Positive beliefs about worry: A psychometric evaluation of the Why Worry-II

Positive beliefs about worry are theorized to maintain excessive and uncontrollable worry, the hallmark of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD; American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The Why Worry-II (WW-II) is a 25-item revised questionnaire designed to measure five positive beliefs about worry. These five beliefs are that worry: (1) facilitates problem solving; (2) enhances motivation; (3) protects against negative emotions; (4) prevents negative outcomes; and (5) reflects a positive personality trait. The main goal of this study was to assess the WW-II’s psychometric properties, including its factor structure. Undergraduate participants (N = 309) completed the WW-II, and measures of worry, depression, anxiety, and positive and negative beliefs about worry. Overall, the results suggest that the five-factor model is a good fit to the data. The WW-II demonstrated excellent internal consistency, good test–retest reliability at six weeks, and evidence of convergent and divergent validity. The WW-II also uniquely predicted worry severity. Overall, our findings suggest that the WW-II has a five-factor structure congruent with theoretical predictions, sound psychometric properties, and a unique relationship to excessive worry. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.     

An internet survey of emotional health,treatment seeking and barriers to accessing mental health treatment among Chinese-speaking international students in Australia

The present internet survey examined the demographic characteristics of Chinese-speaking international students in Australia, psychological distress levels as measured by the Kessler-10 (K-10) Item scale, help-seeking history and preferences, as well as treatment barriers. Of the 144 respondents, 54% reported high psychological distress (mean K-10 score?=?23.96; SD?=?9.03). However, only 9% of those who were highly distressed reported they had sought mental health services in the past year. While the majority preferred help from informal social networks, they tended to favour mental health services over traditional culture-specific forms of help. Common barriers to accessing mental health services reported by respondents with high psychological distress included costs or transportation concerns, limited knowledge of available services, time constraints, the perception that symptoms were not severe enough to warrant treatment, language difficulties and lack of knowledge of symptoms of psychological distress. Although the majority preferred face-to-face treatments over internet treatments, a considerable percentage of respondents were willing to try either treatment modality. Chinese-speaking international students are a high risk group for developing psychological distress, yet they tend to underuse mental health services. Education about the effectiveness of face-to-face and online treatments may increase treatment seeking by this population.     

Is the Male Advantage in Mental-Rotation Performance Task Independent? On the Usability of Chronometric Tests and Paper-and-Pencil Tests in Children

This article presents a reanalysis of the data of 862 second and fourth graders collected in two previous studies, focusing on the influence of method (psychometric vs. chronometric) and stimulus type on the gender difference in mental-rotation accuracy. The children had to solve mental-rotation tasks with animal pictures, letters, or cube figures, either in a chronometric condition (computerized) or in a psychometric condition (paper-and-pencil). Results show a slight male advantage in mental-rotation accuracy, which is neither influenced by method nor by stimulus type. However, mental-rotation accuracy differed between the stimulus types, with the highest accuracy in animal pictures and the lowest accuracy in cube figures, and between age groups, with better performance in fourth graders than in second graders in both conditions. Results show that psychometric and chronometric mental-rotation tests with all the stimulus types are more or less similarly usable with children of that age.     

工读学校学生的心理健康状况及其影响因素研究

本研究以工读学校和普通学校七～九年级学生为研究对象,研究工读学校学生的心理健康状况及其影响因素。结果表明：(1)工读学校学生的总体焦虑水平和抑郁水平显著高于普通中学生,存在更多的心理健康问题;(2)工读学校学生的心理健康水平不存在显著的年级差异,而普通中学生的心理健康水平存在显著的年级差异;(3)父母的教养方式与工读学校学生的心理健康水平存在显著的相关。工读学校学生的父母更多地采取消极的教养方式;(4)生活事件应激与工读学校学生的心理健康水平存在极其显著的负相关。工读学校学生负性生活事件所带来的应激强度显著高于普通中学生。     

Self‐esteem and emotional health in adolescents – gender and age as potential moderators

Moksnes, U. K. & Espnes, G. A. (2012). Self‐esteem and emotional health in adolescents – gender and age as a potential moderators. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 53, 483–489. The present paper investigates possible gender and age differences on emotional states (depression and anxiety) and self‐esteem as well as the association between self‐esteem and emotional states. The cross‐sectional sectional sample consists of 1,209 adolescents 13–18 years from public elementary and secondary schools in mid‐Norway. The results showed that girls reported higher scores on state anxiety and state depression, whereas boys consistently scored higher on self‐esteem in all age groups. Self‐esteem was strongly and inversely associated with both state depression and state anxiety. An interaction effect of gender by self‐esteem was found on state depression, where the association was stronger for girls than for boys. The associations found give support for the positive role of self‐esteem in relation to adolescents’ emotional health and well‐being.     

Voices from the Street: How Structural and Individual Factors Influence Homelessness

This study compared structural and individual factors related to persons who are homeless and how these factors affected their ability to utilize and benefit from available services. A qualitative case study design was used to conduct in-depth interviews with two participants receiving hospice care in a residence for the homeless. Results support previous findings that chronic homelessness is the result of multiple structural and individual factors that occur over time. Contrary to the literature on chronic homelessness, however, both participants were unique in their history of employment and strong desire to work, despite having limited work skills. Responses from both participants underscored the value of daily structure and meaningful occupation in residential addiction treatment.     

青少年特发性脊柱侧凸患者生存质量和心理特征的分析与对策

青少年特发性脊柱侧凸患者是个特殊的患病群体,患者的心理健康状况和躯体受到显著影响,青少年患者对其自身形象更为关注,心理焦虑和障碍表现更为明显。脊柱外科医生需要明确脊柱侧凸程度对患者生存质量及心理的影响,能明确其风险因素,针对不同畸形程度的患者采取个体化诊疗方案,以期最终能改善患者的疗效。     

心理账户:缘起、理论及应用

心理账户深刻地体现了心理学和经济学的结合,是在行为经济学的大背景下开始研究的。心理账户是人们在心理上对结果,尤其是经济结果的编码,分类和估价的过程,它反映了人们在进行资金财富决策过程中的心理认知过程。心理账户与经济账户的运算法则不同,它具有非替代性。心理账户与金融投资结合形成了行为资产组合理论,心理账户与消费经济结合,形成了行为生命周期理论。