psichologijos_zurnalas_22_korektura.indd international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2018 / 22 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.22 editorial 6 editorial note the editorial board of international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach at the end of 2018 is expressing the gratitude to our authors and reviewers for their contribution. we are happy to present the issue of this year no 22 with seven academic papers included. the variety of topics, methods, and empirical results encourages further development of psychology discipline, adds to the understanding of school, organizational, health psychology, as well as other areas of this intriguing science. the paper of kristina kovalčikienė and giedrė genevičiūtė-janonė “the relationship between vocational teachers’ personality traits and work motivation” intends to integrate educational and organizational psychology, and answers the question how big five personality traits are related to work motivation of vocational teachers. the authors have found that neuroticism is a very important trait in this context, and should be taken into consideration during the process of professional counselling and guidance. another empirical investigation conducted by viktorija čepukienė and rytis pakrosnis justifies the relevance of research in rapidly changing university settings not only in lithuania, but all over the world. the paper “introducing unguided computerized solution-focused self-help into university counselling services” “responds to the challenges of technologizing of psychology and counselling services with the introduction of it solution for self-help and students’ well-being promotion. the authors acknowledge that such kind of counselling attracts more students in need than the face-to-face counseling, is positively evaluated by the participants, is cost efficient, and has high potential to make the psychological help more accessible. biopsychosocial mission of our journal is followed in the article “adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy” submitted by ala petrulytė. the author investigated adolescents’ social and emotional health and empathy in the lithuanian sample in the context of positive https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.22 77 psychology. a. petrulytė intends to attract the attention of researchers and practitioners to very sensitive issues of public health in the group of adolescents and invites to look for possible positive preventive actions. methodological questions of the measurement in psychology are discussed in the paper “the examination of convergent validity of start: av ratings among male juveniles on probation” prepared by the group of researchers virginija klimukienė, alfredas laurinavičius, ilona laurinaitytė, laura ustinavičiūtė, and mykolas baltrūnas. there is a clear lack of instruments for psychological assessment in lithuania, so this paper substantially contributes to the field’s development. the authors supported adequate validity and reliability of world-known scale start: av in lithuania and encouraged future investigation of this scale as well as the use of it in practice. psychology of emotions and developmental questions are the focus in the article “the effect of joy and anxiety on egocentric decisions among young adults” by karina kravčenko and laura šeibokaitė. experimental design of the study is valuable and provides justified conclusions that young adults may be essentially egocentric, regardless of emotions. this encourages future research and discussions of practitioners on how to deal with these constructs in occupational as well as educational or clinical settings. the results of the mentioned study might be meaningfully related to the next article in current issue “gender differences in dyadic dominance during interpersonal interaction: the comparison of friends’ dyads and romantic couples” written by kristina ražauskaitėpilipavičienė and kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė. both investigations share the experimental methodology, young adults’ sample, and focus on the attributes important for interpersonal interaction, like egocentrism or dominance. the authors of the latter article challenge the stereotype that men are more dominant whereas women are more prone to submissiveness. explored gender differences in romantic and friendship relationships in the context of dominance should capture the attention of readers. the final literature review paper adds to the explanation of the ongoing challenges and needs of organizations. global leadership is one of the most prominent constructs that organizational psychology researchers are interested in now. globalization and it dominance in different areas of human life preoccupies organizations and leader-follower 8 interactions: therefore, the article “the influence of psychological factors for leader’s efficiency in global it companies” written by lina cirtautienė and auksė endriulaitienė might be helpful and shedding light on this relevant issue. the study analyses what the most important competencies for effective leadership in local and global it organisations are and shows differentiated predictive value of leaders’ personality traits, cultural competency, and organizational variables. the conclusions on guidelines for the development and education of it leaders might be interesting not only for further research but also for practical implications in the field. the editorial board of international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach highly invites the readers to read publications in more detail and enjoy the variety of assumptions, results, and ideas. also, we highly appreciate the feedback and discussions on the papers as well as further manuscript submission. on behalf of editorial board prof. dr. auksė endriulaitienė 8 editorial note contents editorial note scientific publications viktorija cepukiene, rytis pakrosnis introducing unguided computerized solution-focused self-help into university counseling services virginija klimukienė, alfredas laurinavičius, ilona laurinaitytė, laura ustinavičiūtė, and mykolas baltrūnas examination of convergent validity of start: av ratings among male juveniles on probation karina kravčenko, laura šeibokaitė the effect of joy and anxiety on egocentric decisions among young adults ala petrulytė, virginija guogienė adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy in lithuanian sample kristina ražauskaitė-pilipavičienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė gender differences in dyadic dominance during interpersonal interaction: the comparison of friends’ dyads and romanticc ouples lina cirtautienė, auksė endriulaitienė the influence of psychological factors for leader’s efficiency in global it companies kristina kovalčikienė, giedrė genevičiūtė-janonė the relationship between the vocational teachers’ personality traits and the work motivation information the 20th international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, december 6th, 2017. abstr acts the 21st international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, april 25th, 2018. abstr acts contributors reviewers instructions for authors editorial it is with great pleasure that we are able to recognize the dedication and hard work of the outgoing co-editor in chief from the university of nebraska at kearney, usa, dr.    max mcfarland, and the co-associate editor from the university of nebraska at kearney, usa, dr.    teara archwamety. dr.    mcfarland and dr.    archwamety have been involved with the international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach since its inception. the many hours spent by dr.  mcfarland and dr.  archwamety in conjunction with the co-editors from vytautas magnus university, lithuania, aukse endriulaitiene and loreta gustainiene led to the first publication of the journal in 2008. the efforts of the founding editors of the journal have invested much time and energy into ensuring this journal is of high quality. the journal is peerreviewed, published twice a year and can be found in the ulrich’s periodicals directory, the index copernicus database, in ebsco academic search complete database, lituanistica databases, and in the psycinfo journal coverage list. dr.    mcfarland and dr.    archwamety were instrumental in making the life of this journal a success. dr.    mcfarland and dr.    archwamety recently retired from the university of nebraska at kearney and their roles as co-editors of the journal have shifted to other faculty within the unk counseling and school psychology department. dr.  tammi ohmstede is the new co-editor in chief from unk and dr.    carmelo callueng is the new co-associate editor from unk. on behalf of the faculty in the counseling and school psychology department at unk, we want to thank dr.    mcfarland and dr.    archwamety for having the foresight, knowledge and drive to work with their counterparts in lithuania to develop the ideas, create the possibilities, and continue the work necessary to publish a successful journal. ph.d., ncsp tammi b. ohmstede, co-editor-in-chief issue 17 of the journal was funded by a grant (no. lei-15042) from the research council of lithuania. dear readers, we would like to introduce the reader to the articles within this edition of the international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach. the article “clinical decision-making of anesthesiology residents in emergency medical care” presents interesting findings related to the way anesthesiology residents solved case vignettes with the provision of emergency medical care. results of the study indicated an increase in anchoring and adjustment heuristics and decrease in the use of availability as the anesthesiology residents become more experienced. besides, the researchers demonstrated one-third of anesthesiology residents to have heuristic thoughts. the article “psychological capital, self-compassion and life satisfaction of unemployed youth” revealed the relation between life satisfaction and positive individual resources, e.g. psychological capital, when examining unemployed youth. researchers found that unemployed youth who are highly satisfied with life have higher levels of psychological capital and selfcompassion. the results also indicated that young unemployed people with higher compassion levels also have higher levels of psychological capital, gratitude, and self-compassion. authors of “personality traits of teachers in lithuania: do preschool and comprehensive school educators differ?” reported interesting findings that displayed some differences existing in the personality traits exhibited by educators in lithuania. results suggested educators with a university degree were associated with higher scores of social boldness while younger teachers were observed to have higher levels of liveliness and emotional stability. preschool and comprehensive school teachers differed in emotional stability. these are interesting findings and could be attributed to personality characteristics that are more effective in teaching students of different ages. article named “relationship with authority in narcissism” presents findings from an extensive literature review which included the analysis of psychological concepts of relationship with authority and its part in inner dynamics of narcissism. the results of this analysis led to distinguishing international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2016 / 19 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.19 editorial 6 characteristic motives of a narcissistic relationship with authority, such as aggrandizement or depreciating one’s own authority; fright, anger with regard to or fight against authority; abusive authoritative stance or excessive submissiveness; and idealization or devaluation of authorities. these findings become important to understand and notice the need to work with authority in narcissism. the final article “catastrophizing of pain as a predictor of preand acute postoperative pain in a sample of patients with carpal tunnel syndrome” focused on evaluating the level of pain before and one day after surgery reported by patients. results revealed that the level of reported pain decreased significantly one day after the surgery, however, no significant correlations were found between pain catastrophizing and the average level of pain before and after the surgery. this study suggests that catastrophizing of the pain is not a significant predictor of preor acute postoperative pain in carpal tunnel syndrome patients. we would like to thank all the authors who have contributed their scholarly work to the journal and encourage readers to explore each of the articles included. tammi ohmstede beckman 7 psichologijos_zurnalas_22_korektura.indd r eviewer s international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2018 / 22 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.22 re vie wers 2018 stefano boca, prof. phd viktorija čepukienė, assoc. prof. dr. adam froerer, assoc. prof. phd david hof, phd aleksandrs kolesovs, assoc. prof. dr. kristina kovalčikienė, dr. jurgita lazauskaitė-zabielskė, assoc. prof. dr. natalija norvilė, dr. laura šeibokaitė, assoc. prof. dr. roma šimulionienė, assoc. prof. dr. kastytis šmigelskas, prof. dr. laura thornton, phd antanas valantinas, assoc. prof. dr. irena žukauskaitė, assoc. prof. dr. 175 https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.22 contents editorial note scientific publications viktorija cepukiene, rytis pakrosnis introducing unguided computerized solution-focused self-help into university counseling services virginija klimukienė, alfredas laurinavičius, ilona laurinaitytė, laura ustinavičiūtė, and mykolas baltrūnas examination of convergent validity of start: av ratings among male juveniles on probation karina kravčenko, laura šeibokaitė the effect of joy and anxiety on egocentric decisions among young adults ala petrulytė, virginija guogienė adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy in lithuanian sample kristina ražauskaitė-pilipavičienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė gender differences in dyadic dominance during interpersonal interaction: the comparison of friends’ dyads and romanticc ouples lina cirtautienė, auksė endriulaitienė the influence of psychological factors for leader’s efficiency in global it companies kristina kovalčikienė, giedrė genevičiūtė-janonė the relationship between the vocational teachers’ personality traits and the work motivation information the 20th international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, december 6th, 2017. abstr acts the 21st international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, april 25th, 2018. abstr acts contributors reviewers instructions for authors the editors thank our reviewers in 2016: loreta bukšnytė-marmienė, prof. dr. béatrice marianne ewalds-kvist, phd, assoc. prof. juan pablo gamboa navarro, phd ewa gruszczyńska, phd loreta gustainienė, assoc. prof. dr. david hof, phd evaldas kazlauskas, assoc. prof. dr. albina kepalaitė, assoc. prof. dr. roy kern, phd, prof. audronė miškinytė, dr. andrejs ozolins, phd aidas perminas, prof. dr. aistė pranckevičienė, dr. rūta sargautytė, dr. assoc. prof. sofia marques da silva, phd, assoc. prof. douglas tillman, phd daina voita, phd asta zbarauskaitė, assoc. prof. dr. kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, assoc. prof. dr. journal reviewers international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2016 / 19 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.19 123 111 contributors international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2016 / 19 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.20 milda cibulskytė, graduate of vytautas magnus university, medical psychologist in secondary health care. the area of interest is the impact of psychological factor changes on human health. address: jonava 66, lt-44191 kaunas, lithuania. phone: +370 37 327824 e-mail: milda.cibulskyte@gmail.com auksė endriulaitienė, phd in social sciences, professor in psychology department, vytautas magnus university. fields of interest: work-related attitudes, leadership, burnout. address: jonavos 66, lt-44191 kaunas, lithuania. phone: +370 37 327949 e-mail: aukse.endriulaitiene@vdu.lt justė lukoševičiūtė graduated in bachelor of health psychology and currently is a second-year student in master of health psychology, lithuanian university of health sciences. her research interests and diploma thesis are mainly targeted towards personality psychology with specific scope to clinical populations. address: department of health psychology, faculty of public health, lithuanian university of health sciences, tilžės 18, lt-47181 kaunas, lithuania. phone: +370 37 242911 e-mail: juste.lukoseviciute3@gmail.com modesta morkevičiūtė received her master degree in organizational psychology in vytautas magnus university. fields of interest: leadership, burnout, workaholism. address: jonavos 66, lt-44191 kaunas, lithuania. phone: +370 684 68058 e-mail: modestamorkeviciute@gmail.com justina slavinskienė, phd student, department of psychology at vytautas magnus university, kaunas, lithuania. scientific interests: psychological aspects of risky driving; the analysis of psychological aspects of health-related behaviour (addiction); psychological mechanisms of gender differences in behavioural studies and personal health-related cognitive behavioural aspects. address: jonava 66, lt-44191 kaunas, lithuania. phone: +370 37 327824 e-mail: justina.slavinskiene@vdu.lt 112 contributors jolanta sondaitė, phd is a professor of psychology in institute of psychology at mykolas romeris university. her research interests include conflicts, relationships, mediation, subjective experiences. address: mykolas romeris university, institute of psychology, ateities 20, lt-08303 vilnius, lithuania. phone: +370 5 2714620 e-mail: jsondait@mruni.eu kastytis šmigelskas defended his phd at university of eastern finland. currently he has a position of associated professor at department of health psychology, lithuanian university of health sciences. his research interests include but are not limited to personality psychology, especially from perspective of health. areas of interest and expertise also include research methodology and biostatistics. address: department of health psychology, faculty of public health, lithuanian university of health sciences, tilžės 18, lt-47181 kaunas, lithuania. phone: +370 37 242911 e-mail: kastytis.smigelskas@lsmuni.lt gailė vinciūnaitė received her m.a. in psychology (business psychology study programme) at mykolas romeris university (vilnius, lithuania). her interests include personnel psychology, psychological harassment. she works as a hr administration manager. address: mykolas romeris university, institute of psychology, ateities 20, lt-08303 vilnius, lithuania. phone: +370 5 2714620 e-mail: gaile.vinciunaite@gmail.com loreta zajančkauskaitė-staskevičienė, phd, lecturer at vytautas magnus university, medical psychologist in primary health care. the area of interest is the factors influencing adaptation difficulties. address: jonava 66, lt-44191 kaunas, lithuania. phone: +370 37 327824 e-mail: loreta.zajanckauskaite-staskeviciene@vdu.lt kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, assoc. prof., phd, department of psychology at vytautas magnus university, kaunas, lithuania. scientific interests: evaluation of the effectiveness of psychological interventions; risk-taking behaviour, research in communication psychology and psychology of religion; gender issues in psychology. address: jonava 66, lt-44191 kaunas, lithuania. phone: +370 37 327824 e-mail: kristina.zardeckaite-matulaitiene@vdu.lt contents editorial note emotional expressivity of alcohol dependent patients in different stages of motivation to refusealcohol the changes of self-efficacy and perceived social support of addicted to alcohol women and men during treatment period type d personality incardiovascular patients and general population: prevalence and retrospective perception ofstability the role of a perceived ethical leadership style in the relationship between workaholism and occupational burnout experience of workplace psychological harassment the 19th international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu abstracts instructions for authors psichologijos_zurnalas_22_korektura.indd contributors international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2018 / 22 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.22 mykolas baltrūnas is a psychologist at veliučionys juvenile socialization centre. he is a trainer as well as a national teacher for trainers of cognitive-behavioural correctional program equip. currently mykolas baltrūnas has been studying cognitive psychotherapy at kaunas university of health sciences. lina cirtautienė is a phd in psychology candidate at vytautas magnus university. she holds a bachelor’s degree and a master degree in psychology from vmu. her major research interests are global leadership, assessment of leadership effectiveness, and leadership in it sector. she has been ceo at psychological consulting group for nine years. viktorija čepukiene is a psychologist at psychology clinic, associate professor at the department of psychology, vytautas magnus university (lithuania). her scientific interests cover outcomes of solution-focused brief therapy as well as an application of solution-focused approach in different domains. auksė endriulaitienė is a professor of work and organizational psychology at vytautas magnus university. her major research interests are as follows: work related attitudes, leadership, workaholism and burnout; assessment of leadership effectiveness, teamwork in organizations, psychological issues of risky driving in occupational and non-occupational settings. giedrė genevičiūtė-janonė, phd, social sciences, psychology. vytautas magnus university agriculture academy, centre of cultural communication and education, department of philosophy, psychology and vocational education. research interests: work motivation, employees’ well-being, organizational commitment ant its consequences for employees and organization, the importance of psychological characteristics in human resource management. e-mail: giedre. geneviciute-janone@vdu.lt virginija guogienė, vytautas magnus university, education academy assistant, vilnius, lithuania, t. ševčenkos g. 31, lt-03111 vilnius, e-mail: virginija.guogiene@vdu.lt. scientific and professional interests are developmental and education psychology. she is a member of the educational psychology committee of the lithuanian psychological association and has a europsy certificate. virginija klimukienė is a phd student in the institute of psychology at vilnius university. her research is on risk and protective factors of juvenile delinquency as well as risk management opportunities. she coordinated the implementation of cognitive behavioural correctional programs equip (for adolescents) and 171 https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.22 mailto:geneviciute-janone@vdu.lt mailto:virginija.guo-giene@vdu.lt mailto:virginija.guo-giene@vdu.lt mailto:virginija.guo-giene@vdu.lt 172 contributors one-to-one (for adults), and also the adaptation of violence risk assessment instruments hcr-20 and svr-20. she is a member of lithuanian psychological association. kristina kovalčikienė, phd, social sciences, psychology. vytautas magnus university agriculture academy, centre of cultural communication and education, department of philosophy, psychology and vocational education. research interests: professional identity, career, thinking/cognitive styles, the importance of psychological characteristics in human resource management and education. e-mail: kristina.kovalcikiene@vdu.lt karina kravčenko is a full time phd student in psychology at vytautas magnus university. her main interests of research are social norms theory and alcohol consumption among youth. she is currently focusing on the relationship between descriptive and injunctive norms, alcohol use, and drinking motives among adolescents. ilona laurinaitytė is an associate professor of psychology at vilnius university. her particular research interests are centred on understanding of the nature, causes, and management of violence as well as on mental health problems among people  in the criminal justice system. she was involved in adaptation process of several risk assessment tools in lithuania (i.e., hcr-20, svr-20, pcl: sv). i. laurinaitytė is a national representative at the board of ethics in european federation of psychologists’ associations (efpa), a member of the national bioethics committee, the international association for the treatment of sexual offenders, etc. alfredas laurinavičius is an associate professor in the institute of psychology at vilnius university, lithuania. alfredas laurinavicius has worked on adaptation of a number of offender assessment tools oasys (home office, 2002), hare’s psychopathy checklist: screening version pcl:sv (hart, et al., 1995), spousal assault risk assessment sara (kropp et al., 1999), brief spousal assault form for the evaluation of risk b-safer (kropp et al., 2005), and took part in adaptation of cognitive and motivational programme one-to-one (priestley, 2008) for prison department of lithuania. alfredas laurinavičius is a member european association of psychology and law, a member of the board of lithuanian psychological association. rytis pakrosnis is an associate professor at the department of psychology, a psychologist at the psychology clinic of vytautas magnus university (kaunas, lithuania), a psychologist in private practice. scientific interests: solution focused brief therapy outcome research and application in different contexts; positive psychology; students’ wellbeing assessment and nurturing. mailto:kristina.kovalcikiene@vdu.lt 173 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2018, 22, 171–173 p. ala petrulytė, vytautas magnus university, education academy professor. vilnius, lithuania, t. ševčenkos g. 31, lt-03111 vilnius, e-mail: ala.petrulyte@vdu.lt. scientific and professional interests: developmental and education psychology, health psychology, creativity psychology. member of the board and chair of the educational psychology committee of the lithuanian psychological association; member of standing committee of psychology in education, efpa; member of ispa, eara and isbd associations. kristina ražauskaitė-pilipavičienė is an ma in school psychology, an alumni of vytautas magnus university (lithuania). scientific interests cover various aspects of interpersonal communication both in adults and children. laura šeibokaitė is a phd in social sciences, psychology. she works as an associate professor in psychology department at vytautas magnus university, lithuania. research interests: issues and difficulties of adolescence, problem behaviour in adolescence (substance use, aggressive behaviour, suicidal behaviour, etc.), risk taking behaviour in applied fields of psychology (emigration, driving, etc.). laura ustinavičiūtė is a doctor of social sciences and a chairman of applied criminal psychology master program committee in the institute of psychology at mykolas romeris university. her main research interests are related to the re-offending risk assessment, offender’s supervision, as well as career development and work motivation. since 2007 till 2011 she was the main working group member working on translation and adaptation of united kingdom risk assessment tool of recidivism (oasys) for prison department under the ministry of justice of the republic of lithuania. as a researcher she participated in several international and national research projects such as “eu kids online ii”, “eu kids online iii”, etc. she was a lithuanian representative of international networks of upside, early researchers’ union of esdp, and a member of several organizing committees of international and national conferences. since 2012 till 2016 she was a representative of lithuania in the cost action no. is1106 “offender supervision in europe”. at the moment she is a member of lithuanian psychologists’ association. kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė is an associate professor at the department of psychology, vytautas magnus university (lithuania). scientific interests cover various aspects of gender and communication psychology as well as psychological interventions. mailto:ala.petrulyte@vdu.lt contents editorial note scientific publications viktorija cepukiene, rytis pakrosnis introducing unguided computerized solution-focused self-help into university counseling services virginija klimukienė, alfredas laurinavičius, ilona laurinaitytė, laura ustinavičiūtė, and mykolas baltrūnas examination of convergent validity of start: av ratings among male juveniles on probation karina kravčenko, laura šeibokaitė the effect of joy and anxiety on egocentric decisions among young adults ala petrulytė, virginija guogienė adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy in lithuanian sample kristina ražauskaitė-pilipavičienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė gender differences in dyadic dominance during interpersonal interaction: the comparison of friends’ dyads and romanticc ouples lina cirtautienė, auksė endriulaitienė the influence of psychological factors for leader’s efficiency in global it companies kristina kovalčikienė, giedrė genevičiūtė-janonė the relationship between the vocational teachers’ personality traits and the work motivation information the 20th international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, december 6th, 2017. abstr acts the 21st international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, april 25th, 2018. abstr acts contributors reviewers instructions for authors contributors laura alčiauskaitė, phd student, social sciences, psychology, vytautas magnus university, faculty of social sciences, department of theoretical psychology. research interests: health behaviour change, motivational interviewing, rehabilitation, adjustment to disability. address: vytautas magnus university, department of theoretical psychology, jonavos st. 66-330, lt-44191 kaunas, lithuania phone/fax: +370 37 327 824 e-mail: l.alciauskaite@smf.vdu.lt rita bandzevičienė, phd, professor in mykolas romeris university, faculty of social welfare, institute of psychology. research interests: stress and coping, social inclusion, well-being. address: mykolas romeris university, faculty of social welfare, institute of psychology, ateities st. 20, lt-08303 vilnius, lithuania phone: +370 5 271 4625; fax: +370 5 267 6000 e-mail: rbandze@mruni.eu joana butėnaitė, health psychologist, phd student, lecturer at mykolas romeris university. research interests: subjective and psychological well-being, health aging and spirituality. address: ateities st. 20, lt-08303 vilnius, lithuania phone/fax: +370 5 271 4620 e-mail: joana.but@mruni.eu. eric s. davis, phd, ncc, sb-rpt, assistant professor, university of south florida, counselor education. research interests: play therapy training and pedagogy, school counseling training and pedagogy, chronic illness and school counseling, creative supervision and teaching strategies, stay-at-home father understanding and interventions. address: university of south florida 4202 e. fowler ave. edu105 tampa, fl 33620-5650 phone: (813) 974-0040 e-mail: esdavis1@usf.edu 111 international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2016 / 18 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) david d. hof, ed.d., professor at the university of nebraska kearney, department of counseling and school psychology. research interests: mental health stigma, social justice, high-risk youth, sex off ending behaviors. address: university of nebraska kearney, college of education (b135), kearney, ne 68849 phone: (308) 865-8320 e-mail: hold@unk.edu stephen w. jones, ma, assistant professor at crown college, international studies. research interests: intercultural competence, service-learning, international development, international relations. address: crown college, bonifacius st., mn 55375 phone: (952)-446-4372 e-mail: joness@crown.edu jurga misiūnienė, phd, researcher and lecturer at vytautas magnus university, faculty of social sciences, department of theoretical psychology; school psychologist at vytautas magnus university “rasa” gymnasium. research interests: creativity and intelligence, the importance of personal and environmental factors on the achievements in academic activity. address: vytautas magnus university, department of theoretical psychology, jonavos st. 66-330, lt-44191 kaunas, lithuania phone/fax: +370 37 327 824 e-mail: j.misiuniene@smf.vdu.lt antanas mockus, clinical psychologist, phd student and lecturer at mykolas romeris university, institute of psychology. research interests: successful aging, life satisfaction in old age. address: ateities st. 20, lt-08303 vilnius, lithuania phone/fax: +370 5 271 4620 e-mail: antmockus@mruni.eu kristina paradnikė, phd student of psychology in mykolas romeris university, faculty of social welfare, institute of psychology. research interests: career, developmental and educational psychology, well-being. address: mykolas romeris university, faculty of social welfare, institute of psychology, ateities st. 20, lt-08303 vilnius, lithuania phone: +370 5 271 4625; fax: (8 5) 267 6000 e-mail: kristina.paradnike@gmail.com contributors 112 raimonda petrolienė, phd student, social sciences, psychology, vytautas magnus university, faculty of social sciences, department of theoretical psychology. research interests: health behaviour change, motivational interviewing, rehabilitation. address: vytautas magnus university, department of theoretical psychology, jonavos st. 66-330, lt44191 kaunas, lithuania phone/fax: +370 37 327 824 e-mail: r.petroliene@smf.vdu.lt jolanta sondaitė, doctor of social sciences (psychology), mykolas romeris university, institute of psychology, associate professor. research interests: subjective well-being, relationships, conflict resolution. address: ateities st. 20, lt-08303 vilnius, lithuania phone: +370 5271 4620 e-mail: jsondait@mruni.eu liuda šinkariova, phd, professor, social sciences, psychology, vytautas magnus university, faculty of social sciences, department of theoretical psychology. research interests: health behaviour change, rehabilitation. address: vytautas magnus university, department of theoretical psychology, jonavos st. 66-330, lt-44191 kaunas, lithuania phone/fax: +370 37 327 824 e-mail: l.sinkariova@smf.vdu.lt douglas r. tillman, phd, assistant professor at the university of nebraska kearney, department of counseling and school psychology. research interests: spirituality, mental health stigma, title ix, social media. address: university of nebraska kearney, college of education (b138), kearney, ne 68849 phone: (308) 865-8360 e-mail: tillmandr@unk.edu loreta zajančkauskaitė-staskevičienė, phd, lecturer at vytautas magnus university, faculty of social sciences, department of theoretical psychology, clinical psychologist in primary care. research interests: health and illness behavior, illness perception. address: vytautas magnus university, department of theoretical psychology, jonavos st. 66-330, lt-44191 kaunas, lithuania phone/fax: +370 37 327 824 e-mail: l.zajanckauskaite@smf.vdu.lt 2016, 18, 111–113 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 113 contributors antanas budėnas, student, faculty of medicine, lithuanian university of health sciences. scientific interests: prognostic factors of pain after the median nerve decompression surgery. address: eiveniu st. 4, lt-50009 kaunas, lithuania e-mail: antanas.budenas@fc.lsmuni.lt lina cirtautienė, phd student, psychology department, faculty of social sciences, vytautas magnus university. scientific interests: intercultural factors of effective leadership. leadership in the it sector. psychological and organizational leadership performance factors. leadership psychology. address: jonavos st. 66-330, lt-44191 kaunas, lithuania phone/fax: +370 37 327 824 e-mail: lina.cirtautiene@fc.vdu.lt justina dimšaitė, student, faculty of medicine, lithuanian university of health sciences. scientific interests: prognostic factors off pain after the median nerve decompression surgery. address: eiveniu st. 4, lt-50009 kaunas, lithuania e-mail: justina.dimsaite@fc.lsmuni.lt aistė diržytė, phd, professor, mykolas romeris university, faculty of social welfare, institute of psychology. scientific interests: psychological factors of life’s quality, positive psychological capital, positive organizational behavior. address: ateities st. 20, lt-08303 vilnius, phone: +370 5 271 4625 fax: +370 5 267 6000 e-mail: aiste.dirzyte@gmail.com gražina gudaitė, phd in psychology, professor. department of clinical and organizational psychology, vilnius university. director at the center of practical psychology studies. jungian psychoanalyst with a membership in international association of analytical psychology. president of lithuanian association for analytical psychology. scientific interests: analytical psychology, clinical psychology, psychotherapy research, clinical psychological diagnostic. address: universiteto st. 9/1, lt-01513 vilnius, lithuania phone: +370 650 11767 e-mail: g.gudait@gmail.com 119 international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2016 / 19 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.19 andrius macas, md, professor, department of anaesthesiology, lithuanian university of health sciences. scientific interests: anesthesiology, intensive care medicine, burn out, medical simulation. address: eivenių st. 2, lt-50009 kaunas, lithuania phone: +370 37 32 63 71 e-mail: andrius.macas@lsmuni.lt tomas maceina, phd student, vilnius university, faculty of philosophy, department of general psychology. scientific interests: social information processing and decision making. address: universiteto st. 9/1, lt-01513 vilnius, lithuania phone: + 370 5 266 7605 e-mail: tomas.maceina@fsf.vu.lt jevgenija olševska, anaesthesiologist reanimatologist, center of anaesthesiology, intensive care and pain treatment, vilnius university hospital santariskiu clinics. scientific interests: anesthesiology and intensive care medicine. phone: +370 6 143 0832 e-mail: eugenija.olsevska@gmail.com dovilė petronytė – kvedarauskienė, phd student of psychology, vilnius university. jungian psychoanalyst with a membership in international association for analytical psychology. medical psychologist at zirmunu mental health center. private psychotherapy practice. scientific interests: clinical psychology, analytical psychology, psychotherapy research, qualitative research. narcissism and relationship with authority. address: universiteto st. 9/1, lt-01513 vilnius, lithuania phone: +370 686 61894 e-mail: dovilepk@yahoo.co.uk aistė pranckevičienė, phd, medical psychologist and researcher, neuroscience institute, laboratory of clinical research, lithuanian university of health sciences. scientific interests: validity and efficacy of psychological and neuropsychological assessment instruments. address: eiveniu st. 4, lt-50009 kaunas, lithuania, e-mail: aiste.pranckeviciene@lsmuni.lt pranas puidokas, m.s., clinical psychologist. scientific interests: social information processing and decision making. e-mail: puidokasp@gmail.com contributors 120 andrius radžiūnas, md, phd student and researcher, neuroscience institute, laboratory of clinical research, lithuanian university of health sciences. scientific interests: clinical outcome improvement trough patient centred approach. address: eiveniu st. 4, lt-50009 kaunas, lithuania e-mail: andrius.radziunas@kaunoklinikos.lt eglė sabaitytė, phd student, mykolas romeris university, faculty of social welfare, institute of psychology. scientific interests: positive psychological capital, self-compassion, the effectiveness of subjective well-being intervention programs. address: ateities st. 20, lt-08303 vilnius, lithuania phone: +3708 5 271 4625 fax: +370 5 267 6000 e-mail: egle.sabaityte@gmail.com jūratė šipylaitė, md, professor, clinic of anaesthesiology and intensive care, vilnius university faculty of medicine. scientific interests: anesthesiology and intensive care medicine. address: m. k. čiurlionio st. 21, lt-03101 vilnius, lithuania phone: +370 5 239 8700 e-mail: jurate.sipylaite@mf.vu.lt gintautas valickas, phd, professor, vilnius university, faculty of philosophy, department of general psychology. scientific interests: forensic psychology, procedural justice, stress and coping, decision making. address: universiteto st. 9/1, lt-01513 vilnius, lithuania phone: + 370 5 266 7605 e-mail: gintautas.valickas@fsf.vu.lt 2016, 19, 119–121 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 121 dear readers, we invite you to spend some time reading the 18th issue of the “international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach”. publications in this issue present the latest results of research in the field of psychology in lithuania and abroad as well as go deep into such important phenomena as career adaptability, existential crisis, global service learning, school counsellors’ preparedness for working with students & chronic illness, and readiness to change. the variety of analysed phenomena once more sustains the truth that there are plenty of unanswered questions concerning human mental processes and behaviour. publications in the journal follow the idea of studying such processes based on the viewpoint that both mind and behaviour originate, develop and function due to the close interaction between biological, psychological factors and social environment. thereby, authors analyse psychological issues within the broader context, including biological, psychological, and social aspects. to sum up, the publications of this issue are aimed at analysis of factors improving personal adaptation in various activities and social environments. authors of the publication “school counsellor preparedness for working with students & chronic illness: insights and applications from a service learning experience in southern africa” bring up the problem that despite increasing rate of chronic illness among children, many school counsellors may not be prepared to handle such issues due to lack of training, professional development, or culturally diverse experiences. author reviews the literature on chronic illness and school counsellor preparation, moreover, referring to his own participation in a service learning experience in southern africa, discusses opportunities for working with students and chronic illness in the united states. the theme analysing factors related with students’ adaptation in various activities and social environment is continued by paradnike et al. in publication “career construction in academic setting: links between career adaptability and study engagement.” this publication explores study engagement phenomena as an indicator of occupational well-being of students, and raise the presumption that study engagement might be one of many positive career-related outcomes linked to career adaptability. along with college students, authors present research results analysing links between career adaptability of college students and study engagement. two other publications (jones et al. “assessing global service-learning: a mixed-methods approach to evaluating students’ international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2016 / 18 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) editorial intercultural development” and petrolienė et al. “psychometrics of the readiness to change questionnaire (rcq): the lithuanian version”) analyse efficiency of methods intended to assess client’s readiness for changes or counselling work with the client improving his development and environmental adaptation. petrolienė and colleagues in the publication “psychometrics of the readiness to change questionnaire (rcq): the lithuanian version” claims that smoking, unhealthy diet, low physical activity, overweight and risky alcohol consumption persist as actual problems among lithuanian adults nowadays. authors relate these issues with heart related problems and state that it is important to have a valid, short, clear measure of readiness to change health behaviour in the native (lithuanian) language as changing life style can be a problem in rehabilitation process of cardiac patients in lithuania. thus the article analyses psychometrics of lithuanian version of the readiness to change questionnaire (rcq) among patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation. jones et al., in “assessing global service-learning: a mixed-methods approach to evaluating students’ intercultural development,” discusses the global service-learning (gsl) as an important contributor to student’s intercultural development. the purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of cultural immersion as a service-learning project and to use the intercultural development inventory (idi) to better understand the changes in student development as a result of this project. in their article “the experience of an existential crisis: a theoretical analysis,” butėnaitė and colleagues examine phenomenon that reveals problems of environmental adaptation of a person, i.e. existential crisis phenomenon. authors state that the results of this analysis will help us understand the experiences of an existential crisis and the peculiarities of people who are going through it. the editorial team invites you to read and analyse the articles in the “international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach.” we would like to encourage discussions between scientists and academic communities in lithuania, usa and other countries, to strive for collaboration of scientists representing various scientific fields and branches. this would promote the development of psychology and expand practical implementation possibilities enabling to find the most appropriate solution for problems faced both by the individual and the society within the rapidly changing social milieu. we invite the scientists to submit original empirical as well as theoretical articles with diverse methodology and methods of statistical analysis, which would expand the knowledge in the field of psychology, and (or) have importance for practical psychologists. prof. dr. loreta bukšnytė-marmienė consulting editor psichologijos_zurnalas_22_korektura.indd the 21st international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, april 25th, 2018. abstr ac ts the benefit of e thic al leadership for organiz ation and employees elena dilijonaitė, aurelija stelmokienė vytautas magnus university, kaunas, lithuania introduction. globalization has created a market dynamic that demands higher levels of efforts from employees and requires true expertise in leadership. recent ethical scandals in business turned scientists’ attention to an ethical leadership. despite the growing number of studies, that analyze ethical leadership outcomes, there is still a lack of research, that would integrate them and expand the understanding of how ethical leadership impacts employee attitudes and behavior. organizational commitment (as an attitude), and employee voice (as a behavior) are useful both for organization and employees themselves. therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the relationship between perceived ethical leadership, organizational commitment, and employee voice. methodology. 228 private sector employees (165 women and 63 men) from different educational backgrounds participated in the survey. their age ranged from 19 to 69 years (average – 28) and the average work experience in a current organization was 4 years. an online survey with three questionnaires – m. e. brown, l. k. trevino, d. harrison (2005) ethical leadership scale, a modified version of j. p. meyer et al. (1993) organizational commitment scale, l. van dyne and j. a. lepine (1998) employee voice scale – was used in this study. additionally, some sociodemographic questions were included. results. it was found that the more a leader is perceived as ethical, the more employees are willing to share their comments about work related issues. moreover, organizational commitment was positively related to employee voice. the results of the study also showed that the more a leader is perceived as ethical, the greater employee organizational commitment is. comprehensive analysis of the relationship between these three phenomena showed that effective commitment partially mediates the relationship between ethical leadership and employee voice. conclusions and implication. previous research showed that organizational commitment was associated with higher job satisfaction, better work performance, organization’s goal information international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2018 / 22 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.22 167 https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.22 168 the 21st international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, april 25th, 2018. abstracts achievement, lower turnover and absenteeism rates, stronger employee feelings of belonging and safety. whereas employee voice was associated with greater employee psychological well-being, feeling of control, lower stress levels. it also helped managers to make better decisions, fix problems. and focus on innovation. therefore, in order to gain these benefits, it is worth for organizations to invest into ethical leadership, which, as this study confirmed, has a positive effect on both organizational commitment and employee voice. integr ating self–de termination theory and stress theory for the predic tion of health aspec ts: theore tic al analysis rūta kavaliauskaitė, aidas perminas vytautas magnus university, kaunas, lithuania several decades ago the idea that stress phenomenon, especially talking about coping process, may be related with the aspects of individual motivation was introduced (lazarus, 1991). both, transactional stress theory, and the major motivational theory self-determination theory, has been widely applied in the research of health and well-being (ng et al., 2012; schneiderman, ironson, siegel, 2008). nevertheless, there are just several theoretical attempts to integrate these two theories (ntoumanis, edmunds, duda, 2009; weinstein, ryan, 2011). the aim of this theoretical analysis is to investigate the possible links and integration of transactional theory of stress and coping and the self-determination theory in prediction of various health aspects. the findings suggest that there is a lack of empirical attempts to apply the integrated model of stress and motivation theories. the proposed theoretical model may be the significant step forwards to the empirical verification of the possible complex links between transactional theory of stress and coping and the self-determination theory in predicting health and well-being. the presented model is going to be applied in the context of higher education during the empirical research. computerized solution-focused self-help progr am: de velopment and outcome rytis pakrosnis, viktorija čepukienė vytautas magnus university, kaunas, lithuania a number of self-help tools have been introduced during last decades striving for costeffectiveness and accessibility of psychological help and relying on the idea that people are capable of changing on their own. solution-focused approach stresses the idea of constant 169 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2018, 22, 167–170 p. change, person’s strengths, and ability to initiate positive change. both approaches share strive for achieving maximum with minimal amount of effort. despite these communalities, there are only few available tools of self-help based on solution-focused ideas with no data on their effectiveness, however. the presentation is aimed at presenting the solution-focused self-help tool developed by the presentation authors: the idea, the development steps (paper & pencil worksheet; computerized tool; interactive computer program), examples, main outcome results in the groups of psychology students in each step of the development, possibilities for practical implication, and further development. the outcome studies in each step of the self-help tool development were conducted in the groups of psychology students. the study design in all cases involved comparison groups with preand postintervention evaluations using subjective and standardized measures. the results revealed that positive changes in the life area chosen for change by the participants were significantly larger than in comparison groups when applying all forms of solution-focused self-help. besides, magnitude of positive change tends to grow along with the increase of the interactivity of the self-help tool. understanding how couples maintain monogamy: the de velopment of a theory of protec tive fac tors using g rounded theory marissa a. fye university of nebraska at kearney the purpose of this study was to expose a theory, which explains how married persons maintain monogamy.  ten participants were interviewed twice, using a semistructured interview format, which lasted approximately 45 minutes to one hour and 30 minutes.  the interviews were transcribed verbatim.  grounded theory methods of data collection and analysis were used.  member-checking, bracketing, peer-review, analytic memos, and external auditing were used throughout the study for verification purposes. participation in the study was based on the inclusionary criteria of: (a) being legally married in the united states, (b) being 18 years or older, (c) having never cheated (i.e., emotionally or sexually) in their current marriage, (d) being able to read and speak english, and (e) being willing to be interviewed twice.  the data supported the finding that monogamy is maintained by small, continual, and consistent efforts in each protective factor area.  the protective factors include: (a) practicing congruence; (b) fostering values and beliefs which support monogamy; (c) building a secure attachment or emotional bond; (d) sex in a marriage; (e) behavioral, cognitive, and relationship boundaries; and (f ) coping individually and as a couple. 170 amining predic tabilit y of kindergarten ac ademic screeners predic tive of third gr ade reading and math cameron staudacher university of nebraska at kearney there is a demonstrable need for increased use of early academic screeners to predict school readiness. the combination of early assessment and early intervention provides the greatest likelihood of success when attempting to prepare young students for higher grades. this study examined the predictive utility of various early academic screeners to predict student achievement on a high-stakes statewide assessment taken in 3rd grade. the results indicated which early academic screener best predicted the high-stakes test. an examination of differences in the roles of school counselors in japan and the united states reina horikawa university of nebraska at kearney as the number of problems of students, such as bullying, school refusal, or suicide, is dramatically increasing in japan, there is a hope that school counselors are great advocacy to resolve the problems. even though the government in japan try to increase the number of school counselors and to improve the school counseling system, there is a confusion regarding school counselors’ roles and functions. this study examined whether the roles of school counselors in the united states would be helpful to develop the roles of school counselors in japan. the result showed there was significantly different system between two countries, and the roles of school counselors in the united states needs to be assessed before importing to japan. the 21st international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, april 25th, 2018. abstracts contents editorial note scientific publications viktorija cepukiene, rytis pakrosnis introducing unguided computerized solution-focused self-help into university counseling services virginija klimukienė, alfredas laurinavičius, ilona laurinaitytė, laura ustinavičiūtė, and mykolas baltrūnas examination of convergent validity of start: av ratings among male juveniles on probation karina kravčenko, laura šeibokaitė the effect of joy and anxiety on egocentric decisions among young adults ala petrulytė, virginija guogienė adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy in lithuanian sample kristina ražauskaitė-pilipavičienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė gender differences in dyadic dominance during interpersonal interaction: the comparison of friends’ dyads and romanticc ouples lina cirtautienė, auksė endriulaitienė the influence of psychological factors for leader’s efficiency in global it companies kristina kovalčikienė, giedrė genevičiūtė-janonė the relationship between the vocational teachers’ personality traits and the work motivation information the 20th international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, december 6th, 2017. abstr acts the 21st international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, april 25th, 2018. abstr acts contributors reviewers instructions for authors 141 journal reviewers the editors thank our reviewers in 2015: dalia antinienė, ph. d. rita bandzevičienė, prof. ph. d. tammi beckman, ph. d. bojan busil, ph. d. neringa grigutytė, ph. d. loreta gustainienė, ph. d. evaldas kazlauskas, ph. d. antanas kairys, ph. d. albina kepalaitė, ph. d. aleksandrs kolesovs, ph. d. visvaldas legkauskas, ph. d. rasa markšaitytė, ph. d. jurga misiūnienė, ph. d. audronė miškinytė, ph. d. andrejs ozolins, ph. d. aidas perminas, prof. ph. d. saulė raižienė, prof. ph. d. laura šeibokaitė, ph. d. gintautas šilinskas, ph. d. douglas r. tillman, ph. d. asta zbarauskaitė, ph. d. kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, ph. d. international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2015 / 17 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) abstr ac ts from the 17th international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, april 20th, 2016 abstr ac ts satisfaction with perceived parenting style: an advance in leadership development research gintarė ainytė, aurelija stelmokienė vytautas magnus university, kaunas, lithuania studies on the leadership development ignored the impact of early experience for quite a long period of time. however, parents can be identified as the first leaders for their children (dabke, 2014). subtle parenting practices in childhood can be a context when choosing particular leadership behavior in adulthood (murphy, johnson, 2011; oliver, et al., 2011). satisfaction with parent is also proposed as a significant part of that context (berenson, et al., 2005; huang, wang, hie, 2014). therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the role of satisfaction with parent on relationship between perceived parenting style and self assessed leadership style. participants (136 leaders) filled in questionnaires that consisted of three instruments: 1. hierarchical taxonomy of leadership behaviors (yukl, 2012); 2. parenting styles and dimensions questionnaire (robinson et al., 1995); 3. the adolescent family life satisfaction index (henry, ostrander, lovelace, 1992). results confirmed significant correlations only between perceived authoritative parenting style and task-oriented and relation-oriented leadership style. moreover, leaders who were more satisfied with parents led in the example of their parents (significant results were only for the fit between perceived authoritative parenting and combination of task and relation orientation in leadership). the research broadens the idea that positive parenting style increases the probability of the development of psychologically healthy children (zimmerman, eisemann, fleck, 2008; hoskins, 2014) and successful leaders. information international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2016 / 19 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.19 105 relationship between body weight related concerns and early maladaptive schemas in the sample of students with normal body mass index kamilė dinigevičiūtė, prof.dr. aidas perminas vytautas magnus university, kaunas, lithuania introduction. negative feelings and thoughts about owns body are described as body dissatisfaction. one aspect of body dissatisfaction is a negative evaluation of body weight and concerns related to it (grogan, 2008). it is suggested that a substantial proportion of women and men tend to perceive their weight incorrectly and show significant dissatisfaction related to weight. women tend to self-report themselves as overweight or obese and men tend to underestimate their body weight when their actual body mass index (bmi) is normal (jaworowska et al., 2008). according to researches, dissatisfaction related to body weight is not only a risk factor of eating disorders (stice et al., 2002) but is associated with depression, eating pathology, dieting, lower self-esteem and performance-enhancing substances as well (furnham et al., 2002; cafri et al., 2005). because of this, it is important to understand possible reasons that lie behind the weight concerns and body dissatisfaction. one of such reasons might be early maladaptive schemas which are described as self-defeating cognitive and emotional patterns which begin in early childhood and continues through the life (rafaeli et al., 2011). there are many researches supporting the idea of relation between early maladaptive schemas and eating disorders (meyer et al., 2004; deas et al., 2011) yet a very few about the possible relationship between body dissatisfaction and schemas (khosheghbal, 2015; ledoux, 2010). a better understanding of the relationship between early maladaptive schemas and body weight related concerns in a sample with normal bmi could give an opportunity to understand possible risks of body dissatisfaction better. methodology. 172 students participated in this study, 139 were selected for further analysis as they met criteria for normal bmi (18.5-24.9). 106 of them were females, and 33 were males, aged 18-40 years (m = 21.6; sd = 2.68). participants completed overweight preoccupation scale from the multidimensional body-self relations questionnaire (cash, 1990), cronbach‘s α = .775. early maladaptive schemas were evaluated by using young schema questionnaire’s short form (young, 2014), cronbach’s α = .672-.830. results. in the female sample, weight related concerns were found to be positively related to emotional deprivation (r = .355; p = .0001), abandonment (r = .410, p = .0001), mistrust (r = .409; p = .0001), social isolation (r = .328; p = .001), defectiveness/unlovability (r = .372; p = .0001), practical incompetence and dependence (r = .319; p = .001), failure to achieve (r = .375; p = .0001), vulnerability to harm or illness (r = .394; p = .0001), enmeshment (r = .217; p = .028), subjugation (r = .275; p = .005), emotional inhibition (r = .340; p = .0001), entitlement/superiority (r = .222; p = .023), pessimism (r = .431; p = .0001) and self punitiveness (r = .299; p = .002) early maladaptive schemas. in male sample, weight related concerns were found to be positively related to mistrust (r = .377; p = .044) of early maladaptive schema. 106 information conclusions. according to the findings of this research, stronger concerns about body weight are related to most of the early maladaptive schemas in women’s sample and only to mistrust schema in men sample. however, it would be beneficial to investigate gender related differences in relation between the body weight concerns and early maladaptive schemas more deeply. consultation services in chinese schools hong ni, phd, ncsp california state university-fresno, usa consultation services are new to chinese schools. this presentation tries to give recommendations for introducing and providing consultation services in chinese schools by discussing the following topics: 1) typical chinese school systems including the administration, structure, school professionals and their roles, and communication within schools and between schools and parents; 2) typical difficulties emerging for chinese students and the way chinese teachers and parents see these difficulties; 3) the roles of headroom teachers and psychology teachers; 4)consultee-centered participatory consultation. family involment, life satisfaction, and academic achievement of children tabitha rasmussen university of nebraska kearney, usa there are a number of studies that support the positive impact of family involvement on academic achievement, but few consider  the impact of  life satisfaction on family involvement and academic achievement of children. this study explored whether life satisfaction mediates the relationship between family involvement and academic achievement by looking at the relationship among all three variables, family involvement, life satisfaction, and academic achievement. participants were 64 third through sixth grade students in three rural midwestern elementary schools. series of regression analyses were employed to determine relationship between variables. results indicated that family involvement does not influence reading and math achievement. family involvement also does not influence life satisfaction. life satisfaction does not influence reading achievement; however, life satisfaction has a significant influence on math achievement. thus, life satisfaction does not mediate the relationship between family involvement and academic achievement of students. 107 2016, 19, 105–109 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach enhancing counselors’ in-training active listening skills through song lyrics: a qualitative study eric davis, phd, ncc, rpt university of nebraska kearney, usa the teaching and learning of counseling skills is both time and labor intensive (ray, jayne, & miller, 2014).  counseling trainees must understand, learn, and apply numerous skills (e.g. paraphrasing, summarizing, confrontation, reflective responding) throughout their training. a study was designed to investigate student perceptions of the use of song lyrics and music as a potential tool to enhance learning of reflective listening skills. the rationale for this study was drawn from the literature on experiential instructional modalities used to enhance basic counseling skills with counselors in training. the presenter proposes the use of music and song lyrics as a supplementary classroom tool based on the results of this qualitative study with students enrolled in a master’s level counselor education program. how teachers from finland, philippines, and the united states handle bullying: a cross-national investigation hilary messersmith university of nebraska kearney, usa bullying is an international problem and is becoming a public health concern in many countries. bullying incidents happen more often in the school environment and teachers are generally expected to effectively address cases of bullying. however, research indicates that teacher intervention in bullying incidents has been infrequent and inconsistent (sairanen & pfeffer). this presentation recognizes the crucial role of teachers in managing the global problem of bullying in terms of ways in which teachers would intervene in bullying situations. specifically, the presentation reports cross-national findings on strategies of teachers from finland, philippines, and the u.s. in handling bullying cases. secondary (for finland and u.s. data) and primary (for philippine data) analyses were used to examine country differences on handling bullying and how anti-bullying training impacts teachers’ intervention strategies. findings indicate that teachers from the three countries were more likely to actively respond to bullying in school. teachers from finland and the u.s. had very similar self-reported practices in dealing with bullying incidents in that they were most inclined to disciplining the bullies. on the other hand, teachers from philippines were most inclined to enlisting other adults in addressing bullying incidents. there were statistical differences 108108108 information between countries on the magnitude (based on mean ratings) of various bullying interventions. anti-bullying training received by teachers from finland and the u.s. had significantly contributed to resolving bullying. anti-bullying training among teachers in philippines had been quite limited yet to warrant an accurate conclusion. implications of the cross-national findings will be discussed. developing cultural competence through cultural immersion programs dr. tara c. raines university of denver, usa dr. anton robert berzins great neck public school system, usa educators’ views on racially, ethnically or experientially different students can be influenced by stereotypes (harry & klinger, 2006). left unchecked, conscious or unconscious stigmatizing perceptions can contribute to inappropriate treatment such as overrepresentation in special education and disparate school-based discipline (skiba et al., 2011). although school psychology (sp) as a profession has made some progress in diversifying the workforce, the ethnic, racial and cultural imbalance between providers and clients will take many years to resolve as the demographic change is occurring rapidly, change in the profession has been slow, and sp careers last decades. cultural competence (cc) training is a relatively recent endeavor and many sp practitioners and professors were trained before it was common compound of the issue. to be effective with our highly diverse population, all sps must become culturally competent practitioners who can work with students, families, and educators from many different backgrounds, cultures, orientations, and value systems. nasp has long recognized the need to promote, inform, and develop culturally competent sps. indeed, nasp has infused the call for culturally competent practice throughout its position statements, professional development materials, and publications (see http://www.nasponline.org/resources/culturalcompetence/cultcomppractice.aspx). yet, there remains a deep need to promote discussion and provide examples about how to actually produce cultural competence in sp students, practitioners, schools, and organizations. purpose: the purpose of this symposium is to present an innovative approach to developing cc school psychologists through the direct, intentional, and applied infusion of cc practice in established school psychology training programs. 109109109 2016, 19, 105–109 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 105 the 16th international symposium in psychology at unk & vmu november 30th, 2015 abstr ac ts continuing professional development preferences and practices of school psychologists in rural nebraska school districts jo lynn mescher university of nebraska kearney, usa lifelong learning is a crucial component of a school psychologists’ career. the diverse needs of students would require school psychologists to continuously update their professional knowledge and skills to provide relevant and competent services to students. presenters will share information on topics of continuing professional development (cpd) most beneficial to practitioners. participants will gain knowledge on cpd that will best fit the school(s) they are serving. professional roles and practices of school psychologists from midwestern state alexis moser university of nebraska kearney, usa the purpose of the study is to better understand the workplace characteristics, roles, practices, and professional challenges of rural school psychologists. the presenter will share the results of the workplace characteristics, roles, practices, and professional challenges of school psychologists in rural and urban school districts. practitioners will learn that by looking at school psychologists roles, strengths and weaknesses of both rural and urban schools would be shown. information international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2016 / 18 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) predictive validity of a computer-based academic measure in eleventh grade students brittney king, regan koller, seth larson, rhett young university of nebraska kearney, usa the purpose of this study was to determine the predictive validity relationships of high school assessments and to examine performance in high stakes assessment among students in a rural midwestern high school. archival data was gathered from 181 eleventh grade students. attendees can expect to gain, in their understanding of the predictive relationships of high-stakes, high school assessment and the implications on student achievement. assessment of bystander perspectives in greek life matt mims, josh schuman, john terry, robert alberts university of nebraska kearney, usa the education of college students to promote taking action by being a positive bystander advances prevention from a higher level of engagement and influence. the presenters will review bystander intervention program that was conducted with greek members on a midwestern university campus. this intervention program used video scenarios to promote interactive discussions in small groups. attitudes and behaviors were assessed regarding alcohol use, sexual violence, and hazing situations. outcome of the unguided internet-based solutionfocused self-help program for university students’ psychosocial functioning rytis pakrosnis, viktorija čepukienė vytautas magnus university, lithuania recent studies and meta-analyses repeatedly demonstrate the effectiveness of self-help methods (standardized interventions helping clients to work on their issues without major help from helping professionals) and comparability to the outcomes of traditional psychotherapy. there is some evidence that solution-focused approach, emphasizing strengths of a person as well as continual change, could be a good base for self-help. however, there is only limited research data to prove this. from the fall semester of 2014, students of vytautas magnus university (kaunas, lithuania) were offered unguided internet-based solution-focused self-help program as one of the psychology clinic’s services. the aim of this study was 106 to evaluate the outcome of unguided internet-based solution-focused self-help program in the sample of vytautas magnus university students. the study procedure involved preand postintervention evaluations with one month inbetween. the self-help program invited participants to work on a chosen life area by reflecting on their desired future, strengths/resources, actions, clues of positive change, progress and etc. the evaluation of the outcome combined subjective (10 point scales) as well as standardized (oq-45.2) measures. the sample consisted of 22 participants, who completed the self-help program. analysis of the results revealed that (1) students showed interest and participants appreciated the program; (2) participation in the program resulted in positive outcome; (3) drop-out rate was rather high, which is common for unguided self-help, but also prompts to look for the improvements in the self-help program. attitudes towards mental illness among mental health professionals in lithuania: a pilot study rasa žėkaitė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, aistė pranckevičienė, auksė endriulaitienė, rasa markšaitytė vytautas magnus university, lithuania introduction. scientific researches confirmed that mental illness stigmatization has very serious consequences to people with mental illness. the main domains affected are education (people with mental illness can’t get the education they need, they face discrimination from teachers or other students), professional area (they suffer discrimination when selecting employment, and even if they are employed, they face negative attitudes from their colleagues or chief ), housing (people don’t want to rent accommodation for people with mental illness), criminalization (people who suffer from a serious mental problem are more frequently arrested by police officers, they spend more time in prison), health care (doctors devaluate their complaints, avoid prescribing some procedures), interpersonal relations with friends, family, community (for example, divorce, gossips, no invitation to participate in family celebrations), self-consciousness (self-esteem, self-efficacy and the consequences like depression or help seeking). mental health professionals are like role models when we are talking about mental health issues. people with mental illness meet them to discuss the most personal problems. furthermore, mental health professionals often are tutors and their attitudes affect future specialists. however, research exposes negative attitudes that mental health professionals have towards mental illness and people with mental illness. it is known that attitudes about specific groups of patients are related to social and cultural context and specialists’ training traditions. thus it is important to explore different countries. in lithuania, we couldn’t find any research investigating attitudes towards mental illness among mental health professionals. by this time, there is some research on future professionals in a very specific (addiction) area. thus the aim of this study is to evaluate attitudes towards mental illness among mental health professionals in lithuania. methodology.a survey of 60 mental health professionals (20 psychologists, 20 psychiatrists and 20 mental health nurses) was conducted in spring 2015. 4 males and 56 females participated in this study. age range was 22–56 years, mean age – 33.75 years. work experience ranged from 2 months to 32 years. the questionnaire was aimed to evaluate five aspects 107 of attitudes: social distance, emotional reactions to mental illness (fear, compassion, anger/ annoyance), causal attributions of mental illness (locus of causality, external control, stability, personal control), community attitudes toward the mentally ill (authoritarianism, benevolence, social restrictiveness, community mental health ideology) and stigma of help seeking. the internal validity of questionnaire was sufficient (cronbach α – 0.894). demographic data included participant’s gender, age, education, work area (mental health, education, other), work experience and personal contact with mentally ill people. results. the results showed that all attitude dimensions were equally stigmatized, although there was a tendency to stigmatize community attitudes toward the mentally ill a little bit more. also it was found that there is no difference in emotional reactions, causal attributions of mental illness, and community attitudes toward mentally ill people in different professions. however, there was a difference in social distance and stigma of help seeking depending on profession. mental health nursing staff stigmatized all aspects, except causal attributions, the most. implications. this study may broaden psychological understanding of attitudes towards mental illness among mental health professionals in general and particular ways in our country. the results revealed that there is a tendency for mental health professionals to stigmatize their patients and that it is a phenomenon we have to fight, because it damages people with mental illness and their quality of life. even though these results are based only on the small sample of the mental health professionals, we still need to think about the reduction of stigmatization among mental health professionals in lithuania. on the other hand, we hope that further implementation of this study both in lithuania and usa will provide us with more reliable information about stigmatizing attitudes towards mental illness among mental health professionals in both countries. acknowledgments. rasa žėkaitė acknowledges support of project “promotion of student scientific activities” (vp1-3.1-šmm-01-v-02-003) from the research council of lithuania. this project is funded by the republic of lithuania and european social fund under the priority 3 of the 2007–2013 human resources development operational programme. predicting lithuanian employees’ intention to emigrate and reemigrate: the role of perceived social and organizational justice vytautas naruševičius, auksė endriulaitienė, rasa markšaitytė, kristina žardeckaitė matulaitienė, aistė pranckevičienė, laura seibokaitė vytautas magnus university, lithuania introduction. in recent 10 years, more than 300 thousand lithuanians have emigrated to various european countries. this mobility has serious implications on lithuanian economy and welfare system. thus it is important to understand the reasons why people decide to emigrate abroad or to return back to lithuania. one of the predictors there might be the feeling of justice. previous research has shown that employees want to be treated fairly in their workplace and various types of injustice in the organization can lead to the turnover 108 of the employee and willingness to look for the employment outside the native country. it is also hypothesized that country-level perceptions of justice might be important for making this decision as well. methodology. 906 lithuanian employees participated in this study. 425 were working in lithuania, while 481 lithuanians were working in various other european countries. most of them were females (79.9% and 75.9%), had university degree (82% and 61.6%) and their mean age was 37.52 and 32.28 years respectively. participants completed online questionnaire assessing perceived organizational justice, perceived social justice, their intentions to emigrate or re-emigrate to lithuania, and their demographic characteristics. perceived organizational justice was measured by 20-item organizational justice questionnaire developed by colquitt (2001), which consists of 4 subscales: distributive justice, procedural justice, interpersonal justice and informational justice. perceived social justice was measured by 5-item scale developed by kazlauskas and želvienė (2014). results. the analysis of data shows that only lower levels of distributive justice predicted the intention of employees working in lithuania to emigrate abroad. meanwhile, for lithuanians working abroad, only lower levels of informational justice predicted their intention to re-emigrate back to lithuania. other types of organizational justice had no predictive value for mobility decisions. in both groups, perceived social justice was not important in predicting the intention to emigrate or re-emigrate. conclusions and implication. the findings of this study suggest that only organizationlevel perceptions of justice are important for making the decision to emigrate abroad or to return back to the native country. 109 psichologijos_zurnalas_22_korektura.indd information international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2018 / 22 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.22 the 20th international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, december 6th, 2017. abstr ac ts stigma, culture and educ ation: comparison of stigmatizing beliefs towards people with mental illness in usa and lithuanian students’ samples rasa markšaitytė, aistė pranckevičienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, auksė endriulaitienė vytautas magnus university, kaunas, lithuania douglas r. tillman, david d. hof university of nebraska at kearney, usa introduction: stigma of mental illness is a significant barrier for quality of life and adequate treatment of people with mental illness. students of mental health care related professions are not free from stigmatizing beliefs. more comprehensive understanding of stigma and choice of intervention targets is needed to promote changes in students’ attitudes during university years. this study aimed evaluating and comparing the effect of cumulative university education on counseling, social work and psychology students stigmatizing beliefs in two countries: lithuania and the us. methodology: 1014 social work, counseling and psychology students (712 in lithuania and 302 in the usa) participated in the study. a set of scales and questions was used to evaluate different stigma elements: social distance, stigmatizing emotions, causal attributions of mental illness, community attitudes towards mentally ill and self-stigma of seeking help. balanced inventory of desirable responding (bidr) (paulhus, 1991) was used to control the response bias of the participants. results: lithuanian students when compared to the usa students expressed stronger desire for social distance from people with mental illness, reported stronger feelings of fear, anger and pity, were more likely to attribute causes of illness to person him/herself, were more pessimistic about possibilities of recovery, and expressed more support to social restrictions to people with mental disorders. no differences between countries were observed in attitudes towards community mental health care. usa bachelor students expressed stronger self-stigma of seeking help. in both countries, some dynamics in stigmatizing beliefs was observed. with professional education decreased: desire for social 161 https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.22 162 the 20th international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, december 6th, 2017. abstracts distance, fear of people with mental disorders, tendency to attribute causes of mental illness to a person him/herself, social restrictiveness and self-stigma of seeking help, and increased support to community mental health care. however, no changes were observed in the feelings of anger, pity, and recovery beliefs. conclusions and implications: university education makes positive impact on students’ attitudes and helps to decrease stigma of mental illness. however, not all stigma components are equally susceptible to change. educational interventions should give stronger focus on stigmatizing emotions and students’ recovery beliefs. cultural differences should be also taken in to account. the importance of self-effic ac y to qualit y of life domains among mobilit y impaired individuals: primary results laura alčiauskaitė, liuda šinkariova vytautas magnus university, kaunas, lithuania introduction: self-efficacy is the belief in one’s competence to attempt difficult or novel tasks, and to cope with adversity arising from specific demanding situations (cross et al., 2006; bandura, 1994). it is one of key resources in coping with the challenges and demands presented by a chronic condition. the quality of life of the disabled individuals might be influenced by the degree of control they feel able to exert over stressful situations arising from having a disability. highly self-efficacious individuals with mobility impairment may be better able to cope with stressful situations arising from their conditions (luszczynska et al., 2010; cramm et al., 2013). considering the importance of self-efficacy on the quality of life outcomes of the individuals with mobility impairment, and the lack of such research, this study aimed at investigating the influence of general self-efficacy on various quality of life outcomes, such as physical health, social relationships and environment, as perceived by mobility impaired individuals. methods: the study sample consisted of 154 mobility impaired individuals (49 men and 105 women), aged between 18 and 66 years old. according to the mean of age (34,65 ± 11,20), the study participants were divided into two groups of younger and older individuals. self-efficacy was assessed using general self-efficacy scale (schwarzer, jerusalem, 1995). three domains of quality of life, including physical health, social relationships, and environment, were measured using who-qol-bref. results: firstly, the results revealed that younger individuals perceived having a higher self-efficacy compared to older individuals. regardless of age, the participants with higher self-efficacy reported having more energy for everyday life, being more satisfied with their sleep, ability to perform daily living activities, capacity for work, and as needing less medical treatment to function in daily life compared to that of the participants with lower selfefficacy. higher self-efficacious individuals also were more satisfied with their personal relationships and sex life, more content with conditions of their living place, leisure time, 163 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2018, 22, 161–165 p. feeling more safe reported as having enough money to meet their needs, their physical environment being healthier, and the information being more available when needed in day-to-day life than lower self-efficacious individuals. in addition, younger individuals with higher self-efficacy were more satisfied with the support they get from friends than younger individuals whose self-efficacy was lower. older individuals with higher self-efficacy reported that physical pain prevents them less from doing what they need to do compared to older individuals with lower self-efficacy. conclusions and implications: these results confirm general self-efficacy being very important to individual’s quality in life – it is significantly related to perceived physical health, social relationships, and environment measures. highly self-efficacious individuals reported more positive physical health outcomes, were more satisfied with their relationships with other people, and more content with their living environment. the interventions to improve general self-efficacy should benefit the quality of life among the mobility impaired individuals. the effec tiveness of t wo curricul a on early liter ac y skills lane d eines, pam tillman, ted fattig university of nebraska at kearney the purpose of the study was to determine which reading curriculum (reading mastery vs. treasures) yielded a higher average rate of gain when assessed using dynamic indicators of basic early literacy skills (dibels) across kindergarten and first grade students. archival data from a midwestern elementary school was analyzed and it was concluded both curricula generated similar results. the participants will leave the session with information to assist school districts in choosing an effective reading curriculum. the rel ationship be t ween the intellec tual abilities and cognitive interests of 16–17 yea r old students in lithuania o deta šakėnaitė, jurga misiūnienė vytautas magnus university, kaunas, lithuania introduction: there are many studies about the relationship between intelligence and academic performance (chen, 2016; šimelionienė, 2012), intelligence and vocational interests (passler, beinicke, hell, 2015), but only few studies take interest in the relationship between 164 intelligence and cognitive interests. it is still unknown what the relationship between intellectual abilities (like „g” factor, fluid (gf ), and crystalized (gc) intelligence), and cognitive interests of academic subjects is. it is possible that this information about the relationship between intellectual abilities and cognitive interests can help to identify students studying potential for particular subjects or can be used to achieve greater quality for studying. methods: 317 students participated in the study where the aim was to investigate the correlation between intellectual abilities and cognitive interests. for a variety of reasons, the data from 281 participants (16–17 years old) was used: 167 girls and 114 boys. the study itself consisted of two parts: in the 1st part the participants were given intelligence (ist-2000r) tests to get general, fluid, and crystalized intelligence scores. in the 2nd part the participants were given a cognitive interests scale, which was created specifically for this study, to measure the interests in 14 academic subjects. results: the results of this study showed that intellectual abilities and cognitive interests differ by gender: the boys have higher intellectual abilities than the girls (t(g) = -3,202; t(gf ) = -2,944; t(gc) = -2,635; p < 0,05). cognitive interests differ by gender only in specific academic subjects: the girls have higher interests in biology, chemistry, music, arts, lithuanian and russian languages (resp., t = 4,894; t = 4,636; t = 3,436; t = 3,936; t = 6,833; t = 3,253, p < 0,001) while the boys have higher interests in math, computer science, physics, and the english language (t = -2,240; t = -7,378; t = -6,136; t = -2,273; p < 0,05). the girls’ higher intellectual abilities have low positive correlation with higher cognitive interests in physics (r(g) = 0,236; r(gf ) = 0,229, p < 0,001), history (r(gc) = 0,263, p < 0,001), and english (r(gc) = 0,220, p < 0,001), and low negative correlation with cognitive interests in biology (r(g) = -0,184; r(gf ) = -0,188; r(gc) = -0,193, p < 0,05), arts (r(g) = -0,055; r(gf ) = -0,087, p < 0,001), and russian (r(g) = -0,166; r(gf ) = -0,187, p < 0,05), and lithuanian (r(gf ) = -0,158; r(gc) = -0,037, p < 0,001) languages. the boys’ higher intellectual abilities have low positive correlation with cognitive interests in math (r(g) = 0,283; r(gf ) = 0,269, p < 0,001), history (r(gc) = 0,250, p < 0,001), and low negative correlation with cognitive interests in computer science (r(gc) = -0,264, p < 0,001), geography (r(gf ) = -0,218, p < 0,05), the lithuanian (r(gf ) = -0,038; r(gc) = -0,042, p < 0,001), and the english language (r(g) = 0,075; r(gc) = -0,177, p < 0,001), music (r(g) = -0,209; r(gf ) = -0,274, p < 0,05), and sports (r(gc) = -0,246, p < 0,05). conclusions: the results show that the boys have higher intellectual abilities compered to those of the girls. furthermore, it was showed that cognitive interests and their relationship with intellectual abilities differ by gender. knowing that cognitive interests take an important part in the academic world (cedere, jurgena, gedrovics, 2015), these results can be used for the development of the programs, and in the academic process itself. in other words, this would be useful for teachers and students themselves, so that they could make the best use of their intellectual abilities and study potential. the 20th international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, december 6th, 2017. abstracts 165 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach evaluating the effec tiveness of strategies used for suicide prevention in nebrask a schools jessica schlegelmilch university of nebraska at kearney gatekeeper suicide prevention training models are being offered to school personnel in nebraska’s public school systems. this research project looked at evaluating the effectiveness between three different training models (kognito, making educators partners, and qpr) being offered through a five-year plan by the nebraska department of education (nde). school personnel (n = 75) participated in an on-line survey after taking part in the different training models. the results showed that there is not a significance in the knowledge gained through the different training models. although it appears that all three models provide school personnel with the necessary information to identify and intervene with students at risk for suicide, additional research should focus on the implementation of the knowledge learned to determine if differences exist in the three training models related to skill development. using curricul a, l anguage, and povert y to predic t cbm scores ashleigh callahan, hannah fuchs, and mariah farber university of nebraska at kearney the academic demands in legislation continue to increase and schools are beginning to examine different variables that may be influencing student academic performance. the purpose of this study was to examine the impact of socioeconomic status, language proficiency, and curriculum on student achievement in reading. archival data were obtained from the kindergarten and first grade students from a midwestern public school. the results indicated that all three variables predict dibels composite scores in kindergarten but none of them predict dibels composite scores in first grade. in addition, the three variables did not predict dibels nonsense word fluency scores across kindergarten and first grade. the results of this study may help schools make decisions in supporting potentially at-risk students in the early years of their education. 2018, 22, 161–165 p. contents editorial note scientific publications viktorija cepukiene, rytis pakrosnis introducing unguided computerized solution-focused self-help into university counseling services virginija klimukienė, alfredas laurinavičius, ilona laurinaitytė, laura ustinavičiūtė, and mykolas baltrūnas examination of convergent validity of start: av ratings among male juveniles on probation karina kravčenko, laura šeibokaitė the effect of joy and anxiety on egocentric decisions among young adults ala petrulytė, virginija guogienė adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy in lithuanian sample kristina ražauskaitė-pilipavičienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė gender differences in dyadic dominance during interpersonal interaction: the comparison of friends’ dyads and romanticc ouples lina cirtautienė, auksė endriulaitienė the influence of psychological factors for leader’s efficiency in global it companies kristina kovalčikienė, giedrė genevičiūtė-janonė the relationship between the vocational teachers’ personality traits and the work motivation information the 20th international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, december 6th, 2017. abstr acts the 21st international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, april 25th, 2018. abstr acts contributors reviewers instructions for authors 105 information international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2017 / 20 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.20 the 19th international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu abstr ac ts how do intelligence, memory and motivation rel ate with gymnasium students’ ac ademic performance? jurga misiūnienė vytautas magnus university, kaunas, lithuania this presentation is based on research which aim was to assess importance of intelligence, short-term memory and academic motivation on lithuanian students’ school achievements. 439 students (292 girls and 147 boys, 16 years old) participated in intelligence testing (intelligence structure test, amthauer et. al., 2007), seeking to assess their fluid and crystallized intelligence as well as short-term memory. participants also filled the academic motivation scale (vallerand ir kt., 1989). after factor analysis four types of motivation (intrinsic motivation toward accomplishment, intrinsic motivation for stimulation, extrinsic motivation and amotivation) were separated. the sum of different scholastic achievements was considered as the criterion of school performance. results showed that school achievements increase as fluid and crystallized intelligence, short-term memory grows and amotivation is decreases. these factors explain 41.4% of school achievements’ dispersion. assessing impac t of an e vidence-based univser al sel curriculum halli thurlow and meghan gregg university of nebraska at kearney, usa social-emotional learning (sel) in the classroom has been reported to improve mental health and well-being of students (merrell, 2008). sel incorporates a broad range of strategies and techniques to enhance resilience, improve social-emotional and life skills and prevent negative life outcomes through effective classroom instruction. the sel curriculum is information 106 used in strong kids for middle school students (merrell, 2008). it teaches social and emotional skills, promotes resilience, strengthens assets and increases coping skills of children and adolescents. the curriculum was implemented with 8th grade students in rural school setting in nebraska. through this presentation, participants will gain knowledge on the implementation of an evidence-based tier 1 sel curriculum. in addition, participants will know the impact of sel program on students’ social-emotional functioning. gender rel ated differences in sexual har assment perception among lithuanian students monika čeponytė, kristina žardeckaitė -matulaitienė vytautas magnus university, kaunas, lithuania introduction. sexual harassment has serious effects on person’s dignity, physical as well as mental health and both men and women can become victims of sexual harassment. although sexual harassment is one of the most common forms of sex-based discrimination, and one out of three women experience sexual harassment, this issue is not sufficiently studied in lithuania. according to the equality ombudsman‘s office annual reports, sexual harassment statistics in lithuania is significantly lower than shown in the other studies, and there is no information on men sexual harassment experience. researchers indicate that these inconsistencies can be explained by differences in the perception of sexual harassment. according to scholars, gender of the victim, sexual harassment experience and form of sexual harassment are particularly important factors influencing the perception of sexual harassment of the participant. usually it is thought that sexual harassment is experienced solely by women, which results in a better recognition of sexual harassment when the victim is female, rather than male, and better perception of sexual harassment in general among women. the purpose of this study was to investigate differences in the perception of sexual harassment between genders. methodology. 14 self-report vignettes were created based on k. bursik (1992) vignettes and consultations with office of the equal opportunities ombudsperson to measure participants’ perception of sexual harassment. sexual experiences questionnaire (fitzgerald et al., 1995) was used to measure participants’ sexual harassment experience in the last 12 months. balanced inventory of desirable responding (paulhus, 1991) was used to measure social desirability. 148 university and college students (107 females and 41 males) from lithuania took part in this online survey. the mean age of participants was 22.45 (sd=3.377). results. the results have shown that there are significant gender differences in perception of sexual harassment. it was found that men evaluate quid pro quo situations significantly less severe than women, they also tend to evaluate situations where the victim is a female as more severe than situations where the victim is male. results showed that there were 2017, 20, 105–110 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 107 no significant gender differences in perception of verbal and nonverbal sexual harassment. however, significant differences in sexual harassment perception were related to gender distribution in university or college. men in more masculine study environment tend to evaluate sexual harassment as less severe than men in more feminine environment and in an environment where gender distribution is nearly equal. results also showed that those participants who had more experience in gender harassment and overall sexual harassment evaluated quid pro quo situations significantly more severe than those who had less experience in harassment. conclusions and implications. research showed that even though both man and women experience sexual harassment, however, women tend to evaluate sexual harassment situations as more severe than men regardless of the victim’s gender or type of sexual harassment. gender distribution in the universities is also a significant indicator of differences in perception of sexual harassment. even though results of this study are consistent with previous findings, it is important to address the need of further research on the subject of other factors relating to perception of sexual harassment in lithuania. e valuating school’s crisis pre vention and intervention pl ans r achel lee university of nebraska at kearney, usa children today are exposed to a variety of crisis and traumatic events throughout the course of a school year. those traumatic events can include situations involving anything from natural disasters and death to child neglect and abuse. crisis and traumatic events are going to happen in schools, there is little that can be done to prevent all crisis situations, however, schools having a set crisis plan can help to minimize the trauma. the national association of school psychologists has developed a curriculum to help schools develop and implement crisis prevention and intervention plans. the purpose of this study was to develop a matrix for schools to compare their current crisis prevention and intervention plans with nasp’s prepare model. based on the information found in this study while most schools have crisis prevention and intervention plan, there are still elements each school is missing. information 108 fac tual and perceived knowledge of autism spec trum disorder (asd) in primary school teachers vaida jakubauskaitė, liuda šinkariova vytautas magnus university, kaunas, lithuania introduction. a lot of primary school age autistic children in lithuania might be underdiagnosed with the autism spectrum disorder (asd) (lesinskiene, 2000). primary school teachers need to be knowledgeable about autism in order to recognize the symptoms and help the child in the required areas. currently, teachers might be lacking factual knowledge of asd (haimour et al., 2013; hendricks, 2011; johnson et al., 2012). understanding how teachers perceive their knowledge could also help analyse a possible existence of the “illusion of knowing” when perceived knowledge is higher than the factual one, and its effect on teachers’ work with the autistic children (park et al., 1988). the initial studies of these variables were conducted only a few years ago and showed a variety of contradictory results (hansen, 2015; hendricks, 2011; johnson et al., 2012; williams et al., 2011, as cited in hansen, 2015). in lithuania, such research including factual or perceived knowledge of asd has not been conducted yet. methodology. the subjects of the study were 114 primary school teachers. the participants completed a survey online which consisted of a sociodemographic questionnaire and a lithuanian version of ask-asd (a survey of knowledge of autism spectrum disorder) originally developed by laura hansen in 2015 as a research instrument for measuring factual and perceived knowledge of asd in different populations. data was analyzed using a statistical analysis tool spss. results. the results showed that participants’ factual knowledge of asd was higher than average (n=114, the mean 19.4 out of 27). additionally, factual knowledge was significantly higher than the perceived knowledge (n=114, p<.001). perceived knowledge was significantly higher in the group of the teachers with autism work experience (n = 52), compared to the group of teachers with no such work experience (n=62, p=.003). factual knowledge was significantly higher than perceived knowledge in both the group of participants who had had experience working with the autistic children (n=52, p<.001) and in the group of the teachers with no such experience (n=62, p<.001). conclusions. higher than the average scores of the factual knowledge showed that the participants of the study might be relatively knowledgeable about asd. there was no “illusion of knowing” observed neither in the whole group of participants nor in the groups of different autism work experience. for the future research, the influence of significantly lower perceived knowledge compared to the factual could be investigated in order to analyze its possible effect on teachers’ application of their relatively high factual knowledge. additionally, the results showed that a particular source of information about asd such as work experience could be contributed to a difference in the perceived knowledge. therefore, it is important to further investigate other sources of information on autism spectrum disorder and their effect on factual and perceived knowledge in order to find out which may affect the variables desirably. 2017, 20, 105–110 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 109 e valuation of schol astic read 180 on high school students from a midwestern high school sara chapman university of nebraska at kearney, usa one of the main areas of focus for increasing growth and closing the achievement gap has been in reading and reading comprehension. a report on college readiness in reading by act, inc. (2006) showed that a lack of reading proficiency was a problem in high school as well as at the elementary and middle school levels. the purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of scholastic’s read 180 on students’ reading skills.  archival data were obtained from high school students from a rural midwestern school. specifically, the data were gathered from students who participated in an intensive reading intervention program (i.e., read 180). the students were primarily english language learners or those with special education eligibility who continued to fall behind in the reading skills compared to their grade level peers. the results of this study indicated a strong correlation from the read 180 reading intervention program to map and star reading achievement scores. seeing and touching for knowing: visual and haptic perception of the muller-lyer illusion by lithuanian students justa arlauskaitė, aurelija stelmokienė vytautas magnus university, kaunas, lithuania every day we try to know the ambiguous world around us better. quite often perceivers use stereotypes as cues to resolve perceptual ambiguity (payne, shimizu, jacoby, 2005). “the illusory perception hypothesis argues that people misperceive the objects in what amounts to a perceptual illusion” (payne, shimizu, jacoby, 2005, p. 36). illusion is defined as a misinterpretation of sensory stimuli (corsini, 2002). muller-lyer figures are the most famous for causing geometrics illusions (nomura, et al., 2010; mancini, et al., 2011). “in muller-lyer illusion, two identical lines are perceived different in length because of the presence of fins with the particular orientation at the line ends: the line with outgoing fins is seen as expanded, whereas the line with ingoing fins as compressed“ (chieffi, 2016, p. 1452). both seeing and touching are important for knowing the world. moreover, researchers suggest that the muller-lyer illusion may involve similar processes in both visual and haptic modalities (gentaz, et al., 2004). therefore, the aim of this study is to identify the relationships between visual and haptic perception of the muller-lyer illusion by lithuanian students. information the participants were 40 students of vytautas magnus university (psychology and informatics departments). on the basis of self-reports, 45% of participants had visual disorders. they gave their informed consent at the beginning of the study. the experiment had two phases: coglab computer program for visual stimuli and raised figures for haptic stimuli were used in the study. 15 different lengths were given as haptic and visual stimuli for participants (225 trials in coglab and 75 trials for raised figures). in the haptic condition a blindfolded student was asked to trace the raised stimuli with index finger. for the muller-lyer experiment (both visual and haptic) the proportion of reports where the line without fins seemed bigger than the line with outgoing fins was calculated. the results confirmed the occurrence of the classical muller-lyer illusion in both modalities. the correlation between visual and haptic perception of muller-lyer illusion in the same participants was 0.472 (p<.01). besides, the illusion was significantly smaller in the haptic (m=103.75) than in the visual task (m=109.51). this study replicated research of muller-lyer illusion, and the results are in line with millar and al-attar‘s hypothesis (2002) and gentaz et al. (2004) research about the existence of a common process underlying the muller-lyer illusion in both visual and haptic modalities. however, future research should pay additional attention to the evidence based explanation what factors determine this common process. contents editorial note emotional expressivity of alcohol dependent patients in different stages of motivation to refusealcohol the changes of self-efficacy and perceived social support of addicted to alcohol women and men during treatment period type d personality incardiovascular patients and general population: prevalence and retrospective perception ofstability the role of a perceived ethical leadership style in the relationship between workaholism and occupational burnout experience of workplace psychological harassment the 19th international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu abstracts instructions for authors 25 a comparison of non-verbal creativit y be t ween lithuanian and mexic an adolescents pedro sánchez-escobedo1 universidad autónoma de yucatán, méxico jurga misiūnienė, eglė mockaitytė vytautas magnus university, lithuania abstract. background. the purpose of this work was to explore non-verbal creativity (free from language influences) between mexican and lithuanian adolescents. methods. this is a cross comparative study of 354 high school students (average age 17.2 years) from lithuania and mexico who were asked to complete four tasks from the 2 nonverbal sections of the multifactorial assessment of creativity test, emuc (evaluación multifactorial de la creatividad, sánchez, garcía, valdes, 2009). the first section explored visual-spatial creativity associated with vocational choices such as architecture and graphic design. the second explored inventive associated with realistic vocational choices such as engineering and practical handcraft. results. no significant differences were noticed in the procedures of administering, interpreting and using test results in these two countries. in general, lithuanians show more fluidity and flexibility, whereas mexicans show more originality. results indicated a poor relationship between high creative potential and vocational choices that demand creativity (i.e. design, music, etc.). consistent gender differences were observed depending upon the type of creativity assessed. women showed higher creativity on visual-spatial tasks, while men in originality for inventive tasks. conclusions. results underline the difficulties in assessing and comparing creative products from different cultures. they underline the importance of context specific criteria to judge creativity in an ipsative fashion. furthermore, overall results suggest that visual-spatial tasks in this age range should focus on originality and elaboration, whereas the ingenuity task should focus on flexibility and fluidity. keywords. emuc, visual-spatial creativity, inventive creativity, culture. 1 address for correspondence: address: po box 12o7. facultad de educación, uady. mérida yucatán mexico cp97000, phone: +521478681, e-mail: psanchez@correo.uady.mx. scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2015 / 17 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.17.2 26 pedro sánchez-escobedo, jurga misiūnienė, eglė mockaitytė introduc tion testing creativity has been considered difficult due to the lack of reliable instruments and the inherent difficulty to test divergent thinking and originality. creativity testing has various and solid challenges regarding validity issues. hardship in measuring creativity lies in the fact that measurement theory is usually based on comparing a given observation against a norm, whereas when estimating a degree of creativity, one seeks to establish the deviation from the norm or even the existence of something that has no norms (originality). indeed, creativity testing has been associated with divergent thinking that requires the test taker to use imagination and explore solutions in many different directions, sometimes with no single right answer. thus, efforts to develop a creativity quotient similar to the intelligence quotient (iq) have been unsuccessful since they depend on many more contextual factors than intelligence (ferrando, prieto, & sánchez, 2005). historically, the most systematic assessment of creativity in elementary school children has been conducted by torrance and his associates who have developed and administered the torrance test of creative thinking (ttct, 1960) which included routines on divergent thinking and problem-solving skills that were assessed in four dimensions: 1. fluency: the total number of interpretable, meaningful, and relevant ideas generated in response to the stimulus; 2. flexibility: the number of different categories of relevant responses; 3. originality: the statistical rarity of the responses; 4. elaboration: the amount of detail in the responses. the third edition of the ttct in 1984 eliminated the flexibility scale from the figural test but added resistance to premature closure and abstractness of titles. torrance called the new scoring procedure streamlined scoring. evaluating creativity then involved five norm-referenced measures: fluency, originality, abstractness of titles, elaboration, and resistance to premature closure, and 13 criterion-referenced measures which included emotional expressiveness, story-telling articulateness, movement or actions, expressiveness of titles, syntheses of incomplete figures, synthesis of lines, of circles, unusual visualization, extending or breaking boundaries, humor, richness of imagery, colorfulness of imagery, and fantasy. torrance (1980) grouped the different subtests of the minnesota tests of creative thinking (mtct) into three categories: 27 2015, 17, 25–38 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach (1) verbal tasks using verbal stimuli, (2) verbal tasks using non-verbal stimuli, and (3) non-verbal tasks. despite the fact that torrance test of creative thinking (ttct) is probably the most commonly used in crosscultural studies (lubart, 1990), other tests claim to be valid also, for example, the creativity achievement questionnaire which is a self-report that explores creative achievement across 10 domains. nonetheless, despite many efforts to assess creativity around the globe, there is still skepticism in the academic community on whether standardized tests can be used to measure creativity (carson, peterson, higgins, 2005). difficulties in judging creative products have lead researchers to use personality traits as indicators of creative potential. for example, independence of judgment, self-confidence, attraction to complexity, aesthetic orientation and risk-taking have been associated to creativity. in this perspective, a meta-analysis by feist (1999) showed that creative people tend to be open to new experiences, unconventional, self-confident, self-accepting, driven, ambitious, dominant, hostile and impulsive. beyond this individual approach based on personality, creativity has also been the focus of various cross-cultural studies. as lubart (1990) claimed, creativity must be understood beyond personal variables including cultural and environmental variables. according to this author, culture interacting with personality regulates the general level of creativity. in this perspective, ramos and puccio (2014) compared western and eastern cultures and found that both cultures have implicit belief that creativity is thinking out of the box, something new, innovative, unusual and different, however, americans link creativity with arts more frequently than singaporeans. zhou, shen, wang, neber & johji (2013) also observed that creativity is depicted as divergent thinking and linked with novelty in germany and china, but german teachers think creativity is less likely to be expressed in mathematics, whereas chinese teachers dispute the potential to exhibit creativity in literature. hence, the perception of creativity is influenced by cultural factors. creativity and intelligence there has been debate in the psychological literature whether intelligence (as measured by iq) and creativity are part of the same mental process (the conjoint hypothesis) or represent distinct mental processes (the disjoint hypothesis). evidence from correlational studies since the 1950s has not settled this issue to the satisfaction for most scholars. 28 pedro sánchez-escobedo, jurga misiūnienė, eglė mockaitytė while some researchers believe that creativity is the outcome of the same cognitive processes as intelligence (feist & barron, 2003), others believe that creativity is, in fact, a mental process that has to do more with emotions, intuition, or spirituality (janesic, 2001; corry, mallet, lewis, & abdel-khalek, 2013). actually, einstein’s statements regarding creativity and intelligence have left this issue open to debate for many years: “the true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination” and “creativity is intelligence having fun.” the threshold hypothesis proposed by torrance posits that a high degree of intelligence appears to be a necessary but not sufficient condition for high creativity (torrance, 1988). that is, while there is a positive correlation between creativity and intelligence, this correlation disappears for iqs above a threshold of around 120. such a model has found acceptance by many researchers, although it has not gone unchallenged. neurobiology of creativity an emphasis on biological factors related to creativity has been noted in recent years. heilman, nadeau, & beversdof (2003) assert that highly creative people who excel at creative innovation tend to differ from others in three functions based in the frontal lobe: they have a high level of specialized knowledge, they are capable of divergent thinking, and they are able to modulate neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine. thus, the frontal lobe appears to be the part of the cortex that is most important for creativity. flaherty (2005) suggested that the creative drive results from an interaction of the frontal lobes, the temporal lobes, and dopamine from the limbic system. she asserted that whereas the frontal lobes can be seen as responsible for producing ideas, the temporal lobes are known for their editing and evaluation. thus, abnormalities in the frontal lobe (such as depression or anxiety) generally decrease creativity, while abnormalities in the temporal lobe often increase it. high activity in the temporal lobe typically inhibits activity in the frontal lobe, and vice versa. high dopamine levels increase general arousal and goal directed behaviors and reduce latent inhibition, and all three effects increase the drive to generate ideas (cromie, 2007). this new neurobiological evidence further supports the notion that creative potential is a construct rather inconsistent in time and context dependent in nature. 29 2015, 17, 25–38 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach gender and creativity although hyde & linn (1998) claimed that there are basically no gender differences in verbal creativity, runco, cramond, & pagnani (2010) argued that men are identified as more creative because of their higher social recognition and coincided that there are no gender differences in the creative potential. gough (1992) also reported no significant differences between men and women. baer and kaufman (2008) meta-analysis of gender differences in creativity also argued in favor of a lack of consistent gender differences in overall creativity test scores, creative achievements, and self-reported creativity. they argued that the debate on gender differences is a difficult arena in which to conduct a research, with few significant differences in creativity test scores and accomplishments of boys and girls, and in case they are found, they tend to favor girls. as a result, it is difficult to show how innate gender differences in creativity could possibly explain later differences in creative accomplishment. nonetheless, gender differences should lead investigators to explore environmental and cultural influences that explain the observed differences in the creative achievement of men and women in many fields. for example, henderson (2003) recognized women that worked in multinational firms and had the same publications and conference presentations as men. these women depicted their experiences in family, school, community and higher education as crucial to enhance their ability to invent. in many cases, especially in research on divergent-thinking, there are significant numbers of studies in which one sex score higher, but these findings are generally counter-balanced by studies showing the opposite. in spite of these previous claims, research continues to evidence gender differences in creative productivity, and these differences represent the most significant unanswered questions about gender and creativity. it is clear that a large part of those differences are either cultural or environmental, including differences in adult expectations of girls and boys, differences in opportunities available to male and female children and adults, and differences in the kinds of experiences women and men are likely to have. there are also differences in how different kinds of creativity works, including those more typically produced by women and men, and how they are valued by different cultures. however, very few studies 30 pedro sánchez-escobedo, jurga misiūnienė, eglė mockaitytė published explored gender differences in creativity considering cultural background. hence, the purpose of this work was to explore non-verbal creativity performances in youngsters, men and women, from two different cultural backgrounds. cross-cultural studies are recognized as means to understand the links between creativity and changing modern cultures (lubart, 1990), they reveal complexity of creativity in various cultures (ramos, puccio, 2014) and they provide information helpful to gain awareness and understanding of these differences (corry, mallett, lewis, abdel-khalek, 2013). me thods type of study this is a quantitative, exploratory study that collects information from two groups of youngsters between 16 and 19 years of age from mexico and lithuania. researchers originally aimed to collect a sample of 180 participants per country from high school and college freshmen. in each country, a conventional sample of students volunteered to participate in the study. it was assumed that each group reflected their country´s culture in the performance of two different non-verbal creative tasks. par ticipants table 1 depicts demographic characteristics of participants finally included in each country sample. a total of 354 students completed the test with directions in their born language. six students were discarded because their test was either incomplete or they did not follow directions. table 1. demographic characteristics of par ticipants mexico lithuania total males 82 95 198 females 74 103 156 total 177 177 354 average age, years 18.4 16.3 17.2 31 2015, 17, 25–38 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach instrument the two non-verbal subscales of the three scales of the multidimensional scale for creativity developed by sánchez (2011) were used. the first subscale attempts to measure visual-spatial creativity by providing a stimulus consisting of figures that require the respondent to use in free drawing. two performances are required, the first one timed. criteria for scoring performance consist of frequency of objects drawn (fluency), frequency of categories (flexibility), originality and degree of complexity of drawings (elaboration). the second subscale attempts to measure inventive creativity. as in the previous subscale, two stimuli are provided and the respondent is requested to write as many uses one can think for that object. scoring criteria are based on and consists of frequency of objects (fluency), frequency of categories (flexibility) and originality. sánchez, garcía, & valdes (2009) provided evidence of the external validity for this test in discerning highly creative students and stated that the instrument has good psychometric properties according to content, construct and criterion validity and high reliability (cronbach’s alpha value is above 0.8) that make it usable for measuring creativity in mexican adolescents. the test was translated to lithuanian and administered in a standardized fashion by respecting the timing for each routine. this tests does not provide norms to assess creativity and assumes ipsative criteria to judge performances in the routines. both versions of the test showed acceptable psychometric properties (see table 2). table 2. reliability coefficients for each test (cronbach’s alfa) mexico lithuania total visual-spatial .71 .67 198 inventive .74 .64 156 scoring system to assess fluidity and flexibility consists of the frequency of ideas in the former and of the variation of ideas in the latter. scores ranged from 0 to 10. scoring for originality and elaboration are given in a scale from 0 to 5. 32 pedro sánchez-escobedo, jurga misiūnienė, eglė mockaitytė procedures investigators obtained permission from school authorities, parents and students to administer the test. the instruments were administered in each country following their own rules. for instance, parental consent was not needed in mexico. participants were explained the purpose of this study and asked to voluntarily participate in it. data from both countries was coded and analyzed using spss statistics version 21. results visual-spatial creativity the first subscale estimated visual-spatial creativity. the mean scores of both performances were compared by gender and country. t-tests for independent samples established significant differences as shown in tables 3 and 4. table 3. visual-spatial creativity per countr y fluidity flexibility originality elaboration mexico lithuania mexico lithuania mexico lithuania mexico lithuania draw 1 2.21 2.55 1.51 1.94 .17 .33 .17 .27 draw 2 2.71 3.15 1.94 2.45 .29 .16 .24 .16 average 2.46 2.85* 1.72 3.16* .23 .24 .20 .21 note: * p ≤ .05 it can be observed that lithuanian students show more fluidity and flexibility than mexican students. overall, no differences were found in originality and elaboration. however, cultural differences are manifested in the drawings of subjects. for example, mexican students provided more examples and uses about living in the tropics, whereas lithuanian students used situations related to extreme winter situations. table 4. visual-spatial creativity differences by gender fluidity flexibility originality elaboration males females males females males females males females draw 1 2.28 2.50 1.61 1.87 .21 .27 .12 .30 draw 2 2.63 3.26 2.00 2.42 .24 .19 .18 .21 average 2.45 2.88* 1.80 2.14* .33 .36 .15 .25* note: * p ≤ .05 33 2015, 17, 25–38 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach note the consistent gender differences in favor of women, regardless of country in this domain: women show more fluidity, flexibility and elaboration. inventive creativity participants were asked to name as many possible uses of a rope and a blanket. they had a time limit of 120 seconds per routine. results comparing creativity according to country and gender are shown in tables 5 and 6. table 5. inventive creativity differences by countr y fluidity flexibility originality mexico lithuania mexico lithuania mexico lithuania rope 6.12 6.84 4.60 6.00 .56 .15 blanket 5.40 7.12 4.43 6.17 .53 .15 average 5.76 6.8* 4.51 6.08* .54* .15 note: * p ≤ .05 it can be observed in the inventive subtest that in general, lithuanian students show more fluidity and flexibility than mexican students. however, mexican students show more originality. in this test, gender differences were explored. table 6 illustrates differences of inventive creativity between different genders. table 6. inventive creativity differences by gender fluidity flexibility originality males females males females males females rope 6.63 6.41 5.38 5.38 .42 .25 blanket 6.40 6.32 5.41 5.39 .36 .28 average 6.51* 6.36 5.39 5.38 .44* .26 note: * p ≤ .05 in contrast to visual-spatial creativity, men tend to score higher in fluidity and originality dimensions of inventive creativity. participating students were asked to state their future vocational aspiration or career choice. open responses were categorized and computed. table 7 depicts results by country and gender. 34 pedro sánchez-escobedo, jurga misiūnienė, eglė mockaitytė table 7. vocational aspirations by countr y and gender occupation mexico lithuania total males females males females arts 21 14 15 21 71 medicine (health) 5 3 15 15 38 engineering 18 10 3 1 32 computer science 10 5 10 0 25 science 0 2 11 8 21 commerce 0 3 12 5 20 finances 3 2 7 5 17 law 1 2 5 3 11 education 0 7 0 3 10 sports 1 0 3 2 6 communication 3 1 3 1 8 politics 0 0 1 2 3 gastronomy 6 6 0 0 12 it can be observed that in general, lithuanian students have greater vocational aspirations, selecting careers such as law, medicine and finances. mexican students tend to choose new vocational alternatives such as gastronomy. gender differences are few regarding vocational choice, except for some preference in engineering and computer science by males in both countries. vocational choices were classified by the degree of creativity demanded, for example, file keeping (low), legal work (medium) or graphical design (high). as it can be seen in table 8, high scores in originality and elaboration in visual-spatial task and originality in inventive tasks were related to vocational choices with high creative demands. thus, these factors must be considered in vocational guidance. fluidity or flexibility, however, were not related to vocational desires. 35 2015, 17, 25–38 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach table 8. scores by demand of creativity and vocational choice indicators low medium high visual-spatial fluidity 2.88 2.48 2.64 flexibility 2.09 1.82 1.99 originality .12 .18 .45 elaboration .16 .15 .38 inventive fluidity 5.51 6.48 6.73 flexibility 5.51 5.32 5.23 originality .26 .32 .63 discussion results show more consistent differences by gender than by country. these findings should revise the debate on gender differences and creativity, and they indeed challenge previous researchers claiming there are no gender differences in creative potential (hyde & linn, 1998; baer & kaufman, 2008). perhaps, the observed patterns between men and women in relation to a given creative task lead investigators to infer more significant influences due to sex than to culture itself. women showing more creativity in visual-spatial tasks and men in inventive tasks should suggest that the analysis of gender differences should include the type of creativity that is under the study. regarding cultural differences, obvious themes were identified. for example, the drawings appeared to be based on demographics, i.e. snow landscapes drawn by lithuanian students vs. beach landscapes – by mexican students. unlike zhou et al. (2013) and ramos & puccio (2014), no major cultural differences in creativity were found. maybe, the fact that both groups had roughly the same school level cancelled cultural effects. it can be noted that test adaptation in lithuania was uncomplicated since only directions for the test and the demographic questions required translation. the focus of the measurements was non-verbal tasks. this follows sánchez-escobedo & hollingworth (2011) guidelines: during the translation and/or adaption of any test, it is important to make sure that the test is more understandable to the test takers, the directions are easy to comprehend, and the items are ordered on an appropriate scale of difficulty (p. 26). 36 pedro sánchez-escobedo, jurga misiūnienė, eglė mockaitytė lessons learned and recommendations testing for creativity remains a challenge for investigators seeking to develop instruments that could be useful for schools when screening students with high creative potential so they could receive, for example, additional instruction or vocational guidance to make the most of this potential. furthermore, comparative studies, such as this one, elicit many more questions than those that guided the study. for instance, is gender a more compelling influence in different creative tasks than culture? this question remains unanswered and should trigger more research projects that include not only the usual dependent variables of gender and nationality but that consistently include a third element of analysis: the type of creative task under scrutiny. the process of administering, scoring and interpreting results from these two very different countries demonstrates once again the conceptual, methodological and practical difficulties in assessing creativity. maybe, efforts to develop standardized tests that objectively attempt to identify the degree of creativity in students should be replaced by more innovative approaches. researchers should focus on procedures more qualitative in nature, able to identify a student with creative potential that it is worth to be cultivated in school. references baer, j., kaufman, j. c. 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(2013). a cross-cultural comparison: teachers’ conceptualizations of creativity. creativity research journal, 25 (3), 239–247. doi: 10.1080/10400419.2012.730006. 38 pedro sánchez-escobedo, jurga misiūnienė, eglė mockaitytė ne verbalinio lie tuvos ir meksikos paauglių kūrybiškumo palyginimas pedro sánchez-escobedo jukatano autonominis universitetas, meksika jurga misiūnienė, eglė mockait ytė vytauto didžiojo universitetas, lietuva santrauka. tyrimo tikslas. šio darbo tikslas – įvertinti skirtingose kultūrose (lietuvoje ir meksikoje) gyvenančių paauglių neverbalinio kūrybiškumo skirtumus. metodas. tarpkultūriniame tyrime dalyvavo 354 lietuvos ir meksikos gimnazijų mokiniai (amžiaus vidurkis – 17,2 m.), kurie atliko keturias multifaktorinio kūrybiškumo įvertinimo testo emuc (evaluación multifactorial de la creatividad, sánchez, garcía, valdes, 2009) užduotis, skirtas neverbaliniam kūrybiškumui įvertinti. iš dviejų užduočių sudarytos pirmosios skalės paskirtis – įvertinti vizualinį-erdvinį kūrybiškumą, siejamą su tokiais profesiniais pasirinkimais kaip architektūra, grafikos dizainas ir pan. antrosios, kurią sudaro taip pat dvi užduotys, paskirtis – įvertinti išradingumą, siejamą su tokiais profesiniais pasirinkimais kaip inžinerija ar amatai. rezultatai. rezultatai nepatvirtino prielaidos, kad kūrybingesni meksikos ir lietuvos paaugliai rinksis kūrybiškumo reikalaujančias profesijas (pvz., dizainerio, muziko ir pan.). analizuojant testo adminstravimą, interpretavimą ir rezultatų panaudojimą skirtumų tarp lietuvių ir meksikiečių nebuvo rasta, tačiau pastebėta, kad pirmieji pasižymi aukštesniu mąstymo laisvumu bei lankstumu, o antrieji – originalumu. analizuojant skirtingų tipų kūrybiškumą patvirtinti lyčių skirtumai: merginos geriau atlieka vaizdines-erdvines, o vaikinai išradingumo užduotis. išvados. rezultatai atskleidžia sunkumus, kylančius vertinant kūrybiškumą ir lyginant kūrybiškumo rezultatus, o tai skatina kūrybiškumą vertinti ipsatyviai. be to, apibendrinti rezultatai rodo, kad vertinant vizualineserdvines užduotis turėtų būti labiau akcentuojamas kūrybinio mąstymo originalumas ir detalumas, o išradingumą – lankstumas bei laisvumas. pagrindiniai žodžiai: daugiafaktorinis kūrybiškumo įvertinimas (emuc), vizualinis erdvinis kūrybiškumas, išradingumas, kultūra. received: october 14, 2015 accepted: october 19, 2015 psichologijos_zurnalas_22_korektura.indd scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2018 / 22 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.22.3 1 address for correspondence: vmu, psychology department, jonavos g. 66, lt-44191 kaunas, lithuania. phone: +370 37 327824. e-mail: laura.seibokaite@vdu.lt the effec t of joy and anxie t y on egocentric decisions among young adults karina kravčenko, laura šeibokaitė1 vytautas magnus university, lithuania abstract. background. adult egocentrism is described as a tendency to assess a situation or object based on personal experience, opinion or attitude, regardless of a different another person’s perspective. scientists argue that this phenomenon is one of the major sources of interpersonal conflicts and disagreements. knowing that the daily functioning of young adults is based on social interactions accompanied by various emotions, it is important to understand how this may influence their egocentrism. the aim of the study is to investigate how egocentric decisions of young adults are influenced by the emotions of joy and anxiety. methods. the experiment was carried out at vytautas magnus university, kaunas, lithuania. the sample consisted of 35 students from the department of social sciences (27 females, 8 males; average age 21.4). in order to cause emotions of joy and anxiety, an autobiographic memory task was used (todd, forstmann, burgmer, brooks, & galinsky, 2015). in order to measure egocentric decisions, a perspective-taking task was created which consisted of 10 descriptions of the stories and the same number of voice messages belonging to each story. results. all the subjects inside the different groups displayed a higher number of egocentric decisions when compared to non-egocentric ones. the results also showed that emotions of joy and anxiety did not increase the occurrence of the egocentric decisions. conclusions. our findings underline that emotions of joy and anxiety may not influence egocentric decisions of young adults (aged 18 to 29). the results also suggest that young adults may be essentially egocentric, regardless of such internal factors as emotions. keywords: egocentrism, young adults, emotions. 55 https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.22.3 mailto:laura.seibokaite@vdu.lt 56 karina kravčenko, laura šeibokaitė introduc tion the phenomenon of adult egocentrism can be described as a person‘s tendency to assess the situation on the basis of his own experience, opinion or attitude regardless of a different another person’s perspective (epley, boven, keysar, & gilovich, 2004). foreign scientists began to explore adult egocentrism about 50 years ago (looft, 1969), and recently this phenomenon attracts an increasing attention of scientists from all over the world (surtees & apperly, 2012; todd et al., 2015). therefore, it can be assumed that the study of adult egocentrism is not new in psychology. however, no similar studies conducted in lithuania have been found. therefore, it could be said that the phenomenon of adult egocentrism is a relatively new research object in the context of lithuania. daily functioning of young adults is based on social interactions accompanied by various emotions. it is shown that the emotion of anxiety is one of the most common mental states (brooks & schweitzer, 2011) that has a negative influence on a person’s cognitive functioning (eysenck, derakshan, santos, & calvo, 2007). futhermore, positive emotions such as joy are also associated with poorer cognitive functioning (phillips, bull, adams, & fraser, 2002; mitchell & phillips, 2007). since cognitive functioning is closely related to adults’ egocentric thinking (lin, keysar, & epley, 2010; fizke, barthel, peters, & rakoczy, 2014), it is assumed that the emotions of joy and anxiety can also influence the manifestation of egocentrism in young adulthood. during interpersonal interactions people inevitably come across opinions, attitudes or beliefs of others which are contrary to the ones they have. according to epley, boven et al. (2004), adult egocentrism is one of the major source of interpersonal conflicts and disagreements. on the other hand, the ability to adopt others’ perspectives, which is the opposite to egocentrism, is the main factor that determines the success of interpersonal relationships (epley, boven et al., 2004). and helps to build and strengthen social links (galinsky, ku, & wang, 2005). todd et al. (2015) also argues that the ability to adopt others’ perspectives is a prerequisite for achieving high quality communication and social cohesion. 57 2018, 22, 55–68 p.the effect of joy and anxiety on egocentric decisions among young adults adult egocentrism it is clear that adults view the world less egocentrically than children; however. they do not outgrow egocentrism completely. in contrary to children, adults are better able to subsequently correct an initial egocentric interpretation (epley, morewedge, & keysar, 2004; surtees & apperly, 2012). adult egocentrism is particularly evident in situations where individuals do not rule out their own attitude, but use it as a basis when assesing or accepting another’s perspective (surtees & apperly, 2012, epley, bovenet al., 2004, thomas & jacoby, 2013). in other words, the information is initially processed in an egocentric bias, and then is corrected and coordinated with the perspective of another person (epley, morewedge et al., 2004; savitsky, keysar, epley, carter, & swanson, 2011). however, it is quite difficult to ignore one’s own knowledge while predicting and evaluating the information about others; therefore. such predictions are often misleading. external factors related to adult egocentrism people tend to be more egocentric when communicating with close friends than with strangers (savitsky et al., 2011; vorauer & sucharyna, 2013). egocentric biases are being increased under time pressure in decision making process (epley, boven et al., 2004). egocentric thinking is more likely to arise in situations when people have more power compared to others (e.g. have more money, knowledge, experience, etc.) (galinsky, magee, inesi, & gruenfeld, 2006). on the other hand, clear evidence of others’ perception of the world may reduce egocentric thinking (epley, boven et al., 2004), i.e. the exact knowledge may help people to adjust to others’ perspectives (abbate, isgrò, wicklund, & boca, 2006; abbate, boca, & gendolla, 2016). internal factors related to adult egocentrism it is believed that self-focused attention fosters perspective-taking and, therefore, reduces egocentric thinking (abbate et al., 2006; abbate et al., 2016; gendolla & wicklund, 2009). moreover, the phenomenon of adult egocentrism may be reduced by the large working memory capacity (lin et al., 2010) and high abilities of executive functions (fizke et al., 58 karina kravčenko, laura šeibokaitė 2014). unfortunately, there are only few studies about the direct impact of emotions on adult egocentrism (converse, lin, keysar, & epley, 2008; todd et al., 2015). there was examined the influence of joy, sadness (converse et al., 2008), anger, disgust, and anxiety (todd et al., 2015). the results of these studies showed that the feelings of disgust and sadness were related to reduced egocentrism while the emotions of joy and anxiety increased the egocentric thinking of adults. the impact of emotions of joy and anxiety on adult egocentrism the results of previous studies suggest that people who experience the emotion of joy have a higher level of egocentrism (converse et al., 2008). according to converse et al. (2008), joy fosters the use of the most accessible information, i.e. personal experience, attitude, etc. during the decision-making process. moreover, having known that the process of overcoming egocentrism requires conscious efforts (converse et al., 2008, lin et al., 2010), it is assumed that the experience of joy might undermine this process. therefore, this emotion is associated with increased egocentric thinking. nevertheless, converse et al. (2008) state that a tendency to make egocentric decisions about another person’s perspective depends on the situation. if one’s own perspective or knowledge at least partially overlap with the other’s point of view, it might be expected that the person will assess the situation more accurately (hoch, 1987, lin et al., 2010), i.e. they will avoid mistakes of egocentric thinking. the emotion of joy can also indirectly affect the egocenrism. it can increase the egocentric thinking by reducing self-focused attention (wood, saltzberg, & goldsamt, 1990; green, sedikides, saltzberg, wood, & forzano, 2003) or impairing cognitive executive functioning (phillips et al., 2002; mitchell & phillips, 2007). studies show that individuals who experience the emotion of anxiety tend to rely on contextual information when making conclusions about other’s point of view even knowing that the others do not have that kind of information (todd et al., 2015). scientists hypothesize that the emotion of anxiety is typically associated with the feeling of uncertainty. and this feeling increases reliance on one’s own egocentric perspective when reasoning about the mental states of others (todd et al., 59 2018, 22, 55–68 p.the effect of joy and anxiety on egocentric decisions among young adults 2015). the emotion of anxiety as well as joy impairs cognitive executive functioning (eysenck et al., 2007); therefore, it can also indirectly increase egocentric thinking. to sum up, it can be assumed that both joy and anxiety directly and indirectly increase egocentric thinking of adults compared with other emotions such as anger, sadness, and disgust. neveretheless, there are still only few studies in this field; therefore, the aim of this research was to investigate how egocentric decisions of young adults are influenced by the emotions of joy and anxiety. it was hypothesized that both joy and anxiety increase the manifestation of egocentric decisions among young adults. me thods participants the students of vytautas magnus university participated in this study (n = 37). we excluded data from two participants who were older than 29 years old, leaving a final sample of 35 (77.1% of women, and only 22.9% of men). the participants were randomly assigned to the incidental emotion condition: joy, anxiety, or neutral. there were 11 participants in the anxiety group, and 12 participants in both neutral and joy groups. materials to find out the influence of the emotions of joy and anxiety on egocentric decisions among young adults the experiment was conducted. the dependent variable was an egocentric assessment of the content of messages, and independent variables were the emotions of joy and anxiety. incidental emotion manipulation. as part of an “autobiographical memory” task (adapted from todd et al., 2015), the participants wrote about an emotionally evocative experience from their own lives. the participants in the two emotion conditions were asked to write in detail the situation/event which evoked anxiety or joy. the participants in the neutral condition wrote about how they typically spend their sunday evenings. the participants of all groups were ensured that the written 60 karina kravčenko, laura šeibokaitė memories will be destroyed right after the experiment, only the participant has the right to read them; therefore, they did not have to focus on grammar or style mistakes. prior research has shown statistically significant differences between the emotional state of participants in neutral, anger, and anxiety groups while using this task. therefore, no additional check of this manipulation was used. perspective-taking task. the authors of this research created a material to measure egocentric decisions among young adults (adapted from epley, boven et al., 2004, todd et al., 2015). it consisted of 5 short stories about tom’s life with a positive, and 5 stories with a negative ending, and 10 voice messages belonging to each story. for instance, one story described a recommendation about a comedy show that tom received from his friend jogaile: “tom was having dinner with two of his friends, jogaile and adomas. jogaile urged them to go to see a new comedian whose show just opened in the area”. this story had a negative ending: “tom followed her advice but hated the comedian. he thought the guy was arrogant and tedious. after returning home, he phoned his friend adomas”. after reading a story, the participants heard the voice message tom left to adomas: “hi, this is tom. do you remember that comedian jogaile mentioned at dinner? i just saw him yesterday. all i can say is that you have to see him yourself to believe how hilarious he really is” (epley, boven et al., 2004). the situations were carefully constructed to make it clear that the listener (e.g. adomas) would not have access to the clarifying information that is known for the participant who has just read the story. in this example, tom left the voice message after the show, so it is obvious that only hearing the text of the message, adomas would not be able to understand what tom really thought about the show. in order to ensure there is no clarifying information in the content of voice messages, 20 independent evaluators were asked to assess whether the text of each negative and positive story did not match the content of the voice message belonging to that story. the results showed statistically significant differences between the text of each story and the content of voice messages. all the participants received the same set of 10 stories (half with the positive ending and half with the negative ending), and 10 voice 61 2018, 22, 55–68 p.the effect of joy and anxiety on egocentric decisions among young adults messages recorded by a professional actor. to avoid the possible influence of the intonation on the participants’ responses, 10 independent evaluators were asked to assess how emotional the speaker’s tone sounded before the experiment. the results showed that the tone of the speaker sounded relatively monotonous in all messages, regardless of the positive or negative ending of the story. on the basis of the number of stories given to the participants, there was created a scale containing 10 questions of how the listener would interpret the voice message. according to the previous studies, we assumed that the information of the situation which participants read would influence their prediction of how the message left on the answering machine would be interpreted by its receiver. that is, participants who read the negative version of the story would predict a message to be sarcastic, and vice versa, the participants who read the positive version of the story would predict a message to be sincere. according to this logic, as egocentric decisions were considered answers “as sarcastic” after reading the negative end of the story and answers “as sincere” after reading the positive end of the story. meanwhile, the answers “it’s impossible to say” were assumed as non-egocentric decisions, regardless of the positive or negative end of the story. the initial reliability of the scale was quite low (α = .539), but it increased after eliminating one of the questions (α = .611). therefore, a 9-questions scale was used in further analysis. procedure to ensure the compliance of this research with ethical standards, recommendations from institutional review board were received and utilized. the experiment was conducted at vytautas magnus university in 2016, at the end of april. it consisted of 9 separate sessions (45 min each). no more than 6 participants could participate in one session. before arriving to the lab, participants were randomized into the control and 2 experimental groups on a series basis: 3132213311321223, etc. in this series, “1” meant the participant was assigned to the control group (no effect), “2” – experimental group no. 1 (manipulation of anxiety), and “3” experimental group no. 2 (manipulation of joy). 62 karina kravčenko, laura šeibokaitė at the beginning of each session, the participants were asked to read and sign an informed consent which included the purpose of the study, procedure, conditions for participation and withdrawal, the potential risks, and research benefits. it was loudly emphasized that the participants have the right to quit the study or see a psychologist (who was on duty during all sessions) in case they felt strong negative emotions during the participation. after signing the informed consent, each participant was given a blank with demographic questions and task instructions. while doing the perspective-taking task, the participants were asked to read a story with positive or negative ending, listen to a recorded voice message, and predict whether the listener of the message would interpret it as “sincere”, “sarcastic” or “it is impossible to say”. before doing this task, the participants were asked to mark those answers of the first impression. they were also informed that there was no possibility to return and change the previous answers. there was a large emphasis on the importance of doing tasks in the order they were given. in order to ensure that the participants followed all the instructions, they where observed by the researcher while doing the tasks. at the end of each session, the participants were given an oral debriefing. it included a disclosure of true purpose and the main idea of the study as well as an explanation why the deception was done. the participants were also allowed to express their feelings about what happened. after all, they were asked not to disclose the details of the study to other people before the study ended completely. results the data was coded and analyzed using spss statistics version 16.00. expression of egocentricity considering the very small number of male participants (n = 8), the expression of men and women egocentricity within different groups was analyzed together. in order to measure the expression of egocentricity within control, anxiety, and joy groups, there were compared the sums of egocentric 63 2018, 22, 55–68 p.the effect of joy and anxiety on egocentric decisions among young adults and non-egocentric answers within the groups using the non-parametric wilcoxon signed-ranks test. as mentioned previously, egocentric decisions were considered the answers “as sarcastic” after reading the negative end of the story and the answers “as sincere” after reading the positive end of the story. meanwhile, the answers “it’s impossible to say” were assumed as non-egocentric decisions, regardless of the positive or negative end of the story. as you can see in table 1, the sums of egocentric and non-egocentric answers statistically significantly differed within the control, anxiety, and joy groups (p < .05). table 1. statistical significance of differences of egocentric and nonegocentric answers within control, anxiety, and joy groups. group control anxiety joy negative ties 9 10 10 positive ties 2 1 2 z -2.452 -2.732 -2.635 p value (two-tailed) .014 .006 .008 as you can see in table 2, the participants of all groups chose the higher number of egocentric answers when compared to the non-egocentric ones (m egocentric answers > m non-egocentric answers ). table 2. the descriptive statistics of egocentric and nonegocentric answers within control, anxiety, and joy groups. n egocentric answers non-egocentric answers m sd m sd control 12 4.75 2.179 1.75 1.485 anxiety 11 4.64 1.502 1.18 1.601 joy 12 4.92 2.234 1.25 1.603 these findings suggest that all the participants expressed higher egocentrism during the perspective-taking task. 64 karina kravčenko, laura šeibokaitė the impact of joy and anxiety on egocentric decisions of young adults the test of normality showed that the variable of the sum of egocentric answers was normally distributed (skewness (.040) and kurtosis (-.861) are between -1 and 1; shapiro wilks test = .954, p > .05). thus, in order to study the hypotheses, the differences of sums of egocentric answers between the control, anxiety, and joy groups were compared by using single factor analysis of variance (anova). the comparison of egocentric decisions between the control, anxiety, and joy groups is presented in table 3. table 3. statistical significance of differences of egocentric answers between control, anxiety, and joy groups. n m sum of squares df f value p value control 12 4.75 .459 2 .057 .945anxiety 11 4.64 joy 12 4.92 the table shows that the means of sums of egocentric answers did not significantly differ among control, anxiety, and joy groups (p > .05). therefore, it might be assumed that emotions of joy and anxiety did not have a statistically significant influence on egocentric decisions among young adults. discussion the aim of the study was to investigate the influence of emotions of joy and anxiety on egocentric decisions among young adults. it was expected that both anxiety and joy would increase participants’ egocentric thinking. in other words, those in anxiety and joy groups would have a higher number of egocentric decisions compared to those in the control group. the results of this study did not confirm the hypothesis: all the participants took a similar amount of egocentric decisions when intuiting what other people think (interpreting the perception of the one who 65 2018, 22, 55–68 p.the effect of joy and anxiety on egocentric decisions among young adults received the voice message). these results contradict past research findings which indicate that anxiety increases egocentrism when interpreting ambiguous messages (todd et al., 2015), as well as emotion of joy which also leads to a higher number of egocentric decisions (converse et al., 2008). the possible reasons of the contradictory results may be found in the limitations of the material used in this study when compared to the original one (todd et al., 2015). in this study, only 3 possible answers were given to the participants (“as sincere”, “as sarcastic”, “it‘s impossible to say”), requiring a very specific evaluation of the voice message. meanwhile, in the study of todd‘s et al. (2015), the participants had to choose 1 out of 7 possible answers (1 = very sarcastic, 7 = very sincere) when predicting how the recipient would interpret the message. the results showed that the means of messages evaluations were not higher than 6, what means that participants were not that categorical when assessing ambiguous messages. knowing that further research could investigate whether the higher number of possible answer options would be relevant to the differences of egocentric decisions between the different groups. nevertheless, the results showed that all groups’ participants took a higher number of egocentric decisions when compared to non-egocentric ones. as it was mentioned before, adults use their own perspectives and available information as a starting point while making decisions about other person’s perspective, and thus, make egocentric mistakes (surtees & apperly, 2012; epley, boven et al., 2004; thomas & jacoby, 2013). it is also believed that it is easier to adjust to other’s perspective when having clear evidence of another’s perception of the world (abbate et al., 2006; abbate et al., 2016), and thus, avoid mistakes of egocentric thinking (epley, boven et al., 2004). therefore, it might be assumed that the descriptions of the stories used in this study themselves provoked egocentric decisions. as well as the hint that the recipient of the voice message did not have that contextual information known to the one who read the story might have been not that obvious. according to the results, it also might be assumed that the participants of this study may have been essentially egocentric, regardless of various external or internal factors such as emotions of anxiety and joy. 66 karina kravčenko, laura šeibokaitė the previously observed results (todd et al., 2015; converse et al., 2008) might not have been reproduced in this study because of such methodological issues as a small number of subjects participated or a failed manipulation of the independent variable. since the results of this study did not confirm the results of the previous researches that analyzed the influence of joy and anxiety on egocentric decisions, further investigations in this field are still needed. the priority for future work is to have a bigger sample. considering the limitations of the perspective-taking task which were mentioned above, further investigators could give the participants a very clear evidence that the recipient of the voice message does not have that contextual information known for the participant. moreover, there could also be more possible answer options when predicting how the recipient would interpret the message. finally, scientists could use another type of emotion manipulation such as listening to music (converse et al., 2008; green et al., 2003) or watching movies (converse et al., 2008). references abbate, c. s, boca, s., & gendolla, g. h. e. 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(1990). does affect induce self-focused attention? journal of personality and social psychology, 58(5), 899–908. džiaugsmo ir nerimo emocijų įtak a jaunų suaugusiųjų egocentriniams sprendimams karina kravčenko, laura šeibokaitė vytautas magnus university, lithuania santrauka. tyrimo tikslas. šio tyrimo tikslas – išsiaiškinti, kokią įtaką jaunų suaugusiųjų egocentriniams sprendimams daro džiaugsmo ir nerimo emocijos. metodas. tyrimas atliktas vytauto didžiojo universitete, kaune. tyrime dalyvavo 35 1–4 kurso socialinių mokslų studentai. iš jų, 27 moterys ir 8 vyrai. vidutinis tiriamųjų amžius – 21,4 m. tyrimo metodas – eksperimentas, kuriame buvo manipuliuojama džiaugsmo ir nerimo emocijomis. siekiant sukelti minėtas emocijas, naudota „autobiografinės atminties“ užduotis. egocentriškumo vertinimo metodiką sudarė 10 istorijų aprašų ir tiek pat, kiekvienai istorijai priklausančių, balso žinučių įrašų. rezultatai. visi tiriamieji kontrolinės, nerimo ir džiaugsmo grupių viduje pasižymėjo didesniu egocentrinių sprendimų kiekiu, lyginant su ne egocentriniais. rezultatai taip pat parodė, jog nerimo ir džiaugsmo emocijos nepadidino egocentrinių sprendimų pasireiškimo tikimybės. kitaip tariant, nepriklausomai nuo grupės, tyrimo dalyviai buvo linkę priimti panašų egocentrinių sprendimų kiekį. išvados. rezultatai leidžia daryti prielaidą, jog nerimo ir džiaugsmo emocijos neturi įtakos jaunų suaugusiųjų (18–29 m.) egocentriniams sprendimams. taip pat, galima manyti, jog galbūt asmenys jauno suaugusiojo amžiuje apskritai linkę į egocentriškumą, nepriklausomai nuo tokių vidinių veiksnių, kaip emocijos. reikšminiai žodžiai: jauno suaugusiojo amžius, egocentrizmas, emocijos. received: 2018-08-27 accepted: 2019-01-24 contents editorial note scientific publications viktorija cepukiene, rytis pakrosnis introducing unguided computerized solution-focused self-help into university counseling services virginija klimukienė, alfredas laurinavičius, ilona laurinaitytė, laura ustinavičiūtė, and mykolas baltrūnas examination of convergent validity of start: av ratings among male juveniles on probation karina kravčenko, laura šeibokaitė the effect of joy and anxiety on egocentric decisions among young adults ala petrulytė, virginija guogienė adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy in lithuanian sample kristina ražauskaitė-pilipavičienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė gender differences in dyadic dominance during interpersonal interaction: the comparison of friends’ dyads and romanticc ouples lina cirtautienė, auksė endriulaitienė the influence of psychological factors for leader’s efficiency in global it companies kristina kovalčikienė, giedrė genevičiūtė-janonė the relationship between the vocational teachers’ personality traits and the work motivation information the 20th international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, december 6th, 2017. abstr acts the 21st international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, april 25th, 2018. abstr acts contributors reviewers instructions for authors scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2016 / 19 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.19.5 personalit y tr aits of teachers in lithuania: do preschool and comprehensive school educ ators differ? lina cirtautienė1 vytautas magnus university, lithuania abstract. background. hr professionals are challenged to improve teachers’ performance. knowledge about personality traits might help in developing recruitment systems as well as training programs for school staff. educators’ traits are rarely researched in developing countries. research questions. what are the differences of lithuanian teachers’ personality traits according to age and education? do personality traits differ between preschool and comprehensive school educators? purpose. the goal of this study was to explore some personality traits (social boldness; tension; liveliness; emotional stability) of lithuanian teachers working in preschools and comprehensive schools. materials and methods. 184 lithuanian teachers working in preschools and comprehensive schools participated in the cross-sectional survey. the traits of social boldness, tension, liveliness, and emotional stability were assessed with the help of self-report questionnaire based on the cattell 16pf theory (cattell & mead, 2008; cattell & schuerger, 2003). results. social boldness was significantly associated with teachers’ educational level – higher scores of social boldness were identified in the group that holds a university degree. younger teachers reported higher levels of liveliness and emotional stability. in addition to this, preschool and comprehensive school teachers differed in emotional stability, no other personality differences were found. conclusions. teachers’ personality traits can affect teacher’s communication with students, their abilities to consider students’ needs and overcome challenges in the classroom. gained information could be helpful in human resource management and education: enhance teacher selection processes, teachers’ training and professional development, and improve educational outcomes. keywords: education, personality, age, teacher. 89 1 address for correspondence: vytautas magnus university, department of psychology, jonavos st. 66-330, lt-44191, kaunas, lithuania. phone/fax: +370 37 327 824. e-mail: lina. cirtautiene@fc.vdu.lt lina cirtautienė 90 introduc tion lithuania is a young european union country going through many educational reforms and posing many challenges for the teachers and their work quality. because of demographic changes, emigration, and changes in educational system, the number of schoolchildren is decreasing. thus, schools became competitive in lithuania. graduates have an opportunity to study abroad – it sets high expectations for the education process and learning outcomes. therefore, there is a continuing demand on qualified and effective educators. educators need certain personality traits to adjust to the reform successfully and work effectively as well, but there is no information about such correlations. similar studies were implemented in other countries (basak & ghosh, 2014; bentea, 2015). however, due to cultural differences, it is difficult to take advantage of the research findings. there is a notable lack of research expanding the links between lithuanian teachers’ personality traits and significant variables of their work quality. one of the objectives of this study was to explore individual characteristics (personality traits) of lithuanian teachers according to demographic differences (age, education) and contextual variable (working at a preschool or comprehensive school). information obtained could be helpful in human resource management and education: improve teachers’ selection processes, teachers’ training, professional development, and educational outcomes (klassen & tze, 2014; cattell & mead, 2008; cattell & schuerger, 2003). it could help making education more responsive to societal and labour market needs. in the broad sense, findings could contribute to the sustainable economic growth as well. the evidence trying to relate the personality profiles (e.g. using big five factor model of personality) or separate personality traits (e.g. selfefficacy, extraversion, stress tolerance) with effective teaching are still not well developed (jamil, downer, pianta, 2012; guseva, dombrovskis, capulis, 2014; cabanova, 2015; basak & ghosh, 2014; bentea, 2015; colomeischi, 2015; colomeischi, colomeischi, clipa, 2014). however, a wide range of studies is based on the assumption that teachers’ psychological characteristics are significant for their work effectiveness (klassen & tze, 2014; güngör, kurtb, ekicic, 2014; aliakbari & darabi, 2016, 19, 89–104 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 91 2013). there are significant findings that personality profiles or single personality traits of teachers can affect behaviour in the workplace as well (zhang, zhou, zhang, 2016). according to the literature, some personality traits (for example, social boldness, liveliness, emotional stability, or low tension) can be particularly important in teaching context (aliakbari & darabi, 2013; basak & ghosh, 2014; cabanova, 2015; colomeischi, 2015, colomeischi et al., 2014; güngör et al., 2014). teachers’ personality traits affect their communication with students. educators must be able to recognise and accept the needs of their students in the classroom and adjust their communication (aliakbari & darabi, 2013). they should be able to handle differences in discipline and classroom management (guseva et al., 2014; aliakbari & darabi, 2013; zhang et al., 2016). researchers found out that teachers’ verbal ability together with extraversion (and personality traits such as social boldness) could become an important predictor of teaching effectiveness (aloe & becker, 2009; aliakbari & darabi, 2013). extravert teacher is believed to be more likely successful in his/her job (norkienė, 2010). social boldness and liveliness may be useful in inadequately communicating with students. teachers possessing those traits are good social organisers capable of establishing contacts and interaction, and seem enthusiastic, spontaneous, and lively in interacting with others. they may control students’ disruptive behaviour or establish and restore contacts with others in conflict resolution (aliakbari & darabi, 2013). good communication skills (positive communication, empathy) facilitate students’ adaptation to the school environment, whereas lack of teacher’s emotional stability deters or delays the adaptation (šilėnienė & malinauskienė, 2004). teacher is one of the most stressful professions because of intense social interactions (travers, cooper, 1996). each teacher is forced to rely on his personal characteristics when making a decision on how to controll disruptive students or motivate them (aliakbari & darabi, 2013; fidler, 1997). personality can influence the way teacher reacts to the environment; certain personality traits can affect stress level (mojsakaja, golonka, marek, 2015; zhang et al., 2016). subjectively felt tension and level of stress become meaningful in teachers’ self-efficacy, and their job satisfaction (klassen & tze, 2014). the match between the person lina cirtautienė 92 and the job predicts engagement at work, and mismatch is related with the burnout (mojsa-kaja et al., 2015). according to literature, emotional stability and low tension refer to teachers’ calmness and inner balance in their work challenges, these traits allow adjusting their leadership style according to different situations in the classroom (aliakbari & darabi, 2013; cabanova, 2015). the quality of educational services is mainly influenced by the quality of teachers’ activity (klassen & tze, 2014). teachers have the most powerful influence on students’ achievements – it cumulates in every grade , and later is difficult to change (klassen & tze, 2014; wright, horn, sanders, 1997). thus, teachers can affect their students’ performance, goal attainment, and behaviours to gain effective learning and achieve positive educational outcomes (aliakbari & darabi, 2013), and certain personality traits might become especially important when predicting teachers’ work effectiveness. research identifying profiles of highly effective teachers (klassen & tze, 2014) suggests that such “ideal” teachers selected for the high-level recognition may share particular personality profiles. however, there is no developed evidence proving the relationship between the personality profiles and effective teaching using the latest models of personality (basak & ghosh, 2014; bentea, 2015; cabanova, 2015; colomeischi, 2015; colomeischi et al., 2014; guseva et al., 2014; jamil et al., 2012). although personality traits are important, research is quite scarce, especially in developing countries like lithuania. several studies analysing researches on lithuanian educational sector have focused on the importance of personality traits (kairys, 2008; norkienė, 2010). nevertheless, few studies are investigating the link between various factors, like personality features, age and level of education, in different educational institutions (juodkūnė, 2015; laurinaitytė, 2008). personal features, such as social boldness, tension, liveliness, and emotional stability, may be linked with teachers’ appropriate communication, teaching effectiveness and ability to cope with stressful situations properly (basak & ghosh, 2014; mojsa-kaja et al., 2015) and subjective well-being (eryilmaz, 2014). these traits are significant in job performance and may protect educators from the burnout syndrome (colomeischi, 2015; colomeischi et al., 2014; kokkinos, 2007; mojsa-kaja 2016, 19, 89–104 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 93 et al., 2015). emotional exhaustion refers to the decrease in emotional resources, it may be associated with the detached attitude towards colleagues, school society, and reduces job performance as well (kokkinos, 2007). therefore, the present study focuses on teachers’ personality traits – social boldness, liveliness, emotional stability and tension. in the person-job fit theory, positive responses occur when individuals fit the occupational environment (carless, 2005). in this case, selected personality features may be assessed differently according to the education institution. according to the environment and job conditions, preschool teachers are expected to be more emotionally stable, and feel less tension due to relatively lower requirements for academic achievement, or other teaching characteristics (e.g. they may freely choose educational themes, purposes and implementation). according to the transactional model, the interaction between environmental variables and intrapersonal traits (personality traits) may lead to the burnout or might be coped with challenges (grakauskas, 2004; kokkinos, 2007). liveliness is expected to be more expressed in the group of preschool educators – small children pay attention to lively, enthusiastic communicators more easily. however, high social boldness is predicted to be higher in comprehensive school teachers’ group because of relatively higher communicative challenges. comprehensive school teachers are expected to respond appropriately to students’ challenges in adolescence associated with conflict resolution, negotiation, and manipulative behaviour (kokkinos, 2007). comprehensive school and preschool teachers face different environmental challenges – they have different peculiarities of work that may lead to specific demands for personality features and personality development (kokkinos, 2007; mccrae et al., 2000). also, some differences might be expected according to socio-demographic issues, such as teachers’ age and their educational level. through a lifespan, according to the age, personality traits differ (martin, long, poon, 2000). personality traits are sensitive to the educational background (rammstedt, goldberg, borg, 2010). contradictory studies are attempting to link increasing education of teachers with their work effectiveness (early et al., 2007). the profession of teacher is predominated by females in lithuania: 97.1% primary school teachers and 81.6% secondary school teachers are women (eurostat, 2014; novelskaitė, 2010). lina cirtautienė 94 although some effects of individual and contextual variables have been reported in previous research, the combined effects of personality and situational factors have rarely been considered. teachers’ personality traits may vary according to their individual (age and education) or contextual variables (at preschool and comprehensive school). generalising the above stated, the purpose of this study was to explore some personality traits (social boldness, tension, liveliness, emotional stability) of lithuanian teachers working in preschools and comprehensive schools. the study is intended to seek answers to the following research questions: what are the differences of lithuanian teachers’ personality traits according to age and education? do personality traits (social boldness, liveliness, tension, and emotional stability) differ between preschool and comprehensive school educators? material and me thods participants 184 lithuanian teachers working in preschools and comprehensive schools participated in the cross-sectional survey. all of them were females; male teachers were excluded from further analysis due to the small number of subjects. sample composition corresponds to the situation in lithuania, where women are largely predominant (eurostat, 2014; novelskaitė, 2010). the age ranged from 21 to 64 years (m=39.68, sd=10.88). 83.7% of teachers hold a university degree, 16.3% of teachers hold lower than university degree. 136 participants were preschool teachers, 48 worked in comprehensive schools. all respondents participated in the study on a voluntary basis; oral informed consent was obtained. instruments the traits of social boldness, tension, liveliness, and emotional stability were assessed with the help of self-report questionnaire based on the cattell 16pf theory (cattell & mead, 2008; cattell & schuerger, 2003). 2016, 19, 89–104 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 95 high scores in social boldness are characterised as socially bold, venturesome, thick-skinned, uninhibited. tension scale is associated with tense, high-energy, impatient, and driven attributes. expressed liveliness scale means someone is lively, animated, spontaneous, enthusiastic, and impulsive. high scores in emotional stability are associated with emotionally stable, adaptive, and mature features (cattell & mead, 2008; cattell & schuerger, 2003). the lithuanian version of the questionnaire consisted of 52 items. the participants were asked to mark their answer to the question choosing the alternative “agree”, “uncertain”, or “disagree”. the internal consistency (cronbach alpha coefficient) of social boldness scale (13 items) was .816, of tension scale – .703 (13 items), of liveliness scale was .641 (13 items), and of emotional stability – .657 (13 items). the scores were analysed regarding stens; higher sten indicated higher expression of each personality trait. the questions about teachers’ age, education, and workplace were also included in the questionnaire. procedure and data analysis all procedures and steps of spreading and gathering data were conducted by the researchers. the web-based survey method was used. data were analysed using spss 16.0 statistical software. data was spread according to a normal distribution. in addition to the descriptive statistics, the quantitative data was analysed using pearson’s correlation coefficient and one-way anova. results anova was conducted to identify differences between teachers’ personality factors according to education (table 1). statistical analysis has shown significant differences in social boldness according to educational level (f = 6.521, p = .011). teachers with high education are more socially bold – they have little fear of social situations, they fit quickly into new groups, have no trouble speaking in front of groups and being in the centre of attention. other personality traits (liveliness, emotional stability, tension) were not related to teachers’ education level. lina cirtautienė 96 table 1. differences between teachers’ personality factors according to the educational level variables female (n=184) anova lower than university degree (n=30) university degree (n=154) f sig. mean sd mean sd social boldness 6.23 1.28 7.14 1.85 6.521 .011 liveliness 4.57 1.33 5.19 1.84 3.177 .076 emotional stability 5.2 1.67 5.56 2.04 .852 .357 low tension 5.60 1.98 5.58 2.23 .003 .96 pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to test the correlations between teachers’ age and four personality traits. data showed statistically negative correlations between age and emotional stability (pearson’s r = -.334, p< .01), as well as liveliness (pearson’s r = -.172, p< .05). according to these results, younger teachers tend to be more emotionally stable and lively than their elder colleagues. tension (pearson’s r = -.117) and social boldness (pearson’s r= -.126) were not statistically significantly related to the age. these results indicate that the differences occur in teachers’ personality traits according to other individual differences (age, education). social boldness was positively correlated with educational level – teachers with high education were more socially bold. liveliness was negatively correlated with age – younger teachers scored higher in liveliness. emotional stability was negatively correlated with age – younger teachers scored higher in emotional stability compareto elder colleagues. to answer the second research question, whether personality traits (social boldness, liveliness, tension and emotional stability) differ between preschool and comprehensive school educators, mean differences among groups were analysed. the means and standard deviations (sd) of personality traits in different school sector were calculated separately, and the results are presented in table 2. 2016, 19, 89–104 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 97 table 2. descriptive and statistical analysis of personality traits in preschool and comprehensive school teachers’ groups. variables female (n=184) anova preschool (n=136) comprehensive school (n=48) f sig. mean sd mean sd social boldness 6.87 1.72 7.33 1.98 2.4 .123 liveliness 4.95 1.6 5.5 2.16 3.47 .064 emotional stability 5.21 1.82 6.33 2.2 12.03 .001 low tension 5.54 1.87 5.69 2.93 .15 .697 both, preschool and comprehensive school, female teachers showed more or less similar scores on all the personality variables. anova analyses revealed a statistically significant difference between preschool and comprehensive school female teachers in one personality factor – emotional stability (f = 12.03, p = .001). comprehensive school teachers reported lower emotional stability than preschool educators. the differences in other traits were not significant. concerning the relationship between teachers’ personality traits and contextual variables (working at a preschool or comprehensive school), differences occur in emotional stability – preschool teachers have more expressed emotional stability compared to comprehensive school educators. discussion teachers’ performance plays a key role in determining the quality of educational services (klassen & tze, 2014). therefore, it is important to understand whether teachers’ personality traits meet the teaching challenges. the purpose of this study was to explore some personality traits (social boldness, tension, liveliness, and emotional stability) of lina cirtautienė 98 lithuanian teachers working in preschools and comprehensive schools. the results showed an image of lithuanian female teachers in terms of different socio-demographic variables (school sector, age, and educational level). statistically significant differences were found comparing the individual peculiarities of the preschool and comprehensive school female teachers within their different educational institutions, age, and educational level. social boldness was significantly linked with teachers’ educational level. personality traits differ with regard to the educational background (rammstedt et al., 2010). in this study, educators with high education are more socially bold. teachers who scored high in social boldness are good social organisers capable of establishing contacts and interaction. they can manage the stress and have abilities to organise classrooms and students’ behaviour. according to aliakbari (2013), teachers who enjoy the company of others, exhibit an open-mindedness toward new ideas, report a willingness to re-examine social values, are trusting and well organized, and strive to achieve their goals may be ranked higher in performance compared to teachers who do not exhibit these traits. these links are important in achieving positive educational outcomes (aliakbari & darabi, 2013; fidler, 1997). according to the literature, teachers’ social boldness is an important predictor of teaching effectiveness (aloe & becker, 2009; aliakbari & darabi, 2013) and their educational level can not be ignored. according to the results, younger teachers scored higher in liveliness and emotional stability scales compared to elder colleagues. lively, active, spontaneous, enthusiastic personality traits are more common in the group of younger teachers. it was determined that higher scores in emotional stability, teachers’ ability to withstand failures, difficulties and other stresses without becoming emotionally upset was linked with the younger age. these results contradict other studies where lability of emotional experience reduced with age – elders were less responding to daily stressors (carstensen et al., 2011; mccrae et al., 2000). results of the present study may be linked with teachers’ workplace characteristics, which creates cumulative stress ant becomes meaningful for elders. 2016, 19, 89–104 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 99 exhaustion, contradictory claims from parents, colleagues and administration, anxiety, and disappointment may lead elder teachers to poor load resistance (cabanova, 2015) and lower emotional stability scores. therefore, additional studies are required. preschool and comprehensive school teachers differed in emotional stability as well. preschool teachers have a more expressed emotional stability than comprehensive school educators – it might be because of differences in their educational challenges and demands in their performance. these results must be carefully assessed and challenged in future studies. however, performance complexity and professional challenges might be linked with increased demand for teachers with certain personality traits. the interaction between environmental challenges and personality traits may lead to specific personality features (grakauskas, 2004; kokkinos, 2007; mccrae, costa, ostendorf, et al., 2000). according to literature, psychologic characteristics of educators are significant for their work effectiveness, and work satisfaction (klassen & tze, 2014; güngör, kurtb, ekicic, 2014; aliakbari & darabi, 2013). subjectively felt teachers’ level of stress becomes meaningful for their self-efficacy and job satisfaction (klassen & tze, 2014). educators’ traits are rarely researched in developing countries. aspects explored in the study could attract the attention of the administrative staff as educators’ personality traits are associated with the work effectiveness. information gained could be helpful in accepting personality strengths and limitations, identifying relevant adjustment issues and planning effective career paths. knowledge about personality traits might help in developing recruitment systems as well as training programs, in professional development, and improvement of educational outcomes (klassen & tze, 2014). professional training should be arranged as to help teachers learn to enact educational challenges skilfully. according to results, such training could involve teachers’ stress management skills together with up-todate schooling skills – innovative methods for teaching together with pupils’ motivation, management of class behaviour, teaching the collaborative work. these competencies, together with an attitude to the teaching profession, their motivation and engagement could contribute lina cirtautienė 100 to overcoming school challenges and may be meaningful in teachers’ personal development, and work satisfaction (cabanova, 2015). these aspects could be useful in developing personal growth programs, prevention programs for teacher burnout, and other steps. teachers’ development has become a constant concern nurturing for the educational agencies and management responsibility in schools. it is important to identify the psychological resources to prevent teachers from burnout and to prepare young specialists for their occupational challenges (colomeischi, 2015). the task could become easier if we could realise how personality traits and other factors are linked to work efficiency, satisfaction, and occupational development. these results must be carefully assessed and challenged in future studies. the study has certain limitations. first of all, voluntary participation in the study did not allow to get the representative sample of the general population of lithuanian teachers. second, self-reported data raise the question of social desirability bias. therefore, obtained results might be the starting point for further studies in this field. notwithstanding the limitation, literature and results of our study confirm that personality traits have to be taken into account considering educators’ developmental goals, teaching effectiveness, and their experience. references aliakbari, m., darabi, r. 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(1997). teacher and classroom context effects on student achievement: implications for teacher evaluation. journal of personnel evaluation in education, 11, 57-67. retrieved from http://www.sas. com/govedu/edu/teacher_eval.pdf lina cirtautienė 104 lie tuvos mokytojų asmenybės bruož ai: ar ikimokyklinių ir bendrojo l avinimo mokyklų pedagogai skiriasi? lina cir tautienė, vytauto didžiojo universitetas, lietuva santrauka. problema. mokyklų administracija kartu su žmogiškųjų išteklių specialistais siekia gerinti mokytojų darbo kokybę. žinios apie pedagogų asmenybės bruožus padėtų kuriant tinkamiausių kandidatų įdarbinimo ugdymo įstaigoje tvarką, planuojant personalo kvalifikacijos tobulinimo programas. pedagogų asmenybės bruožai retai analizuojami besivystančiose šalyse. tyrimo klausimai: ar yra asmenybės bruožų skirtumų tarp skirtingo amžiaus ir išsilavinimo mokytojų? ar ikimokyklinių ir bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų pedagogų asmenybės bruožai skiriasi? tikslas – išanalizuoti lietuvos mokytojų, dirbančių ikimokyklinėse ir bendrojo lavinimo mo kyklose, asmenybės bruožus (drąsa bendraujant (angl. social boldness), įtampa (angl. tension), nerūpestingumas (angl. liveliness), emocinis pastovumas (angl. emotional stability)). metodai. tyrime dalyvavo 184 lietuvos mokytojų, dirbančių ikimokyklinėse ir bendrojo lavinimo mokyklose. mokytojai savo asmenybės bruožus tokius kaip drąsa bendraujant, įtampa, nerūpestingumas ir emocinis pastovumas įsivertino atsakydami į klausimyno klausimus, paruoštus pagal ketelo 16 faktorių teoriją (cattell & mead, 2008; cattell & schuerger, 2003). rezultatai. tyrimo rezultatai patvirtino prielaidą, kad yra skirtumų tarp skirtingų amžiaus ir išsilavinimo mokytojų asmenybės bruožų. drąsai bendraujant buvo reikšmingas mokytojo išsilavinimas – aukštesni drąsos bendraujant rezultatai nustatyti universitetinį išsilavinimą turinčioje tiriamųjų grupėje. jaunesniems mokytojams būdingi aukštesni nerūpestingumo ir emocinio pastovumo įvertinimai. emocinis pastovumas skyrėsi tarp ikimokyklinių ir bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų pedagogų, kitų asmenybės bruožų skirtumų nustatyti nepavyko. išvados. mokytojų asmenybės bruožai gali būti reikšmingi bendraujant su mokiniais, siekiant suprasti jų poreikius, gebėjimus bei įveikiant ugdymo iššūkius. gauti rezultatai ir tolesni tyrimai galėtų būti pritaikyti kaip mokymo įstaigos personalo valdymo ir žmo nių išteklių vystymo priemonė, atidžiau vertinant mokytojų atrankos procedūrą, planuojant mokytojų ruošimą ir kvalifikacijos tobulinimą, gerinant pedagogų darbo efektyvumą. pagrindiniai žodžiai: švietimas, asmenybė, amžius, mokytojas. received: 2016-12-19   accepted: 2017-02-04 7 scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2015 / 17 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.17.1 1 address for correspondence: lithuanian university of educational sciences, faculty of education, department of psychology didactics. studentų 39, lt-08106 vilnius. phone: (85)273 08 95. e-mail: albina.saikauskiene@leu.lt. face recognition peculiarities of different age people in a lithuanian sample albina saikauskienė1, aušra daugirdienė lithuanian university of educational sciences abstract. background. the paper presents empirical data and analyses biological and psychological face recognition aspects. the function of face recognition is particularly important in the process of social interaction. despite the experience acquired in everyday face recognition, the ability to recognize faces weakens with aging. the issue of face recognition is not completely new on a worldwide scale, however, researchers present conflicting results and raise new questions about this phenomenon. what is more, in lithuania, research on face recognition is developed not enough. it motivated us to initiate this study as well as data from researches carried out in other countries that found cultural differences in the processing of facial information (blais et al., 2008). for example, adults from china showed a disposition to process information holistically, whereas individuals from britain – to process information analytically (kelly et al., 2011). purpose. the aims of the research were: 1) to determine at what age people recognize faces best and when this ability starts worsening; 2) to determine the differences in face recognition ability among different age groups. method. the experiment was carried out. the methodology of the research was based on the similar type of research (germine, duchaine, nakayama, 2011; hay, cox, 2000; tanaka, farah, 1993). 80 black-and-white photographs depicting people of different ages were presented to the research participants for recognition. results and conclusions. the research results revealed that the ability to recognize faces reaches its optimal level in the interval of 20–35 years of age. the comparison between different age groups showed that young adults (20–35 years old) better than adolescents (11–18 years old) and senior adults (56–75 years old) memorized and recognized faces of different age people they had already seen. key words: face recognition, upright faces, inverted faces. 8 albina saikauskienė, aušra daugirdienė introduc tion face recognition is very important in the process of social interaction, therefore, the issues of development, improvement and weakening of face recognition function remain in the spotlight of various researchers around the world. in everyday life, we do not analyse how the processing of face information goes on, what mechanisms are involved in face perception and recognition processes. researchers studying face recognition peculiarities suggest different models to explain face perception and recognition. theoretical models of face perception and recognition. one of the most known is the cognitive face processing model proposed by bruce and young (1986), it analyses face recognition and recall of the knowledge one already has about the person. according to bruce and young, there are seven different kinds of information or codes that faces once seen provide: pictorial, structural, visually derived semantic, identity-specific semantic, name, expression, and facial speech codes. these components are not of equal significance in the process of face recognition. while recognizing faces in everyday life, people more frequently rely on structural, identity-specific semantic and visually derived semantic information. theoretical model suggested by bruce and young is a synthesis of several ideas and is regarded as the product of its time. later on, cognitive psychology concentrated on the information processing operations presented in this model that are stable and common to all individuals, except for the cases when brain areas responsible for these operations are damaged (young, bruce, 2011). haxby, hoffman, and gobbini (2000) suggested an expanded face recognition model: a model of the distributed human neural system for face perception, revealing different representations of invariant and changeable aspects of the face (eye gaze, facial expression, lip movement) in human neural system. invariant face aspects facilitate face recognition, whereas changeable aspects provide information necessary for social communication. based on this model, face cognition system is divided into two parts: the core system, in which visual analysis of the face appearance is carried out, and the extended system related to the identification of additional information in faces. 9 2015, 17, 7–23 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach latter, gobbini and haxby (2007) modified and extended the aforementioned model by including additional areas of neural system that encode different aspects of information about the person, and structures that reflect emotional reactions arising with regard to how close acquainted the person is. the inclusion of additional structures into the extended face perception model allows for its wider application. for example, it can be used when studying neural puberty of adolescents when they begin to look for new social-emotional components in the faces of their peers due to the specific developmental challenges that arise (scherf, behrmann, dahl, 2012). the integrative model of face processing (schwaninger, carbon, leder, 2003) combines different hypotheses about face recognition abilities of adults and is devised on the basis of holistic, schema, and component configural approaches. according to holistic approach, adults process upright faces as an inseparable unit (farah, tanaka, drain, 1995; tanaka, farah, 1993), combining face components and configural information into a holistic representation (tanaka, sengco, 1997). according to component configural approach, component and configural information is processed separately. information of both kinds is used in the recognition of upright faces, however, it is not proved that configural information is used in the cases of inverted face recognition. it is believed that by changing the position of a face, the processing of configural information declines more than the processing of component information (sergent, 1984; searcy, bartlett, 1996). according to schema hypothesis (goldstein, chance, 1980), the ability to process face information (i.e. face schema) improves due to the acquired experience and flexibility. the integrative model of face processing (schwaninger, carbon, leader, 2003) serves as a theoretical background for the current study, because it is a comprehensive theory that comprises different hypotheses about face recognition abilities. changes in the face recognition ability. it is a recognized fact that adults have a well-developed ability to recognize faces, however, it is not completely clear what this ability depends on. a range of sometimes conflicting evidence and evaluations is presented as the contribution to experience or heredity to the human system of face recognition. mckone et al. (2012) revealed the change in the attitudes that prevailed for several decades: traditionally face recognition ability was 10 albina saikauskienė, aušra daugirdienė viewed as the result of rich experience in infancy, childhood and adolescence, reaching adult-like levels relatively late in life. at the end of the 20th century, there dominated a variant of the late maturity approach, according to which, special face perception mechanisms do not fully qualitatively develop up to the age of ten, and face recognition experience is the driving force of this slow development (carey, diamond, 1977, 1994). later this approach was modified and complemented by claims about the longer development of the ability to perceive certain aspects of face, especially when it comes to configural face information processing. for example, it is easier for children to recognize faces according to separate facial features than according to the overall image of a face. this indicates that configural information processing is more complex and develops more slowly than featural face processing (hay, cox, 2000; mondloch, le grand, maurer, 2002). besides, the development of configural face information processing depends on child’s early visual experience (mondloch, le grand, maurer, 2002). according to the research (mckone, crookes, kanwisher, 2009; mckone et al., 2012), the role of experience in the development of face recognition mechanisms has been overestimated. in order to achieve face recognition level that of an adult, the first five years of experience are mostly important for a child. it is likely that the effect of experience is stronger in the early period of development than later in life. besides, genetic factors are also significant for the development of face recognition ability. twin studies have shown that individual differences in face recognition have a heritable genetic component for the holistic processing of facial information (wilmer et al., 2010; zhu et al., 2010) as well as for the ways cortex reacts to faces: cortical response to faces in monozygotic twins is significantly more similar than that in dizygotic twins (polk et al., 2007). considerable controversy arises when debating on the issue of the age at which people recognize faces the best. germine, duchaine, and nakayama (2011) presented evidence that face recognition matures late relative to other abilities: face learning improves rapidly in adolescence (from 10 to 20 years of age) and reaches its peak around the age of 32. later on, the face recognition ability begins to decline and at the age of 65 reaches the level acquired in adolescence (16 years of age). mckone et al. (2012) treated with caution those reports about the late maturity of the memory for faces. they argued that if the general cognitive functions 11 2015, 17, 7–23 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach do not change after 20–32 years of age, it can be assumed that face recognition development is induced by experience. some researchers (chung, thomson, 1995; de heering, rossion, maurer, 2012; flin 1985; lawrence et al., 2008; mondloch, maurer, ahola, 2006; schwarzer et al., 2010) presented research results indicating a rather early maturity of face recognition ability. chung and thomson (1995); flin (1985); lawrence et al. (2008) pointed out the weakening in face recognition ability in early adolescence (11–12 years old). it is hypothesized that hormonal changes during adolescence could affect the activity of brain structures involved in face recognition process. on the other hand, brain of children under 12 years is not asymmetric for face processing that is typical of adults. at this period, until the right-brain hemisphere advantage occurs for facial information processing (at the onset of adolescence), the ability to recognize faces weakens temporarily (ellis, 1990). the ability to recognize faces depends on various cognitive functions (memory, attention) as well as the choice of appropriate strategy. de heering, rossion, and maurer (2012) claimed that both general cognitive mechanisms and specialised face recognition mechanisms contribute to the recognition of the upright faces. however, the speed of face recognition did not reveal any developmental changes specific to upright faces. adults more rapidly than children recognize both upright and inverted faces. this can be attributed to the overall development of cognitive functions that manifests as the ability to choose deliberate strategies, concentrate on the completion of the task, avoid distractors, concentrate on minor stimuli as well as make rational decision (mckone et al., 2012). on the one hand, age-dependent information processing strategies can reflect the level of maturity of the corresponding neural structures, on the other hand, advanced encoding strategies are possible only in the presence of appropriate maturity of neural structures (chung, thomson, 1995). specific changes in face recognition can be observed in adolescence: social refocusing on peers, tasks posed by this age are being solved (formation of friendships, establishment of romantic relationships). these tasks motivate to search for the new social-emotional components in faces, in other words, the existing face processing system undergoes 12 albina saikauskienė, aušra daugirdienė inner reorganisation. it is likely that this causes a short-term disturbance in the ability to recognize faces (scherf, behrmann, dahl, 2012). face recognition, as other cognitive functions, is susceptible to negative aging-related changes. face recognition quality depends a lot on a person’s age, length of education, state of cognitive functions as well as vision acuity (lott et al., 2005). in the process of face recognition, a special role is performed by the ability to codify configural information. it has been observed that in the natural aging process the sensitivity to this type of information is slowly declining and holistic face processing, which has been improving since childhood until the age of a young adult, begins to decline (schwarzer et al., 2010). this is revealed by the different manifestations of the so-called face inversion effect in the recognition of inverted faces between young and elderly people. due to the face inversion, the processing of configural information gets worse and facial features are not readily perceived as interrelated elements. the elderly experience a weaker effect of inverted faces because of the decreasing sensitivity to configural information (gao et al., 2009; murray, halberstadt, ruffman, 2010). it cannot be unequivocally stated that face recognition is declining with age in all cases. the outcomes of this process can depend on face recognition procedure (bartlett, leslie, 1986), different requirements posed by the task (schwarzer et al., 2010), application of different strategies for facial information analysis (firestone, turk-browne, ryan, 2007). based on the reviewed studies, the following research hypotheses are put forward: 1. the ability to recognize faces reaches its optimal level around the age of 30. 2. adolescents and young adults better memorize and easier recognize previously encountered both upright and inverted faces comparing to older people. me thod participants of the research. 93 subjects participated in the experiment (41 men, 52 women), they were divided into four age groups: 24 adolescents (11–18 years), 22 young adults (20–35 years), 24 middle-aged adults (36–55 years) and 23 senior adults (56–75 years). the difference 13 2015, 17, 7–23 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach in the number of men and women who formed the groups was not significant (from 1 to 3 persons). participants were initially selected using convenience sampling procedure and then divided into four age groups. groups were formed in reference to the age group divisions presented by крайг and бокум (2007) with particular emphasis on the poorly investigated age period between 36 to 55 years. the adult groups consisted of people with different educational background: 36 had university education, 5 – college education, and 28 – secondary education. materials and procedure. black-and-white photographs of adolescents, adult men and women with neutral facial expressions were used for recognition. participants were presented with 80 black-and-white photographs of the same size (10 x 12,5 cm) on the computer screen: 40 images in the upright position and 40 inverted (upside down) ones. there were only a face and neck discernible on the dark grey background panel (pantone cool gray 10ec), the hair and ears were masked. all models were photographed from a one meter distance using panasonic dmc – tz5 camera (optical zoom – 10x, focal length (width) – 28 mm, digital zoom – 4x, lcd display – 3 inches). the pictures were used in the research only with the agreement of the photographed people. researcher interacted with each participant individually. participants were interviewed in their own homes, in a separate room where only the researcher and the participant were present. at the beginning, participants received a written instruction and were additionally informed about the course of the research orally. the research was carried out in two stages consisting of two parts: introductory and the main. in the introductory part of the first stage of the research, participants were presented with 20 photographs with the images of upright faces of different age adolescent, adult men and women faces. participants had to memorize the presented faces. faces on the screen were presented separately, one by one, each face being displayed for 5 seconds with the interval of 3 seconds between each photograph. duration of the presentation of pictures was the same in the introductory and in the main parts, in both stages of the research. the main part of the first stage of research proceeded after a 5 minute break. during it, participants were shown 40 pictures: 20 of which 14 albina saikauskienė, aušra daugirdienė they had already seen in the introductory part, and other 20 were new for them. all of the pictures were displayed one by one in a random order. participants were asked to tell which faces they had already seen, i.e. which faces were familiar for them, and which faces they saw for the first time. responses were recorded by the researcher in the protocol. after a ten minute break, the second stage of the research followed in the same order as the first stage. the difference was that the participants were presented with the images of inverted faces. those stimuli faces that were presented in the main part of the first stage as the new ones were given to memorize at this stage of the research (in the introductory stage). the faces displayed in the introductory part of the first research stage, in this case, were presented in the main part together with the memorized faces. the task for participants in the introductory part of this research stage was to memorize 20 inverted faces and to tell in the main part (40 pictures) which face they had seen before and which they had not. during the research, the precision in which the participants of different age groups recognized already seen faces was recorded. photographs of the faces of different age adolescents, men and women were presented for recognition. faces were shown in two positions: vertical/ upright and turned upside down/inverted. the participants’ responses were codified as follows: “1” for correct answer (the participants indicated correctly which face they had already seen before and which had not), “0” for incorrect answer. the overall duration of the experiment including breaks was about 40 minutes. calculation of the research data. the distribution of variable estimates in groups is close to normal, therefore, one way anova was applied for the comparison of means of four independent samples. for the comparison of means of two dependent samples (recognition of upright and inverted faces), paired t test was used. results the comparison of the results between different age groups. to compare mean estimates of the four age groups, one way anova was used. the descriptive face recognition statistics is presented in table 1. 15 2015, 17, 7–23 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach table 1. the descriptive statistics of face recognition (mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum values) stimuli faces (photographs) groups of participants* n m sd min max the upright position of faces 1 2 3 4 overall: 24 22 24 23 93 29,54 32,91 30,83 27,91 30,27 3,161 3,264 2,776 3,161 3,539 24 25 26 23 23 36 37 36 35 37 the inverted position of faces 1 2 3 4 overall: 24 22 24 23 93 25,58 27,50 25,21 22,61 25,20 2,448 3,112 3,611 3,085 3,497 21 22 19 18 18 30 37 32 28 37 note: * 1 – adolescents; 2 – young adults; 3 – middle-aged adults; 4 – senior adults; n – number of participants; m – mean, sd – standard deviation, min – minimum value; max – maximum value. table 2. the comparison of mean estimates of face recognition between different age groups stimuli faces (photographs) groups of participants mean difference p the upright position of faces adolescents / young adults –3,367 0,002 adolescents / middle-aged adults –1,291 0,474 adolescents / senior adults 1,628 0,278 young adults / middle-aged adults 2,075 0,112 young adults / senior adults 4,996 0,000 middle-aged adults / senior adults 2,920 0,009 the inverted position of faces adolescents / young adults –1,916 0,161 adolescents / middle-aged adults 0,375 0,975 adolescents / senior adults 2,974 0,008 young adults / middle-aged adults 2,291 0,065 young adults / senior adults 4,891 0,000 middle-aged adults / senior adults 2,599 0,025 note: p value for significant difference between groups was < 0,05. 16 albina saikauskienė, aušra daugirdienė the comparison of mean estimates of face recognition between groups based on tukey hsd criterion (table 2) revealed that young adults recognized upright faces significantly more accurately compared to adolescents and senior adults. statistically significant differences can be also observed between middle-aged and senior adults. it was found that the results of senior adults’ ability to recognize inverted faces were significantly worse than those of other age groups. the comparison of face recognition results between different age groups (table 3) shows that the age differences determine data distribution of 26,2% (η² = 0,262) of upright face and 24,4% (η² = 0,244) of inverted face recognition. the remaining differences in the face recognition could be attributed to individual traits of participants (for example, educational background, the state of cognitive functions, experience). table 3. the comparison of face recognition between different age groups stimuli faces (photographs) description of comparisons df mean square f p η² * the upright position of faces between age groups within the group the whole sample 301,344 850,936 1152,280 3 89 92 100,448 9,561 10,506 0,000 0,262 the inverted p osition of faces between age groups within the group the whole sample 274,348 850,770 1125,118 3 89 92 91,449 9,559 9,567 0,000 0,244 note: * η² – variable dependency ratio; p value for significant difference between groups was < 0,05 the results show (figure 1) that face recognition reaches its highest level at the age of a young adult and then begins to decline gradually. the results of the present research indicate that young adults, in comparison to other age groups, best of all recognise faces in both positions (vertical and inverted), however, statistically significant differences can be observed in the recognition of upright and inverted faces with regard to the age of the faces presented as stimuli. significant differences were found in other groups as well (table 4). based on the presented data (paired t-test was applied), statistically significant differences can be noticed in the accuracy of upright and inverted faces’ recognition in almost all age groups. no significant differences were found in the adolescent and young adult groups for recognizing faces of the elderly people. 17 2015, 17, 7–23 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach table 4. upright and inver ted face recognition in separate age groups stimuli faces (photographs) groups of participants* n mean (upright / inverted faces) t p adolescents 1 2 3 4 24 22 24 23 8,33 / 6,83 8,55 / 6,91 8,13 / 6,71 7,74 / 5,96 4,628 4,739 5,146 6,512 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 young adults 1 2 3 4 24 22 24 23 7,00 / 6,25 8,36 / 7,36 7,38 / 6,17 6,52 / 5,17 2,642 2,730 3,550 3,875 0,015 0,013 0,002 0,001 middle-aged adults 1 2 3 4 24 22 24 23 6,67 / 5,42 8,18 / 6,09 8,21 / 6,00 6,57 / 5,43 3,315 8,521 6,033 4,930 0,003 0,000 0,000 0,000 senior adults 1 2 3 4 24 22 24 23 7,54 / 7,08 7,82 / 7,14 7,13 / 6,33 7,09 / 6,04 1,306 1,850 2,363 4,521 0,204 0,078 0,027 0,000 note: * 1 – adolescents; 2 – young adults; 3 – middle-aged adults; 4 – senior adults; n – number of participants; p value for significant difference between groups was < 0,05 figure 1. differences in face recognition in different age groups 18 albina saikauskienė, aušra daugirdienė discussion the aim of the research was to assess the difference in human ability to recognize faces in different age periods: from adolescence (11 years old) to an old age (75 years old). the analysis of the results showed that age related face recognition differences are reflected across different age groups. it has been observed that young adults (20–35 years) recognize faces best of all, followed by middle-aged adults (36–55 years), adolescents (11–18 years) and senior adults (56–75 years) (figure 1). these results confirm that face recognition improves in adolescence, reaches its highest level at the age of a young adult, then begins to decline, and in old age reaches lower level than in adolescence. differences in face recognition between different age groups. the analysis of the research results revealed differences that exist across all age groups (table 2). most frequently statistically significant differences were found between young and senior adults as well as young adults and adolescents. such results can be explained by the fact that there is an intense development in face recognition ability in adolescence (carey, diamond, 1994; lawrence et al., 2008; mondloch, maurer, ahola, 2006; scherf, behrmann, dahl, 2012) which, however, does not match to the adults’ ability to recognize faces. in the senior age group, especially after the age of 70, the ability to recognize faces weakens markedly (bartlett, leslie, 1986), whereas in the group of young adults, the ability to recognize faces reaches its peak (germine, duchaine, nakayama, 2011). compared with other age groups, less significant differences were found between young and middle-aged adults. it can be claimed that in the middle-aged group no significant decline in face recognition exists. middle-aged participants better than older ones recognized upright and inverted faces, although differences were not significant in all cases. few statistically significant differences in face recognition were found between adolescents and middle-aged adults as well as between adolescents and senior adults. the possible explanation for this phenomenon is that face recognition improves in adolescence and frequently coincides with middle-aged adults’ level that has already begun to decline. a similar explanation could be given with regard to senior adults: people older than 70 keep the same face recognition level as 19 2015, 17, 7–23 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach in the period of early adolescence, only later more pronounced differences begin to appear. the research results show that young adults, in comparison to other age groups, better recognize upright and inverted faces. nevertheless, for this age group, as for other participants, statistically significant differences were found in recognition of upright and inverted faces (table 4). significant differences were not observed only in adolescent and young adult groups for recognizing faces of elderly people. the inverted faces are not recognized as well because of the following reasons: face inversion worsens processing of the configural information (gao et al., 2009; murray, halberstadt, ruffman, 2010; searcy, bartlett, 1996; sergent, 1984), people have greater experience in observaing upright more than inverted faces (germine, duchaine, nakayama, 2011; schwaninger, carbon, leder, 2003). the task of inverted face recognition was included in the research aiming to find how participants of different age process facial information: rely more frequently on configural information or facial features. the comparison of face recognition results between groups showed that senior adults demonstrated the worst results when recognizing inverted faces. statistically significant differences were found when comparing results of this age group and other groups. it is in line with the data found in academic literature, according to which, senior people are affected to a lesser extent by the inverted face effect because of the decreasing sensitivity to configural facial information (gao et al., 2009; schwarzer et al., 2010). the analysis of the research data highlighted a number of limitations of the research: 1. the break (of 10 minutes) between research stages was too short. it was noted that towards the end of the research, several elderly participants had difficulty concentrating on task accomplishment. it is likely that the memory and attention load required from the participants during 40-minute research causes fatigue in older participants. 2. the fact that the same faces were used as stimuli in both stages of the research just changing their purpose – stimuli faces shown as new in the first stage of the research (the upright position of faces) were presented for memorizing in the second stage – was the limitation as well. 20 albina saikauskienė, aušra daugirdienė during the research, three participants hesitated about the position they saw one face in; however, while actually 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(2007). психология развития (9 изд.). санкт-петербург: питер. 23 2015, 17, 7–23 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach skirtingo amžiaus žmonių veidų atpa žinimo ypatumai lie tuvos populiacijoje albina saikauskienė, aušra daugirdienė lietuvos edukologijos universitetas, lietuva santrauka. problema. veidų atpažinimo funkcija socialinės sąveikos procese ypač svarbi. nepaisant kasdien įgyjamos patirties, pastebimas senyvo amžiaus žmonių gebėjimo atpažinti veidus silpnėjimas. pasaulyje veidų atpažinimo tema nėra visiškai nauja, tačiau tyrėjai pateikia prieštaringus rezultatus ir iškelia papildomus klausimus. tikslas. tyrimu siekiama nustatyti, kokiame amžiuje žmonės geriausiai atpažįsta veidus, atskleisti šio gebėjimo silpnėjimo pradžią, nustatyti gebėjimo atpažinti veidus skirtumus tarp įvairaus amžiaus žmonių grupių. metodika. tyrime naudotas eksperimento metodas. tyrimo metodika parengta atsižvelgiant į panašaus pobūdžio tyrimus (germine et al., 2011, hay, cox, 2000, tanaka, farah, 1993). tiriamiesiems buvo pateikta 80 nespalvotų skirtingo amžiaus žmonių nuotraukų, kurias jie turėjo atpažinti. rezultatai ir išvados. tyrimo rezultatai atskleidė, kad gebėjimas atpažinti veidus optimalus pasiekus jauno suaugusiojo amžių (20–35 m.). palyginus skirtingas amžiaus grupes paaiškėjo, kad jauni suaugusieji (20–35 m.) anksčiau matytus įvairaus amžiaus žmonių veidus įsimena ir atpažįsta geriau nei paaugliai (11–18 m.) ir vyresnio amžiaus asmenys (56–75 m.). pagrindiniai žodžiai: veidų atpažinimas, vertikalioje padėtyje esančių veidų atpažinimas, apverstų veidų atpažinimas. received: december 22, 2014 accepted: october 19, 2015 137 contributors eglė adomavičiūtė, psychologist, vytautas magnus university. research interests: health behavior change. address: vytautas magnus university, department of theoretical psychology, jonavos g. 66-330, lt-44191 kaunas, lithuania phone/fax: +370 37 327 824 e-mail: egadomaviciute@gmail.com rita bandzevičienė, phd, professor at mykolas romeris university, faculty of social technologies, institute of psychology. research interests: stress and coping, social inclusion, psychological well-being. address: mykolas romeris university, faculty of social technologies, institute of psychology, ateities g. 20, lt-08303 vilnius, lithuania phone: +370 5 271 4625 fax: +370 5 267 6000 e-mail: rbandze@mruni.eu sherry crow, phd, associate professor at the university of nebraska kearney, department of teacher education. research interests: information literacy, intrinsic motivation, school librarianship, storytelling.  address: university of nebraska kearney, college of education (c116), kearney, ne 68849  phone: (308) 865-8814  e-mail: crowsr@unk.edu aušra daugirdienė, phd of biomedical sciences, associate professor, lithuanian university of educational sciences, faculty of education, department of psychology didactics scientific interests: experimental cognitive psychology, neuropsychology and visual psychophysics. address: lithuania university of educational sciences, faculty of education, studentų g. 39, lt-08106 vilnius, lithuania phone: (85)273 08 95 e-mail: ausra.daugirdiene@leu.lt dena harshbarger, phd, assistant professor at the university of nebraska kearney, department of teacher education. research interests: differentiated instruction, elementary science education, effective teaching.  address: university of nebraska kearney, college of education (b-165), kearney, ne 68849  phone: (308) 865-8914  e-mail: harshbargedk@unk.edu international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2015 / 17 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) 138 christopher m. knoell, phd, associate professor at the university of nebraska kearney, department of teacher education. research interests: student-teacher relationships, elementary mathematics instruction, effective teaching.  