A two-part study explored the maintenance effect of Behavioral Parent Training (BPT) featuring multi-component treatments by examining one year follow-up data from a larger study. Participants were ten parents of children (ages 3-5) with developmental disabilities and severe problem behaviors. Parents were also identified as having high levels of pessimism. BPT featuring multi-component treatments was provided in two conditions: Positive Behavior Support (PBS) and Positive Family Intervention (PFI). PBS included a standardized protocol to teach parents how to conduct a functional assessment, develop and implement a multi-component treatment, which includes the following strategies: prevention, teaching replacement skills, and managing consequences. PFI embedded optimism training in the same protocol used in PBS. Optimism training included presenting parents with their negative self-talk and having them practice using more positive self-talk throughout all sessions. In the first study, improvements in child behavior were observed after treatment, which maintained one year later for both conditions. The second study further revealed that participants in the PBS condition frequently used passive strategies vs. participants in the PFI condition who frequently used proactive strategies during post and one year follow-up. The current study did not reveal a specific treatment component to be responsible for behavior change and maintenance, but provided some insight as to the type of prevention strategies pessimistic parents are likely to use depending on whether or not they received optimism training. Suggestions for future research in assessing the remaining treatment components are discussed.

Aus der Einführung: "Betrachtet man die Jahre von ca. 1880 bis ca. 1970 unter technikhistorischen Aspekten, kann man sie – abweichend von gängigen Periodisierungen – als Einheit auffassen und als technokratische Hochmoderne bezeichnen. Zentrales und durchgehendes Kennzeichen dieser Zeitspanne war der fast uneingeschränkte Glauben an eine bessere Zukunft, die auf technischem Fortschritt basierte. Zwischen dem Beginn der Hochindustrialisierung und dem Ende der Atomeuphorie wurden technischer und sozialer Fortschritt vielfach gleichgesetzt. Das lag zum Einen am Eindringen technischer Artefakte und Lösungen in die Lebenswelt breiter Massen, die unbestreitbar das Leben erleichterten, zum Anderen an einem sich immer weiter ausbreitenden Glauben an die prinzipiell unbegrenzte Weiterentwicklung technischer Systeme und der damit verbundenen Lösung komplexer gesellschaftlicher Probleme. Dieser Glaube wurde nicht einmal durch die verheerenden Auswirkungen von zwei technisierten Weltkriegen gebrochen. Zentrale Signatur der technokratischen Hochmoderne blieb ein auf Technikoptimismus beruhendes Fortschrittsversprechen."

Objective: The World Assumptions Questionnaire (WAQ) was developed to assess optimism and assumptions about the world, which often shift after traumatic events. However, no known study has investigated whether the WAQ holds similar meaning across demographic groups. The objective of this study was to investigate measurement invariance of the WAQ across race/ethnic group, sex, and sexual orientation. Method: Participants consisted of 1,181 college students (75% female; 25% Black, 13% Latinx, 18% Asian, 45% White; 90% heterosexual) who completed an online survey on stress, personality, substance use, and mental health. We investigated a unidimensional and the 4-factor structure of the WAQ using confirmatory factor analysis, and configural, metric, and scalar invariance using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis. Results: After dropping 3 items, a 4-factor structure fit the data well (comparative fit index = .92; root mean square error of approximation =.05; 95% confidence interval [.045, .054]; standardized root mean square residual = .06). Mean WAQ scores were higher for participants with probable posttraumatic stress disorder on 2 of the 4 factors. We also identified multiple items that were not invariant across race/ethnic group, sex, and sexual orientation. However, after invariant items were removed, evidence of configural, scalar, and metric invariance was found. Conclusions: This study replicated the 4-factor structure, mapping onto the 4 WAQ subscales, and indicated that a unidimensional measure of world assumptions should not be used. After making the adjustments recommended herein, the WAQ can be used to investigate differences across race/ethnic group, sex, and sexual orientation.

Multi-country surveys indicate widespread pessimism about global progress and about the effectiveness of the international development sector, despite indicators showing significant advancement in most areas. These perceptions are especially noteworthy because they can influence the public’s opinion on other social issues such as multilateralism, migration, or poverty. This pessimism originates in part in the information about development that organizations working in that sector produce. Development communicators are both creators, as well as audiences, of this material, but empirical evidence on the impact their world views have on the content they create is limited. This thesis aims to address this gap.Findings were canvassed using a qualitative method in the form of in-depth interviews. Seven participants were selected for having a decision-making position within their organizations, along with a mix of nationalities, type of organization and work experience – headquarters and field. The approach for this research was informed by postdevelopment critique, which examines the power of the discourse of development in constructing ideas about people and development. This study concludes that development communicators are as pessimistic as the general public, although it remains unclear to what extent this pessimism impacts the messages and content they produce. A key finding is that communicators deny being influenced by their personal views, citing instead organizational rules and Communication objectives as their main influences when creating content. They also deny being influenced by the media, not recognizing their role as audience. In general, this study points to a lack of self-reflection and self-awareness among development communicators of their personal input and biases in their work, and the full impact of their output on their audiences’ perception of the world. This study also indicates that, while acknowledging the negative information about development that the general public is exposed to, communication experts mainly credit the media for this information, and don’t recognize how the development sector influences media content. The study also reveals that the communicators’ pessimism about the world is likely connected with a disillusionment with the sector and their work. Development communicators are key actors in the global development sector because of their role in constructing the way the sector is presented to the global public. This research directly contributes to understanding their role as mediators of global perceptions, a process with significant moral and political implications.

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