Developmental Psychology Commons^™

Preliminary Evidence Of The Role Of Medial Prefrontal Cortex In Self-Enhancement: A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Study, Birgitta Taylor-Lillquist, Vivek Kanpa, Maya Crawford, Mehdi El Filali, Julia Oakes, Alex Jonasz, Amanda Disney, Julian Keenan

Department of Biology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Humans employ a number of strategies to improve their position in their given social hierarchy. Overclaiming involves presenting oneself as having more knowledge than one actually possesses, and it is typically invoked to increase one’s social standing. If increased expectations to possess knowledge is a perceived social pressure, such expectations should increase bouts of overclaiming. As the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) is sensitive to social pressure and disruption of the MPFC leads to decreases in overclaiming, we predicted that transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) applied to the MPFC would reduce overclaiming and the effects would be enhanced in the presence of …

Families In Poverty: Additive And Qualitative Influence Of Risk On Parenting, Lauren Aaron

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Co-occurrence of risk for impoverished families is common, but less is known about how compounded risk influences parenting behavior. Mothers (n = 167) and their two-year-old children were visited at home and engaged in a game aimed to elicit everyday parenting behavior. Mothers endorsed experience of sociodemographic and psychosocial risks. Two unique cumulative risk indices were created from these variables. Regression analyses assessed the relation between the risk indices and positive and negative parenting behavior. Latent class analysis examines classes of risk experience on the same indicators. Results show psychosocial risk experience is associated with both parenting factors, while …

Size Vs. Number: Assigning Number Words To Discrete And Continuous Quantities, Emily Slusser, Patrick Cravalho

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

The Development Of Immigrants In Education, Kayla R. Guerrero

University Honors Theses

Being an essential part of American community, immigrants face several challenges as they adjust to life away from their home country. Many of those challenges begin when immigrant students start school in the United States education system. This exploratory research investigates the school experiences of immigrants and whether or not they were supported by their peers, teachers, parents, and community and how that influenced their development. Adult immigrants will reflect back on their education experience through interviews in order for the researcher to contribute a new foundation for immigrant student development research from the perspective of actual immigrants. This will …

You Are Resilient: Trauma-Informed, Strengths-Based Treatment For Low-Ses, Urban Youth, Courtney Molina

Dissertations

The focus in this review was to explore the benefits and optimal use of trauma-informed, strengths-based care for the therapeutic treatment of low-socioeconomic status (SES), urban youth. Specific focus was given to evidence-based research on the treatment of emotional and behavioral dysregulation among low-SES, urban youth. The review was guided by the following research questions: How can emotional and behavioral dysregulation be symptoms of trauma among low-SES, urban youth; What makes trauma-informed and strengths-based care optimal for the treatment of low-SES, urban youth with dysregulation; and What are clear guidelines for providing trauma-informed, strengths-based care to low-SES, urban youth with …

The Impact Of Social Media On The Self-Esteem Of Youth 10–17 Years Old: A Review Of The Literature, Jasmine M. Daniels

Dissertations

The world of technology has expanded quickly and vastly since its inception. The creation of social media sites and applications has changed the ways in which youth interact, connect, and share with one another. As the number of social media sites and applications increases, so does their use by adolescents. During adolescence, youth are undergoing the process of identity development and self-esteem is an important part of this development. During this developmental period, adolescents’ self-esteem is likely to be affected by the feedback they receive online through social media sites. There is limited research available that specifically evaluated the impact …

Intergenerational Continuity Of Abuse: The Relationship Between Childhood Sexual Abuse History In Adolescent Mothers And Children’S Experiences Of Maltreatment, Karli Kolsut

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Introduction: Previous research has identified maternal history of child abuse as a predictor of their child’s experiences, otherwise known as an intergenerational continuity of abuse (ICA). Adolescent mothers have been identified as having a higher prevalence of childhood sexual, emotional, and physical abuse histories, placing their children at high risk. A prior study with the current sample found that 66% of adolescent mothers had been a victim of childhood sexual, physical, or emotional abuse and of these, 78.1% of their children reported having a history of abuse at age 18. Method: Utilizing data from the 18-year-long Notre Dame Adolescent Parenting …

The Mediating Effects Of Drinking Refusal Self-Efficacy On The Associations Between Alcohol Protective Behavioral Strategies And Alcohol Use Outcomes, Kray Scully

Dissertations

Alcohol use continues to pose a serious public health problem at universities across the U.S., largely due to the extent of consumption and frequency of negative consequences experienced among college students. Alcohol protective behavioral strategies (PBS-A) are an empirically supported repertoire of safe drinking behaviors college students can use to monitor and control their alcohol consumption as well as limit harm while drinking. However, there remains a need to better understand how cognitive mechanisms, such as drinking refusal self-efficacy (DRSE), help explain college student safe alcohol use behaviors to enhance evidenced-based intervention and prevention efforts. Recently, studies that examined the …

