Search Results (196)

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between passive-aggressive behavior and social problem-solving among Hungarian adolescents (16- and 18-year-olds, N = 496). The Passive Aggression Scale (PAS) was used to explore the characteristics of criticism, ignoring, and sabotage, and the Social Problem-Solving Inventory–Revised (SPSI–R) was employed to measure negative and positive problem orientations and rational, impulsive, and avoidant problem-solving styles. Both questionnaires performed reliably for both ages. The results show that 18-year-olds are more likely to have a negative problem orientation. Both age groups show a similarly strong positive relationship between criticism–impulsivity and ignoring–rationality. Based on a latent profile analysis, two problem-solving profiles (mixed and positive rational) were distinguished for 16-year-olds and three (mixed, positive rational, and negative avoidant) for 18-year-olds. Only the profiles obtained for the older age groups differ in passive-aggressive characteristics: criticism is most common for impulsive avoiders, ignoring is least typical of positive rationalists, and sabotage is most characteristic of mixed profiles. Developmental and socio-psychological features are usually well understood in these patterns, but a measure of various passive-aggressive behaviors is needed that is specific to adolescents. Full article

Although professionals who work with children and adolescents are well aware of psychological symptom presentations once children and adolescents are in school, such symptom presentations in very young children are less understood. Diagnoses like selective mutism may promote further complications for professionals, as the symptom presentation of anxiety and failure to speak in this diagnosis may overlap with the acquisition of speech and language milestones and problems in very young children. Thus, providing professionals who work with very young children a way to adapt their thinking about selective mutism symptom presentations and interventions is of utmost importance. As a result, this clinically oriented paper will compare DSM-5-TR criteria to DC:0-5 criteria, consider the occurrence of selective mutism symptoms in the context of young children’s speech and language milestones and problems, and reflect upon how intervention adaptations meant to incorporate parents into treatment and account for the capacities of very young children can be helpful in facilitating successful outcomes. It is hoped that having this constellation of clinical information in one place will help providers gain clarity regarding selective mutism symptom presentation and relevant intervention considerations for very young children. Full article

Background: Solid organ transplantation, which began as an experimental procedure over 100 years ago, has now become a viable therapeutic option for the vast majority of patients with end-stage organ failure. However, a major limiting factor remains the shortage of organs available for transplantation. To expand the donor pool, it is essential to increase awareness of transplantation, including its legal, cultural, and ethical aspects. Every year, numerous organizations, primarily non-governmental, organize hundreds of campaigns promoting transplantation worldwide. The majority of these initiatives are one-time events tied to observances such as World Transplant Day, World Kidney Day, and others. The growing role of social media in spreading information is also becoming a key factor in promoting organ donation and transplantation, as social factors play an important role in expanding the donor pool. Many organizations that support transplantation, along with healthcare providers, widely use platforms like Facebook and other social media to promote and increase organ donation. Objectives: The “Second Life” is a social campaign presentation to raise awarenes about transplantation. Project Description: The campaign has been running continuously for 17 years in Poland, promoting the concepts of organ donation and transplantation in collaboration with high school students. During this time, 950 high schools across the country participated in the project, with approximately 450,000 high school students actively engaging in the campaign. Outcomes: They organized a series of activities to promote organ donation and transplantation within their social circles, distributing nearly 1.5 million declarations of will. Additionally, they helped raise awareness about presumed consent and educated others on the concepts of organ donation and transplantation. Conclusions/Implications: This long-term initiative is crucial for raising awareness, educating the public, and promoting the idea of organ donation. It fosters a more positive attitude toward organ donation and transplantation, ultimately contributing to the expansion of the donor pool and an increase in transplantations in the near future. Full article

Academic success is conditioned by different factors, related to academic goals, life satisfaction, and feelings of belonging to the school. This article aims to assess whether beliefs, attributions (academic goals), and feelings (life satisfaction and sense of belonging to the school) do or do not influence attitudes towards school authority (school, teachers, learning, norms, and families). A total of 510 students from six secondary schools participated and four questionnaires were used: academic goals, life satisfaction, attitude towards institutional authority, and sense of belonging to school. The focus was on the description of academic goals and negative attitudes towards authority, focusing on the mediating role of school belonging and life satisfaction. Descriptive, variance, and mediation analyses were conducted. The questionnaire with the highest scores was sense of belonging to school. The dimension with the least influence on negative attitudes within academic goals was social reinforcement. Males showed more negative attitudes towards authority, and an indirect and significant relationship was observed between academic goals and negative attitudes towards authority, mediated by life satisfaction and sense of belonging to school. In conclusion, the role of the school as a protective agent is confirmed. Therefore, intervening in negative attitudes towards authority would solve coexistence problems and increase life satisfaction, expectations of academic performance, and the feeling of belonging to the school. Full article

