Life satisfaction set point: stability and change

Using data from 17 years of a large and nationally representative panel study from Germany, the authors examined whether there is a set point for life satisfaction (LS)--stability across time, even though it can be perturbed for short periods by life events. The authors found that 24% of respondents changed significantly in LS from the first 5 years to the last 5 years and that stability declined as the period between measurements increased. Average LS in the first 5 years correlated .51 with the 5-year average of LS during the last 5 years. Height, weight, body mass index, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and personality traits were all more stable than LS, whereas income was about as stable as LS. Almost 9% of the sample changed an average of 3 or more points on a 10-point scale from the first 5 to last 5 years of the study.     

Use of subjective estimation in motor skill tests of young children: judgment based on observation of behavior in daily life

This study assessed what motor skill tests were appropriate by observing 636 young children's behavior in daily life (low-aged classes, M = 3.7 yr.; middle-aged classes, M = 4.7 yr.; high-aged classes, M = 5.7 yr.). A homeroom teacher and an assistant teacher estimated motor achievement as pass-or-fail, and then judged pass-or-fail based on practical testing. Estimate-re-estimate agreement, interrater agreement, and agreement between estimated values and measured values were examined for 27 items, e.g., skipping, bouncing a ball, and turning on one leg. Estimate-re-estimate agreement was high on the whole. Interrater agreement ranged from 34% to 100% for 3-yr.-olds, 21% to 100% for 4-yr.-olds, and 89% to 100% for 5-yr.-olds. Agreement between estimated values and measured values greater than 80% was found in most items for 5-yr.olds (14 items). After examining the above-mentioned agreements, 26 items were selected as possible tests to judge motor development, using a pass-or-fail, from the observation of young children's behavior in daily life.     

A two-stage logistic regression model for analyzing inter-rater agreement

Studies of agreement commonly occur in psychiatric research. For example, researchers are often interested in the agreement among radiologists in their review of brain scans of elderly patients with dementia or in the agreement among multiple informant reports of psychopathology in children. In this paper, we consider the agreement between two raters when rating a dichotomous outcome (e.g., presence or absence of psychopathology). In particular, we consider logistic regression models that allow agreement to depend on both rater- and subject-level covariates. Logistic regression has been proposed as a simple method for identifying covariates that are predictive of agreement (Coughlin et al., 1992). However, this approach is problematic since it does not take account of agreement due to chance alone. As a result, a spurious association between the probability (or odds) of agreement and a covariate could arise due entirely to chance agreement. That is, if the prevalence of the dichotomous outcome varies among subgroups of the population, then covariates that identify the subgroups may appear to be predictive of agreement. In this paper we propose a modification to the standard logistic regression model in order to take proper account of chance agreement. An attractive feature of the proposed method is that it can be easily implemented using existing statistical software for logistic regression. The proposed method is motivated by data from the Connecticut Child Study (Zahner et al., 1992) on the agreement among parent and teacher reports of psychopathology in children. In this study, parents and teachers provide dichotomous assessments of a child's psychopathology and it is of interest to examine whether agreement among the parent and teacher reports is related to the age and gender of the child and to the time elapsed between parent and teacher assessments of the child.The authors thank the Associate Editor and the referees for their helpful comments and suggestions. We also thank Gwen Zahner for use of data from the Connecticut Child Study, which was conducted under contract to the Connecticut Department of Children and Youth Services. This research was supported by grants HL 69800, AHRQ 10871, HL52329, HL61769, GM 29745, MH 54693 and MH 17119 from the National Institutes of Health.     

Evaluation of the effectiveness of minimum intervention measures on young offenders

The goal of this study was to analyze the recidivism rate in minor offenders to whom a minimum intervention measure was applied after their first felony or misdemeanor, and to determine the variables associated with recidivism. The sample was made up of 154 minors from the province of Santa Cruz of Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). The information was collected from the database of the Minors' Court. The recidivism rate depends on the measure imposed, ranging between 14 and 40.6%. The degree of agreement between the Technical Team's proposal and the court decision was 70%. With regard to the variables associated with recidivism, a model was obtained through logistic regression that correctly classified 83.7% of the cases, and was made up of the variables perception of parenting problems, intervention of social services, and social isolation.     

