This thesis is based on theoretical findings in the area of developmental psychology and focuses on the period of adolescence. The aim of the thesis is the description of specific features of adolescence as a developmental period typically associated with certain types of behaviour and typical language usage, mainly in the area of vocabulary. The thesis aims at linking description of intellectual development with linguistic alasysis to specify norms of communication within the youth subculture. Theoretical claims are verified by data from empirical research in the form of a survey and linguistic analyses of both audio and video recordings and samples of written communication between adolescents. The thesis accentuates the term youth subculture and puts forward that one of its main characteristics is a specific area of vocabulary which helps to strengthen peer relationships.

Staff and student surveys at Lane Elementary School (pseudonym) confirm that students lack motivation to complete class work and often struggle to interact appropriately with one another. Similar concerns are reported across the United States as indicated by national Gallup Poll results on student motivation, peer relationships, and feelings of connectedness in schools. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to determine if elementary school personnel believe than an initiative called The Leader In Me has had a positive impact on student motivation and peer relationships. Underpinning this study were Perrin's student motivation theory and research on social and emotional learning, school/classroom climate, and character education. Interviews were conducted with a combined total of 18 teachers, administrators, and other staff members from three schools in the southeastern region of the United States where this initiative has been fully implemented. The data was analyzed and coded by common themes. The results confirmed that key elements of The Leader In Me including (a) a common understanding of and pervasive use of Seven Habits language, (b) student goal setting and data tracking, (c) leadership opportunities for students, and (d) a school culture that promotes student ownership of learning do indeed increase student motivation and promote positive peer interactions. A white paper was prepared and will be shared with Lane Elementary and others in the larger educational community who seek ways to increase student motivation and enhance peer relationships. This focused attention on improving the learning environment will better equip students to leave school systems college, career, and life ready thereby preparing them to be productive members of a global society.

Childhood cancer is the leading cause of death by disease for children under 15 years of age. Despite a growing survival rate for childhood cancer, psychological research of this population has lagged behind medical advances in treatment. The research that does exist in the psycho-oncology literature is plagued with inconsistency in conclusions and methodological limitations. Focus has been given to measuring maladaptive symptoms with few firm conclusions. Conclusions in the area of social competence of children with cancer have been considerably more reliable than in other domains. Previous research suggests that children with cancer exhibit significant difficulties in the areas of social competence (peer relationships, social functioning) when compared with healthy peers. Although this phenomenon has been consistently demonstrated, it had not been investigated longitudinally or with a focus on pre- and postdiagnosis differences in functioning. This project investigated individual change in social competence in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (the most common form of childhood cancer) during their first 3 months of treatment compared to normally developing controls.

The present study sought to examine the relationship between victimization by peers in middle school and academic outcomes. it was expected that an association between the experience of victimization and diminished academic performance would be mediated by poor psychological outcomes, as measured by moodiness, depression, anxiety, and anger. additionally, it was hypothesized that academic outcomes could be divided into two distinct constructs, motivation and achievement, with motivation and academic goal-orientation variables preceding the adequate attainment of school grades and standardized test scores. therefore, the present mediated model was tested using a structural equation modeling technique: victimization-psychological functioning-academic motivation-academic achievement. additionally, it was hypothesized that certain factors (friendship, prosocial activities and influences, school climate, aggression, and teacher-reported difficulties) would moderate the victimization-psychological functioning pathway. victimized middle school boys and girls were expected to have varying psychological and emotional outcomes depending on proposed risk and protective factors. approximately equal numbers of males and females (n=145 and 181, respectively) were randomly selected from classrooms in 11 middle schools across 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. Students completed questionnaires that assessed hypothesized mediator and moderator variables. In addition, teachers of the selected classrooms completed a brief rating scale on each of the students, which assessed student moodiness, behavioral difficulties, and learning problems. Achievement and discipline records data were obtained. Results revealed that Psychological Functioning mediated the relationship between Victimization and Academic Motivation, which was then related directly to Academic Achievement. Only the Aggression and Climate constructs moderated the Victimization-Psychological Functioning pathway, with Climate factors additionally significant for boys. These results suggest that victimization is associated with poor motivation to achieve if victimized students also experience psychological difficulties. Limited motivation is then associated with poorer academic performance. Contrary to hypothesized associations, endorsing aggressive beliefs and behaviors and experiencing low levels of intervention and support at school against bullying, particularly for boys, were related to better emotional outcomes for students who are highly victimized. While statistically significant, these findings have limited effect sizes. Implications for future research and the development of school-based programming are discussed.

