Assessing the effectiveness of psychoeducational interventions on driving behavior: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

This review aimed to quantitatively summarize the evidence concerning the effectiveness of psychoeducational interventions on driving behavior. A final pool of 138 studies, totaling approximately 97,000 participants, was included in the analyses and covered all types of driving behavior targeted by the interventions. Using a random effects model, significant results were found for almost all driving outcomes, both post-intervention and long-term. The strongest effect was for reducing distracted driving at post-intervention (d = 1.87 [1.12, 2.60], Z = 4.94, p < 0.001). The only non-significant effects were for reducing errors in the long term (d = 0.50 [-0.87, 1.86], Z = 0.71, p = 0.48) and driving under the influence at post-intervention (d = 0.35 [0.00, 0.71], Z = 1.96, p = 0.05). Concerning which type of intervention was more effective, feedback, training and motivational ones appear to work best. Educational interventions show only weak effects, while awareness interventions seem mostly ineffective. Overall, our results show that most interventions can reduce different types of driving behaviors, but there are specific aspects to be considered based on the targeted behavior.

Perception of disease, dyadic coping, and the quality of life of oncology patients in the active treatment phase and their life partners: an approach based on the actor-partner interdependence model.

Objective: The aim of this study based on the Systemic Transactional Model was to examine the relationship between dyadic coping and (1) disease perception and (2) quality of life of a sample of cancer patients and their life partners. Method: This cross-sectional study included 138 oncological dyads. The following questionnaires were used: Stress Appraisal Measure, Dyadic Coping Inventory, and European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30. Data collected was analysed by applying the actor-partner interdependence model. Results: The perception of the disease as a threat as well as its centrality significantly negatively influences the positive forms of dyadic coping whilst the perception of the disease as a challenge has a significant positive influence on them. Dyadic coping does not influence symptoms but has significant influences on global health/quality of life. Conclusion: This study has highlighted new information regarding how couples cope with cancer. The results encourage the inclusion of the perception of the disease and dyadic coping in interventions that aim to improve the quality of life of cancer patients and their life partners.

Psychometric Evaluation of the Proactive Vitality Management Scale: Invariance, Convergent, and Discriminant Validity of the Romanian Version.

The present research aims to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Romanian version of the Proactive Vitality Management (PVM) scale. Based on the Job Demands-Resources theory, PVM is a proactive behavior that helps employees manage energy at work. Two studies were conducted to test the reliability and validity of the PVM scale. The first study (N = 477) aimed to validate the Romanian version of PVM and test for measurement invariance related to gender. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis indicated a one-factor model and good values of the fit indices. Moreover, the indicators of measurement invariance showed no difference between men and women; both groups interpret the measure in a conceptually similar way. The second study (N = 307) cross-validated the one-factor model, tested discriminant and criterion validity between PVM and other constructs, such as psychological detachment and well-being (e.g., work engagement, health). The results indicated that PVM is indeed a one-factor construct associated with well-being indicators and unrelated to psychological detachment. From a practical perspective, the PVM scale is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing proactive energy management in organizations and developing strategies and interventions for employees to function optimally and reach their work-related well-being. The study also provides evidence of the PVM in the Job Demands-Resources theory as a proactive behavior at work, which represents a new strategy for employees to function optimally at work by deciding when and how to manage their energy.

Personality predictors of speeding: Anger-Aggression and Impulsive-Sensation Seeking. A systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this review was to identify the most influential personality predictors of speeding. METHOD: Thus, this study analyzed the associations of Anger-Aggression and Impulsive-Sensation Seeking with Speeding. Research studies included in online databases and papers identified in previous reviews were considered for inclusion. RESULTS: Using a random effects model, we found a small but significant effect for the relation between Anger-Aggression and Speeding (r = 0.12 [0.06-0.18],Z = 3.85,p < 0.001). We identified a significantly stronger effect for the relation between Impulsive-Sensation Seeking and Speeding, but still of low magnitude (r = 0.23 [0.16-0.29],Z = 6.54,p < 0.001). Moderator analysis revealed only one significant moderator: driver type. Namely, for professional drivers, the relation with Speeding was non-significant for both predictors (r = -0.004, p = 0.958 for Impulsive-Sensation Seeking and r = 0.02, p = 0.720 for Anger-Aggression, respectively) and significantly smaller than the associations for general population and young drivers. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, our results confirm Speeding's associations with both hypothesized most important predictors, but at a low magnitude.

