Child Psychology Commons^™

Toying With Americanization: The Impact Of Corporate Paternalism On Immigrant Children In Early 20th Century Colorado Coal Mining Communities, Jamie Devine

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

During the early 20^th century coal miners' lives in Southern Colorado were fraught with violence and hardships. Many immigrant men brought their families to remote areas to live in company towns and work in coal mines. The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&I) attempted to assimilate these ethnically diverse immigrants into American society. One method was to impart American values onto the children living in these company towns. CF&I purchased American toys for the children during Christmas and created kindergartens for the children to attend with the intent of imparting American values. In contrast, the parents of these children …

Who Done It? Rurality Vs. Ses As Critical Factors In Evaluating The Prevalence Of Child Psychosocial Concerns In Primary Care, Robert M. Tolliver

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of child psychosocial concerns in rural primary care, hypothesized to be greater than national averages due to lacking mental health services in rural areas. This study was an examination of the role of SES, various definitions of “rural,” and the interaction of SES and rurality, in predicting parent-reported child psychosocial concerns in Appalachian primary care clinics. Caregivers presenting with their child at one of 8 pediatric primary care sites (n=2,672) were recruited to complete a measure assessing demographics and the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC). Results showed that while rural status …

Comparison Of Temperamental Rating Bilingually In Ukraine Using Child Behavioral Questionnaire (Cbq): Short Form, Nelly Ostrovsky

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The 2 goals of the present investigation were to 1) examine the reliability of the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire: Short Form (CBQ) in a sample of 4-7 year-old children from the Ukraine and 2) compare those children’s temperament profiles to a) one another when the form was administered in 2 different languages and b) their American counterparts from the CBQ standardization sample. Three waves of data were collected from the parents of 167 children residing in Kiev, Ukraine. Internal reliability analyses showed good internal consistency of the instrument. Comparative analyses conducted both within and between cultures showed similarities and differences across …

Longitudinal Effects Of Improving Inter-Parental Relationships In Low-Income Couples: Child Outcomes, Erica Grace Moran Etter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Poverty and economic hardship create tremendous stress for families, and subsequently are risk factors for child psychopathology. The Fatherhood, Relationship, and Marriage Education (FRAME) program is a 14-hour psychoeducation intervention developed specifically to strengthen the ability of low-income mothers and fathers to reduce conflict, cope with stress, and co-parent effectively, hopefully helping to create more stable and secure environments for children. The FRAME study is a randomized controlled trial evaluating the efficacy of a couples-based intervention in a sample of 301 ethnically diverse low-income cohabiting mothers and fathers who are parenting at least one child together. Couples were randomly assigned …

The Relationship Between Middle School Students' Perceptions Of Physical Activity, Student Engagement, And Academic Achievement, Jeremy D. Moretti

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Physical activity is important, and many adolescents are not meeting the recommendation that youth participate in at least 60 minutes of physical activity most days of the week (CDC, 2011). Physical inactivity among middle school students is on the rise and may be a contributing factor to a decline in academic performance. Prior research has focused primarily on bodily health; however, growing evidence supports the benefits of physical activity for academic achievement (Chomitz et al., 2009). This study examined the relationship between middle school students' perceptions of physical activity and student engagement they relate to academic achievement among 179 middle …

The Creation Of Art Books With Adolescents Diagnosed With An Eating Disorder: Effectiveness, Self-Esteem, And Related Factors, Eileen Chaves

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This pilot study undertook a mixed methods exploration of the interaction of art therapy and self-esteem in an adolescent eating disorder population. Using therapeutic art books in a group format, adolescents created art about their feelings, their eating disorder, or whatever else they deemed important. This art technique is relatively new and novel as an art therapy intervention. Therefore, this study aimed to look at the technique's effectiveness at decreasing participants' negative mood states and investigated the technique's ability to affect participants' perceptions of their self-esteem. Measures of global self-esteem and art therapy related self-esteem were measured using the Rosenberg …

School Refusal Behavior: A Phenomenological Study Of Latino/A Children's Experiences, Mary Ashley Angelo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School refusal behavior (SRB) is a subset of absenteeism in which children either altogether refuse to attend school or experience great difficulty remaining in class for the duration of the school day. Child motivated SRB is a growing problem that now affects between 5% and 28% of children and adolescents at some point during their lives. The effects of SRB can extend well beyond the classroom. Long-term, SRB can lead to delinquency and psychiatric, occupational, and marital problems in adulthood. Additionally, children who consistently exhibit SRB are more likely to drop out of school, thereby limiting their career choices and …

