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Nationwide, almost one in two of full-time undergraduate students are employed. This qualitative study investigates how 69 workers and learners, who were full-time students in a Los Angeles County public college or university and who had a job, leveraged the wealth of knowledge and resources embedded in their familial and peer networks to strategically manage the demands of school and work. Informed by the theoretical frameworks of funds of knowledge and community cultural wealth, we illustrate the diverse ways family and peers contributed to the success of workers and learners, including sharing college-specific knowledge, providing financial resources, facilitating access to employment opportunities, and providing job-specific knowledge. Findings shed light on the ways workers and learners strategically manage their worlds of school and work with support from their family and peers.

University First Year Seminar (FYS) programs are diverse in their content and pedagogy. Yet all seek to assist first-year students in the difficult college transition. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate if grouping similar academic majors into the existing First Year Seminar (FYS) courses would improve social connectedness, use of academic resources, and engagement on campus. A subset of first year students were assigned to either the control group (CON) of normal mixed major sections, or to the experimental course (EXP) with only related majors. Thirteen EXP and 36 CON students completed the data collection, including an 18-question social support survey administered at the beginning and end of the course. Additionally, two open-ended qualitative analysis questions were asked related to student expectations and perceived course outcomes. Lastly, the three instructors of the EXP and CON courses studied were interviewed using phenomenological methods approximately one week after the end of the semester. Between-groups analysis of the 18 quantitative survey questions identified that the CON group reported more personal conversations with peers and attendance of campus activities while the EXP group reported more faculty interactions. At the beginning of the course, 77% of the EXP group expected to create social connections as a primary course outcome, while only 19% of the CON group did. Academic skills were a higher expectation among the CON group than the EXP group. When asked more directly, both groups expected to make social connections in the class (86%). However, by the end of the study, the reported outcomes were equivocal. Interviews with FYS professors uncovered their own valuable perceptions of connectedness to the university and recommendations for instructor support were made.

This essay explores how writing in community for EdD students can be pivotal in helping them succeed in their academic journey. Considering existing research, three UC Davis CANDEL EdD (Capital Area North Doctorate in Educational Leadership) students and recent alumni use a case study approach to highlight the ways writing in community was instrumental to their own journeys and enhanced their sense of belonging. This essay highlights the challenges faced by the EdD students, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. They leaned into the transformative power of writing in community and use vignettes to detail their personal experiences. They showcase the power of critical friendship that encouraged vulnerability and connection within their group and catapulted them towards dissertation completion. The essay also recommends institutional support for specific interventions to further writing in community in all EdD programs.

This research paper presents empirical evidence aimed at establishing a causal relationship between explicit critical thinking skills and adolescent-parent career congruence among undergraduate students. Additionally, it seeks to identify the mediating role of friendship quality in this relationship. The study employs structural equation modeling as a method to establish causality. The findings of this research have implications for educators and instructors in higher education, as well as career exploration consultants in schools. The study provides valuable evidence on the most effective approach to promoting adolescent-parent career congruence by utilizing critical thinking skills and fostering high-quality friendships.

The COVID-19 pandemic's restrictions for schools and playgrounds threatened children's social and emotional wellbeing. In response, Grade 4/5 students created music-based activities through action research to sustain playground interactions. This study explored the crucial yet fragile playground relationships and the children's determination to maintain them. Findings indicate that the student-initiated projects were not only a medium for self-expression and maintaining friendships, but also served as an important tool for reinforcing the inherent social fabric of the playground setting. Notably, this study underscores the significance of collaborative learning, interpersonal skill development, and intrinsic motivation in fostering social skills and enhancing self-confidence.

Prior research on college choice indicates parents are the preferred source of information about college, yet little research exists from the viewpoint of parents, and even less research from the viewpoint of rural and minoritized parents. Using Q methodology, this study explored rural parent viewpoints of what makes college possible. The study was framed in social capital, community cultural wealth, and Perna's conceptual model of college choice. Factor analysis showed five distinct viewpoints and three consensus viewpoints among the parents. The five distinct factor viewpoints focused on academic achievement, college costs, the influence of family and friends, hard work, and staying close to home. Most notably, three consensus statements across all five factors indicated parents did not view teacher or school counselor expectations as important for making college possible. Findings can inform college access program planning and school outreach to parents and offer direction for future research on parent and community capital in college access.

During COVID-19, international students were faced with the decision of remaining in their country of study or returning to their home countries, with little knowledge of when they would next be able to return or leave. Both choices left the students vulnerable to feelings of loneliness and social isolation. This paper examines how international students at a Scottish university experienced and navigated leaving or staying "home" and how loneliness and social isolation characterised these experiences. We further contextualise these experiences through Holbraad et al.'s (2019) prism of "rupture." The data were generated between February-July 2021 through semi-structured focus groups and qualitative questionnaire comments and were analysed through Thematic Analysis. We discuss three themes: 1) Liminal Friends and Strangers, 2) Sense of Home and Family, and 3) Staying or Leaving the Country. The study contributes to the expanding body of research on experiences of loneliness and social isolation amongst international students.

