Thesis (M.A.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2008. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

A diagnosis of cancer, regardless of type or site, raises much fear and loss of control for patients and their spouses. While being married is associated with lower mortality from a wide range of illnesses, including cancer, the quality of marital interactions and the relationship is the stronger predictor of health outcomes, rather than marital status. When people are faced with their greatest life challenges, they attach great importance to the behavior of their intimate partner, with trust being a key component of relationship quality, thus lending stability, and emotional and practical support. The purpose of this study was to examine vulnerable cancer patients with pain and their partners. The quality of the patient/partner relationships and the partners' coping styles were evaluated as mediators in a Structural Equation Model (SEM) latent path analysis with the outcome measures of quality of life for the individuals. Stress, coping and outcome theory guided the questions for the study. Much of the previous dyadic research that has been done on couples when one member has a diagnosis of cancer has centered on disease specific populations. This study was the first to examine the couples' relationships from a symptom defining population. Therefore, a broad range of ages, patients with different cancer diagnoses and both genders in the roles of patients and caregivers was the population studied. Coping was explored as a dyadic process that includes transactional appraisal of stressors that mediates the subsequent effects on quality of life outcomes. Multivariate analysis was used to determine covariates to be included in the SEM based on a review of the literature. There was no evidence of coping as a mediator. The participants in this study had good quality relationships, and this did serve as a positive mediator on the outcomes for the patient. Recommendations for future research and nursing practice, including the use of a single item global assessment of relationship quality, that nurses can incorporate in their practice is discussed.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (April 25, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Kent State University, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Jan. 26, 2010) Advisor: Angela M. Neal-Barnett. Keywords: Interracial Friendship. Includes bibliographical references (p. 39-46)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2008. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-148).

abstract: Family caregivers are a quickly growing population in American society and are potentially vulnerable to a number of risks to well-being. High stress and little support can combine to cause difficulties in personal and professional relationships, physical health, and emotional health. Siblings are, however, a possible source of protection for the at-risk caregiver. This study examines the relational and health outcomes of gratitude exchange between caregivers and their siblings as they attend to the issue of caring for aging parents. Dyadic data was collected through an online survey and was analyzed using a series of Actor-Partner Interdependence Models. Intimacy and care conflict both closely relate to gratitude exchange, but the most significant variable influencing gratitude was role. Specifically, caregivers are neither experiencing nor expressing gratitude on the same level as their siblings. Expressed gratitude did not relate strongly or consistently to well-being variables, though it did relate to diminished negative affect. Implications for theory, the caregiver, the sibling, the elder, the practitioner, and the researcher are addressed in the discussion. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Communication 2014

The performances of athlete pairs correspond to the agency observed in self, relational, and collective efficacy beliefs. A dyadic perspective offers potentially important conceptual and methodological advantages to the investigation of interdependent action. The general purpose of this thesis was to investigate how athletes influence one another in athlete pairs of different (i.e., distinguishable) roles with a specific focus on the efficacy-performance relationship. Chapters 1 and 2 provide the general introduction and review of literature on dyads and efficacy beliefs. Chapters 3-6 include original research. In Chapter 3 relationships among the individual- and dyad-level performances of cheerleading pairs competing at a national-level competition were assessed to provide a measurement tool for dyadic performance settings in which athletes have distinguishable roles. In Chapter 4 person-related sources of variance (in line with the Social Relations Model framework) in athletes’ efficacy beliefs and performances were examined during repeated performance trials of a paired-cheerleading stunt-task with distinguishable roles. The purpose of Chapter 5 was to examine the efficacy-performance predictive chain of an athletic dyad task to extend Feltz’ (1982) efficacy-performance path analysis in an individual sporting context in conjunction with the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model appropriate for dyads with distinguishable roles. The purpose of Chapter 6 was to conduct a replication of the Social Relations Model investigation in Chapter 4 using same-gender distinguishable dyads and extending the framework to four-person cheerleading groups. The final chapter is a summary of the findings with commentary on the findings’ implications, strengths and limitations of the studies, identification of future research directions, and significance of the findings. Overall, the findings in this thesis support that task structure, dyadic relations, and athlete role in a team-task influence how athletes perceive and are perceived relative to self, relational, and collective abilities, with some effects including implications for efficacy-performance predictive relationships.

Title from title page of PDF (University of Missouri--St. Louis, viewed Mar. 3, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-127).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2005. / Supervisor: Louis A. Schmidt. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 162-190).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2005. / Supervisor: Louis A. Schmidt. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 162-190).