The Importance Of Coaching: A Program Evaluation Of The Americorps College Completion Coaches Program

As more students enroll than earn a post-secondary credential, persistence toward completion and graduation have become issues in community colleges. This program evaluation highlights the AmeriCorps College Completion Coach program implemented across community colleges in Ohio during 2012–2017 under the leadership of the Ohio Association of Community Colleges (OACC). The program goal is to improve postsecondary credential obtainment by increasing course completion and credit hour accumulation. This outcome is achieved by providing coaching to at-risk students in community colleges across Ohio. This study sought to discover the AmeriCorps College Completion Coach program’s best practices for student support services and explored the program’s goal of increasing college completion rates. In studying the facets of the AmeriCorps College Completion Coach program, two cycles of descriptive coding were used, as it allowed for a comprehensive view of the program. Using a descriptive coding process with a thematic analysis, three themes emerged from the desk review program evaluation. The first theme was Interventions, which described the AmeriCorps College Completion Coach program’s strategy to improve student performance and increase a student’s persistence to completion. The second theme was At-Risk Students, which alludes to the program identifying students enrolled in one of the following courses: remedial English or math; first year experience; science, technology, engineering and math (STEM); or other college gateway courses. The third theme was AmeriCorps, which described the commitment of a service member. This program evaluation contends that coaching can provide a focal point for a community college’s efforts toward increasing completion rates. This study provides insight to build capacity and knowledge of coaches, aiming to increase the educational attainment of community college students. The study also provides recommendations for future action and future research, such as evaluating the long term effects of coaching

Social Media, Depressive Symptoms and Well-Being in Early Adolescence. The Moderating Role of Emotional Self-Efficacy and Gender

The study of the psychological effects of social media use on adolescents’ adjustment has long been the focus of psychological research, but results are still inconclusive. In particular, there is a lack of research on the positive and negative developmental outcomes and on possible moderating variables, especially concerning early adolescence. To fill these gaps in literature, the present study longitudinally investigated the relationships between social media use, depressive symptoms, affective well-being and life satisfaction, as well as the moderating role of emotional self-efficacy and gender. The study involved 336 Italian early adolescents (mean age = 13, sd = 0.3; 48% girls) who completed an anonymous self-report questionnaire twice within a year. Main results showed that higher social media use was related to higher depressive symptoms, lower affective well-being and lower life satisfaction among girls with lower emotional self-efficacy. Conversely, high social media use was related to higher affective well-being and higher life satisfaction for girls with higher emotional self-efficacy. Results are discussed in relation to their implications for risk prevention and health promotion among early adolescents. In particular, our results suggest that promoting emotional self-efficacy can be very helpful in making the use of social media an opportunity for well-being and life satisfaction rather than a developmental risk

Assessment of Natural Resources Use for Sustainable Development - DPSIR Framework for Case Studies in Portsmouth and Thames Gateway, U.K.

This chapter reports on the uses of the DPSIR framework to assess the sustainability of the intertidal environments within the two UK case study areas, Portsmouth and Thames Gateway. It focuses on statutory conservation areas dominated by intertidal habitats. Two are located in Portsmouth (Portsmouth and Langstone Harbours) and four in the Thames Gateway (Benfleet Marshes, South Thames Estuary, Medway Estuary and the Swale in the Thames Gateway). Based on the reduction of a number of pressures and impacts observed in recent decades and the improvement of overall environmental quality, all six SSSIs are considered to be sustainable in the short and medium term. In the future, it is possible that the impacts of climate change, especially sea-level rise, might result in further reduction in the area and/or quality of intertidal habitats. Further integration between conservation and planning objectives (both for urban development and management of flood risk) at local level is needed to support the long-term sustainability of intertidal habitats

First-Time Mothers’ and Fathers’ Developmental Changes in the Perception of Their Daughters’ and Sons’ Temperament: Its Association With Parents’ Mental Health

Objective: Most studies investigating the role of parenting behaviors on a child’s development are directed to mothers. However, recent analyses show that mothers and fathers have a different influence on a child’s functioning, specifically her/his temperament. The present study explored the developmental change of parents’ perception of their daughters’ and sons’ temperament and its association with parental mental health problems. Methods: The sample included 188 parents (94 couples) and their at-term 94 babies (55.3% boys, 44.7% girls). Assessments by self-reports were conducted at 3 (Time 1) and 12 (Time 2) months after the children’s birth; at Time 1, mothers and fathers independently answered: the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), and the Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ-R). At Time 2, EPDS, STAI, and IBQ-R were again administered to mothers and fathers. Results: In general, mothers and fathers would give similar descriptions of their child’s temperament throughout the first year of life; however, infant temperament showed developmental changes as well as gender differences. Mother and father anxiety and depression symptoms are associated with the infants’ negative affectivity. Also, mothers with high anxiety and depression levels perceive their infants with a minor tendency to approach novelty, to seek environmental stimulation, and to express/experience positive emotions. Conclusion: The results highlight the need to screen for infants’ temperament vulnerabilities in the context of maternal and paternal depression in order to protect the child from behavioral, cognitive, and emotional difficulties and to create specific programs aimed at preventing dysfunctional parent–infant relationships

Evolution of the Phenolic Content and Extractability Indices During Ripening of Nebbiolo Grapes from the Piedmont Growing Areas over Six Consecutive Years

The phenolic composition and extractability indices of grape berries play a key role in assessing redwine quality because the relationship between grape phenolic maturity and wine phenolic compositionis well known. In this work, grape quality indices were determined in Nebbiolo grapes from two growingareas of Langhe (South Piedmont), at different stages throughout the ripening process in six consecutiveyears (2004 to 2009), with the aim of evaluating the ripening- and growing area-related changes in thegrape indices separately. The effect of vintage was also investigated. Ripeness data were compared withanalogous data determined in Nebbiolo grapes grown in the Carema area (North Piedmont). The vintageeffect far outweighed any changes in the grape indices introduced by the ripening stage, even those arisingfrom differences in the production area. In the Langhe and Carema zones, the average berry mass, pH,total acidity, total anthocyanins extractable at pH 3.2, total flavonoids and non-anthocyanin flavonoidsextractable at pH 1, and the seed maturity index were seasonally dependent. The more ripening-affectedparameters were the technological ones. This work highlights the importance of determining the phenolextractability, since it provides relevant information that allows improved management of the macerationstage

Motor Outcome Measures in Pediatric Patients with Congenital Muscular Dystrophies: A Scoping Review

Congenital muscular dystrophies (CMDs) are a heterogeneous group of genetic neuromuscular disorders. They usually occur at birth or in early childhood, with delayed acquisition of motor milestones, and diffuse muscle weakness. A dystrophic pattern is evident on the muscle biopsy. They are highly variable both in terms of severity and clinical evolution and in terms of pathogenetic biochemical mechanisms. The aim of this review is to collect and summarize the current knowledge of motor function in pediatric patients with congenital muscular dystrophies and the instruments used to assess it. This scoping review was conducted using the methodology of PRISMA (extension for Scoping Reviews, PRISMA-ScR). Two databases were queried from January 2002 to November 2022. Articles were identified based on title and abstract. Full-text papers published in peer-reviewed English-language journals were selected. It emerged that motor functional aspects are still underinvestigated in CMD patients, probably due to the rarity of these conditions and the phenotypic variability. The scales used to assess motor function are heterogeneous, as are the age groups considered. Finally, the predominant type of research design is cross-sectional; few studies analyze the progression of motor function over time. All these factors make it difficult to correlate the results of different publications and stress the need for more accurate and shared protocols for assessing motor function in these patients