AKTUALŪS TYRIMAI PSICHOLOGIJOJE: TARPTAUTINĖ PATIRTIS

Transcription

1 INFORMACIJA SEPTINTASIS TARPTAUTINIS SIMPOZIUMAS AKTUALŪS TYRIMAI PSICHOLOGIJOJE: TARPTAUTINĖ PATIRTIS Vytauto Didžiojo universiteto Teorinės psichologijos ir Bendrosios psichologijos katedros kartu su ilgamečiais partneriais Nebraskos Kearney universitetu (JAV) tęsia tradicija tampančių vaizdo konferencijų, skirtų psichologijos studentų darbams pristatyti, seriją m. lapkričio 17 d. įvyko septintoji tarptautinė vaizdo konferencija Tarptautinis simpoziumas Aktualus tyrimai psichologijoje: tarptautinė patirtis. Šioje konferencijoje pranešimus skaitė Vytauto Didžiojo universiteto ir Nebraskos Kearney universiteto (JAV) psichologijos bakalauro studijų absolventai, magistro studijų programų studentai ir doktorantai. Tarptautinio simpoziumo Aktualūs tyrimai psichologijoje: tarptautinė patirtis, įvykusio 2010 m. lapkričio 17 d. Kaune ir Kearney, pranešimų santraukos Abstracts of the International Symposium Recent Research Topics in Psychology: International Experience, November 17, 2010, Kaunas and Kearney TIME PERIOD OF ABUSE AND RISKY SEXUAL BEHAVIOR IN ADULTHOOD Ava Sauter, Scott Stoltenberg, Faculty Advisor: Cheryl Anagnopoulos Black Hills State University, USA The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of risky sexual behaviors among individuals with childhood and adolescent trauma to see if the time period in which the trauma occurred influenced their level of risky sexual behavior. The study involved 285 volunteer college students with an average age of 23 and the majority being Caucasian. The Traumatic Antecedent Questionnaire (TAQ) was used to determine the level 159

2 Pranešimų santraukos and occurrence of trauma. The TAQ looks at various areas of trauma in childhood and adolescence and uses a scale of one to four to determine the level of trauma experienced. The participants were rated as having experienced either high or low trauma in childhood, adolescence, or both. The participants were also tested for the level of risky sexual behavior using the Risky Sex Scale. The Risky Sex Scale evaluates risky sex expectancies, risky sex behavior, and gender-based perceptions of risky sex. The results of this study indicated that there is a significant relationship (p = 0.014) between childhood trauma and risky sexual behavior for both males and females. A relationship was not found between risky sexual behavior and adolescent trauma, or both adolescent and childhood trauma. Also significant gender differences were not found. Revictimization is highly common among individuals with a past history of physical and sexual abuse. A number of studies have also shown that risky sexual behaviors play a part in future revictimization. Childhood trauma may serve to heighten an individual s risk for revictimization when considering its relationship to risky sexual behavior. THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY S AND FRIENDS SUPPORT FOR THE EMOTIONAL STATE OF CHILDREN WITH PHYSICAL CHRONIC ILLNESSES Indrė Danėnaitė, Laura Šeibokaitė Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania Introduction. Too little place in the science of health psychology is intended to children who have different illnesses and disorders like adults and who also need a psychologist s support. Though it is mentioned that family support is the most important for children, but scientific researches show that despite adequate and positive family support and the particularity of somatic illness the emotional state of children remains worse. So the aim of this study was to analyze and assess the importance of social support to the emotional state of children with physical chronic illnesses and to compare perceptible social support given by a family and friends. 133 children aged from 8 to 16 participated in the study. Among the participants there were children from 2 rehabilitation centers most of whom were ill with skeleton-muscular, respiratory, digestive illnesses. During the study children had to fill in an anonymous questionnaire which was prepared according to children s age. The questionnaire was made of these measurements: MSPSS (The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Support), DSRS (Depression Self-Rating Scale), STAI (State-Trait Assessment Inventory), FQQR (Friendship Quality Questionnaire Revised), FSM (Friendship Satisfaction Measures). Results of the study showed that children with physical chronic illnesses understand that they get more support from their families than from friends or the best friends. A bad emotional state of children with physical chronic illnesses is related with perceived social support: the more social support they perceive that they get from their families, friends or best friends, the weaker the levels of depressiveness and anxiety are. The lack of family support may predict a bad emotional state of children with 160

