The temporal relationship between two types of perfectionism— self-oriented perfectionism (SOP) and socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP)— and depressive symptoms was examined in a sample of 653 children across Grades 6 (depressive symptoms only), 7, and 8. A vulnerability model, in which perfectionism affects depressive symptoms, was compared to a scar model, in which depressive symptoms affects perfectionism, and to a reciprocal-causality model, in which both constructs concurrently affect each other across time. Cross-lagged paths analyses using structural equation modeling supported a scar model where increases in depressive symptoms lead to increases in SPP, but not SOP. The findings applied to both boys and girls. Results suggest that in childhood, depressive symptoms increase the perception that others are expecting excessively high standards from oneself and the need to satisfy this perception.

There are currently 2.7 million grandparents raising grandchildren in the United States. As grandparenting has become more prevalent, concerns have surfaced regarding the effect of additional caregiving responsibilities placed on an aging population. The following study uses an existing dataset that interviewed individuals who graduated from Wisconsin high schools in 1957. The present study examined the impact of grandparenting on measures of cognitive ability, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, which had yet to be examined. Findings from the cross-sectional analysis show that custodial grandparents outperformed their non-custodial grandparent counterparts on the cognitive tests of word recall, category fluency, letter fluency, and cognitive similarities. Findings from the longitudinal analysis show that though custodial grandparents had initially performed worse on the digit ordering task, their scores declined at a much slower rate over-time when compared to non-custodial grandparents. This study provides a unique opportunity to examine the impact of custodial grandparenting on cognition.

No description available.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the applicability of a model of bereavement to the long-term adjustment to loss. Based on Allen's (1990) model, it was predicted that the variables experienced competence, perceived resources, and the impact of the loss would contribute strongly to overall long-term bereavement adjustment. It was also predicted that time and multiple losses would impact adjustment to loss.

The effect of changes in employment hours on changes in household task hours was studied. Data were used from the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) waves one and two. Wave one was a probability sample of 13,017 age 19 and older in the United States who were interviewed in person in 1987-88. Wave two consisted of the original NSFH sample who were reinterviewed five years later in 1992-94. A subsample of 1233 men and women was created by selecting employed men and women who were continuously married to the same spouse, lived in the same household, and had a least one biological child under 18 living in the household at wave one and wave two. After controlling for age in years, education in years, race, wage rate, and age of youngest child, the subsample was used to determine if changes in employment hours caused changes in household task hours. Household task hours were categorized by feminine, masculine, and neutral, as well as total household task hours. Lag regression analysis without gender interaction effects found that a one hour increase in employment hours caused a sixteen minute decrease in total household tasks hours, a twelve minute decrease in feminine household task hours, and a two minute decrease in neutral household tasks among married men and women with children. Lag regression analysis with gender interaction effects found that a one hour increase in employment hours caused a sixteen minute decrease in total household tasks hours and a fourteen minute decrease for married women with children only. No statistically significant relationship between changes in employment hours and changes in any category of household tasks hours was found for married men with children when gender interactions were controlled. The results of this study supports the interaction of time availability and gender in explaining changes in household tasks hours. / Graduation date: 2001

published_or_final_version / Business / Master / Master of Philosophy

Efficacy, cohesion, and sport performance have been shown to vary longitudinally (Carron et al., 2002; Shea & Howell, 2000). Tripartite efficacy is a specific area concerning efficacy beliefs within dyads that has recently grown in popularity (Jackson et al., 2013); yet no longitudinal research of intra-dyad beliefs exists. This case study examined longitudinal variations of tripartite efficacy beliefs, cohesion, and individual performances of six basketball players on a high school team over seven data collection points during a competitive season. The results indicated similar variations between participants' tripartite efficacy components and individual performance, and different variations between self-efficacy and cohesion beliefs. / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only. / School of Physical Education, Sport, and Exercise Science

