Theory and research have indicated that well-being can be enhanced via the fulfilment of three key well-being concerns or needs, namely efficacy, integrity, and belonging. This thesis used a positive youth development framework to explore well-being concern experiences within the context of a young person’s most salient activities and goals, referred to here as identity projects (Harré, 2007). Guided by an adaptation of the identity project model (Harré, 2007), using a longitudinal design, this thesis incorporated both quantitative and qualitative methods to explore how identity projects were negotiated during adolescence; what impact well-being concerns had on commitment to projects; and how this related to subjective well-being (SWB). In the quantitative study, 162 ethnically diverse Year 12 high school students participated at time one (T1); and one year later 87 students took part at time two (T2). Participants completed an adaptation of the Personal Project Analysis tool (Little, 1983), and two independent measures of SWB. The main foci of the quantitative study were to explore the predictive value of each well-being concern to project commitment and SWB; and to investigate if commitment mediated the link between well-being concerns and SWB. For the qualitative study, narrative interviews were conducted among 16 adolescents at three time points – Years 12 and 13, and after completing high school. The main foci of the interviews were to investigate how well-being concerns were voiced within the context of specific projects; and to gain insight into how projects were negotiated during life transitions. The quantitative results showed efficacy and integrity, but not belonging, were predictors of concurrent commitment at T1 and actual commitment to T1 projects at T2. The mediating role of commitment (between the well-being concerns and SWB) was, however, not supported. Instead, each well-being concern directly predicted different aspects of SWB, and these relationships changed over time. Overall, experiences of efficacy and belonging, within identity projects, enhanced SWB in the short term, while only experiences of integrity enhanced SWB, namely life satisfaction, in the long term. The qualitative results indicated experiences of efficacy and belonging were most prevalent within leisure pursuits, while integrity was most commonly discussed within education and career projects. / Whole document restricted until 04/2012, but available by request, use the feedback form to request access.

Submitted by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2018-07-30T11:22:51Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Laurena Moreira Pires - 2018.pdf: 1173238 bytes, checksum: 42d827708cca546c478c1df98c13589f (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2018-07-30T13:54:32Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Laurena Moreira Pires - 2018.pdf: 1173238 bytes, checksum: 42d827708cca546c478c1df98c13589f (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-30T13:54:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Laurena Moreira Pires - 2018.pdf: 1173238 bytes, checksum: 42d827708cca546c478c1df98c13589f (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-07-09 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Goiás - FAPEG / Objectives: To identify and to analyze aspects related to the relational and labor insertion of adolescents attending a full-time school; and to investigate the relationship between adolescents' social vulnerability and the abusive and harmful use of psychoactive drugs. Methodology: This is a social research, with a qualitative approach of a strategic type, developed from January 2016 to December 2017. For data collection, we used the technique of focus groups guided by a predetermined script. A total of 49 adolescents aged 15 to 19 years attending a Full-time Education Center (CEPI), located in the eastern region of Goiânia- Goiás, participated in the study. Focus groups were held in the school environment. Results and discussion: The content analysis of the participants' speeches allowed the construction of four categories of analysis: "Tell us where it came from"; "With whom you walk"; "If you study, how to work?"; "Drugs: non-parallel universe". The family, the school and the group of friends were pointed out as the main groups for the relational insertion of these subjects. The adolescents presented themselves influenced by the context of economic fragility to which their families were exposed, which, in turn, motivated that they were inserted in groups of equals in that context. The meanings attributed to the world of work involved the search for family emancipation and the acquisition of consumer items. The duality faced by the adolescents resided in the impossibility of attending to the immediate desire to enter the labor market given the insertion in a full-time school, becoming an important conflict for these subjects. On the other hand, psychoactive drugs were widely present in the social context of these adolescents, permeating the meanings attributed to their relational insertions. In this sense, even if they did not use them, they felt their effects, even capable of leading