Digital technologies are central sources of health information, yet meaningful engagement with online resources varies widely, even among individuals with regular Internet access. This study examined whether digital self-efficacy and stage of change for using the Internet to obtain health information predicted evaluation of a culturally tailored online health portal. A cross-sectional survey was completed by 206 adult African American women following structured exposure to a nutrition and physical activity website designed using both surface- and deep-structure cultural tailoring strategies. Measures assessed digital self-efficacy, stage of change for Internet-based health information use, attitudes toward website features, and overall portal evaluation. Bivariate analyses indicated that higher digital self-efficacy and more advanced stage of change were associated with more favorable portal evaluation. In multivariable regression models, stage of change and endorsement of valued website features emerged as significant independent predictors, whereas structural access indicators did not. Digital self-efficacy was associated with evaluation but did not retain independent significance after accounting for readiness. Regression diagnostics supported the stability of model estimates. Qualitative findings reinforced these results, with participants emphasizing clarity, usability, and culturally relevant representation as central to engagement. Integration of qualitative and quantitative findings demonstrated methodological triangulation, supporting the interpretation that engagement reflects both cognitive appraisal of design features and developmental readiness. These findings suggest that digital health engagement is a staged, psychologically mediated process rather than a direct consequence of access. Interventions that align with motivational readiness and incorporate culturally responsive design may enhance sustained engagement and advance digital health equity.
The present study explores the impact of smartphone use on course comprehension and psychological well-being in middle school students. Students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade (N = 25) participated in a repeated measure design with two conditions – (1) no access to smartphones; (2) access to smartphones during the school day. Students filled out a survey about their course comprehension and psychological state (operationally defined as anxiety and mindfulness) twice during each condition. In addition, teachers were briefly interviewed on the experience students had with access to their smartphone. Results indicated significantly lower levels of mindfulness when students had access to their smartphones than without access. In addition, teachers revealed that students were detached, aloof, and exhibited bullying behaviors when they were able to use their smartphones in the class. These findings can aide educators and policymakers in making informed decisions about the highly controversial government bans on cell phone use in class.
Background: Creative and expressive writing has been increasingly used as a supportive approach for children’s emotional development, yet empirical research on its effects in non-clinical child populations remains limited, particularly in Eastern European contexts. Expressive writing is assumed to support emotional regulation through narrative integration and emotional clarification. Method: This exploratory pilot study examined pre–post changes associated with a ten-session online creative and expressive writing program. Participants were 27 typically developing children aged 9–12 years (M = 10.7), with a final analytical sample of 26 children. Parents completed the ASEBA–Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL 6–18) before and after the intervention. Outcomes included Anxiety/Depression, Withdrawal/Depression, and Aggressive Behaviour. Analyses focused on descriptive pre–post change patterns. Results: Downward trends were observed across all assessed indicators. Decreases were most consistent for Anxiety/Depression (88.5% of participants) and Aggressive Behaviour (53.8%), while changes in Withdrawal/Depression were less pronounced (34.6%). A notable cross-sectional finding was a reduction in the CBCL item reflecting maladaptive perfectionism (“I must be perfect”). Conclusions: The findings suggest that creative and expressive writing may support emotional regulation in school-age children, particularly by reducing internalized distress and externalized behavioural tension. Effects related to social withdrawal appeared more limited, highlighting the relational complexity of this dimension. These preliminary results support further controlled and longitudinal research on expressive writing as a developmentally appropriate emotional regulation strategy.
With an increased number of English language learners (ELL) enrolled in PK-12 classrooms, increased attention is placed on this group of students. M Multiple factors could impact their learning such as the language barrier, learning difficulties, behavioral, developmental, or other delays. The current research conducted an interview study of experienced K-12 teachers who have taught ELL with special needs. Research findings include multiple challenges these students experienced in their everyday learning and social interaction, as well as suggested effective strategies from the field. The participating teachers also provided recommendations for pre-service teacher training programs to prepare future teachers who can work with ELL students with special needs. Although the participating teachers’ experiences and suggestions may not be able to generalize in different settings, it provides a window to understand ways to help these children navigate through the journey and conquer difficulties to reach their potential.
