Mental toughness and transitions to high school and to undergraduate study

Mental toughness can be conceptualised as a set of attributes that allow people to deal effectively with challenges, stressors and pressure. Recent work has suggested that it may be a valuable construct to consider within educational settings. The current studies explored the associations between mental toughness and educational transitions. Study 1 examined the relationships between mental toughness and concerns about moving to a new school in 105 children aged 12–13 years of age. The results revealed significant relationships between several aspects of mental toughness, but particularly confidence in abilities, and children’s concerns. Study 2 examined the relationships between mental toughness and adjustment to university in 200 undergraduate students at various stages of their course. The results revealed a role for several aspects of mental toughness; commitment, control of life, control of emotion, confidence in abilities and interpersonal confidence. The results are discussed in terms of implications for educational practice. It is suggested that measures of mental toughness could be used to identify individuals who may benefit from additional support during transition to a new school or to university, and that future research should explore the potential benefits of mental toughness training.     

Emotion Regulation Strategies and Parenting Practices among Parents of Children With Clinic-Referred Conduct Problems

Objective. This study examined the cognitive-affective strategies used by parents of young children with conduct problems to regulate emotions. Key questions concerned the extent to which these emotion regulation strategies are associated with positive and negative parenting practices and predict quality of parenting through interplay with parental depression. Design. Participants were families of toddlers (n = 84) referred to a tertiary-level health service for the treatment of disruptive behavior problems. Parenting practices were indexed through observational coding of parent–child interactions and self-report data on multiple dimensions of positive and negative parenting. Parents self-reported their use of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression—the two emotion regulation strategies that are most robustly associated with psychosocial functioning in adults. Results. Associations between emotion regulation strategy and quality of parenting were moderated by parental depressive symptom severity, with distinct effects seen for positive and negative parenting practices. In terms of positive parenting, more frequent use of cognitive reappraisal was associated with increased use of labeled praise among parents with lower levels of depressive symptoms, whereas parents who had higher levels of depressive symptoms engaged in less such praise regardless of how frequently they used reappraisal. In terms of negative parenting, frequent use of cognitive reappraisal and expression suppression were associated with reduced levels of negative parenting, but only among parents with high levels of depression. Conclusions. These findings add to growing support for the integration of emotion regulation strategies into family process models of early-onset conduct problems and related clinical interventions.     

Village Elders’ and Secondary School Students’ Explanations of Natural Phenomena in Papua New Guinea

This research investigated the sources of explanations and understanding of natural phenomena in terms of the students’ cultural and school science experiences. The first phase involved interviews with eight village elders that probed their explanations and understanding of natural phenomena. The second phase involved the design, development and administration of two questionnaires on natural phenomena to 179 students in a rural boarding high school in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Most village elders gave explanations of many of the phenomena in terms of spirits, spells, magic, religion, and personal experiences. Most school-aged students choose scientific explanations of natural phenomena in terms of what they had learned in school or from personal experiences. However, many choose explanations of the same phenomena about spirits, spells and magic that came from the village, family or home. The study revealed that students’ ideas about natural phenomena are strongly governed and controlled by their school science knowledge in the school setting. It is likely that their own traditional knowledge cannot be identified in a school setting but that questionnaires in the students’ local language be given to students in their villages (as opposed to school). In addition, so as not to diminish the value of this traditional knowledge, science education programs are needed that are able to consider and harmonise traditional knowledge with school science.     

新疆西准噶尔地区塔斯特岩体锆石LA-ICPMS年龄及其意义

西准噶尔萨吾尔地区地处新疆阿勒泰地区吉木乃县及塔城地区和丰县。酸性侵入岩在区内较发育，其研究对于准噶尔地区后碰撞构造一岩浆演化时限的厘定具有重要的意义。塔斯特岩体是萨吾尔地区重要的复式花岗岩体，与区内铜、金矿化关系密切。塔斯特岩体锆石LA-ICPMS年龄为337±4Ma（1δ），形成于早石炭世。结合已有的地球化学特征研究，这一年龄显示西准噶尔地区在早石炭世已处于后碰撞环境。本文获得的塔斯特岩体成岩年龄是目前在准噶尔地区获得的最老的后碰撞花岗岩锆石U-Pb年龄之一，为准噶尔地区后碰撞构造-岩浆演化时限的厘定提供了新的证据。     

