Beyond the Nuclear Family: Children’s Social Networks and Depressive Symptomology

This study identified social network profiles among children, determined whether profiles vary across sociodemographic characteristics, and investigated links between childhood profiles and depressive symptomology using three waves of data spanning 23 years (Wave 1, 1992 Metro-Detroit representative sample: n = 193, ages 8–12). Latent profile analysis revealed three profiles: Close Family (22%), Varied Family (57%), Friend and Family (21%). White children were more likely than Black children to be in the Friend and Family profile. Children in the Close Family profile reported the lowest levels of depressive symptomology in childhood, but exhibited the steepest increase over time. Findings suggest that close, family centric networks are protective in childhood, but less so as children develop into adulthood, highlighting the importance of considering developmental perspectives.     

Learner self-efficacy,goal orientation,and academic achievement: exploring mediating and moderating relationships

ABSTRACT

Within the context of Pintrich’s self-regulated learning model, recent reviews of the literature show that motivational factors are the strongest predictors of academic performance. Even so, gaps remain in terms of which goal orientation constructs area most strongly related to performance, and whether academic self-efficacy is involved in such relationships, either as mediator or moderator. This study addresses these gaps using a sample of 478 university students; 409 females aged 17–62 (M?=?23.28, SD?=?7.22) and 69 males, aged 18–47 (M?=?22.5, SD?=?6.31). Analyses revealed that academic self-efficacy (ASE) mediated relationships between both mastery and performance-approach goal orientation with achievement, though the mediation effect was larger for the relationship involving mastery approach goal orientation. ASE did not moderate the relationship between performance-approach goal orientation and achievement. Findings suggest teaching programmes should foster learning environments that encourage persistence and effort when learning, and consider how course delivery and feedback can enhance academic self-efficacy, regardless of the goal orientation adopted by students.     

Breaking with old ideas: Chinese students’ perceptions of China’s ‘neoliberal turn’ in higher education

ABSTRACT

Maoist policy in China emphasised the peasants and workers. It integrated academic study with productive labour to nurture socialist citizens useful for the nation’s modernisation. More recently, China has been described as having a ‘neoliberal turn’ but many see the situation as more complex than this due to the significant role given to the state in economic development and governance. Using the film ‘Breaking with Old Ideas’ [Li, W. (1975). Breaking with old ideas [Motion picture]. China: Beijing Film Studio] to inform, and stimulate participants, this study examined how a group of 15 Chinese students at an Australian university perceived the transformation of higher education in China. Findings generated from written responses and interviews addressed the relationship between neoliberal imaginings and Foucauldian subjectification processes in post-Maoist China, supporting the thesis that China cannot be called neoliberal in the traditional sense of the word. In terms of education, there co-exist socialist and neoliberal rhetorics with tensions between Confucianism, suzhi (quality) and traditional examination-driven models.