<p> Anxiety is a prominent diagnosis that children can experience at an early age. When untreated, due to negative perceptions and stigmas, childhood anxiety can manifest into severe mental conditions. However, there are professionals who are trained to assist children with their anxiety and destigmatize the idea of anxiety. The intention of this study was to examine the perspectives of professionals who work with children with anxiety and to explore further these professional&rsquo;s beliefs about where anxiety originates. Data was collected through four semi-structured interviews with participants who have diverse backgrounds and work in multiple settings with children who experience anxiety. The results of this study indicate that there are both stigmas and an acceptance of individuals with anxiety disorders. Furthermore, this study brings an awareness to the impact that culture and media can play in developing fears and anxieties in children as well as the importance of seeking early interventions in order to minimize further mental health concerns. </p><p>

<p>Prior research has found that children who pursue revenge goals in minor conflicts with peers are less accepted, have fewer friends, and have friendships of lower quality. Very little research has been devoted to understanding what factors might increase a child's tendency to seek revenge in minor conflicts of interest or in more provocative situations. The present study was designed to assess several variables that may increase revenge motivations in two contexts: minor conflicts of interest and major provocation situations. Of particular interest were the interpretations that children make in conflict, especially interpretations of rejection and disrespect. Two personal dispositions were also investigated, rejection sensitivity and disrespect sensitivity. The latter was assessed using a measure designed for this study. The study also examined whether beliefs about the legitimacy of aggression and beliefs about negative reciprocity moderate the association between negative interpretations and revenge goals. </p><p>Participants were seventh-grade adolescents (n = 367) from a middle school in a midwestern suburban school district. Students were shown vignettes (hypothetical situations) depicting conflict-of-interest situations and major provocation situations. In response to each vignette, participants rated how they would feel, how they would interpret the person's behavior, what their goals would be in the situation, and what behavioral strategies they would enact. Students also completed measures of rejection sensitivity, disrespect sensitivity, reciprocity beliefs, and beliefs about the legitimacy of aggression. Additionally, students indicated which of their grademates were sensitive to rejection and which were sensitive to disrespect.</p><p>Results indicated that adolescents endorsed more rejection and disrespect interpretations, revenge goals, and aggressive strategies in the major provocation situations than in the conflict-of-interest situations. Boys more strongly endorsed revenge goals and aggressive strategies than did girls, although there were not gender differences in rejection or disrespect interpretations. Both rejection and disrespect interpretations were significantly related to revenge goals in both types of situations. In both conflicts of interest and major provocation situations, rejection interpretations mediated the link between rejection sensitivity and revenge goals. In conflicts of interest, disrespect interpretations partially mediated the association between disrespect expectations and revenge goals. In major provocation situations, disrespect interpretations mediated the link between situational disrespect and revenge goals. Although rejection and disrespect interpretations were highly related, when their shared variance was partialed out "disrespect-free" rejection interpretations were associated with revenge goals in both conflicts of interest and in major provocation situations, whereas "rejection-free" disrespect only remained associated with revenge goals in conflict-of-interest situations. Additionally, both legitimacy of aggression beliefs and negative reciprocity beliefs were independently associated with revenge goals in both conflicts of interest and major provocation situations, even after controlling for gender differences and negative interpretations. Further, negative reciprocity beliefs moderated the association between negative interpretations and revenge goals such that adolescents who were high on negative reciprocity beliefs and negative interpretations were much more likely to seek revenge than adolescents who were low on negative reciprocity beliefs and high on negative interpretations. These findings suggest that the continued comparison of disrespect and rejection experiences is warranted and highlight the need to study the personal dispositions and beliefs that may increase revenge goals and vengeful behavior.</p> / Dissertation

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Feb. 4, 2010). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-04, Section: A, page: 1425. Adviser: Alan W. Ewert.

<p> Viewing motivation to volunteer through an attachment theory perspective may enhance understanding of volunteering motivations. A questionnaire was administered to (N=155) emerging adult college students using a Lykert-type scale (1 - 7) to assess attachment (Bartholomew &amp; Horowitz, 1991) and motivation to volunteer (Omoto &amp; Snyder, 1994). Five forward linear regression analyses were conducted to identify significant predictors of attachment style on motivation to volunteer. For each analysis, one of the five motivations to volunteer variables (values, understanding, esteem enhancement, personal development, community concern) was regressed on the combination of four attachment style variables (secure, avoidant, anxious ambivalent, dismissing avoidant). Findings indicate that Secure significantly predicted Values, Understanding, and Community Concern; Anxious Ambivalent predicted Understanding, Personal Development, Community Concern, and Esteem Enhancement; and Dismissing Avoidant predicted Understanding. These findings partially support the hypothesized notion that securely individuals would likely report selfless motivations; whereas, insecure individuals would likely report self-serving motivations. </p>

