This qualitative case study of five couples in which one spouse has Alzheimer's disease in the early stage, and the other spouse is a caregiver, investigated including both spouses in couple interview sessions which included using emotionally focused couple therapy techniques, and how their prior quality of relationship before the onset of Alzheimer's was related to their present attachment, depressive symptoms, and marital adjustment. The couples participated in in-depth couple interviews which included an Oral History Interview (Gottman, 1994) and a semi-structured Interview Guide. They individually completed four instruments: the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) (Spanier, 1976); the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) (Yesavage, 1983); the Prior Quality of Relationship Scale (PQRS), a composite scale created by Zahn; and the adapted Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised questionnaire (ECR-R) (Fraley, Waller, & Brennan, 2000). The Screen for Caregiver Burden (SCB) (Vitaliano, Russo, Young, Becker, & Maiuro, 1991) was given to the caregiving spouses. The researcher qualitatively analyzed the audiotaped interviews and questionnaires, which all spouses with Alzheimer's were able to complete. All couples reported positive prior quality relationships of 16-63 years, and present continued attachment. All couples reported problems of marital adjustment, and varying depressive symptoms were reported for 2 out of 5 caregivers, and 2 of 5 persons with Alzheimer's. Implications of findings were that couples experiencing early stage Alzheimer's would benefit from couple interviews or therapy to assist with depressive and other symptoms and marital adjustment problems, and that spouses in the early stage of Alzheimer's are able to fully participate in these couple procedures. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Family and Child Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2015. / March 23, 2015. / Alzheimer's, qualitative / Includes bibliographical references. / Wayne H. Denton, Professor Directing Dissertation; Robert L. Glueckauf, University Representative; Marsha L. Rehm, Committee Member; Kendal N. Holtrop, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_253154 |
| Contributors | Zahn, Shirley J. (authoraut), Denton, Wayne (professor directing dissertation), Glueckauf, Robert L. (university representative), Rehm, Marsha Lynn (committee member), Holtrop, Kendal N. (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Human Sciences (degree granting college), Department of Family and Child Sciences (degree granting department) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource (308 pages), computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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