<p> The purpose of the current study was to investigate the dynamic process of disclosure within the adolescent&ndash;mother relationship by examining maternal characteristics that encourage adolescent disclosure of distressing experiences and risk factors that may interfere with mothers&rsquo; abilities to be supportive. A community sample of 66 mothers and their adolescent children (<i>M</i> = 14.31 years, 58% female) participated. The adolescents disclosed an emotionally distressing experience to their mothers for the first time.</p><p> Mothers&rsquo; validating behaviors and emotional distress in response to their adolescents&rsquo; expressions of negative emotion were predictive of adolescent disclosure. Adolescents who perceived their mothers to be validating of their negative emotions made more substantive disclosures and found disclosing to their mothers to be more beneficial. In contrast, greater maternal emotional distress was associated with less substantive disclosures, and maternal emotional distress was further indirectly associated with less substantive and beneficial disclosures through less maternal validation of negative emotion.</p><p> A developmental model of maternal risk for emotional distress in response to adolescent negative emotion was also supported. Maternal history of childhood trauma perpetrated by someone close to the mother (i.e., high betrayal) was associated with an increased likelihood of experiencing subsequent interpersonal trauma as an early adult; maternal interpersonal trauma in early adulthood was associated with mothers&rsquo; increased difficulty regulating their emotions; and greater maternal emotion dysregulation was associated with higher levels of maternal distress in response to adolescent negative emotion. An indirect association between maternal childhood high betrayal trauma and emotional distress was also supported through continued trauma and emotion regulation difficulties.</p><p> These findings suggest that when disclosing distressing experiences to their mothers, adolescents consider how validating their mothers are of their expression of negative emotion, as well as how distressing their emotions are for their mothers. Mothers&rsquo; histories of childhood trauma, ongoing interpersonal trauma in adulthood, and emotion regulation difficulties were further implicated in mothers&rsquo; reactions to their adolescents&rsquo; expressions of negative emotion. Interventions targeted to increase maternal emotion regulation skills and validation of children&rsquo;s negative emotions may be an effective way to promote better mother&ndash;adolescent communication, especially in regard to distressing experiences.</p><p>

<p> As adolescents transition to middle school, math confidence and performance declines (Eccles et al., 1993; Lee, Statuto, &amp; Kadar-Voivodas, 1983). These declines are typically attributed to social and maturational changes (Eccles, Lord, &amp; Midgley, 1991; Simmons &amp; Blyth, 1987). In this dissertation, I explore the hypothesis that low parent support for schoolwork is also responsible.</p><p> Latino-American adolescents are especially at risk for math difficulties. Maintaining adolescents&rsquo; engagement and performance in math are important goals for mothers because high levels of both are requisites for many professional careers. This dissertation will focus on Latino-American families to determine if mothers&rsquo; homework involvement is associated with changes in children&rsquo;s math-related outcomes across the transition to secondary school.</p><p> Parental involvement in math homework is assumed to mitigate declines in math performance during this transition. Cognitive models suggest that involved parents utilize scaffolding (Rogoff &amp; Gardner, 1984) and instruction to ensure math achievement (Pomerantz &amp; Moorman, 2010). Motivational models suggest that involved parents foster math engagement by bolstering child confidence, modeling management strategies, and promoting values that encourage children to work hard (Grolnick &amp; Slowiaczek, 1994; Simpkins, Fredricks, &amp; Eccles, 2015). However, empirical evidence in support of the importance of parents in math achievement is limited. While positive forms of involvement co-occur with better math outcomes (Bhanot &amp; Jovanovic, 2005; Rice et al., 2013), no studies have examined such associations longitudinally. Children who are uninterested in math may be more susceptible to the effects of parental homework involvement because they lack internal motivation for mastery that underlies performance in other children.</p><p> The present study examines the extent to which Latina-American mothers&rsquo; involvement in math homework is effective in preventing declines in child math-related outcomes (i.e., perceptions of math ability, etc) during the transition to middle school. Child math interest was postulated to moderate this association. Results indicated that low maternal homework involvement predicts worsening child math-related outcomes, but only for children who were intrinsically uninterested in math.</p><p> The findings hold important implications for parents, who must work to ensure that they remain engaged in their children&rsquo;s activities, especially if children appear uninterested in math.</p><p>

