Psychometric evaluation of the Negative Religious Coping (NRC) Scale of the Brief RCOPE in the Czech environment

ABSTRACT

The Negative Religious Coping (NRC) Subscale is a part of the Brief RCOPE Scale, but can also be used separatelly. It is a brief measure assessing negative religous coping. The aim of this study was to psychometrically evaluate the NRC in Czech conditions. The NRC was administered to 531 religious respondents (25.5?±?3.4 years, 43.5% male). Negative religious coping and religiosity, together with basic sociodemographic information, were measured. The non-parametric comparison of different sociodemographic groups showed no differences between genders and almost no differences among the age groups. Significantly lower NRC scores were obtained by widows/widowers. The Czech version of the NRC showed a coherent one-dimensional factor structure and high reliability, with Cronbach’s α?=?.84 (95% CI .83–.85) and McDonald’s ω_t?=?.90. Our findings indicate that the Czech version of the NRC scale may reliably assess religious coping. This instrument might be useful both for research and clinical praxis.     

THE TOTALITARIAN STATE OF MIND

The paper describes the development of Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy for use with complex depression (DITCC), and a pilot study testing DITCC’s effectiveness. The pilot found large pre-post improvements in well-being and distress; moderate rates of reliable improvement and clinically significant change; and curvilinear declines in depression and anxiety. Treatment completers and near-completers (N= 19) showed a significant curvilinear decline in symptoms of depression (PHQ-9) and anxiety (GAD-7). The results provide preliminary evidence that DITCC can be used as an effective treatment approach for complex depression. However, further research is needed to test its effectiveness in different settings with a larger sample size, using appropriate comparison groups under controlled conditions to further elaborate the short-term and long-term effects.     

线上社交焦虑:社交媒体中的人际负性体验

线上社交焦虑指个体在社交媒体交往情境中感知到的紧张和恐惧等人际负性体验,包含隐私担忧、交往焦虑和负面评价恐惧三个方面。线上社交焦虑可以通过质性分析法、实验诱发法和问卷测量法进行研究。线上社交焦虑既会受到社交媒体自身特点、个体特征因素、网络欺凌和文化因素的影响,还会对个体的心理与行为产生后效。未来研究者需要开发有效的本土化测量工具、探索其形成和作用机制、关注线上社交焦虑悖论以及推动对其干预。     

Irish norms for the SCORE‐15 and 28 from a national telephone survey

In this study a 29‐item version of the systemic clinical outcome and routine evaluation (SCORE), which contained all items from the SCORE‐15 and SCORE‐28, was used to develop norms for both the 15 and the 28 versions of the SCORE from the same sample. In a random digit dialling telephone survey, a stratified national random sample of 403 adults living in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland completed the SCORE and brief measures of family and personal adjustment. Using receiver operating characteristic curve analyses, cut‐off points for the SCORE‐28 and 15 were found to identify families of children with significant emotional and behavioural problems. We also established 90^th percentile points and percentages of cases falling above each scale point for both versions of the SCORE. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that, for both versions of the SCORE, the data fit the three factor solutions found in previous studies. The SCORE scales also had significant correlations with measures of family, parental and child adjustment, and negligible correlations with socioeconomic variables and social desirability response set.     

Long-term school-level effects of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP)

In agreement with two predictions, this somewhat unusual study documented that 70 elementary schools (A-schools) with continued and repeated use of the Olweus Bullying Questionnaire (OBQ) in a four-year follow-up period of 2007–2010, two to eight years after original implementation of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP), had a clearly more favorable long-term development in terms of being-bullied problems, as measured with a completely independent data source, the National Pupil Survey than 102 comparable schools (B-schools) that had not conducted any OBQ-surveys in the same period. The odds of being bullied for students in a Norwegian average elementary school were also almost 40% higher than for students who attended a school with continued use of the OBQ, and very likely, other components of the program. Several alternative explanations of the findings were explored and found wanting. Results suggested that A-schools with continued use had changed their “school culture” for the better with regard to awareness, preparedness and competence in handling and preventing bullying. This form of ‘organizational learning’ has major consequences in that new groups of students will benefit from such a school environment. It was generally concluded – in spite of a highly stable average of the level of bullying problems in Norway – that it is fully possible to substantially reduce such problems not only in one-year evaluations, as has been amply documented before, but also in the long term, up to eight years after original implementation, with a program such as the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program.     

Toddlers’ affective responses to sociomoral scenes: Insights from physiological measures

A growing literature suggests that preverbal infants are sensitive to sociomoral scenes and prefer prosocial agents over antisocial agents. It remains unclear, however, whether and how emotional processes are implicated in infants’ responses to prosocial/antisocial actions. Although a recent study found that infants and toddlers showed more positive facial expressions after viewing helping (vs. hindering) events, these findings were based on naïve coder ratings of facial activity; furthermore, effect sizes were small. The current studies examined 18- and 24-month-old toddlers’ real-time reactivity to helping and hindering interactions using three physiological measures of emotion-related processes. At 18 months, activity in facial musculature involved in smiling/frowning was explored via facial electromyography (EMG). At 24 months, stress (sweat) was explored via electrodermal activity (EDA). At both ages, arousal was explored via pupillometry. Behaviorally, infants showed no preferences for the helper over the hinderer across age groups. EMG analyses revealed that 18-month-olds showed higher corrugator activity (more frowning) during hindering (vs. helping) actions, followed by lower corrugator activity (less frowning) after hindering (vs. helping) actions finished. These findings suggest that antisocial actions elicited negativity, perhaps followed by brief disengagement. EDA analyses revealed no significant event-related differences. Pupillometry analyses revealed that both 18- and 24-month-olds’ pupils were smaller after viewing hindering (vs. helping), replicating recent evidence with 5-month-olds and suggesting that toddlers also show less arousal following hindering than following helping. Together, these results provide new evidence with respect to whether and how arousal/affective processes are involved when infants process sociomoral scenarios.     

Cognition and emotion: on paradigms and metaphors

ABSTRACT

The field of cognition and emotion is characterised as the cognitive psychology of evaluative and affective processes. The most important development in this field is the fruitful adoption of cognitive psychology paradigms to study automatic evaluation processes, for example. This has led to a plethora of findings and theories. Two points are emphasised: First, the (often metaphorical) theoretical way of thinking has changed over the decades. Theorising with symbolic models (e.g. semantic networks), which was prevalent in earlier years, has been replaced more recently by subsymbolic models (i.e. PDP models). It is argued that – despite their still metaphorical character – the latter are better suited to capturing characteristics of emotional processes. Second, the field has adopted the methods of experimental cognitive psychology to develop and refine paradigms as “windows to the mind”.     

Confident,valued and supported: Examining the benefits of employment support for military spouses

ABSTRACT

Military spouses face numerous challenges in obtaining employment as a result of their connection to the military. Previous research has linked military spouses underemployment to reduced well-being and satisfaction with military life, which in turn impacts on retention of the service person. In response to this the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) trialed a 2 year programme of employment support for spouses in 2015. This paper reports the findings of a qualitative evaluation of this programme and its impact on spouses. Interviews were carried out with 30 spouses and 23 of their serving partners to examine the benefits and impact of the support provided. The majority of spouses and their serving partners perceived the employment support as providing a positive contribution from the military to help spouses get back into employment or improve their employability. Additionally, spouses felt invested in by the military and valued as constituents in their own right. No impact of employment support for spouses on the intention to remain or leave the Armed Forces was identified. Longitudinal follow up will be required to determine any long-term impact of employment support on employment outcomes and retention.