Job Stress Moderates the Effects of a Mindfulness Intervention on Early Childhood Teachers\u27 Emotion Dysregulation

Addressing the current crisis of early childhood (EC) teacher turnover is essential for supporting the development of young children. Teacher attrition remains a concern for policymakers globally, and in the United States, early childhood teachers frequently cite job stress and lack of support as reasons for leaving the field. For over 40 years, researchers who study childcare have been concerned about the consequences of work-related stressors. Even if these stressors do not result in turnover, EC teachers’ psychological well-being may be impacted, leading to increased emotion regulation difficulties and more frequent negative teacher-child interactions. Young children’s emotional development is significantly influenced by their experiences in these early education settings, especially by their relationships and interactions with their teachers. Mindfulness-based interventions have emerged as promising approaches for reducing teacher stress and burnout. It is unknown, however, whether responsiveness to these types of interventions may differ based on individuals’ baseline characteristics. The current study aimed to investigate moderators of intervention responsiveness by examining whether the impact of an eight-week compassion-based mindfulness intervention on emotion dysregulation differs for EC teachers with differing levels of job stress at baseline. Approximately 157 EC teachers completed online surveys including demographics, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), the Child Care Worker Job Stress Inventory, and the Effort-Reward Imbalance Scale at both pre- and post-intervention. Previous work with the current intervention offered preliminary evidence that participation in the mindfulness compassion-based program decreased early childhood teachers’ emotion dysregulation. We aimed to replicate and extend these findings in an independent sample and use moderation analyses to further our understanding of this intervention. Analyses revealed a significant interaction between intervention assignment and childcare worker job stress as predictors of change in emotion dysregulation from pre to post. In this way, the intervention effect depended on levels of job stress, such that early childhood teachers reporting the highest levels of job stress at baseline demonstrated the largest intervention effects on emotion dysregulation. Assessing individuals’ baseline and contextual characteristics, such as childcare worker job stress, may inform efforts to match teachers with interventions likely to be most effective for them. Advisor: Holly Hatton-Bower

Encouraging Students To “Think Like a Scientist” Through Picture Books Designed to Support Research-Based Science Education

The purpose of this thesis was to develop a series of nonfiction picture books, Think Like a Scientist, to help children see themselves as scientists by stepping into the shoes of real-life scientists. Each book in the series focuses on a crosscutting concept (one of the three dimensions of the Next Generation Science Standards) and how three scientists used the concept when making revolutionary discoveries. Novel to the series are strategically spaced questions that encourage readers to interact with the text by engaging in the same thought processes as real scientists. The series is intended support research-based elementary science education by incorporating phenomena and embedding effective questioning techniques. Think Like a Scientist introduces diverse STEM careers and scientists, scaffolds scientific thought and discussions for both children and adults, reveals the process behind interesting discoveries, and enriches a child’s understanding of the world. Seven picture book manuscripts are followed by a critical essay that describes the series’ research basis, the reasoning behind strategic series development decisions, where the series fits within current nonfiction picture book publishing, and a detailed description of the series

Engendered Spaces: An Analysis of the Formation and Perpetuation of Female Spheres in Ghana

The following paper seeks to address the complex structures that women have created to facilitate their multiple roles in society. I argue that although there is great community in these female-dominated spheres they have formed to orchestrate their duties, the pattern of gender-division is both a product and a perpetuation of the marginalization of their space in the greater society. I open my paper with an anecdotal analysis of the micro-community of a woman\u27s world that the market provides, detailing the complex social, political, and economic structures within that realm. I continue to commend the complexity of this community but to call attention to the lack of ownership these women have once they leave he market environment. Then I move into an analysis of the ways that these market relations have been transported into the public and private gender spheres of women in more formal realms. Here I analyze the new issues that women face in this work and how many of these issues, such as competition, discrimination, lack of access to education, and social conditioning, have led their opportunities to be compartmentalized and limited. I conclude the paper with a discussion of he significance of these spaces in a culturally appropriate understanding of Western feminism

NAELA Advocacy Seeks to Influence Public Policy

The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys is an organization with an agenda. This advocacy group works to improve legislation affecting its professionals and their clients

NAELA Advocacy Seeks to Influence Public Policy

The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys is an organization with an agenda. This advocacy group works to improve legislation affecting its professionals and their clients

An exploratory study of passion in professional ballet dancers

An exploratory study of passion in professional ballet dancer

Why me? Connections between socioeconomic status, religiosity, perceived personal control, and views of suffering

When tragedy strikes, how do individuals make sense of suffering? If God is good, why do bad things happen to good people? Do people differ in how they understand suffering based on socioeconomic status and on religiosity and the way in which they view God? Research indicates that individuals of lower socioeconomic status tend to be more religious that those higher in economic status (Wimberley, 2016). However low SES individuals also tend to perceive themselves as having less control over their lives and God as having more control (Schieman, 2010). High SES individuals report feeling that they have more control over their lives than God (Schieman, 2010). How do individuals of differing SES view suffering? The present study examines the relationship between SES, religiosity, and views of suffering using the Views of Suffering Scale (Hale-Smith, Park, & Edmondson, 2012

