Treating Suicidality in College Counseling Centers: A Response to Polychronis

This is a commentary on the article by Paul D. Polychronis, “Changes Across Three Editions of The Suicidal Patient: Clinical and Legal Standards of Care: Relevance to Counseling Centers,” published in this issue of the Journal of College Student Psychotherapy.     

Teacher self-efficacy in cultivating students to become ‘good citizens’: a Hong Kong case

Civic education is a contested subject in Hong Kong, and there is no agreement in society on what form civic education should take, which leaves each school to choose its own approach. Under these circumstances, each teacher needs greater capability and self-efficacy to develop school-based civic education. This study examined the factors that influenced Hong Kong primary school teacher confidence in teaching citizenship education with the ultimate goal of nurturing students to become ‘good citizens.’ The results of this study indicated that teacher self-efficacy was influenced by beliefs about the subject (Moral, Civic and National Education) and beliefs about teachers’ roles in the curriculum but not beliefs about teaching. Teachers felt more confident teaching social topics than political topics. While this study was conducted in the Hong Kong context, the findings could be valuable for policy makers and educators elsewhere who seek to strengthen teacher self-efficacy.     

The Development of Aggression within Sibling Conflict

Sibling physical aggression and parents' and children's responses to such aggression were observed in 40 families when children were approximately 2% and 4% years of age, and two years later when they were 4% and 6%. Aggression occurred in all families, with first-born siblings being more aggressive than second-borns, and second-born siblings being more likely to cry, especially at the first time period. Parents responded to half of their children's aggression, and were more likely to respond if victims had cried. Only when parents intervened did the conflict resolution indicate to the children that physical aggression was not acceptable. Most responses by both parents and child victims were simple commands to stop aggression, and discussion of issues that gave rise to the aggression. Less frequent parent and child responses, such as physical reactions or approval of aggression by parents, and discussions of feelings or rules, or crying by first-born children were related to only the aggression of second-born siblings at Time 1. Furthermore, the only variables that predicted aggression at Time 2 were the levels of aggression that the children exhibited at Time 1, with relatively aggressive first-born children and relatively unaggressive second-born children predicting higher levels of sibling aggression two years later. Results were discussed in terms of family influences in the development of relatively aggressive or unaggressive sibling relationships over time.     

Informal STEM: learning with robotics and game design in an urban context

Abstract

This mixed methods study examined how engagement in robotics and game design influenced students’ self-efficacy, STEM attitudes, and computational thinking (CT) skills. Predominantly African-American students engaged in engineering and computer science tasks during informal learning environments. Results revealed students’ self-efficacy scores on computer gaming increased significantly. Focus group data supported these findings, revealing that computer programing was challenging, but students enjoyed the tasks, added elements of culture in some cases, and valued the agency the tasks provided. Focal students were also able to make connections to STEM-related careers. Observational data demonstrated that focal students exhibited substantive CT during robotics and moderate CT during game design. Results support the idea that robotics and game design may be used to broaden underrepresented students’ participation in STEM.     

Changing lives: improving care leaver access to higher education

ABSTRACT

Australian and international research documents the limited access of young people transitioning from out-of-home care (OOHC) to further and higher education. This paper examines the processes, outcomes, and key findings of the Raising Expectations project, a collaborative university and industry approach to promote higher education among care leavers at two Australian universities. That approach was informed by the co-authors' previous research, including interviews with enrolled care-leaver students. The paper highlights the relevance of that research in the design and implementation of Raising Expectations. Our findings reiterate the importance of policy and practice reforms informed by rigorous research, particularly involving the voices and agency of care leavers. We outline strategies adopted by the participating universities resulting in a fourfold increase in enrolments, growth in school outreach activities, and significantly improved retention rates. The paper also highlights barriers to higher education access and success, through care-leaver student interviews and policy analysis. These interviews revealed the need for better university outreach and information to prospective care-leaver students, improved support for enrolled care-leaver students, and better capturing of data by universities and governments. The paper also highlights policy barriers to the greater expansion of care-leavers at university, especially in the absence of extended state care.     

Making a Difference: Dyslexia and Social Identity in Educational Contexts

Dyslexia is known as a Learning Disability (LD), a reading disability and a neurological disability; yet there is confusion about dyslexia and the associated support required in learning. Challenges are experienced by adult students with dyslexia in both social and organisational contexts. This study explored the life experiences of adult students with dyslexia, in Technical and Further Education (TAFE) Colleges in Australia. The shift from a prior negative self‐perception to a current positive social identity in adult students with dyslexia can be developed through key supporting relationships and interactions in educational institutions.     

