Personal and social aspects of professional identity.: An extension of Marcia's identity status model applied to a sample of university students

The study proposed an extension of Marcia's identity status model based on validation of the Professional Identity Status Questionnaire (PISQ-5d), a scale able to measure both intra-individual and intergroup processes connected with the development of a professional identity in university students. The aims were to prove the construct validity of the PISQ-5d, to determine the appropriate number of identity statuses, and to assess the concurrent validity of the identity statuses considering both job-related and academic factors. In this study, 477 university students completed a questionnaire with the PISQ-5d scale; 220 also completed the measures of work values; and 168 completed the measures of student self-esteem and self-efficacy, academic motivation, and grades. Results confirmed the expected five-dimensional structure of the PISQ-5d and the scale's effectiveness at differentiating five types of identity status. Relationship between professional identity status and job-related and academic factors showed that the students with achievement or foreclosure identities had higher scores on measures of academic self-esteem and intrinsic work value and had lower scores for intention to leave university. Implications in terms of considering the PISQ-5d scale a useful tool for the evaluation of professional identity construction processes in university students will be discussed.     

The relation of career adaptability to work experience,extracurricular activities,and work transition in Portuguese graduate students

This study analyzed the psychometric properties and the factor structure of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS)—Portugal HE Form with 406 graduate students and explored the relationship between career adaptability, work experience, extracurricular activities and work transition. The analysis allows us to conclude that CAAS can be a valid and useful measurement for assessing career adaptability in Portuguese graduates. The differential analysis evidenced that participants with student worker status and with work experiences reported displayed higher scores on the subscales of control and curiosity, respectively. No statistical differences emerged regarding experience of extracurricular activities. Also, participants who referred to anticipating difficulties in work transition scored significantly lower on the subscales of control than did their peers who do not anticipate difficulties in such transitions. The obtained results support the importance of considering practical experiences and fostering career adaptability during higher education studies as a way to help graduates manage the transition to professional contexts.     

The Effectiveness of the Within Our Reach Relationship Education Program for Couples: Findings from a Federal Randomized Trial

This study examined the effectiveness of a couple‐based relationship education program, Within Our Reach. Secondary data (n = 3,609) were analyzed from the federal Supporting Healthy Marriage project. Couples were randomly assigned to receive Within Our Reach and associated services or to a no‐treatment (treatment‐as‐usual) control group. Those assigned to Within Our Reach reported better couple and individual outcomes on 8 of 12 outcomes measured (M ES = .15) at the 12‐month follow‐up and 6 of 10 outcomes measured at the 30‐month follow‐up (M ES = .14), including higher relationship happiness, more warmth and support, more positive communication, less negative behavior and emotion, less psychological abuse, less physical assault (for men), lower psychological distress (for women), and less infidelity. They were also less likely to report that their marriage was in trouble. These effects were generally small in size and many were replicated across the two follow‐ups. There were no significant differences between those assigned to Within Our Reach versus control on cooperative parenting, severe psychological assault, or percent married. Implications for future research, programming, and policy are discussed.     

Organization-Level Predictors of Sustained Social Movement Participation

Long‐term sustained participation represents one of the most important resources available to community organizations and social movement organizations (SMOs). The participatory literature on community and SMOs has identified a host of individual‐level factors that influence participation beyond initial engagement, and has more recently identified contextual factors that influence participation. This study builds upon current understandings of participation in SMOs by examining how sustained participation in movement activities is affected by two qualities of SMO settings: repertoire of organizational activity, and equality of staff contact with organization members to cultivate and facilitate individual participation. To this end, we employ multi‐level regression techniques to examine longitudinal data on participation within 50 local chapters of a national congregation‐based community organizing federation. We find that the conduct of organizational activities previously shown to increase levels of participation among individual persons does not necessarily lead to increases in aggregate or organization‐level participation. Further, we find that conditions of unequal staff contact among organization members represent a notable drag on organization‐level participation over time. Our findings suggest that organizers and organizational leaders may well see greater levels of participation in their organizations by simply re‐distributing resources and opportunities more equitably within their organizations.     

Picturing the Wheatbelt: Exploring and Expressing Place Identity Through Photography

Community arts and cultural development is a process that builds on and responds to the aspirations and needs of communities through creative means. It is participatory and inclusive, and uses multiple modes of representation to produce local knowledge. ‘Voices’ used photography and photo elicitation as the medium for exploring and expressing sense of place among Aboriginal and non‐Indigenous children, young people and adults in four rural towns. An analysis of data generated by the project shows the diverse images that people chose to capture and the different meanings they afforded to their pictures. These meanings reflected individual and collective constructions of place, based on positive experiences and emotions tied to the natural environment and features of the built environment. We discuss community arts and cultural development practice with reference to creative visual methodologies and suggest that it is an approach that can contribute to community psychology’s empowerment agenda.     

