Way Of Support Research Articles

Family first: The role of family in Māori and Pasifika professional athlete success

Throughout the Pacific, the whānau/’āiga (family) is an integral element of community and identity. Within Polynesian communities, it is common for the whānau (family – Māori) or ‘aiga (family – Samoan) to be the most important aspect of one's existence. For many Polynesian (Māori and Pacific) athletes, the family unit is central to their ability to succeed in professional sport. The cultural identity that is developed within the family unit as well as the support and nurturing provided are ingredients for Polynesian athletes to thrive in spaces where they may not otherwise: gaining collective support in ways that are not always readily afforded to Western society. This paper draws from the stories of male professional Māori and Pasifika rugby league athletes to provide deeper insight into the critical role of Polynesian families in professional sport. As Polynesian sport academics, who were given deep insight from these athletes, we use our insider lens to tell this story.

Navigating Urban Spaces as Queer Women in South Africa

Occupying urban spaces for queer women, often shaped by implicit and explicit forms of regressive heteropatriarchy, has been understood as a challenge for queer women. As a result, queer women struggle to inhabit, live and feel safe in urban spaces. However, further scholarship is needed to consider how queer women may also find strategies to overcome such challenges. Such work can then add productively to, and right an imbalance within, existing scholarship on sexuality and urban space by exploring, acknowledging and giving voice to the lived experiences of queer women especially in urban Africa. Drawing on a PhD study that deployed in-depth interviews with 23 queer women, this intervention looks specifically at how black queer women have found creative ways to create communities with each other in challenging contexts, in the city of Johannesburg. This intervention shows how black queer women resist various forms of oppression by creating safe spaces for themselves (and others) within the city. An appreciation of these strategies by black queer women can then help further discussions as to how we come to understand how queer women occupy and make urban spaces their own through socialisation and support in ways that may also have applicability across the wider continent.

‘Feeling Overwhelmed’: Pedagogy and professionalism in a pandemic

ABSTRACT The normal lives of schools were significantly affected by the recent global pandemic. Some countries closed all schools nationally, others such as the USA closed at a local level according to state law. Much of the focus of research in this area is on the effect on children and learning loss, but this paper uses secondary analysis of data from a project on primary/secondary school transition in England to examine the experience of teaching in a pandemic, with a particular focus on pedagogy and professionalism. It presents our findings of a significant impact on teachers’ professional lives in England; from the pedagogic difficulties of teaching online, dealing with the anxieties and fears of themselves and others, providing support in ways hitherto beyond their experience, increased and different workloads. Some embraced the positive challenge, but many found their mental health suffered.

Alexithymia increases effects of ego-depletion.

Alexithymia is associated with deficiencies to identify, describe and express emotions, paucity of fantasies and an externally oriented cognitive style. The current studies provide evidence that alexithymia is also related to self-regulation processes and exacerbates effects of ego-depletion, a state where self-regulation resources are reduced due to previous acts of self-regulation. In Study 1, ego-depletion effects of a handgrip task on pain tolerance were increased by alexithymia. In Study 2, an emotion suppression task showed stronger effects of ego-depletion on a Stroop task in participants high rather than low in alexithymia, but only after suppression of emotions induced by negative and not positive pictures. The results imply that alexithymia increases susceptibility to ego-depletion effects, that consumption of self-regulatory resources has stronger consequences for people high in alexithymia and that they should experience special support in ways to replenish self-regulation resources.

Patient-centred consent in women\u2019s health: does it really work in antenatal and intra-partum care?

BackgroundLegal and social changes mean that information sharing and consent in antenatal and intrapartum settings is contentious, poorly understood and uncertain for healthcare professionals. This study aimed to investigate healthcare professionals’ views and experiences of the consent process in antenatal and intrapartum care.MethodsQualitative research performed in a large urban teaching hospital in London. Fifteen healthcare professionals (obstetricians and midwives) participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews. Data were collectively analysed to identify themes in the experiences of the consent process.ResultsThree themes were identified: (1) Shared decision-making and shared responsibility –engaging women in dialogue is often difficult and, even when achieved, women are not always able or do not wish to share responsibility for decisions (2) Second-guessing women – assessing what is important to a woman is inherently difficult so healthcare professionals sometimes feel forced to anticipate a woman’s views (3) Challenging professional contexts – healthcare professionals are disquieted by consent practice in the Labour ward setting which is often at odds with legal and professional guidance.ConclusionsResults suggest that there is a mismatch between what is required of healthcare professionals to effect an antenatal or intrapartum consent process concordant with current legal and professional guidance and what can be achieved in practice. If consent, as currently articulated, is to remain the barometer for current practice, healthcare professionals need more support in ways of enabling women to make decisions which healthcare professionals feel confident are autonomous whatever the circumstances of the consultation.