This study investigated the utility of positive peer reporting to improve placement outcomes in foster care settings. Rejected children are likely to exhibit disruptive behavior problems due to frequent negative interactions with their peers, augmenting an already unstable environment in foster care. Researchers have found positive peer reporting to be successful in increasing social status and positive interactions and reducing negative interactions. Utilizing a multiple baseline with reversal elements, this study examined the effects of positive peer reporting on the positive and negative interactions of socially rejected children in foster care settings. Results supported previous literature with the first participant's positive interactions increasing from a mean of 16.67% in baseline to 55.63% during treatment; this was the final phase after a placement change. The second participant's positive interactions increased from a baseline average of 8.6% to a mean of 52.67% after positive peer reporting was implemented. Percentages reversed to near-baseline levels when treatment conditions were removed, averaging 21.5%. Fading procedures returned positive interactions to 41.39%, and these levels maintained across the final baseline, averaging 40%.

Recent models of adolescent development and psychopathology emphasize the importance of the social regulation of emotion during adolescence (Allen & Manning, 2007; Allen & Miga, 2010), and emotion regulation as a mediating factor between multiple aspects of adolescent development and adolescent adjustment (Morris, Silk, Steinberg, Myers, & Robinson, 2007). The present dissertation investigated these two phenomena in two separate studies of adolescent development, emotion regulation, and psychological adjustment. In study one, a new measure of adolescent social regulation of emotion – the Managing Distress Interpersonally Scale, or MANDI – showed good internal consistency, test-retest reliability and factor structure across two samples (217 college students in sample one and 63 community adolescents in sample two). The MANDI also showed good convergent and discriminant validity in its relations with independent assessments of adolescent emotion regulation, relationship functioning, psychological functioning, and physiological regulation of emotion. In study two, 64 community adolescents completed self-report, interview, and physiological procedures (salivary cortisol and respiratory sinus arrhythmia), while one of their parents also completed survey measures. Emotion regulation was found to mediate the developmental context and adolescent depressive symptoms, alcohol problems, and peer aggression. Findings are discussed in terms of the utility of intervening at the level of emotion regulation for adolescents displaying difficulty with internalizing and externalizing symptoms.

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a complex and dangerous set of behaviours that has been gaining increased research attention in recent years. Although existing research indicates that NSSI is prevalent among both adolescent and young adult clinical and community samples, few studies have empirically examined models of factors involved in the etiology and maintenance of these behaviours, particularly the role of social factors. Further, although existing research supports the use of NSSI for emotion regulation purposes, less research attention has focused on the impact of emotion reactivity. The focus of the current project was to examine the role of emotional, interpersonal, and subcultural factors in NSSI. Utilizing a sample of 397 university students, Study 1 presents a psychometric re-evaluation of the Emotion Reactivity Scale (ERS; Nock et al., 2008), used to inform the most appropriate use of the measure in the subsequent studies. Results supported the reliability and validity of the ERS and suggested that the ERS is best utilized as a unidimensional measure of emotion reactivity. Study 2 examined an intra- and inter-personal model of NSSI among the same sample of 397 university students. Support was obtained for the Experiential Avoidance Model of NSSI (Chapman et al., 2006) as well as for the mediational influence of interpersonal relationships on NSSI via emotion regulation. Preliminary support was also provided for the influence of identification with more deviant subcultures, including Goth and Emo groups. Finally, Study 3 aimed to replicate support for the model among a sample of 178 members of self-injury internet forums. Contrary to hypotheses, little support was demonstrated for the model, and fewer significant associations were demonstrated for the influence of subcultural identification. Examination of the characteristics of the sample suggested that the online forum members represent a unique group in regard to the severity of their NSSI experiences that has been understudied in the existing literature. Alternative hypotheses to account for the observed findings are presented. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Research has shown that adolescent students' sense of connection to adults and peers and sense of belonging to school are important for academic achievement, social-emotional growth and well-being, and overall success at school. One key mechanism schools have implemented to foster such relationship building is advisory. Much of the advisory research has focused on advisory programming and best practices. While some scholarship has found advisory programs to improve students' sense of connectedness to their advisor and peers and to increase students sense of belongingness to their school, the advisory literature also indicates that a number of schools and educators have experienced challenges to making advisory work for them and their students. The purpose of this mixed-methods study is to explore how and to what extent enhanced advisory fosters ninth grade students' development, as characterized by the Five Cs of positive youth development. The sample was comprised of 55 ninth grade students participating in enhanced advisory (EA), seven EA advisors, and a previous cohort of 96 ninth grade students who participated in traditional advisory (TA). Pre-post surveys were used to measure the development of students in EA over the course of one academic year and end-of-year surveys were used to compare the positive development of students in EA to that of a previous cohort of ninth grade students in TA. Interviews with EA students and advisors were used to investigate and illuminate the quantitative data on students' sense of connectedness to each other, their advisory groups, and their advisors. Major findings revealed that enhanced advisory (EA) students' end-of-year mean scores on 12 of 16 positive development measures surpassed those of students in traditional advisory (TA), indicating that enhanced advisory played a role in fostering students' positive development. Qualitative data revealed that almost all interviewed students built a positive relationship with their advisors and benefitted academically, socially, and psychologically from that relationship. Many--but not all-- students also described the role of advisory in strengthening their connections to peers and sense of belonging to their advisory group.

