Thesis (MA (Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / The recent history of psychology in South Africa has seen a shift amongst clinical/counselling psychologists towards a distinct practice modality. The overarching aim of this study is to explore the shift amongst clinical/counselling psychologists towards the consulting psychology modality, and to investigate the implications of this shift for the training of psychologists in South Africa. The trend towards consulting psychology is investigated through an analysis of the described experiences and perceptions of registered clinical/counselling psychologists working in consulting roles; educators involved in the training of psychologists; and consumers of the services of consulting psychologists. Juxtaposition of the competencies required for success as a consulting psychologist with the competencies acquired in current clinical/counselling training programmes has implications for a potential reconceptualisation of training approaches in the light of this shift. A grounded theory approach is employed to access the perceptions of those most intimately involved in the field without manipulating these through the lens of a pre-defined hypothesis. The perceptions, as accessed via interviews and focus groups, of 9 consulting clinical/counselling psychologists, 10 educators, and 8 consumers form a triangulated depiction of the shift to this practice modality, the competencies it requires, and the efficacy of current clinical/counselling training programmes in equipping psychologists for a consulting role. Analysis of these inputs indicates that clinical/counselling psychologists lack certain competencies vital to successful consulting. They do, however, possess many of the core-competencies required. Hence, while the training of psychologists may require review in order to meet the changing needs of both providers and consumers of consulting psychology services in South Africa, many of the facets of current clinical/counselling programmes are indispensable.

Thesis (MA (Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / The first objective of the present study was to determine whether the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) could predict dietary and fluid adherence among in-centre hemodialysis patients attending government hospitals in the Western Cape.

Thesis (MSc (Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Anxiety symptoms seem highly prevalent amongst South African children, as recent studies indicate. Even though early intervention and prevention is advocated, an effective prevention- and early intervention programme for childhood anxiety is lacking for the South African context. Therefore, the present study was motivated from the need for an effective anxiety prevention- and early intervention programme for use with South African children. Thus the primary aim of the present study was to determine whether the Australian FRIENDS programme could effectively reduce the anxiety symptoms in a sample of South African children. In addition, literature also suggests self-efficacy to have a unique contribution in the etiology of anxiety. The question has also been raised in literature whether the effectiveness of childhood anxiety interventions cannot be ascribed to the enhancement of self-efficacy for dealing with feared stimuli. Thus, as a sub-aim the study explored whether the FRIENDS programme could effectively enhance the self-efficacy of the sample. Hence, for the present pilot study, a programme evaluation was conducted into the effectiveness of the FRIENDS programme, a prevention- and early intervention programme for childhood anxiety.

Thesis (MA (Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2004. / The main objective of the study was to adapt the Implicit Association Task (IAT) to asses implicit self-relevant fear associations in individuals suffering from social phobia and panic disorder. This involved the development of computerbased word stimuli classification tasks in which participants were expected to classify individually presented words belonging to one of four word categories, namely self-related ‘me’ words, other-related ‘not-me’ words, threat-related words (physical or social threat) and corresponding safety-related words. Two response keys on the computer were to be used, each representing two word categories during a specific trial (e.g., the one representing ‘me’ and ‘threat’, and the other ‘not-me’ and ‘safety’ words). The demanded task was to classify the presented words as quickly and accurately as possible. This resulted in the construction of the Physical Threat Implicit Association Task (PIAT) and the Social Threat Implicit Association Task (SIAT). Both IAT versions were administered to a group of 17 participants diagnosed with social phobia, 17 diagnosed with panic disorder, and 17 ‘normal’ controls. Fear-domain specific self-threat association biases were expected for the social phobics on the SIAT, for the panickers on the PIAT, as well as significant differences with the performances of the control group on the IAT tasks. A secondary objective of the study was to investigate the relationships between the IATs and performances on a variety of self-report scales, namely the Social Phobia Inventory, the Panic Disorder Severity Scale, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Beck Depression Inventory-II. In contrast to what was expected, the results of both the PIAT and SIAT did not demonstrate a facilitation of the classification task during trials when ‘me’ and ‘threat’ words were allocated to one category (i.e., response key), and ‘notme’ and ‘safety’ to the other. On the contrary, all three participant groups demonstrated significant effects in the opposite direction. Furthermore, the differences between the groups on both IATs were insignificant. With the exception of a significant, negative correlation between the results on the SIAT and the Social Phobia Inventory for the social phobia group, all the other IAT and self-report scale correlations were insignificant. The results were explained in terms of a newly proposed ‘two-forces’ cognitive theory. It was speculated that the IAT effects might have been the result of two opposing forces operating at different stages of the information processing system. This is namely (a) a disruption of performance by attention diversion during an early pre-attentive stage of processing, versus (b) a facilitation of the classification task by implicit association during later elaborative stages of processing, with the former apparently making the major contribution to the final IAT effect. This may be a phenomenon unique to anxiety disorders. The implications for future research of the findings and the newly proposed theory were also discussed.

