Personal growth Initiative as a protective factor between the relation of practical stress and life satisfaction

Objective: Stress stemming from practical or financial obstacles is among the top sources of stress for college students. The current study examined if one new positive psychological strength factor, personal growth initiative, functioned as a buffer to protect young adults' life satisfaction, anxiety, and depression from practical stress. Participants: Undergraduate students (N = 353, age range 18-23, 73.9% female) at a public university. Method: Participants were recruited through classes and on campus via flyers and completed self-report surveys online. Results: Personal growth initiative significantly moderated the relation between practical stressors and life satisfaction. Specifically, the negative effect of practical stressors on life satisfaction decreased as personal growth initiative levels increased. Practical stress significantly predicted anxiety and depression, though no significant interactions were identified in this model. Conclusion: Overall, results highlighted the protective function of personal growth initiative for life satisfaction in the context of practical stressors faced by young adults in college. Implications and future directions for research are discussed.

Striving for personal growth matters: The relationship between personal growth initiative, teacher engagement and instructional quality

BACKGROUND

Teachers' instructional quality is critical to student learning and development. However, the affordance of different aspects of instructional quality remains underexplored.

AIMS

This study explores the relationship between teachers' personal growth initiative (PGI) and teacher engagement and instructional quality.

SAMPLE

The data were collected from 998 teachers (82.9% female, average years of teaching experience = 15.25, SD = 10.29) from China.

METHODS

The participants completed an anonymous online survey questionnaire that examined their PGI, work engagement and self-reported instructional quality. Structural equation modelling and bootstrapping were performed to determine the differentiated associations between PGI and each aspect of the teachers' self-reported instructional quality.

RESULTS

The results confirmed the critical role of PGI in teacher engagement and self-reported instructional quality. To varying degrees, the dimensions of teacher engagement, except for cognitive engagement, mediated the association between PGI and self-reported instructional quality.

CONCLUSIONS

The teachers' self-reported data showed that their motivation for personal growth played an important role in improving their instructional quality. The teachers' emotional engagement and social engagement with colleagues were positively related to classroom management, and their social engagement with students was associated with a supportive climate.

Examining associations between personal growth initiative and subjective trajectories of life satisfaction among survivors of ethnopolitical violence in Rwanda and Sri Lanka

Does personal growth initiative (PGI)-the tendency to be proactive about one's personal development-impact adaptive beliefs about life quality among survivors of mass violence, such as ethnopolitical warfare or genocidal violence? One-hundred-and-twenty-three survivors of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda and 179 Tamil individuals affected by the civil war in Sri Lanka completed assessments of PGI, satisfaction with one's past life, current life satisfaction, and anticipated future life satisfaction. High levels of PGI were associated with an adaptive inclining trajectory of life satisfaction (Past < Present < Future) in both samples. These results indicate that PGI is associated with adaptive beliefs about one's identity and well-being among war-affected populations, and supports future interventions targeting PGI among those communities.

Individual-Level Factors are Significantly More Predictive of Employee Innovativeness Than Job-Specific or Organization-Level Factors: Results From a Quantitative Study of Health Professionals

Individual innovativeness is particularly indispensable among health professionals. The healthcare environment is complex and its knowledge workers must continually adapt to change and be comfortable with ambiguity. The objective of this study was to determine the relative importance of individual, job-specific, and organizational factors on innovative output of health professionals. Employed Canadian Registered Dietitians (n = 237) completed an online survey incorporating relevant validated tools, including the 10-item Big Five Inventory and the Alberta Context Tool. Factors were classified by level and introduced in blocks to a multivariate linear regression model, with the outcome of self-reported innovative output. Factors included in the model explained 44% of variation in self-reported innovative output. Although all blocks contributed significantly to the model, minimal variation was explained by factors at the job-specific (4%) and organizational levels (4%). Factors at the individual level most predictive of innovative output were role innovation, the personality trait of conscientiousness and voluntary membership in a professional association. To encourage employee innovativeness, health administrators, and managers of health professionals should consider how best to incorporate screens for individual-level indicators of innovative output (eg, personality tests) in their institutional hiring and selection processes.

Personal growth initiative as a buffer against suicide ideation severity in psychotherapy outpatients with depressive symptoms

OBJECTIVE

Many people who die by suicide experience major depressive disorder (MDD), but most people with MDD do not die by suicide and many do not report thoughts of death or suicide. This cross-sectional study examined the potential of personal growth initiative (PGI) skills to protect against suicide ideation among adult psychotherapy outpatients.

METHOD

Adult outpatients (N = 178) completed measures of suicide ideation severity (SI), depressive symptom severity (DEP), and PGI skills (PGI) at intake.

RESULTS

Although higher DEP significantly correlated with higher suicide ideation, a significant DEP × PGI interaction, indicated significant positive relations between DEP and SI only when PGI was at or below the mean for this sample.

