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Inclusive education is now advocated as best practice in schools. However, the extent to which adolescents with severe disabilities access the abundant social and academic experiences available in general education classes remains uncertain. We conducted multiple observations of 146 U.S. high school students with severe disabilities (including intellectual disability, autism, or multiple disabilities), who were enrolled in at least one general education class. Peer interactions with classmates tended to be very infrequent for most students with severe disabilities. Moreover, rates of peer interaction were the lowest during large-group instruction and when students were sitting next to paraprofessionals or special educators rather than with their peers. Academic engagement also varied across students and was highest during small-group instruction, during 1-on-1 work with adults, and when students sat near their peers. Observations of a comparison sample of peers attending these same classes revealed striking overall differences in social and academic participation. We offer recommendations for research and practice aimed at bolstering inclusive education in high schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Main effect models contend that perceived social support benefits mental health in the presence and the absence of stressful events, whereas stress-buffering models contend that perceived social support benefits mental health especially when individuals are facing stressful events. We tested these models of how perceived social support impacts mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic and evaluated whether characteristics of everyday social interactions statistically mediated this association – namely, (a) received support, the visible and deliberate assistance provided by others, and (b) pleasantness, the extent to which an interaction is positive, flows easily, and leads individuals to feel understood and validated. 591 United States adults completed a 3-week ecological momentary assessment protocol sampling characteristics of their everyday social interactions that was used to evaluate between-person average values and within-person daily fluctuations in everyday social interaction characteristics. Global measures of perceived social support and pandemic-related stressors were assessed at baseline. Psychiatric symptoms of depression and anxiety were assessed at baseline, at the end of each day of ecological momentary assessment, and at 3-week follow-up. Consistent with a main effect model, higher baseline perceived social support predicted decreases in psychiatric symptoms at 3-week follow-up (β = −.09, p =.001). Contrary to a stress-buffering model, we did not find an interaction of pandemic-stressors × perceived social support. The main effect of perceived social support on mental health was mediated by the pleasantness of everyday social interactions, but not by received support in everyday social interactions. We found evidence for both main effects and stress-buffering effects of within-person fluctuations in interaction pleasantness on daily changes in mental health. Results suggest the importance of everyday social interaction characteristics, especially their pleasantness, in linking perceived social support and mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the heterogeneous impacts of COVID‐19 on restaurants in the postlockdown United States, from lens of social interactions. We use the data structure of chain restaurants to disentangle restaurant attributes such as food and service types (which vary across chains) and local market conditions such as infection risks (which vary with each establishment's geographical location). We find that visits to chains with higher social indices experienced larger drops as local new cases increased in 2020, but also faster recovery later when vaccination programs expanded. Moreover, demand for restaurants in city centers recovered faster than demand for those in suburbs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Online feedback mitigates the power dynamics between students and professors. • Lack of collaborative activities disrupts academic discourse socialization. • Peer-to-peer interactions are crucial for collaborative learning in online contexts. • Online academic discourse socialization requires informal areas of participation. Addressing potential research paucity on L2 international graduate students' academic discourse socialization in online contexts, this study investigated students in graduate programs in the United States. The study focused on how graduate students perceive the impacts of online learning on their academic discourse socialization experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Adopting a qualitative approach, four participants' perceptions were investigated through semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that while digital tools, including Zoom, created some spaces for academic discourse socialization for L2 international graduate students during the pandemic, the tools also disrupted their learning in some areas. Importantly, the lack of informal social interactions in online contexts affected graduate students' learning and participation in their communities of practice. This study suggests that in addition to in-class Zoom interactions, informal interactions are important for L2 international graduate students' academic discourse socialization in online contexts. Pedagogical implications on incorporating Zoom and other digital tools to facilitate academic discourse socialization in online contexts are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the psychosocial experiences in community-based dementia caregiving by assessing the characteristics of social interactions between family caregivers and community-based service providers and associated psychological responses. Methods: Two independent groups