Mechanisms of Quality of Life and Social Support in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Cognitive and social factors are essential considerations in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patient management, but existing research is limited. This study aims to expand the IBD literature by examining the relationship between social supports and QoL, while examining mechanisms in these relationships. Consenting patients attending an IBD outpatient clinic were provided a survey package (N = 164). Regressions evaluated predictors of IBD-QoL, and catastrophizing and optimism were examined as mediators between social support and IBD-QoL. Diminished IBD-QoL was predicted by younger age, greater negative spousal responses, and less perceived spousal support. Mediation models showed helplessness catastrophizing to be the lone mediator, acting as a mechanism between both negative spousal responses and perceived spousal support with IBD-QoL. Social interaction variables are associated with IBD-QoL, but patients’ experience of helplessness acts to reduce their ability to benefit from social support. Patient care should consider supportive social and cognitive factors to improve IBD-QoL.     

Conditional Learning Deficits in Children with ADHD can be Reduced Through Reward Optimization and Response-Specific Reinforcement

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - When children with ADHD are presented with behavioral choices, they struggle more than Typically Developing [TD] children to take into account...     

Cognitive ability,academic achievement and academic self‐concept: Extending the internal/external frame of reference model

Background. Marsh's internal/external (I/E) frame of reference model depicts the relationship between achievement and self‐concept in specific academic domains. Few efforts have been made to examine concurrent relationships among cognitive ability, achievement, and academic self‐concept (ASC) within an I/E model framework. Aim. To simultaneously examine the influences of domain‐specific cognitive ability and grades on domain self‐concept in an extended I/E model, including the indirect effect of domain‐specific cognitive ability on domain self‐concept via grades. Sample. Tenth grade respondents (628 male, 452 female) to a national adolescent survey conducted in Taiwan. Method. Respondents completed surveys designed to measure maths and verbal aptitudes. Data on Maths and Chinese class grades and self‐concepts were also collected. Results. Statistically significant and positive path coefficients were found between cognitive ability and self‐concept in the same domain (direct effect) and between these two constructs via grades (indirect effect). The cross‐domain effects of either ability or grades on ASC were negatively significant. Conclusions. Taiwanese 10th graders tend to evaluate their ASCs based on a mix of ability and achievement, with achievement as a mediator exceeding ability as a predictor. In addition, the cross‐domain effects suggest that Taiwanese students are likely to view Maths and verbal abilities and achievements as distinctly different.     

Screening for cognitive impairment in the elderly: Impact of physical function measures added to cognitive screening instruments

This study examines the relationship between cognitive impairment and impaired physical function to determine if the sensitivity and specificity of the Modified Mini-Mental State Examination (3MS) can be improved by the addition of physical function measures. One hundred and sixty-two subjects from the Nova Scotia sample of the Canadian Study of Health and Aging were studied. Subjects were tested using the 3MS and physical function measures prior to undertaking a detailed clinical examination. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed to determine optimal cutpoints for the 3MS and a new 3MS score which included physical function measures. While the 3MS distinguished demented from unimpaired subjects (.9618), it showed less efficiency for classification of unimpaired subjects and subjects who have cognitive impairment without dementia (.7536). the addition of physical function data increased performance of the 3MS in its ability to discriminate unimpaired from demented subjects (.9854), but not significantly. the relationship between cognitive impairment and functional impairment needs clearer definition in cognitively impaired yet non-demented individuals. the addition of widely used function measures is inadequate in improving the parameters of the 3MS as a screening instrument.     

A Meta-View of Multivariate Statistical Inference Methods in European Psychology Journals

We investigated the extent and nature of multivariate statistical inferential procedures used in eight European psychology journals covering a range of content (i.e., clinical, social, health, personality, organizational, developmental, educational, and cognitive). Multivariate methods included those found in popular texts that focused on prediction, group difference, and advanced modeling: multiple regression, logistic regression, analysis of covariance, multivariate analysis of variance, factor or principal component analysis, structural equation modeling, multilevel modeling, and other methods. Results revealed that an average of 57% of the articles from these eight journals involved multivariate analyses with a third using multiple regression, 17% using structural modeling, and the remaining methods collectively comprising about 50% of the analyses. The most frequently occurring inferential procedures involved prediction weights, dichotomous p values, figures with data, and significance tests with very few articles involving confidence intervals, statistical mediation, longitudinal analyses, power analysis, or meta-analysis. Contributions, limitations and future directions are discussed.     

Openness to Experience and Team Creativity: Effects of Knowledge Sharing and Transformational Leadership

This study extends the research on the creative work process in teams by integrating personality traits, knowledge-sharing behavior, and transformational leadership. Analyses of multisource data from 347 members of 53 creative teams in 26 firms reveal the associations between heterogeneity of openness to experience in teams and team creativity (i.e., idea generation and idea development). Further, knowledge sharing mediated the relationships between personality heterogeneity and team creativity. Transformational leadership amplified the relationship between personality heterogeneity and idea development. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

The use of publicly-posted performance feedback in an inpatient psychiatric treatment setting

This study examined the effects of publicly-posted performance feedback on the in-hospital behavior of patients residing on a self-management unit at a large, state operated, psychiatric treatment facility. When contrasted to a baseline phase in which staff received weekly information regarding patients' performance, scores in six of the eight assessment areas improved when this information was provided directly to patients. The authors' conclude that performance feedback may be a useful adjunct to inpatient treatment programs because it clarifies programmatic expectations, helps focus attention on developing strategies or interventions to meet those expectations, and encourages active treatment participation from patients and staff.