This study explored the effects of parental false perceptions of their children's temperament on their subsequent school behavior problems. Participants were parents and teachers of 97 kindergarten children in an urban southern community. Both parents and teachers completed questionnaires on children's temperament, while teachers reported on children's school behaviors. Results indicate that both parent and teacher report of child temperament is related to school behavior problems, however, when parental ratings are more favorable than teacher ratings, this favorability is related to more internalizing and externalizing behaviors in school. In addition, parents rated their children higher on negative emotions, while parents and teachers rated similarly on effortful control. Furthermore, parent ratings of children's negative emotions were predictive of behavior problems above and beyond teacher's report. Findings highlight the relation of parental perceptions to children's school behavior problems and the utility of parent-teacher collaboration in improving children's school adjustment.

Examination of child temperament and early adult-child relationships is of vital importance to children's socio-emotional development, school success, and the prevention of future problem behaviors. In response, the current project examined the interaction of parenting style, child temperament, and the quality of the teacher-child relationship in predicting low-income children's school adjustment. One hundred fifty-four children (70 girls and 84 boys), their parents, lead teachers, and teacher aides participated in this study with data collected in both preschool (Head Start) and in Kindergarten. Parents completed questionnaires pertaining to parenting styles and child temperament, while teachers also completed questionnaires on child temperament, teacher-child relationships, social / behavioral adjustment at school, and academic achievement. Children also reported on their relationships with teachers using a puppet interview format. Analyses indicate that children's effortful control and negative reactivity are associated with a wide range of academic, behavioral, and socio-emotional variables. Results of the current study also provide evidence that negative reactivity, parental hostility, and teacher-child conflict are related to children's social-emotional and academic difficulties; however, effortful control and reduced teacher-child conflict moderate the effects of these negative factors on lowincome preschoolers' school adjustment. Results are discussed in terms of the utility of intervention efforts aimed at reducing negative parent-child and negative teacher-child relationships in order to promote positive school adjustment for low-income children.

Tyrimo tikslas – nustatyti mokinių sveikatos ir jų prisitaikymo mokykloje rodiklių sąsajas. Tyrime buvo atliktas Seirijų ir Lazdijų gimnazijose. Tyrime dalyvavo 394 (197 berniukai ir 197 mergaitės) 5-12 klasių mokiniai. Tyrime buvo naudotas klausimynas, skirtas mokinių prisitaikymui mokykloje ir savo sveikatos rodikliams įvertinti. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad mergaičių prisitaikymo rodikliai yra statistiškai reikšmingai geresni nei berniukų daugumoje sričių. Taip pat nustatyta, kad jaunesni mokiniai yra geriau prisitaikę mokykloje nei vyresni. Ieškant psichoaktyviųjų medžiagų vartojimo sąsajų su prisitaikymu mokykloje, nustatyta, kad geriau prisitaikę mokiniai suvartoja mažesnius alkoholio kiekius ir alkoholį vartoja rečiau nei blogiau prisitaikę mokiniai. Be to, geriau prisitaikę mokiniai rūko mažesnius cigarečių kiekius ir rūko rečiau nei blogiau prisitaikę mokiniai. Geriau prisitaikę mokiniai rečiau vartoja narkotines medžiagas nei blogiau prisitaikę mokiniai. Subjektyvaus savo sveikatos vertinimo rodikliai parodė, kad berniukai savo sveikatą vertina geriau nei mergaitės, be to, jaunesnės mergaitės geriau vertina savo sveikatą nei vyresnės. Geriau prisitaikę mokykloje mokiniai geriau vertina savo sveikatą nei blogiau prisitaikę mokiniai. / The aim of the study was to assess the relationship among health and school adjustment of students. The study was performed in Seirijai and Lazdijai. The subjects of the research were 394 students (197 boys ir 197 girls) attending 5-12 forms in two gymnasiums. The participants completed the questionnaires to assess their health indicators and school adjustment. The results of the study revealed that girls had better school adjustment than boys. Also young students had better school adjustment than those from senior forms. Furthemore, the results demonstrate that students who reported higher level of school adjustment reported lower levels of alcohol use. The students with better school adjustment were less likely to smoke than those with worse school adjustment. The students with worse school adjustment were more likely to try other addictive substances than those with better school adjustment. The results also confirmed that boys evaluated their self perceived health better than girls. In addition, younger girls assessed their self perceived health better than older girls. Finally, the students who assessed their health worse were adjusted to school requirements worse.

