Plasma cortisol levels and illness appraisal in deficit syndrome schizophrenia

Research investigating the association between negative symptoms and plasma cortisol levels in individuals with schizophrenia has produced inconsistent findings. This study investigated whether deficit syndrome schizophrenia (characterized by high levels of primary negative symptoms) is associated with comparatively high morning plasma cortisol levels, more negative appraisals about illness and higher levels of depression. Participants were 85 individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and 85 individuals with no history of contact with psychiatric services matched for age and gender. All participants provided fasting 9.00 a.m. plasma cortisol samples. There were no significant differences between the schizophrenia and control participants in plasma cortisol levels. The Proximal Deficit Syndrome method was used to identify individuals with deficit syndrome schizophrenia. Contrary to what had been hypothesized, participants with deficit syndrome schizophrenia had significantly lower plasma cortisol levels than both non-deficit syndrome participants and control participants. Participants with the deficit syndrome reported significantly less negative appraisals about illness (assessed by PBIQ) and lower levels of depression (assessed by BDI-II). Differences in cortisol levels continued to trend toward significance when levels of depression were controlled for. The patterns of illness-related appraisals and plasma cortisol levels raise the possibility that the deficit syndrome could be a form of adaptation syndrome.

Building Trust in a Post-Conflict Society: An Integrative Model of Intergroup Contact and Intergroup Emotions.

Across one longitudinal and two cross-sectional surveys in Northern Ireland, we tested a model of intergroup relations in which out-group attitudes and behavioral tendencies are predicted by cross-group friendship and positive intergroup appraisals, mediated by intergroup emotions and out-group trust. In study 1, out-group friendship at time 1 predicted out-group trust at time 2 (one year later), controlling for prior out-group trust. In study 2, positive and negative intergroup emotions mediated the effects of friendship on positive and negative behavioral tendencies and attitudes. In study 3, a confirmatory factor analysis indicated that trust and emotions are distinct constructs with unique predictive contributions. We then tested a model in which cross-group friendship predicted intergroup emotions and trust through intimate self-disclosure in out-group friendships. Our findings support an integration of an intergroup emotions framework with research highlighting the importance of cross-group friendship in fostering positive intergroup outcomes.

Earthquake aftershock anxiety: An examination of psychosocial contributing factors and symptomatic outcomes.

This study examined the direct and indirect effects of cognitions and anxiety associated with aftershocks on psychological symptoms (anxiety, depression, acute stress) and daily functioning (general and relationship). Participants were 600 adults from Christchurch. Data collection was approximately four months after the fatal 2011 earthquake. Path analysis was used. Socioeconomic status was directly associated with appraisals of uncontrollability of response to aftershocks. These cognitions were directly related to aftershock anxiety, which heightened general anxiety, depression and acute stress symptoms. These symptoms were directly associated with relationship and general life dysfunction. Aftershock anxiety plays a significant role in ongoing psychological distress associated with earthquakes.

Avaliação imobiliária: entre a ciência da avaliação e a arte da apreciação

Recentemente a avaliação imobiliária levou ao colapso de instituições financeiras e à crise no Subprime. A presente investigação pretende contribuir para perceber quais os factores preponderantes na avaliação imobiliária. O trabalho aborda a problemática da assimetria de informação, os diferentes métodos de avaliação imobiliária e a importância das externalidades. Empiricamente há diversos casos analisados através do uso da metodologia da Regressão Linear, Análise de Clusters e Análise de Componentes Principais da Análise Factorial. O primeiro caso analisado é direccionado à avaliação das externalidades, onde os resultados indicam que as externalidades positivas principais são as seguintes: as vistas de marina são mais valorizadas que as vistas de mar, as vistas frontais são mais valorizadas que as vistas laterais e existem diferenças de valorização ao nível do piso de acordo com o tipo de habitação (residência ou férias). O segundo estudo analisa como o método do rendimento ajuda na explicação da realidade portuguesa, no qual foram obtidos três clusters de rendas e três clusters de yields para cada uma das amostras. Os resultados demonstram que: (a) ambos os clusters, das yields e das rendas são formados por diferentes elementos (b) que o valor da oferta é explicado pelo método do rendimento, pelo cluster das yields e pela densidade populacional. No terceiro estudo foram inquiridos 427 indivíduos que procuravam apartamento para residência. A partir da Análise de Componentes Principais da Análise Factorial efectuada obtiveram-se sete factores determinantes na procura de apartamento: as externalidades negativas, as externalidades positivas, a localização de negócios no rés-do-chão do edifício de apartamentos, os interesses racionais de proximidade, as variáveis secundárias na utilização do edifício, as variáveis de rendimento e as variáveis de interesses pessoais. A principal conclusão é que como é uma área transdisciplinar, é difícil chegar a um único modelo que incorpore os métodos de avaliação e as diferentes dinâmicas da procura. O avaliador, deve analisar e fazer o seu scoring, tendo em conta o equilíbrio entre a ciência da avaliação e a arte da apreciação.

