Effectiveness of a Group Therapy Program for Children with Psychosocial Deficits: Benefits of Concurrent Participation in Organized Activities

Prior research suggests children’s involvement in organized activities predicts positive outcomes, although benefits for youth with psychosocial deficits remain unclear. This study examines if activity participation predicts response to a group therapy program for children with psychosocial deficits and if improvements depend on children’s functioning within the organized activity context. Participants were 178 children (M age?=?9.6 years) enrolled in a group therapy program. Greater activity participation significantly predicted improvements in family functioning and social skills, suggesting the value of participation in organized activities for youth with psychosocial deficits.     

Loving yourself abundantly: relationship of the narcissistic personality to self- and other perceptions of workplace deviance, leadership, and task and contextual performance

The authors report results from 2 studies assessing the extent to which narcissism is related to self- and other ratings of leadership, workplace deviance, and task and contextual performance. Study 1 results revealed that narcissism was related to enhanced self-ratings of leadership, even when controlling for the Big Five traits. Study 2 results also revealed that narcissism was related to enhanced leadership self-perceptions; indeed, whereas narcissism was significantly positively correlated with self-ratings of leadership, it was significantly negatively related to other ratings of leadership. Study 2 also revealed that narcissism was related to more favorable self-ratings of workplace deviance and contextual performance compared to other (supervisor) ratings. Finally, as hypothesized, narcissism was more strongly negatively related to contextual performance than to task performance.     

Governing therapy choices: Power/Knowledge in the treatment of progressive renal failure

This article outlines the struggle between the power of the health care professional and the rights of the individual to choose freely a modality of treatment. Nurses are instrumental in assisting patients in making the best decision for a therapy they will have to assume for the rest of their lives. In guiding patients' decision, nurses must take into account these unavoidable contingencies: changes in lifestyle, nutritional restrictions, level of acceptance, compliance issues, ease of training and availability of support/facilities. Ensuring that the patient makes an informed decision is therefore an ongoing challenge for nurses as they are taking part in a delicate balancing act between not directly influencing the patient's decision while making sure the patient is accurately informed.     

The measurement of participant-reported memory across diverse populations and settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the Multifactorial Memory Questionnaire

ABSTRACT

The Multifactorial Memory Questionnaire (MMQ) is a participant-reported measure of memory satisfaction, ability, and strategy use. Initially validated with healthy older adults, it has since been used in many different populations and settings for a variety of purposes. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the measurement properties of the MMQ across multiple, diverse studies. Methods: The study was designed using the Consensus-Based Standards for the Selection of Health Measurement Instruments and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. We calculated aggregate statistics and evaluated the methodological quality of 29 studies retrieved from PsycINFO, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Web of Science. Results: Analyses revealed high-quality evidence for internal consistency, stability, measurement error, convergent validity, and known-groups validity of the three MMQ scales. There was moderate-quality evidence for responsiveness and structural validity, with some studies identifying separate factors for internal and external memory strategy use. Measurement properties were similar across languages, participant samples, and study designs. Conclusions: The MMQ is a valid, reliable, and responsive measure across diverse settings and populations. Future research is needed to determine whether more detailed information can be obtained from the scales, specifically, internal versus external strategy use.     

Don't Make Me Angry! A Psychophysiological Examination of the Anger–Performance Relationship in Intermediate and Elite Fencers

We aimed to identify the effect of state-anger on precision, speed, and power components of performance during fencing attacks. We conducted a laboratory-based, single-case research experiment to test the fine motor task performance of two experienced and two elite-level fencers under two emotional states: anger and emotion-neutral. We assessed anger via psychophysiological and self-report measures, and we induced anger via a brief imagery intervention. Through the use of an innovative design, which included multiple measures of change, we showed that anger had a consistent negative effect on precision but an inconsistent relationship with response time and muscle activity. The current research design and protocol offer a novel and in-depth method for examining the specific relationships between affective states, emotions, and the complexities that underpin performance. The specific effects of anger on performance were multifarious, complex, and inconsistent. Nonetheless, the results tend to indicate that anger facilitates reaction time and debilitates performance, and these effects were clearer for the most elite performers. The effects of anger on performance are clearly complex, so it would be rather premature to make any suggestions for future practice at this point. Nonetheless, the clearer findings with the elite fencers indicate that researchers will likely yield the most fruitful insights by examining the effects of emotion of performance in elite performers.     

