The Development and Evaluation of a School-Based Programme to Promote and the Enhance Well-Being of Primary School Children

The current study was carried out to evaluate the impact of a well-being curriculum based on existing knowledge of themes within PP, which contribute to well-being. The Positive Well-Being Curriculum consists of twelve ninety minute sessions delivered weekly during a school term. The twelve well-being sessions fit into four domains: positive experience, positive emotions, positive relationships, achievement and meaning (Seligman, 2007). The objectives of the study were to test the practical implications of running a well-being curriculum, to develop a range of activities within each domain and to evaluate the impact on student well-being with regard to life satisfaction, positive affectivity and subjective happiness. A pilot was carried out as preparation for the main mixed method intervention study, which was conducted in two London primary schools. Pre and post data was collected using standardised measures, focus groups and one to one interviews. Findings from the pilot demonstrated a significant increase in well-being as demonstrated by increases in: life satisfaction, positive affect and subjective happiness. Additional information was gathered which informed the content and implementation of the curriculum in the main study. The experience of taking part in the study as evidenced through qualitative and quantitative results, indicate that the Positive Well-being Curriculum was perceived by participating teachers and children to contribute positively to the well-being of the children. These findings would be of interest to educational psychologists as there is an increasing interest by schools to include creative and validated resources to support and enhance the well-being of all children. A number of useful insights were developed about the usefulness of the curriculum for children in a variety of educational settings.

Roda dos sentidos: a formação continuada de professores em espaços de coletividade

A dissertação de mestrado aqui apresentada está vinculada ao Programa de Pós Graduação em Educação – PPGEdu, da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande – FURG, situada na linha de pesquisa Culturas, Linguagens e Utopias. O objetivo do estudo é contribuir para que os professores possam pensar em outras práticas de formação docente dentro dos espaços educativos nos quais atuam, desenvolvendo suas ações pedagógicas, a partir da reflexão sobre cotidiano docente no coletivo. A pesquisa envolve um grupo de professores que se propôs a estudar a categoria trabalho e seus entrelaçamentos com o trabalho docente a partir da perspectiva marxista. Tal grupo organizou-se tendo em vista a metodologia das Rodas de Formação, conforme a perspectiva de Warschauer, intitulando-se Roda dos Sentidos. Como corpus de análise foram utilizados os registros escritos em um portfólio coletivo, realizado a cada semana por um dos professores da Roda. Tal escrita era alternada entre os sujeitos para que, assim, todos contribuíssem, ao seu modo, na composição dos registros da Roda dos Sentidos. Foram analisadas as escritas dos anos de 2011 e 2012, buscando-se responder ao questionamento: ―que significados de formação docente são vivenciados em espaços coletivos como os da Roda dos Sentidos?‖ A análise dos dados foi inspirada na Análise Textual Discursiva – ATD, de Moraes e Galiazzi, inicialmente realizou-se a impregnação do material produzido pelos sujeitos da pesquisa, para então proceder com a unitarização, a construção de categorias analíticas e a escrita de metatextos. As problematizações realizadas no decorrer da dissertação foram apontando compreensões sobre a importância da formação docente no coletivo, constituída pelos estudos e diálogos vivenciados pelos sujeitos envolvidos; a compreensão das amarras do sistema societário que interferem no trabalho docente, salientando a necessidade dos professores resgatarem, enquanto categoria, sua capacidade de luta, seu sentido de união e coletividade no trabalho, fortalecendo suas representatividades através dos sindicatos; a compreensão da profissão docente como interpelada pelas relações humanas, ao entrelaçar a construção do conhecimento aos sentimentos como afetividade, respeito, alegria e esperança, envolvidos nesse processo, estão, nesse sentido, os professores constituindo sua humana docência. A partir das análises realizadas, compreender-se que as vivências de estudo e formação na Roda dos Sentidos, proporcionaram momentos de avanços teóricos, realizados a partir de diálogos sobre o trabalho e o trabalho docente, potencializados pelos registros escritos e compartilhados nos encontros da Roda, possíveis a partir da construção do sentido de coletividade, compreendendo-se, assim, a importância dos elos afetivos na constituição docente.

