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Objective: This research investigates the effectiveness of teaching cognitive behavioral techniques on changing attachment styles and increasing mental health and optimism among medical students of Islamic Azad University, Mashhad Branch, Iran. Methods: This quasi-experimental research adopted a pre-test and post-test with a control group. The statistical population included all medical students of Azad University from 2019 to 2020 in Mashhad City, Iran. A total of 13 medical students were selected by the purposeful sampling method. Then, using a random number table, they were placed in two experimental groups and a control group (n=15 in each group). Medical students in the cognitive behavioral therapy group received eleven 70-min sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy over five weeks (two sessions per week). The control group was considered on the waiting list. The attachment style questionnaire, 28-item general health questionnaire, and the life orientation test-revised were used for data collection. The data were analyzed using the independent t-test and the multivariate analysis of variance in the SPSS software, version 25. The significance level was considered to be <0.05. Results: There was a statistically significant difference in the mean scores of attachment styles, mental health, and optimism between the two groups immediately after the intervention (P<0.05). Conclusion: Enhanced secure attachment style, the level of mental health, and optimism increased significantly in the cognitive behavioral therapy group after the intervention. Therefore, it is necessary to take particular measures to regularly hold sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy for medical students with insecure attachment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disabled individuals often spend their lives grappling with low levels of optimism and unmet needs. It has been widely accepted that people with disabilities generally have fewer educational opportunities and a lower quality of life than their non-disabled counterparts. This present study employs descriptive research to investigate the relationship between life orientation and academic performance among selected students with physical disabilities. The participants were chosen through purposive sampling, consisting of sixty-four respondents from selected schools in Manila. Data were collected using a survey instrument, The Life Orientation Test Revised (LOTR). The researcher utilized the Z-test, H-test, weighted mean, and ANOVA to identify differences in variables, and Pearson's r to explore relationships. The findings revealed that students with physical disabilities are optimistic individuals; they accept and confront their condition despite the inconveniences and pain it may cause. Moreover, the present study showed that the higher the level of life orientation, the better the academic performance. Therefore, there is a need for the educational system to consider the life orientation of students when developing new strategies and approaches to understanding and teaching students with physical disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goal: The communication competence of future early childhood teachers is still a relevant area of research. We looked at this issue focusing on its social context and modifying factors. Methods: The research was based on a quantitative paradigm. To determine the level of communication competence we used the Self-assessment of Communication Competence Scale (SPCC), stress was examined with the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and dispositional optimism was tested with the Life Orientation Test (LOT-R). Results: The analyses showed that prospective early childhood teachers obtained average scores in communication competence. At the same time, they reported high levels of stress and low levels of dispositional optimism. In addition, stress levels correlated negatively with all dimensions of communication competence, meaning that the higher the stress level, the lower the level of communication competence in all the measured dimensions. In contrast, dispositional optimism correlated positively with all dimensions of communication competence, indicating that all dimensions of communication competence increased as dispositional optimism increased. Conclusions: Based on the analyses, we suggest enriching education programs for early childhood teachers with issues related to communication competence, coping with public speaking, and preventive activities related to stress management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimism is a construct which its measurement has been relevant for psychology since several decades ago. Today there are two main theories about optimism, from which have been designed instruments for measuring it such Likert-scales. The first approach is the theory of the positive expectancies, which this type of personality approach originated the most famous American scale for measure optimism, the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R), and the German Scale of Personal Optimism (SPO). The second approach is the interactive style of personality, which has given rise to the Mexican Brief Interactive Optimism Scale-Garcia (BIOS-G). According to the positive expectations theory, optimism could be seen as a psychological disposition in the person which thinks that will have favorable and good outcomes in the future, that the person believe will get benefits in the time to come. It is a generalized belief which would occur independently of the context and of the specific conditions where the behavior happens. On the other hand, the theory of the interactive style of personality states that in terms of the life lived by the person and his/her present circumstances, thinks that life has been worth living, that is good to live more, and that generally the world and people are good, that is reasonable to expect good results interacting with them. And here is conceptualized the optimism also as a psychological disposition. However, there is no studies that measure this construct from different perspectives comparing distinct countries. The primary objective of this study was to compare in construct validity and reliability the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) and the Brief Interactive Optimism Scale-Garcia (BIOS-G) in seven Hispanic speaking countries like Mexico, Colombia, Spain, Perú, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Chile. The second objective was to find the factor invariance of both scales in the seven above mentioned countries. It was used a convenience sample (1 712 Spanish-speaking people; 629 men, 1083 women), formed by 989 participants from general population (México, Chile, Ecuador, and Bolivia), 481 college students (Perú = 220, and Spain = 261), and 242 high school students (Colombia). Mage = 30.74 years (SD = 11.371). About the perceived socioeconomic level, it was found that participants considered themselves as the following: 4.50 % (77) from Low-Low to Low-High, 86.50 % (1481) from Middle-Low to Middle-High, and 9 % (154) from High-Low to High-High. In terms of schooling, the sample was composed as following: Elementary school .30 % (5), Junior high school 8.40 % (143), High school 10.10 % (173), College 60.20 % (1030), Graduate school 21.10 % (361). To evaluate the factor structure, it was used one group confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and to test factorial invariance between countries it was used multigroup analysis. Discrepancy function was optimized using the maximum likelihood method. In multigroup analysis, it was defined nested models with constraints. Eight indices were used in both multigroup and one group analysis to find goodness of fit: Chi square ratio (χ²/df), Goodness of fit index (GFI) and its adjusted formula (AGFI), Normed fit index (NFI), Non normed fit index (NNFI), Comparative fit index (CFI), Standardized root mean square residual (SRMR), and Root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA). Although LOT-R presents appropriate goodness of fit in two countries, BIOS-G