In the current study, structural equation modeling is used to explore the complex relationships between environmental and individual factors as they influence multidimensional indices of adjustment among a sample of Chilean adolescents. The first aim was to examine the direct relationships between school contextual factors and both educational and socioemotional outcomes. The second aim was to determine the mediational effect of academic self-efficacy and school connectedness on these relationships. Invariance testing was then applied to the full structural model to determine whether demographic variables such as sex or school placement had significant moderating effects on path coefficients. Participants in this study included 893 (428 male and 465 female) 9th through 12th grade students sampled from four distinct high school settings in and around Santiago, Chile. The Chilean Ministry of Education identified three of the four schools as "priority" (meaning "high risk") public high schools based on academic achievement, area poverty, local economic prospects, and school demographics (e.g., drop-out rate). The fourth school is a private Catholic school that is partially subsidized by the government and located in central urban Santiago. Overall, findings from this study highlight that school contextual assets and stressors have a significant impact on the multidimensional adjustment of Chilean adolescents, both directly and by influencing individual academic self-efficacy and school connectedness. Direct relationships were found between school contextual factors and both educational and socioemotional outcomes. In addition, results highlighted the significant mediating effect of both school connectedness and academic self-efficacy in these relationships, reinforcing the central protective role of such factors in the school engagement and adjustment of youth. Lastly, invariance testing revealed significant differences in model fit between groups based on school type but not sex. Culturally embedded implications for intervention and future research are discussed.

The present study evaluated associations between parent-child connectedness and communication, parent perceptions of child weight, parent feeding behaviors (restriction, pressure to eat, and monitoring), and child body mass index percentile among a sample of children aged 8-12 years. To evaluate these associations, this study used a cross-sectional design and maximum likelihood (ML) structural equation modeling to examine a mediation model with parental feeding behaviors mediating the associations between parent-child relationship quality and child body mass index. Furthermore, because of the known associations between parental perceptions of child weight and parent feeding practices, models examining the mediating effects of parent feeding practices between parent perceptions of child weight and child body mass index were also examined. Finally, we used mixture modeling to conduct latent profile analyses, specifying high, moderate, and low levels of each feeding behavior, in order to examine the mediation effects of specific levels of feeding behaviors. Study findings supported restriction as a mediator between parent reported communication (PRC) and child weight, as well as between parent perceptions of child weight (PCW) and child weight. The results also indicated that parent perceptions of child weight predicted feeding practices and child weight. Both restriction and monitoring predicted child weight. Overall, these findings provide evidence for the role of parent-child relationship quality in predicting parent feeding behavior. However, study findings suggest that these associations may differ depending on the rater (i.e., child, parent).

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LGBTQ individuals may be at risk for suicidal behavior due to perceived stigma and psychopathology. However, protective factors, such as community connectedness, may reduce risk. We examined depression and anxiety as mediators of the linkage between perceived stigma and suicidal behavior, and the moderating role of LGBTQ community connectedness. Among our sample of LGBTQ persons (N = 496), psychopathology mediated the association between perceived stigma and suicidal behavior. Connectedness moderated the relation between perceived stigma and depression, and between perceived stigma and suicidal behavior in the anxiety model. Therapeutically addressing stigma and promoting LGBTQ community connectedness may reduce risk for suicidal behavior.

The current study examined the relationships among connectedness to nature (CTN), quality of life (QOL), and mental health (MH). Theory in biophilia and ecopsychology has emphasized the importance of the human relationship with the natural world for the health of individuals, our species, and our planet as a whole. Previous research has documented the relationship between experiences in nature and outcomes of health and well-being. However, scant research has examined the correlates of the concept of CTN. Furthermore, no research has examined the relationship between CTN and measures of well-being such as QOL or MH. In the current study, 267 undergraduate students completed a series of self-report items measuring CTN, QOL, MH, and demographic characteristics. Significant relationships between CTN and all categories of dependent variables (QOL, MH, and demographics) were found. In addition, the subcategory of CTN closely related to the desire for direct experiences in nature, NR experience was shown to have a stronger relationship to QOL and MH than overall CTN--as evidenced by more significant correlations and by serving as a better predictive model through multiple regression. QOL, MH, and demographic variables were collectively found to predict 21% of the variance in overall CTN, while those same variables were found to predict 35% of the variance in NR experience. Implications of these findings based on previous research, limitations of the current study, and future avenues of research are discussed.