<p> Using a meaning making lens and a qualitative methodology, this dissertation study sought to explore transformative meaning making and implicit beliefs of parenting among a sample of 40 adolescent mothers participating in a home visiting program during their transition to parenthood. Given the high attrition rate for interventions serving adolescent moms, the study also explored the alignments between meaning making and home visiting program participation. Through iterative coding and theme analysis, this investigation revealed that participants&rsquo; beliefs about parenting evolve as they transition from pregnancy to parenting. They engage in meaning making throughout the process, which leads to scripts of change in three areas: improvements in relationships, changes in life outlook, and changes to self. Two groups emerged on either end of the spectrum of meaning making. High meaning-making <i> transformers</i> tended to remain actively enrolled in the intervention while the low meaning-making <i>remainers</i> all dropped out by the second year. An analysis of implicit beliefs about parenting, or meta-parenting mindset, identified three groups of participants: <i>fixed theorists, </i> <i>incremental theorists,</i> and <i>mixed theorists. </i> Fixed theorists, who believed parenting ability was natural or instinctual, had a lower retention rate in the program (14%) than the overall rate of the sample (42%) even after controlling for participants who moved away. Incremental theorists, who attributed their parenting abilities to gradual growth and learning, had a 50% retention rate and also represented just 6.6% of those receiving a low number of visits and 66.6% of those who had high rates of home visits.</p>

The present study assessed the relationship between one's attachment style and one's chronic (trait-based) and acute (state-based) emotional responses to others, focusing on one's level of empathic concern. The individual attachment styles of subjects were assessed using the Brennan, Clark and Shaver (1998) Experiences in Close Relationships Scale. In the first part of the project, participants' emotional responses were assessed when confronted with another individual in need in an experiment based on the Batson et al. (1988) "Katie Banks" paradigm. "Katie Banks" is a fictitious student who needs help raising money to assist in taking care of her orphaned siblings. This experimental paradigm was used to measure participants' affective responses to learning of her plight. The second part of the project involved an assessment of the trait of empathy as related to individuals' attachment styles. The participants completed the Davis (1996) Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) to assess four sub-measures of empathy. Potential links between these measures and attachment style were explored. The primary hypotheses were that individuals with attachment styles characterized by a tendency to focus on others would be more able to express other-focused emotional responses to another in need (and in general) than those individuals who tend to focus on themselves and generally avoid relationships. In addition, those individuals who typify attachment styles that tend to become anxious within relationships were predicted to express more distressing emotional responses than those who represent attachment styles with less anxiety within relationships. Whereas some of the results from the trait assessment of empathy supported these hypotheses, results of the state-based affective responses did not. With regard to trait-based measures, securely attached individuals tended to take the perspective of others more than less securely attached individuals, and secure individuals expressed significantly less distress. In addition, preoccupied individuals (and high anxiety individuals in general) exhibited significantly more distress. Finally, those with low avoidance attachment styles responded significantly higher on the fantasy scale. With regard to the state-based measures, contrary to predictions, there were no differences among the attachment styles in the type of affective responses to the laboratory need situation.

Previous genetic research has identified many human genes with allelic variation that are associated with differences in hormone synthesis. Still other non-genetic biological research has shown that increased levels of hormones are predictive of onset of puberty and that pubertal maturation is one of the strongest predictors of sexual activity onset. Studies informed by evolutionary theory have also shown that family context, such as the presence or absence of the biological father in early childhood, can predict pubertal maturation and, indirectly, subsequent sexual activity. This study was unique in that no research to date had attempted to use genetic markers as direct predictors of pubertal maturation and subsequent onset of sexual behavior in adolescents. Two genes of particular interest included the androgen receptor (AR) gene and the cytochrome P450c17-alpha gene (CYP17). Saliva samples (for genetic marker identification), pubertal status, and sexual behavior measures were gathered bi-annually from 248 post-menarcheal females over 2--3 years. Hierarchical linear modeling and growth curve analyses revealed that the A1/A1 allele of the CYP17 gene was predictive of the presence of a biological father, which predicted age at menarche. Later ages at menarche predicted lower onset level of sexual development and earlier ages at menarche predicted higher onset levels of sexual development; however, lower onset levels of sexual development predicted faster rates of sexual development. These findings show that genetic markers can be used to help identify variation in timing of pubertal development. Also, these results provide additional insight into understanding the differences in rates of sexual development among girls and suggest that there are mediating factors that may be buffering girls with higher onset levels of sexual development from progressing through sexual stages faster.

