Appraisal of life change, depression, and illness in hardy and nonhardy women.

A survey study of adult women was conducted to examine whether psychological hardiness buffers people against stressful life change through the appraisal and interpretation of life experiences. Hardy and nonhardy participants reported life events for the previous year, physical illness for the previous 6 months, and current levels of depression and rated each reported event in terms of its desirability. Results indicate that, although hardiness is not associated with the likelihood of reporting any specific life event, nonhardy subjects appraise a significantly higher proportion of their life experiences as undesirable than do hardy subjects and report that each negative event requires greater adjustment. Discussion focuses on nonhardiness as a correlate of the trait of negative affectivity rather than hardiness as a reflection of special resiliency to stress.

Concentrating on the process of learning while teaching clearly defined communication skills.

The authors found that students using the composite are more motivated and enthusiastic about learning than before, and claim to have greater confidence in themselves and the skills they possess in relating to others. In addition, the "Level of Response Scale" gives them a concrete framework for choosing the most therapeutic response for a given situation; this has had implications for their performance clinically and theoretically in terms of testing. The experience of developing this composite of materials and clarifying the teaching-learning process has been growth producing for the authors as well as the students, since it required the authors to be very clear and specific in their expectations and it provided them with more time for counseling individual students. In conclusion, this experience further demonstrates that communicating effectively is is not strictly intuitive but a skill that can be taught and learned in an enjoyable and satisfying manner when a motivating learning environment is provided.