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Previous research has suggested that depressive disorders are common in youth and are associated with many negative outcomes. As a result, understanding how to treat depression effectively is very important. It is unclear; however, what factors predict treatment success or failure for depressed youth. Researchers are starting to investigate whether comorbid anxiety is a possible moderator of treatment outcome for youth with depression. Studies of the relation between comorbid anxiety and treatment outcome have produced mixed findings and have almost exclusively focused on older depressed adolescents. There is also limited research exploring whether parent intervention moderates the effect of comorbid anxiety on treatment outcome in depressed youth. This study focused on investigating the relation between comorbid anxiety and treatment outcome in a sample of 84 depressed female early adolescents who received either group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or group CBT plus a parent intervention. The addition of parent intervention was explored as a moderator of the relation between anxiety and treatment outcome. Treatment outcome was measured by changes in depression severity and global functioning during treatment. The depression severity and global functioning scores of depressed girls with comorbid anxiety were also compared to depressed girls without comorbid anxiety prior to treatment to determine whether the first group of girls entered treatment with a different level of psychopathology. Participants and their primary caregivers were administered a semi-structured diagnostic interview which was used as a measure of depression severity, global functioning, anxiety severity, and to determine whether participants met diagnostic criteria for depressive and anxiety diagnoses. The results of this study suggested that depressed youth with comorbid anxiety or higher anxiety severity started out treatment with higher depression severity and lower functioning. Results also suggested that comorbid anxiety was not related to negative treatment outcome and that youth with comorbid anxiety actually experienced larger reductions in depression severity over the course of treatment than youth without comorbid anxiety. Parent intervention did not significantly moderate the effect of comorbid anxiety on treatment outcome. The study’s limitations, implications of the results, and recommendations for future research were discussed. / text

This thesis challenges media claims that adolescent girls in New Zealand are becoming more aggressive and are therefore behaving like boys. Most early studies of aggression ignored girls entirely or presented them as a subset of boys. Although later studies did address issues around girls’ aggressive behaviour, these were largely focused on adults’ views of girls’ relational or social aggression. This doctoral study therefore used a small case study to explore adolescent aggression from the perspective of six adolescent girls whose behaviour had been described by their schools as aggressive. The girls’ accounts of their experiences and beliefs about gender-specific aggression were gathered via a series of individual conversational interviews, and initially analysed through the theoretical perspective of role theory and psychological perspectives on aggression. However, as the study progressed, the limitations of that approach became apparent and the girls’ transcripts were revisited via the lens of poststructural theory, using the tools of discourse analysis. The study found that these girls’ behaviours and beliefs did not fit the description of severe adolescent female aggression as described in the literature. Nor did the risk factors most commonly associated with aggression at adolescence appear to have affected them. Conversely, it would appear that their physicality influenced how they positioned themselves and how others positioned them; as “sporty girls”, “tomboys”, “loving daughters and siblings”, or as “righteous aggressors”. Their behaviours frequently challenged the dominant discourse of conventional schoolgirls. None of them thought that girls were becoming more aggressive and all stated that girls could behave how they wanted without being labelled de facto boys. This study was limited in terms of the number of participants and the range of cultures represented, therefore no generalisations can be drawn from it. Nevertheless, it does have some important implications for policy makers and practitioners: particularly that interactions of culture, class and gender impact on the way that individuals constitute themselves and others. Interpretations of behaviour are determined by the discursive context and the experiences and belief systems of both “actor” and “audience”.

Published research suggests that cultural practices and institutional structures influence adolescent girls' engagement and achievement in school. This study was an attempt to further investigate that claim by describing the perceptions of agency held by four adolescent girls in high school. Members of the same English class, the girls volunteered to participate in three lunchtime meetings to discuss Evelyn Coleman's (2001) Born In Sin. Analysis of classroom observations, transcripts of audio recordings of the book discussions, and individual interviews yielded a more precise definition of agency than those used in previous research, including a view of agency as dialogic. In addition, four major themes describe these girls' agentic moves: (1) a temporal orientation, which connects the past, present, and future; (2) responsibility for positive and negative events; (3) strategic decision making; (4) negotiating with people in power. Implications of this study inform both teaching decisions and future research related to adolescent girls.

