Human Development & Quantitative Methodology
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The departments within the College of Education were reorganized and renamed as of July 1, 2011. This department incorporates the former departments of Measurement, Statistics & Evaluation; Human Development; and the Institute for Child Study.
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Item Knowledge and Attitudes of Montessori Teachers of Young Children as a Context for Guiding the Normalization and Self-Construction Process(1994) Schaefer Zener, Rita; Flatter, Charles; Human Development & Quantitative Methodology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)The purpose of this study was (1) to investigate the degree of agreement between AMI trained Montessori teachers' knowledge and attitudes and Montessori's recommendations for guiding the process of normalization among young children and (2) to discover the reasons for differences from those recommendations. Normalization is the central process in the Montessori method. Except for a study by this investigator (Zener, 1993) guiding the process of normalization had not been researched since Montessori's work some forty-five to eighty-five years ago. Therefore, this investigation also provided current teacher experiences of guiding the process of normalization. One hundred sixty five Montessori teachers attending various regional and national conferences were surveyed with knowledge and attitude scales. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10% of the participants. Mean scale scores from 4.0 to 5.0 on a five degree Likert scale and a SD less than 1.0 were projected as satisfactory levels of agreement with Montessori's recommendations. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the scales, and content analysis was used to analyze the interviews. T-tests and ANOVAS indicated that demographic variables were not significant to the results.Item A SELF-SELECTED QUALITATIVE STUDY EXAMING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A FATHER AND HIS SON WHO HAS ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER (ADHD)(1996) Kilcarr, Patrick; Flatter, Charles; Human Development & Quantitative Methodology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)The purpose of this interpretive study was to examine the relationship that exists between a father and his son Who has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Since very little information is extant describing the relationship between a father and his son with ADHD, an interview format was developed to explore paternal perceptions, affect, and behaviors in relation to raising a son with ADHD. Sixteen fathers from an upper-middle class socioeconomic environment, participated in a one hour phone interview. These interviews were tape recorded and later transcribed. The interview attempted to answer the five research questions driving this study. The narrative data was interpreted by using a qualitative research method developed by Ranata Tesch. method involved extracting themes (specific participant responses) and collapsing the themes into larger-overarching categories called metathemes. Metathemes represent shared thoughts and perceptions held in common by all participants. Ten metathemes emerged from the data. The metathemes included such topics as a father's decision to place a child on medication and how and when to use behavior management strategies. Editorial comments from the author preceded response segments from participants (these segments were indented and single spaced). The data indicated that fathers share a unique relationship with sons who have ADHD. Prior to diagnosis, the majority of fathers described the relationship as tense, frustrating, and often unfulfilling. The relationship following diagnosis was described as significantly more Positive and rewarding. This was attributed to two specific changes: 1. the advent of education for fathers' regarding ADHD issues; and, 2. medication. Fathers agreed that the most effective behavior management strategy was to remain calm, educated, and realistic regarding their Childrens' behavior. The intention of this research was to generate further questions regarding the father-ADHD son relationship. The results of this study are not and cannot be generalized to other cultlures or social groups. Further research is needed which addresses the impact of race, class, and culture on the father and son with ADHD relationship.Item The Relationships Between Job Burnout, Job Stress, and Job Satisfaction Among Schoolteachers(1985) Newburg-Rinn, Sharon; Hardy, Robert; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)Purpose Questions have been raised concerning the separateness of the three concepts, job burnout, job stress, and job satisfaction. It is best to avoid coining new terms such as "burnout" if they are unnecessary. Further, understanding the relationships between these concepts may help prevent confusion in future studies involving these concepts. The purpose of the study was to increase the understanding of all three of the concepts by understanding their relationships to one another. Specifically, are job burnout, job stress, and job satisfaction best viewed as three separate concepts? If not, further questions arise. Is job burnout the same thing as job satisfaction? Could job stress also be placed under the job satisfaction rubric? Finally, are job burnout and job stress part of the same phenomenon? Procedures and Conclusions Surveys were sent to 1512 teachers who were randomly selected from all the members of the Maryland State Teachers Association. Of these, 741 (49%) responded. Eliminating unusable responses brought the final total to 701 teachers. Two measures of each concept were utilized, one a multiple item test and the other a single global question answered on a five point scale. The multiple item instruments were: 1) for job satisfaction, Smith, Kendal, and Hukin's (1969) Job Descriptive Index, Work Scale; 2) for burnout, Maslach and Jackson's (1979a) Maslach Burnout Inventory, Emotional Exhaustion Scale; and 3) for stress, Cichon and Koff's (1980) Teaching ~~ents Stress Inventory. For the three concepts, the global questions were similar in structure to this example: "In general, how stressful do you find being a teacher?" 