The aim of this study was to assess identity, social intimacy, and coping mechanisms in non-clinical college youth raised in alcoholic homes in comparison to those non-clinical college youth raised in non-alcoholic homes while controlling for family environment. In order to control for family environment, four possible family types were devised to allow for comparison. These four types include a "functioning" alcoholic family, a "functioning" non-alcoholic family, a "non-functioning" alcoholic family, and a "non-functioning" non-alcoholic family. / The original sample consisted of 498 subjects who were administered a questionnaire consisting of six instruments, and a demographic section. The six instruments included the Brief Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test, the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test, the Ego Identity Scale, the Social Intimacy Scale, the Young Adult-Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences, and the Family of Origin Scale. The delimiting factors of the study reduced the final sample to 285 individuals of which 48 were adult children of alcoholics, and 237 were adult children of non-alcoholics. Only those individuals who had not experienced therapy were included in the sample, thus focusing on a non-clinical sample. / It was determined that significant differences did exist among all four family types for each variable (identity, social intimacy, and coping mechanisms). It appears that the family's ability to function is the primary factor regarding identity and coping mechanisms, with individuals from higher functioning families scoring more favorably. However, regarding social intimacy, it appears that the presence or absence of alcohol is the primary factor in that individuals from alcoholic families scored higher in social intimacy. Furthermore, identity, social intimacy, and coping mechanisms were found to have a positive relationship that was significant. In addition, identity and social intimacy were found to significantly predict family type. / This non-clinical sample of adult children of alcoholics does not appear to confront the issues that have been generated in the literature. Indeed, adult children of alcoholics are not a homogeneous group. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-10, Section: A, page: 3170. / Major Professor: Carol A. Darling. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.

This study was designed to investigate the effect of a premarital counseling program on premarital couples. More specifically, this study investigated how the Premarital Assessment Program (PAP) and the PAP modified with structured communication components impacted premarital individuals dyadic adjustment, communication, and commitment to the continuance of the relationship. / The data were collected from a sample of 42 premarital individuals who were residing in the Tallahassee, Florida area. The subjects who participated in the six week premarital counseling program were a mix of college students and community residents. The three levels of treatment were the PAP group, the modified PAP with communication training, and the control group. The findings revealed a statistically significant difference on the variable dyadic adjustment (p =.0325) and commitment to the continuance of the relationship (p =.0457). Further analysis of the significant differences on dyadic adjustment and commitment variables revealed that the treatment group that received the modified PAP with communication skills training was the group that accounted for the significant difference. The findings did not reveal a statistically significant difference on the communication variable. / All individuals in the treatment groups were provided an opportunity to respond to an open ended question concerning their experiences as participants. Of the 28 who were allowed to respond 82% chose to provide responses to the question. All the respondents reacted positively to their experience and reported increasing in their ability to communicate with their partner, learned to be more flexible in their behavior choices, and felt that they were not the only ones who had problems in their relationships. / An increased awareness of what premarital counseling programs offer to their participants is needed both for the practitioner providing premarital counseling and researchers who are interested in further studying the effects of this form of preventive counseling. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-10, Section: A, page: 3373. / Major Professor: Eileen M. Earhart. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

This study investigated the impact of touch on marital intimacy. The following questions were investigated: (a) do nonverbal exercises increase marital intimacy, (b) are the changes sustained, and (c) do subjects recognize an increase in their level of intimacy? / Twenty marital dyads were recruited, demographic and marital adjustment information was gathered, and the couples were randomly assigned to an experimental or control group. The experimental couples were asked to perform a series of nonverbal exercises centering on touch daily for one week. Both the experimental and control groups were asked to subjectively evaluate their feelings during this period. Both groups were then posttested using the Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships, (Schaefer and Olson, 1981) inventory, and the experimental group was retested on this measure after three months. Additional qualitative data were obtained from the experimental group using a questionnaire at the follow-up testing. / The posttest data were analyzed using an Analysis of Covariance with marital adjustment as the covariate. The follow-up data were analyzed using the Friedman two-way analysis of variance by ranks. / The findings of the study were difficult to interpret as the null hypothesis could not be rejected. The level of intimacy of the experimental group did change, however, the difference was not in the predicted direction--the level of expected intimacy was decreased. The level of perceived intimacy showed no significant difference except for recreational intimacy which decreased significantly. These results were sustained over a three month period. The qualitative findings indicated the subjects had no knowledge of how their intimacy level had been affected. / The conclusions that are suggested by these findings are: (a) nonverbal exercises may affect intimacy, (b) prescribing touch deceased the amount of intimacy couples desire, (c) couples do not always recognize that their level of intimacy has decreased, and (d) decreases in intimacy may last for a minimum of three months. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-03, Section: A, page: 0801. / Major Professor: Mary Hick. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

