An online peer support program to improve mental health among university students: A randomized controlled trial

Despite recent calls for more peer support initiatives aimed at promoting mental health in postsecondary institutions, those initiatives remain scarce. In this study, a multisite randomized controlled trial was designed to assess the effect of an online peer support intervention based on acceptance and commitment therapy using mental health and school indicators. Undergraduate students were recruited in three Canadian universities and randomly assigned to an intervention (n = 54) or a wait-list control group (n = 53). Compared to control participants, those who took part in the program self-reported reduced psychological inflexibility, stress, anxiety and depression, and increased psychological flexibility and well-being. The intervention had no effect on academic satisfaction and engagement. These results were found both in completer and intent-to-treat samples. The findings provide evidence that peer support may be a beneficial adjunct to mental health interventions offered to college and university students.

Gender Differences in Self-efficacy for Programming Narrowed After a 2-h Science Museum Workshop

Many girls believe they have little natural ability in computer science and girls' perception of self-efficacy beliefs for programming is generally low. Offering engaging hands-on programming activities could be a beneficial strategy to increase girls' self-efficacy beliefs for programming since it has the potential to offer them exposure to mastery experiences. However, a programming workshop in a museum might not offer ideal settings to promote girls' mastery experiences in programming because of its short duration and how gender stereotypes may impact the participation in hands-on activities. In the research presented here, we explore how a science museum's introductory programming workshop focused on robotics can impact pupils' self-efficacy beliefs for programming related to mastery experiences, with a specific focus on girls. H1-Prior to the programming workshop, it is expected that girls' self-efficacy beliefs will be lower than boys'. H2-Boys generally have more positive experiences with STEM activities than girls, irrespective of experimental condition. Thus, following the workshop, we predict that girls' and boys' self-efficacy for programming will have increased, but that boy's self-efficacy beliefs will remain higher than girls'. In total, 172 pupils (94 girls) aged 10-14 years completed a Mastery Experiences in Programming questionnaire before and after taking part in a programming workshop. Our results show that after a 2-h programming workshop in a science museum, gender differences in self-efficacy for programming initially observed narrowed and even disappeared.

The Use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Promote Mental Health and School Engagement in University Students: A Multisite Randomized Controlled Trial

The aim of this multisite randomized controlled trial was to determine whether an intervention based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) was efficacious in improving university students' psychological flexibility, mental health, and school engagement. Students were recruited in four Canadian universities and randomly assigned to an intervention (n = 72) or a wait-list control group (n = 72). Students in the intervention group took part in four 2.5-hour workshops during a 4-week period and were asked to do exercises at home (e.g., meditation, observation grids). Wait-list students received the intervention soon after the post measurements. MANCOVAs and ANCOVAs revealed that students in the intervention group showed greater psychological flexibility at postintervention than those in the control group. They also reported greater well-being and school engagement, and lower stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms. Taken together, results of this study suggest that an ACT-based intervention offers a valuable way to promote mental health and school engagement in postsecondary settings.

Trajectories of self-evaluation bias in primary and secondary school: Parental antecedents and academic consequences

Using a longitudinal approach spanning nine years of children's formal education, this study investigated the developmental trajectories of self-evaluation bias of academic competence. The study also examined how parenting styles were associated with the trajectories of bias in mid-primary school, and how those trajectories predicted academic outcomes at the end of secondary school and the beginning of college. A total of 711 children in 4th and 5th grades (mean age=10.71years old; 358 girls) participated in this study. Using a latent class growth modeling framework, results indicated that children can be classified in three latent growth trajectories of self-evaluation bias: the optimistic, realistic and pessimistic trajectories. These trajectories differed in their initial status of bias and also in their development over time. Children's adherence to a specific trajectory was associated with parenting variables in childhood. Finally, the optimistic, realistic, or pessimistic trajectories distinctively predicted achievement and persistence.

Neurobehavioral function in school-age children exposed to manganese in drinking water

BACKGROUND

Manganese neurotoxicity is well documented in individuals occupationally exposed to airborne particulates, but few data are available on risks from drinking-water exposure.

