Anxiety in Elementary Classrooms

As the number of students with anxiety increases, elementary school professionals are becoming more aware of the signs, behaviors, and negative outcomes that are shown in a young student with anxiety. This study examined the impact that anxiety has on elementary students’ social and academic growth in the classroom. Interviews were conducted with seven elementary school teachers, two school counselors, and one school nurse from a variety of districts in Eastern Massachusetts. The purpose of the study was to identify the different ways that young students express their anxieties and the effect that this has on their schooling. Several different behaviors were identified as well as participation and attendance patterns consistent with previously written literature. These behaviors and patterns were observed to cause students to fall behind academically and become socially isolated or rejected by school staff and peers. Interviews revealed that although teachers are becoming more aware of the prevalence of anxiety in their students, many of the signs of anxiety are not so obvious

Thinking About Episodic Future Events as a Way to Reduce Smoking Behavior: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study

With nearly 35 million Americans currently estimated to smoke and an approximate seven out of ten adult smokers wanting to quit, it is clear that there is a need for enhanced smoking cessation techniques. Encouraging people to think about a future smoke-free self may help to encourage and motivate changes in smoking behavior. The present study investigated the role of an episodic future thinking manipulation on the motivation to quit smoking using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Participants (N = 103) were randomly assigned to either an episodic future thinking (EFT) condition or an episodic recent thinking (ERT) condition, and were asked to write a short paragraph about an EFT or an ERT event from their personal life. Immediately following the writing prompt, participants answered daily questions about mental imagery, mind-wandering, craving, stress, and the motivation to quit smoking. Participants also completed individual differences questionnaires surveying their propensity for holistic thinking, mental imagery, and mind-wandering. It was hypothesized that individuals randomly assigned to the EFT (vs. ERT) condition would report greater motivation to quit smoking. Additionally, participants in the EFT (vs. ERT) condition who reported more holistic thinking were expected to report the strongest motivation to quit smoking. Finally, participants in the EFT group who reported more mental imagery and more frequent mind-wandering (for both the individual differences and daily EMA variables) were expected to report the strongest motivation to quit smoking. None of the hypotheses were supported. However, greater motivation to quit smoking was significantly correlated with greater levels of daily mental imagery and more frequent deliberate daily mind wandering (regardless of the condition). Additionally, daily average deliberate mind-wandering significantly predicted the motivation to quit smoking. Limitations and future directions are discussed

Breeding Habitat Structure And Use By Kansas-Occurring Black Rail

Two subspecies of Black Rail Laterallus jamaicenis occur in the United States, and neither has been studied extensively. Of the two, the Eastern subspecies L. j. jamaicenis has a larger range, but has been studied to a lesser degree than the California subspecies (L. j. coturniculus Eastern Black Rail are known to breed at several locations in Kansas, but as in other inland populations, precisely where these individuals overwinter is unknown. Additionally, little information is available on characteristics of breeding habitat for inland Eastern Black Rail populations, and few studies have investigated the effect of habitat management techniques on these populations. Eastern Black Rail are rnost often observed in Kansas at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge NWR and private lands surrounding it. Call playback surveys were conducted in the summers of 2009 and 2010 to locate breeding individuals and identify nesting habitat. Drift-fences and traps were set in locations where individual Black Rail were detected, and sound samples were used to attract individuals for capture. Rectrices and body coverts were plucked from similar regions on two captured individuals and used for deuterium stable isotope analysis. Coverts had average deuterium values of -86.2 and -77.8 per mil, respectively. These values are more typical for southern Canada and portions of the western United States. These feather values suggest that Kansas occurring Black Rail either winter away from the Gulf Coast, in contrast to current understanding, or grow feathers during or soon after spring migration. Quivira NWR and surrounding private lands use prescribed burning, grazing and haying to manage vegetation in the wet-meadow habitat that the rails typically occupy. To characterize breeding habitat, I quantified vertical vegetation structure, water presence and depth, and plant height in areas where Black Rail responded during playback surveys. A Kruskal-Walis one-way analysis of variance was used to compare these variables among 13 treatment types. Although test results indicated these variables were significantly different among treatment types, a nonparametric Tukey\u27s post-hoc test could not detect where the differences occurred. A backward stepwise (Wald) logistic regression indicated higher percentages of dead vegetation in upper vertical layers and plant height positively influenced rail presence, whereas a higher percentage of living vegetation at lower layers negatively influenced rail presence (Nagelkerke R Square 0.57, p \u3c 0.001). Black Rail were most often detected in sections witl1 moderate levels of disturbance (e.g., burned annually, burned and grazed), while areas with higher levels of disturbance ( e.g., annual haying, haying and burning) did not appear to possess suitable habitat, as no rails were detected in these locations. J:vloderately disturbed areas, such as those burned every two years, might contain the mosaic of living and dead vegetation necessary for Black Rail nesting habitat in this portion their breeding range

