<p> The quality of early caregiving and educational environments has a significant effect on children&rsquo;s later cognitive outcomes. Early childhood teachers are an important determining factor in the quality of these environments. Due to inconsistencies in practice across the early childhood field, there is a call for better prepared teachers. Teacher preparation itself is criticized for its lack of innovative and effective practices. While research finds that more effective teacher preparation programs are those that are steeped in clinical practice, these types of experiences are inconsistent and fragmented in the early childhood field. Part of the issue is the lack of knowledge on how to integrate highquality clinical experiences carefully into early childhood teacher preparation in order to prepare all preservice teachers successfully for the classroom. </p><p> The purpose of this qualitative study was to propose a middle-range, systematic theory for the types of practices and ideologies that the most successful early childhood teacher education programs use to prepare their preservice teachers for the education profession. A more focused purpose of this grounded theory study was to describe the ways in which early childhood preservice teachers learn about children&rsquo;s cognitive development as well as how they describe their application of this knowledge to developmentally appropriate pedagogical practices. A secondary purpose of this study was to examine these various clinical models as described by experts in the field. Analysis was completed on semi-structured interviews with preservice teachers and faculty members, open-ended surveys completed by preservice teachers, and university documents. As a result of rigorous data analysis, a theory emerged to explain clinical practice at three model early childhood teacher preparation programs. Findings suggest that there are seven layers of strength that contribute to the model programs&rsquo; expertise in preparing their preservice teachers. This study is significant in that it reports researchbased elements that may contribute to policy regarding models for teacher preparation and meaningful clinical experiences.</p>

This thesis investigates how adults, infants, and children use visual information to control reaching movements. To do this, the kinematics of a reaching movement were recorded using a 6 camera motion tracking system. Adult reaching movements were investigated in three different experiments. The first experiment looked at the effect of visual information about the reach space and the target on reaching movements. Adult reaches are significantly affected by removal of visual information about the reach space and the target, e.g. peak speed decreases as distance information is occluded. Adult reaching movements are also affected by the length of the delay between viewing an object and then reaching for it in complete darkness. Experiment 2 reveals that there is a linear increase in movement duration, decrease in peak speed, and increase in maximum grip aperture with increasing temporal delay. This is due to the decay of dorsal visual information. Experiment 3 found that a cautious reaching movement can be defined as a reach where duration increases, average speed decreases, and peak timing is proportionally earlier in the reach. The three developmental experiments investigated the changes in reaching in infancy, in typically developing 5-year-old children, and in children with Williams syndrome (WS). Between 9 and 16 months of age, infants develop better coordination of reaching movements. Improved dark reaching behaviour in 16-month-olds may be associated with more mature processing in the dorsal visual stream. Reaching movements in 5-year-old children are straighter and faster than infant reaches but behaviour is not yet stereotyped like adults. WS children generate reaches that are slower and incorporate more movement units than 5-year-old children, and WS behaviour may reflect poor processing of dorsal visual information rather than poor control of arm movement.

<p> This qualitative, phenomenological study explores the lived experience of White, American, middle-class international adoptive mothers. This project excavates the emotional, psychological and cultural sequelae of the international adoptive mother&rsquo;s matrescence, her process of becoming a mother from the earliest stirrings of maternal desire to a mature adoptive motherhood 20 years later. Western culture hosts a predilection for myths with regard to motherhood, family and adoption and a tendency toward an idealization of them all. However, contrary to the popular myth that women who adopt internationally do so out of a motivation to rescue abandoned children, my findings reveal that their motivation mirrors that of traditional mothers&mdash;a natural desire to mother a child. Furthermore, the study reveals that what begins with a desire for motherhood becomes an unexpectedly multi-layered, multicultural and transformative pilgrimage of individuation&mdash;the feminine embodiment of Campbell&rsquo;s monomyth. Data was acquired through in-depth interviews with 13 adoptive mothers from 7 of the United States with adopted children from 10 countries. Two methodologies were used: narrative inquiry to capture the lived experience of these mothers and portraiture to convey the findings in a creative and accessible way. Narrative themes are explored through a depth psychological lens. Emergent themes include marginalization, loss and joy, blood and belonging, genetic immunity, colorblindness, special needs advocacy, tenacity and intention, awareness of White privilege, and embracing the child&rsquo;s original family and country.</p><p> Keywords: international adoption, adoptive motherhood, hero&rsquo;s journey, matrescence.</p>

