An online peer support program to improve mental health among university students: A randomized controlled trial.

Despite recent calls for more peer support initiatives aimed at promoting mental health in postsecondary institutions, those initiatives remain scarce. In this study, a multisite randomized controlled trial was designed to assess the effect of an online peer support intervention based on acceptance and commitment therapy using mental health and school indicators. Undergraduate students were recruited in three Canadian universities and randomly assigned to an intervention (n = 54) or a wait-list control group (n = 53). Compared to control participants, those who took part in the program self-reported reduced psychological inflexibility, stress, anxiety and depression, and increased psychological flexibility and well-being. The intervention had no effect on academic satisfaction and engagement. These results were found both in completer and intent-to-treat samples. The findings provide evidence that peer support may be a beneficial adjunct to mental health interventions offered to college and university students.

Gender Differences in Self-efficacy for Programming Narrowed After a 2-h Science Museum Workshop.

Many girls believe they have little natural ability in computer science and girls' perception of self-efficacy beliefs for programming is generally low. Offering engaging hands-on programming activities could be a beneficial strategy to increase girls' self-efficacy beliefs for programming since it has the potential to offer them exposure to mastery experiences. However, a programming workshop in a museum might not offer ideal settings to promote girls' mastery experiences in programming because of its short duration and how gender stereotypes may impact the participation in hands-on activities. In the research presented here, we explore how a science museum's introductory programming workshop focused on robotics can impact pupils' self-efficacy beliefs for programming related to mastery experiences, with a specific focus on girls. H1-Prior to the programming workshop, it is expected that girls' self-efficacy beliefs will be lower than boys'. H2-Boys generally have more positive experiences with STEM activities than girls, irrespective of experimental condition. Thus, following the workshop, we predict that girls' and boys' self-efficacy for programming will have increased, but that boy's self-efficacy beliefs will remain higher than girls'. In total, 172 pupils (94 girls) aged 10-14 years completed a Mastery Experiences in Programming questionnaire before and after taking part in a programming workshop. Our results show that after a 2-h programming workshop in a science museum, gender differences in self-efficacy for programming initially observed narrowed and even disappeared.

De nombreuses filles estiment posséder peu d'aptitudes naturelles en informatique et leur sentiment d'efficacité personnelle en ce qui a trait à la programmation demeure généralement faible. Le fait de proposer des activités de programmation captivantes et pratiques peut s'avérer une stratégie efficace pour augmenter le sentiment d'efficacité personnelle des filles quant à la programmation parce que ces activités possèdent le potentiel de leur procurer de précieuses expériences de réussite. Cependant, les ateliers de programmation organisés dans les musées n'offrent pas nécessairement les meilleures conditions pour favoriser les expériences de réussite en programmation pour les filles, en raison de leur courte durée et parce que les stéréotypes liés au genre peuvent avoir des effets sur la participation aux activités pratiques. Dans cette étude, nous explorons comment un atelier d'initiation à la programmation axée sur la robotique, offert dans un musée de sciences, peut modifier le sentiment d'efficacité personnelle des élèves à l'égard de la programmation en ce qui a trait aux expériences de réussite, et ce particulièrement chez les filles. H1­ Avant la tenue de l'atelier de programmation, il est attendu que le sentiment d'efficacité personnelle des filles sera plus faible que celui des garçons. H2­Ces derniers vivent généralement plus d'expériences positives dans les STIM que les filles, peu importe la condition expérimentale en cause. Ainsi, nous prédisons qu'après la tenue de l'atelier, le niveau d'efficacité personnelle à l'égard de la programmation des filles et des garçons aura augmenté, mais que celui des garçons demeurera plus élevé que celui des filles. Le nombre d'élèves âgés de 10 à 14 ans qui ont rempli un questionnaire portant sur les expériences de réussite en programmation avant et après la tenue de l'atelier est de 172, dont 94 sont des filles. Les résultats indiquent qu'après un atelier de programmation d'une durée de deux heures, tenu dans un musée de sciences, les différences entre les genres initialement observées quant à l'efficacité personnelle à l'égard de la programmation se sont amenuisées et ont même disparu.

The Use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Promote Mental Health and School Engagement in University Students: A Multisite Randomized Controlled Trial.

