Yonggang Su

Special education teachers’ career experiences span entry pathways, role enactment, professional meaning and strain, and institutional support, yet these dimensions are often studied separately. This qualitative study examined how 19 full-time special education teachers understood and connected these aspects of their careers. Participants included 17 women and 2 men with 2–33 years of teaching experience, each employed at a different public special education school. The schools were located predominantly in northern and eastern China, with fewer in coastal southern cities. Semi-structured interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis with inductive open coding and iterative abstraction. Three themes were generated: making special education a viable career; enacting professional capacity through role; and navigating meaning, demands, and support in special education work. Participants retrospectively linked career entry to the alignment of value-based commitment with viable employment pathways; they described professional capacity as enacted through specialist, pedagogical, rehabilitation-oriented, and relational work; and they discussed sources of professional meaning, occupational demands, and support needs in relation to development opportunities, recognition, and institutional support. Across participants’ accounts, personal commitments, professional role enactment, relational work, and institutional conditions were intertwined. These findings suggest areas for professional learning and workforce support and raise questions for future research on teacher well-being.

With the growing momentum to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into education, large language models (LLMs) have shown great potential for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning. However, the relationships between EFL students' technology self-efficacy, emotions toward LLM-assisted English learning, and their behavioral intentions remain underexplored. Guided by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), this study explores how technology self-efficacy and emotions (i.e., perceived enjoyment and technology anxiety) influence behavioral intentions, with perceptions (i.e., perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness) and attitudes serving as mediating variables among Chinese EFL university students. A total of 677 valid questionnaires were collected and structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed for data analysis. The results revealed that: (a) technology self-efficacy positively predicted perceived enjoyment while negatively predicting technology anxiety; (b) technology self-efficacy positively predicted perceptions, which in turn predicted attitudes and ultimately behavioral intentions; (c) perceived enjoyment positively predicted perceived usefulness, which subsequently predicted attitudes and ultimately behavioral intentions; and (d) technology anxiety negatively predicted perceived ease of use, which in turn predicted attitudes and ultimately behavioral intentions. Overall, this study validated an extended TAM framework in the context of LLM-assisted language learning, showing how cognitive and emotional factors influence behavioral intentions through perceptions and attitudes in a serial manner. These findings offer valuable insights for integrating LLMs into foreign language learning.

Purpose Raising a child with autism spectrum disorder leads to psychological distress and has a significant impact on the quality of life of parents. The present study was conducted to assess the mediating role of coping strategies in managing psychological distress and improving the quality of life in parents of children with autism. Method An analysis based on a descriptive cross-sectional design was conducted in various autism centers and special education centers of District Punjab. The study involved 266 parents (133 mothers and 133 fathers), recruited via purposive sampling. Data collection was completed by using the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS-2), Brief COPE, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10), and WHO-QOL Brief. Results Pearson correlation analysis revealed that ASD Severity is significantly correlated with psychological distress, quality of life, avoidant coping, and approach coping. Mediation pathway analysis showed that avoidant coping partially mediates the relationship between severity levels, quality of life and psychological distress overall for fathers and mothers of children and fathers of children, but does not mediate for mothers of children. Approach coping partially mediates the relationship between severity levels, quality of life, and psychological distress among fathers and mothers of children. The t-test showed that the difference in quality of life and coping approach is significantly higher in fathers of children as compared to mothers. Conclusion Findings concluded that effective use of coping strategies helps reduce psychological distress and enhances the quality of life for parents.

Purpose The aims of this study were to explore the relationships between dyadic coping (DC) and emotional distress (anxiety and depressive symptoms) in young and middle-aged couples dealing with cancer, from the perspective of gender. Methods This cross-sectional study comprised 275 couples (aged 20–59) in which one partner had a cancer diagnosis. Couples completed the general information questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Dyadic Coping Inventory. The actor-partner interdependence moderated model was used to analyze the dyad data and the moderating role of patient gender. Results No matter whether for patients or spouses, negative DC positively correlated with anxiety and depression symptoms, positive DC negatively correlated with anxiety and depression symptoms. For anxiety symptoms, patients’ gender moderated the actor effect of the pair’s negative DC on their anxiety symptoms and the partner effect of the spouse’s negative DC on the patient’s anxiety symptoms. For depression symptoms, the patient’s gender moderated the actor effect of the spouse negative DC on his or her own depressive symptoms. The relationships between negative DC and emotional distress are stronger among female patients and female spouses. Conclusions This study reveals that patient gender plays a moderating role between negative DC and emotional distress symptoms. It suggests that relevant interventions should focus on reducing negative DC behaviors of patients and spouses, especially for female patients and spouses.

Participation in triadic medical interaction can be more unpredictable and challenging than that in dyadic interactions limited to patients and physicians. Many studies have explored participants' roles or communication strategies in triadic medical interaction but seldom investigated discursive resources and actions of the third party in interactional tension, especially in Chinese healthcare settings. Eighty-two conversations involving 45 patients, 57 companions, and four physicians were audio-recorded at the neurology clinic of a tertiary hospital in northern China, each lasting between 12 and 20 min. Through conversation analysis, the moments and activities that the third party intervenes in the interactional tension are captured and analyzed at a micro-level. Our collected data reveal that the third-party intervention can be classified into double, unilateral, and nonaligned. Along the gradient, initiatives for actions by the third party are diminished. Five distinct behavioral patterns are identified to represent alignment choices, including serving as and beyond a sounding board, downgrading one side to keep the stance back, prioritizing one party, and deflecting with non-verbal cues and fact-based formulation. This study sheds light on the practical implications of alleviating and addressing the emerging tension before it spreads, especially in neurology clinics where companions are frequently involved. When tension-related parties are at an impasse, the third party can step in by seizing the opportune moment and act as a gatekeeper for the spill-over of the tension through the design and organization of sequences in the interaction.

