Thesis (D. Min.)--Erskine Theological Seminary, 1995. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 135-141).

abstract: Obesity is a worldwide epidemic. Countries in the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, as well as North America have the highest prevalence of obesity in the world. Perimenopause is a transitional period in the life of a woman, occurring a few years before and a year after menopause or last menses. During this period, a woman may experience several physiological, psychological and socio-economical changes that may affect the health promotion efforts related to weight management. Perimenopausal obesity prevalence is high in Middle-Eastern countries and is a particular problem in Gulf Cooperation Council Countries (GCC). Despite the high prevalence of obesity in GCC countries and its comorbidities among the perimenopausal women, not much attention is given to it. There is lack of understanding regarding the perception of perimenopausal women of midlife weight gain. This study proposed a qualitative descriptive design that used semi-structured interviewing, and conventional content analysis. The purpose of this study was to examine the culturally specific views of perimenopausal GCC women concerning the causes and processes of midlife weight gain. Constructs derived from the health belief and explanatory models to identify and sort themes into conceptual categories were used. The themes and initial interpretations were brought forward into the organizing and explanatory framework of the socioecological model for further exploration and elucidation. The problem of overweight/obesity among the perimenopausal women in GCC countries was found to have many dimensions. These dimensions interacted at multiple levels (individual, interpersonal, organizational and community) and encompassed factors salient in both the HBM and Kleinman's model of disease and risk behaviors. The findings of this study suggest that weight-management programs targeting perimenopausal GCC women should be planned based on the multilevel factors that are expressed by them. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Nursing 2012

The researcher aimed to explore the construction of menopause through and by available discourses within South Africa. A postmodern paradigm and social constructionist framework informed the choice of discourse analysis as methodology. South African newspapers containing texts related to menopause were utilised. English articles that are available on a publically accessible library database were selected. The basic guideline for selection of 37 texts was the keyword menopause. The researcher identified and explored eight dominant discourses and two supplementary discourses. The researcher concluded that discourses are interconnected and that each discourse is strengthened or resisted by multiple complementary and conflicting discourses forming a network through which society understands and experiences their reality. Copyright / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Psychology / unrestricted

The aim of this thesis is to construct a generativity scale and verify its psychometric properties within the Czech environment. We focus on both the theoretical foundations of generativity as well as the tools of its measurement. While these measures already exist, they do not sufficiently correspond with the context of the Czech environment. The constructed scale focuses on 7 areas of generativity and is based on some already existing tools, namely the LGS and GBC. Furthermore, using a content analysis of 150 interviews of participants between the ages of 50 and 60 years and considering the already existing tools, we created a 31-item scale which we further reduced to 24 items in the traditional item analysis. The overall achieved Cronbach's α value of 0.803 with a 95% confidence interval (0.766-0.835) is satisfactory. We conclude that the thesis has fulfilled the requirements of a pilot study and provides opportunities for subsequent research.

No description available.

Restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) are some of the hallmark features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptomatology. There is a knowledge gap on RRBs in adults with ASD because most of the research has focused on children and adolescents. The few studies conducted on adults with ASD have included conflicting results and variable information, especially regarding the developmental trajectories of RRBs. Therefore, this study was designed to address the lived experiences of RRBs in midlife adults with Asperger syndrome. This study was guided by the conceptual frameworks of Dunn's model of sensory processing, the 2-factor model of RRBs, and phenomenological theory. A phenomenological approach was used to conduct semistructured interviews in which 15 adults with Asperger syndrome sampled worldwide described their experiences. Participants also wrote narrative accounts. The data were analyzed through interpretative phenomenological analysis. Eight basic themes emerged from the data analysis regarding the importance of RRBs to adults with Asperger syndrome: (a) anxiety, (b) calming effect, (c) intense focus, (d) routines and rituals, (e) sensory sensitivity, (f) misinterpretation by others, (g) physical stereotypies, and (h) special interests. Findings associated with these themes showed that RRBs are used by adults with Asperger syndrome as a coping mechanism for dealing with anxiety. Treatment should focus on the elimination of the anxiety rather than the RRBs, which are just a symptom of the anxiety. The implications for positive social change include the emergence of new knowledge to promote an improvement in diagnosis, treatment, advocacy, and supportive services, thereby decreasing inequalities that exist for adults with ASD.

Minority ethnic groups have disproportionately high rates of diabetes prevalence and complications. This study examined the degree, nature, and mediation of ethnic differences in changes over time in four health outcomes: functional limitations, emotional symptomatology, psychosomatic symptomatology, and self-reported health status. The theoretical context incorporated tenets from the social characteristics and the minority status perspectives. Data were drawn from two rounds (1992 and 1996) of the Health and Retirement Survey, a national plane survey of midlife Americans. The study focused on a subsample of 744 respondents who had been diagnosed with diabetes or high blood sugar by the time of the first round. Descriptive and lag-time regression analyses were employed. Five models were used to: (1) assess the independent effects of being Black and being Hispanic on changes over time in each of the outcome variables without and with the set of mediating variables; and (2) gauge the specific manner in which mediating variables affected initial statistically significant effects among Blacks and Hispanics. The mediating variables included five social position measures (education, income, net worth, gender, and a role integration index), health insurance coverage, and four health-related lifestyle measures (body mass index, drinking, smoking, and physical inactivity). The results pointed to a complex pattern of effects between Blacks and Hispanics and across outcomes. The social characteristics hypothesis was supported in two instances: increases in functional limitations over time for Blacks and poorer self-reported health over time for Hispanics. The minority status hypothesis was supported only for increases in emotional symptomatology among Hispanics. No support for either hypothesis was observed for psychosomatic symptomatology. Critical mediating variables also differed between Blacks and Hispanics across the outcomes. The two variables mediating the Black effort for functional limitations were body mass index and gender, whereas the two variables mediating the Hispanic effect for self-reported were smoking and education.

