422 research outputs found
Phylogeny and morphology of Himerometroidea (Echinodermata: Crinoidea) feather stars in Singapore
No full textGoh, Shawne, Quek, Randolph Z. B., Foo, Sze Hui, Tay, Teresa Stephanie, Messing, Charles G., Huang, Danwei (2023): Phylogeny and morphology of Himerometroidea (Echinodermata: Crinoidea) feather stars in Singapore. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 71: 92-105, DOI: 10.26107/RBZ-2023-000
Using Participatory Design (PD) as youth engagement strategy to inform design and development of evidence-based wellbeing e-tools
No full textThe paper presents a participatory design research framework as a primary method for structuring youth\ud
engagement, participation and contribution to the design, development and usability evaluation of three evidencebased\ud
e-tools for wellbeing, which include smart phone mobile apps as well as e-health websites. The three projects are part of a series of six e-tools part of Safe and Supportive program under Young and Well CRC. The participatory design method, developed by Zelenko (2012) for application in design of online health promoting technologies, was further piloted in partnership with Inspire USA for specific application within the CRC, deploying a combination of creative design workshops and speculative design activities in developing e-tool prototypes with young people. This paper presents the resulting participatory research framework as it was implemented across the e-tool projects to facilitate active youth participation in co-designing the e-tools and ensuring the final designs are relevant to young people and deliver health messages in engaging ways. The principles of Participatory Design (PD) that inform the new framework include a high degree of participant agency in creative decisionmaking and a commitment to the process of co-designing, with young people working alongside designers and developers. The paper will showcase how the PD framework was applied across three projects to increase young people’s contribution to final design outcome
Young people with Asperger Syndrome: Risk Factors and Cognitive-Behaviour Treatment for Emotional Disturbance
No full textAbstract Co-morbid emotional disturbances are not uncommon in individuals with Asperger syndrome (AS) especially during the tumultuous period of adolescence. The few empirical studies that exist have only examined treatment outcomes for anxiety and anger in individuals with AS during childhood but there are no available treatment studies for adolescents or adults. Therefore, this research project aimed to examine the efficacy of a modified cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT) program for emotional disturbance in young people with a diagnosis of AS. Firstly, it was important to establish the need for treatment by examining the prevalence and presentation of emotional disturbance in this population. Secondly, an investigation of the role of pessimistic attributional style, negative problem orientation and social competence as risk factors for emotional disturbance helped to determine the suitability of CBT. It was also essential that an existing CBT program was modified to suit the cognitive profile of young people with AS. Finally, the efficacy of a modified CBT program was evaluated in a pilot study and randomised controlled trial. In the first study, 68 young people with existing diagnosis of AS between the ages of 11 and 23 years completed a battery of measures that assessed for AS characteristics, emotional disturbances, risk factors, and cognitive ability. The results of this study indicated that approximately 21%, 20% and 40% of young people reported elevated levels of depression, anxiety, and anger symptoms respectively. Furthermore, approximately 60% of young people reported elevated levels on at least one of the emotional disturbance measures (i.e., depression, anxiety or anger symptoms), while 40% of adolescents reported elevated levels on at least two. Therefore, the study suggests that there is a need to develop evidence-based treatment for young people with AS. In addition, significant associations were found between pessimistic attributional style, negative problem orientation and social competence, and emotional disturbance. Multiple regressions suggested that these risk factors account for approximately 54%, 39% and 25% of variance in depression, anxiety and anger respectively. These results are consistent with the literature for typically developing young people, and thus, cognitive-behaviour therapy typically used to treat mood and anxiety disorders in the general population should be efficacious for the AS population. Furthermore, CBT has been shown to be efficacious in treating anxiety and anger problems in children with AS. Although there are no existing CBT programs targeting depression in young people with AS, there are numerous CBT programs for typically developing young people. One example is the Aussie Optimism Program (AOP), an Australian adaptation of the Penn Prevention program which has a strong evidence-base for treating depression. Based on the AS literature, the program was modified to suit the cognitive profile of young people with AS. These modifications include providing affective education, using visual materials, small groups with high therapist to adolescent ratio, and other modifications to assist