Patterns of situational appraisal in experiences of worry and anxiety

Three studies investigating differences in people's appraisals of worry and anxiety situations are presented. First, data from a study by Reisenzein & Spielhofer (1994) were reanalyzed. Second, two further studies were conducted to replicate the findings of the reanalysis and to explore whether any additional appraisal dimensions were relevant for a differentiation of worry and anxiety situations. In sum, results showed that appraisals associated with situations in which worry and anxiety were experienced differed on eight appraisal dimensions. Compared to experiences of anxiety, experiences of worry were more often associated with positive self-evaluation, positive social-relationship evaluation, feelings of closeness, and sentiments of importance, and less often associated with feelings of inferiority. Moreover, in worry experiences, focus was often not on the self, but on other persons. Finally, with respect to temporal dimensions, worry situations were less often associated with notions of suddenness and momentariness than anxiety situations. Implications of these findings are discussed with respect to models of emotional appraisal and research on worry and generalized anxiety disorder

La mejora y la eficacia de las escuelas en zonas desfavorecidas: resumen de resultados de investigación

El autor realiza una revisión de la literatura sobre la eficacia y la mejora de escuelas situadas en zonas desfavorecidas. A partir de esta revisión extrae una serie de elementos que otros estudios han revelado como claves en el éxito de estos procesos, sea cual sea el entorno en el que se ubique la escuela; pero también encuentra ciertos factores que únicamente surgen en entornos socio-económicamente deprivados