The current study examined psychological distress in couples coping with a cancer diagnosis. Although it is widely recognised that spouses coping with a cancer diagnosis are at risk of psychological distress, debate exists within the literature regarding the amount of distress experienced by individuals, and about who is most at risk. Fifty-five couples coping with a cancer diagnosis completed questionnaires assessing psychological distress, social support and attachment style characteristics. Results indicated that partners psychological distress levels were more influenced by social support and attachment characteristics than patients were. Partners of those with cancer, who were higher on the insecure attachment dimensions, perceived providing and receiving less support and were less satisfied with support overall compared to less insecure partners. In addition to this, partner social support was significantly related to psychological distress, and attachment style was found to moderate this relationship. Specifically, partners were more vulnerable to psychological distress when they were higher on the insecure attachment dimensions and when support satisfaction was low or when they had a perception of low support receipt. Contrary to expectations, there were no significant findings for the patient group. Explanations and implications are discussed.

The composition of society is rapidly changing as the elderly population is increasing dramatically. In South Africa, black grandmothers play an important role in intergenerational relationships as they take on the responsibility of caring for their young grandchildren because of HIV/Aids, migration of the parents or other economic difficulties. As the grandmothers and the children are raised in different time–periods, it can be difficult for them to understand one another. Since healthy relationships with older persons in the early years lead to secure attachments, the relationship between grandmother and grandchild holds serious implications for the development and view of the world of the child. Research of this nature can help to develop healthy connections with a younger generation which again can help older adults to feel a greater sense of fulfilment. In fact, linking older adults with youth can provide advantages for both generations to thrive as people. Understanding the developmental life tasks and cognitive development of the generations can also assist to effectively deal with different perspectives of the interactions and communication processes between grandmothers and their grandchildren, thus helping both generations to thrive as people. Healthy interaction between grandmothers and grandchildren are guided by clear structure, which means that grandmothers can provide a trustworthy and predictable interpersonal environment to assist their grandchildren to define and clarify their experiences, whislt nurturance implies that grandmothers are warm, tender, soothing, calming, and comforting. When engaging with the grandchildren, one can say that grandmothers provide excitement, surprise and stimulation and simultaneously challenge the children which means that grandmothers encourage grandchildren to expand their behavioural repertoire and become more independent. Grandmother ? grandchildren interactions are informed by specific parenting styles which are referred to as a group of attitudes toward children that create an emotional climate in which the intergenerational relationships between the two generations are expressed. The manner, therefore in which grandmothers and grandchildren communicate with each other, as well as the content of the conversations, help to shed light on the nature of the relationship between the two generations. This research aims to gain a better understanding as well as different perspectives of the interactions and communication processes between grandmothers and their grandchildren. A convenience sample was employed to obtain 17 grandparents between 71 and 96 years and older, and their grandchildren in their care, boys and girls between ages 4 and 13 years old. The criterion was the availability of participants on the specific day of data gathering. The intergenerational reflective listening technique (IGRT) was used for data gathering while both generations are present. In terms of the IGRT, the researcher requested the children to sit in an inner circle and answer questions about the important places that their grandmothers tell them about. The researcher also explored the manner in which this information was communicated to the children. As the study involved older persons and very young children, special attention was paid to ethical considerations. Ethical approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of the North–West University, Potchefstroom Campus, as part of a larger project, being: “An exploration of enabling contexts (05K14).” The main finding of the study is that type of information which is transferred from the grandmother to the younger generation is educational in nature with instrumental support as a sign of love and care. The grandmothers teach the children norms, values and life principles. During the younger age, children conform to the teachings of the grandmothers, which evoke feelings of pride and appreciation from the grandmothers. This confirms solidarity in the relationship. On the other hand, the same relational definition does not apply to the young adults and the grandmothers explained their strained relationship with the young adults as out of their control. It is also clear that the way the two generations display love and affection are instrumental in nature. Although the IGRT is considered as an effective method of collecting data of this nature, the limited time available for this study resulted in the collecting of only one data set. One of the recommendations is further study with more than one group of participants. This includes grandmothers with young grandchildren as well as grandmothers with younger adults. / Thesis (M.A. (Research Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

