Adolescent Interpersonal Communication Patterns

Research Article Abstract Adolescents are admitted to psychiatric wards presenting with psychiatric prob­ lems which are essentially secondary to problematic interpersonal relationships. Successful interpersonal relationships however depend on effective interpersonal communication. Therefore the aim of research on adolescent interpersonal com­ munication was to explore and describe the interpersonal communication patterns of adolescents and to develop an interpersonal communication skills approach to facilitate adolescent interpersonal communication skills within a training programme for adolescents. In this article however attention will be given to the description of the interpersonal communication patterns of adolescents. The target population of the research was 17 year old adolescents. The research consisted of a pre-phase where two contextual scenarios were formulated within group discussions with ado­ lescents. During phase one of the research these scenarios were used to obtain video taped role plays from pairs of adolescents of the target population which were transcribed for data gathering purposes. Written dialogues were also obtained from each pair of adolescents on the same scenarios used for triangulation pur­ poses. During phase two of the research the data was analysed according to Tesch’s method and a literature control was done to verify the results. Guba’s model for the trustworthiness of qualitative research was used. Four recurrent interpersonal communication patterns were identified, namely: • Recurrent patterns of defocusing and externalizing the topic under discussion;


A b stra c t
Adolescents are admitted to psychiatric wards presenting with psychiatric prob lems which are essentially secondary to problematic interpersonal relationships.Successful interpersonal relationships however depend on effective interpersonal communication.Therefore the aim of research on adolescent interpersonal com munication was to explore and describe the interpersonal communication patterns of adolescents and to develop an interpersonal communication skills approach to facilitate adolescent interpersonal communication skills within a training programme for adolescents.In this article however attention will be given to the description of the interpersonal communication patterns of adolescents.The target population of the research was 17 year old adolescents.The research consisted of a pre-phase where two contextual scenarios were formulated within group discussions with ado lescents.During phase one of the research these scenarios were used to obtain video taped role plays from pairs of adolescents of the target population which were transcribed for data gathering purposes.Written dialogues were also obtained from each pair of adolescents on the same scenarios used for triangulation pur poses.During phase two of the research the data was analysed according to Tesch's method and a literature control was done to verify the results.Guba's model for the trustworthiness of qualitative research was used.Four recurrent interpersonal communication patterns were identified, namely: • Recurrent patterns of defocusing and externalizing the topic under discussion; • Recurrent patterns of struggling for power; • Recurrent patterns of not listening; and • Recurrent patterns of focusing only on cognitive contents of messages and not on feelings.The research showed that adolescents have ineffective interpersonal communica tion patterns.Recommendations were made to facilitate adolescent interpersonal communication within an interpersonal communication skills approach.

Opsomming
Met opnam e tot psigiatriese eenhede presenteer adolessente met psigiatriese probleme wat sekondêr is tot problematiese interpersoonlike verhoudings.Die geslaagdheid van interpersoonlike verhoudings is egter afhanklik van effektiewe interpersoonlike kommunikasie.Om hierdie rede was die doel van navorsing op a d o le s s e n te in te rp e rs o o n lik e k o m m u n ik a s ie om die in te rp e rs o o n lik e kommunikasiepatrone van adolessente te verken en te beskryf.Hiervolgens is 'n interpersoonlike kommunikasievaardigheidsbenadering ontwikkel om adolessente se in te rp e rs o o n lik e k o m m u n ik a s ie v a a rd ig h e d e te fa s ilite e r b in n e ' n opleidingsprogram aan adolessente.Hierdie artikel word egter slegs gewy aan die beskryw ing van die interpe rso on like kom m un ikasieva a rd igh eidsp a tro ne van adolessente wat betrek is vir hierdie navorsing.Die teikenpopulasie van die navorsing was 17-jarige adolessente.Die navorsing het bestaan uit 'n voorfase waar 2 kontekstuele scenarios geformuleer is deur groepsgesprekvoeringe met adolessente van die teikenpopulasie.Gedurende fase 1 van die navorsing is data insameling gedoen deur hierdie scenarios te g ebruik om rollespelle te verkry van pare adolessente van die teikenpopulasie, dit op videoband op te neem en te transkribeer.Vir trianguleringsdoeleindes is ook geskrewe dialoë verkry van dieselfde pare adolessente wat die rollespelle uitgevoer het.Gedurende fase 2 is data analise gedoen deur die gebruikm aking van Tesch se m etode van data analise en 'n lite ra tu u rko n tro le is u itgevoer om resultate te verifieer.G uba se m odel vir vertrouenswaardigheid van kwalitatiewe navorsing is gebruik.Vier herhalende interpersoonlike kommunikasiepatrone is geidentifiseer, naamlik: • Herhalende patrone van defokus en e ksternalisering van die tem a onder bespreking; • Herhalende patrone van magstryd; • Herhalende patrone van nie luister nie; en • H erhalende patrone van fokus op kognitiewe inhoud van boodskappe en nie op gevoelens nie.V anuit d ie n a vo rsin g b ly k d it dat adolessente oneffektiewe interpersoonlike k o m m u n ik a s ie p a tro n e het.Aanbevelings is gem aak om a doles sente se interpersoonlike kommunikasie te fasiliteer binne 'n interpersoonlike kommunikasievaardigheidsbenadering.

