The relationship of self-control, procrastination, motivational interference and regret with school grades and life balance

"Eine typische Herausforderung für Jugendliche ist die Bewältigung von Aufgaben im akademischen Bereich und verschiedenen anderen Lebensbereichen. Die vorliegende Arbeit betrachtet Selbstkontrolle, Prokrastination, motivationale Interferenz und Bedauern nach einer getroffenen Entscheidung als Determinanten von Schulnoten und Lebensbalance. Diese Prädiktoren werden für die Bewältigung multipler Handlungsalternativen als relevant angesehen. Während Selbstkontrolle als generelle Ressource betrachtet wird, die mit verschiedensten positiven Ergebnisvariablen in Verbindung steht, werden die anderen drei Determinanten in Zusammenhang mit dem Umgang mit Konflikten bei multiplen Handlungsalternativen gesehen. An der Studie nahmen 348 Zehntklässler teil, die während der regulären Unterrichtszeit einen Fragebogen ausfüllten. Die Ergebnisse der Regressionsanalyse zeigten, dass Selbstkontrolle ein signifikanter Prädiktor für Schulnoten und Lebensbalance war, wohingegen Prokrastination nur mit Schulnoten zusammenhing und motivationale Interferenz sowie Bedauern mit Lebensbalance verknüpft waren. Die Bedeutung dieses differenziellen Musters wird im Hinblick auf die Lebensbewältigung von Jugendlichen diskutiert." (Autorenreferat)"In this study, self-control, procrastination, motivational interference, and regret are regarded as determinants of school grades and of life balance (defined as the experience of a subjectively balanced life). Dealing with tasks in the academic field and in various other life arenas is typical for adolescents. The predictors are regarded as relevant for handling multiple alternative activities. Selfcontrol is seen as a resource associated with positive outcomes in people's lives. The other variables are seen as tightly associated with handling multiple alternative activities in goal conflicts. The sample consisted of 348 tenth graders who completed a questionnaire during regular school lessons. Results of regression analyses showed that self-control was a significant predictor of school grades and life balance, while procrastination was only related to school grades, and that motivational interference as well as regret were associated with life balance. The significance of this differential pattern for adolescents' lives is discussed." (author's abstract

Strukturierte Versorgung von Patient*innen mit atraumatischen Bauchschmerzen in der Notaufnahme

Background: Patients with atraumatic abdominal pain are common in the emergency department and have a relatively high hospital mortality, with a very wide spectrum of different causes. Rapid, goal-directed diagnosis is essential in this context. Methods: In a Delphi process with representatives of different disciplines, a diagnostic treatment pathway was designed, which is called the Abdominal Pain Unit (APU). Results: The treatment pathway was designed as an extended event process chain. Crucial decision points were specified using standard operating procedures. Discussion: The APU treatment pathway establishes a consistent treatment structure for patients with atraumatic abdominal pain. It has the potential to improve the quality of care and reduce intrahospital mortality over the long term

Stratification in systemic sclerosis according to autoantibody status versus skin involvement: a study of the prospective EUSTAR cohort