Sexual identity is examined in terms of three distinct parts: sexual style, self-concept in relational and sexual domains, and concepts of relationships and partners. Sexual style, the first component of sexual identity in this study, is defined operationally to include numerous features of sexual behavior and attitudes about behavior. Self-concept in relational and sexual domains is the second component of sexual identity and includes beliefs about the self in relationships, desire for relationships, personal marriage expectations and gender role beliefs. Concepts of relationships and partners, the third component of sexual identity, includes features of dating relationships in general, beliefs about dating, experience of communication and violence in relationships, and for people in relationships, specific characteristics of the relationship. The data for this project were taken from Wave 7 (age 20-21) of the Michigan Study of Adolescent Life Transitions (MSALT). Part one of the study utilized hierarchical cluster analysis with split halves of females and males to group individuals into different sexual style clusters. Clusters were based on the measured variables: Usual frequency of intercourse, importance of regularly having sex, satisfaction with sex life, experience of coercion for sex, and sexual risk reduction. For females, the following five-cluster solution best represented the sample: Satisfied, Moderate, Active Unprotected, Pressured and Comfortably Inactive. For males, the following six-cluster solution best represented the sample: Satisfied, Dissatisfied, Moderate, Active Unprotected, Pressured and Comfortably Inactive. The model to predict sexual style was based on a model of sexual identity, and used multivariate logistic regression to estimate the probability of cluster membership given a certain level of each predictor variable, holding constant the other predictor variables. Using the model of sexual identity, it was possible to correctly classify between 35--47% of the females and males into the correct sexual style.

The study attempted to explore if epistemological development occurs among first-year college students and to untangle the process of that development by investigating the role of intersubjectivity and metacognitive awareness as mechanisms of change. Epistemological development is an orderly sequence of five increasingly complex positions through which students reason about the nature of knowledge (Perry, 1970). Intersubjectivity is the cognitive developmental process whereby interacting peers who begin problem-solving tasks with different understandings arrive at shared understanding in the course of communication with each other (Tudge, 1992). Metacognitive awareness, the ability to facilitate the control aspect of cognition (Schraw & Dennison, 1994), may play an important role in the resolution of ill-structured problems (Kitchener, 1983). Eighty-three participants (treatment N = 50; control N = 33) completed the Measure of Epistemological Development, an open-ended paper-and-pencil five-domain instrument which was created for this study (Baxter-Magolda, 1987; Moore, 1990) and administered at pre-test, post-test, and follow-up. The developmental process variables were measured by self-report intersubjectivity items (i.e., exposure to new forms of reasoning; adopted others' reasoning) and the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory Regulation of Cognition Sub-Scale (Schraw & Dennison, 1994). Treatment group discussions about ill-structured problems were guided by seven probe questions (Kitchener & King, 1981), offered scaffolding and contextual support (Kitchener, Lynch, Fischer, & Wood, 1993), and ended with peers reaching agreement. Epistemological reflection developed significantly between pre-test and follow-up (t = -2.60, p < .01). The control group changed little over time, while the treatment group slightly regressed from pre-test to post-test then developed significantly by follow-up F(df = 2, 7.06, p < .01). Intersubjectivity moderated change in epistemological reflection between pre-test and follow-up (R² = .645, p < .05). Treatment participants who reported the lowest levels of intersubjectivity scored higher on follow-up epistemological reflection than all other treatment participants. Metacognitive awareness moderated change in epistemological reflection differentially for treatment and control participants. The unique effects of the metacognitive-awareness-by-condition interaction term and metacognitive awareness remained after the effects of pre-test epistemological reflection, metacognitive awareness, and the pre-test-by-metacognitive-awareness-by-condition interaction term were controlled statistically (R² = .532, p < .05).

The purpose of this exploratory study was to provide insight into the contextual influences (events, experiences, and relationships) that impact multidimensional identity development during college. Specifically, the types of influences that shape identity development and the processes by which this development occurs were of interest. The sources of data for this study included the stories told by college alumni as well as the concepts found within commonly used student development inventories and assessment tools. Two methods were used to gather data from the respondents: lifelines and semi-structured interviews. The lifeline was used to encourage reflective thought among the alumni; whereas, the interviews were used to gather information about their experiences during college. A document analysis was conducted on the student development inventories and assessment tools in order to determine the conceptualization of identity found therein. In interpreting the data, a conceptual framework that drew on two bodies of literature (the research that concerns student identity development and the research that focuses on life events and experiences) was used. The results of the current study not only provide insight into the contextual influences that shape multidimensional identity development but also suggest the importance of embracing a constructivist framework and holistic conceptualization when studying identity development. Moreover, the results suggest new ways of thinking about the influence that faculty and administrators have over the environment in terms of shaping identity. Future research should continue to investigate the underlying process of multidimensional identity development.