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This qualitative study considered whether the provision of a framework of potential goals based on Rogers’ idea of the fully functioning person would be of any benefit to therapy clients in their goal setting process. It also considered addressed whether client goal setting was methodologically acceptable to integrative therapists who used Rogers’ non-directive principles as the foundation to their approach. We provided a goal setting instrument to 9 therapists and 23 of their clients, enabling them to define therapy goals, and feedback on the process. The clients set their goals using the instruments, before having at least six sessions with their therapist. We then sought joint views on the process from the therapists through a questionnaire or an interview. The data from the responses were analyzed using Thematic Analysis. The majority of the therapists considered that guided goal setting using a description of the ‘fully functioning’ individual was helpful. In terms of the applicability of goal setting to an integrative approach based on non-directive, person-centered principles, the results were mixed and in some cases contrary to those expected. For example, some of the more directive therapists disliked guided goal setting processes, whilst the more non-directive therapists appreciated the approach.

To explore Advanced Nurse Practitioners' (ANP) (Emergency) perceptions of their role, positionality and professional identity.Advanced nursing practice was formally established in the Republic of Ireland in 2001 with 336 ANPs currently registered, projection increasing to a critical mass of 750 by 2021. Advanced practitioners (Emergency) give full emergency care for a specific cohort of clients with unscheduled, undifferentiated and undiagnosed conditions.Qualitative narrative inquiry using Bourdieu's concepts of habitus, field and capital as the theoretical framework was undertaken.Data were collected in 10 in-depth interviews and thematic analysis applied.Five key themes emerged: participants' career pathways, personal and professional transitions, role dimensions and core concepts, and position in the organization and emergent professional identity. Role transitioning and a change in habitus, field and capital revealed the uniqueness of their nursing role. Minimizing waiting times, timely patient care and patient satisfaction were key performance indicators. A heightened awareness regarding higher-level decision-making, autonomy and accountability is integral to advanced practice.This study presents unique insights into the ANP role covering recruitment, organizational culture changes required and support to ease transition emerged.Better understanding the motivation to undertake the role, the transition experience and use of advanced practice skills sets will inform the targets for the future recruitment and retention of ANPs are met nationally and internationally. Dissatisfaction with previous management roles and wanting to be clinically close to patients were motivations to follow an advanced practice clinical career trajectory. Positionality and emergent professional identity are key enablers ensuring that advanced practitioners' roles demonstrate the attributes of advanced practice. Educators could use the findings to develop recruitment, retention and progression strategies. Disseminating the role and scopes of practice could positively influence collaborative models of service delivery and policy development.目的: 研究高级执业护士(急诊部)对其角色、定位和职业认同的认知。 背景: 爱尔兰共和国于2001年正式发布高级护理实践,目前共注册了336名高级执业护士,预计到2021年人数将增加至750名。高级执业医师(急诊部)为一组计划外、未分化和未确诊的情况的特殊病人提供全面的急诊护理。 设计: 采用布迪厄的惯习、场域和资本概念为理论框架开展定性叙事研究。 方法: 通过10次深入访谈和专题分析来收集数据资料。 结果: 共出现了五大关键主题:参与者的职涯路径、个人和职业转变、角色维度和核心概念,以及在组织中的地位和自发职业认同。角色转换和惯习、场域、资本的变化揭示了护理角色具备独特性。尽可能缩短等待时间、及时的患者护理以及患者满意度为关键绩效指标。提高对更高级别决策、自主性和问责制的认识是构成高级实践的一部分。 结论: 本研究对高级执业护士职业角色提出了独特的见解,内容涵盖了招聘、所需的组织文化变革以及对缓和转变的支持。 影响: 更深入地了解承担这一角色的动机、转变经验和使用高级实践技能,将在国家和国际层面为今后实现招聘和留用高级执业护士的目标提供信息。对先前管理角色的不满,并希望临床上接近患者是遵循高级临床实践职业轨迹的驱动因素。 定位和自发职业认同是确保高级执业人员角色展示高级实践特征的关键推动因素。教育工作者可利用研究发现结果来制定招聘、留用和晋升战略。传播实践的作用和范围可对提供服务和政策制定的协作模式产生积极影响。.

