Workplace stressor factors, profiles and the relationship to career stage in UK veterinarians, veterinary nurses and students.

BACKGROUND: Veterinary professionals experience higher psychological distress and lower wellbeing compared with the general population. Identifying workplace stressors is key to understanding and alleviating these difficulties. OBJECTIVE: Identify the severity of workplace stressors in veterinary professions across different levels of professional experience. METHOD: A cross-sectional quantitative design was utilised via administration of a veterinary stressor questionnaire that measured the severity of 93 generic and veterinary-specific workplace stressors. RESULTS: A total of 658 participants reported stressor severity score. Factor analysis revealed four main stressor categories: workload and job demands, client relations stress, performance and accountability, patient care challenges. An inverse relationship was found between experience level and stressor severity scores. Furthermore, the most severe stressors varied as a function of career stage. FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS: Stressor severity tends to decrease with increasing experience levels. Stressors can be categorised by theme and unique stressor profiles can be derived for practitioners according to experience level. This knowledge can assist in the design and delivery of workplace support initiatives. CONCLUSIONS: Identify key stressors across different levels of experience is important in focusing efforts to support people in the workplace.

Does Experiential Avoidance Mediate the Relationship Between Gender Role Conflict and Psychological Distress?

Psychological inflexibility or experiential avoidance (EA) is an important construct in the understanding of psychological distress. Both EA and many forms of masculinity can be characterized by inflexibility in men's responses to negative intrapersonal experiences. The current cross-sectional, community-based study investigated whether experiential avoidance mediated the relationship between gender role conflict (GRC) and psychological distress (PD). A total of 120 men ( M = 35.63, SD = 12.22) completed an online questionnaire measuring key study variables. Results indicated that experiential avoidance significantly mediated the relationship between each of the four recognized patterns of GRC and PD. These findings suggest that EA may be a potential mechanism through which GRC is associated with PD.

Coping and adjustment in men with prostate cancer: a systematic review of qualitative studies.

PURPOSE: Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common forms of cancer amongst males. Men's coping responses are an important determinant of functioning and adjustment to this disease. Previous qualitative research exists in this area, but the current review sought to systematically review and summarise these studies. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted to identify studies concerned with men's coping strategies in their attempts to live with PCa. A search of relevant electronic databases was conducted to identify studies that met inclusion criteria for this review. Methodological quality assessment was also undertaken for each included study. RESULTS: One hundred twenty-one publications were identified for initial screening, and 18 studies were included in the review. A total of five coping strategy categories or 'meta-themes' were identified across included studies. These categories were labelled 'avoidance, minimisation, and withdrawal', 'directing cognition and attention', 'reframing masculinity and seeking support', 'retain pre-illness identity and lifestyle', and 'symptom/side-effect management'. CONCLUSIONS: A range of coping strategies were reported by men with PCa. Some of these strategies appear to be partially influenced by gender roles and masculinities. Coping meta-themes reported in this review have also been found in other research on men's coping. Strategies relating to flexible interpretation of gender roles/masculinities may be a particularly relevant category of coping responses due to the hypothesised beneficial impact of flexibility on psychological well-being. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: PCa survivors utilise a range of coping strategies, and the types of strategies used may have implications for men's well-being. The ability to be flexible in both coping responses used, and in the view of oneself as a man may be particularly important skills in meeting the challenges associated with this disease.

