No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.

This qualitative inquiry uses a life history prospective approach to investigate the social context in which adolescent girls’ sexual feelings emerge and in which girls’ sexual experiences occur. Nine adolescent girls were interviewed at two points in time during their adolescence and themes from their narratives were analyzed with respect to their experiences with sexuality. It appears that peers, family members, and sexual/dating partners have a major effect on both, girls’ sexual experiences and their connection with their sexual feelings. Prospective analysis revealed that over time, the social contexts of adolescent girls became more complex and girls became exposed to increasingly contradictory messages about what they should do and feel and behave. Girls appeared to have internalized the social messages around sexuality, which was evident through how girls talked about sexuality and through girls’ direct reports that their decisions were affected by the social and familial implications of their decisions.

The present mixed-methods study examined adolescents’ social perspective taking in contexts of social justice as demonstrated by their awareness and interpretations of hypothetical peer interactions depicting racism and sexism. Fifty adolescents in Grades 9 and 12 participated in a semi-structured interview in which they were presented with two scenarios, involving adolescents in conflicts portraying racism and sexism. They were asked a series of questions designed to elicit their awareness and understanding of social group differences. Qualitative analyses revealed three categories of adolescents’ responses, reflecting distinct interpretations of social group differences. On average, adolescents assumed a perspective that was naïve to the disparities existing between vulnerable and less vulnerable social groups. Furthermore, it was shown that older adolescents had significantly more sophisticated social justice understandings than younger adolescents. These findings highlight the need to educate adolescents about issues of social justice and facilitate an appreciation of social group differences.

The purpose of this study proposal is to examine the peer relationships of adolescents with chronic conditions, particularly as a result of spending less time at school and socializing with peers, and more time at home or in the healthcare system. Participants will be 50 adolescents with chronic conditions, 50 healthy adolescents attending regular schools, and 50 homeschooled adolescents. They will complete a variety of questionnaires relating to activity restriction, best friendship quality, number of friends, peer-group attachment, relationships with selected adults, and parent-child relationships. Information about the chronic condition and school attendance will also be collected. It is predicted that despite experiencing a high quality best friendship, adolescents with chronic conditions will have fewer friends and worse peer-group attachment. There is also expected to be an inverse relationship between both activity restriction and absenteeism and peer-group attachment and number of friends. This study proposal has several implications for healthcare practitioners, school administrators, and parents: particularly, that more should be done to integrate adolescents with chronic conditions into schools and social activities.

Facebook is framed as a dangerous tool or at best, a colossal waste of time for adolescents. Stories of bullying, sexual exploitation, and adolescent idiocy dominate the mainstream and sociological narrative. Yet, there are few sociological studies of 13-18 year olds' social media experience. Available research on this age group is presented from the perspectives of adults or focused on college students. This dissertation seeks to address this gap in the literature by presenting the Facebook stories of 26 adolescents (13-18). It reveals a more contemplative and positive story of adolescent Facebook use than that described in the literature. To capture their lived experience I developed a social media ethnography, including a survey, focus groups, observation of Facebook images, and follow up interviews. These data show that while adolescents spend considerable effort on their impression management work to "document us being awesome," they also want to present an authentic self. When this visual self presentation enters the public realm of Facebook it is altered by the awareness of an audience, and thus their authenticity is bounded by gendered social media rules that highlight masculinity/femininity. Simultaneously they also engage in significant back stage work to evaluate how this presentation aligns with the "real me now." Facebook provides a public space for this self reflection; it allows them to visualize the presentation of self and the feedback they receive on it. Over time these micro interactions and moments of self reflection work to constitute the evolving self. This multi-method study offers media studies a new framework from which to consider the deeper meanings that adolescents make and take from social media. It presents an example of thoughtful decision making that may challenge brain development research indicating that adolescents struggle with impulse control. It also addresses a significant gap in the adolescent development literature by suggesting that work normally done internally to craft the self narrative now has a public presentation. Adolescents are forging a new path to development, and impressively they are taking control of social media technology to do so in a way that is both complicated and potentially helpful.

The transition to adulthood can be especially challenging for youth that experience the foster care system. These challenges are magnified for youth that also experience disability, accounting for at least 40-47% of all children in foster care. Youth with and without disabilities that experience the foster care system encounter barriers during the transition to adulthood that often lead to poor outcomes; including high rates of mobility, mental health concerns, or a lack of a consistent positive relationship with an adult. A national study determined that 2.5 to 4 years after a youth has aged out of the child welfare system only 54% had graduated from high school and only 17% were economically self sufficient. In order to move from a deficit-based to a strength-based approach it is important to gain a greater understanding of what helped young adults with disabilities that experienced foster care overcome barriers to graduation and aided their transition to adulthood. The findings from this dissertation study suggest and confirm prior research that improved systems and interagency collaboration, more training for professionals and caregivers, and self-determination and self-advocacy training for youth are needed to improve post school outcomes for youth with disabilities who experience foster care. The services and supports that were perceived as the most helpful in overcoming barriers were (a) access to mental health and disability services, (b) stable and positive relationships, (c) systems that provide a "safety net" during transition, and (d) post secondary support programs for alumni of foster care. On an individual level, resilience, self-determination, and self-advocacy seemed to contribute to participants' successful transition to adulthood. This dissertation study also demonstrates the variability of the social and relational contexts for youth in foster care, therefore a personalized, youth centered approach to case management is required during their transition to adulthood.