1 Not Stressful 2 Just a Little stressful 3 Somewhat Stressful 4 Quite Stressful 5 Extremely Stressful These data were analyzed by way of a multitrait-multimethod matrix (Campbell and Fiske, 1959) and a factor analysis. These approaches allowed an assessment of the pattern of the relationships between these concepts. It was concluded that the preponderance of the evidence implied that job burnout, job stress, and job satisfaction are best considered separate concepts. In addition, it was found that there was a poor correlation between a global measure of stress and the Teaching Events Stress Inventory. The study tends to suggest that the TESI be reexamined before being used again in this fashion for possible changes which would allow a higher correlation between it and a global measure of job stress.Item Adult Children of Alcoholics as Public High School Teachers: Comparable Risks for Occupational Burnout(1989) Hofford, Craig William; Gold, Robert S.; Health Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)Clinicians working with Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACAs) have suggested these individuals are at higher risk for occupational burnout than those who did not grow up in alcoholic environments (NACAs). However, little empirical data exist to support such claims. This study compared the scores of ACAs and NACAs on the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). The ACAs' scores were further tested to explore any relationship that might exist between MBI scores and birth order or treatment received for co-dependency. The population tested was a convenient, non-random sample of uburban, public high school teachers. High school professionals (N= 409) responded to a study instrument that included the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (C.A.S.T.) and the MBI. Eighty-three respondents were determined to be ACAs by their scores on the C.A.S.T. A statistically significant number (N= 23) of those ACAs did not indicate that they grew up in an alcoholic home on the accompanying demographic sheet. Discriminant analysis (ACAs and NACAs) produced a significant canonical correlation of .7957 (p < .001). Significant variables included parental alcoholism, parental drug dependency, Personal Accomplishment, years in teaching, Depersonalization, parental stroke, age. burnout (intensity), and parental handicap. Teacher burnout rates were lower than reported in previous tudies. ACA teachers had statistically significant, higher mean scores for intensity of Depersonalization and Personal Accomplishment (p < .05). Tests of the means failed to identify any other differences in the groups with regard to the incidence of burnout. No statistically significant differences were found between the means of comparison groups of ACA teachers defined by birth order or treatment. Results suggest that ACA teachers perceive the intensity of Depersonalization more strongly than NACA teachers. Their higher sense of Personal Accomplishment may, in fact, enhance the intensity of that feeling of Depersonalization since getting along with people is highly valued in the teaching profession. There appears to be no relationship between the measures of burnout in ACA teachers and the variables of birth order and treatment. Any conclusions drawn from this study, however, must be tempered by the fact that a post hoc power analysis indicated very low power for the hypothetical comparisons conducted in this study.Item THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERCEIVED PARENTAL SELF EFFICACY AMONG FIRST-TIME MOTHERS AND CHILDREARING BELIEFS, KNOWLEDGE OF INFANT DEVELOPMENT, AND EXPERIENCE WITH INFANTS(1993) Luebering, Anne; Tyler, Bonnie; Department of Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)Perceived parental self- efficacy has been assumed to contribute positively toward maternal behavior among mothers of infants, but previous research has been inconclusive with regard to the link between self efficacy and behavior. Examination of Bandura's self efficacy theory points to the need to assess perceived parental self-efficacy in conjunction with other parenting cognitions before judgment can be made about its significance for good parenting. In particular, childrearing beliefs were thought to be essential to mothers ' ideas about what kinds of skills are necessary to be a good parent, and therefore to their evaluations of their parenting a b ilities. In the present study, two measu res of perceived parental self-efficacy were obtained from ll3 first-time mothers of 6 to l2-month - old infants, one measure tapping specific domains and tasks of parenting infants, and the other tappi ng a more general sense of how one was functioning as a parent . The relationship between these measures and childrearing beliefs, knowledge of infant development, experience with infants, SES, maternal age, and ethnicity were assessed. The demographic variables and knowledge were unrelate d to e ither measure of self- efficacy. Ex perience with infants was moderately correlated with the task- based measure of self- efficacy, but weakly r elated to the general measure. Childrearing beliefs showed low but significant correlations with both self efficacy measures. Investigation of the subscales of the child rearing beli efs measure indicated that the dimension of enjoyment/aggravation regarding the parental role was most closely related to mothers ' feelings of self-efficacy. Subscales measuring encou ragement of autonomy, strictness, beliefs about spoiling , and beliefs in infants' need for warmth and affection were not related to either measure of perceived parental self- efficacy. The results of this study indicate that caution should be taken in r e asoning that perceived parental self- efficacy is associated with appropriate parenting skills and behaviors , since high self-efficacy can occur in conjunction with undesirable childrearing beliefs, and such beliefs may not be associated with positive maternal behavior.Item An Analysis of Selected Topics in Christian Sex Education Curricula(1982) Dahlin, Marjorie B.; Gardner, Albert H.; Human Development Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)PROBLEM. This