Doctor of Philosophy / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Elaine M. Johannes / The life-span theoretical framework contends that development occurs throughout the entire life-span and that experiences at one stage of life influence later development (Baltes, 1987). With this in mind, the present studies explore the developmental experiences of gender and sexual minority (GSM) individuals as they make the transition to adulthood. The first study found that overall, there were no major differences in GSM emerging adults’ perceptions of this developmental stage when measured using the Inventory of the Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood (IDEA). The second study situated group identification as a process of identity development and found that identifying with the GSM community was a protective factor for GSM emerging adults. Higher attributions to prejudice were associated with increases in well-being when explained through group identification even though the direct effect was negative. The final study found that, similarly to their heterosexual and cisgender peers, GSM individuals’ self-esteem develops in quadratic fashion over the transition to adulthood and that perceptions of familial understanding in adolescence was significantly associated with both the initial level and the rate of change of self-esteem for this population. Implications for further research are discussed.

Psychological flexibility (PF), the core process of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT; a third-wave cognitive-behavioral therapy), is the ability to stay focused on the present moment and intentionally engage in value-driven behavior despite experiencing difficult thoughts or feelings. This multifaceted construct includes components that target processes occurring both internally (e.g., cognitive processes) and behaviorally (e.g., value-consistent actions). Psychological flexibility has been applied to studies of adjustment in non-clinical samples and may be beneficial for college students as individuals navigate novel developmental stressors. Despite evidence suggesting the benefits of PF for psychological distress, additional work is needed to examine the potential of PF to foster adaptive functioning. The current study builds on previous research by a) conceptualizing distinct internal and behavioral components of PF as promotive factors and b) emphasizing competence-focused outcomes. This research examined the influence of components of PF over the course of an academic semester. A sample of college students (N = 250) completed self-report measures online at the beginning (Time 1) and end (Time 2) of a college semester. Measures included components of PF, competence, and demographic and academic information. Structural equation modeling was used to examine associations between components of PF at Time 1 on competence at Time 2, while accounting for the influence of competence at Time 1. Findings suggested that within the social domain, value-consistent action at Time 1 was associated with increased social competence at Time 2. Additional results indicated that baseline competence accounted for associations between components of PF and Time 2 competence. Implications for the dissemination of ACT-informed efforts to promote positive adjustment among college students are reviewed, and future research directions are discussed.

The purpose of this dissertation was to a) examine the correlational relationships between Canadian university athletes’ perceptions of coach leadership behaviours and their perceptions of positive developmental outcomes (e.g., life skills) and negative experiences related to university sport, and b) explore how coach leadership behaviours and the associated developmental outcomes and negative experiences were described by both coaches and athletes. Data for this dissertation were collected over four stages. In Stage One, an online survey was used to collect data from a pan-Canadian sample (n = 605) of university athletes. In Stage Two, semi-structured open-ended interviews were conducted with fifteen university athletes. In Stage Three, semi-structured open-ended interviews were conducted with fourteen university coaches. In Stage Four, an online survey was used to collect data from a second pan-Canadian sample of university athletes (n = 498). Five articles were written to address the purpose of this dissertation. In Article One, data from two pan-Canadian samples of athletes were used to modify and confirm a new measurement tool known as the University Sport Experience Survey (USES). The USES provides a reliable and factorially-valid instrument for measuring development in university sport. In addition, Article One provided the first operational definitions of the positive developmental outcomes and negative experiences that could be reliably and validly assessed in a university sport context. Article Two qualitatively explored athletes’ perceptions of the developmental outcomes associated with their participation in university sport, as well as their perceptions of transfer. Results provided additional support for certain USES categories to be used for understanding positive development within the context of Canadian university sport programs. Further, results suggested university sport programs offer rich opportunities for developing skills, qualities, experiences, and relationships needed to become functioning members in our society. In Article Three, quantitative survey data were used to assess the cross-sectional relationships between athletes’ perceptions of their coaches’ leadership behaviours and outcomes from the USES. Coach leadership behaviours were conceptualized within the Full Range Leadership Model and assessed using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. Findings showed that transformational coaching was generally related to positive developmental outcomes and inversely related to athletes’ negative experiences in sport. Moreover, coaches’ passive/avoidant behaviors were commonly related to athletes’ negative experiences in university sport. Contrary to expectations, passive/avoidant coaching behaviors were also positively related with a number of positive developmental outcomes. Article Four qualitatively assessed athletes’ perceptions of who they believed was responsible for their positive development within the university sport context. Athletes specified other athletes, the head coach, the coaching staff, and their parents as the people who influenced their positive development within the context of university sport. Notably, athletes felt they themselves were the ones who contributed the most to their own development. Article Five qualitatively explored coaches’ perceptions of and strategies for fostering their athletes’ positive development through university sport. The coaches believed there were inherent conditions surrounding university sport that facilitated positive development. However, the coaches maximized their athletes’ development by establishing a support network, building team culture, and empowering their student-athletes by teaching them fundamental skills related to self and social regulation. Together, the five articles make novel theoretical and practical knowledge contributions to the field of positive development through sport, and set a precedence for positive development research in university sport, as well as other emerging adult sport contexts.

The current study was undertaken as a preliminary evaluation of a qualitative extension measure for use with emerging adults. A series of studies have been previously conducted to provide evidence for the reliability and validity of the RDA framework in evaluating youth development programs (Kurtines et al., 2008) and this study furthers this research to utilize RDA with emerging adults. Building on previous RDA research, the current study analyzed psychometric properties of the Identity Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood-Qualitative Extension (IDEA-QE) using RDA. Inter-coder percent agreement among the Theoretical Open Coders (TOC) and Theoretical Content Coders (TCC) for each of the category levels was moderate to high, ranging from .67 to .87. The Fleiss’ kappa across all category levels was from moderate agreement to almost perfect agreement, ranging from .60 to .88. The correlation between the TOC and the TCC demonstrated medium to high correlation, ranging from r(31)=.65, pr(31)=.74, p<.001.

