Unwanted early sexual experiences (UESE) are traumatic experiences that many children worldwide are exposed to on a daily basis. Some of these victims struggle to adapt to life, whereas others become survivors, exhibiting post-traumatic growth after such an experience. South Africa has some of the highest UESE prevalence rates in the world, highlighting the importance of research conducted within this field in the country. With an overarching psychofortogenic framework, and through the implementation of a convergent parallel mixed methods research design, the study explored and described whether resilience and attachment act as mediators impacting upon the psychosocial sequelae which a UESE survivor might experience. The study was divided into three phases. Phase 1 consisted of a small-scale survey design which was conducted with 304 participants while Phase 2 consisted of nine semi-structure interviews with UESE survivors, who were volunteers from the original sample. Finally, Phase 3 provided an integrated summary of the findings from the first two phases. During Phase 1 significant findings relating to the survivors of UESE, their levels of resilience and attachment relationships were outlined. Of the total sample, 32.43% males and 30.5% females indicated that they had been exposed to a UESE. Most of the perpetrators were known to the survivors with friends being identified as the most common perpetrators. Parental relationships characterised by trust, open communication and less alienation were found to impact upon the degree to which participants reported being bothered by the UESE. Furthermore, parental alienation at the time of the UESE had a significantly negative impact on the survivors’ adult relationship styles. During Phase 2 a number of themes emerged including the manner of disclosure, reasons for delayed disclosure, relationship to the confidant, confidant’s response to disclosure, effects of the response to disclosure, the impact of the UESE upon the survivor, impact of the UESE on relationships, coping/resilience, advice to professionals, the confidant, and the survivor. The final phase confirmed the research hypothesis that resilience and attachment act as mediating factors impacting upon a variety of psychosocial sequelae which a UESE survivor might experience. Serendipitously, disclosure was found to be a mediating factor, securing a significant role within the study. In conclusion a future intervention titled ‘Post-Traumatic Growth: A UESE model of Disclosure, Resilience and Attachment’, was outlined, based on the study’s findings.

Cerebral Palsy is a complex, non-progressive condition that manifests in various forms of motor impairments. This life-long condition holds numerous challenges for the entire family throughout the family life-cycle. While the challenges that these families have to face are many, families seem to have the ability to "bounce back" and to be resilient. Research on the construct of resilience and more specifically family resilience has increased in recent times. South African family resilience research is relatively limited. This study aimed to identify, explore and describe the resiliency factors that facilitate adjustment and adaptation in families that include a child living with Cerebral Palsy. The Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation was used to conceptualise the level of family adaptation. The study was triangular in nature, with an exploratory, descriptive approach. Non-probability purposive and snowball sampling techniques were employed. The sample consisted of 30 female caregivers. Biographical questionnaires with two open-ended questions, in conjunction with seven structured questionnaires were used to gather the data. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the biographical information. Correlation and regression analysis was used to analyse the quantitative data, while content analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data. The results of the quantitative component of the study indicated five significant positive correlations with the FACI8. These variables were family hardiness (measured by the FHI), family time together and routines (measured by the FTRI), social support (measured by the SSI), relative and friends support (measure by the RFS), and spiritual support (measured by the F-COPES). The results of the qualitative analysis revealed that social support, the caregivers' acceptance of the condition, and spirituality and religion were the most important strength factors that contributed to the families' adjustment and adaptation. Although the sample was small and the study has limitations, it could be used as a stepping-stone for future research on resilience in families living with a child with a physical disability and will contribute to the broader context of family resilience research in South Africa.