A salutogenesis approach to ageing with impairment: the managing and coping experiences of older people ageing with deafblindness

AbstractAn understanding of the psychosocial impact of deafblindness on older people is impoverished by a dearth of research in the field. Particularly limited are studies adopting a salutogenesis perspective, in which older deafblind people's coping capacities are explored. Much research focuses on vulnerability to unfavourable outcomes, which may perpetuate negative stereotypes of deafblind people as passive and dependent. Identifying deafblind people as a vulnerable group gives rise to misunderstanding of the impairment, perceptions of incapability and neglect of deafblind people's agency. This paper draws on data from the first United Kingdom-based study of vulnerability from the perspectives of older adults ageing with deafblindness. Findings presented here relate to participants’ experiences of managing and coping with their felt vulnerability and ageing with deafblindness. The study adopted interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) as its qualitative approach. In-depth semi-structured interviews were undertaken between October 2014 and July 2016 with eight participants, aged between 48 and 83 years. Data were analysed using an iterative six-step IPA process. Three superordinate themes were identified: taking action to protect self; psychological coping strategies; and accessing and using care and support. Participants’ managing and coping strategies, and the care and support they value, respond to elements identified as generating felt vulnerability. Professionals should seek to bolster coping capacity and provide support in ways valued by those ageing with deafblindness.

Stroke survivors' perspectives on recovering in rural and remote Australia: A systematic mixed studies review.

Stroke survivors recovering in rural and remote locations often have little or no access to rehabilitation services. The purpose of this study was to review the literature on recovering in rural and remote Australia, from the perspective of stroke survivors. Use of technology to support recovery was also explored. A systematic mixed studies review was conducted and reported according to the ENTREQ and PRISMA statements. MEDLINE (Ovid), CINAHL (EBSCOhost), Scopus, PsycINFO (ProQuest), Cochrane Library and Google Scholar were searched from inception to May 2021 for studies investigating stroke survivors' perspectives on recovering in rural or remote Australia. Qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods studies were included. Methodological quality was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Studies were not excluded or weighted according to methodological quality. To review the perspectives of stroke survivors on recovering, findings of included studies were mapped to the Living My Life framework and integrated using a convergent qualitative synthesis. The review protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42017064990). Eight studies met the inclusion criteria: six qualitative, one quantitative and one mixed methods. Methodological quality of the small number of studies ranged from low to high, indicating further high-quality research is needed. Included studies involved 152 stroke survivors in total. Review findings indicated that recovering was driven by working towards what mattered to stroke survivors, in ways that matched their beliefs and preferences and that worked for them in their world, including use of technology. Stroke survivors recovering in rural and remote locations want to live their life by doing what matters to them, despite the challenges they face. They want support in ways that work for them in their environment. Further research is required to tailor support for stroke survivors that is specific to their life in rural and remote locations.

Betrayal vs. nonbetrayal trauma: Examining the different effects of social support and emotion regulation on PTSD symptom severity.

Betrayal Trauma Theory posits that interpersonal traumas are particularly injurious when the perpetrator is a person that the victim previously trusted and was close to. A relevant protective factor to examine is social support, which may influence PTSD symptomology through its influence on emotion regulation. The aim of the current study was to examine differences in the associations between social support, emotion regulation, and PTSD symptom severity for survivors of betrayal trauma and nonbetrayal trauma. Two hundred and 73 trauma survivors (age: M = 25.96 years, SD = 9.42 years; 80.2% female; 63.7% White) completed the anonymous, online survey. Across both groups, emotion regulation mediated the relationship between social support and PTSD symptom severity. A multiple-samples SEM analysis showed that the betrayal group evidenced a weaker relationship between social support and emotion regulation. Findings suggest that survivors of high betrayal trauma may not engage with their social support in ways that foster emotion regulation skills. Therefore, for high betrayal trauma survivors specifically, group interventions that involve the survivor and close contact(s), may be particularly beneficial in enhancing emotion regulation and decreasing PTSD symptomology. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Can Plants Move Like Animals? A Three-Dimensional Stereovision Analysis of Movement in Plants.

