The majority of research in this area was conducted more than 20 years ago, which indicated a need for more current research. There was a need to learn how a parent's previous or current sport participation could impact their child's sport experience. Parents and their children completed questionnaires to determine the role of parental influence upon child sport socialization. Participants included students in the 6th, 8th, 9th, and 10th grade physical education classes at a Mid-west school and their parents. Thirty-eight children, 24 fathers, and 31 mothers were included in the sample.No significant difference was found in the sport participation rates of children whose parents participated in sports previously and children whose parents were not active sport participants in the past. A positive relationship was found between parents who had a positive overall sport experience and their child's perception of their encouragement to pursue the same sport in which parents had previously participated. / School of Physical Education

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

Adolescent depression must be evaluated in the context of precipitants, stressors and academic, social and family functioning. Depression in adolescents can interfere with normal developmental tasks that involve academic, social and family functioning. Family support is partially important in the normal development of young people. The present study investigated the impact of family support among depressed adolescents. There has been increasing emphasis on interpersonal factors in adolescents' depression that contribute to recurrence of depression. There is no single unifying social model of depression but rather various theoretical developments that emphasize interpersonal cognitions and behaviours. Depressed individuals often function poorly in relationships with family members. However, negative attitudes by family members may precipitate relapses. A survey was conducted to explore the impact of family support on depressed adolescents. A. sample of 50 depressed adolescents was randomly selected from Weskoppies Adolescent Unit in Pretoria. There were equal numbers of males and females with ages ranging from 12 to 20 years. The mean age was 15.7 years. The research instruments consisted of the Differential Loneliness Scale, Beck Depression Inventory and Family Functioning in Adolescents' Questionnaire. The main finding of the study was that the depressed adolescents showed social isolation from family members. Experts say social isolation for depressed patients is distressingly common. However, previous researchers have found that social isolation may allow a depressed person to worsen dramatically without intervention. The study did not support the hypothesis that adolescent with poor family relationship show higher levels of depression than those with good family relationship. This may suggest that family environment has a big impact on adolescent development. It has been reported that depressed children who live in families with high level of chronic conflicts are more likely to have relapses. There were no significant differences between male and female adolescents' level of depression. Factors such as social experiences and psychosocial stressors play an important role in adolescent' depression. Therefore, both male and female adolescents' level of depression depend on psychosocial and cognitive explanations. The findings in the study had several implications: As family relationship had no significant relation with adolescent depression, the findings revealed that family environment was a critical factor in adolescent development. These finding also suggest important guidelines for preventing(adolescent depression. The study also demonstrated the importance of how male and female adolescents deal with stress, as that might lead to depression. The study can also be used as a guide for therapeutic interventions with a depressed adolescent. / (M.Soc.Sc.) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2003

Throughout the history of American education there have been many procedures, methods and systems used in reporting pupil progress in school. It is important to appraise the perceptions of individuals directly involved when a change has been made or is contemplated.The purpose of the study was to identify the perceptionsof the students of the Fifth Street School, Connersville, Indiana, as well as the perceptions of the parents and teachers of the students in regard to the effectiveness of the parent-teacher conference method of reporting pupil progress in school.The review of literature revealed that the three basic methods of reporting pupil progress were written, oral, and a combination of the written and oral method. Several authorities believed that the face-to-face oral reporting method, between parent and teacher, to be an important part of the reporting of pupil progress.Interview guides were developed for the students, parents and teachers included in the study. All were interviewed separately and perceptions of the reporting systemnoted.The following major conclusions of the study were noted:1. Students learned what their individual strengths and weak nesses were during student-teacher conferences. Individual attention directed to each student by the teacher was a factor in motivating them to do their best work in school. When given a choice as to the method of individual evaluation they preferred, the majority chose the written report.2. Parents indicated satisfaction with the amount and kinds of information they received about their child from the parent-teacher conference method of reporting. The parents were equally divided as to their preference of receiving written or conference reports of pupil progress from the teachers.3. Teachers believed that the parent-teacher conference method was the best system to report pupil progress to parents. Difficulties in scheduling the conferences and the numberof conferences held with only one parent in attendance were noted. The teachers expressed a unanimous opinion in wanting to continue the teacher-parent conference method of reporting pupil progress to parents.There is no one best method to report pupil progress in school. Any school corporation desiring to change the method of reporting pupil progress should define the educational philosophy of the school system, have goals stated clearly, and provide a comprehensive training program for their teaching staff for maximum success.