research identified content and methods used in 37 current Christian sex education resources to teach the topics of masturbation, contraception, homosexuality, abortion, and pre-marital sex. The analysis sought to ascertain the extent to which these topics were covered in the resources, if at all; the direction of stance taken by each resource toward each topic; the type(s) of authority cited in support of stance; the scriptural passages quoted in support of stance; the type of values education approach used, and characteristic themes comprising basic content in each of the five topics. PROCEDURE. Titles for the analysis were identified based on bibliographies by SIECUS and the National Council of Churches' Commission on Family Ministries and Human Sexuality, with a follow-up survey to check for possible omissions. The final sample consisted of materials produced by or for 1) the Commission's member groups and 2 ) the Roman Catholic Church. The investigator's judgments were subjected to tests of inter-judge reliability, resulting in overall levels of agreement of 76.0% to 94.1%. RESULTS. At least 4 of the 5 topics were covered in most (70.3%) of the resources. All of the materials discussed pre-marital sex; this topic exceeded the others in number of sentences of coverage by more than 4 times. The resources tended to be accepting of contraception by married couples (except for the Roman Catholic materials); divided on their stances toward masturbation; disapproving of premarital sex and homosexuality, and ambiguous toward abortion (again, except for the Roman Catholic materials). Scriptural references cited in support of stances derived primarily from the Old Testament and the writings of St. Paul. The type of values education approach used most frequently was "Inculcation." Almost half the resources contained information on contraceptives. CONCLUSIONS. Most of the resources contained discussion of most of the topics. Further research might explore the thoroughness and accuracy of this coverage. Recommendations are made for revision of the materials.Item An Application of Concepts from the Cobb Model to Female Coping with Mid-Life Events(1983) Lake, Geraldine Stirling; Hardy, Robert; Institute for Child Study/ Department of Human Development; University of Maryland (College Park, Md); Digital Repository at the University of MarylandThis study examined the relationship among social situation variables, selected personality variables, and how a woman in mid-life copes with a major life event. Specifically, this study considered relationships among Myers-Briggs Type Indicator continua, social support, choices and assessments a woman makes in coping with a life event. The subjects were 102 women, aged thirty-five to fifty-five, who had experienced a life event (e.g:, divorce, health problems, job loss, etc.) in the past three years. Subjects completed instruments on their background; personality (MBTI); type of events involved; responses to these events; quantity, quality, and types of social support used; and current life situation assessment. T Tests were computed using the Extraversion/Introversion MBTI continuum with quantity and quality of resources used. T Tests were also computed using subjects' scores on quality of resources with life assessment variables. Multiple Analysis of Variance was used to test new constructs developed from the Critical Response List with the MBTI Scales. Two specific hypotheses and three questions were studied. Hypothesis 1 stated that extraverts would report being helped by more people and helped more by people when compared to introverts. Differences between the two groups were not significant. The t Test on extraversion and quantity of help approached significance; the part of the hypothesis testing extraversion and quality of help was rejected. Hypothesis 2 stated that subjects having better quality of support would report better life situations than would subjects with poorer quality of support. While the difference between the two groups was not significant, the t Tests did approach significance. Other questions which tested for coping response differences between groups on the other three scales of the MBTI found no significant differences, indicating that the MBTI scales did not discriminate among the coping responses of the subjects. One sub-group, judging, rated their quality of emotional support received as much higher (.0046) than did perceivers. These results lend little support to the idea that there are significant relationships among MBTI continua, social support, and how a woman copes with a life event. The study did find that subjects mainly used family and friends for support while working though a life event and that over 90% of the women reported that emotional support was the most important kind of support.Item Perceived Organizational and Personal Factors Related to Job Satisfaction in Public School Teachers(1982) Dodge, Joan Moir; Milhollan, Frank; Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)Teaching has always been a demanding occupation; and yet, in the last few years, there has been increasing evidence that teachers are expressing greater feelings of anxiety, frustration and dissatisfaction with their jobs. While there appears much popular interest in the area of teacher stress and job dissatisfaction, generally there has been little research attention. More specifically, there has been little empirical assessment using a multivariate model which examines the interaction of organizational and personal variables related to job satisfaction in a teacher population. It is the purpose of this study to examine both perceived organizational factors and personal factors and to determine how variation in these factors leads to variation in job satisfaction in teachers. Based on a multivariate model, the following two questions were addressed: 1. Does participation in decision-making, teaching anxiety, social support in schools {perceived organizational factors) as well as job involvement, years of teaching experience, age and sex (personal factors) affect job satisfaction in public school teachers? 