Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

PDF

Psychology

Theses/Dissertations

Louisiana State University

Children

Articles 1 - 20 of 20

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Anxiety And Depression's Incremental Effect On Executive Functioning Deficits In Children And Adolescents, Paige Picou Mar 2021

Anxiety And Depression's Incremental Effect On Executive Functioning Deficits In Children And Adolescents, Paige Picou

LSU Master's Theses

Children and adolescents experiencing anxiety and/or depression experience impairment in a myriad of domains and often engage in maladaptive strategies that then exacerbate or prolong their current symptomology. However, there is still a paucity of research examining anxiety and depression’s impact on executive functioning in children and adolescents, and existing research is muddled with problems in how researchers both define and choose to measure executive functioning. This study aims to clarify some of the conflicting research on anxiety and depression’s impact on executive functioning by using Barkley’s hybrid theory of executive functioning to determine whether anxiety and depressive symptomology add …


The Use Of Systematic Distractions To Increase Sustained Attention In School-Aged Children With Attention Problems, Emma Larson Oct 2018

The Use Of Systematic Distractions To Increase Sustained Attention In School-Aged Children With Attention Problems, Emma Larson

LSU Master's Theses

With the growing prevalence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children (DSM-5, 2013), it has been established that the ability of these children to sustain attention is marked with difficulty (Barkley, 2006). Prior research has addressed the need to increase sustained attention in children with ADHD, however, not all of the promising methods take into consideration that children with ADHD have difficulty ignoring distractions (Rapport et al., 2009). This is problematic because the typical classroom environment is filled with distractions. The current study attempted to fill this research gap by training participants to sustain attention while systematically introducing distractions …


Effects Of Premature Birth And/Or Low Birthweight On Developmental Outcomes, Rachel L. Goldin Jan 2016

Effects Of Premature Birth And/Or Low Birthweight On Developmental Outcomes, Rachel L. Goldin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Advances in neonatal technology have improved survival rates of children born at lower and lower birthweight and after fewer and fewer weeks of gestation. However, these children are at increased risk of experiencing developmental delays. As weeks of gestation and birthweight decrease, the risk of developmental impairment and severity increases. Yet to be determined is whether premature birth and low birthweight (LBW) effect development differentially, and if the combined, have an additive effect on developmental outcomes. The first part of this study aimed to examine the independent effects of preterm birth and LBW in children at risk for developmental delays. …


Social Support As A Protective Factor For Bullied Children And Adolescents, Seandra Jean Cosgrove Jan 2014

Social Support As A Protective Factor For Bullied Children And Adolescents, Seandra Jean Cosgrove

LSU Master's Theses

The impact of bullying on children’s self-esteem, confidence, and social acceptance has become increasingly recognized. Considerable research has evaluated the deleterious effects of bullying and protective and risk factors as a result of victimization. Past research has shown social support to be a protective factor for children and adolescents who have been subjected to negative experiences, such as experiencing traumatic events (Vigna, Hernandez, Paasch, Gordon, & Kelley, 2009). However, research has not evaluated whether social support buffers the impact of bullying on children and adolescents. The current study investigated perceived social support and its role as a protective factor against …


Autism Severity And Comorbid Symptoms In Children With Asd, Jina Jang Jan 2014

Autism Severity And Comorbid Symptoms In Children With Asd, Jina Jang

LSU Master's Theses

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are reported to evince high rates of comorbid symptoms. Co-occurring disorders among individuals with ASD are often difficult to assess and diagnose accurately. Also, comorbid conditions frequently exacerbate symptoms of ASD. Different treatment regimens may be effective for comorbid symptoms in ASD; however, research looking at comorbid symptoms and ASD is limited. The current study aimed to extend the literature in this area by examining the relationship between ASD and comorbid symptoms. First, the current study assessed how often and how severely comorbid symptoms were endorsed. Further, autism severity was used to predict comorbid …


Teachers' Perspectives On The Need And Acceptability Of School-Based Identification And Treatment For Children Exposed To Violence: A Mixed-Methods Approach, Rachel Marie Olinger Jan 2014

Teachers' Perspectives On The Need And Acceptability Of School-Based Identification And Treatment For Children Exposed To Violence: A Mixed-Methods Approach, Rachel Marie Olinger

