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Petrowski_MA THESIS for ETD FINAL 2.pdf (1.07 MB)

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Familial Caregiving, Role Reversal, and Social Ties: Experiences of Young Women with Mothers with Mental Illness

Petrowski, Catherine Elizabeth
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1424802738

Abstract Details

2015, Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, Psychology/Clinical.
Research on the experiences of adult children of mothers living with mental illness has primarily focused on negative outcomes, including poor academic, social, behavioral, and mental health outcomes. Few studies exist that examine the ways in which these adult children navigate their familial and social relationships and how they understand their experiences. The present qualitative study examined first-person accounts of 10 young women attending college (ages 18-22) who were raised by mother living with mental illness (depression, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia). Participants completed individual semi-structured interviews in which they described their relationships with their mother, their father, siblings, and friends, feelings of obligation and parentification in their family, and positive experiences that resulted from their mother’s mental illness. Qualitative content analysis indicated differences in the perceived quality of adult daughters’ relationships with their mothers. Young women who described the quality of their mother–daughter relationship in positive terms also described aspects of felt obligation, caregiving, and support seeking with family and friends differently than young women who described the quality of their mother–daughter relationship in more negative terms. Regardless of differences in their perceptions of maternal relationship quality, however, all participants described positive experiences associated with having a mother with mental illness. Implications of study findings for research and clinical practice are discussed.
Catherine Stein, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Dryw Dworsky, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Dale Klopfer, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
91 p.
Clinical Psychology
mother-child relationship; emerging adults; serious mental illness; caregiving; parentification; sibling relationships; peer relationships

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Petrowski, C. E. (2015). Familial Caregiving, Role Reversal, and Social Ties: Experiences of Young Women with Mothers with Mental Illness [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1424802738

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Petrowski, Catherine. Familial Caregiving, Role Reversal, and Social Ties: Experiences of Young Women with Mothers with Mental Illness. 2015. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1424802738.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Petrowski, Catherine. "Familial Caregiving, Role Reversal, and Social Ties: Experiences of Young Women with Mothers with Mental Illness." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1424802738

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1424802738
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© 2015, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.