Validation of the shortened cope for use with breast cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy

To study the relationship between cancer and emotional adjustment, investigation of situation-specific coping behaviors with respect to narrowly defined Stressors has recently been promoted. The development and validation of shorter instruments, designed to facilitate completion by clinical populations, has also been recommended. The current study examined the coping skills used by French-Canadian women undergoing radiation therapy for breast cancer. A factor analysis of the 28-item shortened COPE (Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989) yielded the following eight factors: disengagement, self-distraction, active coping, using emotional support from husband/ partner, using emotional support from friends, turning to religion, humor, and substance use. The test-retest and Cronbach alpha internal consistency reliability coefficients of the French-Canadian shortened COPE were actually higher than those observed in the full-length version of the instrument. In addition, the eight factor-based scores correlated in a theoretically meaningful manner with existing measures of coping skills with illness (Coping with Health Injuries and Problems; CHIP) and mood disturbance (Profile of Mood States; POMS), thus suggesting good construct convergent and concurrent criterion validity. In particular, the disengagement COPE scale was correlated highly with anxiety, depression, and anger. While further validation is recommended, the results show promise for the shortened COPE in assessing coping in women with breast cancer, and also provide continued evidence for the notion that specific coping skills are associated with particular mood states.     

Differences in induced brain activity during the performance of learning and working-memory tasks related to intelligence

Thirteen high intelligent (H-IQ) and 13 low intelligent (L-IQ) individuals solved two figural working-memory (WM) tasks and two figural learning tasks while their EEG was recorded. For the WM tasks, only in the theta band group related differences in induced event-related desynchronization/synchronization (ERD/ERS) were observed. L-IQ individuals displayed greater theta synchronization in the later phases of task completion (1000-2000 ms) as compared to H-IQ individuals. For the learning tasks group related differences in the three alpha bands were observed. In the upper alpha band L-IQ individuals showed greater ERD in the frontal brain areas, whereas H-IQ individuals displayed greater ERD in the parieto-occipital brain areas.     

Strength of religious faith and psychological adjustment in intercollegiate athletes

In light of recent research examining the distress buffering properties of religion in intercollegiate athletes' lives, the present study investigated associations among religious faith and depressive symptoms, trait anxiety, and loneliness. Using self-report questionnaires, religious faith was not correlated with depressive symptoms, trait anxiety, and loneliness in 57 intercollegiate athletes.     

Spiritual Care in the ICU: Perspectives of Dutch Intensivists,ICU Nurses,and Spiritual Caregivers

Since there are no scientific data available about the role of spiritual care (SC) in Dutch ICUs, the goal of this quantitative study was twofold: first, to map the role of SC as a part of daily adult ICU care in The Netherlands from the perspective of intensivists, ICU nurses, and spiritual caregivers and second, to identify similarities and differences among these three perspectives. This study is the quantitative part of a mixed methods approach. To conduct empirical quantitative cohort research, separate digital questionnaires were sent to three different participant groups in Dutch ICUs, namely intensivists, ICU nurses, and spiritual caregivers working in academic and general hospitals and one specialist oncology hospital. Overall, 487 participants of 85 hospitals (99 intensivists, 290 ICU nurses, and 98 spiritual caregivers) responded. The majority of all respondents (>70%) considered the positive effects of SC provision to patients and relatives: contribution to mental well-being, processing and channeling of emotions, and increased patient and family satisfaction. The three disciplines diverged in their perceptions of how SC is currently evolving in terms of information, assessment, and provision. Nationwide, SC is not implemented in daily ICU care. The majority of respondents, however, attached great importance to interdisciplinary collaboration. In their view SC contributes positively to the well-being of patients and relatives in the ICU. Further qualitative research into how patients and relatives experience SC in the ICU is required in order to implement and standardize SC as a scientifically based integral part of daily ICU care.     

