Thesis (S.T.M.)--Yale Divinity School, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-92).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Abilene Christian University, 1991. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-106).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

One of the purposes of the study was to obtain information on how family members' perceptions of the family's homeostasis changes over time as the family passes from a crisis period through a transition phase from a wet (drinking) to a dry (non-drinking) state. In addition, the study examined the impact that changes in the family system may have on maintaining a dry state after the completion of an alcoholism treatment program that involved family members. Twenty families participated in the study. Family members completed instruments that measured family cohesion, adaptability, dynamics, satisfaction, and family/social functioning at three different measurement occasions. Those measurement occasions were at the beginning (Time 1) and completion (Time 2) of a family treatment program for alcoholism, and at a month follow-up (Time 3). The primary test for each hypothesis was a repeated measures analysis of variance where the within subject factor was the measurement occasions (Time). In general, the results of the study suggested that a month follow-up, the families were still in a disrupted state of homeostasis as reflected in the scores for adaptability, cohesion, and dynamics. However, the findings of the study indicated that the families were more satisfied with the family system at the time of follow-up than at the beginning of a family program. In addition, family members reported being more involved in activities with each other at the follow-up period than at the start of a family program.

M.Cur. / The abuse of alcohol has a huge impact on health-related problems worldwide. The incidence rate of alcohol abuse in South Africa is on the increase according to Van Niekerk (2001:325). Alcohol dependency causes dysfunction in families resulting in problems such as physical abuse, sexual abuse, impaired relationships and poor parenting (Prest & Protinsky 1993:352). The family system becomes dysfunctional by organising itself in a way which enables and protects the alcohol dependant’s drinking habits. This phenomenon is called “ co-dependency”. The family is ignorant of the problem and becomes isolated. The concept “co-dependency” has been used since the late 1970’s to describe the problems affecting the spouse of the alcoholic and later to include the children. Co-dependency is characterised by features such as low self-esteem, poor identity formation, overuse of denial and the urge to control others. The co-dependant’s involvement with others in order to care and control leads to mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and substance abuse. It becomes a vicious cycle difficult to escape from. Health care professionals may be unaware of the underlying family problems when the co-dependant seeks help for physical and mental illness, resulting in the complexity of the problem not being addressed. Psychiatric nurses need guidelines to facilitate the mental health of the co-dependant spouse. The first goal of this study was to explore and describe the lived experience of the co-dependant spouse. The second goal was to develop guidelines for the psychiatric nurse to facilitate the mental health of the co-dependant spouse. The theoretical framework of the Theory for Health Promotion in Nursing by the Department of Nursing of the Rand Afrikaans University (2002:2-7) was used as point of departure in conducting this research. The researcher followed a functional approach according to the Botes model for nursing research (RAU, 2002:8-13). An explorative, descriptive, contextual and qualitative research design was used for this study (Babbie & Mouton, 2001:79-81). In-depth semi-structured phenomenological interviews were conducted with participants meeting the criteria for inclusion. Purposive sampling was used (Burns & Grove 1997:307). A pilot study was conducted. To ensure trustworthiness, the researcher made use of Guba’s model (Lincoln & Guba 1985: 290-300). The researcher used Tesch’s approach (Poggenpoel in De Vos, 1998:343) to transcribe the recorded interviews and to analyse the data gathered from the interviews. A literature control was conducted to re-contextualise the results within the literature. The researcher came to the conclusion that the total being of the co-dependant is dismantled by the effect of the addictive process. It was found that the ripple effect of co-dependency is far reaching, causing dysfunction of the family structure and mental health problems of the individual family members. In order to break the vicious cycle of addiction, simultaneous intervention at different levels of the addiction process was required. Therefore co-dependency should be dealt with as part of a bigger process by the psychiatric nurse when intervening. Guidelines were developed for the psychiatric nurse in order to facilitate the mental health of the co-dependant in a holistic manner. Conclusions were drawn, limitations of the research were highlighted and recommendations were made for the nursing practice, nursing education and nursing research.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Notre Dame, 2003. / Thesis directed by E. Mark Cummings for the Department of Psychology. "November 2003." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 73-82).

The thesis was designed to identify adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs) among a sample of Ball State University students. The prevalence of common characteristic behaviors among adult anonymous survey was administered to two large sections of the Health Science, Fundamentals of Human Health class to obtain a representative sample.The results of the survey identified 21.9 percent of the 288 subjects to be adult children of alcoholics. A combined total of 31.6 percent of the 288 subjects were identified be adult children of problem drinkers and ACOAs. The most prevalent characteristic behavior identified by the ACOA population is statement number six, “I take myself very seriously.” This behavior characteristic was checked by 49.2 percent of the 63 identified ACOAs. The remaining 19 statements also were analyzed to enable the investigator to develop an accurate ACOA profile. / Department of Physiology and Health Science

Thesis (S.T.L.)--Catholic University of America, 1990. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 162-166).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves : 59-64).

Thesis (M.A.)--Central Connecticut State University, 1999. / Thesis advisor: Carol Shaw Austad. " ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Art [in Psychology]." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 43-48).