College of Education
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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations..
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Item Are different temperament traits involved in adapting to routine and novel situations?(2021) Shoplik, Helena; Teglasi, Hedwig; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Individual differences in adaptability, defined as ease of responding to changes, was initially suggested as a temperamental disposition, observable during the first years of life (Thomas & Chess, 1977), but turned out to be a more complex phenomenon with contributions from multiple temperamental traits (Teglasi, 1998). Temperament traits contribute differently depending on the functional requirements of routine and familiar contexts for reactive and self-regulatory processes. The current study utilizes parent-reported temperament traits measured by the Structured Temperament Interview (STI) and by a well-respected temperament measure (the Child Behavior Questionnaire; CBQ), as well as correlates of adaptive responsiveness (e.g. social competence and emotion understanding) to highlight the role that emotions play in adjustment to familiar and novel contexts. Part of an archival data set, pre-schoolers’ parents completed the CBQ (Rothbart, et al., 2001) and the STI (Teglasi, unpublished) and reported how well their child adapted in novel and routine contexts. Children completed the Emotion Comprehension Test (ECT; Teglasi, unpublished) and teachers filled out the Social Competence Behavior Evaluation (SCBE; Freniere & Dumas, 1995). Results provided support for conceptualising temperament traits as working together like a team—the addition of one temperament trait can change the expression of another. Additionally, different traits emerged as unique predictors in novel and routine situations, even when controlling for the overlap between those situations and other traits. Finally, this study continued to expand on a new construct, Resistance to Emotional Attention, which captures the function of attention as it relates to emotional stimuli.Item The Effects of Observed Friendship Formation on Group Level Peer Experiences: A Study of Behaviorally Inhibited Preschooler(2020) Fleece, Hailey; Rubin, Kenneth H; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Early social withdrawal places children at a greater risk for later internalizing disorders and peer difficulties. However, positive friendships can serve as a buffer against this trajectory. Currently, very little is known about if friendships develop between preschool aged withdrawn children, and how this affects their group level peer processes. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether socially withdrawn children who made a friend demonstrated gains in social skills in their preschool classrooms over an 8-week period during which they had participated in an intervention designed to increase social interaction and decrease social reticence. Overall, the children who made a friend over the intervention period had less observed reticent behavior and more prosocial behavior in their preschool classrooms both before and after the intervention period. These children entered the intervention with more advanced social skills and were able to utilize them to develop a meaningful friendship.Item The Contributions of Temperament Traits to Regulatory Flexibility in Preschoolers: The Importance of Context(2019) Shoplik, Helena; Teglasi, Hedwig; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Regulatory flexibility is the ability to meet demands of a situation by modulating behavior, cognitions, or emotions. While flexibility has been studied in early childhood, the role of reactive and regulatory temperamental building blocks of flexibility to meet requirements of different contexts has not been investigated in preschoolers. Routine and novel contexts require very different skills to navigate appropriately. For example, different aspects of inhibition and modulation of behavior may come into play in familiar/routine and novel contexts such those that depart from expectations. The current study utilized a parent-report measure of temperament and of regulatory flexibility to address the unique contributions of selected temperamental attributes—including attention, sensitivity, and activity level—to regulatory flexibility. Because of its multi-faceted nature (Kashdan & Rottenberg, 2010), an in-depth examination of regulatory flexibility could provide a better understanding of how preschoolers meet the challenges that are introduced to them during this developmental period.Item Attention, Emotion Understanding, and Social Competence in Preschool Children: Construct Definitions, Measurement, and Relationships(2013) Genova-Latham, Maria de los Angeles; Teglasi, Hedwig; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Available literature regarding the relations between attention, emotion understanding, and social competence is limited in its utility given discrepancies in construct definitions and measurement. The current study examined the relations between attention, as defined from a temperament perspective, emotion understanding, and social competence in preschool children, emphasizing specificity in the conceptualization and assessment of constructs. Attention was measured via the Structured Temperament Interview (STI) and the Childhood Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ), parent-report measures. Emotion understanding was assessed with the Emotion Comprehension Test (ECT), a performance assessment. The ECT differentiated between a child's ability to identify emotions in others based on