Engineering careers are in high demand due to the increasingly technology-based society. However, the rates at which individuals pursue and obtain engineering careers is not keeping up with societal demands. Research has recently aimed at understanding how engineering-related motivational beliefs are developed in children and how important socializers, such as parents, play a role in the development of these beliefs. The parent socialization model of situated expectancy-task value theory (SEVT) suggests that parents hold expectancies and task-value beliefs about their children and that these beliefs are communicated through the messages they use and the behaviors they engage in with their children. Although the influence of parents has been examined for STEM broadly, studies have not explored these motivational beliefs in the engineering domain with elementary school students. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the role of parents’ engineering beliefs about their child and parents’ engineering socialization behaviors on elementary school children’s engineering expectancy/task-value beliefs and their engineering-related career aspirations. Parents (N = 193; 75% mothers) completed questionnaires on engineering-related expectancy and task-value beliefs about their child and on their engineering socialization behaviors. First through sixth grade students (N = 255; 55% female) completed questionnaires on their engineering-related expectancy/task value beliefs and career aspirations. Findings revealed that parents’ beliefs about their child were associated with changes in children’s engineering-related competency beliefs. In addition, parental provision of engineering opportunities was associated with changes in children’s engineering-related importance beliefs. Results also revealed that parental engineering career support was higher for the low socioeconomic status (SES)/less parental education group compared to the high SES/more parental education group. Lastly, there were no associations found between parents’ beliefs with parents’ engineering socialization behaviors and there were no indirect associations between parents’ beliefs and children’s beliefs as mediated by parent socialization behaviors. These findings highlight the role of parents in children’s engineering motivational belief development and provide important implications for future engineering intervention efforts with parents and children.

Online learning in higher education has been increasing over the last two decades (NCES, 2016). Previous research has highlighted the importance of student engagement for academic achievement and performance (Fuller, Wilson, & Tobin, 2011; Northey et al., 2018). The current study aims to further understand students’ perceptions of peer interactions, assess the application of the Theory of Involvement in online learning environments, and identify factors of student engagement. Data were collected from 1,514 undergraduate students enrolled in online courses at Arizona State University (Mage = 25.96 years old; SD = 7.64; 1,259 female, 232 male, 12 non-binary, and 1 gender fluid). The results of this dissertation study indicate that the vast majority of students (94% of the sample) want opportunities for peer interaction in their online courses. Confirmatory Factor Analyses were conducted to validate three of the primary measures and these measurement models were used in subsequent analyses. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) revealed that students who demonstrated high levels of Academic, Online Community, Life Application, and Social Engagement were more likely to perform well on measures of Academic Performance (i.e., doing well on quizzes or tests, earning higher letter grades). Additional SEM analyses indicated that sense of a community was related to all four aspects of student engagements. There was evidence that certain pedagogical factors were also associated with higher rates of student engagement. For example, students who reported high levels for Instructional Design (e.g., felt the course objectives were clear) were more likely to be academically engaged (i.e., demonstrated strong study habits). Lastly, while there were no significant differences in student engagement by gender, ethnicity, or living arrangements, students who valued peer interaction were more likely to report higher levels of Online Student Engagement. The findings of this research emphasize the desire online students have to interact with their peers, demonstrates the importance of engaging online students, and serves as a guide for educators in creating online courses that foster student engagement.

The main purpose of this thesis was to further explore factors that render particular children more susceptible to bullying and peer victimization. Race, age, and the activities that the children participated in were considered potential predictors of bullying and victimization. Self- and peer-reported data were gathered on 437 first and third grade children (234 boys and 203 girls, M age = 7 years, 6 months), including the frequency of peer victimization and the extent of their engagement in gender-typed activities. Activities were identified as either masculine (e.g., watching sports on television, playing with tools) or feminine (e.g., playing house, cheerleading) according to which sex was mostly likely to engage in them. Mixed support was obtained for the hypothesis that boys are at greater risk for being targets of peer aggression. Specifically, while peer-reports of victimization supported this hypothesis, self-reports revealed no sex differences. Support was obtained for the hypotheses that engaging in cross gender-typed activities would be a stronger risk factor for peer victimization for boys than for girls.