beats it. BIOS-G gets good ω values in the seven countries, and LOT-R in two only. BIOS-G shows better factor invariance. BIOS-G obtains acceptable and excellent values in H coefficient in the seven countries, but LOT-R in four only. Correlation between BIOS-G and LOT-R is significant, r = .45, p <.01, (CI 95%, .41, .49; d = small). Tentative conclusion: Probably the BIOS-G it is a good option to measure optimism in Spanish speaking people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to compare sociodemographic, behavioral, and educational characteristics, together with personality traits, on perceptions of individuals' own oral health and orofacial esthetics.Materials and Methods: The participants had different educational backgrounds: dentistry students and students not following health care-related courses (university groups), and volunteers with no university studies (nonstudent group). The age range was 18 to 30 years. Sociodemographic and behavioral data and data on facial and dental attractiveness were gathered via personalized interviews. Personality traits were measured using the Big Five Inventory (BFI) (extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, openness), and the Life Orientation Test was used to measure optimism and pessimism.Results: No statistically significant differences were observed among the three educational groups regarding the mean scores on the five personality variables. The nonstudent group accorded significantly greater importance to tooth color, whereas the university groups considered tooth alignment more important (P = .016). The logistic regression model used to predict perceptions about orofacial health and esthetics revealed that underlying behavioral (pattern of visits to dentist and brushing habits), psychologic (pessimism and agreeableness), and educational (training in dentistry) factors affected the participants' perceptions of orofacial attractiveness, oral satisfaction, and self-rated oral health.Conclusions: The results of this study show that there are behavioral, psychologic, and educational factors that significantly modulate people's perceptions of orofacial esthetics, oral satisfaction, and self-rated oral health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Spiritual Psychology & Counseling is the property of Halil Eksi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Emotion regulation and life orientation are very important in daily life. The present study aimed to investigate the efficacy of emotion management strategies program in life orientation and cognitive emotion regulation in female deaf students. The participants were 34 female deaf students aged between 15 and 19 years selected by random cluster sampling. First, two schools were randomly selected from deaf schools in Kohkiloye and Boyer Ahmad, Iran (Shaghayegh and Nastaran Deaf Schools). The participants were then selected from these schools and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups, each comprising 17 students. The experimental group received the emotion management strategies program for eight sessions, and each session lasted 50 min, while the control group was on the waiting list. The data were collected by the Life Orientation Test (LOT) and the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ). The findings demonstrated that the intervention significantly influenced life orientation and cognitive emotion regulation in deaf students (p < 0.001). The eta square value showed that 68% of the change in life orientation, 51% of the change in non-adaptive strategies, and 53% of the adaptive strategies change were due to the intervention. The findings highlight the importance of emotion management strategies for positive orientation and emotion regulation in deaf students. This study suggests that emotion management strategies are essential for deaf students because such strategies foster positive attitudes. Highlights: We examined the efficacy of emotion management strategies program in emotion regulation and life orientation in deaf students in Iran. Deaf students who participated in the emotion management strategies program reported improvements in emotion regulation and life orientation. Positive orientation and emotion regulation significantly improved as a result of the emotion management strategies program. Our findings showed that emotion management strategies are of significant importance for deaf adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Multi-item rating scales for depression informs about the level of depression, but does not allow individuals to state by self-evaluation whether they feel depressed or not. The insider perspective on depression is rarely assessed. This study investigated the prevalence of self-diagnosed depression in the Norwegian general population, and associations with sociodemographic and psychological factors. Methods As part of a national survey, the General Self-Efficacy Scale, the Life Orientation Test-Revised, a short version of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and a one-item measure of self-diagnosed depression was administered to 5.500 persons in the general Norwegian population. Of the 4961 eligible participants ≥ 18 years of age, 1.787 (response rate 36%) participated in the survey, and 1.684 of these had valid scores on the relevant scales. The associations between sociodemographic factors and self-diagnosed depression were examined using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Results One hundred and thirty-six participants (8.1%) reported depression during the preceding month. When adjusting for sociodemographic and psychological variables, higher age (OR = 0.82), being in work (OR = 0.57), and higher levels of general self-efficacy (OR = 0.67) and optimism (OR = 0.52) were associated with lower risk of self-diagnosed depression, whereas higher levels of neuroticism (OR = 1.97) was associated with higher risk. Conclusions The prevalence of self-diagnosed depression in the adult Norwegian population was higher for women than for men. Higher age, being in work and having higher levels of psychological resources appear to reduce the risk of self-diagnosed depression, whereas neuroticism increases the risk.

In accordance with the goal of the positive psychology approach, this study was designed to build an understanding of the relationships among optimism, cognitive flexibility, adjustment to university life and happiness by proposing a multiple mediation model. A total of 386 undergraduates (64% female and 36% male) between 18-22 years participated in the study. The participants were recruited from a small university in Turkey. The Life Orientation Test, Cognitive Flexibility Inventory, University Life Scale, and Oxford Happiness Questionnaire Short Form were utilized as measures. The results showed that optimism, cognitive flexibility, adjustment to university life, and happiness positively correlated. The findings from the mediational analyses also indicated that the serial multiple mediation of cognitive flexibility and adjustment to university life in the hypothetical model was statistically significant and explained approximately 50% of the variance in happiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The main purpose of the study was to examine if life orientations of young adults ("being" or "having") differentiate respondents with respect to the degree of life satisfaction. Material and methods: A total of 187 persons (143 woman and 44 man) aged 18 to 29 years were included in the study. The following methods were used in the study: sociodemographic questionnaire, Satisfaction with Life Scale by E. Diener, R.A. Emmons, R.J. Larson, S. Griffin and the Being and Having Orientations Scale of B. Grulkowski. Results: A life orientation is a kind of behaviour regulator, that set the direction of human activity. There is a distinction between a "being" orientation (which refers to spiritual values) and a "having" orientation (which refers to possessing material things) that are manifested in a variety of experiences, and is related to human thinking, feeling, and acting. Therefore, a life orientation may play a really important role in the satisfaction