Nurses are confronted with numerous work-related stressors that can result in burnout. This can contribute to absenteeism and high turn-over rates in the nursing profession. A review of the literature indicated that psycho-educational interventions to increase resilience could be an effective way of addressing this problem. The study aimed to develop a positive clinical-psychology approach to increasing resilience in State employed nurses. The study used a mixed-method approach to determine the current psychological functioning of a sample of 87 nurses. Quantitative data on personality traits, character strengths and levels of resilience were obtained, using the NEO PI-R, VIA – IS, and Resilience Scale. Qualitative data on the coping responses of nurses were obtained through the thematic analysis of focus groups. These data were integrated to create a positive clinical psychology conceptualisation of resilience and to develop therapeutic guidelines for a group psycho-educational intervention. The results of the study indicated a struggling psychological profile. This was defined as the ability to deal with work-related stressors – but with the potential risk of developing symptoms of burnout. The moderate levels of resilience were attributed to elevated character strengths in the sample. The distribution of personality traits indicated that the nurses in the sample were at risk of developing burnout; and this prevented them from flourishing. These data were synthesised to create therapeutic guidelines for developing resilience aimed: (1) increasing emotional stability and invulnerability; (2) increasing agreeableness; and (3) increasing conscientiousness. These guidelines were based on the personality traits that were deemed to negatively impact the resilience of the nurses. These personality traits were correlated with several character strengths that displayed strong relationships with resilience. This indicated that resilience could be developed through the cultivation of the following character strengths: perspective; perseverance; fairness; forgiveness; leadership; love; zest; hope; curiosity; and appreciation of beauty and excellence. These character strengths were identified to facilitate the positive adaptation of the personality traits identified in the therapeutic guidelines. A group psycho-educational intervention was developed, using the positive clinical psychology conceptualisation of resilience. The literature was reviewed to identify techniques to cultivate the ten character strengths specified in the therapeutic guidelines. These techniques were adapted to create experiential learning processes for the intervention. This psycho-educational programme can be applied as a secondary and tertiary intervention. It can be used to increase resilience to prevent burnout among nurses. It can also be used to psychologically empower nurses that have existing symptoms of burnout.

Schizophrenia cuts across all racial, gender, and socioeconomic lines. Schizophrenia affects 1 percent of the population in Ireland: 35000 people (Schultz & Andreason, 1999); and affects 1.4 - 4.6 percent per 1000 people in the USA: 2.8 million - 9.8 million people (Jabelensky, 2004). In South Africa the figure is approximately 1 percent of the population or 500 000 people (Nicholas, Malcolm, Krosigk & Pillay, 2003). The median age of onset is 21.4 years for men and 26.8 years for women (Daubenton & van Rensburg, 2001), with only 10-20 percent recovering fully after the first psychotic episode (Saddock & Saddock, 2003). The schizophrenic patient is often unable to continue life as before diagnosis, and may progressively need more care as the years pass. Deinstitutionalization over the course of a number of decades has resulted in responsibility for care of mentally-ill individuals shifting to the individual’s family. The struggles faced by such a family can be overwhelming as they struggle with this responsibilty due to lack of training, lack of knowledge and insufficient professional support (Winefield & Harvey, 1994). The stress on the caregivers is often magnified as their support structures around them may ‘shut down’ out of fear of the schizophrenic illness (Williams & Mfoafo-M’Carthy, 2006). The characteristic symptoms used to define schizophrenia include various forms of delusions, hallucinations, thought disorders and abnormalities in emotional expression, social interaction, attention, volition and drives. The functional decline of the schizophrenic individual leads not only to social difficulties, but also economic difficulties that may cripple a family (Fadden, Bebbington & Kuipers, 1987). When first diagnosed, some families may be so overwhelmed by the ‘label’ given to their family member, that they see little hope or way to move forward. One explanation is offered by an American psychiatrist whose own son was diagnosed with schizophrenia, “We experience this terrible feeling of loss and grief for the son we knew. There is also this terrible loss of expectations. We feel cheated out of watching him mature…it is a mourning without end because, of course, Gary is not dead at all. He is very much still with us, seeming eternally twelve years old, needing constant care and attention” (Willick, 1994, p.14). Providing such care is associated with high levels of distress. Accordingly, much attention has been given to understanding the pressures faced by family members, with the hope of understanding how coping resources may be strengthened to sustain these care-giving relationships (Harvey, Burns, Fahy, Manley & Tattan, 2001). However, despite gains in understanding the needs of a schizophrenic family member once out of the hospital environment, care-giving relationships can still break down. The individual with the illness is often left more vulnerable to relapse, recurrent hospitalizations, homelessness and other negative outcomes (Jewel & Stein, 2002). The stress of not only interacting with the afflicted family member, but also with the grief associated with the illness, places an incredible strain on the day-to-day functioning of that family (Pollio, North, Reid, Miletic & McClendon, 2006). From the brief review provided, it is evident that research has been conducted regarding the stressors, strains and difficulties of caregivers of schizophrenic family members. However, the strengths of these families are under-investigated, and the current study will attempt to start filling this void.