Aims Traditionally in person‐centred therapy (PCT), clients are counselled for as long as required. It is a nondirective process. Recently, financial constraints have introduced time limits for therapy in health care, so it seemed appropriate to revisit the practice of PCT in the current UK context. The aim was to explore the concepts of learning and change within PCT and to consider whether learning is facilitated. Method Five experienced person‐centred therapists, who were involved in educating therapists, participated in semi‐structured interviews. Questions explored their views on learning and change in therapy, whether learning processes can be facilitated in PCT—both philosophically and practically—and the outcomes of PCT. Therapists were not specifically asked about time pressure, but rather it was left to see if it emerged as an issue. Results Ten major themes emerged: learning and change, goals, learning process, PCT process, issues on nondirectivity/directivity, questioning, outcomes, assessment and diagnosis, and other methods used. The issue of time pressure permeated many of these themes. Views were often contradictory reflecting the inconclusive views in the literature, particularly in relation to how clients learn and the relationship between change and learning. Discussion The issue of directivity seemed to cause cognitive dissonance, with participants wanting to be directive to deal with time pressures, but not wanting to be disloyal to Rogers' PCT principles. Processes of learning and change were acknowledged as important, but little clarity was obtained on their current application.

This study addressed the possibility of integrating learning theory into humanistic counseling. We consider that such an approach may enable client self-counseling either between sessions or after therapy has finished. Carl Rogers was a keen advocate of person-centered learning facilitation in the classroom and his principles of learning provide a natural start-point for a humanistic therapy based on learning theory. A variety of other learning processes also lend themselves to a learning based therapy such as establishing client learning goals based on self-efficacy, enabling the client to understand their own learning processes and blocks to learning, encouraging the client to access their own learning resources, and then enabling long-term learning. A case study was therefore designed to test some of these processes in a therapeutic setting. A White, British, middle-aged female was recruited for the case study. During the course of six sessions, the content of which was analyzed using thematic analysis, a selection of learning processes were applied to the humanistic therapeutic process. In summary, it was established that facilitated learning processes could provide a practically acceptable basis for humanistic counseling, and these processes are offered here as the foundation to a model of “therapeutic learning.”

Background Thailand has a higher global non-communicable disease (NCD) mortality rate in comparison to the rest of the world, accounting for 75% and 71% of all deaths. WHO focused increasingly on health literacy (HL) in order to decrease NCDs. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of an HL intervention utilizing transformative learning and positive psychology with mindfulness training in terms of changing levels of HL, health behavior (HB), and health outcomes. Design and methods The study was a randomized control trial from May to September 2019. The participants were a rural Thai population with low levels of HL, living in an area with high levels of NCDs. The 200 participants were cluster randomly allocated to an eight-week intervention, and the control group. The data were collected by Likert questionnaires and physical exams, and analyzed via ANOVA. Results The intervention group mean scores for HL, psychological capital, HB, and family well-being increased from baseline to post-intervention, but decreased during the follow-up but were still significantly higher than the control group and baseline scores. The increases in HL and HB were matched by improvements in physiological measurement. The BMI scores of the intervention group decreased in each phase, while the control group scores remained largely unchanged. An intervention group had significantly lower fasting blood sugar than the controls at the intervention and in the follow-up. There was no interaction between social support and any other variables. Conclusions This program demonstrated improvements in HL, HB and the well- being of Thai families at risk of NCDs in rural communities.

The advanced nurse practitioner (ANP) role was established in Ireland in 2001 and represents an important nursing role development within Irish healthcare. Currently there are 336 ANPs registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland, working across 40 specialties. This number is increasing exponentially in response to emerging and anticipated future service needs and population demand projecting to a critical mass of 750 by 2021. Health service provision is enhanced by advanced practice performance outcomes. This article explores nurse to advanced nurse practitioner transitional journeys, a concept that has not previously been researched in depth from an Irish perspective. The theories of Benner, Woods, and Bourdieu are reviewed to explore whether an advance practice career trajectory results in unique nurse-to-ANP role transitioning. Contextualising possible personal, professional and educational transitions may enable the promotion of effective career ‘scaffolding’ to enhance a smooth transition for aspiring ANPs into advanced nursing practice roles.

Purpose Mindfulness based interventions (MBIs) are an emerging area of empirical study, not only in positive psychology, but also in clinical health care. This research aims to synthesize the evidence about whether MBIs reduce blood pressure (BP) in patients with non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Methods Relevant studies were identified via PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase and the CINAHL database between 2009 and 2019. The papers selected focused on mindfulness and the effect of these on the BP of patients with NCDs. The change in SBP and DBP were meta-analyzed, stratified by type of intervention (Breathing awareness meditation (BAM), Mindfulness Meditation (MM), and Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Results Fourteen articles met eligibility criteria and were included in the final review. Among the studies using the type and duration of intervention, systolic BP was reduced after the mindfulness-based stress reduction for 8 weeks (-6.90 mmHg [95% CI: -10.82, -2.97], p < .050), followed by the breathing awareness meditation for 12 weeks (-4.10 mmHg [95% CI: -7.54, -0.66], p < .050) and the mindfulness-based intervention for 8 weeks (-2.69 mmHg [95% CI: -3.90, -1.49], p < .050) whereas diastolic BP was reduced after the mindfulness-based stress reduction for 8 weeks (-2.45 mmHg [95% CI: -3.74, -1.17], p < .050) and the mindfulness-based intervention for 8 weeks (-2.24 mmHg [95% CI: -3.22, -1.26], p < .050). Conclusion MBIs can provide effective alternative therapies to assist in blood pressure reduction for patients with NCDs., Public health; Health profession; Nursing; Blood pressure; Meta-analysis; Non-communicable diseases; Mindfulness; Systematic review.

