scholarly journals Growing Up with a Mother with Depression: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Author(s):  
Hanna Van Parys ◽  
Jonathan Smith ◽  
Peter Rober

The aim of this study was to explore the childhood experience of living with a parent with depression from a retrospective point of view. Five women between 39 and 47 years of age, who grew up with a mother with depression, were interviewed about their current perspectives on their childhood experiences. Interviews were semi-structured and the data were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Data analysis led to a narrative organized in two parts. The first part (retrospective understanding of childhood experiences) reports on feelings of desolation contrasted to exceptional support, context-related dwelling on own experiences, and growing into a caring role as a way to keep standing. The second part (towards an integration of childhood experiences in adult realities) evidences ongoing processes of growing understanding of the situation at home, coping with own vulnerabilities, making the difference in their current family life and finding balance in the continued bond with the parents. This retrospective investigation of adults’ perspectives on their childhood experiences gave access to aspects of their experience that remain underexposed in research based on data from children and adolescents.

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 248-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie M. Mazerolle ◽  
Jessica L. Barrett

Context: Women are largely underrepresented in science fields in academe, and most often issues with motherhood and career-life balancing are identified as reasons. In athletic training, career-life balancing has become the dominant factor in women leaving the field, as they feel they cannot fulfill the roles of mother, spouse, and athletic trainer adequately. Objective: To better understand the perceptions of women athletic training faculty members regarding balancing their roles in higher education and those outside of the workplace. Design: Interpretative phenomenological analysis study, with semistructured interviews. Setting: Higher education institutions sponsoring Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education–accredited athletic training programs. Patients or Other Participants: Sixteen (8 with children, 8 without children) women athletic training faculty participated. Ten were married at the time of the interview, 3 were single, 2 were engaged, and 1 was in the process of getting a divorce. Main Outcome Measure(s): Each participant completed a one-on-one interview with a researcher and all data were coded following interpretative phenomenological analysis. Data saturation was attained. We completed member checks, peer review, and researcher triangulation for credibility. Results: We found that motherhood was perceived to be a challenge and balancing the role of motherhood created conflict. Despite concerns for motherhood and balancing faculty roles, higher education was perceived to provide flexibility. Support networks and individual strategies were common to manage the responsibilities of faculty as well as nonfaculty roles. Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that higher education cultivates a climate of balance through flexible workplace arrangements and that support networks are necessary to create role balancing in and out of the workplace. Finally, time management and organization are necessary for women to establish balance, regardless of roles outside of the workplace (eg, spouse, mother, friend).


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marieke Van Schoors ◽  
Jan De Mol ◽  
Natacha Laeremans ◽  
Lesley L. Verhofstadt ◽  
Liesbet Goubert ◽  
...  

Background: Childhood cancer not only presents challenges to the life of the child with cancer but also to the siblings’ daily family life. The aim of the current study was to gain a better understanding of siblings’ experiences of living in a family where one child has been diagnosed with blood cancer. Method: Ten siblings of children with leukemia or non-Hodgkin lymphoma completed a semistructured interview about their everyday family life experiences postdiagnosis. The verbatim transcripts of the interviews served as the data for an interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results: The results showed that overall the siblings experienced a continuity in many aspects of their family life: they still experienced their family as an important source of support and information/communication, as warm and loving and as a safe harbor where family members aim to protect each other. However, at the same time, the participating siblings also expressed that some things felt unmistakably different postdiagnosis: They felt that their family as a whole had been ripped apart, with a greater focus on the diagnosed child and changing responsibilities for each family member. Conclusion: This study informs parents and clinicians about the daily family life experiences from the siblings’ perspective, a perspective that is often overlooked. A focus on challenges as well as continuities within family life, the wish for connection expressed by the siblings, and the uniqueness of every sibling’s experiences is what can be taken away from this study by psychosocial workers in the field.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eri Wijanarko ◽  
Muhammad Syafiq