them to disaffiliation. Final considerations: Finally, it was concluded that the social vulnerability of the group of participating adolescents, and of many other Brazilians, is related to the effects of poor income distribution, and this is expressed in families because of precariousness and insecurity. insertion in work, fragility of social relations permeated and subsidized by the harmful use of psychoactive substances, as well as inefficiency of social protection institutions and the State, in this case, full-time public school. / Objetivos: Identificar e analisar os aspectos relacionados à inserção relacional e laboral de adolescentes frequentadores de uma escola de tempo integral; e investigar a relação entre vulnerabilidade social de adolescentes ao e o uso abusivo e prejudicial de drogas psicoativas. Metodologia: Trata-se de uma pesquisa social, de abordagem qualitativa de tipo estratégica, desenvolvida no período de janeiro de 2016 a dezembro de 2017. Para coleta de dados, utilizou-se a técnica de grupos focais orientados por um roteiro predeterminado. Participaram do estudo 49 adolescentes de 15 a 19 anos frequentadores de um Centro de Ensino em Período Integral (CEPI), localizado na região Leste de Goiânia-Goiás. Os grupos focais foram realizados no próprio ambiente escolar. Resultados e discussão: A análise de conteúdo dasfalas dos participantes possibilitou a construção de quatro categorias de análise: "Diga de onde veio"; "Com quem tu andas"; "Se estudar, como trabalhar?"; "Drogas: universo não paralelo". A família, a escola e o grupo de amigos foram apontados como os principais agrupamentos para a inserção relacional desses sujeitos. Os adolescentes apresentaram-se influenciados pelo contexto de fragilidade econômica a que suas famílias estavam expostas, o que, por sua vez, motivou que se inserissem em grupos de iguais naquele contexto. Os significados atribuídos ao mundo do trabalho envolveram a busca pela emancipação familiar e a aquisição de bens de consumo. A dualidade enfrentada pelos adolescentes residiu na impossibilidade de atenderem à vontade imediata de ingressarem no mercado de trabalho dada a inserção em uma escola de período integral, tornando-se um importante conflito para esses sujeitos. Por outro lado, as drogas psicoativas mostraram-se amplamente presentes no contexto social desses adolescentes, permeando os significados atribuídos às suas inserções relacionais. Nesse sentido, ainda que não as utilizassem, sentiam seus efeitos, capazes, inclusive, de conduzi-los à desfiliação. Considerações finais: Assim, a partir dos discursos apreendeu-se que a vulnerabilidade social do grupo de adolescentes participantes, e de muitos outros brasileiros, está relacionada aos efeitos da má distribuição de renda e isso se expressa nas famílias por precariedade e insegurança para inserção no trabalho, fragilidade de relações sociais permeadas e subsidiadas pelo uso nocivo de substâncias psicoativas, bem como ineficiência das instituições de proteção social e do Estado, neste caso, a escola pública em período integral.

<div>Adversity stemming from socioeconomic risks poses a considerable threat to the wellbeing of parents and youth. Research has shown that children’s exposure to cumulative(consisting of multiple co-occurring risks), chronic(experienced across more than one timepoint), and early(experienced during the birth-to-three-year period) socioeconomic adversity is particularly detrimental to their development. The first aim of this dissertation was therefore to create a measure of socioeconomic adversity that incorporates multiple risk indicators, and that could be used to tap into both the chronicity and timing of exposure. Using this measure, the problem that this dissertation aimed to address is the conflicting evidence that effective parenting is crucial in facilitating positive outcomes in at-risk youth, but that parenting itself is severely compromised in families experiencing socioeconomic adversity. Therefore, the overarching goal of this dissertation was to identify protective factors that can be leveraged to promote positive cascades for parents and youth in the context of socioeconomic adversity. Paper 1 analyzed whether social capital facilitates parental resilience, or the capacity of parents to deliver competent and high-quality parenting to children despite the presence of socioeconomic risks. Paper 2 assessed whether positive parenting in turn facilitates adolescent resilience and well being, or the reduction of maladaptive outcomes and presence of flourishing outcomes despite their exposure to this adversity. Given differences in the experiences of socioeconomic adversity as well as its effects on parents and youth across race-ethnicities, a major goal of this work was to test dissertation aims separately within Black, Hispanic, and White families. Overall, Paper 1 findings suggest that social participation and perceived neighborhood control may attenuate the effects of socioeconomic adversity on positive parenting for Black and White mothers respectively. For Hispanic mothers, social cohesion was found to be a promotive factor for positive parenting in the context of socioeconomic adversity. Paper 2 results indicate that socioeconomic adversity is indirectly associated with higher levels of adolescent substance use in Black youth, and lower levels of adolescent wellbeing in White youth, through lowered self-regulation in middle childhood. However, higher levels of positive parenting in early and middle childhood seemed to weaken these negative effects within non-Hispanic families. These results reinforce the need to enhance social and neighborhood capital for parents facing socioeconomic adversity, in order to facilitate positive parenting behaviors that may in turn protect youth from its negative effects.<br></div>

