Adolescent stress, help-seeking intentions, subjective achievement and life satisfaction in New Zealand: Tests of mediation, moderated mediation and moderation

© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. We present the results of a study examining adolescent help-seeking intentions (HSIs), stress, subjective school achievement and life satisfaction. Using a cross-sectional design with a sample of New Zealand adolescents (n = 1601), we tested whether HSIs could mediate or moderate relations between stress and subjective achievement, and between stress and life satisfaction. We inspected these dynamics alongside different help sources (informal and formal) and domains where stress might be experienced (school and personal). Using mediation testing, findings suggest that informal HSIs have at least some influence on the relations between stress and well-being indicators, whereas formal HSIs did not. Conditional indirect effects for the mediation models (moderated mediation) revealed that gender and age did not moderate the relations between stress and informal HSIs, or between stress and well-being indicators with one exception: gender moderated the relation between personal stress and informal HSIs. In most models, tests of moderation lent support for a protective-reactive model in which HSIs reduce the adverse effects of stress on well-being indicators. Discussion focuses on modelling and promoting help-seeking activities across diverse support sources, and doing so earlier in life so that adolescents can benefit from well-honed coping strategies

Social cognition and relational aggression: an investigation of the cognitive bases of preschoolers' aggressive behaviour

Theoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 208-240.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Study of aggression -- Chapter 3. Relational aggression in young children -- Chapter 4. Factors that influe4nce relational aggression -- Chapter 5. Methodological approach -- Chapter 6. Study One. Teacher and parent beliefs about aggression -- Chapter 7. Study Two. Preschool children’s use of aggression and socio-psychological wellbeing factors -- Chapter 8. Study Three. Understanding the intentionality and function of young children’s aggressive behaviour -- Chapter 9. Study Four. Children’s normative beliefs and behavioural responses to aggression -- Chapter 10. Discussion and implications.Young children’s social cognitive understanding of aggression and reasons for engaging in aggressive behaviour are often overlooked in aggression research. It is often assumed that preschool age children do not have the cognitive capacity to explain or justify their behaviour and there remains a paucity of appropriate measures of young children’s social cognitive understanding of aggression. The aim of this study was to address preschool age children’s use of relational aggression and the social cognitive processes that may underlie these behaviours through the development of a ‘preschooler-friendly’ measure with a view to understanding the reasons why children engage in aggression, as well as children’s normative beliefs about, and behavioural responses to, relational and physical provocation. The study also assessed teacher and parent normative beliefs about, and intervention responses for different types of aggression to determine the relationship between children’s cognitive processing and ecological factors. This study aimed to extend research by examining the socio-psychological factors of relationally and physically aggressive children in an Australian sample.A representative sample of preschool age children (N = 68) participated in this study, yielding two subgroups compromising highly relationally aggressive (n = 9) and typically developing (n = 7) children. The identification of two subgroups allowed for differences in relationally aggressive and typically developing children’s social cognitive processing to be examined. This study found that relational aggression was viewed as more acceptable by teachers and parents compared to physical aggression and these normative beliefs were accompanied by more passive intervention strategies in response to relational aggression. Relational and physical aggression predicted both functionally adaptive and maladaptive socio-psychological factors in this sample of preschool age children. The newly developed measure was able to identify differences in the social cognitive explanations and responses to provocation of relationally aggressive and typically developing children. Highly relationally aggressive children were more likely to recommend prosocial problem solving responses and have higher quality social interactions with peers and adults, whereas typically developing children recommended typical aggressive responses to provocation. The significance of these results for understanding the development of aggression and implications for early school based interventions are discussed.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (xii, 295 pages) graphs, table

Relational aggression in preschoolers : can theory of mind development explain such complex forms of social manipulation?

The role of cognitive processes in explanations of aggressive behaviour have challenged the perception of the typical child bully as lacking in social skills (Nicolaides, Toda, & Smith, 2002), while others have suggested that sophisticated theory of mind may be required to engage in subtle acts of aggression (Sutton, Smith, & Swettenham, 1999a). However, the role of theory of mind in explaining aggressive behaviours is equivocal in that some studies report a significant association between theory of mind and hostile behaviours (Björkqvist, Österman, & Kaukiainen, 2000), while others report a significant association between theory of mind and prosocial behaviours (Watson, Nixon, Wilson, & Capage, 1999). In this study, the relationship between theory of mind development and preschool-aged childrenʼs engagement in relational aggression and prosocial behaviours was examined in an Australian sample. Sixty 3- to 5- year old children (35 boys, 25 girls) participated in five theory-of-mind tasks designed to assess their understanding of desires, beliefs, knowledge access, false belief, and real-apparent emotion (Wellman & Liu, 2004). The Preschool Social Behaviour Scale – Teacher Form (Crick, Casas, & Mosher, 1997) was used by teachers to rate childrenʼs engagement in relational aggression and prosocial behaviours. Results indicated that teachers identified high levels of relationally aggressive behaviours in 20 percent of the sample (n = 12). preschool aged children. Teachers reported significantly more relational aggression in the oldest age group of children (aged > 4.5 years). However, this study did not find a positive correlation between relational aggression and theory of mind development, and no significant differences were found for gender or between younger and older childrenʼs theory of mind performance (p>0.05). Relational aggression was related to lower scores of prosocial behaviours (p<0.05). Results are discussed in terms of conceptual and methodological considerations in the use of theory of mind as an explanation of relational aggression and practical implications for Australian early childhood settings and schools are considered.18 page(s

