The purpose of this study is (1) to develop criteria by statistical methods which will show the extent of gain in personality development through a specific guidance program, and (2) to show by comparison the differences in the scores of instructed groups and those of uninstructed groups.

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This study centered on adolescent self-mutilation as well as possible forms of support and prevention. The information was gathered by assessing the needs of the adolescent girls who self-mutilate by means of semi-structured interviews. In these interviews the adolescent girls expressed their experiences of self-mutilation and their emotional needs. The aim of the study was to explore and describe the needs of adolescent girls who self-mutilate in order to develop guidelines of support so that parents may feel less helpless and overwhelmed. The findings of the study indicated that there are various reasons why an adolescent would engage in selfmutilation, that it serves a function in the adolescents’ lives and surfaces at times of emotional crisis. This study found further that a lack of problem-solving skills, coping abilities and social skills could play a role in whether an adolescent chooses to self-mutilate. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play therapy)

This study uses an integration of ethnographic and case-study qualitative analysis to help explain early adolescent and caregiver perspectives of an increased prevalence of depression in Mexican American girls. This phenomenon has been replicated in numerous other studies and it is important to obtain more information to inform understanding, enhance treatment, and initiate intervention and prevention strategies. The combination of these methods of qualitative inquiry allowed for the triangulation of multiple pieces of data including participant observation, interviewing, and archival research. Retrospective child and caregiver verbal accounts were compared with one another as well as with prior assessment of functioning and participant observation. Fourteen Mexican American or bi-ethnic early adolescents and one of their caregivers were interviewed using an unstructured interview process. Transcribed interviews were analyzed qualitatively. Findings suggest that both girls and caregivers focus on the contribution of negative life events, interpersonal relationship stress, personal characteristics, gender discrimination, and biology on the increased prevalence of depression. It is noteworthy that each of these factors is strongly correlated with the family socio-cultural environment. This study concludes with a proposal to integrate the work of Zayas, Lester, Cabassa, and Fortuna (2005) regarding Latina suicide attempts and the work of Hyde, Mezulis, and Abramson (2008) regarding the increase in girls’ rates of depression during early adolescence to explain the increased prevalence of depression in Mexican American girls yielding additional affective, biological, and cognitive vulnerabilities as well as particular negative life events. / text

This study centered on adolescent self-mutilation as well as possible forms of support and prevention. The information was gathered by assessing the needs of the adolescent girls who self-mutilate by means of semi-structured interviews. In these interviews the adolescent girls expressed their experiences of self-mutilation and their emotional needs. The aim of the study was to explore and describe the needs of adolescent girls who self-mutilate in order to develop guidelines of support so that parents may feel less helpless and overwhelmed. The findings of the study indicated that there are various reasons why an adolescent would engage in selfmutilation, that it serves a function in the adolescents’ lives and surfaces at times of emotional crisis. This study found further that a lack of problem-solving skills, coping abilities and social skills could play a role in whether an adolescent chooses to self-mutilate. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play therapy)

This investigation identifies deterrents to the educational, social, and cultural success of Latina adolescent females. Across the nation, and especially in states such as Texas and California, the Hispanic population is fast becoming the largest minority in society. Because the adolescent Hispanic population within the United States today will comprise much of America's future economic and social base, identifying and addressing educational, cultural, and social deterrents to their success becomes important not only for personal well-being, but for the well-being of future society as a whole. A second purpose was that of determining the efficacy of group-centered psychoeducational therapy in improving self-esteem and decreasing anxiety and depression symptoms in adolescent female Hispanic high school students. The experimental groups consisted of one group of seven female Hispanic adolescents who received computer and internet training and psychoeducational group counseling twice a week for five weeks. and a second group of five female Hispanic adolescents who received computer and internet training and psychoeducational group counseling twice a week for five weeks. The control group consisted of fourteen female Hispanic students who received no treatments. The Beck Depression Inventory was used to measure pre and post test levels of depression, the Beck Anxiety Inventory was used to measure pre and post test levels of anxiety, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem questionnaire and the Index of Self-Esteem were used to measure pre and post levels of self-esteem.

Adolescent females are committing an increasing number of violent interpersonal acts. This study used the qualitative technique of focus group interviews to explore social control and self-control factors which impact such behaviors. Forty-seven girls aged 10-18 years described situations and events where interpersonal violence might be used and also what might prevent such acts. For the girls interviewed, social controls were the predominant means of controlling the use of interpersonal violence. Family and peer groups were the most powerful social controls, whether positive or negative. Self-control was deemed important but most girls lacked either the skills or desire to engage in self-control. Violence prevention programs need to teach techniques for improving self-control and increasing self-concept to be most effective.

