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Kinds of School Students Selected AbstractsTHE PROMOTION OF HEALTH CAREERS TO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN THE NEW ENGLAND HEALTH AREA: THE VIEWS OF HIGH SCHOOL CAREERS ADVISERSAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF RURAL HEALTH, Issue 4 2001Christian Alexander ABSTRACT: One way to impact positively on the shortage of health professionals in rural areas is to effectively promote health careers to rural high school students. Rural high school careers advisers play a pivotal role in this. In order to assess how rural health careers advisers working in the north-west of New South Wales currently promote health careers to their students, the New England Area Rural Training Unit carried out a survey of the area's high school careers advisers. Of the 47 high school careers advisers, 38 returned completed questionnaires, yielding a response rate of 81%. While only about one-third of careers advisers use visits by undergraduate students enrolled in tertiary health courses (42%), visits by locally practising health professionals (39%) and/or health careers site visits (27%), all careers advisers consider such promotional activities to be most effective. Improved exposure to such effective health career promotional activities for the area's high school, increasing collaboration between careers advisers and health professionals, as well as renewed efforts to identify and to foster interested students prior to Year 10, should lead to an increasing number of rural high school students enrolling in tertiary health courses. [source] Early Clinical Exposure to Geriatric Medicine in Second-Year Medical School Students,The McGill ExperienceJOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 4 2003Gustavo Duque MD This study examined the effect of a curriculum change on early clinical exposure to geriatrics for second-year medical students at McGill University and its effects on learning and students' appreciation of geriatrics as a subspecialty. Second-year medical students (N = 200) were exposed to a change in the curriculum involving the integration of 10 weekly sessions into one integrated week in geriatric medicine. Students participating in 10 weekly sessions were Group 1 and students participating in one integrated week were Group 2. Students rated their rotation using two different scales. The students completed 12-item questionnaires during their feedback sessions at the end of the 10-week session experience or the integrated week. The first six items assessed the students' appreciation of their improvement of knowledge in the subject of geriatrics and aging. The second and third part of the survey (questions 7 and 8) included the students' opinions about the quality of the instruction (teaching feedback) and evaluation. Students in Group 2 found their rotation more effective as a learning experience and expressed greater satisfaction with interaction with the tutors, community settings, and multidisciplinary team sessions. Grades obtained on final examinations showed a better and more-effective acquisition of knowledge by Group 2. The integrated week is a more-effective learning tool in the early clinical experience for medical students in geriatric medicine than 10 weekly sessions as the first introductory experience to the field of geriatric medicine. [source] Gender Differences in a Comparison of Two Tested Etiological Models of Cigarette Smoking Among Elementary School Students,JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 8 2007Randall C. Swaim The theory of reasoned action (TRA), theory of planned behavior (TPB), and a revised TPB were evaluated using manifest variable structural equation modeling among 4th - through 6th -grade students for effectiveness in predicting lifetime cigarette use. TRA was an adequate model for female students, but not male students. TPB resulted in improved model fit over TRA for both male and female students, and a revised TPB model improved fit marginally among female students. Tests for differences across gender indicated that the relationship between intention to use and lifetime cigarette use was stronger among female compared to male students. The results indicate that the TPB is an effective model for predicting lifetime cigarette use among late elementary-school-aged children. [source] Prevalence and Patterns of Alcohol Consumption and Health-Risk Behaviors Among High School Students in ThailandALCOHOLISM, Issue 12 2009Sawitri Assanangkornchai Background:, Underage drinking is a significant social and public health problem in Thailand. We report the prevalence and patterns of alcohol consumption and associated health-risk behaviors using data from a 2007,2008 national school survey. Method: A cross-sectional survey using a self-administered questionnaire was conducted among 50,033 high school and vocational college students from 201 schools in 40 provinces between December 2007 and February 2008. Results: The prevalence rates of past-year drinking, past-30-day binge drinking, and drinking until intoxication were 25.5, 9.5, and 17.3% in boys and 14.5, 3.7, and 7.2% in girls, respectively. Higher school levels, lower grades, living with someone other than their own parents, and having family members with substance or alcohol problems were significantly associated with all kinds of drinking. Binge drinkers were significantly more likely to have drinking consequences, e.g., driving after drinking, nausea and vomiting, and having a hangover than were nonbinge drinkers. The rates of other behavior and emotional problems were 2.5 to 6.7 times as likely in drinkers as nondrinkers, including smoking (35.1% vs. 4.9%), prescription drug misuse (17.7% vs. 6.7%), illicit substance use (17.8% vs. 2.4%), carrying a weapon (6.5% vs. 1.8%), feeling depressed (23.2% vs. 10.9%), suicidal attempt (10.5% vs. 3.8%), and sexual intercourse (30.5% vs. 5.7%). Conclusion: Alcohol consumption is a serious problem among adolescents in Thailand and is strongly associated with various health-risk behaviors. Effective age- and gender-specific interventions should be implemented to discourage underage drinking and associated adverse health and social consequences. [source] Ethnic Labels and Ethnic Identity as Predictors of Drug Use among Middle School Students in the SouthwestJOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, Issue 1 2001Flavio Francisco Marsiglia This article explores differences in the self-reported drug use and exposure to drugs of an ethnically diverse group of 408 seventh-grade students from a large city in the southwest. We contrast the explanatory power of ethnic labels (African American, non-Hispanic White, Mexican American, and mixed ethnicity) and two dimensions of ethnic identity in predicting drug use. One dimension focuses on perceived ethnically consistent behavior, speech, and looks, while the other gauges a sense of ethnic pride. Ethnic labels were found to be somewhat useful in identifying differences in drug use, but the two ethnic identity measures, by themselves, did not generally help to explain differences in drug use. In conjunction, however, ethnic labels and ethnic identity measures explained far more of the differences in drug use than either did alone. The findings indicate that the two dimensions of ethnic identity predict drug outcomes in opposite ways, and these relations are different for minority students and non-Hispanic White students. Generally, African American, Mexican American, and mixed-ethnicity students with a strong sense of ethnic pride reported less drug use and exposure, while ethnically proud White students reported more. Ethnic minority students who viewed their behavior, speech, and looks as consistent with their ethnic group reported more drug use and exposure, while their White counterparts reported less. These findings are discussed, and recommendations for future research are provided. [source] School Disrepair and Substance Use Among Regular and Alternative High School StudentsJOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 8 2010Rachel A. Grana MPH