The present study aimed to investigate the role of self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism in conjunction with stressful life experiences in suicidal ideation, potential, and prior attempts among depressed adolescents. Self-oriented perfectionism involves striving to meet one's own unrealistically high standards and evaluating one's performance stringently. Socially prescribed perfectionism involves the perception that significant others have very high expectations for oneself, which the perfectionist strives to meet. This study examined correlations between these perfectionism dimensions and suicidal ideation, potential or risk, and prior attempts in addition to investigating whether either perfectionism dimension accounted for additional variance in suicide outcomes beyond the established risk factors depression and hopelessness. Also examined was a moderational model whereby dimensions of perfectionism were hypothesized to interact with stress to predict suicide outcomes. A sample of 55 adolescents (41 females, 14 males) who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition (DSM-IV; APA, 1994) criteria for Major Depression (65.5%), Dysthymia (16.4%), or Depressive Disorder NOS (18.2%) completed self-report measures of perfectionism, daily hassles, depression, hopelessness, suicidal ideation, suicide potential, and prior suicidal attempts. Additionally, adolescents and one of their parents completed a diagnostic interview and a stress interview measuring major stressful experiences. Results revealed that self-oriented perfectionism was not correlated with any aspect of suicide; however, socially prescribed perfectionism was associated with suicide potential. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that self-oriented perfectionism did not account for unique variance in suicide outcomes, whereas, socially prescribed perfectionism predicted additional variance in suicide potential once depression and hopelessness were controlled. Regarding the moderational model, both self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism were found to interact with aspects of stress to predict suicidality. More specifically, self-oriented perfectionism interacted with daily hassles to predict suicide potential/risk. Socially prescribed perfectionism interacted with subjective and objective ratings of major stressful experiences and with daily hassles to predict suicide potential/risk. Neither perfectionism dimension interacted with stress to predict suicidal ideation or prior suicide attempts. Taken together, these findings suggest that among depressed adolescents, socially prescribed perfectionism is correlated with suicide risk and predicts unique variance in this suicide outcome beyond other established risk factors. Additionally, both selforiented and socially prescribed perfectionism act as vulnerability factors that are predictive of suicide potential when adolescents experience elevated levels of stress. As these relationships were apparent even after controlling for the contributions of depression and hopelessness to suicide, the results of this study highlight the importance of considering perfectionistic tendencies when evaluating suicide risk among youth. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

La clinique auprès d’adolescents amène le psychologue à s’interroger sur la place qu’occupent le regard et la voix au cours de cette traversée. Si ces deux objets sont au cœur de la naissance du sujet, leur nouage devient incertain au temps de l’adolescence. Les fugues ado- lescentes, que nous désignons par le terme « disparition » adviennent comme le témoignage d’un dénouage : celui du regard et de la voix. Ainsi, disparaître, c’est s’arracher au silence de l’Autre, un silence vociférant, structuré comme comme un mauvais œil. Il s’agit, alors, de créer un lieu, un espace — celui de la disparition — à partir duquel pourra se penser le retour. / The adolescent’s clinic brings the psychologist to question the place of the look and the voice during this passing through time. Even if these two items are central in the subject’s birth, their knotting becomes uncertain at the time of adolescence. Teenage runaways, in what we could refer as « disappearance » happens as the testimony the unknotting : that one of the look and the voice. Thus, to disappear, is to draw off the silence of Other one, a vociferous silence, structured like a jaundiced eye. It is a question, then, to create a place, a space — the one of disappearence — from where the return can be thought.

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Call number: LD2668 .T4 1965 S347 / Master of Science

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc (Clinical Psychology) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2014

Évaluation des résultats d'une intervention centrée sur les difficultés de socialisation d'adolescentes anorexiques sur leur évolution pondérale, leurs conduites alimentaires, leur adaptation interpersonnelle et leur ajustement psychologique.

Stress is a pervasive phenomenon that occurs in the lives of people of all age groups but is particularly prominent in the lives of adolescents. A limited and manageable degree of stress motivates a person to perform and engenders a zest for living, but excessive stress is harmful, not only to the victim's health, but also to his affective, social and cognitive development. Too much stress in the life of the adolescent may therefore exert a negative influence on his scolastic performance in that it may lead to underachievement, concentration problems, absenteeism, disinterest in class- and homework, and lowered student satisfaction and self-esteem. To prevent these problems teachers should be capable of identifying excessive stress in pupils and of assisting pupils to cope with stress. Although a considerable number of questionnaires aimed at identifying stress in adolescents are available overseas, no such instrument has been developed for specific application under South African conditions. The purpose of this research is therefore to furnish the educator with 'an instrument for identifying stress in adolescents, not as a means of labelling the child, but to obtain a reference point from which assistance can be offered to the victim of stress. The becoming and development of the adolescent, the definition, causes, mediators and consequences of stress, and responses to stress, have been researched by means of an extensive literature study. A model for the identification and handling of stress in pupils attending secondary schools is proposed, and emphasis is placed on the importance of the teacher's role in the prevention and identification of stress and in assisting pupils who are overburdened with stress. The Adolescent Stress Identification Inventory was developed with reference to the literature study and, following a nomothetic study, standardised by means of statistical methods. It appears from the research that the questionnaire has both a high reliability coefficient and construct validity. It can therefore be applied successfully by educationists and psychologists to identify stress in adolescents. It must be emphasised, however, that awareness and identification of stress in adolescents would be meaningless unless identification leads to prevention and assistance. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

