Psychology Commons^™

Does Use Of Neutralization Techniques Predict Delinquency And Substance Use Outcomes?, Erin C. Siebert

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

This study was part of a larger research intervention that uses motivational interviewing (MI) as part of an in-school substance abuse intervention in local high schools in the greater Seattle area. Our aim was to test hypothesized relationships between marijuana use, other delinquent behavior, and neutralization techniques used by participants and determine their impact on the effectiveness of an MI-based intervention. Hypotheses were that neutralization technique use would decrease the effectiveness of an MI intervention due to the conflicting cognitive processes of justification and developing discrepancy. Of the 84 participants that completed Intake assessments, 60% were male and identified as …

Young Survivors Of Disaster: A Meta-Analytic Review Of Mental Health Interventions For Children And Their Families, Theressa L. Labarrie

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Disasters, both natural and human-made, are on the rise. While disasters affect everyone, the most vulnerable populations are often hardest hit. Our nation’s youth are among the most vulnerable, suffering the most severe psychological repercussions. This is a population in need of empirically supported post-disaster mental health interventions. However, the research on mental health treatments for post-disaster trauma treatment among youth is still in its developmental stages. There is no known synthesis of treatment interventions for youth and their families, even though there is clear evidence that this population is among the most vulnerable to the effects of disaster exposure. …

Hope, Aspirations, And Resilience In Children And Adolescents: A Review Of Research On Measurement And Related Antecedents, Hildie Leung, Florence K. Y. Wu, Daniel T. L. Shek

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Hope, aspirations, and resilience are important developmental assets for children and adolescents. Based on the existing Western and Chinese literature, this review aims to identify instruments used to assess hope, aspirations, resilience, and conceptually related constructs as well as antecedents of the constructs in adolescents. A systematic literature search in the major databases was conducted. A total of 223 articles, with 144 being retrieved from international databases and 79 from China’s database, met the criteria and were included in the present review. Findings revealed that the majority of the existing scales were developed predominantly in the West and there were …

Dreams, Aspirations And Related Behavior In Children And Adolescents: Impacts On Child Developmental Outcomes, Florence K. Y. Wu, Daniel T. L. Shek, Hildie Leung

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

“Dreams”, “aspirations” and related constructs are traditionally regarded as facilitators of adolescent educational attainment in the Chinese context. Besides, there is an emergent need to widen the understanding of such constructs and their impact on children and adolescent developmental outcomes. This paper discusses the developmental outcomes of dreams, aspiration and related concepts based on a thorough review of the literature. Besides outlining the impacts of aspirations, dreams and related constructs on children and adolescents, features of related intervention programs, including themes of the intervention programs, program participants, methods of implementation and evaluation in both Western and Chinese contexts are also …

An Extension Of The Dimensional Comparison Theory: A Test Of Emotional Intelligence Self-Concepts., Caitlin J. Spencer

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

According to the Dimensional Comparison Theory (DCT), individuals’ self-concepts of abilities are influenced not only by external sources of evaluation within the same domain, but also internal comparisons of abilities across different domains, resulting in negative contrast effects for self-concepts in dissimilar domains and positive assimilation effects for self-concepts in similar domains. These dimensional comparisons have been primarily tested with academic domains to date, yet social-emotional learning is an important complement to academic learning. The present study sought to extend the DCT to Emotional Intelligence (EI) self-concepts in a sample of 1,069 Canadian children and adolescents, aged 9-18 years. Using …

Can School Counselors Deliver Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment For Social Anxiety Effectively? A Randomized Controlled Trial, Carrie Masia, Daniela Colognori, Chad Brice, Kathleen Herzig, Laura Mufson, Chelsea Lynch, Philip T. Reiss, Eva Petkova, Jeremy K Fox, Dominic C. Moceri, Julie Ryan, Rachel G. Klein

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Background: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) typically onsets in adolescence and is associated with multiple impairments. Despite promising clinical interventions, most socially anxious adolescents remain untreated. To address this clinical neglect, we developed a school-based, 12-week group intervention for youth with SAD, Skills for Academic and Social Success (SASS). When implemented by psychologists, SASS has been found effective. To promote dissemination and optimize treatment access, we tested whether school counselors could be effective treatment providers. Method: We randomized 138, ninth through 11th graders with SAD to one of three conditions: (a) SASS delivered by school counselors (C-SASS), (b) SASS delivered by …

