Previous research suggests that the home environment explains up to one half of the association between poverty and low cognitive skills. Building on this research, this study provides a more nuanced analysis of the family processes through which socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with children's academic outcomes by: 1) including maternal education and family income as predictors of parenting and children's academic skills, and 2) separating the home environment into parental investments of time and materials. Data are drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K; n=20,582). Structural equation modeling is used to examine the extent to which these parental investments mediate associations between markers of SES and children's reading and math achievement. Models also test for moderation of the productivity of parental investments. Results indicate that SES is associated with children's school success via a pathway in which maternal education influences the extent to which parents invest in learning materials for their children, and these learning materials in turn foster development of early literacy and numeracy skills. Parental time has an unexpected negative association with children's achievement, which is explained in supplemental models. Family income and maternal education also moderate the productivity of parental investments, such that the negative effect of time and the positive effect of materials are magnified in more advantaged households. Findings suggest that the following interventions may be worthwhile policy priorities: 1) support for low-SES mothers' pursuit of further education, and/or 2) provision of learning materials for children in disadvantaged families.

The purpose of this study was to increase the understanding of the differences between isolated and non-isolated victims of peer victimization (PV) in middle school, in order to better understand the diverse mechanisms underlying the development of PV and to apply such knowledge to intervention programs for different types of victims. To meet this purpose, two research questions (RQ) were proposed. The first RQ examined how the relationship between self-reported PV and its risk factors/concurrent correlates (individual characteristics, such as peer-reported aggression, shyness, as well as self-reported internalizing problems and social skills, and patterns in peer relationships, such as peer-reported rejection by boys/girls and likelihood of having a mutually liked peer) are different depending on the level of peer-rated isolation in the 7th grade. The second RQ investigated factors associated with a decrease in peer victimization in the following year (8th grade), and examined whether such factors are different for isolated victims and non-isolated victims. To address these research questions, secondary analyses were conducted on the data gathered by Brassard and colleagues in 3-year longitudinal survey conducted with the entire cohort of students in two middle schools in a lower income, racially heterogeneous urban school district. Participants were 640 students whose PV and isolation data in the 7th grade were available. PV was measured using the Social Experience Questionnaire (Crick & Glotpeter, 1996). Isolation was calculated based on peer nomination on an item, "play alone," from the Revised Class Play (Masten, Morison, & Pellegrini, 1985). The results of the analyses indicated that non-isolated victims were not as different from isolated victims as expected. However, isolated victims and non-isolated victims were found to be two distinct groups of victims confronted with different challenges. Isolated victims, specifically isolated victimized boys, had poorer peer relationship patterns, including higher rejection by boys and girls, and lower likelihood of having a mutually-liked peer, while non-isolated victims suffered more from internalizing problems. Meanwhile, some similarities were found between these two types of victims; both of them are less shy and have fewer social skills compared to the non-victimized counterparts. PV was not significantly related to aggression for either isolated participants or non-isolated participants. This study also identified possible individual characteristics that are related to a decrease in PV in a following year. Shyness was associated with escape from victimization for both non-isolated victims and isolated victims as was low internalizing problems for isolated victims. These findings have implications for practices in school and clinical settings, including the importance of social skill training as an attempt to prevent adolescents from suffering from PV, and prioritization of clinical services for isolated victims to reduce their internalizing problems. This study also suggested some directions for future studies, including comparing isolated victims and non-isolated victims in more diverse aspects of peer relationships (e.g., popularity and friends' characteristics) , a more comprehensive analysis for the relationship between shyness and PV, and the identification of social skills that are beneficial for different types of victims.

This study investigated the effects of family structure on 13-18 year-old adolescents in Saudi Arabia. Comparisons were made between adolescents from polygamous and monogamous families in psychological well-being (self-esteem, satisfaction with life, depression), bullying and victimization. A series of investigations assessed the effects of family structure and several demographic variables on adolescents’ psychological well-being and behaviour. Also, the mediating role of parent-adolescent relationships measured by parent-adolescent bonding and father availability was investigated. A systematic review of previous research established that few studies had investigated mediating variables, such as demographic variables. In the first study, comparisons were made between 98 adolescents from polygamous and monogamous families. Results found that adolescents from polygamous families reported more problems in their psychological well-being, bullying and victimization than adolescents from monogamous families. The aim of the second study was to establish the validity of the Parental Bonding Instrument for use with adolescents in Saudi Arabia. The parental bonding instrument was validated for use in Saudi society with 301 participants aged 13-18 years. Results found that the ‘care’ dimension of the parental bonding instrument was valid for use in Saudi Arabia but the ‘overprotection’ dimension was not considered to be culturally valid because of different cultural patterns found in Saudi culture. The third study compared 266 adolescents from polygamous and monogamous families using the validated parental bonding instrument. The results found that adolescents in polygynous families reported lower ‘care’ scores than those in monogamous families. Also, comparisons by age group and gender found no effects of age or gender for father care, mother care, self-esteem, satisfaction with life, bullying or victimisation. A significant difference was found between age groups for depression. The fourth study was conducted with 500 adolescents using structural equation modelling to test the role of the parent-adolescent relationship measured by parental bonding on adolescent self-esteem, satisfaction with life, depression, bullying and victimisation. For polygamous families, parental care was a significant mediating variable between adolescent outcomes and the family variables of father availability and the position of the mother as the first or later wife. For monogamous families, although parental care predicted adolescent outcomes, family variables did not affect parental care. The fifth study was a qualitative analysis of interviews with 30 adolescents and 10 teachers on perceptions of father fairness, family functioning, attitudes toward polygamous marriage and academic achievement. Problems reported for polygamous families were lack of father fairness and family cohesion, emotional and behavioural problems, and poor academic achievement. In conclusion, this thesis is the first study to investigate the effects of polygamous family structure on adolescents in Saudi society and the first to provide a culturally validated measure of adolescent-parent attachment relationships. It was found that polygamy affects adolescent psychological well-being and behaviour, also adolescents’ perceptions of parental care and the fairness with which they feel that their father treats them have important effects on their relationship with their parents, their sense of well-being and their behaviour. The findings will be valuable for educators, counsellors and psychologists in Saudi Arabia.

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