Background: The current subclassification of systemic sclerosis into cutaneous subtypes does not fully capture the heterogeneity of the disease. We aimed to compare the performances of stratification into LeRoy's cutaneous subtypes versus stratification by autoantibody status in systemic sclerosis. Methods: For this cohort study, we assessed people with systemic sclerosis in the multicentre international European Scleroderma Trials and Research (EUSTAR) database. Individuals positive for systemic-sclerosis autoantibodies of two specificities were excluded, and remaining individuals were classified by cutaneous subtype, according to their systemic sclerosis-specific autoantibodies, or both. We assessed the performance of each model to predict overall survival, progression-free survival, disease progression, and different organ involvement. The three models were compared by use of the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic and the net reclassification improvement (NRI). Missing data were imputed. Findings: We assessed the database on July 26, 2019. Of 16 939 patients assessed for eligibility, 10 711 patients were included: 1647 (15·4%) of 10 709 were male, 9062 (84·6%) were female, mean age was 54·4 (SD 13·8) years, and mean disease duration was 7·9 (SD 8·2) years. Information regarding cutaneous subtype was available for 10 176 participants and antibody data were available for 9643 participants. In the prognostic analysis, there was no difference in AUC for overall survival (0·82, 95% CI 0·81-0·84 for cutaneous only vs 0·84, 0·82-0·85 for antibody only vs 0·84, 0·83-0·86 for combined) or for progression-free survival (0·70, 0·69-0·71 vs 0·71, 0·70-0·72 vs 0·71, 0·70-0·72). However, at 4 years the NRI showed substantial improvement for the antibody-only model compared with the cutaneous-only model in prediction of overall survival (0·57, 0·46-0·71 for antibody only vs 0·29, 0·19-0·39 for cutaneous only) and disease progression (0·36, 0·29-0·46 vs 0·21, 0·14-0·28). The antibody-only model did better than the cutaneous-only model in predicting renal crisis (AUC 0·72, 0·70-0·74 for antibody only vs 0·66, 0·64-0·69 for cutaneous only) and lung fibrosis leading to restrictive lung function (AUC 0·76, 0·75-0·77 vs 0·71, 0·70-0·72). The combined model improved the prediction of digital ulcers and elevated systolic pulmonary artery pressure, but did poorly for cardiac involvement. Interpretation: The autoantibody-only model outperforms cutaneous-only subsetting for risk stratifying people with systemic sclerosis in the EUSTAR cohort. Physicians should be aware of these findings at the time of decision making for patient management. Funding: World Scleroderma Foundation

Temporal and spatial analysis of the 2014-2015 Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa

West Africa is currently witnessing the most extensive Ebola virus (EBOV) outbreak so far recorded. Until now, there have been 27,013 reported cases and 11,134 deaths. The origin of the virus is thought to have been a zoonotic transmission from a bat to a two-year-old boy in December 2013 (ref. 2). From this index case the virus was spread by human-to-human contact throughout Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. However, the origin of the particular virus in each country and time of transmission is not known and currently relies on epidemiological analysis, which may be unreliable owing to the difficulties of obtaining patient information. Here we trace the genetic evolution of EBOV in the current outbreak that has resulted in multiple lineages. Deep sequencing of 179 patient samples processed by the European Mobile Laboratory, the first diagnostics unit to be deployed to the epicentre of the outbreak in Guinea, reveals an epidemiological and evolutionary history of the epidemic from March 2014 to January 2015. Analysis of EBOV genome evolution has also benefited from a similar sequencing effort of patient samples from Sierra Leone. Our results confirm that the EBOV from Guinea moved into Sierra Leone, most likely in April or early May. The viruses of the Guinea/Sierra Leone lineage mixed around June/July 2014. Viral sequences covering August, September and October 2014 indicate that this lineage evolved independently within Guinea. These data can be used in conjunction with epidemiological information to test retrospectively the effectiveness of control measures, and provides an unprecedented window into the evolution of an ongoing viral haemorrhagic fever outbreak.status: publishe

Werte als Determinanten und Konsequenzen von Konflikten zwischen On-task und Off-task Handlungen

Schülerverhalten ; Motivation ; Wer

Do individual values influence motivation and learning success in case of conflicts between school and leisure time?

