Ambivalent Feelings Research Articles

“A Blessing and a Curse” Couples Dealing with Ambivalence Concerning Grandparental Involvement During the Transition to Parenthood—A Longitudinal Study

This contribution provides an investigation of first-time parents’ experiences and strategies in dealing with ambivalence—i.e., the simultaneous presence of contradictory emotions—regarding grandparental involvement during the transition to parenthood. The study is based on qualitative longitudinal case studies comprising in-depth individual interviews with 11 Austrian couples of first-time mothers and fathers prebirth, and six months and two years after childbirth ( n = 66 interviews). Parents reported ambivalent feelings toward grandparental involvement during all stages of the transition process. We identified three parental strategies for dealing with ambivalence: inclusion, delimitation, and exclusion. Intracouple dynamics are shown to be the key aspect in the variation of these strategies over time. These dynamics are captured in three longitudinal patterns: parallel, divergent, and convergent paths. Overall, the study points to the complexity and fluidity of intergenerational relationships and demonstrates the challenges of negotiating ambivalence within couples and families during the transition to first-time parenthood.

중첩된 재난과 팬데믹 연대 ―한일 장애 활동가 및 간호사 구술을 중심으로

I will investigate the crisis reponses of the disability activists and care workers in Korea and Japan. I will reconsider the assumed natural value of “humanity, health, and normalcy” and suggest the pandemic solidarity to transform the relationship between humanity and environment. I will conceptualize the phenomena in the narratives of the activists, and care workers, referring to news reports and literature.<BR>Chapter two is based on the interviews with the disability activists in the city Daegu. I focus on the multi-layered re-institutionalization by looking into the imminent collapse of the care giving system together with the cases of joint suicides related to the developmental disabilities at the time. I will highlight the importance of “self-sovereignty in which they can choose dependency” and their ambivalent feelings of “self-pride together with self-hatred.”<BR>Chapter three carries interviews with Mr. Noboru and Ms. Yumiko of Emergency Operation Center against New Corona Virus. I will examine the problems with the triage systems and self-determination strategies for the patients’ lives. I will locate those suffering in what I call “a disastrous state in pre-existence” and suggest a strategy of the “joint of cure and care” to support the disabled.<BR>In Chapter four, I make a comparison between Korea and Japan in the disability activists’ engagement with the multi-layered (re-)institutionalization and the effort to get rid of triage and self-determination system. Firstly, I interviewed Sinja and Gatsnori who run a “de-institutionalized institution” and asked them about their strategies for the patients’ independence from facilities, coercion and exclusion. Secondly, I had interviews with nurses at Dongsan Hospital in Daegu and highlight their activities through which they work as hub of cure and care. Thirdly, I will reconsider the possibilities for the disabled to form new relationships with their environments, decomposing the discourses of “humanity, health, and normalcy.”<BR>To sum up, I criticize the notions of “humanity, health and normalcy” and seek a radical change from the anthropocentric and non-disabled-centered relationships with the environments. For this purpose, I mark the intersecting area in which disability activists in Japan and Korea can complement each other in coping with this pandemic.

Rituel du coucher et ambivalence dans le lien parents-enfant

Parents express ambivalent feelings of love and hatred towards their baby. These feelings are particularly related to the child's night wakings and the resulting sleep deprivation. The occurrence of night-time childhood phobias constitutes an organiser of the child's psychic life in order to implement the separation from the mother. Parental psychic positions are therefore very important at bedtime.

How Does Ambivalence Appear in Women's Relationship to Cosmetics?

Some studies have subtly demonstrated the existence of a tension of ambivalence in women's subjective feelings while wearing makeup. This paper consists in analyzing how feelings of ambivalence towards cosmetics appear in women, and how women feel when they remove or put on cosmetics. The study consists of an online survey and a walk-along experience. The survey included 261 women, among these 229 cosmetics users and 32 non-users. It used the double-blank method while asking the participants to express their feelings about various situations evoking their facial appearance, such as looking at their face when being in front of the mirror. A multiple case analysis of four selected survey respondents has also been done in order to compare 2 regular users and 2 non-users in regard to their way of dealing with tension. The walk-along experience included interviews and observations in the following conditions according to the groups: 1. Removing makeup (for regular users) / wearing makeup (for non-regular users) in front of a mirror; 2. Walking outside in public; 3. Wearing makeup again (for regular users) / removing makeup again (for non-regular users) in front of a mirror. Our findings showed that ambivalent tension (in most users and non-users) was mostly visible through a divergence going from positive feelings (such as feelings of satisfaction) to negative, contradictive feelings and that some similarities were present between users' and non-users' tensions despite the context differences. Ambivalence is shown not only toward the "masked" face (i.e. face with makeup on it), but also the natural face. Makeup is therefore not necessary to experience a tension of ambivalence towards one's own face. However, the tensions revealed themselves as being rather minimal, as the "mask" is minimal itself. An interesting possible direction in future research would be to explore the origin of this ambivalence about the natural (unmasked) face, especially with regard to the appearance of facial skin including the worry about facial flaws such as acne spots.