Temperament-Language Relationships During The First Formal Year Of School., Natasha Benfield Gouge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to investigate temperament-language relationships among school-age children and across a wider variety of SES. Head Start, Pre-K, and Kindergarten classes of 10 elementary schools located in rural Appalachia were sent information about the study and 35 children were consented to participate. Parents completed a short demographic survey and the Child Behavior Questionnaire Very Short Form (CBQ-VSF). Children were administered the Preschool Language Scale-4 (PLS-4). Participants were split into low and high SES groups so associations between the CBQ and PLS-4 scores could be compared at each SES strata. Both reactivity and self-regulation were …

Cortisol Reactivity Across The Day At Child Care: Examining The Contributions Of Child Temperament And Attachment To Mother And Lead Teacher, Lisa S. Badanes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous work has shown that full-day center-based child care is associated with increased physiologic stress for many young children (e.g., Tout, de Haan, Campbell, & Gunnar, 1998; Watamura, Sebanc, & Gunnar, 2002). Specifically, increasing cortisol from morning to afternoon at full-day child care in contrast to decreasing cortisol across the day for these same children at home has been repeatedly demonstrated for toddlers and preschoolers. Factors that have been related to rising cortisol across the day at child care include the child's age (rising cortisol at child care between 2 and 5 years, but not for infants or older children, …

Classroom Observations Of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Patterns And Characteristics Of Attention Over Time, Thomas M. Timko Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Investigated differences in attentional processes between children diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and their classroom peers. Models of attention gleaned from laboratory experiments provided a theoretical structure for hypothesizing between-group attentional differences. Seventy-five children with ADHD and 36 normal control children were observed in their regular classrooms over a 1-week time interval. Explication of between-group differences revealed that children with ADHD were approximately 21% less attentive on average. Both groups exhibited an accelerating-decelerating pattern of attention over time, however, children with ADHD cycled at a rate twice that of same-aged peers. Six variables derived from observed attention were examined for …

Physical And Behavioral Complaints In Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (Adhd): Paradoxical Effects Of Methylphenidate, Maria M. Coiro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hypotheses concerning paradoxical, psychostimulant-related side effects experienced by ADHD children were examined in the context of a double-blind, placebo-controlled, within subject (crossover) experimental design. Results revealed that behavioral and physical complaints were significantly higher under baseline relative to placebo and the four methylphenidate (MPH) conditions (5-mg, 10-mg, 15-mg, 20-mg) across three symptom categories: ADHD core/secondary symptoms, symptoms common to all children, and symptoms highly specific to MPH. No significant differences were found among active drug conditions. Implications of these findings for assessing and monitoring potential treatment emergent symptoms in children are discussed.

Examining Multisystem Coordination In Response To Stressors In Early Childhood, Tiffany Phu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a set of two studies that investigate linkages between the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis and Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) in response to a stressor paradigm among young children experiencing low-income. Contextual/child factors that shape multisystem physiologic coordination were also examined. A novel application of structural equation modeling was used to model sample-by-sample linkages between salivary analytes that indexed HPA axis and SNS functioning (respectively, salivary cortisol and salivary alpha amylase [sAA]). The preschoolers in Study 1 showed linkages between salivary cortisol and sAA across a novel research visit at their childcare center that included a stressor paradigm. Child …

The Well-Being Of Children As Viewed Through Their Conceptions Of Death, Jennifer Kampmann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An explorative study was conducted to try and understand how young children’s emerging death concepts form including, (a) what family demographics and child factors contributed to family well-being, (b) did family well-being influence children’s social competence, and (c) did family well-being and children’s social competence influence children’s death conceptions. Although the subject of death contains many unique characteristics, it is not easily separated from other aspects of life; death is inseparable from the whole human experience (DeSpelder & Strickland, 2002). It was the assumption of this paper that children develop their conceptions of death based on the appreciation they hold …

Adult's Perceptions Of Children's Aggressive Play With Advertised And Non-Advertised Toys., Lori J. Klinger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined adults’ perceptions of aggression in toys and toy commercials targeted toward young boys. The subjects, 262 undergraduate psychology students, completed the Buss/Perry Aggression Questionnaire and rated either a videotape of 10 boy-oriented toy commercials or slides of 10 non-advertised boy-toys. Parental status, exposure to an advertised versus non-advertised toy, and level of self-reported aggression were assessed to determine their relationship to perceptions of aggressiveness in a toy’s image and predicted play with the toy.

Univariate analyses of variance and paired sample t-tests were conducted. The results indicate that toys advertised in commercials are judged to portray more …

Some Evidence Of The Interests Of Eighth Grade Children In The Materials Of Science., Cora B. Burlingame 1872-1958

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.