Flourishing as a dialectical balance: emerging insights from second-wave positive psychology

Positive psychology, an emergent branch of scholarship concerned with wellbeing and flourishing, initially defined itself by a focus on “positive” emotions and qualities. However, critics soon pointed out that this binary logic—classifying phenomena as either positive or negative, and valorising the former while disparaging the latter—could be problematic. For example, apparently positive qualities can be harmful to wellbeing in certain circumstances, while ostensibly dysphoric emotional states may on occasion promote flourishing. Responding to these criticisms, over recent years a more nuanced “second wave” of positive psychology has been developing, in which wellbeing is recognized as involving a dialectical balance of light and dark aspects of life. This article introduces this emergent second wave, arguing that it is characterized by four dialectical principles. First, the principle of appraisal states that it is difficult to categorically identify phenomena as either positive or negative, since such appraisals are fundamentally contextually dependent. Second, the principle of co-valence holds that many states and qualities at the heart of flourishing, such as love, are actually a complex blend of light and dark elements. Third, the principle of complementarity posits that not only are such phenomena co-valenced, but that their dichotomous elements are in fact co-creating, two intertwined sides of the same coin. Finally, the principle of evolution allows us to understand second-wave positive psychology as itself being an example of a dialectical process. This article is published as part of a collection entitled “On balance: lifestyle, mental health and wellbeing”.

Youth attitudes toward difference and diversity: a cross-national analysis

This paper analyses youth attitudes toward difference and cultural diversity. Firstly, we analyse data from 65 countries showing that youths are more tolerant than older people toward both stigmatised groups and groups perceived as racially or ethnically different. Findings also show that political conservatism is a very stable predictor of intolerance to difference. Secondly, we study the appraisals of cultural diversity in 21 European countries, showing that youths express greater openness to cultural diversity than older people. In this new study, while values of conservation correlate negatively with openness to cultural diversity, values of self-transcendence correlate positively.

Uma perspectiva foucaudiana na auditoria à avaliação de desempenho na administração pública

Motivation: Auditing is not merely a collection of technical tasks but also a programmatic idea circulating in organizational environment, an idea which promises a certain style of control and organizational transparency (Power, 1998, p. 122) Performance appraisal within public organization aims to promote this organizational transparency and promote learning and improvement process both for employees and for the organization. However, we suggest that behind its clear intentions, there are some other goals tied to performance appraisal that could be seen as components of a discipline and surveillance systems to make the employee “knowable, calculable and administrative object” (Miller and Rose, 1990, p. 5). Objective: In Portuguese public organizations, performance appraisal follows the SIADAP (Performance Appraisal Systems for Public Administration). The objective of this study is to capture whatever employees of public organizations (appraisers and appraisee) perceived the performance appraisal system (SIADAP) as an appraisal model that promotes equity, learning and improvement or just as an instrument of control to which they feel dominated and watched over. Method: We developed an in-depth qualitative case study using semi-structured interviews with appraisers and their subordinates in the administrative department of a university institute of Medicine. The discourse of the participants was theoretically analyzed based on Foucauldian framework. Prior to qualitative data collection, we collected quantitative data, with a questionnaire, to measure the (un)satisfaction of employees with the all appraisal system. Findings: Although some key points of Foucault perspective were identified, its framework revealed some limitations to capture the all complexity of performance appraisal. Qualitative data revealed a significant tendency in discourses of appraisers and their subordinates considering SIADAP as an instrument that’s aims to introduced political rationalities and limits to the employer’s promotions within their careers. Contribution: This study brings a critical perspectives and new insights about performance appraisals in Portuguese’s public administrations. It is original contribution to management of human recourses in public administration and primary to audit of performance appraisal systems.

