Understanding mentors’ experiences in order to improve mentor retention: a three-study, multi-method dissertation

Formal mentoring programs rely on mentors to build supportive relationships with youth with the intention of providing positive developmental opportunities for the youth. This dissertation, which includes three studies, explores the experiences of mentors, focusing on factors that contribute to mentors committing to and sustaining mentoring relationships, and how mentors approach building a supportive relationship. Study 1 develops and tests a conceptual model of mentor retention integrating concepts from the volunteerism and interpersonal relationship literatures to predict mentor retention. Participants were 51 college student-mentors. Path analysis showed support for the conceptual model. Mentor retention was predicted by their commitment but not by role identity. Role identity was positively related to mentor commitment. Role identity was predicted by relationship satisfaction, available alternatives and investment; only satisfaction predicted commitment. Study 2 examined how program practices influence mentor commitment utilizing secondary data from 551 mentors from mentoring programs involved in a large, randomized controlled trial evaluating an intervention to improve mentoring program quality. Path analysis demonstrated that how well the mentor felt the program set expectations and whether they were matched with a youth based on their preferences were associated with the mentor’s commitment. The relationships between commitment and program practices were partially mediated by the mentor’s relationship satisfaction and available alternatives. Study 3 explores how mentors approach building their mentoring relationship, whether different approaches contribute to supports offered to the youth, and if there are differences by gender or whether the mentor has previous experience mentoring. Thematic analysis of 16 mentoring relationships did not identify any specific approach as best. Instead, what mattered was the fit of the approach with the specific circumstances of the match. Mentors whose approach fit well or who were able to adapt their approach had the longest matches and provided the most support. Males were more often described to have an approach that was a good fit and to have provided more support. Whether previous mentoring experience helped a mentor build the relationship and support the youth depended on how the previous relationship went and how it influenced the mentor’s expectations with regard to the current match

It takes a village to break up a match: a systemic analysis of formal youth mentoring relationship endings

BACKGROUND Although early closure of formal youth mentoring relationships has recently begun to receive some attention, more information about factors that contribute to premature endings, and how those factors interact, is needed so that empirically-based program practices can be developed and disseminated to prevent such endings and to ensure that youth reap the benefits mentoring can provide. OBJECTIVE This qualitative interview study applies a systemic model of youth mentoring relationships (Keller in J Prim Prev 26:169–188, 2005a) to the study of mentoring relationship endings in community-based mentoring matches to understand why these matches ended. METHOD Mentors, parents/guardians and program staff associated with 36 mentoring matches that had ended were interviewed about their experiences of these relationships and their understanding of why they had ended. Thematic analysis of the interview transcripts and mentoring program case notes for each match followed by systemic modeling of the relationships yielded three major findings. RESULTS A strong mentor–youth relationship is necessary but not sufficient for match longevity. The mentor–youth relationship, even when relatively strong, is unlikely to withstand disruptions in other relationships in the system. Agency contextual factors, such as program practices and policies and staffing patterns, have a critical role to play in sustaining mentoring matches, as they directly influence all of the relationships in the mentoring system. CONCLUSION These findings highlight the importance of considering not just the mentoring dyad but also the parent/guardian and program context when trying to prevent match closures. They also point to several program practices that may support longer mentoring relationships.Accepted manuscrip

Creative Writing through the Arts 2016-19 End of Year Report 2018

This report provides an insight into the Creative Writing through the Arts project activities in the school year from 2017-18 and presents key findings from this second year of the three year project

Musculoskeletal complaint epidemiology in Australian special operation forces trainees