The authors discuss how board games offer individuals with autism (who often struggle with social settings and require structured outlets for building relationships) an affordable, naturalistic, collaborative environment that is stimulating, engaging, and educational. Board games, they assert, provide opportunities to practice social skills, including cooperation and social deduction, essential skills for both neurotypical and atypical people. The authors include recommendations for introducing board games into special educational settings.

The objective of this research is to examine the reading texts in the coursebooks for teaching Turkish as a foreign language in terms of their reflection of core values. Employing a qualitative research model, data were collected through document analysis method. The data set of this study comprises 124 reading texts in the B1 and B2 level of coursebooks published by Yedi Iklim, Gazi, and Yeni Istanbul publishing companies. These texts were scrutinized according to ten core values in Education (justice, friendship, honesty, self-control, patience, respect, love, responsibility, patriotism, altruism) determined by the Board of Education of the Ministry of Education, Turkey in the year of 2017, and the obtained data were analyzed using content analysis technique. The results of the study have revealed that Yedi Iklim B1 Textbook contains 90 core values, whereas B2 Textbook contains 156 core values. Likewise, Gazi B1 Textbook comprises 82 and B2 Textbook has 152 core values. It has also been determined that Yeni Istanbul B1 Textbook is composed of 156 core values and B2 Textbook contains 87 core values. In total, it has been found out that, 723 core values are comprised across all texts in the dataset. Among these values in the texts, altruism (f=91), honesty (f=88), and self-control (f=78) are the most frequently addressed core values while justice (f=64), patience (f=63), and love (f=62) are the least addressed ones.

Grounded in the literature on peer social capital, this study examines middle school students' perspectives on COVID-19-related changes in their peer interactions and friendships. Qualitative analyses of 146 students' survey responses showed that a majority experienced changes in their peer interactions and friendships. These students reported: (a) lasting changes in social-emotional states impacted peer interactions and friendships (e.g., increased anxiety); (b) changes in relationships (e.g., loss of friendships); and (c) visible changes in peer interactions (e.g., reduction in sharing behavior). Conversely, a small group of students perceived the changes in their peer interactions positively. The author argues that this paper's findings have farther-reaching implications than the pandemic, given other types of educational disruptions. Implications for educators, schools, and communities are discussed.

Leveraging data from a longitudinal study of Chinese families (n = 364), this research aims to understand the role of secure base script knowledge as a cognitive mechanism by which early caregiving experiences inform adolescents' friendship quality and feelings of loneliness. Results showed that observed maternal sensitivity at 14 and 24 months old was negatively associated with adolescents' self-reported conflicts with close friends ([beta] = -0.17, p = 0.044) at 15 years old, and this association was partially mediated by their secure base script knowledge assessed at 10 years old. Further, secure base script knowledge moderated the link between adolescents' friend conflict and feelings of loneliness ([beta] = -0.15, p = 0.037). The results support a cognitive script perspective on the association between early caregiving experiences and later socio-emotional adjustment. Furthermore, this study adds to the developmental literature that has previously focused on more stringent and authoritarian aspects of parenting in Chinese families, thereby contributing to our understanding of how sensitive and supportive parenting practices contribute to socio-emotional development outside of Western contexts.

Based on Folk theory, Media Equation, and AI literacy research, the study constructed an interview outline and selected 72 students in 4th and 5th grade in three primary schools located in the Minhang and Putuo districts of Shanghai (two in the Minhang district and one in the Putuo district) as the study participants for focus group interviews. The study found that the availability of voice interaction is an essential basis for children to judge the level of intelligence of a machine; additionally, chatting is also the starting point for young children to build a close relationship with AI. Although AI cannot replace their friends, it can become a friend to them. While children expect the future of AI to be beyond the current level of intelligence and emotion and to enable the full use of machines in multiple scenarios and various fields, they are also concerned about issues such as privacy breaches that devices may cause in the future and believe that technology should not develop outside of human control.

While intergroup contacts and social norms both have important roles in regulating intergroup relations, their effects on intergroup outcomes have mostly been examined independently from each other. The purpose of this longitudinal study was to explore the role of perceived ingroup norms about intergroup contact in the relationships between both direct and extended intergroup friendships and positive and negative outgroup orientations. To provide a more comprehensive normative perspective of intergroup contact, we tested for both cross-sectional and longitudinal, as well as moderation and mediation effects of perceived peer, parental, and school contact norms. The research was carried out in two waves on a sample of 1,128 majority and minority adolescents from four multiethnic communities in the Republic of Croatia. The results indicated that all three types of perceived ingroup contact norms exclusively mediate the cross-sectional, but not longitudinal, relationships between both forms of friendships and positive and negative outgroup orientations, highlighting the importance and consistency of perceived parental and school normative influences.

Friendships and social relationships are central to wellbeing but the friendships of those with complex needs are often ignored. This study explored the friendships and social relationships of students with complex communication needs (CCN) in and outside of special school settings, to understand how they view and experience them. There were 20 participants -- 6 students, 8 of their parents and 6 of their teachers. The research was conducted in two stages: Stage 1 included semi-structured interviews with adults and unstructured observations of students in class and at breaktimes. Stage 2 included working with students through a Mosaic approach, using six tools (pyramid ranking activity, preferred activity with friends cards, best friends activity, school tours, collections from home and book-making). Transcripts of recordings were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The four themes generated highlight how students with CCN have more accurate views of their social lives than adults, students and adults have differing views about what makes a good friend, students with CCN find ways to enact meaningful social contact through a connection beyond words, and reciprocity in friendships means no distinction between 'helper' and 'needing help'. Strengths and limitations are highlighted and implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.

