Predictors of depressed mood 12 months after injury. Contribution of self-efficacy and social support

Abstract Purpose: There is evidence that depressed mood and perception of pain are related in patients with chronic illness. However, how individual resources such as self-efficacy and social support play a role in this association remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of both variables as either moderator or mediator. Method: In a longitudinal study, 274 injured workers (M = 43.24 years) were investigated. Data were collected on sociodemographics, depressed mood, pain, social support, and self-efficacy at three months post-injury, and depressed mood one year post-injury. Results: Hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses revealed that pain (β = 0.14; p < 0.01) and social support (β = -0.18; p < 0.001) were significant predictors of depressed mood. Self-efficacy moderated the relationship of pain (β = -0.12; p < 0.05) and depressed mood after one year. Lower self-efficacy in combination with pain had a stronger impact than higher self-efficacy and pain on depressed mood. Social support did not moderate the association. Conclusions: Self-efficacy for managing pain is important in the development of depressed mood. According to the results of this study, we suggest that the detection of low social support and low self-efficacy might be important in long-term rehabilitation process. Implications for Rehabilitation Risk for depressed mood one year after an accident is high: One in five workers report depressed mood. Protective factors for depressed mood in injured workers needs to be considered in the rehabilitation. Focusing on resources like social support and self-efficacy could be protective against depressed mood. The early detection of low social support and low self-efficacy might be important in long-term rehabilitation processes

Gaze perception in social anxiety and social anxiety disorder

Clinical observations suggest abnormal gaze perception to be an important indicator of social anxiety disorder (SAD). Experimental research has yet paid relatively little attention to the study of gaze perception in SAD. In this article we first discuss gaze perception in healthy human beings before reviewing self-referential and threat-related biases of gaze perception in clinical and non-clinical socially anxious samples. Relative to controls, socially anxious individuals exhibit an enhanced self-directed perception of gaze directions and demonstrate a pronounced fear of direct eye contact, though findings are less consistent regarding the avoidance of mutual gaze in SAD. Prospects for future research and clinical implications are discussed.

Does a Pre-Treatment Diagnostic Interview Affect the Outcome of Internet-Based Self-Help for Social Anxiety Disorder? A Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies suggest that Internet-based self-help treatments are effective in treating anxiety disorders. Trials evaluating such interventions differ in their screening procedures and in the amount of clinician contact in the diagnostic assessment phase. The present study evaluates the impact of a pre-treatment diagnostic interview on the outcome of an Internet-based treatment for Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). METHOD: One hundred and nine participants seeking treatment for SAD were randomized to either an interview-group (IG, N = 53) or to a non-interview group (NIG, N = 56). All participants took part in the same 10-week cognitive-behavioural unguided self-help programme. Before receiving access to the programme, participants of the IG underwent a structured diagnostic interview. Participants of the NIG started directly with the programme. RESULTS: Participants in both groups showed significant and substantial improvement on social anxiety measures from pre- to post-assessment (d IG = 1.30-1.63; d NIG = 1.00-1.28) and from pre- to 4-month follow-up assessment (d IG = 1.38-1.87; d NIG = 1.10-1.21). Significant between-groups effects in favour of the IG were found on secondary outcome measures of depression and general distress (d = 0.18-0.42). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that Internet-based self-help is effective in treating SAD, whether or not a diagnostic interview is involved. However, the pre-treatment interview seems to facilitate change on secondary outcomes such as depression and general distress.

Social role effects on gender stereotyping in Germany and Japan

Social role theory postulates that gender stereotypes are restrained for men and women observed in the same social role. Cultural differences in the valuation of communal attributes might moderate this effect. To examine this possibility, 288 participants (144 German, 144 Japanese) estimated the communal and agentic attributes of an average man or woman described in a male-dominated role, a female-dominated role, or without role information. We hypothesized and found that in Germany and Japan, participants perceived men as more agentic than women without role information and as similarly agentic in the same role. However, for communion, German and Japanese participants reacted differently. German participants perceived women as more communal than men without role information and in male-dominated roles and perceived men as more communal than women in female-dominated roles. Japanese participants perceived all targets as similarly communal, regardless of role or gender, suggesting that communion is generally expected in Japan.

The relationship between adolescents’ social capital and individualism-collectivism in Estonia, Germany, and Russia

The present study examines the relationship between adolescents’ social capital and individualism-collectivism using data from the Value of Children Study (Trommsdorff and Nauck, 2005) from Estonia (N=228), Germany (N=278), and Russia (N=280). Two social capital indexes for adolescents (measuring parental social capital and peer-group social capital) were developed for the analysis. The COLINDEX Scale (Chan 1994) was used to measure individualistic and collectivistic values. In all three countries collectivistic values predicted parental social capital whereas individualistic values predicted peer-group social capital. There were also a few country-specific relationships between the constructs, with collectivism and peer-group social capital being positively related in Estonia and individualism and parental social capital signif- icantly negatively correlated in Russia. The current analysis suggests that during the adolescence, collectivistic values are more likely to be related to higher levels of parental social capital and individualistic values to higher levels of peer-group social capital. Therefore, it seems that at the individual level and for adolescents the individualism and collectivism are related to different forms of social capital in the different manner.

Social stressors at work and sleep quality on sunday night – The mediating role of psychological detachment

Purpose Recovery is a critical link between acute reactions to work-stressors and the development of health-impairments in the long run. Even though recovery is particularly necessary when recovery opportunities during work are insufficient, research on recovery during weekends, is still scarce. To fill this gap we tested, whether the inability to psychologically detach from work mediates the effect of social stressors at work on sleep quality on Sunday night. Design/Methodology Sixty full-time employees participated in the study. Daily assessment included diaries on psychological detachment and ambulatory actigraphy to assess psychophysiological indicators of sleep quality. Results Hierarchical regression analyses revealed social stressors at work to be related with psychological detachment and with several sleep quality parameters on Sunday night. Furthermore, psychological detachment from work mediated the effect of social stressors at work on sleep quality. Limitations Methodological considerations regarding the use of actigraphy data should be taken into account. Research/Practical Implications Our results show that social stressors at work may lower resources just before people get started into the new working week. Originality/Value This is the first study to show that social stressors at work are an antecedent of psychological detachment on Sunday evening and of objective sleep quality on Sunday.

Social skills as predictors of communication, performance and quality of collaboration in project-based learning

The assumption that social skills are necessary ingredients of collaborative learning is well established but rarely empirically tested. In addition, most theories on collaborative learning focus on social skills only at the personal level, while the social skill configurations within a learning group might be of equal importance. Using the integrative framework, this study investigates which social skills at the personal level and at the group level are predictive of task-related e-mail communication, satisfaction with performance and perceived quality of collaboration. Data collection took place in a technology-enhanced long-term project-based learning setting for pre-service teachers. For data collection, two questionnaires were used, one at the beginning and one at the end of the learning cycle which lasted 3 months. During the project phase, the e-mail communication between group members was captured as well. The investigation of 60 project groups (N = 155 for the questionnaires; group size: two or three students) and 33 groups for the e-mail communication (N = 83) revealed that personal social skills played only a minor role compared to group level configurations of social skills in predicting satisfaction with performance, perceived quality of collaboration and communication behaviour. Members from groups that showed a high and/or homogeneous configuration of specific social skills (e.g., cooperation/compromising, leadership) usually were more satisfied and saw their group as more efficient than members from groups with a low and/or heterogeneous configuration of skills.