Are your students safe to learn? The role of lecturer’s authentic leadership in the creation of psychologically safe environments and their impact on academic performance:The role of teacher's authentic leadership on the creation of psychologically safe environments and their impact on academic performance

As the role of students and lecturers in higher education changes, several questions emerge about the role of each of them on students? academic performance. This includes questions regarding the impact of the relationships between students, lecturer?s characteristics and the social environment on students? performance. To address these questions, this article reports a study of the impact of lecturer authentic leadership, psychological safety and network density on academic performance. It explores the relationship between network density, psychological safety and lecturer authentic leadership. A questionnaire was distributed to undergraduate students. A positive impact of lecturer authentic leadership and psychological safety on academic performance was found. Students from high-density groups tended to show better academic performance, higher psychological safety and tended to see their lecturers as being more authentic. A reflection on the role of the lecturer in higher education settings is presented. It also presents some recommendations on how student academic performance can be improved by the adoption of specific behaviours by their lecturer

Beyond motivation: Job and work design for development, health, ambidexterity, and more

Much research shows it is possible to design motivating work, which has positive consequences for individuals and their organizations. This article reviews research that adopts this motivational perspective on work design, and it emphasizes that it is important to continue to refine motivational theories. In light of continued large numbers of poor-quality jobs, attention must also be given to influencing practice and policy to promote the effective implementation of enriched work designs. Nevertheless, current and future work-based challenges mean that designing work for motivation is necessary but insufficient. This review argues that work design can be a powerful vehicle for learning and development, for maintaining and enhancing employees' physical and mental health, and for achieving control and flexibility simultaneously (for example, in the form of ambidexterity); all these outcomes are important given the challenges in today's workplaces. The review concludes by suggesting methodological directions

Self-esteem is associated with premorbid adjustment and positive psychotic symptoms in early psychosis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Low levels of self-esteem have been implicated as both a cause and a consequence of severe mental disorders. The main aims of the study were to examine whether premorbid adjustment has an impact on the subject's self-esteem, and whether lowered self-esteem contributes to the development of delusions and hallucinations.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>A total of 113 patients from the Thematically Organized Psychosis research study (TOP) were included at first treatment. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was used to assess present symptoms. Premorbid adjustment was measured with the Premorbid Adjustment Scale (PAS) and self-esteem by the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Premorbid social adjustment was significantly related to lower self-esteem and explained a significant proportion of the variance in self-esteem. Self-esteem was significantly associated with the levels of persecutory delusions and hallucinations experienced by the patient and explained a significant proportion of the variance even after adjusting for premorbid functioning and depression.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There are reasons to suspect that premorbid functioning is an important aspect in the development of self- esteem, and, furthermore, that self-esteem is associated with the development of delusions and hallucinations.</p

The psychosocial impact of home use medical devices on the lives of older people: a qualitative study

Background Increased life expectancy and the accompanying prevalence of chronic conditions have led to the focus and delivery of health care migrating from the hospital and into people’s homes. While previous studies have investigated the integration of particular types of medical devices into the home, it was our intention to describe how medical devices are integrated into the lives of older people. Methods Adopting a qualitative study design, 12 older people, who used medical devices in the home, took part in in-depth, semi structured interviews. In 7 of the interviews participants and their partners were interviewed together. These interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed thematically. Results Two themes were constructed that describe how medical devices that are used in the home present certain challenges to older people and their partners in how the device is adopted and the personal adaptations that they are required to make. The first theme of 'self-esteem’ highlighted the psychological impact on users. The second theme of 'the social device' illustrated the social impact of these devices on the user and the people around them. Conclusions We found that these devices had both a positive and negative psychosocial impact on users’ lives. An improved understanding of these psychological and social issues may assist both designers of medical devices and the professionals who issue them to better facilitate the integration of medical devices into the homes and lives of older people

The role of metacognition in self-critical rumination: an investigation in individuals presenting with low self-esteem

Background: No research, to date, has directly investigated the role of metacognition in self-critical rumination and low self-esteem. Aim: To investigate the presence of metacognitive beliefs about self-critical rumination; the goal of self-critical rumination and its stop signal; and the degree of detachment from intrusive self-critical thoughts. Method: Ten individuals reporting both a self-acknowledged tendency to judge themselves critically and having low self-esteem were assessed using metacognitive profiling, a semi-structured interview. Results: All participants endorsed both positive and negative metacognitive beliefs about self-critical rumination. Positive metacognitive beliefs concerned the usefulness of self-critical rumination as a means of improving cognitive performance and enhancing motivation. Negative metacognitive beliefs concerned the uncontrollability of self-critical rumination and its negative impact on mood, motivation and perception of self-worth. The primary goal of engaging in self-critical rumination was to achieve a better or clearer understanding of a given trigger situation or to feel more motivated to resolve it. However, only four participants were able to identify when this goal had been achieved, which was if the trigger situation were not to occur again. Participants unanimously stated that they were either unable to detach from their self-critical thoughts or could do so some of the time with varying degrees of success. More often than not, though, self-critical thoughts were viewed as facts, would rarely be seen as distorted or biased, and could take hours or days to dissipate. Conclusions: These findings provide preliminary evidence that specific facets of metacognition play a role in the escalation and perseveration of self-critical rumination