LSU Master's Theses

Increasing research has emerged in the last decade focusing on interventions for youth experiencing difficulties due to traumatic experiences in their lives. In addition, recent literature has proposed that schools may in fact be an effective location for the delivery of mental health services to these children and, that teachers and school staff may be effective at implementing the proposed interventions. However, trauma is a broad term often used to describe a wide range of stressful situations for students, each of which has varying degrees of influence. With the increase of violence exposure for youth in their homes, schools, and …


Development And Validation Of The Adolescent Thought Control Questionnaire (Tcq-A), Reanna (Sara) Elise Whiting Jan 2012

Development And Validation Of The Adolescent Thought Control Questionnaire (Tcq-A), Reanna (Sara) Elise Whiting

LSU Master's Theses

Despite receiving widespread attention in the adult literature, virtually no information about the effects of thought suppression currently exists using a developmental psychopathology perspective in adolescents. The current study describes the development and preliminary validation of The Adolescent Thought Control Questionnaire, a self-report measure of thought suppression strategy use among adolescents. A principal factor analysis revealed an identical factor structure to the adult Thought Control Questionnaire (Wells & Davies, 1994) and included subscales measuring Distraction, Reappraisal, Social, Worry, and Punishment strategies. Adequate evidence of internal and test-retest reliability was obtained. The TCQ-A evidenced strong validity when tested for relations to …


Assessing Social Support In Children: Development And Initial Validation Of The Social Support Questionnaire For Children, Arlene Tayag Gordon Jan 2011

Assessing Social Support In Children: Development And Initial Validation Of The Social Support Questionnaire For Children, Arlene Tayag Gordon

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Research examining risk and protective factors associated with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in children has established social support as one of the strongest predictors of psychological health and overall adjustment post-traumatic event (Vigil & Geary, 2008). Greater perceived social support, generally, has been related to more positive outcomes in children (Borja & Callahan, 2008; Cryder, Kilmer, Tedeschi, & Calhoun, 2006; Pina, Villalta, Ortiz, Gottschall, Costa, & Weems, 2008). Understanding the impact of social support on coping with traumatic events such as natural disasters or exposure to community violence is limited by the lack of psychometrically sound measures. The current study …


Predicting Posttraumatic Growth: Coping, Social Support, And Posttraumatic Stress In Children And Adolescents After Hurricane Katrina, Mark Allen Schexnaildre Jan 2011

Predicting Posttraumatic Growth: Coping, Social Support, And Posttraumatic Stress In Children And Adolescents After Hurricane Katrina, Mark Allen Schexnaildre

LSU Master's Theses

There is a growing area of research that explores the possibility that negative life events could ultimately result in positive outcomes. However, there exists some debate on whether or not children are capable of experiencing such outcomes. The proposed study examined posttraumatic growth (PTG), positive psychological change in the wake of a traumatic event, in a sample of child and adolescent victims of Hurricane Katrina. Specifically, the roles of coping and social support were studied as predictors of PTG. Additionally, the relationship between PTG and posttraumatic stress disorder, which has been shown to be a complex one, was explored. This …


The Relationship Among Self-Efficacy, Negative Self-Statements, And Social Anxiety In Children: A Mediation, Brittany Nicole Moree Jan 2010

The Relationship Among Self-Efficacy, Negative Self-Statements, And Social Anxiety In Children: A Mediation, Brittany Nicole Moree

LSU Master's Theses

Evidence suggests that general self-efficacy, one’s beliefs about his or her global abilities, and social self-efficacy, one’s beliefs in his or her ability to navigate social situations, are strongly connected to levels of social anxiety. Negative self-statements, also known as negative self-referent cognitions, have also been linked with levels of social anxiety. Although self-efficacy and negative self-statements have been shown to be important variables in the phenomenology and maintenance of social anxiety in children, they have yet to be examined in conjunction with one another. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between negative self-statements and selfefficacy …


The Development Of Primary And Secondary Memory And Their Relationship To Fluid Intelligence, Sharon Diane Eaves Jan 2010

The Development Of Primary And Secondary Memory And Their Relationship To Fluid Intelligence, Sharon Diane Eaves

