Time to teach the politics of mental health: Implications of the Power Treat Meaning Framework (PTMF) for teacher education

The Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) provides teachers with a holistic and compassionate understanding of the origins of emotional distress, which can support them in becoming more attuned and responsive to their own inner lives as well as those of their students. It has radical implications for how we teach wellbeing and mental health in schools and other educational settings

School-based mindfulness programs: Transforming children's lives or merely a passing fad?

During the past three decades, there has been increasing interest in mindfulness and mindfulness interventions due to a wealth of theoretical and empirical research linking them with positive psychosocial, cognitive and health outcomes (Keng, Smoski, & Robbins, 2011). The core features of mindfulness, namely awareness and non-judgmental acceptance of a person’s moment-to-moment experience, are regarded as potentially effective antidotes against common forms of psychological distress, such as rumination, anxiety and anger; these often involve maladaptive tendencies to avoid, suppress, or over-engage with one's distressing thoughts and emotions (Kabat-Zinn, 1990; Keng, et al., 2011)

School-based mindfulness programs: Transforming children's lives or merely a passing fad?

During the past three decades, there has been increasing interest in mindfulness and mindfulness interventions due to a wealth of theoretical and empirical research linking them with positive psychosocial, cognitive and health outcomes (Keng, Smoski, & Robbins, 2011). The core features of mindfulness, namely awareness and non-judgmental acceptance of a person’s moment-to-moment experience, are regarded as potentially effective antidotes against common forms of psychological distress, such as rumination, anxiety and anger; these often involve maladaptive tendencies to avoid, suppress, or over-engage with one's distressing thoughts and emotions (Kabat-Zinn, 1990; Keng, et al., 2011)

The Influence of Childcare Arrangements on Child Well Being from Infancy to Middle Childhood

In 2012, the Family Support Agency (now Túsla, the Child and Family Agency) in collaboration with the Irish Research Council commissioned this study to investigate the wellbeing of children from families in which the parents are in employment and the children are minded by others. The study set out to describe the uptake of non-parental care from infancy to middle childhood, and to determine how such uptake influences the wellbeing of children. This is the first national study of the well-being of children from infancy to midd le childhood in the Irish context. The key research objectives were: 1. To explore the relationship between childcare arrangements in early childhood and out-of- school care in middle childhood and children’s physical, cognitive and socio-emotional outcomes; and, 2. To identify the key risk factors associated with children’s well-being from infancy to middle childhood

The Influence of Childcare Arrangements on Child Well Being from Infancy to Middle Childhood

In 2012, the Family Support Agency (now Túsla, the Child and Family Agency) in collaboration with the Irish Research Council commissioned this study to investigate the wellbeing of children from families in which the parents are in employment and the children are minded by others. The study set out to describe the uptake of non-parental care from infancy to middle childhood, and to determine how such uptake influences the wellbeing of children. This is the first national study of the well-being of children from infancy to midd le childhood in the Irish context. The key research objectives were: 1. To explore the relationship between childcare arrangements in early childhood and out-of- school care in middle childhood and children’s physical, cognitive and socio-emotional outcomes; and, 2. To identify the key risk factors associated with children’s well-being from infancy to middle childhood

The Making of Wellbeing Measurement:: A (Kind of) Study Protocol

In this paper, we propose a ‘study protocol’ for researching the becomings of the Danish national wellbeing survey for schools. We engage with the idea of a published research protocol that originates from positivist research paradigms and medical research in particular. Within these paradigms, protocol serves the purpose of ensuring the objectivity and replicability of the research in question, and provides a sense of security to the researcher in terms of the quality of the research design. In contrast, with ideas of transmethodology in mind, we suggest a protocol that endeavours to support researchers to engage with ambiguity, uncertainty and singularity in research while still being attentive to quality. We suggest a protocol that helps de-stabilize the concept of wellbeing in schools and looks at how wellbeing as an object of measurement is (re)configured, who the human and non-human actors involved are, and what effects their assembling produces. These questions require research practices that acknowledge the complexities of the human condition and the richness of the social and material world. Instead of suggesting a “paradigm shift”, we are inspired by Patti Lather, who argues for a proliferation of paradigms, where proliferation refers to forming a pattern of interference. In other words, proliferation calls for reflection on the inconsistencies, confusion, disorganization of the research process, and both our need and caution to position ourselves epistemologically and ontologically. The protocol we suggest deploys diverse, sometimes complementary, sometimes contrasting methods, analytical strategies or theoretical perspectives in order to explore the problem at hand and engage with the ironies, tensions and uncertainties inherent to research

