The Academic Achievement and Thriving of Overweight Children from High-Poverty Urban Schools within an Optimized Student Support Intervention: Moderating Effects of Psychosocial and Familial Strengths and Needs

Thesis advisor: Mary E. Walsh === Childhood obesity is a pervasive health issue in the United States. Research has demonstrated that various correlates are associated with the onset and maintenance of overweight status, including physical health conditions, psychological well-being, interpersonal r...

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Main Author: Capawana, Michael R.
Format: Others
Language:English
Published: Boston College 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:106724
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spelling ndltd-BOSTON-oai-dlib.bc.edu-bc-ir_1067242019-05-10T07:33:58Z The Academic Achievement and Thriving of Overweight Children from High-Poverty Urban Schools within an Optimized Student Support Intervention: Moderating Effects of Psychosocial and Familial Strengths and Needs Capawana, Michael R. Thesis advisor: Mary E. Walsh Text thesis 2016 Boston College English electronic application/pdf Childhood obesity is a pervasive health issue in the United States. Research has demonstrated that various correlates are associated with the onset and maintenance of overweight status, including physical health conditions, psychological well-being, interpersonal relationships, family functioning, and educational attainment. Policymakers and educators have agreed that elementary and secondary schools are crucial settings for the promotion of healthy development and ameliorating obesity. Therefore, comprehensive school-based interventions that collaborate with community agencies are being implemented to improve the achievement and well-being of at-risk students. The present study focused on City Connects, an optimized student support intervention grounded in relational developmental systems theory that functions in predominantly high-poverty urban locations. City Connects recognizes students as possessing unique constellations of protective and risk factors (i.e., strengths and needs), and an integral aspect of the intervention is that it connects students to tailored services to enhance strengths and address needs. The endeavor of the present study was to examine K-5 students that City Connects identified as manifesting with overweight issues via a holistic, collaborative assessment process, and how these students differed from peers not designated as overweight. Findings indicated statistically significant differences across the groups, in terms of demographic characteristics, overall level of perceived risk, strengths and needs recognized, school-related academic and thriving outcomes, and the influence of specific psychosocial and familial strengths and needs on those school outcomes. Specifically, students presenting with overweight concerns were more likely to be from lower socioeconomic backgrounds; have a high association with special education service needs; represent a more intensive overall risk level; manifest a diverse array of strengths and needs across academic, social-emotional/behavioral, family, and health/medical domains; and mostly exhibit poorer school performance. The effects of certain strengths and needs moderated school performance differences in several instances. Implications for theory, policy, and practice are discussed, with recommendations for future research. Academic Outcomes Childhood Obesity Mental Health Resilience Risk Factors Urban Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:106724
collection NDLTD
language English
format Others
sources NDLTD
topic Academic Outcomes
Childhood Obesity
Mental Health
Resilience
Risk Factors
Urban
spellingShingle Academic Outcomes
Childhood Obesity
Mental Health
Resilience
Risk Factors
Urban
Capawana, Michael R.
The Academic Achievement and Thriving of Overweight Children from High-Poverty Urban Schools within an Optimized Student Support Intervention: Moderating Effects of Psychosocial and Familial Strengths and Needs
description Thesis advisor: Mary E. Walsh === Childhood obesity is a pervasive health issue in the United States. Research has demonstrated that various correlates are associated with the onset and maintenance of overweight status, including physical health conditions, psychological well-being, interpersonal relationships, family functioning, and educational attainment. Policymakers and educators have agreed that elementary and secondary schools are crucial settings for the promotion of healthy development and ameliorating obesity. Therefore, comprehensive school-based interventions that collaborate with community agencies are being implemented to improve the achievement and well-being of at-risk students. The present study focused on City Connects, an optimized student support intervention grounded in relational developmental systems theory that functions in predominantly high-poverty urban locations. City Connects recognizes students as possessing unique constellations of protective and risk factors (i.e., strengths and needs), and an integral aspect of the intervention is that it connects students to tailored services to enhance strengths and address needs. The endeavor of the present study was to examine K-5 students that City Connects identified as manifesting with overweight issues via a holistic, collaborative assessment process, and how these students differed from peers not designated as overweight. Findings indicated statistically significant differences across the groups, in terms of demographic characteristics, overall level of perceived risk, strengths and needs recognized, school-related academic and thriving outcomes, and the influence of specific psychosocial and familial strengths and needs on those school outcomes. Specifically, students presenting with overweight concerns were more likely to be from lower socioeconomic backgrounds; have a high association with special education service needs; represent a more intensive overall risk level; manifest a diverse array of strengths and needs across academic, social-emotional/behavioral, family, and health/medical domains; and mostly exhibit poorer school performance. The effects of certain strengths and needs moderated school performance differences in several instances. Implications for theory, policy, and practice are discussed, with recommendations for future research. === Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. === Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. === Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.
author Capawana, Michael R.
author_facet Capawana, Michael R.
author_sort Capawana, Michael R.
title The Academic Achievement and Thriving of Overweight Children from High-Poverty Urban Schools within an Optimized Student Support Intervention: Moderating Effects of Psychosocial and Familial Strengths and Needs
title_short The Academic Achievement and Thriving of Overweight Children from High-Poverty Urban Schools within an Optimized Student Support Intervention: Moderating Effects of Psychosocial and Familial Strengths and Needs
title_full The Academic Achievement and Thriving of Overweight Children from High-Poverty Urban Schools within an Optimized Student Support Intervention: Moderating Effects of Psychosocial and Familial Strengths and Needs
title_fullStr The Academic Achievement and Thriving of Overweight Children from High-Poverty Urban Schools within an Optimized Student Support Intervention: Moderating Effects of Psychosocial and Familial Strengths and Needs
title_full_unstemmed The Academic Achievement and Thriving of Overweight Children from High-Poverty Urban Schools within an Optimized Student Support Intervention: Moderating Effects of Psychosocial and Familial Strengths and Needs
title_sort academic achievement and thriving of overweight children from high-poverty urban schools within an optimized student support intervention: moderating effects of psychosocial and familial strengths and needs
publisher Boston College
publishDate 2016
url http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:106724
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