Life expectancy is increasing globally, which makes understanding what contributes to well-being in older adults crucial for social and economic reasons. This is the first study to categorize positive life events in community dwelling older adults, to explore their fit with psychological well-being models. Volunteers self-defined as well (N = 88), completed diaries identifying three positive events daily for 14 days. Diary entries combated negative stereotypes of ageing by describing older adults with active lives contributing to society. Of nine themes identified through thematic analysis of over 3500 events; seven supported existing well-being models, being activities delivering positive affect and life satisfaction (hedonic model) and demonstrating competence, autonomy, relatedness, self-acceptance, purpose in life, and personal growth (eudemonic models). However, two well-supported new dimensions were also identified within the themes ‘interaction with the physical environment’ and ‘personal well-being’. These new dimensions were labelled ‘life-affirmation and ‘mindfulness’. This suggests the existence of additional considerations related to well-being specifically for older populations, which may indicate a need to broaden the existing models.

Student engagement is an important predictor of success, retention and perseverance in higher education. This study used structural equation modelling to evaluate a gain cycle of future time perspective (FTP), positive emotion and student engagement derived from the broaden-andbuild theory (BBT). A second objective was to examine changes within study variables over time. Participants were 217 UK undergraduates sampled at two time points. Mean levels of\ud positive emotion and engagement decreased over time, whereas FTP increased. At both time points, FTP predicted higher engagement, and engagement predicted greater positive emotion levels. Positive emotion at Time 1 predicted increased levels of FTP, engagement and positive\ud emotion at Time 2. This was consistent with the ‘build’ hypothesis of BBT suggesting that positive emotions facilitate approach behaviour and the development of psychological resources. Findings indicate that interventions designed to enhance FTP and positive emotion\ud can facilitate student engagement and retention in higher education.

Transition to university is stressful and successful adjustment is imperative for well-being. Historically research on transitional stress focussed on negative outcomes and ill health. This is the first UK study applying a positive psychology approach to investigate the characteristics that facilitate adjustment among new university students. A range of psychological strengths conceptualised as covitality factors, shown individually to influence the stress and subjective well-being (SWB) relationship were assessed among 192 first year UK undergraduates in week three of their first semester and again six months later. Path analyses revealed that optimism mediated the relationship between stress and negative affect (a component of SWB) over time, and academic self-efficacy demonstrated significant relationships with life satisfaction and positive affect. Contrary to predictions, stress levels remained stable over time although academic alienation increased and self-efficacy decreased. Optimism emerged as a key factor for new students to adjust to university, helping to buffer the impact of stress on well-being throughout the academic year. Incorporating stress management and psycho-educational interventions to develop strengths is discussed as a way of promoting confidence and agency in new students to help them cope better with the stress at university.

This paper examined the levels of stress and coping strategies among UK academics. Adopting a positive psychology approach, the influence of the character strengths of hope, optimism, gratitude and self-efficacy, on stress, subjective well-being (SWB), and mental health (GHQ) was examined in 216 academics in a UK university. The study explored the relationship between coping styles and work-coping variables of sense of coherence and work locus of control and stress. No significant differences on the stress, well-being and mental health measures were found for participants' gender, whether in full-time or part-time employment and level of seniority within the university. Participants using problem-focussed coping experienced lower levels of stress while dysfunctional coping was a positive predictor of stress. Hope agency, hope pathway, gratitude, optimism and self-efficacy were the strongest positive predictors of satisfaction with life (SWL), while levels of perceived stress negatively predicted SWL. Gratitude, hope agency and self-efficacy positively predicted positive affect, while stress was a negative predictor. Gratitude, hope agency, self-efficacy and optimism were negative significant predictors of negative affect while stress was a positive predictor. Gratitude positively predicted mental health, while stress was a negative predictor and optimism was a significant moderator of the relationship between stress and mental health. Academics with higher levels of gratitude, self-efficacy, hope and optimism report lower levels of stress at work and higher levels of well-being as measured by higher life satisfaction, higher positive affect and lower negative affect. New approaches to stress management training are suggested based on these findings.