facial expressions, situational cues, and behavioral cues. Social competence was measured via teacher ratings on the Social Competence Behavior Evaluation questionnaire (SCBE). Exploratory factor analyses of the STI revealed a two factor solution, including factors Low Distraction from Task, High Duration of Attention and Low Distraction from Emotional Investment. The former demonstrated multiple relations with the Effortful Control factor of the CBQ in correlational analyses, whereas the latter demonstrated multiple relations with the Negative Affect factor. Quantitative data, as well as qualitative analyses of themes emerging from parents' narrative STI responses, indicated that the STI encompasses both self-regulatory and reactive dimensions of attention, as well as features of emotionality and interest. Correlational and hierarchical regression analyses indicated that dimensions of attention including distractibility, attention span/persistence, and attentional focusing are related to a child's ability to identify emotions in others based on situational cues. Self-regulatory and reactive dimensions of attention, as assessed via the CBQ, demonstrated relationships with social competence outcomes, though no relations were evident between STI factors and SCBE scales. Ultimately, though dimensions of attention demonstrated relations with facets of both emotion understanding and social competence, in no case were dimensions of both attention and emotion understanding related to the same facet of social competence.Item THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILDREN'S BEHAVIOR QUESTIONNAIRE, TEACHER VERSION (CBQ-T)(2012) Schussler, Laura Elizabeth; Teglasi, Hedwig; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Information is provided about the development of a teacher version of the Children's Behavior Questionnaire Short Form (CBQ Short Form; Putnam & Rothbart, 2006). The CBQ Short Form, designed for caregivers, was modified by changing the item wording for the preschool classroom and is termed the CBQ, Teacher Version (CBQ-T). Both measures were administered to the caregivers and teachers of preschoolers ages 3 to 6 years. The CBQ-T was found to be as reliable as the CBQ Short Form with two scales falling short of adequate internal consistency. Few correlations were found between parents and teachers in accord with literature documenting low to moderate agreement between the two raters. Several temperament scales were correlated with age for parents and teachers, none were correlated with gender as rated by parents, and several were correlated with gender as rated by teachers. Further validation of the CBQ-T with varying populations would be beneficial.Item Fathers of children in public preschool programs [electronic resource]: a study of school involvement and satisfaction(2012) Noggle, Amy Kappel; Lieber, Joan; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In this quantitative study, I examined the involvement levels of fathers of children attending public preschool programs using the Family Involvement Questionnaire; I also examined fathers' satisfaction with school contact and involvement experiences using the Parent Satisfaction with Educational Experiences scale. Additionally, I investigated public preschool programs' efforts to involve fathers in school using modified versions of the family involvement and parent satisfaction measures. The final purpose of this study was to determine which demographic and child characteristics, if any, influence father involvement levels in school. Fifty-two biological fathers rated their own involvement in activities at their children's schools, and they rated their own satisfaction with school contact and involvement experiences. Two public preschool administrators answered questions about what types of involvement opportunities are offered to fathers. Participating fathers' children were enrolled in one of the three following public preschool programs: Head Start, Prekindergarten (PreK), or Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE). Fathers of children with disabilities, as well as fathers of children without disabilities, were included in this study. As predicted, fathers of children in Head Start volunteered at school more frequently than fathers of children in PreK or ECSE programs. However, contrary to the original hypothesis, fathers of children with disabilities were more involved in school activities compared to fathers of children without disabilities. Fathers of children with disabilities were equally satisfied with school contact and involvement compared to fathers of children without disabilities with the exception of one item on the satisfaction measure; fathers of children with disabilities were more satisfied with their contact with other parents outside of school. Examination of the predictive value of fathers' income levels, child's gender, child's disability status, schools' efforts to involve fathers, and satisfaction on fathers' involvement levels resulted in only one significant finding. Lower income predicted higher levels of volunteerism in school. Correlational analyses revealed a number of significant positive relationships between items on the involvement and satisfaction measures. However, more research is necessary to establish causal relationships between satisfaction and involvement. Additionally, researchers, teachers and policy makers need to carefully examine the ways in which fathers are currently involved in public preschool programs and make programmatic changes, as necessary. Finally, low-income fathers of children with disabilities face more adversity than either low-income fathers or fathers of children with