Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes both ASU Theses and Dissertations, submitted by graduate students, and the Barrett, Honors College theses submitted by undergraduate students.
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Description
Depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts or actions are on the rise in adolescents (National Institute of Mental Health, 2015; Bridge, Asti, & Horowitz, 2015). Parents, school administrators, and therapists are searching for resiliency factors with in at-risk groups to aid students in need. In previous work, Luthar and Zigler (1992) reported that intelligent youth are more resilient than less intelligent youth under low stress conditions but they lose their advantage under high stress conditions. This study examined whether intelligence (reflected in grade point average; GPA) and maladaptive (internalizing and externalizing symptoms) behaviors are negatively related in adolescents, and tested whether level of stress, reflected in emotion regulation and friendship quality, moderated that association. It also probed whether the relationships differ by gender. Sixth-graders (N=506) were recruited with active parental consent from three middle schools. Adolescents completed self-report questionnaires Regarding demo graphics, maladaptive behaviors, emotion regulation, and friendship quality, and GPA data were collected from the school. Regression analyses found that GPA was negatively related to externalizing symptoms. Girls with poor friendship communication report significantly higher maladaptive behaviors. This relation was more pronounced for girls with high GPAs, as predicted. Results support the theory that intelligent female adolescents are more reactive under adverse circumstances. Future efforts should follow students through middle school into high school to evaluate whether friendships remain important to adjustment, hold for boys as well as girls, and have implications for relationship interventions.
ContributorsGonzales, Ashlyn Carol (Author) / Luthar, Suniya (Thesis director) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / Infurna, Frank (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
The purpose of this study is to explore the role of leadership communication incultivating compassion at work. To do so, this study utilizes positive deviance case selection and qualitative, semi-structured interviews to explore employees’ experiences with highly compassionate leaders. These interviews allow insight into employees’ perspectives on expressing suffering at work and experiences of compassionate communication from leaders. The findings of this study extend current understandings of compassion at work by highlighting the role of uncertainty to express suffering in limiting compassion, uncovering leadership communication behaviors that cultivate compassion, and illustrating dynamics that leaders navigate when reacting compassionately. Specifically, this study extends compassion theory by (1) demonstrating that uncertainty related to emotional disclosure limits employees’ sharing of personal suffering, which shapes and limits compassion processes, (2) illustrating that individuals holding traditionally marginalized or minoritized identities face additional uncertainty related to expressing pain and suffering, (3) highlighting a relational orientation that emphasizes personal well-being as enabling the compassion processes, (4) outlining anticipatory compassion as a specific discursive move that conveys care and opens space to express specific pains and suffering, and (5) empirically illustrating three dialectical tensions that punctuate the dynamic interactions between leaders and employees when relating and (re)acting compassionately.
ContributorsTietsort, Cristopher John (Author) / Adame, Elissa A (Thesis advisor) / Tracy, Sarah J (Thesis advisor) / Alberts, Jess A (Committee member) / Craig, Jennifer D (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021