Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1981. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 34-37).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 41-43).

One hundred men with epilepsy were interviewed about the history of their illness, employment history and personal support network. Included as sources of support were: household members, close friends and relatives, more distant relationships and general forms of social participation such as church membership. Four potentially supportive aspects of these relationships were assessed: structural features of the pattern of relationships; characteristics of the individual ties; exchanges of helping resources and subjective assessments of the supportiveness of ties. The social support networks of the men who were satisfied with their lives were large, diverse, active and generally helpful. Church membership was also a strong predictor of satisfaction. Indicators of social support were not as predictive of employment success although close knit ties between friends and kin and general social participation were associated with successful employment. Efforts of professional service providers, friends and family members to provide help specifically directed toward helping the person deal with epilepsy were negatively associated with successful employment outcomes when the individual perceived himself as unable to control his symptoms and limited by his condition. The implications of these findings for research are that a fine-grained approach to the study of the effects of support, in terms of sources, types and effects yields a richer, and in some cases, less optimistic picture of the role of informal support in helping a person cope with a chronic disability. The implications for policy are that support from family and friends is limited, strains these relationships and may reinforce patterns of dependence on the part of the recipient that are counterproductive to successful employment and independent living. Help from professionals may produce many of the same results. Programs that are attempting to help such people become successfully employed might do better to focus on changing the self-perceptions of clients in the direction of greater autonomy and focus their social activities towards a more "normal" pattern of general sociability and equal exchange rather than dependence on a few, close ties.

Epilepsy is a highly prevalent neurological disorder affecting people from all walks of life. Psychosocial adjustment and psychological morbidity have been longstanding challenges for people with this clinical diagnosis. However, very little is known about the psychosocial correlates of psychological morbidity, such as anxiety and depression, among people with epilepsy in Hong Kong. Previous clinical studies suggest social cognitive impairment may contribute to the poor psychosocial integration of people with epilepsy. An important aspect of social cognition is the ability to attribute mental states to others so as to understand their behavior, desires, and intentions. This prerequisite for successful social interactions is termed mentalizing. This thesis reports two studies conducted to examine the psychosocial correlates of psychological morbidity among people with epilepsy, and their mentalizing ability with regard to the neuropsychological basis of mentalizing deficits that are specific to this neurological disorder. Study 1 examines the association of psychological morbidity with a broad array of personality traits and social skills in a sample of 54 local Chinese people with epilepsy. Participants completed the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), the Social Performance Survey Schedule (SPSS), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) via semi-structured interviews. The findings showed that, independent of demographic and medical variables and perceived illness-related impact, three personality traits (harm avoidance temperament, self-directedness, and cooperation) and two subscales of interpersonal behaviors (both positive and negative social skills) are significant psychosocial predictors of adjustment among Chinese people with epilepsy. Study 2 examines the neuropsychological basis of mentalizing deficits in people with epilepsy. Thirty-nine right-handed local Chinese people with epilepsy and 38 matched healthy controls were recruited for this study. The eyes test and the faux pas test were employed to study the decoding and reasoning stages of mentalizing, respectively. The findings showed that, relative to the healthy controls, the participants with epilepsy were impaired in decoding and reasoning about the affective aspect of social materials; and at the same time, they were impaired in reasoning about the cognitive aspects of others’ mental states—that is, in inferring intentionality. Such a pattern of mentalizing deficits suggests a wider structural abnormality that may be implicated in the brains of people with epilepsy. In conclusion, epilepsy is associated with social cognitive impairment in emotion recognition and intentionality inference, involving both decoding and reasoning about the affective and cognitive aspects of others’ mental state, which may predispose people with epilepsy to maladaptive psychosocial adjustment and functioning. The significance and implications of the results are discussed. / published_or_final_version / Psychology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Clinical Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1970. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--University of Wisconsin--Madison. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-68).

Thesis (M.A.)--Indiana University, 2008. / Title from screen (viewed on August 28, 2009). Department of History, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Advisor(s): William Schneider. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-98).

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Clinical Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Thèse--Paris. / At head of title: Université de Paris. Faculté des lettres et sciences humaines. Includes bibliographical references.