Exploring the role of sport in the development of substance addiction

PurposePotential benefits of participation in sport are widely known. However, sport participation has also been associated with risks, including consumption of alcohol and drugs and such risks may be enhanced among certain populations. The purpose of this study was to examine the possible links between participation in sport and the subsequent development of substance addiction.MethodRealistic Evaluation guided the study, with data collection occurring through semi-structured interviews. Interviews were conducted on a university campus or at a residential treatment center. The study included a total of 21 participants: 7 people who had between 3 and 29 years of sobriety, 13 people in a residential addiction treatment program, and 1 counselor.ResultsParticipants were grouped according to their sport backgrounds as 1) limited sport backgrounds, 2) recreational sports, 3) competitive athletes or 4) competitive athletes whose sport was terminated. Five main contexts were identified: 1) Familial History, Stability, and Illness, 2) Perceived Acceptability of Alcohol, 3) School and Social Atmosphere, 4) Sport Culture, Demands, and Expectations, and 5) Termination of Sport Involvement. The three main mechanisms were identified as: 1) Psychological Characteristics, 2) Coping Strategies, and 3) Availability of Substances.ConclusionsThe prevalence of substance abuse in sports settings might be under-represented in extant literature. The prevalence of substance abuse in sport contexts poses heightened risk of addiction for individuals who are already vulnerable for other reasons such as the presence of predisposing behaviors, psychological characteristics, or circumstances.     

Measuring cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression in children: A parent-rating version of the emotion regulation questionnaire

The frequency of using cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression strategies to regulate emotions has been associated with social-emotional adjustment. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the Parent-Rating Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (P-ERQ), a parent-rating version of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) in children aged five to six years. Children from Germany (N = 112) and the U.S. (N = 59) participated. Confirmatory factor analyses of P-ERQ data from Germany indicated a two-factor structure that closely reflected the factor structure of the adult ERQ with adequate scale reliabilities. Correlations with a measure of coping strategies supported the convergent validity of the P-ERQ. Cross-country measurement invariance analyses between samples from Germany and the U.S. suggested partial scalar invariance for the cognitive reappraisal subscale and metric invariance for the expressive suppression subscale. Findings provide preliminary evidence that the P-ERQ can be recommended for use in developmental research.     

服务学习促进大学生批判性思维的干预研究

采用准实验设计教学干预,将75名心理学专业本科生分为实验组(n=54)和对照组(n=21),实验组进行为期10周的结构化服务学习活动(每周2小时),对照组给予匹配任务(文献阅读和翻译总结)。采用反思日志中的开放性问题和非服务学习领域的结构不良情景问题为测验材料,利用自编的问题解决中的批判性思维表现编码表,对服务学习活动前后和过程中相关材料进行编码,探讨服务学习中服务组学生批判性思维的变化及其在非服务学习领域结构不良问题解决中的迁移效果。结果表明服务学习对大学生的批判性思维表现具有显著促进作用,主要体现在方案改进维度上,这种促进作用可以迁移到非服务学习领域问题解决的批判性思维表现中。     

计算机适应性测验条件下认知设计项目预测参数的影响

自动化项目生成(Automatic Item Generation)中的项目参数是基于认知项目设计的刺激特征集预测的, 在不确定性来源上较之用经验数据标定的参数更为复杂。文章通过实证研究分析了在计算机适应性测验条件下基于认知设计系统法生成的抽象推理测验(ART)项目预测参数对能力参数估计的精确性。研究表明, 项目预测参数比相应标定参数分布更为趋中。这种回归效应既影响到能力参数估计误差大小, 也导致适应性测验过程中项目选择的差异。在控制了项目选择差异之后, 能力参数估计误差较之基于项目标定参数的能力估计误差大, 但差别并不明显。两者相应的能力估计值相关很高, 对应能力值之间的差异很小, 且几乎贯彻整个能力分布区间。     

主观群体动力学模型述评

主观群体动力学模型(subjective group dynamics, SGD)探讨群际背景中个体的群体评价与群体成员评价的关系, 针对群际偏见、分化评估和分化接纳意识(awareness of differential inclusion, ADI)三个核心变量间的关系及其影响因素, 提出并验证了一系列理论假设。SGD的理论基础包括社会认同理论、复杂性–极端性假设和态度极化模型、“白乌鸦效应”和个体对人知觉的发展。SGD模型的研究结果深化了群内偏好研究, 支持了社会领域理论, 并从群体机制角度为同伴拒斥研究提供了新思路, 解释了群体同质性效应并修正了认知发展理论。该领域的发展需要从跨文化检验模型、完善模型结构、研究它与其他变量的关系等方面进行进一步探索。     

Helping families improve: an evaluation of two primary care approaches to parenting support in the Netherlands

