using typical American diets have shown that soy fiber and non-nutritive substances called phytochemicals incorporated into typical American diets can lower blood cholesterol significantly. This research has established the presence of high levels of phytoestrogens and saponins in the soy products which may lower blood cholesterol by increasing LDL receptor activity.

Another area of research has been the identification of natural chemicals that can prevent the development of cancer. An extract of the spice rosemary has been shown to inhibit chemically-induced skin and breast cancer in rodents and further research has shown that the extract enhances liver and stomach activities of the detoxification enzyme glutathione-S-transferase.

The role of growth hormone (GH) and insulinlike growth factor-I (IGF-I) in optimizing growth recovery following neonatal protein-energy malnutrition has been studied using malnourished rat pups. GH or GH + IGF-I stimulated full recovery of body weight during nutritional repletion. In addition, the GH and IGF-I resulted in greater protein content and reduced body fat. While the GH and the GH + IGF-I treatments appear to have nearly equivalent responses after 22 days of treatment, the combination of GH plus IGF-I appeared to stimulate more rapid recovery reaching control body weight after only 3 days of treatments. These data suggest that the combination of GH and IGF-I may be effective in treating growth retardation.

Aerobic exercise produces important benefits in maintenance of muscle mass, enhancement of metabolism, and use of body fat stores. However, intense endurance exercise is known to produce a depression in muscle protein synthesis and catabolism of essential amino acids. A series of studies has been conducted to characterize this catabolic effect of exercise and to determine if meal timing or dietary supplements can modify the response of muscle protein synthesis to endurance exercise. Exhaustive exercise produces 30% to 50% depression in muscle protein synthesis, but the effect has been shown to be transient with complete recovery by 8 hours after exercise. Food intake prior to exercise has minimal effect on the exercise-induced depression; however, food intake immediately after exercise greatly enhanced the rate of recovery. Composition of the post-exercise meal was shown to be important with complex carbohydrates alone reducing the recovery time to 3 to 4 hours and a meal of complex carbohydrates and essential amino acids producing post-exercise recovery within 1 hour.

The Illinois Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System was used to assess nutrition-related risk factors for people over sixty-five years of age and to target educational programming for the Illinois Cooperative Extension Service. Using a sample size of four hundred seventy-two individuals, preliminary analysis reveals that annual income was less than $10,000 in 41% of the households and that almost half of the elderly sample had not completed a high school education. Of those who had been told that their blood pressure was high, 58% were trying to control their blood pressure through weight control and 70% were restricting sodium. Twenty-five percent of respondents having had blood cholesterol levels measured reported being told their blood cholesterol level was high. Food intake was evaluated and consumption of fruit, vegetables, and milk was frequently below the recommended dietary guidelines.

Division of Human Development and Family Studies

Faculty in HDFS seek to expand our knowledge of the development of individuals in the context of the family and within social and cultural environments. Research on human development has focused on social and cognitive development during early childhood and adolescence. Research on the family has focused on the way the family functions as a system within society.

Stability of rural communities and integration of families into the community are dependent on many variables. Integration of a family into a rural community is associated with the roles of families in the community and commuter status. Involvement in church or community programs increases the perception of being welcome while commuting out of the community to work reduces the integration into the rural town. Men in rural settings report greater depressions and lower self-esteem than urban counterparts.

Sustainable and conventional farming are concepts which are difficult for farm families to define. Most farm families want to consider their practices to be sustainable. In many cases, conventional farmers adopting no-till practices consider themselves to be classified as sustainable even with continued heavy chemical use.

A study of Mexican-American families in a small rural town in Illinois was undertaken because this group represents an important migration pattern seen throughout the Midwest. The population was intriguing because it exhibits more indicators of well-being than do Hispanics as a group nationally. These Mexican-American families have higher employment and education levels. The families had mostly bilingual teenagers and owned their own homes. Parents reported selecting this small town because it is a better place to raise their children with good schools and a gang-free environment.

Work experiences are important to family life. Research has shown that among blue collar workers, the more positive the work experiences of the father, the higher his self-esteem and the more positive parenting practices. On the other hand, for mothers, positive work experiences are directly correlated with positive parenting practices. Participation of fathers in childrearing appears to be related to the level of personal investment in family roles. Fathers with high investments in work or social roles have more limited roles in childrearing.

