Occupational stress and mental well-being in a cohort of Black South African teachers

This study explored levels of occupational stress and mental well-being of a cohort of Black South African teachers. 200 secondary school teachers completed the Teacher Stress Inventory (TSI: Boyle, Borg, Falzon, & Baglion, 1995), General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28: Goldberg & Hillier, 1979 Goldberg, D. P., & Hillier, V. F. (1979). A scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire. Psychological Medicine, 9, 139–145. doi: 10.1017/S0033291700021644[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF: Keyes, 2006 Keyes, C. L. M. (2006). Mental health in adolescence: Is America's youth flourishing? American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76(3), 395–402. doi: 10.1037/0002-9432.76.3.395[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Correlations and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) were used to determine the levels of occupational stress and well-being of participants, and to establish the relation between these variables. A significant majority of the teachers reported high levels of mental health (flourishing) despite high levels of teacher stress. These results show teachers’ ability to withstand and cope with stress whilst maintaining their mental health. This suggests the presence of protective factors that mediate the effect of work-related stressors and, in so doing, contribute to the teachers’ levels of resilience.     

Sleep disturbances in depressed pregnant women and their newborns

Pregnant women (N=253) were recruited during their second trimester of pregnancy (M=22.3 weeks gestation) and assigned to depressed (N=83) and non-depressed groups based on a SCID diagnosis of depression. They were then given self-report measures on sleep disturbance, depression, anxiety and anger, and their urine was assayed for norepinephrine and cortisol. These measures were repeated during their third trimester (M=32.4 weeks). Their newborns were then observed during sleep. During both the second and third trimesters, the depressed women had more sleep disturbances and higher depression, anxiety and anger scores. They also had higher norepinephrine and cortisol levels. The newborns of the depressed mothers also had more sleep disturbances including less time in deep sleep and more time in indeterminate (disorganized) sleep, and they were more active and cried/fussed more.     

Home environment and cognitive development of black infants in impoverished South African families

This study examined the interrelationships between home environment, mental and psychomotor development, growth, and educational and occupational indices of socioeconomic status among an urban sample of 305 African infants aged 2 to 30 months. The infants were assessed on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development and the Home Screening Questionnaire, and their heights and weights were recorded. Information regarding the family's socioeconomic status was obtained during interviews with caretakers. No significant relationships were found between parental education and occupation and infant cognitive development, but quality of the home environment was positively correlated with these indices of parental socioeconomic status. On the other hand, home environment scores were found to be significantly related to mental development, independent of parental education and occupation. There was considerable variation in home environments in the sample, which was drawn from generally impoverished urban communities. These findings from an African cultural group support the generalizability of the importance of the quality of the home environment for infant development.     

Psychosocial resources,support, and career satisfaction among professional women: A South African study

The study examined the role psychosocial resources play in enhancing perceptions of support and career satisfaction among professional women. The participants were a purposive sample of 606 professional women from South Africa (white = 61.8%, black = 19.9%, Indian = 11.1%, and coloured = 6.6%; mean age = 35.41 years, SD = 8.39 years). The participants were in their early adulthood and establishment career stage. The participants were employed in the financial, engineering, and human resource fields. The participants completed measures of emotional intelligence, career adaptability, psychosocial career preoccupations, self-efficacy, perceived organisational support, social support, and career satisfaction. Following canonical correlation analysis, results revealed managing own emotions, career control, self-efficacy, preoccupations with career adaptation, and preoccupations with establishment to positively predict higher levels of organisational support and career satisfaction. Findings underpin the fact that psychosocial resources are assets for the career well-being of professional women from a developing country setting.     

