Online Acceptance and Commitment Training Program for Educator Stress and Burnout

Educator stress and burnout are of major concern in the modern education system. Burnout is a condition that is common among many professions, particularly those in human services, however teaching has been credited as one of the main sources of the syndrome. Acceptance and Commitment Training is one form of treatment that may be able to ameliorate the symptoms of burnout. The present data provide an evaluation of an Online Acceptance and Commitment Training program for educators in the treatment of burnout symptoms and its effects on psychological flexibility. Altogether, nine participants took part in the study in a control group and an ACTraining group, and their pre- and post-assessments were analyzed. The results of the study yielded statistically significant reductions in the symptoms of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization related to burnout (t(4.597)=0.660, p=0.010; t(3.625)=3.341, p=0.033). The data suggest that the online program may have potential utility in reducing symptoms of burnout syndrome, and future research should be conducted to further determine the effectiveness of the program

AN INVESTIGATION OF VALUES AS HIERARCHICAL RELATIONAL NETWORKS: TRANSFORMATION OF CONSEQUENTIAL STIMULUS FUNCTIONS AND MOTIVATIVE AUGMENTALS

Human valuing is a topic of study in many disciplines concerned with the behavior of humans in terms of its relationship to individual as well as group behavior. Many disciplines provide a theory of how values effect behavior, however a behavior analytic approach may demonstrate utility in terms of both understanding the formation of values as well as procedures that incorporate valuing into interventions for common psychological problems. Relational Frame Theory (RFT), a psychological account of human language and cognition, which has its foundation in behavior analysis, may provide an empirically-valid account of the formation of values and the mechanisms though which it effects behavior. Language processes including hierarchical, or categorical, relational responding, the transformation of consequential stimulus function, and rule-governed behavior may contribute to the act of human valuing. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a clinical derivative of RFT, incorporates values as a central component of treatment. This series of three studies sought to add to the empirical understanding of human valuing through two basic and one translational study. Study 1 examined the transformation of consequential stimulus functions in accordance with hierarchical networks, completed in a multiple baseline design. Results of this study suggest that, given sufficient strength of derived relations, the transformation was demonstrated by five of six participants. Study 2 evaluated the motivative effect of stimuli in a hierarchical relational network, completed in a multiple baseline design. The results suggest that in the presence of directly trained stimuli the motivative augmentals did not influence responding for four of four participants, however they did in a novel context for three of three participants. Study 3 sought to measure the effect of an arbitrary symbol related to a values-focused hierarchy as a motivative augmental for academic performance with a sample of undergraduate university students in a classroom setting. Together, these studies reflect a number of the languages processes necessary if an RFT-focused conceptualization of human valuing is accurate

A Socio-Behavioral Model of Racism Against the Black Community and Avenues for Anti-Racism Research

Sociological researchers have made immense strides in understanding systemic racism, privilege, and bias against Black people. Relational Frame Theory provides a contemporary account of human language and cognition that intersects within complex external contingency systems that may provide a provisionally adequate model of racial bias and racism. We propose a reticulated model that includes nested relational frames and external contingency systems that operate at the level of the individual (implicit), communities (white privilege), and system policies (systemic racism). This approach is organized from within the framework of Critical Race Theory as an area of sociological scholarship that captures racial disadvantages at multiple levels of organization. We extend this model by describing avenues for future research to inform anti-racism strategies to dismantle this complex and pervasive socio-behavioral phenomenon. At all levels, police violence against the Black community is provided as a case example of negative social impact of racism in our society