Increased mental health difficulties were reported in Canadian children as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Accordingly, the pandemic has impacted families as well. The purpose of this thesis was: 1) to examine fluctuations in children’s mental health symptoms and mindful parenting across the 2020-2021 academic year; 2) to examine whether children’s symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity at the beginning of the 2020-2021 academic year were associated with mindful parenting at the end of the academic year; 3) to examine whether children’s depressive and anxiety symptoms at the end of the year moderated this relationship and; 4) to examine how child age and gender affected these relationships. Parents of 114 young children in a large Canadian city participated in this study in the Fall of 2020 and the Spring of 2021. Parents completed several self-report scales used to measure children’s mental health symptomatology and mindfulness in parenting. While there were no significant changes in children’s mental health symptoms or mindful parenting across the time points, children’s symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity were significantly, negatively associated with mindful parenting across the pandemic year, and children’s depressive symptoms moderated this relationship. Specifically, when children’s depressive symptoms were low or average it was found that higher symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity were associated with lower levels of mindful parenting among parents of young girls. Results may inform practitioners about which families require additional support during the pandemic and beyond.

Nature of the inquiry: My research inquiry investigated how qualities of personal interaction shape and affect the promotion of research utilisation for quality improvement in the US healthcare sector. The research investigated my own professional practice of consulting, teaching, and research regarding the improvement of healthcare practices and outcomes. Efforts to improve the quality of healthcare services are often difficult to realise and sustain. The quality improvement movement in the USA and elsewhere has not conducted much self-examination of its own processes for sources of these perennially problematic results. Relevance: The quality of healthcare services can be readily understood as having consequences of life or death, wellness or suffering. Healthcare expenditures in the USA are estimated at 16% of GDP and over 9% in the UK. Improving healthcare quality improvement efforts is a matter of profound human and social significance. Approach: The DMan research methodology is a reflexively aware process conducted as a cohort and as small learning groups of researchers during the three-year programme. The research inquiry used the complex responsive process of relating theory of learning as emergent changes of meaning or, equivalently, knowledge. As a social science of qualities, it uses the qualities of human interaction as the unit of analysis. The research utilised an interdisciplinary approach drawing upon: healthcare quality improvement literature; organizational discourse studies; research on strategy as practice; performance management; communications theories; the theory of mindful learning; interpersonal neurobiology; figurational sociology; and American pragmatist philosophy. The methodology employs a mindful reflexivity research strategy related to concepts from mindful learning and social neuroscience literature. Central methods included iterative peer and supervisor debriefing and iterative reflexive narrative practice. Findings: A contribution is made to the healthcare literature by describing how ordinary qualities of social coordination dynamics affect the promoters of healthcare research, not just potential users of research. A contribution is made to professional practice by providing a new perspective from which to analyse the sources of performance challenges prevalent in healthcare quality improvement efforts. The research findings indicate how applications of substantial organisational and social resources to promote research utilisation in the US health sector can be co-opted and dissipated away from ostensive substantive objectives. This occurs by research promoters‟ organizational discourse efforts to favourably shape power relating and other qualities of interaction of improvement initiatives. These efforts restrict the emergence of learning about the promoted changes.

In this study, a concurrent randomized multiple baseline across three parent-child dyads single-case design was employed to evaluate the effects of a brief three-week parent training program, titled Practiced Routines. The Practiced Routines parent training program included positive behavior supports (PBS) and mindfulness strategies within the context of natural family routines. Three mothers and their children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) participated. Visual analysis combined with a standardized mean difference analysis revealed mixed results with a medium effect found for increases in parent behavioral strategy use and small effects found for reductions in parent stress and child challenging behavior. All three mothers rated the social validity of the Practiced Routine program favorably. Implications for science and practice in educational and behavior health early intervention for families of children with ASD are discussed.

