Lori Baird



SUMMARIES OF SOME RECENT DISSERTATIONS AND THESES

Applied Developmental Psychology

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

February, 2013

Dissertations

Kelly Robinson Todd Schmidt, Ph.D. (May, 2013) (Mentor: Susan Sonnenschein)

Predictors of Parent Involvement in Part C Early Intervention Services

Children under the age of three who have developmental delays or disabilities and their families are eligible for special services under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA). These services, known as “early intervention”, typically include things such as special education, speech therapy, physical therapy, and social work and are frequently provided in the home. Every state in the US provides Part C early intervention services to eligible children and families.

Many early intervention professionals believe that it is important for parents to be very involved in their children’s early intervention services. It seems reasonable to assume that parent involvement is helpful to the child and family, but this assumption has not been tested very well by researchers. In fact, researchers have not studied much about parents’ involvement in their children’s early intervention services at all.

This study examined the ability of three factors to predict parents’ involvement in early intervention services. One factor was parents’ beliefs about their role in the early intervention program. Another factor was parents’ beliefs about their competence and confidence in parenting their young child (self-efficacy). The third factor was parents’ knowledge about child development. Parent involvement in early intervention services was measured as attendance at scheduled appointments over a six month period. A parent’s commitment to the intervention was rated by the professional who was assigned to provide services to their family.

The first factor, parents’ role beliefs, predicted the commitment to intervention ratings made by professionals but did not predict attendance. Those who believed that parents should be very involved in their child’s early intervention program were rated as more committed to the intervention. Neither parents’ self-efficacy beliefs nor knowledge of child development was related to attendance or commitment to intervention ratings. Parent’s highest educational attainment and the number of children in the family were related to both attendance and commitment to intervention ratings. Parents with less education had lower attendance and were rated as less committed to the intervention than parents with more education. Parents who had fewer children had better attendance and were rated as more committed to the intervention than parents who had more children. One unexpected finding from the study was that parents in early intervention programs which use a written agreement between parents and providers that explain the expectations for participation in the program had better attendance than parents in programs which do not use a written agreement.

Early intervention professionals want to help developmentally delayed children and their families be successful. One strategy that professionals expect to be helpful is the involvement of parents in their children’s services. The results of this study suggest that parents who believe that involvement is very important will be more committed to the program than parents who do not believe that involvement is very important. The results also suggest that professionals should use written agreements with parents to explain the expectation for participation in the program as doing so may boost attendance.

Sevgi Bayram Özdemir, Ph. D. (December 2012) (Mentor: Charissa Cheah)

Social Withdrawal during Middle Childhood in Turkey: The Role of Individual, Parenting, and Peer Factors

Social interactions are critical for the social and emotional development of children. Through interacting with their peers, children feel belongingness to a social group and learn social skills such as empathy and conflict management that affect their overall adjustment. Nevertheless, some children may have difficulties interacting with other children due to various reasons such as fear of social interactions and disinterest in being with others. These children are labeled as socially withdrawn. A large number of studies have shown that withdrawn children are vulnerable to adjustment difficulties. Nevertheless, there are still two important questions that have not been addressed well.

The first question is concerned with the types of behaviors that withdrawn children display and their motivations behind these behaviors, especially outside of the North American context. To answer this question, in Study 1 of my dissertation, fifteen 9 to 11 year-old Turkish children, thirteen mothers, and thirteen teachers were interviewed, and were asked about the behaviors and the underlying motivations of withdrawn children. The present study showed that there are three subtypes of withdrawn behaviors. First, some children display withdrawn behaviors due to a motivational conflict. Although these children desire to interact with their peers, they avoid social contact due to elevated feelings of fear or anxiety. Second, some children have low motivation to approach others, are content to play alone, or disinterested in others’ activities. The former subtype resembles the characteristics of shy children, and the latter subtype resembles unsociable children found in previous North American studies. In addition to these two subtypes, another subtype was also emerged, which was named regulated withdrawal. In line with the Turkish cultural values emphasizing social harmony and relatedness, regulated withdrawn children tend to restrain their self-assertive behaviors, take a compliant role in peer interactions, and be inclined to concede to others when faced with peer confrontations. Regulated withdrawn children display these behaviors with the motivation of fitting into the group and maintaining harmonious relations with others.

The second question is concerned with the identification of risk and protective factors that may influence the adjustment of withdrawn children. To address this limitation, Study 2 of my dissertation project aimed to examine whether children’s coping strategies, their mothers’ parenting behaviors, and their peer relationships worsen or lessen the negative effects of withdrawn behaviors on children’s psychological and school adjustment. A sample of 599 Turkish children aged 9-11 years old and their mothers participated in the study. The findings showed that when shy children had authoritative mothers or had positive relationships with their peers, they were less likely to report that they felt lonely. In contrast, when shy children had negative relationships with their peers, they were more likely to feel lonely and have school adjustment difficulties. Interestingly, none of the risk or protective factors influenced the psychological and school adjustment of unsociable and regulated withdrawn children. Together, these findings suggest the importance of understanding the unique characteristics of each subtype of social withdrawal and specific risk and protective factors in developing strategies to reduce the negative consequences of withdrawn tendencies on children’s adjustment outcomes.

To conclude, this dissertation project represented an initial step in understanding the behavioral and motivational characteristics of social withdrawal, and the factors that might influence the adjustment outcomes of withdrawn behaviors. It suggested that socially withdrawn behaviors are detrimental for the well-being and adjustment of children in Turkey, similar to other cultural groups. Thus, parents, teachers, and health professionals should not overlook these behaviors, and pay attention to the needs of withdrawn children. A greater understanding of withdrawn behaviors may enhance our ability to raise the awareness of parents, educators, and mental health professionals with regard to the challenges of withdrawn children, and promote the development of intervention programs that can improve the difficulties experienced by these children.

Christy Y. Y. Leung, Ph. D. (December 2012) (Mentor: Charissa Cheah)

The Immigration Experiences, Acculturation, and Parenting of Chinese Immigrant Mothers

After migrating to a new country, immigrants undergo a process of acculturation in which their orientations towards the mainstream and their heritage cultures change as a result of direct contact between the two different cultures. Compared with regions that have a long history of receiving immigrants such as New York and California, the Chinese communities in the emerging immigrant areas like Maryland are relatively small and widely dispersed with limited institutional supports and services. Chinese immigrant mothers living in these areas are likely to experience difficulties during the process of acculturation and adjustment, which, in turn may affect their psychological functioning and parenting.

Thus, the overall goal of the present study was to examine the experiences of first-generation Chinese immigrant mothers of young children in Maryland. Using data obtained through questionnaires, 119 Chinese immigrant mothers were categorized into one of four different acculturation strategies and then were compared on: (1) their reasons for migration; (2) the role of negative and positive factors in their acculturation strategies; (3) their psychological functioning; and (4) their parenting styles. Moreover, 50 of the 119 mothers were interviewed and the themes raised by these mothers during the interview regarding their: (1) reasons for migration and pre-migration expectations; (2) negative and positive immigration experiences; (3) evaluations of their immigration decision; and (4) conceptualization of Chinese and American parenting and changes in their parenting since they migrated to the U.S., were analyzed.

The present study showed that a majority of the Chinese immigrant mothers migrated to the U.S. for family reunification or educational advancement. Most of the mothers believed that the U.S. is “a land of opportunities” where individual freedom and equal opportunity for success are guaranteed. However, a small number of mothers expressed feeling unprepared to live in the U.S. because they were unfamiliar with the country prior to their migration. These mothers were not likely to participate in the mainstream society after migrating to the U.S.

Moreover, the present findings revealed that the Chinese immigrant mothers encountered various challenges such as language barriers, job limitations, and lower standards of living since their migration to the U.S. In particular, mothers who perceived being treated unfairly or faced difficulties fitting in with the mainstream population tended to distance themselves from the mainstream society. Nevertheless, a majority of the mothers expressed positive feelings about their migration as they were able to receive support to meet their multiple needs, obtain quality education, have more career opportunities, and/or live in a country with social justice, freedom, and a less stressful lifestyle. Specifically, mother who received financial assistance and childcare support from their families and parenting support from various sources and perceived to have equal opportunities for success were more likely to have positive attitudes towards the dominant group and participate in the mainstream society.

Furthermore, the present study found that the Chinese immigrant mothers were able to coherently identify the differences between typical Chinese and American parenting and embraced different aspects of parenting from both cultures. Importantly, these mothers discussed the need to be flexible across different areas of their parenting in order to socialize their children to successfully adapt to the mainstream society. In conclusion, the findings of the present study can provide important information to guide culturally informed community resources and policy development to support the adaptive transition and healthy development of Chinese immigrant families with young children in the context of small co-ethnic communities.

Anna L. Burns, Ph.D. (December, 2012) (Mentors: Laura Stapleton, John Borrero)

A Comparison of Two Types of Video Modeling to Teach Adaptive Skills to Children with Autism

People with autism may have restricted and repetitive behaviors and impairments in communication, social interactions, intellectual abilities and attention span. These difficulties with learning, social skills, communication and behavior may make this a challenging population to teach. The numbers of children diagnosed with autism appears to be increasing each year. It is urgent that new effective treatments be found to help these children reach their full potential as adults.

Video modeling appears to be a promising treatment to teach children with autism. There are three types of video modeling: video self-modeling, video using another person as a model and video filmed from the learner’s point of view. Self-modeling videos are filmed by having the child with autism serve as his or her own model while someone off camera instructs the child what to do. Mistakes and inappropriate behaviors are edited out of the video before showing it to the child. A child or an adult who can already perform the intervention task well serves as the model when using the video modeling using others method. The model faces the camera and the model’s whole body is typically shown. The learner’s point of view method requires that video be filmed over the shoulder of the learner showing only the items needed to complete the task. Although video modeling appears to be promising many questions remain. It is unclear if different types of video work better to teach different skills, what prerequisite skills a learner should have in order to benefit from video modeling interventions, and if it is necessary to combine prompting and other components to video modeling interventions or if video alone is sufficient.

This studied compared two types of video, video modeling using another person as a model and video filmed from the learner’s point of view, to teach children with autism to set a table and pour a pretend food into a bowl. Before the study twenty-six male children were given pretests (on a similar table setting skill, imitation ability, intelligence, and the amount of attention they paid to a video) and divided into groups that were as equal as possible on intelligence and imitation scores. Each group of children saw only one type of video. Children who did not learn to set the table and pour with video alone were given three-step prompting. When a child did not do a step correctly he was first told how to do the step (“Put the Bowl on the Placemat”), then if necessary he was shown how to do the step while being told how to do it, and then if necessary he was told how to do the step while being gently physically guided to complete the step. Children who still were not able to set the table and pour after exposure to video plus prompts were also given a favorite food or drink (instead of the pretend food) and were allowed to eat/drink it after setting the table with or without prompts. Results indicated that both the video using another person as the model and the video filmed from the learner’s point of view worked equally well to teach the table setting and pour skill. Some children learned with video alone but most needed video plus prompting and one needed video plus prompting plus a favorite food. Some children did not learn all the steps even with video, prompts and a favorite food or drink. Children who were good imitators before the study learned more quickly than children who were not.

The results suggest that it may be useful to teach children with autism to imitate before trying to teach skills using video modeling interventions. Future studies could attempt to see if different types of video work better for different skills or if different types of video work better for individual children.

Brian Morrison, Ph.D. (August, 2012) (Mentor: David Schultz)

Validation of the Best Beginnings Developmental Family Questionnaire: A High-Risk Population

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends routine developmental screening at well-child visits. Unfortunately, lack of adequate time and inconsistent health insurance reimbursement often prevents physicians from fulfilling this recommendation with all children. As a result, new and faster ways to identify developmental delays (e.g., parent report) are being developed.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether parent report of child development, as measured by a newly developed tool, the Best Beginnings Family Questionnaire (BBFQ), was related to the results of a physician completed screening tool in a high-risk population. Parent report of child development, as measured by a commonly used but empirically inconsistent tool, the Parents Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS), was also investigated. Sensitivity, or the ability of the tool to correctly identify children with developmental delays, and specificity, or the ability of the tool to correctly identify children without developmental delays, of the BBFQ were both found to be greater than the AAP’s recommendation of at least 70%. In contrast to the BBFQ, sensitivity and specificity of the PEDS were both below the AAP’s recommendation. The study further examined for parental bias in parental reporting but found demographic variables did not relate to parent’s ability to identify developmental delays using the BBFQ.

The results of this study support the use of the BBFQ as a developmental monitoring tool when direct, physician-completed screening is not possible or at time periods between well-child visits. Future research on the BBFQ should examine the tool using think-aloud interviews, as well as the ability of the BBFQ to predict full assessment scores so that a complete comparison between the BBFQ and BBDS can be made.

Mary Shuttlesworth, Ph.D. (August, 2012) (Mentor: David Schultz)

Developing a Website to Reach Parents of Preschool Children

Including parents in prevention programming appears important, especially for programs that target young children. However, many existing school-based prevention programs seek to involve parents by offering parenting classes outside the home. Parents often experience multiple barriers to participating in parenting classes (e.g., no time to attend, no transportation/childcare). Recommended practices to increase levels of parent participation include use of social marketing strategies and use of the mass media to reach parents. Social marketing includes the promotional strategies involved in selling an idea to the target population. Use of technology includes use of the mass media (e.g., internet, television), a way to reach parents with prevention program information that does not rely on attendance at parenting classes outside the home.