Fundamental adaptive systems such as achievement motivation have been identified as key mechanisms for affecting youth outcomes. These systems can be encouraged and supported in specific contexts, such as the school setting. This study explored whether school achievement motivation during mid-adolescence could protect against developing externalizing behaviors related to lax, psychologically controlling, or rejecting parenting experienced prior, in pre-adolescence. Motivation was defined and assessed according to adolescent behaviors displayed in the classroom. Data from the Center for Education and Drug Abuse Research (CEDAR) were obtained to carry out the study analyses. The total sample was 775 youth (M = 10.95 ± 0.88 years old; 69% male; 76% Caucasian, 21% African American, 3% multiracial at T1), though sample sizes on key variables where as low as 337 because of missing data. Analyses controlled for father lifetime psychiatric and substance use disorder diagnosis, family socio-economic status, adolescent school learning at T2, adolescent age and sex. Results showed that psychological and emotional forms of problematic parenting in pre-adolescence were associated with future externalizing problems in mid-adolescence, however behavioral forms of problematic parenting did not show any effect. When school motivation was high, adolescents showed the lowest levels of externalizing behaviors related to both psychologically controlling and rejecting parenting, followed by their moderate and low motivation peers. In most cases, only adolescents low in school motivation were significantly impacted by problematic parenting whereas adolescents moderate or high in motivation were not affected. Unexpected nuances in findings are also discussed. / Psychology

Youth minister self-efficacy may be affected by the education received regarding positive youth development and adolescent development in general. A survey intended to explore the correlation between youth minister self-efficacy and education was administered to 43 Southern Baptist youth ministers in Mississippi. The survey used Lykert-type scales, multiple-choice questions, and open-ended questions to assess self-efficacy and positive youth development and adolescent development knowledge. Analysis of variance and correlations were used to analyze the data. Findings indicate that youth minister self-efficacy is related to adolescent development knowledge, but not significantly related to positive youth development knowledge. These findings provide insight into the effect of education on youth minister self-efficacy and lay a groundwork for further research regarding ministerial education and its effects.

Many variables have been analyzed in order to understand parent-adolescent interactions and outcomes for adolescents. These variables must be integrated into a model that demonstrates the holistic interplay of parent-adolescent interaction variables so that a more comprehensive understanding of parent-adolescent interactions is achieved. Variables included in the model proposed here were parenting, family environment, expectations, conflict, and outcomes. Parenting, family environment, and conflict were associated with outcomes for adolescents. When the variables were analyzed simultaneously with structural equation modeling, however, the relationship of parenting and adolescent outcomes was mediated wholly for male-father, male-mother, and female-father relationships but remained significant for female-mother relationships. Overall, the holistic interplay of parent-adolescent interaction variables and the need to examine parent-adolescent dyads individually were demonstrated.

<p dir="ltr">Loneliness is a perceived discrepancy between desired and experienced social relationships, which may arise from perceived lack of intimate attachment to another person (e.g., friend) or lack of involvement in larger networks (e.g., peer groups). The current study examined and compared how different aspects of friendship and peer group involvement predicted loneliness of Indonesian adolescents. Participants were 754 twelfth-grade Indonesian students (413 girls, mean age = 16.5 years). Loneliness was self-reported. Reciprocated friendships were calculated from within-grade nominations and friendship quality was obtained from ratings pertaining to each nominated friend. Peer groups were generated from Social Cognitive Mapping (SCM) and status indices were calculated from SCM and peer nominations. A concurrent SEM model was tested where quantity and self- and friend-perceived quality of friendship, group membership (i.e., within-group centrality), and status of the group in the larger network (i.e., group centrality status and group popularity status) predicted loneliness. All predictors had unique negative effects on loneliness with generally similar effect sizes except for friend-perceived friendship quality. An interaction between within-group centrality and group popularity status was found for boys. The results revealed that quantity and quality of friendship as well as position in the peer group and the status of the peer group were associated with loneliness. Being central in a group may be more important for those in low-status groups than high-status groups. Group-related indices were comparable to friendship indices as predictors of loneliness, which may be shaped by Indonesian culture where group involvement is valued more than intimate friendships.</p>