There is no current research on the relationship between texting frequency, social competency development, and the moderating effect of gender in adolescents. A quantitative study involving a moderation design using multiple regression assisted in determining the relationship between cell phone texting and gender and whether or not the interaction of these variables predicted social competency development. The theoretical base that grounded this study was the taxonomic model of social competence, which identified the importance of examining social awareness abilities such as communication, an essential component for the development of social competency. The study included 74 participants. The participants were parents who completed observation checklists of their adolescent children and reported on skills related to social competency development using the Social Emotional Assets and Resilience Scales-Parent Form. A general measure of cell phone use was also reported by participants. The results showed that frequency of texting and gender predicted adolescent social competency. Adolescents who texted frequently had lower social competency scores. Adolescent females had higher social competency than adolescent males. Gender was not found to moderate the relationship between the variables. The results can be used to development curricula, programs, and screening tools for counseling psychologists and other professionals to use to improve the lives of adolescents.

International students experience stress and adaptation difficulties as they study in a new culture. This study examined how cultural distance, acculturative stress, and social support interacted to influence positive and negative emotional responses among international students in the northern part of Cyprus. Acculturation models and the stress-buffering hypothesis served as theoretical frameworks. The 2 research questions involved understanding whether international students experienced more negative emotional responses compared to students from the home culture and whether social support moderated acculturative stress and reactions to being in the northern part of Cyprus. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to examine differences in emotional reactions between home and international students while 2 hierarchical multiple regressions examined the moderation hypotheses. ANOVA results indicated that Turkish-Cypriots had more positive emotional responses than international students. Results did not support social support as a moderator for either international students' acculturative stress or their emotional reactions. However, results suggested that unmet expectations, less financial satisfaction, and less social support predicted acculturative stress, while being in a relationship, having higher Turkish proficiency, having unmet expectations, and experiencing higher acculturative stress predicted more negative emotional reactions. These results may help universities design programs to support the psychological adaptation of international students, which could ultimately facilitate student retention.

Juvenile crime among females is on the rise in the United States and is currently at an all-time high. Girls who are at risk for committing juvenile crime are at greater risk than boys for experiencing sexual trauma and exploitation as well as depression. Additionally, adolescent females have a higher rate of status-offense reoffending than do adolescent males. Using Kubeka's conceptualization of trauma theory, the purpose of this case study was to determine whether Everlasting Peace (EP), an evidence-based counseling program in Georgia, successfully provided gender-specific treatment for female juvenile offenders. Data were collected through interviews with 20 parent/guardian of juvenile female offenders who had been referred to EP by the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice for treatment. These data were inductively coded and then subjected to a thematic analysis procedure. Results suggested that girls who received gender-specific treatment services from EP showed a positive change in behavior. EP addressed trauma, depression, and sexual abuse as seen in these female offenders. This study may contribute to positive social change by making direct policy recommendations to the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice to enhance and support programming options for girls who have experienced trauma in order to reduce opportunities for future delinquency.

Despite decades of preventive education and services for intimate partner violence, such violence continues. Studies have shown mixed evidence regarding the effectiveness of current treatment options and prevention remains paramount. If victims seek therapy, the focus is typically on a single diagnosis, such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, rather than cause-and-effect. Emotional intelligence in abusers of intimate partner violence has been tested and studied. There is literature on victims, but they are rare, regional, and examined only female participants resulting in conflicting findings. There is a gap in research in the review of the nuances of emotional intelligence in participants of both genders. The present quantitative study explored the branches of emotional intelligence differences in intimate partner violence victim-survivor participants (N = 180) using the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test. The 4 branches explored were perception, use, understanding, and management of emotions. Using linear regressions, any differences in emotional intelligence in partner violence victim-survivors were compared to the normative population by gender, length of time a victim was abused, and the types of abuses experienced. Both genders resulted in finding lower levels of the understanding branch when compared to the normative population. Male levels were higher in use, perception, and understanding than females. The length of time in an abusive relationship and types of abuse experienced showed no significance. Testing victim-survivors' emotional intelligence levels could effect social change with personal data focusing on enhancing skills in introspection, healthier emotional responses, and help to dissuade a victim from returning to their abusive relationship.

As a method of building relationships with the public, some police forces have integrated community members into the candidate assessment and selection process. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to determine the effect of integrating community evaluators as a new method in the assessment and selection process for police officers in a city police force. Media richness theory and general mental ability were used as a framework, and archival data from a large Midwest department of public safety were collected by filing two public records requests. Data from 2,510 police candidates were included. Quantitative data analysis was conducted using correlational and regression tests to examine rater agreement, subgroup differences (gender or race/ethnicity) in selection outcomes, and the predictive validity of a testing method as measured by academy performance with and without the integration of community evaluators. There was no evidence to suggest that integrating community evaluators into the assessment and selection process for entry-level police officers affected rater agreement or subgroup differences in selection outcomes. The findings from this study support positive social change by indicating that integrating the community into a structured assessment process did not impact selection outcomes as measured by gender, race/ethnicity, or academy performance, which may encourage public safety departments to build community relationships by inviting local residents to participate in the assessment and selection process for police officers. Other social change may include the effect that the integration of community members could have on applicant and community perceptions of the assessment and selection process for police officers.