The effects of feedback consistency and feedback favorability on self-perceived task competence and perceived feedback accuracy

The present study, employing a 2 × 2 true-experimental design and regression analyses assessed the main and interactive effects of feedback consistency (consistent vs inconsistent), and feedback favorability (acceptable vs superior), for feedback given at two time periods on measures of perceived feedback accuracy and self-perceived task competence. Among the study's findings were that (a) the perceived accuracy of feedback at the second period was a function of the favorability of feedback received at the first time period, (b) the self-perceived task competence levels of subjects were jointly determined by the favorability of feedback received at both time periods, and (c) the perceived accuracy of feedback was a function of its consistency. Organizational implications of the study's results are offered.     

Do People Who Believe in God Report More Meaning in Their Lives? The Existential Effects of Belief

I conduct the first large‐N study explicitly exploring the association between belief in God and sense of purpose in life. This relationship, while often discussed informally, has received little empirical attention. Here, I use the General Social Survey to investigate how form of and confidence in belief in God is related to sense of purpose in life, as measured by a Likert item level of agreement with the statement “In my opinion, life does not serve any purpose.” Using logistic regression analysis, I find that those who indicate that they are confident in God's existence report a higher sense of purpose compared to nonbelievers, believers in a higher power, and those who believe but occasionally doubt.     

Temporal relationships of self-efficacy and social support as predictors of adherence in a 6-month strength-training program for older women.

The present study investigated how self-efficacy and social support predicted adherence to a strength training program for elderly women over two time periods in the initial 6 mo. of the program. Participants were 30 elderly women volunteers aged 75 to 80 who completed measures of barrier self-efficacy and general social support at baseline and 3 mo. later. Social support from the program was also measured at 3 mo. Adherence to the program was measured by attendance. Hierarchical regression equations were utilized to identify the contributions of self-efficacy and social support for adherence at 0 to 3 mo. and 4 to 6 mo. For prediction of the first 3 mo. of adherence, both self-efficacy and social support contributed significant unique variance towards the total explained variance of 36%. For the 4- to 6-mo. period, self-efficacy explained significant (12%) variance in adherence even when controlling for the previous 3-mo. adherence. Inclusion of general social support and social support from the program, however, did not account for significant variance. Researchers must continue to examine self-efficacy and social support in exercise adherence within various time periods among older adults to develop effective intervention strategies.     

The relationship between quantity,type, and timing of external childcare and child problem behaviour in Switzerland

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between external childcare and child problem behaviour at age 7 in a culturally diverse urban sample from Switzerland. We used data from the Zurich Project on the Social Development of Children and Youths (z-proso). Findings suggested that the quantity of group-based childcare (but not individual childcare) was related to aggression, ADHD, non-aggressive externalizing behaviour, and anxiety and depression at age 7. Analyses on timing of childcare suggested that the accumulation of childcare over the life course, and not so much childcare in the first years of life, was associated with child problem behaviour. In addition, childcare at age 5 to 7 had a unique relationship with problem behaviour over and above quantity of group-based childcare received in other age periods.     

Stressful Life Events: A Revision and Update of the Social Readjustment Rating Scale

The widely used and cited Social Readjustment Rating Scale developed by Holmes and Rahe (1967) was comprehensively revised and updated. The new instrument, containing 51 major life events, was administered to a national sample of 5000. Respondents were asked to rate the stressfulness of each life event on a 1–100 scale. Completed surveys were returned by 3122 individuals (62.4%). Responses were analyzed using repeated measures MANOVA and profile analysis. Major results included: (a) statistically and practically significant differences in mean ratings for the 51 life events; (b) five overlapping themes in the top 20 rated life events—death and dying, healthcare, crime and the criminal justice system, financial/economic issues, and family-related issues; and (c) an amazing level of agreement concerning perceived life event stressfulness, regardless of gender, age, or income level.     

Exploring cortical activation and connectivity in infants with and without familial risk for autism during naturalistic social interactions: A preliminary study

Behavioral signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are typically observable by the second year of life and a reliable diagnosis of ASD is possible by 2 to 3 years of age. Studying infants with familial risk for ASD allows for the investigation of early signs of ASD risk within the first year. Brain abnormalities such as hyper-connectivity within the first year may precede the overt signs of ASD that emerge later in life. In this preliminary study, we use functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), an infant-friendly neuroimaging tool that is relatively robust against motion artifacts, to examine functional activation and connectivity during naturalistic social interactions in 9 high-risk (HR; older sibling with ASD) and 6 low-risk (LR; no family history of ASD) infants from 6 to 9 months of age. We obtained two 30-second baseline periods and a 5-minute social interaction period. HR infants showed reduced right and left-hemispheric activation compared to LR infants based on oxy (HbO₂) and deoxy (HHb) signal trends. HR infants also had greater functional connectivity than LR infants during the pre- and post-social periods and showed a drop in connectivity during the social period. Our findings are consistent with previous work suggesting early differences in cortical activation associated with familial risk for ASD, and highlight the promise of fNIRS in evaluating potential markers of ASD risk during naturalistic social contexts.     