Organisational justice and smoking: the Finnish Public Sector Study

Study Objective: To examine the extent to which justice of decision-making procedures and interpersonal relations is associated with smoking. Setting: Ten municipalities and 21 hospitals in Finland. Design and Participants: Cross-sectional data derived from the Finnish Public Sector Study were analysed with logistic regression analysis models with generalized estimating equations. Analyses of smoking status were based on 34 021 employees. Separate models for heavy smoking (>20 cigarettes per day) were calculated for 6295 current smokers. Main results: After adjustment for age, education, socio-economic position, marital status, job contract, and negative affectivity, smokers who reported low procedural justice were about 1.4 times more likely to smoke >20 cigarettes per day compared with their counterparts with high justice. In a similar way, after adjustments, low justice in interpersonal treatment was significantly associated with an elevated prevalence of heavy smoking (odds ratio (OR) = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.03 to 1.77 for men and OR = 1.41, 95% CI = 1.09 to 1.83 for women). Further adjustment for job strain and effort-reward imbalance had little effect on these results. There were no associations between justice components and smoking status or ex-smoking. Conclusions: The extent to which employees are treated with justice in the workplace seems to be associated with smoking intensity independently of established stressors at work.

Socializing toddlers : autonomy-supportive parenting practices and potential risk factors

Selon la théorie de l’auto-détermination, l’autonomie est un besoin universel de base qui, lorsque soutenu, permet aux individus de mieux fonctionner et de vivre plus de bien-être psychologique (p. ex., Deci & Ryan, 2008). Le style parental des parents qui soutiennent l’autonomie de leur enfant est caractérisé par le soutien du fonctionnement autodéterminé de ce dernier. Sa définition traditionnelle inclut des pratiques telles qu’offrir des explications et des choix lors des requêtes, communiquer de l’empathie, et encourager les prises d’initiatives tout en minimisant l’utilisation d’un langage contrôlant (p. ex., Soenens et al., 2007). Les bénéfices d’un style parental qui soutient l’autonomie d’un enfant ont été bien documentés (p. ex., Grolnick, Deci, & Ryan, 1997), toutefois, peu d’études ont été effectuées auprès des bambins. Or, cette thèse visait à enrichir la littérature sur le « parentage » en explorant les pratiques soutenantes qui sont utilisées par des parents de bambins dans un contexte de socialisation (étude 1), ainsi qu’en examinant les facteurs qui peuvent brimer leur mise en pratique (étude 2). La première étude a examiné un grand nombre de pratiques de socialisation que les parents qui favorisent davantage le soutien à l’autonomie (SA) pourraient utiliser plus fréquemment lorsqu’ils font des demandes à leurs bambins. Cette étude nous a permis d’explorer comment les parents manifestent leur SA et si le SA dans ce type de contexte est associé à un plus grand niveau d’internalisation des règles. Des parents (N = 182) de bambins (M âge = 27.08 mois) ont donc été invités à rapporter la fréquence avec laquelle ils utilisent 26 pratiques potentiellement soutenantes lorsqu’ils demandent à leurs bambins de compléter des tâches importantes mais non intéressantes et de rapporter à quel point ils valorisent le SA. Huit pratiques ont été identifiées comme étant soutenantes: quatre façons de communiquer de l’empathie, donner des explications courtes, expliquer pourquoi la tâche est importante, décrire le problème de façon informative et neutre, et mettre en pratique le comportement désiré soi-même. De plus, l’ensemble des huit pratiques corrélait positivement avec le niveau d’internalisation des bambins, suggérant aussi que celles-ci représentent bien le concept du SA. Des études futures pourraient tenter de répliquer ces résultats dans des contextes potentiellement plus chargés ou ébranlants (p. ex., réagir face à des méfaits, avec des enfants souffrant de retard de développement). La deuxième étude a poursuivi l’exploration du concept du SA parental en examinant les facteurs qui influencent la fréquence d’utilisation des stratégies soutenantes dans des contextes de socialisation. Puisque la littérature suggère que le stress parental et le tempérament difficile des bambins (c.-à-d., plus haut niveau d’affectivité négative, plus faible niveau de contrôle volontaire/autorégulation, plus faible niveau de surgency) comme étant des facteurs de risque potentiels, nous avons exploré de quelle façon ces variables étaient associées à la fréquence d’utilisation des stratégies soutenantes. Les buts de l’étude étaient: (1) d’examiner comment le tempérament des bambins et le stress parental influençaient le SA parental, et (2) de vérifier si le stress parental médiait la relation possible entre le tempérament des bambins et le SA parental. Le même échantillon de parents a été utilisé. Les parents ont été invités à répondre à des questions portant sur le tempérament de leur enfant ainsi que sur leur niveau de stress. Les résultats ont démontré qu’un plus grand niveau d’affectivité négative était associé à un plus grand niveau de stress parental, qui à son tour prédisait moins de SA parental. De plus, le stress parental médiait la relation positive entre l’autorégulation du bambin et le SA parental. Des recherches futures pourraient évaluer des interventions ayant pour but d’aider les parents à préserver leur attitude soutenante durant des contextes de socialisation plus difficiles malgré certaines caractéristiques tempéramentales exigeantes des bambins, en plus du stress qu’ils pourraient vivre au quotidien.