A person’s career takes up a large portion of his or her life for a minimum of 8 hours per day. A large portion of their time is spent performing their duties which are often accompanied by various demands or pressure that can result in an employee experiencing stress. Over time this build-up of stress due to job demands affects their ability to perform at work. This study aimed to identify, explore and describe the factors that facilitate the resilience of healthcare professionals working at a Campus Health Service at a Higher Education Institution. An exploratory descriptive study consisting of a qualitative nature was employed. Data was obtained from semi-structured interviews. The questions that were posed to participants read as follows: (1) “Tell me about the demands placed on you in your current work situation”, (2) “How do you cope with the demands placed on you?”, (3) “What can be done to assist you to cope better at work?”, and lastly (4) “Any additional questions/comments?”. The fourth question was added by the researcher in order for participants to have the opportunity to add to what they have said previously. Data was gathered until data saturation was reached. Tesch’s model of content analysis as well as Guba’s model of trustworthiness was employed, in order to analyse the data. An independent coder was subsequently employed to ensure the trustworthiness of the data. The findings revealed that all participants found workplace demands to be stressful, in terms of physical, emotional and time-related demands placed on them. Participants identified strategies that could help them cope with their demands such as open air activities, debriefing with colleagues or making use of a wellness line, maintaining a positive attitude, support from management and colleagues, the ability to practice initiative and autonomous decision-making, and lastly, religious practices. In addition, participants made recommendations on how employers can help relieve their stress. The recommendations included developing an in-house wellness programme, providing sufficient staff of the correct categories, providing adequate facilities and equipment to improve efficiency, providing developmental opportunities, scheduling training programmes for less busy times of the year, and lastly, introducing elements of structured flexi-time for employees.

The placement of children in alternative care has become a critical challenge facing the nation. Established systems of care are unable to meet the increasing burden of caring for these children and to date extended family care is the most prevalent form of care for orphan and vulnerable children. Looking specifically at the prevalence of grandparent-headed households, this study focuses on the wellbeing and development of children who are placed in the care of their grandparents.The primary aim of the current study is to explore resilience in children raised by their grandparents. Central to the core of resilience in children is identifying elements that detract from their health and wellbeing (risk factors), while understanding those factors that moderate risk to their development (protective factors). A systematic review of existing literature was undertaken with the secondary aim of informing practice and policy regarding the care and placement of children in South Africa. Each primary study included in this review was appraised against best practice standards and salient themes and factors were extracted. The data was synthesized, integrated and applied to the context of child care policy in South Africa. Twelve themes emerged from the systematic review. With regards to protective processes, four broad themes emerged which were consistent with factors identified in literature in the development of resilience. These included a positive relationship with a caregiver, parenting style, providing a sense of continuity and belonging and the stability this placement offers. The remaining eights themes, related to risk factors were financial instability, relationship difficulties with their caregiver, intergenerational differences between grandparent and grandchild, poor caregiver health and wellbeing, ill-discipline and rigid parenting styles, educational difficulties,adverse past experiences of children and emotional difficulties. Based on these emergent themes, policy and intervention-focused recommendations were put forth with the aim of strengthening the capacity of grandparent-headed families to protect and care for orphans and vulnerable children.

