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Item Digital mental health strategies used by young people in Aotearoa New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic: ‘Just do it yourself, DIY’(SAGE Publications Ltd., 2024-07-25) Gibson K; Trnka S; Jonas M; Pomare P; Thomson S; Tiatia-Siau J; Aimiti Ma'ia'i K; Aoake M; Bouttier-Esprit T; Spray I; Vyas SObjective: With rising rates of mental health distress amongst youth during the COVID-19 pandemic, digital resources have been identified as a valuable tools for delivering support to young people. However, many of the websites and apps developed by professionals to support the youth do not take account of the importance young people place on exercising their own agency in managing their mental health. This article investigates how young people in Aotearoa New Zealand used digital resources to manage their mental health needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The study gathered information from semi-structured interviews with 34 young people aged 16–22 years. The data was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Six themes were identified including: searching for online information about mental health; evaluating digital mental health resources; controlling mood through online activity; looking for escape in the virtual world; staying connected online; and giving and receiving support. Conclusion: Young people’s practices demonstrated their investment in their own agency, a general reluctance to engage with professional resources and recognition of the need to balance the risks and benefits of the informal strategies they preferred. Young people appeared sceptical of professionally-designed mental health resources and interventions and preferred to adapt and re-purpose the wide range of platforms and networks available in their informal digital worlds.Item Exposure to drinking water trihalomethanes and nitrate and the risk of brain tumours in young people(Elsevier Inc, 2021-09) Zumel-Marne A; Castaño-Vinyals G; Alguacil J; Villanueva CM; Maule M; Gracia-Lavedan E; Momoli F; Krewski D; Mohipp C; Petridou E; Bouka E; Merletti F; Migliore E; Piro S; Ha M; 't Mannetje A; Eng A; Aragones N; Cardis EBrain tumours (BTs) are one of the most frequent tumour types in young people. We explored the association between tap water, exposure to trihalomethanes (THM) and nitrate and neuroepithelial BT risk in young people. Analysis of tap water consumption were based on 321 cases and 919 appendicitis controls (10-24 years old) from 6 of the 14 participating countries in the international MOBI-Kids case-control study (2010-2016). Available historical residential tap water concentrations of THMs and nitrate, available from 3 countries for 86 cases and 352 controls and 85 cases and 343 for nitrate, respectively, were modelled and combined with the study subjects' personal consumption patterns to estimate ingestion and residential exposure levels in the study population (both pre- and postnatal). The mean age of participants was 16.6 years old and 56% were male. The highest levels and widest ranges for THMs were found in Spain (residential and ingested) and Italy and in Korea for nitrate. There was no association between BT and the amount of tap water consumed and the showering/bathing frequency. Odds Ratios (ORs) for BT in relation to both pre- and postnatal residential and ingestion levels of THMs were systematically below 1 (OR = 0.37 (0.08-1.73)) for postnatal average residential THMs higher than 66 μg/L. For nitrate, all ORs were above 1 (OR = 1.80 (0.91-3.55)) for postnatal average residential nitrate levels higher than 8.5 mg/L, with a suggestion of a trend of increased risk of neuroepithelial BTs with increasing residential nitrate levels in tap water, which appeared stronger in early in life. This, to our knowledge, is the first study on this topic in young people. Further research is required to clarify the observed associations.Item Improving the reading comprehension of struggling year nine and ten readers : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2012) Knowles, HillaryThe objective of this project was to investigate to what extent metacognitive reading comprehension strategy training would influence the reading comprehension growth of a group of struggling Year Nine and Ten readers in a low decile New Zealand secondary school. The metacognitive comprehension strategy training framework Transactional Strategies Instruction (TSI) provided the theoretical basis of the project. TSI incorporates teacher-led explicit explanation and modelling of strategies as well as the guided practice of their use by students. The high levels of teacher involvement means that TSI potentially works within Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development and is therefore expected to help accelerate student comprehension growth. Developments in adolescent cognitive abilities also support comprehension growth within a TSI-style intervention. A ten week intervention which targeted four metacognitive comprehension strategies was carried out with a group of Year Nine and Ten students across two classes who had a history of reading comprehension under-achievement. The pre- and post-intervention comprehension test results demonstrated that above expected growth was achieved by many of the students as a result of the strategy training. The extent of the movement in student achievement data was significant in relation to national norms. Case study analysis of student think aloud transcriptions and class work revealed that students who accelerated their progress during the intervention were primarily aided by the explicit strategy instruction in that it transformed these students from passive decoders into active comprehenders. For students whom the intervention did not apparently work, factors which negated its success included negative attitudes towards the use of strategies and poor decoding skills. The intervention’s results suggest metacognitive reading comprehension strategy training has the potential to improve the comprehension of some underachieving adolescent readers significantly and, considering the duration of the intervention, relatively quickly.Item Structure