Themes and linguistic structures in the speech of adolescents with cancer.
Item
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Title
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Themes and linguistic structures in the speech of adolescents with cancer.
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Identifier
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AAI9946180
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identifier
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9946180
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Creator
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Kameny, Rebecca Dendy.
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Contributor
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Adviser: David J. Bearison
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Date
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1999
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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, Developmental | Language, Linguistics | Speech Communication
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Abstract
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The present study was an inquiry into narrative themes and linguistic structures found in the voices of adolescents who have cancer. Although narrative themes of children who have cancer had been previously reported, most notably by Bearison (1998, also Kameny & Bearison, 1999), the present study extended these findings by systematically coding speech in order to provide quantitative indices that might support some of the qualitative findings. The investigator was particularly concerned with how codes varied as a function of the narrative domain in which participants were speaking (i.e., medical, social, personal) and at which point they were in their cancer treatment.;A "Model of Critical Issues" was proposed in order to place the themes and linguistic structures into three principal contexts: (1) self-concept, (2) control, and (3) coping. The themes and linguistic structures encompassed by these three contexts were assessment of self, assessment of others, control-loss, control-gain, concerns about death, denial, diminishment, distancing, medical terms, reassurance, and reevaluation. These were used as dependent variables in the present study. Independent variables were time in treatment and nine narrative domains. Age and sex were also entered into the analysis as independent variables.;Descriptive analyses showed that adolescents talked more about coping and self-concept issues than they did about control issues. In the area of narrative domains, it was found that the social domain was most frequently used overall, followed by the medical, and then the personal domains. Descriptive analyses showed that the adolescents used more negative than positive statements when discussing their physical and psychological selves.;Poisson regression analysis resulted in certain significant findings. The theme of control was found to occur more often in the medical domain than in any of the other domains. In addition, talking about the loss of control was significantly higher in the medical domain compared to any of the other domains.;More assessment of self statements were made by females than by males. Distancing was found to be higher in the personal domain compared to the social domain. There was a significantly higher proportion of coping statements as age increased.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy Restricted.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.