Representing decision-makers using styles of behavior: An approach designed for group decision support systems

Supporting decision-making processes when the elements of a group are geographically dispersed and on a tight schedule is a complex task. Aiming to support decision-makers anytime and anywhere, Web-based group decision support systems have been studied. However, the limitations in the decision-makers’ interactions associated to this scenario bring new challenges. In this work, we propose a set of behavioral styles from which decision-makers’ intentions can be modelled into agents. The goal is that, besides having agents represent typical preferences of the decision-makers (towards alternatives and criteria), they can also represent their intentions. To do so, we conducted a survey with 64 participants in order to find homogeneous operating values so as to numerically define the proposed behavioral styles in four dimensions. In addition, we also propose a communication model that simulates the dialogues made by decision-makers in face-to-face meetings. We developed a prototype to simulate decision scenarios and found that agents are capable of acting according to the decision-makers’ intentions and fundamentally benefit from different possible behavioral styles, just as a face-to-face meeting benefits from the heterogeneity of its participants.     

Negotiating motherhood as a refugee: experiences of loss,love, survival and pain in the context of forced migration

The mental health of refugees has been an increasingly researched area, but has been criticised for having an individualised and symptom-focused approach to understanding the experience of forced migration. This paper attempts to respond to calls to address this culturally limited and incomplete way of conceptualising responses to experiences of persecution and terror bound up within global hegemony and power inequalities. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was employed to analyse semi-structured interviews undertaken with six refugee mothers, with the aim of exploring how participants made sense of, and created meaning around parenting and family life in the UK. Three main themes emerged from the data analysis (a) loss as a constant companion to parenting; (b) a shifting view of the self as a mother; and (c) taking the good with the bad in family life. Methodological limitations, as well as implications for future research and clinical practice are discussed.     

Job demands,coping, and impacts of occupational stress among journalists: a systematic review

This paper systematically reviews empirical research published from 2002 to July 2015 investigating journalists’ occupational stressors, coping strategies, and the impacts of these variables on the health and well-being of such professionals, whether on their daily work or as special envoys to critical scenarios. A meta-analytic approach was displayed to analyse the association between exposure to traumatic events during work and journalists’ symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Twenty eight articles met the inclusion criteria and revealed that very few studies distinguish (and none compare) the distress of journalists in their daily work from the distress of reporting major disasters, not a single study addressed positive emotional responses and only one research study focused on an in-depth analysis of the most commonly used coping strategies by journalists. The impacts of occupational stress among these professionals were sorely negative (e.g., burnout, PTSD), and no study was found to address the design and assessment of preventive interventions for these impacts on the health and well-being of journalists. Thirteen studies were included in a random-effects model meta-analysis and a small to moderate effect size (r = 0.272) between exposure to traumatic events during assignments and PTSD was found. The article closes with directions for future studies.     

The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale: a pilot study to examine its latent structure and the link between psychological state and symptom severity in transient ischaemic attack patients

Transient ischaemic attack (TIA) is often associated with anxiety and depression, which may precipitate secondary stroke and interfere with treatment. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) is widely used to assess these states and to inform the management of any associated psychological problems, but there is considerable debate about what it actually measures. The HADS scores from a range of different clinical groups have been reviewed in order to assess its psychometric properties, but so far, no research has examined either its latent structure when used with TIA patients, or the association between symptom severity and the test’s validity. The aims of this study, therefore, were to investigate: (a) the underlying structure of the HADS when used with TIA patients; and (b) the impact of symptom severity on the validity of the HADS. The HADS and a functional capacity measure were administered by post to a sample of 542 confirmed TIA patients. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the HADS scores to establish its underlying structure for this clinical group, and then, sub-sample correlations were undertaken between the anxiety/depression scores for different levels of functional capacity. Two factors emerged, with 13 of the 14 HADS items loading significantly on both, suggesting there is a common affective state underlying the standard anxiety and depression scales. Further data-exploration indicated that convergence between these affective states increased as functional capacity deteriorated. The results suggest firstly that the HADS measures general subjective distress when used with TIA patients, and secondly that the higher reported symptom severity in this clinical group may be associated with reduced affective differentiation. As the ability to retain clear affective discrimination is associated with health and well-being, this could provide a focus for post-TIA rehabilitation.     

Do stigma and its psychosocial impact differ between Asian-born Chinese immigrants and Western-born Caucasians with head and neck cancer?

Stigma appears to influence emotional distress and well-being in cancer survivors, but cross-cultural differences have been ignored. Previous studies suggest that stigma may be especially relevant for survivors of Asian origin. However, their study designs (e.g. focused on female cancers, qualitative designs, and an absence of comparison groups) limit the strength of this conclusion. We hypothesized that (1) Asian-born Chinese immigrants (AI) would report more perceived cancer-related stigma than Western-born Caucasians (WBC); and (2) the impact of stigma on emotional distress and well-being would be greater in AI as compared to WBC. Head and neck cancer survivors (n = 118 AI and n = 404 WBC) completed measures of well-being, emotional distress, and a three-item indicator of stigma in structured interviews. The majority of respondents (59%) reported one or more indicators of stigma. Stigma correlated significantly with emotional distress (r = .13, p = .004) and well-being (r = ?.09, p = .032). Contrary to our hypotheses, WBCs and AIs did not differ in reported stigma nor did we detect differences in its psychosocial impact. Stigma exerts a deleterious psychosocial impact on head and neck cancer survivors. It did not differ significantly between AI and WBC survivors.     

