Toward Training Transformation

This article briefly discusses common themes concerning training transformation shared by articles in this special issue. Themes include: the continuing combat training center revolution, the interplay between theory and practice in military training programs, training as an engineering discipline, the role of training as a contributor to human performance in military operations, the use of training simulations to assess human performance, and data standards. The article emphasizes the need for researchers to better explain and articulate the value and return on investment of training in general and training transformation in particular. Meeting this need will better inform decisions and decision makers in allocating resources to training across the full range of defense requirements.     

Revisiting ‘What works for whom?’: A qualitative framework for evaluating clinical effectiveness in child psychotherapy

This paper describes a framework for evaluating the effectiveness of child psychotherapy used by child psychotherapists in an inner city Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS). The Hopes and Expectations for Treatment Approach (HETA) involves using the assessment for psychotherapy that normally precedes treatment to derive a baseline from which to generate a set of hopes/expectations as regards the effects of the treatment on the part of parents and the psychotherapist, to be revisited one year after the start of the psychotherapy and/or at its completion. The Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire, for parents and schools, was also administered before and after the treatment. The characteristics of the first 30 children referred for psychotherapy over a particular time period are described. Of the first 15 children in this group to complete one year of individual psychotherapy, all showed change or significant change in the areas concerning parents' and therapists' hopes at the end-of-year review, as rated by parents and psychotherapists. A case of a child with conduct disorder is used to describe how the assessment generated a psychoanalytic formulation, how the therapist's understanding was fed back to the parents, and how the parents' and therapist's hopes and expectations were derived and recorded. This case illustrates powerfully the impact of trauma in the parents' backgrounds on the internal world of the child, and how the method provides a useful bridge between parent and child work. Feedback from the psychotherapists, the parents and the referrers using the framework is reviewed, and in conclusion the paper argues for the framework's value in promoting good practice in the treatment and management of complex cases and in enhancing awareness of the nature and scope of the psychotherapy process.     

Trait anxiety and trait anger measured by ecological momentary assessment and their correspondence with traditional trait questionnaires

Ecological momentary assessments (EMA) of anxiety and anger/hostility were obtained every 25–30 min over two 24-h periods, separated by a median of 6 months, from 165 employees at a university in the Northeast. We used a multilevel trait-state-error structural equation model to estimate: (1) the proportion of variance in EMA anxiety and anger/hostility attributable to stable trait-like individual differences; (2) the correspondence between these trait-like components of EMA anxiety and anger/hostility and traditional questionnaire measures of each construct; and (3) the test–retest correlation between two 24-h averages obtained several months apart. After adjustment for measurement error, more than half the total variance in EMA reports of anxiety and anger/hostility is attributable to stable trait-like individual differences; however, the trait-like component of each construct is only modestly correlated with questionnaire measures of that construct. The 6-month “test–retest” correlations of latent variables representing the true 24-h EMA average anxiety and average anger are quite high (r ? 0.83). This study represents the longest follow-up period over which EMA-based estimates of traits have been examined. The results suggest that although the trait component (individual differences) of EMA momentary ratings of anxiety and anger is larger than the state component, traditional self-report questionnaires of trait anxiety and anger correspond only weakly with EMA-defined traits.     

Motivational pathways to STEM career choices: Using expectancy–value perspective to understand individual and gender differences in STEM fields

The United States has made a significant effort and investment in STEM education, yet the size and the composition of the STEM workforce continues to fail to meet demand. It is thus important to understand the barriers and factors that influence individual educational and career choices. In this article, we conduct a literature review of the current knowledge surrounding individual and gender differences in STEM educational and career choices, using expectancy–value theory as a guiding framework. The overarching goal of this paper is to provide both a well-defined theoretical framework and complementary empirical evidence for linking specific sociocultural, contextual, biological, and psychological factors to individual and gender differences in STEM interests and choices. Knowledge gained through this review will eventually guide future research and interventions designed to enhance individual motivation and capacity to pursue STEM careers, particularly for females who are interested in STEM but may be constrained by misinformation or stereotypes.     

The Broaching Attitudes and Behavior Survey (BABS): An Exploratory Assessment of Its Dimensionality

The continuum of broaching behavior is a conceptual framework explicating how counselors broach or have explicit discussions about racial, ethnic, and cultural factors with their clients during treatment ( Day‐Vines et al., 2007 ). Counselors can assume 5 particular broaching orientations: avoidant, isolating, continuing/incongruent, integrated/congruent, and infusing. The authors operationalized the continuum of broaching behavior using the Broaching Attitudes and Behavior Scale and found support for a 4‐factor model of broaching behavior. El espectro de comportamiento de abordamiento es un marco conceptual que explica cómo los consejeros abordan o tienen discusiones específicas sobre factores raciales, étnicos y culturales con sus clientes durante el tratamiento ( Day‐Vines et al., 2007 ). Los consejeros pueden asumir 5 orientaciones de abordamiento particulares: evasiva, aislante, continua/incongruente, integrada/congruente e infundida. Los autores operativizaron el espectro de comportamiento de abordamiento usando la Escala de Actitudes de Abordamiento y Comportamiento y hallaron respaldo para un modelo del comportamiento de abordamiento de 4 factores.     