This study was aimed to explore the Papua students' adaptation experience while they are studying in Surabaya. A qualitative approach with phenomenological method was applied. Seven participants were recruited using purposive and snowball sampling. Data collected using semi-structural interviews and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The results shows that Papua students face many difficulties in adapting to the local society. The difference in physical characteristics, language and cultural habit are the main reasons. These difficulties affect their personal and sosial life. At personal level, inferiority and sensitivity are the main issues, while at the social level, passivity and enclave formation are dominant tendencies. In order to solve the difficulties and its effects, participants apply some strategies, namely avoidance, self control, and active coping. These strategies are chosen by participants to gain self development and wellbeing. It can be concluded from the result that most partisipants are facing adaptation difficulties while they are studying in Surabaya; however, they make some efforts to cope the difficulties.Abstrak: Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui bagaimana pengalaman penyesuaian dirivmahasiswa Papua di Surabaya. Pendekatan kualitatif dengan metode fenomenologis digunakan. Tujuh partisipan berhasil direkrut dengan teknik purposive dan snowball sampling. Data dikumpulkan melalui wawancara semi-terstruktur dan dianalisis menggunakan interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa mahasiswa Papua di Surabaya mengalami berbagai hambatan dalam menyesuaikan diri ketika sedang menjalani kuliah. Penyebab hambatan itu adalah adalah perbedaan dalam bahasa dan kebiasaan budaya. Partisipan juga mempersepsi perbedaan fisik dan warna kulit sebagai penyebab hambatan interaksi. Hambatan interaksi yang dihadapi menimbulkan dampak personal maupun sosial bagi para partisipan. Inferioritas dan sensitifitas adalah di antara beberapa dampak personal yang dialami. Sedangkan kecenderungan untuk lebih bergaul hanya dengan sesama mahasiswa Papua dan keengganan berhubungan dekat dengan mahasiswa dan masyarakat lokal menjadi dampak sosialnya. Namun, adanya hambatan interaksi dan dampaknya tersebut disadari oleh partisipan cukup merugikan sehingga mereka menjalankan beberapa strategi penyesuaian diri untuk mengatasinya. Beberapa strategi yang dapat diidentifikasi adalah: menghindar dari masalah (avoidance), berupaya mengendalikan emosi, pikiran, dan perilaku (self control), dan menghadapi masalah secara aktif (active coping). Berbagai strategi tersebut dilakukan terutama didorong oleh dua tujuan, yaitu demi pengembangan diri dan untuk menjaga kesejahteraan psikologis mereka. Penelitian ini menyimpulkan bahwa partisipan penelitian ini menghadapi berbagai kesulitan dalam beradaptasi dengan masyarakat lokal di mana mereka sedang studi, namun mereka melakukan upaya untuk mengatasi hambatan-hambatan adaptasi tersebut.


Author(s):  
Naved Iqbal ◽  
Supriya Srivastava ◽  
Imtiyaz Dar

Gratitude is a universal phenomenon that is experienced and expressed differently by individuals. The differences in experience and expression of gratitude are based on a number of factors, important among them is gender. There are very few studies that have explored gender differences using quantitative methods in gratitude interventions. However, this phenomenon can best be understood by employing qualitative methods like Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), as it is concerned with trying to understand any phenomenon, from the participant’s point of view. There is a paucity of research in this area. Therefore, we tried to explore experience, expression, and effects of gratitude among males and females using IPA. For this purpose, a semi-structured interview was administered on 20 students (10 males and 10 females) and it was subjected to IPA. Three themes that emerged from the analysis were Experience of gratitude, Expression of gratitude and Effects of experiencing and expressing gratitude. These themes were further classified under several subthemes. Though there were similarities between males and females for many subthemes but there were some differences also. Feeling grateful towards strangers and sharing grateful experiences with others were subthemes that emerged only in female participants. Using grateful experiences as a coping strategy was a subtheme that emerged dominantly among male participants. The findings of the present study are explained with the help of available literature.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-83
Author(s):  
Marie-Mathilde Dupont-Leclerc ◽  
Serge Lecours