BACKGROUND: The physical environment influences adolescent health behavior and personal development. This article examines the relationship between level of school disrepair and substance use among students attending regular high school (RHS) and alternative high school (AHS). METHODS: Data were collected from students (N = 7058) participating in 2 randomized controlled trials of a school-based substance abuse prevention program implemented across the United States. Students provided substance use and demographic information on a self-reported survey. Data for the physical disrepair of schools were collected from individual rater observations of each school environment. We hypothesized that school disrepair would be positively associated with substance use controlling for individual characteristics and a socioeconomic status proxy. Multilevel mixed modeling was used to test the hypothesized association and accounted for students nested within schools. RESULTS: Findings indicated that students attending AHS with greater school disrepair were more likely to report the use of marijuana and other illicit drugs (ie, cocaine, heroin). Students attending RHS with greater school disrepair were less likely to report smoking cigarettes. CONCLUSIONS: Differences in findings between RHS and AHS students are discussed, and implications for substance use prevention programming are offered. Students attending AHS with greater school disrepair may require more substance abuse prevention programming, particularly to prevent illicit substance use. [source] Active Parent Consent for Health Surveys With Urban Middle School Students: Processes and Outcomes,JOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 2 2010Molly Secor-Turner PhD BACKGROUND: To achieve high participation rates and a representative sample, active parent consent procedures require a significant investment of study resources. The purpose of this article is to describe processes and outcomes of utilizing active parent consent procedures with sixth-grade students from urban, ethnically diverse, economically disadvantaged K-8 public schools involved in an evaluation of a middle school service-learning program. METHODS: As part of the evaluation of the Lead Peace-Plus service-learning program, active parent consent was obtained for participation in school-based health surveys conducted with sixth graders in 3 schools. To achieve acceptable rates of parent permission, we employed multiple procedures including regular communication with school staff, incentives for involved schools and teachers, a multipronged approach for reaching parents, and direct encouragement of students to return forms through repeated classroom visits, individual and classroom incentives. We used Fisher's exact tests to compare selected characteristics among students whose parents weren't reached, those whose parents refused, and those whose parents consented to survey participation. RESULTS: We achieved a parent response rate of 94.6% among sixth-grade students. No significant differences in student gender, race/ethnicity, school, or free/reduced lunch status were identified across parent consent status groups. Rates of absenteeism were significantly higher (p = .03) among students whose parents weren't reached compared to other groups. CONCLUSIONS: Employing a multifaceted active parent consent campaign can result in high rates of parental response with limited sampling bias among an urban, ethnically diverse and economically disadvantaged group of middle school students. [source] Beyond the "Model Minority" Stereotype: Trends in Health Risk Behaviors Among Asian/Pacific Islander High School StudentsJOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 8 2009Sung-Jae Lee PhD ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Asian/Pacific Islander (API) students have been stereotyped as the "model minority." The objective of this study was to examine the trends in health risk behaviors among API students who participated in the San Diego City Schools Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) between 1993 and 2005. METHODS: High school students from the San Diego City School District completed the self-administered YRBS between 1993 and 2005. Among sexually active students, logistic regression for survey data was used to examine trends in health risk behaviors. RESULTS: From 1993 to 2005, condom use at last sexual intercourse was consistently lower among API students than their cross-ethnic peers. We observed a significant increasing trend in lifetime smoking, drinking, and marijuana use. Parental communications regarding human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) were significantly less frequent and decreased over time. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings challenge the notion of API youth being the "model minority." API students face unique challenges, including barriers to good communication about sex and lower rates of condom use. School-based prevention programs are needed for API students, including a focus on HIV communication with parents. [source] Associations of Trying to Lose Weight, Weight Control Behaviors, and Current Cigarette Use Among US High School StudentsJOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 8 2009Jonetta L. Johnson MPH ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Approximately one-quarter of high school students currently use cigarettes. Previous research has suggested some youth use smoking as a method for losing weight. The purpose of this study was to describe the association of current cigarette use with specific healthy and unhealthy weight control practices among 9th,12th grade students in the United States. METHODS: Youth Risk Behavior Survey data (2005) were analyzed. Behaviors included current cigarette use, trying to lose weight, and current use of 2 healthy and 3 unhealthy behaviors to lose weight or to keep from gaining weight. Separate logistic regression models calculated adjusted odds ratios (AORs) for associations of current cigarette use with trying to lose weight (Model 1) and the 5 weight control behaviors, controlling for trying to lose weight (Model 2). RESULTS: In Model 1, compared with students who were not trying to lose weight, students who were trying to lose weight had higher odds of current cigarette use (AOR = 1.30, 95% CI: 1.15,1.49). In Model 2, the association of current cigarette use with the 2 healthy weight control behaviors was not statistically significant. Each of the 3 unhealthy weight control practices was significantly associated with current cigarette use, with AORs for each behavior approximately 2 times as high among those who engaged in the behavior, compared with those who did not. CONCLUSION: Some students may smoke cigarettes as a method of weight control. Inclusion of smoking prevention messages into existing weight management interventions may be beneficial. [source] Alcohol Use Among Rural Middle School Students: Adolescents, Parents, Teachers, and Community Leaders' Perceptions*JOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 2 2009Laura DeHaan PhD ABSTRACT BACKGROUND:, Although rural adolescents use of alcohol is at some of the highest rates nationally, rural adolescent alcohol use has not been studied extensively. This study examines how community attitudes and behaviors are related to adolescent drinking in rural environments. METHODS:, Data were gathered in 22 rural communities in the Upper Midwest (North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming). Surveys were collected from 1424 rural sixth- to eighth-grade adolescents and 790 adults, including parents, teachers, and community leaders. Census data were also collected. RESULTS:, Drinkers differed from nondrinkers by the following factors: higher perceptions of peer, parental, and overall community drinking, as well as lower levels of parental closeness and religiosity. Factors distinguishing binge and nonbinge drinkers were increased drinking to reduce stress, drinking to fit in, perceptions of peer drinking, and perceived lack of alternatives to drinking. Parents were significantly less likely to perceive adolescent alcohol use as a problem than other community adults; school officials were most likely to perceive it as a problem. Parental perceptions were also the least correlated to actual adolescent use, while adolescent perceptions were the most highly correlated. CONCLUSIONS:, Community fac tors such as overall prevalence of drinking, community support, and controls against drinking are important predictors of reported use in early adolescence. School officials were more likely to view adolescent alcohol use as a problem than were parents. School officials' perceptions of adolescent use were also more related to actual adolescent use than were parental perceptions of adolescent use. [source] Weight Management and Fruit and Vegetable Intake Among US High School Students*JOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 8 2008Richard Lowry MD ABSTRACT Background:, Consumption of fruits and vegetables is often recommended to promote healthy weight. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between fruit and vegetable intake and common weight management behaviors among US high school students who were trying to lose or stay the same weight. Methods:, Data from the 1999, 2001, and 2003 national high school Youth Risk Behavior Surveys were combined and the analyses stratified by gender (females, N = 16,709; males, N = 10,521). We considered 3 common weight management strategies,being physically active (ie, moderate activity for 30 minutes on 5 or more days per week or vigorous activity for 20 minutes on 3 or more days per week), eating a reduced calorie or fat diet, and limiting TV viewing. Sufficient fruit and vegetable intake was defined as eating 5 or more servings per day. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated using logistic regression. Results:, Only 21.3% of females and 24.7% of males ate sufficient fruits and vegetables. Being physically active was associated with sufficient fruit and vegetable intake. Eating a reduced calorie or fat diet and limiting TV viewing (among males) were associated with sufficient fruit and vegetable intake only among physically active students. The odds of sufficient fruit and vegetable intake were greatest among female (OR = 3.01) and male (OR = 2.91) students who combined all 3 strategies (31.5% of females, 21.6% of males). Conclusions:, Interventions that promote fruit and vegetable intake within the context of healthy weight management may be more effective if they combine nutrition and physical activity strategies. Further research is needed to test this approach. [source] Relationship Between Physical Disabilities of Long-Term Health Problems and Health Risk Behaviors or Conditions Among US High School StudentsJOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 5 2008May 2008 issue of Journal of School Health No abstract is available for this article. [source] Parents of Elementary School Students Weigh in on Height, Weight, and Body Mass Index Screening at SchoolJOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 10 2006Martha Y. Kubik However, there are little empirical data available to guide decision making about the acceptability and safety of programs. A pilot study was conducted using a quasiexperimental research design. In fall 2004, children in 4 suburban elementary schools (kindergarten to sixth grade) in the St Paul/Minneapolis, MN, metropolitan area completed height/weight screening. The following spring, parents in 2 schools received letters containing height/weight and BMI results. A self-administered post-only survey examined parents' opinions and beliefs regarding school-based BMI screening and parent notification programs (response rate: 790/1133 = 70%). The ,2 test of significance was used to examine differences in program support by treatment condition, child's weight status, and sociodemographic characteristics. Among all parents, 78% believed it was important for schools to assess student's height/weight annually and wanted to receive height, weight, and BMI information yearly. Among parents receiving the letter, 95% read most/all of the letter. Most parents (80%) and children (83%) reported comfort with the information in the letter. Parents of overweight children were more likely to report parental discomfort as well as child discomfort with letter content. There was considerable parental support for school-based BMI screening and parent notification programs. Programs may be a useful overweight prevention tool for children. However, continued attention to how best to support parents and children affected by overweight is required. (J Sch Health. 2006;76(10):496-501) [source] The Joint Influence of Parental Modeling and Positive Parental Concern on Cigarette Smoking in Middle and High School StudentsJOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 8 2006Bindu Kalesan Parental smoking and parental concern about smoking were measured in a cross-sectional study of 37,244 students, a random sample of Maryland middle and high school students, who were current or never smokers. Parental concern was classified into 3 levels: strict, moderate, and minimal. The likelihood of youths being current smokers was positively associated with both parental smoking (both versus neither parent smokes: odds ratio [OR] 3.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.1-3.7) and parental concern about smoking (minimal versus strict concern: OR 2.3, 95% CI 2.1-2.4). Youths with parents who did not smoke and with strict concern had the lowest likelihood of smoking. In comparison to this group, after adjustment for other social influences the likelihood of being a current smoker was more than 5 times greater among boys (OR 5.8, 95% CI 4.5-7.4) and girls (OR 5.2, 95% CI 4.1-6.5) whose parents both smoked and were minimally concerned about smoking. Current smoking in youths was independently associated with both parental smoking and less parental concern. When these 2 factors were jointly considered, the prevalence of current smoking in youths increased both with exposure to parental modeling and reduced parental concern about smoking. The results indicate that minimal parental concern about smoking worsens the risk due to parental modeling. Parental modeling and parental attitudes act synergistically to exacerbate the likelihood of smoking. (J Sch Health. 2006;76(8):402-407) [source] Cigarette Use Among High School Students , United States, 1991 , 2003JOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 1 2005Centers for Disease Control, Division of Adolescent, Health, Health Promotion, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention, Office on Smoking, Prevention, School Health No abstract is available for this article. [source] The Efficacy of Repeated Reading and Wide Reading Practice for High School Students with Severe Reading DisabilitiesLEARNING DISABILITIES RESEARCH & PRACTICE, Issue 1 2010Jade Wexler This experimental study was conducted to examine the efficacy of repeated reading and wide reading practice interventions for high school students with severe reading disabilities. Effects on comprehension, fluency, and word reading were evaluated. Participants were 96 students with reading disabilities in grades 9,12. Students were paired within classes and pairs were randomly assigned to one of three groups: repeated reading (N,= 33), wide reading (N,= 34), or typical instruction (N,= 29). Intervention was provided daily for approximately 15,20 minutes for 10 weeks. Results indicated no overall statistically significant differences for any condition, with effect sizes ranging from ,.31 to .27. Findings do not support either approach for severely impaired readers at the high school level. We hypothesize that these students require more intensive interventions that include direct and explicit instruction in word- and text-level skills as well as engaged reading practice with effective feedback. [source] Civic Knowledge of High School Students in Israel: Personal and Contextual DeterminantsPOLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 4 2007Professor Orit Ichilov Past research on civic education suggests that