Online support seeking, co-rumination, and mental health in adolescent girls

Introduction

Adolescents frequently use informal support seeking to cope with stress and worries. Past research in face-to-face contexts has shown that the relationship between informal support seeking and mental health is influenced by the specific strategy used and the mode through which support is sought. To date, little research has considered the relationship between support seeking online and adolescent mental health.

Methods

In this study, structural equation modeling (SEM) examined the mediating role of co-rumination in the relationships between seeking support from friends or online and two measures of mental health: depression and anxiety. Participants were 186 adolescent girls, drawn from four independent girls' schools in Sydney, Australia. Four brief vignettes described common social stressors and participants rated their likelihood of seeking support from close friends and from informal online sources. Co-rumination was measured using a short form of the Co-rumination Questionnaire and depression and anxiety were measured with the youth version of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-Youth (DASS-Y).

Results

Different patterns of findings were found for support seeking from close friends and support seeking online. First, support seeking from friends was related to lower levels of depression and anxiety while seeking support online was related to higher levels depression and anxiety. Second, co-rumination suppressed the relationship between seeking support from friends and depression, but not online support seeking and depression or anxiety.

Discussion

These findings suggest that co-rumination reduces the benefits of seeking support from friends but is unrelated to online support seeking. The findings also confirm the problematic nature of online support seeking for adolescent girls' mental health, particularly in response to social stressors.

Positive, complicated, distant, and negative: How different teacher-student relationship profiles relate to students' science motivation

INTRODUCTION

Researchers note a consistent decline in adolescents' motivation and participation in science. It is important to examine factors vital to students' motivation in science, such as teacher-student relationships (TSRs). Limited research in science has examined TSRs from a multidimensional or person-centered perspective. The present investigation adopts Ang's tripartite relational framework to examine three dimensions of TSRs: socio-emotional support, instrumental help, and conflict. Such research is needed to better understand the diversity of relationships that exist within a science classroom and their impact on science motivation.

METHODS

This study examined N = 2669 Australian high school students (66% girls; M_age  = 15.11 years; SD = 0.69). Data were collected via online sampling in the final quarter of 2020. The data are cross-sectional. Latent profile analysis was used to (1) determine if distinct student profiles based on the three dimensions of TSRs existed and (2) the extent to which these profiles were associated with varying levels of science motivation: self-efficacy, intrinsic value, utility value, and cost.

RESULTS

Four distinct profiles were identified: Positive, Complicated, Distant, and Negative. Students in the Negative TSR profile reported the lowest adaptive motivation and highest cost. The associations between profile membership and motivation were more varied for the Positive, Complicated, and Distant TSR profiles.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings indicate that dichotomous perspectives (positive vs. negative) may be insufficient to describe the diversity of relationships within science classrooms. Results also suggest that concurrent attendance to all dimensions of TSRs is needed to improve relationships.

"I miss seeing the kids!": Australian teachers' changing roles, preferences, and positive and negative experiences of remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant upheaval in schools in Australia and internationally. The aim of this study was to map Australian teachers' positive and negative experiences during remote and online learning. Our study took place during the first COVID-19 wave, in the early stages of lockdown. Using an online instrument, we asked 210 primary and secondary teachers about changes in their teaching roles due to COVID-19. Responses were coded for positive and negative themes using inductive thematic analysis. The majority of teachers reported negative themes (88.6%), while half also reported positive themes (44.8%). Participants reported missing their students and struggling with excessive workload demands. They also experienced difficulties tracking student progress and felt worried for student wellbeing. Interestingly, concerns about technology were less common. Indeed, 19.1% enjoyed learning new online skills and integrating IT in new ways. Implications for student-teacher relationships, mental health, and future teaching are discussed.

What Drives Quality Physical Education? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Learning and Development Effects From Physical Education-Based Interventions

Objective

To determine the effects of learning interventions aimed at optimizing the quality of physical education (PE) on psychomotor, cognitive, affective and social learning outcomes in children and adolescents.

Design

A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Data Sources

After searching PsycInfo, ERIC, and SportDiscus electronic databases, we identified 135 eligible studies published between January 1, 1995 to May 1, 2021.

Eligibility Criteria for Selecting Studies

We included randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental studies, and controlled trials that assessed the effect of a PE-based intervention against one of the four identified learning domains in youth at school (aged 5–18 years).

Results

One hundred and thirty five (135) studies with over 42,500 participants and 193 calculated effect sizes were included in the study. The mean effect across all the learning and development outcomes was small to medium (Cohen's d = 0.32, 95% confidence interval [CI] (0.27–0.37). When adjusted for publication bias using the Duval and Tweedie Trim and Fill Method, this mean effect size increased to d = 0.40 (CI = 0.34–0.46). Effect sizes varied significantly based on learning and development outcomes. Interventions that consistently report above or below the mean d = 0.40 effect are identified based on learning outcome. The greatest effects across interventions were witnessed in psychomotor learning outcomes (d = 0.52) followed by affective (d = 0.47), social (d = 0.32), and cognitive (d = 0.17) learning outcomes. A minority (<10%) of PE interventions captured by this systematic review and meta-analysis reported having a negative effect on student learning and development.

