Developmental Psychology Commons^™

The Project Talent Twin And Sibling Study: Zygosity And New Data Collection, Carol A. Prescott, Ellen E. Walters, Thalida Em Arpawong, Catalina Zavala, Tara L. Gruenewald, Margaret Gatz

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The Project Talent Twin and Sibling (PTTS) study includes 4481 multiples and their 522 nontwin siblings from 2233 families. The sample was drawn from Project Talent, a U.S. national longitudinal study of 377,000 individuals born 1942–1946, first assessed in 1960 and representative of U.S. students in secondary school (Grades 9–12). In addition to the twins and triplets, the 1960 dataset includes 84,000 siblings from 40,000 other families. This design is both genetically informative and unique in facilitating separation of the ‘common’ environment into three sources of variation: shared by all siblings within a family, specific to twin-pairs, and associated with …

Asians Applying For Postsecondary Success: Students, Schools, And Socioeconomic Status, Avery M.D. Davis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Higher education recruitment rates are rapidly declining as schools are stymied by dynamic demographic shifts and a competitive ecosystem. Despite the constant realities of this challenge for tertiary institutions, the complexities of the interplay for demographics, student motivation, parental influences, and school environments during the postsecondary education application process is often overlooked. This thesis analyses how these four domains impact Asian American students within the Education Longitudinal Study (ELS) in terms of the number of postsecondary schools to which they apply? This study examines a sample (N = 662) of the ELS by employing multivariate regression analysis on the number …

Ageism And Embodied Stereotypes: A Study Of Adult Learners In Community College At Midlife, Marla Jane Erwin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Adult students are generally classified as a single group for study, yet developmental psychologists recognize separate developmental periods during adulthood that suggest adult students at midlife may experience development within higher education differently that younger adult students, in part due to ageism expressed at individual, institutional and internalized levels. This project applies the concept of lifespan developmental periods to distinguish students at midlife as a focus of inquiry using a mixed method design. Twenty-nine faculty and 205 students responded to the Relating to Older People Evalution (ROPE; Cherry & Palmore, 2008) to assess self-reports of both positive and negative ageist …

The Adaptive Functions Of Morality, Michael R. Apostol

Copley Library Undergraduate Research Awards

Morality is the principles that distinguish right from wrong. Humans maintain a moral self-image: the views, judgements, and actions that reflect a sense of right or wrong (Jordan, Leliveld, & Tenbrunsel, 2015). In order to study the impact of moral attitudes on behavior we must understand why certain moral beliefs persist, the function of morality, and why errors in moral judgement occur. With an evolutionary framework, studying the adaptive significance of morality may provide answers to these questions. Researchers have studied morality in nonhuman animals, the development of moral principles, cultural factors that influence ethical frameworks, how morality functions, and …

Culture Moderates The Relationship Between Family Obligation Values And The Outcomes Of Korean And European American College Students, Haein Oh, Toni Falbo, Kejin Lee

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

Family obligation values have been described as an important element of collectivistic cultures that are related to the development of positive emotional well-being and motivation in high school and college students. The present study tested the hypothesis that culture moderates the relationship between family obligation values and the outcomes of Korean (n = 249) and European American (n = 251) college students. The results provided support for this hypothesis. Specifically, for Koreans, family obligation values were significantly and positively correlated with descriptions of parents as being more supportive of the self-determination of their children, which was found to …

Making Space For The Adolescent Unconscious: A Case-Based Reflection On Practice, Donna M. San Antonio Dr., Nathan Gorelick

Faculty Scholarship

Community-based psychotherapists and school counsellors work to assist adolescents through sharing resources, building awareness of cognition and behavior, and skill development in communicative competence. However, adolescents, eager to delve deeper into the unknown territory of their being, also present us with speech and acts coming from the unconscious, in the form of metaphors, forgetting, behavioral excesses, mishaps, and physical symptoms. As adolescents search for ways to manage childhood trauma, find meaning and purpose in their lives, and clarify an aspirational direction that makes sense to them, they rarely have opportunities to work at a deeper level. In this article, psychoanalytically …

Three Useful Things To Know About Human Motivation, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Unseen commitments as well as material incentives drive our decisions and play an influential role in human motivation