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Frequent absences resulting from a chronic illness can disrupt adolescent school involvement, impacting academic achievement and psychosocial development as a result. This study explores whether certified child life specialists (CCLSs) could be a resource for parents as they address their adolescents' academic disruptions. Specifically, this study assesses an online training program designed to increase CCLSs' knowledge and self-efficacy as related to adolescents' academic adjustment following frequent absences. This knowledge and skill based training was designed as a three part module with sections including: academic considerations, psychosocial considerations, and availability of school resources in promoting successful adolescent academic adjustment. 62 CCLSs were recruited to participate and complete measures evaluating knowledge, in relation to content included in each module, and self-efficacy, involving communication with parents in regards to adolescent academic adjustment. T-tests were conducted to determine whether there were differences in reports of self-efficacy and knowledge following participation in the intervention between and within the treatment and control groups. Results indicate statistical significance for enhanced knowledge and self-efficacy for the treatment group at post-test. Therefore, the outcomes from this study support the effectiveness of brief online training in fostering knowledge and feelings of efficacy for CCLSs in a context not typically included in child life education or certification. As a result, findings from this study may be used to expand intervention programs in the clinical setting to provide more comprehensive psychosocial care to adolescents diagnosed with a chronic illness.

Adolescence is a critical stage of human development, one that can be especially challenging for teens that are navigating certain vulnerabilities in their identity formation. With the World Health Organization stating that 14% of 10–19 year-olds experience mental health conditions, educational environments are increasingly needed to address mental concerns in their curriculums. This qualitative research project used a combination of art based inquiry and narrative analysis to answer the following question, “How can educational environments promote resilience and positive youth development during adolescent identity exploration?” Findings illuminated several emergent themes that culminated in the following four recommendations for educational environments; 1) Integrate opportunities for creative self-expression in general education spaces, 2) Professional development for educators to integrate Social Emotional Learning (SEL), 3) Create opportunities for social interactions between students and educators, 4) Create and support opportunities for social interactions between students, and 5) Ensure educational spaces include mental health support for students.

<p dir="ltr">Childhood depressive symptoms are transmitted through genetic and environmental pathways influenced by various factors, including prenatal distress, diurnal cortisol functioning (e.g., diurnal cortisol slope and variability), and negative affectivity. Further, the development of negative affectivity, diurnal cortisol functioning, and depressive symptoms are buffered by higher parental warmth. Using cohort I of the Early Growth and Development Study (N = 361), a US-based sample of children adopted into non-related families at birth, I tested 4 hypotheses. (1) Heritable risk for psychopathology and prenatal maternal distress would separately predict depressive symptoms at child age 8. (2) Diurnal cortisol variability at age 6 will moderate the relationship between diurnal cortisol slope at age 6 on depressive symptoms at age 8. (3) Negative affectivity at age 6 would mediate the relationship between heritable risk for psychopathology, heritable risk for negative affectivity and prenatal maternal distress on depressive symptoms at age 8. (4) Parental warmth at child age 27 months through age 4.5 years would buffer the risk heritable and prenatal factors have on the development of diurnal cortisol variability and negative affectivity at age 6. And, parental warmth at child age 7 will buffer the development of depressive symptoms at age 8. Because depressive symptoms at child age 8 were zero-inflated, I used a negative binomial hurdle model to predict any depressive symptoms as well as severity of depressive symptoms if any were endorsed. The results of the study did not support the specific hypotheses of the current study. However, higher parental warmth (<i>B</i> = -.012, <i>SE</i> = .005, <i>p</i> = .030) predicted fewer depressive symptoms among children who endorsed any depressive symptoms.</p>