This thesis developed and pilot tested the effectiveness of a psychosocial intervention, the Making Relationships Work (MRW) Workshop. The MRW has two aims. At the interpersonal level, MRW seeks to enhance the quality of the relationships of the adolescents who participate in the workshop. At the psychological level, MRW seeks to foster the development (or enhancement) of a sense of identity and intimacy among the adolescents who participate in the workshop. The MRW Workshops consist of a psychosocial group intervention that includes skills and knowledge development, perspective taking, and group experiential exercises. Subjects consisted of 26 late adolescents. A within-subjects design (pre-post-follow up) was used to assess the effectiveness, efficacy and utility of the MRW as measured by the Identity Domain Survey (IDS), SCL-90 (a psychological symptom distress checklist), Relationship Quality Scale (RQS), Relationship Closeness Inventory (RCI), Internal-External Locus of Control Measure (I-E), and two MRW Evaluation forms. One-way ANOVAs were performed with results indicating less distress ratings on the IDS and the SCL-90. No significant results were found on the RQS, RCI and I-E. Finally, the evaluation forms of the workshop revealed very positive ratings.

This dissertation tested the effectiveness of a psychosocial intervention, the Personal Development in the Context of Relationships (PDCR) program. The aim of the PDCR seeks to foster the development (or enhancement) of a sense of identity and intimacy among adolescents who participate in the program. The PDCR is a psychosocial group intervention which utilizes interpersonal relationship issues as a context to foster personal development in identity formation and facilitate the development of an individual's capacity for intimacy. The PDCR uses intervention strategies which include skills and knowledge development, experiential group exercises, and exploration for insight. Participants consisted of 1 10 late adolescents. A mixed-subjects design (prepost-follow up) was used to assess the effectiveness; efficacy and utility of the PDCR on the experimental condition relative to a content/social contact control group and a time control condition. Identity exploration and identity commitment were measured by the Ego Identity Process Questionnaire (EIPQ). Total intimacy and identity role satisfaction were measured by the Erikson Psychosocial Stage Inventory (EPSI). Relationship quality and closeness were measured by the Relationship Quality Scale (RQS) and the Relationship Closeness Inventory (RCI) in an effort to assess whether any potential impact on interpersonal relationships occurs. Mixed MANOVAs were used to analyze the data with results yielding significant values for increased total identity exploration from pre to post test and decreases in total identity commitment from pre to post to follow-up test in the experimental group relative to the control conditions on the EIPQ. Further results indicated increases in total intimacy from pre to post to follow-up test in the experimental group relative to the control conditions on the EPSI. No clear trends emerged from pre to post to follow-up test for the Relationship measures. Results are discussed in terms of both practical and theoretical implications.

This dissertation advanced a life story model of the self-concept, linking the presently understood past and the anticipated future with the experienced present of the individual story-teller. The central components of this model were identified as the story structure (defined as integrative complexity, an information-processing variable) and story content (defined as the significant life events recalled and anticipated by the participants). The nuclear thesis of this dissertation examined the relationship between these two components in various forms and explored their association with other (individual difference) variables. Participants were 30 males and 30 females drawn in equal numbers from three age groups (young, middle, and later adulthood). These participants completed an extensive questionnaire which entailed a written self-evaluation (which was coded for complexity), the identification and evaluation of significant life events (on scales of event pleasantness, outcome desirability, and event intensity, responsibility, adjustment, and anticipation), and the completion of a series of individual difference measures (life satisfaction, attitudes toward aging, repression-sensitization, and self-esteem). Participants were also interviewed regarding the personal significance of each event, discussions which were coded for integrative complexity and a measure of self in relation to others. The major results indicated that the complexity of self-evaluation (and not chronological age) was associated (curvilinearly) with the number of identified events (with low and high complexity characteristic of fewer events than moderate complexity). A similar pattern emerged between life satisfaction and this measure of complexity, but complexity was not related to any of the other individual difference variables. Unpleasant and undesirable events were discussed in more complex terms than were pleasant, desirable events. There was a similar pattern for high versus low intensity events. However, low responsibility, low adjustment, and low anticipation were associated with greater complexity than were events high on these dimensions. Women identified a greater number of events and discussed them more in terms of connectedness with significant others than did men. These results are presented in the context of the life story and their implications for this model of the self-concept are discussed. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Two groups of 5- to 8-year-olds, and a comparison sample of adults, were examined in an effort to explore the developing relationships between false belief understanding and an awareness of the individualized nature of personal taste, on the one hand, and, on the other, a maturing grasp of the interpretive character of the knowing process. In Study 1,20 children between 5 and 8, and in Study Two, a group of 15 adults, all behaved in accordance with hypotheses by proving to be indistinguishable in their good grasp of the possibility of false beliefs, and in their common assumption that differences of opinion concerning matters of taste are legitimate expressions of personal preferences. By contrast, only the 7- and 8-year-old children and adults gave evidence of recognizing that ambiguous stimuli allow for warrantable differences of interpretation. Study 3 replicated and extended these findings with a group of 48 5- to 8-year-old subjects, again showing that while 5-year-olds easily pass a standard test of false belief understanding, only children of 7 or 8 ordinarily evidence an appreciation of the interpretative character of the knowing process. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

