Family participation in residential interventions for children has been reliably shown to enhance children’s adaptation to the community following discharge. This finding, however, had predominantly been observed in long-term residential programmes in North America. This thesis examines the influence of family involvement on outcome for children in a short-term residential intervention - the Children’s Health Camp, in Auckland, New Zealand. This service offers children and families, who may be experiencing social, emotional, physical and/or behavioural challenges, individualised interventions that often include a five-week residential stay. A ‘high family involvement’ condition, a community-based programme that followed a residential intervention, was compared with a ‘low family involvement’ condition (the traditional residential programme). No statistically significant differences were observed between the groups on parent-report measures of child behaviour and parenting practices, although significant improvements in children’s behaviour (including emotional, social and conduct aspects) for both groups were found. Reasons for the lack of difference between the groups, and the difficulties inherent in conducting outcome research in a residential facility for children are highlighted. Other influences on outcome for children and families, such as residential staff members’ attitudes toward family involvement were also examined. The optimal conditions for successful short-term residential interventions for children are proposed.

Purpose. The purpose of the study is to develop a better understanding of the process of behaviour change and factors which contribute to an increased level of fruit and vegetable intake (F&V) among men in New Zealand. The study aims to determine the impact of psychosocial and contextual factors integrated into an extended stage model. As a more parsimonious continuous model maybe sufficient for understanding F&V intake, the study also plans to evaluate the impact of psychosocial and contextual factors on behaviour, and whether intentions is the mechanism by which the psychosocial factors influence behaviour. Design. Data was collected using a self administered questionnaire in a mail survey from N = 518 men aged 18 years and over randomly selected from the electoral roll. Mean differences in factors across the stages of change were assessed with one way ANOVAs and Games Howell post hoc tests, and trend analyses assessed linear and non-linear components of trend. The independent impact of factors on intentions and behaviour was assessed with hierarchical multiple regression analyses. Measures. Stage of change was assessed with a single item measure, F&V intake with a 7-item food frequency questionnaire, and food insecurity with items used in the 1997 National Nutrition Survey. Previously developed measures were used to assess the pros, cons, self efficacy, self identity, and susceptibility to disease. Scales were developed and adapted for F&V intake for control, descriptive and subjective norms. Results. In total, 51% of men were in the action/maintenance stage and 32%, 10% and 7% in the precontemplation, contemplation, and preparation stages respectively. Mean F&V intake was 3.92 (SD = 2.08) servings a day and 30.4% were eating at least 5 servings. All factors differed significantly across the stages of change. The predictor variables collectively explained R² = 43% (42% adjusted) in intentions and 40% (38% adjusted) in behaviour. The impact of self efficacy and intentions on behaviour depended in part on household food insecurity status. Discussion. Similar conclusions were reached using the stage and continuous model. To increase intentions of eating 5 or more servings of F&Vs a day in the future, interventions should modify perceived norms, self efficacy, pros and cons, and awareness of F&V guidelines. Interventions targeting those with high food insecurity may also be required to help translate their intentions into action.

Using the Internet during work time for personal interest is defined as personal web use (PWU), yet only limited knowledge is available on why people engage in varying degrees in this activity. To address this shortcoming, this research project tested a heavily moderated theoretical model of thirteen psychological and workplace attributes expected to influence differences in individuals’ PWU: moral norms, boredom, workgroup norms, workload, use of the ‘ledger neutralisation strategy’, certainty about PWU rules, attitude towards work, reactance, supervisor treatment, attitude towards PWU control, status, tenure and social loafing risk. Five facets of PWU were measured as separate criterion variables: past frequency, habitual PWU, duration, and two PWU activity types. Data for the model testing was gathered through an extensive on-line questionnaire. The responses of 267 participants with varying demographics and work situations were used to test the theoretical model, using moderated regression analyses. Significant interactions were explored further through the Modgraph procedure. The model testing results showed that PWU was more common in respondents who morally approved of PWU and who were bored at their work. How often people engaged in PWU (either out of habit or in general), for how long and in what types of activities, was influenced by specific combinations of the remaining attributes. Only four of the hypothesised twelve interactions played statistically significant roles, only habitual PWU was influenced by workload; and only information-seeking activities were influenced by workgroup norms. Attributes with ‘revenge’ connotations were noticeably absent as significant influences. The findings are discussed in some detail. To further explore the context of PWU, thematic analysis was undertaken of answers to two open-response questions provided by a sub-sample of 119 participants. Results supported the role of workplace boredom in PWU situations, specified the moral issues of PWU approval, and suggested that PWU is best understood and examined in the wider context of organisational culture. The thesis concludes with synthesis and discussion of statistical and qualitative analyses results, identifying the contributions the research has made to the field of study. Suggested practical applications of the findings, limitations of the research project and suggestions for future studies conclude the documentation.

