The Importance of Perceived School Climate and Personal Strengths Use for Psychological Functioning among High School Students

The aim of this study was to determine the importance of high school students’ personal strengths use and the perceived school climate on their psychological functioning. The sample of 258 students from a gymnasium filled in measures for adolescent psychological functioning, strengths use and perceived school climate. Contrary to what was expected, the results revealed that personal strengths use did not moderate the relationship between students’ perceived school climate and their psychological functioning. However, both factors – perceived school climate and strengths use – independently of each other, significantly predicted students’ psychological functioning. Therefore, in order to achieve more positive developmental outcomes, it is not enough to create a good climate at school, it is also important to create opportunities for students to use their personal strengths.

Transitioning from Training to Breast Imaging Practice: Building an Academic Career

Launching an academic career in breast imaging presents both challenges and opportunities for the newly graduated trainee. A strategic plan aligned with one’s personal strengths and interests facilitates career success and professional satisfaction. Academic departments offer multiple tracks to accommodate diverse faculty goals. The specific requirements of various tracks vary across institutions. The clinician-educator track typically encourages a focus on medical education and educational scholarship. The clinician-investigator or clinician-scholar track supports original research and grant-funded clinical trials. Finally, the clinical and clinician-administrator tracks allow for emphasis on clinical program development and leadership. As definitions of scholarship broaden, many opportunities are accessible to demonstrate excellence in the traditional areas of clinical practice, education, and research, as well as the broader fields of leadership and administration. Departmental and national society resources that advance knowledge in one’s chosen area of interest are available and should be explored. Mentorship and sponsorship can provide valuable insight into identifying such resources and devising a plan for sustainable career success and work-life integration.

Toward Inclusive and Equitable Education for All: Lessons from the experiences of New Zealand refugee background university students

<p>The ability of education to transform individuals' lives, and by extension those of their communities and societies, is well documented. As such, education is at the heart of the United Nations’ (2015) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), represented by SDG 4, “Quality Education”, which seeks to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education to promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Tertiary education institutions (TEIs) in particular have been highlighted as critical settings from which SDGs can be better understood and achieved. Although the benefits of tertiary education are well understood, access to, and participation within, TEIs remains unequal for students from marginalized backgrounds, particularly those from refugee backgrounds (RBs). Over the last twenty-five years, research has begun to consider issues relating to access and participation within TEIs for students from refugee backgrounds (SRBs) highlighting numerous barriers that they face. However, very few studies have focused on identifying strengths, capabilities and supports. The experiences of SRBs within the contexts of New Zealand TEIs are vastly understudied. In response to this gap, as well as to the dominance of barrier-focused literature, this thesis considers the experiences of SRBs within New Zealand universities from a strengths-based lens. It seeks to understand what has enhanced the experiences of SRBs, and what can facilitate further positive experiences for them in the future. It answers the primary research question: “What is working well to enhance the experiences of SRBs within New Zealand universities and why?” To answer this question, a transformative research approach using Appreciative Inquiry (AI) methodology was taken. Primary data was generated using semi-structured interviews with sixteen undergraduate and postgraduate SRBs at four different New Zealand universities. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. This analysis identifies several targeted provisions and personal strengths that are working well to enhance the experiences of SRBs within New Zealand universities. Comparing these results with the current landscape of targeted provisioning and policy relating to SRBs in TEIs, I argue that existing and future initiatives could be (re)designed to emphasise: social connections, institutional welcome, staff advocacy, financial provisioning, and the resource of family and community. In addition, this study strongly advocates for the designation of SRBs as an equity group within national level policy, in order to mandate all universities to provide targeted provisioning. Overall, this research provides a New Zealand-specific perspective on the growing body of literature centred on the experiences of SRBs within tertiary education. Its strengths-based AI framework offers a unique understanding of how future practice and policy can be developed around what is working well for students. Additionally, its New Zealand context unsettles traditional understandings of where education and development research and initiatives are conducted and implemented.</p>

Toward Inclusive and Equitable Education for All: Lessons from the experiences of New Zealand refugee background university students

