dc.contributor.author	Spring, Elizabeth L.	en
dc.contributor.committeechair	Rosen, Karen H.	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Stith, Sandra M.	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	McCollum, Eric E.	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Coleman, Jean U.	en
dc.contributor.department	Human Development	en
dc.date.accessioned	2014-03-14T21:48:55Z	en
dc.date.adate	1998-11-04	en
dc.date.available	2014-03-14T21:48:55Z	en
dc.date.issued	1998-11-10	en
dc.date.rdate	1999-11-04	en
dc.date.sdate	1998-11-04	en
dc.description.abstract	This study examined how parents experienced their first child's transition to adolescence. A multiple-case qualitative research design was chosen to examine parents' experiences. Family systems theory and family stress and coping theory provided a theoretical starting point. Participants were recruited who had adolescents between ages 13 and 16 and saw their family as normally stressed, indicated in part by an absence of court involvement, substance abuse issues, school failure, and participation in therapy. Ten families were selected: parents from eight of these families participated in focus groups, and five sets of parents were interviewed in their homes. The grounded theory approach to qualitative inquiry developed by Glaser and Strauss guided data collection and analysis. This study identified a complex array of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and contextual factors involved in parents' experience of this transition. A theoretical model was developed to illustrate how specific components of parents' experiences might be interrelated. The process seemed to be initiated when the parents noticed a physical, social/emotional, or relational change in their teenager. Parents responded to the perceived change through their affect, cognition, and behavior. They interpreted what was happening by processes of evaluation, reorientation, and frame. These three components-perception, response, and interpretation-were seen to interact with elements of past and current family context, such as expectations, family dynamics, family of origin influences, and sociocultural change. The overall process involved parents' attempts to regain family equilibrium at different levels of adolescent autonomy and progress toward anticipated future teen changes in ways that either enhance or diminish family cohesion.	en
dc.description.degree	Master of Science	en
dc.identifier.other	etd-110398-131220	en
dc.identifier.sourceurl	http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-110398-131220/	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10919/45437	en
dc.publisher	Virginia Tech	en
dc.relation.haspart	titlepage.pdf	en
dc.relation.haspart	abstract.pdf	en
dc.relation.haspart	acknowledgements.pdf	en
dc.relation.haspart	tableofcontents.pdf	en
dc.relation.haspart	chapterone.pdf	en
dc.relation.haspart	chaptertwo.pdf	en
dc.relation.haspart	chapterthree.pdf	en
dc.relation.haspart	chapterfour.pdf	en
dc.relation.haspart	chapterfive.pdf	en
dc.relation.haspart	references.pdf	en
dc.relation.haspart	vita.pdf	en
dc.relation.haspart	appendices.pdf	en
dc.rights	In Copyright	en
dc.rights.uri	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/	en
dc.subject	qualitative research	en
dc.subject	transition	en
dc.subject	adult development	en
dc.subject	parents of adolescents	en
dc.title	"A Walk Through the Jungle at Twilight": How Parents Experience a Transition to Adolescence	en
dc.type	Thesis	en
thesis.degree.discipline	Human Development	en
thesis.degree.grantor	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	en
thesis.degree.level	masters	en
thesis.degree.name	Master of Science	en

"A Walk Through the Jungle at Twilight": How Parents Experience a Transition to Adolescence

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