Parental Involvement during the College Transition: Trajectories and Associations with Academic Success, Well-Being, and Individuation

Guided by the developmental theory of emerging adulthood (Arnett, 2004) and life course theory (Elder, 1984), the goals of the current study were to investigate changes in parent involvement, changes in student outcomes, and links between changes in involvement and student outcomes across the first year in college. Parental involvement was defined as a multidimensional construct that included parent support, contact, and academic engagement. Purdue University domestic freshmen (N = 1279; 55% female; 84% Caucasian) participated in this study that included four online surveys that were evenly distributed across the first year. Through this design and the use of latent growth curve modeling (LGM) in Mplus (Muthén & Muthén, 2010), the current study estimated trajectories (intercepts, linear slopes, and quadratic slopes) of parent involvement, student outcomes, and their joint associations. Fixed and random effects were examined to determine intraindividual and interindividual change. Joint association models involved regressing the student outcome slopes onto the involvement slopes. Covariates were included (e.g., student sex), and fit indices were assessed to evaluate models (e.g., Confirmatory Fit Index). Overall results supported hypotheses, and indicated nonlinear declines in parent involvement, changes in student outcomes (exceptions: academic persistence and depression), and links between changes in involvement and student outcomes. Notable findings from joint models indicated increases in involvement were related to increases in depression, steeper increases in risky behaviors, and steeper decreases in individuation across freshman year. Findings contribute to literature on the characteristics of involvement during emerging adulthood and within the context of college, especially how changes in involvement are linked to changes in student outcomes, and offer practical guidance for college parent programming

An Occupational Therapy Program for Children and Adolescents Exposed to Trauma

Every year many children and adolescents are affected by traumatic experience many of which result in long term challenges. The traumatic event may lead to psychological disorders, such as anxiety disorders, depression, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, substance abuse, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These disorders often have the effect of interrupting development of occupational performance skills and ultimately are manifested in deficits in occupational performance. A literature review was conducted to identify the effects of trauma on children and adolescents as well as to explore current treatment programming available to this population. Examples of research-based occupational therapy programming for traumatized children and adolescents was reviewed. An occupational therapy program is presented, including guidelines for therapists working with children and adolescents exposed to trauma. In addition, the program addresses the impact of the traumatic event on occupational performance, behaviors resulting from the traumatic event, and other long term occupational challenges. Within the context of developing and/or optimizing occupational performance skills, the program aims to (a) prevent further psychological problems, (b) establish skills to cope with the trauma, (c) alter social contexts to represent positive influences, (d) modify present performance barriers, and (e) create a safe environment that promotes trust and open communication. The referral process, suggested assessments, interventions, and outcome measures are presented and demonstrate application of the Ecological Model of Human Performance to practice with children and adolescents exposed to trauma

Parent Involvement in Young Adults’ Intercollegiate Athletic Careers: Developmental Considerations and Applied Recommendations

Student-athletes have to balance their sport, academic, and social lives during the transition to college and parent involvement is an integral, but potentially problematic, aspect of this transition. The present study investigated how key parent involvement factors may be associated with positive developmental outcomes in NCAA Division I student-athletes. Student-athlete participants (N = 514) were 46% male, ranged in age from 18 to 25 years (M = 19.76, SD = 1.43), and were recruited from athletic departments at two NCAA Division I member-institutions. Participants completed online surveys with items assessing their perceptions of parent involvement (support from parents, contact with parents, academic engagement, athletic engagement) and student-athlete development (academic self-efficacy, athletic satisfaction, well-being, individuation). After controlling for individual and family demographic factors, parent academic and athletic engagement positively predicted student-athlete academic self-efficacy and athletic satisfaction; parent athletic engagement negatively predicted student-athlete depressive symptoms; all aspects of parent involvement were strong negative predictors of emotional independence; support from parents and parent academic engagement were strong negative predictors of functional independence; and support from parents was a negative predictor and athletic engagement a strong positive predictor of student-athletes’ attainment of adult criteria. The present research enhances understanding of the role parent involvement may play in student-athlete development and thus may inform the creation of evidence-based policy and programming at NCAA Division I member-institutions

The Use of ePortfolios to Support First Year Student\u27s Metacognitive Thinking

Select freshman writing courses at St. John Fisher College are piloting the use of eportfolios in place of the traditional portfolios. The College has created templates that are designed so direct links between course work, goals, and student reflections are explicit. The intent of our study is to evaluate the differences in student’s reflective writing from a variety of freshman level writing courses, including both those using eportfolios and those using traditional paper portfolios. Using a rubric that evaluates student reflections on their understanding of purpose, significance, and relevancy, as well as the student’s overall performance, we will share the results on students\u27 metacognitive abilities to connect course work with program goals, academic, and personal interests. The use of eportfolios at the College is specifically designed with a holistic view of the student. Our student eportfolios include academic, non-academic, personal and career components and are used by students both as a requirement within courses and programs, as well as on a voluntary basis. This framework is key to the implementation of eportfolios for us, as it requires students totake ownership of their learning, promotes evaluation of their own skill development, as well as learn to write for a broad audience. In the presentation we will discuss: · A brief history and philosophy of eportfolios on our campus · A demonstration of our template infrastructure, including the connection with our courses, programs and college-wide learning goals · Findings from our research study described above · Implications for all eportfolio users on the use of reflection within ePortfolios to increase metacognitive skills of student

