Ecological Systems Perspective Research Articles

The Well-Being of Doctoral Students in Education: An Ecological Systems Perspective.

This study aims to explore the factors that influence the well-being situation of doctoral students in education from a qualitative perspective and draws on the ecological systems theory as an overarching framework. A total of 18 doctoral students in education from 3 universities in Hong Kong were interviewed. In line with the ecological systems theory, individual influential factors may embed and interact with all layers of systems (i.e., the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, the macrosystem, and the chronosystem) surrounding the doctoral students that hinder or boost their well-being, respectively. These six main areas of concern were identified from a thematic analysis of participants' responses. The study highlighted several salient influential factors of doctoral students' well-being, such as coping strategies, social relations, and their living and cultural environment. An interactive effect among specific factors, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and social movements, was also identified. Findings provide theoretical insights and offer recommendations for improving doctoral students' well-being.

Peer mentorship and professional identity formation: an ecological systems perspective

BackgroundMentoring can help shape how medical students think, feel, and act as physicians. Yet, the mechanism in which it influences this process of professional identity formation (PIF) remains poorly understood. Through the lens of the ecological systems theory, this study explores the interconnected and dynamic system of mentoring relationships and resources that support professional development and growth within the Palliative Medicine Initiative (PMI), a structured research peer mentoring program.MethodsA secondary analysis of transcripts of semi-structured interviews with peer mentors and mentees and a review of their mentoring diaries was conducted to explore the impact of participation in a longitudinal peer mentoring program on both mentees and peer mentors on their personal and professional development through the lens of the mentoring ecosystem model. The Systematic Evidence-Based Approach was adapted to analyze the data via content and thematic analysis.ResultsEighteen mentees and peer mentors participated and described a supportive community of practice within the research program, with discrete micro-, meso-, and macro-environments that are dynamic, reflexive, and interconnected to form a mentoring ecosystem. Within this ecosystem, reflection is fostered, and identity work is done—ultimately shaping and refining self-concepts of personhood and identity.ConclusionThis study underscores the nuances and complexities of mentorship and supports the role of the mentoring ecosystem in PIF. A deeper understanding of the multiple factors that converge to facilitate the professional development of mentees can help educators develop and implement structured peer mentorship programs that better support reflective practice and identity work.

Students’ and teachers’ emotions in the classroom: an ecological dynamic systems perspective

Students’ and teachers’ emotions in the classroom: an ecological dynamic systems perspective

A - 32 Framing Racial Disparities within Sports Related Concussion from an Ecological Systems Perspective: a Content Analysis of Literature on Black Athletes’ Risk and Protective Factors

