This thesis is concerned with the experiences of an under-researched group of long-term unemployed young adults aged 18 – 24 years old. The research was undertaken in the South West of England between July 2010 and January 2013; a period of economic uncertainty and social instability in the UK. The initial sample comprised nineteen young adults, chosen to represent the diversity of those who were unemployed at that time. The longitudinal approach allowed for an exploration of their changing attitudes and self-understandings over a two year period. Whilst the interviewees shared much in common with their younger counterparts whose experiences have been the focus of previous research, there were also some significant differences. Not only did their priorities differ as they approached their mid-twenties, but they also held the capacity to project themselves further into the future; contemplating what life might be like in five years’ time. The findings revealed a tension between culturally embedded ideas that continue to support the primacy of paid work, and the ways in which some of the young adults were able to (re)define their lives. The importance of experiences outside of paid employment emerged as significant, suggesting the need for a broader understanding of what constitutes ‘work’. Whilst some of the young adults seemed to have adopted late-modern perspectives, engaged in a form of reflexive life management, others appeared to be struggling to reconcile the opportunities available with their expectations. In part, some of the differences between the participants were linked to gendered subjectivities; with the young men finding it more challenging to make sense of their lives beyond the world of paid work. However, the young adults’ experiences could not be divided by gender alone, nor could gender be disembedded from the broader context of their lives: their family backgrounds; their historical contexts; their educations; the discourses that influence their lives; their location. These structural factors were continuously at play in the lives of the participants, but did not preclude the possibility of them exercising their agentic abilities. When considering the findings as a whole it was the young adults’ ability to experience a sense of agency, combined with a feeling of belonging, which emerged as significant.

abstract: The present study examined whether a history of childhood sexual abuse would be related to attachment to mother, to father, and to friends, mattering to parents and to friends, and coping behaviors. In addition, whether use of force, duration of abuse, and severity of abuse were related to perceived negative impact of childhood sexual abuse was examined. Gender differences among survivors were also investigated. Specifically, from the initial sample of 258 young adults, 186 who met the age requirement were included in the tests of the hypotheses. All participants were between the ages of 18 and 25. Compared to those with no history of childhood sexual abuse (n = 109), survivors (n = 77) reported lower attachment to father and less mattering to parents. There were no differences in attachment and mattering to friends or in emotion-focused and problem-focused coping. When gender differences were examined among survivors, females reported greater use of problem-focused coping and perceiving their childhood sexual abuse experiences as more negative than did the male survivors. There were no differences among male and female survivors of childhood sexual abuse on emotion-focused coping. Force and severity, but not duration, were linked to more negative perceptions of the childhood sexual abuse. Attachment to mother emerged as a key variable in that attachment to mother was positively related to attachment to friends, mattering to friends, and the use of problem-focused coping. Stronger attachment to mother and attachment to father, but not a history of childhood sexual abuse, were related to more perceived mattering to parents. These results highlight the importance of attachment to caregivers in developing peer attachment and a sense of mattering to friends, problem-focused coping skills, and perceiving childhood sexual abuse as having a less negative impact on their lives. Clinical and research implications and suggestions for future directions are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Counseling Psychology 2011

