Developmental Psychology Commons^™

Prosocial Behavior As A Protective Factor For Children's Peer Victimization, Emily R. Griese

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study was to investigate the protective role prosocial behaviors may serve for victimized children. Although a significant portion of the victimization literature focuses on the association of victimization with negative outcomes, research findings suggest a need to examine the heterogeneity also apparent in children’s responses to victimization. By beginning to examine the variability in children’s responses to peer victimization, researchers can gain insight into the dynamic process of peer victimization and begin to define what factors might distinguish children who show resiliency to negative effects from victimization from those who do not. Research examining the protective …

The Development Of Future Orientation: Underpinnings And Related Constructs, Sarah J. Beal

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Future orientation has been conceptualized in a variety of ways across literatures in psychology, sociology, education, and vocation. The lack of a shared definition and measurement across theoretical perspectives has resulted in a challenge in comparing findings across literatures and organizing results in a way that provides a coherent sense of how future orientation impacts later outcomes. Trommsdorff (1979) provided a comprehensive definition of future orientation that included eight dimensions: extension, detail, domain, affect, motivation, control, sequence of events, and number of cognitions. Study 1 was designed to test this definition using measures from five prominent theories of future orientation …

An Electrophysiological Examination Of Adhd-Associated Symptoms And Selective Attention In Adults, Erica Diane Prentkowski

Dissertations

A main component of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a deficit of inattention. This deficit causes impairment for both children and adults in a variety of settings including school and work. The current study examined auditory selective attention in a community sample of adults. It was the aim of this project to examine possible differences in selective attention for adults with high levels of ADHDassociated symptoms, when compared to adults with low levels of ADHD-associated symptoms, including conditions under which these differences may be an advantage. Specifically, it was expected that adults with high ADHD-associated symptoms would benefit from the high …

Antecedents And Continuity Of Compliance In Preschoolers, Lauren Gindin

Master's Theses

Self-regulation, and compliance behavior specifically, has been implicated in the development of successful socialization. Difficulty self-regulating has led to negative outcomes in areas such as academic success and mental health, and a number of possible contributors, such as temperament, maternal sensitivity and attachment, have been identified. In this study, we examined these possible predictors of preschool compliance behavior through causal modeling utilizing a large and diverse longitudinal dataset from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. We aimed to predict compliance and delay of gratification performance in children across 2, 3 and 4.5 years of age by …

Social Information Processing And Emotion Regulation: Relationships With Attachment And Social Competance In At-Risk Preschoolers, Erin R. Baker

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Science and Technology at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science by Erin R. Baker on July 12, 2011.

Emerging Adults' Perceptions Of Normative Drinking Perceived Susceptibility To Different Types Of Alcohol Consequences And Use Of Protective Behavioral Strategies, Gabrielle Maria D'Lima

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to extend the limited research on alcohol norms specific to alcohol consequences via perceived susceptibility. A handful of previous studies have established that college students overestimate the number of alcohol-related consequences that others experience relative to themselves. The current research explored the relationships between perceived susceptibility to alcohol consequences compared to targets (i.e., same-sex close friend, and typical same-sex student) and other variables predictive of problematic alcohol use in emerging adults. Results indicated that emerging adults perceive the typical same-sex student at their university as experiencing the most alcohol-related consequences, followed by their …

Factors Of Paternal Involvement And Their Association With Developmental Outcomes Of Nine-Month Olds, Heather A. Keefe

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Literature concerning paternal involvement has grown over the past thirty years due, in part, to the changing structure of the American family. Many researchers have published articles on the different ways fathers are involved in their children's lives and how fathers affect their children's development. The current study combined these two largely separate bodies of literature by using the same sample of fathers and children to examine the ways in which fathers were involved in their children's lives and how that involvement affected their development. The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) 9-month old dataset was used to investigate whether …

Testing Of A Brief Internet Cyberbullying Prevention Program In College Students, Ashley Nicole Doane

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Although the prevalence of cyberbullying varies across investigations, studies on adolescents and college students have shown that cyberbullying is associated with a wide range of negative consequences, including emotional distress, substance use, delinquent behavior, and even suicide. Given the frequency and consequences of cyberbullying, effective low-cost cyberbullying prevention programs are needed. Based on a review of the literature, best practices for program development, and earlier work on cyberbullying (e.g., Doane, Kelley, & Padilla, 2011; Doane, Kelley, Cornell, & Pearson, 2008), the goals of the proposed project were to develop a video-based program to increase knowledge about cyberbullying and empathy toward …

The Nature And Origins Of Attachment In Infancy And Early Childhood: Constructing Life’S Foundations, Greg Moran

Psychology Presentations

No abstract provided.

