School principal self-efficacy for instructional leadership: relations with engagement, emotional exhaustion and motivation to quit

The Relationship Between Risk Perception, Physical Activity, and Adolescent Mental Health: A Cross-Lagged Analysis

Background

During the novel coronavirus pandemic, the prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms among adolescents rose dramatically to 31% and 34%, respectively. This study aims to elucidate the relationship between perceived disease risk, physical activity, and adolescent mental health, questioning whether physical activity maintains its protective role amidst heightened disease risk.

Methods

In a longitudinal study design, questionnaires were administered twice, in December 2022 and January 2023, to a cohort of students across five high schools. These questionnaires measured adolescents' perception of disease risk, their physical activity levels, and their mental health status during the pandemic. A total of 344 students participated in this study.

Results

The data revealed significant gender differences in risk perception, with gender difference effects of 0.255 (d=0.416) and 0.195 (d=0.402) across both indicators, and in mental health, with gender difference effects of 0.159 (d=0.262) and 0.179 (d=0.278). Risk perception at Time 1 was found to be a significant predictor of both physical activity and mental health (β values of 0.28 and 0.19, P < 0.01, respectively). Physical activity at Time 1 was also a significant predictor of mental health at Time 2 (β = 0.33, P < 0.01). Moreover, physical activity mediated the relationship between risk perception and mental health, as suggested by a significant indirect effect (mediator effect of 0.012, Z value of 0.112, and a Bootstrap 95% CI excluding 0).

Conclusion

This study underscores a longitudinal relationship between adolescents' perception of disease risk, physical activity, and mental health. It highlights the potential benefits of promoting physical activity awareness among adolescents as a strategy to improve mental health outcomes during pandemics.

Relationship between Principals' Leadership Styles and Teachers' Behavior

An effective leader follows a style that helps maintain good relations with his staff. A school leader should use a style best suited to his teachers' behavior. This research investigates the association between four leadership styles (instructional, democratic, transformational, and laissez-faire) and teachers' behavior in Malaysia. This study applied a quantitative research method using a survey technique by administering questionnaires. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Multiple regression and ANOVA were used to study the strength of the relationship between variables. The research found average care of the principals towards teachers' emotional behavior. Democratic leadership style showed significant relationships that explain 28.5% of the variation in the emotional behavior of the teachers. Leaders with a democratic leadership style were more aware of and responded positively to teachers' psychometric behavior. School principals with transformational leadership styles responded positively to teachers' pro-social behavior, although the relationship was weak. These results indicate that a democratic leadership style addresses the issues of teachers' emotional behavior, while instructional leadership, which is the most perceived leadership style, does not. The result of this study can guide Malaysian school principals in choosing the appropriate leadership style best suited to teachers' behavior.

The Correlation Analysis for New Media Internet Celebrity Economy in College Students' Entrepreneurial Values and Entrepreneurial Behavior

Driven by the development of new media, the Internet celebrity economic marketing model has gradually become one of the mainstream online marketing models. It has aroused warm attention on the network platform and provided a breakthrough for entrepreneurship for college students. This thesis aims to explore the influence of the Internet celebrity economy on college students' entrepreneurial values and entrepreneurial behavior. A questionnaire is conducted among students in two colleges in Xi'an. Moreover, a theoretical model is constructed according to the influence principle of entrepreneurial values on entrepreneurial behavior. The reliability and validity of the questionnaire data are analyzed, and the mediating and moderating effects are tested. The results of the questionnaire show that contemporary college students generally pay attention to Internet celebrity mainly through live broadcast platforms and shopping platforms, among which entertainment and shopping account for the largest proportion. More than 40% of college students are optimistic about the impact of Internet celebrity economy and remain rational and objective on the whole. The results of model analysis show that the standardized path coefficient of entrepreneurial values on entrepreneurial behavior reaches a significant level of 0.85, and entrepreneurial values have a positive and significant impact on entrepreneurial behavior. The influence coefficient of the Internet celebrity economy on entrepreneurial intention is 0.79, and the influence coefficient of entrepreneurial intention on entrepreneurial behavior is 0.84, both reaching a significant level. The entrepreneurial intention has an incomplete intermediary effect in the influence mechanism of the Internet celebrity economy on entrepreneurial behavior. The chain double intermediary composed of entrepreneurial motivation and entrepreneurial intention has an incomplete intermediary effect in the indirect impact path of the Internet celebrity economy on entrepreneurial behavior. The influence coefficient of the product of entrepreneurial intention and entrepreneurial policy satisfaction on entrepreneurial behavior is 0.17, which is always greater than -12.28, indicating that entrepreneurial policy satisfaction has a regulatory effect in the impact path of entrepreneurial intention on entrepreneurial behavior. The research results can guide college students to view the Internet celebrity economy rationally and objectively, and provide some guidance for them to have correct entrepreneurial values.

Self-efficacy for instructional leadership: relations with perceived job demands and job resources, emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction, and motivation to quit

The purpose of this study was to explore associations between school principals’ self-efficacy for instructional leadership, their perceptions of work-related demands and resources, emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction, and motivation to leave the principal position (quit). Four hundred and forty-seven principals in elementary school and high school participated in a survey study. Data were analyzed by means of confirmatory factor analyses and SEM analyses. Self-efficacy for instructional leadership was negatively associated with the perception of all job demands and positively associated with the perception of all job resources in the study. In the SEM analysis, the associations between (a) self-efficacy and (b) emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction, and motivation to quit were indirect, mediated through the perception of job demands and job resources.