Thesis (M.A.)--Eastern Illinois University. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-62).

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Objective. Guided by Pearlin's stress process model, this study explored the health of the adult children caregivers for older adults in mainland China. Methods. Data were from a nationally representative sample of respondents aged 45+ (N=13,204) who participated in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study Wave 2 (2013). Using logistic regression techniques, the first analysis focused on the relationship between caregiver status and social determinants of health and health disparities. For the second analysis, the moderating effect of employment status on caregiving time and depressive symptoms among 1,082 adult children caregivers was examined using multiple linear regression. Results. Adult children who were women, urban residents, younger, married, and had high school or more education were more likely to be caregivers than non-caregivers. Caregivers were more likely to live alone or live in three generation households and report fewer difficulties with physical functions compared to non-caregivers. Among caregivers, adult children who spent more hours providing care were more likely to experience more depressive symptoms as were adult children who were working outside of the home. The effect of caregiving time on depressive symptoms was moderated by employment status and gender. Unemployed men caregivers who spent more hours providing care reported the most depressive symptoms. Conversely, unemployed men caregivers who spent fewer hours providing care reported lowest level of depressive symptoms. / Ph. D. / This study focused on the health of adult children who provide care for older parents in mainland China. I analyzed social influences on health of caregivers versus non-caregivers and whether health differed in the two groups. In addition, I explored how working or not working and time spent providing care affected feelings of depression among adult child caregivers. Date for the study came from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study Wave 2, collected in 2013. The 13,204 participants, aged 45 and older, represented all regions of China. Of these, 1,082 were providing care for a parent. First, I compared the personal characteristics of caregivers and non-caregivers to see if there were any differences between the two groups. Second, I examined the connection between the amount of time spent on caregiving and feelings of depression, and whether being employed or not made a difference in the time-depression connection. The findings showed that adult children who were women, living in urban areas, younger, married, and had high school or more education were more likely to be caregivers than non-caregivers. Caregivers were more likely to live alone or live in three generation households. Caregivers were more likely to better physical functioning compared to non-caregivers. Those who spent more hours providing care reported more depressive symptoms, and so did caregivers who were working outside of the home. Unemployed men caregivers who spent more hours providing care reported the most symptoms of depression. Unemployed men caregivers who spent fewer hours providing care reported the fewest depressive symptoms. Understanding the social factors related to health and family caregiving can help policy makers establish programs to support older families in mainland China. In addition, the findings can help shape health-related programs and community services for adult children caregivers that will actually meet their needs.

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to describe female adult children's experiences when they return to the parental home to live, and to develop theory to explain the processes and consequences involved in the return to the parental home. Primary data sources included 1 1/2 hour audiotaped, semi-structured interviews with 15 female adult children who had returned to the parental home to live. Other sources of data included individual and conjoint interviews with parents and daughters from a subset of four families, and field notes about the interviews. Grounded theory methodology (Strauss & Corbin, 1990, 1998) was used. Transcribed interviews were systematically analyzed to develop a theoretical model, in which the core social and psychological process was labelled "regrouping." In response to life events and personal choices, women return to the parental home to regroup--to recuperate, reenergize, contemplate and pursue lifeplans. Their intention is to enhance personal well-being and to secure a better quality life in the future. Regrouping is embedded in the life context of female adult children's specific life-events and choices, living environments, family and social relationships, and sociocultural scripts -- all conditions that can hinder or facilitate the process. Regrouping is a cyclical rather than a linear process. Female adult children who had returned to the parental home did not experience a simple, uncomplicated linear forward movement towards attaining valued personal goals. Rather, they experienced an oscillating pattern of “faltering” and "advancing" in their efforts to realize valued goals. This experience has implications for the development of a fluctuating sense of self or self-image, the fulfilment of personal goals, the quality of the experience as positive or negative, and for family relations. The contribution of the theoretical model to the literature is the discovery that returning home in adulthood may be a strategy for managing change and transition in one's life and for attaining certain lifespan development tasks (e.g., individuating from parents, establishing a career, and attaining financial security). Implications for counselling practice, and the self-help needs of adults who have returned home to live are noted. Suggestions for facilitating returning adult children's personal development (i.e., clarifying personal goals, weighing the pros and cons of returning and remaining at the parental home, maintaining self-esteem, seeking social support) and facilitating family relations . (i.e, having realistic expectations of parents, being sensitive to mothers, negotiating privacy and boundaries, managing cross-cultural dynamics) are discussed. It is suggested that future research extend the application of the theory to men, as well as more diverse ethnic groups.