The aim of this multisite randomized controlled trial was to determine whether an intervention based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) was efficacious in improving university students' psychological flexibility, mental health, and school engagement. Students were recruited in four Canadian universities and randomly assigned to an intervention (n = 72) or a wait-list control group (n = 72). Students in the intervention group took part in four 2.5-hour workshops during a 4-week period and were asked to do exercises at home (e.g., meditation, observation grids). Wait-list students received the intervention soon after the post measurements. MANCOVAs and ANCOVAs revealed that students in the intervention group showed greater psychological flexibility at postintervention than those in the control group. They also reported greater well-being and school engagement, and lower stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms. Taken together, results of this study suggest that an ACT-based intervention offers a valuable way to promote mental health and school engagement in postsecondary settings.

Trajectories of self-evaluation bias in primary and secondary school: Parental antecedents and academic consequences.

Using a longitudinal approach spanning nine years of children's formal education, this study investigated the developmental trajectories of self-evaluation bias of academic competence. The study also examined how parenting styles were associated with the trajectories of bias in mid-primary school, and how those trajectories predicted academic outcomes at the end of secondary school and the beginning of college. A total of 711 children in 4th and 5th grades (mean age=10.71years old; 358 girls) participated in this study. Using a latent class growth modeling framework, results indicated that children can be classified in three latent growth trajectories of self-evaluation bias: the optimistic, realistic and pessimistic trajectories. These trajectories differed in their initial status of bias and also in their development over time. Children's adherence to a specific trajectory was associated with parenting variables in childhood. Finally, the optimistic, realistic, or pessimistic trajectories distinctively predicted achievement and persistence.

Neurobehavioral function in school-age children exposed to manganese in drinking water.

BACKGROUND: Manganese neurotoxicity is well documented in individuals occupationally exposed to airborne particulates, but few data are available on risks from drinking-water exposure. OBJECTIVE: We examined associations of exposure from concentrations of manganese in water and hair with memory, attention, motor function, and parent- and teacher-reported hyperactive behaviors. METHODS: We recruited 375 children and measured manganese in home tap water (MnW) and hair (MnH). We estimated manganese intake from water ingestion. Using structural equation modeling, we estimated associations between neurobehavioral functions and MnH, MnW, and manganese intake from water. We evaluated exposure-response relationships using generalized additive models. RESULTS: After adjusting for potential confounders, a 1-SD increase in log10 MnH was associated with a significant difference of -24% (95% CI: -36, -12%) SD in memory and -25% (95% CI: -41, -9%) SD in attention. The relations between log10 MnH and poorer memory and attention were linear. A 1-SD increase in log10 MnW was associated with a significant difference of -14% (95% CI: -24, -4%) SD in memory, and this relation was nonlinear, with a steeper decline in performance at MnW > 100 µg/L. A 1-SD increase in log10 manganese intake from water was associated with a significant difference of -11% (95% CI: -21, -0.4%) SD in motor function. The relation between log10 manganese intake and poorer motor function was linear. There was no significant association between manganese exposure and hyperactivity. CONCLUSION: Exposure to manganese in water was associated with poorer neurobehavioral performances in children, even at low levels commonly encountered in North America.

The risks for adolescents of negatively biased self-evaluations of social competence: the mediating role of social support.

This study conducted among 544 adolescents (M = 15.1 years, SD = .82) examined whether perceived social support from parents and peers mediated the relationship between biased self-evaluations of social competence and internalizing problems. The results showed negative links between bias in self-evaluation and depressive symptoms, social anxiety and social avoidance. Bias in self-evaluation of social competence was more strongly related to perceived peer support than perceived parental support. Gender differences were observed in the mediating role of social support. Among boys, parental support was a partial mediator only of the link between bias in self-evaluation and depressive symptoms. While perceived peer support was a partial mediator of the links between bias in self-evaluation and depressive symptoms, social anxiety and social avoidance in girls, this was the case only for social avoidance in boys. These findings suggest that girls may show vulnerability to peer emotional support at an earlier age than boys.

The mediating effect of self-evaluation bias of competence on the relationship between parental emotional support and children's academic functioning.

