Italian Adaptation and Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Full and the Short Form of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory

This study was designed to adapt and to assess the reliability and factor structure of an Italian translation of the full and short form of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory. A sample of 1,244 Italian adults who had experienced a range of adverse life events participated in this study. Five models of the underlying structure of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory were tested via confirmatory factor analyses. Analyses of both the short and full form of the PTGI provided support for the original correlated five-factor structure. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis supported the invariance of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory across gender.     

Travailler dans un réseau de santé : effets sur la santé psychique au travail

The new needs as regards care taking charge of patients have contributed to the creation of health networks. As they are growing fast, they are an integral part of the French sanitation system. The impact, on the health professionals, of networking is, today, the object of contrasted research and results, but has little been studied as far as Social Psychology, Work and Organizations are concerned. This article follows a research project which had the objective, on the one hand, to describe the effects of the participation to a health network mental health at work and, on the other hand, to examine the variables and process accounting for the variability of these effects. This research privileges an approach to the health network as a place of socialization and personalization (Malrieu, 1979). The research on the ground is carried out in collaboration with the health network town-hospital Prevention and Taking charge of Pediatric Obesity Network (RéPPOP) Midi-Pyrénées. We have carried out semi-guided interviews with 20 private professionals (8 doctors, 8 dieticians, 3 psychologists, 1 physiotherapist) members of the RePPOP Midi-Pyrénées network. The main results show that the perception of positive and/or negative effects of networking on mental health varies according to the age of membership of the network and the processes of transfer of experience (from professional practice within the network to professional practice off-network and vice versa). Proposals are deduced in terms of continuing education within the network.     

Secret médical en santé au travail

The occupational physicians are obliged, like any doctor, to respect the ethical obligations imposed on their profession, including in the exercise of the missions specific to occupational medicine and contained in the Labor Code. The occupational physician is not isolated and works in a multidisciplinary team of a health service at work. He must communicate with other health professionals, but also with employers, representative bodies of staff. Medical confidentiality holds a special place in the triangular relationship between the occupational physician, the employee and the employer. The medical practice in the field of occupational health requires that many provisions of the Labor Code be followed, including the respect of the secret of manufacture and the position of advising employers and employees. The occupational physician must communicate with the employer in order to best achieve his mission, but in practice, it may be difficult for the occupational doctor to make his recommendations heard to improve the working conditions of employees without power, when he cannot argue his opinions on medical information.     

Stress perçu et santé physique des doctorants dans les universités françaises

Few studies have focused on PhD students in France despite the fact that this population appears to be particularly vulnerable to stress and often faces precariousness. This research investigated associations between socio-demographic factors, health behaviours, perceived stress and physical health in a wide sample of PhD students (n = 1923) in order to have a better understanding of this population's specificities. Our results indicated that stress is a critical issue among PhD candidates. Predictors of perceived stress were: gender, age, satisfaction with supervision, sleep quality and sports practice. Findings from this study confirm the relevance of the transactional model to investigate students’ health issues and suggest that physical activity and stress management should be encouraged through health promotion programs.     

Spiritual Intelligence Self-Assessment Inventory: Psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of SISRI-24

ABSTRACT

Spiritual intelligence has gained increasing importance as an academic construct in the field of psychology. We present the psychometric properties for the Portuguese adaptation of the Spiritual Intelligence Self-Report Inventory-24, SISRI-24. The exploratory analysis showed a factorial structure different from the original scale, comprising three factors instead of four as in the original version, in which “Transcendental Awareness” was removed. The confirmatory factorial analysis revealed adjustment to a three-factor model for the Portuguese version. The main indexes of adjustment are generally better than the original four-factor version, suggesting the adequacy of this solution for the Portuguese population. The analysis with the convergent measures (SWBQ and MPWQ) provides evidence of the construct’s validity and criterion. The results are promising, allowing us to proceed with the uses of this tool for measuring spiritual intelligence, which may, however, be improved in the future.     

The basis of behavioral momentum in the nonlinearity of strength

The persistence of operant responding in the context of distractors and opposing forces is of central importance to the success of behavioral interventions. It has been successfully analyzed with Behavioral Momentum Theory. Key data from the research inspired by that theory are reanalyzed in terms of more molecular behavioral mechanisms: the demotivational effects of disruptors, and their differential impacts on the target response and other responses that interact with them. Behavioral momentum is regrounded as a nonlinear effect of motivation and reinforcement rate on response probability and persistence. When response probabilities are high, more energy is required to further increase or to decrease them than when they are low. Classic Behavioral Momentum Theory effects are reproduced with this account. Finally, it is shown how the new account involving motivation and competition is closely related to the metaphor of force and action that is at the core of Behavioral Momentum Theory.     

What kind of kind is intelligence?

The model of human intelligence that is most widely adopted derives from psychometrics and behavioral genetics. This standard approach conceives intelligence as a general cognitive ability that is genetically highly heritable and describable using quantitative traits analysis. The paper analyzes intelligence within the debate on natural kinds and contends that the general intelligence conceptualization does not carve psychological nature at its joints. Moreover, I argue that this model assumes an essentialist perspective. As an alternative, I consider an HPC theory of intelligence and evaluate how it deals with essentialism and with intuitions coming from cognitive science. Finally, I highlight some concerns about the HPC model as well, and conclude by suggesting that it is unnecessary to treat intelligence as a kind in any sense.