Date of Award

1999

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Joseph C. Witt

Abstract

The effects of a strong treatment package, comprised of 2 types of performance feedback plus incentives, on the social behavior and academic progress of 9 minority teenage mothers attending an inner-city high school, was investigated. Treatment integrity of their teachers and parents was also evaluated. Research shows that academic deficits and conduct problems are strong correlates of early pregnancy, Many students experience academic failure and related disciplinary problems because no one monitors their behavior. In this study, a comprehensive treatment was developed to be used across settings (home, school and a school-based health clinic) and across treatment agents (parent, teacher, a therapist working within the school-based health clinic, and the teenage mother herself) to increase the monitoring, and self-management skills of these young mothers. Three triads of 3 participants each (teen mother, parent and teacher) were trained on specific treatment steps to be completed daily. Permanent products generated by the intervention were used to verify whether or not each treatment step was actually performed. From these outcome measures, a daily treatment integrity score was calculated for parents and teachers, while treatment compliance and academic performance were measured for teenage mothers. The results showed that all teen mothers improved their treatment compliance and their academic averages. Disciplinary referrals and absences from class were measured pre- and post-treatment for each teenage mother and it was determined that the rates of accumulation for both of these were reduced for most of the teen mothers. Treatment integrity improved for all parents of the teen mothers, and teachers maintained high levels of intervention usage throughout the study. This study contributes to the literature in that it provides a useful methodology for determining where treatment implementation is breaking down, whether with the teacher, the parent or with the student. It also provides a telephone parent-training format, via a daily telephone interview between the teenage mother and her parent/guardian, which may be used for the purpose of training the important parenting behavior of talking with a child in order to hold the child accountable for daily school progress and behavior.

ISBN

9780599474611

Pages

122

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.7005

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