To be successful, social network sites need continual activity to flourish and grow. One of the most important challenges faced by designers of social network sites, is to encourage contribution from community members. ‘Self-sustainability’ is critical to the survival of networked communities and is dependent on community members adding content in a sustained way over time. Motivating community members to take it upon themselves to freely contribute information is the key to the success of any social network environment (Powazek, 2002; Ling et al., 2005). This thesis aims to investigate whether persuasion techniques can be used to inform the design process in order to motivate members of a social network community to contribute content. While persuasion theories have been effective in influencing target behaviour outside of the online environment, traditionally they have not been utilised by digital media designers. With the advent of social media, the application of social psychology is becoming more valuable in the development of features and strategies for the online environment. Recently the field of Captology has begun to systematically investigate computers as persuasive technology. Within this field, this thesis has investigated using the ‘Elaboration Likelihood Model’ (ELM) as a strategic framework and ‘Social Proof’ as a motivating influence to develop peripheral elements designed to encourage user online contribution, and to design a site that is visually appealing and functional. This is essential in establishing the credibility of the site without which the influences of persuasion are unable to function. This Masters ‘research through design’ project engages an existing community group of water sports enthusiasts in a trial of a live prototype website. The website was designed to utilise the internet as a medium and social networking as a tool, in order to gather individual knowledge, give it a context, and to create a self-sustaining collective knowledge base of locations, optimum conditions and user experiences. Users were divided randomly into two groups – the test and the control. Using ELM, the peripheral and central routes of processing communication were identified, and used to build the framework on which to develop the test environment. Both groups were exposed to the same fundamental design and functionality, however the test group was presented with additional peripheral elements designed using the principles of Social Proof. The research charted user contributions over the course of 82 days, with a survey undertaken with both groups at the completion of the test period. Results indicated a significant difference between the two test groups with users exposed to the influences of Social Proof more motivated to contribute content and visit the website more often than users from the control group. The findings of this study show that motivating contribution can be achieved using ELM and Social Proof to design persuasive elements in a social networking environment. The synthesis of graphic design, interface design and the theories of social science can guide designers in the creative process of developing networked environments for social media, and lead to a more engaging user experience.

The present research aims to obtain a more complete view of couple relationships. In particular, it investigated the manner in which attachment styles (and more specifically the combination of attachment styles to one’s partner and one’s primary caregiver, such as the mother) are related to conflict beliefs, conflict resolution styles, relationship satisfaction and communication accuracy. Two studies were conducted to explore these relationships. In Study 1 individuals in couples relationships (N = 83) were asked to participate in an online questionnaire regarding primary caregiver and partner attachment, conflict resolution, and conflict beliefs. Study 2 saw the recruitment of twenty-two couples from public advertisements. Couples were asked to participate in a ten minute videotaped discussion around a major disagreement. The discussion exercise and accompanying self-report questionnaires indicated each couple’s communication accuracy. Trained post-graduate raters also coded the observable conflict styles of the couples on a scale developed for the purpose of this research. These were compared with self-reported conflict resolution styles. Couples were also asked to complete questionnaires individually to identify their parent and partner attachment styles, relationship satisfaction, conflict resolution styles and conflict beliefs. Qualitative questions around attachment and conflict resolution provided a more in-depth perspective of more and less securely attached individuals’ relationships. Results from both studies indicated that there is some difference between ongoing influence from current models of primary caregiver attachment and the influence from current models of partner attachment on relationship variables. Relationship satisfaction and conflict beliefs were influenced by specific attachment to the partner. Conversely, conflict resolution styles, in particular positive problem solving, withdrawal and compliance, were heavily influenced by more general current conceptualizations of primary caregiver attachment. Additional results regarding quantitative and qualitative findings, including gender differences are discussed in the thesis. Finally, limitations regarding both studies are noted, and suggestions for future research are made.

