Stronger Peer Relationships Research Articles

The path of depression in rural children: A fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis across multiple provinces in China

ObjectivesThis study explores the combinations of conditional variables contributing to depressive symptoms in rural children. MethodsWe analyzed data from 715 children from a rural mental health database, conducting detailed follow-up investigations on 129 children in Zhejiang and Henan provinces. We used fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) and regression analysis to identify causal pathways leading to depression. ResultsThe results indicate that depression in rural children does not stem from a single, necessary condition but arises from multiple factors. Our findings highlight significant contributions from both maternal and paternal involvement. Specifically, maternal involvement, combined synergistically with peer support and problematic behaviors, as well as paternal involvement, together with peer support and anxiety, significantly affects depressive outcomes. Additionally, anxiety and strong peer relationships independently have a substantial impact on these outcomes. Effective mitigation strategies involve active parental engagement and robust peer support, reducing the influence of risk factors such as problematic behaviors and anxiety. LimitationsThe generalizability of the results is limited by cultural and geographical variations. The study also does not account for all potential factors influencing depression in rural children. ConclusionDepression in rural children results from multiple interacting factors. Tailored interventions addressing these specific combinations are recommended.

National trends and ecological factors of physical activity engagement among U.S youth before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cohort study from 2019 to 2021

BackgroundThis study aims to investigate the trends and ecological determinants of physical activity among U.S. children and adolescents during the 2019–2021 period, encompassing the COVID-19 pandemic’s onset and subsequent years.MethodsUtilizing data from the National Survey of Children’s Health over three years, this cohort study analyzed physical activity levels and ecological determinants among 82,068 participants aged 6–17. The sample included 36,133 children (44%) and 45,935 adolescents (56%), with variables assessed by caregiver reports.ResultsThe analysis revealed a significant decline in physical activity among children from 2019 to 2020, followed by a recovery in 2021, whereas adolescents showed a continued decrease without recovery. Over the study period, children were consistently more active than adolescents. Better health status, normal weight, less screen time, stronger peer relationships, higher parental involvement, better family resilience and greater school participation were consistently correlated with increased physical activity in both age groups. Sleep duration was a predictor of activity only in children, while mental health status was solely a predictor in adolescents. Neighborhood environment consistently predicted children’s activity levels but was a significant factor for adolescents only in 2020.ConclusionsThese findings highlight the differing impacts of the pandemic on physical activity between children and adolescents, emphasizing the need for targeted public health interventions, particularly for adolescents whose activity levels have not recovered from the pandemic period. Age-specific physical activity interventions should consider sleep duration and neighborhood environmental factors when targeting children and mental health factors when focused on adolescents.

What Does a Quality Education Look Like in Rural Schools?

This issue of the Australian and International Journal of Rural Education features articles that describe and critically analyse rural education, the common thread being 'What Does a Quality Education Look Like in Rural Schools?'. The education settings discussed include Australia, Czechia, Iraq, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania, and the United States. The studies presented reflect the huge diversity of rural schooling and the many factors that work to support quality education. What does quality rural education look like? It looks like teachers who have a strong connection to place, with strategies for teaching that connect with students from the place. It looks like teachers who are flexible and open to learning. It looks like a supportive system. It looks attractive to parents. It looks like contextualised learning. It looks like parents and communities engaged in their children's learning at school. It is potentially transformative. It looks like a workforce that has good access to professional learning options. It looks like good governance, with local Elders and community leaders involved and driving a vision for education. It looks like strong peer relationships, and a culturally safe learning environment. It does not necessarily look like the narrowly defined metrics that are often used to define success or the deficits that are too often described in association with rural education.

IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON ADOLESCENTS’ IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT

Identity development is significant during adolescence, which requires strong peer relationships through social interactions. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has created havoc in human life, where people distanced from each other to save themselves. To overcome this situation, adolescents already born into a digital era who used technology for fun previously increased their dependency on it to learn and develop.This literature review study was conducted using specific criteria that included literature before and after the pandemic and addressed the problem of how adolescents could develop their identity while shifting from face-to-face to virtual platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic. So, this study aimed to observe the adolescent’s identity development before and after the pandemic while considering Erikson’s theory of eight psychosocial stages and Marcia’s identity statuses.Research findings revealed complex positive outcomes and significant negative consequences. The authors argued that whether positive or negative, adolescents’ identity development became weak and pushed them to a new social and historical context that impaired their ability to develop their identity.