Perfectionism has long been recognized as an important personality trait that has a significant impact on emotional and social well-being. More recently, it has been recognized that there is a stylistic aspect to perfectionism that focuses on a desire to appear perfect. This perfectionistic self-presentation, and in particular, the desire for concealment of imperfections, has been related to psychopathology in past research. However, it is proposed that perfectionistic self-presentation presents a particular concern from a clinical perspective because of it's indirect effects on pathology; a desire to conceal imperfections is especially problematic to the extent that it impacts the experience of therapy and the therapy relationship. The current study examined the cognitive, affective/physiological, and behavioral manifestations of perfectionistic self-presentation in a clinical sample. Ninety clinical subjects completed self-report measures of perfectionistic self-presentation, trait perfectionism, impression management, mood, appraisals, and self-handicapping. A brief structured assessment interview that included a discussion of past mistakes, was conducted by trained clinical interviewers. Physiological monitors recorded heart rate and skin conductance level throughout the interview, and the interview was videotaped. Post-interview measures of mood, appraisals, and self-handicapping, were also completed. Results at the bivariate level showed that the self-protective dimensions of perfectionistic self-presentation were associated with more distress both prior to and following the interview, higher heart rate and greater change in heart rate when discussing mistakes (and greater skin conductance for men), greater claims of disability from self-handicaps, and appraisals of the interviewer as both threatening (wanting more than the participant could provide) and disappointed following the interview. Regression analyses showed that the desire to avoid disclosing imperfections was a unique predictor of appraisals of threat over and above demographics, trait perfectionism, and other measures of distress (interaction anxiety and depression) and impression management, and of appraisals of the interviewer as disappointed following the interview, over and above demographics and trait perfectionism. The block change score for perfectionistic self-presentation predicting interviewer satisfaction was marginally significant over and above emotional distress and impression managment. The desire to avoid displaying imperfections was a unique predictor of lower threat appraisals. Perfectionistic self-presentation also predicted higher heart rate when discussing errors, over and above demographics and other measures of distress and impression management, and greater change in heart rate from relaxation; this relation held when controlling for demographics, trait perfectionism, and emotional distress and impression management. Perfectionistic self-presentation did not predict defensive behaviors and was not a unique predictor of self-reported negative affect. The results are discussed in terms of the implications for therapy and the therapeutic alliance. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

This study is a critical analysis of the discourse on childhood resilience and the politics of teaching resilience to "kids at risk" in inner-city schools. Resiliency research is rooted in the early psychology studies of children's coping and competence. By the 1970s, researchers were observing children who appeared invulnerable to traumatic events. These children were later described as resilient, and resilience was defined as bouncing back from adversity. Today, resilience has become an ideological code for social conformity and academic achievement. My analysis problematizes "childhood resilience" and "teaching resilience" and examines two dangerous shifts in the mainstream resiliency research over the past several decades. In one shift, resilience slipped from an anomaly in the context of complex trauma to being claimed as the social norm of the dominant society. In another shift, the context of resiliency research slipped from traumatized to disadvantaged populations. Consequently, teaching resilience in inner-city schools is a popular topic among professional child and youth advocates in BC. But these two shifts manifest as teaching socioeconomically disadvantaged children to conform to the social norms of the dominant society and as rationalizing social and educational programs that help children and youth at risk overcome obstacles. Such programs do not work to challenge systemic inequalities. I undertook a discourse analysis and an interpretive inquiry in identifying three resiliency discourses: the first is a dominant expert discourse based on quantitative studies; the second is a subordinate experiential discourse based on qualitative stories; and the third is a professional advocacy discourse that includes expert and experiential knowledge. The expert discourse derives from psychometric studies of resilient-identified children, and the experiential discourse emanates from the psychotherapeutic narratives of resilient-identified adults. The advocacy discourse emerges from educators, psychologists, and social workers who advocate on behalf of children and youth at risk. The data include resiliency texts, focused interviews, and relevant fieldnotes. I developed criteria for critiquing and recognizing resilience, explored potential intersections between the expert and experiential discourses, and interpreted risk and resiliency themes in the advocacy discourse. In challenging the dominant discourse, I argue that resilience is not a fixed set of traits that can be reified and replicated. Moreover, I argue that complex trauma and trauma recovery are essential to any construct of resilience and that resilience is pluralistic, contingent, and always in process. My study recommends collaborative resiliency research that focuses on trauma and that values experiential knowledge and attends to class and cultural diversity. It also recommends that the professional advocacy community re-focus on risk and work toward developing social programs and critical pedagogies that challenge structural oppression and systemic discrimination. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

