Examining Hardiness,Coping and Stress-Related Growth Following Sport Injury

This study aimed to explain how injured athletes high in hardiness experienced stress-related growth and why athletes low in hardiness are less likely to derive such benefits. Twenty participants were theoretically sampled into high (n = 10) and low (n = 10) hardiness groups. Semistructured interviews were used for data collection. Findings revealed that athletes high in hardiness experienced stress-related growth from having an emotional outlet, which enabled them to reframe their injury and experience positive affect. In contrast, athletes low in hardiness had no emotional outlet, which led to suboptimal outcomes. These findings have important implications for practitioners working with injured athletes.     

Stress-Related Growth in Japanese Adolescents Experiencing High School Entrance Examinations

High school entrance examinations and preparation for them have become a highly stressful experience for many Japanese adolescents. This study examined the relationship between stress-related growth (SRG) and distress resulting from these exams from the perspective of positive meaning-making. Ninth graders (N = 183, 87 females, aged 14–15 years) of a public school in Tokyo participated in the study by responding to a questionnaire survey. Results indicated that meaning-making was positively correlated with SRG (r = .58, p < .001), whereas it was negatively correlated with distress (r = ?.20, p = .006). Moreover, SRG was negatively correlated with distress (r = ?.34, p < .001). Mediation analysis demonstrated that SRG positively mediates the relationship between meaning-making and distress, while distress negatively mediates the relationship between meaning-making and SRG. These results have implications for understanding the causal relationships between SRG and distress, from the perspective of positive meaning-making regarding high school entrance examinations in Japan.     

Stress-Related Growth Experience: Listening to Korean Adolescents who have Visual Impairments

Research suggests that negative life events facilitate stress-related growth, such as the development of coping strategies and restoration skills. In this study, we aimed to capture the characteristics of stress-related growth among Korean adolescents who have visual impairments. Using a constructive grounded theory methodology, three themes were identified as characteristics of stress-related growth experiences: (a) developing meaningful relationships, (b) creating coping strategies, and (c) discovering personal strength. This study indicates that Korean adolescents who had visual impairments developed their own coping strategies to deal with various stressors and increased their awareness of their inner strengths and talents. It also suggests that challenging life circumstances may provide opportunities for Korean adolescents who have visual impairments to experience emotional wellbeing.     

Coming Out Growth: Conceptualizing and Measuring Stress-Related Growth Associated with Coming Out to Others as a Sexual Minority

Coming out has long been depicted as a process that is conducive to personal growth. However, LGBTQ psychology has yet to conduct systematic, theoretically informed research to study how individuals experience coming out growth (COG) and the impact of such experiences on the lives of sexual minorities. The present investigation seeks to address these gaps in the literature through an examination of stress-related growth within the context of coming out as a sexual minority. Findings from a preliminary investigation of COG in a sample of 418 gay and lesbian adults are presented, including the development and initial validation of the coming out growth scale (COGS), and data addressing the relationship between COG and relevant constructs found in the literature on identity development and stress-related growth.     

Caregiving Attitudes,Personal Loss,and Stress-Related Growth Among Siblings of Adults with Mental Illness

As parents age, well siblings are often asked to assume caregiving responsibilities for their brother or sister with mental illness. However, relatively little is known about how well siblings prioritize sibling caregiving responsibilities with other life demands. We examined well siblings’ attitudes toward self-care and caregiving for their sibling with mental illness (self- and sibling-care) using two cross-sectional samples. The first sample of well siblings (N?=?242) was used to examine the psychometric properties of the self- and sibling-care measure (SSCM), designed to assess the degree to which siblings prioritize their own needs and the needs of their sibling with mental illness. A second sample (N?=?103) was used to determine the relative contribution of self- and sibling-care attitudes in accounting for variation in well siblings’ reports of personal loss and stress-related personal growth. Results support the psychometric validity of the SSCM and suggest that self- and sibling-care attitudes account for greater variance in scores on perceived personal loss and stress-related growth than demographic or caregiving factors. Our findings support the need to address family care responsibilities and resource limitations through recovery-oriented mental health policies, services, and programs.     

Motivational Systems and Stress-Related Cardiovascular Reactivity

This study examined the relation of motivational systems to patterns of autonomic responses to stress. Specifically, we examined patterns of physiological response resulting from differential activation of motivational systems for behavioral approach and behavioral inhibition. We also examined the relation of these motivational systems to threat and challenge responses to potential stress. Self-report, cardiac measures (i.e., pre-injection period, or PEP, and heart rate, or HR), and blood pressure (i.e., systolic blood pressure, or SBP, and diastolic blood pressure, or DBP) measures reliably distinguished between an experimental condition facilitating behavioral approach and an experimental condition facilitating coactivation of behavioral approach and behavioral inhibition systems. Vascular (e.g., total peripheral resistance, or TPR) and electrodermal (e.g., electrodermal response, or EDR) measures, however, did not vary by condition. We discuss the results in relation to other research on motivational factors as they relate to stress and cardiovascular reactivity.     