Students' sense of belonging impacts their affect, motivation, well-being, and academic success. Sense of belonging is considered context-dependent as what determines one's belonging differs across contexts. This study explores how sense of belonging manifests among post-secondary, introductory chemistry students. This context is important given the threats to belonging that may arise from the transition into post-secondary studies and the pivotal role introductory courses play in student success. To carry out this investigation, 19 post-secondary students from introductory chemistry courses were interviewed following a semi-structured approach. Qualitative analyses were conducted that led to a conceptualization of belonging. Belonging can be situational, dependent on the occurrences within the setting, or dispositional, representing long-standing tendencies. It is also acceptance-based, such as friendships and support, or value-based, where contributions are recognized or acted upon. These traits are combined into four dimensions: Situational Acceptance, Dispositional Acceptance, Situational Value, and Dispositional Value. This nuanced understanding can guide instructional and research efforts to improve students' sense of belonging.

This research aimed to determine whether the Making Friends (MF) program is effective on social acceptance levels of typically developing children in preschool toward their peers with special needs. The research had an experimental design with a control group, pretest, posttest, and follow-up test. The study included 130 typically developing children in inclusive classrooms in educational institutions in Edirne, Turkey; 64 of whom were in the experimental group and 66 of whom were in the control group. In the current study, the MF program was applied to the children in the experimental group as 3 days a week for 6 weeks. General Information Form and Acceptance Scale for Kindergarten were used as data collection tools. The data were analyzed using the Covariance Analysis in the context of Generalized Linear Models (ANCOVA). The MF program was found to be effective on increasing social acceptance levels of typically developing children in inclusive preschool settings.

Autistic youth are more likely to experience depression than their non-autistic peers, yet research on risk and protective factors to depression in this population is limited. Behavioral activation (i.e., prioritizing and engaging in meaningful activities), including social activities, is an important mechanism in the pathway to depression in non-autistic youth that is understudied in autism. Ratings of youth depressive symptoms and behavioral and social activation at one timepoint from 100 autistic youth without intellectual disability and 100 of their caregivers were analyzed. The study aims were to examine caregiver and youth ratings of youth internalizing symptoms and behavioral and social activation, inter-rater reliability on study variables, and associations between depressive symptoms and behavioral and social activation in autistic youth by rater. Results revealed significant differences in youth and caregiver ratings on all variables and inter-rater reliability ranged from poor to moderate. Across both raters, more severe anxiety symptoms and lower behavioral activation were associated with more severe depressive symptoms; social activation, specifically the number of friends youth have, was significant in caregiver ratings only. Findings can be leveraged to enhance risk stratification and intervention efforts for autistic youth experiencing depression.

This study investigated children's and adolescents' reasoning about intergroup exclusion based on social class from educational opportunities in Türkiye. The role of children's and adolescents' perceived contact with friends from different socioeconomic backgrounds on their evaluations of exclusion and personal solutions to the exclusion was also examined. Participants (N = 270) included 142 children (8-10 years old, M[subscript age] = 9.80; SD = 0.82; 53.5% girls) and 128 adolescents (14-16 years old, M[subscript age] = 15.46; SD = 0.91, 61.7% girls) from lower (N = 144) and higher (N = 126) socioeconomic backgrounds. Results showed that while most participants viewed social class-based exclusion as wrong, adolescents were more likely to view it as wrong than were children. Adolescents from lower SES approached social class-based exclusion as less acceptable than did adolescents from higher SES who referred to expectations about conformity to authority and the status quo. Moderation analyses showed that for adolescents from higher SES, higher perceived contact with friends from lower SES was associated with decreased acceptability of exclusion and increased motivation to provide equity.

Friendships are important for the mental well-being of emerging adults. Socially prescribed perfectionism, where individuals feel pressured to be perfect by others, can be destructive, leading to conflict with others, depressive symptoms, and problematic drinking. However, its impact on friendships is not well-explored. This study examined 174 emerging adult friendship dyads using a 4-wave, 4-month dyadic design. Data were analyzed using longitudinal actor-partner interdependence models. Using a novel friend-specific measure of socially prescribed perfectionism, we found that an individual's perceived expectation to be perfect from a friend was positively associated with increased conflict between friends, as well as with higher levels of depressive symptoms and problematic drinking in the individual. Findings lend credence to longstanding theoretical accounts and case histories suggesting socially prescribed perfectionism leads to harmful individual and relational outcomes and extends them to the specific context of friendships.

