How to achieve in elite training centers without burning out? An achievement goal theory perspective

In training centers, the demonstration of high competence is essential and there is considerable emphasis placed on sporting achievement. Athlete burnout can be a consequence of such pressures and expectations. More information is needed regarding the social, environmental and individual differences in achievement-related characteristics which are relevant to the occurrence of burnout in this context.ObjectivesTo examine the relationships among the coach-created climate, perceived competence, achievement goals and burnout in elite adolescent-age athletes.DesignProspective six-month-follow-up.MethodsData were collected from a sample of 309 young French handball players participating in elite training centers. Cluster analysis and structural equation modeling procedures were employed to evaluate the hypotheses.ResultsComprised of differential scores on the dimensions of burnout, four distinct clusters were identified. Athletes in these cluster groups varied in perceptions of the motivational climate, goal orientations, and perceived competence. The structural model regarding the hypothesized relationships between perceived coach climate, perceived competence, achievement goals and athlete burnout, offered good fit to the data.ConclusionsFindings indicated that young talented athletes perceiving an ego-involving climate and emphasizing mastery avoidance goals at the beginning of the season had a higher risk of experiencing burnout symptoms at the season's end. In contrast, players perceiving a high task-involving climate and emphasizing mastery approach goals at the beginning of the season had lower burnout scores when the season concluded. Moreover, players with high feelings of competence, who also report higher scores on performance approach and avoidance goals, higher scores on mastery approach goals and lower scores on mastery avoidance goals, are less likely to experience burnout.     

Eye Gaze Provides a Window on Children's Understanding of Verbal Irony

We investigated how children solve the interpretive problem of verbal irony. Children 5 to 8 years of age and a group of adults were presented with ironic and literal remarks in the context of short puppet shows. The speaker puppet's personality was manipulated as a cue to intent; that is, speakers were described as funny or serious. We measured all participants' interpretations of the remarks and also children's eye gaze and response latencies as they made their interpretations. As expected, children were less accurate than adults in their judgments of speaker intent. Although children took longer to judge speaker intent for ironic remarks than literal remarks, eye gaze data showed no evidence that children had a literal-first bias in their processing of ironic language. Instead, children's eye gaze behavior suggested that they considered an ironic interpretation even in the earliest moments of processing. We argue that these results are most consistent with a parallel constraint satisfaction framework for irony comprehension.     

‘QUIS CUSTODIET?’: WHO HAS ULTIMATE RESPONSIBILITY FOR CONFIDENTIALITY IN MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES?

Confidentiality is a complex and engaging subject. One of the questions I would ask the reader to consider is whether ‘absolute’ confidentiality can truly exist within the analytic relationship and whether it is worth asking the same question in relation to psychotherapy as it is practised within the NHS. Is the position of absolute confidence a noble aspiration or could it be regarded as a rather inflexible stance whose advocates occupy an arrogant and even omnipotent position? This last question deliberately invokes a false dichotomy and I would argue that the clinical reality of working with patients continually dispels the myth that ‘absolute’ confidentiality can exist within the analytic relationship. If we can accept this position, then the stage is set for a potentially more fruitful, if complex, debate about where the line of disclosure lies for individual cases. It would seem timely, in view of the recent publication of the Royal College of Psychiatrists' report Good Psychiatric Practice: Confidentiality & Information Sharing (2006 Royal College of Psychiatrists. 2006. Good Psychiatric Practice: Confidentiality & Information Sharing, London: Royal College of Psychiatrists. Council Report CR133 [Google Scholar]), to reflect upon how the ‘contract’ of confidentiality is drawn up in the apparently dyadic relationship of analytic therapy as practised in the private sector and to consider the particular conflicts and threats to patient confidence posed by the multidisciplinary and highly transparent ways of working that have evolved within modern NHS mental health services.     

Semantic relations differentially impact associative recognition memory: Electrophysiological evidence

Though associative recognition memory is thought to rely primarily on recollection, recent research indicates that familiarity might also make a substantial contribution when to-be-learned items are integrated into a coherent structure by means of an existing semantic relation. It remains unclear how different types of semantic relations, such as categorical (e.g., dancer–singer) and thematic (e.g., dancer–stage) relations might affect associative recognition, however. Using event-related potentials (ERPs), we addressed this question by manipulating the type of semantic link between paired words in an associative recognition memory experiment. An early midfrontal old/new effect, typically linked to familiarity, was observed across the relation types. In contrast, a robust left parietal old/new effect was found in the categorical condition only, suggesting a clear contribution of recollection to associative recognition for this kind of pairs. One interpretation of this pattern is that familiarity was sufficiently diagnostic for associative recognition of thematic relations, which could result from the integrative nature of the thematic relatedness compared to the similarity-based nature of categorical pairs. The present study suggests that the extent to which recollection and familiarity are involved in associative recognition is at least in part determined by the properties of semantic relations between the paired associates.     