Factors influencing the incidence of utilization deficiencies and other patterns of recall/strategy-use relations in a strategic memory task

Factors that influence the incidence of utilization deficiencies and other recall/strategy-use patterns on a strategic memory task were evaluated in two hundred and fourteen 7- and 9-year-old children. Both utilization deficiencies and the incidence of children showing increases in both recall and strategy use over phases were more likely to be observed on phase transitions involving prompting or when different lists of items were included on consecutive trials; in contrast, increases in recall in the absence of increases in strategy use were more likely to be found between trials consisting of the same stimulus items. This research clearly indicates that patterns of recall/strategy-use relations, including utilization deficiencies, vary meaningfully with the age of the child and a variety of contextual factors.     

Multigenerational perceptions of mental health services among deaf adults in Florida

The objective of the study was to better understand the perceptions and needs of multigenerational Deaf adults related to mental health services. A survey sampled participants who were between 20 and 85 years old and Deaf. Questions were developed to identify the perspectives of Deaf adults related to the availability of mental health services, preferences for these services, and current utilization of services. Participants were grouped into age (years) categories: young adult (18-34), middle adult (35-54), older adult (55-65), and oldest (66-). Category response trends were examined using chi-square analysis. The analysis showed significant differences in the preferences and utilization of mental health care. These data also suggested preferences for service delivery. These data indicate areas of importance related to the development of programs and services for Deaf adults and to indicate where funding for services would be best utilized.     

Developing mathematical proficiency in the Australian context: implications for students with learning difficulties

The teaching of mathematics in Australian schools has received considerable attention over the past decade. States and territories have designed and implemented new mathematics syllabi, and education sectors have supported teachers through sustained professional learning initiatives. Whereas the major focus of these initiatives has been on students constructing mathematical knowledge from a range of learning activities and quality instruction, the education of students with difficulties in learning mathematics has been given little direct attention. This analysis of current syllabus developments and professional learning initiatives highlights the risk of exposing students with learning difficulties to fragile program designs and classroom instruction. The research literature is also examined to propose ways in which these fragilities can be addressed.     

Teachers' in-flight thinking in inclusive classrooms

This article explores the thinking of five junior high school teachers as they teach students with learning difficulties in inclusive classrooms. Insights into the ways these teachers think about students in these inclusive secondary school contexts were obtained through triangulating data from semistructured interviews, stimulated recall of in-flight thinking, and researcher field notes. Exploration of teachers' in-flight thinking (i.e., the thinking of teachers as they engaged in classroom teaching) revealed a knowledge of individual students that was not related to categorical notions of learning difficulties. This research has implications for the practice of teaching in inclusive settings as well as for teacher preparation. Specifically, it suggests that attention to student differences should be replaced by the development of teachers' knowledge about individual students as a rich source of practical knowledge and the basis for developing effective instructional techniques.     

Cognitive processes associated with child neglect

OBJECTIVE: To compare neglectful and non-neglectful mothers on information processing tasks related to child emotions, behaviors, the caregiving relationship, and recall of child-related information. METHOD: A natural group design was used. Neglectful mothers (N=34) were chosen from active, chronic caseloads; non-neglectful comparison mothers (N=33) were obtained from community agencies serving families. Participants were administered the IFEEL Picture task to assess maternal perceptions of infant emotions, eight vignettes of young children's behavior to assess attributions for child behavior across different scenarios, and a passage recall task to assess information processing problems. A measure of depression was used as a covariate to control for this variable. RESULTS: Neglectful mothers were significantly less likely to recognize infants' feelings of interest, more likely to see sadness and shame, more inaccurate at labeling infants' emotions, and had a more limited emotion vocabulary. They also made more internal and stable attributions for children's behaviors in situations where it was not clear whether a child was at risk of harm, and had poor recall of information. Depressive symptoms had little effect on these findings with the exception of information recall. CONCLUSIONS: Neglectful mothers show significant problems in information processing concerning their child's emotions and behaviors, which may affect their childrearing behavior. Cognitive-behavioral interventions to improve parents' abilities to recognize their child's emotions and to address maladaptive attributions may be of value.