An Innovative Approach To Preventing Depression: Examining The Experiences Of Mothers And Daughters Who Participate In The Cities Mother-Daughter Project, Tasha M. Brown

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

The current study employed qualitative inquiry to examine the experiences of mothers and daughters who participated in the Cities Mother-Daughter Project, an intervention aimed at preventing depression in low-income urban African-American girls, study participants included 9 mothers and 9 daughters. Qualitative analysis was used to examine the subjective experiences of mothers and daughters who participated in the Cities Mother-Daughter Project. Seven overarching themes emerged when participants reflected on their experience in the group intervention: 1) value of group, 2) desire for continued intervention, 3) suggestions for improvement, 4) skills learned in group, 5) mother-daughter relationship, 6) personal change, and 7) …

Effects Of Religious Participation On Negative Mental Health Symptoms Among Low-Income, Urban African American Adolescents, Alfonso L. Floyd

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

African American adolescents living in low-income, urban neighborhoods are at high risk for developing psychological problems due to increased exposure to urban stressors. Given the complexity and chronic nature of these stressors, protective factors such as involvement in one’s religious institution may protect adolescents from harmful stressors associated with living in urban, low-income neighborhoods. This thesis sought to examine whether religious participation is an effective moderator of the relation between urban stressful life experiences and internalizing/externalizing psychological outcomes among low-income, urban African American adolescents. Two dimensions of religious participation, organizational and non-organizational, were examined as potential moderators of the effect …

Treatment Recidivism In Adolescents With Mental Illness: A Focused Applied Medical Ethnography, Chukwudi C. Ekwemalor

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Background

Treatment recidivism, described as frequent unplanned relapse readmissions, is a national problem predominant in adolescents with mental illness with significant socioeconomic consequences. Adolescents living with mental illness are a sub-culture of adolescence, the critical growth period of developmental and social transition from childhood to adulthood. The main triggers of treatment recidivism in this population are not fully understood from previous studies.

Purpose

The study purpose was to explore treatment recidivism with the following aims:

1. To illuminate treatment recidivism from the perspectives of recidivist adolescents with mental illness.

2. To describe the main factors that contribute to treatment recidivism …

Test Of An Adolescent Anxiety Sensitivity Amelioration Program (Aasap) For At-Risk Youth, Ashley Arehart Knapp

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adult research supports the effectiveness of targeting the malleable vulnerability factor of anxiety sensitivity (AS) in terms of preventing panic specifically and anxiety psychopathology generally. Risk factor research suggests AS modification among youth has implications for panic as well as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). However, very little work has evaluated the impact of AS reduction among youth, which is unfortunate given adolescence is a period of “core risk” in terms of anxiety disorder onset. Further, no work has considered the effect of such a program on GAD-relevant outcomes, nor has any work included family-level intervention factors, despite evidence suggesting parents …

A Psychosocial Resilience Curriculum Provides The “Missing Piece” To Boost Adolescent Physical Health: A Randomized Controlled Trial Of Girls First In India, K. Sachs Leventhal, L. M. Demaria, Jane Gillham, G. Andrew, J. Peabody, S. M. Leventhal

Psychology Faculty Works

Rationale and objectives: Despite a recent proliferation of interventions to improve health, education, and livelihoods for girls in low and middle income countries, psychosocial wellbeing has been neglected. This oversight is particularly problematic as attending to psychosocial development may be important not only for psychosocial but also physical wellbeing. This study examines the physical health effects of Girls First, a combined psychosocial (Girls First Resilience Curriculum [RC]) and adolescent physical health (Girls First Health Curriculum [HC]) intervention (RC + HC) versus its individual components (i.e., RC, HC) and a control group. We expected Girls First to improve physical health versus …

Parent-Reported Deficits In Executive Function And Sleep-Disordered Breathing In Adolescent Behavioral Weight Loss Program Participants, Jonathan James Mietchen

