Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Martin Seay / Retirement savings and income projections are among the most financially complex calculations individual Americans will encounter. The movement towards self-directed employer retirement plans has shifted the responsibility for securing an adequate retirement increasingly to the employee, who may lack the financial understanding needed for proper calculations and decisions. There is an expressed preference among employees for the delivery of financial education in the workplace, where a majority of their financial knowledge is obtained. However, adoption of workplace comprehensive financial education programs has been slow due to the cost, time commitment, and lack of empirical support for their value. While there have been some mixed findings, literature has generally supported associations between financial education programs and improved literacy and behaviors. A great deal of these mixed results can be explained by the lack of consistency among definitional frameworks for financial literacy, the lack of consistent measures, and the variety of topics and methods used, all of which limit the ability to establish causal support for the educational program’s effectiveness. However, the preference for financial education in the workplace among employees suggests both the need and desire for more comprehensive financial education offered by employers. The purpose of this research was to investigate and test the links between the components in the framework for financial literacy by testing participation in a worksite comprehensive financial education program. In Essay One, the link between financial education and change in financial literacy was tested. Essay Two tested the link between the financial education program and financial well-being. In Essay Three, the link between financial literacy and financial behavior was explored. The results indicated associations between all three links in the financial literacy model, utilizing both primary research employing quasi-experimental methods, and secondary research from a larger national data sample. For financial educators who are interested in developing and facilitating comprehensive financial education programs for employee or other groups, this research can help provide support and guidance for those efforts. If comprehensive financial education programs can be better positioned to help improve the levels of financial literacy among Americans, fewer negative associated behavioral effects, such as lack of planning and under saving for retirement, may occur.

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the experiences of sixteen Sub-Saharan African post-secondary students, and how they were able to succeed in spite of tremendous odds. The study was also designed to investigate ways to enhance educational attainment among recent immigrant students in Canadian schools and universities. The study was dedicated to advancing the understanding of recent immigrant students, from Sub-Saharan Africa, who had faced life challenges and multiple traumas. With a focus on their well-being, the development of this new knowledge will help policymakers and educators to develop strategies to enable culturally, linguistically, and socio-economically diverse students to reach their potential in their new country. The students selected for the study were resilient individuals who were seen as successful. Success stories of immigrant students from Sub-Saharan Africa who had overcome turmoil in their lives were investigated. These were newcomers to Canada who had succeeded against all odds both in Africa and Canada. This study was based on the premise that in a community all individuals may have access to the same resources, but unlike others, some individuals manage to overcome the problems that confront others (Pascale et al., 2010). These individuals are unique in their communities and their outcomes have deviated in a positive way from the norm (Pascale et al., 2010). The practices and insights of sixteen Sub-Saharan African students that had proven to be the key to their resilience and success were described from in-depth interviews. Further understandings were derived from structured narrative analysis. Using a qualitative research approach, this study developed insights into: the factors that hinder or enhance educational attainment and well-being among students; the perceptions of those students and the practices used by those who influence, support and educate them; and understanding of the practices that stimulate interests and contribute positively toward enhancing the education attainment and well-being of Sub-Saharan African students. The factors that enhance educational attainment and well-being among students were investigated through the use of support structures. These identified support structures were parental support, the social support they received from friends and social networks, religious/spiritual support, the support they received from their communities, physical support, financial support, the motivations or inspirations they received from teachers, school/university support, and career support. The findings of this study expand and enrich both local and international literature on issues relating to youth or students who have experienced turmoil in their lives, and some of the factors that contribute to their resilience and well-being. These findings further shed light on the topic of enhancing education attainment and the subject of well-being of ethnic minorities and, in particular, Sub-Saharan African immigrant students who have experienced turmoil in their lives. While this topic has been gaining interest in recent years, the formulation and implementation of strategic educational practices to promote educational attainment and well-being for African or Sub-Saharan African students is in its infancy in Canadian. Hence, the new knowledge and insights presented within this study will help policymakers, support persons, and educators to develop strategies that will enable and encourage such students to thrive and flourish.

