Reading Problems in School Children and Adults: Experiences,Self-Perceptions and Strategies

Three adults, one male and two females, with moderate to severe reading problems were interviewed about their reading problems, self-perceptions, experiences in education and at the workplace, self-presentation concerns, and their coping strategies in situations involving reading requirements. The informants were selected in order to vary age, level of education, and type of occupation. Despite these variations the results revealed striking similarities in their self-perceptions, motivational and emotional responses, and strategies in school years and later in life. Self-presentation concerns were salient in all informants and all informants reported various indications of negative affect. All informants also reported using self-defensive strategies, particularly emphasizing that they were hiding their reading and writing problems. The results are discussed in terms of self-worth theory as well as goal theory. Practical implications are also discussed.     

Work addiction is associated with increased stress and reduced quality of life: Validation of the Bergen Work Addiction Scale in Danish

Addiction to work is defined as a compulsion or an uncontrollable need to work incessantly. Only few measures exist to identify work addiction and the health consequences are sparsely explored. The Bergen Workaholic Scale (BWAS) measures seven core elements of work addiction and has been used in Norway, Hungary, Brazil, Italy, USA and Poland. The aim of this study was to validate the BWAS in a Danish sample and to investigate if high risk of work addiction was associated with stress and reduced quality of life. We conducted an online screening survey with 671 participants aged 16–68 years with the Danish translation of the BWAS. We added the perceived stress scale (PSS) and the quality of life scale EQ‐5D‐5L. Those with high risk of work addiction reported significantly higher mean PSS scores (20.0 points) compared to those with low risk of addiction (12.5 points) and poorer quality of life (61.9) compared to the low risk group (81.3). Furthermore, work addiction was associated with more weekly working hours (44.0 vs. 35.6 hours/week) and having more leadership responsibility. A preliminary estimate of work addiction prevalence was 6.6%. The BWAS demonstrated good reliability (α = 0.83), and factor analyses pointed at a single factor structure. Work addiction seems to be associated with health problems in terms of stress and poorer quality of life. The BWAS is recommended as a reliable and valid tool to identify work addiction in Danish.     

Maternal soothing and infant stress responses: soothing, crying and adrenocortical activity during inoculation

The relation between maternal soothing and infant stress response during inoculation was examined in a sample of 37 mothers and their 3-month-old infants. The mothers' soothing and the infants' cry vocalizations and the mothers' and the infants' salivary cortisol level pre- and post-injection were analysed. There was a positive relation between infants' cry vocalization post-injection and maternal soothing pre- and post-injection. The sample was divided in two sub-groups depending on whether the mothers evidenced most soothing of the infants in the period before (Preparatory group; n=20) or after (Contingent group; n=17) the syringe injection. In the Preparatory group, the duration of infant cry vocalizations was related to amount of maternal soothing before and after the injection, while cry vocalizations in the Contingent group was related to amount of maternal soothing after the injection. The Contingent infants responded to the injection with a significant increase in cortisol, while there was no increase in the Preparatory infants. The Preparatory infants evidenced significantly longer duration of looking at the target stimuli in a visual marking task, suggesting greater difficulties in disengaging attention. These findings indicate that 3-month-olds' stress responses and their mothers' situational behaviour are mutually regulated.     

Self-efficacy for instructional leadership: relations with perceived job demands and job resources,emotional exhaustion,job satisfaction,and motivation to quit

Social Psychology of Education - The purpose of this study was to explore associations between school principals’ self-efficacy for instructional leadership, their perceptions of work-related...     

Profiles of adversity and resilience resources: A latent class analysis of two samples

Adversities refer to events that are characterized by perceived or actual threat to human functioning. Often considered deleterious for health and well-being, recent work supports an alternative picture of the effects of adversity on human functioning, such that a moderate amount of adversity – when compared with none or high levels – can be beneficial. We extend this body of work in the current study by considering the breadth or type of adversities experienced simultaneously (referred to as polyadversity), with a focus on individual profiles of lifetime adversities. Latent class analysis was employed to explore different configurations of lifetime adversity experiences in two independent samples and examine how these latent classes differed with regard to resilience resources (i.e., optimism, hope, self-efficacy, and bounce-back ability). University students (N = 348) and members from the broader community (N = 1,506) completed measures of lifetime adversity exposure and resilience resources. Three polyadversity classes were revealed in each sample, with both producing a high and a low polyadversity class. The third class differed between samples; in the student sample, this class represented experiences of vicarious adversity, whereas in the community sample, it represented moderate levels of exposure to adversity. Support for the adaptive nature of a moderate amount of adversity exposure was found in the community sample but not in the student sample. This study produces initial evidence of how lifetime adversity experiences group together and how class membership is related to resilience resources.     