In this study I examined the moderating effect of three profiles of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA at baseline, in response to a stressor, and in recovery from a stressor) on the relationship between parental emotion socialization during an emotion-related discussion and parental report of child internalizing symptoms 6 months later. Parents were observed during an emotion discussion task and coded for their use of emotion encouragement and general positive involvement. A total of 65 families with children between the ages of eight and ten years old completed this task while RSA scores were obtained from children during baseline, task, and recovery phases. Regression analyses were conducted to test for main effects of parental emotion socialization and RSA, as well as two-way emotion socialization x RSA interactions, in the development of internalizing symptoms 6 months following the initial interview. Interactions were further examined for the degree they statistically conformed to either a diathesis-stress or biological sensitivity to context framework (BSC). Hypotheses were partially supported: main effects were found for RSA baseline and recovery, whereas RSA reactivity moderated the association between parental emotion encouragement and child internalizing symptoms, such that parents of children exhibiting RSA withdrawal reported greater internalizing symptoms in the context of low emotion encouragement and lesser internalizing symptoms in the context of high emotion encouragement. This study highlights the importance of considering child psychophysiology, particularly reactivity to stress, in the study of the effects of parental emotion socialization on the development of psychopathology during childhood.

This study is focused on exploring quality of life in young adults in the autism spectrum and the factors that contribute to their own perception of satisfaction with their lives. Autism Spectrum Disorder is a neurodevelopmental disability that is associated with deficits in social interaction and communication and with restricted and repetitive behaviors (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). There has been a documented increase in the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), making it to be one of the fastest growing diagnosed disabilities in children (Hartley-McAndrew, 2014). In the United States, the prevalence of ASD is approximately 1 in 68 children, with 1 in 42 among boys (CDC, 2014). With this increase in recognition of the disorder, adult outcomes have become an increasing priority for this population. While the concept of quality of life has been used in the field of intellectual disabilities for decades, the factors contributing to quality of life of persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have received relatively little attention. The aim of this study was to examine the influences of degree of disability, social and communication ability, academic success, employment, and independence and autonomy on quality of life in young adults with high-functioning autism. Participants (N @ 230) were individuals from the dataset of the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 (NLTS2) who had a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (Cameto, et al., 2004). Results indicated that employment, social involvement, communication (being able to communicate, converse, and understand), and autonomy were significant in predicting higher quality of life. Factors found not to contribute to QoL included degree of disability (Woodcock-Johnson III) and education. This study helps to shed light on the development of higher quality of life in young adults with ASD and highlights areas for future research and training with these members of society.

Peer victimization is a common occurrence among youth, and it has been linked to a number of negative outcomes, including delinquent behaviors (e.g., physical aggression, theft/property damage, and substance use). Several studies examined relations between peer victimization and delinquency, though few have done so longitudinally or examined whether negative emotions are underlying processes that explain associations between these constructs. The current study’s purpose is to examine whether several negative emotions (i.e., anger, fear, and sadness) mediate relations between several types of peer victimization and delinquency among middle and high school youths. The study’s sample of 318 youths was predominately African American, and was part of a larger study examining the effects of community violence exposure and substance use. Path models showed no significant direct effects between several types of peer victimization and delinquency. Additionally, only anger dysregulation mediated relations between peer victimization and delinquency. These findings, as well as their real-world implications and potential avenues for future research within this area, are discussed.