and relationships of standard environmental, personality and ability factors in secondary school adolescents : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at Massey University(Massey University, 1972) Webster, Alan CharlesOver 2,000 pupils of two state coeducational secondary schools and five single-sex private secondary schools in the same New Zealand town completed aptitude tests, and questionnaires on family background, attitudes, interests, affective states, adjustment, personality, beliefs and occupational preferences. Responses were subjected to descriptive analysis and were factor analyzed and regression analyses were carried out on dominant intellective and non-intellective variables. Higher socio-economic status was associated with more pre-school education, more private school education, less mother employment, less father absence, greater continuance at school, less delinquency, more parental pressure to succeed in school, more regular going out with parents, more positive family climate, more positive attitudes to teachers and higher primary school reading and arithmetic levels. Lower class was characterized by greater father absence, large families, less parental concern about school success, less family outings, deficient family climate, lower primary school reading and arithmetic levels, more negative views of how teachers regarded them, lower expectation of opportunity, and lower self-rating of happiness. Factor analyses produced six factors of the structural variables of home environment, five factors of parental child-rearing practices, eight factors of family relations, three intellective factors, ten non-intellective factors. Coefficients of multiple determination showed that home environment predictors of language aptitude and average attainment were father's education, smaller family, parental attitudes against smoking, parental expectation of household duties by adolescent, low parental anger-rejection, high father-permissiveness. Personality predictors of aptitude and attainment were general ability, adjustment to reality, scientific preference, sociability, less practical preference, more perceived favourability with teachers, and greater sensitivity. Joint effects of intellective, home environment and personality predictors were almost as great as the independent effects of intellective predictors. Joint effects of intellective, home environment, and personality predictors were half of the total multiple prediction of conformity problems and about equal to those of personality predictors. High ability pupils were found to be more influenced than others in aptitude by home environment factors. Males were more influenced than females by mother support and by extrinsic motives. Lower ability and lower socioeconomic level pupils were more influenced by intellective factors than by home environment. It was concluded that the home environment factors could be examined as a possible focus of experimental programmes aimed at enhancing adolescent adjustment and attainment.Item Rangatahi oranga : family functioning, cultural orientation and depression among New Zealand adolescents : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2011) Ketu-McKenzie, MiriamaMental health disparities between Maori and NZ European adolescents are well documented. Cultural-vulnerability theory posits that cultural dimensions may explain some of the difference in distress levels between different ethnic groups. The aim of this research was to explore the relationships between family functioning, cultural orientation and depression among NZ Maori and NZ European adolescents and examine whether cultural orientation - individualism and collectivism - would moderate the relationship between perceived family functioning and depression scores. Self-report data assessing individualism, collectivism, family functioning and depression were collected from 299 Maori and NZ European high school adolescents. Family dysfunction was found to positively correlate with depression scores for adolescents in both groups, however the relationship was stronger for adolescent males than females, and for NZ Europeans than Maori adolescents, and the relationship was strongest for Maori male adolescents specifically. The study's major findings were that collectivism had a moderating effect on the relationship between family functioning and depression for NZ European females only, and that for Maori male adolescents who were highly individualistic, family functioning accounted for 20% of the variance in depression scores. A further finding was that Maori adolescents displayed both highly individualistic and highly collectivistic tendencies, which indicates that there may be multiple culture-related pathways to depression for Maori youths. The findings suggest that Maori male adolescents may be more vulnerable to the deleterious effects of family dysfunction than Maori females, especially if they display tendencies towards individualism. The implications for these and other findings are discussed.Item Music analysis of clinical improvisations with an adolescent who has communication difficulties : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music Therapy at the New Zealand School of Music, Wellington(Massey University, 2010) Wang, Anna Ping-AnThis qualitative study examines four improvisations taken from four phases of the researcher’s clinical music therapy experience with an adolescent who had Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Therapeutic changes and communicative qualities in the improvisations were traced through reviewing clinical notes and journal reflections, and using adapted versions of Bruscia’s Improvisational Assessment Profiles (Autonomy and Variability profile) to provide insights to the description and interpretation of the music. The results suggest a progression in the client’s awareness of the music therapy student (MTS) (who later became the researcher) an increased ability to interact through turn-taking, imitating, sharing and empathetic playing, as well as enhanced non-verbal and verbal skills. The analyses unfold the client and the music therapy student’s journey in music therapy, highlighting the process of how two strangers