Self-control mediates the link between perfectionism and stress

The relationship between perfectionism and stress is well-established. Recent research has focused on identifying the mediators of this link. Starting from a multidimensional perspective on perfectionism, we investigated the role of self-control and found it to be a mediator between perfectionism and stress in a sample of university freshmen. Further, perfectionistic concerns (i.e., discrepancy; Slaney et al. 2001) were positively correlated with stress, whereas perfectionistic strivings (i.e., high standards; Slaney et al. 2001) were negatively correlated with stress. Practical implications regarding overcoming maladaptive perfectionism are discussed.     

Distinct roles for dorsal CA3 and CA1 in memory for sequential nonspatial events

Previous studies have suggested that dorsal hippocampal areas CA3 and CA1 are both involved in representing sequences of events that compose unique episodes. However, it is uncertain whether the contribution of CA3 is restricted to spatial information, and it is unclear whether CA1 encodes order per se or contributes by an active maintenance of memories of sequential events. Here, we developed a new behavioral task that examines memory for the order of sequential nonspatial events presented as trial-unique odor pairings. When the interval between odors within a studied pair was brief (3 sec), bilateral dorsal CA3 lesions severely disrupted memory for their order, whereas dorsal CA1 lesions did not affect performance. However, when the inter-item interval was extended to 10 sec, CA1 lesions, as well as CA3 lesions, severely disrupted performance. These findings suggest that the role of CA3 in sequence memory is not limited to spatial information, but rather appears to be a fundamental property of CA3 function. In contrast, CA1 becomes involved when memories for events must be held or sequenced over long intervals. Thus, CA3 and CA1 are both involved in memory for sequential nonspatial events that compose unique experiences, and these areas play different roles that are distinguished by the duration of time that must be bridged between key events.Episodic memory involves the ability to encode and retrieve the order of events in individual experiences (Tulving 1983). Recent evidence in both animals and humans indicates that the hippocampus plays a critical role in this capacity. In animals, damage to the hippocampus impairs memory for the order of associated elements that compose an episode (Fortin et al. 2002; Kesner et al. 2002), and hippocampal neuronal activity reflects processing of the order of events in both spatial (Dragoi and Buzsáki 2006; Foster and Wilson 2007) and nonspatial episodes (Manns et al. 2007). In humans, hippocampal activation has also been related to memory for the order of elements (Kumaran and Maguire 2006; Lehn et al. 2009; Ross et al. 2009).Within the hippocampal circuitry, contributions of the CA3 and CA1 fields are probably most extensively studied, but this work has not yet clarified the distinct roles of these areas in sequence memory. Computational models suggest that the recurrent connections of CA3 cells operate as an attractor network that computes associations between elements (Norman and O''Reilly 2003; Rolls 2007) and is suitable for representing sequences of events in episodic memories (Jensen and Lisman 1996; Levy 1996; Lisman 1999). Studies on the effects of selective damage within the hippocampus have shown that CA3 is critical for remembering sequences of spatial locations (Hunsaker et al. 2008a), but not sequences of nonspatial events (Hoge and Kesner 2007). It is, therefore, uncertain whether CA3 is critical for sequence memory per se, rather than other aspects of spatial processing. Other observations suggest that CA1 may be involved in memory for the order of both spatial (Hunsaker et al. 2008a) and nonspatial stimuli (Hoge and Kesner 2007; Manns et al. 2007). However, it is not clear whether the contribution of CA1 involves integrating sequential elements of a memory or instead participates by active maintenance of event memories that underlies bridging sequential events in an episode (Kesner et al. 2005).To shed light on these issues, we compared the effects of selective damage to CA3 and CA1 on memory for the order of nonspatial events that occurred in unique episodes. We designed a task, based on the delayed-nonmatching-to-sample test, wherein subjects were required to remember the order of two sequentially presented stimuli in trial–unique-paired associations (Fig. 1).Open in a separate windowFigure 1.Test of memory for the order of stimuli in trial-unique odor pairs. At study, animals were presented with 10 odor-paired associates and odors in a pair were presented one at a time. At test, animals were presented with the same 10 odor pairs and were required to distinguish pairs where the odors within a pair were presented in the same order as during study (“old”) from pairs where the odors were presented in the reverse order (“new”). Old and new order test pairs were presented in a pseudorandom order. The first odor in each test pair acted as a cue to the ordering of the odors within a test pair; the animal was required to place its nose over the cup, but no digging response was required or rewarded. When the second cup was presented, the animal could dig to retrieve a reward if the order was new. If the order was old, the animal was required to approach an empty cup in the back of the home cage to obtain reward.     

