Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. Gershon Tenenbaum, Florida State University, College of Education, Dept. of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 15, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2004. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 202-208). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of West Florida, 2009. / Submitted to the Dept. of Psychology. Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 58 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-90).

ABSTRACT Statistics show that breastfeeding prevalence for Sweden has fallen since the mid 90´s. Studies show that breastfeeding offers health benefits to both mother and child and that the mothers' belief and confidence in their ability to breastfeed is a key factor to having a positive breastfeeding outcome. In 2010, Amningshjälpen in collaboration with Sensus studieförbund, started a nursing course, for mothers-to-be, who wished to breastfeed their babies and its aim was to prepare them for a successful and enjoyable experience. Objective: To examine whether a preparatory breastfeeding course can affect mothers' confidence in their ability to breastfeed and if that ability can affect the breastfeeding outcome when the child reaches four months. A further aim is to investigate the experience of  perceived problems surrounding breastfeeding and what affect these might have on the mothers' confidence in breastfeeding when the child reaches four months. Design/Methods: A quantitative approach with prospective experimental design was used to evaluate the study. The questionnaire Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale Short Form (BSES-SF) was used three times to measure women's trust in lactation. The first and second assessment were performed prenatally and a third when the child was four months old. Results:Sensus breastfeeding course was shown to raise women's average BSES -SF, from 43,14 before training to 55,86 after (p> 0.001). The third assessment, taken when the child has reached four months, provided a positive result on the mothers confidence to breastfeed compared to the results from the two prenatal assessments (m =58.98) (p <0.001). The breastfeeding rate of the women who participated in the study was high in percentage terms if compared to average situation in Sweden. The higher the mothers estimated problems around the child regarding wailing, sleeping and eating, the lower they estimated their self-efficacy regarding breastfeeding in the assessment at four months of age (p <0.001). Conclusion: The study demonstrates that a preparatory breastfeeding course in pregnancy increased women's confidence in their ability to breastfeed, and the breastfeeding rate within the study when the babies were four months old was high compared to the national Swedish statistics. The study also shows that women who estimated low on self-efficacy experienced more problems with their child at around the age of four months. All mothers´ rated their partners as most important support person whilst breastfeeding and in second place came The Sensus nursing course.

Three of the major controversial issues in the field of intellectual styles are: 1) whether or not styles can be changed; 2) whether or not styles are value-laden; 3) whether styles are distinct from or they are part of personality traits. The main purpose of this research was to address these three issues by 1) exploring the socialization process of students’ thinking styles through tracing the change of thinking styles over one year and examining the competing influence of students’ perceived parenting styles, perceived learning environment, and personality traits on their thinking styles; and 2) exploring the role of thinking styles in students developmental outcomes with regard to career decision self-efficacy and subjective well-being. The research adopted a quantitatively-driven mixed method design and it involved three phases: the pilot study (a quantitative study), the main study (a longitudinal, quantitative study), and the follow-up study (a qualitative study). The pilot study validated a series of inventories that were subsequently utilized in the main study and preliminarily explored the relevant relationships among three hundred and forty-one Chinese university students from Shanghai, mainland China. In the main study, nine hundred and twenty-six students from the same university responded to a questionnaire consisting of the modified inventories and some demographic information at the beginning of an academic year. One year later, they responded to the same questionnaire again. After that, based on the results of the main study, 29 students were selected to participate in a follow up study that involved individual face-to-face interviews. Results of the main study generally supported the research hypotheses. With regard to the malleability of thinking styles, the research found that students’ thinking styles changed over one year and the change of thinking styles can be at least partially attributed to the two environmental factors (i.e., parenting styles and learning environments). These findings suggest that, albeit relatively stable, thinking styles can be socialized/changed. With regard to the role of thinking styles in student development, results indicated that mainly Type I thinking styles (characterized by creativity, nonconformity, and autonomy) positively contributed to students’ career decision self-efficacy and subjective well-being. Furthermore, Type I thinking styles were also major mediators in the relationships of parenting styles and learning environments to career decision self-efficacy and subjective well-being. These findings suggest that thinking styles are value-laden, with Type I thinking styles being more adaptive than other styles. With regard to the relationship between personality and thinking styles, results indicated that thinking styles and personality traits overlapped with each other to