A psychometric comparison of the positive and negative affect schedule across age and sex.

This study examined factorial and other psychometric characteristics of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule in relation to mixed-sex youth (n: 234) and adult (n: 436) samples. Broadly, the results for both age groups were supportive of commonly reported statistical properties of the schedule. Although two factors were plainly identified, they were not clearly endorsed for either age group by confirmatory indices of fit. Within the adolescent sample, sex differences in response to the scales were noted.

Some psychometric properties of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule among Australian youth.

The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) was designed to measure two independent or orthogonal dimensions of mood. The present study concerned selected psychometric characteristics of the schedule in a convenience sample of 237 Australian adolescents aged 12 to 18 years. The results were generally supportive of the schedule's reported psychometric properties and for its use across age and nationality.

The development of a locus of control measure predictive of injured athletes' adherence to treatment.

The Sports Rehabilitation Locus of Control (SRLC) scale was developed to facilitate study of the behaviour of athletes recovering from injury. The SRLC was built specifically to assess locus of control in injured athletes by adapting selected items from the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) questionnaire developed by Wallston, Wallston, & DeVellis (1978), and in accordance with their rationale for the construction of domain-specific LOC scales. The resultant locus of control measures (internal, powerful others, and chance) were administered (along with the MHLC) to a sample of 145 sports-injured athletes. Good internal consistency (alphas ranged from .72 to .79) and test-retest reliability (correlations ranged from .75 to .85) was shown by the SRLC scales, and the pattern of inter-scale correlations supported the three-factor conceptualisation of locus of control on which the SRLC was based. In the subsequent initial validation study, the relationship between SRLC scale scores and adherence to treatment was tested with a sample of injured athletes. Encouragingly, internality was positively associated p<.05 with treatment adherence.

Utility of relaxation training with children in school settings: a plea for realistic goal setting and evaluation.

BACKGROUND: School-based relaxation training programmes are a popular means of helping children with anxiety problems such as headaches and test anxiety. AIMS: Our major objective is to evaluate the empirical status of school-based relaxation training programmes. CONTENTS: Focusing on progressive muscle relaxation training, we show how this adult training procedure has been modified for use with children. Several training issues are discussed including the questions of live versus recorded instruction and individual versus group instruction. We also discuss the evaluation of relaxation training programmes in school settings, highlighting issues of reliability and validity. CONCLUSIONS: Our review of studies examining the efficacy of school-based relaxation training shows that improvements are usually modest and of dubious clinical or educational significance. Consequently we suggest that when relaxation training is used with school children treatment goals should be more modest or, that if improvements in specific performance areas are sought, then more comprehensive treatment packages be developed which can influence the successful performance of children in target areas and reduce anxiety to normal levels.

Locus of control of smokers, nonsmokers, and nonpracticing smokers.

In this survey, score analyses of 123 male and female respondents, ages 21 to 33 years, yielded no significant differences between either sex and smokers versus nonsmokers on Rotter's locus of control scale. Of particular interest was that nonpracticing smokers (quitters) scored more internal than either smokers or nonsmokers.

A modified Regressive Coping Checklist: some Australian data.

The Regressive Coping Checklist has been used to measure the extent to which individuals cope with stress by denying, minimizing, or avoiding stressful situations. In this study, the checklist was modified to include the frequency of use of regressive coping strategies and was shown to be a moderately reliable instrument (alpha = .57) when used with a sample of 750 Australian postprimary teachers.

Some developmental trends in children's information-processing strategies.

The problem-solving strategies of 120 children from two age levels were compared by means of exploratory factor analyses. Essentially, these results replicated the factor structures of earlier studies based on the Das-Luria model. Disparities in factor loadings on some tasks were interpreted as suggestive of developmental differences in children's coding strategies which are compatible with Bruner's description of the course of cognitive growth.

Psychological and biographical differences between secondary school teachers experiencing high and low levels of burnout.

A total of 750 teachers from 16 government and non-government schools from areas of contrasted socio-economic status (SES) responded to a questionnaire designed to investigate associations between selected aspects of burnout among teachers working in secondary schools in Victoria, Australia. By comparing high and low burnout groups on biographic, psychological and work pattern variables, differences between teachers experiencing high and low levels of burnout were identified. Multiple regression analyses assessed the relative importance of these variables in accounting for the variance in each of the three burnout subscales. School type was related to perceptions of stress and burnout. Higher levels of burnout were associated with poorer physical health, higher rates of absenteeism, lower self-confidence and more frequent use of regressive coping strategies. Teachers classified as experiencing high levels of burnout attributed most of the stress in their lives to teaching and reported low levels of career commitment and satisfaction. Further, teachers who recorded high levels of burnout were characterised by lower levels of the personality disposition of hardiness, lower levels of social support, higher levels of role stress and more custodial pupil control ideologies than their low-burnout counterparts. Psychological variables were found to be more significant predictors of burnout than biographical variables.

The construct validity of the Maslach Burnout Inventory: some data from down under.

The Maslach Burnout Inventory has been used to measure burnout among workers in the helping professions. The construct validity of the inventory was examined using a sample of 750 Australian postprimary (high school) teachers. Analyses of teachers' responses confirmed a three-factor structure and showed the inventory to be a reliable instrument.

Varied intensities of training, predicted maximum oxygen uptake and the minimum threshold hypothesis.

In this study, 24 sedentary first-year male university students aged 17 to 24 yr. were assigned to one of four groups. Three of the groups underwent a 6-wk. training program consisting of a 30-min. bicycle ergometer ride, three times per week. A fourth group acted as a control. The experimental groups trained at workload intensities corresponding to predetermined heart rates of 125, 140, and 155 bpm, respectively. Analysis of scores indicated that changes in aerobic capacity occurred only if the intensity of training exceeded a minimal level. Essentially, these results replicated data from other studies.