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Researchers have been able to link working memory to many important cognitive abilities throughout the life span. Two of the unanswered questions about working memory are what cognitive processes function during working memory task performance and how do these processes directly relate to intelligence? A recent model (Unsworth & Engle, 2006) suggested that performance on working memory tasks was determined by two abilities: the capacity of primary memory and the ability to efficiently retrieve information from secondary memory. In the current study, we extended Unsworth and Engle’s (2006) methodology to include two groups of children (ages 8-9 and 10-11). Our …


Effects Of Delays To Response Blocking When Used As Treatment For Problem Behavior Maintained By Automatic Reinforcement, Megan Leigh Kliebert Jan 2010

Effects Of Delays To Response Blocking When Used As Treatment For Problem Behavior Maintained By Automatic Reinforcement, Megan Leigh Kliebert

LSU Master's Theses

Response blocking and response interruption are common interventions for problem behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement in the treatment literature, but these interventions may be extremely challenging for caregivers to implement with fidelity (i.e., immediately blocking each instance). We evaluated the effects of challenges to the procedural integrity of response blocking and interruption procedures upon the maintenance of treatment effects for problem behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement for two young men by measuring aberrant behavior under several conditions including a baseline condition, an immediate response blocking or interruption condition, and delayed response blocking or interruption conditions (e.g., 3-s, 15-s, and 30-s …


Autism Spectrum Disorders: Validation Of The Autism Spectrum Disorders - Problem Behavior For Children (Asd-Pbc), Relationship Between Age And Challenging Behaviors, Children And Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorders Compared To Typically Developing Controls On The Behavioral Assessment For Children, Second Edition (Basc-2), Sara Rebecca Mahan Jan 2010

Autism Spectrum Disorders: Validation Of The Autism Spectrum Disorders - Problem Behavior For Children (Asd-Pbc), Relationship Between Age And Challenging Behaviors, Children And Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorders Compared To Typically Developing Controls On The Behavioral Assessment For Children, Second Edition (Basc-2), Sara Rebecca Mahan

LSU Master's Theses

Researchers found that Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a predictor for challenging behaviors. Since challenging behaviors are obstacles for social development and learning, it is important to determine if and what challenging behaviors are exhibited and how to best treat them. The Autism Spectrum Disorder – Problem Behavior for Children (ASD-PBC) is an 18 item informant based questionnaire specifically designed to measure challenging behaviors in children with ASD. Convergent and discriminant validity against the Behavioral Assessment System for Children, Second Edition (BASC-2), demonstrated the preliminary validity for the ASD-PBC for use among children and adolescents with ASD. Study 2 examined …


The Role Of Hurricane Exposure And Life Disruption As Predictors Of Child Post-Traumatic Stress Symptomatology Following Hurricane Katrina, Angie Lynn Pellegrin Jan 2009

The Role Of Hurricane Exposure And Life Disruption As Predictors Of Child Post-Traumatic Stress Symptomatology Following Hurricane Katrina, Angie Lynn Pellegrin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

While many children emotionally recover following a disaster (Salzer & Bickman, 1999), possibly one-third of children will experience significant psychological distress or post-traumatic stress symptoms which cause interference with their daily school and home functioning (Vernberg, La Greca, Silverman, & Prinstein, 1996). Research supports the role that exposure, loss, and disruption play in increasing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) severity in children following disasters (La Greca, Silverman, Vernberg, Prinstein, 1996; Verberg et al., 1996). However, there are no assessments or questionnaires that have investigated what type of events during and following a hurricane are most predictive of post-traumatic stress reactions. Using …


Gender Differences In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders And Comorbid Psychopathology, Julie Hess Jan 2009

Gender Differences In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders And Comorbid Psychopathology, Julie Hess

LSU Master's Theses

Abstract Children and adolescents diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) frequently exhibit symptoms that are not associated with the core features of ASD. These symptoms may meet criteria for an additional diagnosis; however, accurate assessment of comorbid psychiatric conditions in ASD has been hindered by a lack of measures designed for this specific purpose. The newly constructed assessment measure, Autism Spectrum Disorders-Comorbid for Children (ASD-CC) has been developed specifically for examining comorbid psychiatric disorders in ASD. Therefore, this study set out to assess differences in the endorsement rates of psychiatric symptoms in children and adolescents diagnosed with ASD compared to …


