Developmental Psychology Commons^™

The Inclusive Nature Of Mindfulness-Based Practice: Does Executive Functioning Play A Role In Children's Mindful Experience?, Kaitlyn Butterfield

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

We examined the effects of a six-week mindfulness program in order to assess how executive function level played a role in students’ mindful experience. The effects of the mindfulness program were evaluated according to prospective outcomes across students’ level of executive function, in comparison to an active control group. Classrooms were randomly assigned to a mindfulness-based program or a health-based active control group. Pre- and early adolescent students in the 5th to 8th grade (N = 52) from two MindfulMe! program classrooms and two HealthyMe! program classrooms (active control group) completed self-reported pretest and post-test measures to assess mindful attention …

Provider Reported Implementation Of Nutrition-Related Practices In Childcare Centers And Family Childcare Homes In Rural And Urban Nebraska, Dipti Dev, Aileen Garcia, David A. Dzewaltowski, Susan B. Sisson, Lisa Franzen-Castle, Zainab Rida, Natalie A. Williams, Carly Hillburn, Danae Dinkel, Deepa Srivastava, Christina Burger, Emily Hulse, Donnia Behrends, Natasha Frost

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

Approximately 15 million children under age 6 are in childcare settings, offering childcare providers an opportunity to influence children’s dietary intake. Childcare settings vary in organizational structure – childcare centers (CCCs) vs. family childcare homes (FCCHs) – and in geographical location – urban vs. rural. Research on the nutrition-related best practices across these childcare settings is scarce. The objective of this study is to compare nutrition-related best practices of CCCs and FCCHs that participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) in rural and urban Nebraska. Nebraska providers (urban n = 591; rural n = 579) reported implementation …

The Impact Of Responsive Feeding Practice Training On Teacher Feeding Behaviors In Tribal Early Care And Education: The Food Resource Equity And Sustainability For Health (Fresh) Study, Kaysha Sleet, Susan B. Sisson, Dipti A. Dev, Charlotte Love, Mary B. Williams, Leah A. Hoffman, Valarie Blue Bird Jernigan

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

Background: Establishing healthy eating habits early affects lifelong dietary intake, which has implications for many health outcomes. With children spending time in early care and education (ECE) programs, teachers establish the daytime meal environment through their feeding practices.

Objective: We aimed to determine the effect of a teacher-focused intervention to increase responsive feeding practices in 2 interventions, 1 focused exclusively on the teacher’s feeding practices and the other focused on both the teacher’s feeding practices and a nutrition classroom curriculum, in ECE teachers in a Native American (NA) community in Oklahoma.

Methods: Nine tribally affiliated ECE programs were …

Does Context Matter? A Multilevel Analysis Of Neighborhood Disadvantage And Children's Sleep Health, Carlyn Graham, Eric N. Reither, Gabriele Ciciurkaite, Dipti Dev, Jamison Fargo

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

Objectives: To determine how demographic, socioeconomic, and neighborhood characteristics are associated with bedtimes among US kindergarteners.

Design: Parents reported bedtimes of their children as well as personal, household, and residential characteristics via interviews in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten (ECLS-K) Class of 1998-1999. The ECLS-K links individual households to US Census tracts.

Setting: A random selection of 1,280 schools and surrounding communities in the US.

Participants: A random selection of 16,936 kindergarteners and their parents.

Measurements: The 2 outcomes were regular and latest weekday bedtimes of kindergarteners. Through a series of nested multilevel regression models, these outcomes were regressed on …

The Meanings And Ways Of Parental Involvement Among Low-Income Filipinos, Aileen Garcia, Maria Rosario De Guzman

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

Parental involvement in children’s education is an integral component of young children’s academic achievement. Although there is clear evidence regarding the benefits of parental involvement, little is known regarding its impacts, manifestations, and conceptualizations in non-Western societies. Given that parenting and child rearing are imbued with cultural meaning in many profound ways (Super & Harkness,1986), this study employed a phenomenological approach and used pakikipagkwentuhan, a data collection procedure drawn from indigenous Filipino Psychology to closely examine how low-income Filipino parents conceptualize parental involvement and its role in their children’s education. Thirty-one parents/caregivers were engaged in conversation and qualitative data …

Emotional Support And Mental Health Among Somali Men In A Rural Midwestern Town, Julie A. Tippens, Gilbert R. Parra, Patrick Habecker, Kimberly Gocchi Carrasco, Arthur R. Andrews Iii, Angela L. Palmer-Wackerly, Virginia Chaidez, Jordan Soliz, Lisa M. Pytlikzillig, Kirk Dombrowski

