Health Consequences and Buffers of Job Burnout among Indian Software Developers

This study examines the conceptualization, health-related consequences, and buffers of job burnout. Analyzing the responses of 372 Indian software developers to questionnaire survey, findings suggest that on burnout dimensions, increased exhaustion and cynicism have increased professional efficacy of software developers. Experiencing more burnout, software developers have reported adverse physical, mental, and behavioral health. Subjective well-being, social support, and practising yoga and meditation have partially arrested the adverse effects of job burnout on health-related outcomes. Job burnout has the biggest adverse impact on mental health and social support is the most influential intervening construct to counter the adverse consequences of job burnout.     

Covariates of Multiplicity of Risk Behavior Among Injecting Drug Users in Nepal

Drug abuse, needle sharing, and high-risk sexual behaviour are often compounded to increase the risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission. This paper analyzes covariates of multiplicity of risk behavior among injecting drug users (IDUs). Findings are based on data from 1471 IDUs following modified time-location cluster sampling across Nepal in 2010–2011. Among Nepalese IDUs, average duration of injecting drugs is 4.4 years with two-fifths initiating it before age 20. Alcohol use is common with two-fifths reporting its daily consumption. Needle sharing is quite prevalent especially among younger and alcoholic IDUs. Further, IDUs practicing needle sharing exhibit rampant multi-partner behavior. Condom use with non-commercial partners is almost 80 %, whereas with intimate partner it is 41 %. Coexistence of needle sharing and unprotected sex enhances STI prevalence (7 %), which is further pronounced among alcoholics (9 %). Working towards risk reduction for IDUs must deal with multiplicity of risk. Interventions should deal with covariates of risk, addressing youth, substance abuse and risky sexual behavior.     

Reinforcement and attraction specifying the effects of affective states

A multiplicative effect of magnitude and proportion of positive reinforcements on attraction and self-rated feelings was examined. Subjects (N = 270) rated their attraction toward persons associated with one of three reinforcement magnitudes (personality similarity, attitude similarity, and personal evaluations) and one of six proportions of positive reinforcements (.00, .20, .40, .60, .80, and 1.00). Results indicated that the slope of the linear attraction function increased and the Y-intercept decreased with increasing magnitude of reinforcement (p < .05). A similar interaction effect was found on the feelings of the subjects (N = 90) in another experiment. The results were interpreted as added support for Byrne's reinforcement-affect model of interpersonal attraction.     

UZNADZE'S SET AND SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING

L'A. classe en “ bons ” (N = 40) et en “ mauvais ” (N = 40), des élèves qui étudient le français (seconde langue) en comparant le total des notes normalisées obtenues à des tests de compréhension du français écrit et oral aux notes normalisées obtenues à un test d'aptitude scolaire (SCAT). Il pose en hypothèse que si L'on fait des mesures de fixation et d'extinction d'un “ set ” en matière de sensibilité bilité tactile, on trouvera des différences entre les “ bons ” et les “ mauvais ”. Reprenant la méthode d'Uznadze, il constate qu'entre les deux types d'élèves, il n'y a pas de différence significative (p > .05) dans le nombre d'essais nécessaires à la fixation d'un “ set ”, mais que, par contre, il y a une différence significative dans le nombre d'essais nécessaires à L'extinction du “ set ” : pour les élèves qui sont bons dans L'apprentissage d'une seconde langue, le nombre d'essais nécessaires à L'extinction est plus faible.     

Relationships among projective and direct verbal measures of achievement motivation

The present study was undertaken to explore ways projective arid nonprojective verbal measures of achievement motivation elicit comparable and dissimilar responses in a "Third World" sample of entrepreneurs as a test of McClelland's theory of economic growth. Results were generally consistent with the theory of achievement motivation, and suggested that high scores on n Ach were associated with high rates of industrial and agricultural output; low scores were associated with static or declining business. TAT measurement was the best predictor in that it correlated 0.68 and 0.48 with agricultural and industrial production. Results further lend support to past findings: namely, that Various achievement measures appear to be measuring dissimilar constructs.     