Theses and Dissertations

Children and adolescents with obesity and overweight are at increased risk for developing sleep disordered breathing (SDB) and SDB has been associated with cognitive deficits and executive dysfunction. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between executive functioning and SDB among adolescents participating in a behavioral weight loss intervention. Adolescents (n = 37) and their caregivers completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) and caregivers completed the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ). Using the Sleep Related Breathing Disorder scale on the PSQ adolescents were classified as at risk or not at risk for SDB. Correlations were …

Associations Between Social Status Insecurity And Relational Aggression In Chinese Adolescents: Moderations Of Social Cognitive Prosesses, Yunyi Long

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Adolescents pay close attention to their social status and actively pursue it through certain social behaviors. Previous studies have revealed that when adolescents feel their social standing is unsafe, namely having social status insecurity, they often use relational aggression to cope with it. However, what roles different social cognition processes play on the association between social status insecurity and relational aggression are unclear in the literature. Additionally, given that the relationship between relational victimization and relational aggression has also been observed in the literature, social status insecurity may also exert an important mediating impact on such an association. Nevertheless, few …

Exploring The Utility Of An Extended Theory Of Planned Behaviour Framework For School-Based Gambling Prevention Programs, Renee A. St-Pierre Ph.D., Caroline E. Temcheff Ph.D., Jeffrey L. Derevensky Ph.D., Rina Gupta Ph.D.

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and the concept of negative anticipated emotions (NAE) have attracted research attention in the formulation of effective preventive interventions. This approach has identified several key constructs of the TPB (i.e., intentions, attitudes, subjective norms, perceptions of behavioural control) and NAE as valid predictors of gambling behaviours and problems among young people (Martin et al., 2010, 2011; St-Pierre et al., 2015). However, no empirical investigation has utilized all of these constructs in the design or evaluation of an adolescent problem gambling preventive intervention. The current research aimed to assess the efficacy of targeting NAE and …

Parents’ Perception Of Youth Gambling And Other Risk Behaviors, Valentina Kranzelic, Neven Ricijas, Dora Dodig Hundric, Toni Maglica, Martina Feric

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Recently conducted national prevalence study of youth gambling in Croatia indicated high prevalence of adolescent gambling (especially sports betting), as well as perceived parental acceptance of such behavior (Ricijas et al, 2011). As international research suggest positive correlations between parental perception of gambling and other risk behaviors with the intensity of their childrens' participation in these behaviors (Meerkamper, Derevensky, Cutajar, 2008; Farrington, Loeber, Ttofi, 2011; Cambell et al, 2011), a new study on parental perception of gambling is currently being conducted, using two comparable perspectives - parents and their adolescent children.

Research is being conducted in two largest Croatian cities …

Psychological Abuse, Mental Health, And Acceptance Of Dating Violence Among Adolescents, Jeff R. Temple, Hye Jeong Choi, Joanna Elmquist, Michael L. Hecht, Michelle Miller-Day, Gregory L. Stuart, Meagan Brem, Caitlin Wolford-Clevenger

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose

Existing literature indicates that acceptance of dating violence is a significant and robust risk factor for psychological dating abuse perpetration. Past work also indicates a significant relationship between psychological dating abuse perpetration and poor mental health. However, no known research has examined the relationship between acceptance of dating violence, perpetration of dating abuse, and mental health. In addition to exploring this complex relationship, the present study examines whether psychological abuse perpetration mediates the relationship between acceptance of dating violence and mental health (i.e., internalizing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and hostility).

Methods

Three waves of longitudinal data were obtained from …

Suicide Attempts From Adolescence Into Young Adulthood: A System Dynamics Perspective For Intervention And Prevention, Saras Yu Chung

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Though the reduction of suicide-related deaths has been a national priority for over a decade (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001) and over $22 million per year (National Institutes of Health, 2015) have been invested to prevent suicide, rates of suicide have not declined (CDC, 2012). In fact, for some groups of adolescents, these rates seem to be on the ride (Wasserman, Cheng, & Jiang, 2005). The ineffectiveness in reducing deaths by suicide despite increased funding and coordinated efforts suggests the need for a new perspective on examining why and how adolescents begin to desire and attempt suicide …

Relationships Between Delinquency And Substance Use Among Adolescents Emancipating From Foster Care, Svetlana Shpiegel, Jamey J. Lister, Richard Isralowitz

Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Adolescents emancipating from foster care exhibit high rates of both delinquency and substance use, although it is less clear how these behaviors relate to one another. We aimed to examine the reciprocal relationships between these risk behaviors while accounting for relevant child welfare factors. We use data from the Multi-Site Evaluation of Foster Youth Programs to explore longitudinal associations between delinquent behaviors and substance use (tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana) among youths ages 17 and 18 (N = 429). Delinquency at age 17 was a positive predictor of substance use at age 18, after controlling for baseline use of substances. …

The Relation Of Adolescent Narcissism And Prosocial Behavior With Cooperative And Competitive Attitudes, Erin V. Moran

Honors Theses

Narcissism has been correlated with prosocial behavior in adolescents (Kauten & Barry, 2014, 2016). However, whether adolescents with high levels of narcissism use more egoistic (i.e., self-serving) or altruistic (i.e., helping others with no direct personal benefit) prosocial behaviors has not been investigated. This issue was addressed in the present study, and attitudes of cooperation and competition were also examined as moderators in these relations. The current study involved 147 at-risk adolescents, ages 16 to 18 (113 males, 34 females) who were enrolled in a residential program. The data were collected through self-report questionnaires which assessed narcissism (i.e., non-pathological, grandiose, …

Barriers And Facilitators Of Adolescent Health In Rural Kenya, Molly Secor-Turner, Brandy A. Randall, Courage Chikomborero Mudzongo

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

The purpose of this research was to identify perceived barriers and facilitators of health from the perspective of rural Kenyan adolescents and to characterize the cultural context that shapes these barriers and facilitators. Design: Following a semistructured interview guide, qualitative focus group interviews were conducted at day schools with 64 upper-primary and secondary students in rural central Kenya. Participants provided written parental consent and individual assent for study participation. Results: Findings were organized into seven categories (individual, family, peer, school, community, institutional, and cultural) according to a social–ecological framework to highlight the multiple social and environmental contexts that shape health …

The Role Of Child Anxiety In Parent Sick Role Reinforcement, Sarah Ann Bilsky

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A large body of evidence suggests that parents can facilitate offspring anxiety in response to bodily arousal. These learning experiences are referred to as “sick role reinforcement,” and are particularly important during adolescence, given the profound bodily changes (e.g., puberty) that characterize this period. Sick role reinforcement is likely important in the context of panic disorder (PD). Panic theorists suggest that parents may enhance panic vulnerability by increasing the threat value of bodily sensations. Although a sizeable body of work has examined the role of parent behavior in these processes, few have examined offspring factors in this process. Additionally, little …

A Randomized Depression Prevention Trial Comparing Interpersonal Psychotherapy—Adolescent Skills Training To Group Counseling In Schools, J. F. Young, J. S. Benas, C. M. Schueler, R. Gallop, Jane Gillham, L. Mufson

Psychology Faculty Works

Given the rise in depression disorders in adolescence, it is important to develop and study depression prevention programs for this age group. The current study examined the efficacy of Interpersonal Psychotherapy-Adolescent Skills Training (IPT-AST), a group prevention program for adolescent depression, in comparison to group programs that are typically delivered in school settings. In this indicated prevention trial, 186 adolescents with elevated depression symptoms were randomized to receive IPT-AST delivered by research staff or group counseling (GC) delivered by school counselors. Hierarchical linear modeling examined differences in rates of change in depressive symptoms and overall functioning from baseline to the …

You Live, You Lose: Supporting Youths On Their Journeys In The Land Of The Loss, Gary W. Mauk, M. Bruce Garris

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

As youths journey through life, they experience various personally significant losses and associated grief that can negatively impact their physical/mental health, developmental trajectory, and academic success. Framed in a broad-based perspective of loss, this presentation will acquaint participants with various loss-related constructs and events, potential associated physical, intellectual, emotional, and social effects of loss experiences, and supportive interventions and resources.