Exploring the role of interpersonal contexts in peer relationships among autistic and non-autistic youth in integrated education.

The double empathy problem theory posits that autistic social difficulties emerge from an interpersonal misalignment in social experiences and expectations between autistic and non-autistic people. Supporting this, emerging research reveals better social outcomes in interactions within than across neurotypes among autistic and non-autistic people, emphasizing the need to examine the role of the interpersonal context in autistic social outcomes. However, research on peer relationships among autistic youth primarily focuses on individual characteristics in isolation from the interpersonal context. To address this, this preliminary study explored the effects of student-peer neurotype match on peer relationships among autistic and non-autistic youth in an integrated educational setting. We plotted the peer relationship networks among youth in a school club based on systematic observations of peer interactions over eight 45-min sessions. Descriptive network statistics (node degree and strength) showed that both autistic and non-autistic youth had more and stronger peer relationships with their same- than cross-neurotype peers. Assortativity coefficients revealed a tendency for youth to connect with peers of the same neurotype, rather than with peers with similar social popularity or activity. We further modeled the effects of student-peer neurotype match on peer relationships using exponential random graph models. The findings suggested that student-peer neurotype match predicted the total strength of peer relationships above and beyond the effects of student neurotype, individual heterogeneity in social popularity and activity, and the tendency of mutuality in social relationships. We discussed the strengths and limitations of this study and the implications for future research and inclusion practice.

Variation in the prevalence of different forms of bullying victimisation among adolescents and their associations with family, peer and school connectedness: a population-based study in 40 lower and middle income to high-income countries (LMIC-HICs)

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of different forms of bullying victimization experiences and their association with family functioning, peer relationships and school connectedness among adolescents across 40 lower and middle income to high-income countries (LMIC-HICs). Data were drawn from the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) school-based survey of adolescents aged 11–15 years, between 2013 and 2014. We estimated the weighted prevalence by categorising experiences into traditional bullying victimization only, cyberbullying victimization only, and combined traditional and cyberbullying victimization, at country and country income classification. We used multinominal logistic regression models to estimate the adjusted association with the form of bullying victimization by demographic characteristics, family functioning, peer relationships and school connectedness. Overall, 8.0% reported traditional bullying victimization only (8.8% males, 7.4% females), 2.3% of adolescents reported cyberbullying victimization only (2.1% males, 2.2% females), and 1.7% reported combined traditional and cyber bullying victimization (1.7% males, 1.8% females). All three forms of bullying victimization during adolescence were significantly associated with poor family functioning, poor peer relations and poor school connectedness. A consistent finding is that traditional bullying victimization is considerably more common among adolescents across both LMICs and HICs than cyberbullying victimization. This study also demonstrated that a significant proportion of adolescent’s experience victimization in both forms. Positive family functioning, strong peer relationships and greater school connectedness are associated with a lower risk of both forms of bullying victimization.

A Phenomenological Study of Pregnant Women’s Experience : COVID-19 Lockdown Period

Introduction and objective: Pregnant women are facing challenges with the restrictions during the lockdownperiod. Advices/instructions from husband and support system contribute to anxiety. The objective of thestudy includes describing pregnant women’s experiences during COVID -19 lockdown period. Materialand Method: Qualitative Research Approach and Descriptive Phenomenological as research Design wereused. Sample size was four Pregnant women from Urban community during COVID -19 lockdown period.The investigator collected the data on lived experiences of pregnant women through in-depth interview,which was lasted for 45-60 minutes. Qualitative rigor was done, researcher ‘Bracketed’ her own feelingsand experiences about the content under investigation. Triangulation was applied and member checking wasdone. To ensure credibility the investigator had co researcher review the data. Dependability is achieved byclearly laid down the steps and also in analysis process to ensure that anyone wishing to conduct study caneasily follow and carry out the steps. Transferability of the study was ensured by the exhibition of a densenarration of the samples research context and setting. The quality of data collected was significant. Finding:Four themes were emerged: Unknown fear, Anxiety, inclination towards Spirituality and State of Dilemma.Conclusion: Most of the participant reported a negative overall experience but very much appreciated thesupport of husband and other family members. Shown strong peer relationships creating an environmentwhich is supportive in nature. An unknown fear and pressure is prevailing which needs to be addressed

Transitions into and out of post-traumatic stress among children involved in the child welfare system.