Abstract Purpose There is an apparent phenomenon where Black adult and pediatric athletes face disparities within their care, treatment, and recovery from mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), or concussion while playing their sport: previous literature has demonstrated that Black athletes who have experienced sports-related concussions (SRC) are less likely to demonstrate concussion knowledge and symptom identification, as well as intention to report injury and overall poorer psychosocial outcomes following injury. Overall, the axis of privilege and marginalization associated with Race, can impact presentation for care, receiving diagnoses, symptom reporting and tracking, and the process of recovery or return to baseline functioning. However, empirical findings from publications do not elucidate why nor how these various factors compound. The purpose of this literature review was to (I) identify salient literature on racial differences for Black athletes with SRC, and (II) create a framework that encapsulates the “why”and “how” sociocultural experiences of power, access, and biases can impact Black athletes. The authors used Ecological Systems Theory (EST; Bronfenbrenner, 1979) to create a novel organization-systems model of identified findings and theory that demonstrate and support racial disparities within SRC and larger mTBI literature. Method A comprehensive literature search was employed to identify recent empirical studies and theoretical perspectives on racial disparities in mTBI for Black populations and athletes (N = 30). Publications for literature review were identified through the following Boolean search parameter on Google Scholar: [((race OR racial) OR (Black* OR African* OR BIPOC*)) AND (*brain injury OR “mild traumatic brain injury” OR mTBI OR concussion) AND (sport* OR athlet*)], where publications of interest were compiled and annotated by authors. Inclusion criterion for publication was established by the team as: (a) focusing on an element of concussion or mild traumatic brain injury, such as patient risk for injury, diagnosis, recovery or post-injury outcomes, (b) participants‚Äô racial background (race) must have been either an independent variable included within an analysis for quantitative designs, or be a salient topic or variable of interest within qualitative designs, and (c) published between 2018 and 2023. Publications from all journals and topic areas were included if the paper met above criterion. Results Approximately, two major patterns emerged that may underlie current empirical data on diagnoses, injury recovery and post injury outcomes. The two patterns illustrate how both clinicians and athletes (1) biased, unconscious beliefs that posit Black athletic bodies as invincible to injury & pain, and athletes (2) indirect and direct access to concussion knowledge and resources, can moderate the likelihood of SRC injury risk, diagnosis, recovery and post-injury outcomes for Black athletes across various athletic age and ability levels. Conclusions Ultimately, the organizational EST model for each pattern provides a clear thread on how historical, and macro-level policy and perceptions, can impact micro-level clinical care and decision-making for Black athletes and their experiences with SRC. Future directions suggest an application of EST models or further qualitative investigation with clinicians and Black athletes to understand more microsystem-level perceptions, beliefs, and thought processes that spur and impact clinical care.

Spatial Differentiation Characteristics, Driving Mechanisms, and Governance Strategies of Rural Poverty in Eastern Tibet

Rural areas in Tibet, with its complex terrain, fragile ecology, and poor facilities, are subject to a combination of social–ecological system elements, facing the typical risks of recurrent, marginal, and potential poverty. At present, the spatial differentiation and driving mechanism of rural spatial poverty risk in Tibet are not clear, which adversely affects the formulation of differentiated and precise governance strategies. Thus, based on the social–ecological system perspective, 967 poor rural villages in eastern Tibet were taken as an example, using intelligent techniques such as random forest, geographic detector, and multi-scale geographically weighted regression to identify the spatial differentiation characteristics and the driving mechanism of poverty. The results indicated that (1) the high poverty incidence of rural areas in eastern Tibet showed a scattered block distribution, of which approximately 37% of the villages presented a spatial distribution characterised by a high degree of clustering of the high poverty incidence. (2) Topography and the level of public facilities were key factors influencing the poverty levels of rural areas in eastern Tibet, in which the coupling explanatory power between the construction land slope index (CLSI) and several poverty-causing factors was high. (3) Geological disaster, land surface temperature, CLSI, traffic accessibility, livestock resources, cropland per capita, and tourism resources differentially drove the poverty incidence of rural areas in eastern Tibet, forming spatial partitions dominated by the risks of potential, marginal, and recurrent poverty. For different partitions, differentiated governance strategies of upgrading ecological environments, optimising geographical locations, and revitalising social resources were proposed to provide references for solving the problem of relative poverty in the new period.

Effectiveness of educational interventions: An ecological systems analysis of initiatives from the UK opportunity areas programme

AbstractGovernment interventions to address inequalities in education are common in the United Kingdom and internationally. Whilst there is a tendency for policy discourse to focus on benchmarks and indicators as measures of educational success, the inclusiveness and effectiveness of government interventions in education has been questioned. This paper uses the ecological systems perspective as a way of analysing how government interventions may, or may not, lead to real impact on young people's educational outcomes. Two case studies are presented on projects funded as part of the opportunity areas (OA) programme in England to tackle barriers to learning for young people: Ipswich ‘Learning Behaviour Leads’ and Norwich ‘Engagement Coaches’. The research team carried out an evaluation of these projects in seven schools, using a mixed methods approach which involved interviews and reflective journals by the staff delivering the projects (n = 7), interviews with members of the school senior leadership teams (n = 7), an online survey with teachers (n = 23) and focus groups with young people involved in the projects (n = 14). The evaluation found that although there was shared understanding of the purpose and priorities of the OA programme between the macro and exosystems, there were tensions between these and the microsystem, and a lack of interconnection with the mesosystem. Whilst the projects benefited the young people involved, they fell short of the initial intentions to foster engagement amongst the most at‐risk groups, and failed to address the macro aims of fostering a pan‐system response.

