Fifty adolescent females were randomly placed in praise, encouragement, and control conditions and instructed to solve difficult anagrams as they listened to a tape recorded female voice giving praise or encouragement feedback over headphones. The praise statements were focused more on evaluation and competition, whereas the encouragement statements focused more on effort. The research hypothesis of increased persistence for the encouragement condition was not supported by the results. The praise group rated the voice significantly higher on activity in comparison with controls. The expected association between self-efficacy expectations and persistence was supported, but the hypothesized relationship between locus of control and persistence was not supported. Results are discussed in terms of cognitive evaluation and behavioral theories. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-07, Section: B, page: 3841. / Major Professor: F. Donald Kelly. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.

The present study examined the interrelationships among self-concept, self-esteem and depressive symptomatology employing a three-year longitudinal design. 200 children selected from two separate elementary schools were administered the Self-Perception Profile for Children and the Children's Depression Inventory while attending the third, fourth or fifth grades during the first phase of data collection. The same children were again administered the two measures during the sixth, seventh or eighth grades, respectively. Factor analyses were conducted separately for gender at each point in time to examine the interrelationship of questionnaire items. MANOVA's were conducted to assess mean changes over time. Finally, regression analyses were conducted to examine the predictive relationship between self-concept and depressive symptomatology. Similar factor structures for gender and time resulted. Ratings of behavior self-concept and academic self-concept decreased over time. When gender differences occurred, they were in the expected direction. Elementary school athletic self-concept significantly predicted depressive symptomatology during middle school, although the relationship was stronger for the males than females. For females, previous depressive symptomatology was the best predictor of later depressive symptoms. Limitations and implications of the study are discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 57-04, Section: B, page: 2877. / Major Professor: Barbara G. Licht. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1996.

Object Relations theorists contend that the object representations of borderline personality disordered individuals are distorted in the direction of malevolent and harmful schema. In this connection, the Social Cognitions and Object Relations Scale (SCORS) was developed by Westen and his colleagues (1985, 1988) to assist in assessing object representations. / The typical clinical data used for evaluation by the SCORS system has been narrative stories produced by subjects in response to Thematic Apperception Test. These studies have produced mixed results. For example, the cognitive complexity of object representations of Borderline Personality Disordered subjects (BPDs) has not always been different from that of normal subjects. / The study employed the clinical data contained in Early Childhood Memories (ECMs) to assess the complexity and affect-tone of BPDs as compared to normal individuals. The subjects for this study were 20 clients at the Ancora Psychiatric Hospital, southern New Jersey, and twenty normal comparison subjects who had no history of psychological or psychiatric services and who were matched on the basis of age, race, gender, and education to the clinical sample. Five ECMs were solicited from each subject. These memories were assessed for cognitive complexity and affect-tone through the use of the SCORS rating system. It was hypothesized that the BPD subjects will score higher than the normal subjects on the variable of cognitive complexity and lower than normal subjects on the variable of affect-tone. / This study employed a quasi-experimental, two-group post-test only design. A two-group Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was conducted. Follow-up t-tests were used to assess group differences on the two dependent variables. The results of the two-group Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) revealed overall significant differences between the Borderline Disordered subjects and the normal subjects. Follow-up tests showed significant between-group differences on the variable of affect-tone, but non-significant between group differences on the variable of cognitive complexity. A Discriminant Analysis yielded an accurate classification rate of 82.50%. / The findings were interpreted from an Object-Relations perspective. In addition, the utility of Early Childhood Memories as an assessment tool and the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale as a scoring format were also discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-11, Section: B, page: 6443. / Major Professor: F. Donald Kelly. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate response to challenge in young children and to determine its concurrent and predictive relationship to children's goal orientation and mother's verbalizations. Participants included 72 four to six year old children. These children were selected from an initial pool of 239 white middle- and upper-middle class children attending private day-care centers and public kindergartens in the Tallahassee area. Data was collected during six individual sessions over the course of one year. The children attempted challenging tasks individually and while interacting with their mothers. Moderate stability was found on the challenge preference measure over the one-year interval lending support to the notion that individual differences in motivational patterns emerge by this young age. The two-week stability was also found to be in the moderate range and less than expected given the moderate one-year stability. The measure of goal orientation was found to have moderate stability over a six-month interval and was related concurrently to challenge preference. Goal orientation, however, was not found to be predictive of future challenge preference. Five mother verbalizations were coded from mother-child interactions and the only negative comments about the child were found to predict future challenge preference in children. This finding was particularly notable given that the item was based on the mere presence or absence of the negative comment and only 24% of the mothers made such a comment. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-06, Section: B, page: 3479. / Major Professor: Janet A. Kistner. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

The primary purpose of this project was to examine the adaptiveness of maintaining accurate or illusory social self-perceptions in a large population of high school students. First it is shown that there is a lack of congruence between perceived and actual social acceptance and that this incongruence is not just due to methodological problems in the way that accuracy is assessed. Rather, the results provide converging evidence that discrepancies between self-reported peer acceptance and actual acceptance occur due to biases in the way that adolescents process social information. Second, it is shown that there are unique psychological profiles of maintaining accurate or illusory self-perceptions and that the pattern of relations are affected by the direction of the inaccuracy (either over- vs. underrating) as well as the degree of the inaccuracy (moderate vs. extreme). Discrepant negative self-evaluations appear to be associated with negative affect and ill being, particularly when they represent extreme departures from accuracy. In contrast, optimistic self-appraisals of one's social acceptance that are not unduly disparate from social reality appear beneficial, whereas, veridical self-judgments appear to be more limiting in terms of their impact on mental health. The findings also found that although extreme overrating of one's social acceptance was not maladaptive, it also was not associated with any accrued benefits from the standpoint of fewer symptoms of depression. Discussion focuses on theoretical and clinical issues associated with maintaining accuracy of social self-perceptions along with directions for future research. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 57-01, Section: B, page: 0718. / Major Professor: Janet Kistner. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

