Longitudinal study of quality of life in acquired brain injury: A self- and proxy-report evaluation

Background/ObjectiveAfter an acquired brain injury (ABI), the person remains with several impairments and disabilities that cause a decrease in his/her quality of life (QoL), which could change over time. The objective of the study was to analyse the evolution patterns of QoL in a sample of persons with ABI for one-year as well as the differences in proxy- and self-report versions of a QoL instrument. Method: The sample comprised 402 persons with ABI with ages ranging between 18 and 91 years, whom 36.20% had had the accident recently (i.e., three years or less). Patients, professionals and relatives responded at three evaluation points to the CAVIDACE scale, an ABI-specific QoL tool. Results: ANOVAs showed an improvement in QoL in the two follow-ups; the improvement was especially significant in the period between baseline and six months. The respondent factor did not interact with the evaluation time, but significant differences were found between respondents, with scores of patients higher than that for proxies. Finally, the QoL’s evolution interacts with the time elapsed since injury, showing significant improvements in the most recent group (i.e., three years or less). Conclusions: QoL must be considered from the earliest moments after ABI to obtain more significant improvements.     

Sibling relationships and civic engagement: A longitudinal study of Chinese young adults

This study examined the longitudinal associations of sibling intimacy and conflict with civic attitudes and behaviours among Chinese young adults. At two time points separated by about 12 months, questionnaire data were collected from 272 Chinese college students (mean age at Time 1 = 19.68 years; 69% female), students who studied in Hong Kong and had at least one sibling. Students rated their intimacy and conflict with their siblings and their parents at Time 1, and their civic attitudes and behaviours at both time points. Hierarchical regression revealed that, controlling for demographic characteristics and parent–child intimacy and conflict, sibling intimacy predicted increases in both civic attitudes and behaviours. Sibling conflict was a non-significant predictor, however. Findings highlighted the roles of siblings in understanding civic development in young adulthood and the utility of targeting sibling intimacy as means to foster young adults' positive attitudes to and active participation in civic activities.     

Is personality stable in adolescence? Disentangling time-invariant and time-varying factors of personality in a trait–state–occasion model

This study applied trait–state–occasion (TSO) modelling to investigate the extent to which inter-individual differences in personality were accounted for by time-invariant and time-varying factors during adolescence. The participants were 753 high school students, and only 661 students were followed for 4 years. The mean age in the first year was 15.23 years and 52.8% were females. The results showed that the full TSO model had the best representation of adolescent personality, and the means of the proportions of variance explained by trait factors for the Big Five ranged between 56% and 83%, suggesting that inter-individual differences in personality are mainly accounted for by stable trait variance over the course of adolescence. Furthermore, the five dimensions of personality differed not only in the amounts of trait variance but also in the stability of time-varying factors. These findings have significant implications for personality research.     

Weighing in on risk factors for body dissatisfaction: a one-year prospective study of middle-adolescent girls

Body dissatisfaction is a common problem among adolescent girls that is linked to serious outcomes, including the development of eating disorders. This study tested to what degree five theorized risk factors (weight-related teasing, thin-ideal internalization, body mass index [BMI], self-esteem, and perfectionism) predicted prospective changes in body dissatisfaction. At baseline, 393 10th and 11th grade girls (M = 15.8 years) completed questionnaires and had their height and weight measured. One year later, 316 participants’ body dissatisfaction was reassessed (80.4% retention). Results suggested that self-esteem was the most potent risk factor, followed by BMI, when used to categorize girls into high- and low-risk groups for body dissatisfaction at follow-up. However, weight-related teasing, thin-ideal internalization, and perfectionism did not prove to be risk factors. These results suggest self-esteem and BMI are relevant variables for helping to identify middle-adolescent girls who may be at risk for subsequent increases in body dissatisfaction.     

Individual cognitive patterns and developmental trajectories after preterm birth

Cognitive outcome after preterm birth is heterogeneous, and group level analyses may disguise individual variability in development. Using a person-oriented approach, this study investigated individual cognitive patterns and developmental trajectories from preschool age to late adolescence. As part of a prospective longitudinal study, 118 adolescents born preterm, with a birth weight < 1,500 g, participated in neuropsychological assessments at age 5½ years and at 18 years. At each age, four cognitive indices, two tapping general ability and two tapping executive functions, were formed to reflect each individual’s cognitive profile. Cluster analyses were performed at each age separately, and individual movements between clusters across time were investigated. At both 5½ and 18 years, six distinct, and similar, cognitive patterns were identified. Executive functions were a weakness for some but not all subgroups, and verbal ability was a strength primarily among those whose overall performance fell within the normal range. Overall, cognitive ability at 5½ years was highly predictive of ability at age 18. Those who performed at low levels at 5½ years did not catch up but rather deteriorated in relative performance. Over half of the individuals who performed above the norm at 5½ years improved their relative performance by age 18. Among those performing around the norm at 5½ years, half improved their relative performance over time, whereas the other half faced increased problems, indicating a need for further developmental monitoring. Perinatal factors were not conclusively related to outcome, stressing the need for cognitive follow-up assessment of the preterm-born child before school entry.     

