Following Inspiration: A Conversation With Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter

Our distinguished guest for the 3rd installment in this inaugural Hearing our Elders series is former First Lady Rosalynn Carter. Mrs. Carter is arguably among the most active former First Ladies since she and her husband, the 39th President of the United States, James Earl “Jimmy” Carter, left the White House in 1981. The zeitgeist of the mid‐1950s through the 1970s provides the context that frames Mrs. Carter's responses to questions about her involvement in the mental health movement that continues to the present day. The historical as well as contemporary social and political environments relative to understanding and appreciating mental health and wellness in the United States, then and now, are explored and illuminated in portions of the interview with Mrs. Carter. The interview revealed 6 critical themes: really listening with an empathic ear, resilience/persistence, commitment across time, thinking like a global citizen, a quiet‐storm leadership style, and self‐discovery in service to others. Nuestra distinguida invitada en la 3ª entrega de esta serie inaugural de Escuchar a Nuestros Mayores es la ex Primera Dama Rosalynn Carter. La señora Carter es sin duda una de las ex primeras damas más activas desde que en 1981 dejó la Casa Blanca junto con su marido, el 39° Presidente de los Estados Unidos James Earl “Jimmy” Carter. El espíritu cultural del periodo entre la mitad de la década de los años 50 hasta los 70 proporciona el contexto en el que se enmarcan las respuestas de la señora Carter a preguntas sobre su implicación en el movimiento para la salud mental que continúa hasta hoy. Los entornos social y político de ayer y hoy, tanto en su perspectiva histórica como contemporánea, y cómo estos se relacionan con la comprensión y valoración de la salud y bienestar mental en los Estados Unidos se exploran e ilustran en varios segmentos de la entrevista con la señora Carter. Esta entrevista reveló 6 temas críticos: la escucha con atención y empatía, la resiliencia/persistencia, el compromiso a lo largo del tiempo, el pensamiento como ciudadanos globales, un estilo de liderazgo firme pero calmado, y el autodescubrimiento a través del servicio a otros.     

Exploring Factors Associated with Psychological Resilience Among Earthquake Survivors from Turkey

This study aimed to explore factors associated with psychological resilience in a sample of 360 survivors of the two earthquakes in Van, Turkey in 2011. Using a survey with measures on various pre-, within-, and post-disaster variables, it has been shown that psychological resilience was influenced by multiple factors, providing empirical evidence for a multifactorial understanding of resilience. Furthermore, the study extended the traditional ways of resilience assessment by including stress-coping ability and severity of trauma-related symptoms as indicators of psychological resilience simultaneously. Findings were discussed considering the implications for research and interventions in the aftermath of natural disasters.     

Resilience and Coping Intervention with Children and Adolescents in At-Risk Neighborhoods

This study evaluated the Resilience and Coping Intervention for Children (RCI), a group intervention to increase coping skills and resilience in children and adolescents. RCI was delivered to children and adolescents residing in five at-risk neighborhoods in a southern U.S. city. Children’s and adolescents’ self-report of coping strategies, strengths and difficulties with behaviors and emotions, and hope indicated decreased difficulties with behavior and emotions and increased feelings of hope postintervention. Parent report of difficulties with behavior and emotions revealed a significant decrease in children but not in adolescents. Mean scores for four coping dimensions increased, but the increase was not statistically significant.     

Making sense of mentoring or mentoring making sense? Reflections on the mentoring process by adult mentors with young people†

This paper sets out to look at the processes of mentoring from the perspectives of adult mentors who were interviewed as part of a wider study of young people's perceptions and understandings of informal mentoring processes. It seeks to clarify the processes of mentoring within the context of the ‘risk society’ by posing the question, how do young people and mentors perceive these processes? What do mentors get out of the mentoring relationship? Findings from a qualitative study of informal mentoring relationships are drawn on to suggest that the mentors perceive the experience of being identified as a mentor and the processes of mentoring in highly positive terms. It is argued that this provides a form of ‘cultural capital for mentors’ in helping them to make sense of the challenges and dilemmas they face as adults. It is concluded that this finding has important implications for the design of mentoring interventions with young people. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Disaster risk reduction: Psychological perspectives on preparedness

