Divorce and the Divine: The Role of Spirituality in Adjustment to Divorce

This study examined the role of three spiritual responses to divorce for psychological adjustment: appraising the event as a sacred loss/desecration, engaging in adaptive spiritual coping, and experiencing spiritual struggles. A sample of 100 adults (55% female) was recruited through public divorce records. Most appraised their divorce as a sacred loss/desecration (74%), experienced spiritual struggles (78%), and engaged in adaptive spiritual coping (88%). Appraisals of sacred loss/desecration and spiritual struggles were tied to higher levels of depression. Adaptive spiritual coping was tied to greater posttraumatic growth. Spiritual coping and struggles each contributed uniquely to adjustment beyond parallel forms of nonspiritual coping and struggles and mediated links between viewing the divorce as a sacred loss/desecration and depression.     

Laughing Your Way to Peace of Mind: How a Little Humor Helps Caregivers Survive

As the numbers of caregivers continue to increase, more attention is being focused on the unique stresses these individuals experience. Caring for a loved one tests the limits of even the most resilient, regardless of professional status or experience. Laughter is a universal elixir which allows people to cope more sanely with stress and caregiving responsibilities. Research on the emotional and physical benefits of laughter supports the use of humor by professionals and family members who occupy caregiving roles. This article addresses this research and examines common caregiver emotions while providing concrete guidelines for developing humor. Case examples demonstrate how laughter and wit are utilized by those caring for a loved one.     

Is there a relationship between burnout and objective performance? A critical review of 16 studies

Previous research has suggested that high levels of burnout lead to impaired functioning on the job. However, as this research has usually relied on self-reported performance, it is imperative to examine whether this association is also confirmed when using “objective” performance data (e.g., supervisor reports). This study reviewed previous research on the associations between burnout (exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment) and various types of objective performance. A systematic literature search identified 16 studies dealing with the burnout-performance relationship. These studies showed the wide variety of approaches that are used to study burnout and objective performance. Using data from these 16 studies, a meta-analysis was conducted to obtain mean correlations. The meta-analytical correlations between exhaustion and in-role behaviour (based on five studies), organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB; five studies), and customer satisfaction (two studies) were -.22, -.19, and -.55, respectively, underlining the practical relevance of burnout research for organizational performance. The evidence for the relationships between depersonalization, personal accomplishment, and performance was inconclusive. Future research should focus on valid indicators of job performance, should more often employ longitudinal designs and large samples, and should consider the theoretical basis for the study expectations more extensively.     

Physical exercise,employee fitness and the management of health at work

Abstract

This paper presents some recent data on why organizations invest in exercise and physical fitness programmes for their stiff. These data suggest that, owing to a lack of evaluation studies, organizations act mainly on the basis of assumption and belief. However, from a subsequent review of the available literature on the personal and organizational effects of such programmes, it appears that these assumptions and beliefs are not altogether unfounded. The paper concludes by discussing the ways in which exercise and employee fitness programmes might help die individual and their organization in terms of the management of health at work.     

Daily reports of distress: Not for women only

Abstract

A context-dependence paradigm was developed for research into effects of the menstrual cycle in women. This involved the investigation of situational effects on self-reported distress in both men and women. For 35 consecutive days, 25 women and 36 men working in two occupations that varied in degree of situational stress completed Body Awareness Questionnaires (modified menstrual distress questionnaires) and daily subjective stress ratings. After controlling for contraceptive use, age range, and percentage of body fat, the following variables were selected for a multiple regression analysis as predictors of distress: (a) job stress, (b) feminine values, (c) life stress, (d) subjective stress, (e) type of job, (f) sex, (g) job experience, and (h) history of menstrual distress. Women working in the high-stress job (military police) reported significantly more distress than all the other groups. Life stress was identified as the dominant predictor of distress. In a separate analysis of daily distress scores and menstrual cycle phases for all the women, there was no interaction between the type of job and the menstrual cycle phase on reports of distress. A similar analysis of the effects on sex and shift revealed shift effects in distress for men but not women. Sources of variability for both sexes (shift-work rotation and cycle phase) are discussed.     

直观判定法的改进

改进了文献～（［１］）所提出的确定主应力方法的结论，使之更完善，应用更方便。     

The contribution of the psychosocial work environment to sickness absence in human service workers: Results of a 3-year follow-up study

We investigated to what extent psychosocial work characteristics predict sickness absence in a cohort of 890 human service professionals (84% women), followed-up for 3 years. We measured 16 different psychosocial work characteristics at baseline and analysed their associations with number of sickness absence days at follow-up using multivariate Poisson regression. In addition, we computed a psychosocial work environment index, summarizing eight psychosocial scales. Participants with exposure to violence and threats, high emotional demands, high demands for hiding emotions, low influence at work, low meaning of work, low quality of management, and role conflicts had an increased number of sickness absence days at follow-up, after adjustment for numerous confounders. Adjusting for sickness absence history caused little change in most effect estimates. Scoring in the most adverse quartile of the psychosocial work environment index was associated with a 71% increase in sickness absence days. Improving the psychosocial work environment index and eliminating exposure to violence and threats would have prevented 32% of all sickness absence days in the study population. In particular we found that exposure to violence was a strong predictor of absence. This study shows that a wide range of psychosocial work characteristics contribute to sickness absence in human service workers. Improving the psychosocial work environment might help to reduce sickness absence in this population.     

A Cognitive Approach to Direct Practice with the Aging

The recent prominence of cognitive approaches in psychotherapy and more recently in social casework holds considerable promise for direct practice with olderpersons on both an individual and group basis. Several central concepts in cognitive theory are delineated and found to have particular advantages for the aging. First, they deal with conscious concerns and avoid the dangers of affective or regressive approaches in breaking down defenses. Second, they are heavily concerned with questions of meaning and self-concept, issues that are central to the last stage of life, as delineated by Erikson, and the task of achieving ego integrity over despair. Two case illustrations of the application of a cognitive approach in a group context are given.     

Adolescent Mothers and Depression: Predictors of Resilience and Risk Through the Toddler Years

ABSTRACT

This study investigated predictors of depression in 278 African-American, 206 European-American, and 122 Hispanic teen mothers approximately 36 months after the birth while controlling for depression 14 months after the birth. Predictor variables were age, ethnicity, mastery, knowledge of development, and parental distress. Younger teens were not more depressed than older teens. Although there were not significant differences by ethnicity in 14 month depression, significant differences were evident at 36 months. European-American mothers were the most depressed, whereas Hispanic mothers were the least depressed. Parental distress was positively associated with depression at 36 months while controlling for depression at 14 months. This study provides information for targeting teen mothers at the highest risk for depression through the toddler years, as well as spurs ideas for intervention stategies.     

基于Shapley值法的移动增值服务价值链利润分配模型

研究对象为任意节点连接和任意支撑的平面框架。一般梁单元由等截面直杆及其杆端的轴向弹簧、切向弹簧和转动弹簧组成，推导得到此类单元的刚度矩阵、单元在8种基本荷载作用下的等效节点荷载。采用Matlab语言编写了适用于一般节点非线性连接框架的静力分析程序，非线性形式为指数函数或多项式函数，可以得到结构不同连接刚度下的节点位移、杆端位移和杆端力。算例显示出节点柔度对结构受力和变形的影响。