Psychological Care Provided by the Church: Perceptions of Christian Church Members

Spirituality and religion are integral parts of a person's belief system and support network. Although there are many avenues a person can take when seeking mental health care, conservative Protestant clients have a tendency to seek assistance through their church. There is a paucity of literature about conservative Protestant church members’ perceptions of mental health care. The authors used phenomenology to understand participants’ perceptions of mental health care provided by the church. Themes found within participants’ stories included the importance of the relationship when seeking care, the use of knowledgeable practitioners, and the use of religious practices in counseling.     

免费师范生职业认同感与生命意义的关系

该研究采用师范生职业认同感量表和生命态度剖面图(LAP)中的"生命意义的追寻与肯定"分量表,对258名一至三年级的免费师范生进行问卷调查,探讨免费师范生职业认同感与生命意义的关系。结果表明,免费师范生职业认同感及其各因子均与生命意义及其各因子呈显著正相关;高中低不同职业认同感组的生命意义及其各因子的组别效应显著;免费师范生职业认同感的职业效能、职业意愿与期望、职业价值三因子是生命意义的显著预测变量。     

诠释与转换：积极心理健康及其当代理解

积极心理健康是积极心理学理论系统的一个重要组成部分,也是积极心理学理论本身在心理健康领域的一种应用。积极心理健康以积极为核心观念,以人的积极品质为研究对象,注重人的个体差异的研究思路,引领和推动传统心理健康从关注人的消极品质转向人的积极潜力,从而使心理健康的主题既符合时代潮流又具有深厚的思想底蕴。     

青少年心理健康与心理素质培养的整合研究

青少年心理健康与心理素质培养的整合研究是重庆市人文社会科学重点研究基地西南大学心理健康教育研究中心十多年来确立的研究主题。围绕该主题我们不仅从理论到实证进行了较为系统的探讨,取得了一批有本土特色的研究成果,受到国内外学术界关注,而且重视把研究成果及时转化运用于教育实践,开发了系统测量工具,编写了系列教材,开展了青少年心理素质教育的实验探索,推动了学校心理健康教育积极有效的开展。文章主要从青少年心理健康与心理素质培养整合研究的理论依据、方法论思考、研究主题等方面,概括总结心理健康与心理素质培养整合研究的概况,以期进一步促进该领域的深化研究。     

心理健康素质测评系统·中国成年人健康信念量表的编制

编制适合中国社会文化特点的成年人健康信念量表。根据健康信念对心理健康影响的大量研究结果,确定健康信念量表包括合理性和可控性两个维度的理论构想;通过访谈相关医务工作者以及在心理学专家中征集项目的方式形成初始问卷,并通过预测筛选,确定量表的最终项目。对天津市387名大学生、事业单位职员、公务员和农民工进行正式施测,检验量表的各项心理测量学指标。结果：健康信念量表包括两个维度,分别是可控性和合理性,量表具有良好的重测信度、内部一致信度、结构效度、内容效度以及校标关联效度。结论：健康信念量表具备令人满意的心理测量     

Health-related behavioural change—a test of a new model

Abstract

Numerous studies have demonstrated that planned health education and health promotion interventions are not particularly successful in bringing about behavioural change. It is suggested that the reasons for this are the fallacious theoretical assumptions underlying many intervention strategies and the failure to place sufficient emphasis on the context in which health-related behaviours occur. Studies of self-initiated behavioural change suggest that the antecedents of change are often events or processes which bring a previously routinised and unremarked behaviour into new focus.

This paper describes a preliminary test of a new model of behavioural change in which a group of lay people were recruited to act as paid interviewers on a food survey in their own area. The survey was particularly concerned with the consumption of high fibre foods. he and post-test measures of the interviewers' own food habits as compared with those of a control group indicated modest support for the proposed model. Implications of this study for health education and promotion are discussed.     

The experiences and understandings of obesity: Families’ decisions to attend a childhood obesity intervention

Objectives: This study investigated the families’ experiences of a childhood obesity intervention and sought to understand factors that influence attendance and lifestyle behaviours.

Design: Eleven semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.

Results: Four themes emerged highlighting the differences and similarities between attendees and non-attendees perceptions of childhood obesity, perceptions of the intervention, practical barriers and overcoming hurdles to attending and, availability and suitability of local facilities.

Conclusions: The findings relate to identity and health communication. For some families attending an obesity intervention may challenge social and individual identities, which may have an impact on subsequent behavioural decisions. Those who attend the obesity intervention may experience a shift in identity, which may or may not initially be perceived as a positive outcome. Public Health and those involved in treatment interventions should aim to bridge the gap between people’s in-group identities and those associated with particular lifestyle behaviours. In order to be effective, services must meet the needs of their clients and address any preconceived negative perceptions by carefully considering how health information is presented, how it is understood and most importantly how identity may affect motivation to engage in, and sustain, new behaviours.     

Temporal stability of behavioural intention as a moderator of intention–health behaviour relationships

Seven prospective studies of health behaviours containing eight prospective datasets testing the moderating role of intention stability on intention–behaviour and past behaviour–behaviour relationships were examined within the context of the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The measure of intention stability was based on lack of change in intentions between the two measurement time points. Across different behaviours, samples and time frames more stable intentions were associated with intentions at time 1 that were stronger predictors of behaviour at time 2. Intention stability did not consistently moderate the past behaviour–behaviour relationship. Across studies the frequency-weighted mean correlation between intentions and behaviour was substantially greater for stable (r ₊?=?0.60) compared to unstable (r ₊?=?0.27) intentions (Z _difference?=?6.65, p?<?0.001). The past behaviour–behaviour correlation was also stronger for stable (r ₊?=?0.50, p?<?0.001) compared to unstable (r₊ ?=?0.34, p?<?0.001) intentions (Z _difference?=?3.12, p?<?0.01). Perceived behavioural control was the variable most strongly related to stable intentions. Implications for understanding the role of health cognitions in the performance of health behaviour are discussed.     

The body sensation hypothesis: A new contribution to the understanding of preventive health behavior

Abstract

A conceptualization of preventive health behaviors (PHBs) is outlined which focuses upon the body sensations that accompany performance of PHB. While many workers have noted that the sensory consequences associated with PHB may be important in understanding why non-symptomatic, healthy individuals engage in PHB, current models of PHB ignore this dimension of health behavior. The Body Sensation Hypothesis suggests that an important function of PHB may be to regulate body sensations by eliminating and avoiding aversive sensations and to produce pleasurable sensations. The implications of the Body Sensations Hypothesis for the definition of PHB, the acquisition of PHB, health education and health-cognitions, and sex differences in PHB are discussed.     

Predicting adolescent health complaints by personality and Behaviors

Abstract

In a sample of 97 male adolescents, individual differences in health complaints were predicted by personality traits and by self-reported health/risk behaviors. Anxiety and loneliness were measured at Times 1 and 2, and health locus of control, various behaviors and health complaints were assessed at the end of the two-year study. A causal model was specified, employing anxiety and loneliness as distal predictors, health locus of control and behaviors as proximal predictors of health complaints. It turned out that anxiety was the most powerful single predictor, and that loneliness exerted a direct effect on health locus of control and behaviors and an indirect effect on health complaints. Risk behavior as well as health behavior were related to complaints. Social integration facilitated not only health behavior but also risk behavior.