Contextual risks, child problem-solving profiles, and socioemotional functioning: Testing the specialization hypothesis

Guided by the evolutionary perspective and specialization hypothesis, this multi-method (behavioral observation, questionnaire) longitudinal study adopted a person-centered approach to explore children’s problem-solving skills within different contexts. Participants were 235 young children (M age = 2.97 years at the first measurement occasion) and their parents assessed in two measurement occasions spaced one year apart. Latent profile analyses revealed four unique problem-solving profiles, capturing variability in children’s performance, and observed engagement in abstract vs. reward-oriented (RO) problem-solving tasks at wave one. The four profiles included: (a) a high-abstract-high-RO, (b) a high-abstract-low-RO, (c) a low-abstract-high-RO, and (d) a low-abstract-low-RO classes. Contextual risks within and outside families during wave one, including greater neighborhood crime, impoverishment, and observed lower maternal sensitivity were linked to the elevated likelihood for children from the two profiles with low-abstract problem-solving, particularly those from the low-abstract-high-RO problem-solving profile. Furthermore, child problem-solving profiles were linked to meaningful differences in their socioemotional functioning one year later. The present finding has important implications in revealing the heterogeneity in child problem-solving within different contexts that responded differently to contextual risks. In addition, this study advanced the understanding of the developmental implications of child problem-solving capacity.

How is the distribution of psychological distress changing over time? Who is driving these changes? Analysis of the 1958 and 1970 British birth cohorts

Aims The main objective of this study was to investigate distributional shifts underlying observed age and cohort differences in mean levels of psychological distress in the 1958 and 1970 British birth cohorts. Methods This study used data from the 1958 and 1970 British birth cohorts (n = 24,707). Psychological distress was measured by the Malaise Inventory at ages 23, 33, 42 and 50 in the 1958 cohort and 26, 34, 42 and 46–48 in the 1970 cohort. Results The shifts in the distribution across age appear to be mainly due to changing proportion of those with moderate symptoms, except for midlife (age 42–50) when we observed polarisation in distress— an increase in proportions of people with no symptoms and multiple symptoms. The elevated levels of distress in the 1970 cohort, compared with the 1958 cohort, appeared to be due to an increase in the proportion of individuals with both moderate and high symptoms. For instance, at age 33/34 42.3% endorsed at least two symptoms in the 1970 cohort vs 24.7% in 1958, resulting in a shift in the entire distribution of distress towards the more severe end of the spectrum. Conclusions Our study demonstrates the importance of studying not only mean levels of distress over time, but also the underlying shifts in its distribution. Due to the large dispersion of distress scores at any given measurement occasion, understanding the underlying distribution provides a more complete picture of population trends.

Perceived Ageism During the Covid-19-Crisis Is Longitudinally Related to Subjective Perceptions of Aging

Ageism in media and society has increased sharply during the Covid-19-crisis, with expected negative consequences for the health and well-being of older adults. The current study investigates whether perceived ageism during the crisis longitudinally affects how people perceive their own aging. In June 2020, N = 611 older adults from Luxembourg [aged 60–98 years, Mage(SD) = 69.92(6.97)] participated in a survey on their perception of the crisis. In October 2020, N = 523 participated in a second measurement occasion. Participants reported on perceived ageism during the crisis in different domains, their self-perceptions of aging and subjective age. In latent longitudinal regression models, we predicted views on aging at T2 with perceived ageism at T1, while controlling for baseline views on aging and covariates. Perceived ageism at T1 increased self-perceptions of aging as social loss and yielded a trend for physical decline, while there were no effects on subjective age and self-perceptions of aging as continued growth. Views on aging are powerful predictors of well-being and health outcomes in later life. Our data suggest that being the target of ageism during the crisis negatively affects older adults' self-perceptions of aging and this impact may be felt beyond the current crisis.

How is the distribution of psychological distress changing over time? Who is driving these changes? Analysis of the 1958 and 1970 British birth cohorts.

