Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Self-Concept In Children And Adolescents As A Lever For Change In Academic Success For Under-Served Youth, Robert Ray Ogle

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Children and adolescents in under-resourced urban communities simultaneously experience higher rates of major life stressors, including mental health problems, and less access to the services needed to address these concerns. The combination of high need and few resources makes identifying broadly effective, resource-minimal interventions a critical goal. Amongst potential targets for intervention, academic success, particularly graduating from high school, predicts positive life outcomes across a wide range of health factors. To be effective in supporting academic success in under-served communities, an intervention must be universally applicable, inexpensive, and easy to deliver with fidelity. The current study examined the promise of …

The Mediating Effects Of Problematic Internet And Video Gaming Behaviors On Family, Cultural, And Individual Constructs Among Latinx And Non-Latinx Black Youth, Stephanie L. Diez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Problematic Internet use (PIU) and problematic video gaming (PVG) are associated with various negative health outcomes and are increasingly concerning behavioral health issues among youth. While market research indicates that US Latinx use the Internet and video games more frequently than non-Latinx US youth, research on PIU and PVG among this historically understudied population is lacking. Accordingly, data on PIU, PVG, parental monitoring, sleep quality, substance use, anxiety, depression, parental attachment, acculturation, and positive future orientation were collected using validated standardized measures from three separate samples of US Latinx and non-Latinx youth.

The aims of this research were to explore …

Risk And Protective Factors Associated With The Adult Achievement Of Substance-Using Adolescents: Findings From The National Longitudinal Study Of Adolescent To Adult Health, Dana G. Farrell

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The literature has well-documented the deleterious effect of alcohol and other drug (AOD) use on adolescent development and future outcomes. Despite these devastating results, some adolescents are able to attain high achievement as adults, despite their earlier AOD use. Secondary quantitative analyses were conducted on nationally-representative data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Longitudinal data, collected at Wave I (1994-1995), and Wave IV (2007-2008), were analyzed from a sample of 4,266 American high school students between the ages of 13-19 years. The majority of high school students in the sample self-reported AOD use (n=2,833, 66.4%), compared …

Life Experiences Of Youth Who Were Born With Hiv Infection In Puerto Rico: The Voices Of Young Survivors, Georgina Silva-Suarez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy (ART) transformed the pediatric HIV epidemic. The disease changed significantly over the course of three decades: while early in the epidemic it was almost always fatal, it has become a chronic condition.

This study examined how perinatally-infected youth experience the impact of HIV in their lives. A qualitative study using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was conducted. Twenty in-depth interviews were carried out among 12 women and 8 men aged 18 to 30 years in Puerto Rico. These were conducted in Spanish, audio-recorded, transcribed and translated into English. While narrating their experiences, participants were interpreting what …

Ethnic And American Identity Development: A Developmental Systems Approach, Alan Meca

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Given the role ethnic identity has as a protective factor against the effects of marginalization and discrimination (Umaña-Taylor, 2011), research longitudinally examining ethnic identity has become of increased importance. However, successful identity development must incorporate elements from both one’s ethnic group and from the United States (Berry, 1980). Despite this, relatively few studies have jointly evaluated ethnic and American identity (Schwartz et al., 2012). The current dissertation, guided by three objectives, sought to address this and several other gaps in the literature. First, psychometric properties of the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) and the American Identity Measure (AIM) were evaluated. …

Individual Child Cognitive Behavioral Treatment Versus Child-Parent Cognitive Behavioral Treatments For Anxiety Disorders In Children And Adolescents: Comparative Outcomes, Jessica Dahan

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Anxiety disorders; such as separation anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia and specific phobia, are widespread in children and adolescents. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to be effective in reducing excessive fears and anxieties in children and adolescents. Research has produced equivocal findings that involving parents in treatment of child anxiety enhances effects over individual CBT (ICBT). The present dissertation study examined whether parental involvement can enhance individual treatment effect if the parent conditions are streamlined by targeting specific parental variables. The first parent condition, Parent Reinforcement Skills Training (RFST), involved increasing mothers’ use of positive reinforcement …