The present study investigated how young women “do” and “undo” gender in relation to their anger in romantic relationships. With this aim, I conducted in-depth interviews with 24 young women between the ages of 18 and 25. I interviewed participants about the characteristics of their current romantic relationships and their experiences of anger in this context. I used a constructivist grounded theory methodology involving open, axial, and theoretical coding to analyze the data collected through the interviews (Charmaz, 2006). My analysis suggested an emerging theory of young women’s anger in romantic relationships involving 5 categories, 16 sub-categories, and 4 types. Overall, the findings suggest young women experience contradictions about their power in romantic relationships and variability across events in how they “do” and “undo” gender in relation to their anger in romantic relationships. The findings also confirm that for most young women, their power in romantic relationships is associated with how women relate to, understand and express their anger. The emerging theory of women’s anger in romantic relationships provides a tool for further research on anger in the context of romantic relationships and a set of guidelines for clinicians to assess young women’s anger in romantic relationships. / Ph. D.

Emerging adulthood is a developmental stage that has risen out of a need to recontextualize the lives of individuals aged 18-29 years old in modern times. Sometimes described as a prolonged period of adolescence, emerging adulthood presents unique challenges and opportunities as individuals launch from adolescence and begin to assume more adult roles. Early research on this developmental period details five themes that commonly prevail the lives of emerging adults: identity exploration, feeling in-between, being self-focused, exploring possibilities, andinstability (Arnett, 2000). Though previous studies suggest that these themes remain fairly consistent despite the heterogeneity of the emerging adult population (Arnett et al., 2014; Baggio et al., 2017), there is a call for greater exploration of these themes and how they present based upon different demographic variables. To date, the experiences of rural Appalachian emerging adults have not been examined through the context of these themes. This gap presents an opportunity to explore the rich nuances of Appalachian culture, including its focus on social support and its impact on student success (Hand & Payne, 2008) and emotional well-being (Gottron, 2020). Participants of this study were college students (N = 296, mean age = 20.13) in northeast Tennessee. Participants answered a series of standard questionnaires and several open-ended questions about transitioning to adulthood. The present study examines the written responses to two open-ended questions: What have you most enjoyed about becoming an adult? and What is most stressful about becoming an adult? Two raters coded these responses based on their applicability to the aforementioned themes of emerging adulthood. Chi square analyses examined the presence of these themes in relation to geographic region (rural, urban, suburban). Positive endorsement of being self-focused differed by the area in which one grew up, X2(2, 277) = 13.34, p = .001. Post-hoc analyses with a Bonferonni-corrected alpha (p = .008) examined group differences. Individuals from rural areas reported being self-focused more positively compared to students from suburban or urban areas (p = .002). Due to the strong family commitments often associated with rural culture (Hand & Payne, 2008), rural emerging adults may perceive the ability to focus on their own priorities and goals, rather than that of their family members, as the most salient benefit of growing older. Additionally, these findings suggest that future discussions surrounding Arnett’s theory of emerging adulthood requires further nuance when considering region-specific cultural differences. Understanding where and why the experiences of individuals from rural areas may be different is key as educators and faculty continue to find ways to support the success of their students.

This qualitative study explores how women in emerging adulthood make meaning of text messaging while developing an intimate heterosexual relationship. A focus group consisting of eight women was used in order to understand the way women interpret text messages during the formation of a romantic relationship. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Four themes emerged from the data: (1) what is the landscape?, (2) how do I figure it out?, (3) red flags, and (4) a red flag means. Participants described the context in which they enter relationships, and the role texting plays. Different strategies they used to make meaning of ambiguous text messages were discussed. Participants reported behaviors that were identified as red flags and how participants made meaning of those red flags Limitations, clinical implications, and future directions are identified and discussed. / Master of Science

Socialization of coping is the idea that child coping methods are learned through parents’ modeling of response to stressors. Literature has examined how various aspects of parenting quality may influence their children’s coping behaviors. However, a dearth of research has studied the lasting effect of coping socialization in emerging adulthood, a distinctive time period with the greatest onset rate of psychiatric disorders. Thus, the current study examined how parental mental health, coping responses and discipline strategies influence emerging adult mental health and coping behavior. Two separate multiple regression analyses and a series of moderation and mediation analyses were conducted. Results indicated that emerging adult gender moderated the association between paternal and emerging adult disengagement coping. Additionally, the association between parental and emerging adult mental health was mediated by emerging adults’ disengagement coping. Lastly, the effect of poor maternal coping on emerging adult coping behavior was moderated by parental mental health.

Parenting practices have great influence over a child’s behavior. Specifically, parental involvement may protect children from developing problem behaviors during their development. A strong parent-child relationship may act as a preventative measure towards development of disruptive behavior into emerging adulthood (i.e., 18 to 25 years). The current study aimed to examine the effects of parenting practices and parental involvement on emerging adult outcomes. Results indicated that parental involvement and parenting styles were negatively correlated with disruptive behavior, parenting styles and parental involvement were positively correlated with one another, and females tended to perceive higher levels of involvement from mothers. In addition, it was found that parenting styles and disruptive behavior were accounted for through parental involvement. Child disclosure also was associated with lower levels of disruptive behavior, whereas parental solicitation was found to be associated with higher levels disruptive behavior.

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