Background: Peers constitute an important developmental context for adolescent academic behaviour providing support and resources to either promote or discourage attitudes and behaviours that contribute to school success. When looking for academic help, students may prefer specific partners based on their social goals regarding academic performance. Aims: Based on the social goals for wanting to achieve academically (e.g., studying to be with friends, increasing/maintaining their own social status), we examine the extent to which adolescents' selection of preferred academic partners (with whom they would like to study) is driven by peers' academic performance, prosocial behaviour and friendships. Moreover, as high-achieving students play an important role in academic settings, whether they are more likely to prefer to study with similar high-achieving peers and friends was examined. Sample: A total of 537 seventh-grade students from 13 classes over three waves. Methods: Longitudinal social network analyses (RSiena). Results: Adolescents were more likely to select high achievers, friends and prosocial peers as preferred academic partners. Furthermore, high achievers were more likely to choose other high achievers and friends as preferred academic partners. Conclusions: Adolescents are likely to prefer as study partners someone they can learn from and who is more approachable, cooperative and friendly. Regarding high achievers, they would choose not only academic partners with similar academic interests and motivations to help them boost their academic achievement but also classmates with whom they like to spend time and share personal issues.

The aim of our study was twofold: (1) to explore the role of value preferences on peer relations in school classes (selection effect) and (2) to explore the role of peers' values on adolescents' values (influence or socialization effect) in three types of networks (friendship, advice, and trust). To answer these questions, we used a longitudinal social network approach in a study of N = 903 adolescents (57% girls) from 34 secondary school classes in Poland. Pupils began participating in the study when they joined their secondary school and were followed over two and a half years. Panel data were collected at six measurement time points during this period. Values were conceptualized according to the values theory proposed by Schwartz and measured by the Portrait Value Questionnaire. The collection of network data followed a roster design. Pupils were asked to evaluate the strength of their friendships, as well as the frequency with which they approached peers to ask for advice about school or homework or to talk about things that are important to them in the last 2 weeks. We found empirical support for both selection and socialization effects, especially for protection values (Conservation and Self-enhancement). The selection effect was most evident in advice and trust networks and the socialization effect was particularly prevalent in friendship and trust networks.

Personal values are broad motivational goals that have been found to have systematic relations with subjective wellbeing in adults. Values that promote higher subjective wellbeing are considered "healthy" while those that hamper it are considered "unhealthy" (Schwartz & Sortheix, 2018). However, little is known about these relations in children. This pre-registered study examined (1) whether the values of children (6 to 12 years of age) relate to their subjective wellbeing and (2) whether these relations are moderated or mediated by perceived social support from parents, teachers, classmates, and close friends. These research questions were examined with a sample of 738 primary school students (50% female). Our results show that "healthy" growth values were positively related to subjective wellbeing overall, and for the subgroups of girls and children 9 to 12 years but not boys and children 6 to 8 years; however, "unhealthy" anxiety values were only negatively associated with subjective wellbeing for girls. While perceived social support partially mediated relations between growth values and subjective wellbeing, the direct values-wellbeing relations accounted for over half the variance. Interestingly, this study also found that growth values positively, and anxiety values negatively, influenced perceived social support from all referents. While perceived social support did not moderate values-wellbeing relations in the overall sample, differences were found in the way perceived social support moderated these relations in some age and gender subgroups. Taken together, these findings suggest that "healthy" growth values positively influence subjective wellbeing in middle childhood, even after accounting for perceived social support.

Institutions of higher education are interested in supporting the academic success of their students in the most effective ways possible. Increasingly, this means engaging students in a blend of both online and in-person learning activities as well as connecting students with supportive communities in both modalities. This research explores the efforts of an institution that is trying to create positive post-secondary learning experiences for thousands of adults who have experienced significant barriers to accessing higher education through traditional routes. Students around the world are supported through both online and local, in-person communities created to support their academic engagement. In this study we used social network analysis to examine and compare the influence of both in-person and online support communities on student affective and cognitive engagement. We also compared the strength of engagement support from peers, teachers, and personal family/friend networks. We found significant differences in the strength, frequency, and type of support offered by the online and in-person aspects of the program as well as in the students' self-reported engagement and enjoyment between the two modalities. While in-person communities in this context had the greatest impact on both blended and in-person student engagement, the online community also had a significant effect on student engagement. This research adds to the blended learning literature by illustrating that course communities are not only distinguished based on time and actors, but also by modality. Support communities that occur in blended and online contexts affect student engagement in different, and often complementary, ways.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations between school-based racial discrimination by teachers and peers and academic outcomes (i.e., classroom misconduct, absenteeism, academic performance, school readiness, and school behavioral problems) over one year (Time 2) through the moderation of perceived social support from friends. Participants were 599 Latinx adolescents (56% girls; M[subscript age] = 14.51, SD = 0.55) from middle schools located in the suburbs of a large Midwestern United States city. They completed questionnaires on their perceived school-based racial discrimination and social support from friends. Their teachers completed questionnaires on classroom misconduct and school readiness, measured twice over one year. School records of academic performance, absenteeism, and school behavioral problems were also collected twice over one year. The findings indicated that social support from friends was negatively associated with Time 2 classroom misconduct, absenteeism, and school behavioral problem, but positively associated with Time 2 school readiness and academic performance. School-based racial discrimination by teachers and peers were both related positively to Time 2 classroom misconduct, absenteeism, and school behavioral problems, whereas both types of discrimination were related negatively to Time 2 school readiness and academic performance. Social support from friends buffered against academic outcomes associated with discrimination by teachers. Similar patterns were found for discrimination by peers, but only for Time 2 academic performance and absenteeism. These results suggest that high perceived social support from friends positively impacts Latinx adolescents' academic outcomes after experiencing school-based racial discrimination while low levels increase such negative outcomes.