A one-group pre-test post-test design (including 6- and 12-month follow-up), supplemented with benchmarking analyses, was employed to assess the effectiveness of Multisystemic Therapy (MST) for youth displaying antisocial behaviours in New Zealand. An additional aim of the current study was to assess for predictors and moderators of outcome. The predictor variables assessed included: Client satisfaction, therapeutic and supervisory alliance, therapist and supervisor adherence, therapist and supervisor allegiance, and therapist and supervisor accountability. Seventy-three youth and their families completed the MST program (M = 162 days) and the present study’s measures. Youth and their families experienced improvements in ultimate outcomes (offending frequency, offending seriousness, and days in out-of-home placements) and instrumental outcomes (youth positive and negative behaviour, parent well-being and psychopathology, parent ability, and family functioning) following MST treatment. With a few exceptions, these gains were largely maintained up to 12 months following treatment. Benchmarking analyses indicated that the completion rate and effect sizes were comparable with those from previous MST studies both in New Zealand and the United States. The predictor variables of service satisfaction, therapeutic alliance, and therapist adherence predicted higher levels of change in most instrumental outcomes as expected. However, of significant importance, higher supervisor adherence and supervisory alliances were associated with significantly lower therapist adherence, therapeutic alliance, and some client outcomes. Furthermore, the few significant interactions between predictor variables produced mixed findings, many of which contradicted widely held assumptions. As MST has been demonstrated to be an effective treatment for youth offenders in New Zealand, continuing dissemination and ongoing evaluation of MST in New Zealand is recommended. In particular, given the negative impact of supervision variables on therapist adherence, therapeutic alliance, and some client outcomes, this would include research aimed at assessing various quality control functions of supervision, including supervisor training, mechanisms of supervision related to therapist and client variables, and the potential value of more closely monitoring the process of supervision.

Low back pain is characterised by loss of ability to carry out everyday tasks, the disruption of life plans, and psychological distress as well as pain. This study examined the adaptation of individuals with low back pain. In a departure from established models used to study and understand illness representation and adjustment, this study used a personal projects approach to examine the relationship between individuals' appraisals of projects and their functional adaptation to low back pain in the context of their day-to-day goal-directed activities. A functional personal project system was proposed; specifically, those individuals whose project dispositions were highly concordant and socially oriented would have better function and health. For people dealing with low back pain, it was expected that these dispositions, and personal competency, would enhance adaptation. Conversely, poor adaptive abilities, such as difficulties with physical function, social function, and poorer health, would be associated condition-specific perceptions of pain and negative appraisals of project stress[.] The results showed there was a relationship between personal project dispositions and functional ability, well-being, and perceived general health of individuals with low back pain. The results did not confirm that a functional project system possessed adaptive benefits. However, the appraisal of pain as salient to the progress and success of projects and stressfulness of personal projects were predictive of limited function and poorer health. Notably, all aspects of function, both social and physical, were associated with pain-salience cognition. Furthermore, pain salience cognition was still predictive of function after traditional predictors of low back pain disability, pain severity or pain-related fear, were included in the analysis. The significance of the relationship of pain and negative appraisals of the effect of pain on performance supports functional self-efficacy and pain-related fears models used to explain disability level in individuals with low back pain. Since this personal projects analysis was an integrated assessment of individuals' dispositions in the context of participants' everyday lives, it was concluded that pain salience and stressfulness of projects outweighed any advantages offered by their other dispositions in negotiating the participant's personal projects.

Recent theoretical developments both within and outside the clinical literature have stressed the complex interactions between biological and environmental risk in relation to psychopathology development. They have also highlighted the importance of cognitive dimensions, especially those related to control perceptions, in the developmental path towards anxiety and mood disorders in children. Few studies have investigated these cognitive dimensions in relation to risk and protective factors. In light of these considerations, the present study evaluated structural models investigating the relationship of perceived control and competence to child temperamental risk, parent personal risk, family environmental risk and anxious and depressed feelings. It was hypothesised that temperamental, and psychological risk in relationship to family environment would be mediated by the cognitive dimensions of perceived control and competence. It was further hypothesised that family environment, would mediate the relationship between child temperamental risk and anxious and depressed feelings. A school sample of 293 New Zealand children aged between 8 and 11 and their parents was assessed using a cross-sectional design. Overall results indicated that in the face of temperamental and family adversity, feeling in control of emotions and social interactions and feeling socially competent afforded children protection from anxious or depressed feelings. In addition, a sensitive, accepting family environment was seen to protect a temperamentally vulnerable child from distressed feelings. In contrast, distress was more likely to occur when a temperamentally vulnerable child lived in a family characterised by parental psychological control and conflict than one characterised by less cohesion and parental rejection. Results also indicated that, in terms of cognitive features, perceptions of social competence were particularly important in protecting a child from having anxious or depressed feelings. These findings are discussed in relationship to Barlow's and other recent integrated aetiological theories of distress disorder. Findings are also considered in relation to implications for identification, intervention and prevention strategies for distressed children in both clinical and school populations. Further results, limitations and proposals for future research are also discussed.

