A longitudinal analysis of self-regulation and well-being: avoidance personal goals, avoidance coping, stress generation, and subjective well-being

Mental health competencies are stronger determinants of well-being than mental disorder symptoms in both psychiatric and non-clinical samples

The present study aimed to investigate whether the strength of mental health competencies and the severity of mental disorder symptoms, and their interaction, differ in the strength of their associations with several dimensions of well-being in Hungarian adult psychiatric and non-clinical samples. All respondent in the psychiatric sample (129 patients (44 male, 85 female)) and in the non-clinical community sample (253 adults (43 male, 210 female)) completed the Mental Health Test, six measures of well-being and mental health, and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised. Including both mental health competencies and mental disorder symptoms in a regression model in both samples can predict patients' well-being even more accurately. Mental health competencies were positively related; mental disorder symptoms were negatively related to subjective well-being. In all models and in both samples, mental health competencies were found to be stronger determinants of well-being than mental disorder symptoms. The interaction of mental health competencies and mental disorder symptoms is no more predictive of well-being in either psychiatric or non-clinical samples than when the effects of each are considered separately. The assessment of mental health competencies has an important predictive value for well-being in the presence of psychopathological symptoms and/or mental disorders.

Evaluating the Structure of Subjective Well-Being: Evidence From Three Large-Scale, Long-Term, National Longitudinal Studies

To inform the tripartite structure of subjective well-being (SWB), national longitudinal studies from the United States, Germany, and Australia were used to estimate random-intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPM) in which between- and within-individual variation in life satisfaction (LS), positive affect (PA), and negative affect (NA) was examined over periods of up to two decades. The RI-CLPMs incorporated a hierarchical conceptualization in which LS, PA, and NA are indicators of a latent SWB factor and a causal systems conceptualization in which PA and NA are inputs to LS. Results from all three samples indicated substantial loadings from LS, PA, and NA on latent SWB factors between and within individuals. Cross-lagged effects were observed among all three SWB components, rather than unidirectional from PA and NA to LS. The present findings provide valuable new insights concerning the tripartite structure of SWB between and within individuals over extended periods of time.

Preliminary validation of the Mental Health Test in a psychiatric sample

To assist psychiatrists and clinical psychologists to assess their patients' psychological immune competence-based capacities and resources, depending on the mental health disorder diagnosis and the severity of the symptoms, the present study examined the psychometric properties of the Mental Health Test in a psychiatric sample. The research was carried out in four Hungarian healthcare facilities using a cross-sectional design. A total of 331 patients (140 male, 188 female, and 3 who preferred not to disclose their gender) completed the Mental Health Test, six well-being and mental health measures, and the Symptom Checklist-90. Psychiatrists and clinical psychologists reported the mental disorder status of each participant. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit of the five-factor model to the data for the clinical version of the Mental Health Test (CFI = 0.972, RMSEA = 0.034). High internal consistency coefficients (α: 0.70-0.84; ω: 0.71-0.85) and excellent external and content validity were reported. The test is not sensitive to sociodemographic indicators but is sensitive to the correlates of well-being and to the symptoms of different types of mental disorders. Our preliminary findings suggest that the Mental Health Test is a suitable measure for assessing mental health capacities and resources in psychiatric samples.

Psychological resilience and competence: key promoters of successful aging and flourishing in late life

Many individuals, both in the public and within the field of psychology, often perceive aging as a burden that negatively impacts intellectual and mental health. Our present study aims to challenge this notion by identifying the crucial components of positive mental health in later life. These components not only promote positive mental health but also actively contribute to it, even under difficult circumstances. To accomplish this, we first offer a concise review of well-being and mental health models that highlight the psychological aspects of flourishing in late life. We then introduce a psychological competence-based model for positive mental health, which aligns with the concept of positive aging. Subsequently, we present a measurement tool suitable for practical applications. Finally, we provide a comprehensive overview of positive aging, drawing on methodological guidelines and existing research findings concerning sustainable positive mental health in later life. We examine the evidence indicating that psychological resilience (the capacity to adapt and recover from adversity or stress) and competence (skills and abilities to effectively cope with challenges across various life domains) significantly contribute to slowing down biological aging processes. Furthermore, we discuss insights into the relationship between psychological factors and aging derived from research on Blue Zones (regions characterized by a higher proportion of individuals experiencing longer, healthier lives).

Pre-COVID-19 predictors of low-income women's COVID-19 appraisal, coping, and changes in mental health during the pandemic

Study examined predictors and mental health consequences of appraisal (threat, support satisfaction) and coping (active, avoidant) in a sample of low-income women during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Pre-COVID-19 contextual risk and individual resources and COVID-19-specific risk factors were examined as predictors of COVID-19 appraisal and coping, which, in turn, were tested as predictors of changes in depression and anxiety across the pandemic. Pre-COVID-19 resilience predicted more active coping, whereas pre-COVID-19 anxiety and depression predicted more avoidant coping and lower support satisfaction, respectively. Increases in anxiety were predicted by lower pre-COVID-19 self-compassion and higher concurrent threat appraisal and avoidant coping. Increases in depression were related to lower pre-COVID-19 self-compassion, active coping and support satisfaction, and higher COVID-19 hardships and health risk. Findings highlight contextual and individual factors and processes that contribute to mental health problems in a vulnerable population during community-level stressors, with implications for prevention and intervention.

