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The primary objective of this study was to examine whether recurrent rejection of offers of help by peer teachers would induce depersonalization in kindergarten teachers. Another objective was to examine whether a predominantly problem-focused coping style would be more effective than a predominantly emotion-focused coping style in reducing the negative impact of being spurned. The third objective was to assess whether preparedness for rejection could prevent the experience of being spurned. New kindergarten teachers in the city of Macau, China, responded, at three points in time, to questionnaires addressing the variables of interest: before the school term, six months into their work, and another four months later. As hypothesized, being spurned produced depersonalization, with such effects being reduced more by a predominantly problem-focused coping style than by a predominantly emotion-focused style. The effects of stress preparation also were obtained. (Contains 2 tables.)

Purpose: One objective of the present study was to explore how stressful kindergarten principals, as leaders and managers of their schools, found their work to be, and if such job-related stress was associated with negative emotions and job (dis)satisfaction. Another objective was to assess whether or not social support from one's supervisor could reduce the adverse effects of job-related stress. A related objective was to examine possible negative impacts associated with receipt of support from one's supervisor. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 44 kindergarten principals in Macau filled out a questionnaire that contained the variables of interest. Findings: The results indicated that the principals found their work to be moderately stressful; only emotional support was shown to be effective in buffering the impacts of job-related stress; and there were only weak adverse effects related to the receipt of support. Originality/value: This paper is useful in understanding the relationship of stress to work in the school environment. (Contains 3 tables.)

Simple Summary: Young survivors of bone tumors and soft-tissue sarcoma are at risk of cognitive impairment due to their previous cancer therapies and the development of cancer-/treatment-related chronic health conditions as they age. We postulate that a compromised health status, coupled with the continued engagement in an unhealthy lifestyle during survivorship, may further exacerbate cognitive impairment among survivors. Our study found that survivors of bone tumors and soft-tissue sarcoma demonstrated impairment in attention, processing speed and executive function (higher order thinking ability). Low physical activity and smoking were associated with inattention. Survivors who worked >9 h per day had worse executive function than those with shorter working hours. Of note is that survivors who had a chronic health condition and were physically inactive demonstrated the worst attention and executive function performance. Our findings support continual efforts to investigate intervention targets and leverage health behaviors as modifiable risk factors to prevent cognitive dysfunction in this population. Background: The effect of lifestyle on neurocognitive impairment among cancer survivors remain an understudied area. This study explored the association between lifestyle factors and neurocognitive outcomes (specifically, attention, memory, processing speed and cognitive flexibility) in AYA survivors (aged 15–39 years) of sarcoma. Methods: This study recruited 116 AYA survivors (age 28.2 (SD = 8.2) years), who were diagnosed with osteosarcoma (49%) or soft-tissue sarcoma (51%) at age 13.3 (SD = 7.2) years. The neurocognitive battery included measures of attention, memory, motor-processing speed, and cognitive flexibility. Survivors reported health-damaging practices, which included: physical inactivity, smoking, alcohol intake, inadequate sleep (<7 h of actual sleep/day), sleep-related fatigue (Multidimensional Fatigue Scale) and long working hours (>9 h/day). General linear modeling was conducted to examine the association between lifestyle factors and neurocognitive outcomes, adjusting for age at diagnosis, sex, education attainment and clinical/treatment variables. Results: At 14.9 (SD = 7.6) years post-diagnosis, survivors demonstrated impairment in attentiveness (4.3–13.0%), processing speed (34.5%) and cognitive flexibility (18.1%). Nearly half (45.7%) had developed a chronic health condition (CHC). Low physical activity (estimate = −0.97, p = 0.003) and sleep-related fatigue (estimate = −0.08, p = 0.005) were associated with inattention. Survivors who worked >9 h/day (n = 15) demonstrated worse attention (estimate = 5.42, p = 0.023) and cognitive flexibility (estimate = 5.22, p = 0.005) than survivors who worked ≤9 h/day (n = 66). Interaction analysis (CHCs*physical activity) showed that survivors who developed CHCs and reported low physical activity had worse attention (p = 0.032) and cognitive-flexibility (p = 0.019) scores than other subgroups. Conclusion: Treatment-related CHCs, coupled with continued physical inactivity, may exacerbate inattention and executive dysfunction among survivors. Long working hours and sleep-related fatigue are associated with worse functioning; this finding should be validated with prospective assessment of work-related stressors and objective sleep measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese teachers in high-achieving (n=103) and low-achieving (n=77) schools completed measures of job satisfaction, intention to quit, and spurning (student rejection of teacher help). Teachers of lower achievers were spurned more often. For both groups, spurning predicted job satisfaction but not likelihood of quitting and also predicted stress from interaction with students, but not supervisors. (SK)