The complex functioning of the human body produces the biological, historical and environmental contingencies of lived existence. These experiences of embodiment are chiasmic, dialectical and dialogical, and underpin the narrative dilemmas we create through the storied nature of our attempts to make sense of them. In testifying my own embodiment this autobiographical form of sensual scholarship emphasizes the subjective basis for my body’s psychology. By developing the complicating action segments of my life story told through interview data into a chronologically-ordered and textually- layered account of personally significant memories, I craft a story of my panicking body. My upbringing was influenced by discourses that reinforced parental and family affiliation at the expense of my feeling body. Unravelling my need to exercise as a contingency of this affiliation provides retrospective meaning to the distress my panicking caused. Situating my feelings, thoughts, emotions and actions within the broader constraints of my family’s history, community, religion and culture reveals the contingent nature of my embodiment. Describing the shifting contingencies of a life lived since my upbringing in the small, rural town of Inglewood, New Zealand, provides the opportunity to recognize and to re-align the dialectics of identity that help to make up my body’s psychology. Juxtaposing this narrative meaning-making are my revelations of experiential integration achieved through the flow of exercise. Understood as an extension of my body’s fundamental sensuality, this evolutionally-refined capacity for engagement underpins my lived experiencing. Together these sentient and reflexive forms of testimony confirm the inherence of my sensuality and the circumstance of self-hood, and invite you, the reader, to explore the workings of your own body. By revealing the sensual and symbolic strands of my embodiment this story of human contingency reveals something of the fleshy consciousness that we all share, not by speaking for anyone else, but by calling attention to the taken-for-granted nature of its unfolding. By arguing for a psychology more relevant to lived experiencing, my thesis questions the body of Western science and, in particular, psychology’s version of it. Articulating the felt nature of my experiencing situates my mind back in my body and, in doing so, fleshes out its psychology. While the insights shared here are personal, the relevance of the felt-body is found in the ways it becomes discoursed and narrated.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) leads the way as an evidenced based psychotherapy, and the evaluation of CBT training programs is increasingly seen as important if this position is to be maintained. In this dissertation, CBT case conceptualization, as a core psychotherapeutic competency, acquired in training, is evaluated. Case conceptualization, integrates precipitating, predisposing, maintaining, and protective factors, functioning as an explanatory and prescriptive roadmap for therapy. Gaining self-knowledge through exposure to some form of personal therapy is cited as important in gaining psychotherapeutic competency. Self-practice/ self-reflection, show promise as a form of personal therapy compatible with the principles of CBT. This study evaluates the content and quality of CBT case conceptualizations produced by a sample of 26 participants who have completed the Massey University Post Graduate Diploma, using three case conceptualization rating scales. In addition, the impact of a self-practice/self-reflection manualised training intervention designed to improve the quality of case conceptualization in trainee cognitive behaviour therapists, is explored using thematic analysis. The evaluation of the CBT conceptualizations showed predisposing factors and psychological mechanisms as receiving the most attention from participants. However, the majority of participants failed to pay attention to socio-cultural, biological, protective factors and factors pertaining to the therapeutic relationship. The majority of the participants were able to produce a 'good enough' CBT case conceptualization, however the ‘problem list’ was not well developed, and the conceptually relevant aspects of the therapeutic relationship and protective factors were given less attention. The effect of a self-practice/self-reflection training intervention on the quality of CBT case conceptualizations produced by the intervention group (n = 16) drawn from the main participant sample, was qualitatively evaluated using thematic analysis. Theoretical understanding of the model, self awareness, empathy, conceptualization of the therapeutic relationship, adaptation of clinical interventions, and clinical practice were all subjectively perceived by participants to have increased as a result of the intervention. An inferential analysis compared the performance of the intervention group (n=16) that of a comparison group (n=10), made up of the remainder of the larger sample described in the context of the first question. The comparison group had not been exposed to the manualised intervention. The comparison was both within, and between the two groups. The quality of the intervention group showed an improvement on one of the rating scales, indicating a possible link between the training intervention and case conceptualization competency, however, the improvement was not replicated by the other two rating scales. The findings are discussed in the context of improving CBT training with regard to case conceptualization.