Risk and protective factors for stress generation: A meta-analytic review

The stress generation hypothesis suggests that some individuals contribute more than others to the occurrence of dependent (self-generated), but not independent (fateful), stressful life events. This phenomenon is commonly studied in relation to psychiatric disorders, but effects are also driven by underlying psychological processes that extend beyond the boundaries of DSM-defined entities. This meta-analytic review of modifiable risk and protective factors for stress generation synthesizes findings from 70 studies with 39,693 participants (483 total effect sizes) from over 30 years of research. Findings revealed a range of risk factors that prospectively predict dependent stress with small-to-moderate meta-analytic effects (rs = 0.10-0.26). Negligible to small effects were found for independent stress (rs = 0.03-0.12), and, in a critical test for stress generation, most effects were significantly stronger for dependent compared to independent stress (βs = 0.04-0.15). Moderation analyses suggest effects of maladaptive interpersonal emotion regulation behaviors and repetitive negative thinking are stronger for interpersonal (versus non-interpersonal) stress; effects of repetitive negative thinking and excessive standards for self may be inflated by overreliance on self-report measures that fail to isolate psychological distress from objective experience. Findings have key implications for advancing stress generation theory and informing targets for intervention.

Stressors and resilience are associated with well-being in young adult college students

Objective: The purposes were to describe stressors and resilience behaviors of college students and examine the relationships among stressors, resilience, and well-being. Hypothesis: Resilience will modify the relationship between stressors and well-being. Participants: The sample included 1,010 college students, ages 18-26, from an urban Midwestern university. Methods: A secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from an anonymous survey was conducted using multiple regression and simple slopes analysis. Results: Resilience did not modify the relationship between stressors and well-being. Stressors (β = -.44, p < .0001) and resilience (β = .33, p < .0001) accounted for 42% of the variance in well-being (adjusted R² = .42, F_2,999 = 365.98, p < .0001). The most frequently endorsed stressors were sleep problems, anxiety, and relationships. Conclusions: Stressors and resilience warrant special attention in the allocation of resources and development of programs to improve student well-being.

Personality and Family Risk Factors for Poor Mental Well-Being

There is evidence that differentiation of self (DoS) contributes to the regulation of emotions at a young age, resulting in reduced anxiety and improved mental well-being. However, there is little evidence of the relationships between these four dimensions (DoS, self-regulation, anxiety, and mental well-being), or of the potential mediating role of self-regulation and anxiety. Our primary goal was therefore to consider the links between DoS, self-regulation, anxiety, and mental well-being. It was hypothesized that DoS (emotional reactivity, I-position, emotional cutoff, fusion with others) will be positively associated with mental well-being through the mediation of self-regulation (promotion-focused, prevention-focused) and anxiety. The study included 460 participants with a mean age of 41.18 (SD = 14.97, range = 19-60). Of them, 224 (48.7%) were women. Participants filled out four questionnaires: the Differentiation of Self Inventory-Revised, General Regulatory Focus Measure, the anxiety scale from DASS-21, and the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale. The findings showed that emotional cutoff positively predicted prevention and anxiety, but did not predict promotion. In addition, promotion positively predicted mental well-being. Finally, promotion mediated the relationship between I-position and mental well-being. The results indicate that well-differentiated individuals function optimally and enjoy good quality of life.

A new complex mental health test in a positive psychological framework

According to the Maintainable Positive Mental Health Theory (MPMHT), the main pillars of positive mental health are global well-being, efficient coping that enables an individual to maintain positive conditions and functioning, savoring capacity, resilience, and dynamic self-regulation. This study presents the validation of a new five-scale mental health test (MHT), the MHT that operationalizes MPMHT. The methodology comprised two online cross-sectional studies using self-report questionnaires. Participants in Study I (n = 1,736; 448 males, 1,288 females; mean age 51.3 years; SD = 11.6 years) filled in the MHT, the Flow, the Positive emotions, Engagement, Positive Relationship, Meaning, Accomplishment Questionnaire (PERMA-Profiler), and the Flourishing Scale. Participants in Study II (n = 1,083; 233 males, 847 females; mean age 33.9 years; SD = 12.2 years) filled in the MHT, the Shortened Aspiration Index, the short form of the Beck Depression Inventory, the WHO Well-Being Index, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Purpose in Life Test, and the Schema Questionnaire-Short Form. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) identified a five-factor structure with 17 items in Study I that was confirmed with excellent fit measures in confirmatory factor analysis in Study II. Both studies indicated a high level of internal consistency (above 0.70). In each subscale, a minimum part of 44% did not overlap with the set of the other subscales. The content validity of the subscales was confirmed by 10 tests of mental health. We found a positive correlation of the self-regulation and resilience subscales with age, while women showed a higher level of savoring than men at all age levels. When Study I was replicated after 2 weeks and again after 11 months, excellent internal consistency and good test-retest correlation values of the MHT scales were found. The MHT can thus be considered a reliable and valid measurement tool for mental health.

