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Endometriosis or the "career woman's disease" is a puzzling disease affecting women in their reproductive years. Research on endometriosis has focussed on aspects such as the personality characteristics of sufferers and its correlation with infertility (Venter, 1980). As yet, the experiential world of endometriosis sufferers and the relationships which are influenced by their disease have received little attention (Weinstein, 1987). Furthermore, endometriosis is construed as a physical disorder which is medically diagnosed and medically treated. As such, the epistemology surrounding the term "endometriosis" is an adherent to a largely non-contextual, non-systemic and intrinsically mechanistic biomedical model (Bogdan, 1984; Schwartz, 1982). By using an ecosystemic epistemology, this dissertation will attempt to describe the unique experiential world of the afflicted woman in terms of her coping strategies in dealing with endometriosis and to formulate a description of the interactional patterns between herself and significant others directly influenced by her disease. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

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The purpose of this study was to examine the interrelationships among the themes of Taylor's (1983) Cognitive Adaptation Theory for schoolagers with asthma. In addition, the influence of Taylor's (1983) themes on the children's social behavior was also tested. The three themes of Taylor's (1983) theory included A Search for Meaning, Restoration of Self-Esteem, and Gaining a Sense of Self-Mastery. Two components of A Search for Meaning included the Impact of Disease and the Cause of Disease. Relating Behaviors-Cooperating Behaviors was the index of social behavior. Forty-five Caucasian children between the ages of seven and ten years who had a diagnosis of asthma and did not have any mental disability were the convenient sample. Data were collected in the children's homes. Three questionnaires and two interviews were used to measure Taylor's (1983) themes and Relating Behaviors-Cooperating Behaviors. Descriptive statistics were used to answer the research questions and provide additional findings related to the conceptual framework. Two relationships among Taylor's (1983) themes were significant (p ≤ .05). Children who reported greater impact of asthma upon their lives (Impact of Disease) reported lower self-esteem (Restoration of Self-Esteem). Children who reported greater impact of asthma upon their lives (Impact of Disease) also reported a lesser internal locus of control orientation (Gaining a Sense of Self-Mastery). The Cause of Disease was the only concept which correlated significantly with Relating Behaviors-Cooperating Behaviors and thus, influenced this concept. Children who named a cause for their asthma reported more relating and cooperating skills. The Cause of Disease explained 6.5% of the variance for Relating Behaviors-Cooperating Behaviors. Characteristics of the children's asthma condition and their families were significantly related to the themes of Taylor's (1983) theory and Relating Behaviors-Cooperating Behaviors. Developmental differences were found from age group analyses. The classification of the children's responses for the cause of asthma and reliability and validity estimation for the HIIS were also reported. Five potential sources of error which may have affected the findings included design, instrument, subject, investigator, and specification errors. Suggestions for future research with the conceptual framework were discussed.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Dentistry / Master / Master of Dental Surgery

published_or_final_version / Medicine / Master / Master of Philosophy

The relationship of spirituality, self-transcendence, and social support to morale in chronically ill elderly was the focus of this research study. The research was based upon a developmental framework of aging. Individuals answered questionnaires regarding their perspectives on the above variables to determine how significantly the variables related to feelings of morale. Findings revealed that self-transcendence and social support were significantly correlated with morale in this population. No significant relationship between spirituality and morale was found. Self-transcendence and social support together accounted for 45% of the variance in predicting morale in the chronically ill elderly. Findings also revealed existing relationships between spirituality and gender, education level and social support, and length of illness and social support.

The purpose of the present study was to ascertain if environmentally sensitive patients would demonstrate different memory deficit patterns than psychiatric patients on objectively measurable memory tasks. One-hundred sixteen patients were surveyed; 56 environmentally sensitive patients were compared to 60 psychiatric patients. All subjects were administered a Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised screen, the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised and the Harrell-Butler Comprehensive Neurocognitive Screen after history of head injury was ruled out. Results indicate a significantly different pattern of memory dysfunction between the environmental patients and the psychiatric patients, indicating two different etiologies. A screening device derived from the coefficients from a Canonical Analysis is proposed to distinguish between the two populations in the absence of blood serum levels of environmental toxins or poisons. The detrimental effects of misdiagnosis and the beneficial effects of accurate diagnosis of environmental illness are discussed.

This study briefly reviews both historical and recent conceptualizations of dependency. In particular, it focuses on this concept's applicability to patients with chronic illnesses, especially those with allergies. Type and degree of dependency were seen as an important factor in the approach to the medical and psychological treatment of clinical ecology patients. The purpose of the study was to develop an objective measure of dependency which could quickly identify patients whose dependency conflicts interfere with the treatment process. The study was divided into three phases. In the first phase test responses by 84 inpatients to the CAQ, MMPI, and the HAT as well as historical and demographic data were analyzed by a series of stepwise discriminant analysis. The 53 resulting items were examined for those which most concisely discriminated between the two identified groups (pathologically dependent and nonpathologically dependent). These 15 items were used to test 120 additional patients in phase II. Fourteen items were retained and the coefficients obtained classified the patients in phase I and II with a 98.81 percent and 94.17 percent degree of accuracy respectively. These classification coefficients were used to classify another 30 patients in phase III with a 96.67 percent rate of accuracy. These results provide exceptionally strong support for the hypothesis that group classification can be obtained through the use of an objective screening instrument. The pathologically dependent patients tend to focus on disease, frequently are unemployed, have histories of childhood illnesses, have limited emotional controls, are depressed, ambivalent, and distrustful. Additionally, they experience difficulty establishing goals or accepting personal responsibility. Those patients identified as nonpathologically dependent exemplify the more positive aspects of these traits. The pathologically dependent patients appear to be caught in a dilemma between wellness and satisfaction of dependency needs. While all patients need an organized approach to treatment, the pathologically dependent require an extremely structured repititious approach and may require long term psychological intervention in order to make positive steps toward wellness.

M.A. / Please refer to full text to view abstract