Developmental Psychology Commons^™

Mexican-Origin Youth's Cultural Orientations And Adjustment: Changes From Early To Late Adolescence, Kimberly A. Updegraff, Adriana J. Umana-Taylor, Susan M. Mchale, Lorey A. Wheeler, Norma Perez-Brena

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Drawing from developmental and cultural adaptation perspectives and using a longitudinal design, this study examined: (a) mean-level changes in Mexican-origin adolescents’ cultural orientations and adjustment from early to late adolescence; and (b) bidirectional associations between cultural orientations and adjustment using a cross-lag panel model. Participants included 246 Mexicanorigin, predominantly immigrant families that participated in home interviews and a series of nightly phone calls when target adolescents were 12 years and 18 years of age. Girls exhibited more pronounced declines in traditional gender role attitudes than did boys, and all youth declined in familism values, time spent with family, and involvement …

Emotional Intelligence And Team Cohesiveness, Myra M. Beam

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Emotional Intelligence is generally defined as encompassing the awareness and understanding of emotions. Emotional Intelligence also incorporates the application of this understanding to decision making, regulation, and self-management. Many theorists have shown that Emotional Intelligence has a significant positive impact on various aspects of teamwork. Today, more companies and organizations use teamwork to solve problems and complete tasks, so exploring elements that enhance teamwork would be beneficial.

This study was designed to support the notion that Emotional Intelligence is an integral part of teamwork. It was hypothesized that Emotional Intelligence has an impact on teamwork by making the team more …

Therapy With Immigrant Muslim Couples: Applying Culturally Appropriate Interventions And Strategies, Douglas A. Abbott, Paul R. Springer, Cody S. Hollist

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

Despite the steady increase of Muslims in America, there is a scarcity of research for mental health professionals who wish to work with Muslim couples. The goal of this article is to provide mental health therapists the common features of Muslim marriages and how they are influenced by the religious and social context, with clinical implications for couples therapy interventions being discussed.

Walking A High Beam: The Balance Between Employment Stability, Workplace Flexibility, And Nonresident Father Involvement, Jason T. Castillo, Greg W. Welch, Christian M. Sarver

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

Compared with resident fathers, nonresident fathers are more likely to be unemployed or underemployed and less likely, when they are employed, to have access to flexible work arrangements. Although lack of employment stability is associated with lower levels of father involvement, some research shows that increased stability at work without increased flexibility is negatively related to involvement. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 895), the authors examined the relationship between nonresident fathers’ employment stability, workplace flexibility, and father involvement. Results indicate that workplace flexibility, but not employment stability, is associated with higher levels of …

Creating A Classroom Environment That Nurtures Motivation In High School Students, Karen Ann Wirth

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project was to provide high school teachers with training to increase their understanding of how research-based information can help them create classroom environments that nurture motivation in adolescents. Participating teachers completed a pre-test questionnaire to assess goal orientation, teacher efficacy, theory of intelligence, perceptions of the importance of knowledge regarding adolescent development, and autonomy-supportive attitudes and behaviors. Participants included 10 high school teachers from a suburban high school in Southern California.

Development Of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder As A Function Of Shame In Child Abuse Survivors, Guadalupe Valdivia

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project was to provide support regarding the need for more research to investigate whether ethnic differences and types of abuse differences exist regarding whether shame is a mediator between childhood trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Influence Of Positive And Negative Couple Rituals On Satisfaction, Commitment, And Dyadic Adjustment, Timetra Marie Hampton

Theses Digitization Project

The current study predicted that positive couple rituals would be positively associated with relationship satisfaction, commitment, and dyadic adjustment, whereas negative couple rituals were expected to exhibit a negative association with these outcome variables. Data for this study were collected online in 2009. Participants included undergraduate students from California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB), the University of Georgia (UGA), and the University of Connecticut (UNCONN).

Infancy And Beyond: Parents Supporting The Healthy Sexual And Emotional Development Of Their Children, Jennifer Anne Newman

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project is to bring parental awareness to the subject matter, expand their knowledge base, and increase the parenting skill set related to childhood sexual development. The goal of this project is to shed light on childhood sexual development in service of best practice parenting, ultimately leading to optimal child outcomes. Providing parents with the knowledge to foster the healthy sexual development of their children is the ultimate goal. The participants were recruited from the California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) student body and were asked to fill out a demographic questionnaire.

