The relationship of work stressors and emotional support to strain in police officers

This study tested whether quantity and quality of social support and two sources of work stress (organizational stressors and job risk) predicted work strain in police officers, a high-risk occupational group. The participants were 135 police officers from a large metropolitan law enforcement agency who responded to questionnaires for assessing work stress, social support, exhaustion, and other strain symptoms. Emotional support and work stressors accounted directly for significant variance in emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and symptom frequency. Conflicted relationships, which are a source of both work stress and support, also contributed to strain. In contrast to previous findings, a reverse buffering effect for social support did not contribute to predicting strain. Stress management programs for police and other high-stress occupations should target increasing emotional support from supervisors and peers, and reducing conflict in job and family relationships.     

Means—ends problem-solving skills,life stress,and social support as mediators of adjustment in the normative transition to high school

Examined the transition of adolescents from middle school to high school through a longitudinal research design. Consistent with other studies, results indicate that the transition is associated with declines in grade point average and attendance, and that these changes persist or worsen over the course of the freshman year. Life stress and social support from family, friends, and school personnel each showed expected relationships with some outcome variables, though these varied in pattern and magnitude. Furthermore, there was some indication that these sources could be used in multivariate analyses in assessing their relationship to outcomes. Finally, means-ends problem-solving skills did not predict levels of posttransition support. Results are seen as supporting a differential model of the role of individual and environmental resources in the high school transition, especially with regard to the negative changes in grades and attendance and the pattern of correlations between social support sources and outcomes.     

The effect of deal exclusivity on consumer response to targeted price promotions: A social identification perspective

Discounts offered selectively to consumers are commonplace in the market and reflect the assumption that individuals will respond positively to targeted discounts. We consider whether exclusive deals evoke more positive responses than inclusive offers, an outcome referred to as a deal exclusivity effect. Contrary to the intuition that targeted promotions will always be evaluated more favorably than inclusive offers, we show that deal exclusivity effects (1) can be attenuated based upon factors influencing the extent to which recipients identify with other deal recipients and (2) are mediated by the offer's ability to enable the recipient to engage in self-enhancement.     

Sleep Disorders and Cognitive Dysfunctions in Parkinson’s Disease: A Meta-Analytic Study

Neuropsychology Review - A relationship between sleep disorders and cognitive dysfunctions was reported in Parkinson’s Disease (PD), however, some studies did not confirm the link. A...     

Behavioural Problems in Children with Headache and Maternal Stress: Is Children's Attachment Security a Protective Factor?

Headache is a potentially disabling condition involving enduring pain that negatively influences the quality of family life. Behavioural problems are more common in children with headache and are potentially associated with higher levels of parental stress. The aim of this study was to evaluate the extent to which children's behavioural problems were associated with maternal stress and how the child's perception of security in the maternal attachment relationship moderates this association. Seventy‐one school‐aged children with headache (headache group (HG), age M = 9.8 years old, SD = 1.3) and 71 children from a low‐risk normative population (control group (CG), age M = 9.2 years old, SD = 1) and their mothers were involved in the study. Mothers' reports of children's behavioural problems were associated with higher maternal stress in the caring task both in the HG and in the CG. Results also showed that the HG was more at risk for behavioural problems, whereas no difference between groups was detected for parenting stress and for attachment insecurity. In children with headache, perception of attachment security decreased the strength of the association between maternal stress and externalizing behavioural problems. Secure attachment may provide children with headache and their parents with support in managing the negative emotions that arise in the context of significant health issues. Implications for practice are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The therapeutic community in the local community: Social networks between therapeutic community and supported housing

In this paper, the authors present a model for therapeutic community programmes for those with severe and enduring mental ill health, based on social networks. These programmes have given birth to a range of therapeutic community which are, in fact, an innovative form of group psychotherapy. These new model do not depend on communal living. Some are groupings of apartments, others day units. Work schemes also feature here. And yet, as the authors outline, various components need to be present if these are to be considered genuine therapeutic communities and not just supported housing schemes. Additionally, a certain kind of training and clinical supervision is needed for the staff.     

DECREASING DANGEROUS INFANT BEHAVIORS THROUGH PARENT INSTRUCTION

One adult and three adolescent mothers with 1-year-old infants were taught to reduce their infants' potential for injury in the home. After being taught to increase their positive interactions with their infants, the mothers were taught to child-proof the home, to use playpen time-out for potentially dangerous behaviors, and to give positive attention for safe behaviors. A multiple baseline design across subjects was used to evaluate functional control. Potentially dangerous behaviors, observed during 10 min of free play, decreased from variable and, at times, high rates during baseline to stable near-zero rates after treatment. These target behaviors remained low at a 7-month follow-up assessment.