Relational aggression and prosocial behaviours in Australian preschool children

Relational aggresion is a subtle form of aggressive behaviour that uses dyadic relationships and manipulation as a vehicle of harm. Little is known about relational aggression in preschool-age children in cultural contexts outside the United States. This study examined relationally aggressive behaviours and prosocial behaviours in Australian preschoolers. The sample consisted of 60 children aged from three to five years (35 boys, 25 girls). Teachers rated children's social behaviour in terms of relational aggression and prosocial behaviour. Results indicated that teachers report significantly more relational aggression in the oldest age group of children (aged > 4.5 years). Relational aggression was related to lower scores of prosocial behaviour (p < 0.05). No significant differences were found between boys' and girls' engagement in relational aggression and prosocial behaviours. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of recognising the prevalence of these aggressive behaviours in Australian preschool-age children and the need for immediate intervention.5 page(s

Professional learning opportunities for postgraduate specialist teachers

This project developed a coaching resource that reflects the insights and hindsights of what Field Advisors (qualified Early Intervention Teachers) and postgraduate Early Intervention students find critical in their coaching relationship during students’ practicum. The coaching resource gives voice to their experiential-based knowledge and understanding. Experiential based postgraduate programmes have an important and increasing role in New Zealand in the post-compulsory education sector, which includes adult and community education, workplace education, and formal tertiary institutions such as University and Polytechnics. Coaching is seen as an important strategy for supporting co-enquiry and professional learning of undergraduate students participating in experiential-based degrees such as psychology and education (Smith et al., 2012). However, to our knowledge, no empirical evidence of the effectiveness of this approach with postgraduate students, at least in New Zealand if not internationally, is available. For this study, we collected data on Field Advisor (i.e. experienced early intervention teacher) and coachee (i.e. postgraduate student learning to become an early intervention teacher) perceptions of the critical attributes that contribute to a successful coaching relationship. These insights and hindsights were then used to develop a coaching resource that can be used by Field Advisors and students during their practicum to build the key attributes and characteristics necessary for a successful coaching relationship. This coaching resource can be used in other educational and professional contexts where coaching relationships exist. Eleven postgraduate students and seven of their Field Advisors took part in the project. The Field Advisors were experienced Early Intervention Teachers (EITs) working in early intervention services such as the Ministry of Education, CCS Disability Action, Conductive Education, and the Champion Centre. Students were qualified and experienced early childhood educators working as teachers or EITs. Field Advisors and students were paired based on the region they worked in. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with Field Advisors and students. Transcript data were imported into the qualitative research software, NVivo version 12, and a thematic analysis was used to identify key themes that represent attributes of a successful coaching relationship. An important aspect of the coaching relationship was that it was reciprocal and non-judgemental. Field Advisors and students stated that key attributes of a good coach include reciprocity, invites input and reflection, relational behaviours, provides constructive feedback and feedforward, suggests and models a range of strategies and approaches, extends and challenges, and promotes joint planning. Key attributes of a good coachee include being open-minded, flexible and adaptable, engages in the learning process, respectful and professional etiquette and engages in inquiry and reflection

Preschool children’s beliefs about the acceptability of relational and physical aggression

This research examined differences in beliefs about the acceptability of aggression and behavioral responses to aggression of preschool-aged children. Two groups, identified from teacher ratings, participated in the research. One group of children exhibited relationally aggressive behaviors, and a comparison group was identified with non-aggressive behaviors. Children’s social skills were assessed through observations. Beliefs about the acceptability of aggression and behavioral responses to aggression were assessed using four vignettes presented with toy figures. Children were encouraged to use the figurines to verbalize or enact responses. Children’s responses were analyzed and could be categorized as problem-solving or aggressive responses. There were no significant differences between groups on beliefs about the acceptability of aggression. However, younger children held more accepting beliefs about aggression. The methodological technique identified that relationally aggressive children used more problem-solving and conflict resolution strategies compared to children in the comparison group. These findings have important implications for educators in recognizing that not all forms of aggression are associated with fewer prosocial problem-solving skills. Methodological techniques employed in this study are recommended for use in the delivery of intervention programs aimed at reducing aggressive behaviors of preschool children.17 page(s

From beliefs to behaviour : investigating pre‐schoolers normative beliefs and behavioural responses to aggression

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