Emerging adulthood has been described as a distinctive stage of life between adolescence and young adulthood, in which the hallmark of development is signified by the achievement of intimacy in romantic relationships. From a family systems perspective, the degree to which parents have resolved their own emotional attachment contributes to the capacity of emerging adults to develop intimacy in romantic relationships without inhibition from fear of closeness. This study empirically examines the relationship between parental emotional attachment and the fear of intimacy of emerging adults by exploring the mediating role of differentiation of self. One of the most important and original contributions of this study is the development and validation of the Parental Emotional Attachment Scale (PEAS) which measures the intensity of parental emotional attachment. This study applies a mixed-methods sequential exploratory design with four samples of emerging adults in Hong Kong. First, interviews (N=24; Mage=23.6; 54% female) are conducted to explore the variations in subjective experiences with family of origin and fear of romantic intimacy. Building on the qualitative data from the interviews, the PEAS is developed through two pilot studies with two separate samples (combined N=551; Mage=20.6; 61% female). The PEAS is validated and then applied in the main study (N=755; Mage=21.8; 55.4% female). An exploratory factor analysis yields four factors with 34 items, including Parental Emotional Fusion, Parental Emotional Separateness, Parental Emotional Over-functioning and Parental Emotional Projection, which explain for 46.81% of the total variance. The four-factor structure is confirmed by using a confirmatory factor analysis. The results indicate substantial correlations between the PEAS and the Chinese version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, which supports the convergent validity of the PEAS. The results also show that the PEAS has sufficient reliability (Cronbach's alpha= .89) and validity to support its application in the Hong Kong Chinese population. Concurrently, it is found that parental emotional attachment is negatively correlated with the level of differentiation of self, and positively correlated with the fear of intimacy. In addition, differentiation of self significantly mediates the relation between parental emotional attachment and fear of intimacy. Finally, a hierarchical regression analysis reveals that parental emotional over-functioning, emotional cutoff and emotional fusion with family are predictive of the fear of intimacy. The overall findings highlight differentiation of self as an underlying mechanism through which parental emotional attachment affects the level of fear of intimacy of emerging adults. Besides, emerging adults who experience greater parental emotional over-functioning, emotional cutoff and emotional fusion with family show higher levels of fear of intimacy. These findings jointly imply the importance for emerging adults to differentiate from their family of origin by balancing closeness and separateness, bridging emotional distance, reducing emotional cutoff and recognizing their own adaptive patterns in relationships, which serve as a practical framework for the future development of relationship education and counseling of emerging adults in Hong Kong.

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Action theory provides a theoretical framework for examining administrative behavior in a higher educational system. The specific problem with which this study is concerned is the relationship between parental identification, a selected aspect of early acculturation, and the managerial roles of community college administrators. The purposes of this investigation are twofold. The first is to determine the relationships between perceived parental identification and Theory X and Theory Y action frames of reference of administrators in a selected community college district. The second purpose is to determine Theory X and Theory Y action frames of reference based on (a) age, (b) sex, (c) method of succession, (d) type of administrative position, and (e) length of time in present position.

This study explored the extent of triangulation between elderly people and their adult children, and examines the relationship of triangulation with marital and individual outcomes such as problem solving, negative affective communication, time spent together, intimacy, depression, and marital satisfaction. Triangulation between adult children and elderly parents was found to be strongly related with negative outcomes for elderly parents in each of the dependent variables.

The intent of this study was to examine how perceived aid exchange patterns between mothers and adult children influence the mothers' perception of the quality of their relationship. We also examined how mothers’ characteristics (health, age, and marital status), children's characteristics (marital status and gender), and propinquity were associated with mothers' perceptions of giving and receiving of aid. The types of aid explored were Financial Help, Gifts Besides Money, Help With the House, Help During Sickness, Advice on Life's Problems, Advice on Decisions, Affection, and Overall Exchange of Aid. Aid patterns were classified as Mother Gave More, Child Gave More, About Equal Exchange, or No Exchange. Data were collected from interviews with 330 mothers, 65 years or older, using a six-stage sample selection process. Perceived relationship quality was significantly different for the four different aid pattern groups in regard to Financial Help, Gifts Besides Money, Advice on Life's Problems, and Overall Aid. Highest perceived relationship quality was found in those groups in which Child Gave More or in which there was About Equal Exchange. Lowest perceived relationship quality was found for the group Mother Gave More of these four types of aid. Mother's characteristics, child's characteristics, (except gender), and propinquity were not related to relationship quality. Differences in aid patterns were found between mother's health and Gifts Besides Money, Help When Sick, Affection, and Overall Aid; between mother's age and Advice on Life's Problems, Help When Sick, Help With House; between mother's marital status and Advice on Decisions, Help With House; between children's marital status and Financial Help, Gifts Besides Money, Help With House; between children's gender with Help With House; and between propinquity and Financial Help, Help When Sick, Help With House, Advice on Decisions. / Master of Science

