Caregiver burnout among intimate partners of patients with a severe illness: An equity perspective

In the present study, caregiver burnout among the intimate partners of 106 cancer patients and 88 patients with multiple sclerosis was assessed. This study examined how burnout is related to marital quality and perceptions of inequity in the relationship. LISREL analyses showed that higher perceptions of inequity are strongly associated with higher emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, and lower feelings of personal accomplishment. Intimate partners of both cancer patients and patients with multiple sclerosis are relatively likely to experience burnout when they feel that they do not invest or benefit enough in the exchange with their ill partner. The relationship between inequity and burnout held when general marital quality, gender, the duration of the illness, the physical and psychological condition of the ill partner, and support from other persons were controlled for. This study shows that perceptions of equity or balance in the relationship between patients and their intimate partners are important for preventing caregiver burnout and for enhancing positive caregiver experiences.     

Effects of tobacco use on non-adherence to antiretroviral therapy among HIV-positive patients in South Africa

This study aimed to estimate the relationship between tobacco use and non-adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) in a South African sample. Participants were 1 963 HIV patients who attended a primary care clinic in Pretoria (female = 68.5%; black African = 99.5%; median age = 37.0 years; tobacco users only = 8.6%, problem drinkers only = 14.9%, and tobacco users and problem drinkers = 10.5%). In adjusted logistic regression analysis, tobacco use only was not significantly associated with non-adherence to ART. Alcohol use only (OR: 1.72; CI: 1.26, 2.36) and tobacco use and problem drinking (OR: 2.31; CI: 1.60, 3.33) were highly associated with non-adherence to ART.     

The Role of Perceived Employability,Core Self-Evaluations,and Job Resources on Health and Turnover Intentions

According to Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, this study investigated the explanatory role of perceived employability, over and above core self-evaluations (CSE) and job resources, in relation to different aspects of health (physical and mental) and turnover intentions. Based on data obtained from a sample of 274 Romanian blue-collar employees (59.5% men), hierarchical multiple regressions revealed that perceived employability adds a significant variance compared to variance due to CSE and job resources with respect to aspects of health and turnover. The results highlight the role of perceived employability in health – on an individual level, and in decisions to leave the organization – on an organizational level. The findings are of value because they inform organizations how to design human resources strategies in order to retain a healthy workforce.     

The role of pain behaviour and family caregiver responses in the link between pain catastrophising and pain intensity: A moderated mediation model

Objectives: This study investigated the mediating role of pain behaviours in the association between pain catastrophising and pain intensity and explored the moderating role of family caregivers’ responses to pain in the link between pain behaviours and pain intensity.

Methods: The sample consisted of 154 chronic pain patients and their family caregivers. Patients completed questionnaires regarding pain intensity, pain catastrophising, pain behaviours and their caregivers’ responses to their pain. Family caregivers reported their responses to the patients’ pain.

Results: Pain catastrophising was associated with pain intensity (r = 0.37) and pain behaviours partly mediated this association. The positive association between pain behaviours and pain intensity was significant only if patients reported that their family caregivers showed high levels of solicitous (effect = .49) and distracting responses (effect = .58), and if caregivers reported to show high levels of solicitous responses (effect = .51). No support was found for negative responses as a moderator neither based on patients’ perception of negative responses nor based on caregivers’ perception of negative responses.

Conclusions: The findings are in line with the idea that family caregivers’ solicitous and distracting responses convey to patients that their condition is serious, which may reinforce patients’ pain and pain behaviours, especially in those who catastrophise.     

Arithmetic split effects reflect strategy selection: an adult age comparative study in addition comparison and verification tasks.

We tested whether split effects in arithmetic (i.e., better performance on large-split problems, like 3 + 8 = 16, than on small-split problems, like 3 + 8 = 12) reflect decision processing or strategy selection. To achieve this end, we tested performance of younger and older adults, matched on arithmetic skills, on two arithmetic tasks: the addition/number comparison task (e.g., 4 + 8, 13; which item is the larger?) and in the inequality verification task (e.g., 4 + 8 < 13; Yes/No?). In both tasks, split between additions and proposed numbers were manipulated. We also manipulated the difficulty of the additions, which represents an index of arithmetic fact calculation (i.e., hard problems, like 6 + 8 < 15, are solved more slowly than easy problems, like 2 + 4 < 07, suggesting that calculation takes longer). Analyses of latencies revealed three main results: First, split effects were of smaller magnitude in older adults compared to younger adults, whatever the type of arithmetic task; second, split effects were of smaller magnitude on easy problems; and third, calculation processes were well maintained in older adults with high level of arithmetic skills. This set of results improves our understanding of cognitive aging and strategy selection in arithmetic.     

The Jekyll and Hyde of emotional intelligence: emotion-regulation knowledge facilitates both prosocial and interpersonally deviant behavior

Does emotional intelligence promote behavior that strictly benefits the greater good, or can it also advance interpersonal deviance? In the investigation reported here, we tested the possibility that a core facet of emotional intelligence--emotion-regulation knowledge--can promote both prosocial and interpersonally deviant behavior. Drawing from research on how the effective regulation of emotion promotes goal achievement, we predicted that emotion-regulation knowledge would strengthen the effects of other-oriented and self-oriented personality traits on prosocial behavior and interpersonal deviance, respectively. Two studies supported our predictions. Among individuals with higher emotion-regulation knowledge, moral identity exhibited a stronger positive association with prosocial behavior in a social dilemma (Study 1), and Machiavellianism exhibited a stronger positive association with interpersonal deviance in the workplace (Study 2). Thus, emotion-regulation knowledge has a positive side and a dark side.     

Mantra: an open method for object and movement tracking

Mantra is a free and open-source software package for object tracking. It is specifically designed to be used as a tool for response collection in psychological experiments and requires only a computer and a camera (a webcam is sufficient). Mantra is compatible with widely used software for creating psychological experiments. In Experiments 1 and 2, we validated the spatial and temporal precision of Mantra in realistic experimental settings. In Experiments 3 and 4, we validated the spatial precision and accuracy of Mantra more rigorously by tracking a computer controlled physical stimulus and stimuli presented on a computer screen.     

Report on the Advanced Research and Training Seminars (ARTS) 2010

The 2010 Advanced Research and Training Seminars (ARTS) program is described, with a history of the ARTS program, its reorganization in 2009, and implementation in 2010. ARTS is held every two years at a major international congress, and is designed to enhance research skills, promote attendance at international congresses, and provide networking possibilities for scholars from developing countries. From over 85 applicants, 46 psychologists from 18 countries, with a median age of 34, were selected to participate in one of three ARTS seminars, held in Melbourne, Australia in the summer of 2010. Each seminar was evaluated by participants and conveners. Program details and future directions are discussed.