Informal social networks are key information sources for families for child caring, parenting, and emotional stability. For child care, the most common and trusted sources of information are friends and neighbors. Child care provider information services are gaining in use and popularity but are not yet a primary source of information. Information for parenting also comes from informal networks of friends and family with support from the church. Educational materials are becoming more important and people report preferring written sources of information. Social support networks are critical for the well-being of divorced mothers. Most negative emotional stress for divorced mothers is derived from pre-existing social networks. Research shows that the most positive supports are ones aimed at intervention in the social support mechanisms.

Emotional dynamics occurring between adolescents and their
parents are important for understanding the emotional lives of these individuals. This research has shown that the emotional realities of different family members diverge and create conflict between parents and adolescents. This work examines the dynamics of families and helps to define when family members spend time together and how they experience their shared time. Fathers report emotional states when with their children that are significantly more positive than those reported by children. This analysis has also shown that family conflicts are most common from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Antisocial behavior is a significant problem among adolescents and young adults. Many theories suggest that social responses to conflict are formed during childhood or adolescence. HDFS has conducted extensive research examining conflict and aggression among children and within families.

Research has shown that aggression is different among boys and girls. Boys tend to exhibit overt aggression while girls tend to exhibit relational aggression. Both boys and girls consider relational aggression to be mean and hostile and associated with anger. Studies continue on the development of relational aggression and the impact on adolescent development and emotional stress.

Research focuses on understanding the factors that influence the establishment of harmonious and conflictual sibling relationships among children. Sibling conflict is the most prevalent form of conflict within families, and as a result, creates a significant amount of stress. This research focuses on both family and friends as factors in preparing a child for the birth of a sibling and shows the complementary roles of parents and friends in promoting children's adaptation to emotional stress of the birth of a sibling.

Division of Consumer Sciences

Consumer Sciences focuses on consumer choice in relation to family economic well-being; creation, development, and use of family resources; the process of family economic decision making; development of textile products that contribute to increased wearer safety; and environmental and recycling issues.

A major economic and social decision for young families is selection of child care. Surveys indicate that families utilize a median number of three child care situations during pre-school years. Parents report that they spend significant amounts of time in child care decision making and that the process is on-going and continuous. Most families report that the primary sources of information about child care are derived from friends and neighbors.

Child care is a significant economic factor in the functioning of a family and also as an economic factor influencing the labor force. Many mothers appear to make a distinct choice between full-time employment and use of market-based child care versus part-time employment and child care by a parent or relative. Mothers employed part-time and making nonmarket-based care decisions are more likely to be white, married, Catholic, and in service or sales occupations with variable schedules. Analysis of costs of child care indicates that mothers of preschool children who receive child care from relatives are more likely to give gifts and for child care with non-relatives to give household services.

Child support is a significant economic factor to divorced mothers and impacts numerous aspects of the family. This research has examined the impact of child support payments on the educational attainment of children. Improvements in the child support enforcement system over the past decade would be expected to have increased the proportion of reluctant payers among non-custodial fathers. Evidence supports this hypothesis, but indicates that the effect of child support on a child's educational attainment has diminished over time from 1979 to 1988 with mother's non-child support income clearly the dominate factor in 1988.

A significant amount of research has been conducted examining aspects of international trade in the textile industry. One aspect of this work has examined the legal, social, and economic impacts of home-based work in the garment industry in Southeast Asia. Preliminary data indicate that although public debate about the legal status of home-based work has increased public awareness, it has not significantly improved the knowledge about the economic and social issues associated with home-based industries. This work is continuing to assess economic and family impacts of this model for textile production.

A second aspect of this work has examined the critical factors influencing the rapid development of international direct marketing by U.S. retailers. Critical "environmental" factors include consumer demand, technology, regulations, cultural environment, resource availability, and competition. This research has analyzed strategic management practices of U.S. retailers in making decisions about when and where to become involved in international direct marketing. Retailers involved in international direct marketing are found to have strategic plans for increasing market share, conducting market research in international markets, and improving relations with government representatives.

Basic research on textile fiber chemistry has continued to focus on characteristics of synthetic fibers and enhancements in textile dyeing procedures. Using cotton and polyester fabrics, researchers have examined the water-repellent capacity of different blends. This work has shown that 100% cotton cloth provides the best water barrier with increased percentages of polyester (40%, 50%, or 65%) reducing the water barrier properties of the cloth. This work has also looked at the pesticide-barrier capabilities of clothes, including laundering procedures for exposed garments. A prewash was found to be necessary to assure consistent removal of pesticide-contaminant clothing.

Research Projects

Publications

Consumer Sciences Foods and Nutrition Human Development and Family Studies

Doctor's Theses

Master's Theses

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