Partners' experiences of living with men who have screening‐detected abdominal aortic aneurysms: A qualitative descriptive study

To describe partners' experiences of living with men with a screening-detected abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Diagnosis of a chronic life-threatening disease affects the patients' as well as their partners' lives in different aspects. AAA, with rupture as the major consequence, is a life-threatening disease that can affect the whole family. Screening programmes for AAA have been introduced in several countries to reduce the mortality rate. Although the awareness of having an AAA influences the individuals' quality of life and well-being, it is still unclear how it affects their partners. Qualitative descriptive design. Twenty-one partners of men with AAA were purposely selected to participate in individual semi-structured interviews between August 2017-February 2018 in Sweden. Data were transcribed and imported into NVivo-12® . The data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. The study conforms to the COREQ checklist. Three categories were identified: (a) experiencing the unexpected; (b) being reminded of fragility; and (c) balancing a changing relationship. The partners had a positive attitude towards the screening process and were pleased that their husbands were under surveillance. Nevertheless, at the same time, the diagnosis caused worries and questions. The AAA diagnosis was constantly in the minds of the partners, which sometimes affected and limited daily activities. Furthermore, ambivalent feelings towards surgical treatment were described. The partners tried to support their men and encouraged them to achieve a healthy lifestyle. The partners' well-being and daily lives were impacted by the awareness of the screening-detected AAA. Different degrees of worry were the most common reaction and were pervasive in all three categories. The result highlights the need to review routines or develop new strategies to include the partners in the process of screening and offer supplementary support and information.

Bittersweet: The Neuroscience of Ambivalent Affect

Ambivalent affective states, such as bittersweetness, nostalgia, and longing, which are felt as having both positive and negative aspects, are an important component of human experience but have received little attention. The most influential theoretical frameworks in affective neuroscience focus largely on univalenced states. As a result, it is not known whether ambivalent affect corresponds to a simultaneously positive and negative valenced state or whether it results from a rapid vacillation between positive and negative states. Here we hypothesize that ambivalent affect involves both mechanisms, that is, rapid vacillation and simultaneity of positive and negative affect, albeit at different neurobiological levels. Rapidly vacillating univalent emotions could give rise to an ambivalent feeling, a mechanism that depends on brainstem nuclei that facilitate rapid action programs of emotional behavior while inhibiting opposing behaviors. This reciprocal inhibition prevents organisms from simultaneously implementing responses to conflicting emotions but also allows for rapid switching between emotions triggered by counterfactual thinking and rapid reappraisal of situations. We propose that as these transitions occur and respective interoceptive information reaches the insular cortex, further processing of this “emotional moment” would allow separate emotional events to be experienced as one “mixed” and integrated feeling.

From Chastity to human ecology contribution to the ethical argumenation

Kategoria „czystości” w sensie moralnym, a szczególnie w obszarze ludzkiej seksualności jest dziś postrzegana ambiwalentnie. Z jednej strony stale ma swoją wartość antropologiczno-etyczną, z drugiej jednak strony jest coraz mniej rozumiana, a nawet oskarżana o nieaktualność i nienaukowość. Niniejszy artykuł stanowi próbę wykazania, że to co dotychczas kryło się pod pojęciem „czystości seksualnej”, można – pod pewnymi warunkami – zastąpić kategorią „ekologii ludzkiej”. Mostem łączącym „czystość seksualną” z „ekologią ludzką” może być (tego starają się dowieść niniejsze analizy) pojęcie „integracji seksualnej”. Prowadzone tu rozważania wykazują adekwatność terminu „ekologii ludzkiej” w obszarze argumentacji etycznej, dotyczącej ludzkiej płciowości. Jednak termin ten zachowa swoją głębię (i nie będzie oskarżony o powierzchowność) tylko wówczas, gdy będzie zawierał wymiar teologiczny, nie tylko protologiczny, ale także chrystologiczny oraz eschatologiczny.