Interprofessional collaboration among school-based and community-based mental health providers in children's mental has been studied in relation to specific providers and as part of program evaluation; however, limited information exists as to how to overcome barriers to collaborative relationships. This study describes the experiences of school and community mental health service providers and those who supervise them. Using phenomenological methodology, three focus-group interview transcripts were analyzed by identifying recurrent themes relevant to the experience of collaboration from school and community providers' perspectives. Although participants viewed aspects of collaboration positively, barriers frequently interfered with collaborative relationships. Support for collaboration from state, district or organization administration was considered necessary for widespread collaboration across settings. To reduce time constraints on existing school staff, school-based professionals suggested it may be necessary to employ additional staff to manage collaborative relationships. Participants' ideas for funding included cutting costs, reducing risks, and grant writing. Jointly developing procedures, increasing accessibility by having services available within the school setting, and collecting outcome data regularly to share with stakeholders were discussed. Understanding the experiences of collaboration among school and community mental health providers has the potential to ignite social change by helping schools and community agencies overcome barriers to collaboration through improved coordination of services for children with unmet mental health needs.

Police officers deal with a variety of stresses from different sources. Organizational stresses have the most effect on police officers, often more than stressful critical incidents. Previous research has indicated that over time, the mundane organizational and operational stresses of the job can result in a variety of effects from psychological to physiological, and this stress can impact police performance and public safety. However, there remains an important gap in the current literature regarding the impact of stress on the decision-making style of police officers. Police officers often make split-second decisions that can affect their life, the public, and other police officers. Therefore, this quantitative study utilized the General Decision-Making Styles, Operational Police Stress Questionnaire, and Organizational Police Stress Questionnaire to measure the amount of stress police officers are experiencing and if organizational stress influenced their decision-making style. Data were collected from 150 police officers employed in Iowa, and standard multiple regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses. Findings indicated that there is a relationship between operational and organizational stresses and decision-making style. The results of this study support positive social change by identifying which stressors impact a police officer's decision-making style. Early identification of police officers who are struggling with organizational stress can help reduce burnout, turnover, citizen complaints, and use of force investigations, which might help strengthen the public's trust in their police officers and police departments.

Homeschooling is currently the fastest-growing educational population in the United States with an estimated 2 million students. Because 11% of school children have been diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), there are likely to be many children with ADHD symptoms in the homeschooling population. The purpose of this study was to extend knowledge of the experiences of homeschooling in this population to assist students with ADHD as well as their parents and educators to make informed educational decisions. The multiple intelligences theory provided the theoretical framework for this phenomenological study. The key research question was focused on how current or former homeschool students who report ADHD symptoms describe their experiences in a homeschool environment. Perceptions were collected from 12 participants ranging in age from 12 to 21 years of age who were recruited using criterion sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted by phone or face-to-face. Data were analyzed using Moustakas' modification of van Kaam's structure. Through this process, the themes of individualization, self-concept, and experience of symptoms were identified. Specifically, the findings indicated that homeschooling children with ADHD symptoms is an individualized phenomenon and most students thrive in a structured yet flexible environment where tools and methods can be personalized. Participants developed individualized learning practices that would not be acceptable in a more traditional learning environment. This study contributes to the empirical literature promoting social change by providing foundational knowledge that can be built upon in future research to offer evidence-based information to this rapidly-growing population.

The purpose of this study was to investigate former high school students' resilience following the administration of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) exam based on the comparison of male and female students who passed the STAAR exam the first time and those who failed it at least 2 times. This study fills a gap in the literature by offering additional data and increased knowledge about the relationship of resiliency to school performance. A total of 133 adults aged 18-29 years who had been enrolled in 3 high schools in a large metropolitan area in Texas were referred by the Texas Education Agency to complete the Resilience Scale online survey. A cross-sectional survey based on Resiliency Scale scores was used to quantify the degree of individual resilience, considered as a positive personality characteristic that enhances individual adaptations. The data were analyzed using 2-way (2 X 2) ANOVA with 3 dependent variables (Resiliency Scale [overall resiliency, personal competency, and acceptance of life and self]), and STAAR passing grouping and gender (male or female) serving as the independent variables. Results indicated that there were no differences between males and females or between students who passed the STAAR the first time and those who failed the STAAR at least 2 times on the dependent variables of reliance, competency, and acceptance of life and self. Positive social change may result from encouraging the teaching of other coping skills and interventions for those who experience failure on high-stakes tests.

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among women. A diagnosis of cancer is a stressful event that requires an individual to adapt to new stressors. The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand the perceptions of mana'olana/hope and living with breast cancer among Native Hawaiian women. The conceptual framework of this phenomenological study was positive psychology. Data collection included in-depth interviews with 5 Native Hawaiian women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Data coding and analysis resulted in identification of 8 themes. The themes included: (a) mana'olana /hope is the essence of my being, (b) family strengthens me and gave me mana'olana/hope, (c) my relationship with God and Jesus promoted mana'olana/hope in me, (d) my religious affiliation promoted mana'olana/hope in me, (e) the cancer support group promoted mana'olana/hope in me, (f) the cancer treatment team promoted mana'olana/hope in me, (g) treatment options; Allopathic, Osteopathic, Naturopathic, Alternative medicine, and herbal remedies promoted mana'olana/hope in me, and (h) nature's beauty and the arts promoted mana'olana/hope in me. Results may be used by health psychologists, cancer treatment practitioners, and the field of biobehavioral oncology to support and improve the well-being and health outcomes of women diagnosed with breast cancer.