Transition to university and vigorous physical activity: implications for health and psychological well-being

The authors investigated vigorous physical activity and psychological well-being during transition from high school to first-year university in a sample of 145 Canadian undergraduates. Participants completed retrospective measures assessing vigorous physical activity during their first 2 months at university and their last 2 months at high school as well as measures assessing psychological well-being. According to nationally recommended (US Department of Health and Human Services) standards, two thirds (66.2%) of students reported adequate levels of vigorous activity in high school, whereas significantly fewer (44.1%) met the standard during their first 8 weeks at university. One third of students were active in high school but became insufficiently active once at university; 33% were active at both times; 23% consistently fell short of recommended levels; and only 11% became active once at university. Students who had become insufficiently active reported higher levels of fatigue and lower levels of vigor compared with those who continued to be active.     

Stolpersteine weiblicher Karrieren Was Frauen hindert,erfolgreich zu sein

Stumbling blocks of female careersBased on numerous coaching situations with female executives and, above all, with women who were just about to become an executive (or maybe rather not?), the author discusses some systematic thoughts which seem to be crucial in inhibiting female careers. They emerge in coaching situations again and again and a solution has to be provided. The psychoanalytic background of the author is a most helpful instrument in the diagnosis of “typical stumbling blocks”, which is of course in a coaching situation used in a different way than in a analytical setting.     

Proxemic and haptic behavior in three European countries

The influence of culture, gender, and age on proxemic and haptic behavior was investigated in this observational field study. Video recordings of 253 naturally-occurring dyadic interactions in the Netherlands, France, and England were analyzed by trained coders. Contrary to expectations, Hall's hypothesis regarding the proxemic and haptic norms of contact and noncontact cultures was not well supported. Among seated interactants, Dutch dyads maintained greater distances than French and English dyads, but French dyads were less proximate than were English dyads. The body orientation of French dyads was more direct than it was for Dutch or English dyads. In addition, with the exception of limited data on touch, neither the gender-composition of the dyad nor the gender of the individual affected the distances or body orientations of the interactants as would be expected according to traditional sex-role socialization processes. Age, as well, did not influence proxemic or haptic behavior. Results are discussed, primarily with respect to the research methods used in this and in previous investigations.     

Determinants of mental health treatment seeking among soldiers who recognize their problem: implications for high-risk occupations

Although research has documented an increased risk of mental health problems among employees in high-stress occupations, little attention has been devoted to the process by which employees seek treatment for these problems. Using components of the Stages of Change Model (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1982), this study examined the correlates of considering and receiving treatment for such problems among active-duty military personnel in the U.S. Army. A multidimensional assessment of determinants of treatment seeking was administered to 1725 military personnel, along with measures of mental health symptoms and treatment seeking. These determinants were examined as predictors of considering and receiving treatment among a sub-sample of 466 personnel who recognized having a current mental health problem. Multinomial logistic regressions indicated that attitudes towards treatment and a preference for self-reliance distinguished those considering treatment from those who had not sought treatment. A larger number of factors distinguished soldiers considering treatment from those who had actually received treatment, with operational barriers and self-reliance being the strongest and unique correlates. The discussion focuses on the importance of what organizations can do to facilitate treatment seeking among employees in high-risk environments.     

Supply chain strategies for speciality foods: a Norwegian case study

Despite strong market interest in speciality foods, producers find market access and distribution challenging. This exploratory research includes a literature review and five case studies of supply chains relating to shellfish, cheese, meat, potato and miscellaneous speciality foods in the mid-Norway region. The study identifies key supply chain configuration parameters from the extant literature, and these are used to analyse the cases. The study makes three main contributions to the literature: an analytical framework for analysing the supply chain characteristics of speciality foods; important supply chain factors for accessing the conventional food supply chain; and five propositions for improving market access. We argue that the speciality foods supply chain should be configured according to these propositions to ensure responsiveness to customer needs and to strengthen market access.     

