Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 17 of 17
Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network
Children's Beliefs About Hierarchical Structures And Relationships., Megan Norris
Children's Beliefs About Hierarchical Structures And Relationships., Megan Norris
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Children are surrounded by social structures such as families, schools, and workplaces which are often arranged hierarchically with some people holding more power than others. This dissertation explores how children think about hierarchical relationships and more complex hierarchical structures. In Chapter 2, children were asked to evaluate the traits of people who hold hierarchically dominant and subordinate social roles. With age, 4- to 6-year-olds increasingly inferred that dominant individuals have social power and they deferred to their instructions (Chapter 2, Study 1). Furthermore, 5- and 6-year-olds attributed knowledgeability to individuals with dominant social roles but overall children did not prefer …
Reactive And Regulative Temperament Dimensions, Emotion Regulation, And Concurrent Internalizing And Externalizing Pathology Among Youth With Adhd., Kirsten D. Leaberry
Reactive And Regulative Temperament Dimensions, Emotion Regulation, And Concurrent Internalizing And Externalizing Pathology Among Youth With Adhd., Kirsten D. Leaberry
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Emerging research has increasingly identified the detrimental effect of internalizing and externalizing comorbidity on the functioning of youth with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Research in the broad child psychopathology literature has identified a variety of dispositional and developmental risk factors for psychopathology development in youth. However, a conceptual model of psychopathology development has yet to be developed and empirically evaluated in an ADHD sample. Children with ADHD may be particularly vulnerable to exhibiting high rates of psychopathology, given deficits in self-regulation prevalent in this population. The current study proposed and evaluated a theoretical model of distal and proximal risk factors for …
A Phenomenological Study Of The Experiences Of Military Families, Who Have Children With Disabilities And Maladaptive Behavior, With School-Based Mental Health Personnel, Londi J. Segler
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This qualitative study used a phenomenological approach to capture the lived experiences of military families who have children with disabilities and maladaptive behavior to note risk and protective factors that might impede the mental health development of that population of student. Through interviews with at-home-caregivers, I explored their experiences with public school staff, outside mental health services, and school psychologists. Study findings revealed that participants felt they were going to battle with school staff who were not willing to incorporate culturally responsive practices when working with their children. School staff who implemented regular bi-directional communication were more likely to gain …
Integrated Psychological Services In Pediatric Primary Care: A Program Evaluation, Kristen Laprade Johnson
Integrated Psychological Services In Pediatric Primary Care: A Program Evaluation, Kristen Laprade Johnson
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Many children and youth experience emotional and/or behavioral health difficulties and lack appropriate access to care. Access to care limitations are particularly relevant to rural populations such as Mississippi. Integrated care models could serve as an innovative solution to increasing access to care for children and youth. In particular, the Three World View model of integrated care asserts that attention should be given to the clinical world (i.e., provision of evidence based services), operational world (i.e., charting, scheduling, referrals, etc.), and the financial world (i.e., funding and reimbursement). The current study utilized program evaluation tools to develop and evaluate a …
Psychotropic Medications And Children: Perceptions Of Mental Health Professionals, Elinor Jane Brereton
Psychotropic Medications And Children: Perceptions Of Mental Health Professionals, Elinor Jane Brereton
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This project explores mental health professionals' perspectives on the prescription of psychotropic medications to children. It emphasizes the placement of biomedicine within its larger social, economic, and political context, and the influence these structures have on the way mental illness is conceptualized and treated in children. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted in Denver, Colorado with psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and a pharmaceutical board member to capture multiple perspectives from different positionalities within the field. Participants discussed factors that they believe influence prescribing practices including: professional role changes, issues of access, limited evidence, cost, and institutional pressures to practice within a …
A Culturally-Sensitive Model Of The Development Of Child Anxiety., Jenny Marie Petrie
A Culturally-Sensitive Model Of The Development Of Child Anxiety., Jenny Marie Petrie
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Explanatory models significantly enhance the understanding of etiological influences that place children at risk for anxiety, yet little is known about processes that promote resilient outcomes in children. While contextual factors influence risk and protective processes, cultural constructs have not been incorporated into existing models of anxiety and the role of culture remains obscure. The current study proposes a culturally sensitive model for understanding the etiological and mitigating processes underlying anxious symptoms in ethnic minority youth, and preliminarily tests basic components of the proposed model within a non-clinical community sample of 49 African American (AA) parent-child dyads who completed self-report …
