Parental stress, personal authority, and family environment of Puerto Rican women.
Item
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Title
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Parental stress, personal authority, and family environment of Puerto Rican women.
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Identifier
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AAI9830696
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identifier
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9830696
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Creator
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Cruz Arrieta, Eduvigis.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Vera S. Paster
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Date
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1998
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Clinical | Women's Studies | Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies | Psychology, Social
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Abstract
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The experience of parental stress (stress related to maternal characteristics such as sense of competence, isolation, and perceived restrictions imposed by the role of mother, its relation to the degree of personal authority within the families of origin--being connected and a part of the family of origin while acting from a differentiated position within it and the discrepancies in perception of the families of procreation vs. the families of origin of 126 Mainland and Island-born Puerto Rican women was examined. The participants' perceptions of three specific family characteristics: cohesion (the degree of commitment, help, and support family members provide for each other); conflict (the amount of openly expressed anger, aggression, and conflict among members); and expressiveness (the extent to which family members are encouraged to act openly and to express their feelings directly) were compared.;It was hypothesized that: (a) parental stress was related to family environment and personal authority; (b) there would be a discrepancy between women's perception of their family of origin and of procreation with respect to conflict, cohesion and expressiveness; and (c) that parental stress would be related to this discrepancy. Subscales from three self-report measures (Family Environment Scale, Parenting Stress Index, and Personal Authority in the Family System Questionnaire) were used. The data obtained from the answers to 155 items were analyzed using correlational and multivariate analyses. Statistically-significant differences between the characteristics of the participants' families of origin and families of procreation were found, but no relation between these and parental stress could be established. Conflict in the family of procreation correlated moderately with parental stress. Personal authority was found to be a significant, moderate predictor of parental stress with the latter decreasing as personal authority increased. When considered together, the level of conflict in the family of procreation and the degree of personal authority were strong, significant predictors of parental stress. A trend toward less stress was evident when more social support was reported by the participants.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
