Education Commons^™

High School Students' Physical Health: Associations With Intrapersonal, Family, Peer, Academic, And Risk Behavior Factors, Kathryn Therese Combs

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

High School Students’ Physical Health: Associations with Intrapersonal,

Family, Peer, Academic, and Risk Behavior Factors

by

KATHRYN THERESE COMBS

MARCH 2016

Advisor: Dr. Cheryl Somers

Major: Educational Psychology

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

A significant body of research and literature supports the need to address the obesity epidemic as it pertains to children and adolescents. Research has suggested that a multitude of factors are associated with overweight status. This study explored the relationships among weight status (represented in the current study by BMI), key environmental contexts that adolescents are concurrently exposed to, including family and peer relationships, and intrapersonal variables, …

Teen Perceptions Of Cell Phone And Internet Sexual Messaging: Trends And Predictors, David Gregg

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to propose and test a predictive model for high school sexting in order to better understand influences and characteristics that contribute most to one’s decision to sext. Sexting was defined as either sending or receiving photos, videos, or text messages that contained full nudity, partial nudity, sexual requests, or comments of a sexual nature. Rates and typical recipients of sexual content were also examined in this study. A sample of 314 high school students in an urban area of Southeast Michigan were surveyed. Males were found to more frequently report engaging in nearly …

Empathy As A Moderator Of Adolescent Bullying Behavior And Moral Disengagement After Controlling For Social Desirability, Amy Zelidman

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess the moderating influence empathy has on the associations between adolescent bullying behavior and moral disengagement after controlling for social desirability (e.g., response bias). 676 students in 7th and 8th grade from a suburban middle school in Southeast Michigan participated in this study in the fall of 2012.

Results showed male respondents were more likely than female respondents to (a) report engaging in all forms of traditional bullying behavior overall, including physical, verbal, and social bullying and (b) report higher rates of physical victimization and moral disengagement. Female respondents were more likely to …