Social role and birth cohort influences on gender-linked personality traits in women: a 20-year longitudinal analysis

Growth curve modeling was used to examine the impact of social role experiences (e.g., marital support, occupational prestige) and birth cohort on mean-level differences and age-related changes in positive personality traits indicative of either femininity or masculinity in 758 mothers heterogeneous in age, assessed 4 times over 2 decades. Both femininity and masculinity increased significantly from mean ages 39 through 59; each was predictive of an age change in the other. Low masculinity was associated with a more rapid increase in femininity, whereas high occupational prestige decreased the magnitude of association between masculinity and femininity. Femininity increased with more marital support but decreased with unmarried status, more children at home, and working full or part time; among full-time workers, that effect was modified by marital support. Masculinity increased with full-time work and high occupational prestige. A trend for differing levels of femininity, and contrasting associations of masculinity with femininity and marital conflict in women born after 1944 compared with those born earlier, suggests shifting social norms and gender relations in the marital role.     

Head Start and urban children's school readiness: a birth cohort study in 18 cities

We used longitudinal data from a birth cohort study, the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, to investigate the links between Head Start and school readiness in a large and diverse sample of urban children at age 5 (N = 2,803; 18 cities). We found that Head Start attendance was associated with enhanced cognitive ability and social competence and reduced attention problems but not reduced internalizing or externalizing behavior problems. These findings were robust to model specifications (including models with city-fixed effects and propensity-scoring matching). Furthermore, the effects of Head Start varied by the reference group. Head Start was associated with improved cognitive development when compared with parental care or other nonparental care, as well as improved social competence (compared with parental care) and reduced attention problems (compared with other nonparental care). In contrast, compared with attendance at pre-kindergarten or other center-based care, Head Start attendance was not associated with cognitive gains but with improved social competence and reduced attention and externalizing behavior problems (compared with attendance at other center-based care). These associations were not moderated by child gender or race/ethnicity.     

Maternal attitudes towards pre-natal substance abuse,medical care,and treatment in a historically disadvantaged South African community

This study explored maternal substance abuse and the access to pre-natal medical care and treatment for substance abuse during pregnancy. Respondent mothers (n?=?102; mean age?=?27.8 years, SD?=?10.9 years) were from Mitchell’s Plain, a historically disadvantaged South African community. The mothers completed a mixed methods interview on the context and influences of their substance abuse during their pregnancy. Findings suggest that these mothers adopt the drug taking behaviour in their social environment. Women with prior histories of substance abuse were active consumers and dependent on drugs while childbearing. These findings may be important for possible intervention strategies among this particular group of vulnerable women.     

Suicide method runs in families: a birth certificate cohort study of adolescent suicide in Taiwan

Suicide method used by adolescents was examined to determine if it was the same as that employed by their suicidal parents. Six hundred eighty adolescents completed suicide between 1997 and 2007, of whom 12 had parents who had previously died by suicide. The suicide method used by these adolescents was compared with that employed by their suicidal parent and that of a matched peer control adolescent with no exposure to parental suicide and living in the same area. In 10 of the 12 suicidal parent-adolescent dyads, the same suicide method was employed by parent and adolescent. Of seven adolescents whose age at parental suicide was 15 years or above, six used the same suicide method as their suicidal parent had. On the contrary, of 12 exposure-nonexposure suicidal adolescent dyads, the same method was used in only four. Adolescents exposed to parental suicide are more likely to use the suicide method employed by their suicidal parents than the method used by adolescent peers with no exposure to parental suicide.     

Resourcing single parents in a South African community rural setting: an exploratory study

This study investigated the resource needs of single parents as child carers. Participants were a purposive sample of 40 single parents (female?=?70%, Black?=?95%, rural 80%; age range 30 to 55 years old). Data on resource needs of single parents were collected using semi-structured individual interviews. The data were thematically analyzed. The findings indicated that single parents need relationship and socio-emotional, material and time use supports to be successful in their carer roles. Resourcing single parents in their child care roles requires a holistic approach addressing both material and socio-relational support needs.     