This study focused on effective ways to involve parents in school-based prevention programs that target social and emotional learning (SEL). This study combined both social marketing and technology in an effort to reach parents through the development of online content to accompany the GOALS program, a classroom-based program that targets prevention of behavior problems in preschool children. Social marketing strategies included reaching the target population with program-related information using paper newsletters, text messages and Facebook postings. Through interviews with parents of children attending Head Start in Baltimore city, the present study developed a website that is usable and contains content that parents wanted.

When first surveyed, parents indicated they would prefer to be contacted with program-related information using text messages but later reported a preference for newsletters. Despite repeated attempts to reach all parents using newsletters and text messages, only approximately 20% accessed the website.

Despite reaching a small percentage of the target population, using a website to reach parents appears promising. This study targeted all parents, even if children did not show behavior problems. A more effective use of resources may be to target parents who would benefit most from website content, specifically by reaching parents of children who already show behavior problems. These parents may be more receptive to website information because they want help in solving child behavior problems.

Nicole Hausman, Ph.D. (August, 2012). (Mentors: John Borrero, SungWoo Kahng)

Improving Portion Size Estimations of Children and Adults

The prevalence of obesity continues to increase, especially among children (Gordon-Larsen, The, & Adair, 2010). Obesity can be attributed, in part, to eating portion sizes of unhealthy foods that are too large. Changes in the American lifestyle have led to more meals being consumed outside of the home (e.g., in restaurants) which is associated with larger portion sizes of foods high in fat and calories. Therefore, it is important to develop interventions that teach individuals to estimate portion sizes more accurately to promote portion control. Previous studies have suggested that the use of portion size measurement aids (PSMAs) may result in more accurate portion size estimations among adults but may not be effective with children (e.g., Byrd-Bredbenner & Schwartz, 2004; Foster, Anderson, & Adamson, 2001).

The current study was comprised of three experiments to evaluate different methods of teaching college students and young children to estimate portion sizes. Undergraduate students from UMBC were recruited to participate in Experiments 1 and 2. In Experiment 1, portion size estimations following training using a true measuring device (i.e., a measuring cup) and PSMA (i.e., a tennis ball) were compared. Results of Experiment 1 suggested that there were no differences between methods in terms of maintenance; however, low levels of generalization were observed across training methods. That is, participants were able to estimate the target portion size 1 week following training but their skills did not transfer to foods not used in training. As generalization is an important component to clinical nutrition education programs, a third training method was evaluated in Experiments 2 and 3 in the hopes of improving generalization. That is, we wanted to determine a method that would not only effectively teach individuals to estimate portion sizes but would transfer across many foods. In Experiment 2, training was conducted using a stimulus equivalence paradigm. The stimulus equivalence paradigm consisted of teaching participants the relations between portion sizes of various foods (e.g., cereals, noodles, and snack foods) and corresponding PSMAs (e.g., a golf ball, a softball). Results from Experiment 2 suggested that the stimulus equivalence paradigm resulted in high levels of maintenance and improved accuracy during generalization with a novel food. Next, we wanted to determine whether the stimulus equivalence paradigm may be useful to teach young children to estimate portion sizes more accurately. In Experiment 3, the utility of the stimulus equivalence paradigm was evaluated with children between the ages of 4-7 years. Results suggested that the stimulus equivalence paradigm was effective in teaching young children to make accurate portion size estimations and the majority of participants were able to estimate the target portion size of a food not used in training during generalization sessions.

These data extend the existing research on teaching individuals to make accurate portion size estimations and may help us to teach people healthier eating habits. Future studies should evaluate the extent to which these training methods may result in changes in eating habits and, in turn, weight loss among overweight individuals seeking treatment.

Kelly A. Sheperd, Ph.D. (December, 2011) (Mentor: Charissa Cheah, Maureen Black)

Cognitive and Behavioral Functioning Among Children Prenatally Exposed to Substances:

An Examination of Models of Risk

Drug use during pregnancy represents a public health concern. The effects of prenatal drug exposure (PDE) are a concern because rapid changes happen during and immediately following pregnancy. Exposure to substances prenatally may affect early brain development as well as later intelligence and behavior (e.g., Mayes, 1999). PDE may be related to problems with attention, school achievement, behavior, and intelligence (e.g., Nair et al., 2008). However, the environment may play a more important role in development than drug exposure (e.g., Ackerman et al., 2010).

The present research was divided into two studies to better understand the effects of PDE and the environment on development at five years. The first study examined the direct effects of PDE and environmental risk on intelligence and behavior. The second study examined more specific factors that may change or explain the effect of PDE or the environment on intelligence and behavior. Both studies used 132 children. They were primarily low-income, African American, and exposed to cocaine, heroin, or both substances.

The first study found few effects of environmental risk on behavior. Children whose caregivers reported more negative life events (e.g., loss of job, legal problems, and drug problems) had more behavior problems (e.g., worrying, sadness, fighting, and angry mood). There were no effects of environmental risks on child intelligence.

Overall the first study suggested the early environment is not related to child intelligence at five years. Intelligence is very broad and effects of risk may be subtle. More specific measures of intelligence may help identify effects of risk. Children whose caregivers experience stressful events may “act out” to cope with these events. Or, caregivers may believe children behave more poorly because they are focused on managing their own stress.

There were two main findings of Study 2. First, harsh caregiving was associated with higher internalizing behaviors. Second, caregiver changes were associated with increased attention problems.

The findings from Study 2 suggested that changes and harshness in caregivers is related to child behavior problems. Harsh caregivers may promote fear or worry in the child. Or, caregivers may act harsher if the child displays behavior problems. Children whose caregivers change when they are young may have trouble paying attention because their home environment may change with their caregiver. Children benefit from a stable environment and changes during early childhood may be related to attention problems.

Overall, the findings from the present study provide little support for a relation between PDE or environmental risks with development within a drug exposed sample. Future research is necessary to better understand the nature of risk. For example, it may be important to examine individual differences to understand if some children may be more vulnerable than others. In addition, studying the effects of risk over a greater period of time will allow researchers to understand if the effects of risk are more pronounced during specific developmental periods.

Catherine K. Lee, Ph.D. (August, 2011) (Mentor: Susan Sonnenschein)

The Association of Inattention and Children’s Math Development: A Longitudinal Study

The nation’s middle and high school students consistently perform below their peers in other countries on international math assessments. Improvements in teacher preparation, curriculum, textbooks, and assessments have been proposed as a way to meet this challenge. In much the same way that researchers have determined the best ways to teach reading, research-based methods have been explored for mathematics. However, research on what might predispose children to develop difficulties in mathematics currently lags behind the research on reading difficulties.

A number of elementary school children in the United States appear to have some form of cognitive deficit that significantly interferes with their success in mathematics. They often exhibit difficulty retrieving basic arithmetic facts from memory and difficulty with arithmetic calculations. By late elementary school, children who continue to have problems with basic facts often use inefficient strategies and consequently make procedural errors when attempting to solve complex addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems. However, a complete picture of the intellectual functioning of these children cannot be obtained by merely focusing on their math skills.

This study was conducted to examine the relation between inattention and children’s math development as children progress from elementary into middle school. Of particular interest was whether children who are rated by their teachers as frequently inattentive exhibit different patterns of growth in three areas of math: fact retrieval, calculation, and conceptual knowledge of place value, than children who are seldom inattentive. Math tests were administered to children in third through sixth grades, and behavior rating scales to assess inattention were completed by their teachers in second through fifth grades. Findings indicated that children’s inattention in second grade was related to lower levels of fact retrieval and calculation performance in third grade. However, in general, inattention was not found to be related to growth in any of the three math skills evaluated.

The study also investigated third grade predictors of sixth grade calculation skill. Results indicated that children’s third grade inattention was as predictive of their sixth grade calculation scores as were the third grade measures of fact retrieval, calculation skill, and conceptual knowledge of place value. In analyses conducted to screen specifically for later math calculation difficulties, fact retrieval emerged as a “good” screening test for the sample of children evaluated. The finding that third grade math skills would be related to sixth grade calculation competency was expected. However, the idea that children’s attention is related to the development of math skills is a concept that has only recently begun to appear in the mathematics intervention literature.

One of the most important educational implications from this study concerns the use of teacher rating scales to explore the association of inattention with math skill development. Teacher ratings of school performance are commonly used to identify children for special services, such as gifted-talented classes, special education, or speech-language therapy. However, teacher ratings of classroom behavior are not typically used to identify children at risk for math difficulties. Research findings revealed that higher levels of inattention were associated with lower skill levels of fact retrieval and calculation skill by third grade and that the gaps in math performance continued throughout the course of the study. This information could be useful for the development and timing of math interventions.

Stacy Buckingham Howes, Ph.D. (May, 2011) (Mentors: David Schultz, Cindy Schaeffer, Maureen Black)

Prenatally Drug Exposed Adolescents' Engagement In Externalizing And Problem Behaviors: A Longitudinal Perspective

Prenatal drug exposure places infants and children at risk for numerous physical and cognitive problems. In infancy, these children are more likely than non-exposed youth to experience low birth weight, failure to thrive, feeding and sleeping problems, poor fine motor development, and irritability. By childhood, prenatally drug exposed (PDE) children sometimes display more attention and hyperactivity problems as well as physical aggression than other children. Additionally, many PDE children grow up in adverse caregiving environments that might include continued caregiver drug use, poverty, poor social support, and neighborhood violence. The development of behavioral problems in PDE children through adolescence is not well-understood. Research and theory suggest that when children develop behavior problems early in life, they tend to continue to have these problems through adolescence. Furthermore, when adolescents display behavior problems, they are also likely to engage in other, similar problematic behaviors such as drug use, violence, and risky sexual behaviors. Research that examines such problems in the high risk population of PDE youth is needed to understand how exposure might continue to influence behavioral development through adolescence. If researchers understood the developmental process in PDE adolescents better, we would be in a better position to prevent negative outcomes.

Two studies were conducted in order to examine the development of problematic behaviors (i.e., engaging in caregiver reported physical aggression (fighting, delinquency) and youth reported problem behaviors (drug use and risky sexual activity), violence behaviors (“beating up” others and carrying a knife), associating with deviant peers, and the inclination to engage in risky behaviors in PDE adolescents. Comparing PDE youth to a community comparison sample, the purpose of study 1 was to determine if there were differences in problematic behaviors in middle childhood and early adolescence. No significant differences were found between the two groups on any of the problematic behaviors. Similarities in the development of problematic behaviors might be explained by the fact that PDE and community comparison youth were reared in similar neighborhoods, attended similar schools, and reported similar levels of neighborhood violence and use of public assistance programs. Therefore, the similarities in behavioral development may reflect similarities in their environment.

The purpose of study 2 was to examine how cognitive problems in infancy and middle childhood contextual factors (e.g., family social support, poor caregiving environment, neighborhood violence) might help explain the development of problematic behaviors in early adolescence within a group of PDE youth. A poor caregiving environment in middle childhood predicted higher physical aggression and violence behaviors in early adolescence. Caregiver perceptions of social support were not necessarily related to healthy development in PDE adolescents. Additionally, when youth felt that they lived in a violent neighborhood and caregivers reported social support from family, friends, and neighbors in middle childhood, youth had the highest levels of problem behaviors in early adolescence. When youth felt that they lived in a violent neighborhood and caregivers reported little social support from family friends, and neighbors, youth had the lowest levels of problem behaviors in early adolescence. Similarly, when youth felt they lived in a violent neighborhood and caregivers reported social support from formal institutions (e.g., child and family services, food stamps) in middle childhood, youth had the highest levels of problem and violence behaviors in early adolescence. When youth felt they lived in a violent neighborhood and caregivers reported little social support from formal institutions, youth had the lowest levels of problem and violence behaviors in early adolescence. Overall, the findings indicate that caregiver reported support from formal institutions and family, friends, and neighbors are an important consideration in combination with youth’s perception of safety in their neighborhood when attempting to understand the development of problematic behaviors in PDE adolescents.

Anna M. Quigg, Ph.D. (December, 2010) (Mentors: Linda Baker & Maureen M. Black)

Food Insecurity and Children’s Developmental Risk: Do Anemia and Caregiver Depression Play a Role?

The primary goal of this study was to develop a comprehensive model to investigate whether food insecurity worked through child anemia to put children at risk for developmental problems. The second goal of the study was to determine whether presence of maternal depression strengthened the relations food insecurity, anemia, and developmental risk model.

Food insecurity is the inability to access enough food for an active and healthy life for all household members at all times. It is typically episodic in nature and disproportionately affects low-income families from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds. Children from food insecure households are more likely to experience anemia (presumably from inadequate nutrition) and developmental risk compared with food secure children. Caregivers who experience food insecurity are more likely to report depression, which may negatively impact their parenting effectiveness.

A low-income, African-American group of caregivers who sought care for their young children at an urban medical center were interviewed as part of the Children’s HealthWatch Research Project. The current study utilized the self-report interview data, which provided caregiver responses to questions about developmental risk, caregiver depression, and food insecurity. These responses were supplemented with medical record data on developmental risk and anemia. The two sources of developmental risk data were combined into a developmental risk index.

Relations among variables were examined using correlations, chi-square analyses, and logistic regressions. Mediation, moderation, and moderated-mediation models were estimated in order to determine whether food insecurity, developmental risk, anemia, and maternal depression were related as hypothesized.