Peer Verbal Sexual Harassment In Early Adolescence: A Feminist And Sexual Scripts Theoretical Approach., Shawn M. Rolfe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Until recently, sexual harassment research has focused primarily on adults and college and high school students with little attention given to younger students. While recent research has noted sexual harassment occurs among younger students, the literature addressing sexual harassment among middle school students is still sparse. Additionally, most studies of sexual harassment have focused on sexual harassment generally, with no distinction made between verbal and sexual harassment. In fact, only limited research has been exclusively conducted on verbal sexual harassment. Using self-report data, the current study adds to the literature by examining the nature of verbal sexual harassment as well …

Romantic Relational Aggression Among College Students: A Moderated Mediation Study Of Attachment Style, Romantic Jealousy, Mate Value, And Relationship Investment, Skylar Hicks

Dissertations

Most of the research on intimate partner violence has concentrated on overt physical and verbal aggression, and less is known about relational aggression in the framework of romantic relationships. Relational aggression is more prevalent in college students’ romantic relationships compared to physical aggression and may be a risk factor for intimate partner violence. Additionally, a number of adverse correlates have been associated with romantic relational aggression, suggesting that it is worthy of study independent of its association with intimate partner violence. The present study explored the relationships among adult attachment, romantic jealousy, mate value, relationship investment, and romantic relational aggression …

The Use Of Animal-Assisted Therapeutic Interventions In The Hospital Setting During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Alicia Cesare

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Handlers of therapy and/or facility dogs working within hospital settings have experienced various barriers and challenges within their practice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Animal-assisted interventions, specifically therapeutic working dogs, are a valued source of support to individuals, communities, hospital settings, and disaster sites during times of community distress. The purpose of this study was to identify barriers and solutions to the continued use of animal-assisted therapeutic interventions in support of patients and families within the hospital setting during the COVID-19 pandemic. This researcher’s position within the research is the knowledge and experience of being a facility dog handler within the …

Effects Of Prenatal Exposure To Phenobarbital On Verbal Abilities In School-Aged Children, Jocelyn M. Lutes

Graduate Masters Theses

Phenobarbital is one of the oldest medications used for the treatment of epilepsy. Although its use has declined in many developed nations, phenobarbital is still a first-line treatment in several developing countries across the globe. If possible, current American Academy of Neurology guidelines advise against the use of phenobarbital during pregnancy due to an increased risk for structural malformations. However, less is known about the risk that prenatal exposure to phenobarbital poses to the cognitive and behavioral development of the child. Adams et al (in progress) have shown that, in comparison to demographically matched controls, children prenatally exposed to phenobarbital …

Assessment Of Coordination And Proprioception In Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Taylor Kristina Jones

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by social and communicative delays. It is known that those with ASD exhibit lower activity levels and decreased proprioception to some extent. The biomechanics of movement in ASD has not been assessed thoroughly enough to provide information on ASD specific movement patterns, and no studies have been performed examining work and recovery. The purpose of this study is to examine whether 1) inter-limb and intra-limb coordination patterns during walking and running differ between youth with ASD and neurotypical sex, age, and BMI-matched controls. Youth with ASD (N=8) and their BMI, age, and sex matched …

Musical Meter: Examining Hierarchical Temporal Perception In Complex Musical Stimuli Across Human Development, Sensory Modalities, And Expertise, Jessica Erin Nave-Blodgett

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Performing, listening, and moving to music are universal human behaviors. Most music in the world is organized temporally with faster periodicities nested within slower periodicities, creating a perceptual hierarchy of repeating stronger (downbeat) and weaker (upbeat) events. This perceptual organization is theorized to aid our abilities to synchronize our behaviors with music and other individuals, but there is scant empirical evidence that listeners actively perceive these multiple levels of temporal periodicities simultaneously. Furthermore, there is conflicting evidence about when, and how, the ability to perceive the beat in music emerges during development. It is also unclear if this hierarchical organization …

Symptom Presentation Of Sexually Abused Youth: Associations With Abuse Attributions, Brittany Biles

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Child sexual abuse (CSA) outcomes are heterogeneous. Some victims display a combination of externalizing behaviors (e.g., aggression) and internalizing symptoms (e.g., depression), while others present with minimal symptoms (Domhardt, Munzer, Fegert, & Goldbeck, 2015). Among the factors that have been explored as relating to CSA outcomes are child characteristics (e.g., age; Dube et al., 2005), abuse-specific variables (e.g., abuse severity; Stroebel et al., 2012), and family variables (e.g., familial social support; Ryan, Kilmer, Cause, Watanabe, & Hoyt, 2000). Although much of the literature supports these factors as contributing to outcomes following CSA, conclusions have been inconsistent. Research has begun to …

Teaching (And Learning) In The Time Of Coronavirus, Kathryn Kozak

Pedagogy and the Human Sciences

This paper includes reflection and suggestions for practice related to the hasty shift to virtual instruction prompted by the CoViD19 outbreak in the United States. The author uses their positioning as developmental psychology graduate student and lecturer to explore current challenges for students and educators. Suggestions include reflecting on one's own philosophy of pedagogy, and rooting educational practices in a commitment to humanity and justice.

