Characteristics and consequences of help-giving practices in contrasting human services programs

Relationships between human services program models and help-giving practices, and between both program models and help-giving practices and help-seeker control appraisals were examined in a study of 107 low socioeconomic background families. Three kinds of human services agencies were included in the study, each of which differed in terms of their implicit and explicit assumptions about the families they served and the roles professionals and families played as part of helping relationships. Results support the hypotheses that (a) a program philosophy that was family centered would be associated with more empowering help-giving practices compared to more professionally centered philosophies and (b) a family-centered program philosophy and empowering help-giving practices would be related to an enhanced sense of personal control over needed supports and resources from a target help-giver.     

Mindfulness-based programs,perceived stress and well-being at work: The preferential use of informal practices

IntroductionOrganizations which engage in the promotion of well-being are likely to prevent mental health issues in workers. Mindfulness-based interventions offer new perspectives to increase well-being at work. However, the issue of finding time and framework to practice at work is important. Recent studies suggested that informal mindfulness practices could be useful in reducing stress and increasing well-being.ObjectiveThe present study aimed to study how the duration and type of mindfulness practice may enhance employees’ well-being.MethodA multi-method (qualitative and quantitative), controlled pre/post design study (N = 72) was conducted to collect data about the type of preferred mindfulness practices used during an 8-week MBSR program, and to analyse the effects of the program on employees’ well-being. Number of sessions, number of days of practice, and practice time per day were used as moderators.ResultsParticipants reported a preferential use of brief, informal practices. Employees who followed the MBSR program reported higher levels of well-being compared to the wait-list control group (η² = .194). Those who preferentially used informal practices showed the same increase in well-being as those who reported preferentially using formal practices. The number of days of practice did not moderate the effect of the intervention on well-being.ConclusionBrief and informal mindfulness practices appear to be a promising means of increasing well-being in everyday life. Further research is needed to compare an 8-week mainly informal mindfulness-based program to a classical MBSR program to identify whether informal practices may be sufficient to increasing employees’ well-being.     

Transfer of training after guidance or practice

On a pursuit tracking apparatus presenting target courses of three levels of complexity, provision was made for either normal practice or forced-response guidance; the guidance training was gained by holding the control knob during automatic tracking. After five training trials on the most complex course, or on the simplest course, subjects were transferred to the intermediate course. The effects of guidance on the intermediate course were also examined.

Normal practice on the simple course produced more transfer than normal practice on the most complex. Further, guidance on the complex course gave significantly better transfer than did practice on that course. The superiority of guidance is tentatively ascribed to the opportunity it provides for the development of anticipation.     

The parameter preferences of acquired motor programs for rapid,discrete movements: I. Transfer of training

Sixty subjects made discrete movements to visual targets without concurrent visual feedback. After 160 acquisition trials with a single target/movement, subjects were divided into five groups for transfer. The major independent variable was the relationship between the acquisition and transfer movements. For three groups, extent, duration, or velocity was the same in acquisition and in transfer, with the other two parameters changing. For the remaining two groups, either all parameters were changed or no parameters were changed (i.e., subjects performed the same movement). It was found that, as long as one parameter remained the same, subjects performed as well as if nothing were changed. Only when all parameters were changed did performance deteriorate. The results are in direct contrast to those of Newell and Zelaznik (1980) and provide no support for their conclusion that velocity is a more important parameter than movement duration or extent.     

Young Soccer Players' Reports of a Tournament Win or Loss: Different Emotions,Different Narratives

This research examined the effects of differences in the emotions associated with an event on participants' reports of the experience. Forty-eight 10-year-old participants in a soccer tournament reported their final competition shortly after the game and 5 weeks later. Although all children reported the same event, members of winning vs. losing teams had very different emotional experiences that were associated with differences in their event reports. Members of winning teams reported a greater proportion of central information and provided more cohesive narratives than did members of losing teams, whose narratives included relatively more interpretation of the event. Few differences in elicited recall were observed. Although the delay did not affect the between-group differences in the narratives, the players on the winning and losing teams increasingly diverged over time in their ratings of the quality of play. The implications of participants' interpretations of experiences on long-term remembering are discussed.     

Productivity of doctoral programs in Psychology with Quality Mention in journal articles included in Journal Citation Reports

The main objective of the present study was to classify doctoral programs with Quality Mention in Psychology based on their scientific productivity. For this purpose, articles in the Web of Science published by professors teaching in these doctoral programs were analyzed. In addition, we analyzed scientific journals in which these professors tend to publish more papers and the evolution in the number of papers published until 2009. Results showed that the most productive doctoral program was the Neurosciences program at the University of Oviedo. This program showed a ratio of 40 articles--published in journals included in Journal Citation Reports--by each professor. In contrast, other programs did not reach a ratio of 10 articles per professor. Regarding journals, results showed that 9 out of the 20 most popular journals are Hispanic and a gradual increase in the number of published papers was also observed. Lastly, results and implications for quality assessment are discussed.     