Using pooled European Social Survey data (Rounds 4-7, 2008-2014), we investigate the relationship between intergenerational educational mobility and subjective wellbeing (SWB) for young Europeans (N = 16,050 individuals aged 25-34 from 18 countries). Previous research has been struggling with inconclusive results due to the methodological challenge of disentangling the independent (i.e., "net") effect of social mobility over and above the effects of social origin and destination. We contribute to this line of research by contrasting mobility effects estimated in a conventional linear regression framework with net mobility effects estimated by (non-linear) diagonal mobility models (DMM). We show how model selection influences estimates of mobility effects and how different specifications lead to radically different findings. Using DMM, we estimate how intergenerational educational mobility affects the SWB of young Europeans, differentiating between downward and upward mobility and different country groups. Our results suggest that status loss/gain across generations affects young adults' SWB in addition to the level-effect of ending up in a lower/ higher status position only in Continental Europe.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-13T12:10:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2015-02-23. Added 1 bitstream(s) on 2015-07-13T12:25:18Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000834409.pdf: 947368 bytes, checksum: 4674345e2e570c95ece13034b4c231c9 (MD5) / As mudanças que o jovem enfrenta na adolescência são diversas, tanto físicas, quanto psicológicas, e influenciam diretamente as escolhas que este deve realizar por conta de sua inserção cada vez maior na sociedade. A responsabilidade e a pressão para que tome decisões, em grande parte impostas pelo meio, serão fatores que marcarão a constituição de sua identidade. Assim, o jovem cria e adapta seu projeto de vida conforme seus valores e reações ao se deparar com influências internas - mudanças corporais, os lutos enfrentados, etc. - e externas - família, amigos, mídia, escola, entre outros. A presente pesquisa, com base em seu objetivo principal de investigar a relação entre projeto de vida, valores e influências internas e externas de alunos de um curso técnico estadual, tem caráter quanti-qualitativo, descritivo e exploratório. Em relação aos procedimentos metodológicos, classifica-se como bibliográfica e de estudo de caso. Deste modo, foi realizada pesquisa exploratória envolvendo levantamento documental de fontes estatísticas e dados de pesquisas brasileiras e americanas sobre o perfil do jovem, seus projetos de vida e as influências culturais que o permeiam, e levantamento bibliográfico para constituição do referencial teórico. Já o estudo de caso executado ocorreu junto a 12 jovens adolescentes - todos com 18 anos ou mais - de uma turma do Curso Técnico em Administração Integrado ao Ensino Médio de uma instituição estadual paranaense, mediante realização de entrevista semiestruturada (Protocolo de Stanford) baseada no questionário do psicólogo do desenvolvimento humano William Damon, aplicação do instrumento elaborado por Gouveia conhecido por Questionário dos Valores Básicos (QVB), e o Questionário para caracterização pessoal e econômica dos participantes (Critério Brasil). Os resultados apontaram que a família é um dos aspectos de maior destaque na vida dos estudantes e que... / The changes that the young faces in adolescence are diverse, both physical and psychological, and directly influence the choices they must make because of their increasing integration into society. The responsibility and pressure to make decisions, largely imposed by the environment, will be factors that will mark the formation of their identity. Thus, the young create and adapt their life project according to their values and reactions when face internal influences - body changes, the faced mourning, etc. - and external ones - family, friends, media, school, among others. This research, based on their main objective of investigating the relationship between life project, values and internal and external influences of students from a state technical course, has quantitative and qualitative, descriptive and exploratory feature. It ranks as bibliographic and case study regarding the methodological procedures. Thereby, it carried out exploratory research involving documentary survey of statistical sources and data from Brazilian and American research about the young's profile, their purpose and the cultural influences that permeate them, and literature survey for the theoretical constitution. The executed case study in turn occurred with 12 young teenagers - aged 18 years old or more - in an Integrated to High School Administration Technical Course class of a Paraná state institution by a semi-structured interview (Stanford Protocol) based on the questionnaire of the human development psychologist William Damon, application of the instrument developed by Gouveia known as Basic Value Survey (BVS), and the questionnaire for personal and economic characterization of the participants (Critério Brasil). The results showed that the family is one of the most outstanding aspects in the students' life and that most influence them; the values they consider the most important to themselves - success, social support, religious, obedience...

This thesis explores the question: How are the spiritual lives of evangelical Christian FIU graduates affected during the two to four years following their college graduation? In twenty mini-case studies participants describe their patterns in prayer life, devotion, community service outreach, and ways that they understand their own growth process as evangelical Christian emerging adults. A total of twenty FIU alumni from the classes of 2009-2012 between the ages of 23 and 34 were interviewed in this study. The sample population of evangelical Christian FIU alumni was identified by the graduates’ previous membership in on-campus Christian organizations, including Campus Bible Fellowship, InterVarsity, Cru, and the Wesley Organization. Emerging adults in this study saw changes in their community life, prayer life, Scripture reading, and their views of theology, yet overall they maintained a strong commitment to their evangelical Christian worldviews. Findings suggest types of support that evangelical Christians in this sample seek during emerging adulthood.

abstract: Intervertebral Disc Degeneration (IVDD) is a complex phenomenon characterizing the desiccation and structural compromise of the primary joint in the human spine. The intervertebral disc (IVD) serves to connect vertebral bodies, cushion shock, and allow for flexion and extension of the vertebral column. Often presenting in the 4th or 5th decades of life as low back pain, this disease was originally believed to be the result of natural “wear and tear” coupled with repetitive mechanical insult, and as such most studies focus on patients between 40 and 50 years of age. Research over the past two decades, however, has demonstrated that environmental factors have only a modest effect on disc degeneration, with genetic influences playing a much more substantial role. Extensive research has focused on this process, though definitive risk factors and a clear pathophysiology have proven elusive. The aim of this study was to assemble a cohort of patients exhibiting definitive signs of degeneration who were well below the average age of presentation, with minimal or no exposure to suspected environmental risk factors and to conduct a targeted genome analysis in an attempt to elucidate a common genetic component. Through whole genome sequencing and analysis, the results corroborated findings in a previous study, as well as demonstrated a potential connection and influence between mutations found in IVD structural or functional genes, and the provocation of IVDD. Though the sample size was limited in scale and age, these findings suggest that further IVDD research into the association of variants in collagen, aggrecan and the insulin-like growth factor receptor genes of young patients with an early presentation of disc degeneration and minimal exposure to suspected risk factors is merited. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Biology 2016

