The current study examined the hypothesis that in the presence of a stressor, the social context (dyad relationship versus a group relationship) can influence whether children and adolescents display internalizing as opposed to externalizing emotions and behaviors. Specifically, it was hypothesized that more internalizing relative to externalizing behaviors would be reported to occur in a dyad than a group. Three hundred and eighty-six children and adolescents (176 females and 210 males) from three grade levels (1,5, and 10) participated in the study. A measure was developed to simulate, as closely as possible, two realistic stressful events that might typically arise in the daily lives of school age children and adolescents. Participants were asked to rate how other children their age and gender would respond in these situations, with the intention of tapping into children and adolescents' knowledge of the occurrence of internalizing versus externalizing responses. The findings partially supported the hypothesis that the social context regulates expectations for emotional and behavioral responses to the same stressor in children and adolescents. Following a conflict, both female and male participants reported expecting higher rates of internalizing relative to externalizing emotions and behaviors for the target individuals in the dyadic versus group context.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.19591 |
| Date | January 2003 |
| Creators | Dolenszky, Eva |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002022451, Theses scanned by McGill Library. |
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