This study investigated the Rorschach responses of adolescent male child sexual abuse (CSA) survivors to see if reliable object relations differences could be found in the protocols of boys who did and did not exhibit sexual offending behaviors. Fifty-one Rorschach protocols of 12 to 17 year old boys were selected to form 3 groups: Non-Offending CSA survivors, Sexually-Offending CSA survivors, and a Comparison Group of non-victimized non-offenders. All 3 groups were approximately matched for age at testing, race, and age at first sexual victimization. The primary hypothesis was that the Rorschachs of sexual-offenders and non-offenders would differ in affective reactivity, thought disorder, object relationships, self-perception, and psychological defenses. Urist Mutuality of Autonomy Scale, Blatt & Ritzler Thought Disorder Continuum, Saunders Atypical Movement score, MOR, R, AFR, EB, M, and WSUMC were used to assess differences. Results confirmed the hypothesis in all but the affective reactivity dimension. The protocols of Sexually-Offending survivors had more dependent and maladaptive object relationships, more severe thought disorder, and more MOR and Atypical Movement responses. Although differences in affective reactivity were not found, comparisons made with Exner's norms indicated that AFR was significantly lower than normal among SO-S and NO-S subjects, and that R was significantly higher than normal in the SO-S group. A linear discriminant function analysis showed significant and accurate differentiation between SO-S and NO-S subjects (correct classification rate = 87%) based primarily on the object relations and thought disorder scales. Because the discriminant function and classification were based on the same sample, this finding is quite tentative. Additional research with larger samples of protocols and a wider array of Rorschach variables are needed and could result in the future discovery of a stable and reliable discriminant function for differentiating sexually offending and non-offending CSA survivors on the basis of Rorschach performance.

The "delicate self-cutting syndrome" (Pao, 1969) refers to repetitious non-lethal cutting or scratching traditionally associated with female adolescents. While research and theory have explained the reasons for this behavior in various ways, little attempt has been made to integrate these reasons into broader models. An examination of the literature suggested eight clearly differentiable models that integrated groups of reasons: behavioral, systemic, avoidance of suicide, sexual, expression of affect, control of affect, ending depersonalization and creating boundaries. This study evaluated these models and investigated the relationships between them by surveying therapists about the conceptualizations they use to understand patients who engage in delicate self-cutting. Related developmental issues were also briefly investigated. A pretest was conducted with clinical psychology graduate students and faculty to validate the theoretical associations between specific reasons and the models used to integrate them. The main survey asked a nationwide sample of psychologists and social workers who treat adolescents and adults in individual outpatient therapy to rate a patient on the specific reasons for cutting and the integrative models. Forty-four completed surveys were analyzed. The systemic, suicide, sexual, expression, depersonalization and boundaries models were supported by a factor analysis and the generation of alpha coefficients. Examination of the patterns of relationships between and within models and individual reasons suggested that the behavior model was undifferentiable from the systems model and that the control model addressed the general need to regulate affect and was an issue underlying all other models. The expression model showed a similar patterns of relationships while maintaining its ability to be differentiated. A new structure is hypothesized with control and expression models reflecting basic underlying functions of the self-cutting behavior and the other six models reflecting more subjective meaning assignment. Results also indicated that therapists find the expression, control, depersonalization and boundaries models most useful in understanding and treating their patients. There was little support for the sexual or suicide models. Implications for therapeutic interventions and difficulties are examined in light of the new structure and therapists' preferences for certain models. Directions for future research are proposed.

