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There were ten well adjusted stable’; four ‘distressed stable’; seven ‘improvement in
adjustment’; and five self selecting as ‘deterioration in adjustment’.
Measures
A semi-structured interview schedule (see appendix 10) was constructed by the project team
based on a priori themes emerging from previous studies of visible difference. Responses to a
range of quantitative measures used in the main study (DAS; FNE; & HADS) were also
examined, using these participants’ responses both at baseline and to the longitudinal survey.
Procedure
Participants were interviewed individually at a venue of their choice by one of three of the
Research Associates. All interviewers received training in interviewing prior to the
commencement of the day. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim.
Data analysis
Template analysis (King 1998) was used to collate and analyse the qualitative data in line with
the a priori themes. This process involves the development and application of templates related
to the a priori themes and also the modification of these themes through a process of iterative
re-examination and analysis of the data.
Questionnaire data (HADS, DAS, and FNE) were compared using the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks
test for mean scores and Jacobson’s Reliable Change Index (RCI) for individual scores. Chi
Square was used to compare the four self-selected groups (1 stable coping well, 2 stable
distressed, 3 changed-improved, 4 changed-deteriorated) with RCI scores categorised into four
groups (1 no significant change and score within the non-clinical range, 2 no significant change
and score within the clinical range, 3 significant change-improved, 4 significant changedeteriorated).
RESULTS
Template Analysis
Participants offered a considerable range of responses, which were exhaustively captured
under the template headings. Where a theme is obvious from its title, no further expansion of its
meaning is given. Otherwise, a sentence or brief paragraph demonstrates the nature of the
responses, which have given rise to the identification of this theme. All themes arose directly
from participant responses, but due to space considerations only a subset of the supporting
quote material is included here.
The data are summarised according to 3 stages: predisposing factors; intervening processes;
outcomes. These are reported here by proceeding from generalised responses to those which
are more specific to the subgroups of the sample.
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