Adaptive Tasks in Multiple Sclerosis: Development of an Instrument to Identify the Focus of Patients' Coping Efforts

Objective : Adaptive tasks, referring to the subjective evaluation of disease-related stressors in relation to personal concerns, have been neglected in the extensive literature on coping with chronic disease. In this study, the development of an instrument for measuring adaptive tasks is described: the Questionnaire Adaptive Tasks in Multiple Sclerosis (QuAT-MS). Method : The QuAT-MS is based on a bottom-up categorization of patients' statements on the losses, threats, and challenges brought about by their disease, and employs 10 scales to measure the importance attached to particular disease-related stressors. Validity and reliability of this bottom-up categorization were established in a sample of MS patients ( N = 259) by examining their associations with related concepts relevant in adaptation to disease, such as coping (CISS), coping resources (LOT, self-efficacy), and quality of life (SIP). We also investigated whether patients' backgrounds and disease characteristics were related to adaptive tasks. Results : Adaptive tasks are more closely related with concepts relevant for adaptation (coping and coping resources) than with physical functioning (SIP) and disease-related characteristics (illness duration). Adaptive tasks are also associated with gender and level of education. Conclusion : It is concluded that adaptive tasks can be distinguished from related concepts like coping and quality of life. Furthermore, the QuAT-MS offers a reliable and patient-centred instrument for measuring the tasks which MS patients identify in their adaptation process.     

Self-Determination Theory and Motivational Interviewing: Complementary Models to Elicit Voluntary Engagement by Partner-Abusive Men

Research examining intimate partner violence (IPV) has lacked a comprehensive theoretical framework for understanding and treating behavior. The authors propose two complementary models, a treatment approach (Motivational Interviewing, MI) informed by a theory (Self-Determination Theory; SDT), as a way of integrating existing knowledge and suggesting new directions in intervening early with IPV perpetrators. MI is a client-centered clinical intervention intended to assist in strengthening motivation to change and has been widely implemented in the substance abuse literature. SDT is a theory that focuses on internal versus external motivation and considers elements that impact optimal functioning and psychological well-being. These elements include psychological needs, integration of behavioral regulations, and contextual influences on motivation. Each of these aspects of SDT is described in detail and in the context of IPV etiology and intervention using motivational interviewing.     

The Dark Triad and risk behavior

The Dark Triad traits—Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy—are theorized to facilitate short-term, exploitative social tactics. Thus, the Dark Triad traits should be positively related to (a) similar short-term-focused traits such as impulsivity and sensation-seeking, and (b) risky behaviors. In two studies (N > 1400), we examined the relationships among the Dark Triad traits and impulsivity and sensation-seeking. In Study 2, we incorporated risk behaviors, including blackjack betting and temporal discounting of money. Both studies showed positive relationships among the Dark Triad traits and impulsivity and sensation-seeking. Study 2 showed positive relationships among the Dark Triad traits, blackjack betting, and steeper temporal discounting. An experimentally manipulated ego threat in Study 2 marginally moderated the narcissism–discounting relationship; ego-threatened participants had a significantly positive relationship, whereas those who were not threatened showed no relationship. We discuss implications of the Dark Triad traits for understanding risk behavior.     

Not Staying Home: The Experience of Uzbek Women Crisis Counselors and Therapists

This study explored the experiences of Uzbek women therapists and counselors working to end violence against women through their involvement in nongovernmental organizations. A content analysis was used, which elicited four themes: (a) participants' early interactions provided them with an awareness of gender injustices that led them into adult leadership roles with the support of family members; (b) motivation to work with nongovernmental organizations developed due to perceived barriers that impeded women's access to resources and personal freedoms; (c) participants struggled with how to create crisis centers without a grassroots foundation and with the limitations placed on them by the Uzbek government; and (d) the paradox of feminism: participants held views of Western feminism that both inspired and disturbed them, resulting in distance from feminist identities but general respect for its philosophies.     

The durability of beneficial health effects associated with expressive writing

Abstract

This study examined the durability of benefits associated with expressive writing. Sixty-eight college undergraduates completed measures of physical and psychological health at the beginning of their first year and were then randomized to either an expressive writing or a control writing condition. Changes in physical health, psychological health (i.e., depression, stress, and anxiety), and academic performance were assessed two, four, and six months later. Findings indicated that participants assigned to the expressive writing condition reported less depression symptom severity at the two-month follow-up assessment relative to participants assigned to the control condition. However, these symptom reductions were not observed at any of the subsequent follow-up assessments. No significant changes were reported for physical health complaints, stress symptoms, anxiety symptoms, or academic performance. These findings suggest that, among first-year college students, expressive writing may provide some short-term relief for certain symptoms.     