Accepting or Rejecting Medical Treatment: A Comparison of Decisions Made for Self Versus Those Made for a Significant Other1

College students (N= 52) made sets of hypothetical decisions concerning whether to accept or withhold medical treatment for oneself as well as for a significant other. Two sets of decisions were made for the significant other: a set representing what the significant other would want for himself or herself, and a set representing what the potential surrogate would want for the significant other. Results revealed consistent sets of decisions within each decision frame, considerable individual differences in mean judgments, an emphasis on the levels of mental and physical functioning, self‐reported decision weights that differed across the decision frames, and considerable self‐insight into the decision policy used when deciding for oneself.     

世俗化抑或伊斯兰化:当代马来西亚政府进行合法性证明的困境

马来西亚伊斯兰教及其势力的复兴使马来西亚政府在合利益性、合道德性、合法律性、民主化、绩效、意识形态、个人魅力、注重环境等方面面临合法性证明方式选择的困境,概而言之,即是世俗化与伊斯兰化之间的矛盾。     

Reports of bodily change in anxiety,sadness, and anger

In a series of studies, retrospective reports were used to assess differences in physiological symptoms associated with three emotions: Anxious, Angry, Sad. Symptom awareness, as measured by scores on the Autonomic Perception Questionnaire and the Somatic Perception Questionnaire, was significantly greater for Anxious than for the other emotions; reports for Angry and Sad were quantitatively similar. Qualitative analysis showed a different pattern. Sad was characterized as involving a low arousal state, while Anxious and Angry shared several distinguishing symptoms, most notably cardiac symptoms and general restlessness. Predicted gender differences were also observed. Males and females did not differ in overall reported level of awareness, but did differ in their reports of the specific symptoms constituting that awareness.     

Policies and practices of transport companies that promote or hinder the management of driver fatigue

This report describes long-distance transport companies' managerial practices and how these might contribute to on-road driver fatigue. Some companies engaged in practices that were inconsistent with the management of fatigue. Very few had formulated fatigue management policies, but many reported having policies that could aid in managing driver fatigue. However, the potential benefit of such policies was often compromised by their operational practices. This included setting limits on driving time, but failing to communicate them to drivers or take action when drivers exceeded them. Companies were prepared to hire drivers with little industry experience, but did not provide them with education about fatigue. Companies monitored driver fitness for duty and fatigue, but used methods that relied on others' observations or investigations after a problem had arisen. There was also acknowledgement that punitive action could be taken against drivers who were unfit for duty, or unable to meet the companies' delivery deadlines. Almost all companies had drug and alcohol policies and believed their drivers did not use drugs, though they believed drug use was common in other companies.     

The Association between Parental Reports of Attachment Style and Family Dynamics, and Offspring''s Reports of Adult Attachment Style

This research assessed the association between parents' reports of attachment styles and their perceptions of family environment, on the one hand, and offspring's reports of adult attachment styles, on the other. The sample included 98 Israeli young adults who completed the adult attachment style scale, and their mothers and fathers who completed this scale, as well as FACES III, and the conflict and expressiveness subscales of the Family Environment Scale. Findings revealed associations between parents' and offspring's reports of attachment styles, which were qualified by gender matching. They also indicated independent and differential contributions of the examined dimensions of perceived family environment to offspring's attachment styles. The discussion attempts to integrate attachment theory with a family system perspective.     

Daily Reports of Stress,Mood, and Physical Health in Middle Childhood

Most empirical work examining stress in children focuses on major life events, like divorce of parents, while fewer studies consider the role of daily stressors, or the routine challenges of day-to-day living. Existing work on children’s daily stress is lacking such that it primarily: (1) focuses on children who are ill, disabled, or who face significant environmental risks, (2) relies on retrospective reports, (3) relies on parent or teacher reports of stressors experienced by children, or (4) does not comprehensively examine the role of stress on mood and health. In the current study, we explored daily experiences of stress, mood, and physical health symptoms across five consecutive days in 25 children between 8 and 10 years old. Results showed that children reported a variety of types of stressors, and that more stressors were reported by older children, girls, and on weekdays compared to weekends. Daily reports of stress were linked to same day reports of physical health symptoms but not mood, however the presence of both negative mood and daily stress was associated with even more same day health symptoms. This study extends prior work by examining children’s stress at the daily level as well as relying on children’s self-reports of their stress, mood, and physical health symptoms.