CONCLUSIONS

PGI skills may function as a protective factor against the development of suicide ideation even in the presence of severe depressive symptoms. This suggests that training PGI skills might prevent or reduce suicide ideation among depressed patients.

Entrepreneurial Resilience: A Case Study on University Students

Entrepreneurial resilience refers to the capacity to face, overcome and project oneself after suffering life events with a negative impact. Emerging adulthood and the characteristics of university life facilitate the occurrence of stressful situations that can affect well-being. The aim of this phenomenological research is to explore the strategic components of entrepreneurial resilience and how young university students have shaped their entrepreneurial resilience after experiencing negative life events. The present research is a multiple case study that was developed through a mixed methodology. The methodological sequence was quantitative and qualitative, with priority given to the qualitative phase of the research. Ten university students with high levels of resilience were interviewed. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. The results indicate that resilience is built through intrapersonal and exopersonal processes. These processes make up a set of strategic dimensions related to entrepreneurial behaviour that are used for the construction of personal projects.

Reflective functioning and men's mental health: Associations with resilience and personal growth initiative

Mentalizing, or reflective functioning, refers to the capacity to reflect on one's own and others' mental states in terms of desires, intentions, and feelings. Reflective functioning in men's mental health is poorly understood, particularly in reference to men's resilience and motivation for personal growth. Using a cross-sectional design, the present study investigated impaired reflective functioning in relation to resilience and personal growth initiative among men with mental health concerns. An online sample of 1065 men self-reporting mental health concerns completed measures of reflective functioning, psychological distress, resilience, and personal growth initiative. Logistic regression examined reflective functioning in relation to likely serious mental illness, including interaction with age. Subsequent regression analyses controlled for distress severity in examining associations with resilience and personal growth initiative, and in examining the potential mediating role of reflective functioning. Impaired reflective functioning was significantly associated with serious psychological distress irrespective of age and, after controlling for distress severity, with resilience and personal growth initiative. Moreover, impaired reflective functioning was a significant mediator of the relationship between resilience and personal growth initiative. Findings provide preliminary support for reflective functioning as salient to men's resilience and agency for personal change, indicating a potentially important target in men's mental health work.

Psychotherapy for personal growth? A multicultural and multitheoretical exploration

OBJECTIVE

This paper reports on a focus-group discussion of four expert psychotherapy researchers facilitated at an international conference from the Society of Psychotherapy Research. A discussion was facilitated to explore their perspectives on psychotherapy practices of personal growth (intentionally working towards a strengthened sense of autonomy, mastery, and self-acceptance) in different countries (United States, Canada, Argentina, and Chile) and different modalities (psychoanalysis, humanistic therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy).

METHODS

Following the conference, the audio recording of this discussion was transcribed and analyzed using consensual qualitative research methods.

RESULTS

Six domains were identified; definition of personal growth, mental health care systems, psychotherapy practice, psychotherapy research, client and therapist characteristics, and social stigma.

RESULTS

Six domains were identified; definition of personal growth, mental health care systems, psychotherapy practice, psychotherapy research, client and therapist characteristics, and social stigma.

CONCLUSION

Future research examining the cost-effectiveness and benefits of psychotherapy for personal growth is warranted. Building on the six domains, specific future research projects on the evidence-based practice of psychotherapy for personal growth are suggested.

Personal growth Initiative: A robust and malleable predictor of treatment outcome for depressed partial hospital patients

BACKGROUND

Current methods for treating depressive disorders ineffectively treat large portions of patients. We need to identify malleable factors that predict treatment outcome and can be modified prior to or concurrently with treatment to enhance outcomes. We examined personal growth initiative (PGI) as a malleable predictor of treatment outcome for depressed patients in partial hospital treatment.

METHODS

Archival data were extracted from medical records of 521 adult patients with depression diagnoses (67.2% women) in a partial hospital program (2008 - 2010). Demographic data and admission and discharge scores for depression and PGI were extracted. ANCOVA assessed the extent to which reliable or clinically significant change in PGI predicted level of depression at discharge, controlling for admission depression levels.

RESULTS

PGI and depression were significantly correlated at admission. PGI scores increased significantly from admission to discharge. Reliable and clinically significant improvement in PGI each significantly, uniquely, and negatively predicted depression at discharge, adjusting for admission depression.

LIMITATIONS

The correlational nature of the longitudinal design precludes definitive statements regarding causality. A large portion of the initial sample was dropped due to substantial missing data, yielding the final N = 521. Dropped patients had higher levels of depression at discharge and increased likelihood of leaving treatment against medical advice, raising concerns about potential other, unmeasured differences.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings confirm the utility of PGI as a malleable predictor of treatment outcome for depressed patients in partial hospital treatment and may have implications for using PGI-based interventions to enhance treatment outcomes.