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Investigating The Effects Of Mindfulness On Children’S Executive Function, Emotional Regulation, Stress, And Academic Performance Compared To A Control Condition, Lerna Hanceroglu

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Mindfulness is a growing field in the study of psychological well-being, with reports of individuals experiencing increases in resilience and reduced stress. The current research on mindfulness lacks information on a comprehensive analysis on the relationship between mindfulness and executive function, emotional regulation, stress, and subsequent academic performance for children. Additionally, studies contain methodological issues, such as the absence of active control groups. Hence, the current study assessed the effects of mindfulness training on children’s executive function, emotional regulation, stress, and academic outcomes compared to an active control group. There were 51 younger children from grades 2 to 4 (Mean …

The Development Of Intrinsic Motivation In Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Carissa Jean Krapf

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has become a common diagnosis among children today. The numbers have grown exponentially in the last several decades and, despite extensive research and various treatment modalities, many children continue to struggle with its disruptive symptoms. Current research reports a poor prognosis for this population with difficulties continuing into adulthood. One of the difficulties noted is in their ability to develop intrinsic motivation when their behaviors have been managed by extrinsic rewards. Self Determination Theory (SDT) was used to conceptualize the difficulties around developing intrinsic motivation when an individual experiences symptoms of ADHD which impact several areas of …

How Should Justice Policy Treat Young Offenders?: A Knowledge Brief Of The Macarthur Foundation Research Network On Law And Neuroscience, Bj Casey, Richard J. Bonnie, Andre Davis, David L. Faigman, Morris B. Hoffman, Owen D. Jones, Read Montague, Stephen J. Morse, Marcus E. Raichle, Jennifer E. Richeson, Elizabeth S. Scott, Laurence Steinberg, Kim Taylor-Thompson, Anthony Wagner

Faculty Scholarship

The justice system in the United States has long recognized that juvenile offenders are not the same as adults, and has tried to incorporate those differences into law and policy. But only in recent decades have behavioral scientists and neuroscientists, along with policymakers, looked rigorously at developmental differences, seeking answers to two overarching questions: Are young offenders, purely by virtue of their immaturity, different from older individuals who commit crimes? And, if they are, how should justice policy take this into account?

A growing body of research on adolescent development now confirms that teenagers are indeed inherently different from adults, …

Child Rights Trending: Accommodating Children With Disabilities In The Global Human Rights Framework And Us Foreign Policy, Janet E. Lord

Articles

This Article proceeds in three parts. Following the introduction, Part I analyzes the concept of child rights as applied to children with disabilities in instruments antecedent to the CRPD. It goes on to examine the treatment of children with disabilities in the CRC and in the text of the CRPD. In so doing, it exposes the significant conceptual shift in how children with disabilities are characterized as agents and holders of rights in the CRPD, in contrast to prior articulations. Part II explains how this new framework is used to expose and address major human rights issues that face children …

The Impact Of Palliative Care On Health Status In Hiv-Positive Children, Aabid Abdulmajid Ahmed

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

HIV-positive children in sub-Saharan Africa have numerous challenges to overcome. These challenges increase psychosocial stress as well as symptom burden including fatigue, weight loss, pain, and mental changes. The symptoms may persist even after initiation of antiretroviral therapy, so such children need additional care. Palliative care lays emphasis on holistic patient-centered care, including physical, psychological, social, and spiritual symptoms, alongside antiretroviral therapy. There is limited data on the impact of integrating palliative care with standard HIV care and treatment in children. The purpose of this study was to fill the gap in the literature by investigating the impact of palliative …

Parental Self-Efficacy, Feeding Practices And Styles, And Obesity In Mexican American Children, Maria Carmen Goodwin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Childhood obesity rates among Mexican Americans have risen along with the concerns of public health professionals. The purpose of this cross-sectional study, based on social cognitive theory, was to investigate the relationships among parental self-efficacy, parental feeding practices and styles, and childhood obesity, as measured by the parental perception of child weight, among Mexican Americans in Texas. Mothers and fathers (n=83; 33 males, 64 females), with at least 1 child between 8 and10 years, formed the sample. Relationships were assessed using the Tool to Measure Parenting Self-Efficacy questionnaire, the Parental Feeding Practices Questionnaire for Mexican American parents, the Parenting Dimensions …

