The Influence of Change-Oriented Leadership and Psychological Safety on Team Learning in Healthcare Teams

Purpose

Researchers have identified team learning as an important predictor of team performance. In healthcare organizations, it is especially critical for care quality and hospital performance that teams engage in learning behaviors to reduce errors and improve service effectiveness. The main objective of this study is to examine the role of change-oriented leadership in the learning process and outcomes of healthcare teams.

Design/Methodology/Approach

The sample comprises a total of 698 healthcare professionals working in 107 teams at different public hospitals throughout Spain. Members of teams were invited to participate voluntarily by completing an anonymous individual questionnaire.

Findings

The results show a mediating effect of team learning on the relationship between change-oriented leadership and team performance and psychological safety and team performance.

Originality/Value

Our study contributes to the literature by investigating the role of change-oriented leadership in facilitating team learning behaviors. Moreover, this study advances our understanding of the mediators of the relationship between team leadership and outcomes by testing to assess whether specific change-oriented leader behaviors nurture psychological safety, team learning and, therefore, performance.

     

THE <Emphasis Type="Italic">DEAD-LIVING-MOTHER</Emphasis>: MARIE BONAPARTE’S INTERPRETATION OF EDGAR ALLAN POE’S SHORT STORIES

Princess Marie Bonaparte is an important figure in the history of psychoanalysis, remembered for her crucial role in arranging Freud’s escape to safety in London from Nazi Vienna, in 1938. This paper connects us to Bonaparte’s work on Poe’s short stories. Founded on concepts of Freudian theory and an exhaustive review of the biographical facts, Marie Bonaparte concluded that the works of Edgar Allan Poe drew their most powerful inspirational force from the psychological consequences of the early death of the poet’s mother. In Bonaparte’s approach, which was powerfully influenced by her recognition of the impact of the death of her own mother when she was born—an understanding she gained in her analysis with Freud—the thesis of the dead-living-mother achieved the status of a paradigmatic key to analyze and understand Poe’s literary legacy. This paper explores the background and support of this hypothesis and reviews Bonaparte’s interpretation of Poe’s most notable short stories, in which extraordinary female figures feature in the narrative.     

The location of the Trait Emotional Intelligence in the Zuckerman's Personality Model space and the role of General Intelligence and social status

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between Emotional Intelligence (EI) measured by the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue) and personality measured by the Zuckerman‐Kuhlman‐Aluja Personality Questionnaire (ZKA‐PQ) with the purpose of analyzing similarities and differences of both psychological constructs. Additionally, we studied the relationship among EI, personality, General Intelligence (GI) and a social position index (SPI). Results showed that the ZKA‐PQ predicts the 66% (facets) and the 64% (factors) of the TEIQue. High scores in EI correlated negatively with Neuroticism (r: –0.66) and Aggressiveness (r: –0.27); and positively with Extraversion (r: 0.62). Oblique factorial analyses demonstrated that TEIQue scales were located basically in the Neuroticism and Extraversion factors. The SPI and GI no loaded in any factor. These findings showed that EI is a not a distinct construct of personality and it cannot be isolated in the ZKA‐PQ personality space. GI is related with the SPI (r: 0.26), and EI correlated with GI (r: 0.18) and SPI (r: 0.16). Nevertheless, we found differences between GI high groups and the TEIQue and ZKA‐PQ factors when controlling age and sex. These findings are discussed in the individual differences context.     

Intelligence impairment, personality features and psychopathology disturbances in a family affected with CADASIL

Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is a small-vessel disease of the brain that is characterized by headache, recurring lacunar strokes, mood changes and progressive cognitive deterioration. The disease is transmitted with an autosomal dominant pattern and usually starts during midadulthood (at 30-50 years of age). Cognitive deficits in patients with CADASIL develop slowly. The dementia causes frontal-like symptoms and it typically develops after a history of recurrent stroke. We describe three patients from one Spanish family affected by this disease. All three cases underwent comprehensive clinical and neuropsychological examination, and were monitored for seven years. The results obtained in this study describe a) a significant loss of the intelligence quotient (IQ) and noticeable damage to abstract ability (g factor), b) mood and psychopathological disturbances (major depression and dysthymia), and c) a personality with neurotic features.     

Psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Running Addiction Scale (RAS)

Despite the growing number of Spanish people who organize their lives to prepare and participate in marathons, bringing to it a very committed lifestyle that, sometimes, go in detriment of their own health. In this instrumental paper, we the adaptation and testing of the psychometric properties of the Running Addiction Scale (RAS) in Spanish. To this end, we conducted two independent studies. The aim of the first was to present the first preliminary psychometric data (pilot sample of 174 marathon runners). Explained the process of translation, adaptation and content validity of items, we carried out a statistical analysis of these, an exploration of dimensional structure and analysis of the reliability of the instrument. In the second study (sample of 975 marathon runners), the aim was to analyze the internal structure of the instrument with confirmatory procedures. The Spanish version of the RAS showed acceptable levels of internal consistency, temporal stability, inter-item correlations and total scale score. Also provides evidences of construct validity. Slight differences were obtained by sex and age. These findings support the use of the Spanish version of RAS to assess individual differences in negative addiction to running.     