Current research on the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions in schools generally shows positive effects on various teacher outcomes. However, previous research has not examined the effects of teacher training independently from those of classroom training. Our study evaluated the impact of the MoMento teacher and classroom training (cf. combined mindfulness-based training) on mindfulness skills and well-being of primary school teachers (N=27) using a block-randomized waitlist control group design across three measurement points. Self-report questionnaires assessing mindfulness skills (intra- and interpersonal mindfulness, self-compassion, and self-criticism) as well as well-being (emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction, life satisfaction, psychological well-being, positive and negative affect) were completed before and after the 8-week teacher training, as well as after the subsequent implementation of the 10-week classroom training. Significant improvements were found in mindfulness skills (intrapersonal mindfulness, self-criticism), but no improvements were observed in well-being. The improvements in mindfulness skills mostly occurred during the teacher training and were maintained through the subsequent implementation of the classroom training. Our study provides a foundation for a detailed examination of the effects of combined mindfulness-based programs. In the context of teacher professional development, disentangling training effects may provide valuable insights for the design of future interventions.
Early childhood is marked by heightened neural plasticity, yet the translation of developmental neuroscience into teacher education remains limited. This study evaluated the Neuro-embedded Lesson Design (NLD) module, designed to strengthen pre-service teachers’ integration of neuroscience evidence into lesson planning. A quasi-experimental pre–post design was conducted with 29 early childhood education undergraduates in Thailand. The intervention combined neuroscience briefs, evidence-to-lesson alignment mapping, and micro-teaching with reflective practice. Instruments included a knowledge test, an NLD rubric, a metacognition scale, and a recognition-of-evidence-value (RvA) measure. Results revealed significant gains in neuroscience knowledge (F(1,27) = 42.51, p < .001, η² = .61) and in NLD quality (F(1,27) = 58.73, p < .001, η² = .68). Moreover, metacognitive awareness (β = .42) and RvA (β = .38) significantly predicted lesson quality, jointly explaining 31% of the variance. These findings indicate that the NLD module advances a translational framework embedding neuroscience into teacher education, with metacognition and epistemic valuation emerging as critical mediators. Beyond demonstrating knowledge gains, the study highlights theoretical, practical, and policy pathways for bridging research and pedagogy in early childhood education.
Precrastination, the tendency to complete tasks immediately even at the expense of efficiency, remains relatively unexplored. This study investigated the influence of the Big Five personality traits and fluid intelligence on the precrastination behavior of university students. Using a quantitative, cross-sectional design, N = 95 German students (M = 23.03 years, 45% female, 61% enrolled in full-time studies) completed self-report measures via an online questionnaire. A multiple linear regression analysis revealed that both conscientiousness (b = 1.16, SE = .16, t(88) = 7.18, p < .001) and fluid intelligence (b = -0.05, SE = .02, t(88) = -2.09, p = .040) had significant effects on precrastination behavior. The overall model demonstrated a high explanatory power (R² = .53, adjusted R² = .50). Mediation analyses further showed that fluid intelligence mediated both the relationship between openness to experience and precrastination behavior (ab = -.176, 95% CI [-.362, .037]) and partially the relationship between conscientiousness and precrastination behavior (ab = .080, 95% CI [.001, .222]). The results highlight that precrastination is not solely shaped by personality traits but is also influenced by cognitive abilities such as fluid intelligence. Limitations, including the modest sample size, restrict generalizability. These findings provide insights for interventions supporting task prioritization and cognitive self-regulation in students. Future research should employ larger samples and diverse designs to clarify underlying mechanisms.