Viele Schüler sind nachmittags angesichts hoher schulischer Erwartungen und breiter Freizeitangebote zwischen dem Erledigen von Aufgaben für die Schule und selbstbestimmten Aktivitäten hin- und hergerissen. In einem Experiment wurde untersucht, ob die Leistungs- bzw. Wohlbefindensorientierung von Studierenden die motivationale Regulation und das Ergebnis des Lernens bei einem Lern-Freizeit-Konflikt beeinflusst. Wertorientierungen wurden durch Priming aktiviert und ihr Einfluss auf motivationale Interferenz und Erfolg beim Erlernen naturwissenschaftlicher Inhalte ermittelt. Während des Lernens konnten die Studierenden auf Musikvideos übergehen, wobei variiert wurde, ob jeweils ein oder zwei Videos zur Verfügung standen. Die Regulation des Lernens wurde über einen Fragebogen zum Erleben motivationaler Interferenz erhoben. Lernerfolg wurde über einen Multiple Choice Test sowie die Anzahl korrekt reproduzierter Abbildungselemente erfasst. Studierende in der Wohlbefindens-Bedingung zeigten wie erwartet höhere motivationale Interferenz als die Kontrollgruppe, wohingegen Studierende in der Leistungs-Bedingung weder geringere Interferenz noch höhere Lernleistungen aufwiesen. Bei Studierenden in der Wohlbefindens-Gruppe zeigte sich im Multiple Choice Test eine bessere Leistung bei einer im Vergleich zu zwei attraktiven Alternativhandlungen. (DIPF/Orig.)In view of high academic expectations and a broad offer of leisure time activities in the afternoons, students are torn between doing schoolwork and attending to self-determined activities. In an experiment, the authors examined whether the students´ orientation towards achievement or towards well-being influences the motivational regulation and the result of learning in the case of a conflict between study and recreation. Value orientations were activated through priming and their influence on motivational interference and success in learning scientific contents was determined. While learning, students were allowed to switch to music videos, with the number of available videos varying between one and two. The regulation of learning was ascertained by means of a questionnaire on the experience of motivational interference. Learning success was determined through a multiple choice test as well as the number of correctly reproduced elements of mapping. As was to be expected, wellness-oriented students showed a higher motivational interference than the control group, whereas students oriented towards achievement showed neither lower interference nor higher achievement. Students in the group oriented towards well-being showed higher achievement in the multiple choice test when being offered one as compared to two attractive alternative actions. (DIPF/Orig.

Cognitive ability and personality variables as predictors of school grades and test scores in adolescents

Hofer M, Kuhnle C, Kilian B, Fries S. Cognitive ability and personality variables as predictors of school grades and test scores in adolescents. Learning and Instruction. 2012;22(5):368-375.The predictive power of cognitive ability and self-control strength for self-reported grades and an achievement test were studied. It was expected that the variables use of time structure, academic procrastination, and motivational interference during learning further aid in predicting students' achievement because they are operative in situations of school-leisure conflict. A sample of 697 eighth-graders was tested twice within the interval of a single school year (about eight months). Cognitive ability and self-control explained substantial variance of grade changes. Procrastination displayed a further portion of the variance. Personality variables were better predictors of grades, while cognitive ability showed higher variance with the achievement test. Variables tapping aspects of self-control strength have been interpreted as key determinants of learning outcomes. The findings suggest that it might be useful to identify students who are at risk, allowing these students to train their ability to shield studying from leisure distractions. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Do individual Values Influence Motivation and Learning Success in case of Conflicts between School and Leisure Time? An experimental investigation

Hofer M, Kilian B, Kuhnle C, Schmid S. Do individual Values Influence Motivation and Learning Success in case of Conflicts between School and Leisure Time? An experimental investigation. ZEITSCHRIFT FUR PADAGOGIK. 2011;57(3):385-403.In view of high academic expectations and a broad offer of leisure time activities in the afternoons, students are torn between doing schoolwork and attending to self-determined activities. In an experiment, the authors examined whether the students' orientation towards achievement or towards well-being influences the motivational regulation and the result of learning in the case of a conflict between study and recreation. Value orientations were activated through priming and their influence on motivational interference and success in learning scientific contents was determined. While learning, students were allowed to switch to music videos, with the number of available videos varying between one and two. The regulation of learning was ascertained by means of a questionnaire on the experience of motivational interference. Learning success was determined through a multiple choice test as well as the number of correctly reproduced elements of mapping. As was to be expected, wellness-oriented students showed a higher motivational interference than the control group, whereas students oriented towards achievement showed neither lower interference nor higher achievement. Students in the group oriented towards well-being showed higher achievement in the multiple choice test when being offered one as compared to two attractive alternative actions