Parental Involvement Among Collegiate Student-Athletes: An Analysis Across NCAA Divisions

Despite emerging evidence of a link between parental involvement and student-athletes’ (SA) experiences, and the desire for educational programming for parents of these SAs, previous research has been limited to the Division I level. This has prevented the ability to inform, develop, and deliver parent programming across the NCAA’s diverse membership. The present study was designed to descriptively assess SA reports of parental involvement (i.e., support, contact, academic engagement, athletic engagement) across NCAA Division I, II, and III member institutions and examine the potential impact of this involvement on SAs’ experiences (i.e., academic self-efficacy, athletic satisfaction, well-being, individuation). Participants were 455 SAs (53% female; 81% Caucasian; Mage = 19.81, SD = 1.65) from DI (30%), DII (37%), and DIII (33%) institutions, who completed an online survey with items assessing parental involvement and SA experiences. Regarding academic classification, 32% were freshmen, 24% sophomores, 22% juniors, and 22% seniors. Results provide novel evidence for an absence of division-wide differences in average levels of involvement and no variability in links between involvement and SA experiences across divisions. Results complement and extend previous research by offering a clearer understanding of differential associations between involvement and SAs’ experiences regardless of division, notably that involvement bolstered well-being but also strongly detracted from individuation. Findings highlight the importance of developing programs to promote positive and developmentally-appropriate parental involvement across the spectrum of intercollegiate athletics, especially given the absence of evidence-based resources presently offered by the NCAA

Immune checkpoints in rheumatoid arthritis: progress and promise

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most prevalent autoimmune inflammatory conditions, and while the mechanisms driving pathogenesis are yet to be completely elucidated, self-reactive T cells and immune checkpoint pathways have a clear role. In this review, we provide an overview of the importance of checkpoint pathways in the T cell response and describe the involvement of these in RA development and progression. We discuss the relationship between immune checkpoint therapy in cancer and autoimmune adverse events, draw parallels with the involvement of immune checkpoints in RA pathobiology, summarise emerging research into some of the lesser-known pathways, and the potential of targeting checkpoint-related pathways in future treatment approaches to RA management

An etiological examination of behavioral intentions to support shark and stingray conservancy: the effects of beliefs in elasmobranchs’ cognitive and affective capacities

Keystone species populations, including shark and ray taxonomic groups, are declining due to numerous threats. A better understanding of how individual belief structures inform pro-conservation behavioral intentions is therefore critical to foster support for their conservation and the greater biodiversity of world ecosystems. This study conducted a survey to establish the general public’s cognitive beliefs about the mental and affective capacities of two species groups (sharks and stingrays) known to cause injury to humans, and their effects on different behavioral intentions to support their conservation. Results revealed that a range of different behavioral intentions to support animal conservation are driven by a complex interplay of cognitive beliefs, and some effects were specific to a particular species group while others were not. Beliefs in animals’ cognitive awareness and their emotional abilities were predictive of individuals’ self-reported desire to learn more about the animals and their conservation. Beliefs in animals’ cognitive and emotional capacities were predictive of supporting conservation in terms of voting and donating to their conservation. Finally, beliefs in animals’ reasoning abilities were predictive of different behavioral expressions of tolerance, and support for their conservation via voting only. Despite the potential injurious capabilities of these species, these findings have important implications for educational and conservation programs to emphasize or modify specific beliefs in order to facilitate particular pro-conservation behaviors for maximum benefits to conservation efforts

Fronto-striatal circuits for cognitive flexibility in far from onset Huntington's disease: evidence from the Young Adult Study.

OBJECTIVES: Cognitive flexibility, which is key for adaptive decision-making, engages prefrontal cortex (PFC)-striatal circuitry and is impaired in both manifest and premanifest Huntington's disease (pre-HD). The aim of this study was to examine cognitive flexibility in a far from onset pre-HD cohort to determine whether an early impairment exists and if so, whether fronto-striatal circuits were associated with this deficit. METHODS: In the present study, we examined performance of 51 pre-HD participants (mean age=29.22 (SD=5.71) years) from the HD Young Adult Study cohort and 53 controls matched for age, sex and IQ, on the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) Intra-Extra Dimensional Set-Shift (IED) task. This cohort is unique as it is the furthest from disease onset comprehensively studied to date (mean years=23.89 (SD=5.96) years). The IED task measures visual discrimination learning, cognitive flexibility and specifically attentional set-shifting. We used resting-state functional MRI to examine whether the functional connectivity between specific fronto-striatal circuits was dysfunctional in pre-HD, compared with controls, and whether these circuits were associated with performance on the critical extradimensional shift stage. RESULTS: Our results demonstrated that the CANTAB IED task detects a mild early impairment in cognitive flexibility in a pre-HD group far from onset. Attentional set-shifting was significantly related to functional connectivity between the ventrolateral PFC and ventral striatum in healthy controls and to functional connectivity between the dorsolateral PFC and caudate in pre-HD participants. CONCLUSION: We postulate that this incipient impairment of cognitive flexibility may be associated with intrinsically abnormal functional connectivity of fronto-striatal circuitry in pre-HD