UMD Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE? CONTEXTUAL INFLUENCES ON MUSICAL ENGAGEMENT(2023) Durbin, Allison Hayley Reisinger; Elpus, Kenneth; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to test a conceptual model of contextual influences on 7th graders’ musical engagement in school. Inspired by Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory of human development, I devised a conceptual model to represent contextual factors that interact in a person’s world to influence their own music making. I used restricted-use data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth Third Cohort 2015-2016 to determine what personal and familial characteristics were associated with students’ enrollment in different types of school music classes during their 7th grade year in order to test my proposed contextual model.I used a multinomial logit model to conduct the analysis in order to ascertain which individual-level and familial characteristics were associated with 7th graders enrollment in four different categories of music courses: (a) no music courses, (b) non-band/orchestra/choir (BOC) music courses, (c) choir, or (d) band/orchestra. The restricted-use data from the LSAY Third Cohort contained student-produced responses of the types of music courses they were currently enrolled in as well as questions about their musical habits at home. The data set also contained a caregiver questionnaire that contained questions about the caregiver’s musical engagement with their own child. Results of the analysis supported the proposed conceptual model and indicated a multitude of characteristics that are associated with 7th graders’ enrollment in varying types of music courses. Different covariates were significantly associated with different types of music course enrollment. As such, students enrolled in school music courses should not be considered as a collective. The results from this study support previous research that there is not a singular profile of student who enrolls in different types of music classes (Elpus & Abril, 2019).Item Family Values: Assessing Reciprocal Effects on Longitudinal Change in Children's and Parents' Valuing of Math and Sports(2021) Faust, Lara Turci; Wigfield, Allan; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The present study investigated the bidirectional influence that children’s and parents’ task values in math and sports have on change in the task values of the other group from first grade to 11th grade. Using latent change score models, I found that fathers’ math value both positively and negatively influenced change in children’s math values from first grade to 11th grade, and children’s values both positively and negatively influenced change in both mothers’ and fathers’ math values from first grade to 11th grade, consistent with my hypotheses and some prior research. However, mothers’ math value did not impact change in children’s math value during the study period. In addition, both mothers’ and fathers’ sports values positively influenced change in children’s sports value, and children’s sports value positively influenced change inboth their mothers’ and fathers’ sports values. Findings in the sports domain indicated differences in how mothers’ and fathers’ values shape change in children’s values; namely that mothers have smaller but consistent effects whereas fathers have larger effects that occur during educational transitions. Supplementary analyses also suggest that children’s perceptions of their parents’ values in math and sports consistently and positively influence children’s own change in values from first grade to sixth grade. Possible explanations for these findings, as well as broader theoretical implications are discussed.Item FORMATIVE RESEARCH TO ASSESS KEY FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH THE DIET QUALITY OF HOME-PACKED LUNCHES IN YOUNG SCHOOL CHILDREN(2018) Nadaud, Perrine; Song, Hee-Jung; Nutrition; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In the United States, about 46% of elementary students who are not eligible for school meal (SM) benefits do not participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and bring home-packed lunches (HPL). With considerable criticism directed at the NSLP, parents may believe that they can pack healthier lunches that respond better to their children’s tastes than the SM. Nonetheless, previous studies have found that HPL needed nutritional improvement. This study’s objective was to assess how key parent psychosocial factors related to young school-aged children’s diet quality. Using a cross-sectional study design, nine public schools were randomly selected in one school district in Maryland. In-depth interviews with principals and vice-principals were conducted and a web-based survey was sent to kindergarten and first-grade teachers. Parents of children, in those grades, who frequently consume HPL were invited to complete a web-based survey and to report their children’s food intake using the Automated Self-Administered 24-hour Recall (ASA24-2016). Children’s diet quality was assessed using the HEI-201 and HEI-2015. 19 teachers and 100 parents completed the survey. 71 parents reported at least one day of their child’s food intake. Interviews with 15 school administrators revealed that HPL contain too much food and are nutritionally diverse depending on children’s country of origin. The survey showed that more than half of the teachers considered HPL more nutritious than SM. Moreover, children’s overall diet quality was better when parents scored higher their self-efficacy for enacting healthy diet behaviors in their children and when parents were more closely monitoring their child’s food intake. Children of parents with the same higher self-efficacy had better total vegetable scores and were consuming more vegetables in their HPL. They also had better empty calories scores, and more precisely better added sugars scores and were consuming less added sugars in their HPL. Future interventions aiming to improve HPL’s nutritional quality should take into account school lunch policies and the cafeteria environment and incorporate parents’ key psychosocial variables.Item "Natural Enemies" or Intentional Allies? Teachers' & Parents' Perspectives on Middle School Boys of Color(2016) Lowe, Shasha Yolande; MacDonald, Victoria-María; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examined the perspectives and “shared knowledge” of parents and teachers of boys of color. The following overarching research question guided this study: “What do parents and teachers want each other to know about their middle school son or student of color regarding academics, engagement, and behavior?” Additionally, it explored the challenges and opportunities for shared knowledge and understanding of their (respective) son’s’ or students’ academics and engagement. The methodology was qualitative in nature and the intent in conducting this case study was to describe, interpret, and explain the “shared knowledge” between these stakeholders at a predominantly minority middle school. A sample of seven parents and seven teachers from one school in a mid-Atlantic state participated in interviews and focus groups. Results indicated that parents and teachers of boys of color viewed each other as “intentional allies.” Results further showed that parents and teachers were aware of the challenges faced by boys of color in and out of school. That awareness was reflected in strategies that both groups employed to support, prepare, and protect their son/students. Lastly, the study found that teachers received no formal training in building parent-teacher partnerships, but gathered experimental knowledge on how to build those relationships. These findings have implications for teacher education programs, schools, parents, and teachers.Item Childhood Attention Problems and the Development of Comorbid Symptoms at the Transition to High School: The Mediating Role of Parent and Peer Relationships(2015) LeMoine, Kaitlyn Ashley; Chronis-Tuscano, Andrea; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are at increased risk for the development of depression and delinquent behavior. Children and adolescents with ADHD also experience difficulty creating/maintaining high quality friendships and parent-child relationships, and these difficulties may contribute to the development of co-morbid internalizing and externalizing symptoms in adolescence. However, there is limited research examining whether high quality friendships and parent-child relationships mediate the relation between ADHD and the emergence of these co-morbid symptoms at the transition to high school. This study examines the mediating role of relationship quality in the association between ADHD and depressive symptoms/delinquent behaviors at this developmentally significant transition point. Results revealed significant indirect effects of grade 6 attention problems on grade 9 depressive symptoms through friendship quality and quality of the mother-child relationship in grade 8. Interventions targeting parent and peer relationships may be valuable for youth with ADHD to promote successful transitions to high school.