The vocal dialogue in 9/11 pregnant widows and their infants: Specificities of co-regulation

Mothers who were pregnant and widowed on September 11, 2001, and their 4–6-month infants (in utero on 9/11) were filmed during face-to-face interaction and their vocal dialogues were examined via microanalysis. Mothers were White, well-educated, mean age 34.3 years, and far from the World Trade Center site on 9/11; infants were 4–6 months, half female. We examined the bi-directional, moment-by-moment co-regulation of the timing of vocal dialogue, and particularly turn taking, in mother-infant and stranger-infant interactions, with time-series models. We analyzed the contingent coordination of durations of (1) vocalizations of the turn-holder, and (2) switching-pauses at the moment of the turn exchange. The switching pause is an aspect of the rhythm of the turn-holder who, after taking a turn, yields the floor to the partner through the switching pause. Turn taking is the lynchpin of dialogue, and the bi-directional contingent coordination of the switching-pause regulates the turn exchange. Both partners showed signs of risk and resilience. The 9/11 mothers did not coordinate the timing of turn taking with their infants, a highly unusual finding. In contrast, the 9/11 infants did coordinate the timing of turn taking with their mothers, and with the “stranger,” forms of resilience. We propose that the 9/11 mother’s difficulty coordinating with the infant’s turn taking rhythm is a mode of transmission of her trauma to the infant. This work expands our knowledge of the specificities of co-regulation in the context of the 9/11 trauma.     

Maternal distress during pregnancy and language development in preschool age: A population-based cohort study

Recent studies have emphasized the importance of the prenatal period for children's cognitive development. Prenatal exposure to psychological distress has been identified as one potential agent affecting neurodevelopment, although research in this area has been marked by some contradictory findings and methodological limitations. This study aimed to investigate the effect of maternal distress during pregnancy on language development of preschool children. This study was based on the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study conducted at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. The sample was composed of 34,089 women and their children. We assessed the role of maternal prenatal distress on child language over and above that of premature low birth weight (PLBW) status and postnatal maternal distress. Fear of giving birth had a negative impact on language outcome at age three over and above the effect of PLBW status and postnatal maternal distress. However, this effect was of minimal magnitude. Moreover, when examining whether differences in language skills between siblings were associated with differences in experienced levels of prenatal stress across pregnancies (sibling fixed-effects models), no significant effects were found. Our study suggests that prenatal distress within moderate limits does not seem to have an independent impact on child language performance in the preschool years and emphasizes the importance of considering the contextual role played by more stable maternal and family characteristics.     

The relation between early mother–infant skin‐to‐skin contact and later maternal sensitivity in South African mothers of low birth weight infants

The relation between early mother–infant skin‐to‐skin contact (SSC) and mothers' subsequent sensitivity to their low birth weight infants was investigated in a study of 12 mother–infant dyads who participated in a South African randomized control study of early SSC. The dyads were visited in the home when infants were under 1 year. Amounts of SSC were taken from hospital records and home interviews. Videotapes of mother–infant interactions in the home were scored for maternal sensitivity on the Maternal Behavior Q‐Sort (D.R. Pederson, G. Moran, & S. Bento, 1999) and the Maternal Behavior subscale of the Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale (G. Sumner & A. Spietz, 1994). Amount of SSC in infants' first 24 hr correlated with amount of SSC through the first month. Amount of SSC in infants' first 24 hr independently accounted for maternal sensitivity on both measures, indicating that early mother–infant SSC predicted subsequent maternal sensitivity.     

Stress and coping among student teachers at a South African university: An exploratory study

This article reports findings from an exploratory qualitative study on the lived experience of stress among a convenience sample of 14 South African university student teachers (female = 8, black = 7; age range = 22 to 31). The students were participating in training in mindfulness meditation, and completed three interviews over a six-week period on stressors impacting on their personal and professional lives and on how they experienced them and responded. There were additional data from recordings of the mindfulness training sessions and a self-report scale, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS). Thematic analysis revealed a wide range of stressors experienced by the students and provided insight into sources of resilience in dealing with them. In conclusion, the authors consider whether the extreme experiences of stress foreshadow the discontent among South African students that would fuel the serious unrest and disruption that has been negatively affecting South African universities since.     

