Changes in Motivation and Burnout Indices in High-Performance Coaches Over the Course of a Competitive Season

Being subject to a great range of demands is believed to increase burnout propensity in high-performance coaches. This study is the first to explore whether the 4-step self-determination theory process model is a valuable framework to better understand the process influencing burnout and well-being in high-performance coaches (N = 343, M = 40.33 years) throughout a competitive season. Findings indicated that coaches on average increased in burnout and decreased in well-being. Hypotheses were to a large extent supported: change in perceived environment → change in psychological need satisfaction → change in autonomous motivation → change in burnout and well-being.     

Episodic Memory in Adult Age and Effects of Sibship Size and Birth Order: Longitudinal Data

This study examined the effects of sibship size and birth order on episodic memory performance in adulthood and old age. Participants were 1,141 healthy individuals aged 35–80 years, who took part in a longitudinal project on age, health, and memory. Episodic memory measurements over a 5-year interval included tests of recognition (recognition of faces, family names, first names, and nouns) and tests of recall (free recall of sentences, free recall and cued recall of nouns, and recall of activities). Results showed significant effects for both recall and recognition, that is, the smaller the sibship size is for an individual and the earlier born, the better memory performance. These results demonstrate that the effects of sibship size and birth order previously shown in children and adolescents (Belmont and Marolla, Science 182:1096–1101, 1973; Zajonc and Markus, Psych Rev 82:74–88, 1975; Zajonc, Am Psychol 56:490–496, 2001) are robust over time and hold over a large adult range.     

Executive functioning in older adults with mild cognitive impairment: MCI has effects on planning, but not on inhibition

In this study, we compared executive functioning in 32 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) individuals with that of normally aging controls. Cognitive planning tests (Trail Making, Porteus Maze Test, verbal fluency tests) show a group difference favoring the normal controls, but tests for inhibition of prepotent responses (no-go accuracy, two measures of the Stroop effect, and negative priming) failed to uncover a significant group difference. The results indicate that there is no general executive control function impairment in MCI; rather, the deficits found are compatible with the hypothesis that MCI is an accelerated form of normal aging.     

Life Satisfaction and Associated Factors Among People Aged 60 Years and Above in Six European Countries

Life satisfaction is a concept frequently used to measure wellbeing of older people. However, there is still a lack of cross-national comparative research investigating factors associated with life satisfaction. There may be unique and common factors associated with life satisfaction across European countries. This study aimed to investigate life satisfaction among people aged 60–89 years in six European countries in relation to health problems, ADL capacity, self-esteem, social and financial resources. A cross-sectional study was performed, including 7,699 people aged 60–89 years, in Sweden, the UK, The Netherlands, Luxemburg, Austria and Italy, participating in the European Study of Adult Wellbeing, using questions from the Older Americans Resources and Services schedule, Multidimensional Functional Assessment Questionnaire, Life Satisfaction Index Z and Rosenberg’s Self-esteem scale. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine factors associated with life satisfaction in the six national samples. In cases where people were less satisfied with their life it was fairly satisfactory and unsatisfactory social contacts (Odds Ratio (OR) 1.5–13.8), poor financial resources (OR 1.7–15.1), feeling greatly hindered by health problems (OR 2.2–5.4) and self-esteem (OR 2.1–5.1) rather than the ability to perform activities of daily living and the extent of social contacts that gave the greatest risk of low life satisfaction in all the six European countries. There were both common and country-specific factors important for life satisfaction in the six European countries. However, the importance of satisfactory social contacts, financial resources, self-esteem and feeling hindered by health problems seems universal in the six included countries and thus important to target in preventive interventions.     

Intensive Treatment of Specific Phobias in Children and Adolescents

One-session treatment (OST), a variant of cognitive-behavioral therapy, combines graduated in vivo exposure, participant modeling, reinforcement, psychoeducation, cognitive challenges, and skills training in an intensive treatment model. Treatment is maximized to one 3-hour session. In this paper, we review the application of OST for specific phobia in youth and highlight practical matters related to OST and its use in a clinical setting. We also briefly review results of treatment outcome studies and suggest future directions for clinical research and practice. We conclude that OST is an efficient and efficacious treatment.     

Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Cognitive Dysfunction Questionnaire: Instrument refinement and measurement invariance across age and sex

Vestergren, P., Rönnlund, M., Nyberg, L. & Nilsson, L.‐G. (2012). Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis of the Cognitive Dysfunction Questionnaire: Instrument refinement and measurement invariance across age and sex. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 53, 390–400. The study adopted Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to investigate the factorial structure and reduce the number of items of the Cognitive Dysfunction Questionnaire (CDQ). The analyses were based on data for a total of 1,115 participants from population based samples (mean age: 63.0 ± 14.5 years, range: 25–95) randomly split into a refinement (N = 569) and a cross‐validation (N = 546) sample. Equivalence of the measurement and structural portions of the refined model was demonstrated across the refinement and cross‐validation samples. Among competing models the best fitting and parsimonious model had a hierarchical factor structure with five first‐order and one second‐order general factor. For the final version of the CDQ, 20 items within five domains were selected (Procedural actions, Semantic word knowledge, Face recognition, Temporal orientation, and Spatial navigation). Internal consistency reliabilities were adequate for the total scale and for the subscales. Multigroup CFAs indicated measurement invariance across age and sex up to the scalar level. Finally, higher levels of cognitive dysfunction as reflected by CDQ scores were predicted by advancing age, fewer years of education, and with deficits in general cognitive functioning as reflected by scores on the Mini‐Mental State Examination. In conclusion, the CDQ appears to be psychometrically sound and shows the expected relationships with variables known to be associated with cognitive dysfunction and dementia. Future studies should apply it among clinical groups to further test its usefulness.     

The effects of marital status on episodic and semantic memory in healthy middle-aged and old individuals

The present study examined the influences of marital status on different episodic and semantic memory tasks. A total of 1882 adult men and women participated in a longitudinal project (Betula) on memory, health and aging. The participants were grouped into two age cohorts, 35-60 and 65-85, and studied over a period of 5 years. Episodic memory tasks concerned recognition and recall, whereas semantic memory tasks concerned knowledge and fluency. The results showed, after controlling for education, some diseases, chronological age and leisure activity as covariates, that there were significant differences between married and single individuals in episodic memory, but not in semantic memory. Married people showed significantly better memory performances than singles in both subsystems of episodic memory, that is, recall and recognition. Also, the rate of decline in episodic memory was significantly larger for singles and widowed than other groups over the 5-year time period in both age groups. The findings demonstrate that the positive relation found between marriage and health can be extended to the relation between marriage and cognitive performance. This effect might be explained by the role played by cognitive stimulation in memory and cognition.     

The effects of cognitive behavior therapy delivered by students in a psychologist training program: an effectiveness study

Relatively little is known about the efficacy of clinically inexperienced student therapists carrying out cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) under supervision during a professional, psychologist training program. The current study evaluated this by collecting pre- and posttreatment data on 591 consecutive patients receiving treatment at the Psychotherapy Clinic of the Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Sweden, over an 8-year period. The patients had mainly anxiety disorders or depression with a mean duration of 15 years, and received individual CBT for a mean of 18 sessions. They improved significantly on both general measures (Beck Anxiety Inventory [BAI], Beck Depression Inventory [BDI], and Quality of Life Inventory [QOLI]) and disorder-specific self-report scales. The proportions of recovered patients on the BAI (63%) and the BDI (60%) were higher than those of a comparison effectiveness study. On the specific self-report scales the current sample improved as much as the samples in extant efficacy trials. We conclude that clinically inexperienced student therapists who receive supervision from experienced supervisors can achieve treatment effects that are on a par with those of experienced licensed psychotherapists.     

Physical activity and psychological benefits: A position statement from the international society of sport psychology

This study explores nonverbal behaviors in the form of gestures and touch during elite handball matches. Based on a coding scheme, 616 postshot periods following a goal, stemming from 18 matches, were analyzed. Results revealed that, on average, 2.77 nonverbal behaviors were displayed after scoring. Play-off matches resulted in a higher average of nonverbal behaviors than league matches. The more a team was leading by, the higher the overall number of nonverbal behaviors; meanwhile, the overall amount of nonverbal behaviors declined over the course of a match. The results pinpoint to the situation specificity of nonverbal behaviors during ongoing matches.