B ackground and Rationale
This article focuses on adolescent inter p e rso n a l c o m m u n ic a tio n p a tte rn s (Grobler, 1997).Adolescence is a de velopmental phase which is character ised by the occurance of many adjust ments and changes.Continually higher demands are made to adolescents in terms of career choices, the choice of friends, disengagem ent from parents and parental homes, and the develop ment of autonomy.Adolescent's sources of support like their families, members of the com m unity and especially the peer group play a significant role during this phase.Interpersonal relationships with these sources of support must be maintained by adolescents during ado lescence in order to ensure continued support.This however requires effective interpersonal communication skills.

Problem Statement
While working with adolescents in the adolescent unit of a psychiatric clinic, the researcher found that adolescents get admitted to these units because of prob lems like eating disorders, behavioral problems and other psychiatric disor ders.D iscussions with adolescents within trust relationships however re vealed that the problems adolescents present with on admission are second ary to interpersonal relationship prob lems the adolescents have.These in terpersonal relationship problems relate to their sources of support, in example their parents, friends, brothers, sisters, teachers and other people who are im portant to them.Since successful inter personal relationships are necessary to successfully complete the developmen tal phase of adolescence these relation ships must be maintained by adoles cents in order to ensure continued sup port.As stated above this requires ef fective interpersonal communication.
From the above the following research question was formulated: Which inter personal communication skills do ado lescents have at their disposal?

O b je c tiv e
In this article the researcher aimed to: Explore and describe the interpersonal communication adolescents have.

Research design and method
The research design consisted of a quali tative, investigative, descriptive and con textual design.Trustworthiness was es tablished by utilizing Guba's model for trustworthiness of qualitative research for the validity and reliability of the research.The four criteria for trustworthiness are: truth value; applicability: consistency; and neutrality.The truth value was en sured by using strategies of credibility and applicability by applying strategies of transferability.Consistency was en sured by strategies of dependability and neutrality by strategies of conformability.Table 1 summarizes the strategies utilized to ensure trustworthiness.

Population
17 year old adolescents from 2 different secondary schools were used for re spectively the pre-phase and the data gathering phase of the research.

Sampling M ethod
Judgem ental sam pling was done ac cording to the following criteria: • Willing participation • Informed consent from both adolesents and their parents or guardians • 17 years of age • Able to speak either Afrikaans or Eng lish The research method consisted of a pre phase where two topical scenarios were formulated within group discussions with adolescents during this pre-phase to be used during data gathering in phase one.The adolescents used for the pre phase were from a different school than the adolescents that were used for data gathering.Data gathering consisted of adolescents role playing and writing dia logues according to a given scenario as formulated during the pre-phase of the research.The written dialogues were used for triangulation.The scenario's used were: "You are on your way to a party and your mother doesn't like what you are w earing."; and "Your mother promised you that you can borrow the car.You are on your way out when she te lls you that she has changed her m ind." 13 Roleplays and dialogues were obtained for data gathering purposes.The role plays were videotaped.
Data analysis was done during phase 2 by transcribing the video recordings and analysing it with the written dialogues a ccording to Tesch's m ethod.Field notes were also taken into consideration.The first step was to read through each individual transcription and written dia logue as well as to watch the actual role play video to get a picture on the whole.The second step was to repeat the first step but to underline individual behav iour patterns which were identified.A list of all the behaviour patterns were made as well as of all the similar behaviour which were related.The most descrip tive word for the identified behaviour was sought and placed into categories and sub-categories.Lastly fieldnotes were used to make inferences on behaviour pertaining to the categories and sub categories.
A protocol for analysis of the data was sent to an external data analist who holds a doctorate in psychiatric nursing.Consensus was reached between the researcher and the external data analist on the results.A literature control was conducted to identify similarities and the uniqueness of the research.