students' performance is largely influenced by individual socioeconomic background and motivational factors. There has been little attention to the effects of school and classroom ideological and social attributes, such as the socioeconomic make-up of the school or classroom, or how interested in politics are a student's classmates. The results of the present study support the contention that contextual effects play a vital role in determining students' civic knowledge scores. Analysis of Israeli 11th graders' performance on the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) civic knowledge test shows that while individual backgrounds and motivations play a significant role, school and classroom contexts greatly contribute to civic knowledge acquisition. [source] Cyber Bullying Behaviors Among Middle and High School StudentsAMERICAN JOURNAL OF ORTHOPSYCHIATRY, Issue 3 2010Faye Mishna Little research has been conducted that comprehensively examines cyber bullying with a large and diverse sample. The present study examines the prevalence, impact, and differential experience of cyber bullying among a large and diverse sample of middle and high school students (N = 2,186) from a large urban center. The survey examined technology use, cyber bullying behaviors, and the psychosocial impact of bullying and being bullied. About half (49.5%) of students indicated they had been bullied online and 33.7% indicated they had bullied others online. Most bullying was perpetrated by and to friends and participants generally did not tell anyone about the bullying. Participants reported feeling angry, sad, and depressed after being bullied online. Participants bullied others online because it made them feel as though they were funny, popular, and powerful, although many indicated feeling guilty afterward. Greater attention is required to understand and reduce cyber bullying within children's social worlds and with the support of educators and parents. [source] Non-Suicidal Self-Injury and Eating Pathology in High School StudentsAMERICAN JOURNAL OF ORTHOPSYCHIATRY, Issue 1 2009Shana Ross PhD Although past research has explored self-injurious behaviors and disordered eating among adults in clinical settings, little research has been conducted examining nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and eating pathology in community samples of adolescents. Four hundred and 40 students were screened for the presence of NSSI; a prevalence rate of 13.9% was found. Those who indicated that they engaged in NSSI (n = 59) and a comparison group of non-self-injurers (n = 57) completed the Eating Disorders Inventory. Results indicate that students who engage in NSSI display significantly more eating pathology than their non-NSSI peers, including poor interoceptive awareness; difficulties with impulse regulation; an increased sense of ineffectiveness, distrust, and social insecurity; and increased bulimic tendencies and body dissatisfaction. Relationships were found between increased lifetime frequency of NSSI behaviors and poor impulse control and deficits in affective regulation. In addition, adolescents who had stopped self-injuring reported comparable rates of eating pathology as did adolescents who continued to self-injure. The theoretical connection between NSSI and eating pathology are discussed with reference to enhancing knowledge regarding the characteristics of NSSI. [source] Prevention of Smoking Behaviors in Middle School Students: Student Nurse InterventionsPUBLIC HEALTH NURSING, Issue 2 2001Marilyn P. Miller Ph.D. This article examines the use of the Tar Wars curriculum with the public health problem of preteen smoking and outlines interventions with a middle school population by community health student nurses from a state university. Smoking is the single most preventable cause of death and disability. Three million people die worldwide each year as a result of smoking. Cigarette smoking has now been labeled a pediatric disease. Estimates are that 3,000 children will begin a lifelong addiction to cigarettes every day. They will face a life of poor quality based on the medical consequences of smoking cigarettes. Mortality from tobacco use is annually greater than that from drug abuse, AIDS, suicide, homicide, and motor vehicle accidents combined. Preteen and teenage smoking is now a public health problem, therefore implications for service learning, nursing advocacy, and interventions with this health problem are discussed. [source] A Tobit Regression Analysis of the Covariation Between Middle School Students' Perceived School Climate and Behavioral ProblemsJOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, Issue 2 2010Ming-Te Wang This study uses an ecological framework to examine how adolescents' perceptions of school climate in 6th grade covary with the probability and frequency of their engagement in problem behaviors in 7th and 8th grades. Tobit analysis was used to address the issue of having a highly skewed outcome variable with many zeros and yet account for censoring. The 677 participating students from 8 schools were followed from 6th through 8th grade. The proportions of students reporting a positive school climate perception decreased over the middle school years for both genders, while the level of problem behavior engagement increased. The findings suggested that students who perceived higher levels of school discipline and order or more positive student,teacher relationships were associated with lower probability and frequency of subsequent behavioral problems. [source] The relationship between acculturation strategies, relative fit and intergroup relations: immigrant-majority relations in GermanyEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2002Hanna Zagefka This study examined the impact of the acculturation strategy preferences of both immigrants and host society on intergroup relations. It was expected that integration would lead to the best outcome for both groups. Moreover, it was tested whether the relative ,fit' between host society and immigrant strategy preference would predict intergroup relations. The predictive power of two different operationalisations of fit was compared. School students (193 German host society members and 128 immigrants to Germany) participated in a questionnaire study. Findings revealed that both acculturation strategies of one group and relative ,fit' between immigrant and host society strategy preference were predictive of intergroup relations. In general, a strategy of integration was associated with more favourable intergroup relations in both groups, and a mismatch between host and immigrant preferred strategies yielded the most negative outcomes. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] "Chips with Everything": A Laboratory Exercise for Comparing Subjective and Objective Measurements of Potato ChipsJOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE EDUCATION, Issue 3 2005Cathy Davies ABSTRACT: The following laboratory exercise was designed to aid student understanding of the differences between subjective and objective measurements. Students assess the color and texture of different varieties of potato chip (crisps) by means of an intensity rating scale and a rank test and objectively with a colorimeter and texture analyzer. For data analysis, student are instructed to critically determine, using basic statistics, any differences between the subjective and objective measurement techniques. This laboratory exercise is very versatile, and although it is designed as a hands-on exercise in an undergraduate Food Analysis course, it has also been a demonstration for High School students. [source] An interstitial deletion of the long arm of chromosome 21 in a case of a first episode of psychosisACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 1 2002J. Takhar Objective:,Case of an interstitial deletion of the long arm of chromosome 21 presenting with first episode of psychosis. Method:,A case report. Results:,A 16-year-high school student of Somalian origin presented with a first episode of psychosis, mild mental retardation and dysmorphic features. Chromosome analysis