The purpose of this research was to fill a gap in childhood psychological assessment, namely, the lack of a comprehensive, self-report, childhood stress instrument. The Stress Inventory for Children (STRICH) was designed to fill that gap by measuring the quality and intensity of children's stress associated with coping skills, school, family issues, social supports, and physical well-being. No psychological instrument existed which assessed the dimensions of stress specific to those on the STRICH for the targeted age group (ages 8-14). Items were derived by deductive categorization of stress-related research literature and, as a result, 76 items measuring childhood stress were written for the categories identified. Factor analyses were conducted to test the orthogonality of seven proposed factors. Sixty-three items were maintained after weak items, based on empirical analyses, were discarded. An adequate measure of reliability was obtained on the STRICH (r =.73). The issue of validity was resolved by correlating the STRICH to the Stress Response Scale, an established instrument measuring children's behavioral responses to stressors. The two scales correlated significantly (r =.48, p $<$.01) providing evidence that the two scales were measuring similar constructs. Additionally, normative data was generated for racial/cultural, age, grade, and gender classifications. Based on the empirical findings, it may be stated that the STRICH is a comprehensive, reliable, and valid, childhood stress measure. Further, psychologists can now isolate the qualities and intensity of childhood stress factors and, consequently, be better equipped to remediate stress difficulties and ensure the psychological well-being of children. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-08, Section: B, page: 4635. / Major Professor: Stephen A. Rollin. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

<p> Anxiety is a prominent diagnosis that children can experience at an early age. When untreated, due to negative perceptions and stigmas, childhood anxiety can manifest into severe mental conditions. However, there are professionals who are trained to assist children with their anxiety and destigmatize the idea of anxiety. The intention of this study was to examine the perspectives of professionals who work with children with anxiety and to explore further these professional&rsquo;s beliefs about where anxiety originates. Data was collected through four semi-structured interviews with participants who have diverse backgrounds and work in multiple settings with children who experience anxiety. The results of this study indicate that there are both stigmas and an acceptance of individuals with anxiety disorders. Furthermore, this study brings an awareness to the impact that culture and media can play in developing fears and anxieties in children as well as the importance of seeking early interventions in order to minimize further mental health concerns. </p><p>

<p> This investigation addresses five constituents&mdash;calling, social consequences, imagination, story, and the experience of being gifted. It is grounded in the fundamental human inquiry of identity and purpose and contains both personal and universal answers. Primarily, the author sought to answer one question: How did imagination and story reveal and develop my personal narrative? This led her to Hillman&rsquo;s (1997) contention that our true biography&mdash;the destiny written into our metaphoric <i>acorn</i>&mdash;has been stolen. Three questions arose from the primary question used to organize the literature review: (a) How has the use of this knowledge affected my understanding of the evolution of the human story? (b) What evidence is there to identify when our species developed imagination? and (c) Why is imagination undervalued? </p><p> There were four sub-questions answered through the personal data: (a) How is a quest or calling revealed? (b) Why is the phenomenon of Neverland essential to human well-being? (c) How did social forces impede the expression of imagination and the process of the original human story? and (d) What does it mean to be <i>gifted</i>? </p><p> The method chosen for this work was autoethnography, which, according to Bochner and Ellis (2016), exists in a space between many apparent polarities including facts and meanings,objectivity and subjectivity, and art and science in what Reed-Danahay (1997) explained was how we come to know, name, and interpret personal and cultural experiences. The author was the only participant in this study; however, the meaning emerging from the inquiry could be relevant for many. </p><p> The rationale and significance of this study was based on the assumption that the quality of human lives often suffers when people remain disconnected from experiencing their authentic self. The key finding was that through claiming the state of Neverland, as represented by the Peter Pan story, the author was able to connect with who she is and why she is here. This research allowed the author to reclaim her calling, imagination, and story, and acknowledge her giftedness. The ultimate call is for a new paradigm that welcomes and supports the unfolding human destiny.</p><p>

<p> <b>Background:</b> Previous studies have related adverse childhood experiences (ACE) to heart disease. However, more research needs to explore neural mechanisms and psychological factors that contribute to the pathway of adverse childhood experiences leading to heart disease. <b>Purpose: </b> The present study examines racial identity as a moderator of adverse childhood experiences and cardiac autonomic dysregulation as indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia. <b>Method:</b> Forty-six undergraduate students of African descent attending a Historically Black University in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States participated in this study. During the first phase, participants completed consent forms and questionnaires including the ACE Scale and the Cross Racial Identity Scale. Participants returned to the laboratory on a second occasion during which researchers employed an impedance cardiograph to record resting levels of interbeat intervals (IBI) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). <b>Results:</b> Ordinary least squares regression analyses were conducted to test the moderating role of racial identity attitudes on the relationship between ACE prevalence and RSA. The overall regression model which included ACE prevalence, Multiculturalist attitudes, gender, and all interaction terms significantly predicted resting IBI. The overall model that included ACE prevalence, Afrocentric attitudes, gender, and all interaction terms also significantly predicted resting IBI. Participants with ACE and Afrocentric attitudes were more likely to have decreased resting RSA. Furthermore, in addition to ACE prevalence and Afrocentric attitudes, considering gender added 10% more explanatory variance in predicting resting RSA. Male participants with ACE and low Afrocentricity ratings were more likely to have decreased resting RSA. Additionally, considering gender with ACE prevalence and Miseducation attitudes added 10% more explanatory variance in predicting resting RSA. <b> Discussion:</b> Results and limitations are further discussed in the context of existing literature.</p><p>

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