A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Masters Of Arts (Counselling Psychology) in the Department of Psychology at the University Of Zululand, 2013 . / Background: AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is caused by HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). The HIV and AIDS epidemic is one of the largest obstacles that are destroying the lives and the livelihoods of millions of South Africans. Adolescents are the most vulnerable population at high risk of contracting HIV.Department of Health (2010) noted that in South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) is the province with the highest HIV prevalence. Aims: To explore the perceptions of adolescents living in a township about HIV/AIDS. : To explore factors contributing to adolescents’ high rate of HIV/AIDS infection. To explore the influences of these perceptions on adolescents’ sexual behavior.: To explore adolescents’ general knowledge and understanding of HIV/AIDS.Method: Data collection instrument that was employed is a questionnaire with both open-ended and closed ended questions. Random sampling was employed and 50 participants from Ongoye high school took part in this study with 44% males (n=22) and 56% females (n=28).Results: Findings of this study revealed that the majority of respondents have enough information in regard to meaning, mode of transmission and preventing methods of HIV/AIDS, however some of the participants listed unrealistic perceptions about HIV/AIDS. When comparing between both genders, females seems to have more misconceptions about HIV and AIDS than males.Conclusion: Adolescents have misconceptions about HIV and AIDS. More programmes that target adolescents should be implemented in order to address these misconceptions as well as the factors that make them vulnerable to contract HIV/AIDS. More research should also be conducted on issues related to HIV/AIDS among adolescents.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Masters in Educational Psychology in the Department of Educational Psychology & Special Needs Education at the University Of Zululand, 2017 / The aim of this study was to assess the mental health status of school going adolescents on ART. The objectives of the study being to establish the status of mental health before and after these adolescents are placed on ART. A literature study was done in order to determine the feasibility of the study and in order to strengthen the need for such information to be known. A qualitative approach was used so as to gain insight into the topic. Data was collected using face to face interviews and an interview guide was prepared to guide the discussions between the researcher and the participants. The data collected was thematically analysed and the results were presented using the research questions and the themes that emerged in answering those questions. Themes and sub-themes that emerged included compliance; fear of disclosing; normalisation of life with HIV; acceptance and support from family; fear of rejection, stigma and discrimination; institutional support; morally judged. Since participants were young when they tested mental health changes occurred once their status was disclosed to them. The adolescents have unresolved mental health issues and which become unknown to the healthcare workers due to ineffective communication. Participants were still preoccupied with the thought that they will be on ARVs for the rest of their lives. Key problems faced by the adolescents included preoccupation about the future, fear of stigma and discrimination and reject from society. There were no feelings of anger towards their caregivers once their status was disclosed to them. Only feelings of fear and confusion were raised which were quickly addressed by caregivers. Recommendations were included to address the concerns highlighted in the study and these included a need to address factors such as disclosure, stigma and discrimination as these directly and indirectly have an impact on the mental health of HIV positive adolescents and follow-up research needs to be done to document the lives of adolescents post admission in the ART programme.

Excerpt: Martsolf, Draucker, Bednarz, and Lea (2011) provide valuable qualitative information of how adolescents incorporate opinions about their troubled dating relationships, however, the study appears to arrive at the wrong conclusion due to logic errors in both developing themes from quotations and developing conclusions from themes and quotations.

