Education Commons^™

Popularity And Internalizing Symptoms: The Possible Mediational Role Of Friendship Quality, Jocelyn Camargo

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Adolescence is an important developmental period where friendships become important for social emotional adjustment. Given the importance of friendships in adolescence, the current study explored the relation between popularity and internalizing problems and whether friendship qualities mediated this relation. The present study aimed to answer the following research question: What is the mediating role of friendship qualities in the relationship between perceived popularity and internalizing symptoms? Data from the National Institute of Child Health and Development – Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development were analyzed. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results indicate that adolescents who rated …

The Mediating Effect Of Parental Involvement On Peer Influence And Belongingness On Adolescent Educational Aspirations, Thavy Van Garst

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Parental involvement has been found to be a significant influence in determining whether adolescents are more likely to succeed academically (Georgiou & Tourva, 2007). Amongst other influences, parental involvement has been shown to impact the ability to resist negative peer influence. Additionally, having a sense of belongingness influences the probability that an adolescent will aspire to achieve higher educational aspirations (Bouchard & Berg, 2017). However, researchers have yet to examine the combination of the importance of belongingness and the impact of positive peer influence on adolescents' educational aspirations. The present study aimed to investigate whether parental involvement had a significant …

Investigating The Lived Experiences Of Community College Students Who Have Practiced Meditation, Robert S. Withrow-Clark

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the lived experiences of community college students who have engaged in meditation practice during their time as community college students. Utilizing semi-structured interviews and a qualitative, transcendental phenomenological approach, the researcher investigated the phenomenon of meditation practice among community college meditators, while attempting to better understand the shared meaning respondents ascribed to the phenomenon, in this case meditation practice. Data was collected from eight respondents, generating four overarching themes, and several subthemes. All respondents who participated in the study reported perceived psychological benefits that they attributed to their meditation practice. Psychological stress was the motivating factor, a …

Workplace Dynamics: Exploring Views, Impressions, And Preferences Of Colleagues With Diverse Backgrounds And Attributes, Emily Harris Broadhurst

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The general purpose of this study is to better understand stigmatized views of mental health conditions in the current social climate. In order to assess changes in current stigma levels, valid measurement tools are needed to make more accurate assessments. Many existing tools used to assess stigma levels present validity issues due to reporting bias, specifically social desirability bias. Researchers suggest that purposefully omitting diagnostic labeling helps to eliminate biased answers. In order to measure stigmatizing beliefs while minimizing the threat of social desirability, this study utilized an experimental design that compared mental health conditions with medical conditions. The Adjusted …

The Effects Of Attachment And Alliances Within The Family On Student/Teacher Relationships And Disruptive Behavior, Monika J. Mabe

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the effect that attachment status and negative alliances within the family has on disruptive behavior ratings and on the closeness or conflict a child feels with their teacher and the teacher’s subsequent ratings of the severity of Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Structural equation modeling was used to determine the impact attachment status, alliances within the family, and disruptive behavior had on the closeness or conflict a teacher felt with their student and the subsequent ratings of the child’s oppositional behavior.

Negative alliance in the family was not a strong predictor of a child’s disruptive behavior or Oppositional …

Effects Of Eye Tracking During Infancy On Social Ambiguity And Emotional Distress, Gabriela Hernandez

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between early eye tracking and later non-suicidal self-injury, and whether this relationship was negatively impacted by distress and impulsivity, and conversely alleviated by emotional regulation and problem solving abilities. Briggs-Gowan et al. (2001) found that young children with recurrent and comorbid externalizing and internalizing problems have the most impairment; they exhibit greater difficulty with emotional stability, and require greater utilization of mental health services. Little research has focused on the relationship between eye tracking in early infancy and suicidal self-injurious (NSSI) behavior in early childhood. Multiple regression analysis was used …

Meta-Analysis Of Studies Investigating The Effects Of Father Absence On Children's Cognitive Development, Stephanie Ann Salzman

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was the integration of the father-absence research to determine the effects of father absence on children's cognitive development as assessed by standardized intelligence, aptitude, and achievement tests and school grades. The study used the quantitative integrative review methodology of meta-analysis through which the findings from individual studies were integrated and relations between the study findings and characteristics were explored. The meta-analytic approach involved transforming the findings of individual studies to a common metric (i.e., effect size), describing and coding the characteristics of the studies, and then using the analysis of variance and multiple regression …

