Instructional support decreases desirability and initiation of a gratitude intervention

Gratitude interventions tend to be effective at increasing well-being, yet they are not commonly initiated and completed. Prior experimental evidence suggests that provision of social support (i.e., supportive and encouraging statements) increases the effectiveness of positive psychological interventions. The type of support, however, may differentially impact motivation. In the current study, we hypothesized that instructional support (i.e., advice about how to best conduct the intervention) increases the desirability of a gratitude intervention and the probability of initiation. 274 participants received leaflets about a voluntary, web-based gratitude intervention. Half of the participants were randomly assigned to receive instructional support in which they read testimonials on how to best conduct the intervention. Next, participants were asked about utility beliefs, social norm beliefs, self-control beliefs, and intentions to participate in the intervention. Contrary to our hypothesis, provision of instructional support decreased desirability of the gratitude intervention, which indirectly hindered intentions to participate in the intervention. Thus, informing recipients about how to navigate an intervention had a paradoxical effect. It may be more effective to allow participants to recognize and handle intervention challenges on their own.     

Children Use Temporal Cues to Learn Causal Directionality

The ability to learn the direction of causal relations is critical for understanding and acting in the world. We investigated how children learn causal directionality in situations in which the states of variables are temporally dependent (i.e., autocorrelated). In Experiment 1, children learned about causal direction by comparing the states of one variable before versus after an intervention on another variable. In Experiment 2, children reliably inferred causal directionality merely from observing how two variables change over time; they interpreted Y changing without a change in X as evidence that Y does not influence X. Both of these strategies make sense if one believes the variables to be temporally dependent. We discuss the implications of these results for interpreting previous findings. More broadly, given that many real‐world environments are characterized by temporal dependency, these results suggest strategies that children may use to learn the causal structure of their environments.     

Caregiving for children through conflict and displacement: a pilot study testing the feasibility of delivering and evaluating a light touch parenting intervention for caregivers in the West Bank

A child's adjustment to wartime stress is reliant not only on individual responses and qualities, but very significantly on the availability of support that they may receive from their parent or caregivers and quality of relationships. Strengthening parental support has the potential to be valuable. A pilot two-arm randomised controlled trial investigated the feasibility of delivering and evaluating the “Caring for Children Through Conflict and Displacement” intervention with caregivers in the West Bank. Feasibility to recruit and train non-specialist staff on-the-ground to screen families for eligibility, collect outcome data, deliver the intervention and to recruit and retain families in the study were examined. Research staff and intervention facilitators were successfully appointed in the field, screened participants and delivered the intervention to 120 caregivers, collecting outcome measures pre-and post-delivery. All families completed the outcome measures, with very little missing data. This indicated that the intervention can be delivered feasibly and evaluated with families in this humanitarian context. Preliminary outcome data showed promise that the intervention may have the potential to both improve family functioning and reduce children's problem behaviour. Implications of family-focused initiatives, particularly within a conflict/post-conflict context for the prevention of several negative health and social outcomes directions, are discussed.     

Traduction et adaptation du TEI-SF afin de documenter l’acceptabilité sociale de l’intervention comportementale intensive

Early intensive behavioral intervention is more widely used in large-scale community-based services in Autism Spectrum Disorder. There is an increased need to evaluate the social acceptability of these programs. The present study used a measure of social acceptability as part of a social validation procedure to evaluate a community-based EIBI offered in inclusive childcare, as well as two focused interventions associated with this program. To do so, the Treatment Evaluation Inventory Short-form (TEI-SF) questionnaire was adapted and translated to French. The validation results for the TEI-SF, as well as for the social acceptability of the EIBI programs and procedures, are presented. The results are the first evidence of the validity of the TEI-SF (adapted and translated to French), presenting scores of validity of intervention and a favourable perspective related to the early intensive behavioral intervention and opening the door to further research.     

The effect of driver improvement interventions on crash involvement; has it been under-estimated?

The available evidence suggests that driver improvement interventions (with the aim to increase driver safety, most often by education or training) do not work. The average effect calculated in several meta-analyses is close to, and not always possible to distinguish from, zero, despite total samples sizes of several hundred thousand drivers. However, it is possible that all studies included in these meta-analyses have under-estimated the effect, due to a methodological error; all crashes have been used as dependent variable, instead of only those that the targeted drivers have caused. This error is expected to have considerably deflated the effect sizes, but it is not known how large this effect could be.Using crash data for bus drivers in which culpability had been reliably established, a simple simulation was performed to determine the difference between using culpable and all crashes as an estimator of a safety effect. Using data for six years, calculations were made on single years. About ten percent of culpable crashes in each year were deleted to simulate a safety effect, where after the difference between the original and the simulated variable were calculated, using culpable only and all crashes in parallel. The effects using these two different kinds of datasets could then be compared and the under-estimation effect estimated.Culpable crashes, as compared to all crashes, yielded larger differences in means between time periods, and smaller standard deviations. In between-subjects comparisons resulted in 15–30 percent larger effects for culpable crashes. Within-subjects calculations yielded larger but not as systematic effects.The effect of driver improvement on crash involvement has been systematically under-estimated, as extremely few evaluation studies seem to have taken culpability for crashes into account. Therefore, new evaluations need to be undertaken, and/or old data re-analysed, to calculate a better estimate of the true effect of training and education in driving safety.     