learning. Study Two piloted the modified program with three young people with AS. The pilot study provided some evidence that the modified Aussie Optimism reduced symptoms of emotional disturbance, but the sample size was too small to obtain clear results. In addition, observations from the pilot study were used to further modify the CBT program, which enhanced the structure and delivery of the program. The final modified CBT program consisted of six 2-hour sessions teaching young people to identify emotions and discriminate between different levels of emotional intensity; to cope with emotions; to identify and challenge negative thoughts; and to solve problems. Finally, a randomised controlled trial was used in Study Three to examine the efficacy of the modified CBT in treating depression in young people with AS. Given the high co-morbidity of emotional disturbance, the study also tested the efficacy of CBT program in reducing symptoms of anxiety and anger. Forty-four young people with AS were randomly allocated to the intervention (n = 21) or the waitlist control (n = 23). The results of Study Three demonstrated that young people with high levels of depression and anger symptoms initially showed a significant reduction after the intervention, compared with the waitlist control group. Although anxiety levels reduced from time 1 to time 2 for the intervention group, the pattern of results was not statistically significant. Reliable change index (RCI) indicated that young people with high levels of symptoms at Time 1 showed meaningful clinical changes across measures of depression, anxiety and anger (parent and adolescent report) only in the intervention group (42-83%), but not in the waitlist control group (8-12%). Results in Study Three suggest that CBT modified to suit the cognitive profile of AS is efficacious in reducing depression and anger symptoms. Some of the methodological limitations of this study include a small sample size, attrition, participant variability, and a lack of longer-term follow-up. Despite these methodological limitations, these three studies provided strong evidence for the efficacy of CBT in treating emotional disturbance in young people with AS by establishing the need for an intervention, identifying the importance of the risk factors targeted by CBT, and demonstrating the efficacy of a modified CBT in reducing symptoms of emotional disturbance, specifically depression and anger, using a randomised controlled trial
Ray’s night out : A new iPhone app for addressing alcohol misuse in young people
No full textUp to 30% of young people drink at risky levels at least weekly. Yet, many do not view their alcohol use as problematic and focus only on its enjoyment and socialization benefits. Innovative, youth-friendly and highly accessible ways of delivering preventative health messages are required. This paper describes the design, development and prototype testing of ‘Ray’s Night Out’ a new iPhone application for promoting harm minimisation and controlled drinking strategies in young people. Two participatory design workshops were conducted with 5 young people to explore how technology could be used to enhance a good night out drinking. Four existing iPhone alcohol apps were reviewed. Five young people conducted initial prototype testing to refine app content and interface design. Final prototype testing was conducted with 10 young people. Prototype testing indicated young people had a very positive response to the Ray animated character and rated the app highly on aesthetics, engagement, content, functionality, usefulness and youth relevance. The Ray app provides a youth friendly approach to addressing alcohol misuse in young people. The impact of the Ray app on young people’s alcohol use knowledge, attitudes and behaviours is currently being evaluated
Fig. 4. Heterometra schlegelii morphological characters. A in Phylogeny and morphology of Himerometroidea (Echinodermata: Crinoidea) feather stars in Singapore
No full textFig. 4. Heterometra schlegelii morphological characters. A, distal margins of middle brachials everted in adults (red arrows); B, middle brachials of distal margins in juveniles, plain and not inverted (red arrows); C, middle cirrals of some juveniles bearing distally directed triangular projections near the distal margin of the cirral (red arrow) with projection gradually moving away from the distal edge in more distal cirrals (yellow arrow). Distal cirrals have sharp, aborally directed triangular projections or spines (white arrow); D, other juveniles have weak carinations on distal cirrals (red arrow); E, thin carinate extensions on basal segments of proximal pinnules (red arrows); F, extensions transition at middle pinnulars from facing arm tip (red arrows) to facing away from arm tip (yellow arrows) in adults; G, distal edge of distal pinnulars on proximal pinnules showing spinular side projection (yellow arrow) and premature rim of serration (white arrow); H, basal segments of proximal pinnules of one juvenile (SS-1085, ZRC.ECH.0389) bearing very weak carinate extensions on basal segments.Published as part of Goh, Shawne, Quek, Randolph Z. B., Foo, Sze Hui, Tay, Teresa Stephanie, Messing, Charles G. & Huang, Danwei, 2023, Phylogeny and morphology of Himerometroidea (Echinodermata: Crinoidea) feather stars in Singapore, pp. 92-105 in Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 71 on page 100, DOI: 10.26107/RBZ-2023-0008, http://zenodo.org/record/781619