This systematic review aims to evaluate the impact of positive psychological interventions (PPIs) on well-being in healthy older adults. Systematic review of PPIs obtained from three electronic databases (PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science) was undertaken. Inclusion criteria were: that they were positive psychology intervention, included measurement of well-being, participants were aged over 60 years, and the studies were in English. The cochrane collaboration Guidelines dimensions of quality control, randomization, comparability, follow-up rate, dropout, blinding assessors are used to rate the quality of studies by two reviewers independently. The reach, efficacy, adoption, implementation, and maintenance (RE-AIM) for evaluation of PPIs effectiveness was also applied. The final review included eight articles, each describing a positive psychological intervention study. The reminiscence interventions were the most prevalent type of PPIs to promote and maintain well-being in later life. Only two studies were rated as high quality, four were of moderate-quality and two were of low-quality. Overall results indicated that efficacy criteria (89 %), reach criteria (85 %), adoption criteria (73 %), implementation criteria (67 %), and maintenance criteria (4 %) across a variety of RE-AIM dimensions. Directions for future positive psychological research related to RE-AIM, and implications for decision-making, are described.

The increasingly ageing population includes a proportion of well older adults that may benefit from low-level psychological support to help maintain their wellbeing. A factor consistently regarded as integral to wellbeing is gratitude. The effect of a ‘Three good things in life’ gratitude intervention on hedonic and eudemonic wellbeing and perceived stress levels in non-clinically depressed older adults was examined. This intervention has not been evaluated with older adults previously. The duration of the intervention was 2 weeks and baseline, end of intervention and 30-day follow up measures were compared. The effects of online and paper delivery of the intervention were compared and differences in acceptability of the two routes examined. The daily positive events identified by participants were also analysed. Participants were 88 healthy community living adults aged 60 years or over. The intervention produced significant differences in eudemonic wellbeing as measured by flourishing from baseline to day 15 that was maintained at day 45. Significant increases in flourishing were evident from baseline to day 45. There were decreases in perceived stress from day 1 to day 15 but these were not maintained once the intervention ended. There were no significant differences between online and paper delivery of the intervention. This age group managed and many preferred online delivery, Gratitude diaries seem to be a cost-effective method of producing beneficial improvements in wellbeing for older adults.

Though there are measures of forgiveness published in the behavioural science literature, very few scales are available to measure forgiveness in workplace relationships. The Workplace Forgiveness Scale aimed to measure forgiveness of a specific offense. Data from 348 professional nurses in Thailand were subjected to an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and the psychometric properties of the scale were examined. Results from EFA suggested retaining four underlying factors of the forgiveness construct: Overcoming Negative Thought and Feeling toward the Offender, Seeking to Understand the Offender’s Reasons, Fostering Positive Approaches towards the Offender, and Belief in the Benefits of Forgiveness. Reliability coefficients for the total scale and subscales were adequate. Evidence of construct validity is presented. Scores on the forgiveness scale were positively associated with other related forgiveness constructs. Nomological validity analysis supported the theoretical networks of the forgiveness construct. Forgiveness played the complete mediating role in the relationship between dispositional forgiveness and willingness to reconcile, and played a partial mediating role in the relationship between rumination and seeking to revenge the offender. Bootstrap analysis on the parameter estimates of the sample results revealed satisfactory level of internal replicability and stability of the results across the samples. Implications for future research are discussed.

Autonomous learning is a commonly occurring learning outcome from university study, and it is argued that students require confidence in their own abilities to achieve this. Using approaches from positive psychology, this study aimed to develop confidence in first‐year university students to facilitate autonomous learning. Psychological character strengths were assessed in 214 students on day one at university. Two weeks later their top three strengths were given to them in study skills modules as part of a psycho‐educational intervention designed to increase their self‐efficacy and self‐esteem. The impact of the intervention was assessed against a control group of 40 students who had not received the intervention. The results suggested that students were more confident after the intervention, and that levels of autonomous learning increased significantly compared to the controls. Character strengths were found to be associated with self‐efficacy, self‐esteem and autonomous learning in ways that were theoretically meaningful.

