Browsing by Subject "youth"
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Item An Examination of Work to Family Spillover, Family Meal Rituals, and Parenting Styles on Children's Outcome of Obesity(2012-07-16) Roberson, SamuelObesity has been on the rise for several decades in both children and adults. Furthermore, obesity is associated with diseases. Children's environment is suspected to affect children's eating habits and lack of exercise, but the salient aspects of children's environments are still not well understood. The present research addresses the possibility that work to family spillover may disrupt family eating patterns and children's physical activity sufficient enough to cause weight gain. Other researchers have examined the environment of the family in terms of parenting style and family rituals. This literature however has not examined the possible moderating effect of parenting styles on the effects of work to family spillover on children's obesity. The study included a cross-sectional sample of children and adolescents (n = 312) in a Houston study. Participants included both parents (if a father was present in the household) and one child aged either 9-11 or 13-15. Bivariate, multivariate, and logistic regression analyses were performed. Work to family spillover, family meal rituals and parenting styles were found to have a relationship with children obesity measures for both age groups. However, these relationships are less strong when combined into a full model. Only a mothers' work strain was associated with increased odds of having overweight children in the 9-11 age group. Although the relationship between mothers? work strain and mothers' controlling parenting style and obesity-related variables remained significant, there was no evidence that a maternal or paternal parenting style moderates the relationship between work spillover and children obesity measures. Father dinner ritual importance was associated with lower odds of having overweight children among 13-15 year old adolescents. However, findings did not support hypothesis that family meal ritual variables children eating while watching TV, mother eating while watching TV nor Father dinner ritual (all significant in the full model) moderated the positive relationship between mothers work strain and overweight, at-risk for overweight, or healthy weight children for neither age group.Item Case Study: Youth Perceptions of Citizenship(2012-10-19) Bryant, Marie JolliffThis study examines the perceptions of citizenship of youth involved in a community civic engagement program. The UP-BEAT Youth Health Leadership program trained youth participants in public speaking, technology, youth mapping, leadership and government. The study gathered qualitative and quantitative information from the 18 youth participants. Data gathered examined youth perceptions of the characteristics of good citizens as well as how the program influenced youth understandings of justice. Overall, youth in the program demonstrated a desire to facilitate community change through action, expressing ideas and engaging others. Minority participants demonstrated huge commitment to the program, engagement and social capital within their communities and a desire to participate in civic activities. Youth perceptions of the roles and responsibilities of citizenship were not highly influenced by justice. However, youth were able to recognize issues of injustice based on the new environments and new experiences they were exposed to during the program. Youth also found adultism which existed within the program and the environments youth interacted with a deterrent for civic participation.Item Development of youth leadership life skills of Texas youth as San Antonio Livestock Exposition school tour guides(Texas A&M University, 2005-02-17) Real, Laura A; Real, Laura A.Many youth organizations, including 4-H, FFA, and Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA), offer countless opportunities for their members to learn and further develop leadership life skills that are important in becoming contributing members of society as adults. The purpose of this study was to determine if Texas 4-H, FFA, and FCCLA members were developing leadership life skills as school tour guides at the San Antonio Livestock Exposition. Additionally, demographic characteristics were evaluated to determine which of these characteristics affected leadership life skills development. Demographic characteristics evaluated included gender, age, ethnicity, youth organization membership, years of membership, years of experience as a school tour guide, and previous leadership skills training. The target population was Texas 4-H, FFA, and FCCLA members who served as school tour guides at the San Antonio Livestock Exposition. School tour guides referred to the 4-H, FFA, FCCLA members who imparted their personal knowledge of agriculture to elementary-aged students from San Antonio and surrounding area schools that requested an educational tour at the San Antonio Livestock Exposition. There were 1,691 school tour guides on the days of February 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, and 18, 2004. All school tour guides returning for the afternoon exit-meeting during the 2004 San Antonio Livestock Exposition were asked to complete the questionnaire. The questionnaire was a 28-item survey instrument that was based on the scales: Working with Groups, Understanding Self, Communicating, Making Decisions, and Leadership. Conclusions showed school tour guides had developed leadership life skills. The most influential demographic characteristics were gender, previous leadership experiences, and ethnicity. Females and those participants who had had previous leadership experiences had stronger perceptions of their leadership life skills. In addition, African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics, and Anglos all had stronger perceptions of their leadership life skills when compared to Native Americans. As a result of this study, the researcher recommends that youth should be encouraged to participate as school tour guides at the San Antonio Livestock Exposition. School tour guides had developed leadership life skills. In addition, youth should also be encouraged to participate in other leadership-development