Attachment is an important aspect of parent-adolescent relationships, and thus it may play a key role in predicting adolescents' behavioral outcomes and well-being. This study examined how parenting dimensions (authoritative, psychological control, and over-protecting) relate to youth outcomes (self-esteem, autonomy, and friend attachment) by way of parent-adolescent attachment, among Chinese families. The sample included 298 Chinese adolescents ages 15-18 years (M age = 16.36, SD =.678 ; 60% female). A series of structural equation models was estimated to examine the hypothesis that authoritative parenting, psychological control, and over-protecting would predict adolescent outcomes as mediated by attachment. The best fitting model included only indirect paths from the three parenting variables to the three outcome variables, by way of attachment. In this final model, authoritative parenting was positively predictive of attachment, while psychological control was a negative predictor. In turn, parent adolescent attachment was positively related to the three outcomes: autonomy, self-esteem, and friend attachment. Lastly, parenting related to the outcomes similarly for boys and girls. These findings suggest that what parents do might relate to the well-being of their adolescents by way of the quality of their relationships with their adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to design the Abstinence Motivation Scale-Sex (AMS-Sex), a scale to assess adolescent motivations for sexual abstinence using the self-determination theory (SDT) motivation continuum as a framework. Previous sexual abstinence research, SDT measurement studies, pilot study data, and expert panel feedback were used to develop the initial 77-item AMS-Sex. The sample consisted of 695 adolescents (aged 15 to 18; M age = 16.49, SD = 1.08; 50.8% male) recruited online from the across the U.S. Participants completed an online survey. The sample was randomly split into two samples. Independent samples t-tests indicated that sample 1 (N = 351; M age = 16.53, SD = 1.09; 48% male) and sample 2 (N = 344; M age = 16.46, SD = 1.07; 51% male) did not significantly differ by age, gender, parent education, annual household income, sexual behavior, or social desirability. Sample 1 data was used to assess scale reliabilities and run exploratory factor analyses (EFA) to examine the factor structure of the 77-item AMS-Sex. The 77-item AMS-Sex had good internal consistency (α = .99), as did the four subscales. As anticipated, the EFA resulted in a four-factor structure. However, these factors did not represent the anticipated SDT motivation types. Rather, the autonomous motivation items loaded on a single factor; the controlled motivation items loaded onto three factors by source or reference (i.e., parents, peers/others, and self). A second EFA was examined, constraining the model to two factors (i.e., controlled, autonomous). The 77 AMS-Sex items were reduced to a final 24-item AMS-Sex measure with six items per motivation type through a rigorous process using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with modification indices and information from CFA loadings, item means, standard deviations, skewness, correlations with social desirability, EFA loadings, and item wording and clarity. Sample 2 was then used to validate the final 24-item AMS-Sex using CFA and structural equation modeling (SEM). CFA was used to assess the four-factor, three-factor, and two-factor models. Model fit indices indicated that the four-factor and three-factor models had acceptable model fit, but the two-factor model did not. SEM was used to assess the relationships between the factors (i.e., types of motivation) and age, gender, social desirability, and sexual behavior for the four-factor, three-factor, and two-factor models. The SEM models indicated that older teens tended to be less motivated towards abstinence; girls were more motivated towards abstinence than boys; and sexual behavior was negatively correlated with all four motivation types, but more strongly with the autonomous motivations; and, in general, autonomous motivations were negative predictors of sexual behavior, while controlled motivations positively predicted sexual behavior. EFAs with the final 24 items were assessed, resulting in a three-factor solution: external, introjected, and autonomous motivations.

The National Alliance of Mental Illness’s Ending the Silence (ETS) program focuses on the epidemic of mental illness stigma among school- aged youth. The program is targeted specifically at high school- age youth, and aims to educate, dispel myths about mental illness and instill a message of hope and recovery all while encouraging students to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness. A trained presentation team containing two people, one of whom is a young adult who is living with mental illness or recovered from mental illness, delivers the program. Participants (n=142) completed assessments measuring their thoughts and attitudes towards people with mental illness, as well as a mental health facts questionnaire. Data wereas gathered from participants before the ETS presentation, after the ETS presentation, and 6 weeks later. The assessments consisted of both qualitative and quantitative data. Content analysis of the qualitative data revealed a consistent improvement in participants’ understanding and definition of mental illness. Youth reported understanding that mental illness can be a biological as well as developed illness. The majority of students (61.3%) self-reported their attitudes towards people with mental illness had become more positive after the presentation. The results of this study indicate that the Ending the Silence program is meeting its identified goals and objectives.

Although there is significant prevalence of serious emotional disturbance in adolescents, research concerning the determination of appropriate levels of care is lacking. This study examined predictors of successful treatment completion in male adolescents (n=132) who were admitted to a suburban residential treatment center during a ten year period. Data on pre-treatment client variables, family participation in treatment, and length of stay were collected on each subject. Data were collected by sequentially reviewing 132 file records of previously discharged clients. Five variables (age upon admission, family constellation, family participation, previous out-of-home placements, criminal involvement) did not predict successful treatment completion. A significant relationship was found between length of stay in residential treatment and successful treatment completion. Implications for decision-making regarding admissions to residential treatment programs and needs for future research are discussed. / Master of Science

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University

Discrimination is associated with poor health outcomes in minority groups. Minority adolescents often do not have the same access to health care providers as white adolescents. In this study, I analyzed the impact of discrimination on the frequency of depressive symptoms in African American and Caribbean black adolescents. I used data from the National Survey of American Life Adolescent supplement and multivariate regression for this study. The dependent variable in this study is the frequency of depressive symptoms. The independent variables in this study are the Everyday Discrimination scale and the psychological coping mechanism John Henryism. I analyzed the relationship between discrimination and depression and the mediating effects of John Henryism. I found that there was a positive significant relationship between self-reported discrimination and depression and that John Henryism has a small indirect effect on this relationship.

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