The role of parent-child conversations and attributional biases in children's prosocial and aggressive behaviors

"December 2013.""A Thesis presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of Missouri--Columbia In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree Master of Science."Thesis supervisor: Dr. Gustavo Carlo.The aims of the present study were to examine the relations between two dimensions of parent-child conversations and children's social behaviors and to assess the mediating role of children's attributional biases in these relations. 60 preschoolers (mean age = 4.92) and their mothers engaged in conversations about a recent time in which the child felt sad, mad, scared, and happy. Conversations were coded for maternal elaborations and maternal positive emotion content. Children also completed a storytelling task with researchers that assessed their positive and negative attributional biases. Children's prosocial tendencies and aggressive behaviors were assessed through teacher report. A series of hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted. Results indicated that maternal elaborations marginally positively predicted children's prosocial tendencies. Children's positive attributional biases significantly positively predicted children's prosocial tendencies. However, attributional biases did not significantly mediate the relation between maternal elaborations and prosocial tendencies. Additionally, maternal discourse variables and children's attributional biases did not predict children's aggressive behaviors. Discussion will focus on the significance of both maternal discourse style and children's positive cognitions in fostering more prosocial tendencies towards peers in preschool aged children.Includes bibliographical references (pages 28-34)

Exploring parents’ experiences of postsecondary education for their children with disabilities

This study explored the expectations and experiences of parents whose adult children graduated from a comprehensive college-based postsecondary education program for students with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Seventeen parents of graduates from the Lesley University Threshold Program in Cambridge, MA were interviewed in the style of narrative inquiry. Subjects were asked to describe their expectations for their sons’ and daughters’ futures as they grew up, the role of a college program in their children’s development and in the evolution of their own expectations, their hopes and concerns for the future, and their opinions of college inclusion and how greater inclusion might have impacted their sons and daughters. Interview subjects were found to share common goals for their children: independence and fulfillment in life. While they faced great uncertainty about the future when their children were young, they wanted to help them achieve as much independence and fulfillment as possible, and expected that postsecondary education would help them progress toward these ends. Parents wanted their children to have a college experience that felt authentic, while also providing comprehensive and intensive supports and specialized skill development. Parents reported that their children’s postsecondary experiences surpassed their expectations. They saw growth in their sons and daughters in the areas of independent living, vocational skills, and social skills, as well as advances in self-esteem, positive decision making, and problem-solving. While parents emphasized the value of life skills, friendships, and employment over inclusion at the university, every subject also stated that greater integration with undergraduates, facilitated by staff and peer mentors, should have been available to Threshold students, regardless of whether they thought their own son or daughter would have benefited. Implications for practitioners and research are discussed, with an emphasis on the study’s relevance to current trends in the field of inclusive higher education

Dimensions of Acculturative Stress and Mexican American Emerging Adults Prosocial Behaviors

Presentation made at Latinos in the Heartland (12th : 2014 : St. Louis, Mo.) and published in the annual conference proceedingStressful experiences are demanding and can weaken coping mechanisms and lead to maladjustment (Conger et al., 1993; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Mexican Americans face unique forms of stressors, including acculturative stress. Acculturative stress is defined as demands placed on the individual that result from adapting to a new culture (Alegria & Woo, 2009). Acculturative stress is multidimensional and can be conceptualized in different ways. Language is a salient component of everyday life and may contribute to acculturative stress among Mexican Americans. Specifically, language can be potentially stressful for emerging adults who speak English as a second language and have difficulty communicating with others. Additionally, emerging adults may feel that they have access to fewer opportunities than their European American peers because of their ethnicity. Emerging adults who believe that society excludes them based on their ethnicity may experience environmental stress, another dimension of acculturative stress. Acculturative stress has been linked to a variety of behavioral outcomes, including prosocial behaviors, which are positive actions intended to benefit others. Prior research has demonstrated that acculturative stress is positively associated with specific forms of prosocial behaviors but is negatively associated with other forms (McGinley et al., 2010). Furthermore, while researchers have examined different components of acculturative stress, it is unclear if these dimensions differentially impact different types of prosocial behaviors. The current study examined the relations between two dimensions of acculturative stress (language stress and environmental stress) and Mexican American emerging adults' prosocial behaviors (dire, emotional, compliant, altruistic, anonymous, and public). Data was collected from Mexican American emerging adults in California and Texas. Participants were Mexican American college students (mean age=23.05 years, range 18-30 years; 66.9% female). Participants completed measures of their acculturative stress (Social, Attitudinal, Familial, and Environmental Acculturative Stress Scale; Mena, Padilla, & Maldonado, 1987). For the current study, the existing environmental stress subscale (10 items; alpha=.85) was used to assess stress associated with perceptions of limited opportunities and social exclusion. A language stress subscale (3 items; alpha=.73) was created to assess stress associated with communication. Regressions were conducted to examine the associations among language and environmental stress and six types of prosocial behaviors. The results demonstrated that language stress positively predicted anonymous prosocial behaviors and negatively predicted altruistic prosocial behaviors. Environmental stress positively predicted emotional, dire, compliant, and anonymous prosocial behaviors and negatively predicted altruistic prosocial behaviors. Discussion will focus on the differential relations among language stress, environmental stress and specific prosocial behaviors and the implications of these findings for measurement and future research

Explaining the Relations Between Acculturative Stress and Prosocial Behaviors in Latino Youth from the Midwest