Effects of the Interaction Between Reaction Component of Personal Need for Structure and Role Perceptions on Employee Attitudes in Long‐Term Care for Elderly People1

This study examined the interaction of reaction component of personal need for structure (reaction to lack of structure, RLS) and role perceptions in predicting job satisfaction, job involvement, affective commitment, and occupational identity among employees working in long‐term care for elderly people. High‐RLS employees experienced more role conflict, had less job satisfaction, and experienced lower levels of occupational identity than did low‐RLS employees. We found individual differences in how problems in roles affected employees' job attitudes. High‐RLS employees experienced lower levels of job satisfaction, job involvement, and affective commitment, irrespective of role‐conflict levels. Low‐RLS employees experienced detrimental job attitudes only if role‐conflict levels were high. Our results suggest that high‐RLS people benefit less from low levels of experienced role conflicts.     

Factor analysis of the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire in adults with atopic dermatitis

The objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the revised Illness Perceptions Questionnaire (IPQ-R) in adult participants with atopic dermatitis (AD). Two hundred and eighty-four participants who had a GP or dermatologist confirmed diagnosis of AD completed the IPQ-R. The factor structure of the IPQ-R was examined using confirmatory (CFA) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The results of the CFA did not indicate a good comparative fit with the IPQ-R subscales, while the EFA and a fixed six-factor principal components analysis largely replicated the original factor structure of the IPQ-R. The existence of the acute/chronic and cyclical timeline dimensions, and the illness coherence subscale was most strongly supported, while all items of the consequences and emotional representation subscales consistently loaded onto one factor. The EFA for causal attributions did not produce a stable solution. The findings indicate that although the factor structure of the IPQ-R was not confirmed in the sample of patients with AD using CFA, it was partly reproduced using EFA. Overall, the results suggest that in patients with AD the IPQ-R, in particular the consequences and emotional representations subscales, should be employed and interpreted with care.     

The high-hurdle technique put to the test: Failure to find evidence that increasing loading times enhances data quality in Web-based studies

Two Web-based experiments examined the usefulness of artificially delaying the loading of the first page of the study. The idea pursued in this technique is to filter out less-motivated respondents through a higher respondent burden in the form of waiting time. Participants who remain in the study despite having had to wait for the first page of the study to appear on the screenare expected to be more highly motivated, and thus to produce data of higher quality. In both experiments, as expected, the longer the loading time, the lower the likelihood of people responding to the study. However, contrary to expectation, the dropout rate and quality of data were independent of the loading time. Therefore, artificially delaying the loading of the first page of the study is counterproductive.     

Social support, coping, life events, and posttraumatic stress symptoms among former peacekeepers: a prospective study

This study examined both cross-sectionally and longitudinally the relationship between social support, coping strategies, additional stressful life events, and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among Dutch former peacekeeping soldiers. Two groups of peacekeepers were investigated: 311 peacekeepers who participated in the peacekeeping operation in Lebanon between 1979 and 1985, and 499 peacekeepers who were deployed after 1990. These peacekeepers completed a questionnaire in 1996 and again in 1998. The results show that more negative social contacts and fewer positive social contacts were associated with more PTSD symptom severity. More use of the coping strategies ‘wishful thinking’ and ‘accepting responsibility’ was related to more PTSD symptoms. Conversely, more planful problem solving and seeking social support was related to less PTSD symptom severity. In addition, a bilateral relationship was found between additional stressful life events and PTSD symptom severity. The results indicate that social support and coping strategies may be valuable aspects of prevention and intervention programs.