address: university of nebraska kearney, college of education (b-164), kearney, ne 68849  phone: (308) 865-8339  e-mail: knoellcm@unk.edu carrie kracl, phd, associate professor at the university of nebraska kearney, department of teacher education. research interests: literacy, classroom management, effective teaching.  address: university of nebraska kearney, college of education (b-161), kearney, ne 68849  phone: (308) 865-8181  e-mail: kraclcl@unk.edu jolanta latakienė, clinical psychologist at vilnius university, faculty of philosophy, department of clinical and organizational psychology. research interests: qualitative analysis of adolescent and adult suicide attempters’ experience. address: vilnius university, department of clinical and organizational psychology, universiteto g. 9/1, lt-01513 vilnius, lithuania phone: +370 5 2667605  e-mail: latakiene.jolanta@gmail.com paulius skruibis, dr, clinical psychologist and lecturer at vilnius university, faculty of philosophy, department of clinical and organizational psychology. research interests: suicide, crisis and bereavement. address: vilnius university, department of clinical and organizational psychology, universiteto g. 9/1, lt-01513 vilnius, lithuania phone: +370 5 2667605  e-mail: paulius@jaunimolinija.lt jurga misiūnienė, phd, researcher and a lecturer at vytautas magnus university, faculty of social sciences, department of theoretical psychology; school psychologist at vytautas magnus university “rasa” gymnasium. research interests: creativity and intelligence, the importance of personal and environmental factors on the achievements in academic activity. address: vytautas magnus university, department of theoretical psychology, jonavos g. 66-330, lt-44191 kaunas, lithuania phone/fax: +370 37 327 824 e-mail: j.misiuniene@smf.vdu.lt contributors 139 brigita miežienė, phd student, social sciences, psychology, vytautas magnus university, faculty of social sciences, department of theoretical psychology. research interests: health behavior change, physical activity, health education. address: vytautas magnus university, department of theoretical psychology, jonavos g. 66-330, lt-44191 kaunas, lithuania phone/fax: +370 37 327 824 e-mail: b.mieziene@smf.vdu.lt eglė mockaitytė, m.s., alumnus of vytautas magnus university, faculty of social sciences, department of theoretical psychology. research interests: positive and negative aspects of creativity, instruments for creativity measuring, dark triad personality traits. address: vytautas magnus university, department of theoretical psychology, jonavos g. 66-330, lt-44191 kaunas, lithuania phone/fax: +370 37 327 824 email: egle.mockait@gmail.com kristina paradnikė, phd student of psychology at mykolas romeris university, faculty of social technologies, institute of psychology. research interests: career, developmental and educational psychology, psychological well-being. address: mykolas romeris university, faculty of social technologies, institute of psychology, ateities g. 20, lt-08303 vilnius, lithuania phone: +370 5 271 4625 fax: +370 5 267 6000 e-mail: kristina.paradnike@gmail.com albina saikauskienė, master of psychological sciences, assistant at lithuanian university of educational sciences, faculty of education, department of psychology didactics. research interests: developmental psychology, educational psychology. address: lithuanian university of educational sciences, faculty of education, studentų g. 39, lt-08106 vilnius, lithuania phone: +370 5 273 08 95 e-mail: albina.saikauskiene@leu.lt pedro sánchez-escobedo, md. phd, senior lecturer at the college of education, universidad autónoma de yucatán in méxico. he is a member of the prestigious mexican-national research system and founder member of the mexican national educational research association. to date, he has published more than 100 original research papers and 7 books. research interests: curriculum design, talent development and gifted education. address: po box 12o7. facultad de educación, uady. mérida yucatán mexico cp97000. phone: +521478681 e-mail: psanchez@correo.uady.mx 2015, 17, 137–140 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 140 liuda šinkariova, phd, professor, social sciences, psychology, vytautas magnus university, faculty of social sciences, department of theoretical psychology. research interests: health behaviour change, rehabilitation. address: vytautas magnus university, department of theoretical psychology, jonavos g. 66-330, lt-44191 kaunas, lithuania phone/fax: +370 37 327 824 e-mail: l.sinkariova@smf.vdu.lt contributors 35 scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2016 / 19 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.19.2 c atastrophizing of pain as a predic tor of preand acute postoper ative pain in patients with c arpal tunnel syndrome aistė pranckevičienė1, neuroscience institute, lithuanian university of health sciences, lithuania justina dimšaitė medical academy of the lithuanian university of health sciences, lithuania antanas budėnas medical academy of the lithuanian university of health sciences, lithuania andrius radžiūnas, neuroscience institute, lithuanian university of health sciences, lithuania abstract. background and purpose. research shows that pain catastrophizing might be an important predictor of pain related outcomes in patients with various health conditions despite of objective severity of the illness. this study aimed to evaluate prognostic value of catastrophizing the pain in predicting pain intensity before and one day after the surgery for median nerve decompression in a sample of patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (cts). methods. 53 patients with electrodiagnostically proven cts participated in this study. patients were assessed before and one day after the surgery for median nerve decompression using the pain catastrophizing scale (pcs), and the short form of the mcgill pain questionnaire (sf-mpq). intensity of pre and acute postoperative pain was evaluated using visual analogue scales. results. level of reported pain decreased significantly one day after the surgery. no significant correlations were observed between pain catastrophizing and average level of pain during a week before and one day after the surgery. correlation was observed between highest experienced level of pain after the surgery and preoperative total pcs 1 address for correspondence: aistė pranckevičienė, neuroscience institute, laboratory of clinical research, lithuanian university of health sciences, eiveniu st. 4, lt-50009 kaunas, lithuania. e-mail: aiste.pranckeviciene@lsmuni.lt aistė pranckevičienė, justina dimšaitė, antanas budėnas, andrius radžiūnas 36 score. however, pain catastrophizing did not predict neither preoperative nor acute postoperative pain one day after the surgery in multivariate analyses when other study variables were taken into account. sensory dimension of sf-mpq was a better predictor of preoperative pain. none of pain and demographic variables predicted acute postoperative pain. conclusions. pain catastrophizing was not found to be a significant predictor of preor acute postoperative pain in cts patients. keywords: carpal tunnel syndrome, pain catastrophizing, pain intensity, surgery, predictive validity. introduc tion carpal tunnel syndrome (cts), that is, the idiopathic median nerve neuropathy at the carpal tunnel, is the most common mono neuropathy of the upper extremity (makanji et al., 2012), affecting up to 5% of the general population (dale et al., 2013). the condition occurs when the median nerve, one of the hand’s major nerves, becomes squeezed or compressed in the wrist area. the most frequent symptoms of cts include numbness, tingling, burning, and pain in the first three fingers of the hand; the symptoms usually become more intensive during the night (tamburin et al., 2008; bhatt, sheth, vyas, 2015). about 50% of the patients also report motor symptoms such as hand weakness and difficulties in grasping small objects (tamburin et al., 2008). early symptoms of cts can often be relieved by giving the wrist enough rest, avoiding certain activities that intensify pain, wrist splinting, nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs or injections of corticosteroids. however, if the pressure on the median nerve continues, it can lead to serious nerve damage and worsen symptoms. in this case, surgery to release the pressure of the median nerve is recommended (lane et al., 2014). although damage of median nerve might be confirmed and evaluated by means of objective electrophysiological measures, makanji et al. (2012) showed that objective clinical data does not directly predict the level of pain and disability in cts patients. some patients have no symptoms despite the presence of severe electrophysiological findings as opposed to patients with severe symptoms despite objectively measured mild electrophysiological dysfunction (sonahata et al., 2013). according to nunez, vranceanu and ring (2010), illness behavior and illness related emotions such as depression or a tendency to exaggerate 2016, 19, 35–47 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 37 noxious stimuli are better predictors of pain intensity than demographic factors and objective pathophysiological measures in cts patients. thus, psychological characteristics of patients, and especially illness related reactions such as depression or a tendency to catastrophize, might serve as important predictors of treatment outcomes (lozano, calderón, paiva, ring, 2008). sullivan, bishop and pivic (1995) studied the role of pain catastrophizing which might be defined as a negative cognitive-affective response to anticipated or actual pain. magnification (the propensity to amplify pain), rumination (the tendency to relive painful experience) and feelings of helplessness in pain situation are considered as main components of pain catastrophizing (sullivan, bishop, pivik, 1995). special attention is given to the prognostic value of catastrophizing as it is believed that patients with a tendency to exaggerate pain might be susceptible to a higher distress response to aversive medical procedures (sullivan, bishop, pivik, 1995). correlation between pain catastrophizing and array of clinical pain-related outcomes, such as pain intensity, pain-related activity interference, disability, more frequent seeking of medical care and narcotic usage, postsurgical pain, and decreased mental health, in various pain patients have been found (quartana, campbell, edwards, 2009; kim et al., 2015; vranceanu et al., 2010; kremer et al., 2013). quartana, campbell and edwards (2009) indicated that a high level of pain catastrophizing should be considered as a risk factor for adverse acute and long-term pain-related outcomes. furthermore, pain catastrophizing and pain behavior have been found to predict days lost from work and failure to return to work in subacute and chronic low back pain patients (fernandes et al., 2012). the growing need for multidisciplinary approach orientated towards the early detection and treatment of risk factors of a subjective pain and disability when providing medical care for patients with cts is acknowledged (das de, vranceanu, ring, 2013; yang et al., 2016, teunis et al., 2015). therefore, this study evaluated the prognostic value of pain catastrophizing in predicting pain intensity before and one day after the surgery used for median nerve decompression. aistė pranckevičienė, justina dimšaitė, antanas budėnas, andrius radžiūnas 38 me thods sample and procedure ethical approval for this study was obtained from the lithuanian university of health sciences bioethical center, on october 2015. all eligible subjects read and sign an informed consent form prior to participating in the study. to ensure anonymity, a unique study identification number was allocated to each subject on recruitment. patients admitted to neurosurgery clinic at hospital of lithuanian university of health sciences from november 2015 to march 2016 for carpal tunnel release surgery who had clinical symptoms of cts which was electrodiagnostically proven were invited to participate in this study. patient agreement along with decreased median nerve conduction velocity (≤35 m/s) at the level of carpal tunnel, proven by electrodiagnostic testing, were the main inclusion criteria in the present study. the final study sample consisted of 53 patients, 12 (22.6%) males and 41 (77.4%) females, mean aged 60.5 years, sd – 13.0, ranging from 36 to 88 years. altogether, 23 (43.4%) of the patients had cts in their left, and 30 (56.6%) in their right hand. the electrodiagnostical assessments were performed by two experienced neurologists using a standard nerve conduction test method for cts (described in svilpauskaitė et al., 2006) with decrease in median nerve sensory or motor conduction being the key criterion. questionnaires were introduced to patients upon their arrival to the hospital before the surgery by two fifth year medical students participating in the study. patients were asked to answer questionnaires before the surgery and to mark average and highest pain after the surgery on a visual analog scale next morning. participants were required to fill out the questionnaires themselves, but in some cases, when patients were incapable to read or write on their own, the questions were read out loud and/or their answers were marked for them by the same medical students. measures pain catastrophizing was assessed using the pain catastrophizing scale (pcs, sullivan, bishop, pivik, 1995). the pcs is a public domain and can be freely used for research purposes (sullivan, 2009). permission 2016, 19, 35–47 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 39 to translate the pcs was obtained from m. j. l. sullivan. the lithuanian version of this scale was prepared by authors of this article according to the recommendations for the translation and adaptation of psychological questionnaires (sousa & rojjanasrirat, 2011). steps of forward and back translation by two independent translators, review of the translations by a field expert, and a pilot testing with several patients were used to develop final lithuanian version of the scale. the pcs contains thirteen items rated in 5-point scale ranging from 0 – not at all, to 4 – all the time. three subscales representing main components of catastrophizing, rumination, magnification and helplessness were calculated besides the total scale score. pcs demonstrated adequate reliability, cronbach alpha ranging from .74 to .90. a short form version of the mcgill pain questionnaire (sf-mpq, r.melzack, 1987, contact for information and permission to use: mapi research trust, lyon, france – internet: https://eprovide.mapi-trust.org/) was used as an additional measure of pain. the questionnaire contains 15 descriptions of pain which are rated on a 4 item-intensity scale ranging from 0 – none, to 3 – severe. three pain scores were derived from sf-mpq: affective dimension of pain (4 items), sensory dimension of pain (11 items) and total pain score. lithuanian version of sf-mpq demonstrated good reliability in previous research (juozapavičienė, 2015). in current study, cronbach alpha ranged from .76 for an affective subscale to .87 for a total pain score. intensity of preand acute postoperative pain was evaluated using visual analogue scales (vas). preoperatively patients were asked to evaluate average intensity of their pain during the past week and to indicate the highest intensity of experienced pain during the past week. one day after the surgery, patients were asked to evaluate average as well as highest pain during the last 12 hours. descriptive statistics were used to describe study sample and illustrate intensity of the pain. nonparametric wilcoxon signed ranks test was used to evaluate changes in pain intensity after the surgery. correlation analysis was used to clarify relationship between pain catastrophizing and pain intensity. finally, linear regression analysis was employed to evaluate relationship between pain catastrophizing and pain intensity in the context of other study variables. data was analyzed using the spss for windows. aistė pranckevičienė, justina dimšaitė, antanas budėnas, andrius radžiūnas 40 results the reported pain decreased significantly one day after the surgery. highest reported pain decreased from 6.4 (sd 2.7) to 3.3 (sd 2.4) points (wilcoxon signed ranks test z = -5.3, p < .01); average pain decreased from 5.9 (sd 2.7) to 2.6 (sd 2.0) points (wilcoxon signed ranks test z = -5.1, p < .01) (table 1). table 1. descriptive statistic of study variables study variable mean sd minimum maximum age 60.47 13.03 36 88 highest level of pain before the surgery 6.42 2.66 0 10 average level of pain before the surgery 5.89 2.74 0 10 highest level of pain intensity one day after the surgery 3.32 2.41 0 9 average level of pain one day after the surgery 2.60 1.99 0 7 pcs totala 23.77 11.74 2 49 pcs rumination 9.25 4.15 0 16 pcs magnification 4.21 3.45 0 12 pcs helplessness 10.32 5.67 0 23 sf-mpq totalb 15.11 9.73 0 42 sf-mpq sensory score 12.23 7.46 0 33 sf-mpq affective score 2.89 3.11 0 11 a pain catastrophizing scale; b mcgill pain questionnaire, short form. total score of pcs ranged from 2 to 49; mean – 23.8, sd – 11.7. scores did not deviate significantly from a normal distribution (shapiro-wilk test, p = .41). pcs scores did not differ significantly between gender 2016, 19, 35–47 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 41 (females: mean (sd) 25.2 (12.0); and males: 18.8 (9.5), t = -1.7, p = .10). no correlation with age was observed (pearson r = -.02). no correlations were observed between total pcs score and average level of pain during a week before the surgery (table 2). mild correlations were observed between helplessness and reported highest levels of pain before the surgery. average reported pain one day after the surgery did not significantly correlate with preoperative catastrophizing of pain. however, weak but significant correlation was observed between the highest experienced level of pain after the surgery and preoperative total pcs score. moderate correlations were observed between pcs and sf-mpq scores. table 2. relationship between pcs and other measures of pain. pearson r rumination magnification helplessness total pcs score highest level of pain before the surgery .20 .15 .28* .25 average level of pain during a week before the surgery .08 .06 .11 .10 highest level of pain one day after the surgery .26 .23 .25 .28* average level of pain one day after the surgery .18 .15 .19 .20 sf-mpq sensory dimension .37** .31* .40** .41** sf-mpq affective dimension .34** .53** .44** .49** sf-mpq total pain score .39** .40** .45** .47** p < .05, **p < .01. to evaluate prognostic value of pcs for the prediction of preand acute postoperative pain in cts patients, linear regression analysis was employed. levels of preand postoperative pain were predicted by the total score of preoperative pcs, age, gender, sf-mpq sensory and affective dimensions. aistė pranckevičienė, justina dimšaitė, antanas budėnas, andrius radžiūnas 42 pain catastrophizing predicted neither preoperative nor acute postoperative pain one day after the surgery. higher levels of preoperative pain were predicted by the sensory dimension of sf-mpq. analyzed variables failed to predict levels of acute postoperative pain, model of regression for average and highest postoperative pain was non-significant. table 3. summar y of regression models for the prediction of preand acute postoperative pain in cts patients highest preoperative pain average preoperative pain average pain one day after the surgery highest pain one day after the surgery regression models statistics adj.r2 .16 .22 .01 .10 f 2.92 2.61 1.05 2.14 p .02 .04 .40 .08 regression coefficients std.ß p std.ß p std.ß p std.ß p pcs total .01 .96 -.08 .60 .11 .50 .11 .49 gender .20 .14 .01 .93 -.01 .97 .05 .40 age -.07 .60 .19 .17 .11 .46 .11 .43 sf-mpq affective dimension .11 .54 .04 .84 .31 .11 .37 .06 sf-mpq sensory dimension .35 .05 .39 .03 -.15 .44 -.01 .94 discussion this study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of catastrophizing the pain in predicting pain intensity before and one day after the surgery for median nerve decompression in carpal tunnel syndrome. fifty-three patients with cts with an objectively proven decreased median nerve conduction velocity participated in this study. patients’ selection based on the objective electrodiagnostic data is one of the major strengths 2016, 19, 35–47 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 43 of this study. although some surgeons still base their surgery decisions on patients’ complaints and clinical examination only, makanji et al. (2012) stressed that absence of objectively verifiable pathophysiology represents either an inaccurate diagnosis or a very mild disease. thus, objectified patients’ selection in this study resulted in a more homogeneous sample; patients with possible complaints of psychological nature were excluded. to our knowledge, this was the first study analyzing the predictive value of lithuanian version of pcs. lithuanian version demonstrated adequate internal consistency and that was close to that reported by the scale author (sullivan, 2009). level of pain catastrophizing in our sample was somewhat higher than reported by the scale author: in our sample, mean for the total score of pcs was 23.8, sd – 11.7; while sullivan (2009) reported mean to be 20.9, sd – 12.5 in a sample of 851 injured workers. this difference might have been expected as our sample consisted of patients with chronic conditions pain being one of the primary complaints. scores of the pcs correlated significantly with other measures of pain. correlation analysis revealed that pain catastrophizing is closely related both to affective and sensory aspects of pain measured by sf-mpq. although correlations with other similar measures might be interpreted as indicators of questionnaire validity, relatively strong correlations also increase the risk of possible constructs redundancy (leung, 2012), which is not desirable when applying questionnaires in clinical practice. thus, evaluation of prognostic value of pain catastrophizing in the context of other possible pain predictors is important while investigating utility of pcs in clinical practice. contrary to our expectations, pain catastrophizing did not predict neither preoperative nor acute postoperative pain on the following day after the surgery in our study. kim et al. (2015) did not find relationship between preoperative catastrophizing of pain and surgery outcomes in a sample of 138 patients with lumbar spinal stenosis as well. on the other hand, in a study by london et al. (2014), patients scoring high on depression or pain catastrophizing reported clinically worse hand function before and after the treatment regardless of the type of treatment received. in another study of 120 patients who underwent minor hand surgery, the intensity of the pain at the time of suture removal was aistė pranckevičienė, justina dimšaitė, antanas budėnas, andrius radžiūnas 44 related to depression, pain catastrophizing, pain anxiety and self-efficacy (vrancianu et al., 2010). pain catastrophizing was related to greater perceived disability after a limited incision open carpal tunnel release in a sample of 82 electrodiagnostically confirmed cts patients (lozano, calderón, paiva, ring, 2008). our results might have the following limitations: only patients with objectively confirmed and relatively severe cts were included in the study. it is possible that in these circumstances, pcs reflected not psychological overreaction to pain but objective reaction to cts related symptoms which were persistent and uncontrollable. thus, one of the hypotheses might be that in our sample, the meaning of pcs was changed and validity of this scale for pain prediction was lost. however, this hypothesis should be confirmed by a qualitative study asking cts patients to share their reactions and thoughts by answering pcs questions. none of the recorded variables predicted pain intensity one day after the surgery. these results might be influenced by the short assessment period and possible effect of analgesic medication used during and after the surgery. although we expected that patients with a tendency to exaggerate pain would experience more pain immediately after the surgery, this prediction was not confirmed. a longer follow-up time might be needed to eliminate possible effect of pain sedation. the lithuanian version of pcs still lacks appropriate cultural adaptation and validation of the construct and norms. our sample size did not allow us to investigate pcs factor structure, thus we used only total pcs score for pain intensity predictions. future studies investigating construct validity of lithuanian pcs version as well as prognostic value of individual pcs scales are suggested. to conclude, our results do not confirm that pain catastrophizing constitutes a significant predictor of preor acute postoperative pain in cts patients. sensory dimension of sf-mpq was a better predictor of preoperative pain. none of the demographic or pain related variables predicted acute postoperative pain. qualitative and quantitative studies investigating pcs validity are vital to justify the use of this psychological instrument in clinical practice. 2016, 19, 35–47 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 45 references bhatt, n. g., sheth, m. s., vyas, n. j. 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(2010). predictors of pain intensity and disability after minor hand surgery. journal of hand surgery (american volume), 35(6), 956-960. doi: 10.1016/j.jhsa.2010.02.001. yang, s. y., bogosian, a., moss-morris, r., mccracken, l. m. (2016). healthcare professionals’ perceptions of psychological treatment for chronic pain in singapore: challenges, barriers, and the way forward. disability and rehabilitation, 38 (17), 1643-1651. doi: 10.3109/09638288.2015.1107635. 2016, 19, 35–47 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 47 sk ausmo k atastrofiz avimo sąsa jos su priešoper acinio ir ūmaus pooper acinio sk ausmo intensy vumu riešo k analo sindromu sergančių pacientų imt yje aistė pranckevičienė lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universitetas, neuromokslų institutas, lietuva justina dimšaitė, antanas budėnas lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universitetas, medicinos akademija, lietuva andrius r adžiūnas lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universitetas, neuromokslų institutas, lietuva santrauka. problema. moksliniai tyrimai rodo, jog polinkis katastrofizuoti skausmą prognozuoja įvairių su skausmu susijusių būklių gydymo išeitis nepriklausomai nuo objektyvaus sutrikimo ar negalios sunkumo. šiuo tyrimu siekiama įvertinti dėl riešo kanalo sindromo patiriamo skausmo ir skausmo katastrofizavimo sąsajas prieš medialinio nervo dekompresijos operaciją ir praėjus vienai dienai po jos. metodika. tyrime dalyvavo 53 pacientai, kuriems riešo kanalo sindromas patvirtintas elektrodiagnostiškai. pacientai atsakė į skausmo katastrofizavimo skalės (pain catastrophizing scale (pcs)) ir trumposios mcgill skausmo klausimyno formos (a short form of the mcgill pain questionnaire (sf-mpq)) klausimus prieš operaciją ir pagal vizualinės analogijos skales įvertino patiriamo skausmo intensyvumą prieš operaciją ir praėjus vienai dienai po jos. rezultatai. praėjus vienai dienai po medialinio nervo dekompresijos operacijos skausmo intensyvumas reikšmingai sumažėjo. polinkis katastrofizuoti skausmą nekoreliavo su vidutiniu patirto skausmo intensyvu savaitę prieš operaciją ar praėjus dienai po jos. silpna, bet statistiškai reikšminga koreliacija nustatyta tarp suminio pcs skalės įverčio ir didžiausio skausmo intensyvumo po operacijos. visgi skausmo katastrofizavimas neprognozavo skausmo intensyvumo prieš operaciją ar po jos, kai analizėje buvo atsižvelgta į kitus veiksnius. sf-mpq sensorinis skausmo rodiklis buvo stipriau susiję su priešoperaciniu skausmu nei polinkis katastrofizuoti skausmą. nė vienas iš analizuotų demografinių ar skausmo rodiklių neprognozavo pooperacinio skausmo intensyvumo. išvados. tyrimo rezultatai nepatvirtino prielaidos, kad polinkis katastrofizuoti skausmą leidžia prognozuoti riešo kanalo sindromu sergančių pacientų prieš operaciją ir po jos patiriamo skausmo intensyvumą. pagrindiniai žodžiai: riešo kanalo sindromas, skausmo katastrofizavimas, skausmo intensyvumas, chirurginis gydymas, prognostinis validumas. received: 2016-11-09 accepted: 2017-02-17 scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2016 / 18 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.18.1 components of existential crisis: a theore tic al analysis joana butėnaitė, jolanta sondaitė, antanas mockus mykolas romeris university, lithuania abstract. research problem: it is important for psychologists and psychotherapists working with people experiencing different difficulties to understand their experiences of existential crisis. a perspective of existential crisis is presented through special experiences connected with finality and infinite. the attempt is made to present a holistic understanding of existential crisis, differentiating the main components and aspects of existential crisis. after such explanations, it is possible to take a comprehensive look at theories and empirical studies of existential crisis. purpose: to differentiate and analyze the components and aspects of an existential crisis. method: theoretical analysis, which includes the comparison and synthesis of scientific literature and the interpretation of data. results and conclusion: to differentiate the following components of an existential crisis: the emotional, cognitive and behavioral. the emotional component includes these aspects: emotional pain, despair, helplessness, disturbed sense of integrity, emotional vulnerability, guilt, fear, anxiety and loneliness. the cognitive component includes these aspects: loss of meaning and goals, realization of own end, loss of personal values, decision-making. the behavioral component is characterized by these aspects: restraining actions, rituals, relationship loss, health problems, addictions, anti-social behavior and the need for therapy. keywords: existential realities, limited situation, emotional pain introduc tion research psychologistshave long been exploring people facing various crises and the impact of those crises on their lives. an existential crisis differentiates from other crises in that an existential crisis includes the inner conflicts and anxieties that accompany human responsibility, independence, freedom, issues of purpose and commitment (gilliland  &  james, 1993). according to yalom (1980), existential therapy highlights these existential realities: death, meaninglessness, freedom 9 joana butėnaitė, jolanta sondaitė, antanas mockus 10 (responsibility) and isolation, which cause psychological problems and have no ultimate answers. existential crisis is defined as a moment at which an individual questions the very foundations of his life: whether his life has any meaning, purpose or value (james, 2007). so in this article, existential crisis is defined as a confrontation and an experienced relationship of the existential realities. one can notice that in the scientific literature, the concept of existential crisis is not united and has different meanings. some authors argue that existential crisis is realized as a “limit situation” where very own survival is in danger (turner, 1969; as cited in yang et al., 2010). facing such alimited situation can cause a crisis that will eventually become existential (yang et al., 2010). this confirms the approach, expressed by hesletand frey (1975), that an existential crisis means the personal existence of a continuous confrontation with own human limitations a person cannot fully control, and thus experiences existential anxiety (as cited in brown, 1980). other approach includes personal fulfilment and development. existential crisis rises from the imbalance between personal and spiritual area (assagioli, 1973; as cited in firman & gila, 1997). in this case, person is developed as a creative and strong individual, successful in the world and making personal decisions, but without any knowledge of spiritual reality. whilst having achieved selfrealisation as an individual, that person is going through an existential crisis because his or her need of purpose and meaning in life is not satisfied. frankl (2008) calls this phenomenon as an existential vacuum, while maddi (1967) refers to it as an existential neurosis. other authors note that the experience of existential crisis is a psychological-spiritual process including facing psychological and spiritual challenges. it is pointed to personal individualization – becoming the best person in his or her nature (yanget al., 2010). after reviewing the definitions of existential crisis and the concepts of other authors, it is clear that the conception of existential crisis is problematic. more unified and broader understanding of it and its components is missing. a more thorough understanding of existential crisis is relevant to psychotherapists and psychologists in their work practice while counseling individuals who experience various crises and complain about difficulties in life. it is noticed that the majority of people who face existential crisis are dissatisfied with insufficient support from specialist (yang et al., 2010). 2016, 18, 9–27 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 11 for this purpose, analysis of the experience of existential crisis through special experiences that are related to the finality and infinity was chosen in this article. the aim is to present more unified conception of existential crisis by analyzing the main components of an existential crisis and its aspects. the most common aspects of existential crisis that are found in theoretical and empirical psychological researches are selected. me thodology the literature analysis was made searching for research information in the following databases: psycharticle, sage, springer, googlescholar. the following keywords were searched in the system: existential crisis, limitation, finality, infinity, features and aspects. thirty one articles were analyzed. it was decided to use only the articles that were published in lithuanian and english. the study used the theoretical analysis method which integrates scientific literature comparison, summary and interpretation of data. results based on the theoretical and empirical analysis of the sources on existential crisis, the aspects of an existential crisis were divided into basic components: emotional, cognitive and behavioral. the components of existential crisis and their constituent elements are presented below. emotional component the theoretical analysis showed that emotional existential crisis component includes the following aspects: emotional pain, despair, helplessness, disturbed sense of integrity, emotional vulnerability, guilt, fear, anxiety and loneliness. emotional pain emotional pain is one of the emotional aspects of an existential crisis. frankl (2010) mentions that one of the fundamental aspects of existence, which can take away the meaning of life, is pain. various studies have confirmed that while experiencing an existential crisis, a person joana butėnaitė, jolanta sondaitė, antanas mockus 12 faced meaningful endings and the realization of emotional pain of their own transience experiences (flaherty, 2012; yang et al., 2010; zhang et al., 2010). individuals suffering from an oncological disease experience their disease as a limited situation, which is associated with high emotional distress and self-awareness in a confrontation with death, the surrounding world and god (yang et al., 2010). according to yang et al. (2010), these patients talk about moments of severe emotional pain in which they completely lose trust and hope: “my world fell apart” and “i was staring inside of a black hole” (p. 65). the main reason for such emotional pain is considered to be the ability to imagine the infinite future and realize a loss of a short existence (flaherty, 2012). the research by zhang et al. (2010) revealed that in limited situations, when the individual is faced with death, subjects of a younger age experienced more emotional pain than subjects in other age groups. they found that a stronger emotional pain was also experienced by the elderly subjects with an inferior strategy of emotional regulation. psychological distress and psychopathology is related to the lack of meaning of life (steger, 2012) which is characterized by an existential crisis. therefore, emotional pain is an existential crisis aspect that arises when the individual realizes the transience and meaninglessness of his existence. despair and helplessness it has been noted that despair and helplessness are also aspects of an existential crisis. in the present moment, a person is experiencing struggle of opposites between freedom and dependence, which causes inner-pervasive despair (kierkegaard, 1997). the attempt to deny own individuality and avoid the anxiety of nonexistence causes despair and emptiness in a person’s life (may, 1977). the study has shown that despair and helplessness are common amongst patients that endure an existential crisis in disease (yang et al., 2010). other authors have based that the meaninglessness that characterizes the existential crisis is associated with hopelessness (garcia-alandete, gallego-pere, pérez-delgado, 2009). the study of older women revealed that a woman who does not feel like her existence is meaningful stands out with a lack of motivation and lives her life as an existence without inner joy (butėnaitė and bulotaitė, 2011). such a condition may arise in an existential crisis when 2016, 18, 9–27 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 13 a person becomes frustrated with his meaningful life (thompson, 2013), and disregards any responsibility for their life. it can be assumed that the feelings of helplessness and despair can be a warning of an upcoming existential crisis. disturbed sense of integrity another emotional aspect of an existential crisis is a disturbed sense of integrity. kierkegaard (1997) writes that a person is touched by despair manifestations: fragmentation, dispersal, loss of balance and unity. studies have revealed that in an existential crisis, a person is also faced with an identity crisis, insecurity, self-abandonment, alienation status, lack of motivation (butėnaitė and bulotaitė, 2011; debats, drost and hansen, 1995; fonseca, 2011; lucas, 2005; yang et al., 2010; thompson, 2013). it can be argued that such a person experiences a state of disturbed integrity. for people, the survival of meaning is strongly associated with close relationships with ourselves, others and the world, while the meaninglessness is associated with the state of alienation with himself, others and the world (debats, drost and hansen, 1995). patients went through an existential crisis which occurred in the form of an identity crisis (yang et al., 2010). e. o’neill acknowledges that addiction can cause suffering of separation from other people and from the greater power that gives a meaning to life (o’neill and bogard, 1999; as cited in thompson, 2013). she describes the nature of her suffering as follows: “i will always be a stranger, who never feels like they have found their home... someone who will never be owned by anyone.” the study, which analyzed the like experience of the elderly, highlighted the meanings where people felt the sense of security (fonseca, 2011). judging existential crisis, it is important to have the courage to face life with the loss of security (yang et al., 2010). one may assume that the disturbed sense of integrity is the loss of the ability to relate and the loss of security. emotional vulnerability emotional vulnerability is another aspect of an existential crisis. studies show that during an existential crisis, people experience emotional vulnerability, a wide range of emotions and a loss of feeling control (fonseca, 2011; yang et al., 2010). the authors mention that the sense of deficiency and meaninglessness experienced during an existential crisis are associated with fear, anger, shame, sadness (steger et al., joana butėnaitė, jolanta sondaitė, antanas mockus 14 2006), panic (yang et al., 2010) and depression (mascaro& rosen, 2005; pinquart, 2002; steger et al., 2009). faced with their end, people feel emotionally vulnerable and guided by intuition (fonseca, 2011). cancer patients going through an existential crisis experience feelings of loss of control, which leads to a state of deep mourning (yang et al., 2010). so emotional vulnerability in an existential crisis can occur in various ways. guilt, fear and anxiety existential crisis is characterized by the following specific existential feelings: guilt, fear and anxiety. guilt can take away the meaning of life, but at the same time, it can be an opportunity to grow and become a better person (frankl, 2010). it occurs when people deny their potential opportunities, become unable to understand the needs of people beside them, forget their dependence on the natural world (may, 1958). the study has shown that during the existential crisis, where a person is confronted with wrong choices of the past and the inability to change them, they go through an existential anxiety and existential guilt (lucas, 2005). while improving, a person is faced with ontological anxiety and guilt associated with issues of higher existence (may, 1958). they experience three types of ontological anxiety: the understanding of human life transience, the perception of life senselessness, and the discovery of live value (tillich, 1952). in his book “the meaning of anxiety,” r. may (1977) describes observations as patients struggle with the fear of death. yang et al. (2010) found that cancer patients felt a strong sense of fear and anxiety while going through and existential crisis. other studies confirm that the existential crisis caused by the sense deficiency and meaninglessness is associated with neuroticism (steger et al., 2006), anxiety (mascaro & rosen, 2005) and the fear of death (tomer, 2012; as cited in steger, 2012). therefore, existential crisis revealed specific existential feelings which arose from relation between “me” and the others (the world, a person). they can be both life compressive and revealing new possibilities. loneliness loneliness is an emotional aspect of existential crisis. studies have revealed that people going through an existential crisis and illness feel lonely (molzahn et al., 2008; yang et al., 2010). study by young 2016, 18, 9–27 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 15 et al. (2010) confirmed that cancer patients going through an existential crisis experience loneliness. molzahn and his colleagues (2008) studied the experience of limitation in people with chronic kidney disease. they highlighted that these individuals may experience extremes between communication possession and loneliness. they felt alone, surrounded by relatives, in fear to experience mercy from others and tried to look strong. on the contrary, moustakas (2008) suggests that loneliness is an experience of immediacy and depth through which a person is faced with his own being and discovers the substance of the relationship. thus, loneliness is an aspect of existential crisis that not only enhances personal isolation but also helps understand relationships from a completely new perspective. in summary, these are the emotional aspects of an existential crisis – emotional pain, disturbed sense of integrity, emotional vulnerability, anxiety, fear, guilt, and loneliness. they disturb the functioning of the personality but also reveal its potential. depending on how these experiences are adopted and made meaningful, the person will be able to continue to develop successfully. the following aspects, which while going through an existential crisis, caused deep mourning and despair, require special attention. cognitive component excluded cognitive component includes the following aspects: the loss of meaning and purpose, the realization of own end, the loss of values and decision-making. loss of meaning and purpose the loss of purpose and meaning of life is a cognitive component of an existential crisis. v. frankl (2008, 2010) developed a psychotherapy course named logotherapy which is based on the discovery of the meaning of life. he emphasizes that the meaning of life helps the negative aspects of life turn positive. as shown by the study of flaherty (2012), finding the meaning of life is associated with a change of mind, which works for a limited period of time, and emotional pain. persons experience greater emotional pain when cognitive reinterpretation is inferior. it encourages to pay greater attention to the improvement of positive thoughts. joana butėnaitė, jolanta sondaitė, antanas mockus 16 cancer patients experience mourning stageof existential crisis in which healing time is lost, they newly discover and integrate meanings (yang et al., 2010). loss of life purpose and meaning during an existential crisis causes deep mourning. yang et al. (2010) indicate that while addressing the existential crisis, it is important to recognize the loss of the meaning of life. then there is a new sense in which we discover the relationship with the ego-transcending reality, such as humanity, nature or god. this experience reduces the existential fear, despair, and helps accept the present life and its outcome. this study confirms that individuals with severe disease go through an existential crisis when they re-assess their life from a changed perspective. thus, existential crisis is an internal process of growth, during which the losses are actually adopted and a relationship with a higher being is discovered. according to the terms of psychosynthesis, existential crisis arises from an imbalance between personal and transpersonal (spiritual) areas (assagioli, 1973; as cited in firman  and gila,  1997). although persons successfully develop in a personal sphere, develop themselves as an individual and are able to make their own decisions, they experience an existential crisis because they are not satisfied with the meaning of their own life. maddi (1967) speaks of the existential neurosis, the cognitive part of the meaninglessness and the inability to believe in the truth, the importance and benefits (as cited in yalom, 1980). the study of the experience of the meaning of life revealed that without a meaning, older women experience their life as existence without inner joy and life goals, and become content with the current situation: “i, as of today, have absolutely no higher purposes, goals or dreams” or “i refused it [life], simply voluntarily” or “i can somehow define it, but if some kind of decisions would be taken, i’m not involved in them“ (butėnaitė and bulotaitė, 2011, p.243). this describes the experience of existential vacuum, which relates to the loss of meaning of life and loss of purpose. according to thompson (2013), an existential vacuum arises when an individual’s efforts to live a meaningful life are disappointed. realization of own end the realization of own end is characteristic to an existential crisis. the main feature of the existential crisis is a strong awareness of own limitation: “i always knew that i will die one day but now, because of my 2016, 18, 9–27 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 17 disease, i experienced what it is like to face death. and that makes a great difference” (yang et al., 2010, p. 65). the study found that the existential crisis occurs in individuals at different times, but mostly when they have suffered a loss, when they only become aware of their diagnosis, during treatment or after a relapse. this is confirmed by frankl (2010), one of the main aspects of existence, which can take away the meaning of life, is death. imagining a limitless future while subsequently understanding a limited life can cause emotional pain (flaherty, 2012). kruse (1995) found that the end perception by the dying patient is associated with the perception of pain intensity, activities of daily dependence on each other, perceived social integration, and the necessary feeling. the study of wittkowski (1980) showed that the meaning of life, which includes the prospect of death, helps understand own development and survive the crisis. subjective perception of the end revealed the meaning of life that was affected by life events: significant unexpected loss, body limitations (fonseca, 2011). researchers distinguish the meaning of life which had no impact on the situation: the relationship memories, intuition, paradoxical situation, insecurity, spiritual questioning, emotional vulnerability, perspective change and relationship with existence (fonseca, 2011). the most important factors for accepting the impending death are religion, future prospects, life satisfaction, self-esteem and social integration (wittkowski, 1980). interesting conclusions were presented by sill (1980). he investigated the residential institutions for older persons. he argued that the realization of the end (i.e. personal estimates of the time left before death) is a better predictor of the person’s disengagement (i.e. having no responsibilities) than his or her chronological age. elderly persons’ perception of the end is characterized by the following main characteristics: death experience during lifetime, experience in a health care facility, the awareness and grief (giacomin et al., 2013). study confirmed: the older the person, the earlier and more realistic the grief, loss and the perception of the end. in limited situations, disease and disability cause the feelings of inability to cope with the daily activities and causing trouble to others (giacomin et al., 2013). thus, such a life for most may appear worse than death itself. on the contrary, study by wisniewski (2008) is critical in the possibility of an authentic encounter with the result that acknowledges the value of others. an authentic joana butėnaitė, jolanta sondaitė, antanas mockus 18 encounter with the end cannot be fully resolved in an existential crisis, because a person cannot fully come to terms with the fact of his end. the realization of death does not necessarily cause an existential crisis (young et al., 2010). for example, when a patient is following his previous experience (own age or previously experienced fatal diseases), a meaningful system has already been developed. otherwise, on the basis of a physical point of view, or fighting their own mortality, a person cannot recognize the fact of his death. consciously denying their deadly disease and concentrating on the recovery, patients do not realize their own mortality and do not survive existential crisis. ettema (2013) revealed the paradox that death is both recognized and denied. de oliveira and colleagues (2013) found that it is important for medical professionals to see death as a part of human existence and to reflect on their own death. death-actualization is a very personal thing, which is found in sharing with others and integrating their experience of what it means to be a limited person (ettema, 2013). thus, in the existential crisis, its adoption and its actualization help to understand the existence and limitations authentically. loss of personal values another aspect of an existential crisis is the loss of personal values and the discovery of other values. brandtstädter with colleagues (2010), while researching the awareness of life, personal goals and rational perspectives, discovered that the person is released from the egoisticindividualistic concerns and takes the ego exceeding targets when he knows his actual remaining time of living. when the future becomes unsafe, fewer still make sense to defer satisfaction and refuse to take advantage of future opportunities (fantino, 1995: as cited in brandtstädter et al., 2010). therefore, life limitations, experienced in an existential crisis, strengthen our eternal values – it helps a person to maintain their life limits (brandtstädter et al., 2010). it can be assumed that the existential crisis experience in limited situations can encourage a person to overestimate his life and discover new spiritual values. existential crisis arises when a person is not satisfied with a spiritual need (assagioli, 1973: as cited infirman and gila, 1997). a study by fonseca (2011) found that existential crisis leads to understanding the effect of intuition, spiritual questioning, the prospects of change in relationship 2016, 18, 9–27 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 19 to their existence, and so on. yang et al. (2010) study confirms that individuals with severe disease go through an existential crisis during which they experience a fresh look at life. decision making existential crisis is characterized by decision-making. according to v. frankl (2008), it all depends on whether a person is aware of his options. freely choosing, a person decides on the possibility in a way of “that will be condemned, and that will be implemented” (frankl, 2008, p. 113). r. may (1977) describes his observations how patients struggle with the fear of death. patients who were too optimistic, hopeful and believed in healing, usually died. those, who accepted their disease and dealt with it, survived. in this case, a person’s survival depends not so much on medical treatment but more on acceptance and awareness of the situation. in every moment, he must decide what his final decision will be. on the contrary, the decision may be understood wrong. for example, a deep desire to go back and change the past experience occurs when a mistake is made at the moment chosen not according to their own beliefs, values, needs growth (lucas, 2005). according to lucas (2005), the existential crisis arises from a confrontation with the result of past choices, inability to change the past, and the loss of freedom in the past. thus, it can be concluded that the perception and reflection of the cognitive aspects in an  existential crisis  can help integrate them into their experience and help make the right choice that may help resolve an existential crisis.  behavioral component behavioral component includes: restraining actions, rituals, relationship loss, health problems, addictions, anti-social behavior and the need for therapy. restricted actions restricted actions are a behavioral aspect of an existential crisis. in limited situations, disease and disability cause a feeling – an inability to cope with the daily activities and causing trouble to others (giacomin et al., 2013). as the authors note, such a life may appear worse than joana butėnaitė, jolanta sondaitė, antanas mockus 20 dying itself for most individuals. the older the person, the earlier and more realistic grief, loss, and the perception of the end is (giacomin et al., 2013). a study on the medical professionals’ understanding of death and dying has shown that the medical professionals are required to gain experience cases of patients dying (de oliveira et al., 2013). may (1958) emphasizes, there is always a false choice when a person is faced with improvement, the greater questions of existence. when they make a mistake that cannot be resolved in accordance with their values and beliefs, human actions and choices become constrained (lucas, 2005). thus, in an existential crisis, constrained actions can determine both situation and self-determination. rituals another aspect of an existential crisis – rituals. according to turner (1969), rituals help move liminal life situations, such as transitional stages of the lives, and solve existential crisis. van gennep (1961) breaks down ritual process into three phases: separation, finite period, a new assimilation (as cited in turner, 1969). these ritual stages are designed to move the liminal life situation. as stated by turner (1969), this is an intermediate state, which is considered as an exit of time and place, away from the usual social activities, and is designed to test its core cultural values. the main element of the ritual is the opportunity to transition to a new status of the new approach to society. in the first stage of separation, a person who, crossing a certain limit, experiences impermanence, refuses the normal social context and situation. this can be perceived as going through an existential crisis, which is regarded as a death, because the individual is not completely dead in his old life, nor fully alive in his new life. loss of relationships existential crisis is characterized by the loss of relationship. during this, cancer patients lose their social relations, which causes deep mourning (yang et al., 2010). also, meaninglessness experienced in an existential crisis is related to the alienation state and with other worlds (debats, drost and hansen, 1995). a study of elderly women showed how changes in social relationships affected their lives (butėnaitė & bulotaitė, 2011). for example, a woman caring for her husband has experienced more difficulty in communication with her husband because 2016, 18, 9–27 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 21 of the illness, because it impaired his speech: a brief “yes”, “i can”, “i cannot” (p. 245). molzahn with colleagues (2008) studied people with chronic kidney disease and revealed limit experiences, where most described their relationship with the environment: dependence/independence with links/loneliness, freedom/restriction, normal/abnormal. patients’ stories revealed their distress of daily treatment – it is perceived as the thin line between the life and the death. individuals describe their experience of existential crisis as follows: “finally, i felt like there was nothing that could help me” and “i felt that my horizon has changed. now i had to live differently, i had to do what was prepared for me” (molzahn et al., 2008, p. 16). therefore, one can assume that the loss of relationships, changed relationships, can enhance the isolation of people and complicate the experience of an existential crisis. health problems existential crisis is characterized by health problems. the existential vacuum, inherent to the existential crisis, can accelerate the emergence of neurosis that causes psychological and somatic symptoms and personal doubts on the existential essence (frankl, 2010). study by butėnaitė and bulotaitė (2011) showed that women, who do not feel the meaning of life, stood out with their negative state and complaints about health issues. one of them stated: “hard, hard... high blood pressure and the heart strikes, everything is happening because of my weak nerve system” (p. 243). stories of patients with kidney disease revealed limit experiences, including both health improvements and deterioration (molzahn et al., 2008). thus, existential crisis can affect a person’s health. addictions addictions are characteristic to an existential crisis. the lack of meaning, which is a common trait of an existential crisis, is linked to the abuse of harmful substances (newcomb and harlow, 1986). studies on addicted people revealed that they positively describe their experience of intoxication (thompson, 2013). gregoire (1995) concluded (as cited in thompson, 2013) that alcoholics drink and get drunk trying to find time transcendence and meaning. trujillo (2004) discovered (as cited in thompson, 2013) that cocaine users experienced dizziness as the highest state of consciousness which is described as inspiring a respect joana butėnaitė, jolanta sondaitė, antanas mockus 22 for the beauty of the world and liberating thinking. however, this is a false existence experience because it is short-term and disastrous since the existential vacuum still remains. experience of existential vacuum is often caused or exacerbated by the needs for pleasure and power, which can be difficult to distin guish from the need for meaning in life (frankl, 2010). pleasure needs are characterized by carnal satisfaction achievement, i.e. sexual mania or drug addiction, and pursuit of power demand causes materiality and increased aggression. the satisfaction of pleasure and power needs prevents a person from experiencing the meaning of life. these needs reinforce the existential vacuum experience, forcing the person to continue looking for cheap satisfaction and hoping to avoid internal voids. in this way, a cycle of uselessness is formed and the person might experience neurosis. the current authors seek to understand logotherapy models proposed by frankl (2010) to explain the links between life meanings, the meaning of life experience, existential vacuum, existential frustration, neurosis, power and pleasure needs (joshi et al., 2014). joshi and his colleagues (2014) conducted a study that confirmed that the two models explain the needs for power and pleasure as results of neurosis or as its causes. the first model confirmed the fact that noogenic neurosis and its symptoms arise from the failure in the search of the meaning of life, leading to undiscovered meaning of life, which may cause an existential vacuum. by this model, it has been shown that an existential vacuum causes noogenic neurosis, which leads to the experience of power and pleasure needs. the meaning of life becomes less understandable and the existential vacuum increases, while noogenic neurosis weakens the ability to enjoy the life. the second model showed that the existential frustration was caused by the strengthening power and satisfaction needs. existential frustration increased the existential vacuum experience, which weakened the meaning of life and intensified the search for the meaning of life. existential frustration and diminished sense of life reduced the feeling of satisfaction with life. in summary, an addiction is very likely to form while the person is experiencing an existential crisis. this occurs in order to avoid a vacuum, and the meaning of life is compensated by power and pleasure needs. 2016, 18, 9–27 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 23 antisocial behavior anti-social behavior is another behavioral aspect of anexistential crisis. this is supported by the fact that existential crisis is caused by meaninglessness associated with hostility, antisocial behavior and aggression (steger et al., 2008), suicide (edwards & holden, 2001), negative life events and the tribulations in life (edmonds & hooker, 1992; as cited in steger, 2012). according to may (1967), in the absence of meaning and purpose, people engage in self-injurious behavior. therefore, the existential crisis of a person can become dangerous to himself and others. need for therapy a person experiencing an existential crisis is characterized by the need for therapy. it was found that people who suffer from the lack of meaning in life express the need for a stronger therapy (battista and almond, 1973; as cited in steger, 2012). these individuals often suffer from various health and mental disorders (steger et al., 2006; mascaro & rosen, 2005; pinquart, 2002; steger et al., 2006; steger et al., 2009; steger et al., 2008; steger, 2012). this reveals the need for a stronger therapy. according to thompson (2013), most therapy clients said they do not have a meaning that would make life worth living. despite their successful lives, they experience boredom and different feelings that arise from the experience of meaninglessness (thompson, 2013). it is worth noting that a person experiencing an existential crisis should be able to seek for help from professionals. in summary, we can say the rituals and the need for therapy are useful aspects that can help overcome an existential crisis. its experience may be obstructed or impeded by these behavioral aspects: restricted action, anti-social behavior, addictionsand the loss of relationships. conclusions based on the analysis of the experience of an existential crisis, it was differentiated between these components and aspects of an existential crisis. the emotional component includes these aspects: emotional pain, despair, helplessness, disturbed sense of integrity, emotional vulnerability, guilt, fear, anxiety and loneliness. the cognitive component includes joana butėnaitė, jolanta sondaitė, antanas mockus 24 these aspects: loss of meaning and goals, realization of own end, loss of personal values, decision-making. the perception and reflection of these aspects can help integrate them into personal experience and help make the right choice that may help resolve an existential crisis. the behavioral component is characterized by these aspects: restraining actions, rituals, relationship loss, health problems, addictions, anti-social behavior and the need for therapy. the rituals and the need for therapy are useful aspects that can help overcome an existential crisis. now we can talk about the existential crisis not only through the existential prism but also through the emotional, cognitive and behavioral components. comparison of these existential crisis components and existential realities distinguished by yalom (1980) has revealed that a new and interesting finding is the behavioral component that has not been emphasized before. it was revealed that the existential crisis is conceptualized over how it unfolds in the experience, rather than on the basis of theoretical concepts. existential crisis can be defined as a confrontation and an experienced relationship of the existential realities, therefore, a crisis becomes an existential crisis. the feelings that are inherent for the condition 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(2010). age differences in poignancy: cognitive reappraisal as a moderator. psychology and aging, 25(2), 310–20. 2016, 18, 9–27 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 27 egzistencinės krizės komponentai: teorinė analizė joana butėnaitė, jolanta sondaitė, antanas mockus mykolo romerio universitetas, lietuva santrauka. mokslinė problema. psichoterapeutams ir psichologams, dirbantiems su įvairiais sunkumais besiskundžiančiais asmenimis, svarbu suprasti jų egzistencinės krizės patyrimą. egzistencinės krizės perspektyva atskleidžiama per patirtis, susijusias su baigtinumu ir begalybe. siekiama pateikti bendrą egzistencinės krizės sampratą, išskiriant pagrindinius egzistencinės krizės komponentus ir jų aspektus. tai išsiaiškinus, atsiras galimybė įvairiapusiškai pažvelgti į egzistencinės krizės teorinius ir empirinius tyrimus. tikslas – išskirti ir išanalizuoti egzistencinės krizės komponentus ir aspektus. metodas – teorinė analizė, kuri apima mokslinės literatūros lyginimą, apibendrinimą ir duomenų interpretavimą. rezultatai ir išvados. išskirti šie egzistencinės krizės komponentai: emocinis, pažintinis ir elgesio. emocinis komponentas apima emocinį skausmą, neviltį, bejėgiškumą, sutrikusį integralumo jausmą, emocinį pažeidžiamumą, kaltę, baimę, nerimą ir vienišumą. pažintinis komponentas atspindi prasmės ir tikslo praradimą, savo paties baigties suvokimą, vertybių praradimą, sprendimų priėmimą. elgesio komponentui būdingi: suvaržyti veiksmai, ritualai, santykių nutraukimas, sveikatos sutrikimai, priklausomybės, antisocialus elgesys ir poreikis terapijai. pagrindiniai žodžiai: egzistencialai, ribinė situacija, emocinis skausmas. received: march 3, 2015 accepted: april 19, 2016 83 scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2017 / 20 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.20.5 experience of workpl ace psychologic al har assment jolanta sondaitė1, gailė vinciūnaitė mykolas romeris university, vilnius, lithuania abstract. background. in most countries workplace psychological harassment is a pronounced problem resulting in a number of negative consequences both for individuals and organizations. profound understanding of this phenomenon may help foresee the start of psychological harassment, thereby protecting the employees and the very organization from negative consequences. psychological harassment is mostly researched by using quantitative methods. it is important to reveal the manifestation of this phenomenon via the unique and individual experience of people who have undergone workplace psychological harassment. purpose. to reveal the experience of people who have been affected by workplace psychological harassment. methods. the participants were five people from 28 to 65 years old. all participants have experienced psychological harassment at work for at least 5 months. the data were collected through semi-structured interview. an interpretive phenomenological analysis was employed to achieve the goal. results and conclusions. people who have experienced workplace psychological harassment tend to feel guilty and underestimate themselves. the analysis revealed the occurrence of this phenomenon which affects the dignity of a person: screaming, harsh / abusive communication, etc. the participants who suffered from workplace psychological harassment have experienced a variety of negative psychological consequences: strong, deep emotional reactions, such as despair, guilt, helplessness, etc. the analysis has also revealed the psychical consequences caused by painful experience: headaches, nausea, loss of appetite, weight loss, insomnia, etc. keywords: workplace psychological harassment, qualitative study, interpretative phenomenological analysis. 1 address for correspondence: jolanta sondaite, mykolas romeris university, institute of psychology, ateities st. 20, lt-08303 vilnius. e-mail: jsondait@mruni.eu mailto:jsondait%40mruni.eu?subject= jolanta sondaitė, gailė vinciūnaitė 84 introduc tion the global practice shows that in most of the countries workplace psychological harassment is a relevant problem resulting in a number of negative consequences both for individuals and organizations and the state economy (yamada, 2000; mcmahon, 2000; monks & coyne, 2011). vveinhardt and žukauskas (2012) note that constantly increasing competition raises increasingly bigger danger for the group and the persons of the group and interpersonal relations. a number of factors have influence on this such as attitudes, values, social groups, cultural, national, etc. fast growth of new technologies increases the need for greater qualification, and this not only demands higher qualification, but also reduces the number of jobs. psychological harassment, abuse, bullying and abusive behaviour are regarded as a frequent situation in a number of organizations (deery, walsh & guest, 2011; fitzpatrick et al., 2011). even though on the international level there is no single accepted definition, yet this may be understood as repetitive and lasting nonphysical persecution/ harassment at work, which has a humiliating effect on the victim (guerrero, 2002). various research (deery et al., 2011; guerrero, 2002) contribute to the theoretical development of this phenomenon and its practical aspect: by consulting the employees who have experienced workplace psychological harassment and the very persecutors. good and profound understanding of this phenomenon may help foresee the start of psychological harassment and increase of it, thereby protecting the employees and the very organization from negative consequences (fitzpatrick et al., 2011). the research into the area of workplace psychological harassment, carried out in lithuania and abroad, show negative individual (physical, emotional, social and economic welfare is infringed), social and economic consequences (astrauskaitė, 2009; cowan, 2012; malinauskienė, obelenis, & žopagienė, 2005; kolodej, 2005; vveinhardt, 2011; zapf, 1999). workplace psychological harassment is traditionally researched by using quantitative methods, yet a qualitative research perspective may help in better understand the phenomenon (pietersen, 2007). the novelty of this research is determined by the aim to reveal the manifestation of this phenomenon via the unique and individual experience 2017, 20, 83–103 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 85 of people who have suffered workplace psychological harassment – to look at this shocking life experience from the qualitative perspective. according to kolodej (2005), psychological harassment is a phenomenon which has its own dynamics and can be constructively opposed if one has sufficient amount of knowledge and is prepared for proper intervention and open review of the conflict. hence the objective of this research is to reveal the experience of the persons who have suffered from workplace psychological harassment in lithuanian sample. background theoretic context of the research into psychological harassment the conception of psychological harassment and the theories explaining it there are various terms defining basically the same phenomenon, such as: workplace bullying, workplace abuse, workplace psychological harassment, psychological terror, scapegoating, workplace hostility (crawshaw, 2009); moral harassment (guerrero, 2004), workplace emotional abuse (keashly & harvey, 2005), mobbing (leymann, 1990), etc. despite the fact that there are a number of concepts and definitions, vartia (2003) notes that the following major common features of workplace psychological harassment may be singled out: 1. hostile, regularly repeated behaviour: one-time conflict is not considered to be a psychological attack (this feature helps to differentiate between psychological harassment and one-time ambiguities, conflicts at work, emerging as a result of every day encounters) (keashly & harvey, 2005; vartia, 2003). 2. helplessness of the victim that is nonexistence of the power balance between the victim and the persecutor. psychological harassment may be considered to be such a situation where the victim perceives oneself as unable to protect oneself or to escape from such a situation. hence there is no psychological harassment where both parties are equally strong. 3. that is a phenomenon of interpersonal relations between two or several persons/ a group. usually psychological harassment takes place jolanta sondaitė, gailė vinciūnaitė 86 between employers and their managers with regard to the positions above them in hierarchy (einarsen, 2000; vartia, 2003). the theory of the model of the process of workplace psychological harassment (poilpot-rocaboy, 2006) explains that the factors of this process consist of three interrelated levels: the person experiencing psychological harassment (victim), the employee using psychological harassment (persecutor) traits and the organizational culture and other characteristics of it. even though there is not much evidence that personal traits are directly related to psychological harassment (poilpot-rocaboy, 2006), yet in the research carried out (matthiesen & einarsen, 2007) it was noticed that the employees who had experienced psychological harassment (victims) had a lower self-esteem and lower social competence; in some cases they had a certain trait separating them from the entire working group, for example, different age, different gender, disfigurement, or they demonstrated such behaviour which was in contradiction to the norms of the group and had a high need for achievements (zapf & einarsen, 2003). employees using psychological harassment (persecutors) had a higher level of aggression (matthiesen & einarsen, 2007). zapf and einarsen (2003) proposed three major reasons related to the characteristics of an individual using psychological harassment: self-regulatory processes related to the threat to self-esteem, lack of social competences and behaviour motivated on the micro-political level, which is related to the competition within the organization, especially those cases where structures and the work duties are unclear. yet it is recognized that solely personal characteristics do not explain psychological harassment at work even in those cases where personal characteristics are especially important, and this does not reduce the liability of management and employers for the management and prevention of this problem (zapf & einarsen, 2003). research has been carried out (einarsen, raknes, & matthiesen, 1994), which proves that managing style (lack of support, understanding of the manager; no clarity in the instructions and feedback; authoritarian management style, that is where a manager threatens to achieve his goals, as well as intimidation, authority) is one of the key factors determining the emergence of psychological harassment at work. 2017, 20, 83–103 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 87 psychological harassment usually emerges in organizations which do not pay sufficient attention to the organizational culture, values, where the conflicts arising among the employees are dealt carelessly and are not solved, the same is to say about discriminating processes (hoel & salin, 2003). hence the theory of the model of psychological harassment (poilpot-rocaboy, 2006), explaining the workplace psychological harassment, takes into consideration the interoperability between the victim, persecutor and characteristics of a certain organization. the consequences of workplace psychological harassment the relevance of psychological harassment is emphasized by the significantly negative consequences for an individual, organization and the society (vveinhardt & žukauskas, 2012). the consequences of psychological harassment have been analysed by a number of foreign academics (einarsen & hauge, 2006; farmer, 2011; leymann, 1990; vartia, 2001; vveinhardt, 2011). they are usually analysed on the individual, organizational or societal level; since negative consequences for an individual are analysed, the damage to the entire organization becomes evident. poor psychological and physical condition of the humans, decreased motivation and poor involvement into the work do have influence on the economic indicators of the organization, which are related to the satisfaction of the humans with work. according to a number of authors (farmer, 2011; leymann, 1990; vartia, 2001), psychological harassment causes long-term stress, which results in stress due to intensity, long duration and dysfunctional relations for an individual as well as psychosomatic pain and torment. consequences on the individual level. the research shows (kolodej, 2005; laymann, 1996; zapf, 1999) that psychological harassment has a strong negative influence on an individual. a person experiences strong physical and psychological health problems mostly on an individual level (vveinhardt, 2011). an individual may experience lack of sleep, feel tired, feel lack of energy (chronic fatigue) (leymann, 1990; tracy, lutgensandvik, & alberts, 2006). kolodej (2005), indicates the problems of lack of concentration and loss of memory, distrust in oneself, decreasing self-esteem, loss of orientation, despair, increased sensitivity, constant thoughts about bullying, harassment at work (thinking about what will happen on the following days, etc.); depression, seeking intensively for jolanta sondaitė, gailė vinciūnaitė 88 justice. most authors (kolodej, 2005; leymann, 1990; tracy et al., 2006), having conducted research, established that the most frequent consequences of psychological harassment have influence on the psychic and physical condition of the employee. psychological consequences: strong, deep emotional reactions, such as despair, guilt, anger, helplessness, great anxiety, lust for revenge, rage. there may be psychosomatic and psychiatric consequences: such as depression, mania, psychosomatic pain (broadly discussed as a physical consequence), post-traumatic stress disorders (tension resulting from a repetitive event, anxiety, fear, sadness, etc.) (bowling & beehr, 2006; einarsen, 2000; kolodej, 2005; leymann, 1990; macintosh, wuest, gray, & aldams, 2010; martina & lavan, 2010). physical consequences: headache, stomach ache, sickness, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite. in one research it was noted (macintosh et al., 2010) that the employees undergoing this would suffer from digestion disorders only by thinking or getting ready to go to work. they also have a backache, choke, dizziness, insomnia and wake up in the middle of the night, suffer from fatigue, decreased efficiency, loss of energy, heart and coronary problems (chronic fatigue) (bowling & beehr, 2006; einarsen, 2000; kolodej, 2005; leymann, 1990; macintosh et al., 2010; malinauskienė et al., 2005; tracy et al., 2006; meseguer, soler, saez, & garcia, 2008). consequences on the organizational level. it is difficult to assess the consequences caused by the psychological harassment at work for the organization (martino, hoel, & cooper, 2003), yet some of the consequences are indisputable, such as incapacity for work, the employees’ requirement to compensate for the damage (martino et al., 2003), the probability of unlawful dismissal (yamada, 2000) and possible legal proceedings with regard to them (vveinhardt, 2011). decreased efficiency, work quality, increasing turnover of employees and training new employees, deteriorating relations with the clients (a consequence of deterioration of the work quality) and a deteriorating image of the organization are the consequences affecting the performance and the results in one way or another (hoel, sparks, & cooper, 2001). psychological harassment is mostly researched by using quantitative methods; there are not so many qualitative researches carried pot in this area (macintosh et al., 2010; pietersen, 2007). pietersen 2017, 20, 83–103 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 89 (2007) researched this method on the basis of a qualitative (phenomenological-existential) perspective in south africa and singled out four topics: lack of recognition, discrimination, obstructionism and isolation. macintosh and colleagues (2010), by applying a grounded theory study sought to extend the understanding, from the perspective of women, of how bullying affects women’s work and how they are engaged in the workforce. it was found that women managed this problem by a four-stage process: being conciliatory, reconsidering, reducing interference, redeveloping balance. sinha and yadov (2017) explored the meaning of workplace bullying among teachers in india. the major perception about workplace bullying was a set of humiliating and monitoring behaviours. pietersen (2007) emphasized that it is important to deepen the knowledge about the phenomenon of psychological harassment in different cultural contexts. the objective of this research is to reveal the experience of the people that have suffered from the workplace psychological harassment in lithuanian sample. me thod research method the key research and data analysis method chosen for this research is interpretative phenomenological analysis (ipa). the foundation of ifa is made of: phenomenology, hermeneutics and ideography (lyons & coyle, 2007). according to smith (2013), the objective of ipa is to study how research participants give meaning to their own personal experience and social world experience as well as life experience in a concrete cultural context. hence ipa is a profound investigation the focus of which is into the personal interpretation of his or her own experience. this is an excellent opportunity to look closer at the researched topic via personal experience of an individual (lyons & coyle, 2007). the phenomenological research allows the researcher not to use any pre-conceived theory or initial hypothesis which should be confirmed. the data in the ipa research are collected by using a semi-structured interview the form of which allows the researcher and the research participant to get involved into the dialogue (smith, 2013). jolanta sondaitė, gailė vinciūnaitė 90 participants the chosen research sample is small and meets the objective of the research. application of a small sample principle is significant from the methodological point of view, since the chosen data analysis method requires comprehensive and separate analysis of each of the cases, and research participants have to represent the perspective rather than population (smith, larson, & flowers, 2009). purposeful sampling was applied. research participants had to be the persons having experienced psychological harassment at work for at least 5 months. five research participants took part in the research, who voluntarily contacted the researchers having seen an advertisement inviting to participate in the research or replied after being recommended as possible research participants (see table 1). research participants did not know each other. the invitation to take part in the research was placed on the billboards in the premises of two organizations. the organizations were selected by applying a convenient method and the announcements were hung in the companies that allowed placement of announcements. table 1. demographic characteristics of research par ticipants the name of the research participant (changed) gender age marital status education, type of work duration of psychological harassment at work rūta female 51 divorced higher education, sales manager 5 years tomas male 51 married higher education, construction engineer 5 months agnė female 65 married higher education, accountant 5 years saulė female 28 married higher education, english philology graduate, translator 2 years ignė female 48 married higher education, theatre director 6 months 2017, 20, 83–103 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 91 procedure of the research to ensure anonymity, research interviews were held in specifically selected premises, suitable for the research participant, without any other additional people, where the researcher and the research participant would be. to record the experience of the research participant as well as possible emotions, pauses, intonation, etc., the interviews would be recorded into a dictaphone (after receiving a prior written consent of the participants). the following major research questions were presented to participants: 1. would you please tell us how you felt when you first started to feel that something was different at work from what it used to be? 2. would you please remember and tell us what were you going through in your life at that time? 3. would you please tell us how your body reacted? 4. would you please tell us what thoughts you have? 5. what feelings, emotions and thoughts do you have when you remember this experience now? the ethics of the research all participants signed a consent form for participation, which allowed recording and transcription of the interview. the participants were informed of their rights to refuse or to discontinue their participation in the study. altering the names of research participants in the transcribed material allowed participants’ identities to be concealed. analysis of the research data the data of this research was analysed in several stages in accordance with e. lyons and a. coyle (2007) and j. a. smith (2013). 1. reading the same interview several times (careful reading of the transcribed interview and understanding it) and signing the comments on the left side of the text. 2. the interpretative part of the interview was the creation of topics on the basis of data content, emotions of the respondent, nonverbal communication, speech characteristics, which were created on the jolanta sondaitė, gailė vinciūnaitė 92 basis of phenomenological comments and signed on the right-hand side (recommended). 3. joining the topics/sharing them into super-ordinate themes. a list of topics was written down and information was sought which topics were interrelated, and which ones were not. by grouping of the themes, super-ordinate themes were created. 4. all of these steps were repeated with each interview. pauses were made after each interview – some time was left in order to review an interview as a new one, to get insights into new topics. 5. at this stage, it was analysed which topics were repeated in the analyses of the interviews, and then meta-themes were prepared: the names of the super-ordinate themes that were interrelated were connected, a table of meta-themes was created, including quotations from the interview, which substantiate this kind of grouping, and a joint text was written: the explanation of meta-themes was provided, and they were illustrated by examples. findings having analysed the interview of all the research participants by the stages of phenomenological interpretation analysis, three major metathemes became evident, revealing the experience of the people who have experienced psychological harassment: the importance of self-realization, the desire to be respected/ important and negative thoughts and the response of the body. the meta-themes of the research and the examples illustrating them are provided in table 2. table 2. meta-theme and the names of the superordinate themes of it with an illustrating example meta-theme no. 1. the importance of self-realization work: desire to be useful/ accepted rūta: “i was eager to go to work, i was doing everything – not only the tasks that i had to“ (r, 3-4); agnė: “i want to work; it was a real fun [...] it just seems it used to be fun“ (a, 142-143); saulė: “it was important for me to have an activity i like [...] i want to have something of my own, where i would feel good with my colleagues“ (s, 61-62); 2017, 20, 83–103 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 93 low self-esteem/ blaming oneself rūta: “i was convinced that everything i was doing was wrong” (r, 74); tomas: “it was strange, i did not understand what was wrong. i was looking for the guilt within myself“ (t, 5); ignė: “you feel so as if you are not suitable for the job. i felt i was blamed for some issues and i was trying to look for reasons within myself, what were the things i was doing wrong“ (i, 73-75). search for the meaning, explanation of the painful experience rūta: “that event and the illness helped me to meet several young people who needed me and i helped them to listen and i helped them with my words and thoughts“ (r, 126-127); tomas: “this was so to say a good example, so to say, and i really have what to compare, and what work is really good now and which work is bad“ (t, 28-29); saulė: “of course, i was trying to see something in it so that it is meaningful, since otherwise it is difficult“ (s, 81-82). meta-theme no. 2. aspiration to be respected, important experiencing permanent control/ persecution and disrespectful behaviour: “you are a human, you can feel everything” rūta: “every day i was told the same all over again/ the things i was not allowed to do during a day or two, such things“ (r, 41-42); i was feeling pressure each day, each single day“ (r, 36-37); tomas: “i had a feeling as if somebody/ somebody was breathing into my back“ (t, 20); saulė: “my speech would be interrupted all the time – whether by glances, gestures, you notice everything, you are a human and you feel it all and experience“ (s, 18-19); the sense of loneliness: “nobody will understand” rūta: “nobody is interested in your concerns, pain and nobody needs this“ (r, 118-119); tomas: “this is really difficult, you cannot share this with anyone, i mean, telling somebody, because you can understand this“ (t, 63-64); saulė: “and who can you tell this, who will understand?” (s, 32-33). support: i am important outside work rūta: “i was trying to talk with my mother/ but she /// is an old person and (sighs) and still she managed to listen to me and understand“ (r, 77-78); tomas: “somehow they would see that if i already had a headache, or else i was not talkative, then we would just sit silently for a while” (t, 118-119); agnė: “my husband understood me, that it was very difficult for me, and he supported me all the time, and the most important thing is that i did not need to fight and argue“ (a, 81-82); meta-theme no. 3. negative thoughts and the response of the body status of holding vigil and inability to control thoughts rūta: “my head was spinning from insomnia. it seems that it will explode“ (r, 98-99); tomas: “i would be persecuted constantly, sometimes both my body and mind had to have rest, i was trying not to think, i was doing my best not to think about this, not to talk about this“ (t, 47-48); saulė: “oh, i would have a lot of on my mind – i would sometimes wake up early in the morning and think that, oh no, i have to go to work again” (s, 60). table 2 cont. jolanta sondaitė, gailė vinciūnaitė 94 constrained body – “making do things forcibly” rūta: “every small little touch of anything, each minor task becomes really difficult// everything is done with great // difficulty // and for a very long time“ (r, 71-72); tomas: “and i come home aaaand / for half an hour i lie, so to say, and physically to have rest and, and, and so // mentally“ (t, 26-27); agnė: “and i was making myself do all of this, forcing myself, i was even doing this at home” (a, 87). negative reactions of the body rūta: “i would come to work, i would even tremble as i would see the face, and the heart would beat awfully, and i could not even breathe // and those words, and the facial expression, and the same sentences each day would make me tremble and i could throw up” (r, 87-88); saulė: “i would have a strong headache, and i would not want to eat, it was a bad feeling, anyway” (46-47); ignė: “the tension would be so intensive that even now, so many years after this, if i see her, i still have some kind of process in my body” (i, 90-91). discussion the experience of the research participants revealed that what they experienced was not merely rude forms of communication. one of the research participants was hospitalized as a result of psychological harassment after a diagnosis of depression. the research participants were experiencing psychological harassment from 5 months to 5 years. this may be confirmed by research of leymann (1990) stating that workplace psychological harassment may usually be described as a repetitive phenomenon lasting from 5-6 months to 5 years. the analysis of the experience of the persons who have suffered from psychological harassment at work revealed the importance for self-realization for a person. the research participants were referring in the history of their experience about the importance of work. most research look into the reasons of this phenomenon, the consequences, the process, etc. (einarsen, 2000; owoyemi & sheehan, 2011; pompilia et al., 2008; vartia, 2003), and only a few analyse this through the prism of an experienced person (macintosh et al., 2010; pietersen, 2007), hence there are few researches revealing this experience. the research of pietersen (2007), as well as our research, showed that the research participants had not received any recognition from the persecutors. the analysis of this research showed that the research participants had been blaming themselves and had a low self-esteem: they were table 2 cont. 2017, 20, 83–103 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 95 looking for guilt within themselves, their self-esteem had decreased. the results of this study are in agreement with other studies which show that the people rejected in their work environment feel lack of self-confidence, unnecessary, guilty (leymann, 1990; pranjić, malešbilić, beganlić, mustajbegović,, 2006). the research participants of the research of macintosh and colleagues (2010) also reveal this experience. other researchers also indicate lack of self-confidence, decreasing selfesteem, increased sensitivity (kolodej, 2005; leymann, 1990; tracy et al., 2006). such negative experience as if splits into parts or divides the life history of an individual, and where this is vulnerable, the person loses stability (lutgen-sandvik, 2008), and the sense of guilt may be one of the features of depression (emdad, alipour, hagborg, & jensen., 2013). the sense of guilt, low self-esteem resulting from psychological harassment at work becomes evident in the experience of the participants of this research as well as in a number of other studies. the analysis of this work also revealed the experience of participants which is related to disrespectful behaviour, constant control, harassment. psychological harassment may have different forms: verbal abuse, mockery and nicknaming, dissemination of rumour not true to fact, humiliation of the person (stephen, walsh, & guest, 2011). this confirms the research results received, revealing rude communication, speech, constant persecution, gossip, rumour, interruption while speaking, etc. verbal abuse at work is also revealed by the research of pietersen (2007) and macintosh and colleagues (2010). other research (keashly & harvey, 2005; leymann, 1990; pranjić et al., 2006) defines psychological harassment as constant, abusive, threatening, intentional behaviour, the objective of which is to make the victim feel depressed, humiliated, vulnerable. the consequence of these processes is broken self-confidence, stress and its consequences, and this became evident in the research results. this research revealed various negative consequences experienced as a result of psychological harassment, and other research also show (kolodej, 2005; laymann, 1996; zapf, 1999) that psychological harassment has a very strong negative impact on individuals. mostly on an individual level the person experiences physical and psychological health problems (vveinhardt, 2011). research has found that the most frequent consequences of psychological harassment affect both the psychological jolanta sondaitė, gailė vinciūnaitė 96 and physical condition of the employee (kolodej, 2005; leymann, 1990; tracy et al., 2006). there may be various negative consequences, which depend on the duration of this phenomenon, the frequency, forms of expression and the personal traits of the employee. one of negative consequences of psychological harassment is the sense of loneliness. the participants of this research felt lonely, since they could not get assistance, encouragement and support from their environment. they attempted to quit their jobs and to finish this painful process at work – one research participant was happy to go on maternity leave, another one was happy to retire, and another one changed his job. all of this was an attempt to quit the job and to get out of the environment causing the painful experience. this coincides with the experience of the participants of the qualitative research of macintosh et al. (2010) and pranjic et al. (2006) research, where failure to get support, assistance from the colleagues and work environment conditions the sense of loneliness, helplessness and the decision to quit the job. at the same time, this also related to the emerging issue which reveals the support from the family members outside work or the fact that something helps to go through the painful experience that is activity within a safe, peaceful home or other environment. similar results may be observed in other researches confirming the same – the results reveal the importance of interpersonal relations with family members (kolodej, 2005; leymann, 1990; lutgen-sandvik, 2008; macintosh et al., 2010). the analysis of our research data has revealed the emotional and physical consequences experienced by the research participants: the condition of alertness and inability to control one’s thoughts, constrained body and various negative reactions of the body/ physical reactions. this coincides with the data of other research. the research results of macintosh et al. (2010) show that the women that have experienced workplace psychological harassment could not work as they did before, since they had health problems. other (namie, 2003) researches show that the people who have undergone workplace psychological harassment were going through a strong anxiety, they had sleep problems, attention deficit, a clinical depression was acknowledged (they could not arrive to work as a result of an illness or even hospitalization, and they were having panic attacks, post-traumatic stress disorder (tension, anxiety, fear, sadness, etc.) as a result of repeated events. (bowling & 2017, 20, 83–103 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 97 beehr, 2006; einarsen, 2000; kolodej, 2005; leymann, 1990; macintosh et al., 2010; martina & lavan, 2010; sinha & yadav, 2017). it is difficult to evaluate the consequences caused by workplace psychological harassment for the organization (martino et al., 2003), yet unfitness for work is undoubtedly one of the consequences. the results of this work also fail to reveal how this affected the organizations, the workplaces, yet one thing that is evident is the fact that efficiency was reduced, the quality of work deteriorated, and the interpersonal relations of the colleagues deteriorated – these are the consequences which in one way or another affect the results of the organization (hoel et al., 2001). our research has helped to look at the phenomenon of psychological harassment from the perspective of the individuals who have experienced this: what they had to go through, experience, what consequences this caused and what consequences this had on their lives and the environment. there are few researches like this. pietersen (2007), who has also researched the expression of psychological harassment from the perspective of the persons who have experienced it in the cultural context of south africa, singled out the issue of discrimination. that was discrimination on the grounds of race, the research was carried out in a multiracial institution. our research did not show signs of discrimination, the organizations researched were not multiracial, hence we may presume that the cultural context may have influence on the type of psychological harassment. the analysis of the individuals who have experienced psychological harassment at work has revealed that research participants did not apply for personal assistance in regard to the painful experience of workplace psychological harassment (except for one case of depression), and this is different from other research results, for example, in the qualitative research carried out in canada (macintosh et al., 2010) women asked for assistance in regard to workplace psychological harassment within their organizations and outside them. we may presume that in the cultural context of lithuania people are not sufficiently informed about psychological harassment in organizations, there is no prevention system dealing with workplace psychological harassment within the organization. this study has some limitations, which have to be noted. the data of this qualitative research does not show the experience of all the persons jolanta sondaitė, gailė vinciūnaitė 98 who have experienced psychological harassment at work. yet it is also important to take into consideration the gender of the research participants – only one of the participants was a man, therefore, to ensure a more comprehensive experience, it would be useful to include a similar number of male and female participants. the sample of the research is not homogeneous if we look at the age of informants and the period of experienced workplace psychological harassment (from 5 months till 5 years), it would be useful to include more homogeneous sample. it is also important to take into consideration that the subjective experience of research participants who have experienced the workplace psychological harassment a while ago could have been important for the memories of research participants, the meaning given to it. it would be meaningful to carry out a qualitative research with other employees of the organization to find out how workplace psychological harassment affects other employees of the organization. in addition to this, it would also be meaningful to look into the phenomenon of psychological harassment from the perspective of persecutors. conclusions the analysis of experience revealed the importance of self-realization for a human: the importance of work, the wish to give meaning to painful life experience. humans have experienced a strong sense of guilt and started to depreciate themselves, being unable to achieve self-realization at work as a result of the rude behaviour of colleague(s). the analysis of the experience of workplace psychological harassment also revealed the aspiration to be respected and important which is revealed via the experience of permanent control and disrespectful behaviour, the sense of loneliness and helplessness which is related to the lack of support at work. this research has revealed that psychological harassment was also expressed as shouting, rude/ abusive communication, permanent criticism, dissemination of rumour/ gossip, various negative facial expressions, constant “supervision”. research participants who have experienced workplace psychological harassment experienced various negative psychological consequences: strong, deep emotional reactions, such as self-depreciation, despair, guilt, helplessness, great anxiety, inability to control one’s thoughts, depression. the 2017, 20, 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(ed.), bullying and emotional abuse in the workplace, london: taylor &francis, pp. 165–184. psichologinio persekiojimo darbe pat yrimas jolanta sondaitė, gailė vinciūnaitė mykolo romerio universitetas, lietuva santrauka. problema. daugelyje šalių psichologinis persekiojimas darbe yra aktuali problema, kuri sąlygoja daug negatyvių padarinių ne tik darbuotojams, tačiau ir organizacijoms. gilus šio reiškinio išmanymas gali padėti numatyti psichologinio persekiojimo pradžią ir intensyvėjimą, taip apsaugant darbuotojus bei pačią organizaciją nuo neigiamų padarinių. psichologinis persekiojimas daugiausia tiriamas taikant kiekybinius tyrimo metodus. svarbu atskleisti šio fenomeno pasireiškimą per individualų ir unikalų psichologinį persekiojimą darbe išgyvenusių žmonių patyrimą. tyrimo tikslas. atskleisti nukentėjusių žmonių nuo psichologinio persekiojimo darbe patyrimą. metodas. tyrime dalyvavo 28-65 metų penki tyrimo dalyviai, patyrę psichologinį persekiojimą darbe nemažiau kaip 5 mėn. duomenys buvo renkami pusiau struktūruoto interviu metodu. duomenų analizei buvo http://ethesis.helsinki.fi/julkaisut/hum/psyko/vk/vartia-vaananen/workplac.pdf http://ethesis.helsinki.fi/julkaisut/hum/psyko/vk/vartia-vaananen/workplac.pdf 2017, 20, 83–103 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach taikomas interpretacinės fenomenologinės analizės metodas. rezultatai ir išvados. psichologinį persekiojimą patyrę žmonės jaučia kaltės jausmą, nuvertina save. analizė atskleidė šio reiškinio pasireiškimą, kuris veikia asmenybės orumą: rėkimas, šiurkštus, užgauliojantis bendravimas ir t.t. tyrimo dalyviai, išgyvenę psichologinį persekiojimą darbe, patyrė įvairių neigiamų psichologinių pasekmių: stiprias, gilias emocines reakcijas, tokias kaip, neviltis, kaltė, bejėgiškumas ir t.t. patyrimo analizėje išryškėjo skaudaus patyrimo sukeltos fizinės pasekmės: galvos skausmai, pykinimas, apetito praradimas, svorio kritimas, nemiga ir t.t. reikšminiai žodžiai: psichologinis persekiojimas darbe, kokybinis tyrimas, interpretacinė fenomenologinė analizė. received: 02 08 2017 accepted: 06 11 2017 39 do you think like a fifthgr ader? exploring the teacher char ac teristics of importance to students from t wo diverse elementary schools in a rur al midwestern communit y christopher m. knoell1, dena harshbarger, carrie kracl, sherry r. crow university of nebraska at kearney, usa abstract. background. since 2002, no child left behind has caused administrators to place great emphasis on academic learning. this has practitioners seeking strategies that will produce student academic growth, yet few are looking to bolster studentteacher relationships (s-t relationships), a strategy that has shown promise in the area of student achievement for students of differing abilities and in different types of schools and situations. purpose. the purpose of this study was to explore s-t relationships and answer the central question: “what teacher behaviors influence fifthgrade students’ perceptions of desirable teacher characteristics?” method. research was conducted with the primary qualitative data collected from 24 semi-structured student interviews. results and discussion. results revealed teacher behaviors that were valued by students. the behaviors included consistent help (with high expectations); a sense of humor; active listening, providing for a sense of community, and several others. the identification of these behaviors could provide goals for personal development by teachers, as well as assist administrators and other hiring officials searching for potentially successful hires. these themes could also provide a foundation around which a perceiver survey could be developed. conclusions. regardless of circumstances and developments, educators and districts must never overlook the importance of cultivating student-teacher relationships in their classrooms. keywords: student-teacher relationships, poverty and affluent schools, teacher behaviors. 1 address for correspondence: university of nebraska kearney, college of education (b-164), kearney, ne 68849. phone: (308) 865-8339 e-mail: knoellcm@unk.edu. scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2015 / 17 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.17.3 40 christopher m. knoell, dena harshbarger, carrie kracl, sherry r. crow introduc tion since 2002, no child left behind has placed greater emphasis on academic learning. this development has practitioners seeking effective strategies that will produce substantial and sustainable student academic growth. with so many voices in education touting the latest and the greatest, researchers advocate for what many studies have reported (brophy & evertson, 1976; hughes, 1999; lee, 2007; liu, 1997; silins & murray-harvey, 1995; soar & soar, 1979) and many teachers have long known: strong and positive student-teacher relationships (s-t relationships) influence students and their success. one area of study, which holds hope for improving student success, is furthering the understanding of s-t relationships for students in differing schools and situations. the purpose of this study was to explore s-t relationships and answer the central question: “what teacher behaviors influence fifth-grade students’ perceptions of desirable teacher characteristics?” literature review whether positive or negative, relationships have profound effects on one’s quality of life. vanzetti and duck (1996) found that relationships provide physical support, a sense of belonging, a sounding board for emotional reactions and opinions, a reassurance of worth, and validation for the way we do things and interpret experiences. conversely, landsford, antonucci, akiyama, and takahashi (2005) reported many negative effects resulting from a lack of positive relationships including anxiety, depression, and overall poor health. student-teacher relationships beyond benefits from relationships in general, s-t relationships provide others more specific to learning and the school environment. the apa work group of the board of educational affairs (1997), the presidential task force that produced learner-centered psychological principles: a framework for school reform and redesign, stated in principle 11 – the social influence on learning: “learning is influenced by social interactions, interpersonal relations, and communication with others.” additionally, 41 2015, 17, 39–56 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach mccombs and whisler (1997) proposed, “learning occurs best in an environment that contains positive interpersonal relationships and interactions and in which the learner feels appreciated, acknowledged, respected, and admired” (p. 10). relatedly, marzano, marzano, and pickering (2003) reported four general factors of importance on teacher effectiveness, one of which was teacher-student relationships. though not the highest in terms of effect size (−.869), teacher-student relationships are suggested to be the keystone for the other three. relatedly, lyubomirsky, king, and diener (2005), and pianta (1999) found that s-t relationships also have a great influence on students’ success in school. crow (2009) as well reported positive anchor relationships, including those with educators, were a common factor in the lives of fifth-grade students who were identified as intrinsically motivated to seek information, supporting other studies that point to the influence of adult relationships on students’ inner drive to learn (furrer & skinner, 2003; ryan, stiller, & lynch, 1994). lee (2007) echoed this and added that s-t relationships contribute to students’ academic performance. students make learning a higher priority and work harder for teachers whom they care about and perceive as valuing their learning (noddings, 1992). more to the point, ziljlstra (2015) reported that in addition to the teacher’s ability to provide clear expectations, manage the classroom, and optimize student attention, children’s perceptions of their teachers’ friendliness and cooperative spirit had a positive impact on their learning of mathematics in the early elementary grades. s-t relationships can also influence students’ future paths toward academic success (birch & ladd, 1998). miller (2000) noted that s-t relationships played an important role in helping reduce the chances of future bad outcomes (i.e., dropping out of school). it should then be of no surprise that caring, supportive teachers are often found in schools with high-ranking achievement regardless of the socioeconomic status of the students attending the schools (hughes, 1999; silins & murray-harvey, 1995). positive outcomes from strong s-t relationships go well beyond achievement. hamre and pianta (2001) assert “the quality of teacher– child relationships is a stronger predictor of behavior than of academic outcomes” (p. 634). doll, zucker, and brehm (2004), developers of the classmaps survey (cms) used in the current study, attest that the quality and consistency of the teacher’s rapport is the most essential 42 christopher m. knoell, dena harshbarger, carrie kracl, sherry r. crow ingredient of a safe, supportive classroom environment. moreover, howes, hamilton and matheson (1994) reported that s-t relationships influence students’ relationships with peers in their classrooms. student voices the importance of s-t relationships is generally voiced best by students themselves. unfortunately, few studies to date make use of student voices to convey these important messages. according to doda and knowles (2008), when asked to respond to the question “what should middle school teachers know about middle school students?” approximately 2,700 middle school students from diverse communities across north america responded emphatically that they deeply desired positive and rewarding relationships with their teachers and with their peers, “characterized by compassion, respect, personalization, fellowship, and friendship” (doda & knowles, 2008, p. 27). one student surveyed captured it best by stating: the key to being a good teacher is to know the kids. you have to know every single one and have a relationship with every single one. i think that one thing that really allows me to work hard is knowing that my teacher knows where i am in life at that moment. if they don’t know me, i will tend not to work as hard for them (p. 28). characteristics of student-teacher relationships studies conducted to better understand s-t relationships have focused directly on the characteristics of the s-t relationship. decades ago, barr (1958) and later good and brophy (1995) identified teacher characteristics that students found to be most likable, including: (a) consideration, (b) buoyancy, and (c) patience. additionally, boals, tyree, and marker (1990) noted the importance of establishing high expectations when working with students of poverty. most recently, bakx, koopman, de kruijff, and den brok (2015) reported that primary students most often mentioned factors related to personality, didactic skills, guidance, and authority with regard to their perceptions of “good” teachers. though these studies provide important insight, their limitations most notably include their inability to explain how students perceive these characteristics which ultimately impact the s-t relationship. the 43 2015, 17, 39–56 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach intent of this study is to answer the central question: “what teacher behaviors influence fifth-grade students’ perceptions of desirable teacher characteristics?” me thod par ticipants the participants in this study included sixty-two 10 to 11 year-old fifth-grade students from two elementary schools in the same rural, midwestern community of roughly 30,000 people. over 92% of the population is caucasian with the rest being mainly of a hispanic background, and some of african-american and asian descent. the median income in 2010 was just over $47,000, with 15.5% of the population living below the poverty line (united states census bureau, 2010). to ensure more generalizable results, the two schools, though almost identical in number of students (approximately 260 students each), had unique and differing populations in terms of the socioeconomic level of students who attended, mobility rates, and ell populations. for this study, poverty schools are defined as having more than 75% of students receiving free or reduced priced lunch (u.s. department of education, 1998) and affluent schools are defined as having 10% or fewer of the students receiving free or reduced price lunch (u.s. department of education, 1994). additionally, the two schools each had two fifth-grade classrooms from which students were chosen to participate with teachers possessing differing degrees of experience (see table 1). table 1. demographic characteristics of school sites and classroom experience of teachers poverty elementary (n = 257) affluent elementary (n = 258) percentage characteristic percentage 81.71 free or reduced lunch 10.80 20.75 english language learner 0.78 15.77 mobility 3.10 poverty elementary teacher’s classroom experience affluent elementary teacher’s classroom experience 13 years female teacher > 25 years > 25 years male teacher 8 years 44 christopher m. knoell, dena harshbarger, carrie kracl, sherry r. crow additionally, the twelve fifth-grade students purposefully sampled from each school for the semi-structured interviews were selected according to differing levels of achievement on the measure of academic progress (map) in reading and mathematics to provide a broad sampling across both affluent and low ses schools (see figure 1). purposeful sampling: number of students by achievement levels figure 1. purposeful sampling: number of students by achievement levels the diversity of the populations between the two buildings, the wide array of teachers’ classroom experience, and the differing levels of achievement of the students provided unique and diverse lenses through which to explore s-t relationships. procedure in an attempt to reveal a more holistic understanding of the s-t relationship and to answer the central question “what teacher behaviors influence fifth-grade students’ perceptions of desirable teacher characteristics?” students from two different schools and of differing achievement levels were purposefully sampled. to qualify for the study, fifth-graders must have attended their designated school for their entire scholastic career to ensure each was truly a participant in and of the culture of the school. those considered must have also completed the teacher-student section of the classmaps survey (cms). 45 2015, 17, 39–56 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach the cms, as developed, tested, and published by beth doll and associates, is an anonymous survey where students report their degree of agreement for each item using the following descriptors and corresponding four point scale (never = 0; sometimes = 1; often = 2; almost always = 3) (doll et al., 2009). only the teacher-student section of the cms was used for the current study. estimates of the cms sections’ internal consistency reliability were reported to be in the mid .80 range with none below .78, which allows sufficient flexibility to use any of the eight subscales independently (doll et al., 2010). the final step of purposeful sampling relied upon student’s achievement scores on nationally normed measure of academic progress (map) in reading and mathematics. students were categorized as those who had high growth on both subtests (h-h), high growth on one subtest and low growth in another (h-l), or low growth on both subtests (l-l). four students from each designation (h-h; h-l; ll) were randomly chosen for a total of 12 from each school, or 24 students overall were chosen to complete the semi-structured interviews. within the semi-structured interviews, students were asked to expand upon their initial likert scale responses on the teacher-student section of the cms. an example of an interview prompt is as follows, “on ‘my teacher listens carefully to me when i talk.’ you marked, ‘almost always.’ please tell me why you marked answer this way?” the seven initial prompts from the teacher-student section of cms survey include: a. my teacher listens carefully to me when i talk. b. my teacher helps me when i need help. c. my teacher respects me. d. my teacher likes having me in this class. e. my teacher makes it fun to be in this class. f. my teacher thinks i do a good job in this class. g. my teacher is fair to me. after transcription of the 24 interviews, analysis began with reading each of the transcripts several times to get a bird’s eye view of the database. notes were recorded in the form of short phrases and key concepts in the margins of each transcript. next, to promote better within-case analysis, all student responses for each question were organized on one spreadsheet, which enabled analysis of all student responses by question, thus revealing the common themes reported. 46 christopher m. knoell, dena harshbarger, carrie kracl, sherry r. crow results and discussion analysis of the qualitative data from the diversely sampled 24 student interviews revealed six explicitly stated themes. additionally, the investigator inferred one theme due to its omission from all the student interview transcripts (see table 2). table 2. teacher behaviors as themes explicitly stated by students inferred by researcher from student responses consistent help (with high expectations) focus on character rather than appearance sense of humor making learning fun active listening providing for a sense of community encouragement consistent help (with high expectations) two-thirds of the students indicated on the cms that their teachers almost always helped them. yet, within the interviews, the fifth-graders expressed that they still expected to be held accountable for their own learning. one shared, “most of the time i don’t need help but when i do, she always does.” others stated that, “if we need help, she’ll always call on us and say, ‘what can i help you with?’” students in each of the four classrooms shared different ways in which help was delivered. some assistance was given while class was in session, other times help was provided in a small group or individually after school or at recess, and still another teacher offered her help via a sign-up list on the board. how and when the help was provided didn’t appear to be important to the students as long as assistance was consistent and available to all. students also valued expectations of orderliness and opportunities to try on their own. several mentioned that the assistance was always available, but that there were procedures to be followed, most importantly 47 2015, 17, 39–56 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach the raising of hands while patiently waiting in one’s seat. others spoke of the teacher not doing for students what they are able to do on their own, “because sometimes she thinks we should do it by ‘oursef ’.” this student concluded with, “she helps us the right amount.” students need to trust that their teachers are going to be there to help them when needed, but are going to do so while retaining high expectations for their students (boals et al., 1990). this sense of trust with regard to a teacher’s willingness to help was shown to be developed differently in each of the classrooms, but ultimately teachers need to not only be available to assist but must also recognize and respond to students in need of help. when this occurs in the classroom, a resulting trust between teacher and student develops that can potentially contribute to students’ academic success (lee, 2007; hughes, 1999). sense of humor another attribute that was valued by the students was a strong sense of humor. students from three of the four classrooms explicitly mentioned their teachers’ strong senses of humor and that this resulted in them especially enjoying time spent in their classroom. two of the teachers showed their sense of humor mainly through sharing of funny stories, most specifically about their families. an example of this was when one of the teachers shared of her daughter’s sleepwalking, “she walked all the way down the stairs, opened the fridge, got the milk out and then went back to bed. that was funny.” another shared a similar example stating, “she’s always making us laugh and she tells us stories about her grandchildren.” one teacher was described by several of his students as hilarious because he tells lots of jokes. whether expressed through humorous stories, or through appropriate, well-intentioned jokes, this caring sense of humor conveys to students that their teachers are “‘human’ in the fullest sense of the word” (mcewan, 2002, p. 30; apa work group, 1997; mccombs & whisler, 1997; saul, 2005), and that school is more than just about achievement and test scores. 48 christopher m. knoell, dena harshbarger, carrie kracl, sherry r. crow making learning fun students also valued when their teachers made learning fun. fourteen students of the 24 interviewed from all of the four teachers’ classrooms specifically mentioned the implementation of games that reinforced or included learning as a reason they felt their teacher made learning fun. some of the games mentioned were used as impromptu review sessions. such examples included, “... in grammar and math, she makes up games on the topic review, which is a lot of fun.” another student shared, “he lets us play these little games, and if we get an answer correct, he’ll let us go to this miniature basketball hoop and shoot from a certain line.” when asked by the interviewer, “do you feel like the games help you learn?” one student answered, “yeah … ‘cause … the games help [us] remember.” according to the fifth-graders, teachers need to keep learning fun and upbeat in their classrooms, but in such a way so that learning is indeed still taking place. spontaneous, relatively simple games for reviewing concepts, such as a class “quiz bowl,” were most appreciated by students. the implementation of such a game or activity at a particularly tedious time can breathe life into the most stagnant of environments; and according to frey and wilhite (2005) who built upon the work of william glasser, this “combination of laughing and learning can maximize the relationship that educators have with students” (p. 157). active listening another characteristic that emerged was the importance of teachers exhibiting active listening. nearly two-thirds of the students indicated on the cms that their teachers almost always listened to them. when asked how the students knew this, the vast majority (nearly 71%) stressed the importance of being looked at (i.e., eye contact) as they spoke. one shared, “she’s looking me in the eyes and she’s not looking anywhere else.” another stated, “he doesn’t turn his head and say something else while i’m [speaking to him].” students also shared that teachers needed to give them nonverbal feedback, such as nodding one’s head, and verbal confirmation that they were being understood. 49 2015, 17, 39–56 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach though the school day can be extremely hectic and busy, students need to know that they are being heard. active listening, such as getting down to the student’s level and maintaining eye contact, giving nonverbal feedback, such as nodding and responding appropriately, does not take much effort on the teacher’s part, yet goes a long way to help students feel appreciated, acknowledged, and respected (mccombs & whisler, 1997). providing for a sense of community an attribute that was more implicit in nature but found throughout the student responses was the communal or group-oriented thinking by most of the 24 students interviewed. with the exception of a question inquiring about the teacher making class fun (my teacher makes it fun to be in this class), the other seven questions were geared more to individual responses such as “i” and “me.” thirteen of the 24 students made use of the pronouns “we” and “us” rather than “i” and “me” on at least two of their prompt follow-ups. for example, on the classmaps prompt dealing with fairness (my teacher is fair to me), 16 of the 24 students who were interviewed had marked almost always in the survey. when asked in the follow-up interview, “does he/she treat everyone fairly?” and, “is that important to you?” the students emphatically responded “yes” to both. some comments that displayed this thinking include, “because he shows fairness to everybody in the class. he shows the same amount,” and, “she really takes time for each and every one of us.” with over half of the fifth-graders expressing group-oriented or communal thinking, it is important for teachers help students experience a feeling of belonging in their classrooms. according to osterman (2000), when students feel that they belong, they are “more helping, more considerate of others, and more accepting of others, including those not in the friendship group” (p. 334). jensen (2009), author of teaching with poverty in mind, stated, “what you want to emphasize at school is moderate social status and group acceptance” (p. 90). he went on to emphasize this point stating, “students who know, trust, and cooperate with one another typically do better academically” (p. 92). 50 christopher m. knoell, dena harshbarger, carrie kracl, sherry r. crow encouragement two-thirds of the students interviewed expressed that their teachers almost always felt they (the students) did a good job in class. and twothirds spoke of specific ways that the teachers conveyed to them that they were doing a good job in the classroom. though there were a couple examples shared by students that included the earning of stickers or candy, the manner most frequently mentioned by the fifth-graders was verbal encouragement and/or compliments that were expressed either by spoken or written language. the majority of the examples shared by the students were spoken in nature and most generally expressed as, “good job!” or other variances of this compliment. some of the students included their own name in their examples and others included some specificity in terms of what the student did that was worthy of praise. however, based upon the infrequency of these details, in spoken encouragements, it seems the salient aspect was not specificity or name usage but the fact that the compliment was expressed. conversely, written forms of this encouragement or compliments were more valued when they were specific. the students shared examples of teachers not only writing “good job!” on their papers, but also including smiley faces and notes, which included specific compliments and encouragement. as early as 1925, dr. elizabeth hurlock studied fourth and sixth graders and how different types of feedback affected their math performance. the findings indicated that all feedback can improve performance, however, students who were identified by name and praised in front of their peers showed a 71% improvement in their performance, while those receiving criticism showed only a 19% gain. jensen (2009) shares some of the strategies purported by seligman and csikszentmihalyi (2000) that can instill much needed hope in schools of poverty. hope, along with learned optimism, is a crucial factor in supporting lowses students to be high achievers. the strategies include “offering help, encouragement, and caring as often as needed” and “building academic, emotional, and social assets in students” (p. 113). encouragement should be both spoken and written. with regard to the written forms of encouragement, rath and clifton (2005) propose it is “most appreciated and effective when it is individualized, specific, and deserved” (p. 80). 51 2015, 17, 39–56 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach focus on character instead of appearance the final theme was exposed due to its complete and total omission by all of the students interviewed. there were no references to the physical appearance and dress or style of any of the four teachers. the four teachers in the study ranged in age from roughly their early thirties to their mid-fifties, and in terms of style of clothing or dress, from extremely casual (i.e., khaki’s and casual shoes) to a much more professional look (i.e., a dress shirt, slacks and a tie). regardless of these details, students focused their descriptions and comments solely on the behaviors and character traits their teachers exhibited. interestingly enough, the first question of each semi-structured interview, “tell me about mr(s). ___.” could have been interpreted as a request for a physical description, but again, there was not one mention of the physical appearance of the teachers by any of the students interviewed. one student responded, “well, mr. __ is fun and hilarious.” another shared, “he’s a really nice guy, and he can be strict, but that’s a good thing, because sometimes teachers can be too nice, and so that will lead kids to be a little more disrespectful.” the implications of this theme are perhaps most beneficial for administrators and human resource hiring officials. according to a recent newsweek poll, 63% of those polled felt that good looks were an advantage for getting a job for women and 72% indicated that physical attractiveness of men was advantageous in being hired (princeton survey research associates international, 2010, june 30). the responses of the fifth-graders in this study suggest this focus on appearance or “lookism” needs to not be a consideration, at least not when hiring their teachers. implications and recommendations the analysis of the qualitative data revealed several teacher behaviors for characteristics which were valued by students. the identification of these behaviors can provide a roadmap for teachers for how to better develop s-t relationships in classrooms. additionally, these themes could provide a specific list of personal attributes for which administrators and other hiring officials could look for in potential teacher candidates. lastly, the seven themes could provide the foundation for 52 christopher m. knoell, dena harshbarger, carrie kracl, sherry r. crow a study through which a survey could be developed to help hiring officials initially sort candidates who possess these important personal characteristics. limitations of the study there were two major limitations with this study. the first limitation was that according to the results of the teacher-student section of the cms, all four teachers in the study had already developed strong s-t relationships in their classrooms. though not revealed until after the administration of the cms, this could be viewed as limiting the analysis from the perspective of students from classrooms who do not rate their s-t relationship favorably. another similar limitation of this study is that the teachers voluntarily agreed to take part in the study. the results from the study may have differed greatly had the teachers from the two different types of schools been randomly assigned to the study. random assignment may have produced survey results that were not as favorable. conclusion the data from the current study point to the importance of teachers providing consistent help (with high expectations), displaying a sense of humor, making learning fun, practicing active listening, and providing for a sense of community to their students. these characteristics were shown to be important to students of diverse ses levels and achievement levels, and in situations where their teachers were of differing genders, ages, and experience levels. additionally, the students in the study reflected little to no awareness of their teachers’ physical appearance, but instead focused on their behaviors and personalities. all of these characteristics point to the value of the s-t relationship to students. while student test scores and school rankings are all critical elements in today’s educational system, and on-going professional development on progressive methods of instruction is of obvious importance, educators and districts must never overlook the value of cultivating s-t rela tionships in their classrooms. s-t relationships are built through purposeful and continual effort, primarily on the part of the teacher. it is in 53 2015, 17, 39–56 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach this relationship between the teacher and the student where learning begins to flourish. the degree to which a teacher invests in each interaction affects students not only in their 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(2015). early grade learning: the role of teacher-child interaction and tutor-assisted intervention. doctoral dissertation. retrieved from http://dare. uva.nl/record/1/493800. 56 christopher m. knoell, dena harshbarger, carrie kracl, sherry r. crow ar mąstai k aip penk tok as? mokytojų char ak teristikų, svarbių dvie jų skirtingų pr adinių mokyklų mokiniams vidurio vak arų k aimiškoje bendruomenė je, t yrimas christopher m. knoell, d ena harshbarger, carrie kracl, sherr y r. crow nebraskos universitetas kearnyje, jav santrauka. darbo problema. nuo 2002 metų įsigalėjusi nuostata neturėti nei vieno ne pažangaus mokinio privertė mokyklos administratorius susitelkti į akademinius mo kinių pasiekimus. tai paskatino mokytojus ieškoti būdų, kurie pagerintų akademinius pasiekimus, tačiau mažai iš jų kreipė dėmesį į santykio tarp mokytojo ir mokinio gerinimą. tokio ryšio puoselėjimas skatina įvairų gebėjimų lygį turinčius ir skirtingo tipo mokyklose besimokančius mokinius siekti akademinių žinių. tikslas. šio tyrimo tikslas – išanalizuoti mokinio ir mokytojo tarpusavio santykius ir atsakyti į klausimą, kokias mokytojų savybes penktokai suvokia kaip pageidautinas. metodas. tyrimas atliktas naudojant kokybinį metodą ir išanalizavus 24 pusiau struktūruotų mokinių interviu duomenis. rezultatai. atskleistos mokinių vertinamos mokytojų charakteristikos, tokios kaip nuolatinės pagalbos teikimas, humoro jausmas, aktyvus klausymasis ir keletas kitų. šių charakteristikų išskyrimas padėtų mokytojams užsibrėžti asmeninio tobulėjimo tikslus, o mokyklų administratoriams praverstų atrenkant pedagoginį personalą. tyrimo rezultatai naudingi ir siekiant toliau plėtoti šios srities tyrimus (atliekant suvokimo analizę). išvados. kokia situacija ir išsivystymo lygmuo regionuose bebūtų, ugdymo personalas turėtų atkreipti dėmesį į mokytojo ir mokinio tarpusavio santykių plėtojimo svarbą. pagrindiniai žodžiai: mokytojų ir mokinių santykiai, mokytojų elgesys, skurdžios ir turtingos mokyklos. received: april 24, 2015 accepted: october 19, 2015 79 at tempted suicide: qualitative study of adolescent females’ lived experience jolanta latakienė1, paulius skruibis vilnius university, lithuania abstract. background. different aspects of adolescent suicidal behaviour are explored, however, they are interpreted in terms suitable mostly for adult suicidal behaviour. knowledge on adolescent suicidality is far from comprehensive. aims. to describe the lived experience of attempted suicide among young females and to unfold distinctiveness of such experience. method. three adolescent females aged 13 to 17, who attempted suicide within one year period while not in the state of psychosis, took part in the study. research was conducted using interpretative phenomenological analysis – a qualitative research method which aims to explore both experience of a person and one’s trying to make sense of it. data was collected during semi-structured interviews which allowed setting a closer contact with respondents. results. data analysis showed that though a fair amount of attempted suicide experiences of adolescent females is similar to those of adults, there are some distinct features: sense of overwhelming experience and amassing bothers, liveliness of past experiences in the present, great lack of support in close relationships, difficulties reflecting and controlling emotions and thoughts. conclusions. these results support the huge importance of appropriate responses of the surrounding people and mental health care professionals to the state of suicidal adolescent female. also, it is necessary to teach adolescent females to effectively manage their emotions and impulses, and to develop mature ego defense mechanisms. further research could contribute to the creation of guidelines to such behaviour or training and a deeper understanding of the psychological state of suicidal adolescents. keywords: attempted suicide, adolescent, young females, interpretative phenomenological analysis 1 address for correspondence: taikos str. 57-88, 05246, vilnius, lithuania. phone: +370 659 73549. e-mail: latakiene.jolanta@gmail.com. scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2015 / 17 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.17.5 80 jolanta latakienė, paulius skruibis introduc tion berman et al. (2007) data shows that ratio between attempted suicide and completed suicide is largest among adolescents, thus it clearly illustrates the significance of paying closer attention to experiences of this age group and envisaging its particularity. however, particular rates vary substantially from 28:1 to 350:1 depending on the study. these estimates are worrying not only because attempted suicide might be one of the risk factors of another suicidal attempt but as attempting suicide might often itself be a crisis experience for an adolescent. adequate reactions and attention to adolescent’s needs is crucial but hard to manage since there is a lack of scientific data on particularities of the state of these people. the problem of suicide is extremely relevant in lithuania – the rate of suicides is among the highest in europe for almost two decades. this is quite common in post-soviet countries where transition from biological psychiatry, which lacks psychosocial support, to modern stances is not completely fluent. however, attempted suicide among young females is even more troubling as epidemiological studies have shown that since 2006 the number of young females under 19 years old who died by suicide is growing (gerasimaviciute, gurevicius, 2009). although the rates of female suicides are commonly lower than male, this might be explained by the fact that deaths by drowning or overdose are rarely classified as suicides although these methods of suicide are more common among females (cutcliffe, 2004; gailiene, 1998). furthermore, 7 out of 8 adolescents who had attempted suicide used methods of low lethality so they did not require medical attention which makes it hardly possible to record precise numbers of attempted suicides (berman et al., 2007). nevertheless, we should not forget that every attempted suicide might result in death, irrespective of the method chosen. besides, research on adolescent suicidal behaviour shows that almost twice as many young females have suicidal tendencies compared to young males (zemaitiene, zaborskis, 2004). therefore, we can assume that although adolescent females commit suicide more rarely, they experience suicidal crisis more often, hence adequate interventions are required. furthermore, young people attempt suicide or engage in self-harming frequently – these are signs of great suffering. though it is not reflected in the statistics of committed suicides, it is not less real. 81 2015, 17, 79–96 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach what is more, there is no consensus among suicidologists upon the definition of suicide, attempted suicide, or self-harm – there are a lot of different terms, thus misunderstandings arise (silverman et al., 2007a). it is intensely discussed whether suicide, attempted suicide, and selfharm should be explained by same or different psychological factors. on the one side, van orden et al. (2005) state the difference between so called “periphery” – suicidal ideation or attempts, and “core” – completed suicide. authors suggest that research on “periphery” cannot compensate the lack of knowledge about the “core”. on the other side, williams (2000) and baumeister (1990) claim that both suicide and selfharm can be explained using the same models as most characteristics – age, gender, changes in rates during the time – are almost the same. what is more, suicide attempt might help a person to reach the aim of completed suicide – which is to escape from aversive self-awareness at least for a short time (baumeister, 1990). moreover, there were lots of attempts to classify various forms of suicidal behaviour (e.g. o’carrol et al., 2006) but none of them became widely accepted. it motivated silverman et al. (2007a) to create a new atheoretical classification. intent became an integrative construct in this nomenclature and should be understood as a conscious wish or desire to escape from life. summing up, in the nomenclature by silverman et al. (2007a), all forms of suicidal behaviour are classified by two criteria – suicidal intent (present, unclear, absent) and injury (without injuries, non-fatal injuries, death). attempted suicide is defined as self-inflicted, potentially injurious behaviour with a nonfatal outcome and evidence (explicit or implicit) of intent to die (silverman et al., 2007b). we use this definition of suicide attempt in this study. most studies on adolescent suicidal behaviour tried to name risk factors. king & knox (2002) describe such factors of adolescents suicide risk: previous suicide attempts, affective disorder, alcohol or other substances abuse, aggressive behaviour manner or behaviour disorder, availability of means. research shows that about 90 per cent of adolescents who have died by suicide (around the same amount of the ones who attempted suicide) had a mental disorder, the most frequent of which was depression (king & knox, 2002; ash, 2006). however, methodological validity and reliability of such studies are questionable – hjelmeland et al. (2010) state that most of these results are obtained using psychological autopsy: interviewing relatives about mental state of the 82 jolanta latakienė, paulius skruibis deceased using dsm criteria. the possibility to accurately evaluate mental health of the relative is doubtful, especially when grieving after the loss. in addition, berman et al. (2007) note that there are no specific theories of adolescent suicidal behaviour, however, almost everything known about adults’ suicidality fits adolescents as well. talking about risk factors, it seems significant that lithuanian survey on 11–15 year olds shows that adolescents name difficulties in family, loss, substantial life changes, and financial difficulties as reasons of their suicidal intents or plans (zemaitiene, 2006). important for the current study is the fact that some gender differences were found – females reported suppressed feelings and complicated relationships with peers as reasons for suicidal behavior four times more often than males. in addition, the meta-study of bilgin et al. (2007) revealed great influence of conflict with parents on the suicidal behaviour of adolescent female. to sum up, ash (2006) states that most principles of assessment and treatment of suicidal adolescents are the same as of adults, but because of developmental differences, different life circumstances and legal status, viewpoint and behaviour with younger suicidal person should be a bit different. even though suicide attempts and ideation are more common in adolescence, difficulties arise as adolescents are known to deny these thoughts or acts when asked about. this lets us stress the importance of a strong, trust-based rapport with an adolescent in order to provide the help he or she needs. king & knox (2002) add that because of adolescents’ reach for autonomy and independence from adults, suicidal adolescents give priority to informal support from friends and peers, and tend to not seek professional help. in this context, ash (2006) mentions extremely relevant research results – about one third of suicidal adolescents think they should cope with problems themselves and withdraw from seeking help, while about one forth think they should keep their thoughts about suicide or attempts in secret. therefore, it seems that suicidal adolescent might end up trapped in a vicious circle – he or she cannot see opportunities to cope with difficulties himself or herself, does not want to turn to adults and rather relies on support from friends, yet chances of overcoming suicidal crisis with the help from only peers are very limited, therefore, adolescent might feel even more helpless. further, king & knox (2002) emphasize poor effectiveness of prevention initiatives of adolescent suicidal behaviour. it is exaggerated by the 83 2015, 17, 79–96 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach fact that there is a great lack of studies on adolescent suicidal behaviour in general – most knowledge about suicide is accumulated on adults. yet further, there is plenty of quantitative knowledge about suicide – various known risk and protective factors contributed to better understanding of suicidal behaviour. however, as rogers (2001) states, there is not much evidence that this information helped to lower total rates of suicides, predict suicidal behaviour or understand individual experiences of suicidal person. shea (2002) also highlights that stressors themselves not necessarily explain suicidal behaviour as we should not forget that unique personal interpretation determines whether a stressor becomes fatal trigger. this idea was proven in the research by crocker et al. (2006) – respondents claimed that most of risk factors mismatched their experience. therefore, applicability of this knowledge to particular case or individual therapy is still unclear. furthermore, it is important to study this field qualitatively, specifically, using interview method, because during the survey of zemaitiene & zaborskis (2004), adolescents of high suicidal risk (attempted a planned suicide, often had suicidal thoughts) tended to not disclose incentives of their suicidal behaviour (answering it is a secret or nonessential thing). interview provides great opportunity to state a closer rapport with respondent which gives a chance to discuss sensitive topics and get to know more about personal experiences. further qualitative studies in lithuania revealed that adults who attempted suicide were not keen on expressing their plans to surrounding people as well or tended to use non-verbal and indirect communication (latakienė, 2014). even more, various groups of lithuanians – penitentiary officers (dadasev, 2012), family members, psychiatrists and psychiatry nurses (latakienė, 2014) – lack skills or proper reaction towards reports about suicide intent. indifference and disengaging in helping are the most common perceived reactions to reports before the attempt which is troubling as unresponsiveness and provocation to suicide are considered to be impelling factors to commit suicide (latakienė, 2014). however, only adult suicide attempters participated in these studies so we need to investigate separately whether adolescents’ experience resembles these findings. summing up, studies concentrating on adolescent suicidal behavior are scant. premise that experiences of suicidal adolescents should be similar to adults’ lived experience is often made while empirical 84 jolanta latakienė, paulius skruibis evidence is still scarce. what is more, theoretical models of adolescents’ psychological state propose quite a great difference from adults. research shows some gender differences as well: females tend to attempt suicide more often than males. researches also tent to orient towards quantitative measures searching for common psychological factors of suicidal behaviour, often relating them to various mental health estimates. this attitude is problematic as there is a risk to fail to feel adolescents’ individual experience for they tend to be closed and to distrust adults because of their age characteristics, therefore, misunderstanding might lead to even greater isolation. this study aimed to describe the lived experience of attempted suicide among young females and to unfold distinctive features of such experience. me thod par ticipants and method participants were recruited from a psychiatric hospital; diagnoses were not taken into account because of phenomenological grounds of the research. permission from a hospital ethics committee and hospital director were obtained, and written consents were given by parents or caregivers of all participants. three 13, 15 and 17 years old adolescent females were interviewed. all of them live in the city area, two of them attend high school and one vocational school. all respondents live in families with only one parent or without them – one of them lives in foster home, another with caregivers and her grandmother, and the third with mother and stepfather. time period from attempted suicide to interview varied from 9 days to 5 months and 23 days. all respondents tried to commit suicide by overdosing medicines or mixture of medicines and alcohol, and it was their first or second suicide attempt. interpretative phenomenological analysis (ipa) was chosen for this study as this qualitative method, as its author jonathan a. smith says, is extremely relevant when everyday experiences take on a particular significance which usually occurs when something important happens (smith et al., 2009). this method is based on phenomenology, hermeneutics and ideography. edmund husserl’s accented principle of “return to things themselves” was adopted from the phenomenological philosophy – ipa practitioners try to not attribute to person’s experiences 85 2015, 17, 79–96 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach to pre-determined, abstract categories. influence of hermeneutics on ipa is reflected in a way that it is based primarily on textual analysis and interpretation. moreover, it is an ideographical method as all the attention is given to a particular case and person’s lived experience instead of generalizing about whole population (smith et al., 2009). smith (2011) admits that sometimes ideographical approach leads the whole study to be based on explicit in-depth analysis of one person’s lived experience, nevertheless, more frequently several cases are analyzed in detail searching for common patterns afterwards. however, the best ipa studies are those which find balance between common structures and description of individual case, and show how those structures reflect in the experience of particular respondent (smith, 2011). table 2. criteria for research validity and means to meet them in current study criterion for validity (by yardley, 2000) means to meet in current study sensitivity to context • reports of text analysis are presented in research appendices. • respondents’ quotations are given while examining results. • researcher being of same gender and of similar age might help to ensure more acceptable environment to respondent. • researcher is able to be emphatic as has more than four years’ experience of volunteering in emotional support service „youth line“. commitment and rigour • homogeneity of respondent sample and adequacy to question researched. • noticing respondent’s cues and asking appropriate questions are important to ensure research rigour. as researcher’s experience in this field is little, questions about conducting interview were discussed with supervisor afterwards. transparency and coherence • steps of respondents sampling, interview course and result analysis are described and grounded in detail in research report. • it is sought to stick to main ipa principles, carefully interpret respondents’ words and not make too general conclusions. impact and importance • it is sought to present important and useful information for the reader in research report. 86 jolanta latakienė, paulius skruibis data analysis data were obtained during semi-structured interviews which main question was: “i would like you to tell me about your suicide attempt – when and where did it happen, what thoughts you have about it now, what this experience means to you. i would like to hear everything what is important to you.” interviews were audio recorded. afterwards, records were transcribed and analyzed. in addition to this, all initial thoughts about interview were written down in a diary just after the meeting: what influence the researcher (experience, appearance, wording of questions, etc.) might have had on responses, rapport with respondent was briefly described as well. this was also done before beginning another interview after the analysis of previous one. it is important to reduce the level of “noise” and bracket preconceived ideas in case to not envisage our own previous knowledge before understanding the lived experience of the respondent. analysis was accomplished in a few steps: 1. on the left side of transcript, the phenomenological side and exploratory comments were made. there were three types comments: describing, linguistic and conceptual; 2. on the right – the interpretative – side, emergent themes containing more psychological constructs, reflecting the essence of the initial notes were written; 3. afterwards, super-ordinate themes were developed by integrating emergent themes into broader constructs; 4. after steps 1–3 were repeated for all three transcripts and after every transcript was checked for themes which emerged in other interviews, master themes reflecting commonalities and differences between participants were excluded. master themes and some extracts from interviews are presented in a research report. validity and quality in this research, smith’s (2011) criteria for ipa based study quality and yardley’s (2010) criteria for qualitative studies validity were used. yardley’s criteria and means to meet them in current study are presented in table 2. in addition to this, so called “independent audit” (smith, 2011) was used to ensure validity of conclusions – part of the interview analysis was checked for plausibility and credibility by two students who had used ipa in their research. 87 2015, 17, 79–96 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach results after analyzing 3 interviews and comparing them, structure of the lived experience of attempted suicide among young females emerged. master themes and super-ordinate themes are presented in table 3. as it can be seen from table 3, five master themes emerged. leaving aside such both theoretically and empirically well-known aspects of suicidal state as ambivalent attitude towards life and death (e.g. schneidman, 2002), experience of helplessness or thinking deficits (e.g. baumeister, 1990; williams, 2000), in this article we present four super-ordinate themes which are specific for adolescent females who attempted suicide: overwhelming experience, liveliness of past in the present, lack of support in close relationships, difficulties reflecting and controlling emotions and thoughts. table 3. master themes master themes 1. relation towards others: ambivalence of close relationships and help 1.1. importance of close relationships 1.2. lack of support in close relationships 1.3. ambivalent relation towards help 1.4. masking of one’s state 2. attitude towards one’s life: meaninglessness and hopelessness 2.1. meaninglessness and self-abasement 2.2. unceasing wish to die 2.3. ambivalent relation towards ones death 2.4. uncertainty about one‘s future 3. impact of experience: abundance and invincibility of experiences 3.1. overwhelming experience 3.2. oppressiveness of emotional pain 3.3. liveliness of past in the present 3.4. dissociative thinking 3.5. self-harm as a mean to overcome pain 4. coping peculiarities: difficulties in self-reflection and self-control 4.1 spontaneity of attempting suicide 4.2. contraction and rigidity of thinking 4.3. difficulties in reflecting and controlling emotions and thoughts 4.4 autonomy of suicidal thoughts 4.5. tendency to work out 5. look backwards: ambiguous viewpoint towards one’s attempted suicide 5.1. ambivalent viewpoint towards suicide 5.2. ambivalent viewpoint towards consequences of attempted suicide 88 jolanta latakienė, paulius skruibis overwhelming experience firstly, all three respondents mentioned that their experience seemed immense; it felt like bothers were accumulating: em, things were going wrong in school, first of all, i fell out with teacher, then had a fight with classmate, i was somehow in a bad temper when i got home. i also fell out with mother, even more, later i and my sister became angr y with each other. in a word, i star ted to fall out with ever yone. (beata, lines 36−39) of course, difficulties cannot amass endlessly so agne also mentioned outburst, when it seems that strains and pain overpass the limits of coping abilities: s o ever ything piled up in a heap this way. well, it did not stood – neither my ner ves, nothing. (agne, lines 131−132) it looks like one of the consequences of such state might be diminished activity which cecile told about: i don’t k now, but recently i don’t want to do anything, i dislike now what i used to like. (cecile, lines 8−9) thus, it seems that girls felt overtaken by greater difficulties than they had resources to cope them with. when this discrepancy became too oppressive, two further ways emerged – to do nothing or try extreme measures – attempt a suicide. liveliness of past in the present narrations of two respondents revealed that feelings uprising in the situation of attempting suicide were experienced as if they would happen “here and now”. it is well illustrated by cecile’s change of grammatical tense – girl talks about actions of hospital staff or herself in past tense, but when she starts talking about her oppressive thoughts and wish to isolate – she uses present tense: s o they used to tell me: “ w hen those thoughts arise to you, come and tell”. i lied in bed, turned to the wall and told nobody that those thoughts are already troubling me, but somehow they saw that i sepa rate myself alone, i don’t wa nt to talk , and then again at a dash, they injec ted those medicines. (cecile, lines 85–89) in beata’s telling, liveliness of past state in present is seen from her frequent use of word “here” when she talks about past events: 89 2015, 17, 79–96 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach well, attempted suicide is not for the first time here … af ter wards, i somehow calmed down, such thoughts didn’t even come to me. but later, just recently here, on 4 th of november, from 3 rd of november to 4 th of november, it all happened at night here, ever ything gone wrong with me for the whole thursday. (beata, lines 17–21) it seems that such way of talking might testify traumatizing nature of the lived experience of attempted suicide – such “here and now” proceeding of experiences is typical of persons with posttraumatic stress and might be interpreted as an expression of invasion symptoms which were widely described by herman (2006). lack of suppor t in close relationships what is more, all three respondents experienced loss of important relationships – agne finished a long-time relationship with boyfriend just before attempting suicide and she has been living in foster home since she was 6 years old, beata lives with sister as her mother had gone abroad a year earlier, cecile’s mother is dead, her father is drinking. girls talked about current tense relationships with close people as well. girls had different reactions to these relationship difficulties, but experience of lack of attention, warmth and support was common: m y, for example, father, who i love a lot, he drinks now, well, he is not a ver y serious alcoholic, he just works during a work week and drinks on weekends. a nd i lack such greater warmth from him, of course, i get a lot of attention still, he loves us, but… (cecile, lines 342–345) sometimes this pain of loneliness manifested with anger, even as a wish to revenge on the person who had left by committing suicide. as beata says: i was lef t to live with sister, so, something like pain that mother is not nearby, at the same time anger. a s we spoke with psychologist, i revenge on her with all that mine behaviour. (beata, lines 110–112) moreover, girls talked about the acuteness of this ache of being left and expressed it using vivid metaphors as may be seen in agne’s words: well, i am like that – all or nothing. that is how it was, any way, so many years, such a long time spent together, well any way, it tugged at my hear tstrings and that ’s all, that ’s all. (agne, lines 50–52) 90 jolanta latakienė, paulius skruibis these experiences might be associated with joiner’s (2009) described feeling of failed belonging. besides, it is worth recalling specifics of child’s reaction to parents’ loss – as polukordiene (2008) says, when parents die before adolescence of their children, a lot of unprovided care remains and afterwards children experience this feeling long and painfully. although parents’ death is usually mentioned as an example, but discontinued relationship caused by parents’ drinking or life in foster home should be also considered as a loss. even more, flouri & buchnan’s (2002) study showed that responsibility, engagement and accessibility of parents is one of prominent protective factors against adolescent suicidal behaviour. it can be concluded that suicidal risk of girls who participated in this study might had been greater because of particular familiar circumstances. difficulties reflecting and controlling emotions and thoughts in addition to all been said, significant features of respondents’ state were difficulties in understanding and controlling their thoughts and emotions. analysing reports of two of the girls – beata and cecile – it is especially clear that they could hardly reflect on the origin, process and changes of their emotions: i was at odds with my grandmother because i cried a lot out of nowhere that day. i just sat by the table, ate and star ted cr ying, i even don’t k now why, i just star ted cr ying so painfully, tear fully. (cecile, lines 315–316) even more, it seems that girls lack emotion management abilities. beata’s words illustrate that very clearly – frequent use of word “somehow” and repeated mention of consultations with psychologists made an impression that she is not confident about her feelings or insights about her state: well now somehow we talked with psychologist about my emotions, that i need to manage anger somehow … somehow i don’t even think about such things anymore. (beata, lines 25–27) these results resemble berman et al. (2007) descriptive researches showing that stress-provoking events often overpower adolescents’ coping skills and resources. in addition to that, authors emphasize that teaching emotion regulation, especially anger management strategies, 91 2015, 17, 79–96 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach should be one of the main tasks in helping adolescents who attempted suicide (berman et al., 2007). it is worth adding that girls felt lack of information from the hospital staff. cecile says: a nd i told psychologists over and over again, but they did not say anything, at least to me, what was happening, they k new something, and i thought somehow that if i tell something to psychologist or psychiatrist, he must tell me what he understood from my speech, well, what he decided about me, whether i have some illness or not. (cecile, lines 206–212) it can be assumed that such model of treatment where patient is passive and uninformed does not help to develop self-reflection and control abilities. it is also worth noticing that all three girls repeated quite a lot that they cannot recall part of experience. as all of them attempted suicide by overdosing, it might be attributed to the influence of drugs, however, it seems that displacement could also manifest: i: maybe somehow you could tell more, well, some things, about what stimulated and impeded your attempted suicide? b: … i tried to not think anything, and it is ver y hard for me to talk , because i do not remember clearly what i thought and said since as i am af ter coma, i have something with memor y … s o i remember just some major fac ts and nothing more. (beata, lines 59–66) apter & gothelf (1997) study on ego defense mechanisms used by suicidal adolescents revealed that these youngsters tend to displace much more often and very rarely seek compensation for their experiences compared to non-suicidal adolescents. therefore, it seems that girls who attempted suicide neither felt capable of managing their experiences nor had approval from outside that surrounding people would help them to survive suicidal crisis. discussion study on adolescent females’ lived experience of attempted suicide provided some insights about this phenomenon. most characteristics of such adolescents’ psychological state – ambivalent attitude towards life and death, experience of helplessness, thinking deficits – are similar to features of psychological state of a person in suicidal crisis described by other researchers of suicidal behaviour (schneidman, 2002; 92 jolanta latakienė, paulius skruibis baumeister, 1990; williams, 2000). however, it is important to notice that girls of adolescent age who attempted suicide specifically emphasized the importance of close relationship, their painful reaction to difficulties or losses of it, and inability to find an effective way to control various aspects of their state: intense and oppressive feelings, imperative and obsessive thoughts, spontaneous actions. it seems that importance of failed belonging, stressed by joiner (2009), manifest prominently in the case of adolescent females’ attempted suicide. these results interrelate with berman et al. (2007) proposition that it is especially important to have interpersonal relations which would provide support and help in dealing with problems for adolescents who engage in suicidal behaviour. besides, as it emerged in study, girls do not have enough internal resources to manage their strong emotional experiences, thus, the importance of effective cognitive strategies and external resources of support is even greater. nevertheless, it is problematic as respondents also reported that instead of support from close people or adequate information from mental health professionals about their mental state, they got reproach, reticence or even threats from institutions in case inappropriate behaviour recurs. such a way of reacting is not appropriate, because it might strengthen helplessness experienced by girls which only increases suicidal risk. withdrawal from surrounding people who blamed girls and intensified suicidal ideation testify it. another substantial aspect is poor self-control skills of suicidal adolescent females, high impulsivity levels of suicidal behaviour, tendency to self-harm seeking to escape from pain and oppressive emotions. these results confirm that adolescents’ teaching is of great importance – berman et al. (2007) suggested teaching emotion, especially anger, management skills. also, psychodynamically oriented researchers (apter & gothelf, 1997) stress the importance of defense mechanisms; they suggest to encourage to use sublimation or compensation instead of denial, displacement or acting out which are commonly used by suicidal adolescents. these two directions – educating emotion management skills and nurturing maturity of defense mechanisms – are worth attention and might be useful in counseling adolescent females who attempted suicide. limitations of this study firstly emerge from characteristics of respondents. as only adolescent females participated, it remains unclear whether gender differences exist, therefore, generalization for all adoles93 2015, 17, 79–96 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach cents is limited. however, as smith et al. (2009) state, a single ipa based study does not seek to empirically generalize results about whole population, but the aim is to explore particular experience in certain context in detail – it should be called theoretical generalization. it might be also noticed that different length of time passed since attempted suicide to interview could be also important. though theoretically, ability to keep distance from one’s experience and reflect on it might have been different, but there were no significant differences in themes important to the girls. the fact that two interviews were taken on the last day of respondents’ stay in hospital is another limitation of the study. unwillingness to remember and wish to keep distance might be more connected to home-sickness, wish to return to ordinary flow of life rather than to painfulness of experiences. it is worth having in mind this aspect when choosing time for the interview in further research. the field of attempted suicide among adolescents should be researched in future. firstly, it might be worth interviewing adolescent males. as smith et al. (2009) state, detailed study on a few small populations, which sampling is based on earlier research, allows to eventually form a wider understanding of phenomenon. also, it is important to analyse more in detail which reactions of surrounding people and mental health professionals disturb and which help to cope with experiences both before and after the suicide attempt. similar study that went deep into guilt experiences of adults who attempted suicide and stayed in psychiatric hospital was conducted in sweden by wiklander et al. (2003). this would give a chance to set particular guidelines for treating suicidal adolescent adequately. to conclude, though a lot of attempted suicide experiences of adolescent females are similar to those of adults, there are some distinct features: a) adolescent females feel their experience is overwhelming and accumulating; b) past experiences are relived as if they would be “here and now”; c) close relationships are extremely important for girls, but they often feel cast-off and not heard by adults, and their experiences being devalued; d) difficulties with self-reflection and self-control manifest in search of coping with experiences. moreover, supportive and empathic reactions of surrounding people and informative reactions of mental health professionals towards adolescent females who attempted suicide are important. 94 jolanta latakienė, paulius skruibis references apter, a., gothelf, d. 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(2006). už tylos sienos: savižudybių prevencijos gairės mokykloje [behind the wall of silence: guidelines for suicide prevention in school]. vilnius: švietimo aprūpinimo centras, 36–67. žemaitienė, n., zaborskis, a. (2004). moksleivių įvardijamos savižudiškų polinkių priežastys [causes for suicidal tendencies named by pupils]. psichologija, 30, 115–130. 96 jolanta latakienė, paulius skruibis bandymas nusižudyti: paauglių merginų išgy venimų kokybinis t yrimas jolanta latakienė, paulius skruibis vilniau universitetas, lietuva santrauka. problema. įvairūs paauglių savižudiško elgesio aspektai nagrinėjami plačiai, tačiau jie dažniausiai interpretuojami suaugusiesiems tinkamais terminais. paauglių suicidiškumo specifika dar nėra pakankamai ištirta. tyrimo tikslai. tyrimu siekiama aprašyti merginų išgyvenimus, susijusius su bandymu nusižudyti, ir atskleisti šio patyrimo ypatumus. metodai. tyrime dalyvavo trys 13–17 metų merginos, per pastaruosius vienerius metus bandžiusios nusižudyti ne psichozės epizodo metu. tyrime taikytas vienas iš kokybinių tyrimų metodų – interpretacinė fenomenologinė analizė, kurios tikslas yra tyrinėti asmeninę žmogaus patirtį ir tai, kaip jis bando su tuo susidoroti. duomenys rinkti pusiau struktūruotų interviu metu, todėl buvo galimybė užmegzti artimesnį kontaktą su respondentėmis. rezultatai. duomenų analizė atskleidė, kad nors nemaža dalis bandžiusių nusižudyti paauglių merginų išgyvenimų panašūs į suaugusiųjų, yra keletas svarbių skirtumų: patyrimo neaprėpiamumo ir sunkumų kaupimosi išgyvenimas, praeities įvykių gyvumas dabartyje, stiprus artimųjų palaikymo trūkumas, sunkumai reflektuojant ir kontroliuojant emocijas bei mintis. išvados. šio tyrimo rezultatai rodo didžiulę deramo aplinkinių ir psichikos sveikatos specialistų rea-gavimo į savižudiškai besielgiančios paauglės būseną svarbą. taip pat išryškėja būtinybė mokyti pačias paaugles efektyviai tvarkytis su emocijomis, impulsais ir taikyti brandesnius ego gynybos mechanizmus. tolesni tyrimai galėtų padėti kurti tokias elgesio ar mokymų gaires ir giliau suprasti savižudiškai besielgiančių paauglių psichologinę būseną. pagrindiniai žodžiai: bandymas nusižudyti, paauglystė, jaunos merginos, interpretacinė fenomenologinė analizė. received: february 12, 2015 accepted: october 19, 2015 2016, 18, 51–69 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 51 scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2016 / 18 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.18.3 psychome trics of the readiness to change questionnaire (rcq): the lithuanian version raimonda petrolienė, liuda šinkariova, loreta zajančkauskaitė-staskevičienė, jurga misiūnienė, laura alčiauskaitė vytautas magnus university, lithuania abstract. background: it is well known that unhealthy lifestyle is one of the most important risk factors for morbidity and mortality due to cardiac diseases. people who suffered or are suffering from heart related problems usually undertake cardiac rehabilitation procedures which help them improve their health and make lifestyle changes. so it is important to have a valid, short, clear measure of readiness to change health behavior in the native (lithuanian) language as change in lifestyle can be a problematic field in rehabilitation of cardiac patients in lithuania. according to the results of national study, smoking, unhealthy diet, low physical activity, overweight and risky alcohol consumption persist as actual problem among lithuanian adults nowadays. the aim of this analysis is to examine psychometric properties of the “readiness to change questionnaire” (rcq, rollnick et al., 1992) among cardiac rehabilitation patients. methods: the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, concurrent validity and factor structure of the rcq was examined for 59 cardiac patients aged between 35 and 70 years (mean = 55.68, sd = 8.62). the questionnaires for alcohol consumption, smoking, physical activity and diet were completed at the beginning and end of rehabilitation. results: cronbach’s alpha coefficients of the rcq showed poor to good internal consistency (0.51–0.87) and test-retest reliability pearson’s correlations ranged from 0.31 to 0.84. concurrent validity is supported for the stages of alcohol consumption and diet. an exploratory factor analysis of the rcq indicated the three-factor solution for readiness to change alcohol consumption and diet data best. confirmatory factor analysis indicated that models demonstrate approximate data–model fit. conclusions: the lithuanian version of the rcq is a reliable measure for group testing. further investigations regarding validity and factor structure are required with a bigger sample size. keywords: readiness to change questionnaire, cardiac rehabilitation, readiness to change health behavior, lifestyle, validity, reliability. raimonda petrolienė, liuda šinkariova, loreta zajančkauskaitė-staskevičienė, jurga misiūnienė, laura alčiauskaitė 52 introduc tion the rising life expectancy within the older population is one of the reasons why the number of chronic illnesses is increasing (linden et al., 2010). one of the most frequent illnesses is cardiovascular system diseases, it is in the leading position according to the number of deaths in the world (who, 2011, 2014) as well as in lithuania (hi, 2015). it is well known that unhealthy lifestyle is one of the most important risk factors for the morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular diseases (american heart association, 2012; klumbiene et al., 2002). risky alcohol consumption, smoking, low physical activity and unhealthy diet are contributing to the unhealthy lifestyle and development of major cardiovascular risk factors (rinkūnienė et al., 2009; pietrabissa et al., 2015). according to the results of national study, the same behaviors persist as actual problem among lithuanian adults nowadays (grabauskas et al., 2015). furthermore, there is evidence that healthy lifestyle leads to a better health and more successful cardiovascular disease prevention and rehabilitation (linden et al., 2010). usually, inpatient rehabilitation is a period when cardiac patients are improving their health after acute period in the hospital. moreover, they are getting ready to change their lifestyle because it is a favorable time to improve and maintain their health behavior (schwarzer et al., 2011). health psychologists are the specialists who are working with patients towards lifestyle changes during rehabilitation. it is clear that patient’s motivation and self-efficacy are related with participation in psychological interventions (bray et al., 2013), that is why it is necessary to measure the expression of it. the problem regarding psychological inventories in rehabilitation exists. health psychologists do not have specific tools which could identify and follow the readiness to change various unhealthy behaviors during rehabilitation. moreover, there is a need to have an inventory which would be easy to understand and quick to fill considering the fact that neither patients nor practitioners have any spare time for questionnaires. by having a valid, short, clear measure of readiness to change health behavior in the native (lithuanian) language, proper interventions could be selected during cardiac rehabilitation which could lead to health and lifestyle improvement. for best of our knowledge, there is only one previous study using readiness to change questionnaire for alcohol in lithuanian (fleming et al., 2000). 2016, 18, 51–69 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 53 readiness to change questionnaire (rcq, rollnick et al., 1992) is a widely used measure of readiness to change alcohol consumption during rehabilitation of addiction treatment (rollnick et al., 1992; fleming et al., 2000; blume et al., 2005; heather & honekopp, 2008; heather et al., 2008; miller & rollnick, 2013). originally it was created on the basis of transtheoretical model (ttm; prochaska & diclemente, 1986; prochaska et al., 1992) for evaluation of alcohol consumption changes. this model offers an integrative framework for understanding the process of behavior change whether that change involves the initiation, the modification, or the cessation of a particular behavior (miller, rollnick, 2002). the stages of change represent a key component of the ttm and describe a series of stages through which people pass as they change their behavior (prochaska, diclemente, & norcross, 1992; miller, rollnick, 2002): (1) precontemplation stage – the patient is not currently considering change; (2) contemplation – the patient undertakes an evaluation of considerations for or against change; (3) preparation – planning and commitment are carried; (4) action – the patient makes the specific behavioral change; (5) maintenance – the patient works to maintain and sustain long-term change. the rcq was developed as part of a larger study where a measure of stage of change was needed (heather & rollnick, 2000). it had to facilitate the accurate recording of stage of change from before to after the intervention. moreover, there was a requirement to create an instrument which was short and easy to administer (heather & rollnick, 2000). as a result, there was created a reliable inventory consisting of three factors (precontemplation, contemplation and action stages of change) which original data for english population are available (rollnick et al., 1992; heather & honekopp, 2008). the questionnaire provided a short and convenient measure of readiness to change which could be used in conjunction with brief, opportunistic interventions with excessive drinkers (rollnick et al., 1992). rcq is a popular instrument for scientific research as well as clinical work and it has been translated to swedish (forsberg et al., 2003; forsberg et al., 2004), dutch (defuentes-merillas et al., 2002), german and austrian (hannover et al., 2002; degen et al., 2014), thai (kheawwan et al., 2016). application of the stages of change and support for the varied aspects of the process of change represented by these stages have been raimonda petrolienė, liuda šinkariova, loreta zajančkauskaitė-staskevičienė, jurga misiūnienė, laura alčiauskaitė 54 demonstrated in many behavioral changes from cessation of smoking (degen et al., 2014), alcohol, and drugs to mammography screening (carney & kivlahan, 1995 in miller & rollnick, 2002), dietary modification (pullen & walker, 2002), gambling (carney & kivlahan, 1995 in miller & rollnick, 2002), exercise adoption (kheawwan et al., 2016), reducing driving speed (ouimet et al., 2010), pain change (nielson et al., 2003), condom use and pregnancy prevention (carney & kivlahan, 1995 in miller & rollnick, 2002). thus, although the targets of behavioral change differ, the structure of the change process appears to be the same (miller & rollnick, 2002) and researchers have found that the original three–factor solution describes data the best (defuentes-merillas et al., 2002; forsberg et al., 2003; forsberg et al., 2004; heather & honekopp, 2008; ouimet et al., 2010). on the other hand, some studies have failed to replicate original factor solution proposed by rollnick et al. (1992) (bombardier & heinemann, 2000; rodriguez-martos et al., 2000; hannover et al., 2002; nielson et al., 2003; kheawwan et al., 2016). however, translation of the original instrument and its adaptation to other health behavior does not mean that it can be applied to another cultural group, is valid or matches with the original instrument. therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate psychometric properties of the lithuanian version of the rcq, evaluating readiness to change risky alcohol consumption, smoking, low physical activity and unhealthy diet. method research procedure study was approved by the lithuanian kaunas regional bioemedical research ethics committee (no. be-2-39) and lithuanian state data protection inspectorate (no. 2r-2346). cardiac patients were invited to participate in the study on the first three days of their inpatient rehabilitation. participants were asked to fill rcq and answer demographic questions. at the end of cardiac rehabilitation, patients had to complete rcq for the second time. the questionnaires were anonymous, participants were familiar with the instructions, the goal of the study, confidentiality terms and provided a written consent. 2016, 18, 51–69 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 55 participants the study sample consisted of 59 cardiac patients aged between 35 and 70 years with a mean age of 55.68 years (sd = 8.62) years. there were 47 (79.7%) men and 12 (20.3%) women in the sample, with the age means of 55.36 (sd = 8.19) and 56.92 (sd = 10.45) years, respectively. the majority were receiving treatment for myocardial infarction (50.9%) and angina pectoris (25.4%). most were married (72.9%), had secondary (45.8%) or higher (62.5%) education, and were working (69.5%) or retired (20.3%). the duration of rehabilitation program varied between 12 and 35 days. this study took place at abromiškės rehabilitation hospital, lithuania, from november 2014 to april 2016. all patients admitted to cardiac unit for inpatient rehabilitation were invited to participate in the study if they met inclusion criteria. inclusion criteria were patients’ disease (i20-i25 according to icd-10), arrival time (only newly arrived) and written consent to participate in the study. 8 patients did not complete follow-up measures because of the early leave. measures readiness to change questionnaire (rcq) (rollnick et al., 1992). rcq is a twelve items self-report questionnaire for evaluating readiness to change alcohol consumption, smoking, physical activity and diet at the beginning and at the end of cardiac rehabilitation (items example: 1. i don’t think i drink too much; 6. i have recently changed my drinking habits; 12. drinking less alcohol would be pointless for me.). all items in a 5 point likert scale ranging from (1) “strongly disagree” to (5) “strongly agree” evaluate (1) precontemplation, (2) contemplation and (3) action stages (scales) for each behavior. the stage which has the maximum item sum is the predominant stage of readiness to change particular behavior encoded as categorical variable. originally, the rcq was created on the basis of the transtheoretical model (prochaska & diclemente, 1986; prochaska et al., 1992) for evaluating alcohol consumption changes (rollnick et al., 1992). on the basis of its lithuanian version (fleming et al., 2000), there were made separate 12-item questionnaires for smoking, physical activity and diet by the authors of the present article. some items were slightly modified in order to suit the lithuanian context. raimonda petrolienė, liuda šinkariova, loreta zajančkauskaitė-staskevičienė, jurga misiūnienė, laura alčiauskaitė 56 statistical analysis. the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, concurrent validity and exploratory factor analysis were conducted using the spss for windows 20.0 software. the confirmatory factor analysis was conducted using the mplus 7 program (muthén & muthén, 1998–2012). results reliability the internal consistency of the rcq was established by calculating cronbach’s alpha coefficient for three of the 4-item scales representing the three stages of change (precontemplation, contemplation, and action) for alcohol, smoking, physical activity and diet separately. the scales of the rcq showed poor to good internal consistency (cronbach’s α = 0.51–0.87, table 1). confidence intervals show that all scales are appropriate at least for a group testing. the internal consistency of readiness to change alcohol consumption action stage was similar to the original sample (rollnick et al., 1992). none of the smoking, physical activity and diet stages’ internal consistency could be compared to the original sample because the current was made only to measure the readiness to change alcohol consumption. table 1. internal consistency of the rcq subscales and test-retest reliability between the rcq subscales according to different health behavior readiness to change health behavior (stages) cronbach’s alpha pearson’s correlation (p 2-tailed) lithuanian sample (n=59) rcq original sample (n=141) lithuanian sample (n=55) rcq original sample (n=26) alcohol precontemplation 0.52 ci[0.09; 0.77] 0.73 0.31 (0.306) 0.82 contemplation 0.64 ci[0.31; 0.83] 0.80 0.55 (0.052) 0.86 action 0.87 ci[0.76; 0.94] 0.85 0.84 (0.000)** 0.78 2016, 18, 51–69 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 57 smoking precontemplation 0.61 ci[0.24; 0.82] – 0.75 (0.001)** – contemplation 0.63 ci[0.27; 0.83] – 0.82 (0.000)** – action 0.57 ci[0.16; 0.81] – 0.41 (0.110) – physical activity precontemplation 0.58 ci[0.32; 0.75] – 0.60 (0.000)** – contemplation 0.51 ci[0.11; 0.68] – 0.62 (0.000)** – action 0.65 ci[0.44; 0.80] – 0.65 (0.000)** – diet pre-contemplation 0.68 ci[0.53; 0.80] – 0.52 (0.000)** – contemplation 0.69 ci[0.54; 0.80] – 0.71 (0.000)** – action 0.77 ci[0.66; 0.85] – 0.78 (0.000)** – note: ci – confidence interval; rcq – readiness to change questionnaire; n – study’s sample. ** the difference is significant at the 0.001 level (2-tailed). test-retest reliability of the rcq was established by calculating correlations between baseline and follow-up scales among 55 cardiac patients who completed t1 and t2 questionnaires. pearson’s correlations examining the association between the scores of each subscale at the two assessments were 0.31 – 0.84 (table 1), most of them exceeded 0.5. concurrent validity the validity of the rcq was examined analyzing relationships among scale scores. pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated among three scale scores of each behavior to test the prediction, correlations of which between adjacent scales (i.e. between precontemplation and contemplation, and between contemplation and action) would be higher than the correlation between non-adjacent scales (i.e. between precontemplation and action). this prediction was confirmed for alcohol consumption and diet behavior but not for smoking and physical activity (table 2). this suggests that there is an orderly movement from one alcohol and diet stage of change to the next as the model would predict, and that there is a need for further investigations for smoking and physical activity behavior with a bigger sample. the prediction for drinking behavior was confirmed by rollnick et al. (1992) too. raimonda petrolienė, liuda šinkariova, loreta zajančkauskaitė-staskevičienė, jurga misiūnienė, laura alčiauskaitė 58 table 2. concurrent validity between the rcq adjacent and nonadjacent scales according to different health behavior readiness to change health behavior stages pearson’s correlation (p 2-tailed) adjacent (between p & c) adjacent (between c & a) non-adjacent (between p & a) alcohol -0.72 (0.000) 0.68 (0.000) -0.57 (0.005) smoking -0.57 (0.007) -0.05 (0.837) -0.38 (0.093) physical activity -0.27 (0.092) 0.17 (0.271) -0.21 (0.179) diet -0.27 (0.038) 0.39 (0.002) -0.14 (0.276) note: p – precontemplation; c – contemplation; a – action stages. factor structure exploratory factor analysis. after performing principal component analysis with varimax rotation for the rcq for alcohol consumption items, 4 factors were extracted explaining 78.91% of total variance. kaiser–meyer–olkin value was 0.718. bartlett’s test of sphericity reached statistical significance (χ2 = 149.59, p = 0.000). scree plot suggested 3 factors. performing principal component analysis with varimax rotation for the rcq alcohol, smoking, physical activity and diet items, fixed number of three factors was selected as this structure was reported for original rcq (rollnick et al., 1992). the extracted factors explained 70.3% of alcohol (original sample 68.6%; rollnick et al., 1992), 65.3% of smoking, 51.7% of physical activity and 63.75% of diet total variance. three factors were extracted from 12 items about alcohol consumption: 1st factor explained 37.8% of variance, 2nd – 17.0%, 3rd – 15.5%. kaiser–meyer–olkin value was 0.718, exceeding the recommended value of 0.6 (cekanavičius & murauskas, 2002). bartlett’s test of sphericity reached statistical significance (p = 0.000) meaning that variables are correlated and suitable for factor analysis. however, only six items (2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11) out of twelve (table 3) match the original data of the rcq (rollnick et al., 1992). 2016, 18, 51–69 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 59 table 3. item loadings for the first three components extracted from varimax rotation with percentage variance accounted for each loadings following principal components analysis for alcohol behavioral items item factor i factor ii factor iii lithuanian sample (37.8%) original sample (a) (46.1%) lithuanian sample (17.0%) original sample (c) (12.6%) lithuanian sample (15.5%) original sample (p) (9.9%) 1. „i don‘t think i drink too much“ (p) 0.03 -0.20 0.02 -0.51 -0.81 0.35 2. „i am trying to drink less than i used to“ (a) 0.82 0.74 -0.07 0.16 0.14 -0.22 3. „i enjoy my drinking, but sometimes i drink too much“ (c) -0.01 0.02 -0.49 0.77 0.67 -0.05 4. „sometimes i think i should cut down on my drinking“ (c) 0.66 0.35 -0.56 0.72 0.15 -0.27 5. „it‘s a waste of time thinking about my drinking“ (p) -0.03 -0.15 0.84 -0.08 -0.30 0.88 6. „i have just recently changed my drinking habits“ (a) 0.75 0.84 -0.35 0.12 -0.06 -0.09 7. „anyone can talk about wish to do something about drinking, but i am actually doing something about it“ (a) 0.85 0.86 -0.33 0.14 0.00 -0.12 raimonda petrolienė, liuda šinkariova, loreta zajančkauskaitė-staskevičienė, jurga misiūnienė, laura alčiauskaitė 60 8. „i am at the stage where i should think about drinking less alcohol“ (c) 0.82 0.52 0.01 0.64 0.12 -0.23 9. „my drinking is a problem sometimes“ (c) 0.28 0.14 -0.08 0.77 0.70 -0.09 10. „there is no need for me to think about changing my drinking“ (p) -0.52 -0.23 0.56 -0.52 -0.00 0.63 11. „i am actually changing my drinking habits right now“ (a) 0.83 0.76 0.07 0.34 0.22 -0.14 12. „drinking less alcohol would be pointless for me“ (p) -0.65 -0.15 0.47 -0.20 0.28 0.84 note: p – precontemplation (factor iii); c – contemplation (factor ii); a – action (factor i) stages. three factors were extracted from 12 items about smoking behavior: 1st factor explained 26.9% of variance, 2nd – 25.0%, 3rd – 13.4%. kaiser– meyer–olkin value was 0.458, not exceeding the recommended value of 0.6. bartlett’s test of sphericity reached statistical significance (p = 0.000) meaning that variables are correlated and suitable for factor analysis. the current data mean that principal component analysis is not suitable for indicating readiness to change smoking behavior. three factors were extracted from 12 items about physical activity behavior: 1st factor explained 19.8% of variance, 2nd – 17.3%, 3rd – 14.5%. kaiser–meyer–olkin value was 0.504, not exceeding the recommended value of 0.6. bartlett’s test of sphericity reached statistical significance (p = 0.000) meaning that variables are correlated and suitable for factor analysis. the current data mean that principal component analysis is badly suitable for indicating readiness to change physical activity behavior. 2016, 18, 51–69 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 61 finally, three factors were extracted from 12 items about diet behavior: 1st factor explained 24.4% of variance, 2nd – 20.9%, 3rd – 18.5%. kaiser– meyer–olkin value was 0.656, exceeding the recommended value of 0.6. bartlett’s test of sphericity reached statistical significance (p = 0.000), variables are correlated and suitable for factor analysis. the current data mean that principal component analysis is suitable for diet (table 4). table 4. item loadings for the first three components extracted from varimax rotation with percentage variance accounted for each loadings following principal components analysis for diet behavior items item factor i factor ii factor iii lithuanian sample (24.4%) original sample (a) lithuanian sample (20.9%) original sample (c) lithuanian sample (18.5%) original sample (p) 1. „i think my nutrition is suitable for health“ (p) 0.15 -0.76 0.27 + 2. „i am trying to eat healthier than i used to“ (a) 0.74 + -0.04 -0.03 3. „i don‘t like eating healthy food, but sometimes i eat unhealthy food too much“ (c) -0.05 0.74 + 0.10 4. „sometimes i think i should eat healthier“ (c) 0.32 0.64 + -0.07 5. „it‘s a waste of time to think about my nutrition“ (p) 0.12 -0.08 0.84 + 6. „i have just recently changed my nutritional habits“ (a) 0.74 + 0.25 0.10 7. „anyone can talk about wish to do something about healthier nutrition, but i am actually doing something about it“ (a) 0.70 + -0.38 -0.29 8. „i am at the stage where i should think about changing my nutritional habits“ (c) 0.63 0.53 + -0.03 9. „my unhealthy nutrition is a problem sometimes“ (c) 0.29 0.64 + -0.02 raimonda petrolienė, liuda šinkariova, loreta zajančkauskaitė-staskevičienė, jurga misiūnienė, laura alčiauskaitė 62 10. „there is no need for me to think about changing my unhealthy nutrition“ (p) -0.19 -0.00 0.74 + 11. „i am actually changing my nutritional habits right now“ (a) 0.82 + 0.26 -0.18 12. „eating healthier would be pointless for me“ (p) -0.12 -0.06 0.87 + note: p – precontemplation (factor iii); c – contemplation (factor ii); a – action (factor i) stages. (+) – factor loading which should match the original rcq stage (rollnick et al., 1992). confirmatory factor analysis. a confirmatory factor analysis of the rcq was conducted in order to identify whether the data fit the original rcq instrument model of rollnick’s et al. (1992). the statistics of the rcq model was evaluated using the following indices (cekanavičius & murauskas, 2011): 1) χ2 test (p should be > 0.05) and nc (normed chi-square = χ2 /df ) – nc ≤ 2 represents a good fit; nc ≤ 3 represents an acceptable fit); 2) rmsea (root mean square error of approximation) and its lower and upper limits of a 90% confidence interval – rmsea ≤ 0.05 indicates a good fit of the model; rmsea ≤ 0.08 is acceptable; 3) cfi (comparative fit index) – cfi ≥ 0.95 indicates a good fit; cfi ≥ 0.90 indicates an acceptable fit. table 5. summar y of rcq statistics for readiness to change alcohol consumption, smoking, physical activity and diet behaviors. model χ2 df nc (χ2/df ) p rmsea [90% ci] cfi readiness to change alcohol consumption 78.568 51 1.54 0.008 0.050 [0.050-0.136] 0.997 readiness to change smoking 64.913 51 1.27 0.091 0.274 [0.000-0.113] 0.998 readiness to change physical activity 87.132 51 1.71 0.001 0.013 [0.069-0.148] 0.992 readiness to change diet 181.917 51 3.57 0.000 0.000 [0.176-0.242] 0.737 note: nc – normed chi-square; rmsea – root mean square error of approximation; ci – lower and upper limit of 90% confidence interval for the population value of rmsea; cfi – comparative fit index. 2016, 18, 51–69 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 63 it was hypothesized that the 3 scales (precontemplation, contemplation, action) would adequately represent complete original model of the readiness to change alcohol consumption and newly created questionnaires for smoking, physical activity and diet. the results show (table 5) that only model for smoking behavior was found to be a good fit of the data (p > 0.05), but it’s root mean square error of approximation does not indicate a good fit of the model (rmsea > 0.08). further, models for readiness to change alcohol consumption and physical activity demonstrated approximate data–model fit (nc < 2; rmsea ≤ 0.05; cfi > 0.95). finally, model for readiness to change diet was found to be a worst fit of the data (p < 0.05; nc > 2; cfi < 0.95). the original data of the rcq for alcohol behavior (heather & honekopp, 2008) presented a good model fit with cfi = 0.966 and rmsea = 0.045 and the p value not provided. discussion the present study examined the psychometric properties of the readiness to change questionnaire for alcohol consumption, smoking, physical activity and diet behaviors among lithuanian adults during cardiac rehabilitation. the results of the lithuanian version of the rcq indicate that cronbach’s alpha coefficients are acceptable for group testing. the internal consistency of readiness to change alcohol consumption action stage is similar comparing to the original rcq data (rollnick et al., 1992) and to those found in other studies of the rcq validation for other cultures (defuentes-merillas et al., 2002; hannover et al., 2002; forsberg et al., 2003). furthermore, the internal consistency of readiness to change alcohol consumption precontemplation and contemplation stages and of readiness to change smoking, physical activity and diet stages are lower comparing to other studies (defuentes-merillas et al., 2002; hannover et al., 2002; pullen & walker, 2002; forsberg et al., 2003; degen et al., 2014; kheawwan et al., 2016). overall, low internal consistency could be determined by small number of items in each stage. the instrument demonstrated a good test-retest reliability, statistically significant correlation coefficients between two measurements ranged from 0.52 to 0.84. however, test-retest reliability for readiness to change alcohol consumption precontemplation (r = 0.31) and raimonda petrolienė, liuda šinkariova, loreta zajančkauskaitė-staskevičienė, jurga misiūnienė, laura alčiauskaitė 64 contemplation (r = 0.55) stages, and for readiness to change smoking action (r = 0.41) stage between the 1st and the 2nd testing were quite poor and did not correlate significantly (p > 0.05). test-retest reliability for readiness to change alcohol consumption precontemplation and contemplation stages are lower but for action stage is higher comparing to the original instrument (rollnick et al., 1992). as there is a quite good test-retest reliability for other scales, we assume that instability of the results for alcohol and smoking scales is possible because of the specific situation in the rehabilitation hospital regarding alcohol and smoking restrictions during treatment period. thus, the lack of match between the results of the two rcq measurements is not the result of problems with comprehension of the questions. moreover, according to a small sample size and psychological intervention held between two measurements, we shouldn’t expect very high correlation coefficients matching excellent test-retest reliability. results of higher correlations between adjacent scales (i.e. between precontemplation and contemplation, and between contemplation and action) compared to the correlation between non-adjacent scales (i.e. between precontemplation and action) supported concurrent validity of the lithuanian rcq for alcohol consumption and diet. these relationships strengthen confidence that the rcq is measuring what it purports to measure – the readiness to change drinking and diet behaviors. the results of correlations between alcohol consumption scales are similar comparing to the original and other rcq data (rollnich et al., 1992; defuentes-merillas et al., 2002). however, concurrent validity of the lithuanian rcq for smoking and physical activity was not confirmed because of the low correlation between adjacent scales contemplation and action. the results of the dutch (defuentes-merillas et al., 2002), swedish (forsberg et al., 2003; forsberg et al., 2004) and other (heather & honekopp, 2008; ouimet et al., 2010) versions of the rcq for alcohol consumption revealed that the three–factor solution models were best for their data. efa of the 12 items indicated that three factors most meaningfully describe the data of our study; however, the cfa proved just approximate data–model fit. the explained variance of rcq for alcohol consumption was similar to the original data of the rcq (rollnick et al., 1992), also replicated results of other studies (defuentes-merillas et al., 2016, 18, 51–69 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 65 2002; forsberg et al., 2003; forsberg et al., 2004; heather & honekopp, 2008; ouimet et al., 2010). six items of twelve, according to factor loadings, did not relate to factors which match the original sample (rollnick et al., 1992). moreover, according to factor loading values, 3rd item could be assigned for both contemplation and precontemplation factors; 4th item to action and contemplation; 10th and 12th items to action and precontemplation factors. efa of the 12 items about smoking indicated that factor analysis is not suitable for indicating readiness to change smoking behavior; interestingly, the cfa proved that the model is a good fit of the data. furthermore, efa indicated that factor analysis is badly suitable for indicating readiness to change physical activity behavior and the cfa proved just approximate data–model fit. finally, efa of the 12 items about diet indicated that factor analysis is suitable for indicating readiness to change behavior of unhealthy diet; however, the cfa proved the worst data– model fit out of four behaviors. surprisingly, only the 1st item, according to factor loadings, did not relate to factor which match the original sample (rollnick et al., 1992). besides, according to factor loading values, 8th item could be assigned for both action and contemplation factors. unfortunately, no previous studies analyzing efa and cfa of rcq were found. it is likely that inconsistent results signify incomplete findings because of a small sample size. this is the reason why further investigations regarding exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis are necessary with a bigger sample size. conclusions the lithuanian version of the rcq for alcohol consumption, smoking, physical activity and diet is a reliable measure for group testing. however, test-retest reliability for rcq, measuring precontemplation stage of alcohol consumption and action stage of smoking, was not supported. the rcq supports concurrent validity for measuring readiness to change alcohol consumption and diet behaviors but not for smoking and physical activity. raimonda petrolienė, liuda šinkariova, loreta zajančkauskaitė-staskevičienė, jurga misiūnienė, laura alčiauskaitė 66 an exploratory factor analysis indicated the three-factor solution but it fits only alcohol consumption and diet data best. confirmatory factor analysis indicated that all four models for alcohol consumption, smoking, physical activity and diet demonstrate approximate data–model fit. further investigations regarding validity and factor structure are required with bigger sample size. acknowledgement this research was supported by the research council of lithuania under grant number mip-081/2014. references american heart association. 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(2014). world health statistics 2014. 2016, 18, 51–69 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 69 pasirengimo pokyčiams kl ausimyno psichome triniai rodikliai: lie tuviškoji versija r aimonda petrolienė, liuda šinkariova, loreta zajančkauskaitė -staskevičienė, jurga misiūnienė, laura alčiauskaitė vytauto didžiojo universitetas, lietuva santrauka. problema. žinoma, jog nesveikas gyvenimo būdas yra vienas iš pagrindinių veiksnių, didinančių sergamumą bei mirštamumą nuo širdies ligų. žmonėms, kurie susidūrė arba vis dar susiduria su širdies ligų problemomis, dažniausiai atliekamos kardiologinės reabilitacijos procedūros, padedančios pagerinti jų sveikatą bei koreguoti gyvenimo būdo įpročius. gyvenimo būdo pokyčiai lietuvos reabilitacijos įstaigų kardiologiniams pacientams yra sudėtinga sritis, todėl labai svarbu turėti patikimą, trumpą, aiškų metodą lietuvių kalba, galintį nustatyti pasirengimą keisti su sveikata susijusį elgesį. remiantis lietuvoje atliktos nacionalinės studijos duomenimis, rūkymas, netinkama mityba, žemas fizinis aktyvumas, viršsvoris bei rizikingas alkoholio vartojimas lietuvoje vis dar yra aktuali problema tarp suaugusių. pagrindinis šios analizės tikslas – išnagrinėti kardiologinės reabilitacijos pacientams taikyto pasirengimo pokyčiams klausimyno (rollnick et al., 1992) psichometrines charakteristikas. metodai. pasirengimo pokyčiams klausimyno vidinis bei išorinis patikimumas, sutampantis validumas ir faktorių struktūra buvo analizuojami naudojant 59 kardiologinių pacientų duomenis, kurių amžius svyravo nuo 35 iki 70 metų (vidurkis = 55,68, sd = 8,62). klausimynai apie alkoholio vartojimą, rūkymą, fizinį aktyvumą ir dietą buvo pildomi reabilitacijos pradžioje ir pabaigoje. rezultatai. kronbacho alfa koeficientai rodo vidinį patikimumą, patenkantį į ribas tarp prasto ir gero (0,51–0,87). pirsono koreliacijos koeficientais apskaičiuotas išorinis patikimumas patenka į ribas nuo 0,31 iki 0,84. sutampantis validumas buvo patvirtintas alkoholio vartojimo ir mitybos stadijoms. taikant aiškinamąją faktorinę analizę nustatytas trijų faktorių modelis, kuris geriausiai pagrindžia pasirengimą keisti alkoholio vartojimą ir mitybą. pagal patvirtinančios faktorinės analizės rezultatus modeliai duomenis atitinka tik apytiksliai. išvados. lietuviškoji pasirengimo pokyčiams klausimyno versija, matuojanti pasirengimą keisti alkoholio vartojimo, rūkymo, fizinio aktyvumo ir mity bos įpročius, yra patikimas metodas, tačiau tik kalbant apie grupių matavimus. siekiant tiksliau nustatyti klausimyno validumą bei faktorių struktūrą, reikia atlikti tolesnius tyrimus su didesne imtimi. pagrindiniai žodžiai: pasirengimo pokyčiams klausimynas, kardiologinė reabilitacija, pasirengimas keisti su sveikata susijusį elgesį, gyvenimo būdas, validumas, patikimumas. received: april 20, 2016 accepted: august 24, 2016 139 contributors dalia bagdžiūnienė, phd, is an associate professor at vilnius university, department of clinical and organizational psychology. research interests: workplace stress, workplace conflicts, employee attitudes, organizational citizenship behaviour. address: vilnius university, department of clinical and organizational psychology, universiteto g. 9/1, lt-01513, vilnius, lithuania phone: +370 5 2667605  e-mail: dalia.bagdziuniene@fsf.vu.lt tinne vander elst, phd, is a post-doctoral researcher at the research group work, organizational and personnel psychology (wopp), ku leuven, belgium. research interests: job insecurity, employee well-being, perceived control, communication and participation, and coping. address: department of psychology, ku leuven, tiensestraat 102 box 3725, leuven, belgium phone: +32(0)16/32.59.55 e-mail: tinne.vanderelst@ppw.kuleuven.be john mark froiland, phd, is currently an assistant professor in the department of school psychology, and a university sponsored research fellow at the university of northern colorado. research interests: parenting interventions to icrease intrinsic motivation to learn, and positive emotions toward school; parent expectations, parent involvement, adhd, student engagement, and student achievement. address: university of northern colorado, department of school psychology, mckee hall 298, box 131, greeley, co 80639, usa  phone: (970) 351-2819  e-mail: motivationdoctor@gmail.com loreta gustainienė, phd, social sciences, psychology, vytautas magnus university, faculty of social sciences, department of theoretical psychology. research interests: positive psychology, psychosocial stress and its management. address: vytautas magnus university, department of theoretical psychology, jonavos g. 66-330, lt-44191, kaunas, lithuania phone/fax: +370 37 327 824 e-mail: l.gustainiene@smf.vdu.lt 140 contributors gabija jarašiūnaitė, phd candidate at the department of theoretical psychology, vytautas magnus university. research interests: individuals’ reactivity to stressors, biofeedback, effect of type a behavioral pattern to health. address: vytautas magnus university, department of theoretical psychology, jonavos g. 66, lt-44191, kaunas, lithuania phone/fax.: +370 37 327824 e-mail: g.jarasiunaite@smf.vdu.lt  emīls kālis,  mg. psych., is writing dissertation in daugavpils university about assessment of creative potential. researcher in the state probation service of latvia. scientific interests: assessment of creativity, psychometrics, risk assessment for offenders and prediction of recidivism. address: dzirnavu iela 91 (505. kabinets), rīga lv-1011, latvia phone: (371) 26372915 e-mail: emils.kalis@gmail.com sirichai kanjanawasee, ph.d. is full professor in the department of educational research and psychology, faculty of education, chulalongkorn university, bangkok 10330, thailand. research interests: hierarchical linear modeling, generalizability theory, item response theory. address: department of educational research and psychology, faculty of education, chulalongkorn university, phyathai road, patumwan, bangkok 10330, thailand. phone: +66870720068 e-mail: skanjanawasee@hotmail.com arvydas kuzinas, dr. at mykolas romeris university, faculty of social technologies, department of psychology. research interests: the psychological effects of physical environment. address: mykolas romeris university, faculty of social technologies, department of psychology, ateities g. 20, lt-08303, vilnius, lithuania phone: +370 5 271 4620 e-mail: kuzinasa@mruni.eu jurgita lazauskaitė-zabielskė, phd, is a researcher and a lecturer at vilnius university, department of clinical and organizational psychology. research interests: organizational justice, organizational citizenship behaviour, and work-related insecurity and stress. address: vilnius university, department of clinical and organizational psychology, universiteto g. 9/1, lt-01513, vilnius, lithuania phone: +370 5 2667605  e-mail: jurgita.lazauskaite@fsf.vu.lt 141 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 139–143 p. laura mačiukaitė, phd student and junior researcher at vilnius university, faculty of natural sciences, department of neurobiology and biophysics. research interests: affective psychophysiology, psychoneuroendocrynology, gender differences. address: vilnius university, faculty of natural sciences, department of neurobiology and biophysics, čiurlionio g. 21/27, lt-03101, vilnius, lithuania phone: +370 67397056 e-mail: laura.maciukaite@gmail.com ieva pečiulienė, phd student at vytautas magnus university, department of theoretical psychology, research interests: relaxation methods efficiency research, students stress, coping strategies, cognitive behavioural therapy and its applicability in practice.  address: vytautas magnus university, department of theoretical psychology, jonavos g. 66-213, lt-44191, kaunas, lithuania  phone/fax. +370 37 32 78 24 e-mail: i.peciuliene@vdu.smf.lt aidas perminas, phd, social sciences, psychology, vytautas magnus university, faculty of social sciences, theoretical psychology department. scientific interests: stress management, personal psychosocial adaptation. address: vytautas magnus university, department of theoretical psychology, jonavos g. 66-330, lt-44191, kaunas, lithuania phone/fax: +370 37 327 824 e-mail: a.perminas@smf.vdu.lt līga roķe, mg. psych., is currently a researcher at creativity research centre of riga teacher training and educational management academy, besides that she is writing dissertation about the impact of positive emotions on children’s creative thinking. also lecturer at riga higher institute of religious sciences. scientific interests: assessment of creativity, creativity and emotions, creativity in education. address: imantas 7.linija 1, riga, lv-1083, latvia phone: (371) 26315685 e-mail: liga.roke@gmail.com osvaldas rukšėnas, professor, dean of faculty of natural sciences, vilnius university. research interests: coding of information in sensory systems, psychoneuroendocrynology. address: vilnius university, faculty of natural sciences, čiurlionio g. 21/27, lt-03101, vilnius, lithuania phone: +370 5 2398222 e-mail: osvaldas.ruksenas@gf.vu.lt 142 contributors paulius skruibis, dr, is a clinical psychologist and lecturer in the department of clinical and organizational psychology, faculty of philosophy,vilnius university. research interests: suicide, crisis and bereavement. address: vilnius university, department of clinical and organizational psychology, universiteto g. 9/1, lt-01513, vilnius, lithuania phone: +370 5 2667605  e-mail: paulius@jaunimolinija.lt daruwan srikaew, is doctoral student in the department of educational research and psychology, faculty of education, chulalongkorn university. research interests: education research, language assessment, speaking assessment and portfolio assessment. address: department of educational research and psychology, faculty of education, chulalongkorn university, phyathai road, patumwan, bangkok 10330, thailand phone: +66814935655 e-mail: gunk_daruwan@hotmail.com. kamonwan tangdhanakanond, phd, is assistant professor in the department of educational research and psychology, faculty of education, chulalongkorn university. research interests: authentic assessment, portfolio assessment, performance assessment, research methodology, and school psychology. address: department of educational research and psychology, faculty of education, chulalongkorn university, phyathai road, patumwan, bangkok 10330, thailand phone: +66868149388 e-mail: tkamonwan@hotmail.com. ieva urbanavičiūtė, phd, is a researcher at vilnius university, department of clinical and organizational psychology, and a lecturer at the lithuanian university of educational sciences. research interests: career transitions, job insecurity, and motivation in academic and work settings. address: vilnius university, department of clinical and organizational psychology, universiteto g. 9/1, lt-01513, vilnius, lithuania phone: +370 5 2667605  e-mail: ieva.urbanaviciute@fsf.vu.lt hans de witte, phd, is a full professor in work psychology at the department of psychology, ku leuven, belgium, where he is a member of the research group work, organizational and personnel psychology (wopp). extraordinary professor at the north-west university of south africa (vanderbijlpark campus). research interests: psychological consequences of job insecurity, unemployment, temporary employment and downsizing, mobbing and job stress versus wellbeing at work. address: department of psychology, ku leuven, tiensestraat 102, postbox 3725, leuven, belgium phone: +32(0)16/32.60.60 e-mail: hans.dewitte@ppw.kuleuven.be 143 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 139–143 p. noelle whitney, m.a., c.a.s., is currently an advanced phd student in the department of school psychology, university of northern colorado. research interests: parenting style, late adolescent and young adult development, alcohol use disorders. address: university of northern colorado, mckee hall 248, box 131, greeley, co 80639, usa.  phone: (518) 420-3042.  e-mail:  whit0148@bears.unco.edu 127 re vie w of doc tor al dissertation “executive func tions and school success in primary school children“ (social sciences, psychology, 06s) prepared by l auryna r akickienė vytautas gudonis šiauliai university, lithuania the main idea of the doctoral dissertation prepared by lauryna rakickienė came from the burning practical issue, which makes this work applicable and significant from the practical point of view. the author rationally substantiates the significance of the dissertation with the research questions (that replace the subgoals) and defensible statements. the defensible statements highlight that executive functions of primary school children may be described by the structure of three interrelated factors – working memory updating, mental set shifting and response inhibition. these three factors are differently associated with achievement in primary school: working memory updating is related to achievement directly and through cognitive mediators while response inhibition – through behavioural mediators. together with other defensible statements it allowed to formulate the rational research objective. the work is well illustrated – there are 8 tables, 21 figures and 11 appendices that depict results of the research and other relevant information that complements them. the author revealed why the topic of the dissertation is not yet explored well enough. she also flawlessly formulated and adequately highlighted the relevance, scientific novelty and practical value of the work. in pursuit of her goal – “to determine the structure of executive functions and their role in academic success of primary school children”, the author formulated adequate research questions, replacing the subgoals of the research. scientific reviews 128 reviews the theoretical part of the dissertation is based on the newest psychological literature. the author introduces the reader to the variety of researches, masters the vast data flow, highlighting the most significant facts that are related to the goals of the research. in the literature review the author clarified the concept of executive function, reviewed its development, revealed conceptual and methodological problems associated with it, appropriately analysed the structure of an executive function, provided the characteristics of both the executive function and other related cognitive functions. the author attempted to relate executive functions of primary school children to school success and viewed these phenomena through the light of academic achievement and social success. that actualised the scientific significance of the work. this way the author demonstrated her ability to find a novel and meaningful niche for her work. after studying the theoretical part of the dissertation, i positively evaluate the author’s analytical competencies. while providing information on the research methods, the author properly introduced the reader to the structure and methodological background of the empirical study, adequately selected research methods, organisation of the study and statistical analysis. the method may be characterised by a large variety of various research instruments. positive is the fact that age appropriate tasks for executive functions were developed by the author. thanks to the rational selection and creative application of research methods in the empirical part of the study, the author was able to answer the following research questions: to what extent the three-factor (response inhibition, mental set shifting, working memory updating) structure is characteristic of the executive function in primary school children; how executive function predicts intellectual ability, verbal and performance intelligence in primary school children; how executive function predicts achievement in math, reading, writing and natural sciences in primary school children; how executive functions and achievement are related – directly or through other cognitive or behavioural variables; how executive functions predict peer relations among primary school children; how executive functions and peer relations are linked – directly or through other cognitive or behavioural variables. the research results are sufficiently interpreted in context of adjacent empirical studies carried out in other countries and latest theoretical 129 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 127–132 p. works in psychology. the knowledge and insights provided in the conclusions follow logically from the arguments given in the thesis and answer the research questions, formulated in the introduction. the analysis, carried out in the research, and the conclusions answer to the defensible statements and are sufficiently grounded and reliable. positive is the fact that the author of the thesis pointed out the limitations of the study and provided guidelines for a further research. the analysis of the provided publications shows that the scientific papers published by the author reflect the main idea of the research, key statements, results and findings of the thesis. the summary of the doctoral dissertation sufficiently reflects the dissertation. it should be noted that after receiving rich and socially relevant information the author of the research prepared recommendations, enhancing the practical significance of the work. in the end of the work the author formulates clear, concise and empirically grounded conclusions, which should be of interest to psychologists from different areas. 1. executive functions of primary school-age children are best explained by the internal structure of three partly related factors (response inhibition, working memory updating and mental set shifting). the inhibition of dominant response is the most differentiated executive function, which is not related to working memory updating and mental set shifting in primary school-age children. 2. working memory updating predicts verbal intelligence, performance intelligence and g factor of intelligence in primary school children. 3. working memory updating is an important predictor of academic achievement in primary school: • the ability to efficiently update representations in working memory predicts better achievement in reading and writing directly; • updating predicts achievement in mathematics through performance intelligence: children who are better at updating representations in working memory have higher intellectual abilities, and nonverbal intelligence is a direct predictor of achievement in reading and writing. 130 reviews 4. dominant response inhibition predicts achievement in mathema-tics and nature not directly, but through the symptoms of hyperactivity: children who find it more difficult to suppress the dominant, but in the current situation inadequate response, are more prone to hyperactive behaviour; while achievement of children who are less able to manage their activity and attention is rated lower by the teachers. 5. the relationship between executive functions and achievement in mathematics differs depending on the way of assessing achievement: teacher ratings are predicted by working memory updating but performance on achievement tasks is predicted by inhibition of prepotent responses. 6. when executive functions and intelligence are included together in the prognostic models of achievement of primary school children, executive functions predict achievement better than intelligence does: • performance intelligence is a mediator of the relationship between working memory updating and achievement in mathematics, but does not predict achievement in reading, writing or nature; • verbal intelligence does not predict achievement in any of the studied areas of academic achievement. 