84 research outputs found
Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification (New York: American Psychological Association & Oxford University Press, 2004)
Reviewed by Gordon J. Hilsman
Gender, Anxiety, And Depressive Symptoms: A Longitudinal Study Of Early Adolescents
Does anxiety lead to depression more for girls than for boys? This study prospectively examines gender differences in the relationship between anxiety and depressive symptoms in early adolescence. One hundred thirteen 11-to 14-year-old middle school students complete questionnaires assessing depressive symptoms and three dimensions of anxiety (worry and oversensitivity, social concerns and concentration, and physiological anxiety) as well as total anxiety symptoms at an initial assessment and 1 year later. Total anxiety and worry and oversensitivity symptoms are found to predict later depressive symptoms more strongly for girls than for boys. There is a similar pattern of results for social concerns and concentration symptoms, although this does not reach statistical significance. Physiological anxiety predicts later depressive symptoms for both boys and girls. These findings highlight the importance of anxiety for the development of depression in adolescence, particularly worry and oversensitivity among girls
Preventing adolescentsâ externalizing and internalizing symptoms : effects of the Penn Resiliency Program
This study reports secondary outcome analyses from a past study of the Penn Resiliency
Program (PRP), a cognitive-behavioral depression prevention program for middle-school
aged children. Middle school students (N = 697) were randomly assigned to PRP, PEP
(an alternate intervention), or control conditions. Gillham et al., (2007) reported analyses
examining PRPâs effects on average and clinical levels of depression symptoms. We
examine PRPâs effects on parent-, teacher-, and self-reports of adolescentsâ externalizing
and broader internalizing (depression/anxiety, somatic complaints, and social
withdrawal) symptoms over three years of follow-up. Relative to no intervention control,
PRP reduced parent-reports of adolescentsâ internalizing symptoms beginning at the first
assessment after the intervention and persisting for most of the follow-up assessments.
PRP also reduced parent-reported conduct problems relative to no-intervention. There
was no evidence that the PRP program produced an effect on teacher- or self-report of
adolescentsâ symptoms. Overall, PRP did not reduce symptoms relative to the alternate
intervention, although there is a suggestion of a delayed effect for conduct problems.
These findings are discussed with attention to developmental trajectories and the
importance of interventions that address common risk factors for diverse forms of
negative outcomes.peer-reviewe
Happy Soldiers are Highest Performers
17 USC 105 interim-entered record; under review.The article of record as published may be found at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-021-00441-xWe examined the prediction of affective well-being to work performance in the United States Army. We found that high positive affect (PA), low negative affect (NA), and high optimism predicted awards for performance and heroism in a sample of 908,096 U.S. Army soldiers (mean age 29.60 years old, SD = 9.16 years; with over 1â4 of a million ethnic minor- ities and over 150,000 women). Baseline high PA, low NA, and high optimism predicted awards over a four-year follow up window, in which 114,443 soldiers (12.60%) received an award. Each well-being variable predicted future awards for both women and men, for enlisted soldiers as well as officers, for several ethnicities, for varying levels of education, and controlling for a number of other potential explanatory variables. The effects of high positive and low negative affect were additive, with each predicting significantly beyond the other. Comparing the soldiers highest vs. lowest in well-being predicted an almost four- fold greater award recognition in the high group. Awards were predicted by both high and low arousal positive emotions, as well as low sadness and low anger. The relations between PA, NA, and optimism with award attainment were curvilinear, with the greatest difference in award attainment occurring between low and moderate levels of affective well-being, with little effect between moderate and high well-being.Identified in text as U.S. Government work
Depression Prevention For Early Adolescent Girls: A Pilot Study Of All-Girls Versus Co-Ed Groups
