Anne Bowker

Predicting Friendship Stability During Early Adolescence

This study examined the stability of early adolescent best friendships across a school year. Grade 7 students (N = 174) participated in group-testing sessions in the fall and spring of their school year. Participants completed peer-nomination measures, described the quality of their best friendships, their knowledge of their best friend, and their typical conflict-resolution strategies in response to peer conflicts. Approximately 50% of the reciprocated best friendships remained stable across the school year. Friendship quality and knowledge were unrelated to friendship stability. However, stability of boys’ friendships was positively correlated with minimization strategies, whereas stability of girls’ best friendships was negatively correlated with minimization strategies but positively related to greater use of negative (i.e., confrontational) strategies in response to peer conflict. Results are discussed with reference to the rules of friendship and to the conflicting demands for compliance and autonomy within a close relationship.

Keeping it all inside: Shyness, internalizing coping strategies and socio-emotional adjustment in middle childhood

Despite growing research results indicating that shyness is a risk factor for psychosocial maladjustment in childhood, less is known about the conceptual mechanisms that may underlie these associations. The purpose of the current study was to explore links between self-reported shyness, coping strategies and social functioning in middle childhood. As well, we sought to examine the reliance on internalizing coping strategies as a potential mediator of the link between shyness and social functioning. Participants were 355 children aged 9 to 11 years who completed measures of shyness, loneliness, positive and negative affect, social anxiety, self-concept, well-being, and coping strategies. Results indicated that shyness was associated with greater internalizing difficulties and lower well-being. Moreover, internalizing coping was found to partially mediate the relation between shyness and certain indices of internalizing problems. These results suggest a conceptual pathway, where an over-reliance on internalizing coping may partially explain why shy children experience internalizing difficulties in middle childhood.

Treatments for Autism: Parental Choices and Perceptions of Change

Empirically conducted studies of the efficacy of various treatments for autism are limited, which leaves parents with little evidence on which to base their treatment decisions (Kasari, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 32: 447–461, 2002). The purpose of this study was to examine the types of treatments in current use by families of children with ASD. In addition, parents’ perceptions of improvement in their child’s functioning were explored. Through an online survey, a sample of 970 parents of ASD children reported on the treatments currently in use, those discontinued, and reasons for discontinuation. Results indicate that most families adopt multiple treatment approaches. Parents were most likely to discontinue non-evidence based treatments when they did not see improvement in their child’s functioning.

Parenting Daily Hassles, Child Temperament, and Social Adjustment in Preschool.

Abstract The goal of this study was to explore the relations between child temperament, parenting daily hassles, and children’s social adjustment in preschool. The participants were 122 preschool children ( M age =48.59 months, SD =6.92). Parents completed measures of child temperament and parenting daily hassles. Preschool social adjustment was assessed through teacher ratings and behavioral observations. Among the results, parenting daily hassles predicted child externalizing problems beyond the contribution of child temperament characteristics. As well, child temperament interacted with parenting hassles in the prediction of adjustment outcomes. Results are discussed in terms of the complex inter-associations between child temperament and stress and their contributions to child social adjustment.

Beautiful From the Inside Out: A School-Based Programme Designed to Increase Self-Esteem and Positive Body Image Among Preadolescents

The goal of the present study was to design, implement, and evaluate a school-based programme that aimed to increase self-esteem and positive body image among preadolescent boys and girls. Participants in grades five and six (N = 77; Mage = 10.86, 53.2% girls) from a public school in Eastern Ontario completed a battery of validated measures to assess factors related to self-esteem and body image, one week before and one week after the programme. Results indicated that, for both boys and girls, participation in the programme was associated with significantly higher levels of self-esteem and positive body image. The programme was also effective in making participants significantly more aware but less accepting of the distorted and unrealistic body ideals perpetuated by the media. Findings support a new approach for improving body image among Canadian preadolescents. Implications for educators, researchers, and clinicians are discussed.

Self-silencing and anger regulation as predictors of disordered eating among adolescent females

The main purpose of this study was to examine how self-silencing, emotional regulation, and body-esteem differentiated healthy eating from different patterns of disordered eating. A community sample of adolescent females was classified as either: 1) Restrained Eaters (n=104, M(age)=14.48); 2) Emotional Eaters (n=125, M(age)=14.52); or, 3) Healthy Eaters (n=396, M(age)=13.71). A discriminant function analysis revealed two significant functions. The first function differentiated the two disordered eating groups (i.e., the restrained and emotional eaters) from the healthy group, with the disordered eating groups scoring significantly higher on levels of self-silencing and anger regulation, and lower on body-esteem. The second function differentiated between the restrained and emotional eaters, with the emotional eaters reporting higher levels of externalized self-perception and anger, and lower levels of body-esteem. The results suggest that body-esteem and anger suppression were the most influential variables in differentiating between groups. The findings are discussed in terms of the implications for disordered eating prevention and treatment programs.

Review of arts-based therapies for Canadian youth with lived experience of mental illness

Canadian youth can experience a range of mental health problems and mental illness, many of which perpetuate into adulthood. In contrast with preventative and medical care for physical problems, youth who experience difficulties with mental health or illness meet restricted access to evaluation, diagnostic and treatment services. Obstacles vary from low funding levels for services to the fear of being stigmatised by society. Conventional therapies could be complemented by the use of arts-based therapies, which are reported to offer a tangible alternative and could relieve delays in treatment. However, research regarding the treatment options, monitoring and assessment of outcomes is based largely on narrative evidence or idiographic studies, thus constraining the dissemination of supporting evidence and limiting the range of treatments for use by practitioners. While arts-based therapies receive support from many areas, including people with lived experience of mental health problems and illness, it is argued that the development of a theoretical foundation and extensive empirical research are required to develop the potential that arts-based therapies have to offer.