7. prognostic relationship between any of the executive functions and peer relationships of primary school-age children has not been found. psychologists, as well as educators, will be interested in practical recommendations provided by lauryna rakickienė: the work revealed the importance of the executive functions for the academic success of primary school-age children. this is important information for the educators and psychologists working in the field of education. the results of the study allow considering that importance of intelligence for academic achievement of elementary school children is possibly overestimated. when executive functions and behavioural variables (learning-related behaviour and hyperactivity) are included into the prognostic models of academic achievement, neither verbal nor performance iq does not predict evaluations of primary school children‘s achievement provided by the teachers in reading, writing or natural 131 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 127–132 p. science. working memory updating is a much more reliable cognitive predictor of achievement, while response inhibition is related to a higher achievement through the behavioural mediator: teachers are prone to view math and natural science achievement of children who show less symptoms of hyperactivity as higher and children with better response inhibition show fewer symptoms of hyperactivity. given the exceptional significance of working memory updating for school achievement it is assumed that teaching in primary school is too much based on memory, so we would like to recommend teachers use alternative tasks that are less dependent on memory more often. however, it should be borne in mind that the updating in working memory is fundamentally different from passive memorization and reproduction of information. it is the basic executive function, necessary for completion of virtually all cognitive tasks (this is confirmed by a strong correlation between memory updating and general intellectual abilities), so it is not possible to avoid relying on working memory updating in the process of education. as difficulties in executive functioning and especially in updating of representations in working memory may be related to poor academic achievement in elementary school, the problem of assessing executive skills in practice becomes topical. no instruments of assessment of executive functions are included in the current process of assessment of cognitive abilities in lithuania; the intelligence scale showing cognitive strengths and difficulties of the child is used in most cases. however, having in mind that working memory updating predicts both academic achievement and intelligence scale scores of primary school children we can consider that, in some cases, assessment of working memory would be no less informative and more appropriate as well as less troublesome and less expensive than intelligence testing. while assessing cognitive abilities of children it would also be worthwhile to pay attention to their ability to inhibit inappropriate responses which may affect achievement of students not directly, but through the effect on their behaviour. this could be especially important for children characterized by excessive activity and difficulty in concentrating. although the scientific community recognizes that these symptoms have cognitive basis, teachers often still equate the hyperactivity of children with the lack of discipline and believe that such children could change their behaviour with willpower. 132 reviews the linkage of symptoms of hyperactivity with difficulties in a particular field of cognitive activity could help change this notion and open up opportunities of effective aid for the student. finally, it is worthwhile to consider training of executive functions, efficacy of which has been proven by recent research (espinet et al., 2013; diamond et al., 2011). children with weaker executive abilities should be identified and attempts to strengthen their executive functions should be made before the onset of school, so that the children’s chances for high achievement could be maximised. an exclusive feature of the lauryna rakickienė dissertation is a particularly strong and analytical theoretical part where the author views the results of other researchers through the prism of critical thinking, raises original assumptions and provides rational interpretations which indicates scientific maturity of the defendant. the author is an expert in the field of her research, being able to correctly apply adequately selected research methods and evaluate their limitations, as well as to convincingly present her findings to academic community in publications. lauryna rakickienė’s doctoral dissertation “executive functions and school success in primary school children” is a topical, independent, complete academic work of lasting theoretical and practical value, corresponding to the requirements of research council of lithuania, so the author deserves to receive a doctoral degree (social sciences, psychology 06s). l aurynos r akickienės disertacijos „pr adinio mokyklinio amžiaus vaikų vykdomosios funkcijos ir mokyklinė sėkmė“ (psichologija 06 s) recenzija vytautas gudonis šiaulių universitetas santrauka. pagrindinė laurynos rakickienės daktaro disertacijos idėja kyla iš labai ak tualios praktinės problemos, tad šis mokslinis darbas svarbus ir vertingas praktiniu po žiūriu. disertacijoje pagrįstas mokslinis idėjos aktualumas bei naujumas, pateikta nau jausios mokslinės literatūros analizė, pagrįsti ginamieji teiginiai, tinkamai atliktas tyrimas, moksliškai pagrįstos išvados, naudingos rekomendacijos. analizuojamos ir re cenzijos autoriaus įžvalgos. disertacijoje pateikti duomenys gali būti naudingi ir mo kytojų veikloje. scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2016 / 18 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.18.2 assessing global service-learning: a mixed-me thods approach to e valuating students’ intercultur al de velopment stephen w. jones crown college, usa david d. hof, douglas r. tillman university of nebraska at kearney, usa abstract. research problem: global service-learning (gsl), as service-learning that takes place outside of an institution’s home culture, has long been touted as an important contributor to student’s intercultural development. however, gsl practitioners have not yet established effective and consistent methods for evaluating the growth that students experience as a result of gsl experiences. purpose. the purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of cultural immersion as a service-learning project and to use the intercultural development inventory (idi) to better understand the changes in student development as a result of this project. methods. a mixed method approach was used to assess students’ intercultural development, utilizing a functionalist instrument (quantitative), alongside critical-reflection guided student journals and participant observation (qualitative). results. the results showed that the program accomplished some of its goals, however, the structure of the program was not facilitative (at least short term) of allowing all students to access the learning and transformation which was available for them. conclusions. in conclusion, the authors note emphasizing participation, critical reflection, and intercultural growth, while also using the interplay between functionalist instruments, student generated reports, and the researcher-as-an-instrument through ethnography seem to be a natural and helpful contribution to service-learning. keywords: advocacy, service learning, multiculturalism. introduc tion crabtree (2008) captured one of the most difficult paradoxes in global service-learning (gsl). on one hand, gsl “is a multifaceted endeavor and should be informed by multiple disciplinary and interdisciplinary literatures” (p. 19). on the other hand, “because we are working 29 stephen w. jones, david d. hof, douglas r. tillman 30 across many disciplines, it can be difficult to find each other’s work” (p. 19). the present study represents an attempt to bring models from divergent fields together, in this case especially, to address the issue of assessment of gsl. it has often been contended (berry, 1990; green & johnson, 2014; fitch, 2004; kiely, 2004; pusch, 2005; crabtree, 2008) that service-learning can promote intercultural growth, but at the same time, “evaluating international service-learning is not easy” (tonkin & quiroga, 2004, p. 146). furthermore, empirical research has not backed the assumption that “intercultural contact would itself produce increased cross-cultural awareness and reduced ethnocentrism” (crabtree, 2008, p. 21; also see pettigrew, 1998). yet “pusch 2004 … found a relationship between isl [international service-learning] experiences and increased self awareness, cross-cultural skills, and intercultural learning” (crabtree, 2008, p. 21). the question remains, how should practitioners approach the complicated arena of the development and measurement of intercultural competence? certainly this endeavor requires “a basic proficiency in cross-cultural psychology and communication” (crabtree, 2008, p. 21). there have been several proposals for methods to evaluate global service-learning, including post experience interview and focus groups (tonkin & quiroga, 2004), a longitudinal study using “document analysis, on-site participant observation, focus groups, and semistructured and unstructured interviews” (p. 8) which resulted in kiely’s (2005) transformational service-learning process model, the qualitative character education model and its related course assessment reflection guide proposed by balas (2006). however, “there is limited research on the impact of international service-learning programs on students’ learning and development” (kiely, 2004, p. 5). kiely notes that “in comparison with studies examining the impact of domestic service-learning, research ‘on the effects of international service-learning is limited and anecdotal in nature’ (kraft, 2004, p. 303)” (p. 6). even though “empirical studies have found that participation in international service-learning increases students’ intercultural competence” (kiely, 2004, p. 5), only a few studies (westrick, 2004; fitch, 2004) have employed the psychometrically valid intercultural development inventory (idi). this article presents an assessment technique which uses 2016, 18, 29–50 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 31 a functionalist tool – the idi – in concert with other methodologies, such as qualitative journaling and ethnography. this technique particularly sought to respond to kiely and hartman’s (2011) call to understanding the researcher as an instrument. they explain: a s the instrument, the qualitative researcher has the benefit of adjusting and responding more immediately to changes in the environment, unpredic table and evolving program conditions, par ticipant needs, as well as the abilit y to document verbal and non-verbal human perceptions, meanings and relations through document analysis, obser vations and inter views. (p. 293) two research questions of the present study were 1) to evaluate the effectiveness of this particular service-learning project; 2) using the intercultural development inventory (idi), attempt to better understand the change in the students’ individual development as a result of this experience. brief overvie w of the projec t & identific ation as global service-learning background of the research projec t the service-learning project in question grew out of a short-term immersion program offered by a chapter of the international graduate counseling honor society chi sigma iota for students at a small midwest university. during this experience, the students participate in a four-day experience in which they travel to the pine ridge indian reservation, the present home of the oglala lakota (sioux) people. while international partnership for service-learning and leadership has “traditionally been skeptical about the relative effectiveness of short-term programs” (tonkin & quiroga, 2004, p. 132; see also medina-lopez-portillo, 2004), the students that have participated in the past reported a transformative experience. the authors met and agreed that a research component could be added as part of the trip. as one of the authors is a certified administrator of the intercultural development inventory, this was the instrument chosen as part of the research process. learning goals as most of the graduate counseling students at this midwest university are both employed and required to earn practicum hours, it is difficult to schedule a cultural immersion trip longer than an extended stephen w. jones, david d. hof, douglas r. tillman 32 weekend, although this would be preferred (medina-lopez-portillo, 2004). the learning goals of the trip are two-fold: 1) to enable the students to experience another culture first-hand and at a greater depth than they previously had, thus allowing for growth in their intercultural skills and awareness; 2) to familiarize the students with a people group which needs advocacy in greater society to allow for a contextualized expression of social advocacy, which is a key component to community counseling. this second point is worth elucidating further as it is central to the service component of the experience. watson, collins, collins, and coerreia (2004) note, within clinical mental health counseling, “it becomes clear that the traditional focus on helping the client adapt to his or her environment is untenable when that environment is unjust or otherwise flawed in its treatment of these clients” (p. 291). in such cases, not only does the counselor need to take the environment into account but the environment itself “becomes a primary target for change as a means of improving the mental health of the clients” (p. 291). lewis, lewis, daniels, and d’andrea (2011) indicate there has been a movement within clinical mental health which signifies 1) it is crucial for counselors to address larger systemic issues in addition to personal and micro-environment issues such as the family; 2) counselors must understand the cultural realities of their clients; 3) advocacy and other forms of intervention should reflect the cultural realities of the clients. this trip represents an effort toward helping the counselors-in-training become students of culture in a very real way. this is an alternative to classroom-only advocacy efforts that service-learning proponents should appreciate: a s educators like humphrey tonk in and melvin mason realize that crosscultural appreciation and sk ills are best learned by a combination of classroom study and direc t encounter with the people of another culture, so educators around the globe are increasingly finding ways to credit experiential learning and ser vice learning in par ticular for the mastering of a variet y of sk ills (berr y & chisholm, 1999, p. 18). service goals the service goals of the immersion experience flow, then, out of the desire for students to be actively engaged with a group, which desires advocacy. counseling students at this midwest college are required to develop an advocacy plan as part of their studies, and some of the 2016, 18, 29–50 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 33 students who have attended this experience have chosen to advocate for the lakota people. it is true that the service of advocacy is largely future, and it is also true that advocacy on behalf of another people is not without its own ethical concerns. those issues, however, are not the focus of this article. the advocacy component is not, in itself, the main active service accomplished by the students. wade (1997) notes “service is, of course the foundation of service-learning, yet it is an illusive concept to define” (p. 63). recalling that “service may mean different things in different societies” (merrill, 2005, p. 182), it is important to consider what service means to those being served. in this case, when asked how the students could serve, the hosts explained that the students could best serve through a three-sided experience of coming to their home; being part of the experience, and then educating others about the lakota ways and traditions. the relational act of the students seeking to learn from, and listen to, the lakota hosts was interpreted as service. this has been more recently confirmed by service-learning colleagues at oglala lakota college in preparation for a revised version of this same project. although different from the more ‘normal’ “direct… [and] indirect… advocacy” (wade, 1997, p. 68–69) approaches to service, service by relationship is consistent with the sentiment that “service is also an attitude, a relationship, and a way of being in the world” (p. 67). though the definition of service for the lakota certainly extends beyond listening and learning, these seem to be important elements. merrill (2005) reminds us that, often, “one needs to return to earlier centuries to understand fully the sources of present attitudes regarding service” (p. 183). this experience meets the basic definition of gsl by combining “academic instruction and community based service in an international context” (crabtree, 2008, p. 18). me thod this study utilizes the interpretive frame rather than the social scientific frame for two reasons. first, the sample size (n=6) is too small to generate significant generalizable data. second, qualitative data was intentionally incorporated into the research following the recommendation of medina-lopez-portillo (2004), who cautioned “future research stephen w. jones, david d. hof, douglas r. tillman 34 on the development of intercultural sensitivity should also rely on multiple methods of collecting data” (p. 192). studies using the intercultural development inventory (idi) should supplement the quantitative data through “triangulating its results with the collection of qualitative data” (p. 193). in addition to providing for sufficient triangulation, “the data from these multiple sources provides a more complete understanding of thought processes and changes in perceptions about a student’s own culture and target culture, even when students stay in the same [developmental] stage” (p. 193). the idi yields functionalist data, which can be triangulated through student journals. the journals served as one half of the qualitative piece in the present study. the other portion of the qualitative research came from an attempt to engage in the kiely and hartman’s (2011) observation of the role of “researcher as instrument.” they explain that in “shifting from detached social scientist who designs sophisticated non-human instruments and (quasi) experimental methods, a fundamental distinguishing characteristic for all types of qualitative research is that the researcher is the primary instrument for data gathering, analysis, interpretation and representation” (p. 293). this is felt perhaps most clearly in studies utilizing ethnography – especially where the principle method of ethnography is participant observation. kiely and hartman noted that it is surprising that to date, there are relatively few researchers who have used ethnography as a research approach in isl [international service-learning] contexts. given that a major distinguishing factor of the isl experience is that participants are situated and often immersed in a dramatically different culture, ethnography provides a particularly useful qualitative research design in study abroad and isl contexts (pp. 303–305). thus the researchers intentionally engaged in the experience as participant observers. energy was therefore focused on the understanding and explication of the events and data presented, rather than toward an attempt at predicting future results. this is especially important given the extremely complex variables involved in this project, which would be impossible to reproduce with precision. for instance, the group dynamics may play an important role (kiely and hartman, 2011) in the impact an immersion like this has on intercultural competency development – particularly if such development is tied to the affective domain, as suggested by burkholder (2003) and deardorff (2004). 2016, 18, 29–50 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 35 sample the sample of students studied in this research was the entire population of eligible participants. as only six participants have self-selected for the intercultural immersion program, it was easy to do a whole population sample. the subjects were one male and five female unk graduate students. four of the students self-identified as european americans, and two identified as biracial white-hispanic/latino americans. this research project was reviewed and approved by irb. all participants were invited to participate in the research project in addition to the immersion experience, and all six consented. relevant data quantitative data were collected via the intercultural development inventory, which was administered prior to and following the experience. qualitative data were collected via student responses to guided journaling questions. four different sections of questions were provided, and students had the option of making their responses to certain questions private. all participants did self-report that they had answered the questions, and it may be assumed that they did so as there was no incentive (such as a grade) to false-report. intercultural development inventory hammer (2009) explains that “the idi is a 50-item paper-and-pencil (and online) questionnaire… that can be completed in about 15-20 minutes… [t]he idi analytic structure generates an individual (or group) graphic profile of the respondent’s overall position on the intercultural development continuum” (p. 246). bennett and hammer created the first version of the intercultural development inventory (idi) based on bennett’s (1986, 1993) developmental model of intercultural sensitivity (dmis). this version was subjected to testing by paige, jacobs-cassuto, yershova, and de jaeghere (1999), who suggested refinements to the instrument. following these refinements, they concluded (2003, p. 485) that “hammer and bennett’s intercultural development inventory is a sound instrument, a satisfactory way of measuring intercultural sensitivity as defined by bennett (1993) in his developmental model.” these refinements resulted in the development of version 2 of the idi, the version used in the present study. stephen w. jones, david d. hof, douglas r. tillman 36 the process of the development of version 1 and version 2 of the idi are explicitly detailed in hammer, bennett, and wiseman (2003). reliability, content validity, and construct validity were all shown to be satisfactory in the research associated with the idi development. hammer (2007) recently released version 3, which has the same items as version 2, but has undergone considerably more testing in general and back-translation for non-english versions. hammer (2009) “administered the 50-item idi to a significantly larger, cross-cultural sample of 4,673 individuals from 11 distinct, cross-cultural sample groups” (p. 252). these individuals were from diverse sectors, from colleges and universities to non-governmental organizations to businesses, and participants “completed the idi in their native language using rigorously back-translated versions of the idi unless english was the language of the organization” (p. 252). hammer continued, “overall, these results from testing idi v.3 persuasively demonstrate the generalizability of the idi across cultural groups. additional analysis of the data by distinct sample groups also clearly demonstrated the culture-specific applicability of the idi v.3” (p. 252). this recent research seems to override concerns raised by greenholtz (2005), which appear to be the only such concerns brought against the idi to date. hammer concludes: “the intercultural development inventory (v.3…) is the premier cross-culturally valid and reliable measure of intercultural competence” (2009, p. 246). developmental model of intercultural sensitivity as mentioned previously, “the idi is an empirical measure of the theoretical concepts defined by the dmis” (hammer, 2007, p. 26). however, “the idi should not be confused with the developmental model itself ” (p. 26). the developmental model of intercultural sensitivity has six stages which are divided into two groups. the first three, denial, defense, and minimization, are ethnocentric stages. the remaining three, acceptance, adaptation, and integration, are ethnorelative stages. in denial, a person is “unable to experience differences in other than extremely simple ways” (bennett, 2007, p. 19), and has a worldview structure which has “no categories or only broad categories for construing cultural difference.” furthermore, “in some cases, people with this orientation may dehumanize others, assuming that different behavior is a deficiency in intelligence or personality” (p. 19). 2016, 18, 29–50 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 37 the following stage, defense, is characterized as an experience of difference “in a polarized way – ‘us and them,’” with stereotyped understandings of other cultures, which are “now perceived as threatening” (bennett, 2007, p. 20). the three main variations of defense are as follows: defense/denigration, wherein any other culture (and its values and behaviors) are judged negatively; defense/superiority, wherein positive elements of one’s own culture are exaggerated; and defense/reversal, wherein the “poles are reversed” and one views “another culture as superior while maligning one’s own” (p. 20). minimization often leads to an inflated sense of “having ‘arrived’ at intercultural sensitivity” (bennett, 2007, p. 21). in minimization, attention to differences is diminished, while physical and transcendental similarities are emphasized. while this stage appears to be very sensitive compared to the polarization of defense, “the assumed commonality with others is typically defined in ethnocentric terms: since everyone is essentially like us, it is sufficient in cross-cultural situations to ‘just be yourself ’” (p. 21). the first ethnorelative stage of the dmis is acceptance. a person in acceptance “perceive[s] that all behaviors and values, including [his/her] own, exist in distinctive cultural contexts and that patterns of behaviors and values can be discerned within each context” (bennett, 2007, p. 22). this stage indicates “acceptance of the distinctive reality of the other culture’s worldview” (p. 22). the second ethnorelative stage of the dmis is adaptation. this stage emphasizes both cognitive frame-shifting and behavioral code-shifting. bennett emphasizes the role of empathy in adaptation, which “describes a shift in perspective away from our own to an acknowledgement of the other person’s different experience” (1998, p. 208). he expounds, “the ability to empathize with another worldview in turn allows modified behavior to flow naturally from that experience” (2007, p. 23). the idi has five scales which combine to measure movement along the dmis stages detailed above. figure 1 demonstrates the relationship between the dmis stages and the idi scales. the idi also has a scale, which measures encapsulated marginality (em), which was originally conceptualized as part of the integration phase. encapsulated marginality indicates whether a person feels as though they are isolated from their own culture (hammer & bennett, 2007). stephen w. jones, david d. hof, douglas r. tillman 38 experience of difference dmis stage denial defense minimization acceptance adaptation integration dmis & v.2 stages ethnocentric stages ethnorelative stages v.2. idi scale denial/defense (dd) minimization (m) acceptance/adaptation (aa) encapsulated marginality (em)reversal (rr) v.3 intercultural development continuum stages denial polarization minimization acceptance adaptation cultural disengagement (defense) (reversal) intercultural development continuum monocultural intercultural mindset mindset measured on a separate plane, not considered part of the continuum figure 1. new directions in the idi (version 2 compared to version). intercultural development continuum since the present study began, the first annual idi conference was held in st. paul, minnesota. at this conference, hammer indicated that there were several changes that could be made in the conceptualization (and practice) of the idi. the most far-reaching shift is from understanding the idi as only measuring sensitivity to also measuring competence. the ability to shift frames of reference from one’s own cultural pattern to that of a cultural other is viewed now as a measurable skill. hammer wrote, “the idi provides key insights on the capabilities of managers and employees for dealing with cultural differences” (2009, p. 253). hammer further explained that “the underlying intercultural development continuum that is assessed by the idi posits that individuals (and groups) have 2016, 18, 29–50 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 39 a greater or lesser capability to perceive [culturally grounded] differences between themselves and others” (2009, p. 247). other changes include the introduction of polarization as a major category for defense and reversal, and the introduction of the idea of cultural disengagement. idi guided development in addition to the natural use of the idi to conduct a pre-post evaluation of a program such as this, it has been suggested (hammer, 2009; hammer 2007) that the idi can be used in a developmental way. the initial scores are thus used as a “needs assessment” (p. 33) for the group. out of this assessment, a development plan can be tailored for the group. the researchers used the idi in this way, allowing the initial group results to especially guide the reflection questions. journaling guided journaling was used to serve multiple purposes in this experience, in line with clayton’s (2008) notion that critical reflection serves to generate, deepen, and document learning. as a documentation tool, it provided a window into the students’ thought processes over the several days of the experience. furthermore, “formal reflection activities” have been shown to “help students ‘go deeper’ in their understanding of the service experience as well as their own beliefs, including identifying and exploring changes in their beliefs as a result of the experience” (crabtree, 2008, p. 28). idi guided development through journaling. as a tool to generate and deepen learning, the guided reflection prompts were intentionally developed in response to the pre-assessment idi data. the authors developed four sets of questions in collaboration with an idi administrator. questions for the beginning of immersion, morning reflections, evening reflections, and the end of the immersion were developed following clayton’s (2008) deal model. according to the deal model, students are to d-describe their experience, e-examine their experience, and al-articulate the learning which comes out of the experience. stephen w. jones, david d. hof, douglas r. tillman 40 the initial round of idi results indicated that although the group had a primary orientation in minimization, they had trailing issues in reversal (r scale). the researchers believed that these issues in reversal might be holding the group back from further development. of additional concern was the reality that the students were going to be visiting a site where great injustices (pine ridge indian reservation, and wounded knee in particular) had been perpetrated by the us dominant culture, with which all of the students identified. since reversal is associated with “demonstrating concern for global and domestic inequity” (hammer, 2007, p. 6), it seemed especially important to help the students process the experience without entrenching deeper into a cultural self-deprecation. thus the idi guided development plan, and the reflection questions in particular, focused on the development in the area of reversal. participant observation in addition to the idi and the student journals, the authors decided to insert themselves into the research process, as discussed previously in the comments on the researcher as instrument and the comments on ethnography. in this case, it seemed best to employ participant observation. as participants with the group, the researchers were watching for cultural interactions that might help explain any changes in intercultural development in the students. this involved “seeking insight into multiple dimensions of the … experience including its impact on students” and paying attention to “roles, power, relationships, critical incidents, responses, language, emotions, conversations, interactions, rituals, group dynamics … community mapping, environmental conditions, physical characteristics, and spaces” (kiely & hartman, 2011 p. 307). overview of the immersion experience the experience involved 1) an evening training session one week prior to departure; 2) four days at the pine ridge indian reservation; 3) and a follow-up debrief. the training session was preceded by the initial idi assessment which was followed by an overview of the developmental model of intercultural sensitivity and an introduction to the culture of the lakota of pine ridge. the session lasted approximately four hours. 2016, 18, 29–50 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 41 day one involved arriving at the reservation and settling into the house where the researchers stayed. the students were led through an introduction to ting-toomey’s (1999) observe, describe, interpret, suspend evaluation model, including an extended period of generating selfawareness. the beginning-of-trip reflection questions were distributed and students reflected in their journals prior to retiring that evening. day two started with the students journaling responses to the morning questions. trip hosts led the group to the site of the wounded knee massacre, and shared her family’s connection to the massacre. black elk’s grave was visited followed by a debriefing in the afternoon. that evening the group participated in an inipi or sweat lodge. few students completed the evening reflections on day two, citing extreme tiredness. day three started more slowly, which allowed the students to complete the evening reflections from the night before as well as to journal their responses to the morning questions. red cloud indian school and red cloud’s grave were visited this next day. following this was a driving tour of pine ridge, including a brief shopping stop at the grocery/ hardware store. that evening trip hosts shared dinner with the group and explained the sun dance, a sacred cultural event in which the group participated in following day. the students ended the day by completing their reflections. day four started with an opportunity for guided journaling, followed by packing up and leaving the house where the researchers and students had been staying. the group had been invited to participate in the fourth and final day of a sun dance. for those familiar with the sun dance, the group stayed in the outer circle, as supporters. this dance had begun before the researchers and students arrived, and continued until sundown. following this, the group participated in the one element of direct service that this experience included: previous to our arrival, the researchers and students had been invited to serve the food in the communal feast that follows the sun dance. the group helped with cleanup and then served the food. finally, the group returned home at about 3:00 am. after returning, everyone took the idi about three weeks later. students were given the end of trip journaling questions, and at least half of the students did respond to these questions. stephen w. jones, david d. hof, douglas r. tillman 42 results research participant group overall pre-experience idi assessment the group’s pre-assessment indicated an overall profile in earlyto-mid-minimization (ds scale 98.32), with trailing issues in reversal (r scale 3.28). the minimization scale score was itself at a kind of advanced transitional phase (m scale, 3.41), and the similarity cluster (3.63) was nearly resolved while the universalism cluster (3.13) was in the middle of the transitional phase. it appeared that an important developmental task was to resolve the reversal issue, which would then allow for development through minimization. the encapsulated marginality (em) scale appeared to be resolved (3.83), and there were no issues on the denial defense (dd) scale (4.54). post-experience idi assessment the group’s post-assessment indicated an overall profile in midminimization (ds scale 97.76), with trailing issues in reversal (r scale 3.52). the minimization scale itself is at a mid-point (3.09), with transitional issues in both the similarity (2.97) and universalism (3.25) clusters. the reversal scale is nearly out of transition, but there are still a few issues, which must be resolved. within minimization, both aspects need attention. comments the group’s score is very interesting, and perhaps a bit misleading because of the small size of the group. although half of the students had significant issues along the em scale, the read of this scale was as “resolved” both before and after, which obscured some of the issues facing the students. the group profile does indicate an increase in issues within minimization, particularly the similarity cluster, which was viewed in some of the individual profiles. encouragingly, the reversal issues appear to have shown some overall improvement (from 3.28 to 3.52), being now nearly complete with the transitional phase. individual students two students’ data has been selected to be shown as examples. they are noted to demonstrate the kind of data that are available regarding students via this assessment technique. 2016, 18, 29–50 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 43 student 1. pre this white female student’s pre-assessment indicated an overall profile in late minimization (105.76 out of 145 on the ds scale), without major trailing issues in denial/defense (4.38 on the dd scale) or reversal (4.22 on the r scale). however, she is in transition in encapsulated marginality (3.4 on the em scale). issues that this student would likely be working through include: a sense of understanding what her cultural identity is (em scale, 3.4); recognizing that there are significant differences across cultures (similarity cluster, 3.2); and recognizing that her own values are not always appropriate in different cultural situations (universalism cluster, 3.5). post this student’s post-assessment indicates an overall profile in early minimization (93.48 out of 145 on the ds scale), without major trailing issues in denial/defense (dd scale, 4.31) or reversal (r scale, 3.89). encapsulated marginality is resolved, being well past the “in transition phase” (em scale, 4.6). issues that this student would likely be working through include: recognizing that there are significant differences across cultures (similarity cluster, 2.2); and recognizing that her own values are not always appropriate in different cultural situations (universalism cluster, 2.75). comments overall, this student’s profile indicates a significant retreat into minimization. while this is notable, it is also very important to notice that she was able to resolve the issues related to encapsulated marginality. now, with a more solid sense of her own cultural identity, she has laid the framework for dealing with the issues related to minimization. it seems possible that the experience at pine ridge exposed her to enough cultural difference that she was able to recognize that she was from an outside culture – perhaps aiding her in resolving the encapsulated marginality. at the same time, it appears that minimization was her response to what otherwise might have been overwhelming cultural differences. the thought that “we’re all really the same” can be a coping strategy for dealing with the discomfort she felt at various times like while watching the sun-dance. this student had begun the “multicultural counseling” class one week before taking the post-assessment. stephen w. jones, david d. hof, douglas r. tillman 44 student 5. pre this white female student’s pre-assessment indicated an overall profile right on the beginning cusp of minimization (92.61 out of 145 on the ds scale), with fairly significant trailing issues in reversal (2.78 on the r scale). issues that this student would likely be working through include: a strong feeling that her home culture has major flaws as compared with other cultures (r scale, 2.78); and a sense that while people from other cultures are not basically like her in their approach to daily life, they often share the same values (universalism cluster, 2.5). post this student’s post-assessment indicates an overall profile right at the end of minimization (108.79 out of 145 on the ds scale). the r scale (3.78) and the m scale (3.67) are both at just the beginning of the “resolved” portion of those scales, which begins at 3.66. however, the student now shows that the em scale (2.8) is in significant transition. issues that this student would likely be working through include: understanding a sense of who she is ethnically speaking, what cultural group she belongs to, how to navigate between two or more cultures, and a sense that other cultures should be interpreted according to her own value system (universalism cluster, 3.25). comments this student has shown the most “forward” development of any of the six participants. encouragingly, she has resolved most of the issues in reversal and minimization, although there is still a trailing issue within the universalism cluster. it seems that this rapid development has generated some confusion for the student regarding her cultural identity: her initial em scale was in the resolved phase at 3.8 but moved to 2.8, into the “in transition” phase on the post-assessment. when she received her final idi scores, she indicated that, in part because of this experience, and in part because of a class she just started (multicultural issues in counseling), she is really beginning the struggle of understanding her “white” ethnicity. 2016, 18, 29–50 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 45 discussion one student saw important development (full stage), but four out of the six students regressed overall. three students showed negative movement within the overall minimization scale, which was not the desired effect. additionally, there were two individuals who demonstrated new issues in encapsulated marginality, and a third who showed no development in this regard. encouragingly, there was positive movement along the reversal scale, which was specifically targeted. also encouraging was the development of student 5, who nearly completed a whole stage of development. several items are worth considering here: what caused the forward progress within the targeted “r” (reversal) scale? what caused the negative trend in the “m” (minimization) scale? why did one student develop issues, and another resolve issues within the “em” (encapsulated marginality) scale, and why was there no development for yet another individual who started with issues in em? what role did intensity of dissonance (kiely, 2005) and intensity factors (paige, 1993) play in the growth and lack of growth experienced by the students? what ethical issues arise when such changes are linked with this kind of program? finally, to respond to these issues, what changes can be made in future iterations of this program? on the evaluation technique the questions listed above are here to demonstrate what kind of quandaries arose based on this blended assessment technique. the idi generated the majority of the questions, and the journals and ethnographic observations aided us in discovering initial answers to them. the idi, in particular, allowed the authors to explore the realm of cultural transformation noted by crabtree (2008). this is an important follow-up to kiely’s (2004) finding that “students who experience cultural transformation begin to see the way their cultural baggage shapes and also distorts their frame of reference” (p. 13). the authors now have a tool to view just how that self/other awareness is playing out. furthermore, it was demonstrated that the idi could be used to guide development to impact change in a targeted area. whether the authors targeted the best area, or should have tried to do a combination stephen w. jones, david d. hof, douglas r. tillman 46 of reversal and minimization is not particularly of concern for this argument. the important point is that even though the circumstance had the potential to push students toward reversal, the authors were apparently able to mitigate this effect through intentional, critical-reflection-driven intervention. additionally, although the program was accomplishing some of its goals, the structure was not facilitative (at least short term) of allowing all students to access the learning and transformation, which was available for them. the program model has been substantially revised for the upcoming year, and was able to be revised based on empirical data. ethical issues one key element that this assessment technique brought to the attention of the authors is that certain ethical issues accompany global service-learning endeavors. two issues are particularly salient: first, although this experience was brief, there were issues on the em scale (associated with a person’s sense of cultural identity) for several students. kiely (2004) warned, “service-learning educators who have ‘transformative intentions’ need to recognize the long-term struggle inherent in the nature of transformation learning” (p. 18). crabtree (2008) concurs thusly, “the nature of the cross-cultural encounter, awakening of global awareness, powerful cognitive dissonance that often results and immense personal growth that becomes possible are each phenomena with enormous disruptive as well as transformative power” (p. 28). certainly the finding that cultural identity questions can be initiated in a short experience such as this should at least give us pause. particularly of concern is how service-learning practitioners can support students in their long-term transformative learning. crabtree concludes, “it would be unethical for us to be unprepared to manage these changes in/for ourselves in addition to helping our students process them” (p. 28). another ethical concern is this: although as a group the students were less culturally competent after returning, they expressed verbally and on the idi perceived scale (a component of the idi which measures the self-perception of a person or group’s intercultural sensitivity) that they felt they were at least as or more culturally competent than they were when they left. programs that rely solely on qualitative measures to determine the culturally transformative experience of their students 2016, 18, 29–50 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 47 thus may run the risk of overestimating the positive impact and underestimating the negative impact of their programs. future directions the greatest lack in the present study is longevity. no service-learning programs exist in isolation. this experience occurs within the context of a degree program, and it is important to consider how further work in that program factors into a student’s ability to process their servicelearning experience. ideally, students would take the idi again after making presentations (a continued form of reflection and advocacy) in the spring following their immersion experience. additionally, and importantly, is the necessary task of blending evaluation techniques such as the one propose here with other evaluation models, like kiely’s (2005) transformative learning model, balas’s (2006) character education model, and clayton’s (2008) ever-developing deal model for critical reflection. if gsl assessment “should attend to the participatory dimensions of isl, including the quality of information sharing” (crabtree, 2008, p. 29), and the authors can expect a gradual move toward more “stringent assessment protocols,” then this three-pronged assessment method is at least an important method to consider. emphasizing participation, critical reflection, and intercultural growth, while also using the interplay between functionalist instruments, student generated reports, and the researcher-as-an-instrument through 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(1997). community service-learning. albany, ny: state university of new york press. watson, a. l., collins, r. l., & collins coerreia, f. (2004). advocacy and social action in the context of ecological counseling. ecological counseling. robert conyne & ellen cook, eds. alexandria, va: american counseling association westrick, j. (2004). the influence of service-learning on intercultural sensitivity: a quantitative study. journal of research in international education, 3, 277–299. stephen w. jones, david d. hof, douglas r. tillman 50 pasaulinių kooperuotųjų studijų vertinimas: mišrių me todų būdas vertinant studentų tarpkultūrinę r aidą stephen w. jones crown koledžas, jav david d. hof, d ouglas r. tillman nebraskos universitetas kearnyje, jav santrauka. mokslinė problema. pasaulinės kooperuotosios studijos (pks) – kooperuotosios studijos, vykstančios už organizacijos vidinės kultūros ribų – ilgą laiką buvo giriamos už svarbų įnašą į tarpkultūrinę studentų raidą. vis dėlto, pasaulinių kooperuotųjų studijų specialistai dar nėra nustatę efektyvių ir nuoseklių metodų, galinčių įvertinti studentų raidą visuotinių kooperuotųjų studijų patirčių metu. tikslas. šio tyrimo tikslas yra įvertinti kultūrinės imersijos, kaip pasaulinių kooperuotųjų studijų programos, efektyvumą ir naudojantis tarpkultūrino ugdymo aprašu (intercultural development inventory) geriau suprasti studentų raidos pokyčius po šio projekto. metodai. studentų tarpkultūrinė raida vertinta mišrių metodų būdu naudojant funkcionalų įrankį (kiekybinį), kritinio atspindžio principu pagrįstus studentų žurnalus ir dalyvių stebėjimą (kokybinis). rezultatai. rezultatai atskleidė, kad programos metu pasiekti keletas tikslų, tačiau programos struktūra nepadėjo (bent jau remiantis trumpalaikiais rezultatais) studentams įsisavinti jiems prieinamos informacijos apie mokymąsi ir transformaciją. išvados. autoriai pabrėžia, kad dalyvavimas, kritinis atspindys, tarpkultūrinis augimas, kartu naudojant sąveiką tarp funkcionalių instrumentų, studentų ataskaitų, ir tyrėjas-kaip-instrumentas etnografijoje metodų yra suprantama ir naudinga pagalba kooperuotosioms studijoms. pagrindiniai žodžiai: advokatavimas, kooperuotosios studijos, tarpkultūriškumas. received: december 8, 2015 accepted: august 24, 2016 2019_international journal of psychology 2019_23_book 1.indb scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2019 / 23 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.23.4 the rel ationship be t ween irr ational rel ationship beliefs and conflic t resolution str ategies in young adulthood marija aušraitė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė1, vytautas magnus university, lithuania abstract. background: maintaining romantic relationships is one of the most important developmental tasks in young adulthood. lower relationship satisfaction is associated with more expressed irrational relationship beliefs (janjani, momeni, rai, & saidi, 2017). according to the rational emotive behavior therapy, irrational beliefs should cause maladaptive behavior in conflicts. however, it is not clear how particular irrational relationship beliefs are associated with specific conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood. purpose. the purpose of the study was to evaluate the link between irrational relationship beliefs and conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood. method. 148 young adults (110 female, 38 male) having romantic relationships participated in this study. the irrational relationship beliefs were assessed with a questionnaire by r. j. eidelson and n. epstein (1982). rahim organizational conflict inventory – ii (rahim & magner, 1995) was used to measure conflict resolution strategies. results: the results showed that the more expressed irrational belief “disagreement is destructive” was related to higher use of dominating and avoiding and lower use of integrating and compromising conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood. the more expressed irrational belief “partners cannot change” was associated with lower use of integrating and compromising conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood. no links between the irrational belief “partners cannot change” and avoiding conflict resolution strategy were found in young adulthood. the more expressed irrational belief “the sexes are different” was associated with higher use of dominating conflict resolution strategy in young adulthood. the more expressed irrational belief “sexual perfectionism” was related to lower use of integrating conflict resolution strategy in young adulthood. conclusions. results of this study partially support rational emotive behavior therapy. 1 address for correspondence: kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, vytautas magnus university, department of psychology. address: jonavos g. 66-328, lt-44191, kaunas, lithuania. kristina.zardeckaite-matulaitiene@vdu.lt 77 marija aušraitė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė 78 findings also could contribute to increasing effectiveness of psychological interventions designed to improve romantic relationship in young adulthood. keywords: irrational relationship beliefs, conflict resolution strategies, young adulthood. introduc tion maintaining romantic relationships is one of the most important developmental tasks in young adulthood (lehnart, neyer, & eccles, 2010). however, the majority of divorces in lithuania occur being between 25 and 30 years old (lithuanian department of statistics, 2016). moreover, many young adults end up their romantic relationships before marriage (simon & barrett, 2010; tashiro & frazier, 2003). it raises concern about the quality of romantic relationships in young adulthood. irrational relationship beliefs are one of the factors associated with lower satisfaction of relationships (janjani, momeni, rai, & saidi, 2017; slavinskienė & žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, 2013). it is credible that irrational beliefs disturb romantic relationships by provoking partners’ dysfunctional emotional and behavioral responses to some kinds of events (neenan & dryden, 2006). however, little is known about the links between particular irrational relationship beliefs and behavior patterns in conflicts in young adulthood. so, the aim of this study is to evaluate the link between irrational relationship beliefs and conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood. according to rational emotive behavior therapy, a person sets up life goals and tries to reach them. rationality primarily is a tool which helps to reach these goals and be happy. conversely, irrationality is something that prevents achievement of goals and disturbs human functioning (dryden & neenan, 2004a). irrational beliefs are considered as the reason for problems. this is based on the assumption that cognitions (beliefs), emotions and behavior interact together. some activating events, for instance interpersonal conflicts, provoke irrational beliefs which have negative emotional and behavioural consequences. examining thoughts and replacing irrational beliefs with rational ones result in therapeutic change and better human functioning (dryden & neenan, 2004a; dryden & neenan, 2004b). our study focuses on irrational beliefs in romantic relationship which may affect partners’ behavior in conflicts. better understanding of the relationships between particular irrational 2019, 23, 77–93 p.the relationship between irrational relationship beliefs and conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood 79 relationship beliefs and conflict resolution strategies could be useful for identifying irrational relationship beliefs affecting behavior in conflicts. replacing these irrational beliefs or forming rational beliefs could prevent destructive conflict resolution and improve the quality of romantic relationships. irrational beliefs are rigid, unrealistic and unhelpful thoughts including such phrases as “must”, “have to” or “need”. they make impossible and unrealistic demands for the self, others or the world, which cannot be met. because of that, irrational beliefs cause dysfunctional emotions and behavior (neenan & dryden, 2006). research suggests that such factors as gender (demirtas-zorbaz, ulas, & kepir-savoly, 2015), age (sarvestani, 2011), education (vasile, 2012) and culture (lee, peterson, sampson, & park, 2015) may have an effect on irrational beliefs. this is explained by different cultural norms and cognitive abilities (demirtas-zorbaz, ulas, & kepir-savoly, 2015; macsinga & dobriţa, 2010; lee et al., 2015). there are five irrational relationship beliefs: “disagreement is destructive”; “mindreading is expected”; “partners cannot change”; “sexual perfectionism”; and “the sexes are different” (ellis, 1986). research shows that irrational relationship beliefs are associated with poorer communication, lower marital satisfaction (janjani et al., 2013) and higher physical and emotional abuse in relationships (kaygusuz, 2013). previous findings confirm that irrational relationship beliefs are associated with gender (slavinskienė & žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, 2013; stackert & bursik, 2003) and length of relationship (demirtas-zorbaz, ulas, & kepir-savoly, 2015). these links could be influenced by different gender norms and expectations about romantic relationships (stackert & bursik, 2003; demirtaszorbaz, ulas, & kepir-savoly, 2015). irrational relationship beliefs can be activated by disagreements between romantic partners. if this happens, partners feel and behave in maladaptive ways (neenan & dryden, 2006). the behavior patterns in conflicts are described by conflict resolution strategies, which are distinguished by combining the dimensions of concern for the self and concern for the others. dominating and avoiding conflict resolution strategies are considered as destructive, because of low concern for a partner’s needs. dominating includes high concern for yourself and low concern for others. people using this strategy try to win a conflict. avoiding includes low concern for both self and others. it means trying to withdraw, marija aušraitė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė 80 but not to solve a conflict. obliging shows low concern for self and high concern for a partner’s needs. people using obliging tend to reduce conflict by satisfying a partner’s needs. this strategy is also maladaptive because it ignores self needs. integrating and compromising conflict resolution strategies are constructive, because of high concern for self and other’s needs. integrating shows high concern both for self and others needs. it demonstrates a collaboration to reach an acceptable solution for both partners. compromising indicates medium concern for self and another’s needs – the solution is partially acceptable for both partners (rahim & magner, 1995). previous results indicate that conflict resolution is associated with age and gender in young adulthood (gbadamosi et al., 2014). women are more likely than men to use competing strategy (high concern for yourself, low concern for others), while men use avoiding, accommodating (low concern for yourself, high concern for others) and compromising strategies more than women. (gbadamosi et al., 2014; wheeler, updegraff, & thayer, 2010). younger students tend to use accommodating and compromising strategies more than older students, while older students are more likely to use avoiding strategy than younger students (gbadamosi et al., 2014). also it is possible that conflict resolution strategies are associated with some irrational relationship beliefs (neenan & dryden, 2006). although conflicts are an inseparable part of romantic relationships, v. satir (1967) notes that sometimes partners think that love goes with total agreement. in that case, conflicts are seen as an insult or lack of love and threaten autonomy and the romantic relationship. that disturbs overt communication and leads to postponing, coercing or deluding a partner. a few studies show conflicting results on the relationship between the belief that conflicts are destructive and dominant behavior. some research supports this belief being associated with dominant behavior in conflicts (simon, kobielski, & martin, 2008; ricco & sierraapie, 2017), but also it is found that destructive beliefs about disagreements are associated with lower use of verbal aggression (aloia, 2017). this could occur because verbal aggression is only a part of dominant behavior. research also supports that the belief that argument is a threat is associated with avoiding conflict resolution strategy (ricco, sierraapie, 2017). moreover, it was found that destructive belief about disagreements is negatively associated with constructive conflict resolution 2019, 23, 77–93 p.the relationship between irrational relationship beliefs and conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood 81 strategies, such as integrating (simon & sierra, 2017) and negotiation (simon et al., 2008). however, previous research differs from this study in participants’ age – some concentrated in late adolescence (simon, kobielski, & martin, 2008), others included participants with a broader age range (ricco & sierra, 2017). in this study it is hypothesized (h 1 ) that the more expressed irrational belief “disagreement is destructive” will be related to higher use of dominating and avoiding and lower use of integrating and compromising conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood. the irrational belief “partners cannot change” is dysfunctional because of its elimination of hope for improving a relationship and changing behavior (eidelson & epstein, 1982). the belief “partners cannot change” refers to an external locus of control when relationship outcomes are attributed not to your own behavior but to chance, situation or circumstances (rotter, 1966). research supports that people having an external locus of control tend to behave in a passive way – avoiding disagreements (taylor, 2010) and decision making (baiocco, laghi, & d’alessio, 2009), and not using confrontation, self-disclosure or emotional expression in conflicts (şahin, basım, & çetin, 2009). however, research considering the relationships between this belief and conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood was not found: this study attempts to fill the gap in this field. it was hypothesized (h 2 ) that the more expressed irrational belief “partners cannot change” would be related to higher use of avoiding and lower use of integrating and compromising conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood. the irrational belief “mindreading is expected” refers to the believing that partners should understand each other’s needs or feelings without verbal communication. it leads to poor communication and disappointment when a partner is not able to “mindread” (eidelson & epstein, 1982). some research shows that people having this belief tend to behave in a hostile and combative way when a partner fails to sense their needs without overt communication (wright & roloff, 2015). the irrational belief “the sexes are different” states that men and women differ dramatically in their personalities and needs. it may lead to the assumption that compromising or integrating is impossible in a romantic relationship because of different partners’ needs and encourage less effort to reach a solution acceptable for both partners (eidelson & epstein, 1982). marija aušraitė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė 82 several studies show that the irrational belief “the sexes are different” is related to lower relationship satisfaction (slavinskienė & žardeckaitėmatulaitienė, 2013, stackert & bursik, 2003). the irrational belief that partners should be perfect sexually may elicit negative feelings and reduce sexual pleasure (eidelson & epstein, 1982). stackert and bursik (2003) found that the irrational belief “sexual perfectionism” is related to lower relationship satisfaction in males, but in other research no link between the belief “sexual perfectionism” and general relationship satisfaction was found (slavinskienė & žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, 2013). research also shows that the more expressed husbands’ belief “sexual perfectionism” predicts better spousal consensus, but the stronger wives’ belief that partners should be perfect sexually predicts lower expression of feelings in relationship (slavinskienė & žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, 2013). summarizing, the irrational beliefs “mindreading is expected”, “the sexes are different” and “sexual perfectionism” may affect romantic relationships. however, we have not found prior research focusing on the links between these beliefs and behavior patterns in conflicts in young adulthood. because of that we raised the additional question whether irrational beliefs “mindreading is expected”, “the sexes are different” and “sexual perfectionism” are associated with conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood. me thod participants and procedure 148 young adults having romantic relationships participated in this study. the sample consisted of 110 women and 38 men. participants’ age ranged from 18 to 28 years (mean age = 20.6 years). 68% of the sample were in dating relationships, 30% lived with a romantic partner but were not married, 2% were married. the length of romantic relationship was 2 years on average. the majority of participants (99%) did not have children; other participants (1%) had one child. 91% of participants identified their sexual orientation as heterosexual, 5% bisexual, 3% homosexual, 1% asexual. regarding educational level, 68% of participants had finished secondary school, 13% were high school graduates, 10% 2019, 23, 77–93 p.the relationship between irrational relationship beliefs and conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood 83 were college graduates, 10% had a lower secondary education degree, 1% were finished vocational school. the majority of participants studied in high school (53%) or combined work and studies (23%). people aged 18 to 29 having romantic relationships were invited to participate in this study using an online questionnaire. measures irrational relationship beliefs questionnaire (eidelson & epstein, 1982). an irrational relationship beliefs questionnaire was used to measure the expression of irrational relationship beliefs. it was translated into the lithuanian language by adomavičiūtė and žardeckaitė-matulaitienė (2010). the irrational relationship beliefs questionnaire consists of 32 items answered on a 6-point likert scale ranging from 0 – “i strongly feel that this statement is true” to 5 – “i strongly feel that this statement is false”. a higher score means a more expressed irrational relationship belief. the questionnaire includes 5 subscales which represent irrational relationship beliefs: “disagreement is destructive”; “mindreading is expected”; “partners cannot change”; “sexual perfectionism”; and “the sexes are different”. the subscale “mindreading is expected” was excluded from the analysis because of low internal validity (see table 1). table 1. the internal validity of different subscales of irrational relationship beliefs questionnaire subscale number of items value of cronbach alpha “disagreement is destructive” 9 .73 “mindreading is expected” 4 (3) .30 (.41)* “partners cannot change” 5 (4) .45 (.54)* “the sexes are different” 7 .69 “sexual perfectionism” 7 (6) .49 (.52)* *values of cronbach alpha after excluding some items from the subscales rahim organizational conflict inventory – ii (rahim & magner, 1995). conflict resolution strategies were assessed by rahim marija aušraitė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė 84 organizational conflict inventory – ii (rahim & magner, 1995) which was translated into lithuanian language by gustaitė (2008). the correction of translation was made by žardeckaitė-matulaitienė (2011). although this inventory was developed for measuring conflicts among the members of organization, it is widely used in various contexts, including the field of romantic relationships (dijkstra, barelds, ronner, & nauta, 2017; nadiri & khalatbari, 2018; farahanifar, heidari, davodi, & aleyasin, 2019). rahim organizational conflict inventory – ii consists of 28 items which participants were asked to respond on a likert scale from 1 “strongly disagree” to 5 “strongly agree”. a high score shows a more expressed conflict resolution strategy. the questionnaire consists of 5 subscales – integrating, obliging, dominating, avoiding and compromising. the internal validity of all subscales was sufficient for the statistical analysis (see table 2). table 2. the internal validity of different subscales of rahim organizational conflict inventor y – ii subscale number of items value of cronbach alpha integrating 7 .91 obliging 6 .77 dominating 5 .80 avoiding 6 .66 compromising 4 .73 statistical procedures gender differences in irrational relationship beliefs and conflict resolution strategies were analyzed using the mann–whitney u test. the relationships between relationship beliefs, conflict resolution strategies and age, and length of romantic relationship were evaluated using spearman correlation analysis. as data were not normally distributed, spearman correlation analysis also was applied for investigation the 2019, 23, 77–93 p.the relationship between irrational relationship beliefs and conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood 85 relationship between irrational relationship beliefs and conflict resolution strategies. results before testing the hypotheses, it was analyzed if irrational relationship beliefs and conflict resolution strategies are associated with some demographic factors, which could affect the relationship between irrational relationship beliefs and conflict resolution strategies. there were no significant differences in gender found (see table 3). table 3. gender differences in irrational relationship beliefs and conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood subscales females males u p mean sd mean sd irrational relationship beliefs “disagreement is destructive” 14.41 7.75 12.71 6.38 1811.00 .22 “partners cannot change” 4.83 3.58 5.13 3.66 1999.50 .69 “the sexes are different” 15.63 6.90 14.08 6.97 1857.50 .31 “sexual perfectionism” 12.15 5.42 12.11 4.47 2083.00 .98 conflict resolution strategies integrating 29.90 5.44 29.42 6.01 2075.50 .95 obliging 22.56 4.04 22.45 4.29 2046.00 .85 dominating 12.40 4.57 13.21 3.71 1766.50 .15 avoiding 18.15 4.97 18.55 3.92 1952.00 .54 compromising 15.62 3.14 15.45 3.15 1995.50 .68 irrational relationship beliefs and conflict resolution strategies were not related to age (see table 4). marija aušraitė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė 86 table 4. spearman’s correlations between irrational relationship beliefs, conflict resolution strategies and age in young adulthood scales age r p irrational relationship beliefs “disagreement is destructive” .10 .20 “partners cannot change” .03 .75 “the sexes are different” .06 .48 “sexual perfectionism” -.08 .33 conflict resolution strategies integrating -.01 .90 obliging .02 .81 dominating .12 .14 avoiding -.05 .56 compromising .03 .76 the length of romantic relationship was associated neither with irrational relationship beliefs nor with conflict resolution strategies (see table 5). table 5. spearman’s correlations between irrational relationship beliefs, conflict resolution strategies and length of romantic relationship in young adulthood scales length of romantic relationship r p irrational relationship beliefs “disagreement is destructive” .01 .92 “partners cannot change” .01 .88 “the sexes are different” .05 .52 “sexual perfectionism” -.11 .19 conflict resolution strategies integrating -.05 .59 obliging .10 .25 dominating .11 .17 avoiding -.01 .99 compromising .05 .52 2019, 23, 77–93 p.the relationship between irrational relationship beliefs and conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood 87 as dependent variables were not related to any demographic variables, correlation analysis was done in general sample of this study. the analysis revealed that the irrational belief “disagreement is destructive” was associated with conflict resolution strategies (see table 6). table 6. spearman’s correlations between irrational relationship beliefs and conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood integrating obliging dominating avoiding compromising disagreement is destructive -.32** .05 .37** .17* -.17* partners cannot change -.42** -.17* .05 .10 -.37** the sexes are different -.16 .00 .19* .12 .03 sexual perfectionism -.21* .02 .14 .10 -.16 * p < .05; **p < .01 the first hypothesis was supported – the more expressed belief “disagreement is destructive” was significantly associated with higher use of dominating and avoiding conflict resolution strategies and lower use of integrating and compromising conflict resolution strategies. the second hypothesis was confirmed partially – the more expressed irrational belief “partners cannot change” was not associated with higher use of avoiding conflict resolution strategy, but it was negatively linked with integrating and compromising conflict resolution strategies. irrational belief “the sexes are different” was significantly associated with only one of the five conflict resolution strategies – a positive correlation was found between this belief and dominating conflict resolution strategy. also it was found that more expressed irrational belief “sexual perfectionism” was related to lower use of integrating conflict resolution strategy. discussion the aim of this study was to evaluate the links between irrational relationship beliefs and conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood. although research suggests that irrational relationship beliefs marija aušraitė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė 88 are associated with poorer relationship outcomes (janjani et al., 2017, kaygusuz, 2013), the links between specific irrational relationship beliefs and conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood are still unclear. we tried to fill this gap by this study. our findings confirmed that the irrational belief “disagreement is destructive” was positively associated with dominant and avoiding conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood. it could be explained by the reaction to the threat – a person tries to fight in order to defend his or her rights (dominating) or to prevent danger (avoiding). these results supported v. satir’s (1967) assumptions that partners tended to coerce or avoid conflicts, when differences between partners were seen as a threat. our findings were similar to previous research which found that belief about the destructive nature of conflicts was positively associated with dominant (simon, kobielski, & martin, 2008; ricco & sierraapie, 2017) and avoiding (ricco & sierraapie, 2017) behavior in conflicts. however, results did not support l.s. aloia’s (2017) findings that indicated a negative relationship between this belief and verbal aggression. a possible explanation of mixed results could be the inequality of measured variables – verbal aggression was only a part of dominant behavior in conflicts. as hypothesized, the irrational belief “disagreement is destructive” was associated with lower use of integrating and compromising conflict resolution strategies. it is credible that people holding that “disagreements are destructive” do not try to resolve conflicts constructively. these results were consistent with previous findings (simon, kobielski, & martin, 2008, ricco & sierraapie, 2017) and supported the assumption that belief about the destructive nature of conflicts disturbed overt and constructive communication between partners (satir, 1967). we found that the irrational belief “partners cannot change” was associated with lower use of integrating and compromising conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood. it could be explained by expectation of low success in conflict resolution and putting less effort into finding a solution which could be useful for both partners. these results were similar to prior research concerned in locus of control that showed negative correlation between external locus of control and confrontation, self-disclosure, emotional expression in conflicts (şahin, basım, & çetin, 2009). our findings did not support the hypothesis that the irrational belief “partners cannot change” should be associated with higher 2019, 23, 77–93 p.the relationship between irrational relationship beliefs and conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood 89 use of avoiding conflict resolution strategy in young adulthood. these results were inconsistent with previous findings that showed the tendency for people with an external locus of control to behave in passive way (taylor, 2010; baiocco, laghi, & d’alessio, 2009). there are several possible explanations of these contradictory results. first, it is possible that a relationship was not found because of the convenience sample which could be not representative enough. second, although the irrational belief “partners cannot change” refers to external locus of control, there is no empirical evidence that the relationship between these variables really exists. further research is needed in this field. we also found that the irrational belief “the sexes are different” related to higher use of dominating conflict resolution strategy. the assumption that people having this belief hold that opposite sexes can not resolve conflicts constructively and put less effort into make a decision acceptable for both partners (eidelson & epstein, 1982) could explain this relationship. our study also showed that the irrational belief “sexual perfectionism” was negatively associated with integrating conflict resolution strategy. the way in which this belief affects partners’ behavior in interpersonal conflicts is still unknown. some studies showed that the women’s belief “sexual perfectionism” was related to lower expression of feelings in romantic relationships (slavinskienė & žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, 2013). it could explain the relationship between the irrational belief “sexual perfectionism” and integrating conflict resolution strategy, because overt communication and disclosure is important in constructive conflict resolution. alhough some correlations between the irrational beliefs “the sexes are different”, “sexual perfectionism” and conflict resolution strategies were established, this field does not have strong empirical support and needs further research. some limitations of this study and future research directions should be mentioned. first, the statistical analysis used in this study cannot indicate causal relationships between irrational relationship beliefs and conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood. although rational emotive behavior therapy suggests that irrational beliefs cause maladaptive behavior in conflicts, it is possible that maladaptive behavior in conflicts forms irrational beliefs. moreover, the majority of participants were female students aged between 18 and 22 years. the low diversity marija aušraitė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė 90 of sample limits the possibility to generalize our findings to the entire population of young adults. a further investigation with a more representative sample is needed for more precise results. also some factors, such as ethnicity, education, socioeconomic and relationship status, may have had an affect our results and should become an issue for future studies. conclusion this study evaluated the relationships between specific irrational relationship beliefs and conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood. our findings partially supported rational emotive behavior therapy and suggested that decreasing irrational beliefs “disagreement is destructive”, “partners cannot change”, “the sexes are different” and “sexual perfectionism” could be an effective way to promote constructive conflict resolution. findings of this study could contribute to increasing effectiveness of psychological interventions designed to improve romantic relationship in young adulthood. references aloia, l. s. 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(2015). you should just know why i’m upset: expectancy violation theory and the influence of mind reading expectations (mre) on responses to relational problems. communication research reports, 32(1), 10–19. 2019, 23, 77–93 p.the relationship between irrational relationship beliefs and conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood 93 kl aidingų įsitikinimų apie sant ykius poroje ir tarpasmeninių konflik tų sprendimo str ategijų sąsa jos jauno suaugusiojo amžiuje marija aušraitė, kristina žardeckaitė -matulaitienė, vytauto didžiojo universitetas, lietuva santrauka. problema. romantiškų santykių palaikymas yra vienas iš svarbiausių uždavinių jauno suaugusiojo amžiuje. mažesnis pasitenkinimas santykiais susijęs su stipriau išreikštais klaidingais įsitikinimais apie santykius poroje (janjani, momeni, rai ir saidi, 2017). remiantis racionaliąja-emocionaliąja elgesio terapija, klaidingi įsitikinimai turėtų sukelti neadaptyvų elgesį konfliktų metu, tačiau nėra atsakyta į klausimą, kaip konkretūs klaidingi įsitikinimai apie santykius poroje siejasi su įvairiomis konfliktų sprendimo strategijomis jauno suaugusiojo amžiuje. tikslas. šio tyrimo tikslas – nustatyti ryšį tarp klaidingų įsitikinimų apie santykius poroje ir konfliktų sprendimo strategijų jauno suaugusiojo amžiuje. metodai. tyrime dalyvavo 148 (110 moterų, 38 vyrai) 18–29 metų žmonės, palaikantys romantiškus santykius. klaidingų įsitikinimų apie santykius poroje išreikštumui nustatyti buvo naudojamas r. j. eidelson ir n. epstein (1982) klausimynas. konfliktų sprendimo strategijų išreikštumas matuotas rahimo organizacinių konfliktų klausimynu ii (rahim ir magner, 1995). rezultatai. rezultatai parodė, jog, stiprėjant klaidingam įsitikinimui „nesutarimai yra destruktyvūs“, didėja dominavimo ir vengimo bei mažėja bendradarbiavimo ir kompromiso konfliktų sprendimo strategijų išreikštumas jauno suaugusiojo amžiuje. klaidingas įsitikinimas „partneriai negali pasikeisti“ buvo susijęs su mažesniu bendradarbiavimo ir kompromiso konfliktų sprendimo strategijų išreikštumu jauno suaugusiojo amžiuje. ryšys tarp klaidingo įsitikinimo „partneriai negali pasikeisti“ ir konfliktų sprendimo vengimo strategijos jauno suaugusiojo amžiuje nebuvo nustatytas. klaidingas įsitikinimas „skirtingos lytys yra absoliučiai skirtingos“ buvo susijęs su stipriau išreikšta dominavimo konfliktų sprendimo strategija jauno suaugusiojo amžiuje. stiprėjant klaidingam įsitikinimui „seksualinis perfekcionizmas“, mažėjo bendradarbiavimo konfliktų sprendimo strategijos išreikštumas jauno suaugusiojo amžiuje. išvada. rezultatai iš dalies patvirtina racionaliąją-emocionaliąją elgesio terapiją. tyrimo išvados galėtų būti naudingos didinant psichologines intervencijas, skirtas jaunų suaugusiųjų romantiškų santykių kokybei gerinti, efektyvumui didinti. reikšminiai žodžiai: klaidingi įsitikinimai apie santykius poroje, konfliktų sprendimo strategijos, jauno suaugusiojo amžius. received: 2019-04-04 accepted: 2019-09-05 contents editorial note scientific publications chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, david d. hof concepts influencing attitudes and beliefs toward mental health issues in a teacher education program kamonwan tangdhanakanond, teara archwamety teachers’ misconceptions and current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment in elementary schools in thailand andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė importance of length of studying and attitudes toward others for life satisfaction marija aušraitė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė the relationship between irrational relationship beliefs and conflictresolution strategies in young adulthood tadas vadvilavičius, aurelija stelmokienė development of scenarios for leadership psychology research to reveal the relationships between leaders’ dark triad traits and full range leadership styles laura alčiauskaitė, liuda šinkariova psychometric properties of the lithuanian version of the acceptance ofdisability scale revised (ads-r): pilot study christina l. chasek, judith a. nelson, rochelle cade, kristin page, bryan stare,george stoupas advocating for adolescent substance use recovery: an alternative model ekaterina zakharchuk, evgeniy dotsenko, tamara khvesko, julia andrejeva neuropsychological and/or psychological factors of children’s traumatic behavior under the age of 10 years information the 22nd international symposium in psychology at unk & vmu: abstracts contributors reviewers 2019 instructions for authors 2019_international journal of psychology 2019_23_book 1.indb scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2019 / 23 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.23.5 de velopment of scenarios for leadership psychology research to re veal the rel ationships be t ween leaders’ dark triad tr aits and full r ange leadership st yles tadas vadvilavičius1, aurelija stelmokienė vytautas magnus university, lithuania abstract. objective. the full range leadership model (avolio, bass, 2004) is one of the most popular leadership theories, while the dark triad (paulhus, williams, 2002) has become the most researched personality model that describes the “dark side” of personality. however, despite the popularity, there is still a lack of evidence about relationship between dark triad traits and full range leadership styles. besides, researchers confirm the need for reliable and valid instruments that could be used in such empirical studies. therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of scenarios that were developed and used to reveal the relationships between leaders’ dark triad traits and full range leadership styles in the perception of potential employees. methods. 40 students from psychology bachelor’s and master’s programs participated in this research (90% females, mean age – 24.90 (sd=5.52)). five scenarios were developed to represent hypothetical leaders with different patterns of dark triad traits expression and were used as stimuli material for this quasiexperiment. participants were asked to read one out of five scenarios and to fill in two questionnaires about the hypothetical leader: the dirty dozen scale (jonason & webster, 2010) to assess dark triad traits, and the multifactorial leadership questionnaire (avolio & bass, 2004) to assess leadership styles and outcomes from full-range leadership model. data were collected via online survey. results. all developed scenarios showed high reliability. however, results confirmed construct validity in only of four out of five scenarios. relationships between dark triad traits and full range leadership styles, and dark triad traits and leadership outcomes, were not significant. conclusions. developed dark triad leader scenarios could be an original and useful instrument for leadership psychology research. some revisions should be made before the future usage of them. keywords: full range leadership model, dark triad traits, leader scenarios. 1 address to correspondence: tadas vadvilavičius department of psychology, vytautas magus university, jonavos str. 66-331, lt-44191. email: tadas.vadvilavicius@vdu.lt 95 tadas vadvilavičius, aurelija stelmokienė 96 1. introduc tion for many years, leadership has been one of the most popular organizational psychology research objects with reference to dozens of papers that are published each day in the world (dinh et al., 2014). besides its popularity, until now, the leadership phenomenon still does not have a clear universal definition (endriulaitienė & stelmokienė, 2013). there is quite a huge number of leadership theories that concentrate on unique aspects of leadership, e.g., leaders’ traits, behavior, situational factors, authenticity, ethics, etc. however, over recent decades, the full range leadership model (frlm; avolio & bass, 2004), representing an integrative perspective of leadership, has become the dominant leadership theory (richter et al., 2016). frlm consists of three leadership styles: transformational, transactional and laissez-faire (or absence of leadership) (avolio & bass, 2004). transformational leadership style describes leaders who act as role models, raise subordinates’ needs for personal growth, self-esteem and foster their motivation to seek more while focusing on subordinates’ individual needs and stimulating new ways of thinking (antonakis, avolio & sivasubramaniam, 2003; westerlaken & woods, 2013). studies have shown that a transformational leadership style is related to stronger employee motivation, extra effort, higher job satisfaction, greater creativity, more positive assessment of leadership effectiveness and social support (harms & credé, 2010; bono, foldes, vinson & muros, 2007; judge & piccolo, 2004). the second leadership style in frlm is transactional leadership, described as a style in which leaders seek to maintain the status quo by monitoring employees’ work, searching and resolving employees’ mistakes and using reward and punishment for their results (antonakis, avolio & sivasubramaniam, 2003; westerlaken & woods, 2013). transactional leadership is also associated with stronger employee motivation and more positive assessment of leadership effectiveness. however, this leadership style has no relation with employee creativity, extra effort, or innovation in an organization (judge & piccolo, 2004; kirkbride, 2006). finally, laissez-faire leadership style is characterized by leaders’ tendency to avoid making decisions, lack of commitment to work and showing no interest in work surroundings (antonakis, avolio & sivasubramaniam, 2003; westerlaken & woods, 2013). studies have shown that laissez-faire 2019, 23, 95–111 p.development of scenarios for leadership psychology research to reveal the relationships between leaders’ dark triad traits and full range leadership styles 97 leadership style is related to less positive employee perception of leadership effectiveness, and weaker employee motivation (judge & piccolo, 2004). all three leadership styles create a range from an absence of leadership (laissez-faire), to formal (transactional leadership) and up to “ideal” leadership (transformational leadership). however, it is still unanswered whether only “good” leaders are transformational and “bad” ones – laissez-faire. maybe, there is a “dark side” of transformational leadership as well (arnold, 2017; eisenbeiß & boerner, 2013). during recent years, more researchers have become interested in the “dark side” of personality and even started focusing on the “dark side” of leadership. but the question remains can the “dark” personality of a leader influence leadership style and outcomes? paulhus & williams (2002) were the first to present a personality model referring to the “dark side” of personality and called it dark triad (dt). dt is a personality model describing three personality traits: machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy (paulhus & williams, 2002). machiavellianism is described as manipulative social behavior to satisfy personal desires; narcissism is characterized as grandiosity and dominance over others; psychopathy includes impulsivity, lack of selfcontrol and remorse (paulhus & williams, 2002; jones & paulhus, 2014). as the name of the construct suggests, dt is mostly related to negative outcomes and socially undesirable behavior. researchers over recent years have found that dt is positively related to aggression (verbal and physical), lack of empathy, counterproductive work behavior, abusive behavior with employees, lower job performance, etc. (jones & neria, 2015; jones & figueredo, 2013; forsyth, banks & mcdaniel, 2012; wisse & sleebos, 2016). nevertheless, jonason, slomski & partyka (2012) suggest that people who possess dt traits, more often succeed to gain leading positions in organizations. research also reveals that dt in leadership is positively associated with worse job performance, lower job satisfaction and higher stress level of employees, it is also negatively associated with leadership effectiveness, although these statements are more hypothetical because they lack empirical evidence (volmer, koch, göritz, 2016; furnham, trickey & hyde, 2012; wisse & sleebos, 2016). it is a pity that the dt model in the frlm context is still under-researched (jonason, slomski & partyka, 2012; volmer, koch & göritz, 2016). the lack of information leads to the research question of this paper – how are frlm tadas vadvilavičius, aurelija stelmokienė 98 leadership styles related to dt traits of a leader? so, the first aim of the research is to investigate the relationships between dt traits and leadership styles described in frlm. after wording the research question, the next step is to find a way to answer it. leadership assessment is a complex process that involves different aspects, which should be considered before doing it (endriulaitienė & stelmokienė, 2013). researchers or practitioners need to think not only about the criteria of assessment (content of it) but also about the assessors and the method of assessment. modern leadership theories (including frlm) highlight the importance of employees as a valuable source of information about a leader (avolio, 2007). moreover, employees’ opinion about a leader may predict the results of an organization or unit even better than objective criteria (uhl-bien et al., 2014). therefore, this research will also rely on potential employees’/non-leaders’ perception of the leader. the way leadership assessment will be conducted is important as well. leadership studies are criticized for using mainly a correlational research plan. the lack of leadership psychology studies with experimental research design that could reveal the cause-effect relationship is obvious (avolio et al., 2009). avolio and colleagues (2009) suggest that future leadership studies should apply (quasi-) experimental design, where scholars will have to find a way to manipulate leadership as an object. in fact, the authors suggest that scenarios could be a very useful instrument for the of an independent variable in (quasi-) experiments. they can be used to express different leaders’ traits, behaviors manipulation, attitudes, etc., and can be easily modified, and standardized (avolio et al., 2009; kim & jang, 2014). therefore, this research will apply quasi-experimental design with scenarios as stimulation material. researchers highlight the need for valid and reliable instruments in leadership research, especially for stimulation material with appropriate psychometric characteristics that could be used in quasi-experiments (van knippenberg & sitkin, 2013). so, the second aim of the research is to test the validity and reliability of scenarios that were developed and used to reveal the relationships between leaders’ dt traits and frlm leadership styles in the perception of potential employees. quasi-experimental design will be used in order to reveal links between the frlm and dt model for the first time: potential employees will assess leadership styles 2019, 23, 95–111 p.development of scenarios for leadership psychology research to reveal the relationships between leaders’ dark triad traits and full range leadership styles 99 of a leader presented in the scenario (scenarios differ in leaders’ dt traits expression). 2. me thods 2.1. participants and procedure participants were students from psychology bachelor’s (n=21) and master’s (n=19) programs, from three lithuanian universities (vytautas magnus university, vilnius university, and the lithuanian university of health sciences). ninety percent of participants were female. their mean age was 24.90 (sd=5.52). almost half of the students (45%) were studying and working during the research. they were invited to participate in research via facebook platform and through e-mails (invitations to psychology students were sent by administrators of psychology departments in universities). participants were asked to answer sociodemographic questions, read one out of five scenarios that they chose randomly (they had to choose a number in order to show that they were not a robot; scenarios were assigned automatically to the particular number), and rate the leaders in scenarios with dirty dozen and multi-factorial leadership questionnaires. confidentiality of their individual answers in the research was assured. 2.2. materials quasi-experiment with scenarios as the stimulus was used in the research. the authors developed five scenarios that represented hypothetical leaders with different patterns of dt traits expression. frlm (bass & avolio, 2004) was used as a theoretical background to describe the common situations of leaders’ behavior. frlm consists of 9 factors – 5 factors for transformational leadership (idealized influence (attributed), idealized influence (behavior), inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration), 3 factors for transactional leadership (contingent reward, active management-by-exception, and passive management-by-exception) and 1 factor for laissez-faire. with reference to literature, two factors of transformational leadership (idealized influence attributed and behavior) were combined as one, as well as two tadas vadvilavičius, aurelija stelmokienė 100 factors of transactional leadership (passive and active managementby-exception) because of their similarity and difficulty in expressing them separately (antonakis, avolio & sivasubramaniam, 2003; judge & piccolo, 2004). meanwhile, the laissez-faire factor was removed. if we understand a dt personality as active, trying to change the situation in their favor, it is hard to express dt behavior in situations when a leader is passive, not demanding, not involved in a situation, etc. so, in the end, there were only 6 factors from frlm left and they were used in each scenario as separate paragraphs to represent the 6 common situations of a leader’s behavior. dt traits were an independent variable that was manipulated in this quasi-experimental research design using different scenarios. the dt model (paulhus & wiliams, 2002) was used as a theoretical background to describe the leaders’ machiavellian, narcissistic and psychopathic traits. the dirty dozen scale (jonason & webster, 2010) defines 12 main characteristics of dt: 4 characteristics for machiavellianism (the manipulation, exploitation, deceit and flattery of others); 4 characteristics for psychopathy (a lack of remorse, morality concerns and sensitivity, and cynicism) and 4 characteristics for narcissism (a desire for attention, admiration, favors, and prestige). 2 of each trait’s characteristics were applied in 2 situations (from the 6 about a leader’s behavior mentioned above) that were chosen randomly. they helped to represent different patterns of a leader’s dt traits expression. the leader in “the bad leader” scenario possessed all three dt traits (2 situations of a leader’s behavior with high machiavellianism, 2 situations with high psychopathy and 2 situations with high narcissism). the opposite leader’s dt traits expression was in “the good leader” scenario (2 situations with low machiavellianism, 2 situations with low psychopathy and 2 situations with low narcissism). the other three scenarios represented one particular leader trait: “the machiavellian leader” (2 situations of a leader’s behavior with high machiavellianism, 2 situations with low psychopathy and 2 situations with low narcissism), “the psychopathic leader” (2 situations with low machiavellianism, 2 situations with high psychopathy and 2 situations with low narcissism) and “the narcissistic leader” (2 situations with low machiavellianism, 2 situations with low psychopathy and 2 situations with high narcissism). all scenarios were gender-neutral. finally, 6 short situations (each in separate paragraphs) 2019, 23, 95–111 p.development of scenarios for leadership psychology research to reveal the relationships between leaders’ dark triad traits and full range leadership styles 101 in each of 5 scenarios represented leaders’ behavior based on the frlm and differed in dt traits expression depending on the scenario (an example in table 1). table 1. examples of situations in scenarios. scenario frlm factor + dt trait situation “the good leader” management-by-exception (transactional leadership) + no dt trait expressed. “leader reviews project’s interim report and notices few mistakes. leader invites the staff member who is responsible for the project, shows him the mistakes and starts a mutual discussion about the ways how to solve the problem” “the bad leader”/ “the narcissistic leader” management-by-exception (transactional leadership) + narcissism “leader reviews project’s interim report and notices few mistakes. leader invites the staff member who is responsible for the project and starts a monologue on how to solve the problem. while speaking leader tries to get an approval from the staff member that his/ her ideas are good and waits for a praise” to assess the leaders’ dt traits in the scenario, participants filled in the 12-item dirty dozen scale (jonason, & webster, 2010). this measures general dt traits expression and also includes three subscales: machiavellianism (e.g., “i tend to manipulate others to get my way”), psychopathy (e.g., “i tend to lack remorse”) and narcissism (e.g., “i tend to want others to admire me”). participants were asked to indicate how much do they agree with the statement about the described leader on a sevenpoint likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). different authors suggest that dirty dozen scale is a reliable instrument and shows good psychometric characteristics (kajonius, persson, rosenberg & garcia, 2016; gamache, savard & maheux-caron, 2018; jonason & mccain, 2012). cronbach alpha coefficients in the present study also confirmed the reliability of the instrument: general dt – .858; machiavellianism – .781; psychopathy – .855; narcissism – .826. leadership styles of the hypothetical leaders in the scenarios were assessed with multifactorial leadership questionnaire (mlq, avolio & tadas vadvilavičius, aurelija stelmokienė 102 bass, 2004). mlq consists of 45 items about leader behavior rated on a 5-point likert scale (from 0 = never to 4 = always). it measures three leadership styles: transformational; transactional and laissez-faire (e.g., “leader talks optimistically about the future”; “leader spends time teaching and coaching”; “leader avoids making decisions”). mlq is a well-established, extensively researched and validated instrument based on an frlm. cronbach alpha coefficients in the present study are as follows: transformational leadership – .887; transactional – .574; laissez-faire – .829. only cronbach alpha coefficient of transactional leadership here is a bit lower than in previous studies where it mostly varies from .60 to .76 (curtis, 2018; judge & piccolo, 2004). mlq also provides three additional scales to assess leadership outcomes: extra effort (α=.759), satisfaction with a leader (α=.679) and leader effectiveness (α=.747). 3. results the first step in the data analysis was to evaluate inter-rater agreement, which indicates the extent to which different raters assign the same precise value to all items being rated (gisev, bell & chen, 2013). as biemann and colleagues (2012, p. 67) state, “the level of agreement or homogeneity across individual group members’ judgments is a central consideration for consensus composition of constructs”. in other words, the inter-rater agreement shows us the reliability of the construct, in this case – the reliability of the developed scenarios. in this research, we used a wg index because it is the best choice when several multi-item scales need to be tested (o’neill, 2017; lanz, sorgente & tagliabue, 2017). the score of a wg index varies from -1.0 (complete disagreement/high dispersion among raters) to +1.0 (perfect agreement/small dispersion among raters) (lanz, sorgente & tagliabue, 2017). agreement of general dt expression (for good and bad leader scenarios) and agreement of the particular dt traits expression (for machiavellian, narcissistic and psychopathic leader scenarios) were calculated. results revealed that four out of five scenarios could be marked with a strong inter-rater agreement and one (“the bad leader” scenario) – with a moderate inter-rater agreement (see table 2). 2019, 23, 95–111 p.development of scenarios for leadership psychology research to reveal the relationships between leaders’ dark triad traits and full range leadership styles 103 table 2. a wg index scores for dt traits in different scenarios. leader scenario a wg index “the bad leader” .73 (n=8) “the good leader” .93 (n=6) “the machiavellian leader” .87 (n=11) “the narcissistic leader” .92 (n=9) “the psychopathic leader” .91 (n=6) the second step in the data analysis was to evaluate the construct validity of developed scenarios. because of the small number of participants, non-parametric criteria were used in further analysis. a chi-square test was applied to evaluate the differences between dt traits expression in different scenarios. results revealed that expression of all dt traits was the highest in “the bad leader” scenario and the lowest in “the good leader” scenario. “the machiavellian leader” was rated as the most machiavellian; “the psychopathic leader” as the most psychopathic. however, “the narcissistic leader” was not rated significantly higher for narcissism (see table 3 and figure 1). correlations between the same dt traits in different scenarios ranged from .71 to .87. table 3. comparison of dt traits expression in different scenarios. leader scenario chi-square test “the bad leader” χ2=18.79*, df=4 “the good leader” χ2=5.25*, df=4 “the machiavellian leader” χ2=15.62*, df=4 “the narcissistic leader” χ2=8.81, df=4 “the psychopathic leader” χ2=21.43*, df=4 * p < 0.05 finally, relationships between dt traits, frlm leadership styles and leadership outcomes (satisfaction with a leader, extra effort and leadership effectiveness) were calculated. these results should also help to confirm the construct validity of the developed scenarios. surprisingly, there were no significant correlations between dt traits and frlm leadership styles, nor between dt traits and leadership outcomes (see table 4). tadas vadvilavičius, aurelija stelmokienė 104 however, both satisfaction with a leader and extra effort were positively related only to transformational leadership. leadership effectiveness was positively associated both with transformational and transactional leadership and negatively related to laissez-faire leadership style. more thorough analysis confirmed statistically significant correlations between general dt and individualized consideration, a factor of transformational leadership, (r=-.36 p=.02). table 4. means, standard deviations, and correlations of scales. variables mean sd 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1. dark triad 4.40 1.03 2. machiavellianism 4.04 1.28 .84** 3. psychopathy 3.80 1.52 .81** .64** 4. narcissism 5.36 1.19 .62** .35* .23 5. transformational leadership 2.16 0.62 .08 .09 .03 -.03 6. transactional leadership 2.39 0.43 -.08 -.16 .05 -.06 .32 7. laissez-faire 1.47 0.94 -.08 -.19 .02 .01 -.28 .05 8. satisfaction with a leader 2.35 0.92 .15 .15 -.02 .14 .78** .23 -.30 9. extra effort 2.35 0.99 .12 .12 .08 -.01 .67** .31 -.26 .60** 10. leadership effectiveness 2.49 0.76 -.03 .01 -.19 .05 .72** .52** -.36* .66** .65** * p < .05 ** p < .01 figure 1. mean ranks of machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism expression in different scenarios 2019, 23, 95–111 p.development of scenarios for leadership psychology research to reveal the relationships between leaders’ dark triad traits and full range leadership styles 105 4. discussion to our knowledge, this study is the first to present the process of development and testing of dark triad leader scenarios for leadership psychology research. it also examined relationships between leaders’ dt traits, frlm leadership styles, and leadership outcomes. during the research, five scenarios were developed that represented hypothetical leaders with different patterns of dt traits expression. the frlm (bass & avolio, 2004) was used as a theoretical background to describe the common situations of leader behavior and the dt model (paulhus & wiliams, 2002) was used as a theoretical background to describe leaders’ dt traits. our research results revealed that developed scenarios had a high inter-rater agreement: different raters assigned quite similar values to all dt traits being rated. it suggests that scenarios are reliable and could be used in further research. although reliability as a psychometric characteristic is important, it is not the only one needing to be examined. a second psychometric characteristic that was tested during the research was the construct validity of developed scenarios. results of differences between dt traits expression in different scenarios confirmed the construct validity of four out of five scenarios, except for “the narcissistic leader” scenario. it is believed that narcissism is the most “social” trait in the dt model and in the context of frlm it might not be “dark” enough to be recognized (narcissism was rated quite high even in “the good leader” scenario where manipulation of dt traits was as follows: machiavellianism low, psychopathy low and narcissism low). moreover, studies reveal that narcissism is positively related to idealized influence (the factor of transformational leadership) which might also support our previous statement (khoo & burch, 2008). it is clear there might be difficulties using “the narcissistic leader” scenario in further research so it should be improved. a possible improvement could be an inclusion of the particular dt trait’s characteristics in all 6 situations of leader behavior described in the scenario, not only in 2 of 6 as was done this time. this improvement should be applied to all three scenarios that represented the particular dt trait: “the machiavellian leader”, “the psychopathic leader” and “the narcissistic leader”. the last section of results about the relationships between dt traits and frlm leadership styles, dt traits and leadership outcomes was a tadas vadvilavičius, aurelija stelmokienė 106 big surprise: none of the expected correlations was significant, except relations between general dt score and individualized consideration (the factor of transformational leadership). at least, the fact that correlation between dt and individualized consideration was negative is in line with other research. people with high dt are described as selfish and showing self-oriented behavior (jonason & webster, 2012), while individualized consideration is described as a leader’s orientation to individual followers’ needs, job performance, goals, etc. (antonakis, avolio & sivasubramaniam, 2003). correlations between frlm leadership styles and leadership outcomes also confirmed the results of previous studies. transformational leadership was positively related to all leadership outcomes: satisfaction with leadership, leadership effectiveness and extra effort, and, as discussed earlier, it may be called an “ideal” leadership style (judge & piccolo, 2004). meanwhile, transactional leadership was positively related only with leadership effectiveness, while laissez-faire style was negatively related to this leadership outcome. these results support the statement that frlm leadership styles create a range from an absence of leadership (laissez-faire) up to “ideal” leadership (transformational leadership) (judge & piccolo, 2004). therefore, we suggest that the developed scenarios succeeded in presenting leader behaviors based on frlm. however, we admit that the research included quite a low number of respondents that rated different scenarios. as bonett & wright (2000) have discussed, any correlation, including nonparametric correlation criteria, is sensitive to the size of the sample. therefore, future research should take this limitation into account. besides, hypothetical leaders are not real and previous studies about links between dt and leadership were from the real world. it may be that hypothetical leaders were far from reality and difficult to imagine as one’s own leader. finally, researchers propose controversial results about positive and negative effect of leaders’ dt traits on leadership outcomes (mathieu et al., 2014, furtner et al., 2017; chung, charles, 2016). it could be that it depends on the follower (e.g. his/her traits, values, etc.). dark triad leaders’ scenarios could be an original and useful instrument for leadership psychology research. this quasi-experimental methodology with scenarios might broaden the correlational results (that quite often are gathered via surveys) to affect results in leadership psychology research. here we presented 5 scenarios of hypothetical leaders 2019, 23, 95–111 p.development of scenarios for leadership psychology research to reveal the relationships between leaders’ dark triad traits and full range leadership styles 107 with different patterns of dark triad traits expression. however, some revisions in the development of scenarios should be done in order to deal with construct validity limitations. we understand that we are on a good path, but we are ready to continue the development process of the scenarios and hope that we will be able to present revised reliable and valid scenarios that could be used both in research and practice, e.g., in leadership training sessions, when participants read developed scenarios, discuss which leaders’ behaviors are appropriate or not and learn how to react to the specific situation in such a way that followers would consider them as effective leaders. acknowledgement the research was funded by the 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(2016). when the dark ones gain power: perceived position power strengthens the effect of supervisor machiavellianism on abusive supervision in work teams. personality and individual differences, 99, 122–126. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2016.05.019 vadovavimo psichologijos t yrimuose naudojamų scenarijų kūrimas, siekiant atskleisti ryšius tarp vadovo tamsiosios triados asmenybės bruožų ir pilno diapa zono vadovavimo modelio stilių tadas vadvilavičius, aurelija stelmokienė vytauto didžiojo universitetas, lietuva santrauka. tikslas. pilno diapazono vadovavimo modelis (avolio ir bass, 2004) yra viena populiariausių vadovavimo teorijų, o tamsiosios triados asmenybės modelis (paulhus ir williams, 2002) tapo labiausiai tyrinėjamu asmenybės modeliu, apibūdinančiu „tamsiąją“ asmenybės pusę. vis dėlto, nepaisant populiarumo, vis dar trūksta empirinių įrodymų apie ryšius tarp tamsiosios triados asmenybės bruožų ir pilno diapazono vadovavimo modelio stilių. nepaisant empirinių įrodymų trūkumo, tyrėjai tvirtina, jog reikalingi patikimi ir validūs instrumentai, kurie galėtų būti naudojami renkant reikiamus empirinius duomenis. todėl šio tyrimo tikslas – įvertinti scenarijus, kurie buvo sukurti ir naudojami atskleisti potencialių darbuotojų suvokiamus ryšius tarp vadovo tamsiosios triados asmenybės bruožų ir pilno diapazono vadovavimo modelio stilių validumą ir patikimumą. metodai. šiame tyrime dalyvavo 40 psichologijos bakalauro ir magistrantūros studijų programų studentų (90 % moterų, vidutinis amžius – 24,90 m. (stand. nuokrypis = 5,52)). iš viso buvo sukurti tadas vadvilavičius, aurelija stelmokienė vytautas magnus university, lithuania 2019, 23, 95–111 p.development of scenarios for leadership psychology research to reveal the relationships between leaders’ dark triad traits and full range leadership styles 111 penki scenarijai, aprašantys hipotetinius vadovus su skirtingai išreikštais tamsiosios triados asmenybės bruožais, ir buvo naudojami kaip stimulinė medžiaga šiame kvazieksperimente. dalyvių buvo prašoma perskaityti vieną iš penkių sukurtų scenarijų ir užpildyti du klausimynus apie hipotetinį vadovą: tamsiojo tuzino skalę (jonason & webster, 2010), skirtą įvertinti tamsiosios triados asmenybės bruožus, ir daugiafaktorinį vadovavimo klausimyną (avolio ir bass, 2004), skirtą įvertinti vadovavimo stilius ir vadovavimo pasekmes. duomenys buvo renkami internetinės apklausos būdu. rezultatai. visi sukurti scenarijai parodė aukštą patikimumą. vis dėlto rezultatai patvirtino tik keturių iš penkių sukurtų scenarijų konstrukcinį validumą. ryšiai tarp tamsiosios triados bruožų ir pilno diapazono vadovavimo stilių, ir tamsiosios triados bruožų bei vadovavimo pasekmių nebuvo statistiškai reikšmingi. išvados. sukurti „tamsiųjų“ vadovų scenarijai gali būti originali ir naudinga priemonė, naudojama vadovavimo psichologijos tyrimuose, tačiau prieš naudojant scenarijus ateityje, reikia juos peržiūrėti ir patobulinti. reikšminiai žodžiai: pilno diapazono vadovavimo modelis, tamsioji triada, vadovo scenarijai. received: 2019-04-04 accepted: 2019-09-12 contents editorial note scientific publications chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, david d. hof concepts influencing attitudes and beliefs toward mental health issues in a teacher education program kamonwan tangdhanakanond, teara archwamety teachers’ misconceptions and current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment in elementary schools in thailand andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė importance of length of studying and attitudes toward others for life satisfaction marija aušraitė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė the relationship between irrational relationship beliefs and conflictresolution strategies in young adulthood tadas vadvilavičius, aurelija stelmokienė development of scenarios for leadership psychology research to reveal the relationships between leaders’ dark triad traits and full range leadership styles laura alčiauskaitė, liuda šinkariova psychometric properties of the lithuanian version of the acceptance ofdisability scale revised (ads-r): pilot study christina l. chasek, judith a. nelson, rochelle cade, kristin page, bryan stare,george stoupas advocating for adolescent substance use recovery: an alternative model ekaterina zakharchuk, evgeniy dotsenko, tamara khvesko, julia andrejeva neuropsychological and/or psychological factors of children’s traumatic behavior under the age of 10 years information the 22nd international symposium in psychology at unk & vmu: abstracts contributors reviewers 2019 instructions for authors 2019_international journal of psychology 2019_23_book 1.indb scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2019 / 23 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.23.3 importance of length of studying and at titudes toward others for life satisfac tion andrius šmitas1*, **, loreta gustainienė** *university of applied sciences, kaunas, lithuania; **vytautas magnus university, lithuania abstract. introduction. life satisfaction has been a major goal of both the individual and society since ancient times. nevertheless, relatively little is known about which personal characteristics can affect our satisfaction with life. it may be assumed that higher levels of education, being related to better health, may also be a factor increasing one’s cognitive element of well-being i.e., life satisfaction. it is also known that satisfaction with one’s life is also related to positive attitudes towards other people. nevertheless, it is not clear whether education is directly related to satisfaction with life or via certain attitudes. the purpose of the study is to analyze links between the length of education and satisfaction with life with regard to positive attitudes toward others using a representative sample. methods and data. expert-generated single-item questions were used to measure the level of satisfaction with life and attitudes towards other people. the study is based on the data (n=1127) of the lithuanian national science programme “welfare society”. respondents were between 18 and 97 years of age (m=48). for statistical analysis correlation and simple mediation models were used. results. the analysis of the data showed that higher levels of life satisfaction were predicted by years of completed education directly, and indirectly – through more positive attitudes towards others, while controlling for age, gender, level of income. discussion. the study confirms previous findings that education is related to life satisfaction through more positive attitudes towards others and suggests that education impacts on life satisfaction not only as a promoter of higher income. conclusion. longer duration of studying (learning) is related to higher satisfaction with life and more positive attitudes towards others independently of gender, age and income. keywords: learning, attitudes, life satisfaction, representative sample, adults. 1 address for correspondence: andrius šmitas, kauno kolegija/university of applied sciences, faculty of business, department of tourism and leisure management, pramonės pr. 20, kaunas, lithuania, andrius.smitas@go.kauko.lt 63 andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė 64 introduc tion questions about “the good life” have already been analyzed in the ancient works of aristotle. nowadays this question is still important, especially when elaborating a welfare society with a strong accent on wellbeing for its members. the concept of well-being is normally used when talking about quality of life, physical and psychological health, life satisfaction, etc. thus, the concept of well-being is widely used in psychology, sociology, public health, economics, and this might be the reason why there is no unified concept of well-being (kaliatkaite & bulotaite, 2014). well-being can be measured objectively and subjectively. objectively well-being is usually measured by the amount of gross domestic product (gdp) per capita. it is assumed that increasing gdp increases well-being of citizens while the decrease of gdp decreases their wellbeing (nef, 2014). such materialistic understanding of well-being faces many challenges (diener & seligman, 2004). research shows that while gdp per capita is increasing there are no meaningful changes in average life satisfaction (diener & seligman, 2004), so it is wrong or even dangerous to assess well-being only through economic indices, i.e., if a person believes that his/her personal happiness depends on his/her income, there is a great chance that he/she will try to earn more and more while ignoring other aspects of well-being, and finally will get sick or die without a sense of happiness, just tired (alatartseva & barysheva, 2015). so, analysis of well-being should incorporate aspects of subjective assessment as well. in academia, the subjective aspect of well-being is usually analyzed through the lenses of subjective and psychological well-being (bhullar, schutte & malouff, 2013; lambert, passmore & holder, 2015), and subjective well-being is usually understood as a phenomenon which includes positive and negative affectivity (emotional aspect) and life satisfaction (cognitive aspect) (diener, scollon & lucas, 2009). psychological wellbeing is usually defined as a multidimensional construct which covers effective functioning and feeling good (huppert, 2009). ryff offers six main dimensions of psychological well-being: autonomy, personal growth, positive relationships, self-acceptance, purpose in life and environmental mastery (ryff, 2014; ryff, 1989). although both subjective 2019, 23, 63–76 p.impor tance of length of studying and attitudes toward others for life satisfaction 65 and psychological well-being are interrelated, they are considered as separate constructs. there is a great amount of longitudinal and experimental research which proves that both subjective and psychological well-being have a positive impact on personal health and health-related indices (e.g., huppert, 2009; ryff, 2014). there is evidence that one of the most important predictors of satisfaction with life could be education (andersson & glanville, 2016; economic and social research council, 2014). however, ryff (2014) warns that a higher level of education frequently and closely relates to higher levels of responsibility, and higher occupational load, thus high levels of education could act not only as promoters of well-being, but also as predictors of occupational burnout which decreases personal well-being and negatively impacts health. evidence shows that a higher level of education predicts a person’s health in the middle-aged citizens of the united states of america (andersson & glanville, 2016), but other evidence suggests that in other countries predictors of well-being, as well as the levels of well-being, differ significantly (helliwell & putnam, 2004; springer, pudrovska, hauser, 2011; ryff, 2014; steptoe, deaton & stone, 2015; ludban, 2015; šmitas & gustainienė, 2017). while analyzing factors which predict well-being, and differences between research samples, it can be seen that in most samples higher education predicts higher levels of well-being (economic and social research council, 2014). some authors argue that higher levels of education protect against the decrease of a person’s well-being in middle age (steptoe, deaton & stone, 2015); however is not clear in what way the level of education could affect well-being, although the importance of education on happiness and subjective well-being is evident (veenhoven & bakker, 1977; office for national statistics, 2012; krašovec & kump, 2014, lamont, 2014). education is achieved through learning. the process of lifelong learning closely relates not only to acquisition of study material (formal knowledge), but also to a person’s thoughts about study material and its impact on him/her. it is believed that the impact of learning is long-term rather than short-term (economic and social research council, 2014). this idea raises the question in what way lifelong learning has a positive andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė 66 impact on well-being. it is believed that higher levels of education and satisfaction with the achieved level of education could form a positive social identity (economic and social research council, 2014), which in turn would positively affect life satisfaction. however, according to the social identity theory, social identity is closely linked with society (tajfel, 1982) and according to the biopsychosocial approach towards health one could think that not only social identity, but also individual factors could be important for one’s satisfaction with life. we argue that one of the most important psychological factors which affect life satisfaction could be one’s attitudes. attitudes are usually defined as a person’s emotional, cognitive and behavioral reaction to a specific object (rosenber & hovland, 1960). most frequently a three-component structure of attitudes is used, which consists of emotional, cognitive and behavioral reactions, which are reciprocally related (e.g., cognitions reciprocally relate to emotions and behavior) (breckler, 1984). the concept of attitudes is broad – when we talk about attitudes towards learning we could talk about attitudes toward teachers and the ratio of responsibility, but we could also talk about academic fairness or the skepticism of a teacher (gardner, 1975). some authors raise the idea that attitudes can have a significant impact (a positive or a negative one) on satisfaction with life in both the short and long-term perspective (bailey, kang & schmidt, 2016). it is believed that education could affect attitudes through positive experience, students and teachers in the education process could serve as role models, which, in turn, shape a person’s attitudes (lipnevich, glicali & krumm, 2016). some evidence proves the importance of a role model for attitudes towards others (e.g., krahé & altwasser, 2006). a human being can be understood as a social animal (mulgan, 1974), therefore interpersonal relationships between people have a great impact on the society and even on the survival of humans. attitudes towards each other and forms of communication between the members of the society are crucial both for a person and society (leonard, graham & bonacum, 2004). education gives an opportunity to shape and reshape attitudes (zimbardo & ebbesen, 1969), but attitudes still affect learning – negative attitudes towards learning reduce the positive impact of learning (osborne, simon & collins, 2003). research suggests that attitudes toward others become more positive in various contexts when the level of 2019, 23, 63–76 p.impor tance of length of studying and attitudes toward others for life satisfaction 67 education increases (teye, sirakaya & sonmez, 2002; helliwell & putnam. 1999; freitag & bauer, 2016). it is still unclear how higher education affects life satisfaction. importance of higher education is usually explained by greater income (nef, 2014) or more positive social identity (economic and social research council, 2014). statistical data confirm that income levels of people with lower and higher education levels are beneficial for the latter (eurostat, 2016). still, income and social identity do not fully explain the importance of education towards life satisfaction, because such psychological factors as attitudes could be as equally important as economic and social factors. there is some evidence that the level of satisfaction depends on a person’s age and gender (šmitas & gustainienė, 2017), and changes over the lifespan (baird, lucas & donnellan, 2010), so there is a need to control for these biological aspects of human life in order to evaluate the importance of attitudes for life satisfaction. in this paper well-being is understood as a person’s satisfaction with life, because life satisfaction is one of the key components of subjective well-being. the purpose of the study is to assess the importance of length of education towards life satisfaction both directly and indirectly (through attitudes). the research object is the years of completed education, attitudes towards others (thinking that people are usually inclined to help others, tendency to trust other people) and life satisfaction. we hypothesize that longer duration of studying (learning) relates to life satisfaction via attitudes towards others. research material and me thods in order to achieve the research purpose the data from the second round of the lithuanian national science programme (lnsp) “welfare society” collected by kaunas university of technology research group (krupavičius, bartuškaitė, butkevičienė, balžekienė, telešienė, žvaliauskas) on the topic “assessment of work and social well-being in lithuania” was used. andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė 68 the national science programme “welfare society” was launched by the government of lithuania, with the purpose “to do research which in complex manner evaluates the predictors and the development of the society of welfare in lithuania”. the national science programme was one of the instruments to achieve goals raised in the strategy of lithuania’s progress “lithuania 2030” (lietuvos respublikos švietimo ir mokslo ministerija, 2015). research data for registered users for non-commercial purposes can be freely accessed through the repository of lithuanian humanities and social science data (ww.lidata.eu/en/). for the present study data which measure life satisfaction (“generally speaking, how much are you satisfied with your daily life?”), attitude toward trust of other people (“generally speaking, can most people be trusted or should you be very careful?”), attitudes toward other people’s help (“in your opinion, do most people try to help others or do they care only for themselves?”) were used. answers to these questions were coded from 0 to 10. 0 means that the person states that he/she is fully dissatisfied with his/her life/one should be very careful with others/people only care about themselves. 10 means that the person states that he/she is fully satisfied with life/ most people can be trusted/most people try to help others as well. beside sociodemographic questions about the length of studying/learning (how many full years were you learning?) in which respondents indicate how many years they have studied (participants were encouraged to include also the length of compulsory learning), questions related to age, gender, level of income have been analyzed as well. the level of income was measured by a single-item question about the average personal income per typical month after taxes. a person is encouraged to indicate the average amount of his/her monthly income. it common to think that typically a person is capable of assessing his/her average income quite precisely. typical practice of wide-scale research is that the phenomena researched are normally measured by single-item questions which are usually created by experts. in this case common psychometric properties (e.g., internal consistency) cannot be measured, but it is argued that selected questions allow us to evaluate certain individual characteristics, such as length of learning, specific attitudes and life satisfaction which are analyzed in the present study. however, there is some doubt about 2019, 23, 63–76 p.impor tance of length of studying and attitudes toward others for life satisfaction 69 the possibility of evaluating the phenomena with only one statement/ question. nevertheless, in large-scale research the measurement of the phenomena with single-item questions/statements is common practice because it reduces administrative costs and the danger of over-surveying, which, in turn, causes higher levels of non-response (diamantopoulos, sarstedt, fuchs, wilczynski & kaiser, 2012). the survey was conducted in lithuania from 14 november 2015 through 01 december 2015. the research population was 18+ year-old household units (citizens) of lithuania. the research sample was created using the multistage stratified clustered address method and household addresses were taken from the state enterprise “centre of registers”. total sample of the study consists of 1,127 respondents: 519 (46.1%) male, and 608 (53.9%) female. median age of the respondents was 48 years; the youngest respondent was 18, the oldest was 97 years old. average length of study (learning) was 13.69 years, the majority (72.4%) of the respondents studied between 11 and 16 years; the shortest duration of learning (studying) was 2 years, the longest was 28 years. statistical analysis was conducted using ibm statistics package; the process (hayes, 2017) module for ibm statistics program was used for mediation models. the independent variable was the length of learning (study), attitudes towards other people were used as mediators, life satisfaction was used as the dependent (outcome) variable. gender, age and levels of income were used as covariates. digits represented in models are unstandardized regression coefficients (b), digits in brackets show 95% confidence intervals. bolded and marked with “*” coefficients of regression show statistically significant effect towards the direction of arrow. results firstly, we assessed the relationships between the length of studying, the tendency to think that people could be trusted, and that other people were helpful and the levels of life satisfaction in groups of males and females. results are presented in tables 1 and 2 for males and females, respectively. andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė 70 table 1. relationship between the length of learning and attitudes toward others in males males (n=519) meduc=13.69 tendency to think that other people are helpful tendency to think that other people can be trusted life satisfaction length of learning (studying) .079 .099* .172** * p <.05; ** p <.01 the correlation analysis revealed that in males greater length of learning (studying) was related to the tendency to think that people could be trusted and with higher life satisfaction. table 2. relationship between the length of learning and attitudes towards others in females females (n=608) meduc=13.69 tendency to think that other people are helpful tendency to think that other people can be trusted life satisfaction length of learning (studying) .115** .164** .233** * p <.05; ** p <.01 the correlation analysis results revealed that in females greater length of learning (studying) was related to the tendencies to think that people were helpful, could be trusted, and with higher life satisfaction. to evaluate whether the length of the learning (studying) predicts life satisfaction via the attitudes towards others, mediation analysis was conducted (fig. 1). gender, age and level of income were used as covariates. mediation analysis showed that the length of studying (learning) predicted higher life satisfaction via the attitudes towards others. direct effect on life satisfaction is .0932, p< .001, indirect effect is .1142, p< .0001. 2019, 23, 63–76 p.impor tance of length of studying and attitudes toward others for life satisfaction 71 discussion the results of the present study confirm the hypothesis that longer duration of learning positively relates to more favorable personal attitudes to others which, in turn, increases life satisfaction independently of gender, age and the level of income. study results also confirm the importance of formal and informal (e.g., third-age universities) education for higher levels of life satisfaction independently of age, gender and the level of income. the importance of education is usually based on economic factors – higher levels of education predict higher levels of income and higher income increases quality of life, subjective and psychological well-being and higher life satisfaction (nef, 2014); still some authors disagree with the idea (e.g., diener & seligman, 2004). the research findings confirm that education is an important factor of life satisfaction not only through higher levels of income, but also through more positive attitudes to other people. that could be explained by the facts that learning and the processes of learning not only give specific knowledge, but also affect fig. 1. relationship between the length of studying (learning) and satisfaction with life mediated by attitudes towards others the correlation analysis results revealed that in females greater length of learning (studying) was related to the tendencies to think that people were helpful, could be trusted, and with higher life satisfaction. to evaluate whether the length of the learning (studying) predicts life satisfaction via the attitudes towards others, mediation analysis was conducted (fig. 1). gender, age and level of income were used as covariates. * p < .05 *** p < .001 fig. 1. relationship between the length of studying (learning) and satisfaction with life mediated by attitudes towards others mediation analysis showed that the length of studying (learning) predicted higher life satisfaction via the attitudes towards others. direct effect on life satisfaction is .0932, p< .001, indirect effect is .1142, p< .0001. discussion the results of the present study confirm the hypothesis, that longer duration of learning positively relates to more favorable personal attitudes to others which, in turn, increases life satisfaction independently of gender, age and the level of income. study results also confirm the importance of formal and informal (e.g. third-age universities) education for higher levels of life satisfaction independently of age, gender and the level of income. .08* [.01-.14] .065* [.00-.11] .128*** [.11-.24] .163*** [.05-.16] .093*** [.03-.14] tendency to think that others are helpful length of studying (learning) satisfaction with life tendency to think that others can be trusted * p < .05 *** p < .001 andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė 72 a person’s point of view. the results not only confirm previous research findings that education is an important factor for increasing life satisfaction (e.g., šmitas & gustainienė, 2017; ludban, 2015; ryff, 2014), but also expand previous knowledge by explaining how higher levels of education promote life satisfaction (through more positive attitudes to others). one could ask how attitudes could affect a person’s life satisfaction? acccording to the cognitive hierarchy model (homer & kahle, 1988) a person’s attitudes affect that person’s behavior. so, if one thinks that other people are helpful, he/she will more likely interact with people with a similar viewpoint and because his/her social network will more likely be based on people who are helpful, the person will more likely get help from others. according to broaden-and-build theory (fredrickson, 2001) help from other people makes the solution of daily hassles be more effective, and more effective problem solving will subsequently evoke more positive emotions which would in turn increase satisfaction with life. this study also raises some questions, e.g., whether the length of studying (learning) affects a person’s attitudes to others independently of the country of residence? previous research suggests that life satisfaction and its predictors differ in different countries (e.g., helliwell & putnam, 2004; springer, pudrovska & hauser, 2011; steptoe, deaton & stone, 2015), so it is not clear would the length of studying (learning) predict more positive attitudes to others and whether these attitudes predict higher levels of life satisfaction in other countries as well. future studies could be initiated to answer these questions. an obvious strength of this study is that the analysis was conducted on the representative data. the limitation of the study is that the phenomena were investigated using single-item questions. there is a chance that respondents might have understood these questions differently than the experts. it can be concluded that a longer duration of studying (learning) is related to higher life satisfaction via positive attitudes to others independently of gender, age and income. 2019, 23, 63–76 p.impor tance of length of studying and attitudes toward others for life satisfaction 73 references alatartseva, e., & barysheva, g. 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(1982). social psychology of intergroup relations. annual review of psychology, 33(1), 1–39. teye, v., sirakaya, e., & sönmez, s. f. (2002). residents’ attitudes toward tourism development. annals of tourism research, 29(3), 668–688. veenhoven, r., & bakker, p. (1977). level of education and the promise of happiness. working paper, erasmus university, rotterdam. zimbardo, p., & ebbesen, e. b. (1969). influencing attitudes and changing behavior: a basic introduction to relevant methodology, theory, and applications. oxford, england: addison-wesley. andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė 76 mokymosi trukmės reikšmė nuostatoms į kitus ir pasitenkinimui gy venimu andrius šmitas* , **, loreta gustainienė** *kauno kolegija, lietuva; **vytauto didžiojo universitetas, lietuva santrauka. įvadas. jau nuo antikos laikų pasitenkinimas gyvenimu buvo asmens ir visuomenės dėmesio centre. vis dėlto santykinai mažai žinoma, kokios asmens savybės gali sąlygoti pasitenkinimą gyvenimu. galima manyti, kad aukštesnis išsilavinimas, siejamas su geresne sveikata, gali būti vienas iš veiksnių, padidinančių kognityvinį gerovės aspektą – pasitenkinimą gyvenimu. taip pat žinoma, kad pasitenkinimas gyvenimu siejasi su teigiamu požiūriu į kitus žmones. vis dėlto nėra aišku, ar išsilavinimo lygmuo tiesiogiai siejasi su pasitenkinimu gyvenimu, ar per tam tikrus požiūrius (nuostatas). tad šio tyrimo tikslas yra įvertinti mokymosi trukmės reikšmę nuostatoms į kitus ir pasitenkinimui gyvenimu reprezentatyvioje lietuvos gyventojų imtyje. tyrimo metodai ir duomenys. tiriamųjų pasitenkinimas gyvenimu ir požiūris į kitus žmones buvo vertinami ekspertų sukurtu vieno klausimo metodu. straipsnis parengtas naudojant duomenis, surinktus nacionalinės mokslo programos „gerovės visuomenė“ metu. šio tyrimo imtis sudaryta iš 1127 asmenų, kurių amžius – nuo 18 iki 87 metų (m=48). statistinė analizė atlikta taikant koreliacinę analizę ir paprastuosius mediacijos (tarpininkavimo) modelius. rezultatai ir išvados. tyrimo rezultatai atskleidė, kad ilgesnė mokymosi trukmė tiesiogiai prognozuoja teigiamesnes nuostatas į kitus asmenis, o netiesiogiai – per labiau teigiamas nuostatas į kitus žmones (kontroliuojant amžių, lytį ir pajamų lygį). tyrimo rezultatai patvirtinta išsilavinimo reikšmę pasitenkinimui gyvenimu per teigiamą požiūrį į kitus žmones ir veikia pasitenkinimą gyvenimu ne tik kaip aukštesnių pajamų prediktorius. ilgesnė mokymosi trukmė per labiau teigiamas nuostatas į kitus prognozuoja aukštesnį pasitenkinimą gyvenimu nepriklausomai nuo amžiaus, lyties ir pajamų lygio. reikšminiai žodžiai: mokymasis, nuostatos, pasitenkinimas gyvenimu, reprezentatyvi imtis, suaugusieji. received: 2019-04-05 accepted: 2019-09-12 contents editorial note scientific publications chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, david d. hof concepts influencing attitudes and beliefs toward mental health issues in a teacher education program kamonwan tangdhanakanond, teara archwamety teachers’ misconceptions and current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment in elementary schools in thailand andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė importance of length of studying and attitudes toward others for life satisfaction marija aušraitė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė the relationship between irrational relationship beliefs and conflictresolution strategies in young adulthood tadas vadvilavičius, aurelija stelmokienė development of scenarios for leadership psychology research to reveal the relationships between leaders’ dark triad traits and full range leadership styles laura alčiauskaitė, liuda šinkariova psychometric properties of the lithuanian version of the acceptance ofdisability scale revised (ads-r): pilot study christina l. chasek, judith a. nelson, rochelle cade, kristin page, bryan stare,george stoupas advocating for adolescent substance use recovery: an alternative model ekaterina zakharchuk, evgeniy dotsenko, tamara khvesko, julia andrejeva neuropsychological and/or psychological factors of children’s traumatic behavior under the age of 10 years information the 22nd international symposium in psychology at unk & vmu: abstracts contributors reviewers 2019 instructions for authors psichologijos_zurnalas_22_korektura.indd scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2018 / 22 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.22.5 1 address for correspondence: kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, vytautas magnus university, department of psychology. address: jonavos g. 66-328, lt-44191 kaunas, lithuania. e-mail: kristina.zardeckaite-matulaitiene@vdu.lt gender differences in dyadic dominance during interpersonal inter ac tion: the comparison of friends’ dyads and romantic couples kristina ražauskaitė-pilipavičienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė1 vytautas magnus university, lithuania abstract. background. dominance can be found in every dyadic relationship including romantic couples, friendships or business partnership. even though research confirms that men tend to have more power than woman not only in romantic relationships, but also in friendships. however, some scholars doubt that men’s dominance and women’s submissiveness are just an established stereotype. thus, more information about gender differences in power distribution in different types of dyads (friends and romantic) during interpersonal interaction is needed. aim.the aim of this study was to assess the differences in male and female dominance during the interpersonal interaction considering the types of dyads (same-sex friendships or heterosexual romantic partners). participants. 36 dyads participated in this study, which consisted of male friends’ dyads (n = 12), female friends’ dyads (n = 12), and heterosexual romantic couples (n = 12). the participants aged between 18 and 31 years old with a mean age of 22 years old (sd = 2.23). method. the study consisted of two stages. in the first stage, the participants were asked some questions about themselves and their relationship, and were invited to participate in the experiment. all of the participants were informed about the terms of experiment (usage of video record) and were able to express their willingness to participate in this study in written form. the second stage of the research was a quasi-experiment. during this stage participants, i.e. friends and romantic partners’ dyads, played the game “jenga” for about 20 minutes. results, conclusion. it was found that women tend to dominate more than men during the interpersonal interaction in general and in romantic couples. no differences in dominance were found comparing female friends’ and male friends’ dyads. however, more dominance was found in heterosexual romantic couples comparing to the male and female friends’ dyads. keywords: dyad; dominance; romantic couple; same-sex friends; interpersonal interaction. 95 https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.22.5 mailto:kristina.zardeckaite-matulaitiene@vdu.lt 96 kristina ražauskaitė-pilipavičienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė introduc tion the importance of dominance in interpersonal relations it is known that dominance is an integral part of any relationship, especially in intimate ones, because of the partners’ interdependence and inevitable mutual decisions (dunbar, 2004). based on the equality theory, which suggests that the balance of equality in relationships is the most comfortable and even people themselves in various ways tend to convince themselves that they are in equal relationships (even if they are not), and, if they recognize inequality, then they try to use both verbal and non-verbal techniques to prevent power imbalances (dunbarn & burgoon, 2005). however, inequality in relationships is inevitable when partners in relationships are different from one another, the dominant partner arises, and who will be inclined to control relationships (burgoon, hansaker, & dawson, 1995). this individual’s tendency to dominate and have the power allow him or her to take a decision-making position not only in intimate relationships, but also in the society, and their decisions have certain consequences to other persons (guinote, 2007). the concept of dominance is associated with psychological factors that determine the need to dominate, i.e. to be superior to your partner. according to the literature it can be observed that the concept of dominance is widely used in many areas, as well as in medicine, business, and psychology (willing, 2008). though dominance is used in many fields, but it is inseparable from the two things: personal qualities and communication with other people (willing, 2008). as it is known, communication can be divided into verbal communication, i.e. a naturally occurring language, and non-verbal communication, i.e. directly observed communication, which can be both gestures and facial expressions (carter, 2010). thus, to recognize the dominance in relationships, it is necessary to monitor both verbal and non-verbal communication. according to the scientific literature, non-verbal dominance includes such aspects as an open body posture, smiling, showing dissatisfaction, head twisting, abnormal intonation, and similar features (helgeson, 2012, carney, hall, & lebau 2005, burgoon & dunbarn, 2000). meanwhile, the verbal domination reveals giving orders for the partner what to do, presenting of arguments, and interrupting conversations (helgeson, 2012, lamb, 1981). 97 2018, 22, 95–111 p.gender differences in dyadic dominance during interpersonal interaction: the comparison of friends’ dyads and romantic couples most of the cultural and social factors reveal that males have higher dominance positions and possess social dominance orientation (foels & pappas, 2004, pula, mcpherson, & parks, 2012). in addition, women confirm male dominance in relationships by claiming that they see men as more able to dominate in relationships (dunbar, bippus, & young, 2008). however, there is the opposite opinion too, stating that position of both women and men in dominance is the same (caricati, 2007, straus, 2008). dominance in heterosexual romantic relationships it is stated that dominance in romantic relationships depends on the position of the partner, regardless of his/her age (dunbar & burgoon, 2005). however, it was observed that most of the persons involved in research are young, mostly students of different specialties (lennon et al., 2012, sprencher & felmlee, 1997, rogers, bidwell, & wilson, 2005). as it was mentioned before, dominance depends on the partner’s position, in other words, if one partner dominates and takes a leading role in relationships, then the other will take obedient position and will be inclined to accept the dominant partner’s proposals (burgoon, hunsaker, & dawson 1994). in most cases this dominant position is predisposed by gender, even though women generally tend to believe that they are in equal relationships in making mutual decisions, but at the same time, men believe that they are the ones who have the most power in relationships (sprencher & felmlee, 1997). it can be assumed that men seek to take precedence in the relationship than women and to dominate in the decision-making (galliher et al., 1999, ponzi, klimczuk, traficonte, & maestripieri, 2014). research show that women admire dominant partners, believing that such persons will be able to defend them, will be able to compete, and will be able to reach heights (snyder, kirkpatrick, & barrett, 2008). women also experience more satisfaction of relationships when men have a higher decision-making authority in relationships. however, women also evaluate themselves as having a certain power in relationships and more dominant when they are in equal power with their partners (dunbar et al., 2008). there are two conditions in which women tend to assess themselves as having more influence on their partner: it is hoping (a) that they will take proposals mutual to the activities of their 98 kristina ražauskaitė-pilipavičienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė couple; (b) that they will consider the number of solutions in which she can say more. however, in most cases taking mutual decisions easily and without conflict about leisure activities are in the equal couples rather than in the couples which are characterized as strongly or weakly dominant (ponzi et al., 2014). however, the most important thing is that the dominance is important for the relationship, because couples without a clear dominance argue less than couples with strong or weak dominance (ponzi et al., 2014). dominance in same-sex friendships same-sex friendship is perceived as a close relationship between a woman and a woman, and a man with a man. it is stated that men’s and women’s friendships are different, and one of those differences is that women’s friendship is much closer than men’s (helgeson, 2012). it is likely that women’s friendships are closer due to the need to have a warm, supportive and long-term relationships, and this is confirmed by tani, smorti and peterson (2015) who state that women are more characterized in social support, intimacy, admiration and support. if the women’s friendship is characterized by closeness, then the men’s friendship shows competition between them (helgeson, 2012). analyzing men’s and women’s dominance in both friendships and romantic relationships it can be stated that they are different, since it was discovered that women’s friendship is more as a union, where much less dominance is envisaged (dunbar & abra, 2010), whilst, at the same time, in men friends’ interaction much greater mutual domination was found (moskowitz, 1993). it was noticed that men who are characterized as having a higher level of dominance and power imbalances will suffer negative emotions in friendship more often (tani et al., 2015). as a result, it can be assumed that different power in friendships will be a kind of aspect which affects the poor quality of relations (veniegas & peplau, 1997). scientific studies found that despite women’s development of close relations, one of the girlfriends, however, will demonstrate the dominance. it was discovered that the female domination is different from that of male; rather, their perception is different, because, according to youngquist (2009), this is because of the intervention of a woman in the 99 2018, 22, 95–111 p.gender differences in dyadic dominance during interpersonal interaction: the comparison of friends’ dyads and romantic couples same sex dyad will be perceived as more dominant than men intervention in the same sex dyad, which suggests that women in same-sex relationships tend to dominate more than men. to summarize, the research confirms that dominance in any relationship is related to relationship satisfaction and may influence other important aspects of social interactions (e.g. number of conflicts, level of intimacy, and violence). however, there is a lack of research comparing behavioral aspects of dominance (both verbal and non-verbal) in different types of personal relationships (romantic relationships, friendships). thus, this research is aimed at measuring observable features of dominance during the interpersonal interaction in different types of dyads (heterosexual romantic couples and male/female same-sex friends’ dyads), and to compare the expression of these features among different types of dyads. me thodology participants and procedure participants. a total of 36 dyads (72 persons), consisted of 12 heterosexual romantic partners, 12 women friends, and 12 men friends participated in this study. most of the participants were psychology students from vytautas magnus university (18 women and 17 men), but there were students from other universities and specialties, such as medicine, sociology, social work, history, marketing management, public health, physical activity, and programming. the duration of dyad companionship differed: the shortest duration of companionship was between heterosexual romantic partners (2 months), and the longest duration of companionship was between men friends (16 years). experimental procedure. the study was conducted in march-may 2015. it consisted of two phases. first of all, the participants answered several demographic questions and questionnaire of personal dominance, and then after one week they were invited to participate in the experiment at vytautas magnus university. all dyads (heterosexual romantic couples, male and female same-sex friends) separately were invited to play a board game “jenga” in the same room with the same conditions and instructions without information about the real aim of this task. this play 100 kristina ražauskaitė-pilipavičienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė was recorded on the video camera. the duration of one play session was 20 minutes. this task was chosen because it allows creating the situation with both possibilities to demonstrate behavioral (positive and negative, verbal and non-verbal) dominance while playing, and the features of typical communication in dyads. previous research measuring power distribution during social interactions also uses this game (e.g. liu, mok, witt, pradhan, chen & reiss, 2016). after the experiment each dyad was asked about the satisfaction of their communication and was provided with the information about the real aim of the task and short debriefing. the recommendation for this research was acquired from the psychologists’ professional ethics board at vytautas magnus university. measures socio-demographic questions and questionnaire of subjective personal dominance at the beginning of the study the participants were asked to provide personal information (name, partner’s name, phone number, and e-mail). this data was requested to invite them to the second part of the study. also, the participants answered demographic questions: age, sex, education, profession, working status, duration of friendship (in years), who was the initiator of the friendship. if they were e-friends and not romantic couples, they had to answer two additional questions: do they have romantic relations with someone outside this friendship; and, (if yes), what does their romantic partner think about this friendship? the questionnaire about subjective personal dominance based on burgoon and dunbar (2000), and dunbar and burgoon (2005) was also provided for the participants. they had to assess their behavior during the interaction in 7-point semantic differential scale. the items included such adjectives as dominant/submissive, confident/unconfident, etc. in the opposite sites on the scale. internal reliability of the scale was sufficient (cronbach’s alpha = .64). this scale was used as validity measure of behavioral features of observed dominance. behavioural evaluation of the dominance based on the previous experimental research of dyadic social interaction, verbal and non-verbal features of dominance were identified. 101 2018, 22, 95–111 p.gender differences in dyadic dominance during interpersonal interaction: the comparison of friends’ dyads and romantic couples verbal dominance consisted of four elements: telling other what to do, presenting arguments, successful and unsuccessful intrusions into other’s speech (helgeson, 2012, lamb, 1981). non-verbal dominance consisted of 9 features: talkativeness, loud speaking (driskell, olmstead, & salas, 1993, norton & miller, 1975), positive emotions (smile, happiness, laughter), negative emotions (dissatisfaction, anger) (hall, coats, & lebau, 2005, carney et al., 2005, hareli, shomrat, & hess, 2009, lamb, 1981, montepare & dobish, 2003), disagreement, demonstration of disapproval (head shaking, expostulating voice with “um/ah”) (helgeson, 2012, carney et al., 2005), self-touching, touching other, an open body posture, legs wide (shoulder width apart), hands folded together (crossed), hands widely placed on the table (rest on the table), hands placed on hips, both hands placed over the head) (carney et al., 2005, hall et al., 2005). all these features were coded watching visual material (one record time was 15 minutes). both individuals of each dyad were observed and their behavior was recorded counting how many times a particular feature was repeated during the session (hall et al., 2005, luxen, 2005). to ensure the validity of observed behavioral features of dominance video surveillance was performed by two experts (the authors of this paper). the experts performed monitoring of 11 from 36 dyads that participated in this survey (5 heterosexual romantic couples, 3 female samesex, and 3 male same-sex friends), which represents about 31% of all the participants. the experts’ compliance was evaluated using spearman’s correlation coefficients between all dominance features, taking r >= .7 as the lowest value for validity (ekman & o‘sullivan, 1991; park & levine, 2001). it was found that seven elements could be valued as reliable features of dominance in this study: telling the other what to do (r = .82), presenting arguments (r = .86), positive emotions (r = .97), disagreement (r = .71), demonstration of disapproval (r = .91), self-touching (r = .99), open body posture (r = .96). additionally, general score of dominance as well as verbal and non-verbal dominance were used. in order to assess validity of behavioral features of dominance, correlation analysis between verbal, non-verbal and general score of dominance and subjective scale of personal dominance was implemented using spearman’s correlation coefficient. the results showed weak, but significant or nearly significant correlations between these components: 102 kristina ražauskaitė-pilipavičienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė correlation between verbal dominance and subjective dominance was .23 (p = .05), non-verbal dominance and subjective dominance -.21 (p = .08), general score of dominance and subjective dominance -.31 (p < .01). it could be stated that subjective evaluation of personal dominance of participants somewhat corresponds to their actual behavior during interpersonal interaction. results the comparison of male and female dominance during interpersonal interaction based on previous research it was expected that both verbal and non-verbal dominance would be more typical for men than for women. in order to test this assumption, all features of dominance and scores of verbal, non-verbal, and general dominance were evaluated between male and female participants despite their relationship status using nonparametric mann-whitney criteria (table 1). table 1. the comparison of dominance features between men and women (n = 72) feature of dominance males mean rank n = 36 females mean rank n = 36 u telling other what to do 35.26 36.17 636.00 ns presenting arguments 33.88 39.13 553.50 ns positive emotions 33.90 39.10 554.50 ns disagreements 37.06 35.94 628.00 ns demonstration of disapproval 34.37 38.61 572.00 ns self-touching 29.71 43.29 403.50** open body posture 39.88 33.13 526.50 ns verbal dominance 35.26 37.74 603.50 ns non-verbal dominance 32.19 40.81 493.00 ns general score of dominance 31.57 41.43 470.50* * p < .05 ** p < .01 ns non significant 103 2018, 22, 95–111 p.gender differences in dyadic dominance during interpersonal interaction: the comparison of friends’ dyads and romantic couples the results show that women tend to dominate more than men, especially in non-verbal reactions: they scored higher in self-touching compared to men. the comparison of male and female dominance in heterosexual romantic couples in order to evaluate the assumption that men tend to dominate both verbally and non-verbally during interpersonal interactions in romantic couples compared to women, comparison of dominance features between heterosexual romantic partners, using non-parametric wilcoxon’s criteria for two related samples was used (see table 2). table 2. the comparison of dominance features between heterosexual romantic par tners (n = 12) feature of dominance negative mean rank a positive mean rank b z telling other what to do 5.75 6.30 -.13 ns presenting arguments 5.07 7.63 -.22 ns positive emotions 6.00 6.00 -1.33 ns disagreements 5.13 5.75 -.74 ns demonstration of disapproval 5.29 4.00 -1.73 ns self-touching 6.50 6.50 -.51 ns open body posture 4.33 7.22 -2.04* verbal dominance 5.83 6.20 -.18 ns non-verbal dominance 6.33 6.67 -.08 ns general score of dominance 6.10 6.79 -.67 ns * p < .05 ** p < .01 ns non significant a male dominance mean rank is higher compared to female b female dominance mean rank is higher compared to male unexpectedly, the results reveal that women are more likely to use an open body posture than men. no other differences in male and female dominance in the heterosexual romantic couples were found. 104 kristina ražauskaitė-pilipavičienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė the comparison of dominance among different types of dyads in order to evaluate the assumption that expression of dominance differ in different types of dyads, several evaluations of two independent samples using mann-whitney criteria were done. total scores of verbal, non-verbal, and general scores of dominance of each type of dyad (female same-sex, male same-sex, and heterosexual romantic couples) were compared. first of all, the comparison of dominance between male and female same-sex friends’ dyads was tested (see table 3). table 3. the comparison of features of dominance between male and female same-sex friends’ dyads (n = 24) feature of dominance female friends’ mean rank male friends’ mean rank u verbal dominance 13.38 11.63 61.50 ns non-verbal dominance 14.29 10.71 50.50 ns general score of dominance 14.38 10.63 49.50 ns * p < .05 ** p < .01 ns non significant the results show that no statistically significant differences in dominance between female and male same-sex dyads were found. similar comparison of dominance was done between heterosexual romantic couples and female same-sex dyads. and between romantic couples and male same-sex friends’ dyads (see table 4 and table 5). table 4. the comparison of features of dominance between dyads of heterosexual romantic par tners and female same-sex friends (n = 24) feature of dominance romantic couples’ mean rank female friends’ mean rank u verbal dominance 15.29 9.71 38.50* non-verbal dominance 12.75 12.25 69.00 ns general score of dominance 13.67 11.33 58.00 ns * p < .05 ** p < .01 ns non significant 105 2018, 22, 95–111 p.gender differences in dyadic dominance during interpersonal interaction: the comparison of friends’ dyads and romantic couples the results revealed that more verbal dominance was expressed in heterosexual romantic couples compared to female same-sex friends’ dyads. table 5. the comparison of features of dominance between dyads of heterosexual romantic par tners and male same-sex friends (n = 24) feature of dominance romantic couples’ mean rank male friends’ mean rank u verbal dominance 16.50 8.50 24.00** non-verbal dominance 14.83 10.17 44.00 ns general score of dominance 16.58 8.42 23.00** * p < .05 ** p < .01 ns non significant the comparison of heterosexual romantic couples and male samesex friends’ dyads revealed that verbal and general score of dominance were more common between romantic partners than male friends’ dyads. discussion this study was aimed at evaluating the differences in dominance during interpersonal interaction between males and females in different types of relational dyads (heterosexual romantic couples, female and male same-sex friends’ dyads) as there is a lack of research on observable features of dominance among these three groups of dyads, experimental design of the study was implemented, where the participants were allowed for interpersonal interaction during the mutual board game “jenga”, when verbal and non-verbal features of dominance were examined. previous research on verbal and non-verbal types of dominance was mainly implemented in one type of dyadic relationships, for example, between romantic partners (durbarn & burgoon, 2005) or between friends (moskowitz, 1993). meanwhile, this study examined both heterosexual romantic partners and same-sex friends’ dyads where all three types of dyads were compared with each other, which allowed 106 kristina ražauskaitė-pilipavičienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė measuring how female and male participants will tend to dominate interacting in opposite sex or the same sex dyads. this study also allowed to evaluate which sex is more dominant and in which features. even though it was expected that male participants will show more verbal and non-verbal dominance in the interpersonal interaction compared to females (based on gonzaga, keltner, & ward, 2008, ponzi, klimczuk, traficonte, & maestripieri, 2014; mccreary & rhodes, 2001; luxen, 2005), but this study showed completely opposite results. it was found that women in general tend to dominate more than men, especially non-verbally. the same results in gender differences were also found in heterosexual romantic couples. these contradictory results might be explained in several ways. first of all, most of the previous research in power imbalance of two genders was done based on subjective general evaluations about their own and their partner’s dominance (sprecher, 1997; ponzi et al., 2014). usually these subjective evaluations do not correspond highly to objective behavioral features of the dominance during the specific tasks. on the other hand, experimental research on dyadic dominance in the laboratory settings mostly are implemented with female and male participants who are strangers (luxen, 2005; gonzaga, keltner, & ward, 2008) or are instructed to implement some specific role (e.g. act equally during the task (dunbar & abra, 2010)), despite their own personal dominance. thus, there is a lack of more solid evidence for gender differences in behavioral elements of dominance during the observable task. another potential explanation of more expressed female non-verbal dominance might be related to gender roles and gender stereotypes. it is known that females are more concerned in relationship maintenance and more experienced in both perception and expression of non-verbal clues, especially in the intimate relationships (briton & hall, 1995; reeder, 2003). thus, a more expressed use of open body posture and non-verbal dominance in general might contribute to the previous explanations. the comparison of dominance among the three types of dyads revealed unexpected results, also. even though it was expected that the imbalance of power will be seen in same-sex friends’ dyads (dwyer, 2000), especially, in male same-sex friends compared to female samesex friends (moskowitz, 1993), but the results of this study showed no differences in the dominance between female and male friends’ dyads, 107 2018, 22, 95–111 p.gender differences in dyadic dominance during interpersonal interaction: the comparison of friends’ dyads and romantic couples and more features of the dominance were found in heterosexual romantic couples compared to both female and male friends’ dyads. these results might be explained twofold. first of all, gender roles and perceived similarity between friends versus romantic partners might be important. the previous research shows that the individuals of the same sex during the interactions tend to behave similarly, usually based on their perceived gender roles (reeder, 2003); the expectations towards same-sex friendships are also not so high and demanding compared to romantic relationships (fuhrman, flannagan, & matamoros, 2009). thus, no need for the dominance is needed during the interpersonal interactions in same-sex friends’ dyads. on the other hand, other factors might be important in explaining the differences in dominance among these three groups of dyads. the duration of relationship, previous power distribution in dyads might be important explaining the results of this study. in the end, some limitations of this study must be outlined. a small number of participants took part in this study; thus, the statistical power of the results was quite low. a higher number of dyads might help to provide more sounded conclusions. on the other hand, our study sample consisted mainly of students and included limited spectrum of all possible relational dyads (e.g., we were not able to invite homosexual romantic couples or cross-sex friends’ dyads). to receive more representative data, it is necessary to have a greater number of different age participants, representing full range of possible relational dyads. additionally, taking into account other important factors, related to power distribution in dyads, would also be beneficial. despite these limitations, this study is valuable for scholars interested in gender and relational status interaction for behavioral aspects of dominance. these results might also be useful for the practitioners working with couples facing communication problems. conclusions 1. female are more inclined to demonstrate dyadic dominance compared to male during interpersonal interaction despite the type of relationship; they are also more inclined to use open posture as a feature of non-verbal dominance in heterosexual romantic couples compared to males. 108 kristina ražauskaitė-pilipavičienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė 2. no differences in dyadic dominance were found between male and female same-sex friends’ dyads. 3. more verbal dyadic dominance was found in heterosexual romantic couples compared to both female and male same-sex friends’ dyads. references briton, n. j. & hall, j. a. 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(2009). the effect of interruptions and dyad gender combination on perceptions of interpersonal dominance. communication studies, 60, 147–163. lyčių dominavimo skirtumai tarpasmeninės sąveikos me tu: dr augų diadų ir romantinių porų palyginimas kristina r ažauskaitė -pilipavičienė,kristina žardeckaitė -matulaitienė vytauto didžiojo universitetas, lietuva santrauka. problema. dominavimas gali pasireikšti bet kokiuose diadiniuose santykiuose, apimant romantinius santykius, draugystes ar darbinį kontekstą. ir, nors tyrimai patvirtina, kad vyrai yra linkę labiau dominuoti nei moterys ne vien romantiniuose, bet ir draugiškuose santykiuose, dalis mokslininkų abejoja ir laiko tokį skirtumą lyčių 111 2018, 22, 95–111 p.gender differences in dyadic dominance during interpersonal interaction: the comparison of friends’ dyads and romantic couples stereotipų pavyzdžiu. taigi, reikia daugiau informacijos apie lyčių dominavimo skirtumus skirtingose diadose (draugų ir romantinių partnerių) tarpasmeninės sąveikos metu. tyrimo tikslas – įvertinti vyrų ir moterų dominavimo skirtumus tarpasmeninės sąveikos metu, atsižvelgiant į diados tipą (tos pačios lyties draugų pora ar heteroseksualių romantinių partnerių pora). tyrimo dalyviai. tyrime dalyvavo 36 diados, iš kurių 12 buvo vyrų draugų poros, 12 moterų draugių poros ir 12 heteroseksualių romantinių porų. dalyvių amžius buvo pasiskirstęs nuo 18 iki 31 metų (amžiaus vidurkis – 22 metai, sn = 2,23). tyrimo metodai. tyrimą sudarė du etapai. pirmojo etapo metu tyrimo dalyviai atsakė į kelis klausimus, susijusius su jais asmeniškai bei jų santykiais ir buvo pakviesti sudalyvauti eksperimente. visi dalyviai buvo informuoti apie eksperimento sąlygas (kad jų elgesys bus filmuojamas) ir galėjo išreikšti savo sutikimą dalyvauti tyrime raštu. antrasis tyrimo etapas – kvazi eksperimentas, kurio metu visos diados žaidė stalo žaidimą „jenga“ maždaug 20 minučių. rezultatai, išvada. gauta, kad moterys yra labiau linkusios dominuoti nei vyrai tarpasmeninės sąveikos metu tiek bendrai (neatsižvelgiant į diados tipą), tiek ir romantinėse porose. dominavimo skirtumų nebuvo rasta lyginant draugių moterų ir draugų vyrų poras. tačiau daugiau dominavimo požymių buvo rasta heteroseksualiose romantinėse porose lyginant tiek su vyrų draugų, tiek ir su moterų draugių poromis. reikšminiai žodžiai: diados, dominavimas, romantinės poros, tos pačios lyties asmenų draugystės, tarpasmeninė sąveika. received: 2018-08-06 accepted: 2018-12-30 contents editorial note scientific publications viktorija cepukiene, rytis pakrosnis introducing unguided computerized solution-focused self-help into university counseling services virginija klimukienė, alfredas laurinavičius, ilona laurinaitytė, laura ustinavičiūtė, and mykolas baltrūnas examination of convergent validity of start: av ratings among male juveniles on probation karina kravčenko, laura šeibokaitė the effect of joy and anxiety on egocentric decisions among young adults ala petrulytė, virginija guogienė adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy in lithuanian sample kristina ražauskaitė-pilipavičienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė gender differences in dyadic dominance during interpersonal interaction: the comparison of friends’ dyads and romanticc ouples lina cirtautienė, auksė endriulaitienė the influence of psychological factors for leader’s efficiency in global it companies kristina kovalčikienė, giedrė genevičiūtė-janonė the relationship between the vocational teachers’ personality traits and the work motivation information the 20th international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, december 6th, 2017. abstr acts the 21st international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, april 25th, 2018. abstr acts contributors reviewers instructions for authors 7 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 7–22 p. scientific publications issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.16.1 1 address for correspondence: latvia university, riga teacher training and educational management academy, scientific research institute of pedagogy and psychology, imantas 7.linija 1, riga, latvia, lv-1083. phone: +371 26315685. e-mail: liga.roke@rpiva.lv. is there a link be t ween creativit y and school gr ades? research with 9th gr ade students līga roķe1 riga teacher training and educational management academy, latvia university, latvia emīls kālis riga teacher training and educational management academy, daugavpils university, latvia abstract. background and purpose. the present study aimed to explore the relationship between creativity and school grades. material and methods. creativity was measured by the test for creative thinking – drawing production (tct-dp) (urban & jellen, 2010). the participants (sample) consisted of 180 ninth grade students (104 females) with mean age of 15.1 years. results. both boys and girls with higher creative potential score in tct-dp showed higher average school grade. the tendency was depicted that school grades in the subjects of natural sciences (except in geography) and arts relate most closely to creativity. although no significant gender differences were found in any of the subjects, boys tended to show higher correlations. the general trend in the relationship between separate tct-dp criteria and school grades is that the ability to draw a picture with strong expressive power, to make additions to the used elements, to compose a theme or gestalt of the given elements and to break away from twodimensionality is significantly related to the average school grade independently of the gender. conclusion. the results give grounds for further exploration of students’ creativity in relation to the academic performance assessed by teachers. keywords: creativity, school grades, school subjects, gender differences. introduc tion the research on the relationship between creativity and academic achievement has been taking place since 1960s; nevertheless, the results are ambiguous. discussions and research on this relation has ceased in the last decade, but the topic of the creativity’s role in schooling results 8 līga roķe, emīls kālis is important still. creativity is one of the challenges in the educational systems, and this paper aims to continue research on the possible contribution of creative abilities to the academic performance of students. mainly because it can tell us much about the role of creativity in educational process and about opportunities that students are directly or indirectly given in order to put stimulate their creative abilities in acquiring new knowledge and learning skills. apart from that, research on creativity and academic achievement is important in order to expand our understanding of factors which moderate creativity and school grades like gender, teaching style, assessment methods, students’ personality variables, class composition variables, peer pressure, etc. finally, ambiguous results in previous research point to the necessity to delve into the issue again, moreover, such a research has not been carried out in latvia before. getzels and jackson (1962) were the first who reported results of the research on the role of creativity in school results. their findings were complemented by torrance (1962), yamamoto (1964) and asha (1980), concluding that highly creative students performed as well or even better than low creativity students when the effect of intelligence was controlled. on the other side, there are also a number of researches which did not observe the relationship between creativity and academic achievement (edwards & tyler, 1966; kim & william, 1993). during his research, sierwald (1989) found negative (–.12) correlation between creativity test scores and school grades in the case of physics and surprisingly it was only .26 for arts. there are findings that reveal creativity to be related to higher levels of academic achievement in those subjects and tasks which require divergent and productive ability (shin  & jacobs, 1973). more recent research showed correlation between creativity and school performance to be around r=.25 for 9th–11th grade students in germany, whereas correlation between creativity and intelligence was around .14 (rindermann  & neubauer, 2004). creativity predicted school performance in french and math among 8-12 years old children in belgium – ttct-figural fluency, originality and flexibility had significant effects on performance scores for 12 year-olds, whereas only ttct-verbal flexibility predicted school performance for 8 year-olds (hansenne & legrand, 2012). researchers in pakistan compared creative thinking test results for high and low achievers in 10th grade and found out that differences 9 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 7–22 p. between samples were not statistically significant (anwar, shamim-urrasool & haq, 2012). using multilevel analysis, it has become possible to explore the impact of different contextual factors (e.g., group influence, peer pressure, personality dimensions, etc.) on relationship between creativity and academic achievement. the research carried out in poland recently showed that creative abilities did not correlate with students’ grade point average (gpa) , but after of grouping students into classes, the multilevel control demonstrated potentially important differences: from positive strong and statistically significant to non-existent or negative ones (gralewski & karwowski, 2012). as we can see, the results obtained in researches are mixed and still do not present a clear picture. some researchers propose that contradictory results on the relationship between creativity and school grades are due to gender differences (ai, 1999). for example, asha (1980) in his study found highly significant correlation between creativity and academic achievement among boys and less significant trend among girls; nevertheless, no separate academic subject areas were taken into consideration. ai (1999) found out that different aspects of creativity and different academic subject areas mattered for boys and girls. niaz, de nuez and de pineda (2000) concluded that the strength of relationship between creativity and school grades differed for different aspects of creative abilities: elaboration correlated strongly with school grades, whereas moderately with fluency, flexibility and originality, and strength of the correlation varied for different school subjects. after all, inconsistencies between the findings in relationship between creativity and academic achievement might be due to different test batteries used for creativity measurement (ai, 1999). torrance tests of creative thinking (ttct) is one of the most often used battery for the assessment of creative thinking abilities, although recent publications include grounded objections to the validity of the ttct (almeida, prieto, ferrando, oliveira, & ferrandiz, 2008; silvia et al., 2008), and the administration of these tests is very time-consuming. one of the recently developed creativity tests which try to avoid problems occurring with other creative thinking tests, is test for creative thinking – drawing production (tct-dp) developed by urban and jellen (2010). tct-dp is a picture type test which assesses not only quantitative aspects of creative thinking (number of ideas, originality, etc.) but also qualitative aspects like wholeness, synthesis of elements, composition, 10 līga roķe, emīls kālis etc. the authors propose that tct-dp is measuring creative potential in general, not only creative thinking abilities, since it includes criteria like boundary breaking, theme creation, humour and affectivity, symbolism and unusual manipulation. good reliability and validity estimates, easy administration and wide range of measured creativity criteria were the reasons this test was chosen for the present research. the strength of tct-dp is its applicability which is independent of respondents’ drawing abilities and skills. aim of the study aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between creativity and school grades and to explore gender differences in these relationships. materials and me thods participants the sample consisted of 180 students (58% girls) aged between 14 and 18 years (m=15.01; sd=.35). all of the students were in the 9th grade. the study involved students from 9 schools in big cities, towns and rural municipalities in latvia. instruments creativity. test for creative thinking – drawing production (tct-dp; urban & jellen, 2010) consists of six figural fragments and a big square frame which is also an important element of the instrument. the subjects are asked to finish the uncompleted drawing begun by somebody, in whatever way they wish. the drawings are assessed within 14 criteria: continuations (1cn), completions (2cm), new elements (3ne), connections made with a line (4cl), connections made to produce a theme (5cth), boundary breaking that is fragment dependent (6bfd), boundary breaking that is fragment independent (7bfi), perspective (8pe), humour and affectivity (9) with subcriteria of humour (9hu), affectivity and emotions (9e), and expressiveness (9z), unconventionality a – unusual manipulation with test sheet (10uca), unconventionality b – symbolism/surrealism themes 11 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 7–22 p. (11ucb), unconventionality c – using signs (letters, numbers, etc.) to complement drawing (12ucc), unconventionality d – originality (13ucd), speed (14sp). the total score (15tot) is calculated as the sum of these criteria. test has two parallel forms a and b, and it is recommended to use both of them (urban & jellen, 2010) in order to acquire more reliable results. the test was adapted in latvia in 2011, showing inter-rater reliability between 0.796 and .988 for test criteria and .983 for the total score (kālis, krūmiņa & roķe, 2012). school grades. the school grades in all school subjects and an average school grade from the semester following the research were used as a measure of academic achievement (gpa is not used as an indicator of academic achievement in latvian school system). procedure tct-dp was administered frontally during regular classes in the autumn of 2011. testing lasted for approximately 35 minutes. the instruction was read aloud (it was not included in the written form). two researchers were administering the testing since students working tempo or speed were different and it was essential to record the task completion time for each student. time limit for the completion of each form was 15 minutes, but researchers did not stress limitations in time as in the instruction. when the first student completed the task, it was announced to the class that students could add the name of their drawing if they wished and if they found it useful to communicate their idea. the second test form was given to students right after they finished the first one with an instruction to continue the work as in the first task. test was administered during the regular school hours, mostly in the first part of the day. information about school grades was obtained from class teachers at the end of the semester. descriptive statistics and reliability was calculated using r statistics (r core team, 2012) package psych (revelle, 2012), while other procedures were conducted with mplus version 7 (muthén  & muthén, 19982012). 12 līga roķe, emīls kālis results inter-rater reliability was calculated following the procedure suggested by raykov and macoulides (2011, pp. 160–168) where reliability is obtained by dividing true variance by total variance. high reliability was found for the total tct-dp score (ρ=.967, 99% confidence interval ρ=.959–.976) and also for 13 criteria (ρ=.793–.981), except for speed (14sp). descriptive statistics for the tct-dp total score and school grades is presented in table 1. it shows that girls have higher tct-dp results as well as higher average school grade compared to boys. what is more the highest score gained in girls sample is almost 10 points higher compared to boys. table 1. descriptive statistics of the tct-dp total score and average school grade among 9th grade students m sd min max tct-dp total score total sample (n=180) 23.42 6.50 9.17 45.50 boys (n=76) 22.07 6.37 9.17 35.67 girls (n=104) 24.46 6.42 13.83 45.50 average school grade total sample (n=180) 6.61 1.21 3.4 9.56 boys (n=76) 6.16 1.24 3.4 8.71 girls (n=104) 6.94 1.09 3.6 9.56 note. tct-dp: test for creative thinking – drawing production; m – mean, sd – standard deviation, min – minimum value, max – maximum value. in order to calculate correlations between tct-dp score and school grades, structural equation modeling (sem) methodology was applied, thus, getting more accurate estimates where true variance is separated from error variance. measurement models for the tct-dp measures were specified according to the models obtained in the norm sample – equal factor loadings and intercepts across form a and b results were considered as good or acceptable fit for actual data, e.g. model fit for the total score of the tct-dp: χ2=.413, df=2, p=.813; rmsea=.000 (.00–.09); cfi=1.00; tli=1.018; srmr=.038 (figure 1). 13 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 7–22 p. figure 1. measurement model of the tct-dp. note. – factor variance, λ – factor loadings, τ – indicator intercepts, δ – error variances, subscript std is for standardized parameters. average school grade (asg) was obtained by bringing all subject grades into one factor model (figure 2) under the assumption that the factor represents asg and is the cause of fluctuation of grades in all subjects. after specifying correlations between some subjects (the largest correlation which is not accounted for by factor was found between visual art and music – .34 (p<.01)), a good model fit was obtained (χ2=86.62, df=68, p=.063; rmsea=.045 (.00-.07); cfi=.997; tli=.995; wrmr=.481). figure 2. measurement model of average school grade (asg). note. φ – factor variance, λ – factor loadings (standardized). specified error covariances between subjects are not shown. φ = 1 tctλ = 5.42 (.46) λ std = .73 (.04) λ = 5.42 (.46) λ std = .73 (.04) form a form b τ = 23.54 (.49) τ = 23.54 (.49) δ = 25.82 (3.20) δ std = .47 (.06) δ = 25.82 (3.20) δ std = .47 (.06) english latvian russian literat. music viz. arts housek. math physics chem. geogr. soc. sc. sport history biology λ = .81 (.03) λ = .80 (.03) λ = .87 (.02) λ = .94 (.02) λ = .83 (.03) λ = .81 (.03) λ = .41 (.06) λ = .59 (.05) λ = .80 (.03) λ = .89 (.02) λ = .66 (.05) λ = .92 (.02) λ = .67 (.04) λ = .59 (.05) λ = .68 (.04) asg 14 līga roķe, emīls kālis measurement models for separate subject categories were also created by joining relevant school subjects in such groups: a) foundations of sciences group included mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and geography; b) languages group included latvian, english and russian; c) art group was created from latvian literature, music, visual art and housekeeping, d) human and society subjects group contained only two school subjects – history and social sciences. after the specification of models, correlations between measurement models were estimated – between the total tct-dp score and all school subjects (table 2), and between each criterion of the tct-dp and four groups of school subjects (table 3). estimation of parameters for genders was performed employing multiple indicators multiple causes (mimic) (confirmatory factor analysis (cfa) with covariates) model. gender differences were tested with χ2 test by comparing the model where correlation between measures is fixed for both genders versus the model where correlation is freely estimated for each group. gender differences for means were also tested applying mimic model. χ2 difference test revealed that girls outperformed boys in tct-dp total score (χ2(1)=7.63, p=.006) and in asg (χ2(1)=12.71, p=.001). correlations between creativity score and school grades. in sem, completely standardized covariations (φ) between latent variables are interpreted as usual correlations (brown, 2006, p. 54). table 2 shows correlations between tct-dp scores and asg for boys and girls, and between tct-dp scores and school grades in separate school subjects (school grades were used as category variables in calculations). gender differences between these correlations were calculated with chi-square difference test comparing original model to the model with equal restrictions for both genders in regard to covariance. the correlation between the tct-dp total score and asg for the total sample is moderate and statistically significant (ϕ (179) =.35, p<.01), whereas it is ϕ=.33 (p<.01) for boys and ϕ=.26 (p<.01) for girls sample. correlations between tct-dp and grades for almost all school subjects are statistically significant varying from low to moderate, except for geography (ϕ=.10, p>.05) and sports (ϕ=.08, p>.05). this result is as an indicator of tct-dp validity, since geography is a subject where the acquisition of factual knowledge plays the most important role, and sports grade is not supposed to have relation to creativity. among the four 15 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 7–22 p. defined groups of school subjects the art group has the highest correlation with the total tct-dp score (ϕ=.39, p<.05), followed by languages group (ϕ=.34, p<.01), foundations of sciences group (ϕ=.33, p<.01) and human and society subjects group (ϕ=.33, p<.01). table 2. completely standardized covariations or correlation (ϕ) between tct-dp total score and school grades school subjects ϕ (s.e.) (n=180) ϕ (s.e.) (boys, n=76) ϕ (s.e.) (girls, n=104) average school grade (asg) .35 (.08)** .33 (.12)** .26 (.11)* foundations of sciences .33 (.08)** .32 (.12)* .25 (.10)* mathematics .29 (.09)** .39 (.13)** .19 (.12) physics .27 (.08)** .30 (.12)* .22 (.11)* chemistry .36 (.08)** .36 (.13)** .25 (.11)* biology .36 (.07)** .30 (.13)* .30 (.11)** geography .10 (.09) .02 (.13) .07 (.11) languages .34 (.09)** .29 (.13)* .29 (.12)* latvian .30 (.08)** .27 (.14) .20 (.12) english .29 (.09)** .30 (.14)* .20 (.11) russian .20 (.09)* .11 (.15) .21 (.11) art subjects .39 (.09)* .30 (.13)* .29 (.12)* latvian literature .33 (.08)** .30 (.13)* .23 (.12) music .21 (.09)* .10 (.12) .11 (.13) visual arts .31 (.08)** .22 (.13) .26 (.12)* housekeeping .35 (.08)** .32 (.12)** .27 (.12)* human and society .33 (.08)** .23 (.12) .28 (.12)* history .30 (.08)** .21 (.12) .31 (.11)** social sciences .25 (.09)* .22 (.12) .16 (.13) sports .08 (.10) .15 (.16) .13 (.13) note. tct-dp: test for creative thinking – drawing production; *–p<.05; **–p<.01; the highest correlation in the foundations of sciences group is between tct-dp score and school grade in biology and chemistry (ϕ=.36, p<.01). in mathematics the tct-dp scores and the school grades do not 16 līga roķe, emīls kālis correlate significantly among girls in contrast to boys (ϕ=.19, p>.05 versus ϕ=.39, p<.05). boys do also have higher correlation coefficients between tct-dp score and grades in physics (ϕ=.30, p<.05 versus ϕ=.22, p<.05) and chemistry (ϕ=.36, p<.01 versus ϕ=.25, p<.05). in the languages group, tct-dp score and school grades do not correlate significantly neither for girls, nor for boys, except in english where boys show statistically significant correlation (ϕ=.30, p<.05) in contrast to girls (ϕ=.20, p>.05). the highest correlation in the art group is observed between tct-dp score and grade in housekeeping (ϕ=.35, p<.01) and latvian literature (ϕ=.33, p<.01), and the lowest – between tct-dp score and grade in music (ϕ=.21, p<.05). correlations by gender groups show that tct-dp has no correlation with music grade neither for boys, nor for girls (ϕ=.10, ϕ=.11). this tendency is worth serious attention, since music is the subject where creative abilities can be substantially expressed, as well as evaluated. only boys have significant correlation between tct-dp and grade in latvian literature (ϕ=.30, p<.05), whereas only girls have significant relationship between tct-dp score and visual arts (ϕ=.26, p<.05). visual arts are one of the very few school subjects where girls show higher correlation between schooling results and tct-dp score compared to boys. there are significant weak correlations in the human and society subjects group between school grades and tct-dp results for all subjects except sports. no statistically significant gender differences were found in the correlations between tct-dp scores and asg, and between tct-dp scores and school grades in separate school subjects. creative thinking indicators and school grades. in order to find out more about the creativity indicators or criteria as measured by tct-dp in relation to school grades, the correlations between 14 tct-dp criteria, asg, and average school grade in four groups of subjects, as well as gender differences in these correlations were calculated. the results of the correlations in the total sample are depicted in table 3, with gender differences added in the notes under the table. asg of 9th grade students correlates most closely with the subcriterion of expressiveness (9z) (ϕ=.43, p<.01), completions (2cm) (ϕ=.41, p<.01), summary criterion of humour and affectivity (9) (ϕ=.37, p<.01), new elements (3ne) (ϕ=.31, p<.09), connections made with a theme 17 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 7–22 p. (5cth) (ϕ=.37, p<.01) and perspective (8pe) (ϕ=.34, p<.01), and slightly – with criterion of connections made with a line (4cl) (ϕ=.23, p<.05). thus, the ability to draw a picture with strong expressive power, to make additions to the used elements, to compose a theme of gestalt of the given elements and to break away from two-dimensionality is significantly related to the school grades obtained by 9th grade students. other criteria do not have significant correlation with asg, except those where gender differences were found: significantly negative correlation was observed between speed (14sp) and asg for boys (ϕ=–.33, p<.01), whereas no correlation was found for girls (ϕ=.11, p>.05); symbolism (11ucbsi) has positive significant correlation with asg in boys sample (ϕ=.28, p<.05) but it was not significant for girls (ϕ=–.13, p>.05). a similar trend is observed for the correlations between tct-dp criteria and average school grade in four subject groups, i.e., summary criterion of humour and affectivity (9), completions (2cm), connections made with a theme (5cth), perspective (8pe), new elements (3ne) and originality (13ucd) have significant and relatively high correlations with school grades in all four subject groups. more specifically, making completions to the given elements (2cm) correlates most closely with the school grade in languages group (ϕ=.43, p<.01), but adding new elements (3ne), composing theme from given and new elements (5cth), making perspective (8pe) and making the drawing expressive (9z) correlates most closely with the school grade in art subjects (ϕ=.39, p<.01; ϕ=.42, p<.01; ϕ=.45, p<.01; ϕ=.48, p<.01). sub-criterion of originality (13ucd) correlates most closely with the school grade in foundations of sciences subjects (ϕ=.43, p<.01). when analysing the sub-criteria of 9, only the expressiveness of drawing (9z) has significant correlations with school grades, whereas the humour and affectivity sub-criteria do not correlate with school grades. it is worth noting that criterion of speed (14sp) significantly and negatively correlates with school grades, more specifically – with school grade in foundations of sciences subjects (ϕ =–.22, p<.01) and languages subjects (ϕ=–.21, p<.05), but not in arts, and human and society subjects. the criterion of speed is an indicator of task motivation and involvement, that is, students who tended to spend more time on drawing could be more interested and put more effort into the task. other tct-dp criteria have insignificant positive or negative correlations with the school grade in four subject groups and asg. 18 līga roķe, emīls kālis table 3. completely standardized covariations or correlations (ϕ) between 14 criteria of the tct-dp and mean grades in four groups of school subjects and average school grade (asg) criteria science ϕ (s.e.) lang ϕ (s.e.) art ϕ (s.e.) hum ϕ (s.e.) asg ϕ (s.e.) 1cn –.07 (.08) –.08 (.10) –.05 (.08) –.06 (.09) –.04 (.09) 2cm .35**(.09) .43** (.11) .40**(.10) .39**(.10) .41**(.10) 3ne .35**(.05) .23* (.11) .39**(.09) .33**(.10) .31**(.09) 4cl .29**(.08) .19 (.10) .25**(.09) .26**(.10) .23*(.10) 5cth .38** (.08) .33**(.09) .43**(.08) .37**(.08) .37**(.08) 6bfd –.10 (.07) –.11 (.09) –.11 (.08) –.13 (.09) –.13 (.08) 7bfi –.05 (.07) .09 (.10) –.05 (.09) –.09 (.14) .03 (.09) 8pe .29**(.09) .35**(.10) .45**(.08) .35**(.09) .34**(.09) 9 .34**(.08) .37**(.08) .42**(.08) .34**(.09) .37**(.08) 9hu –.02 (.09) .19 (.11) –.02 (.10) .08 (.09) .18 (10) 9e –.12 (.09) .04 (.10) –.10 (.10)a1 –.01 (.08)a2 .06 (.10) 9z .44** (.07) .42**(.08) .48**(.07) .39**(.08) .43**(.07) 10uca –.05 (.09) –.02 (.10) –.16 (.09) –.13 (.10) –.05 (.10) 11ucb –.14 (.10) –.03(.10) –.15(.12) –.05 (.10) –.07(.10) 11ucbsi .13 (.07) .07 (.08) .12 (.09)a3 .13 (.09) .08 (.08)a4 11ucbsur –.12 (.08) .06 (.09) –.06 (.09) –.02 (.09) –.02 (.09) 11ucbfa –.17 (.09) .00 (.10) –.22*(.09)a5 –.17 (.09)a6 –.06 (.10) 12ucc .02 (.10) .14 (.12) –.06 (.10) –.02 (.07) .13 (.11) 13ucd .43**(.11) .29*(.14) .32**(.12) .27*(.13) .25 (.13) 14sp –.22**(.08) –.21*(10)a7 –.04 (.09) .00 (.06) –.15 (.09)a8 note. a – significant gender differences (m – male, f – female): a1( m=–.39** (.12), f=.04 (.11)); a2 (m=–.31** (.11), f=.26* (.10)); a3 (m=.30* (.12), f=–.11 (.11); a4 (m=.28* (.13), f=–.13 (.09)); a5 (m=–.43** (.13), f=.07 (.11)); a6 (m=–.39** (.11), f=.13 (.12)); a7 (m=–.40** (.11), f=.07 (.15)); a8 (m=–.33** (.11), f=.11 (.12)) conclusions the discussion on the relation between creativity and academic achievement has ceased lately, although the results of previous research tended to be ambiguous. the aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship between 9th grade students’ creativity and school 19 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 7–22 p. grades. both boys and girls with higher creative potential score obtained with tct-dp tend to be assigned with higher school grades, but correlation between creativity score and school grades is more significant among boys. indirectly, these results support the view that creativity to a certain amount facilitates adaptation and ability to respond to environmental demands – schooling requirements, gaining and retrieving knowledge, presenting knowledge and skills. the closer relationship between creativity score and school grades for boys points to hypothesis that girls invest more effort and are more motivated and diligent in the study process, whereas boys rely more on their inborn capacities, fluid intelligence and creative abilities. these assumptions should be tested in the future research. when exploring correlations between tct-dp results and separate school subjects, we saw a higher tendency for school grades in the subjects of sciences and arts (except geography and music) to be related to creativity score, and boys tend to show higher correlations, although no significant gender difference was found in any of the subjects. in general, these results confirm the validity of tct-dp, and also point to the possibilities of creativity to be invested not only in art subjects, but in subjects of natural sciences as well. we also aimed to explore which of the specific criteria of creativity measure relate most closely to school grades. it would provide more information about the indicators of creative capacities which are more likely to facilitate obtaining and retrieving knowledge at school or which are evaluated by teachers when assessing a child. we concluded that the abilities to draw a picture with strong expressive power, to make additions to the used elements and also to add a completely new elements to the given elements, to compose a theme or gestalt of the given elements and to break away from two-dimensionality were significantly related to the average school grade as well as to the grades in the subjects of foundations of sciences, languages, arts, and human and social sciences groups obtained by 9th grade students. interestingly, the criteria which regard crossing the boundaries or breaking away from the limits set in the task had no correlation with school grades whereas uniqueness of answers (originality) related most closely to the subjects of foundations of sciences group. we hypothesize that breaking boundaries, as reflected in this picture type test, is the quality which is not acknowledged in school, but could reflect student’s tendency to risk and 20 līga roķe, emīls kālis difficulties to adapt to requirements at school. whereas originality, as an indicator of being free from functional fixedness and from premature closure of solutions, has a serious potential to help in succeeding in the studies of natural sciences. although we do not claim to make strict conclusions about the content or methods in music, the results raise questions if students have opportunities to express their creative abilities in such subjects since no correlation was found between creativity scores and school grades in music. music should be the one subject where creativity is promoted and evaluated seriously. the results give ground for further exploration of creative thinking involvement in the educational process and in the assessment of academic performance. the limitations of the research are small sample size (especially for boys) since the statistical methods used require larger data set. other variables, for example, intellectual abilities should have been controlled. measures of verbal creativity would be of essential importance in further research to continue the topic. possibly, additional gender differences would be found in correlations between verbal creativity and school grades. this work has been supported by the european social fund within the project ”support for the implementation of doctoral studies at daugavpils university” agreement nr. 2009/0140/1dp/1.1.2.1.2/09/ipia/viaa/015 references ai, x. 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(1964). further analysis of the role of creative thinking in high school achievement. journal of psychology, 58, 277–283. ar yr a ryšys tarp kūrybiškumo ir pa ž ymių mokykloje? 9 kl asės mokinių t yrimas līga roķe rygos pedagoginio ir ugdymo vadybos akademija, latvijos universitetas, latvija emīls kālis rygos pedagoginio ir ugdymo vadybos akademija, daugpilio universitetas, latvija santrauka. darbo problema ir tikslas. šio tyrimo tikslas buvo ištirti ryšį tarp kūrybiškumo ir pažymių mokykloje. metodai. kūrybiškumas vertintas naudojant kūrybinio mąstymo piešimo testą (test for creative thinking – drawing production (tct-dp)) (urban & jellen, 2010). tyrimo imtį sudarė 180 devintos klasės mokinių (104 mergaitės), kurių amžiaus vidurkis – 15,1 metų. rezultatai. tiek berniukų, tiek mergaičių, gavusių aukštesnius tct-dp testo kūrybinio potencialo balus, pažymių vidurkiai mokykloje buvo aukštesni. stebėta tendencija, jog pažymiai už gamtos mokslų (išskyrus geografiją) ir menų dalykus buvo stipriausiai susiję su kūrybiškumu. nors statistiškai reikšmingas skirtumas tarp lyčių, lyginant mokykloje dėstomus dalykus, nestebėtas, tačiau berniukų grupėje koreliacijos buvo žymesnės. nagrinėjant priklausomybę tarp atskirų tct-dp kriterijų ir pažymių mokykloje, stebėta bendra tendencija, jog gebėjimas nupiešti ekspresyvų piešinį, papildyti duotus elementus, sukomponuoti temą ar geštaltą iš duotų elementų ar peržengti dvidimensiškumą yra statistiškai reikšmingai susiję su pažymių vidurkiu mokykloje nepriklausomai nuo lyties. išvados. gauti rezultatai suformuoja pagrindą tolimesniems tyrimams, nagrinėjantiems ryšį tarp mokinių kūrybiškumo ir akademinių rezultatų. pagrindiniai žodžiai: kūrybiškumas, pažymiai, mokomieji dalykai, lyčių skirtumai. received: june 17, 2013 accepted: january 26, 2015 scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2016 / 18 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.18.5 school counselor preparedness for working with students & chronic illness: insights and applic ations from a service learning experience in southern afric a eric davis university of south florida, usa abstract. background. the american school counselor association suggests school counselors be prepared to deal with myriad forms of trauma in the school community. included among these forms of trauma are students and families dealing with chronic illness. despite this suggestion coupled with the increased rates of chronic illness among children, many school counselors may not be prepared to handle such issues due to lack of training, professional development, or culturally diverse experiences. purpose, method. the author reviews the literature on chronic illness and school counselor preparation. to further explore this area of need, the author participated in a service learning experience in southern africa. results, discussion. the information and experiences are explored with discussion of insights and applications that can be utilized to address school counseling needs related to working with students and chronic illness in the united states. keywords: illness-related trauma; school counseling; outreach introduc tion school counselor preparedness for working with students & chronic illness: insights and applications from a service learning experience in southern africa chronic illness is defined as condition impacting normal routines for 3 months or more and can include such conditions as asthma, hiv/ aids, cancer, and so forth (merianos, vidourek, king, & nabors, 2015). the number of children with a chronic illness has increased by more than double from 2007 to 2013 (nutting, 2015). despite the fact that children are significantly affected by various forms of their own or family 89 eric davis 90 members’ chronic illnesses and present their responses to these events often times with behavioral, academic, and emotional problems, school counselors receive minimal preparation for responding to their needs within the school setting (crump, rivera, london, landau, erlendson, & rodriguez, 2013; kaffenberger, 2006; yi, kim, hong, & akter, 2016). while death and illness have become increasingly common within school communities (servaty-seib & tedrick parikh, 2014; senyonyi, ochieng, & sells, 2012), the professional development of school counselors in this area is lacking (allen, bunt, bryan, carter, orsi, & durkan, 2002; american school counselors association [asca], 2012; nutting, 2015). a potentially viable option for increasing and enhancing professional opportunities and developments in the counseling profession is through service learning (gehlert, graf, & rose, 2014; ockerman & mason, 2012). this manuscript explores chronic illness and service learning literature as related to professional school counselors. additionally, the author will share a personal narrative detailing experiences, applications, and recommendations gained during a service learning experience in south africa and botswana for seeking this opportunity to learn more about school counselor preparedness when working with children who are affected by chronic illness based in two objectives. the first objective addresses the need to learn about the amount of preparation school counselors in south africa and botswana receive in the area of chronic illness as a means of comparison and collaboration for working with u. s. students. considerations include: (a) the culturally specific needs that are addressed and (b) the ways in which school counselor-trainees gain experience and knowledge in community service learning. additionally, the service learning experience explores the need to understand the role of teachers and other school personnel who work in partnership with school counselors. for instance, it was surmised that they might work collaboratively toward creating a balanced school environment in which all members feel mutually respected and empowered to face the disconnection, shame, and fear that are often associated with such issues as chronic illness (jordan, 2000). the second objective addresses the need to learn about the actual interventions that were being utilized by school counselors and counselor-trainees when working with students facing their own chronic illness or that of a family member to enhance the training and interventions being applied in american school settings. 2016, 18, 89–104 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 91 re vie w of the liter ature impact of chronic illness with the increase in cases of chronic illness for children in the united states, there is a need for school counselors to gain knowledge and experience in working with these students and the school stakeholders (merianos et al., 2015; nutting, 2015). such issues can have major impacts on children. dunning (2006) reports that chronic illness presents an experience outside of the norm for the developmental stage of both the child and family. resulting death may foster loss of trust in the predictability of events, damage to the self-image, loss of belonging, a compromised sense of justice, and a loss of control (graham, 2004; yi et al., 2016). further, the isolation which may occur for parent and children can be a major source of suffering and can result in disconnection from significant relationships such as family and friends (jordan, 2000; nutting, 2015). children may also face discrimination resulting from the stigma attached to such conditions as hiv/aids (mbugua, 2004; raath, 2005) as well as dealing with more complicated bereavement due to the disease (wood, chase & aggleton, 2006). factors of abuse, neglect, and dependence on caregivers may also create difficulty for youth facing chronic illness (buss, warren, & horton, 2015). families can also be significantly impacted by chronic illness resulting in increased stress levels related to finances, mental health, and appropriate support (distelberg, williamsreade, tapanes, montgomery, & pandit, 2014; gold, grothues, jossberger, gruber, & melter, 2014; nabors, bartz, kichler, seivers, elkins, & pangallo, 2013). finally, advocacy and social justice issues such as nutrition, migration, availability to community, political, and medical services further the difficulties much more (evans & miguel, 2007; ford & hosegood, 2005; kohl-wood & harper, 2014; mbugua, 2004; nutting, 2015). schools and chronic illness as a result of so many children being impacted by chronic illness, schools are highly affected by these issues with 97% of school counselors reporting that they have worked with students addressing chronic illness (hamlet, gerger, & schaefer, 2011). these youths are experiencing a wide range of issues related to the chronic illness. children with cancer express being fearful and concerned about returning to school as well as eric davis 92 a sense of loss and lack of social skills (yi et al., 2016). children also report increased incidents of bullying, abuse, and neglect in conjunction with dealing with chronic illnesses (buss et al., 2015; merianos et al., 2015; nutting, 2015). school counselors are particularly critical in addressing these areas of concern because of the role school plays in the quality of life for students and the charge for impacting the areas of academics and personal/social areas (asca, 2012; crump et al., 2013). in cases where students have suffered the loss of the mother, this is a strong predictor of poor schooling outcomes as they are often behind in school, are less likely to be enrolled, and spending on school expenses is significantly lower (case & ardington, 2006; evan & miguel, 2007) with some even having denied admission to public schools (mbugua, 2004). additionally, orphans are more likely to be moved around significantly, living with a variety of households following the loss of parents (ford & hosegood, 2005). it may also be the case that orphans are under the care and supervision of older sibling or even head of the household themselves (case & ardington, 2006; raath, 2005). it is these cases in particular where a school counselor can become an advocate for the child (bemak & chung, 2005; hamlet et al., 2011; trust & brown, 2005). the school counselor is in a unique position and can provide a voice to the student. this may require work beyond the school setting and includes such behaviors as phone calls, letters, negotiating with those in power, and being flexible and realistic in what can be accomplished (baker & field, 2004). these increased concerns combined with the substantial increases in childhood chronic illness experiences has led to the need for more impactful and culturally training experiences for school counselors. one such option is service learning. service learning service learning is defined as a non-traditional learning strategy that utilize in-depth cultural and academic experiences within a community while providing needed services with reflective and evaluative components to enhance identities and knowledge related to social justice and multicultural skills (dolson-blake, dotson, glass, & liley, 2010; gehlert et al., 2014). this identity and self-awareness is of particular interest considering that while school communities have become increasingly more diverse, the school counselor population has not. hanson and stone (2002) reported that 83% of school personnel graduates from 2016, 18, 89–104 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 93 nationally accredited graduate programs are white. as a result, there is a consistent call for increased emphasis on multicultural competence in counselor preparation programs (musheno & talbert, 2002). moreover, contemporary scholars assert that advocacy skills should be incorporated into school counselor identity (arman & sherer, 2002; bemak & chung, 2005; howard & solberg, 2006; kohl-wood & harper, 2014; trust & brown, 2005), particularly for school counselors working with socially marginalized students and their families. service learning has shown to be an effective and meaningful strategy for building skills related to multiculturalism and social justice (koch, ross, wendell, & aleksandrovahowell, 2014; ockerman & mason, 2012). in particular, service learning has been shown to be effective in aiding students in working with grieving families and reducing stress related to death-related clinical experiences (servaty-seib & tedrick parikh, 2014). because of the increased evidence of the effectiveness of service learning, the author utilized a service learning experience in southern africa to increase exposure and knowledge of chronic illness with a society and culture that has experienced an abundance of working with students, families, and schools in the area. one of the most devastating chronic illnesses affecting the globe is hiv/aids with most incidences occurring in the continent of africa. almost 13.2 million children under the age of 15 have lost parents as a result of hiv/aids and this number is expected to increase to 25 million by the year 2010 (stats of south africa, 2012). africa is affected most severely by this epidemic due to the fact that 95% of hiv/aids orphans reside on the continent (mbugua, 2004). schools in particular have been affected by the epidemic because of the increased incidents of children being orphaned, diagnosed with the disease, and increased academic, emotional, and behavioral school issues (case & ardington, 2006; evans & miguel, 2007; otwombe, dietrich, laher, hornschuh, & nkala, 2015). the similarities of an epidemic of chronic illness in africa and the rise of incidents in the united states was the rationale for the author’s participation in a service learning experience to learn about school counselor preparation and application of strategies for working with chronic illness in school settings. the following sections discuss what was experienced and potential interventions that were observed. recommendations for the school counseling profession are also included. eric davis 94 personal narr ative as i boarded the plane for south africa, my thoughts and feelings ran the gambit of fear, excitement, doubt, and confusion. i was not sure that i was ready to approach such a large and daunting counseling experience. according to the asca national model: a framework for school counseling programs (asca, 2012), it is the school counselor’s duty to meet the immediate needs of students necessitated by life events, situations, or conditions with responsive services including individual, group, and classroom counseling as well as collaboration with parents, community members, and school personnel. despite this statement, it is common for many school counselors to feel unprepared to deal with events like chronic illness due to issues such as lack of training and experience. this was absolutely the case for me. even though i was aware of these issues and had read several relevant articles, participated in numerous trainings, and responded to a limited amount of chronic illness as a school counselor, it still seemed daunting that i would soon be in south africa and botswana working with counselors who dealt with students facing such issues as hiv/aids on a daily basis. how would i handle such situations? would i be prepared to discuss these issues with the counselors and students? i also wondered about how i would be perceived by the counselors, staff, and students. would they see me as another invader who just wanted to come into the school, snap a few pictures, say a few words, and leave – never to be seen again? would i be accepted as a colleague? these were the questions i pondered as i walked onto the high school campus in gabarone, botswana. i took a deep breath and prepared myself for anything that might happen. fortunately, many of my fears and trepidations melted away. upon meeting the counselors at the school, their kindness and hospitality were overwhelming. it was made clear to me that i was an honored guest and my presence was considered a gift. the campus was lovely. it was open and spread out with great courtyards, allowing students to mingle during breaks. the interactions with the students were incredible. my team member and i were allowed to conduct an impromptu session with a classroom of eleventh graders. we simply conversed about ideas that they had about the united states and the ideas we had about botswana. 2016, 18, 89–104 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 95 i was floored when hearing such questions as, “do all of the teenagers act like brittany spears and paris hilton?” and “are all schools in america really violent?” it was intriguing that my questions about hiv/aids were met with very little knowledge as most students did not mention that they had dealt with it personally. overall, it reminded me so very much of my conversations with my own high school students. students were mainly interested in learning about how to get to america, the best way to get into college, and what do i do for fun. it was so invigorating to converse with these young people from another continent! the conversations with the counselors were even more enlightening. we began by meeting in their office with a cup of tea and some wonderful home-made bread prepared by the secretary. the counselors’ office was small and served as the school infirmary as well. however, it was welcoming and strategically placed for easy access by students and staff. we began talking and, i must admit, there was a great amount of surprise on my behalf by what was said. it was my expectation that the school counselors would be well prepared to handling chronic illness on a daily basis. i was incredibly mistaken. not only did they not deal with many cases of chronic illness, but they also confided in me that, due to a lack of training and experience, they did not feel adequately prepared to face such situations if they arose. despite this limited amount of interactions with chronic illness, the counselors did discuss a variety of interventions that were utilized in such cases. in many of the instances, the counselors worked with students using puppets, music and dance, art, and story-telling as familiar and culturally acceptable means for working in the counseling process. the literature confirms this notion stating that many counselors feel unprepared to deal with the issue of chronic illness (hamlet et al., 2011; kaffenberger, 2006; servaty-seib & tedrick parikh, 2014). despite this, school counselors are often expected to be aware of such issues as posttraumatic stress disorder (ptsd) and are often seen as the most qualified member of the school staff to recognize and provide recommendations for intervention (marotta, 2000). even with an awareness of this information, i was still quite unprepared to hear these statements. at this point, all of the preparation and reading came into light as my personal objectives for participating in this service learning experience became center stage and were thus highlighted in that moment. eric davis 96 the experience was further enhanced through our learning aspect of what transpired during the visit. as a part of the trip, we participated in reflective journal writing and group process of our interactions with colleagues and students. these activities aided in transferring the knowledge to a deeper level of understanding and potential application to the school settings in the united states. recommendations based on the experiences and literature are discussed further in the following section. recommendations for tr aining school counselors often feel unprepared to handle chronic illness issues in the school setting, reporting a lack of communication, information, and adequate training as well as unsupportive school system policies (kaffenberger, 2006; otwombe et al., 2015). these concerns, echoed by the counselors in botswana as well as personal experiences, are cursorily covered in school counselor training programs and almost completely ignored in the actual school setting. this is exemplified in the fact that almost one-third of school counselors enter the school system with no formal coursework or supervision related to crises such as chronic illness topics (allen et al., 2002). additionally, it is vital that potential issues are discussed prior to the onset of critical events to ensure that an adequate plan is in place to effectively handle chronic illness and death (allen et al., 2002; charkow, 1998; crump et al., 2013; merianos et al., 2015). cultural aspects of training one aspect of training that is vital for school counselor trainees involves dealing with cultural aspects of chronic illness response. training programs must take into account current social, economic, and political realities while responding to the developmental needs of future counselors and students in rapidly changing multicultural societies (arman & scherer, 2002; dolson-blake et al., 2010; koch et al., 2014; kohn-wood & harper, 2014). this includes educating school counselors about their duties as advocates and agents for social change as this is also an important part of the asca national model (asca, 2012; ockerman & mason, 2010). 