Det är viktigt med insikt och ökad kunskap om den äldre individens behov och individuella upplevelser för att kunna bemöta individen och utforma vården efter dennes egna villkor. Denna kunskap är viktig att ha med sig som socionom, då ens yrkesroll kan komma att beröra äldre individer som målgrupp. Denna studie har genomförts i USA (Florida) med syfte att undersöka vad livskvalitet innebär för äldre människor på över 65 år, och vilka vardagliga situationer de kopplar livskvalitet till. I denna studie är livskvalitet beskrivet utifrån respondenternas egna personliga upplevelser av begreppet och dess innebörd. Sju semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med individer mellan åldrarna 71-94. Vi kom i kontakt med dem genom en verksamhet i Florida, som erbjuder hemtjänstlösningar till äldre människor som är i behov av vård och omsorg i det egna hemmet. I vår studie har vi använt oss av en kvalitativ undersökningsmetod, och utgått ifrån innehållsanalys som metod för att analysera vårt insamlade material. Denna studies resultat mynnade ut i tre teman som visar på viktiga kriterier för den äldre individen att uppleva livskvalitet. Dessa teman är: Självständighet, social gemenskap och meningsfullhet. Självständighet var viktigt för våra respondenter då det innebar att få vara autonoma i vardagen. Social gemenskap innefattar att synliggöras och bekräftas av omgivningen. Temat meningsfullhet kopplas till att våra respondenter ser en mening i deras primära krets, och begriplighet med deras nuvarande tillvaro. Att synas, höras och märkas är studiens titel, dessa ord är byggstenarna för ett förgyllt åldrande, då vi i vår uppsats fokuserat på den positiva aspekten av livskvalitet i samband med ett åldrande.

This study focuses on the experiences that educators have of their relationships with adolescents involved in drug use. It has been recognised over time that school communities are becoming more important with regards to the impact they have on learners, in particular the impact that learner-educator relationships have on the wellbeing of learners. A qualitative, phenomenological design was therefore used in order to ascertain the educators’ lived experiences. In total, sixteen educators were purposely selected from a secondary school in the area of Delft in Cape Town. In-depth interviews were conducted with all sixteen participants after which a World Café group session was organised in which the same 16 educators participated. These methods collected rich information. The results of the study are reported in an article. The aim of the article was to explore educators’ lived experiences of their relationships with adolescent learners involved in drug use. The study has shown that educators can have positive relationships with learners involved in drug use despite the challenges they face. It seems that it is most likely to occur when the educator feels motivated to nurture these relationships – possibly experiencing personal well-being – and uses a variety of skills and strengths to attempt to achieve this goal. This has implications for how other cases with learners involved in drug use should be treated and how the educators and school can assist these learners. Recommendations that emerged as a result of this study are to make educators aware of their own personal well-being and the importance of nurturing their wellbeing, in order to enable them to, in turn, nurture positive relationships with learners involved in drug use. Schools themselves can also play a role in creating an organisational culture that places emphasis on the relational and personal well-being of teachers as well as students. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This study focuses on the experiences that educators have of their relationships with adolescents involved in drug use. It has been recognised over time that school communities are becoming more important with regards to the impact they have on learners, in particular the impact that learner-educator relationships have on the wellbeing of learners. A qualitative, phenomenological design was therefore used in order to ascertain the educators’ lived experiences. In total, sixteen educators were purposely selected from a secondary school in the area of Delft in Cape Town. In-depth interviews were conducted with all sixteen participants after which a World Café group session was organised in which the same 16 educators participated. These methods collected rich information. The results of the study are reported in an article. The aim of the article was to explore educators’ lived experiences of their relationships with adolescent learners involved in drug use. The study has shown that educators can have positive relationships with learners involved in drug use despite the challenges they face. It seems that it is most likely to occur when the educator feels motivated to nurture these relationships – possibly experiencing personal well-being – and uses a variety of skills and strengths to attempt to achieve this goal. This has implications for how other cases with learners involved in drug use should be treated and how the educators and school can assist these learners. Recommendations that emerged as a result of this study are to make educators aware of their own personal well-being and the importance of nurturing their wellbeing, in order to enable them to, in turn, nurture positive relationships with learners involved in drug use. Schools themselves can also play a role in creating an organisational culture that places emphasis on the relational and personal well-being of teachers as well as students. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Studiens syfte var att undersöka motivationshöjande frågeställningars eventuella koppling till det subjektiva välbefinnandet. Det var 47 deltagare i interventionsgruppen och 37 i jämförelsegruppen. Dessa fyllde i en självskattningsenkät, Mood adjectiv checklist scale, före och efter en 14 dagar lång interventionsperiod. Studiens motivationshöjande frågeställningar utformades med utgångspunkt i dels den positiva psykologin, som lägger fokus på att ta vara på det positiva hos människan, dels utifrån den kognitiva psykologin som menar att människan formas utifrån hennes tankesätt.  Resultatet visade att studiens motivationshöjande frågeställningar kan ha en viss positiv inverkan på sinnesstämning. Slutsatsen blev därför: att föra en inre dialog utifrån särskilt utformade frågeställningar kan öka det subjektiva välbefinnandet. Studiens resultat bidrar till teorin om att positiva psykologiövningar kan förbättra det subjektiva välbefinnandet.

