Psychology Commons^™

Identity-Related Dysfunction: Integrating Clinical And Developmental Perspectives, Erin A. Kaufman, Marilyn J. Montgomery, Sheila E. Crowell

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Recent changes to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders highlight the importance of identity dysfunction within several psychiatric diagnoses. Despite a long-standing tradition of identity research and theory in the developmental literature, there is limited work establishing intersections between clinical and developmental conceptualizations of identity problems. The relative lack of integration between decades of clinical and developmental work is unfortunate, and likely limits progress in both areas. In this commentary, the authors argue for greater interdisciplinary collaboration and highlight contributions from developmental and clinical theories, which, if integrated, could enhance identity scholarship. The developmental psychopathology …

Working With Children Using Dance/Movement Therapy, Mariah M. Lefeber

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Movement is a language. We all learned to relate on a nonverbal level before starting to communicate verbally. Thus, this nonverbal language of the body is especially powerful for children, who communicate, navigate relationships, and interact with their environment through movement. An early, healthy connection with their bodies enables children to develop a strong sense of self and dynamic sense of both their body image and physical boundaries. For all of these reasons, dance/ movement therapy is a highly effective modality for working with children. This chapter introduces the field of dance/movement therapy, specifically as it relates to working with …

Is Touch Beyond Infancy Important For Children’S Mental Health?, Melody Whiddon, Marilyn J. Montgomery

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Numerous studies from various fields have established that touch is vital to healthy adjustment during infancy and also during old age. Physiological research emphasizes the importance of touch to physical and psychological systems (Field, 2003). Attachment research emphasizes the importance of touch in the sensitive responsiveness and availability characteristic of the secure attachment style (Kassow & Dunst, 2004). Behavioral research emphasize the importance of contingent touch in reinforcement of infant behavior (Gewirtz & Pelaez- Nogueras, 2000). Recently, attention has been given to research examining touch in medical situations for elderly populations.

Theoretically, touch should remain important throughout the lifespan, but …

Profiles Of Adolescent Identity Development: Response To An Intervention For Alcohol/Other Drug Problems, Larry F. Forthun, Marilyn J. Montgomery

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

The purpose of this study was to examine identity development among adolescents participating in an after-school alcohol/other drug (AOD) abuse intervention program (8 females and 12 males, ages 14–17) to identify how identity development was associated with intervention success. To achieve this goal we (a) garnered information from two identity interviews conducted during the first week of the intervention and 6 to 8 weeks later; (b) adopted a qualitative, person-centered analytical strategy to identify identity profiles; and (c) examined the intervention response of the adolescents, as recorded in intervention documents, in the different identity profile groups. Analyses revealed five identity …

A Developmental Intervention Approach To Promoting Positive Development: Pathways Of Intervention Change, Marilyn J. Montgomery, William M. Kurtines, Laura Ferrer-Wreder, Steven L. Berman, Carolyn Cass Lorente, Ervin Briones, Wendy Silverman, Rachel Ritchie, Kyle Eichas

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

This paper describes work directed toward creating community-supported positive youth development interventions that draw on a developmental intervention science outreach research approach. With respect to developmental interventions, this approach focuses on creating evidence-based longitudinal change intervention strategies for promoting long-term developmental change. The paper describes three broad challenges (theoretical, methodological, and meta-theoretical) that the authors faced in their efforts to develop and implement community-supported intervention programs built on this approach. The authors describe first the theoretical challenges they addressed in developing the conceptual framework for their community-supported intervention; second, the challenge of developing and refining a methodological framework for evaluating …

Promoting Positive Youth Development New Directions In Developmental Theory, Methods, And Research, William M. Kurtines, Laura Ferrer-Wreder, Steven L. Berman, Carolyn Cass Lorente, Wendy K. Silverman, Marilyn J. Montgomery

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

The articles in this special issue report the efforts of the Miami Youth Development Project (YDP), a community-supported positive youth development program of outreach research that draws on a developmental intervention science (DIS) perspective (i.e., a fusion of the developmental and intervention science literatures). These reports illustrate how the application of DIS outreach research contributes to knowledge of human development at all levels (practical as well as methodological, theoretical, and metatheoretical). Consistent with a DIS outreach research approach, YDP is committed to the use of descriptive and explanatory knowledge about changes within human systems that occur across the life span …

Promoting Positive Identity Development In Troubled Youth: A Developmental Intervention Science Outreach Research Approach, William M. Kurtines, Marilyn J. Montgomery, Kyle Eichas, Rachel Ritchie, Arlen Garcia, Richard Albrecht, Steven Berman, Laura Ferrer-Wreder, Carolyn C. Lorente

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

This article illustrates how developmental intervention science outreach research contributes to knowledge development on the promotion of positive identity development by describing results from the Miami Youth Development Project. The project is committed to the use of descriptive and explanatory knowledge about evidence-based individual and institutional intervention strategies for promoting developmental change in self and identity. Our efforts, described here, include a method for measuring theoretically and personally meaningful identity change, a procedure for integrating key aspects of qualitative and quantitative data through relational data analysis, and an evidence-based positive youth development intervention that fosters measurable and meaningful identity change.

Identity Formation In A Relational Context: A Person-Centered Analysis Of Troubled Youth, Larry F. Forthun, Marilyn J. Montgomery, Nancy J. Bell

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

The purpose of this study was to examine the identity formation of troubled youth (8 female and 12 male adolescents, ages 14–17) in an after-school treatment program for problem behavior. To achieve this goal we (a) garnered information from 2 identity interviews given 6 to 8 weeks apart, (b) adopted a qualitative, person-centered analytical strategy to identify identity profiles, and (c) examined the identity profiles within a relational context, focusing on the developmentally salient domains of parents and peers. Analyses revealed 5 identity profiles similar to the identity statuses previously described by Marcia and others, but with unique phenomenological differences. …

Developmental Considerations For Substance Use Interventions From Middle School Through College, Elizabeth J. D’Amico, Phyllis L. Ellickson, Eric F. Wagner, Rob Turrisi,, Kim Fromme, Bonnie Ghosh-Dastidar, Douglas L. Longshore, Daniel F. Mccaffre, Marilyn J. Montgomery, Matthias Schonlau, Dale Wright

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

This article summarizes a symposium organized by Dr. Elizabeth D’Amico and presented at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism in Vancouver, Canada. The four presentations illustrate the importance of creating substance use interventions that are developmentally appropriate for youth. They represent innovative approaches to working with preteens, teenagers, and young adults. Dr. D’Amico’s paper describes her research on the development of a voluntary brief intervention targeting alcohol use among middle school students. Findings indicated that by using school and community input, she was able to obtain a diverse a sample of youth across grades, sex, ethnicity, …

Does Intervention Change Anything? New Directions In Promoting Positive Youth Development, William M. Kurtines, Marilyn J. Montgomery, Lisa L. Arango, Gabrielle A. Kortsch

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Although a literature on interventions that promote positive development has begun to emerge, important gaps concerning these interventions continue to exist. As part of our program of research, we have made an effort to begin addressing these gaps. An overview of a research project conducted using two sets of multi-ethnic data drawn from the Miami Youth Development Project (Kurtines, Montgomery, Lewis Arango, & Kortsch, 2001) is presented. Though tentative and preliminary, the findings from the project provide preliminary evidence for the success of Changing Lives Program (CLP) in promoting positive qualitative change. Specifically, the results document a relation between participation …