‘What Kind of Education System are We Offering’: The Views of Education Professionals on School Refusal

In recent years, there has been a growing concern about the issue of school refusal, particularly given the adverse effects on young people’s social, emotional and educational development. School refusal is understood differently within contemporary literature; as a symptom of an underlying mental illness or disorder, or alternatively, as a signal that all is not well in the young person’s world. These varying construal’s have important implications for education responses to school refusal.  This study explores education professionals' views and experiences of school refusal within second level schools in Ireland. The findings from seventeen in-depth interviews highlight the complex nature of school refusal and unique challenges it presents for professionals, young people and parents.  Key themes include emotional and psychological distress experienced by young people and their exposure to adverse childhood experiences and trauma; the influence of family socio economic status and unequal access to support services and resources; the pressures for academic achievement and resulting conflictual relationships within the school environment and between home and school.  This study highlights the need for trauma-informed approaches in schools and urges future research to consider school refusal within wider debates on social justice and the goals and purposes of education.

Electrophysiological Activity Generated During the Implicit Association Test: A Study Using Event-Related Potentials

The Implicit Association Test (IAT) examines the differential association of 2 target concepts with 2 attribute concepts. Responding is predicted to be faster on consistent trials, when concepts that are associated in memory share a response key, than on inconsistent trials, when less associated items share a key. In the current study, event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while participants were engaged in an IAT task. Two positively valenced stimuli (baby and romance) and two negatively valenced stimuli (spider and snake) were employed as category labels. Results showed shorter response latencies on consistent relative to inconsistent trials. Differential EEG activity was also observed.. Consistent trials tended to generate more positive waveforms in the central and parietal areas relative to inconsistent trials during the 300- to 400-ms interval following stimulus onset. During the 400- to 600-ms interval, inconsistent trials were significantly more positive than consistent trials at the two prefrontal sites and significantly more negative at the two central sites. Comparisons between the EEG activity generated in the current IAT study and that generated by semantic priming are discussed

Three Chronometric Indices of Relational Responding as Predictors of Performance on a Brief Intelligence Test: The Importance of Relational Flexibility

Participants completed a before/after and a similar/different relational task, using the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP), and subsequently took the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT). For each relational task, response latencies were measured first on consistent trials, where participants responded in accordance with preestablished verbal relations, and then on inconsistent trials, where they responded against these relations. A difference-score was calculated by subtracting consistent from inconsistent response latencies. The inconsistent trials and the difference-score provided measures of relational flexibility. Results showed that faster responding on the IRAP and smaller difference- scores predicted higher IQ. These findings suggest that relational flexibility is an important component of intelligence and might therefore be targeted in educational settings

Three Chronometric Indices of Relational Responding as Predictors of Performance on a Brief Intelligence Test: The Importance of Relational Flexibility

Participants completed a before/after and a similar/different relational task, using the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP), and subsequently took the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT). For each relational task, response latencies were measured first on consistent trials, where participants responded in accordance with preestablished verbal relations, and then on inconsistent trials, where they responded against these relations. A difference-score was calculated by subtracting consistent from inconsistent response latencies. The inconsistent trials and the difference-score provided measures of relational flexibility. Results showed that faster responding on the IRAP and smaller difference- scores predicted higher IQ. These findings suggest that relational flexibility is an important component of intelligence and might therefore be targeted in educational settings