Background: As a public health issue, both burnout syndrome and sleep problems affect students' academic performance and their well-being. Overuse of digital devices can cause digital burnout (DBO) to university students. This study aimed to explore digital device usage, sleep quality, DBO levels, and their association with sleep quality (SQ) among King Faisal University (KFU) students for the academic year 2022-2023. Methods: This cross-sectional study targeted undergraduate students of both genders at KFU across all academic levels and specialties. An online self-administered questionnaire was created using Google Forms and distributed via e-mail to KFU students between May and July 2023. Data were analyzed using SPSS software with statistical tests applied, and a p-value of 0.05 was considered the significance threshold. Results: In total, 744 KFU students participated in the study. Data analysis revealed moderate DBO levels and average SQ, 427(57.4%) and 526 (70.8%) respectively, with no significant differences based on age, gender, college, and marital status. Additionally, a statistically significant association was found between higher DBO levels and poorer SQ among the participants (Pearson’s correlation test, r = 0.548, p= 0.000). Conclusions: Our study confirmed the association between DBO and SQ among KFU students. These findings underline the importance of university initiatives that promote stress-reducing activities and adaptive behaviors as resilience measures to support students' mental health, academic performance, and well-being.
The main purpose of this research were to 1) develop the training program to enhance mental immunity in the new normal era for university students based on the concept of psychology. 2) to study the results of a training program to enhance mental immunity for university students based on the concept of psychology. The sample consisted of 28 students from Roi Et Rajabhat University, selected by cluster random sampling. Multi-stage sampling was employed. The research instrument includes 1) a training program to enhance mental immunity in the new normal era based on the concept of psychology and 2) a measurement of mental immunity. It was a 5-rating scale form with 25 items, each with an item discrimination of 0.21 - 0.67 and a reliability of 0.82. Statistics employed for analyses of the data included percentage, mean, standard deviation, and t-test for dependent samples. The results of the research were as follows: 1) The training program to enhance mental immunity consisted of twelve activities and was at “the high” level of property (M = 4.20, S.D. = 0.70). 2) The sample who participated in the program had a level of mental immunity after the experiment higher than before the experiment, statistically significant at the .05 level.
This pilot study investigated frontal pole activity during cognitive and playful tasks in a nine-year-old participant using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Four tasks, including Hyakumasu Calculation, Suika Game, Puyo Puyo, and ScratchJr, were performed over ten days, yielding a total of 40 sessions. Oxy-Hb changes in channels seven to ten were analyzed using paired t-tests with false discovery rate correction. After correction, significant differences appeared in four comparisons: Hyakumasu Calculation elicited greater activity than Puyo Puyo (ch7, ch9) and Suika Game (ch9), while Puyo Puyo showed reduced activity compared to ScratchJr (ch8), all with large effect sizes. Other comparisons indicated medium to large effect sizes but did not remain significant after correction. These findings suggest that frontal pole activity varies with task characteristics. Educationally, alternating high-load tasks (e.g., calculation) and low-load play tasks (e.g., puzzle games) may optimize cognitive performance. However, the single-subject design restricts generalizability, requiring studies with larger samples and longer durations.
Reviewer Acknowledgements for Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology, Vol. 15, No. 1, 2025.
Expectations regarding future academic achievement are particularly vulnerable to violations due to their often overly optimistic nature. Therefore, students frequently have to cope with expectation violations. The present study examines how three situational aspects—controllability of expectation (dis-)confirmation, degree of expectation violation, and likelihood of future expectation checks—as well as dispositional Need for Cognitive Closure (NCC) predict coping with expectation violations in the educational context, namely assimilation (i.e., striving for confirmation), accommodation (i.e., expectation change), and immunisation (i.e., ignoring discrepant information). Each situational predictor was expected to be particularly associated with one of the three coping strategies. High controllability was anticipated to facilitate assimilation following unexpected negative feedback, whereas a substantial discrepancy in expectation violation was presumed to encourage accommodation. Additionally, a low likelihood of future expectation checks was predicted to promote immunisation. It was further hypothesised that high NCC would reinforce these tendencies. A vignette experiment was conducted with n = 248 participants. T-tests and MANCOVA confirmed the expected effect of the situational variables on the respective coping strategies. In addition, the association between assimilation and accommodation with these coping strategies was enhanced in individuals with high NCC, suggesting an interaction effect between personality and context in the use of coping strategies. However, NCC did not moderate the association between the risk of future expectation checks and immunisation. Nonetheless, this study provides new insights into the interplay of situational and dispositional predictors of coping with expectation violations.