2016, 18, 89–104 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 97 working with school stakeholders school counselor trainees must be made aware of challenges related to working with parents, such as locating adequate community resources, and dealing with possible bureaucratic red tape they might face in their roles as advocates (distelberg et al., 2014; gold et al., 2014; musheno & talbert, 2002). additionally, they need to be trained in ethical standards, ability to find and utilize resources, mediation/conflict resolution skills, knowledge of models and theories, ability to form partnerships and collaborate, and basic counselor skills such as communication, problem-solving, organization, and self-care (hamlet et al., 2011; trust & brown, 2005). school counselor trainees can also receive training in dealing with social, academic, and personal issues stemming from chronic illness as well as how to aid administrators, teachers, and peers in understanding their roles in helping (kaffenberger, 2006). further, training programs must provide such opportunities to students through outreach and community projects, especially in regards to multicultural experiences (dolson-blake et al., 2010; hanson & stone, 2002; ockerman & mason, 2012). teachers are increasingly aware of death and illness and must be aware of the needs that must be addressed, such as providing reasonable choices to students, being aware of specific activities and holidays, assisting with schoolwork, and maintaining contact with the family (graham, 2004; haggard, 2005). teachers and other school personnel must also be aware of the coping mechanisms that some students may employ while working through the issues related to the illness (gold et al., 2014; nicholson & pearson, 2003; yi et al., 2016). it is important that school personnel understand what has happened and provide support. school counselors, in particular, can facilitate students’ expression of concerns related to the chronic illness. a final aspect to be considered is the impact on the teachers. these can be very trying experiences and, after a long day of handling such intense issues, teachers may also need help in dealing with death and illness through open support from colleagues and friends (nutting, 2015; schlozman, 2003). dunning (2006) emphasizes the importance of the surviving parent to the adjustment of the child to the death and bereaving process. parents must be aware of this important role and foster healthy relationships through granting the child the appropriate distance from the dying eric davis 98 parent, preventing parentification with excessive caretaking duties, and accepting the child’s developmentally appropriate efforts to individuate (distelberg et al., 2014; saldinger, cain, poterfield & lohnes, 2004). school counselors are in a prime position to advocate and aid parents in such endeavors (asca, 2012; bemak & chung, 2005; crump et al., 2013; trust & brown, 2005). school counselors can aid parents in dealing with a variety of issues. for example, parents may need assistance in finding community support to deal with their own unaddressed grief. another area that may be helpful to parents is succession planning to discuss impending death. school counselors can also be trained to recognize when and how to find an alternative adult if the parent or caregiver is too grief stricken to provide adequate support and care (charkow, 1998). cultural competencies are skill sets of interest to school counselors globally (arredondo, toporek, brown, jones, locke, sanches et al., 1996; dolsonblake et al., 2010; kohl-wood & harper, 2014). training opportunities overall, university training programs must make the training and opportunities available for potential school counselors to gain valuable knowledge and experience in dealing with chronic illness. this can be accomplished through supportive supervisors, clear guidelines, effective models for integrating theory and practice, increased awareness of the role of the school counselor, more time to process and communicate experiences (armam & scherer, 2002), and redefining the program’s training mission (bemak & chung, 2005). school systems can help by providing school counselors, teachers, and other school personnel the opportunity to receive appropriate professional development. school counselors must be given the freedom and accessibility to students and community to provide counseling services during and after a chronic illness incident (allen et al., 2002). it is also up to the school system to provide in-service professional development training in chronic illness and advocacy skills (bemak & chung, 2005). ninety-four percent of school systems report having a crisis plan in place with 61% of these teams having a school counselor as a member (allen et al., 2002). yet the aforementioned suggestions are essential in creating a school environment where all members of the school community feel connected, respected, and open to sharing and learning about chronic illness (buss et al., 2015; servaty-seib & tedrick parikh, 2014). 2016, 18, 89–104 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 99 individuals in training need to be proactive in their education and take risks in order to develop as culturally competent and effective counselors and advocates (allen et al., 2002; bemak & chung, 2005; gehlert et al., 2014; kohn-wood & harper, 2014). active membership in organizations, such as the american school counseling association (asca), american counseling association (aca), association for multicultural counseling and development (amcd), and counselors for social justice (csj), and participation in service learning immersion experiences can augment students’ cultural awareness and competence. it is also important that these activities are done not for a line on one’s curriculum vitae but for growth-inducing experiences that increase understanding in a variety of multicultural settings. an additional component involves training in known effective methods for dealing with chronic illness. play techniques such as bibliotherapy, art, and puppet play can be strong methods for counseling children affected by chronic illness (jordan, perryman, & anderson, 2013; mbugua, 2004; nabors et al., 2013; nicholson & pearson, 2003; nutting, 2015; woong, mi, jeongshim, eun, ju, sun-hyun, & yong, 2016). when selecting courses, it is imperative that counselors in training select classes that will provide training and learning in understanding and utilizing such techniques as well as advocating for them if they do not exist. this does not end with training however. once in the school setting, school counselors must be proactive as counselors and advocates of social justice when creating, implementing, and supporting school-based interventions for all school community members affected by illnessrelated trauma and crisis (bemak & chung, 2005; howard & solberg, 2006; senyonyi et al., 2012). this also includes fostering a strong relationship with all members of the school community such as administrators, teachers, staff, parents, and local organizations (allen et al., 2002; bemak & chung, 2005; otwombe et al., 2015). of particular interest are the potential relationships that can occur between school systems and colleges and universities. this collaboration can result in valuable resources, service learning opportunities, and insight into the needs for both populations (koch et al., 2014; musheno & talber, 2002). training programs, school systems, and the counselor-trainees must share the responsibility for responding to the needs of children affected by chronic illness. only 64% of all university training programs reported eric davis 100 some type of trauma preparation (allen et al., 2002). school counseling programs need to provide adequate training experiences in the area of trauma and chronic illness. arman and scherer (2002) recommend a combination of course content within an experiential counseling component to provide relevant and current educational experience. it is this combination of theory and practice that makes for a relevant learning experience. additionally, curricula can focus on high priority crisis topics, such as suicide, abuse, death, and grief (allen et al., 2002; hamlet et al., 2011; merianos et al., 2015). further research finally, there is a need for research in the area of chronic illness. one such area involves the need to understand why students are lacking experiences in service learning and involvement (dolson-blake et al., 2010). is it simply related to training and lack of experiences or are there other factors that are involved? a survey of students may provide insight into this question. there are also issues involved in the service learning experience itself. what is an effective service learning model? how do you build solid, empowering, and mutually empathic relationships before, during, and after a service learning experience? what should be done following a service learning experience in regards to follow-up and continuing collaboration? these questions can only be answered by actual service learning experiences in the community both at home and abroad. conclusion chronic illness is an area full of questions and doubt, but also full of hope and potential. through service learning experiences, such as the one encountered in southern africa, students, counselors, and educators can gain incredible insight into this area. this includes becoming aware of differing cultures and how new and different aspects can open a person’s mind and conscious. they can also provide insight into the needs of counselor training programs, school counselor interventions, school system development and training procedures, and personal perspectives, thus allowing for progress and ultimately change. however, it is up to everyone as counselors, educators, supervisors, and other adults in the lives of children to take risks to allow for exploration and growth because it is the chances that are not taken that lead to life’s deepest regrets. 2016, 18, 89–104 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 101 references allen, m., bunt, k., bryan, e., carter, d., orsi, r., & durkan, l. 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(2006). ‘telling the truth is the best thing’: teenage orphans’ experiences of parental hiv/aids-related illness and bereavement in zimbabwe. social science and medicine, 63, 1923–1933. woong, s. k., mi, y. c., eun, j. p., ju, h. k., sun-hyun, k., & yong, b. k. (2016). art therapy using famous painting appreciation maintains fatigue levels during radiotherapy in cancer patients. radiation oncology journal, 34, 135–144. yi, j., kim, m. a., hong, j. s., & akter, j. (2016). childhood cancer survivors’ experiences in school reentry in south korea: focusing on academic problems and peer victimization. childhood and youth services review, 67, 263–269. eric davis 104 mokyklos patarė jų pasirengimas darbui su mokiniais ir lė tinėmis ligomis: įžvalgos ir pritaikymas remiantis kooperuotų studijų patirtimi pie tų afrikoje eric davis pietų floridos universitetas, jav santrauka. mokslinė problema. remiantis amerikos mokyklų konsultantų asociacija, mokyklų patarėjai turėtų būti pasirengę darbui su daugybe skirtingų traumų formų mokyklos bendruomenėje, tame tarpe su mokiniais ir šeimomis, sergančiais lėtinėmis ligomis. nepaisant šios rekomendacijos bei padidėjusio lėtiniu ligų dažnio vaikų tarpe, daugelis mokyklos patarėjų nėra pasiruošę spręsti šias problemas dėl parengimo, profesinio tobulėjimo ar skirtingų kultūrinių patirčių trūkumo. tikslas, metodika. straipsnio autorius apžvelgia literatūrą apie lėtines ligas ir mokyklos pata rėjų parengimą. siekdamas labiau įsigilinti į problemos aktualumą, autorius dalyvavo kooperuotų studijų praktikoje pietų afrikoje. rezultatai, diskusija. duome nys ir patirtys yra nagrinėjamos kartu aptariant įžvalgas ir pritaikymą, kas gali būti panaudota norint užtikrinti mokyklos patarėjų poreikius, susijusius su darbu su mokiniais ir lėtinėmis ligomis jungtinėse amerikos valstijose. pagrindiniai žodžiai: ligos sąlygota trauma, konsultavimas mokykloje, ribų išplėtimas. received: june 7, 2016 accepted: september 26, 2016 2016, 18, 71–88 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 71 scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2016 / 18 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.18.4 c areer construc tion in ac ademic se t ting: links be t ween c areer adaptabilit y and study engagement kristina paradnikė, rita bandzevičienė mykolas romeris university, lithuania abstract. background: scholars are highlighting the importance of adaptive career behaviors and resources that people could employ in directing their own career development across the lifespan. new constructs emerge with the intention to help the individuals to manage their careers. one of the most promising constructs is career adaptability, which includes such resources as concern, control, curiosity, and confidence. this study attempts to link those resources and study engagement. engagement has been previously employed as an indicator of occupational well-being of both employees and students. moreover, study engagement is considered to be adaptation result by some authors. possibly, study engagement might be one of many positive career-related outcomes linked to career adaptability. purpose: the purpose of the study is to analyze the links between college students’ career adaptability and study engagement. method: the sample consisted of 273 college students (m age = 20.71, sd age = 2.89). career adapt-abilities scale-short form (caas-sf; maggiori et al., 2015), the short version of the utrecht work engagement scale – student version (uwes-s-9; schaufeli et al., 2002; schaufeli et al., 2006) and a questionnaire for demographic variables were used in the study. results: career adaptability resources, namely, concern, control, curiosity, and confidence, were linked to study engagement expressed as vigor, dedication and absorption. concern and confidence were the only significant predictors of study engagement dimensions. conclusion: the results support the importance of career adaptability resources for college students’ engagement. keywords: career adaptability resources, engagement, students. introduc tion due to the rapid changes in the work world, vocational decisionmaking research and practice have shifted from matching individuals to fitting occupations, to helping individuals adapt to changes (krieshok, black, & mckay, 2009). changes in the environment are inevitable and kristina paradnikė, rita bandzevičienė 72 being able to encounter those changes is a challenge (savickas et al., 2009). naturally, individuals need a set of adaptive career behaviors in directing their own career development throughout the life span (lent & brown, 2013). certain psychological, social and identity resources are necessary when coping with environmental changes and managing life transitions (hirschi, 2012). therefore, new constructs emerge. one of those constructs is career adaptability (savickas, 2011; savickas et al., 2009). career adaptability resources, namely, concern, control, curiosity, and confidence, are undoubtedly very important in one’s career and life transitions, as indicated by a number of studies (guan et al., 2013; duffy, douglass, & autin, 2015; urbanavičiūtė, pociūtė, kairys, & liniauskaitė, 2016) and, as students are in transition between school and work, the importance of career adaptability resources cannot be overlooked. in addition, during the last decade, vocational behavior research has been also affected by the growing interest in human flourishing. recently, with the rise of positive psychology (seligman & csikszentmihalyi, 2000), a new concept of engagement has been offered (schaufeli, salanova, gonzález-romá, & bakker, 2002a). engagement has been employed as an indicator of well-being of both employees (perko, kinnunen, tolvanen & feldt, 2016; hakanen & schaufeli, 2012; seppälä et al., 2009) and students (salanova, schaufeli, martínez, & bresó, 2010). previous studies have linked engagement to a variety of positive outcomes such as performance (salanova et al., 2010), achievement (bigna et al., 2014), and satisfaction with life (mokgele & rothmann, 2014). hence, the awareness of resources that help flourish and stay engaged in one’s studies is crucially important. however, possible facilitators of engagement have been previously explored mostly in organizational research (akkermans, brenninkmeijer, schaufeli, & blonk, 2015; bakker & bal, 2010; xanthopoulou, bakker, demerouti, & schaufeli, 2009). thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate if career adaptability might be a resource linked with students’ engagement while they are preparing to leave academic setting and enter the labor market. background career adaptability. the career construction theory (savickas, 2005) is one of the recent attempts to explain vocational development in the contemporary work world. according to this theory, individuals need 2016, 18, 71–88 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 73 to develop abilities to anticipate changes in their future and its con text, while also finding ways to increase the chances of achieving their expectations (savickas et al., 2009). therefore, career adaptability is one of the central aspects of the theory (savickas, 2005). career adaptability resources are defined as self-regulatory, psychosocial competencies that condition the adapting strategies and behaviors while achieving adaptation goals (savickas & porfeli, 2012). the four career adaptability resources include concern (i.e., becoming concerned about the vocational future), control (i.e., taking control of trying to prepare for one’s vocational future), curiosity (i.e., displaying curiosity by exploring possible selves and future scenarios), and confidence (i.e., strengthening the confidence to pursue one’s aspirations) (savickas & porfeli, 2012; savickas, 2005). theoretically, career adaptability indicates individual’s preparation and resources for coping with current and forthcoming vocational development tasks, occupational transitions and personal traumas (savickas, 2005). empirical evidence supports the importance of career adaptability resources: they have been linked to a variety of career-related outcomes, e.g., university graduates’ job-search, self-efficacy and employment status (guan et al., 2013), undergraduates’ academic satisfaction (duffy et al., 2015) and career optimism (tolentino, garcia, lu, restubog, bordia, & plewa, 2014). moreover, career adaptability partially mediates the effects of more context-general, trait-like adaptivity on career-specific behavioral forms of adapting (hirschi, herrmann, & keller, 2015). it is apparent from previous research that the outcomes of career adaptability include a variety of important outcomes. therefore, it is natural to expect that career adaptability might be a significant career resource for students while they are anticipating transition from school to work. this study focuses on one possible desired outcomes in students’ career path, namely, study engagement. study engagement. the concept of study engagement has been derived from the definition and operationalization of work engagement (schaufeli, martinez, pinto, salanova, & bakker, 2002b). analogous to work engagement, study engagement can be defined as a persistent, positive, fulfilling state of mind,characterized by vigor, dedication and absorption in the academic context (schaufeli et al., 2002b). vigor refers to high levels of energy and mental while studying, dedication refers kristina paradnikė, rita bandzevičienė 74 to a sense of inspiration, pride, and challenge, and absorption refers to being fully concentrated in one’s activities (schaufeli et al., 2002b). the importance of study engagement is supported by a number of studies where it has been linked to a variety of positive outcomes, e.g., satisfaction with life (mokgele & rothmann, 2014), academic performance (salanova et al., 2010), intrinsic motivation (siu, bakker, & jiang, 2014), and achievement (bigna et al., 2014). in addition, previous studies have employed work engagement as indicators of occupational well-being in both samples of employees (perko et al., 2016; hakanen & schaufeli, 2012; seppälä et al., 2009) and students (salanova et al., 2010). consequently, both practitioners and theoreticians are eager to reveal the possible antecedents of engagement. various contextual and personal factors have been investigated as facilitators of study engagement, for example, study engagement has been linked to such personal resources as academic self-efficacy, study-related hope and optimism (ouweneel, le blanc, & schaufeli, 2011); psychological capital (siu et al., 2014); and fulfillment of such psychological needs as autonomy, competence and relatedness (sulea, beek, sarbescu, virga, & schaufeli, 2015). however, there are substantially more studies where the antecedents of work engagement are explored. study engagement and career adaptability. as far as career adaptability is concerned, there are some evidence that career adaptability predicts employees’ work engagement: career adaptability partially moderates the relationship between personality and work engagement (rossier, zecca, stauffer, maggiori, & dauwalder, 2012). in addition, negative links between career adaptability and burnout, and positive links between adaptability and dimensions of engagement have been established in a sample of spanish university students (merino-tejedor, hontangas, & boada-grau, 2016). moreover, the aforementioned study used career adaptability as a predictor of study engagement in a more complex model which included career construction behaviors and self-regulation and career adaptability predicted engagement. furthermore, merino-tejedor et al. (2016) suggest that study engagement can be viewed as an adaptation result, whereas career adaptability can be viewed as an adaptability resource for students struggling in the academic setting. thus, we hypothesize that there will be positive links between college students’ career adaptability and the three dimensions of students’ 2016, 18, 71–88 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 75 engagement. in addition, previous studies have shown that career adaptability predicts the expected career-related outcomes despite more stable dispositions, such as personality traits and demographic factors (e.g., zacher, 2014a). thus, we propose that career adaptability resources will predict study engagement even when controlling for more stable individual characteristics, namely, demographic factors. me thod participants participants were students from two colleges in lithuania. the final sample consisted of 273 students awarding professional bachelor’s degree in informational technologies (n = 200; 73.30 percent) and social sciences (n = 73; 26.70 percent). the sample consisted of 69.20 percent male (n = 187) and 30.80 percent female students (n = 86). the age of participants ranged from 18 to 39 (m age = 20.71, sd age = 2.89). among the participants, 45.20 percent (n = 126) were in their first study years, 30.80 percent (n = 86) in the second and 24.00 percent (n = 67) in their last year of studies. procedure data collection was conducted from december 2015 to february 2016. all participants were informed that participation was voluntary. the questionnaires were administered by researchers and were completed in lectures during regular lecture hours. participants were not paid for participation. measures the instruments were used with permissions from the authors of the measures. confirmatory factor analysis (cfa) with the maximum likelihood estimation in mplus 6 (muthén and muthén, 1998–2010) was performed in order to check the factor structure of the lithuanian version of the measures. model fit was ascertained using various indices: the comparative fit index (cfi) and the tucker-lewis index (tli) should exceed .90, the root mean square error of approximation (rmsea) should be less than .08, and standardized root mean square residual (srmr) should be less than .10 (hu & bentler, 1998; byrne, 2012). kristina paradnikė, rita bandzevičienė 76 career adaptability. career adaptability was measured with the career adapt-abilities scale-short form (caas-sf) developed by maggiori, rossier, and savickas (2015). the caas-sf contains twelve items that yield a total score indicating career adaptability of a participant. the scale consists of four subscales: (a) concern (3 items), a sample item is “thinking about what my future will be like”; (b) control (3 items), a sample item is “taking responsibility for my actions”; (c) curiosity (3 items), a sample item is “investigating options before making a choice”; (d) confidence (3 items), sample item is “taking care to do things well.” all items were scored on a five-point likert scale from 1 (not a strength) to 5 (greatest strength). cronbach’s alphas were .79, .74, .70, and .80 respectively for separate subscales and .89 for total scale. the results of cfa indicate that the four-factor structure provides an adequate fit to the data, χ2 = 116.38 (p< .05), df = 50; cfi = .95, tli = .94; rmsea = .070 [.05; .09]; srmr = .04. study engagement. students’ engagement was measured with the short version of utrecht work engagement scale – student version (uwess-9; schaufeli et al., 2002a; schaufeli, bakker, & salanova, 2006) that consists of three subscales: (a) vigor (3 items); a sample item is “when i’m doing my work as a student, i feel bursting with energy”, (b) dedication (3 items); a sample item is “my studies inspire me”, and (c) absorption (3 items); a sample item is “i am immersed in my studies.” all items were scored on a seven-point likert scale from 0 (never) to 6 (always/ every day). cronbach’s alphas were .72 for vigor, .86 for dedication and .68 for absorption subscale. the results of cfa indicate that the threefactor structure (with correlation between two items) provided a satisfactory fit to the data, χ2 = 65.17 (p< .05), df = 22; cfi = .97, tli = .94; rmsea = .085 [.06; .11]; srmr = .03. demographic variables. participants reported their age in years; gender (1 = male, and 2 = female); and which year of study they were in (1 = the first year of college, 2 = the second year of college, 3 = the final (third) year of college). 2016, 18, 71–88 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 77 results to understand the links between career adaptability and study engagement, correlations between dimensions of aforementioned constructs were computed. means, standard deviations, and correlations between study variables are reported in table 1. in addition, correlations between study variables and age were calculated. age had significant positive correlations with dedication (r = .21, p< .01) and absorption (r = .13, p< .05). the correlations between age and all other study variables (vigor, concern, control, curiosity, confidence and the total score of career adaptability) were non-significant (ranging from .01 to .11). table 1. summar y data and intercorrelations between study variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1. vigor – 2. dedication .69** – 3. absorption .67** .69** – 4. concern .20** .27** .32** – 6. control .18** .17** .20** .46** – 6. curiosity .11 .18** .26** .52** .56** – 7. confidence .25** .34** .34** .55** .60** .64** – 8. caas–sf .23** .30** .34** .78** .80** .83** .86** – m 2.82 3.31 2.99 10.03 11.36 10.70 11.26 43.34 sd 1.15 1.28 1.16 2.55 2.36 2.39 2.57 8.06 note. caas-sf – career adapt-abilities scale-short form (maggiori et al., 2015). n = 273 * p< .05, **p< .01. lso, to explore the connection between demographics and study variables, the means of all study variables were compared by gender and study year (table 2). female students had significantly higher scores of dedication, absorption, control and confidence; in addition, their total score of career adaptability was also significantly higher than that of male students. there were no significant differences when comparing their scores of vigor, concern, and curiosity. kristina paradnikė, rita bandzevičienė 78 table 2. independent group t-test between study variables and student ’s gender male female m sd m sd t–test cohen’s d 1. vigor 2,75 1,16 2,97 1,11 – 1.48 .19 2. dedication 3,18 1,19 3,57 1,42 – 2.21* .30 3. absorption 2,83 1,11 3,33 1,23 – 3.34** .43 4. concern 9,97 2,43 10,16 2,82 – .57 .07 6. control 11,17 2,41 11,78 2,21 – 2.01* .26 6. curiosity 10,51 2,34 11,09 2,46 – 1.84 .24 7. confidence 10,90 2,51 12,03 2,54 – 3.45** .45 8. caas-sf 42,55 7,88 45,07 8,21 – 2.42* .31 note. caas-sf – career adapt-abilities scale-short form (maggiori et al., 2015). n = 273 (n males = 187; n females = 86). * p< .05, **p< .01. when comparing students by their study year, the only significant difference was found in scores of vigor (f (2, 270) = 4.04, p< .05, η2= .03). post hoc comparisons using bonferroni test indicated that students in their second study year significantly differed from those in their last study year (m 2nd year students = 3.07, sd 2nd year students = 0.96 and m 3rd year students = 2.54, sd 3rd year students = 1.01; mean difference = .52, p< .05), while the first year students didn’t differ significantly from their older counterparts (m 1st year students = 2.80, sd 1st year students = 1.30). it was expected that career adaptability would positively predict the components of study engagement (i.e., vigor, dedication, and absorption). regression analyses were used to test the hypothesis (see table 3). in the first step, age, gender and study year were included as control variables, similarly to previous studies where those variables were used for controlling effects of career adaptability (zacher, 2014a). in the second step, the four resources of career adaptability, namely, concern, control, curiosity, and confidence, were added. 2016, 18, 71–88 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 79 table 3.summary of hierarchical multiple regression analyses predicting study engagement variables vigor dedication absorption β r2 ∆r2 β r2 ∆r2 β r2 ∆r2 step 1 study year gender age – .16* .09 .15* .03* – – .17* .11 .25** .07** – – .17* .20** .15* .07** – step 2 study year gender age concern control curiosity confidence – .16* .05 .13 .12 .05 – .13 .22* .10** .07** – .17** .06 .24** .15* – .08 – .07 .34** .19** .12** – .18** .16** .14* .21** – .06 .04 .20* .19** .12** note. gender: 1 = male, 2 = female, study year: 1 = the first year of college, 2 = the second year of college, 3 = the third year of college. n = 273. * p < .05, **p < .01. the analyses revealed that study year (β = − .16) and age (β = .15) were significant predictors of the vigor. older students of lower courses reported being more vigorous while studying. the model based on control variables explained vigor at a rate of 3 percent (r2 = .03, 95% confidence interval (ci) [.01, .06], f(3, 269) = 3.06, p< .05). in the second step, only study year (β = .16) and confidence (β = .22) were significant predictors. the career adaptability resources raised the model’s explained variance to 10 percent (r2 = .10, 95% ci [.03, .17], f(7, 265) = 4.32, p< .01). in the first step of analysis, study year (β = − .17) and age (β = .25) were significant predictors of the dedication. thus, similarly as in the case of vigor, dedication was higher for older students who were studying in lower courses. the model based on control variables explained 7 percent of variance (r2 = .07, 95% ci [.01, .13], f(3, 269) = 6.85, p< .01). in the second step, concern (β = .15) and confidence (β = .34) added additional 12 percent of explained variance by raising r square to .19 (ci [.11, .27], f(7, 265) = 8.89, p< .01). kristina paradnikė, rita bandzevičienė 80 finally, in the first step of analysis, study year (β = − .17), age (β = .15) and gender (β = .20) were significant predictors of the absorption. the model based on control variables explained 7 percent of variance (r2 = .07, 95% ci [.01, .13], f(3, 269) = 6.48, p< .01). in the second step, adding concern (β = .21) and confidence (β = .20) raised model’s predictive value to 19 percent (r2 = .19, ci [.11, .27], f(7, 265) = 8.88, p< .01). thus, reported dedication and absorption were higher among students with higher concern and confidence. discussion the purpose of this study was to analyze the links between college students’ career adaptability and study engagement. according to the career construction theory (savickas, 2005), career adaptability resources are necessary in order for individuals to successfully fit themselves to occupations, work and life situations that suit them. thus, it is possible that greater levels of career adaptability resources could lead to a better adaptation and well-being in the academic setting. given that study engagement can be viewed as an adaptation result (merinotejedor et al., 2016) and is considered to be a state that reflects students’ occupational well-being (salanova et al., 2010), we hypothesized that the dimensions of career adaptability, i.e., concern, control, curiosity, and confidence, would predict the components of study engagement, i.e., vigor, dedication and absorption. as it was expected, all components of study engagement positively correlated with the general score of career adaptability and the scores of separate components of career adaptabilities, with one exception – vigor did not have significant links with curiosity. despite this exception, the results support the previous findings in employees (rossier et al., 2012) and university students’ samples (merino-tejedor et al., 2016). in accordance with previous studies (merino-tejedor et al., 2016), confidence had the strongest correlations with components of engagement. the components of career adaptability predicted vigor, dedication, and absorption above control variables further supporting the importance of career adaptability resources in the academic setting. thus, the results support the hypothesis that career adaptability resources are important predictors of vigor, dedication and absorption. however, 2016, 18, 71–88 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 81 it is important to note that only concern and confidence were significant predictors of engagement dimensions. these results are in line with previous studies where only some dimensions of career adaptability were significant predictors of career-related outcomes (guan et al., 2013; duffy et al., 2015; monteiro & almeida, 2015). concern, which is a resource that helps individuals look ahead and prepare for what might come next (savickas & porfeli, 2012), was a predictor of dedication and absorption. according to savickas (2005), individuals engage in activities and experiences if they believe that their present activities might lead to preferred future. thus, it is possible that to be dedicated and absorbed in one’s studies, one needs to be concerned about a certain future vision, goal or plan to give more of one’s time to the chosen studies and to see more meaning in the tasks that have to be done to achieve that desired future goals. moreover, all dimensions of engagement can be predicted by confidence which is necessary for the individuals to achieve their aspirations and is built through various exploration experiences and information-seeking activities (savickas & porfeli, 2012). confidence leads to engaging and mastering vocational development tasks, transitions and personal traumas (savickas, 2005). the results of the current study suggest that either confidence in one’s abilities might be also a facilitator of study engagement or there are some other underlying factors, such as beliefs or some personality traits, that lead to both greater confidence and study engagement. in addition, our study further adds to the notion that it is beneficial to investigate the differential effects of different career adaptability dimensions regarding career-related outcomes of interest, as offered by hirschi et al. (2015). a similar issue should be addressed regarding the multidimensionality of study engagement. schaufeli et al. (2002a) raise a question whether different engagement dimensions have similar antecedents and consequences. the results of our study support the multidimensionality of study engagement. vigor, dedication, and absorption had slightly different predictors. this is an important addendum to previous research, especially taken into consideration that the components of engagement are relatively similar, e.g., being fully immersed in one’s activities goes along with high levels of energy and vice versa (schaufeli et al., 2002a). this means that even though some kristina paradnikė, rita bandzevičienė 82 studies use engagement as a unidimensional construct (merino-tejedor et al., 2016; sulea et al., 2015; mokgele& rothmann, 2014), it is worthwhile considering the differences of the three aspects of engagement. implications. regarding the overall results of our study, there are some practical implications that might be considered. previous studies have linked career adaptability to various positive outcomes (guan et al., 2013; tolentino et al., 2014; duffy et al., 2015). it is possible that study engagement could also be one of those outcomes. we suggest that adding career adaptability to career counseling might be highly beneficial, and not only in relation to study engagement. several previous studies have proven the benefits of career construction counseling (maree, 2015; cardoso, silva, gonçales, & duarte, 2014) and training devoted to enhancing career adaptability resources (koen, klehe, & van vianen, 2012). furthermore, monteiro and almeida (2015) suggest that practical experiences and fostering career adaptability during higher education studies are ways of helping graduates to manage the transition to professional contexts. the school-to-work transition is one of the most critical steps in graduates’ careers that can determine vocational outcomes and future career success (koen et al., 2012). hence, career counseling or interventions based on career construction theory (savickas, 2005) might be very advantageous. limitations and future research. our study has several shortcomings that need to be addressed. first of all, the study has a limitation of employing across-sectional design. a cross-lagged analysis with several measurements over time could allow investigating the causal and reciprocal relationships between study engagement and career adaptability. similar studies have previously explored the links between job and personal resources and work engagement in samples of employees (hakanen & schaufeli, 2012; simbula, guglielmi, & schaufeli, 2011; xanthopoulou et al., 2009). also, an experimental or quasi-experimental approach could help reveal how different interventions or counseling strategies affect both career adaptability and study engagement. some studies have measured the effects of interventions on study engagement (bresó, schaufeli, & salanova, 2011) and work engagement (ouweneel, le blanc, & schaufeli, 2013; akkermans et al., 2015). however, to our knowledge, there are no studies where the effects of career construction counseling would be measured in regards to study engagement. 2016, 18, 71–88 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 83 since study engagement might be considered as adaptation result (merino-tejedor et al., 2016), this could be a perspective direction to explore. furthermore, career construction theory (savickas, 2005) emphasizes the abilities to adapt to changes, transitions, and life tasks. however, it is uncertain if the four career adaptability resources can sufficiently explain successful career behaviors and occupational wellbeing alone. obviously, career adaptability is extremely beneficial for individual as indicated by previous research (e.g., nilforooshan & salimi, 2016; brown, bimrose, barnes, & hughes, 2012; zacher, 2014a). the links between career adaptability and study engagement that have been established in the current study support the importance of career adaptability resources. still, it is important to understand whether more general resources representing individual’s personal responsibility and flexibility, e.g., general adaptability (hamtiaux, houssemand, & vrignaud, 2013), might play an even more important role when adapting in the academic setting and preparing for a transition to the labor market. conclusion psychology is constantly evolving due to the changes in environment and societies. naturally, new trends and constructs occur. the links between two of those constructs were the focus of the present study. one was career adaptability, which has evolved due to the shifts and changes in vocational psychology, and the other was engagement, which has developed with the growing interest in human strengths and optimal functioning. both of the constructs are crucially important for students while they are struggling in the academic setting and preparing to transition to the labor market. the findings of the study revealed that career adaptability resources were linked to college students’ engagement, meaning that students with higher levels of concern, control, curiosity and confidence feel more immersed in their studies, more energetic and more dedicated. in addition, concern was a significant predictor of dedication and absorption, while confidence was a significant predictor of all study engagement dimensions above the individual characteristics, such as age, gender and study year. despite the limitations of the study, the results support the importance of career adaptability resources for college students’ well-being, expressed as high levels of study engagement when preparing to enter the work world. kristina paradnikė, rita bandzevičienė 84 references akkermans, j., brenninkmeijer, v., schaufeli, w. b., & blonk, r. b. 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(2014b). individual difference predictors of change in career adaptability over time. journal of vocational behavior, 84(2), 188–198. doi:10.1016/ j.jvb.2014.01.001. kristina paradnikė, rita bandzevičienė 88 k ar jeros konstr avimas ak ademinė je aplinkoje: sąsa jos tarp k ar jeros adapt y vumo ir įsitr aukimo į studijas kristina paradnikė, r ita b andzevičienė mykolo romerio universitetas, lietuva santrauka. tyrimo problema. tyrėjai pabrėžia, kad žmonėms ypač svarbus adaptyvus karjeros elgesys ir resursai, padedantys valdyti karjeros raidą. dėl to atsiranda naujų konstruktų, padedančių individui sėkmingai valdyti savo karjerą. vienas iš jų yra karjeros adaptyvumas, apimantis tokius resursus kaip susirūpinimas, kontrolė, smalsumas ir pasitikėjimas. šiame tyrime siekiama atrasti sąsajas tarp šių resursų ir įsitraukimo į studijas. įsitraukimas ankstesniuose tyrimuose ne kartą naudotas kaip profesinės gerovės indikatorius tiek darbuotojų, tiek studentų imtyse. be to, įsitraukimas kai kurių\ autorių laikomas adaptacijos rezultatu. taigi, kalbant apie karjeros adaptyvumą, tikėtina, kad įsitraukimas į studijas yra vienas iš daugelio pozityvių su karjera susijusių rezultatų. tikslas. tyrimo tikslas – ištirti sąsajas tarp kolegijų studentų karjeros adaptyvumo ir įsitraukimo į studijas. tiriamieji ir metodai. tyrime dalyvavo 273 kolegijų studentai (amžiaus vidurkis = 20,71, sd = 2,89). tyrime naudoti instrumentai: karjeros adaptyvumo skalės trumpoji versija (caas-sf; maggiori et al., 2015), utrechto įsitraukimo į darbą skalės trumpoji studentų versija (schaufeli et al., 2002) ir demografinių duomenų klausimynas. rezultatai. karjeros adaptyvumo resursai – susirūpinimas, kontrolė, smalsumas ir pasitikėjimas – buvo susiję su įsi traukimu į studijas: energingumu, pasinėrimu ir atsidavimu. susirūpinimas ir pasiti kėjimas statistiškai reikšmingai prognozavo įsitraukimo dimensijas. išvados. rezultatai patvirtina karjeros adaptyvumo resursų reikšmę kolegijų studentų įsitraukimui į studijas. pagrindiniai žodžiai: karjeros adaptyvumo resursai, įsitraukimas, studentai. received: june 22, 2016 accepted: august 4, 2016 133 the 15th international symposium “recent research topics in psychology: international experience” at universit y of nebr ask a at kearney & vytautas magnus universit y, april, 22, 2015 abstr ac ts emotional and behavioral difficulties in children referred for learning disabilities from two arab countries: a cross-cultural examination of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire mogeda el-keshky, mahmoud emam sultan qaboos university the strengths and difficulties questionnaire (sdq) is a widely used child mental health questionnaire with five hypothesized subscales. there is theoretical and preliminary empirical support for combining the sdq’s hypothesized emotional and peer subscales into an ‘internalizing’ subscale and the hypothesized behavioural and hyperactivity subscales into an ‘externalizing’ subscale (alongside the fifth prosocial subscale). we examined both structures using the teacher informant version data from two arab countries, namely saudi arabia (323) and oman (439). multigroup cfas based on structural equation modelling revealed culture invariance for the sdq. the three-factor model showed a better description of the sdq structure. the analysis also revealed gender invariance for the sdq three and five factor models in both the omani and saudi samples. there were gender differences in all the three and five factors between the saudi and omani samples. information 134 dynamic approach to the changes of intelligence and links between intelligence and academic self-concept during period of 16-17 years jurga misiuniene vytautas magnus university introduction. scientific literature argues that general intelligence is quite constant. however, according to investment theory (cattell, 1987), fluid and crystallized intelligence varies depending on age. up to 24 year old fluid and crystallized intelligence increases, then the estimates of crystallized intelligence stabilize, while the estimates of fluid intelligence start decreasing. intelligence is one of the most important factors of school achievements. another factor of success in learning process might be an academic self-concept. it includes an image of you in schooling, so studies of links between academic self-concept and intelligence are meaningful in educational contexts. it is possible that higher intelligence is linked with more positive academic self-concept. methodology. longitudinal study was implemented during the period of 2010–2011, in lithuania. 75 students (59 girls, 16 boys) took part in intelligence testing for two times. the aim of research was to analyze changes of intellectual abilities during the period of 15 months. the age of participants: 16 year old (i measurement) and 17 year old (ii measurement). the aim of the study was to investigate changes of fluid and crystallized intelligence during the adolescence and evaluate links between self-concept in academic activity and intelligence. intelligence structure test i-s-t 2000r (amthauer & etc., 2007), designed for measuring fluid and crystallized intelligence and general academic self-concept (differentielle schulische selbstkonzept gitter; rost, lamfuss, 1992) (cited by rost, sparfeldt, schilling, 2007) and the scale of self-concept in individual subjects (skala zur erfassung des selbstkonzepts schulischer leistungen und fähigkeiten; rost, sparfeld, schilling, 2002), designed form measuring self-concept in academic activity, mathematics and lithuanian language, were used. the main results. the analysis of research data revealed that standardized iq estimates of first and second intelligence measurement were characterized by statistically significant increase during research period (η2=0.636, η2=0.286, p<0.001, resp.). boys demonstrated higher fluid intelligence than girls (η2=0.105, p<0.001). more positive academic self-concept is linked with higher fluid and crystallized intelligence (η2=0.173, η2=0.111, p<0.05, resp.), and more positive self-concept in mathematics is linked with higher fluid and crystallized intelligence (η2=0.306, η2=0.105, p<0.05, resp.). the gender and more positive self-concept factors are not related to the more significant changes of fluid and crystallized intelligence (p>0.05). conclusions and implication. adolescents’ fluid and crystallized intelligence is growing in the period of 16–17 years, when the period between observations is 15 months. the male gender is associated with higher fluid, but not crystallized intelligence. higher self-concept in academic activities and mathematics but not in lithuanian language is linked with higher intelligence among the adolescents of 16-17 years old during the tests of both intellect types. these findings support the dynamic approach to the changes of intelligence during the lifespan, and encourage further interest in the factors that could accelerate the growth of fluid and crystallized intelligence among 16–17 year olds. 135 social, emotional and mental health difficulties (semh) in uk schools janet muscutt international school psychology association in september 2014 the children and families act placed a responsibility on schools and colleges to reframe how they view withdrawn, isolated, challenging, disruptive or disturbing behaviour in children and young people as: “these behaviours may reflect underlying mental health difficulties or disorders” (6:29). schools are now required have clear processes to support young people with mental health difficulties and to have systems to promote emotional wellbeing. this presentation will explore the impact, to date, on the uk education system following the move to make schools responsible for children’s mental health, the decade of initiatives which preceded this position and the role of the educational psychologist in supporting and facilitating the change process. investigation on the relations of compassion, forgiveness and subjective well-being among filipino counseling professionals maryfe m. roxas philippine normal university, university of santo tomas graduate school this study examined a conceptual model depicting the associations of compassion, forgiveness and subjective well-being in a sample of filipino counseling professionals. a model illustrating a conceptual process describing compassion for others and self-compassion predict forgiveness of others and self, which in turn predict subjective well-being. the proposed model was tested through path analysis using the structural equation modeling (sem) approach. data were collected using self-report questionnaires, administered to filipino counseling professionals enrolled in the graduate programs in various academic institutions in the philippines. results of the path analysis revealed acceptable model fit for the model. self-compassion was associated with both forgiveness of others and forgiveness of self; whereas, compassion for others was only associated with forgiveness of others. only forgiveness of others was significantly associated to subjective well-being. moreover, test of indirect effects showed that forgiveness of others mediate the association between compassion for others and subjective well-being and between self-compassion and subjective well-being theoretical and practical implications especially for filipino counseling professionals are discussed. 136 importance of the first grade pupils’ learning motivation, school anxiety, and social competence for their academic achievement in the second grade sarune magelinskaite-legkauskiene, albina kepalaite vytautas magnus university introduction. while intelligence is often posited to be the primary factor contributing to academic achievement, previous studies have identified a wider range of contributing factors, including learning motivation, social competence and school anxiety. however, studies of links between these factors and academic achievement in primary school remain few and far between, even though academic achievement in primary school represents a strong predictor of academic success in later years. no longitudinal studies of these variables have been conducted in lithuania. good academic achievement is defined as pupil’s ability to achieve high learning results, as required by teaching program standards of the educational system. early learning experiences are closely linked to subsequent success experiences in school environment, thus it is important to study factors predicting academic achievement of children. thus, the purpose of the present study was to assess the importance of learning motivation, school anxiety, and social competence in the first grade for academic achievement in the second grade. method. participants were 419 children (191 boys and 228 girls) attending the 1st grade (modal age 7 years). same participants were surveyed a year after. the study was conducted in 14 big schools located in the second largest city in lithuania. class teachers completed questionnaires assessing academic achievement, social competence and school anxiety of participating pupils. children completed a questionnaire assessing their learning motivation. academic achievement was measured assessing performance in native language (lithuanian) and mathematics. as different schools use different grading systems, all teachers were asked to assess mathematics and native language knowledge on the 5-point likert scale (from 1 = poor to 5 = excellent). teachers rated social competence of pupils on the 29-item primary school social competence scale (psscs) developed for the present study. school anxiety of children was measured by the school anxiety scale (sas) developed by lyneham et al. (2008). this scale was completed by teachers. learning motivation was measured using a 14 item scale created on the basis of the elementary school motivation scale (esms) developed by guay et al. (2010). main results. results of the study showed significant gender differences in academic achievement in the second grade, girls scoring higher than boys. regression analysis revealed that for both boys and girls academic achievement in the second grade was predicted only by social competence in the first grade (boys β = 0,347; t=4,88; p < 0.001, girls β = 0,482; t=8,13; p < 0.001). for girls social competence in the first grade accounted for 23 of variance in academic achievement in the second grade. for boys this figure was 12%. neither learning motivation nor school anxiety in the first grade was significant predictor of academic achievement in the second grade. conclusions and implication. social competence of children entering the primary school represents a very significant factor, which has a lasting impact on academic achievement in the primary school. results of this study suggest that more structured approach to promotion of social competence among preschoolers and first graders should be considered. 137 international perspective of temperament styles in children and youth: evidence from 20 countries carmelo callueng university of nebraska-kearney current scholarship generally characterizes temperament as stylistic and relatively stable traits that subsume intrinsic tendencies to act and react in somewhat predictable ways to people, events, and other stimuli. an understanding of children’s temperament preferences aids our understanding of the origins of behaviors as well as normal attitudes children display at home, school, and elsewhere. the concept of temperament has evolved from a classic (hippocrates and galen) to a modern (jung and myers and briggs) perspective. two theoretical orientations (thomas and chess as well as oakland and colleagues) provide somewhat popular methods to explain temperament constructs displayed by children and youth. this paper introduces oakland and colleagues’ approach to temperament in children ages 8-17 in terms of the eight basic styles that are grouped into four bipolar traits: extroverted or introverted, practical or imaginative, thinking or feeling, and organized or flexible styles. descriptions of the temperament styles and their corresponding behavioral characteristics in children are included. the paper concludes with findings from 20 countries on children’s temperaments using international adaptations of student styles questionnaire (ssq). toward understanding school psychology in international schools aaron d. haddock, shane r. jimerson university of california international schools are an increasingly important component of the global education system. some international schools employ school psychologists, however, the extent and nature of school psychology’s presence in international schools is currently not well understood. this presentation will provide an overview of the international school context, share information on the extent and nature of psychological and educational support services in international schools, and offer insights into the unique needs of globally-mobile students and families. preliminary research results will be shared on data currently being collected from school psychologists and educational professionals with experience in international schools. information on current initiatives by the international school psychology association’s school psychology in international schools interest group will also be shared, including the potential for school psychology internships in international schools throughout the world. 2019_international journal of psychology 2019_23_book 1.indb scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2019 / 23 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.23.7 advoc ating for adolescent substance use recovery: an alternative model christina l. chasek1 university of nebraska at kearney, usa judith a. nelson university of arizona, usa rochelle cade university of mary hardin-baylor, usa kristin page university of the cumberlands, usa bryan stare university of north carolina at charlotte, usa george stoupas palm beach state college, usa abstract. adolescents at risk for substance use disorders face unique challenges in recovery when compared with adults. counselors may seek to address developmental considerations with such clients, but often lack diagnostic and community resources necessary to provide holistic care. the alternative peer group model shows promise in addressing adolescent recovery, however, more research is needed. we conclude from the limited research that has been conducted on apgs that there are positive aspects to consider in implementing this model including a positive peer group that offers support in recovery, 12-step meetings that are adapted specifically for adolescents, parent education and support, and community outreach to other treatment facilities and mental health providers. we also suggest that an important way to advocate for adolescent recovery from substance use disorder is for researchers to continue to conduct rigorous studies on this model as well as other promising recovery support systems for adolescents while recognizing the unique differences between adult and adolescent recovery. keywords: adolescent recovery, peer support groups, advocacy. 1 address for correspondence: christina l. chasek, department of counseling and school psychology, university of nebraska kearney college of education building, rm b-148, kearney, ne 68849 email: chasekc1@unk.edu 133 christina l. chasek, judith a. nelson, rochelle cade, kristin page, bryan stare, george stoupas 134 advoc ating for adolescent substance use recovery: an alternative model according to the national survey on drug use and health (substance abuse and mental health services administration [samhsa], 2017), 1 in 10 individuals in the united states over the age of 12 have used illicit drugs in the past month and 1 in 4 young adults between the ages of 18 to 25 have used illicit drugs. during this same time period, 1.6 million adolescents ages 12–17 were current users of marijuana, 0.4 million adolescents were nonmedical users of prescription drugs, and 2.3 million adolescents were regular users of alcohol. overall an estimated 1.1 million adolescents aged 12–17 had a diagnosable substance use disorder in 2016. in 2016, an estimated 1.1 million adolescents aged 12–17 needed substance use treatment, however, only 0.7% of those actually received it (samhsa, 2017). these numbers reflect the on-going need for adolescent treatment and recovery services that target their unique developmental needs such as increased environmental pressure to use substances, heightened sensitivity to substances, lower tolerance, and developing cognitive processes that are incomplete and predispose the teen to taking risks. because of these unique needs, designing treatment and recovery programs for this population is often challenging. providers must understand the unique signs of adolescent substance use, the risk factors associated with recovery for adolescents, the consequences of untreated substance use for adolescents, diagnostic issues related to adolescent substance use, and models that address adolescent recovery needs. this paper will explore the unique aspects of adolescent recovery, describe and propose an alternative model for recovery programs that are designed for this population, and suggest ways to advocate for strengthening adolescent recovery programs. our aim is to provide information regarding adolescent substance use and recovery issues that will prompt mental health professionals who work with this population to consider the unique developmental needs of teens in recovery so that they might implement appropriate and effective interventions such as the model proposed in this paper. 2019, 23, 133–152 p.advocating for adolescent substance use recover y: an alternative model 135 signs of adolescent substance use the signs of adolescent substance use fall into two categories, physical and behavioral/cognitive (national institute on drug abuse [nida], 2014). adolescents who are misusing substances may show physical signs such as poor coordination, appetite changes, sleeping and waking problems, red watery eyes and pupil changes, runny nose or persistent cough, puffiness and swelling, nausea, abdominal pain, tremors, and irregular heartrate. other physical signs include the smell of alcohol or smoke on the youth, needle marks on arms or legs, and difficulty speaking or breathing. there may be unexplained weight gain or loss, poor oral hygiene, sores, or constant scatching and picking (ali et al., 2011). these symptoms are often mislabeled as other physical illnesses. however, if physical illness is ruled out then assessing for substance use should occur (nida, 2014). the behavioral and cognitive signs of substance abuse are also often attributed to the normal attributes of puberty and turbulent developmental phases of adolescence (nida, 2014). behavioral and cognitive signs should be carefully evaluated to determine if substances are an underlying case of such turbulence, as the earliest sign of adolescent substance use is a change in behavior and mannerisms (ali et al., 2011, castellanos-ryan, parent, vitaro, & tremblay, 2013). adolescents who are abusing substances often have overall changes in personality, habits, and interests. adolescents may withdraw from family members and become moody, oversensitive, irritable, or nervous (copeland, fisher, moody, & feinberg, 2018). teens who are using substances often avoid usual family bonding time, routines, and activities (ali et al., 2011). they may act aggressively or exhibit a lack of motivation and self-esteem. youth may often change peer groups and activities, or exhibit a drop in academic or work performance and a lack of concentration or focus (ali et al., 2011). behaviors include dishonesty, secrecy, and stealing. using room deodorizers and perfumes as well as possession of drug paraphernalia all point to substance use (nida, 2014). if these warning signs are taken seriously and are acted upon swiftly, there is great hope for recovery from substances. christina l. chasek, judith a. nelson, rochelle cade, kristin page, bryan stare, george stoupas 136 risk fac tors and consequences of adolescent drug use according to robertson, david, and rao (2003), risk factors for adolescent drug use include family problems such as a lack of nurturing and ineffective parenting particularly during a child’s early development. drug use on the part of caregivers also puts children at risk (will & yaeger, 2003). risk factors outside of the family system might include poor school behavior, academics, and associations with drug-abusing peers, particularly during adolescence. community risk factors include the availability of drugs and trafficking patterns as well as a tolerance and acceptability of drug use (monahan, egan, van horn, arthur, & hawkins, 2011). additionally, transitions that create a great deal of stress in children such as moving to a new neighborhood and school can cause them to turn to drug use. children who have other mental health disorders, have low self-esteem, or who have been sexually abused might be at a higher risk for drug use. the consequences of adolescent drug use are many, costly, and often have lasting effects for individuals, families, and communities. according to researchers (centers for disease control, 2010; sacks, gonzales, bouchery, tomedi, & brewer, 2015), excessive drinking was responsible for more than 4,300 deaths and $24 billion in economic costs in 2010. these deaths included suicide, homicide, drunk driving accidents, and drug overdoses. according to the youth risk behavior survey (centers for disease control, 2007), students who binge drank were more likely than those who did not binge drink to engage in risky and health compromising behaviors such as smoking, being sexually active, riding in a car with someone who is driving under the influence, being a victim of dating violence, attempting suicide, and using illicit drugs. clearly the risks are great for adolescent drug and alcohol use making it important for the mental health community to understand the unique aspects of adolescent recovery so that these professionals are equipped to provide the best recovery support for this age group. 2019, 23, 133–152 p.advocating for adolescent substance use recover y: an alternative model 137 unique aspec ts of adolescent recovery adolescent recovery has some unique aspects to it that differ from adults. first, states of recovery may look different in adolescent populations. according to the betty ford institute, “recovery may be the best word to summarize all the positive benefits to physical, mental and social health that can happen when alcohol – and other drug – dependent individuals get the help they need” (the betty ford consensus panel, 2007, p. 225). the word recovery is widely used as a term to describe complete abstinence from substance use. however, researchers point out that adolescents often return to drug use (or relapse) within one year of treatment, but many do not continue their substance-dependent behaviors into adulthood (winters, botzet, fahnhorst, & koskey, 2009). satre, mertens, arean, and weisner (2004) identified that adolescents experience more pressure to use chemical substances, thereby increasing their relapse potential. therefore, recovery must be viewed within the context of day-to-day living. researchers have also pointed out that recovery for an adolescent may be defined as a decrease in symptomology or harm reduction instead of total abstinence (logan & marlatt, 2010). there are important considerations when looking at adolescents’ recovery processes and developing recovery programs. for example, adolescents might require a longer recovery period than adults due to developmental stage related challenges. they have not accomplished developmental tasks necessary for moving towards maturity, making recovery even more challenging than for a fully developed adult (van der westhuizen, 2015). adolescents have a heightened sensitivity, compared with adults, to the effects of substances and addiction due to significant neurodevelopmental changes and environmental influences associated with their developmental stages (brown et al., 2008; mee-lee, shulman, fishman, gastfriend, & griffith, 2001). while these enhanced effects can be detrimental, this is also the optimal time to provide interventions (galvan, 2014; steinberg, 2008). in addition, adolescents have unique developmental and psychiatric issues when compared with adults. specifically, adolescents have a lower tolerance for substances due to their smaller body size and underdeveloped brain that increases their risk for drug use and physical consequences of that use (galvan, 2014). use of substances in adolescence can disrupt their overall development, christina l. chasek, judith a. nelson, rochelle cade, kristin page, bryan stare, george stoupas 138 impairing their ability to handle life situations and to function independently (van der westhuizen, 2015). in addition, their awareness of feelings and the ability to deal with those feelings are not yet as well developed as adults (van der westhuizen, 2015). finally, adolescents have different environmental considerations than adults such as the strong influence of peer systems and less dependence on the family unit. adolescents need to have a specific focus on building appropriate peer relationships, as they may not have developed these due to having missed typical developmental stages (malhotra, basu, & guptra, 2007). adolescents need to be reintegrated into their families, their communities, and their education systems (van der westhuizen, 2015). yet, challenges still exist as mental health professionals attempt to appropriately diagnose adolescents and define what recovery for this unique group will look like. challenges of the dsm5 symptomology for adolescent addic tion in 2013, the dsm-5 workgroup drastically changed the diagnostic criteria for what are now called substance use disorders (sud). this involved the elimination of separate categories for abuse and dependence, replaced instead with a unitary diagnosis that included 11 possible symptoms ranging from social impairment to pharmacological criteria. while this change was met with both praise and criticism from experts in the field, it had particularly significant implications for adolescent treatment and prevention. as noted by kaminer and winters (2012), adolescents are not just miniature adults. substance use and misuse at this stage of development is both quantitatively and qualitatively different from that of adults. according to the 2015 national survey on drug use and health (nsduh), approximately 1.2 million adolescents aged 12 to 17 met the criteria for substance use disorder (center for behavioral health statistics and quality, 2016). this amounts to about 5% of all adolescents, or 1 in 20. by contrast, the percentage of adults aged 18 to 26 who met the criteria for sud was 15.3%; for those aged 26 and older, it was 6.9%. this disparity between adolescent and adult substance use softens slightly when considering not disorder criteria, but simply any illicit substance use. in the same survey year, 8.8% of adolescents reported 2019, 23, 133–152 p.advocating for adolescent substance use recover y: an alternative model 139 using illicit substances in the past month, whereas it was 22.3% of young adults (18-25) and 8.2% of those 26 years and older. winters (2013, 2011) identified a number of limitations to applying the dsm-5 criteria to adolescent substance use. tolerance and withdrawal have long been seen as hallmarks of addiction; however, these psychopharmacological criteria demand special consideration when applied to adolescents. these symptoms correspond to neurological development and how long an individual has been using substances, both of which depend heavily on age. for example, a 12-year-old who has only recently started to use alcohol may respond very differently from a 17-year-old with the same behavior. additionally, withdrawal typically appears only after years of heavy use; most adolescents simply have not been using long enough to experience this phenomenon. another challenge was in how to conceptualize adolescent craving for substances. the dsm defines this as “an intense desire or urge for the drug”, often experienced in settings related to previous substance use (american psychiatric association, 2013, p. 483). such an occurrence is a basic concept in classical conditioning: drug use produces pleasurable feelings, and so situations (i.e., people, places, and things) that remind the individual of these feelings will produce an urge to use the drugs again. when considering adolescents, however, the source of reinforcement may not be the substance itself. for example, teenagers whose drug use is rewarded by peer group approval may report cravings to use, when in fact it is the desire for socialization and peer group acceptance (allen, chango, szwedo, schad, & marston, 2012; van hemel-ruiter, de jong, ostafin, & oldehinkel, 2015). another problem is the hazardous use criterion when assessing adolescents using dsm-5. for many counselors, the first scenario that comes to mind is driving under the influence of a substance. however, this situation does not apply to many adolescents because they do not have access to vehicles, hence this developmentally bound criterion requires special scrutiny with the adolescent population. in creating the single sud diagnosis, the dsm-5 authors developed criteria for differentiating mild, moderate, and severe presentations based on the number of symptoms present in the individual. for mild cases, the threshold was set at two symptoms. this means that a person could be formally diagnosed with a sud if she had, for instance, craving and problems in school related to her substance use. as with the other christina l. chasek, judith a. nelson, rochelle cade, kristin page, bryan stare, george stoupas 140 diagnostic guidelines previously mentioned, these criteria present challenges when applied to adolescents. many of the symptoms outlined in the dsm-5 can be understood as normal experiences in adolescent development, such as risky behavior and experimentation. using this framework to assess an adolescent’s behavior may result in misdiagnosis in the affirmative, leaving him or her with the stigma associated with this lifelong label. to measure the impact of these changes on how counselors approach diagnosis, kelly, gryczynski, mitchell, kirk, o’grady, and schwartz (2014) examined the concordance between dsm-5 and dsm-iv nicotine, alcohol, and cannabis use disorder diagnoses among 525 adolescents. they found that diagnoses were more frequently given for all substances using the new criteria. moreover, some adolescents who were previously considered diagnostic orphans because they did not meet criteria under dsm-iv, now qualified for a sud. the authors conclude that the new criteria effectively widened the net, catching adolescents who would previously go undiagnosed. haney-caron, brogan, nemoyer, kelley, and heilbrun (2016) reached similar conclusions in their review of the impact of dsm-5 changes on juvenile justice. taking adolescent differences from adults in recovery and the conundrum of the dsm-5 diagnostic criteria for sud as it pertains to adolescents into consideration, recovery support interventions for adolescents is explored next. recovery support systems according to the substance abuse and mental health services administration (2015), many behavioral health systems have made a dramatic shift in focusing on recovery as a state that anyone with substance use problems or mental health issues can attain. recovery support systems move from an acute care or crisis centered approach to one that is a model of chronic care (kaplan, 2008; white, 2002). recovery and recovery oriented-behavioral health systems provide a positive and lifeaffirming approach to those who seek help, including adolescents. the following principles represent samhsa’s (2012) working definition of recovery: “a process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential” (p. 3). this definition provides a more thorough and inclusive 2019, 23, 133–152 p.advocating for adolescent substance use recover y: an alternative model 141 definition of recovery, rather than stating what recovery is not, namely the absence of the use of substances. recovery is a state of being encompassing all aspects of an individual’s life, and each person is empowered to choose the path to recovery that best fits his or her personal characteristics and situation. how one further develops and integrates these aspects of his or her life into a new state of being defines recovery. this meaning of recovery allows for unique opportunities of growth in working with adolescents, whose development in these areas is often less crystalized than those of adults. mental health professionals are in unique positions to support adolescents in recovery from alcohol and drug use. one of those ways is to promote recovery support systems that provide teens with the unique tools that they need to recover from risky behaviors that can lead to morbidity and early mortality. we propose the use of an alternative model that is based solely on the needs of adolescents rather than using interventions such as alcoholics anonymous that have been successful with adult populations. while the model has been used since 1971, it has had renewed interest in the current decade due to increases in adolescent drug use and the need for interventions that are appropriate for the developmental stage of adolescence (collier, hilliker, & onwuegbuzie, 2014). this model also aligns with the definition of recovery as it allows for adolescents to grow and recover in a community that addresses their health and wellness needs beyond remaining abstinent from substances. a proposed alternative model: the alternative peer group the history of the alternative peer group. the alternative peer group (apg) model first appeared in 1971 in the palmer episcopal church in downtown houston, texas, and was known as the palmer drug abuse program (pdap). formed by father charlie wyatt-brown, the rector of palmer memorial episcopal church, the organization reached out to youth who wanted to recover from drug and alcohol use and provided them with love, support, and hope (palmer drug abuse program, n.d.). this intervention is based on the premise that alcoholics anonymous is not quite what teens in recovery need, but rather they require support from others their own age who are also in recovery, thus, an alternative christina l. chasek, judith a. nelson, rochelle cade, kristin page, bryan stare, george stoupas 142 to those services that are designed for adult populations. services at pdap include weekly meetings; week-end sober activities; after school hangouts; individual, group, and family counseling; crisis intervention; presentations in schools and community centers; as well as considerable outreach through community organizations including school districts and juvenile justice probation services. all services are free of charge for the adolescent. the meetings follow a twelve-step program similar to that of alcoholics anonymous, but are designed to be peer driven by adolescents. currently, pdap in houston, texas has six satellite locations where meetings are held. in 2015, over 18,820 teens and young adults were positively impacted by the variety of services offered by pdap (nelson, 2016). additionally, there are three other apgs located in houston, listed on the website of the association of alternative peer groups and modeled after the pdap intervention: lifeway international, teen and family services, and beyond your best counseling. there are pdap locations in cities outside of houston as well as additional agencies and treatment facilities that use the apg model, indicating a growing need for an alternative model of treatment for adolescents. current research on the alternative peer group. although the apg intervention is used in treatment facilities for adolescents in community non-profit agencies, in sober high schools, and in some public schools, there is a paucity of research on this promising model. after a thorough search for information on apgs in articles, books, other manuscripts, and websites using the key words adolescent recovery, alternative peer group, and alternative peer recovery models; the following studies and information were identified: a research study regarding the child-parent relationships of students who participated in an apg (rochat, et al., 2011), one ethnographic study that resulted in a dissertation (nash, 2013) and several articles (nash, marcus, engebretson, & bukstein, 2015; nash & collier, 2016), one conceptual article (collier, hilliker, & onwuegbuzie, 2014), and a qualitative study (nelson, henderson, & lackey, 2015). in addition, a number of websites, brochures, and other media that promote the apg intervention and some of the agencies and treatment facilities that make use of that model were found. some of these include a video (binarium productions, 2011); a film, titled generation found (generationfoundfilm.com); the website of the palmer drug abuse program (n.d.); and the website of the association of alternative 2019, 23, 133–152 p.advocating for adolescent substance use recover y: an alternative model 143 peer groups (n.d). keeping in mind the potential of this intervention and the limited research to date, a brief summary of the research that has been published to date and an ongoing study that is being conducted currently is described next. parent relations and the alternative peer group. collier, hilliker, and onwuegbuzie (2014) noted the paucity of research regarding apgs and stated at the time of the publication of their article that only one research study on apgs had been conducted, at the baylor college of medicine (rochat et al., 2011). this study compared 114 adolescents who participated in an apg with 127 students in a control group who were from a local high school. results indicated that the apg participants experienced greater attachment, improved communication, and more trust with parents than the control group. an ethnographic study of the alternative peer group. based on nash’s (2013) dissertation, nash, marcus, engebretson, & bukstein (2015) published an ethnographic study of recent clients of the apg at teen and family services (tfs) in houston, texas. former teen clients were required to be successful graduates of the tfs apg in order to participate in the study and to assist the research team in uncovering the characteristics of successful adolescent recovery. the lead author spent 20 months interviewing the clients in individual and group settings as well as interviewing parents of the teen participants and the staff of tfs. the emergent themes and subthemes of this study included: i. journey – a. preparation, b. engagement, c. working a program, d. recovery maintenance; and ii. relationships. because the theme of relationships was closely linked to the four phases of the journey, the authors discussed the impact of the relationships in each phase. in addition, the researchers uncovered the following elements of adolescent sud recovery: “. . . sober peers, fun, and a sense of belonging; structure and accountability; recovery narratives of peers who are farther along in the process; family support; community service; and extensive immersion in recoveryoriented support systems” (p. 305). a conceptual article on the alternative peer group. collier, hilliker, and onwuegbuzie (2014) stated that the purpose of their article was “to describe the history and model of the adolescent peer group, its place in the recovery-oriented systems of care (kaplan, 2008) as a chronic-care approach, and implications for future research in social christina l. chasek, judith a. nelson, rochelle cade, kristin page, bryan stare, george stoupas 144 influence, recovery capital, and long-term treatment for recovering youth” (p. 40). according to the authors, the components that make up the apg intervention are: the youth who seek recovery, social functions that provide venues for youth to interact with each other without the pressure of drug and alcohol use, 12-step meetings revised for youth, individual and group counseling, family support and counseling, and educational programs. the authors provided extensive implications and rationale for conducting more research on the apg (collier, hilliker, and onwuegbuzie, 2014). a qualitative study on the alternative peer group. based on the recommendations of collier, hilliker, and onwuegbuzie (2014), another research team focused on the early years of the apg intervention (nelson, henderson, & lackey, 2015). using an online social media platform of former pdap clients, the authors of this study were able to post an announcement of their desire to interview those who have maintained long-term sobriety. qualitative inquiries are often a good starting place for researching a concept or organization that has never been studied before. for this reason, the study was deemed a revelatory research project because no research had formerly been conducted on the early clients of an apg. nineteen potential participants replied to the request, and ultimately 11 former pdap clients submitted their informed consents, surveys, and contact information. the three researchers constructed an interview protocol and conducted telephone interviews of each of the 11 participants. the emergent themes and subthemes were: i. relationships – a. with self, b. with peers, c. with a higher being; ii. before and after – a. life lessons, b. accountability, c. giving back; iii. dealing with resentments. overall, the research team determined that there were significant therapeutic outcomes of the group work among peers and that the apg is an intervention of attraction in which teens desired to be together and supported each other in recovery (nelson, henderson, & lackey, 2015). a mixed methods study of alternative peer group. in 2015, pdap created a program partnership with the spring branch independent school district (sbisd) and the parc (memorial hermann prevention & recovery center) both in houston, texas. this program was initiated with three middle schools and two high schools that consisted of high-risk students dealing with behavioral and substance abuse issues. in 2016 an additional three campuses were added which included high school aged 2019, 23, 133–152 p.advocating for adolescent substance use recover y: an alternative model 145 students. the program was designed to allow students who were referred to the discipline alternative education program (daep) to meet once a week with pdap counselors in a support group setting in lieu of attending the daep. after the initial trial period of the intervention, the program was determined to be successful enough by school and pdap personnel to continue to offer the program (nelson, 2016). currently students are referred to the program by their administrators or counselors and are required to attend weekly meetings and weekend activities for six weeks, but they are able to continue to attend classes at their home campuses. during this period, individual and family counseling services are available by pdap counselors. students complete a pre-assessment and post-assessment when they enter and exit the program. two valid and reliable assessments are the protocol for data collection of current clients in the spring branch isd project. the two assessments are the youth risk behavior survey (cdc, 2015) and the youth quality of life survey (topolski, edwards, & patrik, 2002). the two surveys were combined and administered in an on-line survey format. personnel from pdap and sbisd conducted the survey. data analysis comparing pre and post assessment results revealed that 60% of the youth had been abstinent for 3 months post intervention compared with 42% preintervention (nelson, 2016). researchers (collier, hilliker, & onwuegbuzie, 2014; nelson, henderson, & lackey, 2015) believe that the apg intervention holds great promise for adolescent recovery from suds, and studies such as the mixed methods inquiry described above can provide much needed information regarding the effectiveness of this model in the schools. we conclude from the limited research that has been conducted on apgs that there are positive aspects to consider in implementing this model. first of all, in all of the aforementioned studies, apgs meet the developmental needs of adolescents including attachment to a positive peer group that offers support in recovery (kelly, dow, yeterian, & kahler, 2010; kelly, myers, & brown, 2005). additionally, 12-step meetings that are adapted specifically for adolescents are an integral part of the apg model (kelly, myers, & brown, 2005). likewise, parental education and support is available and community outreach (e. g., mental health providers, hospitals, and treatment facilities) is accessed when needed (kaplan, 2008). we suggest that an important way to advocate for adolescent sud recovery christina l. chasek, judith a. nelson, rochelle cade, kristin page, bryan stare, george stoupas 146 is to conduct rigorous studies on this model as well as other promising recovery support systems for adolescents including qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research. in addition, counseling professionals need to advocate for the support that adolescents need to recover from sud recognizing the unique differences from adult recovery. advoc ating for adolescent recovery the importance of recovery support for teens is clear and counselors have an important role in advocacy for recovery at local, state and national levels. the first step in these efforts is for counselors, psychologists, and other behavioral health professionals to become knowledgeable and familiar with local resources. this knowledge can aid in making and connecting referrals for teens and their families. in addition, the knowledge can serve behavioral health professionals in identifying gaps in services or needed support in their communities. counselors and psychologists can initiate such support themselves, or participate in networking and community events to help others initiate these efforts to address the gaps in services. counselors and psychologists can also provide education in their communities as means of advocacy. this may include informal discussions with small groups at a church or larger more formal training or presentations for a non-profit agency or hospital. these efforts could provide accurate and current information to dispel myths and challenge stereotypes regarding adolescents and recovery. content could also include appropriate and practical screening or assessment measures tailored towards the audience and their work setting. for example, counselors and psychologists could present options of practical assessments for medical professionals to use with each patient in a community clinic. counselors and psychologists that are also educators or supervisors can also discuss advocacy for adolescents in a variety of courses including lifespan, counseling children and adolescents, substance use and abuse, counseling families, and assessment. in addition, keeping resources for students and supervisees to use and borrow is another means of expanding education and knowledge. 2019, 23, 133–152 p.advocating for adolescent substance use recover y: an alternative model 147 finally, counselors and psychologists use their voice in advocacy at state and national levels in support of funding for adolescent recovery initiatives and efforts. initial efforts would include learning the important persons to contact such as authors of legislation or the appropriate local, state, or national representatives. after identifying whom to contact, counselors and psychologists can call, email, or write legislators to advocate for recovery oriented systems of care such as the model proposed here. furthermore, counselors and psychologists can combine their voice and advocacy efforts with state, national, and international associations or organizations as well. these voices can advocate for funding of education, prevention and treatment, and research for adolescent recovery. conclusion the ever-increasing trend of illicit drug use by adolescents continues to put them at risk of substance use disorders and lack of access to treatment. they are especially vulnerable to short and long-term effects of substance use disorders, and face unique challenges to successful recovery in comparison with adult populations. adolescents require therapeutic interventions and ongoing recovery supports that address their developmental needs, which many current adult recovery interventions and supports often fall short of addressing. according to collier, hiliker, and onwuegbuzie (2014), the apg offers the recovery supports that are specific to the needs of adolescents (see figure 1). alternative peer group youth in recovery social functions: bowling dances sports celebrations camping hangouts 12-step meetings: altered for adolescents counseling family support: parent meetings and referrals to outside agencies psychosocial education figure 1. adapted from collier, hiliker, & onwuegbuzie (2014) christina l. chasek, judith a. nelson, rochelle cade, kristin page, bryan stare, george stoupas 148 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(2013). advances in the science of adolescent drug involvement: implications for assessment and diagnosis. current opinions in psychiatry, 26(4), 318–324. doi.org/10.1097/yco.0b013e328361e814 paauglių prikl ausomybę sukeliančių medžiagų vartojimo reabilitacija: alternat y vusis modelis christina l. chasek university of nebraska at kearney, usa judith a. nelson university of arizona, usa rochelle cade university of mary hardin-baylor, usa kristin page university of the cumberlands, usa br yan stare university of north carolina at charlotte, usa george stoupas palm beach state college, usa santrauka. paauglių, kuriems būdinga rizika įgyti priklausomybę nuo įvairių narkotinių medžiagų, sveikimas gerokai skiriasi nuo suaugusiųjų. konsultantai, dirbdami su tokiais klientais, galėtų labiau atsižvelgti į paauglių raidos ypatumus, tačiau dažnai jiems stinga diagnostinių priemonių ir bendruomeninių išteklių suteikti visapusišką pagalbą. yra duomenų, kad alternatyviosios bendraamžių grupės (abg) modelis gali būti naudingas paaugliams sveikstant, tačiau dar trūksta tyrimais patvirtintų įrodymų. iš esamų tyrimų darome išvadą, kad abg modelis turi tam tikrų privalumų: pozityvi bendraamžių parama reabilitacijos metu, dvylikos žingsnių susitikimai yra specialiai pritaikyti paaugliams, tėvai mokomi, jiems teikiama pagalba, bendruomenėje pasiekiamos kitos gydymo paslaugos ir psichikos sveikatos specialistai. mes manome, kad propaguojant paauglių sveikimą nuo priklausomybę sukeliančių medžiagų vartojimo sutrikimo svarbu, kad mokslininkai tęstų validžius tyrimus modelio efektyvumui patikrinti, taip pat ieškotų kitų efektyvių paramos sveikstant sistemų paaugliams, pripažįstant svarbius skirtumus tarp paauglių ir suaugusiųjų reabilitacijos proceso. reikšminiai žodžiai: paauglių reabilitacija, bendraamžių paramos grupės, propagavimas. received: 2019-04-16 accepted: 2019-09-11 contents editorial note scientific publications chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, david d. hof concepts influencing attitudes and beliefs toward mental health issues in a teacher education program kamonwan tangdhanakanond, teara archwamety teachers’ misconceptions and current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment in elementary schools in thailand andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė importance of length of studying and attitudes toward others for life satisfaction marija aušraitė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė the relationship between irrational relationship beliefs and conflictresolution strategies in young adulthood tadas vadvilavičius, aurelija stelmokienė development of scenarios for leadership psychology research to reveal the relationships between leaders’ dark triad traits and full range leadership styles laura alčiauskaitė, liuda šinkariova psychometric properties of the lithuanian version of the acceptance ofdisability scale revised (ads-r): pilot study christina l. chasek, judith a. nelson, rochelle cade, kristin page, bryan stare,george stoupas advocating for adolescent substance use recovery: an alternative model ekaterina zakharchuk, evgeniy dotsenko, tamara khvesko, julia andrejeva neuropsychological and/or psychological factors of children’s traumatic behavior under the age of 10 years information the 22nd international symposium in psychology at unk & vmu: abstracts contributors reviewers 2019 instructions for authors 41 scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2017 / 20 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.20.3 t ype d personalit y in c ardiovascul ar patients and gener al popul ation: pre valence and re trospec tive perception of stabilit y justė lukoševičiūtė1, assoc. prof. kastytis šmigelskas1 department of health psychology, faculty of public health, medical academy, lithuanian university of health sciences abstract. background and purpose. type d personality is characterized by negative affectivity and social inhibition. this personality construct is linked to cardiovascular diseases and is considered as stable. however, there has been little research on prevalence in non-clinical samples and on stability of this construct. the main aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and retrospective perception of stability of type d personality in patients and general population. methods. this was a cross-sectional study with a sample from general population (n=304) and cardiovascular patients (n=154). type d was evaluated using ds14 questionnaire. respondents were asked to assess their personal characteristics at the moment and how they felt 5 years ago. items about health condition, lifestyle and sociodemographic characteristics were also included into questionnaire. results. type d personality was similarly prevalent in both study groups – 33.1% in cardiovascular patients and 35.9% in general population (p =.561). the prevalence of type d based on retrospective assessment: during the last 5 years increased by 8.4% points in patients (p =.015) and by 0.4% points in comparison group (p =.472). in addition, type d personality was associated with less healthy lifestyle in both study groups (p<.05) and also with a worse perceived health in comparison group (p<.001). conclusions. type d personality is similarly prevalent in general population and cardiovascular patients. however, this construct is considered as less stable among the patients. type d personality was associated with less healthy lifestyle and in part with worse perceived health. keywords: negative affectivity, social inhibition, lifestyle, subjective health, health psychology. 1 contacting author: kastytis šmigelskas. address: department of health psychology, faculty of public health, lithuanian university of health sciences. tilžės g. 18, kaunas lt-47181, lithuania. e-mail: kastytis.smigelskas@lsmuni.lt; phone +370 37 242911. mailto:kastytis.smigelskas@lsmuni.lt justė lukoševičiūtė, kastytis šmigelskas 42 introduc tion cardiovascular disease (cvd) is the leading cause of death worldwide (who, 2014). in order to reduce the incidence and mortality of cvd it is important to establish not only medical but psychological causes as well. type d personality is considered to be one of such risk factors and is associated with a short life expectancy in patients with coronary heart disease regardless of any biomedical risk factors (denollet et al., 1996). the concept of type d (“distressed”) personality is commonly used in medical psychology (pedersen & denollet, 2006). people, described as type d personality, are characterised as having signs of negative affectivity (tendency to experience dysphoria, worry and irritability) and social inhibition (discomfort in social interactions, reticence and lack of social poise). negative affectivity is an important factor in the assessment of subjective well-being and emotional distress (denollet, 2005). negative emotions are often associated with depression (pedersen, et al., 2009), anxiety and fear to lose of control (kupper & denollet, 2014). while individuals with high social inhibition scores have a tendency to perceive the environment as threatening that is commonly related with anhedonia (lussier & loas, 2015), social anxiety (kupper & denollet, 2014), depression and alexithymia (batsele et al., 2017). type d personality construct is characteristic for 21% (du et al., 2016) to 52% of cardiovascular patients (moryś, bellwon, jeżewska, adamczyk, & gruchała, 2015). whereas, the prevalence of type d personality among non-clinical samples is various, but generally considered to be lower than in patients. in the general population the prevalence of this personality type ranges from 13% (conden, leppert, ekselius, & åslund, 2013) to 40% (horwood, chamravi, & tooley, 2015). type d personality is described as a negative factor due to associations with poorer physical and mental health (mols & denollet, 2010), higher incidence of adverse clinical outcomes (pedersen & denollet, 2006) and lower scores of health-related quality of life (staniute et al., 2015). according to ginting, van de ven, becker and näring (2014), this personality type is also related with unhealthy lifestyle: a greater number of cigarettes, higher rates of alcohol and unhealthy food consumption, lower physical activity and weight control, and poor treatment adherence. this may partly explain a higher prevalence of type d in clinical samples. 2017, 20, 41–60 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 43 personality is considered to be stable during all the lifespan (mccrae et al., 2000), but in terms of type d personality and its stability, it is worth to note that research in this field is scarce and the results are inconsistent. the author of type d personality construct states that both negative affectivity and social inhibition are broad and stable personality traits (denollet, 2000). during the type d scale-14 (ds14) validation process and evaluating the stability of its individual dimensions, it was found that both dimensions of type d remained stable over 3 months period and did not depend on the patient’s mood (denollet, 2005). several studies have shown that type d is stable with the main personality traits being inherited, which was confirmed in twin studies (kupper, boomsma, de geus, denollet, & willemsen, 2011). the type d seems relatively stable in patients: romppel, herrmann-lingen, vesper and grande (2012) revealed that the ds14 scale factorial structure remained stable throughout 6 years of assessment. in patients after myocardial infarction the type d was stable over the 18 months period, regardless of the mood changes and severity of disease (martens, kupper, pedersen, aquarius, & denollet, 2007). in contrast, other researchers report findings suggesting the type d personality change. this was demonstrated in samples with coronary syndrome (ossola, de panfilis, tonna, ardissino, & marchesi, 2015), myocardial infarction (conden, rosenblad, ekselius, & åslund, 2014) and in cvd patients before and after cardiac surgery (dannemman et al., 2010) with follow-up up to 12 months. such ambiguous results suggest that the stability of type d personality is not clear. to summarise the issues, described above it can be stated that the majority of type d research is mainly focused on patient samples (especially cardiovascular), while the research with general populations is rather scarce – and even when general population is investigated, there are specific strata of society, such as students (williams et al., 2008), military staff (rademaker, van zuiden, vermetten, & geuze, 2011) or elderly people (kasai, suzuki, iwase, doi, & takao, 2013). the studies on common people without pre-selection (such as in germany by grande, romppel, glaesmer, petrowski, & herrmann-lingen, 2010) are very rare. the stability of type d was investigated even less, again, mainly addressing the clinical samples. justė lukoševičiūtė, kastytis šmigelskas 44 so, the main aim of our study was to evaluate the prevalence and stability of type d personality in general and patient populations using a retrospective assessment. due to time constraints we chose to assess the stability using not a longitudinal but cross-sectional approach, evaluating the subjective perception of type d features on retrospective basis. in addition, we also wanted to compare the subjective health and lifestyle assessments depending on type d personality, readdressing the findings in previous research on type d. me thods procedure and participants the study was conducted between october 2015 and january 2016 in kaunas city, lithuania. the study and its consent procedures were approved by the ethics committee for biomedical research, lithuanian university of health sciences. in total, 458 subjects participated in the study: 154 cardiovascular patients (response rate 91%) and 304 individuals of general population as comparison group (response rate 78%). the eligibility criteria for study sample were the age ≥18 years old, voluntary participation, ability to communicate in lithuanian, absence of cognitive disorientation or communicative disabilities. detailed sociodemographic characteristics of the study sample by group are presented in table 1. the group of patients consisted of in-patients at department of cardiology, the hospital of lithuanian university of health sciences (lsmu) kauno klinikos. the patients had hypertension (51.3%), history of myocardial infarction (43.5%) or stroke (8.4%), with vascular thrombosis (20.1%), cardiac arrhythmia (23.4%), heart failure (7.1%) or other cardiovascular diseases (26.6%). the comparison group was a quota sample (by age group and gender) of adult population in kaunas city. more than a third (40.1%) of respondents reported being healthy, whereas other respondents had cardiovascular (30.6%), digestive (11.7%), endocrine and metabolic (10.2%), nervous (9.2%), allergic (7.9%), respiratory (5.8%), renal (5.2%) or other diseases (6.9%). 2017, 20, 41–60 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 45 table 1. sociodemographic characteristics of study groups patients (n=154) comparison group (n=304) n % n % age group 18–44 45–54 55–64 65–74 75–88 7 16 38 46 47 4.5 10.4 24.7 29.9 30.5 133 63 35 49 24 30.6 17.3 15.9 20.7 15.5 mean±sd 67.0±11.80 46.8±18.94 gender women men 60 94 39.0 61.0 175 129 57.6 42.4 residence rural urban 52 102 33.8 66.2 36 268 11.8 88.2 education level lower than secondary secondary post-secondary 26 45 83 16.9 29.2 53.9 19 97 188 6.3 31.9 61.8 when comparing the study groups by sociodemographic indicators, it was found that patients group was older, having lower education, and prevailing male (61% compared to 42% of men among comparison group; p<.001). the study groups were considered to be appropriate without matching, since the primary aim was to reflect the real general population instead of matched by patients characteristics. measures type d personality was assessed using type d (ds14) scale. this tool was developed by denollet (2005) and established as valid and reliable instrument both in clinical samples (svansdottir et al., 2012) and in general population (grande et al., 2010). the lithuanian version, used in this study, has been validated by staniute and bunevicius (2011). permission for use was obtained from one of the authors of lithuanian version. it was shown that lithuanian version of scale has good psychometric properties and good construct validity (bunevicius et al., 2012). in addition, respondents were asked to assess their current health status on a 10-point scale (from 1 – “poor” to 10 – “excellent”) as well as justė lukoševičiūtė, kastytis šmigelskas 46 their lifestyle (from 1 – “very unhealthy” to 10 – “very healthy”). sociodemographic characteristics were also included in the questionnaire. ds14 scale consists of 14 items about personality traits: 7 items describe negative affectivity (na) and 7 items – social inhibition (si). type d personality was indicated when both subscales (na and si) scores were ≥10 (denollet, 2005; staniute & bunevicius, 2011). the questionnaire showed good internal consistency in this study (cronbach’s α=.79 for negative affectivity and α=.74 for social inhibition), being very similar in patients (α=.80 and α=.73, respectively) and comparison group (α=.78 and α=.75, respectively). the respondents were asked to score on ds14 by assessing their current status and what they believe they used to be 5 years before. the latter was considered as a subjective estimate of previous type d profile to assess the retrospective perception of stability of the construct. statistical analysis the data was analysed using ibm spss 20.0. in descriptive analysis, the variables were described using percentages and means±sd (standard deviation). inferential statistics included χ2 test, fisher’s exact test, student’s t-test, mann-whitney u test (for independent samples) as well as student’s t-test for paired samples and binomial test (for paired comparisons in current versus retrospective assessments). in data analysis, negative affectivity and social inhibition were analysed both as continuous and as dichotomous indicators with emphasis on the latter approach, based on type d specific cut-offs of ≥10 pts (denollet, 2005). the statistical significance was set at p<.05. results prevalence of type d personality the study showed that based on a current assessment, the negative affectivity in patients was higher than in comparison group (11.7±7.03 and 10.1±5.96, respectively, p=.014), while social inhibition was non-significantly higher in patients than in comparison group (10.6±5.85 and 10.0±6.27, respectively, p=.309). overall prevalence of type d in patients and comparison group was similar (33.1% and 35.9%, respectively, p=.561). 2017, 20, 41–60 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 47 higher negative affectivity was slightly more common in patients (57.1% versus 50.7% in comparison group, p=.189), while social inhibition – in comparison group (55.6% versus 49.4%, p=.206). sociodemographic indicators – gender and residence (urban or rural) were not associated with type d in both study groups, except that this personality type was more prevalent in female patients (45.0% compared to 25.5% in male patients; p=.012). however, the type d prevalence by age group revealed different trends (figure 1): while in cardiovascular patients the prevalence was steadily increasing from 14% under 45 years of age to 38–39% above 65 years, in comparison group the pattern was rather unclear: though at the age from 45 to 74 years the trend was declining from 44 to 18%, but younger and older age groups did not follow this trend. figure 1. type d prevalence by age group among patients and comparison group having given the numerous literature indicating that type d is more prevalent in certain subgroups of people, we checked whether these trends occur in our study sample. we analysed patients and comparison group separately by health condition. the findings demonstrate that in our study there were virtually no health conditions that would be significantly associated with type d. justė lukoševičiūtė, kastytis šmigelskas 48 among cardiovascular patients, type d tended to be more common in all disease groups, but that did not reach statistical significance levels (table 2). similar trends were observed regarding type d dimensions, but again they did not reach statistical significance. table 2. prevalence of type d and its dimensions among cardiovascular patients condition status n type d (%) χ 2 p negative affectivity (%) χ 2 p social inhibition (%) χ 2 p hypertension present 79 36.7 .94 .331 64.6 3.64 .056 53.2 .94 .331 absent 75 29.3 49.3 45.3 myocardial infarction present 67 34.3 .08 .779 64.2 2.40 .122 43.3 1.75 .186 absent 87 32.2 51.7 54.0 stroke present 13 38.5 .18 .760 61.5 .11 .738 53.8 .12 .735 absent 141 32.6 56.7 48.9 vascular thrombosis present 31 25.8 .94 .333 67.7 1.78 .182 38.7 1.76 .185 absent 123 35.0 54.5 52.0 cardiac arrhythmia present 36 38.9 .71 .401 58.3 .03 .869 55.6 .72 .395 absent 118 31.4 56.8 47.5 heart failure present 11 36.4 .06 1.000 63.6 .20 .759 45.5 .07 .789 absent 143 32.9 56.6 49.7 other cvd present 41 34.1 .03 .870 61.0 .34 .563 53.7 .42 .520 absent 113 32.7 55.8 47.8 comorbid diseases present 81 33.3 <.01 .952 56.8 .01 .926 50.6 .11 .741 absent 73 32.9 57.5 47.9 the analysis in general population found some differences regarding type d, though they were rare (table 3). here, the subjects who reported having nervous diseases had higher prevalence of type d compared to other people (57% versus 33%; p=.014). all other conditions were non-significant for type d. it can also be noted that negative affectivity was more common in patients with digestive and nervous disorders and significantly lower in people who did not report any health complaint (p<.05). 2017, 20, 41–60 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 49 table 3. prevalence of type d and its dimensions in comparison group condition status n type d (%) χ 2 p negative affectivity (%) χ 2 p social inhibition (%) χ 2 p allergic disease present 24 33.3 .07 .788 37.5 1.80 .179 50.0 .33 .566 absent 101 36.1 51.8 56.1 respiratory system present 26 38.5 .08 .772 61.5 1.35 .246 42.3 2.03 .154 absent 278 35.6 49.6 56.8 digestive system present 45 40.0 .40 .530 71.1 8.84 .003 46.7 1.70 .192 absent 259 35.1 47.1 57.1 nervous system present 28 57.1 6.08 .014 78.6 9.61 .002 60.7 .33 .567 absent 276 33.7 47.8 55.1 endocrine system present 31 48.4 2.36 .125 64.5 2.65 .103 58.1 .08 .770 absent 273 34.4 49.1 55.3 skeletal system present 40 30.0 .69 .407 55.0 .35 .556 57.5 .07 .794 absent 264 36.7 50.0 55.3 cardiovascular system present 93 36.6 .03 .865 54.8 .94 .333 59.1 .68 .409absent 211 35.5 48.8 54.0 absence of diseases yes 122 32.0 1.34 .247 43.4 4.24 .039 54.9 .04 .846 no 182 38.5 55.5 56.0 retrospective perception of stability of type d personality in order to define possible type d change through 5 years, the study subjects were asked to rate type d items for both today and 5 years ago. the changes were found that in patients there was increase in type d (from 24.7% to 33.1%; p=.015) and negative affectivity (from 45.5% to 57.1%; p=.004), while in general population only the social inhibition has changed, decreasing from 60.9% to 55.6% (p<.001). other changes in study groups were non-significant. in general, it can be concluded, that type d subjectively was considered as not stable within 5 years by 9.7% of patients and 13.5% of comparison group (χ2=1.34, p=.248), with negative affectivity being less stable than social inhibition (figure 2). the comparison of patients by disease demonstrated, that different cardiovascular conditions were related with similar retrospective perception of stability of type d personality, except that stroke patients were more likely than others to report occurrence of type d characteristics within the last 5 years. here, 38% of justė lukoševičiūtė, kastytis šmigelskas 50 stroke patients could be considered as perceiving stable status of type d while 62% reported previous absence of type d features. figure 2. stability of type d within 5 years: retrospective assessment of patients and comparison group relations with subjective lifestyle and health in our study, type d personality was related with lower scores for subjective lifestyle assessment in both study groups (table 4). it was found that high scores on negative affectivity were related with less healthy lifestyle in both groups and high social inhibition score – only in the comparison group. similarly, the distressed personality was also associated with poorer subjective health (table 4). these findings indicate that type d personality is an important factor for subjective lifestyle and health evaluation, even though the health conditions associate with type d rather rarely. 2017, 20, 41–60 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 51 table 4. lifestyle and subjective health assessment by groups of type d, negative affectivity and social inhibition patients comparison group lifestyle subjective health lifestyle subjective health type d yes no t p 5.6±2.35 6.5±2.03 2.56 .012 4.8±2.14 5.5±2.01 1.86 .065 6.4±1.73 7.0±1.63 3.17 .002 6.6±1.94 7.4±1.73 4.01 <.001 negative affectivity ≥10 pts <10 pts t p 5.9±2.34 6.7±1.87 2.26 .025 4.8±2.12 5.8±1.88 2.83 .005 6.5±1.69 7.1±1.63 3.42 .001 6.6±1.95 7.6±1.60 4.81 <.001 social inhibition ≥10 pts <10 pts t p 5.9±2.19 6.6±2.13 1.96 .051 5.3±2.13 5.2±2.03 -.56 0.576 6.6±1.70 7.1±1.64 2.53 .012 7.0±1.78 7.3±1.96 1.10 0.273 discussion type d personality is a psychological concept, mostly analysed in clinical samples. the prevalence of this personality type ranges depending on sample characteristics – health condition, age, gender, country etc. however, the majority of the studies do not enrol people without obvious or specific health condition, making the research on type d personality predominantly based on health disorders. this creates the situation where the prevalence of type d in such samples is hard to compare with general population, even though it is largely accepted that type d personality associates with worse physical and mental health (versteeg, spek, pedersen, & denollet, 2012). regarding personality type, it is considered as relatively stable concept, with existing proofs on stability (e.g. such personality traits as extraversion or conscientiousness) (hampson & goldberg, 2006). the type d is also considered to be stable, though the evidence for that exists, but is scarce. therefore, our study was not only targeted to assess the prevalence of type d both in clinical sample and in general population, but also to address the stability of this concept using retrospective approach. our study showed that type d personality among both study groups was similarly prevalent. this is contradicting to previous findings since justė lukoševičiūtė, kastytis šmigelskas 52 among comparison group the type d prevalence is usually lower than in patients (e.g. mols & denollet, 2010). nonetheless, there are some studies where type d prevalence in general population was found to be similar to the one, established in our study (williams, abbott, & kerr, 2015). some researchers suggest that it is not type d that is related with worse health, but rather negative affectivity (williams, o’connor, grubb, & o’carroll, 2012), however, our study did not support this hypothesis either. more detailed analysis on specific subgroups of study sample revealed that the highest prevalence of type d was found in subjects who reported having nervous system diseases (57%). this was similarly reported by grande et al. (2004), who found the prevalence of type d personality in psychosomatic patients being 62%. possibly, those patients experience more distress that links both to mental health impairment and type d. in our study the type d was more reported by women, which is found in the previous study as well (staniute et al., 2015). such gender differences may be due to women’s tendency to report increased anxiety and distress compared to men (mommersteeg, meissner, denollet, aarnoudse, & widdershoven, 2013). comparing age groups, in our study the type d personality was the most prevalent in patients, aged 65–74 years, while in comparison group the peak was observed in the eldest group – people, aged 75 years and older. these results are inconsistent with the previous research, where the highest prevalence is mainly observed in young adults (33–38%) ( williams et al., 2008; šmitas & perminas, 2015; batsele et al., 2017) and during the older age groups it transforms to a decreasing trend (e.g. wiltink et al., 2011). nonetheless, some studies find high type d prevalence rates in elder samples as well, such as 46% among elderly japanese (kasai et al., 2013). when it comes to the issue of type d stability, we estimated type d by asking the respondents to rate type d items as they feel today and as they believe they used to be five years ago. in general population we found that the prevalence of this personality construct seems to be stable, which is consistent with findings of zohar (2016) in israeli population. however, our findings, related with cardiovascular patients, were less consistent with the previous research. 2017, 20, 41–60 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 53 thus, we found that in patients the prevalence of type d during 5 years increased from 25% to 33%. it is possible that this increase could be influenced by impaired health and subsequent increase of negative affectivity. according to watson and pennebaker (1989), health problems are likely to cause negative emotions, so it could be one of the reasons why negative affectivity has increased among patients but not in comparison group. of note, we found very unstable and negative perception of type d change in stroke patients – 38% of stroke survivors reported being not a type d personality both today and five years ago, while the rest (62%) shifted from having no type d features towards being type d personality. it is possible that retrospective type d assessment could be influenced by patient’s medical condition, with amelioration of memories in earlier life or pessimism in perceptions of current health status. therefore, to our knowledge, this is the first study about stability of type d personality in patients after stroke so this requires more research. the previous research in patients with acute coronary syndrome showed low stability for negative affectivity and type d personality and suggested that ds14 questionnaire does not describe the fundamental and permanent personality traits but shows emotional instability (ossola et al., 2015). loosman et al. (2017) study with dialysis patients also support that type d personality is possibly more a state instead of a trait phenomenon. kristofferzon, lofmark and carlsson (2007) claim that stressful situations or sudden health impairment (e.g. myocardial infarction) could have an effect on personality. however, some studies found that type d personality in patients after myocardial infarction has remained stable over 18 months (martens et al., 2007). though our study showed that type d prevalence does not differ in patients and general population, we found that type d personality is associated with less healthy lifestyle in both study groups. previous studies are in line with this association (e.g. ginting et al., 2014). moreover, in comparison group the type d was also related with worse perceived health. these findings in general population coincide with the previous cross-sectional study in the united kingdom (williams et al., 2015). this personality type has been associated with a poorer physical health status (versteeg et al., 2012), musculoskeletal pain and psychosomatic symptoms (conden et al., 2013). it is counterfactual that people with type d personality report worse lifestyle or health perceptions, but on the other justė lukoševičiūtė, kastytis šmigelskas 54 hand the sample of people with cardiovascular diseases report similar type d features to general population. this issue could be addressed not in a cross-sectional study like ours, but rather in a longitudinal study. since the stability issue in our study was approached in a retrospective manner, our results should be interpreted with caution due to potential recall bias. the retrospective assessment may have affected our findings in a way that patients rating their status 5 years ago were assessing it in a less stressful way, suggesting that their current condition currently is worse compared to that 5 years ago. also, the five-year period can be interpreted differently between different age groups and future research needs to examine whether the age factor is an independent predictor in personality assessment. therefore, since it was a retrospective estimate, it does not provide direct evidence for the stability of personality type. in our study, the comparison group was not matched which made the comparing of study groups relatively unbalanced. however, we chose this perspective in order to reflect the general population foremost, and not to have a balance between the groups – by losing the natural variation within a general population through matching, we may bias the findings towards underestimate. comparison group also included the people with certain health disorders, however, we tried to check for difference in subgroups analyses and we found that there were no major differences of type d prevalence in comparison group considering specific diseases. our rationale for choosing the retrospective measurement of personality was due to the fact that it would be hardly possible to collect repetitive data from the same individuals, especially from general population. this is not only restricted due to logistic reasons, but also may raise selection bias with less typical subjects keen to participate in the second measurement. to our knowledge, this is the first study to use such approach for stability assessment of type d personality – previous research has used retrospective approach with other personality indicators (e. g. woodruff, 1983). despite these limitations, our study has some strengths. first, the study included the comparison group designed through quota sampling to represent general population which had not been common in type d research before. this gives a more realistic estimate of type d 2017, 20, 41–60 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 55 prevalence in society. also, as far as we know, this study is the first to report the prevalence of type d personality and its dimensions by different diseases groups. in addition, we analysed the prevalence of type d in patients and comparison group by age group. this allows for a more clearly perception of the prevalence of type d depending on the characteristics of study sample. moreover, there has been little research done on the issue of stability of type d personality, and it is one of the first studies to assess the stability of type d personality using a retrospective approach. some practical implications could be useful in health care, where professionals could identify the type d patients and communicate more openly and actively. this could be effective to overcome high social inhibition of patients with type d patients who may be ashamed to ask about own health condition or treatment. another way to help type d patients could be psychosocial interventions that promote positivity and reduce the experience of negative emotions. such approaches as psychoeducation, relaxation or additional attention may reduce the distress level of these patients and improve their recovery. conclusion it can be concluded that prevalence of type d personality in general population and in cardiovascular patients is quite similar (33–36%). the retrospective assessment showed that general population in comparison to cvd patients report more stable perceptions of personality in terms of type d. in addition, type d personality was associated with less healthy lifestyle in both study groups and also with a worse perceived health in comparison group. references batsele, e., denollet, j., lussier, a., loas, g., vanden, e. s., van de borne, p., & fantinihauwel, c. 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(2015). health behaviour mediates the relationship between type d personality and subjective health in the general population. journal of health psychology, 21(10), 2148–2155. doi: 10.1177/1359105315571977 wiltink, j., beutel, m. e., till, y., ojeda, f. m., wild, p. s., munzel, t., ... michal, m. (2011). prevalence of distress, comorbid conditions and well being in the general population. journal of affective disorders, 130, 429–437. doi: 10.1016/j. jad.2010.10.041 woodruff, d. s. (1983) the role of memory in personality continuity: a 25  year follow-up. experimental aging research: an international journal devoted to the scientific study of the aging process, 9(1), 31–34. doi: 10.1080/03610738308258417 world health organization. (2014). global status report on noncommunicable diseases 2014. retrieved from (2017, november 6) http://apps.who.int/iris/ bitstream/10665/148114/1/9789241564854_eng.pdf?ua=1 zohar, a. h. (2016). is type-d personality trait(s) or state? an examination of type-d temporal stability in older israeli adults in the community. peerj, 4:e1690. doi 10.7717/peerj.1690 http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/148114/1/9789241564854_eng.pdf?ua=1 http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/148114/1/9789241564854_eng.pdf?ua=1 60 justė lukoševičiūtė, kastytis šmigelskas asmenybės d tipas tarp k ardiologinių pacientų ir bendrojoje populiacijoje: paplitimas ir re trospek t y vusis stabilumo suvokimas justė lukoševičiūtė, kast ytis šmigelskas lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universitetas santrauka. problema. asmenybės d tipu apibūdinami žmonės, kurie pasižymi neigiamu afektu ir socialiniu varžymusi. šis asmenybės konstruktas siejamas su širdies ir kraujagyslių sistemos ligomis ir laikomas pastoviu, nors tyrimų, vertinančių asmenybės d tipą neklinikinėse imtyse ir jo pastovumą, yra mažai. pagrindinis šio tyrimo tikslas – įvertinti asmenybės d tipo paplitimą ir retrospektyviai įvertinti jo pastovumą tarp pacientų ir bendrojoje populiacijoje. metodika. vienmomentis tyrimas, kuriame dalyvavo 154 pacientai, sergantys širdies ir kraujagyslių sistemos ligomis, ir 304 lyginamosios grupės dalyviai. asmenybės d tipas vertintas naudojant ds14 klausimyną, prašant respondentų įvertinti asmenybės savybes dabar ir kaip jautė prieš penkerius metus. anketą taip pat sudarė klausimai apie sveikatos būklę, gyvenseną, socialines ir demografines charakteristikas. rezultatai. asmenybės d tipas abiejose tyrimo grupėse buvo paplitęs panašiai – 33,1 proc. tarp pacientų ir 35,9 proc. bendrojoje populiacijoje (p = 0,561). vertinant d tipo pastovumą retrospektyviai, paaiškėjo, kad šio asmenybės tipo paplitimas per penkerius metus padidėjo 8,4 proc. punkto pacientų grupėje (p = 0,015) ir 0,4 proc. punkto lyginamojoje grupėje (p = 0,472). asmenybės d tipas taip pat buvo susijęs su mažiau sveika gyvensena abiejose tyrimo grupėse (p < 0,05), o lyginamojoje grupėje – ir su prastesne subjektyviai vertinama sveikata (p < 0,001). išvados. asmenybės d tipas tarp širdies ir kraujagyslių sistemos ligų pacientų ir bendrojoje populiacijoje yra paplitęs panašiai, tačiau šis reiškinys pacientų suvokiamas kaip mažiau stabilus. d tipas taip susijęs su mažiau sveika gyvensena ir iš dalies su prastesniu subjektyvios sveikatos įvertinimu. reikšminiai žodžiai: neigiamas emocingumas, socialinis varžymasis, gyvensena, subjektyvi sveikata, sveikatos psichologija. received: 30 09 2017 accepted: 06 11 2017 psichologijos_zurnalas_22_korektura.indd scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2018 / 22 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.22.4 1 correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to: ala petrulytė, vytautas magnus university, education academy, t. ševčenkos g. 31, lt-03111 vilnius.  e-mail: ala.petrulyte@vdu.lt. adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy in lithuanian sample ala petrulytė1, virginija guogienė vytautas magnus university abstract. background. non-decreasing extent of bullying, increasing rates of various dependencies and suicides, high level of adolescents’ behavioural and emotional problems are observed in lithuanian schools at present. academic literature sources have revealed that adolescents’ mental health is mainly researched from the deficitoriented  perspective, i.e. factors under research are related to various impairments, encountered difficulties or their risk. it is particularly important to conduct research on the positive adolescent development, its strengths, emotional and social areas of health that can be developed. the present research emphasizes a positive development of youth and social emotional aspects of such development. aim. to investigate differences in adolescents’ social and emotional health and empathy by age and gender in the lithuanian sample. method. social and emotional health survey (furlong et al., 2014) and interpersonal reactivity index (iri) (davis, 1980). the sample: 600 adolescents (12–18 year olds) from various lithuanian schools. research results and conclusions. the scores of sehs–s scales of belief-in-self and engaged living are statistically significantly higher in the group of junior adolescents (12–15 year olds) and those of empathy (iri) are higher among senior adolescents (16–18 year olds); significantly higher scores of empathy scales are observed in the group of girls compared to boys. the results of the conducted research contribute to the development of expression of school learners’ social and emotional health and empathy. keywords: social and emotional health; empathy; sample of lithuanian adolescents; differences by age and gender. 69 https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.22.4 mailto:ala.petrulyte@vdu.lt 70 ala petrulytė, virginija guogienė introduc tion mental health is one of the more significant aspects of adolescents’ health in lithuanian schools. according to the opinion of the majority of authors, non-decreasing extent of bullying, increasing rates of various dependencies and suicides, high level of adolescents’ behavioural and emotional problems are observed in lithuanian schools (burkauskienė et al., 2008; civinskas, levickaitė, & tamulienė, 2006; ignatavičienė, 2008; gintalaitė, vaitkevičius, & pilkauskienė, 2013; nauckūnaitė, stonkuvienė, česnavičienė, & venslovienė,  2010;  mikėnienė, polukordienė, skruibis, & trofimova, 2012; petrulytė & guogienė, 2017;  petruškevičiūtė, 2007; polukordienė, skruibis, & bagdonienė, 2010; targamadzė, 2010; šutinie nė, 2011; šukytė, 2014). the world health organisation defines the concept of health as  a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (who, 1948). however, mental health of adolescents is mainly researched from the  deficit-oriented  perspective, i.e. factors under research are linked to various impairments, encountered problems or related risks (kalpokienė, 2005; ramanauskienė, matulionienė, & martinkienė, 2002; petrulytė & lazdauskas, 2015 and others). c. keyes (2006) claims that health and well-being equate with the absence of disease, illness, disability, and malfunctioning. the absence of mental illness does not necessarily imply the presence of mental health. the mental health foundation (wells, barlow, & stewart-brown, 2003) expanded the definition of mental health and defined it as a combination of emotional well-being, social functioning, and a big number of competences that can be developed and improved. the present research is based on the holistic approach to mental health emphasizing the positive development of young people, its social emotional aspects and the relation of adolescents’ psychological factors with social environments – the family, the school, and the peers. it should be pointed out that the research was conducted in cooperation with the psychologists working in the system of education. 71 2018, 22, 69–93 p.adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy in lithuanian sample background adolescents’ social and emotional health and empathy constructs. the variety of concepts of mental health  (psychological wellbeing, psychological or subjective well-being, psychological  resilience, and others)  and research on them are available in today’s science, its emotional and social domains have also received more and more attention of researchers  (valantinas, 2009; bowers et al., 2010; furlong, 2014; 2015). it is particularly relevant to investigate the positive development of adolescents especially emphasising their ability to cope with the crisis of psychosocial development in adolescence. the more strengths are gained by an adolescent, the more positive his or her development is. the strengths of adolescents lead to an increased sense of happiness and relate to their academic achievements (park & peterson, 2008). heated discussions occur in research studies on which strengths and competences of an individual are more significant and to what extent they link with the positive development of adolescents and adults. the presented research refers to the adolescents’ emotional and social health as to a multi-dimensional construct, which encompasses a combination of a person’s psychological strengths, i.e. his or her positive dispositions. this would include fundamental personal strengths: belief-in-self, belief-in-others, emotional competence, and engaged living (you, furlong et al., 2015). the main contexts of this concept of adolescent social and emotional health consist of family, school, peer group, and identity under formation together with belief-in-self and self-respect as well as their interaction and synergy. the key advantages of this model are grounded on perceiving the health of a child/an adolescent as a multi-dimensional and dynamic construct of emotional and social health as well as on consistency of model conceptualisation with operationalisation. a broad spectrum of possibilities for conducting the research on the trajectories of child/adolescent development in various educational and socio-cultural contexts can be identified. the model of social and emotional health has been successfully tested and now has been implemented through scientific research in the usa, australia, japan, korea, and turkey (furlong et al., 2014; you et al., 2015 and others). the 72 ala petrulytė, virginija guogienė conducted surveys have shown that the construct of emotional and social health and strengths is related to a high level of mental health, psychological resilience, and well-being. the value of fostering the psychological health of children and adolescents is recognized worldwide as a priority topic, i.e. the one that is referred to as a fundamental human right by unesco (furlong, gilman, & huebner, 2014). in accordance with the common priority aims of world health organisation (who) and american psychology association (apa) towards monitoring the social and psychological health of the young generation (furlong, 2015), over the past 10 years m. j. furlong has been leading theoretical and practical research studies at the university of california (santa barbara) striving to create and implement the usage of a universal and convenient psychometric tool for predicting the social and emotional health of adolescents. m. j. furlong has been showing an interest in piloting and practically using the methodology “social emotional health survey secondary” (sehs-s) in lithuania. empathy is perceived as a particularly significant aspect of adolescents’ social and emotional health. this aspect is included into the model of emotional social health introduced by m.j. furlong as one of its sub-scales. however, this dimension is of complex nature and possesses specific aspects of its structure and manifestation. the available research in the field is discussed further. empathy is understood as a reaction of an individual to another person’s inner state, and as an emotional response to the experience of another individual (wied, goudena, & matthys, 2005). empathy is also an ability to show own feelings and understanding to others (pukinskaitė, 2006), which can manifest itself as a constant inclination of an individual to respond to emotional state of others (dispositional empathy) or as an evolving affective reaction to a specific situation (situational empathy). this study approaches empathy as a multi-dimensional construct, which embraces emotional and cognitive processes (davis, 1980; batson, 2009; decety & cowell, 2014). various studies on empathy define it as one of the most significant factors of individual’s prosocial behaviour and psychosocial development and as a prerequisite for successful communication (strayer & roberts, 2004; denham, 1998; eisenberg, fabes, & spinrad, 2006; hoffman, 2000). empathy is understood as getting into the inner world of another person 73 2018, 22, 69–93 p.adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy in lithuanian sample or as capacity to imagine oneself going through another person’s emotions, putting oneself into another’s place, responsiveness and concern (mehrabian & epstein, 1972; davis, 1983; cohen & strayer, 1996; hoffman, 2000), as a sensual response to other people’s experiences. the cognitive element of empathy refers to intellectual and analytical ability to identify oneself with others, and to understand feelings of other people on the basis of simple associations (white, 1997). this component also includes more complex cognitive processes such as understanding of the perspective of thoughts, intentions, and behaviour of another person (cliffordson, 2002; wied et al., 2005) and allows to understand the attitude of others, their internal experiences, and emotional reactions to this process (davis, 1983). empathy also embraces the ability to show (pass over) own feelings and understanding to others and it is one of the factors that encourages support to each other (davis, 1983; cliffordson, 2002; white, 1997). expression of adolescents’ empathy is of particular significance. the higher level of adolescents’ empathy creates favourable conditions for adolescents to experience and express positive emotions, contributes to control of anger and other negative feelings, and is a signal of prosocial behaviour (roberts & strayer, 1996; pukinskaitė & guogienė, 2010). introducing social competences and teaching empathy to adolescents enable them to learn to manage own anger (o’neil, 1996; suslavičius, 2000). differences in adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy by age and gender. scholarly literature sources broadly discuss adolescents’ empathy in the context of psychosocial functioning of the individual (hoffman, 2000; reynolds & scott, 1999; kradin, 2005; carr & lutjemeier, 2005; pukinskaitė, 2006; van noorden,  haselager,  cillessen, &  bukowski, 2015). researchers have been further discussing the dimensions of individual’s empathy (van der graaff et al., 2016) as well as the development of expression of empathy. it has been identified that boys’ empathy is lower compared to that of girls (carr & lutjemeier, 2005; harrod & scheer, 2000; eisenberg, fabes, & spinrad, 2006; karkauskaitė, 2013). the conducted research studies reveal that more expressed empathic abilities and abilities to identify emotions (schulterüther et al., 2008), perception and awareness of emotions (katyal & 74 ala petrulytė, virginija guogienė awasthi, 2005), and higher scores of emotional intellect indicators (žukauskienė, malinauskienė, & erentaitė, 2011) are characteristic of female adolescents compared to male adolescents. the research carried out by a. balundė and d. grakauskaitė-karkockienė (2015) allows to conclude that higher levels of personal distress and empathic concern among senior adolescents are identified in the group of young women. however, according to other authors, no differences in expression of certain aspects of empathy have been identified (mestre et al., 2004; garaigordobil, 2009). it can be assumed that empathy is one of the integral components of emotional health, and differences in its development as well as levels of expression of its components are likely to be predetermined by age, gender, and other sociodemographic aspects. m. j. furlong’s studies reveal that girls show higher rates of emotional competence and confidence than boys, but boys have higher rates of confidence about themselves (furlong, et al., 2014). the study with a non-western sample of korean adolescents on the sehs–s for males and females shows that females more strongly endorse  items of belief-in-others  compared to males (furlong et al., 2016). significant differences by gender were found among turkish adolescents in the sehs-s scores of engaged living and general index, and no significant differences by gender were detected in the areas of belief-in-self, belief-in-others, and emotional competence. thus, some cross-national differences in the sehs-s profiles between males and females can be observed in general, but differences occur in the small effect-size range (you et al., 2015; ito et al., 2015; lee et al., 2016). generalising, it can be stated that the research studies on development of adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy dimensions as well as on socio-demographic characteristics are still scarce. the aim of the research was to conduct research on adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy dispositions in the lithuanian sample. the objectives of the research were to evaluate the expression of adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy dispositions, and to compare them by age (junior or senior adolescents) and gender. the following empirical questions are highlighted within the research: what are the indicators of the social emotional health research 75 2018, 22, 69–93 p.adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy in lithuanian sample tool social emotional health survey secondary (sehs-s) and empathy (interpersonal reactivity index, iri) in the sample of lithuanian adolescents? is there a significant statistical difference among demographical groups of adolescents by age and gender? me thod sample justifying the choice of the respondents by age and gender, it is important to point out that the main focus is laid on conducting research in dispositions of junior and senior adolescents’ social emotional health. choosing the age limits of the sample in the present research, the age group that m. j. forlung’s methodology sehs-s targeted at was considered (12–18 years old adolescents);  the participants of the research were the learners from schools of general education in different regions and towns of the country. the following age groups were chosen: 300 junior adolescents (12–15 year olds) and 300 senior adolescents (16–18 year olds). the proportion between the boys and the girls was approximately equal: 320 boys and 280 girls. the research was conducted in nine schools of lithuania (vilnius, anykščiai, joniškis, palanga, šalčininkai, šakiai, and švenčionys). the research sample included 600 adolescents. the distribution of the respondents by age was as follows: 15.2% – 12 year olds, 16.7% –13 year olds, 10% – 14 year olds, 8.8% – 15 year olds, 16% – 16 year olds; 16.5% – 17 year olds, and 16.8 % – 18 year olds. it is important to point out that the participants in this research were from different towns and schools compared with the previously conducted research (petrulytė & guogienė, 2017). assessment instruments social emotional health survey – secondary (sehs-s), furlong et al. (2014). the questionnaire survey includes a wide range of social emotional psychological dispositions associated with positive development of young people. the constructive validity of this questionnaire was confirmed after the factor analysis of its invariance in groups formed on the base of sociocultural and gender principles (you, furlong et al., 2015). 76 ala petrulytė, virginija guogienė the permission to use the questionnaire was granted to a. petrulytė and v. guogienė. the double translation was done by a. petrulytė and j. bagdonavičiūtė. the questionnaire consists of four dispositions/scales: belief-in-self, belief-in-others. emotional competence, and engaged living. each disposition embraces three unique sub-scales of mental health. the first disposition, belief-in-self, consists of three sub-scales: self-efficacy, self-awareness, and persistence. the second disposition, belief-in-others, comprises three sub-scales: school support, peer support, and family support. the third disposition, emotional competence, consists of three sub-scales: emotion regulation, empathy, and behavioural self-control. engaged living embraces three sub-scales: gratitude, zest, and optimism. the shes-s questionnaire includes 12 sub-scales. this instrument (sehs-s) was validated using samples of students from california (furlong et al., 2014; you et al., 2014; you, furlong, felix, & o’malley, 2015), korea (lee, you, & furlong, 2015), and japan (ito, smith, you, shimoda, & furlong 2015). m. j. furlong emphasizes that this research is directed to optimal exploration of human functions on the basis of the hypothesis that the combination of the first-order positive psychological dispositions (belief-in-self, belief-in-others, emotional competence, and engaged living) builds the second-order synergic metaconstruct of covitality, which is a good tool for understanding of the quality level of teenagers’ and youth’s life as well as forecasting success and well-being in present and later life (furlong et al., 2014). the internal compatibility of lithuanian adolescent group (cronbach’s alpha) is as follows (see: table 1 and table 2): table 1. cronbach’s alphas indicators of sehs-s constructs in the lithuanian adolescent group. shes-s constructs cronbach’s alpha belief-in-self .68 belief-in-others .75 emotional competence .76 engaged living .86 general index .80 77 2018, 22, 69–93 p.adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy in lithuanian sample table 2. cronbach’s alphas indicators of sehs-s sub -scales in the lithuanian adolescent group. shes-s sub-scales cronbach’s alpha self-efficacy .60 self-awareness .60 persistence .66 school support .74 family coherence .88 peer support .85 emotion regulation .62 empathy .77 self-control .60 optimism .84 gratitude .77 zest .86 interpersonal reactivity index (iri), (davis, 1980). the scale investigates various aspects of empathy and evaluates emotional reactions to negative experiences of other people. the scale consists of 28 items. the respondents were asked to rate every item on a 4-point scale (from 0 to 4) considering their suitability for characterisation of own attitude and feelings. the respondents evaluated statements while the supervisor was reading additional instructions. the scores of sub-scales were calculated summing up the evaluations of all the 7 items. the scale of interpersonal reactivity index (iri) consists of 4 sub-scales that aim to evaluate different aspects of empathy: 1. empathic concern scale. the sub-scale assesses emotional empathy, i.e. the ability to feel compassion for others or tenderness to take care of them; 2. perspective-taking scale. the sub-scale establishes the cognitive aspect of empathy, i.e. the ability to understand and adopt the attitude of other people; 3. personal distress scale. the sub-scale evaluates the ability to experience distress and discomfort reacting to the distress of others; 78 ala petrulytė, virginija guogienė 4. fantasy scale. the sub-scale evaluates the ability of respondents to transpose themselves imaginatively into the feelings. the sum of the sub-scales of perspective-taking and empathic concern makes up the index of empathy. the author m. h. davis granted the permission to use the scale of empathy to v. guogienė. the double translation of the scale of interpersonal reactivity index was done by r. pukinskaitė. the evaluation of the internal compatibility of the lithuanian version showed sufficient reliability of sub-scales and their appropriateness for evaluation of adolescents’ empathy (see: table 3). table 3. cronbach’s alphas indicators of empathy (iri) in the lithuanian adolescent group. iri constructs cronbach’s alpha empathic concern .61 perspective-taking .67 personal distress .56 fantasy .66 empathy index .72 the obtained data were processed using microsoft excel 2003, spss (version 17 for windows). the descriptive statistics was applied. since the variables were not distributed according to normal distribution (checked by the test of kolmagorov–smirnov), statistical methods for non-parameter (rank) criteria were used in the calculations. the mannwhitney u test was used for the comparison of means of indicators of social and emotional health (sehs-s) and empathy (iri) scales of the respondents by gender and age group. results the following psychometric properties of scales of methodologies applied in the presented research according to the data on the respondents were identified: cronbach alpha of the scales of sehs-s was .80, and that of iri equalled to .72. 79 2018, 22, 69–93 p.adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy in lithuanian sample the analysis of the scales of adolescents’ social and emotional health and dimensions of empathy was conducted in terms of socio-demographic indicators. firstly, the dispositions of social and emotional health (sehs-s) questionnaire of junior (12–15 year olds) and senior (16–18 year olds) adolescents were compared by age (see: table 4). table 4. comparison of dispositions/scales of social and emotional health (sehs-s) of junior (12–15 year olds) and senior (16–18 year olds) adolescents (mann-whitney u test was applied) sehs-s main scales age n mean rank z p belief-in-self 12-15 years 300 337.91 -5.30 .000 16-18 years 300 263.09 belief-in-others 12-15 years 300 305.82 -.75 .451 16-18 years 300 295.18 emotional competence 12-15 years 300 300.56 -.01 .993 16-18 years 300 300.44 engaged living 12-15 years 300 323.21 -3.21 .001 16-18 years 300 277.79 general index 12-15 years 300 324.50 -3.39 .001 16-18 years 300 276.50 the comparative analysis of the values of social and emotional health (sehs-s) of junior (12–15 year olds) and senior (16–18 year olds) adolescents revealed statistically significant differences in the dispositions of belief-in-self (p ≤ .01), engaged living (p ≤0.02), and general index (p ≤ .01), i.e. larger values were characteristic of junior adolescents. the scores of sehs-s sub-scales were also compared in terms of age (see: table 5). the comparative analysis of sehs-s sub-scales of junior (12–15 year olds) and senior (16–18 year olds) adolescents disclosed that junior adolescents (12–15 year olds) are distinguished by self-awareness, persistence, school support, gratitude, and zest, whereas the scores of peer support, emotion regulation are significantly higher among senior adolescents (16–18 year olds). 80 ala petrulytė, virginija guogienė table 5. comparison of social and emotional health (sehs-s) sub -scales of junior (12–15 year olds) and senior (16–18 year olds) adolescents (mann-whitney u test was applied) sehs-s sub-scales age n mean rank z p self-efficacy 12–15 years 300 304.80 -.62 .535 16–18 years 300 296.21 self-awareness 12–15 years 300 329.56 -4.16 .000 16–18 years 300 271.44 persistence 12–15 years 300 343.20 -6.10 .000 16–18 years 300 257.81 school support 12–15 years 300 335.59 -5.00 .000 16–18 years 300 265.41 family coherence 12–15 years 300 313.03 -1.84 .066 16–18 years 300 287.07 peer support 12–15 years 300 267.32 -4.75 .000 16–18 years 300 333.68 emotion regulation 12–15 years 300 285.87 -2.11 .035 16–18 years 300 315.14 empathy 12–15 years 300 297.14 -.48 .631 16–18 years 300 303.86 self-control 12–15 years 300 312.52 -1.72 .085 16–18 years 300 288.48 optimism 12–15 years 300 308.84 -1.19 .232 16–18 years 300 292.16 gratitude 12–15 years 300 315.80 -2.18 .029 16–18 years 300 285.20 zest 12–15 years 300 328.47 -3.98 .000 16–18 years 300 272.53 seeking to compare the means of empathy (iri) scales of junior (12–15 year olds) and senior (16–18 years old) adolescents, the comparative analysis was carried out. significantly higher scores of personal distress (p ≤ .01) and fantasy (p ≤ .03) were identified among 16–18 year 81 2018, 22, 69–93 p.adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy in lithuanian sample old adolescents after the analysis of empathy (iri) scales of junior (12– 15 year olds) and senior (16–18 year olds) adolescents (see: table 6). table 6. comparison of empathy (iri) scales of junior (12–15 year olds) and senior (16–18 year olds) adolescents (mann-whitney u test was applied) iri scales age n mean rank z p empathic concern 12–15 years 300 292.42 -1.145 .252 16–18 years 300 308.58 perspective-taking 12–15 years 300 292.24 -1.172 .241 16–18 years 300 308.77 fantasy 12–15 years 300 277.83 -3.209 .001 16–18 years 300 323.17 personal distress 12–15 years 300 273.54 -3.823 .000 16–18 years 300 327.46 the indicators of empathy index of junior (12–15 year olds) and senior (16–18 year olds) adolescents were also compared but no statistically significant differences were identified. generalising, the obtained results partially confirm the research assumption that the values of the dispositions of belief-in-self and engaged living of social and emotional health (sehs-s) of 12–15 year old adolescents are statistically higher than those of 16–18 year old ones. the comparison of separate sehs-s sub-scales confirmed the results of scale dispositions that self-awareness, persistence, school support, gratitude, and zest are more expressed in junior adolescents (12–15 year olds), whereas the indicators of peer support and emotion regulation among 16–18 year old adolescents are higher compared to their junior counterparts. senior adolescents (16–18 year olds) are more emphatic and larger values of personal distress and fantasy are more common of 16–18 year old adolescents in comparison with junior adolescents (12–15 year olds). the aspect of gender was also considered comparing adolescents’ emotional and social health (sehs-s) (see: table 7). girls are distinguished by higher means of sub-scales peer support, empathy (p ≤ .01), and selfcontrol (p ≤ .05) compared to boys. 82 ala petrulytė, virginija guogienė table 7. comparison of social and emotional health (sehs-s) sub -scales in groups of girls and boys (mann-whitney u test was applied) sehs-s sub-scales gender n mean rank z p self-efficacy boys 320 300.73 -.04 .972 girls 280 300.24 self-awareness boys 320 304.04 -.54 .588 girls 280 296.46 persistence boys 320 288.55 -1.83 .068 girls 280 314.16 school support boys 320 304.00 -.53 .593 girls 280 296.49 family coherence boys 320 297.78 -.43 .670 girls 280 303.61 peer support boys 320 244.03 -8.64 .000 girls 280 365.04 emotion regulation boys 320 297.59 -.45 .653 girls 280 303.83 empathy boys 320 241.81 -8.98 .000 girls 280 367.57 self-control boys 320 287.21 -2.04 .042 girls 280 315.69 optimism boys 320 304.75 -.65 .515 girls 280 295.64 gratitude boys 320 291.25 -1.41 .159 girls 280 311.07 zest boys 320 313.20 -1.93 .053 girls 280 285.98 analysing the differences in the main dispositions of adolescents’ sehs-s from the perspective of gender, it can be concluded that the values of girls’ belief-in-others and emotional competence and empathy index are statistically significantly larger (p≤0.01) than those of boys (see: table 8). 83 2018, 22, 69–93 p.adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy in lithuanian sample table 8. comparison of main scales of social and emotional health (sehs-s) in groups of girls and boys (mann-whitney u test was applied) sehs-s main scales gender n mean rank z p belief-in-self boys 320 293.56 -1.053 .293 girls 280 308.44 belief-in-others boys 320 270.70 -4.540 .000 girls 280 334.55 emotional competence boys 320 265.67 -5.277 .000 girls 280 340.31 engaged living boys 320 305.24 -.717 .473 girls 280 295.09 general index boys 320 281.98 -2.798 .005 girls 280 321.66 the research also aimed to evaluate the differences in main scales of adolescents’ empathy (iri) with respect to gender (see: table 9). the comparison of empathy (iri) main scales of boys and girls allowed to conclude that all the means of sub-scales (empathic concern, perspectivetaking, perspective-taking scale fantasy, personal distress) and empathy index are statistically significantly higher in the group of girls (p≤0.01). table 9. comparison of empathy (iri) scales in groups of girls and boys (mann-whitney u test was applied) gender n mean rank z p empathic concern scale boys 320 234.24 -10.043 .000 girls 280 376.22 perspective-taking scale boys 320 267.68 -4.975 .000 girls 280 338.01 fantasy scale boys 320 238.99 -9.309 .000 girls 280 370.80 personal distress boys 320 239.84 -9.194 .000 girls 280 369.83 empathy index boys 320 222.66 -11.764 .000girls 280 389.46 84 ala petrulytė, virginija guogienė however, it is important to note that further interpretation of the data will not be elaborated on as gender-based norms provided by the authors of original methodologies are not available. summing up, the set assumption about probable differences in the aspects of social and emotional health between girls and boys was partially confirmed: higher values of the main dispositions of social and emotional health (sehs-s) (belief-in-others and emotional competence) were identified among girls compared to boys. similar tendencies were observed in its separate sub-scales: peer support, empathy and self-control. the values of empathy scale (iri) empathic concern, perspective-taking, fantasy and personal distress, and empathy index are statistically significantly higher in the group of girls compared to boys. thus, empathy is more expressed in girls. discussion the cronbach’s alpha in the sehs-s and empathy (iri) is sufficient in the lithuanian sample (see: table 1, 2, and 3). in addition, the previous research (petrulytė & guogienė, 2017) showed a higher value of sehss cronbach’s alpha, i.e. .90, but the sample was significantly larger (over 1600). the data of sehs-s in the group of 12–18 year old lithuanian adolescents presented in this article coincide with the sample of white americans in the research conducted by m. j. furlong et al. (2014; 2015). comparing the results of the present research with those of the previously conducted one (petrulytė & guogienė, 2017), which embraced more than 1600 school learners in lithuania, reveal similar results. the analysis of adolescents’ social and emotional health (sehs-s) according to age showed that the dispositions of belief-in-self and engaged living are better expressed among junior adolescents (12–15 year olds) compared to senior adolescents (16–18 year olds) and the data fully coincide with the results of the previous research (petrulytė & guogienė, 2017). the values of such sub-scales of sehs-s as selfawareness, persistence, school support, gratitude, and zest are statistically significantly higher among junior adolescents (12–15 year olds). in the meantime, a statistically significant difference in peer support and emotion regulation is observed in the group of senior adolescents 85 2018, 22, 69–93 p.adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy in lithuanian sample (16 – 18 year olds). this partially complies with the data of the previous research (petrulytė & guogienė, 2017), larger values of peer support and self-efficacy but the values of self-efficacy, family coherence, empathy, self-control, optimism did not reveal any significant differences. the agerelated differences obtained in our research comply with the objectives of the development in senior adolescence: the need to adapt to peer groups and an increasing trajectory of the need for peer support and independence (cheng &chan, 2004). the comparison of the expression of adolescents’ empathy (iri) in terms of age showed that the index of empathy did not demonstrate any statistically significant differences comparing the data of junior (12–15 year old) and senior (16–8 year old) adolescents, which coincides with the observations of r. pukinskaitė (2006) and v. mestre, d. frías and p. samper (2004). however, higher indicators of fantasy and personal distress were established among 16–18 year old adolescents. similarly, higher scores of personal distress were received in the research conducted by r. karkauskaitė (2013). it can be assumed that the ability to transpose themselves imaginatively into experienced feelings through thoughts and feelings and to react to distress of another person is better expressed in senior adolescents and complies with the consistent patterns of their cognitive function formation. the results of comparing the dispositions of adolescents’ social and emotional health (sehs-s) in terms of gender coincide with the data obtained in the previous research (petrulytė & guogienė, 2017), where significantly higher indicators of belief-in-others, emotional competence, peer support, and empathy were identified among girls compared to those of boys. the previously conducted research revealed significantly higher values of engaged living among boys compared to girls. no significant difference was identified in the present research within a smaller sample. the acquired research data are in line with the results presented by m. j. furlong et al. (2014) and s. lee et al. (2015): the scores of belief-inself among girls are higher than those among boys, and partially comply with the data presented by t. timofejeva et.al. (2016). the acquired data correspond with consistent patterns of adolescent development: the trajectory of emotional competence and social relations is stronger 86 ala petrulytė, virginija guogienė among girls, whereas that of activity and social skills is better expressed among boys (way & greene, 2006; pukinskaitė, 2006; petrulytė, 2016). higher values on empathy scales and empathy index were identified in the group of girls after the comparison of adolescents’ empathy (iri) in terms of gender. the obtained research data that general empathy index of boys is significantly lower than that of girls are in line with those accumulated in the research carried out by r. pukinskaitė (2006). this fully complies with the results obtained during the research conducted by a. balundė and d. grakauskaitė–karkockienė (2015). the results of the present research coincide with the research conclusions of a big number of other researchers regarding higher expression of emotional intelligence and emotional competence of women compared to that of men (mayer, salovey, caruso, & sitarenios, 2001; petrides, frederickson, sangareau, & furnham, 2006; petrides, frederickson, & furnham, 2004; žukauskienė et al., 2011 ); girls’ better understanding of own feelings, their being playful and able to easier establish conversation and communicate with surrounding people more frequently (strayer & roberts, 2004; katyal et al., 2005, schulte-rüther et al., 2008). the acquired results also concur with the valuable results of longitudinal research conducted by other researchers in the context of adolescent development: the growth of girls’ empathy is more considerable compared to the one of boys. all the above mentioned allows assuming that girls compared to the boys attach more importance to interpersonal relations, sensitivity, emotions in the process of socialisation. the forecasting links between development of adolescent empathy and social competence in adulthood (steiger et al., 2014; crocetti et al.,  2016). thus, long-term social consequences of empathy in adolescence and importance of its development are emphasised. it should be noticed that even though empathy has been the focus of scientific research lately, its expression in the context of development of junior and senior adolescents and gender differences has been still underresearched. therefore, this research is an attempt to contribute to such studies. as the research is still undergoing the process of approbation, the authors tend to refrain from final generalisation. discussing the research perspectives, such factors as family composition, socio-economic status of family, cultural-value aspect, the role of empathy in the person’s moral development and in the context of 87 2018, 22, 69–93 p.adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy in lithuanian sample parents’ upbringing and relations with children could be analysed. for example, future research could focus on how parents’ behaviour can elicit different effects for their children depending on the level of their empathy expression, how parents should communicate with children, who possess high level of empathy. it would be important to conduct research on how positive dispositions of adolescents are formed and how they relate to their successful adult life. the given research has some limitations: the sample size of the respondents is smaller because the authors of the methodology conducted their survey with much larger respondent groups (an average of 4000–6000 of the respondents) (furlong, 2014); the study involved only adolescents with the lithuanian language as a mother tongue; their age norms for sehs-s survey have not been established in lithuania yet, and this research is considered to be the initial stage of sehs-s survey adaptation procedures in lithuania. more precise approbation of the methodology would require a much wider survey of the respondents from lithuanian cities and regions, including not only general education schools, but also other types of educational institutions. in our opinion, after all approbation and adaptation processes of sehs-s as a tool in lithuania, the risk group of respondents (with low sehs factor) could be detected just as the group with potentially excellent characteristics (with high sehs factor). this could help school counsellors to develop specific measures to help the group with low sehs factors and give more opportunities for the development for the group with high sehs factors. this particular research is to be considered as a part of internationally wide cooperation on sehs. also, procedures of adaptation and validation of sehs-s in lithuania has a potential lasting value. school psychologists will be able to use the version adapted for lithuania and monitor adolescent psychological health. finally, the results of the conducted research can be significant in the context of the development of learners’ social and emotional health and empathy. references batson, c. d. 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(2015).validation of the social and emotional health survey for five sociocultural groups: multigroup invariance and latent mean analyses. psychology in the schools, 52(4): 349–362. we take the opportunity to  express our sincere  thanks  to prof. m. j. furlong for encouragement to carry out the research in lithuania and for consulting while conducting it. paauglių socialinė emocinė sveik ata ir empatija lie tuvos imt yje ala petrulytė, virginija guogienė vytauto didžiojo universitetas, lietuva santrauka. problema. lietuvos mokyklose nemažėja patyčių, savižudybių atvejų, vis dar stebime paauglių įvairių priklausomybių, elgesio ir emocinių sunkumų augimą. paauglių psichologinė sveikata daugiau tyrinėjama iš trūkumų perspektyvos, t. y. tiriami veiksniai, susiję pirmiausia su įvairiais sutrikimais, sunkumais ar jų rizika. itin svarbu tyrinėti paauglio pozityviąją raidą, jos stiprybes ir sveikatos emocinę bei socialinę sritis, kurios gali būti ugdomos. mūsų tyrime pabrėžiami pozityvios jaunuolių raidos emocinis ir socialinis aspektai. tyrimo tikslas: ištirti socialinę ir emocinę sveikatą ir empatiją lietuvos paauglių imtyje bei palyginti pagal paauglių amžių ir lytį. tyrimo metodai: socialinės ir emocinės sveikatos klausimynas, (you, furlong et al., 2015) ir tarpasmeninio reaktyvumo indekso (iri) skalė (davis, 1980). tiriamieji: 600 įvairių lietuvos mokyklų 12–18 metų amžiaus paaugliai. tyrimo rezultatai ir išvados. sehs-s pasitikėjimo savimi, bei įsitraukimo ir susidomėjimo gyvenimu labiau išreikšti jaunesniųjų paauglių (12–15 metų), o empatija (iri) – vyresniųjų paauglių (16–18 metų), bei mergaičių visų empatijos skalių išreikštumas didesnis nei berniukų (skirtumai statistiškai reikšmingi). atlikto tyrimo rezultatai yra reikšmingi paauglio pozityviosios raidos kontekste, prisideda prie mokinių socialinės ir emocinės sveikatos ugdymo(si). reikšminiai žodžiai: socialinė ir emocinė sveikata; empatija; lietuvių paauglių imtis. received: 2018-08-06 accepted: 2019-01-28 contents editorial note scientific publications viktorija cepukiene, rytis pakrosnis introducing unguided computerized solution-focused self-help into university counseling services virginija klimukienė, alfredas laurinavičius, ilona laurinaitytė, laura ustinavičiūtė, and mykolas baltrūnas examination of convergent validity of start: av ratings among male juveniles on probation karina kravčenko, laura šeibokaitė the effect of joy and anxiety on egocentric decisions among young adults ala petrulytė, virginija guogienė adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy in lithuanian sample kristina ražauskaitė-pilipavičienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė gender differences in dyadic dominance during interpersonal interaction: the comparison of friends’ dyads and romanticc ouples lina cirtautienė, auksė endriulaitienė the influence of psychological factors for leader’s efficiency in global it companies kristina kovalčikienė, giedrė genevičiūtė-janonė the relationship between the vocational teachers’ personality traits and the work motivation information the 20th international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, december 6th, 2017. abstr acts the 21st international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, april 25th, 2018. abstr acts contributors reviewers instructions for authors 117 rel ationships be t ween death anxie t y and empathy among medic al students (pilot study) žydrūnė kaklauskaitė, justina vonžodienė lithuanian university of health sciences, lithuania summary. background. death anxiety is defined as emotionally negative reactions provoked by thoughts about death and dying of self, and death and dying of others (lester, 1990). empathy refers to the reactions of one individual to the observed experiences of another (davis, 1983). as determined by kurz and hayes (2006) in their study, death anxiety affects the student’s successful transition from theoretical knowledge to their practical application, while medical empathy has a significant impact on patient satisfaction with treatment (regehr, goldberg, hughes, 2002; wimmer, stuber, 2010; ward, cody, schaal, hojat, 2012) and on adherence to the treatment plan (wimmer, stuber, 2010), better disease outcomes and the physician-patient relationship (caruso, bernstein, 2014; van ryn et al., 2014). research studies on death anxiety among medical students are scarce. the number of articles on death anxiety’s link to empathy in foreign literature is limited, and this relationship has not been fully investigated in the studies conducted. unfortunately, there are no studies in the lithuanian language on the relationship between death anxiety and empathy seen as the main subject matter of the research. this suggests that the given field of science has not been fully explored. the aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between death anxiety and empathy among the students of lithuanian university of health sciences. methods. the study involved 47 third-year medical students of the faculty of medicine of lithuanian university of health sciences. a questionnaire designed for the study consisted of demographic questions, empathetic concern and personal distress subscales in the scale of interpersonal reactivity index (iri) (davis, 1980), and the death of others and the dying of others subscales in the revised collet – lester fear of death and dying scale (lester, 1990). results & findings. it has been found that female medical students tend to have more death of others and dying of others anxiety and display higher levels of overall empathy and personal distress than male medical students. it was also found that medical students showing greater empathetic concern have a stronger sense of death of others and dying of others anxiety than students reporting lower levels of empathetic concern. keywords: death of others anxiety, personal distress, empathetic concern, emotional empathy. student‘s publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2015 / 17 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.17.7 118 žydrūnė kaklauskaitė, justina vonžodienė introduc tion death anxiety is a new concept launched in the middle of the 20th century. in 1950, herman feifel conducted the first research on attitudes to death and the experience of bereavement. in 1969, elisabeth küblerross’s book on death and dying was published followed by questionnaires designed to explore death anxiety and related factors (neimeyer, 2009). at present, it is alleged that death anxiety is caused by consciousness of one’s own mortality (sherman, norman, mcsherry, 2010), however, the uncertainty of what awaits one beyond death is more frightening than death itself (ozanne, graneheim, strang 2013). death anxiety is defined as emotionally negative reactions provoked by thoughts about death and dying of self, and death and dying of others (lester, 1990). this phenomenon consists of four distinct fears, such as death of self, dying of self, death of others, and dying of others (collet and lester, 1969, as cited in sherman et al., 2010). currently, the majority of research related to death anxiety investigates death anxiety levels in physicians and patients. in lithuania however, such research studies are few and far between, accordingly, new studies and literature on the subject are scarce. this may be due to the fact that people normally avoid topics on death and deny its existence (valmaitė, 2006). as stated by author kübler-ross (2001), we live in a very particular death-denying society. research suggested that death anxiety and attitudes towards the end of life or death evolved among students during the first cycles of the educational program (kurz, hayes, 2006, as cited in dobbins, 2011). meanwhile, an inevitable encounter with the first patient during clinical practice triggers severe anxiety and a sense of insecurity in medical students due to lack of experience and absence of certain skills (pitkala, mantyranta, 2004). therefore, it is assumed that the ability of medical students to control their own death anxiety would help them later to constructively overcome negative emotions (vasiliauskienė, 2011). studies have shown that younger female medical students experience higher levels of death anxiety than elder students. on the contrary, younger male medical students reported lower levels of death anxiety than elder ones (vasiliauskienė, 2011). these findings coincide with the 119 2015, 17, 117–136 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach results obtained in other research which revealed that women were more inclined to dread death and to experience more discomfort in respect thereof than men (neimeyer, 2009; petrošiūtė, 2012; rakauskienė, 2008; dickinson, lancaster, winfield, reece, colthorpe, 1997). attempts were made to explain the given link between death anxiety and gender by the fact that women tended to reveal themselves through emotions (neimeyer, 2009), acknowledge the existing fears, and try to discuss them (petrošiūtė, 2012). studies have found that women deem it more difficult to cope with the death of significant others (rakauskienė, 2008). meanwhile, men are more worried about their preferred social responses that partially restrict the male’s emotional expression (neimeyer, 2009). men argue that in the presence of a loved one’s death, they would not experience death anxiety, also they would bravely attend to a terminally ill person (rakauskienė, 2008). however, scientists agree that the given factors alone are not enough to clarify this link, consequently, more comprehensive research is required in this field (neimeyer, 2009). meanwhile, empathy is defined as the reactions of one individual to the observed experiences of another (davis, 1983). the concept of empathy was first proposed in 1759 by adam smith who described it as a sense of fellow-feeling with others that derives from an emotional situation (davis, 1996). currently, empathy is divided into two components: cognitive (the capacity to recognize accurately and understand another‘s emotional state) and emotional (the capacity to respond with an appropriate emotion to another‘s emotional experiences) (davis, 1983, as cited in regehr, goldberg, hughes, 2002). in lithuania, empathy is examined on a larger scale than death anxiety; teenagers or schoolage children are frequently drawn into such studies as research subjects (pukinskaitė, 2006; karkauskaitė 2013; nenortienė, 2012). the research suggests that empathy is related to gender (hojat et al., 2005; karaoglu, pekcan, yilmaz, 2013; dickinson et al., 1997; shashikumar et al., 2014). it was found that female medical students tended to have higher levels of empathy than male medical students (karaoglu, pekcan, yilmaz, 2013; hojat et al., 2005; shashikumar et al., 2014). female doctors take care of their patients and foster their health more accurately than male doctors (dickinson et al., 1997). empathy also affects a medical student while choosing a specialization (hojat et al., 2005). 120 žydrūnė kaklauskaitė, justina vonžodienė the findings obtained in research showed that students scored higher on empathy in preclinical studies than in clinical practice. this may stem from students’ attempts to appease the nascent anxiety by using nonadaptive methods that cause a decline in empathy for patients (karaoglu, pekcan, yilmaz, 2013). on the other hand, other findings demonstrated that the level of empathy in students increased consistently with each year level of the studies (mckenna et al., 2011). more empathetic medical graduates showed better clinical than academic excellence (shashikumar et al., 2014). research conducted by hojat et al. (2009) revealed a decline in empathy among medical students in their third year of studies when empathy is most important because of patient care related activities. empathy is significantly associated with medical decisions (chibnall, tait, jovel, 2014). the physician’s empathy has a significant impact on patient satisfaction with treatment (regehr, goldberg, hughes, 2002; wimmer, stuber, 2010; ward, cody, schaal, hojat, 2012) and on adherence to the treatment plan (wimmer, stuber, 2010), better disease outcomes and physician-patient relationship (caruso, bernstein, 2014; van ryn et al., 2014). the findings of research on the relationship between death anxiety and empathy indicated lower levels of death anxiety in more empathetic hospice volunteers than in their less empathetic counterparts (claxtonoldfield, banzen, 2010; garbay, gay, claxton-oldfield, 2014). meanwhile, the examination of medical students showed the following correlation: the higher the level of death anxiety, the lower the level of emotional empathy or personal distress (thiemann, quince, benson, wood, barclay 2014). according to another source, women who are characterized by a higher level of death anxiety than men are also more sensitive, supportive and empathetic for the dying. furthermore, it is easier for them to contemplate and discuss death related topics (kastenbaum, 2003). this conclusion is supported by the results of a study performed by servaty, krejci and hayslip (1996) with regard to nurses: the higher the level of empathy, the higher the level of death anxiety. another study found that more empathetic individuals are more anxious about their and others’ death than less empathetic individuals (valmaitė, 2006). 121 2015, 17, 117–136 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach the subject matter of the present research is the relationships between death anxiety and empathy among medical students. as determined by kurz and hayes (2006), death anxiety affects the student’s successful transition from theoretical knowledge to their practical application. it should be noted that research studies on death anxiety among medical students are scarce. there are only a limited number of articles on death anxiety’s link to empathy in foreign literature, accordingly, this relationship has not been fully investigated and precise patterns have not been established. unfortunately, there are no studies in the lithuanian language on the relationship between death anxiety and empathy seen as the main subject matter of the research. this suggests that the given field of science has not been fully explored, therefore, a research on the relationship between death anxiety and empathy among lithuanian medical students would be beneficial. the aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between death anxiety and empathy among the students of lithuanian university of health sciences. to achieve the aim, the following goals have been set: 1. to determine peculiarities of death and dying of others anxiety among medical students of different genders; 2. to determine empathy characteristics among medical students of different genders; 3. to establish links between death and dying of others anxiety and empathy. based on the analysis of scientific literature, the following hypotheses have been put forth: 1. females have more death and dying of others anxiety than males; 2. females are more empathetic than males; 3. more empathetic medical students are more anxious about death and dying of others than less empathetic medical students. 122 žydrūnė kaklauskaitė, justina vonžodienė me thods sample the study involved 47 third-year medical students from group 4–9 of the faculty of medicine of lithuanian university of health sciences (14 males and 33 females). the mean age of all respondents was 21.23 years (sd = .666). men accounted for 29.79 percent of the total study sample, the average age being 21.43 years (sd = .646). the youngest male respondent involved in the study was 21 years old, the oldest respondent was 23 years old (fig. 1). respectively, females accounted for 70.21 percent of the study sample, the average age being 21.15 years (sd = .667). the youngest female respondent involved in the study was 20 years old, the oldest respondent was 23 years old (fig. 1). fig. 1. distribution of respondents by gender and age instruments a questionnaire designed for the study consisted of empathetic concern and personal distress subscales in the scale of interpersonal reactivity index (iri) (davis, 1980), and the death of others and dying of others subscales in the revised collet – lester fear of death and dying scale (lester, 1990). permissions to use these scales were obtained from the researchers who translated these scales into the lithuanian language and were first to have used them in their research studies. permission to use the scale of interpersonal reactivity index was obtained from justina 123 2015, 17, 117–136 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach naujokaitienė, while permission to use the revised collet – lester fear of death and dying scale was received from justina vonžodienė. two questions about gender and age were used to determine medical students’ demographic characteristics. to measure levels of empathy in students, the subscales of the scale of interpersonal reactivity index and the total score (overall empathy) were used: • the empathetic concern subscale helps to assess the respondents’ ability to experience feelings of sympathy, compassion and tenderness for others. this component refers to other-oriented emotions; • the personal distress subscale measures the respondents’ ability to experience distress and discomfort in response to extreme distress in others. it helps to determine human responses to other people’s complex interpersonal interactions; • the overall empathy scale calculates the total score on empathetic concern and personal distress. it presents the emotional component of empathy which shows the individual’s tendency to emotionally empathize with the others’ situation, to be moved by others’ emotional experiences (karkauskaitė, 2013; nenortienė, 2012; shamay-tsoory, aharonperetz, perry, 2009). each of the subscales consists of 7 items. the subjects are asked to rate the items on a subscale from 1 to 6, with 1 indicating that the item does not describe the subject’s attitudes and feelings well and 6 indicating that the item describes the subject’s attitudes and feelings very well. subscale scores are calculated by summing up scores on each of the items (naujokaitienė, 2010). scoring higher on the subscale indicates a feature characteristic of the participant (nenortienė, 2012). after internal consistency reliability of the subscales has been assessed, both subscales and the overall empathy scale were found to be suitable to use despite low reliability of one of the subscales (table 1). table 1. internal consistency reliability of the subscales of the scale of interpersonal reactivity index and overall empathy subscale cronbach’s alpha empathetic concern .658 personal distress .868 overall empathy .823 124 žydrūnė kaklauskaitė, justina vonžodienė the subscales of the revised collet – lester fear of death and dying scale were used to assess death anxiety experienced by medical students. the subscales were designed to examine the respondents’ fear of death of others and dying of others: • the fear of death of others subscale reflects anxiety expressed by the respondents with respect to various aspects of the death of significant others (loss of communication, bereavement, loneliness following their death, etc.); • the fear of dying of others subscale is designed to measure the intensity of anxiety experienced by the respondents with respect to the moments of the dying process of significant others (a decline in mental ability, staying close to the dying person, degeneration of the body, etc.) (vonžodienė, 2010). each subscale includes 8 items. the subjects are asked to rate the items on a subscale from 1 to 5, with 1 indicating the low level of anxiety about the given death, 3 indicating the average level of anxiety about the given death aspect, and 5 indicating the high level of anxiety about the given death aspect for the respondent. subscale scores are calculated by summing up scores on each of the items. scoring higher on the subscale indicates higher levels of death anxiety (vonžodienė, 2010). after internal consistency reliability of the subscales has been assessed, the subscales were found to be reliable, therefore, suitable to use (table 2). table 2. internal consistency reliability of the subscales of the revised collet – lester fear of death and d ying scale subscale cronbach’s alpha death of others .719 dying of others .738 procedure permission to carry out a study was issued by the center for bioethics of lithuanian university of health sciences on 10 march 2015. the study was conducted on 19 march 2015 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. students were surveyed after pharmacology works. at the beginning of the study, 54 consent forms for participation in a research study were distributed and, respectively, 54 questionnaires were distributed. at the end of the study, 54 signed consent forms for 125 2015, 17, 117–136 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach participation in a research study and 52 completed questionnaires were received which led to a lower response rate of 96.3 percent. during the survey, some of the subjects displayed defensive responses when completing the items on the collet – lester subscales, consequently, three questionnaires were discarded for failure to honestly complete the information requested. two more questionnaires were discarded for typing errors – the second pages of the questionnaires were found blank. therefore, in total, 5 questionnaires were discarded (10.2 percent of the questionnaires distributed). methods of data analysis the values of the quantitative attributes satisfying the normal conditions of the study are represented by the mean and standard deviation within parentheses. the attributes not meeting these conditions are represented by the median and the minimum and maximum values within parentheses. the shapiro – wilk test was used to check the normality of the dataset. the student’s t-test was used to compare the means of two independent samples where the two populations being compared followed a normal distribution. the data then were described by the p-value, mean, standard deviation and t-test. the nonparametric mann – whitney test was applied where the two populations did not follow a normal distribution, they were described by the p-value, ranking average, and z-test. hypotheses were tested using the significance level α = .05. the research data were processed using ibm spss statistics 22 and microsoft excel 2010 programs. results peculiarities of death anxiety among medical students of different genders in order to verify the first hypothesis whereby females had more death and dying of others anxiety than males, the shapiro – wilk test for checking the normality of the dataset, the nonparametric mann – whitney test and the parametric student’s t-test were used. it was found that the scores on the fear of death of others subscale did not follow a normal distribution, accordingly, the nonparametric 126 žydrūnė kaklauskaitė, justina vonžodienė mann – whitney test was used. analysis of the data revealed a statistically significant difference between the means of female medical students population and male medical students population (p  =  .034) (table 3). since higher subscale scores indicated higher levels of death of others anxiety, it can be stated that females have more death of others anxiety than males. furthermore, it was found that the scores on the fear of dying of others subscale were normally distributed. the difference between the means of the male and female populations (p  =  .002) was determined using the student’s t-test (table 3). females scored higher on dying of others anxiety subscale suggesting more intensely experienced anxiety. it can be concluded that females have more dying of others anxiety than males. in summary, it can be said that female medical students experience significantly higher death and dying of others anxiety levels than male medical students. table 3. comparison of death and dying of others anxiety indices among male and female medical students aspects of death anxiety male medical students (n = 14) female medical students (n = 33) z t p mean standard deviation ranking average mean standard deviation ranking average death of others anxiety − − 17.5 − − 26.76 −2.126 − .034 dying of others anxiety 21.786 4.079 − 27.485 5.82 − − 3.324 .002 empathy characteristics among medical students of different genders in order to verify the hypothesis whereby females were more empathetic than males, the shapiro – wilk test for checking the normality of the dataset and the parametric student’s t-test were used. the total score on the empathetic concern and personal distress subscales referred to the overall empathy level among medical students. this population showed a normal distribution. the means were 127 2015, 17, 117–136 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach compared using the student‘s t-test to verify dependence on gender. analysis of the data demonstrated a statistically significant difference between the mean scores on overall empathy in male and female respondents (p  =  .016) (table 4). therefore, it can be stated that overall empathy is related to gender. female medical students achieved higher levels of overall empathy than male medical students. it was found that the medical students’ empathetic concern scores followed a normal distribution. the student‘s t-test was employed to determine dependence between empathetic concern and gender. the findings showed no difference by gender in the mean score on the empathetic concern subscale (p >.05) (table 4). therefore, it can be said that empathetic concern is not statistically significantly associated with gender. medical students’ personal distress subscale scores were found to be normally distributed. the above mentioned student‘s t-test was used to determine dependence between personal distress and gender. the findings revealed a statistically significant difference between the mean scores on personal distress in male and female respondents (p  =  .04) (table 4). therefore, personal distress can be said to be related to gender. females scored higher on the personal distress subscale suggesting higher levels of personal distress, therefore, it can be stated that females tend to have higher levels of personal distress than males. in summary, it can be said that female medical students displayed higher overall empathy and personal distress (an aspect of empathy) levels than male medical students. meanwhile, no correlations between empathetic concern and gender were detected. table 4. comparison of empathy indices among male and female medical students aspects of empathy male medical students (n = 14) female medical students (n = 33) t p mean standard deviation mean standard deviation overall empathy 43.857 10.904 51.697 9.299 2.511 .016 empathetic concern 26.5 6.273 29.758 4.677 1.968 .055 personal distress 17.357 6.476 21.939 6.937 2.111 .04 128 žydrūnė kaklauskaitė, justina vonžodienė relationships between death anxiety and empathy the third hypothesis to be verified stated that more empathetic medical students were more anxious about death and dying of others than less empathetic medical students. to test this hypothesis, the empathetic concern and personal distress subscales of the scale of interpersonal reactivity index and the overall empathy scale were divided into two groups based on the sample means. then the statistical calculations were performed using the nonparametric mann – whitney test and the parametric student’s t-test. the distribution of overall empathy subscale scores according to the mean score on the scale resulted in two groups, the first whereof consisted of medical students reporting lower levels of overall empathy (score ≤ 49), and the second group was comprised of medical students reporting higher levels of overall empathy (score > 49). based on the given division, the death of others anxiety subscale scores were also divided into two groups. the nonparametric mann – whitney test was then used for two independent samples. no statistically significant difference between the scores on death of others anxiety between respondents reporting lower levels of overall empathy and those reporting higher levels of overall empathy was found (p>.05) (table 5). therefore, it can be concluded that overall empathy is not significantly associated with death of others anxiety. the same operations were carried out for the dying of others anxiety subscale scores. the means were compared via the student’s t-test whereby no statistically significant difference between the mean scores between respondents reporting lower levels of overall empathy and those reporting higher levels of overall empathy was found (p  >  .05) (table 5). the findings suggest that overall empathy is not statistically significantly associated with dying of others anxiety. table 5. comparison of death anxiety indices among medical students repor ting higher or lower levels of overall empathy aspects of death anxiety higher levels of overall empathy reported (n = 24) lower levels of overall empathy reported (n = 23) z t p mean standard deviation ranking average mean standard deviation ranking average death of others anxiety − − 26.85 − − 21.02 −1.464 − .143 dying of others anxiety 27.125 6.797 − 24.391 4.62 − − −1.618 .113 129 2015, 17, 117–136 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach the distribution of empathetic concern subscale scores according to the mean score resulted in two groups, the first whereof consisted of medical students displaying lower levels of empathetic concern (score ≤ 30), and the second group was comprised of medical students displaying higher levels of empathetic concern (score > 30). based on the given division, the death of others anxiety subscale scores were also divided into two groups. the nonparametric mann – whitney test was then used to calculate statistical significance of the two populations. analysis of the data revealed a statistically significant difference between p-values of the populations of respondents displaying higher levels of empathetic concern and respondents displaying lower levels of empathetic concern (p = .037) (table 6). it can, therefore, be stated that medical students displaying higher levels of empathetic concern express higher degrees of death of others anxiety. in examining the relationships between empathetic concern and dying of others anxiety, the latter subscale was divided into two groups according to pre-defined levels of empathetic concern. the findings of the student’s t-test indicated a statistically significant difference between the mean scores on dying of others anxiety between respondents displaying higher levels of empathetic concern and respondents displaying lower levels of empathetic concern (p = .049) (table 6). consequently, medical students reporting higher levels of death of others anxiety tend to show more empathetic concern. table 6. comparison of death anxiety indices among medical students displaying higher or lower levels of empathetic concern aspects of death anxiety higher levels of empathetic concern displayed (n = 20) lower levels of empathetic concern displayed (n = 27) z t p mean standard deviation ranking average mean standard deviation ranking average death of others anxiety − − 28.82 − − 20.43 −2.085 − .037 dying of others anxiety 27.9 7.04 − 24.222 4.484 − − −2.049 .049 based on the aforementioned principle, the personal distress subscale scores were divided into two groups according to the mean. the first group consisted of respondents experiencing lower levels of personal distress (score ≤  20) whereas the second group included 130 žydrūnė kaklauskaitė, justina vonžodienė respondents experiencing higher levels of personal distress (score > 20). then, the death of others anxiety subscale scores were divided into two groups with respect to the division referred to above. the findings of the nonparametric mann – whitney test for two independent samples showed that death of others anxiety associated p-values coincided between respondents experiencing higher levels of personal distress and those experiencing lower levels of personal distress (p  <  .05) (table 7). thus, death of others anxiety was not statistically significantly associated with the level of personal distress. the dying of others anxiety subscale scores were distributed in the same way. the findings of the parametric student’s t-test for two independent samples showed no statistically significant difference between the mean scores on dying of others anxiety between medical students experiencing higher levels of personal distress and those experiencing lower levels of personal distress (p > .05) (table 7). the findings suggested that dying of others anxiety was not statistically significantly associated with personal distress. table 7. comparison of death anxiety indices among medical students experiencing higher or lower levels of personal distress aspects of death anxiety higher levels of personal distress experienced (n = 25) lower levels of personal distress experienced (n = 22) z t p mean standard deviation ranking average mean standard deviation ranking average death of others anxiety − − 25.60 − − 22.18 −.856 − .392 dying of others anxiety 27.32 6.074 − 24.046 5.385 − − −1.944 .058 in summary, it can be said that a statistically significant relationship between overall empathy, personal distress and death and dying of others anxiety was not observed. however, a link between empathetic concern and death and dying of others anxiety was detected. medical students displaying higher levels of empathetic concern were found to have higher levels of death and dying of others anxiety. 131 2015, 17, 117–136 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach discussion as demonstrated by numerous studies on death anxiety characteristics, this psychological construct is related to gender. the studies have indicated that women tend to report somewhat higher levels of death-related anxiety than men (neimeyer, 2009; petrošiūtė, 2012; rakauskienė, 2008; dickinson, lancaster, winfield, reece, colthorpe, 1997). the given conclusion is supported by the findings of the present research study whereby women display higher levels of death and dying of others anxiety than men. according to studies, such pattern can be related to the fact that in public, it is acceptable for women to express their emotions more openly, dare to be vulnerable and boldly share their fears (neimeyer, 2009; petrošiūtė, 2012). meanwhile, a need for males to carry out strong role and conceal their emotions has roots in early childhood experiences. therefore, they may not realize or deny the existence of death anxiety as a negative emotion (neimeyer, 2009). furthermore, links between empathy and gender were identified. studies suggest that women have higher levels of empathy than men (hojat et al., 2005; karaoglu, pekcan, yilmaz, 2013; dickinson et al., 1997; shashikumar et al., 2014). the same conclusion has been drawn in the present study: female medical students experienced higher levels of personal distress (an aspect of empathy) and overall empathy comparing to male medical students. however, a statistically significant difference with respect to empathetic concern has not been observed. studies suggest that female doctors are better at establishing warm relationships with patients and caring about their well-being than males (dickinson et al., 1997). it is easier for female doctors and medical students to reach out to another person, consequently, it can be assumed that in this case, it is easier for them to understand what the other person is experiencing in certain situations and to share negative feelings of the suffering person. these patterns are indicated by scores on the personal distress subscale. also, it can be justified by the above mentioned fact that sympathy and helpfulness in supporting highly distressed individuals have been promoted in women since early childhood. research studies on the relationships between death anxiety and empathy are few and far between, and their results are contradictory. some studies indicate that more empathetic individuals show lower levels 132 žydrūnė kaklauskaitė, justina vonžodienė of death anxiety (thiemann, quince, benson, wood, barclay, 2014; claxton-oldfield, banzen, 2010), while other studies, on the contrary, suggest that more empathetic individuals display higher levels of death anxiety (kastenbaum, 2003; servaty, krejci, hayslip, 1996; valmaitė, 2006). the results of this study partially confirm findings of the latter research. it has been found that medical students showing higher levels of empathetic concern tend to show higher levels of death and dying of others anxiety than students displaying lower levels of empathetic concern. meanwhile, no statistically significant correlations between personal distress, overall empathy and death and dying of others anxiety have been detected. this regularity can rest on terror management theory (tmt) which states that high death anxiety drives an individual to be forgiving and caring about others and to behave prosocially (schimel, wohl, williams, 2006). such an individual is characterized by a higher level of empathy compared to the one that shows a lower level of death anxiety. however, in order to determine a more precise regularity and causal relationship, more comprehensive research is required. like many researches, the present study has a few limitations. first, the study sample was too small to statistically reveal all the existing patterns. therefore, a follow-up study would be appropriate employing more detailed questionnaires and representative sampling. another limitation may be related to the fact that the study included only third-year medical students. they might not have reflected tendencies prevailing among all medical students, accordingly, a sample consisting of medical students in different years of their course of study would be advisable. on the other hand, the present research can be used as a pilot study, because in spite of a small sample of respondents, some death anxiety and empathy patterns emerged based on statistical criteria. thus, this field is significant and follow-up studies would be very valuable in examining the relationships between death anxiety and empathy conclusively. however, due to the fact that no articles of this type have been published in lithuania so far, even a small-scale study can provide important information and complement available knowledge of the relationships between death anxiety and empathy among medical students. moreover, internal consistency reliability of the scales secures validity and reliability of the findings. 133 2015, 17, 117–136 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach conclusions 1. female medical students tend to have more death of others and dying of others anxiety than male medical students; 2. female medical students display higher levels of overall empathy and personal distress (an aspect of empathy) than male medical students. levels of empathetic concern among female and male medical students are not statistically significantly different; 3. medical students displaying higher levels of empathetic concern have higher levels of death and dying of others 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(2010). slaugytojų pasitenkinimo darbu, dvasingumo ir su mirtimi susijusių išgyvenimų sąsajos [the connections between nurses job satisfaction, spirituality and experiences associated with death]. master’s thesis. kaunas: vytauto didžiojo universitetas. ward, j., cody, j., schaal, m., hojat, m. (2012). the empathy enigma: an empirical study of decline in empathy among undergraduate nursing students. journal of professional nursing, 28 (1), 34–40. wimmers, p. f., stuber, m. l. (2010). assessing medical students’ empathy and attitudes towards patient-centered care with an existing clinical performance exam (osce). procedia – social and behavioral sciences, 2, 1911–1913. thiemann, p., quince, t., benson, j., wood, d., barclay, s. (2014). death anxiety among medical students: prevalence and implications. bmj supportive and palliative care, 4 (1), 31–32. 136 žydrūnė kaklauskaitė, justina vonžodienė mirties nerimo ir empatijos sąsa jos tarp medicinos studentų: pilotinis t yrimas žydrūnė kaklauskaitė, justina vonžodienė lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universitetas, lietuva santrauka. problema. mirties nerimas apibrėžiamas kaip emociškai neigiamos reakcijos, atsirandančios asmeniui galvojant apie savo ar kitų mirtį ir savo ar kitų mirties procesą (lester, 1990). empatija apibrėžiama kaip vieno asmens individualios reakcijos, sukeltos stebimų ir (arba) matomų žmonių patirties (davis, 1983). kurzo ir hayeso (2006) tyrimu buvo nustatyta, kad nuo mirties nerimo priklauso, ar studentui pavyks sėkmingai teorines žinias pritaikyti praktiškai, o nuo mediko empatiškumo labai priklauso, ar pacientas bus patenkintas gydymu (regehr, goldberg, hughes, 2002; wimmers, stuber, 2010; ward, cody, schaal, hojat, 2012), laikysis gydymo plano (wimmers, stuber, 2010), ar pavyks pasiekti geresnių gydymo rezultatų ir užmegzti geresnius ryšius su pacientu (caruso, bernstein, 2014; ryn et al., 2014). mirties nerimo tarp medicinos studentų tyrimų nėra daug. užsienio literatūroje straipsnių, nagrinėjančių mirties nerimo ir empatijos ryšį, kiekis ribotas, o rastuose darbuose šis ryšys nėra iki galo ištirtas. lietuvių kalba publikuotų straipsnių, kuriuose pagrindinis dėmesys būtų skiriamas mirties nerimo ir empatijos ryšiui, rasti nepavyko. tai leidžia manyti, kad ši sritis nėra iki galo ištirta. šio darbo tikslas – ištirti lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universiteto medicinos studentų mirties nerimo ir empatijos sąsajas. metodai. tyrime dalyvavo 47 lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universiteto medicinos fakulteto trečio kurso medicinos studentai. tyrimui naudotas klausimynas, kurį sudarė demografiniai klausimai, empatiško rūpesčio ir asmeninio distreso subskalės, esančios tarpasmeninio reaktyvumo indekso skalėje (angl. interpersonal reactivity index, sutr. iri, davis, 1980), taip pat kitų mirties ir mirimo subskalės, esančios pataisytoje collet-lester mirties ir mirimo baimės skalėje (angl. the revised collet-lester fear of death and dying scale, lester, 1990). rezultatai ir išvados. tyrimo metu nustatyta, kad medicinos studentės dažniau jaučia nerimą dėl kitų mirties ir mirimo, pasižymi didesniu bendrosios empatijos ir asmeninio distreso lygiu nei studentai vyrai. taip pat nustatyta, kad medicinos studentai, kuriems būdingas didesnis empatiškas rūpestis, jaučia didesnį nerimą dėl kitų mirties ir mirimo nei mažesniu empatišku rūpesčiu pasižymintys studentai. pagrindiniai žodžiai: nerimas dėl kitų mirties, asmeninis distresas, empatiškas rūpestis, emocinė empatija. received: september 15, 2015 accepted: october 26, 2015 2019_international journal of psychology 2019_23_book 1.indb scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2019 / 23 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.23.6 psychome tric properties of the lithuanian version of the acceptance of disabilit y sc ale  re vised adsr: pilot study laura alčiauskaitė,1 liuda šinkariova vytautas magnus university, lithuania abstract. the internal consistency reliability and structure-related validity of the lithuanian version of the acceptance of disability scale – revised (ads-r), a 32-item instrument originally developed to assess an individual’s adaptation to disability, was the focus of the research study. the translated instrument was completed by 274 mobility impaired individuals aged from 18 to 80. in this pilot study, it was found that the lithuanian version of ads-r had preliminary sufficient internal consistency reliability and structure-related validity similar to those reported by the authors of the original instrument. however, this lithuanian version still needs further studies with a larger sample and more specific disability representation for exploring the psychometric properties more thoroughly. nevertheless, in that there are few instruments on adaptation that have already been translated and used with the lithuanian population, the authors believe that this pilot study is a very important first step in the process of creating a valid and reliable instrument. key words: acceptance of disability, psychometric properties of the questionnaire, ads-r, pilot study. introduc tion people with disabilities represent the largest minority group in the world. according to statistical data, currently around 10% of the world’s population, or roughly 650 million people, live with a disability (disabled world, 2018). recent lithuanian statistics revealed over 242,000 people 1 correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to: laura alčiauskaitė, department of psychology, vytautas magnus university, jonavos g. 66-327, lt-44191 kaunas, lithuania. e-mail: laura.alciauskaite@vdu.lt 113 laura alčiauskaitė, liuda šinkariova 114 have a disability, which is also around 10% of the lithuanian population. mobility disability is among the most common types of disability, especially for older adults, and contains over 31% of all lithuanian individuals with a disability (lithuanian ministry of social security and labour, 2018). like everyone, people with disabilities desire to achieve acceptance and inclusion in society. sociopolitical definitions of disability, the independent living movement, improved media and social messages, observation and consideration of environmental barriers, and the implementation of declaration of human rights of persons with disabilities have all transpired to influence how a person is accepting his or her disability (harpur, 2012; mallett & runswick-cole, 2014). despite all these improvements, many challenges remain for people with disabilities, and they continue to be affected by stigma and prejudice. they repeatedly contend with various issues of successful inclusion of the society, and pivotal to the societal acceptance of disabilities is the degree to which the individuals accept their own physical disabilities (lee & moore, 1998). the concept of acceptance of disability was developed by beatrice wright (1960, 1983) based on her coping versus succumbing frameworks that underscored the importance of not enabling society to devalue people with disabilities. wright’s value shift theory was inspired by kurt lewin’s (1939) work, which observed great variation in reactions to physical disability. he recognized that many people manage the negative implications of the disability by shifting their values so as to experience increased personal worth. the extent of acceptance of disability is associated with the degree that a person (a) recognizes values other than those that are in direct conflict with the disability; (b) deemphasizes the aspects of physical ability and appearance that contradict his or her disabling condition; (c) does not extend his or her disability beyond actual physical impairment to other aspects of the functioning self; (d) does not compare him or herself with others in the areas of limitations but instead emphasizes his or her own assets and abilities (dembo, leviton & wright, 1975; lee & moore, 1998). over the past century, a large number of measures of psychosocial adaptation to disability have been reported in the literature. livneh 2019, 23, 113–131 p.psychometric proper ties of the lithuanian version of the acceptance of disability scale revised (ads-r): pilot study 115 & antonak (2005) discuss at least five measures that target a person’s adjustment to disability, including millon behavioral health inventory (mbhi; millon, green, & meagher, 1979), psychosocial adjustment to illness scale (pais; derogatis & lopez, 1983), sickness impact profile (sip; bergner et al., 1976), reactions to impairment and disability inventory (ridi; livneh & antonak, 1990) and acceptance of disability scale (ads; linkowski, 1971). major strengths inherent in the ads include its theory-driven rationale, reliability, and use in various samples (livneh & antonak, 2005). ads particularly measures the concept of acceptance of disability and has been used in a number of studies (townend, tinson, kwan & sharpe, 2010; nicholls, lehan, plaza, deng, romero et al., 2012; carl, 2013). the original ads consists of fifty self-report items associated with b. wright’s (1983) theory of loss that focuses on feelings, values, and emotions that may be associated with having a disability. despite the wide and continued use of the ads, the psychometric evidence used to support the validity and internal consistency of the measure was called into question in an evaluation by keany and gluekauf (1999), who examined the instrument and concluded that the ads did not provide evidence of a systematic measure of the value change process. in response to these criticisms and the developer’s initiative to update the disability terminology used in some items to reflect sociopolitical and legislative changes, linkowski and groomes (2007) revised the original scale in an effort to support empirically the reliability and validity of the scale’s measurement of acceptance of loss theory, as well as to increase its relevance to persons with disability in contemporary society. in their study, groomes and linkowski (2007) made the discovery that the number of items could be reduced from fifty to thirty-two, while still maintaining psychometric integrity. they also changed the phraseology of certain items to reveal terminology consistent with broader disability issues and not just those reflective of rehabilitation services. this scale contains four subscales, representing four aspects of adjustment to disability process, which are described as follows (groomes & linkowski, 2007; linkowski, 1971): t� &ombshfnfou�pg�4dpqf�pg�7bmvft� ps�afombshfnfou� �efgjoft�uif� degree to which an individual has enlarged his/her scope of values from laura alčiauskaitė, liuda šinkariova 116 those that may have been lost with disability to those that do not conflict with one’s disability; t� 5sbotgpsnbujpo� gspn� $pnqbsbujwf� 4ubuvt� up� "ttfu� 7bmvft� ps� ‘transformation’) describes the degree to which an individual has moved beyond comparing his/her own limitations with others and has begun emphasizing his/her own assets and liabilities; t� $poubjonfou�pg�%jtbcjmjuz� ps�adpoubjonfou� �sfqsftfout�uif�efgree to which one does not generalize from his/her actual impairment to other aspects of functioning not objectively impaired by the disability; t� 4vcpsejobujpo�pg�qiztjrvf� ps�atvcpsejobujpo� �efgjoft�uif�fyufou� to which individuals can minimize aspects of physical ability and appearance when in accordance with their disability. all these processes are equally important and do not occur in any specific order – the ‘enlargement’ process is the first one to occur and is then followed by the other three (grisr, 2010). since the revised version of ads purports to measure the same underlying construct it follows that these studies provide initial evidence for the construct validity of the ads-r. to date there have been not many validation studies of the english version of ads-r (carl, 2013; chen, kotbungkair & brown, 2015). the validity has been tested in chinese and thai languages (chiang, lai, livneh, yeh & tsai, 2013; chen, kotbungkair & brown, 2015) since ads is one of the most frequently used – and reported in the literature – measures of psychosocial adaptation to disability (livneh & antonak, 2005), it is important to have a valid and reliable version of this instrument, measuring acceptance of disability in the lithuanian language. however, translation of the original instrument and its adaptation to mobility impaired individuals who live in lithuania does not automatically mean that it is valid or matches the original instrument. therefore, the aim of this pilot study is to evaluate psychometric properties of the lithuanian version of the ads-r, evaluating the acceptance of disability and its correlates among mobility impaired individuals. 