Child Psychology Commons^™

Play Therapy, Melissa M. Sitzmann

Graduate Research Papers

Play therapy is a current trend in school and mental health counseling that takes into account the importance of play for a child's self -expression. It is primarily used with children ranging from three to ten years in age (Knell, 1995). Play therapy is not a theory that stands alone; counselors utilizing play therapy draw from their personal theoretical orientation and blend it with play as the primary means of communication (Cochran, 1996).

The purpose of this paper is to describe play therapy skills. In addition, two theories of play therapy that could be implemented in a school setting will …

Similarities And Differences In Eyewitness Testimonies Of Children Who Directly Versus Vicariously Experience Stress, Marc A. Lindberg Ph.D., Susan Jones, Lisa Mccomas Collard, Stuart W. Thomas

Psychology Faculty Research

This study tested questions of ecological validity by comparing the eyewitness testimonies of children directly experiencing a painful inoculation experience with those of children in a yoked-control group who vicariously experienced the inoculation on videotape. The study involved 86 5-year-olds, divided between 2 groups: the experiential and yoked control. The experiential group was followed through a health department with a video camera as they received diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus (DFT), and oral polio inoculations. They were tested immediately, 20 min later, and I month later. Each child in the yoked-control group merely watched the videotape of his or her counterpart in …

The Effects Of Parental Attachment And Parenting Style On The Development Of Violent And General Deliquent Behaviors In Preadolescent Youths, Regina Peacock, Julio Cesar Fisher

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which insecure attachment formation and the laissez-faire of authoritarian parenting style predict violent or general delinquent behaviors in preadolescent youths. The present study analyzes archival data from the first wave of a longitudinal study on delinquent behaviors. Two hundred six male and female sixth grade students were surveyed. A correlation design was used to determine predictors of violent and general delinquent behaviors among these preadolescent youths. Regression analysis was used to determine which predictor offered the best explanation of violent and delinquent behavior. It was found that for boys …

The Impact Of Siblings And Parenting Style On Social Skill Development In Young Adult Females, Genevieve Cordero Arca

Theses Digitization Project

"The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of parenting style and having vs. not having siblings on social skill development."

Attachment Behaviors Displayed By Children In Foster Care, Denise Cathleen Rice

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the level of attachment, secure or insecure, displayed by foster children after a minimal one-hour separation from their foster parent. The sample consisted of fifty foster parents (22 males and 28 females) who had foster children ranging in ages from 3-12. The foster children have lived in the current foster care placement for at least one month. To measure the foster child's level of attachment to the foster parent, the foster parent completed a demographic survey as well as the Parent/Child Reunion Inventory (Marcus 1988). Analysis was conducted using a variety of …

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder : Is It A Behavior Disorder Or Active Childhood Behavior?, Larry G. Scheel

Graduate Research Papers

Although attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder constitutes 33 to 50% of mental health referrals for children, an increasing number of researchers has begun to question the validity of ADHD as a legitimate diagnosis. Eberstadt in her 1999 review stated, "Society has changed since the mid-1980s to view what may be normal childhood activity as lack of behavioral compliance" (p.1). Could the prevalence of ADHD simply be an increasingly active society's response to normal, active childhood behavior? The purpose of this paper is to examine the history of ADHD and explore assessment methods. Data from current literature and personal interviews with recognized professionals …

The Relationship Between Language Development And Self-Help Skills In Developmentally Delayed Infants And Young Children, Tammy M. Roberts

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The author explored the relationship between language skills and self-help skills in young children diagnosed as developmentally delayed. Twenty-eight children from the West Virginia Birth to Three Program at Southern Highlands Community Mental Health Center in Princeton, West Virginia, were involved in the research. The data was analyzed using the Spearman r formula. The analysis found a strong positive relationship between language skills and self-help skills. The results indicated that developmental interventions need to be global and not delay-specific. Young children learn skills in the various areas of development concurrently. Recommendations for future research were made.

