An estimated 5.4 million individuals in the United States have Alzheimer’s disease, and the number is expected to rise exponentially over the next 50 years. Content analysis was used to examine the availability and content of online resources accessible through the Alzheimer’s Association and the National Institute on Aging (NIA) that addressed emotional and physical intimacy for a marital unit. The analysis resulted in ten documents from the Alzheimer’s Association’s website, seven from the NIA’s website, and four additional documents produced from external links that met these criteria. Five major themes emerged from these documents regarding the subject of emotional and physical intimacy. These categories included: (a) defining sexuality and intimacy, (b) changes that occur in the relationship due to a dementia diagnosis, (c) reasons for the change in the relationship, (d) responses to a dementia diagnosis, and (e) strategies for managing the changes due to a dementia diagnosis.

The study aims to analyze the causes and treatments of spousal violence in Taiwan, to explore how Taiwanese people, abused women, and anti-spousal violence workers consider the causes of spousal violence and how they cope with it. Approaches are taken from the viewpoints of social system theory, resource theory and social control theory, and discourse analysis is made on quantitative and qualitative bases. The purpose is to manifest the causes of spousal violence, different tackling methods adopted by abused women from different family and cultural backgrounds, as well as the discrepancies of the third role played by anti-spousal violence workers. The study combines both macro- and micro-level approaches, integrating empirical research and grounded theory research as the methodology to account for the effects of resource variables and social bond variables on spousal violence in Taiwan, and also to probe into the dynamic process and coping modes from the angles of victims and the third role. The source of this study is ¡§Taiwan Social Change Survey¡¨Data , which was conducted by Institute of Sociology Academia Sinica in 2001. Quantitative analysis is based on the data collected, while qualitative analysis is made with in-depth interviews with 10 abused women and 18 anti-spousal violence workers. According to the empirical research of ¡§Taiwan Social Change Survey¡¨Data¡]2001¡^ , when samples of wives and husbands are analyzed respectively, traditional substantive resources are found to have significant differences to the understanding of spousal conflict treatments. As to non-substantive resources, the lower the level of domestic life satisfaction, the more probable marital violence will happen. On the husband side of social control model, it is discovered that the rarer the husband deals with his neighbors, the more likely he will commit violence. Furthermore, applying theories to the interviews with abused women, we found that in the original family, structural factors such as ethnic background, history of spousal violence; interactive factors such as ill communication, discrepancy in money values and attitudes towards child raising; individual factors such as the husband with patriarchal ideology, are all contributive to spousal violence. Thus, it is shown that both substantive resources (i.e. money and wealth) and non-substantive resources (i.e. level of marriage satisfaction and gender role attitude) are significantly correlated related to conjugal power. Then, inspecting the impact cultural context has on spousal violence, the study divides the abused victims¡¦ reaction modes into patriarchism, ritualism, equalitarianism, and idealism, based on family values and resources on father/son axis and husband/wife axis. The results indicate that as one possesses more resources and stronger connections with the society, one receives greater conjugal power, and is more likely to suggest or demand a more equal authoritative structure in marriage. On top of that, the interviews with anti-spousal violence workers show that the third role offers different treatments depending on to what degree and on what aspect it intervenes in spousal conflicts. Only by integrating educational, social, police, judicial, and medical units can we provide women in Taiwan with an effective anti-spousal violence strategy.

The study explored spousal accuracy and positive marital behavior (PMB) and negative marital behavior (NMB) areas&rsquo / three different evaluations which were frequency, emotional impact and attributed importance in distressed and nondistressed couples. Participants of the study were 81 married couples. All 162 spouses filled out Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS), Communication Skills Inventory and Information Form. Additionally one spouse in each couple filled out Spouse Observation Checklist (SOC) Form A whereas the other spouse filled out SOC Form B. Spousal accuracy were assessed by partial pairwise intraclass correlation. R-to-z transformation was used to find on which PMB and NMB areas&rsquo / accuracy distressed and nondistressed couples differ. Six Repeated Measures MANOVAs were conducted to explore differences in distressed and nondistressed couples / wives and husbands / self-report and spouse-report in three evaluations of PMB and NMB. In order to find most important PMB and NMB areas&rsquo / frequencies in terms of their relationship with marital adjustment, two Roy-Bargmann Stepdown Analysis were conducted by controlling for positive affect, negative affect and communication skills. Principal component analysis was employed to the self and spouse reports of marital behavior areas&rsquo / frequencies and then two stepwise multiple regression analyses were used to identify which factors of marital behavior play a significant role in predicting marital adjustment. Results revealed that nondistressed spouses were more accurate in predicting their partners&rsquo / reports of emotional impact and attributed importance / more frequently engaging in PMB, less frequently engaging in NMB, feel more positive about and attribute more importance to PMB compared to distressed spouses. Spouse report of marital behavior explained more variance than self report of marital behavior / NMB and affectional marital behavior explained more variance than PMB in marital adjustment.