Radically open-dialectical behavior therapy for adult anorexia nervosa: feasibility and outcomes from an inpatient program

Background Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is a highly life-threatening disorder that is extremely difficult to treat. There is evidence that family-based therapies are effective for adolescent AN, but no treatment has been proven to be clearly effective for adult AN. The methodological challenges associated with studying the disorder have resulted in recommendations that new treatments undergo preliminary testing prior to being evaluated in a randomized clinical trial. The aim of this study was to provide preliminary evidence on the effectiveness of a treatment program based on a novel adaptation of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for adult Anorexia Nervosa (Radically Open-DBT; RO-DBT) that conceptualizes AN as a disorder of overcontrol. Methods Forty-seven individuals diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa-restrictive type (AN-R; mean admission body mass index = 14.43) received the adapted DBT inpatient program (mean length of treatment = 21.7 weeks). Results Seventy-two percent completed the treatment program demonstrating substantial increases in body mass index (BMI; mean change in BMI = 3.57) corresponding to a large effect size (d = 1.91). Thirty-five percent of treatment completers were in full remission, and an additional 55% were in partial remission resulting in an overall response rate of 90%. These same individuals demonstrated significant and large improvements in eating-disorder related psychopathology symptoms (d = 1.17), eating disorder-related quality of life (d = 1.03), and reductions in psychological distress (d = 1.34). Conclusions RO-DBT was associated with significant improvements in weight gain, reductions in eating disorder symptoms, decreases in eating-disorder related psychopathology and increases in eating disorder-related quality of life in a severely underweight sample. These findings provide preliminary support for RO-DBT in treating AN-R suggesting the importance of further evaluation examining long-term outcomes using randomized controlled trial methodology

Expensive Egos: Narcissistic Males Have Higher Cortisol

Background: Narcissism is characterized by grandiosity, low empathy, and entitlement. There has been limited research regarding the hormonal correlates of narcissism, despite the potential health implications. This study examined the role of participant narcissism and sex on basal cortisol concentrations in an undergraduate population. Methods and Findings: Participants were 106 undergraduate students (79 females, 27 males, mean age 20.1 years) from one Midwestern and one Southwestern American university. Narcissism was assessed using the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, and basal cortisol concentrations were collected from saliva samples in a laboratory setting. Regression analyses examined the effect of narcissism and sex on cortisol (log). There were no sex differences in basal cortisol, F(1,97) =.20, p =.65, and narcissism scores, F(1,97) =.00, p =.99. Stepwise linear regression models of sex and narcissism and their interaction predicting cortisol concentrations showed no main effects when including covariates, but a significant interaction, b =.27, p =.04. Narcissism was not related to cortisol in females, but significantly predicted cortisol in males. Examining the effect of unhealthy versus healthy narcissism on cortisol found that unhealthy narcissism was marginally related to cortisol in females, b =.27, p =.06, but significantly predicted higher basal cortisol in males, b =.72, p =.01, even when controlling for potential confounds. No relationship was found between sex, narcissism, or their interaction on selfreported stress

Identifying educator behaviours for high quality verbal feedback in health professions education: literature review and expert refinement

Background Health professions education is characterised by work-based learning and relies on effective verbal feedback. However the literature reports problems in feedback practice, including lack of both learner engagement and explicit strategies for improving performance. It is not clear what constitutes high quality, learner-centred feedback or how educators can promote it. We hoped to enhance feedback in clinical practice by distinguishing the elements of an educator’s role in feedback considered to influence learner outcomes, then develop descriptions of observable educator behaviours that exemplify them. Methods An extensive literature review was conducted to identify i) information substantiating specific components of an educator’s role in feedback asserted to have an important influence on learner outcomes and ii) verbal feedback instruments in health professions education, that may describe important educator activities in effective feedback. This information was used to construct a list of elements thought to be important in effective feedback. Based on these elements, descriptions of observable educator behaviours that represent effective feedback were developed and refined during three rounds of a Delphi process and a face-to-face meeting with experts across the health professions and education. Results The review identified more than 170 relevant articles (involving health professions, education, psychology and business literature) and ten verbal feedback instruments in health professions education (plus modified versions). Eighteen distinct elements of an educator’s role in effective feedback were delineated. Twenty five descriptions of educator behaviours that align with the elements were ratified by the expert panel. Conclusions This research clarifies the distinct elements of an educator’s role in feedback considered to enhance learner outcomes. The corresponding set of observable educator behaviours aim to describe how an educator could engage, motivate and enable a learner to improve. This creates the foundation for developing a method to systematically evaluate the impact of verbal feedback on learner performance