2019, 23, 113–131 p.psychometric proper ties of the lithuanian version of the acceptance of disability scale revised (ads-r): pilot study 117 research me thods participants in total, 516 people with mobility disability were invited to participate in this study. to be included in the study, a participant had to match three criteria: (1) be older than 18; (2) have a mobility disability which might be defined as a disabling condition or other health impairment that requires adaptation. people with mobility disabilities often use assertive devices or mobility aids, such as crutches, canes, wheelchairs and artificial limbs to obtain mobility; (3) be willing to participate in the study. the final study sample comprised 274 participants with mobility disabilities. sociodemographic variables associated with this sample included the following sociodemographic characteristics: (a) age range: 18 to 80 years (m = 39.64, sd = 15.11 years); (b) gender: women (59.1%), men (40.9%); (c) marital status: single (43%), married or living with a partner (37.8%), divorced (13.9%) or widowed (5.3%); (d) education: secondary education (32.5%), university education (26.3%), non-university education (18.9%), vocational training (16.7%), basic education (5.6%); (e) employment status: not employed (51.7%), employed (31.3%), students (12.7%), or employed students (4.3%). the mobility disabilities ranged from mild walking impairment to using crutches, a walker, a wheelchair or other assistive devices. the severity of disability was reported as: (a) moderately severe (34.4%), (b) severe (33.7%), (c) non-severe (15.8%), (d) very severe (13.0%). these categories were formulated according to the law of disability and working capacity assessment in lithuania (disability and working capacity assessment office under the ministry of social security and labour of republic of lithuania, 2018). most of the participants had acquired disability (62.8%), while others had congenital disability (37.2%). age at the time of the acquired disability ranged from 1 to 66 years (m = 14.82, sd = 11.11 years). most participants had a visible (48.9%) or partly-visible (31.9%) disability. the majority of respondents (73.4%) reported feeling chronic pain due to their mobility disability and its frequency was reported as: (a) never (16.3%), laura alčiauskaitė, liuda šinkariova 118 (b) rarely (15.0%), (c) sometimes (32.3%), (d) often (28.8%), (e) most of the time (12.5%). intensity of perceived chronic pain ranged from 0 to 10 (m = 5.02, sd = 2.57). instruments acceptance of disability. the acceptance of disability scale-revised (ads-r) is a 32-item self-reporting measure of adjustment to disability among people with disabilities (groomes & linkowski, 2007). each statement is rated on a 4-point likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). possible scores on the ads-r range from 32 to 128. a low score reflects a low level of acceptance of the disability. the scale contains four subscales: 1) transformation from comparative status to asset values (t) – 9 items, 2) containment of disability (c) – 9 items, 3) enlargement of scope of values (e) – 9 items, 4) subordination of physique (s) – 5 items. twenty-two items on the ads-r are reversed scored, so reverse scoring was completed before the data analysis. procedure the permission for translating and using the ads-r was given by the major author of the instrument. the translation was organized following the procedure of back–forward translation according to the recommendations prepared by van de vijver and hambleton (1996). one of the authors of this publication translated the instrument, and the translated items were reviewed by the lithuanian language expert. this was followed by a bilingual (lithuanian and english speaking) psychologist translating the instrument back into the english language. these translations were reviewed and analyzed by the authors of this publication. difficult items were discussed after the back–forward translation and corrected by translators proficient in both languages. the completed instrument was then completed by the study participants (adults who have any kind of mobility disability). the sample was a convenience sample, in that only individuals who would agree to participate in the study were selected. potential participants were reached 2019, 23, 113–131 p.psychometric proper ties of the lithuanian version of the acceptance of disability scale revised (ads-r): pilot study 119 while collaborating with various lithuanian associations and organizations for people with disability. the data of the study came from selfadministered questionnaires. respondents were personally asked to fill in the questionnaires, after they had been informed about the purpose and procedure of the study. the study participants were asked to complete the survey containing sociodemographic information questionnaire, ads-r, and several other questionnaires related to quality of life and psychological well-being (these are not analyzed in this publication). all surveys were completed individually by contacting each respondent in person. every participant of the study was informed about the main goal of the study, study procedure, data protection, and their right to cancel their participation at any time of the study. data analysis the data were analysed using spss software, version 23.0 for windows. the confirmatory factor analysis was conducted using the mplus 6.0 program (muthén & muthén, 1998–2012). statistical significance was considered when the p-value ≤ .05. results reliability the internal consistency of the ads-r was established by calculating cronbach’s alpha coefficient for four subscales, representing adjustment to disability processes: enlargement of scope of values, subordination of physique, containment of physical effects and transformation from comparative to asset values. the subscales of the ads-r showed good internal consistency (cronbach’s α = .74–.88, table 1). confidence intervals show that all scales are appropriate at least for a group testing. the internal consistencies of all four subscales were very similar to the original sample (groomes & linkowski, 2007). the overall reliability of the scale was very high (cronbach’s α = .958, original sample cronbach’s α = .93). laura alčiauskaitė, liuda šinkariova 120 table 1. internal consistency of the ads-r subscales among lithuanian and original samples acceptance of disability (subscales) cronbach’s alpha lithuanian sample (n = 274) ad-r original sample (n = 356) enlargement of scope of values .84 ci[.81; .87] .82 subordination of physique .74 ci[.69; .79] .71 containment of physical effects .88 ci [.86; .90] .88 transformation from comparative to asset values .87 ci [.85; .89] .88 note: ci – confidence interval; n – study sample. concurrent validity the validity of the ad-r was examined analyzing correlations among scores. pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated among four subscales scores. table 2. concurrent validity between the ads-r subscales adjustment to disability (subscales) 1 2 3 1. enlargement of scope of values 2. subordination of physique .443** 3. containment of physical effects .757** .553* 4. transformation from comparative to asset values .784** .617** .890** *p<.05; **p<.001 2019, 23, 113–131 p.psychometric proper ties of the lithuanian version of the acceptance of disability scale revised (ads-r): pilot study 121 the results showed (see table 2) that the scores of all four ads-r subscales are significantly related to each other, which confirms high concurrent validity of the scale. fac tor struc ture exploratory factor analysis. first of all, the exploratory factor analysis (efa) was conducted by employing principal axis factoring with oblimin rotation for ads-r, and a fixed number of four factors was selected as this structure was reported for original scale. the extracted factors explained 59.6% of variance of the lithuanian sample, while the extracted factors explained 42.1% of the ads-r variance of the original sample (groomes & linkowski, 2007). unfortunately, the authors of the original study have conducted the efa only with the primary 50-item ads but now with the revised version, so we had limited possibilities to compare our results with the original results obtained by groomes and linkowski (2007). during the efa four factors were extracted from 32 items about the acceptance of disability. the kaiser–meyer–olkin value was .958, exceeding the recommended value of .6 (cekanavičius & murauskas, 2002). bartlett’s test of sphericity reached statistical significance (χ2 = 5465.86, p = .001) meaning that variables are correlated and suitable for factor analysis. the initial eigenvalues were 14.2 for the 1st factor, 2.0 – for the 2nd factor, 1.6 – for the 3rd and 1.3 for the 4th extracted factor. as the results revealed, 1st factor explained 44.35% of variance, 2nd – 6.30%, 3rd – 4.90%, and 4th – only 4.02% of variance of the acceptance of disability. in the original sample, the eigenvalues for the subscales ranged from 12.8 to 1.8 (groomes & linkowski, 2007). in the original study, 1st factor explained 25.67% of variance, 2nd – 7.44%, 3rd – 5.44%, and 4th – only 3.54% of variance of the acceptance of disability. laura alčiauskaitė, liuda šinkariova 122 table 3. item loadings for the components extracted from oblimin rotation for each loading following principal axis factoring for ads-r items item factor 1 factor 2 factor 3 factor 4 1. with my disability, all areas of my life are affected in some major way (c) .663 -.038 .000 .064 2. having my disability, i am unable to do things like people without disabilities do (t) .673 -.160 .168 -.038 3. disability or not, i am going to make a good in life (e) .006 .155 .609 -.077 4. because of my disability, i have little to offer other people (t) .617 .122 .101 -.044 5. good physical appearance and physical ability are the most important things in life (s) .000 .548 .005 -.156 6. a person with a disability is restricted in certain ways, but there is still much s/he is able to do. (e) .008 .219 .625 .319 7. no matter how hard i try or what i accomplish, i could never be as good as the person who does not have my disability (t) .319 .333 .119 -.010 8. it makes me feel very bad to see all the things that people without disabilities can do that i cannot (c) .352 .170 .082 -.346 9. the most important thing in this world is to be physically capable (s) .046 .488 .130 -.244 10. because of my disability, other people’s lives have more meaning than my own (t) .246 .299 .111 .496 11. because of my disability, i feel miserable much of the time (c) .530 .091 .223 -.185 12. though i have a disability, my life is full (e) .236 -.122 .570 -.273 13. the kind of person i am and my accomplishments in life are less important than those of persons without disabilities (t) .245 .274 -.023 .398 14. a physical disability affects a person’s mental ability (s) .188 .536 -.085 .023 2019, 23, 113–131 p.psychometric proper ties of the lithuanian version of the acceptance of disability scale revised (ads-r): pilot study 123 item factor 1 factor 2 factor 3 factor 4 15. since my disability interferes with just about everything i try to do, it is foremost in my mind practically all of the time (c) .494 .195 .129 -.170 16. there are many things a person with my disability is able to do (e) .167 -.013 .628 .055 17. my disability in itself affects me more than any other characteristic about me (c) .402 .118 .063 -.332 18. there are many more important things in life than physical ability and appearance (e) -.069 .037 .400 -.284 19. almost every area of life is closed to me (t) .818 -.021 .075 .055 20. my disability prevents me from doing just about everything i really want to do and from becoming the kind of person i want to be (c) .676 .097 .052 -.132 21. i feel like an adequate person regardless of the limitation of my disability (e) .103 -.151 .470 .529 22. my disability affects those aspects of life that i care most about (c) .794 .055 -.096 .070 23. a disability such as mine is the worst possible thing that can happen to a person (t) .501 .211 .103 -.161 24. you need a good and whole body to have a good mind (s) -.013 .640 .070 .103 25. there are times that i completely forget that i have a disability (e) .137 .016 .524 .000 26. if i didn’t have my disability, i think i would be a much better person. (t) .209 .483 .154 -.051 27. when i think of my disability, it makes me so sad and upset that i am unable to do anything else (c) .492 .211 .121 -.193 28. people with disabilities are able to do well in many ways (t) -.014 .140 .691 -.009 29. i feel satisfied with my abilities and my disability does not bother me too much (e) .349 -.105 .552 .045 table 3 cont. laura alčiauskaitė, liuda šinkariova 124 item factor 1 factor 2 factor 3 factor 4 30. in just about everything, my disability is annoying to me so that i can’t enjoy anything (c) .403 .238 .228 -.182 31. physical wholeness and appearance make a person who s/he is (s) -.075 .620 .040 .053 32. i know what i can’t do because of my disability, and i feel that i can live a full life (e) .093 -.025 .582 -.277 as the results of our efa revealed (see table 3), the most items of four extracted factors match four original factors representing four ads-r subscales. the first and the largest factor was contained by all nine items from the ‘containment’ subscale and four items from the ‘transformation’ subscale. meanwhile, the second factor matched the ‘subordination’ factor the best – originally this subscale contains five items, and in our results all of them correlated with the same second factor, together with two other items from the ‘transformation’ subscale. our data also matched the ‘enlargement’ subscale well – eight of nine original items correlated the strongest with the third factor, together with one item from the ‘transformation’ scale. the fourth and the smallest factor contained only three items – two items from the ‘transformation’ subscale and one from the ‘enlargement’ subscale. confirmatory factor analysis a confirmatory factor analysis (cfa) of the ads-r was conducted in order to identify whether the data fit the original ads-r instrument model created by groomes & linkowski (2007). the second-order factor model was tested, where four dimensions of the ads-r load onto a single general acceptance factor. the mlr estimation was used in the cfa. the statistics of the ads-r model was evaluated using the following indices (cekanavičius & murauskas, 2011): 1) χ2 test (p should be > 0.05); 2) rmsea (root mean square error of approximation) and its lower and upper limits of a 90% confidence interval – rmsea ≤ .05 indicates a good fit of the model; rmsea ≤ 0.08 is acceptable; 3) cfi (comparative fit index) – cfi ≥ .95 indicates a good fit; cfi ≥ .90 indicates an acceptable fit. table 3 cont. 2019, 23, 113–131 p.psychometric proper ties of the lithuanian version of the acceptance of disability scale revised (ads-r): pilot study 125 as the results of our cfa revealed, the original model does not fully fit our data (χ2 = 983.21, df = 460, p = .001). other fit indices are acceptable (rmsea =.064, ci[.059-.070]) or very close to being acceptable (cfi = .877). the authors of ads-r scale did not conduct a confirmatory factor analysis in their original study (groomes & linkowski, 2007). discussion the present study examined the psychometric properties of the revised version of the acceptance of disability scale among lithuanian adults who have mobility disability. the results of the lithuanian version of the ads-r indicate that cronbach’s alpha coefficients are acceptable for group testing. the internal consistency of adjustment to disability and its subscales is similar to the original ads-r data (groomes & linkowski, 2007). according to the results of our exploratory factor analysis, our data fit four original subscales of ads-r. the highest fit was found for subordination of physique subscale: originally this subscale contains five items, and in our results all of them correlated with the same second factor, together with two other items from ‘transformation’ scale. the ‘subordination’ subscale mostly reflects the personal importance of physical abilities and appearance to the individual with disability (linkowski, 1971; grist, 2010). two items from ‘transformation’ subscale, which were also correlated with the second extracted factor, indicate the individual’s perception of their own worth compared with individuals not having a disability (e. g., ‘if i didn’t have my disability, i think i would be a much better person’), which could meaningfully explain this factor. our data matched also the ‘enlargement’ subscale well – eight of nine original items correlated the strongest with the third factor, together with one item from ‘transformation’ scale. the ‘enlargement’ subscale represents how individual’s scope of values is extended from values that have been lost to those that do not conflict with their disability (groomes & linkowski, 2007). all these items, including the one from ‘transformation’ subscale, are formulated in a positive manner, representing an optimistic attitude to one’s life despite having a disability (e. g., ‘there are many things a person with my disability is able to do.’), so this factor could really describe the laura alčiauskaitė, liuda šinkariova 126 enlargement aspect of acceptance process, which is the first step to successful adaptation to disability. the first factor of our efa had the highest eigenvalue and contained nine items from the ‘containment’ subscale and four items from the ‘transformation’ subscale. according to the authors of the original scale, individuals who do not spread their disability beyond actual impairment to other aspects of their functioning self, demonstrate the construct of containment of disability effects (groomes & linkowski, 2007; linkowski, 1971). meanwhile, the fourth and the smallest factor from our efa contained only three items – two items from the ‘transformation’ subscale and one from the ‘enlargement’ subscale. to sum up, our data matched the ‘subordination’, ‘containment’ and ‘enlargement’ subscales quite well. the ‘transformation’ subscale did not fit our data very well – all nine items of this subscale correlated with all four factors. according to linkowski (1971), the value shift characteristics of transformation require individuals to move beyond comparing, against other individuals, their own limitations and liabilities, toward emphasizing his or her own assets and abilities (linkowski, 1971; wright, 1983). as the adjustment to disability is a long-term process, it can probably involve both negative and positive experiences, and maybe that could be the reason why this factor contained both positive and negative statements towards one’s statement. in addition, according to our results, it seems that in the ads-r scale there were two strong main factors and the other two were weaker, explaining less than 5.0% of variance. the scale should originally contain four subscales which reflect four factors explaining the person’s adjustment to his or her disability. these results may suggest that maybe two factors should be enough for explaining the variance of adjustment. on the other hand, the original study reported quite small eigenvalues of four extracted factors as well (groomes & linkowski, 2007). while analyzing the results of cfa, we have found that the original model of adr-s does not fully fit our data but the results we report look quite promising. while some model fit indices are acceptable, p-value of chi-square test was non-significant in our analysis. the chi-square test assesses how well a theoretical model fits the observed data. if there is a good model fit, p-value should not be statistically significant. however, according to some researchers, chi-square statistic is very sensitive to sample size 2019, 23, 113–131 p.psychometric proper ties of the lithuanian version of the acceptance of disability scale revised (ads-r): pilot study 127 and is no longer relied upon as a basis for acceptance or rejection (schlermelleh-engel et al., 2003; vandenberg, 2006). unfortunately, the original authors of ads-r did not conduct either efa or cfa of the revised version of the scale, so we were unable to compare our results with the original sample. in general, not many previous studies analyzing efa and cfa of the adr-s were found. while testing the chinese version of the questionnaire, efa with principal component approach showed that this version of ads-r comprised four primary components, which was equivalent to the original scale and explained 51.11% of total variance. item composition in each component was also corresponding to the original scale (chiang, lai, livneh, yeh & tsai, 2013). previous studies have demonstrated that the ads-r has good internal consistency in different groups of patients with chronic illnesses and disabilities, even though they have not analyzed the factorial structure of the questionnaire (chiu, livneh, tsao & tsai, 2013; chen & crewe, 2009). most of these studies were implemented with chinese or taiwanese respondents, and there are fewer studies using the ads-r for western samples (grist, 2010; chen, kotbungkair & brown, 2015). considering that the ads-r is quite a new instrument, developed in 2007, further research using this scale for other foreign samples would be very welcome and useful. we would also like to point out that a short measure of ads-r named brief adaptation to disability scale-revised (b-ads-r) also exists. b-ads-r contains 12 items and is based on the same four value changes postulated by b. wright. this version was adapted in 2013 and has been tested in the sample taiwanese respondent with spinal cord injury (lin et al., 2013). the authors of the scale have received promising results and the b-ads-r has demonstrated adequate psychometric properties. we did not manage to find any more research examining the measurement structure of the bads-r but we believe that the readers could benefit in knowing about this version of the scale and maybe use it for future scientific and rehabilitation research. though this was the first study related to this topic there are some limitations. first, the non-randomness of the recruited study sample limits the generalizability of the findings to lithuanian adults with mobility disabilities. second, it was our non-homogeneous sample regarding the cause of disability. the main inclusion criterion for study participants was having a mobility disability, but the medical diagnosis was not important in laura alčiauskaitė, liuda šinkariova 128 this study. future studies might concentrate on a specific type of mobility disability (e.g., persons with spinal cord injury or patients with arthritis) for getting more accurate results. another limitation is that our study lacks longitudinal data and we were unable to do test-retest reliability for the ads-r. with these limitations, we suggest that additional studies need to be conducted to replicate this study with a larger sample and more specific disability representation. future studies might include a comparison. moreover, analyzing other psychometric properties (e.g., test–retest reliability) of the lithuanian version of ads-r in future studies may provide some additional information. even with the forgoing limitations, the importance of this study is that this is the first attempt to translate, adapt, and use the instrument measuring an individual’s acceptance of disability. this pilot study gives the basis for future research related to psychometric properties of the lithuanian version of ads-r. the preliminary reliability and structure-related validity analysis could be especially useful for other researchers who might wish to consider additional research with a lithuanian sample. we hope that the results of this study will provide a base for other researchers to continue the exploration of the ads-r with samples of individuals with various kinds of physical disabilities. we also believe that in the near future lithuanian counselors, psychologists, rehabilitation specialists and researchers could possibly use this version of ads-r to assess a person’s adjustment to his or her disability and regarding the results, design more effective intervention strategies for dealing with the disability related issues. conclusions in this pilot study, it was found that the lithuanian version of ads-r has preliminary sufficient internal consistency reliability and structure-related validity. the preliminary conclusion was made that the lithuanian version of ads-r, just like the original instrument, has four subscales representing four processes of acceptance of disability. however, it requires additional studies with a larger sample and more specific disability representation for exploring the psychometric properties more thoroughly. nevertheless, in that there are few instruments on adaptation that have already been translated and used with the lithuanian population; 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(1983). physical disability: a psychosocial approach (2nd ed.). new york: harpercollins. patobulinto negalios priėmimo kl ausimyno adsr lie tuviškos versijos psichome triniai rodikliai: žvalgomasis t yrimas laura alčiauskaitė, liuda šinkariova vytauto didžiojo universitetas, lietuva santrauka. šio žvalgomojo tyrimo tikslas – išanalizuoti patobulinto negalios priėmimo klausimyno (angl. „acceptance of disability – revised“, ads-r) lietuviškos versijos psichometrinius rodiklius. klausimyną sudaro 32 teiginiai, jo paskirtis – įvertinti asmens prisitaikymą prie turimos negalios. žvalgomajame tyrime dalyvavo ir į lietuvių kalbą išverstą klausimyną užpildė 274 įvairaus sunkumo judėjimo negalią turintys asmenys nuo 18 iki 80 metų amžiaus. tyrimo rezultatai atskleidė, kad lietuviška klausimyno versija pasižymi gana geru vidiniu suderinamumu, jo faktorių struktūra panaši į tą, kurią pateikė šio klausimyno autoriai d. gromes ir d. c. linkowski. visgi, siekiant tiksliau nustatyti klausimyno validumą bei faktorių struktūrą, reikėtų atlikti tolesnius tyrimus su didesne bei negalios atžvilgiu labiau homogeniška imtimi. mūsų šalyje trūksta lietuviškų klausimynų, matuojančių asmens prisitaikymą, tad šis žvalgomasis tyrimas yra pirmas žingsnis siekiant turėti patikimą ir validizuotą instrumentą. reikšminiai žodžiai: prisitaikymas prie negalios, psichometriniai rodikliai, ads-r, žvalgomasis tyrimas. received; 2019-02-06 accepted: 2019-07-26 contents editorial note scientific publications chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, david d. hof concepts influencing attitudes and beliefs toward mental health issues in a teacher education program kamonwan tangdhanakanond, teara archwamety teachers’ misconceptions and current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment in elementary schools in thailand andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė importance of length of studying and attitudes toward others for life satisfaction marija aušraitė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė the relationship between irrational relationship beliefs and conflictresolution strategies in young adulthood tadas vadvilavičius, aurelija stelmokienė development of scenarios for leadership psychology research to reveal the relationships between leaders’ dark triad traits and full range leadership styles laura alčiauskaitė, liuda šinkariova psychometric properties of the lithuanian version of the acceptance ofdisability scale revised (ads-r): pilot study christina l. chasek, judith a. nelson, rochelle cade, kristin page, bryan stare,george stoupas advocating for adolescent substance use recovery: an alternative model ekaterina zakharchuk, evgeniy dotsenko, tamara khvesko, julia andrejeva neuropsychological and/or psychological factors of children’s traumatic behavior under the age of 10 years information the 22nd international symposium in psychology at unk & vmu: abstracts contributors reviewers 2019 instructions for authors žurnalo recenzentai 2014 m. journal reviewers 2014 redakcija dėkoja 2014 metų žurnalų recenzentams: the editors thank our reviewers in 2014: teara archwamety, ph. d. rita bandzevičienė, prof. dr. loreta bukšnytė-marmienė, doc. dr. carmelo callueng, dr. viktorija čepukienė, dr. aistė diržytė, doc. dr. auksė endriulaitienė, prof. dr. aidas perminas, doc. dr. jolita jonynienė, dr. roma jusienė, doc. dr. antanas kairys, doc. dr. evaldas kazlauskas, doc. dr. albina kepalaitė, doc. dr. jurgita lazauskaitė-zabielskė, dr. jurga misiūnienė, dr. audronė miškinytė, dr. andrejs ozolins, ph d. rytis pakrosnis, dr. ina pilkauskienė, doc. dr. aistė pranckevičienė, dr. laima ruibytė, dr. aurelija stelmokienė, dr. laura šeibokaitė, dr. kamonwan tanghanakanond, ph. d. aurelijus veryga, doc. dr. kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, dr. psichologijos_zurnalas_22_korektura.indd scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2018 / 22 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.22.1 1 correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to: viktorija cepukiene, department of psychology, vytautas magnus university, jonavos g. 66-329, lt-44191 kaunas, lithuania. e-mail: viktorija.cepukiene@vdu.lt introducing unguided computerized solution-focused self-help into universit y counseling services viktorija cepukiene1, rytis pakrosnis department of psychology, vytautas magnus university abstract. background. growing number of students with mental health problems and relatively high number of students in need not receiving help prompt university counseling centers to look for alternative means to be used alongside with the traditional counseling. self-help is considered as one of the most promising options. striving to expand student counseling services at psychology clinic at vytautas magnus university (lithuania), the unguided computerized solution-focused self-help program was developed by the article authors and put on service in 2014. the program invites a user to take a virtual “space journey” visiting several planets each introducing a different solution-focused theme, and helps to seek positive changes in a wide range of life areas and difficulties. aim. the aim of this article is to present the initial results on the program’s potential to help university students in overcoming difficulties and improving psycho-social functioning, and to discuss the benefits of the introduction of the program into the counseling services at vytautas magnus university. methods. subjective 10-point scales and standardized (oq-45.2) measures were applied at the initial and the final evaluations with one month in-between. results. the data of 24 students, who went through the entire program, were analyzed showing that the program attracted more students in need than the face-to-face counseling, was useful and positively evaluated by the participants, suggesting that computerized self-help tools based on strengths-oriented approaches and addressing a wide range of issues have the potential to make the psychological help more accessible for students as well as cost and time efficient for university counseling centers. keywords: university student counseling; computerized self-help; solution-focused approach. 9 https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.22.1 mailto:viktorija.cepukiene@vdu.lt viktorija cepukiene, rytis pakrosnis 10 introduc tion the transition from a high school into a university is followed by new responsibilities and demands for a young person, creating pressure and the need to adjust, and leading at times to the difficulties in psychosocial or academic functioning (harrar, affsprung, & long, 2010; kress, sperth, hofmann, & holm-hadulla, 2015). large body of students’ mental health screening data from around the world show that up to 30% of students suffer from serious mental health problems, such as depression or anxiety (berger, franke, hofmann, sperth, & holm-hadulla, 2015; kress et al., 2015). therefore, the assistance in coping with psychosocial problems is nowadays seen as an important part of student affairs. most universities in north america provide mental health services to their students (acha, 2010), while in europe, due to different health care policy, only around two thirds of countries report that their higher education institutions provide such services (rückert, 2015). nevertheless, the importance of psychological support and mental health services for students is emphasized in many political documents (acha, 2010; eusuhm, 2007; rückert, 2015), and today university counseling centers play an important role in many countries; thus, the demand for student counseling is constantly growing (acha, 2010; berger et al., 2015; harrar et al., 2010; kress et al., 2015). however, surveys indicate that the accessibility of counseling services for students is limited and at times does not meet the demand (harrar et al., 2010). between 49% and 85% of students with mental health problems do not receive or do not seek for professional help (nordberg, hayes, mcaleavey, castonguay, & locke, 2013). lithuanian universities deal with similar tendencies to those mentioned previously. up to 30% of students experience academic or psychosocial functioning difficulties, such as depressive mood, anxiety, distress, suicidal tendency, some reaching even clinical level (bunevicius, katkute, & bunevicius, 2008; jonušienė, 2014). most universities have counseling centers where services are provided either by hired professional counsellors or on a voluntary basis (usually by the faculty of psychology departments) (katzensteiner, ferrer-sama, & rott, 2008). however, not all students in need look for, reach for, or accept help (jonušienė, 2014). 2018, 22, 9–29 p.introducing unguided computerized solution-focused self-help into university counseling ser vices 11 thus, to ensure accessibility and acceptability of the services, to meet specific needs of the new generation, student development and counseling field moves towards searching for alternative services to be used alongside with the traditional counseling (cavanagh et al., 2013; cavanagh & millings, 2013; day, mcgrath, & wojtowicz, 2013; harrar et al., 2010). besides, the importance of preventive work at universities by providing students with easily accessible resources and means helping to overcome psychosocial challenges at early stages has been stressed recently (harrar et al., 2010). among the potential alternatives self-help is often proposed as likely meeting these demands (mitchell & dunn, 2007). the field of self-help stands on the idea that people are capable of improving their lives on their own (lintvedt, 2013), and usually is defined as standardized, structured intervention methods intended to help a person to overcome difficulties or achieve self-improvement autonomously (baguley et al., 2010; 2014; rozental et al., 2014). self-help methods are intended at mobilizing and utilizing persons’ resources, proficiency and knowledge through the exercise of the self-reflection process which is at the essence of initiating change (lintvedt, 2013). therefore, the aim of any self-help method is to stimulate and focus users’ reflection on their experiences, problems, goals, or other aspects of their lives by using a variety of instruments (e.g. paper-and-pencil work-sheets, audio or video materials, computerized programs, and mobile applications) which determine the form and the method of self-help delivery (cavanagh & millings, 2013; pakrosnis & cepukiene, 2015). providing self-help on the internet appears to be the most promising form of such service delivery (day et al., 2013). contemporary generation is more prominent to use opportunities for communication, learning, self-development and health-care, provided by recent technological advances more extensively than ever before (day et al., 2013). there is data showing that some students prefer computerized self-help to workbooks or other written materials (richards & timulak, 2013; day et al., 2013), and even face-to-face counseling (mitchell & dunn, 2007). consequently, the field of self-help moved towards intense development of the internet and computer-based tools (cavanagh et al., 2013; cavanagh & millings, 2013; day et al., 2013; rozental et al., 2014) which are visually attractive, highly interactive, individualized, and, therefore, more engaging than other forms of self-help (day et al., 2013). viktorija cepukiene, rytis pakrosnis 12 the direction and object of the self-reflection process is shaped by the theoretical perspective, and define the content of a self-help tool (what questions, tasks, exercises are given) (pakrosnis & cepukiene, 2015). to the date the cognitive behavioral therapy (cbt) remains the most utilized theoretical perspective in the field of self-help (baguley et al., 2010; davies, morriss, & glazebrook, 2014; rozental et al., 2014), yet, applications of other approaches such as psychodynamic psychotherapy (rozental et al., 2014), problem-solving therapy (baguley et al., 2010; warmerdam et al., 2008, cited by rozental et al., 2014), solution-focused brief therapy (grant, 2012; pakrosnis & cepukiene, 2015), interpersonal therapy, and mindfulness (lintvedt, 2013) has grown recently. an important characteristic of any self-help tool is the amount of human contact and the level of users’ autonomy. accordingly, types of self-help methods can vary from predominantly administered by a professional (guided self-help) to self-administered or stand-alone interventions (pure or unguided self-help) (baguley et al., 2010; day et al., 2013; cavanagh & millings, 2013). the unguided self-help has several important advantages: good adjustability to users’ needs (can be used anytime, anywhere, and at own pace); anonymity and no need for the face-to-face contact; high and immediate accessibility; easy dissemination and suitability for preventative purposes; low costs; high degree of structure and standardization ensuring the equal quality of services; good adaptability to computer technologies (berger, hammerli, gubser, andersson, & caspar, 2011; cavanagh & millings, 2013; rozental et al., 2014). along with the advantages, two main limitations of unguided computerized self-help tools are usually pointed: high drop-out rates (berger et al., 2011; cavanagh et al., 2013) and the lack of therapeutic relationship (cavanagh & millings, 2013). however, research results are not consistent in this respect. for instance, there is data showing that some common therapeutic factors are successfully utilized (baguley et al., 2010), and even some features of therapeutic relationship are evident in various self-help methods (cavanagh & millings, 2013). other studies revealed that the outcome of self-help is not related to the amount of guidance from a professional (cavanagh & millings, 2013). some research demonstrates that the attrition from the unguided self-help is higher compared to the guided self-help (lintvedt, 2013), while others find no significant 2018, 22, 9–29 p.introducing unguided computerized solution-focused self-help into university counseling ser vices 13 differences (furmark et al., 2009, cited by lintvedt, 2013). therefore, unguided internet or computer-based self-help tools are often named as economically most effective and attractive means of psychological help, especially for young people (davies et al., 2014; day et al., 2013; richards & timulak, 2013), and stimulate growing interest and discussions among scholars and clinicians. recent studies, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses repeatedly reveal the effectiveness of internet or computer-based self-help methods and comparability to the outcomes of traditional counseling (berger et al., 2011; cavanagh & millings, 2013; richards & timulak, 2013; rozental et al., 2014), and, thus, should be considered as a treatment option when low-cost alternatives are needed, or no face-to-face services are available (berger et al., 2011). participants usually find unguided computerized self-help methods useful, easy to use, and exceeding their expectations (richards & timulak, 2013). several studies in student population have found that cbt-based online or computer delivered self-help was effective in reducing students’ stress, anxiety, and depression (davies et al., 2014; day et al., 2013; mitchell & dunn, 2007), as well as working with perfectionism (radhu, daskalkis, arpin-cribie, irvine, & ritvo, 2012), social phobia (tillfors et al., 2008), and bulimia (sanchez-ortz et al., 2011). the effectiveness of the brief online mindfulness-based intervention for students’ stress, anxiety, and depression reduction was demonstrated in one study (cavanagh et al., 2013). despite a growing number of studies coming mostly from the cbt field and focusing on emotional and mood difficulties, the question of self-help methods most adequately meeting the needs of university students remains open. in the light of mentioned benefits, widely accepted effectiveness of self-help, and the tendency for young people to rely on digital devices in a wide range of their activities as well as looking for the ways to meet the demands of the cost effectiveness, accessibility, and students’ needs the best, the unguided computerized solution-focused self-help program (hereafter the program) was developed and proposed as one of the services of the psychology clinic at vytautas magnus university (vmu) (kaunas, lithuania). vmu psychology clinic offers counseling services to students free of charge provided by the faculty of psychology department on the voluntary basis. no self-help means had been offered at viktorija cepukiene, rytis pakrosnis 14 the university previously. therefore, the goal of introducing the program was to expand the services of clinic and, thus, benefit the students. the aim of the article is to share the initial results on the unguided computerized solution-focused self-help program`s potential to help university students in overcoming difficulties and improving psychosocial functioning. material and me thods main features of the computerized solution-focused self-help program unguided and internet-based. the program can be accessed by vmu students online free of charge, following the link placed on multiple conferences of vmu intranet system (first class). informed consent form, containing information regarding participation conditions, data security and confidentiality is provided on the program website. the participants are asked to create their password-protected personal account. the program is completely self-administered with no human contact involved. however, e-mail address is provided for the participants to be used in the case of technical issues or inquiries. no rewards for the participation are offered to the participants by the program developers or the university. the total duration of the program is 26 days, consisting of six steps with five days between them (see figure 1). focused on solution building. the content of the program is framed around the ideas and techniques of the solution-focused brief therapy: a postmodern therapy model grounded in the research on effective elements in therapy and based on constructivist and systemic thinking (deshazer et al., 2007). the elements of the approach, such as the belief in constant change, the focus on a person’s strengths and ability to initiate positive change, understanding of the reality as constructed and reconstructed, and strive for achieving maximum with minimal effort (deshazer et al., 2007) is supported by the research as effective in many different contexts (gingerich, kim, stams, & macdonald, 2011), and resonates well with the core idea of self-help that people are capable of changing their lives on their own (lintvedt, 2013). following these ideas, the program invites participants to reflect on their goals, 2018, 22, 9–29 p.introducing unguided computerized solution-focused self-help into university counseling ser vices 15 preferred changes and clues for these changes in the nearest future, resources and past successes which have the potential to enhance a positive view of the self, increases hope as well as willingness to take actions and seek for changes (mckeel, 2011). formally speaking, the program incorporates following solution building tools, associated with the sfbt: best hopes discussion, exception question, miracle question, scaling questions. it should be pointed out, that the absence of human contact due to the unguided nature of the program limits the possibility to fully employ the co-construction process using solution-focused language, which is often emphasized as one of the key components of the solution-focused approach (deshazer et al., 2007). in this respect, attempts were made to compensate this lack of the person-to-person communication and keep the program in line with the main tenets of the solution-focused approach by adding the interactive elements (e.g. the introduction of a “board computer” described below), additional questions and encouraging messages, based on the solution-focused language, and intended to stimulate further meaning making in solution-focused manner. aimed at broad spectrum of issues. most computerized self-help tools address specific clinical problems or conditions such as depression or anxiety, include, or at times are limited to, the psycho educational materials, and are oriented towards the development of general adaptive thinking skills and behavior patterns. the program, relying on solution building rather than problem solving, is oriented towards setting and striving for a situation-specific goal, and, thus, is not prearranged for any particular problem or condition but rather helps to seek positive change or improvement in any life area or difficulty which a user chooses to work on. this is also supported by some data (harrar et al., 2010) that self-help tools, addressing the broader spectrum of non-clinical issues or personal growth, could be more widely applicable in the student population and would be more in line with their developmental needs. interactive and computer-guided. design and interactivity is often named as an important feature of self-help tools attracting users’ interest and maintaining their engagement in self-help activities (richards & timulak, 2013). therefore, visual interface of the program invites a user to take a “space journey” towards desired changes. a user is accompanied viktorija cepukiene, rytis pakrosnis 16 by a “spaceship board computer”, which provides information and assistance, asks questions, and delivers feedback. at the beginning of the “journey”, a user is invited to choose any personal issue to work on and is guided successively by the board computer through six steps. at every step a user is invited to work on the issue by reflecting on solution-focused themes such as preferred future, successful past, etc. at the end of each step, the board computer delivers feedback with the suggestion to think about a small step, perhaps to try it out and keep a track of any benefits. the day before the next step an automatic e-mail reminder is sent to a user. figure 1. the outline of the unguided computerized solution-focused selfhelp program measures outcome measures. two groups of outcome measures were used during the initial and the final evaluations: 1. outcome questionnaire (oq-45.2, lambert et al., 1996) is a 45-item self-report inventory, assessing clients’ functioning and designed to measure the therapeutic progress. for each item, clients rate their functioning on a 5-point likert scale, where increasing number reflects higher severity of difficulties. the total score (cronbach’s α = .944), or three subscales reflecting symptom distress (cronbach’s α = .926), interpersonal relationships (cronbach’s α = .823), and social role (cronbach’s α = .728) can be obtained. 2. subjective 10-point scales, measuring: t� 5if�ejggjdvmuz�pg�uif�tjuvbujpo�xifsf�dibohf�jt�eftjsfe� ��tuboet� for “situation is at its worst”, and 10 stands for “situation is perfect”). t� (fofsbm�mjgf�tbujtgbdujpo� ��tuboet�gps�i5pubmmz�ejttbujtgjfe�xjui�nz� life”, and 10 stands for “totally satisfied with my life”). step 1 step 4step 2 step 5step 3 step 6 the beginning of the journey the planet of significant people the planet of the preferred future the planet of differences that make a difference: past, present, future perspectives the planet of the successful past the planet of journey achievements highlights 5 days 5 days 26 days 5 days 5 days 5 days 7 days fi n a l ev a lu at io n in it ia l ev a lu at io n 2018, 22, 9–29 p.introducing unguided computerized solution-focused self-help into university counseling ser vices 17 participants’ feedback about the program. the participants’ feedback was obtained during the final evaluation using 10-point scales assessing the usefulness, difficulty, acceptability of the program, and the attractiveness of the space journey idea. additional information about the participants’ demographic characteristics and their prior experience with the mental health services was collected during the initial evaluation. intervention quality control was evaluated by monitoring the content provided by the program participants to ensure that their answers and other input correspond to the tasks and questions. the participation in all the cases analyzed in the article was evaluated as meeting the intervention quality criteria. results characteristics of the students participating in the program during one academic year 15% of vmu students (1253 students of 8300 (the total number of university students that year)) read the letter introducing the possibility to use the program for solving their psychosocial difficulties or seeking personal development (the first-class intranet system provides a sender with the possibility to see the number of registered students who read an e-mail). eighteen percent (n = 230) of these students registered for the participation in the program by creating their personal accounts, 50% (n = 114) of those who registered, started the program, and 21% of them completed the participation. students who did not complete all six steps of the program were considered as the drop-outs resulting in a rather high dropout rate of 79% with the largest number of participants (60%) dropping-out after the first two steps. in comparison, during the same academic year 50 students registered for the face-to-face counseling at the vmu psychology clinic, 62% (n = 31) of them started the counseling and 58% (n = 18) of those who started, completed it with the average of 4 sessions (ranging from 3 to 7). hence, the dropout rate in this group was 42% (n = 13). table 1 demonstrates main characteristics of three groups of the program participants: all students who started participation in the program, those who dropped-out, and those who completed it. viktorija cepukiene, rytis pakrosnis 18 table 1. main characteristics of all students who star ted par ticipation in the program (n = 114), drop outs (n = 90), and completers (n = 24) all participants n (%) drop-outs n (%) completers n (%) gender male female 21 (18.4) 93 (81.6) 19 (21.1) 71 (78.9) 2 (8.3) 22 (91.7) experience with mental health services? never used used in the past using now 68 (59.6) 40 (35.1) 6 (5.3) 54 (60.0) 33 (36.7) 3 (3.3) 14 (58.3) 7 (29.2) 3 (12.5) using mental health medication? yes no 7 (6.1) 107 (93.9) 5 (5.6) 85 (94.4) 2 (8.3) 22 (91.7) using other means to improve wellbeing? not using personal or group psychotherapy meditation, relaxation, yoga, self-help groups, etc. 92 (80.7) 5 (4.4) 17 (14.9) 75 (83.3) 3 (3.3) 12 (13.3) 17 (70.8) 2 (8.3) 5 (20.8) goalsa chosen by the participants to work on: external relationship improvement time management improving studies eating habits/weight control work-related goals internal personal growth/personality improvement growth of self-confidence emotion control/mood improvement overcoming loneliness not specified 32 (28.1) 10 (8.8) 8 (7.0) 6 (5.3) 4 (3.5) 4 (3.5) 82 (69.3) 29 (25.4) 23 (20.2) 23 (20.2) 4 (3.5) 3 (2.6) 24 (26.7) 8 (8.9) 5 (5.6) 6 (6.7) 2 (2.2) 3 (3.3) 66 (70.0) 25 (27.8) 16 (17.8) 18 (20.0) 4 (4.4) 3 (3.3) 8 (33.3) 2 (8.3) 3 (12.5) 0 (.0) 2 (8.3) 1 (4.2) 16 (66.7) 4 (16.7) 7 (29.2) 5 (20.8) 0 (.0) 0 (.0) m (sd) m (sd) m (sd) age 23.14 (4.87) 22.99 (5.07) 23.71 (4.10) oq-45 total score at initial evaluation 73.89 (25.17) 73.43 (25.67) 75.63 (23.64) motivation for change 8.33 (1.84) 8.32 (1.93) 8.38 (1.53) difficulty of the situation where change is desired 3.70 (1.86) 3.66 (1.94) 3.88 (1.54) a during the first step of the program, the participants were free to name any goal (there was no pre-set list of possible goals provided). for the purpose of analysis, the goals were categorised into nine categories and later into two broad categories (external and internal goals). 2018, 22, 9–29 p.introducing unguided computerized solution-focused self-help into university counseling ser vices 19 several interesting tendencies could be drawn from this data. first, the number of female participants prevailed in all three categories. this partially reflects the general ratio of female (68%) and male (32%) students at vmu: however, this disproportion was much greater among all the participants, and especially in the completers’ group. on the other hand, similar gender ratio can be seen among the clients of face-to-face counseling at the vmu psychology clinic the given academic year: 77% (n = 24) was female, and 23% (n = 7) male. second, as much as 40% of the participants reported using mental health services in the past or at the time of starting the program. in addition, 20% (30% in the completers’ group) reported using other means to improve their wellbeing. besides, the mean evaluation of the difficulty of the situation, where change was desired, was 3.7 (on the 10-point scale) in the program’s participants’ group, indicating that they perceived their situation as rather difficult. moreover, the mean of oq-45.2 total score in this group was 73.89, which can be considered quite high (there are no lithuanian norms for the instrument, but, according to the us norms provided on the official oq-45.2 website, this score indicates symptoms of clinical significance). participants’ average motivation for change was 8.33 on the 10-point scale, indicating strong willingness to seek for changes. two thirds of the participants started the program willing to work on internal issues, such as personal growth/personality improvement, selfconfidence, and emotional issues. relationship improvement and time management were most frequently mentioned from external goals. the group of students who completed the program (n = 24) was quite similar to the whole group of participants (n = 114) in respect to all analyzed characteristics. moreover, the comparison of all characteristics between the groups of “completers” and “drop-outs” revealed no statistically significant differences. outcome results since 2 of 24 students who finished the program (completers) did not participate in the final evaluation, following outcome analysis was based on the sample of 22 completers. in addition, another three completers left some questions of the final evaluation not answered; thus, some parts of the analysis were based on the sample of 19 participants. viktorija cepukiene, rytis pakrosnis 20 pairwise comparisons of the completers’ group scores between the initial and the final evaluations (paired sample t-test) revealed significant improvement on all outcome measures, except for oq-45.2 social role scale (see table 2). however, estimated effect sizes can be considered as small with one exception: the subjective evaluation of the difficulty of the situation where change is desired increased from 4 to 6.86 on the 10-point scale, resulting in the large effect size. table 2. comparisons of the outcome measures’ scores between the initial and the final evaluations in the completers’ group na initial evaluation m (sd) final evaluation m (sd) t p cohen’s d b oq-45.2 scales: symptom distress 19 45.53 (14.44) 40.26 (14.50) 3.15 .006 .36 interpersonal relationships 19 20.11 (7.26) 17.26 (8.08) 3.04 .007 .36 social role 19 12.42 (3.31) 11.74 (4.48) 1.00 .331 .16 total score 19 78.05 (22.57) 69.26 (25.52) 3.38 .003 .35 general life satisfaction 19 6.11 (1.66) 6.84 (1.89) -2.42 .026 .41 the difficulty of the situation where change is desired 22 4.00 (1.54) 6.86 (2.08) -9.02 < .001 1.50 a the difference of the participants’ number here and hereafter is because not all program completers answered all questions of the final evaluation. bthe effect sizes for paired t-tests were calculated using the online calculator (lenhard, lenhard, 2016) besides, 91% of the participants demonstrated at least some improvement on this scale from the initial to the final evaluation: 9% (n = 2) improved by 1 point; 18% (n = 4) – by 2 points; 23% (n = 5) – by 3 points; 36% (n = 8) – by 4 points, and 5% (n = 1) by 6 points. only 9% (n = 2) of the participants, who completed the program, demonstrated no improvement (wilcoxon signed ranks test z = -3.96, p < .001). face-to-face counseling clients of the vmu psychology clinic are also routinely asked to evaluate their difficulty of the situation bringing them to the counseling (on the 10-point scale) before the first and after each of the following sessions. this provided us with the possibility to 2018, 22, 9–29 p.introducing unguided computerized solution-focused self-help into university counseling ser vices 21 compare the progress on this measure in the groups of clients who completed the face-to-face counseling at the clinic in the academic year of 2014/2015 (n = 15), and the completers of the program (n = 22). there was no significant between-group difference at the pre-intervention evaluation (the face-to-face counseling group: m = 3.93, sd = 1.62; the program completers group: m = 4.00, sd = 1.54; t (35) = -.13, p = .90), showing that both groups perceived their situations as similarly difficult. similarly to the program completers group, in the group of face-to-face counseling clients the average evaluation on the scale increased significantly from pre(m = 3.93, sd = 1.62) to postintervention (m = 7.33, sd = 2.69) (t(14) = -6.28, p < .001, cohen’s d = 1.40). the comparison of the magnitude of change (the arithmetical difference between scores of the final and initial evaluations) revealed no statistically significant difference between groups of face-to-face counseling clients (m = 3.40, sd = 2.09), and the program completers (m = 2.86, sd = 1.49) (t(35) = -.91, p = .37, cohen’s d corr = .25). thus, the progress on the measure of the difficulty of the situation where change is desired can be considered as moderately large and comparable in both analyzed groups. participants’ feedback about the progr am during the final evaluation the participants were asked several questions to obtain their opinion and subjective perception about the usefulness, difficulty, acceptability of the program, and the attractiveness of the space journey idea. the data revealed that the participants evaluated different aspects of the program better than average with the group means scattered around 7 on the 10-point scale. furthermore, as many as 86% (n = 19) of the participants who went through the entire program (n = 22) reported that it helped in seeking desired changes, and 96% (n = 21) would recommend the program to friends or other close people. most of the participants at least partially saw their personal involvement in achieving the positive change: 41% (n = 9) reported that the change was due to their personal efforts; 50% (n = 11) – that the change was initiated by the combination of personal efforts and changed circumstances; and only 9% (n = 2) said that did not experience positive changes during the period of participation in the program. viktorija cepukiene, rytis pakrosnis 22 another interesting data come from the completers’ (n = 22) answers to the question regarding their attitude towards the participation in the program: 4% (n = 1) answered that they “went through the program without the enthusiasm, just under an obligation”; 41% (n = 9) stated that they “started with the enthusiasm, but gradually the motivation to participate faded”; 23% (n = 5) said that they “had no expectations at the beginning, but gradually their willingness to participate grew”; and finally, 32% (n = 7) claimed that they “were looking for something like this, so are glad they could participate”. hence, most of the completers had certain degree of motivation, but some fluctuation of the motivation during taking part in the program also can be observed: in almost one third of the cases the willingness to participate grew: however, in almost half of the cases it was gradually decreasing as the participation in the program progressed. discussion comparing to other university counseling centers and data presented in the literature (jonušienė, 2014; rückert, 2015), a relatively small demand for counseling services at vmu during the period of analysis was revealed. on the one hand, this could reflect the peculiarities of the lithuanian health care system where, similarly to some other european countries, students enter universities at legal age and are considered as adults who can take care of themselves (rückert, 2015). accordingly, they can access mental health services outside the university as students’ health care is ensured by the state. on the other hand, the number of students seeking help during one academic year (50 faceto-face clients and 230 users of the program) constitutes almost 4% of all vmu students, which is comparable to other european universities. for example, at the freie universität berlin almost 6% of students use various means of psychological help every year (rückert, 2015). the fact that much more students showed interest in the unguided computerized solution-focused self-help program could support the notion that some students in need prefer self-help over the face-to-face counseling (mitchell & dunn, 2007). some could debate that self-help is more suitable for students with less severe difficulties; thus, offering this option prompts them to use it, while students with more serious difficulties 2018, 22, 9–29 p.introducing unguided computerized solution-focused self-help into university counseling ser vices 23 still seek for the face-to-face counseling. however, some of our findings seem to contradict premise that self-help is an option only for the less distressed students. for instance, oq-45.2 scores reflect quite severe psychosocial functioning problems among self-help program participants and almost half of them reported using mental health services at present or in the past. in addition, the clients of the vmu psychology clinic who completed the face-to-face counseling and the completers of the self-help program evaluated the difficulty of the situation where change is desired as rather severe with no significant difference between groups. these results are in line with other studies analyzing mental health of university students (berger et al., 2015; kress et al., 2015; rückert, 2015). for the further inquiry it would be useful to compare the characteristics of students who chose self-help, face-to-face clients, and general population of university students to answer the question whether the self-help is seen as favorable by all students in need, or there is some specific group with specific issues or severity of difficulties, where selfhelp is more preferable. another important finding was that completers of the unguided computerized self-help program benefited in several ways. comparing the evaluations of the situation where change is desired before and after the intervention: (a) most of the program completers (91%) demonstrated improvement, (b) group mean evaluation increased significantly with the large effect size, and (c) the magnitude of change did not differ significantly from the group of the vmu psychology clinic clients who completed the face-to-face counseling. in addition, the program completers also reported statistically significant improvement of psychosocial functioning, although with small effect sizes. such finding was not unexpected, knowing that the participants of the program are prompted to choose one issue or goal to work on, which can vary from a very broad issue, covering several life areas, to a very narrow one, altering of which does not necessarily lead to the changes in broader life context. such results encourage looking further at how much impact the program (being focused at setting and achieving specific goals) can have on the participants’ general psychosocial and even academic functioning. finally, the participants’ feedback about the program was rather positive: (a) group evaluations of the program’s usefulness, acceptability, and attractiveness of the idea of space journey were higher than average viktorija cepukiene, rytis pakrosnis 24 on the 10-point scale; (b) most of the participants reported that the program was helpful in achieving change, and that they would recommend it to other close people. in summary, our preliminary data suggest that being cost effective and easily accessible the unguided computerized solution-focused selfhelp program attracted more students in need than the face-to-face counseling, and was considered useful and appreciated by those participants who completed it. for the larger part of students, the program was the first experience of psychological help, which is in line with other findings (harrar et al., 2010). if this first experience is positive, it could also be an encouragement to seek for help when needed in the future. these results contribute to a currently existing few reports that solution-focused approach can be beneficial in the context of self-help (grant, 2012; pakrosnis & cepukiene, 2015). besides, our findings are in line with the results of non-sfbt based self-help tools revealing significant changes mostly in students’ emotional state (cavanagh et al., 2013; davies et al., 2014; day et al., 2013), and confirming the potential of selfhelp in reducing students’ distress. nevertheless, the data presented in this article should be considered with precaution. first, despite statistically significant improvement in program completers’ psychological functioning it is difficult to judge about clinical significance of these results because of the lack of oq-45 norms for lithuanian population. according to the usa norms the scores of this group remain in the distressed range even after the intervention. second, the use of subjective measures (self-report scaling questions) limits the accuracy and generalizability of the results. therefore, to thoroughly evaluate the effectiveness of the self-help program and justify its purposefulness for the university student population, further research with larger sample sizes, control, or comparison groups and broader spectrum of evaluation methods is required. furthermore, the follow-up of the self-help program users could provide valuable information on the potentially lasting effects of the program. however, despite rather positive evaluations from the completers of the program, the drop-out rate, although comparable to drop-out rates of other unguided computerized self-help tools provided in the literature (up to 79 %) (berger et al., 2011; cavanagh et al., 2013; davies et al., 2014), was still relatively high and considerably higher compared to the 2018, 22, 9–29 p.introducing unguided computerized solution-focused self-help into university counseling ser vices 25 group of face-to-face counseling clients. in addition, more than half of the participants (60%) dropped out after the first two steps, and 41% of the self-help program completers reported that their motivation to participate decreased during the program. this could suggest that part of the students perceived the program as not meeting their initial expectations or not attractive enough to continue. on the other hand, in the current study the participants were considered as completers only if they completed all six steps of the program. at this stage, the program does not provide the participants with the option to leave it earlier. as a result, some participants, considered as drop-outs, could have terminated early because they improved enough before the formal end of the program. the notion that the drop-out rate is related to early improvement has some support in the literature (christensen, griffiths, & farrer, 2009). unfortunately, the participants’ feedback about the program was collected only at the very end of the program; thus, the information about the reasons for early termination was not acquired. at the same time the average number of sessions among face-to-face clients was four, suggesting that some students improve quite fast. this suggests that providing participants with the more flexibility to finish the participation earlier and collecting information about the reasons for such decision could be a valuable and necessary improvement for the program and other similar programs. another often-suggested option for improving the adherence to the computerized self-help and effectiveness of self-help in general is to provide a certain level of guidance or human contact (cavanagh et al., 2013; cavanagh & millings, 2013; davies et al., 2014; richards & timulak, 2013). nonetheless, adding some guidance is always related to additional human resources and costs. besides, there is evidence that some of the common factors are utilized successfully and therapeutic relationship can be formed to some degree even in the case of unguided selfhelp (baguley et al., 2010; cavanagh & millings, 2013). in this respect, further studies could provide more information on the means to enhance the formation and maintenance of the therapeutic relationship in the context of unguided self-help. another tendency to be mentioned, which is in line with other results (rückert, 2015), is the low number of male participants, especially among those who completed the program. this prompts to look for the viktorija cepukiene, rytis pakrosnis 26 aspects of self-help programs which could increase and help to maintain male students’ willingness to start and keep using a program. summing up, adding the unguided computerized solution-focused self-help program to the services package was a valuable decision for the vmu psychology clinic. despite the limited generalizability and some questions left for future studies, the presented data suggests that unguided computerized self-help tools based on 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(2008). treating university students with social phobia and public-speaking fears: internet delivered self-help with or without live group exposure sessions. depression and anxiety, 25, 708–717. doi: 10.1002/da.20416 https://www.psychometrica.de/effect_size.html https://munin.uit https://doi.org/10.1080/14733140701565987 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2012.726347 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2014.02.001 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j 2018, 22, 9–29 p.introducing unguided computerized solution-focused self-help into university counseling ser vices 29 į sprendimus sutelk tos kompiuterinės savi-pagalbos progr amos įtr aukimas į universite to psichologinio konsultavimo pasl augas viktorija čepukienė, rytis pakrosnis psichologijos katedra, vytauto didžiojo universitetas santrauka. įžanga. psichologinių problemų turinčių studentų augantis skaičius ir santykinai didelis skaičius studentų, kurie negauna reikiamos pagalbos, skatina universitetų psichologinio konsultavimo centrus šalia tradicinio psichologinio konsultavimo ieškoti ir diegti alternatyvias pagalbos priemones. pripažįstama, kad kompiuterinė savi-pagalba yra viena iš daugiausiai žadančių alternatyvų. siekiant išplėsti studentų konsultavimo paslaugas vytauto didžiojo universitete (lietuva), straipsnio autoriai sukūrė ir 2014 m. į paslaugas studentams įtraukė į sprendimus sutelktą kompiuterinę savi-pagalbos programą. programa kviečia dalyvį į virtualią „kelionę kosmosu“, aplankant keletą planetų, kurių kiekviena atspindi skirtingą į sprendimus sutelktą temą ir padeda siekti teigiamų pokyčių įvairiose gyvenimo srityse. tikslas. pristatyti pradinius programos veiksmingumo, padedant studentams įveikti turimus sunkumus ir gerinti jų psichologinį-socialinį funkcionavimą, rezultatus bei aptarti programos įtraukimo į vytauto didžiojo universiteto psichologinio konsultavimo paslaugas privalumus. metodai. pradinio ir baigiamojo vertinimų, kuriuos skyrė vienas mėnuo, metu buvo taikytos subjektyvios 10 balų vertinimo skalės ir standartizuotas klausimynas (oq-45.2). rezultatai. buvo analizuojami 24 studentų, kurie pilnai užbaigė visą programą, rezultatai. jie atskleidė, kad per tiriamą laikotarpį programa, pritraukusi daugiau sunkumų turinčių studentų nei akivaizdinė psichologinė pagalba, buvo naudinga ir dalyviai vertinama teigiamai. tai leidžia manyti, kad kompiuterinės savi-pagalbos priemonės, pagrįstos į stiprybes sutelktu požiūriu ir sudarančios sąlygas spręsti įvairaus pobūdžio problemas, ne tik gali sustiprinti psichologinės pagalbos prieinamumą studentams, bet ir taupyti universitetų psichologinio konsultavimo centrų išteklius bei laiką. reikšminiai žodžiai: universiteto studentų psichologinis konsultavimas; kompiuterinė savi-pagalba; į sprendimus sutelktas požiūris. received: 2018-09-06 accepted: 2019-02-04 contents editorial note scientific publications viktorija cepukiene, rytis pakrosnis introducing unguided computerized solution-focused self-help into university counseling services virginija klimukienė, alfredas laurinavičius, ilona laurinaitytė, laura ustinavičiūtė, and mykolas baltrūnas examination of convergent validity of start: av ratings among male juveniles on probation karina kravčenko, laura šeibokaitė the effect of joy and anxiety on egocentric decisions among young adults ala petrulytė, virginija guogienė adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy in lithuanian sample kristina ražauskaitė-pilipavičienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė gender differences in dyadic dominance during interpersonal interaction: the comparison of friends’ dyads and romanticc ouples lina cirtautienė, auksė endriulaitienė the influence of psychological factors for leader’s efficiency in global it companies kristina kovalčikienė, giedrė genevičiūtė-janonė the relationship between the vocational teachers’ personality traits and the work motivation information the 20th international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, december 6th, 2017. abstr acts the 21st international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, april 25th, 2018. abstr acts contributors reviewers instructions for authors 97 autonomy as a personal resource for students occupational well-being kristina paradnikė1, rita bandzevičienė mykolas romeris university, lithuania abstract. background. the awareness of resources that help to overcome life challenges and flourish even in the conditions of uncertainty is critically important for young individuals transitioning from school to labor market. autonomy, as self-governance, based on the basis of personal interests, integrated goals and values, is linked with a number of positive constructs. those include performance, creativity, greater sense of personal reward and energy, engagement in pro-social activities and etc. thus, autonomy might be a promising personal resource for successful functioning and occupational well-being manifested as satisfaction with life, engagement and academic major satisfaction. purpose. the purpose of the study was to analyze the role of students’ autonomy when predicting satisfaction with life, engagement and academic major satisfaction. method. the sample consisted of 148 college students (97.3% male, 2.7% female; mean age 19.69 ± 1.30). the short version of utrecht work engagement scale – student version (schaufeli et al., 2002), satisfaction with life scale (diener et al., 1985), academic major satisfaction scale (nauta, 2007) and dispositional index of autonomous functioning scale (weinstein et al., 2012) were used in the study. results. only one of the components of autonomy, authorship/self-congruence in particular, had significant positive relationship with study variables and was a significant predictor of study engagement, satisfaction with life and academic major satisfaction. conclusion. our findings suggest that at least to some extent autonomy might serve as an important resource of students’ well-being while struggling in academic settings. keywords: autonomy, engagement, academic major satisfaction, satisfaction with life, students. 1 address for correspondence: mykolas romeris university, faculty of social technologies, institute of psychology, ateities st. 20, lt-08303 vilnius, lithuania, phone: (8 5) 271 4625 fax: (8 5) 267 6000, e-mail: kristina.paradnike@gmail.com. scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2015 / 17 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.17.6 98 kristina paradnikė, rita bandzevičienė introduc tion today, the complexity of reality results in limitations on human capacities to control themselves and the circumstances of their lives. individuals as well as the world they live in constantly experience change and unpredictability (pryor, 2010). individuals can no longer plan to be working 30 years developing a career within the boundaries of one job or even one organization (savickas, 2012). thus, the awareness of resources that help to overcome life challenges and flourish even in the conditions of uncertainty is critically important. we believe that autonomy might serve as a personal resource that is linked to students’ occupational wellbeing manifested as satisfaction with life, engagement and academic major satisfaction. although the topic of human autonomy has been under discussion for a substantially long time (ryan & deci, 2006), there is enough evidence to believe it still might play an important role in this age of chaos and possibilities brought on by globalization and digital revolution. hence, the purpose of the study was to reveal the role of students’ autonomy when predicting satisfaction with life, engagement and academic major satisfaction. background psychological resources. in response to current labor market challenges, there are many recent attempts to define possible personal or contextual resources that are necessary for performance, career satisfaction and optimal functioning. hirschi (2012) summarizes various constructs of career self-management behaviors and proposes four critical career resources which are necessary for career development in the modern context: human capital resources (e.g. education, transferable skills, and cognitive ability), social resources (e.g. networks and social support), identity resources (e. g. self-concept clarity, goal congruence, and goal clarity) and psychological resources (e.g. optimism, hope, and self-efficacy). in spite of the variety of attempts to explain resources, it is now clear that people need certain resources to adapt (savickas, 2012) and they strive to obtain, protect, and foster those resources they value (hobfoll, 2012). 99 2015, 17, 97–115 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach previous studies suggest that various constructs might serve as psychological resources in predicting work and career behavior and outcomes as well as higher psychological functioning. for example, such resources devoted to coping with uncertainty as optimism, flexibility, persistence, curiosity and risk taking are linked with students’ career exploration and certainty with career decisions (kim, jang, jung, lee, puig, & lee, 2014); hope is linked with students’ psychological wellbeing (shorey, little, snyder, kluck, & robitschek, 2007); finally, enhancing graduates’ career adaptability can increase their chances for finding a qualitatively good job (koen, klehe, & van vianen, 2012). it is evident that students benefit from a variety of positive constructs that serve as resources in career development. accordingly, we propose that autonomy might be a significant psychological career resource and play an important role in students’ occupational well-being. autonomy as a resource. autonomy, like previously mentioned psychological resources (e.g. hope, flexibility, or adaptability), has a huge impact on personality functioning and wellness (ryan & deci, 2006). ryan and deci (2006) define autonomy as regulation by the self or as self-governance, while its opposite, heteronomy, refers to controlled regulation or regulation that occurs without endorsement from oneself (ryan & deci, 2006). humans are active and growth-oriented organisms and they possess a natural developmental tendency toward autonomy (deci & ryan, 2000). autonomous individuals tend to regulate their behavior in congruence with their interests, goals and values, and they have a sense of choice about their behavior and a sense of control of their actions (weinstein & ryan, 2011). it is evident that autonomy is linked with a number of positive constructs such as creative thinking (liu, zhang, zhang, lee, wang, & brownell, 2013), greater sense of personal reward and energy (weinstein, przybylski, & ryan, 2012), test performance (vansteenkiste, simons, lens, sheldon, & deci, 2004), engagement in prosocial activities (gagné, 2003) and etc. thus, naming autonomy as one of the promising personal or psychological career resources seems quite reasonable since the evidence suggest that autonomy is linked with a diversity of positive consequences. of those possible consequences, we are particularly interested in students’ satisfaction with life, study 100 kristina paradnikė, rita bandzevičienė engagement, and satisfaction with academic major. these constructs indicate students’ occupational well-being and are likely to have an impact on students’ career development. engagement and autonomy. the concept of study engagement rises from definition and operationalization of work engagement (schaufeli, salanova, gonzález-romá, & bakker, 2002). analogous to work engagement, study engagement is defined as positive and fulfilling state of mind and is characterized by three components: vigor (being full of energy while studying), dedication (being strongly involved and experiencing a sense of enthusiasm while studying) and absorption (concentrating totally and being fully immersed in one’s studies) (schaufeli et al., 2002). previous studies have mainly focused on a variety of organization-related resources that facilitate work engagement such as supporting employees’ autonomy, giving performance feedback, and providing opportunities for development (freeney & fellenz, 2013; schaufeli, bakker, & van rhenen, 2009). studies have proved the benefits of contextual and personal factors that might influence study engagement as well. for instance, positive emotions boost study engagement through such personal resources as academic self-efficacy, study-related hope and studyrelated optimism (ouweneel, le blanc, & schaufeli, 2011); such resource as ability to cope proactively alleviates the impact of stress on study engagement (gan, yang, zhou, & zhang, 2007); task autonomy and teacher support enhance study engagement (salanova, schaufeli, martínez, & bresó, 2010) and etc. in accordance to the notion that autonomy support is positively linked with both study and work engagement (salanova et al., 2010; freeney & fellenz, 2013; schaufeli et al., 2009), we hypothesize that autonomy is an important personal resource itself and is a predictor of study engagement. academic major satisfaction and autonomy. in organizational behavior research, the importance of career success, both for individuals and organizations, is well-established. subjective career success is usually operationalized by self-referent criteria such as individual’s satisfaction of current career or job situation, goals and aspirations. also, individuals 101 2015, 17, 97–115 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach evaluate their career success in reference to the expectations and outcomes attained by other people and in reference to their personal aspirations (heslin, 2003). however, according to nauta (2007), for students, satisfaction with their academic major is a more adjacent construct to evaluate. academic major satisfaction represents global satisfaction with one’s chosen major and is operationalized as happiness with academic major and unwillingness to change it (nauta, 2007). previous studies suggest that career-related optimism (mcilveen, beccaria, & burton, 2013) and increased ability to make occupational choices despite perceived constraints lead to greater academic major satisfaction (jadidian & duffy, 2012). also, increased career decision self-efficacy is a significant predictor of self-determined motivation, satisfaction with the course, and satisfaction with the major (komarraju, swanson, & nadler, 2014). we presume that more autonomous students also make more autonomous career choices, which results in higher satisfaction with chosen specialties. in other words, we hypothesize that greater autonomy will predict higher academic major satisfaction. satisfaction with life and autonomy. theoreticians and practitioners urge to find and evaluate the most important indicators and factors of individual well-being (diener, oishi, & lucas, 2003). one of those indicators is general life satisfaction, which represents how individuals assess their satisfaction with life as a whole according to their chosen criteria (diener, emmons, larsen, & griffin, 1985). there are thousands of studies where life satisfaction and both its antecedents and its outcomes are investigated. however, only a few measure the links between autonomy and satisfaction with life. the results of those few studies indicate the importance of autonomy and autonomy support to happiness and well-being. for example, greater autonomy is linked with greater positive affect, self-esteem, life-satisfaction, sense of clear meaning in life, and value for personal growth (weinstein et al., 2012). also, autonomy is one of the universal, basic needs (ryan & deci, 2006). the perception of significant support for this need by others results in higher subjective well-being (ratelle, simard, & guay, 2013) and life satisfaction (niemiec, lynch, vansteenkiste, bernstein, deci, & ryan, 2006). in addition, more autonomous students experience higher levels of well-being on 102 kristina paradnikė, rita bandzevičienė daily basis (weinstein et al., 2012). with regard to previous studies, we hypothesize that autonomy might be a predictor of students’ satisfaction with life. r ationale of current study occupational well-being of employees is operationalized as job satisfaction, low level of emotional exhaustion and job-related enthusiasm (zacher, jimmieson, & bordia, 2014; cheung & lun, 2015; li, xu, tu, & lu, 2014). based on this operationalization, we propose that high level of study engagement, satisfaction with academic major, and students’ satisfaction with life are three noteworthy indicators of students’ occupational well-being. since study engagement is linked with students’ academic performance (salanova et al., 2010), intrinsic motivation (siu, bakker, & jiang, 2014), achievement (bigna et al., 2014), and satisfaction with life (mokgele & tothmann, 2014), information about the antecedents of engagement, as an indicator of occupational well-being, seems to be crucial. in addition to engagement, satisfaction with life and satisfaction with academic major might also be taken into consideration when representing students’ occupational well-being. given that life satisfaction is related to important career outcomes, such as career satisfaction, performance, turnover intentions (erdogan, bauer, truxillo, & mansfield, 2012) and college retention (frisch et al., 2005), the importance of exploring possible antecedents of satisfaction with life seems to be unquestionable. in addition, students’ satisfaction with academic major is another important construct when considering occupational well-being. it represents subjective career success, when job (or career) satisfaction is too distant for students to evaluate and is also connected to a variety of positive outcomes such as performance and grades (nauta, 2007). to conclude, we suggest that high level of study engagement, satisfaction with academic major, and students’ satisfaction with life indicate occupational well-being of students. the purpose of the current study is to explore the links between autonomy, as a resource, and those three constructs. 103 2015, 17, 97–115 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach me thod par ticipants the participants were 148 students from the faculty of electronics and informatics of vilniaus kolegija/university of applied sciences. the sample consisted of students awarding professional bachelor’s degree in informatics, informatics engineering, electronics engineering, computer engineering and telecommunications engineering. since the absolute majority of faculty students are male, the sample was dominated by male students (97.3 % male, 2.7 % female students). the age of participants ranged from 18 to 26 (m = 19.69, sd = 1.30). among the participants, 12.20 % have had work experience in their occupational field, 68.70 % have worked in some other field, and only 19 % of participants had no work experience. procedure data collection was conducted in december, 2014. the administration of the institution was informed about the date, time and procedure of the research. all participants were informed that participation was voluntary. the questionnaires were administered by researchers and were completed in lectures during regular lecture hours. the participants were not paid for participation. measures the lithuanian versions of the instruments were prepared with permission from the authors of the measures. after translation into lithuanian using the translation/back-translation procedure, confirmatory factor analysis (cfa) with the maximum likelihood estimation in mplus 6 (muthén and muthén, 1998–2010) was performed in order to check the factor structure of the lithuanian version of the measures. model fit was ascertained using various indices (byrne, 2012): the comparative fit index (cfi) and the tucker-lewis index (tli) should exceed .90, and the root mean square error of approximation (rmsea) should be less than .08. study engagement was measured with the short version of utrecht work engagement scale – student version (uwes-s-9; schaufeli et al., 2002) that consists of three subscales: (a) vigor (3 items), a sample item is “when i’m doing my work as a student, i feel bursting with energy”, 104 kristina paradnikė, rita bandzevičienė (b) dedication (3 items), a sample item is “my studies inspire me”, and (c) absorption (3 items), a sample item is “i am immersed in my studies.” all items were scored on a seven-point likert scale from 0 (never) to 6 (always/every day). cronbach’s alphas were .72 for vigor, .80 for dedication and .70 for absorption subscale. the results of cfa indicate that the three-factor structure (with correlation between two items) provided an adequate fit to the data, χ2 = 30.596 (p < .05), df = 23; cfi = .987, tli = .980; rmsea = .047 [.001; .088]. satisfaction with life was measured with the satisfaction with life scale (swls; diener et al., 1985) that consists of 5 items. a sample item is “i am satisfied with my life.“ subjects responded to items using a 7-point likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). responses were summed up to produce a total swls score, with higher scores indicating more life satisfaction. the cronbach’s alpha in the present study was .81. the results of cfa indicate that the one-factor structure provided an adequate fit to the data, χ2 = 6.568 (p < .05), df = 5; cfi = .994, tli = .988; rmsea = .046 [.001; .130]. satisfaction with academic major was assessed with the academic major satisfaction scale (amss) developed by nauta (2007). the scale consists of six items with a 5-point likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). a sample item is “overall, i am happy with the major i’ve chosen.” total scores were calculated by averaging responses to the six items. cronbach’s alpha was .88 in this study. the results of cfa indicate that the one-factor structure (with correlation between two items) provides an adequate fit to the data, χ2 = 5.783 (p < .05), df = 7; cfi = 1.000, tli = 1.005; rmsea = .001 [.001; .090]. the autonomy of students was measured with the dispositional index of autonomous functioning scale (iaf, weinstein et al., 2012) which consists of three subscales: authorship/self-congruence (5 items, e.g. “my decisions represent my most important values and feelings“), interesttaking (5 items; reversed; e.g. “i am interested in understanding the reasons for my actions“), and susceptibility to control (5 items, e.g. “i believe certain things so that others will like me“). all items were scored on a fivepoint likert-type scale from 1 (not at all true) to 5 (completely true). higher means of the authorship/self-congruence and interest-taking subscales and lower scores of susceptibility to control subscale indicate greater autonomy. cronbach’s alphas were .80, .87, and .71, respectively. the re105 2015, 17, 97–115 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach sults of cfa indicate that the three-factor structure (with correlation between two pairs of items) provides an adequate fit to the data, χ2 = 147.31 (p > .05), df = 85; cfi = .926, tli = .909; rmsea = .070 [.051; .089]. results table 1 shows means, standard deviations, and correlations among all the study variables. authorship/self-congruence was positively related to all study variables: vigor (r = .48, p < .01); dedication (r = .44, p < .01); absorption (r = .38, p < .01); satisfaction with life (r = .33, p < .01), and academic major satisfaction (r = .21, p < .01). neither susceptibility to control nor interest-taking had significant correlations with any study variables, except with each other (r = −.46, p < .01) and authorship/selfcongruence (respectively r = −.26, p < .01, and r = .19, p < .05). table 1. summar y data and intercorrelations among all variables   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1. vigor − .71** .69** .45** .36** .48** − .10 .02 2. dedication − .59** .40** .58** .44** − .14 .13 3. absorption − .35** .35** .38** − .15 .15 4. swls − .33** .33** − .04 − .12 5. amss − .21** − .01 − .01 6. authorship / self-congruence − − .26** .19* 7. susceptibility to control − − .46** 8. interest-taking − m 2.72 3.10 2.64 21.61 3.84 3.30 2.93 3.07 sd 1.08 1.15 1.12 6.35 0.76 0.70 0.76 1.02 note. swls − satisfaction with life scale (diener et al., 1985); amss − academic major satisfaction scale (nauta, 2007). n = 148 * p < .05, **p < .01. we predicted that autonomy would serve as a personal resource and have a positive effect on study engagement, satisfaction with life and academic major satisfaction. regression analyses were used to examine the relation of the autonomy dimensions to indicators of students’ occupational well-being. to decrease the amount of variance explained by 106 kristina paradnikė, rita bandzevičienė non-significant correlates, we included only the variables significantly related to factor variables. specifically, only the authorship/self-congruence was entered to regression equation. we expected to find significant interactions between the authorship/self-congruence and other study variables. authorship/self-congruence was a significant predictor of vigor (r 2 = .23, f(1, 146) = 42.44, p < .01, 95% confidence interval (ci) [.11, .35]); dedication (r2 = .20, f(1, 146) = 35.60, p < .01, 95% ci [.09, .32]); and absorption (r2 = .14, f(1, 146) = 24.39, p < .01, 95% ci [.04, .24]). also, author ship/self-congruence accounted for significant variance in satisfaction with life (r2 = .11, f(1, 146) = 17.52, p < .01, 95% ci [.02, .20]) and academic majors satisfaction (r 2 = .05, f(1, 146) = 3.88, p < .05, 95% ci [.02, .11]) (see table 2). however, it appears that the predictive value of authorship/selfcongruence is the highest when predicting vigor and dedication, as in all other cases the accounted variance is lower than 20 percent. table 2. summar y of multiple regression analyses predicting academic major satisfaction, satisfaction with life, and study engagement predictor factor β b r 2 equation 1: authorship/self-congruencea academic major satisfactionb .21 0.23 .05* equation 2: authorship/self-congruencea satisfaction with lifec .33** 2.97 .11** equation 3: authorship/self-congruencea engagement: vigord .48** 0.73 .23** equation 4: authorship/self-congruencea engagement: dedicatione .44** 0.73 .20** equation 5: authorship/self-congruencea engagement: absorptionf .38** 0.60 .14** note. β – estimated value of standardized regression coefficient (beta); b – estimated value of unstandardized regression coefficient; r 2 – r squared (coefficient of determination). n = 148. the table depicts 5 separate regression equations, where authorship/self-congruence (a) is a predictor of outcome variables (b, c, d, e, f ). * p < .05, **p < .01. 107 2015, 17, 97–115 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach since the assumption of the study was that autonomy would serve as a resource for students’ study engagement, satisfaction with life and academic major satisfaction as indicators of occupational well-being, we performed a multivariate analysis with the maximum likelihood estimation in mplus 6 (muthén and muthén, 1998–2010) in order to check whether autonomy predicts other study variables. we included only authorship/self-congruence as a predictor of factor variables. we checked the fit of two possible models. model 1 included authorship/ self-congruence as a predictor and study engagement (indicated by vigor, dedication, and absorption), satisfaction with life and academic major satisfaction as outcome variables. model 2 excluded academic major satisfaction as an outcome variable since in the linear regression analysis the predictive value of authorship/self-congruence accounted only for 5 percent of the variance of academic major satisfaction. table 3 shows the results of comparison of the both models. table 3. comparison of model 1 and model 2 model χ2 δχ2 df cfi tli rmsea [90% ci] model 1 26.85 (p < .05) 25.86 6 .94 .86 .153 [.097−.214] model 2 0.99 (p > .05) 4 1 1 .001 [.001−.048] note. χ2 – chi-square test statistic; δχ2 – delta chi square; df – degrees of freedom; cfi – comparative fit index; tli − tucker-lewis index; rmsea – root mean square error of approximation; ci = confidence interval. n = 148. figure 1. results (standardized estimates) of the structural equation modeling predicting study engagement and satisfaction with life (model 2). n = 148. **p < .01. study engagement authorship/ self-congruence satisfaction with life vigor dedication absorption .39** .56** .91** .80** .77** 108 kristina paradnikė, rita bandzevičienė figure 1 represents the model 2, which was more adequate as indicated by various indices: the comparative fit index (cfi) and the tuckerlewis index (tli) should exceed .90, and the root mean square error of approximation (rmsea) should be less than .08 (byrne, 2012). the results of model 2 indicate that authorship/self-congruence positively predict both study engagement and satisfaction with life. authorship/self-congruence accounts for 15 percent of variance of satisfaction with life and 31 percent of variance of study engagement. these results support the assumption that at least one dimension of autonomy might serve as a resource or a predictor of positive occupational outcomes of students. discussion today, transition from the academic setting to the ‘real’ world of fluid careers requires more effort, deeper self-knowledge, and greater confidence than ever before (savickas, 2012). individuals need to be able to manage their careers and encounter job or career demands in a quite chaotic environment, which requires a lot of personal resources. the purpose of our study was to assess the role of such possible personal resource as autonomy when predicting students’ satisfaction with life, engagement and academic major satisfaction. weinstein and colleagues (2012) suggest that autonomy includes interest-taking, absence of susceptibility to control and authorship or self-congruence (weinstein et al., 2012). in our study, authorship or selfcongruence was positively related to all study outcome variables. also, authorship or self-congruence was a significant predictor of the facets of engagement (vigor, dedication, and absorption) and satisfaction with life both in the linear regression equations and in the structural equation model. thus, experiencing oneself as the author of behavior and being responsible for one’s actions might play a significant role in students’ satisfaction with life and study engagement. the results support the presumption that at least to some extent autonomy might serve as a resource or a predictor of positive occupational outcomes of students. the results of the current study are in line with previous studies, where autonomy was linked with various positive outcomes (liu et al., 2013; gagné, 2003; vansteenkiste et al., 2004). 109 2015, 17, 97–115 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach however, without experimental or longitudinal studies, the causality between variables is unclear. also, although we predicted that higher levels of autonomy could predict higher levels of students’ engagement and life satisfaction, and the hypothesis was confirmed, it is not always clear whether well-being or life satisfaction is an outcome of resources or antecedent. in some studies, life satisfaction plays a mediating role between resources and outcomes or serves as a resource itself. for example, in some studies, the frequency of recognition and praise received by college students and their level of personal growth initiative is mediated by perceived life satisfaction (stevic & ward, 2008). on the contrary, in other studies, personal growth initiative is proven to be an antecedent of optimal functioning (weigold, porfeli, & weigold, 2013) and predictor of if life satisfaction (yang & chang, 2014). similarly, we assume that satisfaction with life might be a resource itself in some cases, and this should be taken in consideration while interpreting the results of our study. in addition, some studies prove that engagement is linked with career and job satisfaction in employees’ and students’ samples (barnes & collier, 2013; høigaard, giske, & sundsli, 2012; rayton & yalabik, 2014; sovet, sang, park, & jung, 2014; etc.). thus, it is possible that it could also predict academic major satisfaction and vice versa. nevertheless, our findings suggest that to some extent autonomy might serve as a means to succeed in the conditions of the present-day changing world and in the times of changing career paths. the current study extends the existing literature on career resources (hirshi, 2012; king, 2004; sturges, 2008; etc.) with a notion that autonomy is connected to well-being in the occupational field in a sample of students. limitations and future directions. the results and conclusions from the present study need to be considered in light of a number of limitations. firstly, the study included participants from a narrow occupational field – computer and engineering sciences. in earlier studies it was argued that different occupational sectors could encounter different challenges (bakker & sanz-vergel, 2013). hence, it seems reasonable to investigate if the patterns found in the current study would replicate in different samples. also, the sample of the current study contained a disproportionate number of men. however, such a sample might seem to be novel since the studies of career field often include female-predominant samples of social science students (duffy, douglass, autin, & allan, 2014). 110 kristina paradnikė, rita bandzevičienė nevertheless, gender is an important consideration in the career development area (patton & creed, 2001). thus, future studies should consider samples with a more equal gender balance. although the findings of the current study have provided some new insights into the links among autonomy, study engagement, and academic and life satisfaction, this study had the limitation of adopting a cross-sectional design. career resources might change over time and the existence of resources in one area promotes the development of resources in the other areas (hirschi, 2012). thus, in future studies, a longitudinal approach would be beneficial in understanding how the variables change and develop over time. also, an experimental approach could give evidence of causality between variables. moreover, one possible direction for future research could be expanding the current study to other career stages. this could establish a more complete understanding of the role of personal career resources during the life span. conclusion the results of the study suggest that at least one facet of students’ autonomy, namely, authorship or self-congruence, is related to study engagement, satisfaction with life and academic major satisfaction. despite the shortcomings of the study, our findings suggest that at a certain extent autonomy might serve as an important resource of students’ occupational well-being while struggling in academic settings and preparing for transition from college to the labor market. references bakker, a. b., sanz-vergel, a. i. 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(2014). time pressure and coworker support mediate the curvilinear relationship between age and occupational well-being. journal of occupational health psychology, 19 (4), 462–475. doi: 10.1037/a0036995. 115 2015, 17, 97–115 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach autonomija k aip studentų profesinės gerovės asmeninis išteklius kristina paradnikė, r ita b andzevičienė mykolo romerio universitetas santrauka. darbo problema. šiandienos neapibrėžtumo ir neužtikrintumo sąlygomis nepaprastai svarbu suprasti, kurie ištekliai padeda įveikti gyvenimo sunkumus ir gerai pasiruošti konkuruoti darbo rinkoje. autonomija, arba funkcionavimas vadovaujantis asmeniniais interesais, vertybėmis ir tikslais, gali būti reikšmingas asmeninis išteklius, susijęs su sėkmingu funkcionavimu akademinėje aplinkoje. ankstesnių tyrimų duomenimis, autonomija susijusi su tokiais pozityviais konstruktais kaip atlikimas, kūrybiškumas, įsitraukimas į prosocialias veiklas ir kt. taigi šiame tyrime keliama prielaida, kad autonomija susijusi su studentų profesinę gerovę atspindinčiais konstruktais – įsitraukimu į studijas, pasitenkinimu jomis ir gyvenimu. tikslas. siekta ištirti autonomijos ir studentų įsitraukimo į studijas, pasitenkinimo gyvenimu bei studijomis sąsajas. tiriamieji ir metodai. tyrime dalyvavo 148 kolegijos studentai (97,3 proc. vaikinų, 2,7 proc. merginų, kurių amžiaus vidurkis – 19,69, sd – 1,30). tyrime naudoti instrumentai: utrechto įsitraukimo į darbą skalė – trumpoji studentų versija (schaufeli et al., 2002), pasitenkinimo gyvenimu skalė (diener et al., 1985), pasitenkinimo pasirinktu studijų dalyku skalė (nauta, 2007) ir dispozicinės autonomijos indekso skalė (weinstein et al., 2012). rezultatai. teigiamai su kitais tyrimo kintamaisiais buvo susijęs tik vienas autonomijos komponentas – autorystė arba savikongruencija. regresinė analizė atskleidė, kad autorystė arba savikongruencija buvo reikšminga ir prognozuojant studentų įsitraukimą į studijas, pasitenkinimą gyvenimu ir pasitenkinimą pasirinktomis studijomis. išvados. remiantis tyrimo rezultatais galima teigti, kad autonomija bent iš dalies yra reikšmingas išteklius, susijęs su studentų gerove akademinėje aplinkoje. pagrindiniai žodžiai: autonomija, įsitraukimas, pasitenkinimas studijomis, pasitenkinimas gyvenimu, studentai. received: may 15, 2015 accepted: october 19, 2015 133 manto tvarijonavičiaus daktaro disertacijos „psichologinis darbuotojų įgalinimas: jo prielaidos ir vaidmuo organizacijoje“ (socialiniai mokslai, psichologija 06s) recenzija auksė endriulaitienė vytauto didžiojo universitetas, lietuva manto tvarijonavičiaus daktaro disertacija nagrinėja gana naują ir aktualų organizacinės psichologijos reiškinį – psichologinį darbuotojų įgalinimą ir sudėtinę problemą – kokia šio reiškinio struktūra, kokie veiksniai jį prognozuoja ir koks jo vaidmuo darbuotojų nuostatoms ir elgesiui organizacijoje. galima sutikti su disertantu, kad nors tema aktuali ir įdomi, moksliniai šios srities tyrinėjimai lietuvoje itin negausūs. tvarijonavičiaus disertacijoje analizuojami klausimai neabejotinai svarbūs taikomuoju organizacinės psichologijos požiūriu, gauti rezultatai gali būti panaudoti organizacijose darbuotojų motyvacijai ir pasitenkinimui didinti, vadovų elgesiui tobulinti ir siekiant efektyvesnio organizacijos funkcionavimo. taip pat analizuojami klausimai ne mažiau aktualūs ir teoriniu požiūriu. iki šiol įgalinimo konstruktas psichologijos moksle nėra aiškiai teoriškai apibrėžtas, diskutuojama, ar tai vadovavimo, ar vis dėlto darbuotojų motyvacijos klausimas, nėra bendro teorinio modelio, pagrindžiančio darbuotojo psichologinio įgalinimo ir jo prielaidų bei pasekmių aiškinimą. todėl šiuo požiūriu darbo aktualumas, mokslinis naujumas ir originalumas abejonių nekelia. struktūriniu požiūriu disertacija tenkina visus tokio pobūdžio darbams keliamus reikalavimus – yra reikiamos apimties (182 p.), turi visas rei kalingas sudedamąsias dalis (sąvokų apibūdinimą, įvadą, keturis ginamuosius teiginius, teorinę literatūros apžvalgą, empirinę dalį, kur pristatoma tyrimo metodika, rezultatų analizė, jų aptarimas, išvados ir recenzijos 134 recenzijos praktinės rekomendacijos). disertacijos rezultatus prasmingai iliustruoja paveikslai, lentelės ir priedai. literatūros sąraše yra 85 mokslinės literatūros šaltiniai lietuvių ir anglų kalbomis (pristatantys 1959–2013 m. atliktų mokslinių tyrimų rezultatus disertanto nagrinėjama tema). daktaro disertacijos santraukoje atsispindi esminiai tyrimo komponentai ir rezultatai, jie paskelbti trijose autoriaus publikacijose recenzuojamuose mokslo leidiniuose. norėtųsi platesnio tyrimų rezultatų viešinimo mokslinėse konferencijose, ypač tarptautinėse. paminėtina daug teigiamų tvarijonavičiaus disertacijos aspektų. pirma, išsami ir įdomi literatūros apžvalga. darbas nuoseklus, aiškus, sudominantis, hipotezės pagrįstos kitų mokslininkų duomenimis. atskleidžiamas ir pagrindžiamas darbo mokslinis naujumas, keliama teorinė problema, išskiriamas praktinis-taikomasis darbo aspektas. kaip darbo privalumą galima būtų išskirti tai, kad analizuojamas labai platus ir klasikinės, ir naujausios mokslinės literatūros spektras. remiantis teorine analize suformuluoti keturi ginamieji teiginiai. antra, itin didelis šios disertacijos privalumas – kvalifikuotas kiekybinio ir kokybinio tyrimo metodų taikymas bei psichologinio įgalinimo vertinimo metodikos kūrimas. neabejotina, kad lietuvoje įvairių psichologinio įvertinimo metodikų itin trūksta, ir tai yra reikšmingas disertanto indėlis į kvalifikuotą psichologų praktiką ir psichologijos mokslo raidą lietuvoje. kuriant metodiką įdėta daug darbo, kompetentingai analizuojami duomenys, įrodantys metodikos psichometrinį tinkamumą. visi klausimynai aprašyti gana aiškiai, atskleistas jų patikimumas, tinkamumas naudoti empiriniam tyrimui. teigiamai vertintina ir pasirinktų duomenų statistinės analizės metodų įvairovė ir šių metodų sudėtingumas. darbuotojų psichologinio įgalinimo prielaidos ir pasekmės analizuojamos naudojant struktūrinį lygčių modeliavimą, ieškoma sąveikos, mediacijos ir moderacijos efektų, taip gaunama daug įvairialypių rezultatų. trečia, gauti tyrimo rezultatai disertacijoje pateikiami aiškiai, koncentruotai, nuosekliai. matyti autoriaus pastangos pateikti informaciją suprantamai, apibendrintai ir kokybiškai. nors vertinta labai daug kintamųjų, gauta daug duomenų ir rezultatų, kokybiški apibendrinimai skyrių pabaigose padeda nepasimesti gausoje ir suprasti, kas yra svarbiausi akcentai. formuluojamos išvados patikimos, adekvačios ir pagrįstos, atitinkančios ginamuosius teiginius ir pagrindines darbo idėjas. ketvirta, tyrimo rezultatų aptarimo dalis atspindi disertanto gebėjimą interpretuoti, vertinti duomenis, paaiškinti neatitikimus su kitų international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 135 2014, 15, 133–138 p. mokslininkų gaunamais rezultatais, kelti mokslines ateities tyrimų įžvalgas ir pasiūlymus. kaip jau minėta anksčiau, praktinės rekomendacijos yra neabejotinai svarbi ir vertinga šio mokslinio darbo dalis. vertingiausi disertacijos rezultatai – 1) išanalizuotos penkios darbuotojų psichologinį įgalinimą sudarančios dimensijos (prasmės, entuziazmo, sprendimų priėmimo, autonomijos ir pasitikėjimo kompetencija), kurios, disertanto nuomone, formuoja bendrą psichologinio įgalinimo būseną; 2) sudarytas lietuviškas psichologinio įgalinimo klausimynas; 3) nustatyti psichologiniai veiksniai, kurie gali padėti numatyti darbuotojų psichologinio įgalinimo būseną – tai tiesioginio vadovo pasitikėjimas pavaldinio galimybėmis susidoroti su sunkumais, laisvė pačiam nuspręsti, kaip dirbti, galimybės dirbti iššūkius keliantį darbą, informacijos apie organizaciją ir jos tikslus prieinamumas; 4) įrodyta psichologinio darbuotojų įgalinimo svarba organizacijai – darbuotojai, kurie jaučiasi labiau psichologiškai įgalinti, yra labiau patenkinti savo darbu, jų darbo atlikimas geresnis, jie rodo daugiau iniciatyvos darbe. kai mokslinio darbo rezultatai tokie pozityvūs ir kartais atrodo, kad darbuotojų psichologinis įgalinimas yra šiek tiek idealizuojamas, kyla klausimas, ar tikrai tik teigiami padariniai laukia organizacijos ir darbuotojų, kai jie psichologiškai įgalinami daug dirbti. visiškai įmanoma, kad smarkiai psichologiškai įgalinti darbuotojai rizikuoja patirti profesinio perdegimo sindromą. galimos neigiamos tyrinėjamo reiškinio pasekmės praturtintų šį mokslinį darbą. šalia teigiamų ir neabejotinai stiprių tvarijonavičiaus disertacijos privalumų išskirtini ir tie darbo aspektai, kurie yra diskutuotini ar reikalauja papildomų paaiškinimų. pirmiausia kyla nemažai klausimų dėl vartojamų sąvokų ir teorinio darbo pagrįstumo. sąvokos „psichologinis darbuotojų įgalinimas“ reikalingumas ir pagrįstumas kviečia mokslininkus, dirbančius organizacinės psichologijos srityje, rimtai padiskutuoti. ar tikrai reikalinga nauja sąvoka „psichologinis įgalinimas“, jei iš esmės jis apibrėžiamas kaip motyvacijos (noro, entuziazmo atlikti darbą) ir kompetencijos (gebėjimo atlikti darbą, meistrystės) visuma? darbo motyvacijos ir saviveiksmingumo reiškiniai turi nusistovėjusias tradicijas ir teorijas psichologijos moksle, todėl papildomų dubliuojančių sąvokų kūrimas gali įnešti nemažai sumaišties. kita vertus, gali būti prasminga vartoti trumpesnį pavadinimą sudėtiniam reiškiniui, tai yra daroma kitų šalių mokslininkų darbuose ir perimama šioje disertacijoje. panašus klausimas kyla ir dėl sąvokos 136 recenzijos „iniciatyvumas“. tvarijonavičiaus disertacijoje jis apibrėžiamas kaip pilietiškas elgesys organizacijoje. kam reikia papildomo termino ir kuo skiriasi šios dvi sąvokos, ne visai aišku. visame darbe labai klaidina skirtingo lygmens sąvokų vartojimas – neaišku, kam vartojamas apibendrintas terminas „darbo charakteristikos“, jei iš tiesų autorių konkrečiai domina ir yra tiriami kiekybiniai, tempo, emociniai ir kognityviniai darbo reikalavimai. dažnai vartojama sąvoka „organizacijos lygmens veiksniai“, nors turimas omenyje ir tiriamas tik struktūrinis įgalinimas (be kitų organizacinių veiksnių), dažnai vartojama sąvoka „vadovo elgesys“, nors analizuojamas tik įgalinantis vadovo elgesys. tokie sąvokų netikslumai daro neigiamą įtaką darbo supratimui, todėl antrasis tyrimo uždavinys yra labai neaiškus ir nekonkretus, ginamieji teiginiai lieka skirtingo apibendrinimo lygio. dėl to ir antras ginamasis teiginys suformuluotas ne visai korektiškai – prie svarbiausių prognozuojančių veiksnių pirmiausia priskiriami apibendrinti konstruktai, o skliaustuose patikslinamos ne visos sudedamosios dimensijos, tik tos, kurios, manoma, labiau prognozuoja, išskyrus gal darbo reikalavimų veiksnį, kuris iš karto kaip prognostinis veiksnys vartojamas konkretus (kognityviniai reikalavimai). disertacijoje labai trūksta teorinio pagrindimo tyrimui ir visų veiksnių analizei – juk įgalinimą ir šiame tyrime nagrinėjamas sąsajas galima paaiškinti sukurtomis ir bent iš dalies patvirtintomis darbo motyvacijos ir pasitenkinimo darbu teorijomis – pvz., darbo charakteristikų modeliu (oldham, hackman, 1976), vroomo (1964) lūkesčių teorija ir situacinės lyderystės teorija (hersey, blandhard, 1988). teorinis pagrindimas leistų tikslingiau išskirti naujus tyrimo aspektus ir pagrįstai pasirinkti prognostinius ar pasekmių veiksnius, paaiškinti kai kuriuos psichologinio įgalinimo komponentų bei prielaidų ir pasekmių ryšius. dabar kai kurie tiriami veiksniai atrodo savaime susiję (pvz., įgalinantis vadovo elgesys susideda iš labai panašių komponentų kaip psichologinis įgalinimas arba pasitenkinimo darbu prielaidos, tokios kaip darbo prasmė, jau yra įrodytos darbo charakteristikų modelyje; šiame tyrime prasmingumas naujai įvardijamas kaip įgalinimo komponentas ir vėl tiriamos jo sąsajos su pasitenkinimu darbu). susidaro įspūdis, kad stengiamasi apimti kuo daugiau veiksnių, tyrinėti kuo plačiau, tada stokojama gilumo, tikslingumo ir naujų aspektų akcentavimo aiškinant reiškinius. taigi trūksta paaiškinimo, kodėl kaip tik tokios psichologinio įgalinimo prielaidos ar pasekmės yra tiriamos, o ne tos, kurios disertacijos international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 137 2014, 15, 133–138 p. pabaigoje iškeliamos kaip galimos kitos tyrimų kryptys. taip ir lieka neaišku, kodėl iš individualių darbuotojo charakteristikų pasirinkti tik demografiniai veiksniai, nors pripažįstama, kad labai stinga tyrimų apie asmenybės bruožus ir pan., kodėl domimasi vadovo įgalinančiu elgesiu, o ne vadovavimo stiliumi ir pan. žinoma, visko analizuoti viename tyrime neįmanoma, bet konkrečių veiksnių pasirinkimo pagrindimas moksliniame darbe turėtų būti labai aiškus. taip pat norėtųsi atkreipti dėmesį į pristatomo tyrimo metodologinę problemą – labai panašių konstruktų sąsajų ieškojimą, ypač turint omenyje, kad naudojamas vienas duomenų (informacijos) šaltinis – darbuotojas ir organizacijai, ir vadovui, ir savo būsenai vertinti. jei vadovo įgalinantis elgesys susideda iš prasmingumo, sprendimų priėmimo, autonomiškumo ir pan., o psichologinis įgalinimas – iš prasmės, sprendimų priėmimo, autonomijos ir pan., iš karto atsiranda pavojus gauti reikšmingas koreliacijas dėl matavimo būdo specifikos. be to, kai darbuotojas vertina struktūrinį įgalinimą organizacijoje, didelė tikimybė, kad vertinimas apima ir vadovo elgesį – juk kai klausiama „kiek gaunate patarimų“, „kiek sulaukiate pagalbos“ (tai priskirta organizacijos struktūrinio įgalinimo informacijai), darbuotojas pirmiausia galvoja apie bendradarbius ir vadovą. taip organizacijos veiksnių ir vadovo elgesio vertinimas dubliuojamas ir vėl yra pavojus gauti „netikras“ reikšmingas koreliacijas dėl vertinimo pobūdžio. tęsiant mokslinę diskusiją kyla papildomų klausimų, kurie išplėstų disertacijoje nagrinėjamų reiškinių supratimą. pavyzdžiui, kiek gali būti svarbios vadovo charakteristikos tyrimo rezultatams – ar nereikėtų tokio pobūdžio tyrime kontroliuoti, kaip seniai darbuotojas dirba su vertinamu vadovu, kaip gerai jį pažįsta, vadovo lytis ir amžius vadovo ir pavaldinio diadoje („vyras – moteris“, „vyras – vyras“, „moteris – moteris“, „vyresnis – jaunesnis“ ir pan.) taip pat gali būti svarbi charakteristika vertinant vadovo įgalinantį elgesį. be to, svarbu atkreipti dėmesį į socialinio patrauklumo vertinant vadovo elgesį ir organizaciją šališkumo problemas. paprastai darbuotojams vertinti savo vadovus yra nejauku, tad kyla polinkis savo vertinimus „pagražinti“. kaip rekomendaciją ateities moksliniams tyrinėjimams galima pasiūlyti analizuoti struktūrinį įgalinimą ir vadovo įgalinantį elgesį ne kaip lygiagrečius kintamuosius, prognozuojančius psichologinį įgalini mą, o kaip vienas po kito paeiliui einančius susijusius kintamuosius. juk gali būti, kad struktūrinį įgalinimą pagal savo funkcijas organizacijoje 138 recenzijos darbuotojui pirmiausia turėtų perduoti tiesioginis vadovas. tada darbuotojų psichologinis įgalinimas būtų prognozuojamas pagal vadovo įgalinantį elgesį per tarpinį kintamąjį – struktūrinį įgalinimą. galiausiai atkreiptinas dėmesys į techninius šios disertacijos netikslumus. pernelyg laisvai vartojamos sąvokos apie poveikį, priklausomybę ir įtaką, kai tyrimas iš principo koreliacinis ir kategoriškų išvadų apie pasekmes ir priežastis daryti tikrai negalima. norėtųsi tyrimo ribotumų aptarimo ir komentaro, kiek tyrimo rezultatus galima apibendrinti, plačiai taikyti, kiek jais galima pasitikėti (neatsitiktinės atrankos, skerspjūvio, savižinos metodo, vieno duomenų šaltinio trūkumai ir to nulemtas rezultatų šališkumas ir pan.). kai kur nukrypstama į publicistinį rašymo stilių, tarkime, p. 34 („pūtimas prieš vėją“ ir pan.), pasitelkiamos metaforos, retoriniai klausimai ir pan. iškelti diskusiniai klausimai ir pastebėjimai nemenkina tvarijonavičiaus disertacijos „psichologinis darbuotojų įgalinimas: jo prielaidos ir vaidmuo organizacijoje“ kokybės, priešingai, įrodo jos įdomumą, mokslinį aktualumą ir reikalingumą. tai originali ir savarankiška mokslo studija, kuri atitinka psichologijos mokslo darbams keliamus reikalavimus. review of doctoral dissertation ”psychological empowerment of employees: its antecedents and role in organization“ by mantas tvarijonavičius (social sciences, psychology 06s) auksė endriulaitienė vytautas magnus university, lithuania abstract. the main purpose of the dissertation study – to explore the structure and antecedents of psychological empowerment and its role on job satisfaction and job – related behavior of employees. in the review the main ideas of doctoral dissertation are discussed and questions for further development of ideas are presented. the advantages and disadvantages as well as practical implications are listed. the conclusion states that this dissertation is interesting, original and important work in organizational psychology, that fits all the requirements for doctoral dissertations in the field. 47 scientific publications issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.16.3 1 address for correspondence: department of educational research and psychology, faculty of education, chulalongkorn university, bangkok, thailand. email: tkamonwan@ hotmail.com english speaking skills assessment for gr ade 6 thai students: an applic ation of multivariate gener aliz abilit y theory daruwan srikaew, kamonwan tangdhanakanond1, sirichai kanjanawasee chulalongkorn university, thailand abstract. background and purpose. this research studies an analytic rating scale for an english speaking skills assessment designed for grade 6 thai students learning english as a foreign language. material and methods. a rating scale was developed, validated, and then piloted using assessment results from 101 students attending a government school in bangkok, thailand. the analytic rating scale developed for the assessment is composed of 6 components: vocabulary, syntax, cohesion, pronunciation, ideational function and fluency. the reliability of the rating scale was examined with different numbers of speaking tasks and raters. multivariate generalizability theory (g theory) was utilized for the data analysis. results. the results showed that fluency was the greatest variance component of the composite score of the analytic rating scale, followed by ideational function, cohesion, vocabulary and syntax, and pronunciation respectively. reliability of the composite score for the speaking analytic rating scale was high (over .80). it was found that the reliability coefficients for each component would be reliable (over .80) when six or more tasks are used and the number of raters is from 6–10 and above. the dependability increased more when the number of tasks increased and when the number of raters increased. it was also found that a reliable high phi coefficient (over .80) could be obtained using only 6 tasks and 3 raters. conclusion. the main results were then discussed in more detail. keywords: english speaking skills, analytic rating scale, multivariate generalizability theory. 48 daruwan srikaew, kamonwan tangdhanakanond, sirichai kanjanawasee introduc tion assessing language proficiency is important because language is a tool for communication between people and for international linkage on different businesses. english is one of the most important languages. it is even more important at present when thailand, as well as the other members of the association of southeast asian nations (asean) countries, is at the preparation stage for implementation of the asean community in 2015. english speaking skills is one of the language skills which primary school students must develop along with other skills. it is a beneficial skill for students in their learning process and in development of higher level of communication. students’ ability in communicative language should be assessed using performance tests and authentic assessments that allow students to speak, talk and perform in realistic contexts (bachman & palmer, 2010). bachman and palmer (2010) defined language ability as the ability to use language for communication which consists of (a) language competence or language knowledge and (b) language strategic competence. language knowledge includes two broad categories: organizational knowledge and pragmatic knowledge as shown in figure 1. language knowledge organizational knowledge pragmatic knowledge grammatical knowledge vocabulary syntax phonology/ graphology textual knowledge cohension rhetorical organization functional knowledge ideational functions manipulative functions heuristic functions imaginavite functions sociolinguistic knowledge genres dialect or variety register natural of idiomatic expressions cultural references and figures of speech figure 1. bachman and palmer model of areas of language knowledge (2010). bachman and palmer (2010) stated that organizational knowledge consists of grammatical knowledge and textual knowledge. grammatical 49 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 47–66 p. knowledge consists of three components: vocabulary, syntax and phonology/graphology; whereas textual knowledge consists of two components: cohesion and rhetorical or conversational organization. as for pragmatic knowledge, it is the knowledge related to using language in practice, such as the ability to communicate and achieve the desired objectives, and using appropriate language in different situations such as functional knowledge and sociolinguistic knowledge. speaking skill assessment involves many activities and many parts. the components associated with the process of speaking skill assessment are interrelated (luoma, 2004) and include students, evaluator, assessing tools or tasks, and qualitative scoring scheme for speaking skill assessment. the rating scale for english language ability has been classified by linguists in varying ways. weigle (2002) presented two models of the rating scale for writing assessment: (a) holistic rating scale and (b) analytic rating scale. the analytic rating scales have been used for more reliable assessment, since it provides clear information that is useful for higher level learning development (elbow 1991, cited in barton & collins, 1997). mostly, the scales were no more than 4 levels (weigle, 2002). it was found that five components were assessed in the speaking skill assessment: (a) pronunciation, (b) vocabulary, (c) cohesion, (d) organization, and (e) grammar (sawaki, 2007). during the research study of 6-11 year-old primary school students, it was found that the components that have been assessed included grammatical accuracy, fluency, scope of vocabulary, pronunciation and content (efthymiou, 2012). the research on explanation speaking skills of primary school students (westerveld & moran, 2011) assessed students in four components that were verbal productivity, syntactic complexity, grammatical accuracy and verbal fluency. in english speaking assessment, students must demonstrate their speaking ability. because the subjectivity and bias of raters are often unavoidable in speaking assessment scoring, reliable scoring from raters, appropriate rating scales, and appropriate tasks are very important. it was found in the past that the validity of language assessment, either on speaking, reading or writing, was low, since the related variables, such as number of tasks, number of raters, scoring scales and writing mode, were confusing (cooper, 1984; gebril, 2009; huot, 1990; lee & kantor, 2005; schoonen, 2005, cited in gebril, 2010). therefore, efforts were put into developing a more reliable language assessment. 50 daruwan srikaew, kamonwan tangdhanakanond, sirichai kanjanawasee the generalizability theory or g-theory is a tool to analyze the relationship between a composite score and each part of test components including number of examinees, number of test items, raters and other sources of testing errors (brennan, 2001; lisa, brian, & david, 2010). multivariate generalizability theory (mgt) provides more information than generalizability theory because it can determine the relationship between universal score and the test components, or between the test of components and the grouping condition in order to make the highest validity of composite scores (brennan, 2001; lee, 2006; webb, shavelson, & haertel, 2007). it also provides information about the relationship between parts of the test and helps to verify the appropriateness of each part of the test which brings about the composite scores (lee, 2006; brennan, 2011). the important points indicating appropriateness of a test with multiple content domains or multiple related traits are: (a) estimation of the reliability of the composite score applying different weighting schemes, and (b) the universal score that shows if there is a true relationship between the scores obtained from a multitask speaking measurement (brennan, 2001). in addition, it also determines reliability, specifies appropriate strategies for further improvement, and makes components of the assessment as well as the whole test more reliable (burch, 2008). therefore, the new method of measurement should help to increase the validity and reliability in english language measurement and evaluation, and make the assessment errors known (gebril, 2010). it can be concluded that data analysis related to english speaking has to be carried out by assessing examinees or students’ tasks or practical works using reliable criteria. it also requires assessment by an expert. applying multivariate generalizability theory to determine the validity of an english speaking skills test, in which analytic rating scale is used, is appropriate. the objectives of this research study were: (a) to determine the reliability coefficients of an analytic rating scale designed to assess the english speaking skills of grade 6 thai students, and (b) to compare the reliability coefficients of this assessment with different numbers of speaking tasks and raters. the present study addressed the following research questions: 1. how valid is the analytic rating scale? 2. how does the reliability coefficient change if the number of speaking tasks increases? 3. how does the reliability coefficient change if the number of raters increases? 51 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 47–66 p. me thods participants participants consisted of 101 grade 6 students (44 of whom were boys and 57 – girls) in a school of government under the office of basic education commission located in bangkok. the average age was 12 years old. all of them studied english as a foreign language at school taught by thai and foreign teachers. instrument analytic rating scale was used to score the english speaking ability in this research. the scale was specifically developed to assess english speaking skills of grade 6 thai students who studied english as a compulsory subject and as a foreign language at school. to develop the english speaking skills analytic rating scale, the researcher studied the learning standards and the indicators of the foreign language (english) learning area of the national core curriculum for basic education (b.e.) 2551 (2008 a.d.), as well as the components of language ability presented by bachman and palmer (2010), and also interviewed nine english teaching experts. these experts included english teachers (primary level), experts in english speaking skills teaching, experts in english assessment, and experts in educational assessment. after that, the analytic rating scale was drafted and was verified by the experts before trying it out with the students who were in the samples. after the rating scale was verified by the experts, it was piloted with 101 students. the english speaking skills of the students were tested through speaking tasks. the tasks were 3-minute oral presentations on two topics: myself and my favorite person. before the speaking test, the students were given a chance to ask questions. the students used a headset to record their voices in a computer. after the students completed the speaking test, three raters were given the sound records of all 101 participants to score the two speaking tasks (myself and my favorite person) independently. the analytical scale consists of 6 components: vocabulary, syntax, cohesion, pronunciation, ideational function and fluency. the score 1–4 indicates very poor, poor, moderate or good performance, respectively. 52 daruwan srikaew, kamonwan tangdhanakanond, sirichai kanjanawasee procedure raters. three raters participated in this research. all of them were secondor third-year ph.  d. students in the english as an international language program in chulalongkorn university. they were also english teaching lecturers at a tertiary education level. the researcher developed an assessment manual for the raters which included the objectives of the assessment, description of the tasks to be assessed, the rating procedures, and the rating criteria. the raters attended a rater training session to increase inter-rater reliability. during the training, individual raters listened to recorded voices of 6 students and then rated them on six assessing aspects. then they discussed similarities and differencies in their scoring with explanations before the scores were agreed upon. after that, each of them was given the recorded voices of 10 students for individual rating before their rating scores were compared and discussed. data analysis. the data analysis was made using the computer program mgenova (brennan, 2001). it was used to estimate the variance and covariance components and the reliability coefficients of the subsections scores and the composite score in the present study’s analytic rating scale. the chosen g-study design for the present study is a twofacet crossed design with tasks and raters (p. × t. × r.). in the design p. × t. × r. it is assumed that all of the students (p) are tested in all tasks (t) and all the tasks are scored by the same rater (t). results research question 1: how valid is the analytic rating scale? 1.1 estimated variance and covariance components (g-study). the variance and covariance components obtained from the multivariate generalizability analysis (g-study) of the speaking analytic rating scale, and the universe score correlations between subsections of the analytic rating scale that were estimated p. × t. × r. by design are as shown in table 1. it was found that the “person” variances have the greatest variance components among the subsections of the analytic rating scale. they accounted for 65.64%, 61.66%, 44.83%, 61.61%, 78.98% and 78.43% of the total variance in vocabulary, syntax, cohesion, pronunciation, ideational function and fluency respectively. the second were the variance components of “person by task by rater” interaction, followed 53 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 47–66 p. by “task by rater” interaction, “person by task,” and “person by rater” respectively. the results indicate that speaking proficiency depends on person. both task and rater showed no major impact. as it can be seen, the variances of both “person by rater” and “person by task” interactions were lower than 1% in every component except for the vocabulary component of “person by task” which accounted for 4.57%. as for the results related to the main effect of task and rater, it was found that the greatest variance of 35.24% was the components of task of cohesion. the second greatest was the syntax component which accounted for 8.95%. however, they were smaller than that of person. this shows that there was an error by task in the speaking ability of a person in syntax and cohesion. concerning rater, it was found that every component was lower than 1% except for the syntax variance component which accounted for 4.09%. this shows that there was an error in the scoring practice of each rater regarding syntax. the variances accounted for of (a) task by rater interaction, and (b) person by task by rater interaction, were found to be between .87% and 33.36%. these non-zero variance components indicated that variation in speaking proficiency of a person was the result of differences in the rank-ordering of task and rater, and/or errors from each rater and each task. it was found that correlation between the components of speaking skills vary between medium and high levels (.747–.929). this demonstrates that speaking ability of the students depends on all the six components, not on any one in isolation. it was found that the ability on syntax highly correlated with every component and was related to fluency the most at .929. as for vocabulary, it was found to highly correlate to cohesion and ideational function (.880–.833) but it had medium correlation with syntax and pronunciation (.784 and .747 respectively). concerning ideational function, it was found to highly correlate with vocabulary, syntax, cohesion and pronunciation (.833, .817, .822 and .860 respectively). this means that students who have high ability on ideational function must have high ability on vocabulary, syntax, cohesion and pronunciation. it was also found that cohesion has high correlation with vocabulary, syntax, ideational function (.880, .810 and .882 respectively), whereas fluency correlated to vocabulary, cohesion and ideational function at medium level (.755, .792 and .786 respectively) but highly correlated with syntax and pronunciation (.929 and .883). 54 daruwan srikaew, kamonwan tangdhanakanond, sirichai kanjanawasee table 1. variance (in bold) and covariance components with correlations (in italics), for the person by task and by rater analysis source of variation estimated variance component (in bold) voc. % syn. % coh. % pro. % fun. % flu. % person (p) .333 65.64 .784 .880 .747 .833 .755 .202 .199 61.66 .810 .924 .817 .929 .312 .222 .377 44.83 .755 .822 .792 .160 .153 .172 .138 61.61 .860 .883 .300 .227 .315 .199 .389 78.98 .786 .300 .285 .335 .226 .337 .474 78.43 task (t) .000 .00 .025 .029 8.95 .053 .098 .297 35.24 .026 .017 .050 .000 .00 .032 .025 .095 .015 .000 .00 .025 .020 .095 .008 .008 .000 .00 rater (r) .000 .00 .008 .013 4.09 .044 .007 .000 .00 .025 .006 .018 .000 .00 .022 .004 .053 .018 .000 .00 .008 .004 .022 .000 .022 .000 .00 pxt .023 4.57 .015 .000 .00 .006 .015 .000 .00 .010 .004 .010 .000 .00 .014 .001 .001 .011 .000 .00 .012 .032 .037 .002 .013 .000 .00 pxr .000 .00 .003 .000 .00 .024 .020 .000 .00 .019 .025 .014 .000 .00 .011 .016 .019 .010 .000 .00 .024 .039 .033 .025 .024 .000 .00 txr .079 15.46 .016 .003 .87 .023 .009 .051 6.11 .029 .006 .017 .011 5.02 .036 .010 .048 .019 .046 9.37 .019 .001 .027 .001 .018 .027 4.44 55 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 47–66 p. ptr,e .073 14.33 .020 .079 24.42 .039 .034 .116 13.83 .034 .041 .021 .075 33.36 .026 .021 .031 .019 .057 11.65 .033 .052 .040 .036 .031 .104 17.13 total .508 100 .323 100 .841 100 .224 100 .492 100 .604 100 notes: the values along the diagonal (show in bold) represent the variance components, while the lower of the diagonal is the covariance, and that on the top of the diagonal (shown in italics) is the correlation. voc. – vocabulary; syn. – syntax; coh. – cohesion; pro. – pronunciation; fun. – ideational function; flu. – fluency 1.2. estimated composite score. 1.2.1 reliability of the individual rating scales. the reliability of the speaking analytic rating scale was analyzed by multivariate generalizability theory yielding results as shown in table 2. it was found that when a priori weight was applied, the highest universe score variance was fluency, which accounted for 20.82% of the total variance. this suggests that fluency has the greatest impact on variance of the composite score of speaking skill, followed by ideational function, cohesion, vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation, respectively. as for relative error variance, it was found that the highest error variance at 25.57% was vocabulary, followed by pronunciation, cohesion, ideational function, syntax and fluency respectively. concerning absolute error variance, it was found that the highest error variance at 42.62% was cohesion, followed by vocabulary, ideational function, pronunciation, syntax and fluency respectively. it was found that the value of gen coefficient of every component of speaking analytic rating scale in relation to reliability coefficient was from medium to high levels (.649–.872) with the highest reliability coefficient being ideational function followed by fluency with a close value (.872 and .821 respectively). the values for vocabulary, cohesion and syntax were close (.776, .764 and .716 respectively). the lowest value was for pronunciation (.649). it was also found that the phi coefficient was at medium level for every component (.656, .617, .616, .790, and .784) in vocabulary, syntax, pronunciation, ideational function and fluency, respectively, except for cohesion which was at the low level (.448). 1.2.2 reliability of the composite score. in relation to reliability of the composite score of speaking analytic rating scale, the relative error 56 daruwan srikaew, kamonwan tangdhanakanond, sirichai kanjanawasee variance and absolute error variance were found to be .022 and .034 respectively. as for the reliability coefficient, both the generalizability coefficient and phi coefficient were high at .924 and .885 respectively as shown in table 2. table 2. composite score analysis result english speaking skill components contributions to voc. syn. coh. pro. fun. flu. a priori weight .166 .166 .166 .166 .166 .166 universe score variance (%) 17.10 13.71 18.44 11.14 18.79 20.82 relative error variance (%) 25.57 14.12 17.55 20.08 15.42 7.26 absolute error variance (%) 22.78 2.21 42.62 13.08 18.63 .67 gen coefficient .776 .716 .764 .649 .872 .821 phi coefficient .656 .617 .448 .616 .790 .784 composite relative error variance absolute error variance generalizability coefficient phi .022 .034 .924 .885 notes: voc. – vocabulary; syn. – syntax; coh. – cohesion; pro. – pronunciation; fun. – ideational function; flu. – fluency research question 2: how does the reliability coefficient change if the number of speaking tasks increases (d-study)? in order to answer the question of how to design a speaking skill test applying an analytic rating scale to get a dependable reliability coefficient by using various forms of p. × t. × r. design, the researcher compared the generalizability coefficient and phi coefficient in different number of tasks based on three raters. the findings were that for the generalizability coefficient, five or more tasks should be used for all of the six test components to be reliable (reliability coefficients = 0.80 and above) as shown in figure 2. however, if a dependability of phi coefficient is required, six or more tasks can be used for every component, except for cohesion which should have 10 or more tasks. it can be concluded that in order to design a speaking skill test applying an analytic rating scale to get a dependable reliability coefficients, a minimum of 10 tasks is required as shown in figure 3. 57 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 47–66 p. figure 2. generalizability coefficient for number of tasks from 3–13 ( the number of raters is three). figure 3. phi coefficient for number of tasks from 3–13 ( the number of raters is three). research question 3: how does the reliability coefficient change if the number of raters increases (d-study)? in order to answer the question related to the appropriate number of raters for a speaking skill test applying an analytic rating scale to get a dependable reliability coefficient by using various forms of p. × t. × r. gen coefficient phi coefficient 58 daruwan srikaew, kamonwan tangdhanakanond, sirichai kanjanawasee figure 4. generalizability coefficient for number of raters from 3–13 ( the number of tasks is three). figure 5. phi coefficient for number of raters from 3–13 ( the number of tasks is three). design, the researcher compared the generalizability coefficient and phi coefficient in different number of raters based on three tasks. the findings were that for the generalizability coefficient, six or more raters should be used to obtain high reliability coefficients (reliability coefficients = .80 and above). however, if a dependability of phi coefficient phi coefficient phi coefficient 59 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 47–66 p. is required, eight or more raters should be used for every component, except for cohesion which was found to have low reliability coefficients even when more than 10 raters were used as shown in figure 4 and figure 5. therefore, it can be concluded that to design a speaking skill test applying an analytic rating scale to get dependable reliability coefficients, a relatively large number of tasks (minimum of six tasks) is required, whereas the number of raters can be as small as three. discussion the objectives of this study were to determine the reliability coefficients of an analytic rating scale designed to assess english speaking skills of grade 6 thai students, and to study the impact on reliability coefficients when the numbers of speaking tasks and raters are different. the research findings can be discussed in detail as follows: 1. the greatest variance component of the composite score of the analytic rating scale was fluency followed by ideational function, cohesion, vocabulary, syntax, and pronunciation respectively. the findings of this study are consistent with the previous research studies that found fluency to be the most important component of oral proficiency (sato, 2011; iwashita & grove, 2003). in this study, it was found that fluency has the greatest variance component of the composite score of the analytic rating scale which indicated that fluency was the most important component of the rating scale. this means that good english speaking or communicative speaking does not only depend on the accuracy of grammar or vocabulary, but also on fluency. therefore, teachers should see the importance of fluency as well. the second most important components are ideational function and cohesion, demonstrating that it should be also important to know what the student wants to communicate (iwashita & grove, 2003). children must be able to make others understand what they want, what they think, and convey what is the real aim of each communication by learning from their past experiences. children must understand the use of conjunctions which are required to make others understand the connection of ideas. they should also know and be able to choose appropriate vocabulary and use it in various situations. concerning syntax and pronunciation, the variance was found 60 daruwan srikaew, kamonwan tangdhanakanond, sirichai kanjanawasee to be the smallest, indicating that when assessing the students’ spoken english at this age, the raters saw the importance of fluency, ideational function, and cohesion more than vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation. this is in line with the previous research reported by sato (2011), and de jong and van ginkel (1992), which paid more attention to fluency and content than vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. 2. the composite score reliability of the speaking analytic rating scale was found to be at a high level (above .80). this shows that the analytic rating scale used for the assessment of grade 6 students’ english speaking skills is appropriate and reliable. this might be due to the use of 4-point rating (scores in each component of the speaking skill ranging from 1–4 indicating very poor, poor, moderate and good, respectively). luoma (2004) stated that a speaking analytic rating scale should consist of 4–6 levels of measurement for the convenience of raters. it is also in line with weigle (2002) who stated that most analytic rating scales were not employing more than 4 levels of measurement which made it easier for raters to rate. a clear definition was given in each level which helped all raters agree on the rating framework. past research studies found that “speaking analytic rating scales” usually have 4–5 levels of measurement, and they usually consist of 4–6 components of speaking skill (lee, 2006; sato, 2011; sawaki, 2007). 3. the size of error variance of tasks in this study was greater than that of the raters in the cohesion and syntax components (table 1). it might be due to the varying levels of difficulty of the tasks, which impacted students’ speech production. students might not be able to make a linkage in their speaking and could not construct a good grammatically correct sentence for the more difficult tasks or the tasks related to an unfamiliar situation. this is in line with the previous research which found that tasks had more error variance than raters (lee, 2006; sawaki, 2007). 4. increasing the number of tasks and raters increased the generalizability coefficient and phi coefficient. however, a minimum of six tasks and 6–10 raters were needed to obtain satisfactory reliability coefficients for each component. increasing the number of tasks increased the score dependability more than increasing the number of raters. this is in line with the previous research which found that increasing the numbers of tasks and raters would increase the score dependability. the finding of this study is also in line with gebril’s (2010) study on english writing 61 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 47–66 p. scoring schemes which found that increasing the numbers of tasks and raters increased the generalizability coefficient and phi coefficient. however, increasing the number of raters in practice, would increase the cost of assessment. this study revealed that generalizability coefficient and phi coefficient can be increased to a reliable level by increasing the number of tasks, which would be more cost-effective than hiring and training additional raters. appendix english speaking tasks the task used in the assessment of english speaking of grade 6 students is in the form of oral presentation. it consists of 2 topics: myself and my favorite person. assessment criteria an analytical rating scale was used. the scopes of assessment are: 1. vocabulary: concerning vocabulary aspect, the scoring determines 2 things out of the students’ speaking, the range and the accuracy of the vocabulary used. students use a variety of vocabulary and have the ability to use accurate and appropriate vocabulary to convey the message they want to communicate. 2. syntax: the score is given for the construction of sentences. it is determined from the ability to construct a grammatically correct sentence, such as appropriate using of a subject, a verb and an object, with the correct meaning they want to communicate. 3. cohesion: the cohesion is determined from the ability to link the speaking elements into a story with appropriate relationships. 4. pronunciation: the scoring in pronunciation aspect is determined from the students’ ability to correctly express the stress, sound segmentation, and intonation that makes their speaking clear and understandable by the audiences. 5. ideational function: concerning ideational function aspect, the scoring is determined from the students’ ability to correctly convey desirable messages. the speaking is understandable by the audiences. for example, students keep speaking relevant to the title, answer the questions and give appropriate answers to the questions. 62 daruwan srikaew, kamonwan tangdhanakanond, sirichai kanjanawasee 6. fluency: fluency in english speaking can be determined from students’ ability to express fluent and smooth speech in english. they do not show stumbled speech, irregularity or break within the flow of speaking. the scoring system 1–4 indicates very poor, poor, moderate and good performance respectively. the details are shown below: analytical rating scale level of ability descriptions 1. vocabulary very poor (1) – very limited ability in using vocabulary – used repeated vocabulary in every or almost every sentence – used incorrect or inappropriate vocabulary poor (2) – limited ability in using vocabulary, no variety of vocabulary used – often used repeated vocabulary – often used incorrect or inappropriate vocabulary moderate (3) – used variety of vocabulary – sometimes used repeated vocabulary – used correct and appropriate vocabulary, but there were times when incorrect or inappropriate vocabulary was used good (4) – used variety of vocabulary – used correct and appropriate vocabulary most of the time. very few mistakes or no mistakes were made. 2. syntax very poor (1) – spoke in single words, could not put words in a sentence – used incorrect structure at all time poor (2) – spoke in sentences – often used incorrect structure that could not make the audiences understand clearly moderate (3) – spoke in sentences – used incorrect structure sometimes but understandable good (4) – spoke in sentences – used correct structure most of the time. very few mistakes were made 63 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 47–66 p. 3. cohesion very poor (1) – used very few conjunctions or no conjunction at all – almost all of the conjunctions used were incorre ct poor (2) – few conjunctions were used – conjunction usage was often confusing and caused misunderstanding moderate (3) – correct conjunctions were used – the conjunction used might cause a little confusion in sentences but no misunderstanding good (4) – correct conjunctions were used – correct and clear most of the time, no misunderstanding, very few mistakes made or no mistakes at all 4. pronunciation very poor (1) – nearly all pronunciations were incorrect and not understandable – spoke very little or not at all poor (2) – incorrect pronunciations most of the time – a lot of mistakes made in stress, sound segmentation and intonation which caused misunderstanding or the message was not understandable moderate (3) – incorrect pronunciations sometimes – some mistakes made in stress, sound segmentation and intonation but the message was understandable good (4) – most pronunciations were correct or no mistake made – the message wished to convey were easily understood by the audiences 5. ideational function very poor (1) – off-topic or not spoken at all – nearly all of the message was not understandable poor (2) – the content was hardly relevant to the topic – the objective of the speaking was poorly understood moderate (3) – the content was relevant and appropriate although – some mistakes were made – the objective of the speaking was understood good (4) – the content was relevant and appropriate, very few mistakes were made or no mistake made – the objective of the speaking was easily understood 64 daruwan srikaew, kamonwan tangdhanakanond, sirichai kanjanawasee 6. fluency very poor (1) – stammered in single words – no sentence was spoken out at all poor (2) – very often speech was slow and not smooth – unusual pauses made, unfinished sentence made which causes missing or incomplete content moderate (3) – pauses made, not smooth speech sometimes – got stuck or pause to think sometimes – finished the sentences with complete content good (4) – constant speaking speed, natural and smooth, no stammering – spoke without getting stuck – finished the sentences with complete content references bachman, l. f., palmer, a. s. 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(2011). expository language skills of young schoolage children. language, speech, and hearing services in schools, 42, 182–193. acknowledgements the researchers would like to thank the 90th anniversary of chulalongkorn university fund (ratchadaphiseksomphot endowment fund) for funding this research. 66 daruwan srikaew, kamonwan tangdhanakanond, sirichai kanjanawasee šeštokų tail andiečių anglų k albos gebė jimų įvertinimas: daugiamatės gener aliz acijos teorijos taikymas daruwan srikaew, kamonwan tangdhanakanond, sirichai kanjanawasee chulalongkorn universitetas, tailandas santrauka. įvadas, tikslas. šiame tyrime nagrinėjama analitinė rangavimo skalė anglų kalbos kalbėjimui vertinti, sukurta šeštokams tailandiečiams, besimokantiems anglų kaip antrosios kalbos. metodai. šiam tyrimui buvo sukurta ir validizuota vertinimo skalė, taip pat atliktas žvalgomasis vertinimas naudojant 101  mokinio, lankančio valstybinę mokyklą bankonke, tailande, duomenys. sukurta analitinė vertinimo skalė vertina 6  komponentus: žodyną, sintaksę, rišlumą, tarimą, turinį ir sklandumą. vertinimo skalės patikimumas analizuotas naudojant skirtingą kalbėjimo užduočių kiekį ir skirtingą vertinančių ekspertų skaičių. analizuojant rezultatus buvo remiamasi daugiamate generalizavimo teorija (g teorija). rezultatai. rezultatai rodo, kad sklandumas sudaro didžiausią analitinės vertinimo skalės sklaidos dalį, toliau pagal paaiškinamos sklaidos dalį seka turinys, rišlumas, žodynas, sintaksė ir tarimas. bendros skalės patikimumas buvo aukštas (daugiau kaip 0,80). nustatyta, kad patikimumo koeficientai kiekvienam komponentui yra aukšti (daugiau kaip 0,80), kai vertinamos šešios ar daugiau užduočių ir tai atlieka 6–10 ar daugiau vertintojų. sąsajos didėjo, kai buvo didinamas vertinamų užduočių arba vertintojų skaičius. taip pat išsiaiškinta, kad pakankamai aukštas patikimumo phi koeficientas (daugiau kaip 0,80) pasiekiamas naudojant tik 6 užduotis ir 3 vertintojus. išvados. pagrindiniai rezultatai aptariami detaliau. pagrindiniai žodžiai: kalbėjimo angliškai įgūdžiai, analitinė vertinimo skalė, daugiamatė generalizacijos teorija. received: july 30, 2014 accepted: january 26, 2015 61 scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2017 / 20 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.20.4 the role of a perceived e thic al leadership st yle in the rel ationship be t ween work aholism and occupational burnout modesta morkevičiūtė1, auksė endriulaitienė vytautas magnus university, lithuania abstract. background. academic literature has shown that working conditions created by ethical leaders might have positive as well as negative consequences for the employees. research has revealed that it might contribute to employees’ workaholism and occupational burnout, but this relationship is still controversial. purpose. the aim of this study was to investigate the significance of a perceived ethical leadership style for the relationship between employees’ workaholism and occupational burnout. method. the study involved 302 (41 men and 261 women) employees working in different lithuanian organizations. a perceived ethical leadership style was assessed with the help of brown, trevino, & harrison’s (2005) questionnaire. the 10-item dutch work addiction scale, developed by schaufeli, taris, & bakker (2009), was used for the measurement of workaholism. occupational burnout was measured using copenhagen burnout inventory by kristensen, borritz, villadsen, & christensen (2005). results. the results revealed that workaholism, personal and work-related burnout of employees who consider their leaders as more ethical is lower than of those who consider their leaders to be less ethical. relationship between client-related burnout and excessive work of the employees who consider their leaders as more ethical is weaker than of those who consider their leaders to be less ethical. conclusions. overall, the findings support that employee’s attitudes towards their leader are important for the occupational burnout and proneness to workaholism. therefore, an ethical leadership style must be considered when addressing physical and psychological well-being of employees. keywords: a perceived ethical leadership style, workaholism, occupational burnout. 1 address for correspondence: modesta morkevičiūtė, kaunas, lithuania. phone: +370 684 68058. e-mail: modestamorkeviciute@gmail.com mailto:modestamorkeviciute%40gmail.com?subject= modesta morkevičiūtė, auksė endriulaitienė 62 introduc tion new technologies enable employees to work outside their office, leading to a higher number of hours devoted to work (ng, sorensen, & feldman, 2007). numerous studies have demonstrated that the scope of workaholism is on the increase (shonin, van gordon, & griffiths, 2014; schaufeli, shimazu, & taris, 2009). however, the amount of empirical research is still relatively low. it has been established that one of the negative consequences of the workaholism might be occupational burnout (innanen, tolvanen, & salmela-aro, 2014; balducci, cecchin, fraccaroli, & schaufeli, 2012; andreassen, ursin, & eriksen, 2007). the latest research shows that it is necessary to study the relationship between the workaholism and occupational burnout due to their harmful effect on psychological and physical functioning of an individual. on the other hand, the study of the workaholism and occupational burnout alone is inexpedient on account of several reasons: 1) usually these phenomena are closely related to any employees, in any organization; 2) employees’ workaholism, occupational burnout and their relationship is a biopsychosocial problem. however, the relationship between workaholism and occupational burnout is unstable. the social environment of an organization can either strengthen or weaken this relationship (ying-wen & chen-ming, 2009). therefore, in order to understand the relationship between workaholism and occupational burnout comprehensively, it is important to investigate these phenomena not only from the psychological or biological, but also from social aspects (ying-wen & chen-ming, 2009). according to kunigauskaitė (2011), genevičiūtė-janonienė & endriulaitienė (2010), no other organizational factors have such a significant impact on the employees’ behaviour, their psychological wellbeing and physical health as the leader of the organization. various leadership styles are important for the factors related to the employees (jočienė, 2015; genevičiūtė-janonienė & endriulaitienė, 2010). however, an ethical leadership style has an entire complex of certain features that contribute to employees’ workaholism, occupational burnout, their relationship and change (fernández, josé, boada-grau, gil-ripoll, & vigilcolet, 2016). therefore, a perceived ethical leadership style has a greater impact on workaholism and occupational burnout than any other styles of leadership. 2017, 20, 61–82 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 63 some authors state that an ethical leadership style can create favourable conditions for the development of employees’ workaholism, occupational burnout and their relationships (de coninck, 2015; kalshoven, den hartog, & de hoogh, 2013). other authors state the opposite – ethical leadership bars the way to the development of the relationships between these phenomena (bouchamma & brie, 2014; chughtai, 2015). issues of ethical leadership in the context of workaholism and burnout need further and deeper investigations (kanste, kyngas, & nikkila, 2007). therefore, the aim of this study was to identify the significance of a perceived ethical leadership style for the relationship between employees’ workaholism and occupational burnout. liter ature re vie w workaholism and occupational burnout ever since the notion of “workaholism” was introduced, researchers have held different viewpoints on its definition (aziz & tronzo, 2011). however, this research is based on the definition proposed by oates (1971), who labeled workaholism as “the compulsion or the uncontrollable need to work incessantly” (p. 11). according to this author, workaholism is composed of two dimensions: working excessively (the behavioral component) and working compulsively (the cognitive component). it is important to highlight that due to a high work investment, workaholism can be understood as similar to work engagement. although both workaholism and work engagement are characterized by heavy work investment, the underlying motivation for this investment differs: workaholics are driven by an inner compulsion to work they cannot resist, whereas engaged employees work because they find it stimulating, meaningful and engrossing (shimazu, schaufeli, kamiyama, & kawakami, 2015). theoretical and empirical models suggest that workaholism is caused and maintained by a range of antecedents. for instance, some authors have reported a link between workaholism and family systems, with the family being the origin of the phenomenon. according to this perspective, workaholism is regarded as the result of certain family dynamics (e.g., over-responsibility), affecting the individual within the system. some other authors theoretically frame the structure, process, modesta morkevičiūtė, auksė endriulaitienė 64 growth and development of workaholism within addiction theory. based on this model, workaholic behavior is somatically stimulated by physiological activation produced, for example, by working against the clock to meet a deadline. learning theory may also add to our understanding of workaholism antecedents. based on this theory, the development of workaholism and corresponding behavior can be explained by various principles of learning (e.g. the individual may be influenced by observing the behavior of significant others). to sum up, although the theories presented here have different explanations of workaholism, it is most probably formed by a variety of antecedents (miller, 2013). it is agreed that workaholism is one of the fundamental factors hindering employees’ physical and psychological well-being. therefore, interest in employees’ occupational burnout was expressed at the same time as in workaholism. while not a new phenomenon, job burnout has resurfaced in scientific literature as the society becomes more complex, and more demands are placed on employees (mckinleya, bolanda, & mahanb, 2017). this research is based on the occupational burnout model suggested by kristensen, borritz, villadsen, & christensen (2005). according to kristensen et al. (2005), occupational burnout indicates the level of burnout which is the result of working activity, being in the working environment or thoughts about the work (kristensen et al., 2005). they identified three dimensions of burnout: personal burnout (an employee’s psychological and physical fatigue and exhaustion experienced by a person regardless of their participation in the workforce), work-related burnout (physical and psychological fatigue related to work) and customer-related burnout (physical and psychological fatigue caused by frequent communication with customers) (robinson, magee, & caputi, 2016; kristensen et al., 2005). scientific literature has shown that occupational burnout can be caused by work activity, working environment and thoughts about work (bubnienė, 2009; kunigauskaitė, 2011). it is noted that workaholism is characterised by intense work activity, frequent and long-term being in the working environment and constant thinking about work. that is, the behavior and thoughts of a person who is prone to workaholism, creates conditions leading to physical and mental exhaustion. thus, one of the most extreme outcomes of workaholism is occupational burnout (de carlo, falco, pierro, dugas, kruglanski, & higgins, 2014). 2017, 20, 61–82 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 65 the relationship between workaholism and occupational burnout one of the main determinants that explain the relationship between employees’ workaholism and occupational burnout is high standards for oneself (aziz & tronzo, 2011; taris, van veek, & schaufeli, 2012; de carlo et al., 2014; bovornusvakool, vodanovich, ariyabuddhiphongs, & ngamake, 2012). according to ng et al. (2007), workaholics are characterized by a high need for achievement and perfectionism. numerous studies have found positive correlations between perfectionism and stress (shifron & reysen, 2011). this increases the risk for the development of occupational burnout (aziz & tronzo, 2011; kristensen et al., 2005). therefore, employees with higher perfectionism are more likely to experience burnout. another mechanism that seems to be involved in the relationship between workaholism and occupational burnout is lack of rest. according to de carlo et al. (2014), employees who are prone to workaholism devote more energy to work than necessary. therefore, workaholics typically work long hours (on average 50–60 hours per week). when the excessive amount of energy that workaholics spend at work is not counterbalanced with appropriate recovery (taris, geurts, schaufeli, blonk, & lagerveld, 2008), employees might eventually exhaust their energy back-up (schaufeli et al., 2009). furthermore, workaholics are thinking about work even if not at work. it is clear that constant thinking about work limits the time for relaxing or hobbies (falvo, visintin, capozza, falco, & de carlo, 2013). consequently, this increases burnout. as smedema, thompson, sharp, & friefeld (2016) explained, the physical and psychological difficulties should be considered in the context of individuals’ life, including the environments in which they live and work. some authors suggest that to understand the development of the relationship between workaholism and occupational burnout, it is necessary to pay attention to the way in which individuals perceive and interpret the behavior of others at work. it has been noted that the perception of manager behavior is one of the essential factors predicting the relationship between these phenomena (rodríguez-mantilla & fernández-díaz, 2017). modesta morkevičiūtė, auksė endriulaitienė 66 importance of an ethical leadership style for the relationship of employees’ workaholism and occupational burnout ethical leadership is usually defined as “the demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct through personal actions and interpersonal relationships, and the promotion of such conduct to followers through two-way communication, reinforcement, and decision-making” (brown, treviño, & harrison, 2005, p. 120). the most prominent features of an ethical manager are the following: management skills, personal morality and orientation to subordinates (chughtai, 2015). some authors have revealed the association between a perceived ethical leadership style and workaholism. one of the main antecedents of workaholism is strong working control, job demands and pressure to be productive (choi, 2013). ethical managers are characterized by the fact that a part of the responsibilities and powers is given to the employees. such managers allow subordinates to independently control certain work processes (engelbrecht, heine, & mahembe, 2014; macey, schneider, barbera, & young, 2009). in this way, they can choose appropriate ways and conditions of meeting the targets. as a result, the risk of workaholism decreases (choi, 2013). hence the results of the previous research provide some data for the first hypothesis: 1. employees who perceive their manager as characterised by a more ethical leadership style have lower level of workaholism than those who perceive their manager as less characterised by an ethical leadership style. also, researchers claim that ethical leadership reduces employee’s burnout (madathil, heck, & schuldberg, 2014). ethical manager promotes subordinates’ ideas, creates a climate of mutual respect and favourable conditions to achieve professional and personal development of employees. in such organization environment employees feel safe (walumbwa & schaubroeck, 2009). this leads to a positive assessment of a manager. in order to reduce the probability of burnout, a positive assessment of a leader and safety are very important (kanste, kyngas, & nikkila, 2007; bouchamma & brie, 2014; peterson, walumbwa, avolio, & hannah, 2012). based on these theoretical arguments and empirical evidence, this study generates the following hypothesis: 2017, 20, 61–82 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 67 2. employees who perceive their manager as characterised by a more ethical leadership style have lower level of occupational burnout than employees who perceive their manager as less characterised by an ethical leadership style. according to the previous research, a perceived ethical leadership style is important for the relationship between workaholism and occupational burnout for such reasons: 1) it can increase (or reduce) the probability that an employee who is prone to workaholism may start suffering occupational burnout; 2) can accelerate (or distance) occupational burnout of the employee who is prone to workaholism; 3) can maintain or bar the relationship between workaholism and occupational burnout. the research results of an ethical leadership style for the relationship between employees’ workaholism and occupational burnout are controversial. for instance, ethical leaders focus on the employees’ progress rather than results (ma, cheng, ribbens & zhou, 2013). therefore, employees may consider that in order to become well-appreciated, they have to obviously show their initiative and efforts. this stimulates them to work excessively (andreassen, 2014; ng et al., 2007). working excessively hard causes considerable stress, which is incompatible with feelings of health and well-being (schaufeli et al., 2009). on the other hand, some authors provide contradictory results. for instance, according to youngkeun (2013), if an organization implements a winner-takes-all or star reward system, employees are more likely to exert greater effort because only the top performers are rewarded. thus, they are forced to work unceasingly to compete, and peer competition can evoke workaholic behavior. also, in the organizational atmosphere created by widespread workaholism, peer competition can accelerate occupational burnout. it is important to highlight that an ethical manager is orientated to each employee’s progress and does not create a competitive working environment. hence this creates unfavourable environment for the workaholism and occupational burnout (choi, 2013). job demands-resources theory (demerouti, bakker, nachreiner, & schaufeli, 2001) may also help to explain the relationship among ethical leadership, workaholism and occupational burnout. job demandsresources theory claims that emotional job demands, physical job demands and work pressure are all risk factors for occupational burnout (bakker & demerouti, 2016). moreover, as it was found in the previous modesta morkevičiūtė, auksė endriulaitienė 68 research, employees who are confronted with more work pressure usually report higher levels of workaholism (choi, 2013). however, in a view  of job demands-resources theory, the undesirable impact of job demands can be alleviated by job resources. the results showed that ethical leadership results in fewer job demands (cognitive, emotional and physical demands) and more job resources (e.g. job autonomy, taking care of the welfare of subordinates, encouragement, support), and indirectly contributes to the development of an appropriate work habits and well-being of employees (chughtai, 2015; russell, 2013; bakker & demerouti, 2016). based on a social learning theory (bandura, 1977), workaholic behavior occurs, is nurtured and sustained because similar behavior in the past had led to positive outcomes, such as praise and approval from managers, promotion, good salary, or because the behavior had led to the avoidance of negative outcomes such as unwanted leisure (miller, 2013; loi,  lam,  ngo,  & cheong, 2015; kalshoven,  van dijk,  & boon, 2016). it is known that one of the essential features of workaholics is inability to work in a concentrated way (jočienė, 2015). ethical leaders influence subordinates’ behavior by approving or rewarding well-structured activity and punishing overtime and continuous work. as a result, employees are able to work purposefully, saving their time and energy (chughtai, 2015). in this way, health-damaging work habits do not recur, and the risk of occupational burnout decreases (russell, 2013). the above literature provides more rationales for the positive impact of ethical leadership. thus, in view of bakker & demerouti (2016), bandura (1977), youngkeun (2013), choi (2013), chughtai (2015), russell (2013), bouchamma & brie (2014), loi et al. (2015), kalshoven, et al. (2016), the third research hypothesis was formulated: 3. the relationship between workaholism and occupational burnout of the employees who perceive their manager as characterised by a more ethical leadership style is less expressed than of the employees who perceive their manager as less characterised by an ethical leadership style. the previous research suggests that the experience with workaholism and occupational burnout may be different due to certain sociodemographic characteristics of employees (lopez et al., 2011; kompier, 2006; andreassen, 2014). furthermore, some studies have reported an 2017, 20, 61–82 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 69 association between a perceived ethical leadership style and employees’ age, gender, education, work duration in the current organization (mitonga-monga & cilliers, 2016; feng, 2011). thus, it may also influence the relationship between a perceived ethical leadership style, employees’ workaholism and occupational burnout. we considered these possibilities in this study and examined how certain socio-demographic characteristics of employees may influence our results. me thod sample. the research was organized and conducted in accordance with the requirements for research ethics (apa, 2017). both managers and employees were given general information about the research such as its purpose and the consequences of participation. furthermore, a survey was held only after securing participants’ free and informed consent. the study involved 302 employees of business and education organizations in lithuania, who were recruited through convenient sampling. in order to increase the response rate and quality of responses, we firstly obtained consent from top executives at the target companies. the response rate was around 90%. all respondents were non-executive employees. most of them had direct contacts with customers as a part of their daily work routine. more women (261) than men (41) participated in the study. the majority of respondents had higher education. participants worked for the same organization from one month up to 45 years, with a mean of 12.72 years (sd=10.60). the age range was from 20 to 79 years (mean 44.20 years; sd=12.65). assessment instruments. a self-report questionnaire was used. the 10-item dutch work addiction scale (duwas-10) developed by schaufeli, taris, & bakker (2009) was used to assess employees’ workaholism. the lithuanian version of this scale was prepared by jočienė & endriulaitienė (2015). duwas-10 measures workaholism across two dimensions: five items assessed working excessively and five items assessed working compulsively. for instance, “i spend more time working than socializing with friends, on hobbies or on leisure activities” and “i feel obliged to work hard even if it is not enjoyable” respectively. each modesta morkevičiūtė, auksė endriulaitienė 70 item of the questionnaire was evaluated according to a five-point likert scale (1 – never / almost never, 5 – always). an increasing number of the points shows that a respondent has a higher level of workaholism (falvo et al., 2013). the internal reliability of this questionnaire was .806. the internal reliability of the working excessively subscale was .735; of the working compulsively subscale – .679. occupational burnout was assessed by copenhagen burnout inventory (cbi) developed by kristensen, borritz, villadsen, & christensen (2005). cbi was translated into lithuanian and then back-translated by two independent translators. cbi measures burnout across three dimensions: six items assess personal burnout, seven items assess work-related burnout, and six items assess customer-related burnout. for instance, “how often are you emotionally exhausted?”, “does your work frustrate you?”, and “do you find it hard to work with clients?” respectively. each item of the questionnaire was evaluated according to a five-point likert scale (1 – never / almost never, 5 – always). an increasing number of the points shows that a respondent has a higher level of occupational burnout (kristensen et al., 2005). the internal reliability of this questionnaire was .919. the cronbach’s alphas for the three subscales of the copenhagen burnout inventory in the present study were .856 (personal burnout subscale), .754 (work-related burnout subscale), .875 (customer-related burnout subscale). a 10-item scale (els), created by brown, trevino, & harrison (2005), was used to evaluate an ethical leadership style. els was translated into lithuanian, based on a standard translation/back-translation procedure. each item (e.g. “discusses business ethics or values with employees”) was evaluated according to a five-point likert scale (1 – strongly disagree, 5 – strongly agree). the higher score indicates the more expressed ethical leadership style perceived by employees. the internal reliability of the questionnaire was .922. in order to compare the relationships between workaholism and occupational burnout in two groups of a perceived ethical leadership style (higher and lower), based on the recommendations of previous studies, an average score of ethical leadership (m=41.0608). thus, a higher perceived ethical leadership style is mirrored when the respondent shows higher than average scores in els. a lower perceived ethical 2017, 20, 61–82 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 71 leadership style is reflected when there are lower than average scores in els (deconinck, 2015; engelbrecht et al., 2014). to determine whether items reflect the constructs they are intended to measure, the confirmatory factor analyses (cfa) of the scales (duwas-10, cbi, els) were conducted. in short, the results of the cfa provided support for the construct validity of the variables used in the current study: workaholism, occupational burnout and ethical leadership style. in order to assess the normality of data, shapiro-wilk test was used. shapiro-wilk test coefficients for duwas-10, cbi and els were .987, .990 and .931 respectively. for all three questionnaires the parameters of skewness and kurtosis ranged between -1 and 1 (e.g. duwas-10, skewness = .205, kurtosis = .615; cbi, skewness = .325, kurtosis = .162; els, skewness = .990, kurtosis = .939). this shows that the data come from a normal distribution and therefore in further analysis parametric statistical tests were used. the results were analysed with the help of descriptive statistics, stjudent’s t tests and correlational analyses. then the correlations are conducted on the same variables by two different groups, and if both the correlations are found to be statistically significant (particularly when a sample size is small), fisher’s r-to-z transformation is recommended (corey, dunlap, & burke, 1998; silver & dunlap, 1987). therefore, to compare the relationships between workaholism and occupational burnout in two groups of a perceived ethical leadership style, fisher’s r-to-z test was used. findings descriptive statistics in terms of mean (m) and standard deviation (sd) of the study variables are presented in table 1. table 1. descriptive statistics of the study variables variable n m sd workaholism 293 26.3038 6.41434 occupational burnout 290 47.6690 11.42816 perceived ethical leadership style 296 41.0608 6.53567 modesta morkevičiūtė, auksė endriulaitienė 72 in order to examine workaholism, occupational burnout and a perceived ethical leadership style in different socio-demographic groups of employees, t-test of independence was used. it found no statistically significant differences of workaholism in different socio-demographic groups of study participants (p>.05). further, our results revealed that occupational burnout is only related to work duration in the current organization: occupational burnout is stronger among the employees whose work duration in the current organization is longer than among those whose work duration is shorter (p<.05). it was also determined that a perceived ethical leadership style is related to employees’ age: older employees (aged 45–79) perceive their managers as being more ethical than the younger (aged 20–44) ones (p<.05). partial correlation was used to determine whether there is a relationship between a perceived ethical leadership style, workaholism and occupational burnout. this test was used in response to hypotheses 1 and 2. the results are presented in table 2. table 2. the relationship between a perceived ethical leadership style, workaholism and occupational burnout controlling for employees’ age and work duration in the current organization ethical leadership style r degrees of freedom (df ) p value excessive work -.149 271 .014 compulsive work -.144 271 .017 personal burnout -.291 266 .000 work-related burnout -.252 264 .000 customer-related burnout -.075 263 .221 ethical leadership style workaholism (general) -.164 267 .007 occupational burnout (general) -.217 258 .000 table 2 indicates that an ethical leadership style significantly negatively correlates with employees’ excessive work (p<.05). similarly, an ethical leadership style showed a negative and significant association with the employees’ compulsive work and general workaholism (p<.05). 2017, 20, 61–82 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 73 furthermore, there is a weak but significant negative correlation between an ethical leadership style and employees’ personal burnout, work-related and general burnout (p<.05). the relationship between an ethical leadership style and customer-related burnout is also negative, but this correlation did not reach statistical significance (p>.05). partial correlation was used to determine whether there was a relationship between workaholism and occupational burnout in each group of a perceived ethical leadership style. further, fisher’s r-to-z transformation was used to compare these relationships in two groups of a perceived ethical leadership style. the results are presented in table 3. table 3. the relationship between workaholism and occupational burnout in different groups of a perceived ethical leadership style controlling for employees’ work duration in the current organization perceived ethical leadership style r degrees of freedom (df ) z p value the relationship between personal burnout and excessive work higher .285* 143 1.52 .1285 lower .447** 125 the relationship between personal burnout and compulsive work higher .296** 143 1.49 .1362 lower .454** 125 the relationship between work-related burnout and excessive work higher .330** 142 1.38 .1676 lower .474** 123 the relationship between work-related burnout and compulsive work higher .323** 142 1.03 .303 lower .433** 123 the relationship between customer-related burnout and excessive work higher .288** 139 1.99 .0466 lower .496** 125 the relationship between customer-related burnout and compulsive work higher .254* 138 .60 .5485 lower .323** 125 the relationship between workaholism and occupational burnout higher .390** 133 1.96 .05 lower .578** 123 * p<.05 ** p<.01 modesta morkevičiūtė, auksė endriulaitienė 74 fisher’s r-to-z transformation showed no significant differences of these relationships between two ethical leadership style groups: personal burnout and excessive work; personal burnout and compulsive work; work-related burnout and excessive work; work-related burnout and compulsive work; customer-related burnout and compulsive work (p>.05). however, our results revealed a significant relationship between customer-related burnout and excessive work, also between general burnout and workaholism in a different ethical leadership style groups (p<.05). it was found that the relationship between customer-related burnout and excessive work of the employees who perceive their manager as characterised by a more ethical leadership style is less expressed than of employees who perceive their manager as less characterised by an ethical leadership style. discussion the purpose of the current study was to investigate the significance of a perceived ethical leadership style for the relationship between employees’ workaholism and occupational burnout. some findings were consistent with the previous research. other findings did not support the previous research on a perceived ethical leadership style, employees’ workaholism and occupational burnout. the study results showed that employees who perceive their manager as characterised by a more ethical leadership style have a lower level of workaholism than employees who perceive their manager as less characterised by an ethical leadership style. the obtained results confirm the findings of choi (2013), engelbrecht et al. (2014), macey et al. (2009). the results can be interpreted in accordance with walumbwa & schaubroeck (2009), choi (2013). ethical managers of the respondents, who participated in this study, are likely to have been focused on each employee’s progress and did not create a competitive working environment. as a result, employees did not feel tension to be superior to their colleagues, continuously improve their productivity and quality of work (engelbrecht et al., 2014; macey et al., 2009). our results extend previous findings and suggest that such managers’ ethical behavior does not lead to the emergence of workaholic environment. 2017, 20, 61–82 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 75 our second hypothesis was partially supported: it was revealed that employees who perceive their manager as characterised by a more ethical leadership style have a lower level of personal burnout, work-related burnout and general burnout than employees who perceive their managers as less characterised by an ethical leadership style. contrary to the studies of russell (2014), our findings showed that an ethical leadership style and customer-related burnout do not interrelate. on the other hand, the obtained results confirm the findings of bouchamma & brie (2014), peterson et al. (2012), kanste et al. (2007). such results can be explained by an ethical manager’s behavior. an ethical manager is orientated towards the subordinates and focused on maintaining good relationships with them. therefore, employees feel less stressed and tensed, become more confident with the manager. consequently, this leads to a positive evaluation of the ethical leader. as a result, the probability of personal and work-related burnout decreases (bouchamma & brie, 2014; kanste et al., 2007). our third hypothesis was also partially supported: it was found that the relationship between customer-related burnout and excessive work, also between general burnout and workaholism of the employees who perceive their manager as characterised by a more ethical leadership style is less expressed than of the employees who perceive their manager as less characterised by an ethical leadership style. as mentioned earlier, an ethical manager influences harmonious relationships between employees, which are based on understanding, support and trust (chughtai, 2015). therefore, employees become friendly with each other, the organization creates an environment of cooperation; colleagues begin to perceive each other not as competitors, but as assistants. ethical managers constantly communicate with employees, encourage them to move away from work, to reflect, to turn to their own needs. finally, the ethical manager allows employees to control certain work processes, independently solve problems and influences subordinates’ behavior by rewarding their well-structured activity. due to this manager behavior, an appropriate relationship with the work of employees is formed, and psychological and physical well-being is improved. the results of the study revealed that occupational burnout is only related to the work duration in the current organization: occupational burnout is stronger among the employees whose work duration in the modesta morkevičiūtė, auksė endriulaitienė 76 current organization is longer than among those whose work duration in the current organization is shorter. these results coincide with the findings of montero-marín, garcía-campayo, fajó-pascual, carrasco, gascón, gili, & mayoral-cleries (2011). it can be assumed that over the long years of work in the same organization employees lose professional enthusiasm. a well-known organization and activities, lack of change and new challenges bar the way to the professional and personal development. as a result, the organization’s environment and work activities begin to tire an employee. we have also observed a relationship between a perceived ethical leadership style and employees’ age: older employees perceive their managers as being more ethical than the younger ones. our findings can be interpreted in accordance with feng (2011): older employees are more aware of the importance and benefits of moral and ethical behavior. therefore, older employees are more considerate and sensitive to morality demonstrated by an ethical leader. it was established that there are no differences of workaholism in different socio-demographic groups (gender, education, age, work duration in the current organization) of study participants. furthermore, gender, education and age of employees were not related to the occupational burnout. lastly, perception of ethical leadership does not differ between men and women, employees who have or do not have higher education, as well as between those who work longer and shorter in the organization. the obtained results can be explained by the composition of study participants. for instance, workaholism and occupational burnout are more likely to occur at a younger age (taris, van veek, & schaufeli, 2012; kunigauskaitė, 2011). on the other hand, the structure of the study participants was specific: the average age of respondents was 44 years. this means that respondents of the younger age who participated in this study in the general population would be considered as middleaged and older employees. such results can also be explained by the impact of factors which were not analysed in this research. it is important to consider some limitations of the current study when interpreting these findings. first, due for participation in the study, more organizations were contacted, however, only a small number of them agreed to participate in the survey. therefore, there is a possibility that the managers of the studied participants in the general population would reach a high level of ethical leadership. another limitation is that 2017, 20, 61–82 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 77 milda cibulskytė, loreta zajančkauskaitė-staskevičienė the majority of the respondents were women. this threatens the generalizability of our findings. thirdly, objective instruments were not used for the collection of survey data. therefore, there is a possibility that the investigation occurred in a social desirability bias, which could distort the results of the survey because of studied participants’ propensity to assess ethical leadership with high scores and the fact that rating their supervisor’s leadership style may feel insecure. lastly, workaholism and occupational burnout are defined differently by various authors. the discrepancies of this and previous studies were possibly influenced by different concepts of the phenomena and different instruments used to measure it. therefore, further researchers should first pay attention to the conceptual workaholism and occupational burnout problems. the results of this study support the theory and research, suggesting that working conditions created by ethical leaders may play an important role in the extent to which employees experience workaholism and occupational burnout. the finding implies that ethical behavior should be emphasized in planning and designing interventions for managing employees’ workaholism and burnout. it is worth to invest in managers’ development; 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(2009). leader personality traits and employee voice behavior: mediating roles of ethical leadership and work group psychological safety. journal of applied psychology, 94(5), 1275–1286. doi: 10.1037/a0015848. 82 modesta morkevičiūtė, auksė endriulaitienė subjek t y viai suvokiamo e tiško vadovavimo stiliaus reikšmė polinkio per daug dirbti ir profesinio pervargimo sąsa joms modesta morkevičiūtė, auksė endriulaitienė vytauto didžiojo universitetas, lietuva santrauka. mokslinė problema. remiantis mokslinių tyrimų rezultatais, etiškas vadovavimo stilius gali turėti tiek teigiamų, tiek neigiamų pasekmių darbuotojams. ankstesniais tyrimais nustatyta, kad etiškas vadovavimo stilius gali prisidėti prie darbuotojų polinkio per daug dirbti ir profesinio pervargimo vystymosi, tačiau šių reiškinių sąsajos vertinamos nevienareikšmiškai. tyrimo tikslas. nustatyti subjektyviai suvokiamo etiško vadovavimo stiliaus reikšmę darbuotojų polinkio per daug dirbti ir profesinio pervargimo sąsajoms. tyrimo metodai. tyrime dalyvavo 302 įvairiose lietuvos organizacijose dirbantys respondentai (41 vyras ir 261 moteris). etiškam vadovavimo stiliui vertinti naudotas m. e. brown, l. k. trevino, d. a. harrison (2005) klausimynas. polinkiui per daug dirbti matuoti naudota olandijos polinkio per daug dirbti skalės trumpoji versija (duwas-10) (schaufeli, taris, bakker, 2009). profesiniam pervargimui vertinti naudotas t. s. kristensen, m. borritz, e. villadsen ir k. b. christensen (2005) kopenhagos profesinio pervargimo klausimynas. rezultatai. tyrimu nustatyta, jog darbuotojai, kurie savo vadovo elgesį suvokia kaip labiau etišką, mažiau linkę per daug dirbti, mažiau kenčia nuo asmeninio ir su darbu susijusio pervargimo nei tie darbuotojai, kurie savo vadovo elgesį suvokia kaip mažiau etišką. darbuotojų, kurie savo vadovo elgesį suvokia kaip labiau etišką, su klientais susijęs pervargimas yra mažiau susijęs su perdėtai sunkiu darbu nei tų darbuotojų, kurie savo vadovo elgesį suvokia kaip mažiau etišką. išvados. nustatyta, kad darbuotojų požiūris į vadovą yra svarbus polinkio per daug dirbti ir profesinio pervargimo vystymuisi, todėl ateityje svarbu tyrinėti veiksnius, kurie galėtų keisti darbuotojų požiūrį į organizacijos aplinką ir savo vadovą. reikšminiai žodžiai: subjektyviai suvokiamas etiškas vadovavimo stilius, polinkis per daug dirbti, profesinis pervargimas. received: 30 08 2017 accepted: 07 11 2017 163 informacija vadovėlio aukštųjų mokyklų studentams „vaiko ir paauglio psichologija“ anotacija visvaldas legkauskas vytauto didžiojo universitetas, lietuva šio vadovėlio idėja gimė prieš kelerius metus, pradėjus dėstyti to paties pavadinimo kursą vytauto didžiojo universiteto mokyk linės psichologijos programos magistran tams. bendravimo su mokyklose dir bančiais psichologais, mokytojais ir tėvais patirtis rodė, kad tradicinių raidos psichologijos te mų studijos aplenkia daugelį būsimiesiems mokyklų psichologams aktualių klausimų, su kuriais teks susidurti praktiniame darbe. tė vai, mokytojai ir moksleiviai ateina pas mo kykloje dirbantį psichologą su konkrečio mis problemomis. psichologas siekia padėti rasti tinkamus problemų sprendimo būdus, kuriuos būtų galima sėkmingai praktiškai pritaikyti ir įgyvendinti. taigi šiame vadovėlyje stengiamasi apim ti tuos iššūkius, su kuriais susiduria kiekvienas tėvas ir mama. visi nori, kad jų vaikai augtų laimingi, tačiau vien meilės tam neužtenka – norėdami užtikrinti sklandžią vaiko raidą, tėvai, mokytojai, psichologai turi turėti ir tam tikrų būtinų žinių, kaip tai padaryti, kad galėtų išspręsti sunkesnes auklėjime pasitaikančias situacijas. besikeičiančiame pasaulyje vaikus auginančios šeimos ir juos ugdantys mokytojai nuolat susiduria su vis naujais galvosūkiais, kuriems įveikti dešimtmečiais kauptų žinių ir patyrimo ne visuomet pakanka. nors kai kurios vaiko ir paauglio psichologijos te mos (pvz., santykiai su tėvais paauglystėje) yra senos kaip pasaulis, prieš penkiasdešimt metų tėvams nereikėjo sukti galvos, kaip vaiką atitraukti nuo televizoriaus, prieš dvidešimt penkerius metus – nuo kompiuterio, nedaug kas susirūpindavo gabių vaikų ugdymu ar patyčiomis. natūraliai iškylančių šiuolaikinių raidos ir auklėjimo temų įvairovė lei do šiame vadovėlyje nedubliuoti tradicinių raidos vadovėlių tematikos, 164 informacija o vietoje to imtis tų temų, kurių aktualumas išryškėjo per pastaruosius du dešimtmečius. greiti visuomenės pokyčiai reikalauja naujų žinių ir sprendimų. būtent todėl šiame vadovėlyje apibendrinti patys naujausi per pastaruosius 5–7 metus sukaupti mokslinių tyrimų duomenys. jų rezultatai pateikiami per taikomąją prizmę, kad skaitytojas – nesvarbu, ar tai būtų psichologijos studentas, ar žingeidi mama – galėtų lengvai peržengti „teorijos-praktikos“ barjerą ir pasinaudoti vadovėlyje pateikiamomis žiniomis konkrečiai praktinei situacijai išspręsti. nors ši knyga skirta pirmiausia psichologijos studentams, tačiau ji parašyta lengvesniu, „technine“ kalba ir specifiniais terminais neperkrautu stiliumi. tuo siekiama dvejopų tikslų. viena vertus, vadovėlį skaitantiems psichologijos studen tams nebereikės vargti bandant išversti psichologijos mokslo žinias į „žmonių kalbą“. kita vertus, taip siekiama didesnio knygos prieinamumo visiems tiems, kurie domisi psichologijos sukauptomis žiniomis apie vaikus ir paauglius. raidos psichologijos žinios gali ir turi būti pateikiamos taip, kad visi tie, kuriems rūpi vaikų ir paauglių gerovė (tėvai, mokytojai, gydy tojai, policininkai, socialiniai darbuotojai, net politikai), galėtų savarankiškai jomis pasinaudoti. child and adolescent psychology textbook annotation this textbook was developed for a graduate course bearing the same title. in contrast to mainstream development psychology textbooks, which focus on core concepts, theories, and studies, this textbook focuses on the challenges faced by today’s psychologists, educators, and social workers working with children and adolescents. the textbook consists of 19 chapters covering the key issues affecting virtually every family in one way or another. the issues covered in the textbook include, among others, development of self-regulation, tv and computer use, development of consumer habits in childhood, preparation for school, promotion of learning motivation, youth employment, development of identity in adolescence. selection of the topics was based on feedback from school psychology practitioners, hence the textbook covers those issues which parents and educators most often perceive as challenges requiring professional advice of psychologists. the material is presented in accessible manner so that the book could serve not only as a textbook for psychology students, but also as a source of ideas and practical advice for parents wishing to gain better understanding of their children. 2019_international journal of psychology 2019_23_book 1.indb scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2019 / 23 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.23.2 teachers’ misconceptions and current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment in elementary schools in thail and kamonwan tangdhanakanond1 chulalongkorn university, thailand teara archwamety university of nebraska at kearney, usa abstract. as a result of the enactment of the national education act b.e. 2542 in thailand, teachers have been encouraged to employ various methods for students’ learning assessment including student portfolio. student portfolio is a collection of evidence that systematically reflects students’ learning processes and their learning outcomes in various aspects. the purposes of this study were to examine teachers’ misconceptions in implementing student portfolio assessment, and to compare teachers’ current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment between teachers who had attended the training sessions concerning portfolio assessment and those who had not. four hundred and fifty-four elementary school teachers were randomly sampled to be participants in this study. questionnaires were employed to collect data on teachers’ misconceptions about the principles of student portfolio assessment and the utilization of the results from student portfolio assessment, as well as their current performance in implementing four main steps of student portfolio assessment [i.e., (a) planning for portfolio assessment, (b) collecting created products, (c) selecting products and reflecting on selected products, and (d) revising and evaluating products]. results revealed that, overall, teachers had misconceptions in nine concepts. six concepts were about the principles of student portfolio assessment and three concepts were about the utilization of the results from student portfolio assessment. performance, which consisted 1 please send all paper correspondence to: kamonwan tangdhanakanond, ph.d. dept. of educational research and psychology faculty of education chulalongkorn university phyathai rd., pathumwan, bangkok thailand 10330 tel. +(66) 22182582 fax +(66) 22182578 please direct all e-mail messages to: tkamonwan@hotmail.com 39 kamonwan tangdhanakanond, teara archwamety 40 of implementing four main steps of student portfolio assessment, was higher for teachers who had attended the training sessions concerning student portfolio assessment than for those teachers who had not attended the training sessions. the findings of this study could help related public sector personnel and teacher trainers from universities change teachers’ misconceptions more effectively. keywords: elementary school, misconception, portfolio, thailand. educational reform in thailand which includes (a) curriculum reform, (b) teaching and learning reform, and (c) assessment reform, was enhanced after the enactment of the national education act of 1999. in the assessment reform, teachers have been encouraged to employ various methods for students’ learning assessment as mentioned in the section 26 of the national education act. authentic assessment, therefore, gained more interest from schoolteachers. authentic assessment allows students to demonstrate the knowledge and skills learned from their lessons by creating a response or a task in real life situations (cole, ryan, kick, & mathies, 2000; kinay, 2018; mueller, 2005; tangdhanakanond, pitiyanuwat, & archwamety, 2006a; tangdhanakanond, 2016). student portfolio is potentially an authentic assessment tool that teachers have been encouraged to use. student portfolio is a collection of evidence that systematically reflects students’ learning processes and their learning outcomes in various aspects, such as achievement, skills, and characteristics (chappuis, stiggins, chappuis, & arter, 2012; poowipadawat, 2001; tangdhanakanond, 2016; tangdhanakanond & wongwanich, 2016; tangdhanakanond & wongwanich, 2012; tangdhanakanond, et al., 2006a). in addition, portfolio could be used to monitor students’ learning development continuously. therefore, portfolio could be used for both formative and summative assessment purposes. another advantage of portfolio is that its process could promote students’ achievement (sootthipong, 2000; chinnawong, 2000; tangdhanakanond, pitiyanuwat, & archwamety, 2006b), achievement motivation (chinnawong, 2000), critical thinking (koraneekid, 2007; tyler & dibble, 2019), analytic thinking (tyler & dibble, 2019), creative thinking (sujarittanarugse, 2005), meta-cognition (gencel, 2016), self-directed learning (elango, jutti, & lee, 2005; tomkins & quette-frenette, 2010), and self-efficacy (nicolaidou, 2012). moreover, while students create their portfolios 2019, 23, 39–62 p.misconceptions and current per formance in por tfolio assessment 41 (especially in the step of selecting products and reflecting on selected products, as well as the step of revising and evaluating products), they are encouraged by teachers to analyze their strengths and weaknesses in learning (tangdhanakanond, 2005; priest & robert, 1998 as cited in mcmullan, 2006). portfolio is also used as a tool for communication between teachers and parents about students’ learning development and their characteristics (kingkore, 1995; benson & barnett, 1999). literature proposes different steps in the portfolio process, depending on the learning activities, and portfolio purposes. portfolio process is therefore flexible. however, the four common essential steps in the portfolio process are (a) planning for portfolio assessment, (b) collecting created products, (c) selecting products and reflecting on selected products, and (d) revising and evaluating products (burke, forgerty, & belgrad, 1994; epstein, 2001; educational technique department, 1996; moonkum, 2000; morin, 1995; pearson education development group, 2001; poowipadawat, 2001; prawarnpruek, 1997; punngam, 2000; saereerat, 1997; siladech, 1997). kornketkamon (2001) found that thai teachers had some difficulties in the use of student portfolio assessment, especially in reminding students to organize the products in their portfolios, reflecting on the created products, as well as revising and evaluating products in the portfolios. moreover, tangdhanakanond and wongwanich (2015) found that thai teachers lacked knowledge and deep understanding in implementing student portfolio assessment. they also recommended that an analysis of misconceptions of teachers in implementing student portfolio assessment should be conducted. therefore, an examination of teachers’ misconceptions and current performance of teachers in implementing student portfolio assessment should be conducted. the purposes of this study were (a) to examine teachers’ misconceptions in implementing student portfolio assessment, and (b) to compare teachers’ current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment between teachers who had attended the training sessions concerning portfolio assessment and those who had not. findings on teachers’ misconceptions and current performance of student portfolio assessment would produce valuable information for related sectors and personnel to conduct a conceptual change in teachers in the use of student portfolio assessment in the future. kamonwan tangdhanakanond, teara archwamety 42 me thods participants participants were 454 elementary school teachers (134 male and 320 female) from all regions (northern, middle, northeastern and southern parts) of thailand selected by multi-stage random sampling. participants included 66 thai language teachers, 69 mathematics teachers, 59 sciences teachers, 58 career and technology teachers, 46 art teachers, 54 social study teachers, 56 english language teachers, and 46 physical education teachers. two hundred and thirteen participants taught in the lower elementary school levels (i.e., grades 1 to 3), whereas 241 participants taught in the upper elementary school levels (i.e., grades 4 to 6). in these numbers of participants, 229 teachers had 20 years of teaching experience or less, while 225 teachers had more than 20 years’ teaching experience. two hundred and nineteen participants had attended the training sessions related to student portfolio assessment, while the other 235 participants had not. instrument a survey questionnaire was employed in this research study. before creating the questionnaire, related literature on portfolio process was studied (burke et al., 1994; educational technique department, 1996; epstein, 2001; moonkum, 2000; morin, 1995; pearson education development group, 2001; poowipadawat, 2001; prawarnpruek, 1997; punngam, 2000; saereerat, 1997; siladech, 1997). subsequently, five experts in the field of educational measurement and evaluation were selected to be interviewed about teachers’ possible common misconceptions in implementing student portfolio assessment. the survey questionnaire was divided into three parts. in part one, respondent gender, education level, teaching experience, as well as grades and subjects the respondents taught in schools were requested as the respondents’ demographic information. respondents were also asked whether they had attended the training sessions related to student portfolio assessment in part one of the questionnaire. in part two, teachers’ misconceptions in implementing student portfolio assessment were examined. teachers were asked 2019, 23, 39–62 p.misconceptions and current per formance in por tfolio assessment 43 to rate their understanding of various statements about the principles of student portfolio assessment and the utilization of the results from student portfolio assessment on a five-point rating scale (1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=undecided, 4=agree, 5=strongly agree). in part three, the respondents were asked to rate their current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment on a five-point rating scale (1=never, 2=rarely, 3=occasionally, 4= frequently, 5= very frequently). as mentioned earlier, student portfolio assessment was divided into 4 main steps, i.e., (a) planning for portfolio assessment, (b) collecting created products, (c) selecting products and reflecting on selected products, and (d) revising and evaluating products. the content validity of the questionnaire was examined by using the index of item-objective congruence (ioc). five experts in the field of educational measurement and evaluation were asked as content experts to independently rate the individual items on the degree to which they do or do not measure the specific objectives listed earlier by the researchers. more specifically, the content experts evaluated each item, for each objective, by giving the item the rating (1 = clearly measuring; 0 = degree to which it measures the objective is unclear; and -1 = clearly not measuring). experts also were asked to suggest wording changes to improve the items. then, the questionnaire was distributed to 30 elementary school teachers to check the reliability of the questionnaire. the reliability of the questionnaire was determined by cronbach’s generalizability (g) coefficient in terms of internal consistency of the items in each separate part of the questionnaire, as well as the total items in the questionnaire. it was found that the reliability of the various sets of items in regard to the teachers’ misconception in implementing student portfolio assessment (in the second part of the questionnaire) was 0.79, whereas the reliability of those in regard to the current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment (in the third part of the questionnaire) was 0.98. overall, the reliability of this questionnaire (parts two and three combined) was 0.96. procedure the questionnaires were randomly distributed to 640 elementary school teachers in all regions (northern, middle, northeastern and southern parts) of thailand in a month. four hundred and seventy-three kamonwan tangdhanakanond, teara archwamety 44 questionnaires were returned. then, the 454 completed returned questionnaires were analyzed. means and standard deviations were employed to analyze teachers’ misconceptions and their current performance in the use of student portfolio assessment. an analyzed mean of the misconception analysis of less than 3.50 was interpreted as misconception (according to waedramae’s (2004) study on the analysis of misconceptions in educational quality assessment), whereas the analyzed mean of the current performance rating in implementing student portfolio assessment was interpreted by following the labels (i.e., 4.50 5.00 = very high, 3.50 4.49 = high, 2.50 3.49 = medium, 1.50 2.49 = low, and 1.00 1.49 = very low). in addition, independent-sample t-test was also used to compare teachers’ current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment between teachers who had attended the training sessions concerning student portfolio assessment and those who had not. results teachers’ misconceptions in implementing student portfolio assessment teachers’ misconceptions in implementing student portfolio assessment, measured by using the five-point rating scale, were as shown in table 1. overall, teachers (combining those who had attended the training sessions concerning student portfolio assessment with those who had not) had misconceptions in nine concepts (six concepts were about the principles of student portfolio assessment and three concepts were about the utilization of the results from student portfolio assessment). the most important teachers’ misconception concerning the principles of student portfolio assessment was: (a) portfolio is a container of all of the exercises done by students in a whole course (m= 2.24, sd=1.00); followed by (b) the same format of portfolios (e.g., an introduction part, a table of contents) should be set among students to follow the same standards (m= 2.35, sd=1.01); (c) portfolio must only be used to assess students’ learning separately for each course (m= 2.41, sd=1.08); (d) portfolio must only be used in a course that assigns students to 2019, 23, 39–62 p.misconceptions and current per formance in por tfolio assessment 45 create learning products (m= 2.58, sd=1.05); (e) portfolio is consistent with a lecture style instruction method (m= 2.94, sd=1.06); and (f ) it is not necessary that teachers plan the learning activities at the beginning of the courses (m= 3.31, sd=1.18). as for the misconceptions about the utilization of the results from student portfolio assessment, it was found that the most important misconception was: (a) after finishing the portfolio process, teachers should keep all of the students’ portfolios to reflect the quality of their teaching (m= 2.28, sd=1.98); followed by (b) portfolio is better used for summative assessment rather than formative assessment (m= 2.90, sd=1.04); and (c) portfolio is a supplementary assessment method, therefore it is not necessary to utilize the results from portfolio assessment (m= 2.83, sd=1.07), respectively. as for considering each group of participants, it was also found that teachers in both groups had the same misconceptions about the principles of student portfolio assessment and the utilization of the results from student portfolio assessment as mentioned earlier. the above results are consistent with the results on the misconceptions of teachers who had attended the training sessions and those who had not attended the training sessions. a two-way analysis of variance with repeated measure on one factor was also performed to compare teachers’ score on the misconception in implementing student portfolio assessment between two groups. the independent factor was group (teachers who had attended the training sessions concerning student portfolio assessment and those who had not), and the repeated-measure factor was teacher’s score on the misconception in implementing student portfolio assessment in two aspects [(a) principles of student portfolio assessment, and (b) utilization of the results from student portfolio assessment]. a teacher’s score for each of the two aspects was calculated by averaging the two ratings of survey items corresponding to each aspect. it was found that overall mean ratings of teachers’ scores on the first aspect of misconception (principles) in implementing student portfolio assessment by teachers who had attended the training sessions concerning student portfolio assessment and those who had not were not statistically significant different, f(1,452) = 0.04, p > .05. moreover, there was no statistically significant difference between the mean ratings of the teachers’ scores on the second aspect of misconception (utilization) in implementing kamonwan tangdhanakanond, teara archwamety 46 student portfolio assessment, f(1,452) = 0.01, p > .05. it was also found that there was no significant interaction effect between the group factor and the aspect of misconception factor, f(1,452) = 0.90, p > .05. the independent-sample t-test was employed to compare teachers’ scores on the misconception in implementing student portfolio assessment between teachers who had attended the training sessions concerning student portfolio assessment and those who had not. it was found that, mostly, the two groups of teachers did not have significant differences in the misconception scores. among the few significant difference findings, the most notable is that there was one concept (i.e., the same format of portfolio should be set among students to follow the same standards) that teachers had not attended the training sessions had more misconception than those who had attended the training sessions (t= 2.73, p<.01). table 1. mean (1=low, 5=high) and standard deviation of teachers’ misconceptions in implementing student por tfolio assessment by teachers who had attended the training sessions concerning student por tfolio assessment and those who had not. portfolio concepts train (n=219) no train (n=235) combined (n=454) t m sd m sd m sd 1. principles of student portfolio assessment 1.1 portfolio is a container of all of the exercises done by students in a whole course. 2.31 1.07 2.17 0.92 2.24 1.00 1.40 1.2 portfolio is one of the student learning assessment instruments. 4.04 0.81 4.03 0.71 4.04 0.75 0.04 1.3 portfolio is a tool for developing students’ learning. 4.02 0.79 4.03 0.75 4.03 0.77 -0.16 1.4 portfolio is consistent with a lecture style instruction method. 2.88 1.09 2.99 1.03 2.94 1.06 -1.11 1.5 portfolio could be used to assess students’ cognitive learning. 3.79 0.84 3.71 0.93 3.75 0.89 0.85 1.6 portfolio could be uses to assess students’ practical skills. 4.00 0.74 3.84 0.96 3.92 0.86 1.95 1.7 portfolio could be used to assess students’ desirable characteristics. 3.90 0.74 3.74 1.01 3.81 0.89 1.98* 2019, 23, 39–62 p.misconceptions and current per formance in por tfolio assessment 47 portfolio concepts train (n=219) no train (n=235) combined (n=454) t m sd m sd m sd 1.8 portfolio is a container of students’ artifacts that reflect students’ learning outcomes. 4.09 0.81 4.07 0.86 4.08 0.84 0.24 1.9 portfolio is a container of students’ artifacts that reflect students’ learning process. 4.18 0.76 4.00 0.80 4.09 0.78 2.45* 1.10 portfolio must only be used to assess students’ learning separately for each course. 2.47 1.04 2.35 1.12 2.41 1.08 1.20 1.11 portfolio must only be used in a course that assigns students to create learning products. 2.57 1.04 2.59 1.06 2.58 1.05 -0.21 1.12 it is not necessary that teachers plan the learning activities at the beginning of the courses. 3.32 1.20 3.30 1.16 3.31 1.18 0.24 1.13 it is necessary that students understand each step of portfolio process at the beginning of the courses. 4.04 0.74 3.97 0.75 4.00 0.74 0.95 1.14 the same format of portfolios (e.g., an introduction part, a content table) should be set among students to follow the same standards. 2.49 1.06 2.23 0.95 2.35 1.01 2.73** 1.15 the most important activity of portfolio process is encouraging students to reflect about their learning and criticize their created products in the portfolios. 3.92 0.83 4.02 0.72 3.97 0.77 -1.43 1.16 opportunities should be provided to students to revise or improve the products in their portfolios. 4.03 0.72 4.04 0.69 4.03 0.71 -0.16 1.17 scoring criteria or rubrics for evaluating the products in portfolios should be provided at the beginning of the courses. 4.15 0.72 4.17 0.71 4.16 0.71 -0.36 table 1 cont. kamonwan tangdhanakanond, teara archwamety 48 portfolio concepts train (n=219) no train (n=235) combined (n=454) t m sd m sd m sd 1.18 the benchmark products for each evaluation criteria should be provided to students to make them better understand the evaluation criteria. 4.10 0.72 4.10 0.66 4.10 0.69 0.07 1.19 opportunities should be provided to students to evaluate the products in their portfolios. 4.12 0.71 4.12 0.64 4.12 0.67 0.07 1.20 other related people (e.g., peers, parents) should be given the opportunities in evaluating students’ products in the portfolios. 3.91 0.76 4.01 0.78 3.96 0.77 -1.45 2. utilization of the results from student portfolio assessment 2.1 portfolio is a supplementary assessment method, therefore it is not necessary to utilize the results from portfolio assessment. 3.18 1.02 3.15 1.11 2.83 1.07 0.34 2.2 portfolio is better used for summative assessment rather than formative assessment. 2.92 1.03 2.87 1.05 2.90 1.04 0.51 2.3 students’ learning development could be monitored by implementing portfolio assessment. 4.13 0.69 4.19 0.59 4.16 0.64 -0.99 2.4 the results from portfolio assessment could be used in adjusting or improving teachers’ instruction methods. 3.94 0.74 4.07 0.67 4.01 0.70 -2.00* 2.5 the results from portfolio assessment could be used to solve students’ learning problems. 4.02 0.73 4.07 0.66 4.05 0.69 -0.69 2.6 the results from portfolio assessment could be used to support or enhance students’ learning process. 4.11 0.67 4.14 0.61 4.12 0.64 -0.59 2.7 the results from portfolio assessment could be used as a basic information to plan for the instruction of the next grade level. 4.07 0.73 4.05 0.66 4.06 0.69 0.41 table 1 cont. 2019, 23, 39–62 p.misconceptions and current per formance in por tfolio assessment 49 portfolio concepts train (n=219) no train (n=235) combined (n=454) t m sd m sd m sd 2.8 after finishing the portfolio process, teachers should keep all of the students’ portfolios to reflect the quality of their teaching. 2.33 1.01 2.24 0.95 2.28 0.98 0.94 teachers’ current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment teachers’ current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment is as shown in table 2 and figure 1. it was found that overall (combining teachers who had attended the training sessions concerning student portfolio assessment and those who had not), teachers implemented the four main steps of student portfolio assessment at a medium to high level. the step of planning for portfolio assessment and the step of collecting created products were implemented at a high level (m=3.50, sd=0.82 and m=3.52, sd=0.93, respectively), whereas the step of selecting products and reflecting on the selected products as well as the step of revising and evaluating products were implemented at a medium level (m=3.34, sd=0.95 and m=3.39, sd=0.96, respectively). for the current performance of teachers who had attended the training sessions concerning student portfolio assessment, it was found that teachers also implemented the four main steps of student portfolio assessment at a medium to high level. the step of planning for portfolio assessment, the step of collecting created products, as well as the step of revising and evaluating products were implemented at a high level (m=3.58, sd=0.79; m=3.66, sd=0.88, and m=3.52, sd=0.92, respectively), whereas the step of selecting products and reflecting on the selected products were implemented at a medium level (m=3.49, sd=0.90). as for the current performance of teachers who had not attended the training sessions concerning student portfolio assessment, it was found that teachers implemented the four main steps of student portfolio assessment [(a) planning for portfolio assessment, (b) collecting created products, (c) selecting products and reflecting on selected products, and (d) table 1 cont. kamonwan tangdhanakanond, teara archwamety 50 revising and evaluating products] at a medium level (m=3.43, sd=0.84; m=3.39, sd=0.96; m=3.20, sd=0.97; and m=3.26, sd=0.97, respectively) a two-way analysis of variance with repeated measure on one factor was also performed to compare teachers’ current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment between two groups. the independent factor was group (teachers who had attended the training sessions concerning student portfolio assessment and those who had not), and the repeated-measure factor was teachers’ current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment [(a) planning for portfolio assessment, (b) collecting created products, (c) selecting products and reflecting on selected products, and (d) revising and evaluating products]. a teacher’s score for each of the four performances was calculated by averaging the various ratings of survey items corresponding to each performance. it was found that overall mean rating of teachers’ performance in implementing student portfolio assessment by teachers who had attended the training sessions concerning student portfolio assessment and those who had not were statistically significant different, f(1,452) = 8.94, p < .01. moreover, there was a statistically significant difference among the figure 1. teachers’ per formance rating of teachers who had attended the training sessions concerning student por tfolio assessment and those who had not. 2019, 23, 39–62 p.misconceptions and current per formance in por tfolio assessment 51 four mean ratings of the performance of teachers in implementing student portfolio assessment, f(3,1356) = 29.76, p < .01. it was also found that there was a significant interaction effect between the group of teachers and their student portfolio assessment performance, f(3,1356) = 3.04, p < .05. a simple effect analysis following significant interaction indicated significant differences (p < .01) in favor of teachers who had attended training in all four performances except “planning” performance--(a) planning, f(1,557) = 3.48, p = .063; (b) collecting, f(1,557) = 10.00, p = .002; (c) selecting, f(1,557) = 10.83, p = .001; (d) revising, f(1,557) = 8.95, p = .003. the independent-sample t-test was employed to compare teachers’ current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment between teachers who had attended the training sessions concerning student portfolio assessment and those who had not. it was found that, overall, teachers who had attended the training sessions performed at a higher level in implementing the four main steps of student portfolio assessment than those who had not. however, it is noted that the two groups of teachers did not have significant differences in performing some activities in the four main steps of portfolio assessment, i.e., (a) reviewing the learning standards and indicators of the courses, (b) identifying numbers of products required to produce in the courses, (c) informing students at the beginning of the courses about the use of student portfolio assessment, (d) allowing students to participate in setting the purposes of creating portfolios, (e) encouraging students to collect their created products in their working folders, and (f ) providing students with opportunities to revise or improve the products/evidence in their portfolios. table 2. mean ratings (1=low, 5=high) and standard deviation of current per formance in implementing student por tfolio assessment by teachers who had attended the training sessions concerning student por tfolio assessment and those who had not. portfolio concepts train (n=219) no train (n=235) combined (n=454) t/f m sd m sd m sd 1. planning for portfolio assessment 3.58 0.79 3.43 0.84 3.50 0.82 f = 3.48 0.1 reviewing the learning standards and indicators of the courses. 3.78 0.86 3.76 0.97 3.77 0.92 t = 0.22 kamonwan tangdhanakanond, teara archwamety 52 portfolio concepts train (n=219) no train (n=235) combined (n=454) t/f m sd m sd m sd 1.2 identifying numbers of products required to produce in the courses. 3.59 0.86 3.61 0.88 3.60 0.87 t = -0.18 1.3 informing students at the beginning of the courses about the use of student portfolio assessment. 3.50 0.98 3.39 1.03 3.44 1.01 t = 1.22 1.4 allowing students to participate in setting the purposes of creating portfolios. 3.46 0.93 3.32 1.07 3.39 1.01 t =1.42 1.5 informing students at the beginning of the courses about numbers and attributes of products required to be produced. 3.53 0.99 3.40 1.01 3.49 1.03 t = 2.01* 1.6 informing students at the beginning of the courses about portfolio process. 3.60 0.92 3.35 0.98 3.49 1.01 t = 2.74** 1.7 explaining how to use evaluation forms in the portfolio process to students at the beginning of the courses. 3.57 0.97 3.36 1.04 3.47 0.96 t = 2.20* 1.8 providing students with the benchmark products for each level of evaluation criteria to make them understand the evaluation criteria. 3.53 1.03 3.28 1.03 3.46 1.01 t = 2.57* 2. collecting created products 3.66 0.88 3.39 0.96 3.52 0.93 f = 10.00** 2.1 providing students with material for collecting their created products or evidence. 3.56 0.96 3.26 1.03 3.40 1.00 t = 3.25** 2.2 encouraging students to collect their created products in their working folders. 3.69 0.96 3.52 1.07 3.60 1.02 t = 1.74 2.3 providing students with opportunities to examine the completeness of their created products or evidence before collecting them in their working folders. 3.75 0.94 3.43 1.03 3.59 1.00 t = 3.41** table 2 cont. 2019, 23, 39–62 p.misconceptions and current per formance in por tfolio assessment 53 portfolio concepts train (n=219) no train (n=235) combined (n=454) t/f m sd m sd m sd 2.4 providing students with opportunities to organize products or evidence in their portfolios to be consistent with learning objectives. 3.64 0.98 3.35 1.03 3.49 1.01 t = 3.13** 3. selecting products and reflecting on selected products 3.49 0.90 3.20 0.97 3.34 0.95 f = 10.83** 3.1 setting the specific times for selecting products and reflecting on the selected products. 3.51 0.99 3.22 1.03 3.36 1.02 t = 3.01** 3.2 providing students with opportunities to select the created products from their working folders to be kept in their portfolios. 3.55 0.99 3.26 1.01 3.40 1.01 t = 3.03** 3.3 encouraging students to use the evaluation criteria or scoring rubrics as a guideline for selecting the qualified products in their working folders to be kept in their portfolios. 3.60 0.99 3.25 1.03 3.42 1.03 t = 3.74** 3.4 providing students with opportunities to put new selected products/evidence in their portfolios and take some earlier selected products out from their portfolios. 