Community violence exposure and callous–unemotional traits in adolescents: Testing parental support as a promotive versus protective factor

Although callous–unemotional (CU) traits are associated with maladjustment in youth, literature predicting CU using prospective designs is rare. In the present study we examine associations between exposure to community violence, supportive relationships with caregivers, and CU in a sample of 236 low-income youth (M age = 13.00 years, SD = 1.56 years; 43% male; 92% African American) participating in a 3-wave longitudinal study of violence exposure and adjustment. Both promotive and protective models of linkages between exposure to community violence, support, and CU were investigated. Given known sex differences in CU, sex was explored as a moderator. Regression analysis revealed that witnessing and hearing about community violence, aggregated over 2 waves, were positively associated with CU at the final study wave. Supportive relationships with caregivers, aggregated over 2 waves, were negatively associated with CU but did not interact with violence exposure, suggesting that supportive relationships with caregivers has a promotive but not a protective association with CU in the context of exposure to violence. The pattern of associations did not vary by sex. This study informs our understanding of factors that contribute to the development of CU.     

Building Resilience in Families,Communities, and Organizations: A Training Program in Global Mental Health and Psychosocial Support

This article describes the Summer Institute in Global Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, a brief immersion training program for mental health, health, and allied professionals who work with populations that have endured severe adversities and trauma, such as domestic and political violence, extreme poverty, armed conflict, epidemics, and natural disasters. The course taught participants to apply collaborative and contextually sensitive approaches to enhance social connectedness and resilience in families, communities, and organizations. This article presents core training principles and vignettes which illustrate how those engaging in such interventions must: (1) work in the context of a strong and supportive organization; (2) appreciate the complexity of the systems with which they are engaging; and (3) be open to the possibilities for healing and transformation. The program utilized a combination of didactic presentations, hands‐on interactive exercises, case studies, and experiential approaches to organizational team building and staff stress management.     

Occupational differences in work engagement: A longitudinal study among eight occupational groups in Norway

The aim of the present study was to explore occupational differences in the experience of engagement both with regard to differences in the level of work engagement as well as in the predicting value of different antecedent variables. Multigroup latent mean analysis was performed on eight different occupational groups in Norway (lawyers, physicians, nurses, teachers, church ministers, bus drivers, and people working in advertising and information technology; N = 3,475). Tests for factorial invariance supported the use of the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory scale across occupational groups and that the latent means were comparable across the groups. Results indicated significant occupational differences in the experience of vigor and dedication. The lawyers reported the most vigor and the church ministers the most dedication. Least vigor was reported among the teachers and the advertising group reported to be least dedicated. Cross‐lagged multigroup structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis suggested there are different processes behind the development of engagement across occupations. Visualization of how some occupations cluster or differ from each other is important as it might engender theory building and further hypotheses testing.     

Assessing Community Participation: Comparing Self‐Reported Participation Data with Organizational Attendance Records

How well do self‐reported levels of community and organizational participation align with recorded acts of community and organizational participation? This study explores this question among participants in social action community organizing initiatives by comparing responses on a community participation scale designed to retrospectively assess community participation (T1, n = 482; T2, n = 220) with individual participants' attendance records in various social action organizing activities over two 1‐year periods. By testing the self‐reported measure's overall and item‐by‐item association with documented participation in various types of organizing activities, we find that the self‐report measure is positively, but weakly correlated with actual participation levels in community organizing activities. Moreover, associations between self‐report and recorded acts of participation differ by types of activity. Examining this unique source of data raises important questions about how community participation is conceptualized and measured in our field. Implications are explored for theory and measurement of participation in community and organizational contexts.     

Individual,Housing, and Neighborhood Predictors of Psychological Integration Among Vulnerably Housed and Homeless Individuals

The current longitudinal study evaluated the individual, housing, and neighborhood characteristics predictive of feeling psychologically integrated within one's neighborhood among a population of homeless and vulnerably housed individuals. Participants were recruited at homeless shelters, meal programs, and rooming houses in Ottawa, Canada and participated in three in‐person interviews, each approximately 1 year apart. Prospective and cross‐sectional predictors of psychological integration at Follow‐up 1 and Follow‐up 2 were examined. There were 397 participants at baseline, 341 at Follow‐up 1 and 320 at Follow‐up 2. A hierarchical multiple regression uncovered several significant predictors of psychological integration. The most salient and common predictors were being older, having greater social support, living in high quality housing, and residing in a neighborhood with a positive impact. Implications for service provision and policy advancements are discussed.