Psychology Commons^™

Chronic Life Stress And Change In Stress Response Functioning In Urban Youth: The Role Of Social Support And Gender, Heather M. Marshall

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) has been established as a bio-marker of stress reactivity in acute stressor tasks. Much less research exists exploring whether sAA is bio-marker for chronic stress exposure, and therefore, allostatic load. Extant research is inconsistent with some evidence to support chronic stress exposure having an impact on sAA reactivity and diurnal levels of sAA, while other studies have failed to support this theory. Social support is regarded as a protective factor against stress, mental health, and physical health consequences. It has been suggested that gender may play a role in the utilization and benefits of social support networks. …

Language Counts: Early Language Mediates The Relationship Between Parent Education And Children's Math Ability, Emily Slusser, Andrew Ribner, Anna Shusterman

Faculty Publications

Children's early math skills have been hailed as a powerful predictor of academic success. Disparities in socioeconomic context, however, also have dramatic consequences on children's learning. It is therefore critical to investigate both of these distinct contributors in order to better understand the early foundations of children's academic outcomes. This study tests an integrated model of children's developing math ability so as to (1) identify the specific skills and abilities most clearly linked to early math achievement and (2) measure the influence of children's socioeconomic context on each of these skills. We first evaluated the early vocabulary, number word knowledge …

Early Childhood Stressors And Negative Personality Behaviors, Kyler Joachim

Scholars Week

Early Childhood Stressors and Negative Personality Behaviors

Research is moving away from static to contextual models of understanding personality development, making it imperative to consider daily occurrences, not just biology or significant traumatic events, in personality formation. Temperament has long been considered the innate source of behaviors that later solidify into personality, but behaviors themselves and the conditions that produce and reinforce them are shaped by the daily environment. This behavior-environment interaction is especially important for children experiencing childhood stressors like poverty, food insecurity, and parental aggravation. Non-clinical personality related behaviors may arise from these stressors, which can lead to …

Head Start And Internalizing/Externalizing Behaviors, Camila Ferreira

Scholars Week

Children who attend Head Start program are impacted in externalizing/internalizing behaviors, and many other areas. The abstract explains how the study analyzes these impacts, and how temperament and parental involvement also play a role in behaviors.

A Multidimensional Examination Of Parent Involvement Across Child And Parent Characteristics, S. Andrew Garbacz, Philippa S. Mcdowall, Elizabeth Schaughency, Susan M. Sheridan, Greg W. Welch

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to clarify equivocal findings in the parent-involvement literature and examine novel interactions in a New Zealand context. Specifically, this study tested direct effects of school year, parent education, family structure, and child gender on parent involvement in elementary school. In addition, interactions between parent, family, and child characteristics were explored as moderators on the relation of school year and parent involvement. Participants were 421 primary caregivers of children attending their first through final years of elementary school on New Zealand’s South Island. Structural equation models were used to detect direct and interaction effects. Findings …

A Predictive Model For Tck Identity Development: What Role Do Faith Development And Religious Motivation Play?, Amanda Rockinson-Szapkiw, Lorene R. Heuvelman-Hutchinson

Journal of Counseling and Psychology

This study examines the predictive association of 86 Third Culture Kids’ (TCK) faith development, religious commitment, and identity development statuses. TCKs’ low levels of faith development and religious motivation were associated with lower levels of identity statuses while TCKs’ achieved identity statuses were associated with high levels of faith development and religious motivation. The results of the direct logistical regression revealed that the full model containing the two predictor variables (intrinsic religious motivation and faith stage) significantly predicted identity achievement status. The model accounted for between 18.7% and 29.2% of the variance in identity status. It correctly classified 83.7% of …

Metaanalysis Of The Relationship Between Violent Video Game Play And Physical Aggression Over Time, Anna T. Prescott, James Sargent, Jay G. Hull

Dartmouth Scholarship

To clarify and quantify the influence of video game violence (VGV) on aggressive behavior, we conducted a metaanalysis of all prospective studies to date that assessed the relation between exposure to VGV and subsequent overt physical aggression. The search strategy identified 24 studies with over 17,000 participants and time lags ranging from 3 months to 4 years. The samples comprised various nationalities and ethnicities with mean ages from 9 to 19 years. For each study we obtained the standardized regression coefficient for the prospective effect of VGV on subsequent aggression, controlling for baseline aggression. VGV was related to aggression using …

Parent Perception Of The Working Alliance, Parent Self-Efficacy, And Parent Locus Of Control As Predictors Of Child Therapy Outcome, Christopher Glenn Chandler

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact that parent-therapist working alliance, parent self-efficacy, and parent locus of control have on child therapy outcomes. Bordin’s model of the working alliance provides a framework for measuring the collaboration between the parents and therapists while Social Cognitive Theory informs the decision to assess parent self-efficacy and parent locus of control.

The research questions were as follows: 1) Does a strong parent and therapist working alliance, as perceived by the parent, predict improved outcomes in child counseling? 2) Does parent self-efficacy predict outcomes in child counseling? 3) Does parent locus of …

The Efficacy Of School Implemented Cognitive Behavioral Therapy To Reduce Adolescent Anxiety, Madeline N. Michelsen

Selected Honors Theses

Adolescent anxiety is a growing problem which affects millions of children every year. There are a myriad of factors which produce adolescent anxiety such as excessive stress, adverse childhood experiences, and chemical imbalances amongst many other factors. An emerging therapy to treat mental health disorders, such as anxiety, is cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) which teaches participants how to correct maladaptive thought patterns to develop resilience. Cognitive behavior therapy has produced positive results for reducing symptoms of anxiety and other mental health disorders in both adolescents and adults. Due to its unparalleled student access, schools have the unique opportunity to develop …

Grief And Its Implications In Childhood And Adolescence, Electa C. Willander

Student Publications

Death has always been a taboo subject. However, it is impossible for anyone to avoid death in terms of their loved ones or their own mortality. Therefore it is impossible to avoid the at times overbearing emotion of grief. Grief can be exposed in the light of someone passing, loss of a relationship, diminishing health, loss of a job, and even loss in athletic ability. There is no singular reason for grief to be present, nor are there simple and straightforward ways to cope and move forward. Grief on the individual and universal scale has no time frame. It is …

A Phenomenology Of The Practice Of Music Therapy With Children, Shelby Tortorello

Senior Honors Theses

Music therapy has been demonstrated as an effective mode of therapeutic intervention for children in recent literature. There is extensive research suggesting benefits for various populations of children, namely: children in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), children who have experienced trauma, and children with disabilities. The current study served to address gaps found in the literature by conducting a phenomenology of professionally trained music therapists. Four board certified music therapists near major cities on the east coast were interviewed to comment on how they understand music therapy, and how they live out those understandings in their practice. It was …

Integrated Mental Health Care In Education For Syrian Refugees: An Exploratory Study, Emily Goldstein

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Trauma-inducing experiences during conflict can significantly impede the ability to function and effectively learn in the classroom; thus, it is essential to integrate mental health services into the school setting for refugee populations. This study investigated the state of integrated mental healthcare for Syrian refugees in Jordan by surveying Syrian students on their attitudes towards seeking mental health and interviewing educators on their classroom practices. The scope of the study was extremely limited, as data was collected on only 21 students and 5 educators in one school and a number of biases could have skewed the results. It was found …

The Longitudinal Impact Of Screen Time On Adolescent Development: Moderation By Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia, Wesley Sanders, Justin Parent, Jamie L. Abaied, Rex Forehand, Sarah M. Coyne, W. Justin Dyer

Faculty Publications

Purpose: To date, little is known about underlying psychophysiological contributions to the impact of media content and overall screen time on adolescent psychological functioning. In the present study we examine respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) as a moderator of the link between specific types of media content use, overall media exposure, and the development of internalizing and aggressive symptoms in youth.

