Acute stress disorder among civilians during a war and post-traumatic growth six years later: the impact of personal and social resources

Background and Objectives: Various studies suggest a link between stress response to a traumatic event and post-traumatic growth (PTG), but little is known about their long-term relationship. In this study, the relationship between acute stress disorder (ASD) among civilians during a war on the home front and PTG six years later was examined for the first time. Based on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, the role of personal and social resource loss and gain as moderating factors was investigated. Design and Methods: At Time 1 of the research (the Second Lebanon War in 2006), a structured questionnaire was administered to 370 civilians living within rocket range. At Time 2, 6 years later, 301 participants from Time 1 were again examined. The data analysis refers to the 301 respondents who participated at Time 2. Results: The findings indicate a significant relationship between ASD and PTG. Examination of the interaction revealed that resource gain (but not resource loss) moderates (strengthens) the relationship between the two. Conclusions: These findings are not consistent with the COR view that resource loss has a greater effect on stress responses than resource gain.     

Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma-Related Distress: Maternal Betrayal Trauma,Parenting Attitudes,and Behaviors

The purpose of this study was to elucidate mechanisms involved in the intergenerational transmission of trauma-related distress. This study investigated whether betrayal trauma (BT; abuse by a person close to the victim) and specific parenting attitudes and behaviors among mothers with child abuse histories predicted internalizing and externalizing symptoms in their children. Mothers and children (ages 7–11) were recruited for a project on parenting and stress (N = 72). Maternal betrayal trauma predicted both internalizing (β = 0.33, p < .01) and externalizing symptoms (β = 0.25, p < .05) even when controlling for mothers’ trauma-related symptoms. Negative attitudes toward limit setting predicted externalizing symptoms (β = ?0.33, p < .05). Poorer communication (β = ?0.39, p < .05) but higher parenting satisfaction (β = 0.38, p < .01) predicted internalizing symptoms. These findings demonstrate the importance of assessing maternal trauma and parenting characteristics as part of interventions with symptomatic children.     

Self-Compassion and Predictors of Criminality

The main focus of this article is to conduct an exploratory investigation of self-compassion, a positive indicator of mental health, as a predictor of violence and criminality within a sample of prisoners. Correlation and regression analyses were used to explore the relationship that self-compassion has with self-control, self-esteem, and social connectedness. Associations between self-compassion and the subscales of self-control were also examined. Results from both correlational analysis and regression indicate that self-compassion is correlated with all 3 variables. Correlations revealed that self-compassion was related to all 6 subscales of self-control. Regression, however, revealed that impulsivity was the only predictor of self-compassion. Further analysis revealed problems with multicollinearity. Implications and limitations of these results are discussed.     

Dispositional resistance to change and emotional exhaustion: moderating effects at the work-unit level

Organizational change, although essential for business success, may negatively impact employees’ well-being. Based on person–environment fit theory, the authors investigate employees’ dispositional resistance to change as it impacts emotional exhaustion. Furthermore, the authors examine boundary conditions that may affect dispositional resistance to change and its influence on emotional exhaustion. They take a trait activation approach and test the moderating roles of two work-unit-level internal contextual factors: perceived organizational support and informational team climate. Using a longitudinal research design of 709 participants in 30 work units, multilevel analyses reveal that dispositional resistance to change (time 1) is positively related to emotional exhaustion (time 2). Moreover, a lack of perceived organizational support and a high informational team climate strengthen these effects. The authors conclude that organizations should offer coaching and training programmes to cope with organizational change for employees who are highly change resistant. Furthermore, personal and organizational development strategies should consider the insights gained from the study regarding internal contextual factors that moderate change management processes.     

From My Place: Teaching the Holocaust and Judaism at the University of Mississippi Fifty‐Three Years after James Meredith

This essay explores classroom dynamics when students identify and connect their own painful experiences to structural racism or ethnocentrism exhibited in the Holocaust or parts of Jewish history. The intrusion of this proximal knowledge can be an obstacle to student learning. If engaged by professors, however, I argue that proximal knowledge can be a catalyst that promotes learning. Social scientific theory provides a useful lens for helping students to better grasp and contextualize both their old experiences and the new materials that are being taught in the course within the larger structural frames of race, religion, and ethnicity that they have selected, but may not fully appreciate. Reflective guided journaling is an essential part of the learning experience.     