Vulnerabilidades na Saúde Mental de Universitários em Período de Estágio Clínico

Introdução: O período dos estágios dos cursos universitários da área de saúde é repleto de desafios, permeado por sentimentos ambivalentes, que se mal elaborados podem culminar em adoecimento físico e/ou mental. Objetivo: Investigar o nível de sintomatologia de ansiedade, depressão e estresse em universitários - estagiários da área de saúde. Metodologia: Pesquisa descritiva e de caráter quantitativo. Amostra composta por estagiários de três cursos da área da saúde. Realizado em universidade pública localizada no interior paulista. Foram utilizados dois instrumentos: Questionário sociodemográfico e o Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Análise dos dados seguindo protocolo estabelecido pelo instrumento, cálculos de estatística descritiva e de associação. Resultados: Participaram 114 estagiários, com média de idade de 22 anos, sendo maioria do gênero feminino, solteiros, com religião, sedentários e praticavam atividades de lazer. Do total, 57,0% apresentaram sintomatologia de depressão, 60,5% ansiedade e 65,8% estresse, com níveis moderado e severo, portanto consideradas patológicas. Encontrada associação entre sexo feminino e sintomas de ansiedade, sintomas depressivos e falta de atividades físicas e de lazer. Conclusão: Necessidade de desenvolvimento de ações preventivas e promoção da saúde mental no contexto universitário, estímulo ao desenvolvimento de fatores protetivos e estratégias de enfrentamento do estresse.

Towards a cross-cultural lexical map of wellbeing

ABSTRACT Positive psychology has been critiqued as Western-centric, influenced by the mostly Western contexts in which it has developed. English is its dominant mode of discourse, for example, which has shaped its understanding of its subject matter. To generate a more comprehensive cross-cultural ‘map’ of wellbeing, I have been creating a lexicography of relevant ‘untranslatable’ words (i.e., terms without exact translation in English). An initial analysis of 216 words, published in the Journal of Positive Psychology in 2016, identified six main categories: positive feelings, ambivalent feelings, love, prosociality, character, and spirituality. Subsequently, over 1,400 additional words have been added to the lexicography to date. Correspondingly, analyses have been published of each category separately, revealing their internal structure. Moreover, six further categories have also been identified: cognition, embodiment, aesthetics, eco-connection, competence, and understanding. This paper summarises these analyses, and outlines their significance in terms of augmenting the conceptual map in positive psychology.

Change fatigue in nurses: A qualitative study.

To provide a conceptual update on change fatigue in nursing as it relates to rapid and continuous change implementation. This doctoral dissertation examined nurses' experiences of rapid and continuous organizational change, with a core component of the study examining the concept of change fatigue. Change fatigue is understood as the overwhelming feelings of stress, exhaustion and burnout fuelled by feelings of ambivalence and powerlessness associated with rapid and continuous change in the workplace. Change fatigue may cause workers to become withdrawn and greatly influences their decision to leave the workplace and even their profession. Little research to date has explored change fatigue in nurses. Were qualitative in nature. A critical hermeneutic approach was used. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 14 Registered Nurses. Open-ended questions were used. Theoretical thematic analysis and inductive analysis of data were completed using Brown and Gilligan's voice-centred relational method. The study spanned from 2015 - 2018. Nurses did experience many of the core elements of change fatigue noted in the non-nursing literature, including exhaustion, apathy, powerlessness, and burnout. Two additional themes emerged pertaining to nurses' understandings of why they were experiencing change fatigue. These themes included the intensification of nursing work and repeated and ongoing self-sacrifice. Participants offered important insight into an emergent concept in the discipline of nursing. The negative experiences associated with change fatigue are important for administrators and other stakeholders to recognize and acknowledge, as they must work to alleviate change fatigue in their institutions to preserve the well-being of the nursing workforce. This knowledge is also important to nursing scholars, who may further research the topic and embed it into nursing curricula.

