The relationship of cultural values to coping styles, perceived stress, and emotional well-being of master’s level business students at a European University

The study examined the relationships between coping strategies, emotional well-being and perceived stress under the aspect of cultural values among 226 university students. Participants completed questionnaires relating to their cultural values, emotional well-being, perceived stress, and their coping strategies. The main objective was to explore the effect of a potential mediating effect of coping styles on cultural values and well-being. It was found that cultural values had a significant effect on an individual’s preferred coping style and well-being, while coping also showed to correlate with well-being. Especially long-term orientation showed to be the strongest predictor for both coping styles and well-being. No mediating effect of coping on cultural values and well-being using a mediation analysis could be found. Additionally, it was examined whether the results for participants from Germanic European countries significantly differed from participants of Latin European origin in regard to well-being, coping styles and cultural values. It was found that uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation and task-oriented coping differed among the two groups. Based on the study’s findings, it is suggested to implement self-discipline interventions and/or tools to help students cope with stress.Este estudo examinou as relações entre estratégias de enfrentamento, bem-estar emocional e stresse percebido sob o aspeto de valores culturais entre 226 estudantes universitários. Os participantes completaram questionários referente aos seus valores culturais, bem-estar emocional e as suas estratégias de enfrentamento. O principal objetivo era explorar o efeito de um potencial efeito mediador de estilos de enfrentamento em valores culturais e bem-estar. Verificou-se que valores culturais tinham um efeito significativo no estilo preferencial de enfrentamento individual e de bem-estar, enquanto que o enfrentamento também demonstrou estar correlacionado com o bem-estar. Especialmente, a orientação a longo prazo demonstrou ser o preditor mais forte tanto para estilos de enfrentamento como para o bem-estar. Não foi encontrado nenhum efeito mediador de estilos de enfrentamento em valores culturais e bemestar utilizando uma análise de mediação. Adicionalmente, foi examinado se os resultados de participantes de países europeus germânicos se diferenciaram significativamente de participantes dos países europeus de origem latina no que se refere a bem-estar, estilos de enfrentamento e valores culturais. Constatou-se que a evitação de incerteza, a orientação de longo prazo e o enfrentamento orientado às tarefas diferenciaram-se entre os dois grupos. Com base nos resultados deste estudo, sugere-se a implementação de intervenções de autodisciplina e/ou ferramentas que ajudem o estudante a lidar com stresse

THE RELATIONSHIP OF SOCIAL STRESS, ECONOMIC HARDSHIP, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS TO ADDICTION SEVERITY AMONG KENTUCKY SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT PARTICIPANTS

Stress is associated with poor mental health, specifically anxiety and depression, and stress and mental health problems are predictors of substance dependence and relapse. Social characteristics, such as racial/ethnic minority status, female gender, and low socioeconomic status, are often associated with increased psychological distress and substance use disorders. Pearlin’s social stress theory postulates that this association is due to increased exposure to stress and subsequent experiences of distress related to social disadvantage and decreased access to resources for coping with stress. This project uses a social stress theoretical perspective to examine predictors of substance use after treatment entry and follow-up addiction severity in a large sample of Kentucky substance abuse treatment participants (N = 1123). A conceptual model is tested to determine if social characteristics along with psychological distress, perceived stress, and economic hardship are predictors of substance use and follow-up addiction severity. In addition, since recovery support, efficacy, and self-control have been previously identified as mediators in the stress and relapse processes these factors were included as mediators in the model tested. The conceptual model was tested with three outcome variables, substance use between baseline and 12-month follow-up, follow-up alcohol addiction severity, and follow-up drug addiction severity. Bivariate and multivariate analyses, including logistic regression and ordinary least squares regression, were used to test conceptual models with the full sample and also with a subsample with baseline substance use indicative of potential substance dependence. Findings indicated that significance of predictors varied depending on outcome variable, although recovery support, efficacy, and self-control were significant predictors of all three dependent variables. Findings for each outcome variable are discussed, as well as limitations of the present study, implications for social work practice, and implications for future research

Personality changes among sex offenders at San Quentin

The problem is, what personality changes occur in sex offenders at San Quentin Correctional Institution between the entrance Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and the pre-parole Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

Semantic business process management: a vision towards using semantic web services for business process management

Business process management (BPM) is the approach to manage the execution of IT-supported business operations from a business expert's view rather than from a technical perspective. However, the degree of mechanization in BPM is still very limited, creating inertia in the necessary evolution and dynamics of business processes, and BPM does not provide a truly unified view on the process space of an organization. We trace back the problem of mechanization of BPM to an ontological one, i.e. the lack of machine-accessible semantics, and argue that the modeling constructs of semantic Web services frameworks, especially WSMO, are a natural fit to creating such a representation. As a consequence, we propose to combine SWS and BPM and create one consolidated technology, which we call semantic business process management (SBPM

Research output software for energetic materials based on observational modelling 2.1 (RoseBoom2.1 (c))

There is huge scope for the implementation of sustainable methods in the research of new energetic materials and there are a number of ways this can be achieved. With the development of the program Research output software for energetic materials based on observational modelling(RoseBoom (c)), it is hoped that the development of new modern energetic materials will be advanced, since it aims to provide access to quick and easy prediction methods which will indicate performance parameters (e.g. the detonation velocity and pressure, the key indicator for the power of an explosive) - before they have been synthesized

Exploring Faculty Perceptions of Student Incivility in Social Work: Results from a National Survey

The literature suggests that incivility is a growing problem in college classrooms, but few studies have examined incivility within social work programs. Using a national sample of social work instructors (n=327), this study examined faculty experiences with social work student incivility in both undergraduate and graduate education. Results showed that some behaviors often deemed disrespectful or inattentive do occur in social work classrooms, and they occur more frequently in undergraduate classes than graduate classes. Although rare, hostile behaviors were also reported by faculty. Discussion of these findings includes recommendations for addressing incivility in the context of preparing social work students for professional practice

Racial Disparities in Drug Court Graduation Rates: The Role of Recovery Support Groups and Environments

There are more than 3,000 drug courts in the United States, and research has demonstrated that, in some drug courts, African American participants are less likely to graduate than their White counterparts. Quantitative studies have documented the problem, but qualitative studies are needed to develop an in-depth understanding of this phenomenon through participants’ experiences. This qualitative study asked African American participants (n = 31) about their lived experiences in drug court to develop insight into the factors that might contribute to racial disparities in drug court outcomes. African Americans had favorable views toward both mandated and natural recovery support groups, and they felt that participating in these support groups increased their likelihood of graduating drug court. Conversely, African Americans felt that a barrier to graduating drug court was their environments, mainly risk factors posed by family, neighborhoods, and peers. Implications for drug court practice are discussed

Chronic Care, Integrated Care & Mental Health: Moving the Needle Now

Healthcare reform is currently a hot topic in the United States, and the Chronic Care Model has frequently been cited as the foundation of recent attempts to integrate mental health and physical health care. However, challenges exist to fully integrated care that have delayed adequately meeting the multiple needs of mental health service recipients. This article highlights multiple changes that can be incorporated into mental health care now, derived from the Chronic Care Model, to better meet clients’ physical and mental health needs. These changes include focusing on population-level data and incorporating technology and multidisciplinary teams in treatment and prevention efforts