School Psychology Commons^™

A Girl Named Sue: A Child's Journey From Complex Trauma To Hope, Healing & Recovery, Jamie Like Ms.

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Audience would include any school staff, counselors, social workers, parents and community members. Many children who experience complex trauma struggle emotionally, physically and behaviorally. In this session, participants learn to never underestimate the impact they can make in the life of a child, that damage from childhood trauma can be mitigated and that relationships, relationships, relationships are the key to everything!

Prediction Of Bystander Intervention Behavior In A Sexual Assault Situation: The Role Of Religiosity, Empathy, And Gratitude, John D. Foubert, Mwarumba Mwavita, Kelva Hunger, Wei-Kang Kao, Pam Pittman-Adkins

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Bystander intervention in potential sexual assault situations is a common method of helping to address sexual violence on college campuses. Although numerous variables have been shown to mediate bystander intervention behavior, the pool of potential correlates is limited. The present study used regression analysis to determine the relationship between bystander behavior and three predictors: religiosity, gratitude, and victim empathy. Consistent with prior research, both religiosity and gratitude significantly predicted bystander behavior. Contrary to prior research, the relationship between victim empathy and bystander behavior was negative. Findings are discussed relating to potential bystander intervention programs, and future research, particularly on gratitude, …

Caregiver Treatment Consumption In An Experimental Treatment Marketplace, Delaney J. Darragh

LSU Master's Theses

Behavioral economics is an approach to understanding consumer behavior by integrating behavioral science with economic principles. Behavioral economics incorporates traditional economic principles with operant learning approaches. There is limited research examining how individuals consume psychological and behavioral treatments. This is especially the case for treatments designed for children. The current study used data from a previously collected sample to explore gender differences in an experimental treatment marketplace (ETM). Experimental treatment marketplaces are generally used to evaluate choices between goods and services (e.g., types of behavior interventions). An ETM was developed to evaluate treatment consumption when levels of evidence differed between …

Older Adults’ Physical Activities And Subjective Well-Being, Mihae Bae, Hyunsook Kang

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

This study examined the relationships between physical activities as health behaviors and subjective well-being in older adults. Data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) survey were used. The NSHAP study sampled persons 57-85 years of age (n=3005). The respondents completed a telephone survey, reporting their background information and social networking characteristics. For data analysis, a two-step hierarchical regression was used in order to identify the associations between the demographic and physical activity factors on subjective perception of well-being in older adults. Our results indicated that, among the demographic, income, education, health status, and participation …

Exploring The Potential For Therapeutic Art-Making In School Psychology Practice: A Single Case Study Of A Training Experience, Alexandra G. Manion

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a training experience on the use of therapeutic art-making for school psychologists, with a focus on how to incorporate these concepts into their school-based mental health practice. Therapeutic artmaking includes the use of visual art activities (drawing, painting, clay, and collage) with specific therapeutic intent. Although there are examples of art therapists providing inschool therapeutic art-making services to support the mental health needs of students, there is far less information regarding the use of therapeutic art-making by school-based mental health providers, including school psychologists. This single case study explored …

Paving Pathways For Success: The Role Of Transition Models And Disability Services In Postsecondary Education For Students With Disabilities, Jillian Talley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Students have dreams and goals outside of school. School psychologists can play a vital role in helping students with disabilities reach their dreams, particularly when the dreams ask the question “What do I want to do after high school?” Often, the answer lies in postsecondary goals, which require transition planning while the student is still in school. Manuscript One (M1) explores how families, teachers and school psychologists can all play supportive and distinct roles in helping a student with disabilities reach their postsecondary goals. There have been several transition models proposed to help students with disabilities shift from PK-12 to …

Exploring Opportunities For Supporting Juvenile Justice-Involved Youth: A Path Forward Through Expanding Graduate Training In School Psychology, Erica L. Gleason

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School psychologists are equipped with a dynamic skill set and an ethical and moral responsibility to support the diverse needs of all youth. While juvenile justice-involved youth may not be a primary subpopulation served by all school psychologists, they are a high-needs group that requires special consideration and attention. As a professional entity, school psychologists’ knowledge and expertise are not optimally applied to serving these youth. Consequently, school psychologists may be forgoing an opportunity to improve rates of successful school and community reintegration and overall positive life outcomes for justice-involved youth. The first manuscript of this dissertation presents precipitating and …

