The Role of Existential Beliefs Within the Relation of Centenarians’ Health and Well-Being

The purpose of this study was to explore the role of existential beliefs in mediating the influence of health on centenarians’ well-being. A total of 80 centenarians (mean age 101.1; SD = 1.3; 81.3 % women) with no/minor cognitive impairment were included. The OARS questionnaire for diseases and functional capacity (ADL, IADL), the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the existential beliefs subscale were used for data collection. The findings suggest that existential resources are a crucial element for mitigating the impact of health constraints in subjective well-being in this population. Appropriate models of intervention for very old age that recognize the importance of religion, spirituality, and meaning of life are to be considered.     

Relieving career anxiety and indecision: the role of undergraduate students’ perceived control and faculty affiliations

As educators and mentors, we often focus on helping undergraduate students make career decisions. However, there is also value in helping alleviate career anxiety and indecision, both of which impede decision-making and are not automatically resolved once a decision is made. This research examined the role of individual differences (age, gender, and perceived control) and learning environment variables (year in university, participation in an orientation program, and faculty affiliations) as predictors of undergraduates’ (n = 844) career-related anxiety and indecision. Traditional individual difference variables like age and gender had little effect whereas perceived control (primary and secondary) predicted lower levels of career anxiety and indecision. The outcomes were not influenced by environmental factors such as year in university or completion of an orientation program, but students’ self-reported faculty affiliation had significant effects. Students who were not affiliated with any specific faculty reported more indecision than students in arts, science, and professional faculties. Likewise, students in professional faculties had less career anxiety and career indecision than arts students. The implications of these results for potential interventions and future research are discussed.     

On the role of hippocampal protein synthesis in the consolidation and reconsolidation of object recognition memory

Upon retrieval, consolidated memories are again rendered vulnerable to the action of metabolic blockers, notably protein synthesis inhibitors. This has led to the hypothesis that memories are reconsolidated at the time of retrieval, and that this depends on protein synthesis. Ample evidence indicates that the hippocampus plays a key role both in the consolidation and reconsolidation of different memories. Despite this fact, at present there are no studies about the consequences of hippocampal protein synthesis inhibition in the storage and post-retrieval persistence of object recognition memory. Here we report that infusion of the protein synthesis inhibitor anisomycin in the dorsal CA1 region immediately or 180 min but not 360 min after training impairs consolidation of long-term object recognition memory without affecting short-term memory, exploratory behavior, anxiety state, or hippocampal functionality. When given into CA1 after memory reactivation in the presence of familiar objects, ANI did not affect further retention. However, when administered into CA1 immediately after exposing animals to a novel and a familiar object, ANI impaired memory of both of them. The amnesic effect of ANI was long-lasting, did not happen after exposure to two novel objects, following exploration of the context alone, or in the absence of specific stimuli, suggesting that it was not reversible but was contingent on the reactivation of the consolidated trace in the presence of a salient, behaviorally relevant novel cue. Our results indicate that hippocampal protein synthesis is required during a limited post-training time window for consolidation of object recognition memory and show that the hippocampus is engaged during reconsolidation of this type of memory, maybe accruing new information into the original trace.     

The Importance of Assessing for Childhood Abuse and Lifetime PTSD in Bariatric Surgery Candidates

For bariatric surgery candidates, history of child abuse and PTSD may be under-recognized or under-reported at pre-surgical evaluation. On a range of clinically relevant factors, we studied 3045 candidates for bariatric surgery: (1) those with a history of childhood abuse compared to those without such history; and (2) among candidates with a history of abuse, those with a lifetime diagnosis of PTSD compared to those without that diagnosis. We compared them on current and lifetime eating disorders, physical health problems, health behaviors, physical functioning, psychosocial functioning, psychiatric disorders, emotional wellness, body satisfaction, and self-esteem. We hypothesized that patients with a history of childhood abuse, and within that group, those with a lifetime PTSD diagnosis, would display greater overall impairment. Patients were interviewed with semi-structured interviews and completed self-report questionnaires. Results showed that (1) patients with a history of childhood abuse exhibited significantly greater impairment than those without abuse; and (2) among candidates with a history of abuse, those with a lifetime history of PTSD displayed significantly greater impairment than those without a PTSD diagnosis. The findings suggest that a history of both childhood abuse and lifetime PTSD should be thoroughly assessed for at pre-surgical evaluation, and that greater attention be paid to the experience of PTSD symptoms in abuse survivors presenting for bariatric surgery.     

Unpackaging Manager Mistrust in Allowing Telework: Comparing and Integrating Theoretical Perspectives

Purpose

We developed and tested an integrative model centering on the significance of trust as a basis for managers’ decisions about allowing versus prohibiting their employees to telework. We examined the importance of trust in relation to several other factors managers may consider in making telework decisions including coordination and communication, equity, and a desire to accommodate employees.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Study 1 was a policy capturing investigation of 71 respondents intended to document the relative importance and interactions among trust and these other theoretically based factors. Study 2 was a test of the full theoretical model based on the responses of 85 managers who reported on these considerations for the 191 employees about whom they make telework decisions.

Findings

Results from the two studies were largely consistent. Managers’ assessments of employees’ conscientiousness and trustworthiness were paramount in predicting telework allowance, with the other theoretically based considerations generally failing to attenuate the importance of those personal assessments.

Implications

Organizations wishing to increase the use of telework (e.g., by implementing manager telework training) must directly address managers’ mistrust as a factor underlying this resistance. Job-related and technological changes may not dampen the effects of mistrust.

Originality

To our knowledge, this is the most comprehensive and theoretically grounded assessment of the various considerations factoring into managers’ telework decisions.

     

Attributional Retraining: reducing the likelihood of failure

Failing a course is an acutely negative event for first-year university students, and a major contributor to high attrition rates at North American universities. Despite its prevalence, course failure receives relatively little research attention. What can be done to reduce course failure and help first-year students remain in university? This study examined the efficacy of an Attributional Retraining treatment intervention to reduce course failure in an Introductory Psychology course. Attributional Retraining is designed to restructure students’ causal explanations of poor performance by encouraging controllable attributions such as effort and strategy in place of immutable causes such as academic ability or intelligence. Relative to students in the control group, first-year students who received Attributional Retraining were less likely to fail the Introductory Psychology course (14.6% vs. 6.4%). This finding emerged beyond the effects of several well-established predictors of academic outcomes including student background characteristics (i.e., age, gender, and past academic performance) and learning environment variables (student registration status and participation in a first-year orientation program), suggesting the utility of Attributional Retraining for students with varying backgrounds and in different educational contexts. To the extent that Attributional Retraining is effective, inexpensive, and relatively easy to administer it may be a viable option for inclusion in orientation programs designed to reduce course failure and attrition among first-year university students.