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In this study, we investigated the links between distance education students' mental health, connectedness, and academic performance during COVID-19, using a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design. Online survey responses with a sample of 208 distance education students--aged 18-84, 144 females, 60 males, three nonbinary individuals, most (163) self-identified as White British--were analyzed using multiple regression, mediation, and content analysis. Connectedness (loneliness and a sense of connection to university) mediated links between mental health (wellbeing and anxiety) and academic performance. A subsample analysis with students who met clinical concern thresholds of anxiety and wellbeing (n = 123) revealed that poorer wellbeing was associated with less emotional intimacy, more loneliness, and poorer self-reported academic performance. Anxiety was associated with less emotional intimacy and higher relational intensity with one person, and poorer self-reported academic performance. These pathways were triangulated and contextualized within students' experiences of connectedness. Future research using a longitudinal design is needed to establish causal links.

In response to the increase in Routine Outcome Monitoring and Clinical Feedback, the Patient-Perceived Helpfulness of Measures Scale (ppHMS) was developed to assess the helpfulness—as perceived by patients—of using measures in psychological treatment. Study 1: The construct of patient-perceived helpfulness of measures was explored using thematic analysis with 15 patients. Six helpful and three unhelpful themes were identified and informed item development. Study 2: 28 items were formulated and rated by experts. Ten items were taken forward for psychometric shortening in a sample of 76 patients. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) led to an adequately fitting six-item model with excellent internal consistency, and convergence with the Delighted-Terrible single item of product satisfaction and a single item of measure helpfulness. Study 3: In a stratified online sample of 514 U.K. psychotherapy patients, a five-item model constituted the best fit. The final ppHMS had excellent internal consistency (McDonald's ω =.90), convergent validity with psychotherapy satisfaction (r =.5; p <.001), divergence from social desirability (r =.1), and metric and scalar invariance across measures. Study 4: Analyses were replicated and confirmed in a stratified U.S. sample (n = 602). The ppHMS is a reliable and valid scale that can be used to assess and compare patients' perceptions of the helpfulness of different measures as part of their psychological treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I am delighted to be here for a number of reasons. My wife, Pamela Horowitz, and I have a long association with the Southern Poverty Law Center--her first job out [...]

The article discusses issues related to reconstruction and the southern civil rights movement (past, present, and future). It examines historical illiteracy, politics regarding race, and ignorance about race relations in the United States. (SM)