published_or_final_version / abstract / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether middle school students’ perceptions of teacher interactions and home-school dissonance are predictors of school attachment. The study sought to determine if there were differences in students’ perceptions of teacher interactions and home-school dissonance based on ethnicity, gender and/or grade level. This investigation is one of the first to explore the association between these variables. Data for this investigation was obtained from a larger study where surveys were administered to over 800 racially diverse students in grades 6 through 8 in Language Arts classrooms in two public middle schools with diverse student populations. Participants completed the Questionnaire of Teacher Interactions (QTI), the Cultural Discontinuity Between Home and School Scale (CDBHSS) and the School Attachment Questionnaire (SAQ). Based on the study sample, the QTI and SAQ were revalidated and produced new scale structures. Results of the multiple regressions, multivariate analysis of variance and post hoc tests revealed middle school students’ perceptions of teacher interactions and home-school dissonance significantly predict school attachment. Teacher interactions perceived as critical/passive, pleasant, or demanding were those making significant contributions. Student perceptions of pleasant teacher interactions were the greatest predictor of school attachment. Eighth graders perceived teachers to be more critical/passive than sixth graders. Sixth grade students perceived teachers to be more caring than seventh and eighth grades. Further, results indicated African American students perceived more critical/passive teacher interactions than their Caucasian and Asian American peers. While results indicate that home-school dissonance is a significant predictor of school attachment, results show that the impact of students’ perceptions of home-school dissonance is minimized when combined with teacher interactions. Implications for administrators, teachers, and university education departments are outlined. Recommendations for future research are also discussed.

The current study examined psychological distress in couples coping with a cancer diagnosis. Although it is widely recognised that spouses coping with a cancer diagnosis are at risk of psychological distress, debate exists within the literature regarding the amount of distress experienced by individuals, and about who is most at risk. Fifty-five couples coping with a cancer diagnosis completed questionnaires assessing psychological distress, social support and attachment style characteristics. Results indicated that partners psychological distress levels were more influenced by social support and attachment characteristics than patients were. Partners of those with cancer, who were higher on the insecure attachment dimensions, perceived providing and receiving less support and were less satisfied with support overall compared to less insecure partners. In addition to this, partner social support was significantly related to psychological distress, and attachment style was found to moderate this relationship. Specifically, partners were more vulnerable to psychological distress when they were higher on the insecure attachment dimensions and when support satisfaction was low or when they had a perception of low support receipt. Contrary to expectations, there were no significant findings for the patient group. Explanations and implications are discussed.

My goal was to examine potential moderators that affect emotional coordination between romantic partners. I conducted three separate empirical studies that are conceptually related. I used data collected in conjunction with Dr. Emily Butler (all 3 papers), and Dr. Shanmukh Kamble of Karnatak University, India (paper 3). Using models of two forms of emotional coordination in partners - emotion transmission and synchrony - I examined the moderating effects of attachment, cooperation and marriage type on emotional coordination between partners. The purpose of first paper was to examine the role that individual factors, specifically differences in attachment avoidance and anxiety, have on the transmission of emotions between partners. Interestingly, results were counter to hypotheses based on attachment differences in emotion regulation, which suggests the limitations of taking an individual perspective within dyadic contexts. The second paper examined how cooperation impacts emotional coordination between partners. I found that cooperation produces different emotional coordination patterns for men and women. Specifically, when both partners were at high levels of cooperation, men showed an in-phase emotional coordination pattern (changes in unison), whereas women showed an anti-phase emotional coordination (changes in opposite directions). Therefore, while both partners were engaging in similar behaviors their emotional experience was different. In the third paper, I moved to a more global analysis of factors that moderate emotional synchrony between partners. Specifically, I examined how different marriage-types in American and Indian cultures (love versus arranged marriages) impact emotional synchrony between partners. I expected that Indian-love marriages would show similar synchronization patterns to American marriages, and that both would show more synchrony in comparison with Indian-arranged marriages. Unexpectedly, Indian-love and Indian-arranged marriages were similar and both displayed lower synchrony than American couples. These findings suggest that emotional experience between partners may be influenced by the boarder culture, irrespective of marriage type. Taken together, these papers provide evidence for when emotional coordination between couples can have beneficial or detrimental effects on the relationship, depending on individual, dyadic and cultural factors.