This study centered on adolescent self-mutilation as well as possible forms of support and prevention. The information was gathered by assessing the needs of the adolescent girls who self-mutilate by means of semi-structured interviews. In these interviews the adolescent girls expressed their experiences of self-mutilation and their emotional needs. The aim of the study was to explore and describe the needs of adolescent girls who self-mutilate in order to develop guidelines of support so that parents may feel less helpless and overwhelmed. The findings of the study indicated that there are various reasons why an adolescent would engage in selfmutilation, that it serves a function in the adolescents’ lives and surfaces at times of emotional crisis. This study found further that a lack of problem-solving skills, coping abilities and social skills could play a role in whether an adolescent chooses to self-mutilate. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play therapy)

Cette thèse avait pour objectif d’examiner les liens longitudinaux entre le timing pubertaire et les problèmes de comportement intériorisés et extériorisés à l’adolescence, soit les problèmes de conduite et les symptômes dépressifs. Guidé par la perspective théorique biosociale et le modèle de vulnérabilité-stress, le rôle modérateur de l’environnement social et des vulnérabilités personnelles préexistantes était également évalué. Les hypothèses initiales étaient qu’un timing pubertaire précoce ou déviant de la norme (précoce et tardif) serait associé à des niveaux plus élevés de problèmes de conduite et de symptômes dépressifs, mais que ce lien serait accentué dans des contextes sociaux et interpersonnels plus à risque et en présence de vulnérabilités individuelles chez les adolescents. Pour vérifier ces hypothèses, des données provenant de l’Enquête Longitudinale Nationale sur les Enfants et les Jeunes (ELNEJ) ont été analysées. Gérée par Statistique Canada, l’ELNEJ est une enquête prospective biennale comportant différents échantillons représentatifs d’enfants et d’adolescents canadiens. Les mesures utilisées dans cette thèse ont été collectées à différents cycles de l’enquête, soit à 10–11 ans, 12–13 ans, 14–15 ans et 16–17 ans, directement auprès des adolescents et de leurs parents par le biais de questionnaires et d’entrevues. Le premier article de la thèse a vérifié si l’interaction entre le timing pubertaire et des caractéristiques du contexte social des pairs (c.-à-d. l’affiliation avec des pairs déviants et l’implication amoureuse en début d’adolescence) prédisait la présentation de problèmes de conduite avec et sans agressivité physique à l’adolescence. Les résultats ont montré que le contexte social des pairs modérait l’association entre le timing pubertaire et les problèmes de conduite. Une interaction significative entre le timing pubertaire et l’affiliation à des pairs déviants a indiqué qu’une puberté plus précoce était associée à des fréquences plus élevées de problèmes de conduite agressive seulement chez les filles et les garçons qui fréquentaient des pairs déviants. Autrement dit, parmi les adolescents s’affiliant à des pairs déviants en début d’adolescence, les adolescents pubères précoces tendaient à présenter plus de problèmes de conduite agressive deux ans plus tard, en comparaison à leurs pairs pubères dans les temps moyens ou tardifs. Une seconde interaction significative obtenue chez les filles a montré que la puberté plus précoce était prédictrice des problèmes de conduite non-agressive seulement en présence d’un engagement amoureux en début d’adolescence. En effet, dans un contexte d’implication amoureuse, les filles pubères précoces présentaient plus de problèmes de conduite non-agressive que leurs pairs. Le deuxième article de la thèse avait pour objectif d’évaluer le rôle modérateur des vulnérabilités individuelles à la dépression (présence de symptômes intériorisés à la fin de l’enfance), du contexte social des pairs (affiliation à des pairs déviants, expérience amoureuse précoce et perception de popularité auprès des pairs) et des relations parent-adolescent (perception de rejet de la part des parents) dans l’association longitudinale entre le timing pubertaire et les symptômes dépressifs en fin d’adolescence. Chez les filles, une interaction triple a révélé que la puberté plus précoce était liée à davantage de symptômes dépressifs, mais seulement chez celles qui présentaient des symptômes intériorisés à la fin de l’enfance et une implication amoureuse précoce. Chez les garçons, un effet curvilinéaire du timing pubertaire a été observé alors que la puberté précoce et tardive était associée à plus de symptômes dépressifs, mais seulement chez les garçons qui manifestaient des symptômes intériorisés à la fin de l’enfance. La puberté plus précoce était aussi liée à des niveaux plus élevés de symptômes dépressifs en présence d’affiliation à des pairs déviants (garçons) et de perceptions plus importantes de rejet parental (filles et