Due to competing claims in the literature regarding the relationship between self-esteem and being ‘looked-after’, and the implicated ethical and clinical issues, a systematic review of the literature was carried out. Ten articles met inclusion criteria for review. The majority of studies made a limited contribution to the review due to poor study quality, and the ethical, clinical and research implications of this are discussed. In addition, anecdotal evidence suggests that young people in care do not want to be made to feel different to others but there appears to be an absence of empirical research confirming this. Interviews were carried out with nine 12-16 year olds currently residing in foster care to explore their representations of ‘feeling the same or feeling different’. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) guided how data was analysed, and resulting super-ordinate themes were identified. The research paper reports on one of these themes: ‘difference’, which is explored through four sub-ordinate themes. These relate to participants not wanting others to know they were in care, feeling alienated due to their foster care status, perceiving that others viewed them differently and, at times, noticing differences themselves. Findings are considered in relation to the extant literature on foster care and identity development and practice and research implications are discussed. A second super-ordinate theme: ‘making sense’ is presented in the ‘extended results’ which is explored through five subordinate themes. Representations involved participants making sense of why their birth parents could not care for them, conflicting feelings towards both birth parents and foster parents, and a desire to feel a sense of agency in their lives.

The current study investigated the relationship between peer interactions and school readiness children enrolled in Head Start. The constructs of displayed and received physical aggression, relational aggression, and prosocial behavior within children's peer interactions were examined through direct observation. School readiness was measured through direct assessment. It was hypothesized that aggression within peer interactions would predict lower school readiness, while prosocial behaviors within peer interactions would predict better school readiness. Sex was also hypothesized to moderate the relationship between relational aggression, relational victimization, physical aggression, physical victimization and school readiness. It was hypothesized that relational aggression and victimization would more severely impact the school readiness of girls and physical aggression and victimization would more severely impact the school readiness of boys. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses revealed that physical aggression and victimization as well as displayed and received prosocial behavior did not significantly predict school readiness. Relational aggression predicted better school readiness. Also, sex moderated the relationship between relational victimization and school readiness such that relational victimization predicted better school readiness for girls, but did not predict school readiness for young boys. Knowledge gained from this study can inform preschool classroom practices on the role that peer aggression and prosocial behavior play in individual differences in children's school readiness.

Research suggests that pro-social skills and self-regulatory abilities are necessary for healthy child development and are prerequisites for interacting in the school classroom in ways that avoid disruption and distress. Children without pro-social skills struggle to engage in positive social interaction with peers and may respond disruptively to classroom challenges. Increasing concerns in schools regarding problem behaviour displayed by students such as kicking, hitting and talking out of turn have been reported in the research. These behaviours often lead to a disruptive classroom environment, negative peer interaction and, according to teachers, remain the most challenging aspect of classroom management. Schools typically deal with problem behaviour by implementing rules and expectations for desired student behaviour. While these expectation-focused approaches have shown some positive effects, they do not directly teach skills for positive interaction and effective self-management of emotions. Conflict resolution education and mindfulness programmes have shown positive effects for improved pro-social skills and self-regulatory abilities in children. This thesis describes a combined conflict resolution-mindfulness group intervention that was implemented in one primary school classroom with children aged between six and seven years. The intervention involved teaching children four skills for effective conflict resolution and self-regulation over a period of four weeks. Repeated measures and teacher ratings of positive and negative peer interaction were used to assess programme effects. A single case AB replication design was used. The repeated measures findings indicated no change in positive or negative peer interactions for all nine focus children. Teacher reports of behaviour related to positive and negative peer interaction for all children in the classroom showed good effects. Possible reasons for the lack of change in the repeated measures findings include the young age of the children and an insufficient number of sessions and skill practice opportunities.

No description available.