On the development of perfectionism in adolescence: Perceived parental expectations predict longitudinal increases in socially prescribed perfectionism

Adolescence is regarded a key period when individual differences in perfectionism develop. Yet, so far only a few longitudinal studies have investigated the development of perfectionism in adolescents. Using a longitudinal correlational design with 381 adolescents aged 15–19 years, the present study investigated whether perceived parental expectations and criticism predicted longitudinal increases in self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism over 7–9 months. Results showed that perceived parental expectations predicted longitudinal increases in socially prescribed perfectionism: Adolescents who perceived that their parents had high expectations of them at Time 1, showed increased socially prescribed perfectionism from Time 1 to Time 2 compared to adolescents who did not perceive their parents having such high expectations. No such effect was found for self-oriented perfectionism. The findings provide supportive evidence for the social expectations model of the development of perfectionism regarding socially prescribed perfectionism, but not self-oriented perfectionism. Implications of this finding for the understanding of the development of perfectionism and future studies are discussed.     

Differential brain shrinkage over 6 months shows limited association with cognitive practice

The brain shrinks with age, but the timing of this process and the extent of its malleability are unclear. We measured changes in regional brain volumes in younger (age 20–31) and older (age 65–80) adults twice over a 6 months period, and examined the association between changes in volume, history of hypertension, and cognitive training. Between two MRI scans, 49 participants underwent intensive practice in three cognitive domains for 100 consecutive days, whereas 23 control group members performed no laboratory cognitive tasks. Regional volumes of seven brain structures were measured manually and adjusted for intracranial volume. We observed significant mean shrinkage in the lateral prefrontal cortex, the hippocampus, the caudate nucleus, and the cerebellum, but no reliable mean change of the prefrontal white matter, orbital-frontal cortex, and the primary visual cortex. Individual differences in change were reliable in all regions. History of hypertension was associated with greater cerebellar shrinkage. The cerebellum was the only region in which significantly reduced shrinkage was apparent in the experimental group after completion of cognitive training. Thus, in healthy adults, differential brain shrinkage can be observed in a narrow time window, vascular risk may aggravate it, and intensive cognitive activity may have a limited effect on it.     

Mobbing–prevention and management in organizations

Abstract

So far, only a few companies have dealt with the issue of “mobbing”. This article describes some of the variables required for a successful implementation of an anti-mobbing programme, as well as measures of prevention and intervention. A successful anti-mobbing programme depends on the pressure the problem exerts on the company, the competition with other company programmes, the negative image of mobbing, and the slow diffusion of social issues in companies. Various prevention measures are outlined and suggested in connection with the causes of mobbing: changes in work design, changes in leadership behaviour, the protection of the individual social position, and the moral standard of employees. Depending on the stage of conflict escalation, different intervention measures apply. The concepts of appointing contact people for mobbing victims and the setting up of neutral clearing posts are discussed.     

Effects of work–family culture on employee well-being: Exploring moderator effects in a longitudinal sample

This present panel study had three aims: (1) to shed new light on the work–family culture (WFC)–well-being (work–family conflict, work engagement, job exhaustion) linkage by investigating lagged associations between the phenomena; (2) to consider the multidimensional nature of WFC by specifying whether its lagged effects on well-being would vary by its dimensions; and (3) to explore whether the positive aspects of WFC would prevent its negative ones from spilling over into employee well-being. The study was based on a 2-year longitudinal sample (N = 409) gathered among Finnish health care workers. The results showed that WFC was a bidimensional construct containing both negative (work–family barriers) and positive (work–family support) facets. Only its positive facets (work–family support) showed a lagged negative effect on the outcomes studied (work–family conflict). No signs of moderator effects were observed.     

Stability and change model of job resources and work engagement: A seven-year three-wave follow-up study

Using the stability and change model, conservation of resources theory and the job demands-resources model, this study aimed to determine: (1) the extent to which work engagement and job resources can be explained by a component reflecting stability and a component reflecting change in these constructs, and (2) the strength and direction of the relationship between work engagement and job resources when their stable components are controlled for. The study was carried out among 1,964 Finnish dentists over a seven-year time period (2003–2010), using a three-wave dataset. Some of the dentists had changed jobs during the follow-up, and therefore the research questions were validated among groups of job stayers and job changers. The stability and change models were examined using structural equation modelling. The results showed that 69–77% of the variance of dentists’ work engagement, and 46–49% of the variance of job resources was explained by the component reflecting stability. However, although there was a positive relationship between job resources and work engagement, the primary direction of this relationship could not be determined. Either job resources or work engagement may be considered as the initiator of this relationship. Job change did not affect the results.