This study utilized longitudinal correlational and regression analyses to examine children’s internalizing behaviour problems, while focusing on the predictive function of peer victimization, the quality of the teacher-child relationship and child gender in early school years. Given the relationship between peer victimization and internalizing problems, the teacher-child relationship and gender was hypothesized to influence the strength and/or direction of this relationship. Participants included children in pre-kindergarten (n = 258) to grade one (n = 272) from twelve schools in an Australian city. Parent reports were used to assess child internalizing problems and peer victimization, and teachers reported on the teacher-child relationship and peer victimization. A significant main effect was found for child gender and kindergarten teacher-child conflict on internalizing behaviours in grade one, whereas no main effect was found for grade one internalizing behaviours for parent-rated peer victimization and teacher-child warmth. The quality of the teacher-child relationship was not found to moderate the relationship between peer victimization and internalizing problems, while child gender did moderate the influence of teacher-child relationship conflict on internalizing problems a year later. The results of the present study indicated that the relationship between teacher-child conflict and internalizing problems a year later differs for boys and girls. The importance of specific microsystems (i.e., teacher-child relationships) over time on children’s behavioural development is discussed, and implications for future research and teacher-child interventions are presented. / Graduate / 0518 / 0525 / 0530 / zerffm@gmail.com

Assessing the attachment between a child and caregiver is an important task within the social worker's professional domain. This is mostly restricted due to a lack of training and expertise with regard to methods and techniques used in assessing attachment. The identified problem led to the implementation of a descriptive study aimed at exploring effectiveness of scales for the assessment of attachment between the child in the middle childhood years and his/her caregiver. The goal was achieved by studying and exploring available practices derived from an extensive literature review and empirical study. Seven social workers in Bloemfontein participated in the study. Target-sampling was undertaken to ensure that participants represented different areas in the work-field that employ the assessment of attachment. Social workers in South Africa show preference to qualitative assessment procedures, including an assessment of the child, an assessment of the caregiver, observation and a collateral investigation. Although such an approach is generally consistent with literature, the present study highlighted an additional need for the standardization of assessment scales for attachment in middle childhood to be utilized in conjunction with qualitative methods of assessment. The literature review confirmed the availability of a range of reliable scales, though not validated thoroughly, but thus far unexplored by social workers in South Africa. A qualitative approach within the Developmental and Utilization Model enabled the researcher to conduct an in-depth analysis of the existing problem. Information was gathered with regard to relevant aspects of attachment in middle childhood in a successful attempt to formulate guidelines for the development of an effective model for the assessment of attachment between the child in middle childhood years and his caregiver. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Assessing the attachment between a child and caregiver is an important task within the social worker's professional domain. This is mostly restricted due to a lack of training and expertise with regard to methods and techniques used in assessing attachment. The identified problem led to the implementation of a descriptive study aimed at exploring effectiveness of scales for the assessment of attachment between the child in the middle childhood years and his/her caregiver. The goal was achieved by studying and exploring available practices derived from an extensive literature review and empirical study. Seven social workers in Bloemfontein participated in the study. Target-sampling was undertaken to ensure that participants represented different areas in the work-field that employ the assessment of attachment. Social workers in South Africa show preference to qualitative assessment procedures, including an assessment of the child, an assessment of the caregiver, observation and a collateral investigation. Although such an approach is generally consistent with literature, the present study highlighted an additional need for the standardization of assessment scales for attachment in middle childhood to be utilized in conjunction with qualitative methods of assessment. The literature review confirmed the availability of a range of reliable scales, though not validated thoroughly, but thus far unexplored by social workers in South Africa. A qualitative approach within the Developmental and Utilization Model enabled the researcher to conduct an in-depth analysis of the existing problem. Information was gathered with regard to relevant aspects of attachment in middle childhood in a successful attempt to formulate guidelines for the development of an effective model for the assessment of attachment between the child in middle childhood years and his caregiver. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

