The Establishment of Core Competencies for Canadian Genetic Counsellors: Validation of Practice Based Competencies

Numerous groups of health professionals have undertaken the task of defining core competencies for their profession. The goal of establishing core competencies is to have a defined standard for such professional needs as practice guidelines, training curricula, certification, continuing competency and re-entry to practice. In 2006, the Canadian Association of Genetic Counsellors (CAGC) recognized the need for uniform practice standards for the profession in Canada, given the rapid progress of genetic knowledge and technologies, the expanding practice of genetic counsellors and the increasing demand for services. We report here the process by which the CAGC Practice Based Competencies were developed and then validated via two survey cycles, the first within the CAGC membership, and the second with feedback from external stakeholders. These competencies were formally approved in 2012 and describe the integrated skills, attitudes and judgment that genetic counsellors in Canada require in order to perform the services and duties that fall within the practice of the profession responsibly, safely, effectively and ethically.     

Action-control beliefs and behaviors as predictors of change in adjustment across the transition to middle school

Abstract

We examined longitudinal changes in young adolescents’ (N=368) action-control beliefs, coping behaviors, and adjustment (i.e., positive and negative affect, depression, aggression) across the transition from elementary school to middle school. Results indicated greater inter-individual instability in adjustment during this transition than during the previous school year. Using ordinary least-squares (OLS) growth models to extract intra-individual change scores for each variable (i.e., slopes and intercepts), we conducted a series of stepwise regressions to determine which features of control beliefs and coping behaviors best predicted changes in adjustment across the transition to middle school. We found that negative coping behaviors (i.e., antisocial coping) consistently predicted negative changes in the adjustment variables (e.g., greater depression, more aggression), whereas positive beliefs and behaviors did not consistently predict changes in the adjustment variables.     

Fostering Self-Determination and Resilience Through Sports Counselling: Psychosocial Development of Youth in Botswana

Sports can promote pro-social behaviors and confidence in physical abilities among participants. We conducted an extensive review of the literature on the ways in which youth in Southern African countries, severely affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other hardships may benefit from acquiring the pro-social skills often associated with athletics. This article reviews the current situation of sports in Botswana and offers recommendations for a culturally appropriate developmental sports counselling program in that country. The authors present arguments that support the development of psychosocial skills, self-determination, and resilience among Batswana Youth through sports counselling interventions.     

Experiences of Managers of Aggression in the Workplace

The study explored and described the experiences of workplace aggression by managers in a northern South African district. Participants were seven managers from two medium sized companies. One of the companies was from the dairy industry and the other from the auditors' industry. These participants held managerial positions over other workers for at least one year, were from the same district and could converse fluently in Afrikaans and English. Data were gathered using in-depth phenomenological interviews and analysed by means of open coding. Findings suggest that work place aggression could be confused with ambition, the quality of discipline and conflict, and power play. Managers also observed that while an aggressive management style was effective to get the job done, it could also hamper constructive communication and the quality of work life.     

Family Relations Test Responses of Retarded Readers: Reliability and Comparative Data

The Family Relations Test (FRT) was administered to 46 retarded readers and readministered after a 3-week interval. Test-retest reliabilities were in the .70s, .80s, and .90s for major response classifications. Responses of the retarded readers were similar in configuration to those reported for other clinic groups and normal Ss but not to response patterns of institutionalized emotionally disturbed children. Future research may need to consider children's perceptions of family relationships in the context of parental and sibling data. Specific tactics for future research are suggested.     

Quantile Mediation Models: A Comparison of Methods for Assessing Mediation Across the Outcome Distribution

Recent introduction of quantile regression methods to analysis of epidemiologic data suggests that traditional mean regression approaches may not suffice for some health outcomes such as Body Mass Index (BMI). In the same vein, the traditional mean-based approach to mediation modeling may not be sufficient to capture the potentially different mediating effects of behavioral interventions across the outcome distribution. By combining methods for estimating conditional quantiles with traditional mediation modeling techniques, mediation effects can be estimated for any quantile of the outcome distribution (so-called quantile mediation effects). Estimation and inference techniques for quantile mediation effects are compared through simulation studies, and recommendations are given. The quantile mediation methods are further compared with the traditional mean-based regression approaches to mediation analysis through analysis of data from Healthy Places, a trial that is examining the effects of the community–built environment on resident obesity risk. We found the magnitudes of indirect (mediating) effects of walkability on BMI and waist circumference were substantially larger for the upper quantiles compared with the median or mean. Results suggest that restricting the examination of mediation to the mean of the outcome distribution provides an incomplete picture of proposed mediating mechanisms and in some cases may miss important mediational relationships to outcomes.     

Memory for Brand-Product Information in Pictorial Advertising

In two experiments, we investigated whether the type of picture that accompanies a brand-product pair has an effect on memory in an advertising context. Subjects were students in introductory psychology classes who received course credit for participation. We formed 24 fictitious brand-product pairs and illustrated them using pictorial presentation and letter accentuation in both interactive and noninter-active relationships. In Experiment 1, subjects in the interactive pictorial presentation group recalled more brands in a paired-associate task than did the interactive letter accentuation group or the control group. In a paired-associate task in Experiment 2, we examined relative effectiveness of interactive and noninteractive presentation relationships and revealed two main effects: (a) Interactive was superior to noninteractive, and (b) pictorial presentation was superior to letter accentuation in aiding recall. Results are discussed in terms of implications for advertising.     

Intrafamilial Sexual Abuse: Family-of-Origin and Family-of-Procreation Characteristics of Female Adult Victims

We examined connections between incest victims' family-of-origin and family-of-procreation characteristics in a sample of 40 American women who were in treatment for childhood or adolescent experiences of victimization. Retrospective data on their families-of-origin were collected along with their perceptions of current relationships with family members in the three-generational system. Results showed a close association between family-of-origin and family-of-procreation characteristics, especially in the areas of intergenerational intimacy, intergenerational fusion/individuation, and personal authority. A number of significant correlations were also found between subjects' past and present relationships with family-of-origin members and the dimensions of moral and religious orientation, achievement, and intellectual and cultural orientation, conflict, and control in their family-of-procreation. Some aspects of individual adjustment, including alienation, emotional discomfort, and defensiveness, were strongly related to various family-of-origin and family-of-procreation characteristics.     

The Evasion of Propaganda: How Prejudiced People Respond to Anti-Prejudice Propaganda

This experiment tested the hypothesis that there would be a significant increase in powerlessness scores over a 10 year period. The sample was drawn from a population of college students originally tested in 1964. At the 10 year follow-up, all Ss had graduated from college and were either professionally employed (mostly as teachers) or engaged in child-rearing/home activities. The average age of the 1974 sample was 29 years and consisted of 70 females and 30 males. The test instrument was the adult version of Rotter's Internal-External (I-E) Locus of Control Scale which consists of 23 forced-choice items. There were no significant differences on total I-E scores over the 10 year period. However, with use of the Mirels two-factor scoring system, significant increases in social-political control were found. No significant differences in personal control were found. It was concluded that care should be taken in utilizing cross-sectional findings and that utilizing multidimensional scores suggests different results for previously published reports.