The Role of Gratitude in a Positive Psychology Group Intervention Program Implemented for Undergraduate Engineering Students.

Over the past decades, research on positive psychology for building strengths has proliferated. The present study aimed to explore the effect of gratitude in a 5-week positive psychology group program for undergraduate engineering students which included an intermediary 2-week gratitude intervention. In a mixed-design, 69 students from three engineering departments of the School of Pedagogical and Technological Education (ASPETE), assigned to the intervention (N = 34) and the control group (N = 35), with an average age of 21.52 years (SD = 4.63), were administered the Gratitude Questionnaire-six item form (GQ-6), the Modified Differential Emotions Scale (mDES), the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS), and the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R). The condition experimental vs. control group was designated as the between-subjects factor, and time, that is, baseline vs. post intervention, was set as the within-subjects factor. Students who received the intervention reported significantly higher levels of gratitude. The increase in gratitude was due to the positive psychology group program. In addition, gratitude showed a significant effect on happiness and optimism, but failed to attain a significant impact on positive and negative emotions and resilience. Further research is needed to elucidate the effectiveness of positive psychology programs for undergraduate engineering students and the intervening cognitive processes.

The Interplay among Empathy, Vicarious Trauma, and Burnout in Greek Mental Health Practitioners.

BACKGROUND: Mental health professionals are at risk of experiencing vicarious trauma and burnout as a consequence of the nature of their work. Studies and scholars so far have demonstrated that empathy interacts directly with burnout, and they imply an interaction with vicarious trauma. However, research has paid little attention to the interplay among vicarious trauma, empathy, and burnout in mental health professionals who practice psychotherapy. This study examines the interplay between mental health professionals' (those practicing psychotherapy) vicarious trauma and empathy and investigates the ways they contribute to burnout. METHODS: The sample consisted of 214 mental health professionals (32 males and 182 females), working in the public and private sectors. Specific instruments were administered online to the sample: (a) an improvised demographic questionnaire (age, gender, education, specialty, years of experience, years of supervision); (b) the Counselor Burnout Inventory, validated for the Greek population by Kounenou et al.; (c) the Vicarious Trauma Scale; and (d) the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy. RESULTS: Correlation analysis showed that empathy and vicarious trauma were positively related to burnout. Moreover, multiple regression analysis revealed that supervision, empathy, and, to a greater degree, vicarious trauma have a significant impact on burnout. CONCLUSION: Unlike relative research on burnout, gender and work experience did not seem to play a significant role in the prediction of burnout in the present study. Several suggestions for future studies, as well as implications for mental health practitioners, are discussed.

A positive psychology group intervention in Greek university students by the counseling center: Effectiveness of implementation.

Most institutions in higher education have emphasized success in knowledge while overlooking Students' wellbeing. The present study aimed to examine the effectiveness of the implementation of a 5-week positive psychology group intervention to a sample of 69 students that were assigned to the intervention (N = 34) and the control group (N = 35). Pre and post measures were taken assessing positive and negative emotions, resilience, happiness, optimism, and self-esteem. In particular, Modified Differential Emotions Scale (mDES), Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS), Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R), and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) were administered to the participants. A mixed measures design was employed with the condition experimental vs. control group as the between-participants factor and time, namely, baseline vs. post-intervention as the within-participants factor. Except for optimism, compared with students in the control group, students in the experimental group showed no significant differences at baseline and experienced a significant increase in positive emotions and resilience in the post-test. On the contrary, the control group demonstrated no significant difference at post-test. Additionally, the students of the intervention group reported significantly higher levels in all measures in comparison with the students of the control group, except resilience, at post-test. However, when the interaction of design and time was considered, the increase in positive emotions solely emerged as a significant result of the intervention. The implementation of a positive psychology group intervention program can be effective in helping students experiencing positive emotions. More research is needed in order to refine and improve the application of such a program in a university setting, in regard to long term intervention.

Perspectives on Emergency Remote Teaching during COVID-19 Pandemic in a Sample of Greek Undergraduate Students: The Role of Self-Image.

Emergency remote teaching replaced the in-person education in academic institutions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Students with different personality traits experienced this abrupt change to distance learning in different ways. Thus, this research aims to examine the interplay between several facets of the students' experience of emergency remote teaching, such as concerns about, tiredness with, and lack of communication during the first Greek lockdown, and their self-image through their core self-evaluations. The study sample consisted of 341 undergraduate students derived from 13 Greek universities, that completed a self-report questionnaire concerning students' experiences with distance education, as well as the Core Self-Evaluation Scale measuring self-image components. A cross-section design was used and multiple regression and mediation analyses were applied. The results showed that self-image has an effect on students' feeling of tiredness with distance learning, while female students demonstrated higher tiredness with distance learning and lack of communication. Moreover, except for gender and disability, all other variables along with self-image significantly predicted perspectives on distance learning. On the other hand, only gender, concerns about, and lack of communication significantly predicted students' e-attendance of theoretical courses. In this transformative era, it is a challenge for universities to create effective online courses concerning students' self-image. Finally, limitations and future directions are discussed.

