McDowell, Christina Anne2025-06-282025-06-281986https://hdl.handle.net/1828/22453The purposes of this research were to document adolescent help intended responses, to develop a classification scheme of these responses, and to examine peer help- intended responses for similarities and differences across grades 7, 9, and 11. Help-int ended responses were examined in simulated peer interactions using the following qualitative measures: Help Intended Response Form; Tape Assisted Recall; and In-Depth Interviews. Subjects (n=92) listened to audiotaped peer problem statements and wrote responses to help the peer. Verbatim descript ions of peer help- intended responses were also obtained from a random sample of subjects (n= 12) in a semi-structured interview. Content analysis identified the following seven main categories of peer help-intended responses: Acknowledging; Offering the Self; Giving Perspective; Encouraging; Demonstrating Understanding; Information Seeking; and Guiding Strategies. In addition, twenty-three subcategories were documented. The following help- intended responses were the most frequent at each grade level: Acknowledging (grade seven); Guiding Strategies (grade nine); and Encouraging (grade eleven). These findings confirm that adolescents do engage in reciprocal peer helping relationships and do use a broad repertoire of action oriented peer help-int ended responses. Implications for peer training programs and future research are discussed.enAvailable to the World Wide WebThesis