The composition of society is rapidly changing as the elderly population is increasing dramatically. In South Africa, black grandmothers play an important role in intergenerational relationships as they take on the responsibility of caring for their young grandchildren because of HIV/Aids, migration of the parents or other economic difficulties. As the grandmothers and the children are raised in different time–periods, it can be difficult for them to understand one another. Since healthy relationships with older persons in the early years lead to secure attachments, the relationship between grandmother and grandchild holds serious implications for the development and view of the world of the child. Research of this nature can help to develop healthy connections with a younger generation which again can help older adults to feel a greater sense of fulfilment. In fact, linking older adults with youth can provide advantages for both generations to thrive as people. Understanding the developmental life tasks and cognitive development of the generations can also assist to effectively deal with different perspectives of the interactions and communication processes between grandmothers and their grandchildren, thus helping both generations to thrive as people. Healthy interaction between grandmothers and grandchildren are guided by clear structure, which means that grandmothers can provide a trustworthy and predictable interpersonal environment to assist their grandchildren to define and clarify their experiences, whislt nurturance implies that grandmothers are warm, tender, soothing, calming, and comforting. When engaging with the grandchildren, one can say that grandmothers provide excitement, surprise and stimulation and simultaneously challenge the children which means that grandmothers encourage grandchildren to expand their behavioural repertoire and become more independent. Grandmother ? grandchildren interactions are informed by specific parenting styles which are referred to as a group of attitudes toward children that create an emotional climate in which the intergenerational relationships between the two generations are expressed. The manner, therefore in which grandmothers and grandchildren communicate with each other, as well as the content of the conversations, help to shed light on the nature of the relationship between the two generations. This research aims to gain a better understanding as well as different perspectives of the interactions and communication processes between grandmothers and their grandchildren. A convenience sample was employed to obtain 17 grandparents between 71 and 96 years and older, and their grandchildren in their care, boys and girls between ages 4 and 13 years old. The criterion was the availability of participants on the specific day of data gathering. The intergenerational reflective listening technique (IGRT) was used for data gathering while both generations are present. In terms of the IGRT, the researcher requested the children to sit in an inner circle and answer questions about the important places that their grandmothers tell them about. The researcher also explored the manner in which this information was communicated to the children. As the study involved older persons and very young children, special attention was paid to ethical considerations. Ethical approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of the North–West University, Potchefstroom Campus, as part of a larger project, being: “An exploration of enabling contexts (05K14).” The main finding of the study is that type of information which is transferred from the grandmother to the younger generation is educational in nature with instrumental support as a sign of love and care. The grandmothers teach the children norms, values and life principles. During the younger age, children conform to the teachings of the grandmothers, which evoke feelings of pride and appreciation from the grandmothers. This confirms solidarity in the relationship. On the other hand, the same relational definition does not apply to the young adults and the grandmothers explained their strained relationship with the young adults as out of their control. It is also clear that the way the two generations display love and affection are instrumental in nature. Although the IGRT is considered as an effective method of collecting data of this nature, the limited time available for this study resulted in the collecting of only one data set. One of the recommendations is further study with more than one group of participants. This includes grandmothers with young grandchildren as well as grandmothers with younger adults. / Thesis (M.A. (Research Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

The current study examined psychological distress in couples coping with a cancer diagnosis. Although it is widely recognised that spouses coping with a cancer diagnosis are at risk of psychological distress, debate exists within the literature regarding the amount of distress experienced by individuals, and about who is most at risk. Fifty-five couples coping with a cancer diagnosis completed questionnaires assessing psychological distress, social support and attachment style characteristics. Results indicated that partners psychological distress levels were more influenced by social support and attachment characteristics than patients were. Partners of those with cancer, who were higher on the insecure attachment dimensions, perceived providing and receiving less support and were less satisfied with support overall compared to less insecure partners. In addition to this, partner social support was significantly related to psychological distress, and attachment style was found to moderate this relationship. Specifically, partners were more vulnerable to psychological distress when they were higher on the insecure attachment dimensions and when support satisfaction was low or when they had a perception of low support receipt. Contrary to expectations, there were no significant findings for the patient group. Explanations and implications are discussed.

