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Restrictions on in-person teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic severely challenged higher education practices worldwide. While didactic delivery of course content is easily achievable with virtual teaching technologies, promoting critical engagement with this material can be more difficult, particularly with classes of larger size and lower experience. Yet despite these practical challenges, for teachers of social psychology the pandemic context offered an unprecedented pedagogical opportunity to highlight both the relevance and limitations of social psychological research for tackling societal challenges. This paper outlines a strategy developed to sustain socially critical learning objectives within remote delivery of a large introductory social psychology module. This revolved around establishing asynchronous, peer-led online discussion forums wherein students independently considered how the concepts they encountered in weekly pre-recorded lectures could be applied to understand societal responses to the pandemic. The present article describes the structure of this pedagogical activity and the benefits it offered to students, teaching staff and the wider community.

Little previous research has elucidated the everyday experiences of autistic girls or their families. This study used qualitative in-depth interviews to explore mothers' experiences of the diagnosis, presentation and impact of caring for a daughter with autism. Nineteen women with autistic daughters (aged between 7 and 18) participated in the research, which took place in Ireland. Thematic analysis identified six themes: What's Going On?; Road to Acceptance; Beyond the Stigma of Autism; Autism: Like a Girl; Mothers Holding It All Together; and Mothers Roll Up Their Sleeves. The analysis suggests that the path of autism in girls in Ireland is marked by diagnostic delays, social stigma, interpersonal difficulties, mental health comorbidities and parental stress. However, these challenges were offset by the resilience of mothers, buttressed by pride in their daughters and support from other women. Results will inform the development of policy and practice that is sensitive to the lived realities of autistic girls and their families.

Adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience social marginalisation. This study uses a vignette-based design to clarify whether diagnostic disclosure affects social marginalisation in workplace contexts. It investigates two potential mediators of this relationship: affective response to and theory of mind for people with ASD. Participants (n = 170) read a description of a hypothetical co-worker with ASD traits, whose diagnosis was either disclosed or concealed. Providing a diagnostic label significantly reduced participants' desire to socially distance themselves from the target. This effect was mediated by positive affective responses. Diagnostic disclosure did not influence theory of mind for people with ASD but did increase tendencies to attribute primary emotions to the target; however, this did not relate to social distance outcomes.

Social anxiety in adolescents oftentimes goes undetected because of the internalized nature of the disorder as well as adolescents' reluctance to discuss their mental health. A reliable and valid self-report measure for assessing symptoms of social anxiety in adolescents for use in an educational setting is particularly important because of the burden that social anxiety can have in educational settings. This study aimed to test the previously proposed two-factor structure of the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SASA), Apprehension and Fear of Negative Evaluation and Tension and Inhibition in Social Contact, in an adolescent sample (n = 215; 12-18 years; 90 female) in Ireland using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). CFA validated the two-factor structure of the SASA previously found in Slovenian- and Spanish-speaking samples. Correlations with other measures of social anxiety also showed good validity for the SASA.

The aim of the current investigation was to examine the locomotor performance profile of elite ladies Gaelic football (LGF) players in relation to playing position and quarters of play. Thirty (n = 30) elite LGF players (age: 24 ± 4 years, height: 169 ± 5 cm, body mass: 61 ± 4 kg) were monitored using 10 Hz GPS technology (Playertek; Catapult Sports; Australia) resulting in 145 individual samples collected over 18 competitive matches across the 2021 and 2022 LGF seasons. Locomotor performance was determined across the following variables: total distance covered (TD, m), relative distance (m·min−1), high-speed running (HSR, ≥ 4.4 m·s−1), very high-speed running (VHSR, ≥ 5.5 m·s−1), relative HSR (RHSR; m·min−1), peak velocity (m·s−1), percentage peak velocity (%PeakV), accelerations (n; ≥ 3 m·s−2), and decelerations (n; ≤ −3 m·s−2). Data were classified based on playing position and quarter of play. The greatest TD was covered by half-backs, midfielders, and half-forwards, with these positions covering significantly greater distances than full-backs (p < 0.05). Similarly, half-backs, midfielders, and half-forwards covered the greatest high-speed distance (HSR). When running performance was analysed across quarters, a significant position by quarter interaction was observed for all running performance variables, except peak velocity and percentage peak velocity. A consistent trend for reduced locomotor performance was evident in the second and fourth quarters across all positional lines. The current data provide coaches with the position-specific locomotor requirements of LGF match-play, which can inform the design of training content for LGF players, along with match-day strategies. Given the reduction in locomotor performance observed across the match, performance staff may consider the use of nutritional interventions, rewarm-up strategies, or specific substitution policies to mitigate the decrement in locomotor performance observed across match-play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the ubiquity of choirs across time and cultures, relatively little is known about the internal dynamics of these social systems. This article examines the group processes involved in a small European chamber choir. The research adopted a mixed-methods qualitative approach that combined individual interviews (n = 13) with ethnographic observation. Analysis described the group processes of the choir in relation to standard models of effective teamwork. The results suggest that certain dynamics of this choir lie beyond conventional conceptualisations of teamwork. Further conceptual and empirical research is necessary to develop a model of teamwork that can be applied to the conditions of performance-based teams and inform choral practice and training.