Pathways of resilience: Predicting school engagement trajectories for South African adolescents living in a stressed environment

The Relationship Between Resilience, Interactive Distance, and College Students' Online Mathematics Learning Engagement: A Longitudinal Study

Introduction

Resilience, a pivotal construct in positive psychology, remains incompletely understood in its facilitation of learners' online engagement. This study aims to investigate the relationship between resilience, transactional distance, and Online Mathematics Learning Engagement (OMLE) among first-year university students.

Methods

Utilizing a cross-lagged path analysis approach, the study surveyed 612 first-year students. Multiple models were constructed and compared to explore the mutual predictive relationships between resilience, transactional distance, and OMLE.

Results

Among the compared models, Model 4 demonstrated the best fit. The model revealed that: (1) resilience at Time 1 and Time 2 positively predicted transactional distance at Time 2 and Time 3; (2) transactional distance at Time 1 and Time 2 positively predicted OMLE at Time 2 and Time 3; (3) resilience at Time 1 significantly predicted OMLE at Time 3; and (4) transactional distance at Time 2 fully mediated the relationship between resilience at Time 1 and OMLE at Time 3. Furthermore, mediational model analysis confirmed that transactional distance played a mediating role in the longitudinal relationship between resilience and OMLE. Using a cross-lagged mediational model with 5000 bootstrap samples, the indirect effect of transactional distance on the relationship between resilience at Time 1 and OMLE at Time 3 was significant and remained stable over time.

Discussion

The findings suggest that resilience, as a positive psychological resource, stimulates students to seek and utilize protective resources in online environments, leading to more active participation in interpersonal communication and classroom interactions. Additionally, resilience helps students overcome emotional and practical difficulties encountered in online learning, thereby enhancing their OMLE. These insights offer valuable implications for educators, highlighting the potential to improve students' online learning engagement by fostering their psychological resilience.

Promoting community resilience through disaster education: Review of community-based interventions with a focus on teacher resilience and well-being

Teachers play a pivotal role, both as educators and community leaders at the heart of any communities. This study seeks to address: "How do community-based interventions influence teacher resilience and well-being in the context of disaster education, and consequently, how does this affect overall community resilience?" Employing the rigorous PRISMA systematic review approach, we examined relevant studies, emphasizing the relationship between teacher resilience, well-being, and the efficacy of community-based disaster education interventions. 47 studies met the specific inclusion criteria and were included in in-depth analysis. This study identified a set of key interventions that have demonstrably boosted teacher resilience and well-being. There was a discernible positive relationship between teacher resilience and the effectiveness of community disaster education initiatives. The relationship between teacher resilience, their well-being, and effective community-based disaster education interventions is intricate and multifaceted. Enhanced teacher resilience contributes substantially to the success of disaster education programs. The interplay between teacher and community resilience emerged as a complex, symbiotic relationship, with teacher well-being acting as a cornerstone for effective community-based interventions. Reinforcing teacher resilience and well-being is integral to the success of community-based disaster education initiatives. Ensuring their well-being not only enhances educational outcomes but also fortifies community resilience. Teachers play a pivotal role in not only educating the younger generation but also in enhancing community resilience. Thus, any strategy aimed at supporting community resilience must integrate comprehensive measures to ensure the well-being and resilience of teachers. This nexus between education and community resilience emphasizes the necessity for integrated, holistic, and community-centric approaches to disaster management.

Resilience anchors for children in an out-of-home care institution during and after COVID-19

Growing numbers of children of all ages grow up in out-of-home care institutions due to personal and socioecological risk variables that destabilized their families of origin. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic which disrupted lives and development, there is particular interest in how children who grow up in out-of-home care institutions cope and develop. This paper reports the findings of a study that sought to document anchors of resilience in children who resided in a care institution run by a non-governmental, church-based welfare organization in one of the central provinces of South Africa. In line with recent developments in childcare, the organization mainly functions via smaller child and youth group homes across the province (compared to bigger children's homes in the past). In our qualitative, phenomenological study, we used the participatory, child-friendly, and less intrusive draw-and-write technique to generate data. We asked the 20 participating children of one of these group homes to make drawings that mirror their lives, and to write paragraphs in which they described their drawings. All were school-going children in care, aged from 12 to 19. There were 11 girls and 9 boys in the study, and one of these identified as "other." The grades ranged from 7 to 12 and they spoke African languages, namely Afrikaans, Sesotho, Setswana and IsiXhosa. We used inductive content analysis to process the data, and the findings indicate that, notwithstanding personal and socioecological risks during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, the resilience of the participants was anchored by a number of universal personal strengths as well as socioecological resources.