Bakgrund: Allt fler prematura barn överlever. En trygg anknytning är positivt för barnets utveckling både fysiskt och socialt. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att beskriva anknytning mellan föräldrar och prematura barn samt sjuksköterskans betydelse vid anknytning. Syftet var även att granska kvalitén gällande datainsamlingsmetod i de valda artiklarna. Metod: En beskrivande litteraturstudie som är baserad på 14 artiklar, varav hälften var kvantitativa och hälften kvalitativa. Artiklarna är sökta och påträffade i databaserna PubMed och Cinahl. Analys av artiklarnas resultat ledde fram till fem rubriker.      Resultat: Föräldrar till ett nyfött prematurt barn erhåller inte samma närhet, som föräldrar till ett fullgånget barn. Barnets storlek och hälsa är en begränsande faktor för närhet till barnet hos både mammor och pappor. Sjuksköterskan på en neonatalavdelning har en betydande roll i anknytningen mellan föräldrar och prematura barn. Slutsats: En prematur födsel innebär ett ofrivilligt hinder i anknytningen mellan föräldrar och barn. En betydande del för att främja anknytning är att sjuksköterskan involverar båda föräldrarna i omvårdnaden av det prematura barnet. / Background: More premature infants survive. A secure attachment is beneficial for the child’s social and physical development. Aim: The aim with the study was to describe the attachment between parents and premature infant, and the importance of the nurse related to attachment. The aim was also to examine the quality of the data collection methods, in the selected articles. Method: The design is a descriptive literature study based on 14 articles, where half of the articles has a quantitative approach and the other half has a qualitative approach. The articles were searched and found in the databases’ PubMed and Cinahl. Five subjects’ were identified after analysis of the articles’ results.  Results: Parents of a newborn premature infant does not receive the same proximity, as parents of a full-term baby. The child's size and health is a limiting factor in proximity to the child with both mothers and fathers. Nurses’ at a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit has an essential role in the attachment between parents and preterm infant. Conclusion: A premature birth implies obstruction in attachment between infant and parents. A key element to promote attachment is that the nurse involves parents in the care of the preterm infant.

This thesis investigates the relationship between access to public gathering spaces and self-reported health with indicators of community life as the intervening variables. This study was undertaken to investigate the relationship between the access to public space and self-rated health status in multicultural communities. A survey of 785 randomly-selected households was conducted across four low-income Toronto neighbourhoods. The investigation is framed by the 'production of healthy public space' model, which conceptualizes the pathways between the lived experience of space and health as impacting an individual’s likelihood of establishing place attachment. The results support the hypothesis that there is a relationship between the lived dimension of space and health. Mental health appears to be the outcome most affected by indicators of place attachment. Several of the aforementioned relationships were found more commonly in the densest of the four neighbourhoods and variations were found between foreign- and Canadian-born subpopulations.