Simple SummaryIntrigued by the ability of climbing peas to detect and grasp structures such as garden reeds, we adapted a method classically used to investigate the grasping movement of animals to the study of grasping movements in plants. We used time-lapse photography to document the behavior of pea plants, grown in the vicinity of a support pole. Using this footage, we analyzed the kinematics of tendrils growth and found that their approach and grasp exhibited movement signatures comparable to those characterizing the reach-to-grasp movement of animals. Through our method it may be possible to demonstrate that plants may be more sentient than we give them credit for: namely, they may possess the ability to act intentionally.In this article we adapt a methodology customarily used to investigate movement in animals to study the movement of plants. The targeted movement is circumnutation, a helical organ movement widespread among plants. It is variable due to a different magnitude of the trajectory (amplitude) exhibited by the organ tip, duration of one cycle (period), circular, elliptical, pendulum-like or irregular shape and the clockwise and counterclockwise direction of rotation. The acquisition setup consists of two cameras used to obtain a stereoscopic vision for each plant. Cameras switch to infrared recording mode for low light level conditions, allowing continuous motion acquisition during the night. A dedicated software enables semi-automatic tracking of key points of the plant and reconstructs the 3D trajectory of each point along the whole movement. Three-dimensional trajectories for different points undergo a specific processing to compute those features suitable to describe circumnutation (e.g., maximum speed, circumnutation center, circumnutation length, etc.). By applying our method to the approach-to-grasp movement exhibited by climbing plants (Pisum sativum L.) it appears clear that the plants scale movement kinematics according to the features of the support in ways that are adaptive, flexible, anticipatory and goal-directed, reminiscent of how animals would act.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Chinese College Students’ Information Behavior and Library Needs: A Qualitative Study

Using journaling and in-depth interviews, a qualitative study was conducted to examine the library use and library needs of Chinese college students during the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic. Findings indicate that students lack awareness and understanding of the library’s online resources and would like the library to provide support in ways that could help them enhance productivity and lessen anxiety in the new reality of learning. Libraries should consider making more outreach efforts and offering programs and events to ameliorate isolation and improve students’ sense of community. In this study, we seek to provide academic libraries with a nuanced view of user needs and thus help them make informed decisions to serve their campus communities during the unprecedented health crisis. Through the exploration and documentation of college students’ library use and needs, we also hope to document this critical historical event for the library community.

Providing Agricultural Information to Amish and Mennonite Farmers: Creative Adaptations to Wisconsin Extension Programs and Communications

This service provider report taps into the experience of a longtime Extension Educator in Wisconsin. Pulling from his work in Clark County, WI, where Amish and Old Order Mennonites have been particularly important to the local agricultural economy, he provides examples of how Extension can modify programming to meet the needs of plain producers. Topics of interest to Amish and Mennonite farmers include nutrient management, forage quality, and farm safety. Areas of program modification include approaches to communication, training, and support in ways that are culturally sensitive to church restrictions. In-person training and informational voicemail recordings have been particularly useful modalities. [Abstract by editors.]

A Social Media-Based Support Group for Youth Living With HIV in Nigeria (SMART Connections): Randomized Controlled Trial.