3.57 0.98 3.25 1.05 3.40 1.03 t = 3.40** 3.5 encouraging students to make a record whenever they collect their learning evidence in their working folders. 3.37 0.98 3.16 1.10 3.26 1.05 t = 2.12* 3.6 encouraging students to write down their opinions on the selected products in their portfolios. 3.43 1.00 3.13 1.10 3.27 1.06 t = 3.05** 3.7 encouraging students to make plans for revising products in their portfolios. 3.40 1.02 3.14 1.10 3.26 1.07 t = 2.62** 4. revising and evaluating products 3.52 0.92 3.26 0.97 3.39 0.96 f = 8..95** table 2 cont. kamonwan tangdhanakanond, teara archwamety 54 portfolio concepts train (n=219) no train (n=235) combined (n=454) t/f m sd m sd m sd 4.1 providing students with opportunities to revise or improve the products/evidence in their working folders. 3.55 0.93 3.30 1.02 3.44 0.98 t = 2.35* 4.2 providing students with opportunities to revise or improve the products/evidence in their portfolios. 3.54 0.96 3.37 1.09 3.45 1.03 t = 1.84 4.3 providing students with a self-evaluation in evaluating their products. 3.55 0.97 3.23 0.98 3.39 0.99 t = 3.52** 4.4 providing students with a peer-evaluation in evaluating their products. 3.47 1.01 3.20 1.02 3.33 1.03 t = 2.83** 4.5 providing students with a teacher-evaluation in evaluating their products. 3.54 1.02 3.22 1.07 3.37 1.06 t = 3.24** 4.6 providing students with a parent-evaluation in evaluating their products. 3.48 1.05 3.21 1.14 3.34 1.10 t = 2.64** * p< .05, ** p< .01 discussion teachers’ misconceptions in implementing student portfolio assessment the results of this study revealed that teachers in both groups had misconceptions in nine concepts concerning the principles of student portfolio assessment and the utilization of the results from student portfolio assessment. the most serious misconception concerning the principles of student portfolio assessment was that the portfolio is a container of all of the exercises done by students in a whole course. this is the most common misunderstanding among thai teachers. the thai teachers, generally, probably view that the portfolio is merely used to table 2 cont. 2019, 23, 39–62 p.misconceptions and current per formance in por tfolio assessment 55 keep all students’ works together so that they do not get lost. therefore, they do not pay enough attention to other steps of portfolio assessment, especially the reflection step which is essential. this is consistent with the finding of saypetch’s (2003) study which revealed that teachers had difficulties at the moderate level in monitoring students to reflect on their opinion of the products or artifacts in their own portfolios and to revise their products or artifacts in their own portfolios. tangdhanakanond & wongwanich (2012) also found that teachers had most critical needs in the use of student portfolio assessment in the step of selecting products and reflecting on the selected products, respectively. as for the misconception about the utilization of the results from student portfolio assessment, it was found that thai teachers perceived portfolio to be better used for summative assessment than formative assessment. that resulted in teachers not putting enough emphasis on some important activities that provide students with learning feedback, such as encouraging students to do self-assessment, allowing students to revise the products in their portfolios. it was also found that overall, the two groups of teachers did not have significant differences in the misconception scores. this indicated that the current training sessions concerning portfolio assessment could not change teachers’ misconceptions in this regard. the findings of this study could help related public sectors and personnel such as supervisors from the ministry of education and teacher trainers from universities change teachers’ misconceptions on the issues more effectively. teachers’ current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment the findings of this study indicated that, overall, teachers in both groups (combining those who had attended the training sessions concerning student portfolio assessment and those who had not) implemented the four main steps of student portfolio assessment at a medium to high level. the step of planning for portfolio assessment and the step of collecting created products were implemented at a high level, whereas the step of selecting products and reflecting on the selected products as well as the step of revising and evaluating products were implemented at a medium level. this is consistent with the previous finding of this study that teachers had a misconception that portfolio kamonwan tangdhanakanond, teara archwamety 56 is better used for summative assessment rather than formative assessment. therefore, they perform the step of selecting products and reflecting on the selected products as well as the step of revising and evaluating products merely at a medium level – not at a high level. the finding is also consistent with other previous research studies (tangdhanakanond & wongwanich, 2012; tangdhanakanond & wongwanich, 2015). it is also consistent with results from the study by sripijitworasakul and tangdhanakanond (2012), which indicated that the step of revising products, as well as the step of self-assessment and revising products was less frequently implemented by thai language teachers. similar findings were found in a previous research study of kornketkamon (2001) which found that teachers had problems in some activities, such as giving students as well as parents a chance to express their opinion on students’ artifacts. in addition, the present research findings are also consistent with research by srirod (2002) which found that teachers have some difficulties in guiding students in selecting products for their portfolios, encouraging students to reflect on their products, as well as guiding them to evaluate their products and learning. actually, those two steps (revising and evaluating products, as well as selecting products and reflecting on the selected products) are crucial to develop students’ learning. while students are revising and evaluating the products in their portfolios, they could examine their strengths and weaknesses reflected by the quality of their products, as well as take responsibility for their own learning (priest & robert, 1998 as cited in mcmullan, 2006; tangdhanakanond, 2006; tangdhanakanond, 2016; tangdhanakanond & wongwanich, 2015). it was also found that, overall, the performance in implementing the four main steps of student portfolio of teachers who had attended the training sessions concerning student portfolio assessment was higher than those who had not attended training sessions. teachers who had attended the training sessions had more opportunities to learn about the portfolio assessment process. therefore, they performed the four main steps of student portfolio assessment at a higher level than the other group. however, it is noted that the two groups of teachers did not have significant differences in performing some specific activities in the four main steps of portfolio assessment, i.e., (a) reviewing the learning standards and indicators of the courses, (b) identifying numbers of products required to produce in the courses, (c) informing students at the 2019, 23, 39–62 p.misconceptions and current per formance in por tfolio assessment 57 beginning of the courses about the use of student portfolio assessment, (d) allowing students to participate in setting the purposes of creating portfolios, (e) encouraging students to collect their created products in their working folders, and (f ) providing students with opportunities to revise or improve the products/evidences in their portfolios. that could be because those six activities are basic to the portfolio process and well-known among teachers in both groups. therefore, teachers in both groups perform those activities equally well. it is also interesting to note that the only step of the portfolio process that teachers in both groups performed differently in every specific activity was the step of selecting products and reflecting on selected products, which is a very important step in the portfolio process (tangdhanakanond & wongwanich, 2015; pasiphol, koraneekij, & sotthayakom, 2015; tangdhanakanond & wongwanich, 2012; pearson education development group, 2001; poowipadawat, 2001; prawarnpruek, 1997; punngam, 2000; saereerat, 1997; siladech, 1997). this should not be surprising considering the fact that teachers who had attended the training session had more opportunities to learn and practice the complete process and the crucial step of the portfolio assessment. further consideration only elementary school teachers were studied in this study. further research with middle and high school teachers should be conducted. examining their misconceptions and current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment would also be a helpful plan for changing the misconceptions of middle and high school teachers in this issue in the future. conclusion the key concept in the present study (portfolio assessment) is an important topic in the field of educational psychology. as shown in the definition of “educational psychology” given by ausubel, novak, and hanesian (1978), evaluation (or assessment) of school learning is an important area in the field of educational psychology. the purposes of this study were (a) to examine teachers’ misconceptions in implementing kamonwan tangdhanakanond, teara archwamety 58 student portfolio assessment, and (b) to compare teachers’ current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment between teachers who had attended the training sessions concerning portfolio assessment and those who had not. results revealed that, overall, teachers had misconceptions in nine concepts. six concepts were about the principles of student portfolio assessment and three concepts were about the utilization of the results from student portfolio assessment. performance which consisted of implementing four main steps of student portfolio assessment was higher for teachers who had attended the training sessions concerning student portfolio assessment than for those teachers who had not attended the training sessions. findings on teachers’ misconceptions and current performance of student portfolio assessment could help related public sectors and personnel such as supervisors from the ministry of education and teacher trainers from universities change teachers’ misconceptions on the issues more effectively in the future. in this study, only elementary school teachers were studied. middle and high school teachers should be studied in further research. references ausubel, d. p., novak, j. d., & hanesian, h. 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(2010). learning portfolio models in health regulatory colleges of ontario, canada. journal of continuing education in the health professions, 30(1), 57–64. tyler, d., & dibble e. (2019). toward authentic assessment: using eportfolio at salt lake community college. new directions for community colleges, 186, 37–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cc.20353 waedramae, m. (2004). analysis of misconceptions and practices in educational quality assessment. unpublished doctoral dissertation, chulalongkorn university, bangkok, thailand. acknowledgement this study was supported by the trf research career development grant, thailand research fund (trf) (rsa5880029) and chulalongkorn university. mokinių įvertinimas portfolio būdu pr adinėse mokyklose tail ande: kl aidingi mokytojų įsitikinimai ir taikymo patirtis kamonwan tangdhanakanond chulalongkorn university, thailand teara archwamet y university of nebraska at kearney, usa santrauka. priėmus nacionalinį švietimo aktą b.e. 2542, tailande mokytojams siūloma taikyti įvairius mokinių vertinimo metodus, taip pat ir portfolio. mokinių portfolio metodas – sisteminis įrodymų, kaip jiems sekasi mokytis ir ko yra pasiekę įvairiose srityse, rinkinys. šio tyrimo tikslai – įvertinti klaidingus mokytojų įsitikinimus, susijusius su mokinių vertinimu portfolio metodu, taip pat palyginti mokytojų, kurie lankė portfolio metodo įgyvendinimo mokymus ir kurie juose nedalyvavo, portfolio metodo taikymo patirtį. 454 pradinių mokyklų mokytojai buvo atsitiktinai atrinkti dalyvauti šiame tyrime. klausimynai buvo naudojami siekiant surinkti informaciją apie mokytojų klaidingus įsitikinimus taikant portfolio principus mokiniams vertinti. taip pat klausimynu kamonwan tangdhanakanond, teara archwamety 62 buvo vertinama, kiek mokytojai naudoja keturis portfolio metodo žingsnius: a) porfolio vertinimo planavimas, b) atliktų užduočių rinkimas, c) užduočių parinkimas ir refleksija jų atžvilgiu, d) užduočių peržiūra ir įvertinimas. tyrimo rezultatai atskleidė, kad mokytojai turi klaidingų įsitikinimų devyniose srityse. šešios iš jų susijusios su portfolio vertinimo principais ir trys – su vertinimo rezultatų panaudojimu. mokytojai, kurie buvo mokomi naudoti portfolio vertinimo metodą, geriau taikė keturis šio vertinimo žingsnius, palyginti su nedalyvavusiais mokymuose. tyrimo rezultatai leidžia suinteresuotiems visuomenės atstovams, personalui ir mokytojų ugdyme dalyvaujantiems universitetams efektyviau pakeisti klaidingus mokytojų įsitikinimus dėl portfolio metodo. reikšminiai žodžiai: pradinė mokykla, klaidingi įsitikinimai, portfolio, tailandas. received: 2019-01-30 accepted: 2019-09-26 contents editorial note scientific publications chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, david d. hof concepts influencing attitudes and beliefs toward mental health issues in a teacher education program kamonwan tangdhanakanond, teara archwamety teachers’ misconceptions and current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment in elementary schools in thailand andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė importance of length of studying and attitudes toward others for life satisfaction marija aušraitė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė the relationship between irrational relationship beliefs and conflictresolution strategies in young adulthood tadas vadvilavičius, aurelija stelmokienė development of scenarios for leadership psychology research to reveal the relationships between leaders’ dark triad traits and full range leadership styles laura alčiauskaitė, liuda šinkariova psychometric properties of the lithuanian version of the acceptance ofdisability scale revised (ads-r): pilot study christina l. chasek, judith a. nelson, rochelle cade, kristin page, bryan stare,george stoupas advocating for adolescent substance use recovery: an alternative model ekaterina zakharchuk, evgeniy dotsenko, tamara khvesko, julia andrejeva neuropsychological and/or psychological factors of children’s traumatic behavior under the age of 10 years information the 22nd international symposium in psychology at unk & vmu: abstracts contributors reviewers 2019 instructions for authors 2019_international journal of psychology 2019_23_book 1.indb r eviewer s re vie wers 2019 darlene groomes, phd, assoc. prof. loreta gustainienė, assoc. prof. dr. gabija jarašiūnaitė-fedosejeva, dr. aleksandrs kolesovs, assoc. prof. dr. rasa markšaitytė, dr. brigita miežienė, assoc. prof. dr. jurga misiūnienė, dr. audronė miškinytė, assoc. prof. dr. bojan musil, phd rytis pakrosnis, assoc. prof. dr. aistė pranckevičienė, dr. mark sullman, phd, prof. liuda šinkariova, prof. dr. evelina viduolienė, dr. rimantas vosylis, dr. olga zamalijeva, dr. 175 international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2019 / 23 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.23 contents editorial note scientific publications chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, david d. hof concepts influencing attitudes and beliefs toward mental health issues in a teacher education program kamonwan tangdhanakanond, teara archwamety teachers’ misconceptions and current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment in elementary schools in thailand andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė importance of length of studying and attitudes toward others for life satisfaction marija aušraitė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė the relationship between irrational relationship beliefs and conflictresolution strategies in young adulthood tadas vadvilavičius, aurelija stelmokienė development of scenarios for leadership psychology research to reveal the relationships between leaders’ dark triad traits and full range leadership styles laura alčiauskaitė, liuda šinkariova psychometric properties of the lithuanian version of the acceptance ofdisability scale revised (ads-r): pilot study christina l. chasek, judith a. nelson, rochelle cade, kristin page, bryan stare,george stoupas advocating for adolescent substance use recovery: an alternative model ekaterina zakharchuk, evgeniy dotsenko, tamara khvesko, julia andrejeva neuropsychological and/or psychological factors of children’s traumatic behavior under the age of 10 years information the 22nd international symposium in psychology at unk & vmu: abstracts contributors reviewers 2019 instructions for authors 67 scientific publications issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.16.4 1 address for correspondence: theoretical psychology department, vytautas magnus university, jonavos g. 66-330, lt-44191, kaunas, lithuania, phone/fax (8 37) 327 824, e-mail l.gustainiene@smf.vdu.lt. effec tiveness of progressive muscle rel axation and biofeedback – assisted rel axation in reducing perceived stress among students with regard to personalit y features loreta gustainienė1, aidas perminas, ieva pečiulienė, gabija jarašiūnaitė vytautas magnus university, lithuania abstract. background. the aim of the study was to assess the effectiveness of biofeedback-assisted relaxation as well as progressive muscle relaxation in reducing perceived stress with regard to personality features. method. the subjects of the study were 177 university students, 143 of which participated in the course of six sessions. the subjects participated either in four progressive muscle relaxation sessions (n=47) or four biofeedback-assisted relaxation sessions (n=48). subjects in the comparison group participated only in the 1st and the 6th sessions without relaxation training. biofeedback-assisted relaxation was conducted using nexus – 10 device (the netherlands). results and conclusions. both relaxation methods proved to be effective in reducing perceived stress. changes in perceived stress were related to the type of relaxation, personality characteristics, and their intensity. key words: perceived stress, personality characteristics, relaxation, biofeedback-assisted relaxation, progressive muscle relaxation, students, lithuania. introduc tion in the last decades, stress research is increasing its focus on the impact of personality characteristics (besser shackelford, 2006; richter, lauritz, du preez, cassimjee, ghazinour, 2013; prato, yucha, 2013), especially in studying possibilities to reduce psychophysiological stress. the ability to relax is very important and may be related to different personality 68 loreta gustainienė, aidas perminas, ieva pečiulienė, gabija jarašiūnaitė features based on brain arousal level, i.e. “best functioning in stressful condition requires lower arousal level. <…> if a person learns how to relax the brain in stress to bring the arousal level to a normal level, then there is a better chance to using the coping. <…> relaxation is a conscious attempt to bring physiological changes and arousal of brain to normal level”(sharma, 2011, p. 2). it was found that extraverts’ arousal level is significantly lower as compared to that of introverts, thus making introverts more prone to stress (sharma, 2011). individuals differ dramatically in their response to a problem or a stressor, and in choosing stress coping strategies (vollrath, 2001). thus, interest in personality features within stress research context is gaining popularity. obviously, personality characteristics have a strong impact not only on subjective assessment of stress and stress coping mechanisms, but also play a significant role in selecting and/or forming stressinducing situations (vollrath, 2001). nevertheless, despite the attention of researchers towards stress and personality, “the influence of personality on coping, and of both on outcomes, is only partly understood” (carver, connor-smith, 2010, p.695). in order to assess which life situations are regarded as stressful, perceived stress scale is often used (cohen, kamarck & mermelstein, 1983). research findings suggest that perceived stress is related to subjective health and health-related behaviour (cohen, cohen, 1983) as well as to emotion-oriented stress coping strategies (trouillet, gana, lourel, & fort, 2009). persons with higher scores in neuroticism may perceive even trivial everyday situations as threatening and stress-inducing, and on the contrary, higher scores in agreeableness, extraversion and conscientiousness may be related to underestimations of daily situations (vollrath, 2001). higher scores of conscientiousness are related to lower scores of perceived stress (besser, shackelford, 2007), and neuroticism is mostly related to perceived stress (conard & matthews, 2008; ekşi, 2004). in their study, ebstrup, eplov, pisinger & jørgensen (2011) analysed relationships between perceived stress, factors of five-factor personality model and general self-efficacy. their findings demonstrated the relationship between higher scores of extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness and openness, and lower perceived stress; and neuroticism was related to higher scores of perceived stress. self-efficacy, when 69 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 67–91 p. included into data analysis, had greater impact on extraversion and conscientiousness. stoudenmire (1972) in his study demonstrated the relationship between personality features and anxiety scores the findings suggested that introvert female students had lower scores of anxiety after relaxation training as compared to extraverts. other researchers (nelson, karr & coleman, 1995) noted that optimists reported fewer daily hassles than pessimists, and viewed events in their lives as less stressful. similarly, personality characteristics, such as anxiety, may be related to seeing situations as more stressful and, therefore, causing health-related symptoms (smeijers et al., 2014). it can be seen that interplay between stress and personality, as well as between personality and relaxation is still within the focus of research. the aim of the present research was to investigate the effectiveness of psychophysiological stress management techniques, such as biofeedback-assisted relaxation and progressive muscle relaxation, in reducing perceived stress levels among undergraduate university students taking into account their personality traits. me thods measures subjectively perceived stress was measured by a 10-item perceived stress scale (pss; cohen, 1983; perceived stress scale, http://www.mindgarden.com/products/pss.htm). pss underwent back translation procedure. the questions were about feelings and thoughts during the last month. responses were likert-type ranging from 1 – never through 5 – very often. higher scores indicated higher levels of perceived stress. internal consistency (cronbach‘s alpha coefficient) was .849. personality characteristics were assessed using the neo five-factor inventory (neo-ffi; costa  & mccrae, 1992). this 60-item self-report measure assesses five personality dimensions such as extraversion, neuroticism, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. participants were required to indicate, on a 5-point scale (strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, strongly agree), whether the statement was true of them. the neo-ffi has shown adequate levels of validity and reliability across 70 loreta gustainienė, aidas perminas, ieva pečiulienė, gabija jarašiūnaitė a range of diverse populations (mccrae  & costa, 2004). the lithuanian version of neo-ffi was adapted in vilnius university laboratory of special psychology (žukauskienė, barkauskienė, 2006). authors of the present study used the lithuanian version of neo-ffi. progressive muscle relaxation (pmr). the originator of progressive muscle relaxation is edmund jacobson. studies of muscular tension and relaxation resulted in a development of progressive muscle relaxation method consisting of successive tension and relaxation of major muscle groups, such as face, arms, legs, neck, and back, combined with diaphragmatic breathing. reducing tension helps alleviate stress responses in the body thus restoring homeostasis. biofeedback-assisted relaxation (bar). definition of biofeedback, approved by association for applied psychophysiology and biofeedback (aapb), biofeedback certification international alliance (bcia), international society for neurofeedback and research (isnr) in may 18, 2008, states that biofeedback “is a process that enables an individual to learn how to change physiological activity for the purposes of improving health and performance. precise instruments measure physiological activity such as brainwaves, heart function, breathing, muscle activity, and skin temperature. these instruments rapidly and accurately “feed back” information to the user. the presentation of this information – often in conjunction with changes in thinking, emotions, and behavior – supports desired physiological changes. over time, these changes can endure without continued use of an instrument” (presented in the website of association for applied psychophysiology and biofeedback). biofeedback-assisted relaxation was conducted using mind media device nexus – 10, serial no 0928050233 (the netherlands). this device corresponds to requirements concerning medical device as stated in european community council directive 93/42/eec (council directive, 1993). procedures all surveyed students having high scores of perceived stress were invited to participate in stress management programme and were randomly assigned into three groups of study: two groups of relaxation (biofeedback-assisted or progressive muscle relaxation) and a comparison group. invitation to individual relaxation sessions was sent three times 71 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 67–91 p. with several days interval. participants were asked to register for the sessions by e-mail or telephone. in order to select only healthy students some health-related questions were included in the survey, such as are you presently suffering from some kind of illness? have you been hospitalised within the last three months? and etc. the programme was performed in psychology laboratory, vytautas magnus university. students for stress management programme were selected using convenience sampling procedure. stress management programme for each participant (excluding comparison group) consisted of 6 individual sessions (fig. 1): at the 1st (measurement i) and the 6th (measurement ii) sessions participants filled in the neo-ffi and the perceived stress questionnaires, and answered sociodemographic and health-related questions, but no relaxation training was performed. participants of a comparison group were invited only to the 1st and the 6th sessions, during which they were asked to fill in the questionnaire the same as control group did. the sessions between the 1st and the 6th sessions were relaxation sessions, conducted one or two times a week with 2-3 days intervals. the interval between the 1st and the 6th session was 31.7±6.82 days, and the interval between the 4th and the 6th session was 4.32±2.37 days. progressive muscle relaxation (pmr) sessions were conducted as follows: all sessions were performed for each participant individually. participants were introduced to muscle tension and relaxation exercises focusing their attention to the feeling of relaxed muscles. the subjects were comfortably seated in an armchair with backrest, without any accessories which could hamper relaxation process. sessions were the same for all individuals. relaxation was conducted by psychologists specially trained for the procedure in the department of theoretical psychology, vytautas magnus university. biofeedback-assisted relaxation (bar). biofeedback sessions began with a short introduction to the relaxation technique and the device nexus-10. afterwards, participants had electrodes placed on the fingers of their non-dominant hand. an electrode is a conductor that passes an electrical current from one medium to another, usually from a power source to a device or material. biofeedback-assisted relaxation uses a device which passes a very slight current, which is not objectively felt and does not induce any possible damage to the individual. 72 loreta gustainienė, aidas perminas, ieva pečiulienė, gabija jarašiūnaitė as in the case of progressive muscle relaxation, participants were asked to sit comfortably in an armchair having removed any possible obstacles for easy and calm breathing. participants could watch relaxing views of nature on the computer monitor. they were organized as a kind of puzzle, which formed a one-piece view of a picture when a person managed to reach high levels of relaxation, and the pieces of the puzzle remained scattered in the case of high levels of experienced stress. in this way participants could detect what feelings and/or thoughts have relaxing and which – stressful impact, and act accordingly to reach as much relaxed state as possible. sessions were the same for all individuals. relaxation was conducted by psychologists specially trained for the procedure in the department of theoretical psychology, vytautas magnus university. detailed description of biofeedback-assisted relaxation and progressive muscle relaxation sessions is presented in methodological publication (perminas, gustainienė, jarašiūnaitė, pečiulienė, 2014, in lithuanian). comparison group members had two face-to-face meetings (the 1st and the 6th) without relaxation sessions. during these meetings participants were asked to fill in the perceived stress scale and answer sociodemographic questions. all participants gave informed consent to participate in the study and the study was performed following ethical standards. statistical analysis data analysis was performed using spss 17.0 for windows. kolmogorov–smirnov and shapiro-wilk criteria were used to assess normality of the data. statistical significance level of data analysis was .05. differences in psychological variables before and after relaxation sessions among experimental and control groups were analysed using a multivariate analysis of variance (2 x (3) anova), with „period“(time periods: 1st and last (6th) pss measurement) as within-participants factor, and „group“ (three levels: biofeedback assisted relaxation group, progressive muscle relaxation group and control group), as between-participants factor was used. dependent variables were pss first measurement and pss second measurement. the training conditions (type of group) were as independent variables. a contrast was defined as the sum of each group mean score 73 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 67–91 p. multiplied by a coefficient for each group. anova calculates statistical significance of mean values of particular data, but it does not show among which particular data statistical significant differences occur; therefore, a priori contrasts for multivariate repeated-measures anova were used. this study employed two contrasts: contrast 1 for assessing differences between two experimental groups and one control group, and contrast 2 for detecting differences between two experimental groups. box criterion was used for homogeneity of covariance matrices, and showed no statistically significant differences (i.e. covariance matrices were equal). bartlett‘s test showed correlation between dependent variables, and levene criterion showed equal dispersions of dependent variables in all groups. thus the criteria for using (2 x (3) anova) were met. participants the subjects of the study were undergraduate students of vytautas magnus university (kaunas, lithuania), from departments of social sciences, politics and diplomacy, art, economics and management, and humanities. initial survey was performed from 2013 to 2014 in order to assess the level of perceived stress of students. a total of 2560 students were surveyed, and 567 of them, having highest levels of stress, were invited to take part in a stress reduction programme. 177 of the invited agreed to participate in the programme, and 143 of them completed the course of stress management which included two types of relaxation: biofeedback assisted relaxation and progressive muscle relaxation (table 1). table1. distribution of par ticipants according to age and relaxation group groups gender total mean age (sd)females (n) % males (n) % n % biofeedback-assisted relaxation 39 81.2 9 18.8 48 100 20.94 (1.50) progressive muscle relaxation 43 91.5 4 8.5 47 100 20.98 (1.90) comparison group 43 91.5 5 8.5 48 100 20.69 (1.70) total 125 89.6 18 10.4 143 100 20.87 (1.70) 74 loreta gustainienė, aidas perminas, ieva pečiulienė, gabija jarašiūnaitė data analysis included the data of 143 students, aged 18–34 (mean age 21 years): 125 of them were female and 18 male students. separate analysis of data depending on students’ gender was not performed. i measurement relaxation session 1 relaxation session 2 relaxation session 3 relaxation session 4 ii measurement experimental groups pss i measurement pss pss ii measurement pss control group note: pss – perceived stress scale figure 1. organization of the study results blocked anova test (2 x (3) anova) was used to determine the differences of perceived stress before and after the course of relaxation sessions among the experimental (relaxation) and control (no relaxation) groups of participants (when scores of perceived stress were compared between groups and between measurements at the 1st and 6th sessions). contrast 1 was used to reveal differences between relaxation groups and the comparison group (mean difference between two pss scores in relaxation groups were compared to that of comparison group). contrast 2 was used to reveal pss differences between relaxation groups. descriptive statistics of perceived stress at measurements i and ii is presented in table 2. 75 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 67–91 p. table 2. descriptive statistics of perceived stress at measurements i and ii measurements of perceived stress biofeedback group progressive muscle relaxation group comparison group total mean ± sd mean ± sd mean ± sd mean ± sd measurement i 19.70± 6.11 20.57 ± 6.58 19.06 ± 6.67 19.77± 6.44 measurement ii 17.95± 5.84 18.51 ± 6.51 18.68 ± 7.50 18.38 ± 6.61 no statistically significant results were found in perceived stress scores depending on relaxation/no-relaxation group. changes in perceived stress regarding type of relaxation and personality features subjects with low levels of neuroticism. analysis of perceived stress among respondents with lower levels of neuroticism with regard to the type of relaxation and no-relaxation (comparison group) showed that perceived stress scores did not differ between measurements i and ii (α=0.05>p=0.239): the scores of measurement ii were lower than that of measurement i but not statistically significantly. changes in scores with regard to relaxation type did not reveal any statistically significant differences (α=0.05>p=0.988), thus differences between measurements were not related to the type of relaxation or no-relaxation provided. no statistically significant differences were observed analysing mean differences between relaxation groups and the control group (contrast 1, α=0.05>p=0.955). this means that both relaxation techniques reduce perceived stress scores as compared to the control group. contrast 2 did not reveal statistically significant differences between progressive muscle relaxation and biofeedback-assisted relaxation as well (α=0.05>p=0.893). these findings demonstrate that whatever the stress management methods were or were not used, perceived stress reduced in a group of subjects with lower neuroticism. subjects with high levels of neuroticism. analysis of perceived stress among respondents with higher levels of neuroticism with regard to the type of relaxation and no-relaxation (comparison group) is presented in table 3. 76 loreta gustainienė, aidas perminas, ieva pečiulienė, gabija jarašiūnaitė table 3. analysis of perceived stress among respondents with higher levels of neuroticism differences between measurements df f η2 p comparison between measurements i and ii time 1 6.343 .094 .014 time x group 2 1.933 .060 .056 error 61 contrast 1 results contrast 1 1 3.862 .060 .054 error 61 contrast 2 results contrast 2 1 .052 .001 .820 error 61 the results (table 3) showed that perceived stress scores differed between measurements i and ii (α=.05>p=.014): the scores of measurement ii were lower than that of measurement i and the difference was statistically significant. changes in scores with regard to relaxation type did not reveal any statistically significant differences (α=.05>p=.056), thus differences between measurements were not related to the type of relaxation or no-relaxation provided. no statistically significant differences were observed analysing mean differences among experimental groups and the control group (contrast 1, (α=.05>p=.054). this means that both relaxation techniques reduce perceived stress scores as compared to the control group. contrast 2 did not reveal statistically significant differences between progressive muscle relaxation and biofeedback-assisted relaxation as well (α=.05>p=.820). these findings demonstrate that stress management methods did not differentiate perceived stress changes with regard to higher neuroticism. changes in perceived stress scores among subjects with higher levels of neuroticism can be observed in fig. 2. subjects with low levels of extraversion. analysis of perceived stress among respondents with lower levels of extraversion with regard to the type of relaxation and no-relaxation (comparison group) is presented in table 4. 77 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 67–91 p. research group biofeedback-assisted relaxation group progressive muscle relaxation group comparative group figure 2. changes in perceived stress scores (measurement i and ii) among subjects with higher levels of neuroticism in three groups of stress management type table 4. analysis of perceived stress among respondents with lower levels of extraversion differences between measurements df f η2 p comparison between measurements i and ii time 1 .574 .008 .451 time x group 2 4.414 .116 .016 error 67 contrast 1 results contrast 1 1 7.587 .102 .008 error 67 contrast 2 results contrast 2 1 0.990 .015 .323 error 67 the results (table 4) showed that perceived stress scores did not differ between measurements i and ii (α=.05>p=.451): the scores of measurement ii were lower than that of measurement i, but the difference measurement 1 2 m ea n s co re s 24,00 23,00 22,00 21,00 20,00 19,00 78 loreta gustainienė, aidas perminas, ieva pečiulienė, gabija jarašiūnaitė research group biofeedback-assisted relaxation group progressive muscle relaxation group comparative group was not statistically significant. changes in scores with regard to relaxation type were statistically significant (α=.05>p=.016), thus differences between measurements were related to the type of relaxation or norelaxation provided. statistically significant differences were observed analysing mean differences among experimental groups and the control group (contrast 1, α=.05>p=.008). this means that perceived stress scores decreased differently with regard to relaxation type as compared to no-relaxation technique. contrast 2 did not reveal statistically significant differences between progressive muscle relaxation and biofeedback-assisted relaxation (α=.05>p=.323). these findings demonstrate that both progressive muscle relaxation and biofeedback-assisted relaxation help to decrease perceived stress scores in a group of subjects with lower scores of extraversion. changes in perceived stress scores (measurement i and ii) among subjects with lower levels of extraversion in three groups of stress management type can be seen in fig. 3. subjects with high levels of extraversion. analysis of perceived stress among respondents with higher levels of extraversion with regard to the type of relaxation and no-relaxation (comparison group) is presented in table 5. figure 3. changes in perceived stress scores (measurement i and ii among subjects with lower levels of extraversion in three groups of stress management type measurement 1 2 m ea n s co re s 23,00 22,00 21,00 20,00 19,00 79 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 67–91 p. table 5. analysis of perceived stress among respondents with higher levels of extraversion differences between measurements df f η2 p comparison between measurements i and ii time 1 5.605 .075 .021 time x group 2 .353 .010 .704 error 69 contrast 1 results contrast 1 1 .112 .002 .739 error 69 contrast 2 results contrast 2 1 .621 .009 .433 error 69 the results (table 5) showed that perceived stress scores differed between measurements i and ii (α=.05>p=.021) but not between groups (p=.704, p=.739, p=.433, respectively). these findings demonstrate that changes in perceived stress scores were observed in all study groups (relaxation or no-relaxation) among subjects with higher scores of extraversion. fig. 4 demonstrates changes in perceived stress scores (measurements i and ii) among subjects with higher levels of extraversion in three groups of stress management type. subjects with low levels of openness. analysis of perceived stress among respondents with lower levels of openness with regard to the type of relaxation and no-relaxation (comparison group) showed that perceived stress scores did not differ neither between measurements i and ii (α=.05>p=.358) nor between groups (p=.212, p=.107, p=.461, respectively). these findings demonstrate that perceived stress scores decreased in both groups of relaxation among subjects with lower scores of openness. subjects with high levels of openness. analysis of perceived stress among respondents with higher levels of openness with regard to the type of relaxation and no-relaxation (comparison group) is presented in table 6. 80 loreta gustainienė, aidas perminas, ieva pečiulienė, gabija jarašiūnaitė research group biofeedback-assisted relaxation group progressive muscle relaxation group comparative group figure 4. changes in perceived stress scores (measurements i and ii) among subjects with higher levels of extraversion in three groups of stress management type table 6. analysis of perceived stress among respondents with higher levels of openness differences between measurements df f η2 p comparison between measurements i and ii time 1 6.556 .089 .013 time x group 2 .316 .009 .730 error 67 contrast 1 results contrast 1 1 .362 .005 .549 error 67 contrast 2 results contrast 2 1 .286 .004 .595 error 67 the results (table 6) showed that perceived stress scores differed between measurements i and ii (α=.05>p=.013) but not between groups (p=.730, p=.549, p=.595, respectively). these findings demonstrate that measurement 1 2 m ea n s co re s 18,00 17,00 16,00 15,00 81 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 67–91 p. research group biofeedback-assisted relaxation group progressive muscle relaxation group comparative group changes in perceived stress scores were observed in all research groups (relaxation/no-relaxation) among subjects with higher scores of openness. changes in perceived stress scores (measurements i and ii) among subjects with higher levels of openness in three groups of stress management type is demonstrated in fig. 5. subjects with low levels of agreeableness. analysis of perceived stress among respondents with lower levels of agreeableness with regard to the type of relaxation and no-relaxation (comparison group) is presented in table 7. figure 5. changes in perceived stress scores (measurements i and ii) among subjects with higher levels of openness in three groups of stress management type the results (table 7) showed that perceived stress scores differed between measurements i and ii (α=.05>p=.026) but not between groups (p=.471, p=.573, p=.284, respectively). these findings demonstrate that changes in perceived stress scores were observed in all study groups (relaxation/no-relaxation) among subjects with lower scores of agreeableness. changes in perceived stress scores (measurements i and ii) among subjects with lower levels of agreeableness in three groups of stress management type can be seen in fig. 6. measurement 1 2 m ea n s co re s 21,00 20,00 19,00 18,00 17,00 82 loreta gustainienė, aidas perminas, ieva pečiulienė, gabija jarašiūnaitė research group biofeedback-assisted relaxation group progressive muscle relaxation group comparative group table 7. analysis of perceived stress among respondents with lower levels of agreeableness differences between measurements df f η2 p comparison between measurements i and ii time 1 5.163 .073 .026 time x group 2 .762 .023 .471 error 66 contrast 1 results contrast 1 1 .322 .005 .573 error 66 contrast 2 results contrast 2 1 1.167 .017 .284 error 66 figure 6. changes in perceived stress scores (measurements i and ii among subjects with lower levels of agreeableness in three groups of stress management type measurement 1 2 m ea n s co re s 23,00 22,00 21,00 20,00 19,00 83 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 67–91 p. subjects with high levels of agreeableness. analysis of perceived stress among respondents with higher levels of agreeableness with regard to the type of relaxation and no-relaxation (comparison group) showed that perceived stress scores did not differ neither between measurements i and ii (α=.05>p=.214), nor between groups (p=.239, p=.167, p=.343, respectively). these findings demonstrate that perceived stress scores decreased in both groups of relaxation among subjects with higher levels of agreeableness. subjects with low levels of conscientiousness. analysis of perceived stress among respondents with lower levels of conscientiousness with regard to the type of relaxation and no-relaxation (comparison group) is presented in table 8. table 8. analysis of perceived stress among respondents with lower levels of conscientiousness differences between measurements df f η2 p comparison between measurements i and ii time 1 .251 .004 .619 time x group 2 4.195 .128 .020 error 57 contrast 1 results contrast 1 1 7.971 .123 .007 error 57 contrast 2 results contrast 2 1 0.418 .007 .521 error 57 the results (table 8) showed that perceived stress scores did not differ between measurements i and ii (α=.05>p=.619): the scores of measurement ii were lower than that of measurement i, but the difference was not statistically significant. changes in scores with regard to the relaxation type were statistically significant (α=.05>p=.020), thus differences between measurements were related to the type of relaxation or no-relaxation provided. statistically significant differences were observed analysing mean differences between experimental groups and 84 loreta gustainienė, aidas perminas, ieva pečiulienė, gabija jarašiūnaitė research group biofeedback-assisted relaxation group progressive muscle relaxation group comparative group the control group (contrast 1 (α=.05>p=.007). this means that perceived stress scores decreased differently in both groups of relaxation as compared to no-relaxation technique. contrast 2 did not reveal statistically significant differences between progressive muscle relaxation and biofeedback-assisted relaxation (α=.05>p=.521). these findings demonstrate that both progressive muscle relaxation and biofeedbackassisted relaxation help to decrease perceived stress scores in a group of subjects with lower levels of conscientiousness. changes in perceived stress scores (measurements i and ii) among subjects with lower levels of conscientiousness in three groups of stress management type can be observed in fig. 7. subjects with high levels of conscientiousness. analysis of perceived stress among respondents with higher levels of conscientiousness with regard to the type of relaxation and no-relaxation (comparison group) is presented in table 9. figure 7. changes in perceived stress scores (measurements i and ii) among subjects with lower levels of conscientiousness in three groups of stress management type measurement 1 2 m ea n s co re s 23,00 22,00 21,00 20,00 19,00 18,00 85 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 67–91 p. research group biofeedback-assisted relaxation group progressive muscle relaxation group comparative group figure 8. changes in perceived stress scores (measurements i and ii) among subjects with higher levels of conscientiousness in three groups of stress management type table 9. analysis of perceived stress among respondents with higher levels of conscientiousness differences between measurements df f η2 p comparison between measurements i and ii time 1 7.555 .016 .007 time x group 2 .257 .006 .774 error 79 contrast 1 results contrast 1 1 .063 .001 .803 error 79 contrast 2 results contrast 2 1 .451 .006 .504 error 79 measurement 1 2 m ea n s co re s 21,00 20,00 19,00 18,00 17,00 16,00 86 loreta gustainienė, aidas perminas, ieva pečiulienė, gabija jarašiūnaitė the results (table 9) showed that perceived stress scores differed between measurements i and ii (α=.05>p=.007) but not between groups (p=.774, p=.803, p=.504, respectively). these findings demonstrate that changes in perceived stress scores were in all research groups (relaxation/no-relaxation) among subjects with lower scores of agreeableness. changes in perceived stress scores (measurements i and ii) among subjects with higher levels of conscientiousness in three groups of stress management type can be observed in fig. 8. discussion the aim of the study was to answer the main question: how different types of relaxation are related to the changes in perceived stress among students with regard to their personality traits. the answers to this question were gained through analysing alterations in perceived stress, measured at the first and the last sessions, in personality groups (high and low levels of neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and consciousness), with two types of relaxation (and ‘no relaxation’) sessions. neuroticism and relaxation-related changes in perceived stress. analysis of perceived stress among respondents with lower levels of neuroticism with regard to the type of relaxation and no-relaxation (control group) did not reveal any statistically significant difference; i. e. perceived stress decreased in a group of subjects with low and high neuroticism despite the type of stress management method or absence of relaxation. extraversion and relaxation-related changes in perceived stress. analysis of perceived stress among respondents with lower levels of extraversion with regard to the type of relaxation and no-relaxation (control group) showed that both progressive muscle relaxation and biofeedback-assisted relaxation help to decrease perceived stress scores in a group of subjects with low scores of extraversion, as compared to norelaxation group. in a group with high extraversion scores, changes in perceived stress scores were observed in all study groups (relaxation/no relaxation). openness to experience and relaxation-related changes in perceived stress. analysis of perceived stress among respondents with lower levels of openness to experience with regard to the type of relaxation and 87 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 67–91 p. no relaxation (control group) showed that perceived stress scores decreased in all groups of relaxation used (including no relaxation) among subjects with low and high scores of openness. agreeableness and relaxation-related changes in perceived stress. analysis of perceived stress among respondents with lower levels of agreeableness with regard to the type of relaxation and no-relaxation (control group) showed that perceived stress scores differed between measurements i and ii, but not between groups. these findings demonstrate that changes in perceived stress scores were observed in all research groups (relaxation/no-relaxation) among subjects with low and high scores of agreeableness. conscientiousness and relaxation-related changes in perceived stress. analysis of perceived stress among respondents with lower levels of conscientiousness with regard to the type of relaxation and no relaxation (control group) showed that perceived stress scores decreased in both groups of relaxation as compared to no relaxation technique. in a group with high conscientiousness scores, changes in perceived stress scores occurred in all groups (relaxation/no relaxation). our results broaden the understanding of the interplay between personality, stress and coping. unfortunately, few research studies demonstrated their interest in the relationship of these phenomena, especially including various relaxation techniques, such as biofeedback-assisted relaxation. as demonstrated by sharma, personality is very important in stress and coping, and personality should be taken into account when developing various relaxation techniques (sharma, 2011). our findings suggest that both biofeedback-assisted relaxation and progressive muscle relaxation help reducing perceived stress among persons with lower extraversion and conscientiousness. these findings correspond to sharma’s (sharma, 2011) research results, suggesting that extraverts relax more easily than introverts. our results correspond to other research findings as well, e.g. vollrath (2001) suggested that subjects with higher scores in neuroticism may perceive trivial everyday situations as threatening and stress-inducing, and higher scores in agreeableness, extraversion and conscientiousness may be related to underestimation of daily situations. another study is also in line with these findings: higher scores of conscientiousness were related to lower scores of perceived stress (besser, shackelford, 2007), and neuroticism was mostly related 88 loreta gustainienė, aidas perminas, ieva pečiulienė, gabija jarašiūnaitė to perceived stress (conard  & matthews, 2008; ekşi, 2004). the role of neuroticism in reducing perceived stress after relaxation has to be studied further. other researchers (ebstrup, eplov, pisinger  & jørgensen, 2011) demonstrated the relationship between higher scores of extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness and openness, and lower perceived stress, and neuroticism was related to higher scores of perceived stress. self-efficacy, when included into data analysis, had greater impact on extraversion and conscientiousness. moreover, our research points to the importance of incorporation of relaxation techniques as a means of coping with stress, especially in academic community. the need for similar kinds of programmes is stressed in other research studies (lecictosevski, vukovic, stepanovic, 2011). to sum up, the present study suggests that when applying psychophysiological means of stress management, higher scores of extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness to experience help to reduce perceived stress. further studies are needed to throw more light on the relationship between stress management techniques and personality characteristics, including different populations and larger samples. limitations and directions for future research. among limitations of the study, we can notice that although the present research included objective psychophysiological stress indicators, psychological data were measured subjectively using paper-and-pen tests. this, as well as crosssectional type of study could have a certain impact on the obtained findings. as the population of the study consisted mainly of young (aged 18–31), and predominantly female subjects, the findings cannot be generalised to a wider population. the data have not been analysed taking into account the levels of stress within a semester, and this could have affected the results. no analysis of the data was performed for drop-outs or nonparticipants of the study, thus depriving the study of valuable information. this type of studies are very rare in lithuania, so expanding the variety of psychological and physiological variables could be of great use in developing further studies in this area and in this population. 89 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 67–91 p. conclusions the research findings demonstrate that the course (of four sessions) of both biofeedback-assisted relaxation and progressive muscle relaxation helps to reduce perceived stress levels in persons with lower scores of extraversion and conscientiousness: • in a group of subjects with low scores of extraversion, both progressive muscle relaxation and biofeedback-assisted relaxation helped to decrease perceived stress scores as compared to norelaxation group. no relaxation-related changes were observed in a group with high extraversion scores; • in a group of subjects with low scores on conscientiousness, perceived stress scores decreased in both groups of relaxation as compared to no relaxation technique, while in a group with high conscientiousness scores, changes in perceived stress scores occurred in all study groups (relaxation/no relaxation). • perceived stress decreased in subjects with low and high scores of neuroticism, openness to experience and agreeableness despite the type of stress management method used or absence of relaxation. our findings suggest that methods of reducing psychophysiological stress should be applied with regard to personality traits of clients. acknowledgements this research was funded by a grant (no. mip-111/2012) from the research council of lithuania. references association for applied psychophysiology and biofeedback. what is biofeed-back? retrieved from http://www.aapb.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=1. besser, a.,  & shackelford, t. k. 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(2009). predictive value of age for coping: role of self-efficacy, social support satisfaction and perceived stress. aging and mental health, 13 (3), 357–366. vollrath, m. (2001). personality and stress. scandinavian journal of psychology, 42, 335–347. žukauskienė r.,  & barkauskienė r. (2006). lietuviškosios ne pi-r psichometriniai rodikliai. psichologija, 33, 7–21. progresuojančiosios r aumenų bei biogrįžtamuoju ryšiu paremtos rel aksacijos efek t y vumas ma žinant subjek t y viai suvok tą stresą studentų grupė je atsižvelgiant į asmenybės savybes loreta gustainienė, aidas perminas, ieva pečiulienė, gabija jarašiūnaitė vytauto didžiojo universitetas, lietuva santrauka. tyrimo tikslas. įvertinti progresuojančios raumenų relaksacijos bei biogrįžtamojo ryšio relaksacijos efektyvumą mažinant subjektyviai suvokto streso rodiklius atsižvelgiant į asmenybės savybes. metodai. tyrime sutiko dalyvauti 177 respon dentai, o visuose 6 susitikimuose dalyvavo 143 respondentai. tiriamiesiems buvo ve dami 4 progresuojančios raumenų relaksacijos (prr) arba biogrįžtamojo ryšio relaksa cijos (brr) užsiėmimai. biogrįžtamojo ryšio relaksacijos buvo atliekamos naudojantis aparatu nexus – 10, pagamintu mind media (nyderlandai). tiriamieji buvo suskirstyti į 3 grupes: biogrįžtamojo ryšio relaksacijos (n=48), progresuojančiosios raumenų relaksacijos (n=47) ir kontrolinę (n=48). rezultatai, išvados. atliktas tyrimas atskleidė, kad santykinai sveikiems jauniems žmonėms taikomi psichofiziologinės įtampos mažinimo būdai, tokie kaip progresuojančioji raumenų relaksacija ir biogrįžtamuoju ryšiu paremta relaksacija, yra efektyvios priemonės streso lygiui mažinti. nustatyta, kad psichofiziologinių rodiklių kitimas susijęs su relaksacijos tipu bei asmenybės bruožais ir jų intensyvumu. pagrindiniai žodžiai: subjektyviai suvoktas stresas, asmenybės savybės, relaksacija, bio grįžtamuoju ryšiu paremta relaksacija, progresuojančioji raumenų relaksacija, studentai, lietuva tyrimą finansavo lietuvos mokslo taryba (sutarties nr. mip-111/2012). received: december 3, 2014 accepted: april 15, 2015 139 kenijos čunichinos daktaro disertacijos „nusikaltimo aukų suvoktas teisėjo elgesio teisingumas“ (socialiniai mokslai, psichologija 06s) recenzija vytautas gudonis šiaulių universitetas, lietuva žmogus, patekęs į baudžiamosios teisės veikimo sritį, nuasmeninamas ir pasidaro būtybe, turinčia teisių ir pareigų sąraše tam tikrą teisinį statusą, o jei tampa nusikaltimo auka, tai mažai ką domina, kaip jis suvokia teisėjo elgesio teisingumą. pateikta disertacija – realus žingsnis jurisprudencijos humanizavimo link, todėl kenijos čunichinos pasirinkta daktaro disertacijos tema aktuali teoriniu bei praktiniu požiūriu ir yra socialiai reikšminga. darbo mokslinį problemiškumą autorė aktualina tinkamai suformuluotais ginamaisiais teiginiais: nusikaltimo aukų subjektyvūs teisėjo elgesio ir priimto teisėjo sprendimo teisingumo vertinimai yra susiję su teisėjo elgesio atitiktimi procedūrinio teisingumo reikalavimams; kai nusikaltimo aukai sprendimas yra nepalankus, teisėjo elgesio pobūdis svarbesnis jo elgesio, o ne priimto sprendimo teisingumo vertinimams; teisėjo elgesio ir priimto teisingumo vertinimai labiau susiję su išoriniais, o ne su vidiniais veiksniais. šie ginamieji teiginiai autorei leido suformuluoti racionalius disertacinio tyrimo tikslus ir su tuo susijusius uždavinius. disertacijos gynimo tarybos narys prof. m. rugevičius pažymėjo, kad ginti pateiktas darbas skirtas lietuvos psichologų mokslo darbuose vis dažniau nagrinėjamai procedūrinio teisingumo problemai. justicija gali sėkmingai vykdyti savo uždavinius tik tada, kai žmonės suvokia ją kaip teisingą. subjektyvi piliečių samprata apie teisingumą teismuose ir ikiteisminio tyrimo institucijose lemia žmonių pasitikėjimą teisėsau gos institucijomis ir pareigūnais, įsitikinimą, kad visuomenėje vyrauja recenzijos 140 recenzijos teisingumo principai, kad gyvenama teisingoje visuomenėje. kaip nurodo darbo autorė, nusikaltimo aukų psichologiniai tyrimai turi ilgą istoriją, tarp jų gana daug tyrimų apie nusikaltimo aukų sąveikos su teisėsauga padarinius. tačiau iki šiol atliktuose tyrimuose daugiausia buvo nagrinėjamos nusikaltimo aukų ir policijos pareigūnų sąveikos pasekmės. pateiktoje ginti disertacijoje analizuojama nusikaltimo aukų patirtis teisminio nagrinėjimo metu. recenzuojamo darbo autorė pasirinko nusikaltimo aukų suvokto teisėjų elgesio ir jų priimto sprendimo teisingumo problemą. tai beveik netyrinėta sritis, todėl darbo aktualumas ir naujumas abejonių nekelia. disertacijoje yra 51 lentelė, 4 paveikslai ir 7 priedai, juose autorė pateikė nusikaltimo aukų, kvazieksperimento dalyvių charakteristikas ir kitą tyrimą iliustruojančią medžiagą. gaila, kad schemiškai neįformintas disertacinio tyrimo dizainas, padedantis greičiau holistiškai suvokti darbą. disertantė tinkamai pagrindė šios temos nepakankamą ištirtumą. taip pat autorė nepriekaištingai suformulavo ir tinkamai akcentavo pristatomo darbo teorinį ir mokslinį naujumą ir praktinę vertę. disertacijos oponentė doc. r. bandzevičienė nurodė, kad kalbant apie tyrimo metodikas psichometrinių charakteristikų požiūriu visos naudotos metodikos yra tinkamos, tai įrodyta pasitelkiant skirtingus statistinius kriterijus ir procedūras, o jų pristatymas byloja, kad autorė išmano statistinės analizės metodus. tam tikrų abejonių kelia ne pagal tuos pačius kriterijus skirtinguose tyrimo etapuose atlikti suvokto teisėjo elgesio vertinimai, jų metodikų „semantika“. pristatant pirmąją tyrimo dalį teigiama, kad realios nusikaltimų aukos tirtos kognityvinio interviu metodu, tačiau vėliau paaiškėja, kad tyrimo procesas – apklausa raštu. to priežastys yra paaiškintos, bet ar tokiu atveju tyrimo procedūra tenkino kognityvinio interviu sąlygas. aprašant metodiką teigiama, kad nusikaltimų aukos buvo apklaustos pagal specialią apklausos programą, tačiau šioje disertacijoje pateikiami vienos apklausos dalies rezultatai. analizuoti tik tie klausimai, kurie susiję su teisėjo elgesiu. bet ar buvo atlikta bent kokia respondentų atranka pagal turimą dalyvavimo ankstesniuose (iki teismo) bylos nagrinėjimo etapuose patirtį, kuri neabejotinai daro įtaką teisėjo elgesio teisingumo suvokimui? be to, teisėjo elgesio teisingumas šioje apklausoje iš esmės susiaurintas iki atitikties procedūrų teisingumui pagal baudžiamojo proceso reikalavimus. kur kas aiškiau pristatyta suvokto teisingumo vertinimo skalė, naudota antrajame tyrimo etape. tačiau galima pastebėti, kad kai kurių international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 141 2014, 15, 139–143 p. subskalių turinys yra tapatus, nors formuluojamas skirtingais teiginiais (pvz., ir procedūrinis teisingumas apima etiškumą arba galimybę išsakyti savo nuomonę). apibendrinant galima teigti, kad tyrimo metodologija ir naudoti įvertinimo instrumentai leido surinkti gana svarbią sociologiniu-kriminologiniu požiūriu „faktinę“ informaciją, konstatuoti skirtumų ar sąsajų buvimą arba nebuvimą, tačiau jų ribotumai smarkiai sumažino tyrimo rezultatų validumą ir ypač jų psichologinio interpretavimo galimybes. nuosekliai pristatyta neo-pi-r metodika jau gerai žinoma lietuvos psichologams. vis dėlto jos pasirinkimas specifinės teisminio proceso dalyvių (nukentėjusiojo ir teisėjo) sąveikos tyrimui ir prielaidos apie šių bruožų įtaką teisėjo elgesio ir nuosprendžio teisingumo suvokimui pasirodė kiek paviršutiniškos, ypač atsižvelgiant į teorinėje dalyje pateiktus kitų vidinių veiksnių, iš jų ir asmenybės bruožų, sąsajų su suvoktu teisingumu empirinius tyrimus. kita vertus, nustatyti įtakos nedarančius veiksnius mokslui ir praktikai gali būti nemažiau įdomu ir vertinga nei juos patvirtinti. analitinėje dalyje remdamasi 180 užsienio ir lietuvių autorių darbų analize disertantė skaitytoją nuodugniai supažindina su tyrimų įvairove, suvaldo gausų informacijos srautą, akcentuoja esminius dalykus, tiesiogiai susijusius su tyrimo problematika. autorė tinkamai išanalizavo nukentėjusiojo sąveiką su teisėsaugos institucijomis, išsamiai apžvelgė nukentėjusiųjų nuo nusikaltimo veikos patirtį lietuvoje, išgrynino teisingumo sampratos apibrėžtį, tinkamai atskleidė suvokto teisingumo veiksnius. tyrimo rezultatams aprašyti skirti 52 puslapiai. čia pristatomi tyrimo duomenys, susiję su empirinių uždavinių sprendimu. tyrimo rezultatai išdėstyti aiškiai, iliustruoti statistinės analizės duomenimis. empiriniame tyrime surinkta daug faktinės medžiagos, teikiančios psichologijos mokslui naujų žinių. tinkamai parinkus ir kūrybiškai pritaikius tyrimo metodų kompleksą darbo autorei sėkmingai pavyko apklausti nukentėjusiuosius nuo nusikalstamos veikos taikant interviu metodą; nustatyti skirtingus nusikaltimus patyrusių aukų suvoktą teisėjo elgesio ir priimto sprendimo teisingumą; nustatyti nusikaltimo aukų teisėjo elgesio ir priimto sprendimo sąsajas skirtingomis teisėjo elgesio situacijomis, kai teisėjo sprendimas nusikaltimo aukai yra nepalankus. tyrimo rezultatų analizei naudoti adekvatūs statistinės analizės metodai, o rezultatai pateikiami tinkamai, struktūruotai ir aiškiai. gyni mo tarybos narė doc. d. nasvytienė argumentavo, kuo k. čunichinos 142 recenzijos disertacija bendrąja prasme papildo profesinį aruodą – asmenybės psichologijos ir psichologinio įvertinimo žinias. viena, toks ginčo sprendimo taisyklių, grupės vertės ar santykio su autoritetu teorijos pateikimas, kokį matome šiame darbe, yra neabejotinai aktualus visų taikomųjų psichologijos sričių specialistams. konsensusas ir problemiški skirstymo ir procedūrinio teisingumo aspektai apžvelgti pasitelkus naujausius mokslinius tyrimus. autorė pagrįstai teigia, kad susidūrimas su teisėsauga yra išbandymas kiekvienam žmogui (paryškinta mano), universalus iššūkis. „nežinomybė, neapibrėžtumas ir negalėjimas numatyti savo veiksmų padarinius“ (p. 5) ypač sukrečia jautriausią teisminio proceso dalyvį – auką. atidus ir labai profesionalus dėmesys viktimologinei patirčiai, kuri atsiskleidžia šiame darbe, padeda apibūdinti ir prognozuoti tokių asmenų elgseną, o pasitelkus kognityvinį interviu – ir suprasti vidinio pasaulio sandarą. tyrimas turi svarbų šviečiamąjį aspektą ir didina teisinį piliečių sąmoningumą, nes jo dalyviai yra tikslingai kviečiami įsijausti į aukų būseną. šio tyrimo duomenys, pavyzdžiui, kad lietuvoje vis dėlto auga nusikaltimų skaičius, o 2011 m. 13 proc. žmonių nesikreipė į teisėsaugą dėl jiems padarytos nusikalstamos veikos, turi būti skleidžiami kuo platesnei visuomenės auditorijai. čia pereiname prie antrojo darbo privalumo – įvertinimo metodų. neatsitiktinai tyrimo metodų skyriuje 2.2.2. dalis vadinasi „<...> įvertinimo būdai ir jų kūrimas“. kaip tik kūrybinis, originalus tyrimo metodų pritaikymas yra teigiamas skiriamasis šio darbo bruožas. autorė pasitelkė nelinijinį tyrimo klausimų sprendimą ir savo tikslų siekia per du tyrimo etapus; panaudoja originalią suvokto teisingumo vertinimo metodiką ir vaizdinės medžiagos kūrimą bei ekspertinį vertinimą. abi priemonės patikrintos labai kruopščiai, pritaikius kiekybinei ir kokybinei metodologijai adekvačias priemones. vienu atveju naudota patvirtinančioji faktorinė analizė, kitu – dešimt teisėjo elgesio aspektų pagal tris scenarijus buvo pateikti ekspertams ir tikrinti blokuotų duomenų dispersinės analizės būdu. toks požiūris į kintamųjų operacionalizavimą – puikus ir sektinas įvertinimo metodologijos pavyzdys. svarbiausias apibendrintas šio darbo įspūdis – tai nuosekli visuma, moksliškai pagrįsta stipraus tyrimo ataskaita. čunichinos disertacija labai interaktyvi: kiekviename skyriuje medžiaga pateikta labai struktūruotai (arba pasitelkus potemes, arba apibendrinimus, arba ir viena, ir kita), kiekvienas skyrius pagal prasmę susijęs su ankstesniu ir tolesniu; rišlus ir sklandus ne tik literatūros apžvalgos, bet ir rezultatų bei jų aptarimo skyrius, logiškos international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 143 2014, 15, 139–143 p. išvados. taip tyrimo ataskaita pasieks ne tik savo srities profesionalus, bet ir platesnius profesinės bendruomenės sluoksnius, bus aktuali visuomenei. doktorantės rašymo stilių apibūdina trys bruožai – lakoniškumas, tinkama konkretaus ir abstraktaus kaita, nešališkumas. gauti tyrimo rezultatai gerai interpretuojami kitose šalyse atliktų analogiškų tyrimų ir edukologijos srities naujausių teorinių darbų kontekste. disertacijoje atlikta analizė ir gautos tyrimo išvados iš esmės atsako į visus ginti pateiktus teiginius. išvados išsamios ir susijusios su keliamais uždaviniais ir tyrimo rezultatais. pateiktų publikacijų analizė rodo, kad spaudoje paskelbtuose darbuose atsispindi pagrindinės disertacijos idėjos, teiginiai, esminiai rezultatai ir išvados. disertacijos santrauka iš esmės atspindi daktaro disertaciją. išskirtinis čunichinos disertacinio tyrimo bruožas yra analizuojamo fenomeno daugiadiscipliniškumas – autorė į nagrinėjamą reiškinį žvelgia ne tik pro psichologijos, bet ir pro teisės mokslo prizmę. taigi čunichinos daktaro disertacija „nusikaltimo aukų suvoktas teisėjo elgesio teisingumas “ yra aktualus, savarankiškas, turintis teorinę ir praktinę išliekamąją vertę mokslo kūrinys, atitinkantis lietuvos mokslo tarybos tokiems darbams keliamus reikalavimus, o jos autorė nusipelno mokslo daktaro laipsnio (socialiniai mokslai, psichologija 06s). ši disertacija buvo sėkmingai apginta vilniaus universitete. review of doctoral dissertation „perceived justice behaviour of judges by crime victims“ by kenija čunichina (social sciences, psychology 06s) vytautas gudonis, šiauliai university, lithuania abstract. the main purpose of the dissertation study – to explore the perceived justice of judge‘s behavior that is experienced by the victims of the crime. in this review the main ideas of doctoral dissertation are discussed and questions for further development of ideas are presented. the advantages and disadvantages as well as practical implications are listed, some questioned and ideas from defence procedure are mentioned. the conclusion states that this dissertation is interesting, original and important interdisciplinary work in psychology and law, that fits all the requirements for doctoral dissertations in the field. 151 agnės matulaitės daktaro disertacijos kai „tavo kūnas tiesiog išprotėja“: įkūnytas nėštumo patyrimas (socialiniai mokslai, psichologija 06s) recenzija rūta sargaut ytė vilniaus universitetas, lietuva mokslo darbui pasirinkusi nėštumo patyrimo temą, agnė matulaitė tarsi kviečia sugrįžti prie „kūniškumo“, susigrąžinti kaip psichologijos tyrimo objektą kūną, patikliai patikėtą medikų rankoms, reabilituoti asmens kaip eksperto vaidmenį ir dar daugiau. darbo autorė parodo, kad subjektyvaus kūniškojo patyrimo analizė prasminga net ir tuomet, kai jis nėra problemiškas. dekarto dualizmas, prieš kelis šimtmečius įtvirtinęs moksle ir gydymo praktikoje biomedicininį modelį, gerokai supaprastino kūno sampratą, prilygindamas jį bet kuriam gerai ar blogai funkcionuojančiam mechanizmui. šis požiūris paskatino gamtamokslinio kūno pažinimo pažangą, tačiau nukreipė dėmesį į patologiją, tad „ligonio istorija“ virto „ligos istorija“, o sergantis žmogus – kantriu, besąlygiškai paklūstančiu, savo žiniomis nė iš tolo medikui neprilygstančiu pacientu. antra vertus, apie kūną ir patys dažniausiai prabylame tik ligos kontekste. kai sunegaluojame, kai kas nors atsitinka, kūno suvokimas sustiprėja. tuo tarpu kūnas yra kur kas daugiau nei tyrinėja biologija, jo judesiai nėra tik atsakas į dirgiklius. šis tyrimas buvo atliktas ir darbas parašytas, remiantis fenomenologine tradicija. autorė remiasi fenomenologinės filosofijos atstovais, pradedant e. husserl‘iu, kuris laikė žmogaus kūną atskaitos tašku, nuo kurio prasideda reali žmogaus sąveika su pasauliu. pabrėžiama kūno patyrimo svarba pasaulio supratimui. kūnas yra tas, kuris yra duotas ne tik man, recenzijos 152 recenzijos bet ir kitam. e. husserl‘is pasaulio patyrimą, santykį su kitu nagrinėjo kaip kūniškumo fenomeną. anot m. merleau-ponty, mes pažįstame pasaulį per savo paties kūną, tad mūsų patyrimas yra apribotas to mūsų kūniškumo. agnės matulaitės disertacija aktuali tuo, kad čia užsibrėžta giliau pažvelgti į subjektyvaus nėštumo patyrimo esmę ir prasmę per kūniškąjį patyrimą, neįsiveliant į nūnai populiarią polemiką (pvz., kur gimdyti – namuose ar ligoninėje, su nuskausminimu ar be nuskausminimo, ir t. t.). tyrimo duomenys buvo surinkti giluminio pusiau struktūruoto interviu būdu, paliekant galimybę pačioms tyrimo dalyvėms praplėsti ar papildyti interviu joms rūpimomis temomis. kadangi 6 tiriamosios buvo apklaustos po penkis kartus, iš viso gauta 30 interviu. kaip papildoma priemonė buvo naudojamas žmogaus piešinys (ir autoportretas), tačiau siekiant ne psichodiagnostinių tikslų, o daugiau skirta dalyviams atsipalaiduoti ir susitelkti į savo kūną. be to, buvo naudota ir gyvenimo įvykių skalė. čia galima tik pastebėti, kad disertacija nebūtų labai nukentėjusi ir be šių papildomų priemonių. akivaizdu, kad atliktas platesnis tyrimas, nei reikalauja pasirinktas fenomenas, todėl atrodo visiškai priimtinas ir gal net saliamoniškas autorės sprendimas pateikti ne visus duomenis, o apsistoti ties dviem tyrimo pjūviais. savo tyrime agnė matulaitė įsigilina į vienos moters įkūnyto nėštumo patyrimo raidą nuo pastojimo iki metų po gimdymo, o viduriniajame nėštumo trimestre moterims rūpimos temos atskleidžiamos remiantis dar penkių moterų pasakojimais. disertacijos medžiaga išdėstyta 192 puslapiuose, darbas pakankamai iliustruotas, didžioji paveikslėlių dalis – tiriamųjų piešiniai. iš pirmo žvilgsnio gali pasirodyti, kad darbo struktūra panaši į klasikinę, jame galime rasti visas būtinas dalis: įvadą, tyrimo metodiką, rezultatus ir jų analizę, rezultatų aptarimą, lietuvių ir užsienio autorių darbų literatūros sarašą, kelis priedus. vis dėlto tyrimo metodikos skyrius pateikiamas ne pagal įprastą daktaro disertacijos schemą, o gana originaliai, t. y. nuosekliai pagal realią tyrimo eigą. tarsi ruošdamasi atremti abejojančių kokybiniais metodais argumentus, disertantė itin detaliai išdėsto, o drauge ir svarsto apie kokybiniams tyrimo metodams keliamus savitus reikalavimus, atskirai – apie interpetacinę fenomenologinę analizę, taip pat – būtent apie jos tyrimui keliamus reikalavimus, kadangi iš tikrųjų nėra vienintelio teisingo būdo interpretacinei fenomenologinei analizei atlikti. teorinė darbo dalis tarsi suskaidyta į dvi dalis: pradžioje apibendrinamos disertantės iki tyrimo turėtos žinios, iš kurių kyla tyrimo prielaidos, tačiau international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 153 2014, 14, 151–155 p. hipotezės nėra keliamos, kad pagal tyrimo idėją tyrėjas turi išlikti „naivus“, t. y. atviras įspūdžiams ir jautrus kontekstui, ir pradėtų tyrimą be išankstinių nuostatų; ir tik vėliau tyrimo rezultatai išsamiai analizuojami kitų autorių gautų duomenų kontekste. reikia pripažinti, kad tokia darbo struktūra turi savo įtikinamą logiką, nes išankstinė literatūros analizė prieštarautų ir keltų abejonę surinktų interviu duomenų patikimumu. suprantama, kad kokybiniam darbui negali būti keliami tie patys reikalavimai, kaip ir kiekybiniam, todėl disertantė skiria pakankamai daug dėmesio pasirinkto metodo patikimumui ir validumui pagrįsti. vertinant disertaciją kokybės požiūriu, ir remiantis interpretacinės fenomenologinės analizės metodo autoriumi j. a. smith‘u (2011), galima teigti, kad darbas atitinka fenomenologinį kriterijų, nes tai yra gyvos patirties tyrinėjimas, kai tyrėjas atlieka respondento patirties bendraautorio funkcijas, įvairiais būdais stimuliuodamas pasisakyti apie savo jausmus, mintis, jutimus. tyrimas yra ir idiografinis, nes dėmesys nukreipiamas į individualumą, atskirumą, detalumą, o ne tai, kas bendra ar universalu. šioje vietoje autorė gal šiek tiek persistengė, pasiduodama norui apibendrinti, nes net ir smith‘as (2011) 6 asmenų imties tyrime nereikalauja „paplitimo“ analizės. būtent detalumas yra analizės gelmė ir tokio darbo grožis, atskleidimas, kaip nėštumo fenomenasišgyvenamas konkretaus asmens požiūriu, konkrečiame kontekste. trečiasis interpretacinės fenomenologinės analizės principas (ar tyrimas yra hermeneutiškas, ar per pokalbį kuriamas supratimas) yra patenkinamas, nes čia lengvai galima atpažinti dvigubą hermeneutiką, t. y. dvigubą interpretacinį procesą, kai dalyviai bando suteikti prasmę savo pasauliui, o tyrėjas bando suteikti prasmę tam, kaip dalyvis suteikia prasmę savo patirčiai (smith & osborn, 2003). kadangi priėjimas prie dalyvio patyrimo priklauso nuo tyrėjo subjektyvumo bei jo minčių, agnė matulaitė labai atidžiai, atvirai (vietomis negailestingai) tyrinėja save pačią, rašo dienoraštį, reflektuoda ma asmeninio gyvenimo ir kontaktų su tiriamosiomis patirtį. be kitų po žiūrio taškų darbas atitinka ir skaidrumo kriterijų – skaitant susidaro absoliučiai aiškus įspūdis, kas, kur, kada ir kaip buvo padaryta, nepalikdamas nė kertelės abejonei. darbui nestinga darnos / nuoseklumo, jis įdo mus, įtikinantis (antraip, pagal šio metodo principus jis būtų niekam vertas!) ir galiausiai – pakankamai gausiai iliustruotas pavyzdžiais ir tiriamųjų citatomis. išanalizavusi moterų įkūnyto nėštumo patyrimą antrajame nėštumo trimestre, disertantė atskleidė keturias visoms joms bendras įkūnyto 154 recenzijos patyrimo temas: a) kūdikio besilaukiančio kūno nekontroliuojamumas; b) moterų kūnas – jų mokytojas; c) kūno vidinių ir išorinių ribų neaiškumas; d) besiformuojantis kūniškas tapatumas. taip pat atskleisti ir nauji įkūnyto tapatumo ypatumai: a) šios moterys savo besikeičiantį kūną nėštumo metu patyrė kaip nekontroliuojamai prastėjantį; b) nėštumas gali sustiprinti savo kūniškumo patyrimą, tačiau išaugęs kūniškumo potyris nebūtinai pačių moterų yra pageidaujamas ar jas auginantis; c) nėštumo metu gali kisti moterų savęs ir savo kūno patyrimo ribos; d) įkūnytas santykis su kūdikiu viduje gali keisti pačią moterį ir būti nuolatos patiriamas ambivalentiškai; e) šių moterų kūniško tapatumo patyrimas glaudžiai susijęs su kitais žmonėmis; f) besilaukiantis kūnas moterų gali būti suvokiamas kaip išmintingas ir yra galimybė, kad kūno pamokos joms pravers ateityje. visos šios temos tekste aptartos ir tinkamai iliustruotos. be nuosekliai, aiškiai ir plačiai (netgi didaktiškai) pateikiamos tyrimo metodikos ir tyrimo eigos, aiškių kokybės standartų, kruopščios duomenų analizės prie disertacijos išskirtinių bruožų dar priskirčiau ne visai akivaizdų ir mažiau atskleistą tarpkultūrinį šio tyrimo aspektą. pusė tiriamųjų gyveno lietuvoje, kitos – didžiojoje britanijoje, be to, pusė iš jų dar turėjo migracijos istoriją. galiausiai, darbas akivaizdžiai turi ne tik mokslinę, bet ir praktinę vertę, – kad jis aktualus, liudija gausus mokslinių bei populiarių pranešimų sąrašas. tikėtina, kad agnės matulaitės darbas ženkliai prisidės prie medicininės praktikos gerinimo. kaip priims šio tyrimo įžvalgas šiuolaikinė medicina? manau, kad palankiai, nes biopsichosocialinis modelis jau randa savo pritaikymą, paciento psichologinė savijauta ir pasitenkinimas tampa svarbiu medicininės pagalbos kriterijumi. įdomu būtų įkūnyto nėštumo patyrimo tyrimų prasmingumą patvirtinti ir atokiųjų tyrimų rezultatais: kaip įprasmina savo kūniškąjį nėštumo patyrimą moterys praėjus dešimčiai, dvidešimčiai ar penkiasdešimčiai metų, t. y., kokį pėdsaką gyvenime palieka nėštumo patirtis. mokslinei diskusijai disertantei galima būtų pateikti porą klausimų: 1. autorė galėjo atlikti tyrimą dviem kalbomis (tai yra neįkainojamas darbo privalumas). kultūrinis komponentas puikiausiai integruotas į biopsichosocialinį modelį. tačiau lieka ne visai aišku, kokiomis teo rinėmis prielaidomis buvo grindžiamas imčių pasirinkimas ne vienoje, o dviejose kultūrose – lietuvos ir didžiosios britanijos, nes tai tarsi prieštarautų imčių homogeniškumo kriterijui. tuo tarpu kultūrinės skirtybės international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 155 2014, 14, 151–155 p. duomenų analizėje nėra akcentuojamos ar interpretuojamos kultūros dimensijų požiūriu. taigi vis dėlto, kokią įtaką įkūnytam nėštumo patyrimui turėjo gyvenamoji aplinka? 2. antrasis klausimas taip pat susijęs su kultūriniais darbo aspektais. kultūrinėje antropologijoje skiriami skirtingi tyrimo ir interpretacijos būdai: eminis (kai žiūrima iš dalyvio pozicijos, taikomos sąvokos ir skiriamieji bruožai, tinkami dalyviams) ir etinis (kai žiūrima iš stebėtojo pozicijos, taikomos sąvokos ir skiriamieji bruožai, tinkami stebėtojams) (berry, 1969). kaip galima suprasti iš disertacijos konteksto, abiejose šalyse autorė galėjo taikyti ir eminį, ir etinį principą. ir nors darbe subtiliai atskleista jos pačios kultūrinė situacija, dar kyla klausimas, ar įmanoma lygiagrečiai susitapatinti su dviejų kultūrų atstovėmis, o kartu – pažvelgti į jų patirtį iš šalies. reziumė. visumoje norėtųsi pagirti disertantę už drąsą ir novatoriškumą ir prognozuoti jos darbui ilgą gyvenimą, nes tai yra brandus, originalus ir turintis mokslinę, praktinę vertę bei plėtros perspektyvas mokslo kūrinys, atitinkantis daktaro disertacijai keliamus reikalavimus. ši disertacija 2013 m. buvo sėkmingai apginta vilniaus universitete. review of agne matulaite‘s doctoral dissertation “your body just goes bananas”: embodied experience of pregnancy (social sciences, psychology 06s) ruta sargaut yte vilnius university, lithuania abstract. the author of the review appreciates much the courage and innovativeness to use the qualitative methodology in the study of embodied experience in women during pregnancy and the postpartum year. the biopsychosocial approach here is enriched with the cultural aspects which could be more elaborated, however. the detailed description of 6 women’s experience has been achieved by skillful application of the interpretative phenomenological analysis. the bodily experience in pregnancy occurred to be dynamic, complex and firmly embedded in women’s life-world. although the structure of the dissertation is not very traditional, it looks reasonable and matches the requirements of the method applied. the results of the research are valuable and promising. the study provides insights into the lived experience that may be useful in psychological theory and in practice when working with women at this important transitional life stage. psichologijos_zurnalas_22_korektura.indd scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2018 / 22 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.22.2 1 correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to: virginija klimukienė, bendrosios psichologijos katedra, psichologijos institutas, universiteto g. 9, lt-01513 vilnius. e-mail: virginija.klimukiene@gmail.com examination of convergent validit y of start: av r atings among male juveniles on probation virginija klimukienė1*, alfredas laurinavičius*, ilona laurinaitytė*, laura ustinavičiūtė*, **, and mykolas baltrūnas* *vilnius university, lithuania; **mykolas romeris university, lithuania abstract. the short-term assessment of risk and treatability: adolescent version (start: av, viljoen, nicholls, cruise, desmarais, & webster, 2014) provides a structural professional judgement on the risk of adverse outcomes related to harm to others and rule violations. the advantage of start: av is in that it includes the assessment of both strengths and vulnerabilities. as it is a relatively new assessment tool, the questions related to psychometric properties of the measure are still topical, especially in intercultural context. the reliability and convergent validity of start: av ratings were examined in a sample of 159 male juveniles (m age = 16.97, sd = 0.81) on probation. information about the psychosocial functioning of the minors was collected during the interviews with probation officers and rated by the researchers according to the start: av user guide. the subtypes of antisocial behaviour (stab; burt & donnellan, 2009), the triarchic psychopathy measure (tripm; patrick, 2010), and the criminal sentiments scale-modified (css-m; shields & simourd, 1991) were used as convergent measures in this study. the results provided evidence for the reliability of the start: av ratings and associations between behavioural variables, psychopathy constructs and start: av are in favour of its concurrent validity. pro-criminal attitudes were not associated with start: av ratings, and further research is needed to test the manifestation of pro-criminal attitudes among juvenile offenders on probation. these findings support for further testing the start: av on its predictive validity as well as utility in work with juvenile offenders. keywords: youth delinquency; risk of adverse outcomes; strengths; vulnerabilities. the phenomenon of delinquency is observable in all societies; however, there is an ongoing debate, whether delinquent behaviour 31 https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.22.2 mailto:virginija.klimukiene@gmail.com 32 virginija klimukienė, alfredas laurinavičius, ilona laurinaitytė, laura ustinavičiūtė, and mykolas baltrūnas is normative for juveniles, who as a group, have a stronger preference for risk and novelty (siegel & welsh, 2009), or it is an issue, which needs a big public concern. research shows that only a small proportion (i.e. around 5%) of young people will commit delinquent acts on an ongoing basis while most of juveniles desist from offending without any form of intervention (steinberg, cauffman, & monahan, 2015). therefore, it is necessary to identify these juvenile offenders who further continue to break rules and are responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime as well as to analyse their current and past situations by identifying the principal risk and protective factors so as to assess the level of future risk and develop tailored intervention plans (savignac, 2010). decades of research have found a huge number of factors significant to the origins and maintenance of delinquent behaviour (skilling & sorge, 2014), such as antisocial peers or attitudes, personality or misconduct problems, poor parent-child relations, educational difficulties and/or ineffective use of leisure time are the best predictors of delinquency (campbell, schmidt, & wershler, 2016; cauffman & steinberg, 2012; contreras, molina, & cano, 2011; grieger & hosser, 2014; heilbrun et al., 2000; simourd & andrews, 1994). the domain of behavioural history is the strongest predictor of future delinquency (casey, 2011; cottle, lee, & heilbrun, 2001; farrington, 2005; frick, 2012; frick, ray, thornton, & kahn, 2014; wasserman et al., 2003) meaning that the earlier the onset of behaviour problems, the worse predictions of desistance from antisocial behaviour are in the future (dishion & patterson, 2006; loeber & farrington, 2000; moffitt, 1993, 2006). individual characteristics play an important role in manifestation of delinquent behaviour (andrews & bonta, 2010; skilling & sorge, 2014). antisocial personality pattern refers to extremes of normal dimensions of personality that exist within general population (grieger & hosser, 2014; hare & neumann, 2010); however, there are some doubts whether any particular type of personality can be labelled for adolescents as there is a threat that some maladaptive features prevailing in adolescence can lead to the positive false assessment of antisocial personality (hart, watt, & vincent, 2002; seagrave & grisso, 2002). on the other hand, callous-unemotional or impulsivity traits observed in childhood remain pretty stable through the lifetime (dhingra & boduszek, 2013; frick, kimonis, dandreaux, & farell, 2003; roberts & delvecchio, 2000; lynam & 33 2018, 22, 31–54 p.examination of convergent validity of start: av ratings among male juveniles on probation gudonis, 2005; lynam, charnigo, moffitt, raine, loeber, & stouthamerloeber, 2009). callousness and impulsivity are evaluated in a number of instruments developed for the assessment of delinquent juveniles, such as antisocial process screening device (apsd) (frick & hare, 2001), or youth psychopathic traits inventory (ypy) (andershed, kerr, stattin, & levander, 2002). the difficulties related to emotional and behavioural domains are also captured by a new operationalization of psychopathy, namely, the triarchic model of psychopathy (patrick, fowles, & krueger, 2009), which distinguishes three phenotypic constructs: disinhibition, boldness and meanness (drislane, patrick, & arsal, 2014, drislane, brislin, kendler, andershed, larsson, & patrick, 2015). boldness entails resilience to stressors and tolerance towards uncertainty or danger, therefore it is associated with interpersonal dominance and sensation seeking (venables & patrick, 2012). the other two constructs: disinhibition, related to impulsivity, irresponsibility, rule braking, and meanness, reflecting disregard for and exploitation of others, are reliable predictors of substance abuse problems (patrick, fowles, & krueger, 2009), general and violent reoffending among adults and adolescent boys (dhingra & boduszek, 2013; kimonis, kennealy, & goulter, 2016). the importance of antisocial attitudes in the prediction of delinquent behaviour has a long history already (andrews & bonta, 2010; evans, 2017; mills, kroner, & hemati, 2004; skilling & sorge, 2014); however, this importance may vary across different types of offenders and different types of antisocial attitudes (banse, koppehele-gossel, kistemaker, werner, & schmidt, 2013, mills, kroner, & forth, 2002). as the vast majority of studies are conducted within adult offender populations (see walters, 2012), there is a lack of evidence that attitudes play an important role in juvenile offending. some studies with juvenile samples support the use of criminal attitudes measures for predicting the repeated delinquent behaviour (skilling & sorge, 2014). however, pro-criminal, and particularly pro-violence cognitions, are more prevalent in gangaffiliated youngsters in comparison to their non-gang counterparts (chu, daffern, thomas, ang, & long, 2014), and may mediate the prior delinquency-future delinquency relationship (walters & delisi, 2013). jones with colleagues (2012) found that youths’ antisocial attitudes were strongly related with alcohol abuse, particularly if associated with higher risks in peer or community domains. however, criminal behaviour was 34 virginija klimukienė, alfredas laurinavičius, ilona laurinaitytė, laura ustinavičiūtė, and mykolas baltrūnas beyond the scope of the study. it can be noted that exploration of relationships between attitudes and criminality in youth still requires more empirical research. the above described factors are captured in most of the risk assessment instruments designed to help the professionals assessing major risk factors and making evidence-based judgements on future delinquent behaviour. the short-term assessment of risk and treatability adolescent version (hereinafter referred to as start: av) is one of the instruments specifically designed to assess the risk of juveniles (viljoen, nicholls, cruise, desmarais, & webster, 2014). the start: av belongs to the so-called 4th generation instruments which differ from previous ones by their emphasis on risk management and intervention planning rather than risk assessment alone (baird et al., 2013). moreover, start: av assesses not only risk factors, defined as vulnerabilities of the adolescent, but also protective factors (i.e. strengths), which are extremely important for the desistance from offending behaviour (brodowski & fischman, 2013; de vries robbé, 2014; dickens & o’shea, 2018; fortune & ward, 2017; jessor, van den bos, vanderryn, costa, & turbin, 1995; maruna & lebel, 2010; ward, 2017). certainly the biggest advantage of the start: av is that it is both developmentally and gender informed (viljoen, cruise, nicholls, desmarais, & webster, 2012a). the studies support the reliability and validity of start: av based risk assessments completed in adolescent samples on probation (viljoen et al., 2012b), correctional facilities (desmarais et al., 2012), and clinical setting (sher, warner, mclean, rowe, & gralton, 2017). however, these studies are few and mostly conducted with abbreviated manual of the start: av. there is a need for further investigations on psychometric characteristics of the start: av using the full version of start: av user guide (viljoen et.al., 2014) and in samples other than from the place of origin of the instrument. our study was conducted within the sample of male juveniles, who were on probation in lithuania, and the aim of the study was two-fold. first, we aimed at testing how reliable start: av ratings based on information derived from the interviews with probation officers were. second, we evaluate the convergent validity of start: av ratings. on the basis of the literature review we formulate the following hypotheses: 35 2018, 22, 31–54 p.examination of convergent validity of start: av ratings among male juveniles on probation 1. strengths are negatively associated with vulnerabilities and risks of adverse outcomes. 2. estimated risks of violence, non-violent offences, substance abuse, and unauthorized absence are positively associated with the previous history of delinquency, antisocial attitudes, demographic characteristics (e.g. age of onset), and domains of psychopathy. me thod participants the sample consisted of 159 male adolescents who were under supervision of municipal probation offices. youths were 17 years old on average (m = 16.97, sd = 0.81, range = 14.6–18.3). the vast majority of the sample (93.6%) was lithuanians; 52.9% lived with both parents/caregivers, 33.7% lived in one-parent family, and 13.4% of youth were the residents of child care homes. index offenses varied from theft (32.7%), robbery (22.7%), mischief (20.7%), to physical (12.0%) and sexual (5.3%) violence, illicit disposal of drugs (5.3%), and road traffic offences (1.3%). the average length of supervision was 12.66 months (sd = 7.12, range = 3–36). the majority of youth (72.7%) did not have prior contacts with the justice system and that was their first conviction (m = 1.40, sd = 0.76, range = 1–4); the mean age of the first contact with police was 14.88 years (sd = 1.59, range = 8–17). youth were on the 10th school grade on average (m = 9.65, sd = 1.03, range = 7–12). twenty-seven percent of the sample had ever repeated the same school grade and 16.6% had ever terminated school deliberately. the sample of juvenile offenders was recruited with the help of probation officers, who informed the caregivers of the supervised adolescents about the study and received their active consent for the youths’ participation. the juveniles also provided their consent for the participation. to be eligible to participate, minors had to be less than 18 years old and to be on the court-ordered supervision for the remaining three months at least. fifty six probation officers from 37 municipal probation offices managed to involve the youth to the study; the number of study participants within municipal 36 virginija klimukienė, alfredas laurinavičius, ilona laurinaitytė, laura ustinavičiūtė, and mykolas baltrūnas probation offices varied from 1 to 15 (m = 4.27, sd = 3.48), and the number of study participants for probation offers varied from 1 to 9 (m = 2.84, sd = 2.04). procedure the ethical approval for this study was granted by the ethical committee of institute of psychology, vilnius university. the research was conducted in cooperation with the prison department under the ministry of justice of the republic of lithuania. one of the authors of the study has participated in start: av training conducted by the authors of the instrument and after its completion has collected pilot interviews with probation officers. the research team participated in 2-day selftraining in which training materials and interviews from the pilot study were used. after reaching satisfactory knowledge and skills in start: av assessment, the team members started to collect interviews. the eye-to-eye interviews with probation officers (interview length m = 44.18 minutes, sd = 9.07) focused on the past and current psychosocial functioning of the adolescent. probation officers from all over lithuania execute the state’s supervision ordered by the court; thus, receive legal records, usually meet minors twice a month, conduct curfew checks, communicate with caregivers, schools, police and, if necessary, child welfare services; therefore, contain most of the information relevant to the completion of risk assessment. all interviews were audio-recorded and later rated by the members of the research team according to start: av user guide (viljoen et al., 2014) identifying strengths and vulnerabilities of every item as well as estimating the risk of adverse outcomes. thirty interviews were randomly selected and rated by pairs of evaluators on purpose to calculate the interrater reliability coefficients. it was assumed that there is a systematic source of variance associated with both juveniles and evaluators; therefore, the two-way random effect model was used for calculation of intra-class correlation coefficients (icc) (mcgraw & wong, 1996). as interrater reliability of evaluations varied from fair to excellent (see table 1), the rest of the cases were coded independently. strengths and vulnerabilities were summed up for total scores. item 23 “medical adherence” and item 25 “case specific items” were excluded 37 2018, 22, 31–54 p.examination of convergent validity of start: av ratings among male juveniles on probation from the analysis, as there were only few ratings for them. according to previous research practice (e.g., viljoen et al., 2012b;), the cut-off of 20% of the missing items (which equals to 5 non-rated strength or vulnerability items) was selected for the inclusion of start: av protocols; this resulted in exclusion of 32 cases. for cases having less missing ratings we followed the instructions provided in previous studies (see desmarais et al., 2012), and prorated total scores by formula: prorated total score = [(raw total score / 50) x number of missing items] + raw total score. after the comparison of included and excluded protocols it was found that the excluded juveniles did not differ from the included juveniles on all the evaluated demographic characteristics, such as age t(150) = -1.45, p = .15, nationality χ2(3, n = 156) = 1.07, p = .78, age of the first contact with police t(146) = -1.80, p = .07, number of convictions t(154) = -.39, p = .70, length of supervision sentence t(148) = -1.79, p = .08, and deliberate school termination χ2(1, n = 156) = 0.59, p = .81. the expected difference was found in length of the interview t(156) = -2.45, p = .02 showing that the excluded protocols were characterized by a significantly shorter interview time that was most probably caused by the lack of information about juveniles. measures demographic questionnaire was developed to gather the sociodemographic information about the research participants and their previous delinquent behaviour. the questions related to the age, place of residence, school grade, family structure, age of the first contact with police, duration of probation, etc. this questionnaire was filled in by probation officers on the basis of the case records. the instruments described below were chosen as concurrent measures for criminal risk estimates as their relationship with criminal behaviour is established in numerous studies cited above. permissions to use the instruments in current study were acquired from their authors. the instruments were translated into lithuanian by the research team. the lithuanian version of the instruments was translated back into english by a professional translator, who was not familiar with the original texts. the back translations were submitted to the authors of the instruments and certain changes (if any) within lithuanian versions was made according to their comments. 38 virginija klimukienė, alfredas laurinavičius, ilona laurinaitytė, laura ustinavičiūtė, and mykolas baltrūnas the start: av (viljoen et al., 2014) is a structured professional judgement scheme guiding the assessment of multiple adverse outcomes in adolescents between 13 and 18 years of age. the adverse outcomes are divided into two groups: (1) harm to others and rule violations, and (2) harm to the adolescent, each containing for four separate domains. as our study focuses on criminal behavior of juveniles, only the outcomes related to harm to others and rule violations were analyzed in this article, namely, risks of violence, non-violent offences, substance abuse, and unauthorized absence. the structured professional judgement approach requires two types of decisions: first, the assessors should examine the acquired information and rate every item included in the instrument according to the rating criteria described in the user manual. second, they need to make a final decision on the risk level of each adverse outcome. start: av contains 25 items, each coded as strengths and vulnerabilities evidenced during the past three months on the 3-point scale (0 = low, 1 = moderate, 2 = high). the strengths and vulnerabilities are rated separately from each other and those identified as especially relevant to risk management are referred to as key (for strengths) and critical (for vulnerabilities). taking into consideration the rated items as well as the historical factors, the assessors estimate the risk of each adverse outcome over the next three months as low, moderate, and high. alongside the risk ratings total scores of strengths and vulnerabilities were calculated for the research purposes, and each of them could range from 0 to 50. the subtypes of antisocial behaviour questionnaire (stab; burt & donnellan, 2009) measures self-reported history of delinquent behaviour. the stab is composed of 32 items which are rated using a 5-point scale ranging from never (1) to nearly all the time (5). the stab contains the following three scales: physical aggression (pa), social aggression (sa), and rule braking (rb), consisting of 10, 11, and 11 items respectively. the participants completed the stab reporting if the indicated behaviour occurred any time in their life. in the current study, cronbach’s α of stab ranged from .68 to .92. the triarchic psychopathy measure (tripm; patrick, 2010) is a 58-item self-reported inventory that yields an overall psychopathy score along with 3 subscales of disinhibition, meanness, and boldness corresponding to construct of the triarchic model of psychopathy. the 39 2018, 22, 31–54 p.examination of convergent validity of start: av ratings among male juveniles on probation disinhibition scale evaluates general propensity towards externalizing problems and comprises 20 items; the meanness scale evaluates the callous aggression subdomain of the externalizing spectrum, and the boldness scale evaluates the adaptive component of psychopathy entailing traits of dominance, emotional stability, and adventurousness. the latter two scales comprise 19 items each. the participants were asked to rate their agreement to each statement on 4-point scale: true (0); somewhat true (1); somewhat false (2); false (3). in the present sample, cronbach’s α ranged from .65 to .85. criminal sentiments scale – modified (css-m; shields & simourd, 1991) is a self-reported instrument designed to measure three general categories of criminal attitudes (martinez & andres-pueyo, 2015). it consists of 41 items: first 25 items compose the subscale of attitudes towards the law, court, and police (lcp); next 10 items compose the subscale of tolerance for law violations (tlv) related to the category of neutralization. the latter 6 items compose the subscale of identification with criminal others (ico). each item is scored on a 3-point scale: agree (0), undecided (1), disagree (2), with higher scores reflecting stronger criminal attitudes. previous researches have shown that css-m possesses good psychometric properties and predictive validity in samples of adult criminals (simourd & van de ven, 1999); in our sample cronbach’s α ranged from .53 to .91. results start: av ratings: reliability, missing items and correlations between strength and vulnerability ratings the start: av interrater reliability was calculated on 30 cases from the study pool. each case was evaluated by two independent evaluators. the values of interrater reliability which are less than .40 indicate poor interrater reliability; between .40 and .59 mean fair; .60–.74 – good; .75–1.00 – excellent (cicchetti, 1994). the interrater reliability of individual evaluations (icc1) and average ratings (icc2) of start: av strengths and vulnerabilities total scores were excellent as varying from .82 to .96 (see table 1). the 88% of separate start: av items (i.e. 22 strengths and 22 vulnerabilities) icc1 coefficients vary from fair to excellent; however, the analysis of 40 virginija klimukienė, alfredas laurinavičius, ilona laurinaitytė, laura ustinavičiūtė, and mykolas baltrūnas icc values shows interrater agreement difficulties in rating such items as coping, social support from adults and community. these difficulties can arise due to limited sources of information used for ratings. table 1. interrater reliability, descriptive characteristics, and internal correlations of the start: av start:av ratings icc1 icc2 m (sd) % of not evaluated r st vn st vn st vn st vn total score .82 .91 .90 .96 17.16 (9.40) 15.50 (9.28) 20.1 20.1 -.76** 1. school and work .70 .75 .83 .86 .52 (.62) 1.00 (.75) 6.3 6.3 -.56** 2. recreation .80 .81 .89 .89 .71 (.70) .82 (.70) 5.7 6.3 -.55** 3. substance use .66 .45 .80 .62 .34 (.57) .48 (.70) 8.8 8.8 -.28** 4. rule adherence .57 .75 .73 .85 .93 (.66) .79 (.72) 0.6 0.6 -.53** 5. conduct .50 .81 .67 .89 .69 (.66) .75 (.75) 4.4 5.0 -.37** 6. self-care .63 .74 .78 .85 .58 (.61) .54 (.57) .6 3.8 -.18* 7. coping .36 .73 .53 .85 .61 (.61) .70 (.70) 17.0 17.0 -.45** 8. impulse control .55 .64 .71 .78 .35 (.55) .70 (.71) 3.1 2.5 -.37** 9. mental/cognitive state .72 .79 .84 .88 .43 (.60) .47 (.66) 11.3 11.3 -.35** 10. emotional state .58 .78 .74 .88 .67 (.68) .44 (.56) 6.9 7.5 -.52** 11. attitudes .60 .79 .75 .89 .64 (.67) .73 (.74) 13.8 14.5 -.50** 12. social skills .73 .75 .85 .85 .90 (.74) .55 (.66) 3.1 4.4 -.55** 13a. relationships – caregivers/adults .59 .66 .74 .80 1.03 (.65) .54 (.63) 6.9 7.5 -.44** 13b. relationships – peers .41 .45 .58 .62 1.06 (.60) .37 (.57) 25.8 26.4 -.39** 14a. social support – adults .39 .69 .56 .82 1.02 (.67) .40 (.58) 22.6 23.3 -.41** 14b. social support – peers .46 .39 .63 .56 .92 (.63) .42 (.61) 52.2 51.6 -.50** 15. parenting .50 .73 .66 .85 .82 (.66) .90 (.73) 3.1 3.1 -.59** 16. parental functioning .48 .37 .65 .54 .83 (.65) .72 (.74) 8.8 9.4 -.47** 17. peers .49 .75 .66 .86 .47 (.62) .95 (.77) 23.9 23.3 -.42** 18. material resources .70 .86 .82 .92 .73 (.68) .51 (.62) 5.0 4.4 -.51** 41 2018, 22, 31–54 p.examination of convergent validity of start: av ratings among male juveniles on probation 19. community .39 .61 .56 .76 .54 (.61) .68 (.68) 3.8 3.8 -.27** 20. external triggers .67 .29 .80 .45 .23 (.51) .33 (.58) 35.2 35.2 .10 21. insight .75 .73 .86 .84 .51 (.60) .91 (.73) 11.9 13.2 -.60** 22. plans .77 .49 .87 .66 .77 (.65) .63 (.62) 8.8 10.1 -.58** 24. treatability .76 .81 .87 .90 .84 (.60) .57 (.68) 6.9 6.9 -.58** risk of violence .51 .68 .28 (.47) 20.1 risk of non-violent offences .66 .79 .42 (.64) 20.1 risk of substance abuse .49 .64 .37 (.66) 20.1 risk of unauthorized absence .89 .94 .74 (.82) 20.8 note. total sample consisted of n = 159 juveniles, iccs were calculated for ratings of 30 cases. st = strengths total scores; vn = vulnerabilities total scores. a item 23. medication adherence was not included as medication was prescribed only for 7 participants of the study. the icc1 for risk of adverse outcomes vary from .49 to .89 (tab le 1) showing from fair to excellent interrater reliability. in all the cases the intra-class correlation coefficients for average ratings (icc2) were higher in comparison to the coefficients for individual ratings (icc1). the obtained reliability statistics confirm the reliability of individual ratings and provide rationale to use these ratings in testing the convergent validity of start: av. the analyses of missing ratings revealed the frequency of which the items were not evaluated due to the lack of information from probation officers (see table 1). social support from peers was rated as neither strength nor vulnerability in more than 50% of the cases; external triggers – in 35%, relationships with peers – in 26% of cases. the least missing of ratings were on rule adherence (.6%), strength in self care (.6%) and vulnerability in impulse control (2.5%). in general strengths and vulnerabilities of the sample were rated relatively low (the means are between 0 and 1). the same can be said about the risks of adverse outcomes, the means of which range from .28 (risk of violence) to .74 (risk of unauthorized absence). table 1 cont. start:av ratings icc1 icc2 m (sd) % of not evaluated r st vn st vn st vn st vn 42 virginija klimukienė, alfredas laurinavičius, ilona laurinaitytė, laura ustinavičiūtė, and mykolas baltrūnas for interpretation of the strength of associations we used cohen’s (1992) guidelines, where effect sizes of correlations are: small r > .10, medium r > .30, large r > .50. the correlations between strength and vulnerability ratings were in an expected direction and ranging from medium to large with the exception of external triggers. our results are in line with the findings of other studies (e.g., desmarais et al.; 2012), showing that associations for school/work are among the largest while for selfcare among the smallest. associations between start: av ratings and behaviourrelated variables as shown in table 2 start: av strength total score was positively associated with an age of the first contact with police, and negatively associated with a number of convictions, deliberate school termination, and stab scores. start: av vulnerability total score had associations inverse to the ones mentioned above. in addition, risk of violence, risk of non-violent offence, and risk of substance abuse had associations similar to vulnerability total score. the risk of unauthorized absence was negatively correlated with the age of the first contact with police. most of the correlations were of small and medium effect sizes. the length of supervision was not significantly correlated with any of the start: av ratings. table 2. correlations between start: av and convergent measures start:av strength total scores vulnerability total scores risk of violence risk of nonviolent offences risk of substance abuse risk of unauthorized absence age of fcp .28** -.36** -.12 -.40** -.23** -.31** convictions -.21* .32** .20* .43** .25** .12 length sp -.06 .17 .02 .12 .06 .09 dst -.24* .48** .28** .39** .27** .15 stab total -.26** .31** .22* .33** .20* .11 physical aggression -.23** .26** .23** .20* .09 .03 43 2018, 22, 31–54 p.examination of convergent validity of start: av ratings among male juveniles on probation social aggression -.22* .25** .13 .32** .19* .12 rule breaking -.21* .31** .21* .41** .28** .17 tripm total -.13 .11 .16 .20* .05 -.05 boldness .19* -.19* -.07 .04 -.00 -.09 meanness -.17 .09 .19* .11 -.03 -.07 disinhibition -.22* .26** .16 .24** .12 .03 css-m total .05 -.08 .09 -.04 -.14 -.18* law-courtpolice .03 -.06 .13 -.03 -.12 -.14 tolerance for law violation .13 -.17 -.05 -.05 -.21* -.18* identification with criminal others -.05 .02 .09 -.02 -.02 -.18* note. age of fcp = age of the first contact with police; convictions = number of convictions; length sp = length of supervision in months; dst = deliberate school termination; stab = subtypes of antisocial behaviour questionnaire; tripm = triarchic psychopathy measure; css-m = criminal sentiments scale-modified. a dst (deliberate school termination) is dichotomous variable meaning 0 = false, and 1 = true; statistically significant correlations are bolded. * p < .05 (2-tailed), ** p < .01 (2-tailed). start: av associations with psychopathy and attitudinal measures the results of correlations between start: av, tripm, and css-m scores are presented in table 2. start: av strengths total scores had positive correlations with boldness and negative correlations with disinhibition, while start: av vulnerability total scores had negative correlations with boldness and positive correlations with disinhibition. all indicated table 2 cont. start:av strength total scores vulnerability total scores risk of violence risk of nonviolent offences risk of substance abuse risk of unauthorized absence 44 virginija klimukienė, alfredas laurinavičius, ilona laurinaitytė, laura ustinavičiūtė, and mykolas baltrūnas correlations were of a small effect size. as expected risk of violence was associated with meanness, and risk of non-violent offences was associated with disinhibition. however, the associations between css-m and the risks of two adverse outcomes (substance abuse and unauthorized absence) went on negative direction. discussion the main objective of this paper was to examine the interrater reliability and convergent validity of start: av ratings in a sample of male juvenile offenders on probation. the start: av ratings were based on information acquired during the interviews with probation officers, who supervise juvenile offenders. our study revealed that this information is fairly comprehensive and relevant for estimating risk of different adverse outcomes, as the interrater reliability coefficients vary from fair to excellent and are similar to the interrater reliability coefficients found in other studies (e.g. viljoen et al., 2012b). however, with regards to separate items, certain unevenness is observed: probation officers provide the most detailed information on rule adherence and from observation during direct communication either with a minor (e.g. self-care, impulse control, social skills) or with his caregivers (e.g. parenting; material resources). yet, there is evident lack of information regarding juveniles’ communication with peers as well as important events happening in their lives: these items were not rated in half and one third of the cases respectively. the focus on certain aspects of psychosocial functioning of the juvenile can be related to the specific tasks of probation officers, as they are oriented mainly towards supervision how the court orders are executed. anyway, the majority of the probation officers know the juveniles quite well and contain information necessary for start: av assessment. the interrater reliability indicators of start: av ratings in our study were sufficient: the interrater reliability of start: av strengths and vulnerabilities total scores were excellent. it means, that the description of items provided in the start: av user guide (viljoen et al., 2014) ensures the unambiguous ratings by different raters of both strengths and vulnerabilities. we also found satisfactory interrater reliability of estimated risk of adverse outcomes, and these findings were similar to the 45 2018, 22, 31–54 p.examination of convergent validity of start: av ratings among male juveniles on probation other studies (e.g., desmarais et al., 2012) opening the floor for further analysis. negative correlations between strengths and vulnerabilities were found in our study. despite more general assumption that the presence of particular strength does not mean the absence of particular vulnerability and vice versa, the studies show that on group level negative correlations between strengths and vulnerabilities are up to the large effect size (e.g., desmarais et al., 2012). the same results confirming our first hypothesis were obtained in our study. the results have supported the second hypothesis, that the estimated risks of adverse outcomes are positively associated with behavioural and personality variables. the effect sizes of the correlations ranged from small to medium, but relatively small effect sizes can be explained by different errors related to different assessment methods. the start: av assessment is based on structured professional judgement, and errors can be caused by lack of relevant information or misinterpretations made by assessors. self-reported measures are prone to other type of errors, mostly related to random responding or socially desirable responses. however, in this type of research correlation coefficients even of a smaller range can prove the convergent validity of the instruments (sellbom, laurinavičius, ustinavičiūtė, & laurinaitytė, 2018). antisocial behaviour variables positively correlated with vulnerabilities and the risk of some adverse outcomes as well as negatively correlated with strengths. the most abundant and the largest associations were found between start: av strengths and vulnerabilities total ratings and age of the first contact with police, number of convictions, deliberate school termination, and self-reported antisocial behaviour. the risk of violence had the largest correlations with deliberate school termination and the stab physical aggression scale; this confirms the validity of violence risk assessment. the risk of non-violent offences had larger correlations with age of the first contact with police, number of convictions, deliberate school termination, and all scales of stab (particularly the scale of rule-breaking). these associations are in line with theoretical assumptions (e.g., moffitt, 2006) and empirical findings (e.g., casey, 2011) that history of antisocial behaviour is very important for the risk assessment and is necessary to be considered during the process of evaluation. 46 virginija klimukienė, alfredas laurinavičius, ilona laurinaitytė, laura ustinavičiūtė, and mykolas baltrūnas associations between start: av and psychopathy or attitudinal measures were not so numerous. the meanness component of psychopathy, which reflects callousness and aggressiveness, was associated with the risk of violence, while disinhibition, which reflects poor regulation of emotion and behaviour, was associated with the risk of non-violent offences. disinhibition also correlated with the strengths and vulnerabilities total scores, showing the potential importance for the antisocial behaviour of juveniles. it should be noted that the above-mentioned correlations were consistent with the theoretical assumptions in terms of their direction; nevertheless, they were small of their effect size. there were no correlations found between start: av ratings and instruments measuring pro-criminal attitudes. none of strengths/vulnerabilities total scores and risks of violence/non-violent offences was correlated with any of the css-m scales. moreover, small negative correlations between antisocial attitudes and the risks of substance use and unauthorized absence were found contradicting the findings of other studies (e.g., skilling & sorge, 2014). this discrepancy can be explained by different features of the samples of the studies. the majority of our sample (72.7%) had no prior history of convictions. in comparison the study of skilling and sorge (2014) involved male juveniles, 76% of whom had prior contact with the justice system. furthermore, with regard to index offense, 53.4% of our study participants were charged for nonviolent offences in comparison to 74% participants charged for violent (physical or sexual) offences in the study of skilling and sorge (2014). therefore, we assume that criminal attitudes play a more significant role in the samples characterized by lengthier or more serious criminal history. this assumption is also supported by the study in a sample of german youth inmates, which found that antisocial cognition appears among four key factors predicting violent recidivism, but not general reoffending (grieger & hosser, 2014). another study with female young offenders also showed that while css-m adequately measures pro-criminal attitudes, the attitudes themselves are not so important for the offending behaviour (o’hagan, brown, & skilling, 2014). on the other hand, despite the widely accepted notion of criminal attitudes as being the most important predictor of offending behaviour (andrews & bonta, 2010, visu-petra, borlean, chendran, & buş, 2008), there is a lack of a uniform definition what criminal attitudes exactly refer 47 2018, 22, 31–54 p.examination of convergent validity of start: av ratings among male juveniles on probation to as they might be defined as thinking styles, social cognition, criminal sentiments, pride in the commission or positive evaluation of a particular delinquent behaviour (martínez & andrés-pueyo, 2015). all these definitions are inter-related but not overlapping; thus, further research is needed to clarify the extent to which criminal attitudes in general and criminal sentiments as measured by css-m in particular do manifest among juvenile offenders on probation. limitations and future direc tions we consider that the main limitation of the study is related to the source of information used for start: av ratings, which were conducted on the basis of the interviews with probation officers solely. probation officers collect information about the psychosocial functioning of juveniles; however, certain gaps exist, which do not allow to complete the start: av ratings in full content. in our study the lack of information led to the exclusion of 32 cases where more than 20% of items were missing. it should be noted, that for individual evaluation for non-research purposes the direct contact with juveniles is the main source of information and it should not be omitted. in other words, the interview with juveniles, their caregivers, and collaterals as well as analysis of all relevant documents are necessary to be conducted until all information for completing the start: av ratings is collected. taking into consideration that the overall goal of the risk assessment is to predict the recurrence of adverse outcomes in the future, the merit of any risk assessment instrument as well as the endorsement of its application in practise undoubtedly is in its prospective validity. the verification of the sufficient interrater reliability and convergent validity of the start: av advances the further investigation of the instrument particularly focusing on its power to predict the adverse outcomes for juveniles within a period of three months or other specified reference period. acknowledgment the study was funded by a grant from the r research council of lithuania (no. s-mip-17-112) for the project “risk and protective 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(april, 2003). risk and protective factors of child delinquency. child delinquency bulletin series. washington, dc: u.s. department of justice.. retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/193409.pdf start: av vertinimų konkurencinis validumas vyriškos lyties paauglių, esančių probacijos priežiūroje, imt yje virginija klimukienė*, alfredas laurinavičius*, ilona laurinait ytė*, laura ustinavičiūtė* , ** mykolas b altrūnas* * vilniaus universitetas, lietuva; ** mykolo romerio universitetas, lietuva santrauka. rizikos ir atsako į intervencijas artimiausiu metu paauglių versija (angl. shortterm assessment of risk and treatability: adolescent version, sutr. start:av, viljoen, nicholls, cruise, desmarais, & webster, 2014) yra struktūruotu specialisto sprendimu grįstas neigiamų pasekmių, susijusių su žala kitiems ir taisyklių nesilaikymu, rizikos vertinimo instrumentas. vienas iš start:av privalumų yra tai, kad jis numato tiek paauglio stiprybių, tiek sunkumų vertinimą. kadangi tai yra santykinai naujas https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/193409.pdf 54 virginija klimukienė, alfredas laurinavičius, ilona laurinaitytė, laura ustinavičiūtė, and mykolas baltrūnas vertinimo instrumentas, yra svarbu įvertinti jo psichometrines charakteristikas atsižvelgiant į skirtingą kultūrinį kontekstą. start:av vertinimo patikimumas bei konkurencinis validumas buvo tirtas 159 vyriškos lyties probuojamų paauglių, kurių amžius m = 16.97, sd = 0.81, imtyje. informacija apie tyrimo dalyvių psichosocialinį funkcionavimą buvo surinkta interviu su juos prižiūrinčiais probacijos pareigūnais metu ir įvertinta start:av instrumentu. konkurencinio validumo tikrinimui buvo naudojami šie klausimynai: asocialaus elgesio tipų klausimynas (stab; burt & donnellan, 2009), triarchinės psichopatijos klausimynas (tripm; patrick, 2010) bei kriminalinių nuostatų skalės modifikuota versija (css-m; shields & simourd, 1991). gauti rezultatai parodė, kad start:av stiprybių ir sunkumų suminiai balai pasižymi aukštu suderinamumu, o ryšiai tarp start:av ir elgesio bei asmenybės veiksnių pagrindžia start:av konkurencinį validumą. nerastos sąsajos tarp start:av vertinimų ir prokriminalinių nuostatų reikalauja nuodugnesnių kriminalių nuostatų pasireiškimo probuojamiems paaugliams tyrimo. apibendrinat galima pasakyti, kad tyrimo rezultatai sudaro tinkamas prielaidas tolesniems start:av prognostinio validumo tyrimams bei šio instrumento praktiniam taikymui dirbant su delinkventiškais paaugliais. reikšminiai žodžiai: paauglių delinkventiškas elgesys; neigiamų pasekmių rizika; stiprybės; sunkumai. received: 2018-10-08 accepted: 2018-12-27 contents editorial note scientific publications viktorija cepukiene, rytis pakrosnis introducing unguided computerized solution-focused self-help into university counseling services virginija klimukienė, alfredas laurinavičius, ilona laurinaitytė, laura ustinavičiūtė, and mykolas baltrūnas examination of convergent validity of start: av ratings among male juveniles on probation karina kravčenko, laura šeibokaitė the effect of joy and anxiety on egocentric decisions among young adults ala petrulytė, virginija guogienė adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy in lithuanian sample kristina ražauskaitė-pilipavičienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė gender differences in dyadic dominance during interpersonal interaction: the comparison of friends’ dyads and romanticc ouples lina cirtautienė, auksė endriulaitienė the influence of psychological factors for leader’s efficiency in global it companies kristina kovalčikienė, giedrė genevičiūtė-janonė the relationship between the vocational teachers’ personality traits and the work motivation information the 20th international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, december 6th, 2017. abstr acts the 21st international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, april 25th, 2018. abstr acts contributors reviewers instructions for authors scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2016 / 19 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.19.4 rel ationship with authorit y in narcissism dovilė petronytė-kvedarauskienė1, gražina gudaitė vilnius university, lithuania abstract. background. relationship with authority is a significant social as well as psychological factor which was destructively influenced by the soviet authoritarian regime. in western cultures, authority is often neglected while stressing the importance of an individual, and that leads to narcissistic problems. though relevance of the issue of relationship with authority is acknowledged in contemporary psychology, it has been scarcely studied so far. thorough conceptualization of the construct of relationship with authority is necessary for both an adequate assessment of it and applicability of the knowledge about the phenomenon in psychotherapy practice. finding the narcissistic motives in relation with authority would help to handle with narcissism in research as well as in psychotherapy. the aim of the article is to give a comprehensive conception of relationship with authority with regard to its influence on human psyche development. we seek to distinguish levels and modes of this relationship. the final task is to discern specific motives of relationship with authority which are characteristic of narcissism. methods. psychodynamic, mostly analytical, literature has been reviewed and analysed to explore psychological concept of relationship with authority and its part in inner dynamics of narcissism. results. authority can be described as a power, reputation or competence attributed to a person, social group or institution. three levels of relationship with authority can be discerned: relationship with 1) outer authority figures; 2) inner authority; 3) transpersonal authority. analysis of literature has led to distinguishing such characteristic motives of narcissistic relationship with authority: aggrandizement or depreciating one’s own authority; fright, anger with regard to or fight against authority; abusive authoritative stance or excessive submissiveness; idealization or devaluation of authorities. conclusions. the importance of the specific modes of relationship with authority in narcissism is inferred with recommendations to include the factor into assessment and psychotherapy of narcissism. keywords: authority, relationship with authority, authority complex, ego-self axis, narcissism. 71 1 address for correspondence: department of clinical and organizational psychology, faculty of philosophy, vilnius university. universiteto st. 9/1, lt-01513, vilnius, lithuania. phone: +370 686 61894. e-mail: dovilepk@yahoo.co.uk dovilė petronytė-kvedarauskienė, gražina gudaitė 72 introduc tion relationship with authority is one of the most significant social as well as psychological factors which was destructively influenced by the authoritarian regime in lithuania and other countries (gudaitė, 2016; kalinenko, slutskaya, 2014; kuodytė, 2005). psychological research on the consequences of the soviet totalitarian regime reveal that people who lived under the regime tend to approach authority as dangerous, threatening and hostile. big fright and avoidance of authorities, cheating and hiding from authorities without an adequate reason, distrust of outer and inner authority are expressions of detrimental outcomes of authoritarian regimes (gudaitė, 2013, 2014). moreover, not only people who faced the regime directly but also their descendants of second and even third generation endure disturbed relations with outer and inner authorities, lack of personal initiative and low self-confidence being the concomitant psychosocial motives (gailienė, 2015; peterson, luik, 2014). during the time of transition from authoritarian to democratic political system, reconstruction of relationship with authority is the task which the society as well as an individual have to face and undertake. according to research and theoretical psychological literature, human psyche development is highly influenced by relationship with authority. it paves the way for self-identity, feeling of self-worth, sense of direction and meaning of one’s life (gudaitė, 2013, 2014; jacoby, 2008; kohut, 2009). though relationship with authority is regarded as very significant, there are not many psychological studies targeted to understand, evaluate and treat the issue. a group of scientists of vilnius university has done several qualitative as well as quantitative researches focusing on experience, expression and changes of relationship with authority (bieliauskienė, gudaitė, 2016; grigutytė, rukšaitė, 2016; gudaitė, 2013, 2014). the inventory for quantitative evaluation of the construct of relationship with authority has been created and presented (grigutytė, gudaitė, 2016). this paper is intended to give a theoretical background for psychological conception of relationship with authority. thorough comprehension of the construct of relationship with authority is necessary for both an adequate assessment of it and applicability of the knowledge about the phenomenon in psychotherapy practice. 2016, 19, 71–88 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 73 relationship with authority is the relevant topic not only in postsoviet countries but in western culture as well. stressing the importance of an individual often goes together with neglect of any superior authorities and is connected to narcissism with its various expressions. cultural historian c. lasch (1979) in his book on narcissism states that the decline of parental authority is one of the main narcissistic problems of western society. superego structure is deformed, and instead of giving moral values and direction to life, it enacts harsh requirements fused with grandiose self-images which is impossible to attain. that leads to a big anxiety and insecurity which are being managed by even higher standards and efforts to acquire and to consume. a relation with oneself, with others and with what is acquired is being lost (pulcini, 2012). in psychological literature, narcissism is often referred to as feeling superior to others, egocentricity, exploitation and seeking admiration instead of close intimate relations. these attributes of narcissism belong to narcissistic grandiosity which is often focused on by empirical approaches of quantitative psychological research (campbell, milller, 2011). nevertheless, the phenomenon of narcissism shows to be more complex than only grandiosity. clinical approaches as well as an increasing number of empirical studies additionally take into account a vulnerable dimension of narcissism which embraces feeling of deep inferiority, experience of emptiness, loneliness and meaninglessness often leading to depression (jacoby, 2008; miller, campbell, & widiger, 2010; miller, lynam, & campbell, 2016). a widely held view in clinically oriented psychological literature claims that narcissistic vulnerability can be defended or compensated for by narcissistic grandiosity. therefore, vulnerability and grandiosity represent two distinct although tightly related states of narcissism (kohut, 2009; miller, 1986, 2011; miller et al., 2016). being a complicated phenomenon with diverse inner and outer manifestations, narcissism becomes a challenge for scientists and clinicians to manage. there is a lack of a reliable research instrument capable of assessing both dimensions of narcissism – grandiosity and vulnerability – with their multiple aspects. a big variety of measures have been incorporated in various questionnaires. it has appeared that they are too different to be compared and that they do not have clear underlying conceptualizations (campbell, miller, 2011; miller et al., 2016). dovilė petronytė-kvedarauskienė, gražina gudaitė 74 one of the components of the narcissistic personality inventory (npi), which is the most widely used instrument to assess narcissism, is defined as “authority”. statements of authority scale refer to a person’s leadership skills and wish to be in charge and gain power (raskin, terry, 1988). other instruments measuring narcissism do not include the authority factor (miller et al., 2016; pincus et al., 2009). relationship with authority plays a role in both grandiose and vulnerable dimensions of narcissism. in grandiose state, a person neglects superiority of any other and feels himself the ultimate authority. in vulnerable state, a person is dependent on outer superior figures – he needs their evaluation and confirmation to feel valuable. therefore, sensitivity to authority’s validation is characteristic for both grandiosity and vulnerability because neglect of authority is another side of a big fright of his devaluation (kernberg, 2004; kohut, 2009). psychodynamic literature indicates that relations with authorities play a significant role in etiology, inner dynamics, expression as well as treatment and transformation of narcissism. when there is no trust in parents – the first authority figures in human life, there appears no trust in other outer authorities and no adequate inner authority is formed (jacoby, 2008; kohut, 2009). two psychological factors which are often mentioned in psychological literature as underlying narcissistic problems are fragile self-esteem and self-efficacy. these factors are troubled and they create inter as well as intra-personal problems (brookes, 2015; kohut, 2009; zeigler-hill, clark, pickard, 2008). self-esteem and self-efficacy are linked to a sense of personal strength and validity and therefore to relationship with authority, which acknowledges or rejects, gives or takes away power. authority can value or devalue and enable or disable. therefore, theoretical as well as empirical psychological studies note the importance of relationship with authority in narcissism dynamics. unfortunately, exhaustive studies focusing on investigation of narcissism with respect to relationship with authority are absent. to sum up, the issue of relationship with authority is relevant in nowadays society: post-authoritarian as well as democratic. it is important to conceptualize the construct to enable its adequate understanding, measurement and treatment. specificity of relationship with authority 2016, 19, 71–88 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 75 in narcissism is an urgent and not studied issue at all. with our paper, we try to show that it is necessary to include the factor of relationship with authority as a consistent part of narcissism assessment instruments and to pay a proper attention to it in psychotherapy with narcissistic clients. the task of our theoretical study is to give a coherent and structured psychological understanding of the concept of relationship with authority, to explore its role in human psyche development, to describe modes of making contact with authority and to distinguish its various levels. the final goal is to find out characteristic motives of narcissistic relationship with authority. materials and me thods relationship with authority concerns outer as well as inner reality of a person’s psyche. to reach our aim to explore the factor of relationship with authority and its importance to psyche development, we chose the psychodynamic paradigm to rest upon. the psychodynamic psychology focuses on inner dynamics of a person’s psyche, addressing intrapersonal relations which are interconnected with interpersonal relations. after having sought for the psychodynamic literature on relationship with authority, we found out that analytical authors are among a few who focused directly on this psychological factor and its role in inner psychic dynamics. the relevant psychological articles and books were searched in the following databases: ebsco, googlescholar and the journal of analytical psychology website. the keywords authority, relationship with authority, authority complex, ego-self axis were used while searching for the necessary literature. the analysis, synthesis and interpretation of the information were made. we did not find any psychological literature addressing narcissism with regard to relationship with authority in particular. for the purpose to distinguish characteristic motives of narcissistic relationship with authority, we analysed, compared and combined the knowledge about the phenomenon of relationship with authority together with the thoughts of different psychodynamic authors studying narcissism and noting the authority factor. dovilė petronytė-kvedarauskienė, gražina gudaitė 76 results conception of authority and multiplicity of relationship with authority in psychology dictionaries, authority is defined as a power or agency attributed to a person, social group or institution. formal and informal – personal – authorities are distinguished. formal authority is resting upon laws, rules and social status. informal authority is related with personal knowledge, experience, moral and other human characteristics (corsini, 2002; psichologijos žodynas, 1993; reber, 1987). author of analytical psychology h. dieckmann (1977) discerns three aspects of authority: 1) violence and power, 2) reputation and prestige, and 3) knowledge and wisdom. one of these aspects is usually expressed more than others in a concrete authority figure. power often dominates in formal authority, and reputation and/or wisdom take the biggest part in personal authority, although there might be various combinations of authority characteristics. authority presupposes a relation. relation is intrinsic in authority because authority depends on those who acknowledge it (bohenski, 2004). to cite dieckmann (1977), authority “never exists as a mere object like a mountain which is always there even if nobody is around” (p. 231). experience of relation with authority is important to human psyche development and functioning. there are three levels on which relationship with authority expresses: outer, inner and transcendent relations. parents, influential elder relatives and teachers usually take a role of outer authority figures. relations with outer authority figures in childhood have a crucial impact on inner authority’s formation. beside personal authorities, formal outer authorities can also have a big influence on a psyche. when destructive consequences of political authoritarian regimes are studied in contemporary psychology, destructive relations with authorities are being found to be one of them (gailienė, 2015; gudaitė, 2013, 2014). inner authority refers to trust in oneself, ability to accept one’s thoughts, beliefs and actions as good and right (young-eisendrath, wiedmann, 1987). it is related to self-esteem, capability to create and feel joy for one’s life. inner authority enables a person to feel meaning and having direction of his life. it is subjectively experienced as inner 2016, 19, 71–88 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 77 center, as being grounded and having a back to rest upon (jacoby, 2008; samuels, 1985). in psychological sense, outer and inner authorities are interconnected and influence each other. outer authority figures validating ideas and actions of a person can foster and strengthen trust in oneself. on the contrary, devaluation of a person coming from outside can weaken one’s sense of inner center and self-esteem. good relationship with inner authority presuppose constructive relations with outer authorities. treating oneself with respect at the same time allows to relate with outer authorities and to recognize their superiority (gudaitė, 2013). in analytical psychology, transpersonal nature of authority is recognized. as dieckmann (1977) points out, authority is an inborn natural principle to human being. it is an instinctual force of structure and order grounded in collective consciousness. while a person is always related to other people and often belongs to some social group, he inevitably encounters with authorities. what is natural and instinctive, is also connected to spiritual realm in analytical psychology. therefore, authority is often seen as related to a higher, divine formative power. to elaborate a transpersonal level of relationship with authority, which serves as a background for relations with inner and outer authority, we have to define some of the main terms of analytical psychology. c. g. jung has said that human psyche is more than a result of personal experience. it also has got a transpersonal dimension which expresses itself in universal images and modes of experience, labelled as archetypes in analytical psychology and found in religions and mythologies all over the world (jung, 1978). the concept of the self is widely used in analytical psychology to refer to the unity and multidimensionality of human psyche. in various analytical sources, the self is defined as 1) the wholeness of personality which embraces consciousness and unconsciousness, personal and transpersonal collective psyche; 2) the central archetype, the organizing center of personality which directs development of a person’s psyche. therefore, the self is the center of both consciousness and unconsciousness. another structure of the psyche –the ego – is considered to be the center of a person’s consciousness. the ego directs conscious actions, makes conscious decisions (jacoby, 2008; jung, 1978). the ego is related to subjective psychic identity while the self is connected to objective psychic identity. the self can be seen dovilė petronytė-kvedarauskienė, gražina gudaitė 78 as “the supreme psychic authority” which the ego is subordinate to (edinger, 1992, p. 3). in jung’s (1978) words, the task of a person’s consciousness is to recognize its descent from a higher unity, to pay due and careful regard to this source and to execute its commands responsibly (par. 253). “higher unity”, sometimes referred by jung (2010) as “higher will,” is one possible attribute of the self which is related to transpersonal dimension. it concerns the focus of our work – relationship with authority. how can a person execute the program of a “higher unity”, “higher will” or “supreme authority”? in other terms, what anticipates the bond between the ego and the self, how this bond is experienced? in analytical psychology, a construct of ego-self axis is used to describe relationship between the two psychic structures. significance of ego-self axis for the mental health is indicated. stages of ego-self axis formation, important factors influencing its strength are distinguished (asper, 1993; edinger, 1992; jacoby, 2008). according to edinger (1992), when the ego is healthy, mature, and differentiated enough, it can have a good and trustful relationship with the self – “the supreme psychic authority”. in the first half of a human life, the task of the ego is to separate itself from the self, to form personal boundaries, to define itself and to develop. in this process, the ego undergoes a lot of cycles of connection and disconnection from the self. strong, solid ego means responsibility for one’s life, good reflection and differentiation of one’s emotions and needs. only the ego which is mature enough can recognize its subordination to the self and to create a conscious relation with the self. specific psychological expressions of healthy ego-self axis, which indicates good and trustful relationship with transcendent authority, can be distinguished. that is humility concerning higher transpersonal forces and acknowledgment of one’s limits (jung, 1978, 2010). a proper connection between the ego and the self fosters feeling of security, trust in oneself and the world. it gives vitality, stimulates life interests and activity, it leads to a sense of meaning and purpose. it enables to connect to one’s inner authority, to be in touch with one’s true nature, to create and to feel the owner of one’s life (edinger, 1992; gudaitė, 2013; jacoby, 2008). 2016, 19, 71–88 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 79 relationship with authority in developmental process in the process of creation of the bond between a person’s ego and the self – “supreme authority” – personal authorities and first of all parents play a crucial role. in early years, a child’s relation with the self may be identical with the relationship between a child and his parents (edinger, 1992). the self is experienced through the projection onto personal caregivers. parents can be seen as mediators in ego-self axis formation. at the beginning unconditionally accepting and mirroring and afterwards setting adequate requirements for a child, parents can significantly contribute to healthy ego-self axis development of their offspring. on the contrary, when a child relations with his parents are faulty, ego-self axis can be broken. a child’s relationship with his nature and transpersonal authority can be disturbed (asper, 1993; edinger, 1992). when parents do not validate and properly accept their child, he feels to be rejected by the very center of his life and world. the connection between the ego and the self is prevented. that leads to psychic states of alienation, inferiority and feeling of having no right to live. another harmful mode of rearing a child is his overprotection and prolonged unconditional acceptance with no behaviour limits, no frustrations and requirements. in such a case, the ego development is arrested, no boundaries of the ego are formed, and relation with the self is impeded (edinger, 1992; jacoby, 2008). in psychic development, fatherly and motherly authorities can be distinguished. some authors talking about authority emphasize its exclusively fatherly characteristics: force, activity, courage, structure, order, moral values and ideas, etc. when father is too powerful or even abusive, he can inhibit child’s energy and strength. if father is weak, he doesn’t stimulate and doesn’t convey security feeling to a child. as a result, such a child may lack will and motivation to act and realize his potential. father who is overprotective and/or allowing everything blocks formation of a child’s inner authority, ideals, structure and direction of life (dieckmann, 1977; jacoby, 2008; samuels, 1985). other authors indicate that mothers usually are the very first authorities in human life showing such characteristics as accepting, caring, reacting, fostering life and creating access to basic needs and emotions (young-eisendrath, wiedmann, 1987). unsuccessful relationship with mother can express itself through feeling dovilė petronytė-kvedarauskienė, gražina gudaitė 80 of rejection, destructive impulses, poor connection with one’s natural needs. wilke (1977) states that authority is of an androgenic nature having in itself all: motherly, fatherly, female and male characteristics. wilke (1977) writes about authority complex with its main attribute – power. complex in analytical psychology is understood as a set of ideas and images carrying a big emotional charge with it. complexes are influenced and formed through personal experience although they are connected to some archetypal center. complexes reside in personal unconsciousness otherwise than archetypes of collective unconsciousness. complexes are quite autonomic, transgressing boundaries of conscious control. when they are triggered, they bring intense affects with them (jung, 1977). authority complex can be formed and influenced by emotionally intense negative experience in relationship with both father and mother. some of possible expressions of authority complex is uncontrollable rage, hate, destructive impulses, omnipotence ideas and authoritarian behaviour. contrariwise, authority complex can express as helplessness, impotence feeling and excessive submissiveness (wilke, 1977). although parental role can be the most significant in development of ego-self axis and formation of authority complex, it is not the only one which counts. the impact of teachers, institutions, political regimes and other authority figures and structures which a person has got a relation with are not to undervalue (dieckmann, 1977; kohut, 2009). if the relation with political authority figures is of a distrustful, deceptive, fearful, passive nature, a damaging relationship with authority can develop. destructive aggression and/or auto-aggression is often the psychic response. relationship with all levels of authority: inner, outer and transcendent, can be detrimentally influenced (dieckmann, 1977; gudaitė, 2014; kalinenko, slutskaya, 2014). experience and expression of relationship with authority in narcissism grandiosity and inferiority are the two main interconnected expressions of narcissism (jacoby, 2008; miller, 1986, 2011). these states can be better understood in the light of ego-self axis model. during development of relations with the self, the ego undergoes many inflation and alienation episodes. ego inflation is the ego’s state of identification with 2016, 19, 71–88 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 81 the self. this state is necessary and unavoidable in infancy when the ego is not formed yet. an infant experiences unity with the world, he feels the center of the universe while all his needs are met. parent’s, usually mother’s, mirroring, containing and empathic attitude towards an offspring at the start of his life plays a significant role. the state of omnipotence and perfection is requisite for healthy psychic development. it enables conscious relationship with the self in subsequent stages of development (edinger, 1992; kohut, 2009; winnicott, 1990). episodes of inflation can appear not only in infancy but also in later life. they may bring new ideas, creative impulses and may stimulate significant changes. on the other hand, ego inflation can be precarious. outstaying in the state of inflation hinders development of the ego. that can happen because of mistreatment of a child idolizing and praising him. too much frustration can also lead to ego inflation. in this case the world seems too dangerous for ego to separate and leave the paradise of union with the self. ego inflation in an inappropriate age can express itself as arrogance, treating oneself as the ultimate authority, feeling and demonstrating one’s excessive glamour, entitlement and power (edinger, 1992; jacoby, 2008). thus, inflation has the same expression as narcissistic grandiosity. in grandiose, or inflated, state, a person identifies himself with the ultimate authority instead of having a proper relationship with it. edinger (1992) states that inflation always associates with power. as it was mentioned above, authority complex also concerns unhandled power. striving to powerfully control others, to subordinate other people to one’s will are often mentioned as characteristic narcissistic tendencies (kernberg, 2004; schwartz-salant, 1982). therefore, unconscious authority complex of narcissistic persons can express itself in “sadistic” authoritative behavior towards people of a lower position (wilke, 1977). power aspect is also evident in a struggle for one’s worth which is often active in narcissistic relations. it is more important for narcissistic person to win the fight than to have a true authentic relation (mcwilliams, 2014; schwartz-salant, 1982). therefore, fighting against authorities and/or neglecting them is a possible expression of authority complex. contrary to inflation is an ego alienation state. ego alienation means absence of connection with the self. some level of alienation is inescapable because the ego develops by means of separation from the self. dovilė petronytė-kvedarauskienė, gražina gudaitė 82 encountering the world’s frustrations, experiencing one’s potentials and limits is the way to form distinct personal identity. sense of subjective identity, autonomy, and increase of awareness bring satisfaction as well as pain concerning distinction, loneliness and imperfection. ego alienation of unbearable level, experienced too early or too long can damage ego-self axis. that can lead to feelings of abandonment, unworthiness, inappropriateness, extreme guilt (edinger, 1992). thus alienation is related to narcissistic vulnerability, inferiority and depression being frequent concomitants. a person in alienation or depression lacks energy and connection to his instinctive and transpersonal nature. his relationship with inner as well as supreme authority – the self – is broken. a person feels of no worth, having no orientation and purpose in life. in such a state, validation and support of outer authorities is of vital importance. any signs of criticism or disfavour from authority figures equal annihilation of self-worth. that can induce an intense fright of authorities in narcissistic persons (asper, 1993; kohut, 2009; miller, 2011). besides, people in a higher position can provoke an excessively submissive behaviour of narcissistic people (wilke, 1977). ego alienation state is often coloured with intense anger which sometimes turns into violent behaviour (edinger, 1992). that resembles narcissistic rage which is indicated in studies on narcissism. narcissistic rage is explained as stemming out from experience of rejection and unbearable frustrations in early relations with parents (jacoby, 2008; kohut, 2009; schwartz-salant, 1982). so unsuccessful relationship with first authorities in human life can lead to hate and aggression towards authorities. c. lasch (1979), in his cultural monography on narcissism, stresses the importance of parental involvement in children rearing. he regrets that diminishing authority of parents is one of the main factors leading to narcissism. parents are gone to work or to other activities and are difficult for a child to reach in order to form a proper relationship. lasch rests upon the thoughts of psychoanalytic author h. kohut who describes development of narcissism in terms of a child’s relations with mother and father. the originality of kohut’s theory is in his statement that narcissism development goes along two lines. first line regards the needs of being mirrored, accepted and unconditionally valued. usually this is 2016, 19, 71–88 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 83 a function of mother. when these needs are successfully met, self-esteem is formed. second line concerns relation with an “idealized object” who is usually represented by father or by both parents. “idealized object” has to play a role of a strong, wise, competent figure who is suitable for idealization. relationship with idealized figure is important in formation of values, ideals, direction and purpose of life. it also influences development of inner authority, self-efficacy and capability of being authority for others. when the relation with “idealized object” is lacking or unsuccessful, a person can constantly seek for authorities to lean on and to idealize later in his life. by idealizing authorities, a narcissistic person compensates for the lack of self-worth and inner authority. another way of protecting self-worth is to devaluate authorities in order to prevent devaluation coming from them (jacoby, 2008; kohut, 2009). kohut (2009) states that restoring natural idealization process contributes to effective psychotherapy of narcissistic disturbances. for this purpose, psychotherapist is often given a projection of an “idealized object”. analytical authors indicate that in successful cases, accepting, supporting and ideals representing authority is projected onto psychotherapist as well as on the whole psychotherapy situation. the very self together with the meaning, center, order and structure of life can be transferred to psychotherapist and psychotherapy (edinger, 1992; jacoby, 2008). in length of time, an “idealized object” is being internalized. positive experience in relationship with psychotherapist’s authority can be integrated as an inner reality. that enables formation of internal value system, feeling of self-esteem and self-efficacy to purposefully act in life. acquirement of inner authority which directs and values creative participation in one’s life diminishes narcissism (jacoby, 2008; kohut, 2009). conclusions authority means power, reputation or competence which is attributed to formal structures or personal figures. authority always rests upon those who acknowledge it, therefore, authority always comprises a relation. relationship with authority is an important agent of human psyche development and functioning and it manifests in different levels. dovilė petronytė-kvedarauskienė, gražina gudaitė 84 relationship with inner authority, outer authority figures and transcendent authority can be distinguished though all three levels of relationship are interconnected and influence each other. parents play a significant role in creation of inner authority as well as predispositions for relations with outer as well as transcendent authorities. acceptance, mirroring and meeting of a child’s needs together with setting adequate limits pave the way for self-esteem and a proper relationship with authority. validation and supporting of a child’s activity and self-realization together with promoting a value system formation contribute to mature relationship with authority and a sense of self-efficacy. in our article, we notice that the first care givers are not the only ones who influence a person’s relationship with authority. a role which other personal and formal authoritative figures take in development of this relationship can also be significant. a review and analysis of psychodynamic and analytical in particular literature has indicated that relationship with authority is a significant factor of inner dynamics of narcissism. relationship between the ego and the self – “the supreme psychic authority” – has a crucial impact on a person’s self-esteem and self-efficacy which are essential items of narcissism problem. ego inflation and ego alienation states, pointing poor connection with the self, parallel grandiose and vulnerable narcissistic expressions. analysis of literature has led to distinguishing possible modes of experience and expression of narcissistic relationship with authority. heightening or depreciating one’s own authority, fright and anger with regard to authorities, idealization or devaluation of authorities, abusive authoritative stance or excessive submissiveness are the motives inherent to narcissism. importance of power instead of being connected is an attribute of both authority complex and narcissistic relations. that presupposes fight against authorities as one more characteristic motive of narcissistic relations. relationship with authority is an important factor in assessment as well as in psychotherapy of narcissism. as authority is being projected onto psychotherapist and psychotherapy situation, disturbed relationship can be recognized, lived through and worked through in psychotherapy to diminish narcissism. 2016, 19, 71–88 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 85 to proceed with the topic, quantitative as well as qualitative research needs to be done in order to verify and/or to elucidate new themes of narcissistic relationship with authority which could serve as indicator of narcissism in quantitative measurements. references asper, k. 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(1987). female authority: empowering women trough psychotherapy. new york: the guilford press. dovilė petronytė-kvedarauskienė, gražina gudaitė 88 sant ykis su autorite tu ir narcisizmas d ovilė petronytė -kvedarauskienė, gražina gudaitė vilniaus universiteteas, lietuva santrauka. problema. santykis su autoritetu yra svarbus psichologinis ir socialinis veiksnys, kuriam rytų europos šalyse žalingą įtaką padarė sovietinė autoritarinė santvarka. vakarų kultūrose, pabrėžiant individo svarbą, autoritetas dažnai neigiamas, ir tai skatina narcisistinius sunkumus. nors santykio su autoritetu tema pripažįstama kaip labai aktuali šiuolaikinėje psichologijoje, kol kas ji yra mažai tyrinėta. visapusis santykio su autoritetu konstrukto apibrėžimas reikalingas, siekiant adekvačiai konstruktą įvertinti, panaudoti gautas žinias apie reiškinį psichoterapinėje praktikoje. santykio su autoritetu motyvų, būdingų narcisizmui, išskyrimas gali būti naudingas tiek narcisizmo tyrimams, tiek psichoterapijai. tikslai. straipsnio tikslas – pateikti išsamią santykio su autoritetu koncepciją, atsižvelgiant į šio santykio įtaką žmogaus psichikos formavimuisi. siekiama išskirti santykio su autoritetu lygius ir modelius. galutinė užduotis – atskleisti narcisizmui būdingus specifinius santykio su autoritetu motyvus. metodas. atlikta teorinė psichodinaminės (daugiausiai analitinės) krypties literatūros apžvalga ir analizė. rezultatai. autoritetas gali būti apibrėžtas kaip galia, reputacija ar kompetencija, priskiriama tam tikram asmeniui, socialinei grupei ar institucijai. išskiriami trys santykio su autoritetu lygiai: santykis su 1) išorinėmis autoriteto figūromis; 2) vidiniu autoritetu; 3) viršasmeniniu autoritetu. atlikus literatūros analizę, atskleisti tokie narcisizmui būdingi santykio su autoritetu motyvai: savo autoriteto aukštinimas ar žeminimas; baimė, pyktis santykyje su autoritetais arba kova prieš autoritetus; autoritariška pozicija arba perdėtas nuolankumas; autoritetų idealizavimas arba nuvertinimas. išvada. išskirti specifiniai narcisizmui būdingi santykio su autoritetu motyvai rodo, kad santykio su autoritetu veiksnį svarbu įtraukti tiek į narcisizmo tyrimus, tiek į narcisizmo psichoterapiją. pagrindiniai žodžiai: autoritetas, santykis su autoritetu, autoriteto kompleksas, ego-savasties ašis, narcisizmas. received: 2016-10-27   accepted: 2017-02-25 psichologijos_zurnalas_22_korektura.indd scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2018 / 22 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.22.6 1 corresponding author: vytautas magnus university, jonavos g. 66, lt-44191 kaunas, lithuania. e-mail: lina.cirtautiene@vdu.lt. +37065031002, orcid 0000-0003-0551-2067. the influence of psychologic al fac tors for leader’s efficienc y in global it companies lina cirtautienė1, auksė endriulaitienė vytautas magnus university abstract. changing business environments require a different leadership. global information technology (it ) leaders must demonstrate in-depth competencies in technology and business as well as softer interpersonal skills. studies provide disputed evidence regarding the psychological factors that contribute to a leader’s efficiency. this study analyses what the most important competencies for effective it leadership in local and global it organisations are. an integrative literature review was used to examine and summarise previous research in global it literature. the competencies’ framework, containing three levels (core traits, personal character, and ability) and four dimensions (intercultural, interpersonal, global, and global organisational) (kim & mclean, 2015), was chosen to examine psychological factors that contribute to it leadership effectiveness. the results show that features related to adaptation of the cultural environment are significant for a global leader. personality traits (extraversion, awareness, and openness to experience), characteristics (self-esteem, self-efficiency, global mindset, and motivation), and abilities (communication skills, leadership style, and experience), within the organisational context are related to higher leadership efficiency. local and global leaders differ in the significance of social intelligence (iq, eq, and cq). sufficient educational interventions can improve an individual’s effectiveness regarding global leadership challenges. this study discovers guidelines for development and education of it leaders which include strengthening personality traits related to performance, utilising communication gaps, leveraging cultural differences, promoting trust and motivation, fostering leadership roles and attitudes,composing teams based on teamwork and task work, and modelling and practising other critical competencies for global leadership through cross training. keywords: it leadership, global, effectiveness, competency, local 113 https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.22.6 mailto:lina.cirtautiene@vdu.lt 114 lina cirtautienė, auksė endriulaitienė introduc tion requirements for an effective it leader are unique. the information technology (it) sector is specific (wynekoop & walz, 1998), and it professionals are in high demand. it leaders contribute to achieving strategic goals and objectives in the organisation (eom, 2015). technological competence alone is no longer sufficient for constantly changing environment. they are required in quick flexible responses, adjusting their products and projects in order to incorporate the latest technological innovations (kaufeld, chari, & freeme, 2009). continuous change brings uncertainty, tension, and stress (naik & bisht, 2014). it leaders can only accept changes so their ability to adapt is crucial. global it leaders must demonstrate in-depth competencies in technology and business as well as softer interpersonal skills and to adapt to the changes in the environment with the necessary competency set (kaufeld, chari, & freeme, 2009). most managers found it challenging to transform themselves from technical expert to leader (naik & bisht, 2014). effectiveness means the degree of being able to achieve goals and the extent to which problems are properly solved (naik & bisht, 2014). research confirms the strong influence of personal capability on software productivity (boehm et al., 1995). if psychological factors explain variance in the productivity of software development teams, they should yield significant benefit to effective it leadership as well. only a few researchers investigate the influence of psychological factors on developing software projects (dittrich, john, singer, & tessem, 2007) or the significance to it leaders. fragmented studies reveal that a leader’s personality traits, character, attitude, and abilities contribute to it needs assessment, resource utilisation, core business strategy, and problemsolving (creasy & anantatmula, 2013; eom, 2015; hoch & kozlowski, 2014; li, mobley, & kelly, 2013; magnusson, schuster, & taras, 2014). in addition, it personnel possess unique characteristics:they are highly educated, intellectually curious, and creative, and they value opportunities for personal growth and autonomy at work (wynekoop & walz, 1998). it can be challenging for it leaders to be perceived as effective in such a context. personal qualities are particularly significant to it leaders. 115 2018, 22, 113–133 p.the influence of psychological factors for leader’s efficiency in global it companies moreover, it leaders operate in the specific organisational environment. global it leadership and new organisational forms (as virtual teams) evolve faster than they are explored (lisak & erez, 2015; zander, mockaitis, & butler, 2012). dispersed teams (as ad-hoc teams, virtual teams, or ‘technology-mediated teams’) operate in specific conditions where colleagues are not co-located but co-working on interdependent tasks with shared responsibility for outcomes using computer-mediated communication (purvanova, 2014; turel & connelly, 2012). frequent use of virtual teams is promoted by their economic efficiency: it reduces costs, accelerates decision processes, and evolves dispersed team members (purvanova, 2014; turel & connelly, 2012). these teams enable flexibility and autonomy in organisational structures, optimising resource distribution (colquitt, hollenbeck, ilgen, lepine, & sheppard, 2002). although innovative organisational forms require specific leadership competencies (hoch & kozlowski, 2014; morgan, paucar-caceres, & wright, 2014), there is still a significant gap between global and local leadership. changing business environments require a different leadership but what makes it distinct from the local leadership remains unclear. although local leaders operate at the national level, they must prepare themselves for global leadership because they are exposed to globalisation as well (jokinen, 2005). global it leaders are one of the most important components required for organisational effectiveness and success (wu, chen, & lin, 2004). an appropriate response to unique characteristics of it personnel, the nature of an it unit’s complex and demanding tasks are highly linked with an it leader’s competency. however, most research has focused on tools and production methods developing software with limited exploration of personal issues influencing it leader’s efficiency (glassetal., 2002; sawyer & guinan, 1998; sjoeberg et al., 2005). it leaders must be aware of what competencies and traits facilitate effective leadership. the leaders must develop and nurture these abilities if they are to be successful. while leadership studies provide only a partial picture of how it leadership can be developed (eom, 2015). thus, an it leader’s development, management, and retention become a concern for organisations in the long term. over the past two decades, scholars have begun examining the necessary capabilities, skills, and characteristics in people who are exposed to global leadership responsibilities (mendenhall, reiche, bird, & osland, 116 lina cirtautienė, auksė endriulaitienė 2012; galvin, gibbs, sullivan, & williams, 2014). however, research remains fragmented and offers limited explanations of the empirical data to develop consistent knowledge (mendenhall et al., 2012). still, global leadership definitions can be critiqued (mendenhall et al., 2012), and global it leadership lacks a unified theoretical background. competence theory contributes to the understanding that competencies are measurable and can be developed. according to spencer and spencer (1993), there are three levels of competencies: the first level consists of traits and motives, the second level contains attitudes, and the third level presents behavioural knowledge and skills (kim & mclean, 2015). the competency-based leadership model suggests that personal traits, behaviours, skills, values, and knowledge can be assessed as competencies to distinguish effective from ineffective performers (caligiuri, 2006; jokinen, 2005). successful leaders demonstrate certain personal characteristics and competencies more frequently: these features can be recognised, evaluated, and developed (brownell, 2006; kim & mclean, 2015). according to the integrative framework, leadership could be developed through specific educational activities and by modelling and practising leadership competencies. staff diversity management programmes are implemented in international companies, but they lack appropriate application knowledge (lisak & erez, 2015). kim and mclean (2015) proposed the integrative framework for global leadership, which can be adapted to a specific sector and organisational context (kim & mclean, 2015). developing specific global leadership competencies is compulsory for an organisation to become more globally competent and operate effectively. such factors as company culture, team diversity, and hierarchical and functional positions in the organisation will have varying degrees of impact on the characteristics that affect leadership (espinosa, nan, & carmel, 2015; magnusson et al., 2014; morrison, 2000; muratbekova-touron, 2009; salas, shuffler, thayer, bedwell, & lazzara, 2015). global leadership phenomenon was explicated in dimensions (mendenhall, 2011; morisson, 2000) along which global it leadership can be analysed. therefore, the integration of two theoretical foundations, levels from the competency model (spencer & spencer, 1993), and dimensions from the leadership competency model (morrison, 2000) can be significant for a systematic approach to global it leadership. 117 2018, 22, 113–133 p.the influence of psychological factors for leader’s efficiency in global it companies despite the contributions, it is difficult to identify necessary competencies and efficient global leader characteristics due to global leadership complexity, limited availability of empirical data, different applied methodologies, and diverse samples (kim & mclean, 2015; morrison, 2000). while the effects of global leaders on value creation, employment, and technology development can be huge, relatively little research has been carried out on global leadership characteristics, competencies, and developmental strategies (morrison, 2000). problem statement research on global it leadership lacks a clear theoretical background. there is no straightforward evidence on which psychological factors contribute to leaders’ efficiency. it is difficult to identify reliable global leaders’ prototypes as concepts are overlapping (joshi & lazarova, 2005) and lack a clear theoretical background (jokinen, 2005). there is limited research on the systematic global leadership competency structure (kim & mclean, 2015). studies lack clear guidelines for leaders’ development, with the view of promoting changes in the efficiency of organisations (zander et al., 2012). thus, identifying global leadership competency models should be a priority to succeed in the changing global environment (kim & mclean, 2015). research questions what competencies must it leaders exhibit to be perceived as effective? should these competencies be different for leaders’ effectiveness in local and global it organisations? aim of the study the aim of this study is to investigate the relationship among various competencies of it leaders and perceived leadership effectiveness in global and local it organisations. 118 lina cirtautienė, auksė endriulaitienė research me thods an integrative literature review was used to examine and summarise previous research in global it literature. a literature search on academic search complete, regional business news, business source complete, masterfile premier, library, information science & technology abstracts, and psycarticles was conducted in march 2017. the following search strategy algorithm was used: competence or ability or skills or personality traits and effective leader or leadership and global it or global leadership or virtual team’s leadership. published quantitative studies examining the factors contributing to effective it leadership and the development of leadership behaviours in global organisations were included. during the title screening stage, studies were included if the titles contained the following keywords: traits, personal characteristics, ability, competencies, self-concept, attitudes, global mindset, skills, effective leader, leadership, organisation, it, global, cross-cultural. one hundred and twenty articles spanning the period of 2012–2017 were found in academic databases. data extraction, quality assessment, and analysis were completed on 20 selected articles. the integrative literature review was performed according to the competency theory and global leadership competency model (kim & mclean, 2015). the competency framework with three levels (core traits, personal character, and ability) and four dimensions (intercultural, interpersonal, global organisational knowledge, and skills) (kim & mclean, 2015) was chosen to examine psychological factors that contribute to it leadership effectiveness. findings according to the literature review and global leadership competency model, the components of global leadership competency are categorised into three levels (core traits, personal character, and abilities) and four dimensions (intercultural, interpersonal, global, and global organisational) (kim & mclean, 2015). the review of the previous research supports the idea that there are key competencies, over and above the contextual ones, that predict successful leadership in a global environment. 119 2018, 22, 113–133 p.the influence of psychological factors for leader’s efficiency in global it companies core traits. to date, leaders’ personality traits have been analysed only in individual cultures (judge, 2001), while the qualities of a global leader’s personality are just starting to be analysed (lisak & erez, 2015; zander et al., 2012). a leader’s verbal fluency, confidence, and independence have links to successful leadership. the components that were determined from the literature review and assessed as an it global leader’s core traits are awareness, extraversion (magnusson et al., 2013), openness to experience, (blasco, feldt, & jakobsen, 2012; creasy & anantatmula, 2013; magnusson et al., 2013), anxiety level (creasy & anantatmula, 2013), emotional resilience, critical analysis, vision and imagination, intuitiveness, interpersonal sensitivity (galvin et al., 2014), empathy (post, 2015), independence (zander et al., 2012), and conscientiousness figure 1. the components of global leadership competency according to the literature review and global leadership competency model (kim & mclean, 2015) 120 lina cirtautienė, auksė endriulaitienė (creasy & anantatmula, 2013; galvin et al., 2014). their development is significant for a leader’s effectiveness. core traits are interrelated to other components of the global leadership competency model. personality traits, such as awareness and openness to experience, are linked with metacognitive cultural intelligence. motivational cultural intelligence is related to extraversion and openness to experience. cultural intelligence is significant for a global leader’s adaptation and efficiency (magnusson et al., 2013). the extrovert leader will be able to achieve long-term goals, postpone the award, and be more efficient. personality traits and communication style have a combined effect on the productivity of the organisation (solaja, idowu, & james, 2016). to summarise, personality traits, such as awareness, extraversion, openness to experience, anxiety level, emotional resilience, critical analysis, vision and imagination, intuitiveness, interpersonal sensitivity, empathy, dominance, independence, and conscientiousness are significant for a global it leader’s efficiency. personal character. personal character is interpreted as personality, values, and spirituality, directing leader attitudes and behaviour (judge, 2001). in the global leadership competency model such elements as a global mindset, self-concept, attitudes, global perspective, and selfefficacy were determined as second level concepts (kim & mclean, 2015). the literature review has shown that operational efficiency (kim & mclean, 2015), degree of change orientation, and degree of innovativeness are related to an it leader’s effectiveness (creasy & anantatmula, 2013). flexibility, intuition, talent, innovation, and non-standard thinking are meaningful characteristics for leadership (brownell, 2006). subjective well-being (eisenberg et al., 2013), attitudes, and job satisfaction remain essential elements for the global leader (eom, 2015). moreover, effective global leadership requires a global mindset (blasco et al., 2012; javidan, bullough, & dibble, 2016; kim & mclean, 2015) and cosmopolitan view (blasco et al., 2012). other frequently mentioned self-concepts are self-awareness (galvin et al., 2014), self-efficacy (javidan et al., 2016; quisenberry & burrell, 2012), level of self-monitoring (creasy & anantatmula, 2013), self-leadership, and self-confidence (eisenberg et al., 2013; zander et al., 2012; segawa, 2015). 121 2018, 22, 113–133 p.the influence of psychological factors for leader’s efficiency in global it companies thus, notable global leadership components, such as motivational factors, job satisfaction, and global mindset, drive positive outcomes. self-concepts (such as self-awareness, self-efficacy, self-monitoring, selfleadership, and self-confidence) remain assessed as a global leader’s efficiency features. social competencies, adaptability, accessibility, engagement, operational efficiency, and the degree of change orientation and innovativeness encourage successful management in an it organisation. abilities. according to the selected competency framework (kim & mclean, 2015; morrison, 2000), the third level consists of the following four dimensions: intercultural knowledge and skills, interpersonal knowledge and skills, global knowledge and skills, and global organisational knowledge and skills. first dimension: intercultural knowledge and skills. intercultural competency knowledge and skills are the most frequently assessed in global leadership studies. cultural intelligence is analysed through motivational cultural intelligence and metacognitive cultural intelligence (blasco et al., 2012; eisenberg et al., 2013; magnusson et al., 2014; magnusson et al., 2013). motivational cultural intelligence is particularly relevant in it teams. this motivational construct influences group processes and outcomes, it captures the team members’ motivation, self-efficacy, and openness, suggesting better adaptability to the inherent challenges in a global organisation (magnusson et al., 2014). cultural intelligence is linked with intercultural leadership efficiency, operational effectiveness, and efficient negotiation (rockstuhl et al., 2011; ng et al., 2012). research reveals that separate components are linked in the global leadership competency model. cultural intelligence is associated with openness to experience (rockstuhl et al., 2011) and less exclusionary reactions (rockstuhl et al., 2011). it is also linked to higher confidence in the international context (rockstuhl et al., 2011; eisenberg et al., 2013). moreover, it is important to mention that high cultural intelligence encourages a global leader’s effectiveness through awareness of diversity, desire to understand differences, collection and retention of information of such differences, and behaving in a manner consistent with the norms of others (tung, 2014). second dimension: interpersonal knowledge and skills. effective employee leadership in the global context demands certain interpersonal skills: motivating people and building interpersonal relations. this is 122 lina cirtautienė, auksė endriulaitienė accomplished using good communication skills, including a leader’s orientation to the relationship (morgan et al., 2014, solaja et al., 2016), ability to drive engaging communication (galvin et al., 2014; zander et al., 2012), indirect influence (hoch & kozlowski, 2014), good delegation skills (quisenberry & burrell, 2012), negotiation (ng et al., 2012), and the ability to give sufficient feedback to a team (morgan et al., 2014; quisenberry & burrell, 2012) and resolve conflicts effectively (morgan et al., 2014; salas et al., 2015). frequent spontaneous communication efforts can reduce interpersonal conflict and improve it team performance (magnusson et al., 2014). frequent interaction among team members positively benefits the communication process, as it reduces coordination issues and improves shared team knowledge and common ground (espinosa et al., 2015). global it leaders need empowering skills to motivate and inspire the team (zander et al., 2012), affect the members’ motivation and behaviour (hoch & kozlowski, 2014), reduce discomfort, and proactively increase benefits (morgan et al., 2014). developing mutual trust is important due to the forms of work applied in global companies. mutual trust is encouraged by building confidence through communication (javidan et al., 2016; morgan et al., 2014; quisenberry & burrell, 2012), making people feel appreciated and accepted, creating a sense of community (morgan, paucar-caceres, & wright, 2014) and relationship building (quisenberry & burrell, 2012), and giving structured support for employees (hoch & kozlowski, 2014). a leader’s communication style is linked to the productivity of the organisation. studies highlight adaptive leadership (galvin et al., 2014; hoch & kozlowski, 2014), transactional leadership (quisenberry & burrell, 2012), shared leadership (javidan et al., 2016), leader-member exchange (lmx), and ‘informal’ leadership (hoch & kozlowski, 2014) as significant for global it leaders. transformational leadership behaviours help it personnel become more aware of the process and committed to the organisational goals, enhancing the higher possibility to retain it employees (eom, 2015; hoch & kozlowski, 2014). the ability to identify and transmit the vision of the organisation is vital in maintaining core business operations and specific organisational requirements (eom, 2015). a collaborative leadership style fits more than the authority style in matrix organisations (oertig & buergi, 2006). ability in managing resources may increase a leader’s effectiveness in coordination (galvin et al., 2014; salas 123 2018, 22, 113–133 p.the influence of psychological factors for leader’s efficiency in global it companies et al., 2015), coaching (salas et al., 2015), and cooperative learning (post, 2015). task orientation would be preferable for sufficient direction and target setting (morgan et al., 2014, zander et al., 2012), defining the roles of each team member (quisenberry & burrell, 2012), fostering a group goal, showing high performance expectations, providing intellectual stimulation (eom, 2015), and creating routines effectively (hoch & kozlowski, 2014). the main challenges for it leaders are building trust, communication, cultural diversity, and complexities in exchanging data and information. leadership effectiveness is related to sufficient direction and target setting, effective communication, teamwork facilitation, motivation, and inspiration, leveraging cultural differences and empowerment (zander et al., 2012). third dimension: global knowledge and skills. the third dimension justifies the need for global business competencies. global business competencies were mentioned as global leadership (kim & mclean, 2015; zander et al., 2012) or shared leadership (hoch & kozlowski, 2014) in self-managed virtual teams (quisenberry & burrell, 2012) or distributed teams (salas et al., 2015). effective global leadership requires valueadded skills: teamwork facilitation (salas et al., 2015; zander et al., 2012), operational effectiveness (eisenberg et al., 2013), and knowledge in international business (salas et al., 2015). task management skills remain important for team efficacy, cooperation (salas et al., 2015), trust (espinosa et al., 2015; quisenberry & burrell, 2012), and commitment (hoch & kozlowski, 2014). intercultural adaptation (eisenberg et al., 2013; javidan et al., 2016; zander et al., 2012), cross-cultural efficiency (eisenberg et al., 2013), and adaptation to the changing environment (kim & mclean, 2015) leverage cultural differences. knowledge and skills that are essential for global business are gained through experience (eisenberg et al., 2013; javidan et al., 2016; li et al., 2013). the key features that are urgent for global it leaders depend on the organisational context (brownell, 2006). physical distance negatively affects trust and satisfaction (magnusson et al., 2014). availability, regardless of location and collaboration, technology use with the reduction of communication, and delayed feedback reduce conflict identification and increase misunderstandings. psychic distance is meaningful for performance and interaction in virtual teams (magnusson et al., 2014). otherwise, the psychic distance may not 124 lina cirtautienė, auksė endriulaitienė always be negatively associated with team performance, particularly in a temporal distance (espinosa et al., 2015;); it may be positively related to performance according to the ‘psychic distance paradox’ (magnusson et al., 2014). separate components in the global leadership competency model are linked. to summarise, global knowledge and skills are highlighted as global leadership skills, value-added skills, sufficient task performing issues, and ‘relational factors’ (commitment and trust). leveraging cultural differences may be developed through experience and exposure to effective global it leaders. fourth dimension: global organisational knowledge and skills. this dimension contains the following global organisational features as a context influencing leadership: organisational climate (morgan et al., 2014; salas et al., 2015), organisational dynamics, organisational project management maturity, structure (creasy & anantatmula, 2013; eom, 2015), external threat and stress (salas et al., 2015), stability (javidan et al., 2016; quisenberry & burrell, 2012), functional diversity, geographic dispersion and size (post, 2015), and cultural diversity (salas et al., 2015). team context is a component of the organisational context affecting global leadership, including global virtual teams (hoch & kozlowski, 2014; magnusson et al., 2014), ‘psychic distance paradox’ (espinosa et al., 2015; magnusson et al., 2014), team cohesion, team interaction norms (post, 2015), general collective intelligence (javidan et al., 2016), team members’ expectation of challenges, team members’ satisfaction (magnusson et al., 2014), team interaction, communication, and social integration (espinosa et al., 2015; magnusson et al., 2014), team performance (espinosa et al., 2015), and experience in a global organisational context (li et al., 2013). to summarise the literature findings, global leadership experience, global organisational context, and team context are significant for effective it leadership. global and local leaders’ differences. excellent global and local leaders are goal orientated (eom, 2015; seijts et al., 2015), able to engage employees (blasco et al., 2012; seijts et al., 2015; zander et al., 2012), and can increase team loyalty and trust (hoch & kozlowski, 2014; seijts et al., 2015; liborius, 2014; quisenberry & burrell, 2012). despite existing similarities, local and global leaders differ in the significance of social intelligence (iq, eq, and cq). social competencies, such as emotional 125 2018, 22, 113–133 p.the influence of psychological factors for leader’s efficiency in global it companies intelligence (creasy & anantatmula, 2013) and emotional competence (post, 2015), are related to a leader’s efficiency and adaptability (blasco et al., 2012; eisenberg et al., 2013). emotional intelligence has a positive effect on local and global leadership. however, a leader’s key features depend on the organisational context (brownell, 2006). emotional intelligence predicts common, but not intercultural leadership effectiveness (rockstuhl et al., 2011; judge, 2001). emotional intelligence with intelligence quotient (iq) are significant variables associated with effective regional leadership. meanwhile, the global market and changes in working conditions require specific leadership competencies (herbert, mockaitis, & zanderb, 2014; zander et al., 2012), related to adaptation in the cultural environment (magnusson et al., 2013; ng et al., 2012). thus, cultural intelligence is associated with more cross-cultural, global leadership efficiency (judge, 2001). effective global it leaders need to adjust to cultural differences, values, attitudes, and behaviour according to cross-cultural diversity (javidan et al., 2016; morgan et al., 2014). other significant differences among global and local it leaders are not provided in analysed literature. however, cross-cultural skills and personality traits, such as awareness and openness, can be developed even in a local multicultural team (tung, 2014). due to the growing international diversity within countries, employees in a local context must collaborate with colleagues from other countries. intranational and international diversity can be equally significant and have positive and negative implications. global and local leaders are already exposed to global leadership (jokinen, 2005; tung, 2014). developmental guidelines for it leaders leadership can be developed through educational activities by modelling and practising leadership competencies. training, created according to assessed deficiencies in individuals, would develop specific competencies and focus on more tangible aspects to improve performance (caligiuri, 2006). by identifying the most significant global leadership competencies, organisations could successfully develop global leaders in reduced time and with low costs (mccall & hollenbech, 2002). developing the required personality traits through an educational 126 lina cirtautienė, auksė endriulaitienė intervention process reinforces preparation for global leadership (kim & mclean, 2015). strengthening personality traits related to performance, like extraversion, openness to experience, critical analysis, vision and imagination, intuitiveness, interpersonal sensitivity, empathy, and independence, will help a global it leader perform in the global context. stress management training could support decreasing the anxiety level and emotional resilience. promotion of cultural intelligence will strengthen the development of global orientation among it leaders. cultural intelligence can be developed through training, internships, and exploration (crowne, 2008). exercises demonstrating cultural differences are particularly beneficial, especially encouraging efforts in preparation for managing cross cultural interactions (magnusson et al., 2014). trainees must be attentive for non-obvious cultural differences, such as values and beliefs. in the global environment, a leader’s major focus will be on maintaining commitment and trust. team trust and efficiency can be increased by providing foreign language and cultural difference training for new team members (oertig & buergi, 2006). training should strive to become individually-focused with an orientation towards the near future and solving short-term performance challenges. fostering proper leader roles and attitudes remains sufficient for effective it leadership. leaders are urged to fill communication gaps (learning how to give sufficient feedback, resolve conflict, and have confidence in communicating), promote trust (learning how to express appreciation and acceptance, a sense of community, and structured support) and motivate the team (learning how to gain empowering skills, reduce discomfort, and increase the benefits). continuous observation and assessment of the leader’s performance is useful in the development of specific competencies (like decision-making and problem-solving strategies) (brownell, 2006), value-added skills (teamwork facilitation, operational effectiveness, and sharing knowledge), and task management skills (team efficacy, teamwork, cooperation, and collective efficacy), which encounter effective management of human resources. experiential learning activities and training can be used to trace the development of leaders as they advance through each stage of learning. increased interest in the ‘delivery’ of leadership programmes 127 2018, 22, 113–133 p.the influence of psychological factors for leader’s efficiency in global it companies is observed (tung, 2014). there is growing evidence in the efficiency of networking, mentoring, coaching, and facilitation training programmes (brownell, 2006; tung, 2014). the content of training programmes and the lecturer competencies are particularly relevant in the context of cross-cultural training (magnusson et al., 2014). programmes for global leadership development must be attentive to the following global organisational contexts: organisational climate, organisational dynamics, structure, external stress, and stability. functional and cultural diversity in the team context is linked with leadership efficiency and, therefore, must be assessed in the executives’ educational process. developing competencies might have individually focused training as a short-term performance goal (caligiuri, 2006). sufficient educational interventions can improve individuals’ effectiveness concerning global leadership challenges. practice through cross-training encourages appropriate roles, sufficient leadership style and attitudes by modelling and practising other critical competencies that are beneficial for global it leaders. attentive preparation for global leadership during programme development will contribute to developing the required traits, attitudes, and related capabilities. gathered information about required competencies for global it leaders may be used in the recruitment process, career development, appraisal, and talent identification and in assessing organisational threats or in identifying training needs. conclusion the global leadership competency model is useful for analysing global it leadership and assessing how personality traits, characteristics, and abilities are related to an it leader’s effectiveness. results reveal that personality traits (extraversion, awareness, and openness to experience), personal character (self-esteem, self-efficiency, global mindset, and motivation), abilities (communication skills, leadership style, and experience) are significant for a global it leader’s efficiency and encourage successful management in an it organisation and may be developed through experience and exposure to effective global it leaders. 128 lina cirtautienė, auksė endriulaitienė local and global leaders differ in the significance of social intelligence. emotional intelligence and iq are significant for effective regional leadership. meanwhile, cultural intelligence was associated with global leadership efficiency. appropriate global it leadership development can positively affect globalisation consequences for the organisation. strengthening personality traits related to performance; eliminating communication gaps; regaining cultural differences; promoting trust and motivation; fostering a leader’s proper roles and attitudes; composing teams based on teamwork and task work; and modelling and practising other critical competencies are significant for effective global it leadership and can be developed through specific educational activities. individually-tailored educational activities must be oriented 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(2012). leading global teams. journal of world business, 47(4), 592–603. doi: 10.1016/j.jwb.2012.01.012 psichologinių veiksnių svarba vadovo efek t y vumui globaliose it organiz acijose lina cir tautienė, auksė endriulaitienė vytauto didžiojo universitetas, lietuva santrauka. problema. kintama verslo aplinka, specifinis informacinių technologijų sektorius, dideli lūkesčiai it sprendimams reikalauja kitokio vadovavimo. tarptautinėje organizacijoje vadovo technologinės, organizacinės, socialinės ir emocinės kompetencijos tapo vienodai svarbios. tačiau esami tyrimai taptautiniam efektyviam vadovavimui svarbius veiksnius pristato segmentiškai. neaišku, kokie psichologiniai veiksniai siejasi su vadovų veiklos efektyvumu tarptautinėje ir regioninėje it organizacijoje. tikslas – išanalizuoti literatūroje pateikiamus tyrimų rezultatus, kokie psichologiniai veiksniai yra svarbūs vadovų veiklos efektyvumui tarptautinėse it organizacijose. metodas. sisteminė literatūros analizė. psichologiniai veiksniai reikšmingi efektyviai it lyderystei pateikti pagal trijų lygių (bruožai, savybės, gebėjimai) ir keturių dimensijų (tarpkultūriniai, tarpasmeniniai, globalaus verslo, globalios organizacijos) kompetencijų modelį (kim ir mclean, 2015). rezultatai ir išvados. rezultatai parodė, kad vadovavimo efektyvumui svarbiausi veiksniai susiję su adaptacija prie kultūrinės aplinkos. asmenybės bruožai (ekstraversija, saviveiksmingumas ir atvirumas patirčiai), savybės (pasitikėjimas savimi, saviveiksmingumas, globali mąstysena ir motyvacija) ir gebėjimai (bendravimo įgūdžiai, lyderystės stilius ir patirtis) pritaikomi reaguojant į pakitusią organizacinę aplinką ir susiję su vadovavimo efektyvumu. socialinių kompetencijų (iq, eq ir cq) reikšmė skirtinga tarptautinių https://doi.org/10.1007/s10726-011-9245-7 133 2018, 22, 113–133 p.the influence of psychological factors for leader’s efficiency in global it companies ir regioninių organizacijų vadovams. tinkamos ugdomosios intervencijos gali prisidėti didinant vadovų efektyvumą globalioje aplinkoje. straipsnyje pateikiamos ugdymo gairės it vadovams, susiję su asmenybės bruožų svarbių veiklos efektyvumui stiprinimu; bendravimo įgūdžių ugdymu; prisitaikymu prie kultūrinių skirtumų; pasitikėjimo ir motyvacijos skatinimu; dėmesiu vadovavimo stiliui ir nuostatoms; komandinio darbo ir orientacijos į užduotis skatinimu; globaliai lyderystei svarbių kompetencijų stiprinimu mokymų metu. reikšminiai žodžiai: it lyderystė, globali lyderystė, efektyvumas, kompetencijos. received: 2018-10-11 accepted: 2019-02-04 contents editorial note scientific publications viktorija cepukiene, rytis pakrosnis introducing unguided computerized solution-focused self-help into university counseling services virginija klimukienė, alfredas laurinavičius, ilona laurinaitytė, laura ustinavičiūtė, and mykolas baltrūnas examination of convergent validity of start: av ratings among male juveniles on probation karina kravčenko, laura šeibokaitė the effect of joy and anxiety on egocentric decisions among young adults ala petrulytė, virginija guogienė adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy in lithuanian sample kristina ražauskaitė-pilipavičienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė gender differences in dyadic dominance during interpersonal interaction: the comparison of friends’ dyads and romanticc ouples lina cirtautienė, auksė endriulaitienė the influence of psychological factors for leader’s efficiency in global it companies kristina kovalčikienė, giedrė genevičiūtė-janonė the relationship between the vocational teachers’ personality traits and the work motivation information the 20th international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, december 6th, 2017. abstr acts the 21st international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, april 25th, 2018. abstr acts contributors reviewers instructions for authors 2019_international journal of psychology 2019_23_book 1.indb the 22nd international symposium in psychology at unk & vm u: abstr ac ts the impac t of english l anguage proficienc y and socioeconomic status on mapr and dibels scores kloreace linke, taylor strong, klint conroy university of nebraska at kearney, usa the purpose of the present study was to determine if socioeconomic status and english language proficiency would predict standardized assessment scores (map-r and dibels) in the fourth and fifth grade. to do this, the effects of socioeconomic status and english language proficiency were investigated in terms of academic success. for this study, our research question was: how does poverty (free and reduced lunch vs. non-free and reduced lunch) and ell status predict dibels scores and map-r scores for fourth and fifth grade students? archival data from 58 fourth grade students (n=29 dibels, n=29 mapsr) and 74 fifth grade students (n=38 dibels, n=36 map-r) were analyzed. results, implications, limitations, and future research directions will be discussed. the rel ationship be t ween irr ational rel ationship beliefs and interpersonal conflic t resolution str ategies in young adulthood marija aušraitė, kristina žardeckaitė -matulaitienė vytautas magnus university, lithuania introduction. maintaining romantic relationships is one of the most important developmental tasks in young adulthood. it is known that lower relationship satisfaction is associated with more expressed irrational relationship beliefs (janjani, momeni, rai, saidi, 2017). according to rational emotive behavior therapy, irrational beliefs should cause maladaptive behavior in conflicts. however, it is not clear how specific irrational relationship beliefs are associated with specific conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood. the aim of information international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2019 / 23 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.23 165 166 the 22nd international symposium in psychology at unk & vmu: abstracts the study was to evaluate the link between irrational relationship beliefs and interpersonal conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood. methodology. 148 young adults (110 female, 38 male) having a romantic relationship participated in this study. the irrational relationship beliefs were assessed with a questionnaire by r. j. eidelson and n. epstein (1982). rahim organizational conflict inventory – ii (rahim, magner, 1995) was used to measure conflict resolution strategies. results. the results showed that the more expressed irrational belief “disagreement is destructive” was related to higher use of dominating and avoiding conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood. no links between the irrational belief “partners cannot change” and avoiding conflict resolution strategy were found in young adulthood. conclusions. these findings partially support rational emotive behavior therapy. the results of this study could contribute to increasing the effectiveness of psychological interventions designed to improve romantic relationships in young adulthood. exploring dynamics and performance of international educ ation ie and senior international officer sio dr. po hu university of nebraska at kearney, usa the purpose of this study is to explore the nature of complex adaptive systems (cas) and network dynamics in international education (ie) programs in a u.s. higher education institution. i analyze the ie programs through a lens of complexity and network theories and ask how measures of engagement in complex networks affect performance in the ie system. a two-stage quantitative research design which integrated dynamic network analysis (dna) and response surface methodology (rsm) was adopted to investigate network structures and interactions within the ie system and to describe how such network measures impact organizational performance. the rel ationship be t ween psychosocial risk fac tors and body image dissatisfac tion in students: a theore tic al model eglė ur velytė, aidas perminas vytautas magnus university, lithuania different studies (philips, de man, 2010; friestad, fall, 2004; weaver byers, 2006) suggest that differences in body image satisfaction depend on many different factors, which can be 167 2019, 23, 165–167 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach combined into four main categories: social, biological, psychological and cultural factors. the aim of this study was to determine the main psychosocial risk factors for body image dissatisfaction in female students through a systematic review of the international literature and to compose the prognostic model of body image dissatisfaction. multiple databases (medline; psycarticles; socindex; academic search complete) were searched, considering only quantitative studies using validated needs assessment instruments and focusing uniquely on female students, using index and free-text search terms for body image dissatisfaction, risk factors or predictors. of 272 papers identified, 51 were initially selected and 21 met inclusion criteria. most of these articles confirmed sociocultural theory, according to which the most important risk factors associated with body image dissatisfaction concern a culturally-supported extremely thin body ideal and the internalization of this ideal. articles demonstrate that sociocultural factors including appearance pressure, teasing, and social comparison have also been linked to body dissatisfaction in female students. furthermore, some findings confirm the relationship between different dimensions of perfectionism and body dissatisfaction. findings from the study provide support for the claim that sociocultural processes foster body dissatisfaction and suggest that prevention and treatment interventions might be enhanced by focusing greater attention on these specific risk factors. ses effec ts on 4th and 5th gr ade reading scores tom polinko, matthew ulrich, robyn king, alexa allgood university of nebraska at kearney, usa the purpose of our study was to examine if socioeconomic status (ses) is a predictor of measures of academic progress-reading (map-r) and dynamic indicator of basic literacy skills (dibels) scores for 4th and 5th grade students. students were divided into two groups: low socioeconomic status (lses) and non-low socioeconomic status (nlses), measured by free and reduced lunch status. archival data were gathered from sixty-nine 4th and 5th grade students in a small midwestern school district. ses was a significant predictor of map-r scores for 5th grade students. the findings suggest socioeconomic status may impact standardized assessment scores. contents editorial note scientific publications chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, david d. hof concepts influencing attitudes and beliefs toward mental health issues in a teacher education program kamonwan tangdhanakanond, teara archwamety teachers’ misconceptions and current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment in elementary schools in thailand andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė importance of length of studying and attitudes toward others for life satisfaction marija aušraitė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė the relationship between irrational relationship beliefs and conflictresolution strategies in young adulthood tadas vadvilavičius, aurelija stelmokienė development of scenarios for leadership psychology research to reveal the relationships between leaders’ dark triad traits and full range leadership styles laura alčiauskaitė, liuda šinkariova psychometric properties of the lithuanian version of the acceptance ofdisability scale revised (ads-r): pilot study christina l. chasek, judith a. nelson, rochelle cade, kristin page, bryan stare,george stoupas advocating for adolescent substance use recovery: an alternative model ekaterina zakharchuk, evgeniy dotsenko, tamara khvesko, julia andrejeva neuropsychological and/or psychological factors of children’s traumatic behavior under the age of 10 years information the 22nd international symposium in psychology at unk & vmu: abstracts contributors reviewers 2019 instructions for authors scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2016 / 19 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.19.3 psychologic al c apital, self-compassion, and life satisfac tion of unemployed youth eglė sabaitytė1, aistė diržytė, mykolas romeris university, lithuania abstract. background. youth unemployment is currently one of the biggest problems in european society. it can reduce the economic prosperity and psychological wellbeing of unemployed youth. positive psychological capital (psycap) and self-compassion are linked with a number of positive constructs. those include satisfaction with life, positive affect and personal initiative to make needed changes in one’s life. thus, psycap and self-compassion could be promising resources enhancing the psychological well-being of unemployed youth. the aims of the study are: 1) to reveal relation between psycap and self-compassion with life satisfaction of unemployed youth; 2) to investigate the difference between psycap and self-compassion for higher and lower levels of life satisfaction among unemployed youth. methods. the sample consisted of 80 unemployed lithuanians aged 19-29 (38% male, 62% female). the psychological capital questionnaire (luthans et al., 2007), satisfaction with life scale (diener et al., 1985), and self-compassion scale (neff, 2003a) were used in the study. results. positive and significant correlations were found between psycap and life satisfaction. moreover, we found positive and significant correlations between psycap components and all positive self-compassion components. although life satisfaction positively correlates with total self-compassion, however, not all positive components of self-compassion correlate with the life satisfaction of unemployed youth. furthermore, unemployed youth highly satisfied with life had higher levels of psycap and self-compassion compared to unemployed youth who were less satisfied with life. conclusions. our findings revealed positive correlations between psycap and selfcompassion with life satisfaction of unemployed youth. future research is needed in order to explore the causality between variables. keywords: psychological capital, self-compassion, life satisfaction, unemployed youth. 49 1 address for correspondence: eglė sabaitytė, mykolas romeris university, faculty of social welfare, institute of psychology, ateities st. 20, lt-08303 vilnius, phone: +370 5 271 4625, fax: +370 5 267 6000. e-mail: egle.sabaityte@gmail.com eglė sabaitytė, aistė diržytė 50 introduc tion youth unemployment is currently one of the biggest problems in european society. according to eurostat, in february 2016, there were over 4.4 million (19.4%) unemployed young people in the european union (eu). the highest youth unemployment rates were in greece (48.9%) and spain (45.3%). the lowest youth unemployment rates were in germany (6.9%) and czech republic (10.2%). the youth unemployment rate in lithuania was 14.5% (eurostat, 2016). it is known that young people are more affected by economic recessions than adults (tamesberger, 2015). hence, unemployment may lead young people to long-term exclusion from the labour market (lorenzini, 2015). this can reduce not only economic prosperity but also psychological health and life satisfaction of unemployed youth. it was found that psychosomatic symptoms and reduced psychological well-being were more frequent among unemployed persons compared with persons who were employed (åslund, starrin, & nilsson, 2014). research has shown that unemployment reduces life satisfaction and that life dissatisfaction strengthens youth protest activities (lorenzini, 2015). nevertheless, participation in active labour market programmes was not related to mental health (reine, novo, & hammarström, 2011). in this paper, we focus on the life satisfaction of unemployed young people in lithuania. we analyse the relationships between life satisfaction and psychological capital (psycap). psycap is defined as a positive construct which consists of four positive components: hope, efficacy, optimism, and resiliency (luthans, avolio, avey, & norman, 2007). a deeper explanation of the psycap construct will be written in the background section. although psycap emerged from the concept of positive organisational behaviour, a growing body of empirical evidence also showed positive impact of psycap on student-related outcomes (riolli, savicki, & richards, 2012). research shows that psycap is related to life satisfaction among employees (luthans et al., 2007). however, little is known about how psycap and satisfaction with life is associated among unemployed young people. a previous study by rani (2015) examining psycap and the psychological well-being of unemployed indian youth revealed that psycap and its components showed significant positive correlations 2016, 19, 49–69 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 51 with psychological well-being. nonetheless, it is interesting to analyse psycap and life satisfaction among unemployed youth in lithuania and examine similarities or differences between lithuanian and indian unemployed youth. more specifically, we studied psycap together with self-compassion, paying attention to the life satisfaction of unemployed youth. unemployed people experience adverse effects on health (åslund et al., 2014) and learned helplessness (bjornstad, 2006), while self-compassionate people are less anxious when considering their weaknesses, because they use fewer negative emotion words when describing personal weaknesses (neff, kirkpatrick, & rude, 2007). self-compassion is an ability to hold difficult negative emotions in non-judgmental awareness without denying or suppressing negative aspects of one’s experience (neff. 2009). thus, self-compassionate people may understand their weaknesses, shortcomings and problems, and respond with kindness and compassion rather than with harshness and self-criticism (leary, tate, adams, allen, & hancock, 2007) and it can protect them from adverse effects on health. in addition, we propose that self-compassion can be used as a coping strategy by unemployed youth facing difficulties related to their situation of unemployment. furthermore, self-compassion can increase satisfaction with life (neff et al., 2007), because there is growing evidence that self-compassion is an important source of psychological well-being (barnard & curry, 2012; neff, 2009). the main contribution of this study is revealing new correlates of life satisfaction in young unemployed sample, taking into account empirical evidence of the proposed relationships between psycap and life satisfaction and especially the relationship between self-compassion and life satisfaction. background psychological capital of unemployed youth the theoretical framework of this study is rooted in luthans’ et al. (2007) multidimensional model named psycap, which is defined as an “individual’s positive state of development and is characterized by: (1) having confidence (self-efficacy) to take on and put in the necessary eglė sabaitytė, aistė diržytė 52 effort to succeed at challenging tasks; (2) making positive attributions (optimism) about succeeding now and in the future; (c) persevering toward goals and, when necessary, redirecting paths to goals (hope) in order to succeed; and (4) when beset by problems and adversity, sustaining and bouncing back and even beyond (resilience) to attain success” (luthans et al., 2007, p. 3). psycap components are defined as personal resources that can be developed, and a hypothesis could be made that in this way these resources can increase the satisfaction of life of young unemployed people. we suggest that personal resources could help achieve goals because people with positive resources could better cope with challenges they face. in addition, it would be possible to assume that psycap might help with meeting difficulties and hindrances to job seeking. the following paragraphs briefly summarize the separate components of psycap and its relationships to satisfaction with life. resilience is a positive coping and adaptation in the face of significant adversity or risk (masten and reed, 2002). when resilient individuals face adversities, they focus on their psychological resources, persistence, motivation and behaviours to engage in important activities (masten & reed, 2002). luthans (2002a, p. 702) defined resilience as the “positive psychological capacity to rebound, to “bounce back” from adversity, uncertainty, conflict, failure, or even positive change, progress and increased responsibility.” moreover, resilience can protect unemployed youth from learned helplessness. therefore, resilience could enable unemployed youth to seek new experiences and take reasonable risks to achieve goals. as mentioned above, resilience is a positive coping which enables the individual to rebound from difficult situations and seek new goals but does not condemn oneself for failures. thus, it is expected that resilient individuals will be happier and will be more satisfied with life then individuals who are not resilient and are vulnerable. hope, as defined by snyder and colleagues (1991, p. 287), is a “positive motivational state that is based on an interactively derived sense of successful a) agency (goal directed energy) and b) pathways (planning to meet goals).” snyder (2000) argues that people who have high hope are more likely to have goals and sub-goals, and they also proactively 2016, 19, 49–69 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 53 identify multiple pathways for reach these goals. froman (2010) notes that hopeful people try to attain what they set out to accomplish even in difficult times and they try to find satisfaction in what they achieve. for instance, unemployed young people can set goals related with employment. these goals should be specific and challenging but not impossible in order to make the process challenging but doable. therefore, hope could enable unemployed youth to take on efforts and to direct energy to heartily pursue goals. it is important that unemployed youth would try to be satisfied in what they achieve: if one is satisfied in one’s achievements, one might be more satisfied with life as well. efficacy is defined as the individual’s confidence about his or her abilities to mobilize the cognitive resources, motivation, and direction of action needed to successfully implement a specific task within a given context (stajkovic & luthans, 1998). a study by zenger, berth, brähler, and stöbel-richter (2013) revealed that self-efficacy predicts health complaints and the duration of unemployment seven years later. it was found that people with lower levels of self-efficacy demonstrated higher levels of mental and physical health complaints and also experienced twice the length of unemployment compared to people with high or medium level of self-efficacy. thus, self-efficacy predicts health complaints and the duration of unemployment of young adults (zenger et al., 2013). study by holmstrom, russell, and clare (2015) revealed that job-search self-efficacy of new-entrant job seekers and unemployed people mediates the relationship between self-esteem and job-search behaviour, but the effects were more pronounced among new-entrant job seekers. they found that self-efficacy is reduced after several unsuccessful attempts to find a job. therefore, it is very useful to develop selfefficacy in unemployed young people. according to bandura (1997), self-efficacy may be developed through mastery experiences, vicarious learning (or modelling), social persuasion, and psychological and physiological arousal. we suggest that when unemployed youth successfully accomplish a challenging task, they are more confident and they believe they have abilities to accomplish a task (e.g. looking for a job) in the future. it should be noted that mastery experiences are built through constant effort and the ability to learn how to create a strong perception of eglė sabaitytė, aistė diržytė 54 efficacy. however, if confidence is built from successes that came easily, in the situation where serious difficulties emerge, it will not be characterized by perseverance (bandura, 1999). therefore, it is worth integrating challenging but surmountable exercises for unemployed youth to experience success throughout a training course. it is possible that if they experience more success, they will be more satisfied with life as well. optimism, according to seligman (1998), can be viewed as an attributional style that explains positive events through personal, permanent, and pervasive causes, and negative events through external, temporary, and situation-specific causes. in contrast, pessimism can be viewed as externalized positive events. they are attributed to temporary and situation-specific causes while negative events are internalized and are attributed to permanent and pervasive causes (seligman, 1998). it was found that optimism was related to psychological and physical health (thomson, schonert-reichl, & oberle, 2015), well-being, and coping styles (scheier & carver, 1992). therefore, optimism could be used as a strategy for facing difficulties related to unemployment situations. it could help unemployed youth to explain their situations related to the difficulties of finding a job through external, temporary, and situationspecific causes. thus, optimism is very useful positive resource which could increase life satisfaction of unemployed young people. self-compassion of unemployed youth neff (2003a, 2003b) has proposed that the concept of self-compassion consist of three components: self-kindness versus self-judgment; a sense of common humanity versus isolation, and mindfulness versus over-identification. these components combine and mutually interact to create a self-compassionate frame of mind (neff, 2003a, 2003b). we suggest that positive self-compassion could help unemployed youth cope with challenges they face. thus, it would be possible to assume that self-compassion might help in meeting difficulties and hindrances to job seeking. furthermore, we propose that self-compassion is related to life satisfaction of unemployed youth taking into account the empirical evidence of the relationships between self-compassion and optimism (neff, 2009; neff et al., 2007), resilience (leary et al., 2007; neff, mcgehee, 2016, 19, 49–69 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 55 2010), and efficacy (iskender, 2009). moreover, self-compassion is positive resource of psychological well-being (neff, 2009). the following paragraphs briefly summarize the separate components of self-compassion. self-kindness versus self-judgment. according to neff (2003a, 2003b), self-kindness is a tendency to be caring and understanding oneself rather than being judgmental and harshly critical. when life circumstances are difficult and painful, self-compassionate people use a soft and supportive emotional tone of language towards the self, and offer themselves soothing and comfort rather than attacking and berating themselves for being inadequate (neff, 2009). thus, when self-compassionate unemployed youth are facing difficult life circumstances, they could use a supportive and soft tone of language instead of being harshly critical and judgmental. common humanity versus isolation. according to neff (2009), common humanity involves understanding that all humans are imperfect, that all people make mistakes and fail. self-compassion connects one’s own difficult condition to all human shared condition, and in this perspective, features of the self are understood from a broad, inclusive perspective. in the same way, struggles and life difficulties are understood as part of being human, so people feel connected to others when experiencing pain (neff, 2009). this capacity is very useful to unemployed young people since the unemployed young people tend to think that others live better and they feel isolated and separate themselves from others when they experience difficult life circumstances. the understanding that others experience the same could encourage unemployed youth looking for job and help them to be resilient when their efforts are unsuccessful. mindfulness versus over-identification. mindfulness involves being aware of the present moment in a clear and balanced manner (brown & ryan, 2003, cited by neff, 2009). it involves turning toward one’s painful thoughts and emotions and seeing them as they are without suppression or avoidance (neff, 2003b). also, it is very useful to pay attention in an equilibrated way that prevents being carried away by a dramatic storyline, a process that neff (2003b) has named “over-identification.” thus, one neither ignores nor ruminates on disliked aspects of oneself or one’s life (neff, 2009). mindfulness is an important capacity for eglė sabaitytė, aistė diržytė 56 unemployed young people when they experience painful emotions and thoughts related to their unemployment situation. it allows them to recognize the real situation of their lives, and protects them from increasing negative thoughts and feelings. according to neff (2009), it is necessary to understand that one is suffering in order to be able to feel compassion towards the self. we suggest that unemployed youth with higher self-compassion levels should care about and treat themselves with kindness and gentleness when they experience difficulties finding a job. thus, self-compassion may buffer unemployed youth against negative events and provide a balanced view when life circumstances become difficult. the aforementioned studies have revealed that self-compassion and psycap are linked with a number of positive constructs. however, previous research has not yet examined psycap, self-compassion and life satisfaction together among unemployed young people. finding new correlates of life satisfaction in young unemployed sample, especially considering empirical evidence of the proposed relationships between psycap and life satisfaction, and especially the relationship between self-compassion and life satisfaction, is an important first step. thus, the aims of the study are: 1) to reveal links between psycap, self-compassion and life satisfaction of unemployed youth; 2) to investigate the difference between psycap and self-compassion for higher and lower levels of life satisfaction among unemployed youth. me thods participants in this pilot study, we recruited 80 young unemployed people (38% male, 62% female) to participate in the research. participants’ ages ranged from 19 to 29 years (m = 24.35, sd = 2.90). all participants were enrolled in a vocational counselling project at lithuanian labour exchange. the purpose of the project was to involve young unemployed people in volunteering so that they did not become a socially excluded group. therefore, it was important to involve them in activities ensuring public order. thus, they were trained to become police volunteers. one part of the training was vocational counselling, which was car2016, 19, 49–69 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 57 ried out by one of the authors of this article. the vocational counselling sought to reveal their personal positive aspects and strengths. after vocational counselling, participants were asked to complete questionnaires. all participation was voluntary. the participants received no payment or gift vouchers for their participation. measures psychological capital. we evaluated psycap using the pcq-24 (luthans, youssef, and avolio, 2007) which is a higher order construct consisting of four subscales, each comprised of six items for a total of 24 items. the total scale consists of hope subscale (e.g. “there are lots of ways around any problem”), efficacy subscale (e.g. “i feel confident analysing a long-term problem to find a solution”), resilience subscale (e.g. “i feel i can handle many things”), and optimism subscale (e.g. “i always look on the bright side of things”). all items were measured using a 6-point likert scale of agreement with response options ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). in the present study, cronbach’s alpha for the total psycap scale was .85 and ranged for the subscales: (hope subscale .78; efficacy subscale .82; resilience subscale .77; optimism subscale .72). life satisfaction. we evaluated satisfaction with life using the satisfaction with life scale (swls, diener, emmons, larsen, & griffin, 1985), a commonly used five-item measure of global life satisfaction. scale consists of five items (e.g. “i am satisfied with my life“). all items were measured using a 7-point likert scale of agreement with response options ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). in the present study, cronbach’s alpha was .82. self-compassion. we evaluated self-compassion using the self-compassion scale (scs; neff, 2003a). this is a 26-item measure with responses ranging from 1 (almost never) to 5 (almost always). scs assesses the positive and negative aspects of the three main components of self-compassion: self-kindness subscale consisting of 5 items (e.g. “when i’m going through a very hard time, i give myself the caring and tenderness i need”) versus self-judgment subscale consisting of 5 items (reverse scored) (e.g. “i’m disapproving and judgmental about my own flaws and inadequacies”); common humanity subscale consisting of 4 items (e.g. “when eglė sabaitytė, aistė diržytė 58 i’m down, i remind myself that there are lots of other people in the world feeling like i am”) versus isolation subscale consisting of 4 items (reverse scored) (e.g. “when i think about my inadequacies, it tends to make me feel more separate and cut off from the rest of the world”); and mindfulness subscale consisting of 4 items (e.g. “when something upsets me, i try to keep my emotions in balance”) versus over-identification subscale consisting of 5 items (reverse scored) (e.g. “when i’m feeling down, i tend to obsess and fixate on everything that’s wrong”; neff, 2003a). to compute the total score of self-compassion, we took the mean of each subscale, then computed a total mean. thus, we used total self-compassion scale and its separate subscales as well. it should be noted that separate subscales of negative self-compassion components (self-judgment, isolation and over-identification) were computed without reversed coding. in the present study, cronbach’s alpha for the total scale was .73 and ranged for the subscales: self-kindness .70; self-judgment .62; common humanity .70; isolation .60; mindfulness .71; over-identification .59. it should be noted that cronbach’s alpha was < .70 in subscales that assessed negative aspects of the three main components of self-compassion. thus, we included means of self-judgment, isolation and overidentification in different life satisfaction clusters in the results section, but we did not analyse it. we showed relationships between self-judgment, isolation and over-identification with psycap components and life satisfaction, but we did not analyse it as well. versions of all questionnaires were prepared in lithuanian by both researchers of the article. the comparison of translated lithuanian versions with back-translation to the original did not reveal any inconsistencies. procedure all questionnaires in this study were completed in a room at the labour exchange. participants were divided into smaller groups consisting of 15 or 17 people in each group. questionnaires were administered by a psychologist who provided vocational counselling. there was no time limit to complete the questionnaires. participants completed questionnaires within 20-25 minutes. we distributed 100 questionnaires but received 80 fully completed questionnaires. all data were collected during a three-month period. 