This thesis explores the relationship between place attachment and pro-environmental behaviour expressed by visitors to Point Pelee National Park. Place attachment, the functional, cognitive and emotional bond with a place, may play a role in promoting environmentally responsible behaviours. This may be especially true of place-specific pro-environmental behaviours; however place attachment may also have a "carry-over" effect in that its impact on individuals' self identity may also foster pro-environmental behaviour in individuals' every day lives. <br /><br /> An exploration of these relationships was achieved, first by measuring the intensity of place attachment and pro-environment behavioural intentions expressed by visitors to Point Pelee National Park. This was followed by an examination of the relationship between these two constructs using correlation analysis and structural equation modeling. Data was collected with a mail-based self-completed questionnaire. A quota sample of visitors to Point Pelee National Park was utilized. A response rate of 32% (<em>n</em> = 355) was achieved. <br /><br /> The relationship between place attachment and pro-environmental intentions was explored further through the measurement of several related variables. These factors include place satisfaction (based on an appraisal of nature, social and activity-based environments), motivation for visiting the park (related to social interaction and nature observation, as well as activity-based and learning opportunities), distance between the park and visitors' residences, membership in environmental organizations, and visitation patterns including visitation to the park during childhood, length of affiliation with the park, length of visit to the park, and frequency of visitation to the park. Theoretical and empirical research suggests that these factors may affect place attachment, pro-environment behavioural intentions, and/or the relationship between these two constructs. <br /><br /> Study results found positive associations between place attachment and all of these variables with the exception of visitation motives associated with learning and engaging in a favourite activity. The strongest predictive relationships were observed with anti-substitution (the inability of an individual to substitute the park for another destination because of a lack of resources such as time or money or a lack of awareness of comparable sites) followed by frequency of visits to the park; park commitment (based on Friends group membership and donations of time and money to the Friends group); Friends of Point Pelee (FoPP) membership; and park relationship (which was based on visitation to the park as a child and length of affiliation); and, satisfaction with the park. <br /><br /> Results support the proposition that place attachment has a strong positive association with both park-specific pro-environment behavioural intentions (e. g. , Write letters in support of Point Pelee N. P. and similar protected areas) as well as general pro-environment behavioural intentions (e. g. , Pay extra for transportation if it is environmentally-friendly). Place attachment strongly predicted park-specific, and moderately predicted general pro-environmental intentions. A number of other variables had an indirect effect on park-specific intentions; notable effects were demonstrated by frequency of visits; park relationship; visitation to the park as a child; place satisfaction; social satisfaction; FoPP membership; and, park commitment; anti-substitution. These affects were mediated by place attachment. After place attachment the strongest predictors of park-specific intentions were anti-substitution; frequency of visits; park commitment; and, general environmental commitment (which was based on membership in an environmental organization and donations of time and money to that organization). <br /><br /> Place attachment was not the only direct predicator of general pro-environmental intentions; general environmental commitment and membership in an environmental organization also directly predicted general pro-environmental intentions. Notable indirect effects, mediated by place attachment were produced by frequency of visits; park relationship; FoPP membership; park commitment; and anti-substitution. The strongest predictors of general pro-environmental intentions were general environmental commitment, followed by place attachment, membership in an environmental organization, and frequency of park visitation. <br /><br /> These findings correspond with much of the literature published on place attachment formation and the development of pro-environmental behaviours. The most notable contribution of this study is its comparison of place attachment's impact on general versus place-specific behaviours, and the role that several related variables play in this relationship.

Background: attachment theory provides an account of human behaviour across the lifespan, has a strong theoretical foundation and is clinical applicable. It is particularly relevant to older adults, who are often exposed to a greater number of losses. Despite a growing awareness of increasing life expectancy worldwide, services for older adults in the NHS remains under-resourced. However, increased exposure to death and loss in the work might result in clinical psychologists being more reluctant to choose this specialism and may raise issues about their own early attachment experiences. Therefore, it is important to understand how clinical psychologists approach the complexities of their work in light of their own early attachment experiences. Qualitative research of the lived experiences of clinical psychologists is sparse and to date there are no studies addressing this specific issue. Aims: this is an exploratory study which addresses a gap in the literature. The aims are to capture the early attachment experiences of clinical psychologists specialising in working with older adults. It is hoped that the outcome of the study will shed some light on the characteristics of this under-researched group and how they manage the challenges of the work. Methodology: a semi-structured interview schedule was developed to explore how clinical psychologists make sense of their work with older adults in light of their early attachment experiences. Interviews were carried out with five clinical psychologists working in specialist older adult services. The transcripts of the interviews were then analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Results: the analysis of the five interviews yielded five main themes – “Making sense of early attachment relationships”, “Developing identity in childhood and adolescence”, “Understanding of decision to work with older adults”, “Work with older adults as both challenging and rewarding” and “The person within the professional”. Each of the main themes and their subthemes were supported by excerpts from narratives of participants experiences. Implications: this study highlighted several research and clinical implications. First, the role of non-parental childhood attachments in the development of internal working models is currently an under-researched area which may provide important insights into resilience factors in the face of childhood adversity. Second, clinical implications suggest that access to older adult work early on in the career of clinical psychologists may increase desirability of working in specialist services. Third, the study supports attachment theory as a useful approach to understanding the work with older adults and as a valuable area for the professional development of clinical psychologists. Finally, systemic working with older adults remains an important part of the work which would benefit from further research in this area.