This study utilized longitudinal correlational and regression analyses to examine children’s internalizing behaviour problems, while focusing on the predictive function of peer victimization, the quality of the teacher-child relationship and child gender in early school years. Given the relationship between peer victimization and internalizing problems, the teacher-child relationship and gender was hypothesized to influence the strength and/or direction of this relationship. Participants included children in pre-kindergarten (n = 258) to grade one (n = 272) from twelve schools in an Australian city. Parent reports were used to assess child internalizing problems and peer victimization, and teachers reported on the teacher-child relationship and peer victimization. A significant main effect was found for child gender and kindergarten teacher-child conflict on internalizing behaviours in grade one, whereas no main effect was found for grade one internalizing behaviours for parent-rated peer victimization and teacher-child warmth. The quality of the teacher-child relationship was not found to moderate the relationship between peer victimization and internalizing problems, while child gender did moderate the influence of teacher-child relationship conflict on internalizing problems a year later. The results of the present study indicated that the relationship between teacher-child conflict and internalizing problems a year later differs for boys and girls. The importance of specific microsystems (i.e., teacher-child relationships) over time on children’s behavioural development is discussed, and implications for future research and teacher-child interventions are presented. / Graduate / 0518 / 0525 / 0530 / zerffm@gmail.com

Study 1 examined the role closeness to father plays in the developmental-like process associating family form (divorced/non-divorced) with later young adulthood attachment style in a sample of 525 men and women. Participants reported their closeness to father while growing up and current comfort with closeness. As expected, closeness to father fully mediated the association between family form and comfort with closeness for both men and women, but more strongly for women. The association between family form and comfort with closeness was only evident for women; women who experienced parental divorce reported feeling less comfortable with closeness in relationships. Contrary to expectation, the mediating role of closeness to father in the association between family and form and comfort with closeness was not moderated by gender. The key role fathers may play in fostering their male and female children’s later attachment style in divorced and nondivorced families, as well as the attenuated role of gender in explaining young adults’ attachment style, are discussed. Study 2 examined the role of dyadic and family environment factors which are implicated in young adults’ insecure attachment in predicting relational resilience. Relationally resilient women were defined as women who experienced parental divorce yet experience comfort with closeness. Ninety-three women reported on the level of overt and subtle conflict in their families-of- origin, the effectiveness of their parents’ coparenting, and their closeness to father. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses predicted membership in the relationally resilient group based on these dyadic and family environment predictors. As expected, results demonstrate that lower pre-divorce subtle and overt conflict; higher levels of coparenting before separation, during separation, and after separation; and closeness to father while growing up all predicted membership in the relationally resilient group. However, no one variable uniquely predicted membership in the relationally resilient group. Study 2’s results are translated to preventative implications at the family, parental, dyadic and individual levels. Final remarks integrating the results of both studies follow. / Graduate

Traditional socialization theories suggest that parents shape their children, and parents’ socialization strategies are decided upon largely independent of the children. These ideas, however, have received criticism. In this dissertation, I focus on how children and adolescents influence their parents’ behaviors. Specifically, I examine parents’ reactions to problematic behaviors in their adolescents. In the three studies, I presented theoretical models that offered explanations why parents react as they do to problematic behaviors in their adolescents. In these models, parents’ cognitions worked as mechanisms to explain their subsequent reactions. The overall pattern in the studies was that parents tended to shift in cognitions about their own role as parents and their adolescents’ behaviors when they were faced with problematic behaviors, which influenced their behaviors toward their adolescents. In Study I, parents became less strictly opposed to adolescent drinking when they encountered their adolescents intoxicated. This reaction was explained by a reduction in dissonance between their attitudes to adolescent drinking and their knowledge of their own adolescents’ drinking. In Study II and Study III, parents of adolescents with hyperactivity, impulsivity, and attention problems (HIA) reported that their adolescents did not respond to their attempts to correct their behaviors. This cognition made them feel powerless and, as a consequence, they increased in negative behaviors and decreased in positive parenting strategies. In these two studies, parents decreased in their thoughts of being able to deal with their adolescents’ misbehaviors. In addition, as was shown in the third study, these cognitions seem to be influenced by parents’ earlier experiences with their first-born children. In sum, the results of this dissertation suggest that adolescents influence their parents’ cognitions and behaviors. Further, the results highlight the importance of focusing on how parents’ ways of thinking influence their parenting strategies.