Facilitating people's ability to anticipate, prepare for and recover from disaster is an important component of the UNISDR strategy for disaster risk reduction. Following a discussion of the functional characteristics of preparedness, this paper first discusses how hazard characteristics and psychological constructs influence people's ability to anticipate uncertain future events. It then reviews how psychological theories (Health Belief Model, Protection Motivation Theory, PrE Theory, Theory of Planned Behaviour, Critical Awareness Theory, Social Marketing, Protective Action Decision Model, Social Capital, Community Engagement Theory and Social Identity Theory) can inform understanding of preparedness for likely and current hazard events. Discussion then then turns to applying concepts and theories to understanding preparedness for current disasters. The all-hazards and cross-cultural applicability of preparedness theory is discussed, as are a need for a critical appraisal of preparedness, its predictors, and the nature and development of the preparedness process and its application in facilitating effective intervention strategies.     

The Need for a Theology of Resilience,Coexistence, and Hope

In many countries of the world, people are drinking a dangerous cocktail of poisonous ingredients all starting with the letter P: polarization, populism, protectionism, post‐truth, and patriarchy. As Christians, we cannot do other than work against this. In order to do so, we need to make use of the resources we have in spirituality and theology. This article reflects on these resources in the Lutheran tradition, asking how we, together, are church in this world.     

Dispositional resilience in treatment‐seeking patients with obsessive‐compulsive disorder and its association with treatment outcome

There is a lack of research on the relation between obsessive‐compulsive disorder (OCD) and resilience. Dispositional resilience, as described and defined in literature on hardiness, consists of three facets, namely beliefs about having control in everyday living, having a sense of purpose or commitment, and a positive attitude toward challenges. This study explores associations between dispositional resilience (measured with the Dispositional Resilience Scale (DRS‐15‐R)), symptom severity, and treatment outcome in a sample of 89 patients treated with concentrated exposure therapy (cET), and compares the findings with scores from two reference groups (students and soldiers). The patient group had significantly lower resilience scores than the two reference groups. Weak correlations were observed between dispositional resilience and OCD symptoms. Differences in dispositional resilience were weakly related to remission status at follow‐up (odds ratio of 1.11). Furthermore, resilience improved from pre‐ to post‐treatment (Cohen's d of 0.65). Our results imply that patients’ initial resilience score does not hinder nor facilitate treatment effects to a great extent in this format of ERP treatment.     

中学生欺凌受害对其内化问题的影响:有调节的中介模型

采用特拉华校园氛围量表、特拉华欺负受害量表、心理弹性量表、病人健康问卷抑郁量表和广泛性焦虑量表对3543名中学生进行调查。探讨中学生感知的校园氛围与心理弹性在其欺凌受害与内化性问题间的中介调节作用。结果表明:(1)在控制中学生的性别、年级及父母文化水平后,欺凌受害能显著正向预测学生的内化性问题。(2)心理弹性在欺凌受害与内化性问题间起部分中介作用。(3)中学生感知的校园氛围在欺凌受害以及心理弹性对内化性问题的影响中均有显著的调节作用。     

Religious coping,general coping strategies,perceived social support,PTSD symptoms,resilience, and posttraumatic growth among survivors of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti

This study examines the relationships between coping strategies, perceived social support, resilience, PTSD symptoms, and posttraumatic growth (PTG) in a sample of 256 survivors of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The results of the bivariate analysis suggested a significant positive correlation between PTG and resilience, PTSD symptoms, perceived social support, positive religious coping, and active coping. There was a significant positive relationship between perceived social support and resilience and between resilience and active coping. PTSD symptoms were positively correlated with both positive and negative religious coping. Results of the multiple regression analysis indicated that positive religious coping, active coping, perceived social support, resilience, and PTSD symptoms accounted for 34% of the variance in the participants’ PTG. The strongest predictor of PTG was positive religious coping, followed by active coping, perceived social support, resilience, PTSD symptoms, and negative religious coping. Implications and recommendations for future research were discussed.     

组织中的韧性：基于心理路径和系统路径的保护性资源建构

作为跨学科的研究构念, “韧性” (resilience)呈现出心理和系统两条独立的发展轨迹。基于心理路径和系统路径, 本文系统梳理了韧性在组织不同层面的类型特质、影响因素及测量, 依托资源保护理论, 以保护性资源的建构为主线勾勒出韧性在组织不同层面的产生路径, 并据此提出相关干预策略。未来研究可尝试探究积极事件对韧性的诱发机理以及跨层面韧性之间的促进作用, 并基于心理和系统两条发展脉络开展本土化实证研究。