Should We Really Be Afraid of "Weakness"? Applying the Insights of Attribution Theory.

It is widely assumed that the term "weakness" has negative psychological effects and should be replaced by "area for improvement." The present study is the first to examine the matter experimentally. It was hypothesised that effects of "weakness" (vs. "area for improvement") are most pronounced in those with low perceived self-efficacy in the relevant domain. Two experiments were conducted in the domain of self-regulation. In those with low perceived self-efficacy for self-regulation (PSESR), "weakness" apparently had a negative indirect effect on improvement expectancy by increasing the perceived stability (Experiment 1) or lowering the perceived controllability (Experiment 2) of the problem. Moreover, at low levels of PSESR in Experiment 2, estimated indirect effects of "weakness" on perceived value of improvement were both positive and negative. However, gender apparently moderated those effects. "Weakness" apparently lowered perceived controllability in both males and females but in women the negative effect was more pronounced when PSESR was low. In addition, "weakness" apparently increased perceived internality in males with low PSESR. Compared to "area for improvement," "weakness" may indeed have some (negative) psychological effects in people with low perceived self-efficacy in the relevant domain. Given the ubiquity of these terms in evaluative contexts and the widespread fears of the term "weakness," more experimental research needs to be conducted.

Association between health literacy and depressive emotion among occupational groups in Shanghai / 环境与职业医学

Background At present, insufficient support for enterprise health environment and career development may lead to severe depressive emotion among occupational groups. Objective To investigate current state of depressive emotion and the relationship between health literacy and depressive emotion among occupational groups in Shanghai, and to provide evidence for formulating health management measures to alleviate depressive emotion among the occupational population. Methods This cross-sectional survey, using two-stage stratified sampling, was from December 2022 to February 2023, and selected 2548 active workers from 151 enterprises in Shanghai. A total of 2489 valid questionnaires were returned, with a recovery rate of 97.68%. Health literacy, internality health locus of control, and depressive emotion were evaluated by the Health Literacy Questionnaire, the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale-Internality Health Locus of Control, and the Patient Health Questionnaire Depression Scale-9 item (PHQ-9), respectively. R 4.2.2 software was used for statistical analysis, binary logistic regression model was used to analyze the association between health literacy, internality health locus of control, and the risk of depressive emotion, and multiple linear model was used to analyze the correlation between health literacy, internality health locus of control, and PHQ-9 related indicators (total score, affective score, and somatic score). Results A total of 2489 workers aged 18 years and above in Shanghai were included in the analysis, 868 of them reported depressive emotion, and the positive rate of depressive emotion was 34.9%. The total score, affective score, and somatic score of PHQ-9 in M(P25, P75) were 3.00 (0.00, 6.00), 1.00 (0.00, 4.00), and 1.00 (0.00, 3.00), respectively. The results of binary multiple logistic regression analysis showed that after adjusting for selected confounders, no health literacy (OR=1.32, 95%CI: 1.10, 1.60; P=0.004) and low level of internality health locus of control (OR=1.66, 95%CI: 1.35, 2.05; P < 0.001) were associated with an increased risk of reporting depressive emotion. The results of multiple linear model showed that the lack of health literacy and low internality health locus of control were positively correlated with the total score, affective score, and somatic score of PHQ-9. Conclusion Depressive emotion among the working population in Shanghai is prominent, and more than 1/3 of them report depressive emotion. Lower health literacy and internality health locus of control are related to an increased risk of depressive emotion in the study population. Improving occupational health literacy and enhancing internality health locus of control are expected to prevent depressive emotion in occupational groups.

A comprehensive framework for considering additional unintended consequences in economic evaluation.

BACKGROUND: In recent years there has been a growth in economic evaluations that consider indirect health benefits to populations due to advances in mathematical modeling. In addition, economic evaluations guidelines have suggested the inclusion of impact inventories to include non-health direct and indirect consequences. We aim to bring together this literature, together with the broader literature on internalities and externalities to propose a comprehensive approach for analysts to identify and characterize all unintended consequences in economic evaluations. METHODS: We present a framework to assist analysts identify and characterize additional costs and effects beyond that of direct health impact primarily intended to be influenced by the intervention/technology. We build on previous checklists to provide analysts with a comprehensive framework to justify the inclusion or exclusion of effects, supporting the use of current guidelines, to ensure any unintended effects are considered. We illustrate this framework with examples from immunization. These were identified from a previous systematic review, PhD thesis work, and general search scoping in PubMed databases. RESULTS: We present a comprehensive framework to consider additional consequences, exemplified by types and categories. We bring this and other guidance together to assist analysts identify possible unintended consequences whether taking a provider or societal perspective. CONCLUSIONS: Although there are many challenges ahead to standardize the inclusion of additional consequences in economic evaluation, we hope by moving beyond generic statements to reporting against a comprehensive framework of additional effects we can support further consistency in this aspect of cost-effectiveness analysis going forward.

