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Conceptualization And Measurement Of Adolescent Prosocial Behavior: A Two-Study Mixed Methods Investigation, Shereen El Mallah
Conceptualization And Measurement Of Adolescent Prosocial Behavior: A Two-Study Mixed Methods Investigation, Shereen El Mallah
Doctoral Dissertations
Prosocial behavior is a multifaceted construct that may be expressed and received in a myriad of ways, thereby posing several challenges in measurement. Undoubtedly, significant advancements in the measurement of prosocial behavior have been made since the construct first found its way onto the research stage; however, a few fundamental problems persist with regard to: 1) the absence of a universally employed definition, 2) substantial variation in operationalization and measurement of the construct, and 3) inconsistent reports regarding the nature of prosocial development during the transition between adolescence and young adulthood. These issues are further compounded under conditions of adversity …
Individuation As An Adolescent Developmental Task: Associations With Adoptee Adjustment, Danila Musante
Individuation As An Adolescent Developmental Task: Associations With Adoptee Adjustment, Danila Musante
Doctoral Dissertations
This study evaluated the associations between adolescent individuation and concurrent and long term adjustment in adoptive families. Individuation was assessed using an observational measure examining behaviors and communications demonstrative of individuality and connectedness between each parent and the adolescent. Findings did not support the hypothesized connection between adolescent individuation and concurrent and long term adjustment in adoptive families. However, further analyses revealed particular importance of connectedness between adolescent and parent for adolescent adjustment, which was found to vary by adolescent gender. Specifically, analyses revealed that gender interacts with both adolescent-father connectedness and mother-adolescent connectedness in predicting adolescent internalizing symptoms; for …
Emotion In Adoption Narratives: Links To Close Relationships In Emerging Adulthood, Holly A. Grant-Marsney
Emotion In Adoption Narratives: Links To Close Relationships In Emerging Adulthood, Holly A. Grant-Marsney
Doctoral Dissertations
An adopted person develops a narrative or story to help make sense of his or her adoption. This narrative provides a window into how the adoptee understands the role of adoption in his or her life and articulates feelings and thoughts about it. Adolescent and emerging adult adoptees’ data from the Minnesota-Texas Adoption Research Project (MTARP) were examined. MTARP longitudinally followed 190 adoptive kinship networks, with varying levels of openness in the adoption, from childhood to emerging adulthood. The current study sought to understand how emotion (affective valence and specific emotions), as identified in the adoption narratives during adolescence and …
The Effects Of Social Support On At-Risk Youth, Christi Lanet Culpepper
The Effects Of Social Support On At-Risk Youth, Christi Lanet Culpepper
Doctoral Dissertations
Social support is conceptualized as a protective factor that buffers against distress and dysfunction. Social support can be beneficial to all individuals and is usually available through a support system consisting of family and friends. Unfortunately, there are populations that lack effective support systems and consequently do not receive social support. One such population is at-risk youth. In this project, I examined the effects of social support, within the context of participation in youth programs, on the academic, emotional, and behavioral functioning of at-risk youth. Twenty-three adolescents participating in three youth programs were assessed at three time points: the beginning …
Developmental Trajectories Of Adhd Symptoms To Adolescent Substance Use: What Influence Do Peer, Family And Neighborhood Factors Have?, Michael Lawrence Vitulano
Developmental Trajectories Of Adhd Symptoms To Adolescent Substance Use: What Influence Do Peer, Family And Neighborhood Factors Have?, Michael Lawrence Vitulano
Doctoral Dissertations
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has been consistently linked to risk for early substance use. However, the potential mediating mechanisms and moderators of this association remain unclear. The current study examined peer rejection, school bonding and internalizing problems as potential mediators of the association between childhood ADHD symptoms and adolescent substance use in a longitudinal study following children from fourth to ninth grade. Results suggest that ADHD symptoms follow a path to early initiation of tobacco use through the combined effects of peer rejection and internalizing problems as well as through internalizing problems alone. ADHD symptoms did not follow developmental pathways to …