Masters Theses

Date of Award

8-1996

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Child and Family Studies

Major Professor

Julia A. Malia

Committee Members

Connie Steele, Lane Morris

Abstract

This study was an exploratory study with the purpose of better understanding (a) the relationship between mothers-and daughters-in-law and (b) the daughters-in-law's potential for providing care for their mothers-in-law. The main objective of the study is to look at factors affecting the daughter-in-law's potential for becoming a principal caregiver. In-depth interviews were conducted with 22 daughters-in-law, 10 of whose mothers-in-law also were interviewed. The questions asked during the personal interview and in the questionnaire that each participant filled out focused on the participant's perceptions of her past, present, and future relationship with her mother-inlaw. The results of qualitative analysis include two main categories (caregiving and relationship between mother- and daughter-in-law), with subcategories for each category that emerged from the data using the grounded theory-building method. Overall, almost all the daughters-in-law expected to participate at some level in their mothers-in-law caregiving. They indicated that they would be willing to take on the task as needed, even if the relationship between them was not necessarily positive. This study challenges the myth that the relationship between mothers- and daughters-in-law is always a negative relationship.

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