Gay-Straight Alliances Vary on Dimensions of Youth Socializing and Advocacy: Factors Accounting for Individual and Setting-Level Differences

Gay‐Straight Alliances (GSAs) are school‐based youth settings that could promote health. Yet, GSAs have been treated as homogenous without attention to variability in how they operate or to how youth are involved in different capacities. Using a systems perspective, we considered two primary dimensions along which GSAs function to promote health: providing socializing and advocacy opportunities. Among 448 students in 48 GSAs who attended six regional conferences in Massachusetts (59.8 % LGBQ; 69.9 % White; 70.1 % cisgender female), we found substantial variation among GSAs and youth in levels of socializing and advocacy. GSAs were more distinct from one another on advocacy than socializing. Using multilevel modeling, we identified group and individual factors accounting for this variability. In the socializing model, youth and GSAs that did more socializing activities did more advocacy. In the advocacy model, youth who were more actively engaged in the GSA as well as GSAs whose youth collectively perceived greater school hostility and reported greater social justice efficacy did more advocacy. Findings suggest potential reasons why GSAs vary in how they function in ways ranging from internal provisions of support, to visibility raising, to collective social change. The findings are further relevant for settings supporting youth from other marginalized backgrounds and that include advocacy in their mission.     

Observer judgmental accuracy of personality: Benefits related to being a good (normative) judge

The current study tested the hypothesis that accuracy of personality judgment would be positively related to beneficial life outcomes. 189 participants observed targets across 5 dyadic interactions and made judgments of the 10 targets on the Big Five traits. Self and acquaintance ratings were used as the accuracy criteria. Normative accuracy for all traits was related to agreeableness, and normative accuracy for some traits was positively related to interpersonal control, interpersonal support, positive affect, and life satisfaction. Distinctive accuracy was not related to beneficial outcomes. These results imply that normative accuracy based on observation is associated with beneficial outcomes, whereas distinctive accuracy is not.     

Single session email consultation for parents: an evaluation of its effect on empowerment

This study evaluated the effect of single session email consultation (SSEC) on empowerment of parents. Practitioners in a control group (n = 19) received no training and practitioners in an experimental group (n = 21) were trained to use empowerment-oriented techniques in online consultation. Parental empowerment was measured (n = 96) through a questionnaire based on the Family Empowerment Scale before and after receiving advice from a trained or a non-trained practitioner. Parents showed a significant increase in the subscale of self-confidence (Cohen's d = 0.33). Study findings lend support to the feasibility of SSEC as a brief intervention to improve self-confidence of parents. A training for practitioners did not influence the outcomes.     

Structural support,networking and individual survival: career changes in Italy and Spain

Southern European countries, like Italy and Spain, have been severely affected by the recent economic crisis. This has affected their labour market in terms of increased unemployment, while many of those in employment feel more insecure. As a consequence, many individuals turn to education as a step to making a career change. The opportunities and hindrances stemming from socio-economic institutions such as vocational education and training (VET) and higher education, labour market regulations and career guidance are highly influential in the ways in which individuals manage their career transitions and engage in lifelong learning. This article outlines the structural conditions in the two countries in respect to career guidance provision and reflects, based on individual accounts of mid-career workers, how individuals negotiate the system.     

The role of trait emotional intelligence in academic performance during the university transition: An integrative model of mediation via social support,coping, and adjustment

The authors propose conceptual models linking trait emotional intelligence (TEI) with achievement both directly and indirectly via perceived social support (PSS), engagement coping (EC), and adjustment, in the context of the university transition. The models were tested in a multiwave design with a sample of incoming Australian undergraduates (N = 470). In structural equation analyses, TEI was found to be a direct predictor of higher PSS and the greater use of EC strategies. Further, mediation analyses revealed that TEI was indirectly associated with academic adjustment via EC and psychological adjustment via EC and PSS operating in parallel. TEI was also found to be indirectly associated with achievement via EC and academic adjustment linked serially in a three-path mediated sequence. These direct and indirect relations were robust when controlling for known confounding influences. The empirically supported mediating processes extend the literature by elucidating some of the pathways through which TEI is linked with better adjustment and achievement.     

Exposure,Agency, Perceived Threat,and Guilt as Predictors of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Veterans

Using a sample of 289 Iraq/Afghanistan veterans, this study examined the contributions of combat exposure, agency, perceived threat, and guilt to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Regression analyses indicated the four variables (together with demographic variables) accounted for 79% of the variance in PTSD symptoms. Guilt was the most important predictor. In addition, guilt mediated between exposure and PTSD symptoms, perceived threat and PTSD symptoms, and agency and PTSD symptoms. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Soldiers Lead Themselves to More Success: A Self-Leadership Intervention Study

Neck and Manz (1999) Neck, C. P., & Manz, C. C. (1999). In search of the self-led soldier: Army leadership in the twenty-first century. In J. G. Hunt, G. E. Dodge, & L. Wong (Eds.), Out of the box leadership: Transforming the twenty-first army and other top organizations (pp. 153–176). Stamford, CT: JAI Press. [Google Scholar] elaborated in their article “In Search of the Self-Lead Soldier” on the need for continuous improvement of personnel qualities such as increase in self-efficacy, increase of performance, and decrease of perceived strain. Self-leadership is a tool that fosters exactly these personal resources. This study examines self-leadership training effects on soldiers participating in a military training course over 14 weeks. It is the first self-leadership training study to evaluate performance improvement using objective criteria (examination marks, physical tests) in intervention and control group consisting of soldiers of the Austrian army. Its design features a large sample (N = 130), duration of self-leadership training over 10 weeks, and evaluation over 4 time points. The intervention group accomplished significantly higher educational achievements in examinations and physical tests. Also levels of self-efficacy were significantly higher and levels of strain were marginally to significantly lower.     

Validation française du School Burnout Inventory

IntroductionFirst studied in adults, the concept of burnout was recently extended to adolescents in order to evaluate the impact of school requirements on their health.ObjectiveThis study aim at assessing construct validity, reliability and concurrent validity of a French version of the School Burnout Inventory (Salmela-Aro, Kiuru, Leskinen, & Nurmi, 2009) that characterize school burnout by exhaustion linked to school demands, cynicism toward school and feelings of inadequacy as a student.MethodThree hundred and eighty-seven adolescents have filled the translated questionnaire and a confirmatory factor analysis was performed on the data.ResultsThe analysis confirmed the tridimensional structure of the scale and mainly show satisfactory psychometric qualities.ConclusionThis measurement scale should provide clinicians with a rapid and simple assessment of school burnout in adolescents. Researchers could also benefit from it in order to extend theoretical knowledge about this trouble.     

Own and perceived parental religiosity and the quality of the parent–child relationship

This aim of this study was to investigate the association between perceived parental religiosity and the quality of the parent–child relationship. Eighty-nine adolescent boys and girls completed the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire (SCSRFQ) and the Parent–Child Relationship Survey (PCRS). The results showed that the girls had a better relationship with their mothers than with their fathers, while the boys tended to view their relationships with their father and mother of equal quality. It was also found that greater perceived religiosity of both the fathers and mothers was associated with a better parent–child relationship.