This study has two major findings. First, child anemia was related to developmental risk such that children with developmental risk were more likely to be anemic compared with children who were not at developmental risk. When examined closely, the relation was strongest between parent’s report of developmental concern and anemia and did not reach significance when only the medical record sources of developmental risk were considered. Second, mothers who reported food insecurity were also more likely to report depressive symptoms.

These findings highlight the need to screen for developmental risk by asking parents about their concerns, and incorporating a screening tool (e.g., the Parents’ Report of Developmental Status) into pediatric practice, especially one that is validated for use as parent report. It is also important to identify and intervene when families experience food insecurity, child anemia, and caregiver mental health problems. Practitioners and programs that serve families can use a variety of techniques to screen caregivers for depressive symptoms and food insecurity and identify families in need of food or other resources to cope with economic hardships. It is important to link families to services that may aid in decreasing those hardships and the worry associated with them, which may, in turn decrease a caregiver’s depressive symptoms.

Psychologists would be wise to consider contextual factors influencing family functioning. Experiences of food insecurity take a toll on caregiver mental health, which in turn decreases parenting effectiveness. The current study supports the theory that the child’s context influences optimal development. Experiences of food insecurity, maternal depression, and anemia may directly or indirectly influence family functioning and children’s psychosocial functioning and development.

Policy makers can improve child outcomes by increasing availability and access to public assistance programs including the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and the Supplemental Nutrition Program (formerly Food Stamps). Investment early is not only the most economical way to improve the future of our society; it optimizes early childhood development and ensures that children grow to be productive members of society.

Colleen J. Sullivan, Ph.D. (August 2010) (Mentor: Linda Baker)

Academic self-regulation, academic performance, and college adjustment: What is the first-year experience for college students?

Many institutions of higher education provide resources to help students adjust to the college environment and obtain their personal academic goals. These academic resources also may benefit retention and graduation rates for the institution. One resource is a first-year experience course, such as the Introduction to an Honors University (IHU) seminar at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. This study explored the role that participation in a first-year experience course had on students’ academic self-regulation (i.e., motivation and learning strategies), academic performance, and college adjustment. An additional purpose of this study was to understand how students’ academic self-regulation and college adjustment relates to their end of semester educational outcomes, specifically academic performance. Research has suggested that participation in first-year experience courses facilitates students’ college transition, as evidenced by academic performance and college involvement, but these studies often do not include a comparison to the general population of first-year college students and do not account for other factors that may be influencing educational outcomes.

Participants included 133 first-year, first-time college students. These students voluntarily enrolled or chose not to enroll in a first-year experience course, which led to their placement in one of the following groups: 1) First-year experience course group: Students enrolled in an optional IHU seminar linked to an introductory academic course or 2) Comparison group: Students enrolled in the same introductory academic course. Participants completed three assessments that started in the summer prior to their first semester and ended at the conclusion of that semester. This study was designed to address two separate research questions. First, by the end of the semester, do IHU seminar participants and non-participants differ in academic self-regulation, academic performance, and college adjustment? Second, what are the academic self-regulation and college adjustment predictors of first-year students’ educational outcomes?

Results revealed that participation in an IHU seminar was associated with adaptive motivational beliefs and the use of deep-processing and resource management learning strategies at the end of the semester. Specifically, IHU seminar participants were more likely to have stronger beliefs in their ability to academically succeed and also used college-appropriate strategies that support higher-order thinking, long-term retention of information, proper use of time, and identification of beneficial resources such as teachers and peers. These first-year experience courses seemed to create an interactive classroom community that supported gaining knowledge about university resources, developing strong beliefs of self-efficacy, and identifying resource management strategies. Additionally, IHU seminar participants earned a better course grade and first-semester GPA compared to their peers; however, more research is needed to identify the specific variables related to the students’ better grades. IHU seminar instructors emphasized the use of college-appropriate learning strategies, but greater attention should be given to students’ motivation and interests, which could further impact their academic major decisions and career choices. The benefit of IHU seminar participation may continue after the first semester, which implies that further studies should be conducted to identify long-term results of participating in these courses.

Results also revealed that students’ academic self-regulation and college adjustment measured during the course of the semester are connected to educational outcomes. Overall, these findings suggest that a high level of academic self-regulation goals and beliefs, the use of learning strategies, and a high level of academic college adjustment during the semester relates to a high level of educational outcomes at the end of the semester. Mastery-approach goals, or the intrinsic interest to learn, related to students’ values toward completing an academic task, beliefs in their ability to succeed, use of learning strategies, and positive college adjustment. Additionally, students who had high levels of other motivational components, including task value, self-efficacy, and learning strategies at mid-semester also had a high level of college adjustment and better academic performance at the end of the semester. Lastly, students who had a high level of academic adjustment also had better academic performance. Course objectives and institutional resources that facilitate motivation, the use of learning strategies, and academic adjustment may be the key to students’ short-term and possibly long-term academic success. Future research is needed to determine the factors that are related to long-term success and the role first-year experience course participation plays in retention and graduation. The inclusion of a larger, more academically diverse sample that includes students with varying degrees of ability and motivation and who attend different types of institutions is also necessary to identify a variety of valuable academic resources for the college student population.

Patricia A. Tenowich, Ph.D. (December 2009) (Mentor: Susan Sonnenschein)

Examination of Achievement Goals and Social Goals of College Students at Different Levels of Expertise

Academic performance is critical to students' success in college and therefore, it is an important issue in college administration. Extensive research has examined college achievement and provided important insights into college learning. For example, studies have demonstrated how students’ goals relate there to their use of learning strategies, interest, knowledge, and academic achievement. Other studies have enhanced our understanding of the learning process by examining the development of expertise in a topic. However, research has not explored the relations among college students’ goals, levels of expertise, and academic achievement.

This study extended prior research by investigating the relations among achievement goals, social goals, levels of expertise, and academic achievement of 141 college students enrolled in psychology courses. Whereas achievement goals reflect students’ academic reasons for trying to achieve in an academic setting, social goals reflect their nonacademic reasons for engaging in academic tasks. Three types of achievement goals were examined: mastery goals (focus on the development of competence in a topic), performance-approach goals (attainment of competence compared to others), and performance-avoidance goals (avoidance of incompetence compared to others). Three types of social goals also were examined: social approval goals (achieving to gain approval of others), social concern goals (achieving to assist others in achieving), and social responsibility goals (achieving to maintain interpersonal relations). The development of expertise is a progressive process characterized by the interplay of a person’s knowledge, interest, and strategy use. A learner moves from the level of acclimation to competence, and then to expertise.

The first purpose of the study was to explore the relations between goals and achievement of students at different levels of expertise. Responses to knowledge, interest, and strategy use measures that were specific to psychology were used to classify students into levels of expertise. Two levels of expertise were identified: Acclimated and Competent. Findings showed that college students at different levels of expertise differ in the types of goals they adopt. The Acclimated group endorsed performance-avoidance goals and the Competent group endorsed mastery, performance-approach, and social concern goals, indicating students at different levels of expertise have different reasons for achieving. Results also demonstrated that more students in the Competent group (65%) reported simultaneously adopting mastery and performance-approach goals than students in the Acclimated group (37%).

The second purpose of this study was to classify participants by their goal profiles and determine whether the goal profiles differed on various academic outcomes, including psychology GPA. Two goal profiles were determined using reported levels of achievement and social goals: Single Goal and Combined Goal. Students in the Combined Goal group reported higher interest in psychology and higher strategy use than students in the Single Goal group. Psychology GPA was significantly, positively related to interest and strategy use for students in the Single Goal group.

These findings are important to college administrators because they expand our understanding of college learning and achievement, which may help with retention. From this study, however, it is not known whether students’ goals change over time as they develop expertise. For example, the difference in goal adoption for students at different levels of expertise could be related to level of educational experience or to changes in goal adoption as one develops competence within a discipline of study. Future studies should use a longitudinal design to examine the goal of college students as they progress through the stages of expertise.

Angela Katenkamp, Ph.D. (December 2008) (Mentor: Susan Sonnenschein)

The Relation between Parents’ Involvement Beliefs and Behaviors and Teachers’ Perceptions of Parents’ Beliefs and Behaviors

Many researchers, educators, and policymakers agree that increasing parents’ involvement in their children’s educations will benefit students. In order to increase parents’ involvement we need to know what factors influence parents’ involvement, and whether this differs depending upon demographic factors such as parents’ race/ethnicity or income. This study examined parents’ beliefs about their role in their children’s educations and teachers’ perceptions of these beliefs. Parents’ educationally-relevant beliefs and characteristics of their life context have been shown to be related to children’s educations. Research has not yet considered teachers’ perceptions of parents’ beliefs or the relation between what teachers and parents think.

Parents’ self-efficacy and role construction were examined in this study. Parents’ self-efficacy is their perceptions that their educationally-relevant actions will produce the desired results. Parents’ role construction refers to parents’ beliefs about what educationally-relevant activities fall within their role. The two life context variables examined were parents’ knowledge and skills, and time and energy. Knowledge and skills refers to parents’ knowledge of involvement opportunities and skills available to participate in such activities. Time and energy refers to the time and energy parents have available for involvement. Two forms of parents’ involvement were examined- - a global measure of parents’ involvement at home that included several different activities in which parents may participate (i.e. reading with their children, talking with their children about the school day, helping their children study), and a more specific focus on parents’ assistance with their children’s homework.

Seven hundred and fifty parents of 1st through 5th graders in seven Baltimore County Public Elementary Schools completed surveys assessing their self-efficacy, role construction, knowledge and skills, time and energy, and involvement. Parents were either African American or European American. Their children attended low income or middle income schools. Forty-seven teachers reported their perceptions of the beliefs, life context, and involvement of two families of students within their classrooms.

Parents’ race/ethnicity was related to their involvement with their children’s homework but not to their global home-based involvement. African American parents reported more involvement with their children’s homework than European American parents. African American parents also reported higher self-efficacy and a stronger belief that certain activities were consistent with their role as parents. This finding suggests that African American parents have a set of beliefs conducive to their involvement with their children’s educations. This finding is interesting considering African American children still underperform compared to European American children. Parents’ time and energy was the only belief or life context variable related to parents’ involvement. Parents’ income was not related to their involvement; however it was related to their self-efficacy.

Teachers’ perceptions of parents’ self-efficacy, role construction, knowledge and skills, and time and energy were related to parents’ income. Teachers viewed parents with higher incomes as more strongly believing that certain educationally-relevant activities fall within their parental role and as having greater self-efficacy, knowledge and skills, and time and energy. This suggests that teachers may underestimate some of the beliefs and life context characteristics of low income parents.

Three aspects of teachers’ practices were related to parents’ beliefs and involvement- - teachers’ communications with parents, teachers’ expectations for parents’ involvement, and teachers’ knowledge of a parent. When parents’ perceived there to be more communication between teachers and themselves, the relation between teachers’ and parents’ perceptions of parents’ self-efficacy was stronger. Similarly, when parents perceived there to be more communication between teachers and themselves, the relation between teachers’ and parents’ perceptions of parents’ time and energy was stronger. When teachers had high expectations for parents’ involvement and when teachers had more knowledge of a parent, they believed parents were involved regardless of their actual levels of involvement. This suggests that some aspects of teachers’ practices, such as teachers’ knowledge of and communications with parents, are important. Teachers’ perceptions of parents’ beliefs are more consonant with parents’ actual reports when there is more communication between them. It is important that teachers have an understanding of parents’ beliefs, life context, and involvement. Without such an understanding it will be difficult for teachers to involve parents in ways that promotes students’ best interests.

Selena R. Emond, Ph.D. (December 2008) (Mentor: Linda Baker)

School Readiness and Delayed Entry: The Effects of Parent Training on Perceived Readiness

With increasing frequency, parents are deciding to hold their child out of kindergarten for an additional year. This is referred to as delayed entry or academic redshirting. Factors underlying decisions to delay entry range from child age, gender, and athletic potential to social and emotional development. Since there are no clear definitions of exactly what it means to be school ready, parents are often persuaded by their community and the message being sent from their elementary schools. This can lead to increased rates of delayed entry. Despite research showing no advantages for children who are delayed for an extra year of development, parents are not being informed of the findings.

Parent education programs can be effective at reducing stress, improving perceptions of problem behaviors, and increasing knowledge of parenting skills. Of interest in the present study was whether a parent education program on school readiness would have an impact on a parent’s likelihood to delay entry into kindergarten. The study examined how a school readiness plus behavior parent training program, compared to behavior training alone, affected parents’ perceptions about their child's school readiness, their personal ability to help their child succeed in school, and the likelihood they would delay their child's entry into kindergarten.

Sixty parents from an upper-middle class suburban area, with preschool-aged children, were randomly assigned to the school readiness plus behavior training group or the behavior training only comparison group. Both groups received at least some behavior training, but only the school readiness group received training based on The Incredible Years Parenting Program. Parents were assessed before and after 4 weeks of training. Assessments included the Parent Efficacy to Help My Child Succeed in School Scale and a Parent Questionnaire designed specifically to measure the school readiness and behavior skills taught to the training groups, the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory and the Parenting Stress Index.

The School Readiness group improved on skills taught specifically to their group, whereas the behavior only group did not, validating the differences in training content. Both training programs were effective in significantly reducing parent stress, raising parental efficacy, and improving parent perceptions of their child's behaviors.

The finding of particular interest was that the participants in the school readiness group who were initially inclined to delay their child’s school entry significantly decreased their likelihood to delay after training. Further exploration revealed that these findings were not related to demographics, such as gender, age, or parent education. The results of the study suggest that parent education programs can significantly improve parent efficacy, reduce parenting stress, and increase parent beliefs that their child is ready for school.

