Browsing by Author "Matheson, Jennifer, committee member"
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Item Open Access Marriage and family therapists' gerontological knowledge(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Lawrence, Jennifer E., author; Fruhauf, Christine, advisor; Matheson, Jennifer, committee member; Vacha-Haase, Tammi, committee memberThe demographics of the United States indicate a growing number of individuals 65 years old and older. These aging generations have similar as well as different behavioral health issues as compared to younger generations. Marriage and family therapists are psychotherapy providers who may begin to see older adults in therapy at greater numbers than previously experienced. Yet, whether these practitioners are prepared for older adult clients is questionable. The hypothesis for this research project states that greater amounts of education/training in aging issues and gerontological study that a marriage and family therapists have will be related to higher knowledge levels of and more positive attitudes towards the older population. The measures used in the study were the Facts on Aging Quiz (multiple choice format) and the Aging Semantic Differential. Marriage and family therapists in the state of Colorado comprised the sample. The total number of recruited participants was 1222; the final number of participants was 65. Statistical analyses included Pearson's correlations and a MANOVA. The results of the data did not support the hypothesis. No relationship existed between education/training and knowledge of and attitude towards older adults. The instrument used to measure knowledge in this study may help explain the unexpected results. Biased language as well as the order of the knowledge and attitude instruments may have influenced the results. Although no statistical relationship was found among the variables, the results point to a low knowledge level on the part of the sample of marriage and family therapists that may negatively affect their ability to support older adult clients.Item Open Access Resilience and spirituality among grandparents raising their grandchildren(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2013) Thill, Kelsey, author; Fruhauf, Christine A., advisor; Matheson, Jennifer, committee member; Bundy-Fazioli, Kim, committee memberToday, increasing numbers of grandparents are responsible for raising their grandchildren. Grandparent caregivers face altered developmental paths compared to their noncaregiving peers. Past research has focused on health concerns and coping mechanisms that assist these grandparents in their parenting role, but have largely ignored or minimized the role of resilience. In particular, and important to this research project, spirituality as a component of resilience has not been explored among researchers examining grandparents who parent grandchildren. This study explored how caregiving grandparents utilize spirituality to foster resilience in their daily lives. Guided by the Resilience Theory, Erikson's Psychosocial Theory of Development and the Phenomenological Theory, one-on-one interviews were conducted with eleven grandparents (3 male, 8 female; age range 49-79; M = 68). Surveys were also orally administered, which included the Intrinsic Spirituality Scale and the Brief Resilience Scale. While the qualitative results revealed that caregiving grandparents are remarkably resilient, these findings were not supported by the descriptive statistics. The grandparents who stressed the importance of spirituality in their lives verbally expressed greater resilience than those who did not place as much emphasis on the importance of spirituality in their lives. Contrary to theorizing, qualitative results demonstrated that resilience grows from spirituality, not vice versa. Recommendations for future research and implications for practice are provided.Item Open Access The influence of social ostracism on drinking as a social identity among women in college(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2013) Dickens, Danielle, author; Harman, Jennifer, advisor; Henry, Kimberly, committee member; Matheson, Jennifer, committee memberAccording to the social identity theory, social threats can lead to greater identification with one's in-group, and/or greater derogation of out-group members in order to establish or maintain self-esteem (Tajfel & Turner, 1986). The purpose of the present studies is to extend the social identity theory to examine whether college women classify their drinking behaviors as a group identity (light, moderate, heavy drinker), and whether they are likely to associate with their in-group and derogate out-group members when faced with social ostracism. It is hypothesized that when threatened with social ostracism, classification (e.g., self-stereotyping) with a group (light, moderate, heavy drinker) will vary according to the status of the participant's group, with moderate drinkers being viewed as higher status due to the developmental stage and context of the population. An initial survey, followed by an experiment utilizing a social ostracism manipulation was used to test the study's hypotheses. The results indicate that classification with a drinking group is significantly associated with drinking behaviors. Participants who were socially ostracized derogated the out-group with negative stereotypes, but did not classify positively with their in-group. The hypotheses examining the relationship between drinking group and drinking behaviors and out-group and in-group derogation were supported. Implications for prevention are discussed.Item Open Access What path should I take? A qualitative study exploring the process of widowhood for older women(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Coochise, Jodi L., author; Vacha-Haase, Tammi, advisor; Rickard, Kathryn, committee member; Swaim, Randall, committee member; Matheson, Jennifer, committee memberThe present qualitative study explored the process older adult women experience as they navigate their course through widowhood. Interviews were conducted with 10 women over the age of 55 to investigate what factors went in to their decisions regarding coping with the loss of their spouse. Findings suggest that women looked to others for guidance and advice in navigating multiple aspects of their experience. They turned to peers with experience of a similar loss, listened to their internal voice of what was a good fit, and focused on taking one day at a time. Messages from others, the perceived expectations of others, and their own internal expectations also shaped their widowhood experience. Ultimately, they had to determine what coping strategies were a good match and provided some relief from their distress. The findings suggest that widowed women may benefit from exploring the input received from others, increasing awareness around the messages received from family regarding loss and encouragement to utilize their internal voice as a guide for creating their own unique experience of grief.