UMD Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item "I've Got to Help as Best I Can:" The Experiences of Predominately Low-Income African American Parents and Caregivers Involved with the Mental Health Care System and Their Responses to Adolescents' Depressive Disorder Diagnoses(2015) Messina, Lauren A.; Anderson, Elaine A.; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Many mental health disorders are often diagnosed in adolescence, suggesting the well-being of adolescent mental health should be a public health priority. The prevalence of adolescent mental health issues has led researchers to investigate treatment utilization and effectiveness. Findings suggest there is a vast underutilization of care for adolescents and an even greater deficit in family involvement in adolescent mental health care. Yet, existing research neither offers a sound understanding of how parents interpret and understand their child's mental health diagnosis, nor how the parent-child relationship and parental involvement in treatment is experienced. A qualitative approach examined parents' and caregivers' perceptions of their adolescents' mental health disorder and how parents made decisions about their involvement in their adolescent's treatment in a sample of families already engaged with the mental health care system. Semi-structured interviews with 33 predominately low-income African American parents and caregivers who had parented a teenager diagnosed and/or treated for a depressive disorder when the family was the recipient of Medicaid were conducted. The Ecological Risk and Resilience Framework facilitated an understanding of the dynamics shaping parental involvement in adolescent mental health care. Grounded theory was used to analyze the data. Findings suggest parents' involvement in the diagnosis process may be initiated after a build-up of problematic events, often identified from sources outside the family. Parental responses to the teens' diagnoses included feeling relief but also confusion, while advocating for the needs of their teenager. The parent-child relationship post-diagnosis reflected four actions: parents being protective, showing patience and empathy, increasing communication with their teen, and teaching the teen accountability. Parents reported they had agency in making decisions about the teen's treatment. They wanted active involvement and saw their involvement as having mutual benefits for both themselves and their teen. Three encouraging components enhanced parental involvement: positive mental health care provider and parent interactions, the parents' own mental health and exposure to mental health care, and spirituality. The availability of insurance also positively supported more involvement. Care barriers included family or teen resistance and lack of resources. Race/ethnicity shaped the expectations parents had of the mental health care system but did not shape parental involvement in treatment. Strategies for forging greater parental connections with mental health treatment and the role mental health care professionals play in this partnership are discussed.Item Family Structure and Adolescent Well Being: The Mediating Effects of Family Cohesion and Parental Leadership(2010) Messina, Lauren A.; Leslie, Leigh; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Research comparing single-parent households to two-parent households suggests better outcomes for adolescents of two-parent households. Much of this research has narrowly focused on assessing the benefits of family structure. The current study explores the family processes of family cohesion and parental leadership as mediators of child well-being in single and two-parent families. Child well-being is assessed through using adolescent self reports of attachment style. Findings indicate no relationship between the proposed mediators, family structure, and adolescent secure attachment. Family structure did not have an impact on the potential mediating variables so mediation could not be established. The possible meaning of the lack of relationship in this sample is discussed.