This cross-sectional study investigated the relationship between sports participation and quality of life among individuals with paraplegia (N=30). Participants with injury levels T5-L5 were divided into trained (n=15) and untrained (n=15) groups. Quality of life was assessed using the validated Arabic Short Form-36 (SF-36), while functional independence was measured using the Functional Independence Measure (FIM). Statistical analysis revealed significantly higher scores across all SF-36 dimensions in the trained group (M=93.77, SD=2.76) compared to the untrained group (M=42.24, SD=15.53; p<0.001). Strong positive correlations were observed between Mental Health and Cognitive Performance components (r=0.959, p<0.001) and between total SF-36 and FIM scores (r=0.840, p<0.001). These findings suggest that regular sports participation may enhance both quality of life and functional independence in individuals with paraplegia.
This study examines how family climate supports one parent in coping with a spouse's long-term severe illness, focusing on the impact of family dynamics on coping strategies and personal growth. Such illnesses often disrupt family balance, creating stress for all members, with the healthy spouse relying on internal strengths and external resources. The research addresses three key questions: How can the coping process of the healthy parent be described when dealing with a partner’s long-term illness? What family climate factors either hinder or support the coping process? How do the meanings attributed to coping by the healthy parent relate to the family climate experienced during the illness? A qualitative study, based on in-depth interviews with 16 parents (April–May 2023), identified two coping patterns: personal regression and growth. Participants highlighted family traits that either facilitated or hindered coping, emphasizing the interplay between family dynamics and individual responses. Findings underscore the role of supportive family traits in fostering resilience and guiding individuals and families toward effective adaptation and growth during crises.
Childhood fears, encompassing particular phobias and generalized anxieties, significantly influence psychological development. Although numerous fears are ephemeral, certain ones endure, profoundly affecting emotional health, conduct, and social interactions. This study utilizes a systematic literature review to analyze the evolution of childhood fears through the perspectives of Freudian psychoanalysis, attachment theory, cognitive-developmental frameworks, and evolutionary psychology. This study assesses the impact of parental influence, environmental conditioning, media exposure, and cultural narratives on fear responses by integrating historical and contemporary research. Freud's distinction between automatic and signal anxiety establishes a basis for comprehending fear as both an adaptive survival mechanism and a psychological encumbrance. Contemporary research amalgamates these insights with empirical investigations into neurobiological fear processing, social learning, and cognitive-behavioral interventions. This review evaluates the efficacy of evidence-based therapies, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), systematic desensitization, and mindfulness-based interventions, in alleviating childhood anxieties. This study enhances comprehension of the acquisition, regulation, and treatment of fear by synthesizing classical psychoanalytic theories with modern psychological research. It emphasizes the need for developmentally suitable, culturally attuned interventions that bolster emotional resilience and foster enduring mental health.
Faculty burnout is a significant challenge in higher education, impacting educators and students. This condition, characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced effectiveness, leads to decreased teaching quality and student engagement. Stress factors, including heavy workloads, administrative pressures, and job insecurity, contribute to burnout, which in turn leads to faculty attrition and poorer student outcomes. This study utilizes the SANRA (Scale for the Quality Assessment of Narrative Review Articles) framework to provide a high-quality review of existing research. The research explores the causes and consequences of faculty burnout, its impact on students, and potential institutional solutions. The review examined 20 peer-reviewed journal articles that provide a comprehensive analysis of the issue. The study identifies common factors contributing to burnout, its adverse effect on student academic performance, and practical strategies for alleviating burnout. The results demonstrate that educator burnout decreases student motivation, lowers engagement, and poorer educational outcomes. Contributing factors include overwhelming workloads, administrative demands, and lack of institutional support. Digital tools and AI-driven automation are underutilized yet promising solutions for reducing faculty workload. To address burnout, it is essential to implement balanced workloads, provide mental health resources, and utilize technological innovations to support faculty well-being and enhance student success.