Resilience And Internalizing Symptoms Among Adolescent Girls In Residential Treatment: An Evaluation Of Strong Teens, Luke Andrew Marvin

Theses and Dissertations

Strong Teens is an evidence-based social and emotional learning (SEL) curriculum designed to target internalizing disorders by promoting emotional resilience and social competence. In this study, Strong Teens was implemented among 36 adolescent girls during group therapy in a residential treatment center (RTC). A non-equivalent, quasi-experimental wait-list control group design was used. The curriculum was evaluated by tracking the girls' social and emotional knowledge, internalizing symptoms, and resilience from the perspectives of the girls, group therapists, and a supervisor who was blind to the study. Although the results indicated that exposure to Strong Teens was not effective in increasing the …

Summertime Sleep And Bmi In Urban Minority Girls: Relations To Physical Activity And Executive Functions, Carolyn Rose Bates

Master's Theses

Urban minority youth, particularly females, are at high risk for increased weight gain during the summertime months, and may also experience insufficient sleep at this time. Few studies have objectively measured summertime sleep in this population or related sleep to weight gain during this season. The current study draws on a sample of 66 urban minority girls aged 10-to-14 who participated in a community-based summer day camp program promoting physical activity (PA). The study objectively characterizes sleep in this sample, both in unstructured and structured contexts. Additionally, the study examines potential pathways underlying summertime relations between sleep and weight, including …

Estimate Of Adolescent Alcohol Use In China: A Meta-Analysis, Yonghua Feng, Ian Newman

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objective: A profile of adolescent alcohol use for China that specified gender, school type and a consistent definition of alcohol use.

Method: A total of 1,646 papers were identified in the Chinese- and English-language literature published 2007–2015 that reported Chinese adolescent drinking rates. Selection criteria were established a priori. Thirty-two papers met all the selection criteria. Five papers were eliminated because they were found to be duplicate reports of the same data.

Result: The resulting sample included 26 papers—24 in Chinese and two in English, 20 describing middle school students, 12 describing high school students, and six describing vocational …

Trait-Based Profiles Of Adhd In Adolescents And Young Adults, Tess E. Smith

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Empirical work has examined the utility of using person-centered statistical approaches emphasizing traits to parsing Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) heterogeneity in preschool and school-aged children. However, trait-based profiles have not yet been examined in other age ranges, specifically adolescence and young adulthood. Therefore, the goal of the present study is to examine trait-based profiles in adolescents and young adults with ADHD in order to evaluate their similarity with trait-based profiles in preschoolers and children with ADHD and through comparison with external correlates (e.g., comorbidity). One hundred and eighty-two adolescents and 287 young adults completed measures of ADHD symptoms, personality and temperament …

Urban Adolescents' Experiences Of Parental Unemployment, Keelan Quinn

ETD Archive

A substantial number of children in the United States are being raised in households with an unemployed parent. These individuals may have unknown and unmet needs, as they are the first generation since the Great Depression to be raised during a time characterized by economic hardship and high unemployment. The purpose of this study was to explore how urban adolescents of unemployed parents experience parental unemployment. This qualitative study was informed by phenomenology for data collection and consensual qualitative research (CQR) for data analysis. Participants included 13 urban adolescents from low socio-economic status areas, who have been raised by unemployed …

An Examination Of The Technical And Relational Hypotheses Of Motivational Interviewing In A Sample Of African American Adolescent Girls Seeking Obesity Treatment, Rachel L. Boutte

Theses and Dissertations

Adolescent obesity has increased exponentially over the past three decades in the United States. In response, behavioral interventions have been developed and implemented to address this epidemic; however, treatment adherence is often suboptimal. Motivational interviewing (MI) is a directive, person centered approach to reducing patient ambivalence about change, which has been shown to increase engagement in obesity interventions. The current study investigated the underlying process of MI by exploring two different, but related pathways that explain how change happens (e.g., the technical and relational hypotheses) in the context of a multidisciplinary obesity intervention with African American adolescent girls (N …

Identifying Profiles Of Resilience Among A High-Risk Adolescent Population, Anna W. Wright

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether distinct patterns of adolescent adjustment existed when four domains of functioning were considered. The study included a sample of 299 high-risk urban adolescents, predominantly African American, ages 9-16 and their maternal caregivers. Cluster analysis was used to identify patterns of adjustment. Logistic regression analyses were used to explore whether variations in levels of five theoretically and empirically supported protective factors predicted cluster membership. A four-cluster model was determined to best fit the data. Higher rates of goal directedness and anger regulation coping predicted membership within the highest functioning cluster over …