Intorduction: Elite military trainees are burdened by high numbers of musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries and are a priority military population for injury prevention. This research aims to describe the MSK complaint epidemiology of trainees undertaking special forces (SF) training in the Australian Defence Force (ADF). One barrier to accurate injury surveillance in military populations is that traditional surveillance methods rely on personnel engaging with the military healthcare system to collect injury data. This approach is likely to underestimate the injury burden as it is known that many military personnel, particularly trainees, avoid reporting their injuries because of various motives. Subsequently, the insights from surveillance systems may underestimate the injury burden and limit the ability to inform prevention requirements. This research aims to actively seek MSK complaint information directly from trainees in a sensitive manner to mediate injury-reporting behaviors. Materials and Methods: This descriptive epidemiology study included two consecutive cohorts of ADF SF trainees from 2019 to 2021. Musculoskeletal data items and their respective recording methods were based on international sports injury surveillance guidelines and adapted to a military context. Our case definition encompassed all injuries or physical discomforts as recordable cases. A unit-embedded physiotherapist retrospectively collected MSK complaint data from selection courses and collected prospective data over the training continuum. Data collection processes were external to the military health care system to mediate reporting avoidance and encourage injury reporting. Injury proportions, complaint incidence rates, and incidence rate ratios were calculated and compared between training courses and cohorts. Results: In total, 334 MSK complaints were reported by 103 trainees (90.4%), with a complaint incidence rate of 58.9 per 1,000 training weeks (95% CI, 53.0-65.5). Of these MSK complaints, 6.4% (n = 22) resulted in time loss from work. The lumbar spine (20.6%, n = 71) and the knee (18.9%, n = 65) were the most frequently affected body parts. Most of the MSK complaints were reported during selection courses (41.9%), followed by field survival and team tactics (23.0%) and urban operations courses (21.9%). Physical training accounted for 16.5% of complaints. Fast-roping training was associated with more severe MSK complaints. Conclusions: Musculoskeletal complaints are highly prevalent in ADF SF trainees. Complaints are more frequently reported in selection and qualification training courses than in physical training. These activities are priorities for focused research to understand injury circumstances in ADF elite training programs to inform injury prevention strategies. A strength of our study is the data collection methods which have provided greater MSK complaint information than past research; however, much work remains in conducting consistent and accurate surveillance. Another strength is the use of an embedded physiotherapist to overcome injury-reporting avoidance. Embedded health professionals are recommended as continued practice for ongoing surveillance and early intervention

Genome Sequence of Serratia plymuthica A153, a Model Rhizobacterium for the Investigation of the Synthesis and Regulation of Haterumalides, Zeamine, and Andrimid.

The rhizobacterium Serratia plymuthica A153 is a Gram-negative bacterium belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae Here, we present the genome sequence of this strain, which produces multiple bioactive secondary metabolites, including the halogenated macrolide oocydin A, the polyamino antibiotic zeamine, and the bacterial acetyl-CoA carboxylase inhibitor andrimid.Work in the Salmond laboratory was supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC, United Kingdom). Miguel A. Matilla was supported by the EU Marie-Curie intra-European Fellowship For Career Development (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF) grant 298003 and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness Postdoctoral Research Program, Juan de la Cierva (JCI-2012-11815). The Tino Krell laboratory is supported by FEDER funds and Fondo Social Europeo through grants from the Junta de Andalucía (grant CVI-7335) and the Spanish Ministry for Economy and Competitiveness (grants BIO2013- 42297 and RTC-2014-1777-3).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from the American Society for Microbiology via http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/genomeA.00373-1

Fashion Variations: Students Approaches to Learning in Fashion Design

This research unpacks the assumption that students understand research in the discipline of fashion textiles in a unitary and unproblematic way. It is one of the first empirical studies to examine learning from a phenomenographic research perspective in this particular discipline and is a result of reanalysing data collected for a previous study (Drew, Bailey and Shreeve 2001, 2002). The research question in this case was to ask what were the qualitatively different ways in which students in fashion textiles project work approached the research component of the project? The paper is published in ADCHE, a peer reviewed journal and has been cited by Biddle-Perry. The study led on to further work in the phenomenographic tradition, with a small research grant from the ADC-LTSN being awarded to look at student conceptions of assessment using learning outcomes in the design project. Although phenomenography as a research method is widely known and the outcomes of it inform learning and teaching in higher education (eg Marton and Saljo 1984, Prosser and Trigwell 1997) to such an extent that deep and surface learning has been accused of hegemonic status by Haggis (2004), there have been few applications of this research approach in art and design. It constitutes a rigorous research methodology (Kerlind 2005) and the study of approaches to learning in practice based subjects (eg Drew et al 2001, 2002, Case and Marshall 2004) highlights the need to contribute an art and design perspectives to mainstream debates on learning in text based academic disciplines in order to fully understand different and more widespread learning and teaching practices