Authentic Perspectives On Autistic Resilience: Implications For Schools And Society, Andrew Nelson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study explored resilience factors as identified by autistic adults with authentic lived experience. Historically, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been diagnosed using deficit models and criteria designed by outsiders with little input from the autism community. While risk of adversity is often high for those with ASD, scant research exists looking at the strengths, adaptive skills, and environmental factors contributing to the resilience of people with ASD. Autistic adults were interviewed (N = 10) to assess which internal and external risks and protections participants deemed important to their resilience. Responses were coded, analyzed, and compared to existing resilience data …

Culture Moderates The Relationship Between Family Obligation Values And The Outcomes Of Korean And European American College Students, Haein Oh, Toni Falbo, Kejin Lee

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

Family obligation values have been described as an important element of collectivistic cultures that are related to the development of positive emotional well-being and motivation in high school and college students. The present study tested the hypothesis that culture moderates the relationship between family obligation values and the outcomes of Korean (n = 249) and European American (n = 251) college students. The results provided support for this hypothesis. Specifically, for Koreans, family obligation values were significantly and positively correlated with descriptions of parents as being more supportive of the self-determination of their children, which was found to mediate the …

The Effects Of Adverse Childhood Experiences On Behavioral Outcomes, Jennifer Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study intends to explore the intersection of two vulnerable populations, early childhood development and risks associated with exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). This study examines how age plays a role in the long-term relationship between ACEs and internal and external behaviors. This study seeks to answer the question of: How does age influence the relationship between number of ACEs and internal and external behaviors? The participants in this study include those aged 0 – 16 from the National Survey of Child and adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW) dataset. The NSCAW study consists of five waves of data where Wave I …

The Development Of Mental Rotation Ability Across The First Year After Birth, David S. Moore, Scott P. Johnson

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

Mental rotation (MR) is the ability to imagine the appearance of an object from a different perspective. This ability is involved in many human cognitive and behavioral activities. We discuss studies that have examined MR in infants and its development across the first year after birth. Despite some conflicting findings across these studies, several conclusions can be reached. First, MR may be available to human infants as young as 3 months of age. Second, MR processes in infancy may be similar or identical to MR processes later in life. Third, there may be sex differences in MR performance, in general …

Socioeconomic Disadvantage And Brain Structure In Adulthood, Alexander J. Dufford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Socioeconomic disadvantage in childhood has been associated with difficulties in physical and mental health later in life. A potential pathway underlying this association is through variations in brain development. While associations between concurrent socioeconomic disadvantage and brain structural development have been established, it is unclear if there are prospective associations between childhood disadvantage and brain structure later in life (adulthood). The following studies address these gaps in the knowledge by examining the prospective association between childhood socioeconomic status and brain structure in adulthood. Study One examines the association between average family income across childhood and brain structural morphometry in adulthood. …

The Distal Role Of Adolescents’ Awareness Of And Perceived Discrimination On Young Adults’ Socioeconomic Attainment Among Mexican-Origin Immigrant Families, Lorey Wheeler, Prerna G. Arora, Melissa Y. Delgado

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

Cultural-ecological frameworks posit that there are harmful effects of social stratification on developmental outcomes. In particular, awareness of aspects of social stratification in society and interpersonal experiences of discrimination, more generally and within specific contexts, may differentially influence outcomes across life stages; yet, few studies have examined the distal effects during adolescence on early adult developmental outcomes. The current study fills this gap by examining distal mechanisms linking adolescents’ (Time 1: ages 13–15) awareness of and perceived general and school discrimination to young adults’ (Time 3: ages 23–25) socioeconomic attainment (i.e., educational attainment, occupational prestige, earned income) through adolescents’ (Time …

A Longitudinal Examination Of Peer Victimization On Depressive Symptoms Among Asian American School‑Aged Youth, Prerna G. Arora, Lorey A. Wheeler, Sycarah Fisher, Marymilt Restituyo, Jessica Barnes‑Najor

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

The current study sought to examine the prospective relationship of peer victimization on changes in Asian American youth’s depressive symptoms during early adolescence, a crucial period for the development of depression and engagement in peer victimization among youth. Further, as guided by cultural–ecological frameworks, the current study also sought to examine the role of school-based peer support and gender as moderators on the relationship between peer victimization and depressive symptoms among this understudied population. Participants included Asian American youth (N = 232; M age = 12.96, SD = 1.40; 51% girls) who completed questionnaires in the school context. Data …