Recent correctional literature has turned attention to the impacts of social support on formerly incarcerated populations. However, the research lacks the specificity of how social support may benefit probationers. In addition, most of the literature does not examine gender differences and the experience of social support. Finding a way to efficiently deal with being on probation and the many conditions imposed on their freedom in the community in order to avoid probation revocation is a major concern and challenge confronting men and women placed under community supervision. Positive social support is vitally relevant to supervision well-being. From the reentry standpoint, exploring the effects and role of social support on individuals under probation supervision is critical to understanding positive supervision outcomes. Using in-person interviews, this study explored types and sources of support received by 28 individuals under probation supervision.Probationers discussed family members as substantial providers of both instrumental and emotional support. This includes the provision of housing, transportation, caring for their children, and overall assistance in navigating difficult situations. Support from romantic partners was also reported, with emotional support being common. The findings from the data suggest that social support has pivotal impacts on one's well-being/ success during reentry. This study adds to the body of literature on social support and probationers by comparing men and women's experiences and the perceived availability of social support. Findings from the data reveal gender variations in the type of support received and the perceived sources of support. Implications for correctional policies that target probationers in terms of promoting positive family-probationer bonding and a clear comprehension of positive supervision outcomes via the enhancement of social support are discussed.

No description available.

No description available.

The present study had four main objectives. First, the relationship between the provision of spousal support and its theoretical antecedents and consequences was assessed as informed by the conservation of resources theory (Hobfoll, 1989). Second, the crossover of physicians' work interference with family conflict on their spouses' family demands (perceived family demands and family hours) was investigated. Next, the mediating role of social support as an explanation for the crossover process was examined using two distinct pathways. Lastly, the fourth objective of the present study was to investigate the relationships described above across multiple time points and using dual-source data (from physicians and their spouses). The final sample included matched responses from 126 couples across two time points. Results were generally supportive of the relationship between the provision of spousal support and the receipt of spousal support, perceived family demands, family hours, and work interference with family conflict (WIF) and were consistent with expected relationships according to COR theory. Results also provided support for the synchronous crossover of WIF on perceived family demands; however, results were generally unsupportive of the mediating role of the provision of spousal support in the crossover process. The present study makes several important contributions to the social support, work-family conflict, and crossover literatures by adding to the knowledge of the antecedents and consequences of the provision of spousal support, the growing body of research examining the crossover of WIF, and the understanding of the mediating role of the provision of spousal support in the crossover process. Major findings and areas of opportunity for future research are discussed.

Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) transactional stress-strain-coping theory provides the theoretical background for the present thesis. This theory proposes that strain (i.e., burnout) occurs when demands (i.e., work stressors) exceed coping resources (e.g., social support). The current thesis explores the influence of social support on the stress-burnout relationship in nurses. A sample of Australian nurses working across three public hospitals in Brisbane's metropolitan district were recruited to investigate the nature and level of burnout experienced by nurses. Burnout is characterised by emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and reduced personal accomplishment. The present research addresses gaps in the empirical literature by investigating the key work stressors experienced by Australian nurses and by establishing nurses' referent levels of work stress, social support, and burnout. In addition, the research explores the complex relationships between work stress, social support and burnout. The majority of nursing studies have failed to consider how support from within the nurses' work environment mitigates burnout. The present research builds upon previous nursing literature by examining the "main&qout; and "buffering" effect hypotheses. Studies have consistently found support for the main effect model, however the hypothesis that social support buffers the negative effects of stress has resulted in highly conflicting findings. Some theorists (Cohen & Wills, 1985; Cutrona & Russell, 1990) propose that the buffering effects of social support will only be found if there is an adequate match between the needs elicited by the stressful event and the type of support an individual receives. The present study extends the stress or support matching theory by exploring the matching between specific types of stressors to specific types (i.e., emotional and instrumental) and sources (i.e.,supervisor and coworkers) of support. Cutrona (1990) suggests that the controllability of a stressor is the primary dimension in determining an appropriate match between stressors and types of support. Cutrona proposes that controllable stressful events elicit needs for instrumental support and uncontrollable events elicit needs for emotional support. Heeding Cutrona's advice, independent raters classified nurses' work stressors as controllable or uncontrollable stressful events prior to investigating the stressor-support matching theory. Three sequential studies were undertaken to explore the variables of interest to this research program. In Study 1, focus groups were conducted with 68 nurses (11 males, 34 females) from two public hospitals. The qualitative data was subjected to content analysis. The findings revealed that Australian nurses are exposed to a range of job-specific stressors (i.e., Job Conditions, Job Uncertainty, Interpersonal Conflict and a Lack of Professional Recognition and Support) and generic role stressors (i.e., Role Overload, Role Conflict and Role Ambiguity). The findings prompted the research to utilise Wolfgang's (1988) Health Professions Stress Inventory to measure nurses' job-specific stressors and Osipow and Spokane's (1987) Occupational Roles Questionnaire to measure nurses' role stressors in Study 2. The findings from Study 1 also confirmed that the way nurses perceive work support is consistent with current social support literature. Nurses indicated that their two main sources of support were their coworkers and their supervisor. Furthermore, nurses discussed social support from a multidimensional perspective, recognising different types of support that were broadly classified as emotional and instrumental support. Based on these findings, the researcher developed a work support measure specifically for the purpose of this research. Items were taken from established social support scales and were slightly modified to ensure that they were contextually relevant to nurses. In Study 2, 273 nurses (38 males, 235 females) completed a multi-measure questionnaire. While there was sufficient research evidence to indicate that the Occupational Roles Questionnaire (Osipow & Spokane, 1987) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter, 1996) possess adequate levels of reliability and validity, less was known about Wolfgang's Health Professions Stress Inventory and the work support scales designed for this research program. Factor analysis of the Health Professions Stress Inventory revealed a four-factor solution: Lack of Professional Recognition and Support, Patient Care Uncertainty, Job Conditions, and Interpersonal Conflict. Cronbach's coefficient alphas ranged from .62 to .83. Factor analysis of the Coworker Support Scale revealed a two-factor solution, representing emotional and instrumental support. Cronbach's coefficient alphas for the Emotional Coworker Support and Instrumental Coworker Support were .92 and .88 respectively. Contrary to expectations, factor analysis of the Supervisor Support Scale revealed a one-factor solution. It was therefore deemed appropriate to examine Supervisor Support as a unidimensional construct in subsequent analyses. Cronbach's coefficient alpha for the Supervisor Support scale was .96. Overall, the results from Study 2 provided supporting evidence to suggest that the measures used in the current research program were psychometrically sound. In Study 3, the data collected in Study 2 was subjected to further statistical analysis. The findings from Study 3 indicated that overall, the sample of Australian nurses reported low to moderate levels of work stress, moderate levels of work support and moderately high levels of burnout. For Emotional Exhaustion, predictor variables accounted for 42.2% of the total variance. Sociodemographic factors explained a small but significant proportion of the variance (2.7%). Work stressors however, were the main predictors of Emotional Exhaustion, explaining 41.5% of the total variance. Role Overload, Job Conditions and Role Conflict were the main determinants of Emotional Exhaustion, with Role Overload explaining most of the variance. For Depersonalisation, the predictor variables accounted for 34.2% of the total variance. Sociodemographic factors (11.5%) and work stressors (33.6%) both explained a significant proportion of the variance. Role Conflict and Patient Care Uncertainty were the main determinants of Depersonalisation, with Role Conflict explaining most of the variance. For Personal Accomplishment, Role Conflict and Role Ambiguity explained 20.5% of the total variance, with Role Conflict explaining most of the variance. Sociodemographic factors and job-specific stressors were not significant Predictors of Personal Accomplishment. Evidence for main effects of work support on burnout were limited. There was no evidence to suggest that work support had significant main effects on Emotional Exhaustion. Supervisor Support had a small, but significant main effect on Depersonalisation (â = -.15, p < .05) and Personal Accomplishment (â = -.24, p < .01). There was no evidence of main effects for Emotional and Instrumental Coworker Support. Furthermore, the present research found no significant evidence to support the buffering effect of work support on burnout. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Em uma sociedade, onde a competitividade empresarial encontra-se acirrada e a força de trabalho tende a ser cada vez mais diversificada, na qual as mulheres ocupam importante espaço no mundo profissional, as organizações necessitam adotar estratégias que propiciem, além da lucratividade, um ambiente saudável que priorize o bem-estar das pessoas que delas fazem parte. Nesse contexto, a busca do equilíbrio entre o trabalho e a vida pessoal é uma questão a ser enfrentada por todas as empresas. Dessa forma, essa pesquisa teve por objetivo propiciar um entendimento sobre a atuação de algumas empresas do setor eletroeletrônico de Caxias do Sul em relação ao conflito trabalho-família que pode afetar as mulheres trabalhadoras. O método científico que norteou a pesquisa foi o fenomenológico proposto por Husserl, sendo que esta ocorreu em duas etapas. A primeira etapa da pesquisa foi de caráter exploratório e teve uma abordagem qualitativa. Portanto, voltou-se para a coleta de informações relativas às empresas através de entrevistas semi-estruturadas a fim de verificar os seus posicionamentos quanto ao uso de práticas de suporte instrumental, visando minimizar o conflito trabalho-família, sendo a análise de conteúdo utilizada para esse fim. Na segunda etapa, foi utilizada a concepção descritiva da pesquisa, sendo a abordagem quantitativa. Nesta etapa, foi realizada a coleta de informações por parte das funcionárias, de forma a levantar o perfil sociodemográfico das mesmas e investigar a ocorrência do fenômeno conflito trabalho-família, utilizando-se o método de survey. A população foi composta por quatro empresas fabricantes de eletroeletrônicos de Caxias do Sul, e as amostras configuraram-se como não-probabilística por julgamento e probabilística do tipo amostragem estratificada proporcional. Como resultados, observou-se que as empresas estudadas adotam tais práticas, motivadas principalmente, pela busca de satisfação dos funcionários, redução dos índices de rotatividade e absenteísmo e aumento da produtividade. Identificou-se a ocorrência do conflito trabalho-família entre as funcionárias e um efeito positivo resultante do uso das práticas de suporte instrumental, contribuindo para minimizar esse fenômeno. / Submitted by Marcelo Teixeira (mvteixeira@ucs.br) on 2014-05-28T16:52:22Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Sarajane de Fatima L de Oliveira.pdf: 841855 bytes, checksum: 916eb1e175b688fabf0223c93a2acdcd (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-05-28T16:52:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Sarajane de Fatima L de Oliveira.pdf: 841855 bytes, checksum: 916eb1e175b688fabf0223c93a2acdcd (MD5) / In a society, where the competitiveness of the enterprise is growing and the work force tends more to be each time diversified, in which the women occupy important space in the professional world, the organizations needs to adopt strategies that they propitiate, beyond the profitability, a healthful environment that prioritizes well-being of the people who of them are part. In this context, the search of balance between work and personal life is a question to be faced by all the companies. Therefore, this research had for objective to propitiate an understanding on the performance of some companies of the electric appliances sector of Caxias do Sul in relation with the conflict work-family which can affect the feminine workforce. The scientific method that guided the research was phenomenological, as proposed by Husserl, and occurred in two stages. The first stage of the research had an exploratory character and had a qualitative approach. It was realized data collection on the companies through half-structuralized interviews in order to verify their positioning on the use of practical of instrumental support, aiming at minimizing the conflict work-family. In the second stage of the research was used a descriptive conception of the research through a quantitative approach. In this stage, a collection of information on the part of the employees was carried through, in a way to raise their socio-demographic profile and to investigate the occurrence of the work-family conflict phenomenon, using the survey method. The population is composed of four companies which manufacture electric appliances of Caxias do Sul and the samples were configured as non judgment probability and proportional stratified probabilistic sample. As results, it was observed that the studied companies adopt practices motivated mainly by the search of satisfaction for their employees, the reduction of the rotativity and absenteeism indices and the increase in productivity. Occurrence of the conflict work-family was identified between the employees and a positive effect resulting of the use of the practices of instrumental support contributed to minimize this phenomenon.