OBJECTIVE

We examined associations of exposure from concentrations of manganese in water and hair with memory, attention, motor function, and parent- and teacher-reported hyperactive behaviors.

METHODS

We recruited 375 children and measured manganese in home tap water (MnW) and hair (MnH). We estimated manganese intake from water ingestion. Using structural equation modeling, we estimated associations between neurobehavioral functions and MnH, MnW, and manganese intake from water. We evaluated exposure-response relationships using generalized additive models.

RESULTS

After adjusting for potential confounders, a 1-SD increase in log10 MnH was associated with a significant difference of -24% (95% CI: -36, -12%) SD in memory and -25% (95% CI: -41, -9%) SD in attention. The relations between log10 MnH and poorer memory and attention were linear. A 1-SD increase in log10 MnW was associated with a significant difference of -14% (95% CI: -24, -4%) SD in memory, and this relation was nonlinear, with a steeper decline in performance at MnW > 100 μg/L. A 1-SD increase in log10 manganese intake from water was associated with a significant difference of -11% (95% CI: -21, -0.4%) SD in motor function. The relation between log10 manganese intake and poorer motor function was linear. There was no significant association between manganese exposure and hyperactivity.

CONCLUSION

Exposure to manganese in water was associated with poorer neurobehavioral performances in children, even at low levels commonly encountered in North America.

The mediating effect of self-evaluation bias of competence on the relationship between parental emotional support and children's academic functioning

BACKGROUND

It is well established that children's self-evaluation bias of competence is related to the quality of parent-child emotional relationship. Such biases are linked to children's academic functioning and achievement. Links have also been established between the quality of parent-child emotional relationship and children's academic functioning. No study has yet explored how the effects of children's emotional relationship with their parents and children's self-evaluation bias combine to explain their academic functioning.

AIMS

The first goal was to examine whether the quality of parental emotional support reported by both children and parents was related to the children's self-evaluation bias of competence. The second goal was to examine the relationships between children's and parents' reports of emotional support, and children's academic functioning as measured by teachers' report of their motivation, self-regulation of school activities, and academic achievement. The third goal was to determine whether a children's self-evaluation bias mediated the relationship between parental emotional support and academic functioning.

SAMPLE

In a 2-year longitudinal design, participants were 524 elementary pupils (grades 4 and 5), one of their parents, and their teachers.

RESULTS

Our results indicated that a bias in self-evaluation in the first year of the study mediated the relationship between the quality of parental emotional support assessed at the first year and their school functioning evaluated by their teacher 1 year later.

CONCLUSION

The mediational model received clear support when it refers to the emotional support reported by children, but mixed support when reported by parents.

Intellectual impairment in school-age children exposed to manganese from drinking water

BACKGROUND

Manganese is an essential nutrient, but in excess it can be a potent neurotoxicant. Despite the common occurrence of manganese in groundwater, the risks associated with this source of exposure are largely unknown.

OBJECTIVES

Our first aim was to assess the relations between exposure to manganese from drinking water and children's intelligence quotient (IQ). Second, we examined the relations between manganese exposures from water consumption and from the diet with children's hair manganese concentration.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study included 362 children 6-13 years of age living in communities supplied by groundwater. Manganese concentration was measured in home tap water (MnW) and children's hair (MnH). We estimated manganese intake from water ingestion and the diet using a food frequency questionnaire and assessed IQ with the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence.

RESULTS

The median MnW in children's home tap water was 34 µg/L (range, 1-2,700 µg/L). MnH increased with manganese intake from water consumption, but not with dietary manganese intake. Higher MnW and MnH were significantly associated with lower IQ scores. A 10-fold increase in MnW was associated with a decrease of 2.4 IQ points (95% confidence interval: -3.9 to -0.9; p < 0.01), adjusting for maternal intelligence, family income, and other potential confounders. There was a 6.2-point difference in IQ between children in the lowest and highest MnW quintiles. MnW was more strongly associated with Performance IQ than Verbal IQ.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this cross-sectional study suggest that exposure to manganese at levels common in groundwater is associated with intellectual impairment in children.

