Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Florida, 2004. / Typescript. Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 128 pages. Includes Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Florida, 2004. / Typescript. Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 49 pages. Includes Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

This study is an investigation into the psychosocial themes present in the DSM-IV diagnosis of adolescents diagnosed with a comorbid Disruptive Behavior and Mood Disorder. These themes are viewed from a psychosocial theoretical perspective. The study focuses on answering four questions. Firstly, what are the psychosocial themes present in the diagnosis of adolescents diagnosed with a comorbid Disruptive Behavior and Mood Disorder? Secondly, how does these themes impact the adolescents psychosocial development? · Thirdly, what role does these themes play as causative factors of Disruptive Behavior and Mood Disorder symptoms in adolescence? · and lastly does these themes represent interactional processes reinforcing a reciprocal pattern of behavior and mood disorder symptoms? These questions are all viewed taking the psychosocial development of the adolescent into account. / Dissertation (MA (Clinical Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Psychology / unrestricted

The current study examined the relationships between Major Depressive Disorder, negative life events, perceived parenting style, perceived family environment and Disruptive Behavior Disorders, specifically Conduct Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, in adolescent participants, (N = 381). Results indicated that those factors, with the exception of authoritarian parenting, correlated positively with symptoms consistent with Disruptive Behavior Disorders. In addition, the overall effect of those factors predicted symptoms consistent with Disruptive Behavior Disorders more strongly than each risk factor in isolation. In conclusion, results indicated that negative life events and symptoms consistent with Major Depressive Disorder mediated the effects of perceived parenting and perceived family environment on symptoms consistent with Disruptive Behavior Disorders.

Disruptive behavior, such as aggression and rule-breaking, tend to increase in adolescence and are linked to negative academic outcomes and psychosocial difficulties. Emotion dysregulation also increases from childhood to adolescence. An individual’s implicit beliefs about their emotions, such as whether they view emotions as changeable versus fixed, may relate to how they regulate their emotions. Adolescents who view emotions as fixed may be less likely to use adaptive emotion regulation strategies and experience emotion dysregulation. Viewing one’s anger as fixed may lead to more emotion dysregulation which may then contribute to aggression and violence towards others. Neurological studies show that emotion dysregulation and disruptive behavior activate similar brain structures, providing support that emotion dysregulation may be a possible pathway to disruptive behavior. There is evidence for implicit emotion theories impact on depression symptoms through emotion dysregulation, with little research on how it might impact disruptive behavior disorder symptoms. Therefore, we hypothesized that a fixed mindset towards emotions would relate to increased disruptive behavior symptoms, and this effect would be mediated by emotion dysregulation. Participants were 165 adolescents (M = 14.56 years; 33.7% female; 73.5% European American) and their parents, both of whom completed questionnaires via Qualtrics online platform. Adolescents reported on their implicit theories of emotion and emotion dysregulation. Parents reported on their adolescent’s disruptive behaviors, such as conduct problems and oppositionality. We tested the mediation models in SPSS using the Process macro v.4.2. There were no significant indirect effects of a fixed mindset on oppositionality. However, a fixed mindset had an indirect relation to conduct problems. There was a direct effect of a fixed mindset on conduct problems, which was no longer significant once emotion dysregulation was entered into the model. These results show that emotion dysregulation mediates the link between implicit emotion theories and conduct problems, but not oppositionality, in adolescence. There may have been no association with oppositionality behaviors because they typically occur at a younger age than conduct problems. Adolescents who view emotions as unchangeable may not attempt emotion regulation strategies as often, which leads to more conduct problems. In clinical settings, it might be advantageous to assess and address how youth view their emotions and support emotion regulation strategies. Although this study relied on cross-sectional self-report data, it provides an important first step to exploring risk factors and pathways for disruptive behaviors. Future research may benefit from experimental and longitudinal designs to investigate causality.

Disruptive behavior disorders consist of oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. These disorders account for about 40 percent of child referrals to mental health services. This study aims to evaluate how socioeconomic status, ethnicity, prior help-seeking behaviors, and gender relate to the attitudes that participants with symptoms of disruptive behavior disorders have toward mental health service. The study found that females have a more positive attitude regarding mental health service than males. Minorities with lower disruptive behavior have more positive attitudes about mental health than Caucasians with lower and higher disruptive behavior as well as minorities with high disruptive behavior, with this group viewing mental health most negatively. Results indicated that individuals who received mental health services view them more positively than individuals who have not received mental health services, and individuals with lower SES may be exposed to receiving more services compared to individuals with higher SES.

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Objective: Efficient identification and referral to behavioral services are crucial in addressing early-onset disruptive behavior problems. Existing screening instruments for preschoolers are not ideal for pediatric primary care settings serving diverse populations. Eighteen candidate items for a new brief screening instrument were examined to identify those exhibiting measurement bias (i.e., differential item functioning, DIF) by child characteristics. Method: Parents/guardians of preschool-aged children (N = 900) from four primary care settings completed two full-length behavioral rating scales. Items measuring disruptive behavior problems were tested for DIF by child race, sex, and socioeconomic status using two approaches: item response theory-based likelihood ratio tests and ordinal logistic regression. Results: Of 18 items, eight were identified with statistically significant DIF by at least one method. Conclusions: The bias observed in 8 of 18 items made them undesirable for screening diverse populations of children. These items were excluded from the new brief screening tool.

This study looked at whether a procedure of interspersing individual targeted questions would improve participation by low-responding students during a choral responding activity. Improved participation involved increased responding, increased accuracy, and decreased disruptive behavior. The study was conducted in two established elementary school classrooms. In each class, data were collected on two low-responding and two high-responding students. The choral activity was conducted in each classroom for 10 minutes a day. An ABAB reversal design was used. During baseline conditions, teachers conducted whole-group choral responding only. During the intervention conditions, teachers interspersed targeted questions to individuals who responded at low levels during the whole group choral responding activity. During the intervention (targeted questioning) conditions, the low-participating students in each classroom (a) responded to a higher percentage of the teacher's questions, (b) maintained or increased response accuracy, and (c) decreased disruptive behavior. During these same conditions, the high participating students maintained or slightly increased their participation levels. Teachers gave high social validity ratings to the targeted questioning procedure, noting that it made choral responding more effective with unwilling responders.

Interaction with their students during classroom instruction is often a source of stress among many teachers. The academic setting of Disciplinary Alternative Educational Programs (DAEP) poses a risk factor for teachers to experience stress, given that student disruptive behavior has been associated with higher stress levels among teachers. The problem underlying this study was that most studies on DAEP have focused on the experiences of students, with limited information available about the experiences of teachers in this type of academic setting. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the role of job-related stress and coping on the job performance of DAEP teachers, from a transactional theory of stress and coping approach. This exploration was grounded in the theoretical lens of the transactional theory of stress and coping, which served as the link between the importance of the psychological health of teachers and the successful administration of public programs. The geographical setting of the study was a single DAEP campus. Data were collected using 20 individual, face-to-face semi structured interviews. Data were analyzed using the modified van Kaam method of phenomenological analysis, which involves the systematic analysis of data through the process of dividing large quantities of qualitative data into smaller units of meaning. The results produced significant thematic themes. The findings from this study could help scholars and practitioners gain important insight about job-related stressors in DAEP, which could facilitate the improvement of administration and development policies in order to promote a positive work environment in DAEP settings.