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

Perceived social support has been correlated with refugees’ positive mental health outcomes; yet, little is known about the perceived sources of support after secondary migration to new-destination rural towns. Somali refugee men (n _ 49) residing in a rural Midwest United States community were recruited using respondent-driven sampling to complete a self-administered structured survey in English or Somali using audio computer-assisted self-interview software. Questions assessed perceived sources of support, psychological distress, and happiness. Somali participants reported low utilization of both informal (30.4%) and formal (24.4%) supports when sad, stressed, or worried. Two thirds of participants reported low levels of …

Collaborative Care At A Distance: Student Therapists’ Experiences Of Learning And Delivering Relationally Focused Telemental Health, Paul Springer, Richard Bischoff, Kara Kohel, Nathan C. Taylor, Adam Farero

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

There is mounting evidence that telemental health is an effective delivery method for treating a variety of mental, emotional, behavioral, and relational health problems. While many of the therapeutic skills leading to the effectiveness of face-to-face treatments are transferable, the effectiveness of telemental health requires unique skills. The purpose of this phenomeno- logical study was to determine the experience of learning how to use videoconferencing to deliver relationally focused mental health care. Participants included 10 graduates of a COAMFTE-accredited master’s degree program emphasizing training in telemental health. Each student had practicum placements that required videoconferencing to deliver relation- ally based …

Ethics Based Training For Clinicians: Moving Beyond Ethical Decision Making Models, Bobbi J. Miller, Paul R. Springer

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

Clinical training in ethical decision making processes has relied heavily on teaching students to apply ethical codes and legal statutes to written scenarios using ethical decision making models. While an excellent academic exercise, this approach tends to remain abstract and does not prepare students for the complexities of making decisions during the process of therapy. Recently, experts in the field have called for reforms in ethical training, believing current models must move beyond cognitive exercises that detach students from the humanity of their clients and themselves. The described pedagogical approach bridges the gap by using a modified Objective Structured Clinical …

Promoting Higher Quality Teacher–Child Relationships: The Insights Intervention In Rural Schools, Kathleen Moritz Rudasill, Ray Reichenberg, Jungwon Eum, Jentry Stoneman Barrett, Yuenjung Joo, Emily Wilson, Martinique Sealy

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

Children’s relationships with teachers in kindergarten are crucial for academic and social success. Research shows that teacher–child relationships are predicated, in part, on children’s temperament. The “INSIGHTS into Children’s Temperament” intervention was intended to improve children’s and teachers’ understanding of their and others’ temperament, and has been shown to improve children’s social skills and self-regulation in urban, under-resourced schools. The current study is part of a replication of the effects of INSIGHTS with a sample in rural schools. The purpose was to test the effectiveness of INSIGHTS for promoting positive relationships between teachers and children in kindergarten. Two cohorts of …

Child Sleep And Socioeconomic Context In The Development Of Cognitive Abilities In Early Childhood, Caroline P. Hoyniak, John E. Bates, Angela D. Staples, Kathleen Moritz Rudasill, Dennis Molfese, Victoria J. Molfese

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

Despite a robust literature examining the association between sleep problems and cognitive abilities in childhood, little is known about this association in toddlerhood, a period of rapid cognitive development. The present study examined the association between various sleep problems, using actigraphy, and performance on a standardized test of cognitive abilities, longitudinally across three ages (30, 36, and 42 months) in a large sample of toddlers (N = 493). Results revealed a between-subject effect in which the children who had more delayed sleep schedules on average also showed poorer cognitive abilities on average but did not support a within-subjects effect. Results …

Parent Involvement And Its Influence On Children’S Stem Learning: A Review Of The Research, Julie Thomas, Juliana Utley, Soo-Young Hong, Hunkar Korkmaz, Gwen Nugent

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

A growing understanding that parents and teachers can effectively collaborate to help children succeed in school has led worldwide policymakers and school leaders to begin deliberate actions to increase parents’ participation in school life. For example, the Chilean Education Minister recently encouraged contracts between parents, schools, and the state to increase parental involvement. The Australian government has formed a Research Alliance for Children and Youth to develop and promote understanding of parent involvement (i.e., what it is, why it matters, how it influences learning) and to build evidence about what works. From a sociological perspective, a school’s organizational boundaries are …

