Critical thinking is an academically coveted skill important to all areas of education (Halpern, 1998). The ability to think critically requires an individual to question and possibly reject accepted ideals and authorities. A strong self-concept may play an important role in this process. The present study hypothesized a positive relationship between total self-concept and critical thinking ability. An additional purpose of this study was to explore whether self-concept accounted for more of the variance in critical thinking than other correlates of the ability, such as metacognition (Halpern, 1998; Magno, 2010) and openness to experience (Clifford, Boufal, & Kurtz, 2004). The hypothesis was supported; total self-concept significantly and positively correlated with the total score of critical thinking. Regression analyses revealed self-concept was a better predictor of critical thinking, accounting for 19.2% more variance in critical thinking than metacognition and openness to experience. Overall, the results suggest that nourishing students' self-concept may support their ability to think critically.

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The primary focus of the present study was to delineate the relationships among variables comprising a proposed model of depression for middle school adolescents. The investigation of the validity of a newly proposed dimension of self-concept (i.e., ethnic evaluations) for African-American versus Caucasian adolescents was also a major thrust. An additional emphasis of the present study was to examine which variables (i.e., contextual, self-concept, and global self-worth) accounted for the greatest amount of variance in predicting depression scores for African-American and Caucasian participants. Approximately 1,100 adolescents were recruited for participation. Of these, 959 participants actually participated in the study with the final sample consisting of 792 participants (males n = 389, females n = 403). Participants ranged in age from 11 = 14 years of age and were in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. The ethnic make-up of participants was as follows: Native American (1%), Asian (1%), African-American (32%), Caucasian (60%), Hispanic (1%), Pacific Islander (>1%), Biracial (3%), Multiracial (1%), and other (>1%) participants. All questionnaire sessions were conducted in a group format during a pre-selected class period (i.e., Health, English, or Science classes). Participants were administered a demographic information form, the Reynold's Adolescent Depression Scale (RADS), the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC), the Harter Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (SPPA), an Ethnic Evaluations instrument, the Acculturation Scale, the Dubow Social Support Scale for Adolescents, the How I Coped Under Pressure Scale for Children (HICUPS), and the Life events scale. Results revealed that self-concept and global self-worth were significantly and inversely correlated with depression scores. In addition, a newly created measure of ethnic evaluations proved to be a concurrently valid measure of self-concept for all participants and demonstrated differing rates of significance with depression for Caucasian and African-American participants. An examination of the proposed model for African-American adolescents revealed that social support, negative life events, physical appearance, athletic competence, and inter-ethnic evaluations were most significant in predicting depression. Results of the regression analysis for Caucasian adolescents revealed social support, negative life events, social acceptance, athletic competence, physical appearance, and global self-worth as accounting for the greatest amount of variance. / Ph. D.

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / Current research has shown pediatric cancer patients to be at greater risk for lowered selfesteem, altered body image, and an overall change in self-concept. Even if patients are only at an increased risk, the development of a tool to identify these problems is necessary. Periodic screening of all patients would be beneficial and when problems are identified, intervention can take place. Research previously conducted with various tools concluded that cancer patients may select answers that allow them to appear "normal" or "supernormal" and therefore defensively deny their cancer (Puuko 1997). Currently there is not a unifonn instrument used to test these factors. To this end, a protocol was devised to evaluate the use of Harter's Self-Perception Manual in the pediatric cancer population and to test the current theories. Dr. Susan Harter's Self-perception Questionnaires have previously been used for prospective research in various pediatric populations and are designed specifically to allow patients to answer truthfully. The questionnaires have been determined to be a valid, reliable instrument to measure a child's self-perception of their self-concept. Further data (to come from the prospective study) is needed to determine if the scale is useful for pediatric cancer patients. In addition, the retrospective use of Harter's scale will be piloted in this protocol in order to determine how children really felt during trea1ment. In an effort to compensate for developmental advances/processes and issues with accurate recall specific limits have been placed on retrospective participants. / 2999-01-01