R esults
The results will now be discussed: The writer will refer to supporting literature and will quote certain portions of the transcribed video recordings and written dialogues.Please note that literature on adolescent interpersonal comm uni cation is extremely limited.
The researcher concluded from the re sults obtained in phase one of the re search that the interpersonal communi cation of the adolescents involved in this research are characterised by four recur rent circular interpersonal comm unica tion patterns.These four recurrent cir cular interpersonal communication pat terns are initiated and maintained ver bally and non verbally by the adoles cents' feelings, thoughts and behaviour.According to Okun(1987: 49) non ver bal interpersonal communication hints are given by non verbal behaviour in ex ample body position, the eyes, eye con tact, body weight, body posture, mouth, facial expression, skin, voice and the all over appearance of the person.
The four recurrent circular interpersonal communication patterns that were iden tified are: • Defocusing and externalizing the topic under discussion; • The existence of a power struggle with the conversationist; • The failure to listen to the conversa tionists; and

Reference adequacy
Annexures of anonymous transcriptions of role plays and written dialogues as well as field notes were attached to research.

Peer group examination
Research protocol discussed with team of independent nursing specialists.

Peer group discussion
Researcher had an analytical session with co-coder during phase one, during phase two findings of the research were discussed with a doctoral committee.

Consistency
Guidelines for operationalisation of interpersonal communication approach written on findings of phase one.

Confirmability
Conformability audit Independent panel of psychiatric nursing specialists.

Triangulation
Used two different groups of adolescents for the pre-phase and phase one of the research, used both video tape recordings as well as w ritten dialogues during phase one of the research, fieldnotes, literature review, co-coder used.

Peer group discussion
Researcher had an analytical session with co-coder during phase one, during phase two findings of the research were discussed with a doctoral committee.
the conversationists.Behaviour, feelings and thoughts which initiate and maintain the four recurrent interpersonal com m unication patterns will now be discussed: Defocusing and externalising the topic under discussion is furthermore initiated and maintained by creating feelings of uncertainty and concern.These feelings are however never spoken of during the dialogues but only implied.These feel ings furthermore are never clarified by either of the conversationists which leads to double messages being conveyed, misinterpretations and misunderstand ings.Wells & Miller(1993: 781) describe adolescents' feelings as being more covert.Van der Merwe(1993: 42) states that the lack of having the ability to clarify feelings is the cause of ineffective inter personal communication.
Examples of how the adolescents cre ated feelings of uncertainty are: " Don't wait up for me, perhaps I am going to be late.and "Well the question is whether or not I am going to come back as one.There might just be a "bread in the oven."" Non verbal interpersonal com m unication hints that accom pany the above are mostly incongruent laugh ing or total unemotionality on the part of the conversationist.An example of how the adolescents created concern is the following sentence which was used in order to justify wearing skimpy clothes: " It is in the middle of summer Mom and we are at a party!We are definitely not going to sit still."Non verbally concern is created by adolescents not making full eye contact when asked questions as well as by hesitating when answering.
The thoughts that are responsible for initiating the defocusing and externalis ing of the discussion are distancing and splitting.Examples of how distancing featured during the research are: " Mom, why must you always be so old fash io n e d ?" ; and " No Mom, tim es have changed!"Non verbally the adoles cents created distance by physically dis tancing themselves from the conversa tionist as well as by the crossing of arms and by presenting a closed body pos ture.
According to Kaplan & Sadock(1995: 250) adolescents use splitting by classi fying important persons in their lives as all bad or all good.According to Kaplan et al(1995: 257) this is a defence mecha nism used mainly by people during their developmental phase.An example of how sp litting featured during the re search is: " I put the ring in at Dad's and he didn't mind''("the ring" refers to a belly ring).Verbal splitting is accompanied by non verbal interpersonal communication hints such as intim idating behaviour when making full eye contact while lean ing forward or by declining to make eye contact at all.The existence of a power struggle with the conversationist: Behaviour that initiate and maintain this interpersonal communication pattern are the adoles c e n ts ' se arch fo r a u to n o m y and independancy, their hard headedness, the use of "you-messages" , a display of inadequacy and revengefullness.Critelli(1987: 223-224) states that dom i nant remarks lead to dominant reactions.In seeking autonomy and independance the adolescents involved in this research used dominant remarks, which lead to dominant reactions resulting in a power struggle with the conversationist.Exam ples of how this featured in the research are: " Mom, I am 17 and can do what I want to." ; and "Ok, but it remains my choice to decide what I will wear.Re member taste differs, so" According to Way(1995: 107-128) ado lescents agree that the most important aspect to a succesfull relationship is to have an opinion and to be given the oppurtunity to speak your mind on it.Non verbal interpersonal communication hints that accom pany the above is a closed body posture, the rising of voice intensity and the interruption of the con versationist.
Dinkmeyer & Mckay(1995: 11) state that hard headedness is part of the adoles cents' strive for autonomy.Examples of how this featured in the research are: " I look normal Mother, and I am leaving now." ; and " No, I am taking the car to night do you hear me?Finished!!" Non verbal interpe rso na l c o m m un icatio n hints that accompany the above are the interruption of the conversationist to give their own opinions and the intensifying of the voice."You-m essages" leads to aggression and th is initia tes and m aintains the pow er s trug gle .Kubany; R ichard; Bauer & Muraoka(1990: 505-516) states that ado le scen ts also ve rbalise that "you-m essages" lead to aversion and antagonism contrary to " l-messages".Also evident from research done by Kubany et al(1992: 505-516) is that "you-as well as l-messages" are used the same amount of times by adoles cents.Okun(1987: 243) states that in m aking use of " l-m e s s a g e s " one conveyes respect for the conversation ist's opinion.Examples of how you mes sages featured in this research are: "You don't understand!" ; and "You are always so old fashioned!"Non verbal interpersonal behaviour hints that ac companies this include the pointing of an accusing finger at the conversation ist as well as making definite eye con tact.
According to Dinkmeyer & Mckay(1990: 12) a display of inadequacy by the ado lescents lead to the conversationists feel ing sorry for the adolescents.This in turn gives momentum to the already existing power struggle.An example of inad equate behaviour is: "I am sorry Mom, I didn't want to say that.I suppose I have forgotten my manners for a while."Non verbal behaviour hints that accompanies this include not making eye contact, the use of a softer tone of voice and the hanging of the shoulders and head.
