The Influence of Clinical Variables on the Psychological Adaptation of Adolescents after Solid Organ Transplantation

This study assessed the influence of clinical and socio-demographic variables on the psychological adaptation of transplanted adolescents. Twenty-six transplanted adolescents and 25 healthy adolescents, aged 13–17, and their parents participated in the study. The following domains were measured: social competence, emotional/behavioral problems, self-concept, self-esteem and subjective well-being. The findings revealed that transplanted boys presented significantly less social competence (U = 26,000, p < .05) and more externalizing problems (U = 25,000, p < .05), social problems (U = 25,000, p < .05) and attention problems (U = 17,500, p < .01) than healthy boys. In contrast, transplanted girls displayed significantly more internalizing problems (U = 47,000, p < .05) and lower physical self-concept (U = 49,500, p < .05) than healthy girls. Hierarchical regression analysis showed clinical variables, especially waiting-list time, significantly predicted attention problems (β = .364, p < .05) and negative affect (β = .632, p < .05) in transplanted adolescents. Also, male (β = −0.554, p < .01) and younger (β = −0.444, p < .01) transplanted adolescents were at risk for attention problems. Our data suggest the importance of the waiting-list time for transplanted adolescents. Efforts to reduce the pretransplant phase would help adolescents achieve better psychological adaptation at long-term posttransplant.     

中国的心理测量发展史

有关心理测量的思想起源于中国古代。但西方科学的心理测验理论与方法是20世纪初自西方传人中国的。30年的发展取得很大成绩,但道路艰辛曲折,文章分三个阶段对之作了回顾。一、最早是1915年外国学者为比较中美儿童的智力差异对广州500名小学生进行测试。同一时期,我国学者也开始自己编制测验,"小学生毛笔书法量表"是最早的标准化教育测验。廖世承和陈鹤琴1920年在南京高等师范开设测验课程,出版《心理测验法》一书,正式介绍科学的心理测验。与美国专家合作编制多种测验,1923年与美国专家合作对全国小学生进行测试,得出了三至八年级学童的年龄与班级常模,引起了教育界的注意。艾伟从1925年起致力编制中小学不同年级和学科的测验以及能力测验,还与张耀翔编制了识字测验与阅读测验等,对我国教育测验的发展做出了很大贡献。"中国测验学会"1931成立。并创办会刊《测验》有效地推动了当时测验研究的开展.1937年"七七"事变后,工作继续进行和扩展,但受战争的影响,发展上减慢了速度。二、1949年新中国成立后,由于政治上的变迁,心理测验被视为禁区,认为它违心,反动,没有人敢于问津。文化大革命中,心理学被打成伪科学,心理测验更是全盘否定了。三.文革以后,心理学恢复。而心理测验面对着既缺人力又少资料的困难。林传鼎等三位教授于1980年春举办了第一个全国性心理测验培训班,是心理测验再生的标志。此后各高等院校逐步开设心理测量学课程。通过引进各种心理测量理论,修订外国测验和逐步向自编我国测验发展,几年中取得了良好效果。1984年中国心理学会下属的‘心理测量分会’成立,1990年加入国际测验委员会(ITC)成为它的一个国家会员。1991年在南京举办了国内第一个心理测验国际性学术会议,又与台湾学者交流,建立起隔年一次海峡两岸心理与教育测量学术研讨会的协议。这些都对中国心理测验的发展都起了积极作用。80年代后期国家实行改革开放,经济转型,心理测验逐渐渗入医学、教育、企业、和组织人事部门等多种应用领域,扩大了对社会的影响。教育是其最早也是最重要的应用领域。从高考开始向各种考试、应用领域广泛扩展,取得良好效果。尤其是在人力资源、心理咨询领域,心理测验发展迅速日益兴旺。社会各界从多方面加深了对心理测量的认同,使它变成为一个相当热门的应用科学了。最后,文章从测验的数量、质量,数据处理的方法技术,测验者素质提高和法律完备等几个方面分析了存在问题并提出对今后的展望。     

Who is empowered? Relative importance of dispositional and situational sources to psychological empowerment

Major reviews of psychological empowerment (PE) suggest four broad sources to becoming empowered: organizational, leadership, job, and dispositional. This study examines the redundancy, uniqueness, and relative importance within and across these situational and dispositional domains using commonality and dominance analyses. Across multiple samples, we find (a) within socio-structural domains, empowering leadership, knowledge sharing, and task significance are the most unique organizational sources of PE, (b) dispositional predictors augment situational features in explaining PE, and, perhaps most importantly, (c) job characteristics (JC) along with core self-evaluation (CSE) occupy the most dominant role on PE. In study 1 (N = 229), rank and CSE accounted for 64% of the variance in PE after accounting for information distribution, leadership, and the Big Five. Controlling for expanded Big Five inventory, leadership constructs, and socio-structurally features, study 2 (N = 171) finds general dominance of task significance (14%), empowering leadership (19%), and reduced, albeit incremental, effect of CSE (10%). Finally, study 3 (N = 386) replicates the large (30%) and moderately (10%) dominant effects of multiple JC dimensions and CSE. Implications call for a micro-level approach to PE emphasizing expanded roles, broadened self-concept, and personal impact on society rather than inspiring managers or organizational practices.     