Psychological Distress and Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Jewish Adolescents Following a Brief Exposure to Concentration Camps

We investigated the psychological impact of an organized visit to Polish concentration camps on Jewish-American adolescents. Eighty-seven adolescents who participated in a B'nai B'rith memorial visit to concentration camps in Poland completed measures of general psychological adjustment and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at four time-points: pretest, posttest, 6-month follow-up and 12-month follow-up. Measures included the SCL-90-R, the Mississippi Scale for PTSD, and the Impact of Events Scale (IES) for PTSD. On the SCL-90-R, changes in somatization, interpersonal sensitivity, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, depression, anxiety, and phobic anxiety were observed over time, with peak symptom scores at posttest and 6-month follow-up. Scores on the Mississippi Scale for PTSD and the IES Intrusion subscale also increased at 6-months. Predictors of PTSD symptoms on the Mississippi Scale included previous psychiatric treatment and SCL-90-R symptoms of paranoia, depression, and psychosis. Elevated psychotic symptoms on the SCL-90-R predicted PTSD symptoms on the IES. Jewish adolescents with preexisting symptoms of generalized distress or psychoticism appeared at increased risk for PTSD symptoms following exposure to Holocaust stimuli. This study contributes a prospective, multi-measure assessment of trauma reactions in adolescents.     

Interrogative suggestibility and delinquent boys: An empirical validation study

This study has several aims. First, to validate the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS) among delinquent and adolescent boys placed in an assessment and short-term treatment centre. Second, to test the hypothesis that adolescent boys are particularly susceptible to suggestions when they are ‘pressured’ by negative feedback and instructions. Finally, to investigate the hypothesis that suggestibility is related to memory recall and self-esteem. The GSS was administered to 31 boys (ages 11 to 16 yr) who had been independently rated by two teachers on measures of suggestibility and self-esteem. Suggestibility as measured by the GSS was found to correlate significantly with the teachers' ratings of suggestibility, supporting empirically the criterion-related validity of the GSS. Compared with young ‘normal’ adults the boys were no more likely to give in to suggestive questions than the adults, unless their performance was subjected to criticism and negative feedback. The results suggest that deliquent adolescents may be particularly responsive to interpersonal pressure during interrogation. The findings have important implications for police interrogation procedures.     

Effects of weight cycling on metabolic control in male outpatients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus

Examined the effects of weight cycling (i.e., losing and regaining or gaining and relosing body weight) versus weight maintenance on metabolic control in 327 adult, male, outpatient veterans with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) who were followed over an average of 3.4 years. When compared with weight maintenance, weight cycling, whether defined as a categorical or as a continuous variable, was not found to be associated with deficits in metabolic control or increased need for hypoglycemic medication. Patients who weight cycled had fasting serum glucose and hemoglobin A1c levels comparable to those who remained within 10% of their initial body weights, and these levels of metabolic control were obtained with similar classes and dosages of hypoglycemic medication.     

The aggression-coercion cycle: Use of seclusion and restraint in a child psychiatric hospital

The widespread use of seclusion and restraint in child psychiatric hospitals to manage aggression and noncompliance is based on the assumption that coercive consequences reduce the frequency of undesirable behaviors exhibited by the patients. We report a study of the use of seclusion and restraint in a public child psychiatric hospital during a 3-year period. Twenty-eight percent of the patients had been secluded or restrained a total of 1670 times. About 25% of these patients had been secluded more than five times during their hospitalization, and 32% had been placed in restraints more than once. Behaviors that typically resulted in repeated seclusion included physical aggression toward staff, verbal aggression toward peers, non-compliant or oppositional behavior, and self-harm. Variables that predicted patients most at risk for repeated seclusion included age, gender, and psychiatric diagnosis. The predictor variables for those most at risk for repeated restraint included age, property destruction, and self-harm. The high rates of use of seclusion and restraint suggest that these methods for controlling the behavior of children and adolescents in this child psychiatric hospital may not have been therapeutic. We suggest that staff in such hospitals engage in a pattern of behavior characterized by an aggression-coercion cycle, in which increasingly aggressive and coercive behaviors are exhibited by both patients and staff.