Choosing Quality Early Childhood Curricula, Rachel E. Schachter, Shayne B. Piasta, Laura M. Justice

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

This article summarizes a study investigating the curricula and features of those curricula used by 497 early childhood educators across one Midwestern state. Curricula were identified and coded for quality features derived from the research, theory, and policy literatures. Results indicated that most educators utilized Creative Curriculum or High Scope (over 60%); however, these and many other curricula did not include all the key quality features. Importantly, most educators were utilizing curricula with no evidence of effectiveness for supporting children’s outcomes. Furthermore, limitations in the presence of key curricula features may indicate that curricula generally are not adequately supporting early …

An Investigation Into The Curricula (Type And Quality) Used By Early Childhood Educators, Rachel E. Schachter, Shayne B. Piasta, Laura M. Justice

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

Most preschool-aged children spend time in Head Start and other center-based care. Thus, early educators’ use of a quality curriculum is essential to maximizing children’s learning. We examined the curricula utilized by educators working in diverse settings with children ages 3 to 5, focusing on key features of quality curriculum identified from the literature. Most educators (75%) reported using formal curricula. Creative Curriculum and HighScope were the most common; 6% of educators reported no curriculum use. There was a lack of consensus regarding what constitutes curriculum with 16% of participants reporting the use of materials generally not considered curriculum (e.g., …

Comparison Of Urban And Rural Physical Activity And Outdoor Play Environments Of Childcare Centers And Family Childcare Homes, Danae Dinkel, Dipti Dev, Yage Guo, Ami Sedani, Emily Hulse, Zainab Rida, Kayla Abel

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

The purpose of this study was to examine the physical activity environment in childcare programs across type (childcare centers [CCCs] and family childcare homes [FCCHs]) and geographic location (urban and rural) as assessed by physical activity best practices according to the Go Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-assessment in Child Care. Results showed CCCs compared with FCCHs reported higher achievement of best practices. Further, urban childcare programs (CCCs and FCCHs) reported higher achievement of best practices in comparison to rural childcare programs. There is a need to deliver targeted interventions that promote children’s physical activity in FCCHs and CCCs in rural …

Eastern North Carolina Head Start Teachers’ Personal And Professional Experiences With Healthy Eating And Physical Activity: A Qualitative Exploration, Virginia C. Stage, Lorelei Jones, Jocelyn Bayles, Archana V. Hegde, Dipti Dev, L. Suzanne Goodell

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

Objective: Explore the interrelationship between teachers’ personal and professional socio-ecological structures while examining Head Start (HS) teachers’ experiences with (1) trying to eat healthy and engage in physical activity (PA) and (2) promote healthy eating and PA in their classrooms.

Design: In-depth semi-structured interviews were collected from March through June 2017. Researchers designed the data collection and analysis methods using a phenomenological approach. All interviews were recorded using digital audio and transcribed verbatim.

Setting: Seven HS centers in two rural eastern North Carolina counties.

Participants: Teachers (n 15) who had recently participated in a healthy eating and physical activity …

Does Context Matter? A Multilevel Analysis Of Neighborhood Disadvantage And Children's Sleep Health, Carlyn Graham, Eric Reither, Gabriele Ciciurkaite, Dipti Dev, Jamison Fargo

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

Objectives: To determine how demographic, socioeconomic, and neighborhood characteristics are associated with bedtimes among US kindergarteners.

Design: Parents reported bedtimes of their children as well as personal, household, and residential characteristics via interviews in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten (ECLS-K) Class of 1998–1999. The ECLS-K links individual households to US Census tracts.

Setting: A random selection of 1,280 schools and surrounding communities in the US.

Participants: A random selection of 16,936 kindergarteners and their parents.

Measurements: The 2 outcomes were regular and latest weekday bedtimes of kindergarteners. Through a series of nested multilevel regression models, these outcomes were regressed on …

Examining Gender Differences In Perceptions Of Pay Negotiation And Remuneration Among Late-Adolescents, Meghan Borg

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Documented gender differences exist between males and females in terms of preparedness for the workforce in financial knowledge obtained from both family and educational sources (e.g., Danes & Haberman, 2007; Saari, Wood, & Wood, 2017), and the ways in which they negotiate (or fail to negotiate) for higher pay (e.g., Babcock, Gelfand, Small, & Stayn, 2006; Kugler et al., 2018). The current study extends this literature by investigating factors associated with Canadian late-adolescents’ preparedness for work by documenting work experiences (both casual and formal), remuneration experiences, and negotiation experiences as a function of gender. In total, 268 participants (137 females) …