revealed an interstitial deletion in the long arm of chromosome 21, described as 46, XX del (21) (q21q22.1). Conclusion:,First episode of psychosis occurred in combination with neurobiological vulnerability and a complex genetic inheritance. The occurrence of psychosis in our case may be attributable to genes located within the region 21q21q22.1. The possibility that other loci exist on chromosome 21, which predispose to schizophrenia has to be considered. Identification of susceptibility genes will greatly facilitate investigation of factors that contribute to the disease process and may lead to early intervention and prevention. [source] Alignment and Interaction in a Sociocognitive Approach to Second Language AcquisitionMODERN LANGUAGE JOURNAL, Issue 2 2007DWIGHT ATKINSON This article argues for the crucial role of alignment in second language acquisition, as conceptualized from a broadly sociocognitive perspective. By alignment, we mean the complex processes through which human beings effect coordinated interaction, both with other human beings and (usually human-engineered) environments, situations, tools, and affordances. The article begins by summarizing what we mean by a sociocognitive approach to second language acquisition. We then develop the notion of alignment, first in terms of general learning/activity and next in relation to second language (L2) learning. Following that, we provide an extended example of alignment-in-action, focusing on the coordinated activities of a Japanese junior high school student and her tutor as they study English in their sociocognitively constructed world. Next, we speculate on possible uses of the alignment concept in L2 research and teaching, and finally we conclude by restating our claim,that alignment is a necessary and crucial requirement for L2 development. [source] The long-term sustainability of after-school programs: The After-School Corporation's strategyNEW DIRECTIONS FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT, Issue 94 2002Lucy N. Friedman The challenges that The After-School Corporation has faced in building and sustaining quality after-school programs that are accessible to every public school student in New York are discussed. [source] Clinical Reasoned Judgment and the Nursing ProcessNURSING FORUM, Issue 2 2009Loucine M. Huckabay RN Every nursing school student is taught the nursing process as a systematic framework for processing patient information to make clinical decisions. This article provides a model for integrating a conceptual model of critical thinking into the nursing process, with the goal of enabling nurses to think critically, reason accurately, and make appropriate clinical decisions about their patients. Eight elements of critical thinking provide the universal structure of thought processes: clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, and logic. The model provides nurses with a practical approach for making effective clinical decisions. [source] Proceedings of the 20th Annual Conference of the Japanese Association for Adolescent Psychotherapy, 16 November 2002, Tokyo, JapanPSYCHIATRY AND CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES, Issue 5 2003Article first published online: 28 AUG 200 Inpatient treatment of obsessive,compulsive disorder in a child and adolescent psychiatry ward M. USAMI National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kohnodai Hospital, Chiba, Japan This is a case report of a 13-year-old-boy (2nd grade in junior high school). His father had poor communication; his mother was a very fragile woman. The boy had been overprotected by his parents, as long as he responded to their expectations. He did not have any other siblings. He played well with his friends since he was young, and did not have problems until the 1st term (from April to July) of 1st grade in junior high school. However, in September he started to have difficulties going well with his friends, and going to school. He spent most of his time in his room, and began to repeat checking and hand-washing frequently. Even at midnight, he forced his mother to touch the shutter from outside of the house for many times. He also ritually repeated to touch his mother's body, after he licked his hands, for over an hour. He became violent, when his parents tried to stop him. In April, year X, his parents visited our hospital for the first time. From then, his mother could not tolerate her son's coerciveness any longer. His father explained to the boy that ,your mother has been hospitalized', and she started to live in the next room to the boy's without making any noise. After 3 months he noticed that his mother was not hospitalized, and he got very excited. He was admitted to our hospital with his family and relatives, in October, year X. At the initial stage of hospitalization he showed distrust and doubt towards the therapist and hospital. He had little communication with other boys and did not express his feelings. Therefore, there was a period of time where he seemed to wonder whether he could trust the treatment staff or not. During his interviews with his therapist he repeated only ,I'm okay' and did not show much emotional communication. For the boy, exposing himself was equivalent to showing his vulnerability and incompleteness. Therefore, the therapist considered that he was trying to denying his feelings to avoid this. The therapist set goals for considering his own feelings positively and expressing them appropriately. Also, the therapist carried out behavioral restrictions towards him. He hardly had any emotional communication with the staff, and his peer relationship in the ward was superficial. Therefore, he gradually had difficulty spending his time at the end of December On the following day in which he and the therapist decided to return to his house for the first time, he went out of the ward a few days before without permission. From thereon it was possible for him to share feelings such as hostility and aggression, dependence and kindness with the therapist. The therapist changed his role from an invasive one to a more protective one. Then, his unsociability gradually faded. He also developed good peer relationships with other boys in the ward and began to express himself feeling appropriately. He was also able to establish appropriate relations with his parents at home, and friends of his neighborhood began to have normal peer relationships again. During childhood and adolescence, boys with obsessive,compulsive disorder are known to have features such as poor insight and often involving their mothers. We would like to present this case, through our understanding of dynamic psychiatry throughout his hospitalization, and also on the other therapies that were performed. Psychotherapy with a graduate student that discontinued after only three sessions: Was it enough for this client? N. KATSUKI Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan Introduction: Before and after the psychotherapy, SWT was administrated in this case. Comparing these two drawings, the therapist was provided with some ideas of what kind of internal change had taken place inside this client. Referring to the changes observed, we would like to review the purposes and the ways of the psychotherapy, as well as the adequacy of the limited number of the sessions (vis-a-vis result attained.) Also we will discuss later if any other effective ways could be available within the capacities of the consulting system/the clinic in the university. Case: Ms. S Age 24 years. Problems/appeal: (i) awkwardness in the relationship with the laboratory colleagues; (ii) symptoms of sweating, vomiting and quivering; and (iii) anxiety regarding continuing study and job hunting. Diagnosis: > c/o PTSD. Psychotherapeutic setting: At the therapy room in the clinic, placed at the university, 50 min-session; once a week; paralleled with the medical treatment. Process: (1) Since she was expelled from the study team in the previous year, it has become extremely difficult for her to attend the laboratory (lab) due to the aforementioned symptoms. She had a feeling of being neglected by the