2016, 19, 49–69 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 59 data analysis the statistical package spss 17.0 was used for data analysis. pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to examine relationships between psycap, self-compassion and life satisfaction. because some of the data was non-normally distributed (table 1), both parametric and nonparametric statistics were used. the means of psycap, efficacy, hope, resilience, and self-kindness, self-judgment, common humanity, isolation, mindfulness, and over-identification were compared with t-tests while the means of optimism, and self-compassion in two groups of participants were compared using mann whitney statistical criterion. k-means cluster analysis was used for grouping the participants into high and low satisfaction with life groups for variance analysis. table 1. the data distribution (shapiro -wilk test of normality) variables skewness se kurtosis se p value* psycap -.57 .30 -.89 .60 .354 efficacy -.30 .30 .05 .60 .329 hope .15 .30 -.84 .60 .112 optimism .23 .30 -1.0 .60 .022 resilience -.24 .30 -.85 .60 .116 satisfaction with life -.37 .30 -.65 .60 .046 self-compassion .65 .27 .09 .54 .004 self-kindness .42 .27 -.40 .54 .064 self-judgment .16 .27 -.26 .53 .560 common humanity .44 .27 -.48 .53 .052 isolation -.09 .27 -.34 .54 .416 mindfulness .04 .27 -.10 .54 .106 over-identification .23 .27 -.51 .53 .177 note: se – standard error, *p value of shapiro-wilk test eglė sabaitytė, aistė diržytė 60 results table 2 presents descriptive analysis (means and standard deviations) of all study variables. table 2. means and standard deviations of the psycap, selfcompassion, and life satisfaction variables variables m sd psycap 4.40 .65 efficacy 4,46 .76 hope 4.35 .83 optimism 4.37 .76 resilience 4.42 .75 satisfaction with life 4.25 1.53 self-compassion 1.58 .33 self-kindness 2.98 .76 self-judgment 3.10 .88 common humanity 3.30 .84 isolation 3.19 .91 mindfulness 3.25 .84 over-identification 2.33 .70 note: m – mean, sd – standard deviation we evaluated the relationship between life satisfaction, psycap and self-compassion using pearson’s correlation coefficient. table 3 presents positive correlations between life satisfaction, psycap and all its components: efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism. all correlations are significant and strong, except for the correlation between life satisfaction and resilience. this correlation is significant but weak. 2016, 19, 49–69 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 61 next, we analysed the relationship between life satisfaction and self-compassion. although life satisfaction was positively related to self-compassion, this relationship is weak. moreover, positive aspects of self-compassion (self-kindness and mindfulness) were not related to life satisfaction. only one component of positive self-compassion (common humanity) correlated significantly with life satisfaction. the results revealed that life satisfaction is positively linked with all negative selfcompassion components. however, we did not analyse these results because of the low reliability of the negative self-compassion subscales. these results are shown in table 4. table 3. correlations between psycap and life satisfaction of unemployed youth (pearson’s coefficient) variable psycap efficacy hope optimism resilience life satisfaction .59** .53** .50** .59** .36** * < .05 ** < .01 table 4. correlations between selfcompassion and life satisfaction of unemployed youth (pearson’s coefficient) variable selfcompassion selfkindness selfjudgment common humanity isolation mindfulness overidentification life satisfaction .26* .16 .26* .26* .32** .21 .30** * < .05 ** < .01 another aim of this research was to investigate the difference between psycap (efficacy, hope, resilience, optimism), and self-compassion for higher and lower levels of life satisfaction among unemployed youth. an independent-samples t-test indicated that participants with high level of satisfaction with life had higher levels of psycap, efficacy, hope and resilience. these results are shown in tables 5 and 6. eglė sabaitytė, aistė diržytė 62 table 5. means of selfcompassion components in different life satisfaction clusters variable level of life satisfaction low high m sd m sd t df p d self-kindness 2.78 .68 3.08 .80 -1.60 75 .11 -.41 self-judgment 2.87 .72 3.20 .83 -1.67 75 .10 -.42 common humanity 3.03 .65 3.44 .90 -2.02 75 .05 -.53 isolation 2.95 .86 3.30 .94 -1.57 75 .12 -.39 mindfulness 2.93 .79 3.42 .83 -2.46 75 .02 -.61 over-identification 2.03 .60 2.47 .73 -2.56 75 .01 -.66 table 6. means of psycap, efficacy, hope and resilience in different life satisfaction clusters variable level of life satisfaction low high m sd m sd t df p d psycap 3.92 .06 4.64 .47 -5.18 73 .00 1.33 efficacy 3.96 .64 4.72 .69 -4.65 76 .00 1.15 hope 3.78 .75 4.64 .72 -4.85 77 .00 1.23 resilience 4.04 .71 4.61 .70 -3.32 76 .00 .85 mann-whitney u test revealed statistically significant differences in optimism when comparing the groups that had higher and lower levels of satisfaction with life. participants with a high level of satisfaction with life demonstrated greater optimism (the mean ranks of low and high satisfaction with life groups were 23.86 and 45.68 respectively; u = 271.50, z = -4.05, p < .001). in addition, mann-whitney u test indicated that participants with a high level of satisfaction with life demonstrated greater self-compassion (the mean ranks were 31.40 and 42.44 respectively; u = 453.50, z = -2.01, p < .05). thus, highly satisfied with life unemployed 2016, 19, 49–69 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 63 youth had higher levels of psycap, efficacy, hope, resilience, optimism, and self-compassion compared to those unemployed youth who were less satisfied with life. table 7. correlations between psycap and selfcompassion of unemployed youth (pearson’s coefficient) variable self compassion self kindness self judgment common humanity isolation mindfulness over identification psycap .40** .25* .23* .31** .26** .28* .33** efficacy .33** .27* .22 .26* .12 .28* .20 hope .35** .24* .14 .31** .35 .33** .21 optimism .26* .14 .30** .33** .38** .14 .32** resilience .19 .11 .16 .16 .23* .19 .41** * < .05 ** < .01 table 7 shows the correlations between psycap and self-compassion. as expected, psycap and self-compassion were positively related to each other. the results indicate that positive self-compassion components are significantly related to the following psycap components: self-kindness was associated with efficacy and hope; common humanity was associated with efficacy, hope and optimism; and mindfulness was associated with efficacy and hope. all correlations between psycap and self-compassion were significant but weak. negative self-compassion components were also related to the psycap components. we did not analyse those results because, as mentioned above, of the low reliability of negative self-compassion subscales. discussion this study showed that there were significant correlations between psycap and self-compassion with life satisfaction of unemployed youth. the strongest correlation was between psycap and life satisfaction. thus, in addition we analysed the difference between psycap and eglė sabaitytė, aistė diržytė 64 self-compassion for higher and lower levels of life satisfaction among unemployed youth. the results showed that there were significant differences in psycap and self-compassion between groups with high and low satisfaction with life. before discussing the results, however, it is worth considering the low reliability in some subscales measuring negative self-compassion components. thus, we analysed how overall self-compassion (but not the separate components/subscales) differ on higher and lower levels of life satisfaction. first, we will discuss correlations between psycap and life satisfaction. later, we will interpret correlations between life satisfaction and self-compassion. and finally, we will analyse correlations between psycap and self-compassion of unemployed youth. the present research revealed that psycap (including all its components: efficacy, hope, resilience and optimism) is positively related to life satisfaction of unemployed youth. this suggests that those positive capacities could increase well-being not only among employees (luthans et al., 2007) and students (riolli et al., 2012) but also could increase the well-being of unemployed youth. our findings are in line with the results found by rani (2015) in indian samples. both studies have shown significant positive correlations between psycap and its components with psychological well-being of unemployed youth in india and lithuania. thus, this research highlights the importance of psycap reducing negative consequences of youth unemployment which is important for individuals and the whole of society (rani, 2015). in addition, our research revealed that unemployed youth with a higher level of satisfaction with life have greater levels of overall psycap and all its individual components (hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism) compared to unemployed youth who are less satisfied with life and are unemployed. people who have high level of psycap have been shown to possess many aspects of well-being such as greater happiness, daily positive functioning (culbertson, fullagar, mills, 2010), life satisfaction (riolli et al., 2012), satisfaction with relationships and psychological health (luthans, youssef, sweetman, harms, 2013). according to these findings, the results of our study showing that unemployed youth with higher level of satisfaction with life have greater level of psycap are logical and reasonable. 2016, 19, 49–69 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 65 our research revealed a weak but significant relationship between life satisfaction and self-compassion. furthermore, we found that unemployed youth with a higher level of satisfaction with life are more selfcompassionate compared to unemployed youth who are less satisfied with life and are unemployed. as the literature indicates, self-compassion is an important source of psychological well-being (barnard & curry, 2012; neff, 2009). self-compassion is strongly associated with positive affect, happiness and life satisfaction (neff et al., 2007). according to these findings, the results of our study showing a positive relationship between life satisfaction and self-compassion of unemployed youth are expected. finally, our study showed a positive correlation between psycap and self-compassion for unemployed youth. this relationship was expected based on a review of the research literature. previous studies revealed that self-compassion is strongly associated with positive affect, happiness, optimism and personal initiative to make needed changes in one’s life (neff et al., 2007), emotional coping skills, clarity of feelings and the capacity to repair negative emotional states (neff, 2003a). it should be noted that personal initiative, emotional coping skills and positive affect are very useful capacities enhancing positive psychological capital. furthermore, we found that self-kindness correlates with efficacy and hope; common humanity correlates with efficacy, hope and optimism; and mindfulness correlates with efficacy and hope. our findings contribute to previous studies which found that self-compassion is positively related to optimism (neff, 2009; neff et al., 2007) and efficacy (iskender, 2009). thus, our findings that psycap positively correlates with self-compassion of unemployed youth can be supported by the aforementioned findings. the present research revealed some useful correlations between psycap, self-compassion and satisfaction with life. however, without longitudinal or experimental studies, the causality between variables is unclear. we found that unemployed youth who are highly satisfied with life have higher levels of psycap and self-compassion compared to unemployed youth who are less satisfied with life. it is not clear whether life satisfaction is an outcome of possessing these resources or an antecedent to having those resources. thus, it is important to investigate psycap, self-compassion and life satisfaction of unemployed youth in the future. eglė sabaitytė, aistė diržytė 66 limitations and future directions. there are several limitations to this study which should be noted. first, cronbach’s alpha was < .70 for subscales which assess negative aspects of the three main components of self-compassion. thus, the reliability of the scale should be tested in the future. although the comparison of translated lithuanian versions with back-translation to the original did not reveal any inconsistencies, it would be worthwhile checking those items of the subscales measuring negative components of self-compassion. second, our analysis was focused on one limited-size group of individuals only, namely, on unemployed lithuanians aged 19-29. the generalizability of the findings is, therefore, limited. whether our results can be extended to other age groups in other countries remains to be tested in future research. third, the absence of key information about participants’ educational level and social class is a limitation of the research as well. fourth, we did not use a control or comparison group of employed lithuanians of the same age. this should be done in future research as well. finally, a structural equation model could be built using the variables examined in this study. nevertheless, the results obtained in this study have important practical implications: psychological capital and self-compassion may have an important place in positive psychological interventions for the enhancement of satisfaction with life of unemployed youth. conclusions this study makes several contributions. the results of our study revealed that life satisfaction positively correlates with psychological capital and all its components: efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience of unemployed youth. although life satisfaction positively correlates with total self-compassion and common humanity, however, self-kindness and mindfulness do not correlate with the life satisfaction of unemployed youth. nevertheless, unemployed youth with high satisfaction with life have higher levels of total self-compassion and psycap (efficacy, hope, optimism, resilience) compared to less satisfied with life unemployed youth. finally, positive links between total self-compassion and positive psychological capital were found. furthermore, positive self-compassion components correlated with efficacy, hope and optimism as well. 2016, 19, 49–69 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 67 references åslund, c., starrin, b., 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(2013). health complaints and unemployment: the role of self-efficacy in a prospective cohort study. journal of social & clinical psychology, 32(1), 97-115. 2016, 19, 49–69 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 69 jaunų bedarbių psichologinio k apitalo, atjautos sau ir pasitenkinimo gy venimu ryšys eglė sabait ytė, aistė dir ž ytė mykolo romerio universitetas, lietuva santrauka. darbo problema. jaunimo nedarbas – aktuali europos sąjungos problema. bedarbystė gali sumažinti nedirbančių jaunų žmonių ne tik ekonominę, bet ir psichologinę gerovę. pozityvus psichologinis kapitalas ir atjauta sau yra susiję su to kiais pozityviais konstruktais kaip pasitenkinimas gyvenimu, pozityvios emocijos ir iniciatyva, keičiant savo gyvenimą. tyrime keliama prielaida, kad pozityvus psic hologinis kapitalas ir atjauta sau gali stiprinti jaunų bedarbių psichologinę gerovę. tikslas – atskleisti pozityvaus psichologinio kapitalo, atjautos sau ir pasitenkinimo gyvenimu ryšius jaunų bedarbių imtyje. tiriamieji ir metodai. tyrime dalyvavo 80 jaunų lietuvos bedarbių (38 % vaikinų ir 62 % merginų, kurių amžius 19–29 m.). tyrime naudoti instrumentai: psichologinio kapitalo klausimynas (luthans et al., 2007), pasitenkinimo gyvenimu skalė (diener et al., 1985) ir atjautos sau skalė (neff, 2003a). rezultatai. jaunų bedarbių pasitenkinimas gyvenimu buvo teigiamai susijęs su psi chologiniu kapitalu ir atjauta sau; psichologinio kapitalo komponentai buvo teigiamai susiję su visais atjautos sau komponentais. jauni bedarbiai, kurie buvo labiau patenkinti gyvenimu, pasižymėjo didesniu psichologiniu kapitalu ir atjauta sau, lygi nant su jaunais bedarbiais, kurie buvo mažiau patenkinti gyvenimu. išvados. atlikto tyrimo rezultatai atskleidžia, kad psichologinis kapitalas ir atjauta sau gali būti reikšmingi resursai stiprinant jaunų bedarbių psichologinę gerovę. pagrindiniai žodžiai: psichologinis kapitalas, atjauta sau, pasitenkinimas gyvenimu, jauni bedarbiai. received: 2016-07-07 accepted: 2017-01-18 57 the importance of perceived autonomy support and pre vious behaviour for autonomous motivation in patients with t ype 1 diabe tes brigita miežienė1, liuda šinkariova, eglė adomavičiūtė vytautas magnus university, lithuania abstract. background. initiating and maintaining health-related behaviour is the key factor in managing diabetes. research literature suggests three types of behaviour which are most important in controlling blood sugar: blood sugar monitoring and medication use, diabetes diet, and physical activity. studies demonstrated that only a small portion of patients comply with treatment guidelines. as it is hard to expect that a person is intrinsically motivated to engage in diabetes treatment regimen, some external assistance is welcome. the aim of the present study was to evaluate the predicting power of autonomy support for autonomous motivation for blood sugar monitoring, diabetes diet and physical activity, regarding respective previous behaviour patterns in a sample of patients with type 1 diabetes. methods. the study included 107 patients. autonomy support was measured by modified health care climate questionnaire (hccq) for diabetes management. autonomous motivation for diabetes management behaviour was measured by the autonomous motivation scale from treatment self-regulation questionnaire (tsrq). previous behaviour was measured by using summary of diabetes self-care activities (sdsca). results. perceived autonomy support was a significant predictor of higher autonomous motivation for blood sugar control, diabetes diet and physical activity. conclusions. the results confirmed the assumption that the compliance of patients’ autonomous motivation for treatment was higher when they perceived understanding and support from their practitioners and made informed decisions. keywords: autonomy support, health-reated behaviour, sef-lf-regulation of behaviour. 1 address for correspondence: vytautas magnus university, department of theoretical psychology, jonavos g. 66-330, lt-44191, kaunas, lithuania, phone/fax: +370 37 327 824. e-mail: b.mieziene@smf.vdu.lt. scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2015 / 17 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.17.4 58 brigita miežienė, liuda šinkariova, eglė adomavičiūtė introduc tion diabetes is a chronic illness characterized by hyperglycaemia resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both. this chronic illness is related to constant patient self-management in order to prevent complications. type 1 diabetes is characterized by deficient insulin production resulted from β-cell destruction and requires daily administration of insulin. the cause of type 2 diabetes is a combination of resistance to insulin action and an inadequate compensatory insulin secretory response (american diabetes association, 2004, 2012). blood sugar control is crucial for both types of diabetes. initiating and maintaining health-related behaviour is the key factor for the success of this control. research literature review suggests three types of behaviour which are most important for controlling blood sugar: blood sugar monitoring and medication use, diet, and physical activity (brazeau, rabasa-lhoret, strychar, & mircescu, 2008; cundiff, raghuvanshi, 2012; oftedal, bru, & karlsen, 2011; sigal, kenny, wasserman, & castaneda-sceppa, 2004). diabetes diet includes eating five servings of fruits and vegetables per day, fish and chicken, it limits consuming red meat, eggs, cheese, alcohol, food rich of complex carbohydrates and sugar, and prevents overeating (standards of medical care in diabetes, 2014). besides, it is recommended to be vigorously physically active no less than 150 minutes per week (american diabetes association, 2010). research shows that a lack of regular blood sugar monitoring and medication use regimen may lead to complications and the risk of untimely deaths (brazeau et al., 2008; sigal et al., 2004). on the other hand, blood sugar monitoring and medication use, diet and physical activity are interrelated with each other in controlling blood sugar. studies show that a combination of regular blood sugar monitoring and medication use regimen, diabetes diet and physical activity improves patients’ physical health, is related to mental health and reduces the risk of complications due to the reduced level of blood sugar (davison et al., 2014; fernemark et al., 2013; giannini, giorgis, 2007; centers for disease control and prevention, 2011). though the guidelines for health-related behaviour are clearly defined and available, many patients fail to comply with the treatment regimen. studies demonstrated that only 7 to 50 percent of patients 59 2015, 17, 57–78 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach followed the dietary guidelines (jenum, claudi, & cooper, 2008; oftedal et al., 2011). various studies indicated that about two thirds of patients with type 1 diabetes did not reach the optimal level of health-enhancing physical activity, neither did the general population (nelson, reiber, & boyko, 2002; plotnikoff, 2006; resnick, foster, bardsley, & ratner, 2006). what is more, compliance was not consistent across behaviours as patients reported that they were taking their medications 93 percent, and testing their blood glucose 69 percent of the supposed frequency (daly et al., 2011). the primary goal of diabetes education is to provide knowledge and skill training (centers for disease control and prevention, 2014), but authors state that it is naive to assume that compliance is a matter of adequate information. information is necessary but not sufficient for behaviour change (becker, 1990; coates, 1988). a big amount of research suggests that psychosocial determinants of health-behaviour are of the utmost importance. various theoretical models are incorporated to explain motivational factors of engagement in health-related behaviour such as theory of planned behaviour, social-cognitive theory, and health belief model. recently, self-determination theory (sdt) has become widely used. self-de termination theory sdt bases its prepositions on philosophical assumptions that a person is naturally proactive, has the inherent drive for growth and development, and can master his or her own inner and external forces instead of being a product of social learning (deci & vansteenkiste, 2004). however, social environment is still important as it can foster or thwart natural growth (ryan & deci, 2000). sdt stands out from other theories explaining the quality of motivation instead of its quantity (ajzen, 2011; duda & nicholls, 1992; ryan & deci, 2000). the theory distinguishes between two main types of motivation – controlled vs. autonomous, and two types of behaviour regulation – not self-determined vs. self-determined. in case of controlled motivation, behaviour is initiated in order to avoid external pressure, shame, guilt for not behaving in the expected way or seeking for the external reward, for example, praise or prize. behaving 60 brigita miežienė, liuda šinkariova, eglė adomavičiūtė in that way, people often feel tension, control or commitment (deci & ryan, 2000; deci & ryan, 2008; edmunds, ntoumanis, & duda, 2007). controlled motivation is related to perceived incompetence (williams, mcgregor, king, nelson, & glasgow, 2005). on the contrary, in case of autonomous motivation or self-determined behaviour regulation, people voluntarily engage into the behaviour due to the internal interest and satisfaction or because they highly value the behaviour. they initiate and maintain behaviour without the feeling of external (demand) or internal (guilt, shame) pressure (deci & ryan, 2000; deci & ryan, 2008; edmunds et al., 2007; ryan & connell, 1989). autonomy is closely related to the sense of competence, which describes self-efficacy and self-confidence to control one’s own behaviour (williams et al., 2005). sdt states that when a person is more autonomously engaged in the therapeutic process, he or she is more likely to integrate healthy behaviour patterns. this kind of self-determined engagement is related to internalized responsibility for the behaviour (ryan & deci, 2008). sdt also states that autonomy is one of the three basic innate human needs along with the competence and relatedness. autonomy refers to the sense of freedom in decision making, i.e. volitional behaviour in accordance with integrated self (deci & ryan, 2000). competence is described as a perceived ability to execute the behaviour change (resnicow & mcmaster, 2012). people feel competent when they think they can and have enough resources to do something. finally, relatedness assumes sense of close connections with significant others (silva et al., 2008). satisfaction of these innate needs contributes to proactivity and well-being. on the other hand, the frustration of these same needs, especially from significant caregivers, leaves one prone to passivity and ill-being (vansteenkiste & ryan, 2013). the breakdown in behaviour change may arise because a patient lacks satisfaction of one or several of these needs. resistance is considered not only a problem of a patient but also of a practitioner, i.e. the way the patient is being spoken to (rollnick, mason, & butler, 1999). as it is hard to expect that a person engages in diabetes treatment regimen with pleasure, which is, as a rule, time consuming, boring, excluding some pleasant habits and requiring strict daily routine, some 61 2015, 17, 57–78 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach external assistance is welcome. authors state that friendly social context is required for successful health behaviour initiation and maintenance (deci & ryan, 2002). sdt emphasizes health specialist’s behaviour which supports patients’ autonomy, competence and relatedness. satisfaction of these needs is crucial in facilitating behaviour change (ryan & deci, 2008). the autonomy support includes providing meaningful rationale for health behaviour, offering several options for behaviour change, assistance in health goals setting and behaviour planning, using neutral language as “may” or “could”, emphasizing, encouragement, understanding participants’ motivation for behaviours, showing interest in participants’ wellbeing and progress (fenner, straker, davis, & hagger, 2013; foote, 2005). there were attempts to measure the importance of autonomy support in diabetes care already (austin, senecal, guay, & nouwen, 2011; williams, lynch, & glasgow, 2007; williams, niemiec, patrick, ryan, & deci, 2009; williams, mcgregor zeldman, freedman, & deci, 2004; williams, freedman, & deci, 1998). autonomous motivation for diabetes related health behaviour (diet, exercise, blood sugar testing) from baseline to 6 months was higher when patients with type 2 diabetes perceived more autonomy support from their practitioners (williams et al., 2004). empirical research reveals that perceived autonomy support from practitioners is also related to psychological need satisfaction and better mental health (williams et al., 2005; williams et al., 2004), glycaemic improvements (siminerio, ruppert, & gabbay, 2013; williams et al., 2009), life skills improvement (zoffmann & lauritzen, 2006) in patients with diabetes. a study by williams et al. (2009) showed that perceived autonomy support from practitioners related to higher autonomous motivation for medication use. in turn, autonomous motivation was further related to lower blood sugar levels in the model where perceived competence and medication adherence were the mediators (williams et al., 2009). austin, senecal, guay and nouwen (2011) examined the role of perceived autonomy support not only from practitioners but also from parents, investigating adolescent patients’ with type 1 diabetes, behaviour regu lation. they found that autonomy support from both parents and practitioners enhanced adolescent’s autonomy for diabetes diet. autonomy support from practitioners related to perceived competence and 62 brigita miežienė, liuda šinkariova, eglė adomavičiūtė autonomous motivation, which were the mediators in association with dietary self-care. autonomy support from parents was related directly to both autonomous motivation for diet and dietary self-care (austin et al., 2011). the present research previous research examined the motivational chain where autonomous motivation was a mediating variable between the autonomy support and behaviour. however, some authors noticed that autonomous motivation was not only the consequence of autonomy support but the previous behaviour experience really made an impact on further behaviour motivation (lepper et al., 1973). behaviour related to treatment in case of diabetes suggests repetitive performance. especially, this is related to blood sugar monitoring and medication use. when there is evidence of repeated performance of the behaviour, frequency of previous behaviour is an indicator of habit strength, and it can be used as an independent predictor of later performance. a measure of previous behaviour includes all psychosocial determinants which caused performance (or non-performance) of the behaviour in the past (bamberg, ajzen, & schmidt, 2003). however, neither of the studies controlled the impact of previous behaviour on autonomous motivation in the case of diabetes. we therefore consider previous behaviour as a background for further motivation. in case of chronic illness as diabetes, neither blood sugar monitoring nor diet behaviour a priori are self-motivated as they are related to various restrictions on biological, psychological and social levels. research in healthy population showed that previous behaviour played a significant role in forming further motivation for the behaviour (mclahan & hagger, 2011). therefore, perceived autonomy support provided from practitioners supposed to facilitate the process of internalization of autonomous behaviour self-regulation. the aim of the present research was to evaluate the predicting power of autonomy support for autonomous behaviour of self-regulation for blood sugar testing, diet and physical activity, regarding respective previous behaviour patterns in a sample of patients with type 1 diabetes. 63 2015, 17, 57–78 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach me thods par ticipants this cross-sectional study included 107 patients with type 1 diabetes. among them, 36 (35.5 percent) were men and 69 (64.5 percent) women. other clinical, psychosocial and behavioural sample characteristics are presented in table 1. instruments autonomy support was measured by modified health care climate questionnaire (hccq) for diabetes management. the six items scale is made from original 15-item hccq scale (williams & deci, 1996), adapted to patients with diabetes (williams, rodin, ryan, grolnick, & deci, 1998), and assesses the degree of perception of supportiveness from their practitioners. in the present study, two additional scales were added to measure health climate regarding diabetes diet and physical activity to the scale originally made to evaluate the general health care climate. each of the six items of the original scale was changed to reflect the particular behaviour. for example, the item “my care providers gave me important choices and options about handling my diabetes” was changed to “my care providers gave me important choices and options about handling my diabetes diet” or “my care providers gave me important choices and options about handling my physical activity”. responses were made on 7-point likert-type scale ranging from 1 – “strongly disagree” to 7 – “strongly agree”. the internal consistency of the subscales in present study was cronbach’s α = .92 (for diabetes in general), .96 (for physical activity) and .95 (for diabetes diet). autonomous motivation for diabetes management behaviour was measured by autonomous motivation scale from treatment self-regulation questionnaire (tsrq) adapted for diabetes by williams et al. (2004). only autonomous motivation scale was used in this study. there are seven items addressing autonomous motivation for monitoring blood sugar, six items addressing autonomous motivation for following diet recommendations and six items addressing autonomous motivation for exercise. participants were asked to indicate how much on the 64 brigita miežienė, liuda šinkariova, eglė adomavičiūtė likert-type scale from 1 to 7 they agreed with the reasons to take their diabetes medication (insulin and/or pills) as recommended and test their blood sugar regularly; the reasons to follow their diabetes diet regularly; and the reasons to exercise regularly. the example of the autonomous motivation was as follows: “i believe these are the most important aspects to remain healthy.” the higher the score of each of the scale, the higher is the autonomous motivation. internal consistency indicated by cronbach’s α on the autonomy subscales across three types of behaviour was .71, .84 and .88 respectively. all of them showed good internal consistency. previous behaviour was measured by using summary of diabetes self-care activities (sdsca) measure (toobert, hampson, & glasgow, 2000). the subscales that assess diabetes self-management behaviours for diet, exercise and blood sugar testing were used. patients reported the number of days in the prior week they were engaged in each type of behaviour. the data reported as mean days of each activity in the prior week are presented in table 1. blood sugar testing was measured by two items indicating regularity of testing and adherence to recommendations. the subscale of physical activity consisted also of two items reflecting domestic and organized physical activity. diet behaviour was measured by two items summarizing healthy eating patterns. the study also included data on age, gender and years of illness. procedure questionnaires were delivered in local associations of people with diabetes in several lithuanian cities and online, placing an invitation to participate in the study in facebook profile of the association of people with diabetes. the research was approved by kaunas regional bioethics committee (nº be-9-18). statistical analysis spss for windows 19.0 software (spss inc., chicago, usa) was used for statistical data analysis. descriptive statistics were performed, tests of normality were run and indicators of skewness and kurtosis showed that data on each scale approached the normal distribution. three-step regression models were computed to indicate predicting variables for 65 2015, 17, 57–78 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach motivation for blood sugar testing, diet and physical activity. age, gender and years of illness were included into the equations at the first step, and the past behaviour – at the second step as the control variables. results were considered statistically significant when a probability value p was less than 0.05 or equal. results preliminary data analysis presented in table 1 shows that patients with type 1 diabetes have higher mean of glycaemia index (hba1c) than recommended (< 7 percent) by american diabetes association (ada, 2011). more than half of patients have complications and perceive their health as moderate. two thirds of the patients confirm that they only moderately succeed in controlling their disease. table 1. sample characteristics variable data (mean ± sd or %) hba1c, % 8.25 ± 1.93 gender men 35.5 women 64.5 age, years 35.25 ± 14.79 complications have 59.4 do not have 40.6 self-rated health very bad/bad 20.6 moderate 54.2 good/very good 25.2 self-rated diabetes control very bad/bad 17.0 moderate 59.4 good/very good 23.6 blood sugar control behaviour regular blood sugar testing (days per week) 5.61 ± 1.84 diabetes diet (days per week) 4.80 ± 1.90 physical activity (days per week) 3.34 ± 2.05 66 brigita miežienė, liuda šinkariova, eglė adomavičiūtė self-reported blood sugar control behaviour results show that blood sugar monitoring is performed regularly 5.61 days per week, balanced diet – approximately five days per week. vigorous physical activity is performed only 3.34 days per week. table 2. multiple hierarchical regression analyses predicting autonomous motivation for blood sugar monitoring from sociodemographic, clinical variables, previous behaviour and autonomy suppor t variable adj r² ß t p step 1 f(3) = 1.580, p = .199 .047 age .234 2.044 .044 gender –.035 –.341 .734 years of illness –.125 –1.082 .282 step 2 f(4) = 5.042, p = .001 .175 age .171 1.576 .118 gender –.064 –.662 .509 years of illness –.130 –1.206 .231 previous blood sugar monitoring .365 3.841 .001 step 3 f(5) = 6.054, p = .001 .244 age .199 1.897 .061 gender –.029 –.312 .755 years of illness –.164 –1.571 .119 previous blood sugar monitoring .353 3.853 .001 perceived autonomy support (for bst) .265 2.917 .004 note: bst – blood sugar testing results in table 2 indicate that autonomous motivation for blood sugar monitoring could be predicted by the age of the patients. the older the patients, the higher is their autonomous motivation. however, the effect of age disappeared when previous blood sugar monitoring entered the equation. it added 12.8 percent to the variance explained. 67 2015, 17, 57–78 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach in the final step, more adherent previous behaviour and higher perceived autonomy support were significant predictors for higher autonomous motivation for blood sugar monitoring. altogether, previous blood sugar monitoring and perceived autonomy support explained almost a quarter of autonomous motivation variance. perceived autonomy support added 6.9 percent. table 3. multiple hierarchical regression analyses predicting autonomous motivation for diabetes diet from sociodemographic, clinical, previous behaviour variables and autonomy suppor t variable adj r² ß t p step 1 f(3) = 1.623, p = .189 .050 age .256 2.078 .041 gender .030 .284 .777 years of illness –.069 –.554 .581 step 2 f(4) = 5.463, p = .001 .194 age .325 2.814 .006 gender –.001 –.012 .991 years of illness –.139 –1.193 .236 previous diabetes diet .387 4.022 .001 step 3 f(4) = 7.948, p = .001 .306 age .374 3.449 .001 gender .051 .555 .580 years of illness –.210 –1.905 .060 previous diabetes diet .273 2.891 .005 perceived autonomy support (for diet) .363 3.823 .001 results in table 3 show that older age, higher adherence to previous diabetes diet patterns and perceived autonomy support are significant predictors of higher autonomous motivation in diet behaviour. the regression weight of age was the strongest, followed by the perceived 68 brigita miežienė, liuda šinkariova, eglė adomavičiūtė autonomy support and previous diet patterns. adherence to diabetes diet added 14.4 percent and perceived autonomy support added additionally 11.2 percent to the total variance of 30.6 percent in the final step. table 4. multiple hierarchical regression analyses predicting autonomous motivation for physical activity from sociodemographic, clinical variables, previous behaviour and autonomy suppor t variable adj r² ß t p step 1 f(3) = .065, p = .979 .002 age –.025 –.210 .834 gender –.014 –.138 .891 years of illness –.024 –.206 .837 step 2 f(4) = .706, p = .590 .029 age .009 .073 .942 gender .008 .074 .941 years of illness –.052 –.437 .663 previous physical activity .168 1.621 .108 step 3 f(4) = 2.403, p = .043 .113 age .024 .207 .836 gender .065 .635 .527 years of illness –.069 –.609 .544 previous physical activity .077 .746 .458 perceived autonomy support (for pa) .312 2.992 .004 note: pa – physical activity only perceived autonomy support for physical activity behaviour emerged as a significant predictor of autonomous motivation for being physically active. it added 8.4 percent to the equation. none of the sociodemographic, clinical variables or previous behaviour was significant predicting motivation for physical activity in patients with type 1 diabetes. 69 2015, 17, 57–78 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach discussion the main purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of perceived autonomy support from practitioners on autonomous motivation of their patients with type 1 diabetes. past behaviour was considered important determinant for autonomous motivation across three types of blood sugar control behaviours. the outcome variable – autonomous motivation – reflects the engagement in behaviours based on interest and personal values (kasser, ryan, 1996). the results confirm the assumption derived from the literature that patients’ autonomous motivation for blood sugar monitoring, diabetes diet and physical activity are higher when they feel understood and supported by their practitioners and can make informed decisions. many other studies in patients with both types of diabetes mostly confirm that autonomy support from practitioners  enhances autonomous motivation, which is the mediator between perceived autonomy support and diabetes related health behaviour (blood sugar testing, medication use, diabetes diet and physical activity), its change and/or outcomes (mieziene, sinkariova, & jankauskiene, 2014). quasi-experimental study with adolescents also indicated that supportive environment increased patients’ competence and autonomy over a three-month period. during this period, patients with diabetes also enhanced their sense of relatedness (hill & sibthorp, 2006). therefore, it could be concluded that compliance with diabetes treatment regimen depends not only on the recommendations themselves but also on the way they are provided by practitioners. autonomy support also proved to be an independent predictor for various kinds of health behaviour: fruits and vegetables consumption (shaikh, vinokur, yaroch, williams, & resnicow, 2011), tobacco abstinence (williams et al., 2009), weight loss behaviour (powers, koestner, & gorin, 2008), physical activity (fortier, sweet, o’sullivan, & williams, 2007) in various populations. however, one cross-lagged longitudinal study failed to support the results of our study and the studies mentioned above. julien, senecal and guay (2009) found that autonomy support at baseline was related neither to autonomous motivation, controlled motivation for diet behaviour nor amotivation after one year in type 2 diabetes adults, though correlational analysis confirmed these relationships in the expected 70 brigita miežienė, liuda šinkariova, eglė adomavičiūtė directions. however, authors also included construct of active planning into the analysis. it became significant for predicting autonomous motivation. this leads to the implication that active planning could possibly diminish the effects of autonomy support on autonomous motivation as active planning also assumes self-determined actions and is a more proximal predictor of autonomous motivation than autonomy support (julien et al., 2009). in fact, further research should examine active planning as a mediator between autonomy support and motivation-behaviour chain. interventional studies have shown that behaviour change is successful only when reinforcement is perceived, and the effect vanishes when reinforcement is removed (bock, marcus, pinto, & forsyth, 2001). therefore, the sdt authors state that effective long-term behaviour change requires a shift from controlled to autonomous motivation for behaviour on the basis of personally held interests, values and goals (ryan & deci, 2002). for those who lack autonomous motivation, support from the external sources is especially required. delamater (2006) suggests that seeking to improve patients’ diabetes self-management behaviours, health care providers should organize patient-friendly environment, keep in touch with interim telephone contacts, talk collaboratively with patients about treatment rationales and goals, gradually implement and tailor the regimen and use self-monitoring (delamater, 2006). our study also showed that previous adherence to the behaviour is important for further autonomous motivation too. the current study revealed that previous blood sugar testing and diet behaviour added a significant part to the total variance of autonomous motivation for each type of behaviour. the more adherent to the regimen is the previous behaviour, the more autonomously patients are motivated to comply with the treatment recommendations regarding diabetes diet and blood sugar testing. this suggests that experience of the behaviour which is not really enjoyable or pleasant but necessary for functioning or surviving in case of chronic illness plays a significant role in maintaining autonomous motivation. it could be further suggested that autonomous motivation will lead to the more adherent treatment regimen as many studies demonstrated confirmation of motivation – behaviour relationship (austin et al., 2011; shigaki et al., 2010). there is also scientific evidence that established patterns of behaviour are related to the 71 2015, 17, 57–78 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach future behaviour. in the study by molfenter, bhattacharya and gustafson (2012), patients with a long-term medication regimen demonstrated long-term, stable behaviour, with past behaviour being a strong predictor of future behaviour. however, in their study, autonomous motivation was not included as a mediator variable (molfenter et al., 2012). results of this and the above mentioned studies suggest reciprocal relation of behaviour and autonomous motivation. the more autonomously regulated is the person’s behaviour, the more compliant it is with treatment recommendations. on the other hand, treatment compliance leads to integration of even more autonomous behaviour regulation. however, past physical activity behaviour did not play any role on self-determined motivation to engage in this type of behaviour. this may implicate that physical activity is not considered by diabetic patients as very important for their health maintenance. results also differ from those in other studies. in the population of non-diabetic adolescents, past physical activity accounted for a significant part (39 percent in males and 37 percent in females) of variance of autonomous motivation for exercise (markland & ingledew, 2007). the study of mclahan and hagger (2011) also showed that past behaviour had direct relationship to autonomous motivation to exercise among university students and staff in uk. authors suggest that despite the importance of autonomous motivation for exercising, the influence of autonomous motivation is not independent of previous behaviour (mclahan & hagger, 2011). we also found that in the final step of hierarchical regression analysis, age remained a significant predictor of autonomous motivation for diabetes diet but not for physical activity and blood sugar monitoring. older patients with type 1 diabetes are more autonomously motivated to comply with diet recommendations. other studies examined the effect of age on behaviour directly and found that older patients were more likely to comply with diet recommendations, exercise and selfmonitoring of blood glucose. but age was not related to medication use in chinese americans (xu, pan, & liu, 2010). in contrast, bogner and vries (2009) revealed that older age was a predictor of high medication adherence among african americans. baquedano, santos, martins and zanetti (2010) added evidence that older age was a predictor of better diabetes self-care in general among mexicans (baquedano et al., 2010). autonomous motivation was not the target of these studies. another study, 72 brigita miežienė, liuda šinkariova, eglė adomavičiūtė where autonomous motivation was also included into analysis, found that age was related only to exercise behaviour with older individuals being less likely to exercise (shigaki et al., 2010). thus, the relationship between age and self-care behaviour is inconsistent across studies and requires further examination. results of the current study are important for practitioners to keep in mind when providing treatment recommendations. qualitative study in belgium revealed that practitioners’ efforts did not always result into adherence of patients’ with diabetes. this frustrates practitioners and leads to a paternalistic attitude, which may induce anxiety in their patients (wens, vermeire, van royen, sabbe, & denekens, 2005). hence, again, this leads to the importance of the way the recommendations are provided and how the self-regulation of the patients’ behaviour is supported. conclusions the more patients perceive autonomy support from practitioners, the more autonomous is their motivation to engage in diabetes self-care behaviour: regular blood sugar testing, physical activity and diabetes diet. previous adherence to the self-care behaviour is related to higher autonomous motivation for regular blood sugar 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(2006). guided self-determination improves life skills with type 1 diabetes and a1c in randomized controlled trial. patient education and counseling, 64 (1), 78–86. 78 brigita miežienė, liuda šinkariova, eglė adomavičiūtė suvok tos autonomijos par amos ir elgesio patirties svarba sergančiųjų pirmojo tipo diabe tu autonominei mot y vacijai brigita miežienė, liuda šinkariova, eglė adomavičiūtė vytauto didžiojo universitetas, lietuva santrauka. problema. sergantiesiems cukriniu diabetu labai svarbus sveikatai palankus elgesys, padedantis kontroliuoti ligą. mokslininkai teigia, kad yra trys pagrindiniai sveikatai palankaus elgesio būdai, padedantys kontroliuoti cukraus kiekį kraujyje: cukraus kiekio kraujyje tikrinimas ir medikamentų vartojimas, subalansuota mityba ir fizinis aktyvumas. moksliniai tyrimai rodo, kad tik maža dalis sergančiųjų laikosi šių gydymo rekomendacijų. esant žemai sergančiųjų vidinei motyvacijai laikytis gydymo rekomendacijų gali pagelbėti sveikatos priežiūros specialistai. tyrimo tikslas. siekta įvertinti 1-ojo tipo cukriniu diabetu sergančiųjų subjektyviai suvokiamos autonomijos paramos poveikį autonominei motyvacijai tikrintis cukraus kiekį kraujyje, subalansuotai maitintis ir būti fiziškai aktyviems. metodai. tyrime dalyvavo 107 asmenys, sergantys 1-ojo tipo cukriniu diabetu. sergančiųjų subjektyviai su vokiamai sveikatos priežiūros specialistų autonomijos paramai nustatyti naudotas modifikuotas sveikatos priežiūros klimato klausimynas. siekiant nustatyti tiriamųjų autonominę motyvaciją kontroliuoti savo ligą, naudota elgesio savireguliacijos klausimyno autonominės motyvacijos skalė. sveikatai palankiam elgesiui vertinti naudotas trumpas cukrinio diabeto kontrolės klausimynas. rezultatai. sergančiųjų subjektyviai suvokiama autonomijos parama reikšmingai susijusi su didesne sergančiųjų autonomine motyvacija kontroliuoti cukraus kiekį kraujyje, subalansuotai maitintis ir būti fiziškai aktyviems. išvados. tyrimo rezultatai patvirtino prielaidą, kad sergančiųjų cukriniu diabetu autonominė motyvacija rinktis sveikatai palankų elgesį yra didesnė tada, kai sveikatos priežiūros specialistai suteikia paramą laikytis gydymo rekomendacijų. pagrindiniai žodžiai: autonomijos parama, su sveikata susijęs elgesys, elgesio savireguliacija. received: september 29, 2015 accepted: october 15, 2015 2019_international journal of psychology 2019_23_book 1.indb laura alčiauskaitė is currently a phd student in psychology at vytautas magnus university, and holds b.s and m.s. degrees in psychology from vytautas magnus university. her research interests are psychosocial resources and process of adaptation to disability among people with physical disabilities. julia andrejeva, klaipeda university (lithuania), phd, rehabilitation and physiotherapy in mental health, neurology, sport traumas. contacts: klaipeda lt – 95187, vyturio st. 1 apt. 4, lithuania. +37062029376, vento@protonmail. ch. andrejeva julia in 2010 graduated from lithuanian sports university with phd in biomedical science (laboratory division: “human motorics laboratory”). scientific fields of interests: multiple sclerosis, aquatic rehabilitation, neurology, neurophysiology, brain plasticity, fatigue, multiple sclerosis, motor control and motor learning, neural nets. the author of more than 20 scientific publications with strong international experience of medical scientific conferences and master classes. teara archwamety, phd, is professor emeritus at the university of nebraska kearney, department of counseling and school psychology. his research interests include learning theories, research methodology, psychology of reading, special education, and school psychology. address: university of nebraska kearney, college of education, kearney, nebraska, 68849, u.s.a. e-mail: archwametyt@unk. edu marija aušraitė – master student in health psychology, vytautas magnus university (lithuania). scientific interests cover various aspects of interpersonal communication (social competence) both in adults and children. rochelle cade, phd, lpc-s is an associate professor in the professional counseling program at the university of mary hardin-baylor. before entering higher education, she counseled adult and adolescent clients in correctional settings. her research interests include assessment in counseling and addiction and offender counseling. rochelle is an active member of the international association of addictions and offender counselors. christine chasek, limhp, ladc is an associate professor at the university of nebraska kearney in the department of counseling and school psychology and director of the behavioral healthcare center of nebraska-kearney. dr. chasek is also a practicing mental health and addictions counselor. her research interests include addiction counseling, counselor preparation and clinical outcomes. contributors international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2019 / 23 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.23 169 170 contributors dr. chasek serves on the nebraska alcohol and drug licensing board and is president of the international association of addiction and offender counselors. chandra díaz is an assistant professor in the department of teacher education and the director of middle level education at the university of nebraska at kearney. her teaching includes higher education philosophy of education and classroom management and assessment for two years. she has worked in secondary education as a middle school educator and a high school administrator for a total of 18 years. her research interests include trauma sensitive classrooms, and educational equity. evgeniy dotsenko, university of tyumen (western siberia), doctor of psychology, psychology of personality, psychosemantics. contacts: 9 may st., 7, apt. 3, tyumen, 625007, russia. +79129225155, dotsenko_e@bk.ru. dotsenko evgeny leonidovich in 1986 graduated from moscow state university. since 1986, he has been working at tyumen state university. in 1993 he graduated from postgraduate at moscow state university. in 2000 he defended his doctoral dissertation on the topic “semantics of interpersonal communication.” his research interests are fundamental and applied aspects of psychosemantics (subjective semantics) in the field of personality psychology, communication psychology, psychosomatic. the author of more than 60 scientific papers, 3 monographs. 18 dissertations were defended under his guidance. loreta gustainienė, phd, social sciences, psychology, vytautas magnus university, faculty of social sciences, department of psychology. research interests: positive psychology, psychosocial stress and its management. address: jonavos str. 66-332, lt-44191, kaunas, lithuania. phone / fax: +370 37 327 824. e-mail: loreta.gustainiene@vdu.lt david d. hof is a professor and interim chair of the counseling and school psychology program at the university of nebraska at kearney and is in private practice as an lpc with michael burke and associates. dr. hof has practiced for over 25 years as a therapist to include clinically supervising and directing an adolescent sex offender program in the state of minnesota. dr. hof frequently serves as a consultant statewide for therapists working with clients who demonstrate sex-offending behaviors. he has held many state and regional offices including past president of the nebraska counseling association. he is active in promoting advocacy with both students and the community. po hu is an assistant professor in the department of counseling and school psychology at the university of nebraska at kearney. his teaching areas include higher education, student affairs, global education, and research methods. his 171 2019, 23, 169–173 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach research interests include higher education and student affairs leadership, international education, counseling, network dynamics and performance. dr. hu has practiced in the field of higher education, student affairs, and international education for over 10 years. tamara khvesko, university of tyumen (western siberia), doctor of philology, cognitive sciences. contacts: lenin st., 16, apt. 303, tyumen, 625003, russia. +79044949947, khvesko@inbox.ru. tamara vladimirovna khvesko doctor of philology, professor of the department of foreign languages and intercultural comunication of the tyumen state university has 200 scientific articles, 5 monographs. t.v. khvesko is a specialist in cognitive and neurocognitive linguistics, carries out research in the area of trauma influence on communication and behavior of injured children. t.v. khvesko is a member of amee, participates with reports in the conferences on medical education. judy nelson, ph.d., lpc, is a retired associate professor in the counselor education program from sam houston state university in huntsville, texas. currently dr. nelson resides in tucson, arizona, and is an adjunct professor at the university of arizona where she teaches couple and family counseling in the department of special education, rehabilitation, and school psychology. she is also the sole proprietor of nelson consulting and conducts evaluations for school districts, universities, and private agencies regarding issues that include adolescent drug and alcohol use, random student drug testing, and recovery support systems for adolescents. kristin page is an associate professor and director of the master’s program in the department of counseling at the university of the cumberlands. her clinical experiences include working with adults in community and residential settings. her specialties include addictions, severe mental health, crisis/trauma, and anxiety. dr. page’s areas of previous and current research include disaster mental health, theories in clinical supervision, crisis counseling, addictions, and high-risk recidivists. she is an active member of the international association of addictions and offender counseling. bryan stare, ph. d., lpc (texas), ncc is an assistant professor in the department of counseling at the university of north carolina at charlotte. before teaching, he counseled adult and adolescent clients in community, residential, and inpatient settings in north texas. his research interests include counseling and advocacy in judicial settings, humanistic counseling, and addictions education. he is an active member of the international association of addictions and offender counseling. 172 contributors aurelija stelmokienė, assoc. prof. dr. vytautas magnus university, jonavos street 66-328, kaunas, lithuania, +370 37 327 824, aurelija.stelmokiene@vdu.lt . aurelija stelmokienė received her phd from vytautas magnus university, faculty of social sciences, where she works as an associate professor, senior researcher and vice-dean. her research interests are transformational leadership, leadership effectiveness, organization development and social perception in human resource management. she has published more than 20 articles mainly in the field of leadership psychology. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9574-9310 george stoupas, phd, is an associate professor of human services in the addiction studies program at palm beach state college. he is a licensed mental health counselor and florida board-certified addiction professional. his publications include book chapters and journal articles related to addiction, ethics, spirituality, and case conceptualization. his current research examines the relationship between counselor and trainee beliefs about addiction, recovery status, and job function expectations. liuda šinkariova is currently a professor in the department of psychology at vytautas magnus university, where she has been working since 2002. l. šinkariova obtained her phd in 2000 in biomedicine from kaunas university of medicine, and received a title of professor in 2016. she specializes in psychosocial rehabilitation and the importance of the psychological factors to success of implemented psychological interventions for patients with chronic diseases. andrius šmitas, lecturer of psychology, kauno kolegija/university of applied sciences, faculty of business, department tourism and leisure management. research interests: health resources, health related behavior and its changing. address: pramonės av. 20, 4-55, lt-50468, kaunas, lithuania. phone / fax: +370 637 07025. e-mail: andrius.smitas@go.kauko.lt kamonwan tangdhanakanond, phd, is associate professor in the department of educational research and psychology at chulalongkorn university, thailand. her research interests include authentic assessment, portfolio assessment, performance assessment, research methodology, and school psychology. address: department of educational research and psychology, faculty of education, chulalongkorn university, phyathai road, patumwan, bangkok 10330, thailand. e-mail: tkamonwan@hotmail.com douglas r. tillman is an associate professor in the department of counseling & school psychology at the university of nebraska kearney. his teaching interests include clinical coursework, appraisal, and theories of counseling. his research 173 2019, 23, 169–173 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach interests include spirituality, wellness, social media’s role in counselor education, title ix, and stigma around mental health. dr. tillman has practiced for over 10 years. tadas vadvilavičius is 2nd-year organisational psychology student at vytautas magnus university. tadas is also a member of 2 non-government organizations: lithuanian psychology students association and lithuanian youth union „žingsnis“. his research interests are leadership assessment and dark triad personality. ekaterina zakharchuk, university of tyumen (western siberia), phd; neuropsychology. contacts: 9 may st., 5, tyumen, 625007, russia. +7922483201, katgor@yandex.ru. zakharchuk. e.v. in 2004 she graduated from the ural state medical academy (yekaterinburg), in 2006 she graduated from the residency in neurosurgery. in 2011, she studied at the faculty of medical psychology (st. petersburg). in 2013, she received a master’s degree in psychology from tyumen state university, institute of psychology and pedagogy. from 2017 to the present, graduate student of the tyumen state university, institute of psychology and pedagogy. she is the author of about 50 scientific papers, including publications and patents. kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė – professor at the department of psychology, vytautas magnus university (lithuania). scientific interests cover various aspects of gender and communication psychology as well as psychological interventions. contents editorial note scientific publications chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, david d. hof concepts influencing attitudes and beliefs toward mental health issues in a teacher education program kamonwan tangdhanakanond, teara archwamety teachers’ misconceptions and current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment in elementary schools in thailand andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė importance of length of studying and attitudes toward others for life satisfaction marija aušraitė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė the relationship between irrational relationship beliefs and conflictresolution strategies in young adulthood tadas vadvilavičius, aurelija stelmokienė development of scenarios for leadership psychology research to reveal the relationships between leaders’ dark triad traits and full range leadership styles laura alčiauskaitė, liuda šinkariova psychometric properties of the lithuanian version of the acceptance ofdisability scale revised (ads-r): pilot study christina l. chasek, judith a. nelson, rochelle cade, kristin page, bryan stare,george stoupas advocating for adolescent substance use recovery: an alternative model ekaterina zakharchuk, evgeniy dotsenko, tamara khvesko, julia andrejeva neuropsychological and/or psychological factors of children’s traumatic behavior under the age of 10 years information the 22nd international symposium in psychology at unk & vmu: abstracts contributors reviewers 2019 instructions for authors 33 1 adresas susirašinėti: lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universiteto medicinos akademijos vis uo menės sveikatos fakulteto sveikatos psichologijos katedra. a. mickevičiaus g. 9, lt-44307 kaunas, el. p.: argustaite@gmail.com bakalauro studijų studenčių suvartojamo alkoholio kiekio sąsajos su pirmųjų lytinių santykių amžiumi, lytinių santykių partnerių skaičiumi ir lytiniais santykiais apsvaigus nuo alkoholio gita argustaitė-zailskienė1 lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universitetas, lietuva santrauka. problema. 2012–2013 m. lietuvos universitetų siūlomas bakalauro studijas pasirinko 85 305 studentai, iš jų 49 236 moterys. jos sudarė beveik 58 proc. visų bakalauro studijų studentų. tai nemaža visuomenės, kurios dabartinė gyvenimo kokybė ir gyvensenos ypatumai daro didelę įtaką gyvenimui ir darbui baigus studijas, dalis. nemažai šių jaunų moterų gyvenimo kokybę nulemia lytinė jų gyvensena, kuri pradeda formuotis dar paauglystėje, mokantis mokykloje. taip pat jaunų moterų gerovei įtakos turi alkoholio vartojimas. neabejotina, kad tie du veiksniai sąveikauja, tačiau tyrimų, kurie analizuotų alkoholio vartojimo ir lytinio gyvenimo sąsajas, lietuvoje išties nedaug. šio tyrimo tikslas – įvertinti bakalauro studijų studenčių suvartojamo alkoholio kiekio sąsajas su pirmųjų lytinių santykių amžiumi, lytinių santykių partnerių skaičiumi ir lytiniais santykiais apsvaigus nuo alkoholio. metodika. tiriamųjų imtį sudarė 1054 lietuvoje studijuojančios 18–24 m. bakalauro studijų studentės, internetu užpildžiusios apklausą, sudarytą iš trijų dalių: demografinių klausimų, klausimų apie lytinį gyvenimą ir skalės, įvertinančios per mėnesį suvartojamo alkoholio kiekį. rezultatai. daugiau alkoholio vartojančios respondentės turi daugiau lytinių santykių partnerių ir anksčiau pradeda lytiškai santykiauti; be to, respondentės, per pastaruosius metus turėjusios lytinių santykių, kurių metu buvo bent kiek apsvaigusios nuo alkoholio, suvartoja kur kas daugiau alkoholio nei tos respondentės, kurios per pastaruosius metus nebuvo turėjusios lytinių santykių apsvaigusios nuo alkoholio. išvados. didesnis suvartojamo alkoholio kiekis turi sąsajų su rizikingesne 18–24 m. bakalauro studijų studenčių lytine elgsena. pagrindiniai žodžiai: lytiniai santykiai, alkoholio vartojimas, studentai, moterys. mokslo straipsniai issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.15.2 gita argustaitė-zailskienė 34 įvadas lietuvos gyventojų alkoholio vartojimo tendencijos atitinka šiaurės europos šalių modelį, pasižymintį nekasdieniu, bet gausiu alkoholinių gėrimų vartojimu ir nereguliariais piktnaudžiavimo alkoholiu epizodais (anderson ir baumberg, 2006). alkoholio vartojimas – ypač dažnas reiškinys tarp universitetų studentų ir studenčių. pasak goštauto ir kt. (2009), lietuvos studentų suvartojamo alkoholio kiekis yra pavojingai didelis. apklausos, atliktos įvairiose aukštosiose mokyklose, atskleidžia skirtingus rezultatus, tačiau bendrai matoma, kad alkoholį vartoja daug studentų. astrauskienė, dobrovolskis ir stukas (2009), apklausę lietuvos aukštųjų mokyklų bakalauro studijų studentus, apskaičiavo, kad per pasta ruosius metus alkoholio buvo vartoję 91,7 proc. studentų. pasak šimkūnaitės (2008), alkoholį vartoja apie 77 proc. i–iii kurso studentų, studijuojančių vilniaus universiteto medicinos fakultete. kito tyrimo metu šiaulių universitete 10–15 proc. i–iv kursų bakalauro studijų studentų nurodė nevartojantys alkoholio (milaševičiūtė, 2012). pasak narkauskaitės ir kt. (2011), 78 proc. aukštųjų mokyklų i–iii kurso studentų vartoja alkoholį. alkoholio vartojimo skirtumų skirtingose studentų amžiaus grupėse nenustatoma (astrauskienė, dobrovolskis ir stukas, 2009). nors moterys ir vartoja mažiau alkoholio nei vyrai (baltrušaitytė ir bulotaitė, 2011), dažnai intervencinės priemonės ir alkoholio antireklama bei švietimas šiuo klausimu taikomi labiau vyrams nei moterims, vis dėlto matoma, kad alkoholio vartojimas moterims taip pat kelia problemų. 38,5 proc. vaikinų ir 16,3 proc. merginų alkoholį vartoja kartą ar kelis kartus per savaitę, 39,5 proc. vaikinų ir 55,9 proc. merginų – kartą ar kelis kartus per mėnesį (goštautas ir kt., 2009). pasak kriaučionienės, barkauskienės ir petkevičienės (2013), studentės, kurios dažnai geria vyną, pasižymi prastesne sveikata negu tos, kurios vyną geria retai arba jo visai negeria. baltrušaitytė ir bulotaitė (2011) teigia, kad penktadalis studenčių per pastaruosius metus yra bent kartą praleidusios paskaitas dėl pagirių. rizikinga lytinė elgsena – taip pat studentams būdingas reiškinys. apskritai lytiškai aktyvūs yra dauguma universiteto studentų: tarp 18–20 m. studentų lytiškai aktyvūs yra daugiau nei 70 proc., o tarp vyresnių, sulaukusių 21–23 m., lytiškai aktyvių studentų yra per 95 proc. (žyvatkauskaitė, jaruševičienė, valius, 2012). pasak arnašiūtės (2013), trys ketvirtadaliai klaipėdos universiteto i–iv kurso studenčių turėjo lytinių santykių, international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 35 2014, 15, 33–46 p. jų vidutinis santykių pradžios amžius – 17,6 metų, o vidutinis turėtų lytinių santykių partnerių skaičius – 2,5 partnerio. dalis studentų praktikuoja rizikingas su lytiniais santykiais susijusias veiklas. legkauskas ir jakovlevaitė (2005), apklausę vytauto didžiojo universiteto studentus, nustatė, kad daugiau nei pusė studentų bent su vienu partneriu per visą lytinio gyvenimo laikotarpį yra mylėjęsi be prezervatyvo, o žyvatkauskaitė, jaruševičienė ir valius (2012) teigia, kad per lytinius santykius jokių kontracepcijos priemonių nevartojo per 7 proc. studentų. anot norkaus (2012), daugiau kaip 15 proc. bakalauro studijų merginų yra turėjusios atsitiktinių lytinių santykių, kurių metu nevartojo apsaugos priemonių. nors, pasak mozūraitytės (2012), studentų vyrų seksualinis elgesys rizikingesnis nei moterų, t. y. vyrai anksčiau pradeda seksualinius santykius, turi daugiau seksualinių partnerių, daugiau atsitiktinių seksualinių partnerių, daugiau nesaugių lytinių santykių dėl apsvaigimo nuo alkoholio ar narkotikų, vis dėlto matoma, kad yra pagrindas nagrinėti moterų seksualinio elgesio rizikingumą ir kitus ypatumus. lietuvoje nėra gausų tyrimų, analizuojančių lytinių santykių ir alkoholio vartojimo sąsajas, tad galima remtis vos keliomis jų išvadomis, kalbant apie šiuos du veiksnius lietuvos studentų imtyje. pasak norkaus (2012), per 35 proc. universitetų studenčių yra turėjusios lytinių santykių, kurių metu buvo apsvaigusios nuo alkoholio arba narkotinių medžiagų. šiek tiek kitokį rezultatą gavo mozūraitytė (2012), tarp jos tyrimo respondenčių studenčių tokių buvo 23,9 proc. nepavyko aptikti tyrimų, kurie nagrinėtų alkoholio vartojimo ypatumų sąsajas su pirmųjų lytinių santykių amžiumi, turėtų lytinių santykių partnerių skaičiumi ar kitais panašiais parametrais. remiantis užsienyje atliktais tyrimais, dažnesnis alkoholio vartojimas siejamas su daugiau nei vieno partnerio per pastaruosius metu turėjimu, tačiau tai duomenys, gauti ne iš studentų imties (thompson, kao ir thomas, 2009). panašius duomenis gavo ir niujorko sveikatos apsaugos departamento tyrėjai, atskleidę, kad daugiau alkoholio vienu kartu suvartojantys asmenys yra linkę turėti daugiau lytinių santykių partnerių (new york city department of health and mental hygiene, 2008). tyrimai rodo, kad su didesniu alkoholio vartojimu taip pat susiję ankstyvi lytiniai santykiai (rehg ir kt., 2010), tačiau tai neplačiai ištyrinėta sritis, ypač mažai aptinkama tyrimų, kurie nagrinėtų pirmųjų lytinių santykių amžiaus sąsają su vėlesniu alkoholio vartojimu. gita argustaitė-zailskienė 36 apžvelgus esamus tyrimų rezultatus ir įvertinus problemos svarbą jaunų moterų gyvenime, iškeltas tyrimo tikslas: įvertinti bakalauro studijų studenčių suvartojamo alkoholio kiekio sąsajas su lytinių santykių amžiumi, lytinių santykių partnerių skaičiumi ir lytiniais santykiais apsvaigus nuo alkoholio. tikslui pasiekti nagrinėtos šios hipotezės: 1. daugiau suvartojamo alkoholio siejasi su ankstesniu lytinių santykių pradžios amžiumi. 2. daugiau suvartojamo alkoholio siejasi su didesniu turėtų lytinių santykių partnerių skaičiumi. 3. daugiau suvartojamo alkoholio siejasi su per pastaruosius metus turėtais lytiniais santykiais apsvaigus nuo alkoholio. metodai 2013 m. gegužę atlikta internetu platinta 16 dienų apklausa, kurio je dalyvavo 1291 respondentė. kadangi apklausa atlikta internetu, ne įmanoma apskaičiuoti anketų grįžtamumo, tačiau matoma, kad 1291 respondentė, užpildžiusi visą anketą, prilygsta 47,45 proc. ją naršyklėje atvėrusių asmenų. duomenų analizei atrinktos respondentės, kurios, pildydamos anketą, studijavo bakalauro studijų programą, aiškiai nurodė savo šeiminę padėtį ir mokyklos baigimo vietą, buvo nepatyrusios lytinės prievartos ir negimdžiusios. taip pat atmestos tos respondentės, kurios į kontrolinį klausimą, ar į anketos klausimus atsakinėjo sąžiningai, atsakė „ne“ arba „ne visai“. taigi atmestos 237 respondentės ir duomenų analizei paliktos 1054. tyrimo anketą sudarė specialiai šiam tyrimui autorės parengtas trijų dalių klausimynas. pirmoje dalyje pateikti demografiniai klausimai: amžius, šeiminė padėtis, mokyklos baigimo vieta, studijų įstaiga ir kursas. antroje dalyje pateiktas alkoholinių gėrimų rūšių sąrašas (alus, sidras, šampanas, vynas, brendis, romas, degtinė, likeris). respondentės turėjo įvertinti, kiek dienų per mėnesį ir kiek gramų per vieną kartą jos vidutiniškai suvartoja tam tikro alkoholio. remiantis didžiosios britanijos sveikatos departamento (office of information for the department of health, 2009) publikuotais nurodymais, paminėtas alkoholio kiekis paverstas standartinių alkoholio vienetų kiekiu, suvartojamu per mėnesį. international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 37 2014, 15, 33–46 p. trečioje dalyje pateikti klausimai, susiję su respondenčių lytiniu gyvenimu. ji sukurta remiantis snellio ir papini (1989) aprašyta seksualumo skale, kitomis seksualumo tyrimuose naudotomis metodikomis (legkauskas ir jakovlevaitė, 2006; kalina, 2012; norkus, 2012) ir kitais tyrimo tikslui pasiekti svarbiais klausimais. respondentės turėjo įvardyti, kelerių metų būdamos pradėjo lytinius santykius, kiek lytinių santykių partnerių turėjo iki apklausos pildymo dienos, ir atsakyti į klausimą, ar per pastaruosius metus joms teko turėti lytinių santykių, kai buvo bent kiek apsvaigusios nuo alkoholio. statistinė duomenų analizė atlikta naudojant programą „spss 16.0 for windows“. taikytas medianos testas, manno–witney–wilcoxono kriterijus, skaičiuotas spearmano koreliacijos koeficientas. statistinių hipotezių reikšmingumui vertinti pasirinktas p < 0,05 reikšmingumo lygmuo. rezultatai kolmogorovo–smirnovo testas parodė, kad pirmųjų lytinių santykių amžiaus (z = 0,146, p > 0,001), turėtų lytinių santykių partnerių skaičiaus (z = 0,299, p < 0,001) ir per mėnesį suvartojamų alkoholio vienetų kiekio (z = 0,193, p < 0,001) skirstiniai nėra pasiskirstę pagal normalų jį dėsnį, todėl tyrimo rezultatams skaičiuoti naudoti neparametriniai kriterijai: manno–witney–wilcoxono kriterijus ir spearmano koreliacijos koeficientas. tyrimo duomenų analizė parodė, kad jauniausiai respondentei, kuri pildė anketą, buvo 18 metų, vyriausiai – 24 metai (žr. 1 lentelę). 444 respondentės buvo vienišos (42,1 proc.), 610 turėjo partnerį (57,9 proc.), iš jų 8 buvo ištekėjusios. 525 respondentės baigė vidurinio lavinimo mokyklą viename iš penkių didžiųjų lietuvos miestų (49,8 proc.), 259 – kitose vietovėse (50,2 proc.). respondentės apklausos pildymo metu mokėsi įvairiose lietuvos aukštosiose mokyklose: 168 (15,9 proc.) kauno technologijos universitete, 60 (5,7 proc.) lietuvos sporto universitete, 179 (17 proc.) lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universitete, 122 (11,6 proc.) vytauto didžiojo universitete, 79 (7,5 proc.) klaipėdos universitete, 54 (5,1 proc.) lietuvos edukologijos universitete, 327 (31 proc.) vilniaus universitete, 65 (6,2 proc.) kitose aukštosiose mokyklose, 15 (1,4 proc.) nenurodė savo mokymosi įstaigos. gita argustaitė-zailskienė 38 1 lentelė. respondenčių amžiaus pasiskirstymas studijų kursuose table 1. the respondents’ age by study year kursas n vidutinis amžius sd 1 345 19,3 0,713 2 226 20,26 0,684 3 250 21,28 0,589 4 233 22,24 0,678 analizuojant duomenis apie suvartojamą alkoholio kiekį, dėl nepatikimai ar neišsamiai užpildytos klausimyno dalies atmesti 57 respondenčių (5,4 proc.) atsakymai. 102 respondentės (9,7 proc.) nurodė neišgeriančios nė vieno standartinio alkoholio vieneto (sav) per mėnesį. respondenčių nurodytus suminius per mėnesį suvartojamo alkoholio kiekius pavertus į sav skaičių ir atmetus išskirtis, gauta, kad didžiausias nurodytas per mėnesį suvartojamo alkoholio kiekis siekia 242 standartinius vienetus (n = 988). suvartojamų sav vidurkis – 30,13, o skaičiuojant tik tarp vartojančiųjų – 33,59. prieš skaičiuojant toliau, įvertintas suvartojamo alkoholio kiekio ir respondenčių amžiaus ryšys. šių dviejų veiksnių sąsajos nerasta (spearmano r = –0,012, p = 0,715). analizuojant duomenis apie lytinių santykių ypatumus, gauta, kad iš lytiniškai santykiavusių respondenčių 747 (95,9 proc.) turėjo lytinių santykių tik su vyrais, 8 (1 proc.) – tik su moterimis, 20 (2,6 proc.) – ir su vyrais, ir su moterimis. 4 respondenčių (0,4 proc.) duomenys klaidingai užregistruoti sistemoje, todėl nebuvo skaičiuoti. nagrinėjant lytinių santykių turėjusių respondenčių duomenis, matyti, kad pirmieji lytiniai santykiai turėti nuo 14 iki 22 m. vidurkis – 17,93 ± 2,56 m. atmetus respondentes, kurios nurodė skaičiais nepaverčiamą informaciją, ir tas, kurios, nors ir pažymėjusios, kad turėjo lytinių santykių, nurodė neturėjusios partnerių, gauta, jog mažiausias turėtų lytinių santykių partnerių skaičius yra 1, didžiausias – 25. vidurkis – 2,47 ± 2,74, mediana – 2. tikrinant pirmąją hipotezę (daugiau suvartojamo alkoholio siejasi su ankstesniu lytinių santykių pradžios amžiumi), tarp turėjusiųjų lytinių santykių, alkoholį vartojančių ir pirmųjų lytinių santykių amžių nurodžiusių respondenčių (n = 722) manno-whitney u testu nustatyta, kad pirmųjų lytinių santykių amžius yra didesnis tarp tų respondenčių, international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 39 2014, 15, 33–46 p. kurios vartoja alkoholio mažiau nei tiriant nustatytas vidurkis (30,13 sav), ir tų, kurios vartoja alkoholio daugiau nei tiriant nustatytas vidurkis (u = 43317, p < α) (žr. 2 lentelę). hipotezė pasitvirtino. 2 lentelė. pirmųjų lytinių santykių amžiaus palyginimas tarp daugiau ir mažiau alkoholio vartojančių respondenčių table 2. comparison of distribution of age of first intercourse by consumption of alcohol suvartojamas alkoholio kiekis pirmųjų lytinių santykių amžius vidurkis mediana p reikšmė alkoholio vartoja mažiau nei tiriant nustatytas vidurkis (n = 417) 18,10 ± 1,6 18 p < 0,001 alkoholio vartoja daugiau nei tiriant nustatytas vidurkis (n = 251) 17,59 ± 1,58 18 tikrinant antrąją hipotezę (daugiau suvartojamo alkoholio siejasi su didesniu turėtų lytinių santykių partnerių skaičiumi), tarp turėjusių lytinių santykių, alkoholį vartojančių ir turėtų partnerių skaičių nurodžiu sių respondenčių (n = 664) manno-whitney u testu nustatyta, kad esama partnerių skaičiaus skirtumų tarp mažiau ir daugiau alkoholio vartojančių respondenčių (žr. 3 lentelę). respondentės, kurios vartoja mažiau alkoholio nei tiriant nustatytas vidurkis, turi mažiau lytinių santykių partnerių nei tos, kurios vartoja alkoholio daugiau nei tiriant nustatytas vidurkis (u = 39848,5, p < α). hipotezė pasitvirtino. 3 lentelė. lytinių santykių partnerių skaičiaus palyginimas tarp daugiau ir mažiau alkoholio vartojančių respondenčių table 3. comparison of distribution of number of sexual partners by consumption of alcohol suvartojamas alkoholio kiekis lytinių santykių partnerių skaičius vidurkis mediana p reikšmė alkoholio vartoja mažiau nei tiriant nustatytas vidurkis (n = 415) 1,98 ± 1,79 1 p < 0,001 alkoholio vartoja daugiau nei tiriant nustatytas vidurkis (n = 249) 3,31 ± 3,95 2 gita argustaitė-zailskienė 40 tikrinant trečiąją hipotezę (daugiau suvartojamo alkoholio siejasi su per pastaruosius metus turėtais lytiniais santykiais apsvaigus nuo alkoholio), respondentės, per pastaruosius metus turėjusios lytinių santykių, kurių metu buvo bent kiek apsvaigusios nuo alkoholio, vartojo kur kas mažiau alkoholio nei tos respondentės, kurios per pastaruosius metus nebuvo turėjusios lytinių santykių apsvaigusios nuo alkoholio (u = 28,292, p < α) (žr. 4 lentelę). hipotezė pasitvirtino. 4 lentelė. suvartojamo alkoholio kiekio palyginimas tarp respondenčių, kurios per pastaruosius metus turėjo arba neturėjo lytinių santykių, kurių metu buvo apsvaigusios nuo alkoholio table 4. comparison of alcohol consumption between respondents who in the course of one year did or did not have sexual intercourse under the influence of alcohol santykiai apsvaigus nuo alkoholio suvartojamo alkoholio kiekio vidurkis p reikšmė per pastaruosius metus turėjo lytinių santykių (n = 413) 44,55 sav / mėn. p < 0,001 per pastaruosius metus neturėjo lytinių santykių (n = 285) 18,47 sav / mėn. rezultatų aptarimas ir diskusija šio tyrimo rezultatai atskleidė, kad nėra tiesioginio ryšio tarp lietuvių bakalauro studijų studenčių amžiaus ir jų suvartojamo alkoholio kiekio. panašius rezultatus tirdami lietuvos studentus gavo astrauskienė, dobrovolskis ir stukas (2009). šimkūnaitė (2008) tyrė vilniaus universiteto i–iii kurso studentus ir nustatė, kad kursas, kuriame studentas mokosi, neturi sąsajos su studento alkoholio vartojimu ar nevartojimu. kita vertus, yra ir priešingų duomenų: bielskytė (2009), apklaususi 17–26 metų studentus, teigia, kad vyresni studentai yra linkę rečiau vartoti alkoholį, bet tikėtina, kad šio tyrimo rezultatai skiriasi nuo kitų, nes pasirinktos platesnės amžiaus intervalo ribos, apimančios ir paauglystės pabaigą, ir trečiosios dešimties vidurį. lyginant tyrimo rezultatus su užsienio autorių tyrimais, pastebima tam tikrų tendencijų. bewick ir kt. (2008) teigia, kad international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 41 2014, 15, 33–46 p. jungtinės karalystės studentai pirmaisiais studijų metais vartoja kur kas daugiau alkoholio nei vėliau. autoriai tai aiškina studentų psichologine branda, darančia įtaką studentų rizikingos elgsenos mažėjimui. lorantas ir kt. (2013), atlikę apklausą viename iš belgijos universitetų, teigia, kad amžius nėra susijęs su vartojamo alkoholio kiekio pakitimais, tačiau šie autoriai iškėlė hipotezę, kad tiriant tokią sąsają reikia atsižvelgti ne tik į studento amžių, bet ir į tai, kiek laiko jis jau mokosi universitete. pasak jų, tikėtina, kad kuo daugiau laiko praleista universitete, tuo didesnė tikimybė, kad studentas vartos daugiau alkoholio. tyrimas rodo, kad yra buvusių pirmųjų lytinių santykių amžiaus ir šiuo metu per mėnesį suvartojamo alkoholio kiekio sąsaja: merginos, kurios pradėjo ankstyvus lytinius santykius, šiuo metu vartoja daugiau alkoholio. nepavyko rasti mokslinių tyrimų, kurie tirtų identiškus šiam tyrimui kintamuosius, tačiau, pvz., stueve ir o’donnell (2013) teigia, kad ankstyvi lytiniai santykiai yra susieti su vėliau dažniau pasitaikančiu apgirtimu, ypač moterų. daugelis tyrėjų, atliekančių šios srities tyrimus, domisi atvirkštiniu procesu, t. y. ankstyvo alkoholio vartojimo įtaka lytinio gyvenimo pradžiai. dėmesys daugiausia kreipiamas į tai, kaip alkoholio vartojimas skatina ankstyvą lytinio gyvenimo pradžią, bet nedaug nagrinėta, ar ankstyva lytinio gyvenimo pradžia turi ryšį su vėliau pasireiškiančiu rizikingu elgesiu, t. y. alkoholio vartojimo ypatumais. šio tyrimo prielaida, kad lytinių santykių pradžios amžius gali būti susijęs su šiuo metu suvartojamo alkoholio kiekiu, pagrįsta esamų tyrimų rezultatų skirtumais. dalis tyrėjų teigia, kad ankstyva lytinio gyvenimo pradžia yra susijusi su didesniu po to pasireiškiančiu abiejų lyčių polinkiu į delinkventinį elgesį, be to, šis efektas išlieka ilgiau nei metus po pirmųjų lytinių santykių (armour ir haynie, 2007). šie autoriai taip pat teigia, kad tikėtina, jog merginoms ankstyva lytinio gyvenimo pradžia kelia daugiau problemų nei vaikinams dėl galimo neplanuoto nėštumo. kita vertus, olandijoje atliktas tyrimas (udell ir kt., 2010) nustatė kitokius rezultatus. pasak tyrėjų, ankstyva lytinio gyvenimo pradžia neturėjo ryšio su vėliau pastebimu probleminiu elgesiu. minėtuose tyrimuose tarp matuojamo probleminio elgesio aspektų nebuvo suvartojamo alkoholio kiekio, tad negalima jų tiesiogiai lyginti su šiuo tyrimu, bet matoma, kad išties gali egzistuoti ankstyvų lytinių santykių ir vėlesnio gausaus alkoholio vartojimo ryšys. gita argustaitė-zailskienė 42 taip pat gauta, kad dabartinis alkoholio vartojimas gali būti siejamas su per gyvenimą turėtų lytinių santykių partnerių skaičiumi: respondentės, kurios vartoja daugiau alkoholio, turi daugiau partnerių. andersonas ir dahlbergas, dar 1992 m. atlikę tyrimą bendrojoje jav populiacijoje, teigė, kad didesnis alkoholio suvartojimas siejasi su didesniu lytinių partnerių skaičiumi. be to, panašius rezultatus gavo ir thompsonas, kao ir thomas (2005), ištyrę amerikiečių karinio personalo atstovus ir nustatę, kad dažniau apgirstantys asmenys yra linkę turėti daugiau lytinių santykių partnerių, bei tapertas ir kt. (2001), paauglių ir jaunų suaugusiųjų imtyje nustatę alkoholio vartojimo ir partnerių skaičiaus sąsają. ši sąsaja gali turėti įvairių priežasčių, viena jų – alkoholio vartojusio asmens inhibicijos mažėja, t. y. jo elgesys mažiau paklūsta socialinėms normoms, o tai savo ruožtu keičia elgesį į ne tokį socialiai priimtiną ir rizikingesnį. taip pat tyrėjai kalba ir apie kitokį mechanizmą, kai elgesys keičiasi ne dėl tiesioginio alkoholio poveikio, o dėl tikėjimo, kad poveikis egzistuoja. be to, įdomu tai, kad tiriant, kaip alkoholio vartojimas veikia priešingos lyties patrauklumo vertinimą, pastebima, kad veikiamų alkoholio moterų pateikiami įvertinimai pasikeičia ypač smarkiai; alkoholio vartojusios koledžo studentės vyrus vertina kaip kur kas patrauklesnius (jones ir kt., 2003). šie procesai gali paaiškinti partnerių skaičiaus didėjimą kaip tiesioginę alkoholio vartojimo pasekmę, t. y. manoma, kad alkoholio paveikti žmonės, ypač moterys, dažniau turi lytinių santykių su atsitiktiniais partneriais, todėl didėja jų per gyvenimą turėtų partnerių skaičius. nors ir žinoma, kad vaikinai dažniau nei merginos turi lytinių santykių, kurių metu būna apsvaigę nuo alkoholio (kalina ir kt., 2012), vis dėlto tuo pasižymi nemažai abiejų lyčių atstovų. 56,7 proc. šio tyrimo respondenčių buvo bent kartą per pastaruosius metus apsvaigusios nuo alkoholio per lytinius santykius. šis rezultatas panašus į gaunamus užsienio tyrėjų: jav atliktas tyrimas rodo, kad per pastaruosius dvejus metus lytinių santykių, kurių metu buvo apsvaigusios nuo alkoholio, turėjo 60,2 proc. koledžo studenčių (caldeira ir kt., 2009). taip pat tiriant apskaičiuota, kad respondentės, kurios per pastaruosius metus turėjo lytinių santykių, kurių metu buvo bent kiek apsvaigusios nuo alkoholio, suvartojo daugiau alkoholio nei tos, kurios per pastaruosius metus nebuvo turėjusios lytinių santykių apsvaigusios nuo alkoholio. šis tyrimo rezulta tas atspindi kitų tyrimų gaunamus duomenis. pavyzdžiui, palyginti su international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 43 2014, 15, 33–46 p. alkoholio nevartojančiais mokiniais, jį vartojantys yra labiau linkę turėti lytinių santykių, kurių metu būna apsvaigę nuo alkoholio ar kitų medžiagų (miller ir kt., 2007). pasak poulino ir grahamo (2001), dažniau alkoholį vartojantys mokiniai taip pat yra linkę dažniau turėti neplanuotų lytinių santykių, kurių metu būna vartoję alkoholio. nėra gausu tyrimų, kurie nagrinėtų suvartojamo alkoholio kiekio ir santykių apsvaigus nuo alkoholio sąsajas studentų imtyje, tačiau tokie tyrimai būtini, nes lytiniai santykiai, kurių metu vienas ar abu partneriai yra apsvaigę, gali daryti įtaką santykių saugumui, t. y. paskatinti partnerius nenaudoti kontraceptinių priemonių (poulin ir graham, 2001), taip sudarydami palankią terpę užsikrėsti lytiškai plintančiomis ligomis ar pradėti neplanuotą kūdikį. išvados daugiau alkoholio vartojančios bakalauro studijų studentės pasižymi rizikingesne elgsena nei mažiau alkoholio vartojančios respondentės. daugiau per mėnesį suvartojamo alkoholio gali būti siejama su ankstesniu pirmųjų lytinių santykių amžiumi. daugiau per mėnesį suvartojamo alkoholio gali būti siejama su didesniu lytinių santykių partnerių skaičiumi. daugiau per mėnesį suvartojamo alkoholio gali būti siejama su lytinių santykių, kurių metu studentės buvo apsvaigusios nuo alkoholio, turėjimu per pastaruosius metus. literatūra anderson, p., baumberg, b. 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(2009). alkoholio vienetai ir jūs. http://www.bdasonline.co.uk/docs/know%20 your%20limits%20-%20lithuanian.pdf. aplankyta: 2013-09-20. žyvatkauskaitė, a., jaruševičienė, l., valius, l. (2012). jaunų žmonių lytinė elgsena ir kontracepcijos metodų pasirinkimo motyvai. lietuvos bendrosios praktikos gydytojas, 16 (2), 76–82. 46 gita argustaitė-zailskienė relationship of alcohol consumption with age of sexual debut, number of sexual partners, and sexual intercourse under the influence of alcohol in female bachelor students gita argustaitė -zailskienė lithuanian university of health sciences, lithuania abstract. background. in the year 2012–2013 the number of students in lithuanianbachelor studies in the whole country was 85305. 49236 of them were women, which makes up almost 58 % of all students. this number is a significant part of the society which should not be overlooked. the current life quality and lifestyle of the aforementioned women has a big impact on their life and work after they graduate. a considerable part of their quality of life isd etermined by sexual behavior which starts developing in their earlier years, also by alcohol consumption patterns. researchers do not doubt that these two factors interact, yet there are very few lithuanian studies which examine the relationship between alcohol consumption and sexual behavior, especially risky. the purpose of this article is to evaluate the relationship between female students in bachelors’ studies alcohol consumption and several aspects of risky sexual behavior. method. 1054 female respondents, aged 18–24, who at the time were studying in bachelors’ studies filled out an online questionnaire consisting of three specifically designed parts: demographic questions, questions about sexual behavior and a scale designed to evaluate the consumption of alcohol per average month. findings. respondents who report consuming more alcohol have more sexual partners; also, respondents who report consuming more alcohol tend to have had their first sexual intercourse earlier. moreover, respondents who report having had sexual intercourse under the influence of alcohol in the course of the past year also report higher alcohol consumption than those who do not report having intercourse under the influence of alcohol. conclusion. higher alcohol consumption may be linked to riskier sexual behavior in 18–24 year old female lithuanian bachelor students. keywords: sexual intercourse, alcohol consumption, students, women. gauta: 2013-12-11 priimta: 2014-03-31 scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2016 / 19 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.19.1 clinic al decision-making of anesthesiology residents in emergenc y medic al c are tomas maceina1, gintautas valickas, jūratė šipylaitė vilnius university, lithuania andrius macas lithuanian university of health sciences, lithuania jevgenija olševska center of anaesthesiology, intensive care and pain treatment at vilnius university hospital santariskiu clinics, lithuania pranas puidokas public institution centro outpatient clinic, lithuania abstract. background. the purpose of current work is to clarify characteristics of anesthesiologists’ use of heuristics in emergency medical care. two separate studies were carried out to evaluate the characteristics of anesthesiologists’ use of heuristics: (a) according to gained experience; (b) and under stressful conditions. methods. first (longitudinal design) study was comprised of two phases 10-11 months apart. in both phases, participants solved three vignettes that required the provision of emergency medical care. in the second study, participants solved three medical vignettes under stressful conditions (i.e. under the influence of the cold pressor test). physiological data – participants’ heart rate – was registered using finger plethysmograph before and after the cold pressor test. the adequacy of decisions were evaluated independently by two experts in anesthesiology. results and conclusions. results of quantitative content analysis of the first longitudinal design study showed a decrease in the use of availability and an increase in anchoring and adjustment of heuristic as anesthesiology residents become more experienced. results of both studies indicate that 32-38% of all anesthesiology residents’ thoughts are heuristic in nature and 3-11% of all thoughts are cognitive errors. keywords: clinical decision-making, heuristics, cognitive errors. 9 1 address for correspondence: vilnius university, faculty of philosophy, department of general psychology. universiteto st. 9/1, lt-01513 vilnius, lithuania. phone: + 370 5 266 7605. e-mail: tomas.maceina@fsf.vu.lt tomas maceina, gintautas valickas, jūratė šipylaitė, andrius macas, jevgenija olševska, pranas puidokas 10 introduc tion anesthesiologists play a significant role in providing emergency medical care. it is incumbent upon them (1) to perform various anesthesia procedures according to different types of surgery, and (2) to identify and diagnose critical medical conditions. decisions that are made in emergency departments are of utmost importance regarding patients’ health. a large number of deaths resulting from erroneous decisions might be avoided if only a better understanding about doctors’ decision making processes is sought. dual-process theories (evans, 1984; reyna & brainerd, 1995; sloman, 1996) in the fields of both contemporary cognitive and social psychology propose an explanation about human decision making mechanisms. what all dual-process theories have in common is their attempt to distinguish two types of information processing, i. e. type 1 and type 2 cognitive processes (evans & stanovich, 2013). typical correlate of type 1 processes is fast, automatic and associative information processing which does not require any working memory capacity. from a standpoint of evans (1984) heuristic-analytic theory of reasoning, type 1 processes correspond to heuristic information processing. heuristic information processing is conceptually compatible with decision making using mental shortcuts, i.e. heuristics (tversky & kahneman, 1974; kahneman, 2003). typical correlate of type 2 processes is slow, controlled and rule-based information processing which requires working memory capacity and mental simulation. despite the fact that heuristics increases the speed and decreases the effort of information processing, it does not necessarily cause erroneous decisions (mclaughlin, eva & norman, 2014). the use of heuristics in a context of critical and time-limited circumstances can be beneficial because the duration of decision making process decreases. on the other hand, heuristic information processing makes detailed analytic response comparison unlikely. therefore, the probability to make erroneous decisions, i.e. cognitive errors, increases. these decision making principles can be also applied in emergency care settings. the last two decades mark an increasing interest in the use of heuristics in medical decision making generally (buckingham & adams, 2000; marewski & gigerenzer, 2012) and in the field of anesthesiology specifically (croskerry & 2016, 19, 9–34 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 11 nimmo, 2011; stiegler & tung, 2014). this is because anesthesiologists often face critical circumstances requiring urgent medical care, and thus have to make decisions immediately. despite efforts to clarify the characteristics of anesthesiologists’ decision making, a number of problems still remain untackled. to our knowledge, only one empirical study examined anesthesiologists’ use of heuristics in emergency situations (stiegler, neelankavil & dhillon, 2012). in addition, although it is known that decision making can vary according to the level of expertise (croskerry, 2009a) or stressful conditions (starcke & brand, 2012), no study to date has aimed to clarify relationship between above mentioned factors and anesthesiologists’ use of heuristics. the use of heuristics and clinic al experience doctors and residents base their decisions on the acquired knowledge which is specific to their medical field of expertise. cognitive psychologists agree that all human knowledge is stored in memory by mental representations (rumelhart & ortony, 1977), e.g. schemata and scripts (schank & abelson, 1977). unlike schemata which is bounded to store only factual information about the world, scripts are able to integrate this information into meaningful chronological sequences. therefore, knowledge which is represented by scripts contains additional information about coherence between certain actions and situations (schank, 1982). most of doctors’ decision making relies on scripts. this is because the diagnosis and treatment of a patient requires understanding and implementation of a specific series of sequential steps. it is agreed that qualitatively new scripts (which eventually become activated automatically) are being formed in doctors’ memories as medical experience increases (schmidt, norman & boshuizen, 1990; schmidt & boshuizen, 1993; charlin, boshuizen, custers & feltovich, 2007). therefore, it could be assumed that as medical specialists become more experienced, they are more likely to rely on heuristic type 1 processes while making decisions in their field of expertise. for example, the results of mamede and colleagues (2010) (study with a between-subjects design) showed that compared to the less experienced counterparts, more experienced internal medicine residents were more likely to rely on tomas maceina, gintautas valickas, jūratė šipylaitė, andrius macas, jevgenija olševska, pranas puidokas 12 an availability heuristic while making decisions. however, little is known about the use of other heuristics, such as anchoring and adjustment or representativeness (tversky & kahneman, 1974; croskerry, 2002; stiegler & tung, 2014). finally, lack of longitudinal (study with a withinsubjects design) studies prevents us from making conclusions about dynamics of the use of heuristics according to gained experience in the field of emergency medicine. the use of heuristics under stressful conditions anesthesiologists face various difficulties (e.g. limited time and lack of information about patients’ condition) associated with provision of emergency medical care. all these circumstances provoke stress, which in turn may have an impact on the quality of decision-making (kain et al., 2002). there is psychological as well as neurobiological evidence supporting this idea. over the last decade, the topic of decision making has attracted researchers from the science of neurobiology. significant amount of data has been accumulated to show that type 1 and type 2 processes are associated with the activity of different regions of the cerebral cortex (lieberman, 2000; lieberman, 2007). in addition, results from studies using functional neuroimaging show that stress induced neurobiological processes affect specific regions of the cerebral cortex that are associated with decision making (kim & diamond, 2002; pruessner et al., 2010; starcke & brand, 2012). proponents of dual-process theories agree that decision making under stressful conditions is more likely to be determined by the heuristic type 1 cognitive processing (evans, 2008; croskerry, 2009b). however, to our knowledge, no empirical studies to date have examined anesthesiologists’ use of heuristics under stressful conditions. this problem also raises other important issues. for example, it is not clear to what extent anesthesiologists rely on heuristics to make their decisions, which heuristics are used the most, and what number of heuristics may be optimal to make the most efficient decisions under stressful conditions. considering the lack of empirical research examining anesthesiologists’ use of heuristics, current work is aimed at exploring this issue 2016, 19, 9–34 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 13 particularly in a context of emergency medical care. our research had two objectives: 1) to evaluate the dynamics of the use of heuristics by anesthesiology residents according to gained clinical experience (first study); 2) to evaluate the use of heuristics by anesthesiology residents under stressful conditions (second study). study 1 me thods participants 29 anesthesiology residents (working at vilnius university hospital santariskiu clinics and republican vilnius university hospital) participated in the first phase of this longitudinal design study. the number of participants dropped from 29 to 19 in the second phase of this study (there was a 10-11-month difference between the first and the second phase of the study). seven participants did not proceed to the second phase of the study because at that time they were continuing their medical practice abroad, three – declined further participation. demographic data about participants is presented in table 1. no systematic dropout pattern is observed taking into account these characteristics as there is no difference between them comparing dropouts and those who participated in both phases of the study. table 1. demographic characteristics of par ticipants first phase (n = 29) second phase (n = 19) dropouts (n = 10) mean age, years (sd) 27.58 (1.32) 28.42 (3.11) 27.44 (3.37) average clinical experience, years (sd) 2.11 (.98) 3.02 (1.12) 2.4 (.96) 1st year residents, n (%) 8 (27.59) – 2 (20) 2nd year residents, n (%) 10 (34.48) 6 (31.58) 4 (40) 3rd year residents, n (%) 11 (37.93) 6 (31.58) 4 (40) 4th year residents, n (%) – 7 (36.84) – gender male, n (%) 12 (41.39) 8 (42.11) 4 (40) female, n (%) 17 (58.61) 11 (57.89) 6 (60) tomas maceina, gintautas valickas, jūratė šipylaitė, andrius macas, jevgenija olševska, pranas puidokas 14 materials medical vignettes. six medical vignettes were created specifically for this research. example of a vignette is shown in table 2 (note: guidelines illustrate an optimal way of thinking to reach a correct decision and were not presented to participants. guidelines were further used by experts in the field of anesthesiology to evaluate participants’ answers). specific features of every vignette are presented in table 3. all vignettes met two criteria: 1) the content of vignettes required making quick decisions and taking immediate actions in order to provide emergency medical care; 2) vignettes provoked ambiguity (i.e. it is possible to consider different causes of patients’ current condition and different alternative diagnoses. however, only some of the possible alternatives are correct). all vignettes were divided into four critical parts each requiring to make a certain decision. table 2. example of a vignette and guidelines for correct decision making response example vignette guidelines 1. you are about to perform an anesthesia on 50 years old man who has an abdominal wall hernia and is being prepared for plastic operation. patient has a beard and moustache. his height – 172 cm, weight – 118 kg. according to the patient, he has no serious illnesses that might be related to his current condition. 20 years ago, the patient had a general anesthesia for a knee arthroscopy; according to him, arthroscopy as well as general anesthesia went just fine, without additional complications. patients’ bp at the moment is 145/82 mmhg, hr – 78 bpm, saturation – 98%. what are your steps for a further patient evaluation? how are you going to prepare for the upcoming anesthesia? 1.1. you decided to start anesthesia. after injecting propofol, you are trying to ventilate the patient using a face mask. since the mask does not fit properly, ventilation becomes difficult to perform. what actions are you going to take next? 1. patient is obese (bmi – 39.5), therefore, problems regarding the direct laryngoscopy might appear. patient also has a beard, which might hamper an adequate mask fit on a face and therefore cause ventilation problems. the fact that the patient had general anesthesia in the past is encouraging, however, anesthesiologist must be cautious, because patients’ anatomy since 20 years ago could have slightly changed. it is required to make a basic airway assessment. even though there is no test that is more important than others, most anesthesiologists apply mallampati test, also examine patients’ thyromental distance and neck mobility. additional examinations might include opening of the mouth and front teeth protruding. 1.1. and 1.2. faced with intubation problems, anesthesiologist should try other reliable techniques. the most common backup plan in the case of direct laryngoscopy is to try to push larynx from the outside yourself or to ask an experienced assistant to do it. 2016, 19, 9–34 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 15 1.2. anesthesia is initiated: propofol and rocuronium is injected. 3 minutes after ventilation using a face mask, you perform a direct laryngoscopy with macintoch laryngoscope blade (size 3). only the edge of an epiglottis can be seen. patients’ bp – 110/78 mmhg, hr – 64 bpm, saturation – 96%. what actions are you going to take next? 1.3. your actions end up with same results – only the edge of an epiglottis can be seen. patients’ bp – 100/72 mmhg, hr – 58 bpm, saturation – 86%. what actions are you going to take next and why? the next step – try changing patients’ head position, laryngoscope blade size or a person who is performing an intubation. regarding an obese patient, situation can be also improved by lifting head (putting few sheets under the head or lifting the bed-head). some of the times, straight laryngoscope lifts the epiglottis better than a curved one. if none of that works – call for help! in a case of a problematic ventilation, try to apply lma. this method is internationally included in the standard algorithms created to deal with respiratory problems. 1.3. experienced anesthesiologist might try to intubate patient blindly without seeing the glottis (using the string for an intubation tube and bending its tip). other possible methods: bougie, optical laryngoscopes, flexible optic bronchoscope, lma. waking the patient and postponing the operation might also be an option. in this case, you will have to ensure the airway until reversal procedure can be done. table 3. case specific features of medical vignettes vignette case specific features no. 1 (a) patient’s oxygen saturation drops by at least 10% (b) patient is difficult to ventilate no. 2 (a) patient’s arterial blood pressure drops by at least 45% (b) patient has no pulse no. 3 (a) patient’s arterial blood pressure drops by at least 45% (b) it is difficult to perform venepuncture procedure no. 4 (a) patient’s arterial blood pressure drops by at least 45% (b) patient’s state of consciousness starts to deteriorate due to impaired blood circulation no. 5 (a) patient lost his consciousness and has no pulse (b) patient is allergic to procaine no. 6 (a) patient’s arterial blood pressure drops by at least 45% (b) patient’s oxygen saturation reduces at least 10% tomas maceina, gintautas valickas, jūratė šipylaitė, andrius macas, jevgenija olševska, pranas puidokas 16 different vignettes were used in the first and in the second phase of the study. therefore, we asked an expert with 9 years of experience in anesthesiology to evaluate difficulty levels of all vignettes. the wilcoxon signed-ranks test indicated that three vignettes (used in the first phase of the study) and other three vignettes (used in the second phase of the study) do not differ significantly in their difficulty levels (z = -.040, p = .968). think-aloud protocol. verbal information about participants’ decision making process was gathered using ericsson’s and simon’s (1980, 1993) think-aloud protocol. we used it in accordance to authors’ suggested criteria which allows us to avoid reactivity and thought explanation: 1) researcher does not provoke unnecessary communication with participants; 2) it is emphasised in the instruction that participants must not explain their thoughts and focus solely on the content of the vignettes; 3) in order to familiarize with requirements to think-aloud, participants are given to solve few simple tasks; 4) if participants stop expressing thoughts verbally, the researcher encourages him / her to continue to think-aloud. procedure all residents who signed an informed consent to participate in the study were individually asked to solve three medical vignettes presented in written form. participants were asked to read vignettes aloud and make their decisions expressing thoughts aloud. the time to make final decisions on each part of a vignette was limited to 60 seconds. answers were recorded using a dictaphone. this procedure with two sets of different medical vignettes was carried out identically in both phases of the study. data analysis data recorded were transcribed and processed applying quantitative content analysis which was performed independently by two members of the research group. a theme (i.e. sentence or groups of sentences containing one and the same thought) was chosen as the unit of quantitative content analysis. specific criteria were discerned before the 2016, 19, 9–34 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 17 analysis in order to identify three main groups of heuristics (tversky & kahneman, 1974) used by anesthesiology residents during their decision making process: 1) representativeness heuristic was identified when decisions were determined by information, which, according to participants, usually, typically or in most cases lead to specific evaluation of patients’ condition and selection of treatment; 2) availability heuristic was identified when participants named certain newly acquired knowledge or emotionally significant clinical experience (acquired in the past) which had an effect on final decision; 3) anchoring and adjustment heuristic was identified when (a) par ticipants’ attention was focused on certain aspects of the medical vignette without considering other relevant alternatives or (b) participants did not adjust or modify their initial hypotheses when additional information was given. sufficient agreement (percentage of absolute agreement – 77.92% and cohen’s κ = .502, p < .01) between research members was obtained judging the use of different heuristics. in order to ensure high validity of results that concern anesthesiologists’ use of heuristics, in a subsequent statistical analysis, we used only the data that had been evaluated identically by both raters (487 cases out of 625 across both the first and the second phase of the study). the appropriateness of participants’ answers was evaluated independently by two experts with 8 years of experience in anesthesiology using a 0-10 point scale. in order to identify cognitive errors made, experts’ ratings were grouped: (a) ratings equal to or higher than 5 indicate that participants’ decisions were more or less appropriate medically; (b) ratings lower than 5 indicate that participants’ decisions were erroneous, i.e. fail to ensure appropriate provision of emergency medical care. sufficient agreement (icc = .683) between experts was obtained. means of experts’ ratings were used in a subsequent statistical analysis. statistical computations were performed with ibm spss 21 software. as distributions of all variables were not normal, we used non-parametric tests of statistical analysis. to evaluate the dynamics of anesthesiology residents’ use of heuristics according to gained clinical experience, we compared the number of used heuristics and appropriateness of made tomas maceina, gintautas valickas, jūratė šipylaitė, andrius macas, jevgenija olševska, pranas puidokas 18 decisions between the first and the second phase of the study with wilcoxon signed-rank test. mann-whitney u test was used to compare the appropriateness of made decisions according to the type of decision making strategy (heuristic vs. not heuristic, anchoring and adjustment vs. not heuristic). finally, to compare the overall number of thoughts and heuristic thoughts between the first and the second phase of the study, we used χ2 goodness of fit test. results number and type of used heuristics a wilcoxon signed-ranks test indicated that there was no significant difference between the total number of used heuristics per vignette in the first (mdn = 4) and the second phase (mdn = 3) of the study, z = .67, p = .25. descriptive data of the quantitative content analysis is presented in table 4. table 4. the number of thoughts, heuristic thoughts, and erroneous heuristic thoughts across both phases of the study phase vignette thoughts heuristic thoughts erroneous heuristic thoughts 1st phase no. 2. 92 30 9 no. 5. 81 25 9 no. 6. 84 29 10 overall 257 (100%) 84 (33.33%) 28 (10.89%) 2nd phase no. 1. 76 27 9 no. 3. 71 22 5 no. 4. 83 26 9 overall 230 (100%) 75 (32.61%) 23 (10%) 2016, 19, 9–34 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 19 results of quantitative content analysis showed that the overall frequency of the use of heuristics (χ2 (1) = .002, p = .966) as well as erroneous heuristic thoughts (χ2 (1) = .240, p = .624) did not differ significantly comparing the first and the second phase of the study. to evaluate the dynamics of the use of heuristics by anesthesiology residents according to gained clinical experience, we conducted a more detailed analysis directed towards different types of heuristics. results showed that in the first as well as in the second phase of the study, residents used anchoring and adjustment heuristic the most (see fig. 1). it is also important to note the specific change in the use of different heuristics during the study: compared to the first phase, in the second phase of the study, the frequency of the use of anchoring and adjustment heuristic increased (χ2 (1) = 25.995, p < .001), while the frequency of the use of the availability heuristic decreased (χ2 (1) = 25.267, p < .001). figure 1. the distribution of frequency in the use of different heuristics in the first and in the second phase of the study appropriateness of made decisions a wilcoxon signed-ranks test indicated that there was no significant difference between the appropriateness of made decisions in the first (mdn = 6.25) and the second phase (mdn = 6.58) of the study, z = -1.2, p = .12. we also compared the appropriateness of the made decisions according to whether heuristics were used or not (see table 5). 32 (38.1 %) 7 (9.33 %) 5 (5.95 %) 4 (5.33 %) 47 (55.95 %) 64 (85.33 %) anchoring and adjustment availability representativeness first phase second phase tomas maceina, gintautas valickas, jūratė šipylaitė, andrius macas, jevgenija olševska, pranas puidokas 20 table 5. appropriateness of made decisions when heuristics were and were not used phase vignette mean score no heuristics used heuristic used 1st phase no. 2. 7.38 (sd = 2.09), n = 59 6.92 (sd = 2.18), n = 28 no. 5. 5.45 (sd = 2.64), n = 61 5.48 (sd = 1.92), n = 23 no. 6. 6.06 (sd = 2.04), n = 53 5.98 (sd = 1.79), n = 33 2nd phase no. 1. 6.72 (sd = 1.14), n = 67 6.04 (sd = .39), n = 10 no. 3. 7.33 (sd = 1.4), n = 43 7.18 (sd = 2.01), n = 30 no. 4. 6.55 (sd = 1.34), n = 45 5.31 (sd = 1.27), n = 35 the results of the first phase of the study showed that the appropriateness of the made decisions did not differ significantly across the cases when heuristics were used or not in all three medical vignettes. different results were found analyzing the data of the second phase of the study. the mann-whitney test showed that less appropriate decisions were made in those cases when heuristics were used in the first (u = 218.500, z = -1.784, p < .05; r = -.203) and in the fourth (u = 382.000, z = -3.187, p < .05; r = -.356) medical vignettes compared to those cases when heuristics were not used. next, we focused our analysis on anchoring and adjustment as this heuristic was used most frequently and the data on other heuristics is not sufficient enough to make multiple comparisons (see table 6). table 6. appropriateness of made decisions when heuristics were not used and when anchoring and adjustment heuristic was used phase vignette mean score no heuristics used anchoring and adjustment heuristic used 1st phase no. 2. 7.38 (sd = 2.09), n = 59 7.38 (sd = 1.81), n = 16 no. 5. 5.45 (sd = 2.64), n = 61 5.2 (sd = 1.38), n = 9 no. 6. 6.06 (sd = 2.04), n = 53 6.11 (sd = 1.76), n = 22 2nd phase no. 1. 6.72 (sd = 1.14), n = 67 6.04 (sd = .39), n = 10 no. 3. 7.33 (sd = 1.4), n = 43 7.16 (sd = 2.01), n = 25 no. 4. 6.55 (sd = 1.34), n = 45 5.28 (sd = 1.27), n = 29 2016, 19, 9–34 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 21 the results of the first phase of the study showed that the appropriateness of the made decisions did not differ significantly in all three medical vignettes according to whether anchoring and adjustment was used or no heuristics were used. different results were found analyzing the data on the second phase of the study. the mann-whitney test showed that residents who used anchoring and adjustment heuristic made less appropriate decisions (e.g. “…i just think how to conduct an anesthesia. so... because it is a 50-year-old patient, i will check if ecg was performed; i will check the results of all examinations. if the results are normal, preparation will be standard. i do not know... for anesthesia, i will use propofol, esmeron and fentanyl.”) in the first (u = 218.500, z = -1.784, p < .05; r = -.203) and in the fourth (u = 371.000, z = -3.343, p < .05; r = -.389) medical vignettes compared to those who did not use heuristicsat all. study 2 me thods participants participants included 31 anesthesiology residents from hospital of lithuanian university of health sciences kaunas clinics and vilnius university hospital santariskiu clinics who did not participate in the first study. mean participants’ age was 28.46 years (sd = 3.53), average clinical experience – 2.62 years (sd = 1.05). there were 17 junior (1st year – 4, 2nd year – 13) and 14 senior (3rd year – 5, 4th year – 9) residents. materials some of the materials which were used in the study 1 (i.e. three [no. 2, no. 3, and no. 4] randomly chosen medical vignettes from the first study and think-aloud protocol) were also used in the second study. stress induction. cold pressor test (cpt) was used to induce an acute stress. cpt requires participants to immerse one hand into an ice-cold (0-4° c) water and keep it there for 3 minutes. before and after the cpt, tomas maceina, gintautas valickas, jūratė šipylaitė, andrius macas, jevgenija olševska, pranas puidokas 22 participants were asked to evaluate their stress level on a 0-100% scale (0% – not stressed at all, 50% – moderately stressed, 100% – extremely stressed). studies show that cpt activates the sympathetic nervous system (deuter et al., 2012). we assume that cpt (as a tool to provoke acute physiological stress) has an impact on changes in participants’ hearth rate variability (hrv). specifically, we expect a decrease in hrv (chuang, han & young, 2009), which would reflect the use of participants’ autonomic nervous system in order to cope with physiological stress. to our knowledge, no study to date has proved that the cpt method (or decreased hrv) reflects the stress of clinical crises. however, results of rieger, stoll, kreuzfeld, behrens and weippert (2014) showed that surgeons who experienced intraoperative stress had a decreased hrv as a result. therefore, we believe that cpt (provoking decrease in hrv) can be used as a surrogate for inducing stress experienced in clinical crises. measures of physiological reactions. physiological data were registered using “biopac student lab pro 3.7.3” software and “biopac systems” mp36 hardware for data storage. heart rate was registered using a finger plethysmograph. software was configured in two ways: 1) coefficient of signal amplification was set to 5,000; 2) in order to reduce artefacts, a filter (from .05 to 66.5 hz) was set. therefore, participants’ hearth rate was registered within this range. procedure participants signed an informed consent form to take part in the study. in the beginning, participants evaluated stress levels for the first time. later on, participants’ heart rate was registered for 3 minutes under resting conditions (finger plethysmograph attached to the ring finger of the dominant hand). then participants were exposed to cpt (the nondominant hand was immersed into the cold water) after which they evaluated stress levels for the second time. finally, participants’ heart rate was registered once more for 3 minutes. after this procedure, participants were asked to solve three medical vignettes under the same conditions as in the first study. 2016, 19, 9–34 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 23 data analysis quantitative content analysis (according to the same criteria as in the first study) was carried out independently by two research group members. sufficient agreement (percentage of absolute agreement – 84.04% and cohen’s κ = .611, p < .01) was obtained judging the use of different heuristics. again, in order to ensure a high validity of results that concern anesthesiologists’ use of heuristics, in a subsequent statistical analysis, we used only the data that had been evaluated identically by both raters (i.e. 374 cases out of 445). the appropriateness of participants’ answers was also evaluated independently by two experts with 8 years of experience in anesthesiology using a 0-10 point scale as in the first study. sufficient agreement (icc = .686) between experts was obtained. means of experts’ ratings were used in a subsequent statistical analysis. data of participants’ physiological reactions was analyzed with “biopac student lab pro 3.7.3” and “kubios hrv 2.1” software (hrv was assessed using the time-domain analysis). statistical computations were performed using ibm spss 21 software. distributions of all variables were normal, therefore, we used parametric tests of statistical analysis. to evaluate the effect of the acute stress induction, we compared participants’ hrv and stress level ratings before and after the cpt using the paired sample t-test. to evaluate the use of heuristics by anesthesiology residents under stressful conditions, we applied one-way anova trend analysis to compare the appropriateness of made decisions according to the number of heuristics used in every vignette. results preliminary analysis: effect of the acute stress induction cpt was used to induce acute stress. before and after the cpt, we registered participants’ heart rate (which was later used to calculate hrv, the physiological estimate of stress). paired sample t-test was conducted to compare the average hrv (ms) before and after the cpt. average hrv after the cpt (m = 61.83 ms, sd = 18.79) was significantly lower compared to average hrv before the cpt (m = 67.03 ms, sd = 23.58); t(30) = 2.1, p < .05. tomas maceina, gintautas valickas, jūratė šipylaitė, andrius macas, jevgenija olševska, pranas puidokas 24 participants were also asked to evaluate their stress level before and after the cpt. paired sample t-test was conducted to compare ratings of stress level. the average of subjective ratings of the stress level after the cpt (m = 36.13 ms, sd = 20.6) was significantly higher compared to ratings before the cpt (m = 19.67 ms, sd = 17.65); t(30) = 5.03, p < .05. heuristics use under stressful conditions results of quantitative content analysis showed that 37.43% of anesthesiology residents’ thoughts (140 cases out of 374) were identified as heuristic. in addition, 9.28% of these heuristic thoughts (13 cases out of 140) resulted in cognitive errors. detailed information about the frequency of the use of particular heuristics is presented in figure 2. anchoring and adjustment availability representativeness 108 (77.15%) 5 (3.57%) 27 (19.28%) figure 2. the distribution of frequencies in the use of heuristics anova (for every medical vignette separately) was conducted to examine the effect of the total number of used heuristics in a vignette on the appropriateness of residents’ decisions. medical vignette no. 2: variances between groups using different number of heuristics are homogeneous (levene f(3, 27) = 2.758, p > .05). there was no significant effect of the number of used heuristics on the appropriateness of made decisions (f(3, 27) = 1.339, p = .283). medical vignette no. 3: variances between groups using different number of heuristics are homogeneous (levene f(2, 28) = 1.303, p > .05). significant effect of the number of used heuristics was found on the 2016, 19, 9–34 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 25 appropriateness of made decisions (f(2, 28) = 8.029, p < .05). this effect can be best described by a quadratic trend (f(1, 28) = 14.513, p < .05) (figure 3). the number of used heuristics in a vignette a p p ro p ri at en es s o f m ad e d ec is io n s 9 8,5 8 7,5 7 7,5 6 1 2 3 figure 3. the appropriateness of made decisions according to the number of used heuristics in a third medical vignette a bonferroni post-hoc test revealed that those subjects who used one (m = 7.19, sd = .509, p < .05) or three (m = 6.84, sd = .83, p < .01) heuristics made statistically significantly less appropriate decisions compared to those who used two (m = 8.07, sd = .82) heuristics. there was no statistically significant differences between subjects, who used one and three heuristics (p = 1). medical vignette no. 4: variances between groups using different number of heuristics are homogeneous (levene f(3, 27) = .431, p > .05). significant effect of the number of used heuristics was found on the appropriateness of made decisions (f(3, 27) = 5.082 p < .05). this effect can also be best described by a quadratic trend (f(1, 27) = 12.831, p < .05) (figure 4). tomas maceina, gintautas valickas, jūratė šipylaitė, andrius macas, jevgenija olševska, pranas puidokas 26 a p p ro p ri at en es s o f m ad e d ec is io n s 8 7,5 7 6,5 5,5 5 4,5 0 2 3 the number of used heuristics in a vignette 1 figure 4. the appropriateness of made decisions according to the number of used heuristics in a four th medical vignette a bonferroni post-hoc test revealed that those subjects who used three (m = 5.35, sd = .49) heuristics, made statistically significantly less appropriate decisions compared to those who used one (m = 6.89, sd = .75, p < .01) or two (m = 6.67 sd = 1.09, p < .05) heuristics. there were no statistically significant differences between other groups (p > .05). gener al discussion study 1 results of the first study broaden the understanding of anesthesiologists’ use of heuristics in two ways. first of all, we were able to identify anesthesiologists’ use of heuristics at micro (thought) level. previous studies (stiegler et al., 2012) examined anesthesiologists’ use of heuristics at macro level, i.e. observing and ascribing only one occurrence of one type of heuristic for each separate decision making session. thus, information about the repeated use of the same heuristic during the same session was lost. the results of our first study indicate that regardless of acquired experience in the field of anesthesiology, about one-third 6 2016, 19, 9–34 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 27 of residents’ thoughts solving emergency care problems are manifested as heuristics. also, in about two-thirds of cases, appropriate decisions were made when heuristics were used to form final judgments. nevertheless, cognitive errors, i.e. erroneous decision making, were evident in about 10 percent of residents’ thoughts. secondly, the results of our longitudinal (within-subjects design) study shed some light on the dynamics of anesthesiologists’ use of different heuristics. previous between-subjects design studies (mamede et al., 2010) were restricted only to the examination of the use of heuristics between different experimental groups. moreover, such studies usually focus on only one instead of a few heuristics. the results of our study showed that acquired medical experience had an impact on the change of the use of different heuristics. from a standpoint of cognitive psychology, qualitatively new scripts are formed as doctors gain more medical experience (schmidt et al., 1990; schmidt & boshuizen, 1993; charlin et al., 2007). when doctors face highly familiar medical situations, they are more likely to process scripts’ information with type 1 heuristic cognitive processes (croskerry, 2009b; evans & stanovich, 2013). it is assumed that with learning and growing medical experience, the number of scripts increases; this in turn enables an easier access to heuristic processes (croskerry, 2009a). our study showed certain tendencies in the use of specific heuristics according to gained medical experience, i.e. anesthesiology residents used availability heuristic less, and anchoring and adjustment heuristic more as their medical experience increased. these results can be explained with regard to different characteristics of these heuristics. availability heuristic is commonly used when decisions are made relying on (a) emotionally laden experience from the past or (b) relying on newly acquired knowledge which can be easily remembered. in both cases, the principle that characterizes the tendency to consider easily remembered events as occurring more often is evident. on the other hand, anchoring and adjustment is used when doctors or residents focus their attention too much only on a very few certain cues about patient’s medical condition (croskerry, 2002). it is probable that when residents have relatively little experience in their field, they are more likely to activate newly formed prototypic decision making patterns. thus, their decisions are more likely to be affected by the tomas maceina, gintautas valickas, jūratė šipylaitė, andrius macas, jevgenija olševska, pranas puidokas 28 availability heuristic. anchoring and adjustment heuristic still plays a crucial role in decision making, because residents’ knowledge on general medicine might still be very salient. however, as a more specific experience in the anesthesiology field is acquired, the relatively stable knowledge base becomes more elaborated. therefore, with gradual development, it becomes an even greater anchor. the shift in the residents’ use of heuristics could have also occurred because of the slight differences in the content of vignettes used in the first and in the second phase of the study. however, this explanation is only partial, because (1) some of the features in different vignettes were similar (table 4) and (2) vignettes did not differ in difficulty levels across both phases of the study. results of the second phase of the study indicate that residents’ made less appropriate decisions when using anchoring and adjustment heuristic compared to the cases when heuristics were not used. this tendency occurred in a context of two out of three medical vignettes. therefore, it can be identified under what specific circumstances anchoring and adjustment was being used falsely: (a) when the patient’s arterial blood pressure drops by at least 45% (vignette no. 1 and no. 4); (b) when patient’s state of consciousness starts to deteriorate due to impaired blood circulation (vignette no. 4); (c) when patient’s oxygen saturation drops by at least 10% (vignette no. 1); (d) when the resident is faced with difficulties in attempting to ventilate the patient (vignette no. 1). it can be assumed that an inappropriate use of anchoring and adjustment in the second phase of the study is related to an increase of its use, which occurred in tandem with the decrease in the use of availability heuristic. this could mean that particular medical knowledge, upon which the use of availability heuristic was replaced by anchoring and adjustment, is not stable enough to account for appropriate heuristically generated decisions. therefore, the formation of a more stable and reliable knowledge base containing a larger number of qualitatively different scripts would be a good reason to expect higher-quality decisions. however, further empirical studies are needed to test these assumptions regarding dynamics of the use of heuristics and their relationship with the appropriateness of made decisions in anesthesiology. 2016, 19, 9–34 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 29 study 2 it is known that the cpt elicits sympathetic nervous system activity (deuter et al., 2012) and excitates physiological stress. results of our study shows a decrease in residents hrv after the cpt which means that resources of the autonomic nervous system were utilized in order to cope with induced physiological stress. analysis of the appropriateness of residents’ decisions according to number of used heuristics yielded interesting results. it was found that the appropriateness of made decisions reaches the peak when no more than two heuristics are used. in the light of dual process theories, these results could be interpreted as reflecting an effective and adaptive interaction between type 1 and type 2 cognitive processes. on the one hand, certain cues in medical vignettes could have activated type 1 processes first, while more rational type 2 processes were involved only after the encounter of contradictory information. this pattern of interaction between type 1 and type 2 processes relies upon the meta-cognitive ability, which allows for more rational assessment of the content of working memory. on the other hand, a different pattern of interaction between type 1 and type 2 processes is possible: residents could have processed information in a rational way first and only after that engaged in heuristic decision making. in other words, rationally structured information (which satisfied certain cognitive scripts) was processed by the use of heuristics (croskerry, 2009a, b). relatively worse decisions, when no or more than two heuristics were used, can be explained by taking into account specific circumstances regarding emergency medical care. rational decision making involving type 2 cognitive processes (i.e. without using heuristics) requires a considerable amount of time. in our study, residents were given a limited time to make their final decisions. therefore, the appropriateness of made decisions could have worsened because not all information was processed thoroughly (even though the information was considered in a correct manner). in turn, the use of more than two heuristics may reduce the appropriateness of made decisions due to the increasing probability to commit a cognitive error. tomas maceina, gintautas valickas, jūratė šipylaitė, andrius macas, jevgenija olševska, pranas puidokas 30 it should be noted that further empirical support is needed to confirm these results. due to specific characteristics (small absolute number of anesthesiology residents in lithuania and their busy schedule including night shifts) of research contingent we decided to not include control (no stress) group in our study. * * * the results of both studies bring our attention to the need for further discussions about the opportunities to improve existing residency program in anesthesiology regarding the improvement in the residents’ meta-cognitive ability. there is empirical evidence suggesting that educational seminars on heuristics and cognitive biases increase medical students’ knowledge in medical decision-making area (hershberger, markert, part, cohen & finger, 1997). however, it is not clear whether gained knowledge can be efficiently applied to medical practice. eva (2009) suggests that spaced training, considering its positive influence to long-term practical performance, may be a beneficial method used in order to help students transfer their knowledge into practice. other methods that might help to improve long-term performance or an ability to effectively apply essential information from familiar to novel cases are limited feedback, contrastive and test-enhanced learning. concentration on the possibilities to organize courses on information processing and decision making could be a good starting point as there are already universities in the world which have more than 10 years of experience in teaching this approach undergraduate medical students (croskerry, 2003). such courses could be targeted at the improvement of rational as well as heuristic information processing emphasising the interplay between type 2 and type 1 cognitive processes. limitations and guidelines for further research further studies in this field should pay attention to several things. there was only a 10 month interval between the first and the second phase of our first study. it is likely that this interval was insufficient to obtain fairly informative data on the dynamics of the use of heuristics. therefore, further research examining quantitative and qualitative dynamics of decision making should focus on longer longitudinal studies allowing for more flexible division of time periods. furthermore, 2016, 19, 9–34 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 31 a better understanding about the characteristics of anesthesiology specialists’ decision making in accordance to their clinical experience could be sought by expanding the contingent of participants, i.e. involving anesthesiologists who have completed their residency. in our second study, both times (before and after the cpt) we registered participants’ heart rate only before solving medical vignettes. it is recommended for further studies to register participants’ physiological reactions after solving each medical vignette. this approach could provide additional information about the dynamics of stress as well as capabilities to cope with it in situations requiring to make decisions in a context of emergency medical care. it is also worth noting that participants’ physiological reactions were registered with a finger plethysmograph. however, more accurate information about the heart rhythm and hrv could be obtained using an electrocardiograph (giardino, lehrer & edelberg, 2002; schafer & vagedes, 2013). moreover, additional information about the stress levels could be obtained recording the changes in the level of cortisol. due to a relatively small sample size and dropouts (first study), our results should be considered preliminary and remain to be replicated in a more ecologically valid environment. participants did not have to perform any real actions while solving medical vignettes, only verbal information was collected using the think-aloud protocol. we believe that the application of the patient simulator which would allow participants to take an action instead could 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(1974). judgment under uncertainty: heuristics and biases. science, 185(4157), 1124-1131. tomas maceina, gintautas valickas, jūratė šipylaitė, andrius macas, jevgenija olševska, pranas puidokas 34 anesteziologijos-reanimatologijos rezidentų sprendimų priėmimas, teikiant skubią medicinos pagalbą tomas maceina, gintautas valickas, jūratė šipylaitė vilniaus universitetas, lietuva andrius macas lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universitetas, lietuva jevgenija olševska anesteziologijos, intensyvios terapijos ir skausmo gydymo centras, vilniaus universiteto ligoninė, santariškių klinikos, lietuva pranas puidokas všį centro poliklinika, lietuva santrauka. mokslinė problema. teikdami skubią medicinos pagalbą, anesteziologijosreanimatologijos srityje besispecializuojantys rezidentai rizikuoja priimti klai din gus sprendimus, galinčius nulemti paciento mirtį. siekiant paaiškinti anes tezio logijos-reanimatologijos rezidentų sprendimų priėmimo ypatumus, teikiant skubią medicinos pagalbą, kyla esminių problemų. pavyzdžiui, neaišku, kokia yra euris tikų, t. y. supaprastintų sprendimo priėmimo būdų, taikymo specifika anes teziologijos-reanimatologijos srityje. be to, itin trūksta empirinių duomenų, galin čių paaiškinti euristikų taikymo ypatumus, esant stresinėms situacijoms, taip pat jų dinamiką, keičiantis darbo stažui. tikslas – išsiaiškinti anesteziologijosreanimatologijos rezidentų euristikų taikymo ypatumus, teikiant skubią medicinos pagalbą. įgyvendinant šį tikslą, atlikti du nepriklausomi tyrimai anesteziologijosreanimatologijos rezidentų euristikų taikymo ypatumams įvertinti: a) didėjant darbo stažui, b) stresinėmis aplinkybėmis. metodika. pirmą (tęstinio pobūdžio) tyrimą sudarė du etapai. abiejų etapų metu rezidentai, įvardydami savo mintis žodžiu, sprendė po tris panašaus sudėtingumo medicinines situacijas. antro tyrimo metu dalyviams taikyta „šalto vandens“ užduotis, siekiant sukelti fiziologinį stresą. prieš šią užduotį ir po jos, naudojant pletizmografą, registruotas tyrimo dalyvių širdies ritmas. vėliau esant tokioms sąlygoms, kaip ir pirmame tyrime, dalyviai sprendė tris medicinines situacijas. tyrimo dalyvių atsakymus vertino du nepriklausomi ekspertai – gydytojai anesteziologai-reanimatologai. rezultatai, išvados. atlikta duomenų kiekybinė turinio analizė atskleidė, kad didėjant anesteziologijos-reanimatologijos rezidentų darbo stažui, mažėja pasiekiamumo ir didėja „inkaro“ euristikų taikymo dažnumas. nustatyta, kad anesteziologijos-reanimatologijos rezidentai, taikydami ne daugiau kaip dvi euristikas, linkę priimti optimaliausius sprendimus, teikdami skubią medicinos pagalbą stresinėmis aplinkybėmis. abiejų tyrimų rezultatai parodė, kad 32–38 proc. anesteziologijos-reanimatologijos rezidentų minčių, sprendžiant skubios medicinos pagalbos situacijas, pasireiškė kaip euristikos, o 3–11 proc. – kaip kognityvios klaidos. pagrindiniai žodžiai: sprendimų priėmimas, euristikos, mąstymo klaidos. received: 2016-02-09 accepted: 2017-02-04 93 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 93–109 p. scientific publications issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.16.5 1 address for correspondence: department of school psychology, mckee 298, box 131, university of northern colorado, greeley, co, 80639. e-mail: john.froiland@unco.edu telephone: 970-351-2819. parenting st yle, gender, beer drinking and drinking problems of college students noelle whitney state university of new york at plattsburgh, usa john mark froiland1 university of northern colorado, usa abstract. background and purpose. many college students and young adults in various parts of the world have difficulty with drinking too much alcohol and are at-risk for alcohol use disorders. a permissive parenting style and beer drinking are risk factors for alcohol abuse among late adolescents and young adults. methods. this study examined the indirect relations between permissive parenting (measured with the parental authority questionnaire, paq) and alcohol use identification test (audit, 2nd edition) scores via beer drinking frequency (measured with the student alcohol questionnaire, saq) among a sample of college students (ages 18 to 23) in the northeast region of the united states. in addition, the indirect relation between gender and audit scores via beer drinking frequency were also examined through structural equation modeling. results. as predicted, students of permissive parents drank more beer and this was associated with more alcohol related problems. likewise, young women drank significantly less beer than young men and this was associated with fewer alcohol dependence symptoms and healthier drinking habits. conclusion. this study builds upon a number of studies that have found that beer drinking is potentially more problematic than wine drinking (and to some extent, liquor drinking) among young adults. findings suggest that reducing beer drinking frequency, especially among boys, may be an intermediate target for future parenting intervention studies that aim to prevent alcohol use disorders. keywords: parenting style; alcohol abuse; young adulthood (18–29 years); male; female. 94 noelle whitney, john mark froiland parenting st yle, gender, beer drinking and drinking problems of college students children thrive when their parents provide a nurturing and supportive environment (froiland, 2011a; froiland, 2013; powell, son, file, & froiland, 2012) while also conveying positive expectations (baumrind, 1966; froiland & davison, 2014; froiland, peterson, & davison, 2013). the manner in which caregivers communicate with their children is crucial to the development of positive mental health outcomes (froiland, 2011b; froiland, 2014; uji, sakamoto, adachi,  & kitamura, 2014). furthermore, certain parenting styles put youth at risk for alcohol use and abuse (montgomery et al., 2008). college alcohol use has been identified as an eminent problem on college campuses. among young adults, approximately 63% of males and 58% of females reported being current drinkers in 2012 (substance abuse and mental health services administration, samhsa, 2013). binge drinking is considered the consumption of five or more drinks consecutively for men and four or more for women (wechsler, dowdall, davenport, & dejong, 1994). the 2012 national survey on drug use and health (samhsa, 2013) revealed that binge drinking was reported by 40% of young adults aged 18-25 and the rate of heavy drinking was 13%. within this same age group, 46% of males and 33% of females reported binge drinking (samhsa, 2013). binge drinking is problematic due to potential health problems and legal complications (wechsler et al., 1994). consumption of large amounts of alcohol over a short period of time can result in dangerous levels of blood alcohol concentration. alcohol use represents the most prominent feature of college student fatality (hingson, heeren, winter, & wechsler, 2005). in particular, an estimated 1,717 alcohol-related non-traffic deaths among college students were reported in 2001 (hingson et al., 2005). approximately 31% of the eight million college students in the united states (u.s.) meet the diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse (knight et al., 2002) and nearly half of college students diagnosed with alcohol use disorder (aud) between the ages of 18 and 19 continued to meet aud criteria when they were 25 years old (sher & gotham, 1999). given the prevalence of alcohol consumption and the consequences of alcohol abuse, it is important to identify factors that increase the likeli95 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 93–109 p. hood that adolescents and young adults will get inebriated during the college years and develop aud. studies have shown a relationship between the quality of parenting and substance use and abuse among offspring (baumrind, 1989). baumrind (1971) identified three parenting styles: authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive. children of parents with an authoritative parenting style exhibit fewer psychological and behavioral problems (baumrind, 1989; kritzas & grobler, 2005). authoritative parents offer a firm and assertive approach, while simultaneously encouraging their children to express their opinion and explore their interests. an authoritative parenting style is characterized by clear expectations, firm rules, explaining rationales for rules, and consistent discipline (baumrind, 1966). in contrast, authoritarian parents expect children to obey their rules and demands without explanation. they provide an orderly environment, while maintaining clear guidelines. authoritarian parents exert control with minimal input from children in making decisions and developing expectations (baumrind, 1991). authoritarian parents offer little nurturance and emotional support to their children (black & baumrind, 1967). permissive parenting has been identified as a risk factor for increased alcohol use and abuse among youth and young adults (becona et al., 2013; cohen & rice, 1997; patock-peckham, cheong, balhorn, & nagoshi, 2001). for example, patock-peckham and morgan-lopez (2006) indicated that permissive parenting by one’s same gender parent, increases impulsivity, alcohol use and alcohol-related problems, and reduces drinking control. permissive parenting is characterized by overindulgence and a lack of supervision (baumrind, 1966; loeber  & stouthamer-loeber, 1986). this lack of supervision is problematic because perceived parental monitoring predicts a lower likelihood of alcohol misuse (barnes, hoffman, welte, farrell,  & dintcheff, 2006). permissive parents do not make clear rules and the inappropriate behavior of children is infrequently addressed (baumrind, 1966). adolescents reporting inadequate rules and limited communication about alcohol are prone to begin drinking alcohol at an early age and drink more as they get older (koning, van den eijnden, verdurmen, engles, & vollebergh, 2012). permissive parents score high on responsiveness, but low on demandingness and control (maccoby & martin, 1983). demandingness entails the requests and expectations parents impose on their children, which are characterized 96 noelle whitney, john mark froiland by the establishment of parental standards, supervision, and disciplinary efforts (spera, 2005). mckinney & renk (2008) found that late adolescent girls report parents being less permissive than boys do. because alcohol abuse among adolescents and young adults is a per-vasive problem in many nations, researchers have explored the etiology of alcohol use, concluding that adolescence is a period during which substance use is typically initiated (faden, 2006). the effects of parenting styles on behavioral development have been thoroughly investigated throughout childhood. however, there is a need for more research on the long-term effects of parenting styles beyond adolescence, particularly, young adulthood. young adulthood is a transitional period characterized by growth, change, potential for greater contribution to society and exploration. young adults begin to establish their own identities and focus on their future endeavors. perceived parenting styles and parental behavior play an important role in this period of development in which college students are often living on their own for the first time and have more control over their schedule than ever before in their lives. gender and preference for beer college males consume more alcohol than females (ham  & hope, 2003). women often prefer wine over beer and hard liquor, whereas young men often prefer to drink beer (klatsky, armstrong, & kipp, 1990). in fact, kidorf, sherman, johnson  & bigelow (1995) found that among a sample of college students on the east coast of the u.s., women drank about one-third as much beer as men. in a study involving over 100,000 participants in california, men were over three times as likely to report a preference for beer, whereas women were apt to prefer wine, which was associated with women having a lower risk for mortality due to coronary disease (klatsky, friedman, armstrong,  & kipp, 2003). likewise, in a nationally representative study of young adults in the u.s., men were significantly more likely to prefer beer, whereas women were more likely to prefer wine and wine preference was associated with healthier habits, such as less smoking and less fast food consumption (paschall,  & lipton, 2005). on the other hand, young adults that prefer beer are more likely to report recent alcohol-related problems (paschall & lipton, 2005) and beer is the most common alcoholic beverage consumed by those that are susceptible to causing alcohol-related harm, such as by driving 97 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 93–109 p. a motor vehicle shortly after a binge drinking episode (naimi, brewer, miller, okoro,  & mehrotra, 2007). young adults who favor beer are less likely to drink in moderation (paschall & lipton, 2005), as drinking beer is much more strongly associated with binge drinking than wine or liquor drinking among college students under the legal drinking age (wechsler, kuo, lee, & dowdall, 2000). in addition, another study in the united kingdom (uk) found that young men are much more likely than young women to express a preference for beer (meier, purshouse,  & brennan, 2010). moreover, a longitudinal study found that adolescent boys, but not girls, consume more beer (but not wine or liquor) when they remember more television commercials for alcoholic beverages (connolly, casswell, zhang, & silva, 1994). current study this study examined the following hypotheses: 1) permissive parenting will be associated with more beer drinking; 2) gender will be associated with beer drinking, with women drinking beer less frequently; 3) gender will be indirectly related to alcohol-related problems via beer drinking frequency; 4) permissive parenting will be indirectly related to alcohol-related problems via beer drinking frequency. me thods sample participants included 62 undergraduate students enrolled in psychology courses at a public university in the northeast region of the u.s. students were between 18 and 23 years old (m = 19.16 years, sd = 1.2). the majority of participants were female (67.7%). the percentages of students at each grade level are as follows: 46.8% freshmen; 27.4% sophomores; 17.7% juniors; and 8.1% seniors. the mean grade point average was 3.08 (sd = 0.44). the majority of students reported growing up in a two parent family (62.9%). procedures participants were recruited from the general psychology human participant pool, as well as an upper class psychology course. they were granted extra credit within their psychology courses for their involvement. questionnaire completion sessions occurred during designated 98 noelle whitney, john mark froiland meeting times on six occasions over the course of two weeks, with a researcher present. prior to distribution of the surveys, informed consent forms were dispersed and questions were answered. measures parental authority questionnaire (paq). the paq (buri, 1991) is a 30-item questionnaire designed to measure baumrind’s (1971) classic parenting styles. the questions address three sub-scales: permissive, authoritarian, and authoritative, with 10 questions representing each parenting style. the paq asks students to answer questions as they recall their parents over the years they were raised in their parent(s) or guardians’ home. if parents divorced when the students were younger, the paq instructs them to answer according to the parent they spent the most time with. the responses to the questions are rated on a 5-point likert scale, ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”. scoring involves summing the items that comprise each sub-scale, with each sub-scale having a maximum score of 50. higher scores on a sub-scale (e.g., permissiveness) indicate that the rater perceives their parent as expressing more of that style. patcock-peckham and morgan-lopez (2009) found acceptable alpha reliabilities ranging from .77 to .90 for the subscales of the paq among college students. likewise, segrin, woszidlo, givertz, bauer & taylor (2012) reported alpha reliabilities from .78 to .82. alcohol use disorders identification test (audit ), second edition. the audit was developed by the world health organization to screen for problematic drinking patterns (babor, higgins-biddle, saunders, & monteiro, 2001). the measure is composed of 10 items (each on a 0 to 4 scale) pertaining to alcohol use, dependence symptoms, and problems due to alcohol use. the overall score is a sum of all item responses, with scores of 8 or higher representing a likelihood of baneful drinking and the risk of alcohol dependence (babor et al., 2001). several studies have confirmed the reliability and validity of the audit (e.g., fleming & macdonald, 1991; reinert & allen, 2007). beer drinking frequency from the student alcohol questionnaire (saq). the saq (engs, 1977) is an instrument containing scales related to drinking patterns, alcohol-related problems, and alcohol knowledge. however, for the purposes of this study, only a limited number of items were utilized. the items that were analyzed targeted the frequency of 99 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 93–109 p. beer, wine, and liquor consumption. beer drinking frequency was rated by students on the following scale: 0 = never; 1 = once a year or less; 2 = more than once a year; 3 = once a month; 4 = once a week; 5 = every day. the saq is a reliable tool for measuring college students’ drinking patterns (engs, 1977). analytic plan the primary model (see figure 1) was tested via structural equation modeling (sem) in amos 19.0. all analyses involved 62 cases and there was no missing data. model fit was determined by a non-significant chisquare, comparative fit index (cfi) and tucker-lewis index (tli) of .95 or greater, and a root mean square error of approximation (rmsea) of .06 or lower (froiland  & davison, 2014; froiland, powell  & diamond, 2013; froiland, powell, diamond  & son, 2013; froiland, peterson,  & davison, 2013; hu & bentler, 1999). in order to examine indirect relations between gender and audit scores (hypothesis 3), as well as permissive parenting and audit scores (hypothesis 4), the bootstrapping test was employed to examine the significance of the indirect effects (froiland, powell, diamond, & son, 2013; froiland, powell, & diamond, 2013; shrout & bolger, 2002). figure 1. the relations between permissive parenting, gender, beer drinking frequency and risk for alcohol use disorder. beer = beer drinking frequency. audit = alcohol use disorders identification test. all path coefficients are significant (p<.05). 100 noelle whitney, john mark froiland a second model was also tested, in which a direct path from permissive parenting to audit scores was added to the primary model. the purpose of this was to see if permissive parenting was directly positively associated with drinking problems, above and beyond the indirect relation between permissive parenting and audit via beer drinking frequency. results preliminary analyses students in the study, on average, reported that their parents were highest on authoritative and less permissive (see table 1). the average student reported drinking liquor once a month, beer a little less than once a month, and wine somewhere between once a year and more than once a year. paired sample t-tests revealed that students reported drinking liquor significantly more often than beer t(61)=2.43, p<.05, and imbibed beer significantly more often than wine t(61)=5.32, p<.05. audit scores indicate that the average participant in the study was at risk for alcohol-related problems and aud, because the mean was just above the cutoff of 8 (babor et al., 2001). table 1. descriptive statistics for parenting style and alcohol consumption range mean std. deviation beer 0–4 2.63 1.42 wine 0–4 1.77 1.08 liquor 0–4 3.00 1.04 permissive 13–45 25.05 6.19 authoritarian 16–49 31.21 7.35 authoritative 22–45 37.05 5.56 audit 0–26 8.55 6.11 note. n = 62. beer = beer drinking frequency. wine = wine drinking frequency. liquor = liquor drinking frequency. audit = alcohol use disorders identification test. a one-way anova indicated that women in the study reported drinking beer less frequently than men f(1,60)=8.60; p<.05. the one-way anova’s comparing means between men and women for liquor and wine drinking were insignificant, indicating that women imbibed liquor 101 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 93–109 p. and wine as frequently as men. another one-way anova indicated that men and women had comparable audit scores: f(1,60)=.33, p>.05, although men scored about a point higher. see table 2 for bivariate correlations. beer drinking frequency was moderately positively correlated with audit scores, indicating that those who drank beer more often were more likely to report difficulties due to drinking. also, whereas permissive parenting and authoritarian parenting were significantly negatively related, there was no significant association between authoritative and permissive parenting. permissive parenting was the only parenting variable significantly related to both beer drinking frequency and audit scores. table 2. bivariate correlations among parenting style and alcohol outcomes factors authoritative authoritarian permissive beerdrinking authoritative – authoritarian –.26* – permissive .07 –.31* – beerdrinking .02 –.04 .33** – audit .16 –.18* .27* .55** note. audit – alcohol use disorders identification test. *p<.05. **p<.01. structural equation model findings the structural equation model (see figure 1) provided a good fit with the data, according to the following fit statistics: a non-significant chisquare (χ2(2)=2.58, p=.28), indicating that the data do not differ significantly from the model; cfi .98; tli=.95; rmsea=.07. confirming hypothesis one, the path coefficient from permissive parenting to beer drinking frequency was significant, indicating that students who perceived their parents as permissive drank more beer (see figure 1). in accordance with hypothesis two, the path coefficient from gender to beer drinking frequency was negative and significant, indicating that women reported drinking beer significantly less frequently than men. the path coefficient from beer drinking frequency to the audit was positive and significant, 102 noelle whitney, john mark froiland suggesting that students that consume beer more frequently are at risk of developing alcohol-related problems and aud. the indirect effect of gender on audit scores was significant (unstan dardized indirect effect = –2.13, p<.05; standardized indirect effect = –.16). this indicates that young women are at a lower risk for drinking problems, because they drank beer less frequently than young men. the indirect effect of permissive parenting on audit scores was on the borderline of significance (unstandardized indirect effect = .14; p=.05; standardized indirect effect = .14). this indicates that permissive parenting is indirectly related to audit scores via beer drinking frequency. the r-squared for the model is .30, such that 30% of the variance in audit scores is explained by permissive parenting, gender and beer drinking frequency. when a direct path between permissive parenting and audit scores was added to the primary model, the model did not fit the data as well (e.g., the tli dropped below the acceptable level) and the standardized path coefficient between permissive parenting and audit was small (.10) and insignificant, p=.36. all other associations in the model remained significant. this is quite interesting because the positive bivariate correlation between permissive parenting and audit was moderate and significant (see table 2). taken together, these findings indicate that the relationship between permissive parenting and audit is completely indirect, via beer drinking frequency. discussion this study found that permissive parenting and gender were both indirectly related to alcohol problems via beer drinking frequency. these findings support the findings of previous studies that have found that permissive parenting puts students at risk for greater alcohol use and abuse (e.g., becona et al., 2013; cohen  & rice, 1997; patock-peckham and morgan-lopez, 2006), while also indicating that beer drinking frequency may mediate the relationship between permissive parenting and alcohol-related problems. this study also confirms previous studies that have found that young men drink more beer than young women (e.g., klatsky et al., 1990; kidorf et al., 1995; klatsky et al., 2003; meier et al., 2010). whereas previous studies have indicated that drinking beer is associated with more alcohol problems (paschall & lipton, 2005), this is 103 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 93–109 p. the only study we know of to test whether or not there is a significant indirect relation between gender and alcohol problems via beer drinking frequency. if future longitudinal studies replicate this finding, beer drinking frequency among young men may be a target for intervention, whereas wine drinking is generally less of a concern as it is associated with healthier habits (pascall & lipton, 2005) and greater longevity (klatsky et al., 2003). the permissive parenting style has been repeatedly linked to alcohol use and abuse (e.g., becona et al., 2013; cohen & rice, 1997; patock-peckham & morgan-lopez, 2006), as well as less self-regulation (patock-peckham et al., 2001), which can affect various domains of life. furthermore, indicators of sound parenting styles have been linked to psychological health and academic success (baumrind, 1991; froiland, 2011b; froiland, 2013; froiland, 2014; froiland & davison, 2014; froiland, peterson, & davison, 2013). based on the present findings and gradually growing body of literature on parent interventions, we suggest that parenting interventions in middle school, high school and college continue to teach parents to speak to children in a supportive way that encourages youth to see the purpose of diligently studying and developing a healthy lifestyle (e.g., froiland, 2013; froiland, 2014; joussemet, mageau,  & koestner, 2013). however, we add that parents of adolescent boys and young men may need to be especially aware of their sons’ greater risk for consuming more beer and developing more drinking problems. because parents may be more permissive with late adolescent boys (mckinney & renk, 2008), they may need specific training for overcoming this tendency and helping boys and young men to see the values of sobriety (when under the legal drinking age) and self-control in the realm of drinking. they may also need training in helping to supportively monitor their students’ drinking habits, without swinging the pendulum towards an authoritarian style. perhaps society has a responsibility as well. hundreds of millions of dollars in beer advertisements are often directly aimed at young to middle-aged men (e.g., during football, baseball and hockey games) and are replete with sexual imagery that attempts to create an association between drinking certain brands of beer and escapist fantasy fulfillment (messner & de oca, 2005). even teenage boys report seeing desirable qualities in beer commercials (aitken, leathar, & scott, 1988) and consume more beer as they get older when they remember more commercials (connolly et al., 1994). however, frequent and binge 104 noelle whitney, john mark froiland beer drinking actually puts young men at a high risk for developing aud, higher rates of coronary disease (klatsky et al., 2003), eating more fast food (paschall & lipton, 2005), drunk driving (naimi et al., 2007), relationship troubles, and a host of other problems. limitations this study relied on questionnaires administered at one point and time. future studies could improve upon this by following college students’ perceptions of parenting styles and alcohol consumption over a few years. this is important for examining temporal relationships as well as considering the fact that parents often change over time as well as students (powell et al., 2012). we did not measure student’s intrinsic motivation to learn which has been robustly linked to students’ academic development (froiland, 2014; froiland & oros, 2014), psychological health (froiland, 2011b; froiland, 2013; froiland, oros, smith  & hirchert, 2012), and prevention against alcohol and drug abuse (battistich, schaps, watson, solomon, & lewis, 2000). another important mediator that should be measured in future related studies is self-regulation, because adults with lower self-regulation are more likely to abuse alcohol and lower self-regulation has been linked to a permissive parenting style (patock-peckham, cheong, balhorn, & nagoshi, 2001). conclusions this study provided further evidence that the permissive parenting style puts college students at-risk for drinking more frequently and more drinking problems. also, this study indicated that young women drink less beer and this puts them at a lower risk for alcohol-related problems. because both gender and permissive parenting had an indirect relationship with alcohol-related problems via beer drinking frequency, reducing beer drinking frequency may be worthwhile of further investigation as an intermediate target on the way to less drinking problems. acknowledgements the authors would like to thank laci charette, william gaeddert, and jeanne ryan who provided feedback on an earlier version of this manuscript. thanks to john richardson and sierra wickham who 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(2000). environmental correlates of underage alcohol use and related problems of college students. american journal of preventive medicine, 19, 24–29. 109 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 93–109 p. auklė jimo stilius, lytis, al aus vartojimas ir alkoholio vartojimo problemos studentų imt yje noelle whitney niujorko-plattsburgo valstijos universitetas, jav john mark froiland šiaurės kolorado universitetas, jav santrauka. tyrimo pagrindimas ir tikslas. studentai ir jauni suaugusieji daugelyje pasaulio šalių suvartoja per daug alkoholio ir turi padidintą riziką vystytis alkoholio vartojimo sutrikimams. nuolaidus auklėjimo stilius ir alaus vartojimas yra piktnaudžiavimo alkoholiu vėlyvoje paauglystėje ir jauno suaugusiojo amžiuje rizikos veiksniai. metodai. šiame tyrime analizuojama netiesioginė sąsaja tarp nuolaidaus auklėjimo stiliaus, vertinto tėvų autoriteto klausimynu (the parental authority questionnaire, paq) ir probleminio alkoholio vartojimo, vertinto alkoholio vartojimo atpažinimo testu (audit, 2nd edition) remiantis alaus vartojimo dažniu, vertintu studentų alkoholio klausimynu (student alcohol questionnaire, saq), studentų imtyje (am žiaus intervalas 18–23) jungtinių amerikos valstijų šiaurės rytų regionuose. taip pat, pasitelkiant struktūrinį lygčių modeliavimą, analizuota netiesioginė sąsaja tarp lyties, audit balų ir alaus vartojimo dažnio. rezultatai. kaip ir buvo tikėtasi, studentai, kurių tėvai pasižymėjo nuolaidžiu auklėjimo stiliumi, vartojo daugiau alaus ir tai buvo susiję su dažnesnėmis kitomis alkoholio priklausomybės sukeltomis problemomis. jaunos moterys alaus vartojo reikšmingai mažiau nei jauni vyrai ir tai buvo susiję su mažiau alkoholio priklausomybės sukeltų simptomų ir sveikesniais alkoholio vartojimo įpročiais. išvada. šis tyrimas, kaip ir daugybė ankstesnių, nustatė, kad alaus suvartojimas jaunų suaugusiųjų tarpe yra sukeliantis daugiau problemų nei vyno (ar iki tam tikro laipsnio stipraus alkoholio) vartojimas. tyrimo rezultatai rodo, kad alaus vartojimo dažnio mažinimas, ypač vaikinų grupėje, gali būti tarpinis taikinys tėvams skirtose intervencijose, ypač nukreiptose į alkoholio vartojimo sutrikimų prevenciją. pagrindiniai žodžiai: auklėjimo stilius; probleminis alkoholio vartojimas; jauno suaugusiojo amžius (18–29); vyras; moteris. received: july 16, 2014 accepted: january 26, 2015 psichologijos_zurnalas_21.indd contributors international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2017 / 21 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.21 miglė burauskaitė, psychologist, the hospital of lithuanian university of health sciences. research interests: subjective and psychological well-being, health behavior, successful aging. address: the hospital of lithuanian university of health sciences (lsmu) kauno klinikos, eivenių g. 2, lt-50161 kaunas, lithuania. phone: +370 37 326839 e-mail: m.burauskaite@gmail.com auksė endriulaitienė, phd, social sciences, psychology, vytautas magnus university, faculty of social sciences, department of psychology. research interests: psychosocial correlates of safe and risky behaviour on the road across life span; psychological correlates of leadership and organizational commitment; teamwork in organizations; mental health stigma in occupational settings. address: jonavos g. 66-328, lt-44191, kaunas, lithuania. phone / fax: +370 37 327 824. e-mail: aukse.endriulaitiene@vdu.lt loreta gustainienė, phd, social sciences, psychology, vytautas magnus university, faculty of social sciences, department of psychology. research interests: positive psychology, psychosocial stress and its management. address: jonavos g. 66-332, lt-44191, kaunas, lithuania. phone / fax: +370 37 327 824. e-mail: loreta.gustainiene@vdu.lt kristina klemenytė, ma, educational psychologist, rapporteur at vytautas magnus university, faculty of social sciences, department of psychology. research interests: educational psychology, risky decision making, risk perception, risk-taking, time pressure, time perspective. address: vytautas magnus university, department of theoretical psychology, jonavos g. 66-327, lt44191 kaunas, lithuania phone / fax: +370 37 327 825 e-mail: kristina.klemenyte@vdu.lt kristina kovalčikienė, phd, social sciences, psychology. aleksandras stulginskis university, centre of cultural communication and education, department of philosophy, psychology and vocational education. research interests: professional identity; career, thinking/cognitive styles, the importance of psychological characteristics in human resource management and education. address: universiteto g. 10-617, lt-53361, kaunas distr., lithuania. phone / fax: +370 37 752 297. e-mail: kristina.kovalcikiene@asu.lt https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.21 mailto:m.burauskaite@gmail.com mailto:aukse.endriulaitiene@vdu.lt mailto:loreta.gustainiene@vdu.lt mailto:kristina.klemenyte@vdu.lt mailto:kristina.kovalcikiene@asu.lt 114 contributors rasa markšaitytė, phd, social sciences, psychology, vytautas magnus university, faculty of social sciences, department of psychology. research interests: emigration (factors, causes, emigrational attitudes); risky driving; communication skills education and drug prevention; assessment of personality traits and cognitive skills. address: jonavos g. 66-328, lt-44191, kaunas, lithuania. phone / fax: +370 37 327 824. e-mail: rasa.marksaityte@vdu.lt ligita šarkutė, phd, social sciences, political science, vytautas magnus university, faculty of political science and diplomacy, department of public administration. research interests: political sociology, public policy decision making, political participation, executive, manifestoes of political parties, text analysis. address: v. putvinskio g. 23, lt-44243, kaunas, lithuania. phone / fax: +370 37 327 871. e-mail: ligita.sarkute@vdu.lt laura šeibokaitė, phd, social sciences, psychology, vytautas magnus university, faculty of social sciences, department of psychology. research interests: risky driving; psychosocial correlates of risk taking behavior in childhood, adolescence and adulthood; developmental features in adolescence; psychological aspects of emigration. address: jonavos g. 66-330, lt-44191, kaunas, lithuania. phone / fax: +370 37 327 824. e-mail: laura.seibokaite@vdu.lt andrius šmitas, phd candidate, social sciences, psychology, vytautas magnus university, faculty of social sciences, department of psychology. research interests: health resources, health related behavior and its changing. address: jonavos g. 66-327, lt-44191, kaunas, lithuania. phone / fax: +370 37 327 824. e-mail: binaris@gmail.com kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, phd, social sciences, psychology, vytautas magnus university, faculty of social sciences, department of psychology. research interests: effectiveness of psychological interventions; psychological aspects of risky behaviour (drug usage, risky sexual behaviour, risky driving, emigration); interpersonal communication research (interpersonal relationships, verbal and nonverbal communication, relationship satisfaction); gender issues in psychology research (gender similarities and differences, gender stereotypes); research in religiosity/spirituality. address: jonavos g. 66-328, lt-44191, kaunas, lithuania. phone / fax: +370 37 327 824. e-mail: kristina.zardeckaite-matulaitiene@vdu.lt mailto:rasa.marksaityte@vdu.lt mailto:ligita.sarkute@vdu.lt mailto:laura.seibokaite@vdu.lt mailto:binaris@gmail.com mailto:kristina.zardeckaite-matulaitiene@vdu.lt editor ial not e to wards the well-beingof vocational teachers: the rol eof personality characteristics does political activism inducesubjective wellbeing:evidence fro m ess data how do emot ional, cognitiveand social healt h resourcesrelate to healt h behaviour?the case of lithuania the importance of social trustfor the prediction of well-beingof lithuanians and lithuanianemigrants the rol e of psychosocial factor sin self-rated successful agingin a sample of lithuanian elderlypeople contributor s reviewers instructions for authors international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 165 2014, 14, 157–168 p. lietuvių rizikingas vairavimas: ką gali paaiškinti psichologiniai veiksniai auksė endriulaitienė, laura šeibokaitė, r asa markšait ytė, kristina žardeckaitė -matulaitienė, aistė pranckevičienė vytauto didžiojo universitetas, lietuva monografijos anotacija lietuvoje viena iš penkių dažniausių suaugusiųjų gyventojų priešlaikinio mirtingumo priežasčių yra mirtys dėl sužeidimų eis mo įvykiuose (nacionalinė sveikatos taryba, 2012). monografija „lietuvių rizikingas vairavimas: ką gali paaiškinti psichologiniai veiksniai“ nagrinėja rizikingą vairavimą, kuris neretai priklauso nuo psichologinių priežasčių ir žymiai padidina patekimo į eismo įvykį riziką. knygoje pristatomi autorių atliktų tyrimų duomenys, kurie įrodo, jog rizikingą vairavimą paaiškina įvairūs psichologiniai veiksniai: asmenybės bruožai, emocinės būsenos, kognityviniai veiksniai, nuostatos, motyvai ir socialiniai veiksniai. monografijos paskirtis – psichologinėmis žiniomis prisidėti prie platesnio avaringumo lietuvoje priežasčių supratimo, integruoti šias žinias, sprendžiant eismo saugumo problemas šalyje. risky driving of lithuanians: how do psychological factors contribute to it summary the book presents results of investigations conducted by group of researchers at vytautas magnus university, faculty of social sciences, departments of general and theoretical psychology since 2007 until now. the main purpose of the monograph is to analyze how different social and psychological factors are related to risky driving and its consequences for lithuanian drivers. 166 informacija the data from different samples of drivers are presented. participants were drivers learners, young drivers, drivers from general population, and professional drivers. total sample size of all investigations consisted of 1942 drivers. risky driving of participants was assessed using driver behavior questionnaire (dbq, parker, reason, manstead, stradling, 1995). factor analysis of the data yielded two self-reported factors of risky driving – errors and intentional violations. also virtual driving simulator, as well as self-reported crashes and fines for the driving violations were used for the measurement of risky driving. social and psychological factors (personality traits, values, attitudes towards traffic safety, motivation to drive in a risky manner, illusion of invulnerability, self-efficacy, cognitive performance, emotions, problem behavior, resistance to peer pressure, organizational factors) were assessed with help of self-reported questionnaires (for example, big five inventory, driving self efficacy scale, traffic safety attitudes scale, etc.). general results of the investigations revealed the significant importance of psychological factors in the occurrence and frequency of risky driving behavior. the results let to draw some important conclusions. first of all, more frequent risky driving of lithuanians is related to negative consequences – fines for violations and traffic accidents. intentional driving violations lead to more frequent driving errors in most investigated samples; consequently, errors increase the probability of negative consequences. however, intentional violations might mediate the relationship between driving errors and negative consequences of risky driving among young lithuanian drivers. second conclusion – males make less driving errors, but more intentional violations than females. younger drivers make more intentional violations than older ones. drivers who drive more frequently make more intentional violations; still they make less driving errors than less frequent drivers. demographic factors explain twenty five percent of variation of negative driving consequences. this means that young and frequently driving males require special additional attention in the sense of preventive traffic safety efforts. third, research results provide the possibility to identify the profile of personality that is prone to drive in a risky manner. some personality traits are proximal or distal (with the mediation of intentional violations) correlates of driving errors. higher aggressiveness and impulsiveness, as well as lower conscientiousness and agreeableness of driver are related international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 167 2014, 14, 157–168 p. to more risky driving. aggressiveness might be more important trait in the prediction of risky driving than other personality traits, still this assumption has to be tested in longitudinal studies. other personality traits (risk propensity, neuroticism, extraversion, and openness) are less important in the prediction of risky driving of lithuanian drivers and provide contradictory relationships in different samples. fourth, drivers’ attitudes and motivation also contribute significantly to the explanation of risky driving and its consequences. if driver has internal need for risky driving he or she enrolls into driving violations and unintentional errors. some external needs (like time pressure, economic benefit) help to understand the phenomenon of risky driving; still, internal needs are more important that external. more positive attitude towards risk attitude of young driver is associated with self-reported risky driving and with risky driving in simulator. nevertheless, risky driving attitudes are not directly related to self-reported traffic accidents and fines. this confirms the earlier research results that driving attitudes mediate the relationship between other psychological factors and risky behavior on the road. it must be mentioned that positive attitude to speeding is one of the most stable and important specific attitude in the explanations of risky driving among lithuanian drivers. it was also revealed that higher driving self-efficacy might be the risk factor for young females risky driving and its consequences, still driving self-efficacy might be less important in the case of males’ risky driving. fifth, it might be concluded that better cognitive performance (better concentration of attention and visual scanning) of young male drivers is positively related to risky driving, especially to intentional violations. the importance of cognitive abilities of young women in the context of risky driving is contradictory and needs further investigations. nevertheless, cognitive abilities might be useful in the development of positive attitudes towards traffic safety and safe behavior. sixth, the driver emotions (especially negative) could contribute to the understanding of driving behavior, however, the results and tendencies were sample and context dependent, therefore this psychological issue requires further research. the results of presented investigations provide the conclusion that drivers with more frequent substance use are more prone to risky driving and more involved in traffic accidents, still, substance use cannot be isolated predictive factor of risky driving behavior. nevertheless, 168 informacija drivers prone to substance use are at risk of traffic accidents and injuries, and they need extra attention in intervention programs. some interesting tendencies were revealed investigating the interaction between individual and social context factors. the results supported the idea that social issues are very important in the context of risky driving and are still under-investigated. the data in this monograph revealed that resilience to peer pressure is proximal predictor of self-reported risky driving and distal predictor of negative consequences of driving (accidents and fines), especially in young males sample. organizational factors at the workplace (organizational commitment, work motivation and supportive work – family interaction) predicted safer driving and less frequent negative driving consequences. safety climate in organization and work motivation predicted traffic accidents and fines among professional drivers, although they were not related to self reported risky driving. finally, all investigated groups of psychological factors (personality traits, emotions, cognitive abilities, attitudes, motives and social context) contributed to the explanation of risky driving of lithuanians, although relationships were complex and sometimes contradictory or ambiguous. therefore, integrated and interactional analysis of psychological issues is more suitable in order to predict driver‘s behavior and solve traffic safety problems than analysis of isolated psychological factors. psichologijos_zurnalas_21.indd international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2017 / 21 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.21 editorial 6 editorial note ryan and deci describe well-being as “a complex construct that concerns optimal experience and functioning. current research on wellbeing has been derived from two general perspectives: the hedonic approach, which focuses on happiness and defines well-being in terms of pleasure attainment and pain avoidance; and the eudaimonic approach, which focuses on meaning and self-realization and defines well-being in terms of the degree to which a person is fully functioning” (ryan, deci, 2001, p.141). thus, the topics in the special issue focus on the concept of well-being and its relationship to the underlying themes of optimal human functioning at the individual, group and institutional level. the special issue of the international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach covers a broad spectrum of original research articles highlighting well-being and its correlates which would contribute to the more fulfilling lives of both the individual and the society. kristina kovalčikienė in her article towards the well-being of vocational teachers: the role of personality characteristics analyses teachers’ professional identity, which consists of distinct aspects of expertise (subject matter experts, didactical experts, and pedagogical experts) in relation to personality characteristics. the results of the study contribute to a better understanding of the importance that personality traits have to the teachers’ well-being. two other articles utilize the european social survey data which explores their well-being related interests. ligita šarkutė relates well-being to political issues in her article does political activism induce subjective wellbeing: evidence from ess data. some of the most interesting findings presented in her article involved the strongest positive statistically significant correlations between the indicators of political activism and items of community wellbeing and supportive relationships. andrius šmitas and loreta gustainienė discuss health-related aspects in their article how do different emotional, cognitive and social health indicators relate to health behaviour? the case of lithuania. the https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.21 77 data of their study confirms earlier findings that not only personal (emotional and cognitive) but also social aspects of health can affect health behaviour. authors present interesting insights regarding the well-being of lithuanian male and female citizens. rasa markšaitytė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, laura šeibokaitė and auksė endriulaitienė (article the importance of social trust for the prediction of well-being of lithuanians and lithuanian emigrants) found that emotional and social well-being of non-migrants was explained by higher general trust in people, higher trust in institutions and higher levels of family income. thus, social aspects prove to be of critical importance for lithuanian people. loreta gustainienė, miglė burauskaitė and kristina klemenytė discovered another way to discuss well-being, i.e. from the perspective of positive ageing (article the role of psychosocial factors in self-rated successful aging in a sample of lithuanian elderly people). in their study, social factors of self-rated successful aging were predicted by higher level of intellectual social activity and learning, having a job and a higher number of grandchildren; psychological factors were related to higher level of life satisfaction, younger subjective age identity, better self-rated health and healthier eating habits. we express sincere gratitude to the contributors of this issue and hope that their publications will facilitate research in the area of positive psychology thus providing the resources required to utilize the findings for the sake of the society’s well-being. assoc. prof. dr. loreta gustainienė editor of the special issue to wards the well-beingof vocational teachers: the rol eof personality characteristics does political activism inducesubjective wellbeing:evidence fro m ess data how do emot ional, cognitiveand social healt h resourcesrelate to healt h behaviour?the case of lithuania the importance of social trustfor the prediction of well-beingof lithuanians and lithuanianemigrants the rol e of psychosocial factor sin self-rated successful agingin a sample of lithuanian elderlypeople contributor s reviewers instructions for authors 111 scientific publications issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.16.6 1 address for correspondence: vilnius university, department of neurobiology and biophysics, čiurlionio g. 21/27, lt-03101, vilnius, lithuania. phone: +370 5239 8218. e-mail: laura.maciukaite @gmail.com. the universalit y of the international affec tive pic ture system: r atings from a sample of lithuanian students laura mačiukaitė1 vilnius university, lithuania mykolas romeris university, lithuania arvydas kuzinas mykolas romeris university, lithuania osvaldas rukšėnas vilnius university, lithuania abstract. international affective picture system (iaps) is a database of photographs, which is used for studying human emotions, cognition, behavior and other areas. although iaps is considered suitable for using in different countries, there are some cross-cultural differences. purpose. the aim of the present study was to determine the valence, arousal and dominance ratings of iaps pictures in the sample of lithuanian students and compare them with original united states (us) norms. methods and results. 103 lithua nia’s psychology students rated valence, arousal and dominance of 59 images from iaps system. the results showed a high correlation between ratings of lithuanian and us samples of all three dimensions. however, there were significant differences in the mean ratings of emotional valence and arousal – lithuanian participants’ ratings were closer to neutral value. moreover, some gender differences were found. our study showed that men are more aroused by pleasant pictures compared to women, whereas an opposite tendency was observed with unpleasant pictures – women are more aroused by such images compared to men. conclusions. the study findings suggested that iaps can be reliably used as stimuli for studies of emotion in lithuania. keywords: iaps, affective pictures, emotion, gender, culture. 112 laura mačiukaitė, arvydas kuzinas, osvaldas rukšėnas introduc tion even though there is a great variety of emotional experience, people react similarly to the same stimulus. however, cultural as well as gender norms may influence emotional responding and emotional regulation (davis et al., 2013). international affective picture system (iaps) was devised as a reliable standardized method for eliciting emotions in experimental setting (lang, bradley & cuthbert, 2008). the main value of this instrument is that it not only facilitates the selection and control of visual stimuli in studies of emotion, but also allows more accurate comparison of the results from different experiments. iaps database consists of 1196 high resolution color photographs of such objects as buildings, babies, animals, trees or mutilated corpses. this variety of content is similar to a stimulation, which occurs in real life setting, and covers the entire affective space. the iaps is based on dimensional view of emotions. the creators of the instrument emphasize two dimensions of emotional reactions: “pleasure” (valence) and “arousal” (bradley  & lang, 2007). the former is represented by two separate motivational systems with their own neural pathways. appetitive system is activated by a stimulus associated with survival and is responsible for the approach response. aversive/ defensive system starts in response to a threat stimulus and leads to the avoidance response. the system, which is currently active, determines the hedonic valence in the reaction to a specific stimulus: if attractive system is activated, positive affect appears, and if aversive system is more pronounced, negative affect is felt. the intensity of this activation is described by emotional arousal and is determined by significance of the stimulus (this depends on current needs and imminence of a specific stimulus). greater significance leads to a more intense motivational mobilization. the link between valence and arousal is demonstrated by a “boomerang” shape distribution of scores when emotional ratings are plotted in the two-dimensional space, with arousal ratings shown on the x axis and valence – on y. that is positive and negative stimuli are associated with greater arousal compared to neutral ones (bradley, codispoti, cuthbert,  & lang, 2001). similarly, highly positive or highly negative stimuli, which at the same time are low-arousing, are almost non-existent. the same is true in a real-life setting, e.g. there are no situations which would be perceived as very threatening, and at the same 113 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 111–126 p. time organism would not react to it. the reason is that aversive system cannot prevail over the appetitive one, without being activated at all. a third, “dominance”, dimension is also distinguished and has its ratings reported in iaps norms. it characterizes the degree of the response controllability. however, dominance is criticized for making sense in situations of social interaction, but less in non-interactive context, such as in reaction to symbolic sensory stimuli – pictures (bradley  & lang, 2007). moreover, dominance ratings of pictures highly correlate with hedonic valence. iaps is now used for studying emotions, cognition and other areas (aguilar de arcos, verdejo-garcía, peralta-ramírez, sánchez-barrera  & pérez-garcía, 2005; heponiemi et al., 2007; sharp van goozen & goodyer, 2006; staude-müller, bliesener  & luthman, 2008). most often iaps is used together with the self-assessment manikin (sam) – a self-report measure, in which emotional reactions are studied with a help of figures, accompanying each of the three scales, representing three main dimensions. it highly correlates with semantic differential scale based on subjective measures (bradley  & lang, 1994). however, iaps is also used in psychophysiological, behavioral and neuropsychological studies (bradley & lang, 2007). iaps is the most widely used database of natural pictures of emotionally charged stimuli (marchewka, žurawski, jednorog & grabowska, 2014). although iaps is considered to be usable internationally (lang et al., 2008), there are cross-cultural differences, especially in arousal ratings. for example, brazilian (lasaitis, ribeiro  & bueno, 2008; ribeiro, pompeia & bueno, 2005), spanish (moltó et al., 1999; vila et al., 2001), german (grühn  & scheibe, 2008), bosnian (drače, efendić, kusturica  & landžo, 2013), chilean (dufey, fernández  & mayol, 2011) samples’ ratings were higher in arousal compared to north american, while ratings of the indian sample (lohani, gupta  & srinivasan, 2013) were less arousing. on the other hand, iaps norms based on flemish sample were more similar to north american (verschuere, crombez  & koster, 2001). the same is true of hungarian participants (deak, csenski & révész, 2010). nevertheless, similar “boomerang” style relationship between valence and arousal was found in all these studies. cross-cultural comparison is especially important, considering that one of the purposes of iaps is to facilitate the comparison of different 114 laura mačiukaitė, arvydas kuzinas, osvaldas rukšėnas studies (lang et al., 2008). the main problem in comparing results of separate research lies in replicating experimental settings. this is especially evident when there is no information regarding the exact stimuli, which were used. since iaps is highly standardized database with clear norms, it allows avoiding or at least alleviating such problems. however, in order to effectively compare international research, the cultural impact must be taken into consideration. the expression of emotion is largely universal but there are subtle differences across cultures that can create a challenge for effective communication. for example, a meta-analysis, conducted by elfenbein, mandal, ambady, harizuka and kumar (2002), showed that measurable intracultural differences exist in basic emotion recognition. these cultural differences can be observed even at the neuropsychological level (losin, dapretto & iacoboni, 2010). the topic of cultural affective neuroprocessing is very important, because it could provide clues to the mechanisms underlying cultural differences (olofsson, nordin, sequeira  & polich, 2008). however, before starting in-depth research in cultural neuroscience, it is important to find common methods, which could be used in different studies. iaps is one of them, because due to its standardization, it allows to compare studies from different cultures. moreover, affective picture ratings differ not only in cultures, but between genders as well. women typically assign lower valence and higher arousal ratings to unpleasant pictures compared to men (calvo & avero, 2009; dufey et al., 2011). lastly, the research in emotional health is also an important issue, because the alteration of any emotional aspect is a common characteristic in most mental disorders. since iaps is a very efficient instrument to induce and measure emotions in the laboratory, it is applied with increasing frequency in studies with clinical populations suffering different psychiatric disorders. in addition, it can be used to study the interaction between emotions and other cognitive aspects or relevant behaviors in order to understand different disorders. moreover, it is frequently used as an independent variable in neuroimaging studies aimed at investigating biological basis of different disorders (jayaro et. al., 2008). iaps has been only recently applied in lithuania (mačiukaitė, grikšienė & rukšėnas, 2010) and one of the main hindrances in both research and clinical settings is the lack of information about lithuanians’ reaction to 115 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 111–126 p. iaps stimuli in comparison to existing norms. as it was already discussed previously, results from different countries do not always correlate, especially in arousal dimension. that is why, the aim of this study was to determine the ratings of the iaps pictures in the dimensions of valence, arousal and dominance in a sample of lithuanian university students and compare them to the original us norms (lang et al., 2008). me thods participants 103 psychology students (21 male and 82 female) aged between 18–24 years, were recruited for the research through class advertisements. for the homogeneity of the sample all participants were psychology students from mykolas romeris university. the study was conducted according to the ethical guidelines of the american psychological association’s (apa’s) ethics code. the participants reported normal or corrected-to-normal vision and good general health. materials the research was performed using the iaps (lang et al., 2008), which consists of photographs with a broad range of semantic categories, divided into 20 sets of around 60 photos in each. in this study the 20th set from the iaps was used with total of 59 images, because at the time of the study it was the latest and consisted of the highest resolution pictures. according to the normative data for the us population (lang et al., 2008), 20 of the pictures were unpleasant (valence ratings ranged from 1 to 3), 20 pictures – neutral (ratings from 4 to 6) and 19 pictures were unpleasant (ratings from 7 to 9). pictures were presented randomly, but sequences of two and more pictures with the same valence were eliminated. evaluation emotions of participants were measured by using sam (self-assessment manikin) method. it is based on three groups of figures. each of the group reflects one of the three emotional dimensions: valence (from happy to sad), arousal (from aroused to calm) and dominance (from 116 laura mačiukaitė, arvydas kuzinas, osvaldas rukšėnas dominated to dominant). participant has to choose three figures, which represent their current emotion (valence, arousal and dominance aspect) procedure each participant was given a consent letter, explaining the features of the experiment. the instructions were based on the standardized guidelines, proposed by lang and colleagues (2008). the experiment began with three test photographs (4200, 7010, 3100), which helped participants to understand the standardized presentation format and instruction for the evaluation. each picture was presented as follows: at first, slide with the text “get ready to evaluate the next photo” appeared for 5 seconds, then the photograph was displayed for 6 seconds. after that, the instruction “write your answer on sheet x, line x” appeared for 15 seconds. data analysis sam scales were recorded in the way that higher values indicated more positive valence, higher arousal, and greater feelings of self dominance. paired student’s t-test, one-way between images analysis of variance (anova) and pearson correlation coefficient were used for analyzing differences between lithuanian and us samples as well as relations between different dimensions. the alpha level for significance was set at p<0.05. results the present study used images, which were divided into three main image categories (pleasant, neutral and unpleasant) according to us sample. their results showed that aforementioned three separate image categories were also observed in lithuanian sample. one-way anova of valence ratings in lithuanian sample revealed significant differences between categories of images: f(2,56)=127.32, mse=0.7, p<.01, η p 2=.82. bonferroni post hoc test showed that the valence ratings of positive images were the highest, while ratings of unpleasant images were the lowest (p<.01) (table 1). 117 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 111–126 p. table 1 comparison between lithuanian and us ratings of valence, arousal and dominance ratings for different image categories. significant differences are shown in bold. lt – lithuania; us – united states; m – mean, sd – standard deviation all lt us m sd m sd t df p valence all 4.96 .61 4.90 1.79 .26 116 .80 pleasant 5.65 .24 6.82 .47 –9.70 36 <.01 neutral 4.97 .25 5.23 .58 –1.85 38 .07 unpleasant 4.31 .29 2.75 .75 8.63 38 <.01 arousal all 4.99 .52 5.24 .99 –1.72 116 .09 pleasant 5.14 .31 5.66 .72 –2.89 36 <.01 neutral 4.50 .36 4.39 .70 .59 38 .56 unpleasant 5.35 .45 5.7 .93 –1.51 38 .14 dominance all 5.06 1.17 5.04 1.09 .08 116 .93 pleasant 5.71 .57 5.77 .53 –.38 36 .70 neutral 5.69 .68 5.59 .5 .55 38 .58 unpleasant 3.81 .97 3.79 .79 .04 38 .96 female                 valence all 4.97 .92 4.83 2.04 .48 116 .63 pleasant 6.01 .30 7.08 .60 –6.91 36 <.01 neutral 4.99 .40 5.10 .69 –.63 38 .53 unpleasant 3.95 .42 2.41 .73 8.21 38 <.01 arousal all 4.84 .73 5.24 1.04 –2.42 116 .02 pleasant 5.02 .44 5.75 .71 –3.84 36 <.01 neutral 4.18 .49 4.25 .69 –.38 38 .71 unpleasant 5.33 .69 5.74 .89 –1.65 38 .11 dominance all 5.03 1.26 4.93 1.26 .45 116 .66 pleasant 5.69 .61 5.82 .58 –.68 36 .50 neutral 5.73 .78 5.53 .63 .85 38 .40 unpleasant 3.71 1.05 3.47 .83 .80 38 .43 male                 valence all 4.93 .76 5.04 1.45 –.49 116 .62 pleasant 4.23 .39 6.34 .63 –12.47 36 <.01 neutral 4.87 .55 5.47 .73 –2.90 38 <.01 unpleasant 5.66 .5 3.37 .84 1.49 38 <.01 arousal all 5.60 .55 5.25 1.07 2.20 116 .03 pleasant 5.62 .38 5.50 .95 .49 36 .63 neutral 5.73 .49 4.65 1.00 4.33 38 <.01 unpleasant 5.43 .70 5.61 1.03 –.63 38 .54 dominance all 5.16 .96 5.25 .84 –.53 116 .60 pleasant 5.78 .60 5.69 .54 .49 36 .63 neutral 5.56 .48 5.69 .41 –.89 38 .38 unpleasant 4.18 .84 4.40 .74 –.87 38 .39 118 laura mačiukaitė, arvydas kuzinas, osvaldas rukšėnas similarly, arousal ratings of the same image categories were compared. results showed significant differences: f(2,56)=27.17, mse=.15, p<.01, η p 2=.49. pairwise comparisons revealed that ratings of pleasant and unpleasant images did not differ significantly (p=.3), but both of them were evaluated as more arousing compared to neutral images (p<.01). there were also significant differences between dominance ratings in categories: f(2,56)=40.61, mse=.58, p<.01, η p 2=.59. pairwise comparisons showed very similar ratings of pleasant and neutral images (p=1.00). however, lithuanian participants felt less in control while watching unpleasant images, compared to watching other images of two categories (p<.01). during the next step of analysis separate comparisons of different samples (lithuanian and us) were made for all, female only and male only participants for each image category (pleasant, neutral and unpleasant). results of paired t-tests for all images ratings by all subjects revealed no significant differences between lithuanian and us sample in valence (p=.80), arousal (p=.09) and dominance dimensions (p=.93) (table 1 ). however, if only pleasant images are compared, results show that valence ratings were significantly lower in lithuanian sample compared to us (p<.01). similarly, arousal ratings were also lower in lithuanian sample compared to us one (p=.01). in other words, the pleasant images in lithuanian sample were rated as evoking significantly less positive and less arousing emotions. neutral pictures ratings by valence (p=.07), arousal (p=.56) and dominance (p=.58) did not differ between samples. differences were also found if only unpleasant images were considered. in this case valence ratings in lithuanian sample were significantly higher than in us sample (p<.01). there were no significant differences in arousal ratings of unpleasant images (p=.14). these images were rated as evoking less negative emotions in lithuanian sample. dominance ratings of pleasant (p=.70), neutral (p=.58) and unpleasant (p=.96) images did not differ between samples (table 1). ratings of all images in ‘female only’ group revealed no significant differences for valence and dominance ratings (p>.05). nevertheless, there was a significant difference between samples in arousal ratings: us participants rated arousal of images higher than lithuanian (p=.02). while comparing female ratings of only pleasant pictures, there were 119 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 111–126 p. also significant differences between the two samples. the valence ratings of pleasant pictures were higher in us female sample compared to lithuanian (p<.01). there was a significant difference between samples for arousal ratings of pleasant pictures (p<.01). in lithuanian sample arousal was lower than in us sample. valence ratings of unpleasant pictures were lower in us female sample compared to lithuanian female sample (p<.01). arousal ratings did not significantly differ between samples (p=.11). there were also no significant differences for ratings of dominance dimension between the pleasant and unpleasant pictures (p>.05). pleasant pictures were rated as less pleasant and arousing in lithuanian female group, while unpleasant pictures were less unpleasant compared to us female sample. ratings of neutral pictures for valence and dominance did not differ significantly between samples in female group (p>.05) (table 1). more differences were found in ‘male only’ group compared to ‘all subjects’ and ‘female only’ groups. male participants did not differ in valence and dominance ratings of all images (p>.05). however, results show that pictures’ arousal ratings in lithuanian male group were higher than in us male group (p=.03). moreover, valence ratings differed significantly in all three pleasure categories of images (in all these cases p<.01). valence ratings of pleasant pictures in lithuanian sample were lower than in us sample. valence ratings of neutral pictures in lithuanian sample were lower than in us sample as well. valence ratings of unpleasant pictures were higher in lithuanian sample compared to us sample. ratings of neutral images were higher in lithuanian male sample than in us (p<.01). however, there were no differences between samples coparing arousal ratings of pleasant and unpleasant pictures. comparing of dominance ratings revealed no differences (p>.05) between lithuanian and us male samples for all image categories: pleasant, neutral and unpleasant pictures (table 1). it should be mentioned that there was a significant difference between female and male groups in lithuanian sample. arousal ratings were higher in male group compared to female group (p<.01). however, there were no significant differences between genders in valence and dominance ratings (table 2). valence ratings of pleasant pictures were higher in lithuanian female group compared to male group (p<.01). in contrast, arousal ratings of pleasant pictures were higher in male group than in female group (p<.01). valence ratings of neutral pictures did not 120 laura mačiukaitė, arvydas kuzinas, osvaldas rukšėnas female male dimension category m sd m sd t df p valence all 4.97 .92 4.93 .76 .23 116 .82 pleasant 6.01 .30 4.23 .39 15.87 36 <.01 neutral 4.99 .40 4.87 .55 .77 38 .44 unpleasant 3.95 .42 5.66 .50 –11.69 38 <.01 arousal all 4.84 .73 5.60 .55 –6.35 116 <.01 pleasant 5.02 .44 5.62 .38 –4.49 36 <.01 neutral 4.18 .49 5.73 .49 –1.06 38 <.01 unpleasant 5.33 .69 5.43 .70 –.48 38 .63 dominance all 5.03 1.26 5.16 .96 –.64 116 .53 pleasant 5.69 .61 5.78 .60 –.46 36 .65 neutral 5.73 .78 5.56 .48 .81 38 .42   unpleasant 3.71 1.05 4.18 .84 –1.56 38 .13 differ significantly (p>.05). the arousal ratings were higher in male group compared to female group (p<.01). valence ratings of unpleasant pictures were significantly lower in female group (p<.01). arousal ratings of unpleasant pictures did not differ significantly between genders. there were no differences between genders in dominance ratings of neither of image categories. table 2 comparison between lithuanian female and male ratings of valence, arousal and dominance for different image categories. significant differences are shown in bold. m – mean, sd – standard deviation finally, it must be mentioned that emotional evaluations of images in lithuanian sample positively correlated with us sample in all three dimensions. the only exception was group of male participants, whose ratings of emotional valence and arousal correlated negatively between lithuanian and us samples (table 3). correlations between specific dimensions should be also analyzed. although valence and arousal ratings correlated weakly (r=–.27, p=.04), correlations involving dominance dimension were more pronounced (valence – dominance r=.77, p<.01; arousal – dominance r=–.61, p<.01) in lithuanian sample. these correlations are similar to those in us sample (valence – arousal r=–.21, p=.11; valence – dominance r=.88, p<.01; 121 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 111–126 p. arousal – dominance r=–.5, p<.01). it can be also added that ratings of valence and arousal positively correlated in the evaluations of pleasant pictures (r=.3, p=.21) and negatively – in the evaluations of unpleasant (r=–.82, p<.01) and neutral pictures (r=–.39, p=.09). table 3 pearson correlation between lithuanian and us ratings for valence, arousal and dominance dimensions (for ‘all subjects’, ‘female only ’ and ‘male only ’ groups) in all, pleasant, neutral and unpleasant images. ** p<.01, * p<.05. although lithuanian and us sample’s ratings correlated highly (valence: r=.94, p=.01; arousal: r=.81, p=.01; dominance: r=.92, p=.01), there was a difference in the range of mean ratings. average valence ratings of different images varied from 3.97 to 5.92 in lithuanian sample. in other words, 98.31% from the 59 selected images were rated from 4 to 6 (i.e. representing neutral emotions), and only one image (iaps number 3213, depicting a surgery) had a lower average rating. the ranges of mean ratings varied much more in the us sample – from 1.62 to 7.83. 33.89% of them were below 4 (unpleasant), 33.89% – between 4 and 6 (neutral), 32.2% – above 6 (pleasant). nevertheless, the results showed that lithuanian ratings were dependent on the pleasure category of pictures, which was based on valence ratings in us norms (according to it, one third of images belonged to unpleasant, one third – to neutral, and one third – to pleasant category). the limited spread of ratings in lithuanian sample was also observed in arousal dimension. 98.31% of images had an average arousal rating between 4 and 6. the only exception was the same single image (iaps number 3213), which was rated as more arousing. in comparison, all images pleasant neutral unpleasant valence all subjects .94** .60** .62** .66** female .96** .60** .72** .75**   male –.79** –.29 –.35 –.68** arousal all subjects .81** .66** .60** .79** female .85** .66** .76** .81**   male –.60** –.70** –.63** –.50** dominance all subjects .92** .79** .73** .81** female .91** .77** .79** .80**   male .86** .61** .45** .78** 122 laura mačiukaitė, arvydas kuzinas, osvaldas rukšėnas 11.86% of mean ratings of us participants were in the range of below 4, 66.1% in the range from 4 to 6 and 22.03% in the range of above 6. however, dominance ratings were more similar between lithuanian and us participants. 23.73% of images in lithuanian sample had an average rating lower than 4 (i.e. representing submission of emotions), 50.85% of images were rated from 4 to 6, and 25.42% of them had an average rating higher than 6 (i.e. representing control over emotions). in case of us sample, the percent were 23.73%, 61.02% and 15.25%, respectively. interestingly, when gender is considered, ratings of lithuanian participants vary more in all dimensions. for example, on average 10.17% of pictures were rated as unpleasant by men and 22.03% – by women. moreover, 79.66% of images were rated as having neutral valence in male and 59.32% – in female participants’ samples. 10.17% of images were pleasant for men and 18.64% – for women. similar increase in variability was noticed in arousal dimension. although none of the pictures were rated as calming by men, women gave such ratings for 10.17% of pictures. male participants choose neutral ratings for 81.36% of images, while female participants did the same for 84.75% of pictures. 18.64% of images were rated as highly arousing for men and 5.08% – for women. as for the dominance dimension, 15.25% of images were considered as evoking submission feelings in male sample, while such feeling was evoked by 23.73% of pictures for women. 66.1% of images were rated as neutral by male and 50.85% by female participants. lastly, 18.64% of pictures evoked feelings of dominance for men and 25.42% for women. discussion the goal of this study was to determine the ratings of iaps pictures in the dimensions of valence, arousal and dominance in lithuanian students’ sample, and compare them to original us sample (lang et al., 2008). the data provided valence, arousal and dominance ratings for images, which, based on us norms, could be considered as pleasant, neutral or unpleasant. results showed that there was a high correlation between lithuanian and us samples in all three emotional dimensions. this supports the usability of iaps in different cultural backgrounds. the similarity in lithuanian and us participants’ evaluations of images is also supported by the fact that there were no significant differences in the mean ratings of valence and dominance between the two groups. there 123 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 111–126 p. was, however, a significant difference in arousal ratings. the latter fact was expected, because separate publications show the inconsistency of arousal ratings in different studies (drače et al., 2013; dufey et al., 2011; grühn & scheibe, 2008; lasaitis et al., 2008; lohani et al., 2013; moltó et al., 1999; ribeiro et al., 2005; vila et al., 2001). such differences are usually explained by cultural diversity. lithuanians are usually considered as reserved people who avoid displaying emotions. thus, it remains unclear, whether lower mean ratings of arousal in lithuanian sample show low arousal evoked by iaps images or simply unwillingness of participants to report high ones. however, bradley and lang (2007) noted that iaps can be sensitive for intercultural differences in emotional disposition. the reserved nature of lithuanian people can also be the primary reason of clearly visible differences between lithuanian and us participants while comparing the variability of ratings. in the us sample the full range of evaluations was observed, whereas ratings concentrated around middle value (~5) in lithuanian sample. nevertheless, pictures, which were evaluated as more pleasant by us participants, where also rated higher in valence by lithuanian students. this shows that even though specific ratings might differ, the direction of the ratings remains the same. that is, the same pictures are evaluated as evoking positive emotions by both lithuanian and us participants. gender differences are not often taken into consideration when studying cultural differences by the ratings of affective pictures (drače et al., 2013). although the number of male and female participants in our study was not equivalent between two gender groups, our results showed the tendency for men to be more aroused by pleasant pictures, whereas an opposite tendency was observed with unpleasant pictures – women were more aroused by unpleasant images compared to men. such results are similar to chilean sample (dufey et al., 2011). these results suggest that gender is an important factor for rating affective pictures in different cultures (davis et. al., 2013). it is important to note some limitations of the study. at first, there was a different number of female and male participants, although the results regarding the gender differences were in line with others studies (dufey, 2011; davis, 2013). another limitation was the stimuli set, which was chosen for the research. our results showed that arousal of emotions evoked by selected pictures were rated as close to neutral. that is why future studies should consider using more arousing images and bigger 124 laura mačiukaitė, arvydas kuzinas, osvaldas rukšėnas variety of them. moreover, psychophysiological measures should be also considered and compared with self-reports, because this would allow to make a more accurate assessment of emotions. nevertheless, based on the results of the current study, it can be concluded that iaps can be used for emotion studies in lithuania, but the tendency of participants to use neutral values should be noted. references aguilar de arcos, f., verdejo-garcia, a., peralta-ramirez, m. i., sanchez-barrera, m., & perez-garcia, m. 