Schools play a central role in the prevention and control of school bullying, and there are both theoretical and practical grounds for legally establishing their obligations in this regard. This study employs a mixed-methods approach, primarily qualitative research supplemented by quantitative analysis, to conduct textual analysis and coding of 155 civil judgments on school bullying litigation in China. It aims to explore the main scenarios where schools are held liable for failing to fulfill their prevention and intervention obligations, and to examine the impact of school accountability on bullied students. Through textual analysis and t-tests, this study found that schools are primarily held liable for inadequate prevention, failure to detect or allowing bullying behavior, and failure to provide timely assistance to victims. Meanwhile, neglecting antibullying obligations exacerbates the mental harm suffered by victims. However, as public educational institutions, schools should not bear an excessive legislative burden, as this could increase their workload and lead to resistance in practice. Therefore, it is crucial to strike a balance and refine school responsibilities. Establishing clear legal obligations for schools can help clarify the standards for school liability in judicial decisions. Accordingly, improving fundamental antibullying obligations, granting schools a certain degree of disciplinary discretion, and enhancing guidance in high-risk situations can ensure the fulfillment of essential responsibilities while empowering schools to effectively combat bullying. Full article

Military schools primarily aim to prepare young people for the admission procedures of military academies. In this specific environment, the high overall load can generate burnout in cadets and the consequent failure to achieve scholastic and military objectives. The present study investigated how a training protocol based entirely on internal load and a reflective approach in a military-type school context affects participants’ physical efficacy, efficiency, and psychological outcomes. For this study, 63 cadets who were 17 years old from an Italian military school were recruited. Twenty-two of them were allocated into a control group (CG), twenty-one were allocated into a group exercising based on external load (EG), and twenty we allocated into a group exercising based on internal load (IG). All groups performed tests of physical efficacy (maximal tests) and physical efficiency (self-perception-based submaximal test) and answered psychological questionnaires to assess motivation, self-efficacy, and enjoyment. Group participants attended eight weeks of interventions in which physical education lessons were led as follows: the EG performed a circuit training at 50% of maximal repetitions, the IG performed a circuit training at value six on Borg’s scale, and the CG attended curricular physical education lessons. Tests were then repeated. The IG increased physical efficacy more than the EG and CG, while only the IG increased physical efficiency. The IG and EG improved in psychological variables more than the CG. Education in self-perception and self-regulation could help cadets better manage their psychophysical status, allowing them to reach the physical demands for academic admission. Full article

Introduction: Adolescence is a developmental period in which the risk of mental problems is high. Failure to resolve the problems encountered during this period may result in the need for psychological help. Based on the literature review, this study aimed to examine self-regulation, which has the potential to reduce adolescents’ need for psychological help, and the mediation of happiness, resilience, problem solving, self-efficacy, and adjustment through this skill. Methods: In the cross-sectional correlational survey design study, 1013 adolescents (542 girls, 471 boys, mean age: 15.04 ± 1.75 years) aged 12–19 years and studying in middle and high school in Bayburt, Turkey were reached. Seven different questionnaires, valid and reliable in adolescent groups, were used to measure the study variables. Results: Correlation results showed that all predictors were positively correlated with each other and negatively correlated with the dependent variable, the need for psychological help. After testing the assumptions, the results of the parallel mediation analysis showed that happiness, problem solving, self-efficacy, and adjustment fully mediated the effect of self-regulation on the need for psychological help. Another finding is that resilience is not a predictor of psychological distress. Conclusions: The results are important because they provide insight for those working in the field of adolescent mental health in terms of understanding the factors through which self-regulation reduces the need for psychological help. Full article