others. When the therapist suggested that she compose her mental confusions in the past by attending the therapy room, she seemed to be looking forward to it, although she said that she could remember only a few. (2) She reported that she overdosed on sedatives, as she could not stop irritating. She was getting tough with her family, also she slashed the mattress of her bed with a knife for many times. She complained that people neither understood nor appreciated her properly. and she said that she wanted revenge on the leader of the lab by punishing him one way or other. (3) Looking back the previous session, she said ,I had been mentally mixed up at that time, but I feel that now I can handle myself, as I stopped the medication after consulting the psychiatrist. According to what she said, when she disclosed the occurrences in the lab to her mother, she felt to be understood properly by her mother and felt so relieved. and she also reported that she had been sewing up the mattress which she slashed before, without any reason. She added, " although I don't even know what it means, I feel that this work is so meaningful to me, somehow". Finally, she told that she had already made her mind to cope with the situation by herself from now on, although it might result in a flinch from the real solution. Situations being the above, the session was closed. Swt: By the remarkable changes observed between the two drawings, the meanings of this psychotherapy and its closure to the client would be contemplated. Question of how school counselors should deal with separation attendant on students' graduation: On a case in which the separation was not worked through C. ASAHARA Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan Although time limited relationship is one of the important characteristics in school counseling, the question of separation attendant on it has not been much discussed based on specific cases. This study focuses on the question of separation through looking at a particular case, in which the separation was not worked through, and halfway relationship continued even after the student's graduation and the counselor's resignation. I was a part time school counselor at a junior high school in Tokyo. The client was a 14-year-old female student, who could not go to her classroom, and spent a few hours in a sick bay when she came to school. She was in the final grade and there was only half a year left before graduation when we first met, and we started to see each other within a very loose structure. As her personality was hyper-vigilant and defensive, it took almost 2 months before I could feel that she was nearer. Her graduation was the first occasion of separation. On that occasion, I found that there had been a discrepancy between our expectations; while I took it for granted that our relationship would end with the graduation, she expected to see me even after she graduated, and she actually came up to see me once in a while during the next year. A year later, we faced another occasion of separation, that was my resignation. Although I worried about her, all I have done for her was to hand a leaflet of a counseling office, where I work as a part time counselor. Again I could not refer to her feelings or show any concrete directions such as making a fixed arrangement. After an occasional correspondence for the next 10 months (about 2 years after her graduation), she contacted me at the counseling office asking for a constant counseling. Why could I not deal with both occasions? and how did that affect the client thereafter? There were two occasions of separation. At the time of the client's graduation, I seemed to be enmeshed in the way of separation that is peculiar to the school setting. In general in therapeutic relationship, mourning work between counselor and client is regarded as being quite important. At school, however, separation attendant on graduation is usually taken for granted and mourning work for any personal relationship tends to be neglected. Graduation ceremony is a big event but it is not about mourning over one's personal relationships but separation from school. That may be why I did not appreciate how the client counted on our relationship. At the time of my resignation I was too worried about working through a change from very loose structure which is peculiar to the school setting to a usual therapeutic structure (fees are charged, and time, place are fixed). That is why I did nothing but give her a leaflet. In this way, we never talked about her complex feelings such as sadness or loneliness, which she was supposed to experience on separation. Looking at the aforementioned process from the client's viewpoint, it can be easily imagined that she could not accept the fact of separation just because she graduated. and later, she was forced to be in double-bind situation, in which she was accepted superficially (handed a leaflet), while no concrete possibility was proposed concerning our relationship (she could never see me unless she tries to contact me.) As a result, she was left alone and at a loss whether she could count on me or not. The halfway situation or her suspense was reflected in her letter, in which she appeared to be just chatting at first sight, but between the lines there was something more implying her sufferings. Above discussion suggests that in some case, we should not neglect the mourning work even in a school setting. To whom or how it is done is the next theme we should explore and discuss in the future. For now, we should at least be conscious about the question of separation in school setting. Study of the process of psychotherapy with intervals for months M. TERASHIMA Bunkyo Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan This is a report on the process of psychotherapy of an adolescent girl who showed manic and depressive state. At the time of a depressed state, she could not go to a college and withdrew into home, and the severe regressive situation was shown. Her therapy began at the age of 20 and she wanted to know what her problem was. The process of treatment went on for 4 years but she stopped coming to sessions for several months because of failure of the therapist. She repeated the same thing twice. After going through these intervals the client began to remember and started to talk about her childhood , suffering abusive force from her father, with vivid impressions. They once were hard for her to accept, but she began to establish the consistent figure of herself from past to present. In this case, it could be thought that the intervals of the sessions had a certain role, with which the client controlled the structure of treatment, instead of an attack against the therapist. Her object relation, which is going to control an object offensively, was reflected in these phenomena. That is, it can be said that the ambivalence about dependency , difficult to depend but desirous of the object , was expressed. Discontinuation of the sessions was the product of the compromise formation brought about the ambivalence of the client, and while continuing to receive this ambivalence in the treatment, the client started to realize discontinuance of her memories and then advanced integration of her self-image. For the young client with conflict to dependence such as her, an interval does not destroy the process of treatment but in some cases it could be considered as a therapeutic element. In the intervals the client could assimilate the matter by herself, that acquired by the sessions. Psychotherapy for a schizoid woman who presented eccentric speech and behaviour M. OGASAWARA Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan Case presentation: A case of a 27-year-old woman at the beginning of therapy. Life history: She had been having a wish for death since she was in kindergarten and she had been feeling strong resistance to do the same as others after school attendance. She had a history of ablutomania from the age of 10,15, but the symptom disappeared naturally. and she said that she had been eliminated from groups that she tried to enter. After graduating a junior college, she