Perceived discrimination and substance use in African American parents and their children: a panel study

The relation between perceived racial discrimination and substance use was examined in a panel of 684 African American families, using the prototype-willingness model of adolescent health risk (F. X. Gibbons, M. Gerrard, & D. Lane, 2003). Discrimination was concurrently and prospectively related to use in the parents and the children (mean age=10.5 years at Wave 1). The discrimination-->use relation in the parents was mediated by distress (anxiety and depression). Among the children, the relation was mediated by distress as well as their risk cognitions (favorability of their risk images and their willingness to use) and the extent to which they reported affiliating with friends who were using substances. Each of these relations with discrimination was positive. In contrast, effective parenting was associated with less willingness and intention to use. Theoretical and applied implications of the results are discussed.     

Dimensions of depression and perfectionism in pregnant and nonpregnant women: their levels and interrelationships and their relationship to marital satisfaction

The authors studied S. J. Blatt's (1974) 2 dimensions of depression (anaclitic and introjective), P. L. Hewitt and G. L. Flett's (1991b) 3 dimensions of perfectionism (socially prescribed, self-oriented, and other-oriented), and the relationship between these and marital satisfaction in 100 married women in the last trimester of their first pregnancy and in 50 married women who had not yet experienced pregnancy. The measures used were the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (S. J. Blatt, J. P. D'Afflitti, & D. M. Quinlan. 1976a, 1976b), the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (P. L. Hewitt & G. L. Flett, 1989), and G. B. Spanier's (1976) Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Pregnant and nonpregnant women did not differ in anaclitic depression, but the level of introjective depression of pregnant women was lower than that of nonpregnant women. The two groups did not differ in level of marital satisfaction or in any of the dimensions of perfectionism. For both groups, introjective depression was positively correlated with socially prescribed perfectionism and negatively correlated with marital satisfaction. Self-oriented perfectionism was positively related to introjective depression and negatively related to marital satisfaction for nonpregnant women. For the pregnant women, there was a negative relationship between socially prescribed perfectionism and marital satisfaction. Anaclitic depression and other-oriented perfectionism were unrelated to any of the other variables studied.     

Neonatal physiological regulation is associated with perinatal factors: A study of neonates born to healthy African American women living in poverty

Maternal mental health and prenatal stress are linked with neurobehavioral differences in the offspring. The majority of studies documenting this effect have been conducted using either predominantly European American infants or minority infants exposed to teratogens in utero. In this study, we focus on healthy African American women from low‐income environments to investigate the earliest individual differences in biobehavioral regulation, including resting heart rate and variability (HRV). In 87 neonates, HRV was significantly lower in those born to mothers reporting past major depressive disorder (p = .01). The number of maternal life stressors also was associated with lower neonatal HRV (p = .03). Obstetrical complications were not associated with significant differences, but breast‐ versus bottle‐feeding in the first few days of life was related to higher HRV (p = .04). Early variation in physiological regulation may be linked to subsequent individual differences in response to stress. Thus, identifying the earliest point in development when such differences can be reliably measured may result in opportunities for prevention of later deficits in regulating response to stress.     

Ethical leadership,person-organizational fit,and productive energy: a South African sectoral comparative study

ABSTRACT

Research suggests that ethical leadership (EL) affects employee behavior and organizational functioning. This study aimed to determine the relationship between EL and productive energy (PE), as mediated by person-organizational fit (POF). The study used assumptions of the social learning and social exchange theories that posit that leadership has a direct impact on employee behavior, mainly through role modeling and the reciprocal nature thereof. An empirical paradigm using a cross sectional quantitative design was used. The PE instrument (developed in the USA) was assessed for construct validity within the South African context (exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis). The analysis included a comparison between the private and public sectors, emphasizing the importance of context as differentiator. Relatively high, statistically significant correlations were found between the variables for both sectors and the combined sample. The hierarchical regression analysis indicated that 18% of the variance in PE is explained by EL. This model was improved by the inclusion of POF (total variance of 32% explained). The conceptual model was confirmed with structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings of this study suggest that EL has a significantly positive effect on PE and POF, which mediates the relationship between EL and PE. Sectoral differences were reported.