Individual differences in temperament can be a risk or a protective factor for a child, especially for children at-risk who possess single or multiple risk factors that may interfere with their educational success and affect their healthy development and their life-long outcomes. This research study examined the concurrent and longitudinal relationships between temperament, school adjustment, and academic achievement in children at-risk. Seventy-seven children, ages five to 11 years, were reassessed two years after an initial study. Their teachers completed the Temperament Assessment Battery for Children (TABC), the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC), and reported on the children's academic achievement. The results for the concurrent relationships showed significant relationships between the children's temperament and their school adjustment; negative emotionality significantly correlated with and predicted school adjustment. Children's temperament was also found to have a significant relationship with academic achievement; persistence and activity level had significant correlations with academic achievement. Persistence, however, was the only predictor of academic achievement. In contrast, the longitudinal relationship between the children's temperament and their educational outcomes in terms of both school adjustment and academic achievement showed no significance. The concurrent relationships were found to be consistent with previous research; whereas the longitudinal relationships were found to vary from previous research. Implications for practice and considerations for future research directions are discussed.

Immigrant students are targets of ethnic harassment in school context in their host country. Prior studies demonstrated that being victim of ethnic harassment has consequences for the psychological, behavioral, and school adjustment of youths with immigrant background. The purpose of this study was to examine if a positive teacher relationship moderated the school adjustment of ethnically harassed immigrant students. Data was gathered from ethnically harassed students in 7th and 8th grade in seven schools of a midsized town in Sweden. In addition to univariate and bivariate correlation analyses, a series of moderated regression analyses were conducted. Significant moderation effects of relationship with teachers were found for two of the school adjustment measures. The results suggested a positive relationship with teachers could play a buffering role for school liking and truancy of students who experience ethnic harassment from their peers. Implications of the findings were discussed in relation to both research and practice. / Invandrarelever utsätts för etniska trakasserier i skolan i sina nya värdland. Tidigare studier har demonstrerat att ungdomar med invandrarbakgrund som faller offer för etniska trakasserier får en negativ påverkan på sitt psykologiska välmående, sina beteenden, och skolanpassning. Syftet med den här studien var att undersöka om en positiv relation med en lärare modererade skolanpassningen hos etniskt trakasserade invandrarelever. Data inhämtades från etniskt trakasserade invandrarelever i 7:e och 8:e klass från sju skolor i en mellanstor stad i Sverige. Utöver univariata och bivariata korrelationsanalyser, utfärdades en serie modererande regressionsanalyser. I två av studiens variabler fanns det statistiskt signifikanta modererande effekter av att ha en positiv relation med en lärare. Resultatet föreslår att en positiv relation med lärare kan ha spelat en skyddande roll for elevens positiva attityd till skolan och för skolkning hos elever som upplever en låg mängd etniska trakasserier från sina klasskamrater. Studiens resultat diskuterades både i relation till forskning och tillämpning i samhället.