2. Are perceived organizational or personal factors more influential in affecting job satisfaction in teachers? The study sample consisted of two hundred public school teachers with 69% of them being classroom teachers who responded to a questionnaire. Results were analyzed using simultaneous multiple regression for question one and a hierarchical multiple regression analysis for question two. Findings showed that 35% of the variance of job satisfaction could be explained by these seven variables. The four variables of emotional support, participation in decision-making, teaching anxiety, and age, yielded significant contributions to job satisfaction. Using a hierarchical method to determine the unique contribution of organization versus personal factors to job satisfaction, results indicated that organizational factors account for 33% of the variance in job satisfaction while personal variables accounted for 2% of the variation. In general, these findings suggested that perceived organizational factors were much more important to the public school teachers' feelings of satisfaction with their jobs than personal factors were. These findings were discussed in terms of implications related to helping school administrators focus on mental health issues of teachers as well as the importance of organizational environment to job satisfaction.Item The Effects of Previous Adherence, Physical Fitness, Behavioral Intervention, and Exercise Self-Efficacy on Exercise Adherence(1994) Mince, Rosalie Veronica; Bennett, Stanley; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)Since substantial research has shown that a physically active lifestyle is a fundamental component of health, there exists a need to investigate why the majority of individuals do not adhere to an exercise program on a long-term basis. The purpose of this study was to examine the degree to which previous adherence, physical fitness, behavioral intervention, and exercise self-efficacy predict exercise adherence. There were 52 male and 44 female participants in this study ranging in age from 19 to 72 years. All subjects completed the same written and physical evaluations and participated in the same fitness program. Subjects were divided into three groups (experimental: n=34, comparison: n=33, and control: n=29). The experimental group received behavioral intervention aimed at increasing exercise adherence. The comparison group received an intervention which was not aimed at influencing exercise adherence. The control group did not receive any additional intervention. Exercise adherence was determined from self-report of exercise activity for 24 weeks . The behavioral intervention took place during weeks 9 through 16. The 24 weeks were divided into 3 adherence periods: "before adherence" (weeks 1-8), "during adherence" (weeks 9-16), and "after adherence" (weeks 17-24). Pre- and post-treatment exercise self-efficacy was determined from subjects' completion of an Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale. Pre- and post-testing physical fitness assessment included body composition and aerobic capacity measures. The investigator assisted the experimental group participants in identifying realistic goals. These participants met biweekly during the intervention period with the investigator to discuss problems and adjust workouts and goals to adapt to individual progress and personal needs. The results of this study support research studies which have found that previous exercise adherence is highly predictive of continued adherence. Based on a very stringent definition of adherence, on the average, the subjects were unable or unwilling to perform aerobic exercise the three times per week necessary to substantially improve cardiovascular fitness. This finding is consistent with the majority of previous adherence studies. According to the qualitative analyses, improved physical fitness was the primary reason why subjects adhered to aerobic exercise, and a loss of fitness was a strong motivator for participants to begin exercising again after a temporary lapse .Item An Investigation of Social Interaction Between Severely Autistic Adolescents and Mildly Handicapped Peers(1990) Allen, Robin Drew; Seefeldt, Carol; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)The purpose of this study was to examine social interactions between severely autistic adolescents and mildly handicapped peers in a segregated special education setting. This was accomplished by determining (1) the frequency of reciprocal social interactions between severely autistic adolescents and mildly handicapped peers; (2) the types of social behaviors most frequently exhibited by severely autistic adolescents; (3) the levels of initiations and responses made by severely autistic adolescents and mildly handicapped peers; and ( 4) the post-intervention social behaviors of the severely autistic adolescents. Three severely autistic adolescents were exposed to a peer social initiation intervention employed by three mildly handicapped peers over a period of three months. The peer social initiation intervention was used to increase social interaction between the autistic students and their mildly handicapped peers.The research design was a multiple baseline across subjects evaluation. It was used to assess the effects of the peer intervention on each subjects' reciprocal social interactions and specific social behaviors. The independent variable was exposure to a peer social initiation intervention designed to increase social interaction behaviors. The primary dependent variable was reciprocal social interaction, which was defined as one student's positive social initiation followed by another student's positive response within 3 seconds. Results of the study were: 1. The peer social initiation intervention increased the percentage of intervals in which reciprocal interactions occurred between severely autistic students and mildly handicapped peers. 2. The peer social initiation intervention increased other vocal/verbal and other motor/gestural behaviors for the severely autistic students. 3. The levels of social responding by severely autistic adolescents increased as a result of the peer social initiation intervention. 4. Increases in reciprocal social interactions for two severely autistic adolescents generalized to a free play setting with trained and untrained peers.