Adia J. Garrett, Ph.D. (August 2008) (Mentor: Linda Baker)

The Role of Picture Perception in Children's Performance on a Picture Vocabulary Test

Before test scores should be used for educational decision-making, it is important to determine if a test actually measures the skills that test developers claim it measures and to determine if the test presents difficulty that is unrelated to the skills being measured. This study explored the role that children’s ability to interpret pictures plays in their performance on the Word Knowledge subtest of the Gates MacGinitie Reading Test (GMRT). Research on children’s picture perception has demonstrated that interpreting meaning from pictures is a subjective process and related to the viewers ‘age, familiarity with the concepts pictured, and ability to interpret pictorial cues. Studies have also demonstrated that African American children scored significantly lower than their European American peers on a receptive picture vocabulary test. However, these studies did not directly measure the role that picture interpretation skills played in test performance.

To address the limitations of previous picture vocabulary research, 128 second grade students from two predominantly African American school districts were randomly assigned to the following test conditions: a). Standard Format. The researcher administered the Word Knowledge subtest using the standardized directions. For each picture, the children’s task was to select one word from a list of four that best matched the picture. b) Think-Aloud. In addition to the standard instructions, students discussed their thoughts as they selected their responses. c) No Picture. For each vocabulary word, pictures were replaced with definitions that were both written and read to the students. d) Free-Response. Students were asked to tell the researcher what the picture showed; no response choices were provided.

These test conditions were designed to address three questions: a) Did performance differ as a function of test condition? b) What role did the part of speech of the vocabulary item play on children’s performance? c) What processes did children use to select their answers, especially for frequently missed items? Results revealed that thinking aloud did not hinder or facilitate performance. Overall there were no differences in performance based on type of stimulus (pictorial or definition); however, item-level analyses revealed 6 items in which performance differed based on stimulus type. For children in the standard and think-aloud conditions, performance was better on nouns and verbs than on adjectives, and performance on nouns and verbs was comparable. For the no picture condition, performance was best on verbs and performance on nouns and adjectives was comparable. Think-alouds and free-responses revealed possible explanations for why students frequently missed some items, such as misinterpreting key elements of the picture, choosing distracters, and using one’s imagination to justify incorrect answers.

The pattern of errors that students made on the test provided information regarding how teachers can prepare children for success on picture vocabulary tests. For example, they can teach children how to consider several possible answers before making a final choice and how to check their answers for accuracy. Teachers can also instruct children how to interpret the conventional pictorial cues that are used in line drawings. Children’s patterns of responses also revealed how test administration could be modified in a way that may minimize errors. These modifications include telling children that the words could represent multiple parts of speech (noun, verb, or adjective) and providing both pictures and verbal definitions to minimize errors related to picture perception. In addition, line drawings could be substituted for more authentic color pictures or photographs. Future studies are needed to determine if the patterns of responses would be replicated in a larger, more diverse sample of children.

Joy Kolb, Ph.D. (December 2007) (Mentor: Laura Stapleton)

An Online Training Program for Parents of Children with Autism

Parents of children with autism sometimes experiment with controversial treatments in the hopes of ameliorating their children’s autistic characteristics. When parents do seek training on empirically-based treatments, training programs are typically held outside the home. Some parents are unable to access traditional parent trainings because of cost, transportation, and child-care issues associated with these training programs. It is possible a web-based training program could address the limitations of these traditional programs. For example, a web-based training program can be accessed in the home which may eliminate childcare or transportation burdens. In addition, it is possible that web-based trainings can be offered at a reduced expense because the professional does not need to travel to training centers or homes and they will not spend their time presenting a lecture repeatedly to different audiences. However, currently there is very little research on the effectiveness of online parent training programs.

The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of an online training program to teach empirically-based interventions to parents of children with autism in the home environment. The online program was designed to teach parents skills to decrease problem behaviors exhibited by their children with autism. The intervention package provided training on priming techniques, extinction, differential reinforcement, visual supports, and systematic instruction to reduce problem behavior. The training program included the use of didactic instruction (i.e., the presentation of training materials through text), modeling of the intervention steps through video clips, and feedback on parent performance of the intervention steps provided through web-based communication.

Three parents and their children with autism participated in this study. All of the children exhibited moderate to high rates of disruptive behaviors during daily routines (e.g., transitioning from a leisure activity to the bathroom). During the intervention phase, the parents learned an intervention package from a training website designed by the investigator. The parents were responsible for video recording their implementation of the intervention steps with their children on a daily basis. The investigator regularly viewed the parents’ implementation of the intervention and was able to provide corrective feedback to the parents through email and biweekly chatroom meetings.

An evaluation of the data indicated that the parents learned to correctly implement the intervention package in the home environment. In addition, two of the parents reliably decreased the number of times they attended to their children’s

disruptive behavior (e.g., commenting during a tantrum) in comparison to baseline levels. In addition, the children’s disruptive behavior decreased substantially as the parent implemented the intervention package.

These results contribute to the limited research on web-based parent training programs. The results suggest online training programs may provide useful and cost efficient alternatives to traditional parent-training programs. In addition, this study contributes to the delivery of empirically-based behavioral strategies to at-risk populations.

Future research could focus on using advanced technology to improve the delivery of the web-based training. In addition, it would be informative to determine the level of professional support that is necessary for the parents’ to learn the intervention package. Is it possible that the bi-weekly chatroom meetings could be replaced with email or telephone correspondence? Finally, it would be helpful to assess the parents’ and their children’s behaviors in situations outside of the training environment to determine if the parents were able to generalize the skills they learned and to measure changes in the children’s behaviors in other routines.

Wendy Miller, Ph.D. (August 2006) (Mentors: Linda Baker & Douglas Teti)

Adult Attachment, Father Involvement, and Relationship Satisfaction and Maintenance among Low-income African-American Mothers of Premature Infants

In the simplest terms, attachment security refers to an individual’s tendency to view others as trustworthy and dependable, and to view oneself as being worthy of both giving and receiving love. Those with secure (autonomous) attachments tend to value their relationships with others and do not exhibit excessive needs for dependency or autonomy, as do those with insecure (nonautonomous) attachments. Further, secure/autonomous individuals tend to be more emotionally supportive, trusting, satisfied, and committed in their relationships than insecure/nonautonomous individuals. Adults with secure attachments tend to have romantic relationships that are of higher quality and greater stability. In addition, higher quality relationships among mothers and fathers are associated with greater levels of fathers’ involvement with their infants.

The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) inquires about early relationships with caregivers, including experiences of rejection, separation, loss, trauma, abuse, and changes in relationships with caregivers during adolescence and adulthood. The AAI classifies adults by their predominant strategy for dealing with the attachment-related stress of the interview, also known as one’s “overall state of mind regarding attachment.” Secure/autonomous individuals are able to deliver a coherent life story, while insecure/nonautonomous individuals demonstrate either vague or lengthy, angry speech, or short responses, while claiming a lack of memory regarding early caregiving experiences or a failure to support their positive descriptions of their parents with specific memories. Adults may also exhibit disorganization in their speech related to loss or abuse, suggesting that they have not fully processed and dealt with these events from their past. Thus, an individual’s attachment classification is based more upon the process of discourse used in the interview as opposed to the specific content of the interview.

The present study examined whether parents’ attachment classification was related to mothers’ self-reported relationship quality and stability, whether fathers’ involvement with their infants was related to mothers’ self-reported relationship quality and stability, whether fathers’ state of mind with respect to attachment was related to fathers’ level of involvement with their infants, and whether mothers’ attachment classification was related to fathers’ attachment classification.

A sample of 173 predominantly urban, low-income African-American mothers of premature infants participating in a larger early intervention study completed self-report measures of relationship adjustment/satisfaction and father involvement, and both mothers and fathers completed the AAI. Consistent with what was hypothesized, a relation was found between mothers’ and fathers’ attachment classification. Greater levels of father involvement were associated with higher reports of relationship satisfaction and stability in mothers. Attachment classification was not related to relationship satisfaction or stability. Both insecure/nonautonomous, cohabitating fathers, as well as married or cohabitating fathers who were disorganized in their discussion of loss or abuse were less involved with their infants shortly after birth. In general, fathers who were disorganized in their speech regarding loss or abuse were less involved in childcare responsibilities four and a half months later. However, no relations were found between the number of secure/autonomous individuals in the relationship and mothers’ relationship satisfaction or maintenance. Among cohabitating couples, the greater the number of individuals in the relationship who were disorganized in their discussion of loss or abuse, the lower the mothers’ self-reported relationship adjustment.

Future research and interventions should identify factors to promote father involvement, particularly in low-income, urban families. Further, psychoeducational interventions may be beneficial in helping both parents understand the importance of fathers’ involvement in their infants’ lives even if the parents do not remain in a romantic relationship. Interventionists must identify fathers who are still dealing with loss or trauma and refer them to appropriate mental health professionals, which may allow fathers to become more available to their families.

Margo A. Candelaria, Ph.D. (December 2005) (Mentors: Linda Baker & Douglas Teti)

The Impact of Psychosocial Risk on Infant Attachment

This study tested the hypothesis that cumulative psychosocial risk and attachment would be significantly related in a sample of low income, African American, preterm infants such that infants with higher levels of psychosocial risk would be more likely to have insecure attachments. Maternal resolution of having a preterm infant was also expected to function as an additional risk factor and to independently relate to attachment. Lastly, the potential moderating role of medical risk was explored.

The cumulative psychosocial risk model posits that the cumulative effect of multiple risk factors is more influential than the impact of any individual risk factor alone. Risk factors can be at both the global (poverty, level of social support) and the personal (maternal depression, maternal education) levels. Many individual risk factors have been related to child development. For example, maternal depression can negatively impact the parent-child relationship, living in poverty can lead to lower IQ scores and academic achievement, and maternal education has been linked to children’s educational attainment. The cumulative psychosocial risk model goes beyond individual variables, and states that regardless of which specific variables are present, the more they are, the more risk the family faces. Prior studies have found that increased cumulative psychosocial risk was related to lower cognitive development scores at ages 4 and 13 years of age, depressed social-emotional development at 1 year of age and insecure infant-parent attachment.

Attachment represents a long lasting love relationship that is established through the repeated interactions between the parent and infant over time. The mother operates as a secure base from which the infant is free to explore the world and to which he or she retreats in times of need. Secure attachment is the optimal attachment status, with the infant feeling that he can depend on the caregiver in times of stress, and is free to explore the environment, using the caregiver as a secure base to return to. Insecure-avoidant children tend to explore the environment at the expense of seeking contact with their caregiver and in general tend to avoid contact. Insecure-ambivalent children seek proximity at the expense of exploring their environment. They do look to the caregiver in times of stress, but are not easily comforted. Unlike children with one of these three classifications, insecure-disorganized children do not display a regular pattern of behavior. The children exhibit confusing or bizarre behaviors such as disruptions in approaching the parent, stereotypies, stilling and simultaneously contradictory behavior. Securely attached infants have been found to have better long term outcomes including social skills and school achievement in childhood.

Premature infants are considered to be biologically at risk for developmental challenges. The biological and neurological consequences of prematurity have been linked to delays in cognitive and motor development. Furthermore, studies have found that cumulative psychosocial risk compounds the impact of biological risk on cognitive and motor outcomes in samples of premature infants. Hence, those premature infants faced with both biological and psychosocial risk have the worst outcomes. Premature infants have also been found to be more difficult to parent due to their displaying less clear cues about needs, their increased sensitivity to stimuli, being more difficult to sooth, and other related behaviors. However, examinations of attachment in preterm infants have been inconclusive, with only some studies establishing that premature infants have higher rates of insecure infant-parent attachments. In addition, most studies examining attachment in preterm infants have not utilized a cumulative psychosocial risk model. Therefore, this study expands on past literature in the cumulative psychosocial risk, attachment and premature infant outcomes literature.

The study also explored how the degree to which mothers have resolved the trauma of having a preterm infant is related to security of attachment. Parents are thought to mourn the loss of the ideal child when they have a child born prematurely. Studies have found that parental resolution of a child’s disability is related to security of attachment in samples of children with cerebral palsy and epilepsy, such that parents who had not achieved resolution regarding their child’s disability were more likely to have children who were insecurely attached. This study attempted to determine if parental lack of resolution of having a preterm infant is a contributor to the cumulative psychosocial risk of a family. The independent role of resolution to having a preterm infant as a predictor of attachment was also examined.

The following hypotheses were made:

Increased cumulative psychosocial risk would relate to less secure infant-parent attachment.

Maternal non-resolution would increase the influence of cumulative psychosocial risk.

Maternal resolution would relate to secure attachment.

Biological risk would moderate the influence of cumulative psychosocial risk on attachment.

Hypotheses were not supported. A cumulative psychosocial risk index was not related to attachment. However, post-hoc analyses indicated that cumulative psychosocial risk did relate to attachment when cumulative psychosocial risk was dichotomized into high and low risk groups. This suggests that the attachment system can sustain minimal levels of stress (one risk factor), but higher levels of psychosocial stress (two or more risk factors) can lead to insecure attachments. A model examining individual risk factors was also supported and revealed that receiving public assistance predicted more variance alone than cumulative risk groups. Maternal resolution did not function as an additional risk factor either in the risk index or the risk groups. Nor did maternal resolution relate to attachment scores. Biological risk did not moderate the relation between cumulative psychosocial risk and attachment.

