Research conducted over the past twenty years has demonstrated the impact of parental ‘problem’ substance use on the lives of young adults (Velleman & Orford, 1999; Bancroft et al, 2004; Järvinen, 2013). Despite this increased awareness, public policies continue to exclude this group. This research sought to explore the ‘problem’ with parental substance use from the perspective of affected young adults (aged 16 – 30). Additionally, this research sought to contribute a contemporary, sociological interpretation of the problem to a field dominated by psychological literature. This research was undertaken from a feminist perspective, and involved a wide range of research methods: minimally structured interviews, participant observation, visual methods, and qualitative secondary data analysis. The accounts derived from these sources are complemented through the inclusion of autoethnographic, reflexive vignettes, where I situate myself – as someone with lived experience – in relation to the literature, the process of conducting research, and the data. The data chapters presented respond to three key research questions. The first considers how young adults use different approaches and engage with dominant theoretical approaches to engage in processes of ‘making sense’ of parental substance use. Following this, Ketokivi’s (2010) perspective of ‘disruptive events’ – as based on Bury’s (1982) influential theory of ‘biographical disruption’ – is utilised as a route to considering the disruptive force of parental substance use in the lives of affected young adults. Finally, the last data chapter employs Emerson’s (2015) ‘personal troubles’ framework, in conjunction with the concept of ‘candidacy’ (Dixon-Woods et al, 2006; Mackenzie et al, 2015) to consider how young people respond and react to the ‘problem’. In conclusion, this thesis argues for adopting a relational interpretation of the ‘problem’ of parental substance use. Furthermore, this research presents a strong case for considering the ways in which disciplinary and methodological boundaries are blurred. This research contributes to contemporary debates in wider bodies of work within the sociologies of substance use, youth, families, relationships, and intimacy. It concludes by making recommendations for the development of policy and practice, and highlighting potential avenues for further research.

This thesis represents an assessed requirement of the Applied Educational and Child Psychology Doctoral course at the University of Birmingham. Volume One explores the experiences of teenage fathers. Part one consists of a literature review, which considers teenage fathers as an identified category within the population that are not in education employment or training (NEET). The review explores; identified characteristics and factors associated with teenage fatherhood; identified psychological effects of fatherhood; service provision for teenage fathers; and the role of teenage fathers in research. The exploration of the views and experiences of fathers in United Kingdom was found to be a neglected area in the identified literature. Consequently, an empirical research study was designed to learn more about the views and experiences of teenage fathers in an area within the North West of England. Part two presents the research study entitled; ‘The experiences of being a teenage father: an interpretative phenomenological analysis.’ The study explores the experiences of five men who had become fathers in their teenage years. Resultant themes were identified and explored using interpretative phenomenological analysis.

A novel longitudinal study was conducted to investigate the roles of breastfeeding, positive maternal mealtime interactions and cortisol metabolism on weight gain and the development of eating behaviours during infancy, whilst controlling for covariates. Mothers and their new-born infants were recruited on maternity units and contacted five times over the first year. Mothers and infants were weighed and measured, feeding information recorded and urine samples collected for the analysis of cortisol metabolism. Mothers who breastfed for longer durations interacted more positively with their infants and had infants who were activating and clearing more cortisol at 12-months and gained weight more slowly throughout infancy. Mothers observed to interact more positively had infants who were metabolising more cortisol at 12-months, suggesting that maternal behaviour is involved in infant cortisol metabolism and may have a programming effect on their infant’s developing HPA axis. This thesis has provided the first set of normative data on the development of cortisol metabolism throughout infancy and has provided the first evidence that infant cortisol metabolism is an independent and significant predictor of eating behaviours and weight gain in the first year of life, even after accounting for breastfeeding duration and maternal interactions during feeding.

The question which formed the starting point of this research, and which has provided the central thread in this work is 'how can the later integration of Dutch women into the formal economy, compared to British women, in the period between 1940 and 1990, be explained?' This study looks at this question from (1) a macro perspective and (2) from the perspective of a middle-range case-study in the banking sector. In the macro perspective, theoretical discussions on how the post-war increase in women's participation in the labour market may be explained, and how comparative differences between industrialised countries in this respect may be explained, are brought forward. This provides the basis for a comparative historical investigation in which three historical periods are highlighted; the Second World War years, the post-war years (1945-1970) and the contemporary period (1970-1990). Particular reference is made to such issues as the marriage bar in employment and changes in ideological notions around women's paid employment. Changes in the gender composition of bank staff, and comparative differences in these changes, are investigated in their own right. This is done within the context of the same historical periods, though different theoretical considerations are taken into account. This case-study is in turn used to contrast what is occurring on the aggregate level with the banking sector. This highlights (1) the culturally specific histories of each society in relation to the themes investigated and (2) the particularity of the banking sectors in each society and their employment organisation.

