FAMILIES COPE WITH STRESS: A STUDY OF FAMILY STRENGTHS IN FAMILIES WHERE A SPOUSE HAS END-STAGE RENAL DISEASE

Statement of the Problem. The purpose of this research was to identify factors that are considered strengths in families where one of the spouses is experiencing end-stage renal disease. Renal, or kidney failure, and its treatment by dialysis or transplantation, has a dramatic effect on the individual patient and the patient\u27s family. The stress of chronic illness can be a negative force in the quality of family life. This research was an attempt to examine families to discover their level of happiness within the family and isolate several variables to determine if they were related to the quality of family life. Research Procedures. The sample for this study was drawn from the end-stage renal disease patients in the state of Nebraska. One hundred and five patients were contacted through the mail and asked to participate in the study. Thirty five usable questionnaires were returned. The Stinnett Family Strengths Questionnaire was used to determine what factors were perceived as being strengths in the family relationship. Both open ended and fixed choice questions were used to determine the level of happiness within the family. Respondents were also asked to report perceptions concerning factors that are usually attributed to strong families. Data were statistically analyzed with tables and figures supplementing the narrative description of the data. Findings and Conclusions. The data gathered in this study indicate that these end-stage renal disease patients were experiencing a happy family life. Four relationships were examined--patient-child; patient-spouse; spouse-child; and the family relationship. In each relationship a high degree of happiness and satisfaction was expressed. Factors perceived by the respondents as being strengths within the family relationships were communication, understanding, love, commitment to the family unit, expression of appreciation to other members of the family, and religion. Several variables were examined. These included the sex of the patient, the length of time the patient had been on dialysis, the pattern of communication in the marriage relationship, the patient\u27s satisfaction with the spouse as a marriage partner, conflict within the marriage relationship, and participation in family activities. This study revealed that there was not a significant relationship between the sex of the respondent and the level of satisfaction with the spouse as a marriage partner. Neither was there a significant relationship between the sex of the respondent and the degree of happiness in the marriage, nor the sex of the respondent and the way in which the patient responded to conflict. This study also examined the way in which family members participated in family activities in relationship to the sex of the respondent and found they were independent of each other. The sex of respondent was not a significant variable in the relationships studied. Communication was generally regarded as high and a positive correlation existed between communication in the marriage and satisfaction with the spouse as a marriage partner. Both satisfaction and communication were reported as high. The length of time on dialysis was also correlated to the level of satisfaction with the spouse as a marriage partner with negative results. One third of the respondents reported that the level of conflict in the marriage was high while another third reported that it was low. There was no correlation between the way in which the patient responded to conflict and the pattern of communication. There was also no correlation between communication and response to conflict