Thesis (MSc (Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / The purpose of this investigation was to standardise the MB-10 on adults. As it has already been standardised for grade 7, grade 9 and grade 11 learners, as well as first year students, the next logical step would be to extend it to adults. This study is further motivated by a suggestion of the Psychometric Committee of the Vocational Council for Psychology that there is indeed a need to standardise the MB- 10 on adults. Altogether 233 adult volunteers between the ages of 22 and 55 years participated in this study. The average age of the male group (35 years) is more or less the same as that of the female group (34 years). The majority of the participants (184) are Afrikaans speaking. Regarding the level of education, marginally more men and women (51% and 52% respectively) have post-matric qualifications, whereas 49% of the men and 48% of the women only have a school qualification. From the investigation the following conclusions might be drawn: * The same form of the MB-10 which has already been standardised on other groups, can be used as a reliable and valid instrument of measurement for adult interest. * Item analysis has indicated that there are only a few items which did not make a positive contribution to the relevant field, but that the overwhelming majority of the item correlations are highly satisfactory. A possible reason for the low correlations may be that certain items that should have been simple enough for grade 7 learners, were too simplistic for adults. * No meaningful differences were found regarding interest between adults with different educational levels, except that persons with no post school qualifications tend to have a preference for business activities. Results of this investigation have resulted in the setting of separate norm tables for adult men and women.

Thesis (MA (Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / Many researchers have argued that social factors such as poverty and urbanisation play a role in the experience of and may be risk factors for mental disorders. There is however a paucity of research examining this issue, particularly in developing countries, where the prevalence of mental disorders has been shown to be as high, if not higher than in developing countries. The present study aimed to begin to address this gap by collecting in depth exploratory data that could inform further study in the field. We conducted ten qualitative case studies consisting of semi structured interviews with family members of households caring for a member with a mental illness. The specific factors of interest were the role of structural factors, namely, municipal and health services in the experience of mental illness. Data were analysed thematically, using an adaptation of Yin’s (2003) approach. The findings indicate that factors associated with service delivery and cost recovery in poor urban contexts may increase stress and burden on households who are caring for a member with a mental illness. This has implications for the course and experience of mental illness and the primary environment in which care is received. These claims are tentative and further research is needed to substantiate them.

Thesis (MA (Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Close relationships are essential to health and well-being. There is clear evidence that problems in intimate relationships contribute to both health and psychological problems (Cassidy, 2001). In order to understand and treat adult intimate relationships effectively, there needs to be a theory that describes and explain adult intimate relationships. A review of the literature shows that the field has lacked a framework or a broad theory. A theory that proposes to be a framework for the understanding of adult intimate relationship, is John Bowlby's attachment theory. A review of the literature on adult intimate relationships, shows that attachment theory has become prominent in the field. Research suggests that attachment theory offers clinicians a way to grasp and help clients shape their attachment bond, transforming their marriages and their families (Johnson, 2003). It is therefore researchers' view that attachment theory offers the clinician a guide to understand adult intimate relationships and to treat and transform them. The objective of this review is to explore the applicability of attachment theory as a theory of adult intimate relationships. This review focuses on: A brief review of theories used in the area of adult intimate relationships; the central concepts of attachment bond and attachment styles and how these are carried through to adulthood via internal working models; the application of the concepts of attachment theory to the understanding and treatment of adult intimate relationships; the evaluation of EFT as a treatment model; and finally, the evaluation of attachment theory as a model of adult intimate relationships. Although there are valid concerns about the extensions and applications of the theory, it is concluded that the use attachment theory contributes to clinicians' understanding of adult intimate relationships. It was also suggested that extensive research on the use of this theory in other countries and specifically South Africa is critically needed to make well-grounded conclusions about the usefulness of this theory.