To describe the transition patterns into and out of post-traumatic stress (PTS) for youth and identify social supports preceding these transitions. We used inhomogeneous, continuous-time, 1Markov Chain models to model transitions in and out of PTS using data from Waves 1, 3, 4, and 5 of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Wellbeing (NSCAW I)-a longitudinal study of children who first had contact with the child welfare system between 1999 and 2000. Our analytic sample contained 915 individuals aged 11-17 years. We analyzed data in 2020. Youth with stronger peer relationships were less likely to transition into PTS (HR: 0.82; 95% CI [0.70-0.96]), and these individuals were also more likely to transition out of PTS (HR: 1.21; 95% CI [1.04, 1.42]). Youth with adult support were less likely to transition into PTS at any given time interval (HR: 0.37; 95% CI [0.17-0.78]), but adult support was not associated with the transition out of PTS. Strengthening peer relationships may help at-risk children both avoid PTS altogether and recover from PTS after its onset. Promoting adult support, however, may only be most effective when attempting to prevent PTS-onset.

Risk and Protective Factors for Bullying at 11 Years of Age in a Spanish Birth Cohort Study.

(1) Background: Bullying affects a large number of children worldwide. This study has two objectives, to provide data on the prevalence of bullying in Spain, and to identify risk and protective factors associated with bullying. (2) Methods: Participants were 858 eleven-year-old children. Bullying was assessed using a short version of the Olweus Bully Victim Questionnaire, and the following data were gathered to explore potential predictors: individual (inattention, behavior problems, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptomatology, traumatic life events), family-related (sociodemographic characteristics, family context, child-parent relations), school-related (school characteristics, peer and social support, school environment) and community-related data. (3) Results: 9.3% of the children were victims, 1.4% bullies and 1.6% bully-victims. Results showed that a higher level of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptomatology increased the risk of victimization, whereas having better relationships with parents and stronger social support were associated with a lower risk of victimization. Children having strong peer relationships and social support was also associated with less risk of perpetrating bullying. Finally, having behavior problems at 8 years of age was associated with being a bully-victim. (4) Conclusions: The findings emphasize the importance of studying all bullying predictors together, regarding three of the roles children may take in bullying situations.

Quality of Life and Patient Reported Outcomes in Severe Chronic Neutropenia

Introduction: Few studies have evaluated the quality of life (QOL) in those with chronic neutropenia. We present the largest such study to date with an additional extensive evaluation of patient reported outcomes (PROs) within this patient population. Methods: Adult & pediatric patients (or their caregivers) aged 5 years or greater electively completed the adult or pediatric PedsQL version 4.0 questionnaire and PROMIS short forms via an online survey tool following solicitation from the National Neutropenia Network. Survey measures were scored according to their respective scoring manuals. PROMIS scoring used item-level calibrations and patient raw scores were translated into standardized T-scores compared to healthy controls (mean 50, standard deviation 10) with higher scores representing more of the concept being measured. For PROMIS interpretations a minimally important difference (MID) between T-scores was considered ½ of one standard deviation. Demographic and health history questionnaires were also provided to participants. Calculated z-scores used means and standard deviations from previously published age-matched healthy controls. Data comparisons used t-test and Wilcoxon rank-sum test analyses. Results: Eighty adults & 14 children were assessed (Table 1). Chronic autoimmune neutropenia & cyclic neutropenia were the most common diagnoses in adults (45% & 25% respectively); while 43% of children had severe congenital neutropenia (SCN). The majority of adults (57%) receive G-CSF or GM-CSF (15% scheduled daily); 93% felt bone pain from the medication. A greater percentage of children receive G-CSF or GM-CSF (79% overall, 43% scheduled daily) but less (60%) felt bone pain. Bone pain from G-CSF or GM-CSF was rated as moderate or severe in 68% of adults & 40% of children (Table 1). Compared to healthy individuals (assuming mean of zero), patients surveyed had lower overall total QOL scores with a median z-score of -1.77 and interquartile range (IQR) of -3.48 to -0.23. Based on median (IQR) total PedsQL scores, there was a significant difference in the QOL between adults & children, as adults had a lower overall QOL (-2.12 (-3.54, -0.52) vs -0.17 (-1.71, 0.14); p=0.014). Adults showed no difference in mean total overall PedsQL scores for those with congenital neutropenia conditions (SCN & cyclic neutropenia) (mean 56.47, SEM 4.649) compared to those with acquired neutropenia (chronic autoimmune & idiopathic neutropenia) (mean 59.52, SEM 3.209) (p=0.5931). Pediatric patients with congenital neutropenia conditions (mean 68.37, SEM 5.959) showed a significantly lower QOL than children with acquired neutropenias (mean 85.7, SEM 4.304) (p=0.0428). Children & adults were noted to have higher overall scores of anxiety & anger compared to healthy controls (did not reach MID). Both groups also had reduced cognitive function scores compared to controls, with adults only meeting MID criteria (Table 2a). While adults had a MID decrease in physical function versus healthy controls, children with neutropenia were noted to have a MID increase in mobility. Adults described having significantly worse fatigue & pain than healthy controls. Interestingly, children with neutropenia had significantly less depression and stronger peer relationships than controls (Table 2a). Comparable PROMIS analyses between adult & pediatric patients showed a significant difference in fatigue (p=0.001) & depression (p=0.001) with adults noting elevated levels of the parameters. There was nearly a significant difference in pain between the two groups (p=0.081) but no difference in cognitive function, anxiety or anger scores (Table 2a). In-general proxy-reported pediatric PROMIS scores trended towards a negative impact of neutropenia on a child's mental health, mobility, pain, cognition and peer relationships. A significant difference (p=0.005) was noted in PROMIS mobility scores with patients self-reporting improved mobility versus controls and proxies describing reduced mobility (Table 2b). Conclusions: Chronic neutropenia undoubtedly complexly affects QOL and PROs. Assessments of these parameters by adult patients show a negative impact of the condition most prominently on QOL, physical function, fatigue, & pain. Children with neutropenia had comparable QOL scores to healthy controls but were reported to have fewer depressive symptoms, improved mobility and stronger peer relationships. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Hidden Success: Learning From the Counternarratives of High School Graduates Impacted by Student Homelessness

