Comparison of fear, anxiety and self-efficacy of childbirth among primiparous and multiparous women

Background The aim of this study was to compare fear of childbirth, state and trait anxiety, and childbirth self-efficacy among primiparous and multiparous women in Ahvaz, southwest of Iran. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted with 200 pregnant women (100 primiparous and 100 multiparous women) who had been admitted to the maternity ward of hospitals affiliated to Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran. The instruments used for data collection in this study included a demographic questionnaire, Delivery Fear Scale (DFS), Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and Childbirth Self-Efficacy Inventory (CBSEI). The data were analyzed by chi-square test and independent t-test. Also, the univariate general linear model was used by adjusting for the socio-demographic and obstetric characteristics that were considered as possible confounding variables. Results The mean score of DFS in primiparous women was significantly higher than that of multiparous women. The mean of the overall score of childbirth self-efficacy of primiparous women was significantly lower than that of multiparous women. The mean score of the outcome expectancies and self-efficacy expectancies was significantly lower in primiparous women compared with multiparous women. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of the mean score of STAI. After adjusting for possible confounding variables, the differences between the two groups in terms of fear of childbirth scores, overall childbirth self-efficacy score and self-efficacy expectancies remained significant. Conclusion Given the high fear of childbirth and low childbirth self-efficacy in primiparous women compared to the multiparous women, appropriate interventions should be adopted by health care providers in order to reduce fear and improve childbirth self-efficacy in primiparous women.

Preadolescent EFL learners’ self-efficacy expectancies before and after completion of a grammar task: Multivariate analyses of grade level, gender, and performance effects

Learners’ task-specific self-efficacy expectancies have gained increased attention in the EFL context. Across various competence areas they have been demonstrated to substantially affect learners’ motivation, learning approach, and performance. However, certain research gaps still exist – particularly concerning younger learners’ grammar self-efficacy. Furthermore, though conceptually assumed to play an essential role in learners’ self-efficacy formation and calibration accuracy, little is empirically known about task completion effects. The same applies to the role of grade level and gender differences in lower secondary EFL classrooms. Against this background, the present study addressed the effects on preadolescent learners’ self-efficacy expectancies before and after completion of a grammar task. In a sample of 212 preadolescent learners at secondary grade 5 and 6 their self-efficacy expectancies were analyzed before and after task completion. ANOVA results and post hoc analyses indicated task completion effects to exist in a most differentiated manner – and to substantially depend on an interaction between learners’ grade level, gender, and task performance. Fifth-graders’ but not sixth-graders’ self-efficacy expectancies were more accurate after task completion. Most remarkably, it was the male fifth-graders in the high performing group who initially overestimated their grammar performance and perceived their capabilities more realistically after task completion. Thus, it is a matter of careful differentiation for teachers to support effective self-efficacy cognitions of EFL learners during secondary grades. In research, repeated measurement of individual self-efficacy estimates before and after task completion can help to reveal more about the ongoing process of self-concept development.