I am better because of your expectation: Examining how left-behind status moderates the mediation effect of perceived parental educational expectation on cognitive ability among Chinese rural students.

Chinese rural students have been documented to have relatively delayed cognitive development. From an ecological system perspective, empirical studies have identified the significant effect of the proximal environment on Chinese rural students' cognitive development. Yet, little do we know the mechanism behind that. More importantly, how the mechanism differs among rural students with different left-behind characteristics remains obscure. Drawing longitudinal data from a nationally representative survey, this study examines the interrelations between rural students' parental educational expectation perception, their own educational expectation, and cognitive ability. Two models were examined using path analysis. The first mediation model tests the mediating effect of educational expectation between the association of parental educational expectation perception and cognitive ability, while the second moderated mediation identifies the moderating effect of rural students' left-behind status on the association between their parental educational expectation perception and educational expectation. The first mediation analysis reveals that rural students' perception of parental educational expectation is positively correlated with their educational expectation, which further positively correlated with their cognitive ability. The following moderated mediation analysis suggests that students' left-behind status significantly moderated the effect of their perceived parental educational expectations on their own educational expectation. Chinese rural students' perception of parental educational expectation affects their cognitive ability through their own educational expectations. The number of migrant parents within a family further moderates the indirect effect of education expectation.

Exploring the effects of a short-term, nature-based preschool experience: a mixed-methods investigation

AbstractGaining access to early childhood education can be challenging for some families, but summer programs may provide more opportunities for children of all backgrounds. In the USA, some of these expanded opportunities have come by way of an increased number of nature-based preschool programs. This study investigated a short-term, nature-based summer preschool program. Using an ecological systems perspective, researchers determined how the program affected children’s social-emotional skills, if children from the program demonstrated appropriate academic growth, and if children showed stronger connections to nature after participation. Multiple data streams were analyzed using a mixed methods approach, including data from observation instruments, literacy skills tests, surveys, and caregiver interviews. Findings from 69 preschoolers and 15 caregivers indicated positive increases in children’s social-emotional skills, appropriate academic development, no significant changes in connections to nature, and caregivers who felt the program positively contributed to readiness. However, it is also clear from this study that additional research is needed on these kinds of preschool programs to determine the specific factors contributing to positive outcomes.

Strategies to Strengthen Nursing PhD Enrollment: An Ecological Systems Perspective.

Nurses with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree are essential to developing nursing knowledge, promoting health outcomes, and educating the next generation of nurses. Declining enrollment in nursing PhD programs calls for purposeful action. Guided by Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Framework, this article outlines barriers and facilitators, and offers strategies to increase PhD enrollment. Extant literature and the authors' cumulative experiences in PhD education and research were reviewed to identify strategies to increase PhD enrollment. Multilevel influences impede or facilitate enrollment in PhD programs. Strategies addressing individual and interpersonal influences included intentional personalized recruiting and early outreach to students at various levels of education. Institutional and organizational strategies included research partnerships and programs, and financial and infrastructure support. Sociocultural strategies included image branding and a positive social media presence supporting nurse scientists. Strategies to enhance PhD enrollment across all levels can spark interest in nursing science and PhD enrollment. [J Nurs Educ. 2023;62(12):669-678.].

The Mass Incarceration Trauma Framework: A Conceptual Model for Understanding Trauma among Individuals Who Experience Incarceration.