Presentation made at Latinos in the Heartland (13th : 2015 : Columbia, Mo.) and published in the annual conference proceedings.Stressful experiences may weaken coping mechanisms, lead to maladjustment in adolescents (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984), and may also influence adolescents' relationships with their peers. Latino adolescents face unique forms of stress associated with their cultural orientation. One form of cultural stress that is salient to many Latino adolescents is acculturative stress. Acculturative stress is defined as stress that results from adapting to a new culture (Alegria & Woo, 2009). One specific behavioral outcome of acculturative stress is prosocial behaviors (i.e., actions intended to benefit another; Carlo & Randall, 2002). Acculturative stress may influence psychological processes that in turn influence the adolescents' social relationships. Specifically, adolescents who are experiencing acculturative stress may begin to feel more depressive symptoms and may gravitate towards more deviant peers. In previous research, acculturative stress has been positively linked with depressive symptoms in Latino adolescents (Crockett et al., 2007). Research has also shown that Latino adolescents become more at risk for deviant peer affiliation as they become more acculturated (Samaniego & Gonzales, 1999). This may be in part due to the increased pressure adolescents experience to engage in mainstream culture and distance themselves from their traditional cultures. There is also supportive evidence for the notion that deviant peer affiliation may have detrimental consequences for adolescents' social behaviors (see Carlo et al., 1999). In an effort to extend previous research, the current study examines how acculturative stress influences Latino adolescents' prosocial behaviors directly and indirectly via depressive symptoms and deviant peer affiliation. The current study uses data from the larger NSF funded Latino Youth Care Project. Participants include 89 Latino adolescents from Nebraska (mean age = 15.24 years; range = 14-18 years; 68.4% female). Participants completed measures of their acculturative stress (Multidimensional Acculturative Stress Inventory; Rodriguez et al., 2002), depressive symptoms (CES-D; Radloff, 1977), deviant peer affiliation (Dishion et al., 1991), and their tendencies to engage in three common types of prosocial behaviors (Prosocial Tendencies Measure-Revised; Carlo et al., 2003). The results demonstrated that acculturative stress was directly, negatively associated with public and anonymous prosocial behaviors. Acculturative stress was also positively associated with depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms, in turn, were positively associated with deviant peer affiliations. Deviant peer affiliations were not significantly associated with prosocial behaviors. There were marginal, negative effects, however, between deviant peer affiliations and compliant and anonymous prosocial behaviors. The discussion focuses on the influence of acculturative stress on prosocial behaviors via depressive symptoms and deviant peer affiliation and the impact of these results on future research and practice

The Role of Mothers and Fathers in Predicting Adolescents\u27 Peer Affiliation and Behavioral Adjustment

The current study aimed to examine the associations between parental warmth and control and adolescents’ social behaviors (altruistic and public prosocial behaviors, aggression, and delinquency) in a low-income, Midwestern sample. The study also aimed to examine how peer relationships may play an indirect role in these associations. The results demonstrated complex links between parenting dimensions and adolescents\u27 peer affiliation and social behaviors. Specifically, maternal and paternal warmth were predictive of peer affiliation, which in turn predicted adolescents\u27 prosocial behaviors as well as negative social behaviors. There were also direct links between maternal and paternal parenting dimensions and social behaviors, highlighting the role of both mothers and fathers in adolescents’ socialization. The discussion focuses on the complex links between parental behaviors, peer relationships, and social behaviors. Additionally, the present study illustrates the differential role of mothers and fathers in adolescents\u27 social relationships, as well as sociobehavioral outcomes

The Structure and Correlates of a Measure of Prosocial Moral Reasoning in Adolescents from Spain

Examined the structure and correlates of a measure of prosocial moral reasoning in a sample of young and middle-aged adolescents. 1556 students (53% male, M age = 13.12, SD = .87) from Valencia, Spain completed paper-and-pencil measures of prosocial moral reasoning (PROM), empathy, prosocial behaviors, and aggression. As expected, a series of confirmatory factor and structural equation modeling analyses revealed a four-factor solution of the PROM to have the best fit (as compared to alternative models) among Spanish youth (across gender and grade). Moreover, higher level and other-oriented forms of prosocial moral reasoning were generally positively related to empathy and prosocial behaviors, and negatively related to aggression. In contrast, generally, lower level and self-focused modes of prosocial moral reasoning were negatively related to such prosocial tendencies, and positively related to aggression. Discussion focused on the psychometric properties of the PROM and its relations to theoretically-relevant correlates among Spanish yout

Family support and prosocial behaviors in U. S. Mexican and European American young adults : the intervening roles of respect and sociocognitive/emotive traits

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] The primary aim of this study is to consider mothers, fathers, and siblings as socialization agents of young adult's prosocial behaviors and to consider the mediating roles of cultural values and sociocognitive/emotive traits. In order to build on previous work, these relations are examined in a sample of European American and U.S. Latino young adults. The final sample included 184 U.S. Latino (N = 143, 78.6 % female; M age = 20.68, SD =2.05) and 348 European American young adults (N = 275, 79.5 % female; M age = 19.52, SD =1.11). Results from path analyses demonstrate complex and differential predictors associated with prosocial behaviors, as distinguished by the target of helping. Cultural values and young adults' sociocognitive and emotive traits largely served as underlying mechanisms in the relations between family support and prosocial behaviors, although these relations were differentiated by the target of helping. There was also evidence for the moderating role of young adults' gender in the model assessing prosocial behaviors toward family members, such that for men, there were several indirect and direct effects of paternal support (but not maternal or sibling support) in fostering prosocial behaviors toward family members. Discussion will focus on the integration of socialization, cognitive developmental, and cultural theories in predicting prosocial behaviors towards different helping targets.Includes biblographical reference