Experimenting with the National Language: Use of Manchu in Bannermen Poetry and Songs in the Nineteenth Century

It is commonly assumed that by the beginning of the nineteenth century, most members of the Eight Banners were no longer fluent in their native Manchu language. The Qing court certainly feared at this time that the bannermen had lost touch with their Manchu identity and become acculturated to the ways of their Chinese neighbors. This article will show, however, that late Qing bannermen were not only still using Manchu in their literary production during this period, but were also creating hybrid texts that mixed Manchu and Chinese scripts and literary forms, leading to the emergence of a body of language that made use of their native language in innovative ways heretofore not attempted. Through analyzing various examples of such compositions, including poems and songs, this paper explores how their authors developed new genres and styles that expressed ambivalent feelings concerning their social role and cultural identities.

Migrant mothers and the ambivalence of co-ethnicity in online communities

ABSTRACT Since the advent of digital and mobile communication technologies, scholars have been investigating how these technologies are changing experiences of migration and mobility. In the field of gender and migration, researchers have shown how the experience of migration can change maternal practices, and alter understandings of ‘good motherhood’. These ‘digital migrant’ and ‘migrant motherhood’ literatures have intersected in studies of technologically mediated transnational mothering, in the context of mother–child separation. In contrast, this study focuses on migrant mothers in Australia who are co-located with their children. Drawing on interviews with migrant mothers from a range of migrant communities in Sydney and Melbourne, this article explores how the use of online migrant maternal communities helps women to navigate motherhood in a migrant context. Specifically, it draws attention to the ways migrant mothers use the affordances of social media to work through their complex and ambivalent feelings about their migrant maternal identities and practices, and about co-ethnic social networks. The paper foregrounds the role of the imagination and relationships in shaping migrant identities and experiences and proposes the ‘migrant maternal imaginary’ as a valuable concept for understanding migrant motherhood.

‘Sometimes I feel like the other life on heroin was better’: transitioning experiences towards methadone, and HIV prevention implications in Urban Kenya

In 2014 methadone as part of Medically Assisted Therapy (MAT) was introduced in Kenyan public health facilities as part of a comprehensive approach to HIV prevention and treatment. This paper explores the transition experiences for people moving from the use of heroin to MAT. The paper reports on a qualitative study conducted in an urban setting in Kenya in 2015. Findings show that transitioning from the use of heroin to methadone can both be a liberating and disempowering experience. While study participants were reportedly pleased with the life changes brought about by methadone, they struggled with negotiating the transition from an ‘old life’ of heroin use to methadone. Tensions were navigating the 'new life' on methadone and the 'old life' on heroin. These tensions generate new forms of social exclusion, as well as feelings of uncertainty and ambivalence. A particular effect of this challenging transition is how new forms of risk and vulnerability for HIV are created even whilst others are attended to. MAT programs need to attend to the dynamics described to address the risk of HIV posed by a ‘new life’ and the broader tensions involved in transitioning from the use of heroin to methadone.

THE FEATURES OF ADOLESCENTS'S PERCEPTIONS ABOUT PARENTHOOD

The relevance of the study of the parenthood perceptions of modern adolescents is determined by decreasing level of paternity readiness among modern youth. The aim of the study is to investigate the features of adolescents' parenthood apprehensions. The study involved 63 teenagers (37 boys and 26 girls) aged 15 to 17 years. Adolescents’ parenthood perceptions were studied with the help of «Ideas of Ideal parenthood» (R.Ovcharova, Yu.Degtyaryova), as well as with the method of «Composition about parenthood» (O.Karabanova, A.Shvedovskaya, modification by S.Abdullina). Such methods as the descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, Student’s t-test were used for data analyses. Parenthood perceptions are considered as an indicative basis for future parenthood readiness. The content and hierarchy of different components of these apprehensions are defined, such as: cognitive, emotional and behavioral. The content of adolescents' parenthood apprehensions were revealed, including the image of the future child, the image of relationships in the future family, the idea of himself/herself as a parent. In particular, adolescents’ perceptions about themselves as future parents were found to be the least represented in the descriptions of the subjects; they are often associated with ambivalent feelings. Significant differences in the content of adolescents’ parenthood apprehensions about ideal parenting were found. Their structure depends on gender: girls’ perceptions are wide enough and mostly they are positively emotionally colored, the majority of the boys’ perceptions are not formed and often they have neutral, negative or ambivalent emotional coloring. Gender differences in the structure and level of components of parenthood perceptions manifest themselves in the significantly higher level of girls’ behavioral and emotional components, as well as in the greater interconnection of the different components of boys’ parenthood perceptions.

