Why employees with higher challenging appraisals style are more affectively engaged at work? The role of challenging stressors: A moderated mediation model

Challenging stressors have been positively linked to various work outcomes. However, the role of individual differences in stress appraisal in shaping the function of challenging stressors and work outcomes has been rarely discussed. Drawing on the individual differences perspective, the authors propose that employees higher in challenge appraisal are more likely to have challenging stressors and are more responsive to such stressors to have a higher positive affect at work. Results obtained from 117 employees supported the hypotheses. The results indicated that challenge appraisal is positively related to challenging stressors. In addition, challenging stressors has a positive association with positive affect at work when challenge appraisal is high but has a null association when challenge appraisal is low. The findings suggest that challenging stressors does not necessarily bring positive work outcomes as suggested in past studies and highlight the importance of considering dispositional tendency in stress appraisal when looking into the function of challenging stressors and work outcomes.     

Reduced repetition suppression in the occipital visual cortex during repeated negative Chinese personality‐trait word processing

Reduced neural activation have been consistently observed during repeated items processing, a phenomenon termed repetition suppression. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate whether and how stimuli of emotional valence affects repetition suppression by adopting Chinese personality‐trait words as materials. Seventeen participants were required to read the negative and neutral Chinese personality‐trait words silently. And then they were presented with repeated and novel items during scanning. Results showed significant repetition suppression in the inferior occipital gyrus only for neutral personality‐trait words, whereas similar repetition suppression in the left inferior temporal gyrus and left middle temporal gyrus was revealed for both the word types. These results indicated common and distinct neural substrates during processing Chinese repeated negative and neutral personality‐trait words.     

Psychological and socioeconomic health of community‐dwelling older adults

Different dimensions of health are intertwined. The purposes of this study were: (1) to investigate the psychological and socioeconomic health status of community‐dwelling older adults in Taiwan, and (2) to compare the psychological and socioeconomic health differences among people of different age groups, gender, marital status, and exercise habits. Using stratified random sampling, 384 Taiwanese community‐dwelling older adults were recruited for this survey research. Based on the Health Model of Older Adults, seven constructs were measured: (1) psychological health: sleep quality, emotional health, cognitive functioning, and health promotion behaviors; (2) socioeconomic health: social engagement, social support, and financial status. Results showed that most participants were in a good state of psychological and socioeconomic health, except that 38.02% of them suffered from sleep disruptions, and the majority of them were not involved in any social group, nor engaged in any volunteer work. Young‐old older adults had better psychological and socioeconomic health than middle‐old and old‐old older adults. Male older adults had better psychological health than female older adults; however, they had less social engagement and social support than female older adults. Married older adults and exercisers performed better in most of the psychological and socioeconomic health indicators than single/widowed older adults and non‐exercisers.     

Attitude of Medical School Students in China Towards Genetic Testing and Counseling Issues in FXS

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common form of inherited intellectual disability. However, genetic testing protocols and genetic counseling guidelines for FXS are not yet established in mainland China. In the present study, we conducted a comprehensive analysis using a self-administered questionnaire among students at the Xiangya medical school to investigate their attitude towards genetic testing and counseling issues of FXS. We have gained a general understanding of the attitudes of medical students towards these FXS issues in China. This information is of immense importance to develop appropriate genetic tests and to train counselors for FXS. As the medical school students surveyed are prospective physicians who will be a part of the Chinese health system, our survey was focused on the basic knowledge of FXS, population-based FXS screening, confidentiality and reproductive options for mutation carriers. The study demonstrated that only less than one third of the participants had heard about FXS. 94.6 % of participants were in favor of FXS screening for women in their reproductive age who had a genetic history of FXS. Furthermore, only half of the participants would inform their families about their genetic status in case of positive test results, and more than half of the participants supported natural conception and prenatal diagnosis for FXS mutation carriers. Additional findings and research implications are also discussed. This survey targeting potential doctors provides important information for the development of FXS genetic test and counselor training for the Chinese health system.     

A Unified Framework for the Prioritization of Organ Transplant Patients: Analytic Hierarchy Process,Sensitivity and Multifactor Robustness Study

Fair and equitable allocation of donor organs in the USA is a daunting yet necessary task, which can mean the difference between life and death for patients on transplant waiting lists. This paper proposes a multi‐criterion decision‐making model using the analytic hierarchy process to allow for an allocation decision to be made on the basis of urgency, efficiency, benefit and equity. These four perspectives and objectives can be broken down into both quantitative and qualitative measures, which can be easily combined and weighted through group consensus. The proposed model overcomes the limitations of a single type of system, integrates the views of many organ allocation philosophies, improves the decision maker's ability to collaborate, helps justify the decision and reaches the optimal result. In addition, the proposed profile matrix allows decision makers to graphically trade off criteria against each other and to clearly articulate the decision rationale. Our computational study suggests that the proposed model not only satisfactorily serves the objectives of many constituents, but also remains noticeably robust under various criteria‐weight‐change scenarios. It improves stakeholder confidence in the organ allocation procedure, maximizes the usefulness of the organ and enhances welfare to society. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Physical Abuse in U.S. Children: Risk Factors and Deficiencies in Referrals to Support Services

More than 600,000 U.S. children are reported for physical abuse annually. Risk factors are proposed in the literature, but a comprehensive, national assessment of risk factors and support services has not been conducted. An analysis of national data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Dataset revealed that domestic violence, parental alcohol and drug use, prior child abuse and neglect, public assistance receipt, and child behavior problems are associated with higher odds of substantiated physical abuse reports, compared to unsubstantiated reports. Most families, however, failed to receive relevant support services for any of these risk factors. Screening by physicians, child protection workers, and others for these risk factors could help identify children at increased risk for physical abuse and inform prevention efforts and support-service provision.     

人格特质对认知老化的影响及其机制

认知老化是指与年龄相关的认知功能损害.影响认知老化的因素很多,人格是这些因素背后的重要动因.当前有关人格与认知老化的研究主要探讨了不同人格特质对认知老化的具体影响及作用机制两个方面.尽管不同人格特质与认知老化的关系逐渐清晰起来,但现有研究在一些问题上仍存在争议.未来可以从不同研究范式的结果对比、人格特质对认知老化影响机制的内在问题、人格与人格特质的稳定性及其影响、人格特质对认知老化影响的本土化研究等几个方面进一步强化和拓展.     

壮族大学生一位数字词的SNARC效应

本研究以壮族大学生为被试,要求他们对壮语、汉语听觉数字词(实验一)或汉语、英语视觉数字词(实验二)进行奇偶判断。结果发现：(1)壮族大学生对汉语、壮语听觉数字词以及汉语、英语视觉数字词都表现出了SNARC效应。(2)数字词在听觉条件下和视觉条件下产生的SNARC效应的强度相当。(3)书写习惯也影响到壮语听觉数字的SNARC效应的方向。