Given the dramatic increase in depression that occurs during early adolescence in girls, interventions must address the needs of girls. The authors examined whether a depression prevention program, the Penn Resiliency Program, was more effective for girls in all-girls groups than in co-ed groups. Within co-ed groups, the authors also tested whether there were greater effects for boys than for girls. Participants were 20811-to 14-year-olds. Girls were randomly assigned to all-girls groups, co-ed groups, or control. Boys were assigned to co-ed groups or control. Students completed questionnaires on depressive symptoms, hopelessness, and explanatory style before and after the intervention. Girls groups were better than co-ed groups in reducing girlsâ hopelessness and for session attendance rates but were similar to co-ed groups in reducing depressive symptoms. Co-ed groups decreased depressive symptoms, but this did not differ by gender. Findings support prevention programs and suggest additional benefits of girls groups
School-Based Prevention Of Depressive Symptoms: A Randomized Controlled Study Of The Effectiveness And Specificity Of The Penn Resiliency Program
The authors investigated the effectiveness and specificity of the Penn Resiliency Program (PRP; J. E. Gillham, L. H. Jaycox, K. J. Reivich, M. E. P. Seligman, & T. Silver, 1990), a cognitive-behavioral depression prevention program. Children (N = 697) from 3 middle schools were randomly assigned to PRP, Control (CON), or the Penn Enhancement Program (PEP; K. J. Reivich, 1996; A. J. Shatté, 1997), an alternate intervention that controls for nonspecific intervention ingredients. Children\u27s depressive symptoms were assessed through 3 years of follow-up. There was no intervention effect on average levels of depressive symptoms in the full sample. Findings varied by school. In 2 schools, PRP significantly reduced depressive symptoms across the follow-up relative to both CON and PEP. In the 3rd school, PRP did not prevent depressive symptoms. The authors discuss the findings in relation to previous research on PRP and the dissemination of prevention programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)(journal abstract
Evaluation Of A Group Cognitive-Behavioral Depression Prevention Program For Young Adolescents: A Randomized Effectiveness Trial
Depression is a common psychological problem in adolescence. Recent research suggests that group cognitive-behavioral interventions can reduce and prevent symptoms of depression in youth. Few studies have tested the effectiveness of such interventions when delivered by school teachers and counselors (as opposed to research team staff). We evaluated the effectiveness of the Penn Resiliency Program for adolescents (PRP-A), a school-based group intervention that targets cognitive behavioral risk factors for depression. We randomly assigned 408 middle school students (ages 10â15) to one of three conditions: PRP-A, PRP-AP (in which adolescents participated in PRP-A and parents were invited to attend a parent intervention component), or a school-as-usual control. Adolescents completed measures of depression and anxiety symptoms, cognitive style, and coping at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and at 6-month follow-up. PRP-A reduced depression symptoms relative to the school as usual control. Baseline levels of hopelessness moderated intervention effects. Among participants with average and high levels of hopelessness, PRP (A and AP) significantly improved depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms, hopelessness, and active coping relative to control. Among participants with low baseline hopelessness, we found no intervention effects. PRP-AP was not more effective than PRP-A alone. We found no intervention effects on clinical levels of depression or anxiety. These findings suggest that cognitive-behavioral interventions can be beneficial when delivered by school teachers and counselors. These interventions may be most helpful to students with elevated hopelessness
Spectral Statistics of the Two-Body Random Ensemble Revisited
Using longer spectra we re-analyze spectral properties of the two-body random
ensemble studied thirty years ago. At the center of the spectra the old results
are largely confirmed, and we show that the non-ergodicity is essentially due
to the variance of the lowest moments of the spectra. The longer spectra allow
to test and reach the limits of validity of French's correction for the number
variance. At the edge of the spectra we discuss the problems of unfolding in
more detail. With a Gaussian unfolding of each spectrum the nearest neighbour
spacing distribution between ground state and first exited state is shown to be
stable. Using such an unfolding the distribution tends toward a semi-Poisson
distribution for longer spectra. For comparison with the nuclear table ensemble
we could use such unfolding obtaining similar results as in the early papers,
but an ensemble with realistic splitting gives reasonable results if we just
normalize the spacings in accordance with the procedure used for the data.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure
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