changed jobs several times without getting a full-time position. Present history: Scolded by her boy friend for her coming home too late one day, she showed confusion such as excitement, self-injury or terror. She consulted a psychiatrist in a certain general hospital, but she presented there eccentric behaviours such as tense facial expression, stiffness of her whole body, or involuntary movement of limbs. and because she felt on bad terms with the psychiatrist and she had come to cause convulsion attacks in the examination room, she was introduced to our hospital. Every session of this psychotherapy was held once a week and for approximately 60 min at a time. Treatment process: She sometimes presented various eccentric attitudes, for example overturning to the floor with screaming (1), going down on her knees when entrance at the door (5), entering with a knife in her mouth and hitting the wall suddenly (7), stiffening herself just outside the door without entering the examination room (9), taking out a knife abruptly and putting it on her neck (40), exclaiming with convulsion responding to every talk from the therapist (41), or stiffening her face and biting herself in the right forearm suddenly (52). She also repeated self-injuries or convulsion attacks outside of the examination room in the early period of the therapy. Throughout the therapy she showed hypersensitivity for interpersonal relations, anxiety about dependence, terror for self-assertion, and avoidance for confrontation to her emotional problems. Two years and 6 months have passed since the beginning of this therapy. She ceased self-injury approximately 1 year and 6 months before and her sense of obscure terror has been gradually reduced to some extent. Discussion: Her non-verbal wariness and aggression to the therapist made the sessions full of tension and the therapist felt a sense of heaviness every time. In contrast, she could not express aggression verbally to the therapist, and when the therapist tried to identify her aggression she denied it. Her anxiety, that she will be thoroughly counterattacked to self-disintegration if she shows aggression to other persons, seems to be so immeasurably strong that she is compelled to deny her own aggression. Interpretations and confrontations by the therapist make her protective, and occasionally she shows stronger resistance in the shape of denial of her problems or conversion symptoms (astasia, aphonia, or involuntary movements) but she never expresses verbal aggression to the therapist. and the therapist feels much difficulty to share sympathy with her, and she expresses distrust against sympathetic approach of the therapist. However, her obvious disturbance that she expresses when she feels the therapist is not sympathetic shows her desire for sympathy. Thus, because she has both strong distrust and desire for sympathy, she is in a porcupine dilemma, which is characteristic of schizoid patients as to whether to lengthen or to shorten the distance between herself and the therapist. This attitude seems to have been derived from experience she might have had during her babyhood and childhood that she felt terror to be counterattacked and deserted when she showed irritation to her mother. In fact, existence of severe problems of the relationship between herself and her mother in her babyhood and childhood can be guessed from her statement. Although she has been repeating experiences to be excluded from other people, she shows no attitude to construct interpersonal relationship actively. On the contrary, by regarding herself to be a victim or devaluating other persons she externalizes responsibility that she herself should assume essentially. The reason must be that her disintegration anxiety is evoked if she recognizes that she herself has problems; that is, that negative things exist inside of her. Therefore, she seems to be inhibited to get depressive position and obliged to remain mainly in a paranoid,schizoid position. As for the pathological level, she seems to have borderline personality organization because of frequent use of mechanisms to externalize fantastically her inner responsibility. For her high ability to avoid confronting her emotional problems making the most of her verbal ability, every intervention of the therapist is invalidated. So, it seems very difficult for her to recognize her own problems through verbal interpretations or confrontation by the therapist, for the present. In general, it is impossible to confront self problems without containing negative emotions inside of the self, but her ability seemed to be insufficient. So, to point out her problems is considered to be very likely to result in her confusion caused by persecution anxiety. Although the therapy may attain the stage on which verbal interpretation and confrontation work better some day, the therapist is compelled to aim at promoting her ability to hold negative emotion inside of herself for the time being. For the purpose, the therapist is required to endure the situation in which she brings emotion that makes the therapist feel negative counter-transference and her process to experience that the therapeutic relation itself would not collapse by holding negative emotion. On supportive psychotherapy with a male adolescent Y. TERASHIMA Kitasato University Health Care Center, Kanagawa, Japan Adolescent cases sometimes show dramatic improvements as a consequence of psychotherapy. The author describes how psychotherapy can support an adolescent and how theraputic achievements can be made. Two and a half years of treatment sessions with a male adolescent patient are presented. The patient was a 19-year-old man, living with his family. He had 5 years of experience living abroad with his family and he was a preparatory school student when he came to a mental clinic for help. He was suffering from not being able to sleep well, from difficulties concerning keeping his attention on one thing, and from fear of going to distant places. He could barely leave his room, and imagined the consequence of overdosing or jumping out of a window. He claimed that his life was doomed because his family moved from a town that was familiar to him. At the first phase of psychotherapy that lasted for approximately 1 year, the patient seldom responded to the therapist. The patient was basically silent. He told the therapist that the town he lives in now feels cold or that he wants to become a writer. However, these comments were made without any kind of explanation and the therapist felt it very difficult to understand what the patient was trying to say. The sessions continued on a regular basis. However, the therapist felt very useless and fatigued. Problems with the patient and his family were also present at this phase of psychotherapy. He felt unpleasant at home and felt it was useless to expect anything from his parents. These feelings were naturally transferred to the therapist and were interpreted. However, interpretation seemed to make no changes in the forms of the patient's transference. The second phase of psychotherapy began suddenly. The patient kept saying that he did not know what to talk about. However, after a brief comment made by the therapist on the author of the book he was reading, the patient told the therapist that it was unexpected that the therapist knew anything of his favorite writer. After this almost first interaction between the patient and the therapist, the patient started to show dramatic changes. The patient started to bring his favorite rock CDs to sessions where they were played and the patient and the therapist both made comments on how they felt about the music. He also started asking questions concerning the therapist. It seemed that the patient finally started to want to know the therapist. He started communicating. The patient was sometimes silent but that did not last long. The therapist no longer felt so useless and emotional interaction, which never took place in the first phase, now became dominant. The third phase happened rapidly and lasted for approximately 10 months. Conversations on music, art, literature and movies