The Mass Incarceration Trauma (MIT) framework is a conceptual model for understanding the role of trauma in the lives of individuals who experience incarceration in the United States. This population faces poverty, violence, and discrimination across the life span. The MIT framework is guided by an ecological systems perspective, a foundational theoretical approach in social work that recognizes that effective assessment and intervention require an understanding of the complex contexts in which individuals live. The MIT framework presents the cumulative trauma exposures commonly faced by this population before, during, and after incarceration at the individual, social, environmental, and historical levels. Because traumatic stress undermines health and daily functioning, it is essential that interventions for this population address both the ongoing risk for trauma exposure and the consequences of multiple, repeated past exposures across ecological systems. It is to be hoped that a new and fundamental focus on the poverty, contexts of violence, and lifetime disadvantages experienced by those who cycle through prisons in the United States might reframe the question of how our society should prevent and respond to crime as well as respond to those swept into the criminal justice system.

The Mental Stress of Immigrant Parents of Children with ASD in the United States During the COVID-19 Pandemics: A Study from Ecological System Perspective

Given that researchers interested in the experiences of minority parents of children with special needs sometimes recruit participants solely based on their ethnic origin, despite the socioeconomic and political divide between immigrant and native-born minority parents, little is known about the experiences of immigrant parents in the context of the global pandemic beginning in 2019, even though academics have seen major changes in family life in the context of COVID -19 constraints. By examining through an ecological system perspective and based on the findings of a qualitative interpretive phenomenological analysis(IPA) that sought to understand the experiences of 13 immigrant parents of children with ASD advocating for their children, who immigrated from 7 different countries and regions, this article discusses the mental stress experienced by immigrant parents during the pandemic. The findings about mental stress included coping with mental stress caused by being separated from family support networks, increased miscommunication caused by the shift from in-person to online communication, and increased workload as a home-based intervention provider due to practitioner shortages during the pandemic. This study implies that even though immigrant parents have demonstrated amazing resilience in dealing with the pandemic-related environment, external social support is urgently needed to assist them in managing the impact of pandemic-related stresses and concerns.

Social work and social inclusion in sports-based programs: A qualitative study

Summary Although the literature is rich in contributions analyzing the role of social workers in sports, there remains a lack of empirical research with respect to how these workers can be determinant in the development of inclusion outcomes in sports-driven interventions targeting socially vulnerable youth. The investigation analyzes the case of a sports-based program run by an Italian non-profit organization (NGO) from an ecological system perspective. Data from interviews and focus groups with youth involved in the program (21), parents (15), sport coaches (9), and the social workers of the NGO (15) were triangulated with the aim of exploring how social workers promoted inclusion through sport. Data were analyzed in a top–down thematic analysis. Findings Social workers promoted many social inclusion outcomes: (1) they linked sport clubs with the youth excluded from the sport system, thus sustaining access to sport; (2) they emotionally supported youth and their families in the program, fostering the relational dimension of social inclusion; (3) they formed alliances between the diverse systems of youth life, enhancing youth capacity to overcome their personal challenges in sports; and (4) they encouraged the integration of people coming from different socio-economic backgrounds within the sport context. Applications The case informs the practice of social workers in sport-driven interventions providing insights around the tasks they should achieve to promote social inclusion, including (1) recruitment of youth excluded from the sport system and linkage with sport clubs, (2) sport bureaucracy support, and (3) dialogue with diverse youth life systems.

A scoping review examining the association of housing quality and psychosocial well-being following homelessness: an ecological systems perspective

ABSTRACT Housing quality (HQ) has been previously associated with health and quality of life. Although HQ is an important factor in preventing homelessness, little is known about the range and breadth of this body of literature. To identify existing studies, we conducted a scoping review guided by the question: “in what ways has housing quality been associated with psychosocial well-being following homelessness in existing peer-reviewed literature?” using the framework proposed by Arksey & O'Malley and PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Our search was deployed in eight databases. A total of 713 titles and abstracts were screened following the removal of duplicates, and 32 articles were included in narrative synthesis. Six themes emerged from our data analysis of included articles: 1) quality of housing affecting well-being; 2) feeling forced to live in unsafe and poor-quality housing due to no other options; 3) HQ mediated by housing first; 4) determinants of HQ; 5) standardized measures of HQ; and 6) HQ is de-emphasized in research and practice following homelessness. Our findings demonstrate that HQ is associated with psychosocial well-being at micro, meso, exo, and macro systems levels for persons experiencing homelessness. We argue addressing HQ following homelessness is a key homelessness prevention strategy.