Intellectual impairment in school-age children exposed to manganese from drinking water

BACKGROUND

Manganese is an essential nutrient, but in excess it can be a potent neurotoxicant. Despite the common occurrence of manganese in groundwater, the risks associated with this source of exposure are largely unknown.

OBJECTIVES

Our first aim was to assess the relations between exposure to manganese from drinking water and children's intelligence quotient (IQ). Second, we examined the relations between manganese exposures from water consumption and from the diet with children's hair manganese concentration.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study included 362 children 6-13 years of age living in communities supplied by groundwater. Manganese concentration was measured in home tap water (MnW) and children's hair (MnH). We estimated manganese intake from water ingestion and the diet using a food frequency questionnaire and assessed IQ with the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence.

RESULTS

The median MnW in children's home tap water was 34 µg/L (range, 1-2,700 µg/L). MnH increased with manganese intake from water consumption, but not with dietary manganese intake. Higher MnW and MnH were significantly associated with lower IQ scores. A 10-fold increase in MnW was associated with a decrease of 2.4 IQ points (95% confidence interval: -3.9 to -0.9; p < 0.01), adjusting for maternal intelligence, family income, and other potential confounders. There was a 6.2-point difference in IQ between children in the lowest and highest MnW quintiles. MnW was more strongly associated with Performance IQ than Verbal IQ.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this cross-sectional study suggest that exposure to manganese at levels common in groundwater is associated with intellectual impairment in children.

On the development of harmonious and obsessive passion: the role of autonomy support, activity specialization, and identification with the activity

Recent research (Vallerand et al., 2003) has supported the existence of two types of passion for activities: a harmonious and an obsessive passion. The purpose of this investigation was to study the processes likely to lead to the development of passion. Three studies using correlational and short-term longitudinal designs with varied populations ranging from beginners to experts reveal that identification with the activity, activity specialization, parents' activity valuation, and autonomy support predict the development of passion. Furthermore, results show that children and teenagers whose environment supports their autonomy are more likely to develop a harmonious passion than an obsessive one. Conversely, children and teenagers who highly value activity specialization, who rely heavily on their activity for self-definition, and whose parents highly value the activity are more likely to develop an obsessive passion.

BEING PROUD OF ONESELF AS A PERSON OR BEING PROUD OF ONE’S PHYSICAL APEARANCE: WHAT MATTERS FOR FEELING WELL IN ADOLESCENCE?

Among the numerous studies aimed at examining the link between appearance satisfaction and self-esteem at adolescence very few, except Zumpf and Harter (1989), have specifically examined the directionality of the relation. Hence, the first goal of this study was to examine the distribution of adolescents, according to their gender and grade level, within each of the following two groups: those who acknowledge that the evaluation of their physical appearance precedes and determines their global self-esteem, and those who conversely believe that they must first be satisfied with their global sense of self in order to be satisfied with their physical appearance. The second goal was to examine whether adolescents' perceived competence in various domains of daily life functioning differs according to how they value physical appearance. Participants were 1,362 adolescents (540 boys and 822 girls) from the 7th, 9th and 11th grades. Overall, 35% of adolescents acknowledged that their perceived appearance determined their self-esteem, with boys and girls being proportionally distributed between the groups. Adolescents in the group more concerned with appearance reported lower satisfaction with their physical appearance, lower self-esteem than others, and lower perceived competence in the scholastic and social domains.

Changes in self-perceptions of competence and intrinsic motivation among elementary schoolchildren

BACKGROUND

Children's perceived competence and intrinsic motivation are assumed to be very high at the outset of schooling. However, how they change and how they relate to each other and to academic achievement across early schooling years remain open to question.