Iwasaki and Mannell (2000) defined leisure as a coping strategy in their hierarchical model demonstrating the psychosocial functions of leisure and its relationship to stress. Evidence suggests that leisure coping is affiliated with resilience, and that both predict stress-coping and wellbeing. However, a theoretical explanation of how resilience is associated with the stress-reducing properties of leisure coping is lacking. Using the broaden-and-build theory (Fredrickson, 2001), a model was developed proposing that resilient individuals proactively use leisure coping to cultivate positive emotions and in turn enhance wellbeing. Leisure coping and positive affect were suggested to mediate the relationship between resilience and wellbeing outcomes (stress and flourishing). The model was tested among 202 UK undergraduates, a population reported to experience high stress. Structural equation modelling revealed that resilience had a significant positive effect on flourishing. Leisure coping beliefs demonstrated a positive relationship with resilience, positive affect, and flourishing. Positive affect mediated the relationship between resilience and flourishing, and between resilience and stress. Leisure coping strategies did not meaningfully contribute to the model. Leisure beliefs may have emerged as more important than leisure strategies because leisure beliefs are relatively stable with more enduring effects on health and wellbeing, while leisure strategies are transient and situation-based. Future research should examine the relationships longitudinally to explore developmental change. Implications of the findings for undergraduates are discussed.\ud Keywords: flourishing; leisure coping; positive emotion; resilience; student stress

This review examines the application of positive psychology concepts in physical health care contexts. Positive psychology aims to promote well-being in the general population. Studies identifying character strengths associated with well-being in healthy populations are numerous. Such strengths have been classified and Positive Psychology Interventions (PPIs) created to develop these strengths further in individuals. Positive psychology research is increasingly being undertaken in health care contexts. The review identified that most of this research involves measuring character strengths and their association with health outcomes in patients with a range of different conditions, similar to the position in positive psychology research on non-clinical populations. More recently, PPIs are beginning to be applied to clinical populations with physical health problems and this research although relatively scare is reviewed here for cancer, coronary heart disease, and diabetes. In common with PPIs being evaluated in the general population, high quality studies are scarce. Applying PPIs to patients with serious health conditions presents significant challenges to health psychologists. They must ensure that patients are dealt with appropriately and ethically, given that exaggerated claims for PPIs are made on the internet quite frequently. This is discussed along with the need for more high quality research. \ud Keywords; positive psychology interventions; cardiovascular disease; cancer; diabetes; character strengths; health assets; review

Stress is prevalent in modern society and coping strategies largely determine well-being. A qualitative investigation of leisure as a positive coping response to stress was undertaken using a resilience-based perspective. This approach enabled a focus on competencies and strengths in the stress-leisure-coping process, contributing to the sparse literature in this area. In-depth interviews were conducted with a sample of eight participants. From a thematic analysis three overall themes emerged: leisure as a buffer of stress, the relationship between negative and positive emotions and leisure, and benefits of leisure for coping with stress. The findings demonstrate how leisure facilitates a sense of resilience and its preventative functions. The results are discussed in relation to relevant theoretical propositions concerning the role of positive emotion in coping. In particular, the broaden-and-build theory provided a meaningful framework for suggesting how leisure and positive emotions acted in tandem to develop psychosocial resources over time.

The literature demonstrates that stress in the working life of academics has increased over recent years (Kinman, 2014). However, qualitative research on how academics cope with changes in working life and associated stress is limited. This paper examines how a sample of 31 academics in a post-92 predominantly teaching-focused UK university cope with teaching, research/scholarship and administration, what they perceive to be positive about work, what is less valued and what is stressful. Online interviews were used to maximise participation. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Six themes emerged from the data. These were administrative loads, coping with stress at work, task preferences in the academic role, features of the academic role, positive and negative feelings around research/scholarship, and thoughts around leaving the academic environment. The factors that contributed to stress included the increasing the number of students, heavy workloads, increasing administration, poor management, funding cuts, and government initiatives threatening the future of education. Academics reported as negatives that they had less time to interact with students because of increasing administration, difficulties obtaining sufficient funding for research in particular, and feeling that academic posts were less secure. All of this led to greater job dissatisfaction. However, support from colleagues and taking steps to manage their time more effectively were identified as factors that can moderate some of the negative consequences of work stress. Academics overall reported being happy at work because of the satisfactions gained from teaching, their relationships with students, the levels of work autonomy, and support from colleagues.

Much of the literature on forgiveness assumes that the process of self-forgiveness and other-forgiveness involved the same processes although there is less research self-forgiveness. The literature also supports associations between unforgiveness and poorer mental health with anger as an implied causal link. Two cross-sectional studies are reported designed to differentiate between dispositional self- and other-forgiveness. In response to face validity issues in the Mauger and colleagues (1992) Forgiveness of Self and others Scale, the scale was factor analyzed and a revised scale with improved face validity and factor structure was produced. In study 1, 297 undergraduates completed measures of mental health, life satisfaction, trait anger, and the revised Mauger scale. Using path analysis with AMOS17, two models based on associations reported in the research and clinical literature were tested. Other-unforgiveness was unrelated to mental health and life satisfaction while self-unforgiveness was a predict...

