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As a defining aspect of service-learning and civic engagement, relationships can exist among faculty members, students, community organizations, community members, and administrators on campus. This research developed procedures to measure several aspects of these relationships. Investigators collected information from 20 experienced service-learning faculty members about their relationships with representatives of community organizations using the newly-developed Transformational Relationship Evaluation Scale (TRES). Results indicate that transactional and transformational qualities can be differentiated using TRES and are related to other characteristics of relationships (e.g., closeness). Conceptual work underlying this study aims to advance practitioner-scholars' understanding of partnerships as one type of relationship, offering a refinement on and an expansion of the terminology associated with service-learning and civic engagement. (Contains 3 figures, 5 tables and 1 note.)

Play therapy is an effective means of responding to the mental health needs of young children and is widely accepted as a valuable and developmentally appropriate intervention. The authors discuss the importance of play in development, the therapeutic benefits of play, the rich history of play therapy, and recent research and current issues and trends in the field, including the need for more mental health professionals trained to work with children.

Introduction: Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) exhibit behavioral and affective dysregulation, including hyperactivity and depression. The mechanisms are not known, but they could conceivably be due to postnatal social or environmental factors. However, we postulate that, more likely, the affective dysregulation is associated with the effects of EtOH exposure on the development of fetal serotonergic (5-HT) and/or dopaminergic (DA) pathways, i.e., pathways that in postnatal life are believed to regulate mood. Many women who use alcohol (ethanol, EtOH) during pregnancy suffer from depression and take selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which might influence these monoaminergic pathways in the fetus. Alternatively, monoaminergic pathway abnormalities might reflect a direct effect of EtOH on the fetal brain. To distinguish between these possibilities, we measured their expressions in fetal brains and in fetal brain-derived exosomes (FB-Es) isolated from the mothers' blood. We hypothesized that maternal use of EtOH and/or SSRIs during pregnancy would be associated with impaired fetal neural development, detectable as abnormal levels of monoaminergic and apoptotic biomarkers in FB-Es. Methods: Fetal brain tissues and maternal blood were collected at 9–23 weeks of pregnancy. EtOH groups were compared with unexposed controls matched for gestational age (GA). The expression of 84 genes associated with the DA and 5-HT pathways was analyzed by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) on microarrays. FB-Es also were assayed for serotonin transporter protein (SERT) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: Six EtOH-exposed human fetal brain samples were compared to SSRI- or polydrug-exposed samples and to unexposed controls. EtOH exposure was associated with significant upregulation of DA receptor D3 and 5-HT receptor HTR2C, while HTR3A was downregulated. Monoamine oxidase A (MAOA), MAOB, the serine/threonine kinase AKT3, and caspase-3 were upregulated, while mitogen-activated protein kinase 1 (MAPK1) and AKT2 were downregulated. ETOH was associated with significant upregulation of the DA transporter gene, while SERT was downregulated. There were significant correlations between EtOH exposure and (a) caspase-3 activation, (b) reduced SERT protein levels, and (c) reduced BDNF levels. SSRI exposure independently increased caspase-3 activity and downregulated SERT and BDNF. Early exposure to EtOH and SSRI together was associated synergistically with a significant upregulation of caspase-3 and a significant downregulation of SERT and BDNF. Reduced SERT and BDNF levels were strongly correlated with a reduction in eye diameter, a somatic manifestation of FASD. Conclusions: Maternal use of EtOH and SSRI during pregnancy each was associated with changes in fetal brain monoamine pathways, consistent with potential mechanisms for the affective dysregulation associated with FASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This response to Peterson's (2014) "Nonviolent Action as a Necessary Component in Educating for Democracy" enlarges the discussion of the role of the teacher/educator in deciding whether or when it is responsible to facilitate the engagement of students in acts of nonviolent dissent. Ultimately it would seem that the most important of our responsibilities as educators is to provide the moral and ethical foundations and the spaces in which students feel safe and empowered to tap into their own inner teachers. In order to promote the development of active engagement toward a democratic citizenry, including the moral imperative to transform violence, students must be helped toward a holistic understanding of the structural roots of injustice and oppression in their myriad forms. This will go beyond teaching about nonviolence and dissent to include the teaching of the concepts of peace and, by corollary, peacelearning. [For Peterson's "Nonviolent Action as a Necessary Component in Educating for Democracy," see EJ1033803.]

This study investigated specific attitudes and beliefs, related to the concepts of peace education, of participants in an "Introductory, basic help increase the peace program" (HIPP) workshop. Pre- and post-workshop ratings showed significant differences on two important attitudinal variables: first, the importance of being familiar with the concepts of communication, cooperation and trust, conflict resolution and understanding diversity, and, second, participants' beliefs about the importance of the philosophical themes of HIPP. The authors conclude that HIPP can be considered an important model program to be incorporated into peace education. (Contains 2 tables.)

Head Start teachers and their aides (n = 24) were assigned to either the experimental or active control treatment in this preliminary investigation on the effects of Child Teacher Relationship Training (CTRT) on 52 disadvantaged preschool children identified with behavioral problems. CTRT is based on the principles and procedures of Child Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT), a structured, time-limited approach that trains young children's caregivers to be active participants in an early mental health delivery system. Analysis of pre- to mid- to posttest findings revealed that, compared to the active control, CTRT demonstrated a large treatment effect on reducing children's externalized behavior problems; furthermore, the between-group difference over time was statistically significant. The statistical, practical, and clinical significance of findings provide preliminary support for CTRT as a developmentally responsive school-based intervention for at-risk preschool children exhibiting clinical levels of behavioral problems. (Contains 2 tables.)

Prenatal alcohol exposure can cause developmental abnormalities (fetal alcohol spectrum disorders; FASD), including small eyes, face and brain, and neurobehavioral deficits. These cannot be detected early in pregnancy with available imaging techniques. Early diagnosis could facilitate development of therapeutic interventions. Banked human fetal brains and eyes at 9–22 weeks' gestation were paired with maternal blood samples, analyzed for morphometry, protein, and RNA expression, and apoptotic signaling. Alcohol (EtOH)-exposed (maternal self-report) fetuses were compared with unexposed controls matched for fetal age, sex, and maternal race. Fetal brain-derived exosomes (FB-E) were isolated from maternal blood and analyzed for protein, RNA, and apoptotic markers. EtOH use by mothers, assessed by self-report, was associated with reduced fetal eye diameter, brain size, and markers of synaptogenesis. Brain caspase-3 activity was increased. The reduction in eye and brain sizes were highly correlated with amount of EtOH intake and caspase-3 activity. Levels of several biomarkers in FB-E, most strikingly myelin basic protein (MBP; r > 0.9), correlated highly with morphological abnormalities. Reduction in FB-E MBP levels was highly correlated with EtOH exposure (p < 1.0 × 10−10). Although the morphological features of FAS appear long before they can be detected by live imaging, FB-E in the mother's blood may contain markers, particularly MBP, that predict FASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An ethnographic study of the attitudes of teachers, headteachers, and home/school liaison workers toward school-parent relationships in Britain showed that, despite desire for closer and mutually supportive relationships, psychological and government policy barriers often prevented their development. (SK)