This dissertation defends a theory of strict Chain Uniformity based on the A/A-bar distinction, in part in response to increasing criticism towards the A/A-bar distinction. The problems originated with the multiplication of new functional categories, whereby new positions were created without any provision to determine their A/A-bar status. The problem was compounded by mounting evidence that specifiers of functional categories could be used either as A or A-bar. Further, serious criticisms came from the alleged simultaneous A/A-bar properties of scrambled positions ('scrambling paradoxes'). Alternative typologies have been proposed (Webelhuth 1988, Chomsky 1989, Deprez 1991, Saito 1991, and others) which condemn the A/A-bar distinction. This thesis advocates that the A/A-bar distinction per se is perfectly adequate, but its current implementation requires major modifications. It is argued that all positions within functional categories are inherently undetermined w.r.t. their A/A-bar status. Given strict Chain Uniformity, a chain-contextual determination of these positions is obtained, i.e. their A/A-bar status is subsumed under algorithms of chain formation. This eliminates any exponential complexity related to increasing functional categories, yet allows the cross-linguistic flexibility the A/A-bar distinction previously lacked. Operator-variable chains are decomposed in two uniform chains connected through Agreement-chain formation, a strategy independently required for Null Operator Constructions which is here extended to AgrPs. AgrPs are thus the interface between A and A-bar chains, and an analysis of past-participle agreement in French is developed in that perspective. Chapter 2 proposes a review of issues on Bounding theory relevent to Chain formation and the A/A-bar distinction. A theory of Weak and Weakest crossover effects which transcends the A/A-bar Chain distinction is developed in chapter 4. Chapter 5 proposes a strict A/A-bar Chain Uniformity approach to scrambling paradoxes which drastically reduces the gap between scrambling and non-scrambling languages. Chapter 6 is devoted to Null Operator Constructions in English and maintains that Tough movement and Purpose clauses shows properties typical of A-movement, and require a different treatment from other NOCs. The analysis capitalizes on the Unified Chain definition which encompasses all chain types by eliminating Case as a defining property of any chain, A-chains in particular.

This dissertation studies the generic construct of critical consciousness, defined as the kind of awareness characterized by the independent and interdependent investigation of truth and meaning, both internally and in one's social environment, which allows an individual to disembed from it, engage in a critical moral dialogue with it, and become a moral and caring agent for positive change in his/her social world. The study subjects the broad phenomenon of CC to a rigorous empirical and developmental exegesis through descriptive accounts of the levels of its evolution in the life-span of interview subjects and secondary life histories from different cultural and historic contexts. It brings together Neo-Piagetian and Vygotskian understanding into an integrated model of the ontogeny of CC as an alterative, optimal developmental pathway of the evolving of adult social consciousness on the boundary of public and private. This study has established three levels in the CC pathway: Pre-CC, Conventional CC, and Postconventional CC. Each level is described in terms of a different range of tasks, concerns, and capabilities in their cross-cultural and socio-contextual variation. Converging theoretical and empirical evidence supports the empirical claim that the centrality of authentic moral concerns in the formation of consciousness is independent of the level of operant structural development, although the moral motivational dimensions are continuously elaborated throughout development. Hence, the ontogeny of CC is described as the synergistic outcome of the on-going interplay between moral motivation and the composite structural development of consciousness. The composite structural developmental component includes social-cognitive and ego development. Moral motivation is analyzed in terms of the interaction of four dimensions in the formation of personhood. They are: (1) the formation of a moral sense of identity and moral imperative; (2) the negotiation of external moral authority progressively internalized as moral responsibility and agency; (3) the formation of empathic and permeable relationships, and concerns with justice and not hurting, which grow into social consciousness; (4) the search for greater meaning in life than the individual self, which serves as a vantage point for self-reflection and critical examination of reality.