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Students presenting externalizing behaviors often exhibit reduced levels of student engagement, posing academic and well-being challenges. Among potential protective factors, the role of parental involvement in school is relatively unexplored. The objective of this study was to examine whether parental involvement could mitigate lower levels of engagement among these students. Data were collected from 742 Canadian elementary students at the beginning and the end of the school year. Latent moderated structural equation modeling was employed to assess the moderating role of four dimensions of parental involvement (i.e., expectations, communication, homework support, and school-based involvement) on behavioral, cognitive, and affective engagement. Results indicated that externalizing behaviors were negatively associated with behavioral engagement only when parental expectations were low (b = -0.394, p = .035) and with cognitive engagement only when homework support was low (b = -0.383, p < .001). These findings suggest the importance of promoting parental involvement, especially among students who exhibit high levels of externalizing behaviors., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

This study investigated how the school experiences and personal characteristics of youth with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) contribute to their longitudinal trajectories of anxiety. To this end, we relied on a sample of 390 youth with mild (48.2%) to moderate (51.8%) levels of ID, aged from 11 to 22 (M = 15.70), and recruited in Canada (n = 140) and Australia (n = 250). Across three yearly time points, all participants completed self-report measures of anxiety, school climate, and victimization. Our results revealed a slight normative decrease in anxiety over time and showed that experiences of school victimization were associated with higher levels of anxiety (initially and momentarily) and increases in victimization were accompanied by increases in anxiety over time. Perceptions of attending a school that fosters security and promotes learning also tended to be accompanied by lower levels of anxiety (initially and momentarily). Momentary increases in perceptions of attending a school that fosters positive peer interactions were associated with momentary decreases in anxiety, whereas momentary increases in perceptions of attending a school characterized by positive teacher-student relationships and an equitable treatment of all students both led to small momentary increases in anxiety once all other components of student school experiences were considered. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

The objective of the study was to validate adapted versions of the Glasgow Anxiety Scale for people with Intellectual Disabilities (GAS-ID) simultaneously developed in English and French. A sample of 361 youth with mild to moderate intellectual disability (ID) (M = 15.78 years) from Australia (English-speaking) and Canada (French-speaking) participated in this study. The results supported the factor validity and reliability, measurement invariance (between English and French versions), a lack of differential items functioning (as a function of youth's age and ID level, but not sex in the English-Australian sample), temporal stability (over one year interval), and convergent validity (with global self-esteem and school loneliness) of a bi-factor exploratory structural equation modeling representation of the GAS-ID. The present study supports the psychometric properties of the English-Australian and French-Canadian versions of the adapted GAS-ID., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Introduction: Adolescents with an immigrant background, whether first-generation (born abroad) or second-generation (at least one parent born abroad), face challenges that could compromise their psychological adjustment compared to their third-plus generation peers. Yet, many are developing positively despite the presence of adversity. To understand what contributes to these adolescents' resilience, it can be useful to study the coping strategies they use., Methods: A total of 1036 Canadian secondary school students participated in this quantitative cross-sectional study (M age  = 12.9; 56% females; 26% first-generation; 34% second generation; 39% third-plus generation). Coping strategies (coping orientation to problems experienced inventory) were assessed and their differentiated associations with self-esteem, anxiety (Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders), and depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale) were analyzed through path analysis and invariance testing., Results: First-generation adolescents reported more acceptance/reinterpretation and substance use than second- and third-plus generation adolescents. First- and second-generation adolescents reported using religion more than third-plus generation adolescents. First-generation adolescents used self-distraction more often than second-generation adolescents, who used it more often than third-plus generation. The use of humor was more prevalent in second-generation adolescents compared with their third-plus generation peers. In addition, some associations between coping strategies and psychological adjustment differed across generations. In first-generation adolescents, behavioral disengagement was significantly associated with fewer anxiety symptoms. The same trend was observed in second-generation adolescents who used self-distraction. These avoidant strategies are generally associated with poor psychological adjustment., Conclusions: This study adds new knowledge about differences across generations in the coping strategies used by adolescents to deal with stress. Further practical implications are discussed., (© 2022 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents.)