The present study evaluated two primary care parenting interventions. First, we evaluated the most widely used Dutch practices for primary care parenting support. Second, we assessed the applicability of the Primary Care Triple P approach, which is now being utilized in a wide variety of primary care settings. Both interventions target parents of children with mild to moderate behavioural and/or emotional problems, with the aim of improving parenting skills and thereby decreasing child problems. We examined the interventions in pre‐, post‐ and follow‐up assessment, and compared the results. Both interventions produced significant reductions in reported child emotional and behaviour problems, that also remained after 3 months. For both groups, parenting styles were also found to have improved at both post‐test and follow‐up measurement. When compared with the regular Dutch parenting consultation practices, however, the Primary Care Triple P approach produced greater reductions in parental laxness and total parenting dysfunction, and greater improvement in total parenting competence at both post‐test and follow‐up. Primary Care Triple P may even—in light of the greater improvements in parenting skills and total parental competences in the Triple P group than in the regular Dutch parenting consultation group—produce better results in the long run concerning child behaviour and emotional problems. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Relationship Between Perceived Parental Attitudes and Shyness among Turkish Youth: Fear of Negative Evaluation and Self-esteem as Mediators

The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between three perceived parental attitudes and shyness, testing self-esteem and fear of negative evaluation as mediators. The study used a total of 492 undergraduate students in Turkey. Data was collected through measures of shyness, fear of negative evaluation, self-esteem, and perceived parental attitudes. The proposed model was estimated using path analysis. Goodness of fit statistics showed that the model fit the data well. Results indicated that parental acceptance/involvement predicted self-esteem; perceived parental strictness/supervision predicted fear of negative evaluation; and perceived parental psychological autonomy predicted self-esteem. Self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between parental acceptance/involvement and shyness, whereas it fully mediated the relationship between parental psychological autonomy and shyness. Fear of negative evaluation fully mediated the relationship between parental strictness/supervision and shyness. In addition, the relationship between self-esteem and shyness was partially mediated by fear of negative evaluation. The findings provided evidence for the propositions that parental attitudes are important in the development of self-image and fears of rejection which result in the experience of shyness.     

Reactions to Different Types of Forced Distribution Performance Evaluation Systems

Purpose  We isolate and describe four key elements that distinguish different forms of forced distribution systems (FDS). These key elements are the consequences for low performers, differentiation of rewards for top performers, frequency of feedback, and comparison group size. We examine how these elements influence respondents’ attraction to FDS. Design/methodology/approach  Undergraduate students (n = 163) completed a policy capturing study designed to determine how these four FDS elements influence their attraction to FDS. We examine the relative importance of these elements that most influence attraction to different FDS, as well as individual attributes (i.e., cognitive ability, gender, and major) that may affect those preferences. Findings  Respondents were most attracted to systems with less stringent treatment of low performers, high differentiation of rewards, frequent feedback and large comparison groups. Consequences for low performers were nearly twice as influential as any other element. Respondents with higher cognitive ability favored high reward differentiation and males were less affected by stringent consequences for low performers. Implications  Before practitioners implement FDS, it would be prudent to consider all four elements examined in this study—with the treatment of low performers being the most salient issue. Future accounts of FDS should clarify the nature of these elements when reporting on FDS. Such precision will be useful in generating a knowledge base on FDS. Originality/value   We add precision to the discussion of FDS by identifying four key elements. This is one of the first studies to examine perceptions of FDS from a ratee perspective.

ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL VARIABLES WHEN AN INITIAL FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS INDICATES AUTOMATIC REINFORCEMENT AS THE MAINTAINING VARIABLE FOR SELF‐INJURIOUS BEHAVIOR

Self‐injurious behavior (SIB) that occurs at high rates across all conditions of a functional analysis can suggest automatic or multiple functions. In the current study, we conducted a functional analysis for 1 individual with SIB. Results indicated that SIB was, at least in part, maintained by automatic reinforcement. Further analyses using protective equipment (i.e., a helmet with face shield) revealed an attention function for the SIB.     

Challenges of Evaluating Multilevel Interventions

This article uses the Comprehensive Mixed-Methods Participatory Evaluation (CMMPE; Nastasi and Hitchcock Transforming school mental health services: Population-based approaches to promoting the competency and wellness of children, Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press with National Association of School Psychologists 2008; Nastasi et al. School-based mental health services: creating comprehensive and culturally specific programs. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association 2004) model as a framework for addressing the multiplicity of evaluation decisions and complex nature of questions related to program success in multilevel interventions. CMMPE defines program success in terms of acceptability, integrity, social or cultural validity, outcomes (impact), sustainability and institutionalization, thus broadening the traditional notions of program outcomes. The authors use CMMPE and an example of a community-based multilevel sexual risk prevention program with multiple outcomes to discuss challenges of evaluating multilevel interventions. The sexual risk program exemplifies what Schensul and Tricket (this issue) characterize as multilevel intervention–multilevel evaluation (M–M), with both intervention and evaluation at community, health practitioner, and patient levels. The illustration provides the context for considering several challenges related to M–M designs: feasibility of randomized controlled trials within community-based multilevel intervention; acceptability and social or cultural validity of evaluation procedures; implementer, recipient, and contextual variations in program success; interactions among levels of the intervention; unanticipated changes or conditions; multiple indicators of program success; engaging multiple stakeholders in a participatory process; and evaluating sustainability and institutionalization. The complexity of multilevel intervention and evaluation designs challenges traditional notions of evaluation research and experimental designs. Overcoming these challenges is critical to effective translation of research to practice in psychology and related disciplines.