with life. Most of the respondents were characterised by a mixed orientation ("being-having") and an average level of satisfaction with life. There is no significant difference in the level of satisfaction with life according to gender and the subject of studies. It was shown that people with the "being" orientation have greater satisfaction with life than people with the "having" orientation. The obtained results, which show no differences in satisfaction with life according to gender, are consistent with the earlier studies. And so is the result that people with the dominant of the "being" orientation have greater satisfaction with life, than those with the "having" orientation. Conclusions: Only few papers about "being" and "having" orientations have been published so far since the method used in the study occurs only in the Polish language and there is no data about its adaptations in different countries. Results of conducted research set the direction of educational impact and give the scientific basis for a well-known saying: money can't buy happiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimism in conservation, and its potential impact on conservation practice, has been the focus of considerable recent attention. Dispositional optimism is the tendency to have positive expectations for the future, and previous research on optimism has focused particularly on the relationship between optimism and positive health outcomes. This research has concluded that optimism is generally a positive trait that can help people address problems, and set and achieve their goals. These characteristics may also be beneficial in conservation contexts. Using the revised Life Orientation Test, we measure dispositional optimism in conservation professionals to assess whether they are more or less optimistic than individuals who do not work in conservation, and whether there are differences in dispositional optimism between conservation professionals. We find that conservation professionals in the UK are more optimistic than a comparator sample of UK residents. Within conservation professionals, we do not find differences in dispositional optimism with age, gender, country of residence, employer, employment status, whether an individual thinks of themselves as a conservation biologist, or years working in conservation. We find weak evidence for lower dispositional optimism in conservation professionals working in Europe, Africa and South America. The most commonly expressed motivation for working in conservation was a feeling of love or connection, but we found no relationship between motivations and dispositional optimism. We did find that conservation professionals with higher dispositional optimism were more likely to be optimistic about the future of conservation, although no more likely to be optimistic about three specific conservation issues. Greater optimism in conservation professionals has important implications for conservation practice—optimists could benefit the success of the projects they work on, and benefit from the resilience that optimism provides, in a difficult sector where success is uncertain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa plays a pivotal role in promoting active citizenship to ensure the deepening of democracy. This article, as based on the study by Arendse, explored the extent to which Parliament as a key participatory institution promotes active citizenship in relation to the Grade 11 Life Orientation (LO) curriculum in South Africa. A qualitative, interpretive approach was employed. However, data were gathered through the crystallisation approach using different methods of gathering data such as document study, questionnaires and focus group interviews, which involved 461 Grade 12 LO learners who had completed the Grade 11 LO curriculum during 2012 and seven LO educators. The findings suggest that there is: (1) lack of exposure, knowledge and understanding about Parliament; (2) lack of public education programmes and initiatives about Parliament; and (3) limited information about Parliament in the LO curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subject Advisors of Life Skills (LS) and Life Orientation (LO) provide professional support and guidance to teachers and monitor the implementation of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement. This study aimed to offer an understanding of the challenges faced by LS/LO Subject Advisors (SUBADVs) in guiding teachers to deliver Physical Education (PE) in schools in the Free State Province of South Africa effectively, within an ecosystemic theoretical framework. This study forms part of a larger research project looking into the effective implementation of PE in South African schools. A qualitative research approach and a grounded theory methodology was adopted. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten SUBADVs in LS and LO in the Foundation, Intermediate and Senior Phases from the five education districts in the Free State. Data collected were transcribed verbatim and qualitative content analysis was applied. Major challenges encountered by SUBADVs with the implementation of PE are the lack of facilities and resources in schools, a lack of knowledge and understanding of PE by LS/LO teachers and the need for training in this regard. These issues necessitate appropriate in-service training for SUBADVs and teachers alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the way in which values education is incorporated in the Life Orientation (LO) curriculum of the Senior Phase (Grades 7-9)i in South Africa. Researchers agree that in the light of the current need to regenerate morals and re-norm the nation, values are critical. From the moment they are born, children learn by observing adults; they mimic what they see, and repeat the words they utter. Parents and teachers have the greatest influence on a child's upbringing and therefore have a responsibility to teach them about the core values that help them become well-rounded citizens. Theoretically, the study on which this article is based was located in the literature on approaches to implementing values education. The study employed a qualitative perspective, with a descriptive case study design. Participants include purposively selected school principals, school governing body (SGB) members, and LO teachers. The data was collected using semi-structured interviews and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. The analysis revealed that the values in the school LO curriculum were incorporated eclectically through explicit, implicit and critical approaches. On the basis of these findings, it is recommended that the school community sustain an eclectic approach to values education that covers learners' holistic experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analysis of the National Curriculum Statement indicates a strong focus on the promotion of knowledge in local context, whilst being sensitive to global imperatives. This implies that learning experiences must reflect local realities first; a call which compels teachers to adapt their teaching with the purpose to make learning relevant and meaningful for the learner. It is therefore an appropriate time to ask the key question: Do Life Orientation teachers (re)connect their teaching-learning on social and environmental responsibility with learners' living environments to adhere to curriculum requirements of relevance and meaningfulness? The qualitative data obtained from 13 structured classroom observations, with specific reference to the topic social and environmental responsibility, revealed that Life Orientation teachers experienced challenges. Based on these qualitative findings the researchers propose place-based education as an appropriate teaching-learning strategy to (re) connect social and environmental responsibility with the learner's living environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although heart rate variability (HRV) may be a crucial marker of mental health, how it is related to positive psychological factors (i.e. attitude to life and positive thinking) is largely unknown. Here we investigated the correlation of HRV linear and