Longitudinal Impact of a Family Critical Time Intervention on Children in High-Risk Families Experiencing Homelessness: A Randomized Trial

A randomized trial compared effects of a Family Critical Time Intervention (FCTI) to usual care for children in 200 newly homeless families in which mothers had diagnosable mental illness or substance problems. Adapted from an evidence‐based practice to prevent chronic homelessness for adults with mental illnesses, FCTI combines housing and structured, time‐limited case management to connect families leaving shelter with community services. Families were followed at five time points over 24 months. Data on 311 children—99 ages 1.5–5 years, 113 ages 6–10 years, and 99 ages 11–16 years—included mother‐, teacher‐, and child‐reports of mental health, school experiences, and psychosocial well‐being. Analyses used hierarchical linear modeling to investigate intervention effects and changes in child functioning over time. Referral to FCTI reduced internalizing and externalizing problems in preschool‐aged children and externalizing for adolescents 11–16. The intervention led to declines in self‐reported school troubles for children 6–10 and 11–16. Both experimental and control children in all age groups showed reductions in symptoms over time. Although experimental results were scattered, they suggest that FCTI has the potential to improve mental health and school outcomes for children experiencing homelessness.     

Giving and receiving autonomy support in a high-stakes sport context: A field-based experiment during the 2012 London Paralympic Games

ObjectiveRecognizing that high-stakes competitions tend to pressure coaches toward a maladaptive controlling motivating style, we sought to evaluate the capacity of an intervention to help coaches adopt a more autonomy-supportive style as they and their athletes prepared for the 2012 London Paralympic Games.DesignWe adopted a coach-focused experimental research design that longitudinally assessed coaches' and athletes' self-report, rater-scored, and objective dependent measures.MethodWe randomly assigned 33 coaches and their 64 athletes from 10 sports into either an experimental or control group and assessed their motivation and functioning longitudinally.ResultsIn the control group, athletes and coaches both showed a significant longitudinal deterioration in all measures of motivation, engagement, and functioning. In the experimental group, none of the measures of motivation, engagement, and functioning deteriorated but, instead, were generally maintained. In terms of performance, athletes of coaches in the experimental group won significantly more Olympic medals than did athletes in the control group.ConclusionEnacting an autonomy-supportive coaching style within the context of a high-stakes sports competition functioned as an antidote to coaches' otherwise situationally-induced controlling style.     

Exercise can improve physical self perceptions in adolescents with low motor competence

Adolescents with low motor competence have diminished perceptions of their physical self and tend to avoid physical activities. This study examined the outcomes of an exercise intervention that focused on improving aerobic fitness, strength, and self-perceptions in the physical domain in adolescents with poor motor coordination. The sample included 35 adolescents with low motor competence, comprising boys (n = 25) and girls (n = 10) ranging in age from 13 to 17 years, who attended two sessions per week in the 13 week exercise intervention study (AMP it up). Physical self-perceptions were measured before and after the intervention using the Physical Self Perception Profile and Perceived Importance Profile. Significant improvements in perceived Physical Condition, Attractive Body and Physical Strength sub domain scores were identified between pre and post-test. Adjusting for age, gender, BMI and attendance, regression analyses revealed that Attractive Body was the strongest predictor of Physical Self Worth at pre-test, joined by Physical Condition at post-test. This exercise intervention had a positive impact on adolescent physical self-perceptions, in particular males, with improvements in those sub domains specifically related to the exercise program. Changes in specific aspects of Physical Self Worth can be facilitated by exercise interventions, after a relatively short period of time, in adolescents with poor motor coordination.     

EARLY PARENTING SUPPORT AND INFORMATION: A CONSUMER PERSPECTIVE

The transition to parenthood is a period of both joy and challenge for most parents. There is a recognized need to support parents during this period, yet existing interventions have shown limited evidence of efficacy. This study takes a consumer‐focused approach to examine the needs and preferences of parents both prenatally (n = 77) and postnatally (n = 123) for parenting support. The study used a cross‐sectional design with a purpose‐built online survey. Parents were recruited via online forums, Facebook and parenting blogs, childcare centers, and playgroups. In general, all parents were satisfied with their current levels of both formal and informal support, and about one fourth of parents had accessed a parenting intervention. Parents expressed a moderate level of interest in additional parenting information, and parents expecting their first baby indicated preferences for information about basic baby care needs whereas postnatally, parents expressed more interest in topics around self‐care and behavior management. The implications for developing interventions and engaging families are discussed.