The number of youth experiencing homelessness in the United States has nearly doubled over the past decade from 688,000 in 2006 to over 1.3 million as of 2017. While graduating high school is a significant barrier for many students experiencing homelessness, many youth are able to successfully graduate despite their unstable living conditions. This qualitative study used the antideficit achievement framework to analyze the counternarratives of eight youth who successfully graduated high school while experiencing homelessness. Findings showed that strong peer relationships, the support from caring teachers, and attending church served as impactful influences that helped youth experiencing homelessness graduate high school.

278 Taking Action: Addressing Burnout in Emergency Medicine Through “Action Learning”

Burnout in emergency medicine (EM) has been linked to poor patient care, low patient satisfaction, malpractice, and physician turnover. The Department of EM (DEM) at Thomas Jefferson University (TJU) collaborated with educators at Teachers College (TC), Columbia University to address this problem through “action learning” (AL) to better understand the complex problem of burnout in the Department. AL is an approach to problem solving that involves group work to reframe a given problem, reflect on possible solutions, conduct fieldwork, and propose actions to address the problem. Investigators used AL to 1) identify contributing factors of burnout; 2) describe the department’s culture of wellness; and 3) propose specific actions that may improve providers’ personal wellness. Twenty-one TC graduate students participated in this project. Three teams were created to address the three aforementioned objectives, respectively. Faculty from the Education Division from the DEM visited TC in January 2019 to introduce the DEM at TJU, describe the practice of EM, and frame the burnout problem. Student groups then collected data over the following two months, achieved through structured interviews with faculty and residents; focus groups; shadowing in the clinical environment; and researching best practices within the field. Teams qualitatively coded collected data to arrive at several themes. In March 2019, student groups presented their findings and proposed action items to the DEM. Findings and recommendations were divided in categories, which included: DEM organization; mission and strategy; structure and systems; leadership; interpersonal relationships; individual needs; and the nature of the job itself. A detailed analysis was presented including strengths (ie, strong peer relationships, passion for EM, professional advancement); weaknesses (ie, heavy workload, complicated work environment); opportunities (ie, longitudinal wellness curriculum), and threats (ie, scheduling, institutional prioritization, system-wide practices). A 17-item toolbox of suggested recommendations which can be integrated into already existing systems was also offered. The application of AL to optimize the DEM’s challenges with wellness and burnout at TJU provided in-depth contextualization of the factors that precipitate burnout in the department. Equally as important, the process of AL identified immediately actionable interventions that could address the problem. The next step will include convening a task force to decide how to systematically implement recommendations to better support and promote personal wellness and engagement in the DEM.

