This study assessed the relationship and rivalry differences among siblings of intact families versus divorced families. It involved children, young adults, and adults from a Midwestern, moderately sized community. These participants answered two brief questionnaires requesting information on their age, sex, ethnicity, family structure, and perceived sibling relationships. The researcher found that there were no overall differences between children of married parents versus divorced parents except concerning the level of antagonism. Further, it was found that there were differing levels of dominance, nurturance, and quarrels in sibling relationships depending on the level of contact with step or half siblings and the child's perceptions of the parents' current relationship with each other. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

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

Family cohesion, or emotional bonding, is important to family functioning. Shared activities such as family vacations offer opportunities for strengthening the family unit which can improve cohesion. Additionally, parenting style has direct influence on the family unit and family cohesion. This study’s purpose was to assess to what extent the perception of the family vacation experience predicted the perception of family cohesion and whether that relationship was moderated by parenting style. An online survey was conducted, resulting in 97 adult participants responding to items regarding their last family vacation, family cohesion, and parenting style. Using hierarchical multiple regression, a medium effect size was found for the predictive ability of a participant’s perception of their last family vacation on family cohesion. Findings also indicated a negative correlation between an authoritarian parenting style and perception of family cohesion, but a positive relationship between the interaction of family vacation experience and authoritarian parenting to family cohesion. Stronger predictive abilities were found for those with children in the 3-11 age group. Results may encourage parent and family educators to use family vacation as a tool in assisting families with the processes of building strong and cohesive families.

For the purposes of this study, eating disturbances were placed on a continuum ranging from disordered to normal, and family factors were examined via this framework. Research on anorectics and bulimics indicates that a variety of family variables contribute to the etiology of eating disorders. Research suggests the presence of a subgroup of persons who experience some disturbance in their relationships with food but not to the severity observed among eating disordered individuals. This study examined the relationship between family factors and eating disturbances.

The current study examined direct and indirect influences of romantic attachment processes, marital adjustment, and the coparenting relationship on family functioning. Data was collected from a community sample of 86 heterosexual couples with a child aged eight to eleven living in the home. Both spouses completed a demographic questionnaire, the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, the Coparenting Scale, and the Self-Report Family Inventory as part of a larger study on family processes in middle childhood. Data analysis included multilevel modeling, utilizing the actor-partner interdependence model. Results indicated that marital adjustment mediated the association between attachment processes and family functioning, suggesting that a healthy marital relationship is an important variable that helps explain links between attachment security and the family functioning. Findings also highlighted the benefit of conceptualizing adult romantic attachment, marital, and coparental subsystems within a systemic framework.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

The purpose of this study is to more closely examine social workers who are practicing or familiar with spiritual and alternative techniques. These approaches are seen as highly relevant to social work values of cultural competency and empowerment.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Universiteit van Suid-Afrika, 2001.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Family Resilience is a relatively new construct describing how families recover after experiencing stress and adversity. Defined within the salutogenic paradigm, resilience implies the ability to bounce back after being "stretched" or challenged, as well as being able to rise above adversity and to survive stress. Using a cross-sectional, survey research design the present study aimed to further explore and explicate those resiliency factors which enable families to maintain established patterns of functioning when threatened by risk factors. It also aimed to examine those recovery factors which foster the families ability to bounce back from crisis and disruption. Teachers who had accepted the voluntary severance package from the South African Department of Education between 1996 and 1998 were approached to take part in this study on behalf of their family. Thirty participants completed a biographical questionnaire as well as the Family Index of Regenerativity and Adaptation (FIRA-G) which measures the major components of the Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation (McCubbin & Thompson, 1991). Results confirmed the relationship between family stressors, family strains and family distress, implying that if stressors and strains are not managed, they pile up, deplete resources and lead to family tension and stress (Lavee, McCubbin & Patterson, 1985; Lavee et al. 1987; McCubbin & Patterson, 1983). Results also highlighted the protective nature of good financial management, suggesting that there are measurable factors which act as crisis-meeting resources, diminish the negative impact and degree of the stressor and ultimately foster resilience and facilitate recovery. Finally, social support was highlighted as a resilience variable. Family schema (encompassing concepts of reframing and spiritual support) remains one of the crucial factors which contributes towards, firstly, the resistance of decay in the face of stressors, and secondly, which facilitates the recovery trajectory. It is maintained that this could be one of the most crucial factors for ongoing investigation in resiliency research. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Gesinsveerkragtigheid ("resilience") is 'n relatiewe nuwe konstruk wat verwys na gesinne se vermoë om te herstel nadat hulle spanning en terugslae ervaar het. Dit word beskryf vanuit die salutogenese paradigma en word gedefinieer as gesinne se vermoë om terug te bons nadat hulle teenspoed ervaar het. 'n Dwarsnit navorsingsontwerp is gebruik om die twee aspekte van gesinsveerkragtigheid, naamlik weerstand en herstel, te ondersoek en te beskryf. Weerstandsfaktore verwys na dié faktore wat gesinne in staat stelom gevestigde patrone van funksionering, tydens bedreiging deur risiko-faktore, te handhaaf, terwyl herstel-faktore verwys na dié faktore wat gesinne se vermoë om terug te bons na 'n krisis, bevorder. Onderwysers wat tussen 1996 en 1998 die vrywillige uittredingspakket van die Departement van Onderwys aanvaar het, is genader om namens hul gesinne deel te neem aan hierdie ondersoek. Dertig deelnemers het 'n biografiese vraelys sowel as die "Family Index of Regenerativity and Adaptation" (FIRA-G) voltooi. Die FIRA-G vraelyste meet die hoofkomponente van die "Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation" (McCubbin & Thompson, 1991 ). Resultate het die verband tussen gesinstressors, gesinspanning en gesinsnood bevestig, met die implikasie dat indien 'n opeenhoping van stressors en spanning nie hanteer word nie, gesinshulpbronne uitgeput word en dat dit tot gesinspanning en stres kan lei. Die beskermende aard van goeie finansiële bestuur is bevestig. Sosiale ondersteuning is geïdentifiseer as 'n belangrike faktor in gesinsweerstand. Gesinskemas, wat herformulering en geestelike ondersteuning insluit, blyk 'n deurslaggewende gesinsveerkragtige faktor te wees en behoort in die toekoms verder ondersoek te word.

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a disability resulting in functional impairments and heightened dependence on others. Family members of persons with TBI can assume added responsibilities during the adjustment to the disability and rehabilitation process, placing strain on the family system. Community re-integration is a primary goal of the rehabilitation process for persons with TBI as this is a step in developing autonomy and promoting independence and productive activity throughout different areas of the person's life (e.g., work, social networks, and home life). This study was designed to examine predictors of community re-integration outcomes of TBI survivors and empirically test the resiliency model of family stress, adjustment, and adaptation while incorporating family needs by surveying caregiving family members. Specific aims of the study include validating relationships of the resiliency model with individual and family outcomes in adaptation and supporting future recommendations for healthcare providers working with families with members with TBI. / by Julianne Agonis. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2012. Mode of access: World Wide Web.