AIMS

This 3-year longitudinal study was aimed at examining the following questions. Do children's perceived competence and intrinsic motivation about reading and mathematics change across the first 3 years of schooling? Do their perceived competence and intrinsic motivation differ according to academic domains? Do their perceived competence and intrinsic motivation relate to their academic achievement in each academic domain?

SAMPLE

A total of 115 elementary schoolchildren (63 boys and 52 girls) were examined in first grade (mean age = 84,5 months, SD =.67) and for the next 2 years.

METHOD

Children responded to questionnaires about their perceived competence and intrinsic motivation in reading and mathematics. Year-end grades in these two subjects were used as a measure of performance.

RESULTS

Changes in perceived competence and intrinsic motivation, and between-year intercorrelations, were observed to differ according to academic domains and gender. Intrinsic motivation did not make a significant contribution to academic achievement at either school grade or in any academic domain, whereas perceived competence was significantly related to achievement at each school grade in both reading and mathematics.

CONCLUSIONS

Differences between boys and girls observed in this study were not linked to a specific domain and cannot be attributed to gender-role stereotypes. Girls appeared to be more precocious in differentiating their competence and intrinsic motivation according to academic domain, as well as in being able to process and integrate information about their ability from past performances in a domain to judge their competence in the same domain.

The relation between accuracy of self-perception and cognitive development

BACKGROUND

It is now widely recognised that student's self-perceptions of competence have an effect on their behaviours and learning. Previous studies have shown that children only gradually develop the ability to evaluate accurately their own competence. One possible explanation for this is that younger children have not reached a level of cognitive development required to perform such evaluations.

AIMS

The objective of these two studies was to examine the hypothesis that children at higher levels of cognitive development should be more accurate in their self-appraisal of competence than children of the same age at lower levels of cognitive development. STUDY 1.

SAMPLE

The sample included 173 elementary school children, with almost equal gender representation. Children were first examined in fourth grade (mean age = 10.0, SD = .77) and for the next two years.

METHOD

Each child responded to questionnaires of self-perceptions about reading and to a standardised test of reading. Year-end grades in reading were used as a measure of performance.

RESULTS

The results show that there was no significant difference between high and low children in grade 6, but that the correlation between self-perceptions and performance was significantly higher among high ability children than among low ability children both in grades 4 and 5. STUDY 2.

SAMPLE

The sample included 153 elementary school children in grade 3 (mean age = 9.1, SD = .73) and 185 in grade 5 (mean age = 11.2, SD = .75), with almost equal gender representation.

METHOD

Each child responded to questionnaires of self-perceptions about mathematics and to a standardised IQ test. Year-end grades in mathematics were used as a measure of performance.

RESULTS

The correlation between self-perception and performance was significantly higher among high IQ children than among low IQ children in grade 3. However, in grade 5, high and low IQ children were similarly accurate in their self-perceptions.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that the development of accurate self-perceptions is not strictly a matter of age or school level but is also related to cognitive development.

A developmental study of the relation between combined learning and performance goals and students' self-regulated learning

BACKGROUND

Current goal theory models assume that learning goals are adaptive in academic contexts and that performance goals lead to less positive patterns of motivation and self-regulation. These models also implicitly assume that the adaptive nature of these goals is the same at all academic levels.

AIMS

The objectives of this study were to examine how combined learning and performance goals are related to self-regulation and academic performance, and whether there is a developmental trend in these relations.

SAMPLE

A total of 1072 junior (N = 408, mean age = 11.9), middle (N = 323, mean age = 13.7), and senior (N = 341, mean age = 15.7) high school students were examined.

METHOD

They were administered a questionnaire assessing their learning and performance goals and reported their self-regulatory strategies while studying.

RESULTS

Analyses showed that whatever their performance goals, having high learning goals promoted younger students' self-regulation. They also showed that, contrary to the findings for younger students, performance goals were related to self-regulation and academic performance at higher school levels. Furthermore, high performance goals were found to alleviate the negative effects of low learning goals for older students.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that the adaptive nature of goals could change across development. This could be due to contextual factors such as the increasing importance of obtaining good grades to access higher academic levels. Future research should address this issue.