Kicking someone in cyberspace when they are down: Testing the role of stressor evoked emotions on exposure to workplace cyberbullying

ABSTRACT

New technologies at work broaden the scope of bullying behaviours to the online context, creating opportunities for a new form of bullying to arise – workplace cyberbullying. So far, knowledge on the factors contributing to workplace cyberbullying has been lacking. Within this emerging research line, the Emotion Reaction model, specifically focused on workplace cyberbullying, was put forward. In this study, we test the model’s main proposition regarding exposure to workplace cyberbullying; namely, that stressors evoked emotions predict exposure to cyberbullying and that this relation is moderated by emotion regulation strategies. The model was tested in two steps. First, the model as a whole was tested cross-sectionally. Next, the direction of causality between fear and sadness and exposure to cyberbullying was tested using a cross-lagged panel design. The results provide support for the central role of fear and sadness in the relationship between work stressors and cyberbullying exposure and the moderating role of reappraisal. No moderating effect of suppression was observed. In addition, support is found for the causal claim that fear and sadness predict cyberbullying exposure. The results and their implications are discussed.     

Sales and operations planning: responding to the needs of industrial food producers

This paper investigates sales and operations planning (S&OP) at four Scandinavian industrial food producers in order to explore how the use of S&OP might help leaders to deal with the challenges set by the planning environment. Variables connected to the product and market, e.g. frequency of new product development, customer service levels and supply uncertainty, were identified as particularly critical for the S&OP process. It was found that there is great potential for S&OP in the food industry, foremost to cope with the imbalances between demand and supply and to create prerequisites for a stable production process.     

Probabilistic,Multivariable Flood Loss Modeling on the Mesoscale with BT‐FLEMO

Flood loss modeling is an important component for risk analyses and decision support in flood risk management. Commonly, flood loss models describe complex damaging processes by simple, deterministic approaches like depth‐damage functions and are associated with large uncertainty. To improve flood loss estimation and to provide quantitative information about the uncertainty associated with loss modeling, a probabilistic, multivariable B agging decision T ree F lood L oss E stimation MO del (BT‐FLEMO) for residential buildings was developed. The application of BT‐FLEMO provides a probability distribution of estimated losses to residential buildings per municipality. BT‐FLEMO was applied and validated at the mesoscale in 19 municipalities that were affected during the 2002 flood by the River Mulde in Saxony, Germany. Validation was undertaken on the one hand via a comparison with six deterministic loss models, including both depth‐damage functions and multivariable models. On the other hand, the results were compared with official loss data. BT‐FLEMO outperforms deterministic, univariable, and multivariable models with regard to model accuracy, although the prediction uncertainty remains high. An important advantage of BT‐FLEMO is the quantification of prediction uncertainty. The probability distribution of loss estimates by BT‐FLEMO well represents the variation range of loss estimates of the other models in the case study.     

A qualitative study of attitudes toward suicide and suicide prevention among psychology students in Ghana

The purpose of the present study was to investigate attitudes toward suicide and suicide prevention among psychology students in Ghana by means of a qualitative analysis of open-ended questions about causes of suicide and how suicide best can be prevented. The students mainly saw the causes as intra-personal and almost all of them believed that suicide can be prevented. The results indicated a huge impact of religion on the attitudes toward suicide as well as some lack of distinction between their religious and professional roles and responsibilities.     

Supervision in der Gesundheitsförderung

Supervision in mental-health A brief outline of supervision as such is followed by a specification of supervision in the pretherapeutic field of mental-health. Here, supervision has an identity promoting function as well as a didactic one for the leaders of workshops and seminars. Using short sequences of group supervision, the psychoanalytic method is demonstrated. In the course of the supervisory process mirror phenomena of the participants’ psychodynamics can be observed as well as the dynamic of the employing institution (open questions and conflicts) and their interference become visible. Supervision in mental-health is useful for securing the quality of the standards of the work, serves the mental hygiene of the leaders, and promotes the development of the organisation.