The present study aimed to investigate the role of self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism in conjunction with stressful life experiences in suicidal ideation, potential, and prior attempts among depressed adolescents. Self-oriented perfectionism involves striving to meet one's own unrealistically high standards and evaluating one's performance stringently. Socially prescribed perfectionism involves the perception that significant others have very high expectations for oneself, which the perfectionist strives to meet. This study examined correlations between these perfectionism dimensions and suicidal ideation, potential or risk, and prior attempts in addition to investigating whether either perfectionism dimension accounted for additional variance in suicide outcomes beyond the established risk factors depression and hopelessness. Also examined was a moderational model whereby dimensions of perfectionism were hypothesized to interact with stress to predict suicide outcomes. A sample of 55 adolescents (41 females, 14 males) who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition (DSM-IV; APA, 1994) criteria for Major Depression (65.5%), Dysthymia (16.4%), or Depressive Disorder NOS (18.2%) completed self-report measures of perfectionism, daily hassles, depression, hopelessness, suicidal ideation, suicide potential, and prior suicidal attempts. Additionally, adolescents and one of their parents completed a diagnostic interview and a stress interview measuring major stressful experiences. Results revealed that self-oriented perfectionism was not correlated with any aspect of suicide; however, socially prescribed perfectionism was associated with suicide potential. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that self-oriented perfectionism did not account for unique variance in suicide outcomes, whereas, socially prescribed perfectionism predicted additional variance in suicide potential once depression and hopelessness were controlled. Regarding the moderational model, both self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism were found to interact with aspects of stress to predict suicidality. More specifically, self-oriented perfectionism interacted with daily hassles to predict suicide potential/risk. Socially prescribed perfectionism interacted with subjective and objective ratings of major stressful experiences and with daily hassles to predict suicide potential/risk. Neither perfectionism dimension interacted with stress to predict suicidal ideation or prior suicide attempts. Taken together, these findings suggest that among depressed adolescents, socially prescribed perfectionism is correlated with suicide risk and predicts unique variance in this suicide outcome beyond other established risk factors. Additionally, both selforiented and socially prescribed perfectionism act as vulnerability factors that are predictive of suicide potential when adolescents experience elevated levels of stress. As these relationships were apparent even after controlling for the contributions of depression and hopelessness to suicide, the results of this study highlight the importance of considering perfectionistic tendencies when evaluating suicide risk among youth. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW) / Family resilience has a positive bearing on the academic performance of learners in the developmental phase of middle childhood. The role of family is often ignored and so there is a gap in the literature on the link between positive academic performance and family resilience. The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between perceived family resilience and the academic performance of children in the phase of middle childhood. A quantitative methodological approach was employed in this study with a cross-sectional correlational design. The type of sampling used in this study was convenience sampling. Three primary schools were selected and participants at the schools were randomly selected. The sample consisted of N = 194 Grade 6 learners from schools in the Penlyn Estate area. The reason for having chosen Grade 6 learners was that they are on the brink of puberty and have a good idea of how things function within the family and they were therefore better able to verbalise their opinions than were the younger learners in the phase of middle childhood. The data was collected using a self-reported questionnaire that included the demographic information and the Family Resilience Assessment Scale, as part of the quantitative methodology. The data was then analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences V23 (SPSS). The results were provided using descriptive and inferential statistics. Participation in this study was voluntary after being well informed, while confidentiality and anonymity were maintained throughout the study. The results show that there is a significant positive relationship between the dimensions of academic performance and family resilience.