Perception of disease, dyadic coping and the quality of life of oncology patients in the active treatment phase and their life partners: Study protocol of an approach based on the actor-partner interdependence model.

OBJECTIVES: Coping with cancer is a challenge for both patients and their life partners. Although there is evidence in the literature that supports the patient/partner mutual influence at the level of various psychological variables, it is still limited. This study, based on the Systemic Transactional Model, aims to investigate: 1) how the perception of disease of patients and their life partners influences their own dyadic coping and that of the other member of the couple; 2) the influence of the dyadic coping of patients and their partners on the quality of their own life and that of the other member of the couple. METHODOLOGY: This cross-sectional study aims to recruit 131 dyads consisting of oncology patients in the active treatment phase and their life partners. Perception of disease, dyadic coping and quality of life will be evaluated for each participant. The collected data will be analysed by applying the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM). CONCLUSION: The results highlighted in this study have the potential to help define future couple interventions that aim to improve quality of life of those facing cancer.

Implicit attitudes towards risky driving: Development and validation of an affect misattribution procedure for speeding.

The present study aimed to develop and validate an instrument for measuring implicit attitudes towards speeding, based on the Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP). The data collected from 140 drivers supported the reliability of the AMP (α=0.80). Results provided some support for the construct validity of the AMP, through its convergence with explicit attitudes towards speeding (r=0.22). Also, the AMP incrementally predicted driving violations (ΔR2=0.034) and traffic accidents (ΔR2=0.022), above and beyond demographic variables and explicit attitudes towards speeding, thus providing initial evidence for its criterion validity. The multiplicative interaction effect between implicit and explicit attitudes (in predicting the same criterion variables) was not supported. Overall, our results provide support for Speeding-AMP's validity and reliability, which can be successfully used in research concerning risky driving behavior.

Engaged, committed and helpful employees: the role of psychological empowerment.

Although previous research has been focused on the relationship among personality, empowerment, and outcomes, little is known about the incremental effect of empowerment on positive work outcomes. This article aims at exploring the relation between personality factors (i.e., extraversion and conscientiousness) and positive work outcomes (i.e., work engagement, affective organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior), and at determining the incremental effect of psychological empowerment on these outcomes. A convenience sample from three organizations has been used for data collection (N = 258; 52% women, mean age 38.55 years, SD = 10.21). Hierarchical multiple regressions indicate that personality and psychological empowerment explain a significant amount of the variance in the positive organizational outcomes, and that psychological empowerment has a significant incremental value over demographics and personality for the studied outcomes.

The relationship of dangerous driving with traffic offenses: A study on an adapted measure of dangerous driving.

Using data from three different samples and more than 1000 participants, the current study examines differences in dangerous driving in terms of age, gender, professional driving, as well as the relationship of dangerous driving with behavioral indicators (mileage) and criteria (traffic offenses). The study uses an adapted (Romanian) version of the Dula Dangerous Driving Index (DDDI, Dula and Ballard, 2003) and also reports data on the psychometric characteristics of this measure. Findings suggest that the Romanian version of the DDDI has sound psychometric properties. Dangerous driving is higher in males and occasional drivers, is not correlated with mileage and is significantly related with speeding as a traffic offense, both self-reported and objectively measured. The utility of predictive models including dangerous driving is not very large: logistic regression models have a significant fit to the data, but their misclassification rate (especially in terms of sensitivity) is unacceptable high.