AB1326-HPR TOBACCO ADDICTION IN PEOPLE WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS – FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PATIENTS

Background:Smoking is one of the most significant modifiable exosomes risk factors for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (1). Studies suggest that 25-30% of people with RA in Denmark smoke (2). This is almost twice as many as in the background population in Denmark. People with RA have a significant increased risk of severe comorbidity including cardiovascular disease. In addition, there are indications that smokers with RA have a poorer effect of the medical inflammatory treatment compared to non-smokers, and consequently more difficult to achieve remission of the disease activity (3). Tobacco addiction is complex and can be a challenge in smoking cessation. In addition to physiological dependence, habits and social and environmental factors may influence addiction. Tobacco smoking is associated with an addiction to nicotine and it is unexplored how this addiction appears in people with RA.Objectives:The aim of this study was to examine from the patient’s perspective how tobacco addiction appears in people with rheumatoid arthritis.Methods:We conducted a qualitative study based on a hermeneutics approach. People with RA who previously had participated in a randomized controlled study (4) about smoking cessation conducted at the Center for Rheumatology and Spine Diseases at Rigshospitalet, Denmark were recruited for semi-structured interviews.Results:In total, 12 people with RA (50% female) were included in the study. The median age was 62 years and median RA disease duration was 12 years. The degree of physical dependence measured by Fagerströms Test for Nicotine dependence (FTND) was on average: 4.9 (score: 0-10, 0=nonphysical dependence).Three categories of how tobacco addiction appeared emerged during the analysis: 1)It develops into ingrown habitsreferring to the fact that smoking already in adolescence contributes to the development of specific physical, mental and social smoking behavior. Not all individuals considered themselves addicted to nicotine as they did not necessarily connect the nicotine to the ingrown habits. 2)The body craves for nicotinereferring to nicotine proved calming, while a lacking or insufficient dose caused withdrawal symptoms. Furthermore, smoking became a habit where a craving for smoking occurred in certain situations. 3)Ambivalence – for and againstreferring to the physical dependence and smoking habits making a smoking cessation difficult. Dependency to nicotine and challenges to quit smoking led to a feeling of ambivalence and a lack of control.Conclusion:Tobacco addiction appeared as a physical dependence and a habit, which, during a smoking cessation, led to ambivalent feelings. Therefore, based on this study, there is still a need for health professionals to talk to patients about smoking. But also, a need to articulate the complexity of addiction in order to support for smoking cessations. Information should be strengthened in the clinical practice in relation to nicotine’s implication in tobacco addiction as well as the consequences of tobacco smoking for individuals with RA.

Opposing Native Interest in Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Tagore’s Tasher Desh and Achalayatan: A Comparative Study

In the field of literature, the study of colonization and its aftermath is a significant phenomenon. Shakespeare’s The Tempest presents the story of colonial exploitation, and the tragic and inevitable disintegration of native culture as the result of European invasion and colonization. Instead of justifying the idea of colonization, The Tempest presents a criticism of it. On the other hand, in Tagore’s Tasher Desh (The Country of Cards) and Achalayatan (The Land of Immobility), we see the different attitudes towards European invasion and colonization. Instead of presenting the negative aspects of colonization, as expected from a writer who spent whole of his life under the British colonial rule, Tagore rather shows ambivalent attitudes towards colonization. In this paper we discuss different attitudes towards colonization as expressed in Shakespeare’s The Tempest in the one hand, and Tagore’s Tasher Desh and Achalayatan on the other hand. This paper draws on a close analysis of the texts using some postcolonial insights, theory of hybridity, and theory of ambivalence. Hybridity theory is credited to Homi K Bhabha. It claims that in creating a shared culture the colonizer and the colonized are mutually interdependent. Again, ambivalence theory, adopted by Bhabha into colonial discourse, examines the ambivalent feeling of repulsion and attraction that typifies the relationship between the colonized and the colonizer. The insights developed from the research will contribute to academic understanding of the shared culture constructed by the interactions between the colonized and the colonizer.