This paper brings together theoretical work on gender, caregiving, and illness to investigate emotion work performed in response to a spouse’s physical illness. We analyzed qualitative in-depth interview data with 36 individuals in 18 long-term heterosexual marriages (N=36) wherein one or both spouses experienced illness. Findings indicated that men and women performed, received, and interpreted their emotion work in gendered ways. Women with an ill spouse performed emotion work more often than men. Women who were ill themselves often performed emotion work to relieve the burden on their spouse—a dynamic not found among men who were ill. When women performed emotion work, they constructed this work as a natural propensity. Men who did not perform emotion work constructed themselves as protective and problem-solving. These findings point to underlying intra- and inter-personal processes that may help to explain why women experience higher levels of caregiver burden and depression than do men. / text

Background: Several studies have reported socioeconomic, socio-demographic factors, including violence against women to be associated with depression among women, but knowledge in the area among women living under extreme poverty in developing countries remains scarce. Relationship between intimate partner violence and women’s literacy in societies where violence is normative is complex, there are only limited data describing this difference in the distribution of violence exposure by residency and literacy. Few studies have addressed consequences of maternal depression and experiencing violence among women on children’s survival. Objective: The aim of this thesis is to determine prevalence of depressive episode and examine its association with violence by intimate partner and socioeconomic status It also assesses contribution of residency and literacy of women on vulnerability to physical violence by intimate partner, and independent effect of intimate partner violence and maternal depression on the risk of child death in rural Ethiopia. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was undertaken among 3016 randomly selected women in the age group between 15-49 years conducted from January to December 2002. A cohort study was done through following up women who gave birth to a live child within a year of the survey, in rural Ethiopia. Analysis was made using all the 3016 women, 1994 of the married women and 561 of women who gave birth within a year of the data collection time. Cases of depression were identified using the Amharic version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview, experience of physical, sexual and emotional violence by intimate partner was made using the WHO multi-country study on women’s life events, and child death was measured by continuous demographic surveillance data from the Butajira Rural Health Program. Result: The twelve-month prevalence of depression was estimated to be 4.4%. In the analyses being currently married, divorced and widowed women, living in rural villages, having frequent khat chewing habit, having seasonal job and living in extreme poverty were factors independently associated with depression. Similarly, among the married women, experiencing physical violence, childhood sexual abuse, emotional violence and spousal control were factors independently associated with depressive episode. Women in the overall study area had beliefs and norms permissive towards violence against women. Violence against women was more prevalent in rural communities, in particular, among rural literate women and rural women who married a literate spouse. In this study, maternal depression was associated with under five child death. Although no association was seen between experiencing violence and child death, the risk of child death increases when maternal depression is combined with physical and emotional violence. Conclusion: Prevalence of depression among women was still in the lower range as compared to studies from high-income countries. Though depression is associated with socio-demographic factors and extreme poverty, the association is complex. The high prevalence of violence against women could be a contributing factor for preponderance of depression among women than in men. Urbanization and literacy are thought to promote changes in attitudes and norms against intimate partner violence. However, literacy within rural community might expose women to the higher risk of violence. Improving awareness of clinicians and public health workers on the devastating consequences of violence against women and depression is essential in order to identify and take measure when violence and maternal depression co-occurred.