Thesis (MA (Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / This study explores the discourses in the literature regarding same-sex marriage and their underlying assumptions. Emphasis is placed on highlighting how researchers assume particular socio-political positions in their constructions of lesbian identity and same-sex marriage. The historical evolution of the concept and institution of marriage is traced so as to throw light on the socially constructed nature of a concept we might otherwise assume is fixed. Social constructionism provides the theoretical point of departure for the literature review and is applied through the tool of discourse analysis. The review attempts to explore in what ways the literature itself solves the tension between marriage as traditionally heterosexist and lesbians’ construction of their own identity in the context of intimate relationships, namely lesbian marriage.

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Effective interventions are hindered by a lack of context-specific data on how South African men and women construct and experience intimate heterosexual relationships. Most studies exploring committed heterosexual relationships have been conducted with White populations living in developed countries. As relationship satisfaction is seen as a requirement for a good quality relationship, this study examined the relationship satisfaction of committed heterosexual couples in one low-income, semi-rural Western Cape community. A cross-sectional survey approach was used to examine relationship satisfaction among heterosexual married and unmarried couples. A random sample of 100 couples was drawn from the community, 93 of which were included in the final analyses, on the criterion that both partners were interviewed. Trained fieldworkers administered a demographic and relationship questionnaire, as well as three relationship satisfaction measures namely the Dyadic Satisfaction subscale of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, the Index of Marital Satisfaction and the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. Analyses were conducted using the statistical programme Statistica 7.0 and both descriptive and inferential statistics were computed separately for men and women. Inferential statistics included Spearman correlations, repeated measures ANOVA, and reliability analyses. Results show that although, on average, neither men nor women were clinically dissatisfied with their relationships, women reported significantly lower relationship satisfaction than men. Significant relationships were found between relationship satisfaction and a number of demographic variables, including the male partner’s educational attainment (with the female partner’s relationship satisfaction); female partner’s perception of her male partner’s religiosity (with both her own and her male partner’s relationship satisfaction); own church attendance (with own relationship satisfaction), female partner’s church attendance (with her male partner’s relationship satisfaction), and joint church attendance (with both female and male relationship satisfaction); sharing a bedroom at night with children, sharing a bed at night with children, and sharing a bed at night with partner. Demographic variables found to have a non-significant relationship with relationship satisfaction included: age; church affiliation; employment; and couple monthly income. Although there were several trends that tended towards significance, the only relationship variables found to be significantly related to relationship satisfaction were previous marriages and, for cohabiting couples, the age at commencement of cohabitation. Relationship variables found to have a nonsignificant relationship with relationship satisfaction included: relationship status; relationship duration; age at marriage for married couples; reason for marriage (for married couples) or for marriage in the future (for unmarried couples); number of significant relationships; and a number of childrenrelated variables. Results are discussed and recommendations are made for future research. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Effektiewe intervensies oor hoe Suid-Afrikaanse mans en vroue intieme heteroseksuele verhoudings konstrueer en ervaar, word deur 'n tekort aan konteks-spesifieke data verhinder. Die meeste studies wat toegewyde heteroseksuele verhoudings bestudeer, is in wit populasies in ontwikkelde lande uigevoer. Aangesien verhoudingsatisfaksie as n voorvereiste vir ‘n goeie kwaliteit verhouding gesien word, het hierdie studie die verhoudingsatisfaksie van toegewyde, heteroseksuele paartjies in n lae-inkomste, semi-plattelandse Wes-Kaapse gemeenskap ondersoek. 'n Kruis-snit opname benadering is gebruik om die verhoudingsatisfaksie onder heteroseksuele getroude en ongetroude paartjies te ondersoek. 'n Ewekansige steekproef van 100 paartjies is uit die gemeenskap getrek, waarvan 93 in die finale analise ingesluit is, op grond van die vereiste dat beide maats ondervra is. Opgeleide veldwerkers het n demografiese- en verhoudingsvraelys toegepas, sowel as drie verhoudingsatisfaksie maatstawe, naamlik die Dyadic Satisfaction subscale van die Dyadic Adjustment Scale, die Index of Marital Satisfaction en die Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. Analises is met die statistiese program Statistica 7.0 uitgevoer en beide beskrywende en inferensiële statistieke is afsonderlik vir beide mans en vroue uitgewerk. Inferensiële statistieke het Spearman korrelasies, herhaalde-metings-ANOVA, en betroubaarheidsanalises ingesluit. Resultate toon dat, ondanks die feit dat nie mans of vroue klinies ontevrede met hul verhoudings was nie, vroue tog beduidend laer verhoudingsatisfaksie as mans gerapporteer het. Beduidende verwantskappe tussen verhoudingsatisfaksie en verskeie demografiese veranderlikes is gevind, insluitend die manlike verhoudingsmaat se vlak van opleiding (met die vroulike verhoudingsmaat se verhoudingsatisfaksie); vroulike verhoudingsmaat se siening van haar manlike verhoudingsmaat se godsdienstigheid (met beide haar eie en haar manlike verhoudingsmaat se verhoudingsatisfaksie); eie kerkbywoning (met eie verhoudingsatisfaksie), vroulike verhoudingsmaat se kerkbywoning (met beide vroulike en manlike verhoudingsatisfaksie), en gesamentlike kerkbywoning (met beide vroulike en manlike verhoudingsatisfaksie); deel van ‘n slaapkamer, snags, met kinders, deel van ‘n bed, snags, met kinders, en deel van ‘n bed, snags, met ‘n verhoudingsmaat. Demografiese veranderlikes wat ‘n onbeduidende verwantskap met verhoudingsatisfaksie toon, sluit in: ouderdom; kerkaffiliasie; aanstelling; en gesamentlike maandelikse inkomste. Ondanks verskeie beduidende tendense, is die enigste verhoudingsveranderlikes wat beduidende verwantskappe met verhoudingsatisfaksie getoon het vorige huwelike en, vir samewonende paartjies, die ouderdom by aanvang van saamwoning. Verhoudingsveranderlikes wat geen beduidende verwantskap met verhoudingsatisfaksie getoon het nie, sluit in: verhoudingstatus; verhoudingsduur; trou-ouderdom vir getroude paartjies; rede vir huwelik of huwelik in die toekoms; hoeveelheid beduidende verhoudings; en hoeveelheid kind-verwante veranderlikes. Resultate word bespreek en aanbevelings vir toekomstige navorsing word gemaak.

