Measures of life stress and social support specific to an Asian student population

We designed two new measures—the Index of Life Stress (ILS) and the Index of Social Support (ISS)—to assist in the prediction of cultural adjustment for an Asian international student population. In the present study, these two measures were administered to 101 Asian international students. Stability estimates over 1 month were high: .97 for the ILS and .81 for the ISS. Construct validity, assessed via factor analyses, and concurrent validity, assessed via regression analyses to criteria of depression, hopelessness, and suicide ideation were satisfactory. Incremental validity for these two measures relative to extant measures of life stress and social support were computed. Results from these analyses indicated that these two measures added incrementally to the prediction of adjustment beyond that offered by existing measures.     

Event-specific attributions and daily life events as predictors of depression symptom change

A prospective study was conducted to investigate whether event-specific attributions, either alone or in interaction with daily life events predict depression symptom change, and whether this is affected by systematic variation in intertest intervals. Baseline measures of attributional style, event-specific attributions, life events, and depression were administered to 96 adults enrolled in a cigarette-smoking cessation program who were readministered the event-specific attributions, life events, and depression measures 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks later. Results indicated that (a) the interaction between event-specific attributions and life events was a better predictor of depression symptom change than were event-specific attributions alone; (b) event-specific attributions and life events demonstrated a tendency to predict depression symptom change over 2 and 4 weeks but not over 6 and 8 weeks; (c) the stability and globality of event-specific attributions was associated with the number of reported life events; and (d) baseline attributional style predicted event-specific attributions 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks later.     

Dealing with time pressure

A sample of 250 people completed a questionnaire where they rated 30 statements describing their behavior and experiences during a recent time pressure situation. A factor analysis resulted in three factors: Personal Burden, Work Problems and Difficulties, and Challenge Orientation. People high on this last factor liked the excitement of being under pressure, were very absorbed in the task, and showed signs of being effective in dealing with the situation. Such individuals were having what has been identified as a flow experience often observed in sports and the arts. The results of this study suggest that effective coping with time pressure is related to taking a task-oriented attitude, avoiding self-preoccupation, and using time management skills to focus on successful achievement.     

Sports participation at work: An aid to stress management?

This study examined the effects of sport participation on mood, including stress, arousal, and psychological reversals. The subjects (N = 42) of the study were enrolled in an international MBA program which included, in addition to a range of academic courses, a course in physical education for which attendance was voluntary. Subjects, 26 sport participants and 16 nonparticipants, completed mood measures on five occasions throughout a typical working day, including just before and just after a sport session. Significant differences on some mood measure items and a number of pre- to post-sport significant effects (seriousmindedness and stress) were found between the sport and non-sport group, as well as reversals in psychological state. These results suggest that sport may well act as a modulator of mood and/or an inducing agent for reversal and therefore may play an important role in stress management intervention programs at work.     

Objective assessments of quality of life: How much do they agree with each other?

Information was collected on 14 objective measures of service quality in 15 staffed houses for people with learning disabilities. Measures or dimensions of the measures were grouped under six headings: (1) quality of housing; (2) social and community integration; (3) social interactions; (4) development; (5) activity; and (6) autonomy and choice. Rank order correlation coefficients were calculated to explore the extent to which different quality assessments within each category agreed. Overall, there was a reassuring level of agreement. Some of the lack of agreement found could be attributed to the fact that, even though addressing the same general area, measures were focused on subtly different facets of the phenomenon under study. Other disagreement seemed to stem from the interaction between the nature of the information and the process for obtaining it. Comparisons between measures which required staff to give an opinion about how the setting was organized, and those which either required staff to comment on resident activity or employed independent observation, tended to disagree. The study illustrates that the basis for translating a multidimensional definition of quality into measurable terms is developing. Further research to examine the interrelationship between measurement approaches is warranted.     

Managing stress and managing illness: Survival and quality of life in chronic disease

Interest has been steadily building in the impact of stress on psychological and physiological functioning, in particular on immune system responses, furthering the concept of a strong connection between the mind and the body. Implications for prevention of disease onset or treatment of stress-induced illness or immunocompromised conditions have been explored through the implementation of stress management techniques. Cognitive behavioral stress management interventions, biofeedback, relaxation, guided imagery, hypnosis, individual and group psychotherapy, aerobic exercise, and guided self-efficacy treatment are briefly reviewed to identify possible treatment mechanisms that may affect immune function and promote quality of life. The application of behavioral techniques to reduce distress and sharpen coping skills has great promise in reducing the costs associated with chronic disease and in enhancing quality of life among those afflicted.Presented at the APA Presidential Miniconvention, To Your Health: Psychology Through the Life Span, Session VIII, Assuring a Healthy Lifestyle: Psychology Delivers. Chair: Diane J. Willis, Ph.D. The third author received partial funding through the Terry Fox Research Fellowship 5257, National Cancer Institute of Canada.     

小规模群体开放式与封闭式讨论任务的工作特性比较

１４个小组的大学生共６８人参加两种不同的群体工作,其中７组进行开放式问题的讨论,７组进行封闭式问题的讨论。从工作进程、工作模式和工作特点等方面记录群体工作行为：工作进程各阶段所用时间,发言的针对性,发言的连续性,说明问题的方式和深度,群体的意见分歧与支持行为和表达方式。结果表明：封闭式问题需要更多的时间澄清问题并且更多引用例子来阐述观点;讨论开放式问题多采用归纳推理而封闭式问题多采用演绎推理;无论在哪种问题的讨论中,针对个体的发言都显著多于针对整体的发言,而且人们更多地以非言语的方式而不是口头方式表示赞成。本文对以上结果在电视、电话和计算机辅助会议系统设计中的应用作了进一步讨论     

Jeopardy Not Bonus Status for African American Women in the Work Force: Why Does the Myth of Advantage Persist?

African American women in the United States have a long history of employment outside of their homes. Their experiences are unique from other groups of majority and minority men and women due to the interaction of race, gender, and class. Despite long-standing and continuing struggles against discrimination, harassment, low pay, tokenism, and stereotypes, a myth that African American women enjoy a bonus or advantaged status in the work force has developed and persisted. In this article, Black women's work force experiences are examined from a social constructionist framework, misperceptions of Black women are critiqued, explanations are developed that explain the unique status of African American women and recommendations are proposed to eradicate the discrimination and marginal status that Black women have endured in the work force.     

Against the Indifference Hypothesis: The Holocaust and the Enthusiasts for Murder

This essay takes issue with what is known as the "indifference" hypothesis regarding the murder of Jews during the Holocaust. The Germans' fear of typhus, their perception of the Jew as poisonous, biological matter, "life unworthy of life," created a group state of mind in which many individual Germans, particularly those in the professions, enthusiastically participated in the logistics, machinery, ideology and legitimation of mass murder.