The Family Intervention Program

No abstract available for this article.     

A step away from impaired well-being: a latent growth curve analysis of an intervention with activity trackers among employees

ABSTRACT

The present study evaluated the effectiveness of a workplace intervention combining activity trackers (behavioural approach) with an online coach (cognitive approach) in order to increase employees’ number of steps and improve their impaired well-being (i.e., emotional strain and negative affect). To analyse the intervention’s effectiveness, the study applied latent growth curve modelling. Moreover, we tested whether work-related and personal resources (i.e., job control and self-efficacy) moderated the intervention’s effectiveness and whether an increase in number of steps was associated with an improvement in impaired well-being. During the intervention, data were collected at six measurement points from 108 mainly low active employees. The results revealed that employees increased their number of steps until the second intervention week; this increase was not moderated by job control or self-efficacy. Moreover, the intervention was effective in decreasing emotional strain and negative affect over the course of the intervention. Further analyses showed that the increase in number of steps was related to the decrease in negative affect, whereas no such association was found for the increase in number of steps and the decrease in emotional strain. In conclusion, the findings showed that our intervention was effective in improving physical activity and impaired well-being among employees.     

A typological approach of perceived resource fluctuations after job transitions in a representative panel study

ABSTRACT

Job and career transitions are unique experiences that vary within and between persons. One possible reason for the differential effects of transitions is that they can involve resource gains, losses, conservation, or a combination thereof. This study investigates perceived resource fluctuation patterns as possible reasons for differential health outcomes in a representative German panel study (n = 2296). Participants compared six characteristics of their new job with their previous one in three categories (better, same, or worse): (1) job security, (2) working hour regulations, (3) workload, (4) use of professional knowledge, (5) advancement opportunities, and (6) earnings. We conducted multilevel latent class analyses (LCA) with mental and physical health as distal outcomes. Results showed a four-class solution with different probabilities of endorsing that job conditions have fluctuated after the transition. Results also indicated important nuances between the latent classes in terms of mental and physical health outcomes. This study adds to a growing body of knowledge concerning the important role resource fluctuations, and the interplay of various resource dynamics play in the sustenance of mental and physical health. Results also provide implications for career guidance, as well as dealing with organizational newcomers to ensure their well-being, and therefore also their performance.     

A one-year prospective investigation of Type D personality and self-reported physical health

Objective: Type D personality is characterised by negative affectivity (NA) and social inhibition (SI), and is often associated with poorer physical and psychological health. However, the underlying mechanisms are unclear and the literature lacks longitudinal assessment. Therefore, the aim was to prospectively examine the relationships between Type D and physical symptoms, in addition to aspects of retrospective health.

Design: An online questionnaire-based study (N?=?535) with a one-year follow-up (N?=?160) was conducted with healthy individuals (18–65 years). Type D was assessed as both a categorical and dimensional construct.

Main outcome measures: Participants completed the Type D scale-14 (DS14), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Cohen–Hoberman Inventory of Physical Symptoms (CHIPS) and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) at both phases. Retrospective health questions and the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) were also completed at follow-up.

Results: Type D was independently related to cardiac/sympathetic, metabolic, vasovagal, muscular and headache symptoms at baseline. At follow-up stressful events and anxiety mediated the relationships between Type D and particular symptoms. Type Ds were more likely to report poorer health, increased minor illnesses, work absences, and medical information seeking.

Conclusions: Type D is associated with symptoms often linked to stress. Although the relationships appear to be primarily driven by NA, these findings support the theory of a stress-related mechanism potentially underpinning the Type D-health relationship. These findings contribute to the literature continuing to highlight Type D personality as a risk factor for negative health outcomes.     

Understanding Intimate Partner Sexual Assaults: Findings from Sexual Assault Kits

ABSTRACT

In 2013, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, began DNA testing and investigating nearly 5000 previously unsubmitted sexual assault kits (SAKs) from 1993 through 2009. We examined case files from a sample of SAKs that were tested but not previously adjudicated (n = 429). More than 10% (n = 45) involved victims who reported to police that a former or current intimate partner sexually assaulted them. This article integrates the available data on the offenders, the victims, the initial investigation, and the specifics of the assaults to provide a more complete understanding of intimate partner sexual assault (IPSA). More than one-third of the IPSA offenders were serial sex offenders; that is, the offenders sexually assaulted an intimate partner and another person(s). Comparing IPSAs to all other sexual assaults, IPSAs more frequently involved bodily force, less frequently involved a weapon, and IPSA investigations were more frequently closed because (1) the victims stated they lied or the police doubted the victims and (2) the victims declined to prosecute. The most common sequencing of events was a demand for sex by the offender followed by a verbal refusal by the victim and the use of bodily force in the sexual assault. The findings, however, indicate a great deal of variation in the sequencing of events surrounding the sexual assault, with over 25% involving no physical confrontation before or after the sexual assault and no demands for sex. Unsubmitted SAK data provide a unique window into understanding the understudied and underreported issue of IPSA.     

How to Think about ‘Mental Ability’ in Running and Other Sports

ABSTRACT

Coaches and athletes often talk about ‘mental abilities’ that improve athletic performance in a way distinct from physical talents. But the existence of distinct mental abilities in sport is prima facie implausible since (dualists aside) all mental states are physical states of the brain, and all physical bodily movements are the results of mental guidance. Yet it still seems useful and important to talk about a distinctly ‘mental’ aspect of athletic performance. In this paper, I try to clarify what a distinctly mental realm of sports would be and discuss how we can talk about it in ways that can help athletes improve.     

自我嗓音吸引力的评价偏向及抑郁的作用

探讨自我嗓音吸引力评价的积极偏向及抑郁因素的作用。以34名女性和32名男性大学生为被试,采用主观评定法分别对自我、熟人和陌生他人的嗓音吸引力进行评价,同时施测贝克抑郁量表。结果显示:男性和女性被试均对自我嗓音表现出更高评价,随着抑郁分数的增高,女性对自我嗓音吸引力的评价会随之降低。结果提示嗓音吸引力评价的自我积极偏向具有稳定性并与抑郁关系密切,女性抑郁程度越高,自我嗓音吸引力评价越低。