Adolescence is a time of increased risk for developing symptoms of anxiety and depression, especially for girls. The stress and social isolation experienced during confinement add new threats to already vulnerable adolescents' daily lives. This study is aimed at determining which sociodemographic characteristics (age, family composition, achievement), confinement habits (schedule, new hobby, sleep duration, cellphone and computer use, sports, schoolwork), and sources of support (parents and teachers) are associated with more or less internalized symptoms in Canadian adolescents. Differences between boys and girls are also investigated. Between April 8 and 30 (2020) and through an online survey, 895 Canadian adolescents (74% girls) aged between 12 and 17 years (M = 14.7) were recruited. Path analysis was performed to identify significant associations between sociodemographic characteristics, confinement habits, support variables, and internalized symptoms. Independent samples t-tests and invariance tests were conducted to compare boys and girls. Results suggest that certain confinement habits (time spent using cellphones, doing sports and schoolwork, finding a new hobby) and support variables (parents working outside the home) were significantly and negatively associated with internalized symptoms. Regarding the sex differences, girls used their cellphones more and invariance test results showed that all associations between predictors and symptoms were statistically similar for boys and girls. This study's results help understand better adolescents' experience in confinement. It sheds light on the habits likely to characterize those who are less at risk of experiencing distress, making it possible to better support adolescents during this challenging period., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC part of Springer Nature.)

Students with externalizing or internalizing behavior problems are at increased risk of underachievement and school non-completion, often due to their lower school engagement. Two studies were undertaken to assess the unique and joint (i.e., interactive) associations between behavior problems and engagement during two developmental periods; childhood and adolescence. These studies also aim to disentangle the contribution of global (externalizing and internalizing) and specific (hyperactivity/inattention, opposition/defiance, anxiety, depression) behavior problems on the global and specific aspects of student behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement. Study 1 was conducted among a sample of elementary school students (n = 1036; 3rd to 6th grade; mean age = 9.94 y.o.; 47.30% female; majority native Canadians) and Study 2 was conducted in secondary school (n = 1011; 7th and 8th grade; mean age = 12.93 y.o.; 55.77% female; 60.64% from immigrant background). Results of the bifactor-CFA and path analyses from both studies indicate that global externalizing behaviors were associated with lower global and specific behavioral engagement. In Study 1, global internalizing behaviors were also associated with lower global and specific cognitive engagement, whereas specific anxiety was associated with lower global and specific emotional engagement. In Study 2, specific depressive symptoms were associated with lower global and specific emotional engagement. Together, these two studies suggest that externalizing behaviors remain risk factors for student disengagement during childhood and adolescence, but that the risk posed by internalizing behaviors increases in importance for older students.

Background: Students with intellectual disabilities (ID) are at increased risk of peer victimization and depressive symptoms. Little is known about the protective and aggravating factors that influence the association between peer victimization and depressive symptoms among students with ID., Aims: This study assesses the moderating role of two facets of teacher-student relationships (TSR)-warmth and conflict-on the association between peer victimization and depressive symptoms., Methods: A sample of 395 students (aged 11-22) with mild and moderate ID was recruited in Canada and Australia., Results: Hierarchical multiple regressions indicated that victimization and TSR conflict were both associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms, and that TSR conflict moderated the associations between both TSR warmth and victimization, and depressive symptoms. TSR warmth was related to lower levels of depression only for students who also reported a low level of TSR conflict. Similarly, associations between victimization and depression were weaker among students exposed to more conflictual TSR., Conclusions: Students with ID are at increased risk of developing depressive symptoms when exposed to negative social relationships (i.e., peer victimization or TSR conflict). For these students, the benefits of TSR warmth were far less important than the consequences of conflict., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

We studied the molecular mechanisms of resistance and mobility of 18 multidrug-resistant CTX-M-producing Escherichia coli isolates isolated from patients in Canadian intensive care units. Fluoroquinolone-resistant isolates (83.3%) had mutations in gyrA and parC. Plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance genes qnr (A, B, and S), qepA, and aac(6')-Ib-cr were detected in 0%, 5.6%, and 44.4%, respectively. Sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim-resistant isolates (61.1%) carried a dfr gene, and 10 (90.9%) of the 11 carried 1 or more sul genes. Gentamicin-resistant isolates (27.8%) carried the aac(3')-II gene, and doxycycline-resistant isolates (33.3%) carried 1 or more tet efflux genes. Both genetically related and unrelated groups of E. coli harboring extended-spectrum beta-lactamases were observed. The bla(CTX-M) genes were primarily located on diverse IncF plasmids of multiple replicon types downstream of the ISEcp1 element. The spread of the bla(CTX-M) genes among E. coli in Canada occurs through a diversity of different mechanisms and does not correspond to a single CTX-M determinant, or a single clone, or a single plasmid but rather through the combination of clonal spread of virulent strains and acquisition of diverse CTX-M-bearing plasmids. We report the 1st qepA-producing E. coli in North America.