Aims Despite the large variance in distress, most research investigating lifecourse development and cross-cohort trends have focused on its mean levels at the population level. The main objective of this study is to investigate distributional shifts underlying observed age and cohort differences in mean levels of psychological distress in the 1958 and 1970 British birth cohorts. Further, we examine whether observed distributional shifts are driven by specific socio-demographic subgroups, according to gender, parental social class at birth, and highest achieved qualification by age 30/33. Finally, we compare cohort and age differences in the distribution of individual symptoms of psychological distress. Methods This study used data from the 1958 National Child Development Study and 1970 British birth cohort. Our analytical sample (n=24,707) included those who had at least one measure of distress, were still alive and were not permanent emigrants from Britain by age 50 in the 1958 birth cohort (n=13,250) and by age 46-48 in the 1970 birth cohort (n=11,457). Psychological distress was measured by the Malaise Inventory at ages 23, 33, 42 and 50 in the 1958 cohort and 26, 34, 42 and 46-48 in the 1970 cohort. Results The shifts in the distribution across age appear to be mainly due to changing proportion of those with moderate symptoms, except for midlife (age 42-50) when we observed polarisation in distress, with increased proportions of people with no or multiple symptoms. The elevated levels of distress in the 1970 cohort, compared with the 1958 cohort, appeared to be due to an increase in the proportion of individuals with both moderate and high symptoms. For instance, at age 33/34 34.2% experienced no symptoms in 1970 compared with 54.0% in the 1958 cohort, whereas 42.3% endorsed at least two symptoms in the 1970 cohort vs 24.7% in 1958. These observed shifts were driven to some extent by a larger proportion of men and individuals with high qualification in the moderate and high distress groups in the more recent cohort. Fatigue, nervousness, and tension were particularly prevalent in this life phase and all examined symptoms were more prevalent in the younger cohort. Conclusions Our study demonstrates the importance of studying not only mean levels of distress over time, but also the underlying shifts in its distribution. Due to the large dispersion of distress scores at any given measurement occasion, understanding the underlying distribution provides a more complete picture of population trends.

How to Investigate the Effects of Groups on Changes in Longitudinal Patient-Reported Outcomes and Response Shift Using Rasch Models

In order to investigate patients’ experience of healthcare, repeated assessments of patient-reported outcomes (PRO) are increasingly performed in observational studies and clinical trials. Changes in PRO can however be difficult to interpret in longitudinal settings as patients’ perception of the concept being measured may change over time, leading to response shift (longitudinal measurement non-invariance) and possibly to erroneous interpretation of the observed changes in PRO. Several statistical methods for response shift analysis have been proposed, but they usually assume that response shift occurs in the same way in all individuals within the sample regardless of their characteristics. Many studies aim at comparing the longitudinal change of PRO into two groups of patients (treatment arm, different pathologies, …). The group variable could have an effect on PRO change but also on response shift effect and the perception of the questionnaire at baseline. In this paper, we propose to enhance the ROSALI algorithm based on Rasch Measurement Theory for the analysis of longitudinal PRO data to simultaneously investigate the effects of group on item functioning at the first measurement occasion, on response shift and on changes in PRO over time. ROSALI is subsequently applied to a longitudinal dataset on change in emotional functioning in patients with breast cancer or melanoma during the year following diagnosis. The use of ROSALI provides new insights in the analysis of longitudinal PRO data.

Variance estimation for mean growth from successive double sampling for stratification

Double sampling for stratification (2SS) is a sampling design that is widely used for forest inventories. We present the mathematical derivation of two appropriate variance estimators for mean growth from repeated 2SS with updated stratification on each measurement occasion. Both estimators account for substratification based on the transition of sampling units among the strata due to the updated allocation. For the first estimator, sizes of the substrata were estimated from the second-phase sample (sample plots), whereas the respective sizes in the second variance estimator relied on the larger first-phase sample. The estimators were empirically compared with a modified version of Cochran’s well-known 2SS variance estimator that ignores substratification. This was done by performing bootstrap resampling on data from two German forest districts. The major findings were as follows: (i) accounting for substratification, as implemented in both new estimators, has substantial impact in terms of significantly smaller variance estimates and bias compared with the estimator without substratification, and (ii) the second estimator with substrata sizes being estimated from the first-phase sample shows a smaller bias than the first estimator.

Stability and Change: The Dark Factor of Personality Shapes Dark Traits

The Dark Factor of Personality (D) is conceptualized as the basic disposition out of which “dark” traits arise as specific manifestations. We herein critically test this conceptualization across nine dark traits in a 4-year longitudinal study with N = 1,261 ( n = 470 at the second measurement occasion, employing full information maximum likelihood estimation) adults from the general population. Results strongly support the conceptualization of D. Specifically, D (1) showed high rank-order stability (higher than any of the dark traits), substantiating that it represents a basic disposition; (2) longitudinally predicted individual differences in all dark traits; and (3) accounted for personality changes in dark traits. Additionally, we investigated the pattern of mean-level change of D and the dark traits. In line with the maturity principle of personality development, D (and most dark traits) decreased with age.