Putting Adversity In Perspective: Purpose In Life Moderates The Link Between Childhood Emotional Abuse And Neglect And Adulthood Depressive Symptoms, Andree Hartanto, Jose C. Yong, Sean T. H. Lee, Wee Qin Ng, Eddie M. W. Tong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Background: Childhood emotional abuse and neglect is linked with a host of adverse outcomes later in life, including depression. However, potential psychological resources that may mitigate the adverse outcomes of childhood emotional abuse and neglect are not well-understood. Aims: Drawing from the insight that having a sense of purpose can help individuals deal with setbacks and difficulties better, we propose that purpose in life can also help sufferers of childhood maltreatment cope more effectively and reduce the onset of depressive symptoms. Methods: Participants were drawn from two large, nationally representative studies comprising a total of 3664 respondents. Purpose in life, …

Ethnic Identity And Stress Appraisal As Acculturative Stress Processes Among Armenian Americans, Tsolak Michael Kirakosyan

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The current study examined the role of ethnic identity and stress appraisal as buffers of the relationship between acculturative stress and wellbeing in a national sample of Armenian American adults between eighteen and thirty-nine years old (N = 159; 62.89% women, 32.08% men; mean age = 25.59, SD = 5.30). Acculturative stress positively correlated with depressive symptoms, and negatively with self-esteem and positive stress appraisal. Stronger ethnic identity affirmation and belonging was related to less depressive symptoms, more positive stress appraisal, and greater self-esteem and life satisfaction. In hierarchical linear regression analyses, acculturative stress significantly predicted more depressive symptoms, …

The Role Of Racial Discrimination On Parental Emotion And Racial Socialization, Tyia K. Wilson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study was the first to examine whether African American parents’ past experiences with racism and discrimination influence parents’ emotional and racial socialization practices. Additionally, this study investigated whether parental beliefs about their child’s positive and negative emotions mediated the relationship between racial discrimination and emotion socialization behaviors. Hypotheses were tested in a sample of 406 African American parents recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Using structural equation models, the study found significant association between racial discrimination and parents’ racial and emotion socialization behaviors. Furthermore, significant meditation effects were found such that racial discrimination was associated with emotional beliefs which …

Role Centrality And Shared Activities With Grandchildren: Effects On Grandparent Wellbeing, Madeline Marie Marello

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Research shows that physical and mental health are closely linked (Ohrnberger, Fichera, & Sutton, 2017). Further, social role theory states that holding and enacting valued roles, such as grandparenting, can buffer the negative effects of health on depression (Reitzes & Mutran, 2004). Using data from 247 grandparents (Mean age = 66.5; range 42 to 90 years; 46.2% grandfathers), we examined whether grandparent role centrality and engagement with grandchildren altered the effects of physical health on depression. We then explored model differences between 164 custodial and 83 traditional grandparents. We found that for all grandparents the model was of sufficient fit: …

Predictors Of Self-Control During Emerging Adulthood: The Roles Of Implicit Beliefs And Early Risk, Katy L. Delong

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study explored how early adverse experiences (i.e., low socioeconomic status, household chaos, attachment insecurity) and implicit beliefs about self-control (i.e., whether self-control is a limited or nonlimited resource) were associated with trait and momentary self-control in a sample of college students. As the first study to explore these factors together, individuals’ implicit beliefs were tested as a moderator and meditator of the association between early risk and self-control. Participants (N = 214) first completed a baseline survey with the main predictors and trait self-control, followed by one week of experience sampling to assess momentary self-control, or success resisting …

Adolescents’ Interpretations Of Parental Psychological Control: The Role Of Beliefs And Disapproval On Problematic Outcomes, Katelyn F. Romm

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Parental psychological control has consistently been found to be associated with problematic outcomes among adolescents, including substance use (Galambos, Barker, & Almeida, 2003), risky cyber behaviors (Li, Li, & Newman, 2013), problematic eating behaviors (Soenens et al., 2008), and depressive symptoms (Romm & Metzger, 2018). However, few studies have examined how adolescents reason about and react to psychological control. Recent research has suggested that adolescents vary in their beliefs about parental motivations for using psychological control, as well as their level of disapproval of psychological control (Camras et al., 2012; Kakihara & Tilton-Weaver, 2009). These cognitive factors (i.e., beliefs about …

