The dermatology life quality index (DLQI) and the hospital anxiety and depression (HADS) in Chinese rosacea patients

The study aims to investigate the quality of life (QOL) and the psychological situation in Chinese patients with rosacea. A total of 196 healthy controls and 201 rosacea patients were involved in the final analysis. The general information, the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were collected. Significantly higher DLQI, anxiety and depression score were observed in the rosacea group compared to the control group (p < .01). Total DLQI score of patients was positively related with anxiety (r = .526, p < .001) and depression scores (r = .399, p < .001) in HADS. Rosacea had significant psychological impact on Chinese patients and had substantial influence on their QOL. Physicians should address the psychosocial needs of rosacea patients as much as its physical symptoms.     

Enhancing a Sense of Competence at Work by Engaging in Proactive Behavior: The Role of Proactive Personality

To understand how individuals’ senses of competence are cultivated, scholars have primarily focused on situational factors such as job autonomy and supervisor support. Against this backdrop, we propose that individuals can work as active agents and enhance their sense of competence by initiating actions that aim to master the environment. We adopt the behavioral concordance model and propose that people higher in proactive personality are more likely to engage in proactive behavior that elevates their senses of competence over time. We further propose that such behavioral concordance contributes to boosting a sense of competence is more prominent among those with higher proactive personality. Our predictions are supported by data from 172 employees and their direct supervisors in China, after controlling for the effect of job autonomy and supervisor support for autonomy. Specifically, only those higher in proactive personality engaged in more proactive behavior and increased their sense of competence over time. This study highlights both a self-initiated and a behavioral perspective on understanding the development of a sense of competence.     

Investigating How Test-Takers Change Their Strategies to Handle Difficulty in Taking a Reading Comprehension Test: Implications for Score Validation

This article investigates how test-takers change their strategies to handle increased test difficulty. An adult sample reported their test-taking strategies immediately after completing the tasks in a reading test. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling specifying a measurement-invariant, ability-moderated, latent transition analysis in Mplus (Muthén & Asparouhov, 2011). It was found that almost half of the test-takers (47%) changed their strategies when encountering increased task-difficulty. The changes were characterized by augmenting comprehending-meaning strategies with score-maximizing and test-wiseness strategies. Moreover, test-takers' ability was the driving influence that facilitated and/or buffered the changes. The test outcomes, when reviewed in light of adjusted test-taking strategies, demonstrated a form of process-based validity evidence.     

Enhancing Social Entrepreneurial Intentions through Entrepreneurial Creativity: A Comparative Study Between Taiwan and Hong Kong

Attention toward social entrepreneurship has increased worldwide, particularly within younger generations. Based on the identified model of social entrepreneurial intentions, this study proposed a multiple mediation framework to examine the mediating role of entrepreneurial creativity for university students. It also compared the differences between Taiwanese (N = 311) and Hong Kong students (N = 311). Through a survey using both online and offline channels, the results of Study 1 confirmed the factor structures of the 3 scales, involving 5 antecedents of social entrepreneurial intention (i.e., empathy, moral obligation, self-efficacy, perceived social support, and prior experience with social problems), 2 factors of entrepreneurial creativity (i.e., originality and usefulness), and 2 factors of social entrepreneurial intention (i.e. conviction and preparation). The results of Study 2 supported the proposed multiple mediation model across regions. Prior experience with social problems, perceived social support, and originality were identified as the 3 most influential factors affecting the social entrepreneurial intentions of university students. The major differences between Taiwan and Hong Kong involved prior experience, empathy, self-efficacy, perceived social support, and usefulness.     

Science Self-Efficacy and Lifelong Learning: Emerging Adults in Science Museums

Recent research suggests that emerging adulthood—the stage between adolescence and maturity marked by a lengthy process of identity development—constitutes a window of opportunity for museums to influence adults' lifelong science learning trajectories. The current study sought to explore the impact of a single museum visit on emerging adults' science self-efficacy, beliefs about their own abilities to learn or do science. A repeated measures design assessed the science self-efficacy of 244 emerging adults before, immediately after, and three months after a science museum visit. Results from surveys and interviews indicate that self-efficacy increased after the visit, but only females maintained their elevated self-efficacy three months after the visit. Increases were associated with the visit and with self-reports citing mastery at exhibits, vicariously watching others at exhibits, and positive emotional experiences within the museum. The article discusses the study's limitations as well as implications for research and museum practice.     