Nonresidential Fathers Parenting Their Children Residing In Shelters: A Phenomenological Study, Karen Denise Hudson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This phenomenological qualitative study explored the parenting role of nonresidential fathers of children living in shelters. Special attention was paid to the perceived contributions of these fathers to the overall health and general well-being of their children residing in shelters. Often separations of nonresidential fathers from their children in shelters decreased their contributions to their children's health and well-being. Increased knowledge of these parental roles and contributions can enhance programs and policies to support these fathers in improving the health and well-being of their children. In-depth semistructured interviews were conducted with 6 demographically diverse nonresidential fathers living in Philadelphia. The …

A Document Analysis Of Two States' Child Protective Services Agency Permanency Policies, Barbara Christine Liston-Garcia

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

U.S. Child Protective Services Agencies (CPSA) have had mixed success in achieving stable, permanent placements for foster care children. To address the adverse effects of unstable placements on foster care children's emotional well-being and physical development, the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 was enacted to better ensure permanency, safety, and well-being of children in foster care. Using Stone's policy paradox as the framework, the purpose of this qualitative document analysis was to explore whether policy constructs contributed to the success or failure of promoting permanency for foster care children. Data was used from 2 states, representing those most …

Impact Of Family-Friendly Prison Policies On Health, Justice And Child Protection Outcomes For Incarcerated Mothers And Their Dependent Children: A Cohort Study Protocol, Helen Myers, Leonie Segal, Derek Lopez, Ian W. Li, David B. Preen

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Introduction

Female imprisonment has numerous health and social sequelae for both women prisoners and their children. Examples of comprehensive family-friendly prison policies that seek to improve the health and social functioning of women prisoners and their children exist but have not been evaluated. This study will determine the impact of exposure to a family-friendly prison environment on health, child protection and justice outcomes for incarcerated mothers and their dependent children.

Methods and analysis

A longitudinal retrospective cohort design will be used to compare outcomes for mothers incarcerated at Boronia Pre-release Centre, a women’s prison with a dedicated family-friendly environment, and …

Acknowledging Children’S Voice And Participation In Family Courts: Criteria That Guide Western Australian Court Consultants, Vicki Banham, Alfred Allan, J. Bergman, Jasmin Jau

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The Australian family courts introduced Child Inclusive Conferencing after the country adopted the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The legislation governing these conferences is minimalistic but the Family Court Consultants in the Family Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit Court have well-developed and documented guidelines. The Family Court of Western Australia is, however, a separate entity and in the absence of regulatory guidelines its Family Consultants developed their own process and criteria. This model is unique, in Australia at least, because it has been organically developed by the practitioners providing the Child Inclusive Conferences with …

A Mixed Methods Study Examining Parent Impressions Of A Psychoeducational Program On Common Issues During Childhood, Erika Rajo

Theses and Dissertations

The rate of youth suffering from untreated emotional and behavioral problems has risen in recent years. Various barriers to treatment utilization of youth and their families have been identified in the literature, including logistical factors (i.e. transportation, lack of child care), financial barriers, as well as system barriers (i.e. limited knowledge of mental health difficulties among parents of young children). Parents/caregivers are often the primary gatekeepers to treatment for children suffering from mental health problems. Additionally, psychoeducational programs have increasingly gained support as an effective evidence-based practice that may bolster treatment utilization among youth. A psychoeducational program for parents of …

Tf-Cbt With The Pediatric Medical Population: A Modification, Hussah Talal Al-Kharafi

Theses and Dissertations

According to The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN, 2004) up to 15-20% of children and their siblings and 20-30% of parents experience persistent traumatic stress related to medical procedures or a life-threatening condition that affects daily functioning and recovery. The literature is limited with regards to efficacious treatment interventions for this population. Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is an evidence-based treatment for traumatized children and adolescents (Cohen, Mannarino, & Deblinger, 2006). Its efficacy in reducing PTSD symptoms has been established through the literature (Bisson, Roberts, Andrew, Cooper, & Lewis, 2013; Cary & McMillen, 2012; Silverman et al., 2008), and it …

Media Detectives: Bridging The Relationship Among Empathy, Laugh Tracks, And Gender In Childhood, Sruti Kanthan, James A. Graham, Lynne Azarchi

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Empathy in college-age students is decreasing at unprecedented rates. Understanding empathy in children can act as primary prevention in tackling the problem. This study considers laugh tracks’ capacity to bias reality, foster empathy, and investigate differences across time and gender in 181 fifth grade students. The results from this quasi-experimental study suggests that students’ perceptions of the relationship between empathy and canned laughter changed significantly from pretest to posttest survey questions. Statistically significant differences were present for gender, as well. Theoretical and practical implications of using laugh tracks to increase empathy in middle and late childhood are discussed.

