Browsing by Author "Donovan-Kicken, Erin"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Effects of Communication-Debilitating Illnesses and Injuries On Close Relationships: A Relational Maintenance Perspective
    (2007-12) Bute, Jennifer J.; Donovan-Kicken, Erin; Martins, Nicole
    A communication-debilitating illness or injury (CDI) presents significant challenges for patients as well as for friends and family. In a qualitative study of the effects of a CDI on close relationships, 28 individuals with loved ones who had experienced a CDI were interviewed. Participants described adjustments in communication with the patient and explained what it is like to experience a relationship with a CDI patient. Themes that emerged transcended the type of illness and relationship. Recommendations are made for further research that focuses on patients' relationships with a variety of social network members, beyond primary caregivers.
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    The Message Design Logics of Responses to HIV Disclosures
    (2008-10) Caughlin, John P.; Brashers, Dale E.; Ramey, Mary E.; Kosenko, Kami A.; Donovan-Kicken, Erin; Bute, Jennifer J.
    This article uses the theory of message design logics to investigate the relative sophistication of responses to disclosure of HIV status. In Study 1, 548 college students imagined a sibling revealing an HIV-positive diagnosis. Their responses to the HIV disclosures were coded as expressive (n= 174), conventional (n= 298), or rhetorical (n= 66). Type of message produced was associated with gender and HIV aversion. In Study 2, 459 individuals living with HIV rated response messages that were taken verbatim from Study 1. Expressive messages were rated lowest in quality, and rhetorical messages were rated highest. The discussion focuses on the utility of message design logics for understanding responses to HIV disclosures and the implications for message design logics.
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    Uncertainty of Social Network Members in the Case of Communication-Debilitating Illness or Injury
    (2008-01) Donovan-Kicken, Erin; Bute, Jennifer J.
    Uncertainty is a consequential aspect of chronic illness for patients as well as their family and friends, yet little research has focused on how non-ill individuals experience uncertainty about the condition of someone in their social network. Thirty-one individuals with loved ones who had a communication-debilitating illness or injury (CDI) participated in one-on-one interviews about their experiences. We analyzed transcripts for participants' sources of uncertainty and for ways that they managed the uncertainty. Participants' experiences with uncertainty included questions about the condition itself and involved the impaired communication resulting from the CDI. Participants described managing uncertainty through information seeking, changing the ways they communicated with the person with the CDI, and creating schemata to help reduce uncertainty. We discuss the findings in terms of predominant conceptualizations of uncertainty in illness and address the prevalence of communication as both a significant source of uncertainty and an important means of managing uncertainty.