The growing interest in positive factors that promote thriving and flourishing in psychology research and education in recent years has prompted an increased focus on the importance of non-intellectual or transferrable skills, in particular character strengths, social, and interpersonal abilities. A recent UK government white paper was published citing the importance of character in education; however, the extant research literature is largely drawn from American and Australian populations, with the majority of studies being cross sectional. Researchers and educators should be cautious of causal interpretations and generalisation of these findings to other populations. Research from the UK, with its differing culture and education system, is limited, and there is a clear need for longitudinal, UK research to clarify both the nature of these causal relationships, and whether USA findings can be generalised to the UK. Such research is particularly important in order to accurately inform and evaluate any potential applications of strengths based approaches in education. The current thesis reports findings from a short term, longitudinal study of the influence of self-perceived strengths on teacher assessments and exam results in a cohort of UK adolescents from 3rd to 4th year across two schools in Aberdeen. Pupils completed self-report measures of strengths (Strengths Assessment Inventory – Youth; SAI-Y), coping (WOC-R), Optimism (LOT-R), and Trait Affect (PANAS) at three time points: baseline (time 1), 8 months later (time 2), and a further 5 months later (time 3). Teacher assessments of pupil progress by subject for each participant were obtained following time 2 data collection and participant exam results after time 3. Chapter 1 (study 1a) reports the psychometric validation of a relatively new strengths measure for children and young people (SAI-Y) in a UK adolescent population, based on time 1 data. Findings show the psychometric properties and factorial structure of the SAI-Y compare well with previous validation studies, indicating this measure is a valid tool for describing character strengths in UK as well as US adolescents. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to derive an empirical factor structure for the SAI-Y. The psychometric data and analyses suggest that the factorial structure of the SAI-Y is different in the study population, but that the new 12 factor structure is valid for this sample. In addition, relative to the other measures used in this study, the SAI-Y captures a range of differing constructs relative to the WOC-R, PANAS and LOT-R, so that the SAI-Y is a useful, psychometrically valid tool for measuring a wider range of non-intellectual abilities in future strengths based research. Chapter 2 (study 1b) reports findings on the predictive relationship between pupils self-reported strengths at time 1, and teacher assessments of pupil progress at time 2, as investigated using exploratory and stepwise regression analyses. Findings showed that Pupils who score highly on Functional Behaviour (SAI-Y) tend to be assessed as excelling or performing in line with expectations by teachers 8 months later. In particular, pupils who self-report higher levels of Functional Behaviour are more likely to be assessed as excelling than performing as expected, in that functional behaviour was more strongly predictive of Green (excelling) than of Amber (performing as expected) assessments. Chapter 3 (study 1c) reports the results of exploratory and stepwise regression analyses to determine the predictive relationships between pupil self-reported strengths and exam results. Findings indicate that Functional Behaviour is consistently predictive of 13 successful academic achievement, particularly for higher levels of attainment (e.g. cumulative Total Score, A and B awards at N5, and proportion of exams passed at N5 level). Chapter 4 (study 1d) addresses the predictive relationships between teacher assessments of pupil progress and exam results, based on data from time 1 and 3. Analyses of Pupil Progress assessments for pupils participating at Time 1 and 3, using both exploratory and stepwise regression, showed a consistent, predictive relationship between Green (exceeding expectations) assessments and higher levels of exam success (N5 total score, percentage of passes at N5, and number of A, B, and C grades at N5). Analyses indicate Amber pupil progress to be a consistent predictor of almost all levels of exam success. Chapter 5 (study 1e) Investigates the Influence of time on predictors of outcomes (Teacher Assessments and Exams), as well as the relative influence of Strengths and Teacher Assessments on Exam Outcomes. Longitudinal regression analyses to assesses the influence of time in the predictive relationships found between Strengths and positive outcomes (Teacher Assessments and Exams), as well as the relative predictive influence of Strengths and Teacher Assessments on Exam outcomes, were conducted based on data from Time 1 and Time 3. Findings are interpreted and discussed in the context of strengths based educating, successful learning, and positive youth development; recommendations for future research directions are considered.

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

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