O bem-estar subjetivo, a esperança, o otimismo e a resiliência em famílias com filhos com NEE

Dissertação de Mestrado, Psicologia da Educação, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais, Universidade do Algarve, 2016

Estrategias de afrontamiento familiar que los padres utilizan ante las pérdidas afectivas de los niños por separación

El siguiente estudio tiene como objetivo principal describir las estrategias de afrontamiento familiar que los padres utilizan ante las pérdidas afectivas de los niños por separación, con fundamento en el modelo estructural de Salvador Minuchín. En esta investigación participaron cinco familias monoparentales. El enfoque de la investigación es cualitativo; se aplicó la escala F-Copes para identificar cómo la familia maneja sus problemas y afronta las demandas que surgen de la separación o divorcio, seguido de una entrevista semiestructurada, la misma que demostró que cuando surge la separación conyugal trae uno o varios cambios en la estructura familiar y, en la relación entre los subsistemas los individuos modifican sus rutinas y se crea una nueva organización. El estudio muestra cómo las potencialidades de estas familias avanzan tejiendo internamente estrategias adaptativas que regulan el equilibrio emocional y relacional del sistema hacia las vicisitudes o desafíos del ciclo vital y de la vida misma; que para afrontar las pérdidas afectivas, uno de los mecanismos de afrontamiento es la alianza entre hermanos, lo que contribuye a una estrategia funcional permitiendo una relación benéfica con vínculos asertivos. Concluyendo que el contexto que rodea al niño es esencial para el desarrollo de estrategias de afrontamiento durante la infancia y las etapas subsiguientes.

The influence of sex, temperament, risk-taking and mental health on the emergence of gambling: a longitudinal study of young people

There are a host of complex and interlinked psychological, social and biological factors involved in the development of problem gambling (PG). While existing research, which is predominantly cross-sectional, shows that emerging adulthood is a critical period for PG, the early risk factors for PG are currently unknown. Here, we recruited a sample of 156 early adolescents with no history of PG (mean age 12.6 years) and longitudinally followed them up into late adolescence (mean age 18.9 years) to investigate the role of sex, risk-taking behaviour and changes in temperament and psychiatric symptoms in the evolution of risky gambling behaviour. There were sex-independent effects of temperament and risk-taking behaviour, with greater developmental increases in temperamental frustration (i.e. negative affectivity), greater developmental decreases in temperamental attention (i.e. effortful control) and greater involvement in risky behaviours, such as alcohol use, predicting greater likelihood of being in the risky gambling group. In addition, there were sex-dependent effects whereby higher levels of baseline aggression in females and lower levels of the same in males were more predictive of risky gambling. These findings highlight how sex-dependent and independent factors across the early- to mid-adolescent period influence the occurrence of gambling later in life.

Cognitive control as a moderator of temperamental motivations toward adolescent risk-taking behavior

Few studies have directly examined whether cognitive control can moderate the influence of temperamental positive and negative affective traits on adolescent risk-taking behavior. Using a combined multimethod, latent variable approach to the assessment of adolescent risk-taking behavior and cognitive control, this study examined whether cognitive control moderates the influence of temperamental surgency and frustration on risk-taking behavior in a sample of 177 adolescents (Mage = 16.12 years, SD = 0.69). As predicted, there was a significant interaction between cognitive control and frustration, but not between cognitive control and surgency, in predicting risk-taking behavior. These findings have important implications and suggest that the determinants of adolescent risk taking depend on the valence of the affective motivation for risk-taking behavior.

Statistically modelling the relationships between Type D personality and social support, health behaviors and symptom severity in chronic illness groups

OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to develop a predictive model of how Type D personality influences health behaviours, social support and symptom severity and assess its generalisability to a range of chronic illnesses.

DESIGN: Participants were classified as either healthy (n = 182) or having a chronic illness (n = 207). Participants completed an online survey measuring Type D and a range of health-related variables. Chronic illness participants were classified as having either a functional somatic syndrome (i.e. chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia), where the underlying pathological processes were unclear, or illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, where the causes are well understood.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Outcome measures were health behaviours, social support and both physical and psychological symptoms.

