Self‐Compassion Among College Counseling Center Clients: An Examination of Clinical Norms and Group Differences

There has been growing interest in the mental health benefits of self‐compassion. This study was designed to establish norms on the Self‐Compassion Scale–Short Form, a popular measure of self‐compassion for individuals seeking counseling, and to examine group differences in self‐compassion based on gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, previous counseling, and psychiatric medication use. Data for this study were collected through the Center for Collegiate Mental Health, a practice‐research network of more than 240 college and university counseling centers.     

Confirmatory factor analyses comparing parental involvement frameworks with secondary students

Given the lack of research on measurement models used to operationalize parental involvement with secondary students, the goal of this research is to examine the measurement properties of the three‐domain conceptualization of parental involvement including school‐based involvement, home‐based involvement, and academic socialization, compared to a more nuanced six domain conceptualization school‐based (1) school/parent communication, (2) attending school activities, home‐based (3) home activities, (4) homework help, academic socialization, (5) parent–child communication about education, and (6) parental aspirations for child's education. When comparing the fit among the models, the six‐factor model had best fit indices and indicated varied correlations among the subdomains. The six‐factor model allowed for more nuanced variations among the subdomains that may be helpful when assessing parental involvement with high school students.     

Resilience in Context: A Brief and Culturally Grounded Measure for Syrian Refugee and Jordanian Host‐Community Adolescents

Validated measures are needed for assessing resilience in conflict settings. An Arabic version of the Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM) was developed and tested in Jordan. Following qualitative work, surveys were implemented with male/female, refugee/nonrefugee samples (N = 603, 11–18 years). Confirmatory factor analyses tested three‐factor structures for 28‐ and 12‐item CYRMs and measurement equivalence across groups. CYRM‐12 showed measurement reliability and face, content, construct (comparative fit index = .92–.98), and convergent validity. Gender‐differentiated item loadings reflected resource access and social responsibilities. Resilience scores were inversely associated with mental health symptoms, and for Syrian refugees were unrelated to lifetime trauma exposure. In assessing individual, family, and community‐level dimensions of resilience, the CYRM is a useful measure for research and practice with refugee and host‐community youth.     

Effects of Headings on Text Summarization

A summarization task was used to study whether headings influence readers' representations of the topic structure of a text. College students (Experiments 1-3) and sixth- and eighth-graders (Experiment 3) summarized a multiple topic text that (a) included headings introducing every new subtopic, (b) included headings introducing half of the new subtopics, or (c) included no headings. In all experiments, topics were more likely to be included in a summary if they were signaled than if they were not signaled. This effect was magnified when the text was only half signaled: Signaled topics were more likely to appear in a summary if only half the text topics were signaled than if all of the topics were signaled; however, unsignaled topics were less likely to appear in a summary if half of the text topics were signaled than if none of the text topics were signaled. The findings demonstrate that readers rely heavily on headings in a task that emphasizes attention to a text's topic structure. It is suggested that previously observed signaling effects on text recall are mediated by effects on how readers represent a text's topic structure. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.     

Synergizing geriatric research and education in an allied health profession with an older adult community advisory board: development and process outcomes

ABSTRACT

Community advisory boards (CABs) have been used to improve research outcomes involving specific communities and populations, including older adults. There is potential to synergize the use of CABs to encompass both research activities and the education of healthcare professionals to help meet increasing demands for a geriatric healthcare workforce in aging populations worldwide. We describe the development and process outcomes of a CAB that synergizes geriatric research and education of students in an allied health profession (occupational therapy). Implementation costs from June 2017–June 2019 were recorded. In-depth interviews were conducted with CAB participants, who were community-dwelling older adults living in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Interview data were analyzed using a constant comparison method based on a grounded theory approach. Themes were derived regarding barriers, facilitators, and benefits of CAB participation for older adults. Fourteen older adults (aged 65 and over) were initially recruited. The total direct cost of CAB implementation was 4050 United States Dollars over two years. Barriers to CAB participation for older adults included unexpected schedule conflicts due to illness and lack of understanding of the research process, while facilitators included accessible meeting spaces, staff support, flexible participation options, and financial support (e.g., transportation). Perceived benefits of CAB participation included gains in social capital, more positive views of research, and social connectedness. Key lessons learned are described and can be used to inform a novel approach to developing and implementing CABs to improve outcomes of geriatric research and education.     

Analysis of self-regulated learning processing using statistical models for count data

Researchers often use measures of the frequency of self-regulated learning (SRL; Zimmerman, American Educational Research Journal, 45(1), 166–183, 2000) processing as a predictor of learning gains. These frequency data, which are really counts of SRL processing events, are often non-normally distributed, and the accurate analysis of these data requires the use of specialized statistical models. In this study, we demonstrate how to implement and interpret count statistical models in path and latent profile analyses to investigate the role of SRL as a mediator of the relation between pretest and posttest conceptual understanding. Our findings from a sample of 170 college students using a computer to learn about the circulatory system show that SRL does mediate the aforementioned relation, and that count models are a more accurate representation of SRL processing data than standard analysis models based on ordinary least squares estimation. The results of our path analyses revealed which specific SRL processes were related to learning, above and beyond the effect of prior knowledge. Our latent profile analysis revealed two groups of participants, indicative of Brophy’s (2004) model of schematic and aschematic learners. We conclude with implications and future directions for basic and applied SRL research.     

The Efficacy of Multimedia Modules for Teaching Basic Literacy-Related Concepts

Researchers have found that teacher preparation programs are not universally preparing teacher candidates in concepts associated with the alphabetic principle. Yet, the majority of students with reading disabilities or who struggle with beginning reading have difficulty with phonology and concepts associated with the alphabetic principle. The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of a series of multimedia modules on participants' (N = 76) knowledge and skills related to early reading instruction. The multimedia modules covered basic literacy concepts primarily related to phonology and phonics. Results from the experimental, control-group design indicated that the modules were successful in teaching foundational literacy constructs to participants. Thus, multimedia modules may be a promising avenue for providing instruction for teacher candidates. Additional research, however, is needed to ensure mastery of knowledge and to evaluate how principles of effective instruction can guide multimedia module use by teacher educators.