Results indicate that accumulated psychosocial stress can impact the attachment relationship between low income, African-American preterm infants and their mothers. However, against expectations, a single poverty indicator was more predictive. It is possible that for infant-parent attachment in a high risk sample, living in poverty is the most salient risk factor. An alternative possibility is that a different constellation of risk factors would be more suited to predicting attachment. This risk model was modeled after seminal studies relating cumulative risk to cognitive outcomes. Future research should explore the predictive ability of cumulative risk models more tailored to attachment outcomes specifically.

Interventions that target the attachment relationship, particularly for high risk infants, early on are needed. In addition, education for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit staff on how to identify and work with families in poverty and those with accumulated psychosocial stress is required. It is vital that these families be successfully identified and referred for supportive services.

Theses

Nan Zhou, M.A. (August, 2012) (Mentor: Charissa S. L. Cheah)

Understanding Warmth and Control in Chinese Immigrant Parenting

Research examining parenting influences on child outcomes among European American families has consistently found associations between authoritative parenting and positive child outcomes and between authoritarian parenting and negative child outcomes. However, inconsistent findings have been revealed among Chinese families, and Chinese parents are often being portrayed as distant, cold (i.e., not affectionate/ warm) and controlling with their children. Parenting beliefs and behaviors regarding warmth and control may vary across cultures, which are important to understand because these variations in parenting likely have different consequences for children’s outcomes. Thus, the present research aimed to: (1) examine culturally-specific manifestations of the two parenting dimensions of warmth and control among Chinese immigrant families through both qualitative (i.e., a semi-structured interview and mother-child observations) and quantitative methodologies, and (2) investigate whether Chinese immigrant mothers’ behavioral participation in the mainstream American culture played a role in the associations between their parenting beliefs and behaviors.

The participants in our study included 80 mothers with preschool-aged children residing in Maryland. These mothers were asked about their beliefs about expressions of warmth during an interview, and observed during an origami-folding teaching task with their child at their homes. The findings from the open-ended interviews indicated that Chinese immigrant mothers provided both expressions of warmth that were typically emphasized in Western cultures (e.g., hugging and kissing, saying “I love you”), as well as expressions that appeared to be more specific to traditional Chinese culture (e.g., taking care of child’s daily routine, guidance, learning/education). Similarly, during the teaching task observations, mothers engaged in warm and controlling behaviors that were typically observed in European American families, as well as culturally-specific ways. Moreover, unique patterns between their beliefs regarding warmth and observed warm and controlling behaviors were revealed. For instance, mothers who believed that fostering the child’s positive affect was a way to express warmth towards him/her were observed to express more positive affection and less controlling behaviors towards their child during the teaching task. Moreover, contrary to our expectations, we did not find that acculturation played a role in explaining the associations between maternal beliefs and behaviors in the current study. However, mothers who participate more in the American culture emphasized hugging and kissing as ways of expressing warmth towards their child more and providing guidance (a traditionally Chinese parenting practice) to their child less than mothers who participated less in the American culture.

The present study provided empirical evidence that Chinese immigrant mothers had beliefs and behaviors regarding warmth and control that were similar to their European American peers, in addition to culturally-specific beliefs and practices. These findings also enriched our knowledge of Chinese immigrant mothers’ adaptation and parenting in small co-ethnic regions, which can be useful for social service and community organizations that provide services to Chinese immigrant families.

Joy A. Thompson, M.A. (August, 2011) (Mentor: Susan Sonnenschein)

The Relation Between Full-Day Kindergarten and Later Reading: The Role of Early Reading Skills.

Children’s early schooling experiences are important for their performance in later schooling. There is an effort to ensure that children are prepared for school. One such effort is through children’s kindergarten attendance which will ideally help them prepare for entry into formal schooling. Districts nationwide vary in the type of kindergarten program offered to children. These kindergarten program types include half-day and full-day kindergarten. Full-day programs often target children traditionally identified as at-risk including low-SES children. Full-day programs also tend to have higher enrollments of African American children. The additional time afforded to children in full-day programs has lead to higher performance on reading measures at the end of kindergarten compared to children attending half-day programs. Because it is more costly to implement full-day programs and because more at-risk groups attend these programs, policy makers and researchers have become interested whether the initial benefit of full-day kindergarten lasts beyond the kindergarten year. Previous research generally finds that the full-day kindergarten benefit does not last very long beyond kindergarten, with the benefit continuing into first or second grade at most. However, previous research has not considered the differences in reading skills acquired by full- and half-day kindergarten children during the kindergarten year.

The primary goal of the present study was to examine the role of reading skills

acquired in kindergarten in the relation between full-day kindergarten attendance and reading in the elementary grades. First, however, the present study examined whether children in full-day programs were more likely to attain a more advanced skill set compared to half- day children. This skill set is termed early word reading and is characterized by high proficiency in letter knowledge, beginning sounds, and ending sounds, and at least low proficiency in sight words. Next, the present study examined whether full-day kindergarten attendance interacted with various demographic factors in predicting early word reading attainment. Finally, the present study examined whether early word reading skills mediated the relation between full-day kindergarten attendance and later reading.

Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten cohort, a nationally representative data set of children who started kindergarten in the fall of 1998, was used. Participants included 4,674 children attending full- or half-day kindergarten programs. Children were enrolled in public schools and attended kindergarten five days per week. Children were given reading assessments in the fall and spring of kindergarten and in the spring of first, third, and fifth grades.

Results of the study showed that children in full-day programs were more likely to attain early word reading skills at the end of kindergarten compared to half-day children. As well, full-day kindergarten programs aided low-SES and ESL children in becoming comparable to higher-SES and non-ESL peers, respectively. That is, low-SES and middle/high-SES and ESL and non-ESL children in full-day programs did not differ in early word reading attainment, whereas in half-day programs these groups did differ. Of particular note, early word reading attainment at the end of the kindergarten year aided full-day kindergarten children in maintaining higher reading scores in first, third, and fifth grades. Additional findings showed that early word reading attainment at the end of kindergarten helped dissipate SES differences in reading performance in the elementary grades.

These findings support previous research showing that children in full-day programs are at an advantage during the kindergarten year. Additionally, groups that are academically at-risk can perform comparably to peers when in kindergarten for a full day. The present study extends previous research by considering the reading skills children gain in kindergarten programs. By considering such skills, the present study found that attainment of early word reading helped to sustain the full-day benefit beyond the kindergarten year.

These results suggest that full-day kindergarten be offered, particularly to groups shown to experience academic difficulties. Although full-day children were more likely to attain early word reading, only 19% of children, overall, attained early word reading. This suggests that kindergarten programs need to better foster early word reading skills. Many children entered kindergarten with letter knowledge and both full- and half-day programs seem to help children acquire beginning sounds. Thus, kindergarten programs need to bolster the focus on ending sounds and sight words. Attainment of these skills not only helped full-day kindergartners but also aided low-SES children in performing comparably to higher-SES peers in the elementary grades.

Manica F. Ramos, M.A. (May, 2011) (Mentor: Susan Sonnenschein)

The development of The Communication Questionnaire: Measuring Hispanic immigrant parents’ perception of communication barriers with teachers

Parent-teacher communication is an important aspect of parental involvement in their children’s education. Compared to other parents, Hispanic parents tend to be less involved at school; research suggests this is because they encounter barriers. Among the barriers that researchers identify as affecting Hispanic parent’s involvement is a communication barrier due to a mismatch in the language skills of parents and teachers (parents do not speak English and teachers do not speak Spanish). Research suggests that language barriers are more notable among Hispanic immigrants because they are less likely to speak English. Studies exploring how communication barriers affect parental involvement have done so indirectly, often by considering language skills and frequency of communication with the teacher. However, no questionnaires that directly measure parents’ perception of a communication barrier with teachers are currently available. The present study, therefore, developed a questionnaire, The Communication Questionnaire, to measure communication barriers.

An important aspect of developing a questionnaire is testing whether it measures what it is supposed to do so (validity). The present study tested the validity of The Communication Questionnaire with a framework that considers the evidence for and consequences of score interpretation. The study was conducted in three phases: initial item development, pilot study and field testing. During initial item development, questionnaire items were created and tested with professionals. In general, feedback from these interviews supported that the items were capturing or representing aspects of communication barriers; some revisions were made to the questionnaire. The next step was the pilot study, which included several cognitive interviews asking participants about the meaning of items. Feedback from parents partly supported that the items were interpreted as intended. The questionnaire was revised again; items that did not work were dropped, and then the questionnaire was used in the field testing. The field testing included short interviews where participants responded to the newly developed questionnaire and two other questionnaires. The validity of The Communication Questionnaire was examined by comparing responses on it to responses on two other questionnaires, one that was theoretically similar and one that was theoretically unrelated. Participants in the present study were parents, either mothers or fathers, of children attending two urban Head Start centers in the state of Maryland. All participants were foreign born, from Central and South American countries. All interviews were conducted in Spanish.

Statistical analyses suggested that the items all assessed the construct of communication barrier. That is, responses on The Communication Questionnaire were related to responses on a questionnaire that measured a similar construct of language proficiency and experience. In contrast, responses on the The Communication Questionnaire were not related to a questionnaire that measured psychological well-being.

The results of this study show that The Communication Questionnaire does measure a communication barrier. The Communication Questionnaire can be used as a tool to screen for communication barriers among immigrant populations. It can also be used to learn more about the communication patterns and preferences between immigrant parents and teachers.

Kathy Bohner, M.A. (May 2009) (Mentor: David Schultz)

Impacts of Cardiovascular Functioning on Preschoolers’ Attention Regulation

Deficits in attention regulation are associated with a wide range of poor outcomes including decreased academic achievement, school dropout, and increased risk for disruptive disorders. Research on the biological processes associated with attention regulation has shown differences between children with and without deficits in attention regulation. These differences include decreased brain volume and blood flow to areas associated with attention. Current research has also shown differences in the cardiovascular functioning (e.g., heart rate) of school-aged children and adults with ADHD. The current study investigated the relations between cardiovascular functioning and behavior (e.g., aggression) and attention problems in preschool children.

Participants in the present research were part of a larger study which examined physiologic and emotional responding in four and five year-old disruptive and non-disruptive preschoolers. Children were drawn from four Head Start centers in Baltimore City and Howard County, Maryland. The current sample included 35 children and their primary caregivers who were selected based on the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment. Participants were invited to the Social Development Lab at UMBC to complete questionnaires and games.

During their lab visit, children played a continuous performance task (CPT) called the Penny Game in which the objective was to “catch” pennies and place them in a holder. The task required children to identify “real” and “fake” pennies. Children’s heart rate was measured using an electrocardiogram (ECG) during resting periods and the CPT. Heart rate was broken down into two frequency components, fast and slow, to determine if either one was associated with disruptive behaviors. Caregivers, teachers, and independent observers completed the Behavior Assessment System for Children to provide measures of behavior and attention problems.

Overall, we found that children’s heart rate (both slow and fast frequencies) decreased during times when attention regulation was required, such as during the Penny Game. When we examined specific frequencies of heart rate and their relation to disruptive behavior, results indicated that the fastest heart rate frequency was related to both aggression and attention problems. The slowest heart rate frequency, however, was not related to either of these components of disruptive behavior. Our results may suggest that the relation between cardiovascular functioning and attention problems and aggression comes from a similar underlying biological mechanism. However, measureable differences in cardiovascular functioning between aggression and attention problems may not occur until later in development. Considering that these differences have been found in school-aged children and adults, continuous exposure to negative events (i.e., poor parenting practices) may make these behaviors more stable over time and result in differences in cardiovascular functioning.

The results of this study add to the current literature on the association of heart rate and disruptive behaviors. Our study demonstrates that changes in heart rate are associated with attention regulation during periods when cognitive effort is required. This may suggest that heart rate can be used as a biological index for attention. Our finding that heart rate related similarly to attention and behavior problems in preschoolers has implications for intervention. During preschool years, the relation between behaviors and biological functioning is not yet stable. As such, we may be in a position to intervene to help improve the lives of children before unwanted behaviors such as aggression become problematic.

Madiha Tahseen, M.A. (August 2009) (Mentor: Charissa S.L. Cheah)

The Acculturation, Psychological Functioning, And Parenting Of Immigrant Chinese Mothers Of Young Children: A Multidimensional Approach To Acculturation

Despite their increasing numbers in the U.S., the role of acculturation in the psychological well-being and parenting of immigrant Chinese mothers has been neglected. More specifically, past research has focused on mothers of adolescent children and has not examined these factors among immigrant Chinese mothers of young, preschool-aged children. Additionally, the majority of past research has been conducted on mothers living in communities with large Chinese populations and has neglected mothers residing in smaller Chinese communities. Finally, past literature has often ignored the complex nature of acculturation by combining the behavioral and psychological components of acculturation. The present research addressed these gaps by adopting a multidimensional approach to measure acculturation using the cluster analysis method in Chinese immigrant mothers of preschoolers residing in a smaller Chinese community. The demographic profile, psychological functioning and parenting practices associated with each acculturation style were also examined.

Participants in the present research were part of a larger longitudinal research project which examined first-generation immigrant Chinese mothers of preschool-aged children (M = 4.23 years). The mothers resided in suburban neighborhoods with a small proportion of Chinese families, in the state of Maryland. The current sample included eighty-six families recruited from Chinese organizations, schools, businesses, churches and community centers.

