Work Context Support and Portuguese Soldiers’ Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Autonomous Motivation

Using self-determination theory ( Deci & Ryan, 2008 Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2008). Self-determination theory: A macrotheory of human motivation, development, and health. Canadian Psychology, 49, 182–185. 10.1037/a0012801[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) as the theoretical framework, we tested a model for this study that considers soldiers’ perceptions of organizational support and leader–member exchange (LMX), work motivation, and well-being at work. The hypothesized model was tested using a representative sample of 1,045 Portuguese soldiers. Results revealed that autonomous work motivation was significantly related to both contextual factors (organizational support and LMX). In addition, autonomous work motivation was positively related to work engagement and negatively related to burnout, and controlled motivation showed the opposite pattern. More interesting, the results showed that autonomous work motivation as a mechanism that helped to explain the relationship between both contextual factors and workplace well-being. The present results underscore the importance of understanding the mechanisms through which higher work engagement and lower burnout take place, eventually leading to appropriate interventions.     

Amygdala oscillations and the consolidation of emotional memories

The amygdala receives multi-modal sensory inputs and projects to virtually all levels of the central nervous system. Via these widespread projections, the amygdala facilitates consolidation of emotionally arousing memories. How the amygdala promotes synaptic plasticity elsewhere in the brain remains unknown, however. Recent work indicates that amygdala neurons show theta activity during emotional arousal, and various types of oscillations during sleep. These synchronized neuronal events could promote synaptic plasticity by facilitating interactions between neocortical storage sites and temporal lobe structures involved in declarative memory.     

Explorations of familiarity produced by words with specific combinations of letters

We explore familiarity-based recognition using a paradigm devised by Parkin et al. (2001). The task consists of the creation of two lists of words written with one of two different subsets of letters of the alphabet. We manipulated study time (50, 100, 200, 500 ms per word) of words with different letter probabilistic structure to those originally used by Parkin et al. Letter-based familiarity responding was robust and present even at rates producing otherwise chance performance. A second experiment and structural equation modelling led us to interpret the results from the point of view of a theory that takes into account the processing of similarities and differences (Hunt & MacDaniel, 1993). Finally, our data indicate that the experimental procedure devised by Parkin et al. is an excellent tool with which to study familiarity, once the structure of probabilities of individual letters is considered as the key factor in inducing the effect.     

Spanish version of Super Skills for Life: short- and long-term impact of a transdiagnostic prevention protocol targeting childhood anxiety and depression

ABSTRACT

Background and Objectives: Super Skills for Life (SSL) is a transdiagnostic protocol based on cognitive–behavioral therapy designed for children with internalizing problems. The present study examined for the first time the impact of the Spanish-adapted version of SSL in reducing anxiety and depressive symptoms in Spanish-speaking children.

Design: A quasi-experimental design with one group, pre- and posttest, and 1-year follow-up was conducted. Analyses were performed on an intent-to-treat basis.

Methods: Participants were 119 children (42.9% female; 8–12 years) recruited from nine schools. Children completed assessments of anxiety, depression, emotional and behavioral difficulties, and the extent to which anxiety interfered with life before and after receiving the 8-session SSL, and 12-months post-intervention.

Results: Anxiety and depressive symptoms were significantly reduced at post-test and 12-month follow-up assessments. SSL also had positive impact on other symptoms assessed (e.g., interference of anxiety with children’s life, peer problems, conduct problems). Overall, the long-term benefits of SSL appeared to be greater than the short-term benefits.

Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that SSL may be useful in reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression, and a broad range of other issues, in Spanish children.     

Roles of Genetic Counselors in South Africa

Genetic counseling is a growing health profession in South Africa. Training (set up in 1988) and registration are in place, but job creation remains challenging. The aim of the present study was to investigate the roles played by genetic counselors in the provision of genetic services, in South Africa. A questionnaire comprising items on the types of roles they performed was constructed and counselors were asked to make the log-books, in which they recorded their daily counseling activities, available. A check list was drawn up so that relevant information could be collected systematically from these log-books. Then departmental statistics were accessed from the two universities providing genetic services and genetic counselor training. Structured interviews were conducted with the genetic counselors (16 of 23 participated), and data were collected from their completed questionnaires, log-books and the departmental statistics, for the years 2007 and 2008. These data were analyzed and the findings showed that the counselors counseled about one third (39 %) of all the cases seen at genetic clinics per annum, and the total numbers were increasing. They counseled for 57 different genetic disorders, and their clients represented the range of local ethnic groups. They also had educational, research, marketing and administrative roles. They expected to expand these roles and advance the profession in future. Genetic counselors are versatile, playing several significant roles. As these become better recognized, demand for their services should increase, jobs should be created and the service expanded.     

