When Thinking About Work Makes Employees Reach for Their Devices: A Longitudinal Autoregressive Diary Study

Based on the stressor-detachment model, previous research has assumed that work-related ICT use in the evening impairs psychological detachment. However, since most of the studies to date have assessed cross-sectional relationships, little is known about the actual direction of effects. In this 5-day diary study, we implemented a day-level longitudinal model to shed light on the causal relationships between work-related ICT use, detachment, and task progress (N?=?340 employees, N?=?1289 day-level cases). We also investigated the role of unfinished work tasks because we assumed, based on boundary theory, that they are a driving force leading to impaired detachment and work-related ICT use in the evening. Contrary to current research consensus but in line with our expectations, we found that low psychological detachment increased work-related ICT use and task progress. We found no evidence for reversed lagged effects. These results applied both to planned and unplanned ICT use. Furthermore, our results support the notion that unfinished work tasks precede ICT use and detachment. Thus, our findings suggest that work-related ICT use should not be treated as a stressor in its own right in the stressor-detachment model. Instead, it needs to be investigated as a behavioral outcome that employees engage in when they cannot detach from work.

     

Regulatory modes and time management: How locomotors and assessors plan and perceive time

This research investigated the relationship between regulatory mode orientations (locomotion and assessment), time management behaviours and the perceived control of time. “Locomotion” refers to the aspect of self‐regulation involving the movement from state to state, whereas “assessment” is the comparative aspect of self‐regulation that refers to the critical evaluation of alternative goals and the means for achieving them. The Italian versions of the Time Management Behavior Scale and the Perceived Control of Time Scale, as well as the Locomotion and Assessment Regulatory Modes Scales were administered to 339 Italian participants (249 students and 90 employees). The results supported the notion that locomotors and assessors differ in the ways they perceive the control of time. Locomotion was found to be positively related to perceived control of time. In contrast, assessment was negatively related to perceived control of time. Furthermore, the two time management dimensions of setting goals and priorities and preference for organisation were shown to mediate the relationship between locomotion and perceived control of time, whereas assessment proved to be unrelated to all time management behaviours. These findings highlight the importance of regulatory modes for human behaviour regarding time management and perceived control of time.     

A Genetic Counseling Intervention to Facilitate Family Communication About Inherited Conditions

This paper describes the development and implementation of the first intervention to facilitate family communication of genetic information based on a genetic counseling model of practice. The intervention is telephone-based and therefore designed to complement face-to-face genetic counseling consultations. It was developed by firstly reviewing the literature and a model of genetic counseling practice, leading to definition of seven core principles underpinning the intervention. A counseling framework based on these principles was developed through iterative role playing and review, tested for consistency with good practice and piloted on ten study participants. It was found to be feasible to implement and consistent with good genetic counseling practice. Implementation included training of the genetic counselors who would deliver the intervention as part of a randomized controlled trial. Noteworthy deviations from good genetic counseling practice were observed, with unexpected additional insights into the ‘black box’ of genetic counseling that may have wider implications and would benefit from further investigation. The intervention is currently being evaluated in a randomized controlled trial, to assess its impact on the number of family members attending genetic services.     

The Gift-Giver as Social Deviant: Recipient Perceptions of a Monetary Gift

Over a decade ago, Heckert and Heckert (2002) proposed a model of norm violation that identified four deviance typologies: negative deviance, rate busting, deviance admiration, and positive deviance. Using that model, 51 narrative accounts provided by 29 student volunteers were analyzed in which volunteers recollected their first-hand experiences of offering a small monetary gift to both an acquaintance and a stranger. As called for by Heckert and Heckert (2002), our findings provide additional theoretical insights into these deviance typologies by considering the situational contexts under which the actions of the gift-givers were perceived as positive or negative by recipients.     