First-generation college students (FGCS) experience high rates of attrition compared to continuing generation college students. FGCS frequently identify with several other historically marginalized identities on college campuses. The development of a sense of belonging on-campus is one of the main drivers of retention. The current study examines how sense of belonging on-campus develops during the first-year of college for different FGCS and how attitudes about on-campus relationships evolve over time. Thirteen participants were interviewed at three time points during their first year of college. Grounded theory analysis revealed four themes: 1) higher education provides a cultural learning environment; 2) multiple factors create challenges to relationship building; 3) extreme value differences create hard limits around friendships; and 4) within group friendships provide social and psychological value. Findings extend the current literature on the importance of social belonging for retention of diverse FGCS and highlight the importance of intersectionality in this work.

Alcohol use ranks as one of the most prevalent health-risk behaviors among Taiwanese adolescents. Possible selves--personalized future-oriented cognitions about the self--are significant motivators of one's actions, which may potentially influence adolescent drinking behavior. This study aimed to estimate the content domain-specific possible selves and their associations with drinking behaviors among Taiwanese adolescents. A total of 225 Taiwanese seventh and eighth graders from a public junior high school were recruited. An anonymous self-reported questionnaire was used to collect data during two time-points at six-month intervals. Results showed that having a "physical appearance" related hoped-for possible self and a "friendship" related feared possible self was associated with adolescent alcohol use after six months. Whereas, having the "physical appearance" related hoped-for and feared possible selves were associated with alcohol problems, at both, baseline and six months later. Future studies could clarify the meaning behind "physical appearance" related possible selves.

Smoking poses a significant threat to adolescent health because of its immediate and long-term detrimental health effects. Smoking refusal self-efficacy predicts smoking behavior in adolescence. In adolescents' health education, digital interventions are potential tools to support smoking refusal self-efficacy. The aim of this two-arm cluster randomized controlled trial was to evaluate the effectiveness of a digital health game intervention compared with a no-intervention control group on smoking refusal self-efficacy in 10- to 13-year-old Finnish early adolescents. The early adolescents (n = 781) were randomized to the control group (n = 394) and the health game intervention group (n = 387). Smoking refusal self-efficacy, sources of smoking and snus refusal self-efficacy, and motivation to decline smoking and snus use in the future were measured at baseline, 2-week postintervention, and 3-month follow-up. Data were analyzed using linear mixed model and Wilcoxon rank-based test for clustered data. According to the results, the intervention group made improvements in sources of smoking and snus refusal self-efficacy between baseline and postintervention, and in sources of snus refusal self-efficacy between baseline and follow-up, compared with the control group. The intervention group showed improvements in smoking refusal self-efficacy among 12-year-olds between baseline and follow-up, and postintervention and follow-up compared with the control group. Similar improvements were also found among those with a smoking friend or a smoking parent between postintervention and follow-up. The results were promising for the use of digital health game interventions to promote early adolescent smoking refusal self-efficacy and preventing smoking experimentation. Further research can evaluate the long-term effects for adolescents.

Background: Due to the progressive deterioration of motor, cognitive, and psychological function, individuals with Huntington's disease (HD) rely heavily on family caregivers, including children in the home. This "young carer" role can result in responsibilities that are inappropriate for the child's age and abilities. Also referred to as parentification, this experience can result in both positive and negative outcomes for the child, spanning multiple domains of health and well-being. Objective: To explore the manifestation of parentification among young carers of a parent with HD. Method: Directed content analysis, guided by a literature-derived framework of parentification, was utilized for this qualitative study. Participants included 28 young carers (mean age of 16.6 (± 2.6)) who self-identified as engaging in caregiving activities related to HD with the majority providing care for 1-3 years (53.6%)--averaging 25.4 h of care per week. Results: Three main themes with subthemes emerged--(1) being a young carer [perceptions of caregiving, learning to be a caregiver, caregiver burden, coping], (2) living with a new normal (school and friends, feeling unheard/alone, support system, personal growth), and (3) facing HD as a young carer (stigma and isolation, parent/child relationship, end of life, genetic risk). Conclusions: Young carers in the context of HD experience many attributes and consequences of parentification generally present among young carers of ill parents. However, HD specific findings emerged from this study that can be used to inform clinicians and direct future research aimed at guiding policy and developing tailored support services.

Microteaching is a way of doing professional development for teachers wanting to incorporate new evidence-based and high-leverage practices into their instructional toolboxes. Given how much work is required in teaching and the limited time professionals have available, microteaching is an accessible process that supports instructional improvement by practicing evidence-based and high leverage strategies. Professionals, working with a small group of peers, engage a four-phase process that includes planning, enactment of a strategy, as well as individual and group reflection. Professionals use the opportunity to explore a teaching strategy that is responsive to student needs in the context of critical friends. Having an opportunity to try it out before introducing it in the classroom can be a valuable way to work out bugs, discover aspects that need development, and build a sense of efficacy. Microteaching is a way to support collegial growth by seeing into each other's classroom practice.

