Concerns about the increasing high rate of divorce and marital disputes in the Hong Kong community and of children living in these families have been raised by educators, social workers and mental health professionals. It is held that parental divorce and interparental conflicts have strong and enduring detrimental effects on the development of children. This project examined the risk and resilience in terms of cognitive processing styles in adolescents under interparental conflict divorced family environment. The total number of adolescents participating in this study was 1,384. They came from 4 secondary schools in Hong Kong. Seven hundred and twenty of them (52.0%) were males, and 656 (47.4%) were females. Their age ranged from 11 to 18 years old, mean age was 13.59 years (SD = 1.06). Among them, 170 (12.3%) came from divorced families, 1,174 (84.8%) came from two-parent intact homes, and 40 (2.9%) participants did not answer this question. All participants filled in the same packet of questionnaires. These questionnaires assessed their attentional styles, symptoms of emotional disorders, happiness and interparental conflict. The participants completed the questionnaire under the supervision of the author, or a research assistant, or a teacher in class. Participants who reported that their parents had separated or divorced were required to answer additional questionnaires that measured self-blame and self-perceived positive change. Data obtained from the large pool of samples (n = 1,384) was used for validation of the Chinese version of the Attention to Positive and Negative Information Revised scale (CAPNIR). Data from participants who came from divorced families (n = 170) was used for validating the Chinese Posttraumatic Growth Inventory for Children (PTGI-C). Data from adolescents who reported to have witnessed interparental conflict (n = 767) was used for evaluating the psychometric property of the Interparental Conflict Scale (IPCS). Results showed that these three inventories had good internal consistency reliabilities as well as convergent validities. Results of the principle component analysis (PCA) also showed that the factor structures of both the APNIR and the CPTGI-C were comparable to the English version questionnaires. The main findings of this project consisted of two parts. The first part explored the adjustment of adolescents from divorced families. It also investigated whether divorced and intact families with presence and absence of interparental conflict would have different adjustment outcomes, and whether there was an interaction between family status and interparental conflict on the outcomes. Statistical methods that included correlation analysis, independent sample t-test comparisons, 2-way multivariate analysis and factoral analysis of variance were used. In consistent with existing findings, the following results were obtained. First, adolescents from divorced families in general demonstrated more symptoms of emotional disorders than those from two-parent intact families. Second, adolescents from divorced families had witnessed a significantly higher level of interparental conflict than those from two-parent intact families. Third, parental divorce and interparental conflict significantly predicted adolescents’ maladjustment. Fourth, adolescents from two-parent intact families were happier than adolescents who came from divorced families. The second part of the main study focused on examining the relationship between cognitive processing styles (attentional styles and internal attribution) and adjustment by using hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Several significant findings were presented. First, a greater level of negative attentional style was predictive of more symptoms of psychopathology and less happiness. Second, a higher level of positive attentional style was related to more positive emotion and self-perceived personal growth, and less symptoms of psychopathology. Third, while interparental conflict was found to associate with anxiety and aggression, its effects were partially mediated by self-blame; and the effects of parental disputes on depression and happiness were fully mediated by self-blame. The current findings extend existing empirical knowledge by demonstrating that negative attentional style and internal attribution not only linked to more symptoms of emotional disorders but also to less positive emotion. At the same time, positive attentional style predicted positive affect and self-perceived positive change, which to the best of the author’s knowledge, had not been explored in previous studies. Implications, limitations and future directions of these findings were discussed. / published_or_final_version / Clinical Psychology / Doctoral / Doctor of Psychology

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

This study explores gender differences in the ways teachers interact with high school students from disrupted families. Four language arts teachers and five mathematics teachers from an urban high school in Montreal, Quebec were interviewed and observed in their classroom interactions with students. The findings revealed that gender differences were related to the teachers' perceptions of professional roles, and were reinforced by the segmentation of teaching and guidance responsibilities in urban schools. Female teachers were inclined to consider teaching as related to the upbringing of youths, and perceived themselves as responsible for the academic and social-emotional development of their students. Male teachers, in contrast, viewed their role as subject-specialists to disseminate knowledge. These role perceptions strongly influenced teachers' classroom interactions with students from disrupted families.

This study investigates the influence of family configuration and environment on children's adjustment. Half of the seventy-six elementary school age participants were from families where separation and divorce had occurred, and the remaining children were from intact families. Children's self-efficacy was assessed using the Harter Self Perception Profile (Harter, 1985). Parental perceptions of children's behavior and specific family environmental characteristics were obtained by employing the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1983), Family Environment Scale (Moos & Moos, 1986) and Overt-Hostility Scale (O'Leary & Porter, 1980). Children from homes where parental divorce had previously occurred were compared to children from intact families in terms of self-efficacy and behavior. Children from divorced homes demonstrated lower levels of perceived self-efficacy in cognitive and behavioral domains. No differences in parental perceptions of children's total behavior problems between groups were found. Comparative differences in family social climate characteristics of cohesion, control, and active-recreational orientation were found in divorced versus intact families.

This thesis attempts to integrate the divorce outcome data concerning children within the stress and coping mechanisms paradigm. The effects of divorce on children are reviewed, as are the major constructs of stress-coping theory. A study is conducted to demonstrate the empirical utility of the theoretical integration of the two domains. The coping resources, styles and efforts of 71 elementary school children from divorced and intact homes were investigated. Data analyses demonstrated that children from divorced homes had lower levels of psychological coping resources, and less effective coping styles and efforts, thus sustaining the theoretical integration. Other significant results revealed developmental trends for some aspects of coping resources and coping styles, and correlations between coping resources and efforts, thereby supporting important conceptualizations in stress-coping theory. Speculations concerning the long-term effects of divorce, differential effects of divorce on boys and girls and recommendations for future investigations are made.

Graduate

The purpose of this study was to empirically measure the effectiveness of a school-based intervention program for elementary children whose parents had been recently separated. Forty-nine third through sixth grade students in a northwestern Indiana county participated in the study. The sample consisted of twenty-six treatment and 23 control subjects; 30 females and 19 males participated.The hypothesis addressed was: Male and female elementary children who receive treatment will demonstrate a statistically significant different attitude toward their' parents' separation or divorce, school behaviors, and self concept when compared to children who receive no treatment.The independent variable was a subject's participation in a ten-week, school-based intervention program. The intervention program was based on a model proposed by the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. The dependent variables were attitudes toward parental separation/divorce (Children's Attitude Toward Parental Separation Inventory), self concept (Piers-Harris Self Concept Scale), and school-related behaviors (Devereux ElementarySchool Behavior Rating Scale). Sex of the children was a moderator variable.The study employed a nonequivalent control group design using a pretest-posttest format. A 2 x 2 nonorthogonal factorial design was used. Multivariate and urivariate analyses of variance procedures were used to test initial (pretest) differences and the hypothesis of no difference between treatment and control groups.The multivariate analysis of variance of the pretest scores found no significant difference between the control and treatment groups pretest scores. In the univariate analysis of the pretest data, a significant sex difference was noted on one Devereux variable measuring inattentive-withdrawn behavior.In the multivariate and univariate analysis of the posttest data, no significant treatment or interaction of sex and treatment effects were recorded. In this study treatment did not significantly effect a child's self concept, attitudes toward separation/divorce, or school behaviors.

Dissertation (Ph.D.) -- The Institute for Clinical Social Work, 1997. / A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Institute of Clinical Social Work in partial fulfillment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2007. / Prepared for: Dept. of Psychology. Bibliography: leaves 107-116. Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographic references (leaves [164]-180).