A diagnosis of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is given when a child exhibits developmentally inappropriate levels of inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity. In addition to academic and behavior problems, these children often have significant social problems. Since social problems are associated with a greater risk for developing problems later in life, a number of interventions have been attempted to normalize the social interactions of children with ADHD. These have included stimulant medication, cognitive-behavioral interventions, behavior modification, and social skills training. Additionally, attempts have been made to maximize the benefits of these interventions by combining them. Typically this involves combining stimulant medication with one of the other non-pharmacological interventions. Unfortunately, no one intervention or combination of interventions has stood out as the clear choice for improving the social problems of children with ADHD. Therefore, more research is needed to clarify this issue. Social skills training is often used in clinical and school settings for children with ADHD who experience social problems, despite the apparent lack of empirical evidence for its effectiveness. Social skills training programs frequently report success, but the evidence for success is taken only from anecdotal reports by parents and teachers. The purpose of this study was to document the effectiveness of a social skills training program for children with ADHD. A social skills intervention program was implemented for four children with ADHD. Eight weekly sessions focused on six targeted social skills. All four children were administered their prescribed stimulant medication for the duration of the training. In addition to small group training with the four target children, weekly classroom guidance lessons were conducted in each child's general education classroom focusing on the skill taught that week in small group. The target children were observed weekly in the playground setting at their schools prior to and during the training. Their parents and teachers completed the ADHD Rating Scale-IV and the Social Skills Rating System both pre-and post-training. A multiple baseline across behaviors design was used. Although three of the four children showed improvement on teacher ratings scales. Further, none of the parent rating scales showed improvement. None of the children showed improvement as evidenced through direct observational data.

abstract: The overall goal of this dissertation was to examine teacher characteristics, teachers’ beliefs, and contextual factors that may motivate teachers’ decisions to engage in high quality teacher-child interactions. I use two complementary studies to meet this goal. These two studies provide insight into several aspects of early childhood teachers’ and children’s interactions including the complexity of the conversations and teachers’ supportive practices. Findings from both studies reveal that teachers are selective in how they distribute their time and attention across various types of high-quality interactions with children. Study 1suggests that teachers’ perception of how often children interact with one another motivates their decisions to engage in high quality teacher-child interactions (i.e., facilitate children’s peer interactions). Study 2 suggests that teacher well-being, specifically teacher depression, limits the extent to which teachers engage in high quality interactions (i.e., complex conversations with children). Importantly, this dissertation also showed that teachers’ motivation for engaging in teacher-child interactions does not stem from their own characteristics or perceptions alone. In addition to these factors, contextual aspects of teacher-child interactions also appear to influence teachers’ motivation to engage in high-quality teacher child interactions. Study 1 revealed that the gender composition of the children involved in each teacher-child interaction was associated with the extent to which teachers use facilitative practices, as well as with the direction and magnitude of both quality and frequency effects on teachers’ facilitation. Moreover, Study 2 revealed that the relation between teacher depression and complex conversations is changed when teachers and children are engaged in academic activities (e.g., math, books, language) relative to play or routine activities. In both Study 1 and 2, I used a teacher-focused observational coding system. Use of this observational coding system contributes novel, objective information about teacher-child interactions, as prior work on teacher-child interactions has most often relied on teachers’ self-reports of how often they interact with students. Findings from this dissertation will contribute new knowledge about teacher and contextual classroom characteristics and teacher-child interactions that will inform efforts to promote positive teacher child interactions and, in turn, student and teacher well-being. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Family and Human Development 2017

abstract: The study of tomboys offers useful insights for the field of gender development. Tomboys have been the focus of several studies aimed at defining what a tomboy is (Bailey, Bechtold, & Berenbaum, 2002; Plumb & Cowan, 1984; Williams, Goodman, & Green, 1985) and what it means for children and adults who are tomboys (Morgan, 1998; Williams et al., 1985). These and further questions necessitate understanding the correlates and consequences for children exhibiting tomboy behaviors. This study aims to address these gaps in the literature as part of a longitudinal study assessing children's gendered attitudes, relationships, and beliefs. A group of 4th grade girls (N=98), were administered questionnaires asking them about their tomboy gender identity and related behaviors and beliefs. The first research question concerns how we identify tomboys through parent, teacher, and child self-report, and the application of groupings of tomboys as never, sometimes, and always tomboys. It was found that children who fall into different classifications of tomboyism differ on their similarity to own- and other-sex peers on a number of dimensions (e.g. similarity, peer preference, activity preference). Never tomboys had the most similarity and interest to own-sex peers, always tomboys, to other-sex peers, and sometimes tomboys exhibited the most flexibility with interest similar to both own- and other-sex peers. Peer-related adjustment consequences and experiences were considered for the different groups of tomboys, with always tomboys being the most efficacious with other-sex peers, never tomboys being the most efficacious with own-sex peers, and sometimes tomboys showing both own- and other-sex peer interactions and the least exclusion of any group. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Family and Human Development 2012