Revenge and aggression initiate and maintain the powerstruggle.Both re venge and aggression are more pas sively shown.Dinkmeyer & Mckay(1990: 12) are of the opinion that adolescents show the above mentioned behaviour when they feel that they are not going to win the power struggle.Examples of how revenge featured in the research are: "and another thing "grow up" " ; and " Mom, you had 10 husbands.You used to wear dresses barely covering the "wa ter line" .You still wear those " boobtu b e s " and I d o n 't want to say what else!"An example of how a message that conveys aggression is featured in the research is the following: " I don't want to be forward or anything, it is just that it is always like this and whenever I open my m outh you jum p down my throat!"Non verbal behaviour hints that accompanies this are extreme passivity, monotonous tone of voice, the hanging of the shoulders and the eyes being casted downward.Feelings that initiate and maintain the power struggle are ''don't care feelings" , rage, passive a g g re ssio n , co nce rn , disheartedness and powerlessness.Feelings implied during the role plays were clarified by the researcher with the adolescents directly after the role plays were recorded.
The adolescents experienced " d o n 't care feelings" because they felt that the conversationists did not listen to their opinion.An example of how this featured in the research is: " It does not matter."Non verbally adolescents show their d on 't care feelings by pulling up their shoulders, the rolling of their eyes and by looking in another direction than that of the conversationist.
Rage was experienced by the adoles cents because of the fact that the con versations never resolved anything.Ac cording to Van der Merwe(1993: 11) rage originates when a person feels as if someone is denying him/her human ity.The p o w e r s tru g g le is m a in ta in e d through the passive aggressive way the adolescents handle their aggression.By not talking about feelings the power struggle is maintained.An example of how passive aggression featured in the research is the following: " If it is that important to you Mother, I suppose I will have to do it.I suppose there is no other way."Non verbally adolescents' voices are incongruent with their actual feelings in that they speak softly and in an over controlled manner and hands are not used during verbal statements.Contrary to the above m entioned observation Wells & Miller(1993: 781) describe ado lescent aggression as behaviour one can definitely see.
The adolescents introduced feelings of concern to the conversationist in the re search by giving only limited information on his or her where abouts and imply ing the rest.The adolescents also an swered questions of the conversationist as shortly as possible.An example of how the above featured in the research is: Mother: " I don't think it is a good idea that he drives you.What is going on in this life?"Adolescent: (laughs) " N othing."Non verbal behaviour that accompanies this include adolescents acting as if they have secrets as well as laughing incongruently.
Disheartedness and powerlessness are also never mentioned, but just implied.An example of how this featured in the research is: " but Mom, you promised!"Non verbaly disheartedness and power lessness are shown by a passive body position, eyes that are focused on the ground, the dropping of shoulders and sighing now and then.
Thoughts that keeps the powerstruggle alive are conflicting values that the ado lescents seem to have with the conver sationist'.A verbal example of how this featured in the research is: "What do you think of me Mother?" Okun(1987: 241-242) states that if you are aware of your own values you are less likely to impose them indirectly on others and that con fusion regarding values usually results in interpersonal difficulties.
The failure to listen to the conversa tionist: According to Van der Merwe (1993: 11) the inability to listen causes ineffective interpersonal communication.Behaviour that cause adolescents not to listen effectively during interpersonal co m m unication are the a d o le sce n ts' search for autonomy and independence, sarcasm, the adolescents' attem pt to clear problem s and too few silences during communication.The pre-occu pation the adolescents have with their ow n g o a ls ca use th em n ot to liste n (S tu a rt & Sundeen, 1995: 39;Morrison & Burnard, 1991: 75).Non verbal behaviour pertaining to the ado lescents own intentions are that they in terrupt the conversationists constantly and their voices inten sify when they make verbal statements.Sarcasm plays its role in that the adolescents do not lis ten to the conversationist but rather think of the best answer to give on the state ment the conversationist has made.Non verbally not much eye contact is made by the adolescents and the intensity of voice differs drastically from that of a normal conversation.The adolescents seem apathic overall, however facial ex pressions tend to change with the use of sarcasm.Adolescents try to clarify problems with the conversationists but fail due to the fact that they do not listen to the conversationists.An example is: "What is wrong with my clothes Mother?" Non verbally behaviour hints that accom pany this are that the adolescents' voices intensify while trying to clarify problems.Beaum ont(1995: 109-132)concludes th a t a d o le s c e n ts ' co nve rsa tion s are characterised by them interrupting the conversationists' conversations.By us ing too few silences the adolescents don't give themselves time to listen to the conversationist.
Feelings of uncertainty and concern also maintains the pattern of failing to listen in that nothing is clarified, but only im plied.The more questions the conver sationist put to the adolescents in the research the shorter the answers be came and the more concerned the con versationist became.Verbal examples of how this featured in the research are: Mother: "Who will pick you up?" Ado lescent: "Tokkie" M other: "Tokkie who?" Adolescent: " Prozesky" Non verbal behaviour seem to be incongru ent with verbal messages characterised by incongruent laughing or statements without any sign of emotion.