The Effect of Progressive Muscle Relaxation on Emotional Competence: Depression-Anxiety-Stress, Sense of Coherence, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Well-Being of Unemployed People in Greece: An Intervention Study.

OBJECTIVES: Assessment of the impact of Jacobson Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) on depression-anxiety-stress symptoms, sense of coherence, health-related quality of life and well-being in long-term unemployed people with anxiety disorders. DESIGN AND SETTING: An intervention study was conducted at a relevant Organization, in Athens, Greece. INTERVENTION: 50 long-term unemployed individuals suffering from anxiety disorders participated in the study. Participants were separated into two groups: (a) the intervention group (30 individuals) that was trained on an 8-week on Progressive Muscle Relaxation program and also received counseling services and (b) the control group (20 individuals) that received only counseling services. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale, Sense of Coherence, Health-Related Quality of Life and Well-being were evaluated at baseline and after the intervention. RESULTS: Significant changes were noted in the studied variables between the two groups, with improved outcomes in the intervention group. The intervention group showed a decrease in the symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress (p < 0.001) [depression (p < 0.001), anxiety (p < 0.001), stress (p < 0.001)], a higher score of sense of coherence (p < 0.001), improved health-related quality of life regarding the mental health domain (p < 0.001), and improvement in well-being (p < 0.001). No significant change was observed in the control group during the follow-up period.

Stress Sources and Manifestations in a Nationwide Sample of Pre-Primary, Primary, and Secondary Educators in Greece.

BACKGROUND: Teachers experience high levels of stress as a result of their professional duties, and research has shown a growing interest in this phenomenon during the recent years. Aim of this study was to explore the associations of stress sources and manifestations with individual and job-related characteristics in educators of all levels. METHODS: In a cross-sectional design, following an informative e-campaign on the study aims through the official and the main teachers' portals in Greece, respondents completed online the teachers stress inventory (TSI) and the 14-item Perceived Stress Scale. Nine hundred seventy-four male and 2473 female pre-primary, primary, and secondary educators with a mean age of 41.2 years responded. RESULTS: Women and younger teachers reported significantly higher levels of stress, mainly due to lack of time and other work-related stressors, and also more emotional and gastronomic manifestations. Increased age and working experience were associated with lower levels of several stress sources. Teachers of administrative positions had increased time management stressors, but less professional distress, professional investment, and discipline and motivation stressors. Additionally, working and residing far from family increased teachers' stress levels associated with control, motivation, and investment. Teachers of pre-primary education had reduced professional investment and motivation stress factors, while vocational lyceum teachers of secondary education reported less work-related stressors and manifestations and more discipline and motivation-related ones. Having students supported or in need of support from special educators and students with difficulties in speaking or comprehension was associated with most of the teachers' stress sources and manifestations (i.e., TSI subscales). Finally, colleagues' and mainly supervisors' support seemed to provide a strong and consistent protection against both stress sources and manifestations. CONCLUSION: Stress factors and manifestations vary among educators by gender, seniority, and teaching level. Training in coping and communication skills starting in teachers' undergraduate studies might have a major impact on their stress alleviation.

Teacher Stress Inventory: validation of the Greek version and perceived stress levels among 3,447 educators.

BACKGROUND: The Teacher Stress Inventory (TSI) is an instrument for measuring occupational stress in teachers. This study aimed to translate and adapt it for use in Greece, and then assess its reliability and validity. METHODS: The Greek versions of the TSI and the 14-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14) were posted on all Greek educators' official sites during May 2012. A nationwide sample of 3,447 teachers of all levels and specialties completed the questionnaires via the Internet. Reliability was determined by the calculation of Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted and validity was further examined by investigating the correlation of the TSI with the PSS-14 and their association with demographics and work-related factors. RESULTS: Satisfactory Cronbach's alpha values (above 0.70) were found for all TSI dimensions. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the two-factor construct of TSI (root mean square error of approximation, comparative fit index, and goodness-of-fit index values were 0.079, 0.956, and 0.951, respectively), confirming the pre-established theory for the two latent variables, Stress Sources and Stress Manifestations. Significant correlations were found between TSI subscales, PSS-14 sex, age, lack of support, and students' difficulties. CONCLUSION: The Greek version of the TSI was found to have satisfactory psychometric properties, and its use for assessing stress in Greek teachers is warranted.