A Comparison of Expert Ratings and Self-Assessments of Situation Awareness During a Combat Fatigue Course

The current study compared expert-observer ratings of situation awareness (SA) with subjective self-ratings of SA in Norwegian military academy cadets during a summer combat survival course. The cadets (N?=?30) completed an 8-day combat survival course characterized by sleep and food deprivation, continuous operations, and altered circadian entrainment cues. Results indicated that self-ratings of SA did not correlate consistently with expert-observer SA ratings, and self-ratings were consistently higher than expert-observer ratings. The results are congruent with expected effects of these extreme conditions on cognition and self-awareness, demonstrate a pronounced self-enhancement bias and suggest that subjective measures of SA are not likely to provide valid estimates of SA under extreme conditions.     

Critical Theory as an Approach to the Ethics of Information Security

Information security can be of high moral value. It can equally be used for immoral purposes and have undesirable consequences. In this paper we suggest that critical theory can facilitate a better understanding of possible ethical issues and can provide support when finding ways of addressing them. The paper argues that critical theory has intrinsic links to ethics and that it is possible to identify concepts frequently used in critical theory to pinpoint ethical concerns. Using the example of UK electronic medical records the paper demonstrates that a critical lens can highlight issues that traditional ethical theories tend to overlook. These are often linked to collective issues such as social and organisational structures, which philosophical ethics with its typical focus on the individual does not tend to emphasise. The paper suggests that this insight can help in developing ways of researching and innovating responsibly in the area of information security.     

Early drinking onset: A study of prevalence and determinants among 13‐year‐old adolescents in Norway

Early drinking onset is associated with different psychosocial adjustment problems among adolescents. The aim of this study was to assess determinants associated with early drinking and to identify factors predicting early drinking onset among adolescents. The study included 1,550 eighth‐graders with a mean age of 13.5 years from 41 schools. A total of 24% (boys 29%, girls 19%) had ever drunk alcohol, while 14% had drunk some alcohol in the last 30 days. Further, early drinking was associated with gender, religion, school performance, smoking and bullying in the bivariate tests. Predictors of early drinking onset were identified by generalized linear mixed models with two multivariable models created. The first model included social and environmental variables. Entering intentions, expectancies, attitudes and norms into the multivariable analysis resulted in a significant improvement of the model fit constituting 86% in the second model. The percentage correctly classified those (56%) who had been drinking in the second model which was two times higher compared to the first model. Gender, religion and smoking emerged as significant predictors of drinking in both models.     

Risks and realities: dyadic interaction between 6-month-old infants and their mothers in opioid maintenance treatment

A number of studies point to methadone exposure in utero as a possible risk factor in the developing mother–infant relationship in the first year of life. This study is part of a larger, national follow-up of 38 infants prenatally exposed to methadone or buprenorphine and 36 comparison, low-risk infants. The aim of the present paper is to assess the quality of mother–infant relationship when the infants are 6 months old. Videotaped mother–infant interactions were rated in a global scale (NICHD). Maternal and infant contributions collapsed into the variables “infant style” and “maternal style” showed that the only factor making significant contribution to the outcome measure “dyadic mutuality” was maternal style. The importance of group membership (exposed versus non-exposed), was reduced when controlling for maternal drug use prior to opioid maintenance treatment (OMT), maternal depression and parenting stress as well as infants’ developmental status and sensory-integrative functions. This suggests that prediction of dyadic mutuality should be based on individual characteristics rather than group characteristics. These results support previous research findings that methadone and buprenorphine use per se does not have direct influence on the quality of early mother–infant relationship, but tailored follow-up procedures targeting drug-free pregnancies and parenting support are beneficial for women in OMT and their children.     

Neuropsychological function and past exposure to metallic mercury in female dental workers

The aim of this study was to see if dental personnel with previous exposure to metallic mercury have later developed disturbances in cognitive function. Ninety-one female participants who had been selected from a previous health survey of dental personnel were investigated neuropsychologically within the following domains: motor function, short-term memory, working memory, executive function, mental flexibility, and visual and verbal long-term memory. The scores were mainly within normal ranges. Relationships between an exposure score, the duration of employment before 1990, and previously measured mercury in urine as independent variables and the neuropsychological findings as dependent variables, were analyzed by multiple linear regression controlling for age, general ability, length of education, alcohol consumption, and previous head injuries. The only relationship that was statistically significant in the hypothesized direction was between the previously measured urine mercury values and visual long-term memory, where the urine values explained 30% of the variability. As the study had a low statistical power and also some other methodological limitations, the results have to be interpreted with caution. Even so, we think it is right to conclude that neuropsychological findings indicative of subsequent cognitive injuries are difficult to find in groups of otherwise healthy dental personnel with previous occupational exposure to mercury.     

A prototypicality validation of the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality model (CAPP)

Cooke and colleagues recently developed the lexically based model of psychopathy named the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality (CAPP, Cooke, Hart, Logan, & Michie, 2004). The current study was the first to evaluate aspects of the validity of a translated version of the CAPP model, which comprises 33 symptoms from six domains of personality functioning. Prototypicality ratings from 796 Norwegian community residents, forensic mental health professionals, and corrections professionals were obtained. Most CAPP symptoms were evaluated as highly prototypical of psychopathy by all three groups. Symptoms from the Self, Dominance, and Attachment domains were perceived as more prototypical than those from the Behavioral domain. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) indicated that two CAPP domains were unidimensional whereas evidence of unidimensionality was somewhat weaker for the other domains, but improved substantially after removal of problematic symptoms. Overall, the findings support the content validity of the CAPP model. This may have relevance to the current considerations regarding reformulation of the criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder in DSM-V.     

Bullying is detrimental to health, but all bullying behaviours are not necessarily equally damaging

The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of 'negative behaviours' and 'bullying' in the workplace on the health and well-being of employees, to what extent the effects remain beyond the period of the experience as well as the extent to which they affect third-parties or witnesses. The paper also raises the question whether some behaviours associated with bullying may be more damaging than others. Potential sex differences and differences between occupational contexts are considered. To achieve these aims, a national cross-sectional study (N=5,388) was carried out. In absolute terms those who labelled their experience as bullying had substantially worse health than those who were not bullied. However, counter to what was expected, stronger associations were found between negative behaviour and adverse health effects than for self-reported (self-labelled) bullying and health. Previous targets as well as witnesses also reported worse health than those who were neither bullied nor had witnessed bullying. The findings also imply that some negative behaviours were more difficult to deal with than others. In all cases differences between the sexes and between occupational contexts emerged.     

Exploring client contribution in a cognitive intervention for test anxiety

Aim: To study client contributions in cognitive therapy. Specifically, to study ways of making an intervention against test anxiety work, based on interviews with 32 test‐anxious university students. Method: Interviews after their first examination following the intervention were analysed using a thematic analysis. Results: Although most participants reacted positively to the intervention, concerns emerged that adopting positive self‐statements might be deceptive. Concerns about the untruthfulness of positive self‐statements led clients to generate several possible resolutions, namely, to examine flaws in negative self‐statements, to realise that there is more than one realistic way to construe things, to consider the evidence in the form of reduced anxiety, to consider manageable steps, and to seek interpersonal validation of positive self‐statements. Conclusions: The results offer concrete resolutions developed by clients that might be useful for other clients who have reservations about positive self‐statements.