abstract: The current study examined effects of representations of relationships with parents on young adults’ representations of romantic relationships and self-esteem, with particular attention paid to the role of fathers, instability of representations, and bidirectional effects. Data were obtained from two waves (Waves 4 and 5) of a five-wave study. At wave 4, 287 young adults (mean age = 20) participated, and at Wave 5, 276 young adults (mean age = 22) participated. One-time interviews (Behavioral Systems Questionnaires; BSQ) were conducted to measure the level of representations of relationships with parents. Nightly diary checklists (7 nights at Wave 4, and 5 nights at Wave 5) were used to measure the level and instability of representations of romantic relationships (BSQ) and self-esteem (Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale). Two styles of representations, including secure versus dismissing (e.g., relying on parents or romantic partners when distressed versus not relying on them) and preoccupied (e.g., worrying about rejection and excessive dependency) were measured for relationships with parents and romantic partners. The results showed evidence for unique roles of fathers, instability of representations, and bidirectional effects. Relationships with fathers affected young adults’ self-esteem. More nightly fluctuations in security with romantic partners predicted higher levels of security with romantic partners, but only in the context of more secure relationships. More nightly fluctuations in self-esteem predicted more dismissive representations of fathers. Bidirectional effects involved young adults’ representations of both romantic relationships and self-esteem, and their representations of relationships with parents. The relation between instability of representations of romantic relationships and later security in romantic relationships might represent learning about romantic relationships. The relation between instability of self-esteem and later dismissive styles with fathers (e.g., not relying on fathers when distressed) at this age might be an indication of learning to become autonomous from fathers. Finally, I also hypothesize that during emerging adulthood, fathers tend to encourage children to solve their stress or problems by themselves, while mothers tend to still provide help when children are distressed. These suggested hypotheses should be examined in future research. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Psychology 2016

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:24:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-10-20Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:51:11Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 almeida_ln_me_bauru.pdf: 2490746 bytes, checksum: b970edc76b1f51b396cc2f131dda9451 (MD5) / Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) / Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo avaliar em que medida revistas comunitário-alternativas feitas por jovens da capital paulista podem contribuir para a ressignificação das auto-identidades desses personagens. O gênero comunitário-alternativo foi cunhado nessa dissertação, tendo em vista iniciativas de comunicação feitas por jovens moradores de periferias que buscam, por meio delas, elevar sua auto-estima. Tratar de representações sociais configura-se como relevante diante da globalização, que é responsável pela desestruturação de identidades de indivíduos em todo o mundo. Nesse sentido, jovens comunicadores têm se articulado em comunidades, imbuídos por ideologias, em busca de seus direitos de cidadania e reconhecimento social. A pesquisa também se configura como relevante porque esses atores sociais estão inseridos no contexto da América Latina, da hibridação cultural de Canclini. Assim, pontua-se como essencial avaliar o estado de empoderamento das mídias produzidas por esses jovens, para que eles possam avançar no jogo da convivência entre elementos da cultura dominante e da subordinada. Serão avaliadas à luz da análise de conteúdo de Bardin três revistas: Menisquência, Zong e Viração / This research aims to measure how community-alternative magazines made by youngers from São Paulo city can contribute to rework the way that they see themselves. The community-alternative gender was created in this essay and it's related to communication iniciatives made by poor youngers that want to elevate their self steem. To study about social representation is important in this globalization context, which is characterized by the people identities disruption around the world. Therefore, communicators youngers has been articuling themselves in communities, with their ideologies, claiming their citizenship laws and social recognition. The research is relevant too because this social social actors live in Latin America, in Canclini's cultural hybridization context. So, it's important to examine these vehicles empowerment state produced by youngers, because, by this way, they'll be able to advance in the living together game between dominant culture elements and subordinated ones. We'll use content analysis from Bardin to examine three magazines: Menisquência, Zong and Viração