Thesis (MA (Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Due to the extensive prevalence of sexual violence permeating the present day South African society, the social relevance of a study of the extent and nature of sexual harassment among university students, cannot be overestimated. This is particularly evident if one takes into account the growing number of research studies undertaken in South Africa and elsewhere on the African continent indicating the presence of this social evil on campuses of higher education. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence, effects, correlates and perceptions of different types of sexual harassment among a student sample at Stellenbosch University. The methodology applied in this study can be viewed as quantitative in nature as it entailed the use of a survey design. The researcher developed a new questionnaire to investigate the pervasiveness of students’ experience of, reaction to, and beliefs about sexual harassment. This questionnaire consisted of sub-scales, of which some were newly developed by the researcher, and others, based on existing scales, were adapted for the purposes of this study. The design took the form of a questionnaire that covered the time period during which the students were enrolled at Stellenbosch University. Both undergraduate and post-graduate students from the four campuses of Stellenbosch University (i.e., Bellville, Saldanha, Stellenbosch and Tygerberg) were invited to participate in the study. The total sample consisted of 1679 students. The electronic questionnaire consisted of a total of 27 separate questions with some of the questions having various sub-sections. Data were obtained on the socio-demographic profile of students. The questionnaire explored student perceptions of which behavioural types constituted sexual harassment, the number of times a participant had been a victim of a particular type of sexual harassment, whether alcohol or drugs played a contributory role in the victimisation, whether the participant sought help from available support services following the victimisation, the location of the incidents of sexual harassment and whether the offender was known to the victim or not. Gender role attitudes of students, indicating the extent to which sexual harassment is tolerated by the student community, were also investigated. The questionnaire furthermore explored issues of same-sex sexual harassment, the occurrence of group harassment and the possible effects, be it social, emotional or academic, that the victim might have suffered. The relationships between certain measurement scales were also investigated. With the utilisation of statistical packages, frequencies and statistical differences amongst various sub-groups were determined. Significant findings of the study included gender, racial and sexual orientation subgroup differences in terms of the perception of, rate of prevalence and tolerance of sexual harassment. Significant statistical differences between gender, racial and sexual orientation subgroups were also established for certain variables related to the familiarity of the perpetrator, the locations of sexual harassment, help-resource utilisation following incidents of sexual harassment and the effects of sexual harassment. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Vanweë die uitgebreide voorkomssyfer van seksuele geweld tans in die Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing, kan die sosiale relevantheid van 'n studie oor die omvang en aard van seksuele teistering nie oorbeklemtoon word nie. Hierdie veronderstelling word duidelik ondersteun deur die groeiende aantal studies in Suid-Afrika en elders in Afrika wat hierdie sosiale euwel op tersiêre kampusse ondersoek. Die doel van hierdie studie was om die voorkomssyfer, gevolge, korrelate en persepsies van verskillende tipes seksuele teistering by 'n studentesteekproef van die Universiteit van Stellenbosch te bepaal. Die metodologie van hierdie studie kan beskryf word as kwantitatief van aard aangesien daar van ‘n opnameontwerp gebruik gemaak is. Die navorser het 'n nuwe vraelys ontwikkel om die omvang van studente se ervaring van, reaksie op, en opvattings oor seksuele teistering te ondersoek. Hierdie vraelys het bestaan uit subskale, waarvan sommige nuut geskep was deur die navorser en ander wat vanuit bestaande bronne aangepas is vir die doel van hierdie studie. Die ontwerp is in die vorm van 'n vraelys wat die tydsperiode dek waarin die studente ingeskryf was by die Universiteit van Stellenbosch. Beide voorgraadse en nagraadse studente van die vier kampusse van die Universiteit van Stellenbosch (i.e., Bellville, Saldanha, Stellenbosch en Tygerberg) is genooi om deel te neem aan die navorsing. Die totale steekproef het uit 1679 studente bestaan. Die elektroniese vraelys het 27 aparte vrae gehad waarvan sommiges verskeie onderafdelings bevat het. Data is verkry oor die sosio-demografiese profiel van studente. Die vraelys het studente se opvattings bepaal oor watter gedragstipes seksuele teistering behels, asook die aantal kere wat ‘n deelnemer 'n slagoffer van 'n spesifieke soort seksuele teistering was. Verdere vrae het ondersoek of alkohol en dwelms bygedra het tot die teistering, of die deelnemer bystand gesoek het by beskikbare ondersteuningshulpbronne na die teistering, die plekke waar die seksuele teistering voorgekom het, en of die oortreder bekend was aan die slagoffer of nie. Studente se houdings oor geslagsrolle, wat aanduidend was van die mate waarin seksuele teistering verdra word in die studentegemeenskap, is ook nagevors. Die vraelys het verder kwessies verken soos selfde-geslag seksuele teistering, die voorkoms van groepsteistering en die moontlike nadelige gevolge daarvan vir die slagoffer, hetsy sosiaal, emosioneel of akademies. Die verbande tussen sekere metingskale is ook ondersoek. Met behulp van statistiese pakkette is die frekwensie en statistiese verskille tussen verskeie subgroepe op die kampus bepaal. Beduidende bevindings van die studie sluit in: geslag-, ras- en seksuele oriëntasiesubgroepverskille in terme van die persepsie van, voorkomssyfer van en verdraagsaamheid teenoor seksuele teistering. Beduidende statistiese verskille tussen die geslag-, ras- en seksuele oriëntasie-subgroepe is ook bevind met betrekking tot sekere veranderlikes wat verband hou met die bekendheid van die oortreder, die plekke van teistering, die benutting van ondersteuningshulpbronne na teistering en die gevolge van seksuele teistering.