The Prediction Of University Residence Counselor Effectiveness Utilizing The Criterion Referenced Leaderless Group Interview, Rotter Internal/External Locus Of Control Scale And The California Psychological Inventory, Richard Edward Harkness

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Methods of selecting and evaluating residence hall counselors were explored in this study. The Criterion Referenced Leaderless Group Interview (CRLGI) was defined as a selection technique and evaluated for its utility as a predictor of Residence Counselor effectiveness. In addition, the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) ad Rotter Internal/External Locus of Control Scale (LOC) were used as predictors of Residence Counselor effectiveness. The Harkness Assessment of Residence Counselors (HARC) was designed and subjected to psychometric reliability and validity studies. The HARC served as the criterion measure of Residence Counselor effectiveness. Seventy-two residence hall counselors at the University of the Pacific served …

The Effects Of Classroom And Counseling Intervention On The Moral Development Of Junior High School Students, Paul Romualino Madarang

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship between various forms of intervention and gender on the moral development of junior high school students. The three types of intervention identified and studied were: (a) a classroom values education program, (b) crisis counseling, and (c) a combination classroom-counseling intervention. The cognitive-developmental approach of Lawrence Kohlberg served as the theoretical base for this study. In order to determine the effects of the two variables on the moral reasoning of children, 195 junior high school students were divided into three treatment groups and one control group. Students were pretested using the Defining Issues Test (DIT). Treatment …

Creative Thinking In Male And Female Vietnamese, Filipino, And Anglo-American College Undergraduate Students, As Measured By The Torrance Tests Of Creativity, Peter Chu-Quang-Minh

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to examine (a) the degree of creative thinking of Vietnamese, Filipino, and Anglo-American college undergraduate students as measured by the Torrance tests of Thinking Creatively with Pictures (TCWP), form A, and Thinking Creatively with Words (TCWW), form A; (b) the degree of creative thinking between males and females in the three groups of students tested; and (c) the differences, if any, between the TCWP scores and the TCWW scores of the Vietnamese, Filipino, and Anglo-American college undergraduate students tested. Procedure. A sample of 15 males and 15 females in each ethnic group was …

Reaction To Social Pressure From Adults Versus Peers Among Mexican, Mexican-American, And Anglo-American Rural Children, Ana Maria C. Donini

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to investigate whether there was a significant difference in the adherence to conventional morality and the reaction to social pressure from adults versus peers among Mexican, Mexican-American, and Anglo-American children. The instrument used was the Moral Dilemmas Test (MDT) developed by Bronfenbrenner, Devereux, Suci, and Rodgers, which measures the reported readiness of children to engage in morally disapproved behavior and their reaction to social pressure exerted by adults and peers. The subjects were asked to respond to a series of conflict situations under three experimental conditions of confidentiality, scrutiny by parents, and scrutiny by …

The Effects Of Teacher In-Service Training In Values Clarification On Attitudes Of Elementary School Students Toward Themselves, School, And The Teacher, Michael Nathan Coy

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

PROBLEM: The primary objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of implementing a teacher in-service training program in values clarification on the attitudes students develop toward themselves, school, and the teacher.

PROCEDURE: Two kindergarten through sixth grade elementary schools served as the experimental and control groups for the study. Ten classes of third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students participated in the experimental group and eight third through sixth grade classes of students served in the control group. The teachers in the experimental school received sixteen days of in-service training in values clarification between August 31, 1973 and …

The Use Of The Wechsler Intelligence Scale For Children In Differentiating Among Three Types Of Mental Defectives, Edward Gerald Tava

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to identify those measured skills contained within the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) which would differentiate among the organic mental defective, the familial mental defective, and these children misidentified as mentally retarded because of language and cultural differences.

Reality Therapy In The Classroom, Richard Manning Hawes

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to assess the effects of a Schools Without Failures program on the culturally deprived Black child's belief of internal-external control or the child's belief in self-responsibility versus powerlessness.