Caregiving for children through conflict and displacement: a pilot study testing the feasibility of delivering and evaluating a light touch parenting intervention for caregivers in the West Bank

A child's adjustment to wartime stress is reliant not only on individual responses and qualities, but very significantly on the availability of support that they may receive from their parent or caregivers and quality of relationships. Strengthening parental support has the potential to be valuable. A pilot two-arm randomised controlled trial investigated the feasibility of delivering and evaluating the “Caring for Children Through Conflict and Displacement” intervention with caregivers in the West Bank. Feasibility to recruit and train non-specialist staff on-the-ground to screen families for eligibility, collect outcome data, deliver the intervention and to recruit and retain families in the study were examined. Research staff and intervention facilitators were successfully appointed in the field, screened participants and delivered the intervention to 120 caregivers, collecting outcome measures pre-and post-delivery. All families completed the outcome measures, with very little missing data. This indicated that the intervention can be delivered feasibly and evaluated with families in this humanitarian context. Preliminary outcome data showed promise that the intervention may have the potential to both improve family functioning and reduce children's problem behaviour. Implications of family-focused initiatives, particularly within a conflict/post-conflict context for the prevention of several negative health and social outcomes directions, are discussed.     

Knowledge and Perceptions of Honorary Authorship among Health Care Researchers: Online Cross-sectional Survey Data from the Middle East

Science and Engineering Ethics - Engineering ethics calls the attention of engineers to professional codes of ethical responsibility and personal values, but the practice of ethics in corporate...     

“To Err is Human”: An Examination of the Effectiveness of Error Management Training

This research explores how the effectiveness of word-processing training is impacted by a trainee's goal (learning vs. performance) and whether the training program is designed to encourage or discourage errors (error management vs. error avoidant). Ninety-four trainees were randomly assigned to one of four word processing training programs. Results indicated several beneficial effects of both error management training and learning goals including enhanced performance, increased intrinsic motivation, and decreased frustration. Results are discussed in terms of how error management principles might be implemented as well as which worker groups might be most responsive to this type of training.     

Values and Justice as Predictors of Perceived Stress in Lebanese Organisational Settings

Research investigating predictors of stress perceptions in organisational settings has been extensive. Value incongruence between employees and the organisation as well as organisational justice (distributive, procedural, informational, and interpersonal) are thought to be significant predictors of organisational outcomes. The current study investigated value incongruence and organisational justice as predictors of perceived stress in a sample of 362 organisational employees in Beirut, Lebanon. Results indicated that incongruence on value types of benevolence, power, and self‐direction are weakly predictive of perceived stress, while perceptions of interpersonal and distributive injustice are strongly predictive of perceived stress in the Lebanese organisational context. Implications of these differential findings for organisational and cross‐cultural research are discussed. Nombreuses ont été les recherches sur les prédicteurs du vécu du stress dans les organisations. La contradiction des valeurs des salariés et de l'organisation ainsi que la justice organisationnelle (distributive, procédurale, informationnelle et interpersonnelle) sont considérées comme étant des prédicteurs efficaces des réalités organisationnelles. Ce travail porte sur l'incohérence des valeurs et la justice organisationnelle en tant que prédicteurs du stress ressenti dans un échantillon de 362 salariés de Beyrouth (Liban). Les résultats montrent que des contradictions sur des valeurs comme la bienveillance, le pouvoir et l'autonomie sont peu prédictives du stress perçu, tandis que la perception des injustices interpersonnelle et distributive est fortement prédictive du stress ressenti dans le contexte organisationnel libanais. On discute des retombées de ces résultats différentiels sur les travaux organisationnels et transculturels.     

Coping strategies and psychological distress in cancer patients before autologous bone marrow transplant

The increased use of bone marrow transplantation (BMT) to treat a variety of cancers has led researchers to study psychological functioning of BMT patients. The majority of studies conducted, however, has focused on adjustment after transplantation. Cancer patients' use of coping strategies before undergoing this procedure may also relate to levels of psychological distress. Our aims were (1) to provide normative coping data, controlling for situation-specific variables with a homogeneous sample, targeted stressor, and fixed time point, using the Ways of Coping Questionnaire; and (2) to identify coping strategies associated with distress before high-dose chemotherapy. Subjects were 49 patients scheduled to receive high-dose chemotherapy and an autologous bone marrow transplant. Consistent with previous coping research, we found that escape-avoidance was related to psychological distress on several measures. Item endorsement analyses of the escape-avoidance subscale suggest that patients may have used more passive than active avoidance strategies. Subsequent participation in a longitudinal study was not affected by initial levels of avoidant coping.     

A Tailored Approach to Family-Centered Genetic Counseling for Cystic Fibrosis Newborn Screening: The Wisconsin Model

This article describes the development of a tailored family-centered approach to genetic counseling following abnormal newborn screening (NBS) for cystic fibrosis (CF). A genetic counseling consortium reviewed research literature, selected theoretical frameworks, and incorporated counseling psychology micro skills. This innovative intervention integrated theories and empirically validated techniques. Pilot testing and parent feedback confirmed satisfaction with and feasibility of the approach designed to (a) minimize parents’ distress, (b) facilitate parents’ understanding, (c) increase parents’ capacities to use genetic information, and (d) enhance parents’ experiences with genetic counseling. Counselors engage in a highly interactive process of evaluating parents’ needs and tailoring assessments and interventions that include a therapeutic environment, the family’s emotional needs, parents’ informational needs, and a follow-up plan. This promising new model is the first to establish a theory-driven, evidence-based standard for genetic counseling in the context of NBS for CF. Additional research will evaluate the model’s efficacy in clinical practice.