High prevalence and the negative legal, health, and psychological consequences of adolescent dating aggression underscore the need to identify risk and protective processes associated with this type of aggression. Studying dating aggression in early adolescence is important, as this is the developmental time frame when most youth are establishing attitudes, beliefs, and norms for dating behaviors. The current study investigated longitudinal associations between perceived parental and peer support for violent and nonviolent responses to conflict and dating aggression perpetration among middle school students. Participants included 1,399 adolescents (52% female) in the sixth (n = 466), seventh (n = 467), and eighth (n = 466) grades. Results showed that peer support for nonviolent responses predicted lower frequencies of subsequent dating aggression among sixth graders, and perceived parental support for nonviolent responses resulted in decreased frequencies of dating aggression in the seventh and eighth grades. Peer support for violent responses predicted increased dating aggression in the seventh grade, and perceived parental support for violent responses led to higher frequencies of dating aggression in the eighth grade. Additionally, dating aggression predicted changes in adolescent perceptions of parental and peer support for violent and nonviolent responses. No sex differences were found in these models. Lastly, moderation analyses identified two significant interactions. These interactions illustrated that different combinations of parental and peer support for violent and nonviolent responses affected dating aggression perpetration, highlighting the importance of examining mixed messages and combinations of messages from parents and peers. Overall, the findings from the current study indicated that adolescent perceptions of parental and peer support for violent and nonviolent responses to conflict are important risk and protective processes, respectively, that are longitudinally associated with dating aggression. These findings can inform dating violence prevention programs, and stress the importance of adolescent, parental, and peer involvement in these programs.

The Five Minute Speech sample is a cost effective, efficient means of data collection in developmental research, but recent criticism of traditional coding methods associated with the methodology has spurred the creation of more developmentally appropriate coding systems. The purpose of this study is to examine the reliability and validity of a new coding system, The Family Affective Attitudes Rating Scale (FAARS), for use in children with chronic illness. Results did not support the use of this coding system, at least in its current form, in a pediatric asthma population. Discussion focuses on whether the FAARS may be of use when examined on an item level and directions for future research - such as profile analyses and edits to the coding system - that may better capture the experiences of parenting a child with chronic illness.

M.Com. (Economics) / This study investigates the effects of governance on both economic growth and human development. In particular, it investigates the effects of various dimensions of governance, namely, political stability and absence of violence, government effectiveness, rule of law, regulatory quality, control of corruption and voice and accountability on economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and also investigates the effects of these aspects of governance on human development in SSA. Over the last two decades, researchers have investigated the relationship between governance and development. Aid to developing countries, especially in a region such as SSA, has been premised on showing improvement in governance. However, the seemingly well-understood notion of governance is exceedingly ambiguous and inconsistent, and the empirical relationship between governance and development is being disputed and challenged. The inability of growth indicators to explain variation in political, institutional, and social dimensions of the development process motivates this analysis of governance on economic growth as well as a measure of broader development: the Human Development Index (HDI). Furthermore, in an effort to determine if various dimensions of governance have different effects on social aspects of development, the study disaggregates the HDI into its components of life expectancy at birth and education. This study examines countries in SSA based on a cross-section of averaged data over the period 1999-2008 and annual panel data over the period 1996-2008, including pooled ordinary least square (OLS), fixed effects and system general method of moments (GMM) techniques. In the economic growth analysis using the system GMM estimation, we find that none of the different individual dimensions of governance or the overall governance indicator has a statistically significant impact on growth of GDP per capita of SSA countries. This finding is robust when regional effects and changes in the estimation methodology are included. In the human development analysis using the system GMM estimation, we find strong evidence to suggest that different individual dimensions of governance and the averaged governance indicators are a fundamental factor in explaining the development level of SSA countries. It appears that for the period of 1996-2008, all individual different dimensions of governance are positively and significantly related to HDI. When we disaggregate HDI into its separate non-income components, life expectancy at birth and education, we find sufficient evidence to indicate that different individual dimensions of governance and the averaged governance indicators do have effects on specified social indicators. This finding is robust when regional effects and changes in the estimation methodology are included.

Both contextual risk and sensitive parenting have been associated with children’s social skills in early childhood (Brody, Stoneman, Smith & Gibson, 1999; Connell & Prinz, 2002; Oravecz, Koblinsky & Randolph, 2008, Trentacosta, 2008). However, it is not clear how sensitive parenting might impact children’s social skill development in the context of accumulation of risk. The current study tests two possible models. The first model, based on Rutters’ (1979) tests the theory that cumulative risk may moderate the relationship between sensitive parenting and social skills. The second model based on The Family Stress model (Conger, Conger, Elder, Lorenz, Simons & Whitbeck, 1992) tests the theory that sensitive parenting mediates the relationship between accumulation of risk and children’s social skills. The results supported the first model indicating that cumulative risk moderated the relationship between sensitive parenting and children’s social skills. When risk accumulated, there was a relationship between sensitive parenting and social skills where the highest level of sensitive parenting was associated with the highest level of social skills.