The Relationship Between Attention And Memory And School Readiness In West Virginia Preschoolers, Brenda Carol Parker

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The current study investigated the relationship between memory and attention and academic readiness in children between the ages of 2 ½ and 5. Forty-two preschool children were involved in the study and were selected from childcare centers participating in the Educare project in West Virginia. All subjects were tested with the Bracken and the Carolina Curriculum. The Bracken measured the academic readiness and the Carolina Curriculum measured memory and attention levels of the children. The results indicated a positive correlation between memory and attention and academic readiness. The findings supported the position that there is a positive correlation between mastery …

Relation Of Age Beginning Delinquency, Chemical Dependency, Family History Of Substance Use And The Likelihood To Display Elevated 49/94 Two-Point Codetype On The Mmpi-A With Juvenile Delinquents, Jay Cunningham

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

A data search of male juvenile delinquents (N=40) who had taken the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory for Adolescents (MMPI-A) was undertaken from archival data at the Industrial Home for Youth Division of Juvenile Services at Salem, West Virginia. The Industrial Home for Youth is a 120 bed maximum security correctional facility for males age 10 through 20 and females age 12 through 20. Subjects’ files were placed into two groups, 20 in each group. The study group is males whose MMPI-A profile had a two-point codetype of elevated 49/94, T-score being 65 or above. The comparison group did not have …

The Ability Of The Child And Adolescent Functioning Assessment Scale (Cafas) To Predict Discharge Status From An Intensive In-Home Treatment Program, Brenda K. Smith

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Mental health providers are increasing required to document symptoms of clients, level of functional impairment, and improvements in treatment due to increasing pressure from managed mental health to provide the best possible services for the least amount of money and time spent. Thus, instruments that reliably predict functional impairment, length and cost of services are increasing utilized in mental health agencies. One such instrument, the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAF AS), will be reviewed. The purpose of the study will be stated, and the method, procedure, and results will be explained. A discussion will follow detailing a summary …

Specific Parenting Practices Associated With Offspring Anxiety In Young Adulthood, Joan Elizabeth Asseff

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Behavioural Problems Of Children In Foster Care As Affected By Attachment To And Visitation With Biological Parents, Ellen Loorits

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The following paper examines the literature on attachment and children in foster care to form the foundation for a study of the effects of attachment and visitation on the behavioural problems of these children. It begins with an overview of the area of attachment, focusing on the work of Bowlby, Ainsworth, and Main. Cicchetti and colleagues extensive research on attachment in maltreated school aged children is reviewed. The mental health imp1ications for maltreated children are discussed. The section on foster care gives an overview of the area including demographics and practices. Attachment theory has led to development of current practices …

Like A Banana Tree : Towards A Model Of Children In Disasters : An Exploration Of An Anthropological Problem, Jennie Anne Ricarda Marten

Theses : Honours

There is currently an emerging literature on the anthropology of disasters, and also an emergent literature on the new anthropology of childhood and children. Despite an extensive search, no significant body of literature on the anthropology of children in natural event based disasters could be found. A central focus of this thesis will be interrogate this gap through a documentary search, to ascertain what factors might influence the absence of children in the anthropology of disasters. To achieve this, the study defines and conceptualizes both the anthropology of disasters and the anthropology of children. Recent research shows that children are …

The Psychosocial Well-Being Of Children From Fly-In/Fly-Out Mining Families, Anne Margaret Sibbel

Theses : Honours

The children of fly-in/fly-out (FIFO) mining employees are exposed to the risk factors for depressive disorders of regular father absence associated with hazardous employment conditions, together with disruptions to family routines. In the absence of previous research in this area, this exploratory study sought to determine whether the levels of depressive symptomatology, anxiety and perceptions of family function of 30 primary school-aged children whose fathers were in FIFO employment were less healthy than those of a Control Group of 30 children whose fathers did not have FIFO employment. The mothers' perceptions of family function were also compared. The children were …

