The Impact of Mentorship on Women Superintendents in Minnesota

Problem Mentorship [was] commonly cited in the research as one of the most effective supports available to women in attaining the superintendency. Research has shown that women more actively use mentoring systems than men in their career paths, but the effectiveness of their mentoring practices is unclear. Purpose The purpose of this study [was] to gather information from practicing female superintendents in Minnesota about the extent to which they were mentored and the mentor qualities they perceived as most effective. This study was quantitative in nature and designed to answer four research questions: (1) How extensive is mentoring among women superintendents in Minnesota? (2) How do women superintendents in Minnesota describe their experiences with mentoring? (3) What do women superintendents in Minnesota perceive to be important elements of an effective formal and informal mentoring program? (4) What recommendations do women superintendents in Minnesota have for developing effective mentoring programs? Findings Survey findings provide a wealth of information about how to develop more effective mentoring programs for women superintendents in Minnesota. Better mentoring programs will help attract administrators to the superintendency, support job retention, and create a network of more effective school superintendents. “Professional networking offers a system for women to enhance their career opportunities…” and given the limited networking opportunities currently available for women, “…it becomes the responsibility of professional organizations to work in partnership with higher education to ensure these opportunities for women exist” (Raskin, Haar, & Robicheau, 2010, p. 164)

A Positive Development View of Risk-taking : Attachment, mental health, internal control, and life engagement

Previous research has primarily focused on potential negative outcomes of risk-taking (e.g., Byrnes, Miller, & Schafer, 1999). However, risk-taking may be beneficial for our mental health. Currently, the United States (U.S.) is seeing an increase in the prevalence and incidence of anxiety and depressive symptoms (N1MH, 2002, 2003, 2006; WHO, 2001). At the same time, individuals in the U.S. spend a large percentage of time in low-energy, time wasting activities, such as watching television (United States Department of Labor, 2007), which is in discord with how our stress response functions optimally (Sapolsky, 1998; Dhabhar, 2002). Furthermore, attachment theory posits a natural developmental pattern of exploration and fear, with felt security from a caregiver (Bowlby, 1951), and securely attached individuals report higher levels of curiosity (Arend, Gove, & Sroufe, 1979) and enjoy fewer anxiety and depressive symptoms than those with a less secure attachment (Lopez, Mauricio, Gormley, Simko, & Berger, 2001). Thus, this exploration process may be naturally beneficial for our mental health. This study investigated the association between risk-taking and mental health outcomes and worked towards development of a measure of perceptions of riskiness. Risk-taking was defined as engaging in either a short-lived or log-range activity which evokes some level of fear for the individual while offering an opportunity for personal growth or a valued accomplishment, but also involves chancing loss. Three hundred eighteen adults completed an online survey assessing attachment pattern, internal control, and several mental health and activity-related measures. The perceptions of riskiness scale was found to require further refinement to adequately fit the theoretical structure of risk-taking, and suggestions to this end are presented. Results from this study suggest: (1) risk-taking, as defined by adventurousness, and life engagement, as defined by high activity level, are both positive predictors of mental health, (2) secure attachment and internal control are positive predictors of risk-taking tendencies, and (3) risk-taking tendencies partially mediates the relationship between secure attachment and mental health, as measure by psychological well-being. Future research should address whether participating in adventurous activities could be an effective means by which to improve health

Postdeployment Suicide Risk Increases Over a 6‐month Period: Predictors of Increased Risk among Midwestern Army National Guard Soldiers

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138341/1/sltb12303_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138341/2/sltb12303.pd

It\u27s Not Easy - Impacts of Suicide Prevention Research on Study Staff

Suicide prevention researchers who work with individuals at high risk of suicide or are exposed to details of suicide attempts and deaths may experience negative impacts on their own well-being. This is not unlike the experiences of mental health providers, where repeated exposure to clients\u27 difficult experiences gas long been identified as an occupational risk (Molnar et al., 2017). however, there have been few studies evaluating how exposure to details of suicide-related behavior impacts researcher well-being. This gap in the literature is worrisome, as researcher\u27 mental health and well-being might be negatively impacted by repeated exposure to graphic details of suicide attempts, and managing potential crises that arise during research activities. Left unaddressed, this repeated exposure may lead to negative outcomes for those working in the suicide prevention field and potentially the success of the field as a whole. In this editorial, we argue for the importance of including coping support in suicide prevention research. We begin by reviewing definitions of terms that have been previously used to discuss harms associated with exposure to another\u27s difficult mental health experiences: vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, and burnout. We then discuss a subset of the extant literature regarding the impact of suicide prevention research activities on research staff. We conclude with a discussion of future directions for research and practice, including the implementation of a novel intervention to address mental health distress among researchers at our facility