Conclusion

The interventions with the greatest effects on student learning and development were dependant on the learning domains. Some PE interventions with a pedagogical focus such as games-based approaches, TARGET/Mastery Teaching, and Sport Education were found to be strong investments across multiple domains. The evidence is limited however by consistency in intervention dosage, study design, and data collection instruments. The study received no internal or external funding and was not prospectively registered.

Does It Matter If Students (Dis)like School? Associations Between School Liking, Teacher and School Connectedness, and Exclusionary Discipline

School liking is an important factor in student engagement, well-being, and academic achievement, but it is also potentially influenced by factors external to the individual, such as school culture, teacher support, and approaches to discipline. The present study employed a survey methodology to investigate the associations between school liking and disliking, teacher and school connectedness, and experiences of exclusionary discipline from the perspective of students themselves. Participants included 1,002 students (Grades 7-10) from three secondary schools serving disadvantaged communities. Results indicated clear differences between students who like and dislike school in terms of their preferred school activities and school disciplinary history, with students who disliked school experiencing overall lower school connectedness. Moreover, students who disliked school experienced less positive relationships with their teachers, and this was even more pronounced for students who had been previously suspended. The findings reveal key differences between students who do and do not like school, differences that may be masked by typical research approaches. This research indicates the need for more nuanced, student-informed approaches to inclusive school reform.

Here's looking at you: eye gaze and collaborative recall

In everyday life, we remember together often. Surprisingly, research reliably shows costs of collaboration. People remember less in groups than the same number of individuals remember separately. However, there is evidence that some groups are more successful than others, depending on factors such as group relationship and verbal communication strategies. To understand further the characteristics of more successful vs. less successful collaborative groups, we examined whether non-verbal eye gaze behaviour was associated with group outcomes. We used eye tracking glasses to measure how much collaborating dyads looked at each other during collaborative recall, and examined whether individual differences in eye- and face-directed gaze were associated with collaborative performance. Increased eye- and face-directed gaze was associated with higher collaborative recall performance, more explicit strategy use, more post-collaborative benefits, and increased memory overlap. However, it was also associated with pre-collaborative recall, indicating that gaze during collaboration may at least partially reflect pre-existing abilities. This research helps elucidate individual differences that underlie the outcomes of collaborative recall, and suggests that non-verbal communication differentiates more vs. less successful collaborative groups.

Pointing the way forward: Gesture and adults' recall of route direction information

Spatial communication tasks, such as following route directions through unfamiliar environments, place considerable demands on multiple cognitive processes, including language comprehension and memory. Gestures accompanying spoken route directions may aide task performance by enhancing cognitive processes such as language and memory processing. It is not yet clear whether different kinds of gesture might influence the processing of route information in different ways. In 2 experiments, we examined how different gestures would enhance or reduce listeners' recall of spatial information when given route directions through an unfamiliar building. Adults were randomly allocated to one of three gesture conditions: no gesture (speech only), beat gesture (speech accompanied by simple rhythmic gestures), or iconic-deictic gesture (speech accompanied by iconic and deictic gestures). Recall was measured verbally, by recalling the route aloud, then physically, by walking the route. In Experiment 1, redundant gestures that mirrored verbal route directions did not enhance listeners' verbal recall or route navigation. In Experiment 2, when the verbal route directions were edited to be incomplete, nonredundant gestures enhanced recall to the level seen when hearing all information through speech. These findings suggest that gestures enhance recall when compensating for missing verbal information, but not when they replicate verbal information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Coaching mothers of typical and conduct problem children in elaborative parent-child reminiscing: Influences of a randomized controlled trial on reminiscing behaviour and everyday talk preferences

This study compared the effects of mother-child reminiscing coaching on mothers of typically developing children (community sample) and mothers of children with conduct problems (clinical sample). It also tested whether intervention effects generalize to mothers' preferences for elaborative and mental-state oriented talk with their children in other contexts. Mother-child dyads (n = 88) in each sample were randomly allocated to condition: reminiscing intervention or active control. Pre-intervention, sample differences emerged. Mothers in the community sample were more elaborative during reminiscing than mothers in the clinical sample, and also expressed stronger preferences for elaborative talk in everyday contexts. Post-intervention, an intervention effect emerged. In both the community and clinical samples, mothers who had participated in the elaborative reminiscing intervention were more elaborative and emotion-focused during reminiscing than mothers in the active control condition. They also increased their preferences for elaborative and mental-state-oriented language in everyday contexts. While the mothers in the community sample remained more elaborative than mothers in the clinical sample, both experienced equivalent intervention gains. These findings highlight the value of reminiscing coaching for changing mothers' interactional preferences and behaviours.