Evaluation of a Product-Centered Learning Behaviors for Adolescent and Adult Learners Using a Validated Learning Behavior Questionnaire: A Mixed-Method Analytical Cross-Sectional Study

Background: A learner transitions from being a primary learner to an adolescent learner and further to an adult learner in his/her academic life. The learners exhibit specific learning behaviors at all stages of learning, the mapping of which is required for optimization of learning.

Primary Objective: To assess the product-centered learning behaviors in adolescent and adult learners using a validated learning behavior questionnaire.

Secondary Objectives: To develop a self-monitoring checklist and a Set, Train Your Mind, Apply, and Reinforce (STAR) matrix from the learning behavior questionnaire.

Material and Methods: It was a mixed-method analytical cross-sectional study. A total of 944 learners participated in the study, out of which 456 were adolescent learners (11-16 years) from an English-medium school (Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)) and 488 were adult learners (18-23 years) from a health professional institute. The quantitative component of the study was the validated learning behavior questionnaire, in which the study participants had to rate listed items on a scale of 0, 1, and 2. The qualitative component of the study was the focus group discussions (FGDs), which were conducted each for group of adolescent and adult learners. All the responses were tabulated and statistically analyzed using STATA-14 software.

Results: The mean scores of product-centered learning behaviors was significantly higher in adult learners as compared to adolescent learners. The findings of the qualitative component evaluated were in tune with the findings of the analysis of the learning behavior questionnaire. The self-monitoring checklist and STAR matrix were generated from the validated learning behavior questionnaire.

Conclusion: The evolved self-monitoring checklist and STAR matrix may aid in the assessment of learning behaviors and facilitate the inculcation of learning behaviors amongst adolescent and adult learners.

Seeking Protection, Finding Despair: Closed Preferences as a Model of Neuroticism-Linked Distress

Introduction: Image schemas are perceptual-motor simulations of the world that are likely to have broad importance in understanding models of the self and its regulatory operations. Methods: Seven samples of participants (total N = 1,011) rated their preferences for unspecified entities being “open” or “closed” and scores along this dimension were linked to variations in personality, emotion, and psychopathology. Results: Individuals endorsing closed preferences to a greater extent were prone to neuroticism (Study 1), experiential avoidance (Study 2), negative affect in daily life (Study 3), and symptoms of anxiety and depression (Study 4). Discussion: Although closed preferences are likely to be endorsed for protective reasons (inasmuch as the contents of closed objects are better protected), such preferences are linked to higher, rather than lower, levels of neuroticism and distress. The findings offer new evidence for theories of neuroticism and psychopathology that emphasize operations related to defensive motivation and experiential avoidance.

Focus on and venting of negative emotion mediates the 18-year bi-directional relations between major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder diagnoses

BACKGROUND

Myriad emotion regulation and coping theories have proposed that avoidant/emotion-oriented coping is a cause and consequence of anxiety and depression. However, few studies have investigated potential mechanisms underlying the prospective anxiety-depression disorder relation. The current study examined various coping strategies (i.e., denial, focus on and venting of emotion (FOAVE), and behavioral disengagement) as potential longitudinal mediators between generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and major depressive disorder (MDD).

METHODS

In a nationally representative sample of adults (N = 3,294), MDD and GAD were assessed at Time 1 (T1) and Time 3 (T3) (Composite International Diagnostic Interview - Short-Form), and avoidant coping strategies (denial, behavioral disengagement, and FOAVE) were measured at Time 2 (T2) (Coping Questionnaire). Assessments occurred over 18 years, each spaced approximately 9 years apart. Structural equation modeling mediation analyses examined whether T1 MDD predicted T3 GAD (and vice versa), and if T2 avoidant coping mediated these relations, above and beyond baseline comorbidity.

RESULTS

FOAVE mediated the T1 MDD-T3 GAD association, and vice versa. Presence of T1 MDD and GAD predicted more T2 FOAVE, and greater T2 FOAVE forecasted T3 MDD and GAD, accounting for 16-21% of the longitudinal MDD-GAD relations. However, behavioral disengagement and denial did not mediate the prospective MDD-GAD relations. Also, T1 MDD and GAD forecasted greater T2 behavioral disengagement.

CONCLUSIONS

The use of FOAVE, may be a mechanism by which MDD earlier in life may lead to GAD 18 years later, and vice versa. Theoretical and potential clinical implications are discussed.

