Issued also as Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University. / Bibliography: p. 90-91.

<p> Bullying continues to be a global concern in schools and communities, especially in light of its adverse short- and long-term impacts on youth with respect to both psychiatric and physical health (Espelage &amp; Swearer, 2003; Rodkin, Espelage, &amp; Hanish, 2015; Witted &amp; Dupper, 2005). As a result, numerous programs and resources aimed at preventing bullying and intervening with both victims and perpetrators have been developed. An increased use of computer-mediated communications (CMCs) among adolescents (Patchin, 2013) has lead to the emergence of a new form of bullying called cyberbullying, which involves intentional acts of aggression through online or cellular phone communications. Therefore a need for resources specifically targeting cyberbullying that are accessible and easy-to-use is also needed. </p><p> The current project involved developing a resource in the form of wireframing for a mobile-app, aimed at decreasing cyberbullying among adolescents (ages 12-18 years) by providing them with a reflective learning tool to heighten their awareness of their involvement in cyberbullying, its potential adverse consequences, and to connect them with relevant resources. The project was informed by a review of the literature on physical bullying, cyberbullying (e.g., prevalence, forms, and roles involved), and the efficacy of current prevention/treatment programs and resources. The resulting mobile-app wireframe is presented in the form of a manual and simulation using the JustinMind program (Farrell-Vinary, 2011). The wireframe is comprised of four modules: (1) An Assessment Module to assess user&rsquo;s cyberbullying role (bully, victim, bully/victim) and tailor the mobile-app&rsquo;s content, (2) a Psychoeducation Module providing information on the adverse affects, signs, and symptoms of cyberbullying, (3) a Daily Log Module to monitor online behaviors and increase online awareness, and (4) a Resources Module to provide additional support to other programs, information, and personal contacts. Although the resource is intended primarily for use by teens as a self-help tool, it may be implemented as part of a hybrid approach in conjunction with therapy or school-based programs. </p><p> Following a discussion of strengths, limitations and potential improvements to the current resource, plans for evaluating its efficacy once developed into a functional mobile-app and disseminating it to relevant professionals are described.</p>

<p> Although numerous studies have identified the buffering effects of different coping strategies in stress and health research, few studies have considered the influence of cultural factors such as allocentrism (degree of collectivism). The present study examined whether the collectivistic coping strategies of support (support from racially similar others, support from experienced others, support from family) and avoidance (forbearance, fatalism) were associated with perceived and physiological stress levels, and whether allocentrism influenced this relationship, among a sample of low-income mothers. Results showed that higher use of support from family and lower use of avoidance coping were associated with lower levels of perceived stress and lower morning cortisol. Among women high in allocentrism, those who used support from experienced others had lower levels of perceived stress. These results contribute to our understanding of the role of culture in stress-coping research and how culture influences our physiological stress reactions.</p>

<p> This research project used a causal comparative design to examine differences between intact groups of graduate art therapy students using art as a response to emotions and sharing the art during group supervision. There is scant research on group art therapy supervision thus in this study the variables of curiosity and psychological mindedness were analyzed. Utilizing art making as a tool to understand emotions in response to working with clients therapeutically provides both an implicit, internal focus on the self in relation to others that is then evaluated in an explicit, external context of group supervision, where these emotions are shared. Forty participants completed response art as well as pre- and post-test inventories of the Curiosity and Exploration Inventory-II, subscales of stretching and embracing, and the Balanced Inventory of Psychological Mindedness, subscales of interest and insight. Data were analyzed using Wilcoxon rank sum test and Spearmen&rsquo;s rho correlations. While findings were limited due to the small sample size, nonparametric measures, and confounding variables, findings confirmed that stretching and interest showed significant increases. Students later in their practicum showed an increase in embracing while group size of four or less had greater increases in insight. Insight increased early in the research study and decreased significantly at the end of this present study, suggesting that as students learn they develop a more humble stance of not knowing. Future research would benefit from a qualitative inquiry to identify and understand aspects of creating art in response to clients and sharing it in supervision.</p>

The effect of television on the behavior of its viewers is an area of interest in communication theory. This study focuses on the effect of television and psychosocial factors on adolescents' expectations to drink. / The incidence of adolescent drinking is rising and there is a possibility proposed relationship, two theories were probed. The theories are: the Theory of Reasoned Action and Cultivation Effects. / An elaborated version of the Theory of Reasoned Action proposes a relationship between an adolescent's expectation to consume alcoholic beverages and the adolescent's behavioral and normative beliefs. / Cultivation effects reasons that there is a relationship between the amount of television watched and the beliefs viewers have about the "real" beliefs about the world. Hence, the more a viewer watches television, the more likely his/her beliefs about the world are influenced by television's symbols and messages. / The findings revealed television is not a statistically significant predictor of cultivated beliefs about drinking. Additionally, television cultivated beliefs about the consumption of alcoholic beverages are not significantly influential in predicting adolescents' expectations to drink. Furthermore, self-efficacy beliefs and noncultivated behavioral beliefs are significant predictors of adolescents' expectations to drink alcoholic beverages. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-12, Section: A, page: 4296. / Major Professor: Gary R. Heald. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.