Individual Differences In Social Decision-Making Preferences, Kelly R. Smith

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Most research on decision making to date has focused primarily on the individual decision maker and has not looked at social aspects of decision making. A review of decision making in older adults indicated that older adults rate their own decision-making competence as worse than younger adults, even though not all facets of decision making decline with age (Strough, Bruine de Bruin, & Peters, 2015). Because of social roles that contribute to gender differences, women are theorized to be more interpersonally-oriented than men, suggesting that they may prefer to make decisions with others (Eagly, 1983). As population age continues to …

An Evaluation Of The Timeline As A Memory Retrieval Aid For Children’S Recall Of Specific Details From A Repeated Event, Huan Huan Zhang

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Investigators and prosecutors are heavily dependent on children’s testimony in abuse cases where physical evidence is often lacking, making children the sole source of information. Decades of research have shown that young children are indeed capable of accurately recalling events from the past. Findings from research on interview techniques suggest that interview aids such as dolls and human diagrams are often not helpful and pose risks of eliciting inaccurate reports unless they are used cautiously and non-suggestively at the end of the interview.

The timeline, which is a visual depiction of time, is another type of interview aid that is …

Be Kind To Your Mind: A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing The Benefits Of Mindfulness And Self-Compassion Vs. Social Skills Training Among Children And Adolescents, Lindsey Feltis

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Childhood and adolescence can be difficult for young people as they navigate a variety of significant transitions. Thus, it is imperative that researchers focus on programs that support children and adolescents during this time. Mindfulness and self-compassion are two such programs that may promote positive youth development. Mindfulness and self-compassion have been explored in the adolescent context, and mindfulness has been explored with young children, however research on self-compassion for children is currently lacking. The present studies were designed to examine the feasibility, acceptability and potential benefits of a combined mindfulness + self-compassion program for children and adolescents in the …

The Role Of Life Events In Older Women's Psychosocial Development And Well-Being, Taylor Hill

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Research on well-being and aging has suggested the trajectory of well-being through adulthood is U-shaped, with the lowest point typically occurring in midlife (Stone, Schwartz, Broderick, & Deaton, 2010). Toward the end of life, well-being (and in particular, life satisfaction) may surpass earlier levels and individuals tend to engage in a life review process wherein they evaluate how their life has turned out. Those who are satisfied with how their life events fit together to form their life story have been shown to have achieved ego integrity (i.e., accepting of their life to date and the limited time they have …

An Exploratory Study Of The Perceptions Of Footwear For Individuals Who Use Lower Limb Orthotics, Margaret E. Gegen, Teresa Plummer, Nancy Darr

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

The purpose of this study was to explore individual’s perceptions of orthotics and footwear. A survey was created by the authors with the expert opinions of physical and occupational therapists and was distributed to two therapy clinics in Tennessee that provide both occupational therapy and physical therapy as well as on several online support groups. Seventy-nine (79) caregivers completed surveys. Thematic analysis was performed using Nvivo 10 (QSR International) and descriptive statistics were generated using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) IBM International). Ninety percent (90%) of participants report that orthotics affect what type of shoes the user …

The Role Of Individual Difference In Predicting Psychopathology Following Peer Victimization, Miranda Evans

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

eer victimization is a common experience that is associated with later psychopathology. However, there is inconsistency in the strength and statistical significance of this effect. The current study used two methods to try to understand this inconsistency. First, co-occurring internalizing and externalizing symptoms were considered dimensionally. Second, the present study considered temperament as a potential moderator to explain the multifinality of outcomes that occur following peer victimization. A community sample (N = 387; 52% female) of early adolescents (11-15) from a longitudinal study of risk and resilience factors for psychopathology was utilized to test hypotheses. Cross-lagged examinations between victimization and …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of A Community-Based Youth Non-Profit Organization At Increasing Prosocial Behavior And Decreasing Antisocial Behavior Among Young Boys: A Pilot Study, Molly A. Miller

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Community-based youth non-profit organizations (NPOs) have become increasingly popular for the provision of youth prevention and intervention services, yet many youth NPOs lack the resources to undergo formal evaluation. Further, most existing program evaluations do not consider individual characteristics of the child or the child’s exposure to stressors. The current pilot study sought to evaluate the extent to which boys participated in 1:1 mentoring and other program activities at the Son of a Saint (SOAS) NPO, an organization seeking to provide positive male role models for fatherless young boys. In addition, the current study examined the effects of program involvement …