activities through other programs to further develop and enhance their leadership life skills.Item Dimensions of Youth Identity Formation at a Reform Jewish Summer Camp in Central Texas(2014-04-17) Dangott, JessicaFor young Jews in North America, the discovery of Jewish identity?sometimes colloquially referred to as ?Jewishness??can often be confusing, exhausting, and even surprising. Many Jewish youth in America first become consciously aware of their Jewish identity formation in conjunction with the practice of their faith and with major Jewish life events (i.e., becoming a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, attending a Jewish day school or Jewish summer camp, or a trip to the State of Israel). This study focuses on URJ Greene Family Camp (GFC), a residential Jewish summer camp in central Texas, primarily investigating dimensions of Jewish youth identity formation through an interdisciplinary theoretical framework in anthropology, organizational communication, and recreation and heritage studies. The dataset consists of nine (9) semi-structured interviews with current 12^(th) graders who recently completed the counselor-in-training program in the 2013 summer season. These conversations reveal struggles with negotiating multiple identities as a result of summer experiences at GFC. In addition to analyzing common themes in the data, the researcher also leans on an atypical form of data analysis called poetic transcription to engage with the data creatively. Through auto-ethnography, this project allows the researcher to struggle with finding the balance between being an insider and an outsider in relation to Greene Family Camp and this thesis. This project revealed that each summer is a new phase of liminal experiences that contribute to campers? ever-changing identities explored at camp and those expressed elsewhere because of camp experiences.Item Equipment Availability in the Home and School Environment: Its Relationship on Physical Activity in Children(2013-01-14) Montandon, KristiOver the past three decades, instances of childhood obesity have tripled in the United States and are recognized as a serious public concern that requires action. Environmental factors have been identified as potential influences on the physical activity behavior of children; availability of equipment is one of these factors. The overall purpose of this dissertation was to examine availability of equipment as an environmental influence on a child?s physical activity behavior. The two environments where children spend the major of time, home and school, were evaluated for equipment availability and increased physical activity. Three studies were conducted to complete this purpose. In Manuscript 1, a systematic literature review was conducted, which included electronic databases as well as reference lists and author?s works as relevant. Only studies which measured home and school environments as factors in physical activity of children ages 5-12 were included. The review was conducted to determine the theoretical framework most used. Of the thirty-one studies reviewed, 67% showed little or no theoretical framework driving the study. Theoretical framework and models based on theory is needed to advance the field and this body of literature. In Manuscript 2, a systematic literature review was conducted which included electronic databases as well as reference lists and author?s works as relevant. Only studies which measured home and school environments and highlighted the availability of equipment as a factor in physical activity of children ages 5-12 were included. Of the twenty-one studies reviewed, only 14% clearly defined ?equipment? and how it was measured for the particular study. With multiple definitions and confusion when comparing studies, standardization in this area is desperately needed. Manuscript 3, analyzed data from a larger study, NIH, Student Wellness Assessment and Advocacy Project (SWAAP), conducted in Waller county Texas, 2010. The results demonstrated which pieces of equipment in the home environment were available and the percentage of use. School environments were measured for availability of equipment and facilities. A linear regression analysis determined that being of Hispanic race was significant in less physical activity in an average seven day period. Given that children spend up to 80% of their day at home or school, influences in these two environments are extremely important to the development of physical activity behaviors. Future studies involving the availability and use of equipment should clearly define the type of equipment used or observed. In cases of intervention studies type and amount need to be clearly defined as well as assessment of its effect on physical activity in children. Several studies have been conducted for the specific age group of 6-12 year olds and their physical activity and multiple factors involved availability of opportunities for physical activity. Of those factors equipment availability has been shown to influence physical activity as well as not influence these opportunities. Standardization of the term equipment and how it is measured will allow researchers to have a clearer picture of the role that equipment plays in opportunities for children to be physically active.Item Psychological and Family Characteristics of Adolescents with Type 2 Diabetes(2012-10-19) Mireles, GerardoType 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is now increasingly diagnosed in children and adolescents at an alarming rate, especially in youth from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Youth diagnosed with T2DM and their families face many challenges associated with the illness and its complications. Given that the prevalence of T2DM in youth is a recent trend, most of the studies examining T2DM have been conducted with adults. The current study expands the literature base of youth with T2DM by collecting demographic and clinical data of youth with T2DM and their families. Regression analyses were used to investigate the relationship among youth's executive function, their body mass index (BMI) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level. Furthermore, the study analyzed the relationship among depressive symptoms and health related quality of life (HRQOL) in youth, and the