nonlinear dynamics with psychological scales that measured degree of optimism and happiness in patients with anxiety disorders. Results showed that low- to high-frequency HRV ratio (LF/HF) was increased and the HRV HF parameter was decreased in subjects who were more optimistic and who felt happier in daily living. Nonlinear analysis also showed that HRV dispersion and regulation were significantly correlated with the subjects’ optimism and purpose in life. Our findings showed that HRV properties might be related to degree of optimistic perspectives on life and suggests that HRV markers of autonomic nervous system function could reflect positive human mind states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine the time course and predictors of fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) in breast cancer survivors over a period of 18 months after initial surgery.Methods: Breast cancer patients (n = 267) were followed until 18 months after primary breast surgery. Shortly after surgery, participants completed the Life Orientation Test-Revised to measure optimism and the Concerns about Recurrence Scale to measure FCR. Mixed regression analysis was performed with age, optimism, marital status, education, type of surgery, with or without lymphectomy, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, or radiotherapy, time since surgery, and all interactions with time as predictors of FCR.Results: The final model included a significant interaction between age and time since surgery and a main effect for optimism.Conclusion: These results suggest that the course of FCR depends on the age of breast cancer survivors. Younger survivors showed an increase of fear during the first 1.5 years after breast surgery, whereas older survivors showed stable levels during the first 6 months after which it declined. Also, less optimistic survivors reported higher levels of FCR. Health care providers should pay (extra) attention to FCR in younger and less optimistic patients and offer psychological help when needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Integrated Multimodal Travel Information (IMTI) plays an important role in the evolution process of holiday travel behaviour, which is seldom investigated. To fill this gap, this study analyses holiday travel behaviour dynamics with IMTI usage, based on the life-oriented approach. IMTI usage is taken as a separate life domain in this study, and a two-way relationship between holiday travel biography and IMTI usage biography over the life course, is examined after controlling for the effects of residential, household structure, employment/education, and car ownership biographies. Based on the web-based life history survey data, statistical characteristics of mobilities in each life biography are first analysed. Then, different random-effects ordered logistic models are established to investigate the biographical interdependencies from three aspects: intra-domain interdependency, inter-domain interdependency and outer-domain interdependency. The results show that the life biography is not only affected by a personal life course, but also affected by external background of the times. Under the interaction of inner individual factors and outer environment factors, there is an obvious dynamic two-way relationship between holiday travel biography and IMTI usage biography. Meanwhile, residential, household structure, employment/education and car ownership biographies have significant effects on these two life biographies. Especially, the influence of long-term state dependence for different life domains, over the life course, is much more obvious when explaining holiday travel behaviour dynamics and IMTI usage mobilities. Therefore, the life-oriented approach provides a valid method for analysing the dynamics of holiday travel behaviour with IMTI usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue argues the importance of a paradigm shift from traditional approaches to the life-oriented approach for a better understanding of travel behavior and for better supporting cross-sectoral transport policymaking. The life-oriented approach focuses on the interdependencies between life choices, and for travel behavior analysis, it not only considers travel behavior as the results from various life choices, but also the reverse relationship of travel behavior influencing life choices. Here, first, we introduce the life-oriented approach in general, and then apply it to travel behavior research. Second, we summarize the findings from ten papers included in this special issue. These ten papers deal with topics such as commuting, ‘peak car’ phenomenon, travel mode choice, residential biography, holiday travel behavior, and happiness. Evidence is presented mainly from developed countries, but with an exception from China. Each paper presents unique and innovative efforts. Finally, we discuss several important future research challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we explore the neural correlates of the general and specific factors assessed by the Life Orientation Test-Revised. These factors have been shown to assess general optimism (GO) and a form of self-enhancement akin to unrealistic optimism (SP). Toward our aim, we used a standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA), which provides electroencephalographic (EEG) localization measures that are independent of recording reference. Resting-EEG and self-report measures of GO and SP were collected from 51 female undergraduates. EEGs were recorded across 29 scalp sites. Anterior and posterior source alpha asymmetries of cortical activation were obtained by using the sLORETA method. On the basis of previous research findings, ten frontal and six parietal regions of interest (ROIs) were derived. Alpha asymmetry in the posterior cingulate (i.e., BA31) was uniquely associated with GO. In contrast, SP was associated with areas of the inferior frontal gyrus (BA44, BA45) and with the left subcentralis area (BA43). Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are provided and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) measures dispositional optimism (DO) -- an individual difference promoting physical and psychological well-being in healthy adults (HAs) as well as in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and healthcare providers (HPs). Controversy has arisen regarding the dimensionality of the LOT-R. Whereas DO was originally defined as a one-dimensional construct, empirical evidence suggests two correlated factors in the LOT-R. This study was the first attempt to identify the best factor structure of the LOT-R in patients with CHF and HPs and to evaluate its measurement invariance among subsamples of patients with CHF, HPs, and a normative sample of HAs. Its validity was also evaluated in patients with CHF. The sample comprised 543 participants (34% HAs; 34% HPs; and 32% CHF patients). Congeneric, two correlated factor, and two orthogonal factor models for the LOT-R were compared by performing confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Measurement invariance was evaluated by considering differential item functioning (DIF) among subsamples of HPs, patients with CHF, and HAs. In patients with CHF, validity was assessed by considering associations with anxiety and depression. The CFA demonstrated the superior fit of the two orthogonal factor model. Moreover, across patients with CHF, HPs, and HAs, the results highlighted a minimal DIF with only trivial consequences. Finally, negative but weak correlations of DO with anxiety and depression confirmed the validity of the LOT-R in patients with CHF. In summary, these findings supported the validity and suitability of the LOT-R for the assessment of DO in patients with CHF, HPs, and HAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Violence in South African schools seems to be increasing and the consequences affect not only the physical, emotional, and academic lives of learners but also their resistance to delinquent and criminal behaviour. Because the foundations for youth violence are laid in early adolescence, violence prevention in schools is a critical need. Life orientation (LO) as a compulsory