The Effectiveness Of Pre-Interview Training In Helping Preschool Children Overcome Compliance In An Interview Setting, Jo-Anne Naylor

Theses : Honours

The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether a pre-interview training package was effective in reducing compliance to misleading questions with pre-school children and if the effects of the pre-interview training package could be generalized to interviewers other than those conducting the pre-interview training. Sixty preschool children, aged between four and five years, were randomly allocated to one of three interview conditions. The first group was given no pre-interview training (control group). In the second group, the same person administered the pre-interview training package and subsequent interview (same interviewer group). In the third group, different people conducted the …

The Effectiveness Of Non-Directive Play Therapy On Decreasing Inappropriate Behavior, Heather M. Sawyer

Masters Theses

The present study investigated the effectiveness of non-directive play therapy, operationalized as non-contingent attention (NCA), no-demands, and an enriched environment, on three developmentally normal children with a history of abuse or neglect. A single-case reversal-replication design was employed. Baseline consisted of contingent attention, demands, and a relatively non-enriched environment. Results indicated that for one of the participants, NCA, no-demands, and an enriched environment successfully decreased inappropriate play behaviors. More specifically, destructive and disrupted play behaviors occurred much less frequently in both treatment conditions compared to the two baseline conditions. The other two participants did not show any clear pattern of …

Functional Analysis Of Abused/Neglected Children's Inappropriate Play, Jessica Bauer

Masters Theses

This study investigated the possible governing mechanisms of inappropriate play behaviors of three developmentally normal children with a history of abuse/neglect. A functional analysis was performed using three conditions—contingent attention plus demands, contingent attention, and non-contingent attention. For one child, functional analysis revealed that inappropriate play behavior occurred more frequently in those conditions where contingent attention was present. Demands, at least when contingent attention was provided, did not appear to elicit or evoke inappropriate play behavior. For the other two children, functional analysis did not reveal any significant differences between conditions. The results of this study suggest that for some …

Book Review. Ordinary Resurrections: Children In The Years Of Hope By Jonathan Kozol, Michael Jenuwine, Jane E. Barden

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Trends. Spillover: Is United States Government Military Aid To Colombia All Wet?, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses spillover of conflicts in Colombia into surrounding countries as related to United States government military aid.

The Cardiac Correlates Of Attention In The Denervated Heart: A Study Of Infant Heart Transplant Recipients, Stephanie Dianne Griffone

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The cardiac correlate of attention is a deceleration in heart rate, controlled by the parasympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system. This has been extensively studied in infants; the findings indicate that this deceleration is affected by a number of factors, several mediated by the vagus nerve. However, the effects of denervation on this response are not known. Studies with adult heart transplant recipients have shown attenuated acceleration in response to stressful mental tasks. This study investigated the cardiac response to attention in infants who had received a heart transplant, using a habituation paradigm. The hypothesis that they would show …

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 …

A Preliminary Investigation Of The Acceptability And Effectiveness Of Computer-Based Adjunctive Parent Training For Child Noncompliance, Dwayne M. Munneke

Dissertations

Noncompliance with parent requests is a commonly reported behavior problem for clinic-based child referrals. Parent skills training has been empirically demonstrated as an effective treatment for helping parents increase positive child behaviors and decrease negative behaviors. Unfortunately, many therapists and agencies are unable to implement parent-training programs due to limited therapist training, limited economic resources, or long waiting lists.

Adjunctive, computer-based, treatment programs have become increasingly popular in both research and clinical settings for facilitating psychological assessment and intervention. This project involved the development and preliminary investigation of the effectiveness and acceptability of a computer-based program designed to supplement therapist-delivered …

A Follow-Up Study Of A Primary Prevention Program Targeting Childhood Depression, Norman Chris Johnson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Children have not historically been the subject of research focusing on internalizing disorders (i.e., childhood depression), even though childhood depression continues to be viewed as one of the most prevalent affective problem within this population. Over the past two decades, a small portion of that literature describes prevention efforts in public schools. There has been a growing body of literature centered on childhood depression. However, there are only three studies that report on longitudinal findings that have taken a primary prevention approach.

