This study examined the influence of family of origin experiences of autonomy and intimacy and other selected variables as predictors of adult children choosing the roles of caregiver or non-caregiver for their aged dependent parent. The instruments used were the Family-of-Origin Scale and demographic and caregiving questionnaires. Lists of possible subjects were provided by ministers of 13 Anglo-Saxon Protestant churches in a southeastern city. / The researcher contacted the adult children and their siblings. The selected volunteer subjects had at least one sibling, a single (divorced, widowed, or separated) parent aged 65 and older, unemployed, and in reasonably good health. / Seventy-nine subjects with complete data were classified into one of two criterion groups: caregivers lived geographically closer than non-caregivers and had regular and frequent contact with the parent; the non-caregivers kept touch with the parent via telephone, letters, and short visits. / The data were analyzed through ANOVA and post-hoc tests. Three hypotheses were examined: the perceived intimacy of the family of origin of the caregiver would be rated higher than that of the non-caregiver; the perceived autonomy of the family of origin of the caregiver would be rated lower than that of the non-caregiver; and female caregivers would rate the family of origin experience as less autonomous and more intimate than the male caregivers. The three hypotheses were rejected. The Pearson Correlation Coefficients identified two significant correlations: the caregiver and non-caregiver groups co-varied statistically significantly with gender; and the intimacy and autonomy scores co-varied at.86. From the multivariate discriminant function analysis with four control variables (socioeconomic status, marital status, birth order and employment status), gender and birth order captured a significant amount of variance related to group membership. (Specifically, females and youngest females were caregivers.) / Further analyses provided a three variable discriminant function equation for post hoc classification of subjects into groups: classification was more accurate for caregivers than non-caregivers. / Analyses and results were discussed with regard to family theory, future research, social policy, and family therapy. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-07, Section: A, page: 1727. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_76116 |
| Contributors | KAHN, L. LOUISE., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 152 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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