Australian Catholic University

About: Australian Catholic University is a education organization based out in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 2721 authors who have published 10013 publications receiving 215248 citations. The organization is also known as: ACU & ACU National.

Social capital, homeless young people and the family

Abstract: Drawing on ethnographic data from a study on homeless youth, this article examines the relationship between young people and their families through the concept of social capital. The author argues that the lack of family as a source of social capital for homeless youth is a central factor that contributes to young people's homelessness. It presents evidence that shows that the families of homeless youth do not provide a source of social capital and this leads to young people exploring other options of support that lead to and reinforce their homelessness. Yet, many young people who have experienced homelessness have a resilient connection to their family. I propose that for a relationship, in this instance ‘the family’, to constitute social capital they need to fulfil three components that constitute social capital: (1) contact with a group of people (or a person) considered family, (2) this family must have access to valued resources (such as to economic, cultural and/or social capital) and (3) have shar...

Caring and Elementary Teaching: The Concerns of Male Beginning Teachers

Abstract: This article reports findings from a research project on the early career path of a group of male elementary school teachers. Issues of caring for children and disparities between how male and female teachers are permitted to relate to their elementary-age students are explored. In the preservice situation, the participants experienced tensions between how they, as male teachers, would naturally be inclined to show care toward students and the limitations that they felt were imposed on them by societal concerns about issues of child protection. During their 1st year of teaching, some of these frustrations endured, but participants found different and more acceptable ways of showing care. These ways of showing care can be described as being located on a professional rather than a parental end of a continuum of caring.

Contrast and assimilation effects of dimensional comparisons in five subjects : An extension of the I/E Model

Abstract: Students evaluate their achievement in a specific domain in relation to their achievement in other domains and form their self-concepts accordingly. These comparison processes have been termed dimensional comparisons and shown to be an important source of academic self-concepts in addition to social and temporal comparisons. Research on the internal/external frame of reference model (I/E model) has frequently found negative effects of students’ achievement on their academic self-concept between different scholastic domains (mathematics and the language of instruction) that are interpreted as contrast effects of dimensional comparisons. There is mixed evidence with regard to whether negative contrast effects or positive assimilation effects occur when students compare their achievement in domains that are more similar. In this study, we extended the original I/E model with 3 science domains (biology, chemistry, and physics). Using structural equation modeling, we analyzed the domain-specific self-concepts, grades, and test scores of a representative sample of 9th-grade students in Germany (N = 20,050) across 5 domains. Mathematics, physics, and chemistry showed contrast effects to German, whereas small assimilation effects were found between mathematics, physics, and chemistry. This effect pattern was present for both grades and test scores. Achievement in mathematics and the language of instruction affected self-concepts in the sciences, whereas achievement in the sciences had no effect on self-concepts in other subjects. The results support the hypotheses derived from dimensional comparison theory that both contrast and assimilation effects can result from dimensional comparisons and that the 3 science subjects are affected differentially by these comparisons. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Fall and Fracture Risk in Sarcopenia and Dynapenia With and Without Obesity: the Role of Lifestyle Interventions.

Abstract: Due to their differing etiologies and consequences, it has been proposed that the term "sarcopenia" should revert to its original definition of age-related muscle mass declines, with a separate term, "dynapenia", describing muscle strength and function declines. There is increasing interest in the interactions of sarcopenia and dynapenia with obesity. Despite an apparent protective effect of obesity on fracture, increased adiposity may compromise bone health, and the presence of sarcopenia and/or dynapenia ("sarcopenic obesity" and "dynapenic obesity") may exacerbate the risk of falls and fracture in obese older adults. Weight loss interventions are likely to be beneficial for older adults with sarcopenic and dynapenic obesity but may result in further reductions in muscle and bone health. The addition of exercise including progressive resistance training and nutritional strategies, including protein and vitamin D supplementation, may optimise body composition and muscle function outcomes thereby reducing falls and fracture risk in this population.

Mentoring Functions: A Contemporary View of the Perceptions of Mentees and Mentors

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument for assessing mentoring based in contemporary organizational life. In the first phase of the study, 24 mentees and 24 mentors were interviewed about their mentoring experience. In-depth analysis of the interview data resulted in the development of an instrument to measure mentoring functions. In the second phase of the study, the instrument was tested for its factor structure using a large sample of 272 mentees and 228 mentors. A two-phase statistical analysis, principal components analysis with one sample followed by confirmatory factor analysis with the other, revealed eight distinct functions of mentoring. Mentees and mentors were found to share similar perceptions about the mentoring functions that occur in their relationships. The results represent a thorough attempt to define and describe mentoring in a contemporary organizational environment.