Malgré des études prolifiques sur le bien-être et la détresse psychologique, peu d'études ont testé la relation entre ces domaines de la santé mentale. De plus, il y a peu de modèles de la santé mentale qui ont été validés auprès des personnes âgées. II est essentiel de comprendre la notion de santé mentale des personnes agées étant donné le nombre important que represents cette population. Obiectifs : L'objectif de cette étude était de tester un modèle de mesure de la santé mentale chez les Canadiennes et Canadiens agés. Une validation de construit a été realisée pour les échelles de mesures du bien-être et la détresse psychologique et l'hypothèse d'indépendance des deux dimensions a été examinée. Le modèle a été testé selon le sexe et l'âge. Méthodoloqie : Les données proviennent de L'Enquête sur la santé dans les collectivités canadiennes - Cycle 1.2 - Santé mentale et Bien-être de Statistique Canada (2002). Cette étude épidemiologique transversale a été realisée auprès de 37 000 canadiens vivant dans la communauté dont 8 000 personnes de 65 ans et plus. Les échelles de mesures incluent l'Echelle de mesure des manifestations de bien-être psychologique de Masse et al. et le K10, une mesure de détresse psychologique developpée par Kessler et al. Les modèles d'équations structurales ont été testés à l'aide de la version 8.71 de LISREL. Résultats : Le modèle 2-facteur était valide pour les hommes et les femmes ages de 55 - 74 et 75 et plus. Ses résultats sont en accord avec la littérature. L'échele du bien être besoin plus d'études de validation. Des échantillons plus grands des personnes âgées ont nécessaires pour valider l'étude étant donne les méthodes utilités.

BACKGROUND:Researchers are finding limitations of currently available disease-focused questionnaire tools for outcome studies in complementary and alternative medicine/integrative medicine (CAM/IM).METHODS:Three substudies investigated the new one-item visual analogue Arizona Integrative Outcomes Scale (AIOS), which assesses self-rated global sense of spiritual, social, mental, emotional, and physical well-being over the past 24 hours and the past month. The first study tested the scale's ability to discriminate unhealthy individuals (n = 50) from healthy individuals (n = 50) in a rehabilitation outpatient clinic sample. The second study examined the concurrent validity of the AIOS by comparing ratings of global well-being to degree of psychological distress as measured by the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) in undergraduate college students (N = 458). The third study evaluated the relationships between the AIOS and positively- and negatively-valenced tools (Positive and Negative Affect Scale and the Positive States of Mind Scale) in a different sample of undergraduate students (N = 62).RESULTS:Substudy (i) Rehabilitation patients scored significantly lower than the healthy controls on both forms of the AIOS and a current global health rating. The AIOS 24-hours correlated moderately and significantly with global health (patients r = 0.50 / controls r = 0.45). AIOS 1-month correlations with global health were stronger within the controls (patients r = 0.36 / controls r = 0.50). Controls (r = 0.64) had a higher correlation between the AIOS 24-hour and 1-month forms than did the patients (r = 0.33), which is consistent with the presumptive improvement in the patients' condition over the previous 30 days in rehabilitation. Substudy (ii) In undergraduate students, AIOS scores were inversely related to distress ratings, as measured by the global severity index on the BSI (rAIOS24h = -0.42, rAIOS1month = -0.40). Substudy (iii) AIOS scores were significantly correlated with positive affect (rAIOS24h = 0.56, rAIOS1month = 0.57) and positive states of mind (rAIOS24h = 0.42, rAIOS1month = 0.45), and inversely correlated with negative affect (rAIOS24h = -0.41, rAIOS1month = -0.59).CONCLUSIONS:The AIOS is able to distinguish relatively sicker from relatively healthier individuals / and correlates in expected directions with a measure of distress and indicators of positive and negative affect and positive states of mind. The AIOS offers a tool for CAM/IM research that extends beyond a disease emphasis.

