The Impact of Gatekeeper Training for Suicide Prevention on University Resident Assistants

Resident assistants (RAs) can serve as important suicide prevention gatekeepers. The purpose of the study was to determine if training improved RAs’ crisis communications skills and suicide‐related knowledge and to determine if the knowledge elements predicted crisis communications skills. New RAs showed significant improvement in all areas from pretest to posttest, whereas returning RAs showed no significant increase in any of the areas. None of the knowledge areas predicted communications skills for either group.     

Practitioners' Perspectives of Collaboration: A Social Validation and Factor Analysis

This investigation was designed to socially validate the characterization and operational definitions of collaboration as described in the professional literature and quantitatively identify salient features of collaboration. The study was conducted in two phases. The first phase employed an adelphi methodology asking practitioners to define and describe the collaborative process. Open-ended surveys were sent to teachers, special education teachers, administrators, and related service providers at the building, district, and state levels in 3 states representing distinct national regions. A content analysis team identified 35 thematic units that were used to create a second instrument for the second phase of the study, a factor analysis. Surveys were sent to teachers, special educators, administrators, and related service providers at the building, district, and state levels in 7 states. A factor analysis revealed 4 factors as salient components of collaboration. Results of the investigation socially validated most concepts of collaboration articulated in the literature. Overall, practitioners have a pragmatic view of the process of collaboration coupled with an emphasis on the collaborative ethic. Each identified factor is described and discussed. This article concludes with implications of these findings for professional preparation programs.     

Cultivating Hope Through Learning for the Common Good

This article examines how an orientation toward hope can guide institutions of higher education in achieving their ultimate purpose of providing education for the common good of society. In today's cultural context, colleges and universities must navigate a multitude of challenges and competing philosophies, many of which question the validity of their inherent value and purpose. As society continues to press questions of market relevance, sustainability, accessibility, quality, and the value of higher education, a basic question remains: How, amid all of these challenges, can today's postsecondary institutions contribute to the cultivation of a better society? In this regard, faith-based colleges and universities can offer guidance. By carrying out their distinctive mandate of infusing their educational mission with the holistic character formation of students, these institutions can promote the common good by coupling the Gospel message of personal hope in Jesus Christ with the call to cultural influence and transformation. To demonstrate this concept, a framework is offered that describes both a starting point—a biblical foundation for understanding humanity and hope—and a pathway through learning. The application of this framework—uncommon learning for the common good—invites implications for curricular design, the facilitation of learning, and institutional leadership that faculty and administrators from across the spectrum of higher education may find timely and relevant to their own learning contexts.     

Characteristics of male and female science teachers

The characteristics of 273 male science teachers were compared with 72 female science teachers randomly selected from a fourteen-state region in the USA. A multivariate analysis of variance found differences between the two groups significant at the p ? 0.0005 level. Female teachers were higher on measures of interest in science and receptivity to change. Males scored higher on science knowledge indicators and on their perceptions of the teaching support they received. No differences were noted on measures of professional development or their perceptions of teaching effectiveness, curriculum, workload, or facilities. The implications of the findings are discussed in terms of science career selection by women.     

Children with reported histories of sexual abuse: utilizing multiple perspectives to understand clinical and psychosocial profiles

OBJECTIVE: The current study examines multiple empirically based perspectives (i.e., child, caregiver, and clinician) of behavior and functioning as they contribute to the clinical and psychosocial profile of children (aged 5 to 17.5 years) with reported histories of sexual abuse.METHOD: A large, multi-site data set of children referred into Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services both with and without reported histories of sexual abuse, was examined. Seven hundred and fifty-nine children with a reported history of sexual abuse were compared to 2722 without such a history on caregiver and child reported behavior, clinician rated functioning, diagnosis, demographic variables, and life challenges.RESULTS: The multiple perspectives contributed unique and specific information to regression models: caregiver-reported behavior contributed information about externalizing behavior while child-reported behavior added information about internalizing behavior and clinician ratings about self-harmful behavior. Children with reported histories of sexual abuse were also more likely to be female, Caucasian, and have reported histories of life challenges (e.g., physical abuse, substance use, running away). Child sexual abuse was associated with higher rates of depression and anxiety diagnoses, and lower rates of substance abuse, conduct, and attention deficit disorder diagnoses.CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that the profile of children entering into Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services with reported histories of sexual abuse, as compared to those without such histories, is complex and best understood via multiple perspectives. Caregiver, child and clinician rated information, when taken together, provide a comprehensive clinical and psychosocial profile around which to plan and implement individualized service plans.