Research suggests that excessive alcohol consumption is a major health concern in undergraduates with typical drinking patterns established in the first year (Berwick et al., 2008). While the stereotype is that students drink to have fun, some American research has suggested that excessive alcohol use is associated with stress in students (DeHart et al., 2009). The self-medication hypothesis (Khantzian, 2003) suggests that individuals with high levels of stress and anxiety will drink alcohol more frequently as a coping mechanism and this was examined here. The motivation to drink alcohol was assessed in British first-year undergraduates (N=137) along with levels of stress, state and trait anxiety, and frequency of alcohol use. The self-medication theory was supported for women but not for men. Women also had higher perceived stress scores than men. The more students were motivated to drink to have a good time, the more frequently they drank.

Forgiveness is a core value within Christianity and many other religions, but it is unclear whether valuing forgiveness results in individuals being more forgiving. This study examines the effect of Christian religious belief on forgiveness; tests the theoretical speculation that trust fosters forgiveness; explores the effect of cynicism, and examines age effects on forgiveness with a British sample. Christian clergy (N = 209), general population samples of Christians (N = 176), and a group with NRA (N = 65) completed the Heartland Forgiveness Scale measuring forgiveness of self, others, and situations, and measures of trust, cynicism, and the importance of forgiveness. The clergy score higher on total forgiveness, forgiveness of self, others, and situations; rate forgiveness as being more important; are more trusting; and are less cynical than the Christian and no religious affiliation (NRA) samples in the general population. While the Christian sample value forgiveness more than the NRA group, they are ...

The present study investigated forgiveness in a traditional cognitive model of stress appraisal and coping and in a more recent model that includes the construct of low control stressors. One-hundred sixty six men and 168 women completed measures of forgiveness, primary stress appraisals, and coping strategies. For men, forgiveness was found to be positively associated with the use of challenge appraisals, and negatively associated with the use of loss appraisals and emotion-focused coping. For women, forgiveness was found to be positively associated with emotion-focused coping and acceptance, and negatively associated with avoidance. The results for women indicate that when forgiveness situations are conceptualized as low-control stressors, we are able to explain the relationships between forgiveness, appraisal, and coping. The results for men are broadly in line with a more traditional model of coping, which does not consider the construct of low control. Crucial differences in the ways that men and women appraise and cope with situations involving forgiveness are discussed.

This study examined the relationship between a two-dimensional model of forgiveness and Sukhodolsky et al. (2001) 4-factor model of anger rumination among 200 university students. Anger memories were found to be the most important aspects in forgiving oneself, and dealing with revenge thoughts were found to be crucial when exploring issues around forgiving another person. The present findings suggest the importance of cognitive aspects as portrayed by Sukhodolsky et al. (2001) model of anger rumination to explore in greater depth the cognitive processes involved in forgiveness of self and others. Angry memories and thoughts of revenge: The relationship between forgiveness and anger rumination.

A previous study (Ricketts, T. and Macaskill, A. Gambling as emotion management: developing a grounded theory of problem gambling. Addiction Research and Theory 11(6).) delineated a theory of problem gambling based on the experiences of treatment seeking male gamblers and allowed predictions to be made regarding the processes that differentiate between normal and problem gamblers. These predictions are the focus of the present study, which also utilised a grounded theory approach, but with a sample of male high frequency normal gamblers. The findings suggest that there are common aspects of gambling associated with arousal and a sense of achievement. The use of gambling to manage negative emotional states differentiated normal and problem gambling. Perceived self-efficacy, emotion management skills and perceived likelihood of winning money back were intervening variables differentiating problem and normal gamblers.

The numbers of individuals developing problems with gambling is on the increase. This study explored the nature of problem gambling through an analysis of the reported experiences of problem gamblers. A grounded theory approach involving the analysis of material from 14 male treatment seeking gamblers resulted in the identification of three main categories. These were emotion, control and costs of gambling. Central to the experience of all participants was the emotional nature of gambling, gambling being used either to induce or suppress arousal with a marked lack of other coping strategies. Control of gambling was an issue only in the context of efforts at behaviour change. Gambling costs were extensive including financial, relationship and emotional costs. Repeated failure of efforts at control resulted in tolerance of high levels of costs and repeated cycles of gambling. Patterns of interactions between these factors are identified in the emergent theory.

The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between forgiveness of self, forgiveness of others, and personality and general health measures. Three hundred and twenty-four undergraduate students (100 males, 224 females) completed measures of forgiveness of oneself, forgiveness of others, the Abbreviated form of the Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, and the General Health Questionnaire-28. Failure to forgive oneself is accompanied by personality and general health scores that reflect individual psychopathology, with men and women scoring higher in neuroticism, depression and anxiety. A failure to forgive others is accompanied by personality and general health scores that reflect social introversion among men (low extraversion scores) and social-pathology among women (social dysfunction, psychoticism). Further, a failure to forgive others is accompanied by higher depression scores among men and women. The findings suggest that the concept of forgiveness can be related to individual and social psychopathology.