Memory for a staged criminal event witnessed live and on video

Memory for a staged robbery was tested in two groups of participants witnessing the event either live (n = 62) or on video (n = 64). Immediately after the event participants filled out a questionnaire probing memory with emphasis on the timing of the event and robber characteristics. The results showed that participants who watched a video recording of the event reported more details and with a higher accuracy than participants who were present on the scene, but the pattern of memory errors were similar in the two conditions. It is concluded that laboratory experiments may overestimate the memory of eyewitnesses but are otherwise able to simulate essential aspects of memory performance in naturalistic contexts.     

Self-determination theory and diminished functioning: the role of interpersonal control and psychological need thwarting

Drawing from self-determination theory, three studies explored the social-environmental conditions that satisfy versus thwart psychological needs and, in turn, affect psychological functioning and well-being or ill-being. In cross-sectional Studies 1 and 2, structural equation modeling analyses supported latent factor models in which need satisfaction was predicted by athletes' perceptions of autonomy support, and need thwarting was better predicted by coach control. Athletes' perceptions of need satisfaction predicted positive outcomes associated with sport participation (vitality and positive affect), whereas need thwarting more consistently predicted maladaptive outcomes (disordered eating, burnout, depression, negative affect, and physical symptoms). In addition, athletes' perceptions of psychological need thwarting were significantly associated with perturbed physiological arousal (elevated levels of secretory immunoglobulin A) prior to training. The final study involved the completion of a diary and supported the relations observed in the cross-sectional studies at a daily level. These findings have important implications for the operationalization and measurement of interpersonal styles and psychological needs.     

When feeling attractive matters too much to women: A process underpinning the relation between psychological need satisfaction and unhealthy weight control behaviors

This study examined a process model linking psychological need satisfaction to unhealthy weight control behaviors. Female University students (N = 220; M age = 20.47; SD = 5.07) completed questionnaires measuring need satisfaction, appearance-contingent self-worth, weight-related appearance anxiety and unhealthy weight control behaviors. Structural equation modeling revealed that need satisfaction indirectly related to engagement in unhealthy weight control behaviors through appearance-contingent self-worth and weight-related appearance anxiety. The results indicate that appearance-contingent self-worth might help to explain how low levels of psychological need satisfaction are related to maladaptive weight-related outcomes in young women.     

A longitudinal examination of coach and peer motivational climates in youth sport: implications for moral attitudes, well-being, and behavioral investment

Embedded in achievement goal theory (Ames, 1992; Meece, Anderman, & Anderman, 2006), this study examined how perceptions of coach and peer motivational climate in youth sport predicted moral attitudes, emotional well-being, and indices of behavioral investment in a sample of British adolescents competing in regional leagues. We adopted a longitudinal perspective, taking measures at the middle and the end of a sport season, as well as at the beginning of the following season. Multilevel modeling analyses showed that perceptions of task-involving peer and coach climates were predictive of more adaptive outcomes than were perceptions of ego-involving peer and coach climates. Predictive effects differed as a function of time and outcome variable under investigation. The results indicate the importance of considering peer influence in addition to coach influence when examining motivational climate in youth sport.     

The Effects of Social Identity and Perceived Autonomy Support on Health Behaviour Within the Theory of Planned Behaviour

The present study employed constructs from self-determination theory, social-identity theory, and the theory of planned behaviour to examine the combined effects that social identity and perceived autonomy support exerted on attitudes, intentions and health behaviour. A prospective design was employed measuring constructs from the theory of planned behaviour, group norms, group identification, and perceived autonomy support at baseline and physical activity behaviour 5 weeks later. Self-report questionnaires were administered to 231 pupils (male = 113, female = 118, M = 14.21 years, SD = .90). Hierarchical regression analysis demonstrated that group norms predicted participation in physical activities and attitudes, but only for participants who identified strongly with their group. Perceived autonomy support predicted attitudes, intentions and behaviour. The effects of perceived autonomy support and social-identity constructs were independent. It was concluded that both social identity and perceived autonomy support should be included in the theory of planned behaviour.