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Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Peer Engagement And Knowledge (Peak): A Community-Based Group Intervention For Youth In Hawai‘I, Jennifer T. T. Ho

Doctoral Dissertations

This study is a program evaluation with a mixed methods design that evaluated the effectiveness of Peer Engagement and Knowledge (PEAK), a six-week community-based group intervention that incorporates mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) to address multiple health behaviors for multiracial youth in Hilo, Hawai‘i. A total of 51 youth, ages 12-23 years old, participated in this study which included pre-/posttest analyses of health risk factors such as substance use and depression and health promoting factors such as resilience, self-esteem, and mindfulness. Responses from two subsets of participants, who engaged in a focus group (n = 11) and composed gratitude letters ( …

Mindfulness And Self-Compassion: Exploring Pathways To Adolescent Emotional Well-Being, Karen Leslie Bluth

Doctoral Dissertations

Adolescents today are confronted with the compounded stressors of life in our high-pressured society and the cognitive, physiological, and emotional changes that are characteristic of this stage of development. As a result, they often struggle with self-doubt, leading to depression, anxiety, and maladaptive trajectories. Mindfulness, or paying attention in the moment in an intentional and purposeful way, has been reported to have positive effects on emotional well-being in adults, and shows promise for similar results in recent research with children and adolescents.

Moreover, the mechanisms through which being mindful achieves positive outcomes has only recently been explored, and has not …

A Model Of Quality Of Life And Emotional And Behavioral Functioning In Obese Children And Adolescents, Terry Oliver Thomas

Doctoral Dissertations

Review of literature indicates that obesity is on the rise nationally and obese individuals are at inherent risk for a variety of comorbid physical, psychological, and social problems which often result in significant functional impairment due to sequelae. Previous research suggests a meaningful association between obesity and greater internalizing difficulties typically manifested by symptoms of depression and anxiety (Faith, Matz, & Jorge, 2002; Scott et al., 2008; Stunkard, Faith, & Allison, 2003; Zhao, Ford, Dhingra, Strine, & Mokdad, 2009). In recent years, there has been emerging interest in exploring the relationship between obesity and individuals with externalizing problems including aggression, …