Master of Science / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Elaine M. Johannes / Permanently moving from one country to another affects the family. This can include the ways in which parents interact with their children. That interaction can be especially challenging when Muslim families move to primarily non-Muslim Western societies such as the United States. This report reviews challenges, opportunities, and strategies for Muslim parents residing in the United States to embed Islamic values and religious practices with their adolescent children. This report also identifies effective ways for Muslim parents to help their adolescent children understand, accept, and practice the Muslim faith. After a review of scholarly literature and existing Islamic religious practice materials, recommendations are provided to help parents effectively model and support appropriate Islamic religious practice to their adolescent children based on the parents’ traditional Muslim beliefs.

A tese tem como propósito investigar como as crianças pensam a cooperação. A pesquisa está inserida em um projeto da linha de pesquisa Psicopedagogia, Sistema de Ensino/Aprendizagem e Educação em Saúde, dentro da temática Epistemologia e Práticas Escolares, coordenado pela Profª Drª Maria Luiza R. Becker. A pesquisa traz como questão principal: “Como se manifesta a noção de cooperação das crianças sobre as relações interpessoais em um trabalho em conjunto?”. Através do juízo das crianças e adolescentes, analisa-se o desenvolvimento da noção de cooperação, com fundamentação na Epistemologia Genética. O termo “noção” é utilizado para caracterizar o percurso do entendimento da cooperação pelas crianças. O desenvolvimento da capacidade de cooperar relaciona aspectos do desenvolvimento moral (envolvendo a superação da moral heterônoma e das relações de coação pela moral autônoma e as relações de cooperação propriamente ditas) e aspectos cognitivos (envolvendo descentração de pensamento e substituição e coordenação de pontos de vista). O juízo é investigado e analisado de acordo com o Método Clínico piagetiano. A entrevista clínica desta pesquisa parte de uma situação fictícia apresentada às crianças em que parceiros atuam em um mesmo jogo – um quebra-cabeça. Dezoito sujeitos foram entrevistados: crianças de 8 e 10 anos e adolescentes de 12. A partir da análise de cada sujeito, são diferenciados quatro níveis de sua noção de cooperação: 1) a divisão do trabalho como condição de justiça, 2) a ênfase no critério de justiça da divisão, 3) a referência à reciprocidade resultante da ação conjunta e 4) a referência à reciprocidade como condição para a ação conjunta. / The thesis intends to investigate how children understand cooperation. The research is part of a project of the line of research Psicopedagogia, Sistema de Ensino/Aprendizagem e Educação em Saúde (Psychopedagogy, Teaching/Learning System and Health Education), within the subject of Epistemology and Educational Practices, coordinated by Dr. Maria Luiza R. Becker. The main question of the research is: “How is children’s notion of cooperation manifested when it comes to interpersonal relations in a group work?”. The development of the notion of cooperation is analyzed through the children’s and teenagers’ judgment based on Genetic Epistemology. The term “notion” is used to characterize the course of children’s understanding of cooperation. The development of the capacity for cooperation relates aspects of the moral development (involving the overcoming of heteronomous morality and coercive relations by autonomous morality and cooperative relations themselves) and cognitive aspects (including decentralized thinking and substitution and coordination of points of view). The judgment is investigated and analyzed according to Jean Piaget’s Clinical Method. The clinical interview of this research starts with a fictional situation that is presented to the children, where partners are playing the same game – a jigsaw puzzle. Eighteen subjects were interviewed: children of 8 and 10 years old and teenagers of 12 years old. Based on the analysis of each subject, four different levels of their notion of cooperation are established: 1) the division of tasks as a condition of justice, 2) the emphasis on the division’s criterion of justice, 3) the reference to reciprocity as a result from the joint action and 4) the reference to reciprocity as a condition for the joint action.