role of family members in sharing of tasks related to T2DM care and the youth's HRQOL. Results of this study demonstrated that executive function does not predict a youth's HbA1c, nor their BMI. Interestingly, one of the more significant findings to emerge from this study is that youth's rating of their ability to adjust to changes in routine or task demands and their ability to modulate emotions significantly correlated with their BMI. Results also demonstrated that HbA1c does not mediate the relationship between depressive symptoms and HRQOL, nor the relationship between the family sharing of responsibilities related to T2DM tasks and HRQOL. Future research examining the relationship among psychological and family characteristics can aid the development of diabetes prevention and treatment management.Item Shared Experiences and Collective Production: Note Card Confessions on YouTube(2014-12-03) Fowlds, KelliNew media are continuously changing the way in which youth communicate. Social media and online production, especially, are rapidly evolving. This research analyzes note card confession videos found on the popular video site, YouTube. It looks at the many aspects of digital storytelling, networked publics, and social support that make this genre of videos so unique. These videos have many visual and narrative components that tie them together as a unique form of communication. Writing style, narrative cues, and physical gestures were all used as part of the digital storytelling process. It was found that there is a common discussion of intimate topics such as depression, abuse, bullying, self-harm, and suicide. Furthermore, the comments section of each of the videos seems to serve as a potential space for online social support. In response to these videos, a series of parody videos have also been created as an apparent critical response to these note card confessions. These findings potentially open up new paths of research regarding new media communication, prevention studies, and youth health.Item Testing Social Bond Theory on Hispanic YouthAlvarez, Carla; San Miguel, Claudia EHirschi's social bond theory plays a substantial role in the explanation of juvenile delinquency. While social bond theory appears to play an important role in explaining delinquency among Non- Hispanic Whites, research on Hispanic populations is limited. The purpose of this study is to test the validity of social bond theory within the context of delinquency among a sample of Hispanic youth. In this research, self-administered surveys were given to 169 middle school students at United Independent School District (UISD) in Laredo, Texas. Assault, school delinquency, and public disturbance were used as measures of delinquency. Multiple regression analyses were employed to determine the significance of social bond theory in regards to Hispanic youth. Results indicated that for total delinquency, only attachment to parents demonstrated significance. For school delinquency, only school commitment was significant. However, delinquent friends, a control variable, demonstrated consistent statistical significance among all delinquency measures. Findings extend prior research on social bond theory and Hispanic delinquency but suggest that it is premature to conclude that social bond theory can account entirely for Hispanic delinquency. Further research should consider differential association and social learning theories, in addition to assimilation and generational status when testing delinquency among Hispanics.Item The Development of Career Maturity and Career Decision Self-Efficacy Among High-School Aged Youth Enrolled in the Texas 4-H Healthy Lifestyles Program(2013-08-01) Dodd, Courtney FelderThe purpose of this study was to assess the career aspirations, career maturity and career decision-making self-efficacy among youth in the Texas 4-H Healthy Lifestyles Program. While career development is a life-long process, the adolescent years are a critical time for youth to explore and confirm their career choices, which is seen as a major turning point in one?s life. A random sample of 350 was used to gather information from senior 4-H members who participate in the 4-H healthy lifestyles program. Data were collected with the use of an online survey instrument and resulted in a total of 170 responses (48.6%) with 127 of the responses (36.3%) being complete and usable. A scale developed by the researcher was used to measure the impact involvement in the 4-H healthy lifestyles program had on youths? career development. Very low, positive relationships were discovered between the healthy lifestyles program impact statements and years in 4-H; however, they were not significant. The Career Maturity Inventory (CMI) was incorporated into the online research instrument. The career maturity of the 4-H members was found to be greater than the high school norms. Significant differences were discovered based upon age. Very low, positive correlations were found for the CMI scores based upon years in 4-H; however, correlations were not significant. No significant differences were found for career maturity based upon gender. The Career Decision Self-Efficacy ? Short Form (CDSE-SF) was also used in the data collection process to reveal the confidence in youth to make career decisions. Results indicate the 4-H members have good confidence in making career decisions. Females outscored males on the total mean score and four of the five sub-scales; however, the only significant difference based on gender was for problem solving. Significant differences were also discovered based upon age. When compared to years in 4-H, very low, positive correlations were found for the CDSE-SF mean score and all five sub-scales; however, only some were found to be significant. The results indicate that participation in the 4-H healthy lifestyles program has had an impact on career choice and development. Youth have a readiness to make career decisions, and high levels of confidence in completing tasks necessary to make decisions about careers. However, years in 4-H and the highest level of participation in healthy lifestyles program activities did not have a statistically significant impact on youths? career development. Feedback provided by youth on what the 4-H program can do to promote youth career interests