Sample A: Cover Page of Thesis, Project, or Dissertation Proposal

Adjustment, Negative Adjustment, and Total Adjustment scores were averaged across
three 5-minute observations to create an overall index of each category for each child.
Sroufe et al. (1984) reported strong relations between children‘s initiating interactions
with positive affect and children‘s responding positively to others‘ overtures and social
competence. MPAC is a good measure for use with children from low- and middle-
income families (Denham, 2006b). Further, detailed information obtained from MPAC
observations makes the coding scheme useful for pre- and post-programming assessments
(Denham & Burton, 2003).
In order to obtain additional data for the purpose of this study, three observations
lasting 6 minutes and 40 seconds each (versus Sroufe et al.‘s (1984) 5-minute
observations) were conducted to total 20 minutes of observation for each child.
Observations took place on separate days during either the morning or afternoon and
during free play in the classroom and on the playground or in the indoor gymnasium.
Individual MPAC item scores were summed for all three observations, thus yielding a
minimum score of 0 and a maximum score of 3 for each item across all three
observations.
Five new items were added to Sroufe et al.‘s (1984) Empathy and Prosocial
Behavior category (see Table 7). A maximum likelihood factor analysis with the Varimax
rotation procedure was conducted in order to create variable aggregates for statistical
analyses. Based on rotated matrices (see Tables 8 and 9) and correlations (see Tables 10
and 11), three MPAC aggregate scores, Productive, Negative/Frustrated, and Positive,
were calculated for inclusion in analyses as follows: Productive equaled (Productive and
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