Living in a disordered community is negatively associated with psychological well-being. We investigated the role of social support in the link between community environment and psychological distress in a sample of 152 African American women from low socioeconomic backgrounds in a large metropolitan southeastern city. Structural equation modeling…

In the current study, the authors tested the hypothesis that the relationship between early behavior problems and later academic and social outcomes is mediated by children's evidence of strengths during the transition to school. A locally representative and predominantly African American sample of 162 Head Start children was assessed at the end…

This study develops a model predicting academic self-confidence for 2nd-year Latina/o college students. Findings indicate that forms of academic, cultural, social, and intercultural capital (the capacity to negotiate diverse racial and ethnic environments) are positively associated with academic self-confidence. The prevalence of negative…

Fear of dying and death may be universal, but individuals differ in their emotional reactions to dying and death. The present study included a sample of 133 Chinese university students who were Christians. The authors tested a mediation model which posited that intrinsic religiosity, but not extrinsic religiosity, lowered anxiety toward the dying…

Instead of assessing activation in distinct brain regions, approaches to investigating the networks underlying distinct brain functions have come into the focus of neuroscience research. Here, we provide a completely data-driven framework for assessing functional and causal connectivity in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data,…

With retention and persistence-to-graduation rates showing little improvement in previous decades, institutions of higher education continue to seek ways to encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning in order to achieve. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the roles and relationships of selected psychological and…

The current study merges theory and research in higher education and organizational psychology in order to investigate student retention in adult learners. Factors that are associated with student retention were examined and points of intervention are recommended. Specifically, this study focuses on the role of campus environment, classroom…

School reform policies have failed to produce sustained positive changes in education practice. Theories of school change provide structure to reform policy. Program evaluations focus on implementation and outcomes but seldom test the theoretical assumptions of the initiative. This study tested theory, specifically the influence of…

The purpose of this paper was to test the relationship between principal leadership and teacher collaboration around instructional improvement to determine whether these measures were statistically related and whether, together, they were associated with academic achievement in elementary schools. Data were obtained from 1,600 teachers in 96…

This study investigated the effects of supplemental instruction, a peer-assisted learning approach, on students, learning competence and academic performance. The supplemental instruction intervention facilitated by senior students focused on developing students' use of study skills and enhancing their motivation and academic performance. Pre- and…

The study addressed two limitations of previous research on factors related to teachers' integration of technology in their teaching. It attempted to test a structural equation model (SEM) of the relationships among a set of variables influencing preservice teachers' use of technology specifically to support student-centered learning. A review of…

Many models in science education have tried to clarify the causal relationships of affective variables on student performance, by presenting theoretical models, exploratory SEM (structural equation models), and confirmatory SEM. Based on the literature, the recent AS-TI-CU model scrutinised the most robust stimuli of conceptual understanding (CU):…

Objective: Recent literature has emphasized the simultaneous assessment of multiple physiological stress response systems in an effort to identify biobehavioral risk factors of psychopathology in maltreated populations. The current study assessed whether an asymmetrical stress response, marked by activation in one system and a blunted response in…

This article reports on the causal relationships between three factors in second language (L2) group work settings: communication confidence (i.e., confidence in one's ability to communicate), beliefs about group work, and willingness to communicate (WTC). A questionnaire was administered to 729 first-year university students in Japan. A model…

This study brings together two lines of research on teachers' affective responses toward mathematics curriculum reforms: their concerns and their efficacy beliefs. Using structural equation modeling to analyze data on 151 elementary mathematics teachers' concerns and efficacy beliefs 5 years into a mandated curriculum reform on problem solving,…