The indirect effect of contextual factors on the emotional distress of infertile couples

Few studies were dedicated to study the role of contextual factors, such as the socioeconomic status and urban or rural residence in emotional distress of infertile couples. This study aimed to explore the impact of contextual factors on emotional distress, either directly or by affecting the importance of parenthood in one's life, which in turn affects emotional distress. In this cross-sectional study, 70 couples recruited during hormonal stimulation phase prior to in vitro fertilisation completed clinical and sociodemographic forms and self-report questionnaires assessing representations about the importance of parenthood and emotional distress. Path analysis using structural equation modelling was used to examine direct and indirect effects among variables. Results indicated that socioeconomic status and place of residence had an impact in emotional distress by affecting the representations about the importance of parenthood in one's life. Gender differences were found regarding model paths, suggesting that the social context may have a stronger influence on women's emotional distress than on their partners’ distress. When delineating psychological interventions, health care providers should consider that cultural values about children and parenthood contribute to shape the infertility experience.     

A temporal common ground for learning: The moderating effect of shared mental models on the relation between team learning behaviours and performance improvement

In this longitudinal study, we integrated a team process and a learning curve perspective on team learning and empirically analysed whether team learning processes lead to performance improvement. In addition, we tested whether this relation is moderated by the similarity of team members’ task, team, and temporal mental models. We tested our model on a sample of 67 teams (314 individuals) competing in a management simulation over five consecutive time periods, using random coefficient modelling (RCM). Our findings suggest that team learning behaviours do not have a direct effect on the team learning curve, but temporal and task mental models are crucial for the translation of team learning behaviours into performance improvement. We found that when teams have similar task and temporal mental models, engaging in team learning processes is beneficial, whereas, when teams have dissimilar task and temporal mental models, it is detrimental to performance improvement. We did not find a significant effect for the moderating role of team mental model similarity. Our study emphasizes the importance of integrating different perspectives on team learning and provides support for the role of team cognition as a catalyst for team learning.     

Psychometric properties of the Death Anxiety Scale (DAS) among HIV/AIDS patients

AIDS patients and HIV carriers who are aware of their condition are under multiple kinds of stress with adverse effects on their emotional state and personal and social activity. This paper reports the psychometric properties of the DAS (Death Anxiety Scale) using the Spanish version in the clinical setting. The sample is made up of 148 HIV/AIDS patients (109 men and 39 women). The internal consistency of the scale was .72 and its test-retest reliability was .70. Principal components analysis extracted five factors that jointly accounted for 56.5% of the total variance. As, on the whole, these results are very similar to those reported by other authors, it is concluded that the Spanish DAS is a valid instrument for the assessment of death anxiety in Spanish HIV/AIDS patients.     

To be or not to be: an exploration of ethnic identity development in context

This qualitative study focused on the intersection of personal and ethnic identities among forty African American, Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Chinese American high school students. The patterns in content indicated that for the Puerto Ricans, the intersection of their personal and social identities was a series of accommodations to a positive peer climate and a resistance to being Dominican. For the other ethnic groups, the intersection of their personal and social identities consisted of a process of resistance and accommodation to negative stereotypes projected on them by their peers and, for African Americans, themselves.     

Old Testament and Church Ministries in Two Ecumenical Dialogues

Abstract: To understand any church institution as founded by Jesus, one must take account of its relationship to his work of bringing the Old Testament revelation and its institutions to their eschatological realization. A sample of the work of recent ecumenical dialogues (BEM and the international Lutheran– Roman Catholic document on church and justification) shows that their discussions of church institutions have failed to do this adequately. This failure has complicated the efforts at unity to which these dialogues intend to contribute. Attention to the Old Testament roots of church institutions can help ecumenical ecclesiology to focus better on some important issues.