The present study examined the multilayered social contexts that foster or hinder adolescent girls’ participation in physical activity. The current study consisted of two phases, prospective interviews followed by focus group discussions. The interviews utilized a guided, life history format with 7 girls of diverse backgrounds, ages 9-15 years old over a 4-year period. Key themes that emerged in the interviews were used to inform the focus group discussions. In total, 4 focus groups discussions were conducted with 13 girls of diverse backgrounds, ages 12-13 years old. Both the interviews and focus group discussions were transcribed and analyzed for themes using a constructivist grounded theory methodology. Data analysis was informed by the feminist theoretical approach, with an emphasis on social and contextual factors. The domains of school, family, peers, and embodied experiences of physicality emerged as facilitative contexts to engagement with physical activity during childhood. During adolescence, however, these contexts became barriers to physical activity. This study suggests that physical activity promotion programs for adolescent girls require multifaceted strategies, with a particular emphasis on the intersection of gender, socioeconomic status, and ethnocultural/racial heritage.

The present study examined the multilayered social contexts that foster or hinder adolescent girls’ participation in physical activity. The current study consisted of two phases, prospective interviews followed by focus group discussions. The interviews utilized a guided, life history format with 7 girls of diverse backgrounds, ages 9-15 years old over a 4-year period. Key themes that emerged in the interviews were used to inform the focus group discussions. In total, 4 focus groups discussions were conducted with 13 girls of diverse backgrounds, ages 12-13 years old. Both the interviews and focus group discussions were transcribed and analyzed for themes using a constructivist grounded theory methodology. Data analysis was informed by the feminist theoretical approach, with an emphasis on social and contextual factors. The domains of school, family, peers, and embodied experiences of physicality emerged as facilitative contexts to engagement with physical activity during childhood. During adolescence, however, these contexts became barriers to physical activity. This study suggests that physical activity promotion programs for adolescent girls require multifaceted strategies, with a particular emphasis on the intersection of gender, socioeconomic status, and ethnocultural/racial heritage.

Significant progress has been made the last decades in Thrace, northern Greece, in the Muslim minority education setting, with respect to gender parity in school enrollment, retention, and progression from primary to secondary education. The change of orientation of the Greek politics towards the Muslim minority which allowed for reforms and initiatives, the Project’s for the Education of Muslim Children (PEM) actions alongside with the overall changes of modernization are perceived to be the determinants for the substantial changes in the landscape of Muslim minority education. But why there are still gender disparities within secondary education? This research study focuses on the ways the concept of gender equality is addressed, promoted or undermined and thus identifies ways that facilitate and promote gender equality through education. The investigation took place in the prefecture of Xanthi, in rural and urban areas, with the participation of teachers and female students. In total, forty teachers and fifty three students responded to questionnaires while thirty of them participated in focus group interviews. The present study points to some interesting findings which provide an insight on gender equality teaching, the project’s contribution, and obstacles for the completion of compulsory[1]education from the students’ and teachers’ perspective.  Drawing on the evidence of the study, despite the significant progress in female students’ access in education, there are still significant social and cultural constraints in shaping one’s own educational path. [1] Education in Greece is compulsory for all children aged six to fifteen years and consists of three stages; pre-school, primary and lower secondary education

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the phenomenon of role models for younger girls. Girls aged 5 to 12 years were asked who they chose to look up to, how significant their role models were to them, why they had chosen them and if they thought they thought that they could achieve their chosen model‟s achievements. Socio-cultural framework provides a useful perspective for understanding the significance of role models as they act as powerful transmitters and reinforcers of the tenets of socialization. In Social Cognitive Theory, it is claimed that children largely learn through modelling, observing and imitating significant others. Interview and task sessions including a field-mapping activity and the sorting of peer-generated photographs were conducted with 12 girls aged from 5 to 12 years from one urban school. In analysis of the interview data, it was found that family members or family substitutes were the most significant people that these girls chose and, despite the alleged pressure from popular culture, young girls in this study were able to make discerning judgements about the „hollowness‟ of characters of popular culture. They identified skills or attributes that their role models demonstrated rather than physical attractiveness, their popularity or the amount of money their fame had brought them. This study is a valid representation of what mattered to a group of young girls at one specific point in time and could indicate the value of further investigation of how to maximize the benefits of role models for young girls.