Thoughts that initiate and maintain the circular pattern of failing to listen are the adolescents' use of their own special language and their making use of short sentences.Examples of adolescents' own language are: "ok" , " boob-tubes" , " m inded" , " bread in the oven" , "allright" , "hike" , "fun" .Non-verbally it seems as if this "own language" gives the adoles cents some kind of autonomy and feel ing of independence.The non-verbal behaviour that accompanies the use of short sentences, are the fact that very few silences are used in between these short sentences.B eaum ont's(1995: 109-132) research confirms the above.
The lack of focusing on the feelings of the conversationist: H odge et al(1981: 9)state that messages carry much more interpersonal content than cognitive content does.Behaviour that initiate and maintain this communication pattern are the adolescents' search for autonomy and independence as well as th e ir endeavor to resolve problem s.Inspite of the adolescents' endeavor and intention to solve a problem, he fails to do so due to the fact that communica tion is focused on the cognitive message and not on the feelings contained in the message.A verbal endeavour to do problem solving featured in the research with: "What is wrong?"Non verbally the intensity of the adolescents' voices in tensify when trying to do problem solv ing.
Feelings of "don't care", rage, passive  The purpose of the study is to develop a m odel for an enrich ment programme for nurses, to enable them to fulfil their pro fessional role.1999/14 CHAUKE, EM Tel: (012) 320-3275 University of Pretoria Master's: Adaptation of lodger mothers after prolonged room ing in with their hospitalised neonates at Garankuwa Hospital.The aims of the study are to describe how mothers who roomedin for a month or more adapt at home after discharge and to identify problems related to physical care o f babies which they experienced after discharge.The purpose of the study is to collect baseline data on occupa tional risks that nurses are exposed to in order to motivate for the establishment o f an occupational health service.1999/25 RAMAKUMBA, TS Tel: (012) 529-3205 Fax: (012) 560-0099 University of the Witwatersrand Master's: An investigation into the knowledge mothers of un der 2-year old children have of the 'road to health' chart in a tertiary health care unit in Garakuwa.The purpose of the study is to determine the knowledge of mothers and their understanding of the use of the 'road to health' chart in the health maintenance of their children.The study aims at collecting data which will function as base line information on cultural beliefs and practices surrounding pregnancy.A structured interview guide with both open and close-ended questions was used to collect data from 230 preg nant women who were 18 years of age and older and who were wiling to participate.The data was processed on computer and a statistical software package known as 'Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) ' was used.The study revealed that preg nant women used a combination o f care givers which either included a modern midwife and an elderly woman at church or a modern midwife and a traditional midwife.This is done in order to follow the traditional and cultural beliefs surrounding pregnancy and childbirth.The majority (92,2%) o f the antenatal women in this study had primary and secondary education but still followed their cultural beliefs and practices.Thus, educa tion does not appear to influence cultural beliefs and practices.The most common reasons cited for adhering to the beliefs and practices were that defiance was a taboo punishable by the ancestors.This study has highlighted the cultural beliefs and practices related to pregnancy.Further in-depth investiga tion into the impact o f these cultural beliefs and practices is needed as it is imperative to determine their impact on preg nancy and its outcome.The limitation of the study was that data was only collected in one city and, therefore, the results cannot be generalised to the entire population.1999/37 RAPINYANA, O Tel: +09267 21-3136Fax: +09267 21-5328 University of the Witwatersrand M aster's: Postpartum wom en's perceptions of early discharge from hospital.The purpose of the study was to investigate women's percep tions of early discharge after childbirth and to determine their needs.The study aims to create an awareness that could lead to improved service and meet the needs o f postnatal women.A descriptive survey design was used in order to study the views of postpartum mothers in relation to early postpartum discharge.The target population was postnatal mothers six weeks post delivery.Simple random sampling was used to select five clin ics for the study.Convenience sampling was used to select a sample of at least 22 postnatal women from each clinic.A sam ple of 110 post-natal women was obtained from five clinics.A structured interview schedule was used and both open and close-ended questions were utilised..The findings of the study revealed that respondents felt that it was good to be discharged early in order to join their families at home for support.Those respondents who felt it was not good, felt that they lacked infor mation and basic skills in relation to care o f their babies and self.The findings further showed that primiparae experienced stressful events post-delivery for example, tearfulness.The limi tations are that the study was conducted in only one urban set ting, there, the findings cannot be generalised beyond the sam ple.The findings of this research are also limited to the five clinics.It is recommended that each postnatal ward should have a teaching manual which provides instruction or information that must be given by the midwives to the postnatal women.It is also recommended that the needs of the mothers be recog nised, so that information given is individualised.It is further recommended that a similar study be conducted on teenage mothers to identify problems of grous with special needs.aggression and uncertainty also initiate and maintain the recurrent interpersonal communication pattern of failing to fo cus on feelings.By not discussing feel ings but by only im plying them , the above mentioned pattern keeps evolv ing durin g a do le scen t interpersonal communication.