BackgroundYouth living with HIV (YLHIV) enrolled in HIV treatment experience higher loss to follow-up, suboptimal treatment adherence, and greater HIV-related mortality compared with younger children or adults. Despite poorer health outcomes, few interventions target youth specifically. Expanding access to mobile phone technology, in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in particular, has increased interest in using this technology to improve health outcomes. mHealth interventions may present innovative opportunities to improve adherence and retention among YLHIV in LMICs.ObjectiveThis study aimed to test the effectiveness of a structured support group intervention, Social Media to promote Adherence and Retention in Treatment (SMART) Connections, delivered through a social media platform, on HIV treatment retention among YLHIV aged 15 to 24 years and on secondary outcomes of antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence, HIV knowledge, and social support.MethodsWe conducted a parallel, unblinded randomized controlled trial. YLHIV enrolled in HIV treatment for less than 12 months were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive SMART Connections (intervention) or standard of care alone (control). We collected data at baseline and endline through structured interviews and medical record extraction. We also conducted in-depth interviews with subsets of intervention group participants. The primary outcome was retention in HIV treatment. We conducted a time-to-event analysis examining time retained in treatment from study enrollment to the date the participant was no longer classified as active-on-treatment.ResultsA total of 349 YLHIV enrolled in the study and were randomly allocated to the intervention group (n=177) or control group (n=172). Our primary analysis included data from 324 participants at endline. The probability of being retained in treatment did not differ significantly between the 2 study arms during the study. Retention was high at endline, with 75.7% (112/163) of intervention group participants and 83.4% (126/161) of control group participants active on treatment. HIV-related knowledge was significantly better in the intervention group at endline, but no statistically significant differences were found for ART adherence or social support. Intervention group participants overwhelmingly reported that the intervention was useful, that they enjoyed taking part, and that they would recommend it to other YLHIV.ConclusionsOur findings of improved HIV knowledge and high acceptability are encouraging, despite a lack of measurable effect on retention. Retention was greater than anticipated in both groups, likely a result of external efforts that began partway through the study. Qualitative data indicate that the SMART Connections intervention may have contributed to retention, adherence, and social support in ways that were not captured quantitatively. Web-based delivery of support group interventions can permit people to access information and other group members privately, when convenient, and without travel. Such digital health interventions may help fill critical gaps in services available for YLHIV.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT03516318; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03516318

DETECTING STRESS INCIDENCE WITH WRISTBAND SENSOR-BASED DEVICE: A WAY TO SUPPORT CAREGIVERS OF PERSONS WITH DEMENTIA

This experimental study aimed to investigate the sensitivity of detecting stress level with a wearable device. A total of 10 caregivers underwent a psychological stress test with a wearable sensor-based device that measured skin conductivity (Electrodermal Activity, EDA) and heart rate variability (Interbeat Interval, IBI). Two sample t-tests were used to compare the mean scores of EDA and IBI at baseline and during stress. The accuracy for classifying stress test epochs was 70%. There was a significant increase in EDA at the time when the participants were under stress [mean score (SD) at baseline vs at stress: 0.089 (SD 0.150) vs 0.427 (SD 0.430), p <0.001]. However, insignificant changes in IBI were observed. In conclusion, this wearable sensor-based device was able to recognize stress incidence and accurately capture physiological changes. It has a potential to be part of the sensor-based stress monitoring and alleviating system (SbSMA).

Neurocognitive Adaptation and Mental Health Vulnerability Following Maltreatment: The Role of Social Functioning.

Childhood maltreatment is associated with a lifetime increase in risk of mental health disorder. We propose that such vulnerability may stem in large part from altered patterns of social functioning. Here, we highlight key findings from the psychological and epidemiological literature indicating that early maltreatment experience compromises social functioning and attenuates social support in ways that increase mental health vulnerability. We then review the extant neuroimaging studies of children and adolescents, focusing on three domains implicated in social functioning: threat processing, reward processing, and emotion regulation. We discuss how adaptations in these domains may increase latent vulnerability to mental health problems by impacting on social functioning via increased stress susceptibility as well as increased stress generation. Finally, we explore how computational psychiatry approaches, alongside systematically reported measures of social functioning, can complement studies of neural function in the creation of a mechanistic framework aimed at informing approaches to prevention and intervention.

Lessons from the 'real world'.