As infrações cometidas por adolescentes despertam interesse e preocupação. A maioria dos estudos realizados sobre o tema direciona-se a aspectos relacionados à família. Em termos de proporção, outras instituições de socialização dos adolescentes, tais como a escola e os pares, são menos investigadas. Nesse sentido, interessa a este trabalho investigar os aspectos escolares atinentes à problemática no contexto nacional, uma vez que investigações internacionais recentes demonstram que a conduta delituosa apresenta forte associação com a desadaptação às exigências e às expectativas do meio escolar, sendo essa relação, na adolescência, mais forte que a existente com os problemas na família. Os objetivos da pesquisa foram: 1) identificar quais variáveis encontram-se associadas ao comportamento infracional em adolescentes, e 2) verificar de que modo as variáveis associadas contribuem para o aparecimento/manutenção do comportamento infracional, no quadro da Teoria da Regulação Social e Pessoal da Conduta Divergente de Marc LeBlanc. Para a coleta de dados, procedeu-se à aplicação da Escala Escola do Inventário MASPAQ (Measuring Adolescent Social and Personal Adaptation) e de um questionário de caracterização socioeconômica. Participaram da presente pesquisa 60 adolescentes, divididos em dois grupos, constituídos, respectivamente, por 30 adolescentes infratores (GI) e 30 não infratores (GNI). Estes grupos foram subdivididos também em outros dois, compostos cada um por 15 participantes: adolescentes infratores evadidos da escola (GI-Evadidos); adolescentes infratores estudantes (GI-Estudantes); adolescentes não infratores evadidos (GNI-Evadidos); e adolescentes não infratores estudantes (GNI-Estudantes). Para LeBlanc, a Regulação Escolar se ancora sobre três mecanismos complementares: Desempenho, Vínculo com a escola e Constrangimentos escolares. Cada uma dessas condições é explorada pelo instrumento empregado, o que possibilita avaliar o nível de adaptação do aluno e como se dá a regulação da conduta pela escola. Em síntese, os resultados possibilitaram tanto uma compreensão geral do sistema que regula o comportamento dos adolescentes na escola, quanto específica, concernindo a cada aspecto avaliado nas diferentes dimensões postuladas no quadro da Teoria. As experiências escolares se mostraram nitidamente distintas entre os grupos e foi possível identificar as fragilidades ou pontos fortes de cada um. A quase totalidade das diferenças estatisticamente significativas incidiu nas comparações entre os grupos GI-Evadidos e GI-Estudantes, bem como entre os Grupos GI-Evadidos e GNI-Estudantes. Denotou-se que os adolescentes infratores evadidos (GI-Evadidos) possuem mais problemas escolares em comparação aos outros três grupos investigados; ao passo que os adolescentes não infratores estudantes (GNIEstudantes) demonstraram os melhores resultados, de modo a evidenciar que uma experiência educacional mais positiva concorre para a boa vinculação escolar e ausência de conduta contrária à lei. A presente investigação também lançou pistas para o desenvolvimento de intervenções dirigidas a fatores escolares, na medida em que as evidências indicaram quão fundamental é a experiência educacional, no sentido de funcionar como risco ou como proteção à conduta infracional na adolescência. / The infractions committed by teenagers have caused interest and concern.Most studies on the subject focus only on issues related to the family. Thus, other institutions of socialization of adolescents, such as school and peers, are not much investigated. In that sense, this work is interested to study the aspects related to school in the national context, since international recent research has shown that juvenile delinquency is strongly associated with maladjustment to the demands and expectations of the school environment, being this relation stronger than the relation with family problems. This research objectives were: 1) identify which variables are associated to the criminal teenagers behavior, and 2) verify in which way the associated variables contribute for the criminal behavior emersion/maintenance, under de perspective of Personal and Social Control Behavior Theory by Marc LeBlanc. The School Scale of MASPAQ Inventory (Measuring Adolescent Social and Personal Adaptation) and a questionnaire of socioeconomic characterization were used of the data collection. 60 adolescents participated in this research and they were divided in two groups, that were formed, respectively, by 30 adjudicated adolescents (GI) and 30 non-adjudicated adolescents (GNI). These groups were also subdivided in other two groups, each one was formed by 15 participants: adjudicated adolescents who were evaded from school (GI-Evaded); adjudicated adolescents students (GI-Students); non-adjudicated evaded adolescents (GNI-Evaded); and non-adjudicated adolescents students (GNI-Students). For Le Blanc, the School Control is based on three complementary mechanisms: academic performance, school bonding and constraints. Each of these conditions is analyzed in its various aspects by MASPAQ, which enables to evaluate the student\'s level of adaptation and how the control of conduct is made by the school. In short, the results enabled as far as a general comprehension about the system that adjust the adolescents behavior in school, and a specific comprehension, regarding each aspect evaluated in different dimensions claimed in the Theory frame. The scholar experiences show themselves clearly distinct among the groups and it was possible to identify the weaknesses or strong points of each one of them. The nearly totality of the statistically significant differences fell on the comparisons between the GI-Evaded and GI-Students groups, as well as those between GI-Evaded and GNI-Students groups, denoting that the evaded infriging teenagers (GI-Evaded) showed most problems in comparison on others groups; while non-adjudicated adolescents students (GNI-Students) showed the best results, in order to show that a more positive educational experience contributes to the good school and no binding of conduct contrary to the law. Moreover, the current investigation threw clues for the development of intervention towards scholar factors, insofar as the evidences pointed how elemental the educational experience is, in the sense of working as a risk or as a criminal behavior protection in adolescence.

