Factors Associated with Support for Adolescent Access to Contraception Among Mexican Catholic Parents

Journal of Religion and Health - We used a nationally representative survey of 2186 Mexican Catholic parents to assess two outcomes: support for adolescent access to modern contraception and...     

The Disproportionality Dilemma: Patterns of Teacher Referrals to School Counselors for Disruptive Behavior

Disproportionality plagues schools nationwide in special education placement, dropout, discipline referral, suspension, and expulsion rates. This study examined predictors of teacher referrals to school counselors for disruptive behavior in a sample of students selected from the Educational Longitudinal Study 2002 (National Center for Education Statistics, n.d.). Findings demonstrated that students’ race predicted English teacher referrals; students’ gender, previous disciplinary infractions, and teachers’ postsecondary expectations for students predicted English and math teacher referrals. Implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed.     

The effectiveness of sources of support in career decision-making: A two-year follow-up

Making career decisions is often difficult and challenging, and one way to advance in the process is to seek help. The present research focused on the various sources of support young adults tend to look for when making their career decision and the factors that affect their actual use of these sources. Study 1 elicited the self-reported help-seeking behavior and the Career Decision-Making Profile (CDMP) from 1071 young adults (ages 18–35) who had already chosen their major(s) at a university. The young adults used sources that were easily accessible, even when they were perceived as being less effective. Additionally, those with less career decision-making adaptability, as derived from the CDMP, tended to seek help more often. Study 2, a two-year follow-up of 296 young adults who participated in Study 1, revealed that getting help reduced the likelihood of changing one’s major.     

Anchoring strategies for learning a bimanual coordination pattern

Anchoring has been defined as synchronizing a point in a movement cycle with an external stimulus (W. D. Byblow, R. G. Carson, & D. Goodman, 1994). Previously, investigators have examined anchoring during in-phase and antiphase movements. The present authors examined anchoring during acquisition of a novel bimanual coordination pattern. Participants performed a 90 degrees pattern at 1 Hz, with a 2- or 4-Hz metronome. No group differences were found in pattern performance; however, the 4-Hz group developed more consistent anchoring relative to the metronome. Mechanical anchor-point variability differed by hand, position (midpoint vs. endpoint), and direction (flexion vs. extension) but not by metronome frequency. Those results support and extend previous findings but leave unanswered questions regarding the benefits and effectiveness of anchoring during a 90 degrees pattern.     

If Anything Can Go Wrong It Will: Occupational Stress Among Inexperienced Teachers

The study examined the sources of stress encountered by inexperienced compared to experienced teachers. Sixty-nine female teachers in elementary schools and kindergartens in Israel participated in the study. A questionnaire was administered measuring job-related stress factors, emotional involvement in the job and active coping with stress factors. The results show that inexperienced compared to experienced teachers stated that they experience an overall higher level of stress. The major sources of stress for inexperienced teachers are interaction with pupils' parents and workload. Inexperienced teachers are less involved emotionally in their work, especially in regard to incidents of unsatisfactory performance. However, they are similar to experienced teachers in both their emotional reactions to successful performance and in their actions in stressful situations. Since the research design was quasi-experimental, the differences between experienced and inexperienced teachers might be due to other confounded factors such as general life experience. The results are discussed in regard to the adaptive functions of selective emotional involvement.