limited extents and both of them made unique contributions to student development. Moreover, thinking styles were more malleable than personality traits. These findings suggest that styles are distinct from rather than subordinate to personality traits. Results from the follow-up interview study further confirmed the results of the main study and provided explanatory information on how the identified relationships happened. Generally speaking, the present research has both theoretical and practical implications. It significantly contributes to the discussion on the aforementioned major controversial issues in the field of styles. Furthermore, based on the research findings, specific suggestions on how to optimize the development of students’ thinking styles are provided for parents, teachers, and university administrators. Finally, the limitations of this research and the recommendation for future studies are discussed. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This dissertation consists of two studies which addressed the issue of teaching young Chinese Language Learners (CLLs) to learn Chinese and their language teacher’s culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy. Young CLLs in Hong Kong mainly came from ethnic minorities of South Asia, the differences between language systems and complicated home languages imposed challenges on their Chinese learning. Frontline Chinese language teachers often encounter difficulties in teaching due to inadequate training about the learning needs of young CLLs and effective pedagogies. Teacher’s self-efficacy has a significant impact on students’ academic performance and engagement of students from diverse background. In order to facilitate both learning and teaching of Chinese as a second language (L2), this study explored teacher’s culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy (CRTSE) through a mixed methods research. Study I addressed this issue by developing and validating the Chinese Culturally Responsive Teaching Self-Efficacy (CRTSE) Scale for the language teachers teaching Chinese as a L2 in Hong Kong. A total number of 128 Chinese language teachers were recruited for the validation of scale. Through the Exploratory Factor Analysis, a 5-factor solution with Varimax Rotation was adopted with consent by the expert panel. The 5-factor structure of the scale included Teaching to accommodate diversity, Awareness of cultural difference, Development of positive and trusting relationship, Communication with parents and School-based curriculum development. The study will shed light on the in-depth investigation on teacher’s enhancement of CRTSE in Study II. Quantitative analysis on scores obtained from 166 Chinese language teachers revealed the current phenomenon faced by frontline teachers in Hong Kong. As captured by the scale, teachers scored the lowest on Factor 2, Awareness of cultural difference (Mean= 48.98; S.D.=18.87), and the highest on Factor 3, Development of positive and trusting relationship (Mean= 68.90; S.D.=11.90). The mean of total score among participants in the study (Mean=63.78; S.D.=11.69) was found to be lower than that obtained in Siwatu’s study (Mean=84.05; S.D.=8.55) in 2007. In Study II, teacher’s development and enhancement on the CRTSE were explored through Learning Study which is a classroom-based research using the phenomenographic approach and the Variation Theory. Measured by the Chinese CRTSE Scale and the Structured Test, both teachers and young CLLs showed improvement on their teaching and learning after the Learning Study. Qualitative analysis revealed how Variation Theory facilitated teacher’s development of effective pedagogies with variations in language and culture. The mastery and vicarious experience facilitated teacher’s development of awareness and accommodation of teaching towards cultural diversity. The collaborative nature of Learning Study also fostered teacher’s self-reflection and assimilation of cultural diversity into the school-based curriculum. How teacher’s development of awareness, accommodation and assimilation towards cultural diversity nurtured through the two years made contribution to their development of cultural responsiveness were examined. This study is a pioneering research on the enhancement of teacher’s CRTSE through Learning Study. Learning Study is proven a powerful intervention enhancing both learning and teaching of Chinese as a L2. This professional development model could make an impact on culturally diverse classrooms. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Self-efficacy and causal attributions have been suggested as potential predictors of academic achievement and motivation. The few studies that have looked at the relationship between these constructs have been conducted in Western cultures. The purpose of this study was to explore self-efficacy and attributional differences between under-achieving and high-achieving Korean students in reading. Self-efficacy and causal attributions were examined in the framework of learned helplessness with 55 sixth grade Korean students. The students' self-efficacy scores in reading and persistence time on a non-academic task were analyzed using a two-way analysis of variance procedure. Students' attributional responses were analyzed using the qualitative methods. Significant differences were found between under-achieving and high-achieving students for self-efficacy and persistence time. Results revealed a positive relationship between level of achievement and self-efficacy scores in reading, and level of achievement and persistence time. Students' attributional response for their failure on the non-academic task indicated task difficulty as the primary attributional factor. No significant indices of personal learned helplessness were observed. The research findings were discussed in terms of the application of the self-efficacy and causal attribution theories cross-culturally, educational practices, and implications for future research.