Self-Regulation and Students Well-Being: A Systematic Review 2010–2020

In recent years, there has been particular interest in studying the relationship between student self-regulation and variables such as students’ well-being, satisfaction, and school engagement. Although in other fields such as healthcare, self-regulation in different areas seems to influence individuals’ well-being, this is not so well established in the educational arena. We performed a systematic search of research articles published between 2010 and 2020 which explored the relationships between self-regulation and student well-being. The present article presents a report of a systematic review of 14 research articles. The analysis showed that some executive functions and self-regulation strategies employed in the learning process, and some self-regulatory deficits are significantly associated with different dimensions of student well-being.

Youth well-being predicts later academic success

Young people worldwide face new challenges as climate change and complex family structures disrupt societies. These challenges impact on youth's subjective well-being, with evidence of decline across many countries. While the burden of negative well-being on productivity is widely examined amongst adults, its cost among youth remains understudied. The current research comprehensively investigates the relationship between youth subjective well-being and standardized academic test scores. We use highly controlled machine learning models on a moderately-sized high-school student sample (N ~ 3400), with a composite subjective well-being index (composed of depression, anxiety and positive affect), to show that students with greater well-being are more likely to have higher academic scores 7-8 months later (on Numeracy: β* = .033, p = .020). This effect emerges while also accounting for previous test scores and other confounding factors. Further analyses with each well-being measure, suggests that youth who experience greater depression have lower academic achievement (Numeracy: β* = - .045, p = .013; Reading: β* = - .033, p = .028). By quantifying the impact of youth well-being, and in particular of lowering depression, this research highlights its importance for the next generation's health and productivity.

Beyond Cyberbullying: Investigating When and How Cybervictimization Predicts Suicidal Ideation

Cybervictimization is a public health concern in adolescence. Victims of cyberbullying may present with important short- and long-term sequelae. Specifically, past research has demonstrated positive associations between being cybervictimized and risk of suicide among adolescents. Nonetheless, the underlying mechanisms that may mediate or moderate this relationship remain unclear. The present research examined perceived stress as a mediator and forgiveness as a moderator to explore the relationship between cybervictimization and suicidal ideation. Specifically, vengeance, avoidance, and benevolence motivations, as a means of measuring forgiveness experienced, were analyzed as moderators in the relations between cybervictimization and suicidal ideation. The sample included 1,821 adolescents (954 girls) who ranged in age from 12 to 17 years from nine centers. Adolescents' self-reported perceived stress levels, cybervictimization, and forgiveness were collected. A mediation and a moderated mediation analyses were used to explore the aim of the present study. Results suggest that, after controlling for sex and age, perceived stress partially mediates the association between cybervictimization and suicidal ideation. Furthermore, the mediation effects of perceived stress were independently moderated by vengeance and avoidance. Thus, revenge and avoidance might intensify the adverse impact of perceived stress on suicidal ideation. These results highlight how and when cybervictimization is related to suicidal ideation. We discuss the results in relation to previous research and consider their practical implications. These findings suggest that adolescents' perceived stress, together with vengeance and avoidance motivations, may be key targets for prevention and intervention programs dealing with cybervictimization. This highlights the need to implement treatment and prevention programs focused on decreasing such motivations.

The impact of COVID‐19 lockdown on perceived stress: The role of defence mechanisms and coping strategies

The COVID‐19 pandemic represents a unique global challenge. To deter its spread, several countries have put lockdown and physical distancing measures in place that could have potentially harmful consequences on people's mental health. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the relationship between anxiety and perceived stress in individuals who were experiencing the COVID‐19 lockdown measures, while also analyzing the impact of coping strategies interacting with defence mechanisms. A sample of 1408 individuals (M_age = 34.69; SD = 11.87) completed the Ten Item Perceived Stress Scale, State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory—Form X3, Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced and Forty‐Item Defense Style Questionnaire, after providing written informed consent. Results highlighted the significant impact of state anxiety levels on perceived stress, both directly and indirectly. The indirect pathways have been explored by performing three mixed serial‐parallel mediation analyses, where significant associations between coping strategies (Social Support, Avoidance Strategies, Positive Attitude, Problem‐solving and Turning to Religion) and mature, neurotic, or immature defences have been found. These findings may contribute to orientate prevention and intervention activity during the several management phases of COVID‐19.

The Joyful Life: An Existential-Humanistic Approach to Positive Psychology in the Time of a Pandemic

