Increasing character strength knowledge, interest, and skill: preliminary evidence for a collaborative and multimethod assessment procedure.

Introduction: The study's objective was to evaluate whether a qualitative, collaborative, and multimethod assessment protocol increased reports of character strength interest, knowledge, and perceived skills. Methods: Thirty-two participants completed three phases of data collection. Participants were first screened for well-being, which was used as an auxiliary covariate to order participants into experimental conditions. Selected participants were randomly assigned to a control or collaborative and multimethod assessment (card sort × qualitative interview) condition. Participants completed pre- and post-measures of strength interest, knowledge, and perceived skill. In the final phase, second phase participants were invited to report on strength-related outcomes 24 h post-administration using an online survey. Results: A series of 2 (Assessment Condition) × 3 (Time) mixed ANOVAs were analyzed. Results revealed a significant assessment condition by time interaction for strength knowledge and perceived skill. Participants in the collaborative and multimethod assessment condition reported higher strength knowledge and perceived skills compared to control participants. These effects were maintained for 24 h. Conclusion: The findings offer preliminary yet sizable support for using collaborative and multimethod assessment procedures to increase strength knowledge and perceived skill. Because of the qualitative, collaborative, and individualized nature of our assessment protocol, the findings offer a low-cost and contextually bound pathway to increase strength-based outcomes.

The Conditional Effects of Savoring on the Relationship between Minority Stress and Alcohol Misuse in an LGBTQIA + Sample.

Background: Alcohol-related difficulties are a significant public health concern in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, asexual, and people with other sexual orientations and forms of gender identity (LGBTQIA+) communities. Considering these concerns, there is a strong push to develop affirming and strength-based prevention efforts. Unfortunately, such efforts are undermined by the lack of protective LGBTQIA + models for alcohol misuse. To this end, the purpose of the current study was to evaluate whether savoring, the ability to create, maintain, and prolong positive emotions, meets basic criteria for a protective factor for alcohol misuse in a sample of LGBTQIA + adults. Methods: The sample was comprised of 226 LGBTQIA + adults who completed an online survey. Results: Results indicated that savoring was inversely related to alcohol misuse. In addition, the relationship between minority stress and alcohol misuse varied as a function of savoring; at high levels of savoring (a score of 136.63 on the Savoring Beliefs Inventory), the relationship between minority stress and alcohol misuse was non-significant. Conclusions: In combination, these findings offer preliminary support for savoring as a protective factor for alcohol misuse among different LGBTQIA + communities. However, longitudinal and experimental research is needed to solidify the role of savoring in minimizing alcohol-related problems in this population.

Enhancing spatial skills of preschoolers from under-resourced backgrounds: A comparison of digital app vs. concrete materials.

Spatial skills support STEM learning and achievement. However, children from low-socioeconomic (SES) backgrounds typically lag behind their middle- and high-SES peers. We asked whether a digital educational app-designed to mirror an already successful, spatial assembly training program using concrete materials-would be as effective for facilitating spatial skills in under-resourced preschoolers as the concrete materials. Three-year-olds (N = 61) from under-resourced backgrounds were randomly assigned to a business-as-usual control group or to receive 5 weeks of spatial training using either concrete, tangible materials or a digital app on a tablet. The spatial puzzles used were an extension of items from the Test of Spatial Assembly (TOSA). Preschoolers were pretested and posttested on new two-dimensional (2D) TOSA trials. Results indicate that both concrete and digital spatial training increased performance on the 2D-TOSA compared to the control group. The two trainings did not statistically differ from one another suggesting that educational spatial apps may be one route to providing early foundational skills to children from under-resourced backgrounds.

Piecing together the role of a spatial assembly intervention in preschoolers' spatial and mathematics learning: Influences of gesture, spatial language, and socioeconomic status.

Spatial skills are associated with mathematics skills, but it is unclear if spatial training transfers to mathematics skills for preschoolers, especially from underserved communities. The current study tested (a) whether spatial training benefited preschoolers' spatial and mathematics skills, (b) if the type of feedback provided during spatial training differentially influenced children's spatial and mathematics skills, and (c) if the spatial training's effects varied by socioeconomic status (SES). Preschoolers (N = 187) were randomly assigned to either a 'business-as-usual' control or one of three spatial training groups (modeling and feedback [MF]; gesture feedback [GF]; spatial language feedback [SLF]). Three-year-olds were trained to construct puzzles to match a model composed of various geometric shapes. New models were created similar to the 2-dimensional trials of the Test of Spatial Assembly (TOSA). Training was given once per week for 5 weeks. Preschoolers were pretested and posttested on 2D and 3D TOSA trials, spatial vocabulary, shape identification, and 2 mathematics assessments. Results indicate that first, any spatial training improved preschoolers' 2D TOSA performance, although a significant interaction with SES indicated improvement was driven by low-SES children. Furthermore, low-SES children showed greatest gains on the 2D TOSA with MF and GF. Second, MF and GF improved low-SES children's performance on the 3D TOSA. Third, only low-SES children with MF saw improvements in far-transfer to mathematics (Woodcock-Johnson: Applied Problems, but not the Test of Early Mathematical Ability). Results indicate that, especially for low-income learners, spatial training can improve children's early spatial and mathematics skills. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).