Search Results (426)

Mental health counselors routinely work in emotionally demanding environments that require sustained psychological and occupational functioning. Identifying psychological resources and occupational factors that support adaptive functioning may inform strategies to enhance counselor well-being and reduce burnout. This study examined the relationships among counselors’ clinical service context, emotion regulation, growth mindset, self-compassion, job satisfaction, and burnout. Participants were 152 individuals with graduate degrees who provided counseling services and completed an anonymous online survey. Measures assessed burnout, job satisfaction, self-compassion, growth mindset, cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, and workplace and professional characteristics. Group comparisons and hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. Burnout was significantly associated with lower job satisfaction, self-compassion, cognitive reappraisal, and growth mindset. Counselors providing services to children reported greater burnout and lower self-compassion, whereas those providing services to adults reported greater cognitive reappraisal, higher job satisfaction, and lower burnout. Job satisfaction varied across service settings, with the highest levels observed in outpatient community mental health and private practice and the lowest in detention centers and K–12 schools. In hierarchical regression analyses, only job satisfaction and self-compassion independently predicted burnout after controlling for counseling experience, degree characteristics, growth mindset, and emotion regulation. Counselors’ adaptive functioning appears to reflect the combined influence of workplace context and psychological resources. Self-compassion and job satisfaction emerged as key protective factors against burnout. These findings have implications for counselor education, clinical supervision, workforce development, and interventions designed to promote occupational well-being and strengthen the behavioral health workforce. Full article

Organizations increasingly confront persistent tensions that require leaders to address competing demands simultaneously. Prior research has established paradoxical leader behavior (PLB) as an important behavioral response to such tensions, yet less is known about the cognitive–emotional capabilities associated with PLB. Using cross-sectional self-report survey data from 264 employees in supervisory, managerial, and project-leadership roles, this study examines how integrative complexity (IC), cognitive reappraisal (CR), and expressive suppression (ES) are associated with PLB. We combined hierarchical regression, polynomial regression, and response surface analysis to characterize their independent and joint associations. IC and CR were positively associated with PLB in the simultaneous regression model, whereas ES was not. A formal comparison of the regression coefficients further showed that CR was more strongly associated with PLB than ES, supporting Hypothesis 2-2. Higher-order terms did not add significant explanatory power beyond the linear terms. Thus, the highest predicted PLB at high IC and high CR primarily reflected the additive accumulation of their positive associations, not a nonlinear synergistic or congruence effect. Under imbalance, IC-dominant profiles were associated with higher PLB than CR-dominant profiles. These findings indicate an additive but asymmetric capability pattern in which IC appears to be more central and CR provides a complementary emotion-regulation resource. The study shifts attention from isolated individual attributes to the joint pattern of cognitive and emotional capabilities, while interpreting the evidence as cross-sectional associations rather than causal developmental processes. Full article

Breast cancer is a leading public health concern among low- and middle-income countries, primarily due to inadequate knowledge and lack of early detection practices. This study aimed to assess knowledge about the signs and symptoms, risk factors, and screening procedures for breast cancer, and barriers and perceptions of screening, among female university students of Pakistan to explore the relationship between socio-demographic variables and levels of knowledge about breast cancer. A total of 413 participants took part in a cross-sectional survey and completed a self-administrative online questionnaire. The results reflected an overall poor knowledge among female students, with only 3.9% demonstrating adequate knowledge about risk factors and 7.7% correctly recognizing 80% or more relevant signs and symptoms. Embarrassment (58.8%) and lack of confidence in communicating symptoms with healthcare providers (50.6%) were the most commonly reported barriers for breast cancer screening. Young age and income status below PKR 50,000 per month (OR = 3.47, 95%CI: 1.20–10.07 rel. to highest income) were significantly associated with poor breast cancer knowledge. In conclusion, this study reports sub-optimal breast cancer awareness levels in the target population, indicating the need for awareness programs and policy-driven interventions to reduce barriers, improve knowledge, and improve adherence to screening recommendations. Full article