Family Systems Medicine has been described as a new paradigm in the practice of medicine that will end the schism between the medical and the mental health field. Medical family therapy in particular, has created a new role for family therapists in medical settings that requires close collaboration with medical providers. The purpose of this study was to understand how those who endorse a collaborative approach to health care perceive the state of the art of this new practice. / Additionally, it has been argued that bidirectional research or the use of a multi-method approach is beneficial in bridging the gaps among theory, research and practice. In this study, a qualitative research design was used to gather information on Family Systems Medicine and the practice of medical family therapy. That information was later used to develop a survey that sampled the American subscribers of the journal of Family Systems Medicine (n = 699). Respondents were asked for their perceptions in five areas: (1) Collaboration, (2) Practice of Family Systems Medicine, (3) Referral, (4) Training, and (5) Roles of Professionals Involved. The binomial test and factorial analysis were used to test mean differences. Results indicated that the findings of the qualitative study were generalized to the random sample of those practitioners who endorse a collaborative approach to health care in four of the areas mentioned except in "Roles of Professionals Involved." / Additionally, significant differences were found between psychosocial and medical providers in the way they perceive the process of referral in Family Systems Medicine. Results also indicated that there were significant differences between medical and psychosocial providers who work in private versus not-for-profit settings in the way they perceive training in Family Systems Medicine and with whom they collaborate. Implications for practice, training, research, and theory are discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-07, Section: A, page: 2886. / Major Professor: Thomas E. Smith. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

The purpose of this study was to examine the differences between family pet owners and family non-pet owners utilizing the variables of cohesion and adaptability along with elements of the human constructed environment. In addition, for family pet owners, it was questioned whether family functioning could be predicted from elements in the human-constructed environment which consisted of family demographics and pet related variables. The Ecosystems Approach and General Systems Theory provided the theoretical orientation for this research. A survey research design was utilized in which 132 clinical members of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy in six southeastern states distributed questionnaires to 307 clients and family members who returned them to the researcher. A family property was formed from the individual data from each family, which consisted of two to five members, using the Additive Model. This yielded a sample of 141 families of which 116 were pet owners and 25 were non-pet owners. Two other models, the Discrepancy and Modified Disjunctive Models, were also utilized to examine the family data to determine which approach was most sensitive to significant differences in the sample data. The family properties for pet owners were analyzed using a multiple regression analysis. Results indicated that 24% of the variance in family adaptability could be accounted for from the independent environmental variables with the Additive and Modified Disjunctive Models. However, family cohesion was not significantly predicted using any of the models. Analyses revealed there were marked similarities between family pet owners and non-pet owners. The FACES III scale used in the questionnaire indicated that 54.6% of the families were of the Balanced type. Implications for research, theory and family therapy are presented. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-01, Section: A, page: 0307. / Major Professor: Carol Darling. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

From a systems perspective, this study explored how law enforcement officers balance the work and marriage/family relationship. Specifically, the study examined personal authority in the family system and investigated how it relates to job involvement, intimacy, and marital adjustment. Secondly, personal authority was combined with job involvement, age, number of years married, and number of years in law enforcement in order to determine the effects of these variables on intimacy and intimate relationships/marriage. / Instruments used to collect this information were a demographic data sheet, the Personal Authority Scale of the Personal Authority in Family Systems Questionnaire, Job Involvement Measure, the Emotional Intimacy Scale of the Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships, and Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test. Subjects were career police officers (n = 72) employed by the City of Tallahassee, Florida. / This ex post facto study used path analysis to calculate causal relationships. Hypothesis 1 stated that a causal relationship existed between personal authority, job involvement, and level of intimacy. The data did not support this hypothesis when using the entire sample. However, the a priori model of emotional intimacy was supported in a married/never divorced subsample. / Hypothesis 2 predicted that a negative relationship existed between personal authority and job involvement. This relationship was not supported. / Hypothesis 3 stated there was a causal relationship between personal authority, job involvement, and marital adjustment. There was not support for this hypothesis. / Additional analysis included a significant single order correlation between emotional intimacy and marital adjustment, and found that emotional intimacy and marital adjustment discriminated among groups of married and divorced officers. / Results were examined with respect to method, sample, future research, and implications for marriage therapy. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-02, Section: A, page: 0697. / Major Professor: Mary W. Hicks. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