BACKGROUND: It is well established that children's self-evaluation bias of competence is related to the quality of parent-child emotional relationship. Such biases are linked to children's academic functioning and achievement. Links have also been established between the quality of parent-child emotional relationship and children's academic functioning. No study has yet explored how the effects of children's emotional relationship with their parents and children's self-evaluation bias combine to explain their academic functioning. AIMS: The first goal was to examine whether the quality of parental emotional support reported by both children and parents was related to the children's self-evaluation bias of competence. The second goal was to examine the relationships between children's and parents' reports of emotional support, and children's academic functioning as measured by teachers' report of their motivation, self-regulation of school activities, and academic achievement. The third goal was to determine whether a children's self-evaluation bias mediated the relationship between parental emotional support and academic functioning. SAMPLE: In a 2-year longitudinal design, participants were 524 elementary pupils (grades 4 and 5), one of their parents, and their teachers. RESULTS: Our results indicated that a bias in self-evaluation in the first year of the study mediated the relationship between the quality of parental emotional support assessed at the first year and their school functioning evaluated by their teacher 1 year later. CONCLUSION: The mediational model received clear support when it refers to the emotional support reported by children, but mixed support when reported by parents.

Intellectual impairment in school-age children exposed to manganese from drinking water.

BACKGROUND: Manganese is an essential nutrient, but in excess it can be a potent neurotoxicant. Despite the common occurrence of manganese in groundwater, the risks associated with this source of exposure are largely unknown. OBJECTIVES: Our first aim was to assess the relations between exposure to manganese from drinking water and children's intelligence quotient (IQ). Second, we examined the relations between manganese exposures from water consumption and from the diet with children's hair manganese concentration. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 362 children 6-13 years of age living in communities supplied by groundwater. Manganese concentration was measured in home tap water (MnW) and children's hair (MnH). We estimated manganese intake from water ingestion and the diet using a food frequency questionnaire and assessed IQ with the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence. RESULTS: The median MnW in children's home tap water was 34 µg/L (range, 1-2,700 µg/L). MnH increased with manganese intake from water consumption, but not with dietary manganese intake. Higher MnW and MnH were significantly associated with lower IQ scores. A 10-fold increase in MnW was associated with a decrease of 2.4 IQ points (95% confidence interval: -3.9 to -0.9; p < 0.01), adjusting for maternal intelligence, family income, and other potential confounders. There was a 6.2-point difference in IQ between children in the lowest and highest MnW quintiles. MnW was more strongly associated with Performance IQ than Verbal IQ. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this cross-sectional study suggest that exposure to manganese at levels common in groundwater is associated with intellectual impairment in children.

On the development of harmonious and obsessive passion: the role of autonomy support, activity specialization, and identification with the activity.

Recent research (Vallerand et al., 2003) has supported the existence of two types of passion for activities: a harmonious and an obsessive passion. The purpose of this investigation was to study the processes likely to lead to the development of passion. Three studies using correlational and short-term longitudinal designs with varied populations ranging from beginners to experts reveal that identification with the activity, activity specialization, parents' activity valuation, and autonomy support predict the development of passion. Furthermore, results show that children and teenagers whose environment supports their autonomy are more likely to develop a harmonious passion than an obsessive one. Conversely, children and teenagers who highly value activity specialization, who rely heavily on their activity for self-definition, and whose parents highly value the activity are more likely to develop an obsessive passion.

Changes in self-perceptions of competence and intrinsic motivation among elementary schoolchildren.

BACKGROUND: Children's perceived competence and intrinsic motivation are assumed to be very high at the outset of schooling. However, how they change and how they relate to each other and to academic achievement across early schooling years remain open to question. AIMS: This 3-year longitudinal study was aimed at examining the following questions. Do children's perceived competence and intrinsic motivation about reading and mathematics change across the first 3 years of schooling? Do their perceived competence and intrinsic motivation differ according to academic domains? Do their perceived competence and intrinsic motivation relate to their academic achievement in each academic domain? SAMPLE: A total of 115 elementary schoolchildren (63 boys and 52 girls) were examined in first grade (mean age = 84,5 months, SD =.67) and for the next 2 years. METHOD: Children responded to questionnaires about their perceived competence and intrinsic motivation in reading and mathematics. Year-end grades in these two subjects were used as a measure of performance. RESULTS: Changes in perceived competence and intrinsic motivation, and between-year intercorrelations, were observed to differ according to academic domains and gender. Intrinsic motivation did not make a significant contribution to academic achievement at either school grade or in any academic domain, whereas perceived competence was significantly related to achievement at each school grade in both reading and mathematics. CONCLUSIONS: Differences between boys and girls observed in this study were not linked to a specific domain and cannot be attributed to gender-role stereotypes. Girls appeared to be more precocious in differentiating their competence and intrinsic motivation according to academic domain, as well as in being able to process and integrate information about their ability from past performances in a domain to judge their competence in the same domain.