How others respond to non‐suicidal self‐injury disclosure: A systematic review

Non‐suicidal self‐injury (NSSI) is an increasing health concern. Despite the potential benefits of disclosing the behaviour, many decide not to do so because of the fear of negative social reactions. In this review, we examined the existing research on reported and perceived reactions to NSSI disclosure with the aim of identifying how an individual who discloses their NSSI perceives others' responses to this disclosure, with the ultimate goal of understanding how these reactions may impact those who disclose their NSSI. Among the initial 275 studies, 10 fit the inclusion criteria. Three studies reported perceived responses by individuals who had disclosed their NSSI; six studies examined self‐reported responses by others; one study focused on disclosures online. Individuals who disclosed their NSSI often received negative responses, which caused them to withdraw from seeking further help. On the other hand, recipients' reactions to NSSI disclosure varied based on NSSI characteristics such as its perceived cause and/or underlying motivation. Results highlight the importance of providing support rather than searching for the underlying drives of NSSI.     

How Did You Like This Course? The Advantages and Limitations of Reaction Criteria in Ethics Education

Ethics courses are most commonly evaluated using reaction measures. However, little is known about the specific types of reaction data being collected (e.g., content relevance, course satisfaction) and how these reaction data relate to improvements in trainee performance (e.g., knowledge, moral reasoning). Using a sample of 381 ethics training sessions, major reaction data categories were identified. Content and course satisfaction were the most frequently collected types of reaction criteria. Furthermore, content relevance (r = .84) and course satisfaction (r = .79) showed strong, positive relationships with performance criteria, whereas content satisfaction demonstrated a moderate, negative relationship (r = –.28). These results and future directions for ethics training evaluation are discussed.     

Teacher Perspectives on Grief Among Children with Intellectual Disabilities

The death of a parent can have a profound impact on a child. However, little is known about how children with intellectual disabilities demonstrate grief or how teachers respond to student grief. Constructivist grounded theory methods were used to analyze data collected from five special education teachers of elementary students with intellectual disabilities. Categories related to grieving, loss, support, coping, and emotion were found. Teachers reported a range of grieving behaviors displayed by children with intellectual disabilities in the classroom and used various strategies to provide support. Grief in surviving caregivers and assistance from other school personnel were also described. The need for additional training of teachers and counselors about grief in children with intellectual disabilities is highlighted.     

Identity continuity and loss after death,divorce, and job loss

This paper examined the relationship of constructs identified by identity continuity and attachment theories of grief to adjustment to loss from the framework of identity theory. Connections between loss salience, identity construal, and balance of identity construal on grief intensity via their association with post-loss identity disruption were examined across three types of self-relevant losses; death of a family member, job loss, or divorce. We hypothesized that lower salience, higher endorsement of identity attributes represented by relational and individualistic self-construals, and an overall balance across identity attributes would be related to decreased grief severity across all types of loss. Results supported hypotheses with the exception that the hypothesized ameliorative effect of increases in relational self-construal was only seen in the bereaved group.     

Loss Through Betrayal: An Analysis of Social Provision Changes and Psychological Reactions

Results of two retrospective studies suggested that romantic betrayal led to the loss of key aspects of social support from partners, most notably attachment, guidance, and reliable alliance with the partner. Furthermore, specific social provision losses were found to reliably predict recalled and current negative psychological states associated with romantic betrayal. Perceived attachment losses predicted postbetrayal anger and disgust, as well as trauma reactions following betrayal. In addition, a decline in reassurance of one’s worth following betrayal predicted embarrassment about the event, and the degree to which reliable alliance with the partner was lost predicted anxiety and shame.     

Reflection as a strategy to enhance task performance after feedback

An unanswered question in employee development is how reflection can be used for improving performance in organizations. Drawing from research and theory on dual-process models, we develop and test a reflection strategy to stimulate deeper learning after feedback. Results of two studies (N = 640 and N = 488) showed that reflection combined with feedback enhanced performance improvement on a web-based work simulation better than feedback alone. Reflection without feedback did not lead to performance improvement. Further analyses indicated that the proposed reflection strategy was less effective for individuals low in learning goal orientation, low in need for cognition, and low in personal importance as they engaged less in reflection. Together, these findings provide a theoretical basis for the future study of reflection in organizations and suggest a practical and cost-effective strategy for facilitating employee development after feedback in organizations.     

The Underlying Structure of Grief: A Taxometric Investigation of Prolonged and Normal Reactions to Loss

Recent studies have supported the distinctiveness of complicated and prolonged forms of grief as a cluster of symptoms that is separate from other psychiatric disorders. The distinction between prolonged and normal reactions to loss remains unclear, however, with some believing that prolonged grief represents a qualitatively distinct clinical entity and others conceptualizing it as the extreme end of a continuum. Thus, in this study a taxometric methodology was used to examine the underlying structure of grief. Participants included 1,069 bereaved individuals who had lost a first-degree relative. Each participant completed the Dutch version of the Inventory of Complicated Grief–Revised, which was used to create indicators of prolonged grief. The mean above and mean below a cut (MAMBAC) and maximum eigenvalue (MAXEIG) tests supported a dimensional conceptualization, indicating that pathological reactions might be best defined by the severity of grief symptoms rather than the presence or absence of specific symptoms.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Domestic Violence Survivors’ Experiences with Their Informal Social Networks

Informal social networks play a critical role in buffering the negative effects of stressful life events. For women experiencing the stress of a violent relationship, family and friends are among the first sources of support sought; however, reactions to the abuse by family and friends are not uniformly perceived as helpful by survivors. The current study takes a qualitative approach to examining the range of possible reactions survivors may encounter from their social networks regarding the abuse. Special attention is given to negative and mixed reactions, as they have previously been under-examined in the literature. Findings suggest that survivors (N = 45) regularly experience negative and mixed reactions. Emergent themes suggest that both positive and negative reactions to abuse could be understood in four broad arenas: safety, emotional availability, input, and aid. However, positive and negative reactions emerged as distinct constructs within each arena; mixed reactions took multiple forms including being within person and within network.     

Children's Causal Explanations of Psychogenic Bodily Reactions

In Experiment 1, 4‐, 5‐, 8‐ and 11‐year‐old Japanese children (n = 69) and adults (n = 21) explained their reasons for bodily induced reactions (e.g. overeating leads to vomiting) and psychogenic bodily reactions (bodily outcomes originating in the mind, e.g. frustration leads to vomiting). Children gave vitalistic explanations, that is, explaining causal connections by referring to a vital force, in responses concerning bodily induced reactions, whereas adults typically gave these explanations in responses concerning psychogenic bodily reactions. In Experiment 2, 5‐, 8‐ and 11‐year‐old children (n = 96) and adults (n = 24) explained bodily induced and psychogenic bodily reactions, and psychological behaviour, for example, that frustration leads to nail biting. As in Experiment 1, vitalistic explanations tended to be found for psychogenic tasks but were seldom found in either children's or adults' explanations of psychological behaviour. The findings suggest that with age vitalistic causality obtains cross mind‐body implications. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.