A Avaliação Imobiliária e a sua relação com o Investimento

O presente relatório visa cumprir os requisitos da unidade curricular Dissertação, Projeto ou Estágio (DIPRE) do mestrado em Engenharia Civil do Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP). O estágio curricular decorreu na empresa VPM - Vaz Pinto Mendes - Unipessoal Lda, sob o tema: “A avaliação imobiliária e a sua relação com o investimento”. A avaliação imobiliária visa determinar o valor associado aos bens imóveis. Pode ser aplicada a todo o tipo de bens imóveis, tais como: apartamentos e moradias uni e multifamiliares, espaços comerciais e de serviços, quintas, unidades hoteleiras e industriais, complexos desportivos, entre outros. A avaliação imobiliária poderá ser solicitada por parte de proprietários ou arrendatários dos imóveis, por empresas, tribunais, advogados e solicitadores. Apresenta diversos fins, tais como a determinação do valor de indemnização devido a expropriações, o financiamento hipotecário para compra ou construção de imóveis, partilhas, estudo de um investimento financeiro, intenção de venda ou arrendamento, efeitos fiscais ou apenas o simples conhecimento do valor aproximado das propriedades que se possui. O presente estudo visa abordar o atual mercado imobiliário nacional, o procedimento de realização de uma avaliação imobiliária e principalmente os métodos de avaliação tradicionais.

A avaliação e o investimento imobiliário

O documento que seguidamente se desenvolve, tem como fundamental objetivo a descrição do trabalho efetuado ao longo de um estágio semestral realizado, pelo mestrando, na empresa QUALITAS – Sociedade de Avaliações Técnicas, Lda., subordinado ao tema «A Avaliação e o Investimento Imobiliário». Através do estágio é cumprida uma parte do plano do mestrado, tendo sido assim possível colocar em prática os conhecimentos teóricos absorvidos previamente na formação académica detida. Os objetivos previstos para o estágio consistiam no acompanhamento de diversos casos de estudo relativos à avaliação imobiliária, em ambiente empresarial, abrangendo usos e destinos variados e, ainda, o levantamento bibliográfico de suporte, apoiado pela frequência de um curso de avaliação imobiliária em simultâneo com o estágio. As avaliações imobiliárias realizadas foram geralmente precedidas de visitas aos locais, implicando prospeção de mercado no terreno, para aplicação das metodologias apresentadas, sendo que em todos os casos o supervisor revia os trabalhos. Com o resumo da atualidade da avaliação imobiliária, referindo investimentos, legislação, entidades, metodologias e ainda outros pontos essenciais, prevê-se demonstrar o conhecimento adquirido pelo estagiário. Pode concluir-se que o setor está em reestruturação gradual, tida como essencial para a evolução da área, que se presume culminar numa profissão bastante mais restrita, rigorosa e fiável. A formação que se pretende exigir aos peritos é uma ferramenta essencial ao desempenho de um trabalho exemplar e o estágio uma oportunidade de aprender in situ, aplicando conhecimentos anteriormente adquiridos.

Self-deception as affective coping. An empirical perspective on philosophical issues.

In the philosophical literature, self-deception is mainly approached through the analysis of paradoxes. Yet, it is agreed that self-deception is motivated by protection from distress. In this paper, we argue, with the help of findings from cognitive neuroscience and psychology, that self-deception is a type of affective coping. First, we criticize the main solutions to the paradoxes of self-deception. We then present a new approach to self-deception. Self-deception, we argue, involves three appraisals of the distressing evidence: (a) appraisal of the strength of evidence as uncertain, (b) low coping potential and (c) negative anticipation along the lines of Damasio's somatic marker hypothesis. At the same time, desire impacts the treatment of flattering evidence via dopamine. Our main proposal is that self-deception involves emotional mechanisms provoking a preference for immediate reward despite possible long-term negative repercussions. In the last part, we use this emotional model to revisit the philosophical paradoxes.