The impact of surface acting on coworker-directed voluntary workplace behaviours

The effects of emotional labour, that is, managing one’s emotions for work, not only predict a range of intrapersonal and organizational outcomes but can also spillover to affect non-work relationships. Despite this, relatively little is known about whether the performance of surface acting affects behaviours towards more proximal organizational members, how this occurs, and the role of supportive relationships in influencing this relationship. In this article, we examine the relationships between surface acting, state positive and negative affect, and co-worker support on co-worker-directed interpersonal behaviours in the workplace. Survey data collected at multiple time points suggest a moderated mediation model, in which surface acting interacts with co-worker support to influence employees’ voluntary behaviours through state affect. Specifically, our findings suggest that surface acting increases subsequent engagement in deviance behaviours by increasing the experience of negative affective states, especially when co-worker support is low. Surface acting also decreases the subsequent engagement of organizational citizenship behaviour through decreasing the experience of positive affective states. We conclude with a discussion of how surface acting can consequently lead to negative spirals in the organization and the implications of this for practice.     

Do stigma and its psychosocial impact differ between Asian-born Chinese immigrants and Western-born Caucasians with head and neck cancer?

Stigma appears to influence emotional distress and well-being in cancer survivors, but cross-cultural differences have been ignored. Previous studies suggest that stigma may be especially relevant for survivors of Asian origin. However, their study designs (e.g. focused on female cancers, qualitative designs, and an absence of comparison groups) limit the strength of this conclusion. We hypothesized that (1) Asian-born Chinese immigrants (AI) would report more perceived cancer-related stigma than Western-born Caucasians (WBC); and (2) the impact of stigma on emotional distress and well-being would be greater in AI as compared to WBC. Head and neck cancer survivors (n = 118 AI and n = 404 WBC) completed measures of well-being, emotional distress, and a three-item indicator of stigma in structured interviews. The majority of respondents (59%) reported one or more indicators of stigma. Stigma correlated significantly with emotional distress (r = .13, p = .004) and well-being (r = ?.09, p = .032). Contrary to our hypotheses, WBCs and AIs did not differ in reported stigma nor did we detect differences in its psychosocial impact. Stigma exerts a deleterious psychosocial impact on head and neck cancer survivors. It did not differ significantly between AI and WBC survivors.     

Cross-sex versus same-sex experience and relationship satisfaction: addressing diverse social networks among Orthodox Jews

Romantic experiences in adolescence often predict relationship stability and marital status in adulthood. Religious practice and belief also have been linked to increased marital satisfaction and overall wellbeing. However, certain religions limit cross-sex interaction in areas of education, social and romantic relationships. Although gender segregation has been studied in educational and occupational contexts, no previous research has addressed religious gender segregation and its impact on relationship development, marital satisfaction, and overall wellbeing. The present study addressed the generalisability of data on cross-sex experience derived from normative populations to a religious subculture, outlining predictors for marital satisfaction and wellbeing in an Orthodox Jewish sample. Results showed some similarities between the general population and the Orthodox Jews represented by the study sample. However, some factors illustrated divergent paths and outcomes for this sample. This study demonstrates the influence of societal norms and the importance of addressing cultural context when evaluating marital satisfaction.     

Transforming school ensemble instruction through spiritually informed teaching practices

The transformative experiences that could be central to learning are curiously absent from American school music education. Students are motivated through competition and the goal of most programmes is flawless large ensemble performance. This paper describes a music programme in which the daily instructional practices have been modified and influenced by an outreach programme in which the students taught socially and economically challenged children of similar age. This programme was developed by a teacher with a deep sense of faith. His spiritually informed teaching practices emphasise the same principles of social justice espoused by secular educational philosophers. Parallels between spiritual and educational philosophies and a discussion of the transformations experienced by students conclude the paper.