In the midst of a global pandemic, psychology has a duty to identify dispositional or character traits that can be cultivated in citizens in order to create resiliency in the face of profound losses, suffering and distress. Dispositional joy holds some promise as such a trait that could be especially important for well-being during the current pandemic and its consequences. The concept of the Joyful Life may operate as bridge between positive psychology and humanistic, existential, and spiritual views of the good life, by integrating hedonic, prudential, eudaimonic and chaironic visions of the good life. Previous phenomenological research on state joy suggests that momentary states of joy may have features that overlap with happiness but go beyond mere hedonic interests, and point to the experience of a life oriented toward virtue and a sense of the transcendent or the sacred. However, qualitative research on the Joyful Life, or dispositional joy, is sorely lacking. This study utilized a dialogical phenomenological analysis to conduct a group-based analysis of 17 volunteer students, who produced 51 autobiographical narrative descriptions of the joyful life. The dialogical analyses were assisted by integration of the Imagery in Movement Method, which incorporated expressive drawing and psychodrama as an aid to explicate implicit themes in the experiences of the participants. The analyses yielded ten invariant themes found across the autobiographical narrative descriptions: Being broken, being grounded, being centered, breaking open, being uplifted, being supertemporal, being open to the mystery, being grateful, opening up and out, and being together. The descriptions of a Joyful Life were consistent with a meaning orientation to happiness, due to their emphasis on the cultivation of virtue in the service of a higher calling, the realization of which was felt to be a gift or blessing. The discussion examines implications for future research, including the current relevance of a joyful disposition during a global pandemic. Due to the joyful disposition's tendency to transform suffering and tragedy into meaning, and its theme of an orientation to prosocial motivations, the Joyful Life may occupy a central place in the study of resiliency and personal growth in response to personal and collective trauma such as COVID-19.

How Having a Clear Why Can Help Us Cope With Almost Anything: Meaningful Well-Being and the COVID-19 Pandemic in México

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in an increase in known risk factors for mental health problems. Mexico adopted lockdown and physical distancing as a containment strategy with potential consequences on day to day life, such as social isolation, loss of income and loneliness that can have important consequences in terms of mental health. Objective: We aimed to examine the effect of the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychological distress, well-being and perceived physical health among Mexican-base respondents and to examine whether coping strategies would play a potential intermediating role in relation to these variables. Under the Existential Positive Psychology perspective, an emphasis was made on meaning-centered coping. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between April 30 and June 16th 2020 among 604 Mexicans-base respondents of which 471 were women and 132 men. Data was collected by using online questionnaires. Psychological distress was measured using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21). The Brief COPE Inventory was used to assess problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies. We also used the Meaning-Centered Coping Scale (MCCS). PERMA-Profiler was used to assess well-being, perceived physical health, and loneliness. Profiler and Descriptive analyses and bivariate linear regression were performed to examine the association of variables. Results: 45.9% of the participants reported moderate to extremely severe psychological distress. Our results demonstrate that problem-focused and emotion-focused coping were positively related to psychological distress, whereas meaning-centered coping was negatively associated with distress. Furthermore, psychological distress played a potential negative role in the perceived physical health, while meaning-centered coping and well-being buffered the negative influence of psychological distress on perceived physical health (completely standardized indirect effect = -0.01, SE: 0.012, 95% CI [-0.065; -0.017]. Conclusion: Meaning-centered coping was found to suppress the negative influence of psychological distress on sensation of decreased physical health corroborating the critical role of meaning in life in promoting well-being. Future studies can further examine the value of the critical role of meaning in life in promoting well-being as a protective factor against severe distress during traumatic events. Findings of this study can be used to orient policies and interventions aimed to alleviate suffering in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Psychological Resources Protect Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study During the French Lockdown

This longitudinal study investigated the capability of various positive psychological resources to directly or indirectly protect specific well-being outcomes and moderate the effects on well-being of health and economic threats in a lockdown situation during the 2020 health crisis in France. At the beginning of lockdown (wave 1), participants (N = 470) completed self-assessment questionnaires to document their initial level of well-being and state of nine different well-established psychological resources, measured as traits: optimism, hope, self-efficacy, gratitude toward the world, self-transcendence, wisdom, gratitude of being, peaceful disengagement, and acceptance. Three weeks later, a weekly follow-up was started to record changes in well-being and reported threats for a duration of 5 weeks (waves 2-6). Results show that psychological resources efficiently protected well-being in a variety of ways: they buffered the adverse effects of reported threats to health and wealth, increased the well-being averages, and reduced the decline in well-being over time. More specifically, emotional well-being was positively predicted by hope, gratitude of being, and, to a lesser level, by acceptance; psychological well-being by self-efficacy, personal wisdom, and gratitude of being; social well-being only by gratitude toward the world; and inner well-being by optimism, gratitude of being, and acceptance. The study emphasizes the importance of cultivating psychological resources in ordinary times to protect individuals' well-being when difficult and extraordinary circumstances occur. It also offers clues to the kind of resources one may want to develop.

Achievement Goals and Goal Progress as Drivers of Work Engagement

In two studies, we investigated the role of self-regulatory behavior in terms of achievement goals and goal progress for work engagement. Study 1 (N = 205) revealed that trait learning goals were positively related to work engagement and performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals were unrelated to work engagement. In a second study, employees were asked to either set a (state) learning, performance-approach, or performance-avoidance goal for the upcoming work week. Goal progress and work engagement were measured one week later (N = 106). Learning goals at the trait and state level were associated with higher work engagement and performance-avoidance goals were unrelated to work engagement. We found a positive relationship of goal progress with work engagement, in particular for employees who pursued learning or performance-approach goals. Our studies contribute to theory building by delineating the (combined) role of goal orientations (trait), state achievement goals, and goal progress for work engagement, as well as generating practical implications for the design of effective interventions to enhance work motivation in organizational practice.