Tourist engagement has redirected tourism scholarship from static satisfaction evaluations toward the interactive, value-creating psychological processes that bind tourists to destinations. Focusing on low-carbon tourism, where success hinges on translating environmental awareness into sustained behavioral change, this study argues that whether experiences translate into engagement depends on the interplay between external social resources and internal personal resources. Drawing on Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory and Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), we examine the joint effects of tourist experience, social support, and self-efficacy using survey data from 206 adult tourists with low-carbon travel experience. The results reveal that the average, unconditional effect of experience on engagement was not statistically significant; experience is not inconsequential but conditional, its impact depending on the resources tourists bring to it. Social support negatively moderates the experience–engagement path, reflecting a resource-substitution mechanism whereby abundant external resources crowd out tourists’ direct psychological investment in the experience. This inhibitory pattern is conditional on self-efficacy: for tourists with strong efficacy beliefs, social support becomes a functional tool that works synergistically with the travel experience to elevate engagement. This moderated moderation forms a single conditional architecture that extends COR Theory and SCT by clarifying when internal and external resources substitute for or reinforce one another. In practice, the findings advocate for empowerment-based service design: cultivating mastery experiences and self-efficacy unlocks the positive potential of social support and deepens engagement in sustainable travel. Full article

Background: Tattooed teachers are increasingly visible in schools, yet the norms governing their professional acceptability remain poorly understood. This study tests whether pluralistic ignorance—private acceptance systematically exceeding the acceptance attributed to others—operates in attitudes toward tattooed teachers, and identifies individual-level predictors of this misperception. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 1226 individuals in Hungary across four groups: physical education (PE) teacher trainees, university students from other disciplines, secondary school students, and in-service teachers. Participants rated their own acceptance of tattooed PE and academic-subject teachers and the acceptance they attributed to other teachers and to parents, and reported tattoo status, gender, and professional background. Results: Own acceptance exceeded attributed acceptance in all four groups and for both reference targets, consistent with pluralistic ignorance; gaps were largest among secondary school students and smallest—though still positive—among in-service teachers. Personal tattoo experience was the strongest individual predictor of acceptance after group membership, and among teachers both age and experience were negatively associated with acceptance. Acceptance was predominantly conditional, structured by a visibility hierarchy in which arm placements were most acceptable and facial or neck placements least so. Conclusions: The apparent disapproval of tattooed teachers reflects collective misperception more than genuine consensus, suggesting that making actual peer attitudes visible could reduce conformity pressure and support more authentic professional self-expression. Full article

Background: Health innovation education often lacks focus on local realities and practitioner-led approaches. An international Canada-Brazil academic partnership was developed to address this gap within Brazil’s Unified Health System. Objectives: This paper examines attendees’ perceptions of a short-term, binational educational intervention and identifies perceived gaps in innovation training within a resource-constrained health system. Design: A qualitative, pedagogically focused program evaluation of a short-term binational educational intervention, using participant reflections and post-course survey responses to examine perceived learning, applicability, and curricular gaps. Settings: Two academic and clinical sites in Vitória and Salvador, Brazil. Attendees: Fifty attendees (30 in Vitória, 20 in Salvador), comprising students, faculty, and health and social care professionals. Methods: The 30 h in-person course was delivered in late November (Vitória) and early December 2025 (Salvador) and addressed ‘wicked problems’ through value proposition development, design thinking, and prototyping. Facilitated by a Canadian faculty with English–Portuguese simultaneous translation. The course’s immediate evaluation used daily reflective exercises and a final participant survey. Results: Respondents’ reflections suggested a perceived reframing of innovation from a primarily technology-oriented concept toward a human-centered, context-responsive, and systems-oriented process. Respondents also identified areas requiring further curricular attention, including financial sustainability, implementation planning, and impact evaluation. Conclusions: Findings from this immediate post-course evaluation suggest that short-term, interprofessional innovation education may support perceived shifts in how participants understand health innovation. However, because the evaluation relied on self-reported, post-course qualitative data without pre/post or longitudinal measures, findings should be interpreted as perceived learning and exploratory curricular insight rather than demonstrated competency development or sustained implementation capacity. Full article