The main purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among adolescents' quality of attachment, emotional intelligence, and adjustment. The participants were 997 eighth-grade students from 11 junior high schools in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The data were collected by means of questionnaires, and the employed instruments comprised Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (Chinese version), Inventory of Adolescent Emotional Intelligence, and Inventory of Adolescent Adjustment. The applied analysis methods included descriptive statistics, one-way MANOVA, canonical correlation, and discriminant analysis. The main findings in this study were as follows: 1.The adolescents' gender was not related to their adjustment. 2.The adolescents' birth order was not related to their adjustment. 3.The adolescents' socioeconomic status (SES) was not related to their family adjustment, but it was related to their school adjustment though the correlation was weak; moreover, both the mid-SES and the high-SES adolescents outperformed the low-SES ones in school adjustment. 4.The adolescents' quality of attachment was positively related to their adjustment, and their attachment toward mother had the strongest relation to their adjustment. 5.The adolescents' emotional intelligence was positively related to their adjustment; more specifically, "motivating oneself" and adjustment had the highest correlation. 6.The quality of attachment and emotional intelligence could jointly predict the adolescents' adjustment. While "mother attachment" was the best predictor to the adolescents' family adjustment, emotional intelligence was the best predictor to their school adjustment. "Mother attachment" was the best predictor to the adolescents' adjustment as a whole. Finally, after discussion, some suggestions were proposed for parents, teachers, educational authorities, and further studies.

Tyrimo tikslas – nustatyti vyresnių klasių mokinių suvokiamo tėvų auklėjimo stiliaus, optimizmo ir prisitaikymo mokykloje sunkumų ryšius. Tyrime dalyvavo 157, dviejų Kauno vidurinių mokyklų, dešimtos-dvyliktos klasės mokiniai. 60 vaikinų ir 97 merginos, 15-19 metų amžiaus. Tyrime naudotos metodikos – Auklėjimo stiliaus klausimynas; Scheier, Carver ir Bridges "Pataisytas gyvenimo orientacijos testas" skirtas įvertinti optimizmo lygiui; ir prisitaikymo mokykloje sunkumų subskalė iš "Paauglio psichologinio funkcionavimo sunkumų klausimyno". Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, jog mokiniai, kurie savo tėvo auklėjimo stilių suvokia kaip autoritetingą, pasižymi didesniu optimizmu nei mokiniai, kurie savo tėvo auklėjimo stilių suvokia kaip autoritarišką ar neįsitraukiantį. Tačiau nerasta statistiškai reikšmingų skirtumų tarp mokinių optimizmo lygio ir mamos auklėjimo stilių. Mokiniai, kurie savo tėvų auklėjimo stilių suvokia kaip autoritetingą, turi mažiau prisitaikymo mokykloje sunkumų nei mokiniai, kurių tėvai taiko kitus auklėjimo stilius. Labiau optimistiški mokiniai turi mažiau prisitaikymo mokykloje sunkumų, jie geriau susidoroja su mokymosi krūviu, turi geresnius akademinius pasiekimus, tėvai ir mokytojai yra labiau patenkinti jų mokymusi, ir tokių mokinių elgesys labiau atitinka mokyklos reikalavimus. Nustatytas tėvų auklėjimo stiliaus ir mokinio prisitaikymo mokykloje sunkumų netiesioginis ryšys, kuris rodo, jog tėvų auklėjimo stilius turi įtakos mokinio optimizmui, o mokinio... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The aim of this study is to analyse the high school students’ perceived parenting style and optimism links with school adjustment difficulties. 157 participants of two Kaunas’s High schools participated in this research. Participants were students of 10th – 12th classes. The whole part was composed of 60 boys and 97 girls from 15-19 age scale. Perceived parenting style was assessed with “Parenting style inventory”; “Life orientation Test Revised” by Scheier, Carver and Bridged was practised to evaluate optimism level; and “adjustment at school difficulties” subscale from “Adolescent Psychological Functioning Difficulties Questionnaire” was examined as well. The analysis showed that high school students who perceive their father’s parenting style as authoritative are more optimistic in their lives than the students who perceive their father’s parenting style as authoritarian or neglectful. There are no statistically significant differences found between high school students’ optimism level and mother‘s parenting style. Students who perceive their parents’ parenting style as authoritative have less adjustment difficulties at school than students whose parents apply other parenting styles. Students who are more optimistic have less school adjustment difficulties, they manage to cope with the tasks more effectively, reach better academic goals, while parents and teachers are more satisfied with their studying results. More optimistic students’ behaviour is also more applied to... [to full text]