abstract: The purpose of this study was to answer the question, "What are the experiences of students who have completed the Achievement Academy program?" In collecting data to answer this question, a series of clarifying questions also emerged: "What are the cultural, academic, and personal costs and benefits associated with being a part of Achievement Academy?"; "How have students defined or redefined their cultural, social, academic, and personal identities because of Achievement Academy?"; and "In what ways have the students used their surroundings and experiences to overcome preconceived notions of either what they were capable of or general expectations of those around them?" While there have been studies undertaken to examine students' experiences in both public school and private school academic programs, there is currently no research on the unique academic program and partnership of Achievement Academy with both public and private schools. This study provides direct insight from a participant focus group and individual participant interviews of students that attended Achievement Academy. A phenomenology research methodology was used to collect the data and Critical Race Theory (CRT) was used as the lens through which the data from the focus group and interviews were analyzed. This analysis resulted in three distinct findings in the research data: peers, program environment, and the presence of a mentor or positive role model are the major influencing factors for their success both in Achievement Academy and afterwards. First, the Achievement Academy students' peers in the program had a strong positive influence on how they viewed and defined themselves. These interactions allowed some students an opportunity to re-evaluate and recreate their identities and allowed validation of identity for others. Second, the Achievement Academy program, and more specifically its stated mission and practices, also provided a strong positive influence on their success. Third, the presence of a mentor or role model was instrumental to their success. The program's emphasis on empowerment and enrichment also created opportunities for students to stretch themselves academically, socially, and culturally. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Administration and Supervision 2012

Ethnic identity is an essential component of youths' sense of self and is influenced by social relationships and experiences. Despite the large amount of time adolescents spend in the school environment and with their peers, little is known about the influence of the overall school context on ethnic identity development. This study examined the direct and indirect effects of sixth grade school context (defined by negative peer relationships and school environment) on ethnic identity development and depression in ninth grade. Using cross-lagged analysis, the bidirectional impact of discrimination experiences on ethnic identity development was also explored. These relationships were also examined separately for European American youth, youth of color with one ethnicity, and multiethnic adolescents. For all adolescents, less negative peer relationships were related to higher ethnic identity level. Ethnic identity was also positively associated with later adolescent depression. In addition, school environment was related to ethnic identity development for European American and adolescents of color; for youth of color with one ethnicity, ethnic identity also predicted later depression levels. School context was not found to be associated with ethnic identity development for multiethnic adolescents, although negative relationships were related to higher depression levels for this group. Finally, the cross-lagged model of ethnic identity and discrimination suggested no bidirectional influence between these two variables. This study supports existing studies on the importance of ethnic identity on adolescent development. It also provides much needed knowledge of how the school context contributes to adolescent ethnic identity and depression. Furthermore, these findings contribute to the growing body of literature on the developmental trajectories of multiethnic adolescents. Findings from this study have implications for intervening at the school level. Promoting cultural sensitivity among students and staff can decrease negative peer interactions (e.g., bullying) and other negative social experiences, thereby decreasing the risk of poor academic and psychological outcomes for adolescents at risk of experiencing adversity.