This research programme explores, theoretically and experimentally, a new liftsystem for Vertical/Short Take-off and Landing (V/STOL) Aircraft. It is based upon an annular wing wrapped around a centrifugal flow generator, potentially creating a vehicle with no external moving parts, reduced vehicle aerodynamic losses compared to previous V/STOL technologies and substantially eliminating induced drag. It is shown that such a wing works best with a thick aerofoil section, and appears to offer greatest potential at a micro-aerial vehicle scale with regard to fundamental performance parameter “lift to weight ratio”. Certain efficiency losses are encountered mainly occurring from annular flow expansion and problems with achieving acceptable blower slot heights. Experimental methods are described along with results, and a comparison shows that the experimental values remain below theoretical values, partly due to flow asymmetry but possibly also other factors. Symmetrical blowing, as initially hypothesised, was found to be impracticable; this suggested use of pure upper surface blowing with Coanda effect. The modified approach was further explored and proved viable. The ultimate goal of this work was to develop an understanding and the facility to integrate the annular-wing into a vehicle to achieve controlled powered flight. To serve the purpose, issues encountered on current and past V/STOL aircraft are being investigated to set a path for further research/development and to validate/justify the design of future V/STOL aircraft. Also, presented is a feasibility study where different physical scales and propulsion systems are considered, and a turbofan has shown to achieve the best performance in terms of Range and Endurance. This privilege allows one to accurately study the V/STOL technologies around.

Objectives: Systematic review: This article presents a systematic review of studies evaluating the evidence for mobile phone-based interventions with adolescents who have Type 1diabetes. Studies were critically appraised and findings synthesised with the aim of answering the question: do mobile phone technologies facilitate improved outcomes in adolescents who have Type 1diabetes? Empirical research study: Diabetes research has indicated an association between attachment security and metabolic control as well as increased prevalence of mental health difficulties in diabetes populations. There is limited research with an adolescent Type 1 diabetes population. The current study aimed to examine attachment, emotional distress and self-esteem in an adolescent Type 1 diabetes population in relation to metabolic control and quality of life. The current study also aimed to evaluate the impact of ‘wellbeing text-messaging support’ with the same population. Method: Systematic review: A systematic search strategy was employed to identify relevant studies. An electronic database search, combined with a hand search of key journals and reference sections of key papers, was undertaken. Methodological quality was determined using an idiosyncratic measure including information relating to study design, sample size, interventions and statistical analyses. A narrative synthesis was performed due to the heterogeneity of the sample. Empirical research study: 60 participants aged between 12-18 years old who had a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes for over 12 months took part. A longitudinal questionnaire design was used to collect data using five validated psychological measures. HbA1c was used as a measure of metabolic control. Text-messaging comprised a wellbeing module delivered daily over a three-week period. Results: Systematic review: 12 eligible studies were identified. One achieved a rating of ‘very good’, two a rating of ‘good’ and the remaining nine were pilot and/or feasibility studies, of whom four received a rating of ‘fair’ and ‘five received a rating of ‘poor’ methodological quality. Results indicated limited good quality evidence which included improved adherence and self-efficacy and mixed results in relation to metabolic control. Limitations identified included the use of small, convenience samples and short study duration. Empirical research study: High levels of fearful attachment security predicted poorer metabolic control and poorer quality of life, and high levels of emotional distress predicted poorer quality of life. ‘Wellbeing text-messaging support’ resulted in significantly improved quality of life. Conclusion: Systematic review: There is limited evidence that mobile phone technology has consistently improved outcomes in adolescents with Type 1 diabetes. Due to the number of pilot or feasibility studies and predominantly poor/fair quality of the current literature, and the heterogeneity of the sample, only tentative conclusions can be drawn, thus highlighting the need for further research. Empirical research study: Adolescent attachment style and emotional distress may be assessed as part of routine diabetes care in order to identify individuals who are potentially most at risk of failing to engage with diabetes health care. This can subsequently impact negatively on metabolic control and/or quality of life. These findings highlight the importance of clinical psychology input in paediatric diabetes teams. Further research in relation to text-messaging support was recommended.