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Graduation Term
2017
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Department of Psychology
Committee Chair
Renée M. Tobin
Committee Member
Leandra Parris
Abstract
At-Risk youth are more likely to be exposed to unhealthy patterns of interaction with partners (Ooms & Wilson, 2004), which can influence their future relationship satisfaction and well-being (Shantz & Hartup, 1992). Relationship education has been proved to be effective in reducing destructive conflict resolution strategies and promoting healthy relationship abilities (Toews & Yazedjian, 2010). On the other hand, research on personality among diverse age groups consistently indicates that Agreeableness is positively related to constructive conflict resolution tactics while negatively correlated to destructive conflict resolution tactics (Graziano et al.,1996). The present study sought to examine if the Love Notes v 2.1 (Pearson, 2016) curriculum promotes at-risk youth’ conflict resolution skills, and the moderating effect of Agreeableness in the effectiveness of the curriculum. Participating in the Champaign Area Relationship Education for Youth (CARE4U) program, participants completed the Big Five Inventory (BFI; John & Srivastava, 1999) and the Conflict Resolution Behavior Questionnaire (CRBQ; Rubenstein & Feldman, 1993) before and after taking the interventional curriculum. Correlation analyses of the pre-test data demonstrated that Agreeableness was negatively related to the attacking, avoidance, and power assertion tactics and positively related to compromise tactic. As participants experienced the Love Notes v2.1 curriculum, their compromise tactic was increased than the pre-test. Interesting, youth with low agreeableness increased more compromise behaviors than others. This study will provide valuable insights about the role of personality in the effectiveness of intervention programs.
Access Type
Thesis-ISU Access Only
Recommended Citation
Zhang, Xiaoya, "Individual Differences in At-risk Youth’s Responsiveness to a Relationship Education Curriculum" (2017). Theses and Dissertations. 818.
https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/etd/818
DOI
http://doi.org/10.30707/ETD2017.Zhang.X