Emotional regulation as a mediator between interpersonal mistreatment and distress

Theory and research from the emotional labour literature focusing on mistreatment of employees by customers were used to examine interpersonal mistreatment by customers, coworkers, and supervisors. Specifically, we examined the relationships between all three of these sources of interpersonal mistreatment and psychological distress. We also examine the possibility that emotional regulation strategies mediated these relationships. In Study 1, we focused on surface acting as the mediating emotional regulation strategy. Using a sample of 256 working adults, the results of that study found a mediating role for surface acting between mistreatment and distress for mistreatment by customers and coworkers but not supervisors. In Study 2, we included measures of both deep acting and surface acting as potential mediators between sources of mistreatment and distress. Using a sample of 138 working adults, this second study again found that surface acting mediated the relationship between mistreatment and distress for mistreatment by customers and coworkers but not supervisors. Further, deep acting did not mediate any of the relationships between sources of mistreatment and psychological distress. We conclude surface acting plays an important mediating role in the relationship between interpersonal mistreatment by both customers and coworkers, and psychological distress.     

Prevalence and forms of bullying among business professionals: A comparison of two different strategies for measuring bullying

The aim of this study was to analyse the prevalence and forms of workplace bullying among business professionals holding predominantly managerial or expert positions. A cross-sectional survey study was conducted among Finnish professionals with a university degree in business studies. In the study two different strategies for measuring bullying were used and compared. When provided a definition of bullying, 8.8% of the respondents reported that they had at least occasionally been bullied during the past 12 months. However, when using a slightly modified version of the Negative Acts Questionnaire (Einarsen & Hoel, 2001), containing a list of 32 predefined negative and potentially harassing acts, as many as 24.1% of the respondents reported that they had been subjected to at least one of the negative acts on a weekly basis. The respondents had experienced predominantly work-related negative acts, e.g., that their opinions and views were ignored, that they were given unreasonable deadlines, or that information was withheld. Although the prevalence rates reported with the two strategies varied considerably, there was still consistency between the two strategies in the sense that those who had classified themselves as bullied also reported higher exposure rates to almost all of the negative acts included.     

Redesigning work through idiosyncratic deals

This study links idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) to job design theory. It investigates the impact of individually negotiated job changes on performance, self-efficacy, and psychological strain through their intervening effects on work design. Based on a sample of 187 health care professionals employed by a hospital in Germany, three types of work design-related i-deals were investigated: (1) task, (2) career, and (3) flexibility i-deals. Consistent with hypotheses, the three types of i-deal had differential effects on work characteristics, and each in turn related to different outcomes. Specifically, job autonomy mediated the task i-deals—job performance relationship; skill acquisition mediated the career i-deals—occupational self-efficacy relationship; and reduced work overload mediated the flexibility i-deals—emotional and affective irritation relationships. Leader–Member Exchange was confirmed as an antecedent of all three types of i-deals. Task, career, and flexibility i-deals are discussed as ways to make work more intrinsically motivating, ensure one’s professional advancement, and balance workplace stressors.     

The effects of an academic environment intervention on science identification among women in STEM

Academic environments can feel unwelcoming for women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. Two studies examined academic environments of female undergraduates majoring in STEM fields at a university in the United States. In Study 1, we compared women in STEM who are in a welcoming environment to those in a traditional STEM environment in order to identify factors that may make environments seem welcoming to women. Women in the welcoming environment received more messages about women in STEM, were more likely to wear or carry markers of their major, and had more peer role models in STEM. In Study 2, we developed an intervention based on these factors to improve women’s implicit beliefs about their participation in STEM. In a sample of women in traditional STEM environments, we manipulated exposure to the intervention and the self-relevance of the intervention. The intervention decreased stereotyping concerns and indirect STEM stereotyping, and it increased implicit STEM identification when the intervention was made self-relevant. This research demonstrates the importance of a welcoming academic environment for women in STEM, and it also provides a model for how key elements of intensive university programs targeting women can be translated into a more general approach that reaches a wider audience.