There is limited research examining how technology-enhanced assessment functions in nontraditional schools. The following research question guided our study: How are technology-enhanced formative assessment strategies perceived to support student learning in a flexible-paced high school environment? The study employed an educational design approach to co-develop and implement formative assessment strategies with teacher-participants during six professional learning sessions throughout the school year. Drawing on data from pre- and post-surveys administered to teachers (n = 36), researcher field notes with reflections during the professional learning sessions, and open-ended survey responses from students at the end of the school year (n = 43), we found: (a) a greater reported use of digital methods for formative assessment and a significant increase in the use of authentic, real world assessment criteria; (b) teacher and student perceptions that timely, constructive, and accessible digital feedback supported learning experiences; and (c) recognition that students could be more actively involved in determining assessment criteria. Students also reported benefits from receiving digital feedback, opportunities for self-assessment, and greater clarity in their learning progression. While technology can enrich feedback and efficiency, careful attention must be paid to sustaining equity and learner voice in assessment design. Full article

Although mediation has been promoted as an interdisciplinary alternative to litigation throughout Europe, few empirical studies examine who actually becomes a mediator. Because no probability sample of the profession exists in Lithuania or in most other jurisdictions, this study instead analyses the complete national registry of civil mediators in Lithuania (N = 664, accessed December 2025), which avoids the response-rate and self-selection problems that limit prior survey-based research on mediator populations. Professional background, gender, and practice characteristics (specialisation breadth, languages offered, and mediation types) were coded from the registry and examined descriptively and inferentially (chi-square tests, ANOVA/Kruskal–Wallis tests, and Spearman correlations). The findings reveal a double pattern: approximately 80% of registered mediators are women, and over 78% have a legal professional background. Comparable, though methodologically heterogeneous, information from the U.S., the Netherlands, the UK, and Germany suggests a wider variety of professional entry routes in those systems. Drawing on Abbott’s theory of professional jurisdiction, theories of occupational feminization, and a communicative perspective on mediation practice, this study argues that the Lithuanian pattern reflects institutional design rather than the interdisciplinary vision embedded in EU Directive 2008/52/EC—while also acknowledging that registry data can describe who is authorised to mediate but not who actually practices, and cannot by themselves establish the causal mechanisms behind the patterns observed. These findings carry implications for mediator training, quality assurance, the long-term viability of mediation as an interdisciplinary profession, and access to dispute resolution services. Full article

Informal STEM learning experiences are widely used to promote students’ interest and engagement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), yet limited evidence exists regarding the educational value of one-day STEM outreach events. This study examined middle school students’ perceptions of STEM interest and self-efficacy following participation in NSF STEM Day, a one-day informal STEM learning experience that combined project demonstrations designed by college student mentors with a field-based learning experience at the Museum of Illusions to learn about hands-on robotics, coding, Internet of Things (IoT), and engineering and mathematical concepts. This study explored students’ learning experiences, STEM interests and STEM self-efficacy perceptions, and college student mentors’ reflections. First, participants reported positive learning experiences, and engineering was reported more frequently as an area of STEM interest in the post-survey (38.0%) than the pre-survey (25.6%). Second, they reported positive STEM self-efficacy perceptions in the post-survey. A significant grade-level difference was observed for one STEM self-efficacy item assessing students’ confidence in applying scientific principles, with eighth-grade students reporting higher confidence than sixth-grade students (F(3,26) = 3.76, p = 0.023). Third, qualitative findings showed that college student mentors’ reflections reported positive experiences and valued the opportunity to engage middle school students in hands-on STEM learning activities. The findings contribute evidence regarding the educational value of short-duration STEM outreach experiences for broadening students’ exposure to STEM learning. Full article

Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly embedded in critical care nursing through monitoring, decision support, and documentation systems, yet nurses’ readiness to use it remains uncertain, particularly in the Middle East region. Critical care nurses are central to AI implementation at the bedside, and their AI-related literacy and fears can influence safe and ethical integration into clinical practice. Aim: To assess AI-related literacy and fears among critical care nurses in Oman and the associated factors. Methods: A nationwide cross-sectional survey was conducted among critical care nurses (N = 477) working in tertiary hospitals in Oman. The Multidimensional Artificial Intelligence Literacy Scale and the Fear towards AI Scale were used to measure AI literacy and fears, respectively. Results: The participants had low overall AI literacy (146.62 ± 84.03), and low AI self-efficacy and AI self-competency. The lowest level of literacy was related to creating AI (2.43 ± 2.63). On the other hand, participants reported moderate overall fear towards AI and moderate levels of fear related to job issues and humanity and ethics. Age, marital status, levels of education, receipt of prior computer or information technology, AI-related training, and work experience, were significant predictors of AI literacy. The predictors of AI self-efficacy and AI competence are presented. Conclusions: Nurses working in critical care settings in Oman reported low levels of AI literacy, but moderate fears related to AI, and this provides an opportunity to build AI competencies and capacity. There is need for deliberate and structured continuing education programs to build capacity for AI utilization, competence, and self-efficacy among critical care nurses. Structured, hands-on AI training that integrates ethical reflection for older nurses with more experience but limited professional education is needed and essential to support safe and equitable AI utilization by critical care nurses in Oman. Full article

Climate-related disturbances are increasingly identified as major determinants of food insecurity in fragile environments, yet empirical evidence remains scarce in conflict-affected areas such as the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Using high-frequency FAO DIEM-Monitoring surveys (2022–2026), this paper estimates the causal effect of climate shocks on household food security in the provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, and Tanganyika. Food security is measured with five validated indicators (FCS, HDDS, HHS, FIES, and rCSI); capturing multiple dimensions of access, consumption, and coping. To address endogeneity in self-reported shock exposure, the authors apply an instrumental-variable Conditional Mixed Process (IV-CMP) model and triangulate results with a pseudo-panel fixed-effects ordered probit model based on FIES severity. Objective climate proxies (rainfall and NDVI) are used to reinforce robustness. The results indicate that climate shocks lead to a significant deterioration in food consumption and raise the likelihood of households experiencing both moderate and severe food insecurity, thereby undermining sustainable food security. Effects are heterogeneous across provinces, reflecting the interaction between climate variability, conflict intensity, and market access constraints. Female-headed households are disproportionately affected in some areas, highlighting gendered vulnerabilities, while income, education, livestock ownership, and land access mitigate vulnerability. These findings highlight the need for integrated and sustainability-oriented policy responses combining climate-smart agriculture, adaptive social protection, early warning systems, and conflict-sensitive programming. Overall, this research advances existing knowledge by delivering rigorous causal insights based on multiple food security indicators and advanced econometric techniques in a highly fragile setting. Full article

Despite substantial AI technology investment, many firms fail to translate isolated AI applications into integrated capabilities that deliver strategic returns and drive business model changes. Grounded in service-dominant logic (SDL), this study proposes and empirically tests a theoretical framework that positions AI capability (AIC) as a key antecedent in the nomological network of business model innovation (BMI). Drawing on a three-wave, two-week-interval longitudinal survey of 193 Chinese digital-intensive firms across IT, technical services, and digital leasing industries, and employing PLS-SEM, we examine associations among focal constructs, specifically, the mediating role of customer responsiveness (CR) and the moderating effect of digital organizational culture (DOC). This design mitigates common method bias and establishes temporal causal ordering. Empirical results indicate that AIC positively relates to BMI both directly and indirectly through CR, and that DOC significantly enhances the indirect effect of AIC on BMI via CR, particularly under high levels of AI-enabled sensing and interpretation. However, causal inference is limited by the cross-sectional nature of the data and self-reported measures. This study makes three key theoretical contributions. First, we identify CR as a market-oriented mechanism linking AIC to BMI, shifting focus from prior internal efficiency-focused mechanisms to customer-centric value co-creation. Second, we extend SDL to the AI context by clarifying how DOC shapes the strategic transformation of ambiguous probabilistic AI outputs into market-oriented actions. Third, we introduce DOC as an internal boundary condition for AIC, complementing prior research on external environmental moderators. These findings provide actionable guidance for managers seeking to unlock the strategic value of AI investments. Findings reflect statistical associations rather than confirmed causal effects, and results are based on perceptual survey data from Chinese digital firms. Full article