<p>The ability of education to transform individuals' lives, and by extension those of their communities and societies, is well documented. As such, education is at the heart of the United Nations’ (2015) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), represented by SDG 4, “Quality Education”, which seeks to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education to promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Tertiary education institutions (TEIs) in particular have been highlighted as critical settings from which SDGs can be better understood and achieved. Although the benefits of tertiary education are well understood, access to, and participation within, TEIs remains unequal for students from marginalized backgrounds, particularly those from refugee backgrounds (RBs). Over the last twenty-five years, research has begun to consider issues relating to access and participation within TEIs for students from refugee backgrounds (SRBs) highlighting numerous barriers that they face. However, very few studies have focused on identifying strengths, capabilities and supports. The experiences of SRBs within the contexts of New Zealand TEIs are vastly understudied. In response to this gap, as well as to the dominance of barrier-focused literature, this thesis considers the experiences of SRBs within New Zealand universities from a strengths-based lens. It seeks to understand what has enhanced the experiences of SRBs, and what can facilitate further positive experiences for them in the future. It answers the primary research question: “What is working well to enhance the experiences of SRBs within New Zealand universities and why?” To answer this question, a transformative research approach using Appreciative Inquiry (AI) methodology was taken. Primary data was generated using semi-structured interviews with sixteen undergraduate and postgraduate SRBs at four different New Zealand universities. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. This analysis identifies several targeted provisions and personal strengths that are working well to enhance the experiences of SRBs within New Zealand universities. Comparing these results with the current landscape of targeted provisioning and policy relating to SRBs in TEIs, I argue that existing and future initiatives could be (re)designed to emphasise: social connections, institutional welcome, staff advocacy, financial provisioning, and the resource of family and community. In addition, this study strongly advocates for the designation of SRBs as an equity group within national level policy, in order to mandate all universities to provide targeted provisioning. Overall, this research provides a New Zealand-specific perspective on the growing body of literature centred on the experiences of SRBs within tertiary education. Its strengths-based AI framework offers a unique understanding of how future practice and policy can be developed around what is working well for students. Additionally, its New Zealand context unsettles traditional understandings of where education and development research and initiatives are conducted and implemented.</p>

Serious game to promote socioemotional learning and mental health (emoTIC): a study protocol for randomised controlled trial

IntroductionThe development of emotional competences may be a protective factor for mental health problems, promoting well-being at such a complex age as adolescence. Technologies may be used to carry out this empowerment because adolescents are attracted to them. The purpose of the study is to design a serious game based on the Mayer et al’s emotional intelligence ability model and analyse the effectiveness of the emoTIC programme to develop emotional competences, well-being, mental health, and personal strengths immediately after completion and at 12 months.Methods and analysisThe new version of emoTIC will be designed following the suggestions of the adolescents who participated in the pilot study and the results obtained from the statistical analysis. The participants will be 385 adolescents aged 11–16 years who will be randomly assigned to the control group and the experimental group. The experimental group will complete the emoTIC programme. The primary outcomes include emotional competences and subjective well-being. The secondary outcomes are self-esteem; general self-efficacy; personality; social and personal responsibility; school social climate; somatic complaints; depression, anxiety and stress symptoms; emotional and behavioural difficulties; suicidal behaviour; and subjective happiness. Data will be collected at three moments: baseline (T1), immediately post-intervention (T2) and 12-month follow-up (T3). The effectiveness of the programme will be analysed using different statistical packages.Ethics and disseminationThe study has been approved by the Ethics Commission of the University of Valencia (H152865096049), and the standards of the Declaration of Helsinki to collect the data will be followed. Results will be disseminated across the scientific community.Trial registration numberClinicalTrials.gov Registry (NCT04414449).Trial sponsorUniversity of Valencia. Principal investigator: Inmaculada Montoya-Castilla.

Self-protecting motivation, indexed by self-threat, modifies retrieval-induced-forgetting and confidence in employment decision bias against out-group targets

Human memory is malleable by both social and motivational factors and holds information relevant to workplace decisions. Retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) describes a phenomenon where retrieval practice impairs subsequent memory for related (unpracticed) information. We report two RIF experiments. Chinese participants received a mild self-threat manipulation (Experiment 2) or not (Experiment 1) before an ethnicity-RIF task that involved practicing negative traits of either in-group (Chinese) or an out-group (Japanese) target. After a subsequent memory test, participants selected their preferred applicant for employment. RIF scores correspond to forgetting of unpracticed positive traits of one target (Rp−) relative to the recall of practiced negative traits of the other target (Rp+). Enhanced forgetting of positive traits was found in both experiments for both targets. Across experiments, a significant target by threat interaction showed that target ethnicity modified RIF (an ethnicity-RIF effect). Inducing a self-protecting motivation enhanced RIF effects for the out-group (Japanese) target. In a subsequent employment decision, there was a strong bias to select the in-group target, with the confidence in these decisions being associated with RIF scores. This study suggests that rehearsing negative traits of minority applicants can affect metacognitive aspects of employment decisions, possibly by shaping the schemas available to the majority (in-group) employer. To disrupt systemic racism, recruitment practices should aim to offset a human motivation to protect one-self, when exposed to a relatively mild threat to self-esteem. Discussing the negative traits of minority applicants is a critical, and sensitive, aspect of decision-making that warrants careful practice. These data suggest that recruiting individuals should be reminded of their personal strengths in this context, not their vulnerabilities, to secure their decision-making for fairer recruitment practice.

