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Lauren Hunter Naples is a Postdoctoral Associate at Yale University. She earned an Ed.D. in Special Education & Disability Studies with a concentration in Translational Neuroscience from The George Washington University (2019). Lauren is board certified as a Mental Health Counselor with an M.A. from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (2014), and she holds a B.S. in Applied Developmental Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh (2012). Her research focuses on collaborating within research-practice partnerships to develop and adapt strengths-based strategies that promote student wellbeing among children with diverse learning needs. She is a member of the American Educational Research Association; American Psychological Association; Council for Exceptional Children; International Mind, Brain, and Education Society; International Positive Psychology Association; and the Society for Research in Child Development. She was recently awarded a research grant from AERA Division C (Learning and Instruction) to investigate the accessibility of SEL instruction for diverse learners.
There is a robust body of psychological research linking youth mental health and academic achievement. However, students in early childhood are rarely represented in this research, and children with disabilities and/or neurological differences are virtually absent. Thus, the present pilot study explored the effects of a structured psychoeducation program designed to enhance school-based wellbeing (SBWB) for young students who are neurodivergent (ND). This study utilized a quasi-experimental design to investigate the effects of the Student Strengths Safari intervention on (1) students’ self-reported covitality and (2) teacher-rated executive functioning to (3) examine data for evidence of a dual-factor model of SBWB. Two classrooms in a suburban, Mid-Atlantic private school were randomly assigned to the waitlist control group (n = 14) (1st grade) and the intervention group (n = 10) (2nd grade), and quantitative data were analyzed at pretest and posttest to determine intervention outcomes. Key findings produced evidence to support (a) a statistically significant interaction effect for improvements in executive functioning relative to the waitlist control group (p = 0.011), and (b) the utility of a new theoretical dual-factor model to advance SBWB for ND students in early elementary education.
Lauren Naples; Elizabeth Tuckwiller. Taking Students on a Strengths Safari: A Multidimensional Pilot Study of School-Based Wellbeing for Young Neurodiverse Children. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2021, 18, 6947 .
AMA StyleLauren Naples, Elizabeth Tuckwiller. Taking Students on a Strengths Safari: A Multidimensional Pilot Study of School-Based Wellbeing for Young Neurodiverse Children. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18 (13):6947.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLauren Naples; Elizabeth Tuckwiller. 2021. "Taking Students on a Strengths Safari: A Multidimensional Pilot Study of School-Based Wellbeing for Young Neurodiverse Children." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 13: 6947.