ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

 I would like to acknowledge the contributions of my dissertation committee. I

acknowledge my dissertation chairperson, Dr. Jennifer H. Elder, for supervising a

project and a student that required expansion of her area of expertise. She has

demonstrated the qualities of a true scientist who is also sincerely committed to the

mental health care of children. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Kathleen A. Long

for serving on my committee. She helped me to find a passion for the topic of mentoring.

She always considered my interests and dissertation project thoughtfully despite her

demanding role as dean of the college of nursing. I would especially like to thank the

final member of my committee from the college of nursing, Dr. Martha Jo Snider. She

has been my mentor since I was an undergraduate nursing student. She introduced me to

psychiatric mental-health nursing. I would like to thank her for her open-door policy and

for the professional and personal support she provided during my doctoral studies.

 I would also like to acknowledge my dissertation committee members from

outside the college of nursing: Dr. Jennifer L. Woolard, from the Department of

Developmental Psychology, and Dr. Lisa M. Brown, from the Department of Clinical

Psychology. Dr. Woolard was instrumental in enabling me to work on her collaborative

research project with middle school students that became my dissertation. She also

demonstrated that a woman could have it all. She handled her roles as a professor and

mother with grace. I would especially like to thank her for attending my qualifying exam

while more than eight months pregnant. Lastly, I would like to thank Dr. Brown for her