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Parents of children with Down syndrome (DS) were interviewed about if their experiences raising their children matched their initial assumptions about parenting a child with DS. A dominant narrative was identified, wherein most parents described initially having negative assumptions, which did not come to fruition; parenting their child was not very different from parenting a typical child. There was also a sub-group of participants who disputed the dominant narrative; parenting their child was challenging and the dominant narrative marginalizes that experience. The findings indicate that although for many parents, having a child with DS is like "taking the scenic route" (i.e., it involves a few more hurdles, but often more rewards), this framing is not always applicable. Therefore, health care providers and support organizations should promote a narrative that encompasses the diversity of parenting a child with DS.

We examined the feasibility of a one-week self-compassion intervention delivered exclusively online to competitive men athletes. Information regarding the content of the intervention, including specific modules and protocols, are included in this manuscript. Our findings are encouraging for the feasibility of the intervention, with data trends in hypothesized directions (e.g., self-compassion levels increased at post-intervention). The men athletes generally considered the self-compassion intervention helpful, particularly for easing emotional suffering from sport-specific difficult experiences and to move forward adaptively. Recommendations based on our evaluation of the intervention are also included for those hoping to deliver similar services in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2014, the Undergraduate Research Initiative at the University of Saskatchewan implemented a pilot project to organize, support, and promote curriculum-based research experience as an integral aspect of participating first-year courses. The framework for the course-based initiative was the research arc; usually in groups, students in these classes would develop a research question, investigate it using discipline-appropriate methodologies, and disseminate the results. Nine classes (Agriculture, Animal Bioscience, Environmental Science, Women's and Gender Studies, Psychology, Kinesiology, and Interdisciplinary Studies) participated in this program pilot. There were four key agents in the program: faculty instructors, research coaches, students in participating first-year classes, and university administrative staff. This preliminary evaluation of the pilot suggests that first-year undergraduate research experiences have potential to benefit the undergraduate student participants as well as the faculty and research coaches involved. The primary benefits that faculty reported experiencing included an increased interest in ways to engage learners, reexamination of and reflection on their teaching strategies, the pragmatic support of a research coach helping with their work load, and an invigoration of their research. The primary benefits to research coaches included enhancement of their professional skills, experience in lesson planning and facilitation, CV building, and an ideology shift in how to best facilitate learning for undergraduate students. The most prominent benefits for undergraduate students appeared to be that they gained a better idea about how researchers think and work, that they increased their understanding of how research works, and that their own research and professional skills had improved. Early, bottom-up evaluation identified characteristics of implementation that appear to best facilitate achievement of the initiative's outcomes and identified the potential pitfall of imposing outcomes, from related but distinct initiatives, that may not be achievable or optimal in in the setting of first-year classes. The results of this evaluation suggest that rather than gaining clarity or focus, first-year students in course-based research experiences might gain awareness of their personal potential, of the potential of research, and of their career/educational options.

Questionnaire design is routinely guided by classic experiments on question form, wording, and context conducted decades ago. This article explores whether two question order effects (one due to the norm of evenhandedness and the other due to subtraction or perceptual contrast) appear in surveys of probability samples in the United States and 11 other countries (Canada, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom; N = 25,640). Advancing theory of question order effects, we propose necessary conditions for each effect to occur, and found that the effects occurred in the nations where these necessary conditions were met. Surprisingly, the abortion question order effect even appeared in some countries in which the necessary condition was not met, suggesting that the question order effect there (and perhaps elsewhere) was not due to subtraction or perceptual contrast. The question order effects were not moderated by education. The strength of the effect due to the norm of evenhandedness was correlated with various cultural characteristics of the nations. Strong support was observed for the form-resistant correlation hypothesis.