Keys To Unlocking Creative Potential: The Expressive Path To Personal Growth, Marta D. Ockuly

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

An experiential journey into personal growth and creative expression is, by nature, transformational.  Undertaken in a public platform using social media (Twitter and blogging) it reveals powerful potential as a teaching and mentoring tool for inspiring creative action around the world.  This project was designed to blend my joys and passions for tweeting positive inspiration and encouragement, sharing my readings and research related to creativity, exploring expressive art, activating creative potential with joy, collecting and sharing quotes, coaching positive change and creative action, and raising awareness of everyday creativity into a learning pathway which could be accessed by anyone using …

Temperament-Language Relationships During The First Formal Year Of School., Natasha Benfield Gouge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to investigate temperament-language relationships among school-age children and across a wider variety of SES. Head Start, Pre-K, and Kindergarten classes of 10 elementary schools located in rural Appalachia were sent information about the study and 35 children were consented to participate. Parents completed a short demographic survey and the Child Behavior Questionnaire Very Short Form (CBQ-VSF). Children were administered the Preschool Language Scale-4 (PLS-4). Participants were split into low and high SES groups so associations between the CBQ and PLS-4 scores could be compared at each SES strata. Both reactivity and self-regulation were …

Self-Verification As A Mediator Of Mothers’ Self-Fulfilling Effects On Adolescents' Educational Attainment, Kyle C. Scherr, Stephanie Madon, Max Guyll, Jennifer Willard, Richard Spoth

Faculty Articles

This research examined whether self-verification acts as a general mediational process of self-fulfilling prophecies. The authors tested this hypothesis by examining whether self-verification processes mediated self-fulfilling prophecy effects within a different context and with a different belief and a different outcome than has been used in prior research. Results of longitudinal data obtained from mothers and their adolescents (N = 332) indicated that mothers’ beliefs about their adolescents’ educational outcomes had a significant indirect effect on adolescents’ academic attainment through adolescents’ educational aspirations. This effect, observed over a 6-year span, provided evidence that mothers’ self-fulfilling effects occurred, in part, …

Playing With Fire Or Arson? Identifying Predictors Of Juvenile Firesetting Behavior, Mary Ellen Britt

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Firesetting is a complex behavior that spans a wide range of developmental stages in childhood and adolescence and involves varying motivations and intents. A better understanding of this destructive behavior is critical to developing strategies to control its devastating effects. The purpose of this research project was to identify potential predictors of juvenile firesetting behavior by studying youth who were enrolled in a regional firesetting intervention program. Data collected from firesetting assessment instruments completed by parents or guardians of program participants were examined. In the analyses, special emphasis was placed on evaluating associations between juvenile firesetting behavior and the socioeconomic …

Examining Child Sexual Abuse And Future Parenting: An Application Of Latent Class Modeling, Kimberly W. D'Zatko

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was designed to empirically derive latent classes of mothers who were sexually abused during childhood and to assess the association between depression, alcohol/drug use, supportive intimate partner, and specific classes.

One hundred six women between the ages of 20 and 44 years (M = 27) who reported having been sexually abused during childhood (CSA) and 158 non-CSA mothers between the ages of 20 and 43 years (M = 23) were interviewed and assessed along six parenting dimensions. Logistic regression models evaluated the association between psychoemotional variables and specific classes.

The final model consisted of three classes—53.2%, …

A Retrospective And Prospective Comparison Of Hungarian Children Who Have One Or Two Episodes Of Depression, Vanessa Panaite

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Early onset depression is associated with high recurrence rates later in life. Recurrent depressive episodes during childhood may be particularly problematic, if additional episodes have a scarring effect that hinders healthy development. Distinguishing between first onsets and recurrences has been useful in understanding adult depression. This distinction has seldom been examined in pediatric depression, in part because it is difficult to enroll adequate samples of children with recurrent depression. We conducted archival analyses of carefully-diagnosed pediatric probands with depression first onset between ages of 4 and 12. Probands who reported one depressive episode (N = 435) were compared with probands …

How Experience Influences Infants’ Recognition Of Male And Female Faces, Jennifer L. Rennels, Veronica A. Glover, Andrew J. Cummings, Andrea J. Kayl, Mateusz Orlewicz, Roanne J. Tiongson, Brooke Ditzler

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Young infants with female primary caregivers are able to differentiate familiar female faces from novel female faces but not male faces. Experience processing faces may be important for being able to discriminate among similar-looking faces. Subsequently, increasing infants’ experience with less familiar faces should improve their ability to differentiate those types of faces. This study examined if infants’ experience with faces affected their recognition of new faces. Prior to testing, 2-3 month old infants were assigned to one of three conditions: a male video, a female video, and no video condition. Infants were familiarized to both male and female faces …

Understanding Developmental Processes Underlying Mother-Child Conversations About Emotions, Celia Hsiao, Greg Moran

Psychology Presentations

No abstract provided.

Examining Associations Between Mothers' Early Adversity, Depression And Maternal Sensitivity, Rossana Bisceglia, Greg Moran, Jennifer Jenkins

Psychology Presentations

This study tested two models for the indirect influence of mothers’ early adversity on maternal sensitivity:

Model A:

• Mothers’ appraisal of infant temperament was hypothesized to mediate the influence of mothers’ early adversity and depression on maternal sensitivity
• There would be no direct influence of maternal depression

Model B:

• Mothers’ depression was hypothesized to have a direct influence on maternal sensitivity
• Mothers’ perception of infant temperament would not mediate the influence of maternal depression on maternal sensitivity

The Continuity Of Attachment Development From Infancy To Toddlerhood: The Birth Of A Sibling, Ya F. Xue, Kathleen A. O'Connor, Greg Moran

Psychology Presentations

This study investigates the impact of the arrival of a new infant on firstborn attachment. The patterns of attachment continuity and discontinuity are compared between children who transitioned to siblinghood for the first time and children who did not experience this transition.

Exploring The Development Of Adolescent Mother-Infant Attachment Relationships: The Contribution Of Ecological Factors, Tara Morley, Heidi Bailey, David Pederson, Greg Moran

Psychology Presentations

The current study set out to identify specific factors associated with adolescent motherhood that may reduce sensitivity and subsequently contribute to the development of non-secure mother-infant attachment relationships.