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During the COVID-19 pandemic, which enforced social distancing and isolation, teachers were required to handle multiple challenges related to their work, including dealing with remote teaching, in addition to personal, medical and financial challenges. The goal of the current research was to examine factors that contributed to professional burnout and commitment to work among teachers during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 344 elementary school teachers in Israel completed online self-report questionnaires, including assessments of stressors, anxiety, resilience, self-efficacy beliefs, and coping strategies. Structured Equation Modeling [SEM] was used to examine the contribution of these factors to professional burnout and commitment. The gaps between needed and received support had a direct effect on teachers' burnout and commitment, and an indirect effect through anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs. Stress relating to remote teaching and support-gaps regarding remote teaching were the most significant of all the stressors and sources of support. Collectively, these findings highlight the significance of remote teaching as the main cause of stress and professional burnout and suggest that proper preparation of teachers-before and during times of crisis, may have a significant impact on their mental and professional well-being.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257657.].

Objectives Mindfulness practice increases personal well-being, yet its effect on prosocial behaviors is not well-established. Initial studies suggest that an 8-week mindfulness program has a positive effect on help-giving towards a stranger in distress and that a short meditation promotes care towards an ostracized member. This research aims at examining whether a short mindfulness intervention promotes help-giving intention towards a stranger in distress and to understand the role of empathy in this effect. Methods A total of 210 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to two sessions of mindfulness practice, music, or lecture control conditions. Participants then listened to a sham interview with a student dealing with a chronic illness and were surveyed on their willingness to volunteer in an organization helping such students. Baseline dispositional empathy and consequent empathic care scales were completed to determine their effect. Results A significantly higher percentage of participants were willing to provide help in the mindfulness condition (50.8%), as compared to the music (31.2%) and the lecture (31%) conditions, χ 2 (2, N  = 189) = 9.51, p  = .009. A significantly positive effect of dispositional empathy on empathic care was found in the mindfulness group ( b  = 1.40, SE  = .31, p  < .001), but not in the control groups. Conclusions This study showed that short mindfulness practice increases help-giving intention as compared to active control groups and moderates the association between dispositional empathy and empathic care. Future research including long-term follow-up will strengthen these findings.

Early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children enables earlier access to services and better ability to predict subsequent development. A vast body of literature consistently shows discrepancies in the age of diagnosis between children from varying socio-economic levels, cultural and ethnic backgrounds. The present study examines the effect of sociodemographic factors on age of ASD diagnosis among the three primary ethnic sectors in Jerusalem region: secular and modern religious Jews, ultra-Orthodox Jews and Arabs. Findings indicate minimal differences in age of diagnosis prior to the age of six, although Arab children of this age were largely minimally verbal. After age six, no Arab children were referred for an evaluation.

This study presents an attempt to widen the study of emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) to include children not formally identified by the school as having EBD through examining the case of extreme school aggressors and their victims. The research describes the validation of the School Violence Inventory (SVI) and its use to map participant roles in six types of school aggression and victimization. Middle and high school students in Israel (N = 10,383) completed the SVI and were designated as uninvolved, pure aggressors, pure victims, and mixed aggressor—victims for direct physical, relational, and sexual aggression and victimization. Results showed a main effect for grade level for all types of aggression. Multiple hierarchical regressions showed different trajectories for each of the four participant roles. Implications for future research delineating the psychological markers of each of the different roles and implications for the future study of EBD are discussed.

This study had three primary goals: to explore the relationship between narcissism, participant roles, and aggression; to examine the role of gender as a moderating influence on narcissism-based aggression; and to examine how these variables work together to influence aggressive outcomes in a sample of aggressive middle and high school students. Narcissism and aggression appear to be similarly related for males and females; however, when examining high aggression males and high aggression females, we found that males were more influenced by leadership and authority aspects of narcissism and females were more influenced by self-absorption/self-admiration aspects of narcissism. Participants break down into three primary groups: perpetrators, helpers, and bystanders. For both genders, being a helper (either as a help-seeker or defender) is positively correlated with exploitiveness.

This article describes an intervention study based on an alternative model of social skills instruction using a multiple-baseline design across three boys with severe behavioral disorders. The treatment model does not assume a social skill deficit, but rather a deficit in self-regulatory behavior leading to inappropriate use of behaviors already in the individual's repertoire. Self-monitoring procedures were used to cue participants to use their social skills, were effective in altering participants' social behaviors, and created maintained positive change. Data highlight the promise of the activation model as both a theoretical and a treatment methodology warranting further study. Directions for further research are presented.

We evaluated 32 nonmedicated male adolescents diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in childhood, 35 male adolescents similarly diagnosed who were receiving methylphenidate (MPH), and 77 control boys. Both ADHD groups completed self-report questionnaires assessing sleep disturbances; weekday and holiday sleep duration; and symptoms of ADHD, anxiety, and depression. Parents and teachers rated the severity of the participants' ADHD. The control group completed self-report questionnaires assessing sleep disturbances. We found that nonmedicated participants and controls did not differ in the severity of sleep disturbance. In contrast, the medicated participants demonstrated a significantly greater severity of sleep disturbance compared with the nonmedicated participants and reported elevated levels of symptoms of ADHD, anxiety, and depression. Specific analyses showed that depressive symptoms contributed significantly to the degree of sleep disturbance when controlling for ADHD diagnosis and MPH treatment. These findings suggest that among adolescents with ADHD symptoms, the severity of symptoms of depression may contribute to the degree of sleep disturbance in addition to the effect of their primary disorder and MPH treatment.

Comparative studies of special education policy typically compare the provision of special education services in different countries, based primarily on comparative variables such as legal mandates, rules and regulations, and budgetary allocations. Aside from the analysis of these surface structures, it is imperative also to take into account the deep structures (i.e., sociohistorical background) of the culture that created those policies. In this study, different aspects of Israeli and Palestinian Authority special educational policies were compared on both surface and deep levels. The surface analysis revealed that both systems are currently undergoing major revisions and restructuring. On the one hand, the Israeli system is redefining how it will educate children with special educational needs in more inclusive settings (in stark contrast to previous segregationist policy). On the other hand, special education in the Palestinian Authority is an emerging field, currently experimenting with different models of inclusionary practices. Despite their differences, both systems are similar in that teachers are being asked to implement these changes. On a deep-structure level, Palestinian teachers tended to have a more radical view of issues concerning education and equity as they pertained to the necessity of educating all children in order to build a strong nation. Israelis tended to see their role as less steeped in the language of equity.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257657.].