In the UK, changes to the higher education system have increased the range of stressors experienced by students above those traditionally associated with the transition to university. Despite this, there is little qualitative research examining how students experience and cope with the\ud adjustment to university. The experience of the transition was investigated in depth amongst 10 first year UK undergraduates. Purposive sampling resulted in a group with demographics similar to national statistics on UK undergraduates. Semi-structured interviews were used beginning with a content specific vignette to develop rapport. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was\ud utilised to analyse the transcripts and quality checks were implemented to increase the validity of the analysis. Five main themes were identified: all the change, with subthemes of independent living, homesickness, differences between post-compulsory education and university; expectations\ud of university; academic focus with subthemes of self-discipline, motivation, learning from experience; support network with subthemes of establishing a support network, support for coping with problems; and difficulties with subthemes of difficulties experienced with housemates,\ud finances and employment, and academic difficulties. Students used a range of coping strategies.\ud By identifying the role of positive psychological strengths such as optimism, hope, self-efficacy and self-control in coping with stress and facilitating positive adaptation, the study locates positive psychological strengths within a transactional understanding of stress and provides depth\ud and relevance to their role in facilitating adjustment. Such qualitative research is rare in the positive psychology and stress literature. Suggestions for easing the transition are made.

The aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes of Pakistani families living in an urban area of the United Kingdom, towards mental health issues, to identify the emic models used and compare them with the etic model, predominant in Western medicine. This would allow the exploration of some of the inconsistencies in the research literature relating to the incidence of mental illness in this cultural group. The second aim was to explore the needs of this community, particularly women, in relation to mental health services. Due to problems gaining access to females on their own, interviews were held with family groups. Findings suggested that there were differences in the models of mental illness being employed with greater somatisation of symptoms in the Pakistani group and an emphasis on aggressive behaviour as a significant symptom. Treatment expectations also varied with some emphasis on traditional Pakistani treatments such as Faith healers and Hakims as well as General Practitioners and hospital treatments. Language difficulties, religious and cultural practices were also identified as barriers to female treatment in particular. Recommendations were made for improved training for interpreters and more emphasis on cultural factors and emic models of mental illness as part of medical training.

The relationship between Adler's concept of social interest and Eysenck's personality dimensions was investigated among 224 English undergraduates (85 men and 139 women). The present study links Adlerian and Eysenckian theories by finding that scores on the Social Interest Scale are significantly negatively associated with scores on Psychoticism and Neuroticism.

A pilot study was conducted with 20 unipolar depressed outpatients with high levels of cognitive dysfunction. They were treated with either Lofepramine or Lofepramine plus rational-emotive therapy (RET) for 24 weeks. Previous studies of combined treatment versus pharmacotherapy have been criticized for selecting untypical clinical cases and for delivery of suboptimal pharmacotherapy. The present study was designed to address these issues as a preliminary to conducting a larger trial. The treatment protocol permitted a maximum of 30 RET sessions and 280 mg/day of Lofepramine. Ellis's rational-emotive therapy was used. There were significantly more responders in the combined-treatment group than in the pharmacotherapy group. At treatment termination, combined treatment similarly produced significantly greater changes in both depression measures and improvement in social adjustment. Furthermore, at termination in the combined-treatment group there were significantly more improvers and remitters on the Hamilton Depression Scale and on the Global Index of Improvement and more improvers on the target problems ratings. The overall attrition rate in this study was low at 5%. The population studied was more severely depressed and dysfunctional than populations previously included in cognitive therapy/pharmacotherapy trials. Despite utilizing a more severely depressed and dysfunctional sample than previous trials, combined treatment was found to produce more improvement than pharmacotherapy alone.

A great deal of attention is paid to the requirement for university students to become autonomous learners. A review of the literature revealed a lack of relatively short psychometrically sound measures of autonomous learning despite its purported importance. This study aimed to develop a brief, psychometrically sound, measure of autonomous learning to facilitate empirical research in this area. Items for the scale were selected from reviewing the literature, and face validity was confirmed by experienced academics. In the first study, first‐year psychology students (n = 214) completed the measure. Principal components analysis produced a 12‐item measure with two subscales that appeared to be psychometrically sound. The factor structure was reproduced with a more diverse group of undergraduates (n =172) in a second study. The internal reliability and the concurrent validity of the scale were both found to be satisfactory, suggesting that this measure may prove useful to educational researchers.