of participants (family caregivers and community-based service providers) completed a one-time survey to report their social interactions and psychological states. A linear regression model was fit for each outcome (satisfaction, 10-item CES-D) while controlling for significant relevant covariates. Results: Higher perceived levels of collaboration were associated with higher job satisfaction and lower depression score among service providers, and higher satisfaction with providers among family caregivers. Higher perceived social support from the provider was associated with higher satisfaction among family caregivers. Conclusions: Participants reported varying levels of provider-family collaboration. The extent of collaborations and support exchange may have implications on the psychological well-being of those providing care to individuals with dementia including families and providers. Clinical implications: It may be beneficial to identify providers and families who perceive low levels of collaboration and implement intervention to facilitate positive social interactions. Developing organizational culture and payment systems that value high-quality social interactions may help enhance the psychological well-being of service providers and satisfaction among families who receive their services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using technology in language learning can develop practices for students through experiential learning, enhance student achievement, motivate students to learn more, encourage greater interaction between teachers and students and students and peers, increase authentic materials for study, escape from a single source of information, enlarge global understanding, and emphasize individual needs. The purpose of the study was to measure the perspectives of teachers regarding computer-assisted language learning (CALL) and create a better understanding of CALL. The study had 186 participants (114 female and 72 male), all of whom were K-12 teachers in the United States. The first phase of the study used exploratory factor analysis to reveal the underlying structure of a relatively large set of variables. The second phase of the study used descriptive analysis to measure perspectives and attitudes towards CALL. The results of the study highlighted that teachers have affirmative perspectives and attitudes for using technology in their classrooms. Teachers considered computer technology as a useful teaching tool that can improve ways of teaching by expanding the learning experiences of students in real and authentic contexts and offering them a variety of language inputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we argue that corruption research can benefit from studying corrupt transactions as a particular form of social interaction. We showcase the usefulness of a theoretical focus on social interaction by investigating online user reports on the website Frontdesktip.com. Through this focus, we can observe users sharing experiences and tips on the best ways of bribing hotel clerks in Las Vegas for attaining room upgrades and other complimentary extras. We employ a logistic regression analysis to examine what factors influence the “successful” performance of this bribery practice. Our study makes a twofold contribution to existing research on corruption. First, on the theoretical level, we show that the typified and scripted character of social interactions can help explain the occurrence of corrupt transactions. Second, on a methodological level, our study showcases online self-reports as a useful data source to study corrupt transactions in an unobtrusive way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using unique information on a representative sample of US teenagers, we investigate peer effects in adolescent bedtime decisions. We extend the nonlinear least-squares estimator for spatial autoregressive models to estimate network models with network fixed effects and sampled observations on the dependent variable. We show the extent to which neglecting the sampling issue yields misleading inferential results. When accounting for sampling, we find that, besides the individual, family and peer characteristics, the bedtime decisions of peers help to shape one's own bedtime decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By integrating insights from economic and sociological theories, this article investigates whether and through which mechanisms friends’ fertility behavior affects an individual’s transition to parenthood. By exploiting the survey design of the Add Health data, our strategy allows us to properly identify interaction effects and distinguish them from selection and contextual effects. We use a series of discrete-time event history models with random effects at the dyadic level. Results show that, net of confounding effects, a friend’s childbearing increases an individual’s risk of becoming a parent. We find a short-term, curvilinear effect: an individual’s risk of childbearing starts increasing after a friend’s childbearing, reaches its peak approximately two years later, and then decreases. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Using the 1997/98 New York Metropolitan Transportation Council household survey and United States Census, we estimate an instrumental variable probit model to test the impact of contextual and endogenous social interaction effects on auto ownership and determine that the probability of car ownership is affected by both types of social interaction effects. Previous research focused only either on contextual effects, or, increasingly, on endogenous effects using contextual effects variables as instruments. Therefore we were unable to find studies looking at both social interaction effects simultaneously. Consistent with earlier results, we find that households have a higher probability of possessing a vehicle if they are surrounded by other automobile-owning households (endogenous effect). However, we find that contextual effects are correctly measured only when the endogenous effect is included. In our case, everything else being equal, households in poorer neighborhoods are more likely to own vehicles, and households in neighborhoods with higher proportions of people with graduate degrees are less likely to own vehicles. This suggests that car ownership in New York City is a status symbol for poorer households and that non-car-ownership is a status symbol for people with post baccalaureate education. The results are important in two policy contexts: as auto ownership is a precursor to trip generation and mode choice, auto ownership estimation is important to effective travel forecasting; as vehicle miles traveled (VMT) is tied to auto ownership, VMT reduction strategies, as a way to improve air quality, reduce congestion, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, may depend on strategies to reduce auto ownership. In either case, correct modeling of auto ownership will lead to more effective policy outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ample attention is paid to the role of arts and culture in community and economic development. However, much less attention is given to its role at the neighborhood area, as well as relationships to local or community tourism. Our goal in this article is to explore how arts and the creative industries influence community-based tourism in neighborhoods needing revitalization. Using an embedded case study analysis approach, two areas were explored: one in the Roosevelt Arts District in Phoenix, Arizona and the other in the South End Arts + Business District in Burlington, Vermont. We find that arts and creative industries do indeed play a role in fostering neighborhood revitalization. Much of the activity centers on fostering capacity building and social interactions, leading to community development outcomes. In both cases, revitalization is occurring. Lessons learned are presented, illustrating the importance of arts and culture in a framework of community-based tourism and revitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: I estimate models of endogenous social interactions in body weight at the county and state levels. The results show that dispersion in body weight across time and space in the U.S. is not clearly excessive, and that much of this variation can be attributed to observable individual and regional characteristics. Models exploiting variants of methods proposed by , fixed effects, instrumental variable and split-sample instrumental variable methods to address endogeneity suggest that there are not large social multipliers on body weight outcomes. The evidence suggests there may be small multipliers on BMI, obesity, and morbid obesity. There is no evidence that underweight is subject to a social multiplier. The results are sensitive to specification. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Powered mobility has been found to have positive effects on young children with severe physical disabilities, but the impact on the family has been less well documented. We evaluated the impact of early powered mobility on parental stress, negative emotions, perceived social interactions, and parental satisfaction with wheelchair characteristics such as size and durability. The participants were parents of 23 children with disabilities-10 with orthopedic disabilities (average age 30.1 months) and 13 with cerebral palsy (average age 47.0 months). Pretest assessments were completed two times: at initial wheelchair evaluation and at wheelchair delivery. A posttest assessment was completed after each child had used the wheelchair for 4-6 months. Parents reported a lower perceived level of stress at the time of wheelchair delivery, although the magnitude of this effect was fairly small, standardized mean difference ( δ) = .27. They also reported an increased satisfaction with their child's social and play skills ( δ = .38), ability to go where desired ( δ = .86), sleep/wake pattern ( δ = .61), and belief that the general public accepts their child ( δ = .39) after several months using the wheelchair. Parents reported an increase in interactions within the family at the time of wheelchair delivery ( δ = .66). There was no decrease in negative emotions. Parents were satisfied with most factors relating to the wheelchair itself, with areas of concern being wheelchair size and difficulty adjusting the wheelchair. The findings suggest that self-initiated powered mobility for a young child had a positive impact on the family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various articles within the issue on topics including racial and economic segregation in high schools in Wayne County, North Carolina, how Filipina-American women, also known as Pinays, manage parental expectations and educational aspirations, and the food truck behavior in Los Angeles, California.

Children with special health care needs (CSHCN) experience various developmental challenges including difficulties in social relationships with peers. Using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs 2009-2010, this correlational study examined predictors of difficulty making and keeping friends among CSHCN. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the data. Findings indicate statistical significance for 12 out of 14 predictor variables. Key findings indicate the odds of having difficulty making and keeping friends are 3.06 times higher for children with an autism spectrum diagnosis and 2.87 times higher for children with some behavior problem when compared to other CSHCN. Overall, the logistic regression model classified 80.7% of the cases correctly. A secondary analysis also identified factors which significantly differentiate between CSHCN who have a lot of difficulty compared to a little difficulty making and keeping friends. For this analysis, eight variables were statistically significant., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)