Early peer play interactions of resilient children living in disadvantaged communities

Resilience for children is positive adaptation and a capacity to thrive despite challenging circumstances. Children demonstrating resilience are seen to have strong cognitive skills and have developed positive peer relationships. The ‘Supporting Resilience’ project is exploring the conditions and characteristics of resilience of young children and their families who live in rural, regional and metropolitan communities that are economically and socially disadvantaged. The aim of this paper was to report on pretend play and social competence within the early years’ cohort of the ‘Supporting Resilience’ project. Twenty-six children aged 4–6 years who were identified as resilient by their preschool teacher were involved in the study. Results obtained from the Child Initiated Pretend Play Assessment and the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale when the children were at pre-school found significant relationships between object substitution and social interaction (r = .414, p < .05). Children who could elaborate play with unstructured objects were less likely to be socially disconnected (r = –.49, p < .05). There was no significant difference between geographical locations for play ability. Significant difference for social competence was found between geographical locations. By situating play as individual development within a socio-cultural environment the relationship between children's pretend play ability and social peer play interactions are considered within early childhood development and resilience literature.

Online peer mentoring with pre-service teachers : a learning experience

In 2010, 34 pre-service teachers at Deakin University were invited to use Web 2.0 technologies to support practicum in rural and regional schools. Students in their final year of the Bachelor of Education Primary course were given access to an online forum, a ‗ning‘, to facilitate development of mentoring relationships within a community of peers. Access to the ning was presented as an optional extra available only to students undertaking their professional experience in rural and regional settings. Based on the work of Le Cornu (2005), mentoring was framed as a collaborative and collegial arrangement through which participants could hone the interpersonal and critical reflection skills crucial to practicum. A ning was selected as it: 1) allowed the creation of a closed, protected social network with customised options, and 2) requires little technological skills and investment of time from participants in terms of setting up a profile and participating in the online community. These features seemed to make it an ideal platform for pre-service teachers to analyse and reflect on professional experience. However, the small pre-service cohort did not choose to access the site. This unexpected outcome seems to challenge contemporary discourses about the current generation‘s attitudes to web based technology. It also highlights the importance of coupling use of template-based online tools, such as the ning, with awareness of Bourdieu‘s (1977) social capital to ensure uptake. In capturing the learnings from the project and systematically reviewing relevant literature, this paper provides a set of recommendations for conceptualising and engaging pre-service teachers in the use of online forums.

Database of peer review publications written by occupational therapists about mental health

An Excel spreadsheet which includes every peer reviewed publication written by occupational therapists in mental health since 2000. It is updated each January to include the previous years publications. Information recorded includes author number, author designation, bibliographic details (i.e. title, journal), categorisation according to doing/being/becoming/belonging, levels of evidence and days between submission and acceptance, and acceptance and publication.

Investigating well-being, work limitations and preferences for self-management education and peer support among younger people with hip and knee osteoarthritis: protocol for a cross-sectional study

Introduction: 

Identification of factors that can modify peer group influence on adolescent alcohol use

My PhD thesis examined the effect of peer influence on the development of adolescent alcohol use and identified appropriate target points for preventive intervention. The project findings hold unique relevance to efforts in understanding how peer processes are similar or distinct in different cultural contexts at different periods in adolescent development.

Utilisation of general practitioner services and achievement of guideline targets by people with diabetes who joined a peer-support program in Victoria, Australia

This paper describes the use of general practitioner (GP) services and achievement of guideline targets by 285 adults with type 2 diabetes in urban and regional areas of Victoria, Australia. Anthropometric and biomedical measures and responses to a self-administered questionnaire were collected. Findings indicate that almost all participants had visited a GP and had had their hypoglycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) measured in the past 6 months; less than one-third had visited a practice nurse. Fifty per cent achieved a HbA1c target of ≤7.0%; 40%, a total cholesterol ≤4.00 mmol/L; 39%, BP Systolic ≤130 mmHg; 51%, BP Diastolic ≤80 mmHg; 15%, body mass index ≤25 kg/m2; and 34% reported a moderately intense level of physical activity, that is, ≥30 min, 5 days a week. However, 39% of individuals achieved at least two targets and 18% achieved at least three of these guideline targets. Regional participants were more likely to report having a management plan and having visited a practice nurse, but they were less likely to have visited other health professionals. Therefore, a more sustained effort that also includes collaborative care approaches is required to improve the management of diabetes in Australia.

SMEDIA: Designing to create a social and dynamic learning framework

This article discusses the design of social networking sites created through a PhD action research study. Social and participatory media was used as an active, flexible and motivating learning management system. The study investigated ways in which a social learning framework could be designed for students aged 13 to 16 and aimed to encourage student knowledge growth through peer-to-peer interaction while supporting both formal and informal learning. New literacies and multimodality were infused into the design. It was found that the practitioner-researcher’s cycles of planning, acting, observing and reflecting, action research, provided a mechanism for scaffolding the redesign of curriculum content and instruction. Social media in education can be dynamic, interactive and appreciated (SMEDIA) by the students.

Adolescent peer group orientation, parent/attachment styles and mental health

Jennette Robinson’s research examined peer group characteristics and their relationship to parent/peer attachment, parenting styles, and adolescent functioning. Secure parental attachments were not associated with easier group access or participation in a greater number of groups. Evidence supported a relationship between parenting style and both group establishment and membership hierarchy.