RESULTS: The rate of Type D was higher in chronic illness participants (53%) than in healthy controls (39%). Negative affectivity (NA) and social inhibition (SI) both correlated with outcome measures, although NA was generally the stronger predictor. Using NA and SI as independent subscales led to superior prediction of health outcomes than using categorical or continuous representations.

CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that the relationship between Type D and health outcomes may generalise across different chronic illnesses.

Exploring cultures of belonging in Darwin, Australia

This paper argues that the use of visual methods such as participatory video is crucial to co-producing sensory and embodied knowledges of belonging in Australian cities. These knowledges of belonging that focus on affectivity and passion have the potential to expand the worlds that racialised bodies of colour inhabit, but contemporary urban research shows an overwhelming focus on ‘talk’. This paper therefore takes the risk by engaging in a research process that is experimental, flexible and adaptive to explore diverse sensory cultures of belonging through a focus on Darwin, a small north Australian city. This is a city with a polyethnic history where Indigenous-migrant-settler race relations are recognised as more complex in comparison to large south Australian cities. The paper draws on participatory videos of two eventsin suburban Darwin - a Vigil on the side of the road opposite Airport
Lodge, an asylum seeker detention centre, and an afternoon walk along Casuarina beach where Aboriginals who live ‘rough’ camp. Using short video clips, long-term residents, migrant newcomers and asylum seekers (on bridging visas) compose an expressive narrative of the road and beach in Darwin, as places where refrains of welcome expand worlds that racialised bodies of colour inhabit. Using digital technologies the flow and juxtaposition of video clips of these events provides the possibility to craft sensory and embodied knowledges of belonging in a north
Australian city with a history of assimilationist and racially discriminatory policies.

A importância da afetividade na relação pedagógica e na constituição do clima de aula/turma do 1ºCEB

Dissertação do Relatório de Estágio, apresentado à Escola Superior de educação, do Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco, para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Educação Pré-escolar e Ensino do 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico.

Traços desadaptativos da personalidade, sintomas depressivos e afectividade positiva e negativa: Uma amostra com estudantes universitários

Pretendemos estudar quais os traços desadaptativos de personalidade que se relacionam com os sintomas depressivos, a afectividade positiva e negativa, numa amostra de 187 estudantes universitários, entre os 18 e os 43 anos. Calculámos as correlações entre as escalas de padrões de personalidade e as escalas de padrões graves de personalidade do Inventário Multiaxial clínico de Millon II (MCMI-II) com os sintomas depressivos avaliados pela Escala de Depressão do Centro de Estudos Epidemiológicos e com a afectividade positiva e negativa avaliadas pela Escala de Afectividade Positiva e Afectividade Negativa. Realizámos uma análise da regressão múltipla utilizando as escalas de padrões de personalidade do MCMI-II como predictores e o resultado na CES-O, como variável dependente. Obtivemos uma correlação significativa entre os padrões de personalidade borderline, masoquista, esquizotípico, negativista e evitante e paranóide e os sintomas depressivos. A afectividade negativa apresenta-se também positivamente correlacionada com os padrões dependente e esquizóide. A afectividade positiva correlacionou-se significativa e positivamente com os padrões histriónico e narcisista e negativamente com os padrões esquizóide, esquizotípico, negativista, borderline, evitante e masoquista. Na análise de regressão, o padrão borderline prevê a presença de sintomas depressivos e os padrões sádico e dependente também, mas num sentido negativo. /ABSTRACT: We intendend to study wich personality traits relate to depressiva symptoms, and positive and negative affectivity, in a sample of 187 university students, between 18 and 43 years. We did the correlation between the personality patterns scales and the personality patterns of severe personality with the depressive symptoms measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and the positive and negative affectivity measured by the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Shedule. We did a multiple regression analysis using the personality patterns scale of Millon Clinical Multiaxial lnventory (MCMI-II) as predictors and the result of CES-D, as dependent variable. We obtained a significant correlation between the borderline, masochist, schizotypal, negativistic, avoidant and paranoid personality patterns and the depressive symptoms. Negative affectivity relates also positively with dependent and schizoid patterns. Positive affectivity correlated significant and positively with histrionic and narcissistic personality patterns and negatively with schizoid, schizotypal, negativistic, borderline, avoidant and masochist personality patterns. ln the regression analysis, the borderline pattern predicts the presence of depressive symptoms as well as the sadistic and dependent, but in the negative sense.