Can the effectiveness of health promotion campaigns be improved using self-efficacy and self-affirmation interventions? An analysis of sun protection messages

Health-risk communications frequently target self-efficacy in order to encourage adaptive responses. Research has also indicated that self-affirmation may be a useful supplementary or alternative intervention technique. This study compared the effects of self-efficacy, self-affirmation and a combination of these techniques for two risk messages. Young British females (N?=?677) read about ultraviolet light and skin cancer or skin ageing (‘photoageing’) and were randomly assigned to a single intervention (self-affirmation/self-efficacy), the combined intervention or no intervention. The efficacy intervention led to greater message acceptance and perceived risk in both the cancer and photoageing conditions, while the only main effect of self-affirmation was on acceptance of the photoageing message. However, self-affirmation moderated the effect of efficacy information. For photoageing messages, efficacy information was associated with greater message acceptance only amongst self-affirmed participants, but the opposite occurred for skin cancer messages. Although these findings should be interpreted cautiously, they imply that health promoters should select efficacy information if only one intervention is used but that self-affirmation can influence responsiveness to efficacy interventions for particular messages.     

Reading and Spelling Disabilities in Children with and Without a History of Early Language Delay: A Neuropsychological and Linguistic Study

Language delay is a frequent antecedent of literacy problems, and both may be linked to phonological impairment. Studies on developmental dyslexia have led to contradictory results due to the heterogeneity of the pathological samples. The present study investigated whether Italian children with dyslexia showed selective phonological processing deficits or more widespread linguistic impairment and whether these deficits were associated with previous language delay. We chose 46 children with specific reading deficits and divided them into two groups based on whether they had language delay (LD) or not (NoLD). LD and NoLD children showed similar, severe deficits in reading and spelling decoding, but only LD children showed a moderate impairment in reading comprehension. LD children were more impaired in phonological working memory and phonological fluency, as well as in semantic fluency, grammatical comprehension, and verbal IQ. These findings indicate the presence of a moderate but widespread linguistic deficit (not limited to phonological processing) in a subset of dyslexic children with previous language delay that does not generalize to all children with reading difficulties.     

The two sides of competition: Competition‐induced effort and affect during intergroup versus interindividual competition

Competition strongly affects individual effort and performance for both individuals and groups. Especially in work settings, these effort gains might come at the cost of individual well‐being. The present study tested whether competition increases both effort (as indicated by task performance) and stress (in terms of cardiovascular reactivity and affective response), and whether this effect is further qualified by the type of competition (interindividual vs. intergroup), using a cognitive computer‐based task and a 2 (Group: Yes, No) × 2 (Competition: Yes, No) × 2 (Gender) factorial design (N= 147). All participants either worked as a representative of a group or as an individual, and were offered performance‐related incentives distributed in a lottery. In the competition conditions, participants were informed that they competed with someone else, and that only the winning person/team would take part in the lottery. Consistent with expectations, competition increased both individual effort and cardiovascular reactivity compared to non‐competitive work. Moreover, for female participants, intergroup competition triggered increased effort and more positive affect than interindividual competition. Aside from documenting costly side‐effects of competition in terms of stress, this study provides evidence for a stress‐related explanation of effort gains during intergroup competition as compared to interindividual competition.     

Career Development for Psychology Students through an Inpatient Mental Health Volunteer Programme

We report on a volunteer programme for undergraduate psychology students, as a prospective career pathway into the inpatient mental health context. Data on motives for joining the programme, as well as their expectations and career plans were collected from 56 students (mainly under 25 years of age; approximately 80% females) in a volunteer placement within an inpatient mental health setting. About 89.3% of the volunteers reported being on the programme to enhance their applications for postgraduate training prospects in the same field. Only 10.7% were motivated primarily by the desire to help mentally ill patients. Over three-quarters planned to pursue postgraduate training in clinical psychology.     

Measuring resilience among homeless youth: psychometric assessment of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale in Ghana

This study validated the psychometric structure of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC; Connor & Davidson, 2003 Connor, K. M., & Davidson, J. R. T. (2003). Development of a New Resilience Scale: The Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). Depression and Anxiety, 18, 76–82. doi: 10.1002/da.10113[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) in a sample of 227 homeless youth in Ghana. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with Varimax rotation was used to extract factor structures. About 62% of the total variance was accounted for by a three-factor structure: personal competence and tenacity, optimism and achievement motivation. Evidence of the external validity of scales was supported by the positive correlation between resilience and perceived social support scores. The CD-RISC appears to yield scores reliable for assessing resilience among homeless youth in a developing world context.     