Testing pathways to scale: study protocol for a three-arm randomized controlled trial of a centralized and a decentralized ("Train the Trainers") dissemination of a mental health program for Kenyan adolescents

BACKGROUND

Providing care in Kenya to all youth in need is difficult because of a shortage of professional providers and societal stigma. Previous trials of the Anansi model, which involves delivering low-touch mental health interventions through a tiered caregiving model (including lay-providers, supervisors, and clinical experts), have shown its effectiveness for reducing depression and anxiety symptoms in school-going Kenyan adolescents. In this trial, we aim to assess two different scale-up strategies by comparing centralized implementation (i.e., by the organization that designed the Anansi model) against implementation through an implementing partner.

METHODS

In this three-arm trial, 1600 adolescents aged 13 to 20 years will be randomized to receive the Shamiri intervention from either the Shamiri Institute or an implementation partner or to be placed in the treatment as usual (TAU) control group. The implementation partner will be trained and supplied with protocols to ensure that the same procedures are followed by both implementors. Implementation activities will run concurrently for both implementors. The Shamiri intervention will be delivered by trained lay providers to groups of 10-15 adolescents over four weekly sessions which will take place in secondary schools in Machakos and Makueni counties in Kenya. The TAU group will receive the usual care offered by their respective schools. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, midpoint (2 weeks), endpoint (4 weeks), and 1 month follow-up. The analysis will be based on an intent-to-treat approach. Mixed effects models will be used to assess trajectories over time of the primary outcomes (anxiety and depressive symptoms, mental well-being, perceived social support, and academic performance) and secondary outcomes for the intervention groups and the control group. Effect sizes will be computed for the mean differences of the intervention and control arms at midpoint, endpoint, and follow-up.

DISCUSSION

This trial will provide insight into the comparative effectiveness of different strategies for scaling a school-based mental health care model. Findings will also indicate areas for improved efficiency of the model to enhance its replicability by other implementors.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Pan African Clinical Trials Registry (PACTR) (ID: PACTR202305589854478, Approved: 02/05/2023).

Internationally educated nurses and resilience: A systematic literature review

Aim

To synthesize knowledge extracted from the literature about protecting factors and challenges to resilience, among migrant nurses, and specifically how knowledge synthesized through the process of the literature review is relevant to nursing and health policy.

Background

How nurses, in general, face challenges is well documented and is often linked to the concept of resilience; however, there seems to be a lack of systematic knowledge synthesis focusing on the resilience of internationally educated nurses following migration.

Method

The review was guided by the PRISMA guidelines, and a systematic search of peer‐reviewed qualitative and mixed‐method articles reporting empirical research was performed in the MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Academic Search Ultimate databases. Methodological rigour was assessed by the Joanna Briggs’ checklist, and a structured theme‐based ecological framework, inspired by Ungar's model of resilience, was chosen.

Results

Following critical appraisal, 37 studies were included that identified both challenges and individual, contextual and structural protective factors in host countries and are linked to resilience.

Discussion

Resilience of internationally educated nurses depends on a combination of individual and contextual protective factors, with the major emphasis being placed on individual protective factors. It is crucial to consider resilience in ensuring that internationally educated nurses’ experience is appreciated, as this is necessary if nurses are to deliver the best possible health service while integrating into their host country.

Implication for nursing and health policy

Authorities, managers in clinical practice and education, trade unions and nurses in general should be aware of the coping strategies, the strengths and supportive factors that can promote resilience and be aware of the challenges that undermine resilience and negatively impact internationally educated nurses’ practice and social interactions.