Extending the Common Sense Model to Explore the Impact of the Fear of COVID-19 on Quality of Life in an International Inflammatory Bowel Disease Cohort

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to use an extended common sense model (CSM) to evaluate the impact of fear of COVID-19 on quality of life (QoL) in an international inflammatory bowel disease cohort. An online study involving 319 adults (75% female, mean (SD) 14.06 (15.57) years of symptoms) completed the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale, Brief Illness Perceptions Questionnaire, Fear of Contracting COVID-19 Scale, Brief-COPE, Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale, and the EUROHIS-QOL. The extended CSM had an excellent fit (χ² (9)?=?17.06, p?=?.05, χ²/N?=?1.90, RMSEA?=?0.05, SRMR?=?0.04, CFI?=?.99, TLI?=?.97, GFI?=?0.99), indicating the influence of gastrointestinal symptoms on QoL was mediated by illness perceptions, fear of COVID-19, adaptive and maladaptive coping, and psychological distress. Interventions targeting the fear of COVID-19 in the context of an individual’s perceptions will likely enhance QoL during the pandemic.

     

Acceptance of evolution among American Mormons

Low public acceptance of evolution among Americans in general, and conservative Protestants specifically, has recently received increased attention among scholars of both religion and the public understanding of science. At the same time, members of another major religious tradition, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), reject evolution at rates similar to evangelical Christians, yet there remains a dearth of studies examining the lack of acceptance of evolution among Mormons. Using a nationally representative survey of Americans that contains an adequate number of LDS respondents for advanced statistical analyses, this study examines patterns of evolution acceptance or rejection among Mormons. Findings reveal a moderating relationship between political identity and education, such that educational attainment has a positive relationship with evolution acceptance among political moderates and liberals, but a negative association among political conservatives. These findings highlight the central role played by the politicization of evolution in low rates of evolution acceptance among American Mormons and emphasize the need to—where possible—examine relations between ‘science and religion’ within and across specific religious traditions.     

Effects of the Copy-Cover-Compare Strategy on Acquisition,Maintenance, and Generalization of Spelling Sight Words for Elementary Students With Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Students with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often struggle with spelling. Research shows this population benefits from self-management interventions, structured practice opportunities, and immediate feedback—all components of the copy-cover-compare strategy. This empirical investigation used a multiple-baseline experimental design to determine the effects of the copy-cover-compare strategy on acquisition, generalization, and maintenance of spelling words for four students with ADHD in Grades 1 through 3. Results showed a functional relation between copy-cover-compare and mastery, maintenance, and generalization of three sets of spelling words for each student. Limitations, implications for practice, and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Feeling good: autonomic nervous system responding in five positive emotions

Although dozens of studies have examined the autonomic nervous system (ANS) aspects of negative emotions, less is known about ANS responding in positive emotion. An evolutionary framework was used to define five positive emotions in terms of fitness-enhancing function, and to guide hypotheses regarding autonomic responding. In a repeated measures design, participants viewed sets of visual images eliciting these positive emotions (anticipatory enthusiasm, attachment love, nurturant love, amusement, and awe) plus an emotionally neutral state. Peripheral measures of sympathetic and vagal parasympathetic activation were assessed. Results indicated that the emotion conditions were characterized by qualitatively distinct profiles of autonomic activation, suggesting the existence of multiple, physiologically distinct positive emotions.     

A self-regulation account of the job performance–job satisfaction relationship

We present a self-regulation account of the job performance–job satisfaction relationship according to which job performance leads to job satisfaction, if it involves optimal expectancies for successful performance. Using response surface methodology (n = 747 employees), we found that employees who held overly negative (self-effacement) or overly positive self-perceptions of performance (self-enhancement) gained less satisfaction from their jobs. As hypothesized by self-discrepancy theory, self-effacement promoted fear-related negative emotions, whereas self-enhancement was linked to disappointment. Self-enhancers also reported lower trust and reduced satisfaction with interpersonal relationships, which may partly explain why self-enhancement had particularly detrimental effects. Furthermore, among employees high in performance-goal orientation, attaining high normative performance, as indicated by above-average supervisor evaluations, rather than optimal expectancies for success, explained job satisfaction. Our findings support the conclusion that need satisfaction and the ensuing self-regulatory processes determine the shape and the size of the performance–satisfaction relationship.     

Recruitment Sources and Post‐Hire Outcomes: The Mediating Role of Unmet Expectations

Two decades ago it was hypothesized that met expectations mediate the relationship between recruitment sources (internal vs. external) and post‐hire outcomes. The current study tested this mediator hypothesis with new employees and found that those who entered the organization via internal recruitment sources experienced less unmet expectations than employees recruited via external recruitment sources. In addition, unmet expectations mediated the relation between type of recruitment source (internal vs. external) and both job satisfaction and organizational commitment. The study also found a considerable number of employees who reported that they have used multiple recruitment sources.     

Emotional and personality changes following cingulotomy

The effects of bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) lesions on emotional and personality functioning were studied. Patients undergoing cingulotomy for chronic intractable pain were assessed on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), the Profile of Mood States (POMS), cognitive tests, and pain ratings, pre- and postsurgically. Patients with intractable pain, not treated with cingulotomy, served as controls. Cingulotomy patients experienced reductions in POMS-Tension, POMS-Anger, and MMPI Scale 7 (Psychasthenia) compared with baseline and the controls. POMS-Tension was significantly correlated with attention-intention performance. The results indicate that the ACC modulates emotional experience, related to self-perceived tension, and that there is relationship between the emotional and the attentional effects of cingulotomy.     

Parental and sibling effects in adolescent outcomes

This study examined the differential effects of parenting and sibling influences (and the interaction between the two) in predicting adolescents' problem behaviors. The reliability and validity of the Sibling Relationship Questionnaire was also assessed. Subjects were 99 intact families from the San Francisco Bay area, all of whom contained both parents and at least one target child between 10 and 18 years of age still living in the home. Analysis indicated that sibling behavior was a significant predictor of deviant behavior, as measured by the Child Behavior Checklist, even when parenting effects were statistically controlled. Parenting effects had a separate effect on adolescents' positive behaviors. The analysis of the Sibling Relationship Questionnaire indicated adequate test-retest and internal consistency reliability, and construct validity. Findings are discussed in terms of the larger literature on socialization on the different ways that siblings and parents influence adolescent outcomes.     

The wisdom of nature in integrating science, ethics and the arts

This paper deals with an approach to the integration of science (with technology and economics), ethics (with religion and mysticism), the arts (aesthetics) and Nature, in order to establish a world-view based on holistic, evolutionary ethics that could help with problem solving. The author suggests that this integration is possible with the aid of “Nature’s wisdom” which is mirrored in the macroscopic pattern of the ecosphere. The corresponding eco-principles represent the basis for unifying soft and hard sciences resulting in “deep sciences”. Deduction and induction will remain the methodology for deep sciences and will include conventional experiments and aesthetic and sentient experiences. Perception becomes the decisive factor with the senses as operators for the building of consciousness through the subconscious. In this paper, an attempt at integrating the concepts of the “true”, the “right” and the “beautiful” with the aid of Nature’s wisdom is explained in more detail along with consequences. The author is a bioprocess engineer with a research interest in environmental issues.