A program of research was conducted to measure the effectiveness of the use of the bug-in-the-ear device in the supervision and training of marriage and family therapy trainees. / A reliable and objective methodology was developed for obtaining behavioral observational measures of therapist behavior. A single subject research design (SSRD) was employed which permitted the experimental analysis of individual therapy-trainee behavior in relation to the bug-in-the-ear intervention. / Baseline data on trainee use of two therapy skills, facilitate and support, were obtained and compared with trainee use of these skills when prompted and reinforced through the bug-in-the-ear device. / Participants in the study were four Ph.D. students in the Interdivisional Program in Marriage and the Family, Department of Home and Family Life, Florida State University. Each trainee worked with four clients from their regular caseload over a two-month period. / The study demonstrated a significant increase in therapy-trainee use of the targeted skills when prompted and reinforced through the bug-in-the-ear intervention. The effect was replicated with additional therapy-trainees across different sets of clients. / This study brought the methodologies of single subject research design and applied behavior analysis to marriage and family therapy training research to investigate the effect of the bug-in-the-ear device in live supervision. / Research results were evaluated in relation to causal inference, practical significance and social validity and discussed with regard to their implication for family therapy training and future research. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-07, Section: A, page: 1977. / Major Professor: Calvin Zongker. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.

In the context of Family Systems theory, the purpose of this study was to create a self-report instrument designed to measure a marital couple's potential for triangling a child as a method of reducing or redirecting marital anxiety. The conceptual structure of the Family Triangulation Scale (FTS) includes the processes of scapegoating and parentification as major dimensions of triangulation. / This study was conducted in two phases. Phase I, established the internal consistency for the instrument and generated empirical factor scales for the items. Internal consistency as measured by Cronbach's Alpha was.93 for the total FTS,.90 for the spouse rating of spouse component, and.88 for the spouse rating of self component after 12 items were dropped. Six empirical scales were generated for each component. Descriptions of these scales were made and tentative names were assigned to each. / In Phase II, the revised FTS (88 items) was administered to a group of couples in which one spouse was currently attending an in-residence alcohol treatment program and to a group of couples where neither spouse was in treatment. It was hypothesized the couples experiencing problems with alcohol would be more likely to report attitudes and behaviors connected with triangulation of children. The hypothesis was supported with an F(.001,1,87) = 46 accounting for 52% of the variance explained. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-08, Section: A, page: 2665. / Major Professor: Murray Krantz. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

This study compared separation of adult daughters and their mothers during the New Couple Family Life Cycle Stage and Families with Young Children Life Cycle Stage. Family life cycle stage, family of origin, daughter's attitude toward mother, and self-esteem were examined for their predictiveness of mother-daughter separation. The theoretical framework included Family Development Theory, Object Relations Theory, Bowen Theory, and Chodorow's Theory of Gender Identity. / The sample for the New Couple Family Life Cycle Stage included 460 mothers and daughters while the Families with Young Children Family Life Cycle Stage sample included 868 subjects. Mothers and daughters in the two stages responded to a survey containing four instruments and a demographic section. The instruments were the Identity Vis-A-Vis Mother Scale, Family of Origin Scale, Child's Attitude Toward Mother Scale and the Index of Self-Esteem. / The study found no significant differences in relationships for mothers and daughters on the variables of separation, family of origin, child's attitude toward mother, and self-esteem between the New Couple Family Life Cycle Stage and the Families with Young Children Life Cycle Stage. The integration of family life cycle stage, family of origin, child's attitude toward mother, and self-esteem predicted mother-daughter separation. Child's attitude toward mother was the best predictor of mother-daughter separation. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-12, Section: A, page: 4288. / Major Professor: Carol Anderson Darling. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-06, Section: A, page: 3564. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.