Anxious Attachment to God,Spiritual Support,and Obesity: Findings from a Recent Nationwide Survey

Some researchers report that people who are more deeply involved in religion may be more obese, but other investigators have been unable to replicate these findings. The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between religious life and obesity with data from a recent nationwide survey, the Landmark Spirituality and Health Survey (N = 1,497). The core measure of religion is an anxious or insecure attachment to God. It is hypothesized that study participants with a more anxious attachment to God are more likely to be obese. However, it is further proposed that this relationship will only hold for study participants who receive little spiritual or emotional support from fellow church members. Spiritual support is assistance that is provided with the explicit purpose of bolstering the religious beliefs and behaviors of the recipient. The findings reveal that having an anxious attachment to God is associated with a greater risk of being obese, but this relationship becomes progressively weaker as the level of spiritual and emotional support increases.     

Impact of School Psychological Environment Variables on Happiness of Korean Youths

Abstract: This study analyzed the structural relationships between school‐related psychological variables (teacher support, learning flow, friendship) and the happiness of Korean youths, and compared structural equation models for middle and high schools. Questionnaire data were collected from students in middle and high schools in 10 cities and provinces of Korea. The final data set from 870 students was analyzed with Amos 20.0. Goodness of fit indices for the hypothetical model were good, and all paths were significant. That is, a model incorporating indirect and direct impact of school‐related psychological environment variables, such as teacher support, learning flow, and friendship, on the happiness of Korean youths is valid. Second, structural equation models for middle and high schools demonstrated significant differences. Therefore, different types of assistance are needed to increase the happiness of students in middle schools and high schools.     

高校教师职业心理资本与工作绩效:社会支持的中介效应

用"高校教师职业心理资本量表"、"工作绩效量表"及"社会支持问卷"对来自全国8所高校的718名高校教师进行问卷调查。通过描述性分析、回归及结构方程模型等实证统计方法,深入分析了社会支持、职业心理资本与工作绩效关系模型的理论架构,探究了社会支持在职业心理资本对工作绩效影响的中介模型效应的内在作用机制。研究发现,社会支持、职业心理资本、工作绩效及其各维度之间均存在显著的相关;职业心理资本及其各维度对工作绩效的主效应非常显著;社会支持在职业心理资本及其各维度与工作绩效间的中介效应也均显著。这表明高校教师职业心理资本及各维度对工作绩效不但起着直接的影响作用,而且通过社会支持工作绩效产生了间接的影响。因此,提升高校教师的职业心理资本,建立良好的内、外社会支持系统对提升工作绩效都会形成良好的激励效果,从而实现教师和高校的共同发展。     

Mapping drivers’ mental models of adaptive cruise control to performance

Driver support features (DSF) have the potential to improve safety, but they also change the driver-vehicle relationship —as well as their respective roles and responsibilities. To maximize safety, it is important to understand how drivers’ knowledge and understanding of these technologies—referred to as drivers’ mental models—impact performance and safety. This simulator study examined how drivers with different mental models of adaptive cruise control performed in edge cases. The study compared the responses of groups of drivers, with strong and weak mental models of ACC, established through a combination of screening, training, and exposure, in edge case situations in a high-fidelity driving simulator. In general, participants with strong mental models were faster than those with weak mental models to respond in edge-case situations—defined as cases where the ACC did not detect an approaching object, such as a slow-moving motorcycle. The performance deficits observed for drivers with weak mental models appear to reflect uncertainty surrounding how ACC will behave in edge cases.     

A cluster randomized trial to evaluate need-supportive teaching in physical education on physical activity of sixth-grade girls: A mixed method study

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of need-supportive teaching in physical education on girls' daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity using a mixed method evaluation.Methods507 sixth-grade girls aged 9–14 years of 33 single-sex physical education classes participated in the cluster randomized control trial. During the 16-week intervention period, trained teachers conducted enhanced physical education lessons which were designed based on self-determination theory. In a randomized process, independent researchers using a computer-based algorithm allocated classes to the trial groups (IG n = 19 classes, CG n = 14). These lessons were subject to repeated systematic observations. The students' perceptions of basic psychological need support and satisfaction in physical education were measured using repeated self-report questionnaires. Students' daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was assessed by accelerometry. Semi-structured interviews provided a deeper understanding of how purposively sampled focus groups perceived teacher behavior in physical education. After a separate analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, results were merged to investigate the intervention's efficacy and treatment fidelity.FindingsThroughout the school year, the girls' MVPA levels decreased in both groups. Girls who reported their complete physical activity data had a lower body mass index than girls who reported no, or only one or two sets of physical activity data. Results of mixed measures converge on the finding that the teachers in the intervention group provided slightly stronger need support than the control teachers, however, intervention components were not delivered consistently. Therefore, a significant intervention effect on daily MVPA could not be quantified. Autonomy satisfaction significantly predicted MVPA.ConclusionQualitative insights of teaching behavior in PE underlined the importance of need support and revealed structural barriers, which compromised the implementation quality.Trial registrationEthics Committee of the Technical University of Munich 155/16S; Bavarian Ministry of Education IV.8-BO6106/52/12.FundingGerman Research Foundation grant DE2680/3-1.     