Social capital and flourishing of left‐behind children in rural China: How basic psychological needs mediate?

AbstractFlourishing, as an integrated conceptualization, is a specific perspective of well‐being which focuses on one's emotional status and psychosocial functioning. As flourishing is a vital determinant for the development of adolescents, this study aims to better understand extent and quality of the flourishing of left‐behind children in rural China from a strength‐based orientation rather than the traditional deficit approach. In line with an ecological system perspective, one's flourishing is intertwined with microfactors and macrofactors. Herein, this study combines social capital theory and self‐determination theory to construct an integrative framework to explore how two specific microfactors and macrofactors influence the flourishing of left‐behind children. Altogether, 995 Chinese rural adolescent respondents (57.2% [N = 573] male and 52.3% [N = 520] LBC, Mage = 12.56 years) filled out a self‐report questionnaire that included the Social Capital Scale, Basic Psychological Needs Scale and Flourishing Scale. This study performed bivariate correlation analysis, regression analysis and mediation effect analysis through SPSS 26 and PROCESS 3.2 macro. Results indicate that (1) left‐behind children with more social capital experience higher levels of flourishing and (2) basic psychological needs have an indirect effect on the relationship between social capital and flourishing. The findings underscore the importance of constructing a synthetic framework to support the flourishing left‐behind children. They also indicate that the social networks and social resources for left‐behind children be expanded. Finally, results suggest that more attention should be given to fostering left‐behind children's innate growth through fulfilling their basic psychological needs.

The Meaning of Physical Literacy for Instructors of Children Experiencing Disability, from an Ecological Systems Perspective.

With the rapid and widespread uptake of physical literacy (PL), there is potential for instructors to devalue participation of children who experience disability. The aim of the investigation was to understand how instructors who facilitate physical activity for children experiencing disability make sense of PL, and more specifically, how these instructors bring meaning to PL. Using interpretive phenomenological analysis, six instructors engaged in individual, semi-structured interviews. The study rationale was underpinned by the conceptual framework of ecological systems theory, which provided a foundation for the research, guided the structure of the interview guide, and facilitated a reflexive interpretation of the findings. Four themes were generated: Recognizing unique embodiments, The importance of context, Beyond physical competence, and Navigating PL's dominant discourse. The instructors' meaning of PL, impacted by relational and environmental influences, reflected the importance of movement skill development, while also embracing diverse embodiment and pedagogical flexibility by giving value to exploratory play, partial participation, family involvement, and willingness to abandon rigid lessons plans.

Does labor out‐migration affect the sustainability of disaster mitigation? Insight from the social–ecological system perspective

AbstractMuch is known about disaster mitigation (DM) actions, but little is known about the impact of migration as an exogenous shock. Rural farmers in mountainous areas are under the pressure of poverty, and also face the threat of geo‐hazards. Therefore, a more complex relationship exists between rural farmers' willingness to out‐migration for work and their DM behavior. To gain insight into the relationship between the two, we constructed the social–ecological system (SES) framework based on the survey data of 864 households in 53 villages in Chongqing, and verified our findings using the endogenous switching regression model and the mediation effect model. The results show that labor out‐migration has a negative correlation with the DM behavior of peasant households. When the total effect is further categorized into the direct effect and mediation effect; the negative total effect of labor out‐migration on the DM of farmers changes from a significant to an insignificant negative direct effect. It can be seen that labor out‐migration is not the direct cause of low motivation for DM, but the loss of leadership caused by labor out‐migration, the dilution of farmers' sense of place, and the decline of farmers' risk perception are the causes that ultimately lead to the decline of farmers' action ability for DM. This study confirms that the SES framework is suitable for empirical research on how labor out‐migration affects the ability of local villages to ensure DM action. These findings add new theoretical insights to the literature on DM.