Transition to adulthood is a complex phenomenon, yielding varying outcomes for young people in different environments. Hence, adolescent girls transitioning from institutional care are a heterogeneous group with varying transition experiences and livelihood outcomes. Studies suggest that adolescents leaving care have less desirable outcomes compared to their counterparts in familial care (Vaughn, Shook & McMillen, 2008). Therefore, adolescents in the institutional context need specialised transition programmes as they traverse to adulthood and independent living (Storm, Porter & Macaulay, 2010:307). Unfortunately, institutions fail to provide well-structured and gender-sensitive transition programmes that promote the achievement of sustainable livelihoods during and after leaving care (Powell, 2006:143). As a consequence, adolescents are vulnerable to negative social and economic outcomes beyond institutional care. iii. The goal of the study was to evaluate the effects of transition programmes on the livelihood outcomes of adolescent girls post institutional care in Highfield, Harare. This study, which is participatory action research, evaluated the transitions and livelihood outcomes of adolescent girls transitioning from two institutions in Highfield, Harare. To conceptualise the transition phenomena, sustainable livelihoods and feminist theoretical frameworks were applied. Mixed methods approaches were used and qualitative as well as quantitative data were collected, analysed and interpreted concurrently. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with thirty-two adolescent girls, two superintendents and a district social services officer. Focus group discussions were held with participants from Institutions A and B and observations made on their counterparts discharged from the same institutions. A gender assessment questionnaire was administered to superintendents to establish whether the programmes being provided were gender-sensitive. Findings from the study showed that adolescent girls in the two institutions have access to more assets (55.55%) compared to those outside with 49.2%. Hence, adolescent girls leaving institutional care lose 6.35% assets, making them poorer than their counterparts in care. Adolescent girls in the institutional context face increased gender-based constraints resulting in limited access to livelihood opportunities. Findings also indicate that adolescent girls living in resource-constrained institutions and households have more complex and harder transitions compared to those in well-resourced institutions and households. The study concluded that the transition programmes being provided are not adequately preparing adolescent girls for life beyond care and they are also not gender-sensitive. Thus, they have a negative impact on the transitions and livelihood outcomes of adolescent girls. Furthermore, stakeholders in the transition process lack financial and human resources to develop and implement gender-responsive transition policies and programmes, thereby affecting adolescent girls’ access to different kinds of livelihood assets. iv. To facilitate successful transitions, this study recommends the development of gender-sensitive transition policies, transformation of the case management system and more investments in participatory policy development, planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluation of transition programmes. Key words Adolescent girls Assets Case management system Evaluation Feminist approaches Institutional care Livelihood outcomes Poverty Sustainable Livelihoods Approach Transition programmes / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / tm2015 / Social Work and Criminology / Unrestricted

In Swaziland, cases of cervical cancer among Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-positive adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) are increasing, but there is low uptake of cervical cancer screening. This study was conducted using the systems thinking theory to explore the relationships between the uptake of cervical cancer screening among HIV-positive AGYW in Swaziland and the availability of trained health providers, cervical screening services, and the provision of referrals for cervical screening. The study also investigated any differences in uptake of cervical screening based on age group. For this quantitative cross-sectional study, secondary HIV program data that were collected routinely between January 2016 and March 2018 were accessed. Data were described with univariate analysis while relationships were tested using bivariate analysis and logistic regression. Most facilities (97%) had staff who had been trained; facilities with greater numbers of trained staff were more likely to have a higher uptake (OR: 30.3, p = 0.000). Facilities with cervical screening services were also more likely to have a higher uptake (x2 = 16.94, p = 0.000), and facilities with all the core components for screening had the highest uptake (p = 0.002). AGYW who had a positive screen were referred equally but the referral rate was low (20.45%). There was no difference in uptake by age group. The results of the study can increase knowledge of the institutional factors that contribute to the low uptake of cervical cancer screening among HIV-positive AGYW and has implications for social change by informing interventions for improving cervical cancer screening uptake in HIV-positive AGYW in similar settings, ultimately reducing the high costs, morbidity, and mortality related to cervical cancer in this population.

This qualitative study explored the experiences and insights of four alumnae from a girls’ after-school writing program and the program’s transformative impact on development of their literacy, their voice, and their confidence. The writing program, InkGirls (a pseudonym), was for girls of color ages 13 to 18 who lived in metropolitan Los Angeles. Participants attended high-density public schools located in low-income neighborhoods. Curriculum and instructional practices in such public schools have been critiqued as substandard, rote, and lacking opportunities for critical thinking and student voice (Darder, 2015). Gender bias in the classroom, and the lack of representation of women of color in instructional materials also have been legitimate concerns in U.S. public schooling (Sadker, Sadker, & Zittleman, 2009). Using a theoretical framework of critical pedagogy (Freire, 2000) and critical feminist pedagogy (Weiler, 1988), this qualitative study investigated practices of critical literacy (Christensen, 2009) in the writing program that promoted development of literacy and voice and elevated the critical consciousness and social agency of the participants. The program’s elements of critical literacy included studying relatable texts, reading from critical perspectives, writing personal narratives, and completing social action projects in public readings for a live audience. The findings from the program’s curriculum and public readings, and the perceptions of the former participants pointed to critical literacy as an effective approach to literacy instruction and development of voice and agency.

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