Mothers’ acculturation styles were measured using four different acculturation measures that uniquely assessed behavioral and psychological aspects of acculturation to American and Chinese cultures: (1) Chinese Parent Acculturation Scale, (2) Asian Values Scale, and (3) European-American Values Scale. Parenting was assessed using the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire and the Psychological Control and Overprotective/intrusiveness Measure; and psychological well-being was assessed using the Psychological Well-being Scale and Beck Depression Inventory.

Results from the cluster analysis statistical method revealed four acculturation styles that existed in our sample of mothers: Integrated, Assimilated, Psychologically Marginalized/Behaviorally Integrated, and Separated. Follow-up analyses indicated that mothers in the Separated cluster were older at immigration, resided in the U.S. for a shorter amount of time, and were less educated than mothers with the other three styles. The clusters did not differ in their utilization of Chinese resources or of speaking Chinese in the home. Additionally, Separated mothers had significantly lower psychological well-being than mothers in the other three clusters. Last, there were no significant differences between the styles in their use of authoritative or indigenous parenting practices.

The results of this study highlighted the importance of uniquely examining mothers’ cultural orientations (i.e. American or Chinese) and components (i.e. behavioral or psychological) of acculturation. Our findings regarding the demographic profile and the psychological benefits of the acculturation styles have implications for policymakers and mental health professionals. These findings can be used to inform policy and services aimed at improving outcomes for mothers of young children residing in small Chinese communities. Our findings also demonstrated the need to understand the process of acculturation from a multidimensional perspective.

Sevgi Bayram Ozdemir, M.A. (August 2009) (Mentor: Charissa S.L. Cheah)

Turkish Mothers’ Attributions, Emotions, Strategies, and Goals in Response to Aggressive and Socially Withdrawn Behaviors

Parental influences are widely accepted as one of the most important factors in the development of children. The parent-child relationship represents a context within which necessary competencies for social interaction can develop. Socialization theories emphasize that parenting beliefs are among the key determinants of parenting. However, although numerous studies have examined parental behaviors in the development of children’s adaptive and maladaptive behaviors, there has been limited research on the role of parents’ beliefs and values.

Another limitation of previous research on parenting is the exclusion of the role of culture. Beliefs and values about the development of child maladjustment may vary across cultures and have implications for understanding cultural influences on the development and expression of child psychopathology. Thus, from a cultural framework, the present research aimed to : (1) examine how Turkish mothers reported reacting emotionally when instances of aggression and social withdrawal are observed, to what causes they attribute these behaviors, what strategies they think should be used in response to them, and the socialization goals they had with regard to the strategies they suggested, and (2) investigate whether Turkish mothers’ beliefs differed across different forms of aggression (i.e., coercive actions that are not provoked by a certain cause versus defensive actions displayed in response to perceived threat) and social withdrawal (i.e., reticence versus solitary behaviors).

Participants included 84 Turkish mothers with preschool-aged children residing in Ankara, Turkey. Mothers were presented four hypothetical vignettes on aggressive and socially withdrawn behaviors and asked to report on their emotional reactions, causal attributions, socialization strategies, and goals. The results revealed that mothers reacted with negative emotions to both aggression and social withdrawal, but the degree and the form of negative emotions differed across the types of behaviors. Specifically, Turkish mothers responded to aggression with more anger, more embarrassment, and less puzzlement compared to social withdrawal. However, unlike mothers in other cultural groups, they reported more disappointment and anxiety in response to social withdrawal than aggression. Turkish mothers also reported more emphatic feelings of pain in response to socially withdrawn behaviors, which may be due to Turkish families’ focus on “enmeshed parent-child relationships” rather than individuation.

Similar to parents in other cultural groups, Turkish mothers reported that aggressive behaviors were more temporary, but more contextually dependent and intentional than social withdrawal. Moreover, they suggested more directive strategies and goals, prioritizing their own wishes for aggression. However, mothers endorsed more indirect strategies and emphatic goals for social withdrawal. Turkish mothers also showed variations in their beliefs across different forms of aggressive behaviors, but not social withdrawal. Specifically, they reported stronger negative emotional responses to proactive aggression than to reaction aggression perhaps perceiving reactive aggression as a defensive reaction. Thus, mothers may be more likely to justify this behavior in preschool-aged children. In fact, Turkish mothers attributed reactive aggression to contextual factors and perceived that these behaviors occur as a result of being provoked by another child. Moreover, they were more likely to report endorsing “other-oriented strategies” such as warning other children not behaving aggressively and contacting with other children’s mothers.

The findings of the current study provided evidence that maternal beliefs in response to aggression and social withdrawal may have universal characteristics as well as specific aspects that are particular to the socio-cultural context. Understanding the universal patterns of maternal beliefs may help us to gain insight into the common reactions, thoughts, strategies and goals that mothers hold in response to specific child behaviors,that may then lead to specific parenting behaviors. On the other hand, culture-specific aspects of maternal beliefs elucidate the importance of the context in parenting and child development. These culture-specific findings are compelling as many parenting and child development processes have been traditionally considered to be universal. Thus, culture-focused examinations of child socialization processes are invaluable to better understand optimal practices to promote adaptive child development across different contexts.

Christy Y.Y. Leung, M.A. (May 2009) (Mentor: Charissa S.L. Cheah)

Kinship Networks and Social Support in the Authoritarian Parenting Style and Children’s Maladaptive Social Behaviors of Chinese Immigrants

An extensive number of studies show that preschool children with aggressive or reticent behaviors experience difficulties with peer acceptance and prolonged school adjustment problems. Preschool children of immigrant Chinese parents may encounter additional challenges when learning a new set of social norms at school. Nevertheless, the potential predictors of aggression and reticence in these preschoolers merit further study. Parenting has long been recognized as a significant factor in the development of children’s social behaviors during the preschool period. In the Chinese culture, a estrictive and controlling parenting style is perceived as a natural extension of love and care. Chinese parents have been shown to be more authoritarian than their Western counterparts; however, there is controversy whether an authoritarian parenting style is associated with negative developmental outcomes in young Chinese children.

According to acculturation and immigration research, the social and cultural contexts of the home country and the host society play an important role in the parenting style of immigrant parents. Foss’s model of parenting focuses on the contextual factors encountered by the immigrant families and examines how these contextual factors contribute to culturally-determined effective or ineffective parenting. Specifically, social and economic environments include parents’ social networks and the social support available in the receiving country. Given the collectivistic-oriented Chinese culture, primarily having families and extended relatives as support network members (kinship networks) is a common adaptation strategy of Chinese immigrants.

However, maintenance of family ties within the network may not necessarily mean that there are supportive interactions, especially among immigrant families who are separated across different countries. Moreover, exclusive dependency on kinship is speculated to be an indicator of poor social adjustment and isolation from the mainstream society. Immigrant parents may have a high proportion of kin within their social networks but perceive that they have limited support due to the accessibility of these individuals. Thus, the impact of kinship networks on the authoritarian parenting of immigrant Chinese mothers may change depending on the amount of social support these mothers perceive to have. Furthermore, the interaction between maternal kinship networks and social support is expected to contribute to preschool children’s social skills through its impact on the authoritarian parenting style of immigrant Chinese mothers.

The overall goal of the current study was to investigate the role of the social context in the parenting style of immigrant Chinese mothers in order to identify the potential predictors of maladaptive social behaviors in their preschool children. There were three specific aims in the present study: (1) to examine the correlations between the mothers’ authoritarian parenting and their preschool children’s aggressive and reticent behaviors; (2) to test the interaction between kinship networks and social support in predicting maternal authoritarian parenting; and (3) to examine the roles of kinship networks and social support in predicting preschool children’s aggression and reticence through maternal authoritarian parenting.

Participants included 78 first-generation immigrant Chinese mothers with preschool-aged children residing in small Chinese communities in Maryland. Mothers reported on their kinship networks, perceived social support, and authoritarian parenting style (physical coercion, verbal hostility, and non-reasoning). Preschool teachers rated the child’s aggressive and reticent behaviors. Contrary to the hypotheses, no significant associations were found between the variables of interest. Descriptive statistics of the parenting variables revealed a minimum endorsement of the authoritarian parenting by the immigrant Chinese mothers towards their preschool children, reflecting the Chinese belief that the use of strict, harsh discipline is considered as developmentally inappropriate for young children before reaching the stage when they are capable of understanding and reasoning. Moreover, data examinations in the present study provided specific, practical directions for future research in terms of conducting more appropriate, advanced statistical analyses in order to validate the measure of aggressive and reticent behaviors in preschool children of Chinese immigrants.

Follow-up analyses, however, revealed that support for the parenting role provided by the spouses uniquely predicted less reported verbal hostility in the mother, whereas kin support (from other family members) for the parenting role uniquely predicted less physical coercion in immigrant Chinese mothers. Interestingly, non-kin support for the parenting role (e.g., friends and neighbors) did not predict mothers’ parenting style. Findings of the current study demonstrated the importance of the distinct function of support for the parenting role as opposed to the general support network and the significance of kin for decreasing negative parenting behaviors of immigrant Chinese mothers. These findings can inform community agencies about the significance of spousal and kinship support for immigrant Chinese families, and thus help them to serve these families in a more culturally sensitive manner.

Archana Ambike, M.A. (May 2008) (Mentor: David Schultz)

Development of a Questionnaire Assessing Teacher Attitudes about

Social and Emotional Learning

The past two decades have seen substantial increases in the prevalence of mental disorders and aggressive behaviors in children and youth. Violence prevention has become a priority for many federal agencies. Several school-based prevention programs have promoted social competence and reduced aggressive behaviors. In most cases, significant results were obtained when program developers or researchers were in charge of program implementation. However, little is known about what happens when these programs are implemented in the larger community. Several studies have documented variations in implementation when programs were implemented by personnel other than program developers or researchers. To ensure successful program implementation and desired outcomes, it is essential to investigate factors that influence whether or not schools implement the programs.

One such factor that needs examination is teacher attitudes. Teachers are key to successful program implementation given their familiarity with daily workings of the classroom and the school system and their students. The goal of the current study was to develop a questionnaire that examines teacher attitudes toward social and emotional learning programs. I identified seven key concepts that investigated teacher attitudes and hypothesized that the proposed questionnaire would produce reliable scales assessing seven concepts: administrative support, training, perceived self competence with program delivery, program necessity, program effectiveness, time constraints, and perceptions of responsibility.

Participants in the current study were 145 preschool Head Start teachers from 15 participating Head Start centers across Baltimore city. They used a rating scale that ranged from ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’ to answer 52 items pertaining to the previously mentioned seven concepts. In addition, they also answered some individual items including years of experience as a teacher, years of experience with program delivery, and their perception of program implementation.

Six concepts emerged from analyses conducted on obtained data. Based on the items that constituted the concepts, I labeled the six concepts as follows: administrative support, training, competence, program effectiveness, time constraints, and curriculum priority. Two hypothesized concepts did not emerge, namely, program necessity and perceptions of responsibility. One non-hypothesized concept emerged, which I labeled curriculum priority. I made some criteria-based item retention decisions and labeled the 31 retained items as Teacher Attitudes about Social and Emotional Learning (TASEL).

The TASEL makes a useful contribution to the field of prevention science. It is a self-administered questionnaire completed in less than 15 minutes. Useful at both an individual school level and at school district level, school/center personnel or program researchers could utilize the TASEL to assess teacher attitudes about a certain program either prior to or during/after program implementation. Prior to implementation, it could be used as a tool to examine the school environment in which a program will be implemented and also to help identify potential barriers to program implementation. Information gathered could aid in making informed decisions about addressing those barriers, specifying training needs, and developing new program materials to further increase effectiveness of training sessions. The TASEL can also be used as a tool to evaluate ongoing program implementation. Additionally, it could be instrumental in improving relations between teachers and administrative personnel, thereby fostering a positive change in school climate. Finally, administration of the TASEL may in itself help motivate program implementation.

Laura Scaletti, M.A. (May 2008) (Mentors: Susan Sonnenschein &

Stanley Feldstein)

Infant Temperament and Maternal Sensitivity: Predictors of Behavior Problems in Two Year Olds

Many children will develop a number of significant behavior problems in early childhood. Behavior problems may include shy or withdrawn behaviors, known as internalizing behaviors, and acting-out or aggressive behaviors, known as externalizing behaviors. Although there are many contributing factors to the development of these behavior problems, research suggests that infant temperament and maternal sensitivity play important roles. This study investigated the interaction between the early maternal sensitivity and a child’s temperament in predicting the development of internalizing, externalizing, and total behavior problems in toddlerhood.

Temperament functions as a social regulator and is a precursor to emotional and other biologically based arousal responses (e.g., “fight” or “flight” responses) when presented with social stimuli. These biological precursors of temperament dysfunction (including impulsivity, fearfulness, and anxiety) are directly related to social functioning in early childhood. For example, the temperament characteristics of fear, irritability, and proneness to anger may lead to aggressive or other externalizing problems, or incidences of internalizing behaviors such as social withdrawal and anxiety.

Infants may vary in what they need from their environment. It is important that a child and his early environment establish a “fit” in order to adequately address the child’s unique needs. In Belsky’s model of susceptibility to parenting, he suggests that infants who are temperamentally difficult may be more strongly and more negatively influenced by environmental factors such as inadequate or inappropriate parenting; these children have higher incidences of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems in toddlerhood than their temperamentally non-difficult peers. The support and guidance a mother provides through her sensitivity play an important role not only in soothing her infant but also in providing guidance for the development of desirable self-regulatory behaviors.

