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This investigation was designed to specify the developmental course of adolescent delinquency by examining precursors of delinquency evident in childhood. Two theoretical perspectives were used to examine the influences of childhood behaviors and experiences on the incidence of adolescent delinquency and childhood deviance. Social control theory and social interactional theory were tested on two separate samples. The goal of Study 1 was to determine whether the variables associated with each theory were more predictive of adolescent delinquency rather than concurrent deviance. The sample used in Study 1 was comprised of 206 boys who participated in the Oregon Youth Study. The results of Study 1 indicated that the variables associated with social interactional theory significantly predicted concurrent deviance. After controlling for the influence of fourth and fifth grade deviance, neither theory was predictive of adolescence. Only child deviance significantly predicted police reported delinquency. The goal of Study 2 was to determine whether the variables associated with social control and social interactional theories were predictive of young children's deviance. One hundred and one children were assessed in first, second, fourth, or fifth grade. Results indicated that the variables did not vary in predictability based on the age of the child. Regarding social control theory, children's self control was somewhat associated with deviance after controlling for the influence of children's temperament. Regarding social interactional theory, children who were rated as antisocial were significantly more likely to be rated as deviant. The results of the two studies are discussed in terms of the stability of deviance. That is, in Study 2, children's temperament and antisocial behavior were most strongly associated with concurrent childhood deviance and in Study 1, child deviance was most predictive of delinquency. Thus, deviance may actually be present early in a child's life and may not change with children's development. Instead, society's reactions to deviance may change as children mature such that deviance is more tolerated among children rather than among adolescents.

The initial session play therapy behaviors of maladjusted and adjusted children were compared to investigate the value of children's play for diagnostic purposes. The frequency and the intensity of 13 categories of play behaviors were considered as factors in discriminating maladjusted children from adjusted children. The 15 children in the maladjusted group had been referred by their parents for counseling but had not been in counseling previously, and their teachers had reported that they had exhibited two or more behaviors indicative of emotional disturbance. The 15 children in the adjusted group were rated by their teachers as exhibiting none of the behaviors Indicating emotional disturbance, and their parents recognized no need for counseling. All subjects were 5 to 9 years of age, and the two groups were matched for age and sex. The Play Behaviors Adjustment Rating Scale (PBARS) was used to rate each child's play behaviors in an initial videotaped 36-minute play therapy session. The frequency and the intensity were rated for thirteen play categories: exploratory, incidental, creative or coping, dramatic or role, relationship building, relationship testing, self-accepting, self-rejecting, acceptance of environment, nonacceptance of environment, positive attitudinal, ambivalent attitudinal, and negative attitudinal. The results of the chi-square analysis indicated that maladjusted children exhibited significantly more self-accepting and nonacceptance of environment behaviors as well as more intense dramatic or role behaviors and acceptance of environment behaviors than did adjusted children. Further investigation showed: (a) maladjusted girls expressed dramatic or role behaviors more often and more intensely than maladjusted boys, (b) maladjusted boys showed more self-accepting and nonacceptance of environment behaviors than maladjusted girls, (c) maladjusted boys exhibited more self-accepting behaviors than adjusted boys, (d) adjusted girls expressed more positive attitudinal behaviors than adjusted boys, and (e) adjusted boys engaged in more exploratory play and were more intense in negative attitudinal play than adjusted girls.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of the Student Success Skills (SSS) classroom intervention on grade 5 African American students’ self-regulation, test anxiety and school attendance. This study analyzed pre-existing, non-identifiable student data collected by school counselors at 30 elementary schools in South Florida. A multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was used to determine differences in self-regulation, test anxiety, and school attendance between the students who participated in the SSS classroom intervention compared to those students who did not participate. Statistically significant differences were found between groups in all three factors and support the use of SSS classroom school counseling intervention with grade 5 African American students. Effect size estimates were reported for each of the measures. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

In 2 experiments, I tested the effects of a behavioral momentum blending procedure on the accuracy of component and composite textual and spelling responses emitted by 11 preschool students with disabilities, including autism and speech and language delays, using multiple probe designs across participants. The participants were between 3 and 4 years old and were selected to participate because they were receiving reading instruction, but they emitted low numbers of correct textual responses to words comprised of previously mastered phoneme-grapheme correspondences. Dependent measures in the experiment included blending responses to novel text stimuli, composite vocal blending responses in which no textual stimuli were used, and spelling responses. In addition, in Experiment 2, I tested the effects of the procedure on the reinforcing properties of textual stimuli. Prior to the intervention, the participants were taught to textually respond to a set of known, regular words comprised of up to five phonemic sounds represented by corresponding graphemes at a target rate (number per min). During the behavioral momentum blending intervention, participants responded to these words that were presented in rapid succession by the experimenter, followed by the immediate presentation of novel words. The experimenter provided a vocal model of the component phonemes which was systematically faded during each phase of the intervention. Results for Experiment 1 showed increases in textual, spelling, and vocal blending responses for five participants. In addition, results indicated that the participants textually responded to novel words and emitted more composite textual responses, or responses without emitting the component sounds prior to textually responding, when composite blending was modeled at the beginning of the probe session. In Experiment 2, I altered the intervention procedure to require composite only responding as a final step in the instructional sequence. Six new preschool students were selected to participate, and the dependent measures were the same as Experiment 1; however, I also tested for the presence of conditioned reinforcement for observing print prior to and following BMBI. Results showed significant effects for four of the participants following up to two phases of intervention but were less significant for two of the participants. Additionally, results indicated the establishment of conditioned reinforcement for observing print for the participants who textually responded at criterion level. These findings are discussed with regard to the educational significance of blending as a prerequisite for textual responding and the importance of the speaker-as-own-listener verbal repertoire in learning to read phonetically.

