Child Psychology Commons^™

Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities As A Risk For Child Maltreatment, Maddie Hawley

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) and child maltreatment. Data from the 2022 National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) from the state of Minnesota was analyzed. The sample was made up of 38,083 reports of child maltreatment, where the average age of the child was 7.66 years. 51.2% of the children in the sample were female, and White children comprised the largest portion of the sample at 39.6%. Results of this study showed that children with IDDs are at an elevated risk of child maltreatment compared to typically …

The Demand For Educational Functions Of Study Tour Products: From Students’ Perspectives, Yaqi Yu, Azizan Marzuki

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Few academic studies have comprehensively examined the actual demands of students regarding the educational function of study tours. This paper develops a demand index system based on three dimensions: cognitive, affective, and behavioral demands. A questionnaire survey was administered to 397 students. Initially, student demands were categorized using the Kano model. Subsequently, the “dependence” and “expectancy” characteristics were analyzed through the dissatisfaction index (DI) and satisfaction index (SI). The impact of fulfilling each demand on dissatisfaction and satisfaction levels was then determined. The results indicated that among the three dimensions, there were 7 must-be demands, 6 one-dimensional demands, 8 attractive …

Climate Change And Parenthood: Impact On Family Size Decision-Making, Minha Hossain, Jennifer Lai, Mindy Engle-Friedman

Publications and Research

This study explores how parental status relates to childbearing decisions in the context of climate change and builds on prior research linking climate anxiety to reduced family size intentions. A survey of 114 participants revealed that non-parents were significantly more likely than parents to plan to have fewer children and to express concerns about climate change. These findings underscore differences in how parents and non-parents approach future reproductive decisions and highlight the role of climate-related concerns in shaping family planning intentions.

Parents’ Perspectives On Emotional Regulation In Their Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Diana Stewart

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The current study’s main research question was whether emotional dysregulation of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects parental stress levels. This project examined various negative emotional reactions, such as anger, sadness, worry, anxiety, and tantrums that were present in children with an ASD diagnosis, ages 4 to 13. The research consisted of five psychological assessments with strong psychometric properties. The whole survey was supposed to be filled out by a parent or a caregiver of a child, since children are considered a vulnerable population when it comes to research. The first assessment was the Childhood Autism Spectrum Test (CAST) …

Wiring Attachment, Alexander K. Bacon

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis began with a question: can diagrams create understanding, or only reflect it? Through paintings that layer automotive wiring schematics with family photographs, I explore how the human attachment system resists easy mapping. Using digital tools like Photoshop and scanning, alongside analog methods such as papier-collé and photo transfer, I examine how systems built for clarity—like wiring diagrams—contrast with the layered, often messy realities of human relationships. Drawing from attachment theory’s empirical foundation, rather than the metaphorical leanings of psychoanalysis, my work investigates how emotional bonds form, falter, and repair over time. Material loss and layering are not flaws, …

Children's Interpretation Of Others' Faces Covered With Medical Masks, Sevval Cinar

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

How we recognize and regulate emotions is fundamental to overall health and wellbeing. Emotional recognition and understanding are key to proper communication and emotion regulation. Barriers, such as masks, might have an impact on the way children recognize and interpret others' emotions, and therefore the way they learn, communicate, and regulate their own. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated widespread mask-wearing, raising questions about its impact on children’s emotional development. Using a sample of children with varying levels of exposure to mask wearing adults (N= 13, ages 4 to 6), we investigated how prolonged mask wearing predicts emotion recognition, particularly …

Narratives Of Illness Identity Development In Adolescents With Cancer, Rachel Holder

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Adolescence is a pivotal developmental stage characterized by the development of independence, autonomy, and identity. A diagnosis of cancer can be disruptive to this process (Grinyer, 2009; Hazen et al., 2008; Neylon et al., 2023). How one incorporates cancer into their identity, or illness identity, has been associated with clinical outcomes, including adherence, life satisfaction, psychosocial functioning, and health-related quality of life and could be a target for supportive interventions aimed at adolescents with cancer (Commissariat et al., 2020; Luyckx et al., 2008, 2018; Meyer & Lamash, 2020; Oris et al., 2016; Raymaekers et al., 2020). Prior literature has …

Juvenile Arthritis, Body Image, And Disordered Eating: An Exploration Of Experiences, Katelyn Ann Melcher