and choice, guided some of the recommendations provided by the researcher.Item The Influence of the Built Environment on Poor Hispanic Youth(2011-02-22) Zhou, LeiMany studies have examined the relationship between youth physical activity and their built environment. However, most of them used subjective measurement tools to measure built environment because of their low cost and convenience. The application of geographic information system (GIS) in this study greatly supported the research in this field because it can provide more detailed objectively measured data of built environment. Three hundred and thirty-eight Hispanic low-income youth enrolled in a local San Antonio Youth Center program participated in the study. The first study examined the association between youth's household income, and the availability and accessibility of recreational and utilitarian facilities. Results indicated that youth from low income families had longer distances to and less available number of recreational and utilitarian facilities within their neighborhoods. The second study focused on nutrition environmental features, such as, availability and accessibility of fast food outlets and supermarkets. Findings suggested that the average distance to supermarkets was almost two times that of fast food restaurants. These results indicated that participants need to walk more to access a supermarket compared to the closest fast food restaurant. On the whole, supermarkets were less accessible compared to fast food restaurants for the participants in the study area. The third study provided some important supplements to the first two studies by examining both features related to physical activity and dietary behavior with youth's BMI. Results indicated that the available number (availability) of physical activity- and food-related facilities contributed significantly to youth BMI. Lower BMI was related to more available utilitarian (e.g., shopping malls), recreational facilities (e.g., parks) and some food stores (e.g., supermarkets). This study indicated that youth's individual features (e.g., age and SES) had some associations with their health conditions (e.g., BMI) and built environments (e.g., accessibility and availability of facilities and food outlets). These results may provide some evidence to improve the understanding of the relationship between individual, environmental, and social characteristics, which may be useful to promote children and adolescent health behaviors (e.g., physical activity and eating behavior) in public health.Item Therapeutic Camps as Respite Care Providers: Benefits for Families of Children with Disabilities(2011-02-22) Shelton, Kyle J.This study examines the utilization of a therapeutic summer camp for children with disabilities as a respite care provider for parents of camp participants. Interviews were conducted with nine parents, from seven different families of recent camp participants at Camp LIFE, a camp for children with disabilities located in Burton, TX. The interviews were qualitative in nature, and utilized Atlas.ti research software to guide the data analysis process. The findings centered on five areas: the daily life of a family with a disabled child, the respite needs of these families, the value of respite care in general, the value of respite as provided by Camp LIFE in particular (both while the child attended camp, as well as after the child returned home), the qualities of Camp LIFE that contributed to respite, and suggestions from parents for improvement of service provision. These findings suggest that, as has been found in previous research, raising a child with a disability is often difficult; however, this study found that none of the parents would opt to alter their situation, given the opportunity. It was also reported by parents that respite care is often hard to obtain (for a variety of reasons), but that it is a much-needed and desired service. In terms of Camp LIFE, the interviews showed that the parents did see the camp as a source of respite care, and that each family "did something" with the time their child was at camp in such a way as to maximize these respite benefits. This study is in agreement with an argument raised by previous research; that overnight therapeutic camps are a much-valued source of rest for many parents, and that without such respite, parents would report much higher levels of stress related to the care of a disabled child. Further research should be conducted which further examines the specific processes that allow parents to feel comfortable with obtaining respite from therapeutic camps, as well as research into ways to provide financial support and assistance to further the ability of these camps to provide such services.Item Transforming Native American Youths' Concepts of Geoscience Through a Connection to Culture, Nature and Community(2014-05-07) Ricci, Jamie LeighThis qualitative study examines the experience of twelve Native American youth who participated in culturally appropriate geoscience summer programs throughout California. These programs have been shown to change participating youths? perceptions of science. After the programs, the youth are more likely to describe science as something tribes use to manage natural resources and have been using for a long time, something that is not only learned in classrooms, that they like science and they can live a cultural way of life and still be scientists. Hermeneutic phenomenology is used to understand the experience of the youth participating in the program. Semi-structured, life-world, pre- and post- interviews were designed to elucidate participants? program experience, conceptions of science and home life. From these, salient themes were found and organized into meaning units. It is suggested that having a supportive community, which youth have identified as a group of people described as familial, supportive and empowering, where youth can express their culture while enjoying outdoor programming provides the foundation and safe space to approach program science. Moreover, positive connections between nature and program science are made in this context. This provides scaffolding where these new conceptions of science as nature, and nature as science, can be applied to participants? lives outside of the program.