This study was designed to investigate the sustainable academic benefits of a full time kindergarten experience beyond the kindergarten year with additional consideration of the relationship between productive learning behaviors and ongoing academic advantage. The study was conducted across four elementary schools that housed both alternating full day and daily full day kindergarten programs. The initial sample consisted of 321 students enrolled in either daily full day or alternating full day kindergarten during the 2001-2002 school year, which decreased, through attrition, to a total of 198 students enrolled in fourth grade during the 2005-2006 school year. Student academic achievement was measured using a combination of criterion referenced skill assessments, standardized test measures, and a teacher-rated social behavior scale. Hypotheses were tested at the .05 level of significance using chi square analyses, multivariate and univariate analyses of variance, and correlation and regression analyses.The findings indicated that by the end of the kindergarten year, full day kindergarten students outperformed their alternating day peers in both reading and mathematics. However, as measured at the beginning of the second grade year, the academic gains realized during the kindergarten year had dissipated. By the beginning of the fourth grade year, there was no difference in achievement across program types in mathematics, while a significant achievement difference was found in English/language arts, with alternating full day students outperforming their daily full day peers. Further, during the third and fourth grade years, there was a significant interaction between gender and student achievement for the cohort, with significant differences by gender and the combined effect of gender/kindergarten type on social learning behaviors. While the data established a significant, positive relationship between competent social behavior and academic achievement regardless of gender for students from both program types, boys who attended daily full day kindergarten demonstrated significantly less productive social behavior than did boys from the alternating day program and girls from the daily full day program. For those who attended daily full day kindergarten, lower social behavior ratings predicted depressed academic achievement in English/language arts well beyond the kindergarten year. / Department of Educational Leadership

No description available.

Research indicates that preschool experience significantly influences child development and this study examined the influence of preschool learning experiences on children’s school readiness, self-regulation and academic achievement. Participants were 190 children from an impoverished county in Southwest China and their teachers. Classroom observations were conducted and children were assessed in individual and group sessions. There were three different types of preschool programs (kindergartens, pre-primary classes; Grade 1) available in the county. A total of 18 teaching episodes provided in either the kindergarten or primary schools to 164 children were videotaped and analyzed. Results indicated marked variations in preschool quality and pedagogical practices to support children’s self-regulation across programs. Kindergartens had the best physical environments, the most resources and highly qualified teachers. The teachers provided children with meaningful learning opportunities, adequate instructions, clear structure and predictability, and diversified instructional formats. Pre-primary classes had limited resources and unqualified teachers who emphasized academic learning. Compared to kindergarten teachers, pre-primary class teachers prepared fewer activities and frequently required children to simply sit still and listen. Preschool age children who merely “sat in” Grade 1 classrooms were typically neglected by teachers and only received attention from the teacher when they were disruptive. Grade 1 children (89 girls) who had attended kindergarten (n = 60), separate pre-primary classes (n = 55), merely “sat in” Grade 1 classes before being formally enrolled in school (n = 54) or had no preschool experience (n = 21) were assessed at the beginning of Grade 1 (Wave 1), at the end of Grade 1 (Wave 2), and at the end of Grade 2 (Wave 3). Their school readiness was assessed in Wave 1. Their self-regulation skills were assessed using the modified Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task in Waves 1 and 2, and seven cognitive regulation tests in Wave 3. Their literacy and mathematics achievement was evaluated using curriculum-based tests across the three waves. Results indicated that children with some form of preschool experience outperformed those with none in almost all the three outcomes across the three waves. Children from the kindergarten had better school readiness than the other three groups and better self-regulation than those attending separate pre-primary classes at the start of school. Children attending separate pre-primary classes had significantly better literacy and mathematics than those from the kindergarten at the start of school and literacy at the end of Grade 2. Children “sitting in” Grade 1 classes achieved lower scores than those from the kindergarten and pre-primary classes on almost all child outcome measures. The growth of self-regulation within the first primary school year was significant and Wave 1 behavioral regulation predicted Wave 3 cognitive regulation. School readiness and self-regulation significantly predicted academic achievement in all three waves and school readiness mediated the close relationship between self-regulation and academic achievement. Findings highlight the importance of (i) preschool experience for children from economically disadvantaged families in rural China; and (ii) self-regulation in school preparedness and early academic attainment. They also have implications for scaling up and enhancing the quality of preschool programs. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy