Child Psychology Commons^™

K-5 Elementary Alternative Program: A Case Study, William E. Scheuer Iv

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this case study was to examine how the K-5 elementary alternative program All Students Can Thrive (ASCT) used student-centered learning practices to influence the whole child. There is a lack of research on K-5 elementary alternative programs, such as ASCT, and specifically those that integrate student-centered learning practices to influence the whole child. Literature does not contain universally accepted interventions that are effective in the elementary alternative setting to help students return to the mainstream classroom setting better prepared to display appropriate behaviors when a student is removed from a mainstream classroom setting due to disruptive behaviors. …

Early Life Exposure To Unpredictable Parental Sensory Signals Shapes Cognitive Development Across Three Species, Elyssia Poggi Davis, Kari Mccormack, Hina Arora, Desiree Sharpe, Annabel K. Short, Jocelyne Bachevalier, Laura M. Glynn, Curt A. Sandman, Hal S. Stern, Mar Sanchez, Tallie Z. Baram

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Exposure to early life adversity has long term consequences on cognitive function. Most research has focused on understanding components of early life adversities that contribute to later risk, including poverty, trauma, maltreatment, and neglect. Whereas these factors, in the aggregate, explain a significant proportion of emotional and cognitive problems, there are serious gaps in our ability to identify potential mechanisms by which early life adversities might promote vulnerability or resilience. Here we discuss early life exposure to unpredictable signals from the caretaker as an understudied type of adversity that is amenable to prevention and intervention. We employ a translational approach …

Associations Between Cumulative Risk, Childhood Sleep Duration, And Body Mass Index Across Childhood, Tiffany Phu, Jenalee R. Doom

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

Background: Although associations between cumulative risk, sleep, and overweight/obesity have been demonstrated, few studies have examined relationships between these constructs longitudinally across childhood. This study investigated how cumulative risk and sleep duration are related to current and later child overweight/obesity in families across the United States sampled for high sociodemographic risk.

Methods: We conducted secondary analyses on 3690 families with recorded child height and weight within the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study. A cumulative risk composite (using nine variables indicating household/ environmental, family, and sociodemographic risk) was calculated for each participant from ages 3-9 years. Path analyses …

Psychological Well-Being In Childhood And Cardiometabolic Risk In Middle Adulthood: Findings From The 1958 British Birth Cohort, Julia K. Boehm, Farah Qureshi, Laura D. Kubzansky

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Childhood adversity is linked to poor cardiometabolic outcomes, but less is known about positive childhood factors. Using data from 4,007 members of the 1958 British Birth Cohort, we investigated whether children with greater psychological well-being had lower adulthood cardiometabolic risk. At age 11, participants wrote essays about their future. Two judges rated each essay for nine psychological well-being items (Finn’s r = .82–.91), which were combined into a standardized overall score (Cronbach’s α = .91). When participants reached age 45, nurses assessed their blood pressure, heart rate, lipids, glycosylated hemoglobin, fibrinogen, and C-reactive protein, which were standardized and summed for …

School Related Criminal Acts, Interpersonal Problems, And Classroom Behaviors As A Function Of The Proportion Of Black Students And Black Teachers, Leanne Zaire

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

This study’s purpose was to investigate school-level behavioral outcomes in relation to the proportion of Black teachers and students in U.S. schools. Negative school outcome and academic achievement gaps are well-documented. However, many of these studies utilized small, localized populations; my research used national data and focused on the problem behaviors in school. Drawing from Critical Race Theory, I hypothesized that a greater proportion of Black teachers would reduce school student problems and negative behaviors (e.g., student verbal abuse of teachers, widespread disorder in classrooms). After receiving a restricted-use license, I utilized data from 25,818 schools from the National Teacher …

Self-Reported Sexual Behavior In A Pediatric Gender Clinic Sample, Mirae J. Fornander

Research Days

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Background: Previous studies of transgender/gender diverse (TGD) youth indicate differences in rates of sexual behaviors between TGD youth and their cisgender peers. However, few studies have reported the sexual behavior and preferences of TGD youth in a large clinic sample, and no studies, to our knowledge, have utilized questionnaires that do not assume the sex or gender of one’s sexual partner.