Understanding the Association Between Spirituality,Religiosity, and Feelings of Happiness and Sadness Among HIV-Positive Indian Adults: Examining Stress-Related Growth as a Mediator

This study examined the role of stress-related growth as a mediator of the associations between spirituality, religiosity, and feelings of happiness and sadness in a sample of 178 HIV-positive Indian adults. Results indicated that spirituality, but not religiosity, was associated with feelings of happiness and sadness. Subsequent mediation analyses indicated that stress-related growth fully mediated the relationships involving spirituality and feelings of happiness and sadness. Overall, our findings point to the importance of facilitating greater spiritual development among HIV-positive Indians, as well as promoting strategies that help them develop and apply stress-related growth coping methods in their lives.     

An Assessment of the Utility of Suicide Prediction*

ABSTRACT: Efforts to predict a future event assume varying levels of confidence depending on its base rate and the error rate of the prediction instrument. Most researchers working with suicide prediction instruments seem tacitly to assume they will be able to predict a future suicide most of the time. Applying basic decision theory on a neuropsychiatric hospital population indicates that researchers using a prediction schedule will be unlikely to predict a future suicide beyond a 20% level of efficiency. Contrary to the general clinical view, eliminating false negatives was shown to be more practical than eliminating false positives in increasing the efficiency of a predictive schedule.     

儿童入学准备状态的评估及其对学校适应的预测

为了给小学教师提供因材施教的依据,编制了儿童入学准备状态家长评定问卷。该问卷包含49个题目,分为发展风险、气质类型和自我调节三个分测验。其中发展风险分测验包括外化问题风险、内化问题风险和学习困难风险三个维度;气质类型分测验包括回避型和趋向型两个维度;自我调节分测验包括注意集中以及抑制性控制两个维度。对问卷心理测量学指标的分析表明,问卷具有较好的内部一致性信度和结构效度。追踪研究的结果表明,该问卷能够有效预测儿童入学后一个月的适应状况。     

Parent and Teacher Ratings in the Assessment and Prediction of Antisocial and Delinquent Behaviors

ABSTRACT Subjects consisted of a sample of two cohorts of approximately 100 boys each whose behaviors were rated by their parents and teachers. Criterion variables included antisocial behavior, based on parent, child, teacher, and interviewer reports, and delinquency, based on parent and child reports in addition to cumulative arrest data taken from juvenile court records. The data suggest that mothers are focused on the daily, irritating behaviors of their sons. Teachers, on the other hand, appear to focus on a relatively small number of items (e.g., child physically attacks others, associates with deviant peers), and thereby provide ratings that are better predictors of delinquency and arrest. When the mothers' ratings were constrained to include only items that were salient for teachers, their predictive validity coefficients approached the magnitude of the teacher coefficients.     

Efficacy of Telehealth Treatments for Posttraumatic Stress-Related Symptoms: A Meta-Analysis

This meta-analysis summarizes the findings of outcome research on the degree to which telehealth treatments reduce posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-related symptoms. In a search of the literature, 13 studies were identified for inclusion in the meta-analysis and were coded for relevant variables. A total of 725 participants were included. Results indicate that telehealth treatments are associated with significant pre- to postreduction in PTSD symptoms (d = 0.99, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.87–1.11, p < .001), and result in superior treatment effects relative to a wait-list comparison condition (d = 1.01, 95% CI: 0.76–1.26, p < .001). However, no significant findings were obtained for telehealth intervention relative to a supportive counseling telehealth comparison condition (d = 0.11, 95% CI: ? 0.38 to 0.60, p = .67), and telehealth intervention produced an inferior outcome relative to a face-to-face intervention (d = ? 0.68, 95% CI: ? 0.39 to ? 0.98, p < .001). Findings for depression symptom severity outcome were generally consistent with those for PTSD outcome. Telehealth interventions produced a significant within-group effect size (d = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.86 to 1.10, p < .001) and superior effect relative to wait-list comparison condition (d = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.56–1.05, p < .001). Relative to face-to-face interventions, telehealth treatments produced comparable depression outcome effects (d = 0.13, 95% CI: ? 0.55 to 0.28, p = .53). Taken together, these findings support the use of telehealth treatments for individuals with PTSD-related symptoms.     

Parent Motivation to Participate in Treatment: Assessment and Prediction of Subsequent Participation

Treatment motivation is required for virtually all psychosocial treatments because clients must participate actively in the treatment process. In child and family treatments, it is the parent who must be motivated to manage treatment participation; however, no measures are currently available for evaluating parent motivation for treatment. The authors developed and evaluated a brief rating scale, the Parent Motivation Inventory (PMI), to measure parent motivation to participate in treatment. Results supported a uni-dimensional measure with strong internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Increases in parent motivation predicted the perception of fewer barriers to treatment participation, which was significantly associated with greater treatment attendance. The PMI provides a reliable and valid method of assessing parents’ motivation to participate in treatment and has implications for the prediction and potential modification of barriers to treatment and treatment participation.     