Demand-driven acquisitions (DDA) programs have become a well-established approach toward integrating user involvement in the process of building academic library collections. However, these programs are in a constant state of evolution. A recent iteration in this evolution of ebook availability is the advent of large ebook collections whose contents libraries can lease, but not own only if they choose to do so. This study includes an investigation of patron usage and librarian ebook selection by comparing call number data generated by usage of three entities: (1) an ebrary PDA; (2) Academic Complete, which is a leased collection of ebooks; and (3) subject librarian selections based on the YPB approval plan at Iowa State University. The context is provided through a description of the development and evolution of demand driven acquisitions programs with an analysis of where libraries have been and where they are going with enhancing the collection development in academic libraries.

Social tagging enables librarians to partner with users to provide enhanced subject access. This paper quantifies and compares LC subject headings from each of 31 different subject divisions with user tags from Amazon.com and LibraryThing assigned to the same titles. The intersection and integration of these schemas is described and evaluated. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)

Shows how new terminology related to technological advances has affected communication among library professionals through a literature review and a selective survey of administrators of information technology, public services, and technical services in academic libraries belonging to the Association of Research Libraries. (Author/LRW)

Describes a study that assessed how technology-based projects are evaluated in the promotion and/or tenure process for academic librarians in ARL (Association of Research Libraries). Results show that projects, particularly for Web-based materials, are being evaluated, but little development has occurred toward a core set of measures for promotion decisions. (Author/LRW)

This study provides a theory-based snapshot of the processes involved in women's fertility intention formation and decisions regarding the timing of motherhood. The trend to defer childbearing is linked with both empowering and challenging outcomes for women. The cognitive-social (C-S) model suggests that deliberative thinking regarding reproduction occurs following fertility-relevant life transitions, which results in fluctuations in motherhood schemas and fertility intentions. This framework was applied to explore fertility intention formation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve women who either had children or desired children. Two overarching themes central to the C-S model are discussed: (a) passive expectations and (b) deliberative intentions. Women's motherhood schemas were often underpinned by schematic structures (e.g. group norms and scripts) and material structures (e.g. observational influences). Life transitions and personal experiences tended to prompt deliberative thinking about motherhood plans. The results were generally consistent with the C-S model, but highlight complexities to consider when investigating fertility expectations and intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2010.00587.x Byline: Karen L. Lawson (1), Sheena A. Walls-Ingram (*) Abstract: This study examines the links between familiarity with individuals with Down syndrome (DS), perceptions of parenting a child with DS, and willingness to consider selective termination subsequent to a fetal diagnosis of DS. Within a sample of childless young adults (N = 280), those reporting personal familiarity indicated both more positive attitudes toward parenting a child with DS and more certainty that they would not abort following a prenatal diagnosis. In further support of contact theory, the quality of the past intergroup interactions moderated these findings. The potential role of negative stereotypes in selective-abortion decision making and implications for prenatal counseling protocols are discussed. Author Affiliation: (*)University of SaskatchewanSaskatchewan, Canada Article note: (1) Karen L. Lawson, Department of Psychology, University of Saskatchewan, 9 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7N 5A5. E-mail: karen.lawson@usask.ca

One potential barrier facing sexual assault survivors is that prejudicial attitudes and perceptions of victim appearance can influence the amount of blame, sympathy, and help that they receive from others. Using Weiner's (1980) attribution--affect--action theory as a guide, the present study investigated the relation between observer attitudinal characteristics (rape myth acceptance [RMA] and antifat attitudes [AFA]), victim weight, and specific judgments regarding a hypothetical sexual assault case. Female undergraduate participants (N = 173) were presented with a sexual assault scenario and asked to complete a series of self-report questionnaires. Consistent with past research, attributions of victim fault were positively associated with adherence to rape myths and were higher toward thin victims than overweight victims. Further, the relation between the rater attitudinal variables and sentencing recommendations was found to be dependent on victim weight. When the victim was presented as thin, neither RMA nor AFA emerged as a predictor of sentencing recommendations. In contrast, both RMA and AFA were positively related to sentencing recommendations when the victim was presented as overweight. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. Keywords: sexual assault; rape myths; antifat attitudes; attributions of fault; sentencing recommendations