Bruce A. Ryan

Distinguishing Absentee Students from Regular Attenders: The Combined Influence of Personal, Family, and School Factors

In the present study, the relationship between student attendance and personal characteristics of the student, the students family relations, and school variables were examined in a sample of 54 high school students. Consistent with earlier reports, t-tests revealed statistically significant relationships between school absence and many student, family, and school variables. The data were also analyzed using a stepwise discriminant analysis. The results showed that the absentee and regular attending students could be distinguished based on a combined set of 6 variables representing each of the three domains of student, family, and school characteristics. The results further revealed that several variables that were statistically significant in the univariate analyses failed to be retained in the discriminant analysis, suggesting that these variables did not contribute sufficient unique variance to warrant their inclusion in the discriminant function. The implications of school absence as a multifactored problem is discussed with respect to assessment and treatment effectiveness.

Family relationships, academic environments and psychosocial development during the university experience: A longitudinal investigation.

A cohort-sequential study was used to assess family and university environments on identity formation and ego strength. A sample of 294 university students entering school in 1994 and 1995 was assessed in the first and second years. Mailed surveys were completed to assess expressiveness and cohesion in the family, intellectual and supportive activity in academic departments, frequency of critical and analytic teaching in courses, and measures of avoidance decision making, dialectic thinking, identity diffusion and identity achievement, and the ego strength of fidelity. Few developmental changes in any of the variables were observed across the 2 years. However, intellectual and supportive academic departments and democratic family life predicted ego strength. Likewise, the effect of intellectual and supportive academic departments on psychosocial functioning was mediated by information management strategies and the use of dialect thought. The evidence suggests that future research should include both direct effects through perceived environments and indirect effects of the environment through mediating social cognitions.

Rule compliance and peer sociability : A study of family process, school-focused parent-child interactions, and children's classroom behavior

This study examined the associations among family processes (cohesion, control, and conflict), school-focused parent-child interactions (support and pressure about achievement), and the childs own characteristics (assertiveness, frustration tolerance, intellectual effectiveness, and self-esteem) as correlates of rule compliance and peer sociability in the classroom. The sample consisted of 161 Grade 4 and 151 Grade 7 children. Family processes and parent-child interactions about school issues were associated with childrens personal characteristics, which, in turn, predicted childrens rule compliance and peer sociability. Some differences were found between the 4th- and 7th-grade samples; however, many variables consistently predicted the same outcomes across grades.

The family of origin scale: A construct validation study

Data from 69 women and 63 men along with ratings from a panel of expert judges were used to assess the construct validity of the Family Of Origin Scale as a measure of family health. Loevingers conception of construct validity, focusing on the substantive, structural, and external components of validity, was employed to organize the research procedures followed and the data analytic techniques used. Results showed that the instrument appears to be a useful measure of a warmth-coldness affect dimension in the family of origin, but the multi-dimensional structure of the test, as a measure of family-of-origin health, could not be validated. Suggestions for use, score interpretation, and further development are discussed.

Parallel Short Forms of the Family of Origin Scale: Evidence of Their Reliability and Validity

Two parallel short forms of the Family of Origin Scale were developed from data provided by 69 women and 63 men who completed the full Family of Origin Scale along with a variety of measures of family-of-origin characteristics. Data on the reliability and validity of the short forms are provided and discussed. The results indicate that both short forms are strongly and significantly correlated with each other and with the full-scale version of the FOS and that they share its reliability and validity characteristics to a very high degree.

Spouse Selection: Important Criteria and Age Preferences of an Iranian Sample

Importance of different criteria and age preference in spouse selection for single and married young Iranian adults was examined. The sample included 104 married (49 male. 55 female) and 112 single (51 male. 61 female) students. A 26- item scale developed for this study included 4 items related to demographic factors. 3 items on preferences for the ideal age of marriage, and 19 Likert-type items asking about criteria important for spouse selection. Analysis indicated that, in Iran, commitment, chastity, refinement, and health are four important criteria for spouse selection among male and female and single and married persons. Also, experience of marriage for married males may increase maturity, social prestige, family background, having a job, and age as criteria for choosing a spouse. On the other hand, marriage experience for females may decrease the importance of social skills, housekeeping, and autonomy for selecting a spouse.

Expanding the Context of Family Therapy.

Abstract This paper highlights and organizes ideas regarding family therapy and wider contexts. It briefly reviews the historical underpinnings of a contextual family therapy view, critiques the systems paradigm, and offers an epistemological orientation that includes wider contexts, reviews related clinical practices, and offers recommendations for future theory and practice in family therapy.

A case against behavior modification in the ‘ordinary’ classroom

Abstract It is argued that while behavior modification techniques have proved tremendously valuable in the teaching of problem learners, there are good grounds for resisting the use of these same procedures on a casual basis with normal children in ordinary classrooms. Aside from questioning the necessity of setting up a behavioral classroom for the majority of children, it is pointed out that (a) powerful reinforcers can limit the range of behaviors in which a child will engage, and (b) in some circumstances extrinsic rewards may undermine a childs willingness to become involved in some activities.

Measuring Children's Perceptions of Parental Involvement in Conjoint Behavioral Consultation: Factor Structure and Reliability of the "Parental Support for Learning Scale".

Practitioners of Conjoint Behavioral Consultation rely on several sources of information to assist in planning and evaluation of consultation efforts. Parental involvement in the home is an important aspect in Conjoint Behavioral Consultation, yet there are few questionnaires available to practitioners to assess this important construct, particularly those that target children’s self-report. This study examined the factor structure and reliability of a new questionnaire to measure children’s perceptions of their parental involvement in learning. The Parental Support for Learning Scale: Child Form (PSLS) was administered to a sample of 231 children (aged 10–13 years). Exploratory factor analysis supported a four-factor structure representing parental involvement behaviors and emotional tone: (a) Parental Management of the Learning Environment, (b) Parental Participation With Homework, (c) Controlling Parental Involvement, and (d) Supportive Parental Involvement. Analysis showed satisfactory reliability coefficients. The four factors are discussed in relation to the relevant literature and Conjoint Behavioral Consultation, and future directions for further validation of the PSLS are discussed.

Children's school problems and family system processes

The literature concerning the relationship between childrens school problems and family system processes is reviewed. While it is noted that there is no strong linkage between the empirical studies and case reports that have appeared to date, it is observed that the findings from these studies are showing some convergence. There is now reasonable evidence that some school problems may indeed be a consequence of family system processes. The fact of this possibility and the character of the relationship is brought to the attention of school counselors and school psychologists.