The classification of Spanish adolescents based on substance consumption patterns and the analysis of the relationships within their social developmental contexts

This research is part of the 2006 edition of the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. The data presented were composed of a sample of 15942 Spanish adolescents ranging from 13 to 18 years of age. The instruments used included a variety of questions related to substance consumption among adolescents, their bio-psycho-social adjustment and developmental contexts, all of which are part of the HBSC study instrument bank. Through classification analysis, as well as significance and effect size tests, we obtained relevant information about the current epidemiology of substance consumption among Spanish adolescents. These results are representative of the Spanish adolescent population which allows the typical risk profile attributed to young people to be clarified. A gradual adjustment can be seen in terms of substance consumption levels in youth and that same level in their friends. Likewise, the analysis of the developmental context (family, friends and school) provides important information when it comes to preventing substance consumption, thus showing the advantages that coherence and connection have between the different environments where youth live, grow up and develop.     

Racial dialogues: challenges faculty of color face in the classroom

Research on the experiences of faculty of color in predominantly White institutions (PWIs) suggests that they often experience the campus climate as invalidating, alienating, and hostile. Few studies, however, have actually focused on the classroom experiences of faculty of color when difficult racial dialogues occur. Using Consensually Qualitative Research, eight faculty of color were interviewed about their experiences in the classroom when racially tinged topics arose. Three major findings emerged. First, difficult racial dialogues were frequently instigated by the presence of racial microaggressions delivered toward students of color or the professor. Dialogues on race were made more difficult when the classrooms were diverse, when heated emotions arose, when there was a strong fear of self-disclosure, and when racial perspectives differed. Second, all faculty experienced an internal struggle between balancing their own values and beliefs with an attempt to remain objective. This conflict was often described as exhausting and energy-depleting. Third, faculty of color described both successful and unsuccessful strategies in facilitating difficult dialogues on race that arose in the course of their teaching. These findings have major implications for how PWIs can develop new programs, policies, and practices that will aid and support colleagues of color.     

Development of a new fear of hypoglycemia scale: FH-15

Hypoglycemia is the most common adverse event associated with insulin treatment in diabetes. The consequences of hypoglycemia can be quite aversive and potentially life threatening. The physical sequelae provide ample reason for patients to fear hypoglycemia and avoid episodes. For these reasons, our purpose in this study was to develop a new measure that explores specific fear of hypoglycemia (FH) in adult patients with type 1 diabetes and to examine its psychometric properties. The instrument developed to assess FH was initially made up of 20 items, of which 18 were negative and 2 were positive, assessed on a 5-point Likert scale (1-5). This scale was completed by 229 patients with type 1 diabetes. Additionally, a structured interview and a closed question called subjective fear of hypoglycemia were included as diagnostic criteria. A factor analysis employing the principal-components method and promax rotation was carried out, resulting in a new scale composed of 15 items. Three factors (fear, avoidance, and interference) were obtained and explained 58.27% of the variance. The scale showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = .891) and test-retest reliability (r = .908, p < .001), as well as adequate concurrent and predictive validity. The cutoff score that provided the highest overall sensitivity and specificity was set at 28 points. The Fear of Hypoglycemia 15-item scale (FH-15) demonstrated good reliability and validity. This study suggests that the new instrument may serve as a valuable measure of specific FH for use in research and clinical practice.     

Effectiveness of treatments for social phobia in an applied field

Social phobia is one of the most common disorders and one that requires the most attention from psychological clinics. The aim of this article was to study the effectiveness of psychological treatments in a University Psychological Clinic. Seventy-one social phobia patients requested psychological assistance. The average number of assessment sessions was 3.8 and the average number of treatment sessions was 16.1. Therapeutic success reached 64.2%, withdrawal percentage was 11.3%, and drop-out percentage was 24.5%. The effect size (Cohen's d) achieved in the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale (SAD) and Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (FNE) were 1.96 and 1.78, respectively. Comparing these results with efficacy research (particularly meta-analysis), it has been shown that the treatment effectiveness achieved is very similar. It is concluded that cognitive behavioural treatments for social phobia can be transferred from research settings to clinical practice.     

Accuracy of diagnosis of depression in patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus

This study assesses the clinical accuracy of physicians (Specialists in Endocrinology and Nutrition: SEN) to make the diagnosis of depression in patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1). This study involved 11 SEN physicians, and 153 patients with DM1. The diagnosis of depression was performed using the SCID-1 structured interview and clinical assessment. From the initial sample, 50 patients were randomly selected (imposing the condition that it was included 25 patients with depression and 25 without depression). The results show that clinicians performed a higher percentage of negative diagnoses (patients without depression) than positive ones (patients with depression). A significant percentage of patients with depression were not diagnosed (25%). It therefore seems necessary to provide adequate clinical protocols to evaluate the presence of this disorder in DM1, as well as continuing research into the diagnostic process for clinical decision making.