Reactions upon a failed attempt to enter a high status group: an experimental test of the five-stage model

In a replication of Wright, Taylor and Moghaddam (1990a), group openness (open/minimally open/closed) and individual ability (high/low) were manipulated. Participating in their regular class-groups, 114 male teenagers tried to gain access into a high status group. On their subsequent rejection, they indicated their endorsement of five behavioural options, ranging from acceptance to combinations of individual/collective and normative/nonnormative action alternatives. Overall, they preferred normative reactions, both collective and individual, to nonnormative ones. Nonnormative action, especially collective nonnormative action, was only favoured by talented subjects confronted with a completely closed high status group. These subjects were also the only ones who reported negative feelings both about their personal and about their group treatment. These results challenge previous findings and suggest a partial modification of the five-stage model. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Post‐merger identification as a function of pre‐merger identification,relative representation,and pre‐merger status

This experiment examined the impact of pre‐merger identification (low, high), pre‐merger group status (low, high) and relative representation (low, high) upon identification with a new merger group. In the first phase of the study, 156 university students were assigned to a pre‐merger team of ‘inductive’ thinkers. Pre‐merger identification was manipulated by giving the participants feedback about the extent to which they used the inductionist style. Pre‐merger status was manipulated by informing participants that their team had performed worse or better than a deductionist team on a decision‐making task. In the second phase, the two pre‐merger teams were combined into a merger team of analyst thinkers. Relative representation was manipulated by maintaining most or none of the features of the pre‐merger team in this new merger team. The results revealed that high pre‐merger identifiers identified more strongly with the merger group than did low pre‐merger identifiers, but only when the relative representation was high. Pre‐merger status did not influence post‐merger identification. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The deliberate university: Remarks on the ‘Idea of the University’ from a perspective of knowledge

The current discussion on the role of the (European) universities often starts off with a perspective on the university as a scientific and/or pedagogical institution and consequently runs into a conflict between both logics in which each element is somehow devalued from the other perspective. Therefore, it may be productive to analyse the university from a standpoint in between, a perspective of knowledge as such. In order to conceptualise such a third perspective of knowledge, the history of the European university is reconstructed and interpreted as a process of reflection on the ‘spiral of knowledge’. Before this background the idea of the university is renewed in terms of knowledge and summarised in the idea of a ‘deliberate university’.

First years in job: A three-wave analysis of work experiences

A sample of 423 Swiss job entrants reported major change in general, as well as positive and negative work experiences one, two, and four years after finishing vocational training. Qualitative data analysis showed change in responsibility, increase in decision latitude, acquisition of new status (professional work status, full team member status), increased salary, and change in work rhythm to be characteristic for the transition from apprenticeship into “real work”. In terms of costs and benefits participants reported transition-specific combinations of work experiences, with responsibility and social recognition as positive experiences combined with high demands as negative experiences. Reports of increasing demands and task intensity were frequent throughout the first four years of job experience. Cooperation and social exchange always were of major concern, both as positive and negative experiences. The number of positive and negative experiences reported predicted job satisfaction over and above previous job satisfaction, background variables, stressors, and resources. Results point to a rather smooth transition, in which negative experiences are embedded in, and outweighed by, positive ones.     

Folkbiological reasoning from a cross-cultural developmental perspective: early essentialist notions are shaped by cultural beliefs

In 2 experiments, the authors examined the evolution of folkbiological reasoning in children (4 to 10 years of age) and adults from 4 distinct communities (rural Native American, rural majority culture, and suburban and urban North American communities). Using an adoption paradigm, they examined participants' intuitions regarding the inheritance of properties and the mechanisms underlying the transmission of kindhood. Across all communities and ages, there was a strong biological component underlying reasoning about the inheritance of properties. There were also differences in children's intuitions about the mechanisms underlying kindhood: Native American children were more likely than their counterparts to consider blood as a candidate biological essence. This suggests that as children search to discover the underlying essence of a biological kind, they are guided by broad essentialist notions that are shaped by discourse within their community.