This thesis contains 11 papers published in peer reviewed journals between 2006 and 2012. The papers focused on gender violence research methods, the prevalence of risk factors for gender violence, and its association with HIV and maternal morbidity. The accompanying commentary addresses three uncertainties that affect gender violence epidemiology. These are missing data, clustering and unrecognised causal relationships. In this thesis I ask: Can we reduce these three uncertainties in gender violence epidemiology? A systematic review of the intimate partner violence literature over the last decade found that few epidemiological studies manage missing data in gender violence questionnaires in a satisfactory way. Focus groups in Zambia, Nigeria and Pakistan confirmed that missing data lead to underestimation of gender violence prevalence. A partial solution to this problem was to place greater emphasis on interviewer training. In a reanalysis of the data from the published papers I compared different approaches to dealing with clustering in gender violence epidemiology. Generalised linear mixed models and other methods found that clustering potentially plays a causal role. This can be important in interventions that target a community at large, and act throughout the cluster. In a reanalysis of several datasets I show how a history of gender violence influences measurement of many associations related to HIV, possibly due to an unanticipated role of gender violence in the causal pathway with HIV. In conclusion, it is possible to reduce the uncertainties associated with missing data, clustering, and unrecognised causality in gender violence epidemiology.

This research thesis main focus was examining parental factors in the development of self-criticism in young people and role of mindfulness, self-compassion and compassion to others, play in the psychological well-being of mothers. Chapter one is a literature review of twelve empirical studies exploring the role of parental factors in the development of self-criticism in young people. The findings from this review show an association between parental self-critical personality style and parenting behaviours, which in turn are associated with levels of self-criticism in their offspring. This review highlights the potential importance of parent and carer interventions aimed at modifying the parents’ and children’s self-critical behaviours and attitudes. The literature review has been prepared for submission to the Clinical Psychology Review (see Appendix A,‘Guide for Authors’). Chapter two is a quantitative, empirical study. The study explored maternal levels of mindfulness, self-compassion, and compassion to others; and their association with psychological well-being and parental stress. Mothers were invited to participate via the internet and completed questionnaires on-line. Higher levels self-compassion and mindfulness were found to predict maternal psychological well-being and lower levels of maternal stress. Clinical implications and areas for future research are discussed alongside methodological limitations. The empirical study has been prepared for submission to Self and Identity (see Appendix A, ‘Guide for Authors’). Chapter three is a reflective account of the research thesis as a whole. The paper’s focus is on the importance of reflection, self-compassion and mindfulness on personal and professional development. Methodological issues arising from conducting quantitative research are discussed. This paper has not been prepared for publication.

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The western world has a rapidly aging population. Depression and anxiety in combination with physical health problems are common and approaches are required to help people successfully negotiate the challenges of aging. This volume explores the contribution made by the concepts of self-compassion and mindfulness, considering the role they may play in helping us understand vulnerability to later life mental health problems and in psychological interventions for older people. Chapter I provides a critique of the research on mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) with older people, considering their acceptability, accessibility and usefulness. The reviewed literature comprises a small evidence-base, with many methodological weaknesses. However, it suggests MBI’s show promise in terms of effectiveness and accessibility as psychological approaches for older people. Directions for future research are discussed. Chapter II describes an empirical investigation into the relationships between self-compassion, and depression and anxiety in older people, comparing clinical and community samples. Levels of self-compassion were found to be lower in the clinical sample and associated with higher levels of depression and anxiety. The component aspects of self-compassion were also considered separately and the research is discussed in the context of the growing evidence-base. Implications for mental health service provision and future research are considered. Chapter III presents the author’s reflections on her own and participants’ reactions to the concept of self-compassion. This includes consideration of the influence of cultural and cohort factors.

The research reported in this thesis is an investigation of identities of primary school leavers (10-13 years old) residing on the Caribbean territory, St. Kitts. Through two main phases and a pilot of an ethnography conducted intermittently between 2008 and 2011, I explored volunteer-participants' individual and collective identities. In particular, I explored their aspirations for the future and everyday living, the influences they perceive, and conceptualizations of and aspirations for the Caribbean. The aim was to gain insights into their understanding of Caribbean, thus, illuminating Caribbean-identity; two terms fuelling debates in the Social Science literature alleging a Caribbean-identity crisis. One of the main innovations of the design was my partnership with a group of primary school leavers who were trained to help as co-researchers to collaboratively generate and partially analyse data. The findings suggest participants have very positive perceptions of themselves as individuals; however, their identities seem more localized. They generally aspire to migrate, especially to America, to achieve success, and their conceptions of Caribbean vary greatly and seem uncertain while their overarching-aspiration for their island and region is for them to become "better" places socially, economically, politically, culturally, and environmentally. In part, this main finding conflicts with the idea of an identity-crisis on an individual-level, but supports ideas of a lack of a resolute sense of self on a regional-collective level for participants. Equally important, participants report many positive impacts resulting from their involvement. For some, the process contributed clarity about self and aspirations, and for others, it helped with not only a clearer-perspective, but also the development of life-skills.

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