The increasing awareness about the important role that fathers play in their daughters’ lives, have lead to the undertaking of this study. The goal of this study was to determine whether there is a specific parenting style of fathers that will contribute to the achieving of a higher level of emotional intelligence in grade 2 daughters. Quantitative research with an exploratory and descriptive nature was used. Data were collected with the use of the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ) as well as the Cilliers Emotional Intelligence Test. The sample consisted of 24 Grade 2 girls and their parents. The conclusion was that the relationship between parenting style dimensions and emotional intelligence was not showed through the parenting style or dimension mostly used, but through the parenting style dimension that was used the least. / Thesis (M. Diac. (Spelterapie))

This study compared perceived levels of parenting stress between mothers and fathers of children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), children with developmental disabilities, and normally developing children. The relationship of certain demographic variables, such as Socio-economic Status (SES), number of children, years married, parent age, and child age, as well as social support with parenting stress was also examined for mothers and fathers of these three groups. Identification of factors related to parenting stress in fathers was of particular importance for this study, as fathers are often an underrepresented group within parenting research. Identifying effective methods for predicting high levels of parenting stress is important, as stress has been linked to psychological well-being, potential for abuse, and a greater likelihood of poor adjustment for both parent and child. Results from the present study comparing reported stress levels between groups of parents were supportive of previous studies indicating that parents of children with ADHD and developmentally disabilities experience significantly greater parenting stress, specifically with respect to child characteristics. Significant gender differences were also found between mothers and fathers in terms of parent characteristics related to stress. Fathers reported greater stress in the areas of attachment, while mothers reported more parent role restrictions. Additionally, significant negative relationships were found between parents' perceived helpfulness of informal social support and parenting stress scores in both mothers and fathers, affirming positive effects of social support on stress. Helpfulness of informal social support was also significantly predictive of parenting stress in both mothers and fathers across both the child and parent domains of the PSI, although, it had more predictive power with regard to parent related contributors to parenting stress. Family demographic factors, including age of the child and SES demonstrated some predictive power of parenting stress in mothers. Mothers with younger children and lower SES were more likely to report greater parenting stress. Implications of these results and future directions for research are also discussed.

Mothers and siblings of children with autism incur stressors that impact their well-being more adversely than mothers of children with ADHD or normally developing children. In Study 1, twenty-six mothers of children with autism (Group 1) were compared to 24 mothers of children with ADHD (Group 2) and 24 mothers with normally developing children (Group 3). All families included a normally developing child (ages 4 to 12). Measures to delineate levels of maternal functioning were administered. Results for Study 1 indicated that mothers of children with autism had higher levels of psychological symptomatology, higher parenting stress, poorer perceptions of their family environment and their ability to parent the siblings, and higher perceptions of internalized problems of the siblings than mothers with normally developing children. These findings support the literature stating that mothers of children with autism may experience increased levels of maternal stress. The reciprocal nature of the parent-child relationship suggests that parents should be involved in meeting the needs of siblings in these families. A subgroup of Group 1 mothers participated in a parent group that occurred simultaneously with a sibling group. Mothers were randomly assigned to participate in a parent/sibling group, a sibling only group, or a wait-list group. Intervention efficacy was assessed using Study 1 measures plus measures designed specifically for the intervention. Overall results of study 2 indicated that mothers in the deluxe intervention perceived their parenting of the siblings to have improved after the intervention when compared to the standard and wait-list groups. This suggested that concurrent mother/sibling intervention provided the mothers with beneficial information and contributed to their enhanced sense of competence about parenting the siblings. In addition, mothers in the deluxe intervention perceived their family environment and the behaviors of the sibling to get worse at post-intervention, but return to baseline over time. This suggests that the intervention may have initially brought some difficulties to the surface that were resolved over time. Results will be discussed with their implications for further research and clinical intervention.