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This qualitative study examined eating and body experiences among youth with juvenile arthritis (JA). JA, an autoimmune condition affecting nearly 300,000 youth in the United States, poses significant challenges including chronic pain, disability, and psychological concerns such as anxiety and depression. Adolescence is a critical developmental time for body image and disordered eating concerns to emerge. However, no qualitative research has explored the interactions of JA, body image, and eating behaviors among youth. Twelve youth with a JA diagnosis participated in a semistructured qualitative interview examining their experiences with JA and their feelings about their bodies and food as they …

Resilience After Prenatal Substance Exposure: Exploring The Role Of Cumulative And Specific Protective Factors In Predicting Toddlerhood Temperament Profiles, Anjeli Elkins

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Objective

Prenatal exposure to common substances, including nicotine, marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, opiates, and alcohol, has been linked to a wide range of psychiatric disorders and neurodevelopmental impairments. Identifying protective factors that may improve temperament profiles in toddlers who have experienced prenatal substance exposure may protect against these adverse outcomes and is crucial for developing targeted early interventions.

Methods

Participants (n=92; Mage = 28.7 years; 47.0% White) were biological mothers of toddlers (Mage = 22.6 months) with prenatal substance exposure. Mothers responded to an online survey that gathered information on substance use during pregnancy, proposed perinatal protective factors, and child temperament. …

What Works In Telehealth Play Therapy? An Appreciative Heuristic Inquiry, Veronica Ann Ball

Dissertations

With the onset of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the United States in March 2020 (World Health Organization, 2020), professional counselors providing traditional in-person play therapy found themselves in a quandary regarding the delivery of services during a global pandemic (Evans, 2022; Mitchell, 2020; Whaibeh et al., 2020). Online counseling proffered a means to prevent the disruption of services, respond to the need for emerging counseling services, and comply with social restrictions (Evans, 2022). Prior to the pandemic, telehealth play therapy was used sparingly (Haslam & Harris, 2011; Smith et al., 2021), and many child-serving mental health professionals lacked training …

The Impact Of Peer Observational Learning On Honesty Following A Transgression, Hannah M. Sliman, George H. Noell

Psychology Faculty Publications

Parents and teachers worry about how lying affects children's development and socialization, as research links persistent lying to delinquency, aggression, and conduct issues. To investigate this, we examined two groups: Honest and Praise versus a Control Group, exploring how exposure influenced children's honesty and confession after transgressions. The study aimed to see if observing peers receive praise for honesty could promote truthfulness. Gender's impact on reporting honesty was assessed. Results showed no significant difference in honesty between the HP and CG groups; children confessed at similar rates in both conditions. Gender did not affect honest reporting. These findings differ from …

Resilience And Grit In Children And Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Danielle Oehring

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Resilience is the way in which an individual positively adapts to challenging or difficult life experiences. This process is marked by adjustments to external and internal demands through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility. Grit is perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Although grit and resilience have been researched in children and adolescents, there is a gap in the literature for how these variables relate to developmental disorders, like autism spectrum disorder, in children and adolescents. This study aimed to explore the relationship between autism spectrum disorder and internalizing and externalizing symptoms and whether grit and resilience moderates these relationships. Based …

Perceptions Of Mental Health School-Based Team Members On Addressing Suicidal And Non-Suicidal Self-Injurious Behaviors: A Qualitative Inquiry Into Policy Implementation And Practice In School Settings, Ashlande Smith

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of mental health school-based team members regarding the effectiveness of current prevention and intervention practices for addressing suicidal and non-suicidal self-harming behaviors among school-age children in a large suburban school district in the southern United States. Despite the alarming increase in self-injurious behaviors, with crisis calls rising from 144 incidents in the 2022 school year to 736 incidents in the 2025 school year, the district lacked comprehensive prevention and intervention strategies to effectively address this critical issue.

The researcher used a qualitative phenomenological approach to capture the lived experiences and …

Effects Of Parent Involvement In Their Children’S Academic And Behavioral Performance, Megan Menozzi

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to investigate the best practices to increase parental involvement in their children’s school activities by recording and scribing the experiences of certified teachers. Prior to this study, the current school experienced a decrease in parental involvement with their child’s scheduled school activities. As the school carry on with planning scheduled events for parental involvement, teachers were still expected to be prepared to implement curriculum in the classrooms, while ensuring children’s needs were being met by way of continuous communication with families.

