Search

According to the Hong Kong Education Bureau, the number of students with special education needs (SEN) has been on the rise. In order to cope with an increasing demand for inclusive education, professional training programmes aiming for pre-service teachers to educate students with SEN have increased locally. Guided by the theory of planned behaviour, this study aims to investigate the relations between Chinese pre-service teachers' views and self-efficacy in implementing inclusive education in Hong Kong. A total of 94 Chinese pre-service teachers were recruited at a public university to complete an online questionnaire. Controlling for age, teaching experience, and relevant training, differential effects were found between pre-service teachers' views and self-efficacy. Specifically, teachers' positive attitudes towards inclusion were related to their greater self-efficacy in implementing inclusive instructions and managing students' behaviours. Teachers' fewer sentiments about inclusion were related to their greater self-efficacy in collaborating with parents and professionals. Teachers' fewer concerns about knowledge, workload, and overall feasibility were also related to their greater self-efficacy in collaboration and behavioural management. These findings broaden the literature and inform policy makers the need to strengthen teachers' efficacy by reducing practical barriers and increasing their positive attitudes towards inclusion.

Despite ample research on the role of parental autonomy support in adolescents' adjustment, the affective processes underlying parental autonomy support remain relatively unclear. As an initial step to fill this gap, the current research examined whether the association between parental autonomy support and adolescents' school adjustment was in part channeled through their experience of positive emotions. American and Chinese adolescents (N = 562, mean age = 12.72 years) reported on their parents' use of autonomy-supportive practices, their own experiences of positive emotions, and self-regulated learning strategies, at three time points. American and Chinese adolescents who perceived their parents as autonomy-supportive were more likely to experience heightened positive emotions 6 months later. In turn, such positive emotional experiences were predictive of adolescents' subsequent use of self-regulation in their learning endeavors. There was also evidence that adolescents' experiences of positive emotions partially accounted for the associations between parental autonomy support and adolescents' self-regulated learning.

The present study investigated preservice teachers' self-efficacy in classroom management involving students with symptoms of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). A total of 137 Chinese preservice teachers were randomly presented with one of four vignettes involving a student character with ADHD symptoms, with manipulations including the character's gender and diagnostic label of ADHD. Upon reading the vignette, participants responded to questions concerning their self-efficacy in inclusive classroom management involving the character. Findings based on analysis of covariance indicated an interaction effect of the vignette character's gender and label on teachers' self-efficacy. Specifically, teachers perceived greater self-efficacy in a classroom involving a girl with an ADHD label than in a classroom involving a girl with no label or a boy with a label. Findings enriched the literature concerning the roles of gender and label in preservice teachers' self-efficacy toward inclusive classroom management.

Emerging adulthood (EA) is a critical stage of life to develop and sustain a healthy lifestyle, which is also a time of vulnerability to poor physical and mental health outcomes. In this study, we conducted a path analysis (N = 1326) to examine associations among four dimensions of EA, levels of regular physical activity (PA), self-control, MPA tendency and irrational procrastination. Results found: 1) higher levels of PA predicted both MPA tendency (β = -0.08, 95% CI: -0.11 to -0.06, p < 0.001) and irrational procrastination (β = -0.01, 95% CI: -0.17 to -0.008, p < 0.01) indirectly via self-control; 2) Instability (β = 0.13, 95% CI: 0.08 to 0.18, p < 0.01) and Responsibility (β = -0.06, 95% CI: -0.10 to -0.08, p = 0.03) exerted direct effects on irrational procrastination and Instability also indirectly predicted irrational procrastination via MPA tendency (β = 0.03, 95% CI: 0.02 to 0.05, p < 0.01). These findings proved that perceived features of EA are linked to behavioral problems and supported that regular PA plays a crucial role to protect mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about many changes in family routines and introduced new stressors for parents. While stressors can lead to parental burnout, coparenting support may mitigate the effects of parental stress on parental burnout. The current study explored the effects of parental stress, COVID-19 stress, and coparenting support on parental burnout during the second year of the pandemic. Participants consisted of one hundred fifty-five parents in the USA (M = 39.6, SD = 7.38; female = 94.8%). Results suggested parental stress was positively associated with parental burnout while coparenting support was negatively associated with parental burnout. These findings highlight the importance of addressing parental stress and support to minimize the risk of parental burnout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study tested the mediating role of maladaptive emotion regulation and trust in parents between parent–child conflict and emerging adults' depressive symptoms. A total of 196 Chinese emerging adults at 18–25 years of age (M = 20.02; SD = 2.67; 43.88% women) completed an online self-reported questionnaire on parent–child conflict, trust in parents, emotion regulation, and depressive symptoms. Path analyses were conducted to analyze the cross-sectional data. Findings suggested that parent–child conflict was associated with greater maladaptive emotion regulation and depressive symptoms. Mother–child conflict was associated with emerging adults' lower trust in mothers. Also, trust in fathers was associated with fewer depressive symptoms. Regardless of the parents' gender, maladaptive emotion regulation and trust did not mediate the relation between parent–child conflict and depressive symptoms. Despite the null findings of the mediation processes, the study advanced our knowledge about the role of family processes in emerging adults' depressive symptoms, particularly in the Chinese context. The findings informed practitioners and researchers aiming to foster positive family functioning and reduce depressive symptoms among emerging adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescents all over the world are vulnerable in facing developmental challenges. Recent studies have evidenced that the unexpected interruptions of school learning during the COVID-19 pandemic have raised concerns about the well-being of adolescents. This present study sought to investigate the relationship between mindfulness, stress, savoring beliefs, and satisfaction of life among adolescents in Hong Kong during COVID-19. A total of 240 Hong Kong Chinese adolescents between 15 and 19 years of age (M = 15.60; SD = 0.70) from schools with different religious backgrounds completed an online survey. Findings from hierarchical linear regression indicated that statistically, mindfulness negatively predicted stress and positively predicted life satisfaction and savoring beliefs. Students with faiths did not show any significant differences in mindfulness and other variables in this study from students without faiths. In terms of implications, these findings provide positive evidence that mindfulness may be an important aspect for interventions designed to enhance life satisfaction and savoring beliefs, and reduce stress of adolescents over challenging times. Overall, this study suggests youth service providers to develop effective strategies in schools and communities for further promoting wellbeing and resilience of adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study examined the transactional relations between mothers' and fathers' destructive interparental conflict tactics and mindful parenting practices. Background: According to family systems theory and spillover hypothesis, interparental conflict sets the stage for parents' future levels of conflict as well as parenting difficulties. However, research on the link between conflict and mindful parenting practices remains scarce. The present study aims to investigate the longitudinal relations between mothers' and fathers' interparental conflict tactics and mindful parenting practices. Method: Participants were 386 families involving mothers and fathers of adolescent children at 12–17 years old. Mothers and fathers completed questionnaire reports of destructive interparental conflict and mindful parenting at two time points spanning 12 months apart. A structural equation model was conducted to examine the relations between conflict tactics and mindful parenting practices. Results: Findings indicated that mothers' and fathers' destructive conflict predicted their own and their spouses' subsequent destructive conflict, as well as mindful parenting practices. Mothers' and fathers' mindful parenting predicted their own mindful parenting longitudinally, but did not predict the other variables. Conclusion: Supporting the spillover hypothesis, this study revealed the longitudinal effect of interparental conflict on mindful parenting, regardless of parent gender. Findings suggested dyadic effects between mothers and fathers, in that destructive conflict tactics were associated with future conflict tactics and mindful parenting practices employed by themselves and their spouses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]