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-07T15:08:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ArquivoTotal.pdf: 1606870 bytes, checksum: 0b82e5430ab57e2b1d0eaea56a82218d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-03-20 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This thesis focused on his main interest in the issue of identity, or more precisely the redefinition of identities brought about by a formal educational experience - in this case PROEJA - directed at people in the countryside and historically excluded or hard to participate in a formal schooling in later levels, like high school. Our objective was to analyze whether the course Agricultural Technical High School in the sport and Young Adults (PROEJA) for vocational training of young field, and is treating the specific problems of these young people to consolidate the strengthening of their identities. The hypotheses and questions of the study emerged as the study was being developed. We study how the processes related to identity pathways and changes related mainly to young people and adults who participate in PROEJA based primarily on understandings of identity formulated Giddens, Bauman and Hall, their paths of life and their personal relationships and society due to its cultural and social condition, suffer different types of discrimination and lack of recognition (Honneth) arising from denials of their individual and social rights. We take the interview as a methodology since the description of the lives of young and adult learners, through their narratives, biographical method, facilitated study the probable influences of PROEJA redefinitions of the identities of its youth and adults. Through discussions, the trajectories of their lives was the possibility of educating the PROEJA think about your life, acknowledge it was / is being his journey in the course of life and particularly in PROEJA and reflect on the tasks of this vocational training course in the changes processed during walking and thereby redefining their identities and their conditions and relations. The PROEJA, so it was an opportunity for youth and adults to rebuild their identity, negotiating meanings and seeking alternatives to coping and social recognition. KEY WORDS: identity, recognition, and young adults, peasants. / Esta tese focou seu principal interesse na questão da identidade, ou mais precisamente na redefinição de identidades propiciada por uma experiência educativa formal no caso o PROEJA - direcionada a pessoas habitantes do campo e historicamente excluídas ou com dificuldades de participarem de um processo formal de escolarização em níveis mais avançados, a exemplo do ensino médio. Nosso objetivo foi analisar se o curso Técnico de Nível Médio Agrícola na modalidade Jovens e Adultos (PROEJA) destinado a formação profissional de jovens do campo, está tratando a especificidade e problemática desses jovens no sentido de consolidar o fortalecimento das suas identidades. As hipóteses e as questões do estudo emergiram à medida que a pesquisa foi sendo desenvolvida. Estudamos como os processos relacionados aos percursos identitários e as mudanças relacionadas principalmente aos jovens e adultos que participam do PROEJA baseando-se, fundamentalmente nas compreensões de identidade formuladas por Giddens, Bauman e Hall, os seus percursos de vidas e suas relações pessoais e com a sociedade, devido a sua condição cultural e social, sofre diferentes discriminações e falta de reconhecimentos (Honneth) advindas de negações de seus direitos individuais e sociais. Adotamos como abordagem metodológica a pesquisa qualitativa,como método o biográfico e como instrumento a entrevista,uma vez que a descricão das vidas dos jovens e adultos educandos, através das suas narrativas facilitou estudar as provaveis influências do PROEJA nas redefinicões das identidades dos seus jovens e adultos. Nas discussões, das suas trajetórias de vida houve a possibilidade do educando do PROEJA pensar sobre sua vida, reconhecer como foi/esta sendo o seu percurso no curso de vida e particularmente no PROEJA e refletir sobre as atribuições deste curso de formação profissional nas mudanças processadas durante a caminhada e consequentemente redefinindo as suas identidades e suas condições e relações. O PROEJA, portanto, foi a oportunidade de jovens e adultos reconstruírem sua identidade, negociando sentidos e buscando alternativas para o enfretamento social e o reconhecimento.

abstract: This study explores the ways in which LGBTQ young adults describe the aspects of their identities, and how those identities shape their service needs and experiences. A participatory action research component was explored as a research and service approach that is sensitive to LGBTQ young people living at the intersections of multiple identities. Although it is understood that LGBTQ young people come from a variety of backgrounds, research is limited in its understanding and exploration of how aspects of identity, such as race and class, influence the lives and service needs of this population. The data was collected through an initial set of interviews with fifteen LGBTQ-identified young adults ages 18 to 24. The interviewees were recruited from an LGBTQ youth-serving organization using a purposive sampling approach to reflect racial/ethnic and gender identity diversity. Following the interviews, eight of the participants engaged as co-researchers on a participatory action research (PAR) team for sixteen weeks. The process of this team's work was assessed through a reflective analysis to identify factors that impacted the participants' lives. Analysis of the interviews identified key themes related to identity among the LGBTQ young people. The interviewees experienced a multiplicity of identities that were both socially and individually constructed. These identities were impacted by their immediate and social environments. The young people also identified ways that they used their identities to influence their environments and enhance their own resilience. The service experiences and needs of the LGBTQ young people in this study were directly influenced by their multiple identities. Implications for intersectional approaches to serving this population are explored. Analysis of the PAR process identified four areas in which the young people were most impacted through their work and interactions with one another: relationships, communication, participation, and inclusion. Implications for research and service approaches with LGBTQ young people are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Social Work 2013