Job characteristics,well-being and risky behaviour amongst pharmacists

Healthcare practitioners’ fitness to practise has often been linked to their personal and demographic characteristics. It is possible that situational factors, such as the work environment and physical or psychological well-being, also have an influence on an individual’s fitness to practise. However, it is unclear how these factors might be linked to behaviours that risk compromising fitness to practise. The aim of this study was to examine the association between job characteristics, well-being and behaviour reflecting risky practice amongst a sample of registered pharmacists in a region of the United Kingdom. Data were obtained from a cross-sectional self-report survey of 517 pharmacists. These data were subjected to principal component analysis and path analysis, with job characteristics (demand, autonomy and feedback) and well-being (distress and perceived competence) as the predictors and behaviour as the outcome variable. Two aspects of behaviour were found: Overloading (taking on more work than one can comfortably manage) and risk taking (working at or beyond boundaries of safe practice). Separate path models including either job characteristics or well-being as independent variables provided a good fit to the data-set. Of the job characteristics, demand had the strongest association with behaviour, while the association between well-being and risky behaviour differed according to the aspect of behaviour being assessed. The findings suggest that, in general terms, situational factors should be considered alongside personal factors when assessing, judging or remediating fitness to practise. They also suggest the presence of different facets to the relationship between job characteristics, well-being and risky behaviour amongst pharmacists.     

Happiness and life satisfaction in Rwanda

This study investigated predictors of happiness and life satisfaction in Rwanda. Data from the World Values Survey and gathered from 3 030 Rwandese (age ranging 16 to 90 years, mean age = 34.2, SD = 12.7; females = 50.5%) were pooled for the analysis. For the comparison, international World Values Survey data were utilised. A fixed effects multilevel regression model was used to predict happiness and life satisfaction from gender, health, socio-economic, and some subjective measures. Males had greater self-rated happiness and life satisfaction scores than females. State of health and sense of freedom of choice predicted both happiness and life satisfaction. Valuing of friends, weekly religious attendance, and national pride positively predicted happiness, whereas household’s financial satisfaction, full-time employment, high-income group, being a student, and sense of trust predicted life satisfaction. This study suggests that health status, household’s financial satisfaction and emancipative values could maximise subjective well-being in Rwanda.     

Affective and cognitive predictors of affective response to exercise: Examining unique and overlapping variance

ObjectivesAffective response to exercise has been suggested as an important factor in determining regular exercise. However, it is unclear the extent to which anticipatory affect factors (affective attitudes, implicit associations, and affective associations), anticipated affect factors (anticipated regret, anticipated pride), and cognitive factors (self-efficacy, intentions) explain overlapping or unique variance in affective response to exercise.DesignWe systematically examined the extent to which these various affective and cognitive factors relevant to exercise predict affective response, and determined the extent to which these factors account for unique or overlapping variance in affective response.MethodHealthy young adults (N = 69) completed measures of affective attitudes, affective associations, implicit associations, anticipated affect, self-efficacy, and exercise intentions. Participants then exercised for 20-min at moderate intensity on a treadmill, during and after which they reported their affective response. Using variables that were independent predictors, we conducted multivariate analyses to determine which factors account for unique variance in affective response to exercise.ResultsIn three of four multivariate models, both anticipated and anticipatory affect variables explained unique variance in affective response during exercise. Only anticipatory affect variables accounted for unique variance in affective response immediately post-exercise. Finally, the association between exercise self-efficacy and affective response during-exercise was rendered non-significant after controlling for affective factors in all three multivariate models.ConclusionsThe unique associations between affective response to exercise and affective, but not cognitive, factors elucidate key predictors of affective response during- and post-exercise.     

工作性通信工具使用与双职工夫妻的幸福感：基于溢出-交叉效应的分析

工作性通信工具使用(W_ICTs)是一种新兴的工作行为,指员工在非工作时间使用通信工具处理工作。为帮助组织和个人从整体上了解W_ICTs对员工生活的影响并对其进行管理,以278对配对调查数据为样本,基于溢出?交叉效应视角探讨了 W_I C Ts 与双职工夫妻幸福感的关系及作用机制。结构方程模型分析发现：丈夫和妻子的W_I C Ts均可通过加剧个体的工作→家庭冲突、诱发夫妻之间的社会阻抑行为进而降低双方的幸福感,同时也可通过促进个体的工作→家庭增益、抑制夫妻之间的社会阻抑行为进而提升双方的幸福感;但整体而言,妻子的 W_ICTs会显著降低夫妻双方的幸福感,而丈夫的 W_ICTs不会显著影响夫妻双方的幸福感。研究提示,组织在进行 W_I C Ts管理时,应充分考虑其对女性员工的负向影响;就员工个体而言,男性和女性均可通过加强与配偶的沟通,减少夫妻间的社会阻抑行为,进而预防 W_I C Ts 的不良影响,促进W_I C Ts的积极影响。