Beginning with the understanding that minority students are often underrepresented in STEM doctoral programs despite their growing proportions in the population, this study provides a description of selected minority doctoral students' experiences in STEM programs. Specifically, this study examines the influence financial support and relationships with faculty advisors and doctoral peers have on doctoral students' experiences and progress. Data for this research were obtained from 13 minority respondents enrolled during spring, summer, and fall 2009 and 73 majority respondents who provided some comparisons and contrasts. The participants were all Ph.D. students from several STEM programs at a research university in the Midwest. Findings from this study suggest that financial support of doctoral students through fellowships and research/teaching assistantships enables students to interact closely with their faculty and their peers and consequently become integrated into the social and academic systems of their programs. Further, through their experiences in teaching and research minority students report acquiring skills and competencies useful not only for graduate school success (e.g. time management; course reading; dissertation writing) but also for successful transition into their respective professions and careers. Funding takes a different form and plays a different role in shaping students' positive experiences in each of the three stages of doctoral study: fellowships during a student's transition year(s), teaching/research assistants during the middle years, and fellowships during the final year(s). Students reported that this sequence of funding supports successful transition into the doctoral program, development of academic and professional competencies during the middles years, and successful doctoral completion during the final year. Faculty-student relationships are important in socializing minority doctoral students into their disciplines and professions. Faculty advisors and mentors are especially important in developing students' academic competencies as well as in preparing them for their professions. In addition, faculty-student relationships characterized by faculty availability, approachability, interest in developing students' academic and professional competence, and support and encouragement are important, perhaps especially so in the absence of mentoring by faculty of color. Peer to peer interactions primarily offer academic combined with social support. Further, interactions and group dynamics among minority students and their transition into PWI doctoral programs seem to be affected by their undergraduate educational backgrounds.

Successful graduate student socialization has been characterized as the acceptance and adoption of disciplinary values and beliefs into the students’ identity (Bragg, 1976; Weidman, Twale, & Stein, 2001). Some scholars assert that assimilating the values and beliefs of the discipline may be difficult for Blacks students as their cultural beliefs and values may be incongruent (Antony, 2002; Tierney & Rhoads, 1994). Surprisingly, there appears to be no empirical studies exploring this assertion for Black Ph.D. students. The purpose of this study was to determine if cultural beliefs and values influence the socialization experiences of Black Ph.D. students. Specifically, using racial identity as a theoretical framework, hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between racial identity and socialization (as measured by faculty-student interactions, peer-peer interactions, and student’s perceptions of faculty) of Black Ph.D. students at predominantly White institutions (PWIs). Data were collected from 389 current Ph.D. students and recent completers. Racial identity was assessed using the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity (Sellers, Smith, Shelton, Rowley, & Chavous, 1998). After controlling for key demographic variables, results indicated racial identity influenced some aspects of socialization. Specifically, public regard was positively related to faculty-student interaction as well as students’ perception of faculty. Racial centrality and ascribing to a humanist ideology were also positively related to students’ perception of faculty. Finally, ascribing to a nationalist ideology was inversely related to peer-peer interactions. The findings indicate that cultural beliefs and values do influence the socialization experience. Moreover, the results reveal a potential rationale for the possible differences in socialization among Black Ph.D. students. Specifically, differences in racial identity attitudes and beliefs influence the behavior of students and thus their socialization experience. Overall, the findings suggest that faculty and students in Ph.D. programs at PWI institutions might develop socialization practices that take into consideration cultural differences. Specific recommendations include: forming a mentoring/advising partnership with student to determine the most relevant plan for socialization into the student’s desired roles and using pedagogies and practices such as collaborative learning and wise schooling that are culturally relevant and supportive.

The purpose of this study was to investigate young children's perspectives related to their experiences in child care. Researchers used individual interviews and drawings in an early childhood program in Denmark and one in the United States as the basis for examining children's perspectives on their everyday lives in child care. Observations documented the everyday cultural practices for the children in the two child care centers and provided a foundation for interpreting the interviews and the drawings. The information collected was analyzed to determine what aspects of child care young children like best and least, as well as their thoughts on the adults and peers in their center.