Objectives/Goal: The current study aims to explore the self-reported sexual behavior of TGD youth presenting for gender-affirming medical care.

Methods/Design: Retrospective chart review of 589 patients (ages 12-22, M= 15.92, SD= 1.54; 72.9% assigned …

How Prospective Bias Shapes Children’S Responses To Temporal Location Questions, Tige M. Anderson

Student Theses

This study builds on McWilliams (et al., 2019) by analyzing temporal bias among children when making relative temporal judgments using recurring landmarks (e.g., birthday, holidays). Previous research has demonstrated that children display a prospective bias when making these judgments, meaning they tend to date things based on the future occurrence of the landmark (E.g, “it’s ten months until my birthday”) (McWilliams et al., 2019). Adults, by contrast, make relative judgments with landmarks based on the most proximate occurrence of the landmark. In other words, they do not prefer the future or the past (Merriwether et al., under review). Additionally, recent …

The Mother Of Exiles Is Abandoning Her Children: The Systemic Failure To Protect Unaccompanied Minors Arriving At Our Borders, Rosa M. Peterson

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Unaccompanied minors arrive at the United States border every day. Many brought by the hope of finding a life lived without fear, a luxury many United States citizens take for granted. Their truths become the barriers and shackles which keep them in detention centers and unaccompanied minor facilities throughout the United States; children find their very words wielded as weapons against them in immigration court. Words often spoken to therapists in perceived confidence, during counseling sessions. This practice is a systemic failure to protect unaccompanied minors arriving at our borders who are seeking protection and help. The United States …

Manipulating Image Luminance To Improve Eye Gaze And Verbal Behavior In Autistic Children, Louanne Boyd, Vincent Berardi, Deanna Hughes, Franceli L. Cibrian, Jazette Johnson, Viseth Sean, Eliza Delpizzo-Cheng, Brandon Mackin, Ayra Tusneem, Riya Mody, Sara Jones, Karen Lotich

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Autism has been characterized by a tendency to attend to the local visual details over surveying an image to understand the gist–a phenomenon called local interference. This sensory processing trait has been found to negatively impact social communication. Although much work has been conducted to understand these traits, little to no work has been conducted to intervene to provide support for local interference. Additionally, recent understanding of autism now introduces the core role of sensory processing and its impact on social communication. However, no interventions to the end of our knowledge have been explored to leverage this relationship. This work …

A Girl Named Sue: A Child's Journey From Complex Trauma To Hope, Healing & Recovery, Jamie Like Ms.

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

Audience would include any school staff, counselors, social workers, parents and community members. Many children who experience complex trauma struggle emotionally, physically and behaviorally. In this session, participants learn to never underestimate the impact they can make in the life of a child, that damage from childhood trauma can be mitigated and that relationships, relationships, relationships are the key to everything!

Preconception Maternal Posttraumatic Stress And Child Negative Affectivity: Prospectively Evaluating The Intergenerational Impact Of Trauma, Danielle A. Swales, Elysia Poggi Davis, Nicole E. Mahrer, Christine M. Guardino, Madeleine Shalowitz, Sharon L. Ramey, Christine Dunkel Schetter

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

The developmental origins of psychopathology begin before birth and perhaps even prior to conception. Understanding the intergenerational transmission of psychopathological risk is critical to identify sensitive windows for prevention and early intervention. Prior research demonstrates that maternal trauma history, typically assessed retrospectively, has adverse consequences for child socioemotional development. However, very few prospective studies of preconception trauma exist, and the role of preconception symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) remains unknown. The current study prospectively evaluates whether maternal preconception PTSD symptoms predict early childhood negative affectivity, a key dimension of temperament and predictor of later psychopathology. One hundred and eighteen …