Time For Myself, Time For Others: Gender Differences In The Meaning Of Retirement, Kate L. Lanning

Sociology Honors Projects

Research has demonstrated that work is a meaningful activity that contributes to peoples' identities. This meaning, however, may depend on the stage of the life course that one is in, and may be gendered. To contribute to understanding the social meaning of work and potentially gendered life-course transitions, I examine the experiences of older adults with work and retirement. Through interviews with both retired and working older adults, I examine whether and how older men and women differ from each other in the workplace and in retirement. Men and women face different challenges if they continue to work and when …

A Contextual Approach To Social Skills Assessment In The Peer Group: Who Is The Best Judge?, Kyongboon Kwon, Elizabeth Moorman Kim, Susan M. Sheridan

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Using a contextual approach to social skills assessment in the peer group, this study examined the criterion- related validity of contextually relevant social skills and the incremental validity of peers and teachers as judges of children’s social skills. Study participants included 342 (180 male and 162 female) students and their classroom teachers (N = 22) from rural communities. As expected, contextually relevant social skills were significantly related to a variety of social status indicators (i.e., likability, peer- and teacher-assessed popularity, reciprocated friendships, clique centrality) and positive school functioning (i.e., school liking and academic competence). Peer-assessed social skills, not teacher-assessed social …

Randomized Trial Of A Broad Preventive Intervention For Mexican American Adolescents, Nancy A. Gonzales, L. E. Dumka, R. E. Millsap, A. Gottschall, D. B. Mcclain, J. J. Wong, M. German, A. M. Mauricio, Lorey A. Wheeler, F. D. Carpentier, S. Y. Kim

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Objective—This randomized trial of a family-focused preventive intervention for Mexican American (MA) adolescents evaluated intervention effects on adolescent substance use, internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and school discipline and grade records in 8th grade, one year after completion of the intervention. The study also examined hypothesized mediators and moderators of intervention effects. Method—Stratified by language of program delivery (English vs. Spanish), the trial included a sample of 516 MA adolescents (50.8% female; M =12.3 years, SD=.54) and at least one caregiver that were randomized to receive a low dosage control group workshop or the 9-week group intervention that included …

Characteristics In The Home That Contribute To Childhood Obesity, Amanda Nicole Ferguson

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the relationship between rates of childhood obesity determined by children's body mass index, childrens socio-economic status, and their home characteristics (i.e., frequency of meals eaten as a family, fruit and vegetable consumption, and fast food consumption). This thesis takes an ecological perspective which is an integrative way to research the environment that children develop in.

Developmentally-Appropriate Practice In The Classroom, Rayna Kailynn Prothro

Theses Digitization Project

Early childhood research literature has shown that develpmentally-appropriate practice (DAP) has a multitude of positive effects on young children's development including emotional, social, cognitive, and neurological benefits. When DAP is practiced by teachers, children are engaged in low stress learning activities, their social development is supported, and their classroom envirornment supports their cognitive and brain development. DAP provides an environment that supports all children academically.

Case Study: Wayside Youth & Family Services Empathetic & Innovative Solutions To Community Mental Health, Sarah Mchenry

VA Engage Journal

In this case study, I presented a thorough evaluation of one of Massachusetts’ premier community mental health institutions: Wayside Youth and Family Services. First, I explained a brief history of the deinstitutionalization movement and the early days of Wayside. Following this, I discussed the organization services and how they fit the needs of the community. Finally, I presented my thoughts on the organization’s strengths, and how these strengths are exceptionally significant due to the organization’s business model.

Culture Ontogeny: Lifespan Development Of Religion And The Ethics Of Spiritual Counselling, Glen Milstein, Amy Manierre

Publications and Research

The counsellor has an ethical obligation to treat the whole person. Humans are cultural beings and the foundation of most cultures is religion. Religion and culture are received from our early relation~ ships and modified through later relationships across the lifespan. The paper introduces the term "culture ontogeny" to emphasize that this is a biological process wherein abstract ideas of culture and religion become material in the developing neurophysiology of each brain. A framework and methods are offered to examine the changing roles of religion in clients' emotional self~ structure, inclusive of those who describe themselves as spiritual, not religious. …

Relationally Aggressive Media Exposure And Children’S Normative Beliefs: Does Parental Mediation Matter?, Jennifer Ruh Linder, Nicole E. Werner

Faculty Publications

Research indicates that relationally aggressive media exposure is positively associated with relational aggression in children. Theories of media effects suggest that these associations may be mediated by aggressive cognitions. Although parental mediation can attenuate the effects of violent media, it is unknown whether there are similar benefits of parental mediation of relationally aggressive media. The current study examined concurrent and longitudinal associations between relationally aggressive television and movie exposure and normative beliefs about relational aggression, and whether parental mediation moderates these associations. Participants were 103 children (50% female) in grades 3-6 and their parents. The following year, 48 children (52% …

Covert Behaviors Occurring In Childhood And Adolescence: Predictors Of Adult Sexual Orientation And Sexual Identity, Shelia Ramona Robinett

