The Engineering Undergraduate Experience: A Qualitative Perspective

College experience is central to the life of adolescents. Apart from academic tasks, identity development is an important feature of this developmental stage. This paper reports two studies. One study illustrates the qualitative aspects of the college experience. The second study investigates factors affecting the academic performance of undergraduate engineering students. Time management and its links with college experience and academic performance are explored in this paper. The formation of identity emerges as an overarching concept.     

Using Mixed Methods Approach in Cross-Cultural Studies: Lessons of a Research Experience

The primary purpose of this paper is to share the lessons the first author learnt as a novice researcher while carrying out a comparative culture study focused on exploring differences in organizational culture in units located in two societies in two distinct culture zones, using mixed methods approach, as a part of his doctoral research program. The authors have shared “why” and “how” the first author chose and applied mixed methods approach to conduct the above study, which might be of help to budding researchers, given that mixed methods approach is rarely used by doctoral students in India. The authors have presented three kinds of lessons in this paper, learnt by the first author. The first kind of lessons deals with the methodology, the second one is about the research approach and the last one is related to the qualities of an effective researcher. The authors have also presented “do’s and don’ts” in researching for the benefit of budding researchers. The insights shared in this paper, the authors hope, would be useful and relevant for the researchers employing mixed methods approach. Besides, it might also definitely help budding research scholars make an informed choice of research method to effectively deal with research problems under investigation.     

Feeling Good & Doing Well: Development of a Mental Health Promotion Program for Youth

There is a significant dearth of programs for mental health promotion developed to suit the needs of Indian youth. The paper describes the development of a program entitled "Feeling Good and Doing Well" for enhancement of well being and functioning in college youth. The program development was based on extensive field assessment of stakeholders' perspectives and needs. It is a broad based program that encompasses three inter related themes namely, discovery and application of strengths, pursuit of goals and regulation of emotions. It is delivered in a group format in the form of experiential workshop series comprising of six core sessions, apart from one orientation session at the beginning and a closure session at the end. The program is currently being field tested and has a high potential for large scale applications across colleges in the country.     

Examining Correlates of Civic Engagement Among Immigrant Adolescents in the United States

Using a diverse urban sample of immigrant adolescents in the United States (N = 345) followed from 10^th grade (M_age = 15.69) to 12^th grade, this study examined the extent to which ecological assets (i.e., community connections and social network resources) predicted civic commitments (i.e., community engagement, social responsibility) as potentially mediated by fair society beliefs. The authors also examined whether ethnicity and generation status moderated these associations. As hypothesized, fair society beliefs were higher and predicted greater civic commitments only among Asian youth. Ecological assets were associated with greater civic commitments for all participants; these links were primarily direct for Latino immigrants and indirect (via fair society beliefs) for Asian youth. First-generation immigrants had more ecological assets and were more civically committed, however social network resources predicted fair society beliefs and community engagement only for second-generation youth. These differences indicate that immigrant youth are best understood as a heterogeneous group and suggest the need for further investigation of cultural variations in civic developmental processes.     

The effects of brief prayer on the experience of forgiveness: An American and Indian comparison

The present study offers a cross‐cultural examination of the effect of prayer on forgiveness. American (n = 51) and Indian (n = 100) participants either prayed for their romantic partner (prayer condition) or described their romantic partner's physical attributes (control condition). Prayers were self‐guided and lasted 3 minutes. Pre‐test and post‐test measures of retaliation were completed. Results showed that participants in the prayer group showed statistically significant decreases in retaliation motives from pre‐test to post‐test and the magnitude of this change was not different across cultures. Control groups in both cultures showed no change. Because of the religious diversity present in the Indian sample, the robustness of the effect of prayer on forgiveness was tested across Christian, Hindu and Muslim Indians. Religious affiliation did not moderate the effect of prayer on forgiveness in this sample. Results suggest that a brief prayer is capable of producing real change in forgiveness and this change is consistent across American and Indian cultures and across three different religious groups in India. Brief prayer for others that enhances forgiveness may be useful for individuals in close relationships, in certain counselling settings and for people in many different walks of life.     

An Intersectional Modeling of Risk for Nonsuicidal Self-Injury among LGBTQ Adolescents

Journal of Child and Family Studies - Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is described as the intentional destruction of one’s own bodily tissue without lethal intent and is a common behavior...     

Mental Imagery: Training and Its Effect on Recall

The effect of imagery based strategy training on retention in children of 9?C10?years age (n?=?60) was investigated. The imagery instructed group evinced greater recall than the control group on measures of accuracy and speed of recall. Also the recall performance of girls was better during training and maintenance sessions. The speed of recall was significantly faster in the imagery instructed group as compared to control group. As found in the follow up the strategy instructed group continued to use the strategy in the absence of explicit instructions to do so. The findings demonstrate the feasibility of the use of effective mnemonic strategies.