The purpose of this research is to provide a descriptive study of selected social and psychiatric characteristics of adolescent first admissions to a private psychiatric hospital and an analysis of some of the inter-relationships among social, ecological, demographic and psychiatric variables selected for study.

The proposed study examined the role of anxiety and risk-taking in driving performance in adolescents. In addition to examining the sample as a whole, gender differences were assessed given earlier reports from our laboratory and others indicating that males and females differ with respect to risky behaviors to driving performance and anxiety. Adolescents' subjective and physiological responses to a driving simulator task were assessed. Anxiety was measured via self report and salivary cortisol. Participants provided a baseline saliva sample and 3 post-task samples for cortisol analysis. Subjective anxiety scores were obtained at both baseline and following the driving stressor. Information concerning impulsivity, as well as other psychological constructs was also collected at baseline. Unlike the pilot study, there were no relationships (with or without respect to gender) between salivary cortisol and both self-reported anxiety (state and trait) or impulsively measures for this sample. These results suggest that this group of adolescents may not have been anxious about the driving task. This discrepancy may stem from error introduced by the smaller sample size obtained from the initial findings or to other factors remaining outside the parameters of the current study. The task did, however, induce a slight hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis response indicating some physiological arousal. Males had significantly higher cortisol levels at baseline than females and at time point 3 while approaching significance at time points 2 and 4. Females possessed significantly higher trait anxiety than males and all post task cortisol levels were positively correlated to age while time points 2 and 4 (with time point 3 approaching significance, p=0.09) were inversely correlated with Self Depreciation scores. Additionally, females had Persecutory Ideas scores that were also negatively correlated with cortisol at time points 3 and 4. For both the entire sample and males only, the correlation between post-task cortisol and driving performance was positive and approached significance (p=0.07 and p=0.08, respectively), suggesting that some HPA activation may be facilitative for successful driving task performance. Correlations between driving performance and psychological constructs were explored and discussed with and without respect to gender.

The aim of this thesis is to present some possible concepts of death of individual in the stage of late adolescence. The basis of this work lies on qualitative and ethnographic research, which was made with students of VŠCHT at the age of 20-30 years. This text is devoted to images of death of these students. This thesis is composed of three main chapters: theoretical, methodological, practical. The goal of the theoretical part is to provide basic information on this subject and clarify the terms associated with death. The theoretical part deals with such issues as cultural background of death and fear of death. The methodological part is concerned with the characteristics of the research and the research sample. Among others I present here the used methods and clarify the goals of the research. Finally, in the practical chapter there are described possible concepts of death which came of the analysis of gained data. Description and analysis of these concepts are supplemented by quotations from interviews. In this part I introduce five concepts of death. Two of them I identified as a clean-cut, three of them as a transitional. Death is an area to which none of us has direct experience, therefore I consider interesting to deal with this topic. As the main contribution of this work I see the mapping...

This study focuses on the identities and self-perception of Roma adolescents in the Czech Republic and the educational implications these may have for this particular group of students. In particular it attempts to shed light on how these individuals perceive themselves, their schooling and future adult roles they expect to take on in life. Furthermore, the perceptions and involvement of Roma parents was also examined in an attempt to explore their views on education that they transmit to their children. A theoretical framework was developed based upon the ecological systems theory, theories on the identity development in adolescence, ethnic minority identity as well as the existing literature on the schooling of ethnic minority pupils. A qualitative approach followed by a multiple case study design was taken with semi-structured interviews as the research method. The empirical study was conducted with three female participants from one low-threshold facility for children and youth in Prague. Data was analysed using the phenomenological approach which regards the reality not as a given entity but as socially constructed by individuals according to their everyday experiences. The key findings of the study suggest that Roma children do not have negative identities developed, there are no negative values they...

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / Storytelling as a therapeutic intervention entails the narrating of events by externalising emotions, thoughts and responses to life-changing events such as loss and grief. This creates the opportunity for clients to engage with psychologists by projecting various beliefs and challenges, such as grief, through a range of therapeutic modalities. This study conducts an inquiry into the ways in which storytelling can be utilised by educational psychologists with adolescent clients to address behavioural challenges relating to grief. This qualitative study therefore aims to facilitate an understanding of the use and benefits of storytelling as a therapeutic intervention. This has been achieved by examining interviews with four educational psychologists who have utilised storytelling as a therapeutic intervention with adolescent clients to overcome challenges with grief. The participants (educational psychologists) discussed case studies during interviews, which provided evidence of their practical administration of storytelling as a therapeutic intervention incorporating integrated theoretical approaches through the use of blended therapeutic techniques. Behavioural challenges relating to grief were also predominant in the case study information provided by the participants. The participants further confirmed that the term ‘grief’ included different types of loss that were experienced among adolescent clients ...