The British Cancer Help Centre Rosy Thomson: Loving Medicine: Patients' Experiences of Personal Transformation Through the Holistic Treatment of Cancer. Bath: Gateway, 1989. £5.95. A practical guide to grieving Maggie Fisher and Jane Warman: Bereavement and Loss: a Skills Companion. Cambridge: National Extension College, 1990. £49.95. The self in perspective? Lorne M. Hartman and Kirk R. Blankstein (eds.): Perception of Self in Emotional Disorder and Psychotherapy. Advances in the Study of Communication and Affect, Volume 11. New York: Plenum, 1986. £45. Therapy-in-the-round Richard P. Erskine and Janet P. Moursund: Integrative Psychotherapy in Action. Newbury Park, California: Sage, 1988. £25. Vocational violence! Glynis M. Breakwell: Facing Physical Violence. Leicester: British Psychological Society, 1990. £5.99.

A case is made for a skilled, independent counselling service to be made available to children with cancer, and their families. Evidence is presented from a selected review of recent literature, and the stated needs and views of a small group of parents obtained by counsellors' in-depth interviews. This evidence shows the stresses imposed, and the inability of the medical team fully to address these needs concurrently with treating the illness. Skilled, long-term counselling for patient and family is seen to be an important aspect of a comprehensive childhood cancer service.

The lack of any consensual definition of forgiveness is a serious weakness in the research literature (McCullough, Pargament & Thoresen, 2000). As forgiveness is at the core of Christianity, this study returns to the Christian source of the concept to explore the meaning of forgiveness for practicing Christian clergy. Comparisons are made with a general population sample and social science definitions of forgiveness to ensure that a shared meaning of forgiveness is articulated. Anglican and Roman Catholic clergy (N = 209) and a general population sample (N = 159) completed a postal questionnaire about forgiveness. There is agreement on the existence of individual differences in forgiveness. Clergy and the general population perceive reconciliation as necessary for forgiveness while there is no consensus within psychology. The clergy suggests that forgiveness is limitless and that repentance is unnecessary while the general population suggests that there are limits and that repentance is necessary. Psychological definitions do not conceptualize repentance as necessary for forgiveness and the question of limits has not been addressed although within therapy the implicit assumption is that forgiveness is limitless.

(2002). Forgiveness of Self and Others and Emotional Empathy. The Journal of Social Psychology: Vol. 142, No. 5, pp. 663-665.

62 undergraduate university students were administered the 12-item Belief in Good Luck Scale of Darke and Freedman and the General Health Questionnaire of Goldberg and Williams. Scores on belief in good luck showed a significant correlation of −.29 with anxiety and −.35 with depression but correlations were not significant for somatic symptoms (.15) and social dysfunction (.15).

SUMMARY This article reports the findings of a questionnaire survey of 118 local authority socialworkers' attitudes towards parental participation in child protection case conferences.Arguments from the professional literature both in favour of and against parentalparticipation were presented. Overall social workers were found to be largely support-ive of parental participation although aware of the potential problems. Other profes-sional groups involved in case conferences were perceived as being less enthusiasticabout parental participation. The implications of these findings are discussed and sometraining needs identified. INTRODUCTIONThe ethos of child protection case conferences has changed somewhatwith the recommendation that parents should have the right to partici-pate in the proceedings. This recommendation appeared in the OfficialGuideline Document from the Cleveland Enquiry and was reiteratedin the 1989 Children Act and the 1991 Working Together document.This has opened up a new area of debate within social work.Proponents of increased civil liberties have focused on the parentalright to attend case conferences where decisions are being made abouttheir child. Opponents on the other hand have been concerned aboutthe inhibitory effect on the frank exchange of information betweenprofessionals that parental presence may engender. The guiding prin

All 223 psychiatric clinical tutors in the UK were surveyed on their use of DSM-111 in their postgraduate training programmes. Results indicate that DSM-III is widely used in clinical training to some extent in the majority of schemes (73%) and in the schemes where it is used it is rated as moderately useful by nearly everyone (93%). DSM-III is generally perceived to have positive effects on learning basic elements of psychopathology and in offering a common language for diagnostic discussion. Interestingly only 16% of users felt that DSM-III was so complicated that it impeded rather than facilitated the teaching of diagnosis. Few schemes provide specific teaching courses and case conferences provide the major forum for teaching DSM- III.

Summary. This paper presents normative data on the comprehension of kin terms by children, which is then examined in terms of the Piagetian hypothesis that language acquisition is dependent on cognitive development in the child. The order in which kin terms were comprehended followed a definite pattern in terms of the sorts of relationships which were involved, the number of relational components in the terms and the cognitive demands that the comprehension of these relationships made on the child. These data seemed to support the Piagetian position, and particular cognitive operations which appeared to relate causally to the development of kin terms were discussed.