1,721,010 research outputs found
Anxiety, Identity, and Female College Student Heavy Episodic Drinking
No full textThe purpose of the study was to investigate the developmental variable of identity, the individual variable of anxiety, and their relationship with female college student heavy episodic drinking. Concomitant with the transition from high school to college, is the developmental task of identity formation. College provides a structured context for emerging adult female students to work through the developmental demands of identity formation. For female students, identity development comes with unique risks related to heavy episodic drinking. In addition, anxiety is an inevitable part of life and the life transition from high school to college has its own anxiety. Anxiety has both adaptive and maladaptive functions. For female college students, anxiety comes with its own risks related to heavy episodic drinking and consequences. Heavy episodic drinking by female college students has been gradually increasing and comes with unique risks for female students. Specifically, female college students are more likely to experience negative consequences to self (e.g., rape, sexual assault, unprotected sex, etc) as compared to their male counterparts. Moreover, college age women make up the largest age group of all women reporting alcohol related problems. Examining the bidirectional relationship between anxiety and identity may be particularly relevant in understanding female college heavy episodic drinking. Thus, providing needed understanding to decrease the risks and provide direction for effective university prevention for female college students. Erikson’s Theory of Identity Development was the theoretical framework used to conceptualize and examine identity and anxiety factors related to the problems associated with female heavy episodic drinking and consequences. The method procedures for data collection was comprised of a convenience sample of 237 female college students. Female student participants completed a survey comprised of outcome and predictor measures and demographic items. Structural equation modeling was performed to evaluate mediation and moderation relationships in the proposed model. The moderating analysis addressed age of first drunkenness (early onset of first drunkenness vs. late onset of first drunkenness). Plus, the effects of control variables were also introduced in the model; specifically, grade point average, housing (e.g., on campus and off campus), childhood anxiety, and year in college (e.g., freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior). The outcome of the structural equation model results suggests for this sample of female college students that anxiety and identity did not mediate female college student heavy episodic drinking. Furthermore, identity variables in this study were not a good predictor of female college heavy episodic drinking. Findings resulted in a negative relationship between female college student anxiety and heavy episodic drinking. In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between reported childhood anxiety and current anxiety, suggesting possible continuity of anxiety. The moderator, early age of drunkenness, was also positively associated with female student heavy episodic drinking. The implications of the study suggest that identity may not be a good predictor of female heavy episodic drinking. Furthermore, exploration of female student anxiety and its negative relationship with heavy episodic drinking needs more empirical attention. Finally, the study suggests the ongoing need to further understand the pre-college risks for female college students’ heavy episodic drinking. Identity and anxiety factors and their explanatory model with female heavy episodic drinking could merit further examination. The results suggest the need to examine additional multi-group comparisons; specifically, female students with early onset of anxiety (prior to age 17) and late anxiety onset (18+) and no alcohol related problems vs. alcohol related problems. The negative relationship between anxiety and heavy episodic drinking should continue to be empirically investigated to more clearly understand the influences of anxiety.Embargo status: Restricted to TTU community only. To view, login with your eRaider (top right). Others may request the author grant access exception by clicking on the PDF link to the left
Understanding developmental outcomes in late adolescents and emerging adults through a Positive Youth Development lens
No full textIntroduction: This dissertation includes two separate studies. Study 1 extends current literature on support systems and social competence among late adolescents and emerging adults using a Positive Youth Development (PYD) perspective. It explored potential mediating effects of positive identity and explored potential differences between male and females. Study two examined how Lerner’s Five Cs of competence, confidence, connection, character, and caring relate to mental health and wellbeing among late adolescents. A cross-cultural approach examined potential differences between males and females. Both studies utilized purposive sampling to collect survey data from late adolescents and emerging adults (N= 477) who were primarily recruited from a university campus in West Texas. Participants, aged 18-21, responded to a questionnaire with a series of questions addressing common PYD constructs like support systems, positive values, positive identity, and social competence using the Developmental Assets Profile (DAP). Data were analyzed using version 24 of the IBM SPSS Statistics software and PROCESS Macro version 4.3. Results of study one revealed that positive identity and positive values mediated the relationship between support systems and social competence. Moreover, there were no significant differences in these relationships between White and BIPOC participants, underscoring the prevalence of PYD constructs across demographic groups. Results of study two revealed that competence, confidence, and connection are positively associated with mental health across genders, with slightly higher associations found in males for competence and confidence and a slightly stronger association found in females for connection. Further, confidence was negatively associated with behavioral health when examining the entire sample across genders but was only significant for females when comparing the two genders. Conversely, caring was positively associated with behavioral health in the entire sample but was only significant among females when comparing genders. Findings from both studies highlight the importance of protective factors for promoting positive youth development among late adolescents and emerging adults. Comprehensive interventions that involve collaboration between stakeholders, families, communities, schools, peers, and mentors are crucial for implementing effective and evidence-based interventions tailored to late adolescent’s and emerging adult’s diverse needs
The Impact of Mentoring on Youth Developmental Outcomes
No full textMany factors influence youth as they develop. Children need at least one supportive adult to help them as they develop. One of the most important contexts where children learn important skills is the family context. However, not every child has a supportive family. Therefore, mentoring programs provide youth with a consistent role model. There is not much knowledge on the effects mentoring has on developmental outcomes. Understanding the effects of mentoring can improve programs and increase the benefits of program participation for youth.