The present study investigated the ability of infant temperament and maternal sensitivity to predict 24 month behavior problems in a normative sample of 88 mother-infant dyads from Baltimore, Maryland. Mothers completed the Infant Temperament Questionnaire when their children were 4 and 12 months of age, and the Child Behavior Checklist when their infants were 24 months of age. A 45-minute free-play interaction was used to evaluate maternal sensitivity when the infants were 4 months of age.

Externalizing behavior problems at 24 months of age was predicted by difficult infant temperament at 4 months of age and maternal sensitivity. Maternal sensitivity also predicted internalizing and total behavior problems at 24 months of age. Low levels of maternal sensitivity moderated the relation between 4 month difficult temperament

and 24 month total behavior problems. Results indicate that low maternal sensitivity at 4 months of age interacted with difficult infant temperament at 4 months of age to predict high incidences of total behavior problems when children are 24 months of age.

These findings suggest that a mother’s sensitivity towards her infant may buffer the negative effects of a difficult infant temperament. A sensitive mother may help her child develop socially appropriate behaviors rather than the variety of toddler behavior problems that have frequently been associated with difficult infant temperament in the literature.

Current findings are especially intriguing given that maternal sensitivity was measured at such an early age -- when infants were four months of age. Other studies have found similar associations when maternal sensitivity was assessed when infants were slightly older -- nine months of age. This research demonstrates a need to evaluate maternal sensitivity early in a child’s life, before the environment has had an opportunity to affect an infant’s seemingly innate temperamental tendencies.

Kelly Sheperd, M.A. (May 2008) (Mentor: Charissa Cheah)

Determinants of Parenting among Aboriginal and European Canadian Young Mothers

Interest in the consequences associated with early childbearing for mother and child has grown over time. Young mothers and their children are at risk for cognitive, social and physical developmental delays. However, not all mothers or children experience these difficulties. Several factors may serve to alleviate the negative consequences associated with early parenting, such as increased knowledge of parenting and a supportive social environment.

Most of the research that examines the factors that promote positive parenting focuses on adult mothers. Belsky’s determinants of parenting model proposes three factors that influence parenting: (1) parental well being and psychological resources, (2) child characteristics, and (3) contextual sources of stress and support. However, models of adult parenting may not capture the experience of young mothers. One model of adolescent parenting proposes that cognitive variables such as knowledge and attitudes about parenting are predictive of nurturing parenting practices in young mothers. Maternal psychological resources, perceived child characteristics, parenting stress, and social support were also examined as predictors of parenting. The researchers found that maternal characteristics were more predictive of parenting practices than child characteristics or contextual factors.

The present research employed a modified version of the models of parenting mentioned previously. Specifically, I examined the influence of three factors, psychological adjustment (well being and life satisfaction), readiness to parent (parenting knowledge, parenting attitudes, and maternal age), and environmental protectiveness (parenting stress and social support) on the positive parenting practices of young mothers assessed six months later.

A limitation of the previous models of parenting is the exclusion of the role of culture. Beliefs about the development of young adults and values regarding appropriate parenting practices vary across cultures. The current research examined cultural similarities and differences in the predictors of parenting among European Canadian and Aboriginal Canadian young mothers. These particular cultures are of interest because they represent traditionally individualistic (European Canadian) and collectivistic (Aboriginal Canadian) cultures within a predominately individualistic country. Individualistic cultures emphasize independence and the importance of the individual. Collectivistic cultures emphasize interdependence and connectedness. Furthermore, both cultures have somewhat ambiguous norms regarding young adult sexuality and early parenthood.

Participants in the present research were part of a larger study of Aboriginal (n = 32) and European Canadian (n = 54), conducted in an urban environment in Canada. The predictors of parenting and parenting practices were measured using questionnaires and an interview that included (1) Ryff’s Well Being Scale, (2) Satisfaction with Life Scale, (3) Knowledge of Infant Development Inventory, (3) Perceptions of Parenting Inventory, (4) Parenting Events Scale, (5) Social Network Questionnaire, and (6) Child Rearing Practices Report. The goals of the present study were to examine the relation between each of the factors that predict parenting (psychological adjustment, parenting readiness, and environmental protectiveness) and parenting practices, as well as whether these relations were different for mothers of either cultural group.

Results revealed that each of the determinants of parenting were related to positive parenting practices overall. Environmental protectiveness was the strongest predictor of parenting. This finding suggests that parenting programs may have the greatest impact by providing parenting support groups to develop a supportive network of individuals with shared experiences. In addition, interventions should teach coping skills to provide parents strategies to manage the stressors associated with common parenting situations.

Psychological adjustment and environmental protectiveness were more strongly associated with positive parenting for European Canadian mothers only. None of the predictors were strongly related to the parenting of Aboriginal mothers only. It is important to note that the model applied in the present research has been developed in Western samples and these factors may not be as relevant to the parenting of Native immigrant mothers. Future research should attempt to identify other factors that may promote positive parenting among Aboriginal mothers. For example, ethnic identity and acculturation status may be relevant to the parenting of these mothers as they are the ethnic minority group. Although social support was not related to the parenting of Aboriginal mothers, social relationships may still be important to these mothers. Since these urban-residing mothers have infrequent contact with support providers who remain on the reservations, it may be more relevant to consider frequency of contact with social network members instead of actual support received.

Maria Y. Finger, M.A. (December 2007) (Mentor: Linda Baker)

Kindergarten Children’s Oral Narratives: Relations to Ethnicity and Socio-Economic Status

Hearing and telling stories are very important parts of almost every child’s early educational experience. Storytelling activities are used to both teach and assess children’s language skills in the first few years of formal schooling. Some children come to school better equipped to tell the type of story that is considered superior in a classroom setting. Stories and storytelling practices that are valued in schools are most often associated with middle income European Americans. Stories that deviate from the style valued in school settings are often considered inferior, and it may even be assumed that the child telling the story has language difficulties. This leaves low income, non-White children at a disadvantage.

The differences that exist in the stories of children may be rooted in ethnic and income-related differences in the narrative and instructional practices of their parents. For example, middle income, European American children will often have more exposure to stories similar to those valued in the classroom via more books in the home, more time spent in book reading activities, and parental instructional practices more in line with school practices than their low income peers. Given the impact of the home literacy environment on the narratives of young children, this study examined the narrative structure and style of a biographical and a story generation narrative among low and middle income, European and African American kindergarteners.

Seventy-three kindergarten children were asked to tell a story about an event that actually occurred in their lives (a biographical narrative) and a story based upon the pictures in a children’s book (story generation narrative). Each child’s storytelling was recorded and analyzed for possible differences related to the child’s ethnicity or income. Once all of the stories were elicited from the children, a questionnaire about certain aspects of each child’s home literacy environment was sent home; forty-three of the 73 participants’ parents returned the completed questionnaires.

European American children told stories that were organized in a more linear fashion than African American children; this occurred both in the biographical and the story generation narratives. Overall, middle income children produced stories more in line with those highly valued in educational settings than their low income peers. Low income children typically told stories that were either not long enough to be characterized as a complete story or were presented in a manner that made them extremely difficult to understand. Middle income children also told stories that were significantly longer than those of low income children and that contained more intensifiers; middle income African American children produced the highest proportion of intensifiers in the story generation task.

The parent data also revealed some statistically significant income and ethnicity related differences. African American parents had fewer books in the home and first read to their children at a later age than European American parents. Middle income parents had more books in the home than low income parents and participated in more shared book reading activities with their child. In addition, the more books a child had in the home, the more likely the narrative he or she produced in the story generation task was in line with the structure and style valued in school settings.

The relations between ethnicity and narrative organization support previous empirical evidence regarding African American’s narratives being less clear and concise than European Americans narratives in both storytelling conditions. The number of narrative production differences that existed related to income is also quite meaningful; in almost every category analyzed, low income children produced narratives that would be considered inferior by school standards.

These findings have implications for teacher training and parent education/assistance programs. Providing low income parents with books and information regarding the most developmentally appropriate ways to instruct their child may serve to increase the child’s exposure to and familiarity with print materials and also reduce the gap in narrative production abilities related to low income status. It is also important to introduce the differences that exist among ethnic minorities and/or low income children to teachers. Teachers may unintentionally use these differences in narrative production to form opinions and develop unrealistic, low expectations of certain students. Educating teachers about the differences that may exist in narrative production related to ethnic minority and/or low income status will aid them in understanding, and potentially, educating all students more effectively.

Rose Belanger, M.A. (May 2007) (Mentor: Cindy Schaeffer)

Postpartum Mother-Infant Separation: Maternal Depression and Maternal Sensitivity in a Preterm Sample

Typically the birth of an infant is a welcome and joyful event. However, each year in the United States approximately 500,000 families experience the preterm (before completing 37 weeks of gestation) birth of their infant resulting in an experience that can be anything but joyful. The preterm delivery of an infant interrupts the third trimester of a pregnancy, a time significantly important for the psychological transition to the maternal role. Even in the case of women who already have a child, the third trimester of a pregnancy has been found to be important in the psychological process of altering one’s maternal identity to include this new member of the family. Mothers of preterm infants are less likely to experience a smooth and fluid transition to the happy day when their baby is born, but rather the abrupt often emergency nature of delivering their child weeks or months before the baby is due.

Infants born preterm are treated in hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU’s) until they reach a weight of approximately five pounds, are able to coordinate their breathing, sucking and swallowing and are able to maintain their body temperature on their own. Preterm infants are typically hospitalized for weeks or even months before their mothers can take them home. Mothers of the smallest and sickest preterm infants may not know for weeks if their baby will even survive to ever come home. The emotional “rollercoaster” associated with the preterm birth of an infant has been considered to be a potential cause of depression in mothers of preterm infants. Mothers of preterm infants are also considered to be potentially less sensitive and skillful in caring for their preterm infant when the baby is discharged from the hospital because of the significant length of time they were separated from and unable to care for their baby while he or she was hospitalized. In addition, mothers of the sickest infants have been thought to keep themselves from “falling in love” with their baby until they know for sure their baby will live. Do mothers allow themselves to completely fall in love with their infant after they are certain their infant will live? This is also an important question associated with how skillfully and sensitively mothers care for their previously very ill preterm infants.

Mothers who are experiencing depression may find it difficult to provide the best kind of environment to support their infants’ development. This is a very real problem given that being born preterm carries with it the risk of experiencing behavior problems and developmental delays in the future as well as health problems throughout the life of a former preterm infant. Preterm infants whose mothers are depressed and less able to respond to and care for them in a sensitive way may experience “double jeopardy”.

The preterm birth rate among low-income, urban African-American mothers in the United States is currently approximately 17.7%, the highest of any other ethnic group. This study included 82 African-American mothers and their preterm infants from the greater Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, DC metropolitan areas. This study examined how the length of time mothers were separated from their infants; due to hospitalization, might be associated with mothers’ experience of depressive symptoms as well as how sensitive mothers would be in responding to and caring for their infants. This study also examined how the severity of infants’ illness at birth might be associated with mothers experience of depressive symptoms and with how sensitive mothers would be in responding to and caring for their infants.

Mothers who were separated from their hospitalized infants for the longest periods of time were not found to have higher levels of depressive symptoms compared to mothers whose infants were hospitalized for shorter periods of time. Mothers whose infants were the most severely ill were not found to have higher levels of depressive symptoms than those mothers whose infants were less severely ill.

Mothers who were separated from their hospitalized infants for the longest periods of time were observed to be no less sensitive in caring for and responding to their infants than mothers whose infants were hospitalized for shorter periods of time. Also, mothers whose infants were more severely ill were not found to be less sensitive in responding to and caring for their infants than mothers whose infants were less severely ill.

Mothers in this sample of low-income, urban African-American women may have experienced the buffering effect of spirituality and social supports from friends and family against the negative life event of delivering a preterm infant. Future research into maternal coping strategies and quality of women’s social support networks in buffering women against the experience of depression and anxiety after the birth of a preterm infant is warranted.

Stacy Howes, M.A. (May 2007) (Mentor: Cindy Schaeffer)

Gender Responsive Therapy for Adolescent Girls Who Abuse Substances:

Understanding Loss of Voice and Social/Relational Aggression

Adolescent girls face numerous developmental challenges unique to their age and gender. Three areas of the study of female adolescent development have been particularly neglected: loss of voice, social/relational aggression, and substance abuse. Loss of voice involves learning to always be nice and passive, and feeling disempowered. Social/relational aggression involves harming relationships and negative nonverbal behaviors, and it is more prevalent in girls, possibly because girls are not encouraged to express anger. Substance abuse among adolescent girls has grown over the years, and girls may begin using and continue using substances for different reasons than boys. Substance abuse, social/relational aggression, and loss of voice are linked to feelings of depression and disempowerment, and it is possible that they are connected to one another.