Intimate partner violence and sexual assault are under-researched experiences in autistic people's lives. Recent research, however, has shown that autistic people are more likely to have been victimized than non-autistic people. This research, therefore, sought to explore the firsthand accounts of a range of autistic people about intimate partner violence and sexual assault. Twenty-four autistic adults with lived experience (6 male, 15 female, 3 non-binary) aged 25-61 years took part in semi-structured interviews online. They were asked about their experiences of intimate partner violence and sexual assault, whether and how they felt being autistic interacted with those experiences, and what recommendations they would have for improving education in the future. Almost all participants had repeated experiences of intimate partner violence and sexual assault, regardless of gender, and there were clear similarities in their stories. Six themes with subthemes were identified. These were "'experiences of abuse'", "'autism used against you'", "'poor family models'", "'impact of/on friendships'", "'handling trauma'", and "'recommendations for future practice'". Autistic people experience many of the same patterns of abuse as non-autistic people do, but there are unique autism-related vulnerabilities and outcomes. We found that there were a variety of responses to these experiences, and call for greater understanding so that autistic victims can be better supported.

Purpose: Sociometric studies and adult reports have established that children with Language Disorder (LD) are at risk of peer relationship difficulties. However, we have limited knowledge of how children with LD understand friendship, whom they deem as a good or bad friend, and what role their friendship concepts play in their relationships with peers. This exploratory study aimed to conduct a qualitative investigation into the friendship concepts that children with LD hold and to explore their strategies for making friends. Methods: We conducted multiple, art-informed interviews on the topic of friendship with 14 children with LD at the age of 6-8 years. Participating children were based in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. They attended enhanced provision, specific speech and language classes and mainstream classrooms. We used framework analysis to map children's responses to Selman's (1979) developmental model of interpersonal understanding, which espouses a theory of children's social development within the context of peer relationships. Results: The understanding of friendship formation in children with LD varied from physical presence to mutual support and sharing. Children's ideas about a good/bad friend represented the lowest developmental stage. Participants from the mainstream classroom demonstrated the highest stages of interpersonal understanding. Children with LD did not mention their language abilities as a barrier to making friends. Conclusion: There are limited studies exploring friendship directly from children with LD, and this study provides insights into this gap, by utilising art-informed interviews. Children's immature understanding of a good/bad friend points towards a potential susceptibility to false friends, which we suggest needs further empirical validation. We also found that children with LD did not pay attention to their language difficulties when making friends, which raises questions about the ways diagnoses are shared with children.

Preschoolers who display extremely inhibited behavior are at risk for the development of anxiety disorders. However, behavioral inhibition (BI) is a multifaceted characteristic. Some children with BI are fearful when confronted by unfamiliar adults, peers, and objects; others are fearful when separated from their parents. In the present study, we examined specific features of BI that predicted observed friendship formation among preschoolers who are behaviorally inhibited. We also examined whether teacher ratings of classroom behaviors predicted friendship formation. Sixty highly inhibited children (35 female, M[subscript age] = 52.57 months) were observed during eight weekly free-play sessions with initially unfamiliar inhibited peers. Free-play periods occurred before weekly intervention sessions for children with BI and their parents. An observational protocol was developed to identify children who made a friend during the eight weekly sessions. Before the first session, different subtypes of BI were assessed by parents; preschool teachers assessed the children's classroom behaviors with familiar peers. Twenty-six children met the criteria for having made and kept a friend. Probit regression analyses revealed that parent ratings of BI among unfamiliar peers and teacher ratings of children's social anxiety before the intervention were associated with a decreased probability of making a friend. No evidence was found linking children's responses to the intervention and friendship formation. Results suggest that extremely inhibited preschoolers are capable of making friends. Implications for future research and intervention efforts that focus on individual differences of children with BI are discussed.

It could be argued that autistic females, attending high school, have a distinct set of needs when compared to their male counterparts. The purpose of this review is to synthesise reported findings on what could be considered as effective for supporting the needs of autistic females in high school settings. The review adhered to PRISMA guidelines. Searches identified 12 papers that included direct perspectives of autistic females, their families and the professionals supporting them. Data were analysed using thematic synthesis. The findings indicate seven main themes for support related to: mental health; identification of specific needs and post-diagnostic support; friendship interventions and skills development; tiered support; relationships between home and school; transitions between levels of education; self, peer and staff advocacy, and sense of belonging. Social and emotional experiences of autistic females in high school are key areas to target in ensuring successful education. Findings are discussed in relation to integrated, inclusive practices that high schools may adopt to support this cohort of students. Implications for professional practice, policy and research are discussed, which will be of interest to educators and helping professionals alike.

PEERS® for Young Adults is an evidence-based program aimed at teaching social skills needed to establish and maintain close relationships, including friendship and romantic relationships. The study investigated the effects of the Polish adaptation of the curriculum on the social functioning of adults on the autism spectrum. Fifteen young adults (aged 18-32, M = 23.5) were randomly allocated to an immediate or delayed (control) treatment condition. By self and parent report, individuals who participated in the PEERS® program showed significant improvements in social skills, social cognition, and social knowledge, but limited gains in social engagement. The effects were maintained over six months after the treatment. The intervention was well-accepted and deemed feasible by young adults, their parents, and peers involved in the program.

