Mediational significance of PTSD in the relationship of sexual trauma and eating disorders

OBJECTIVE: To examine the mediational significance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the development of eating disorder symptomatology following sexually traumatic experiences. METHOD: Seventy-one victims of sexual trauma and 25 control subjects completed interviews and questionnaires assessing eating disorder psychopathology and posttraumatic stress disorder symptomatology. Mediational analyses were conducted examining the relationships among trauma, posttraumatic stress, and eating disorder symptoms. Mediational significance was assessed by the drop in the overall correlation between trauma and eating disorder symptoms when PTSD symptoms were included in the regression model. RESULTS: There is a significant association between a history of trauma and eating disorder symptoms. Also, there was a significant association between a history of trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. Importantly, the relationship between trauma and eating disorder symptoms was significantly reduced when posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms were included in the regression analyses, indicating mediational significance of the posttraumatic stress construct. These findings were most pronounced for the physiological arousal and avoidance components of posttraumatic stress disorder. DISCUSSION: The present findings support the idea that individuals who develop eating disorders after sexual trauma are likely to have experienced posttraumatic stress disorder symptomatology. These findings have significant implications for causal models of eating disorder onset in trauma victims. Furthermore, clinical interventions for traumatized eating disordered individuals may benefit from a focus on posttraumatic stress symptomatology.     

Observations and ratings of preschool children's social behavior: Issues of representativeness and validity

Data were gathered from videotaped recordings of two preschool children engaged in unstructured free play over 12 days each. Observers coded behavior from the videotapes and completed a behavior rating scale for each child after every two observation sessions. Teachers also completed two behavior rating scales per child. Results indicated that at least three 30‐min observation sessions were required to reliably represent a child's overall behavior. Moderate correlations were obtained when observations were compared with teachers' and observers' own ratings, indicating the behavior rating scale did an adequate job of reflecting actual observed behavior. The implications of these results for researchers and practitioners are discussed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 42: 13–26, 2005.     

Coping, Stress, and the Psychological Symptoms of Children of Divorce: A Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Study

The authors conducted a cross-sectional and prospective longitudinal study of stress, coping, and psychological symptoms in children of divorce. The sample consisted of 258 children (mean age = 10.1; SD = 1.2), of whom 196 were successfully followed 5.5 months later. A 4-dimensional model of coping was found using confirmatory factor analysis, with the factors being active coping, avoidance, distraction, and support. In the cross-sectional model avoidance coping partially mediated the relations between negative events and symptoms while active coping moderated the relations between negative events and conduct problems. In the longitudinal model significant negative paths were found from active coping and distraction Time 1 to internalizing symptoms Time 2, while Time 1 support coping had a positive path coefficient to Time 2 depression. Positive paths were found between negative events at Time 1 and anxiety at Time 2, and between all symptoms at Time 1 and negative events at Time 2.     

A discursive question: Supporting student-authored multiple choice questions through peer-learning software in non-STEMM disciplines

Peer-learning that engages students in multiple choice question (MCQ) formulation promotes higher task engagement and deeper learning than simply answering MCQ’s in summative assessment. Yet presently, the literature detailing deployments of student-authored MCQ software is biased towards accounts from Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and Medicine (STEMM) subjects, rather than discursive subjects or disciplines where content may contain fewer absolute facts and objective metrics and more nuance. We report on qualitative and quantitative findings from a semester-long deployment of a peer-learning software package (PeerWise) in a 140-student course on Interaction Design. PeerWise enables students to author, rate and comment upon their peers’ MCQ questions. The platform was enthusiastically adopted as a revision aid, yet overall question quality was poor and students expressed difficulty in translating the discursive nature of the course content into MCQs with only one correct answer. In addressing these shortcomings, this paper offers specific recommendations to instructors of more discursive subjects using student-led MCQ authoring platforms, and further, how platforms such as PeerWise may be adapted to better suit disciplines characterised by discursive content. We propose alternative approaches to moderation and two suggestions for potential amendments to the software itself.     

The relationship of school‐wide Positive Behavior Support to academic achievement in an urban middle school

An emerging literature on school‐wide Positive Behavior Support (PBS) in urban settings suggests the utility of PBS in addressing student social development while decreasing the need for disciplinary actions (i.e., office disciplinary referrals [ODRs]). This research represents a significant addition to, and expansion of, this literature by examining the relationship of school‐wide PBS‐induced reductions in out‐of‐class referrals to student academic achievement. School‐wide PBS was implemented in an urban, inner‐city middle school in the Midwest over a 3‐year period. Data on ODRs, suspensions, standardized test scores, and treatment fidelity were gathered and analyzed. Results demonstrated significant reductions in ODRs and suspensions and increases in standardized math and reading scores. Additionally, regression analyses suggested a significant relationship between student problem behavior and academic performance. Treatment adherence to PBS procedures was significantly correlated with reductions in problem behavior. These findings are discussed in terms of helping urban schools address challenging behavior. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 701–712, 2006.     

How much is transferred from training to the job? The 10% delusion as a catalyst for thinking about transfer

This article explores the common belief that only a small amount of what is taught in a training program is actually transferred to the job. After providing evidence of the source of the generalization and the acceptance of the notion despite the lack of empirical, behavioral evidence, we take the opportunity to examine the likely reasons for that acceptance. We present five questionable assumptions behind the generalization about minimal transfer. Based on this analysis, we offer four practical strategies for planning, assessing, and reporting training transfer. These strategies include investigating and accounting for variables influencing transfer, expanding the definition of use, stating realistic transfer goals, creating specific transfer objectives, describing observable indicators of use, setting quantitative standards of successful transfer, and reporting the complete transfer story. These strategies provide avenues for producing a more accurate picture of the training transfer experience.     

HOMOSEXUALITY AND NORMALITY: BASIC KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR SCHOOL CONSULTATION

In the United States, controversy persists regarding what it means for heterosexuality to be the norm, or more pointedly, what it means for those not strictly heterosexual to be outside the norm. It is important that consultants in schools be aware of the current state of research bearing on homosexuality. Consultation provides a viable approach to assist educators with the questions that students, parents, teachers, and administrators themselves may be asking: What is homosexuality? Is heterosexuality the only natural sexual orientation? Can lesbian, gay, and bisexual people be psychologically healthy? Are the children of lesbian and gay parents “at risk”? Can one become ungay? What about a gay or lesbian teacher? This article explores these questions with particular attention to how consultation may be used to promote educational practices that foster positive school environments for all students.     

Student Participation in Politics

Abstract

Modern college classrooms are increasingly diverse. We face classes where 18-year-olds sit beside grandmothers, native speakers of English sit beside speakers of other languages, and Christians, Jews, and Muslims share classrooms with atheists and agnostics. The question is: how do we take such a varied and ideologically differentiated group of pupils and bridge their differences in order to bring them together into a classroom community? Not only is the creation of such a community critical to the success of the classroom, but in a larger sense it is critical as a model for the effective functioning of a democratic society. My purpose is to suggest that the concept of listening rhetoric, as it informs classroom practice, has the potential to serve this goal. Therefore, in this article I will propose practical methods for incorporating the practice of listening rhetoric into college courses.