Integrating new assessment strategies into mathematics classrooms: an exploratory study in Singapore primary and secondary schools
No full textEducational researchers and practitioners have in recent years paid mounting attention to the importance of new assessment (or the so-called alternative assessment) strategies in Mathematics instruction to better reflect the new desired educational goals and shifted values in education. However, research is wanting in this area, particularly in Singapore's educational setting. This project seeks to investigate the influence of using new assessment strategies in Mathematics teaching and learning on students' achievements, in both the cognitive and affective domains, in our local school settings. A quasi-experimental study with about 15-20 teachers at primary and lower secondary levels will be carried out to assess the impact of using a variety of strategies (e.g., projects, journal writing, oral presentation, performance tasks, student self-assessment, classroom observation and interview, etc.) for three school semesters on students' learning. The project will also look into issues concerning how to use new assessment strategies effectively in classrooms in local schools. For this purpose, data will be collected from classroom observation, interviews with teachers and students, and questionnaire surveys. It is hoped that the project will provide research-based evidence and practical suggestions for promoting the effective use of alternative assessment in Singapore Mathematics classrooms. <br/
The next generation health intervention tool - Can smart phone applications help young people track and moderate alcohol use and potential harms?
No full textWhilst alcohol is a common feature of many social gatherings, there are numerous immediate and long-term health and social harms associated with its abuse. Alcohol consumption is the world’s third largest risk factor for disease and disability with almost 4% of all deaths worldwide attributed to alcohol. Not surprisingly, alcohol use and binge drinking by young people is of particular concern with Australian data reporting that 39% of young people (18-19yrs) admitted drinking at least weekly and 32% drank to levels that put them at risk of alcohol-related harm. The growing market penetration and connectivity of smartphones may be an opportunities for innovation in promoting health-related self-management of substance use. However, little is known about how best to harness and optimise this technology for health-related intervention and behaviour change. \ud
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This paper explores the utility and interface of smartphone technology as a health intervention tool to monitor and moderate alcohol use. A review of the psychological health applications of this technology will be presented along with the findings of a series of focus groups, surveys and behavioural field trials of several drink-monitoring applications. Qualitative and quantitative data will be presented on the perceptions, preferences and utility of the design, usability and functionality of smartphone apps to monitoring and moderate alcohol use. How these findings have shaped the development and evolution of the OnTrack app will be specifically discussed, along with future directions and applications of this technology in health intervention, prevention and promotion
Cognitive-behaviour therapy for mood and anxiety disorders in young people with Asperger syndrome.
No full textEfficacy and outcomes of a mobile app targeting alcohol use in young people
No full textMobile apps provide a highly accessible way of reducing alcohol use in young people. This paper determines the 1-month efficacy and 2, 3 and 6month outcomes of the Ray's Night Out app, which aims to increase alcohol knowledge and reduce alcohol use in young people. User-experience design and agile development processes, informed by the Information-Motivation-Behavioral skills model and evidence-based motivational interviewing treatment approaches guided app development. A randomized controlled trial comparing immediate versus 1-month delayed access to the app was conducted in 197 young people (16 to 25years) who drank alcohol in the previous month. Participants were assessed at baseline, 1, 2, 3 and 6months. Alcohol knowledge, alcohol use and related harms and the severity of problematic drinking were assessed. App quality was evaluated after 1-month of app use. Participants in the immediate access group achieved a significantly greater increase in alcohol knowledge than the delayed access group at 1-month, but no differences in alcohol use or related problems were found. Both groups achieved significant reductions in the typical number of drinks on a drinking occasion over time. A reduction in maximum drinks consumed was also found at 1month. These reductions were most likely to occur in males and problem drinkers. Reductions in alcohol-related harm were also found. The app received a high mean quality (M=3.82/5, SD=0.51). The Ray app provides a youth-friendly and easily-accessible way of increasing young people's alcohol knowledge but further testing is required to determine its impact on alcohol use and related problems
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