The effects of early sexual abuse on adult risky sexual behaviors among persons with severe mental illness

OBJECTIVE: There were two aims: first, to examine the relationship between prior sexual abuse and three types of adult risky sexual behaviors [(1) ever traded sex for drugs or money, (2) had unprotected sex in the past 6 months, and (3) frequency of unprotected sex in the past 6 months] among persons with severe mental illness (SMI), and second, to examine the potential mediating effects of adult rape, substance use, and PTSD. METHOD: Using a pooled sample of individuals with SMI (N=609), logistic and negative binomial regression analyses were used to investigate the impact of prior sexual abuse on these adult risky sexual behaviors. RESULTS: Childhood sexual abuse was associated with having ever traded sex for money and having engaged in unprotected sex in the past 6 months. However, childhood sexual abuse was inversely associated with the number of times males had unprotected sex in the past 6 months. Results differed between males and females and the impact of potential mediators also varied by gender and type of outcome studied. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest a complex link between childhood sexual abuse and adult risky sexual behaviors in persons with SMI. Clinical assessments of child abuse sequelae should include a variety of indicators and parameters of adult risky sexual behavior, as persons with SMI are at an increased risk of engaging in high-risk sexual behaviors and tend to have a higher exposure to childhood sexual abuse than does the general population.     

Salience of Emotional Intelligence as a Core Characteristic of Being a Counselor

The authors investigated the association between emotional intelligence and counseling self‐efficacy. Participants were 140 counseling students and practicing counselors who completed the Emotional Judgment Inventory and the Counseling Self‐Estimate Inventory. Emotional intelligence differentiated counselors from noncounselors (Mdn d = .6650) but provided mixed results in differentiating counseling students and counselors. Moreover, the emotional intelligence factors Identifying Own Emotions, Expressing Emotions Adaptively, and Using Emotions in Problem Solving successfully predicted counseling self‐efficacy of both counseling students and practicing counselors (R = .537). Emotional intelligence may be another marker for individuals exploring professional counseling as a career and for improving students' counseling self‐efficacy.     

Broadening the Definition of Collaboration in Early Care and Education

ABSTRACT

Research Findings: This article summarizes current peer-reviewed research and conceptualizations of collaboration and presents a new conceptual model. Authors found that the existing peer-reviewed literature does not adequately reflect emerging understandings of the nature of early childhood collaborations or the contributions such collaborations make to outcomes. The paper fills a gap in the literature by presenting a broader conceptualization of collaboration in which stakeholders work together and use data to achieve common goals through engaging in shared activities. Authors provide examples of how collaborations take place within a network of early care and education programs. Practice or Policy: Practitioners can use information presented in this to support collaborations at different levels of an early childhood system. More research needs to be conducted to identify and measure collaborative activities and outcomes across levels of collaboration to align with a broader definition of collaboration.     

Pathways to Undergraduate Research Experiences: a Multi-Institutional Study

The positive impact of undergraduate research experiences on students’ post-secondary success is well-documented. However, these conclusions are drawn from undergraduate students who already participate; very little research has explored the pathways by which students enter these experiences. Using data from a multi-institutional survey, we examined students’ reasons for participating and differences across institutions and demographic groups. Overall, students cited social and experiential reasons as key motivators for participation and a perceived lack of research readiness as a key barrier. Differences were also found across academic year. Implications from this study address issues of access, preparation, and institutional policies around undergraduate research.     

How emotionally intelligent are pre-service teachers?

Although there is evidence that teacher emotional intelligence is important for pupil adjustment and learning and for teachers in managing the emotional demands of their work, little is known about the levels of emotional skill of teachers and beginning teachers. Using Mayer and Salovey's emotional intelligence (EI) model and the MSCEIT test of EI, this study investigates how emotionally skilled student teachers are (N = 352). Results show lower than average levels of EI among student teachers, but with important differences between students and across emotional skill areas. The implications of the findings for pre-service teacher education are explored.     

The Integration of Creative Drama in an Inquiry-Based Elementary Program: The Effect on Student Attitude and Conceptual Learning

Creative drama activities designed to help children learn difficult science concepts were integrated into an inquiry-based elementary science program. Children (n?=?38) in an upper elementary enrichment program at one primary school were the participants in this action research. The teacher-researcher taught students the Full Option Science System? (FOSS) modules of sound (fourth grade) and solar energy (fifth grade) with the integration of creative drama activities in treatment classes. A 2?×?2?×?(2) Mixed ANOVA was used to examine differences in the learning outcomes and attitudes toward science between groups (drama and non-drama) and grade levels (4th and 5th grades) over time (pre/post). Learning was measured using the tests included with the FOSS modules. A shortened version of the Three Dimension Elementary Science Attitude Survey measured attitudes toward science. Students in the drama treatment group had significantly higher learning gains (F?=?160.2, p?<?0.001) than students in the non-drama control group with students in grade four reporting significantly greater learning outcomes (F?=?14.3, p?<?0.001) than grade five. There was a significantly statistical decrease in student attitudes toward science (F?=?7.5, p?<?0.01), though a small change. Creative drama was an effective strategy to increase science conceptual learning in this group of diverse elementary enrichment students when used as an active extension to the pre-existing inquiry-based science curriculum.     

Using word study instruction with developmental college students

This study investigates the effect of word study instruction on the orthographic knowledge of college students enrolled in a developmental reading course. Results revealed significantly greater improvement in orthographic knowledge in students who received word study instruction when compared with those in a control group, suggesting that the word study approach was effective for these students. Because of the influence of orthographic knowledge on spelling, writing and reading, additional research is merited to examine how word study intervention impacts the reading behaviours and academic achievement of college students enrolled in developmental education courses.     

Reading the Body on House,M.D.: Medical Surveillance as a Model of the Social

This article focuses on the representation of the body in House, M.D. and suggests its usefulness as a metaphor for the view of the social body on which the series relies. The body in House, M.D. is the central occupation of the narrative, and it is around the body that the paired oppositions certainty/doubt and body/speech occur. In House, confessional speech is a regime of false knowledge while the body is privileged as the foundation of true knowledge—the province of the expert interpreter of the body. Through an exploration of these paired oppositions in the show's representation of medical practice, the author explores the series' model of the social in which the visual mediation of bodies is privileged as social hermeneutic and the intensification of mutual surveillance is the means of authentic interaction.     

The Impact of Professional Development on Library Faculty Attitudes,Practices, and Knowledge of Student Learning Assessment

In order to align with university-wide assessment initiatives and to promote a systematic approach to one-shot assessment within our library, a team of five librarians participated in a campus-wide professional development program about student learning assessment. We then implemented library-specific professional development about student learning assessment for one-shot instruction. We provide an overview of the professional development program and discuss our study that explored the impact of the program on librarians’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes about student learning assessment. Our findings indicate that faculty participants had a positive change in practice, knowledge, and attitude after participating in the professional development program.     

The Influence of Television News Depictions of the Images of War on Viewers

Results of an experiment about the influence of network television news coverage of combat in Iraq on viewers indicated that, compared with a control condition which featured news stories about combat operations in Iraq described by news anchors, news reports also featuring footage of combat operations increased viewer involvement levels about the war and reduced viewer support for continued military presence in Iraq. Television news footage of combat operations also reduced viewers' pride in U.S. military presence but did not affect other emotions. However, regardless of how news stories were packaged, women experienced greater emotional response to network news stories about combat operations than men. The results also shed light on the potential of inoculation to deflect such influence.