This study examined the relationship between parenting, adolescent personality, and adolescent optimism. Four hundred and eighty families with at least one adolescent child in the Seattle, Washington area completed a series of questionnaires assessing parenting style, personality, and optimism. Results from hierarchical regression analyses indicated that there is a small, yet significant, portion of the variance in optimism explained by parenting and personality individually, but that the relationship between optimism, parenting, and personality dynamics is far more complex than originally anticipated. Further research is needed to examine the nature of these relationships and to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the predictors of optimism.

This study examines the relations between depressive symptom expression and cultural and family contexts among adolescent females from different ethnic groups. Specifically, ethnic identity, parenting style, family stress and the quality of parent-adolescent relationships were examined as potential protective factors for depressive symptom expression among a diverse group of female adolescents. This study addressed the following research questions: 1) Are there ethnic group differences in depressive symptom expression across Latina, African American and Asian adolescent females? 2) Are there ethnic group differences in the association of family processes with depressive symptom expression across these three ethnic groups? 3) Regardless of ethnic group membership, does ethnic identity moderate the association of family processes with depressive symptoms? The sample consisted of 93 female high school students. Overall, 30% of participants reported depressive symptoms in the moderate to severe range. The results of this study indicate that there are few statistically significant differences in depressive symptom expression across Latina, African American and Asian participants; however, Latina participants consistently reported the highest rates of depressive symptoms. Family stress and authoritative parenting style were significant predictors of depressive symptom expression, such that participants of all ethnicities who reported high levels of depressive symptoms also reported high levels of family stress and low levels of authoritative parenting. No ethnic group differences were found for authoritative parenting, family stress or ethnic identity indicating that these processes were comparable across ethnic groups. These results indicate that family process variables are important predictors of depressive symptoms in adolescent females, which lead to recommendations that adolescent treatment of depressive disorders should include family therapy. In addition, due to the 30% prevalence rate of depression in this study, it is recommended that mental health professionals and school systems collaborate in order to offer outreach programs through local schools. INDEX WORDS: Adolescents, Depression, Ethnic minorities, Authoritative parenting, Family stress, Ethnic identity

No description available.

The thesis addressed the saving behaviour of adolescents within the social context of the family, which has received little attention to date. The research regarded adolescent economic socialization and the development of saving behaviour as an integral part of general socialization and adolescent psychological development. The importance of saving was investigated relative to alternative ways for getting larger sums of money. Three large survey studies with adolescents and one survey study with adolescents and their parents were carried out. In Study 1, 470 students between the ages of 11 and 18 took part. The results of this study revealed that adolescents do think of saving as a means of accumulating larger sums of money. Studies 2 and 3 sampled 290 and 443 students between the ages of 11 and 17 and 13 to 14, respectively, providing empirical evidence of adolescents’ endeavour for independence, reflected by their saving motives as well as the changing of their attitudes towards saving as a skill. The thesis examined a number of significant predictors for adolescents’ general tendency to save. The studies linked adolescent saving with home atmosphere and perceived parenting style empirically for the first time. A path model illustrates the associations that were found between the behaviour and attitudes of the parents and the saving behaviour and attitudes of their adolescent child. It demonstrates that the development of saving behaviour is linked to the power relationship between parent and child. The findings support the behavioural life-cycle hypothesis as well as the benefits of being raised in an ‘authoritative home’ with regard to skills in saving.

The first purpose of this study was to investigate the direct effects of three subtypes of social withdrawal (shyness, social avoidance, and unsociability, respectively) on internalizing outcomes (depression, emotional dysregulation, and self-worth, respectively) in emerging adulthood and to examine these effects by gender. A second purpose was to examine if parenting moderates (i.e., exacerbates or buffers) the main effects of social withdrawal on internalizing outcomes. Participants included 790 undergraduate students from four universities in the United States (Mage = 19.61, SD = 1.85, range = 18–29; 243 males, 547 females) and their mothers. Regression analyses established that shyness was associated with higher levels of depression and emotional dysregulation as well as lower self-worth for males and females. Social avoidance was linked with higher levels of depression and emotional dysregulation for females only. Finally, unsociability was associated with lower levels of depression and dysregulation for both genders. Analyses also established that parenting did not moderate depression, emotional dysregulation, or self-worth with regard to shyness or social avoidance. However, helicopter parenting moderated the links between unsociability and depression. Authoritative parenting moderated the links between unsociability and dysregulation and self-worth. Discussion focuses on the outcomes for emerging adults and the moderating roles of gender and parenting.

This student-centered analysis of caring in three academically promising, low-income public high schools in Texas used an instrumental case study design (Stake, 1998) to investigate students' perceptions and experiences of receiving care in high school. The analysis also examined the teacher and administrator practices that contributed to students' experience of receiving care, and considered the resources that supported the adults' caring practice at the three schools. Archival data consisting of open-ended interviews with students, teachers, administrators, and school staff were analyzed qualitatively. Results suggest that caring should be evaluated in context. In the high school context students experience care through having their teachers' and administrators’ help and support with academics. Results also suggest that students experience caring through teacher and administrator behaviors and attitudes that respond to their developmental needs. That is, they experience care when adults at school establish a style and pattern of interaction similar to "authoritative parenting" (Baumrind, 1987). Recognition from adults in the school is very important for high school students, and especially salient for low-income and minority adolescents who often receive negative and discriminatory feedback from the community. / text

Magister Artium - MA / This study aims to explore the family environment of non-admitting sex offenders in order to gain insight into the family characteristics that could be contributing factors towards the behaviour of denial. However, the focus will not be on the families of the sex offenders, but rather on the non-admitting sex offenders’ views of their family environment. The theoretical framework used is the Social Learning Theory, because it supports the fact that most behaviour is learned through modelling the behaviour of others. The researcher used a qualitative approach and the aim of the study was to generate information that would describe the family environment of non-admitting sex offenders. The population of this study was incarcerated, sentenced sex offenders with specific focus on the non-admitting sex offender as the unit of analysis. Ten (10) participants were purposively selected for the study and semi-structured interviews were conducted with each one in order to generate the needed information for the study

No description available.