Integrate students into campus with strong peer relationships

Beth Myers is the executive director of the Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education at Syracuse University. The Taishoff Center has a broad mission to advocate for students with developmental and intellectual disabilities and increase higher education opportunities for these students across the country. The Taishoff Center's on‐campus initiative is called InclusiveU.

Developmental antecedents of abnormal eating attitudes and behaviors in adolescence.

This study capitalizes on developmental data from an Australian population-based birth cohort to identify developmental markers of abnormal eating attitudes and behaviors in adolescence. The aims were twofold: (1) to develop a comprehensive path model identifying infant and childhood developmental correlates of Abnormal Eating Attitudes and Behaviors in adolescence, and (2) to explore potential gender differences. Data were drawn from a 30-year longitudinal study that has followed the health and development of a population based cohort across 15 waves of data collection from infancy since 1983: The Australian Temperament Project. Participants in this analysis were the 1,300 youth who completed the 11th survey at 15-16 years (1998) and who completed the eating disorder inventory at this time point. Developmental correlates of Abnormal Eating Attitudes and Behaviors in mid-adolescence were temperamental persistence, early gestational age, persistent high weight, teen depression, stronger peer relationships, maternal dieting behavior, and pubertal timing. Overall, these factors accounted for 28% of the variance in Abnormal Eating Attitudes and Behaviors at 15-16 years of age. Depressive symptoms, maternal dieting behavior, and early puberty were more important factors for girls. Late puberty was a more important factor for boys. Findings address an important gap in our understanding of the etiology of Abnormal Eating Attitudes and Behaviors in adolescence and suggest multiple targets for preventive intervention.

Randomized Controlled Trial of a Family Intervention for Children Bullied by Peers

This study examined the effects of a family intervention on victimization and emotional distress of children bullied by peers. The intervention, Resilience Triple P, combined facilitative parenting and teaching children social and emotional skills relevant to developing strong peer relationships and addressing problems with peers. Facilitative parenting is parenting that supports the development of children’s peer relationship skills. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 111 families who reported chronic bullying of children aged 6 to 12years. Families were randomly allocated to either an immediate start to Resilience Triple P (RTP) or an assessment control (AC) condition. Assessments involving children, parents, teachers, and observational measures were conducted at 0 (pre), 3 (post) and 9months follow-up. RTP families had significantly greater improvements than AC families on measures of victimization, child distress, child peer and family relationships, including teacher reports of overt victimization (d=0.56), child internalizing feelings (d=0.59), depressive symptoms (d=0.56), child overt aggression towards peers (d=0.51), acceptance by same sex and opposite sex peers (d=0.46/ 0.60), and child liking school (d=0.65). Families in both conditions showed significant improvements on most variables over time including child reports of bullying in the last week reducing to a near zero and indistinguishable from the normative sample. The intervention combining facilitative parenting and social and emotional skills training for children produced better results than the comparison assessment control condition. This study demonstrated that family interventions can reduce victimization and distress and strengthen school efforts to address bullying.

Providing developmentally appropriate psychosocial care to adolescent and young adult cancer survivors

To deliver developmentally appropriate psychosocial care, the key developmental tasks facing adolescents and young adults (AYA) need to be taken into consideration. These include establishing autonomy from parents; a personal set of values and identity; strong peer relationships, including intimate and sexual relationships; and obtaining adequate preparation to join the workforce. To minimize the amount of disruption caused by the cancer experience and to maximize the health-related quality of life of AYA patients, young individuals with cancer need opportunities to participate as much as possible in typical AYA activities and to master the developmental tasks of this life stage. Promoting a sense of normalcy is essential. To achieve this, the health care environment must be flexible and recognize the important role of peers. Informational and practical supports also are necessary for AYA to stay on track developmentally in the context of coping with cancer. Critical elements of effective AYA psychosocial services should include access to AYA-specific information and support resources, fertility and sexuality counseling, programs to maximize academic and vocational functioning, and financial support.