The present study assessed 351 undergraduate subjects on dimensions of parental alcohol abuse, childhood family environment, childhood social support, current coping style, current negative life experiences, current psychological symptomatology, and current indices of drug and alcohol abuse. Results indicated that, while paternal alcohol abuse, in and of itself, was not related to any of the outcome measures, maternal alcoholism was correlated with one measure of alcohol abuse and three measures of drug abuse, and was independently predictive of a portion of the variance of one alcohol abuse measure among subjects. Early environmental factors (family environment and low levels of social support), as well as current coping style and current negative life experiences, were found to be related to psychological symptomatology and to indices of drug and alcohol abuse. coping style was also found to be related to early family environment and to childhood social support, suggesting that coping style may have its developmental roots in early environmental factors. An interaction between paternal alcohol abuse and disengagement coping style was shown to be predictive of a portion of the variance of subjects' alcohol abuse. Interactions between maternal alcoholism and low level of social support were predictive of a portion of the variance of subjects' drug abuse. / Master of Science

The purpose of this study was to contribute to a base of information about adult offspring who reside in the parental home, with particular emphasis on intergenerational relationships. The variables investigated included intimacy with parents, individuation from family of origin, triangulation, intimidation, and personal authority. These were selected to provide a theoretical basis for an understanding of the relational dynamics within the parent-adult child household and of differentiation of the adult offspring in the study. Sixty-six adults living in their parents' homes participated in the study. Each completed five subscales from the Personal Authority in the Family System Questionnaire(PAFS-Q) and a demographic questionnaire. Demographic results indicated that moving home after a separation or divorce was not prevalent, even to receive assistance with child care. A greater proportion of females than males lived at home during the ages of 22-29, with proportions of females growing smaller until the ages of 40- 45, when the ratio became 50-50. Fewer than half of the respondents paid for rent and household expenses regularly, even with over 80% employed full time and over 68% earning $10,000.00 or more annually. Multivariate analyses revealed that these adult children reported significant degrees of intimacy and personal authority under conditions of satisfaction with the living arrangement, as well as significant levels of fusion in conjunction with both satisfaction and age being over forty. Intimidation was significantly less with those who have resided at home two to seven years, and greater with those who have lived in the home only one year. / Ph. D.

This study investigated the adult child's role as a provider of social support to divorced parents. Each of the 230 randomly-selected individuals participating in the survey had been divorced after 19 or more years of marriage and had at least one child over age 18. Participants ranged in age from 36 to 72 and had been married an average of 28 years prior to divorce. Respondents were asked to indicate the types and amounts of support provided by children in two major areas: instrumental aid (e.g., advice, services, financial assistance) and socioemotional aid. The pattern of support varied according to sex of the parent and the sex of the child. Mothers received significantly more support than fathers in all four categories: advice, services, financial assistance, and socioemotional aid. Sons and daughters did not differ significantly with regard to frequency of provision of advice or financial aid. However, sons provided significantly more services, and daughters provided significantly more socioemotional aid. Circumstances connected with filial provision of support--opportunity, parental expectation of aid, parental financial need, parental health and morale, competing role responsibilities of the child, and quality of the parent-child relationship--were analyzed. Multiple regression was used to specify the relationship between total support received and seven independent variables: frequency of contact, sex of respondent, emotional closeness, filial expectations, frequency of telephoning, sidetaking-behavior, and financial strain. These variables explained 52% of the variance in total support. Mothers were more likely than fathers to rank children as the most helpful source of support during the divorce process: 42.6% of mothers, as compared to 18.3% of fathers ranked children as the most helpful. Mothers ranked children higher than all other sources of support; fathers, on the other hand, ranked their friends and their parents ahead of their children with respect to support provided during the divorce period. / Ph. D.

This research investigated selected aspects of the effects on adult children of placing a parent in a nursing home; specifically, the ease of placement, change in parent-child relationships, and effects on the personal life of the adult child as perceived by the child. Scales constructed for use in measuring these dependent and several independent variables in an original study were revised on the basis of factor analysis, internal consistency analysis and subjective judgement. The revision of the scales was based on the original study's data. The revised scales were included in a shorter, more focused questionnaire utilized in the present study. Results of the original study and evidence from existing literature formed a basis for hypotheses tested in the present study. Revised questionnaires were mailed to 175 adult children listed as guarantors of patients in seven nursing homes. A 66.9% usable response rate was obtained. Stepwise regression was utilized to test the hypotheses. The results indicated that the more concerned the child was about the parent's placement and the less the child favored the placement, the more difficult it was for the child to carry out the decision to place his or her parent. The placement of a parent did not appear to be accompanied by deterioration of the parent-child relationship. Rather, it tends to either remain the same or improve. Those children who are most likely to have perceived positive change in the relationship were those who had more concerns about the parent being in a nursing home, had younger parents, saw their parent as making a good adjustment to being in a nursing home, and did not view their own aging positively. None of the independent variables were significant predictors of perceived effects on the personal life of the adult child. Support for potential positive changes in parent-child relationships as a result of a parent being placed in a nursing home was discussed. Recommendations for further research utilizing the family theory framework of Bowen (1978) was presented. / Ph. D.

郭康健. / 論文(博士)--香港中文大學, 2000. / 參考文獻 (p. 187-211) / 中英文摘要. / Available also through the Internet via Dissertations & theses @ Chinese University of Hong Kong. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Guo Kangjian. / Lun wen (bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2000. / Can kao wen xian (p. 187-211) / Zhong Ying wen zhai yao.