The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of completing online diaries with specific topics on students’ self-regulated behavior in online courses. Also, this study sought to determine the impact of completing online diary topics with different topics (content-based or experience-based) on students’ self-regulation in online courses. The participants’ use of learning strategies was assessed to aid in this investigation. The research design utilized for this study was a quasi-experimental pretest/posttest design. The participants of this study included 30 undergraduate students from a variety of majors who were enrolled in one of two online courses. Of the 30 participants, 15 of the participants were in the content-based treatment group while the other 15 were in the experience-based treatment group. Convenience sampling was used to recruit participants for this study. Using data collected from the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) and the diary entries submitted by the participants, the researcher did not find associations between completion of online diary topics and participants’ self-regulated behavior within the online courses. However, results did indicate that the content-based group reported higher levels of critical thinking usage than the experience-based group after the treatment was administered.

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The Multimodal Self-Regulation Theory was first introduced by Stinson, Sales, and Becker as an integrated theory of sexual offending premised on the assumption that persons who engage in acts of problematic sexual behaviour do so because of deficits in primary self-regulatory functioning. Self-regulation—or the ability to modulate emotions, thoughts, interactions, and behaviours effectively—has been discussed within the context of varied psychological and behavioural problems, including personality disorders and self-injurious behaviour. The Multimodal Self-Regulation Theory applies self-regulatory processes to sex offending, suggesting that such behaviours may be yet another form of maladaptive self-regulatory coping. Such an approach combines extensive literatures, ranging from developmental, cognitive-behavioural, and personality theory to neurobiology and criminology. In this chapter, we summarize the main tenets of the theory and discuss examples and case conceptualization using this approach. We also describe early empirical support with several samples of sexual offenders, as well as the development and piloting of a related treatment manual. In each of these sections, we additionally highlight areas for further study, including projects currently under way by the present authors. Finally, we review the theory’s primary strengths and limitations, referencing broader contextual research needs to clarify better the role of the Multimodal Self-Regulation Theory in understanding, treating, and preventing sex offending behaviours.

This thesis seeks to first understand why individuals play Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Several motivational factors are looked at including fantasy, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and the desire to play a real instrument. In addition to the motivation factors, the communication theories of uses and gratifications and deficient self-regulation are used to define the gamers who play Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Once the paper defines a theoretical framework, a survey is used to test the variables. The significant findings are then discussed and suggestions are made as to how these games can more effectively be used as marketing tools for guitar manufacturers and music companies.

A limited number of studies have examined mechanisms undergirding interventions that mitigate mental health problems or health-risk behaviors that disproportionately burden sexual minorities. A recent trial of expressive writing and self-affirmation writing found that these brief interventions had salubrious effects on mental health and health-risk behaviors; the present research examines the putative mechanisms underlying these effects. Sexual minority emerging adults (N = 108) completed a brief online expressive writing, self-affirmation writing, or neutral control writing intervention and, at baseline and 3-month follow-up, completed measures of mental health, health-risk behaviors, stress, and self-regulation. Expressive writing yielded improvements in mental health and these effects were mediated by reductions in perceived stress. Self-affirmation caused improvements in health-risk behaviors, thoughneither stress nor self-regulation mediated these effects. This finding provides preliminary novel evidence regarding a mechanism underlying a widely used psychological intervention with documented mental health benefits for sexual minorities and other populations disproportionately affected by stress

While existing research has posited shyness as a risk-factor for floundering in adolescence and emerging adulthood, not all shy young people may struggle to the same extent. Characteristics such as self-regulation and benevolent values may influence the extent to which individuals with high levels of shyness will have socio-emotional challenges. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to use a person-centered analysis to explore subgroups of adolescents with distinct levels of shyness, self-regulation, and benevolent values and to examine how these groups differ on outcomes in adolescence and in emerging adulthood. The sample for this paper consisted of 682 adolescents (48.9% female, 75.4% White). A latent profile analysis was used to identify subgroups of adolescents. Mean comparisons and regressions were then used to compare adolescent profiles on indices of flourishing and floundering. Results indicated shy adolescents with moderate levels of self-regulation and benevolent values reported higher average levels of school engagement and prosocial behavior across targets in comparison to shy adolescents with low levels of self-regulation and benevolent values in adolescence and emerging adulthood; however, there were no differences on internalizing problems. Thus, the present study suggests self-regulation and benevolent values may help individuals high on levels of shyness with social outcomes but may not be of much assistance for those challenges of an internalizing nature.

This dissertation uses a three-article dissertation, including a literature review and two research articles, related to the understanding and development of self-regulation (SR). Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA), the literature review examined 22 articles researching a self-regulation intervention used in an online, higher education context. The articles included interventions specific to a unique context, interventions used in a specific context but could be easily adapted to other contexts, and generic interventions that could be applied in any context. Important themes revealed in the analysis include the importance of feedback in developing SR, the interaction of SR and autonomy, the contribution of qualitative data, and the effectiveness of SR interventions. The second article investigated an intervention introduced to a higher education, preservice teacher course on teaching in online and blended courses. Participants included 30 students from two sections of the course. Each week students set an SR goal, and then reported on their success in a weekly self-report. Using the results from a pre and posttest SR survey, as well as students' weekly self-reports, final exam reflection data, and student interviews, we conducted limited quantitative analysis and thematic qualitative analysis. The findings indicate that although student progress varied from week to week, students generally felt the process helped them increase in SR. In their weekly self-reflections, students revealed that the process of reflection increased their self-awareness of how to adapt SR principles to their specific needs. They found that increased SR resulted in more positive affect toward their learning and increased their ability to learn effectively. They also indicated that their SR skills carried over into other courses during the semester as well as into the next semester. All but one student felt that the goal setting and self-evaluation process increased their ability to self-regulate and improved their learning. The third article explored the state of student SR in an online secondary school. The data included a survey of student perceptions of their SR in five SR dimensions. It also included interviews with 12 students, 12 parents, and 12 teachers. Analysis of this data revealed that students generally concentrated on the help-seeking and time management SR dimensions, corresponding with the purpose and structure of the school, which emphasizes these two dimensions. Findings also indicated an inaccurate understanding of motivation and poor mental health depressed their ability to work. Finally, all participants noted that students with positive character traits were more likely to have the will to act in a self-regulated manner and progress in their schoolwork and their learning.