Community Music Therapy: A Pathway to a Sense of Belonging in a School Environment

<p>This research investigated the intersection between a student's work in a special school, where one of the primary aims was to develop students' sense of belonging, and Community Music Therapy (CoMT). A sense of belonging was understood to be a feeling of safety and comfort that engenders a willingness to engage with the environment and the people within that environment. Narratives of work with two students in the school have been analysed to uncover themes relating to CoMT, especially with regard to 'belonging'. Secondary analysis of the data was used in conjunction with a narrative enquiry. Data was collected using clinical music therapy notes; school documentation; Individual Education Plans; notes on group observations; notes on discussions with teachers support staff, parents and care givers; and video recordings. The music therapy student's experiences with each of the two students were described in narrative form, separately, and in chronological order to preserve meaning. The stories were then written again (restoried) in relation to the characteristics of CoMT. The findings suggested that in both cases, students displayed a greater willingness to take part in the organised and informal communal musicing that took place within various contexts of the school. It also showed that the student music therapist resourced the participants on a relational level, resourced their personal strengths and enabled them to access the wider community resources.</p>

Community Music Therapy: A Pathway to a Sense of Belonging in a School Environment

<p>This research investigated the intersection between a student's work in a special school, where one of the primary aims was to develop students' sense of belonging, and Community Music Therapy (CoMT). A sense of belonging was understood to be a feeling of safety and comfort that engenders a willingness to engage with the environment and the people within that environment. Narratives of work with two students in the school have been analysed to uncover themes relating to CoMT, especially with regard to 'belonging'. Secondary analysis of the data was used in conjunction with a narrative enquiry. Data was collected using clinical music therapy notes; school documentation; Individual Education Plans; notes on group observations; notes on discussions with teachers support staff, parents and care givers; and video recordings. The music therapy student's experiences with each of the two students were described in narrative form, separately, and in chronological order to preserve meaning. The stories were then written again (restoried) in relation to the characteristics of CoMT. The findings suggested that in both cases, students displayed a greater willingness to take part in the organised and informal communal musicing that took place within various contexts of the school. It also showed that the student music therapist resourced the participants on a relational level, resourced their personal strengths and enabled them to access the wider community resources.</p>

A Psychosocial Support Program for Young Adult Childhood Cancer Survivors in Austria: a Qualitative Evaluation Study

Many adolescents and young adult (AYAs) childhood cancer survivors face disease- or therapy-related late-effects, which limit their participation in various areas of daily life. AYAs are often left alone in our health care system, and many worry about their ability to cope with long-term sequelae, and some are even lost to follow-up. Therefore, in the present study, a targeted aftercare program was developed and evaluated with the goal of facilitating three important “life skills”: (1) self-perception, (2) social interaction and conflict management, and (3) self-conscious communication of support needs. A total of n = 13 participants (19.2–30.2 years, mean age 22.8 years) completed a 3-day aftercare seminar, at the end of which each participant wrote a reflection letter (“letter to my future self”), elaborating on observed effects of the seminar, applicability of the given information in daily life, and the direct impact of the seminar on their individual circumstances. The reflection letters were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. All target life skills were mentioned in the reflection letters. The participants reported individual benefits from the program especially with respect to self-perception and self-confidence, giving and taking feedback, and acceptance of personal strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, the feeling of “not being alone” was associated with the survivors’ experience of emotional and social support. This evaluation highlights the potential of a one weekend aftercare seminar to address important life skills that are known to positively influence health behavior in AYAs. The detailed description of the seminar can serve as a basis for making this kind of aftercare accessible for other people in similar circumstances.

Forging Resilience to HIV/AIDS: Personal Strengths of Middle-aged and Older Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men Living With HIV/AIDS

HIV-positive gay, bisexual, two-spirit, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) have exhibited significant resilience to HIV/AIDS in Canada since the start of the epidemic. Since 2012, most of the research that has been conducted on resilience to HIV/AIDS has utilized quantitative methods and deficits-based approaches, with a preferential focus on the plight of young MSM. In order to address apparent gaps in research on HIV/AIDS resilience, we conducted a community-based participatory research qualitative study that utilized a strengths-based approach to examine the perspectives and lived experiences of HIV-positive, middle-aged and older MSM on their individual attributes that helped forge their HIV/AIDS resilience. We conducted 41 semistructured interviews with diverse, HIV-positive, middle-aged and older MSM from Central and Southwestern Ontario, Canada. From our thematic analysis of our interviews, we identified four themes, which represented personal strengths that fostered resilience to HIV/AIDS: (a) proactiveness, (b) perseverance, (c) having the right mindset, and (d) self-awareness with self-control. This article discusses the importance of these personal strengths to fostering HIV/AIDS resilience, and how community-based resources could potentially lessen the need to muster such personal strengths, or alternatively, cultivate them.