The Job Demand-Control-Social Support Model and Wellness/Health Outcomes: A European Study

The EUROTEACH study which is reported here, comprised 2796 secondary school teachers from 13 European countries. The study firstly aimed at testing an extended Job Demand-Control-Social support (JDCS) model and checking its gender specificity. While this study failed to provide evidence for the buffer hypothesis derived from the JDCS-model, the strain hypothesis was mostly supported. Additional job conditions tested in this study proved to be important predictors of the outcome variables (emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, personal accomplishment, somatic complaints and job satisfaction) and standard of living indicators also added explained variance in these outcomes. The study proved that the JDCS model cannot be called a male model. Secondly the study looked at the comparability of 3 European regions (South, West, East). Apart from important regional differences in job conditions, standard of living indicators and outcomes, the most important finding is that the JDCS model explains most variance in outcome variables in Western Europe, and the least in Eastern Europe, and thus seems to suffer from a Western bias.     

Training specificity and transfer in time and distance estimation

Learning is often specific to the conditions of training, making it important to identify which aspects of the testing environment are crucial to be matched in the training environment. In the present study, we examined training specificity in time and distance estimation tasks that differed only in the focus of processing (FOP). External spatial cues were provided for the distance estimation task and for the time estimation task in one condition, but not in another. The presence of a concurrent alphabet secondary task was manipulated during training and testing in all estimation conditions in Experiment 1. For distance as well as for time estimation in both conditions, training of the primary estimation task was found to be specific to the presence of the secondary task. In Experiments 2 and 3, we examined transfer between one estimation task and another, with no secondary task in either case. When all conditions were equal aside from the FOP instructions, including the presence of external spatial cues, Experiment 2 showed “transfer” between tasks, suggesting that training might not be specific to the FOP. When the external spatial cues were removed from the time estimation task, Experiment 3 showed no transfer between time and distance estimations, suggesting that external task cues influenced the procedures used in the estimation tasks.     

Crying as a Form of Parent–Infant Communication in the Context of Maternal Depression

In cases of maternal depression certain complex factors interfere with communication with the child. The present study sought to investigate forms of parent–infant communication in families in which the mother was experiencing postpartum depression. Particular emphasis was placed on analysis of crying patterns and on methods employed by parents to soothe the child. The study sample comprised 15 families in which the mother had a diagnosis of postpartum depression. Semi-structured interviews were performed, followed by qualitative content analysis. Results showed that depressed mothers—and, at times, their husbands—reported difficulties in communication with their child, particularly in distinguishing different types of cries and in ways of soothing the infant. Postpartum depression is discussed as a specific diagnosis, beyond its relational aspect, which affects the family as a whole.     

Using the Theory of Gender and Power to Examine Experiences of Partner Violence,Sexual Negotiation,and Risk of HIV/AIDS Among Economically Disadvantaged Women in Southern India

This article uses the Theory of Gender and Power to examine women's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS in order to: understand the vulnerability of female sex workers/poor women due to poverty and lack of educational resources; explore women's vulnerability in the context of client/partner violence, alcohol use, male partner's high-risk behaviors, and women's lack of control in their intimate relationships; and explore the role of traditional heterosexual gender norms in the outcomes of sexual negotiation. Ethnographic data were collected from 32 women and 38 men in India as part of an ongoing National Institute of Mental Health study. Results highlighted women's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS stemming from partner violence, alcohol use, poverty, dangers of sex work environments, and tacit acceptance of cultural/gender norms.     

Identity motives underlying desired and feared possible future selves

Desired and feared possible future selves are important motivators of behavior and provide a temporal context for self-evaluation. Yet little research has examined why people desire some possible selves and fear others. In two studies, we tested the reflection of identity motives for self-esteem, efficacy, meaning, continuity, belonging, and distinctiveness in people's desired and feared possible future selves and in their possible future identity structures. As predicted, participants desired especially those possible futures in which motives for self-esteem, efficacy, meaning, and continuity would be satisfied, and they feared especially those in which the same four motives and, marginally, the motive for distinctiveness would be frustrated. Analyses supported an indirect path from belonging via self-esteem to desire and fear. Desired and feared possible future selves reflect potential satisfaction and frustration of these identity motives.     

中学生心理健康素质特点研究——兼谈心理健康研究中的几个问题

对2506名初中生、高中生的心理健康素质进行测评分析,探讨中学生适应状态与人际素质、个性素质、动力系统、自我、认知风格、归因风格和应对风格的特点及其关系.结果表明,初中生在适应、人际素质、个性素质、动力系统等方面的得分均显著高于高中生;男生的认知风格倾向于依赖场景,比较灵活、独立和有冒险性,归因方式倾向于内在、稳定、可控和整体,女生的动力系统显著强于男生;城市中学生在人际素质、动力系统和自我方面显著高于农村学生,其应对策略和方法比较灵活多变;一般学校学生的适应状态、人际素质和个性素质显著高于重点学校学生;不同类型中学生在心理健康素质各维度构成因子方面也表现出一定差异.提示个性素质、自我、人际素质、应对风格和动力系统等协调发展,对培养和完善中学生心理健康素质,改善适应状态,提高心理健康水平至关重要.     

SA8000企业社会责任的伦理解读

本文认为SA8000没有囊括企业社会责任的全部内容,仅规定了企业的内部社会责任;SA8000不只是发展中国家企业的社会责任,而是全球企业共同的社会责任;SA8000不是强加给企业的负担,它有助于正确处理企业社会责任与企业经济绩效的关系,实现共赢理念.     

语音的自动激活及其在汉字语义通达中的作用

采用Stroop实验范式及其变式研究了语音的自动激活及其在汉字语义通达中的作用。在实验一中,要求被试大声读出汉字的颜色,除了获得经典的Stroop促进效应之外,结果还发现：当汉字颜色对应的读音与汉字读音一致(如红色的“洪”字)时,被试的反应会显著加快。在实验二中,要求被试判断汉字的颜色并按下相应的键,得到了与实验一相似的结果模式。这些结果表明,语音在汉字的识别过程中是自动激活的,并且有助于语义通达。     

Accreditation Standards for University and College Counseling Centers

The accreditation standards outlined in the article are used by the International Association of Counseling Services as the basis for the formal accreditation of college and university counseling programs throughout the United States, Canada, and Australia. They reflect the program elements and practice standards that are deemed essential in a counseling center that provides high‐quality services to students.     

Barking up the wrong tree? Industry funding of academic research

This case raises ethical issues involving conflicts of interest arising from industrial funding of academic research; ethical responsibilities of laboratories to funding agencies; ethical responsibilities in the management of a research lab; ethical considerations in appropriate research design; communication in a research group; communication between advisor and graduate student; responsibilities of researchers for the environment; misrepresentation or withholding of scientific results.