Normative Male Alexithymia (NMA; Levant 1992) and Gender Role Conflict (GRC; O’Neil, 2008) have emerged in the literature as empirically supported masculinity-based constructs that could be possible predictors of men’s psychological well-being. Moreover, several researchers examined the impact of masculinity in the contexts of men’s romantic relationships. Yet, there exists a paucity of research that investigates the intersection of the GRC, NMA, and men’s friendships, and psychological well-being of men. The purpose of this study was to examine the triadic relationship of GRC, NMA, and men’s friendships with other men; and the impact of this triadic relationship on men’s psychological well-being. The researcher collected survey data from 216 participants who identified as male. Data collection included responses to demographic questionnaires, Normative Male Alexithymia Scale (NMAS; Levant et al., 2006), Gender Role Conflict Scale (GRCS; O'Neil et al, 1986), Network of Relationships Questionnaire- Relationship Qualities Version (NRI-RQV; Buhrmester, 1992; Buhrmester & Furman, 2008), and the scales of Psychological Well-Being (SPWB; Ryff, 1989). Bivariate correlations revealed significant correlations among all four variables. NMAS scores yielded a small positive correlation (Cohen, 1988) with the NRI-RQV discordant scales scores (r = .202, p < .01), and a moderate negative correlation (Cohen, 1988) with the total full scale scores of PWB (r = -.427, p < .01). NRI-RQV discordant had a strong negative correlation (Cohen, 1988) with total scores of PWB (r = -.517, n = 216, p < .01). GRCS had a small negative correlation (Cohen, 1988) with the total scores of PWB full scales (r = -.166, n = 216, p < .05). The moderation analysis indicated that GRC significantly moderated the effect of NMA on men’s PWB scores (∆R² = .073, F (1,212) = 20.795, p < .001). High levels of NMA and friendship discords factored in as the best predictor of men’s PWB, and accounted for the 37% variation in overall PWB scores with an effect size of f² = .60. Clinical implications for mental health counselors are discussed based on the study’s results; limitations of the study and future directions are provided.

The aim of the present study was to further understand psychological well-being (PWB) and future-directed thinking in individuals with a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). A cross-sectional mixed design was used with 24 individuals with a diagnosis of BPD and 24 community participants (Controls). Participants were measured on PWB and a measure of future-directed thinking. Future-thoughts provided by participants were also content analysed, and it was hypothesised the BPD Group would have particularly marked deficits within interpersonal future thoughts. Consistent with previous findings (MacLeod et al., 2004), BPD participants had fewer positive future-directed thoughts compared to Controls, in the absence of any differences in negative future-directed thoughts. The BPD Group had significantly lower PWB scores on all six of the Ryff Psychological Well-being dimensions. The Control Group generated significantly more positive future-directed thoughts related to Relations with Others and Recreational activities, as well as more thoughts related to Having/Raising Children than the BPD Group. The findings extend the understanding of BPD individuals by profiling their well-being and describing in more detail their future-directed thinking.