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West Virginia University

Theses/Dissertations

2014

Developmental psychology

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Experimentally-Induced Savoring And Its Impact On Positive Emotions, Cognitions, And Behaviors: Investigating Individual Differences In Effectiveness, Cara A. Palmer Aug 2014

Experimentally-Induced Savoring And Its Impact On Positive Emotions, Cognitions, And Behaviors: Investigating Individual Differences In Effectiveness, Cara A. Palmer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

By broadening cognitions and actions, positive affect increases our ability to engage in novel behaviors and build resources, which can lead to better social relationships, better health, more success, and increased resilience (Fredrickson, 2001). Thus, finding ways to increase and maintain positive affect and its broadening effects is essential. One way to up-regulate positive affect is by savoring, or actively trying to prolong or intensify a positive feeling. Although savoring is associated with a number of positive outcomes, the nature of the relationship between savoring, positive affect, and the resulting cognitive effects is not well explored. Furthermore, while some preliminary …


Friendship Quality Of Early Adolescent Girls In Relation To Maternal And Paternal Parenting, Social Anxiety, And Interpersonal Skill, Joanna T. Prout Aug 2014

Friendship Quality Of Early Adolescent Girls In Relation To Maternal And Paternal Parenting, Social Anxiety, And Interpersonal Skill, Joanna T. Prout

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Social anxiety has been shown to negatively impact friendship quality across the lifespan, leading to relationships that are less intimate and emotionally supportive. In turn, lower friendship quality and lack of social support have been linked to increased risk for isolation and depression. Early adolescence is a period of transition when the basis of friendship shifts from the ability to be a good play partner to the ability to engage in more complex interpersonal skills such as self-disclosure, provision of emotional support, and assertiveness. The early adolescent period is also a time when levels of social anxiety increase as children …


A Developmental Perspective: Early Childhood Externalizing Behaviors Pathway To Delinquency In Adolescence, Tandra Nicole Sias May 2014

A Developmental Perspective: Early Childhood Externalizing Behaviors Pathway To Delinquency In Adolescence, Tandra Nicole Sias

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Early childhood externalizing behaviors are a known risk factor for future problem behaviors (e.g., poor achievement, delinquency). The present study seeks to illuminate the pathway of early childhood externalizing behaviors to five adolescent delinquency types (i.e., violent offenses, property offenses, illicit drug use, licit drug use, and minor offenses), in addition to overall delinquency. Study data came from two waves of the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-1979 (CNLSY-79; N = 855, 52.4% male, 24.1% Hispanic, 36.6% Black, and 39.1% white). Boys engaged in higher levels of violent and property crimes, and black youth were less likely to …


The Germs Inside Me: Pediatric Patients' Conceptualization Of Illness And Regulation Of Emotions During Hospitalization, Sarah E. Buck May 2014

The Germs Inside Me: Pediatric Patients' Conceptualization Of Illness And Regulation Of Emotions During Hospitalization, Sarah E. Buck

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The transition into a medical setting can be difficult for children under the age of 18. Previous research has identified a child's capacity to construct accurate representations of illness, in addition to the construction and application of adaptive strategies to modify emotional arousal, as significant predictors of successful adjustment to a medical environment. Preexisting research has neglected to investigate the constructs of illness conceptualization and regulatory systems of emotions. Using a sample of 26 pediatric patients and 26 adult informants, the current study explored the complex relationship between emotional regulation and the conceptualization of illness among children, from the ages …


Parents' Value Of Play In Early Childhood: A Comparative Study Of Spousal Play Beliefs, Meghan C. Devito May 2014

Parents' Value Of Play In Early Childhood: A Comparative Study Of Spousal Play Beliefs, Meghan C. Devito

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Play is a vital tool for developmental growth and learning in early childhood. However, with the current focus on academics, there is less emphasis placed on encouraging children to play. The current study investigated parental beliefs on play. The sample consisted of 34 middle-class couples (34 mothers, 34 fathers) co-parenting a preschool-aged child (3-5 years) attending the laboratory school of a large mid-Atlantic university. Participants were surveyed about their beliefs on play. Results revealed mothers' value of play to be higher than fathers'. Although significantly different, both mothers and fathers perceived play positively. The findings suggest that early childhood professionals …


Evaluation Of Emotion Regulation And Associated Characteristics In Foster Children Using The Dyadic Parent-Child Coding System And Caregiver-Report Measures, Meredith A. Norman May 2014

Evaluation Of Emotion Regulation And Associated Characteristics In Foster Children Using The Dyadic Parent-Child Coding System And Caregiver-Report Measures, Meredith A. Norman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The main purposes of this study were to: (a) explore the validity of a relatively new behavioral observation coding system in young children referred for treatment of disruptive behavior, (b) explore which specific foster parent behaviors are most associated with child emotion regulation, and (c) explore whether internalizing or externalizing foster child behavior problems are most associated with child emotion regulation. The sample consisted of 40 foster parent-child dyads who participated in a larger study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Assessments included behavioral observation of child emotion regulation using the Global Dysregulation Scale and a calculation of the …


Parenting Style And Emotion Socialization Strategies As Predictors Of Children's Emotion Regulation, Nicole Nightengale May 2014

Parenting Style And Emotion Socialization Strategies As Predictors Of Children's Emotion Regulation, Nicole Nightengale

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The purpose of this study was to examine the way that parenting styles (e.g., authoritative and authoritarian parenting) and parents' emotion socialization strategies (e.g., supportive and non-supportive reactions to emotions) collectively impact children's emotion regulation. Data was collected from 51 mothers (mean age = 34.4 years) and their preschool-aged children (mean age = 3.76 years). The majority of the mothers (93.8%) and children (89.6%) were Caucasian. Mothers completed a demographic questionnaire composed of demographic questions about the mother, the father, and the preschool-aged child. Mothers also completed the Parenting Practices Questionnaire (PPQ; Robinson, Mandleco, Frost Olsen, & Hart, 2005) as …


The Role Of Physical Appearance In The Peer Acceptance Of Emerging Adults Undergoing Chemotherapy, Megan E. Samples May 2014

The Role Of Physical Appearance In The Peer Acceptance Of Emerging Adults Undergoing Chemotherapy, Megan E. Samples

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Peer acceptance has been shown to influence the overall social development of an individual and physical appearance has been shown to be heavily influential in the overall peer acceptance of an individual. This study considered how appearing as if undergoing treatment for cancer impacted peer acceptance. A sample of 182 emerging adults (79% female; 21% male) evaluated four types of hypothetical emerging adult peers (a healthy male, a healthy female, a male who appears to be undergoing chemotherapy, and a female who appears to be undergoing chemotherapy. Results showed that the healthy female model had significantly higher peer acceptance scores …