Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 171-186). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-126).

Thesis (D.Min.)--Liberty Theological Seminary and Graduate School, 2006. / Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009. / Full text also available online. Scroll down for electronic link.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Queensland, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Journ.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

published_or_final_version / Clinical Psychology / Doctoral / Doctor of Psychology

BACKGROUND: Increasing proportion of students reported high level of mental stress in regards to school environment. Adolescent and young adults often have inadequate abilities and skills to coping with stress-related impairments. Stress management intervention (SMI) is considered as a primary prevention from adverse effect of stress and with potential of increasing coping skills for students. OBJECTIVES: 1) to assess internal and external validity of published SMI among adolescents and young adults and 2) to evaluate the effectiveness on mental health issues considered in included SMIs. METHODS: This is a review of assessing effectiveness of published SMI from database, including PubMed, Medline and PsycINFO, from 2000 to 2012, limited to adolescent and young adult. Data including the country of where study conducted, participants, intervention process and control group, length of follow-up, outcome measures and findings was gained and synthesised. Effect sizes categorised into five groups were calculated. RESULTS: Ten studies were identified. Five studies were comprehensive interventions that consisted of multiplied fundamental types of interventions to variety of outcomes. Three studies narrowed to single fundamental training for intervention and two studies used a specific approach. Concerning Internet-based intervention, three out of ten studies conducted with computer-assisted approach. Most of outcome measurements had positive effect size, in terms of symptoms of stress, coping strategies, cognition functions and academic performance. CONCLUSION: In general, SMI can effectively decrease stress and improve coping skills in adolescent and young adults. Sustainable effect of post-period of stress management programme is satisfactory. The positive effect size of this review could provide evidences and support the efficacy and effectiveness of stress management in adolescents and young adults. / published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health

Background: Smoking has long been one of the principal causes for morbidity and mortality and is ranked as the third leading cause for preventable health deaths in the world, posting serious threat to public health. Most smokers start smoking during adolescence. Adolescence describes teenagers aged 13-19 years old which can be considered as the transitional period from childhood to adulthood, about 88% of adult smokers who smoke daily started their smoking behavior by age of 18 years old and 68.2% of smokers started smoking below age of 20 in Hong Kong. Therefore, there is an urgent need to direct the public health effort towards the prevention of smoking in adolescents. It has been found that family has important influences on smoking behavior among adolescents. Objective: The objective of this review is to examine the effect of family influences on adolescents smoking behavior, particularly the association of parenting style, parental smoking and adolescent smoking behavior. Methods: he online databases PsycINFO, Medline and EMBASE were searched by using keywords “adolescents smoking” or “youth smoking” and “family influence” or “parental influence”. The last search was done on 10th August, 2013. Total 13 English articles, of which 10 were cross-sectional studies and 3 were longitudinal studies, were included in this review. Results: Literature showed authoritative parenting style could reduce the risk of smoking among adolescents; all studies showed authoritative parenting style, disapproval to smoke with higher level of parental monitoring could reduce risk of regular smoking behavior among adolescents. On the other hand, results from articles examining the association of parental smoking and smoking behavior among their children were almost homogenous. Adolescents who lived with smoking parents were more likely to initiate the smoking behavior compared to those with non-smoking family members. Meanwhile, studies showed adolescents from single-parent families were more likely to smoke when compared with those came from complete family. A negative association between single parent and daily smoking was observed among the adolescents. Conclusion: Future campaigns on smoking prevention should increase the involvement of family members, encourage parents to quit smoking and act as role model to their children; parents are suggested to practice authoritative parenting which will increase the acceptance of adolescents to their rules and suggestions and thus, avoid them from smoking. On the other hand, adolescents from single-parents are more likely to attain smoking and should increase awareness. More local researches, with randomized control trial studies, are needed in the future to examine family influences that fit the situation in Hong Kong. The aim of campaign is to further decrease smoking prevalence in adolescents. / published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health

There is little research examining the impact of divorce on children’s experiences of food and eating. This is surprising considering the high rates of divorce in Canada, 50% of which involve children, and current concerns about children’s health and weight. The purpose of this project was to explore how divorce and spending time in two households affects teenagers’ eating practices, the social and cultural meanings they associate with food and eating, and their identities. Situated in the childhood studies literature, this study acknowledged teenagers’ agency and competence by engaging them in photo-elicited, open-ended interviews. Nine teenagers between the ages of 11-17 were recruited and participated in individual interviews that ranged from 55 to 120 minutes in duration. I used inductive qualitative techniques to code and analyze the data. The findings show that teenagers from divorced families who split their time between two homes must negotiate and adapt to new food cultures in each of their homes. Rules around the types of, and access to certain foods changed between homes as did the expectations around dinnertime, eating together, and food preparation responsibilities. The rules and expectations of the teenagers changed as parents re-married and as new stepsiblings and half-siblings joined the family. The participants were active agents in each home, often deciding to comply with the rules and expectations but also exerting power and control, for example, by withholding mealtime conversation. The participants were aware of hegemonic ideals of the family and the family meal and worked to protect the image of their parents and families. This study shows that divorce influences social and cultural aspects of food and eating for teenagers. The findings can help inform public health strategies and best practice of clinicians, such as dietitians, counsellors, and doctors. It can also add to the limited body of research on the topic in childhood studies and food studies. / Thesis (Master, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2011-08-15 11:24:22.997