Young Adult Children’S Communicative Management Of Emotions About Divorce And Divorce Disclosures: Creating And Applying A New Measure, Jenna Shimkowski
Young Adult Children’S Communicative Management Of Emotions About Divorce And Divorce Disclosures: Creating And Applying A New Measure, Jenna Shimkowski
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Although scholars have examined the impacts of divorce on children, there has been little research focused on how children communicatively manage and make sense of their emotions following the divorce. Theoretically, the communication field is lacking in the knowledge of ways in which children of divorce handle the emotions that can arise in their new family system. This dissertation consists of two studies. Study 1 included identifying the strategies that young adult children report using to manage their emotions regarding parents’ divorce and creating a new measure based on children’s reports of these management strategies. Young adults reported using verbal …
Curiosity Killed The Cat: Investigating A Link Between Curiosity And Risk-Taking Propensity, Carolyn E. Gibson
Curiosity Killed The Cat: Investigating A Link Between Curiosity And Risk-Taking Propensity, Carolyn E. Gibson
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Curiosity, or the drive for information and experiences that motivates exploration, plays a role in intellectual development. Curiosity is perhaps essential to education and intellectual achievement, but curiosity research is limited. Curiosity has been thought a motivation for learning and a cause of non-sanctioned behaviors and behavioral disorders. This prompts a connection with decision-making, specifically risky decision-making, perhaps with curiosity as a motivating force. In Experiment 1, college students were primed with curiosity, then participated in a lab-based behavioral measure of risk-taking, the Balloon Analogue Risk Task, and answered self-report inventories concerning risk-taking and curiosity. In Experiment 2, 4th and …
Friends On The Playground: Associations With Physical Activity Levels In A Preschool Sample, Kevin Francis Karl
Friends On The Playground: Associations With Physical Activity Levels In A Preschool Sample, Kevin Francis Karl
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Child obesity rates have reached an all-time high in the United States; with rates doubling over the past 30 years for children ages 2-5 (Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, 2004). This increase in obesity rates has led to increased research directed at understanding the causes in order to begin to reverse the trend and prevent our children from becoming obese. The literature shows that several key variables, including child physical activity level, parent physical activity level, and peer influences on the playground are related to childhood obesity (Epstein, 2005; Salvy, 2008; Trost, et al., 2003). Much of this …
Family Coping As A Protective Factor For Poor Children, Catherine Decarlo Santiago
Family Coping As A Protective Factor For Poor Children, Catherine Decarlo Santiago
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This study examined family influences on coping and adjustment among 90 low-income Latino middle school children (46% Female; Average age = 11.38, SD = .66) and their primary caregivers (93% Female; Average age = 36.12, SD = 6.13). All participants identified as Hispanic/Latino, with 75% of families identifying as Mexican-origin Latino, 77% of parents identifying as immigrants, and 32% of children identifying immigrants. All children participating in the study were receiving free or reduced lunch, a poverty indicator. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses revealed that family reframing is related to fewer symptoms of psychopathology and that familism enhances the protective effect …
Evaluating An Online Personalized Family-Based Intervention To Promote Healthy Lifestyle Changes, Sharon Hayes
Evaluating An Online Personalized Family-Based Intervention To Promote Healthy Lifestyle Changes, Sharon Hayes
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The current study evaluated the initial feasibility, efficacy, and acceptability of a motivationally-tailored family-based intervention designed to promote the adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviors associated with physical activity and nutrition. Parents (N=132) of children 6 to 11 years old were randomly assigned to the intervention or control condition, and they completed a series of online questionnaires. Intervention participants (n=61) received a single motivationally-tailored feedback report via e-mail. Control participants (n=71) completed measures and immediately received information about a free online resource that provides information about healthy lifestyle behaviors (www.mypyramid.gov). Feasibility data indicate that an online feedback program has high dissemination …
Predicting Children's Emotional And Behavioral Functioning: An Examination Of Coparenting And Parental Satisfaction, Samantha Scott
Predicting Children's Emotional And Behavioral Functioning: An Examination Of Coparenting And Parental Satisfaction, Samantha Scott
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