Prediction of differences in Rorschach protocols from the Personality Assessment System

The Personality Assessment System (PAS) is derived from certain subtest scores on any Wechsler test by rather simple calculations. It purports to measure, among other personality attributes, developmental changes in the Internalized-Externalized (I-E) dimension of personality, which is akin to the Introversion-Extroversion construct reflected by some Rorschach measures. PAS scores from a tightly defined sample of normal adults were contrasted with Experience Balance (EB) and Body-image (B) scores derived from Rorschach protocols by "blind" scorers. Significant relations were found between EB ratios produced via the Exner and Klopfer scoring systems and the primitive (early childhood) I-E scores from the PAS. The B scores produced by the Body Image scoring system were related to the basic (adolescent) I-E PAS scores. Although significant, the PAS-Rorschach correlations were relatively poor, in part because it was difficult to define the center of the internalization-externalization continuum in terms of the Rorschach protocols. It is, nevertheless, provocative that traditional scorings of the Rorschach responses of adults assess differences not only in this personality trait, but also in its development, as determined from scaled scores on Wechsler subtests.     

Extending the Nomological Network of Assessment Center Construct Validity: Prediction of Cross-Situationally Consistent and Specific Aspects of Assessment Center Performance

The purpose of this study was to expand the nomological validity of assessment centers (ACs) by investigating predictors of cross-situationally consistent versus specific aspects of AC performance. Consistent with hypotheses, (a) Big Five personality factors predicted AC performance as it related to a cross-situationally consistent general performance factor but not as it related to exercise (i.e., situationally specific) factors, and (b) job knowledge predicted performance as it related to both the general performance factor and exercise-specific factors. Results are interpreted as they relate to the growing literature on AC construct validity.     

Stress Inoculation Training: A Generic Approach for the Prevention of Stress-Related Disorders

Stress inoculation, a cognitive-behavioral approach for preventing stress-related disorders, is described and applied to academic, occupational, social, medical, and environmental stressors.     

Prediction of Future Events Scale: Assessment of Beliefs about Predicting the Future

Abstract

Three hundred forty-nine American college students rated 60 beliefs about predicting future events. The items were factor analyzed revealing seven dimensions: Paranormal Divinatory Procedures, Psychically Gifted Persons, Scientifically Validated Forecasting Procedures, Animal Behavioral Prediction, Everyone Can Predict the Future, Religious Determinism, and Determinism Versus Freedom. A 21-item Prediction of Future Events (PFE) Scale was constructed by selecting marker items for each of the seven dimensions. The PFE Scale showed satisfactory reliability and hypothesized correlations with measures of intuition, locus of control, and enjoyment of/participation in games of chance.     

Emotional Well-Being Related to Time Pressure,Impediment to Goal Progress,and Stress-Related Symptoms

We propose that emotional well-being in everyday life is partially related to the balance of positive and negative affect associated with everyday routine activities. Factors that interfere with positive affect associated with such activities would therefore have negative impacts on emotional well-being. Supporting that time pressure is one such factor, we find in Study 1 for a representative sample of Swedish employees (n = 1507) answering a survey questionnaire that emotional well-being has a negative relationship to time pressure. In Study 2 we test the hypothesis that the negative effect of time pressure on emotional well-being is jointly mediated by impediment to goal progress and time stress. In another survey questionnaire a sample of Swedish employees (n = 240) answered retrospective questions about emotional well-being at work and off work, experienced impediment to goal progress, experienced time pressure, and stress-related symptoms. Statistical mediation analyses supported the proposed hypothesis.     

The Measurement of Self-Esteem, Stress-Related Life Events, and Locus of Control Among Unemployed and Employed Blue-Collar Workers

The purpose of this study was to measure the self-esteem, stress of life events, and locus of control among unemployed and employed blue-collar workers. It was hypothesized that (a) being unemployed decreases an individual's self-esteem, (b) being unemployed increases an individual's stress level by experiencing significant life changes, and (c) being unemployed increases an individual's external locus of control orientation. The study was conducted in a production/manufacturing organization, utilizing a systematic random sampling procedure that yielded 562 subjects. The results from the collected data did not support Hypothesis A or C. A significant change with stress in conjunction with life events was found but was mediated by several factors, including age and a nonsignificant correlation between time laid-off and stress levels. The study suggests that an individual's reaction to unemployment does not appreciably affect their self-esteem and locus of control when compared to the employed.     

Autonomic Activity, Pain, and Perceived Health in Patients on Sick Leave Due to Stress-Related Illnesses

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to compare autonomic activity, pressure-pain thresholds, and subjective assessments of health and behavior between patients with stress-related illnesses and healthy control subjects. METHODS: Twenty sick-listed patients with stress-related illnesses and 20 age- and gender-matched healthy subjects performed tests of autonomic regulation and algometric tests, and completed questionnaires about physical and mental health and behavioral patterns. RESULTS: Patients exhibited higher autonomic reactivity to cognitive and physical laboratory tasks (p < 0.05), and had lower pressure-pain thresholds in the shoulders and lower back than healthy control subjects (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the patients rated considerably poorer health and health behavior than the control subjects (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate an engagement of the autonomic nervous system in stress-related illnesses. Furthermore, they show that patients with stress-related illnesses experience symptoms of musculoskeletal pain, and it is therefore recommended that assessments of musculoskeletal pain be incorporated in the clinical examinations and the rehabilitation of patients with stress-related illnesses.