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study examined the influence pre-adulthood overt and covert same-sex sexual behaviors had on adult sexual orientation and the influence post-adulthood overt and covert same-sex sexual behaviors had on sexual identity in both women and men. Retrospective data were gathered via a computer-assisted self interview on 1281 non-transsexual female (age range 18-78) and 804 non-transsexual male (age range 18-84) participants for the outcome of sexual orientation and 1086 non-transsexual female and 692 non-transsexual male participants for outcomes of sexual identity. Same-sex romantic emotional attachment experience before adulthood predicted adult same-sex sexual orientation in both women and men. Such experiences occurred …

Assessing The Adolescent Perceptions Of The Role Nonparent Adult Relationships Have On Character Development, Colin Thomas

Theses and Graduate Projects

Every day adolescents interact with nonparent adults. These adolescent and nonparent adult interactions have the potential to develop into unique relationships. Since the adolescent is at an impressionable stage in life, nonparent adult and adolescent relationships possess the unique potential to influence an adolescent's character development. For this study, I conducted my research utilizing an action research format. Utilizing in-depth interviewing this study strove to examine the adolescents' perceptions of the role nonparent adult and adolescent relationships had on their character development. Interview data was organized under three headings that developed from the interview responses. Themes that emerged from the …

Courtroom Discussions About Children's Sexual Abuse: An Examination Of Prior Conversations About Disclosures, Non-Disclosures And Perpetrator Statements To Children About Abuse, Stacia N. Stolzenberg

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This study explored the content of courtroom conversations about children's prior discussions regarding sexual abuse. Sixty felony child abuse trial transcripts including child testimony and reviewing court opinions were collected from the Court of Appeal and from court reporters. Information was obtained from under Section 288 of the California Penal code (sexual abuse of a child under 14 years of age) filed in Los Angeles County from 1997 to 2001. For this study, transcript testimony was transcribed, extracted for the necessary information, coded, assessed for reliability, and analyzed. The findings indicate that conversations about children's prior disclosure conversations, non-disclosure conversations, …

Investigating Young Children's Music-Making Behavior: A Developmental Theory, Paul G. Morehouse

CGU Theses & Dissertations

We have many developmental theories contributing to our understanding of children as they meander steadfastly toward maturation. Yet, none have reported on how young children interpret the qualitative meaning and importance of their own music-making experiences. Music created by average, not prodigious, young children is perceived by adults as “play” music rather than “real” music. But do young children take the same view as adults? When Piaget speaks of the young child’s qualitatively unique view and experience of the world (Ginsberg & Opper, 1988), can we assume that his statement encompasses young children’s predispositions related to music-making?

Music is understood …

A Model Of Student Engagement And Academic Achievement: The Role Of Teacher-Student Relationships And Teacher Expectations, Aja C. Temple

Wayne State University Dissertations

A MODEL OF STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: THE ROLE OF TEACHER-STUDENT RELATIONSHIPS AND TEACHER EXPECTATIONS

by

AJA C. TEMPLE

MAY 2012

Advisor: Dr. Jina Yoon

Major: Educational Psychology

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

The purpose of this study was to examine patterns of academic achievement among minority students and investigate teacher-student relationships, teachers' classroom and future educational expectations for students, and students' levels of classroom engagement in order to better understand their patterns of academic achievement. Participants (n=522) were students in grades four through six from a suburban district in Michigan. Student achievement varied according to both gender and ethnicity …

Understanding Jurors’ Judgments In Cases Involving Juvenile Defendants: Effects Of Confession Evidence And Intellectual Disability, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Bette L. Bottoms

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Juveniles are at heightened risk for falsely confessing to crimes, particularly if they are intellectually disabled. We conducted a mock trial experiment to investigate the effects of a juvenile defendant’s confession and status as intellectually disabled on jurors’ decision making. As expected, jurors discounted a juvenile’s coerced confession: Jurors’ judgments were similar for a juvenile who was perceived to have confessed under coercion and a juvenile who did not confess. In general, these effects were explained by the fact that, compared to a juvenile who was perceived as having confessed voluntarily, a juvenile who was perceived as having confessed under …

A Longitudinal Study Of School Connectedness And Academic Outcomes Across Sixth Grade, Kate Niehaus, Kathleen Moritz Rudasill, Christopher R. Rakes

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The current longitudinal study examines the extent to which school connectedness (i.e., students' perceptions of school support and the number of adults with whom they have a positive relationship) is associated with academic outcomes across sixth grade for students from high poverty neighborhoods. Data were collected from 330 sixth-grade students attending two middle schools in a large public school district. Specifically, students completed a survey to assess their perceived connection to the school environment, and academic information regarding students' grades, attendance, and discipline referrals was obtained from school records. Results fromlatent growth curve modeling showed that, on average, students' perceptions …

