Dental flossing and automaticity: a longitudinal moderated mediation analysis

We investigated the role of normative support, behavioural automaticity, and action control in predicting dental flossing behaviour. Between May and October 2015, 629 Australian young adults completed a questionnaire assessing constructs of normative support and automaticity, and a 2-week follow-up of dental flossing behaviour and action control, resulting in n = 241 persons for longitudinal analysis. Findings supported the hypotheses that the effect of normative support on behaviour would be mediated via automaticity, and the effect of automaticity would be moderated by action control. Current results extend previous research to elucidate the mechanisms that help to understand predictors of oral hygiene behaviours and contribute to the cumulative evidence concerning self-regulatory and automatic components of health behaviour.     

Religiousness on mental health in older adults: the mediating role of social support and healthy behaviours

The positive association between religiousness and mental health among the faithful is well-established; here, social support (SS) and healthy behaviours (HB) are investigated as mechanisms underlying the benefits of faith on depression and anxiety in a survey sample of 97 religious older adults aged 62–96 (M_age?=?79). Initial regression models revealed a significant direct effect (higher religiousness?=?less depression and less anxiety). For depressive symptoms, both individual mediators rendered the effect of religiousness non-significant, with HB explaining more variance (36% vs. 27%); in the combined model, both demonstrated independent, additive effects (SS?=??.18, p?=?.006; HB?=??.34, p?p?=?.005). The results help inform those working with religious older adults facing depression and anxiety by highlighting key aspect(s) of the person’s faith experience that will be most effective in helping to improve his or her mental health.     

Luna Yoga: A Wellness Program for Female Counselors and Counselors-in-Training to Foster Self-Awareness and Connection

Yoga has gained popularity as a way to relieve stress and maintain well-being. It may also be a helpful resource for counselors to learn effective self-care strategies to sustain personal wellness and professional competence. This pilot study examined the impact of Luna Yoga, a four-week program created specifically for women to enhance creativity, connection, and self-awareness, and facilitate a socially supportive environment unlike traditional yoga sessions. This pilot study employed a delayed treatment control group design to test the impact of the Luna Yoga intervention on reported levels of wellness, resulting in an increase in social wellness among female professional counselors and counselors-in-training.     

Attachment,Social Support,Resilience and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in Chinese Adults Living with HIV/AIDS

The present study aimed to examine the effects of attachment, social support and resilience on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in people living with HIV/AIDS. One hundred fifty-two HIV+ adults in China were investigated. The results suggested that attachment anxiety had a significant direct effect on PTSD symptoms and impacted PTSD symptoms indirectly though associations with social support and resilience. Attachment avoidance could also be considered a distal risk factor of PTSD symptoms via the mediation of social support and resilience. The findings highlight the importance of identifying trauma and PTSD symptoms in people affected by HIV/AIDS and suggest that people with attachment anxiety and low social support resources might be at high risk for PTSD.     

PREDICTORS OF SELF‐REPORTED GAINS IN A RELATIONSHIP‐BASED HOME‐VISITING PROJECT FOR MOTHERS AFTER CHILDBIRTH

We assessed mothers’ self‐reported gains from a postpartum home‐visiting (HV) project in which home visitors are volunteer mothers from the community. Hypotheses were that gains are positively related to (a) mothers’ felt‐closeness with their home visitor, (b) mothers’ level of sociodemographic risk, and (c) the home visitors’ preproject training in support services for families or children (Professionalism). One hundred sixty‐four clients returned written evaluations of the HV project. Items assessing gains were reduced to two factors: Improved Well‐Being (“Self”) and Improved Infant Care (“Infant”). Repeated measures general linear models, with Gains (Self, Infant) as the repeated measure, and multiple regression analyses evaluated the hypotheses. Across the sample, gains on both factors were moderate, although gain scores were higher regarding Self than for Infant. Results show that (a) Mothers’ felt‐closeness with their volunteer was strongly related to mothers’ gains; (b) high‐risk mothers gained more from the project than did mothers of lower risk, particularly regarding Infant Care; and (c) mothers visited by volunteers who were professionals reported more substantial gains than did mothers visited by volunteers who were not professionals. Findings can help explain variance in mothers’ gains from such projects and could be useful in improving their efficacy.     

Best friends and better coping: Facilitating psychological resilience through boys’ and girls’ closest friendships

This is a novel investigation of whether, and how, a single close supportive friendship may facilitate psychological resilience in socio‐economically vulnerable British adolescents. A total of 409 adolescents (160 boys, 245 girls, four unknown), aged between 11 and 19 years, completed self‐report measures of close friendship quality, psychological resilience, social support, and other resources. Findings revealed a significant positive association between perceived friendship quality and resilience. This relationship was facilitated through inter‐related mechanisms of developing a constructive coping style (comprised of support‐seeking and active coping), effort, a supportive friendship network, and reduced disengaged and externalising coping. While protective processes were encouragingly significantly present across genders, boys were more vulnerable to the deleterious effects of disengaged and externalizing coping than girls. We suggest that individual close friendships are an important potential protective mechanism accessible to most adolescents. We discuss implications of the resulting Adolescent Friendship and Resilience Model for resilience theories and integration into practice.     

Rebuilding from the vacuum: A qualitative study of people with a recent history of incarceration

Thirty-four adults recently released from incarceration and living in transitional homes were interviewed in this qualitative study. An open-ended approach to interviewing was used to allow participants’ main concerns to emerge. Participants were primarily focused on rebuilding relationships to achieve stability post-incarceration. Participants who rebuilt stable relationships were able to work on internal goals (e.g., sobriety). Participants who did not rebuild stable relationships returned to existing social networks of unstable connections characterized by drug addiction, abuse, or criminal activity.     

Motivated to be socially mindful: Explaining age differences in the effect of employees’ contact quality with coworkers on their coworker support

In this research, we examine how high-quality contact can facilitate employees’ coworker support and explain why the benefits of high-quality contact are contingent upon age. First, we employ a social mindfulness lens to decipher the motivational mechanisms of high-quality contact with coworkers on providing coworker support via coworker-oriented perspective taking and empathic concern. Second, we utilize socioemotional selectivity theory to overcome the current age-blind view on workplace interactions and examine the indirect moderating effect of age via future time perspective on the link between contact quality, social mindfulness, and coworker support. We tested our hypotheses based on data from a sample of 575 employees collected in three waves. Results showed that both coworker-oriented perspective taking and empathic concern mediated the positive effects of contact quality on coworker support. The effect of contact quality on coworker-oriented empathic concern was stronger for older employees with a more constrained future time perspective as compared to younger employees with a more extensive future time perspective. Overall, we extend research on aging, workplace interactions, and support behavior by linking the literature on these topics using a social mindfulness lens and by adding employee age and age-related mechanisms as important boundary conditions that qualify the outcomes of positive workplace contact.