The effect of meaningfulness and integrative processing in expressive writing on positive and negative affect and life satisfaction

Be Still and You Will Know: A Mixed-Method Study on Solitude and Consideration of Future Consequences Among Youth in Rehabilitation

Although solitude is found to be undesirable to many, systematic practice of it can yield positive psychological outcomes. This mixed-method study explored the process and influence of solitude as a behavioral intervention among youths in a therapeutic community in Hong Kong. Qualitative interviews with 43 youths (67.4% male, mean age = 18.3) revealed that solitude facilitated growth in their sense of personal responsibility, increased perspective-taking, increased respect for rules, change in life attitudes, and growth in consideration of future consequences. A two-wave prospective study (n = 79, 82.3% male, mean age = 17.4) further demonstrated perceived meaningfulness in solitude predicted an increase in consideration of future consequences, but not in other types of behavioral intervention. This study preliminarily demonstrated solitude has beneficial outcomes among high-risk youths, and meaning-making can facilitate this relationship.

The Mediating Role of Illness Cognitions in the Relationship Between Caregiving Demands and Caregivers' Psychological Adjustment

OBJECTIVE

The present study investigated whether illness cognitions mediated the relationship between caregiving demands and positive and negative indicators of adjustment in partners of patients with chronic pain.

METHODS

The sample of this cross-sectional study consisted of 151 partners (mean age=61.4 y, SD=13.6 y, 57% male) of patients with chronic pain (eg, back pain). The study was conducted in the Pain Centre of the University Medical Centre Groningen, The Netherlands, during November 2014 to June 2015. Participants completed questionnaires that assessed caregiving demands, illness cognitions, perceived burden, distress, positive affect, and life satisfaction.

RESULTS

The results showed that among illness cognitions, acceptance of the illness mediated the association between caregiving demands and burden (b=0.16, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.05-0.28) and positive affect (b=-0.21, CI: -0.41 to -0.06). Helplessness mediated the association between caregiving demands and burden (b=0.46, CI: 0.26-0.69) and distress (b=0.35, CI: 0.19-0.53). Perceived benefits did not mediate any of these associations. The findings indicate that partners who experience more demands tend to appraise the consequences of the patients' pain condition more negatively, which in turn is associated with their emotional adjustment.

DISCUSSION

The results suggest that illness cognitions play an important role in the psychological adjustment of partners. Enhancing acceptance of the illness and reducing feelings of helplessness could form the basis of interventions aiming at promoting psychological adjustment in partners, especially when it is difficult to reduce the demands.

A fully automated conversational agent for promoting mental well-being: A pilot RCT using mixed methods

Fully automated self-help interventions can serve as highly cost-effective mental health promotion tools for massive amounts of people. However, these interventions are often characterised by poor adherence. One way to address this problem is to mimic therapy support by a conversational agent. The objectives of this study were to assess the effectiveness and adherence of a smartphone app, delivering strategies used in positive psychology and CBT interventions via an automated chatbot (Shim) for a non-clinical population - as well as to explore participants' views and experiences of interacting with this chatbot. A total of 28 participants were randomized to either receive the chatbot intervention (n = 14) or to a wait-list control group (n = 14). Findings revealed that participants who adhered to the intervention (n = 13) showed significant interaction effects of group and time on psychological well-being (FS) and perceived stress (PSS-10) compared to the wait-list control group, with small to large between effect sizes (Cohen's d range 0.14-1.06). Also, the participants showed high engagement during the 2-week long intervention, with an average open app ratio of 17.71 times for the whole period. This is higher compared to other studies on fully automated interventions claiming to be highly engaging, such as Woebot and the Panoply app. The qualitative data revealed sub-themes which, to our knowledge, have not been found previously, such as the moderating format of the chatbot. The results of this study, in particular the good adherence rate, validated the usefulness of replicating this study in the future with a larger sample size and an active control group. This is important, as the search for fully automated, yet highly engaging and effective digital self-help interventions for promoting mental health is crucial for the public health.

