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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Articles 1 - 8 of 8
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Feasibility Of A Parent-Focused, Stress Management Intervention To Decrease Adolescent Bmi, Reduce Stress, And Increase Well-Being Among African American Families, Colby J. Kipp
Theses and Dissertations
African American adolescents in the United States experience a higher prevalence of obesity as compared to their White counterparts. This health inequity presents a public health concern as consequences of weight-related chronic diseases often persist into adulthood and are increasingly problematic. As chronic stress has been found to be higher among African American youth compared to White adolescents, it presents as a potential barrier to participation for African American families in health promotion interventions. Additionally, it may be beneficial to target stress in health promotion programs as a modifiable factor in conjunction with health behaviors that may improve outcomes related …
Gratitude Buffers The Effects Of Stressful Life Events On Early Adolescents’ Life Satisfaction And Externalizing Behaviors But Not Internalizing Behaviors, Mimi Scott Webb
Theses and Dissertations
Identifying psychological strengths that foster healthy development in youth has become a topic of exploration in the field of positive psychology (e.g., Suldo & Huebner, 2004; Valle et al., 2006). Gratitude is a promising trait-like characteristic with qualities indicative of a potential psychological strength that may serve as a protective factor for early adolescents in the face of stressful life events. This study utilized data from a sample of 1,880 middle school students from the Southeastern United States. Hierarchical regression analyses investigated gratitude’s role as a moderator in the relationship between stressful life events and adolescent well-being. Specifically, gratitude’s ability …
Life Satisfaction In Adolescents With High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder, Kathleen Blackburn Franke
Life Satisfaction In Adolescents With High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder, Kathleen Blackburn Franke
Theses and Dissertations
The present study was informed by the Emerging Disability Paradigm, which emphasizes the importance of research regarding positive experiences, personality, and social relationships for individuals with disabilities (Schalock, 2004). The purpose of this study was to provide preliminary evidence regarding the reliability and validity of measures of self-reported psychosocial assets and life satisfaction (LS) for adolescents with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFA). Additional purposes included identifying the overall levels of general and domain-specific LS within adolescents with HFA, comparing these levels to those of a sample of typically developing adolescents, and describing the relation between psychosocial assets and LS for …
Antecedents Of Adolescents’ Gratitude: Personality, Social Support, And Stressful Life Events, Hannah Reckart
Antecedents Of Adolescents’ Gratitude: Personality, Social Support, And Stressful Life Events, Hannah Reckart
Theses and Dissertations
An increase in the emphasis of positive aspects of functioning has led to expanded attention paid to the field of positive psychology. Within in this arena, the construct of gratitude has emerged as a factor of interest, specifically in adults; however, while a basis for research of gratitude in children exists, it is lacking in breadth. Support for gratitude’s significant relations with psychosocial, psychological, and academic factors has been shown in prior research, and presumed personal and environmental antecedents of gratitude have been indicated. The present study was exploratory in nature and included a sample of 1506 students from four …
Life Satisfaction And Academic Performance In Early Adolescents: Evidence For Reciprocal Relationships, Zi Jia Ng
Theses and Dissertations
Student well-being remains a relatively neglected topic despite its intimate link to positive school outcomes. As academic achievement is the yardstick of student success and school accountability, school-based mental health research and practice have focused primarily on the assessment and treatment of learning and behavioral problems. This shortterm longitudinal study sought to establish the role of student subjective well-being in academic achievement. Based on the engine model of well-being (Jayawickreme, Forgeard, & Seligman, 2012), the study focused on life satisfaction as a process variable and academic performance as an outcome variable. Using two waves (five months apart) of data, the …
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder And Academic Performance: Student Engagement In The Classroom, Emily B. Mancil
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder And Academic Performance: Student Engagement In The Classroom, Emily B. Mancil
Theses and Dissertations
Youth with Attention/Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have many obstacles to positive development (including difficulties in school settings) and are in need of support. However, few studies have focused on the ways in which positive factors, such as student engagement (SE), may be beneficial for this population to identify strategies for supporting their strengths. Although many studies have examined academic and behavioral aspects of SE, few studies have examined the psychological (i.e., teacher-student relationships, peer support for learning, family support for learning) and cognitive (i.e., control and relevance of school work, future aspirations and goals, extrinsic motivation) sub-components of engagement. The current …
Testing Bidirectional Contextual Effects Of Adolescent Risk Factors On Young Adulthood Outcomes: A Life Course Perspective To Gangs, Andrea E. Lamont
Testing Bidirectional Contextual Effects Of Adolescent Risk Factors On Young Adulthood Outcomes: A Life Course Perspective To Gangs, Andrea E. Lamont
Theses and Dissertations
Leading theories in developmental science emphasize the role of the individual as an active agent in shaping her or his environment. Yet, most empirical work has focused on unidirectional models, ultimately treating the individual as a passive recipient of environmental risk. Part of this gap between theory and analysis is methodological in nature – i.e., classical statistical methods typically do not allow for the modeling of bidirectional influences or complex longitudinal relations. Recent advancements in longitudinal methodologies, however, expand our ability to answer more nuanced developmental questions. In this dissertation, I demonstrate how advanced longitudinal methods could be used to …
Motivational Interviewing And School-Based Mentoring To Improve Middle School Students' Academic Performance, John Terry
Motivational Interviewing And School-Based Mentoring To Improve Middle School Students' Academic Performance, John Terry
Theses and Dissertations
The development of effective and feasible interventions that are deliverable within schools are badly needed in order to address high levels of unmet academic and social/emotional need in children and adolescents. In order to address these needs, two interventions were developed, delivered, and tested in this study. One was an eight-session School-based Mentoring (SBM) program based on evidence-based academic enabling activities. The other was a one-session report card coaching program based on Motivational Interviewing (MI). Previous studies of these SBM and MI interventions found mostly small or statistically non-significant effects on academic performance. The current study tests the hypothesis that …