D.Ed. (Psychology of Education) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

This dissertation explored the possibility of quantifying and measuring the experience of divine calling to develop and utilize a biblically based instrument, the Vectors of Calling Survey (VCS), with older Christian adolescents to discover the extent of their encounter with God's call. The measure was also used to explore the relationship between calling, identity development, and purpose in life. Divine calling was identified as a life-shaping experience for Christian adolescents, available to all believers, and applicable to all of life. The need for divine calling was juxtaposed to critical issues in post-modern adolescent development, such as ambiguity, adult abandonment, excessive choices, and superficial spirituality. The effect of calling was compared to the psychological concepts of identity, positive development, purpose, and transcendence. A conceptualization of calling was developed from a review of the biblical, historical and practical dimensions of divine calling. The study endorsed a perspective of calling as the intersection of vectors, including listening to God, discovering self, and embracing the world's needs. The development of the VCS included field testing, item analyses, revisions, and validation. The research procedures of the study were explained, including the administration of the VCS with the Ego Process Identity Questionnaire and the Purpose in Life Test to freshman students at three Christian universities. An analysis of findings provided details about the sample and the statistical results. Data from the VCS indicated a sense of divine calling was largely present in the research sample, likely to be expressed by beliefs more than behaviors, and positively associated with identity achievement and purpose in life. A surprise was the significant correlation between foreclosure and a sense of calling. Suggestions for improvements of the research design were offered. Among the conclusions derived from the study were these: (1) a strong sense of calling strengthens identity; (2) calling has broader application than pre-defined ministry roles; and (3) a sense of divine calling can be measured. Implications included the need to advocate calling and to study calling from a developmental perspective. Suggestions for further study included the effects of calling and the facilitation of personal receptiveness to calling.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Medicine in Bioethics and Health Law Johannesburg, 2015 / Generally, consensual adolescent sexual intercourse is fraught with a number of negative outcomes such as socio-economically, where unplanned pregnancies occur, and medically with the spread of sexually transmitted diseases that require treatment. The Sexual Offences and Related Matters Amendment Act 32 of 2007, hereunder referred to as the Sexual Offences Act (“SOA”), criminalised consensual sexual intercourse between adolescents aged from 12 to less than16 years. Since the inception of the SOA in 2007, there seemed to have been relatively little evaluation of the practical effect of sections 15 and 16 of the SOA on society. This changed in 2011 when two non-profit organisations, The Teddy Bear Clinic for Abused Children and RAPCAN (Resources Aimed at the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect) who were the first and second applicants respectively, challenged the constitutionality of certain sections of the SOA. These sections are: - section 15 – entitled “Acts of consensual sexual penetration with certain children (statutory rape)”; - section 16 – entitled “Acts of consensual sexual violation with certain children (statutory sexual assault); and - section 56(2) – which deals with defences in respect of sections 15 and 16. In October 2013, the Constitutional Court declared sections 15 and 16 inconsistent with the Constitution. That declaration was suspended for a period of 18 months to enable Parliament to correct the defects in the statute. It is widely known that adolescents still engage in consensual sex with each other regardless of the law. The issues invite an evaluation of the current legislation in the context of the health and social issues that surround them. In addition, the impact of the current applicable legislation on the present realism needs to be scrutinised. It is essential for alternative interventions to be established which will aid in reducing the negative impact of consensual adolescent sexual intercourse. This research report looks at interventions that could be introduced to prevent adolescent sexual intercourse and alleviate the negativity of outcomes. Furthermore, the report aims to suggest an ethical, structured approach to reduce the current negative outcomes of adolescent sexual intercourse. In order to accomplish this I first describe the legislation that applies to consensual adolescent sexual intercourse of children between the ages of 12 and 16 years old. This brought to the fore the health practitioner’s practical experiences of problems associated with this legislation. In addition, I identify and discuss some ethical problems that health practitioners are confronted with in relation to consensual adolescent intercourse, in terms of having to balance their professional legal and ethical obligations. Finally, I propose some recommendations that will inform educational organisations on the relevant information to be included in sexual and reproductive health education campaigns. Furthermore, recommendations are made to relevant national policy-making departments to make strategic decisions regarding health and social interventions for adolescent sexual and reproductive health services. / MT2016

Over the past twenty years, there seems to have been an increased interest on the topic of adolescent personality pathology among researchers and clinicians in the field of psychiatry and clinical psychology. There have been many contentious debates on the topic, the most prominent being around the possibility of diagnosing a personality disorder or variant thereof in adolescence. With this in mind, the researcher attempted to understand some of the most pertinent debates as well as investigate some of the hypotheses proposed in the arguments. The main focus of the study was on the possibility of diagnosing personality pathology in adolescence and whether or not this was being achieved in an inpatient psychiatric ward. The present study quantitatively investigated the prevalence of personality pathology as well as the extent to which health care professionals in South Africa are diagnosing various personality pathologies among adolescents admitted to an inpatient psychiatric ward. The data collected has been analysed using the statistical study of frequencies and correlations, in order to assess whether there were positive correlations between genders, Axis I disorders, a set of reported problematic or pathological behavioural symptoms and having an Axis II diagnosis. The results reveal that clinicians are cautiously diagnosing personality pathology in an inpatient adolescent psychiatric ward, with the borderline personality pathology being the most prevalent.

This study investigated friend influence on school engagement in a sample of 160 stable same-sex friendship dyads (94 female dyads and 66 male dyads) from five senior high schools and four vocational schools in a small city in central Finland. Longitudinal data were collected during the first and second years of upper secondary school, approximately one year apart, and self-reports were available from both members of each friendship dyad. The framework of the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM; Kenny, Kashy & Cook, 2006) was used to estimate friend influence on school engagement in a model that did not distinguish same-sex friends, in a direct-effects model that distinguished friends based on relative levels of school burnout, and in a multiple-group model for distinguishable friends that investigated perceptions of maternal affection as a moderator of friend influence. Results suggest that the higher burnout partner in a friendship dyad influenced a decline in the lower burnout partner's school engagement only when the lower burnout partner perceived low maternal affection. When the lower burnout partner perceived high maternal affection, there was no evidence of negative influence by a higher burnout partner. Patterns of influence did not vary as a function of sex or school track. The importance of distinguishing friends on a theoretically and statistically meaningful basis to learn who influences whom, and of investigating indirect effects models when studying friend influence is also discussed. / by Donna Marion. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.