'You Have to Learn to Love Yourself 'Cos No One Else Will.' Young Women with 'Social,Emotional or Behavioural Difficulties' and the Idea of the Underclass

This article discusses some of the findings of a small-scale qualitative study involving young women identified and processed as deviant, that is as having 'social, emotional or behavioural difficulties', in their school years. It also explores some of the ideas currently much discussed in both the press and academic literature about the underclass and lone motherhood, arguing for an understanding that acknowledges the complex interweaving of structure and agency in the lives of disadvantaged young women.     

Energy availability in athletes

This review updates and complements the review of energy balance and body composition in the Proceedings of the 2003 IOC Consensus Conference on Sports Nutrition. It argues that the concept of energy availability is more useful than the concept of energy balance for managing the diets of athletes. It then summarizes recent reports of the existence, aetiologies, and clinical consequences of low energy availability in athletes. This is followed by a review of recent research on the failure of appetite to increase ad libitum energy intake in compensation for exercise energy expenditure. The review closes by summarizing the implications of this research for managing the diets of athletes.     

Engaging students in active learning: use of a blog and audience response system

Librarians provide instruction to medical students as part of a core course in the medical school curriculum. Instruction was provided, in part, through didactic sessions covering professional-level medical information resources, PubMed search skills, psychosocial information, and evidence-based medicine. Librarians redesigned instructional sessions with the goals of increasing student engagement and minimizing the lecture format, maximizing the number of students receiving feedback on their search and evaluation skills, and permitting students to see a variety of possible responses as well as engage in peer- and self-evaluation. Librarians integrated the use of a blog and an audience response system (ARS) into the instruction to help accomplish these goals.     

Maternal Parenting Stress,Child Exuberance,and Preschoolers’ Behavior Problems

This study investigated whether child exuberance, an aspect of temperament related to emotion regulation, moderates the well-documented association between high parenting stress and increased risk for internalizing and externalizing problems during the preschool years. At 42 months of age child exuberance was observed in 256 children (47% girls) and maternal self-reports on parenting stress were obtained. At 48 months internalizing and externalizing problems were assessed through reports from both parents. Indeed, higher maternal parenting stress increased the risk for internalizing problems, and this association was more pronounced among children with high levels of exuberance. Existent emotion regulation difficulties in highly exuberant children may further heighten the risk conveyed by an unfavorable caregiving environment for developing internalizing problems.     

Reading and Integrated Literacy Strategies (RAILS): An Integrated Approach to Early Reading

The goal of this project was to develop and test the efficacy of a research-based early reading program that provided integrated reading instruction in kindergarten through 2nd grade. The Reading and Integrated Literacy Strategies (RAILS) program provided integrated instruction in word reading, vocabulary development, and comprehension to students in regular and self-contained special education classes in 2 schools serving low-income populations. Teachers provided explicit instruction in the alphabetic principle, phonemic analysis, word reading, vocabulary development, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension. Classes were organized so students received 2 periods of reading instruction daily, a longer morning period of instruction and a shorter afternoon review of instruction. The students in the RAILS program had significantly higher performance on standardized reading and language achievement tests, as well as on individually administered tests of phonemic awareness and reading fluency. The implications for research-based instructional practice that integrates instruction in word reading, vocabulary, and comprehension are discussed.     

Using social cognitive theory to predict physical activity and fitness in underserved middle school children

Few researchers have used social cognitive theory and environment-based constructs to predict physical activity (PA) and fitness in underserved middle-school children. Hence, we evaluated social cognitive variables and perceptions of the school environment to predict PA and fitness in middle school children (N = 506, ages 10-14 years). Using multiple regression analyses we accounted for 12% of the variance in PA and 13-21% of the variance in fitness. The best predictors of PA were barrier self-efficacy, classmate social support, and gender; whereas, only gender predicted fitness. The results affirmed the importance of barrier self-efficacy and gender differences. Our findings regarding classmate social support are some of the first to illuminate the importance of school-specific peers in promoting PA.