Registered nurses' perceptions of factors impacting on their continuing education /

This qualitative study examined the effects of hospital restructuring on a group of nurses at a community hospital. Eleven nurses were asked questions in order to gain insight into their experience in this situation. Ten of these participants were female, and one was male. The intent was to gather information about how restructuring has affected their lives, including, their motivational factors and barriers to participation in continuing education, and their descriptions of their workplace environment. Audiotaped interviews were conducted on two occasions to obtain this data. Emergent themes included the nurses' comments about continuing education, motivational factors, barriers that included geography and time, reactions of co-workers, restructuring, the College of Nurses' Quality Assurance Program including peer feedback, and performance appraisals. The literature review compares the barriers and motivational factors to the previous research findings. Thus, this study gave voice to the experience of this group of nurses, working in a healthcare setting that is involved in restructuring. This information is important to the healthcare system, since many areas are involved in restructuring. The whole process, if it is to be successful, depends on the frontline workers, namely the nurses. Thus, if there is anything to be learned from this group of people, that could be used to improve this progression, everyone would benefit from this information, were it to be implemented. Everyone is a stakeholder in the quality of healthcare in our province. The frontline workers are the ones that hold the vantage point to be able to provide suggestions for the changes needed to successful. These nurses are not just motivated by work issues however, and educating them and motivating them will also improve the care provided through increased knowledge and enhanced self-esteem.

Assessing evaluative measures for Internet-based courseware

Although there is a consensus in th~ literature on the many uses of the Internet in education, as well as the unique features of the Internet for presenting facts and information, there is no consensus on a standardized method for evaluating Internetbased courseware. Educators rarely have the opportunity to participate in the development of Internet-based courseware, yet they are encouraged to use the technology in their learning environments. This creates a need for summative evaluation methods for Internet-based health courseware. The purpose ofthis study was to assess evaluative measures for Internet-based courseware. Specifically, two entities were evaluated within the study: a) the outcome of the Internet-based courseware, and b) the Internet-based courseware itself. To this end, the Web site www.bodymatters.com was evaluated using two different approaches by two different cohorts. The first approach was a performance appraisal by a group of endusers. A positive, statistically significant change in the students performance was observed due to the intervention ofthe Web site. The second approach was a productoriented evaluation ofthe Web site with the use of a criterion-based checklist and an open-ended comments section. The findings indicate that a summative, criterion-based evaluation is best completed by a multidisciplinary team. The findi~gs also indicated that the two different cohorts reported different product-oriented appraisals of the Web site. The current research confirmed previous research that found that experts returning a poor evaluation of a Web site did not have a relationship to whether or not the end-users performance improved due to the intervention of the Web site.

An exploration of the impact of a mandatory quality assurance program on the staff nurse's commitment to professional development /

This study explored experiences in relation to the impact of the College of Nurses of Ontario's (CNO's) mandatory Quality Assurance (QA) program on registered nurses (RNs) working in a clinical setting of an acute care hospital. A qualitative descriptive research design was used and data collection was done in 2 stages. First, a survey with open-ended questions was given to 45 nurses. Second, 8 respondents from the survey were interviewed using a semistructured format. Data were obtained from 2 groups-diploma-prepared and post diploma-prepared RNs. Findings demonstrated that the CNO's QA program had varying influences on the RNs' learning paths, and these differences appeared to be related to the educational background of the individual. The diploma-prepared nurses reported that their commitment to professional development was influenced by their level of internal motivation, the pressures associated with time, and the need for a strong external motivator, namely the obligation of management to conduct formal performance appraisals. They further reported that the QA program played a part in positively altering their commitment to continuing education. The post-diploma baccalaureate nurses reported that the QA program played a positive role in influencing their ongoing learning, along with their level of internal motivation, the work and health care environment, and the element of professionalism. Several implications for nursing practice, theory, and fiirther research also became evident.

L'intégration de la différence en milieu de travail entre les travailleurs ayant des déficiences ou des incapacités et les travailleurs sans déficience, sans incapacité

co-directrice: Saint-Jean, Micheline