Thinking About Episodic Future Events as a Way to Reduce Smoking Behavior: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study

With nearly 35 million Americans currently estimated to smoke and an approximate seven out of ten adult smokers wanting to quit, it is clear that there is a need for enhanced smoking cessation techniques. Encouraging people to think about a future smoke-free self may help to encourage and motivate changes in smoking behavior. The present study investigated the role of an episodic future thinking manipulation on the motivation to quit smoking using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Participants (N = 103) were randomly assigned to either an episodic future thinking (EFT) condition or an episodic recent thinking (ERT) condition, and were asked to write a short paragraph about an EFT or an ERT event from their personal life. Immediately following the writing prompt, participants answered daily questions about mental imagery, mind-wandering, craving, stress, and the motivation to quit smoking. Participants also completed individual differences questionnaires surveying their propensity for holistic thinking, mental imagery, and mind-wandering. It was hypothesized that individuals randomly assigned to the EFT (vs. ERT) condition would report greater motivation to quit smoking. Additionally, participants in the EFT (vs. ERT) condition who reported more holistic thinking were expected to report the strongest motivation to quit smoking. Finally, participants in the EFT group who reported more mental imagery and more frequent mind-wandering (for both the individual differences and daily EMA variables) were expected to report the strongest motivation to quit smoking. None of the hypotheses were supported. However, greater motivation to quit smoking was significantly correlated with greater levels of daily mental imagery and more frequent deliberate daily mind wandering (regardless of the condition). Additionally, daily average deliberate mind-wandering significantly predicted the motivation to quit smoking. Limitations and future directions are discussed

A systematic review of long term health conditions in adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

In the United Kingdom it is estimated that 700, 000 people have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. This is equal to 1.04% of the population. It is estimated that 15 million people in England have a long-term health condition. Recent findings suggest that comorbidity of long term health conditions may be greater in adults with autism than in other populations, these include deafness or partial hearing loss, blindness or partial sight loss, intellectual disabilities, mental health conditions, and physical disabilities. The aim of the review is to investigate the prevalence of these conditions and how they affect the population in terms of health care, treatment and diagnosis

A systematic review of long term health conditions in adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

In the United Kingdom it is estimated that 700, 000 people have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. This is equal to 1.04% of the population. It is estimated that 15 million people in England have a long-term health condition. Recent findings suggest that comorbidity of long term health conditions may be greater in adults with autism than in other populations, these include deafness or partial hearing loss, blindness or partial sight loss, intellectual disabilities, mental health conditions, and physical disabilities. The aim of the review is to investigate the prevalence of these conditions and how they affect the population in terms of health care, treatment and diagnosis