The purpose of the present study was to explore the ways that spouses of persons with ABI experience a process of change in roles, routine, and overall lifestyle and the subsequent implications for their support needs. The present study used a qualitative narrative inquiry methodology to examine the process of the experiences of this population of spouses. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 spouses, each of whom was engaged in a heterosexual relationship. There were 10 female and five male participants whose ages ranged from 40 to 61. Twelve of the participants were formally married, and three were in a common law relationship. In the interviews, the participants were asked about the changes in their lives after the onset of their spouses’ brain injuries. The data analysis was informed by narrative inquiry with attention paid to the structure of the participants’ stories. A three phase trajectory of caregiving emerged from the analysis which provided details regarding the process of change in the spousal caregiving role and how various role transitions within this role were intertwined with stressors and other feelings. The research highlighted three phases of caregiving including an Embryonic, Immersed and Modified Caregiver phase. The findings were theoretically important for identifying: how these spouses situate themselves within role transitions; coping strategies; various support needs; and future directions for research in this area.

The purpose of the present study was to explore the ways that spouses of persons with ABI experience a process of change in roles, routine, and overall lifestyle and the subsequent implications for their support needs. The present study used a qualitative narrative inquiry methodology to examine the process of the experiences of this population of spouses. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 spouses, each of whom was engaged in a heterosexual relationship. There were 10 female and five male participants whose ages ranged from 40 to 61. Twelve of the participants were formally married, and three were in a common law relationship. In the interviews, the participants were asked about the changes in their lives after the onset of their spouses’ brain injuries. The data analysis was informed by narrative inquiry with attention paid to the structure of the participants’ stories. A three phase trajectory of caregiving emerged from the analysis which provided details regarding the process of change in the spousal caregiving role and how various role transitions within this role were intertwined with stressors and other feelings. The research highlighted three phases of caregiving including an Embryonic, Immersed and Modified Caregiver phase. The findings were theoretically important for identifying: how these spouses situate themselves within role transitions; coping strategies; various support needs; and future directions for research in this area.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Haifa, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references and index.

O objetivo do presente trabalho é analisar a viabilidade jurídica da constituição e da manutenção da sociedade entre cônjuges, bem como os efeitos jurídicos daí decorrentes, sobretudo no Direito brasileiro. Demonstra que o tema em análise ainda não está pacificado na doutrina e jurisprudência pátrias, dada a sua complexidade e a ampla gama de institutos de Direito Civil e Comercial que encerra, além de elementos sociológicos indissociáveis da realidade jurídica que o permeia. São objeto do presente estudo as matérias que circunscrevem a órbita das sociedades entre cônjuges e que, portanto, são indispensáveis à compreensão e à análise crítica do instituto, para o qual se recorrerá também ao Direito comparado. Na esteira dos objetivos da presente dissertação, far-se-á, ainda, uma análise da evolução legislativa dispensada à sociedade entre marido e mulher no Brasil. Finalmente, serão discutidas as novas tendências de tratamento do tema no Direito alienígena e no Brasil, sobretudo em relação aos impedimentos até então vislumbrados à sociedade entre cônjuges, discussão esta que ainda remanesce pendente de assentamento no Brasil, mormente após o advento do Código Civil de 2002, como é possível depreender neste trabalho. / The purpose of this study is to analyze the legal feasibility of the incorporation and maintenance of the spousal entities, as well as the most significant effects arising out of this matter, especially in the Brazilian legal system. This study intends to convey that, due to its complexity, the innumerous civil and commercial law issues that it involves and, also, the intertwined sociological elements necessary to its understanding, the matter under analysis has not yet been subject to a consensus. The analysis of the different legal concepts in connection with the spousal entities will be dealt with in this thesis, to the extent that they are fundamental to its comprehension, in lieu of both national and comparative law. Within the purposes of this study, an analysis of the legal treatment applicable to the spousal entities will be conducted. Finally, the new tendencies on the treatment to be applied to the matter both in the Brazilian and international legal systems will be addressed. The discussion of the above referred tendencies has gradually acquired more importance, especially the obstacles so far raised against the validity of the spousal entities, causing such discussion to be still alive and pending of consensus, mainly after the effectiveness of the Brazilian 2002 Civil Code, as it will be verified by means of the present thesis.