Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / Supportive relationships have been found to be very beneficial for health and well-being. However, amongst alcohol dependent individuals, family support is often low, as alcohol abuse can pose a barrier between the individual and his or her family. The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of how adult children experienced providing social support to a parent with alcohol abuse problems or recovering from alcohol addiction. To conceptualize the study, Bowen's Family Systems Theory was used, which highlights the impact that alcohol abuse has on a family as a whole, and that it does not solely affect the individual who is addicted to alcohol. Participants were selected using convenience sampling. Adopting a qualitative approach, the researcher conducted individual semi-structured interviews in which participants were students between the ages of 25 and 38 years. The qualitative interviews were transcribed verbatim and transcriptions were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA).Ethical clearance was obtained from the University of the Western Cape Higher Degrees Committee. Informed consent for conducting this research study was obtained from the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and Kensington Treatment Centre (KTC) as well as from participants. The consent forms indicate that only the researcher and the researcher's supervisor have access to the data obtained. The researcher pledged confidentiality and adherence to ethical rules and regulations. The researcher ensured that participant anonymity was not compromised upon analysis of the data. The study found that parental alcohol abuse has negative effects on the support provider's well-being and their involvement in the parent-child relationship. Effects included feelings of anger and shame; giving in to peer pressure; engaging in substance use and risky sexual behaviours; distancing themselves emotionally; and keeping secrets. Furthermore, participants also experienced social alienation; emotional and sexual abuse; and a fragmentation of the parent-child relationship.

This qualitative study was designed to explore the transition experiences of youth with learning disabilities (LD) educated in the province of Ontario and their families. The primary purpose of this research was to understand what influences the decisions adolescents who have LD make about post-secondary education and employment goals and paths. The expectations and experiences of youth with LD and their families during the transition process were investigated. Adolescents and their parents were the main informants. Facilitators and barriers to the process in terms of each of the systems described in Bronfenbrenner ecological theory and Turnbull and Turnbull’s family systems theory were also examined. A case study method was used in the design of this research and data were collected following Seidman’s three-interview process. Five families consisting of the youth with LD, at least one parent, and in four cases, a sibling participated in this study. The questions focused on family interactions, roles, and the decision-making process. Data from the 18 participants were coded and arranged according to the research questions which were linked to the central ideas in the theoretical framework. The findings revealed that parents’ expectations influenced the decision-making about post high school goals and paths by the youth and their families. In contrast to previous research, it was found that parents’ expectations were generally high for their children with LD and were shaped by their own post high school experiences. The dynamics of family relationships and roles during transition planning depended on the time of diagnosis of LD (primary grades vs. senior high school), attitudes towards LD by the parents, advocacy by parents, self-advocacy abilities of the youth with LD, and the nature of relations among siblings. Additionally, none of the youth with LD had a formal transition plan and the data showed that teachers could facilitate or hinder the transition process. Also emerging from the data were three types of advocacy that were practised by parents. The study findings add to our knowledge about the transition process and in particular how decisions are made and the factors that influence them. Moreover, this study gives a voice to youth with LD and their families as they described their transition experiences to post-secondary education or employment.

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This exploratory study was based upon Bowen Family Systems theory and investigated emotional cutoff in women (n = 168) who entered a substance abuse treatment program. Three questions were explored: First, the degree of emotional cutoff in this sample was compared to a non-clinical sample of women. Secondly, the relationship was explored between the variable of emotional cutoff and the following variables: substance abuse variables, individual psychological functioning variables, and marital and family relationship variables. Finally, the relationship was explored between dropout from substance abuse treatment and emotional cutoff.Results indicate that the degree of emotional cutoff was significantly higher in this clinical sample of women who abused substances than in two comparison samples - one was a non-clinical sample of women balancing multiple roles and responsibilities and one mixed sample of divorced men and women. Emotional cutoff was found to have a significant positive relationship with the following variables: behaviors characteristic of substance abusers, behaviors of a highly defensive person, symptoms of depression, anxiety, hostility, psychoticism, somatization, obsessive compulsive disorder, interpersonal sensitivity, and a global assessment of psychological dysfunction. Emotional cutoff was found to have a significant negative relationship with denial of substance abuse. No significant relationship was found between emotional cutoff and marital satisfaction, health or distress in family functioning, dropout from treatment, severity of substance abuse, and symptoms of paranoia or phobia. These results have implications for further research based on Bowen theory and the understanding of the emotional process of addicted family systems. / Master of Science

As various forms of interpersonal family violence receive more attention in the literature, sibling abuse is still in the background. Despite the increasing knowledge about the prevalence, causes, and effects of sibling abuse, many of us continue to relegate it to a childhood occurrence. Sibling abuse symptoms continue to go unrecognized and its demoralizing effects continue to be ignored (Wiehe, 1990). Minimization and denial of sibling abuse have also contributed to constraining the extent of knowledge related to this phenomenon. The present study seeks to add to the existing research confirming the existence of sibling victimization and its long-term impacts. This study has two primary purposes: 1) to capture the beliefs, feelings, and firsthand account of the abusive sibling experiences from the perspective of victims, and 2) to investigate the potential learned responses associated with sibling abuse and their possible impact on adult relationships by exploring participants' emotional and relational histories, and belief systems. This study presents data taken from a clinical sample of six adult female sibling abuse survivors. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted and data analyzed using cross case analysis, constant comparison, and analytic induction techniques. Data suggests the long-term impacts of learned responses associated with sibling abuse can be detrimental to both interpersonal relationships and mental health. Emergent themes related to family functioning and environment and resiliency after abuse are also presented. Implications of findings and suggestions for future research are discussed. / Ph. D.