School-based intervention programs aiming to support adolescents with mental health problems, such as (school-related) stress and performance anxiety, show inconsistent results. In order to make intervention efforts more beneficial, it is crucial to investigate who is most (un)likely to benefit and under what circumstances. The current study aimed to identify whether problem severity, maladaptive perfectionism, and perceived parental pressure moderate the effectiveness of a school-based performance anxiety program, and if this depends on the level of program attendance. The final sample consisted of N = 196 adolescents (M_age = 14.12, SD = 0.79, with 53% females) who participated in a randomized controlled trial. ANCOVAs were conducted for two indicators of performance anxiety: test anxiety and fear of failure. The results demonstrated that for test anxiety, the program was only effective for adolescents with higher pretest levels. Moreover, in the subsample of adolescents with higher program attendance, the program was only effective for adolescents with higher self-criticism perfectionism, and larger effects were observed for adolescents with higher pretest test anxiety and socially prescribed perfectionism. Our findings demonstrate that even a short program can yield positive effects, particularly for adolescents with high program attendance and who experience high problem severity and maladaptive perfectionism. Full article

Many Black, Asian, and ethnic minoritised students on university courses leading to professional qualifications face racism on placement. Our own institutional review at one UK university highlighted differential placement outcomes for students in the Schools of Social Work, Education, and Health Sciences. To investigate, a qualitative study was conducted between April to October 2024, using focus groups and interviews with 20 students and 19 staff (lecturers and placement supervisors from the NHS, County Council, and schools). Researchers used NVivo to support the thematic analysis of the qualitative data. Key findings identified various enabling factors, including the significance of supervisory placement support and the quality of placement environment. However, our data further confirmed several inhibiting factors, including power dynamics, systemic failures, and broken trust, contributing to racialised and oppressive placement conditions. We recommend that the university and placement providers have a dedicated system for reporting race-specific incidents to a dedicated person/team who are trained and accountable for tackling and preventing racists incidents on placements. Full article

Germany’s dual Vocational Education and Training (VET) system has been criticized for insufficient cooperation among vocational schools, companies, and inter-company training centers, limiting its potential to effectively relate theory with practice. Despite the issue’s ongoing relevance, recent research on Learning Location Cooperation (LLC) remains scarce. This study addresses the existing research gap by examining contemporary LLC dynamics through the lens of key stakeholders. A total of 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted across interconnected learning locations, with each of the five targeted occupations represented by an apprentice, vocational teacher, trainer, and inter-company trainer. The study design enabled participants, connected through the apprentices’ learning journeys, to discuss LLC phenomena from their unique viewpoints, facilitating an in-depth exploration of cooperation strategies, relationships, conditions for success or failure, and desired improvements. Findings reveal both similarities and differences in perceptions, highlight diverse barriers, and provide actionable recommendations to strengthen LLC. These insights are crucial for refining Germany’s VET system and offer valuable lessons for international contexts, where integrating theory and practice is essential for developing a skilled and adaptable workforce. Overall, the study underscores the importance of fostering deeper cooperation among learning locations to ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of (vocational) education globally. Full article

Large-scale secondary datasets such as PISA, TIMSS, PIRLS, and TALIS present valuable opportunities for researchers to investigate diverse issues of educational significance. However, one challenge when analyzing these datasets is to navigate the diffuse constructs that comprise them so that cohesive and coherent research can be conducted. Failure to do so can lead to research that is fragmented, ad hoc, and idiosyncratic, limiting the validity and generalizability of what can be concluded. The present discussion explores how theory can be harnessed as an organizing device for selecting and modeling constructs in large-scale secondary datasets. With a focus on the academic demands–resources (AD-R) framework, we look at recent research using large-scale secondary data that has drawn on this conceptual lens to bring cohesion and coherence to research and which has considerable implications for future educational research and practice. We also look at how the AD-R has been extended (by way of the academic and cultural demands–resources [ACD-R] framework) to analyze large-scale secondary data to better understand the academic development of immigrant students at school. Full article

This study validates and adapts the Grade Retention Survey for Chilean fourth-grade school teachers, focusing on their beliefs about the consequences of grade retention. A questionnaire of 17 items was administered to 4297 fourth-grade elementary school teachers across Chile. We analyze the internal consistency, reliability, and unidimensionality of the Beliefs on Consequences of Retention (BCR) scale. The validated version comprises six items and demonstrates excellent psychometric properties. Our results show that teachers’ beliefs about grade retention vary significantly according to school retention rates, administrative dependence, socioeconomic status, and gender—findings similar to those observed in the empirical literature, reaffirming the validity of our scale. Specifically, we found that teachers in public schools or those serving lower socioeconomic communities tend to have more negative views of grade retention. In contrast, female teachers and those in schools with higher retention rates exhibit more positive perceptions. This scale provides valuable insights into teachers’ beliefs about grade retention, as these beliefs may shape the implementation of educational policies aimed at modifying the use of these mechanism. Full article

Tetraploidy is a condition in which the entire set of chromosomes doubles, most often due to errors during cell division. Tetraploidy can lead to genomic instability and significant consequences, in particular metastasis and treatment failure in tumours, including radiotherapy. The development of new strategies to sensitise these cells to treatment is of great importance. In our study, we investigated the in vitro combination of chemical treatment with the kinase inhibitor SP600125 and irradiation on diploid versus metastatic tetraploid RKO colon cancer clones. We assessed mitochondrial transmembrane potential, cell cycle and subG1 population by flow cytometry and performed clonogenic assays to evaluate cell sensitivity. We found that the combination overcomes irradiation resistance in metastatic tetraploid clones. To identify the main pathway involved in cell sensitivity, we screened the Harvard Medical School KINOMEscan library and performed a gene ontology biological process analysis. We found that the major kinases inhibited by SP600125 were ANKK1, BIKE, IKKA, JNK1, MP2K3, MP2K4, MKNK2, MYLK, PLK4, RPS6KA4(Kin,Dom,1), MYLK4 and TTK, and the pathways involved in clone sensitivity were DNA damage repair, radiation resistance and apoptosis, through JNK pathway inhibition. Finally, our main finding was that combined treatment with SP600125 and radiotherapy reduced the resistance of metastatic tetraploid cells to treatment, essentially by inhibiting the JNK pathway. This result supports a promising anti-cancer strategy to overcome the resistance of tetraploid cancer cells to irradiation. Full article

Background/Objectives: The importance of adequate hydration in children and adolescents has raised significant attention, both for its health benefits and for its role in supporting cognitive and physical performance. This is particularly important for young athletes who have increased dehydration risk due to high sweat loss and often inadequate water intake. The aim of this review is to systematically assess the hydration status of children and adolescents, including athletes, and to identify notable differences in hydration levels between these groups. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted following PRISMA guidelines. PubMed, Scopus, and Scholar were searched for articles published between 2004 and 2024 on hydration in children and adolescents, focusing on urinary biomarkers such as urine osmolality, urine specific gravity, and urine color. Two independent reviewers screened the studies, and clinical studies or those involving chronic diseases, disabilities, or missing data were excluded. Results: Fifty-one articles met the inclusion criteria and were categorized into competitive athletes (n = 26) and non-athletes (n = 25). The review revealed that both athletes and non-athletes were frequently dehydrated. Among athletes, 81% of studies reported dehydration, while 69% of studies observed dehydration in non-athlete children. Biomarkers consistently indicated failure to meet recommended hydration guidelines in both groups. Conclusions: Despite existing hydration guidelines, dehydration is prevalent among children and adolescents, irrespective of athletic involvement. This underscores the urgent need for targeted interventions to improve hydration education and practices in schools, homes, and extracurricular settings. Full article

Our paper focuses on two white pioneering scientists, Dr Dutton, who was English, and Dr Todd, a Canadian, employed by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) to study sleeping sickness in colonial Senegambia, West Africa. We analysed photographs and some published personal letters to help us reflect on some of their constructions of Senegambian and Congolese male identities in tropical colonial Africa. In this paper, we connect with the history of tropical medicine, a precursor to public health. Public health was a research area that was central to Peter Aspinall’s work as he argued for shifts from simplistic hegemonic terminologies to refer to an incredibly diverse Black African population, as failure to do so impacts on service provisions. Within the context of tropical medicine, we reflect on the paternalistic terminology and use of the word ‘boy’ to refer to their unnamed male helpers who they photographed during these expeditions. We hope that by interpreting the photographs and reflecting on the literature and letters, exercises that are influenced by our positionality, we can obtain a glimpse into the past and obtain some insights that contribute to our understanding of the production of colonial masculinities, terminology, and race. As female authors employed by LSTM, we are aware that our positionalities influence the lenses through which we view and interpret the literature and the photos. Our paper contributes towards the ongoing debates on terminology, race, and whiteness in colonial tropical medicine. Full article