This case study of an inclusive classroom examined neurotypical (NT) children's perspectives on their relationships with their classmates with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Data were collected through observations and interviews. Findings showed that social relationships between NT children and their classmates with ASD in integrated classrooms presented in two distinct forms, either as friendships or as instrumental partnerships. We also examined four naturally occurring mixed friendships between young children with and without disabilities. In these mixed dyads, several factors influenced the quality of the friendships, including the opportunity to engage in similar activities, the social status of the NT child, and the social skills of both children. Educational implications and suggestions for further research are included.

Introduction/background: This study aims to determine the impact of a person with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities on peer relationships of their siblings. Methods: Information obtained from typically developing siblings of individuals with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities served as research material for this study. There were a total of 18 participants in the study. The analysis and interpretation were based on the procedures of grounded theory. Results and conclusion: The results of the study show that young adults with a brother or sister with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities have some difficulties in establishing relationships with their peers, especially those more intimate such as friendships or romantic endeavors. At the same time, research confirms that siblings of individuals with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities have high levels of empathy and understanding for others as well as sincere attachment to family.

The aim of the study was to explore same-sex and opposite-sex friendship functions among 12 to 13- and 16 to 17-year-old Hungarian adolescents (n = 304). To explore perceptions of friendship functions, the McGill Friendship Questionnaire (MFQ, 30 items, 6 factors: stimulating companionship, help, intimacy, reliable alliance, self-validation, emotional security) was used. The confirmatory factor analysis did not support the theoretical structure of MFQ. Based on the exploratory factor analysis, the 26-item Hungarian version of MFQ can be used to measure adolescents (the original 6 factors were retained). The internal reliability indices of the MFQ versions (same and opposite sex) were adequate (Cronbach's [alpha]: 0.69-0.88). The results only partially confirmed the age and gender hypotheses. Based on the results, the older students are more likely to acknowledge the achievements and positives of a friend for both same-sex and opposite-sex friends, as well as intimacy for opposite-sex friends. Also among older students, we identified several significant gender differences: for girls, all features of friendship were more important, except self-validation in same-sex friendship. In the opposite-sex relationship, only stimulating companionship and reliable alliance are more important for girls. The results raise the possibility that friendship functions build on and reinforce each other with age.

This study investigated characteristics associated with two kinds of peer victimization--bullying victimization and adversarial victimization--distinguished by different balances of power between the perpetrator and victim. Specifically, we examined whether bullying victimization (victim has less power than perpetrator) would be experienced to a greater extent by vulnerable adolescents with psychosocial difficulties (fewer close friendships, emotional symptoms) and less peer esteem (physical attractiveness, perceived popularity, dating popularity, and prestige). In contrast, we investigated whether adversarial victimization, in which the victim has equal or greater power than perpetrator, would be experienced by adolescents perceived as rivals because they are held in high esteem by peers. A total of 599 adolescents aged 9 to 14 years (M = 11.93; SD = 1.40) completed a self-report measure of emotional symptoms and peer nomination measures of victimization, close friendship, physical attractiveness, dating popularity, perceived popularity, and prestige. Bullying victimization was negatively associated with close friendships, physical attractiveness, perceived popularity, and prestige, whereas adversarial victimization was positively associated with all four indicators of peer esteem. The results demonstrate the importance of measuring the power balance between the perpetrator and victim when studying peer victimization. Findings are discussed from an evolutionary perspective suggesting that victims of bullying are selected by perpetrators to achieve adaptive benefits while minimizing retaliatory, reputational, and social costs, whereas victims of adversarial aggression are targeted as rivals in competition for status and mates.

Introduction: Paving the way towards inclusive education, it is essential to aim for positive social outcomes for all students, including cultivating a positive self-concept and fostering acceptance and friendships with peers. Although self-concept, acceptance and friendships are interrelated, research focussing on the relationship between these constructs remains limited. Method: This study examined the self-concept, acceptance and friendships of two groups of typically developing students in secondary education (n = 401) and two groups of students in special secondary education with either an intellectual disability (ID) (n = 58) or social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) (n = 68). Results: Lower self-concept scores were found for students with ID on some dimensions, whereas typically developing students reported lower acceptance and friendship scores. Multilevel analyses indicated that acceptance is a predictor for several different dimensions of self-concept in the different groups of students, but friendship is less likely to predict self-concept scores. Discussion: The results of the study emphasize the importance of promoting peer acceptance amongst all students in inclusive school settings in order to realize the intended positive social outcomes of inclusive education.

This study explored the experiences of seven first-year university students in Johannesburg, South Africa. Recognising storytelling as a lens to reveal identity, this study focused on student experience narratives as a tool to better understand their transition from school to university. It examined the narrated experiences of these students as a means to reveal their student identities. The qualitative study utilised a case study design type to address the research question: "What do first-year students' transition narratives reveal about their emerging student identities?" This paper focuses on a thematic analysis that was used as a tool to analyse participants' narrated experiences. The analysis resulted in five broad themes, namely that student identities in their first-year journeys were formed and influenced by interpersonal experiences, intrapersonal experiences, pre-commencement institutional experiences, experiences of formal learning, and learning experiences beyond the classroom. Despite encountering multiple challenges in their new environment, the students derived benefit through capitalising on their personal strengths as tools to adjust to the demands of their new institution. These tools were crucial resources used by participants to adjust to and ultimately flourish in their first year.