Stress as Offense to Self: a Promising Approach Comes of Age

Stress is related to goals being thwarted. Arguably, protecting one’s self, both in terms of personal self-esteem and in terms of social self-esteem, is among the most prominent goals people pursue. Although this line of thought is hardly disputed, it does not play the prominent role in occupational health psychology that we think it deserves. Stress-as-Offense-to-Self theory focuses on threats and boosts to the self as important aspects of stressful, and resourceful, experiences at work. Within this framework we have developed the new concepts of illegitimate tasks and illegitimate stressors; we have investigated appreciation as a construct in its own right, rather than as part of larger constructs such as social support; and we propose that the threshold for noticing implications for the self in one’s surroundings typically is low, implying that even subtle negative cues are likely to be appraised as offending, as exemplified by the concept of subtly offending feedback. Updating the first publication of the SOS concept, the current paper presents its theoretical rationale as well as research conducted so far. Research has covered a variety of phenomena, but the emphasis has been (a) on illegitimate tasks, which now can be considered as an established stressor, and (b) on appreciation, showing its importance in general and as a core element of social support. Furthermore, we discuss implications for further research as well as practical implications of an approach that is organized around threats and boosts to the self, thus complementing approaches that are organized around specific conditions or behaviors.

Relation between cognitive and behavioral strategies and future change in common mental health problems across 18 years

Major depressive disorder (MDD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and panic disorder (PD), constitute common mental disorders that may have chronic and disabling courses. Cognitive and behavioral theories posit that lack of engagement in certain strategies (goal persistence, self-mastery, positive reappraisal) increases vulnerability toward these disorders. Further, scar effect theories assert that experiencing more of these disorders may diminish engagement in such strategies within individuals across time. However, dynamic longitudinal associations between cognitive-behavioral strategies (CBS) and disorder counts across adulthood are not well understood. Using bivariate latent difference score models, this study aimed to test the dynamic trajectories between disorder counts and each CBS across 18 years. Participants were 3,294 community-dwelling adults ages 45.62 years (SD = 11.41, range = 20-74; 54.61% female) who took part in 3 waves of measurement spaced 9 years apart. Self-mastery, disorder counts, and their change were not significantly related. However, higher within-subject increase in goal persistence (but not self-mastery or positive reappraisal) led to greater future decline in disorder counts, but not vice versa. Last, within individuals, greater prior levels of goal persistence and positive reappraisal predicted larger subsequent reduction in disorder counts, and vice versa. The reciprocal, bidirectional associations between specific CBS (goal persistence, positive reappraisal) and disorder counts support both vulnerability and scar models of depression and anxiety. Treatments for MDD, GAD, and PD should attempt to enhance perseverance and optimism. Theoretical and clinical implications are further discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Overcoming psychosocial challenges in cystic fibrosis: Promoting resilience

Individuals living with cystic fibrosis (CF), and their families, have experienced significant improvements in treatment and related research that have enhanced outcomes and survival. Despite such advancement, the burden of living with CF still exists. Many psychosocial stressors and risk factors are associated with the impact of CF. The identification and treatment of such risk factors are discussed throughout this review, with an emphasis on strategies to address psychosocial risk and the importance of promoting resiliency in those touched by CF.

Goal Orientations and Activation of Approach Versus Avoidance Motivation While Awaiting an Achievement Situation in the Laboratory

While some students try to give their best in an achievement situation, others show disengagement and just want to get the situation over and done with. The present study investigates the role of students' tendencies for approach or avoidance motivation while anticipating tasks and the corresponding activation of the approach/avoidance motivational system as indicated by transient changes of EEG alpha asymmetry. Overall, 62 students (50 female; age: M = 23.8, SD = 3.5) completed a goal orientation questionnaire (learning goals, performance-approach, performance-avoidance, and work avoidance). They joined a laboratory experiment where EEG was recorded during resting condition as well as when students were anticipating tasks. Standard multiple regression analysis showed that higher values on performance-avoidance were related to a higher activation of the approach system whereas higher values on work avoidance were related to a higher activation of the avoidance system. Results question present assumptions about avoidance related goal orientations.

Emotional and Social Reactivity as Mechanisms of Stress Generation: A Momentary Assessment Study

Depressed individuals report higher rates of stressful daily interpersonal events. The stress generation hypothesis suggests that traits and behaviors associated with depression may actually cause these stressors to occur. The exact day-to-day emotional and behavioral processes that drive stress generation, however, are less well understood. The present study uses experience sampling methods in a sample of 110 female undergraduate students to examine hour-by-hour emotional and social reactivity and avoidance coping as possible contributors to stress generation. Participants reported on overall symptoms of depression and then completed four daily diaries per day over a five-day period on emotional state, stressful interpersonal experiences, and avoidance behaviors. Multilevel models revealed that emotional distress both generated and was generated by interpersonal stressors such as conflict, rejection, or criticism. Avoidant behavioral responses to stressors—such as social withdrawal, substance use, or ignoring a problem—also significantly contributed to negative mood: Emotional reactivity was thus amplified by problem avoidance. Individuals who reported more depressive symptoms were especially likely to respond to negative moods with avoidance behavior. Ramifications for clinical interventions that focus on reducing emotional reactivity and avoidance coping are discussed.