When I left my tenured professorship for a nonacademic job, I thought I had already done the hard part: making the decision to leave the professional world that had been my home for many years. I had little inkling of the culture shock that awaited me in my new sphere of science policy and how disorienting it would be. In the 17 years since, I've seen that I'm far from the only one who struggles with this transition. Regardless of career stage, leaving academia requires some adjusting. For those who, like me, make the move later in their careers, after decades as established academics, it can be even harder. Knowing what to expect beforehand can take some of the shock out of the transition to the world outside academia. ![Figure][1] ILLUSTRATION: ROBERT NEUBECKER YOU AREN'T THE CENTER OF THE WORLD, AND YOU WILL HAVE AN ACTUAL BOSS. If you're a senior academic, teaching, advising, and managing a research group can turn your world into a solipsistic universe where what you say goes. Most students are attentive and agreeable, no matter what they really think. The dean and department chair are loosely construed as your supervisors, but they generally want you to focus on your own ideas so that you can bring in grant money and prestige. Outside of academia, on the other hand, collaboration in service of a common goal is far more important than any one person's ideas. That is true even if you are in a very senior leadership role. There are goals to achieve and relationships to manage; you can't pursue just your own interests. Having a more formal boss might feel odd, but be open to it. Bosses can offer support in ways that university structures can't. YOU WON'T HAVE NEARLY ENOUGH TIME TO DO THE BACKGROUND WORK YOU'D LIKE. Completeness and thorough examination are hallmarks of a serious scholar. In academia, you can usually take all the time you need to do plenty of background research, talk to colleagues, and cogitate before producing a decision or a publication. But in the outside world, you may have 30 minutes to come up with an answer. This was a particularly hard lesson for me to learn. Sage advice from someone more junior than I but with more “real world” work experience helped immensely. They said that sometimes I just had to go with my gut and call it a day. SUMMER IS NOT SPECIAL. After a long academic year, summer feels different and, in some ways, special. It can be a time to regroup and refresh—write, develop ideas, even spend a few months away from the distractions of campus. Outside of academia, summer is generally three more months in the workplace. It might be punctuated by vacation, but by and large, work goes on as usual for 12 months a year. THERE IS NO TENURE. This is a tough one! Many in the professoriate value this near-guarantee of steady employment for a lifetime. But leaving tenure can actually be liberating for a go-getter with a good work ethic. Employers want to keep strong, creative employees around, and they realize that individuals are not necessarily there for life. That means that organizations can be very loyal to their long-term, high-performing employees and treat them well. And if you don't enjoy the work or feel badly treated, there's no reason to stay. If you decide to take the plunge into the outside world, take some time to acclimate to the new environment. You'll probably experience some initial surprises, but give yourself a chance to see whether things get better. And if this article convinces you that academia is the right place for you and that you should stay and flourish there, then that is a win, too. [1]: pending:yes

Making sense of recovery after traumatic brain injury through a peer mentoring intervention: a qualitative exploration

ObjectiveTo explore the acceptability of peer mentoring for people with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in New Zealand.DesignThis is a qualitative descriptive study exploring the experiences reported by mentees and...

Vaccine Safety and Pharmacovigilance in the African Region: Recent updates

Introduction: The number of subjects in clinical trials, is often limited and inadequate for detection of all adverse events which may be associated with vaccines, especially very rare ones. In addition, there is a surge in introduction of new vaccines into national immunization programmes in the WHO African Region, some of which have been used in a limited number of people, highlighting the need for functional national for pharmacovigilance systems for adverse events following immunization (AEFIs). Recognizing this, WHO and partners are supporting countries to develop national plans, providing training and investments in vaccine safety and pharmacovigilance. Despite these efforts, surveillance for vaccine safety in many countries remain weak. This paper reviews cases of AEFI reported by countries countries in the WHO/UNICEF Joint Reporting Form of WHO/AFRO between 2010 and 2015, discusses some of the causes of the low reporting while exploring how countries can rely on new opportunities and systems to improve their reporting and vaccine safety in general. Methodology: The implementation status of multi-stakeholder national plans developed by national immunization programmes, Pharmacovigilance Centres (PVCs) and the National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) of 28 countries was reviewed. Using data from the WHO/UNICEF Joint Reporting Form and the introduction of new vaccines by countries in the WHO African, the impact of these plans on reporting of AEFIs was assessed for the countries. Results: The analysis of performance revealed that only five countries have fully implemented plans for vaccine safety monitoring and pharmacovigilance in accordance with the Global Vaccine Safety Initiative (GVSI) blueprint. Implementation of the plans in the remaining 23 countries is slow. From 2010 - 2015, just 28 countries reported AEFIs as part of the WHO /UNICEF JRF. Yet 83% of countries introduced at least one new vaccine, with an average of 2 to 3 new vaccines being introduced per country over the period. Many countries have not fulfilled the responsibility of establishing expert committees on AEFI, developed guidelines, trained their staff on vaccine safety and put in place effective vaccine safety communication. Discussion: The low AEFI reporting and weak pharmacovigilance demands special emphasis on capacity building, tailored to country needs to improve the reporting to meet the GVAP goals and UMC ADR guidelines. More sustainable support in ways that strengthen pharmacovigilance in general for all medical products and AEFI surveillance in particular in countries is needed. Opportunities are presented by the GVAP, the GVSI, networks such as the African Vaccine Regulatory Forum (AVAREF), Developing Countries Vaccine Regulatory Network (DCVRN), Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network (DCVM) and the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (IFPMA) as well the African Medicines Regulatory Harmonization (AMRH). African countries should exploit these opportunities to further strengthen their AEFI monitoring and pharmacovigilance.