The research explores the meaning and concomitant effects of the absence of the father in the development of very young children by observing three cases of single parent families where the fathers were continuously and permanently absent. A comparison group was also used. The exploration rests upon a minimum of pre-suppositions; we are not pre-supposing at the outset that a single mother household inevitably leads to pathology. Since the research investigates meaning the focus of attention is on the internal worlds of baby and mother. The research utilises the psychoanalytic theories of fatherhood of Freud, Klein, Winnicott, Wisdom, Ogden and Gaddini. Interpretation of behaviour observed draws upon psychoanalytic theories of inference and meaning, especially the models of the mind used in the clinical work of Klein, Bion and Meltzer. The method used in the research was a modification of the Tavistock Method of Infant Observationa s initiated by E Bick, the centralp sychoanalyticc onceptsu sed being those of transferencea nd countertransference. The responseosf the differentm emberso f the families to the presenceo f a male observer was a focal point of the research and illuminated the meaning of the father's absence and the father's role in early development.

Parents can effectively facilitate positive child behaviour change (Kaiser & Hancock, 2003). Their inclusion as interventionists is an essential component of autism intervention (NRC, 2001) and represents a natural step toward consistent early intervention. However, what constitutes effective delivery of parent programs and their effect outside research settings is limited. The present study explored patterns of change in parent-child communication in the childs natural language learning environment after participation in Hanens More Than Words program. Four patterns of change in the quality and quantity of parent-child talk and language were observed. Overall, parents increased talk immediately after intervention but failed to maintain the increase. Children demonstrated significant changes in gestures, receptive language and frequency of coordinated joint attention. / Special Education

Background: The purpose of the present study was to identify and evaluate possible determinants of wellbeing and psychological adjustment in parents raising children with disabilities. Two studies drawing from the same sample of participants were conducted. Method: One-hundred and forty parents raising children with disabilities participated in this investigation. Participants completed a survey consisting of basic demographic characteristics of the parent, child-disability characteristics, parent problem solving ability, access to information and resources, environmental/social supports, appraisals of threat and growth, and measures of life satisfaction and physical/mental health. The purpose of study one was to evaluate possible determinants of parent wellbeing using a contextual model. The purpose of study two was to identify factors that predict depression risk status for parents raising children with disabilities. Results: Study one used structural equation modeling to test a hypothesized contextual model of parent wellbeing. Results of study one indicated strong model fit. In addition, after controlling for the contribution of parent demographic variables, the largest contributors to parent wellbeing were parent problem solving ability, access to resources, environmental/social supports, and parent appraisals of threat. Child functional impairment was not significantly associated with parent wellbeing. Study two found that 19 percent of participants were at risk for depression. Moreover, using tests of mean differences and hierarchical logistic regression, study two found that parents at-risk for depression were significantly more likely to report physical health problems, ineffective problem solving abilities, lower family satisfaction, and more appraisals of threat compared to parents not at-risk for depression. These factors combined to predict significantly depression risk status with the at-risk group being identified with 83.3 percent accuracy. Conclusion: Implications related to the importance of resources and environmental/social supports, appraisals of threat and growth, and problem solving abilities on the overall wellbeing and emotional health of parents raising children with disabilities are discussed.