were made possible and the therapist seldom felt difficulties on following the patient's line of thought. He started to go to schools and it was difficult at first but he started adjusting to the environment of his new part-time jobs. By the end of the school year, he was qualified for the entrance to a prestigious university. The patient's problems had vanished except for some sleeping difficulties, and he did not wish to continue the psychotherapy sessions. The therapist's departure from the clinic added to this and the therapy was terminated. The patient at first reminded the therapist of severe psychological disturbances but the patient showed remarkable progress. Three points can be considered to have played important roles in the therapy presented. The first and the most important is the interpretation by behavior. The patient showed strong parental transference to the therapist and this led the therapist to feel useless and to feel fatigue. Content analysis and here-and-now analysis seemed to have played only a small part in the therapy. However, the therapist tried to keep in contact with the patient, although not so elegant, but tried to show that the therapist may not be useless. This was done by maintaining the framework of the therapy and by consulting the parents when it was considered necessary. Second point is the role that the therapist intentionally took as a model or target of introjection. With the help of behavioral interpretation that showed the therapist and others that it may not be useless, the patient started to introject what seemed to be useful to his well being. It can be considered that this role took some part in the patient going out and to adjust to the new environment. Last, fortune of mach must be considered. The patient and the therapist had much in common. It was very fortunate that the therapist knew anything about the patient's favorite writer. The therapist had some experience abroad when he was young. Although it is a matter of luck that the two had things in common, it can be said that the congeniality between the patient and the therapist played an important role in the successful termination of the therapy. From the physical complaint to the verbal appeal of A's recovery process to regain her self-confidence C. ITOKAWA and S. KAZUKAWA Toyama Mental Health Center, Toyama, Japan This is one of the cases at Toyama Mental Health Center about a client here, we will henceforth refer to her simply as ,A'. A was a second grade high school student. We worked with her until her high school graduation using our center's full functions; counseling, medical examination and the course for autogenic training (AT). She started her counseling by telling us that the reason for her frequent absences from school began because of stomach pains when she was under a lot of stress for 2 years of junior high school, from 2nd grade to 3rd grade. Due to a lack of self confidence and a constant fear of the people around her, she was unable to use the transportation. She would spend a large amount of time at the school infirmary because she suffered from self-diagnosed hypochondriac symptoms such as nausea, diarrhea and a palpitation. She continued that she might not be able to have the self-confidence to sit still to consult me on her feelings in one of our sessions. A therapist advised her to take the psychiatric examination and the use of AT and she actually saw the medical doctor. In counseling (sessions), she eventually started to talk about the abuse that started just after her entering of junior high school; she approached the school nurse but was unable to tell her own parents because she did not trust them. In doing so, she lost the rest of her confidence, affecting the way she looked at herself and thought of how others did. At school she behaved cheerfully and teachers often accused her of idleness as they regarded this girl's absences along with her brightly dyed hair and heavy make-up as her negligent laziness. I, as her therapist, contacted some of the school's staff and let them know of her situation in detail. As the scolding from the teachers decreased, we recognized the improvement of her situation. In order to recover from the missed academic exposure due to her long absence, she started to study by herself. In a couple of months her physical condition improved gradually, saying ,These days I have been doing well by myself, haven't I?' and one year later, her improved mental condition enabled her to go up to Tokyo for a concert and furthermore even to enjoy a short part-time job. She continued the session and the medical examination dually (in tangent) including the consultation about disbelief to the teachers, grade promotion, relationships between friends and physical conditions. Her story concentrated on the fact that she had not grown up with sufficiently warm and compassionate treatment and she could not gain any mental refuge in neither her family nor her school, or even her friends. Her prospects for the future had changed from the short-ranged one with no difficulty to the ambitious challenge: she aimed to try for her favorite major and hoped to go out of her prefecture. But she almost had to give up her own plan because the school forced her to change her course as they recommended. (because of the school's opposition with her own choice). So without the trust of the teachers combined with her low self-esteem she almost gave up her hopes and with them her forward momentum. In this situation as the therapist, I showed her great compassion and discussed the anger towards the school authorities, while encouraging this girl by persuading her that she should have enough self-confidence by herself. Through such sessions, she was sure that if she continued studying to improve her own academic ability by herself she could recognize the true meaning of striving forward. and eventually, she received her parents' support who had seemed to be indifferent to her. At last she could pass the university's entrance exams for the school that she had yearned to attend. That girl ,A' visited our center 1 month later to show us her vivid face. I saw a bright smile on her face. It was shining so brightly. [source] Virtual reality simulations in Web-based science educationCOMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION, Issue 1 2002Young-Suk Shin Abstract This article presents the educational possibilities of Web-based science education using a desktop virtual reality (VR) system. A Web site devoted to science education for middle school students has been designed and developed in the areas of earth sciences: meteorology, geophysics, geology, oceanography, and astronomy. Learners can establish by themselves the pace of their lessons using learning contents considered learner level and they can experiment in real time with the concepts they have learned, interacting with VR environments that we provide. A VR simulation program developed has been evaluated with a questionnaire from learners after learning freely on the Web. This study shows that Web-based science education using VR can be effectively used as a virtual class. When we consider the rapid development of VR technology and lowering of cost, the study can construct more immersive environments for the education in the near future. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 10: 18,25, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com.); DOI 10.1002/cae.10014 [source] Conflict within the structure of peer mediation: An examination of controlled confrontations in an at-risk schoolCONFLICT RESOLUTION QUARTERLY, Issue 3 2007Chris L. Nix The purpose of the research reported in this article was to examine the conflict mediation process among middle school students through critical observations and by addressing the disputants' perceptions of their experiences. The interactions and mediations that were observed are examined by the ways in which mediators' adherence to, and deviation from, the mediation script influenced the mediation and the disputants' perceptions of their mediation experience. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||