Investigating moderators of daily marital to parent–child spillover: Individual and family systems approaches

Objective: We tested whether cognitive reappraisal and coparenting quality moderate marital to parent–child spillover in mothers and fathers. Background: The influence of marital relationship quality on parent–child relationships, referred to as the spillover effect, is well documented. Factors that may attenuate the occurrence of spillover, however, remain unclear. Cognitive reappraisal, an emotion regulation strategy that promotes the reframing of emotional situations as neutral or positive, and coparenting—the intermediate subsystem between the marital and parent–child relationships—may buffer the effects of marital to parent–child spillover. Method: Using daily diary data from mother–father couples (N = 96) of young children (Mage = 3.22 years), we investigated coparenting quality and cognitive reappraisal as moderators of marital and parent–child spillover within and between days. Results: Dyadic multilevel models revealed within-day spillover of marital emotional climate and parent–child emotional climate for both mothers and fathers. Whereas cognitive reappraisal moderated spillover for fathers, no significant moderators emerged for mothers. Fathers also experienced next-day associations between marital emotional climate and parent–child emotional climate the following day, whereas mothers did not. Coparenting quality accounted for next-day associations between fathers’ marital emotional climate and parent–child climate. Conclusion: Overall, our results evince that although spillover can be attenuated by both cognitive reappraisal and coparenting quality for fathers, the same is not true for mothers. Implications: These results signify the importance of considering mother and father differences in empirical investigations of spillover effects and processes within the family system, and the clinical implications recommended to marriage and family therapists

ARLIS/NA Oral History for Distinguished Service Award Winners, Sherman Clarke and Daniel Starr

Emily Walz interviews Distinguished Service Award winners Sherman Clarke (2005) and Daniel Starr (2014) on June 6, 2017, at the New York Public Library. Both librarians are career catalogers who joined ARLIS in its earliest years; Clarke is best known as the founder of Art NACO. Clarke and Starr both share their experiences during the Vietnam War, when each was classified as a conscientious objector. The interview covers the challenges of the Society, including working with management companies and volunteer participation. The interviewees also discuss the culture of ARLIS/NA, in particular its inclusion of gay and lesbian members. Clarke and Starr are long-standing roommates at annual conferences

Results of surgical management of acute thromboembolic lower extremity ischemia

ObjectiveAcute lower extremity ischemia secondary to arterial thromboembolism is a common problem. Contemporary data regarding this problem are sparse. This report examines a 10-year single-center experience and describes the surgical management and outcomes observed.MethodsProcedural codes were used to identify consecutive patients treated surgically for acute lower extremity embolization from January 2002 to September 2012. Patients presenting >7 days after onset of symptoms, occlusion of grafts/stents, and cases secondary to trauma or iatrogenic injury were excluded. Data collected included demographics, medical comorbidities, presenting clinical characteristics, procedural specifics, and postoperative outcomes. Results were evaluated using descriptive statistics, product-limit survival analysis, and logistic regression multivariable modeling.ResultsThe study sample included 170 patients (47% female). Mean age was 69.1 ± 16.0 years. Of these, 82 patients (49%) had a previous history of atrial fibrillation, and four (2%) were therapeutically anticoagulated (international normalized ratio ≥2.0) at presentation. Presentation for 83% was >6 hours after symptom onset, and 9% presented with a concurrent acute stroke. Femoral artery exploration with embolectomy was the most common procedural management and was used for aortic, iliac, and infrainguinal occlusion. Ten patients (6%) required bypass for limb salvage during the initial operation. Local instillation of thrombolytic agents as an adjunct to embolectomy was used in 16%, fasciotomies were performed in 39%, and unexpected return to the operating room occurred in 24%. Ninety-day amputation above or below the knee was required during the index hospitalization in 26 patients (15%). In-hospital or 30-day mortality was 18%. Median (interquartile range) length of stay was 8 days (4, 16 days), and 36% of patients were discharged to a nursing facility. Recurrent extremity embolization occurred in 23 patients (14%) at a median interval of 1.6 months. The 5-year amputation freedom and survival estimates were 80% and 41%, respectively. Predictors of 90-day amputation included prior vascular surgery, gangrene, and fasciotomy. Predictors of 30-day mortality included age, history of coronary artery disease, prior vascular surgery, and concurrent stroke.ConclusionsDespite advances in contemporary medical care, lower extremity arterial embolization remains a condition that is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Furthermore, the condition is resource-intensive to treat and is likely preventable (initially or in recurrence) in a substantial subset of patients