The relationship between neuroticism and night eating: exploring the mediating roles of psychological distress and maladaptive coping

Night Eating Syndrome has been shown to be associated with various negative physical and psychological consequences. This study explored the relationship between neuroticism and night eating, which had not been studied before. We also examined the possible mediating roles of psychological distress and maladaptive coping for the relationship between neuroticism and night eating. A sample of 578 Chinese college students were assessed on several measures: The Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Short Scale, the Night Eating Questionnaire, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, and the Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire. Results indicated that neuroticism was significantly and positively related to night eating (r = .38, p < .01), and the relationship between neuroticism and night eating was partially mediated by psychological distress, but not by maladaptive coping. The results not only revealed a medium-sized relationship between neuroticism and night eating, but also pointed out the importance of psychological distress as related to the relationship between neuroticism and night eating. Unlike neuroticism, which is a personality trait, psychological distress is an emotional state, and it is much more malleable through appropriate intervention. The treatment and intervention for night eating may benefit from our attention to the psychological distress.     

The Mediating Effects of Spiritual Bypass on Depression,Anxiety, and Stress

Spiritual bypass is a defensive psychological posture that prevents people from feeling the pain of difficult emotions or experiences through 2 primary pathways: (a) Psychological Avoidance and (b) Spiritualizing. The authors collected a sample (783 participants) from the general population and tested a parallel mediation model in which 2 factors of spiritual bypass mediated the effect of spirituality on depression, anxiety, and stress. The results demonstrated that Psychological Avoidance and Spiritualizing partially mediated the effect of spirituality on depression and anxiety, whereas they completely mediated the effect of spirituality on stress. The findings are presented in the context of the study's limitations, and implications for clinical practice and research are provided.     

A comparison of mental health literacy,attitudes, and help-seeking intentions among domestic and international tertiary students

Limited research has examined distress or help-seeking knowledge and attitudes among international students. The aim of this study was to examine psychological distress, mental health literacy (MHL), and help-seeking attitudes and intentions among a sample of domestic and international tertiary students. The sample comprised 357 domestic and international tertiary students. Participants completed an online questionnaire package, with measures relating to distress, MHL, help-seeking attitudes, and help-seeking intentions. International student status was predictive of lower scores on MHL, help-seeking attitudes, and help-seeking intentions for suicidal ideation. Student group was not predictive of help-seeking intentions for emotional problems or psychological distress, but international students had lower help-seeking intentions for suicidal ideation. Educational interventions targeting MHL and help-seeking attitudes and intentions among international students may be required to improve help-seeking behaviours.     

How Cognitive Behavioural,Rational Emotive Behavioural or Multimodal Coaching could Prevent Mental Health Problems,Enhance Performance and Reduce Work Related Stress

This case study describes the therapeutic work with a client suffering from depression. A cognitive approach was used and a brief summary of the problem and the therapy is outlined. The client had suffered from procrastination for a long time and this was one of the key areas to be addressed in therapy. This case is presented to highlight that cognitive behavioural, rational emotive behavioural or multimodal coaching may be able to prevent mental health problems. It is possible that the client’s problem with procrastination could have been tackled in psychologically based coaching at an earlier stage. Psychological coaching could have provided the client with tools to deal with the procrastination and increase her self-awareness. This could have prevented the development of the depression or helped the client to intervene at an earlier stage.

Incremental Validity of Coping-oriented Marijuana Use Motives in the Prediction of Affect-based Psychological Vulnerability

The present investigation examined whether coping-oriented motives to use marijuana, as measured by the Marijuana Motives Measure (MMM; Simons et al. in J. Couns. Psychol. 45:265–273, 1998), were uniquely related to affect-based psychological vulnerability factors among marijuana users. Participants were 131 adult current marijuana users (72 women, M _age = 20.14, SD = 3.37 years). As hypothesized, after controlling for gender, cigarettes smoked per day, past 30-day marijuana use, total years of marijuana use, and alcohol consumption, coping motives were significantly and incrementally related to negative affect-based psychological vulnerability factors. No other marijuana use motives demonstrated a similar type of relationship to the dependent variables, providing a high degree of explanatory specificity. These data suggest that coping-oriented motives to use marijuana may be an important explanatory construct in better understanding marijuana and psychological vulnerability relations.