abstract: Within the past 10 years, there has been an increased interest in providing teachers with mindfulness training. This is due largely in part to the amount of stress that K-12 teachers report as a result of the profession and the research proposing that practicing mindfulness helps one cope with stress and offers the potential to promote one's well-being. This qualitative study explores the intersection of mindfulness and K-12 teaching. Four K-12 teachers who self-identified as mindfulness practitioners were interviewed, and their lived experiences as mindfulness practitioners and teachers are explored throughout this study. Through in-depth, phenomenologically-based interviews, the participants' life histories in relation to becoming mindfulness practitioners and teachers are uncovered, as well as their experiences as mindfulness practitioners in the classroom, and their reflections upon what is means to be a mindfulness practitioner and a teacher. For the participants in this study, they believed their mindfulness practices helped them cope with the demands of teaching. The participants also viewed mindfulness practices as a pedagogical tool for promoting their students' social and emotional well-being. As one of the first studies to explore teachers who have personal mindfulness practices and how those practices transfer or do not transfer into their professional experiences, it adds teachers' voices to the mindfulness in education phenomena. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Curriculum and Instruction 2015

Textile waste is a growing problem in the world and although it is being noticed in the fast fashion category the industry providing home fashion textiles is being largely ignored. However, with companies such as H&M and Zara entering the market there is a cause for concern due to their current business models. To address such complexities modern research practices are needed. With a transdisciplinary group, an innovative solution can be discovered in the process of defining and developing solutions for such problems. Focusing on the topic of home fashion textile waste the team learned that people often took their unwanted textiles to second hand or thrift stores rather than throwing them in the trash. However, when purchasing home fashion textiles there was a conscious decision to avoid going to secondhand sources to acquire their textile items. This posed a problem as consumers felt good about donating but then expressed disdain for those same outlets as a method of acquiring their home fashion textiles. This offers an opportunity for companies, such as IKEA to act with consumers to develop new ways to tackle this problem. The team decided to address this disparity through a communication tool where multi-level co-creation would be used. The United Nations encourages developments such as the Dare to Care framework as is expressed in sustainability goal 12.8 where exposure and education in consumption is vital to create sustainable behaviour. Through workshop participation, based on the framework provided, it is possible to achieve this goal through mindful consumption exposure, development of sustainable actions that consumers can take part in, and partner consumers with industry to develop new sustainability measures that focus on consumer acceptance.

In today’s society the question about consumption are a real problem. With focus on clothing brands it can be seen as a possibility to expand due to the increased demand from customers. With new ways of marketing and easier ways of shopping creates opportunities for customers to shop without any problems. The trend of “fast fashion” have influenced clothing brands to keep a constant flow of new clothes. Which tends to affect brands to choose a way to maximize their profit, and therefore look for cheaper ways of producing. But because of the higher set demand on sustainability, clothing brands has put more focus on sustainability throughout the company. This leads to the question about the responsibility that clothing brands has for the grown consumption patterns together with making profit. How does clothing brands handle the high set demand from customers while influencing a more sustainable consumption. This study is focusing on four Swedish clothing companies that are currently international active. The empirical material consists of the sustainability communication on their website. A critical discourse analysis is used to determine patterns in the different marketing discourses to answer the purpose of this of this study and provide a recommendation for companies which are in line with the work towards sustainable consumption. In conclusion in this study we highlight the importance of well thought through market communication. With focus on sustainability it helps the company to make decisions and communicate more clearly and creates opportunities to influence consumers to make choices towards sustainable consumption. With a company stance towards educating customers also affect more than consumers. It affects the industry views to change and creates opportunities to change towards more sustainable choices. The website can be seen as the main stage for the clothing brands to influence consumers towards more sustainable consumption. Mainly with showing the great extent the companies goes to with their work with sustainability in all working part of the company. But also by showing the value it creates. With a focus on the value of the products, the company are able guide consumers to make sustainable choices and be more aware of their consumption patterns, in all aspects of their life.

The quality of caregiver-child interactions influences child, parent, and family wellness. Although the existing body of literature links mindfulness to positive outcomes within the family, little is known about how specific dimensions of mindful parenting are associated with parenting practices or child behavior reactivity. Based on a mindful parenting model and differential susceptibility model, this quantitative study used an online survey method to examine how specific dimensions of mindful parenting are associated with parenting practices and child behavior reactivity among a sample of 152 parents of elementary-age children. This study also explored how parent life stress modifies the relationship between mindful parenting dimensions and parenting practices and child reactivity. A model estimation was calculated using least squares regression-based path analysis to test the strength and direction of the association between the 5 dimensions of mindfulness and child behavioral reactivity through mediation and moderated mediation models. Results revealed that the mindful parenting dimensions of acceptance and attention had significant positive associations with child behavior reactivity. Emotional awareness and attention were mediated by positive parenting; however, no moderated mediation of any dimension of mindfulness and child behavior reactivity was found. The results from this study may be used to promote positive social change by helping service providers develop effective parenting programs and properly identify parents who might benefit from mindfulness interventions and stress reduction techniques.