became partners through improvisations.Item Perspectives on developing a music therapy programme within an educational setting for adolescents with mental health issues : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music Therapy at the New Zealand School of Music, Wellington, New Zealand(Massey University, 2010) Young, John-PaulThis thesis outlines exploratory research that sought to find out how music therapy could most effectively address the needs of the students and support the ideas and learning objectives of staff at an innovative new school for adolescents with mental health issues. This was achieved by involving staff and students (n=12) in a series of group interviews, in combination with reflections from a research journal. Amongst other things, the findings suggested that students valued the opportunity to learn new musical skills, relax and express themselves. The staff appeared to value the way music therapy could support therapeutic and educational objectives within the school; for instance, by providing students with opportunities to work together in small groups, or by providing individual students with a way of relaxing and experiencing success. The writer describes efforts to tailor music therapy to fit with the needs of the setting and concludes by suggesting possible avenues for future music therapy research in a setting of this kind.Item A girls' eye view of aggressive adolescent female behaviour : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education, Massey University(Massey University, 2010) Arnott, Rosemary MThis thesis challenges media claims that adolescent girls in New Zealand are becoming more aggressive and are therefore behaving like boys. Most early studies of aggression ignored girls entirely or presented them as a subset of boys. Although later studies did address issues around girls’ aggressive behaviour, these were largely focused on adults’ views of girls’ relational or social aggression. This doctoral study therefore used a small case study to explore adolescent aggression from the perspective of six adolescent girls whose behaviour had been described by their schools as aggressive. The girls’ accounts of their experiences and beliefs about gender-specific aggression were gathered via a series of individual conversational interviews, and initially analysed through the theoretical perspective of role theory and psychological perspectives on aggression. However, as the study progressed, the limitations of that approach became apparent and the girls’ transcripts were revisited via the lens of poststructural theory, using the tools of discourse analysis. The study found that these girls’ behaviours and beliefs did not fit the description of severe adolescent female aggression as described in the literature. Nor did the risk factors most commonly associated with aggression at adolescence appear to have affected them. Conversely, it would appear that their physicality influenced how they positioned themselves and how others positioned them; as “sporty girls”, “tomboys”, “loving daughters and siblings”, or as “righteous aggressors”. Their behaviours frequently challenged the dominant discourse of conventional schoolgirls. None of them thought that girls were becoming more aggressive and all stated that girls could behave how they wanted without being labelled de facto boys. This study was limited in terms of the number of participants and the range of cultures represented, therefore no generalisations can be drawn from it. Nevertheless, it does have some important implications for policy makers and practitioners: particularly that interactions of culture, class and gender impact on the way that individuals constitute themselves and others. Interpretations of behaviour are determined by the discursive context and the experiences and belief systems of both “actor” and “audience”.Item Action research : improving my music therapy practice with hospitalised adolescents through building relationships and meeting their developmental needs : a thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music Therapy(New Zealand School of Music, 2008) Wang, Tzu-ya (Lisa)This study examines the researcher's music therapy intervention with hospitalised adolescents within a paediatric hospital The hospital is located in a New Zealand city serving a broad multicultural population of mainly Pakeha, Maori and Pacific Island people. There is a large body of literature showing that experiences of hospitalisation are often unpleasant and that the challenges adolescents encounter during hospitalisation can also be detrimental to their development. The researcher employed an action research model of cycles of planning, action and reflection to explore the potential for practice improvement in meeting the needs of hospitalised adolescents. In addition, young people's feedback on the sessions and input from supervisors also contributed to the researcher's planning. Personal goals in clinical practice and specific planning for the needs of individual participants were the starting points of each cycle. Subsequently, each cycle had a learning analysis to relate planning to action and to collect the knowledge for the next cycle or future practice. The researcher found that through scrutiny of her clinical work she was able to improve her professional practice. The findings also showed that relationship-building through music therapy was able to support the developmental needs of hospitalised adolescents.Item Music performance anxiety in adolescent student singers : a thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music [in Performance](New Zealand School of Music, 2008) Corby, MeganThis project seeks to sidestep the debilitating effects of music performance anxiety by cross-referencing knowledge from the areas of adolescent psychology with literature on MPA in singers in general in order to target adolescent singers early in their training. As well as considering the causes, symptoms and treatment of music performance anxiety, the project examines the role of the natural anxieties of adolescence in triggering music performance anxiety and seeks to chart a way through. Its intended readership is the classical singing teacher.