Detecting Reinforcement Patterns In The Stream Of Naturalistic Observations Of Social Interactions, James Lamar Delaney 3rd

Dissertations and Theses

How do consequences affect future behaviors in real-world social interactions? The term positive reinforcer refers to those consequences that are associated with an increase in probability of an antecedent behavior (Skinner, 1938). To explore whether reinforcement occurs under naturally occuring conditions, many studies use sequential analysis methods to detect contingency patterns (see Quera & Bakeman, 1998). This study argues that these methods do not look at behavior change following putative reinforcers, and thus, are not sufficient for declaring reinforcement effects arising in naturally occuring interactions, according to the Skinner's (1938) operational definition of reinforcers.

This study presents the conceptual and …

Drinking To Cope: Effects Of Anxiety On Generation Of Self-Regulation Strategies, Lauren Hurd

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to utilize motivational and self-regulatory processes, specifically the principle of emotional transfer (PET), to elucidate mechanisms underlying the transition from casual alcohol use to dependence in young adults with elevated anxiety. Utilizing a script-driven imagery procedure, the proposed study examined the effects of manipulated state anxiety on 1) the amount, content, and commitment to freely generated anxiety reduction strategies, and 2) the level of craving for alcohol. Young adult college students (N = 69; ages 18-24; 76.8% women) were randomly assigned to either the high (n = 35) or low (n = 34) anxiety condition. After script …

Children's Use Of Accent As A Cue For Cooperative Potential, Rachel Stevens

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, several studies have shown that 5- and 6-year-old children make social judgments based on accent, consistently displaying a social preference for individuals who speak with a native accent. One theory hypothesizes that this preference to favor individuals who speak like us stems from our evolutionary history, during which accent and other language variations would have been strong, salient cues to group membership, and thus, cues to ones likelihood of cooperative behavior. The current study aimed to test this theory by determining if 5- and 6-year-old children use accent to make judgments about an individual’s cooperative potential. Participants …

Does Expectation Influence Relationship? A Mixed Methods Investigation Of Parental Expectation And Parent-Child Relationship Among Chinese Family Groups 期望是否會影響關係？華裔家庭中父母的期望對親子關係的影響之研究, Sharon Chiang, Sharon Chiang, Sharon Chiang

Education Dissertations

Abstract

Parental expectation, particularly among Chinese family groups, is understood to be formative upon their children’s identity, behavior in family relationships, educational success and decisions in career choices. China's long history of traditionalism in its social values, heavily based on Confucian philosophy of the family, bears this out. Significant social changes have happened in recent years due to political shifts, modernization, capitalization, immigration, and government population control policies. However, expectation is an element on which both academic study and educational research are rather limited. Current study has touched on the topic of parental expectation and raised some awareness, but the …

Impacts Of Motor And Sensory Impairment On Language In Young Children With Autism, Elizabeth A. Bisi

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present with varying degrees of deficit in the broader areas of social communication and stereotyped behaviors, but emerging research proposes delayed motor skill and atypical sensory processing as additional factors worth closer examination. In the current study, I sought to investigate the impacts of visual motor skills and sensory differences on language ability in young children with autism. I hypothesized that young children with autism, atypical sensory processing (Short Sensory Profile, 2^nd Edition), and impaired visual motor integration (Beery VMI, 6^th Edition) would have the most impacted language ability scores (Differential Ability …

A Comprehensive Examination Of Clinical Cutoff Scores For The Inventory Of Callous-Unemotional Traits (Icu), Emily C. Kemp

LSU Master's Theses

Youth with elevated callous-unemotional (CU) traits represent a clinically important subgroup of youth who display particularly severe conduct problems and antisocial behavior and thusly impose great costs to themselves, other individuals, and society. The recent addition of the specifier for CU traits, “with Limited Prosocial Emotions (LPE),” to major classification systems has prompted the need for comprehensive and valid assessment tools that aid in the identification of these traits. One such tool is a multi-informant questionnaire, the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU). However, a major limitation of this measure is a lack of well-validated cutoff scores. With this, the present …

Participation In The Cacfp Ensures Availability But Not Intake Of Nutritious Foods At Lunch In Preschool Children In Child-Care Centers, Saima Hasnin, Dipti Dev, Alison Tovar

