Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1989.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1989.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1977.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1991.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1977.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1991.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--University of South Florida, 2006. / Title from PDF of title page. Document formatted into pages; contains 243 pages. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references.

This study was an investigation of the phenomenon of dementia caregiving burden and breakdown in community caregiving situations. 109 carer subjects participated in the study, with 91 current carers - 17 via face-to-face interview and 74 via the internet, and 18 past carers - two via face-to-face interview and 16 via the internet, contributing their experiences of dementia caregiving. Two new carers' assessment tools were devised to meet more fully the requirements of the 'Carers (Recognition and Services) Act 1995' (DoH, 1995), namely the 'Dementia Caregiving Problems Questionnaire (DCPQ)' and 'Dementia Caregiving Burden Questionnaire (DCBQ)'. These new assessments were tested and demonstrated to be reliable, with Cronbach Alpha scores of 0.7029 and 0.8430 respectively, and are recommended for implementation in clinical practice. The key predictive risk factors for high caregiving burden in this study were perceived stress; omission of caregiving satisfactions; carer depression; perceived impact on quality of life; perceived helpfulness of community care services; behaviour problems - especially shouting, swearing and screaming, irritability and night disturbance; poor quality carer/dependant relationship; mood problems; perceived helpfulness of informal support; perceived impact of caregiving on dependant emotional well-being and, to a lesser extent, hours spent in caregiving. The key predictive risk factors for expected relinquishment of home caregiving were DCBQ score; perceived impact on quality of life; perceived stress; carer depression and, to a lesser extent, geographical distance in caregiving; perceived helpfulness of community care services and omission of positive feelings in the carer. Based on the above risk factors, a new 'Dementia Caregiving Breakdown Risk Assessment Tool (DCBRAT)' is proposed for use by community care managers to identify 'at risk' caregiving situations so that service interventions can be targetted more towards carers who are highly burdened in their role, who are at risk of developing psychological health problems or who may be nearing breakdown in their caregiving situation. Thus the effectiveness of service interventions may be maximised and optimal health gain for carers achieved, resulting in improved outcomes for people with dementia. The DCBRAT and the similarly proposed 'Conceptual Model of Dementia Caregiving, Burden and Breakdown' will need to be further tested in post-doctoral research.

AN ABSRACT OF THE THESIS OF Greg Steinsdoerfer, for the Master of Arts degree in psychology, presented on October 25th, 2011, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: QUALITY OF NATURAL MENTOR RELATIONSHIPS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH OUTCOMES IN A RURAL AFRICAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT SAMPLE MAJOR PROFESSOR: Kathie, Chwalisz, Ph.D. In response to the general call of the American Psychological Association (APA) for more multicultural and multinational research (APA, 2002), this study is an examination of natural mentor relationships in a rural sub-Saharan African high school student sample. A total of 200 rural Zambian high school students completed a set of self-report questionnaires to test three hypotheses. First, those with a natural mentor were hypothesized to have significantly better psychological health outcomes than those without a natural mentor, as measured by the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale (RSE), the General Health Questionnaire - 12 (GHQ-12), and the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS). Second, it was hypothesized that high school students with a natural mentor would report better health risk choices as measured by alcohol, smoking, drug, sexual activity, and bullying behavior. Finally, quality of the natural mentoring relationship (i.e., frequency of contact, emotional closeness, and longevity of the relationship) was hypothesized to be related to better psychological health outcomes. As hypothesized, sub-Saharan African high school students with a natural mentor reported significantly better psychological health outcomes on all measures than those who did not have a natural mentor. High school students with a natural mentor did not have significant differences in health choice behaviors, and the quality of the natural mentor relationship was not a significant predictor for psychological health. These findings have implications for prevention and intervention programs in rural community settings in Zambia. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

American culture supports a colorist system that values lighter skin tones in women of color, and these norms are communicated in some part by images present in our society. Previous research has not explored the impact that colorist images may have on the psychological health and appearance concerns of women of color. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether exposure to images of Black women who more closely meet colorist beauty standards (i.e., lighter skin) would negatively impact women’s psychological health and general appearance concerns. It was hypothesized that participants exposed to colorist images of Black women would experience greater increased negative affect, skin tone dissatisfaction, and appearance concerns; and greater decreased self-esteem. It was hypothesized that these relationships would be weaker in Black women who self-identify more closely with their ethnic background. It was further hypothesized that these relationships would be stronger in women with higher levels of internalization, poorer satisfaction with their skin tone, darker skin tones, greater desire for lighter skin, and lower trait levels of self-esteem. Results suggest images of Black women with varying skin tones do not impact the appearance concerns, negative affect, or self-esteem of Black women exposed to such images. However, trait self-esteem, self- identification with Black values, skin tone dissatisfaction and desired skin tone were found to moderate these relationships. This study makes an important contribution to the area of appearance and body image concerns specific to women of color. The dissemination of this research may contribute to the improvement of body dissatisfaction constructs specific to women of color.