3 International Journal of Psychology: A Biopsychosocial Approach Tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 2011, 8, p. physical chronic illnesses when the influence of socio-demographic, illness related variables and also friendship quality features is controlled. The lack of friends support may predict a bad emotional state of the children, but when the influence of sociodemographic, illness related variables and friendship quality features is controlled, the individual value of friends support influence for bad emotional state prediction disappears. A bad emotional state of the children with physical chronic illnesses is related to friendship quality features: the stronger the features, the less the depressiveness and anxiety. It was also stated that the lack of emotional support and intimacy in friendship may predict the children s bad emotional state. Conclusions. Friendship and its features are very important to emotional state of children with physical chronic illnesses and could play essential role in those children s social development. EVALUATING QUALITY INDICATORS AND ACCREDITATION PROCESSES BETWEEN THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS AND THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY ASSOCIATION Jessica Gosda University of Nebraska at Kearney, USA The purpose of this research was to evaluate the accreditation processes and the quality indicators of the National Association of School Psychologists and the International School Psychology Association. The history of quality assurance (as used in the manufacturing / business sectors) and accreditation (as used in the educational institutions) were reviewed. The mission and history of both NASP and ISPA were then evaluated. International collaboration would enable Universities worldwide to partake in faculty and student exchange, research collaboration, and credit transfers. Matrices of NASP and ISPA standards were compiled. These matrices found that the organizations, at the program level, stated that the major components of ISPA standards are closely aligned to NASP standards. Meeting NASP, for the most part, means the program will meet ISPA standards. REACTION TO AN AUDIOVISUAL STRESSOR AND ITS CHANGE DUE TO RELAXATION TRAINING IN INDIVIDUALS WITH TYPE A BEHAVIOR PATTERN AND ALEXITHYMIA Gabija Jarašiūnaitė, Aidas Perminas Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania Probably it would be impossible to find a description of a disease, in which stress was not mentioned as one of etiological or progress stimulating factors. Stress does not necessarily cause diseases directly, but it had been proved to be a disease-enhansing factor. According to A. T. Wielgosz, R. P. Nolan (2000) and M. Connely, D. R. Denney 161

4 Pranešimų santraukos (2007), stress may increase the risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases, cause some psychological problems which may lead to accidents and suicides. Moreover, chronic stress is associated with problems at work, family, lower productivity at work and poorer life quality. It should be noted that people react to stress differently. It is argued that individuals with Type A behaviour pattern and alexitymic people are more responsive to stress, have poorer stress management skills and therefore are much more likely to suffer from psychosomatic illnesses. Cardiovascular diseases are the most common cause of death in the Lithuanian population. In 2009, cardiovascular diseases accounted for 55,5 percent of the deaths (Statistics Department of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, 2010). Thus, prevention of psychosomatic diseases is very relevant. Stress is a natural phenomenon and nobody can escape it, because no one can protect people from exciting events, troubles, tenssion and danger. However, negative concequencies to health can be avoided or at least reduced by increasing peoples resistance to stress and relaxation training (Shaffer, 1982). Many researchers focus on Type A and alexithymia concept and their links to various diseases, but not many research have been carried out measuring individuals, who have Type A or alexithymia, response to stress, susceptibility to various relaxation techniques and effectiveness of the techniques used to reduce physiological reaction to stressors. 19 men and 71 woman aged between 18 and 30 (mean age 21,9 ± 2,5) were subjects of the study. The participants were randomly assigned into 3 different groups. Two groups received 4 relaxation training sessions (progressive muscle relaxation or biofeedback relaxation) once a week, between two measurements of their reaction to an audivisual stressor. The third group was a control group. Its reaction to the audiovisual stressor was also measured, but its participants did not receive any relaxation training. Subjects completed the Students Jenkin s Activity Survey (SJAS) to measure their degree of Type A pattern. The identification of high and low alexithymia was based on the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Body temperature, skin conductance, heart rate and respiratory rate were recorded while measuring participants reaction to the audiovisual stressor. Results of the study showed that there were no differences in the subjects with more and less Type A behaviour in their reaction to an audiovisual stressor. Conversely, the subjects with high alexithymia showed increasingly higher reaction to an audiovisual stressor compared to the subjects with low alexithymia. The subjects who had more Type A behaviour showed better results than the subjects who had less Type A behaviour in reducing their physiological reaction to an audiovisual stressor after the relaxation training. The subjects with high alexithymia showed lower skin conductance results than the subjects with low alexithymia while measuring their reaction to an audiovisual stressor for the second time after the relaxation training, but their heart rate was higher in comparison to the low alexithymic subjects. Progressive muscle relaxation was more effective for the subjects with high alexithymia in reducing their physiological reaction to an audiovisual stressor than biofeedback relaxation. 162