Supporting instructional change in mathematics: using social network analysis to understand online support processes following professional development workshops

BackgroundStudies continually show benefits of active learning in college classrooms, yet it is difficult to get faculty to adopt these methods. Particularly challenging is the final step of the instructional change process, “refreezing,” when after making initial changes in instructional methods, instructors decide whether to continue with new instructional methods or return to their previous methods. Though this stage is important, it is not well studied. Most available studies about ongoing support following professional development on teaching merely state that facilitators made an effort to offer support, or report how frequently participants engaged with online support mechanisms through counting postings on listservs or message boards. Such measures do not show evidence that participants actually received positive reinforcement or intellectual and emotional support, which are crucial to refreezing, nor do these frequency analyses help other professional developers learn how to create productive ongoing support mechanisms that yield high participant engagement.ResultsThis workshop for 35 college mathematics instructors used online and in-person communities to provide support to participants during the post-workshop period of “refreezing.” Almost all workshop attendees participated in “e-mentoring” (94%), primarily through a productive, engaging group email listserv. By combining qualitative coding of message content with the techniques of social network analysis, we reveal how facilitators and participants on the group listserv provided intellectual and emotional support, as well as positive reinforcement through feedback loops. The analysis also shows how the facilitators made this a helpful group and maintained participant engagement through frequent encouragement, deliberate community building, and thoughtfully timed responses.ConclusionsThough many professional development workshops offer online support through email listservs, there is little evidence that these listservs successfully engage and support participants. Applying the analytic approach of social network analysis allowed us to model the conversation threads in one highly engaged and supportive listserv following a mathematics professional development workshop. This method revealed the processes of ongoing support in ways that traditional frequency-based analyses cannot. This method also revealed lessons for how other professional developers can create productive, helpful online support listservs. Since this is an innovative application of social network analysis, we describe the method in detail.

Towards an Artificially Empathic Conversational Agent for Mental Health Applications: System Design and User Perceptions.

BackgroundConversational agents cannot yet express empathy in nuanced ways that account for the unique circumstances of the user. Agents that possess this faculty could be used to enhance digital mental health interventions.ObjectiveWe sought to design a conversational agent that could express empathic support in ways that might approach, or even match, human capabilities. Another aim was to assess how users might appraise such a system.MethodsOur system used a corpus-based approach to simulate expressed empathy. Responses from an existing pool of online peer support data were repurposed by the agent and presented to the user. Information retrieval techniques and word embeddings were used to select historical responses that best matched a user’s concerns. We collected ratings from 37,169 users to evaluate the system. Additionally, we conducted a controlled experiment (N=1284) to test whether the alleged source of a response (human or machine) might change user perceptions.ResultsThe majority of responses created by the agent (2986/3770, 79.20%) were deemed acceptable by users. However, users significantly preferred the efforts of their peers (P<.001). This effect was maintained in a controlled study (P=.02), even when the only difference in responses was whether they were framed as coming from a human or a machine.ConclusionsOur system illustrates a novel way for machines to construct nuanced and personalized empathic utterances. However, the design had significant limitations and further research is needed to make this approach viable. Our controlled study suggests that even in ideal conditions, nonhuman agents may struggle to express empathy as well as humans. The ethical implications of empathic agents, as well as their potential iatrogenic effects, are also discussed.

Integrating Academic Press and Support by Increasing Student Ownership and Responsibility

This article extends existing research on school effectiveness by focusing on identifying the combination of programs, practices, processes, and policies that explain why some high schools in a large urban district are effective at serving low-income students, minority students, and English language learners. Using a mixed methods study of high schools selected on the basis of value-added indicators, we conducted a comparative case study to understand what differentiated schools that “beat the odds” from those that struggled to improve student achievement. We found that the higher-value-added schools enacted practices that integrated academic press and support in ways that fostered student efficacy and engagement. These findings contribute to the larger literature on school effectiveness by highlighting the importance of the student culture of learning and noncognitive student characteristics. They do so by identifying student ownership and responsibility as a critical area for research on school effectiveness and improvement.