The researcher developed a qualitative phenomenological approach. The design allowed the researcher to interview …

Teachers’ Perspectives On Behavioral Classroom Expectations Of Students With Emotional And Behavioral Disorders, Jennifer E. Brewer

Theses and Dissertations

The problem addressed in this study was that adolescents with emotional and behavior disorders (EBD) were failing in general education courses. The purpose was to investigate how teachers’ perceptions and biases influenced EBD students. Participants included five teachers (two special education teachers and three general education teachers) from each of Grades 6, 7, and 8 recruited from social media. The study was guided by the case study research design, and the interview instrument was the Indepth Interview Protocol. Data analysis was guided by a coding system that facilitated searching the interview responses for themes.

Research Question 1 queried about forms …

The Effects Of Mindfulness On Chronic Pain In Children And Adolescents: A Systematic Review, Sophie Parks

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Mindfulness and mindfulness-based interventions have become increasingly popular in recent years. Typically, mindfulness-based interventions and their effects on mental health and/or adult populations have been explored in the literature. Limited research has been completed looking at mindfulness’ impacts on other facets, including chronic pain symptoms. Additionally, some research has been conducted to analyze mindfulness and its effects on school aged children and their day-to-day functioning with promising results. In this systematic literature review, mindfulness interventions and their effects on children and adolescents who experience chronic pain were explored. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework was …

Risk Factors For Executive Functioning Development In Preschool Children With Type 1 Diabetes, Victoria L. Ledsham

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Links between Type 1 diabetes (T1D) and decreased cognitive functioning in children are well documented, but research on executive functioning (EF) in this population is more limited. Multiple T1D-related risk factors (e.g., hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, glycemic variability, diabetic ketoacidosis) for EF have been established throughout the literature, but their individual effects have been difficult to determine given their interrelated nature. In result, cumulative risk has been proposed as a more robust predictor of EF differences in children with T1D. Moreover, despite the importance of early T1D onset as a risk factor for EF impairment, no studies have previously investigated EF in …

Childhood Prosocial Behavior And Body Mass Index: Longitudinal Findings In The Millennium Cohort Study, Farah Qureshi, Krista Woodward, Laura D. Kubzansky, Julia K. Boehm

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Objective: Childhood obesity affects millions worldwide but is challenging to treat. Prosocial or helping behavior may help mitigate childhood obesity. We investigated whether prosocial behavior at ages 5–11 was associated with body mass index (BMI) and reduced obesity risk through age 17. Method: Data were from 8,894 participants in the Millennium Cohort Study. Parents reported children’s prosocial behavior using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire at ages 5, 7, and 11. BMI scores (kg/m2) were calculated from children’s height and weight at ages 5, 7, 11, 14, and 17, which were then standardized by sex (M = 0, SD = 1) …

Systematic Reexamination Of Early Verb Dominance: Verbal And Nonverbal Characteristics Of Caregiver Input And Their Contribution To Long-Term Language Outcomes, Minju Kim, Jeonghee Mun, Gayoung Kim, Solyeon Jeon, Youngon Choi

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Early language input to infants varies in lexical composition across languages and contexts. For instance, American-English input emphasizes nouns more than verbs, while Mandarin Chinese and Korean inputs provide more verbs than nouns, the difference of which is considered an influential factor in the child’s early vocabulary acquisition. Furthermore, a possibility was raised that nonverbal input accompanying child-directed language provides additional support for verb meanings in verb-dominant caregiver input. However, these early verb dominance and support patterns have been derived from a handful of studies that examined very small samples. Thus, we aimed to systematically reexamine the verb dominance pattern …

The Developmental Impact Of Childhood Abuse: Heart Rate Variability, Adult Psychopathology, And The Protective Role Of Social Engagement, Rachel R. Mitchell

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Childhood abuse is a prevalent experience that can have a profound impact on health and well-being. Extensive literature has linked childhood abuse to an elevated risk of psychopathology, including suicidality and substance use. Recent neuroimaging and psychophysiological research suggest that childhood abuse may influence the development of the body’s stress response systems. Exposure to chronic and uncontrollable stress, such as childhood abuse, has been implicated in the dysregulation of neural circuits that govern autonomic control and emotion regulation. This study examined resting high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) as an index of physiological regulation and its associations with adult mental health …