Within the evolutionary framework of sexual selection and parental investment theory, the study employed four experiments to examine the effects of mating and parenting awareness on the perception and assessment of high risk sports. In Study 1, participants were exposed, in random order, five types of pictures---attractive female, regular female, attractive male, regular male, and award winning pictures. After the activation of each of these pictures, participants were asked to respond to pictures depicting high risk sport events. The reaction time to high risk sport events was shortest when men saw attractive female pictures. The same effect was not found in female participants viewing attractive male pictures. Study 2 used the same mating awareness manipulation (attractive female pictures versus other pictures) but also added parenting and child rearing pictures depicting pregnant women or young children with their mothers. The results showed that men's reaction time to high risk sports was shorter when exposed to attractive female pictures than other conditions and was longer when exposed to parenting-related pictures. Study 3 included socialsexual orientation as a covariate and results similar to Study 1 were obtained after controlling for the extraneous influence of socialsexual orientation. Study 4 focused on risk assessment in different domains including entertainment, financial investment, health and social risk. The results showed that men under-assessed risk in the entertainment domain when exposed to attractive female pictures than to award winning pictures. However, the same effect was not found with other risk domains. Overall, the findings support the evolutionary account of risk taking which is sexually selected male attribute as an ornament to attract mating partners and which is reduced when men shift from mating to parenting and child rearing concerns. One practical implication for controlling risk taking behaviors among adolescents is the knowledge that risk taking behavior may be more likely in mixed- than in single-gender social groups. / 李宏利. / Adviser: Lei Chang. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: A, page: 1923. / Thesis (doctoral)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-118). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / School code: 1307. / Li Hongli.

by Leung Yee Kong. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-124). / LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES / Chapter I. --- ABSTRACT --- p.1 / Chapter II. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.3 / Types of Social Indicators --- p.8 / Chapter III. --- LITERATURE REVIEW AND RESEARCH PROBELMS --- p.12 / Life Satisfaction as Subjective Measure of Well-Being --- p.13 / Towards a Causal Analysis for Weil-Being --- p.16 / Chapter IV. --- RESEARCH DESIGN AND HYPOTHESES SETTING --- p.25 / Source of Data --- p.25 / Operationalization of Variables --- p.26 / Hypotheses Setting --- p.31 / Chapter V. --- PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS --- p.37 / Age --- p.37 / Education --- p.38 / Occupation --- p.39 / Household Structure --- p.41 / Income --- p.42 / Housing --- p.43 / Chapter VI. --- MEASURING GLOBAL WELL-BEING AND LIFE DOMAINS --- p.46 / Life in General --- p.46 / Evaluation of Life Domains --- p.51 / Bivariate Relationships --- p.60 / Chapter VII. --- PREDICTION OF GLOBAL WELL-BEING --- p.69 / Prediction of Global Satisfaction --- p.70 / Prediction of Global Happiness --- p.80 / Structural Modeling --- p.85 / Chapter (1) --- Affect-Cognition Model --- p.87 / Chapter (2) --- Parent-Youth Relation Model --- p.90 / Chapter VIII. --- SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION --- p.102 / Profile of Respondents --- p.102 / Evaluation of Global Measures --- p.103 / Evaluation of Life Domains --- p.103 / Correlation Between Global and Domain Measures --- p.105 / Predictors of Global Life Satisfaction --- p.108 / Predictors of Global Happiness --- p.111 / Structural Modeling --- p.113 / Implications of the Study --- p.115 / Methodological Suggestions to Further Research --- p.119 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.121 / APPENDIX -- The Questionnaire (Chinese version)

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Social Work and Social Administration / Master / Master of Philosophy

Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Faculty of Human Sciences, Department of Psychology, Centre for Emotional Health, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references. / Introduction -- Parenting in adolescent depression: the mediating role of self-worth in a prospective test -- Neuroticism, life events and negative thoughts in the development of depression in adolescent girls -- A cognitive diathesis-stress generation model of early adolescent depression -- General discussion. / This research examined the longitudinal development of depressive symptoms among young adolescents (mean age 12 years). The first model examined depressive symptoms across 6 months in 315 young adolescents and their mothers, considering the mediation of perceived parenting and its influence on adolescent self-worth. Although parent-reported parental depression was not linked with child-reported perceived parenting, the child's perception of his or her mother as rejecting or less caring was associated with a lower sense of self-worth, which in turn predicted depressive symptoms 6 months later, controlling for initial depression. In the second model, tested across 12 months with 896 young adolescent girls, neuroticism served as a distal vulnerability for depression, conferring a risk of experiencing dependent stressors and negative automatic thoughts which fully mediated the effect of neuroticism on later depression. Initial depressive symptoms also followed this meditational pathway, in a possible maintenance and risk pathway for adolescent depression. Unexpectedly, independent stressors were also predicted by initial depressive symptoms, suggesting possible shared method or genuine environmental factors. Finally, it was proposed that young adolescents at risk of depression will not only display cognitive vulnerabilities contributing to increased depressive symptoms following stressors (cognitive diathesis-stress theory), but also be more likely to experience stressors at least partly dependent on their own behaviour (stress-generation theory). This model was supported with a large (N=756) sample of young adolescents across 6 months, controlling for initial depression. Taken together, this thesis extends previous theories about the aetiology of depression, providing evidence from family, personality and cognitive risk factors to better explain the development of depressive symptoms in early adolescence, with significant implications for intervention and treatment. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / viii, 140 leaves ill

