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Globally, mental disorders are the leading cause of disability in children and adolescents. Previous research has demonstrated that supportive relationships are a key protective factor against poor mental health in children, particularly amongst those who have experienced adversity. However, fewer studies have examined the relative impact of different types of supportive relationships. The current study examined the association between level of family adult support, school adult support, and school peer support and mental wellbeing in a sample of children (age 8-15 years, N = 2,074) from schools in the UK. All three sources of support were independently associated with mental wellbeing. Analyses demonstrated a graded relationship between the number of sources of support and the odds of low mental wellbeing (LMWB), reflecting a cumulative protective effect. While all three sources of support were best, it was not vital, and analyses demonstrated a protective effect of school sources of support on LMWB amongst children with low family support. Peer support was found to be particularly important, with prevalence of LMWB similar amongst children who had high peer support (but low family and school adult support), and those who had high family and school adult support, (but low peer support), indicating that high peer support has an equivalent impact of two other protective factors. Findings from the study highlight the crucial context schools provide in fostering positive peer relationships and supportive teacher--student relationships to promote mental health and resilience for all children, including both those with and without supportive home environments.

This study examines student-faculty relationships at a small women's college where STEM students rely almost exclusively on faculty members for academic support. Students at comparison schools, including two of similar size, rely primarily on peer study groups. To understand this difference, students and faculty interviews, classroom observations, and a mission statement content analysis were conducted. The authors hypothesize that the institution's mission and small size create a culture of increased faculty access and engagement, both inside and outside the classroom. They argue that this strategic approach could benefit students from a wider demographic and could be adopted advantageously by other institutions.

This article describes a three-part classroom guidance lesson that teaches middle school students the definition of sexual harassment, the difference between flirting and sexual harassment, and the harmful effects of sexual harassment. An action research study evaluated the effectiveness of the lessons in decreasing referrals for sexual harassment in the grade level studied. Suggestions for further research are provided.

Examination of the subcellular localization of Dishevelled (Dsh) in fertilized Xenopus eggs revealed that Dsh is associated with vesicle-like organelles that are enriched on the prospective dorsal side of the embryo after cortical rotation. Dorsal enrichment of Dsh is blocked by UV irradiation of the vegetal pole, a treatment that inhibits development of dorsal cell fates, linking accumulation of Dsh and specification of dorsal cell fates. Investigation of the dynamics of Dsh localization using Dsh tagged with green fluorescent protein (Dsh-GFP) demonstrated that Dsh-GFP associates with small vesicle-like organelles that are directionally transported along the parallel array of microtubules towards the prospective dorsal side of the embryo during cortical rotation. Perturbing the assembly of the microtubule array with D(2)O, a treatment that promotes the random assembly of the array and the dorsalization of embryos, randomizes translocation of Dsh-GFP. Conversely, UV irradiation of the vegetal pole abolishes movement of Dsh-GFP. Finally, we demonstrate that overexpression of Dsh can stabilize beta-catenin in Xenopus. These data suggest that the directional translocation of Dsh along microtubules during cortical rotation and its subsequent enrichment on the prospective dorsal side of the embryo play a role in locally activating a maternal Wnt pathway responsible for establishing dorsal cell fates in Xenopus.

Background: Cocurricular and extracurricular activities benefit precollege students. Yet connections between these activities and academic outcomes in college are mixed or inconclusive. Little is known about how involvement in cocurricular activities is associated specifically with academic engagement in college. Purpose (Hypothesis): The purpose of this study was to understand the connection between cocurricular activities and academic engagement for engineering and computer science undergraduates. We hypothesized that cocurricular activities and engagement are not directly related but are associated with one another through interactions with academic self-efficacy. Design/Method: This study surveyed engineering and computer science students at four different institutions. Data were analyzed using multiple linear regression models to understand the relationships between cocurricular activities and academic engagement. Results: While relationships between cocurricular activities and academic engagement were not significant, interaction effects with academic self-efficacy were significant. Academic cocurricular activities interacted positively with, whereas nonacademic cocurricular activities interacted negatively with, relationships between self-efficacy and academic engagement. Conclusions: Results show that connections between cocurricular involvement and academic engagement not only occur in interactions with self-efficacy, but also depend on the nature of the cocurricular activity. Most students who are active in cocurricular activities report higher levels of engagement than do their nonactive peers for the same levels of self-efficacy.

Investigated whether current approaches to automatically classifying dialog acts (DAs) in natural conversation could be improved by adding prosodic information. Using conversations from the switchboard corpus, researchers annotated DAs, automatically extracting prosodic features for each DA. Results indicated that DAs are redundantly marked in natural conversation. A variety of automatically extractable prosodic features could aid dialog processing in speech applications. (SM)

Across many countries, the use of dating applications and websites (DAWs) has become increasingly popular over recent years; however, research examining the relationship between DAWs use and experience of dating violence and/or other harms is limited. This study aims to explore the use, motivations, and experiences of harm associated with using DAWs and meeting people in person via DAWs. An online convenience sample pilot survey was completed by adults (n = 217) aged 18+ years, living in the UK or the Republic of Ireland, who had used a DAW in the past two years. Differences were found in usage, motivations, and experiences of using DAWs in age and gender. Nearly half, 46.5% of respondents reported having been a victim of at least one harm as a result of meeting someone in person via DAWs in their lifetime; 33.2% reported experiencing sexual violence, 27.2% verbal abuse, 8.3% sexual activity in exchange for goods and 6.5% physical assault. Further to this, 41.9% of respondents reported being "Catfished" in the past two years (i.e., the other person looking different in person compared to their DAWs profile). In multivariate analysis, experiencing at least one harm was significantly associated with female gender (Adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 4.0; p <.001), being aged 40+ years (AOR 3.1; p <.01; reference category, 18–29 years) and being "Catfished" (AOR 3.3; p <.001). In multivariate analysis, sexual violence was significantly associated with being female (AOR 6.9; p <.001), being aged 40+ years (AOR 2.9; p =.013; reference category, 18–29 years) and being "Catfished" (AOR 2.9; p =.001). The study reinforces the importance of understanding the use of DAWs, exposure to harms on and offline, and risks associated with "Catfishing." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]