The rise of China's international peace activities has brought new challenges to the notion and practice of peacebuilding. China employs a style of "developmental peace" in the developing countries of Asia and Africa. Developmental peace prioritises economic development without introducing change to the local government. This raises the question of whether or not a focus on economic development can create sustainable peace in post-conflict societies. We are in a transition period where China is leading a new style of peacebuilding. China, dissatisfied with the current norms in international peace, is trying to challenge and contest Western-dominated norms of peacebuilding. The question is, can China's style of focusing mainly on addressing economic underdevelopment create sustainable peace in post-conflict societies? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is little consensus among different early childhood education stakeholders in Hong Kong on whether it is beneficial or detrimental for children to receive an English bilingual education before the age of 6. This longitudinal study investigated the issue of potential ‘detrimental effects of learning English’ on Hong Kong kindergarten children's performance in L1 (Cantonese) and L2 (English) over a six-month period. The sample consisted of 53 children, 29 of whom went to international schools and received 90 minutes of daily in-class English instruction, and 24 of whom went to local schools, and received 20 minutes of daily in-class English instruction. Analyses of the relationship between L1 and L2 development showednoevidence that learning a second language is detrimental to the learning of the first. This was despite the large difference in the amount of in-school instruction time the children who went to localvs.international schools received. Children in the international schools vastly outperformed those in the local schools in English. We found no evidence that learning a second language is detrimental to learning more general cognitive skills. The results provided very weak evidence for the opposite. Thus, learning English as a second language in Hong Kong before the age of 6 did not harm children's learning in any way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a model on spurned helpers' reactions, a spurning scale for nurses was constructed with items to assess the extent to which practicing nurses experience recurrent rejection of their help by patients and colleagues. Three approaches were employed to examine the validity of the scale: the relationship of the spurning scores with job satisfaction and turnover scores; the relationships of the spurning scores with burnout scores; and the relationships of the spurning scores with scores indicative of stress arising from interactions with one's patients, colleagues, and supervisor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study represents our continuing effort to validate a ‘spurning scale’ for teachers, based on a model of spurned helpers’ reactions. Three approaches were used to examine the construct validity of the scale: the spurning scores of teachers working with more achieving students versus the scores of teachers teaching less achieving students; the relationships between the spurning scores and job satisfaction and turnover scores; and the relationships between the spurning scores and scores indicative of stress arising from interactions with one’s students, and with one’s supervisor. Serving teachers in Guangzhou (China) responded to a questionnaire containing the variables of interests. Overall, the results provided further evidence for the validity of the scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) compliance and factors associated with CPAP compliance among Chinese patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Design: A prospective study of 112 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed OSA commencing CPAP treatment. Setting: A university teaching hospital. Measurements and results: The following factors were evaluated for any correlation with objective CPAP compliance (effective mask pressure [hours per day]) at 1 month and 3 months: age, baseline apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), common OSA symptoms, minimum arterial oxygen saturation (SaO[sub 2]), mean SaO[sub 2], arousal index (AI), Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS), education level, CPAP levels, satisfaction with CPAP, side effects, and machine cost. There were 101 male and 11 female patients, with a mean (± SD) age of 45.6 ± 1.2 years; body mass index, 29.3 ± 5.2 kg/m²; AI, 60 ± 18/h; AHI, 48 ± 24/h; minimum SaO[sub 2] of 70 ± 17%; and mean SaO[sub 2] of 86 ± 7%. ESS fell from 12.9 ± 4.0 (baseline) to 5.2 ± 4.7 at 3 months (p < 0.001). Objective CPAP compliance was 5.4 ± 1.6 h/d and 5.3 ± 1.6 h/d, while 75% and 72% of our patients were using CPAP objectively for ≥ 4 h/d and at least 70% of the nights per week at 1 month and 3 months, respectively. Following univariate analysis of variance, a high baseline AHI (p = 0.006 and p = 0.004) was associated with higher objective CPAP compliance at 1 month and 3 months, respectively. Conclusion: CPAP usage and compliance were high in this patient population. A high baseline AHI was the only significant independent predictor of better CPAP compliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study represents our continuing effort to validate a ‘spurning scale’ for teachers, based on a model on spurned helpers' reactions. Three approaches were used to examine the validity of the scale: the spurning scores of teachers working with more achieving students vs the scores of teachers teaching less achieving students. The relationships between the spurning scores and job satisfaction and turnover scores; and the relationships between the spurning scores and scores indicative of stress arising from interactions with one's students and supervisor. Serving teachers in Hong Kong responded to a questionnaire that contained the variables of interest. The results provided further evidence for the validity of the scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]