Honor Crimes in the United States and Offenders’ Neutralization Techniques

Honor crimes are violent acts that are experienced among different religions and ethnicities. This type of offense can be justified, either before or after the crime, by the offender’s perceived need to protect honor-based values. This study used Sykes and Matza’s neutralization theory to explain the offender’s justification of honor crimes. We used data from the United States Extremist Crime Database, which has incident, victim, and perpetrator level indicators for the population of honor crimes in the United States (N = 16). Using open source search files for the cases, neutralizations and justifications provided by the offenders are presented.     

Aims in parent work: a brief qualitative survey

Child psychotherapists’ views of the treatment aims of parent work in a community Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) were explored. Parent work undertaken by the child psychotherapy team in one calendar year was analysed. The parent worker was asked to describe the primary aim of the work for each case. The resulting thematic analysis found that the main aims of parent work were: increasing empathy with the child; decreasing enmeshment; and containing anxiety. Linking with Alvarez’s notion of a hierarchy of interpretative approaches, the study’s findings suggest that there are parallel ‘levels’ of intervention in parent work, where therapists work in ways appropriate to the parent’s psychological functioning.     

UNDERSTANDING PARENTING STRESS AND CHILDREN'S BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS AMONG HOMELESS,SUBSTANCE‐ABUSING MOTHERS

This article tested a model of parenting stress as a mediator between maternal depressive symptoms, emotion regulation, and child behavior problems using a sample of homeless, substance‐abusing mothers. Participants were 119 homeless mothers (ages 18–24 years) and their young children (ages 0–6 years). Mothers responded to questions about their depressive symptoms, emotion regulation, parenting stress, and child behavior problems. A path analysis showed that maternal depressive symptoms were positively associated with child behavior problems through increased parenting stress whereas maternal cognitive reappraisal was negatively associated with child behavior problems through decreased parenting stress. Moreover, maternal expressive suppression was negatively related to child externalizing problems. Findings support the parenting stress theory and highlight maternal parenting stress as a mechanism associated with homeless children's mental health risk. This study has significant implications for understanding the parenting processes underlying child's resilience in the context of homelessness and maternal substance use.     

Discrimination threshold for haptic volume perception of fingers and phalanges

Humans exhibit a remarkable ability to discriminate variations in object volume based on natural haptic perception. The discrimination thresholds for the haptic volume perception of the whole hand are well known, but the discrimination thresholds for haptic volume perception of fingers and phalanges are still unknown. In the present study, two psychophysical experiments were performed to investigate haptic volume perception in various fingers and phalanges. The configurations of both experiments were completely dependent on haptic volume perception from the fingers and phalanges. The participants were asked to blindly discriminate the volume variation of regular solid objects in a random order by using the distal phalanx, medial phalanx, and proximal phalanx of their index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and little finger. The discrimination threshold of haptic volume perception gradually decreases from the little finger to the index finger as well as from the proximal phalanx to the distal phalanx. Overall, both the shape of the target and the part of the finger in contact with the target significantly influence the precision of haptic perception of volume. This substantial data set provides detailed and compelling perspectives on the haptic system, including for discrimination of the spatial size of objects and for performing more general perceptual processes.     

Predictive Relationship Between Parental Beliefs and Accommodation of Pediatric Anxiety

Behavior performed by parents to assist a youth in avoiding or alleviating anxiety, known as accommodation, is ubiquitous among pediatric anxiety disorders and strongly related to poor treatment outcome. According to cognitive-behavioral theory, the beliefs parents hold regarding accommodation should predict parental accommodating behavior. Unfortunately, little is known about the beliefs parents hold regarding accommodation, as there exists no validated measure of this construct. First, the psychometric properties were examined for the Parental Accommodation Scale (PAS), a novel measure of parental accommodating behavior frequency (PAS-Behavior scale) and parental beliefs about accommodation (PAS-Belief scale). Second, the relationship between parental beliefs about accommodation and accommodation frequency was examined. Results provide preliminary evidence of the internal consistency and convergent validity of the PAS. Stronger positive beliefs about accommodation significantly predicted accommodation frequency, even after controlling for youth anxiety severity. Specifically, beliefs that accommodation prevents youth from losing behavioral and emotional control significantly predicted accommodation frequency. Therefore, efforts to decrease accommodation in clinical settings should involve correcting maladaptive parental beliefs about accommodation, with a particular emphasis on beliefs regarding the necessity of accommodation in preventing a youth from losing behavioral and emotional control.