by Sonya Y.W. Law. / Includes Chinese and English questionnaires. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-89). / ABSTRACT --- p.II / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.III / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.IV / LIST OF TABLES --- p.V / LIST OF APPENDICES --- p.VII / Chapter CHAPTER I - --- INTRODUCTION / The phenomenon of informant discrepancy on child and adolescent psychopathology --- p.8 / Variables affecting the agreement of informants in rating child and adolescent psychopathology --- p.11 / Who is the reliable and valid informant? --- p.25 / Focuses of the present study --- p.30 / Chapter CHAPTER II - --- METHOD / Subjects --- p.33 / Instruments --- p.34 / Procedure --- p.38 / Statistical analyses --- p.38 / Chapter CHAPTER III - --- RESULTS / "Internal Consistency of the CBCL, YSR, TRF syndrome scales and interrelation among syndromes scales" --- p.40 / Informant concordance - on the severity of reported symptoms --- p.46 / "correlation between parent's, teacher's, and child's rating" --- p.53 / "Association between parent-, teacher-, child-rated internalizing and externalizing problems and the external correlates of psychopathology" --- p.61 / Predictive ability of ratings from different informants on the external correlates of psychopathology --- p.64 / Chapter CHAPTER IV - --- DISCUSSION / Informant agreement on the severity of symptoms --- p.68 / "Correlation between ratings of different informants in relation to adolescent's sex, age, clinical status, and type of psychopathology" --- p.72 / Association between ratings from different informants and the external correlates of psychopathology --- p.75 / "Predictive ability of parent's, teacher's and adolescent's rating on the external correlates of psychopathology" --- p.77 / REFERENCES / APPENDICES

Children with antisocial, aggressive and disruptive behaviours pose considerable concern to families, educators and the wider community. A major barrier to implementing effective interventions is treatment non-attendance and attrition. The dissertation examines treatment participation among children with conduct problems, and their families, referred to child and youth mental health services. First, a model of treatment engagement was proposed that included Structural strategies (clinic service operations, such as service accessibility) and Therapy Process strategies (aspects of the interaction between the clinician and the family of the referred child). Consistent with the model of engagement, parent-report and clinician-report measures were developed and evaluated in the local Queensland Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. The next study explored and manipulated Structural aspects in a randomised control trial evaluating the impact of telephone reminder calls. Families of children with conduct problems, in comparison to children without conduct problems, were more likely to miss appointments and to drop out of treatment. The low rate of treatment attendance for conduct problem children was diminished among those assigned to the telephone reminder condition. In the final study, the impact of a clinician training program covering the proposed engagement model was evaluated. Utilising a multiple-staggered baseline design, the training impact on clinician behaviour (n = 30) and client outcomes (n = 221) was evaluated across three mental health services. The training program was associated with a significant increase in clinicians' appraisal and use of the engagement strategies based on clinician report and chart audit measures, but not on the parent report measure. In comparison to clients referred during a baseline period, clients referred after the clinician training program had significantly higher rates of treatment attendance and lower attrition. Greater improvement in mental health functioning was found for clients referred after the training intervention on the clinician rated measure, but not for the parent report of child psychopathology. The study was limited by the use of previously un-validated engagement measures, lack of follow-up for outcome measures, and non-random allocation to conditions. The staggering of interventions across clinics and the comparability of client groups, however, minimised potential confounding explanations. Overall the results show that targeting Structural and Therapy Process aspects can enhance engagement, reduce drop-out, and improve selected outcomes in the treatment of child conduct problems.

Thesis (M. Ed.(Educational psychology))-University of Pretoria, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

As increasing numbers of poor children enter child care programs due to changes in work requirements under the Welfare Reform Act, there is a critical need to examine factors that may affect the quality of care that these children receive. One factor that has received limited attention in the literature is how preservice teachers' perceptions of young children may vary according to characteristics of the child and the context in which the child exists. The current study employed an ecological person-process-context model to examine differences in preservice teachers' perceptions of children's social and cognitive competence. The sample for this study consisted of 68 children and 28 preservice teachers enrolled at a university-based preschool in Oregon. The preschool was the only site in the state featuring an integrated program in which Head Start children were enrolled with non-Head Start children under an Oregon Prekindergarten Program (OPP) grant. Hierarchical regression was used to determine if the contextual factor of enrollment in OPP would be a more significant contributor to preservice teachers' perceptions of children's social and cognitive competence than the person factors of child age, sex, race/ethnicity, temperament and actual child competence. Qualitative data was also collected through focus group discussions with preservice teachers. Sex was the most important contributor to preservice teachers' perceptions of children's social competence, followed by enrollment in OPP, actual social competence, and age. For preservice teachers' perceptions of children's cognitive competence, age was the most significant contributor, followed by actual cognitive competence, enrollment in OPP, and sex. While enrollment in OPP was not the most significant contributor to preservice teachers' perceptions of children's social and cognitive competence, it was still a significant contributor, beyond other person variables. For both social and cognitive competence, preservice teachers rated children enrolled in OPP lower than their non-OPP peers, girls higher than boys, and older children higher than younger children, even when the unique contribution of children's actual competence was included. Qualitative data generally supported these findings. Implications for research, policy, and practice are discussed. / Graduation date: 1999

Thesis (M.S.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Psychology. / Bibliography: leaves 68-72. Also available via the World Wide Web.