Ever since the earliest times much emphasis has been placed on the physical appearance of women. Particularly in western cultures idealized images of perfection are constantly promoted and the message that comes across in various media outlets is that a woman ought to have a 'perfect' appearance in order to be competent and desirable. This puts a great deal of stress on women and particularly on adolescent girls who are going through a phase of increased sensitivity about their appearance. The literature suggests that people, and women in particular, are fundamentally affected by the way they view their bodies. The body image furthermore has a strong relationship with the self concept, which affects other areas of a person's life such as her academic achievement and her social 'life. Against this background an attempt was made in this study to determine the relationship between the body image of adolescent girls and their academic achievement, their sport participation and their social involvement. The subjects were 180 girls drawn from two rural secondary schools. The survey involved the completion of two questionnaires, namely an adapted form of the Physical Self Subscale of the Tenessee Self Concept Scale (used to determine a score for body image) and a questionnaire on social involvement and sport participation, which was drawn up by the researcher. Biographic data as well as academic scores were gathered from school records. Data was analysed statistically by means of the BMDP Software Version 1990: programme (Sun Unix). Pearson's chi square tests of independence, as well as a one-way analysis of variance with co-variate were carried out. The results reveal that the body image and academic achievement of this group of girls are not significantly correlated. There are, however, significant correlations between the body image and social involvement of these girls, between their body image and sport participation, as well as between their social involvement and sport participation. iv These findings have important implications for"'e"ducation and consideration is given to addressing these issues in schools.

Thesis (MEdPsych)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / Bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In recent years there has been an expanse in the literature that is drawing attention to selfinjury and research studies indicate that self-injurious behaviour is prevalent in the age group of thirteen to fifteen years. Although it remains unclear, whether the increased focus on self-injury is due to a greater amount of adolescents who engage in self-injury, or whether it is due to more young people identifying themselves as self-injurers, it has now become an integral component of adolescent behaviour that teachers, parents and other significant role players have to be knowledgeable about, as the likelihood that they will encounter self-injury amongst a young adolescent population is on the increase. As research studies in this arena have been mostly of a quantitative nature and have focused predominately on psychiatric populations, there was a gap in the research to contribute to the limited qualitatively generated knowledge base on self-injury. In this study, a narrative inquiry design was used to make sense of the stories of self-injury that the participants told. Four adolescent girls between the ages of fourteen and seventeen years with no history of mental illness and who were not receiving psychiatric or psychological intervention or showed significant levels of anxiety or depressive symptoms, were selected for the study. Two interviews were conducted with each girl using the fish bowl game and the memory box making to explore their stories of self-injury. The findings of this study suggest that cutting behaviour has purpose in the lives of the girls who participated in this study. Apart from having meaning in their lives, cutting behaviour also served to fulfill various functions, depending on the kind of problem and feelings that would be experienced in that moment. These functions ranged from providing relief, to being a form of punishment, to being a temptation, to becoming a comforting habit and a way to feel alive again. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Oor die afgelope paar jaar is daar ‘n toename in die literatuur wat handel oor selfbesering en navorsingstudies dui daarop dat die voorkoms van selfbeserende gedrag veral ‘n faktor is in die ouderdomsgroep tussen dertien en vyftien jaar. Dit is egter steeds onbekend of die toenemende fokus op selfbeserende gedrag toegeskryf kan word aan ‘n toename in die voorkoms van selfbesering en of dit eerder toegeskryf kan word aan meer jong mense wat hulself identifiseer as selfbeseerders. Hoe dit ookal sy, selfbesering is tans 'n integrale komponent van adolessente gedrag en om hierdie rede is dit 'n noodsaaklikheid dat onderwysers, ouers en ander belanghebbende rolspelers kennis moet dra daaroor omdat die waarskynlikheid dat hulle sulke gedrag sal teëkom, onder 'n jong adolessente populasie, aan die toeneem is. Aangesien navorsingstudies binne hierdie veld hoofsaaklik kwantitatief van aard is, is daar 'n leemte m.b.t. navorsing wat kan bydra tot die klein hoeveelheid kwalitatiewe studies wat wel al gedoen is. In hierdie studie, is 'n narratieweondersoekontwerp gekies omdat die studie wou sin maak van die stories van selfbesering wat die deelnemers vertel het. Vier adolessente meisies tussen die ouderdom van veertien en sewentien jaar het aan die studie deelgeneem wat geen geskiedenis van geestessiekte gehad het nie en ook nie ten tyde van die ondersoek psigiatriese of sielkundige intervensie ontvang het nie. Die deelnemers moes verder ook geen betekenisvolle hoë vlakke van angs of depressie getoon het nie. Twee onderhoude is met elke deelnemer gevoer waartydens die Visbak speletjie (Fish Bowl game) en 'n Herrinneringdosie (Memory Box) gebruik is om die meisies se stories van selfbesering te ontgin. Die bevindinge van hierdie studie stel voor dat snygedrag 'n besliste funksie in die lewens van die deelnemers gehad het. Buiten die feit dat snygedrag vir hulle betekenisvol was, het snygedrag ook verskeie funksies vervul wat hoofsaaklik afgehang het van die tipe probleem en die emosies wat daarmee gepaard gegaan het. Snyfunksies het gewissel van 'n manier om verligting te kry, 'n manier om die self te straf, 'n vertroostende gewoonte en 'n manier om weer iets te kan voel.