Psychologist Self-Care, Perceived Stress, Psychological Distress, and Coping Self-Efficacy Across the Career-Span

Psychologists are expected to engage in self-care strategies aimed at promoting and maintaining well-functioning in themselves (Saakvitne & Pearlman, 1996) in order to effectively manage the demands of their profession and better ensure the provision of quality care. However, self-care is also a clinical competency of professional psychology that has historically been insufficiently addressed in training (Donovan & Ponce, 2009). According to the APA Board of Professional Affairs Advisory Committee on Colleague Assistance, a better understanding of functioning in psychologists is necessary to properly promote self-care across the career-span (2005). There is a need for research in this area to establish evidence-based self-care practices. This study lends empirical support for an increased focus on psychologist self-care with specific attention to the relationships between Perceived Stress, Psychological Distress, and Coping Self-Efficacy across the career-span. Results largely support hypotheses that there are significant relationships between the variables. With regard to differences in sample means across the career-span, Late career psychologists’ scores were significantly higher than Early career psychologists’ for Self-Care frequency and Coping Self-Efficacy. Late career psychologists’ Perceived Stress levels were significantly lower. Further, there are differences in frequency and type of Self-Care practices between Early and Late career psychologists. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are provided

Psychologist Self-Care, Perceived Stress, Psychological Distress, and Coping Self-Efficacy Across the Career-Span

Psychologists are expected to engage in self-care strategies aimed at promoting and maintaining well-functioning in themselves (Saakvitne & Pearlman, 1996) in order to effectively manage the demands of their profession and better ensure the provision of quality care. However, self-care is also a clinical competency of professional psychology that has historically been insufficiently addressed in training (Donovan & Ponce, 2009). According to the APA Board of Professional Affairs Advisory Committee on Colleague Assistance, a better understanding of functioning in psychologists is necessary to properly promote self-care across the career-span (2005). There is a need for research in this area to establish evidence-based self-care practices. This study lends empirical support for an increased focus on psychologist self-care with specific attention to the relationships between Perceived Stress, Psychological Distress, and Coping Self-Efficacy across the career-span. Results largely support hypotheses that there are significant relationships between the variables. With regard to differences in sample means across the career-span, Late career psychologists’ scores were significantly higher than Early career psychologists’ for Self-Care frequency and Coping Self-Efficacy. Late career psychologists’ Perceived Stress levels were significantly lower. Further, there are differences in frequency and type of Self-Care practices between Early and Late career psychologists. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are provided

SOX18-enforced expression diverts hemogenic endothelium-derived progenitors from T towards NK lymphoid pathways

Summary: Hemogenic endothelium (HE) is the main source of blood cells in the embryo. To improve blood manufacturing from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), it is essential to define the molecular determinants that enhance HE specification and promote development of the desired blood lineage from HE. Here, using SOX18-inducible hPSCs, we revealed that SOX18 forced expression at the mesodermal stage, in contrast to its homolog SOX17, has minimal effects on arterial specification of HE, expression of HOXA genes and lymphoid differentiation. However, forced expression of SOX18 in HE during endothelial-to-hematopoietic transition (EHT) greatly increases NK versus T cell lineage commitment of hematopoietic progenitors (HPs) arising from HE predominantly expanding CD34+CD43+CD235a/CD41a−CD45− multipotent HPs and altering the expression of genes related to T cell and Toll-like receptor signaling. These studies improve our understanding of lymphoid cell specification during EHT and provide a new tool for enhancing NK cell production from hPSCs for immunotherapies

Isolation of Diverse Simian Arteriviruses Causing Hemorrhagic Disease

Genetically diverse simian arteriviruses (simarteriviruses) naturally infect geographically and phylogenetically diverse monkeys, and cross-species transmission and emergence are of considerable concern. Characterization of most simarteriviruses beyond sequence analysis has not been possible because the viruses fail to propagate in the laboratory. We attempted to isolate 4 simarteriviruses, Kibale red colobus virus 1, Pebjah virus, simian hemorrhagic fever virus, and Southwest baboon virus 1, by inoculating an immortalized grivet cell line (known to replicate simian hemorrhagic fever virus), primary macaque cells, macrophages derived from macaque induced pluripotent stem cells, and mice engrafted with macaque CD34+-enriched hematopoietic stem cells. The combined effort resulted in successful virus isolation; however, no single approach was successful for all 4 simarteriviruses. We describe several approaches that might be used to isolate additional simarteriviruses for phenotypic characterization. Our results will expedite laboratory studies of simarteriviruses to elucidate virus-host interactions, assess zoonotic risk, and develop medical countermeasures