The increasing awareness about the important role that fathers play in their daughters’ lives, have lead to the undertaking of this study. The goal of this study was to determine whether there is a specific parenting style of fathers that will contribute to the achieving of a higher level of emotional intelligence in grade 2 daughters. Quantitative research with an exploratory and descriptive nature was used. Data were collected with the use of the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ) as well as the Cilliers Emotional Intelligence Test. The sample consisted of 24 Grade 2 girls and their parents. The conclusion was that the relationship between parenting style dimensions and emotional intelligence was not showed through the parenting style or dimension mostly used, but through the parenting style dimension that was used the least. / Thesis (M. Diac. (Spelterapie))

M.A. / Conduct disorder is one of the most frequently diagnosed childhood disorders. The prevalence of this disorder has increased over the past few decades, which has ramifications for many facets of society, such as with families, justice systems, institutions involved with the rehabilitation of these children, and society as a whole. Conduct disorder has been found to be stable over time, and is therefore often associated with problems later in life such as violent crime, alcoholism, marital discord, and antisocial personality disorder. There have been many theories advanced for the aetiology of conduct disorder, but it is generally a bio-psychosocial model, rather than a single theory that receives the most attention when considering the development of this disorder. Included within such a model are variables such as a genetic component, neuropsychological factor, comorbid factor, socio-economic element, and a social learning component, that are involved with the development and maintenance of conduct disorder. One of the most consistently researched aspects involved within such models proposed for the aetiology of conduct disorder has been the role that certain parental styles have in the development of conduct disorder. Parental styles and the home environment have been consistently found to be a precursor of conduct disorder in foreign studies, however there is a lack of research within a South African context in this area. In order to establish whether there are specific styles of parenting related to conduct disorder in a South African sample, two measuring instruments were utilised, which were the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) and the Family Environment Scale (FES). The PBI and FES were administered to two groups of adolescents (n=80): one group of males (n=40) diagnosed with conduct disorder, and one group of males (n=40) without a diagnosis of conduct disorder. These instruments were used in order to establish if there were any differences in the perceived style of parenting between the two groups. The study yielded results that are similar to those found in foreign based studies. It was found with the South African sample, that a parenting style characterised by a low amount of care on the part of the mother, and overprotection on the part of the father was found within the conduct disorder group. Together these form a Parenting style of `affectionless control'. These parents were found to exert a high amount of control over their children, have a low expressiveness of emotions and feelings, have a low involvement with their children, and were poor at supervising and monitoring their children. These results indicate that parental styles could be a precursor of conduct disorder within a South African context. The implications of these results are discussed as well as the limitations of the study. Recommendations for future research and possible applications of the results are delineated.

This study examined the effectiveness of training low income Black American parents in child parent relationship therapy (CPRT). In response to the cultural values and challenges faced by low income Black American parents, the CPRT manual was adapted slightly for use with parents for this study. In this quasi-experimental design, 14 parents were assigned to the experimental group and 13 parents were assigned to the no treatment control group. Six hypotheses were analyzed. Different analyses were conducted based on the hypotheses. A two-factor repeated measures analysis of variance and analysis of covariance were conducted to determine if the CPRT treatment and the no treatment control group performed differently across time according to pretest and posttest results of the Child Behavior Checklist - Parent Version (CBCL) and the Parenting Stress Index (PSI). Additionally, partial η2 was calculated to determine practical significance. Five hypotheses were retained at the .025 level of significance. Findings indicated that parents who participated in the CPRT training reported a statistically significant decrease in parent-child relationship stress. Specifically, parents assigned to the experimental group demonstrated a statistically significant decrease in Child Domain (p < .001), Parent Domain (p < .001), and Total Stress (p < .001) of the PSI when compared to parents assigned to the no treatment control group. Similarly, results indicated that parents assigned to the experimental group reported statistically significant improvements in Total Problems (p < .01) and Externalizing Problems (p = .001) of the CBCL, when compared to parents assigned to the no treatment control group. No statistical significant results were found on Internalizing Problems.