Correlates and Predictors of Well-being in Montreal

With and without mental disorders, low levels of positive mental health are associated with limitations in daily life and with an economic burden in developed countries. We aimed to assess the correlates and predictors of high levels of well-being (WB) in Keyes' model of mental health. A four-year longitudinal population-based study was administered, in Montreal, Canada. At baseline, 1828 participated in wave 1, and 1303 in wave 2. WB was measured by the Mental Health Continuum Short Form, and data were collected by direct interviews. 17 variables were correlated with WB. Seven variables were predictors of having excellent WB. Stress/coping variables like ability to handle difficult problems or having the personal ability to deal with stress showed the strongest effects (respectively, OR = 1.790, 95% CI 1.232-2.601, OR = 2.118, CI 95% 1.324-3.387). This study underscores the importance of testing a multidimensional model accounting for a spectrum of relevant variables relating to WB.

Associations Between Trauma Type, Timing, and Accumulation on Current Coping Behaviors in Adolescents: Results from a Large, Population-based Sample

The development of adolescents' coping in response to stress is critical for adaptive functioning; these coping strategies may be shaped by numerous environmental factors during childhood, including experiences such as exposure to trauma. Childhood trauma has been shown to undermine contemporaneous coping, but how does a history of exposure to trauma and the characteristics of that trauma (type, timing, and accumulation) relate to current coping among adolescents? We addressed this question using a nationally-representative sample of 9427 adolescents (ages 13-18; 48.9% female; 66% White). Adolescents reported on their lifetime exposure to 18 different traumas, including witnessing or experiencing interpersonal violence, accidents, disasters, and violent or accidental loss of loved ones, as well as their current use of coping behaviors when under stress (problem-focused, positive emotion-focused, and negative emotion-focused coping strategies). The study's results highlight that exposure to nearly all forms of trauma was unrelated to problem-focused and positive emotion-focused coping behaviors, but strongly associated with increased negative emotion-focused coping. Use of each coping style did not vary with age at first exposure to trauma, but increased with the number of lifetime traumatic events experienced. The findings suggest that the extent of prior exposure to trauma, including variations across type and timing, may be related to a particular form of coping that has been linked to increased risk for mental health problems. Study results highlight coping strategies as a potential target for prevention and treatment efforts, and indicate a need to better understand the malleability and trajectory of coping responses to stress for promoting healthy youth development.

Stories of Growth and Wisdom: A Mixed-Methods Study of People Living Well With Pain

Chronic pain remains a daunting clinical challenge, affecting 30% of people in the United States and 20% of the global population. People meeting this challenge by achieving wellbeing while living with pain are a virtually untapped source of wisdom about this persistent problem. Employing a concurrent mixed-methods design, we studied 80 people living with chronic pain with "positive stories to tell" using semi-structured interviews and standardized questionnaires. In-depth interviews focused on what helped, what hindered, how they changed, and advice for others in similar circumstances. Major qualitative themes included acceptance, openness, self-efficacy, hope, perseverance, self-regulation, kinesthetic awareness, holistic approaches and integrative therapies, self-care, spirituality, social support, and therapeutic lifestyle behaviors such as music, writing, art, gardening, and spending time in nature. Themes of growth and wisdom included enhanced relationships, perspective, clarity, strength, gratitude, compassion, new directions, and spiritual change. Based on narrative analysis of the interviews and Ardelt's Three-Dimensional Wisdom Model, participants were divided into 2 groups: 59 wisdom exemplars and 21 nonexemplars. Non-exemplar themes were largely negative and in direct contrast to the exemplar themes. Quantitatively, wisdom exemplars scored significantly higher in Openness and Agreeableness and lower in Neuroticism compared to non-exemplars. Wisdom exemplars also scored higher in Wisdom, Gratitude, Forgiveness, and Posttraumatic Growth than nonexemplars, and more exemplars used integrative therapies compared to the non-exemplars. As a whole, the exemplar narratives illustrate a Positive Approach Model (PAM) for living well with pain, which allows for a more expansive pain narrative, provides positive role models for patients and clinicians, and contributes to a broader theoretical perspective on persistent pain.

Predictors of well-being among college students

OBJECTIVES

Identification of health-related risk behaviors associated with well-being in college students is essential to guide the development of health promotion strategies for this population. The purposes were to evaluate well-being among undergraduate students and to identify health-related risk behaviors that predict well-being in this population.

METHODS

A cross-sectional Web-based survey of undergraduate students was conducted at a metropolitan university in the Southeast United States. A total of 568 students responded (response rate 14.2%). Data were collected on health-related risk behaviors using the National College Health Assessment II.