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disorders pose significant challenges to global health, often leading to chronic conditions that can profoundly impact patients’ mental and emotional well-being. This study aims to explore the mediating role of coping strategies in the relationship between death anxiety and Insomnia among patients with NCDs, with a particular focus on gender differences. By examining these dynamics, the research seeks to contribute to more personalized and effective psychological support for patients facing the dual burden of chronic illness and mental health challenges. Cross-sectional research design by using survey method. Death Anxiety Scale, Athens Insomnia Scale, and Brief Coping Inventory were used to gauge the respective variables. A sample of (n = 264) diagnosed patients with non-communicable diseases (diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer) was selected through purposive sampling. Findings revealed a positive correlation between death anxiety and Insomnia and a negative association with coping strategies in patients with non-communicable diseases. The use of coping strategies as a mediator showed the indirect pathway, which fully mediates the relationship between death anxiety and Insomnia in male (0.57, p < .05) and female (0.663, p < .05) respondents. Furthermore, the prevalence of death anxiety and Insomnia was higher in females as compared to males. The use of problem-focused coping strategies was higher in males whereas emotion-focused coping was more in females. It is concluded that the use of coping strategies mediates a significant relationship between death anxiety and Insomnia. Patients with non-communicable diseases experience intrusive thoughts of death anxiety in Insomnia, and coping techniques contribute to a more balanced and resilient approach to handling the difficulty associated with death anxiety and Insomnia. This study will be helpful for the respective specialists to manage the variability of symptoms and maintain the complaints their patients come up with during their treatment.

Background: Ambulance communication is essential to emergency medical care, directly influencing patient outcomes, operational efficiency, and multidisciplinary collaboration. Effective communication is key to enabling physicians to treat the patients not the clock. There has been little research carried out in the ambulance setting to identify physicians’ communication challenges. The aim of this study was to qualitatively explore its sequence organization in the ambulance interaction through conversation analysis and to improve the clinical education associated with healthcare practice. Methods: Data collection took place within ambulances from an international hospital in China between May 2024 and October 2024. We undertook multi-modal conversation analysis on 10 videos, including 12 physicians, 10 patients and 8 companions, to examine the interaction among participants in the ambulance. Videos were transcripted based on the Jefferson Transcription System. Results: Different from other context, there is a significant variation in the way physicians response to the patients’ dispreferred responses in the ambulance. The recurring pattern, the request-dispreferred response-post expansion sequence, in ambulance communication is frequently seen. Physicians employ three hand gestures as effective post-expansions: holding hands, grabbing hands, and lifting hands, to enhance the multiparty coordination and improve the emergency efficiency. Conclusion: This study demonstrates how physicians secure tactical moments and interactional space with patients and companions in the ambulance within the institutional turn-taking mechanism. It furthers the understanding of ambulance physicians’ non-verbal behaviour by analyzing the interaction dilemma and provides a new perspective to help healthcare workers avoid the miscommunication and secure good communication in the medical emergency.

The future second language (L2) selves in the L2 motivational self‐system have been widely acknowledged as significant predictors of successful foreign language learning. Given the limitations of variable‐centered approaches prevailing in previous studies, the present study employed latent profile analysis, a classic person‐center approach, to identify distinct profiles of the future L2 selves, and the associations between profiles and emotions, willingness to communicate, and personality traits. Latent profile analysis based on data gathered from 840 Chinese postgraduates identified four profiles of the future L2 selves. They were named “low ought‐to L2 self and ideal L2 self”, “moderate‐low ought‐to L2 self and ideal L2 self”, “moderate ought‐to L2 self and ideal L2 self”, and “high ought‐to L2 self and ideal L2 self”. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) suggested that the four profiles differed in their foreign language enjoyment, foreign language anxiety, willingness to communicate, and Big Five personality traits except for neuroticism. This study offers valuable insights into differences in L2 future selves among Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) postgraduates, emphasizing the need for individualized instructional approaches by teachers and teacher educators.

Background: Suicide rates among older adults individuals living alone in the community are comparatively high. The prevalence of suicidal ideation among older adults living alone in the community was assessed using the interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide and the broaden-and-build theory of positive affect.Objectives: The research objectives of this study was examine to the prevalence of suicidal ideation among older adults living alone in the community. It was examined whether perceived burdensomeness mediated the relation between frailty and suicidal ideation, and whether positive emotions moderated either the indirect or direct effect of a mediation model.Methods: The model was tested on 893 older adults people living alone in the community in Xintai City, China. An assessment of participants’ frailty, suicidal ideation, perceived burdensomeness, and positive emotions was conducted.Results: The results demonstrated that perceived burdensomeness acted as a partly mediating factor in the relationship between frailty and suicidal ideation. In addition, the direct and indirect effects of the mediation model were moderated by positive emotions. When levels of positive emotion were high, fragility had a weaker effect on suicidal ideation, and perceived burdensomeness had a weaker effect on suicidal ideation.Conclusion: Results emphasize that interventions aimed at improving positive emotions could have a protective effect on frail older people living alone in the community who are at risk of suicide.