Development And Testing Of Remote Facilitation Of Prevent-Teach-Reinforce For Families To Address Challenging Behavior In Young Children (Ptr-F:R), Abby Hodges

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As children advance through developmental stages, they often present behavioral difficulties such as tantrums, lack of cooperation, and aggression. For some children, behaviors are serious enough that they interfere with the child’s ability to engage in positive relationships, participate in necessary routines, and learn new skills, warranting behavioral intervention (Dunlap et al., 2017). Being responsive to the needs of the family and appreciation for the central role that they play is crucial to the success of behavioral interventions and the maintenance of positive outcomes (Bailey, 2013; Campbell, 1995), thus, their input should be at the center of all recommendations and …

Investigating The Effectiveness Of The Positive Reinforcement Components Of Tootling, Kennedi J. Alstead

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Disruptive behavior in the classroom can have a negative impact on students’ academic and social outcomes. Additionally, teachers have expressed difficulty with implementing class-wide behavioral interventions that address this problem. Tootling is a class-wide, positive behavioral intervention that has been shown to increase prosocial behavior and academic engagement, as well as decreasing disruptive behavior in the classroom. Tootling is derived from another form of positive peer reporting and is considered the opposite of tattling. In tootling, students report on their peers’ prosocial behaviors. This intervention has multiple components that assist in its effectiveness. Specifically, there are three components with aspects …

Practical Femininity: The Student Development Of Legally Blonde’S Elle Woods, Elizabeth S. Rodericks

The Graduate Review

College experiences often involve challenges that can provide the impetus for personal and professional growth. Likewise, Elle Woods of the film Legally Blonde undergoes multiple significant changes in her sense of identity, morality, and ability to take charge of her own life after she is forced to radically change her perspective and priorities. This paper covers her development as a law student and individual according to the student development theories of Chickering’s Seven Vectors of Identity Development, Gilligan’s Theory of Women’s Moral Development, and Baxter Magolda’s Self-Authorship Theory. As a result of her growth, Elle Woods flourishes into a confident, …

The Impacts Of Learning 2 Breathe On Rumination, Adessa Flack

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

The present study examined the impact of Learning2Breathe (L2B), a mindfulness-based stress reduction program developed for use with adolescents on rumination. The program was applied to rumination in college-age men and women. Our experiment utilized a quasi-experimental design. The sample consisted of 50 undergraduate students that were placed in either the experimental or control group. Data was collected pretest and posttest through a variety of measures including the Rumination Reflection Questionnaire (RRQ) which consisted of a rumination and reflection subscale, and the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS). A two-way mixed ANOVA design was used to analyze data. There was no …

Does Social Support Mediate The Relationship Between Locus Of Control And Activity Levels?, Leah L. Oglesby

Masters Theses

The aim of the present study is to examine the mediating effect of social support on the relationship between internal locus of control (LOC) and engagement in activity, treating general physical activity and deliberate exercise as specific and separate domains. Two models will be investigated: a domain-general model and an exercise-specific model, the former examining the mediating effect of general social support on the relationship between health locus of control and general physical activity and the latter examining the mediating effect of exercise-specific social support on the relationship between exercise LOC and deliberate exercise engagement. Survey responses from 279 college-aged …

Assessing Early Educators’ Knowledge Of Behavior Management, Early Intervention, And Developmental Delay, Jillian Mcmahan

Masters Theses

The current study examined pre-service teachers’ knowledge of behavior management strategies, early intervention, and developmental delay. Data were collected from 107 participants. Thirty-two were pre-service early education teachers currently enrolled in educator prep courses and 75 were in-service early education teachers. Participants completed an online questionnaire that included the following topics: problem behaviors, evidence-based practices, preschool expulsion, and educator prep courses. In-service teachers were better than pre-service teachers at identifying the top three commonly observed preschool student problem behaviors. For evidence-based practices, a majority of pre-service and in-service participants indicated that they would probably or definitely (4 and 5 ratings) …

