The relation between goal adjustment,goal disturbance,and mental well-being among persons with multiple sclerosis

Objective: This study investigated the role of goal adjustment, i.e. disengaging from blocked goals and reengaging into alternative goals, in mental well-being and goal disturbance in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Design: A cross-sectional design was used with self-report data from questionnaires and Personal Project Analysis (PPA).

Main outcome measures: Dependent variables were mental well-being, indicated by depression/anxiety (HADS; Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) and mental functioning (SF-36; Short Form Health Survey), and goal disturbance, indicated by goal manageability and goal interference (PPA). Independent variables were patient-reported physical impairment (SF-36) and goal disengagement and reengagement (GAS; Goal Adjustment Scale).

Results: Higher goal reengagement was associated with better mental well-being, but unrelated to goal disturbance. Goal disengagement only showed a negative association with anxiety. High disengagement was associated with lower goal interference but only for those also scoring high on reengagement. Goal adjustment did not buffer the effects of physical impairment on mental well-being and goal disturbance. Contrary to expectations, higher goal reengagement increased the association between physical impairment and goal interference.

Conclusion: Although goal reengagement is associated with better mental well-being in persons with MS, it might also strengthen the perceived effect of physical impairment on goal interference.     

Number sense at 12 months predicts 4-year-olds’ maths skills

Preverbal infants spontaneously represent the number of objects in collections. Is this ‘sense of number’ (also referred to as Approximate Number System, ANS) part of the cognitive foundations of mathematical skills? Multiple studies reported a correlation between the ANS and mathematical achievement in children. However, some have suggested that such correlation might be mediated by general-purpose inhibitory skills. We addressed the question using a longitudinal approach: we tested the ANS of 60 12 months old infants and, when they were 4 years old (final N = 40), their symbolic math achievement as well as general intelligence and inhibitory skills. Results showed that the ANS at 12 months is a specific predictor of later maths skills independent from general intelligence or inhibitory skills. The correlation between ANS and maths persists when both abilities are measured at four years. These results confirm that the ANS has an early, specific and longstanding relation with mathematical abilities in childhood.

Research Highlights

• In the literature there is a lively debate about the correlation between the ANS and maths skills.
• We longitudinally tested a sample of 60 preverbal infants at 12 months and rested them at 4 years (final sample of 40 infants).
• The ANS tested at 12 months predicted later symbolic mathematical skills at 4 years, even when controlling for inhibition, general intelligence and perceptual skills.
• The ANS tested at 4 years remained linked with symbolic maths skills, confirming this early and longstanding relation in childhood.

     

The detrimental effect of academic procrastination on subsequent grades: the mediating role of coping over and above past achievement and working memory capacity

Background: Academic procrastination is common among university students and its effect on their achievement is worrisome. Although procrastination is often depicted as self-regulation failure, research still needs to examine the self-regulatory mechanisms involved in the relationship between procrastination and achievement.

Objectives: In this prospective study, we sought to (a) unravel the unique effect of academic procrastination on university grades, (b) examine the mediating role of task-oriented and disengagement-oriented coping as a self-regulatory pathway toward achievement, (c) control for the potential confounding influence of past achievement and working memory capacity.

Methods: A sample of 258 university students completed self-report measures of academic procrastination and coping, and performed tests of working memory. Their semester grade point average was collected at the end of the semester.

Results: Results of structural equation modeling showed that academic procrastination negatively predicted subsequent academic achievement, even after controlling for high school achievement and working memory capacity. Furthermore, indirect effects revealed that task- and disengagement-oriented coping explained 70% of the total effect.

Conclusion: These findings outline that the effect of academic procrastination cannot be reduced to a history of academic difficulties or limited cognitive ability and that coping plays an important role in the procrastination – achievement relationship.     

Reconceptualising parental monitoring within a model of goal-directed parental action

The concept and operationalisation of parental monitoring in adolescent behavioural research is idiosyncratic, and often conflates multiple concepts. This hinders study and understanding of its role in the distinct processes of adolescent development and behaviour. This paper introduces a model of Goal-Directed Parental Action, applied to adolescent crime, in order to situate and thus define the concept of parental monitoring. This model draws on Situational Action Theory to both prioritise motivation and specify a parental action process. This process distinguishes parental goals from the means by which to achieve them and from the knowledge gathering required to evaluate progress towards such goals. Within this framework, parental monitoring is defined as the employment of active information-gathering behaviours by parents to help them to gain knowledge about and evaluate their child's progress towards a range of parentally selected developmental and behavioural goals. In addition to facilitating this definition of parental monitoring, the model of Goal-Directed Parental Action has future potential to clarify other parenting concepts and processes.