Browsing by Author "Bester, Carin"

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    The identification of resilience in, and the development of a corresponding intervention programme for families with a parent living with major depressive disorder
    (Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2009-12) Bester, Carin; Greeff, A. P.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Psychology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Major Depressive Disorder is a prevalent psychiatric illness that poses critical risk factors to families. Risk factors associated with depression are widely researched, but limited South African and international research exists with regard to family resilience factors and intervention programmes associated with these high-risk families. The aim of the present study was to address these limitations by (a) identifying and describing the qualities of resilience in families in which a parent had been living with Major Depressive Disorder, (b) developing a family intervention programme for parents to strengthen and enhance a quality of resilience and, finally, following the intervention programme, (c) to evaluate the impact of the intervention programme on the identified resilience quality. The research was divided into two phases in order to address the above-mentioned, namely the descriptive phase (Phase 1) and the intervention phase (Phase 2). The results of the descriptive phase revealed various statistically significant correlations between the independent variables and the dependent variable, namely family adaptation, as measured by The Family Attachment Changeability Index 8 (FACI8) (McCubbin et al., 1996). The strongest statistically significant correlation was found between family problem solving and communication, and family adaptation. This steered the development of the intervention programme, aiming it at enhancing family problem solving and communication as a family resilience quality. An experimental design was used to evaluate the impact of the intervention programme. Analysis 1 revealed a trend (not statistical significant on a 5% level), suggesting that negative communication decreased over a three-month period after the intervention programme. Analysis 2 supported this trend on a 5% level. The qualitative post-test data reveal that the participants perceived the intervention programme in a very positive light, namely as a beneficial and educational experience. Furthermore, the three-month follow-up assessment showed that the majority (81%) of the participants indicated that the intervention programme impacted positively on their family’s communication.