xiv, 152 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Young children in foster care have been exposed to a variety of risks that are strongly linked to long-term deficits in functioning across multiple developmental domains. Some children, however, demonstrate more favorable outcomes and exhibit adaptation and the development of assets in spite of risks. The present study examined variables from early childhood during foster care which contributed to the development of favorable outcomes; specifically, emotion regulation and school adjustment in later childhood. Specifically, maltreatment history, placement history, parenting practices, family stress, developmental status, and attachment behaviors among a sample of young foster children were examined. Data were taken from an existing data set from the Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care-Preschool study implemented through the Oregon Social Learning Center. From the original n of 60 children in regular foster care, 34 remained in the sample during middle childhood assessments; this comprised the sample used for this study. In terms of predicting emotion regulation in middle childhood, lack of family stress and attention and executive function in early childhood revealed significant relationships. In regards to predicting school adjustment in middle childhood, sensorimotor function and history of neglect during early childhood revealed significant relationships. / Committee in charge: Kenneth Merrell, Chairperson, Special Education and Clinical Sciences; Jeffrey Sprague, Member, Special Education and Clinical Sciences; Jane Squires, Member, Special Education and Clinical Sciences; Philip Fisher, Member, Psychology; Jennifer Ablow, Outside Member, Psychology

abstract: Researchers who have previously explored the relation of broad-based temperamental approach constructs, such as surgency/extraversion, exuberance, or behavioral approach sensitivity, to academic competence (AC) in early elementary school have often found conflicting results. Moreover, few researchers have examined the interaction between these approach reactivity constructs and effortful control (EC) in the prediction of AC. The goal of the current study was to examine the fine-tuned relations of different aspects of temperamental approach reactivity in early childhood (42 and 54 months; N=223), such as impulsivity, frustration, and positive affect, as well as EC, to AC during early elementary school (72 and 84 months). Examining the complex relations may clarify the literature using broad-based approach reactivity constructs. Temperament was observed in the laboratory when children were 54 months of age. Mothers and caregivers also reported on children's impulsivity at 42 and 54 months. School-related behavioral adjustment was reported by children, mothers, and teachers, and GPA was reported by teachers at 72 and 84 months. The results of the study indicated that positive affect, EC, and receptive language ability were the only unique direct predictors of school adjustment and/or GPA. Without EC in the model, only positive affect and vocabulary predicted AC. Frustration, positive affect, and impulsivity each interacted with EC to predict AC outcomes, such EC was only related to higher AC for children with high impulsivity or anger, or low positive affect. Additionally, positive affect and impulsivity interacted to predict GPA, such that impulsivity was positively related to GPA for children with high positive affect, but it was negatively, albeit nonsignificantly, associated with GPA for children with low positive affect. These results were found to be similar for boys and girls. Finding are discussed in terms of the developmental importance of early EC for academic competence for children who have high approach reactivity, as well as the interactive effects of dimensions of approach reactivity on academic achievement. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2014