school subject could play a key role in helping South African learners deal with the different manifestations of violence, especially understanding the nature of the institutionalised violence of colonialism and apartheid. LO can also nurture learners' personal development and life skills to increase their sense of agency, a key factor in both violence prevention and learners' decolonisation processes. However, various South African studies attest to the current low status of LO in the school curriculum as well as the difficulties of teaching LO. Many of these studies also mention the inadequacy of LO teachers' preparation for meaningful LO teaching. Given that equipping current-day South African learners with the self-empowerment skills necessary for preventing everyday conflicts from escalating into violence also entails this complex decolonisation process to liberate them of past or still-present oppressions, this paper contends that LO teachers need to have first participated in such self-development processes themselves. For these reasons, this article proposes a specific development strategy to support LO teachers, namely, that they participate in workshops of the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP),1 which applies a nonviolent pedagogical approach in its focus on self-empowerment and creative conflict management. The article discusses the benefits of such an approach and conceptually explores how AVP has the potential to provide LO teachers with practical strategies for creative, affirming responses to conflict and violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the results of a study that analyses students' historical narratives of the nation in relation to historical consciousness and how their sense of self-identification with groups affects their narrative structure and orientation. This study was conducted with French Canadian students registered in two high schools (n=58) and one university (n=18) in Ottawa, the federal capital of Canada. I found that a strong sense of identification leads young people to construct more engaging and militant stories of the collective past, with greater historical appropriation (using the collective 'we') and a sense of continuity with past actualities. I then discuss the implications of this study for research on the narrative competence of historical consciousness and what history education might do in school to promote historical consciousness in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to analyze the dimensionality of the Spanish version of the Revised Life Orientation Test (LOT-R), to examine the relationship between psychological well-being and dispositional optimism/pessimism in a sample of college students (n = 291), as well as to consider the effect of dispositional optimism/pessimism on academic progress. The results indicated that the properties of the Spanish version of the LOT-R (α = .72) were very similar to the original. The questionnaire clearly presented two partially independent factors, and the items assessing optimism demonstrated greater discriminant validity than the items assessing pessimism. Optimism was positively linked to psychological well-being and negatively related to psychological-distress. In the male students, a certain degree of preoccupation about academic results was linked to progress in studies, while excessive worry about academic progress could obstruct the successful completion of studies in the female students. These results suggest that the LOT-R can be used as a reliable and valid tool for the analysis of optimism and its positive effects on health and academic progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the mediating role of optimism in the relationship between mindfulness and positive affect with a sample of 277 Chinese people aged between 51 and 65 years who completed the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, the Life Orientation Test-Revised, and the Positive Affect subscale of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. Pearson correlation analysis results showed a significant positive relationship between mindfulness, optimism, and positive affect. Mediation analysis results further showed that optimism partially mediated the association between mindfulness and positive affect. Thus, as the findings indicated that enhancing mindfulness levels results in greater optimism, this should be considered an effective measure for promoting positive affect in older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study was carried out to study how renal transplant recipients (RTRs) following a successful transplant in Pakistan perceive their experience and life before and after the transplant. The aim was to explore recipients’ perceptions and transitions concerning their personality and life orientation as a consequence of a major surgical experience. The study focused on how the recipients perceived the impact of losing native kidneys, their coping and adjustment with altered life styles before and after the transplant. Using in depth interviews, twenty participants (10 males, 10 females) were approached at the renal follow-up clinic and asked to describe their transplant experiences and compare their physical functioning, family and social life and psychological well-being pre- and post-transplant. Out of twenty, 14 agreed to share their experiences in the qualitative interview. A thematic analysis revealed that transplantation brought positive changes in their psychological well-being. Participants tended to have an optimistic attitude towards life focus regarding past, present and future plans & concerns. The themes explaining these transitions included; ‘post traumatic growth’ as indicated by an optimistic attitude & personal growth’ as a consequent impact of transplant, ‘gratitude’, ‘emotional morbidity’ and ‘transplant related fears, anxieties & uncertainty’ about possible future consequences & risk vulnerability and future concerns. Most recipients perceived themselves as ‘changed beings’ regarding their behaviors, beliefs and interpersonal relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to investigate optimism levels of Turkish adolescents aged between 14 and 18 and its relation with parenting style, gender, and academic achievement. The sample consisted of 1353 students (708 male, 645 female) who volunteered to participate in the study from three high schools in Ankara, Turkey. The Life Orientation Test and Parental Attitude Scale were used as the data collection instruments. The results of ANOVA indicated that the adolescents who had higher academic achievement had higher levels of optimism than those who had lower academic achievement. Moreover, the results of this study showed that the adolescents who perceived their parents as authoritative had relatively higher levels of optimism than those who perceived their parents as authoritarian and neglectful. Results of this study also indicated that the adolescents who characterize their parents as permissive had a relatively higher level of optimism than those who characterize their parents as neglectful and authoritarian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD) remains at quite notable levels. Research on the risk factors and the treatment of CHD has focused on physiological factors, but there is an increasing amount of evidence connecting mental health and personality traits to CHD, too. The data concerning the connection of CHD and dispositional optimism and pessimism as personality traits is relatively scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate the connection between optimism, pessimism, and CHD mortality. Methods: This was an 11-year prospective cohort study on a regional sample of three cohorts, aged 52-56, 62-66, and 72-76 years at baseline (N = 2815). The levels of dispositional optimism and pessimism of the study subjects were determined at baseline using a revised version of the Life Orientation Test (LOT-R). Eleven years later, those results and follow-up data about CHD as a cause of death were used to calculate odds. Adjustments were made for cardiovascular disease risk. Results: Those who died because of CHD were significantly more pessimistic at baseline than the others. This finding applies to both men and women. Among the study subjects in the highest quartile of pessimism, the adjusted risk of death caused by CHD was approximately 2.2-fold (OR 2.17, 95 % CI 1.21-3.89) compared to the subjects in the lowest quartile. Optimism did not seem to have any connection with the risk of CHD-induced mortality. Conclusions: Pessimism seems to be a substantial risk factor for death from CHD. As an easily measured variable, it might be a very useful tool together with the other known risk factors to determine the risk of CHD-induced mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND The relation of positive orientation (a basic predisposition to think positively of oneself, one’s life and one’s future) and personality traits is still disputable. The purpose of the described research was to verify the hypothesis that positive orientation has predictive efficiency beyond the five-factor model. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE One hundred and thirty participants (at the mean age M = 24.84) completed the following questionnaires: the Self-Esteem Scale (SES), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R), the Positivity Scale (P-SCALE), the NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), the Self-Concept Clarity Scale (SCC), the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) and the Life Engagement Test (LET). RESULTS The introduction of positive orientation as an additional predictor in the second step of regression analyses led to better prediction of the following variables: purpose in life, self-concept clarity and generalized self-efficacy. This effect was the strongest for predicting purpose in life (i.e. 14% increment of the explained variance). CONCLUSIONS The results confirmed our hypothesis that positive orientation can be characterized by incremental validity – its inclusion in the regression model (in addition to the five main factors of personality) increases the amount of explained variance. These findings may provide further evidence for the legitimacy of measuring positive orientation and personality traits separately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The constant changes in the Life Orientation (LO) curriculum in the past two decades has left LO teachers feeling overwhelmed by the complex nature of the subject, thus necessitating an urgent need for their development and enrichment. However, this has become a mammoth task, as indicated in the few studies that have explored LO teachers' career development needs. This article seeks to narrow this gap by addressing the career development needs of LO teachers in the Gauteng Province with the view of enabling them to effectively implement the Life Orientation curriculum. This article is based on a study that employed a qualitative design, which comprised individual and focus group interviews to elicit responses from a purposively selected group of LO teachers. Themes that emerged from the data analysis are, the need for formal training, the need for subject and content knowledge development, the need for support from key stakeholders, the need for resources, and the need for stability in the LO subject. These needs are embedded within the activity theory (AT). The results of this study indicate that an urgency exists to address the LO teachers' career needs in the constantly changing world of work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Life Orientation Test’s optimism scale in its revised version as applied to a Venezuelan diabetic population. A sample of 300 people with diabetes participated. Internal consistency was analysed using Cronbach’s alpha, factorial structure was evaluated using confirmatory analysis, and correlations were made using the MOS Social Support Survey, the Social Networks Scale (translated into Spanish) and the Coping Strategies Questionnaire. Sufficient reliability and acceptable discriminative power of the items were obtained, together with a clear two-dimensional structure (optimism and pessimism). Correlations with social support, social networks and coping strategies were weak, as expected. Verifying the obtained results in alternative samples with chronic diseases is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learners living in challenging socio-economic circumstances face limited opportunities for further education and employment. In this context, formal career guidance which merely provides information about specific jobs and how to access them may be of little use. This article explores the usefulness of participatory visual strategies as a pedagogical tool for teachers to help learners think more critically, realistically and hopefully about their future life opportunities. Analysed through a resilience lens, findings indicated that the strategies inspired hope in learners; helped them identify assets and barriers in their social ecologies; develop a sense of agency and responsibility for deciding on their futures; and care more for other people, all of which will help them make more constructive choices for life after school. The findings might help teachers make their career education more relevant for children who live in contexts of adversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A naturalistic study was conducted to investigate the influence of optimism on the regulation of daily sad mood. 161 undergraduate students ( n = 116, 72 % female) with a mean age of 20.54 years ( SD = 5.04) participated. The sample majority was Caucasian ( n = 149, 92.5 %). At baseline participants completed questionnaires that included the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) followed by a 7 day online mood, cognition and emotion regulation diary. Correlational analyses revealed LOT-R was associated with active repair, increased use of both adaptive and maladaptive repair strategies, reduced negative cognitions and greater perceived effectiveness, but was unrelated to sadness duration. Multi-level modeling revealed LOT-R did not interact with adaptive and maladaptive mood regulation strategies to predict ability to implement strategies, however perceived effectiveness was less tied to strategy type for those higher on LOT-R. Active repair and perceptions of control over emotions may contribute to enhanced affective functioning associated with optimism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life Orientation sexuality education in South Africa faces many pedagogical challenges, not least among which is that it is sometimes perceived as irrelevant to learners' real interests and concerns. Learners report that the content is repetitive and that they learn more from peers than from the reiterated lessons of risk and disease avoidance that permeate sex education messages. In this article we describe the world of the study site - a 'single sex' school - as consisting of diverse informal student sexual cultures in which repertoires for the development of learner sexual identities are developed, negotiated and transmitted. The study is based on detailed ethnographic immersion in the study site which generated rich data drawn from in-depth interviews, focus groups, observations and solicited narratives. We argue that even the enlightened, tolerant 'best practice' form of sexuality education that takes place at the study site fails to take diverse learner identities, lifeworlds and experiences seriously as a pedagogic starting point, but rather tends to homogenise learners and to impose on them what they need to learn. A more empowering form of sexuality education would take seriously how young people understand themselves as sexual subjects located in unequal ('raced' and classed) social contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Progressive policies protecting women's rights to make reproductive decisions and the recent increase in literature exploring female sexual agency do not appear to have impacted on more equitable sexual relations in all contexts. In South Africa, gender power inequalities, intersecting with other forms of inequality in society, pose a challenge for young women's control over their sexual and reproductive