Occupational stress,psychological burnout and anxiety

Abstract

For many decades, the stress process was described primarily in terms of negative emotions. However, robust evidence that positive emotions co-occurred with negative emotions during intensely stressful situations suggested the need to consider the possible roles of positive emotions in the stress process. About 10 years ago, these possibilities were incorporated into a revision of stress and coping theory (Folkman, 1997). This article summarizes the research reported during the intervening 10 years that pertains to the revised model. Evidence has accumulated regarding the co-occurrence of positive and negative emotions during stressful periods; the restorative function of positive emotions with respect to physiological, psychological, and social coping resources; and the kinds of coping processes that generate positive emotions including benefit finding and reminding, adaptive goal processes, reordering priorities, and infusing ordinary events with positive meaning. Overall, the evidence supports the propositions set forth in the revised model. Contrary to earlier tendencies to dismiss positive emotions, the evidence indicates they have important functions in the stress process and are related to coping processes that are distinct from those that regulate distress. Including positive emotions in future studies will help address an imbalance between research and clinical practice due to decades of nearly exclusive concern with the negative emotions.     

Negative life events and symptoms of depression and anxiety: stress causation and/or stress generation

Background and Objectives: Stressful life events are known to contribute to development of depression; however, it is possible this link is bidirectional. The present study examined whether such stress generation effects are greater than the effects of stressful life events on depression, and whether stress generation is also evident with anxiety. Design: Participants were two large age cohorts (N = 732 aged 44 years; N = 705 aged 63 years) from the West of Scotland Twenty-07 study. Methods: Stressful life events, depression, and anxiety symptoms were measured twice five years apart. Cross-lagged panel analysis examined the mutual influences of stressful life events on depression and on anxiety over time. Results: Life events predicted later depressive symptomatology (p = .01), but the depression predicting life events relationship was less strong (p = .06), whereas earlier anxiety predicted life events five years later (p = .001). There was evidence of sex differences in the extent to which life events predicted later anxiety. Conclusions: This study provides evidence of stress causation for depression and weaker evidence for stress generation. In contrast, there was strong evidence of stress generation for anxiety but weaker evidence for stress causation, and that differed for men and women.     

Perception of randomness and predicting uncertain events

Using randomly generated sequences of binary events we asked participants to make predictions about the next event. It turned out that while predicting uncertain events, people do not behave unsystematically. Our research identifies four types of relatively consistent strategies for predicting uncertain binary events: a strategy immune to short-run sequential dependencies consisting of the persistent prediction of long-run majority events, hereafter called the long-run momentum strategy; a strategy immune to short-run sequential dependencies consisting of the persistent prediction of long-run minority events, called the long-run contrarian strategy; a strategy sensitive to short-run sequential dependencies consisting of the prediction of short-run majority events, called the short-run momentum strategy; and a strategy sensitive to short-run sequential dependencies consisting of the prediction of short-run minority events, called the short-run contrarian strategy. When the character of events remains unknown, the most common strategy is the short-run momentum strategy. With the increase of a perceived randomness of the situation, people tend more often to use the short-run contrarian strategy. People differ in their general beliefs about the continuation or reversal of a trend in various natural and social processes. Trend believers, when facing sequences of binary events commonly perceived as random, tend to use momentum strategies, whereas those who believe in the trend's reversal tend to use contrarian strategies.     

An Application of the Rorschach INK Blot Test to Three Clinical Types of Dementia Praecox

At the beginning of an introductory course in psychology, 227 students were asked to define ordinary everyday English words and to guess the technical psychological concepts represented. In the final examination for the course, questions were inserted that required the students to understand the concepts and to know the terminology. From a comparison of responses at the beginning and end of the term it seems that negative transfer was not involved or, if present, was well overcome.     

Personality Change in Middle Adulthood: With Focus on Differential Susceptibility

Abstract

Little attention has been paid to middle adulthood in research on personality stability and change. In addition, previous research on individual differences in personality change has not fully explained its variability. This study focused on the differential susceptibility model, which suggests that individual susceptibility interacts with environmental factors and produces variability in outcomes, and investigated individual differences in personality change with a middle adult sample. A total of 1051 Japanese middle adults (M?=?41.61?years; SD = 5.31; range 30–50?years; 534 females) participated in this two-wave short-term longitudinal study. Latent change score model analyses revealed substantial mean-level declines in Agreeableness and Honesty–Humility. Moreover, the results showed that the influences of some life events on personality change are moderated for better and for worse by individual susceptibility to one’s environment. These findings suggest that the trends of personality development may differ between Western and non-Western countries and that differential susceptibility model may play an important role in deriving individual differences in personality stability and change.     

