Implicit theories of online trolling: Evidence that attention‐seeking conceptions are associated with increased psychological resilience

Three studies were conducted to investigate people's conceptions of online trolls, particularly conceptions associated with psychological resilience to trolling. In Study 1, a factor analysis of participants’ ratings of characteristics of online trolls found a replicable bifactor model of conceptions of online trolls, with a general factor of general conceptions towards online trolls being identified, but five group factors (attention‐conflict seeking, low self‐confidence, viciousness, uneducated, amusement) as most salient. In Study 2, participants evaluated hypothetical profiles of online trolling messages to establish the validity of the five factors. Three constructs (attention‐conflict seeking, viciousness, and uneducated) were actively employed when people considered profiles of online trolling scenarios. Study 3 introduced a 20‐item ‘Conceptions of Online Trolls scale’ to examine the extent to which the five group factors were associated with resilience to trolling. Results indicated that viewing online trolls as seeking conflict or attention was associated with a decrease in individuals’ negative affect around previous trolling incidents. Overall, the findings suggest that adopting an implicit theories approach can further our understanding and measurement of conceptions towards trolling through the identification of five salient factors, of which at least one factor may act as a resilience strategy.     

Psychological Outcomes in Fathers of Critically Ill Children in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: A Systematic Review

Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings - Systematically review evidence of psychological distress in fathers of children admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Two...     

Predictors of driving outcomes in advancing age

This study aimed to develop predictive models for real-life driving outcomes in older drivers. Demographics, driving history, on-road driving errors, and performance on visual, motor, and neuropsychological test scores at baseline were assessed in 100 older drivers (ages 65-89 years [72.7]). These variables were used to predict time to driving cessation, first moving violation, or crash. Using Cox proportional hazards regression models, significant individual predictors for driving cessation were greater age and poorer scores on Near Visual Acuity, Contrast Sensitivity, Useful Field of View, Judgment of Line Orientation, Trail Making Test-Part A, Benton Visual Retention Test, Grooved Pegboard, and a composite index of overall cognitive ability. Greater weekly mileage, higher education, and "serious" on-road errors predicted moving violations. Poorer scores from Trail Making Test-Part B or Trail Making Test (B-A) and serious on-road errors predicted crashes. Multivariate models using "off-road" predictors revealed (a) age and Contrast Sensitivity as best predictors for driving cessation; (b) education, weekly mileage, and Auditory Verbal Learning Task-Recall for moving violations; and (c) education, number of crashes over the past year, Auditory Verbal Learning Task-Recall, and Trail Making Test (B-A) for crashes. Diminished visual, motor, and cognitive abilities in older drivers can be easily and noninvasively monitored with standardized off-road tests, and performances on these measures predict involvement in motor vehicle crashes and driving cessation, even in the absence of a neurological disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

School-based,randomised controlled trial of an evidence-based condom promotion leaflet

A condom use promotion leaflet was designed for use with older teenagers in schools. The text targeted a series of cognitive and behavioural antecedents of condom use identified in the literature. Given previous evidence that motivational incentives can enhance the effectiveness of health promotion leaflets, the leaflet was presented in conjunction with a quiz and prize draw. Students were randomly assigned to either the intervention condition or a (no leaflet or incentive) control condition. Measures were taken immediately, pre-intervention and 4 weeks later from 404 students. The 20-min intervention successfully promoted six of the eight measured cognitions, namely (1) attitude towards using condoms with a new partner (2) attitude towards using condoms with a steady partner (3) normative beliefs in relation to preparatory actions (4) self-efficacy in relation to both preparatory actions and (5) condom use (6) intention to use condoms, as well as three measured preparatory actions, that is, purchasing condoms, carrying condoms and discussing condom use. The intervention did not increase condom use with steady or new partners but power to test intervention impact on condom use was curtailed.     

Fathering Self-Efficacy, Marital Satisfaction and Father Involvement in Hong Kong

We examined the predictability of fathering self-efficacy and marital satisfaction on father involvement. The moderating effect of marital satisfaction on the relationship between father efficacy and father involvement was also explored. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using the convenience sampling method. A total of 2,029 valid questionnaires were collected from fathers with children aged 2–6 from 48 nurseries in Hong Kong. The fathers’ mean age is 39.1. 72.9 % of the fathers graduated from secondary school and 86 % had full-time jobs. Measures including self-efficacy subscale in the Parenting Sense of Competency Scale, the Index of Marital Satisfaction, the Inventory of Father Involvement were adopted in the present study. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that fathering self-efficacy and marital satisfaction were significant positive predictors of father involvement, whereas marital satisfaction moderated the effect of fathering self-efficacy on father involvement. It is thus important to improve martial satisfaction and enhance fathering self-efficacy for promoting father involvement. To gain a more comprehensive picture, future studies of father involvement may benefit by adopting a longitudinal research design, including the mothers and children as informants, and addressing other parenting correlates such as parenting stress and spousal support.     