Alexithymia is a personality trait characterized by difficulties identifying and describing emotions. Suffering from a deficit in the cognitive processing of emotions, alexithymic individuals are unable to symbolize their emotions. Even though emotional elaboration is one of the core aspects of alexithymia, it has not been thoroughly investigated. Few studies have reported quantitative features of alexithymic’s discourse. However, the qualitative properties of alexithymic emotional discourse and the difference in symbolization between positive and negative emotions remain to be investigated. This study aims to examine how individuals with alexithymia symbolize their subjective emotional experiences by defining the characteristics of their discourse related to positive and negative emotions. A sample of 9 clinically alexithymic individuals rated on the TAS-20 was interviewed about a typical experience of joy and sadness. Data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Themes associated with sadness revealed that alexithymic individuals tend to avoid contact with sadness. They also perceived sadness as an imposed state by external events. Themes associated with joy revealed that this emotion seemed easier to share with peers. Moreover, joy seemed easier to express and symbolize for alexithymic individuals than sadness. This comprehensive description of alexithymic emotional discourse allows to better understand the symbolization of emotions according to their valence and to better recognize alexithymic ways of expressing emotions.


2020 ◽  
pp. 105413732091991
Author(s):  
Lynda Hill ◽  
Peter M. Gubi

This research explores factors that may continue to impact a mother’s emotional well-being once her child’s treatment for cancer has completed. Research indicates that, contrary to a general expectation of experiencing joy as treatment ends, some families experience very mixed emotions, with fear playing a large part, both leading up to treatment completion and, for some, continuing posttreatment. However, there is no literature that explores a mother’s emotional well-being after a number of years’ posttreatment. This research is a contribution toward addressing that deficit. Five mothers were interviewed using semistructured questions to gather data relating to their specific lived experiences. These were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Results indicate that although end of treatment was longed for, there continues to be much uncertainty and fear posttreatment, and this can continue years after treatment has ended. Mothers described changes within themselves (e.g., new attitudes to living) and a need to adapt to a new normal. There were elements of grief for the loss of family life with which they were once so familiar. There was also a strong sense of wanting to support others, so that their own experiences were not wasted. All participants recognized that further counseling support for themselves would be beneficial.


2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 237-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tzvia Greenfield

Challenging the claim that policy of gender separation on buses does not imply segregation and discrimination against women but rather an innocent concern for the cultural concept of modesty, this Paper attempts first to analyze and refute the respective arguments presented by Professor Harel by establishing counter arguments and examining counter examples which may produce different conclusions. At its second stage the paper proposes a broader field of analysis for scrutinizing the justifications for gendersegregated practices that is based on considerations of rationality. Its main thrust directs to the claim that from a liberal point of view, the difference between acceptable and non-acceptable practices should be depended upon two conditions: a) the rational justification of the practice. b) Its immunity to the burden of harm or oppression towards helpless individuals or groups. At its third and final part, the Paper attempts to produce a careful definition of the cultural meanings implied by the practice of gender separation. By proposing alternative conceptual structure of explanation, based on cultural phenomenological analysis, it aims to expose the deep discriminatory structure of power-relations between men and women in traditional societies, including the Ultra-Orthodox community, as exemplified by the practice of gender separation.


Author(s):  
Stephanie Kewley ◽  
Marie Claire Van Hout

AbstractAside from the often-fatal consequences of substance abuse, people recovering from addiction suffer greater adverse childhood experiences, trauma in adulthood, and inequalities than non-addicts. As a result, psychological, emotional, and developmental barriers can prevent effective recovery, leaving people traumatised, vulnerable, and doubly stigmatised. The challenge, therefore, is for recovery practitioners to deliver responses that not only treat biological problems resulting from addiction but also address psychological, social, and cultural needs. One group of professionals providing holistic approaches to people in recovery are arts-based practitioners. This paper derives from a 3-year longitudinal study using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, to examine the psychosocial impact of one community-based drama project called Staging Recovery. The study found the work of theatre practitioners not only provided recovery participants safe spaces to explore sensitive and difficult recovery themes but the use of theatre techniques and ethically driven practice exposed participants to high-quality, social, cultural, and human capital.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document