SUMMARIES OF SOME RECENT DISSERTATIONS AND THESES
Applied Developmental Psychology
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
February, 2013
3
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.