Women in general have been historically overlooked in society and, more recently, in research females with emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD) have been unnoticed (Rice, Merves, & Srsic, 2008). The purpose of the current study is to build a foundation of knowledge and practices for educators and researchers to better support and education this unique population of females. To better understand females with EBD, the researcher imposed a three-phase study, situated in two frameworks-the Culturally Responsive Theory Framework (Wlodkowski & Ginsberg, 1995) and the Participation-Identification Model (Finn, 1989), to look into the predictors of school engagement for females with EBD. In the first phase the researcher utilized quantitative data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 to build three structural equation models (SEM) on the predictors of school engagement for students with EBD. Results and procedures are discussed for each SEM created. During phase two the researcher shifted the focus to females with EBD and interviewed six current females with EBD, ages 14-17. The participants were engaged in separate interviews that allowed the researcher to uncover additional variables necessary for females with EBD to engage in the school setting. The third phase consisted of an intersection of phases one and two to create a newly developed SEM model for females with EBD merging the interviews and the SEM built in phase one. The newly developed SEM is provided for future research, as well as are the provision of recommendations and implications of the results from the study.

Studies find consistently that survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) are likely to suffer from depression, post-traumatic stress, and problematic substance use, and may experience also a variety of adjustment difficulties in several emotional, behavioral, and interpersonal domains. Involvement with the legal system is one such outcome to consider, especially given the increasing number of women serving time in correctional facilities with nearly two-thirds of these women being survivors of CSA (e.g., Browne, Miller, & Maguin, 1999). The current literature lacks comparisons between female survivors of CSA who have legal involvement and those who do not; hence, the current study addresses the need for a comprehensive investigation of early victimizations and later adjustment. Data were obtained from 169 female inmates and 420 female college students, a number of whom were survivors of CSA (66% and 35.5%, respectively), so that group differences could be examined and relationships among family environment, abuse disclosure history, coping, perceived social support, adjustment (i.e., trauma symptoms, substance abuse, depressive symptomatology, revictimization), and criminal history could be explored. Results suggested that inmate survivors experience poorer functioning overall relative to student survivors of CSA, including more depressive symptoms, trauma symptoms, and substance abuse. Further, avoidance coping by using substances mediated fully the relationship between trauma symptoms and substance abuse for both groups. Finally, severity of CSA, problematic substance use, and social support emerged as significant predictors of incarceration among survivors of CSA. Findings may aid in the refinement of interventions, prevention efforts, and educational programs regarding CSA, and shed light on pathways to incarceration.

The workforce in society today has rapidly growing fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Females are largely underrepresented in these fields in colleges and also careers. Previous research cites multiple reasons that could cause this disparity between the genders, and this study adds to that. Females in their developmental years are equal to or outperform males in STEM fields in school, and the number of females who are beginning to choose these areas in college is on the rise. This study sought to determine if females choose colleges and careers based on their family’s emotional or financial influence. Utilizing data from the United States Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics’ (NCES) High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 with a follow-up study in 2012, answers to the research questions were sought. Analysis using t-tests determined that while a family’s financial situation does have an effect on college choice, females are supported by their families as they choose math and science fields of study. Future research could seek to determine more specifically why females continue to choose careers in fields of education and healthcare to provide community colleges better information to help direct females into the expanding fields of STEM.

Prior research has established significant associations between regular physical activity and enhancements in well-being, quality of life, and self-regulation. Given that these benefits may extend to influence the quality of romantic relationships, the present study was the first to evaluate the relationship between exercise and romantic relationship satisfaction through the role of body image, drawing upon the Self-Determination Theory as the theoretical framework. Specifically, the current study aimed to achieve three objectives: (a) to investigate the impact of exercise on romantic relationship satisfaction, (b) to examine the effects of body image as a mediator in the exercise-relationship connection, and (c) to determine whether exercise motives moderate the mediating effect of body image. Data were gathered from an online survey completed by 392 cisgender women in heterosexual relationships and analyzed using PROCESS Macro for SPSS Model 4 and Model 7, respectively. The results showed that exercise frequency was not directly related to romantic relationship satisfaction. However, body image fully mediated this association, indicating that increased exercise predicted body satisfaction and subsequently contributed to individuals' perceived relationship quality. While exercise motivation did not emerge as a moderator of the mediation of body image, health/fitness and enjoyment/mood motives significantly predicted positive body evaluation and relationship quality. In contrast, concerns related to appearance were linked to higher levels of social comparison and negative affect. Therefore, these findings highlight the value of fostering a positive body image and reducing body-focused motivation, as well as prioritizing autonomous exercise for the quality of romantic relationships and overall well-being.

The aim of the present study was to explore the ways adolescent females, age 14 through 17, utilized social networking websites such as MySpace and Facebook for communication, self-presentation and identity development purposes. Uses and gratifications theory served as a framework for identifying the participants' motivations for heavily using these websites, which allow users to post pictures, interests and updates for their friends to view and interact with online. Using a qualitative method, one preliminary focus group and ten in-depth interviews were conducted, totaling fifteen female participants between the ages of 14 and 17. Interview questions covered topics such as peer interactions through social networking sites, posting personal content to their profile pages, self-presentations through pictures and text, creating and maintaining friendships through these sites, and negative and positive feedback received through comments. Results indicated that the participants frequently used social networking websites for five main gratifications: Information Sharing, Convenient Communication, Self-Expression, Friendship Formation and Social Support.

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