Methods: A sample of 374 adolescents (mean age = 15) reported on their media use, internalizing behavior, and aggressive behavior at time 1 (2011) and 1-year follow-up (2012). RSA reactivity was gathered during a challenging laboratory task. Path analyses were …

Adults’ Perceptions Of Children With Mental Illness Labels Who Tell Truths And Lies, Jessica Lynn Mccurdy

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examined whether children’s truth- and lie-telling is perceived differently by adults when the children have mental illness labels (MIL). Participants (N= 432) read a vignette and watched a video from each of four veracity/motivation (i.e., prosocial truth, antisocial truth, prosocial lie, antisocial lie) and child label (i.e., control, ADHD, depression, asthma) conditions. After each video/vignette combination, participants rated their impressions of and responses towards the child. Participants also completed measures of their implicit and explicit attitudes towards mental illness. The results indicated participants had more negative perceptions of children they rated higher on dangerousness and lower …

The Intergenerational Transmission Of Mentalization: How Parental Reflective Function On The Parent Development Interview Relates To Child Mentalization On The Thematic Apperception Test, Kira Boesch

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Mentalization is defined as the metacognitive ability to think about one’s own and other’s thoughts and feelings, with the goal of comprehending behavior (Benbassat & Priel, 2012). Mentalization is associated with secure attachment, and is both directly and indirectly linked to multiple social and emotional outcomes. This study looked at the correlation between parent and child mentalization as a means of exploring the impact of parent reflectiveness on children’s’ mentalization capacities.

Methods: This study utilized archival data collected at The Psychological Center, a community mental health clinic at the City College of New York. The sample consisted of 15 parent-child …

Parent Childhood Abuse And Neglect And Offspring Mental Health: An Examination Of Potential Mediators, Joanna Young

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Child maltreatment has been associated with difficulties in parenting (Bailey, DeOliveira, Wolfe, Evans, & Hartwick, 2012) and children of abused mothers have been found to be at risk of more negative emotional and behavioral mental health outcomes compared to children of mothers with no abuse history (Collishaw, Dunn, O’Connor, & Golding, 2007; Delker, Noll, Kim, & Fisher, 2014). However, research is limited in terms of studies that investigate mediators in the relationship between parental abuse and child psychopathology. In addition, the majority of past research has focused only on self-reported, maternal histories of abuse and on limited offspring outcomes (i.e. …

Parenting, Culture, And The Development Of Externalizing Behaviors From Age 7 To 14 In Nine Countries, Jennifer E. Lansford, Jennifer Godwin, Marc H. Bornstein, Lei Chang, Kirby Deater-Deckard, Laura Di Giunta, Kenneth A. Dodge, Patrick S. Malone, Paul Oburu, Concetta Pastorelli, Ann T. Skinner, Emma Sorbring, Laurence Steinberg, Sombat Tapanya, Liliana Maria Uribe Tirado, Liane Peña Alampay, Suha M. Al-Hassan, Dario Bacchini

Psychology Department Faculty Publications

Using multilevel models, we examined mother-, father-, and child-reported (N = 1,336 families) externalizing behavior problem trajectories from age 7 to 14 in nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States). The intercept and slope of children's externalizing behavior trajectories varied both across individuals within culture and across cultures, and the variance was larger at the individual level than at the culture level. Mothers’ and children's endorsement of aggression as well as mothers’ authoritarian attitudes predicted higher age 8 intercepts of child externalizing behaviors. Furthermore, prediction from individual-level endorsement of aggression and authoritarian …

Executive Functioning In Pediatric Youth: A Meta-Analysis, Draycen D. Decator

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Executive functioning (EF) represents a set of cognitive skills that are important for daily functioning. EF can be influenced by a number of biopsychosocial factors, many of which are present in the pediatric population (i.e., youth with at least one medical condition). It is important to understand EF in this population as it affects aspects of their physical health (e.g., treatment adherence). Previous meta-analyses have been conducted to examine EF in the pediatric population, and they have generally found deficits in EF compared to healthy peers. However, these previous meta-analyses have only focused on specific medical conditions (e.g., pediatric youth …

Biological Stress Response And Cognitive Vulnerability To Depression In Adolescence, Bridget M. Brush

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Depression is the leading cause of worldwide disability. Rates of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) increase exponentially over the adolescent transition, suggesting adolescence represents a key period of risk for the onset of depression. Previous research has associated both biological stress response and cognitive vulnerability with symptoms of depression; however, there is little research examining the joint effects of these two risk factors and symptoms of depression, especially during adolescence. The present study examined the association between symptoms of depression and two established risk factors for depression: cognitive vulnerability, as measured by negative cognitive style, and biological stress response, as measured …

Bidirectional Relations Between Parenting And Behavior Problems From Age 8 To 13 In Nine Countries, Jennifer E. Lansford, W. Andrew Rothenberg, Todd M. Jensen, Melissa A. Lippold, Dario Bacchini, Marc H. Bornstein, Lei Chang, Kirby Deater-Deckard, Laura Di Giunta, Kenneth A. Dodge, Patrick S. Malone, Paul Oburu, Concetta Pastorelli, Ann T. Skinner, Emma Sorbring, Laurence Steinberg, Sombat Tapanya, Liliana Maria Uribe Tirado, Liane Peña Alampay, Suha M. Al-Hassan

Psychology Department Faculty Publications

This study used data from 12 cultural groups in nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States; N = 1,298) to understand the cross‐cultural generalizability of how parental warmth and control are bidirectionally related to externalizing and internalizing behaviors from childhood to early adolescence. Mothers, fathers, and children completed measures when children were ages 8–13. Multiple‐group autoregressive, cross‐lagged structural equation models revealed that child effects rather than parent effects may better characterize how warmth and control are related to child externalizing and internalizing behaviors over time, and that parent effects may be more characteristic …

Variables Associated With Alcohol Consumption And Abstinence Among Young Adults In Central China, Ling Qian, Ian M. Newman, Lok-Wa Yuen, Duane F. Shell, Jingdong Xu

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

This paper presents a descriptive analysis of data gathered by personal interviews from a multistage random sample of 1640 residents aged 18–34 years in Wuhan, China. First, alcohol drinkers and abstainers were compared based on demographic, attitude, and belief variables. Next, the drinkers from the sample were classified into four groups based on frequency-quantity of alcohol use, and the frequency-quantity groups were compared on the same variables. For Abstainers versus Drinkers, we found no difference by age or gender in this sample. Married people and people with children were more likely to be abstainers. University-educated, currently-employed individuals in mid-level jobs …

Parental Stress, Anxiety, And Depression And Child Emotional Intelligence In Children With 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome, Megan A. Goldfarb

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Children with chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) have serious medical, psychological, and behavioral symptoms that are stressful to their parents. Higher general intelligence quotients (IQ) and emotional intelligence (EI) in children could allay parental stress. Self-reported stress, anxiety, and depression were measured in parents of children with 22q11.2DS (n=42) and a healthy control group (n=20) in relation to children’s IQ and EI. Children with 22q1.2DS had lower IQ and EI scores. Parental groups did not differ in their reported stress, anxiety, or depression. Children’s IQ and EI levels did not relate to parental measures of affect even in the 22q11.2DS …

Building Strong Family–School Partnerships: Transitioning From Basic Findings To Possible Practices, Susan M. Sheridan, Lorey Wheeler

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

In the present article, we describe the translational process undergirding a particular aspect of family science: families working in partnership with schools to achieve mutual goals for children’s optimal functioning. In doing so, we illustrate a translational cycle that began with identifying problems of practice and led to the development of a family–school intervention (i.e., conjoint behavioral consultation) in a way that embraced families as partners in goal-setting and problem-solving. We discuss the evolution of the intervention from development to efficacy trials and practice guidelines. Key decision points borne out of practical relevance, empirical investigations, tests of mechanisms and conditions, …

An Attachment-Based Group Intervention, Shannon Dillon

Doctoral Dissertations

This mixed method study aimed to understand and describe the effectiveness of an intervention and the experiences of mothers raising their children in a transitional living home. This was achieved through interviewing four mothers in Gilead House. Initially, participants completed the Depression, Anxiety and Stress scale (DASS-21), the Trauma History Screening (THS), the Adolescent Adult Parenting Inventory-2 (AAPI-2) and a demographics form. The first interview was also completed. Interview questions were based on the Working Model of the Child Interview (WCMI). Following this time 1 meeting an attachment-based group intervention was utilized for eight weeks. This intervention was based on …