5 International Journal of Psychology: A Biopsychosocial Approach Tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 2011, 8, p. STUDENT AND TEACHER PERCEPTIONS OF QUALITY MATH INSTRUCTION Robin R. Sobansky University of Nebraska at Kearney, USA Amy L. Doerr, Jeffrey O. Bauer Wayne State College, USA Current research states that the classroom behavior of individual teachers has a significant impact upon students (Nussbaum, 1992). Teachers beliefs, behaviors and attitudes are invaluable variables to student learning (White-Clark, DiCarlo, Gilchriest, 2008); however, there is little consensus regarding the specific characteristics that exemplify an effective math teacher. The need for evidence is pressing given that at least one-third of students enter high school without acquiring minimal math mastery (Nation s Report Card, 2005). In response to the poor math performance of U.S. students, the National Mathematics Advisory Panel s 2007 report emphasized that instructional practices must be addressed to strengthen math education in order to give our students the skills to succeed in the 21 st century (U.S. Department of Education, p. 2). The aim of this study was to explore the relationships between teacher and student perceptions regarding pedagogical behaviors and attributes displayed by math educators. The study involved 90 high school math teachers and 180 undergraduate college students in the Midwest. Participants responded to a survey regarding the frequency and importance of identified characteristics in math teachers. Results of the study showed significant differences in teachers and students perceptions of how frequently teachers engage in pedagogical behaviors and the level of importance placed on teacher attitudes and behaviors. Statistically significant differences were also found with respect to gender and levels of experience. Findings suggest that understanding differential indicators of quality instruction may help educators improve students mathematical achievement. SELF-RATED HEALTH AND ITS CHANGES OF PATIENTS WITH DEPRESSION AND SCHIZOPHRENIA DURING HOSPITAL TREATMENT Brigita Miežienė, Antanas Goštautas Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania Introduction. According to the bio-psycho-social model, proposed by World Health Organization in 1948, it is necessary to implement a holistic approach to the sick person. In the case of various diseases, including mental, intervention-based on psychological theories can be applied, and it leads to management of these diseases or reduction of its negative consequences. Collaborative endeavors of psychology and medicine could lessen the costs of the treatment. And we need to consider not only disease management, but also improvement of health and well-being of patients. So subjective well-being should be evaluated as well as biomedical indicators. One of the health damage, well-being and recovery characteristic is subjective assessment of own health. Self-rated health is a psychological construct and it affects daily 163

6 Pranešimų santraukos quality of life, motivation to engage in social activities and reflects the functioning in the organization. In addition, self-rated health reflects the patients attitudes and feelings which could be important in evaluating the effectiveness of the treatment. Considering the evaluation of own health as an indicator of functioning in various fields of life, then the change of subjective health evaluation during inpatient treatment should be considered as recovery rate. The aim of the study was to identify and compare patients with depression and schizophrenia self-rated health, its changes during inpatient treatment and links with sociodemographic, clinical and cognitive characteristics. Methodology. The study included 149 patients of Žiegždriai psychiatric hospital, 69 diagnosed with depression and 80 with schizophrenia, the average age of men was 38,57, women 41,79 years. Self-rated health was assessed by 64 claims questionnaire (Goštautas, 2008). Factor analysis was done, seven factors self-rated health components (physical capacity, physical resistance, physical well-being, psychological orientation, cognitive-emotional aspects, social support, socio-economic conditions) were extracted. Research consisted of two stages: evaluation of the self-rated health at the beginning and at the end of the inpatient treatment. Cognitive abilities in this work were assessed using WAIS-III comprehension, similarities and digit span subtests (Wechsler, 1955). The main results and conclusions. The study results revealed that schizophrenic patients evaluated their physical and psychological components of self-rated health better, but social components worse than depressed patients did. At the end of the impatient treatment many components of self-rated health have improved. The evaluation of physical well-being improved the most in both, patients with depression and schizophrenia, groups. Changes of components indexes in patients with depression and schizophrenia groups were similar. Better health assessment components changes in patients with depression group usually associated with larger changes in memory, higher education and male gender, in patients with schizophrenia group only with education. Implication. The patient s own health indicators, if integrated in mental health care system, could reflect the recovery rate and psychosocial adjustment processes. Analysis of these subjects expands the choice of interventions, facilitates the integration of a variety of ways to help the patient. Self-rated health assessment questionnaire proved to be a good tool for health psychologists working in psychiatric hospital. 164 USING CURRICULUM-BASED MEASUREMENTS AS PREDICTORS FOR THE MEASURES OF ACADEMIC PROGRESS (MAP) STANDARDIZED TEST IN NEBRASKA Karen Merino University of Nebraska at Kearney, USA The purpose of this study was to measure the efficacy of using curriculum-based measurements, oral reading fluency and maze, as predictors of performance on the