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Background — The US Department of Agriculture Child and Adult Care Food program (CACFP) recently (October 2017) updated requirements for meal reimbursement and best practice recommendations for serving nutritious meals and beverages, and minimum age-specific serving sizes for five food groups. It is not known whether CACFPfunded child-care centers are meeting the updated meal pattern requirements and best practice recommendations, and whether children are meeting nutrition recommendations based on the current 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). Objective This study assessed whether the recruited CACFP-funded child-care centers in this study were meeting the updated (2017) CACFP requirements regarding foods served …

Covid-19 And Procrastination: The Struggle To Stay Motivated In A Pandemic, Singapore Management University

Social Space

COVID-19 has led to the cancellation of countless internships, travel plans, summer jobs, music concerts and festivals, graduations, conferences, you name it. Fixed deadlines have become fluid, and both short-term and long-term goals are presently at the mercy of something far beyond our control. In the face of a global pandemic, we may find ourselves wondering, “Why bother planning for anything anyway?" Yet this very mindset is the crux of the coronavirus procrastination problem, says CHARDONNAY NEEDLER.

Psychosocial Factors Promoting Personal Growth Throughout Adulthood, Masahiro Toyama, Heather R. Fuller, Joel M. Hektner

Psychology Faculty Research

Personal growth is essential in the lives of adults of any age and is associated with a variety of well-being outcomes. Building on previous research on psychosocial factors associated with personal growth, the present study aimed to investigate whether and how psychosocial factors (including working, generativity, positive interpersonal relationships, and spirituality) could affect aging adults’ personal growth longitudinally. Using three waves of Midlife in the United States data from adults with baseline ages of 20–75, two-level hierarchical linear modeling analyses were conducted to examine the effects of psychosocial factors as well as age and gender on levels and trajectories of …

Critical Consciousness In Children And Adolescents: A Systematic Review,Critical Assessment, And Recommendations For Future Research, Amy E. Heberle, Luke J. Rapa, Flora Farago

Faculty Publications

Critical consciousness refers to an individual’s awareness of oppressive systemic forces in society, a sense of efficacy to work against oppression, and engagement in individual or collective action against oppression. In the past few decades, interest in critical consciousness as a resource that may promote thriving in marginalized people has grown tremendously. This article critically examines the results of a systematic review of 67 studies of critical consciousness in children and adolescents, published between 1998 and 2019. Across these studies, major themes included the role of socialization experiences, relationships, and context in the development of critical consciousness. In addition, critical …

Social-Ecological And Protective Factor Approach To Managing Parental Incarceration, Jacquelyn Harris

Dissertations

Mass imprisonment does not only impact the incarcerated individual; it also affects approximately five million children in the United States. Researchers identified and compare the impact of parental incarceration on child development. They acknowledged the protective factors across the lifecycle from a social-ecological perspective and specifically related to parental incarceration. The comprehensive literature review inspired an innovative model, the social-ecological and protective factor approach to managing parental incarceration. The primary goal of this model is to combat the detrimental effects of parental incarceration by identifying protective factors across the lifecycle and throughout the microsystem, mesosystem, and exosystem. This model is …

Latina Mothers Awareness Of Their Childrens Exposure To Community Violence, Rosanne M. Jocson, Francheska Alers-Rojas, James Cranford, Rosario Ceballo

Psychology Department Faculty Publications

This study examines (a) the degree of agreement between mother-reported child community violence exposure and children's self-reports and whether agreement changes over time; (b) whether child gender is associated with mother-child agreement; and (c) whether greater mother-child agreement is concurrently and longitudinally associated with children's psychological well-being. We conducted secondary data analyses using longitudinal data with a socioeconomically diverse sample of 287 Latino adolescents (MageW2 = 11.2, 47% girls) and their mothers (MageW1 = 35.3) from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. Mother-child agreement about non-exposure to violence was high. However, for violence-exposed children, mothers overestimated exposure in …

Exploring Influences On Autistic Identity Development In Adolescence And Early Adulthood, Ariana Riccio

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Personal identities grow and change across development, co-constructed and renegotiated within our environment, through our interactions, and by our relationships with the people and places around us. This dissertation aimed to explore the development of autistic identity in adolescence as influenced by parents, introduces a novel method for measuring emotions and autistic identity where participants rate their emotional responses to autistic experiences, and explores the influence that colleges and universities may have on autistic identity in young autistic adults.

In a study of 19 autistic adolescents and their parents, if and how parents disclosed an autism diagnosis to their child …

Athletes With Mental Health Illnesses, Trenton Allmang

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The focus for this research study is to understand the development of mental health symptoms that result from sports engagement. Participating in sports for several years within different developmental stages of human life can increase the probability of identity conflict and mental distress. This study addresses the risk factors that contribute to the development of mental health illnesses from former athletes’ perspectives through qualitative research. The study includes former male and female participants ages 18 and older as well as their family members, friends, sports stakeholders, sports officials, coaches, social workers, and athletic training staff. This study was conducted from …