Curationis Subscription Form
Adolescent thoughts that initiate and maintain the abovementioned recurrent interpersonal communication pattern are thoughts on problemsolving and com promising.These thoughts lead to noth ing when they are not focussed on the emotional content of messages.Exam p les of ve rb a l c o m p ro m is e are: "Compromize?Well that sounds Ok, I accept that."; and "Ok, I will try to make another plan."

Conclusion
The above conclude the findings of this research.The researcher believes that the adolescents have the ability to for mulate constructive interpersonal com munication skills if they are given the o p p u rtu n ity and are fa s c ilita te d corrrectly.The adolescents' verbalised their dissatisfaction with their way of in terpersonal communication can be uti lized in an approach to fascilitate ado lescents into form ulating constructive interpersonal communication skills.

Limitations
A possible limitation to this study is the use of video recordings as data gather ing m ethod, since video reco rd ing s could have made the adolescents anx ious an could have influenced the way in which they communicated with one another.This limitation was however put aside in putting the adolescents at ease by allowing them to watch themselves on a TV screen as they entered the room and while having informal conversation.Triangulation through the written dia logues that were done together with the videotape recordings also makes the above possible limitation less of a con cern.

Recommendations
Recommendations were made for psy chiatric nursing practice, -research and -education: Psychiatric nursing p ra ctice : Knowl edge of the adolescents' interpersonal communication patterns enable the psy chiatric nurse to fascilitate adolescents in becoming more effective interpersonal communicators.Research: Data gathered in phase 1 of this research is rich in information on adolescent interpersonal com m unica tion which is an understudied field of re search, thus other research can be con ducted on this data.Guidelines can be described for the operationalization of an interpersonal communication approach for adolescents which could be put into practice and w hich can then be de scribed within a single case study.N ursing education: Nursing students can be made aware of the communica tion patterns that adolescents use to enable the students to fascilitate more effective interpersonal communication in their clients.
C a rlso n ; M a re u s-N e w h a ll & M ille r(1 990: 622-633) sta te th a t ve rb alizatio ns because of rage give leadway to rage becoming aggression.A verbal example of how rage featured in the research is: " Now I know what you think of the way in which I dress Mother!What gives you in any way the right to say something about my clothes when you are not in fashion since a long time ago!" Non verbal behaviour accom panying this include incongruent voice intensity and an over controled way of speech.Hands are not used and this shows the passivity of the way in which the adolescents experience their rage.

I
would like to subscribe to Curationis.Enclosed please find the prescribed subscription fee.□ R80 as a m em ber of DENOSA -m em bership n u m b e r_____ | | R120 as a non-m em ber of DENOSA □ $US 45 as an international subscriber I am forw arding my subscription fee in the form of: declare, that the person w hose particulars appear on this subscription form , is a b on a fid e nursing student at this tertiary institution who qualifies for 10% discount.Name of Institution ----------------------------------------------------------------------Signature & Capacity __________________________________________ Please post my Curationis to: Prof/Dr/M r/M rs/M iss/M s -----------------------------------------Code ----------------------------------Cheques/postal orders/ m oney orders must please be made payable to: DENOSA Post the subscription form together with you paym ent to:The Editor, Curationis, PO Box 1280, Pretoria, 0001, SA.Name of institutionunder whose auspices the research was conducted e.g.Name of University/Technikon/College/lnstitution/Other (please specify) Master's: A survey on the knowledge and experiences of newly diagnosed tuberculosis patients and health workers about the management of tuberculosis.The purpose o f the study is to gather the relevant information and possibly recommend the development o f an educational tool to supplement daily patient education.1999/16BAIRD, AC Tel: (012) 354-2129 Fax: (012) 354-1490 E-mail: < annab@ netactive.co.za>University of Pretoria Other Research: Nursing dynamics: telematic education -a comparative study concerning paper based versus transmis sion only method of teaching.The purpose o f the study is to estimate the value o f paper-based telematic education regarding nursing dynamics.Master's: The perceptions of the realisation of the scope of practice of the registered nurse in newly graduate nurses.The purpose of this study is to describe the perceptions re garding the realisation o f the scope of practice of the regis tered nurse in newly graduated nurses.The management of iron/folate supplementation for pregnant women by registered nurses and midwives in ma ternity services in Windhoek.The purpose of the study is to obtain information on the man agement of iron/folate supplementation in pregnant women by registered nurses and midwives.Experiences of women who had abortion by choice.The purpose o f the study is to explore the experience of women who had abortion by choice regarding the procedure of abor tion.Master's: The lived experience of teenage pregnancy.The purpose of the study is to describe the lived experience of teenage pregnancy in a rural African community.The realisation of conscientisation during sustain able com m unity development: a participatory research ap proach.The aim s o f the s tu d y are to a n a lise the p ro c e s s o f c o n s c ie n tis a tio n a c c o rd in g to Paolo F re ire 's th e o ry o f conscientisation, as it manifested itself in the participants of the study and to describe the realisation o f the process of conscientisation as perceived by the facilitators of the commu nity development that occured.1999/22 THAKHISI, YM Tel: +09266 331901 University of the Witwatersrand M aster's: Knowledge, attitude and risk behaviours for con tracting HIV/AIDS infection among adolescents in schools in Lesotho.The study seeks to reveal what knowledge high school stu dents have regarding HIV/AIDS and how the students apply the knowledge they have bout HIV/AIDS in their daily lives.Record review of absenteeism in a paint factory.The research seeks to establish the reasons associated with absenteeism and to develop a health programme that may help to control and/or reduce absenteeism.1999/24 MOLISE, N.A. Tel: +09266 31-4608Fax: +09266 31-7671 University of the Witwatersrand Master's: Occupational hazards among nurses in a large re ferral hospital in Lesotho.

