Tara L. Kuther

Western Connecticut State University | WestConn · Psychology

Research in life span development suggests that middle adulthood is a time of stability, discovery, and psychosocial growth. This review applies the life span developmental perspective to advance counselors’ understanding of psychosocial development during middle adulthood, specifically, midlife adults’ sense of self, perceptions of aging, developm...

The present study explored social and psychological predictors of social networking site (SNS) and mobile phone dependency in a sample of emerging adults (ages 18-25, n = 159, M = 21.87, SD = 2.08) and young adults (ages 26-40, n = 97, M = 31.21, SD = 4.11). Path analysis revealed that SNS dependency mediated the relationship of social comparison,...

Researchers who work with children and adolescents are confronted with a special set of ethical issues regarding informed consent. Federal guidelines generally stipulate that minors cannot provide informed consent for participation in research. Instead parental or guardian permission must be obtained for a minor to participate in research. However...

There has been a great deal of debate over the influence of Barbie dolls on girls' developing self-concept and body image. Two qualitative studies were conducted to gather information about early adolescents' experiences with, and perspectives on, the controversial toy. In Study 1, focus groups with twenty 6th-grade girls suggested that they have a...

Tara L. Kuther is an associate professor of psychology at Western Connecticut State University, where she teaches courses in child, adolescent, and adult development. She is chair of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology's Instructional Resource Awards Task Force and the author of The Psychology Major's Handbook (2003) and Careers in Psycholog...

Two studies examined college students' perceptions of professors' ethical responsibilities. Students agreed that professors must demonstrate respect for students, teach objectively, and grade honestly, and they should not tolerate cheating or plagiarism. Results indicate that students expect professors to act with professionalism, to employ a vast...

This review considers the impact of exposure to community violence on sociomoral development within the African American community. Common sequelae of covictimization, as well as cultural experiences of the African American community, frame a discussion of the implications of covictimization for the development of moral reasoning. Recommendations f...

The relative contributions of social cognitive (alcohol-related outcome expectancies, alcohol-related self-efficacy, norms) and psychosocial factors towards predicting self-reported alcohol consumption were assessed in a sample of 206 college students. Social cognitive variables accounted for 76% of the variance in self-reported alcohol use, sugges...

A model of alcohol use based on the theory of planned behavior, expectancy theory, and the developmental literature on the influence of parents and peers was examined with 87 eleventh grade students, 105 college freshmen, and 107 college juniors. Specifically, the influence of attitudes about the positive and negative consequences of drinking, perc...

The physician-patient relationship has been described as an egalitarian partnership in which patients and physicians work together to make healthcare decisions. Although adults receive considerable encouragement to become active participants in medical decision-making, children and adolescents often have little voice in such decisions and are grant...

Cognitive and developmental approaches have made great strides in describing and predicting alcohol consumption by youth. The present review examines several theories of decision making with regard to alcohol consumption, including subjective expected utility (SEU) theory, the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior, and alcohol-related ou...

Relations among moral reasoning, domain specific perceived competencies, and self-reported engagement in risky activity (substance use and antisocial behavior) were examined with 110 10th-12th grade students. An exploratory model demonstrated that perceived behavioral competence mediated the relation of moral reasoning and engagement in risky behav...

Relations among moral reasoning, domain judgment and engagement in risky behaviors were assessed with 68 students attending a Just Community school and 122 comparison students from the larger high school with which the alternative school is affiliated. Risky behaviors were perceived as personal decisions, rather than as ones of morality or conventi...

Witnessing violence within the community-covictimization-has been recognized as a threat to the optimal development of youth. Following a discussion of methodological issues that plague covictimization research, the literature on covictimization is reviewed, beginning with findings on its prevalence. Correlates of covictimization are then examined...

Advances in health care have extended the average life expectancy such that older adults are more likely than ever before to live with medical conditions that may impair their cognitive and decision-making abilities. The competency of older adults to make decisions about their health care and to provide informed consent for treatment and research i...

An exploratory model of the victimization-distress relation was tested with a sample of 123 sixth- through eighth-grade students from a small suburban city. More than one-half of the participants reported being victimized by community violence (including being chased, hit, mugged, and wounded). Although the majority of victimization incidents descr...

The relations among of sex, measures of sex-role orientation, and locus of control were examined with 240 undergraduates (150 women and 90 men). Although there were no sex differences on mean locus of control scores, a significant relation between scores on sex-role orientation and locus of control was observed for women but not for men.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Fordham University, 1998. Includes bibliography. Microfiche. UMI number: 98-25845.

Faculty at 2 universities integrated 6 case studies on research ethics into their introductory Psychology curricula. Students who received the ethics modules were better able to identify ethical issues and consider moral ambiguities than students who received standard instruction. Students and faculty favorably evaluated the curriculum, and student...

Researching developmental risks of urban youth raises ethical concerns when an investigator discovers a participant is in jeopardy. This study collected data on 147 seventh, ninth, and eleventh graders' views of 3 investigator options: (1) taking no action and maintaining confidentiality, (2) reporting the problem to a concerned parent or adult, an...

Researching developmental risks of urban youth raises ethical concerns when an investigator discovers a participant is in jeopardy. This study collected data on 147 seventh, ninth, and eleventh graders' views of 3 investigator options: (1) taking no action and maintaining confidentiality, (2) reporting the problem to a concerned parent or adult, an...

Each day hundreds of thousands of children dread going to school and facing the taunts, jeers, and humiliation wrought by bullies. When we think of bullying, the easily identifiable physical and verbal harassment comes to mind, including teasing, taunting, threatening, and hitting. Relational bullying is more difficult for adults to observe and ide...

The doctoral dissertation is often viewed as an ominous black cloud, looming over the All-But-Dissertation-Student's head. The dissertation is often the most difficult academic requirement a doctoral student faces; many students exhibit delay in completing it (Frank, 1984; Rudestam & Newton, 1992). Procrastination is common among college students a...