A DISSERTATION SUBMITIED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE: M.A (CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY) IN THE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY FACULTY OF ARTS UNNIVERSITY OF ZULULAND, 2003. / This study evaluates the effectiveness of a parent support group on the relationship between parents and adolescents within a church community. Subjects were referred to the group by the priest of the local Catholic Church. The group consisted of five married couples and the researcher, who adopted an observer — participant role. The group ran for seven sessions in total. Motivation to begin such a group was prompted by the researcher's experience of working with parents and adolescents who had very strained relationships with each other. Data was collected using qualitative and quantitative questionnaires. Results revealed that the parent support group was effective in improving relationships between parents and adolescents.

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Suicidal thoughts and behaviors are important public health concerns and suicide is the second leading cause of death among adolescents in the United States (CDC, 2019). The months following hospital discharge mark an increased period of risk for recurrence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. During this elevated risk period, the first month following discharge is a particularly high-risk period for suicide death (Meehan et al., 2006). Despite this known high-risk period, the processes that place an individual at increased risk during this time are not well understood. Emotion intensity and lability are known risk factors for suicidal ideation and are demographically salient risk factors among adolescents. Historic methodologies for assessing emotion intensity and lability rely on long-term retrospective self-report questionnaires and interviews which fail to capture the variability of these risk factors that are known to fluctuate on a daily to hourly basis. The present study implemented ecological momentary assessment (EMA; a methodology for repeatedly assessing variables in real-time), to study both positive and negative emotion intensity and lability among adolescents during the first month following discharge from psychiatric hospitalization. The current study sought to compare the power of traditional baseline assessments of emotions to that of EMA in the prediction of intensity and recurrence of suicidal ideation at 1- and 4-months post-hospitalization. Forty-five adolescents (12-18 years; M= 15.85; SD= 1.58) psychiatrically hospitalized due to a suicide related chief complaint were recruited from an inpatient unit in a larger treatment development study. Adolescents completed interviews and self-reports to assess demographic variables, baseline emotion characteristics, and history of suicidal thoughts and behavior. Following discharge, participants completed one month of daily EMA surveys, in which adolescents were asked to rate the extent to which they felt positive and negative emotions in the moment. Adolescents then completed a follow-up survey at 1-month and 4-months post-discharge to assess recurrence and intensity of suicidal ideation. We found that positive and negative emotions at baseline did not significantly predict suicidal ideation recurrence or intensity at either of the study follow-ups. High intensity of negative emotions as assessed via EMA was significantly associated with more intense suicidal ideation severity at both 1- and 4- months post-discharge, even after controlling for baseline suicidal ideation intensity and depressive symptoms. Assessing emotions on a daily basis provided stronger prediction models of suicidal ideation intensity in the months following hospital discharge compared to traditional methods of assessment. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

Many educators and psychologists believe self-esteem is an important variable in the educational process. An adequate level of self-esteem is recognized as being essential for students because it may affect their level of achievement and general state of well being. Self-report measures are the most commonly used techniques to evaluate children's perceptions of themselves. Children's self-reports are valuable since certain aspects of internalized problems are usually difficult for others to identify. Sociometrics, or peer reports, provide an alternative to self-report measures of self-esteem. Some studies have shown academic achievement, athletic ability, and socioeconomic status to correlate with sociometric status. Sociometric measures allow teachers to gather a wealth of information about their students quickly and easily. One purpose of this study was to determine the degree of similarity between self-reports and peer reports as measures of self-esteem in middle school students. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that self-reports and peer reports were separate, but related constructs. A second purpose of the study was to determine the effects of verbal ability, peer reports, and self-reports on current achievement while controlling for whether or not the student had a learning disability. A recursive path model found verbal ability and type of student (learning disabled versus not learning disabled) to have strong direct effects on achievement, whereas self-reports and peer reports had no Significant effects. A third purpose of this study was to examine differences between students with and without learning disabilities on the peer reports and self-reports. Students with learning disabilities were found to have lower scores on all peer report and self-report measures. No relationship was found between type of student and choices made on peer nominations. / Ph. D.

Locus of control refers to the individual's perception of the degree to which he controls the outcome of events in his life through his own behavior. Locus is further defined and related concepts discussed. Literature is reviewed, exploring determinants in the development of personal locus. Differential descriptions of the Internal and External individual are outlined, according to studies on locus as it affects personality and social-interactions. Delinquent, socially maladjusted and dependent-neglected adolescents were tested and significant differences in locus and personality characteristics examined. Final discussion is directed to implications of the results of this study with regards to the needs of the children and the suggested role of the institution.

The majority of research dealing with the eating disorder of bulimia has focused on characteristics of college-aged women, with those findings forming a basis for treatment planning with younger, adolescent women. While research in recent years has begun to examine those characteristics specifically related to bulimia in adolescence, there has been a relative lack of consideration of the effect of the developmental stage of the individual on these psychological characteristics. Such differential characteristics, if found to be present, would have implications for both the prevention and treatment of bulimia in younger populations. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the concerns of high school and college females at high risk for bulimia at different developmental levels as well as to identify the psychological characteristics of high risk subjects across the age groups. Participants were asked to complete questionnaires assessing their self-perceptions on a variety of intrapersonal and interpersonal dimensions. Individuals aged 12-14 who were also at high risk for bulimia reported greater levels of depression and more feelings of inefficacy than did older, high risk individuals. Across all ages, women at high risk for bulimia were more dissatisfied with their body shape, were more depressed, experienced more difficulty with peer and family relationships, and felt more alienated from others than did individuals at low risk for bulimia. These results were discussed within a developmental framework, and it was suggested that individuals who cannot come to terms with the multiple changes of adolescence are at increased risk for engaging in bulimic behavior. / Ph. D.

The present study is intended to be, as far as possible, an exhaustive examination of sociometric status groupings in regard to the way in which members of the group rate themselves and the others in their groups concerning happiness, problems and worry.