The present study was a follow-up investigation to delineate the effects of a school-based primary prevention program. The …

Trends. Abuses Of Child Abuse: Suspecting The Usual Suspects In The World Of Elian Gonzalez, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses the concept of child abuse, and expert opinion about it, pertaining to the Elian Gonzalez case. Many different definitions of child abuse were applied to the situation (from differing perspectives) as authorities tried to decide if Gonzalez belonged in Miami, Florida with is "new family," or in Cuba with his father.

Trends. Political Psychologies And The Welfare Of Elian Gonzalez, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses issues surrounding the rescue of 6-year-old Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez.

Does The Wechsler Intelligence Scale For Children / 3rd Edition Discriminate Between Ld And Non-Ld Children, Ages 9 To 16 Years Old?, Matthew E. Dehmlow

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether the Wechsler’s Intelligence Scale for Children / 3^rd Edition (WISC-III) can discriminate between students with learning disabilities (LD students) and students without learning disabilities (non-LD students). Although the WISC-III has established itself as a valuable psychological instrument for measuring intelligence, the subtests of the WISC-IH have been selected to examine possible differentiating patterns when examining a group of LD subjects and comparing their subtest results to a group of non-LD subjects. The current study proposes to examine the capability of the WISC-HI’s subtests to discriminate between a population of …

The Ability Of Trail Making Test Parts A And B For Children And Adolescents To Discriminate Between Learning Disabled Students And Non-Learning Disabled Students, Glorene K. Evilsizor

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The Trail Making Test Parts A and B is a neuropsychological test that has long been thought to be a highly reliable and valid test that is able to discriminate cerebral dysfunction. In the present study, an investigation was completed in order to determine whether or not the Trail Making Test Parts A and B could differentiate learning disabled students from non-learning disabled students in four counties in West Virginia. Fifty-six students ranging from ages 9-16 (mean age 9.9) were involved in the study. The convenience sample consisted of 27 learning disabled students and 29 controls or non-learning disabled students. …

Macarthur Story-Stem Battery And Gender Differences, Gina Arnett

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

In this study the MacArthur Story-Stem Battery (MSSB; Bretherton, Oppenheim, Buchsbaum, Emde, & The MacArthur Narrative Group, 1990), an assessment tool that examines childrens’ ability to cope with conflict laden situations, was used to study gender differences in avoidance and aggression. Forty-three children (22 girls, 21 boys) participated in the third phase of a longitudinal study when they were between 7.5 and 8 years old (mean = 7.8). Results showed that males scored significantly higher than females on the variable of aggression in their story completions on the MSSB; however, gender differences for avoidance, while in the hypothesized direction, did …

The Snijders-Oomen Non-Verbal Intelligence Test 2 1/2-7-Revised And The Final Grade Point Averages Of First, Second And Third Grade, Combined: A Predictive Validity Study, Janice Blake

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study is to compare the actual achievement of 28 students from the Appalachian area over a three year period with their scores on the SON-R to assess if the instrument is a valid predictor of classroom achievement among culturally impaired youth. The subjects were 11 boys and 17 girls ranging from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, lower-middle class backgrounds, and middle-class backgrounds. Correlation of the SON-R raw score with GPA was moderate at .54 and significant at the .01 level. Correlation of SON-R Subtest scores with GPA were moderate for Mosaics (r= . 47, p< 05), Categories (r= .51, p< 01) and Patterns (r= .54, p< 01).

The Relationship Among Parenting Styles, Children's Empathy, And Certain Problematic Behaviors In Children And Young Adolescents, Holly Lynn Melvin

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.