Do program practices matter for mentors?: How implementation of empirically supported program practices is associated with youth mentoring relationship quality

This study investigates how the implementation of program-level practices by formal youth mentoring programs is associated with the quality of youth mentoring relationships as contexts for youth development and also examines whether this connection is mediated by the mentor-staff working alliance. Using data from mentors (n = 542) participating in multiple programs (n = 55), multilevel path models examined hypothesized direct and mediated effects. Parallel analyses were conducted with assessments of program practices from staff (n = 219). Greater exposure to program practices was associated with higher ratings of mentoring relationship satisfaction, commitment, and security and lower mentor-youth relationship negativity. The mentor-staff working alliance either partially or fully mediated these associations. Staff-reported practices predicted mentoring relationship satisfaction and commitment without mediation by the working alliance. This study suggests program practices contribute to stronger youth mentoring relationships. The findings also highlight the mentor-staff working alliance in supporting the development of positive mentoring relationships

(Not) Minding the Gap: A Qualitative Interview Study of How Social Class Bias Can Influence Youth Mentoring Relationships.

This study sought to examine how social class bias may be enacted by mentors and mentoring program staff within community-based youth mentoring relationships and how these biases may influence the mentoring relationship. A narrative thematic analysis was conducted with interviews from mentors, mentees\u27 parents/caregivers, and mentoring program staff representing 36 matches participating in a larger, prospective, mixed-methods study examining factors associated with early match closures. Findings indicate that although some mentors were able to partner with the youth and family to effectively navigate challenges related to the family\u27s economic circumstances, other mentors and some mentoring program staff held deficit views of the youth and their family that appeared to be at least partially rooted in negative social class-based assumptions about attitudes and behaviors. Specifically, we observed tendencies on the part of some mentors and program staff toward (a) deficit-based views of families and youth, (b) individual-level attributions for the family\u27s economic circumstances and blaming of caregivers, and (c) perceiving mentors as being underappreciated by the youth\u27s caregiver. These deficit perspectives contributed to the minimization of parent/caregiver voice in the mentoring process and negative interpretations of parent/caregiver and, in some cases, youth attitudes and behaviors

Concordance of Illness Representations: The Key to Improving Care of Medically Unexplained Symptoms

How can effective patient-provider relationships be developed when the underlying cause of the health condition is not well understood and becomes a point of controversy between patient and provider? This problem underlies the difficulty in treating medically unexplained symptoms and syndromes (MUS; e.g., fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome), which primary care providers consider to be among the most difficult conditions to treat.1 This difficulty extends to the patient-provider relationship which is characterized by discord over MUS.1 In this article, we argue that the key to improving the patient provider relationship is for the patient and provider to develop congruent illness perceptions about MUS

HumMod: A Modeling Environment for the Simulation of Integrative Human Physiology

Mathematical models and simulations are important tools in discovering key causal relationships governing physiological processes. Simulations guide and improve outcomes of medical interventions involving complex physiology. We developed HumMod, a Windows-based model of integrative human physiology. HumMod consists of 5000 variables describing cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, neural, endocrine, skeletal muscle, and metabolic physiology. The model is constructed from empirical data obtained from peer-reviewed physiological literature. All model details, including variables, parameters, and quantitative relationships, are described in Extensible Markup Language (XML) files. The executable (HumMod.exe) parses the XML and displays the results of the physiological simulations. The XML description of physiology in HumMod's modeling environment allows investigators to add detailed descriptions of human physiology to test new concepts. Additional or revised XML content is parsed and incorporated into the model. The model accurately predicts both qualitative and quantitative changes in clinical and experimental responses. The model is useful in understanding proposed physiological mechanisms and physiological interactions that are not evident, allowing one to observe higher level emergent properties of the complex physiological systems. HumMod has many uses, for instance, analysis of renal control of blood pressure, central role of the liver in creating and maintaining insulin resistance, and mechanisms causing orthostatic hypotension in astronauts. Users simulate different physiological and pathophysiological situations by interactively altering numerical parameters and viewing time-dependent responses. HumMod provides a modeling environment to understand the complex interactions of integrative physiology. HumMod can be downloaded at http://hummod.or