Journal of School and Educational Psychology

The purpose of the present study is to examine the efficacy of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy for children and adolescents with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). For this purpose, a framework was determined by using findings of the research and explanations at the conceptual level. PTSD is a mental disorder that is experienced after traumatic events, affects individuals cognitively, emotionally, and behaviorally and threatens the integrity of an individual's life. EMDR therapy is a therapy that imaginatively reveals the past or traumatic experiences of the client through eye movements and other bilateral stimuli (two-way sound or tactile stimulus), facilitates information processing processes. Whereas EMDR was initially an approach developed for adults, it was later used for children and adolescents. The fact that it gives positive results in a short time and these positive results continue in follow-up studies has increased the interest in using EMDR for children and adolescents with PTSD. The use of EMDR for children and adolescents has allowed their problems to be resolved in a timely manner and reduced PTSD symptoms. This situation has drawn attention to the importance of using EMDR in the practice of psychological counselors working in school environments, leading places where they work with children and adolescents, and where the first preventive and interventional studies are carried out. Therefore, it is considered that the use of EMDR will be functional in overcoming these negative life experiences of many students who have been directly or indirectly exposed to traumatic experiences during the COVID-19 epidemic period.

In this study, it was aimed to examine teachers’ level of phubbing and being phubbed in terms of various variables. The study was designed as a survey research with a target population of teachers working in the Turkish public schools during the 2020-2021 academic years. The sample was formed using a convenience sampling method and made up of 307 (141 female, 166 male) teachers whose ages ranged from 23 to 64. Research data were collected through a questionnaire including “Personal Information Form”, “Generic Scale of Phubbing (GSP)” and “Generic Scale of Being Phubbed (GSBP)”. Descriptive statistics, correlation analyses and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) tests were conducted for the analysis of the collected data. As a result of the research, participating teachers’ level of phubbing and being phubbed were determined as moderate level. There was no significant difference in terms of gender, educational status and branch variables. Regarding marital status variable, nomophobia and self-isolation levels of single teachers were found to be higher than those of married ones. Age was found to be negatively and weakly correlated with the levels of self-isolation. In addition, the levels of phubbing were found to be positively and moderately associated with the levels of being phubbed.

Over the past decade, research has consistently found that positive education interventions have a beneficial effect on mental health outcomes for students, such as improvements in life satisfaction and reduction of anxiety. While it is encouraging to see these changes in student mental health, the research has not yet adequately explored whether positive education interventions change a student’s understanding of wellbeing itself. Wellbeing literacy is a new construct within the field of positive education and is defined as the ability to understand the concept and language of wellbeing. This study examines whether student language and understanding of wellbeing changes following an intervention that trains teachers in the core principles of positive education. Students across grades five, six and seven (ages 11–13; n = 231) from three Australian schools provided brief written descriptions of their understanding of wellbeing before and after their teachers undertook an eight-month positive education intervention. Thematic analysis was used as the methodological tool to analyze student language and understanding of wellbeing. Inferential frequency-based statistical analyses were used to compare the pre-intervention and post-intervention responses. The results revealed that student understanding of wellbeing evolved in four key ways to become more: (1) detailed; (2) strength based; (3) expanded/multidimensional; and (4) relational. Post-intervention understanding of wellbeing was significantly more likely to include aspects of emotional management, strengths, coping, mindfulness and self-kindness. Implications, limitations and future directions are discussed.

This two-wave longitudinal study demonstrates the important role of generalized self-efficacy in enhancing online education for Pakistan’s university students during COVID-19. Four hundred and two students participated in the study at both Time 1 and Time 2. Generalized self-efficacy and academic anxiety based on online classes was assessed at Time 1, whereas academic self-efficacy at Time 2. Results indicated that moderate and high levels of generalized self-efficacy shield the negative effects of higher levels of academic anxiety on academic self-efficacy over time. Results suggest that generalized self-efficacy—as a positive resistance resource factor—may gradually coalesce into academic self-efficacy (domain-specific self-efficacy), which at first may be underdeveloped in students in the face of academic anxiety emanating from their online classes during COVID-19 (the novel challenging situation). Further, students’ coded responses revealed ten major sources of academic anxiety emanating from their online classes including internet connectivity issues, increased academic demands, lack of active engagement in online classes, inability to understand difficult topics, and ambiguous internal assessment criteria. Findings suggest implementing interventions for students focusing on instilling internal resources embodied in generalized self-efficacy, conducting active and engaging online classes based on emotionalized learning experiences, and increasing the overall efficacy of teaching and learning during the pandemic through the implementation of a meaningful blended learning approach—based on an online learning mode and an offline personal and collaborative learning mode.