Averaging and summation: Positivity and choice as a function of the number and affective intensity of life events

Six experiments were reported that investigated individuals’ perceptions of positive life events and their preferences for options presenting different combinations of positive event frequency and magnitude. Results revealed that individuals often responded to the average level of positivity and preferred less (versus more) positive events and supported the averaging/summation model of life event integration. Results revealed, for example, that participants felt more positive affect when they were exposed to a highly positive event than a highly positive plus mildly positive one. When the events had similar affective intensities, however, summation effects were obtained—more was better. In demonstrating averaging and summation effects, we delineated situations in which more positive life events can be better (summation effects) and situations in which more can be worse (averaging effects). Results also ruled out several alternative accounts, including the peak-end rule, economic, affective forecasting, and an assimilation/contrast interpretation.     

Stress Generation in Adolescent Depression: The Moderating Role of Child Abuse and Neglect

The present study examined the role of childhood abuse and neglect and depression recurrence in moderating the generation of stressful life events in adolescent depression. Maltreatment history and stressful life events were assessed using two rigorous contextual interviews and rating systems. In a sample of 59 community depressed adolescents we found significantly higher rates of interpersonal events in the 3-month period immediately following depression episode onset versus the 3-month period immediately preceding onset in adolescents with a history of childhood maltreatment. By contrast, rates of events remained constant over a matched period in a control group of non-maltreated adolescents. Furthermore, the generation of interpersonal events only held among those on a first onset of depression. These results suggest that a history of childhood abuse and neglect exacerbates the psychosocial dysfunction associated with the onset of depression, particularly in the very first episode.     

Does personality moderate the relationship between stress and health behavior? Expanding the nomological network of the five-factor model

The present study tested the hypothesis that personality would moderate the stress to health behavior relationship. Using a community sample, 706 adults (Mean age = 37 years) were administered a set of five-factor model adjective rating scales, measures of stress and distress (i.e., negative life stress, physical symptom intensity, negative mood), health behaviors, as well as a demographic questionnaire. Using hierarchical multiple regression, Openness to Experience, Extraversion, and Neuroticism were found to moderate the stress to health behavior relationship. Supplementary analyses were conducted to determine if the five-factors would also moderate a life event to distress relationship. While several main effects were found, Conscientiousness was found to buffer the stress to distress connection. The factors that may influence both moderator models, suggestions for integration, and future research are discussed.     

感觉寻求对工读生病理性网络使用的影响机制

采用感觉寻求量表、压力性生活事件量表、非适应性问卷和病理性网络使用量表对519名工读生进行调查,考察了工读生病理性网络使用的情况以及感觉寻求对工读生病理性网络使用的影响及作用机制。结果表明：（1）工读生病理性网络使用的比例为51.1%,工读生病理性网络使用的问题很严重;（2）感觉寻求对工读生病理性网络使用的影响是有中介的调节效应,具体而言,感觉寻求会增加工读生病理性网络使用;压力性生活事件对感觉寻求与工读生病理性网络使用之间关系具有调节作用;压力性生活事件的调节效应以非适应性认知为中介变量。研究结果对工读生病理性网络使用的预防和干预具有重要价值。     

心境对未来事件发生概率判断的影响

本研究采用短影片人为诱发心境的方法,用正性和负性两种情绪事件作为刺激材料,在控制人格变量的前提下,探讨了大学生在不同心境下对未来事件发生概率的判断中是否存在心境一致性效应。结果表明：（1）愉悦心境会增加做出积极判断的倾向,悲伤心境会增加做出消极判断的倾向;（2）无论是在愉悦心境还是在悲伤心境中,被试在对未来事件发生概率的判断上不存在性别差异。结果支持心境对未来事件发生概率判断有所影响,即诱发的心境与未来事件的效价存在一致性效应。