The Effects Of Online Anti-Bias Training On In-Service Educator Multicultural Competence, Kaeli O'Donnell

Masters Theses

The student population in the United States is becoming increasingly diverse, while the teaching base remains primarily white and female. One skill that helps educators form connections with students and decrease their biases is cultural competence. Thus, educators are often encouraged (and at times required) to participate in professional development training to increase their knowledge in this area. Although previous research has examined educator benefits from professional development trainings in general, and from trainings related to cultural competence, there is limited research into the benefit of online trainings intended to increase educator cultural competence. In this study, 17 educators completed …

The Effectiveness Of A Caregiver Delivered Phonics Intervention For At-Risk Students, Iwalani Dela Paz-Miller

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Reading skills are important for students' academic success. Phonics specifically is a foundational skill which is necessary for reading fluency and overall reading proficiency. Additional support outside of the classroom can be beneficial for those struggling and at-risk. There are various strategies and interventions that can help students' gain important academic skills. In addition to various reading skills and interventions, parents and caregivers can help implement interventions within the home setting to support students in their academic growth. Overall, the research has documented the effectiveness of reading intervention delivered by parents and caregivers, but there is little research on caregiver …

Transforming Hurt Boys Into Restored Men: The Lack Of Mental Health Treatment For Black Male Trauma Survivors, Shericka Danielle Smith

DSW Capstone Projects

Trauma affects individuals differently, but the prevalence of trauma and its impact on Black males is detrimental. Black males are at higher risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, substance abuse, and violent crimes when trauma is left untreated by a mental health professional. As the number of traumatic events experienced by Black males continues to rise, the number of these males who seek mental health treatment remains stagnant and painfully low. Many factors play into these behaviors, yet very little data exists on what is being done to change them.

Product one is a systematic literature review in which …

Increasing Above And Beyond Behavior Through Social Emotional Learning, Lars Olson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) has demonstrated utility to schools. Research has shown how SEL programs can be used to improve behavior, academics, and school climate. However, SEL is most often utilized to improve behaviors that are necessary to function within the mores and norms of a classroom setting. These behaviors can be categorized as meeting expectations of the classroom climate; however, there is a lack of research demonstrating that the implementation of an SEL curriculum can also increase the frequency of behaviors that go above and beyond these basic expectations. In order to increase the frequency of behaviors that go …

Addressing High School Student Stress: Exploring Student And Teacher Perceptions Of A Modified Dbt Steps-A Curriculum, Greg C. Hatzis

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

The problem of practice investigated is high school student stress and the many detrimental effects. The setting is a public high school in Southwestern Connecticut in a community that places a high value on academic achievement and college acceptance. A root cause analysis identifies two actionable drivers of change in teacher practices and the lack of student self-management skills. A review of scholarly knowledge and local practices leads to an investigation of strategies to mitigate the problem. This review identifies Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Training for Emotional Problem Solving for Adolescents (DBT STEPS-A) as a high leverage strategy to address …

Addressing Student Stress: The Impact Of Training On Student Assistance Team Practices, Kaitlin Stanton

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

This Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice investigated the impact of training and continuous support on the effectiveness of a high school Student Assistance Team’s ability to identify and discuss students experiencing high stress levels. In Phase 1 of this action research, the researcher determined the problem of practice to be high stress levels that impacted students’ academic, social, and emotional development. After conducting a root cause analysis and the identification of drivers of change, the researcher selected one high leverage practice to implement. In Phase 2, the researcher implemented training and support sessions to foster the Student Assistance Team members’ …

The Effects Of Pyramidal Training Of Behavioral Skills Training On Staff Interactions With Students With Developmental Disabilities, Mallory Eoff

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Well-trained staff are critical for quality care in human service settings, but training requires resources that are often unavailable or restricted. This results in staff with inadequate training and worse outcomes for those in their care. Behavioral Skills Training (BST) is an effective training strategy with empirical support. The current study implemented a pyramidal training procedure with BST to train staff to increase staff use of positive interactions and behavior-specific praise statements when working with children with developmental disabilities in a public-school setting. Instruction, modeling, practice, and feedback were used to teach lead classroom teachers and their paraprofessionals how to …