A cross sectional study of separated and divorced families used self-report measures to explore the relationship between the psychological adjustment of mothers (n = 20) and their adolescents (n = 20), aged 13 to 18 years. The mothers' psychological adjustment was assessed in terms of reliable and valid measures of depression, sense of competence, self-esteem, and personal control. The adolescents' psychological adjustment was based on reliable and valid measures of sense of competence and self-esteem, and a measure of personal control. The mothers' perceived social competence was found to be significantly and positively related to the adolescents' perceived self-esteem (r (20) = .57, p = .00) and scholastic competence (r (20) = .40, p = .04), based on a one-way Pearson correlational analysis. The mothers' depression also was significantly and positively related to the adolescents' behavioural competence (r (20) = .38, p = .05) and approached significance in relationship to the adolescents' perceived poor levels of social acceptance (r (20) = -.33, p = .08). The study findings suggest significant relationships between the mothers' perceptions of their social competence and the adolescents' perceptions of their self-esteem and scholastic competence, and between the mothers' depression and the adolescents' behavioural competence after separation and divorce. The discussion of these findings raise a number of issues pertinent to separated and divorced families with adolescents. The results of this study may sensitize nurses to these factors when working with separated and divorced families with adolescents.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.30381 |
| Date | January 1999 |
| Creators | Francis, Janet, 1951- |
| Contributors | Grossman, Mary (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (School of Nursing.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001740656, proquestno: MQ64357, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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