A comprehensive behavioral observation system for assessing the teaching skills of parents of developmentally disabled children was developed and validated through a series of three studies. The Code for the Assessment of Teaching Skills (CATS) was developed in the context of work with parents of young children with severe handicaps. Parent skills in the delivery of instructions, use of positive consequences and corrective feedback, and behavior management skills were assessed. In addition, data were collected on child behaviors (e.g., noncompliance). The first study involved an examination of the change in the teaching skills of mothers of children with autism after their involvement in a three month training program. Two tasks were examined, one that was determined to be "easy" for the child, and another that was determined to be "difficult" for the child. Results showed that, as a group, mothers made significant progress in their overall teaching skills on both tasks, though greater improvements were evidenced in the easy task condition. The second study involved a comparison between data generated from the CATS and data collected by "experts" on an "Expert Rating Scale" (ERS). Results showed highly significant correlations between the expert ratings and data collected by observers using the CATS. The third study examined the differences in teaching skills between experienced teachers and novice undergraduates in a day program for children with severe handicaps in upstate New York. Due to the timing of the data collection, both groups displayed superior teaching skills with no differences in skills across these two groups. This finding of "no difference" was further validated by "experts" using the ERS. In sum, the weight of the data provided evidence for the validity of the CATS. Implications for further use of the code were discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-02, Section: B, page: 1000. / Major Professor: Janet A. Kistner. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

This study explored the relationship between social intelligence and likability and the relationship between these two constructs and general intelligence. Five measures of social intelligence, three measures of general intelligence and three likability scales were used. / One hundred sixty-one college students took the social intelligence and general intelligence tests, and in addition, they provided information on how likable they perceived themselves on the likability scales. In addition, the roommates of sixty-three of these students rated these students on one social intelligence test and on three likability tests. / The results of confirmatory factor analyses supported the independence of social intelligence, general intelligence and likability as three separate constructs. The correlational analyses demonstrated some overlap between the domains of social and general intelligence, but no relationship was observed between social intelligence and likability or between general intelligence and likability. / For this study, two measures were developed: a social intelligence scale, developed from definitions of social intelligence as provided by researchers in the field, and a likability-dislikability scale, developed from both a theoretical and an implicit basis. The Social Intelligence Scale showed no relationship with any of the measures of social intelligence; however, it was consistently found to correlate with measures of likability. The Likability-Dislikability Scale appeared to have psychometric properties to be considered a useful scale. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-03, Section: B, page: 1703. / Major Professor: Richard Hagen. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

Numerous studies have been done examining the consistent patterns of attributions that individuals make for their own behavior, referred to as attribution styles (Abramson, Seligman and Teasdale, 1978; Peterson et al., 1982; Weiner et al, 1976; Weiner, 1979; Seligman, 1990; Abramson et al., 1989; and Kent 1992). There also has been considerable research into the differences between self-attributions, and observer attributions (Martinko and Gardner, 1987; Bernardin, 1989; and Dobbins and Russell, 1986). However, the idea of attribution styles has yet to be applied to observer attributions. This study proposes that individuals may have cross-situational consistencies, or styles, in the attributions they make for the outcomes of others. / This proposal is supported through the development of a questionnaire to measure observer attribution styles. Initial construct validity was tested by examining the relationship between observer attribution style as measured by the instrument and a number of other constructs, specifically: self-attribution styles, self-monitoring, Theory X/Y beliefs, Field Dependence, Machiavellianism, and leadership behaviors. Relationships were found between Observer attribution style, and self attribution style, field dependence, and leader behaviors. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-12, Section: B, page: 7081. / Major Professor: Mark Martinko. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

The primary purpose of this project was to examine the adaptiveness of maintaining accurate or illusory social self-perceptions in a large population of high school students. First it is shown that there is a lack of congruence between perceived and actual social acceptance and that this incongruence is not just due to methodological problems in the way that accuracy is assessed. Rather, the results provide converging evidence that discrepancies between self-reported peer acceptance and actual acceptance occur due to biases in the way that adolescents process social information. Second, it is shown that there are unique psychological profiles of maintaining accurate or illusory self-perceptions and that the pattern of relations are affected by the direction of the inaccuracy (either over- vs. underrating) as well as the degree of the inaccuracy (moderate vs. extreme). Discrepant negative self-evaluations appear to be associated with negative affect and ill being, particularly when they represent extreme departures from accuracy. In contrast, optimistic self-appraisals of one's social acceptance that are not unduly disparate from social reality appear beneficial, whereas, veridical self-judgments appear to be more limiting in terms of their impact on mental health. The findings also found that although extreme overrating of one's social acceptance was not maladaptive, it also was not associated with any accrued benefits from the standpoint of fewer symptoms of depression. Discussion focuses on theoretical and clinical issues associated with maintaining accuracy of social self-perceptions along with directions for future research. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 57-01, Section: B, page: 0718. / Major Professor: Janet Kistner. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

<p> The phenomenon of workplace bullying and sexual harassment amongst first responders for the purpose of this study involves a thorough, comprehensive review of the literature. This examination demonstrates the effects workplace bullying, and sexual harassment has across Emergency Service Organizations [ESOs] and the impact on targets as being severe and pervasive, with negative consequences for the targets and the organizations in which they work. During the exploration of this work, 305 articles were reviewed and then screened through Hermeneutic research methods to net 209 studies in the results. Core themes that emerged support that the phenomenon has severe implications for the psychological health of targets, organizational culture implications and public safety outcomes that are serious, pervasive and have negative consequences for individuals, the organization and the public. Data in this study show that factors that influence workplace bullying and sexual harassment include organizational culture (acceptable) and a &ldquo;rite of passage&rdquo; which creates a groupthink mentality that normalizes and creates a toxic culture ripe for incivility within emergency service organizations. The impact on targets includes severe psychological harm and the depletion of psychological resource that has long-lasting negative mental health implications. Also, data shows that there are public safety implications for workplace bullying, and sexual harassment as targets experience an erosion of professional competence and burnout that can lead to catastrophic consequences regarding critical incidents with clients.</p><p>