Social media platforms (SMP) are a continually growing field with several implications for the social structures of society. SMPs are web-based platforms on which users connect with other individuals and organizations which enables social connections and social bonding. SMPs and other social networking sites can have both positive and negative effects on individuals' lives. On the one hand, social media micro-interactions such as liking and interacting with other individuals’ content are crucial in interpersonal communication. On the other hand, research shows micro-interactions eg. like-buttons, notifications, and stories, have a negative impact on task performance, affect individuals' views of their own self-worth, and cause undesirable behavior such as procrastination. Procrastination of tasks has negative implications for our society and is often caused by social media’s tendencies to trigger psychological factors such as fear of missing out or a desire for instant rewards. Using a design-oriented approach, this research investigates how micro-interactions can be designed with the help of mindful design to counteract procrastination among young adults in the context of SMPs. The results show that designing micro-interactions in a way that detaches,guides, and empowers users align with mindful design core goals, which helps counteract procrastination among young adults on SMPs.

Successful treatment alternatives for chronic pain conditions are limited. One type of chronic pain that can occur is the condition of phantom limb pain, which can occur after the loss of a limb. Many studies have researched the correlation between chronic pain, tactile acuity, and cortical reorganization. Sensory discrimination training has been shown to improve tactile acuity and be beneficial when trying to reduce the intensity and duration of the pain in chronic pain conditions. A device has been developed by the Center for Bionics and Pain Research, and it is intended to train sensory discrimination. How efficiently this device can train sensory discrimination and how much improvements in the tactile acuity in able-bodied participants can be achieved after using the device have been investigated in this study. 16 able-bodied subjects participated in the study. The subjects received five 40 minutes training sessions on five consecutive days. The assessment of the subjects’ tactile acuity was performed before the first training session and after the last training session. The tactile acuity was also assessed after one to two weeks to determine the long-term effect of the training. There were two psychophysical analyses to determine the participants’ tactile acuity, the two-point discrimination test and the monofilament test. The results showed a significant improvement in the two-point discrimination threshold after the five training sessions, thus showing evidence of the improvement in the tactile acuity after using the sensory discrimination training device. There was no significant improvement in the monofilament test.

The purpose of this study was to provide an intervention to Appalachian Head Start families that provided novel ways of thinking about their children\'s development, while also arming them with effective strategies and tools they could use to build engaging and enriched interactions. The intervention curriculum was developed based on a theory of mentoring in the zone of proximal development (Vygotsky, 1978; Wiles, 2008). This research effort sought to answer the following research questions: (a) Do adults\' descriptions of their children as mental beings and perceptions about their children as individuals with minds of their own change due to participation in the intervention condition as compared to those in the control condition?; (b) What are the effects of this intervention on adults\' use of scaffolding and guided participation strategies in the shared reading activity over time?; (c) Does participation in the intervention condition affect the child\'s outcomes on standardized tests?; and (d) What qualitative differences in the way adults and children interact in the shared reading activity can occur as a result of the intervention? A randomized controlled trial including 50 parent-child dyads, were videotaped answering a mind-mindedness interview question and reading with their children at three time points over the Head Start school year. A Mixed-methods approach was implemented in the study\'s design, implementation, data collection, and analyses. Quantitative analyses revealed significant differences in both mental descriptions of participants\' children and the type and frequency of scaffolding techniques as a result of participation in the intervention. Triangulation of the qualitative and quantitative analyses indicated the need for a new theoretical construct to explain what occurs in optimally functioning interactions. Mindful-mindedness describes and explains adults\' metastrategic scaffolding technique selection in a mindful and mind-minded style, and then their application of these techniques in a serial process creates a multiplier effect on the efficacy of scaffolding. Implications for policy and practice, limitations of the current study, and directions for future research are also provided. / Ph. D.