HOW THE GENRE AND WORK OF POETRY ARE REPRESENTED BY TENTH GRADE LITERATURE ANTHOLOGIES

This research addresses gaps within the study of textbooks for secondary English language arts and within the study of poetry by examining the ways in which the work and genre of poetry are represented by the “big three” tenth grade literature anthologies. Drawing from Dewey (1910, 1938), Yoakam (1932), Doyle (1983), and conceptions of authentic tasks from Brown, Collins, and Duguid (1989), this study used the tasks and texts included in the anthologies to deconstruct the dominant discourses about what counts as poetry, who counts as poets, and what counts as the work of poetry. Employing document analysis, specifically both quantitative and qualitative content analysis, data collection and analysis were conducted in three phases. Phase one examined the space allotted to the genre of poetry. Phase two examined demographic characteristics of the included poems and poets (n=128), and phase three analyzed the included tasks (n=1763) for the genre of poetry and the included poems. The findings from this study suggest that though textbooks have increased in overall size to over 1200 pages, the space allotted to poetry is just one-tenth of those many pages, and poems themselves comprised only 4% of those pages and made-up one-fifth to one-third of all text selections, a 30% drop from previous studies. Included poems were more likely to have been written or published in the early 20th or middle 20th century and written by poets who were most likely between 61 and 80 years of age, deceased, male, white, or North American. They were also more likely to be a combination of these characteristics. The findings about the tasks suggest that textbooks represent the work within the genre in limited and limiting ways. With the overwhelming emphasis on closed questions or questions treated as closed - even if they are text-based - and tasks asking students to recall/paraphrase or analyze/interpret in narrowed ways, the indication to students and teachers seems to be that the work of poetry is to read a poem and answer recitation questions. The implications of these findings for teaching and learning, educational institutions, publishers, and future research are also discussed

Literacy skills of Australian Indigenous school children with and without otitis media and hearing loss

This study examined the relationship between reading, spelling, and the presence of otitis media (OM) and co-occurring hearing loss (HL) in metropolitan Indigenous Australian children, and compared their reading and spelling outcomes with those of their non-Indigenous peers. OM and HL may hinder language development and phonological awareness skills, but there is little empirical evidence to link OM/HL and literacy in this population. Eighty-six Indigenous and non-Indigenous children attending pre-primary, year one and year two at primary schools in the Perth metropolitan area participated in the study. The ear health of the participants was screened by Telethon Speech and Hearing Centre EarBus in 2011/2012. Participants’ reading and spelling skills were tested with culturally modifi ed sub-tests of the Queensland University Inventory of Literacy. Of the 46 Indigenous children, 18 presented with at least one episode of OM and one episode of HL. Results indicated that Indigenous participants had significantly poorer non-word and real word reading and spelling skills than their non-Indigenous peers. There was no significant difference between the groups of Indigenous participants with OM and HL and those with normal ear health on either measure. This research provides evidence to suggest that Indigenous children have ongoing literacy development difficulties and discusses the possibility of OM as one of many impacting factors

To Eat or Not to Eat Red Meat. A Closer Look at the Relationship Between Restrained Eating and Vegetarianism in College Females

Previous research has suggested that vegetarianism may serve as a mask for restrained eating. The purpose of this study was to compare the dietary habits and lifestyle behaviors of vegetarians (n = 55), pesco-vegetarians (n = 28), semi-vegetarians (n = 29), and flexitarians (n = 37), to omnivores (n = 91), who do not restrict animal products from their diets. A convenience sample of college-age females completed questionnaires about their eating habits, food choice motivations, and personality characteristics. Results indicated that while vegetarians and pesco-vegetarians were more open to new experiences and less food neophobic, they were not more restrained than omnivores. Rather semi-vegetarians; those who restricted only red meat from their diet, and flexitarians; those who occasionally eat red meat, were significantly more restrained than omnivores. Whereas food choices of semi-vegetarians and flexitarians were motivated by weight control, vegetarians and pesco-vegetarians’ food choices were motivated by ethical concerns. By focusing specifically on semi-vegetarian and flexitarian subgroups, more effective approaches can be developed to ensure that their concerns about weight loss do not lead to unhealthful or disordered eating patterns