The Relationship between Co-rumination and Internalizing Problems: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Co-rumination refers to the process of engaging in repeated discussion of personal problems in dyadic relationships. The current systematic review and meta-analysis provided an evaluation of the relationship between co-rumination and internalizing problems in children, adolescents and young adults, along with an investigation of potential moderator variables. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they quantitatively assessed the relationship between co-rumination and depression, anxiety and/or internalizing problems using validated measures. An electronic search was conducted in PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Medline, Scopus and the Cochrane Library database of systematic reviews for studies published since 2002. In addition, unpublished studies were located by contacting authors in the field and by online searches of dissertation databases. Thirty-eight studies were deemed eligible for inclusion comprising a total of 12 829 community-based participants. A random-effects model was employed in the analysis, and effect sizes were obtained exclusively from cross-sectional data. Small to moderate effect sizes were found across four outcomes representing internalizing problems (mean corrected correlation range 0.14 to 0.26), with no significant variability across these variables. Female participants were found to score significantly higher on measures of co-rumination compared with males (d = -0.55). Moderator analyses revealed mixed findings. No significant effects were found for age, gender or publication status. A significant effect was found for co-rumination questionnaire version used (p = 0.05), and a marginal effect found for co-rumination partner (same-sex best friend versus other confidants; p = 0.08). These findings indicate that co-rumination may have a modest but significant association with internalizing problems. The implications of these findings and directions for further research are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. KEY PRACTITIONER MESSAGE: Co-rumination has maladaptive (repetitive, unproductive discussion of problems) components, but also shows an association with friendship satisfaction. The current review found that co-rumination has small-moderate association with depression and anxiety. Practitioners should be aware of the way in which people discuss affective distress with others.

Reported positive and negative outcomes associated with a self-practice/self-reflection cognitive-behavioural therapy exercise for CBT trainees.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the current study was to identify outcomes of a self-practice/self-reflection (SP/SR) exercise for trainee clinical psychologists. METHOD: Thirty-two trainees enrolled in their first year of a UK university doctoral clinical psychology training programme completed an online questionnaire following an eight-week exercise. RESULTS: Findings indicated an endorsement of many previously reported benefits of exercise participation, but also the identification of negative outcomes. Thematic analysis of qualitative data revealed that outcomes could be grouped into two main thematic domains (individual task outcomes and task organization issues) along with several subordinate themes. CONCLUSION: SP/SR is a useful tool in the development of trainee CBT therapist competences. There has been limited previous recognition of potential negative outcomes from this type of exercise. However, these can provide additional impetus for therapist skill development.

Cognitive-behavioral treatment of depression in men: tailoring treatment and directions for future research.

Depression is a significant public health issue and many researchers have suggested that modifications to conventional cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) are required to address infrequent help-seeking in men and counter negative effects of traditional masculinity on therapeutic engagement. This narrative review summarizes recommended alterations to CBT in the areas of therapeutic setting, process, and content. Key themes from this literature include a focus on behavioural interventions, and harmful cognitions that orginate from the traditional male gender stereotype. This literature is marked by limited empirical support for many of the recommended treatment modifications, and several options for future research are outlined.

Does social anxiety predict rumination and co-rumination among adolescents?

Social anxiety in adolescence is manifested by anxiety about and avoidance of social interactions. The present study examined whether social anxiety predicts higher levels of both rumination and co-rumination over time. Rumination and co-rumination were studied as possible outcomes because the cognitive content of these processes often involves interpersonal concerns. A three-wave longitudinal study of 575 adolescents (aged 13-16 years old) was conducted over 6 months. Adolescent girls reported higher levels of social anxiety, rumination, and co-rumination than boys. Structural equation modelling analysis showed that social anxiety directly predicted higher levels of rumination and indirectly predicted higher levels of co-rumination over time. A gender difference was noted in that these relationships were more robust for girls than for boys.

Does the optimism bias affect help-seeking intentions for depressive symptoms in young people?

Help-seeking is an adaptive means to address mental health difficulties, but sufferers often fail to seek assistance. This inaction may reflect optimism bias--that is, believing one is less susceptible to negative events than others. In the present study, the authors investigate optimism bias by presenting depressive symptoms in vignette form to 263 undergraduate participants. Participants were asked to imagine oneself or a peer-group friend suffering from presented symptoms and provide ratings of problem seriousness, help-seeking importance, and prognosis. Results supported the optimism bias hypothesis in that participants reported lower levels of seriousness, lower need for help, and anticipated a more favorable prognosis for themselves compared to others on equivalent sets of symptoms. A contextual effect may exist and influence the evaluation of medium-severity symptoms when symptoms were presented from most to least severe. As symptom severity increased, females were less optimistic than males about prognosis and placed greater importance on help-seeking. The implications of these findings are discussed.