Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / Supportive relationships have been found to be very beneficial for health and well-being. However, amongst alcohol dependent individuals, family support is often low, as alcohol abuse can pose a barrier between the individual and his or her family. The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of how adult children experienced providing social support to a parent with alcohol abuse problems or recovering from alcohol addiction. To conceptualize the study, Bowen's Family Systems Theory was used, which highlights the impact that alcohol abuse has on a family as a whole, and that it does not solely affect the individual who is addicted to alcohol. Participants were selected using convenience sampling. Adopting a qualitative approach, the researcher conducted individual semi-structured interviews in which participants were students between the ages of 25 and 38 years. The qualitative interviews were transcribed verbatim and transcriptions were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA).Ethical clearance was obtained from the University of the Western Cape Higher Degrees Committee. Informed consent for conducting this research study was obtained from the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and Kensington Treatment Centre (KTC) as well as from participants. The consent forms indicate that only the researcher and the researcher's supervisor have access to the data obtained. The researcher pledged confidentiality and adherence to ethical rules and regulations. The researcher ensured that participant anonymity was not compromised upon analysis of the data. The study found that parental alcohol abuse has negative effects on the support provider's well-being and their involvement in the parent-child relationship. Effects included feelings of anger and shame; giving in to peer pressure; engaging in substance use and risky sexual behaviours; distancing themselves emotionally; and keeping secrets. Furthermore, participants also experienced social alienation; emotional and sexual abuse; and a fragmentation of the parent-child relationship.

The incidence of increased life span as well as a lack of care for older persons, gave rise to the South African Older persons Act (Act No 13 of 2006), which guides society in how our older persons should be treated. This Act also provides a clear indication of the expectations of caring for older persons within communities and families. Many older persons people rely on the relationships they have with their children in their golden years, to be fulfilling and loving. This study therefore aimed to explore the experiences of older persons and their adult children on maintaining positive relationships in order for the relationship to be most beneficial for both older persons and their adult children. The quality of relationships between adult children and older persons according to Newby (2010) can ease participation of adult children in the lives of older persons. This study was conducted from a qualitative research perspective that is exploratory, descriptive and contextual in nature. The exploratory-descriptive design allowed the researcher to understand the topic by using a narrative strategy of inquiry. A non-probability purposive sampling method was applied to identify five older persons as well as the adult children of these older persons who are retirees of an automotive company in South Africa. Individual, semi-structured face to face interviews were conducted with older persons as well as with at least one of their adult children who did not reside with them. Thematic data analysis technique was used to analyse the data collected. The study is viewed as significant in enhancing the understanding of satisfying and caring relationships between older persons and their adult children in order to add to the body of existing knowledge in social gerontology and to improve direct social work practice with older persons.

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While a plethora of studies have examined the effects of divorce on children, fewer have looked at young adults who have experienced parental divorce after they were 18 years of age, and even fewer have examined the experiences of Black American adult children. Using concepts from Social Identity Theory, the goal of this study was to understand the experiences of Black adult children whose parents have divorced and the phenomenon of their self-perception based on family identity. This was a phenomenological study conducted through guided face-to-face interviews and utilizing Photovoice with four Black adult children of divorce, whose parents divorced after they were 18 years old. The data collected from narrative interviews and photographs through this study were analyzed using narrative and visual content analysis. Findings were that adult children who are emerging as adults with their identity struggle to reidentify themselves, their familial relations not only with their divorced parents, but even more so with their siblings; where relationships are also impacted. This study contributes to social change by identifying the needs of this population at an important time in their lives. Therapists, universities, and communities may use this study to better support Black adult children of divorce of American descent.

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The primary objective of this study was to determine whether parental alcoholism significantly altered intergenerational relationship variables between parents and offspring. The intergenerational variables of fusion/individuation, intimacy, triangulation, intimidation, and personal authority were investigated. One hundred and ninety-five university undergraduates responded to a written questionnaire. Each participant signed a consent form, completed the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (CAST), the Personal Authority in the Family System Questionnaire Version C (PAFS-QVC), and a demographic questionnaire. Based on CAST scores, subjects were divided into 44 Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOAs) and 151 Adult Children of NonAlcoholics (NonACOAs). Demographic data indicated that the overall sample was primarily composed of White, middle class, unmarried, undergraduates with a gender distribution of slightly more females than males. The ACOA group was represented by a two to one ratio of females to males, the majority of alcoholic parents were identified as male, the mean age for the ACOA's first awareness of parental alcoholism was 11.22 years, and the majority of ACOAs recognized parental alcoholism as being disruptive to the home environment. Multivariate analyses revealed that ACOAs differed from nonACOAs on the five dependent variables. Specifically, lower levels of intimacy and triangulation, along with an apparent trend towards lower levels of individuation were found within the parent-child relationship. The independent variables of offspring's gender, offspring's age at earliest awareness of parental alcoholism, offspring’s perceived home effect of parental alcoholism, and nonalcoholics parent's perceived home effect of parental alcoholism did not have a significant impact on the intergenerational dependent variables. / Ph. D.

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No description available.

The current study is an investigation of filial responsibility expectations endorsed by a randomly selected sample of 144 elderly parent-adult child pairs from the Harrisburg area of Pennsylvania. Descriptive statistics suggested that most older parents and adult children interpreted the filial role to include a great deal of emotional support and discussion of important matters and available resources. Both generations perceived living close and writing letters to parents on a weekly basis as less important. Parents were more likely to disapprove of receiving financial assistance from children, living with children, and having children adjust their work schedules to help them than were their offspring. Robinson's statistical measure of agreement, which examined the amount of consensus between generations, revealed that there was a moderate level of agreement between parents and their children on filial responsibility expectations. Multiple regression analyses indicated that amount of agreement on filial norms did not have an impact on parental well-being, however. / Ph. D.

The aim of the research study was to examine the marital attitudes of students from divorced, intact and single parent families. Most of these students were in the intimacy versus isolation developmental phase. During this phase young adults seek to form an intimate relationship with another person, but may fear intimacy or may not want to give up their independence and may experience loneliness and isolation instead. It was thus important to conduct the study since some of the students were at a developmental stage in which they might have been dealing with intimate relationship issues. Given the focus of international studies on the marital attitudes of students from intact and divorced families, it was considered important to include, in the comparison, students from single parent families. A survey research design was used as a broad methodological framework and Bowen's family systems theory was used as a theoretical framework. A convenient sampling method was used to select a sample of 209 participants from the Community and Health Science Faculty. A Marital Attitude Scale and a questionnaire was used to collect data. The data was analyzed by means of basic descriptive statistics, the Kruskal-Wallis H-test, T-Test and Mann Whitney U-Test. Results showed that students&rsquo / parental marital status (married, divorced, single) had no influence on their attitudes towards marriage. Generally, the students showed positive attitudes towardsmarriage. The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference among different racial groups.<br /> <br /> The results suggest that except for race, there was no statistically significant difference on the marital attitudes when compared on such variables as gender, religion and age. Although the marital attitudes of participants were generally positive among the different racial groups, participants from the Black community had less positive marital attitudes when compared with their Coloured, Indian and White counterparts. Participants from the Coloured community also had less positive marital attitudes when compared<br /> to their counterparts from the Indian and White communities. The results of this study show that participants had relative positive attitudes towards marriage and that these attitudes did not differ according to parental status.