The pandemic has led to physical distancing measures put in place to minimize the spread of COVID-19, leading schools and community centers to close their physical locations. For many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals living with their family, their home can be considered harmful and unsupportive due to their family’s rejection towards LGBTQ identity. LGBTQ YouTubers can be a unique avenue to understand how they can use their social media presence to act as an online supportive system that parallel traditional offline supportive systems during the pandemic where offline supportive spaces are limited. The purpose of the study is to analyze online video platforms (ie. YouTube) and whether LGBTQ YouTubers can act as support systems for their LGBTQ community during the pandemic through video content creation. Four LGBTQ YouTubers that have created videos related to the COVID-19 outbreak were chosen and their video comments (NVideo1 = 147; NVideo2 = 195; NVideo3 = 238; NVideo4 = 79) were analyzed through content analysis. Results revealed the following categories: 1) Community support and engagement between the community and the YouTuber, 2) diverse coping strategies as a result of COVID-19, 3) community’s emotional experiences surrounding COVID-19, 4) community members’ use of diverse support types, 5) YouTuber authenticity and relatability to community, and 6) intersectional identity (e.g., disability, ethnicity) experiences. Emerging themes suggest LGBTQ YouTubers can be informal online social support systems that can parallel the physical connections and support lost due to COVID-19.
The present study was to explore the impact of residential mobility on self-disclosure intention. Hypotheses were tested by two experiments. In Experiment 1, we examined the effect of residential mobility on the self-disclosure of personal contact information by randomly assigning participants to the mobility or stability conditions. In Experiment 2, we further examined the influence of residential mobility on self-disclosure about personal distress. In Experiment 1, participants in the mobility group (vs. stability group) showed a higher propensity to self-disclose their personal information. In Experiment 2, residential mobility and personal mobility history showed an interaction effect in predicting self-disclosure about personal distress. Participants in the mobility (vs. stability) condition were more likely to self-disclose their emotional stress, but this effect only emerged among those with a higher frequency of mobility.
The transition to first grade represents a pivotal stage in a child’s educational journey, marked by significant adjustments for both children and their parents. This study explores the expectations and needs of parents during this transition, as well as the perspectives of teachers regarding parental engagement. The findings highlight the critical importance of accessible communication, genuine attentiveness to children’s emotional states, and continuous transparency in sharing classroom activities. Challenges such as inconsistent communication and varying levels of responsiveness are identified. Teachers, despite lacking formal training in parent engagement, have developed strategies to manage interactions effectively. The study underscores the necessity for targeted professional development to enhance teacher-parent interactions, ensuring a smoother transition for students. The research also reveals the complex emotional landscape parents navigate, emphasizing the need for sensitive communication and robust support systems to facilitate positive educational outcomes.
The study examined teachers’ development and secondary school effectiveness in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The study sought to establish the relationship between teachers’ development training and secondary school effectiveness in Ekiti State. Descriptive research design of survey type was adopted in the study. The population of the study comprised all the teaching staff (teachers and principals) numbered 5,908 in public secondary schools in Ekiti State. The total number of public secondary schools in Ekiti State was 202. The sample of the study was made up of 240 teachers and 24 principals selected from 24 public secondary schools in each of the three senatorial districts in Ekiti State. Multistage sampling procedures which involved simple random sampling and stratified random sampling techniques were used to select sample of the study. The instruments tagged Teachers’ Development Training Questionnaire (TDTQ) and Secondary School Effectiveness Questionnaire (SSEQ) were used to collect data. The instruments were validated and found reliable with the reliability coefficient of 0.84 and 0.86 respectively. Descriptive statistics of frequency counts, percentages scores, mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions and Pearson’s Moment Correlation was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that there is a significant relationship between teachers’ development and secondary school effectiveness in Ekiti State. Based on the findings and conclusions of the study, it was recommended that regular and relevant teachers’ development programmes should be organized for secondary school teachers in order to ensure continuous quality education delivery and secondary school effectiveness.