Frequency and quality of first aid offered by older adolescents: a cluster randomised crossover trial of school-based first aid courses

Background Research indicates that school-based first aid programmes appear to improve students’ knowledge and skills. However, evidence for their effectiveness is limited by a lack of rigorously designed studies. This research used a cluster randomised crossover trial to assess the effects of two different types of first aid training on the frequency and appropriateness of older adolescents’ first aid behaviours towards their peers 12 months after training. Methods Schools eligible to participate were government funded and able to accommodate first aid training and survey time for two consecutive Year 10 student cohorts. Four Australian public schools were matched in two pairs and randomly assigned to receive either physical first aid (PFA) or teen mental health first aid (tMHFA) training for their Year 10 student cohort (mean age 16 years). In the second year, the new Year 10 cohort received the other intervention. Four cohorts were randomised to receive PFA and four were randomised to receive tMHFA. Online surveys were administered at baseline and 12 months after training, measuring whether students had encountered a peer needing PFA, whether they had provided PFA, what actions they performed and, if applicable, why they had been unable to help the person. Only research staff analysing the data could be blinded to measurement occasion, school identity and condition. Results Four cohorts received PFA and four received tMHFA. The results indicated that there were no differences between groups regarding the frequency of appropriate first aid actions performed 12 months after training. The most common types of PFA provided to a peer were sending for help and wound care. Students most commonly mentioned someone else attending to their peer or lacking skills or experience as reasons for not performing PFA actions. Conclusions More research that examines first aid behaviours using rigorous, longitudinal study designs is needed to establish the effectiveness of school-based first aid training for older adolescents.

Cycling Without Age: Assessing the Impact of a Cycling-Based Initiative on Mood and Wellbeing

Objective: Cycling Without Age is a global initiative in which trained volunteers take adults living in care homes or supported housing environments out on specially designed trishaws. Despite its global success, there is limited research on the effect the initiative has on the older adults taking part. The current study therefore assessed changes in mood and wellbeing to determine whether there were short-term benefits of participation. Methods: Forty-nine older adults (69% female; 67–100 years old ( M = 84.1, SD = 7.6)) living in care homes and supported housing environments were recruited; 35 participants completed all measures and comprise the analytical sample. Participants completed the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale and UWIST Mood Adjective Checklist immediately before a ride (baseline); they repeated the measures on completion of the ride (follow-up). Participants also completed baseline and follow-up measures on a day in which they did not go on a ride. Mixed ANOVA compared differences in baseline and follow-up mood and wellbeing scores on ride and no ride days. Results: For all mood and wellbeing measures, there were significant interactions between day (ride or no ride) and measurement occasion (baseline or follow-up). Analyses revealed significant improvement in mood and wellbeing at follow-up on ride days versus no ride days. Conclusion: Short-term positive changes in mood and wellbeing were reported as a result of participation in the Cycling Without Age initiative for older adults in care home and supported living environments. Further research is needed to explore the longevity of benefits and longer-term changes.

Social courage fosters both voice and silence in the workplace

Purpose One of the strongest and most important outcomes of trait social courage is employee voice, but researchers have only studied this relationship with unidimensional conceptualizations of voice. The purpose of this paper is to apply Van Dyne et al.’s (2003) three-dimensional conceptualization of voice, which also distinguishes three dimensions of silence, to provide a nuanced understanding of the relationship of social courage with voice and silence. The authors also test for the moderating effect of three contextual influences: top management attitudes toward voice and silence, supervisor attitudes toward voice and silence, as well as communication opportunities. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a four-timepoint survey with each measurement occasion separated by one week. A total of 134 participants completed all four timepoints. Findings The results support that social courage positively relates to prosocial voice and silence, whereas it negatively relates to defensive voice and silence as well as acquiescent voice and silence. In other words, social courage positively relates to beneficial voice and silence as well as negatively relates to detrimental voice and silence. The results also failed to support any moderating effects, suggesting that the relationships of social courage are very resilient to outside forces. Practical implications These findings both test prior results and discover new relationships of social courage, which can further stress the importance of courage. The authors also draw direct connections between the influence of social courage on the surrounding workplace environment – as well as the influences of the environment on social courage. While the current paper provides insights into social courage, it also directs future researchers toward new insights of their own. Originality/value Courage is an emergent research topic within organizations. While many authors have assumed that courage is important to work, the current paper is among the few to empirically support this notion.