Predicting Parental Mediation Behaviors: The Direct And Indirect Influence Of Parents’ Critical Thinking About Media And Attitudes About Parent-Child Interactions, Eric E. Rasmussen, Shawna R. White, Andy J. King, Steven Holiday, Rebecca L. Densley

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Many parents fail to interact with their children regularly about media content and past research has identified few predictors of parents’ engagement in parental mediation behaviors. The present study explored the relationship between parents’ critical thinking about media and parents’ provision of both active and restrictive mediation of television content. Results revealed that parents’ critical thinking about media is positively associated with both active and restrictive mediation, relationships mediated by parents’ attitudes toward parent-child interactions about media. These findings suggest that media literacy programs aimed at improving parents’ critical thinking about media may be an effective way to alter children’s …

Moving For Freedom: Development Of A Dance/Movement Therapy Based Resilience Promotion Program For Children Of Individuals With Substance Abuse Disorder, Maria Torres

Creative Arts Therapies Theses

The purpose of this program development project was to design a dance/movement therapy (DMT) resilience promotion program for children of individuals with substance use disorder (SUD). The program aims to develop protective factors through resilience promotion in order to prevent future drug abuse. The program will be called Moving for Freedom and will focus on working with children of individuals with SUD because they are at the highest risk for developing SUD (Kumpfer, 1999). Moving for Freedom was developed through this thesis project and has not been implemented. The proposed implementation site of this resilience promotion program is within an …

The Public Consequences Of A Personal Choice: The Impact Of The Decision To Be Childfree In Family-Friendly America, Emily Ingalls

Dissertations

The topic of diversity and inclusion has garnered increased interest over the past decade, with 78% of executives listing the topics as critical initiatives (Forbes, 2011). One group that has received little attention but continues to be stigmatized is the childfree population, or those individuals who deliberately choose not to have children. Previous research has examined opinions of this group generally and in the workplace, specifically, but this research frequently considers childfree and childless people under the same umbrella. This study examined ratings of the childfree in the workplace compared to childless adults as well as to parents. The potential …

Management Of Preoperative Distress By Anesthesia Providers In Toddlers And Preschoolers, Rossana Bizzio- Knott

Open Access Dissertations

The period of time associated with a child’s preparation for surgery and induction of general anesthesia is one of the most stressful events a child can experience. It is estimated that 40-60% of children experience preoperative anxiety before induction of anesthesia. Toddlers and preschoolers’ cognitive limitations, lack of self-control, high level of dependency on adults, and their limited understanding of the healthcare process make them prone to experience distress and excessive anxiety during the preoperative period. This inability to fully comprehend or manage the hospitalization experience leads to preoperative distress. Children’s preoperative distress has also been linked to ineffective coping …

Growing Together: A Journey To Self-Discovery, Alicia Mehtlan

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Throughout the course of this internship, I will be reading with kids, ages 8-10 years old, and enhancing their writing skills. Multiple members of Boys & Girls Club are not fluent in the English language and struggle with reading and writing in the common language their school uses. I will be helping teach children of all ages about media literacy of all types by incorporating fun activities into finding themselves in the growing community they thrive in.

Letter Teaching In Parent–Child Conversations, Molly Farry-Thorn

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Societies engage in cross-generational transfers of information, enabling cultural transmission of skills such as tool use and language (Tomasello, 2001). Reading and spelling are two of the most important cultural tools that are transferred to children in modern societies. This transfer begins with informal experiences in the home and continues with formal teaching at school. One skill that is critical to a child’s success during the first years of reading and spelling instruction is decoding, which is the ability to sound out written words. Decoding ability depends, in part, on a child’s knowledge of letters (Lonigan, Burgess, & Anthony, 2000). …

Donald Trump And The Sex Industry, Robert Brannon

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

The Limits Of Regulation: A Case Study Of Virtual And Intangible Harm, Nachshon Goltz