Typescript. / Bibliography: leaves [89]-98. / vii, 98 l

Asthma is the most common chronic childhood disease (National Center for Health Statistics, 2004). In Hawaii, 28,600 children (9.7%) currently have asthma (State of Hawaii Department of Health, 2004). This study was designed to expand asthma awareness among freshmen students at a private high school in Hawaii through informative training sessions integrated into the mandatory Physical Education (PE) class and supportive coaching for students with asthma. Of 430 freshmen at the high school study site, 83 had asthma. A pre/posttest quasi-experimental design was utilized to assess enhanced knowledge after the intervention. Nearly 400 part-Hawaiian male and female students, aged 13-15, participated in the asthma training intervention. The study enrolled 270 students. Fifty-six students with asthma participated in the asthma coaching session. Participants with asthma were classified by national guidelines as mild intermittent to moderately severe. All participants completed the Asthma General Knowledge Questionnaire before and after a training session presented in PowerPoint format. Scores were analyzed by paired t-tests. Only students with asthma participated in small group coaching sessions utilizing a PowerPoint presentation specifically tailored for adolescents. These participants completed the Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire before the session, then again three months after the session. Scores were analyzed using paired t­ test and descriptive statistics. Asthma training significantly increased general asthma knowledge scores (p :S 0.001). Although asthma coaching improved the frequency of controller medication for 50% of the students (n=lO), the increase was not statistically significant. Self­ management improvements and quality of life scores differences were also not statistically significant. These results may be due to the small sample size and short study duration. For an adolescent population where the rate of asthma is nearly 20%, providing asthma training to the entire group was demonstrated to be an effective means of increasing asthma awareness. Asthma education offered in a peer group setting demonstrates an innovative intervention modality that is culturally and developmentally sensitive to the adolescent population. Further study is needed over a longer time period to explore avenues to improved self-management skills and enhanced quality of life for adolescents with asthma.

A diagnosis of cancer represents a significant crisis for the child and their family. As the treatment for childhood cancer has improved dramatically over the past three decades, most children diagnosed with cancer today survive this illness. However, it is still an illness which severely disrupts the lifestyle and typical functioning of the family unit. Most treatments for cancer involve lengthy hospital stays, the endurance of painful procedures and harsh side effects. Research has confirmed that to manage and adapt to such a crisis, families must undertake measures which assist their adjustment. Variables such as level of family support, quality of parents’ marital relationship, coping of other family members, lack of other concurrent stresses and open communication within the family have been identified as influences on how well families adjust to a diagnosis of childhood cancer. Theoretical frameworks such as the Resiliency Model of Family Adjustment and Adaptation (McCubbin and McCubbin, 1993, 1996) and the Stress and Coping Model by Lazarus and Folkman (1984) have been used to explain how families and individuals adapt to crises or adverse circumstances. Developmental theories have also been posed to account for how children come to understand and learn about the concept of illness. However more descriptive information about how families and children in particular, experience and manage a diagnosis of cancer is still needed. There are still many unanswered questions surrounding how a child adapts to, understands and makes meaning from having a life-threatening illness. As a result, developing an understanding of the impact that such a serious illness has on the child and their family is crucial. A new approach to examining childhood illness such as cancer is currently underway which allows for a greater understanding of the experience of childhood cancer to be achieved. This new approach invites a phenomenological method to investigate the perspectives of those affected by childhood cancer. In the current study 9 families in which there was a diagnosis of childhood cancer were interviewed twice over a 12 month period. Using the qualitative methodology of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) a semi-structured interview was used to explicate the experience of childhood cancer from both the parent and child’s perspectives. A number of quantitative measures were also administered to gather specific information on the demographics of the sample population. The results of this study revealed a number of pertinent areas which need to be considered when treating such families. More importantly experiences were explicated which revealed vital phenomena that needs to be added to extend current theoretical frameworks. Parents identified the time of the diagnosis as the hardest part of their entire experience. Parents experienced an internal struggle when they were forced to come to the realization that they were not able to help their child get well. Families demonstrated an enormous ability to develop a new lifestyle which accommodated the needs of the sick child, as the sick child became the focus of their lives. Regarding the children, many of them accepted their diagnosis without complaint or question, and they were able to recognise and appreciate the support they received. Physical pain was definitely a component of the children’s experience however the emotional strain of loss of peer contact seemed just as severe. Changes over time were also noted as both parental and child experiences were often pertinent to the stage of treatment the child had reached. The approach used in this study allowed for rich and intimate detail about a sensitive issue to be revealed. Such an approach also allowed for the experience of childhood cancer on parents and the children to be more fully realised. Only now can a comprehensive and sensitive medical and psychosocial approach to the child and family be developed. For example, families may benefit from extra support at the time of diagnosis as this was identified as one of the most difficult periods. Parents may also require counselling support in coming to terms with their lack of ability to help their child heal. Given the ease at which children accepted their diagnosis, we need to question whether children are more receptive to adversity. Yet the emotional struggle children battled as a result of their illness also needs to be addressed.