health. The article focuses on a group of young Coloured South African women's understandings of their sexual agency, in an attempt to explore how it is explicitly and implicitly shaped by school Life Orientation (LO) sexuality programmes. We found young women constructed their agency as simultaneously enabled and constrained in complex ways: on the one hand, the explicit communication was that they should have agency and take responsibility for themselves sexually, whereas the implicit communication seemed to convey that what they really thought and felt about sex and sexuality was not important. In addition, heteronormative gender roles, in which men are assumed to take the lead in sexual matters, appear to be reproduced in LO sexuality education messages and further complicate young women's constructions of their sexual agency. The implications of these findings for LO sexuality programmes are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Face-to-face adult communication with young people about sexuality is, for the most part, assigned to two main groups of people: educators tasked with teaching schoolbased sexuality education that is provided as part of the compulsory Life Orientation (LO) learning area, and parents. In this paper, we report on a study conducted with Further Education and Training College students in an Eastern Cape town. Using a discursive psychology lens, we analysed data from, first, a written question on what participants remember being taught about sexuality in LO classes and, second, focus group discussions held with mixed and same-sex groups. Discussions were structured around the sexualities of high school learners and the LO sexuality education that participants received at high school. We highlight participants' common deployment of a 'discourse of disconnect' in their talk. In this discourse, the messages of 'risk' and 'responsibility' contained in adult face-to-face communications, by both parents and LO teachers, are depicted as being delivered through inadequate or non-relational styles of communication, and as largely irrelevant to participants' lives. Neither of these sources of communication was seen as understanding the realities of youth sexualities or as creating habitable or performable sexual subject positions. The dominance of this 'discourse of disconnect' has implications for how sexuality education and parent communication interventions are conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares two forms of sexual socialisation to which learners are exposed: the sexuality education components of the Life Orientation (LO) manuals and the lyrical content and videos of popular songs. We performed a textual analysis of the sexual subject positions made available in, first, the LO manuals used in Grade 10 classes and, second, the two songs voted most popular by the Grade 10 learners of two diverse schools in the Eastern Cape. Of interest in this paper is whether and how these two forms of sexual socialisation - one representing state-sanctioned sexual socialisation and the other learners' chosen cultural expression that represents informal sexual socialisation - dovetail or diverge. Against a backdrop of heterosexuality and an assumption of the 'adolescent-in-transition' discourse, the main sexual subject positions featured in the LO manuals are the responsible sexual subject and the sexual victim. A number of sexualised subject positions are portrayed in the songs, with these subject positions depicting sex as a site of pleasure, tension and complexity. Although these two modes of sexual socialisation use different genres of communication, we argue that learners' choice of songs that depict fluid sexual subject positions can help to inform LO sexuality education in ways that takes learners' preferred cultural expression seriously and that moves away from the imperative of responsibilisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-framing is an important but underinvestigated area in risk communication and behavioural decision-making, especially in medical settings. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship among dispositional optimism, self-frame and decision-making. Participants ( N = 500) responded to the Life Orientation Test-Revised and self-framing test of medical decision-making problem. The participants whose scores were higher than the middle value were regarded as highly optimistic individuals. The rest were regarded as low optimistic individuals. The results showed that compared to the high dispositional optimism group, participants from the low dispositional optimism group showed a greater tendency to use negative vocabulary to construct their self-frame, and tended to choose the radiation therapy with high treatment survival rate, but low 5-year survival rate. Based on the current findings, it can be concluded that self-framing effect still exists in medical situation and individual differences in dispositional optimism can influence the processing of information in a framed decision task, as well as risky decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There exists limited understanding of cross-sex hormone use and mental well-being among transgender women and, particularly, among transgender men. Moreover, most studies of transgender people have taken place in the Global North and often in the context of HIV. This exploratory study compared 60 transgender men (toms) with 60 transgender women (kathoeys) regarding their use of cross-sex hormones, mental well-being and acceptance by their family. Participants also completed a dispositional optimism scale (the Life Orientation Test Revised), the Social Functioning Questionnaire and the Short Form Health Survey 36 assessing their profile of functional health and mental well-being. Cross-sex hormones were used by 35% oftomsand 73% ofkathoeysand were largely unsupervised by health-related personnel. There were no differences in functional health and mental well-being amongtomsandkathoeys. However,tomscurrently using cross-sex hormones scored on average poorer on bodily pain and mental health, compared to non-users. Furthermore, compared to non-users, cross-sex hormone users were about eight times and five times more likely to be associated with poor parental acceptance amongtomsandkathoeys, respectively. This study was the first to compare cross-sex hormone use, functional health and mental well-being among transgender women and transgender men in Southeast Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Sam Harris, one of the new atheists, believes that science is an authority in moral issues. Science can help us understand what our moral duties are, and what is right and wrong in a moral sense. However, the cultural and historical diversity of human behaviours, especially the history of wars and conflicts, suggests that it is difficult to show one, common and universal kind of morality. Here we show that Harris's moral theory is a particular project which could not be "scientifically" justifiable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimism can be defined in terms of positive and negative expectations regarding future life events. The aims of this study were to adapt and validate the Revised Life Orientation Test (LOT-R) for the Brazilian population, verify its psychometric characteristics, assess whether there are gender differences, and verify its relationships with self-esteem and personality. The participants were 844 university students from two public universities in the southern of Brazil, which answered the following tests: LOT-R, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Baterial Fatorial de Personalidade (BFP). Factor analysis extracted a single factor, corroborating the findings of the original scale and indicating that optimism and pessimism are probably polar opposites of a single continuum. The results showed positive correlation between self-esteem and optimism in life orientation, and negative correlation between optimism and neuroticism. In conclusion, the Brazilian version of the LOT-R is an instrument that presents appropriate psychometric characteristics and that is ready for use in the Brazilian