Drawing on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) framework, this study tested a moderated mediation model in which two dimensions of GenAI-assisted teaching predict children’s creative learning engagement through autonomous motivation. Cross-sectional survey data collected from 486 preschool teachers across 52 kindergartens in three Chinese provinces were analysed with structural equation modelling and bias-corrected bootstrap procedures. AI-enhanced interactive pedagogy was positively associated with autonomous motivation, whereas AI-dependent passive instruction was negatively associated with it; only passive instruction exhibited a direct negative link with creative learning engagement. Autonomous motivation fully mediated the interactive pedagogy pathway and partially mediated the passive instruction pathway. Perceived teacher–child interaction quality significantly moderated the passive instruction to motivation path, attenuating the indirect association to non-significance at high levels of perceived interaction quality. Because all constructs were assessed via teacher self-report at a single time point, the observed associations reflect teachers’ perceptions rather than objectively measured behaviours, and causal inference is not warranted. The study offers theoretical and practical insights for designing developmentally appropriate, teacher-scaffolded GenAI integration in preschool education. Full article

Background: Physical activity is a crucial component of diabetes prevention and management, yet participation varies across populations. Differences by country of birth may reflect cultural, socioeconomic, and structural factors that influence health behaviors among individuals with diabetic conditions. Objective: To examine the relationship between country of birth, diabetes status, and physical activity, and to assess whether country of birth is associated with diabetes prevalence. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using U.S.-nationally representative data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Adults were categorized as having diabetes/prediabetes or no diabetes based on self-reported diagnosis. Physical activity was assessed using self-reported levels of moderate and vigorous leisure-time physical activity (LTPA). Sociodemographic characteristics were compared across groups. Stratified analyses were conducted to evaluate differences by country of birth and statistical tests were used to identify significant associations between diabetes status, physical activity, and sociodemographic variables. Results: Significant differences in sociodemographic characteristics were observed across diabetes status groups, particularly by age. There was no significant difference in physical activity levels between adults with diabetes compared to those without. Individuals with diabetes reported higher levels of sedentary time before adjustment for sociodemographic factors. Differences in physical activity behaviors were also observed in unadjusted analyses by country of birth, with foreign-born groups demonstrating lower levels of vigorous activity. Conclusions: Physical activity disparities exist among adults in the United States with diabetes and prediabetes and differ by country of birth, although they can be largely explained by sociodemographic factors. These findings highlight the need for culturally and socioeconomically tailored interventions to promote physical activity and support chronic disease management in diverse populations. Full article

The rapid influx of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) into higher education has resulted in a large number of research studies over the past three years. Much of the research to date has focused on the researcher/educator perspective of the optimal usage, benefits and challenges in the implementation of GenAI, often in a very general sense. The importance of the student voice and discipline-specific results must not be lost in this debate. This study investigates students’ decisions to use (or not use) GenAI for mathematics purposes and the reasons they give to support this choice. This was done by surveying almost 700 students in an Irish university, using an online, anonymous survey in March 2025. The students in the sample were all studying at least one mathematics module at the time. In addition, students were asked what they perceive the benefits and challenges to be of GenAI for mathematics in higher education. 91% of respondents were using GenAI for mathematics purposes. Both their reasons for using GenAI and the benefits they perceived for it fell into four main themes: Self-Improvement, Tools, Access, and Support. Their reasons for not using GenAI, and the challenges they perceived, were categorised under Unnecessary/Unknown, Inaccurate, Skill Loss, and Ethical Concerns. Students mentioned using GenAI for self-improvement reasons, such as bettering their understanding of mathematics, and found the lack of interaction with a person to be a benefit rather than a challenge. This study was conducted at a unique moment in time when the usage of GenAI was moving from sporadic to widespread and reflects students’ self-reported reasons for this. Full article