The impact of engineering identification and stereotypes on undergraduate women’s achievement and persistence in engineering

Women almost always comprise a minority in engineering programs and a smaller percentage of women pursue engineering than other science and technology majors. The culture of engineering departments and negative stereotypes of women’s engineering and mathematical ability have been identified as factors that inhibit women’s entry into engineering and cause them to leave the major. Even for women who stay, stereotype threat or the anxiety of confirming a negative stereotype can decrease academic performance. To more fully understand this dynamic, we examined four factors associated with stereotype threat (engineering identification, gender identification, gender stereotype endorsement, and engineering ability perceptions) to determine how they impacted women’s achievement and persistence in engineering at the end of their first year of an engineering program. Participants included 363 first-year general engineering students from a large public university. Students completed a questionnaire near the end of their first year. Results indicated that there were differences between men and women for gender stereotype endorsement and engineering ability perceptions, with men more likely to hold negative stereotypes of women’s engineering abilities and women more likely to report higher perceptions of their engineering abilities. Engineering identification was a significant predictor of persistence in engineering, and engineering ability perceptions were significant predictors of achievement; the relationships were stronger for women than men. The fact that neither gender identification nor gender stereotype endorsement were related to achievement or persistence in engineering indicated that they were less important factors for first-year women engineering students than engineering identification and engineering ability perceptions.     

Rethinking the Connections between Religion and Civic Life for Immigrants: The Case of the Chinese Diaspora

Through interviews with 33 Chinese American first- and second-generation immigrants, we ask how narratives that describe the link between religion and civic life differ among Buddhists, Christians, and nonreligious Chinese. All groups stress the tight institutional connections between religion and politics in the United States. For Chinese Christians, congregations provide opportunities to serve their fellow parishioners and the wider community, as well as political rhetoric to guide practices. Buddhists actively criticize a religious organizational approach to community service and the US connection between politics and religion, emphasizing the development of inherent ethical dimensions for motivating service to others. And the non-religious stressed the role of religious organizations in facilitating volunteering. There is also a difference between the responses of first- and second-generation immigrants, with first-generation immigrants having a more difficult time understanding the meaning of American community service. Results expand scholarship on the connection between religion and civic life.     

New Faces in a New Place: Long-Time Residents’ Perceptions of New Residents in an Oil Boomtown in the Bakken Oil Shale Region

ABSTRACT

In 2008, increased oil production in the Bakken oil shale region in western North Dakota sparked a rapid increase in population for the communities in that area. This study examines long-time residents’ perceptions of new residents moving into their community using quantitative methods. The findings reveal that long-time residents who reported an increase in fear of crime because of the oil boom in western North Dakota were less likely to have positive perceptions of new residents. In addition, long-time residents who viewed their community as a friendly place and its residents as trustworthy, and who attempted to interact with new residents, were more likely to report positive perceptions of new residents.     

An Integrated Resilience and Ecological Model of Child Abuse (REC-Model)

Much of the theories of child abuse are developed and referenced from the West, while their applications to Chinese society are unclear. It is necessary to examine the cases in Hong Kong to acknowledge the uniqueness in perception and conceptualization of child abuse and the impact of resilience, across different cultural settings. The current study aims to advance an ecological model of child abuse for Hong Kong families by integrating resilience perspective with the ecological systems, namely An Integrated Resilience and Ecological Model of Child Abuse (REC-Model), and to examine the interactions between resilience and risk factors among chronosystemic, microsystemic, marcosystemic, and ontogenic systems on child abuse. Using a cross sectional survey research method and path analysis, 565 families with children studying at ages between 9 and 13 participated and returned self-administered questionnaires in the study. The results showed that Chinese cultural parenting values moderated the influences of risk factors on child abuse, while forgiveness buffered the negative impact of microsystemic factors on child abuse. To prevent child abuse, it is important to decrease the detrimental effects of childhood abuse experiences, reduce marital conflicts, and avoid developing insecure parent-child attachment. Promoting forgiveness, while reducing parents’ rigidity of certain Chinese cultural parenting values, may also help decrease child abuse.     

Patterns of stability in adult attachment: an empirical test of two models of continuity and change

One of the core assumptions of attachment theory is that attachment representations are stable over time. Unfortunately, the data on attachment stability have been ambiguous, and as a result, alternative theoretical perspectives have evolved to explain them. The objective of the present research was to evaluate alternative models of stability by studying adults in 2 intensive longitudinal investigations. Specifically, we assessed attachment representations in 1 sample (N = 203) daily over a 30-day period and in the other sample (N = 388) weekly over a year. Analyses show that the patterns of stability that exist in adult attachment are most consistent with a prototype model--a model assuming that there is a stable factor underlying temporary variations in attachment. Moreover, although the Big Five personality traits exhibited a pattern of stability that was similar to that of attachment, they did not account for the stability observed in attachment.