For some children, peer victimization stops rather quickly, whereas for others it marks the beginning of a long trajectory of peer abuse (Kochenderfer-Ladd & Wardrop, 2001). Unfortunately, we know little about these trajectories and what factors may influence membership in increasing or decreasing victimization over time. To address this question, I identified children's developmental patterns of victimization in early elementary school and examined which child-level factors influenced children's membership in victimization trajectories using latent growth mixture modeling. Results showed that boys and girls demonstrated differential victimization patterns over time that also varied by victimization type. For example, boys experienced more physical victimization than girls and increased victimization over time was predicted by boys who display high levels of negative emotion (e.g., anger) towards peers and low levels of effortful control (e.g., gets frustrated easily). Conversely, girls exhibited multiple trajectories of increasing relational victimization (i.e., talking about others behind their back) over time, whereas most boys experienced low levels or only slightly increasing relational victimization over time. For girls, withdrawn behavior lack of positive emotion, and displaying of negative emotions was predictive of experiencing high levels of victimization over time.

The present study was designed to extend previous research on early adolescents' involvement in electronic aggression and victimization. A new measure for electronic victimization and aggression was created for this study in order to better assess this type of peer harassment in early adolescence. The first goal of the study was to describe young adolescents' involvement in electronic aggression and victimization by exploring the links between electronic victimization and aggression and (a) youth demographic characteristics (e.g., gender, ethnicity), (b) involvement in traditional forms of aggression and victimization, and (c) gender of the aggression/victimization context (i.e., same-sex aggressor -victim versus other-sex aggressor- victim dyad). The second goal was to examine how electronic victimization and aggression were associated with self-esteem and relationship efficacy. Participants were 826 (49.9% female) 7th and 8th grade students (M age = 12.5 years old; SD = .67). Students were administered surveys during school hours. Results indicated that girls were more likely to be involved in both electronic aggression and victimization than boys. Further, girls were more likely to be both electronic aggressors and victims simultaneously than boys. Finally, those involved with electronic aggression reported higher levels of relationship efficacy than their peers and involvement as an aggressor/victim was associated with lower self-esteem than any other involvement category.

ABSTRACT The major hypothesis tested in this research is that the psychological well-being and life satisfaction of elderly adult individuals can be predicted from religiosity (organizational and non-organizational religious beliefs and behaviors). The sample consisted of 142 adults between the ages of 65-90, with the majority in the 65-70 age group (48%) (SD = 1.176). The entire sample resides in the state of Arizona, in both urban and rural communities. Participants were administered a questionnaire which requested demographic information, and three instruments: the Duke University Religion Index (the DUREL), and the Affect Balance Scale and the Life Satisfaction Index - Z (LSIZ). Correlational and Multiple regression analyses were used to examine the relation between these adults' psychological well-being, life satisfaction and their religiosity. Independent t-tests were also used to examine possible sex, ethnic and religiosity effects on psychological well-being and life satisfaction. Findings revealed that psychological well-being and life satisfaction are higher when religiosity is higher, regardless of sex or ethnicity. These findings are consistent with those of previous research in this field.

Few measurement tools provide reliable, valid data on both children's emotional and behavioral engagement in school. The School Liking and Avoidance Questionnaire (SLAQ) is one such self-report measure developed to evaluate a child's degree of engagement in the school setting as it is manifest in a child's school liking and school avoidance. This study evaluated the SLAQ's dimensionality, reliability, and validity. Data were gathered on children from kindergarten through 6th grade (n=396). Participants reported on their school liking and avoidance in the spring of each school year. Scores consistently represented two distinct, yet related subscales (i.e., school liking and school avoidance) that were reliable and stable over time. Validation analyses provided some corroboration of the construct validity of the SLAQ subscales, but evidence of predictive validity was inconsistent with the hypothesized relations (i.e., early report of school liking and school avoidance did not predict later achievement outcomes). In sum, the findings from this study provide some support for the dimensionality, reliability, and validity of the SLAQ and suggest that it can be used for the assessment of young children's behavioral and emotional engagement in school.

ABSTRACT Cyberbullying has emerged as one of educators' and researchers' chief concerns as the use of computer mediated communication (CMC) has become ubiquitous among young people. Many undesirable outcomes have been identified as being linked to both traditional and cyberbullying, including depression,truancy, and suicide. America and Japan have both been identified as nations whose youth engage frequently in the use of CMC, and may be at a potentially higher risk to be involved in cyberbullying. Time spent using CMC has been linked to involvement in cyberbullying, and gender and age have, in turn, been linked to CMC use - these may play significant roles in determining who is at risk. In order to assess the effects of nationality, gender, and age on cyberbullying involvement among Japanese and American middle school students, a survey exploring these factors was developed and carried out with 590 American and Japanese middles school students (Japan: n = 433 and America: n = 157). MANOVA results indicated that that Americans tend to both use CMC more and be more involved in cyberbullying. In addition, Japanese involvement increased with age, while American involvement did not. There were minimal differences between Americans and Japanese with regards to traditional bullying.