Daily functioning, problem solving and satisfaction for quality of life in visually impaired old persons

Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of several dimensions of functioning on satisfaction for quality of life (QoL) experienced by visually impaired older adults. Participants: A sample of 58 older adults (37 women and 21 men) was involved in the study. Their age ranged from 50 to 88 years (M=68.95, SD=1.51). They were characterized by visual impairment of different origin and visual acuity (VA) ranging from 4/10 to total blindness. The QoL questionnaire was used along with short form-12 health Survey, the National Eye Institute visual function questionnaire-25 and problem solving inventory (PSI) which analyzes problem solving appraisal. Results: A stepwise regression analysis was conducted in order to find predictors of satisfaction for QoL. A contribution of mental and physical health, more specifically, of problem solving appraisal was found. Conclusion: Results support the notion that the functional relationship between visual impairment and satisfaction for QoL must be understood in terms of approaches that incorporate psychological and socio-cognitive elements. Problem solving appraisal, in fact, makes a substantial contribution to the prediction of variance in life satisfaction and it may play an important role for intervention strategies

Career Adaptability, Resilience,and Life Satisfaction in Italian and Belgian middle school student

Young people need to help to prepare to plan their future, to consider multiple career options, to be supported to develop positive life trajectories and to cope with social-economic conditions related to uneasiness, discomfort, and confusion. Considering the recent studies and the Life Design approach, the present study aimed at analyzing the relationship between career adaptability, resilience and life satisfaction on Belgian and Italian middle school students' life satisfaction. Specifically was hypothesized that career adaptability, directly and indirectly (i.e., through resilience) would predict life satisfaction in Italian and Belgian middle school students. Furthermore, it was predicted that the conceptual model would be comparable across countries. The data suggest that career adaptability is directly and indirectly, through resilience, related to life satisfaction in both the Italian and Belgium middle school students. These results have important implications for practice notably to support middle school students in their life design process

Life Design for an Inclusive and Sustainable Future

Societies today are highly complex and often impacted by uncertainty, rapid change, globalization, and inequality, all of which have significant impact on the wellbeing of people. These changes make it more difficult not only for a great part of the population to live in the present, but also for succeeding generations to aspire to and imagine a possible future. Considering this, career guidance needs a change of pace that can only be associated with investments in inclusion and sustainability. In this chapter we provide a brief historical excursion through the social role that career guidance has played through the years, and then outline possible actions that career guidance professionals could take so as to embrace, sustain, and foster the creation of a better future for everyone and to contribute to the creation of inclusive and sustainable societies.

« Premier principe : je crois en moi... parce que c’est aussi dans mon intérêt » : une formation pour renforcer les sentiments d’efficacité

La théorie sociale cognitive qui analyse les processus de choix en relation avec les intentions d’avenir met l’accent sur le caractère dynamique du comportement humain et sur le rôle actif que les individus ont sur la détermination de leurs actions. Les croyances d’efficacité jouent à cet égard un rôle important et influencent les processus à l’œuvre dans le choix d’une profession. Permettre aux personnes de mieux contrôler leur propre comportement et les aider à jouer un rôle actif peut aussi les aider à ressentir un plus grand bien-être. Nous présentons dans cet article une intervention que nous avons conçue – « premier principe : je crois en moi... parce que c’est aussi dans mon intérêt » – avec l’objectif d’accroître chez les jeunes adolescents leurs croyances d’efficacité en leurs capacités à gérer les difficultés et les exigences des situations qu’ils doivent affronter lors du changement d’établissement scolaire et lors de la transition de l’école au monde du travail.The social cognitive model that analyzes processes of choice about the future emphasizes the dynamics of the human being and the active role individuals have in self-determining their own actions. Self-efficacy beliefs have a particularly important role in that and affect the processes that are involved in career choice. Enabling individuals to have better control over their own behaviors and to take a proactive role can also favor greater perceived well-being. An intervention has been devised, “First commandment: I believe in myself... also because it is in my interest”, aiming to increase young adolescents’ self-efficacy beliefs in their ability to manage the difficult and demanding situations they may come across in school-school and school-work transitions. Verification of intervention efficacy has shown that this program seems to positively affect participants’ self-efficacy beliefs and levels of satisfaction experienced

The Cuspy LINER Nucleus of the S0/a Galaxy NGC 2681

The nucleus of the bulge-dominated, multiply-barred S0/a galaxy NGC 2681 is studied in detail, using high resolution Hubble Space Telescope FOC and NICMOS imaging and FOS spectroscopy. The ionised gas central velocity dispersion is found to increase by a factor ~2 when narrowing the aperture from R~1.5" (ground) to R~0.1" (FOS). Dynamical modeling of these velocity dispersions suggests that NGC 2681 does host a supermassive black hole (BH) for which one can estimate a firm mass upper limit M_BH < 6*10^7 Solar Masses. This upper limit is consistent with the relation between the central BH mass and velocity dispersion M_BH - sigma known for other galaxies. The emission line ratios place the nucleus of NGC 2681 among LINERs. It is likely that the emission line region comes from a rather mild, but steady, feeding of gas to the central BH in this galaxy. The inner stellar population lacks any measurable color gradient (to a radius of 0.6 kpc) from the infrared to the ultraviolet, consistently with FOC, FOS and IUE data, all indicating that this system underwent a starburst ~1 Gyr ago that encompassed its whole interior, down to its very center. The most likely source of such a widely-distributed starburst is the dumping of tidally-extruded gas from a galaxy neighbor. If so, then NGC 2681 can be considered as the older brother of M82, seen face-on as opposed to the edge-on view we have for M82.Comment: 25 pages, LaTeX, with 10 PostScript figures, to appear in The Astrophysical Journa

European Research Agenda for Career Guidance and Counselling

In a changing world, there is a need to reflect about the research basis of career guidance and counselling (CGC) as a professional practice, considering the contributions of various disciplines and research traditions. This paper outlines a possible European research agenda (ERA) to further enhance the knowledge foundation of the CGC practice. The proposed lines of research, which are pronounced in the ERA, are based on a literature review involving 45 researchers concerned with the CGC practice. At three events, approximately 150 researchers from across Europe were engaged in the discussion, what kind of research is needed to enhance the knowledge foundation of the CGC practice. The paper provides a systematic overview of the relevant research fields, and links key research questions to current research endeavours. Due to the necessary involvement of diverse types of practitioners, policy makers, and researchers from different disciplines to share the CGC practice and contribute to the development of its knowledge basis, the paper calls for open, cooperative and integrative research approaches, including the combination of different research paradigms and methods. The development of the European Research Agenda was co-funded by the European Union through the Lifelong Learning Programme

A cross-cultural comparison of the self-determination construct in Italian and American adolescents

The functional theory of self-determination (fSDT) defines and operationalises self-determination within a human agentic context. It emerged from research on adolescents with disabilities, however has been increasingly applied to youth without disabilities. While comparability has been evaluated in youth with and without disabilities, it has not been explored across cultures. The purpose of this study was to explore the cross-cultural comparability of the fSDT in a sample of Italian and American adolescents. We were specifically interested in examining the universal aspects of the self-determination construct, as well as specific differences in the operationalisation of self-determination across cultures. The findings tentatively suggest that the construct of self-determination is comparable across Italian and American adolescents; however, there are specific differences in the measurement and operationalisation of self-determination across cultures. Directions for future research are discussed