Linguistic Markers of Processing Trauma Experience in Women's Written Narratives During Different Breast Cancer Phases: Implications for Clinical Interventions

Research into the change processes underlying the benefits of expressive writing is still incomplete. To fill this gap, we investigated the linguistic markers of change in cognitive and emotional processing among women with breast cancer, highlighting the differences and peculiarities during different treatment phases. A total of 60 writings were collected from 20 women: 10 receiving chemotherapy and 10 receiving biological therapy. We performed a series of repeated measures ANOVA for the most meaningful LIWC linguistic categories, including positive/negative emotions and cognitive processes, to assess change over three sessions. Results demonstrated a significant increase in the positive emotions category for the entire group of women, with particular relevance for the biological therapy group of women, and a marginally significant (p = .07) greater use of words indicating cognitive processes for women receiving biological therapy. For the negative emotions category time was significant for the whole group of women, showing a peak of use in the second session of writing. Peculiar differences in the linguistic markers of processing trauma were observed between the two groups. Although the writing intervention is a support for both groups of women, it seems to be beneficial when there is a large time gap since the administration of chemotherapy and, thus, when the patient can revisit the experience. The relationship of the illness with life can be rearticulated, and the writing becomes a space for resignifying the traumatic cancer experience.

The use of human resources literature regarding the relationship between affect and student academic performance

Orientation: In human resources literature affect, or affectivity, has been identified as contributing, either negatively or positively, to different forms of performance in a range of different contexts.Research purpose: The aim of the study was to empirically test theory that predicts that affect can influence performance; in this case the academic performance of students in the South African higher education context.Motivation for the study: Human resources job performance theory seems to offer important insights when extended into other contexts of individual performance. The specific potential influence of affect on student performance is unclear in this context.Research design, approach and method: A non-probability comprehensive sample of all students registered for first-year accountancy (n = 719) was used. Confirmatory factor analysis, exploratory factor analysis and bivariate tests of association were used to empirically test theory predicting relationships between affect and student academic performance.Main findings: In general the findings support the predications derived from affect theory, that negative affect is negatively associated with student performance and that positive affect is positively associated with student performance. Yet, the results suggest that affect might not, in this context, reflect the two-dimensional theoretical structure. In particular, negative affectivity might better be considered as a three-dimensioned construct.Practical/managerial implications: These results suggest that proactive measures may need to be taken by higher education institutions to support first-year students affectively. Student advisors or counsellors should be appointed, with a specific focus on providing support for student anxiety and other contextual frustrations to which individuals with higher levels of negative affect might be particularly vulnerable.Contribution: These findings provide new insights into the importance of extending human resource theory into different contexts. Knowledge of the specific potential constraints posed by affect to student performance is provided.

Prevention, Rehabilitation, and Mitigation Strategies of Cognitive Deficits in Aging with HIV: Implications for Practice and Research

Highly active antiretroviral therapy has given the chance to those living with HIV to keep on living, allowing them the opportunity to age and perhaps age successfully. Yet, there are severe challenges to successful aging with HIV, one of which is cognitive deficits. Nearly half of those with HIV experience cognitive deficits that can interfere with everyday functioning, medical decision making, and quality of life. Given that cognitive deficits develop with more frequency and intensity with increasing age, concerns mount that as people age with HIV, they may experience more severe cognitive deficits. These concerns become especially germane given that by 2015, 50% of those with HIV will be 50 and older, and this older cohort of adults is expected to grow. As such, this paper focuses on the etiologies of such cognitive deficits within the context of cognitive reserve and neuroplasticity. From this, evidence-based and hypothetical prevention (i.e., cognitive prescriptions), rehabilitation (i.e., speed of processing training), and mitigation (i.e., spaced retrieval method) strategies are reviewed. Implications for nursing practice and research are posited.