Service and cloud computing supporting genomic analysis of the mammalian species

 This research focused on building Software as a Service clouds to support mammalian genomic applications such as personalized medicine. Outcomes of this research included a Software as a Service cloud framework, the Uncinus research cloud and novel genomic analysis software. Results have been published in high ranking peer-reviewed international journals.

Exploring associations between parental and peer variables, personal variables and physical activity among adolescents: a mediation analysis

This study aimed to investigate how parental and peer variables are associated with moderate- to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) on week- and weekend days among Australian adolescents (13-15 y), and whether perceived internal barriers (e.g. lack of time), external barriers (e.g. lack of others to be physically active with) and self-efficacy mediated these associations.

Effectiveness of interventions for convicted DUI offenders in reducing recidivism: a systematic review of the peer-reviewed scientific literature

Abstract Background: Driving under the influence (DUI) is a major cause of death and disability. Although a broad array of programs designed to curb DUI incidents are currently offered to both first-time and recidivist DUI offenders, existing evaluations of the effectiveness of these programs have reported mixed results. Objective: To synthesize the results of DUI program evaluations and determine the strength of the available evidence for reducing recidivism for different types of programs. Methods: A systematic review of all EBSCO databases, EMBASE, PubMed, ProQuest, Sociological Abstracts and TRIS was conducted to identify evaluations of treatments/interventions to prevent DUI offenses. Additional articles were identified from reference lists of relevant articles. Results: A total of 42 relevant studies were identified by the search strategy. Of these, 33 utilized non-experimental evaluation designs or reported insufficient data to allow effect sizes to be calculated, making meta-analysis unfeasible. Evaluations of several different program types reported evidence of some level of effectiveness. Conclusion: Because of the general lack of high quality evidence assessing the effectiveness of DUI prevention programs, it is not possible to make conclusive statements about the types of programs that are likely to be most effective. Nonetheless, there was some evidence to support the effectiveness of programs that utilize intensive supervision and education. There is a need for future evaluations to adopt more scientifically rigorous research designs to establish the effects of these programs.

The influence of protective and risk factors in individual, peer and school domains on Thai adolescents' alcohol and illicit drug use: a survey

This study investigates risk and protective factors for substance abuse in a sample of 1778 students attending technical colleges in Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima provinces of Thailand using a self-report questionnaire modified from the Communities That Care youth survey. Low school commitment was strongly associated with illicit drug use, with adjusted odds ratios ranging from 2.84 (glue sniffing) to 10.06 (ecstasy). Having friends using drugs, and friends with delinquent behaviors increased the risk of using alcohol and illegal drugs, with adjusted odds ratios of 6.84 and 6.72 respectively for marijuana use. For protective factors, approximately 40-60% of students with high levels of moral belief, participation in religious activities, and social skills were less likely to use alcohol. It is concluded that peer influence is a significant contributor to Thai adolescents' participation in substance abuse and that engaging in religiosity may assist adolescents to internalize negative aspects of harmful drugs into positive perceptions and encourage them to avoid alcohol and illegal drugs.

The effect of peer influence and selection processes on adolescent alcohol use : a systematic review of longitudinal studies.

Adolescent alcohol use remains an important public health concern. One of the most salient and consistent predictors for drinking behaviour among young people is peer influence. A systematic review of longitudinal studies that examined the effect of peer influence on adolescent alcohol use between January 1997 and February 2011 is presented. Twenty-two studies fulfilled inclusion criteria and were reviewed. All but one study confirmed affiliation with alcohol-using or deviant peers as prospective predictors for the development of adolescent alcohol use. Findings revealed that existing longitudinal studies that have used multivariate analytic techniques to segregate peer influence (whereby adolescents start drinking after exposure to alcohol-using friends) and peer selection (whereby adolescents that start drinking without alcohol-using friends subsequently seek out drinking peers) effects consistently report significant peer influence effects. However, studies are unable to elucidate the relative contribution and developmental sequence of peer influence and selection. Existing research is synthesised to model the developmental influence of peer processes on adolescent alcohol use. Future research directions are recommended to inform better designed investigations that can lead to more effective endeavours to address peer processes in prevention efforts.

On the effectiveness of supplemental instruction: a systematic review of supplemental instruction and peer-assisted study sessions literature between 2001 and 2010

Supplemental instruction (SI)—variously known as peer-assisted learning, peer-assisted study sessions, and other names—is a type of academic support intervention popular in higher education. In SI sessions, a senior student facilitates peer learning between undergraduates studying a high-risk course. This article presents a systematic review of the literature between 2001 and 2010 regarding the effectiveness of SI. Twenty-nine studies met the inclusion criteria. Due to methodological heterogeneity and lack of consistency defining the SI treatment, qualitative synthesis methods were applied. For seven included studies, however, an effect size of SI participation on final grades was calculated, ranging from d = 0.29 to d = 0.60. The findings of the review are consistent with claims validated by the U.S. Department of Education in the 1990s that participation in SI is correlated with higher mean grades, lower failure and withdrawal rates, and higher retention and graduation rates.