The effects of perpetrator age and abuse disclosure on the relationship between feelings provoked by child sexual abuse and posttraumatic stress

Abstract

The present study examined the relationship between feelings provoked by child sexual abuse (CSA) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom scores in a sample of 163 female survivors of CSA. Finkelhor and Browne's traumagenic dynamics model was applied. The interactive effects of provoked feelings with perpetrator age and the existence of abuse disclosure were also studied. Results showed an overall relationship between feelings provoked by CSA and PTSD symptom scores. Feelings of stigma, betrayal, and powerlessness as a result of CSA were associated with PTSD symptom score when the entire group of CSA victims was analyzed. The role of traumatic sexualization was relevant only when analyzed in interaction with the age of the perpetrator and disclosure. The relationship between traumatic sexualization and PTSD symptom scores was only significant when the abuse was committed by an adult perpetrator and when a disclosure was made during the time of abuse, or a short time after the abuse had occurred.     

Private Speech in Illiterate Adults: Cognitive Functions, Task Difficulty, and Literacy

Children’s private speech has been widely studied among children, but it is clear that adults use private speech as well. In this study, illiterate adults’ private speech during a “school-like” task was explored as a function of literacy level and task difficulty in a sample of 126 adults enrolled in a public literacy program. A main effect for literacy level was found—private speech was more internalized and less externalized among adults with higher literacy levels. Externalized private speech was more frequently observed among illiterate adults engaged in the most difficult task. Private speech served cognitive functions as indicated by the proportion of self-regulatory private speech and the proportion of private speech preceding actions being higher in the advanced literacy group and among illiterate adults doing the easier task. Internalized private speech, self-regulatory private speech, and private speech preceding action were each positively correlated with performance and negatively correlated with time to complete the task. The use of private speech in illiterate adults appears to be linked to the mastery of cultural experiences, such as literacy, similar to the self-talk of children.     

Assessment of Identity and Quality of Life in Diabetic and Renal Transplant Adolescents in Comparison to Healthy Adolescents

Identity development represents a central task of adolescence. Identity achievement is characterized by a coherent sense of who one is following a period of exploration and can help navigate the challenges of adulthood. This study examined identity within a quality of life (QOL) context in 85 adolescents with a renal transplant or with Type 1 diabetes in comparison to 90 healthy controls. Results revealed significant differences in ideological identity, with patients showing higher levels of diffusion and controls showing higher levels of foreclosure. No differences with respect to interpersonal identity, QOL, perceived control over the QOL domains, and perceived opportunities for growth and development were found. Future research should assess identity and QOL over a longer period of time to determine whether differences between chronically ill and healthy young adults can be detected.     

Lost ability to automatize task performance in old age

Can elderly adults automatize a new task? To address this question, 10 older adults each performed 10,080 training trials over 12 sessions on an easy but novel task. The psychological refractory period (PRP) procedure was then used to evaluate whether this highly practiced task, when presented as task 2 along with an unpracticed task 1, could proceed automatically. If automatic, task 2 processing should bypass the bottleneck and, therefore, not be delayed while central attention is devoted to task 1, yielding little dual-task interference. This is exactly what Maquestiaux, Laguë-Beauvais, Ruthruff, and Bherer (Memory and Cognition 36:1262-1282, 2008) previously observed for almost all younger adults, even with half the training on a more difficult task. Although extensive training reduced older adults’ reaction times to only 307 ms, a value virtually identical to that attained by Maquestiaux et al.’s (Memory and Cognition 36:1262-1282, 2008) younger adults, the highly practiced task 2 was slowed by 485 ms in the dual-task PRP procedure. Such a large slowing in older adults is striking given the easy tasks and massive amounts of practice. These findings demonstrate a qualitative change with age, in which older adults lose the ability to automatize novel tasks, which cannot be attributed merely to generalized cognitive slowing.     

Selective attention to global and local information: Effects of visual angle,exposure duration,and eccentricity on processing dominance

Abstract

The size and exposure duration of stimuli have been found to be relevant factors to the issue of processing dominance. Nevertheless, the relation between these two factors and their possible effects on processing dominance have never been studied. The aim of the present research was twofold: (a) to examine whether size and the exposure duration of stimuli affect processing dominance; (b) to examine whether these effects depend on the same/different eccentricity of global and local levels. Stimuli were presented at three exposure durations: 140 msec, 70 msec, and 40 msec. The overall sizes of stimuli were varied at three levels: small (3[ddot]), intermediate (6[ddot]) and large (12[ddot]). In Experiment 1 stimuli were used whose global and local levels were at different eccentricity (Hs and Ss stimuli). In Experiment 2 stimuli whose global and local levels were at the same eccentricity (Cs stimuli) were used. The results showed that the effects of visual angle on processing dominance are independent of the exposure duration of stimuli used. The transition from global to local dominance as visual angle is increased depends on the eccentricity of global and local information: It only appears when the eccentricity is different and biased towards the local level (Hs and Ss stimuli). Finally, the size of the effect is modulated by the visual angle subtended by the stimuli: the size of the effect of global advantage was inversely related to visual angle. The size of the interference effect from the local level to the global level was directly related to the visual angle, whereas that from the global level to the local level was inversely related to the visual angle subtended by the stimuli.