The current study examines the effects of mentoring and family connectedness on four youth developmental outcomes. The developmental outcomes that are assessed are life satisfaction, goal setting, emotion regulation, and attitudes towards risky behaviors. As children become adolescents, they experience many changes that impact their development. Considering these changes, age was used as moderator. The ANOVA results suggest that mentoring did not make a significant difference between participants who did or did not have a supportive mentor. The multiple regression results demonstrated that there are some associations between family connectedness and two outcomes. Age did not have a moderating effect on the relationships between family connectedness and life satisfaction, goal setting, emotion regulation, and attitudes towards risky behaviors
A program evaluation of "Teen Straight Talk"
Full text linkThis current project will explore the impact of Teen Straight Talk on various community groups through a developmental program evaluation. Community organization, participating parents, volunteers, and presenters were given the opportunity to give their opinions about the program. Each group’s information was analyzed and then some data were combined to make general recommendations. In addition, recommendations from each group were reported to the Teen Straight Talk program committee for future program revisions
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Multisystem Youth and Life Skills Through a Positive Youth Development Approach
No full textThe current study aimed to evaluate the associations between caregiver relationships and depressive symptoms, perceptions of risk, and coping skills; self-esteem and depressive symptoms, perceptions of risk, and coping skills; self-care and depressive symptoms, perceptions of risk, and coping skills. This study was cross-sectional, using quantitative data collected from a three-year-long project. The data was collected from multiple sites with a total sample of 1,113 foster and justice-involved youth. SPSS was used to address associations between the study constructs predictor and outcome variables through multiple regressions and multiple regressions by moderation. Results showed significant associations between caregiver relationships and positive coping skills, depressive symptoms, perceptions of risk. Another significant association was found between self-care and positive and negative coping skills. Gender was found to moderate the associations between caregiver relationships and positive coping skills, depressive symptoms, and perceptions of risk. The results from this study can aid caregivers, educators, policymakers, and society in addressing multisystem youths’ strengths for improving developmental outcomes and benefiting society overall. Further research should be conducted to address more multisystem youth strengths and need
Children’s visual attention, neural function, and memory for distressing information
No full textEmotional memory, stress, and trauma have been extensively studied in adults, adolescents, and children alike, new technological approaches have been developed to understand how mental processes such as visual attention influence memory functioning. The first study examined how children remember stimuli that vary in terms of emotional valence (distressing vs. non-distressing) and how their memory and suggestibility would be predicted by parents’ attachment orientations. Clinical and cognitive neuroscientists have also conducted many studies on the impact of trauma and stress in both pediatric and adult populations. Nonetheless, limited research has explored the neurocognitive effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Colombian youth, a vulnerable age group in South America that has the highest rates of victimization and violence exposure. The second study examined the role of PTSD in the context of children and adolescents exposed to armed conflict in Colombia (South America). Their memory, implicit emotional processing, and brain activation patterns were evaluated for emotional information
Effect of nonresident father identity commitment, involvement, and supportiveness on maternal child maltreatment: Possible protective role and pathways of influence
Full text linkChildren living apart from fathers experience higher rates of maternal maltreatment. Previous research has demonstrated that, through involvement with children and support to coparents, nonresident fathers may serve a protective function against maternal maltreatment. Using the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (n = 818), the present study considered whether, through their involvement with children and supportiveness to coparents, nonresident fathers who exhibit early identity commitment to fatherhood may be protective against maternal maltreatment.
Nonresident fathers who showed high father identity commitment at the birth of their children were more likely to be involved with their children and more supportive of their coparents three years later. Nonresident father involvement was positively associated with their supportiveness to coparents. However, nonresident father involvement was not protective against maternal physical abuse or neglect. Supportiveness of nonresident fathers to coparents was protective against maternal physical abuse – but not neglect – and partially mediated the relationship between nonresident father involvement and maternal physical abuse. Practice and policy implications are discussed
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