Statewide Policies To Improve Early Intervention Services: Promising Practices And Preliminary Results, Miriam Kuhn, Courtney Boise, Sue Bainter, Cindy Hankey

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

The State of Nebraska Co-Lead agencies, who are responsible for developing statewide early intervention policies, rolled out professional development for two evidence-based strategies across several pilot sites. Implications of these strategies for child/family assessment, Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) development, and Early Intervention service delivery were examined utilizing family (n=30) and professional interviews (n=50), and analyses of IFSPs (n=30). The results of this mixed method study indicate widespread strategy implementation with fidelity fosters early working relationships with families and enables teams to generate, using family members’ own words, a robust group of high-quality child …

Infant Temperament And Cardiac Physiology As Predictors Of Infant Locomotion, Mequeil Howard

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Infant locomotion is a major milestone that occurs during the first year of an infant’s life, and the onset of crawling is associated with various developmental changes. Previous work has focused on changes in infant temperament, specifically anger, during the onset of crawling. Other work has focused on changes in infant cardiac physiology in association with temperament development. Little research has examined both temperament and cardiac physiology (e.g., respiratory sinus arrythmia, RSA) as predictors of infant locomotion. Examining both factors in the same study could further explain variability in infant motor development. The current longitudinal study examined infant temperament (anger, …

Moral Identity As A Goal Of Moral Action: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective, Tobias Krettenauer

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper aims at connecting Self-Determination Theory (SDT) with research on moral identity. It is argued that SDT provides a unique and integrative framework for addressing important questions that have guided research on moral identity for many years: What is a moral identity? How is it linked to moral action? How do moral identities develop? In the present paper, moral identity is conceptualized as a goal of moral action. Individuals want to maintain their moral identity, which in turn motivates them to act morally. Yet, moral identity motivation is not uniform. In line with SDT, it is possible to differentiate …

Connectedness With Nature And The Decline Of Pro-Environmental Behavior In Adolescence: A Comparison Of Canada And China, Tobias Krettenauer, Wan Wang, Fanli Jia, Ying Yao

Psychology Faculty Publications

The present research investigated whether age-related differences in connectedness with nature in adolescence are associated with pro-environmental behavior across two cultures, Canada (N = 325) and China (N = 363). While older adolescents demonstrated lower connectedness with nature in both countries, pro-environmental behavior was inversely associated with age only in Canada but not in China. To investigate this cultural difference, we conducted a moderated mediation analysis. Positive self-evaluative emotion expectancies (pride/satisfaction) for engaging in pro-environmental behavior were found to mediate the interaction effect of culture and age when predicting pro-environmental behavior for Chinese but not for Canadian adolescents. …

The Provider Perspective On Behavioral Health Care For Transgender And Gender Nonconforming Individuals In The Central Great Plains: A Qualitative Study Of Approaches And Needs, Natalie Holt, Debra A. Hope, Richard Mocarski, Heather Meyer, Robyn King, Nathan Woodruff

Trans Collaborations Academic Papers

Purpose—Transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) individuals interact with mental health care systems at high rates and experience substantial barriers to care. Rural TGNC individuals face additional disparities in accessing appropriate mental health services. Little research has focused on the mental healthcare providers who work with TGNC individuals in underserved areas. The current study sought to describe the mental health care services delivered by providers perceived as affirming by TGNC community members in the Central Great Plains.

Methods—We conducted qualitative interviews with 10 providers to understand how providers seek cultural competency and conceptualize and work with their TGNC clients given the …

Elevating Nebraska’S Early Childhood Workforce: Report And Recommendations Of The Nebraska Early Childhood Workforce Commission, Susan Sarver, Catherine Huddleston-Casas, Cama Charlet, Renee Wessels

Buffet Early Childhood Institute Reports and Publications

Executive Summary The science of early childhood development makes clear that the early years, from birth through age 8, are a time of unparalleled human growth and development— and that healthy development during these pivotal early years requires reliable, positive, and consistent interactions between the developing child and familiar, caring adults. Because of today’s economy, in which most parents of young children work outside the home, families often rely on early childhood professionals to provide positive interactions and experiences that young children need to thrive. Yet, despite what we know about the critical role of early childhood professionals in young …