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Migration is a process that affects family functioning and well-being. The purpose of my thesis was to examine the influence of migration on family functioning and individual well-being in Chinese migrant families with adolescents in New Zealand. To achieve this, three studies were conducted. Study 1 investigated the level of family functioning and the influence of migration on it. The outcome measure used was parent-adolescent conflict. Nine families (N=21) were intensively interviewed and asked to discuss conflict issues between the parents and adolescents. The study found that, as reported in the mainstream literature, most conflict occurred over normal, everyday issues. Findings of interest were the use of migration-related explanations to account for the occurrence of conflict, reports that conflict issues were different between the countries of origin and settlement, and reports that conflict intensity was greater here than in the country of origin. Study 2 expanded on Study 1 by including parent-adolescent relationship and parenting as additional outcome measures of family functioning. The well-being of migrant families was also investigated. Interviews conducted with seven families (N=18) showed that migration can be conceptualised as a process which occurs over three phases: before the migration, on first arrival, and in the current situation. Regarding family functioning across these three phases, participants reported that parent-adolescent relationships were generally positive, that conflict occurred over the regulation of the adolescents' activities and the decision to migrate to New Zealand, and that the parenting style changed to being less strict and authoritative in New Zealand. The findings also highlighted the importance of considering familial influences, in addition to individual and environmental influences, when determining migrant adaptation. A conceptual model of migrant adaptation was developed. Study 3 was a quantitative study which examin

In 1994 the World Health Organization published statistics which identified New Zealand youth, and males in particular, as being the most likely to die by suicide compared to young people in 22 other economically developed countries (WHO 1993). A review of the literature suggests that depression in adolescents is a highly significant precursor to suicidal behaviour. For the most part, models of depression that have been applied to adolescents fail to acknowledge the unique social context within which adolescents function, and tend not to be sensitive to developmental considerations. This thesis explores key aspects of the adolescent depression literature, focussing particular attention on the core adolescent task of the development of a sense of self. The literature review prompted two research studies. The first study examined qualitative data from clinical interviews with depressed youth. Three major themes were drawn out of these interviews, the importance of relationships, perceptions of power and agency, and the sense that the young people had of themselves, their self-concept. These themes were present when the participants talked about their lives in general, and depression in particular. Depression impacted on their relationships with families and peers, rendered them less able to manage their lives, and negatively effected their self conceptions. The second study was a survey of a community sample of non-referred adolescents. The focus here was to explore the correlates of teenage depression, again with particular reference to variables that were likely to be related to self-conceptions. As well as a measure of self-concept, I also explored attributions for everyday events and depression on the basis that the way a person thinks about themselves (self-concept) is likely to influence their reasoning about the world and depression, and vice versa. The data reflected a statistically significant relationship between depression and self-concept, as well as suppo

Resurgence is defined as the occurrence of previously reinforced behaviours when reinforcer delivery ceases for a recently reinforced behaviour. In five experiments, variables suggested to control the degree of occurrence of a first-trained behaviour during the extinction of a second-trained behaviour (resurgence) were investigated. All experiments used hens and behaviours were selected from door push, key peck, and head bob. In Experiment 1, using 6 naive hens, Behaviour 1 was reinforced on a random-interval (RI) 60-s schedule followed by two sessions of extinction. Each occurrence of Behaviour 2 was then reinforced followed by another period of extinction. The degree of occurrence of Behaviour 1 during the final extinction was less than that which occurred during the period of Behaviour 1 extinction, suggesting that the extinction of Behaviour 2 did not increase the occurrence of Behaviour 1. This result failed to support the idea that resurgence is induced by the extinction of Behaviour 2. In Experiment 2, using the same hens and an additional hen, Experiment 1 was repeated five times and then there were either 0 or 9 sessions of Behaviour 1 extinction in a further five conditions. The degree of resurgence was generally less when there were 9 sessions than when there were no sessions but not consistently different from either when there were 2 sessions. Experiment 3 used six naive hens. Two first-trained behaviours were initially reinforced on RI 45-s schedules under a multiple schedule. One first behaviour then received a period of extinction and then each occurrence of two second behaviours was reinforced under the multiple schedule followed by extinction. The sequence from training of the first behaviours to the extinction of the second behaviours was repeated 10 times with the number of occurrences of the component for which extinction was in effect for the first behaviour varying across conditions from 12 to 0. The degree of resurgence was an inverse functio