In the present study, the associations between the above constructs were explored using a sample of adolescent girls participating in a gender responsive therapy program called Perseverance. In order to explore the constructs, the girls of Perseverance participated in observations, interviews, and self-report data collection techniques. First, the girls were observed within their group treatment settings, and episodes of social/relational aggression were recorded. Then, there were three treatment groups, and approximately half of the girls from each treatment group were interviewed. The purpose of the interviews was to gain a better understanding of what types of social/aggression were occurring and why. Finally, the girls completed questionnaires which served the purpose of providing exploratory data about the girls’ loss of voice, social/relational aggression, substance abuse, and depression. Social/relational aggression occurred in all three treatment groups, but only two girls spontaneously mentioned it as being a problem. Certain girls were regularly the perpetrators while others were regularly the victims of social/relational aggression. Social/relational aggression was not always intended to be malicious, and it could function as playful or helpful. Even when it was intended to be playful or helpful, it was not always perceived as playful or helpful. Almost every girl engaged in social/relational aggression. There were three main types, exclusion, gossip, and nonverbal, and social/relational aggression was associated with threats of physical violence one time. It seems that girls in this group who regularly rely on social/relational aggression are not engaging in positive ways to disagree with other girls. Also, their actions might be disruptive to their relationships. In this group, social/relational aggression was quite mild for the most part, but there were a few episodes that were more serious in nature (i.e., physical threats). Most of the girls and counselors stated that they thought social/relational aggression was a normal part of being an adolescent girl.

Additionally, the girls sometimes made positive connections to each other while, at other times, the connections were negative. Their positive connections with other girls included building strength in one another and learning to listen to the experiences and stories of other girls and learning from those stories. As a result, the girls are experiencing the positive aspects of gender responsive therapy. On the other hand, the girls also experienced the negative aspects of gender responsive therapy, particularly when they expressed various levels of disconnection from the other girls and the group as a whole. Additionally, the girls engaged in deviancy training. The girls in Perseverance expressed both positive and negative feelings about being part of this treatment program.

Gender responsive treatment programs can use this information in the future in order to understand what might happen between girls in their programs.  Girls may use social/relational aggression, and there may be girls who rely on it too much.  When this happens, it would be beneficial for the counselors to know how to handle the situation.  Helping the girls to understand that social/relational aggression can be hurtful and that there are other ways for girls to bond with and disagree with other girls is an important component to gender responsive therapy.

Colleen J. Sullivan, M.A. (May 2007) (Mentor: Charissa Cheah)

The Influence of Stress and Social Support on the Psychological Outcomes of Young Aboriginal Canadian and European Canadian Mothers

Approximately 70,000 live births to females 24 years of age and under occur each year in Canada. These young mothers may be at high risk for negative developmental and psychological outcomes for herself as well as her children. The risk factor of stress and the protective factor of social support on the psychological outcomes of young mothers were explored in the current longitudinal study. Further, the role of culture was explored because little research has examined these processes in young Aboriginal Canadian versus European Canadian mother populations.

Negative stressors occur more often among young mothers compared to adult mothers and their non-parenting peers, and are also associated with increased depressive symptoms. Therefore, different forms of stress including (1) parental stress, (2) daily hassles, and (3) major life stressors were explored to have a thorough understanding of the role of stress as a risk factor in the young mothers’ lives within the two cultural groups. However, social support can assist in an easier transition into parenthood for young mothers and is related to a decrease is psychological distress as well as an enhanced psychological well-being. Alternately, the providers of support may create stressful experiences for young mothers resulting in a negative impact on young mothers’ psychological well-being. Intimacy and instrumental support were the two separate forms of support examined within the current study.

The stress-buffering hypothesis was explored in the current longitudinal study to understand how the connection between individual forms of stress and support related to young mothers’ psychological outcomes six months later. Based on the stress-buffering hypothesis, the presence of social support was expected to moderate the negative effects of stress on psychological outcomes. Depressive symptoms and overall well-being were used as indices of psychological outcomes.

Previous research has found cultural differences, such as Aboriginal Canadians experiencing higher levels of stress, social support, and depressive symptoms compared to European Canadians. Furthermore, the impact that their level of acculturation to their heritage culture or the mainstream European culture has on the Aboriginal mothers were examined in secondary analyses to identify if variations in acculturation impact young mothers’ levels of stress, social support, and psychological outcomes.

The current research was part of an ongoing four time wave longitudinal study in Canada. Young Aboriginal (n = 18) and European Canadian (n = 24) mothers’ stressors and social support were examined in relation to overall well-being and depressive symptoms. Each young mother completed an interview with a research assistant about their support network and a questionnaire booklet including (1) The Parental Events Scale, (2) The Daily Hassles Scale, (3) The Life Events Scale, (4) The Psychological Well-Being Scale, (5) Satisfaction with Life Scale, (5) Beck Depression Inventory II, and (6) Vancouver Index of Acculturation.

Results revealed that Aboriginal Canadian mothers experienced higher levels of parental stress compared to their European Canadian peers. However, both cultural groups’ psychological outcomes were related to their levels of stress. Specifically for the Aboriginal Canadian sample, parental stress was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms and lower levels of overall well-being. Higher levels of daily hassles were related to higher levels of depressive symptoms, but were not related to overall well-being. Contrary to expectations, Aboriginal Canadian mothers who reported higher levels of major life stressors had lower levels of depressive symptoms and higher levels of overall well-being, which could be spurious findings due to the small sample size or measurement error. In relation to the European Canadian sample, those young mothers who had higher levels of parental stress had higher levels of depressive symptoms. The negative implications of parental stress for both cultural groups may be due to young mothers’ inexperience with parenthood, lack of child development knowledge, and their inability to deal with the stress of the new child rearing role.

Contrary to expectations, the majority cultural group of European Canadian mothers tended to have higher levels of instrumental support such as financial support and child care assistance compared to the minority cultural group of Aboriginal Canadian mothers. However, there were no cultural differences in the amount of intimacy support the mothers received. This heightened level of instrumental support for European Canadian mothers may allow them to be more independent and focused on their educational and/or occupational success, which is implied within individualistic cultures. There were variations in how social support was related to psychological outcomes. These results revealed that young Aboriginal Canadian mothers with higher levels of intimacy support tended to have lower levels of depressive symptoms. However, for the European Canadian sample, higher levels of instrumental support tended to be associated with higher levels of overall well-being. These cultural variations may inform our understanding of how young mothers from different cultures need different forms of support.

In relation to psychological outcomes, young Aboriginal Canadian mothers had higher levels of depressive symptoms compared to their European Canadian counterparts, which may be a result of cultural struggles and racial discrimination experienced by minority groups and may lead to more negative psychological health. There were no cultural differences for overall well-being.

The stress buffering hypothesis was not supported for the current sample of young mothers. Contrary to expectations, for both cultural groups, a significant interaction between stress and social support predicted negative psychological outcomes. Further investigation of the interactions suggested that higher levels of both stress and social support related to higher levels of depressive symptoms and less overall well-being for the young mothers. These unexpected findings may be explained by support providers who contribute to young mothers’ negative psychological outcomes. Finally, it is possible because of the low sample size for both cultural groups that the results are spurious findings.

The Aboriginal mothers’ level of acculturation was also explored as secondary analyses and Aboriginal Canadian mothers who participated more in their heritage culture reported less parental stress and more major life stressors. Although the collectivistic view of including the community in raising the child may help to reduce the parental stress that new mothers experience, major life stressors may reflect the negative impact that historical racial discrimination can have on individuals from a minority culture. Those mothers who participated more in their heritage culture also reported higher levels of well-being and life satisfaction and lower levels of depressive symptoms. In addition, Aboriginal mothers who participated more in the mainstream culture tended to have higher levels of depressive symptoms, which support the idea the protective role of maintaining one’s heritage culture.

These findings regarding young mothers’ levels of stress and social support assist in understanding how parenting programs and interventions for young mothers can benefit their psychological outcomes. To promote healthy child development and an easy transition into parenthood for young mothers, services to reduce the anxiety and stress of becoming a parent may reduce their parenting stress and also act as a form of support. Financial assistance, child care, and parenting teaching services may assist the young mother, her child, and her family by creating a healthy family environment, increasing their psychological health, and promoting positive actions.

Amy Benson, M.A. (August 2006) (Mentor: Susan Sonnenschein)

Ethnicity, Socioeconomic, and Gender Differences in Second Graders’ Math Fact Fluency and Confidence

Automatic or fluent retrieval of basic arithmetic facts is related to later math difficulties or even disabilities. Although there are clear individual differences in children’s math fluency, less is known about possible ethnicity, family income, or gender differences. This study considers such group-based differences in children’s fluent fact retrieval and their confidence in their math knowledge. Confidence was explored because some researchers have shown that students who are more confident in their knowledge of math are more likely to automatically retrieve facts from memory.

Ethnicity and family income-related differences are evident in preschoolers’ informal math skills with European American and middle-income children performing at higher levels than African American and low-income children. Small but consistent gender differences favoring boys appear by kindergarten. These ethnicity, income, and gender differences increase throughout elementary, middle, and high school.

Gender differences are evident in students’ confidence as early as first grade with boys showing higher levels of confidence than girls. The small amount of research that has been conducted about ethnicity-related differences in students’ confidence has shown that African American students’ confidence tends to be unrelated to their performance. No research has investigated income-related differences in confidence or the relation between confidence and fluency.

The present study investigated the number of addition and subtraction problems 156 second graders (½ African American, ½ European American, ½ low-income, ½ middle-income) could correctly answer in one minute and how confident those students were in math. Each student first completed a 12-question Confidence in Learning Math measure, followed by an Addition Fact Fluency measure, then a Subtraction Fact Fluency measure.

Low-income European American students were able to correctly solve more addition and subtraction problems in one minute than low-income African American students. No such differences were found for middle-income students nor were there any gender-based differences in students’ math knowledge.

Low-income boys displayed a higher level of confidence in their math knowledge than did low-income girls. Again, no such differences were found for middle-income students nor were there any ethnicity differences in students’ confidence.

The number of addition or subtraction math facts a student could correctly answer in one minute was found to be moderately related to the student’s confidence in math. That is, students who correctly solved more problems had higher levels of confidence.

Ethnicity differences in low-income children’s performance may be due to the multiple disadvantages faced by low-income African American children. These students often encounter low teacher expectations, negative stereotypes, and schools that may not have adequate resources. At home, low-income African American children seem less likely to engage in math activities than their middle-income European American counterparts.

Gender differences in low-income students’ confidence may result from low-income parents’ desire for children to conform to societal expectations, possibly exposing females to negative math stereotypes. Results affirm the relation between confidence and fluency, as well as the importance of ensuring that all children learn their math facts.

Andrea Anushko, M.A. (May 2006) (Mentor: Susan Sonnenschein)

Nonliteral Language Comprehension In African American And European American Children: Who Can Bust A Grape In A Fruit Fight?

Much of the way we communicate with others requires that we understand what is called nonliteral language. In order to comprehend the sarcastic exclamation “What a beautiful day!” uttered during a stormy afternoon, one must look below the surface to a nonliteral or inferential meaning. Understanding nonliteral language plays an increasingly important role in school because much of the language used in all but the most basic texts includes language such as metaphor, irony, and sarcasm. However, we do not know much about group-based differences in children’s understanding of these forms of language nor how they develop competencies with them. This study was one of the first to empirically explore how African American and European American children understand nonliteral language and how their preferences for media in our popular culture may foster such an understanding.

Observations of how children are socialized to language at home suggest that many African American children, in contrast to their European American peers, are expected to use words nonliterally and inferentially at a very early age. Such experiences may result in an advantage for African American children when they are asked to comprehend nonliteral language. In addition to conversations with family and peers, children are exposed to language through listening to music and watching television. Rap music, once addressed primarily to African American audiences, is now widely listened to by audiences from other ethnic backgrounds. This form of musical expression capitalizes on the use of nonliteral language and as a result, anyone with experience with such media may show increased competencies understanding nonliteral language. Television programs that use sarcasm and irony to create the dynamic relationship between the characters may also have the same type of influence as music on nonliteral language comprehension.

Third and fifth grade African American and European American children listened to short stories containing either sarcastic or literal utterances and then answered questions about the stories. In order to evaluate preference for media, children were presented with checklists containing the names of popular singers, songs, television programs and cartoons and asked to check off the items they liked to listen to or watch. These items were previously rated by UMBC undergraduates for the amount of nonliteral language they contained.

Consistent with predictions, children comprehended literal stories better than nonliteral ones, and older children comprehended nonliteral stories better than younger children did. Of particular interest were results comparing African American and European American children’s comprehension. European American children received higher comprehension scores on literal stories than African American children; in contrast, African American children received slightly higher scores than European American children on nonliteral stories.

Children preferred media containing high amounts of nonliteral language to media containing mainly literal language. Consistent with predictions and the observations of ethnographers, African American children displayed greater preference for nonliteral media than European American children; however European American children also reported a considerable amount of exposure to and preference for such media.

There was a moderate relation between preference and exposure to nonliteral media and comprehension of nonliteral stories for both African American and European American children. Thus, socialization and exposure to nonliteral media aids children in detecting and comprehending nonliteral language in story texts.

Findings from this study are relevant for broadening our understanding of how popular cultural can inform children’s language development and how language socialization influences children’s interpretation of and responses to story situations. For example, although African American children scored significantly lower than European American children on questions tapping literal comprehension of stories, their lower scores many not be a result of lesser understanding, but rather a matter of response type. African American children often responded to questions by expanding upon the story and drawing inferences not explicitly suggested in the story.

These findings may be used by teachers to draw a parallel between the home environment and that of the school. For instance teachers can use information about the music and TV children are already familiar with to show how nonliteral language use in song lyrics is akin to the language of poetry. This approach may help peak children’s interest in subject matter that they otherwise may not have enjoyed. Acknowledging the different types of responses African American children provide to literal stories and expanding the criteria for a correct response to include elaborated reasons or reasons by way of analogy helps broaden the perspective and understanding of both the teacher and student. In addition, providing teachers with information about children’s understanding of nonliteral language will help them choose manageable and challenging texts for their students.

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