RESULTS

Controlling demographic characteristics, the best predictive model included physical activity, current tobacco user, depression, ever received mental health services, and sleep quality, which was the strongest predictor (β = .45, p < .001). This model explained 35% of the variance in well-being.

CONCLUSIONS

Interventions that promote sleep quality among college students may be most beneficial in improving well-being.

Neural Correlates of Attentional Flexibility during Approach and Avoidance Motivation

Dynamic, momentary approach or avoidance motivational states have downstream effects on eventual goal success and overall well being, but there is still uncertainty about how those states affect the proximal neurocognitive processes (e.g., attention) that mediate the longer-term effects. Attentional flexibility, or the ability to switch between different attentional foci, is one such neurocognitive process that influences outcomes in the long run. The present study examined how approach and avoidance motivational states affect the neural processes involved in attentional flexibility using fMRI with the aim of determining whether flexibility operates via different neural mechanisms under these different states. Attentional flexibility was operationalized as subjects' ability to switch between global and local stimulus features. In addition to subjects' motivational state, the task context was manipulated by varying the ratio of global to local trials in a block in light of recent findings about the moderating role of context on motivation-related differences in attentional flexibility. The neural processes involved in attentional flexibility differ under approach versus avoidance states. First, differences in the preparatory activity in key brain regions suggested that subjects' preparedness to switch was influenced by motivational state (anterior insula) and the interaction between motivation and context (superior temporal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule). Additionally, we observed motivation-related differences the anterior cingulate cortex during switching. These results provide initial evidence that motivation-induced behavioral changes may arise via different mechanisms in approach versus avoidance motivational states.

Coping Skills Help Explain How Future-Oriented Adolescents Accrue Greater Well-Being Over Time

Adolescents who endorse greater levels of future orientation report greater well-being over time, but we do not know the mechanism by which this happens. The present longitudinal study examined whether both adaptive as well as maladaptive coping strategies might explain how future orientation leads to ill-being and well-being over time in young New Zealanders. A sample of 1,774 preadolescents and early adolescents (51.9 % female) aged 10-15 years at Time 1 completed a self-report survey three times with 1 year intervals in between. Longitudinal mediation path models were constructed to determine whether and how maladaptive and adaptive coping strategies at Time 2 functioned as mediators between future orientation at Time 1 and ill-being and well-being at Time 3. Results showed that future orientation predicted lower maladaptive coping, which in turn predicted lower substance use and self-harming behavior. All three well-being outcomes (i.e., happiness with weight, vitality, and sleep) were consistently predicted by future orientation, and all three pathways were mediated by both lower maladaptive and higher adaptive coping strategies (with the exception of happiness with weight, which was mediated only by lower maladaptive coping). The results suggest that several pathways by which future orientation leads to greater well-being occurs through an increased use of adaptive coping, a decreased use of maladaptive coping, or both.

Avoidance Motivation and Conservation of Energy

Compared to approach motivation, avoidance motivation evokes vigilance, attention to detail, systematic information processing, and the recruitment of cognitive resources. From a conservation of energy perspective it follows that people would be reluctant to engage in the kind of effortful cognitive processing evoked by avoidance motivation, unless the benefits of expending this energy outweigh the costs. We put forward three empirically testable propositions concerning approach and avoidance motivation, investment of energy, and the consequences of such investments. Specifically, we propose that compared to approach-motivated people, avoidance-motivated people (a) carefully select situations in which they exert such cognitive effort, (b) only perform well in the absence of distracters that occupy cognitive resources, and (c) become depleted after exerting such cognitive effort.

Coping skills and mental health status in adolescents when a parent has cancer: a multicenter and multi-perspective study

OBJECTIVE

Parental cancer increases the risk of psychosocial problems in adolescents. We investigated the frequency and efficacy of adolescents' coping strategies and relationships between those strategies and mental health status. Age and gender differences regarding coping and mental health were also investigated.

METHODS

In total, 214 adolescents from 167 families participated in a cross-sectional, multicenter study. All participants were recruited from standard oncological care. Among the participants, 52% utilized a child-centered intervention program. Adolescents' coping skills were measured using KIDCOPE. Mental health status was rated by adolescents and parents by the SDQ for symptomatology and the KIDSCREEN for well-being.

RESULTS

We found that 29% of the adolescents showed emotional and behavioral problems. We found gender differences in mental health status but not in coping. Adolescents used a broad spectrum of coping strategies. Active problem-solving, distraction, acceptance, wishful thinking and seeking social support were the most frequently used coping strategies. The utilization of certain coping skills was mediated by their perceived efficacy. Problem-focused or approach-oriented coping strategies generally are associated with better mental health, while avoidance-oriented coping are associated with worse mental health. Emotion-focused coping was associated with both lower and higher mental health.

CONCLUSION

The strategies used by adolescents to cope with parental cancer are associated with their mental health. Problem-solving and approach-oriented coping strategies should be facilitated by psychological interventions regardless of age and gender. Age and gender differences in adolescents' mental health should be further investigated because these differences are not explained by differences in coping strategies.