As obesity and related diseases become increasingly prevalent, there is a great need for programs for at-risk female adolescents that will encourage physical activity and other healthy behaviors. Enjoyment is one factor that has been associated with exercise participation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a physical activity program on at-risk female adolescents' enjoyment of physical activity. Participants (n= 50) from a residential treatment facility participated in a non-competitive, non-threatening physical activity program for ten weeks. Fifteen of the participants comprised a control group and did not participate in the structured program. Participants completed the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES) at the beginning and end of the program. In addition, their exercise heart rates were obtained at each session. A repeated-measures ANOVA was used to analyze the PACES scores. Results indicated a significant group by time interaction between the three cottages (p= .002). Further analysis revealed PACES scores increased for one treatment cottage, but decreased for the other treatment cottage and the control group. The mean percent of time participants spent in their target heart rate zone (>140 bpm) was 53.5%. / School of Physical Education, Sport, and Exercise Science

The aim of this study was to give an insight of the construction of girls in their relationships with friends and lovers in the Swedish magazine Julia. The magazine turns to girls of age nine to fourteen. The research questions were 1) What is the construction of the girls in their relationships with friends and lovers about in Julia? 2) How are girls constructed in their relationships with friends and lovers? Three issues of the magazine from the winter of 2014 were selected as material for the study. Critical discourse analysis (Fairclough, 1992, 2010) was the point of departure in the analysis. The main findings of the study were that the magazine focused on that girls should have a love relation that is heterosexual monogamous and that the magazine encourages the girls to make friends. The magazine also described how girls should be in their relationships with friends and lovers and what activities they could practise with their friends and lovers. The magazine’s construction of how girls should be could be discussed as if that leaves the readers, i. e. mainly girls, with a feeling that they do not have the opportunity to make several choices about their relationships.

This study investigated the effects of self-instruction and alternate response training on oppositional behavior. Four oppositional adolescent females in a community-based residential treatment facility were taught to self-instruct alternate responses to their oppositional behaviors by participating in a series of Behavior Skills Training (BST) sessions. Subjects were required to role-play situations which subjects indicated evoke the targeted behaviors, that is, swearing/namecalling, noncompliance with rules, and noncompliance with requests. These self-reported situations were a major component in developing the BST. A multiple baseline design across behaviors was used. As an additional experimental control, two nontreatment subjects were included in the data analysis. Although trend analyses were conducted, variability in the data precluded the possibility of drawing conclusions based on statistical correlation. However, functional analyses of the treatment effects indicated that the BST was effective in reducing the oppositional behaviors of the subjects in the treatment group. Thus these results support the efficacy of using self-instruction and alternate response training procedures to reduce the occurrence of oppositional behavior in adolescent females. / Department of Educational Psychology

The purpose of this study was to examine to perceptions of early adolescent girls with regards to friendships, peer relations and stress. Ten early adolescent girls (aged 12-13 years) were interviewed using a semi-structured qualitative format. Findings report that subjects felt a sense of belonging in friendships, as well as experiencing exclusion from friends. In summary, the participants reported that they do experience stress and that it is friends, boys and parents that act as the main stressors in their life. A number of strengths were reported, including friendship as protective factor, empathy and optimism. The Positive Youth Development Framework is identified and implications for future research and social work practice are discussed.

Thesis (M.A.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of English, General Literature and Rhetoric, 2005.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Mar. 11, 2008). Directed by Marilyn Friend; submitted to the School of Education. Embargoed until Dec. 20, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 279-300).