Although there is abundant research on the etiology of Alzheimer's disease and its impact on primary caregivers, there is relatively little research that examines the consequences of the disease for entire families, and no literature that exclusively studies the experiences of non-caregiving family members. Seeking to explore the experience of non-caregivers, this qualitative study examined how adult children of an Alzheimer's patient who were not the caregiver for their parent experienced the onset and progression of the disease. Using the guiding theoretical frameworks of phenomenology, family systems theory, and ambiguous loss, in-depth interviews were conducted with three individuals and were coded for themes. The main themes found included externalization of symptoms, belief in the Alzheimer's diagnosis, acceptance, flexibility, sibling and parental relationships, communication, planning, shared family philosophy, family of origin roles, and boundary ambiguity. Implications for clinical practice and suggestions for future research are included. / Master of Science

In this hermeneutic phenomenological study, a purposive sample of 12 religious women considered their experiences of religiosity with their mothers and larger family systems. Adult daughters reflected on the significance and meaning of religion in their lives and relationships, particularly the interaction of mothers and adult daughters concerning spirituality, beliefs, and experiences including intergenerational transmission of religiosity. Adult daughters were queried regarding maternal religious influence and the challenges of being women. Data were collected to saturation and analyzed to consider individual narratives about families into the development of three themes: Family Connections, Religious Consciousness, and Encountering Community. Gilligan's theory of moral development, including the ethic of caretaking, is employed to consider religiosity in the adult daughter-mother relationship. Limitations, clinical implications, and future directions are explored. In summary, spheroids increase anti-inflammatory potential of eBMSCs and are practical for clinical use. Increased anti-inflammatory efficacy was demonstrated in a model of in vivo inflammation. This dissertation provides an understanding of the anti-inflammatory activities of eBMSC spheroids that can be used to develop an OA therapy. / Ph. D.

Master of Science / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Anthony Jurich / An exploration of parents’ critical role in their children’s career choices and aspirations was the primary focus of this paper. This includes a brief history of past career counseling techniques, which began in its formative years by assessing the client’s personality to determine proper occupational fit. It has now progressed to the postmodernist view that bases vocational interest and aspirations on constantly changing life roles. Previous research that examined parental influence on adolescent’s career choices, as well as research on the effects of socioeconomic status, gender, and race was included. The paper concluded with how career counselors and parents may use the strength of parental influence upon young adults to provide more effective career development techniques and create stronger partnerships with the young adult’s primary stakeholders.

The study explored the narratives of three adoptive couples. The participants were selected using criterion based convenience and snowball sampling. The adoptive couples’ data was captured through written narratives and/or individual or joint semi-structured interviews. The data was then analysed by means of thematic analysis conducted from the perspective of second order cybernetics. The results note the participants’ experiences of their infertility threatened their functioning as a couple. However, this threat to the couples’ functioning was limited by the adoptions through two means. First, the adoptions limited the couples’ communication about their infertility. Second, the adoptions allowed the couples to continue functioning as a couple dedicated to the goal of becoming parents. Differences between the participant couples’ experiences surrounded their interactions with social workers; their selection of support structures; their interaction with external systems; as well as their anxiety towards the individuation of the adopted child. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

The purpose of the study is to examine young children's internalizing and externalizing behaviors in the context of post paternal incarceration by focusing on both risks (i.e., parental depressive symptoms), protective factors (i.e., coparenting alliance), and their impact considered together. The final sample included 426 previously incarcerated fathers and the biological mothers of their three-year-old children. Using hierarchical multiple regression, I examined three sets of analyses: 1) the association between parental depressive symptoms and children's behavior outcomes, 2) the association between coparenting alliance and children's behavior, 3) the association between parental depressive symptoms and children's behavior as moderated by coparenting alliance. Expectedly, higher paternal depressive symptoms were associated with higher externalizing behavioral problems in children. Unexpectedly, higher maternal depressive symptoms were associated with lower externalizing behavioral problems. Also, unexpectedly, the associations between maternal and paternal coparenting alliance and both child behavioral outcomes were not statistically significant. Further, when mothers reported lower coparenting alliance with their child's father, the negative association between fathers' depressive symptoms and children’s internalizing behavioral problems was not attenuated; in fact, children had higher internalizing behavioral problems. My findings suggests father's depressive symptoms are an important point of consideration given the deleterious effects parental depressive symptoms can have on children, and the risks for depressive symptoms among formerly incarcerated fathers. Further, my findings have implications for addressing and treating fathers' depressive symptoms when children are relatively young in order to lower internalizing behavior problems from persisting across and beyond childhood.