• The lack of focusing on the feelings of Curationis December 1999 36 T ab le 1 S tra te g ie s to ensure tru s tw o rth in e ss STRATEGY CRITERIA APPLICATION
An ex ample of how this pattern featured in the research is: "Well, You never wanted me You told Dad that you wanted an abor tion, so my style of clothing.It doesn't matter, does it?"Verbal blaming is ac companied by non verbal interpersonal communication hints such as looking the conversationist in the eyes while making blamefull statements, speaking louder and leaning forward into the conversa tionists personal space.
Defocusing and externalizing the topic under discussion: Okun(1987: 25) re marks that defocusing from the topic under discussion during interpersonal communication is a less positive inter personal communication skill.Examples of behaviour that initiate and maintain this pattern are the blaming of the other conversationist, signs of adolescents measuring themselves against the con versationist or other persons and sar casm.Robin & Koepke(1990: 178-215)lists the blaming of others as a negative interper sonal co m m unication skill that co m pares with the accusing of others, hu miliating others, prescribing to others, preaching to others, reading thoughts and giving demands to others.
A model for the training of reflective nurses.The purpose of the research is to develop a m odel incorporat ing the theory of conscientisation developed by Paolo Freire for the training of reflective practitioners.An investigation into the health needs and experi ences of children in foster homes in Windhoek.The puspose of the study is to gather information on the health needs and experiences of children in foster homes in Windhoek.
The preparedness of professional nurses in terms of human resource development strategy for the transforma tion of health care in KwaZulu-Natal province.The purpose of the study is to evaluate if the existing human resource development strategies are adequate and appropri ate to prepare professional nurses to function effectively in the transformed health care system in South Africa, with particular reference to the primary health care philosophy.Home based care as a continuum of the compre hensive health care provision for people living with AIDS at Umlazi Health Region F, KwaZulu-Natal.The aim of the study is to determine the appropriateness of care provided for people living with AIDS at home and to deter mine the type and extent of support they get.The effectiveness of the directly observed treatment short course (DOTS) strategy for control of tuberculosis in the Outer West Health District of KwaZulu-Natal.The purpose of the study is to investigate the treatment out come of patients enrolled in the DOTS programme from the ' perspective o f those involved in its implementation as provid ers and consumers.Problems will be identified and recommen dations made for improvement where necessary.Learning styles of students at nursing colleges as sociated with MEDUNSA.A descriptive survey was conducted in Bafokeng, Ga-Rankuwa, Gazankulu and Kangwane nursing colleges.The data was gath ered with the help of a questionnaire.Random sampling method was used to select 10% of the total population for the pilot study, to test for validity and reliability.Of the 284 questionnaires dis tributed to the four colleges to first year and fourth year stu dents respectively, a usable response o f 284 (100%) was ob tained.The results indicated that every individual student uses more than one learning style.There is no significant difference between fourth year male and female students' learning styles when compared to those o f first year students.Therefore, nurse teachers should use many teaching strategies during the teach ing process in order to enhance learning.Students should as well change or modify their learning styles in relation to the teaching styles o f their teachers and this will improve learning and teaching.It is recommended that a study on identification of teaching strategies used at various nursing colleges be done.Identification o f learning styles of each student and compari-» son thereof should also be done at different year levels of train ing.The cultural beliefs and practices amongst urban antenatal Botswana women in Francistown City.The purpose o f this non-experimental descriptive study was to identify the cultural beliefs and practices surrounding pregnancy.