The effect of preview eccentricity in a lexical decision task

We report lexical decision experiments in which eye movements and lexical decision time were analysed. The results show that nonwords produced more fixation than words, and that the time to make a lexical decision was also greater for nonwords. Further, a preview of the stimulus was presented on some occasions either at fixation or peripherally. When the presentation was peripheral the number of refixations and lexical decision times were reduced. Parafoveal previews of words also reduced word length effects on refixations and lexical decision time. These effects decreased (for nonwords) when the case of the letters was changed in the preview. These results are compatible with the idea that the peripheral preview benefit derives from word visual structure in addition to information about word length, word envelope, and single letter identities.     

Spiritual and Nonspiritual Approaches to Dream Work: Effects on Clients' Well‐Being

Fifty‐one spiritually oriented volunteer clients completed 2 sessions of waking life dream interpretation or 2 sessions of spiritual dream interpretation. Volunteer clients in both conditions increased in insight into their dreams and rated sessions favorably, but volunteer clients in the spiritual condition experienced greater increases in spiritual insight into their dreams and experienced greater increases in existential well‐being. The results suggest the benefits of incorporating spirituality into dream interpretation for spiritually oriented clients.     

Five Perspectives on the Meaning of Meaning in the Context of Clinical Practices

What is meaningful in life? This is a question many individuals ask at least once in their lifetime. Many researchers have also asked this question, and a large body of literature seems to answer in theoretical and academic terms. But what is the meaning of meaning in clinical practice? That is, what is the role of meaning in psychotherapy, recovery, and positive mental health? And how could meaning in life be addressed in practices: What clinical competencies are needed? To answer these and other questions, a broad panel of researchers and practitioners met at the world conference of the International Network for Personal Meaning (INPM) in Toronto in July of 2016. A passionate debate followed, particularly on the question of the meaning of meaning in clinical practice. In this article, five panel members—Mick Cooper, Clara Hill, Robert Neimeyer, Kirk Schneider, and Paul Wong—elaborate their perspective on these two questions. At the end of the article, the moderator, Joel Vos summarizes, their differences and agreements, and suggests a pluralistic, multidimensional perspective on meaning for practitioners. Despite some fundamental differences, the authors report many similar perspectives on the meaning of meaning in clinical practice and on clinical competencies. This debate could be used as an example of how practitioners could also converse with their clients; the process of exploring the question, “What does meaning mean to you here and now, in our therapy room?” could be meaningful in itself.     

The multidimensional structure of perfectionism in clinically distressed and college student samples

Confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate 2 multidimensional measures of perfectionism (R. O. Frost, P. Marten, C. Lahart, & R. Rosenblate, 1990; P. L. Hewitt & G. L. Flett, 1991). On a first-order level, support was found for Hewitt and Flett's (1991) original 3-factor conceptualization of perfectionism, although only for an empirically derived 15-item subset. Support was also obtained for 5 of the 6 dimensions proposed by R. O. Frost et al. (1990), but the model only displayed good fit when a refined scale containing 22 of the original 35 items was used. A second-order analysis found evidence for 2 higher-order factors of adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism. Perfectionism dimensions correlated in expected directions with personality domains, symptom distress, and academic achievement. The brief measures of perfectionism also retained the construct-related validity displayed by the full-item versions.     

Psychological dimensions associated with suicidal ideation and attempts in the National Comorbidity Survey

Three important psychological dimensions in the suicide literature (neuroticism, self-criticism, and hopelessness) were examined in relation to suicidal ideation and attempts in the U.S. National Comorbidity Survey (Kessler et al., 1994; n = 5,877), after first controlling for the effects of previously identified sociodemographic and psychiatric variables related to suicidality in this nationally representative sample (Kessler, Borges, & Walters, 1999). Analyses were conducted separately for lifetime, current (12-month), and past history of suicidal ideation and attempts. Brief indices of self-criticism and hopelessness were robustly associated with suicide attempts across all three time frames. The results support the value of examining psychological individual differences over sociodemographic and psychiatric diagnoses alone in the comprehensive assessment of factors associated with suicidality in the general population.