Work–family conflict, perceived supervisor support and organizational commitment among Brazilian professionals

The current study examines a variety of relationships pertaining to work–family conflict among a sample of Brazilian professionals, in order to shed light on work–family issues in this cultural context. Drawing from the cultural values of Brazil and social identity theory, we examine the relationships of two directions of work–family conflict (work interference with family and family interference with work), perceived supervisor support, and sex with affective and continuance organizational commitment. Work interference with family was related to higher continuance commitment and perceived supervisor support was related to higher affective commitment. An interaction between family interference with work and perceived supervisor support predicting continuance commitment revealed a reverse buffering effect such that the relationship was stronger under conditions of high support. Results are discussed within the Brazilian context.     

Navigating Critical Theory and Postmodernism: Social Justice and Therapist Power in Family Therapy

The family therapy field encourages commitment to diversity and social justice, but offers varying ideas about how to attentively consider these issues. Critical informed models advocate activism, whereas postmodern informed models encourage multiple perspectives. It is often not clear how activism and an emphasis on multiple perspectives connect, engendering the sense that critical and postmodern practices may be disparate. To understand how therapists negotiate these perspectives in practice, this qualitative grounded theory analysis drew on interviews with 11 therapists, each known for their work from both critical and postmodern perspectives. We found that these therapists generally engage in a set of shared constructionist practices while also demonstrating two distinct forms of activism: activism through countering and activism through collaborating. Ultimately, decisions made about how to navigate critical and postmodern influences were connected to how therapists viewed ethics and the ways they were comfortable using their therapeutic power. The findings illustrate practice strategies through which therapists apply each approach.     

Does Emotional Arousal Influence Swearing Fluency?

This study assessed the effect of experimentally manipulated emotional arousal on swearing fluency. We hypothesised that swear word generation would be increased with raised emotional arousal. The emotional arousal of 60 participants was manipulated by having them play a first-person shooter video game or, as a control, a golf video game, in a randomised order. A behavioural measure of swearing fluency based on the Controlled Oral Word Association Test was employed. Successful experimental manipulation was indicated by raised State Hostility Questionnaire scores after playing the shooter game. Swearing fluency was significantly greater after playing the shooter game compared with the golf game. Validity of the swearing fluency task was demonstrated via positive correlations with self-reported swearing fluency and daily swearing frequency. In certain instances swearing may represent a form of emotional expression. This finding will inform debates around the acceptability of using taboo language.     

Compassionate goals and affect in social situations

Optimal social interactions can leave people feeling socially connected and at ease, which has clear implications for health and psychological well-being. Yet, not all social interactions leave people feelings at ease and connected. What explains this variability? We draw from the egosystem–ecosystem theory of social motivation (Crocker and Canevello 2008) to suggest that compassionate goals to support others explain some of this variability. We explored the nature of this association across four studies and varying social contexts. Across studies, compassionate goals predicted greater feelings of ease and connection. Results also indicate that a cooperative mindset may be one mechanism underlying this association: Findings suggest a temporal sequence in which compassionate goals lead to cooperative mindsets, which then lead to feeling at ease and connected. Thus, these studies suggest that people’s compassionate goals lead to their sense of interpersonal ease and connection, which may ultimately have implications for their sense of belonging.     

When to Take Up Roots: The Effects of Morphology Instruction for Middle School and High School English Learners

A majority of the challenging words that adolescent readers encounter in school texts are morphologically complex and from the Latinate layer of English. For these words, bound roots carry important meaning, such as the relation between innovative and its bound root, nov, meaning “new.” This study investigated the effects of instruction about bound Latin roots on academic word learning and morphological problem-solving skill with English Learners (EL) at three grade bands: Grades 6–8, 9–10, and 11–12. Employing a within-subjects design, 82 students participated in two counterbalanced intervention conditions: an academic vocabulary without morphology (comparison condition) and a morphology-focused academic vocabulary intervention (treatment condition). The largest treatment effects were observed for oldest students, but positive effects were observed at all grade levels. Results suggest that instruction focused on the major meaning-carrying components of academic words of the Latinate layer in English—bound roots—is especially effective for ELs in the secondary grades.     