Changing Museum Visitors’ Conceptions Of Evolution, Amy N. Spiegel, E Margaret Evans, Brandy Frazier, Ashley Hazel, Medha Tare, Wendy Gram, Judy Diamond

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

We examined whether a single visit to an evolution exhibition contributed to conceptual change in adult (n030), youth, and child (n034) museum visitors’ reasoning about evolution. The exhibition included seven current research projects in evolutionary science, each focused on a different organism. To frame this study, we integrated a developmental model of visitors’ understanding of evolution, which incorporates visitors’ intuitive beliefs, with a model of free-choice learning that includes personal, sociocultural, and contextual variables. Using pre- and postmeasures, we assessed how visitors’ causal explanations about biological change, drawn from three reasoning patterns (evolutionary, intuitive, and creationist), were modified as a …

Getting Ready: Results Of A Randomized Trial Of A Relationship-Focused Intervention On The Parent– Infant Relationship In Rural Early Head Start, Lisa Knoche, Susan M. Sheridan, Brandy L. Clark, Carolyn P. Edwards, Christine A. Marvin, Keely D. Cline, Keely Cline, Kevin A. Kupzyk

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of a relational intervention (the Getting Ready intervention) on parenting behaviors supporting the parent–infant relationship for families enrolled in Early Head Start home-based programming. Two-hundred thirty-four parents and their children participated in the randomized study, with 42% of parents reporting education of less than a high-school diploma. Brief, semistructured parent–child interaction tasks were videotaped every 4 months over a16-month intervention period. Observational codes of parent–infant relationship behaviors included quality of three parental behaviors: warmth and sensitivity, support for learning, and encouragement of autonomy; two appropriateness indicators: support for learning and …

Attitudes Toward Suicide In Peers Affected By A Point Cluster Of Suicides As Adolescents, Caroline Abbott

Psychology Honors Papers

This thesis aimed to study how exposure to peer suicide may relate to current adjustment and attitudes towards suicide. Eight-five young adult graduates of the same public high school in the northeast who were exposed to multiple peer suicides as adolescents filled out an Attitudes Towards Suicide Scale, Scale of Perceived Social Support, reported their level of agreement with Thomas Joiner’s suicide myths, and completed the Texas Revised Inventories of Grief for each peer lost to suicide. Grief was relatively low in this sample, but related to number of peers lost to suicide and closeness to those peers. Exposure to …

An Intergenerational Study: Mirrors As A Tool For Self-Reflection, Susan Ridley

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

Globalization and advances in technology have resulted in a loss of cultural, community, and individual identity. Having a strong sense of self can be a protective factor in resisting peer pressure and involvement in negative behaviors, and a determining factor in the formation of one’s coping skills, and resiliency to life’s challenges. This was especially important for adolescents who are negotiating the developmental growth from childhood to adulthood, and older adults who are transitioning from the independence of adulthood to the dependence of old age.

This was a qualitative intergenerational study on the process of self-reflection on identity. Mirrors have …

Trust In The Mentor-Youth Relationship And Its Correlates With Frequency Of Contact, Parental Involvement, And Academic Improvements, Emily Jane Ness

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Community mentoring programs target at-risk youth with the aim of providing them with a positive, stable adult presence in their lives. Relationship quality of the mentors and mentees has been linked to multiple external factors and youth outcomes. This study investigated mentor-mentee relationship quality (i.e., youth's perceived trust in his or her mentor) and the associations between the amount of time the pair spent together per week, parents' level of involvement in planning activities between their child and their mentor, and youth's improvement in commitment to learning. The correlations between trust and time, and between trust and commitment to learning …

A Study Of The Effect Of Maternal Depressive Symptoms On The Mother-Infant Relationship And Protective Effect Of Maternal Reflective Functioning, Kristyn M. Wong

Wayne State University Theses

This study sought to replicate and extend findings on the effect of maternal depressive symptoms and their impact on the mother-infant relationship with regard to reflective functioning. The current sample included 101 mother-infant dyads who participated in a longitudinal study seeking to understand the effects of a traumatic childhood and how those experiences impact parenting. Measures included an assessment of depressive symptoms, an interview assessing reflective functioning capacity, and observation of mother-infant interaction. Previous findings were replicated with regard to significant correlations between parenting and reflective functioning. The current study did not find evidence for parenting mediating the relationship between …

A Study Of Birth Weight As A Predictor Of Cognitive Ability In Childhood : Applications Of Loess Regression And Generalized Propensity Score Methods, Xiaoyuan Tan

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study applied nonparametric loess regression to describe the predictive association between birth weight and cognitive ability in childhood and generalized propensity score methods to control the confounding of multiple covariates that summarize prenatal differences.