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The growth of height and weight of 275 Japanese girls was followed longitudinally over a period of three years, which included the time of menarche. The association between height and weight at menarche was examined, using path analysis to describe the relationship. Two hypotheses (I and II) were evaluated: Hypothesis I. Menarche in an individual girl is triggered by attainment of a particular weight. Hypothesis II. Menarche in an individual girl is triggered after attainment of a particular threshold body size or weight. As the result of this analysis, no particular weight and/or height was observed which discriminates between girls who have attained menarche and those who have not attained menarche. Although the results did not disprove the importance of weight as a factor which influences the onset of menarche, it did not support the existence of a particular critical weight or threshold body size or weight. Instead, a more random pattern of growth before menarche was evident, i.e. there was no correlation between weight at one year before menarche and increment in weight during the year before menarche. To describe the observed relationship, an alternative hypothesis (hypothesis III) concerning the existence of a threshold phase between two years and one year before menarche is suggested. According to this hypothesis, menarche in an individual girl is triggered by attainment of a threshold phase of growth between two years and one year before menarche, although this phase is not defined by a particular invariant weight for each girl in a given population. There is a central tendency of weight in this sample of Japanese girls which lies between 31 and 36 kg of weight. After completing this phase, further weight increment before menarche in each girl occurs independent of the weight already attained during the threshold phase. At present, the biological meaning of the suggested threshold phase is not clear. In further studies, the growth curve of each girl between two years and one year before menarche must be followed carefully. / text

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Clinical Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

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The study is concerned with the ways early adolescent males understand and experience bullying within a hetero-normative school context. The research focuses on the ways in which bullying occurs, and how it relates to identity development amongst young boys. Key theoretical constructs include multiple masculinities, social dominance theory, and social constructionism. The researcher adopted an ethnographic approach. Constructs were explored through the use of four focus groups and one individual interview with 20 Grade 8 learners at a co-educational high school. Three dominant themes emerged from the discussions. The Embodied Self explores the expression and development of gender identity through the construction of the physical and performative male body. Displaced Masculinities explores the gradual shift in power that young men have experienced in terms of current representations of gender, race and technology. The third theme, Recovering Power, identifies subtle subversion strategies that young males reproduce to recover social power. Bullying is normalised within the school context and is understood as a physical and psychological process that differentiates desirable and undesirable masculinities. Masculinities are actively policed by peers, forcing boys to position themselves against the ideal hegemonic masculinity underpinning feelings of uncertainty and instability. Recommendations include continued opportunities for discussion of gender issues at a formative school level, focused policy development addressing the abuse of communication technologies, and translation of gender research into policy and legislation to recognise the role and responsibilities of men, with the major aim of reducing inequality. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

This thesis presents a cultural analysis of teenage pregnancy in a Cree community. In the last fifty years, social and material change, prompted by residential schooling and the growth of settlement life, have catalyzed a shift in teenage perceptions of parental authority and norms of social relations. Today the peer group is a pre-eminent agent of socialization, generating pressure to drink and be sexually active. The peer group also, in part, sustains the valuation of motherhood, and some indigenous norms of interpersonal communication and socially appropriate behaviour. In this contemporary context, the meanings of teenage childbearing are multiple, and different for each individual. / Although a biological fact, teenage pregnancy may also be seen as a product of how differentials in power between teenagers, their peers and people of different age and social groupings are played out. The construction of a category of adolescence and the centrality of fertility and reproduction are keys to understanding the social and symbolic significance of teenage pregnancy. This analysis emphasizes the interactive relationship between historical change, ideological beliefs and individual perceptions in shaping the meaning of teenage pregnancy in a Cree community.

The researcher focused on developing a psycho-developmental programme that could be used as an intervention technique to combat teenage pregnancy. The literature research indicated that general factors contributing to teenage pregnancy could be divided into individual factors and social factors. The following individual factors played a major role towards teenage pregnancy: lack of knowledge, lack of future vision, lack of educational and personal goals and poor academic performance. Social factors such as poor health care services, poor socio-economic condition, unemployment and poverty could be seen as the most common general factors that lead to teenage pregnancy. Family disorientation because of families consisting of one parent, alcohol and drug abuse, and lack of parent support increase the risk to get involved in prostitution and sexual molesting ending up in teenage pregnancy. Psychological aspects such as low self-image, low self-concept, low self-esteem and an external locus of control are also contributing factors to teenage pregnancy. Cultural rituals, myths about sexuality and teenage pregnancy, poor recreational facilities, poor socio-economic condition leading to poverty and increasing the risk of becoming a victim of sexual abuse could be seen as the most common cultural factors which lead to teenage pregnancy. For the purpose of this research a cultural quasi-experimental design was used. Enrolled pupils between fourteen and sixteen years from the following culture groups: white, black (rural), black (urban) and brown were included in this research. These pupils were enrolled students from the following High Schools in Parys: Parys High School, Phehelang High School, Barnard Molekwane High School, Weiveld High School and Sckonkinville High School. All the pupils from the control group, experimental group and development groups were exposed to the completion of a questionnaire that was utilised for pre-testing as well as post-testing. This questionnaire consisted out of three dimensions: knowledge on sexuality, attitudes towards sexuality and myths occurring in connection with sexuality. This questionnaire is available in Afrikaans and Sotho. Only the experimental group was exposed to the psycho-development programme. The results of the research indicated that no differences between the research groups (experimental, development and control groups), age (14 - 16 years) and gender (male and female) groups were reported before the implementation of the psycho-educational programme. Only statistical differences in the cultural groups (white, black and brown) were found: between white and brown in connection with knowledge, attitudes and myths, and between white and black differences in connection with knowledge and myths. Between brown and black differences were found in connection with attitudes. The results after the implementation of the psycho-educational programme showed that no differences were found in connection with age and gender. The experimental group reported a positive change in attitudes towards teenage pregnancy, while knowledge increased in the development group. No changes were reported in the control group. Within the different cultural groups the following results were reported: Knowledge increased in the white group, while within the black group changes in knowledge, attitudes and myths were found. The results for the brown group did not report any change. The following conclusion could be made that the developed psycho-educational programme did have an impact on improving the knowledge and changing the attitudes of the study population in connection with sexuality and teenage pregnancy. The limitations of this research were identified and recommendations were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2007.

Positive and negative outcome expectancies have been found to play a significant role in adolescents' decisions to engage in drug and alcohol use. In light of the parallel risk and protective factors among high-risk behaviors, youth gambling outcome expectancies were explored through the development of the 23-item Gambling Expectancy Questionnaire (GEQ) using a sample of 1,013 students aged 12-18. The final GEQ consists of three positive expectancy scales (i.e., Enjoyment/Arousal, Self-Enhancement, Money) and two negative expectancy scales (i.e., Over-Involvement, Emotional Impact). Significant gender, age and DSM-IV-MR-J gambling group differences were identified on the scales of the GEQ. Stepwise logistic regression among gamblers was performed separately for males and females to predict group membership into either social or problem gambling categories. The results of this study suggest that non-gamblers, social gamblers, at-risk gamblers and PPGs differ in their expectancies of the positive and negative outcomes of gambling behavior. In particular, PPGs highly anticipate both the positive and negative outcomes of gambling. Among males, these perceptions differentiate those who gamble excessively and those who do not. For females, on the other hand, outcome expectancies may have less predictive value. These findings were interpreted in terms of their implications for prevention, treatment and future research.

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