Parent satisfaction with neuropsychological consultation after pediatric mild traumatic brain injury

Few studies have focused on consumer satisfaction following neuropsychological evaluation. We sought to examine parent satisfaction with neuropsychological consultation following a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) in school-age children. We surveyed 71 parents of 8- to 17-year-olds participating in a prospective longitudinal study examining neuropsychological consultation as an intervention for persistent postconcussive symptoms. Children had sustained injuries between 2 and 12 months prior to enrollment. Neuropsychological consultation occurred on average 5 months post-injury. Parent satisfaction data were collected via telephone approximately 4 months after the neuropsychological consultation. The vast majority of parents were quite satisfied with the service (e.g., 94% overall satisfaction rate; 96% rated the service as good or excellent). Satisfaction rates were associated positively with time since injury and negatively with parental education. No other child, parent, or provider variable correlated with satisfaction. The results add to the relatively sparse literature on parent satisfaction with neuropsychological evaluation. A pressing future need in pediatric neuropsychology is to examine the satisfaction of other consumers of the service, including healthcare personnel, educators, and the child patients themselves.     

Development and Refinement of a Targeted Sexual Risk Reduction Intervention for Women With a History of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is associated with sexual risk behavior in adulthood. Traditional sexual risk reduction interventions do not meet the unique needs of women who have been sexually abused. In the current paper, we describe the four-stage process we followed to develop and refine a targeted sexual risk reduction intervention for this population. First, initial quantitative work revealed that the intervention should address how maladaptive thoughts related to traumatic sexualization, trust, powerlessness, and guilt/shame (traumagenic dynamics constructs) influence current sexual behavior. Second, qualitative interviews with 10 women who reported a history of CSA (M age = 34 years; 90% African American) as well as current sexual risk behavior provided support for targeting maladaptive thoughts associated with these traumagenic dynamics constructs. Third, based on the qualitative and quantitative results, we developed a 5-session, group-delivered intervention to address the maladaptive thoughts that occurred as a result of CSA, as well as the cognitive-behavioral determinants of sexual risk behavior. This intervention drew heavily on cognitive behavioral techniques to address cognitions associated with CSA and the links between these cognitions and current sexual risk behavior. Techniques from trauma-based therapies, as well as motivational techniques, were also incorporated into the intervention. Finally, we refined the intervention with 24 women (M age = 33 years; 79% African American), and assessed feasibility and acceptability. These women reported high levels of satisfaction with the intervention. The resultant intervention is currently being evaluated in a small, randomized controlled trial.     

Quality of life research: a case for combining photo-elicitation with interpretative phenomenological analysis

In this article, we provide practical and theoretical discussion of the use of two complementary research methods to explore quality of life. We present a case example of the use of photo-elicitation alongside interpretative phenomenological analysis and use examples from our research with people living with paraplegia and chronic pain to demonstrate how these methods can be combined to provide a participant-led understanding of quality of life. This discussion includes consideration of practical and ethical issues relevant to others wishing to combine these research methods. Furthermore, we highlight some of the potential practical and therapeutic opportunities provided by the approach through an illustration of how photographs work to enhance self-reflection and promote hermeneutic sense making.     

Maternal Emotion Socialization: The Contribution of Inhibited Behaviour and Mothers' Dissatisfaction with the Parent–Child Relationship

In the present study, we examined the associations between children's inhibited behaviour, mothers' dissatisfaction with the parent–child relationship and mothers' self‐reported reactions to children's emotions. Fifty‐three mother–child dyads visited the laboratory, and mothers completed questionnaires about child temperament and emotion socialization. Maternal stress stemming from dissatisfaction with the parent–child relationship was negatively predictive of mothers' supportive reactions to happiness. In addition, the interaction between children's inhibited behaviour and parent–child relationship dissatisfaction significantly predicted mothers' supportive reactions to children's fear; specifically, mothers who reported the highest levels of dissatisfaction in their relationship with their children and had children who exhibited low levels of inhibition reported the lowest levels of supportive responses to their children's fear. Importantly, mothers reported the highest levels of supportive reactions to children's fear when their children were low in inhibition, and they reported low levels of dissatisfaction in their relationship with their child. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.