Comorbidity Of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder And Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Low Income Urban Youth, Karen Ann Laslie Jan 2005

Comorbidity Of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder And Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Low Income Urban Youth, Karen Ann Laslie

LSU Master's Theses

Chronic exposure to violence is becoming increasingly common for urban children, placing them at an increased risk of developing psychopathology. For children exposed to chronic violence, two common diagnoses are Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). However, symptom overlap between these disorders has made differential diagnosis difficult. Most studies looking at the comorbidity between ADHD and PTSD have focused only on maltreated children. This study is the first to look at comorbid rates of ADHD and PTSD for children exposed to chronic violence, not limited to maltreatment. Specifically, this study evaluated rates of PTSD symptoms in children with …


Constructing A Math Applications, Curriculum-Based Assessment: An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Apllications [Sic] Problems, Computation Problems And Criterion-Referenced Assessments, James E. Connell, Jr. Jan 2005

Constructing A Math Applications, Curriculum-Based Assessment: An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Apllications [Sic] Problems, Computation Problems And Criterion-Referenced Assessments, James E. Connell, Jr.

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) is a well established tool for formative assessment. CBM has also been used for prediction of state test scores. However, validity coefficients between math-CBM and state tests have been moderate at best (Skiba, Magnusson, Martson, and Erickson, 1986; Martson, 1989; Putnam, 1989). The purpose of the present investigation was to develop and evaluate a set of math assessments designed to measure the type of application and problem-solving objectives required on state tests. The "application" type assessments constructed for this study combined characteristics of CBM, accuracy-based curriculum-based assessment (CBA) and criterion-referenced assessment (CRA). Theses assessments were derived from …


The Development And Validation Of The Parent Instruction-Giving Game With Youngsters (Piggy) In A Head Start Population, Stephen Danial Anthony Hupp Jan 2002

The Development And Validation Of The Parent Instruction-Giving Game With Youngsters (Piggy) In A Head Start Population, Stephen Danial Anthony Hupp

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Head Start families demonstrate many of the risk factors that relate to the development of noncompliance and other behavior problems in young children, such as low income, limited education, teenage pregnancy, isolation, family stress, single parenthood, and parental psychopathology. Noncompliant preschool-aged children often continue to display difficulties through adolescence. Parent Management Training programs have been developed which can improve child compliance. However, many of the same risk factors that lead to child noncompliance also reduce the effectiveness of parenting interventions. Thus, more efficient assessment and intervention strategies need to be developed to facilitate the treatment of child behavior problems in …


Somatic Complaints And Health Care Utilization In Children Exposed To Violence, Kellie Ann Hilker Jan 2002

Somatic Complaints And Health Care Utilization In Children Exposed To Violence, Kellie Ann Hilker

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In the United States, violence has been referred to as a public health epidemic and violence exposure of our youth is a particularly serious national concern. Numerous negative outcomes are associated with both child victimization and violence exposure including externalizing problems, internalizing symptoms, and poor academic performance. Somatic complaints, which have been associated with internalizing symptoms, have been found as well; however, physical complaints have not been studied in depth. Additionally, health care utilization is an area that is not widely studied in pediatric psychology, but positive associations between posttraumatic stress disorder and increased health care utilization has been found …


Television And Video Game Violence: Age Differences And The Combined Effects Of Passive And Interactive Violent Media, Kelly Stephen Meyers Jan 2002

Television And Video Game Violence: Age Differences And The Combined Effects Of Passive And Interactive Violent Media, Kelly Stephen Meyers

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The present research examined the combined effects of violent video games and violent TV programs on third and sixth-grade boys’ thoughts and behavior. In individual sessions, demographic information about the children’s television viewing and video game playing habits was collected. Participants were exposed to one of six following media conditions for 15 minutes; a) watch a violent (wrestling) or a non-violent video segment (basketball), b) play a violent or a non-violent game, or c) watch a violent or non-violent video segment and then play a video game containing the same characters and content. The potential for violent media to prime …