A Multimodal Assessment Of Disgust In Response To Traumatic Event Reminders Among Adolescents, Teah-Marie R. Bynion

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The majority of youth will report traumatic event exposure by the time they reach adulthood. Research suggests exposure to such events is linked to myriad negative outcomes. Not all traumatic events are alike, however; evidence suggests that, compared to non-interpersonal events, interpersonal events in which another person intentionally perpetrates harm are linked to elevations in the likelihood of negative outcomes, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). One reason for this discrepancy is that interpersonal traumatic events may elicit greater levels of disgust. However, this is a very under-developed research base, no study has examined this question among youth. The current study …

Examining The Temporal Directionality Between Teaching Behavior And Affect In High School Students., Bridget Cauley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous empirical studies demonstrate a cross-sectional association between teaching behaviors and students’ positive and negative affect and depressive symptoms. However, only one study comprised only of middle school students has examined the temporal direction of these associations, meaning the temporal direction of associations for high school students remains unclear. Therefore, this two-wave study with high school students investigated the temporal direction of the associations between teaching behaviors and students’ positive and negative affect. Participating students from one public high school (N = 188; 88.8% White; 69.7% female) completed the Teaching Behavior Questionnaire and the Positive Affect and Negative Affect …

Deception From Parents To Romantic Partners, Xiaoti Fan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Deception plays an important role in every type of relationship, particularly for the two most intimate relationships: parent-child and romantic. People usually learn behaviors and communication strategies from their parents and enforce or adjust them in other types of relationships based on various personal as well as social influences. The purpose of this study is to examine the strategies and motives young adults use with their parents and romantic partners when they convey deceptive messages, and explore how people apply patterns of deception from their parent-child relationships to their romantic relationships. In this study, two aspects of deceptive behavior are …

Rural Teacher Practices And Partnerships To Address Behavioral Challenges: The Efficacy And Mechanisms Of Conjoint Behavioral Consultation, Susan M. Sheridan Dr., Amanda Witte, Gina M. Kunz, Lorey A. Wheeler, Samantha R. Angell, Houston F. Lester

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The efficacy of conjoint behavioral consultation (CBC), a family-school partnership intervention, for teachers’ practices and process skills was evaluated. Participants were 152 teachers of gradesK–3 in 45Midwest rural schools randomly assigned to treatment or control conditions. Treatment group teachers participated in an 8- to 10-week CBC intervention. Outcome measures were (a) self-reports of classroom practices and collaborative process skills and (b) direct observations of teachers’ use of effective behavioral strategies. Relative to control group participants, there was a significant positive intervention effect on CBC teachers’ self-report of appropriate behavioral strategies (b p .47, p ! .001), observations of their use …

School Psychologists And Suicide Risk Assessment: Role Perception And Competency, Kristen Herner Erps

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

As the second leading cause of death for adolescents, suicide has become one of the biggest concerns for school personnel. School psychologists are often expected to be the most competent and able to lead in suicide prevention efforts, however, studies have shown a lack of preparedness in crisis intervention and, more specifically, suicide risk assessment. This study surveyed practicing school psychologists (N = 92) to explore their perception of both their role and competency in suicide risk assessment. While school psychologists reported having varying roles within their district related to suicide risk assessment, the majority endorsed having a role at …

Cyberbullying And School Climate, Emily Payton Fisher

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between demographic variables known to predict bullying and victimization, traditional bullying victimization, cyberbullying victimization, and school climate. Participants were 214 fourth and fifth grade students from three elementary schools in Warren County, Kentucky. Students answered demographic questions and completed a series of surveys including the Positive Experience Checklist and the School Climate Survey Suite. Demographic variables and traditional bullying victimization were regressed on the students’ perception of school climate (Model 1). Additionally, cyberbullying victimization was included in a second block to estimate its explanatory value (Model 2). The present study …