The study examined the relationships between various parental discipline styles and perceived powerlessness in antisocial adolescents. The literature on adolescent antisocial behavior frequently describes states of disaffection, alienation, and powerlessness as characteristic of the delinquent youth. The parent-child relationship is also frequently implicated as the significant precursor of antisocial behavior in adolescents. The purpose of this study was to determine if perception of control orientations function as cognitive mediators between perceived styles of parental discipline and subsequent behavior in adolescents. It was concluded, on the basis of the data obtained from this study, that antisocial adolescents do not perceive themselves to be more powerless than non-antisocial adolescents. It was recommended that caution should be exercised in applying such a label to those exhibiting antisocial patterns of behavior. It was also concluded that punishment applied in an unpredictable fashion may have detrimental effects on the development of female adolescents.

Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa descritiva que teve como objeto de estudo as estratégias de enfrentamento dos pais com o nascimento de uma criança com anomalia craniofacial. Objetivou identificar o impacto causado nos pais frente ao nascimento de um filho portador de anomalia craniofacial; descrever as estratégias de enfrentamento que os pais utilizam para estabelecer vinculação com o filho que apresenta malformação. Utilizou o método Narrativa de Vida, através da entrevista gravada com 15 mães e sete pais de crianças com malformação craniofacial. O estudo foi aprovado pelo Comitê de Ética da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. A coleta de dados foi realizada entre junho e agosto de 2014. As narrativas apontaram para a emergência de três categorias: Ter um filho com anomalia craniofacial: situação impactante; Estratégias de enfrentamento utilizadas por pais de crianças com malformação craniofacial; Pais e profissionais da equipe de saúde: uma relação conturbada. As categorias puderam explicitar que a notícia da malformação gera impacto e crise na vida dos pais e no seio familiar. A grande expectativa na gravidez pelo bebê perfeito se transforma em frustração, choque e culpa. Diante dessa adversidade, as famílias começam a desenvolver estratégias de enfrentamento que auxiliam vinculação com seu filho malformado. Essa capacidade de desenvolver forças e habilidades para se adaptar à nova realidade, minimizando os efeitos negativos, é chamada de resiliência. As narrativas apontam a experiência religiosa e a rede de apoio como as principais estratégias de enfrentamento utilizadas pelos participantes. A equipe de saúde é chamada a apoiar os pais ao longo do processo de adaptação com o filho malformado. Os profissionais de saúde podem auxiliar no suporte e adaptação destes pais, diante da nova condição, sendo agentes promotores da escuta terapêutica. Compreender o que há por detrás de cada história desvelada, traz subsídios para potencializar a resiliência no acolhimento institucional dos pais e sua família. / This paper is a qualitative descriptive research that studies the parents' confrontation strategies when in the birth of a child with a craniofacial anomaly. It targeted to identify the impact on parents of a birth of a child with craniofacial anomaly; to describe the parents' confrontation strategies to create a bounding with their ill-formed child. This paper used the Life's Narrative method through an interview with fifteen mothers and seven fathers of children with craniofacial anomaly. This study was approved by the Rio de Janeiro State University Ethics Committee. The data gathering took place between June and August 2014. The narratives pointed to the emerging of three categories: having a child with craniofacial anomaly: impacting situation; Confrontation strategies used by the parents of children with craniofacial anomaly; Parents and healthcare workers: a disturbed relationship. The categories were able to clarify that the ill-formation's news generate an impact and a crisis in the parents' life and in the family unity. The pregnancy's big anticipation for a perfect baby turns into frustration, shock and guilt. In face of this adversity, the families start to develop confrontation's strategies that assist the bounding with the ill-formed child. This capacity to develop forces and abilities to adapt to this new reality, minimizing its negative effects, is called resilience. The narratives point to the religious experience and the support system as the main confrontation strategies used by the participants. The healthcare team is called to support the parents through the adapting process to an ill-formed child. The healthcare professionals can auxiliate on supporting those parents through adaptation to this new condition being promoting agents of the therapeutical listening. Understanding what is behind each unveiled history brings aids to strengthen the resilience in the institutional reception of the parents and their family.