PROFESSIONALIZING SURVIVAL: THE POLITICS OF PUBLIC MEMORY AMONG HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR-EDUCATORS IN MONTREAL

The majority of Holocaust survivors never speak publicly about their experiences, but those who do tend to find themselves at the centre of commemorative work in their communities. As Holocaust scholars, Holocaust education institutions, and members of the general public become increasingly interested in how to ethically universalize the lessons of the Holocaust, the public Holocaust survivor's role has broadened. It is no longer enough to recount one's own experience; survivors are expected to speak to current human rights abuses and genocides.In Montreal, Canada, a city which once claimed the third largest survivor population in the world, public survivors do a great deal of work. They give testimony in schools and at commemorative events, organize book clubs, write plays, direct films, teach, act as museum docents, and assume roles as community spokespeople. Given their dedication to this work, and a push to get them to speak beyond their personal experiences, we argue that there is a major shift taking place: the act of giving public Holocaust testimony is being professionalized. This professionalization raises unique questions about how people who lived through the Holocaust conceptualize themselves and their identities as survivors. By treating testimony as professional work, survivors contemplate, on a daily basis and in an applied manner, their stances on big questions regarding hierarchies of suffering, comparability, the connection between the personal and the political, blame and forgiveness, as well as many other relevant themes that are central to Holocaust and memory scholarship. All of this plays out in their testimonies.     

Tate Modern: Jung modern

Abstract

This paper describes how a counsellor in education has to take on and respond to a number of transferences in the clinical work in addition to holding onto a number of centres within the institution and personally. It takes a close look at one student presentation and speaks to the quality of the emotional and psychological impact on the counsellor. It argues for the need to be both thoughtfully containing and thoughtfully penetrating in the clinical work despite the bombardment of conscious and unconscious material. Over all, the paper states how important it is for the counsellor to stay in touch with his/her own feelings, thereby effectively maintaining the depressive position, though this is painful given the current predominance of suicide and serious suicidal intentions among adolescents and young adults.     

Reconsidering the aims of analysis in a probabilistic universe: Containment and coniunctio

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between our attempts to define the aims of analysis and the acceptance of probability in New Physics. It draws attention to the influence of physicists on both Jung and Bion, which is well documented. It presents an argument for process-based aims rather than the recognition of innate knowledge as an aim. Two processes from different traditions (Jungian and Kleinian) are suggested as central to the aims of analysis: containment and coniunctio. The coniunctio/disiunctio axis in Jung's writing is paralleled with the axis PS<->D of the post-Kleinians. Clinical material is presented supporting the necessity of differential aims and illustrating development/stasis along this axis. A case is made for analysis to embrace the reality of uncertainty and to work with the psychic obstacles in patients, and in analysts, that result from coming to terms with probability.     

Tom Thumb in hospital: The fairy tale workshop in a paediatric oncology and haematology ward

Abstract

Definitions of and attitudes towards countertransference have changed throughout the twentieth century. From being seen as a contaminant in the analytical process, countertransference has come to be seen by many therapists as a potentially useful source of information about a client and his or her problems. There are dangers as well as benefits associated with analysis and utilization of countertransference. This article reviews these issues and proposes some guidelines that therapists may find useful when contemplating their countertransference reactions to clients, and when considering how best to utilize these.     

The process of forming a mobile media habit: results of a longitudinal study in a real-world setting

ABSTRACT

Media habits are central constructs in audience research. Yet, little is known about the formation of (media) habits. Based on theoretical elaboration and the results of a longitudinal study on the formation of a mobile media application habit—specifically the smartphone application of the Union of European Football Associations for the European soccer championship 2016—in a real-world setting, this article develops a comprehensive framework of media habit formation. The framework focuses on the core process of habit formation: Habits form with (regular) repetition of a behavior in a specific context that is perceived as rewarding. Yet, the findings of the study show that regularity in behavior performance and stable external circumstances are less crucial for the formation of a mobile media habit. Instead, gateway behaviors are proposed as relevant context features for the formation of mobile media habits.