This thesis explores the experiences of aging parents caring for adult children with acquired brain injury regarding future care needs. Seven parents representing four adult disabled children, were individually interviewed using the Family Support and Coping Interview. The parents then participated in three groups sessions to discuss the commonality of 'never-ending' parenthood. The parents, who average 70.9 years of age, have been sole caregivers for middle-aged children. Their displaced life cycle responsibilities, their vision of a solution and the need to socially publicize their predicament were major themes requiring advocacy with policy makers and government funders. Research into the care of those who cannot manage independent living is imperative, particularly as social thinking and fiscal policies espouse the benefits of the autonomous family.

The existing scholarly literature that addresses the transgenerational transmission of family processes fails to answer many questions concerning adults' current relationships with partners and peers. The purpose of the present study was to investigate how adults' perceptions of their family of origin climates affect their own satisfaction with emotionally significant interpersonal relationships and their fear of intimacy in these relationships. Participants were recruited from a mid-western college. A total of 281 participants were tested.The main research question was: What is the nature of the relationship between adults' perceptions of their family of origin climate and their current relationship satisfaction/fear of intimacy. It was hypothesized that adults' perceptions of cohesion, expressiveness, independence, achievement orientation, intellectual-cultural orientation, active-recreational orientation, moral religious emphasis, and organization within their families of origin would be positively related to their satisfaction with their current friendship and partner relationships and negatively related to their fear of intimacy. It was conversely hypothesized that adult's perceptions of conflict and control within their families of origin would be negatively related to their current relationship satisfaction with friends and partners and positively related to their fear of intimacy.Family of origin climate was assessed by the Family Environment Scale which measures 10 aspects of family of origin climate. These are: cohesion, expressiveness, conflict, independent, achievement orientation, intellectual-cultural orientation, activerecreational orientation, moral-religious emphasis, organization, and control. Relationshipsatisfaction was measured in two types of relationships: partner relationship satisfaction with the Relationship Assessment Scale and peer relationship satisfaction with the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment, Peer Scale. The Fear of Intimacy Scale was utilized to assess participants' anxiety or fear that influences intimacy in a close relationship or at the prospect of a close relationship. Participants also completed a demographic questionnaire.Results of a canonical correlation analysis indicated that perceptions of family of origin climate did not influence current relationship satisfaction or fear of intimacy in adults. Adults' perceptions of their family of origin climates did not influence their current relationship satisfaction and fear of intimacy. Limitations of the current study and recommendations for future research are discussed. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

A large body of literature addresses the effects of divorce on children. Only a small part of this literature, however, addresses the effects of divorce on young adult children. This smaller body of literature addresses the emotional effects of divorce, the way adult children of divorce perceive their families of origin, and the intergenerational transmission of divorce hypothesis. The present study examined the nature of the relationship between parental divorce and its effects on the expectations of adults children's own future families.It is hypothesized that the structure of the family of origin plays a significant role in these expectations and that young adults from intact families will differ significantly from young adults from divorced families.One hundred sixty-seven students from a midwestern university participated in this study. Participants completed two versions of the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scales III (FACES III). These two versions were for (1) the family of origin and (2) the future family. Participants also completed a demographic questionnaire. The following hypotheses were tested: (1) Family structure in the family of origin will predict expectations of young adults' own future familes; (2) Family functioning in the family of origin will predict expectations of young adults' own future families; (3) Family structure and family functioning in the family of origin will be related to each other in predicting the expectations of young adults' own future families.Contrary to expectations, only one of the three hypotheses was supported. Family functioning in the family of origin did predict expectations of family functioning in young adults' future families. This was true of both the cohesion and the adaptability contructs. Family structure did not predict expectations of young adults' own future families. An interaction of family structure and family functioning in the family of origin did not predict expectations of future families above and beyond what the two variables could predict independently. Implications of these findings and limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2007. / Abstract. Vita. Includes survey instruments. Includes bibliographic references (ℓ. 133-154)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2007. / Abstract. Vita. Includes survey instruments. Includes bibliographic references (ℓ. 133-154) Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.N.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2004. / Bibliography: leaves 122-125.