Predictors for Peer Relationships among Children and Adolescents in the Ecological System Perspective: A Multilevel Meta-Analysis

This study examined four ecological systems, namely individual, family, school, and media environments. A series of moderator analyses were conducted to examine variations in effect size estimates across the study characteristics. The current study estimated that the effect size results were gleaned from 360 primary studies, including 90 journal articles and 270 thesis/dissertations, published between 2011 and 2022. The current meta-analysis results supported the ecological framework. That is, the impact of each ecological system on the development of positive and negative peer relationships varies depending on age groups and protective-risk factors. Specifically, for positive peer relationships, the largest effect size of the protective factor was found at the individual level for young and school- aged children, but at the school level for adolescents. Regarding the risk factors for positive peer relationships, the media was the ecological system with the strongest effect size for both young children and adolescents, while the individual-level demonstrating the strongest effect for school-aged children. Results from this meta-analysis allow us to identify some vital intervention areas in terms of healthy peer-relationship development, which should be of considerable interest to the educators and policymakers who are responsible for assessing and intervening with at-risk young children, school-aged children, and adolescents. From a practical standpoint, the current meta-analysis results are expected to contribute to developing effective prevention initiatives by targeting specific protective and risk factors for peer relationship development on the ecological system level.

Centering the Margins: Dynamic Systems, Targeted Universalism, and Special Education

This commentary outlines the potential benefits of applying advances in the science of learning and development to special education service delivery and research. Building from a dynamic ecological systems perspective of development, it is argued that special education should focus on the whole child in context to leverage the correlated contributions of multiple factors in the learning and development of students with disabilities. The concept of targeted universalism is presented as a framework for creating universal service delivery structures that are centered on tailoring supports to the daily experiences and functioning of students who receive special education. Person-oriented analysis and longitudinal, idiographic designs are considered as an approach to guide the development and evaluation of such frameworks.

Microbial ecology of vertebrate decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems.

Vertebrate decomposition results in an ephemeral disturbance of the surrounding environment. Microbial decomposers are recognized as key players in the breakdown of complex organic compounds, controlling carbon and nutrient fate in the ecosystem and potentially serving as indicators of time since death for forensic applications. As a result, there has been increasing attention on documenting the microbial communities associated with vertebrate decomposition, or the 'necrobiome'. These necrobiome studies differ in the vertebrate species, microhabitats (e.g. skin vs. soil), and geographic locations studied, but many are narrowly focused on the forensic application of microbial data, missing the larger opportunity to understand the ecology of these communities. To further our understanding of microbial dynamics during vertebrate decomposition and identify knowledge gaps, there is a need to assess the current works from an ecological systems perspective. In this review, we examine recent work pertaining to microbial community dynamics and succession during vertebrate (human and other mammals) decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems, through the lens of a microbial succession ecological framework. From this perspective, we describe three major microbial microhabitats (internal, external, and soil) in terms of their unique successional trajectories and identify three major knowledge gaps that remain to be addressed.

An Ecological Systems Perspective on Individual Differences in Children’s Performance on Measures of Executive Function

ABSTRACT The predictive validity of performance on cognitive-behavioral measures of executive function (EF) suggests that these measures index children’s underlying capacity for self-regulation. In this paper, we apply ecological systems theory to critically evaluate this assertion. We argue that as typically administered, standard measures of EF do not index children’s underlying, trait-like capacity for EF, but rather assess their state-like EF performance at a given point in time and in a particular (and often quite peculiar) context. This underscores the importance of disentangling intra-individual (i.e., state-like) and inter-individual (trait-like) differences in performance on these measures and understanding how factors at various levels of organization may contribute to both. To this end, we offer an approach that combines the collection of repeated measures of EF with a multilevel modeling framework, and conclude by discussing the application of this approach to the study of educational interventions designed to foster children’s EF.