As adults, we might understand that beliefs often spread because people are strongly influenced by their friends, family, and other social connections. However, do we think those influences are strong enough to overrule direct evidence of a friend's unreliability? And do preschoolers expect people to show such biases toward friends and to privilege friendship over reliability? Across three experiments, we explored whether friendship influences the evaluations of trust when others learn labels for novel objects as well as personal opinions. After watching scenes involving a main character, her best friend, and a stranger, preschoolers and adults judged who would be trusted for information from the main character's perspective (third person) as well as their own (first person). Adults (n = 128, 55 female, recruited online from across the United States) expected the main character to trust information from her friend even if she had been previously inaccurate, while basing their own first-person judgments on accuracy. In contrast, 4- and 5-year-olds (n = 128, 62 female, from the United States) thought that the main character would be like themselves and prioritize accuracy over friendship. Further, preschoolers expected the main character to trust her (inaccurate) friend and (accurate) stranger equally when forming personal opinions. Thus, young children, unlike adults, do not expect others' epistemic trust to privilege friendship with the speaker over accuracy information.

Research suggests that empathy may lead to either sympathy, involving emotional identification with another person, accompanied by caring and concern, or personal distress, that is emotional reaction to another's condition that is aversive and self-centered (Eisenberg et al., 2010). While the former frequently predicts prosocial behavior, the latter is hypothesized to predict it only when helping is the easiest way to alleviate the distress of the helper (Batson, 1991). Drawing on self-determination theory, we hypothesized that autonomy supportive parenting (taking the child's perspective and providing choice) may predict the child's integrative emotion regulation, and this may predict emotional identification with others in need (i.e., sympathy). In contrast, the autonomy suppressive practice of conditional regard may predict dysregulation of emotions, leading to personal distress when facing a close friend's adversity. Participants included 147 college students and 147 close friends. Target participants reported perceptions of their mothers' behaviour and their own emotion regulation styles, while close friends reported perceptions of target participants' sympathy and personal distress responses. Results support the study's hypotheses and provide insights into the socialization of emotion regulation and empathy.

Workplace friendship is a unique type of relationship across all organizational levels between employees in the same or different departments and is an important factor in professional life. It has been suggested that school counselors need workplace friends, who are an important source of social support, to overcome the stress associated with the corporate environment and job conditions. Furthermore, workplace friendship fulfills several positive functions for both employees and institutions. Thus, the current study's first aim is to investigate psychological counselors' perceptions about workplace friendship based on various variables. The second aim is to determine the predictive role of job satisfaction and workplace well-being perceptions of psychological counselors in workplace friendship. The study sample included 339 school counselors, 232 female (68.4%) and 107 (31.6%) male and were in different provinces in Turkey. The study data were collected with the Workplace Friendship Scale, the Job Satisfaction Scale, the Workplace Well-Being Scale, and a Personal Demographics Form. T-test, ANOVA, and multiple regression analysis were employed to analyze the study data. The findings revealed significant correlations between workplace well-being, job satisfaction, and workplace friendship. Workplace well-being and job satisfaction explained 27% of the variation in workplace friendship. The study findings contributed to determining the factors that affect workplace relations of psychological counselors.

Iranian National University Entrance Exam (INUEE) as a nationwide high-stakes test is held annually to screen Iranian high school graduates and admit them into higher education programs in universities. This high-stakes examination has a wide range of impacts on test takers as the primary stake-holders and the parents, teachers, and high school principals as the secondary stakeholders. As a part of a larger project, this study reports the impacts of INUEE on high school teachers and principals. To this aim, 27 teachers and 18 principals from three western provinces of Iran sat for a structured interview. Each interview lasted nearly 30 minutes. All the interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Next, following the Grounded Theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) as the basis of analysis, the transcriptions were subjected to word-by-word content analysis to extract common patterns and recurring themes. Content analysis was applied to codify the transcribed interview data through an inductive process of frequent moving back and forth to extract common patterns and recurring themes of the data. After coding and 'quantitizing' the data (Dörnyei, 2007), the basic themes were identified, frequency counted, and tabulated. The results indicated that from the majority of the participants' perspective, the INUEE has detrimental consequences for students, teachers, school principals, and the educational curriculum. The findings of the study underscore the consequential invalidity and unfairness of the test and its negative impacts on different aspects and layers of the educational system. The findings of the study provide practical implications for educational policy-makers, school principals, and teachers highlighting the necessity of their awareness of the negative consequences of INUEE.

This study examined parental perception of the importance of friendship and five other educational outcomes from 101 Chinese parents of children with autism spectrum disorders between the ages of 3 and 12 years. Results showed Chinese parents considered friendship less important than social skills, emotional development, and physical skills and motor development. Unlike the results from previous studies, Chinese parents ranked friendship as the second least important outcome. Children's age rather than educational setting impacted parental perceptions. The findings suggested cultural contexts may have influenced parental perceptions of the importance of different educational outcomes, and future research on the influence of cultural contexts is warranted.