Parents about parenting dual career athletes: A systematic literature review.

ObjectivesTo establish the scientific literature on the parents’ view as supporters of dual career (DC) athletes, and to highlight practical implications for the development of education programmes to empower parents in this role.Methodology: The systematic literature review included four electronic databases, from which 438 articles published in English between 1999 and 2019 were retrieved.ResultsA total of 14 studies achieved the eligibility criteria (i.e., focus on DC, involving parents as participants) for inclusion. Results show that the 14 studies included in the review were characterised by sample sizes <15 to >50 parents of individual and/or team sports athletes, involving data collection based on interviews, semi-structured interviews focus groups, questionnaires and a survey. A thematic synthesis highlighted a two primary constructs: the individual level and the inter-individual level, respectively. The individual level comprised two main themes: Approach to both Sport and Education, and Stressors and Coping, which included five aspects of parenting. The inter-individual level presented three themes: Relationship with the Athlete; Relationship with the Sport Environment and Relationship with the Academic Environment.ConclusionsFindings highlighted a relevant parental role in supporting DC athletes and partial information on parental support strategies. In conclusions, the limited sample size and typology of sports, and the partial representativeness of countries have impacted the global application of the main findings. Furthermore, the need of an educational programme for parents and the need of regular parents-athlete-teacher/coach engagement were considered crucial to facilitate successful parental interventions at academic and/or sports levels and to limit the potential negative effects of DC parenting.     

Examining the Reliability of Various Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection Theory (IPARTheory) Measures in Vietnamese Adolescents

Abstract

Perceiving one’s self as accepted by important others, such as parents, is fundamental and crucial for the well-being of each individual. One major aspect of interpersonal acceptance-rejection theory (IPARTheory) is examining how parental acceptance-rejection affects people’s psychological adjustment. This theory has been validated in many countries and cultural groups around the world, but has not been utilized in the Vietnamese context. This research aims to assess the reliability of IPARTheory measures in Vietnam and applicability of the theory itself among a Vietnamese sample. Participants included 162 students from a high school in Hanoi (M_age = 15.58 years; 69.8% female). Materials consisted of Vietnamese versions of various IPARTheory measures: Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire, Personality Assessment Questionnaire, Interpersonal Relationship Anxiety Questionnaire, and a demographics form designed specifically for this research. Analyses show that psychological maladjustment significantly correlated with perceived paternal rejection, maternal rejection, and their subscales. Cronbach’s alphas were strong, ranging from .73 to .97, except for the dependency subscale and hostility subscale of the Personality Assessment Questionnaire. Thus, the results provide evidence for the reliability of various IPARTheory measures in Vietnam. The relationships found in this study have implications for parents, teachers, and psychologists to employ in order to provide adolescents with appropriate guidance and intervention based on the importance of perceived parental acceptance-rejection.     

The Mediation Effect of Ethical Leadership and Creative Performance: A Social Information Processing Perspective

Drawing upon social information processing theory, the study examined how ethical leadership shapes creative performance. Specifically, we tested a theoretical model integrating the sequential roles of psychological safety and creative self‐efficacy. A two‐waved sample of 512 supervisor‐subordinate dyads from frontline employees of three service industries located in Ghana was administered. The results of the hierarchical linear modeling analysis revealed that there is a positive relationship between ethical leadership and creative performance and that psychological safety positively and significantly mediates the relationship between ethical leadership and creative performance. Similarly, creative self‐efficacy significantly and positively mediates the relationship between ethical leadership and creative performance. Moreover, both psychological safety and creative self‐efficacy sequentially mediate the relationship between ethical leadership and creative performance. We discuss the implications of these results for research and practice.     

Personal and Political: Post-Traumatic Stress Through the Lens of Social Identity,Power, and Politics

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has always been controversial and highly politicized. Here, using a social identity approach, we review evidence that trauma and its aftermath are fundamentally linked to social position, sociopolitical capital, and power. We begin this contribution by demonstrating how a person's group memberships (and the social identities they derive from these memberships) are inherently linked to the experience of adversity. We then go on to consider how it is through group memberships that individuals are defined by their trauma risk and trauma histories—that is, a person's group memberships and their trauma are often inherently linked. Considering the importance of group memberships for understanding trauma, we argue that it is important to see these, and group processes more generally, as more than just “demographic” risk factors. Instead, we argue that when groups are defined by their trauma history or risk, their members will often derive some sense of self from this trauma. For this reason, attributes of group memberships are important in developing an understanding of adjustment and adaptation to trauma. In particular, groups' status, their recourse to justice, and the level of trust and solidarity within the group are all central to the impact of traumatic events on individual-level psychological resilience. We review evidence that supports this analysis by focusing on the exacerbating effects of stigma and social mistrust on post-traumatic stress, and the value of solidarity and strong identities for resilience. We conclude that because of these group-related processes, trauma interweaves the personal with the political and that post-traumatic stress is fundamentally about power, positionality, and politics.