Later-life marriage, chronic illness, and spouse-caregiver functioning
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The Department of Human Development and Family Studies focuses on the interactions among individuals, families, and their resources and environments throughout their lifespans. It consists of three majors: Child, Adult, and Family Services (preparing students to work for agencies serving children, youth, adults, and families); Family Finance, Housing, and Policy (preparing students for work as financial counselors, insurance agents, loan-officers, lobbyists, policy experts, etc); and Early Childhood Education (preparing students to teach and work with young children and their families).
History
The Department of Human Development and Family Studies was formed in 1991 from the merger of the Department of Family Environment and the Department of Child Development.
Dates of Existence
1991-present
Related Units
- College of Human Sciences (parent college)
- Department of Child Development (predecessor)
- Department of Family Environment (predecessor)
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Abstract
This study was designed to understand the relationship between spouse-caregiver attachment style and couple's communication on spouse-caregiver depression and marital satisfaction. Fifty-two couples participated in the study with one spouse having been diagnosed with either cancer, Alzheimer's Disease, or stroke. Attachment Theory and the Epigenetic Relational Model were used as the theoretical basis for this research. The Consensus Rorschach Task was used to examine couples' communication. Lag sequential analyses and sequence repetition analyses were conducted on observational data to determine the effects of spouse-caregiver attachment style and couple's communication on spouse-caregiver depression and marital satisfaction. The findings of this study suggest that more depressive symptoms are likely to be found among spouse-caregivers: who are female, who are anxiously attached, who encounter disagreement from their patient-spouses after attempting to engage them in a specific conversation, and who have patient-spouses with more signs of mild mental impairment. Higher marital satisfaction was reported among spouse-caregivers: who are securely attached, whose patient-spouse is not diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease, who felt freer to disagree with their patient-spouses, and who have patient spouses capable of performing more personal self-maintenance tasks themselves. Possible implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.