Measuring social-emotional development in middle childhood: the Middle Years Development Instrument

This paper discusses the conceptualization, development, validation, and application of the Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI) – a population-based child self-report tool that assesses children\u27s social-emotional development and well-being in the context of their home, school, and neighborhood. The MDI is administered at a population-level to 4th and 7th grade students within participating public school districts across British Columbia, Canada. Children respond to items in five domains: (1) social-emotional development, (2) connectedness to peers and adults, (3) school experiences, (4) physical health and well-being, and (5) constructive use of after-school time. Results are aggregated for schools and communities and reported back in comprehensive reports and community maps to inform planning and decision making at local and regional levels. Shared testimonials exemplify how MDI results have been used by educators, community organizers, and city planners as a catalyst for promoting children\u27s social and emotional competence and facilitating collaboration between schools and communities

Epistemic Reasoning and Adolescent Egocentrism: Relations to Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms in Problem Youth

This investigation addressed the question of how two forms of social cognitive reasoning - epistemic reasoning and adolescent egocentrism - interface with externalizing and internalizing forms of psychopathology during adolescence. Adolescents\u27 epistemic reasoning (i.e., types of belief entitlement, or degree of doubt, held by an individual when confronted with contradictory sides of an issue), and imaginary audience and personal fable ideation, were assessed in a sample of 29 adolescent boys with behavioral problems and 30 of their peers without behavioral problems. To assess internalizing and externalizing symptomatology, teachers completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL-TRF). Results revealed that, compared to those without behavior problems, boys with behavioral problems were lower in epistemic reasoning. Further analyses revealed consistent relations between dimensions of social cognitive reasoning to specific forms of psychopathology. These findings suggest that social cognitive reasoning, particularly epistemic doubt, is important in understanding problem behaviors among typical and atypical adolescents

Cultivating Teacher Mindfulness: Effects of a Randomized Controlled Trial on Work, Home, and Sleep Outcomes

The effects of randomization to a workplace mindfulness training (WMT) or a waitlist control condition on teachers’ well-being (moods and satisfaction at work and home), quantity of sleep, quality of sleep, and sleepiness during the day were examined in 2 randomized, waitlist controlled trials (RCTs). The combined sample of the 2 RCTs, conducted in Canada and the United States, included 113 elementary and secondary school teachers (89% female). Measures were collected at baseline, postprogram, and 3-month follow-up; teachers were randomly assigned to condition after baseline assessment. Results showed that teachers randomized to WMT reported less frequent bad moods at work and home, greater satisfaction at work and home, more sleep on weekday nights, better quality sleep, and decreased insomnia symptoms and daytime sleepiness. Training-related group differences in mindfulness and rumination on work at home at postprogram partially mediated the reductions in negative moods at home and increases in sleep quality at follow-up

Kindness counts: prompting prosocial behavior in preadolescents boosts peer acceptance and well-being.

At the top of parents' many wishes is for their children to be happy, to be good, and to be well-liked. Our findings suggest that these goals may not only be compatible but also reciprocal. In a longitudinal experiment conducted in 19 classrooms in Vancouver, 9- to 11-year olds were instructed to perform three acts of kindness (versus visit three places) per week over the course of 4 weeks. Students in both conditions improved in well-being, but students who performed kind acts experienced significantly bigger increases in peer acceptance (or sociometric popularity) than students who visited places. Increasing peer acceptance is a critical goal, as it is related to a variety of important academic and social outcomes, including reduced likelihood of being bullied. Teachers and interventionists can build on this study by introducing intentional prosocial activities into classrooms and recommending that such activities be performed regularly and purposefully

Kindness counts: prompting prosocial behavior in preadolescents boosts peer acceptance and well-being.

At the top of parents' many wishes is for their children to be happy, to be good, and to be well-liked. Our findings suggest that these goals may not only be compatible but also reciprocal. In a longitudinal experiment conducted in 19 classrooms in Vancouver, 9- to 11-year olds were instructed to perform three acts of kindness (versus visit three places) per week over the course of 4 weeks. Students in both conditions improved in well-being, but students who performed kind acts experienced significantly bigger increases in peer acceptance (or sociometric popularity) than students who visited places. Increasing peer acceptance is a critical goal, as it is related to a variety of important academic and social outcomes, including reduced likelihood of being bullied. Teachers and interventionists can build on this study by introducing intentional prosocial activities into classrooms and recommending that such activities be performed regularly and purposefully

A Yoga Intervention for Young Children: Self-Regulation and Emotion Regulation

Yoga-based interventions have been implemented in schools and demonstrated promising results on students' self-regulation outcomes. Nevertheless, there is limited literature on the effects that yoga may have for children in the early primary grades, despite the evidence demonstrating that this is an opportune period in development for early self-regulation. Few studies have focused on young children living in the context of economic difficulty, which can hinder children's development of self-regulatory skills and educational trajectories. The effects of an eight-week yoga intervention on economically disadvantaged pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children's self-regulation and emotion regulation were examined via a paired within-subjects comparison study. Nine classrooms were assigned to the yoga intervention (Treatment First, TxFirst; n = 90) or a wait-list control group (Treatment Second, TxSecond; n = 64). All children were assessed at pre-intervention (Time 1), post-intervention assessment for TxFirst (Time 2), and post-intervention assessment for TxSecond (Time 3). Children demonstrated significant predicted gains on a behavioral task of self-regulation and declines in teacher-rated submissive venting and total behavior problems. Implications for future research are discussed, with a focus on including follow-up assessments and multiple dimensions of fidelity of implementation

Measuring 8 to 12 year old children’s self-report of power imbalance in relation to bullying: development of the Scale of Perceived Power Imbalance

Background: While power imbalance is now recognized as a key component of bullying, reliable and valid measurement instruments have yet to be developed. This research aimed to develop a self-report instrument that measures power imbalance as perceived by the victim of frequent aggressive behavior. Methods: A mixed methods approach was used (468 participants, Grade 4 to 6). This paper describes the exploratory (n = 111) and confirmatory factor analysis of the new instrument (n = 337), and assessment of reliablity and construct validity. Results: A 2-factor model represented physical and social aspects of power imbalance (n = 127: normed chi-square = 1.2, RMSEA = .04, CF1 = .993). The social factor included constructs of group and peer valued characteristics. Conclusions: This research will enhance health and education professionals understanding of power imbalance in bullying and will inform the design and evaluation of interventions to address bullying in children.Education, Faculty ofMedicine, Faculty ofOther UBCNon UBCEducational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department ofPopulation and Public Health (SPPH), School ofReviewedFacult