Psychology Commons^™

Executive Functioning In The Context Of Urban Poverty: An Examination Of Poverty Related Stress And Its Relationships To Academic Achievement, Jacquelyn L. Doxie

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Living in urban poverty has been linked to numerous negative conditions that disproportionately expose low-income urban youth and their families to severe and chronic stressors (Collins et al., 2010; DeNavas-Walt, Proctor, and Smith, 2012; Sznitman, Reisel, and Romer, 2011). Research has consistently shown a strong relationship between these stressors and numerous negative outcomes that can impact an adolescent emotionally, behaviorally, and academically (Conger et al., 2002). This dissertation is focused on the area of academic achievement, an outcome consistently found to be negatively impacted by poverty (Rouse and Fantuzzo, 2009). Based on Bronfenbrenner’s model of bio-ecological human development (Bronfenbrenner and …

Parent-Adolescent Communication About Health Risk Behaviors Among Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus, Ashley Charlene Moss

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Health risk behaviors, like drinking alcohol or using tobacco, are a common problem among adolescents in the United States. For healthy adolescents, health risk behaviors may be hazardous to their health; for adolescents with chronic illnesses, the risks associated with these types of behavior are compounded and may further impact their health status. This is particularly true for adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), whose blood sugar may be directly impacted by consumption of alcohol or use of tobacco. Parent-child communication has been found to act as a protective factor against adolescent engagement in health risk behaviors; however, this …

The Impact Of Culture And Neighborhood Context On The Mental Health Of Latino Youth, William Martinez

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Latino youth are members of an ethnic group that shares similar values, customs, beliefs, and, often, the Spanish language, that serve as protective factors for some youth. The extent to which these factors are protective across neighborhood contexts has yet to be explored. The present study adds to the literature on contextual correlates of mental health symptomatology in Latino adolescents by examining individual cultural dimensions as protective factors, and environmental risk and protective factors through the lens of the person-environment fit theory (Caplan, 1987). Specifically, the person-environment fit theory is evaluated by proposing that the fit between a Latino youth’s …

Sexy But Not Sexual: An Examination Of The Sexual Narratives Of African American Adolescent Females, April Timmons

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Much of the research on sexuality during adolescence has focused on the potential negative sequelae of adolescent sexual behavior such as STI acquisition or teenage pregnancy. Researchers have begun to advocate for examining adolescent sexuality as a normative aspect of adolescent development. One aspect of this examination would be to form a more complete understanding of how adolescents develop their sexual identity – their conceptualization of themselves as a sexual being. Erickson’s (1968) identity development theory asserts that identity is developed internally and shaped by the social environment.

Development of a healthy sexual identity may be particularly difficult for African …

Differences In Narcissistic Presentation In Abused And Non-Abused Children And Adolescents, Mallory Laine Malkin

Dissertations

The present study examined whether children and adolescents who have been victims of sexual or physical abuse report higher levels of narcissistic tendencies than children and adolescents who have not been victims of abuse. Inaddition to narcissism, internalizing symptoms, externalizing behaviors, and risky behaviors were evaluated, as such issues have been associated with both maltreatment (Baer & Maschi, 2003) and narcissism (Barry & Malkin, 2010; Bushman & Baumeister, 1998). One-hundred fifty- six (156) children and adolescents (100 females, 56 males) ranging in age from 8 to 17 (M = 12.90, SD = 2.66) were recruited as participants. The vast majority …

Combined Effects Of Mdma And Ethanol On Locomotor Activity And Place Conditioning In Male And Female Adolescent Sprague-Dawley Rats, Keli A. Herr

Masters Theses

MDMA, ("Ecstasy") is commonly abused in combination with ethanol (EtOH). Relatively few preclinical studies have investigated sex differences in animal models of polysubstance use. The current study employed a conditioned place preference (CPP) procedure to assess the behavioral effects of the co-administration ofMDMA /EtOH in 32 male and 32 female adolescent Sprague-Dawley rats. Following a 15 min habituation trial, eight 30-min conditioning trials were conducted in two- compartment chambers with different environmental cues. Before each drug conditioning trials, rats were administered intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections of MDMA(6.6 mg/kg), EtOH (1.5 g/kg), MDMA (6.6 mg/kg) and EtOH (1.5 g/kg), or saline. Prior …

The Role Of Social Support In Adolescents: Are You Helping Me Or Stressing Me Out?, Gonzalo Bacigalupe, Maria Camara

Counseling and School Psychology Faculty Publication Series

Interpersonal relationships are indispensable in helping adolescents cope with stressors, acting as social support sources that protect them from psychological distress. Learning from their experiences may elucidate what strategies could be employed to support adolescents during this vulnerable life stage. Focus groups (N = 80) with adolescents in the Basque Country, Spain, were conducted to capture adolescents' narratives on stress and social support. Findings revealed the dual role of interpersonal relationships – as stressors and as sources of social support. Adolescents draw on sources of support that are familiar, mature, friendly, and, most importantly, worth of trust. Their most valued …

The Role Of Social Support In Adolescents: Are You Helping Me Or Stressing Me Out?, Gonzalo Bacigalupe, Maria Camara

Gonzalo Bacigalupe, EdD, MPH

Interpersonal relationships are indispensable in helping adolescents cope with stressors, acting as social support sources that protect them from psychological distress. Learning from their experiences may elucidate what strategies could be employed to support adolescents during this vulnerable life stage. Focus groups (N = 80) with adolescents in the Basque Country, Spain, were conducted to capture adolescents' narratives on stress and social support. Findings revealed the dual role of interpersonal relationships – as stressors and as sources of social support. Adolescents draw on sources of support that are familiar, mature, friendly, and, most importantly, worth of trust. Their most valued …

A Longitudinal Study Of The Bidirectional Relations Between Internalizing Symptoms And Peer Victimization In Urban Adolescents, Tess Drazdowski

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the bidirectional relations between anxious and depressive symptoms and two forms of peer victimization (i.e., overt and relational) within a sample of 358 predominantly African-American adolescents living in low-income urban areas across four years. Longitudinal path analyses tested progressively complex models for each type of victimization. For both overt and relational victimization the autoregressive model where only previous levels of each construct predicted future levels of the construct was the most parsimonious explanation. The best fitting model for both types of peer victimization suggested that internalizing symptoms helped to further explain future …

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 …

Enhancing Coping Skills In Adolescents: A Program Evaluation Of The Middletip Program, Melody Bongiorno Frank

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

In the last decade of the 20th century, several large-scale studies suggested that the developmental trajectory for students diagnosed with emotional disturbance is bleak. Middletip School (MTS) is an alternative day treatment program that serves emotionally disturbed (ED) students (ages 12-19) through a daily offering of academic classes, and counseling and treatment groups. Using individually tailored, strength-based programming, MTS is designed to help ED youth in the areas of emotion regulation and behavior management, with a focus on building coping, relational, social, and communication skills. This dissertation project was a program evaluation in a natural setting examining the processes of …