Using a matched-partner dataset of 660 midlife couples, this study examined dating relationships at midlife from the perspective of both male and female partners. It also explored ways various life course factors such as marital history, children, cohabitation, relationship length, and social approval related to partners' perceptions of one another and to subsequent relationship quality. Findings indicated heterogeneity in midlife dating experiences. Actor and partner effects of enhancement were most often linked with greater satisfaction and fewer problems for never-married couples, yet enhancement was not related to relationship stability for them. For couples where only one partner had been previously married, partner enhancement was linked to stability but not to other relationship outcomes. Life course factors played an important role in midlife dating relationships. Further research is needed to examine longitudinal trends.

The economic, demographic and social changes of the latter half of the C20th have influenced the experience of individuals now at 'midlife'. Arguably the impact of these changes has been more profound for women; specifically in the UK for those educated to be the wives, mothers and carers of industrial Britain (Newsom, 1963). Now around 50 years old this group of women are likely to experience a lengthy period of 'postmaternity' (Sheriff and Weatherall, 2009) extending to over thirty years in many cases. This research considers the experience of this metaphorically entitled 'telescopic' cohort (Goldstein and Schlag, 1999). The major corpus of age related research assumes a linear developmental progression of life stages (Erikson, 1951, 1968; Gould, 1978; Levinson, 1978; Levinson, 1996; Klohnen et al., 1996; Miner-Rubinio, 2004). Drawing on life course theory (Elder, 1995; Runyan, 1982; Super, 1980) enables this research to explore how women may have changed assumptions about themselves and their expectations as the social world has changed around them, moreover offers an alternative to the essentialist, linear, deterministic models of ageing. This feminist poststructuralist examination of the experience of women at 'midlife' is divided into two parts; firstly the 'lived life' which examines demographic changes, and drawing on material from 'Jackie' magazine, considers discourses of femininity and the expectations for, and of, girls. The 'told story' is then explored using narrative interview material. How women 'story' their lives and their understanding of 'self' at midlife is examined within the context of the changing world and their ageing bodies. The research revealed that the experience of 'midlife' for this cohort of women is narrated as a time of change in social circumstances with some 'gains' and some 'losses', however it is not storied as a time of inevitable 'crisis'. Moreover despite the plethora of literature portraying the menopause as problematic, this was not supported by the interview material.

This dissertation focuses on the midlife adjustment of individuals from a longitudinal study in its 5th decade of follow-up. The Abecedarian Project, a prospective randomized control trial (RCT), began in 1972 with the primary goal of preventing cognitive impairments and school failure in children born into impoverished families with multiple risk factors by randomly assigning 111 infants to either an early education (n = 57) or control group (n = 54). This dissertation reports midlife outcomes at ages 39 – 45 for 42 individuals who received the early education treatment and 36 who were controls. This dissertation focuses on two primary hypotheses within a twojournal manuscript format. The first primary hypothesis of this dissertation is that the Abecedarian early education intervention will increase the number of successful outcomes over the lifespan, showing the cumulative effect of positive experiences (Sameroff, 2009) and a sense of personal efficacy (Dweck, 2008; Seeman, 1959). The second primary hypothesis of this dissertation is that response contingent learning and being an active agent in early cognitive and social settings during the first five years of life will provide a strong foundation for future perceptions of control over important areas in one’s life (Furnham & Steele, 1993; Walden & Ramey, 1983; Wallston, Wallston, & DeVellis, 1978). The analysis of midlife indices of strength and risk reveal results favoring the treatment group compared to the controls on both the Midlife Strengths Index (F (1,76) = 15.85, p = .000) and the Midlife Risk Index (F (1,76 = 8.88, p = .004). Additionally, a significant interaction exists between group assignment and IQ at age 48 months for the Midlife Strengths Index (β = -.215, p < .05). Analyses of Locus of Control scales reveal that the control group reports “powerful others” have more influence on both their health behaviors (F (1, 76) = 3.962, p = .05) on the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale and their economic behaviors (F (1, 76) = 5.146, p = .026) within the Economic Locus of Control Scale. Additionally, the control group reported more external economic locus of control than the treatment group with a marginal statistical significance (F (1, 76) = 3.359, p = .071). Results are consistent with the conclusion for children born into multi-risk, economically impoverished families there are lifelong benefits of receiving high-quality early care and education that extend into the midlife years. / Ph. D.