Teaching educational materials to others enhances the teacher's own learning of those to-be-taught materials, although the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown.Here, we show that the learning-by-teaching benefit is possibly a retrieval benefit.Learners (a) solved arithmetic problems (i.e., they neither taught nor retrieved; control group), (b) taught without relying on teaching notes (i.e., they had to retrieve the materials while teaching; teaching group), (c) taught with teaching notes (i.e., they did not retrieve the materials while teaching; teaching without retrieval practice [TnRP] group), or (d) retrieved (i.e., they did not teach but only practised retrieving; retrieval practice group). In a final comprehension test 1 week later, learners in the teaching group, as did those in the retrieval practice group, outperformed learners in the TnRP and control groups. Retrieval practice possibly causes the learning benefits of teaching. KEYWORDSeducational psychology, learning-by-teaching, retrieval practice, retrieval-based learning, the testing effect

The insula and the anterior cingulate cortex are core brain regions that anchor the salience network, one of several large-scale intrinsic functional connectivity networks that have been derived consistently using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). While several studies have shown that the insula and anterior cingulate cortex play important roles in interoceptive awareness, no study to date has examined the association between intrinsic salience network connectivity and interoceptive awareness. In this study, we sought to test this idea in 26 healthy young participants who underwent a resting-state fMRI scan and a heartbeat counting task outside the scanner in the same session. Greater salience network connectivity in the posterior insula (but not the anterior cingulate cortex) using independent component analysis correlated with higher accuracy in the heartbeat counting task. Furthermore, using seed-based approach, greater interoceptive accuracy was associated with greater intrinsic connectivity of all insular functional subdivisions to salience network regions, including the anterior insula, orbitofrontal cortex, ventral striatum and midbrain. These associations remained after correcting for voxel-wise grey matter volumes. The findings underscore the critical role of insular salience network intrinsic connectivity in interoceptive awareness and pave the way for future investigations into how salience network dysconnectivity affects interoceptive awareness in brain disorders.

Evidence-based mobile health (mHealth) applications on smartphones are a cost-effective way for employees to take proactive steps to improve well-being and performance. However, little is known about what sustains engagement on these applications and whether they could dynamically improve occupational outcomes such as resilience and mood. Using real-world data, this intensive longitudinal study examines (a) which employees would continually engage with a cognitive behavioural therapy-informed mHealth application (‘Intellect’); and (b) if daily engagement of ‘Intellect’ would relate to better occupational outcomes on the following day. A total of 515 working adults in Singapore and Hong Kong ( Mage = 32.4, SDage = 8.17) completed daily in-app items on mood and resilience components (i.e. sleep hours, sleep quality, physical activity, and stress levels). Our results revealed that employees with lower baseline resilience (β = −0.048, odds ratio (OR) = 0.953, p < 0.01), specifically poorer sleep quality (β = −0.212, OR = 0.809, p = 0.001) and/or higher stress levels (β = −0.255, OR = 0.775, p = 0.05), were more likely to resume engagement on the application. Among the 150 active users (i.e. ≥3 consecutive days of engagement) ( Mage = 32.2, SDage = 8.17), daily engagement predicted higher resilience (β = 0.122; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.039–0.206), specifically lower stress levels (β = 0.018; 95% CI 0.004–0.032), higher physical activity (β = 0.079; 95% CI 0.032–0.126), and mood levels (β = 0.020; 95% CI 0.012–0.029) on the following day even after controlling for same-day outcomes. Our preliminary findings suggest that engaging with a mHealth application was associated with higher dynamic resilience and emotional well-being in employees.

BACKGROUND Researchers have recently proposed Behavioral Health Coaching (BHC) to be effective in promoting proactive care among employees. To qualify as a preventive workplace intervention, however, more research is needed to evaluate whether BHC can further elevate well-being among moderately mentally healthy employees. OBJECTIVE Using real-world data, this retrospective study evaluates the preliminary effectiveness of virtually-delivered BHC against a non-randomized control group with open access to self-help tools in improving well-being (i.e., mood levels and perceived stress). The study also explored which BHC components mediate well-being improvements over time. METHODS Employees residing across Asia-Pacific countries (N = 1,025, Mage = 30.85, SDage = 6.97) who reported “moderately positive mood” and “medium levels of perceived stress” in their first week of using the mental health application (“Intellect”) were included in this study. Users who were provided access by their organizations to Intellect’s BHC services were assigned to the “Coaching” condition (N = 512, Mage = 31.09, SDage = 6.87), while other employees remained as “Control” participants (N = 513, Mage = 30.61, SDage = 7.06). To evaluate preliminary effectiveness, monthly scores from the validated mood and stress sliders were examined using repeated measures conditional growth models. To test the “active ingredients” of BHC, scores from a large subset of “Coaching” users (N = 341, Mage = 31.52, SDage = 7.21) who completed post-coaching items on “Perceived Usefulness of the BHC session” and “Working Alliance with my Coach” were examined using 1-1-1 multilevel mediation models. RESULTS Growth curve analyses revealed significant time by group interaction effects for both mood and perceived stress, where “Coaching” users reported significantly greater improvements in mood and perceived stress than “Control” participants across time (Mood: F1, 1647 = 16.7, ηp 2 =. 02, p = <.0001; Stress: F1, 770 = 4.60, ηp 2 =. 01, p = <.0001). Among the “Coaching” participants, dependent sample t-tests revealed significant improvements in well-being outcomes from baseline to 11 months (Mood: t512 = 2.33, d = .21, p = <.05; Stress: t512 = -2.47, d = -.22, p = <.05). Improvements in client-rated perceptions of “Usefulness of the BHC session” (Mood: ab = .016 – .026, p<.001, 95% Cl .006 – .039; Stress: ab = -.012 – -.011, p<.01, 95% Cl -.024 – -.003) and “Working Alliance” (Mood: ab = .016 – .018, p<.01, 95% Cl .007 – .032; Stress: ab = -.010 – -.009, p<.01, 95% Cl -.021 – -.002) fully mediated within-level well-being enhancements overtime. CONCLUSIONS We found preliminary evidence that BHC is an effective, preventive workplace intervention. At the individual level, clients’ perceived usefulness of each BHC session and working alliance with their coach fully mediated well-being improvements. Mobile-based coaching may be a convenient, cost-effective, and scalable means for organizations and governments to boost public mental health.