Enduring Association Between Parenting and Cortisol: A Meta‐analysis

Warm caregiving is associated with concurrent hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenocortical (HPA) axis function, although the persistence of this association over time is less established. Using longitudinal and intervention studies, this meta‐analysis examined the enduring association of parental warmth (measured when children were ages < 1 through 15 years) with basal cortisol, reactivity and recovery (measured when children were ages < 1 through 25 years; k = 38; N = 6,608). These studies demonstrate no overall associations between parenting and children's HPA axis; instead there are small associations that vary based on moderators such as socioeconomic status, developmental stage, study design and stressor type, though many moderators are confounded. This first wave of studies indicates that the enduring association between parenting and cortisol is small and only understood in the context of other factors, and directly informs four sets of methodological and theoretical recommendations to strengthen this literature.     

Does performance level affect initial ball flight kinematics in finger and wrist-spin cricket bowlers?

Spin bowling plays a fundamental role within the game of cricket yet little is known about the initial ball kinematics in elite and pathway spin bowlers or their relationship to performance. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to record three-dimensional ball kinematics in a large and truly high level cohort of elite and pathway finger-spin (FS) and wrist-spin (WS) bowlers, identifying potential performance measures that can be subsequently used in future research. A 22-camera Vicon motion analysis system captured retro-reflective markers placed on the seam (static) and ball (dynamic) to quantify ball kinematics in 36 FS (12 elite and 24 pathway) and 20 WS (eight elite and 12 pathway) bowlers. Results indicated that FS bowlers delivered the ball with an increased axis of rotation elevation, while wrist-spin bowlers placed greater amounts of revolutions on the ball. It also highlighted that ball release (BR) velocity, revolutions and velocity/revolution index scores for both groups and seam stability for FS bowlers, and seam azimuth angle and spin axis elevation angle for WS bowlers, were discriminators of playing level. As such these variables could be used as indicators of performance (i.e. performance measures) in future research.     

Day-level sedentary pattern estimates derived from hip-worn accelerometer cut-points in 8–12-year-olds: Do they reflect postural transitions?

Improving sedentary measurement is critical to understanding sedentary-health associations in youth. This study assessed agreement between the thigh-worn activPAL and commonly used hip-worn ActiGraph accelerometer methods for assessing sedentary patterns in children. Both devices were worn by 8–12-year-olds (N = 195) for 4.6 ± 1.9 days. Two ActiGraph cut-points were applied to two epoch durations: ≤25 counts (c)/15 s, ≤75c/15s, ≤100c/60s, and ≤300c/60s. Bias, mean absolute deviation (MAD), and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) tested agreement between devices for total sedentary time and 11 sedentary pattern variables (usual bout duration, sedentary time accumulated in various bout durations, breaks/day, break rate, and alpha). For most sedentary pattern variables, ActiGraph 25c/15s, 75c/15s, and 100c/60s had poor ICCs, with bias and MAD >20%. ActiGraph 300c/60s had a better agreement than the other cut-points, but all ICCs were <0.587. ActiGraph underestimated sedentary time in longer bouts and usual bout duration, and overestimated sedentary time in shorter bouts, breaks/day, and alpha. For total sedentary time, ActiGraph 25c/15s, 300c/60s, and 75c/15s had good/fair ICCs, with bias and MAD <20%. Sedentary patterns derived from two commonly used ActiGraph cut-points did not appear to reflect postural changes. These differences between measurement devices should be considered when interpreting findings from sedentary pattern studies.     

Preschoolers’ Physical Activity Participation Across a Yearlong Mastery-Motivational Climate Intervention

Purpose: This study sought to determine how children’s participation in physical activity during a mastery-motivational climate changed during a 20-week intervention and to compare it to children’s free-play activity during a typical day at their local day-care facility. Method: Twelve 4-year-old children participated in a mastery-motivational climate physical activity program delivered 2 days a week for 20 weeks during a period of 8 months. All children were fitted with an Actigraph GT3X triaxial accelerometer. Data from the accelerometers were reduced to determine minutes of sedentary time, light physical activity, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during (a) all 20 weeks, and (b) Weeks 1 through 4, Weeks 9 through 12, and Weeks 17 to 20 for the mastery climate. Activity levels in the mastery condition were compared to the children’s activity during unplanned free play in Weeks 1, 10, and 20. Results: During the course of the mastery-motivational climate program, participation in sedentary behavior decreased statistically significantly, while participation in MVPA increased statistically significantly. Within the free-play condition, there were no changes in the levels of activity across time, with the children spending on average more than 80% of their time being sedentary. Conclusions: Findings indicate that when specific task structures associated with a mastery climate are included in an instructional setting, these climate manipulations seem to have a direct effect on physical activity levels once the children learned how to manage themselves in the setting. Free-play activity in and of itself does not appear to stimulate MVPA.