population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: Recent research suggests pessimistic orientation is associated with shorter leukocyte telomere length (LTL). However, this is the first study to look not only at effects of pessimistic orientation on average LTL at multiple time points, but also at effects on the rate of change in LTL over time. Methods: Participants were older men from the VA Normative Aging Study (n =490). The life orientation test (LOT) was used to measure optimistic and pessimistic orientations at study baseline, and relative LTL by telomere to single copy gene ratio (T:S ratio) was obtained repeatedly over the course of the study (1999–2008). A total of 1010 observations were included in the analysis. Linear mixed effect models with a random subject intercept were used to estimate associations. Results: Higher pessimistic orientation scores were associated with shorter average LTL (percent difference by 1-SD increase in pessimistic orientation (95% CI): −3.08 (−5.62, −0.46)), and the finding was maintained after adjusting for the higher likelihood that healthier individuals return for follow-up visits (−3.44 (−5.95, −0.86)). However, pessimistic orientation scores were not associated with rate of change in LTL over time. No associations were found between overall optimism and optimistic orientation subscale scores and LTL. Conclusion: Higher pessimistic orientation scores were associated with shorter LTL in older men. While there was no evidence that pessimistic orientation was associated with rate of change in LTL over time, higher levels of pessimistic orientation were associated with shorter LTL at baseline and this association persisted over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Dispositional optimism is an individual difference promoting psychosocial adjustment and well-being during adolescence. Dispositional optimism was originally defined as a one-dimensional construct; however, empirical evidence suggests two correlated factors in the Life Orientation Test – Revised (LOT-R). The main aim of the study was to evaluate the dimensionality of the LOT-R. This study is the first attempt to identify the best factor structure, comparing congeneric, two correlated-factor, and two orthogonal-factor models in a sample of adolescents. Concurrent validity was also assessed. The results demonstrated the superior fit of the two orthogonal-factor model thus reconciling the one-dimensional definition of dispositional optimism with the bi-dimensionality of the LOT-R. Moreover, the results of correlational analyses proved the concurrent validity of this self-report measure: optimism is moderately related to indices of psychosocial adjustment and well-being. Thus, the LOT-R is a useful, valid, and reliable self-report measure to properly assess optimism in adolescence. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The study under investigation has encouraged the researchers to explore and describe the promotion of an awareness of cultural diversity through social development as a Learning Outcome in Life Orientation among grade 7 learners at schools. The researchers opted to use a basic interpretive qualitative research approach in order to describe and interpret the phenomena under study with forty-eight participants selected from the Life Orientation grade 7 class in one school in Gauteng Province South Africa. The participants were thus representative of different cultural groups because the class consisted of boys and girls learners from, for example, Zulu, Tswana, N.Sotho, English, Afrikaans and Zimbabwe culture. The findings showed that teachers had attempted to promote an awareness of cultural diversity at the school in a variety of ways. This means that they still need to create a climate in schools such that diversity is celebrated, invited, encouraged and sustained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] We recently showed that tactile perception is enhanced with placebo procedure made of verbal suggestion and conditioning. [•] This change was supported by modulations in late somatosensory-evoked potentials, reflecting cortical sensory elaboration. [•] Here we test whether similar effects can be obtained by mere verbal suggestion. [•] Results show that in the tactile system, verbal suggestion alone is not sufficient to change perception and brain potentials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigated the nature of the method effect associated with positively worded items of the Life Orientation Test–Revised. In a first cross-sectional study (N = 11,028) the best fitting model posits 2 factors, representing general optimism and a specific factor associated with positive items. In a second longitudinal study (N = 203), a unified latent curve latent state–trait model was used to assess the developmental trajectory of the specific factor from 16 to 20 years. This factor contains a prevalence of trait versus state variance, and presents a relationship pattern with external criteria (e.g., depression) that differ from the one involving general optimism. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The aim of the study was to determine the consistency prevailing between the disciplinary practices in the schools and the principles of the Alternatives-to-Corporal Punishment strategy. The three main research questions that guided the study were to determine (1) How much variance of offences can be explained by disciplinary measures of alternative corporal punishment? (2) How well do the different measures of alternative corporal punishment predict offences? (3) Which is the best predictor of offences given a set of alternative measures? Twenty-nine schools participated in the survey and five schools participated in the case study, so the achieved sample was 34 schools. From the 29 survey schools, one principal and one Life Orientation (LO) teacher participated. All in all 58 people participated. The results revealed that 66.60% of the variation in the offence of vandalism was explained by the predictors. When vandalism was predicted it was found that School identification (β = .693, p < .05), gender (β = -.180, p < .05), coordination of disciplinary committee (DC) meetings (β = .116, p < .05), communication with parents (β = 1.070, p < .05) and monitoring compliance to DC (β = .852, p < .05) were significant predictors. Responsibility, school location, experience as a principal, availability of policy, capacitation on discipline, counselling, recording of sanctions and monitoring implementation of sanctions were not significant predictors (varying β and p > .05). The results reveal that there was no established consistency between the disciplinary practices in the schools and the principles of the alternatives-to-corporal punishment strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study traced the historical path of Physical Education (PE) in South Africa from being a stand-alone school subject to its incorporation into the learning area, Life Orientation (LO). LO is an amalgamation of non-examinable subjects. The critical stance taken towards this amalgamation may also be regarded as a critique of Outcomes-based Education (OBE). The infusion of PE into LO came about as a result of teacher rationalisation and at the expense of pedagogical concerns. PE was integrated into LO without critical opposition. The introduction of OBE and the integration ofPE hinged largely on political symbolism, rather than reflecting true change in the educational system, resulting in policy becoming separated from practice. The post-apartheid government did not consider PE a serious concern, due to the development of a spirit of South African national sport pride mainly promoted along the lines of mega events and through the country's re-admittance to participation in the international sporting arena. Consequently, PE with its emphasis on mass-participation activity was insignificant compared to this emerging international trend. Sources that take a judgemental stand towards LO and OBE influenced the perspective taken in this study. Research for this study used critical theory as a means of expressing dissent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]