7 International Journal of Psychology: A Biopsychosocial Approach Tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 2011, 8, p. Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) in the state of Nebraska. Archival data were collected from a public elementary school in Nebraska, which enrolls diverse students from various backgrounds, with 39 % of them being English Language Learners (ELL). The participants of this study were 376 elementary students in 2 nd through 5 th grade. The participants took the CBM oral reading fluency, maze, and MAP reading assessments in the Spring and Fall Semesters of the year The findings of this study indicated that the oral reading fluency and the combination of oral reading fluency and maze scores significantly predicted MAP reading scores (p<.05) in both semesters. In addition, the maze scores did not significantly predict MAP reading scores in all grades (p >.05), only in 4 th grade in the fall semester. The evidence obtained in the present study suggests the idea of using oral reading fluency to monitor students progress and to use it to the target students who are at-risk of failing high-stakes reading tests. THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SELF-ESTEEM AND SEXUAL SATISFACTION IN YOUNG MALE ADULTS Audronė Salygienė, Kristina Žardeckaitė-Matulaitienė Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania Introduction. In recent decades research in human sexuality was increasing as an indicator of growing interest in a variety of factors related to human well-being and health. However, research in this particular field of human life is limited to the exploration of diseases, sexual education and so on. Still relationship between sexuality and general health or well-being is declared. Sexual satisfaction is one of the most important indicators of general life satisfaction, especially for males (Colson et al., 2005; Abdo, 2007). Research in males sexual satisfaction and contributing factors is important because men encounter more difficulties in sexual field than women (Colson et al., 2005). Most of these difficulties could be related to biological factors (e.g., erection problems), but socio-demographical features (age, salary, education level, job characteristics, religion, etc.) and psychological aspects of men s life (e.g., self-esteem, self-disclosure, body image, etc.) also contribute to their sexual satisfaction (Beuttel et al., 2002; Nicolas, 2004; Cheung et al., 2008; Kontula, Haavio-Mannila, 2009). Research shows that selfesteem is also one of important factors in men s life influencing general satisfaction with life (Šilinskas, Žukauskienė, 2004) and is related to erection dysfunction (Cappelleri et al., 2004). But relationship between men s self-esteem and sexual satisfaction usually is discussed only in the context of biological problems with sexuality. In order to avoid significant influence of biological factors to sexual satisfaction we decided to explore possible relationship between males self-esteem and sexual satisfaction in young adulthood. So the aim of the study was to investigate the correlation between men s self esteem and sexual satisfaction considering socio-demographical factors. Methodology. A self-report questionnaire on line survey was carried out among 129 males (age raged from 18 to 25). Participants self-esteem was measured by Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Cronbach s alpha = 0.52). Sexual satisfaction was evaluated by C.H.N Abdo (2007) The Male Sexual Quotient (Cronbach s alpha = 0.73). Also participants were asked to answer some questions related to their social (having a partner, 165

8 Pranešimų santraukos marital status, duration of partnership, religiosity, a number of sexual partners) and demographical (work, earnings, education, age of first sexual intercourse) aspects of their life. Lie scale from Eysenck Personality Questionnaire was used to control possible impact of social desirability effect (Cronbach s alpha = 0.68). Results. The results showed that male s self-esteem is related to their sexual satisfaction: the greater self-esteem, the higher sexual satisfaction. It was also found that sexual satisfaction is related with a number of sexual partners: the more sexual partners, the greater sexual satisfaction. No statistically significant relationships coherence was found between sexual satisfaction and work experience, earnings, education, religiosity, age of first sexual intercourse, having or not partner, marital status and relationship duration. Implications. Since this study is only the first step towards better understanding of Lithuanian males sexual satisfaction, it has some limitations which need to be encountered. First of all we studied sexual satisfaction of young males only. It would be important to study differences of sexual satisfaction in different age groups of men. Longitudinal study could enlighten age trends of sexual satisfaction also. And of course there are a lot of social and psychological factors influencing men s sexual satisfaction which we did not address in this research and which should be investigated in the future research. 166