garçons). En somme, la mise en évidence d’interactions significatives entre le timing pubertaire, les caractéristiques de l’environnement social et les vulnérabilités individuelles suscite différentes réflexions au plan théorique et pratique. Tout d’abord, les résultats suggèrent que le timing pubertaire en lui-même ne paraît pas représenter un facteur de risque généralisé des problèmes de comportement intériorisés et extériorisés à l’adolescence. Plus particulièrement, ces résultats soulignent l’importance de considérer l’environnement social et les facteurs de risque individuels préexistants afin de mieux comprendre l’effet de la transition pubertaire sur l’adaptation psychosociale des adolescents. / The objective of this dissertation was to evaluate the longitudinal links between pubertal timing and internalizing and externalizing problems during adolescence. Within a theoretical framework of biosocial interactions and the vulnerability-stress model, the moderating effect of social environments and preexisting individual vulnerabilities was examined. Two empirical studies investigated the links between pubertal timing and conduct problems and between pubertal timing and depressive symptoms. It was expected that early or off-time puberty would be associated with conduct problems and depressive symptoms, but that this link would be intensified in risky social and interpersonal contexts and if paired with prepubertal individual vulnerabilities. These hypotheses were tested using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), a representative biennial survey of Canadian children and adolescents managed by Statistics Canada. Measures analyzed in this dissertation were collected at 10–11 years old, 12–13 years old, 14–15 years old and 16–17 years old through questionnaires and interviews with adolescents and their parents. The goal of the first empirical article of this dissertation was to evaluate whether the interactions between pubertal timing and characteristics of peer context, namely deviant peer affiliation and romantic experience in early adolescence, predicted physically aggressive and non-physically aggressive conduct problems two years later. A significant interaction between pubertal timing and deviant peer affiliation was found, suggesting that early puberty was associated with higher frequencies of physically aggressive conduct problems only in the context of deviant peer affiliation. Therefore, among adolescents who affiliated with deviant peers in early adolescence, early maturing adolescents were more prone to report higher frequencies of physically aggressive conduct problems than on-time or late maturers. A significant interaction also emerged for girls’ non-physically aggressive conduct problems, as early pubertal timing was associated with non-physically aggressive conduct problems only in the context of romantic experience. Indeed, when adolescent girls reported romantic experience, early maturers showed more non-physically aggressive conduct problems than their peers. The second article of this dissertation investigated the moderating role of individual vulnerabilities to depression (emotional problems in late childhood), peer factors (deviant peer affiliation, early romantic dating and perceived peer popularity) and parental factors (perceived parental rejection) in the association between pubertal timing and depressive symptoms in adolescence. For adolescent girls, early puberty was associated with more depressive symptoms only in girls who combined emotional problems in late childhood and early dating experience. For adolescent boys, early and late pubertal timing was related to depressive symptoms, but only in those who had previously experienced emotional problems in late childhood. Early pubertal timing was also linked to depressive symptoms in the context of deviant peer affiliation (boys) and in the presence of higher levels of perceived parental rejection (boys and girls). In sum, the significant interactions found between pubertal timing, characteristics of social context, and individual vulnerabilities bring theoretical and practical considerations. Firstly, these results suggested that pubertal timing is not a risk factor per se of internalizing and externalizing problems in adolescence. These findings underscored the importance of taking into account the social environments and individual risk factors prior to puberty in order to better understand the impact of pubertal transition on adolescents’ psychosocial adjustment.

Much research has been dedicated to the difficulties LGBTQ individuals face. Further, school counselors have been challenged to assist LGBTQ individuals in the school setting. Being aware of the specific issues and being educated about specific ways to assist these individuals enable school counselors to be more effective clinicians (DePaul, Walsh, & Dam, 2009). This article will address three components of counselor preparation and affirmative school counseling interventions: counselor self-awareness, LGBTQ sexual identity development, and LGBTQ-affirmative school climate. For each component, an activity is presented to assist professional school counselors become more LGBTQ-affirmative.