Issues in training clinical health psychologists

The author describes general issues in the training of clinical health psychologists and provides an overview of specific content needed in core health psychology and clinical health psychology assessment and intervention. Special attention is given to training in professional, personal, ethical and legal issues of practice.     

Examining the effects of perceived social support on momentary mood and symptom reports in asthma and arthritis patients

Objective: Social support has been linked to beneficial effects on health directly (main effect) and as a buffer to stress. Most research, however, has examined these relationships using global and retrospective assessments of health and stress, which may be subject to recall biases. This study used ambulatory ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methods to test the main and stress-buffering effects of social support on the daily health and well-being of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.

Design: Community volunteers with asthma (n?=?97) or RA (n?=?31) responded to EMA prompts five times daily for one week.

Main outcomes: Baseline perceived social support was obtained, and then, participants reported mood, stress and symptoms using EMA. Multilevel mixed-modelling examined whether social support predicted mood and symptoms directly or via stress-reducing effects.

Results: Supporting a main effect, more perceived social support predicted decreased negative mood and stress severity. Supporting a stress-buffering effect, more perceived social support resulted in fewer reported symptoms when stress was present.

Conclusion: Results suggest perceived social support directly relates to better ambulatory status and dynamically buffers individuals against the negative effects of stressors, and highlight the importance of studying social support across different temporal and contextual levels.     

Explaining adolescents’ cigarette smoking: A comparison of four modes of action control and test of the role of self-regulatory mode

The present study compared how well four modes of action control (intentional, habitual, reactive and stereotype activation) explain adolescents’ cigarette smoking, and examined whether individual differences in self-regulation (locomotion and assessment tendencies; Higgins, Kruglanski, & Pierro, 2003 Higgins, ET, Kruglanski, AW and Pierro, A. 2003. Regulatory mode: Locomotion and assessment as distinct orientations. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 25: 293–344.  [Google Scholar]) moderate the behavioural impact of the respective modes. Findings from a prospective questionnaire survey showed that (a) willingness, prototype perceptions and past behaviour–but not intention–predicted smoking behaviour, and explained 63% of the variance, and (b) the assessment mode of self-regulation moderated the past behaviour–future behaviour relation such that past behaviour had less impact on future smoking behaviour at high levels of assessment. These findings suggest that adolescents’ smoking is controlled by stereotype activation, habitual and reactive processes. Implications of the results for designing effective adolescent smoking cessation programmes are considered.     

New evidence on the reliability and validity of the pediatric oncology quality of life scale

Abstract

The present paper replicates and extends previous studies on the psychometric properties of the Pediatric Oncology Quality of Life Scale (POQOLS). The research questions were focused on (a) internal consistency; (b) relation with demographics; and (c) ability to discriminate between patient groups. Data were gathered in a Dutch-speaking Belgian sample of 73 pediatric oncology patients, drawn from the population of a university hospital. The parents completed the POQOLS, a 21-item parent-report inventory for the assessment of physical restriction, emotional distress and discomfort from medical treatment in pediatric oncology patients. The results support the psychometric quality of the POQOLS. Three of the core aspects of quality of life are tapped using sufficiently short and internally consistent subscales. The instrument is free from relations with demographics and shows good discriminant ability to differentiate between patient groups according to time since diagnosis, treatment status and diagnosis.     

Mentor status,occupational context,and protégé career outcomes: Differential returns for males and females

We report two studies examining the moderating effects of mentor status and protégé gender, along with the moderating role of occupational context, in the relationship of mentoring with protégé career outcomes. Our research replicates and extends previous findings, especially those by Ramaswami et al. (2010b). Results from Study 1 indicated that business school alumni with senior-male mentors earned more compensation than those with no mentors. Additionally, a 3-way interaction (protégé gender × senior-male mentor × occupation type) indicated that the senior-male mentor effect for compensation was especially prominent for females in male-gendered occupation types. Study 2, conducted in an aerospace manufacturing firm comprising both a male-gendered occupation and industry context, confirmed mentor-status by protégé gender interaction for compensation. Female protégés with senior mentors received more compensation than females with no mentors, and also more compensation than males with senior mentors. In contrast, protégés with “other” (not senior) mentors received less compensation than those with no mentors, with this negative effect being especially strong for females. Taken as a whole, these results confirm the importance of mentor status for protégé career success. The results also underscore the importance of considering both mentor attributes and work context in understanding male and female protégés' career returns from mentoring.