Applied sport psychology in canada

The present study sought to ascertain a contextualized perspective of established practitioners’ subjective reasoning underpinning their practices. An interpretive phenomenological analysis (Smith, 1996) was adopted as an in-depth qualitative approach to explore 9 UK-based applied sport psychologists’ perceptions and experiences. Three superordinate themes emerged: literature underpinning professional practice, the importance of the sport setting and context, and the need for professional judgment. The study provides a valuable insight into the influences on sport psychologists’ behavior, the role this plays when advising elite performers on allocation of their thought processes, and how such advice is operationalized and applied.     

A tool for measuring stress tolerance in elite athletes

The purpose of this investigation was to explore the nature of pre-performance routines used in golf. Six male international golfers were recruited to participate in this study (Age M = 29; handicap M = +1.5; years playing golf M = 16.25). The golfers were interviewed individually to gain an understanding of participants’ perceptions of the nature and function of their pre-performance routines. The data were thematically analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. In total, 9 super-ordinate themes emerged: allocation of attention, psychological skills, shot selection, routine mind set, routine composition, compulsive behaviors, routine evolution/application, top players, and moderating factors. Results suggest that the development of routines is dependent on the personality, coping resources, and situational appraisals of each individual performer.     

How job characteristics relate to need satisfaction and autonomous motivation: implications for work effort

To explore the motivational potential of job design, we linked job demands and job resources, as defined in the job demands–resources model, to the motivational process defined in self‐determination theory. Specifically, we introduced basic need satisfaction and autonomous motivation as consecutive process variables mediating the relationship between job design and work effort. We tested this model by means of structural equation modeling in a sample of 689 employees. The comparison of several competing models provided support for the hypothesized model. We conclude that job demands thwart and job resources promote the fulfillment of 3 psychological needs. High levels of need satisfaction, in turn, are associated with autonomous motivation and, therefore, with high levels of effort.     

Combined Effects of Positive and Negative Affectivity and Job Satisfaction on Job Performance and Turnover Intentions

Capturing data from employee–supervisor dyads (N = 321) from eight organizations in Pakistan, including human service organizations, an electronics assembly plant, a packaging material manufacturing company, and a small food processing plant, we used moderated regression analysis to examine whether the relationships between trait affect (positive affectivity [PA] and negative affectivity [NA]) and two key work outcome variables (job performance and turnover) are contingent upon the level of job satisfaction. We applied the Trait Activation Theory to explain the moderating effect of job satisfaction on the relationship between affect and performance and between affect and turnover. Overall, the data supported our hypotheses. Positive and negative affectivity influenced performance and the intention to quit, and job satisfaction moderated these relationships. We discuss in detail the results of these findings and their implications for research and practice.     

Cognitive styles and person–environment fit: Investigating the consequences of cognitive (mis)fit

There is currently considerable interest in the key elements of person–environment fit to understand vocational behaviour and to develop strategic human resource management practices. In the light of this interest, we wanted to investigate (1) whether people within similar functions have similar cognitive styles, and (2) what the consequences of cognitive (mis)fit are on three work attitudes, using two large-scale databases (N = 24,267 and N = 2,182). We identified a knowing-oriented cognitive climate in finance, information technology (IT), and research and development (R&D) functions; a planning-oriented cognitive climate in administrative and technical and production functions; and a creating-oriented cognitive climate in sales and marketing functions and general management. Furthermore, we found that the relationship between people's cognitive styles and work attitudes (i.e., job satisfaction, job search behaviour, and intention to leave) does not depend on the cognitive climate in which they work. However, we did find that people with a higher creating style on average score higher on intention to leave and job search behaviour in comparison with people who score lower on the creating style, irrespective of the cognitive climate they are working in. The cognitive climate also partially affects job satisfaction and intention to leave after controlling for cognitive styles. In summary, cognitive styles and cognitive climate seem to have separate influences on people's work attitudes. Our findings are relevant for selection and recruitment policies of organizations and in the context of training, job design, and workforce planning.