Facebook for supervision? Research education shaped by the structural properties of a social media space

This study analyses the use of a group space on the social networking site Facebook as a way to facilitate research supervision for teams of learners. Borrowing Lee’s framework for research supervision, the goal was to understand how supervision and learning was achieved in, and shaped by, the properties of a social networking space. For this purpose, the discourse between supervisor and learners was analysed along with the structural properties afforded by the space. Using the empirical findings and further literature, a conceptual framework was developed that illustrates the ways in which functional supervision, enculturation, emancipation, critical thinking and relationship development are achieved and formed by the interplay of the technological, functional, multimodal and the wider sociocultural, political and sociolinguistic structures associated with social media space.     

Undergraduate students' ability to revise text effectively: relationships with topic knowledge and working memory

In order to communicate understanding, students are often required to produce texts which present an explicit, coherent argument. This study examined the extent to which individual differences in undergraduates' topic knowledge and working memory skills were related to their ability to revise texts to better fulfil these goals. Forty-seven students revised texts containing three types of error: language, structure and argument. Topic knowledge was indexed by multiple choice test performance. Verbal short-term and working memory were measured using forward and backward digit recall and reading span. Rates of identification, diagnosis and correction of errors were generally poor. Contrary to expectations neither topic knowledge nor verbal working memory was associated with text revision although significant associations were identified with verbal short-term memory. When revising texts students may focus on the surface features of the text rather than addressing issues of structure and argument. Possible accounts of this tendency are considered.     

Adolescent racial prejudice development: The role of friendship quality and interracial contact

There is a limited theoretical and empirical literature on the role of friendship quality and interracial contact on adolescent racial prejudice development. To address this gap, the present study examined the relationship between these factors amongst an Australian sample of 89 school-aged adolescent friendship dyads and 80 university-aged adolescent friendship dyads. All participants were administered questionnaires measuring prejudice towards Asian and Arab Australians, friendship quality and interracial contact. Overall, the results revealed that all adolescents reported significantly higher levels of subtle prejudice than blatant prejudice. As predicted, university-aged adolescents reported significantly lower levels of both subtle and blatant prejudice towards Asian and Arab Australians than school-aged adolescents. Importantly, adolescents who had contact with Asian (outgroup) friends reported significantly lower levels of subtle and blatant prejudice towards Asian Australians than adolescents with no Asian friends. Interestingly, friendship quality was not found to moderate the similarity of prejudice levels within friendship dyads. Together, these findings indicate that in developing subtle prejudice-reduction programs research should focus on increasing interracial cooperative contact, particularly amongst school-aged adolescents.     

Crisis intervention: Facilitating parental acceptance of a child's handicap

School psychologists consult with parents on many issues. One frequent task involves informing parents that their child is handicapped. The diagnosis of a handicap can bring on a situational life crisis for parents. This paper discusses various adjustment reactions displayed by some parents in the process of crisis resolution. Implications for the school psychologist's role with parents of exceptional children are presented within a crisis intervention framework.     

Acculturation orientations and religious identity as predictors of Anglo-Australians’ attitudes towards Australian Muslims

Poll studies have shown an increase in Anglo-Australians’ negative attitudes towards Australian Muslims. Such studies, however, by their nature present Anglo-Australians as a relatively unified group, making a limited scientific contribution to the understanding of intergroup relations. The present study aimed at revealing differences within Anglo-Australians by examining the extent to which their acculturation orientations and religious identity play a role in differentiating the levels of positive and negative attitudes they hold towards Australian Muslims. A total of 170 second year University students (116 females and 54 males) with a mean age of 22.09 (SD = 5.98) participated in the study. Generally, findings revealed that while Integrationist and Individualist were the most endorsed acculturation orientations, Assimilationist and Segregationist emerged the least, and participants recorded more positive attitudes towards Muslims than negative attitudes. Additionally, Integrationist and Individualist orientations were positively related to positive attitudes and negatively related to negative attitudes; the reverse was the case for Assimilationist and Segregationist orientations. Religious identity of Anglo-Australians predicted positive attitudes towards Australian Muslims but did not predict negative attitudes.     

The important role of mothers during displacement: Direct and indirect effects of the refugee context on Syrian refugee children's mental health

Refugee children are at increased risk for mental health problems, including post-traumatic stress, depression, and externalizing problems. The refugee environment, maternal mental health, and parenting may reduce or exacerbate that risk. This study investigated their direct and indirect associations with child mental health cross-sectionally in a sample of Syrian refugee child–mother dyads in Lebanon in 2017–19. Mediating pathways were tested using structural equation modeling with 1446 dyads (child: M_age = 11.39, 52.1% females) and again 1 year later with 872 (child: M_age = 12.17, 53.1% females) of the original sample. Mediating pathways from the refugee environment through maternal mental health and parenting to child outcomes were detected, emphasizing the importance of a holistic approach to refugee mental health.