Manipulating efficacy expectancies in an ambulatory smartphone-based digital placebo mental health intervention: a randomized controlled trial (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Smartphone-based mental health interventions provide new ways to treat mental disorders. There is certain evidence on the efficacy of such interventions. Placebo effects represent a substantial element of the mechanisms of action of face-to-face mental health interventions. OBJECTIVE We manipulated efficacy expectancies and investigated whether time trajectories of efficacy expectancies differed between conditions across a smartphone-based digital placebo mental health intervention. METHODS We conducted a randomized, controlled, single-blinded superiority trial with a multi-arm parallel design. Participants underwent a smartphone-based digital placebo mental health intervention for 20 consecutive days. We induced prospective efficacy expectancies by manipulating initial instructions on the purpose of the intervention and retrospective efficacy expectancies by manipulating feedback on the success of the intervention at days 1, 4, 7, 10, and 13. 132 healthy participants were randomized to four conditions: prospective expectancy only (n=33), retrospective expectancy only (n=33), combined expectancy (n=34), or control (n=32). Changes in efficacy expectancies were assessed with the Credibility Expectancy Questionnaire, at the introductory session and on intervention days 1, 7, 14, and 20. We performed our analyses for the intention-to-treat sample using a random effects model, with intervention day as time variable and condition as two factors: prospective expectancy (yes vs. no), and retrospective expectancy (yes vs.no), allowed to vary over participant and intervention day. RESULTS Credibility (b = -1.63, 95%confidence interval (CI) [-2.37, -0.89], P < 0.001) and expectancy (b = -0.77, 95%CI [-1.49, -0.05], P = 0.04) decreased across intervention days. For credibility and expectancy, we found significant three-way interactions intervention day*prospective expectancy*retrospective expectancy (b = 2.05, 95%CI [0.60, 3.50], P < 0.01 resp. b = 1.55, 95%CI [0.14, 2.95] P = 0.03). Efficacy expectancies decreased least in the combined expectancy and in the control condition, most in the prospective expectancy only and the retrospective expectancy only condition. CONCLUSIONS This is the first study investigating the induction of efficacy expectancies across a placebo smartphone-based mental health intervention. Efficacy expectancies decreased throughout intervention days and differed between conditions. Our findings may pave the way for diminishing and exploiting digital placebo effects and help to improve treatment efficacy of digital mental health interventions. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02365220. Registered February 18, 2015.

Teacher's Attitudes as Knowledge Predictors

Attitudes and behaviours towards the natural environment have been extensively studied in certain cultural settings during the last 40 years. In education, the teacher's ability to grasp the fundamentals of an academic subject may define his or her own attitudes towards that discipline; certainly the reverse is also valid. The correlations between affective and cognitive domains appear to play a significant role in teaching-learning dynamics. In this study we seek to assess whether the affective posture towards school sciences of a cohort of teachers in rural communities shows an association with their cognitive competence in the disciplines. The results of this study provide evidence that there is a statistically significant correlation between the cognitive and affective domains for in-service teachers. The affective domain, therefore, could serve as a predictor for cognitive competency and self-efficacy expectancies with respect to both content and career fulfilment.

On the relation of self-efficacy and coping with the experience of childbirth

Objective: To analyze the relationship between self-efficacy expectancies, the use of coping behavior strategies during labor and satisfaction after childbirth.Methods: A quantitative observational design was applied as part of a correlational study conducted in the maternity unit of a Hospital Complex that welcomes nearly 4,000 births each year at Vigo, Spain, between 2014 and 2015. A total of 276 low-risk pregnant women were recruited to undertake a self-assessment of their childbirth experience at two stages: within the last three months of pregnancy and within two weeks after labor. Data were collected through the Childbirth Self-Efficacy Inventory to measure self-efficacy expectancies as well as coping, along with a 6 items, 10-point Likert scale to measure satisfaction after childbirth.Results and conclusions: Pearson product-moment correlation supported the positive association of self-efficacy expectancies scores with coping during labor. Multivariate regression analysis also revealed gains in satisfaction after childbirth associated with coping during labor. Women with larger scores in self-efficacy were found to use coping strategies during labor, had a more positive evaluation of the childbirth experience and showed significant gains in satisfaction after childbirth. The study supports the efforts of healthcare professionals to increase satisfaction with the childbirth experience by helping to enhance self-efficacy and coping in pregnant women.

Getting Specific About Psychological Inertia

A three-wave mediational analysis with two parallel mediators was performed on prospective data provided by all 1,354 (1,170 boys, 184 girls) members of the Pathways to Desistance study. In the analysis, baseline variety of offending scores (Wave 0) served as the independent variable, Wave 2 variety offending scores served as the dependent variable, and Wave 1 self-efficacy for conventional behavior and general confidence in avoiding future legal trouble served as mediators. Controlling for age, sex, race, parental socioeconomic status, callous/unemotional traits, and moral disengagement, it was determined that only self-efficacy for a conventional lifestyle successfully mediated the past delinquency–future delinquency relationship. From both a theoretical and practical standpoint, the current results indicate that efficacy expectancies specific to participating in a conventional lifestyle are more important in preventing subsequent delinquency than simple confidence in one’s ability to avoid future legal trouble.