Even though pain is common and often chronic in people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), the management of pain is complicated and frequently woefully inadequate. Many factors influence the way PLWHA experience and communicate their pain. These factors can be categorized as both physiological and emotional. PLWHA often resort to self-care activities to control their pain because of the pervasive lack of adequate pain management by health care providers. The purposes of this study were to increase understanding of the pain management experiences in people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) who report chronic pain and to elucidate the factors that influence this experience. Recruitment was conducted at 3 locations in Central Texas, USA; serving over 3,000 clients/year. A cross-sectional descriptive design and open-ended questions were used to explore PLWHA experiences in reporting chronic pain needs for at least 3 months and to describe pain management choices (self-care and/or seeking care activities) and communication with health care providers. Variables of interest were assessed with paper-pencil surveys (HIV-Self Efficacy Questionnaire, Coping Inventory for Pain in Persons Living with HIV/AIDS and Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire) and open-ended questions. Interviews ranged from 7-35 minutes each. One hundred PLWHA participated in the study, 53% African-American, 21% Hispanic and 25% Caucasian. They were primarily male (66%), 34% female, reported a mean age of 48 years and a mean of 13 years living with HIV. 83% of the participants rated their pain as consistently moderate to high levels; 82% rated they are likely to “tolerate the pain.” A majority of the participants (63%) reported they exercise or walk as a way of self-managing their pain. There was a significant association between use of pain management choices (self-care and/or seeking care activities) and confidence in performing life activities (r= 0.344, p<0.05). These findings indicate a need for health care providers to move beyond quantitative measures for this complex problem. Clinicians can use this information to understand the coping strategies used by PLWHA to manage pain. Future implications will be to develop appropriate pain management approaches (behavioral and pharmacological) for health care providers to improve control of chronic pain in PLWHA. Longitudinal studies are needed to explore the causative relationships between pain management choices (self-care and/or seeking care activities) and functional outcomes in PLWHA. / text

The development of work self-efficacy in people with life-long physical disabilities was investigated using qualitative methods. A series of three semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of three participants between the ages of 23 and 44. Research participants included two males with cerebral palsy and a female with rheumatoid arthritis. Developmental comparisons were made between the two participants that grew up expecting to go to work as adults and the one participant who did not. All of the participants were working at the time of the interviews. Each of the semi-structured interviews focused on a separate topic: (1) the childhood developmental events that contributed to their becoming adult workers, (2) how these events contributed to their work self-efficacy, and (3) how they described their work self-efficacy. Qualitative analysis of the interview data was guided by Bandura's (1997) social cognitive theory and Lent and Brown's (1996) social cognitive career theory. Results indicate that the mastery experiences of performing household chores, vicarious learning acquired by having working parents as role models, and verbal persuasion in the form of parental encouragement and teacher support all contributed positively to the participants' sense of work self-efficacy. The most common inhibitors of work self-efficacy were parental overprotection, negative school experiences related to being placed in special education, and having people with disabilities as poor role models for working. How the participants cognitively processed developmental experiences also played a role in work self-efficacy development, as they each described actively resisting inhibiting events and readily accepting positive events. A model of work self-efficacy development is proposed that shows that children with disabilities need support for their future work goals in order for the formation of outcome expectations of working as adults. Finally, 12 characteristics of work self-efficacy were identified in the areas of work cognitions (intrinsic rewards, self-confidence, service-orientation, and job-specific knowledge), work behaviors (maintaining a schedule, possessing the physical ability to do essential tasks, possessing required job skills, and ability to meet job performance requirements), and socio-environmental supports (social support from family and loved ones, customer or client positive feedback, coworker support, and supervisor support).