disabilities; thus, it is very possible that they need to be supported differently. More research is needed to find out what these fathers need to support their children and to remain involved in their children's lives.Item The Relationship Between Temperament and Emotion Understanding in Preschoolers: An Examination of the Influence of Emotionality, Self-Regulation, and Attention(2010) Genova-Latham, Maria de los Angeles; Teglasi, Hedwig; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examined the links between temperament and emotion understanding in preschoolers. Temperamental facets of emotionality, attention, and self-regulation were utilized. Emotion understanding is the ability to identify feelings based on facial expressions, behaviors, or situations. Historically, temperamental variables and emotion understanding have been poorly defined, impacting the clarity of research findings. The Structured Temperament Interview (STI) measured facets of temperament and the Emotion Comprehension Test examined emotion understanding. Both measures offer clear definitions of their associated constructs. Additionally, principal components analyses were run on STI dimensions. Correlational analyses were run on the STI and Child Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ), an established measure of temperament, to further determine the STI's utility as a measure of temperament. Results, though mixed, suggest that components of Attention and Emotionality from the STI explain a great deal of the variance in ECT scale scores.Item The Emotion Comprehension Test: Selected Psychometric Properties of a New Measure of Emotion Understanding for Preschoolers(2009) Gustafson, Emily Anne; Teglasi, Hedwig; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examines the psychometric properties, including internal consistency and item difficulty of a new measure of emotion understanding through quantitative analysis. Intercorrelations between the three subtest of the measure, correlations with age and gender, and response patterns were also examined. Emotion understanding is the ability to identify the emotions of others from facial expressions and behaviors and to understand what emotions are likely to be elicited by common social situations. Emotion understanding begins to emerge in the preschool years and serves as the foundation for social competence. The Emotion Comprehension Test (ECT) is a new measure of emotion understanding for preschoolers, which uses photographs of real children to depict natural emotional facial expressions to assess emotion identification. The measure also uses puppets to act out social situations associated with common emotions and behaviors associated with emotions. Internal consistency of the three subtests were found to be r = .699 for the Emotion Identification subtest, r = .805 for the Emotion - Situations subtest, and r = .614 for the Emotion - Behaviors subtest.Item Treatment Effectiveness in Preschool Education- A Look at Affective Variables(2009) Tsakiris, Elizabeth Ann; Strein, William O; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Autism now occurs in 1 out of 150 births in the United States (Centers for Disease Control, 2008). Increasing numbers and complexity of the disorder make the need for identifying effective interventions critical. DSM-IVTR identifies core characteristics of autism as significant deficits in communication, social interaction, and symbolic play. Neither intellectual ability nor academic achievement, two variables frequently used for measuring intervention effectiveness, are included as diagnostic criteria. Yet IQ scores are often used as entry criteria for treatment studies (Tsakiris, 2000). Therefore, intervention effectiveness has utilized variables other than the primary deficits and cannot be applied to the wider range (and truer representation) of children with autism.. From 1980 to 1999, Applied Behavior Analysis (Lovaas, 1987) and the Developmental-Individual Differences Relationship model (Greenspan & Wieder, 1998) were associated with improvement for children with autism; they remain the foundation for most current interventions. While researchers have examined gains in language and academic skills for these models, few empirical studies have examined improvement in the core deficits for autism. This study examined the core affect variables for 28 children with autism who had undergone a minimum of two years of intensive intervention. This study used a retrospective descriptive design to examine treatment effectiveness in development of social interaction, play, and communication competencies. Assessment instruments measured these skills in young children, incorporating both quantitative behavioral data and qualitative psychodynamic interpretation. Results were analyzed to determine relationships between social interaction, communication, and play with the intervention. Parent interviews and record reviews were used to examine child characteristics that might differentiate the presence or lack of relationship to the selected therapies, including age at symptom onset and treatment initiation, self-stimulation levels, echolalia, motor planning and language skills, and biomedical factors. No differences were seen between treatment programs on all outcome measures. The individual characteristics of the children played the more significant role in determining social interaction and communication improvements regardless of the child's intellectual functioning level. The results have important implications for determining which treatments may have better potential for addressing the core deficits of autism and identifying skill trajectories that warrant more attention.