The intention of my thesis is to articulate how spiritualities, some in emergent secular expressions, as direct experiences of the sacred, may formatively shape and be actualised in new forms of democratic government as a self-organising phenomenon emerging in concert with evolutionary dynamics. I am attempting to apply experiential interconnectedness which is embodied in the best of human experience as a generative base and an organising dynamic to the evolution of democratic politics. The contribution to knowledge and understanding that my thesis brings is that the elucidation of experiences, inner processes and images which governing based on sacredness could incorporate. I expand the discussion on democracy to include the transformative and generative power of significant experiences. Consistent with democratic principles of inclusive equality, I devolve insights from the lives, thoughts and activities of ordinary people which are then analysed within relevant theoretical perspectives and related to emergent social trends. The focus of the research is on possibilities, transformation and empowerment available within a sacred cosmos, an interconnected and interactive reality. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The intent of this research is to determine the impact of a peer mentoring/tutoring program on parent perceptions of school climate and connectedness and standardized test scores, report card grades and attendance of at risk elementary students. Peer mentoring has been found to be effective in addressing some of the concerns regarding at risk student performance in the school environment and eventual school outcomes. This study uses quantitative methods to determine the effect of this intervention on this population. A school climate/connectedness survey completed by parents of the students participants in a Cross Age Peer Mentoring Program (CAPM Program) and standardized test scores, report card grades and attendance patterns were examined prior to and following student participation in the program. Subjects included 32 elementary students with n=10 for first grade, n=6 for second, n=8 for fourth and n=8 for fifth. The students were cross age paired, primary with intermediate to participate in a mentoring program. Parents of participating students were asked to complete the Comprehensive School Climate Inventory prior to and following their child's participation in the program to determine if perceptions of school climate and connectedness changed as a result of their child's participation in the program. Analysis of the survey result, pre and post participation was accomplished using dependent sample t-tests to discern differences in the mean scores for the survey factors, including Safety, Teaching and Learning, Relationships and Institutional Environment and the Unified Scale. Teaching and Learning items were combined to obtain a Climate score and Interpersonal Relationships and Institutional Environment provided a Connectedness measure Climate and Connectedness. The null hypothesis was rejected, with results of the dependent t-tests showing significant differences in all but the Safety and Institutional Environment factors. <br>Attendance variables were found to be significant for all participants, mentees and a group identified as at risk for attendance. Academic variable for mentors included standardized test results and grade percentages, pre and post for both. Analysis of these scores and grade outcomes provided mixed results, with significant differences noted in standardized test scores, but no difference in the means of grade percentages. / School of Education / Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program for Education Leaders (IDPEL) / EdD / Dissertation

This study explored the relationship between attachment quality and school connectedness in a high school sample of adolescents. Although there is a literature related to adolescent attachment quality and its effects on adjustment and development, relatively little attention has been paid to the relationship between parent and peer attachment and school connectedness. Further, these attachments and connections have yet to be examined among general and special education populations. Attachment quality has been correlated with identity development, self-esteem, competence, and psychopathology and has been investigated as a mediator in the relation between risk and resilience. School connectedness centers around the theory that when adolescents perceive consistent personal power, attention, and praise, they develop a sense of attachment to their school environment. Further, school connectedness, attachment to family, and positive peer bonds, respectively, have been viewed as protective factors, i.e., preventing adolescents from engaging in health risk behaviors (i.e., violence, risky sexual behavior, drug use, and dropping out of school) (U.S. Department of Education, 2006). The present study included 157 students, aged 15 to 18 years who participated in a longitudinal study (The Longitudinal Study of Co-morbid Disorders in Children and Adolescence). Using quantitative methodologies, analyses examined the relationships among gender, ethnicity, risk status and parent attachment, peer attachment, and school connectedness. Measures included self-report questionnaires of attachment quality and school connectedness in adolescence. Several major findings from the present investigation include: (1) higher ratings of attachment to parents were associated with higher ratings of school connectedness; (2) higher ratings of attachment to peers were associated with higher ratings of school connectedness; (3) students at risk reported less school connectedness than not at risk students; and (4) the effects of peer attachment on school connectedness were moderated by risk group.

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between school connectedness and participation in extracurricular activities. A current gap in the research prevents a complete understanding of the relationship between extracurricular participation and school connectedness; therefore, this study aimed to bridge this gap. It is reasonable to suggest that by simply improving the amount, type, and availability of activities, schools have the potential to help students become more motivated in their role as both a student and a community member. The objective was to provide further support to research implying that increased participation in school-based extracurricular activities improves and encourages school connectedness among students. Overall, the study was aimed at examining what factors predict school connectedness.<p> Data for this study were collected in a survey format from 252 grade 11 and grade 12 students from several rural Saskatchewan schools. A sequential multiple regression was performed to predict school connectedness. After adjusting for various sociodemographic characteristics, two independent variables predicted school connectedness: health-risk behaviours and extracurricular participation. This research was able to show that beyond factors such as age, gender, grade, and participation in health-risk factors, students who reported being involved in extracurricular activity reported higher scores of school connectedness. Extracurricular participation was associated positively with school connectedness, indicating that participating in extracurricular activities increases school connectedness. Health-risk factors were negative predictors of school connectedness. That is, students who reported participating in health-risk behaviours reported lower school connectedness scores. First Nations students report lower school connectedness scores than Caucasian students. The limitations, directions for future research and implications for practice of these findings are discussed.

School connectedness, encompassing positive feelings toward teachers and peers and a sense of belonging at school, has been touted as a critical factor in promoting student achievement and reducing youth risk behaviors. The literature has been mixed in terms of understanding the relationship between race, racial congruence and school diversity’s influence on school connectedness, particularly for youth of color. The current study examines the effect of these variables on self reported feelings of school connectedness in a sample of 8,787 seventh grade students from 56 middle schools in one racially diverse school system. Multi-level modeling revealed that socioeconomic status and school racial diversity accounted for a significant portion of the variance in school connectedness. Controlling for these school level effects, race had a moderating effect on the relationship between racial congruence and school connectedness. Implications of these preliminary results on promoting school connectedness for youth of color are discussed.