A qualitative study of childbirth fear and preparation among primigravid women: The blind spot of antenatal care in Lilongwe, Malawi

ObjectivesThis study aimed to explore childbirth fear and childbirth preparation among primigravid women in the late pregnancy from 36 to 40 weeks gestation. MethodsWe purposively recruited 18 primigravid women into in-depth interviews, 21 birth companions, and 13 health workers into focus group discussions. Participants were recruited from two community hospitals’ maternity waiting homes in Lilongwe, Malawi. Semi-structured interview guides were used to collect data that were analyzed using content analysis. NVivo11 computer software was used to organize the data. ResultsThe four categories developed were: “ambivalent pregnancy feelings” , “dependence on traditional childbirth counseling” ,“inadequate prenatal childbirth instruction” and “inconsistent roles of a birth companion” . The findings suggest that primigravid women who were mainly exposed to traditional childbirth mentoring rather than professional care providers, experienced childbirth fear, and lacked proper psychosocial childbirth preparation. ConclusionsChildbirth fear among primigravid women emanate from personal; family; ineffective traditional counseling; and inadequate antenatal childbirth instruction. Birth companions may increase childbirth stress. However, our findings highlight birth companions as readily available psychosocial support resources among primigravid women. We recommend that professional childbirth instruction during antenatal care should be strengthened to surpass traditional childbirth counseling. Appropriateness and effectiveness of birth companions need to be carefully assessed.

Maternal pre and perinatal experiences with their full-term, preterm and very preterm newborns

BackgroundMothers’ reports about pregnancy, maternity and their experiences during the perinatal period have been associated with infants’ later quality of attachment and development. Yet, there has been little research with mothers of very preterm newborns. This study aimed to explore mothers’ experiences related to pregnancy, premature birth, relationship with the newborn, and future perspectives, and to compare them in the context of distinct infants’ at-birth-risk conditions.MethodsA semi-structured interview was conducted with women after birth, within the first 72 h of the newborn’s life. A total of 150 women participated and were divided in three groups: (1) 50 mothers of full-term newborns (Gestational Age (GA) ≥ 37 weeks; FT), (2) 50 mothers of preterm newborns (GA 32–36 weeks; PT) and (3) 50 mothers of very preterm newborns (GA < 32 weeks; VPT).ResultsMothers of full-term infants responded more often that their children were calm and that they did not expect difficulties in taking care of and providing for the baby. Mothers of preterm newborns although having planned and accepted well the pregnancy (with no mixed or ambivalent feelings about it) and while being optimistic about their competence to take care of the baby, mentioned feeling frightened because of the unexpected occurrence of a premature birth and its associated risks. Mothers of very preterm newborns reported more negative and distressful feelings while showing more difficulties in anticipating the experience of caring for their babies.ConclusionThe results indicate that Health Care Systems and Neonatal Care Policy should provide differentiated psychological support and responses to mothers, babies and families, taking into account the newborns’ GA and neonatal risk factors.

Going up or getting out? Professional insecurity and austerity in the South African health sector

AbstractAs a precondition of belonging, professionalism is often a taken-for-granted feature of being middle-class. Yet ethnographic attention to experiences of work reveals that professional identity can be fragile. Drawing on ethnographic research among nurses in KwaZulu-Natal, this article traces the feelings of precarity about work and the ambivalence that pervades ideas of professionalism. This ambiguity arises partly out of a peculiarly South African story in which histories of professionalism are entwined with the repressive apartheid project of separate development. Many of the professionals working as teachers, nurses, lawyers and administrators today were trained in the former ‘homelands’. Practices of professionalism are entangled with those of clientelism inherited from this earlier period of homeland politics. These local histories combine with wider processes of neoliberalism, as conditions of austerity produce structural shifts towards casualization. The article traces these dynamics in the stories of two nurses and considers what may be at stake politically as middle-class trajectories are threatened. Moving away from a view of the middle classes as either democratic or anti-democratic, feelings of ambivalence about work make questions of political allegiance an ambiguous and fraught matter.

Experiences and reactions of adolescent offspring to their fathers’ heavy drinking: A qualitative study from an urban metropolis in India

The study assessed the experiences and reactions of adolescent offspring of alcohol-dependent fathers (N = 15) to their fathers’ heavy drinking. Data were analyzed qualitatively, identifying themes and sub-themes. Respondent accounts elaborated these themes with reference to explanations, experiences, reactions to their fathers’ drinking. Gender differences were notable: girls were more likely to report abuse, shouldering of family responsibilities, physiological and other reactions, ambivalent feelings toward father, sadness and worthlessness. Boys were more likely to react with anger and/or aggression. The findings should guide the development of gender-sensitive family-based interventions for the adolescents, with special attention to psychological, social and legal dimensions.