The use of a wearable camera improves autobiographical memory in patients with Alzheimer's disease

Despite the marked impairment of recent episodic memories in Alzheimer's disease, there have been few attempts to rehabilitate these deficits. We used a novel external memory aid to promote recall of episodic memories in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. SenseCam, a small wearable camera, recorded significant events in the lives of six Alzheimer's disease patients. Every two days for two weeks each patient's memory for an event was assessed, followed by a structured review of the SenseCam images. Longer-term recall was tested one and three months later. A written diary control condition followed the same procedure. Across 40 events the SenseCam review method resulted in significantly more details of an event being recalled over two weeks than the written diary method in five out of the six patients. At three months post event, four out of five patients (one had dropped out) recalled significantly more details of events in the SenseCam condition while the other patient showed no significant difference. Viewing SenseCam images of personally experienced events may significantly improve autobiographical memory in patients with even moderate Alzheimer's disease.     

When threat to society becomes a threat to oneself: Implications for right‐wing attitudes and ethnic prejudice

The relationships between threat on one hand and right‐wing attitudes and ethnic prejudice on the other were investigated in a heterogeneous sample (N = 588). Specifically, we considered the perception of economic and terroristic threats in terms of their consequences at the societal and personal levels. Previous studies revealed that societal consequences of threat, rather than personal consequences, are related to right‐wing attitudes. However, the present results challenge these findings. More specifically, three important results emerged. First, items probing the distinct threat levels loaded on separate dimensions for economic and terroristic threat, validating the distinction between societal and personal threat consequences. Second, consistent with previous research, this study revealed that perceived societal consequences of threat yield strong and robust relationships with all target variables. However, personal consequences of threat were also associated with higher levels of right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA), social dominance orientation (SDO), and ethnic prejudice in particular. Third, societal and personal consequences of threat interacted in explaining the target variables. More specifically, feeling personally threatened by terrorism was only related to higher levels of RWA in the presence of low levels of threat to society, whereas experiencing personal economic threat was only related to higher levels of SDO and ethnic prejudice when high societal economic threat was experienced. In sum, although the perception of societal consequences of threat plays a prominent role in explaining right‐wing attitudes and ethnic prejudice, the perception of being personally affected by threat is also associated with higher levels of RWA and SDO, and especially ethnic prejudice.     

Developmental changes in effects of risk and valence on adolescent decision-making

Recent research on risky decision-making in adults has shown that both the risk in potential outcomes and their valence (i.e., whether those outcomes involve gains or losses) exert dissociable influences on decisions. We hypothesised that the influences of these two crucial decision variables (risk and valence) on decision-making would vary developmentally during adolescence. We adapted a risk-taking paradigm that provides precise metrics for the impacts of risk and valence. Decision-making in 11–16 year old female adolescents was influenced by both risk and valence. However, their influences assumed different developmental patterns: the impact of valence diminished with age, while there was no developmental change in the impact of risk. These different developmental patterns provide further evidence that risk and valence are fundamentally dissociable constructs and have different influences on decisions across adolescence.     

‘So many women suffer in silence’: a thematic analysis of women’s written accounts of coping with endometriosis

Abstract

Objective: To understand women’s experiences of coping with endometriosis, and impact on their lives.

Design: Women accessed an online questionnaire through a U.K.-based endometriosis charity website.

Methods: Thirty-four women, aged 22–56 years, with self-reported medically-diagnosed endometriosis, 30 of whom were White, responded to open-ended questions, analysed using inductive thematic analysis.

Results: Participants spoke about their lives being a constant struggle, where they tried to maintain their personal and working lives whilst dealing with long-term pain. Women had to ‘battle’ for an accurate diagnosis, and had limited faith in health professionals. Coping strategies included avoidance of social events to conserve energy (self-pacing), and avoiding taking painkillers to retain alertness. Women did not feel able to be honest with family and friends about their symptoms, and felt socially isolated and misunderstood.

Conclusions: Implications for health professionals are discussed, including the need for earlier diagnosis and taking women’s symptoms more seriously at referral; understanding the need to conserve energy in the context of long-term pain; that not taking pain medication may be an active choice to retain alertness; and that avoiding being honest with friends and family and subsequent feelings of isolation may be common experiences relevant to designing treatment programmes.