Doctoral Degrees (Psychology)
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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Psychology) by Subject "Adolescent well-being"
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Item Open Access The determinants and influence of non-resident fathers' relationships with their adolescent children(University of the Free State, 2013-01) De Wit, Estelle; Louw, D. A. P.; Louw, A. E.English: This study examined the patterns of contact and involvement between adolescents and their nonresident fathers after divorce in an ethnically diverse sample. The data was analysed to determine the role of Lamb, Pleck and Levine’s (1986) three constructs in the involvement of non-resident fathers, i.e. interaction, availability and responsibility. The results indicated that the majority of male and female adolescents reported continued direct and indirect contact with their fathers, regardless of paternal remarriage and the lapse of time since the divorce. In measuring father involvement, the adolescents reported on four aspects of father involvement i.e. financial contributions, shared activities, communication and feelings of emotional closeness. The results on father involvement indicate that most fathers make contributions financially in terms of the payment of maintenance, school fees and pocket money. Adolescents further reported that they spent most of their time with their non-resident fathers engaging in leisure activities such as shopping and frequenting restaurants. Boys reported higher levels of communication and feelings of emotional closeness than girls. Overall, the study postulates that non-resident fathers play a less significant role in providing parental guidance to their children. The most important limitation of the research was indicated as the lack of empirical investigation of mother-child involvement. This study investigated the influence of non-resident fathers’ involvement in the well-being of their adolescent children after divorce. Guided by a systemic ecological framework on father involvement and utilising data from a representative sample of adolescents from intact and divorced families, father involvement was measured by means of the Hawkins Inventory of Father Involvement (IFI). Adolescents’ sense of well-being was measured by means of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The results obtained on the IFI indicate that adolescents from divorced families perceived their fathers as lacking in support for their mothers and in salient aspects of all three components of Lamb, Pleck and Levine’s (1986) concept of father involvement, i.e. interaction, availability and responsibility. Consequently, the adolescents from divorced families obtained lower scores on reported well-being on the SDQ in terms of externalising behaviours (hyperactivity) and internalising behaviours (emotional symptoms and pro-social behaviour). Recommendations to promote increased father involvement were made. The purpose of this study was to examine the post-divorce attachment security of adolescents to their mothers and non-resident fathers. The Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA) was used to compare the attachment security of adolescents from intact homes to those from divorced homes. The data gathered indicate that adolescents from divorced homes reported statistically significant differences in attachment security with their fathers overall and specifically in the areas of trust and communication measured by the IPPA. Therefore, the findings indicate that divorce affects attachment security negatively. No statistically significant gender differences concerning the attachment security of male and female adolescents from divorced homes for either mother or father were found. Two theoretical models (the theory of mattering and the reflective functioning of parents) are discussed as guidelines to assist policy makers in addressing problems in attachment security for children from divorced homes.