Estilos de atribución causal. Importancia para la investigación e intervención profesional en la etapa adolescente / Causal Attribution Styles. Importance for Research and Professional Intervention During Adolescence

Resumen Se describe el recorrido histórico que ha llevado a lo largo del tiempo la teoría de los estilos de atribución causal hasta llegar al punto que aquí se presenta. Se establecen cercanías y relaciones con otras teorías y paradigmas propios de la Psicología con el fi n de ubicarla en este marco general y reconocer en él los particulares aportes que de ella se desprenden. Para ello, se reporta una serie de resultados de investigaciones realizadas donde se muestra no solo la validez de sus constructos, sino también su relación con diversas conductas, actitudes y patologías indagadas. Se discute, además, la importancia de contar con una teoría de este tipo para examinar y, sobre todo, apoyar la intervención psicológica, tanto clínica como social, en la población adolescente.

Abstract: In this report, we describe the historical path that led over time to the present-day theory of Causal Attribution Styles. Some similarities and relationships with other theories and paradigms in Psychology are established, in order to acknowledge the place of Causal Attribution Styles in this general framework and identify private contributions. We also discuss the importance of having such a theory to do research and, above all, support intervention in Clinical and Social Psychology, during adolescence. To do this, a number of research fi ndings are reported where they show the validity of their constructs, when they are correlated with other theories, as well as their relationship to various behaviors, attitudes and pathologies of various groups, including adolescent populations.

Measuring cognitive vulnerability to depression: Further evidence on the factorial and predictive validity of negative cognitive style.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Previous research has provided insufficient evidence on the factorial validity of the negative cognitive style questionnaires, which is a problem for the validity of the total score's computation. In Study 1, we focused on the relationship between internality and the other dimensions of negative cognitive style. In Study 2, we explored the predictive validity of negative cognitive style for negative interpretation bias. METHODS: In Study 1, 770 participants completed the Cognitive Style Questionnaire - Short Form (CSQ-SF). In Study 2, from a prescreening data collection (N = 300) we selected participants with low (N = 40) and high (N = 32) cognitive vulnerability to depression who were primed with negative mood induction and who completed a generative interpretation task. RESULTS: In Study 1, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated that the best fitting model for the CSQ-SF was a bifactor model without the internality dimension. In Study 2, a CFA replicated the factorial structure of Study 1 and individuals with a high negative cognitive style exhibited a negative interpretation bias after controlling for depressive symptoms. LIMITATIONS: The university-age sample limited the generalizability of our results to different populations, and the lack of longitudinal data prevented us from discussing further implications on the relationship between the negative interpretation bias and negative cognitive style in predicting depression. CONCLUSIONS: Together, the results of our two studies support the construct validity of the CSQ-SF and recommend the use of a composite score of negative cognitive style without internality.

Locus of control as a modifiable risk factor for cognitive function in midlife.

Few modifiable risk factors for cognitive decline have been identified. Despite an external locus of control (LoC) being adversely associated with many psychological and physical health outcomes, few studies have examined whether it is related to cognitive function in adulthood. In 1178 women from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, we examined whether LoC, and change in LoC over time, is associated with cognitive function in midlife. LoC was prospectively measured at mean ages 30 and 48 years using the validated Nowicki-Strickland scale. Cognitive function was examined at mean age 51 years. At both time points, greater externality was associated with lower cognitive function. For example, the group of women classified as being external at mean age 48 years had, on average, a 0.18 lower cognitive function score (95% CI: (0.11 to 0.25) than the group classified as being internal (p<0.001). Participants who changed from external to internal over time, on average, had better cognitive function than those who remained external or changed to become external. In summary, an external LoC may be detrimental to cognitive function. Thus, interventions to increase internality may help to minimise the adverse consequences on cognitive health later in life.

Estimating the benefits of public health policies that reduce harmful consumption.

For products such as tobacco and junk food, where policy interventions are often designed to decrease consumption, affected consumers gain utility from improvements in lifetime health and longevity but also lose utility associated with the activity of consuming the product. In the case of anti-smoking policies, even though published estimates of gross health and longevity benefits are up to 900 times higher than the net consumer benefits suggested by a more direct willingness-to-pay estimation approach, there is little recognition in the cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness literature that gross estimates will overstate intrapersonal welfare improvements when utility losses are not netted out. This paper presents a general framework for analyzing policies that are designed to reduce inefficiently high consumption and provides a rule of thumb for the relationship between net and gross consumer welfare effects: where there exists a plausible estimate of the tax that would allow consumers to fully internalize health costs, the ratio of the tax to the per-unit long-term cost can provide an upper bound on the ratio of net to gross benefits.

Difference in perception between nurses and patients related to patients' health locus of control.

Patient's health locus of control (HLOC) belief associates with superior health outcomes and patient satisfaction. Higher levels of HLOC beliefs among patients and nurses contribute positively in developing the partnership model of care. The purpose of this study was to examine the differences between nurses and patients' perception of patient's health locus of control at the Jordanian general health-care settings. This study used cross-sectional, descriptive-correlation design to collect data using self-report questionnaires from 180 general nurses and 178 patients in general wards. Data collected were in regard to patient's perception of health locus of control. Patients and nurses expressed high level of externality and internality HLOC beliefs inferring the significance of partnership model of care. Chance was rated low among nurses and patients. The study emphasizes the role of nurses in enhancing their patient control and power over their health and participation in planning and implementation of health-care plans.