To examine the interplay among shared parenting, coparent support, parental satisfaction, and child behavior problems, the current study examines the responses of mothers and fathers who have children between the ages of 3- and 6-years. As part of this study, 107 parents (i.e., 80 mothers and 27 fathers) completed a questionnaire packet including measures of coparenting, parental satisfaction, and child behavior problems. Results are examined using correlational and hierarchical regression analyses. Correlational analyses suggest that coparent support and parental satisfaction are related positively and that coparent support and parental satisfaction are related negatively with children's behavior problems. Unique relationships are …
Predictors Of Parental Discipline In Families Raising Youth With Hearing And Communication Disorders, Jenny Klein
Predictors Of Parental Discipline In Families Raising Youth With Hearing And Communication Disorders, Jenny Klein
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Children with disabilities are at high risk for several forms of maltreatment, including abuse and neglect (Ammerman, Hersen, Van Hasselt, Lubetsky, & Sieck, 1994; Sullivan & Knutson, 1998b), and children with hearing and communication disorders comprise a substantial portion of children at risk (e.g., Sullivan & Knutson, 2000). For example, some literature investigating the parenting practices of parents raising children and adolescents with hearing and communication disorders suggests that these parents have a tendency to use physically harsh discipline practices (Knutson, Johnson, & Sullivan, 2004; Sullivan & Knutson, 1998b). Further, high prevalence rates of emotional and behavioral problems are documented …
Mitigating Risk For Anxiety Among Preschool-Age Children Living In Poverty: Evaluating The Impact Of Adult-Provided Social Support On Autonomic Stress Reactivity, Brian Cory Wolff
Mitigating Risk For Anxiety Among Preschool-Age Children Living In Poverty: Evaluating The Impact Of Adult-Provided Social Support On Autonomic Stress Reactivity, Brian Cory Wolff
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Poverty increases children's exposure to stress, elevating their risk for developing patterns of heightened sympathetic and parasympathetic stress reactivity. Repeated patterns of high sympathetic activation and parasympathetic withdrawal place children at risk for anxiety disorders. This study evaluated whether providing social support to preschool-age children during mildly stressful situations helps reduce reactivity, and whether this effect partly depends on children's previously assessed baseline reactivity patterns. The Biological Sensitivity to Context (BSC) theory proposes that highly reactive children may be more sensitive than less reactive children to all environmental influences, including social support. In contrast, conventional physiological reactivity (CPR) theory contends …
Am I Too Fat To Be A Princess? Examining The Effects Of Popular Children's Media On Preschoolers' Body Image, Sharon Hayes
Am I Too Fat To Be A Princess? Examining The Effects Of Popular Children's Media On Preschoolers' Body Image, Sharon Hayes
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The current study investigated the effects of brief exposure to appearance-related media on female preschoolers' body image. Results indicated that exposure did not affect body dissatisfaction or engagement in appearance-related play behaviors. Surprisingly, participants' self-reported frequency of weight concerns decreased at posttest. In contrast to older populations, it is possible that young children may adopt the persona of attractive characters with whom they identify rather than comparing themselves to the characters. This level of identification temporarily may alleviate weight concerns. This is the first empirical study to provide support for previous findings that suggest media exposure does not affect body …
Empirical Modeling Of A Marijuana Expectancy Memory Network In Children As A Function Of Age And Marijuana Use, Jacqueline Alfonso
Empirical Modeling Of A Marijuana Expectancy Memory Network In Children As A Function Of Age And Marijuana Use, Jacqueline Alfonso
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The present investigation modeled the expectancy memory organization and likely memory activation patterns of marijuana expectancies of children across age and marijuana use. The first phase of the study surveyed 142 children to obtain their first associate to marijuana use. From their responses, the Marijuana Expectancy Inventory for Children and Adolescents (MEICA) was developed. The second phase of the study administered the MEICA to a second sample of 392 children to model marijuana expectancy organization and probable memory activation paths of marijuana users versus never-users. Results indicated that irrespective of age, adolescents who have used marijuana tend to emphasize positive-negative …
Parental Attributions And Discipline Of Child Behavior, Arazais Oliveros
Parental Attributions And Discipline Of Child Behavior, Arazais Oliveros
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Extant empirical evidence suggests that multiple risk and protective factors implicated in children's development of behavior problems are intertwined. This study, therefore, investigated the relationships among parental depression and anger, attributions of control, discipline, parent-child relationship variables, and children's behavior problems. Results were based on the responses of parents (55 mothers and 13 fathers) with children in Head Start and parents (52 mothers and 4 fathers) with children in Private School settings. All parents had children who ranged in age from 3- to 8-years. Compared to Private School parents, Head Start parents had lower levels of nonviolent discipline, involvement, and …