This investigation represents an initial attempt toward the construction of a general life cycle theory of parent-child relations. Emphasis was placed on the parent-adult child relationship with the onset of a filial crisis, e.g., due to illness. After the theory was described, two of the five propositions comprising this orientation (i.e., propositions four and five) were analyzed through a series of twenty-five hypotheses. The objectives of these hypotheses were (a) to analyze the relationship between the length of time involved in various patterns of filial responsibility and the likelihood that these patterns will become institutionalized as obligatory roles and (b) to determine how factors associated with these emergnt role obligations contribute to the cost of caregiving. A probability sample of 180 caregivers was obtained from within the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Multiple and partial correlation analyses and the use of Student's t revealed that the length of time involved as a caregiver was significantly related to the number of informal caregiving roles performed by adult children. In addition, results indicated that the length of involvement in each caregiving role examined (i.e., household care, transportation service, personal care, medical attention, meal preparation, financial management and mobility assistance) was significantly related to (a) the frequency of providing these services to an aged parent and (b) the level of responsibility in each service area except financial management (which tended to remain constant over time)• An adult child s level of obligation to ensure that caregiving services were provided was also significantly associated with the length of caregiving involvement. Furthermore, this study found tentative support for the contention that the social-psychological cost of providing care for a dependent parent was associated with (a) the frequency of providing transportation services and medical attention, (b) the number of informal caregiving activities performed and (c) the length of caregiver involvement. A set of three control variables (i.e., the household living arrangements and both the aged parent s and adult child's physical health status) were identified as significant contributors to the cost of caregiving. Based on the empirical results of this investigation, propositions four and five of the theoretical perspective presented in this dissertation were supported.

Decreasing mortality rates and increasing life expectancy are contributing factors in a trend currently referred to as the "graying" of America. Some members of this aging population will require caregiving support from their families. Because women tend to outlive men, adult daughters generally assume this important role for their widowed mothers. As the health of the care recipient declines, the caregiver often suffers from stress or frustration. Some current research links health declines with decreases in elders' abilities to reciprocate instrumentally for care received. Other research suggests elders compensate for their inabilities to give instrumental aid such as advice and money by continuing to give socioemotional aid such as support and love. It is not known how caregiver stress levels relate to the exchange of socioemotional aid. Thus, this study examined the association among care given, perceived reciprocity, and frustration with daughters' caregiving. The question asked was: Does perceived socioemotional aid moderate the impact of the level of caregiving on frustration with caregiving for daughters? Social exchange theory was the perspective utilized for this research. This theory posits that an individual's desire to reciprocate is due to a general moral norm of obligation and that when people can/do reciprocate, the relationship costs decline. The sample for this study consisted of 164 dependent-mother/caregiving-daughter pairs. Frequencies, means, and standard deviations of background characteristics of all study participants were reported. A correlation matrix showed the relationships among variables. A series of multiple regressions were performed to examine the relationships among the variables as well as the predicted interaction. Results indicated that increased care given to mothers was a significant predictor of increased frustration with caregiving for daughters, and increased perceived socioemotional aid to daughters was a significant predictor of decreased frustration with caregiving for daughters. There was no interaction effect, however. That is, the effect of the amount of care given on frustration was not moderated by socioemotional aid from care recipients. Limitations, implications, and recommendations for further research are discussed. These recommendations include the need for additional research in the area of lifespan or generalized reciprocity and intergenerational relationships. / Graduation date: 1997

This study examined, through a narrative phenomenological framework, the experiences of Korean female caregivers in Canada, and the ways in which filial piety obligations affected their quality of life. The existing literature is scarce on information about caregiving by Korean females in both North America and Canada. Further, caregiving issues regarding caregiving stress have mostly investigated the medical aspects. It was crucial, therefore, to investigate and understand the social aspects of the caregiving experience. Korean daughters-in-law (DILs), who lived with their aging parents-in-law (PILs) in environments profoundly rooted in Confucian values, experienced conflicts with their parents/mothers-in-law. A number of caregiving hardships were identified and categorized according to the following two themes: cultural obligations and direct caregiving practices. Some DILs’ caregiving hardships were heavier when they moved to Canada and adopted a new culture. The findings of this study show that the caregiving practices of these Korean female caregivers in Canada are changing as the DILs have been influenced by their new environment, but the findings also demonstrate that the DILs are still strongly affected by the traditional cultural values in which they were raised. This study investigated their attitudes and behaviours of these women in their caregiving roles by employing a qualitative research design. As little research has been done on immigrant women’s caregiving experience, this study provides an important contribution by examining the lived experience of immigrant women as it is affected by the traditional cultural value of filial piety. / February 2017

This study was designed to explore how Chinese families managed the care of an adult member with advanced cancer both in home and hospital settings, to identify factors that affected care management, to examine the influence of cultural beliefs and practices on caregiving, and to examine the preference for location of care, from the perspective of one family member. The method used in conducting this study was the grounded theory approach of qualitative research. Data were collected through a series of interviews with six Chinese informants (five adult children and one spouse). The initial interviews were guided by the research questions. Constant comparative analysis was employed throughout data collection to permit analytic material to guide and focus the process of constructing the core social process. The informants' degree of ethnic identity was measured using the Ethnic Identity Questionnaire to further validate the researcher's observations pertaining to cultural orientation. The results indicated that Chinese families managed the care of an adult member with advanced cancer through the balancing process. This process, used when patients were in hospital and home, characterized the struggle the families experienced in managing everchanging caregiving demands and everyday family demands. Balancing was comprised of four interrelated management strategies: gauging, anticipating, sharing the load, and resourcing. It was concluded that the process is not culturally-bound although activities of trying out and patterns of help-seeking were thought to be culturally based. Factors which were found to influence the balancing process were past experiences and the patients' and family members' style or previous patterns of coping. Cultural beliefs influenced family members' actions and the reasons given for their actions. The results also indicated that Chinese families preferred care at home to care in the hospital. However, care at home was contingent on four factors: availability and ability of caregivers, family support, information from physician, and patients' physical condition and symptom management. The hospital setting was identified as the place where the ill family would die. In terms of nursing practice, the results support the need for nurses to be family-focused and support the actions of family members as the families manage the care. The results also suggest nurses to explore their own beliefs as well as beliefs of patients and families to ensure sensitivity is shown to differences. The findings reinforce the importance of educating families, as well as other health care professionals, about nursing's role in providing care, especially in the community. With regard to nursing research, the results reinforce the need to conduct family unit research and further explore the validity of the balancing process with more Chinese families and other ethnic groups. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Nursing, School of / Graduate