Lifeline in der Narrativen Expositionstherapie

The biographical memory of patients with trauma spectrum disorders is often shattered. Survivors cannot voluntarily access memories. Sometimes in survivors of severe and complex trauma whole life periods seem lost, avoidance sets in, the autobiography is sketchy, seems strange and ego-alien. The lifeline tool in Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) is an effective first step towards discussing the traumatic material. The lifeline in NET displays the emotional highlights of the person’s life in a symbolic way. Looking at one’s autobiography from an allocentric perspective can serve as a controlled contact to the fragmented memories. This is then followed by a well-directed imaginal exposure from which a chronological narrative emerges. Laying out the lifeline at the end of the NET treatment enables the person to perceive the gestalt of the course of life.     

Examining the life story account of the reminiscence bump: Why we remember more from young adulthood

The reminiscence bump is a robust finding demonstrated mostly with the cue-word method in Western cultures. The first aim of the study was to replicate the reminiscence bump using a life history timeline method and to extend reminiscence bump research to a Turkish sample. The second aim was to empirically examine the recently proposed life story account (Glück & Bluck, 2007) for the reminiscence bump. The sample consisted of 40 women and 32 men aged 52 to 66 years. Participants’ lives were divided into 5-year intervals and they verbally reported as many memories as possible in a standard timeframe from each interval (in random order) and provided ratings of several memory characteristics. As expected, the lifespan distribution of the resulting 6373 memories demonstrated a reminiscence bump. In support of the life story account, bump memories were found to be more novel, more important for identity development, more distinct, and more likely to involve developmental transitions than memories from other age periods. Findings are discussed in terms of the life story account, which synthesises lifespan developmental theory and life story theory.     

Household hunger,standard of living and satisfaction with life in Alice,South Africa

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationships between household hunger, standard of living and satisfaction with life in a rural South African setting. Respondents were 442 randomly selected community dwellers from Alice, in the Eastern Cape (Xhosa speaking = 89.32%, females = 67%; age range 40–49 years). Multiple regression analysis was utilised to predict satisfaction with life from household hunger and standard of living. Low levels of household hunger, and low to moderate living standards predicted satisfaction with life. Resource support interventions with vulnerable communities should focus on poverty alleviation measures aimed at improving subjective satisfaction levels.     

UNDERSTANDING SELF-OTHER AGREEMENT: A LOOK AT RATER AND RATEE CHARACTERISTICS, CONTEXT, AND OUTCOMES

This study investigated (a) the relative importance of a number of biographic (e.g., age, race, gender) and contextual (e.g., span of control, functional area) variables and their interactions on self-other agreement and (b) the relationship between self-other agreement and outcome variables such as performance and compensation. Usable data were collected from 3,217 managers and their multi-source raters in 527 organizations. Multivariate regression procedures (as opposed to categorization procedures) were used to determine the sources of rating disagreement. Results indicated that a significant portion of variance in self-other ratings was accounted for by the set of background/context variables. Self-other agreement was also related to performance, compensation, and organizational level, though rating patterns differed.     

汉语图片命名中获得年龄的作用

不同语种的研究都发现获得年龄是影响图片命名和词汇命名的重要因素。该研究对汉语图片命名中获得年龄的作用进行了初步探讨。研究分为两部分,第一部分让20名大学生对187幅选自Snodgrass和Vanderwart图片集的线条画的名称的获得年龄进行了评定;第二部分以该187幅图片为刺激,30名大学生被试对图片进行命名反应。以命名反应时为因变量,采用多重回归分析,发现除了名称一致性和概念熟悉性,获得年龄是图片命名反应时的主要预测指标,并没有发现词频的效应。文章对此结果进行了讨论。     

Self-other rating agreement and leader-member exchange (LMX): a quasi-replication

Data from a sample of 83 elected community leaders and 391 direct-report staff (resulting in 333 useable leader-member dyads) were reanalyzed to test relations between self-other rating agreement of servant leadership and member-reported leader-member exchange (LMX). Polynomial regression analysis indicated that the self-other rating agreement model was not statistically significant. Instead, all of the variance in member-reported LMX was accounted for by the others' ratings component alone.