PhD Dissertations

This dissertation deals with the limits of regulation through the analysis of virtual and intangible harm and the capacity of regulation to prevent or at least reduce such harm. The case study at hand is the potential harm to childrens imaginative development in virtual worlds. A comparison is drawn from the regulation of online advertising to children in Canada and the US. Based on a review of the literature in chapter 1, it is suggested that there are serious and long-term consequences to an underdeveloped imagination, including pathological phenomenon and lack of imaginative ability. As with other harms to children, …

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 …

No Quick Fix: The Failure Of Criminal Law And The Promise Of Civil Law Remedies For Domestic Child Sex Trafficking, Charisa Smith

University of Miami Law Review

Pimps and johns who sexually exploit children garner instant public and scholarly outrage for their lust for a destructive “quick fix.” In actuality, many justifiably concerned scholars, policymakers, and members of the public continue to react over-simplistically and reflexively to the issue of child sex trafficking in the United States—also known as commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC)—in a manner intellectually akin to immediate gratification. Further, research reveals that the average john is an employed, married male of any given race or ethnicity, suggesting that over-simplification and knee-jerk thinking on CSEC are conspicuous. This Article raises provocative questions that too …

“Whatdunit?” Developmental Changes In Children’S Syntactically-Based Sentence Interpretation Abilities And Sensitivity To Word Order, James W. Montgomery, Julia L. Evans, Ronald B. Gillam, Alexander V. Sergeev, Mianisha C. Finney

Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling Faculty Publications

Aim 1 of this study was to examine the developmental changes in typically developing English-speaking children’s syntactically-based sentence interpretation abilities and sensitivity to word order. Aim 2 was to determine the psychometric standing of the novel sentence interpretation task developed for this study, as we wish to use it later with children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). Children listened to semantically implausible sentences in which noun animacy and the natural affordance between the nouns were removed, thus controlling for event probability. Using this novel “whatdunit?” agent selection task, 256 children 7-11 years listened to two structures with canonical word order …

Learning To Feel Good And Stay Cool: Emotion Regulation Tools For Kids With Ad/Hd, Emily Darowski

Children's Book and Media Review

Understanding emotions and how to cope with them is something everyone must learn. This book focuses on helping children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) tackle this task. Twenty emotions are described with real-life scenarios, noting that some emotions feel good and others do not. This work helps children identify their “feel good zone” and “upset zone” and develop strategies that will help them feel good more often. Some strategies involve building routines and habits (e.g., eat enough protein, get adequate sleep). Other strategies teach children how to deal with specific negative emotions (e.g., shift attention when frustrated). Short games …

Mishpachah: The Jewish Family In Tradition And In Transition, Leonard Greenspoon

Studies in Jewish Civilization

Dictionary definitions of the term mishpachah are seemingly straightforward: “A Jewish family or social unit including close and distant relatives—sometimes also close friends.” As accurate as such definitions are, they fail to capture the diversity and vitality of real, flesh-and-blood Jewish families.

Families have been part of Jewish life for as long as there have been Jews. It is useful to recall that the family is the basic narrative building block of the stories in the biblical book of Genesis, which can be interpreted in the light of ancient literary traditions, archaeological discoveries, and rabbinic exegesis. Rabbinic literature also is …

Improving Mental Health Of Elementary School Children, Alexa Proctor

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

Alexa Proctor is an advanced practice student on clinical rotations with the Purdue University College of Pharmacy. In this article, she describes her experience working with Mental Health America (MHA) of Tippecanoe County and third grade children, in addition to her passion to help improve mental health in students of all ages.

Associations Among Elementary School Children’S Actual Motor Competence, Perceived Motor Competence, Physical Activity And Bmi : A Cross-Sectional Study, An V. De Meester, David F. Stodden, Ali S. Brian, Larissa True, Greet Cardon, Isabel Tallir, Leen Haerens

Faculty Publications

Background

Positive associations between motor competence and physical activity have been identified by means of variable-centered analyses. To expand the understanding of these associations, this study used a person-centered approach to investigate whether different combinations (i.e., profiles) of actual and perceived motor competence exist (aim 1); and to examine differences in physical activity levels (aim 2) and weight status (aim 3) among children with different motor competence-based profiles.

Materials and Methods

Children’s (N = 361; 180 boys = 50%; Mage = 9.50±1.24yrs) actual motor competence was measured with the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 and their perceived motor …