Adolescent social development and chronic pain

Adolescents with chronic pain report disability, distress and reduced social functioning. A clinical sample of 110 adolescents, with a mean four year history of pain, was investigated for the psychosocial impact of pain on social development. All participants completed a range of self-report measures of pain intensity, disability, distress, social and family functioning. Also completed was the Bath Adolescent Pain Questionnaire, including its development subscale. The development subscale measures the extent to which adolescents perceive themselves to be ahead or behind their peers on 11 aspects of social development. Three related analyses were undertaken. First, over 50% of adolescents reported themselves to be less developed than their peers on four or more aspects. The item with the highest endorsement of being ahead compared with peers was “dealing with problems”. Second, factor analyses revealed three factors of adolescent social development labelled ‘independence’, ‘emotional adjustment’ and ‘identity formation’. Third, regression analyses revealed that peer support had a positive effect on all three factors, disability and anxiety had a negative effect on perceptions of independence, greater family dysfunction had a negative effect on emotional adjustment, and depressive mood had a negative effect on identity formation. Pain intensity had a negative effect on all three factors. Findings suggest that adolescents with chronic pain judge themselves to be less developed than their peers. Pain intensity has a negative effect on this perception, but peer relations may play a protective role: strong peer relationships are associated with positive social comparisons of the level of social development.

Sibling Activity as a Determinant of Physical Activity Levels in Adolescents with Autistic Spectrum Disorders

1789 Adolescents with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) may be less active than peers due to communication and behavior deficits associated with the condition. It is reasonable to conclude that disability characteristics are a primary determinant of physical activity (PA) in this group. However, since disability characteristics are difficult to modify, other factors that affect PA behavior must also be examined. Previous research in adolescents without disabilities indicates that PA levels among siblings are positively correlated. Sibling activity may also have a positive influence on PA behaviors of adolescents with ASD, particularly since these individuals do not form strong peer relationships and typically engage in family-based activities. PURPOSE: To examine the influence of sibling PA on PA levels of adolescents with ASD. METHODS: Five males with ASD (ASDS = 12.6 ± 1.1 yrs), 6 gender matched adolescent siblings (SIB = 11.2 ± 1.2 yrs), and 8 males with ASD and no adolescent siblings (ASDNS = 12.3 ± 2.2 yrs) participated. Physical activity levels were measured with a uniaxial accelerometer. The device was worn during waking hours for 5 weekdays and 2 weekend days. Data are reported as time engaged in moderate-vigorous PA (MVPA). A Kruskall-Wallis test was used to examine differences between groups and Spearman rank correlation was used to study the relationship between sibling PA levels. Significance was set at p<0.05. RESULTS: There were no differences in weekday and weekend PA levels, so these data were combined in further analysis. There were no group differences in MVPA (ASDS = 15.9 ± 4.3 min.hr−1 hr; SIB = 16.2 ± 4.7 min.hr−1 hr; ASDNS = 13.9 ± 9.0 min.hr−1 hr). There was no significant relationship between ASDS and SIB MVPA ranks (rs = .70). CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that siblings do not have a significant influence on PA levels of adolescents with ASD. Supported by the AAU-Updyke-Willett Kinesiology Research Fund.

Solving the ideological dilemmas of peer social support: Microanalysis of provider strategies on a warm line

It is commonly assumed that supportive communication consists of multiple goals and that there are difficulties tied to accomplishing these multiple goals in interaction. Building upon a description of three contrary themes that typify the goals of social support on a peer‐run warm line for clients within community mental health, this study explores how support providers address the contrary themes of connectedness, problem solving, and nondirectiveness in actual phone calls. Support providers share their own similar experiences with clients in order to help solve client problems, too. Support providers put forth advice within queries in order to meet dual goals: solve client problems yet support client autonomy. Additionally, paraphrasing client's reports, if done well, both supports client autonomy and helps build stronger peer relationships. Future studies should detail other actual strategies that address dilemmas inherent to social support.

Enhancing the First Year Student Experience by Facilitating the Development of Peer Networks through a One-day Workshop

Transition to university involves adapting to a new academic and social environment. Recent research on this process indicates that a significant number of students experience at least some difficulties during this transition, but that this may be alleviated by various institutional measures designed to assist students with the transition, e.g. the fostering of peer study groups. From 1996, the Faculty of Science of the University of Sydney has offered a "Transition Workshop" to all incoming first year science students. Follow-up surveys from the 1997 cohort indicated that students who attended the workshop exhibited significantly better adjustment on a range of measures. Compared to equivalent peers not attending the workshop, attendees also recorded higher levels of academic performance (on average) during their first year of study. A qualitative evaluation found that the workshop facilitated the establishment of strong peer relationships, and that these enhanced study, self-motivation and general enjoyment of university life. These findings suggest that such workshops assist in the development of peer networks and are helpful in easing the transition of undergraduate students.