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(1999). un nuevo método para el estudio experimental de las emociones: el “international affective picture system” (iaps). adaptación española. revista de psicología general y aplicada, 52, 55–87. olofsson, j. k., nordin, s., sequeira, h., & polich, j. (2008). affective picture processing: an integrative review of erp findings. biological psychology, 77, 247–265. ribeiro, r., pompeia, s., & bueno, o. (2005). comparison of brazilian and american normsfor the international affective picture system (iaps). revista brasileira de psiquiatria, 27 (3), 208–215. sharp, c., van goozen, s., & goodyer, i. (2006). children’s subjective emotional reactivity to affective pictures: gender differences and their antisocial correlates in an unselected sample of 7-11-year olds. journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology, 47 (2), 143–150. 126 laura mačiukaitė, arvydas kuzinas, osvaldas rukšėnas staude-müller, f., bliesener, t.,  & luthman, s. (2008). hostile and hardened? an experimental study on (de-)sensitization to violence and suffering through playing video games. swiss journal of psychology/schweizerische zeitschrift für psychologie/revue suisse de psychologie, 67 (1), 41–50. verschuere, b., crombez, g., & koster, e. (2001). the international affective picture system: a cross cultural validation study. psychologica belgica, 41, 205–217. vila, j., sanchez, m., ramirez, i., fernandez, c., cobos, p.,  & rodriguez, s. (2001). el sistema general de imagenes afectivas (iaps): adaptacion espanola. segunda parte. revista de psicologia general y aplicada, 54, 635–657. tarptautinės emocijas sukeliančių vaizdų sistemos universalumas: lie tuvos studentų populiacijos laura mačiukaitė vilniaus universitetas, lietuva mykolo romerio universitetas, lietuva ar v ydas kuzinas mykolo romerio universitetas, lietuva osvaldas rukšėnas vilniaus universitetas, lietuva santrauka. emocijoms tirti taikomi labai įvairūs metodai. vienas iš populiariausių yra tarptautinė emocijas sukeliančių vaizdų sistema (iaps, angl. international affective pictures system), kuri taikoma tiriant emocijas, kognityvines funkcijas, elgseną ir kitas sritis. nors ši metodika naudojama skirtingose šalyse, kultūriniai skirtumai gali daryti įtaką rezultatams. tyrimo tikslas – nustatyti iaps vaizdų valentingumo, sužadinimo ir kontroliavimo vertinimus, tiriant lietuvių studentų imtį, ir palyginti su normatyviniais vertinimais, surinktais tiriant jungtinių amerikos valstijų (jav) studentus. metodika ir rezultatai. tyrime dalyvavo 103 psichologijos specialybės studentai, kurie įvertino vieną iš iaps rinkinių, sudarytą iš 59 skirtingų (malonių, neutralių ir nemalonių) nuotraukų. gauti rezultatai parodė, kad vaizdų vertinimas pagal visus aspektus (valentingumo, sužadinimo, kontroliavimo) stipriai koreliuoja su normatyvinės grupės vertinimais. tačiau lietuvių studentai vaizdų sukeliamų emocijų valentingumą ir sužadinimą buvo linkę vertinti neutraliau, lyginant su jav studentais. lietuvių imtyje gauti skirtumai tarp lyčių parodė, kad vyrus stipriau sužadino malonūs vaizdai, o moteris – priešingai. išvados. iaps vaizdai emocijoms tirti gali būti taikomi lietuvoje. pagrindiniai žodžiai: iaps, emocijas sukeliantys vaizdai, emocijos, lytis, kultūra. received: september 16, 2014 accepted: january 26, 2015 editorial note on behalf of the editorial board of international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach i would like to introduce the content of the 20th volume of the journal. all five articles that are published in current volume propose the results of empirical studies which cover different areas of human behaviour and psychological states, outcomes and measures of behavioural changes, subjective evaluations of own experience. i believe that presented papers fill the idea and scope of the journal well because they all address the person-environment interaction or biological underpinnings of human mental processes and relationships with others. in the article named differences in emotional expressivity according to the stages of motivation to refuse alcohol in alcohol dependent patients by justina slavinskienė and kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė the authors present the data where refusal to consume alcohol and emotional expressivity of alcohol-dependent patients has been analysed. the findings revealed patients that were highly motivated to quit drinking appeared to show more of emotional expressivity during complex treatment. they tended to express more positive emotions then less motivated patients. the results of this study suggest that emotional regulation and literacy might be a key component in psychological measures of alcohol-dependent patients’ treatment. the aim and the findings of the publication perfectly address the vision of our journal by connecting biological and psychological factors as inseparable in services for these patients. the next article is the changes of self-efficacy and perceived social support of addicted to alcohol women and men during treatment period authored by milda cibulskytė and loreta zajančkauskaitė-staskevičienė. it echoes the idea of the first one as it deals with drinking refusal and its psychosocial correlates during the treatment of alcohol-dependent patients. the results of current study indicated that change in refusal to drink from the beginning to the end of rehabilitation program could be predicted by drinking refusal self-efficacy and perceived social support international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2017 / 20 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.20 editorial 6 7 before treatment and changes in self-efficacy during the treatment. the data suggests that self-confidence and belief in ability to stop drinking before receiving treatment services marks greater change in outcome measurement. the social support which seems to be strengthened during the minnesota 12-step program added to the higher change in drinking refusal as well. biological and behavioural components are highly integrated in the publication of justė lukoševičiūtė and kastytis šmigelskas type d personality in cardiovascular patients and general population: prevalence and retrospective perception of stability. the authors analyse the epidemiology of type d personality in cardiovascular patients versus general population. the empirical findings showed that people diagnosed with some cardiovascular disease did not differ much from general population in terms of prevalence of type d personality. patients perceived this personality trait as being less stable during 5-year period. the authors also strengthened that the people who can be described as having a type d personality are considered to be living a less healthy lifestyle. two of next publications are dedicated to psychological work-related issues and represent person – environment interaction in psychological research and practice. the work of modesta morkevičiūtė and auksė endriulaitienė named the role of a perceived ethical leadership style in the relationship between workaholism and occupational burnout refers to quantitative research. its results showed significant negative relationship between perceived ethical leadership and workaholism, personal and professional burnout. perceived ethical leadership also served as a moderator for workaholism and client-related burnout. the authors suggest ethical leadership approach as a possible strategy to maintain psychological health of employees. still, bidirectional nature of relationship between leadership style and workaholism or burnout should be considered. the last article in the list is written by jolanta sondaitė and gailė vinciūnaitė and titled experience of workplace psychological harassment. by the use of qualitative research methodology the authors introduce the experience reported by employees who have been affected by workplace harassment for several months. the respondents of the study showed clear signs of victimization. together with strong negative emotions as a reaction of being bullied at work the participants of the study 7 expressed feeling of own guilt and decrease in self-worth. the data confirmed that people with the experience of being bullied in the workplace also recognised physical symptoms that occurred together with problematic relationships at work. the strength of this study is replication of previous data typically obtained by quantitative research. i highly encourage our readers to take a deeper look at the articles of the current issue. i believe that authors of the articles would be glad to continue scientific discussion with readers at any venue. associate editor dr. laura šeibokaitė contents editorial note emotional expressivity of alcohol dependent patients in different stages of motivation to refusealcohol the changes of self-efficacy and perceived social support of addicted to alcohol women and men during treatment period type d personality incardiovascular patients and general population: prevalence and retrospective perception ofstability the role of a perceived ethical leadership style in the relationship between workaholism and occupational burnout experience of workplace psychological harassment the 19th international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu abstracts instructions for authors 2019_international journal of psychology 2019_23_book 1.indb scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2019 / 23 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.23.1 concepts influencing at titudes and beliefs toward mental health issues in a teacher educ ation progr am chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman1, david d. hof university of nebraska at kearney, usa abstract. there is an expectation for in-service teachers, current teachers in the field, in primary and secondary schools to be skilled in teaching strategies and behavior management. there is a growing need for teachers also to be skilled in recognizing mental health concerns in their students. schools are becoming acutely aware that in-service teachers are not adequately prepared in this area, and therein lies a dual responsibility to also prepare college students enrolled in teacher education programs, who will be referred to as pre-service teachers, with skills that will equip them to be supportive of students with mental health needs. this study sought to find out if there were common concepts or factors that would describe how willing a pre-service teacher would be to seek or recommend mental health services for a peer. there were 151 students enrolled in teacher education programs from one midwestern university in the united states who volunteered to participate in this study. the research design was organized in multiple stages. the data collected were processed through an exploratory factor analysis and once the factors were found, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis was further completed to explore the relationship between such factors and the decision whether to seek or recommend mental health services. the results indicated that comfort, resistance, and environment were significant factors. the comfort factor has dominant influence over the participants’ decision whether to seek or recommend mental health services. the task ahead for primary and secondary schools, and higher education institutions, is to create programs where comfort with students with mental health needs is increased, to increase awareness of the mental health resources available in the community, as well as to decrease the resistance factors. keywords: mental health issues, comfort, resistance, environment, pre-service teacher. 1 address for correspondence: douglas r. tillman, coe building b138, 1615 west 24th street, kearney, ne 68849, (308)865-8360, tillmandr@unk.edu 11 tęsti chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, david d. hof 12 concepts influencing at titudes and beliefs towards mental health issues in a teacher educ ation progr am the mental health needs of students in schools are pervasive. the amount of consistent time a teacher spends with their students can create an inherent role as a mental health team member for their students (doll, cummings, & chapla, 2014; weist et al., 2013). teachers play a vital role in the identification of mental health concerns, as well as delivering interventions (franklin, kim, ryan, kelly, & montgomery, 2012). according to the national alliance on mental illness (n.d.) one in five children has, or will one day have, a serious mental illness. the academic achievement of children has been linked to their mental health (mcleod & fettes, 2007) where, for example, adolescents suffering from depression report lower grades, reduced engagement in school, concentration difficulties and an overall negative attitude towards school (humensky et al., 2010; mistry, benner, tan, & kim, 2009). this exacerbates poor relationships with peers and family, which increases the likelihood of dropping out of school at a national level (mcleod, uemura, & rohrman, 2012; meldrum, venn, & kutcher, 2009; volk, craig, boyce, & king, 2006). signaling the need for schools to focus more on the mental health of their students, the state of virginia in the united states recently created a plan to address much needed services. in their current plan, more funding would be given to the school resource officer program, the creation of a tip line to address students that are a danger to themselves or others, as well as students spending more time with counselors (mattingly, 2018). given the pervasiveness of mental health issues in schools, to what degree are teachers prepared to meet this need? in merz (2017), it was stated that “… in spite of the obvious need, i’ve received zero training in issues related to student mental health. and that’s true for the vast majority of my teaching colleagues” (p. 14). echoing this, frauenholtz, mendenhall, and moon (2017) stated, “the current lack of knowledge regarding the mental health literacy of educators poses a challenge and potential limitation to the effectiveness of current efforts to intervene with children experiencing mental health distress” (p. 72). this is tragic, as the school itself offers frequent contact with children and families to identify issues, provide a bridge to accessing needed services and enhance 2019, 23, 11–38 p.concepts influencing attitudes and beliefs toward mental health issues in a teacher education program 13 positive mental health messages (allen-meares, 2013). highlighting how a lack of training for teachers further exacerbates the problem by likely creating a stigma of mental illness, frauenholtz, mendenhall, and moon (2017) stated, “stigma was … a manifestation of limited knowledge of children’s mental health among school staff, primarily through its influence on how mental health symptoms were interpreted and understood, or how children with mental health disorders were perceived” (p. 75–76). in 2012, after the world health organization (who) recommended that schools promote mental health activities in this setting, australia responded with a program in which teachers were responsible in delivering a curriculum of mental health promotion. teacher questionnaire data were collected in response to their learning of the information. even with a curriculum, teachers expressed roughly 50% of the time that they strongly agree to not feeling equipped in the area of self-efficacy (askell-williams & lawson, 2013). as part of the work in addressing mental health needs in ontario, canada (which also reports one in five school-aged children experiencing mental illness) (adelman & taylor, 2000), they focused on the training of pre-service educators in a teacher education program. the goal of the focused efforts was to improve mental health literacy while reducing mental health stigma and increasing capacity building among pre-service teachers (atkins & rodger, 2016). there will be a distinction in the terminology of stigma versus stigma-related beliefs that is intentional. according to krendl and freeman (2017), their study concluded that stigma-related beliefs were the internal thoughts and attitudes towards mental health issues. certain attitudes and beliefs were then associated with stigma, which are the actions or inactions towards others with mental health issues. there have been studies that explored how help-seeking attitudes and behaviors were associated with one’s mental health stigma. these studies have revealed that the higher the level of stigma correlated to lower help-seeking attitudes and behaviors (cooper, corrigan, & watson, 2003). however, there is limited research on mental health stigma and how it impacts help seeking behaviors of college students enrolled in teacher education programs. more specifically, there is a lack of research on what factors might influence attitudes toward the belief of whether to seek or recommend mental health counseling services. in australia, chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, david d. hof 14 roughly 58% of college students reported they suffered from mental health issues, and yet only 10% reported they sought help (furnham et al., 2011; reavley et al., 2012), whereas in the united states, about 50% of college students reported a mental health disorder (blanco et al., 2009). we may be able to presume that that these statistics representing all college students would apply to those in teacher education programs. hogan (2003) suggested that mental health stigma is the main factor that impedes their willingness to seek out services. given the clear mental health needs of children in schools, and the lack of significant training to assist them, teachers are left to their pre-existing attitudes and beliefs around mental illness. the current literature suggests that improving the mental health literacy of in-service teachers will decrease the stigma associated with mental illness, but none has focused on what factors have an impact on pre-service teacher’s willingness to seek or recommend mental health counseling services. one approach in addressing personal mental health stigma is to improve mental health literacy and access to resources. beliefs and perceptions about mental health can stem from experiences, attitudes, and education (jorm et al., 1997) as these areas can influence an educator’s decision in how they respond to students’ needs (ajzen & fishbein, 1980; poulou & norwich, 2002; stanovich & jordan, 1998). the study conducted by krendl and freeman (2017), asserts that there are two stigma-related beliefs that are associated with social desirability and controllability. the converse of this suggests there are stigma-related beliefs and attitudes towards mental health that associate the mental health issue as being socially undesirable and uncontrollable. for example, participants viewed depression and post-traumatic stress as high in socially desirable and controllable whereas they viewed paranoia, schizophrenia, and psychosis as socially undesirable and highly uncontrollable. towler and schneider (2005) go further with similar findings but added that along with social desirability, the level of threat or discomfort was associated with social stigma of the mental health issue. when a mental health issue was viewed as socially desirable and controllable, it was less threatening. about half of our participants reported they were raised in rural areas. in a study by robinson et al. (2012), their findings address the social structure of rural communities. five themes emerged from their study: significant stigma towards mental health; practical challenges 2019, 23, 11–38 p.concepts influencing attitudes and beliefs toward mental health issues in a teacher education program 15 hindering access to care; inadequate solutions; unresolved problems; and pursuit of own solutions. under the theme of pursuing own solutions, the topic that participants highlighted was their perceptions of community ignorance because of the lack of educational opportunities about mental health issues. this topic garnered much discussion about how small rural communities need educational opportunities for medical providers, law enforcement, and community members. some participants described more detail of the importance of school personnel being educated in mental health issues. a parent suggested that teachers and administrators should receive more in-service opportunities with a presenter and not simply be given a brochure to learn on their own. several participants expressed that educational opportunities should happen at a younger age with children and an increase of resources. another lens into rural communities was the perception that each neighboring community had resources but they were different than neighboring communities, so participants called for information sharing and organization of the local and neighboring community’s resources. for our students, who were raised in rural areas and will most likely return to those communities to teach, understanding their experiences is important as we address their needs before they join the workforce in schools. this study serves to understand what stigma-related beliefs and attitudes may impact one’s mental health understanding and willingness to intervene with their students who have mental health needs. the participants in this study were enrolled in a variety of teacher education programs and will be referred to as pre-service teachers. after a review of the literature, some common concepts emerged. this study selected to explore the concepts of comfort, resistance, and environment. comfort hypothesis 1a. the perceived comfort factor of the pre-service teacher toward mental health issues has a positive correlation to the willingness to actively seek mental health counseling. hypothesis 1b. the perceived comfort factor of the pre-service teacher toward mental health issues has a positive correlation to the willingness to actively recommend mental health counseling to a peer. chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, david d. hof 16 resistance hypothesis 2a. the perceived resistance factor of the pre-service teacher toward mental health issues has a negative correlation to the willingness to actively seek mental health counseling. hypothesis 2b. the perceived resistance factor of the pre-service teacher toward mental health issues has a negative correlation to the willingness to actively recommend mental health counseling to a peer. environment hypothesis 3a. the perceived environment factor of the pre-service teacher toward mental health issues has a positive correlation on the willingness to actively seek mental health counseling. hypothesis 3b. the perceived environment factor of the pre-service teacher toward mental health issues has a positive correlation on the willingness to actively recommend mental health counseling to a peer. research design based on the review of pertinent literature, the concepts of comfort, resistance, and environment (and their relationship with the beliefs of whether the person is willing to actively seek mental health counseling or recommend mental health counseling to a peer), have been assembled into a visual model to facilitate our understanding (figure 1). the concepts of comfort, resistance, and environment are believed to have an influence on the beliefs of whether the person is willing to actively seek or recommend mental health counseling. the links between these concepts and willingness to seek or recommend mental health counseling represent the hypotheses proposed in this study. the research design was sequentially organized in multiple stages (figure 2). in stage 1, exploratory factor analysis (efa) was conducted to identify the factors which influence pre-service teachers’ beliefs of whether they are willing to actively seek or recommend mental health counseling. in stage 2, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis with control variables was employed to further investigate the influence of the identified factors on the belief of whether they are willing to actively seek or recommend mental health counseling. 2019, 23, 11–38 p.concepts influencing attitudes and beliefs toward mental health issues in a teacher education program 17 method participants one hundred fifty-one students majoring in teacher education programs at a midwestern public university in the united states participated figure 1. concepts which influencing the attitude of a willingness to seek or recommend mental health counseling. figure 2. data analysis design concepts influencing attitudes and beliefs    25 education as predictors of effective teaching in heterogeneous classrooms. the elementary school journal, 98, 221–238. starkweather, j. (2012). step out of the past: stop using coefficient alpha; there are better ways to calculate reliability. university of north texas research and statistical support. [pdf file]. retrieved from https://it.unt.edu/sites/default/files/omega_jds_jun2012.pdf  volk, a., craig, w., boyce, w., & king, m. (2006). perceptions of parents, mental health, and school amongst canadian adolescents from the provinces and the northern territories. canadian journal of school psychology, 21, 33–46. watkins, m. w. (2013). omega [computer software]. & psych associates. watkins, m. w. (2017). the reliability of multidimensional neuropsychological measures: from alpha to omega. the clinical neuropsychologist, 31(6-7), 1113-1126.  weist, m. d., lever, n. a., bradshaw, c. p., & owens, j. s. (2013). handbook of school mental health: research training, practice and policy. new york, ny: springer.   concepts influencing attitudes and beliefs    26 figure 1. concepts which influencing the attitude of a willingness to seek or recommend mental health counseling.   figure 2. data analysis design. table 1   participants, college, and university demographics of undergraduates  ______________________________________________________________________________      research participants n=151   college of education n=1,050   university   n=4,146   females   85%   74% 59% males   15%   26% 41% white/caucasian   89%   87% 81% black/african american   0.7%   2.4% 2% latino   10%   8.3% 13% other   0.7%   2.4% 4% first-year   0.7%   19% 27% second-year   13%   18% 22% stage 1. exploratory factor analysis (efa) stage 2. hierarchical multiple regression chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, david d. hof 18 in a survey about their attitudes toward mental health and counseling. the participants included males (15%) and females (85%), which is not similar to the institution’s demographics, where males are underrepresented by nearly thirty percent. the ethnic make-up of the participants was predominately white/caucasian (89%) and also included black/african american (0.7%), latino (10%), and other (0.7%), which was similar to the demographics of the institution’s enrolled student populations. the participants represented first-year students generally aged 18–19 years old (0.7%), second-year students generally aged 19–20 years old (13%), third-year students generally aged 20–21 years old (39%), fourthyear students generally aged 21–22 years old (45%), and fifth-year students generally aged 22–23 years old (3%). these students represented being raised in communities that were urbanized (15%) with a population of 50,000 or more, urban clusters (33%) with a population of 2,500–49,999, and rural (51%) with a population of less than 2,500. table 1. par ticipants, college, and university demographics of undergraduates research participants n=151 college of education n=1,050 university n=4,146 females 85% 74% 59% males 15% 26% 41% white/caucasian 89% 87% 81% black/african american 0.7% 2.4% 2% latino 10% 8.3% 13% other 0.7% 2.4% 4% first-year 0.7% 19% 27% second-year 13% 18% 22% third-year 39% 26% 22% fourth-year 45% 26% 27% fifth-year 3% included with fourth-year included with fourth-year urban 15% 22% no data urban clusters 33% 37% no data rural 51% 41% no data first-generation 22% 44% 44% 2019, 23, 11–38 p.concepts influencing attitudes and beliefs toward mental health issues in a teacher education program 19 the participants also included the self-identified first-generation college students (21.9%) and non-first-generation college students (78.1%). the demographics of the survey participants are presented in table 1. procedures participants were recruited through upper-level, on-campus courses in a college of education at the u.s. midwestern public university, which include various departments and numerous education majors. participants were invited to complete a confidential survey designed to study the dynamics of attitudes toward mental health issues as viewed by students enrolled in courses housed in teacher education programs. all participants were 18 years of age or older. university human subjects research and institutional review board approval were obtained before data collection began. data presented in this study were collected through a structured student mental health issues survey instrument. the survey instrument had been modified from its original use (hof et al., 2013) for this study. the researchers modified the original hof, bishop, dinsmore, chasek, & tillman, 2013 survey in two ways. the original survey was created with language specific to a different midwest university and that specific language was removed and nebraska was added in question 19. no other changes were made to the likert scale questions. two additional questions were added to reflect the researchers’ interests, which were question 9, “are you a first-generation college student defined as the first in your family of origin to attend any kind of post-high school education?” and question 10, “are you aware of trauma informed resources in the community you came from as defined as resources to children and families who have been exposed to traumatic events?”. the modified survey used in this study was designed in two parts. the first part included demographic data of participants such as gender, age, degree, race/ethnicity, year in studies, size of hometown, size of the community planning to teach, family household income, first-generation college student, and awareness of trauma-informed resources in the community. the second part included ten statements measuring factors affecting participants’ beliefs of whether they were willing to actively seek mental health counseling or recommend mental health counseling to a peer. the second chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, david d. hof 20 part contained nine statements using a ten-point likert scale (1= not willing/ strongly disagree, 10 = very willing/ strongly agree) and one statement using a yes or no response. (see appendix a). items 15, 16, and 17 of the survey which contain opposite statements were reverse coded for the purpose of the statistical analysis. the data were analyzed using the exploratory factor analysis (efa) to identify the factors influencing the beliefs of whether willing to actively seek or recommend mental health counseling and the data were further analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression analysis with control variables to investigate how the significant factors affect such beliefs. because our survey scale is multidimensional and includes both interval measurement (likert scale format) and categorical answers (yes or no format), mcdonald’s omega and guttman’s lambda 6 coefficients were employed to conduct reliability test. compared with cronbach’s alpha, mcdonald’s omega and guttman’s lambda are more suitable to evaluate the reliability of the multidimensional scale (starkweather, 2012; watkin, 2013; dunn, baguley, & brunsden, 2014) and researchers have suggested reporting reliability moving from traditional cronbach’s alpha to more accurate indices such as mcdonald’s omega (peters, 2014; deng & chan, 2017; watkins, 2017). the mcdonald’s omega and guttman’s lambda 6 coefficients were obtained by running reliability test using jasp, a statistics package developed by a group of researchers at the university of amsterdam. the preliminary mcdonald’s ω coefficient for the test was 0.737 and guttman’s λ6 coefficient was 0.766 before factor analysis, both indicating an acceptable reliability. the kaiser-meyer-olkin (kmo) measure of sampling adequacy and bartlett’s test of sphericity were employed to test whether the use of factor analysis is appropriate and feasible. the kmo statistic of 0.645 was high. the approximate of chi-square was 230.778 with 28 degrees of freedom, which was significant at 0.000 level of significance. the results of the kmo measure of sampling adequacy and bartlett’s test of sphericity showed the use of factor analysis in this study is appropriate and feasible. 2019, 23, 11–38 p.concepts influencing attitudes and beliefs toward mental health issues in a teacher education program 21 analysis factor analysis principal axis factoring was conducted to examine dynamic attitudes toward mental health issues. an eigenvalue of 1.0 was used to determine the number of factors which have a value greater than 1.0 being identified as significant factors (see table 2). three significant factors were identified table 2. summar y of explorator y factor analysis results for attitudes toward mental health issues using principal axis factoring extraction method item factor loadings factor 1: comfort factor 2: resistance factor 3: environment comfortable dating someone who has a mental health issue .763 comfortable sitting next to a peer who has a mental health issue .557 have a relative who has a mental health issue .544 difficult to trust someone with a mental health issue .880 anxious and uncomfortable around someone who has a mental health issue .616 mental health issue can effectively be treated by university counseling services .764 home state is more proactive towards mental health treatment compared to the rest of the united states .531 eigenvalues 2.468 1.434 1.270 percentage of variance 30.852% 17.920% 15.880% cumulative percentage 30.852% 48.771% 64.651% note: varimax rotation with kaiser normalization. factor loadings < .5 were suppressed. chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, david d. hof 22 from the exploratory factor analysis and were presented in table 2 using the varimax rotation method with kaiser normalization. items which indicate the dynamic attitudes toward mental health issues were arranged into three factors based on the size of the factor loading from the statistical analysis (see table 2). the first factor consisted of three items (“comfortable dating someone who has a mental health issue”, “comfortable sitting next to a peer who has a mental health issue”, and “have a relative who has a mental health issue”) and was named the comfort factor. the second factor was identified with two items (“difficult to trust someone who has a mental health issue” and “anxious and uncomfortable around someone who has a mental health issue”) and was labeled as the resistance factor. the third factor was also loaded with two items (“effective university counseling services” and “home state with a proactive environment towards mental health treatment”) and was named as the environment factor. another item (“mental health issue prevents students from performing their normal academic responsibilities”) had a very low factor loading and was not identified as a significant factor thus was suppressed from the factor loading table (factor loadings <.5). the results of the factor analysis clearly showed that there are three significant factors (eigenvalue>1 and 64.651% cumulative total variance explained) from the pre-service teacher’s attitudes toward mental health issues (e.g., comfort, resistance, and environment) which might influence their beliefs of whether they are willing to actively seek mental health counseling or willing to actively recommend mental health counseling to a peer. regression analysis before heading to regression analysis, a pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was computed to test the inter-correlations between the three factors and the relationship between the willingness to actively seek mental health counseling or to recommend mental health counseling to a peer. reliability test was reported again to include the three factors (comfort, resistance, and environment) after the factor analysis. pearson’s correlation coefficient results are shown in tables 3 and 4. there was a weak positive inter-correlation between the comfort and the resistance factors (0.106) but not statistically significant at the 0.05 level (p value = 0.195). it showed almost no correlation between the comfort and the environment factors (0.003) and not statistically significant 2019, 23, 11–38 p.concepts influencing attitudes and beliefs toward mental health issues in a teacher education program 23 (p value = 0.970). it also showed there was a very weak negative intercorrelation (-0.055) between the resistance and environment factor but not statistically significant either (p value = 0.501). however, there was a moderate-to-strong positive inter-correlation (0.542) between the willingness to actively seek mental health counseling and the willingness to actively recommend mental health couseling to a peer. increases in the willingness to actively seek counseling were positively correlated with the willingness to actively recommend counseling to peers. this correlation was statistically significant at the 0.01 level (p value = 0.000), as shown in table 4. after the exploratory factor analysis, mcdonald’s ω coefficient for the test which including the three factors was improved to 0.795 and guttman’s λ6 coefficient was also improved to 0.952, with mcdonald’s ω indicating a good and guttman’s λ6 indicating an excellent reliability. a hierarchical multiple regression analysis with control variables was performed to determine the influence of the three identified factors (comfort, resistance, and environment) on the beliefs of whether pre-service teachers are willing to actively seek or recommend mental health counseling. the independent variables are the comfort, resistance, and environment factors, whose values are calculated through the factor analysis’s regression score option. the dependent variables are the items from the survey (willing to seek mental health counseling and willing to recommend mental health counseling to a peer). participant gender, age, year of studies, and whether or not self-identified as a first-generation college student are control variables in the regression model as they may affect attitudes toward the willingness to actively seek mental health counseling and to actively recommend mental health counseling to others. subsequent hierarchical multiple regression and stepwise regression analysis were conducted to determine whether there is an interaction associated between independent variables (comfort, resistance, and environment factors) and dependent variables (willing to seek counseling and willing to recommend counseling) with aforementioned control variables. the results are shown in tables 5–8. for the regression analysis, the completed 151 responses were analyzed. the overall models were statistically significant: f = 6.576, and p =0.000 (willing to seek counseling) and f = 5.621 and p =0.001 (willing to recommend counseling). the results indicated that comfort, resistance, and environment factors are the significant factors influencing the chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, david d. hof 24 overall beliefs of pre-service teachers and their willingness to actively seek mental health counseling or willingness to actively recommend mental health counseling to a peer with gender, age, year in studies, and first-generation college student as control variables. the r-square was used to measure the usefulness of the model, which indicated how useful the explanatory factors (independent variables) are in predicting the response (dependent) variables with control variables. in the full models, the r-square of 0.144 (willing to seek counseling) and 0.143 (willing to recommend counseling) indicated acceptable results. in the stepwise regression models, the r-square of 0.125 (willing to seek counseling) table 3. pearson product-moment correlations of comfor t, resistance, and environment factors comfort resistance environment comfort 1 resistance .106 1 environment .003 -.055 1 n = 151. *sig. (2-tailed) p<.05. table 4. pearson product-moment correlations between the willingness to seek mental health counseling and the willingness to recommend mental health counseling to a peer willing to seek willing to recommend willing to seek 1 willing to recommend .542** 1 n = 151. **sig. (2-tailed) p<.001. 2019, 23, 11–38 p.concepts influencing attitudes and beliefs toward mental health issues in a teacher education program 25 and 0.120 (willing to recommend counseling) also indicated acceptable results. among the three factors, the comfort factor had an apparent positive association with the belief of whether the pre-service teacher is willing to actively seek mental health counseling in both the full model (β = 0.990, p = 0.000, table 5) and in the stepwise model (β = 0.996, p = 0.000, table 6). the comfort factor also had an apparent positive association with the belief of willing to actively recommend mental health counseling to a peer in both the full model (β = 0.789, p = 0.001, table 7) and in the stepwise model (β = 0.803, p = 0.000, table 8). thus, hypotheses 1a and 1b were directly supported. none of the rest of the factors (resistance and environment) and control variables (gender, age, year of studies, and first-generation college student) seemed to have a significant table 5. regression analysis results for the willingness to seek mental health counseling ser vices unstandardized coefficients β standard error standardized coefficients β t significance (constant) 3.082 2.239 1.377 .171 gender .343 .582 .046 .590 .556 age .066 .092 .061 .718 .474 year of studies .145 .273 .044 .529 .598 first generation .443 .498 .070 .889 .375 comfort .990 .246 .319 4.032 .000 resistance .189 .237 .065 .816 .416 environment .426 .260 .130 1.638 .104 chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, david d. hof 26 association with either the willingness to actively seek mental health counseling or to recommend mental health counseling to others. hypotheses 2a, 2b, 3a, and 3b were rejected. thus, the comfort factor was the only and dominant factor influencing the beliefs of whether the preservice teacher is willing to actively seek mental health counseling or to actively recommend mental health counseling to a peer. future study may be needed to look into the resistance and environment factors for further in-depth analysis. out of 151 returned surveys, 118 participants (78.1%) indicated that they are willing to actively seek mental health counseling if necessary. one hundred thirty-nine participants (92.1%) indicated that they are willing to actively recommend mental health counseling services to a peer if necessary. forty-five participants (29.8%) are aware of trauma informed resources in the community where the participant came from as defined as resources to children and families who have been exposed to table 6. stepwise regression analysis results for the willingness to seek mental health counseling ser vices unstandardized coefficients β standard error standardized coefficients β t significance (constant) 3.304 2.230 1.481 .141 gender .487 .578 .066 .842 .401 age .034 .090 .031 .380 .704 year of studies .176 .274 .053 .642 .522 first generation .517 .498 .082 1.039 .301 comfort .996 .246 .321 4.056 .000 2019, 23, 11–38 p.concepts influencing attitudes and beliefs toward mental health issues in a teacher education program 27 traumatic events. one hundred six (70.2%) participants are not aware of such resources available in the community. these results indicated that comfort, resistance, and environment are the significant concepts that describe attitudes toward mental health issues. this influences the beliefs of pre-service teachers and describes their willingness to actively seek mental health counseling, or their willingness to actively recommend mental health counseling to their peers. it was found that the comfort factor had a direct positive correlation on predicting whether those majoring in teacher education are willing to actively seek mental health counseling or willing to actively recommend mental health counseling to their peers. this research did not find a direct correlation between resistance and environment factors on table 7. regression analysis results for the willingness to recommend mental health counseling ser vices to a peer unstandardized coefficients β standard error standardized coefficients β t significance (constant) 4.359 2.027 2.151 .033 gender .014 .526 .002 .027 .978 age .088 .083 .089 1.056 .293 year of studies .243 .247 .081 .980 .329 first generation .691 .451 .121 1.531 .128 comfort .789 .222 .281 3.547 .001 resistance .262 .210 .099 1.246 .215 environment .371 .236 .125 1.574 .118 chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, david d. hof 28 the belief of the teacher education major and their willingness to seek mental health counseling or willing to recommend to others. however, it pointed to a future direction for such study. discussion given the limited extent of literature on this topic, our findings begin an understanding of dynamic attitudes toward mental health stigma of pre-service teachers and how that impacts their willingness to seek or recommend mental health counseling services. there were significant findings that addressed the pre-service teachers’ attitudes and beliefs on mental illness (comfort, resistence, and environment). we will also discuss the implications of the findings for practioners and researchers. table 8. stepwise regression analysis results for the willingness to recommend mental health counseling ser vices to a peer unstandardized coefficients β standard error standardized coefficients β t significance (constant) 4.669 2.023 2.308 .022 gender .151 .524 .023 .289 .773 age .054 .082 .055 .657 .512 year of studies .272 .248 .090 1.093 .276 first generation .754 .452 .132 1.668 .097 comfort .803 .223 .286 3.603 .000 2019, 23, 11–38 p.concepts influencing attitudes and beliefs toward mental health issues in a teacher education program 29 comfort the comfort concept was attributed to the questions in the survey to one feeling comfortable dating someone with a mental health concern, sitting next to a peer with a mental health concern, or having a relative with a mental health concern. said differently, what level is the person comfortable in casual, romantic or familial interactions with others who suffer from mental health issues and to what degree are they open to engaging in deepened relationships. resistance the resistance factor was identified through questions in the survey of participants feeling anxious and/or uncomfortable around people with mental health concerns or if they found people with mental health concerns being difficult to trust. in other words, does the individual remain, or feel that they must remain, guarded around individuals with mental illness. environment for the participants in this study, survey questions associated with this concept were a belief that their university’s counseling services can effectively treat students, and a belief that their home state is proactively treating mental health compared with the rest of the united states. the participants in this study are generally from their home state, and plan to work in a comparably sized community as the one in which they were raised. for higher education institutions, it is important to understand this demographic, and how to be responsive as it relates to preparing preservice teachers to teach in school districts with an understanding of the mental health needs of the students in those districts, and the resources that are available. this concept captured participant attitudes and beliefs about the ability of existing services to effectively treat mental illness and the openness of their community towards the plight of those with mental health issues. implications for practitioners the foundation of mental health literacy is rooted in knowledge by way of attitudes, beliefs, and skills (jorm et al., 1997) which informs the actionable chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, david d. hof 30 steps from our findings. this study can be helpful for both primary and secondary school systems and higher education institutions. while there is a burden on current teachers to work in various roles with students and their mental health needs, there is also a burden on administrators to support their teachers and the additional work that is required to meet the needs of the students. administrators in school systems can use the findings from this study to begin to create an environment of acceptance of students with mental health needs. this can be accomplished at the hiring phase by creating questions for potential hires at teacher interviews that would seek to identify the level of an applicant’s comfort, resistance and environmental concepts discussed above toward mental illness, and hence gauge their ability to work with students with mental health needs. hiring teachers who can identify behaviors, use a variety of instructional strategies, and advocate for students with mental health needs is vital to creating an environment of acceptance for mental health issues. the results of this study could also assist administrators in school systems to use the attached assessment instrument (appendix a) to gauge the comfort, resistance, and environmental concepts discussed above of currently employed teachers and aid in the development of interventions to enhance their attitudes and beliefs of mental illness through targeted interventions. these targeted interventions could come in the form of mandatory school-wide education via readings or computer assisted platforms, guest speakers at a school-wide training day, or adopting a schoolwide shared mission statement on mental illness, to name a few. this study impacts how schools of education in higher education institutions respond to the growing needs of preschool through secondary schools and how to best prepare pre-service teachers through course work. georg von krogh (1998) suggested that care is fundamental in the creation of knowledge. the idea that pre-service teachers will learn the how to work in an environment with students with mental health needs without any interactions could be difficult. the results of this study support the idea of creating spaces and experiences where pre-service teachers can feel more comfortable, as this was a factor in our results. one way to build care is to also build empathy. another item within the comfort factor was having a relative that had a mental health concern. this comfort factor can come in the form of higher education institutions requiring courses in counseling along with creating courses where there are guest 2019, 23, 11–38 p.concepts influencing attitudes and beliefs toward mental health issues in a teacher education program 31 speakers who share their stories as well as meaningful field experiences where pre-service teachers work with students with metal health needs where they can apply theory into practice. this study has illuminated the need for responsivity from higher education institutions in how they respond to the growing need of mental health literacy of pre-service teachers and the self-care strategies that pre-service teachers can employ once they become in-service teachers. there is a high rate of turnover during year five in teaching where 41% have left the profession (ingersoll, merrill, & stuckey, 2014). the leading reason teachers leave the profession is stress and burnout (ellis & riel, 2014; johnson et al., 2005). knowing these risk factors, higher education institutions can be responsive to pre-service teachers by equipping them with the necessary self-care tools. limitations and future directions for research while interpreting the results of this study caution should be exercised as there are some limitations. first, all of the participants were enrolled in one midwestern university in the united states. second, the majority of the participants were from one ethnic background (caucasian), and eighty-four percent were raised in communities with populations of 59,999 or less. next, most of the participants grew up and plan to work near the same geographical area. finally, it should also be noted that the survey instrument was a self-report design. in terms of future research, this study created a conceptual framework that is the first of its kind in the area of teacher education exploring the attitudes and beliefs on mental illness among this population. three significant concepts emerged (comfort, resistance, and environment) from the research. because this research is so new to this population, these concepts should be explored further to ensure they accurately encompass the attitudes and beliefs on mental illness. the duplication of this study could be used to confirm our findings, disprove them, or find new emergent concepts and their relationships. second, the geographical area of participants should be widened to include other states, regions, and countries beyond the us. varying the demographics could pose an interesting study into higher education institutions with more of a diversity background such as hbcus (historically black colleges and universities) as well as hispanic-serving institutions. next, researchers should examine chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, david d. hof 32 an area where the research is limited and perhaps non-existent as to what factors can predict the behavior of pre-service teachers recommending mental health counseling services for their future students. deepening understanding of how to move from mental health literacy to advocacy behavior would be valuable. this has long-term implications as there is growing pressure for schools to care for students who have mental health needs. ultimately, schools want teachers who view the solution to atypical behaviors from an intervention approach. often, the response to atypical behaviors in schools is to address them from a disciplinary framework. finally, future research could explore the attitudes and beliefs of current teachers to determine differences in their openness to mental illness to those of student teachers. references adelman, h. s., & taylor, l. 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(2013). handbook of school mental health: research training, practice and policy. new york, ny: springer. veiksniai, lemiant ys būsimų mokytojų nuostatas ir įsitikinimus psichikos sveik atos atžvilgiu chandra díaz, po hu, d ouglas r. tillman, david d. hof university of nebraska at kearney, usa santrauka. tikimasi, kad pradinėje ar vidurinėje mokykloje dirbantis dalyko mokytojas yra išmokęs ir įgudęs taikyti įvairias mokymo strategijas ir susidoroti su bet kokiu vaikų elgesiu. tačiau vis labiau didėja poreikis mokytojams įgyti gebėjimų atpažinti mokinių psichikos sutrikimus. mokyklos ima pripažinti, kad mokytojų kvalifikacijos kėlimas šioje srityje yra nepakankamas, todėl tam tikra atsakomybė tenka ir universitetams bei kolegijomis, kurie turėtų parengti būsimus mokytojus suteikti paramą psichikos sveikatos problemų turintiems mokiniams. šis tyrimas skirtas išsiaiškinti bendrus veiksnius, kurie nusakytų būsimų mokytojų norą ieškoti ar rekomenduoti psichikos sveikatos specialisto pagalbą kolegai. 151 studentas, dalyvaujantis mokytojų rengimo programoje viename iš vidurio vakarų universitetų jav, savanoriškai sutiko dalyvauti tyrime. tyrimo duomenų analizė atlikta keliais etapais. atlikta surinktų duomenų tiriančioji faktorinė analizė, toliau naudojant išskirtus faktorius taikyta hierarchinė regresinė analizė, skirta ištirti ryšius tarp faktorių bei sprendimo siekti ar rekomenduoti psichikos sveikatos paslaugas. rezultatai atskleidė, kad komfortas, pasipriešinimas ir aplinka yra svarbiausi veiksniai. komforto lygis buvo stipriausiai susijęs su sprendimu ieškoti ar rekomenduoti psichikos sveikatos paslaugas. svarbi užduotis laukia pradinių ir vidurinių mokyklų bei aukštojo mokslo institucijų sukurti programas, kurias taikant didėtų mokinių ar studentų, turinčių psichikos sveikatos sutrikimų, komfortas, suteiktų žinių, kokios psichikos sveikatos priežiūros paslaugos prieinamos bendruomenei, taip pat mažintų pasipriešinimo veiksnius. reikšminiai žodžiai: psichikos sveikata, komfortas, pasipriešinimas, aplinka, būsimi mokytojai. received: 2018-12-18 accepted: 2019-08-13 chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, david d. hof 36 appendix a: survey instrument 1. what gender do you identify as? male female transgender rather not say 2. what is your age? ___________________ 3. what degree are you currently working towards? undergraduate graduate 4. what is your race/ethnicity? asian or pacific islander black/african american hispanic/latino american indian/native american white/caucasian other _______________________ 5. what year of your studies are you in? first year of bachelor studies second year of bachelor studies third year of bachelor studies fourth year of bachelor studies fifth year or graduate student 6. what is the size of your hometown? urbanized areas 50,000 or more urban clusters 2,500–49,999 rural 2,499 and less 2019, 23, 11–38 p.concepts influencing attitudes and beliefs toward mental health issues in a teacher education program 37 7. what size of community do you plan to teach in? urbanized areas 50,000 or more urban clusters 2,500–49,999 rural 2,499 and less i do not plan on teaching 8. what do you identify as your family’s household income? $60,000 or more $50,000 to $59,999 $45,000–$49,999 less than $45,000 don’t know 9. are you a first-generation college student defined as the first in your family of origin to attend any kind of post-high school education? yes no 10. are you aware of trauma informed resources in the community you came from as defined as resources to children and families who has been exposed to traumatic events? yes no 11. i am willing to seek mental health counseling? not willing 1--3---5---7---10 very willing 12. i would be willing to recommend mental health counseling to a peer. not willing 1--3---5---7---10 very willing chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, david d. hof 38 13. i feel comfortable sitting next to a peer in class who has a mental illness. disagree 1--3---5---7---10 agree 14. i would feel comfortable dating someone who has a mental illness. disagree 1--3---5---7---10 agree 15. i feel anxious and uncomfortable around someone who has a mental illness. disagree 1--3---5---7---10 agree 16. i would find it difficult to trust someone with a mental illness. disagree 1--3---5---7---10 agree 17. mental illnesses prevent students from performing their normal academic responsibilities. disagree 1--3---5---7---10 agree 18. i believe students with mental illness can effectively be treated by university counseling services disagree 1--3---5---7---10 agree 19. i believe nebraska is more proactive towards mental health treatment compared to the rest of the united states. disagree 1--3---5---7---10 agree 20. yes___ no ___ i have a relative who has mental illness. contents editorial note scientific publications chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, david d. hof concepts influencing attitudes and beliefs toward mental health issues in a teacher education program kamonwan tangdhanakanond, teara archwamety teachers’ misconceptions and current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment in elementary schools in thailand andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė importance of length of studying and attitudes toward others for life satisfaction marija aušraitė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė the relationship between irrational relationship beliefs and conflictresolution strategies in young adulthood tadas vadvilavičius, aurelija stelmokienė development of scenarios for leadership psychology research to reveal the relationships between leaders’ dark triad traits and full range leadership styles laura alčiauskaitė, liuda šinkariova psychometric properties of the lithuanian version of the acceptance ofdisability scale revised (ads-r): pilot study christina l. chasek, judith a. nelson, rochelle cade, kristin page, bryan stare,george stoupas advocating for adolescent substance use recovery: an alternative model ekaterina zakharchuk, evgeniy dotsenko, tamara khvesko, julia andrejeva neuropsychological and/or psychological factors of children’s traumatic behavior under the age of 10 years information the 22nd international symposium in psychology at unk & vmu: abstracts contributors reviewers 2019 instructions for authors psichologijos_zurnalas_21.indd reviewers journal re vie wers the editors would like to thank the reviewers in 2017: aistė diržytė, prof. dr. david hof, phd jūratė imbrasaitė, assoc. prof. dr. gabija jarašiūnaitė, dr. kristina kovalčikienė, dr. algis krupavičius, prof. dr. audronė miškinytė, dr. kevin moore, phd andrejs ozolins, phd rytis pakrosnis, assoc. prof. dr. milda perminienė, dr. ina pilkauskienė, assoc. prof. dr. aistė pranckevičienė, dr. douglas tillman, phd ieva urbanavičiūtė, dr. larysa zahrai, dr. irena žukauskaitė, dr. international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2017 / 21 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.21 https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.21 editor ial not e to wards the well-beingof vocational teachers: the rol eof personality characteristics does political activism inducesubjective wellbeing:evidence fro m ess data how do emot ional, cognitiveand social healt h resourcesrelate to healt h behaviour?the case of lithuania the importance of social trustfor the prediction of well-beingof lithuanians and lithuanianemigrants the rol e of psychosocial factor sin self-rated successful agingin a sample of lithuanian elderlypeople contributor s reviewers instructions for authors 2019_international journal of psychology 2019_23_book 1.indb editorial note 6 editorial note laura šeibokaitė vytautas magnus university, lithuania the editorial board of international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach proudly introduces for readers this new volume of the journal in 2019. we have selected eight articles which cover a wide range of important topics in psychology and other social sciences addressing relevant issues of theoretical framework of biopsychosocial nature of human beings. topics of the selected articles vary from attitudes towards mental illnesses, satisfaction with life, psychological factors of neurological trauma, and teachers’ perceptions of novel teaching methods, to psychometric and methodological discussions regarding the instruments and materials that might be used in psychological research. we hope that the content of this volume engages the scientific community and specialists working in the field in insightful reading and fruitful scientific discussion. the authors of the first article, chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, and david d. hof, analysed the concept of mental health stigma. the article named factors influencing attitudes toward mental health stigma in a teacher education program stresses the importance of psychological factors of describing stigma regarding mental health among future teachers. empirical data have shown comfort in being around people with mental health issues and low resistance to communicating with such people, as well as some environmental and demographical features, might predict the willingness of pre-service teachers to seek help or recommend visiting a professional for others who suffer from mental health issues. from our point of view, data obtained by this research are important as they revealed the possibilities of higher education institutions to strengthen awareness of mental disorders and work with naturally occurring resistance to dealing with people suffering from these problems. international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2019 / 23 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.23 7 kamonwan tangdhanakanond and teara archwamety, in their article teachers’ misconceptions and current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment in elementary schools in thailand, introduce a relatively new method of students’ achievement evaluation. authors argue that portfolio method allows assessing learning outcomes systematically and increases the variety of evaluation measurements. however, teachers might be not ready to implement new forms of learning outcomes assessment. therefore, through this research authors aimed to evaluate what beliefs regarding portfolio method implementation teachers had when instructed how to use the method, and when not so instructed. results revealed that all teachers had misconceptions related to various aspects of portfolio method implementation in a real evaluation process. still, teachers who attended training courses on portfolio succeeded more in implementing the method than teachers with no training. data from this research stressed the need for life-long learning for teachers and other professionals. the role of education in people’s lives is studied in the next article, named importance of length of studying and attitudes toward others for satisfaction with life, by andrius šmitas and loreta gustainienė. the strength of this study is its representative sample of adults in lithuania. this research is a good example of big data implementation in the science of psychology. authors of the study were interested in how length of education relates to life satisfaction. they propose the hypothesis that the greater length of education is related to more positive attitudes towards other people that increase one’s satisfaction with life. analysed data supported the authors’ hypothesis, as well as showing the direct effect between the length of studying and life satisfaction. the obtained relationships were relevant to the people of different socio-economic background. based on the results of this study it might be concluded that education affects a person’s wellbeing because of different mechanisms. therefore, longer time of studying should be encouraged. marija aušraitė and kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, in the article the relationship between irrational relationship beliefs and conflict resolution strategies in young adulthood, focus on irrational beliefs that people possess in romantic relationships. authors presumed that irrational beliefs might be related to strategies that couples use to manage conflict. in the study of a small sample of young people aušraitė and 8 žardeckaitė-matulaitienė were able to confirm their hypothesis. young people tended to deal with couple conflict in the way they believed in their relationship or human nature. authors suggest taking into account relationship related beliefs in couple counselling as a source of treatment. the next few articles are devoted to development, construction, and validation of psychological instruments. the article development of scenarios for leadership psychology research to reveal the relationships between leaders’ dark triad traits and full-range leadership styles, by tadas vadvilavičius and aurelija stelmokienė, validated the created set of scenarios to assess dark triad type personality in combination with different styles of leadership. it is argued in the text that simulative techniques to assess dark personality in a leadership context are necessary for future experimental research. authors succeeded in providing evidence of construct validity for most of scenarios but agreed that some further improvement is still needed. they recognised that created scenarios might be used as independent techniques for assessing dark triad traits in leadership research, or even employed as a training tool in leadership training activities. a methodological issue is addressed in the publication psychometric properties of the lithuanian version of acceptance of disability scale – revised (ads-r): pilot study by laura alčiauskaitė and liuda šinkariova. when introducing the scale authors state that research in disabled people and their problems is quite rare in lithuania. they were aiming to fill the gap by presenting a tool for assessing adaptation to one’s own disability. the study involved only mobility impaired participants, therefore the results could not be generalized for other disabilities. data from the current research confirm comparable factorial structure as it was obtained in research across other countries. the lithuanian version of the acceptance of disability scale has an acceptable level of internal consistency. authors recognise that the current data are not sufficient to ensure the validity and reliability of the scale; they call for further research as well. in the next article, a group of american authors advocate for an alternative peer group model for adolescents at high risk of substance use problems. christina l. chasek, judith a. nelson, rochelle cade, kristen page, bryan stare, and george stoupas entitled their publication advocating for adolescent substance use recovery: an alternative model and present a theoretical discussion on how the model could be beneficial 8 editorial note during the recovery period. authors highlight the need to consider the developmental issues when working with youth. they propose the employment of community resources in substance use problems rehabilitation processes. positive peer relationships seem to be a promising support system when recovering. the alternative peer group model adapts the idea of 12-step meetings for adolescents and their families to benefit from social support in the whole community. authors of this article agree that the model is insufficiently empirically tested and must be examined by rigorous research. the final article of this volume, named neuropsychological and/or psychological factors of children traumatic behavior under the age of 10 years, presents the problem of diagnostic scrutiny of attention deficit/ hyperactivity problems in children with physical trauma. ekaterina zakharchuk, evgeniy dotsenko, tamara khvesko, and julia andrejeva invite consideration of both biological and psychological factors that might lead to repeated traumatization in children up to 10 years. authors present empirical data where they compare psychological indicators in children with first trauma, repeated trauma, and no trauma. they conclude that repeated trauma was associated with lack of daily routine, poor attention to own child, inconsistent parental requirements, and emotional rejection. parents and even specialists tended to see children with trauma as having attention deficit/hyperactivity problems, but less than five percent of them meet the diagnostic criteria for the syndrome. on behalf of the editorial board, i thank the readers of international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach appreciatively for your sustained attention to the content we publish. i believe you will find some new and challenging materials in this volume as well. 9 contents editorial note scientific publications chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, david d. hof concepts influencing attitudes and beliefs toward mental health issues in a teacher education program kamonwan tangdhanakanond, teara archwamety teachers’ misconceptions and current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment in elementary schools in thailand andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė importance of length of studying and attitudes toward others for life satisfaction marija aušraitė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė the relationship between irrational relationship beliefs and conflictresolution strategies in young adulthood tadas vadvilavičius, aurelija stelmokienė development of scenarios for leadership psychology research to reveal the relationships between leaders’ dark triad traits and full range leadership styles laura alčiauskaitė, liuda šinkariova psychometric properties of the lithuanian version of the acceptance ofdisability scale revised (ads-r): pilot study christina l. chasek, judith a. nelson, rochelle cade, kristin page, bryan stare,george stoupas advocating for adolescent substance use recovery: an alternative model ekaterina zakharchuk, evgeniy dotsenko, tamara khvesko, julia andrejeva neuropsychological and/or psychological factors of children’s traumatic behavior under the age of 10 years information the 22nd international symposium in psychology at unk & vmu: abstracts contributors reviewers 2019 instructions for authors 157 informacija dvyliktasis tarptautinis simpoziumas „aktualūs tyrimai psichologijoje: tarptautinė patirtis“ vytauto didžiojo universiteto teorinės psichologijos ir bendrosios psichologijos katedros kartu su ilgamečiu partneriu nebraskos kearney universitetu (jav) tęsia tradicija tampančių vaizdo konferencijų, skirtų psichologijos studentų darbams pristatyti, seriją. 2013 m. gruodžio 11 d. įvyko dvyliktoji tarptautinė vaizdo konferencija – tarptautinis simpoziumas „aktualūs tyrimai psichologijoje: tarptautinė patirtis“. šioje konferencijoje pranešimus skaitė vytauto didžiojo universiteto, nebraskos kearney universiteto ir black hills state universiteto (spearfish, pietų dakota) (jav) psichologijos bakalauro studijų absolventai, magistro studijų programų studentai ir doktorantai. tarptautinio simpoziumo „aktualūs tyrimai psichologijoje: tarptautinė patirtis“, įvykusio 2013 m. gruodžio 11 d. kaune, kearney ir spearfish pranešimų santraukos abstracts of the international symposium “recent research topics in psychology: international experience”, december 11, 2013, kaunas, kearney and spearfish using demographics and measurement academic progress (maps) scores as predictors for the nebraska state accountability reading exam daphne dar ter university of nebraska at kearney, usa the purpose of the present study was to determine whether demographics and fall maps reading test results of third, fourth and fifth grade relates to the outcomes of the nebraska state accountability reading test (nesa) exam. an archival data set of scores from 199 elementary school students from the midwest was analyzed to determine whether the fall map score predict nesa-r amongst third, fourth, and fifth graders and whether f/r (free and reduced lunch) versus f/r +ell (free and reduced + english language learners) predict nesa state reading test among third, fourth, and fifth graders combined. results indicate that there is a positive correlation between maps and nesa-r scores and students who receive free and reduced lunch perform better on the nesa-r test than those students who receive both free and reduced lunch and are english language learners (f/r+ell). the data also indicated that maps, and demographics are predictive of nesa-r performance. 158 informacija relationship between conflict management styles and romantic relationship self-efficacy among university students rūta skučaitė, visvaldas legkauskas vytautas magnus university, lithuania scientific problem: as over 50% of marriages end in divorce, research on factors contributing to constructive management of conflict in romantic relationship continues to be relevant. while choice of conflict management styles has been linked to self-efficacy in other context, it has not been studied in the context of romantic relationships. the construct of relationship self-efficacy is not yet widely studied. the purpose of this study was to examine possible links between student’s romantic relationship selfefficacy and conflict management styles. method: conflict management styles were measured using rahim organizational conflict inventory-ii. romantic relationship self-efficacy was measured using relationship self-efficacy scale developed by lopez and colleges. subjects of the research were 194 students (128 females and 66 males) of vytautas magnus university. the hypothesis of the research was: compared to subjects scoring low on relationship self-efficacy, subjects scoring high on relationship self-efficacy are more likely to use compromise, integrating and dominating conflict management styles and will be less inclined to use the obliging and avoiding conflict management styles. first, it was examined whether there is a difference between men and women in relation to particular relationship self-efficacy aspects and use of conflict management styles. analysis revealed that there was a significant difference between women and men groups in use of avoiding and obliging conflict management styles. women scored higher than men on differentiation and mutuality aspects. men scored higher than women on the emotional control aspect. furthermore, men tended to use avoiding and obliging conflict management styles more often than women. thus further results will be presented separately for both genders. scores of self-efficacy aspects scales were split into three groups using terciles – low, medium and high separately for both genders. findings: it was found that women scoring high on mutuality aspect of relationship selfefficacy were more likely to use compromising and integrating conflict management styles than those scoring low. with the regard to the emotional control aspect of relationship self-efficacy, high-scoring women were more likely to use integrating, avoiding, and obliging conflict management styles and less likely to use dominating style than those scoring low on emotional control. women scoring high on the differentiation aspect of relationship self-efficacy were more likely to use integrating style and less likely to use avoiding style than those scoring low on this aspect. men scoring high on mutuality aspect of relationship self-efficacy were more likely to use integrating conflict management style than those scoring low. men scoring high on emotional control measure were more likely to use integrating or obliging conflict management style than those, who scored low. men scoring high on differentiation were more likely to use integrating conflict management style than those scoring low. international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 159 2014, 14, 157–168 p. conclusions: for both, men and women mutuality and differentiation aspects of relationship self-efficacy are related to use of constructive conflict management styles – compromise and integrating. emotional control aspect of relationship selfefficacy is related to use of both constructive and destructive conflict management styles – compromise, integrating, dominating, avoiding and obliging. si se puede… the efficacy of dual language instruction5 jenna rycek , marissa mccloud, christa anderson, d oris younes & jessica spors university of nebraska at kearney, usa this study will focus on dual language learners (dll). research has shown that children in bilingual programs score higher on english tests than children in traditional programs. it is anticipated that the dual language students will have equivalent scores to their traditional peers, while gaining proficiency in two languages. the relationship between social support from family and friends and acceptance of disability among mobility impaired people laura alčiauskaitė, liuda šinkariova vytautas magnus university, lithuania introduction: since inclusion of disabled people is in progress, it is essential not only to name the problems of disabled people but also analyze the resources they possess. perceived social support is one of the resources which play the key role in helping individuals to solve disability-related problems. social support as a multidimensional concept can be divided into emotional support, socializing support, financial assistance, practical assistance and advice/guidance, such support is usually provided by family and friends. all these types of support are important for any individual but it is still unclear which of them are the most related to acceptance of disability. the aim of the study was to assess the relationship between perceived social support from family and friends and acceptance of disability among mobility impaired people. methodology: the study included 275 people with mobility disabilities, aged between 18 and 79 years old. the sample consisted of 104 men and 171 women. according to the mean of age, individuals were divided into two groups of younger and older individuals. two instruments were used in the study. perceived social support was assessed with a social support behaviors scale (vaux, riedel, stewart, 1987), measuring five modes of social provided family and friends separately. individual’s adjustment to disability was accessed using an acceptance of disability scale (linkowski, 1971). results: the results revealed that individuals who perceived higher socializing support and practical assistance from family and higher all types of social support from friends reported higher scores of adjustment to disability than individuals who perceived 160 informacija lower social support, regardless of age. older individuals who perceived higher emotional and financial support and higher scores of advice/guidance from family also reported higher scores of acceptance of disability compared to older individuals who perceived lower social support. the results of regression analysis revealed that greater socializing support from friends and higher scores of advice/guidance from family make the contribution to the explained variance in acceptance of disability. all other types of social support were not statistically significant to acceptance of disability. conclusions and implications: these results might be useful for improving rehabilitation and inclusion programs for people with mobility disabilities. firstly, family members should be included into rehabilitation process, since their support is acceptance of disability. social support from friends is also necessary, so during rehabilitation process disabled people should be encouraged to actively participate in social life. second, equal opportunities for disabled people to participate in social life should be provided and the society should be informed about importance and mutual benefit of communication with disabled people. counselor development of spiritual competence: a grounded theory understanding d ouglas tillman university of nebraska at kearney, usa the process of how counselors develop spiritual competence was explored using a qualitative, grounded theory framework. a total of five themes, among 12 participants, were identified in the study. these themes formed the foundation of the theory constructed to explain this phenomenon. these findings suggest that spiritual competence in counselors is developed and shaped by their own on-going spiritual journey, socially constructing knowledge and skill with others, a general reverence and respect for spirituality, an internal drive or passion to be spiritually competent, and are skilled at traversing common pitfalls in this realm with clients. relationship between social anxiety and alcohol use among first year students arlandas maziliauskas, aidas perminas vytautas magnus university, lithuania introduction: the relation between social anxiety and alcohol variables (problem drinking, alcohol frequency and quantity) is inconsistent in non-clinical student samples (battista et al. 2010). the aim of the study was to assess the relationship between social anxiety and alcohol use among first year students. methodology: self report survey was used to collect data. social anxiety was assessed using social phobia scale (sps) and social interaction anxiety scale (sias) which are international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 161 2014, 14, 157–168 p. companion measures by mattick, clarke (1998). alcohol related problems were assessed using rutgers alcohol problem index (rapi) by white, labouvie (1989). alcohol frequency and quantity according to the type of beverage were assessed using questions by gostautas (1999). participants were 342 first year students of kaunas university of technology (176 male and 166 female first year students). the mean age of participants is 19.27 (sd = 0.694). according to norberg et al. (2011) recommendations high social anxiety was defined as one or more standard deviations above sps or sias means of current student sample. low to moderate social anxiety was defined as all other scores bellow those cut−offs (norberg et al. 2011). the main results: research suggests that there were no significant relationship between social anxiety and alcohol related problems among first year students in both male and female samples. socially anxious women (scoring high rates in social interaction anxiety scale) reported drinking significantly less frequently than their female counterparts which reported lower levels in social interaction anxiety scale. this relation was not found in male sample – there were no significant difference in alcohol frequency between high social anxiety and low social anxiety men. socially anxious women (scoring high rates in social phobia scale) consumed significantly less wine per drinking episode than their female counterparts which reported lower rates in social phobia scale. this difference was not significant for other types of beverage in female sample. there were no significant difference in quantity of alcohol consumed per drinking episode between socially anxious men and their non-anxious male counterparts. socially anxious men reported significantly higher scores of alcohol related problems than socially anxious women in first year student sample. however, this relation was also significant among male and female students while not controlling for social anxiety. conclusions and implication: in this study social anxiety acted as a protective factor against more frequent and heavy drinking only in socially anxious women first year student sample. the current study suggests that the year of the study (e.g. first year student comparing to last year student) may be an important variable understanding the complex relation between social anxiety and alcohol variables. social anxiety may act as protective factor for first year students which may have not learned to consume alcohol to alleviate their anxiety in social situations yet, but may act as a risk factor for socially anxious senior students which may have already developed more adverse drinking patterns. summer sustainability of academic achievement among fourth and fifth grade carly jones, hillar y veerhusen, kelsey rocker, shellee b ecker & connie rocker university of nebraska at kearney, usa although there have been summer school programs in elementary schools for years, the introduction of no child left behind in 2001, has necessitated the improvement of academic achievement. in accordance with this act, if students perform below proficiency in the required testing then the school could possibly be labeled as failing 162 informacija among other consequences (brown, 2005). in recent years, the use of high stakes testing has increased which in turn, has been associated with an increase in summer school programs (keiler, 2011). schools wish not to obtain a failing label and have used programs such as summer school to help reduce that possibility. due to high stakes testing, teachers are concerned about any form of academic loss particularly over the summer months. this study of a midwestern public school reports a possible way to address this loss. this poster board visual presentation will describe a research project that will examine the efficacy of summer school in sustaining math and reading achievement among students in fourth and fifth grade. it will be predicted that attending summer school would help sustain math and reading achievement of students from spring to fall. overview of summer school program: the midwestern school district, in which the archival data for this study will be obtained, operates its summer school monday through thursday from 8:15 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. the summer school takes place the whole month of june and three weeks into july. students who participate in the program either choose to participate, are recommended to enroll, or have been mandated to attend based on their assessment results. this program consists of an hour and a half of each for math and reading. students also get to take part in special activities such as cooking, gardening, physical education, art, music, crafts, swimming, and experiences with technology. a special education coordinator is assigned to help coordinate summer services in each elementary school in the district. measures: the measure to be used for this study is the measures of academic progress standardized test (map) in both reading and math. this test has been used to help measure school quality and assess student academic skills for educational decision making, screening, progress monitoring, and intervention planning (beckman & merino, 2010). developed by the northwest evaluation association (nwea: 2012), map has provided schools with information for over 30 years in high stakes assessment. project design: the researchers of this study will examine map math and reading scores of fourth grade and fifth grade students in the spring of 2012 and again in the fall of 2012. students included in this study are known to have diverse abilities, ethnic groups, socioeconomic levels, and english language proficiency levels. to examine whether attending summer school helps sustain academic achievement of students from spring to fall, the researchers will compare map math and reading scores of students who attended summer school and students who did not attend summer school. data will be subjected through a factorial analysis of variance with repeated measures to test the hypothesis that summer school can sustain academic achievement. analysis will be done by grade level and overall. participants of the presentation can expect to learn how summer school can prevent academic achievement slippage. psichologijos_zurnalas_22_korektura.indd scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2018 / 22 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.22.7 1 address for correspondence: kristina kovalčikienė, vytautas magnus university agriculture academy, centre of cultural communication and education, department of philosophy, psychology and vocational education. universiteto g. 10-617, lt-53361 kaunas distr., lithuania. e-mail: kristina.kovalcikiene@vdu.lt the rel ationship be t ween the voc ational teachers’ personalit y tr aits and the work motivation kristina kovalčikienė1, giedrė genevičiūtė-janonė vytautas magnus university, lithuania abstract. background: nowadays, as a means of supplying the market with a highly qualified workforce, vocational teachers play a significant role in lithuania’s educational system. it is assumed that the most important factor determining the quality of education is the teacher. undoubtedly, the vocational teacher’s personality traits and their work motivation are considered to be important components of a successful educational process. aim: this study was carried out in order to detect the relationship between the vocational teachers’ personality traits and their work motivation. method: the personality traits were evaluated using the big five inventory (bfi; john et al., 1991, 2008) while the work motivation was assessed by employment of the multidimensional work motivation scale (mwms; gagne et al., 2015). 364 teachers from various lithuania’s vocational schools participated in the research (243 of them were women, 93 men, while 10 did not specify their gender). results: the study revealed that a greater expression of neuroticism correlated with an increase of the teachers’ motivation (p < .01), extrinsic (social and material) regulation (p < .01) and introjected regulation (p < .05), although the identified regulation (p < .05) and intrinsic motivation (p < .01) were observed to decrease. meanwhile, with the increase of the teachers’ expression of extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness, intrinsic motivation (p < .01) and identified regulation (p < .01) heightened, and the extrinsic (material) motivation decreased (in case of extraversion and agreeableness – p < .01, in case of conscientiousness and openness to experience – p < .05). moreover, the differences of work motivation noticed among various personality profiles were added to the results of the research. in comparison to the teachers with low levels of neuroticism, the teachers with higher neuroticism levels were more likely to experience extrinsic (material) regulation (p < .001) and amotivation (p < .001). while the teachers with 135 https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.22.7 mailto:kristina.kovalcikiene@vdu.lt 136 kristina kovalčikienė, giedrė genevičiūtė-janonė the lower level of neuroticism were noticed to be more prone to stronger and identified regulation (p < .001) and introjected regulation (p < .001) than the teachers with higher neuroticism levels. the results of the study could be useful in the professional counselling and guidance process and in order to effectively motivate vocational teachers with peculiar personality traits. keywords: vocational teacher; personality traits; work motivation; clusters. introduc tion recently the number of lithuanians with a higher education is constantly increasing (statistics lithuania, 2017). however, to achieve faster economic development of various industry types in lithuania, the system of initial and continuous vocational training capable of supplying workers proficient with innovative technologies should be of more importance (cedefop, 2013). further, the labour market is faced with the ever-growing problem of a lack of a highly qualified workforce, and in turn tries to compensate this demand with the graduates from institutions which specialize in vocational teaching. according to statistics lithuania (2017), today in lithuania there are 74 vocational teaching institutions that train more than 74 thousand students. this makes up less than 10 percent off all the pupils of public and private educational institutions, while more than 50 percent of workers specialise in professions that require a qualification of a vocational level (profesinio mokymo metodikos centras, 2006). the importance of vocational training is also emphasized in the most important state and european union’s documents (e.g. state development strategy “lithuania’s development strategy „lietuva 2030”; european commission’s communication “europe 2020”) in which the development of a learning society with the members capable of independently creating their own prosperity as well as contributing to their country’s prosperity is underlined. it also has been noticed that vocational schools still are not fully realizing the potential, and are failing to respond to the demands of both the individual and the society (state education strategy for 2013–2022). moreover, it is aimed at increasing the appeal of vocational training across the european union (the european commission’s communication “europe 2020”). thus, vocational teacher’s work is a significant professional activity valuable to both the 137 2018, 22, 135–159 p.the relationship between the vocational teachers’ personality traits and the work motivation european union on a larger scale, as well as the individual country in question. according to adamonienė (2000), vocational teachers must not only be masters of their trait, but also be able to competently organise the educational process to train qualified workers. in addition to the knowledge of their speciality, the expertise of a vocational teacher is linked to one’s personality traits. that is why in search of contributing factors useful in foreseeing the efficiency of the pedagogical work, the researchers emphasised the teacher’s personality as one of the most important elements in the education of young specialists, as personality traits are substantial to positive processes and results of any professional activity (cirtautienė, 2016; eryilmaz, 2014; göncz, 2017; juodkūnė, 2015; fatemi et al., 2015; paleksić et al., 2017; rusbadrol et al., 2015). as stated by göncz (2017), the efficiency of the educational process could be enhanced by researching the personality traits of teachers. however, in most cases the studies carried out in this area are aimed at estimating what type of people chose the teacher’s profession, while the relationship between the teacher’s personality traits and efficiency remains as of yet lacking in the literature (arif et al., 2012). one factor in particular, influencing the quality of pedagogical interaction, successful involvement in pedagogical activity, the creation of a friendly and supportive climate in the classroom, and the promotion of students’ confident steps into the world of work is the pedagogical worker’s motivation (ngai et al., 2016). it is clear why the teachers’ work motivation is regarded as a significant factor in educational psychology, since the teachers’ work motivation directly influences the quality of their work: this aims of the activity that students take part in, the use of technologies in the study process, etc. (efe & baysal, 2017; mintrop & ordenes, 2017). work motivation is also related to teachers’ satisfaction with their job and the obligations they have with the employing institution (tentama & pranungsari, 2016). however, research aimed at analysing the importance of teachers’ personality traits in pedagogical work motivation is not very common, while in lithuania particularly, this question has not been adequately addressed (e.g. juodkūnė, 2015). thus, this paper focuses on trying to determine how vocational teacher’s personality traits are related to work motivation. 138 kristina kovalčikienė, giedrė genevičiūtė-janonė background vocational teachers’ personality traits in scientific literature personality traits are defined as important factors in various everyday situations and work-related activity, since they distinguish stable characteristics of a person and determine his or her casual and professional behaviour (mount et al., 2005). stable inner characteristics of a person could be used to predict the actions of a person. personality traits influence the choice of role which in turn shape the direction of behaviour (legkauskas, 2008). it has been determined that personality traits are associated with the carrier related decisions and the self-efficacy (tomšik & gatial, 2018; üstüner, 2017), the involvement with the professional activity (wang et al., 2006) and the leadership in the school environment (marshall et al., 2012). teachers’ personality traits are reflected in their satisfaction with the job (paleksić el al., 2017), their performance at work (rusbadrol et al., 2015; pourghaz, jenaabadi, & ghaeninejad, 2016), efficiency of learning (fatemi et al., 2015), subjective wellbeing, and the academic achievement of students (eryilmaz, 2014). the big five model is proven to reflect the main personality traits as well as substantially affect human behaviour (costa & mccrae, 1992). this theory is the result of a several-decade-long scientific research carried out in this thematical area (john et al., 2008; zhang, 2002). the big five model consists of empirical soundness, practical value of the model, the stability of individual differences, and intercultural validation. as a result, this model is widely employed all over the world. it is believed, that to this day, no better or more useful model has been developed (kairys, 2008). the personality traits of the big five are: agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness to experience, extraversion, and neuroticism. conscientiousness and neuroticism are the personality traits that best characterise the person in a professional activity (noftle & robins, 2007; o’connor & paunonen, 2007). the character of conscientiousness incorporates planning, organizing, challenging oneself, and other processes, moreover, the desire to achieve is also considered as a characteristic feature of this trait (costa & mccrae, 1992). it is also linked with the motivational drive to accomplish goals (hart et al., 2007), and the targeted control of a person’s own action and self-regulation (hoyle, 2006). it is 139 2018, 22, 135–159 p.the relationship between the vocational teachers’ personality traits and the work motivation assumed, that a good teacher must possess these traits since qualities such as responsibility, the skills of planning, commitment, and competence are very important in the pedagogical environment (göncz, 2017). neuroticism is the trait that reflects the tendency to experience negative emotions such as fear, sadness, anger, fault, dissatisfaction, etc. (costa & mccrae, 1992). neuroticism is negatively correlated with the teachers’ performance and sense of humor (pourghaz et al., 2016). such characteristic is regarded as the least favourable among the teachers in various pedagogical situations or while interacting with pupils or students (göncz, 2017). the teacher with a strongly expressed neuroticism trait will experience hardships in establishing a connection with his or her students, and will also have to spend more time and effort in order to improve their social skills (göncz, 2017). openness to experience is another personality trait with qualities such as creative imagination, attention to inner experiences, esthetical sensitivity, desire for intellectual knowledge, and display of increased interest in the inner and outer worlds (costa & mccrae, 1992). research has proven that teachers with strong openness to experience are more likely to participate in creative activities (lee & kemple, 2014). agreeableness is defined by qualities such as friendliness, empathy, forgiveness, honesty, and etc. (costa & mccrae, 1992). also, izzati, suhariadi and hadi (2015) found that agreeableness (together with conscientiousness in the mentioned study) significantly predicts the affective commitment of vocational teachers. it means that vocational teachers who have a high level of agreeableness have emotional attachment, identification, and full involvement with the organization. the personality trait of agreeableness is one of the most significant personality traits of a successful teacher, because this trait is associated with the activity orientated to the interpersonal services and altruistic types of motives (tomšik & gatial, 2018). a good professional should be able to cooperate, reach for agreement, and feel compassion (göncz, 2017). the trait of extraversion includes activeness, sociality, and optimism (costa & mccrae, 1992). extraverts draw energy from the external world, and the education system by its very nature promotes extraversion. with regard to the other aforementioned dimensions, moderate extraversion for teachers is desirable as it is associated with friendliness, selfconfidence, and positive emotions. also, it is assumed that extraversion 140 kristina kovalčikienė, giedrė genevičiūtė-janonė would be more pronounced in a good teacher than in the general population (göncz, 2017). extraversion is positively related to overall teaching performance (scheepers, lombarts, van aken, heineman, & arah, 2014). the big five model is suitable not only for examining the different context of organisational behaviour but also for researching pedagogical work. the aforementioned personality traits have inflicted different consequences in the educational process (göncz, 2017). pandey and kavitha (2015) have analysed the relationship between teachers’ personality traits and self-efficacy. the results have shown that extraversion, agreeableness, openness to experience, and fairness are positively related to the teachers’ self-efficacy. a notable negative relationship has been determined between the trait of neuroticism and self-efficacy. rusbadrol and his colleagues (2015) have ascertained that the traits of openness to experience and agreeableness are positively associated with the carrying out of teachers’ duty while neuroticism has been proven to have a negative relation to it. another analysis has discovered the relationship between the teacher’s emotional intelligence and the traits of agreeableness and extraversion (iruloh & ukaegbu, 2015). moreover, it has been stated that teachers can have a different profile of personality traits form other professional groups (göncz, 2017). after summarising the results of scientific studies carried out in the field of teachers’ personality traits it can be stated that personality traits have a huge impact on the success of the professional activity. however, the results of the studies are not ambiguous. and, thus, the need to pursue the analysis in hopes of discerning further patterns in this topic arises. teachers’ work motivation motivation is defined as the process of stimulating behavior, actions, and activity and is caused by various motives (psichologijos žodynas, 1993). the process of motivation starts with the arising need. it creates a certain inner tension, discontentment, and so encourages the person to act in order to satisfy the need. this way the realised needs become the motive. motives are described as material or ideal, inner or outer characteristics that stimulate the activity and guide the direction of the individual’s activity. in addition, it is described as the reasons for actions and 141 2018, 22, 135–159 p.the relationship between the vocational teachers’ personality traits and the work motivation deeds of the person that they themselves comprehend (psichologijos žodynas, 1993). latham and pinder (2005) define work motivation as “a set of energetic forces that originate both within as well as beyond an individual’s being, to initiate work-related behavior and to determine its form, direction, intensity, and duration” (latham & pinder, 2005, p. 486). even though existing motivation theories are great in number, the one to overview most of the hypotheses that analyse the phenomenon of motivation is the new and world-renowned theory (gagne et al., 2015) known as the self-determination theory (deci & ryan, 1985, 2000; gagne et al., 2015). the self-determination theory introduces the multidimensional structure of motivation and discerns three main types of motivation: amotivation, extrinsic motivation, and intrinsic motivation. amotivation is complete lack of motivation. it is a state where the human has neither an intrinsic nor an extrinsic motivation, abandons all activities, and shows no interest in working (gagne & deci, 2005). intrinsic motivation reflects that the activity is carried out because of the enjoyment it brings (gagne et al., 2015). intrinsic motivation is also known as the ‘autonomous motivation’ (wang & hou, 2015) which encourages activity correlating with the individual’s self-realisation. such activities bring pleasure and satisfaction to the individual (levin et al., 2012). intrinsic motivation relates with personality traits in a way that autonomous motivation is caused not by external factors or situations, but by inner factors which enable the individual to freely decide and choose (felser, 2006). extrinsic motivation is associated with the activity performed in order to achieve the results important to the individual. in other words, the individual is motivated by an external source, whereby a clear profit is targeted (gagne et al., 2015). extrinsic motivation is a type of motivation identified when the individual strives for reward or tries to avoid punishment (levin et al., 2012). this type of motivation is also acknowledged as ‘controlled motivation’ (wang & hou, 2015). according to the level of individual’s independence, the self-determination theory discerns four different types of extrinsic motivation (ryan & deci, 2000; gagne et al., 2015): social regulation – expectations associated with other important people (e.g., activity is performed in other to gain the respect and acknowledging of others); material regulation – expectations regarding financial benefits (e.g., in order to earn a reward or more money); 142 kristina kovalčikienė, giedrė genevičiūtė-janonė introjected regulation – a certain pressure to carry out an activity caused by external reasons, e.g., guilt, shame, self-esteem, wish to avoid anxiety, desire to experience taking pride in oneself (the behaviour is regulated by socially internalised rules); identified regulation – activity is carried out because of personally important reasons (the behaviour is regulated by enforced external ways of thinking and acting; however. the individual consciously acknowledges their personal benefit, since this type of thinking or behaviour is useful, e.g., aids in achieving an aim). identified regulation is characterised by higher levels of independence than other types of motivation and is similar to intrinsic motivation. nonetheless, identified regulation is different from intrinsic motivation, since the activity is not carried out for inner satisfaction and has an instrumental value (gagne et al., 2015). in the self-determination theory intrinsic motivation is regarded as an undoubtful advantage for performing any activity since it is affected by psychological demands: the relationships with others, competence and the satisfaction of autonomous needs (deci & ryan, 2000). chong and low (2009) have determined that teachers who experience aptness or inclination to their profession while training to become a teacher, were later motivated to work on their profession by altruistic or inner factors. the motivation, thus, helps to form teacher’s professional identity (nevin et al., 2009) or can be understood as one of the professional identity’s indicators (canrinus et al., 2012). thus, motivation, especially the intrinsic motivation, influences the successful involvement of an individual into their professional occupation (ngai et al., 2016); therefore, teachers with high levels of motivation are capable of creating a friendly and supportive climate in the classroom and this reflects in the quality of education provided by them (efe & baysal, 2017; mintrop & ordenes, 2017). taking everything into consideration, it can be stated that teachers’ work motivation is an important factor of a quality of education process, a significant factor of the psychological wellbeing of teachers, the element affecting teachers’ work satisfaction, and a substantial safety factor since motivated employees are more likely to be committed to the educational establishment and less likely to leave the organization or to demonstrate disloyal behavior. on the one hand, personality traits, as a stable characteristic of an individual, can aid in predicting the behavior 143 2018, 22, 135–159 p.the relationship between the vocational teachers’ personality traits and the work motivation of teachers. however, as it was already mentioned in the beginning of the paper, there is a lack of studies analysing the importance of teachers’ personality traits and the relationship this has with their work motivation. moreover, after determining the personality trait profile of a teacher motivated by internal reasons, a higher quality educational process can be expected. therefore, this research is aimed at answering the question of how vocational teacher’s personality traits are related to work motivation. me thod participants 346 teachers from various lithuania’s vocational schools participated in the survey. 93 of them were men, 234 – women (10 participants did not specify their gender). the age of all the respondents varied from 18 to 60 years and more, while most of the participants are part of 50–59 age group (38.5%). almost half of the respondents have 20 and more years of pedagogical work experience (50.9%). the bulk of the teachers indicated possession of a higher education (82.5%) and teacher’s qualification (65.2%). the majority of the research participants (57.3%) worked at vocational schools, in metropolitan areas (57.1%). 74.4% were employed as vocational teachers (and the rest of the respondents (25.6%) as general and vocational subject teachers). almost half of the respondents represented engineering (48.6%), others – social sciences (23.7%), humanities (13%), physical sciences (6.8%) and agriculture (4.4%). measures the big five inventory (bfi; john et al., 1991, 2008; benet-martinez el al., 1998), otherwise known as the questionnaire of “the big five” personality traits, was used for the assessing the personality traits of the vocational teachers. the authors of the instrument have issued a permission to use the questionnaire for scientific purposes without any additional license. the lithuanian questionnaire translation was prepared and customised (approbated) for the study by the scientists from the department of psychology at vytautas magnus university (endriulaitienė & ševelytė, 2009; markšaitytė, 2010). the inventory consists of 44 short phrases 144 kristina kovalčikienė, giedrė genevičiūtė-janonė (e.g.: “i see myself as someone who…does a thorough job”;”is original, comes up with new ideas”; “is outgoing, sociable”). the participants were asked to evaluate every phrase in the five-point likert scale (from 1 – “i strongly disagree” to 5 – “i strongly agree”). the questionnaire was meant to assess five personality traits: extraversion, agreeableness, consciousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience. the higher the evaluation in the scale, the stronger the expression of the personality trait is. the indicators of the questionnaire scales’ internal reliability and the short description of each scale are introduced in the table 1. table 1. the big five inventor y scale descriptions and reliability indicators scales short descriptions cronbach alpha 1. extraversion inclination for socialising, activeness, talkativeness, optimism. .692 2. consciousness includes planning, organising task establishing, and other processes as well as need for achievements. .704 3. agreeableness associated with altruism, efforts in helping others, ability to understand, and sympathise. .617 4. neuroticism tendency to experience negative emotions: fear, sadness, anger, discontentment, shame, etc. .686 5. openness to experience creative imagination, attention to the inner experiences, esthetical sensitivity, earning for intellectual knowledge, display of interest in inner and outer world. .816 the analysis of the composition of the factors in the lithuanian version of this inventory in previous scientific studies showed the suitability of this questionnaire for assessing personality traits using group comparisons, but not for individual diagnosis (šeibokaitė, & endriulaitienė, 2012). the coefficients of the cronbach alpha scales of the lithuanian version of the questionnaire in this study and in the samples of other lithuanian studies (endriulaitienė, & ševelytė, 2009; markšaitytė, 2010; šeibokaitė, & endriulaitienė, 2012) are similar to the scales’ internal compatibility indicators established by the authors of the methodology in the sample of the respondents of intercultural research (benet-martinez, john, 1998). the scale reliability indices according to the data of this study are sufficient and indicate the suitability of scales for group analysis (clark, watson, 1995). 145 2018, 22, 135–159 p.the relationship between the vocational teachers’ personality traits and the work motivation the multidimensional work motivation scale (mwms; gagne et al., 2015) was employed to evaluate the vocational teachers’ work motivation. the scale consists of 19 statements. the participants were asked to assess every phrase while extending the sentence: “i put effort into my current job”. every sentence is evaluated with seven-point likert scale from 1 (“i strongly disagree”) to 7 (”i strongly agree”). the questionnaire consists of 6 scales: amotivation (3 statements), for example: “… i don’t, because i really feel that i’m wasting my time at work”; extrinsic (social) motivation (3 statements), for example: ”… to get others’ approval (e.g., supervisor, colleagues, pupils)”; extrinsic (material) motivation (3 statements), e.g.: “…because i risk losing my job if i don’t put enough effort in it”; introjected regulation (4 statements), e.g.: “…because i have to prove to myself that i can”; identified regulation (3 statements), e.g.: “…because i personally consider it important to put efforts in this job“; intrinsic motivation (3 statements), e.g.: “… because the work i do is interesting“. the scales’ descriptions and reliability indicators are presented in the table 2. table 2. multidimensional work motivation scale reliability indicators and descriptions of scales scales short description cronbach alpha 1. amotivation complete lack of motivation. .873 2. extrinsic (social) motivation motivation is caused by external source, clear social benefit is desired: wishes are connected to other important factors (support, fame). .874 3. extrinsic (material) motivation motivation is caused by external source; clear material benefit is desired: expectations of financial reward. .824 4. introjected regulation a certain pressure to perform an activity is created by the individual himself, e.g. guilt, shame in front of other people (motivation is regulated by socially internalized rules). .825 5. identified regulation activity is carried out because of personally important reasons (the behaviour is regulated by enforced external ways of thinking and acting; however, the individual consciously acknowledges their personal benefit, since this type of thinking or behaviour is important and useful). .904 6. intrinsic motivation activity is performed because of the satisfaction it brings. .910 146 kristina kovalčikienė, giedrė genevičiūtė-janonė the instrument is used all over the world, its validity (convergent, discriminant, and construct) is universally supported. moreover, the intercultural validity of the instrument was also confirmed: the scale could be employed in various countries, can be adapted to various languages, and in different organisational contexts (gagne et al., 2015; johnson et al., 2015). the authors’ permission to translate and apply the scale for scientific purposes was issued to the authors of this paper. a double (english – lithuanian, and lithuanian – english) translation of the questionnaire was completed and coordinated with the original version of the instrument. the scale reliability of the multidimensional work motivation scale (see table 2) is good and fitting for a group analysis. in other cases, when this instrument was applied, the scale reliability indicators differ from .66 to .94 (gagne et al., 2015; olafsen et al., 2015). processing of the data the data of the survey was processed by using the spss 23.0 program. the variable distributions were tested for normality. the analysis has revealed that the variables’ distributions are statistically significantly digressed from the normality distribution. however, shapiro-wilk statistics’ values display a proximity to normal distribution (the closer the statistical value is to 1, the nearer the distribution to normal distribution is), the majority of the asymmetry and excess coefficients fall into the limits of appropriateness, as the amount of the respondents is substantial enough, the parametric statistical criterions were adopted for the further analysis (vaitkevičius & saudargienė, 2006). even though the missing values were not a frequent occurrence, in order to avoid inaccuracy while processing the data of the research, the missing values were replaced by the most likely values by em method. the statistical criterions used for the processing of the data were as follows: student’s t criterion for assessing the differences of the means in groups, pearson correlation coefficient to determine the relations among the values, two-step cluster analysis while employing the schwarz ‘s bayesian criterion. the chosen statistical significance materiality level is α = .05. results the variables’ descriptive statistics of the vocational teachers’ work motivation and personality traits is presented in table 3. in order to 147 2018, 22, 135–159 p.the relationship between the vocational teachers’ personality traits and the work motivation evaluate the vocational teachers’ personality traits means with the arithmetical scale average (m = 3.00), a one-sample student t criterion was employed. the analysis of the results revealed that the expression of extraversion (t (345) = 20.929, p < .001), agreeableness (t (345) = 33.905, p < .001), consciousness (t (345) = 29.695, p < .001), and openness to experience (t (345) = 21.442, p < .001) are statistically significantly greater than arithmetical mean of the scale. the only expression of a vocational teachers’ trait close to the mean of the scale is neuroticism (t (345) = -13.424, p < .001). while analysing the comparison of work motivation components with the arithmetical scale mean (m = 4.00) it was determined that the surveyed teachers’ estimations of the introjected (t (345) = 9.506, p < .001) and identified (t (345) = 29.704, p < .001) regulation, and intrinsic motivation (t (345) = 42.286, p < .001) are statistically significantly greater than the mean of the scale, while the extrinsic material motivation (t (345) = -3.028, p < .01), and amotivation (t (345) = -26.971, p < .001) are statistically significantly lesser than the mean of the scale. only the mean of the extrinsic social motivation scale is close to the arithmetical scale mean (p > .05). table 3. the research variables’ descriptive statistics (n = 346) variable mean std. deviation minimal value maximal value personality traits 1. extraversion 3.59 .52 2.25 5.00 2. agreeableness 3.91 .50 2.33 5.00 3. consciousness 3.90 .56 2.00 5.00 4. neuroticism 2.56 .61 1.13 4.75 5. openness to experience 3.51 .45 2.20 4.40 work motivation 1. amotivation 2.00 1.38 1.00 7.00 2. extrinsic (social) motivation 4.07 1.68 1.00 7.00 3. extrinsic (material) motivation 3.74 1.58 1.00 7.00 4. introjected regulation 4.78 1.52 1.00 7.00 5. identified regulation 5.78 1.12 1.00 7.00 6. intrinsic motivation 5.75 1.11 1.33 7.00 148 kristina kovalčikienė, giedrė genevičiūtė-janonė the relationship between the teachers’ work motivation and personality traits is displayed in table 4. the results of the study show that extrinsic-social (when motivation is caused by an external source, social benefits are clearly desired, e.g. the respect of other individuals) work motivation of the vocational teachers is positively linked to the trait of neuroticism. it means, that for an anxious, sadness and other negative emotions prone teacher the support of other important people is important, it motivates the teacher to work. extrinsic-material (when motivation is created by an external source and clear material benefit is coveted, e.g., income or reward) motivation is inherent to a teacher who is reserved, private, quiet (expression of extraversion is lesser), searching for someone to blame, fault-finding, overbearing, rough and indifferent (expression of agreeableness is lesser), careless, reckless, lazy and absent minded (expression of consciousness is lesser), is private and has an inclination to routine (expression of openness to experience is lesser) while also displaying affinity for negative emotions such as fear, sadness, discontentment, anger, shame, etc. (the expression of neuroticism is greater). table 4. the relationship between vocational teachers’ personality traits and work motivation components of work motivation personality traits extraversion agreeableness consciousness neuroticism openness to experience extrinsic (social) motivation -.038 -.085 -.057 .182** .022 extrinsic (material) motivation -.164** -.159** -.124* .269** -.123* introjected regulation .013 .062 .054 .168** .085 identified regulation .220** .273** .274** -.118* .244** intrinsic motivation .402** .337** .345** -.296** .405** amotivation -.242** -.406** -.360** .282** -.186** notes: **p < .01; *p < .05. the vocational teachers’ introjected regulation (when the individual creates a certain pressure for himself to carry out an activity, e.g., guilt, 149 2018, 22, 135–159 p.the relationship between the vocational teachers’ personality traits and the work motivation shame against the other people) is also related to the trait of neuroticism: with the increase of the introjected regulation, the expression of neuroticism also develops. in the case of identified regulation (even though it is discerned as a form of extrinsic motivation, introjected regulation is characterised by bigger autonomy than other forms of motivation) and intrinsic motivation positive relationship to extraversion, agreeableness, consciousness, openness to experience are noticed, while negative relations are identified with the trait of neuroticism. this reveals that the teachers who are distinguished by communality, activeness (extraversion), altruism, complaisance and empathy (agreeableness), commitment, organisation, diligence, self-discipline (consciousness), creative imagination, extensive interests (openness to experience) emotional stability, calmness and confidence (lesser expression of neuroticism) are motivated by the satisfaction felt after accomplishing an activity (intrinsic motivation) or the occupation is carried out by the standards of the environment but because of personally important reasons, for example, in order to reach certain aims (identified regulation). whereas the teachers who experience a complete lack of motivation (amotivation) are characterised by utterly distinctive traits, i.e. such traits as extraversion, agreeableness, consciousness, openness to experience are expressed less than greatly emphasised neuroticism. again and again the researchers take notice of the fact that the evaluation of the relationship between personality traits and various psychological phenomena is not complete with only the assessment of separate traits and a certain factor links, as it is also important to determine the profile of the personality. in order to estimate how the vocational teachers’ work motivation differs while taking account of their personality traits’ set, a cluster analysis was carried out. to properly adapt the chosen statistical procedures and to correctly interpret the results, ztransform was used to carry out the standardization of personality traits’ subscales. to begin with, it was aimed at estimating the number of personality trait clusters in the sample of study participants. to achieve this goal a two-step cluster analysis incorporating euclidean distance measure and the chosen schwarz’s bayesian criterion was carried out. the following were included in the cluster analysis: the z scores of extraversion, openness to experience, consciousness, neuroticism, and agreeableness. a 150 kristina kovalčikienė, giedrė genevičiūtė-janonė two clusters decision was discovered. the first cluster consists of teachers defined by higher than the average of the sample neuroticism estimation. while the estimations of extraversion, agreeableness, consciousness, and openness to experience are lower than the averages of the sample. 63.3% of the surveyed teachers were assigned to this cluster. the second cluster consists of 36.7%. vocational teachers of which the expression of neuroticism is lower than the mean of the sample, and the estimations of extraversion, agreeableness, consciousness, and openness to experience are higher than the mean of the sample. the comparison of means based on student t criterion has revealed statistically significant differences between the high neuroticism and low neuroticism profile extraversion (t (344) = -15.433, p < .01), agreeableness (t (344) = -9.582, p < .01), consciousness (t (344) = -12.535, p < .01), neuroticism (t (344) = -10.158, p < .01), and agreeableness (t (344) = -13.070, p < .01) expression. the results of the vocational teacher work motivation comparison in the personality trait profiles are introduced in table 5. certain work motivation differences in the distinctive profiles of personality traits were discerned in the results. figure 1. the profiles of the vocational teachers’ personality traits -0,8 -0,6 -0,4 -0,2 0,0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0 extraversion agreeableness conscien!ousness neuro!cism openness to experience z sc o re s high neuro!cism profile (n=219) low neuro!cism profile (n=127) 151 2018, 22, 135–159 p.the relationship between the vocational teachers’ personality traits and the work motivation table 5. the comparison of work motivation components in the vocational teachers’ personality trait profiles work motivation components personality trait profile n mean std. deviation t p extrinsic (social) motivation extrinsic (material) motivation high level of neuroticism 219 4.11 1.57 .587 .557 low level of neuroticism 127 4.00 1.85 introjected regulation identified regulation high level of neuroticism 219 4.00 1.43 4.117 < .001 low level of neuroticism 127 3.29 1.73 intrinsic motivation high level of neuroticism 219 4.76 1.36 -.326 745 low level of neuroticism 127 4.81 1.77 extrinsic (social) motivation extrinsic (material) motivation high level of neuroticism 219 5.57 1.09 -4.701 < .001 low level of neuroticism 127 6.14 1.07 introjected regulation identified regulation high level of neuroticism 219 5.39 1.14 -8.512 < .001 low level of neuroticism 127 6.36 .75 intrinsic motivation high level of neuroticism 219 2,32 1.47 5.947 < .001 low level of neuroticism 127 144 1.00 after the analysis of the results it has been determined that both the extrinsic (social) motivation (p > .05) and introjected regulation (p > .05) are similar in nature characteristic to vocational teachers with high and low profiles of neuroticism. however, if comparing this result with teachers who have a lower expression of neuroticism, the teachers with high levels of it have greater inherent extrinsic (material) motivation (p < .001), and amotivation (p < .001). moreover, it was estimated that the identified regulation (p < .001) and intrinsic motivation (p < .001) of teachers with a low level of neuroticism are expressed in greater manner than that of the teachers with a higher level of neuroticism. 152 kristina kovalčikienė, giedrė genevičiūtė-janonė discussion and conclusions the study was carried out to reveal the relationship between vocational teachers’ work motivation and personality traits. the empirical analysis suggested that extraversion, agreeableness, consciousness, and openness to experience are the most often expressed personality traits of vocational teachers. this fact confirms the results of other studies (e.g., göncz, 2017; pandey & kavitha, 2015; rusbadrol et al., 2015) that revealed the significance of previously mentioned traits among teachers. with regard to the motivational parameters, the intrinsic motivation to work and identified regulation as a form of motivation are the most expressed among teachers. in the first case, teachers gladly perform the tasks as the occupation brings delight to them, in the second case, the identified regulation is viewed as a type of extrinsic motivation which is regarded as the most autonomic since the individual performs the activity because of motives corresponding with his value system (göncz, 2017; pandey & kavitha, 2015; rusbadrol et al., 2015). such results allow us to suggest that in order to increase the motivation of employees it is important to create a work atmosphere based on positivity and trust. after the analysis of the results it was confirmed that in scrutinising the peculiarities of the teachers’ work motivation, neuroticism is considerably important in the context of other traits. the individuals with greatly expressed neuroticism often lack the motivation to perform an activity (amotivation) or they are motivated by material reward, privileges or other benefits received with the carrying out of the activity instead of the intrinsic motivation. such teachers often do not acknowledge the external infliction of thinking and behaving since they do not see these behaviours and thoughts as useful or important for them. such individuals also avoid taking part in different types of professional activity (wang et al., 2006). as göncz (2017) states in his introduction of a teacher’s personality snapshot: neuroticism is considered as a nonessential personality trait of a teacher in various institutions both in the pedagogical sense and in their interaction with students. it is believed that teachers with high levels of neuroticism are hardly capable of creating a cooperation-based relationship with the students. further, any improvement of the social skills of such teachers’ is a time-consuming matter. this trait is also characterised as a part of the behaviour unfavourable to 153 2018, 22, 135–159 p.the relationship between the vocational teachers’ personality traits and the work motivation the teacher’s health (reichl et al., 2014). furthermore, the trait of neuroticism was an extremely important criterion in the estimation of the vocational teachers’ personality trait profiles. the analysis of the results displayed two significant and qualitatively contrasting teacher personality profiles. one of them consists of teachers with higher neuroticism and lower extraversion, agreeableness, consciousness, and openness to experience. the other profile, on the contrary, includes the teachers who are identified by higher extraversion, agreeableness, consciousness, and openness to experience while neuroticism is not as strongly expressed. the teachers exhibiting this personality profile described themselves as more intrinsically motivated to work than the teachers with a high neuroticism profile. the results conform with genc et al (2014) conclusions that students expect a good teacher to be characterised by low neuroticism and higher than the general population’s extraversion, consciousness, agreeableness, and openness to experience. limitations. however, a few limitations of the present research have to be mentioned. first of all, even though the big five personality trait theory is widely known, accepted, and is often applied in research, an instrument assessing five fundamental personality traits is not unquestionable. moreover, regarding reliability of the big five questionnaire, some scales should be labelled as questionable. thus, it is recommended to consider the use of other instruments, perhaps alongside the big five for future research. another limitation is connected to the strategy of the study. although the sample is representative, the single cross-section study and the subjective employees’ motivation estimation could have been affected by 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(2002). thinking styles and the big five personality traits. educational psychology, 22(1), 17–31. profesijos pedagogų asmenybės bruožų ir darbo mot y vacijos ryšys kristina kovalčikienė, giedrė genevičiūtė -janonė vytauto didžiojo universitetas, lietuva santrauka. problema. pastaruoju metu profesijos pedagogui tenka svarbus vaidmuo lietuvos švietimo sistemoje siekiant patenkinti aukštos kvalifikacijos darbo jėgos trūkumą rinkoje. todėl būtina ieškoti reikšmingų veiksnių, galinčių numatyti pedagoginio darbo efektyvumą. tyrimo tikslas. neabejotinai pedagogo asmenybės bruožai ir darbo motyvacija yra svarbūs rodikliai sėkmingo ugdymo procese, todėl šiuo tyrimu siekta atskleisti profesijos pedagogų asmenybės bruožų ir darbo motyvacijos sąsajas. tyrimo metodai. tyrime dalyvavo 346 pedagogai (243 moterys ir 93 vyrai, 10 respondentų lyties nenurodė), dirbantys įvairiose lietuvos profesinėse mokyklose. asmenybės bruožams įvertinti naudotas didžiojo penketo inventorius (bfi; john et al., 1991, 2008), darbo motyvacijai įvertinti naudotas multidimensinis darbo motyvacijos klausimynas (mwms; gagne et al., 2015). rezultatai. tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad kuo stipriau išreikštas neurotizmas, tuo stipresnė pedagogų demotyvacija (p < 0,01), išorinė (socialinė ir materialinė) motyvacija (p < 0,01) ir introjekcinis reguliavimas (p < 0,05), tačiau silpnesnis identifikuotas reguliavimas (p < 0,05) bei vidinė motyvacija (p < 0,01). tuo tarpu stiprėjant pedagogų ekstraversijos, sutariamumo, sąmoningumo ir sutariamumo bruožų išreikštumui, stiprėja vidinė motyvacija (p < 0,01), 159 2018, 22, 135–159 p.the relationship between the vocational teachers’ personality traits and the work motivation identifikuotas reguliavimas (p < 0,01) bei silpnėja išorinė (materiali) motyvacija (ekstraversijos ir sutariamumo atveju – p < 0,01, sąmoningumo ir atvirumo patyrimui – p < 0,05). be to, rezultatus papildė gauti darbo motyvacijos skirtumai tarp skirtingų asmenybės profilių. aukšto neurotizmo profilio pedagogams būdinga stipresnė išori nė (materiali) motyvacija (p < 0,001) ir demotyvacija (p < 0,001) palyginti su žemo neurotizmo bruožo pedagogais. o žemo neurotizmo profilio pedagogų identifikuotas reguliavimas (p < 0,001) ir vidinė motyvacija (p < 0,001) yra stipriau išreikšta nei aukšto neurotizmo bruožo profilio pedagogų. gauti tyrimo rezultatai gali pasitarnauti profesinio konsultavimo ar orientavimo procese bei siekiant efektyviai motyvuoti skirtingais asmenybės bruožais pasižyminčius profesijos pedagogus. reikšminiai žodžiai: profesijos pedagogas, asmenybės bruožai, darbo motyvacija, klasteriai. received: 2018-10-25 accepted: 2019-02-05 contents editorial note scientific publications viktorija cepukiene, rytis pakrosnis introducing unguided computerized solution-focused self-help into university counseling services virginija klimukienė, alfredas laurinavičius, ilona laurinaitytė, laura ustinavičiūtė, and mykolas baltrūnas examination of convergent validity of start: av ratings among male juveniles on probation karina kravčenko, laura šeibokaitė the effect of joy and anxiety on egocentric decisions among young adults ala petrulytė, virginija guogienė adolescents’ social emotional health and empathy in lithuanian sample kristina ražauskaitė-pilipavičienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė gender differences in dyadic dominance during interpersonal interaction: the comparison of friends’ dyads and romanticc ouples lina cirtautienė, auksė endriulaitienė the influence of psychological factors for leader’s efficiency in global it companies kristina kovalčikienė, giedrė genevičiūtė-janonė the relationship between the vocational teachers’ personality traits and the work motivation information the 20th international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, december 6th, 2017. abstr acts the 21st international symposium in psychology at unk & vdu, april 25th, 2018. abstr acts contributors reviewers instructions for authors 69 1 adresas susirašinėti: mykolo romerio universiteto socialinių technologijų fakulteto psichologijos institutas, ateities g. 20, lt-08303 vilnius, tel. 8 5 271 46 20, el. p.: edvinas.svedas@ gmail.com episteminė motyvacija kaip socialinių prietarų prediktorius: kognityvinio užbaigtumo poreikio ir ambivalentiško seksizmo sąsajos edvinas švedas1, rasa erentaitė mykolo romerio universitetas, lietuva santrauka. mokslinė problema. negausūs tyrimai rodo, kad preferencija greitai suformuojamam, užtikrintam ir stabiliam žinojimui, aprašoma kognityvinio užbaigtumo poreikio (kup) konstruktu, yra susijusi su priešiškais ir geranoriškais seksistiniais prietarais (roets ir kt., 2012). tačiau nėra aišku, kaip šis poreikis atsispindi skirtingais – ambivalentiškos ir univalentiškos – seksizmo raiškos atvejais. tyrimo tikslas – nu statyti kup ir seksizmo sąsajas atsižvelgiant į galimą lyties moderacinį vaidmenį. metodai. heterogeniška imtis (n = 187, 18–68 metų 108 moterys ir 79 vyrai, m = 26,73, sd = 8,53) užpildė atnaujintą kognityvinio užbaigtumo poreikio (roets, van hiel, 2007) ir ambivalentiško seksizmo (glick, fiske, 1996) klausimynus. rezultatai patvirtino, kad, kontroliuojant lyties efektą, aukštesni kup įverčiai leidžia numatyti aukštesnį priešišką ir geranorišką seksizmą. lytis moderavo tik kup ir geranoriško seksizmo ryšį (moterų grupėje konstruktų ryšiai buvo stipresni). skirstant imtį pagal seksizmo raišką, nustatyta, kad kup įverčiai aukštesni tarp ambivalentiškas (skirtingai nei univalentiškas) seksistines nuostatas reiškiančiųjų, taip pat kad moterų kup įverčiai visose seksizmo raiškos grupėse yra aukštesni nei vyrų. išvados. tyrimas parodė, kad moterims taikomi socialiniai prietarai gali būti aiškinami motyvaciniais žinojimo formavimo skirtumais. kup yra aukštesnis ambivalentiško seksizmo raiškos grupėje. rasti konstruktų ryšiai suderinami su esamais teoriniais požiūriais, kad ambivalentiškas seksizmas gali funkcionuoti kaip socialinę sistemą pateisinanti ideologija, tenkinanti episteminio stabilumo poreikį. pagrindiniai žodžiai: kognityvinio užbaigtumo poreikis, ambivalentiškas seksizmas, sistemos pateisinimas. mokslo straipsniai issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.15.4 edvinas švedas, rasa erentaitė 70 įvadas kultūroje paplitę socialiniai prietarai (angl. prejudice) taikomi įvairioms grupėms ir skiriasi savo turiniu. tačiau nors prietaringos nuostatos pasižymi įvairove, ankstesnių tyrimų rezultatai leidžia teigti, kad šios nuostatos greičiausiai atspindi bendrą mąstymo ir žinojimo formavimo būdą, o konkretus adresatas ar siuntėjas yra antrinės svarbos (roets, van hiel, 2011a). kaip unikalią prognostinę vertę turintį konstruktą, galintį reikšmingai paaiškinti įvairius socialinius prietarus, roetsas ir van hielas nurodo kognityvinio užbaigtumo poreikį (kup; webster, kruglanski, 1994), nusakantį individualius motyvacinius skirtumus formuojant žinojimą apie tam tikrą reiškinį. aukštesnis kup yra siejamas su prastu neapibrėžtumo toleravimu, pasireiškiančiu greitai suformuojamo, užtikrinto ir stabilaus žinojimo siekiu. mažai dėmesio skirta šio poreikio sąsajoms su ambivalentišku seksizmu (glick, fiske, 1996), apimančiu moterims taikomas priešiškas ir geranoriškas seksistines nuostatas. roetso, van hielo ir dhonto (2012) tyrimų rezultatai rodo, kad kup teigiamai susijęs su abiejų formų seksistiniais prietarais, tačiau nėra atsižvelgiama į kitus galimus reikšmingus aptariamų konstruktų ryšius. nors šios priešingo valentingumo seksistinės nuostatos dažniausiai pasireiškia kartu ir yra laikomos komplementariomis (glick, fiske, 1996; glick ir kt., 2000), naujesni tyrimai rodo, kad galima ir univalentiška seksizmo raiška, kai nuostatos yra priešiškesnės arba geranoriškesnės (sibley, becker, 2012). šiems seksizmo raiškos skirtumams paaiškinti kup konstruktas, numatantis aversiją dviprasmybėms, gali būti potencialiai reikšmingas. viena vertus, konstruktų teorinės prielaidos sufleruoja stipresnes kup ir univalentiško seksizmo (lyginant su ambivalentišku) sąsajas. tačiau platesniame teoriniame ir esamų empirinių tyrimų rezultatų kontekste gali būti numatomi kaip tik priešingi ryšiai. jeigu, kaip teigia autoriai, kartu taikomi priešiški ir geranoriški seksistiniai prietarai atlieka ideologinę esamą socialinę sistemą pateisinačią funkciją (glick, fiske, 2001; jost, kay, 2005) ir jeigu toks rezultatas suteikia užtikrintumo ir stabilumo pojūtį (jost, hunyady, 2005), aukštesnis kup gali labiau sietis su ambivalentiška seksizmo raiška. taigi keliamas klausimas, ar seksizmo raiškos atveju kup yra tenkinamas formuojant nuoseklesnį šių prietarų turinį, ar priešingai – episteminio stabilumo siekiama panaudojant abiejų formų seksistinius prietarus esamai international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 71 2014, 15, 69–89 p. socialinei sistemai pateisinti ir išsaugoti. šie galimi alternatyvūs spėjimai, mažas akademinis dėmesys problemai ir konstruktų taikymo praktikos stygius lietuvoje leidžia kelti tikslą išsamiau tirti episteminės motyvacijos ir seksistinių prietarų ryšius. šiame straipsnyje toliau apžvelgiamas kup ryšys su socialiniais prietarais ir ambivalentiškas seksizmas, aptariami neatsakyti klausimai apie šių konstruktų sąsajas. episteminė motyvacija kaip socialinių prietarų pagrindas: kognityvinio užbaigtumo poreikis kaip formuojamas ir keičiamas žinojimas apie tam tikrą reiškinį, yra įvairiose akademinėse srityse seniai tyrinėjama problema. kruglanski (1990) kasdienėje žmonių veikloje pasireiškiantį mėgėjišką žinojimo formavimą mato kaip potencialiai nenutrūkstamą procesą. autoriaus teo rija (angl. lay epistemic theory) remiasi prielaida, kad žmonės kelia ir tikrina prieinama informacija paremtas hipotezes ir kad šis procesas, nors galėtų trukti neapibrėžtą laiko tarpą, yra nutraukiamas veikiant motyvacijai turėti atsakymą ar paaiškinimą kylančiam klausimui, po ko yra suformuojamas konkretus sprendimas. šiuos motyvacinius „stabdžius“ aprašo autoriaus pasiūlytas kup konstruktas. kognityvinio užbaigtumo poreikis (angl. need for closure) apibrėžiamas kaip troškimas gauti nespecifinį atsakymą į iškilusį klausimą, siekiant išvengti neaiškumo, neužtikrintumo bei daugiaprasmiškumo ir dėl to kylančio sutrikimo (webster, kruglanski, 1994). aukštais šio poreikio įverčiais pasižymintys individai įvairiose situacijose siekia organizuotumo ir struktūruotumo, teikia prioritetą nuspėjamumui, greitam sprendimų priėmimui, patiria diskomfortą susidūrę su dviprasmybėmis, vengia abejoti turimomis žiniomis. aukštas kup siejamas su tendencijomis formuo ti žinojimą greitai ir vengti jį kvestionuoti (webster, kruglanski, 1994; krug lanski, webster, 1996). tai leidžia numatyti šio poreikio ir socialinių prie tarų ryšį: kadangi kultūroje paplitę stereotipai ir socialiniai prietarai su daro lengvai ir greitai prieinamas bei perimamas žinių struktūras, tikėtina, kad aukštu kup pasižymintys individai dažniau naudosis tokiais informacijos šaltiniais formuodami žinojimą apie tam tikroms grupėms priklausančius asmenis (kruglanski, fishman, 2009). tyrimai patvirtina, kad, esant aukštam kup, individai ieško mažiau informacijos apie kitą asmenį prieš priimdami sprendimą (webster, richter ir kruglanski, 1996), dažniau sprendžia apie asmenį iš jo priklausymo edvinas švedas, rasa erentaitė 72 tam tikrai grupei (kruglanski, mayseless, 1988), yra linkę suvokti išorines grupes kaip homogeniškesnes (fox, elraz-shapira, 2005). kup taip pat siejamas su konservatyvia pasaulėžiūra. josto, glaserio, kruglanskio ir sulloway’aus (2003) metaanalizė parodė, kad šis poreikis yra teigiamai susijęs su autoritarizmu, dešiniosiomis politinėmis pažiūromis ir priklausymu tokioms pažiūroms atstovaujančioms politinėms organizacijoms, religiniais ir nacionalistiniais įsitikinimais, konservatyvumu ir pritarimu mirties bausmei. tokios ideologinės nuostatos suderinamos su kup aprašomomis preferencijomis tvarkai, struktūruotumui, nuspėjamumui, taip pat su kognityviniu uždarumu. nustatyta, kad autoritarizmo aspektai gali paaiškinti kup ir socialinių prietarų, pvz., rasizmo (roets, van hiel, 2006), taip pat šiam tyrimui aktualaus ambivalentiško seksizmo (roets ir kt., 2012), ryšį. ambivalentiškas seksizmas glicko ir fiske (1996) pasiūlytą ambivalentiško seksizmo kon st ruktą sudaro du moterims taikomi prietarų rinkiniai – priešiškas ir geranoriškas seksizmas. priešiškas seksizmas – tai konkurencinius lyčių santykių aspektus apimantys įsitikinimai apie moterų siekį kontroliuoti vyrus, tam naudojant savo seksualumą ar feministinę ideologiją. geranoriškas seksizmas išreiškiamas nuostatomis, apibūdinančiomis moteris kaip tyras būtybes, kurias būtina branginti, saugoti ir kurių meilės reikia vyro pilnatvei (glick, fiske, 1996, 2001). nors senesnės socialinių prietarų tyrimų tradicijos kontekste geranoriškas seksizmas gali atrodyti kaip oksimoroniškas ir prietaringų nuostatų sampratos netenkinantis konstruktas, svarbu tai, kad šis reiškiamas „geranoriškumas“ suponuoja moteris esant silpnas, menkos kompetencijos, tinkančias tik tradiciniams, su socialine galia nesiejamiems lyčių vaidmenims (glick, fiske, 2001). taigi po „geranoriškumu“ šiuo atveju slypi nuvertinimas, vaidmenų apribojimas. įvairūs tyrimai rodo, kad subjektyviai teigiamai suvokiami geranoriški seksistiniai prietarai yra sunkiau atpažįstami kaip tokie (barreto, ellemers, 2005), atlieka socialinę sistemą pateisinančią funkciją (jost, kay, 2005), mažina moterų motyvaciją kovoti su diskriminacija lyties pagrindu (becker, wright, 2011), gali lemti moterų abejojimą savo kompetencija ir prastesnius rezultatus atliekant kognityvinių išteklių reikalaujančias užduotis (dardene, dumont ir bollier, 2007; dumont, sarlet ir dardenne, 2010), yra susiję su savęs sudaiktinimo reiškiniu (calogero, jost, 2011). international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 73 2014, 15, 69–89 p. priešiški ir geranoriški seksistiniai prietarai, anot autorių, yra suderinami, komplementarūs ir svarbūs įtvirtinant lyčių nelygybę (glick, fiske, 2001). devyniolikoje šalių atlikti tyrimai parodė, kad vidutiniai imčių seksizmo įverčiai teigiamai siejasi su atitinkamoje šalyje fiksuojama socialine lyčių nelygybe, taip pat kad abi seksizmo dimensijos dažnai teigiamai susijusios tarpusavyje ir, lyginant skirtingas šalis, teigiamas koreliacinis ryšys randamas tarp vyrų ir moterų seksizmo įverčių (glick et al., 2000). pritarimas šioms nuostatoms tarp lyčių gali skirtis: vyrai paprastai pasižymi aukštesniu priešišku seksizmu, o geranoriško seksizmo raiška yra įvairesnė – jis gali būti kiek būdingesnis moterims arba reikšmingų lyčių skirtumų nerandama (glick, fiske, 1996; glick ir kt., 2000). nors apžvelgtuose tyrimuose teigiama, kad seksizmas yra ambivalentiškas, matoma tam tikrų išimčių, leidžiančių manyti, kad tai nebūtinai universalus reiškinys. pirma, kai kuriose heterogeniškose imtyse fiksuojama labiau diferencijuota seksizmo raiška ir reikšmingo ryšio tarp priešiškų ir geranoriškų seksistinių prietarų nerandama (glick, fiske, 1996). šis ryšys gali būti silpnesnis vyrų grupėje, ypač populiacijose, kur lyčių ne lygybė yra gana didelė (glick et al., 2000). antra, kai kuriose imtyse seksizmo dimensijų ryšys mažėja, kai tiriami tik aukštais (aukštesniais nei imties mediana) priešiško seksizmo įverčiais pasižymintys individai (glick ir kt., 2000). autoriai spėja, kad bendrai imtyje šio teigiamo ryšio priežastis gali būti santykinai egalitarinių pažiūrų tiriamieji, vienodai atmetantys tiek priešiškas, tiek geranoriškas seksistines nuostatas. išsamiau galimą seksistinių nuostatų univalentiškumą (kai nuostatos yra priešiš kesnės ir ne tokios geranoriškos arba atvirkščiai) imta tirti neseniai. sibley’us ir becker (2012), naudodami latentinių klasių analizės metodą, naujosios zelandijos populiacijos imtyje atrado, kad egzistuoja nedidelės univalentiško seksizmo raiškos grupės. tyrimas parodė, kad tiriamųjų skirstymas pagal seksistinių prietarų univalenciją ir ambivalenciją yra prasmingas, padedantis aptikti ryšių su kitais konstruktais skirtumus – pavyzdžiui, reikšmingi seksizmo raiškos grupių skirtumai rasti tiriant ideologines nuostatas (socialinį dominavimą ir dešiniųjų pažiūrų autoritarizmą), polinkį pateisinti esamas socialines sistemas, artimų santykių kokybę (sibley, becker, 2012). edvinas švedas, rasa erentaitė 74 kup ir ambivalentiško seksizmo sąsajos kol kas kup mažai sietas su ambivalentišku seksizmu. roetso ir kt. (2012) belgijoje atliktų tyrimų rezultatai rodo, kad kup, atsižvelgiant į lyčių skirtumus, reikšmingai prognozuoja tiek priešiškas, tiek geranoriškas seksistines nuostatas, o lyties prognostinė vertė yra santykinai nedidelė, taip pat kad lyties kintamasis nėra šių ryšių moderatorius. tačiau autoriai išreiškė abejonę dėl atrastų ryšių bendrumo su kitomis imtimis iš didesne lyčių nelygybe pasižyminčių populiacijų, kuriose lyčių skirtumai aiškinant seksistines nuostatas gali būti svarbesni nei individualūs motyvaciniai. yra žinoma, kad lyčių seksizmo raiškos skirtumai populiacijose varijuoja ir yra priklausomi nuo kultūrinių veiksnių (glick ir kt., 2000). todėl į lytį būtina atsižvelgt siekiant kritiškai įvertinti roet-so ir van hielo (2011a) tezę, kad socialiniai prietarai yra veikiau bendrų episteminių motyvų atspindys, o konkrečių grupių (šių prietarų siuntėjų ir adresatų) skirtumai yra antrinės svarbos (taip pat žr. roets ir kt., 2012). taigi kup ir seksizmo sąsajų patikslinimas aktualus ir dėl šių rezultatų pakartojimo kitokioje populiacijoje renkamoje imtyje (pvz., lietuvoje lyčių nelygybė didesnė nei belgijoje – un development programme, 2013). aktualu tirti ir kitus galimus kup ir seksizmo ryšių ypatumus, atsižvelgiant ne tik į tam tikras seksizmo dimensijas, bet ir į skirtingus priešiškų bei geranoriškų seksistinių nuostatų derinius, t. y. kai šios nuostatos daugiau reiškiamos kartu (ambivalentiškas seksizmas) ir atskirai (univalentiškas seksizmas). kup skirtumai šiais seksizmo raiškos atvejais nėra lengvai nuspėjami. viena vertus, aukštas kup susijęs su pirmenybės teikimu vienprasmiškumui, organizuotumui ir nuspėjamumui, atspindinčiam norą turėti užtikrintą ir stabilų žinojimą (webster, kruglanski, 1994), o tai leidžia tikėtis didesnio nuoseklumo ir konkrečiai grupei taikomų nuostatų turinyje. jei priešingo valentingumo seksistiniai prietarai ir kup iš tiesų yra teigiamai susiję, šio poreikio įverčiai turėtų skirtis ambivalentiškos ir univalentiškos (priešiškesnės arba geranoriškesnės) seksizmo raiškos atvejais. tada kup įverčiai, tikėtina, bus aukštesni, nes univalentiškos nuostatos iš pažiūros yra ne tokios prieštaringos ir sudaro nuoseklesnę ir vienprasmiškesnę žinojimo struktūrą. toks spėjimas suderinamas su krug lanskio ir webster (1996) nuomone, kad kup turėtų teigiamai sietis su diskomfortu patiriant kognityvinį nenuoseklumą ir stiprinti kognityvinį disonansą. taip pat tikėtini lyčių skirtumai. univalentiškos geranoriškos seksistinės nuostatos dažniau būdingos moterims, univalentiškos international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 75 2014, 15, 69–89 p. priešiškos – vyrams (sibley, becker, 2012). taigi jei kognityvinio užbaigtumo poreikis teigiamai susijęs su seksizmu ir yra tenkinamas formuojant nuoseklesnį šių prietarų turinį, aukšto kup vyrų ir moterų prietarai gali skirtis savo valentingumu. kita vertus, konstruktų ryšiai gali būti priešingi. kiti teoriniai požiūriai ir esami tyrimų rezultatai leidžia spėti, kad kaip tik ambivalentiški seksistiniai prietarai tenkina episteminio stabilumo poreikį leisdami esamus lyčių santykius (ar net visą socialinių santykių sistemą) suvokti kaip teisingus ir pageidautinus. priešiškos ir geranoriškos seksistinės nuostatos laikomos komplementariomis ir atliekančiomis ideologinę funkciją įtvirtinant struktūrinį vyrų dominavimą (glick, fiske, 1996, 2001). išsamiau ši funkcija analizuojama remiantis sistemos pateisinimo (angl. system justification – jost, banaji, 1994; jost, van der toorn, 2012) teorija, kurios pagrindinis postulatas teigia, kad žmonės linkę pateisinti esamus socialinius, ekonominius ar politinius santykius (sistemas), kuriuose dalyvauja. numatoma ir tyrimais patvirtinama, kad esamai sistemai pateisinti pasitelkiami socialiniai prietarai ir stereotipai: tiek privilegijuotoms, tiek subordinuotoms grupėms priklausantys individai vidinėms ir išorinėms grupėms priskiria tokius (teigiamus ir neigiamus) stereotipus, kurie suderinami su šių grupių užimama socialine padėtimi ir palaiko subalansuotų bei teisingų socialinių santykių įvaizdį (pvz., kay, jost, 2003; jost, kivetz, rubini, guermandi ir mosso, 2005). taip komplementarūs stereotipai, leidžiantys subordinuotas grupes suvokti kaip turinčias savų unikalių privalumų ir trūkumų, suteikia įtikinamą esamos padėties racionalizaciją ir sudaro sąlygas ją pateisinti net ir tiems, kurie tai darydami veikia prieš savo interesus (jost, banaji, 1994; kay ir kt., 2007). ambivalentiškos seksistinės nuostatos, pabrėžiančios tariamą moterų nekompetenciją atlikti su socialine galia siejamus stereotipiškai vyriškus vaidmenis bei palankiai nurodančios į tradicinius lyčių vaidmenis, yra kaip tik tokios. šių nuostatų socialinę nelygybę pateisinanti funkcija pademonstruota josto ir kay’aus (2005) tyrimuose. autoriai parodė, kad paprastas geranoriškų arba ambivalentiškų seksistinių prietarų priminimas selektyviai pildant ambivalentiško seksizmo klausimyną moterų grupėje stiprina tendenciją pateisinti esamą socialinę sistemą (angl. diffuse system justification). patvirtindami šias tendencijas, sibley’us ir becker (2012) nustatė, kad su lytimis susijusios socialinės sistemos pateisinimas (angl. gender-specific system justification) buvo aukštesnis ambivalentiško (lyginant su univalentiško) seksizmo raiškos grupėse. kadangi aukštas kup teoriškai gali edvinas švedas, rasa erentaitė 76 būti susijęs su esamos socialinės padėties pateisinimu ir noru ją išsaugoti (jost, hunyady, 2005) – preferencija nuspėjamumui, tvarkos, struktūruotumo ir stabilumo poreikiai suderinami su polinkiu socialinius santykius suvokti taip, kaip individui yra įprasta, bei su vengimu juos kvestionuoti – alternatyviai galima spėti, kad aukštesni kup įverčiai turėtų būti randami ambivalentiškos seksizmo raiškos atveju. taigi, atsižvelgiant į konstruktų teorines prielaidas, sistemos pateisinimo teorijos prielaidas ir ja remiantis atliktų empirinių tyrimų rezultatus, galima teigti, kad yra galimi priešingų krypčių tiriamų konstruktų ryšius numatantys spėjimai. šiuo darbu siekiama toliau tirti episteminės motyvacijos ir seksistinių prietarų sąsajas. keliami uždaviniai: atsižvelgiant į galimą lyties moderacinį vaidmenį 1) įvertinti kup prognostinę vertę aiškinant seksistines nuostatas, kai atsižvelgiama į lyčių skirtumus; 2) palyginti šio poreikio įverčius ambivalentiškos ir univalentiškos seksizmo raiškos grupėse. metodika tyrimo dalyviai ir eiga tyrimas atliktas 2012 m. lapkritį–2013 m. vasarį. tirta patogiuoju bū du rinkta imtis: n = 187, 18–68 m. 108 moterys ir 79 vyrai (mo = 22, m = 26,73, sd = 8,53). derinant pragmatinius ir didesnio tiriamųjų heterogeniškumo siekius, pasirinktas imties rinkimo interneto diskusijų forumuose metodas. naudota „limesurvey“ apklausų programinė įranga (limesurvey project team / carsten schmitz, 2012). duomenų kokybė kontroliuota naudojant melo skalę, pakartotinį informacijos tikrinimą, ribojant pakartotinius atsakymus. remiantis esama praktika (pvz., temple, brown, 2011), pasitelkus „google“ paiešką identifikuoti 25 diskusijų forumai, kuriuose numatyta galimybė (t. y. skirta speciali diskusijų tema) arba egzistuoja praktika tyrėjams rinkti imtis. lankytojų prašyta neatlygintinai dalyvauti tyrime, pateikta nuoroda į apklausos anketą, įrašai su prašymu periodiškai tikrinti siekiant įsitikinti, kad forumų lankytojai neskelbia tyrimo rezultatams potencialiai reikšmingos informacijos. anketos lankytojų srautas stebėtas naudojant „google analytics“ įrankį. pagal apsilankymų anketoje skaičių pusė lankytojų srauto priklausė penkiems forumams (vidutiniškai po 10,9 proc. lankytojų), dar penkių forumų dalyviai sudarė papildomą international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 77 2014, 15, 69–89 p. trečdalį (vidutiniškai po 5,4 proc. lankytojų), penkiolikos forumų – liku sią dalį lankytojų srauto (vidutiniškai po 1,3 proc. lankytojų). pagal vietovę daugiausia apklausos lankytojų buvo iš vilniaus (52,5 proc.), kauno (26,2 proc.), panevėžio (9,7 proc.), klaipėdos (7,3 proc.) miestų ir kitų devynių lietuvos vietovių (vidutiniškai po 0,5 proc. lankytojų). visą anketą užpildė 230 (50,66 proc.) tiriamųjų, 43 buvo pašalinti dėl neatitikties kontrolės kriterijams: atsižvelgiant į amžių (pašalinti nepilnamečiai), perkopus melo skalės normą ir esant informacijos apie amžių nesutapimui (tiriamieji apklausos pradžioje nurodė amžių metais, apklausos pabaigoje – gimimo metus). duomenys apdoroti „mplus“ (muthén, muthén, 1998–2007) ir r programavimo kalbai (r core team, 2014) skirtais statistikos paketais. įvertinimo būdai kup matuotas naudojant atnaujintą kognityvinio užbaigtumo poreikio klausimyną (angl. need for closure scale, roets, van hiel, 2007, pub likuojamą roets, van hiel, 2011b), kurį sudaro 41 teiginys (pvz., „nemėgstu klausimų, kuriems galima pateikti daugybę skirtingų atsakymų“, α = 0,88), vertinamas 6 punktų likerto skalėje nuo 1 („visiškai nesutinku“) iki 6 („visiškai sutinku“). kup įvertis gaunamas sumuojant atsakymų vertes. seksistiniai prietarai matuoti naudojant ambivalentiško seksizmo klausimyną (angl. ambivalent sexism inventory, glick, fiske, 1996, tyrime naudota metodikos versija publikuojama glick ir kt., 2000), kurį sudaro 11 priešiško seksizmo teiginių (pvz., „moterys siekia įgyti valdžią kontroliuodamos vyrus“, α = 0,85) ir 11 geranoriško seksizmo subskalės teiginių (pvz., „dauguma moterų pasižymi tyrumu, beveik nebūdingu vyrams“, α = 0,88). teiginiai vertinami 6 punktų likerto skalėje nuo 0 („visiškai nesutinku“) iki 5 („visiškai sutinku“). kiekvienos subskalės įvertis gaunamas skaičiuojant atsakymų vidurkį. taip pat tyrime naudota 5 teiginių melo skalė (pvz., „niekada nesu įskaudinęs (-usi) kito žmogaus“, cronbacho α neskaičiuojama), pateikiama kartu su kup teiginiais (kruglanski, 2012). remiantis autoriaus nurodymais, tiriamasis pašalinamas, jei sumuojant atsakymų vertes gautas „melo“ įvertis viršija 15 taškų. leidimus adaptuoti ir naudoti instrumentus pirmajam straipsnio autoriui suteikė originalių ir atnaujintų metodikų kūrėjai. klausimynai edvinas švedas, rasa erentaitė 78 adaptuoti taikant atgalinio vertimo metodą dalyvaujant profesionaliam vertėjui, psichologui ir dviem psichologijos specialybės studentams. metodikų psichometrinės savybės (centrinės tendencijos, sklaida, reikšmių pasiskirstymas, vidinis elementų suderinamumas) patik rintos per bandomąjį tyrimą patvirtinant jų tinkamumą naudoti. konstruktų matavimo kokybė vertinta atliekant patvirtinančiąją faktorinę analizę (cfa). pažymėtina, kad išsamiai konstruktų struktūros analizei šiame tyrime surinkta imtis nebuvo pakankama (kline, 2005). todėl siekta įvertinti tai, ar kup ir du seksizmo aspektai – geranoriškas ir priešiškas seksizmas – yra atskiri faktoriai, kaip numatoma teoriškai. šiuo tikslu visi trys konstruktai vertinti kartu viename modelyje. siekiant išlaikyti tinkamą vertinamų parametrų skaičiaus ir imties dydžio santykį, konstruktus sudarantys teiginiai sugrupuoti į indikatorių grupes pagal principus, nurodytus little, cunninghamo, shaharo ir widamano (2002). indikatorių grupes sudarė nuo 3 iki 10 teiginių. analizės rezultatai parodė, kad tikrintas teorinis konstruktų matavimo modelis su sugrupuotais indikatoriais labai gerai tinka duomenims: χ2 (41, n = 187) = 51,21, p > 0,05; cfi = 0,99; rmsea = 0,04; srmr = 0,05, o tai patvirtina prielaidą, kad naudoti instrumentai matuoja skirtingus konstruktus. rezultatai tyrime matuotų kintamųjų vidurkiai, standartiniai nuokrypiai ir kintamųjų tarpusavio koreliacijos pateikiamos 1 lentelėje. 1 lentelė. tyrime matuotų kintamųjų vidurkiai, standartiniai nuokrypiai ir tarpusavio koreliacijos (moterų ir vyrų rezultatai pateikiami atitinkamai aukščiau ir žemiau matricos įstrižainės) table 1. means, standard deviations, and intercorrelations between variables (correlations for women and men are presented above and below the diagonal respectively) m (sd) ♀ m (sd) ♀ t (185) kup ps gs kup 164,06 (21,48) 159,29 (20,51) 1,53 – 0,51*** 0,55*** ps 2,63 (0,89) 3,36 (0,81) –5,70*** 0,35** – 0,57*** gs 2,74 (1,00) 2,58 (0,77) 1,17 0,25* 0,13 – *p < 0,05; **p < 0,01; ***p < 0,001; kup – kognityvinio užbaigtumo poreikis; ps – priešiškas seksizmas; gs – geranoriškas seksizmas international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 79 2014, 15, 69–89 p. kup kaip seksizmo prediktorius kup prognostinė vertė ir lyties moderacinis vaidmuo vertinti sudarant hierarchinės regresijos modelius, kurių viename priklausomas kintamasis buvo priešiškas, kitame – geranoriškas seksizmas. seksistinės nuostatos prognozuotos pirmu žingsniu įvedant lyties, antru – kup kintamąjį, trečiu – lyties ir kup kintamųjų sąveiką, sudarytą dauginant kintamuosius (hayes, 2013)1. rezultatai pateikiami 2 lentelėje. analizių rezultatai parodė, kad lytis yra svarbi tik priešiško seksizmo prognozei – paaiškino 15 proc. sklaidos. kognityvinio užbaigtumo poreikis papildomai paaiškino 17 proc. priešiško ir 19 proc. geranoriško seksizmo sklaidos. lytis moderavo tik kup ir geranoriško seksizmo ryšį. šis moderacinis ryšys toliau tirtas atsižvelgiant į sąlyginį kup efektą moterų ir vyrų grupėse (hayes, 2005): gauti nestandartizuoti kup regresijos koeficientai trečio žingsnio modelyje, kai lyties kintamojo pagrindinė kategorija (t. y. koduota nuliais) yra moterys ir kai vyrai. rasta, kad kup reikšmingai prognozuoja geranorišką seksizmą abiem lytims, tačiau moterų grupėje konstruktų ryšiai yra stipresni (b = 0,03, t (183) = 7,02, p < 0,001) negu vyrų (b = 0,009, t (183) = 2,13, p = 0,03). 2 lentelė. hierarchinės regresijos modeliai priešiško ir geranoriško seksizmo prognozei (nestandartizuoti regresijos koeficientai) table 2. hierarchical regression models for prediction of hostile and benevolent sexism (unstandardized regression coefficients) prognozuojami kintamieji priešiškas seksizmas geranoriškas seksizmas žingsniai 1 2 3 1 2 3 konstanta 2,63 –0,34 –0,81 2,74 –0,39 –1,44 lytisa 0,72*** 0,81*** 1,97* –0,16 –0,07 2,51** kup – 0,02*** 0,02*** – 0,02*** 0,03*** lytis x kup – – –0,007 – – –0,02** r2 (95 % ci) 0,15 (0,07, 0,25) 0,32 (0,21, 0,41) 0,33 (0,21, 0,42) 0,007 (0, 0,05) 0,20 (0,10, 0,31) 0,23 (0,12, 0,35) δr2 – 0,17 0,006 – 0,19 0,03 f 32,6*** 43,03*** 29,38*** 1,37 23,05*** 18,52*** δf – 45,61*** 1,73 – 44,41*** 7,76** *p < 0,05; **p < 0,01; ***p < 0,001; a(0 = ♀; 1 = ♀); kup – kognityvinio užbaigtumo poreikis; 95 proc. pasikliautinųjų intervalų efekto dydžiams skaičiuoti naudojant 5000 bca savirankos imčių 1 amžius ir kt. (2012) tyrimų rezultatai, nebuvo reikšmingas seksizmo prediktorius (f (1, 185) = 1,76 ir kaip 0,73, p = 0,19 ir 0,39), todėl į regresijos modelius neįtrauktas. edvinas švedas, rasa erentaitė 80 kup skirtumai ambivalentiško ir univalentiško seksizmo raiškos grupėse kognityvinio užbaigtumo poreikio ryšiai su univalentiška ir ambivalentiška seksizmo raiška ir galimas lyties moderacinis vaidmuo tirti dirbtinai grupuojant imtį ir lyginant kup įverčius išskirtų grupių viduje. panaudotas skirstinių dalijimo ties mediana metodas, anksčiau naudotas glicko ir kt. (2000) stengiantis išskirti „aukšto“ priešiško seksizmo individus, taip pat šį metodą kaip potencialiai panaudojamą siekiant panašių į šio tyrimo tikslų pamini sibley’us ir becker (2012). tiriamieji skirstyti į tris grupes: 1) ambivalentiško seksizmo raiškos grupei priskirti surenkantys aukštesnius nei imties mediana priešiško ir aukštesnius nei imties mediana geranoriško seksizmo įverčius, 2) univalentiško priešiško – aukštesnius nei imties mediana priešiško ir žemesnius nei imties mediana geranoriško seksizmo įverčius, 3) univalentiško geranoriško – aukštesnius nei imties mediana geranoriško ir žemesnius nei imties mediana priešiško seksizmo įverčius1. priešiškus ir geranoriškus seksistinius prietarus vienodai atmetantys (t. y. surenkantys žemesnius nei imties mediana įverčius abiejose seksizmo dimensijose) tiriamieji į analizę neįtraukti. tiriamą imties dalį sudarė 18–68 m. 66 moterys ir 67 vyrai: mo 1 = 20, mo 2 = 22, m = 26,92, sd = 9,15. tiriamųjų pasiskirstymas visuose pogrupiuose pagal lytį pateikiamas 3 lentelėje (rasta reikšminga lyčių asimetrija: χ2 (3, n = 133) = 29,15, p < 0,001), kartu pateikiami kup ir seksizmo kintamųjų vidurkiai. 3 (seksizmo raiškos grupė) x 2 (lytis) anova modelis, skaičiuotas naudojant iii tipo kvadratų sumas, reikšmingos prediktorių sąveikos nerodė (f (2, 127) = 0,76, p = 0,47, η p 2 = 0,01, 95 proc. ci [0, 0,05]2). analizė pakartota tikrinant sudėtinį 3 x 2 modelį, kurio abu faktoriai buvo reikšmingi. kup reikšmingai skyrėsi tarp seksizmo raiškos grupių (f(2, 129) = 5,39, p = 0,006, η p 2 = 0,08, 95 proc. ci [0,01, 0,16]). post hoc testai su bonferroni korekcija (α = 0,05/3) parodė, kad kup įverčiai ambivalentiško 1 kadangi nuo imties medianos nedaug nutolusių tiriamųjų priskyrimas aukšto ar žemo kurios nors formos seksizmo grupei gali būti stipriai susijęs su atsitiktinumu, grupavimas pakartotas atsisakant trečdalio vidurinių reikšmių (t. y. neįtraukti tarp 1 ir 2 tercilio esantys tiriamieji). tai stebimų tendencijų nekeitė, kup vidurkiai grupių viduje išliko panašūs (δm max = 1,65). 2 95 proc. pasikliautinųjų intervalų efekto dydžiams skaičiuoti naudojant 5000 bca (angl. bias-corrected and accelerated) savirankos imčių. international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 81 2014, 15, 69–89 p. seksizmo raiškos grupėje (m = 172,62, sd = 18,35) yra reikšmingai aukštesni nei univalentiško priešiško (m = 162,56, sd = 20,09, t (93) = 2,48, p koreguota = 0,036, η p 2 = 0,06, 95 proc. ci [0,003, 0,17]) ir univalentiško geranoriško (m = 163,26, sd = 17,02, t (97) = 2,54, p koreguota = 0,046, η p 2 = 0,06, 95 proc. ci [0,004, 0,17]). abiejose univalentiško seksizmo raiškos grupėse kup įverčiai reikšmingai nesiskyrė. taip pat kup įverčiai reikšmingai skyrėsi tarp lyčių (f (1, 129) = 13,54, p < 0,001, η p 2 = 0,09, 95 proc. ci [0,02, 0,20]) – vidutinis moterų kup tarp išskirtų grupių (m = 172,88, sd = 16,44) buvo aukštesnis nei vyrų (m = 161,96, sd = 19,77), nors bendrai imtyje reikšmingų skirtumų nėra matoma (1 lentelė). atidžiau pažvelgus į kup įverčius visose grupėse pagal lytis (3 lentelė), rasta, kad bendrai imtyje šie skirtumai maskuojami žemus įverčius abiejose seksizmo dimensijose surenkančių tiriamųjų, o moterų kup yra pastebimai auštesnis univalentiško geranoriško ir ambivalentiško seksizmo raiškos grupėse1. 3 lentelė. tiriamųjų skaičius, kup, priešiško ir geranoriško seksizmo vidurkiai ir (standartiniai nuokrypiai) seksizmo raiškos grupėse pagal lytį table 3. number of participants, means and (standard deviations) of nfc, hostile and benevolent sexism in sexism profiles according to gender seksizmo raiškos grupė žemo seksizmo univalentiško priešiško univalentiško geranoriško ambivalentiško ♀ n 42 8 27 31 kup 150,21 (21,3) 165,88 (15,27) 167,67 (13,54) 179,23 (17,12) ps 1,93 (0,65) 3,47 (0,30) 2,38 (0,43) 3,59 (0,40) gs 1,83 (0,74) 2,1 (0,41) 3,35 (0,36) 3,6 (0,55) ♂ n 12 26 11 30 kup 144,42 (18,74) 161,54 (21,52) 152,45 (20,33) 165,8 (17,28) ps 2,19 (0,55) 3,74 (0,55) 2,55 (0,26) 3,78 (0,49) gs 1,84 (0,56) 2,02 (0,54) 3,16 (0,44) 3,15 (0,44) *kup – kognityvinio užbaigtumo poreikis; ps – priešiškas seksizmas; gs – geranoriškas seksizmas 1 lytis išliko reikšmingas faktorius įtraukiant į analizę ir tyrimui neaktualią žemus įverčius abejose seksizmo dimensijose surenkančių tiriamųjų grupę: analogiškas 4 x 2 anova modelis reikšmingos prediktorių sąveikos taip pat nerodė, abu faktoriai buvo reikšmingi. edvinas švedas, rasa erentaitė 82 rezultatų aptarimas tyrimu siekta tirti episteminės motyvacijos greitai formuoti užtikrintą ir stabilų žinojimą ir moterims taikomų seksistinių prietarų sąsajas. kelti uždaviniai nustatyti šiuos motyvus aprašančio kognityvinio užbaigtumo poreikio prognostinę vertę aiškinant priešišką ir geranorišką seksizmą, jo skirtumus ambivalentiško ir univalentiško seksizmo raiškos grupėse bei įvertinti galimą lyties moderacinį vaidmenį. tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad, kontroliuojant lytį, kup paaiškina 17 proc. priešiško ir 19 proc. geranoriško seksizmo sklaidos. tai iš dalies sutampa su roetso ir kt. (2012) tyrimų rezultatais – dviejose belgijoje rinktose heterogeniškose patogiosiose imtyse kup, kontroliuojant lyčių skirtumus, buvo reikšmingas seksizmo prediktorius (paaiškino nuo 5 iki 22,3 proc. sklaidos), o lyties efektas buvo santykinai mažas. tačiau tiriant rasta didesnė lyties prognostinė vertė aiškinant priešiškas seksistines nuostatas (15 proc. sklaidos; cituojamame tyrime: 2,9–5,3 proc. sklaidos) – vyrų priešiško seksizmo įverčiai buvo akivaizdžiai aukštesni nei moterų, o tai yra tipiškiau glicko ir kt. (2000) 19-oje šalių atliktų tyrimų metu nustatytoms tendencijoms. matoma, kad lytis gali būti santykinai geras seksizmo prediktorius. taigi grupių skirtumai, lyginant su individualiais motyvaciniais, gali būti panašiai svarbūs aiškinant priešiškas seksistines nuostatas. tyrimo rezultatai taip pat atskleidė konstruktų ryšio skirtumus tarp lyčių. moderavimo analizė parodė, kad kup labiau siejasi su geranorišku seksizmu moterų grupėje. geranoriškos seksistinės nuostatos dažnai sub jektyviai suvokiamos kaip teigiamos ir neidentifikuojamos kaip seksistinės (barreto, ellemers, 2005). jos palankiai apibūdina moteris kaip tinkamas atlikti tradicinius „moteriškus“ vaidmenis, išryškina subjektyviai teigiamas joms priskiriamas stereotipines savybes (glick, fiske, 1996), gali padėti pateisinti lyčių nelygybę sudarydamos įspūdį, kad lyčių santykiai visuomenėje yra teisingi ir subalansuoti (kay ir kt., 2007; jost, kay, 2005). taigi tikėtina, kad esant didesniam dispoziciniam polinkiui remtis stereotipine informacija geranoriškos seksistinės nuostatos yra patrauklesnės moterims nei vyrams. tai paaiškintų tirtoje imtyje matomus ryšius. tačiau roetsas ir kt. (2012) tokių lyčių skirtumų neranda. laikantis prielaidos, kad imtys lyginamuose tyrimuose yra gana heterogeniškos ir atspindi populiacijos tendencijas, tai galima aiškinti skirtingais seksisinternational journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 83 2014, 15, 69–89 p. tinio priešiškumo laipsniais: moterų geranoriškos seksistinės nuostatos savo grupės atžvilgiu gali būti matomos kaip kompensacinė reakcija į kultūroje paplitusį vyrų priešiškumą (glick ir kt., 2000; glick, fiske, 2001). šio tyrimo imtyje vyrų priešiško seksizmo įvertis siekė 3,36 balo, roetso ir kt. (2012) tyrime – 2,79. kiti tyrimo rezultatai leido įvertinti subtilesnes tirtų konstruktų sąsajas. atliktas imties skirstymas į seksizmo raiškos grupes pirmiausia parodė, kad lyčių pasiskirstymas pogrupiuose lyties atžvilgiu nėra tolygus – analogiškai sibley’aus ir becker (2012) rezultatams, į univalentiško priešiško seksizmo pogrupį pateko daugiau vyrų, o univalentiško geranoriško seksizmo pogrupyje lyčių asimetrija buvo priešinga (3 lentelė). tačiau taikytas grupavimo metodas neleido pakartoti šių pogrupių proporcijos (cituojamame tyrime 2–5 proc. imties priskiriama univalentiško seksizmo raiškai). tai rodo pasiektą tikėtiną grupavimo dalijant skirstinius ties mediana validumo laipsnį, tačiau drauge išryškina rezultatų priklausomybę nuo taikomo metodo. gauti rezultatai patvirtino vieną iš alternatyvių spėjimų, kad kognityvinio užbaigtumo poreikis labiau siejasi su ambivalentiška seksizmo raiška nei su univalentiška. kup buvo labiau išreikštas tarp aukštesnius nei imties mediana priešiško ir drauge aukštesnius nei imties mediana geranoriško seksizmo įverčius surenkančių tiriamųjų. tokie rezultatai atitinka esamas žinias apie seksistinių prietarų ideologinį suderinamumą atliekant nelygybės pateisinimo funkciją. komplementarios seksistinės nuostatos gali būti laikomos priemone, padedančia esamus socialinius santykius matyti kaip subalansuotus, teisingus ir pageidautinus (glick, fiske, 2001; jost, kay, 2005; sibley, becker, 2012). šalia priešiško kartu taikomas geranoriškas seksizmas, anot minėtų autorių, palaiko įvaizdį, kad nė viena grupė visuomenėje nėra išskirtinai gera ar bloga, kiekviena jų turi savų privalumų ir trūkumų, todėl visa socialinių santykių sistema yra subalansuota ir teisinga. tokios nuostatos, mažindamos privilegijuotų grupių jaučiamą kaltę, subordinuotų grupių nerimą, taip pat suteikdamos įtikinamą esamos padėties racionalizaciją, leidžia skirtingas galios pozicijas užimantiems individams savo padėtį vertinti teigiamai (jost, kay, 2005). taigi esamos socialinės padėties pateisinimas taikant priešiškus ir geranoriškus seksistinius prietarus gali būti matomas kaip episteminius tvarkos, struktūruotumo, nuspėjamumo ir kitus poreikius tenkinantis veiksmas. edvinas švedas, rasa erentaitė 84 įdomu tai, kad, tiriant tik univalentiška ir ambivalentiška seksizmo raiška pasižyminčius tiriamuosius, kup įverčiai, nesvarbu, kokia seksizmo raiškos grupė, buvo aukštesni tarp moterų, nors bendrai imtyje reikšmingų skirtumų nėra (1 lentelė) ir paprastai jų nėra randama (webster, kruglanski, 1994). šie lyčių skirtumai (bendrai imtyje maskuojami santykinai egalitariškų pažiūrų tiriamųjų) aiškiau matomi univalentiško geranoriško ir ambivalentiško seksizmo raiškos grupėse. tai taip pat papildo aukščiau aptartos moderavimo analizės rezultatus – matoma, kad geranoriški seksistiniai prietarai yra aktualesni aukštu kup pasižyminčioms moterims. tačiau reiktų pastebėti, kad gautus rezultatus galima interpretuoti ir kitaip. autoriai spėja, kad ambivalentiškos seksistinės nuostatos gali būti aiškinamos moterų skirstymu į kultūroje vyraujančius suvokiamus jų tipus (glick, fiske, 2001). glickas, dieboldas, bailey-werner ir zhu (1997) parodė, kad aukštais seksizmo įverčiais pasižymintys tiriamieji pateikia labiau poliarizuotus moterų tipus ir atitinkamai juos vertina, pvz., priešiškas seksizmas prognozuoja negatyvius „karjerisčių“, o geranoriškas seksizmas – palankius „namų šeimininkių“ įvertinimus. kup teorinės prielaidos ir moterų skirstymas į tipus būtų suderinami: kadangi lyties kategorija yra labai plati, jos skaidymas į smulkesnius vienetus leistų pasiekti didesnio struktūruotumo ir informacijos nuoseklumo tam tikros subkategorijos viduje. aukštesni kup įverčiai ambivalentiško seksizmo grupėje galėtų būti aiškinami tuo, kad daugiau ir įvairesnių seksistinių nuostatų aukšto kup individui turėtų sudaryti sąlygas šį poreikį tenkinti platesniame situacijų spektre. taigi yra perspektyvų ateityje tirti kup ir seksizmo ambivalencijos sąsajas atsižvelgiant į alternatyvius šio ryšio paaiškinimus. vertinant atliktą tyrimą, svarbu atsižvelgti į jo ribotumus. atkreiptinas dėmesys į generalizaciją ribojantį imties sudarymo būdą ir su mažesnėmis galimybėmis kontroliuoti duomenų kokybę susijusį jos rinkimo metodą. nors galimų problemų bandyta išvengti taikant įvairias duomenų kokybės kontrolės priemones, vienas ateityje keliamų tikslų galėtų būti rezultatų stabilumo patikrinimas tiriant kitokias ir kitaip rinktas imtis. taip pat akivaizdu, kad gauti rezultatai yra priklausomi nuo tiriamųjų grupavimo pagal seksizmo raišką būdo. kintamųjų skirstinių dalijimas ties mediana yra viena iš sibley’aus ir becker (2012) paminėtų potencialiai panaudojamų technikų, kuri šiame tyrime pasirinkta kaip international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 85 2014, 15, 69–89 p. imties dydžiui adekvatus metodas vietoj autorių naudotos latentinių klasių analizės. šiuo būdu atliktas dirbtinis grupavimas pateikė tikėtinas lyčių proporcijas seksizmo raiškos grupėse, tačiau kitais svarbiais aspektais tyrimų rezultatai buvo skirtingi – cituojamame tyrime taikytas metodas leido išskirti daugiau grupių, taip pat į jas patenkančių tiriamųjų proporcijos buvo kitokios (žr. sibley, becker, 2012). per mažas imties dydis yra kitas galimas tyrimo trūkumas, lėmęs tai, kad nebu vo rasta reikšminga lyties ir seksizmo raiškos grupių sąveika. į tai svarbu atsižvelgti planuojant tolimesnius tyrimus. taip pat svarbu paminėti, kad nors tyrimo rezultatai suderinami su teorinėmis prielaidomis ir kitų tyrimų išvadomis apie ambivalentiškų seksistinių prietarų dalyvavimą pateisinant esamą socialinę sistemą, ši seksizmo funkcija tiesiogiai įvertinta nebuvo. ateityje atrastas sąsajas verta tirti įtraukiant kitus kintamuosius, tikėtina, galinčius paaiškinti kup ir ambivalentiško seksizmo ryšį. nepaisant paminėtų ribotumų, gauti rezultatai patvirtina episteminių motyvų svarbą aiškinant prietaringas nuostatas. kognityvinio užbaigtumo poreikis yra teigiamai susijęs su ambivalentiškais seksistiniais prietarais moterų atžvilgiu, pastebimas stipresnis geranoriško seksizmo ir kup ryšys tarp moterų. o lyčių skirtumai, lyginant su individualiais motyvaciniais, yra panašiai svarbūs tik numatant priešišką seksizmą. rasti aukštesni kup įverčiai ambivalentiško (lyginant su univalentiško priešiško ir univalentiško geranoriško) seksizmo raiškos grupėje taip pat suderinami su prielaidomis apie komplementarių seksistinių prietarų atliekamą nelygybę pateisinančią funkciją. atsižvelgiant į šiuos teorinius požiūrius ir kitų tyrimų rezultatus, galima spėti, kad aukšto kup individai episteminio stabilumo siekia panaudodami abiejų formų seksistinius prietarus esamai socialinei sistemai pateisinti ir išsaugoti. literatūra barreto, m., ellemers, n. 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(1996). on leaping to conclusions when feeling tired: mental fatigue effects on impressional primacy. journal of experimental social psychology, 32 (2), 181–195. epistemic motivation as predictor of social prejudice: relationship between need for closure and ambivalent sexism edvinas švedas, r asa erentaitė mykolas romeris university, lithuania abstract. scientific problem. scarce research evidence show that preference for quick, definite and stable knowledge, as reflected in the construct of the need for closure (nfc), can be related to hostile and benevolent sexism (roets et al., 2012). however, it is unknown whether nfc varies between different – ambivalent and univalent – sexism profiles. the aim of the present research was to investigate the relationship international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 89 2014, 15, 69–89 p. between nfc and sexism and to test gender as a moderator of these links. method. a heterogeneous sample (n = 187, 108 women and 79 men, ages ranging 18–68 years: m = 26,73, sd = 8,53) completed revised need for closure scale (roets, van hiel, 2007) and ambivalent sexism inventory (glick, fiske, 1996). results confirmed that nfc can significantly predict both types of sexism when controlling for gender. gender moderated only the link between nfc and benevolent sexism (the relationship was stronger for women). when different sexism profiles were considered, results showed that nfc is higher for those expressing ambivalent (in contrast to univalent) sexist attitudes. also, nfc was higher for women in all groups. conclusion. study showed that prejudice towards women can be explained by motivational differences in knowledge formation. higher nfc is associated with higher endorsement of both hostile and benevolent sexism. these findings are in line with the theoretical assumption that ambivalent sexism might function as a system justifying ideology serving epistemic needs for stability. keywords: need for closure, ambivalent sexism, system justification. gauta: 2014-05-13 priimta: 2014-10-27 23 scientific publications issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.16.2 1 address for correspondence: vilnius university, department of clinical and organizational psychology, universiteto g. 9/1, lt-01513 vilnius, lithuania, ieva.urbanaviciute@fsf.vu.lt the role of c areer fac tors in qualitative and quantitative job insecurit y: a study in different organiz ational contex ts ieva urbanavičiūtė1, dalia bagdžiūnienė, jurgita lazauskaitė-zabielskė vilnius university, lithuania tinne vander elst research group work, organizational and personnel psychology, ku leuven, belgium hans de witte research group work, organizational and personnel psychology, ku leuven, belgium vanderbijlpark campus, north-west university, south africa abstract. background. the aim of this study is to analyse the determinants of the occurrence of qualitative and quantitative job insecurity. it focuses on three career variables (employability, career exploration, and career uncertainty) and the way they contribute to individual reactions (defined as financial and social strain) to job insecurity. in addition, it takes into account the contextual factors, such as sector and organizational change in explaining how job insecurity is perceived and responded to. methods. an online survey was carried out in a sample of 205 respondents employed in various lithuanian organizations. they filled out a questionnaire which included measures of job insecurity, career attitudes, and financial/social strain. the data were analysed in the full sample, as well as in four subsamples that were split regarding two parameters (public vs. private sector; no recent organizational change reported vs. recent organizational change reported). results and conclusion. the hierarchical regression analysis showed job insecurity to be strongly related to financial and social strain. however, it draws a slight distinction between qualitative and quantitative job insecurity as predictors of strain. furthermore, a moderator analysis has revealed several moderating effects of career variables in the relationship between job insecurity and financial/social strain. finally, it was found that organizational change and type of sector may play a role in determining the interplay between career factors, job insecurity and strain, as job insecurity effects were quite different across different subsamples. to generalize, this study emphasizes the importance of understanding how personal variables, such as career attitudes and beliefs, might change the subjective experience of job insecurity in objectively different contexts. keywords: job insecurity, strain, employability, career attitudes. 24 ieva urbanavičiūtė, dalia bagdžiūnienė, jurgita lazauskaitė-zabielskė, tinne vander elst, hans de witte introduc tion in the seminal work of greenhalgh and rosenblatt (1984) job insecurity is defined as a potential threat to the continuity of the current job situation. since then, numerous studies have focused on this phenomenon, and it is still considered a very important issue in the modern world of work. it is argued that job insecurity has serious detrimental effects for both employees and organizations. considering the situation in the labour market following the economic recession, a certain level of job insecurity is almost inevitable, raising a very important question about how and by what means employers, employees or other parties could prevent its negative effects. researchers focus on this question in quite different ways. psychologists are particularly interested in individual (i.e. micro-level) indicators and the subjective side of insecurity. that is, they analyse perceived (though not always objectively existent) threat of losing job. traditionally, perceived job insecurity has been seen as a multidimensional construct (e.g. ashford, lee, & bobko, 1989; sverke, hellgren, & näswall, 2002; hellgren, sverke, & isaksson, 1999; de witte, 2005). one of the most well-known distinctions is the distinction between qualitative and quantitative job insecurity introduced by hellgren et al. (1999) and adopted by many researchers afterwards. qualitative job insecurity is defined as a perceived threat of losing valued job features, whereas quantitative job insecurity reflects the perceived threat of losing the job itself. the psychological mechanism of job insecurity. in psychology, job insecurity and its effects are best explained by stress models, such as lazarus and folkman’s (1984) model of coping with stressful events. more specifically, job insecurity is thought to be a stressor which decreases the sense of control and, if an employee does not possess an effective coping strategy, it might eventually cause various negative effects (ashford et al., 1989; sverke et al., 2006; vander elst, de cuyper, & de witte, 2011; staufenbiel & könig, 2010). a number of studies report the link between job insecurity and its negative outcomes, such as psychosomatic complaints and an increased level of anxiety (mohr, 2000), negative job attitudes (rosenblatt  & ruvio, 1996; mauno, kinnunen, mäkikangas, & nätti, 2005), or a decrease 25 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 23–45 p. in work-related and general well-being (de witte, de cuyper, handaja, sverke, näswall,  & hellgren, 2010). an important note is that it can not only affect work-related behaviours and attitudes, but may also spread to other areas of life (de witte et al., 2010; lim  & sng, 2006; mauno  & kinnunen, 1999). this is the so-called ‘spill-over’ effect, which can actually be an indicator of how far negative outcomes of job insecurity can reach. for example, by analysing how job insecurity affects well-being or family relations, the spill-over into personal life can be observed. this effect might occur in various contexts and its analysis provides invaluable information on the psychological mechanisms underlying the relationship between subjective experience of job insecurity and its various outcomes. adopting a multifaceted approach, we presume that the scope of job-related insecurity can differ. it might be quite concrete and focused on the present or the near future (e.g., losing the job soon, cf. job insecurity) as well as ‘spilled-over’ and more generalized (e.g. being insecure about one’s future financial or social status due to the threat to financial/social functions of work, cf. financial/social strain). therefore, this study focuses on a somewhat different aspect of the spill-over effect by analysing how qualitative and quantitative job insecurity spread to more generalized perceptions of strain related to the long-term financial and social consequences. by focusing on it, it addresses multiple layers of job insecurity and attempts to discover the meaning of loss of benefits provided by employment. work-related benefits in the context of job insecurity. in this study, the exploration of the job insecurity-strain relationship is based on the concept of work-related benefits, which are extensively depicted in the works of jahoda (1982). in her latent deprivation theory, jahoda argued that work serves a two-fold function (thus, providing two types of benefits): manifest and latent. the manifest function is a direct function of work to assure financial benefits. the latent function, on the other hand, is related to satisfying a number of personal and social needs, such as the need for social contact, collective purpose, time structure, status, and activity (jahoda, 1982). latent deprivation theory is widely used in unemployment research to explain its negative effects (hoare & machin, 2009; selenko, batinic,  & paul, 2011; paul, geithner,  & moser, 2009). for example, in their study of unemployment, hoare and machin (2009) argue that losing 26 ieva urbanavičiūtė, dalia bagdžiūnienė, jurgita lazauskaitė-zabielskė, tinne vander elst, hans de witte latent and manifest job benefits decreases the sense of control in life, which is one of the reasons why unemployment is experienced as such a stressful event. similarly, a focus on latent and manifest job functions might better explain the stressful experience of job insecurity when unemployment has not yet happened but when certain changes in the job situation are expected. to illustrate the rationale of the current study, figure 1 portrays a three-phase conceptual model of job insecurity in relation to latent and manifest job functions. figure 1. conceptual model of job insecurity. contextual factors creating an (in)secure situation level of perceived job insecurity strain related to financial and social standing in the future intervening factors the first phase includes objective preconditions that determine the occurrence of job insecurity (e.g. organizational context). the second phase includes perceptions of job insecurity as such. finally, the third phase encompasses more generalized perceptions of strain related to one’s future social and financial standing (cf. anticipated loss of latent and manifest job benefits). based on latent deprivation theory (jahoda, 1982), a direct relationship between job insecurity and social and financial strain could be imposed. it applies to financial strain particularly, as financial need satisfaction is a direct function of work (while social need satisfaction may also be achieved by various other means). however, it is evident that individual reactions to job insecurity differ widely and they may or may not spill-over to a more generalized strain. therefore, the main question addressed in this study is what factors prevent or promote the occurrence of future-related strain in case of job insecurity. the moderators of job insecurity effects. the emergence and outcomes of job insecurity are thought to be determined by a number of subjective and objective factors. the subjective (psychological) factors are often treated as moderators determining individual reactions to insecure conditions (sverke et al., 2006; klandermans  & van vuuren, 27 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 23–45 p. 1999; hoare & machin, 2009). according to stress models (e.g., lazarus & folkman, 1984), certain individual characteristics may act as coping resources in stressful events; therefore, in the context of job insecurity, a focus on personal moderators (such as individual dispositions, attitudes or beliefs) has a proven practical value as they may help an employee to cope more effectively when threatened with uncertainty. differently from other studies, which focus on dispositional factors important for coping with stress (e.g., mak  & mueller, 2000; roskies, louis-guerin, & fournier, 1993), this study takes into consideration specific attitudinal variables, which might help to understand individual reactions to job insecurity. specifically, this study aims to explore the role of career factors (in the form of attitudes and beliefs) as potential moderators of the relationship between job insecurity and future-related financial/social strain. furthermore, it takes into account the objective organizational characteristics, which might, in turn, determine the strength and outcomes of job insecurity. both the career factors and the organizational factors are discussed below. career factors. career factors are quite rarely explored in job insecurity research. an exception is perceived employability, which dominates such studies. it is defined as a perceived ability to find another employment that would be similar to the present one (berntson, sverke, & marklund, 2006). in other words, perceived employability reflects how a person evaluates himself as a member of the labour market and how he perceives his chances of controlling his employment situation. employability can be hypothesized to have a mitigating effect in case of job insecurity, as it should enable a person to retain at least some ‘career control’. in line with this, several previous studies have found it to be directly related to reduced job insecurity (de cuyper, mäkikangas, kinnunen, mauno,  & de witte, 2012) or to act as a moderator of the relationship between job insecurity and its negative outcomes (silla, de cuyper, gracia, peiró, & de witte, 2009). however, the results are not unambiguous, raising many questions about its role in insecure work situations and clearly indicating the need for further research on this issue. another career variable, career exploration, comes from the career construction paradigm and research on career adaptability (super & knasel, 1981; savickas, 1997) that focuses on personal qualities necessary for adequate career development. it reflects an active interest in developing one’s career and is considered as one of the main components 28 ieva urbanavičiūtė, dalia bagdžiūnienė, jurgita lazauskaitė-zabielskė, tinne vander elst, hans de witte of career adaptability (blustein, 1997; savickas, 1997). contrary to employability, career exploration is not related to self-evaluation; it reflects a proactive approach towards career planning by attempting to gain more information about career possibilities. a number of studies (e.g., zikic & klehe, 2006; ebberwein, krieshok, ulven, & prosser, 2011; brown, bimrose, barnes, & hughes, 2012) have shown career adaptability factors to be beneficial in actual career transitions, raising a question about their role in situations where such career change is only expected, but has not yet been undertaken. the third career variable, on the contrary, belongs to the category of variables reflecting negative attitudes towards career planning, which can also be powerful predictors of individual reactions to job insecurity. this category includes such factors as perceived career barriers (swanson, daniels,  & tokar, 1996), dysfunctional career thoughts (sampson, peterson, lenz, reardon,  & saunders, 1998) or career uncertainty (orndorff & herr, 1996; ito & brotheridge, 2001), to name just a few. this study focuses on career uncertainty, as this variable is the most person-centred. it reflects having serious doubts about one’s vocational choice as well as doubting the chances to set and reach goals in the given career field. to some extent, it can also be related to low perceived control of personal career and, therefore, is hypothesized to have at least some explanatory power in job insecurity–strain relationship. organizational factors. the objective situational factors within the organization are thought to foster job insecurity (de cuyper, de witte, & vander elst, 2010; sverke et al, 2002), therefore, their addition is a very important part of this study. although many studies do control for ‘objective’ personal characteristics (i.e. socio-demographics), not many attempt to explore job insecurity in objectively different organizational contexts. whereas, a more profound look at the contextual factors (such as sector or organizational change) would be beneficial, as it can provide additional information on how perceptions of job insecurity develop or how they are responded to. for example, it may be implied that the relationship between job insecurity and social/financial strain would differ in the public and in the private sector, as they are quite different regarding job security, working conditions, prospects for employee career development, etc. similarly, organizational change is an essential factor in exploring job insecurity and its outcomes, as changes within the organization (e.g., restructu29 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 23–45 p. ring) are thought to prompt job insecurity, which, in turn, leads to strain (de cuyper et al., 2010). therefore, while the subjective factors (i.e. the career factors in this study) may be implied to have a buffering effect on the relationship between job insecurity and strain, it is nonetheless important to investigate whether it would be observed in different organizational contexts. hypotheses h1: qualitative and quantitative job insecurity are positively related to financial and social strain. h2: career variables moderate the link between job insecurity and financial/social strain. h3: the link between job insecurity, career variables and financial/social strain is determined by objective organizational characteristics (i.e. sector and organizational change). me thods participants the sample consisted of 205 respondents employed in various lithuanian organizations. it was composed by contacting representatives of different organizations and sending them an invitation to participate in the study. respondents’ mean age was 36.26 years (sd=11.38) and their average tenure was 7.85 years (sd=8.01). slightly over half of the respondents were employed in the public sector (56%), the rest of them represented the private sector (44%). regarding organizational change (restructuring, merge, lay-offs), nearly half of the respondents reported no change (49%), while the rest of them reported having experienced one or more types of change in their organizations (51%). measures and procedure the survey was conducted online and included the following measures: 1) a short socio-demographic question list, including questions on age, gender, tenure, sector, experience of organizational change, etc. 2) job insecurity scale (de witte, 2000). it is a four-item scale measuring quantitative job insecurity (i.e. the perceived threat to lose one’s job), further validated in the study of vander elst, de witte and de cuyper 30 ieva urbanavičiūtė, dalia bagdžiūnienė, jurgita lazauskaitė-zabielskė, tinne vander elst, hans de witte (2013). additionally, a new short four item qualitative job insecurity scale (measuring the perceived threat of experiencing unfavourable changes in working conditions) was used, developed by de witte and de cuyper. 3) financial strain scale (meireman, meuleman, billiet, de witte,  & wets, 2004) consists of four items measuring strain related to one’s financial standing in the future. 4) social strain was measured using the latent benefits scale (adapted from muller, creed, waters, & machin, 2005). it measures strain related to being unable to satisfy the latent benefits of the job in the future (e.g. losing opportunity to make new contacts, to retain social status, etc.). the adapted version consists of five items. 5) employability scale (de witte, 2000). it is a four-item scale measuring perceived employability (a belief about one’s ability to find a job equitable to the present one). 6) career exploration scale was designed specifically for this study. it has a unidimensional structure and consists of six items measuring the frequency of career exploration behaviours (e.g. seeking for information about training, exploring new career opportunities, etc.) within the last year. 7) career uncertainty scale, designed specifically for this study, has a unidimensional structure and consists of four items measuring the frequency of career uncertainty related thoughts within the last year (e.g. being uncertain about reaching career goals, questioning one’s career choices, etc.). all responses were marked on a five-point scale ranging from ‘totally disagree’ to ‘totally agree’, except for the career uncertainty and career exploration scales which were marked on a five-point scale ranging from ‘never’ to ‘very often’. the first five scales were chosen and included in the survey in collaboration with prof. hans de witte and dr. tinne vander elst as part of an ongoing international study on job insecurity. in order to prepare the lithuanian version of the scales, three independent translators translated the items. the final version was obtained by comparing draft translations and selecting the most precise wordings. before the launch of the study, all items were repeatedly reviewed by a language editor. finally, all measures were checked for reliability and factor structure: the reliability coefficients and the summary of exploratory factor analyses are provided in table 1. 31 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 23–45 p. data analysis the data were analysed using spss software. multiple regression analysis was run in order to determine the predictors of financial and social strain. in addition, the modprobe macro (hayes, 2009) was used to run the moderator analysis which allows a check for interaction effects. results firstly, the data were analysed in the full sample (n=205). a regression analysis was conducted in order to determine the predictors of financial and social strain. two 3-block hierarchical regression models were built, the first one having financial strain as an outcome variable, whereas in the second model social strain was set as an outcome. only background characteristics (i.e. age, gender and monthly salary) were entered in the first step of the analysis, quantitative and qualitative job insecurity were included in the second step, and all career variables were included in the third step. table 2 provides means, standard deviations and scale intercorrelations of the main variables. the results of regression analyses are provided in tables 3 and 4. table 1. scale reliability coefficients and the summar y of explorator y factor analyses results scale no. of factors eigenvalues % of variance range of factor loadings cronbach α job insecurity: 2 – 72.93 – – quantitative – 4.37 54.72 .72–.88 .88 qualitative – 1.46 18.21 .75–.85 .85 financial strain 1 2.97 74.35 .75–.90 .88 latent benefits 1 2.99 59.79 .68–.81 .83 employability 1 3.06 76.42 .84–.91 .90 career exploration 1 3.87 64.47 .75–.88 .89 career uncertainty 1 2.51 62.72 .74–.84 .79 32 ieva urbanavičiūtė, dalia bagdžiūnienė, jurgita lazauskaitė-zabielskė, tinne vander elst, hans de witte table 2. descriptive statistics of the variables analyzed in the study (n=205) variable m sd 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 quantitative job insecurity 2.23 .88 – qualitative job insecurity 2.65 .80 .52** – financial strain 3.01 .94 .41** .57** – social strain 2.20 .73 .41** .47** .49** – employability 2.95 .88 –.33** –.36** –.37** –.30** – career exploration 3.27 .86 –.01 –.03 –.12 –.12 .26** – career uncertainty 2.49 .85 .21** .41** .30** .32** –.20** .10 – ** p<.01 table 3. hierarchical regression model predicting financial strain financial strain model 1 model 2 model 3 gender (ref. male) .00 gender .04 gender .04 age .24*** age .08 age .06 monthly salary –.27*** monthly salary –.10 monthly salary –.08 – – quantitative job insecurity .13* quantitative job insecurity .13* – – qualitative job insecurity .48*** qualitative job insecurity .45* – – – – employability –.08 – – – – career exploration –.05 – – – – career uncertainty .08 r2 .13 r2 .40 r2 .42 ∆r2 – ∆r2 .27*** ∆r2 .02 f(3;201)=9.58*** f(5;199)=26.83*** f(8;196)=17.35*** note: results are based on standardized (beta) coefficients * p<.05, ** p<.01, *** p<.001 33 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 23–45 p. table 4. hierarchical regression model predicting social strain social strain model 1 model 2 model 3 gender (ref. male) –.02 gender .02 gender .01 age .22** age .12 age .08 monthly salary –.15* monthly salary –.01 monthly salary .03 – – quantitative job insecurity .21** quantitative job insecurity .20** – – qualitative job insecurity .31*** qualitative job insecurity .24** – – – – employability –.10 – – – – career exploration –.04 – – – – career uncertainty .16* r2 .07 r2 .25 r2 .28 ∆r2 – ∆r2 .18*** ∆r2 .03* f(3; 201)=4.92** f(5; 199)=13.24*** f(8; 196)=9.60*** note: results are based on standardized (beta) coefficients * p < .05, ** p<.01, *** p<.001 according to the results, all predictor variables explain approximately 42% of variation in the outcome variable financial strain in the first model and approximately 28% of variation in the outcome variable social strain in the second model. in both cases, qualitative and quantitative job insecurity seem to be the strongest predictors. subsequently, a similar analysis was conducted in the split sample in order to test the role of organizational context. four subsamples were obtained by splitting the total sample according to the following parameters: public sector (n=115) vs. private sector (n=90); reported recent organizational change (n=105) vs. no recent organizational change reported (n=100). job insecurity and career factors were set as predictors of strain; background variables were not included, as they had shown to be significant in the first step only in the previous analyses. the results are provided in table 5 and table 6. the results revealed slightly different prediction patterns in the four subsamples suggesting the role of context in explaining the occurrence of financial and social strain. similarly to the previous analysis in the total 34 ieva urbanavičiūtė, dalia bagdžiūnienė, jurgita lazauskaitė-zabielskė, tinne vander elst, hans de witte sample, both qualitative and quantitative job insecurity are the strongest predictors, although it should be noted that they are not significant in all cases. table 5. predictors of financial strain in the split sample predictors subsample public sector private sector recent organizational change – yes recent organizational change – no quantitative job insecurity .17 .20* .28** –.03 qualitative job insecurity .42*** .53*** .33** .62*** employability –.10 –.02 –.17 –.10 career exploration .09 –.23** –.04 –.12 career uncertainty .10 .11 .13 .02 r2 .39 .47 .43 .44 f value f(5;109)=13.74*** f(5;84)=15.10*** f(5;99)=14.66*** f(5;94)=14.89*** note: outcome variable: financial strain; results are based on standardized (beta) coefficients * p<.05, ** p<.01, *** p<.001 table 6. predictors of social strain in the split sample predictors subsample public sector private sector recent organizational change – yes recent organizational change – no quantitative job insecurity .31** .10 .32** .06 qualitative job insecurity .24* .25* .35** .15 employability –.10 –.11 .05 –.24* career exploration –.05 –.10 –.07 –.12 career uncertainty .10 .23* –.01 .34*** r2 .34 .23 .33 .36 f value f(5;109)=11.11*** f(5;84)=5.07*** f(5;99)=9.53*** f(5;94)=10.57*** note: outcome variable: social strain; results are based on standardized (beta) coefficients * p<.05, ** p<.01, *** p<.001 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 23–45 p. one of the striking findings is that quantitative job insecurity seems to be as important as qualitative job insecurity in the public sector, when predicting social strain. however, especially organizational change seems to change the impact of job insecurity. quantitative and qualitative job insecurity seem to be equally important in predicting strain when there have been recent organizational changes. when no such changes occurred, both kinds of insecurity are unrelated to social strain, whereas only qualitative job insecurity affects financial strain. in order to better explore the role of career variables, the moderator analysis was carried out separately in all four subsamples. it allows the detection of interaction effects between job insecurity and career variables when predicting financial/social strain. as the analysis is carried out in the split sample, it enables the evaluation of the role of sector and organizational change as well. in the moderator analyses, qualitative and quantitative job insecurity were set as main predictors of financial or social strain. career variables were, in turn, set as moderators (one at a time, the rest of the variables including as covariates in the model). to avoid multicollinearity, both interaction variables were centred. according to the results, a few interactions were significant. two significant interactions were obtained in the private sector subsample, two in the subsample with reported organizational change, and two in the subsample with no organizational change reported. no significant interactions between job insecurity and career variables were obtained in the public sector subsample. the results of the statistically significant interactions are summarised in table 7. table 7. o ver view of the significant interactions between job insecurity and career variables in predicting financial and social strain subsample main predictor moderator outcome model statistics private sector quantitative job insecurity employability social strain r2=.28 f(6;83)=5.33, p=.000 private sector qualitative job insecurity career uncertainty social strain r2=.29 f(6;83)=5.54, p=.000 organizational change – yes qualitative job insecurity career exploration financial strain r2=.45 f(6;98)=13.40, p=.000 organizational change – yes qualitative job insecurity employability social strain r2=.36 f(6;98)=9.04, p=.000 organizational change – no qualitative job insecurity career uncertainty financial strain r2=.48 f(6;93)=14.02, p=.000 organizational change – no quantitative job insecurity employability social strain r2=.43 f(6;98)=11.67, p=.000 36 ieva urbanavičiūtė, dalia bagdžiūnienė, jurgita lazauskaitė-zabielskė, tinne vander elst, hans de witte figures 2 to 7 illustrate conditional job insecurity effects on financial/ social strain under different values of the moderator. the solid lines show the link between job insecurity and strain under low values of the moderator (1sd below mean), whereas the dotted lines illustrate the same link when values of the moderating variable are high (1sd above mean). figures 2 and 3 show the results that were obtained in the private sector subsample: while employability buffered the positive relationship between quantitative job insecurity and social strain, qualitative job insecurity was related to higher levels of social strain when employees experienced more career uncertainty. figure 2. interaction between quantitative job insecurity and employability predicting social strain in private sector subsample figure 2. interaction between quantitative job insecurity and employability so ci al s tr ai n 5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 low empoyability high empoyability low quantitative ji high quantitative ji figure 3. interaction between qualitative job insecurity and career uncertainty predicting social strain in private sector subsample so ci al s tr ai n 5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 low career uncertainty high career uncertainty low qualitative ji high qualitative ji figure 3. interaction between qualitative job insecurity and career uncer tainty predicting social strain in private sector subsample figure 3. interaction between qualitative job insecurity and career uncertainty predicting social strain in private sector subsample 37 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 23–45 p. figure 4. interaction between qualitative job insecurity and career exploration fi n an ci al s tr ai n 5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 low career exploration high career exploration low qualitative ji high qualitative ji figure 4. interaction between qualitative job insecurity and career exploration predicting financial strain in repor ted organizational change subsample figures 4 and 5 show the moderating effects between job insecurity and career variables in the subsample with reported organizational change. these figures demonstrate that career exploration mitigates the relationship between qualitative job insecurity and financial strain. employability was, however, found to increase the relationship between qualitative job insecurity and social strain. figure 5. interaction between qualitative job insecurity and employability predicting social strain in reported organizational change subsample so ci al s tr ai n 5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 low employability high employability low qualitative ji high qualitative ji figure 5. interaction between qualitative job insecurity and employability predicting social strain in repor ted organizational change subsample furthermore, figures 6 and 7 illustrate the moderation results obtained in the subsample with no reported organizational change: unexpectedly, the relationship between qualitative job insecurity and 38 ieva urbanavičiūtė, dalia bagdžiūnienė, jurgita lazauskaitė-zabielskė, tinne vander elst, hans de witte financial strain was stronger when employees experienced lower levels of career uncertainty. furthermore, employability buffered the relationship between quantitative job insecurity and social strain. these results seem to suggest that employability is important in the job insecuritysocial strain relationship, whereas career exploration and career uncertainty seem to act as moderators of the relationship of job insecurity and financial strain (with one exception). figure 6. interaction between qualitative job insecurity and career uncertainty predicting financial strain in subsample of no organizational change fi n an ci al s tr ai n 5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 low empoyability high empoyability low qualitative ji high qualitative ji figure 6. interaction between qualitative job insecurity and career uncer tainty predicting financial strain in subsample of no organizational change figure 7. interaction between quantitative job insecurity and employability predicting social strain in subsample of no organizational change so ci al s tr ai n 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 low qualitative ji high qualitative ji figure 7. interaction between quantitative job insecurity and employability predicting social strain in subsample of no organizational change 5 4.5 4 3.5 low career uncertainty high career uncertainty 39 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 23–45 p. discussion the results of this study allow for the exploration of financial and social strain as the outcomes of job insecurity. the first hypothesis suggesting the link between job insecurity and strain was confirmed, as both social and financial strain are quite well predicted by perceived level of job insecurity. however, the results are more consistent when financial strain is set as an outcome (in this case, job insecurity is often the only significant predictor). these results may suggest that perceived threat of losing the job or its valued features affects the anticipated fulfil ment of manifest work functions first, and probably more strongly, compared to latent work functions. in the research literature, the role of manifest and latent work functions is understood and interpreted differently. some studies underline the importance of latent functions (e.g., paul et al., 2009; selenko et al., 2011) by linking their (un)fulfilment to unemployment related stress. others argue that the loss of both latent and manifest work benefits might be treated as a serious stressor causing threat to the well-being (hoare & machin, 2009). others, yet, emphasize the role of manifest work functions and their accompanying benefits – for example, lim and sgn (2006) have found a positive link between job insecurity and what they called ‘money anxiety’. unfortunately, a wider comparison of our own and similar studies is quite complicated due to different methodologies and different definitions of stressor variables that were measured. another point, which turned out to be worth attention in this study, is the distinction between quantitative and qualitative job insecurity. at the measurement level, many studies do not distinguish between the two and measure an aggregate indicator of job insecurity. our results, however, have revealed slightly different results regarding their relationship with social and financial strain. as argued by de witte et al. (2010), both quantitative and qualitative job insecurity can lead to negative outcomes, and the strength of their negative effect depends on the outcome under consideration. focusing on the benefits that come with employment, quantitative job insecurity would be expected to have a stronger negative effect. however, based on our results, qualitative job insecurity was found to be a better predictor of social and financial strain. a possible explanation of this lies in the source(s) of insecurity. 40 ieva urbanavičiūtė, dalia bagdžiūnienė, jurgita lazauskaitė-zabielskė, tinne vander elst, hans de witte although quantitative job insecurity is defined as more threatening, its relevance is rather dependent upon external conditions (i.e. upon an objective threat to lose one’s job); therefore, it seems to be the context that ‘determines’ the impact of job insecurity. a subsequent question of this study concerns the moderating role of career variables. preliminary results are in line with earlier arguments (e.g., berntson et al., 2006; blustein, 1997; zikic & klehe, 2006; orndorff & herr, 1996) about the mitigating effect of such variables as employability and career exploration, and the exacerbating effect of career uncertainty. on the other hand, the second hypothesis cannot be fully confirmed as only a few significant interactions were obtained and the moderator analysis has posed many questions. employability taken as an example, the results are rather contradictory. in the private sector or when employees report no organizational change, low employability seems to strengthen the link between job insecurity and social strain. these results imply the deteriorating role of low employability (and the mitigating effect of high employability in reverse) and are consistent with findings obtained in similar studies (e.g., silla et al., 2009). however, in case of ongoing organizational change, namely high employability is related to significantly stronger link between qualitative job insecurity and social strain. these results may be interpreted in several ways. first, they can be explained by the extent of subjective situational control: it seems that ongoing change within the organization creates such a situation that cannot be perceived as controllable and, in this way, is restricting for those who demonstrate higher levels of employability. second, high employability is more or less associated with ranking oneself well as a professional. it is, therefore, possible that anticipated change in the workplace is associated with greater threat to one’s status. finally, one may not reject the idea that employability should be treated as a direct antecedent of job insecurity and not as a moderator of its effects. similar interpretations apply to other career variables as well. for example, career exploration has shown to be a direct predictor of lower financial strain (in the private sector subsample). however, the ongoing organizational change possibly creates such a situation that restricts career opportunities; therefore, high career exploration seems to bring a reverse effect. 41 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 23–45 p. interesting effects were obtained when analysing the interaction between qualitative job insecurity and career uncertainty. first, under high career uncertainty, qualitative job insecurity was found to be significantly related to increased social strain (in the private sector subsample). these results are very well interpreted in the context of the career adaptability paradigm (savickas, 1997; brown et al., 2012). career uncertainty reflects lack of belief in being able to plan one’s career effectively; therefore, it is not surprising that it ‘strengthens’ the job insecurity effect. on the other hand, in certain cases, the insecurity-strain relationship is stronger when career uncertainty is low, suggesting that taking charge of one’s career might evoke even stronger reactions to anticipated change in the workplace. finally, this study has confirmed the third hypothesis drawing attention to contextual factors that may also affect the way in which job insecurity is perceived and responded to. as expected, organizational factors, such as ongoing change and sector, do play a role as job insecurity effects were quite different across different subsamples. conclusion to sum up, this study emphasizes the importance of understanding how personal variables (i.e. career attitudes and beliefs) change the subjective experience of job insecurity in objectively different contexts. our preliminary findings have revealed that, in specific cases, career variables might act as moderators between job insecurity and financial or social strain, therefore, determining the extent of experienced strain. it is important to note that these variables are not necessarily the ‘mitigators’ of job insecurity: according to our results, their role is determined by contextual factors and might change from context to context. limitations the results obtained in this study suggest an under-explored research perspective; however, only a few significant interactions were obtained indicating a need for inclusion of additional personal or contextual factors that would have more explanatory power. it has to be noted as well that due to a rather small sample, the outcomes of this study should be interpreted with care, particularly when interpreting the results in the separate subsamples. 42 ieva urbanavičiūtė, dalia bagdžiūnienė, jurgita lazauskaitė-zabielskė, tinne vander elst, hans de witte acknowledgements the study was funded by a grant (no. mip-015/2012) from the research council of lithuania. references ashford, s. j., lee, c., & bobko, p. 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(2006). job loss as a blessing in disguise: the role of career exploration and career planning in predicting reemployment quality. journal of vocational behavior, 69 (3), 391–409. 45 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 2015, 16, 23–45 p. k ar jeros veiksnių svarba kokybinio ir kiekybinio nesaugumo darbe r aišk ai skirtingame organiz acijos kontekste ieva urbanavičiūtė, dalia b agdžiūnienė, jurgita lazauskaitė -zabielskė vilniaus universitetas, vilnius, lietuva tinne vander elst leveno katalikiškasis universitetas, belgija hans d e witte leveno katalikiškasis universitetas, belgija, šiaurės vakarų universitetas, pietų afrika santrauka. tyrimo problema. šiame straipsnyje nagrinėjami psichologinio nesaugumo darbe ypatumai, t. y. siekiama įvertinti karjeros veiksnių (įsidarbinamumo, domėjimosi savo karjeros galimybėmis ir netikrumo dėl karjeros) reikšmę kokybinio ir kiekybinio nesaugumo kontekste. straipsnyje pateiktas tyrimas, kuriame nagrinėjama, kaip minėti karjeros veiksniai siejasi su darbuotojų nerimu dėl finansinės ir socialinės padėties ateityje, kuris laikomas tiesioginiu darbuotojų atsaku į patiriamą nesaugumą darbe. taip pat tyrime atsižvelgiama į objektyvius konteksto veiksnius (organizacijoje vykstančius pokyčius ir sektorių), kurie, manoma, turi nemažai reikšmės psichologinio nesaugumo darbe raiškai. metodika. tyrimas atliktas internetinės apklausos būdu. jame dalyvavo 205 įvairių lietuvos organizacijų darbuotojai. jie pildė klausimyną, matuojantį nesaugumą darbe, karjeros veiksnius ir nerimą dėl finansinės / socialinės padėties ateityje. duomenų analizė buvo atlikta ir pilnoje imtyje, ir ją išskaidžius pagal parametrus, atspindinčius organizacijos kontekstą (organizacijoje pokyčiai vyksta, organizacijoje pokyčių nėra; organizacija priklauso privačiajam, viešajam sektoriui). rezultatai ir išvados. hierarchinės regresijos analizė parodė, kad kokybinis ir kiekybinis nesaugumas darbe tiesiogiai susijęs su nerimu dėl būsimos finansinės / socialinės pa dėties. kita vertus, nustatytas skirtumas tarp kokybinio ir kiekybinio nesaugumo (pastarasis yra kiek stipresnis prognostinis veiksnys, ypač prognozuojant nerimą dėl būsimos finansinės padėties). moderacinė analizė atskleidė, kad keletu atvejų karjeros veiksniai moderuoja ryšį tarp kokybinio / kiekybinio nesaugumo darbe ir nerimo dėl būsimos finansinės / socialinės padėties. taip pat nustatyta, kad organizacijoje vykstantys pokyčiai bei sektorius, kuriam organizacija priklauso, iš dalies determinuoja nesaugumo darbe raišką. apibendrinus tyrimo rezultatus, atkreipiamas dėmesys į in dividualių karjeros veiksnių reikšmę subjektyviam nesaugumo darbe suvokimui skirtingomis organizacinėmis aplinkybėmis. pagrindiniai žodžiai: psichologinis nesaugumas darbe, nerimas dėl ateities, įsidarbinamumas, karjeros veiksniai. received: december 16, 2013 accepted: december16, 2014 2019_international journal of psychology 2019_23_book 1.indb scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2019 / 23 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.23.8 neuropsychological and/or psychological factors of children’s traumatic behavior under the age of 10 years ekaterina zakharchuk1, evgeniy dotsenko, tamara khvesko university of tyumen, russian federation julia andrejeva klaipėda university, lithuania abstract. many children become disabled during their entire lives (alisic et al., 2014; cohen, 2009; draper, 2007). the historic un convention on the rights of the child, ratified by almost all the governments of the world, states that all children have the right to a safe environment and to protection from injury. the traumatic situation has several psychological factors contributing to the injury and to the characteristic consequences (shi, 2015). these factors relate to the children’s living conditions and social situations in which children participate (bonander, 2017; gregorovski, 2013; loeb et al., 2011). the aim of the research is to reveal micro-social factors which lead to re-injuries in children aged 5–10: peculiarities of (pseudo) hyperactivity disorders, interaction between adults who are taking care of the children, daily traditions in families of injured children. research methods and participants. the research sample (n=350) was drawn from the general population in russia. the youngest participant was 5 years old and the oldest was 10. research was conducted in tyumen, russia, regional clinical hospitals, schools, and kindergartens in 2016–2019. conclusions. true hyperactivity disorders were revealed in no more than 5% of children. thus, here we deal with pseudo-hyperactivity. to reduce the risk of injury in children it is necessary to differentiate between two types of pathogenic factors influencing trauma: minimal brain dysfunction in children (biological) and parental behavior (social). keywords: re-traumatization, children’s injuries, interdisciplinary interaction, psychological factors, family circumstances. 1 contacts for correspondence: ekaterina zakharchuk, 9 may st., 5, tyumen, 625007, russia. +7922483201, katgor@yandex.ru. 153 ekaterina zakharchuk, evgeniy dotsenko, tamara khvesko, julia andrejeva 154 introduc tion according to the world health organization’s forecast, mortality rates will increase globally by 2030 (mathers, 2008). according to the world report on child injury prevention, millions of children need medical care in hospitals every year due to non-fatal injuries (world health organization, 2008). some authors suggest that only a holistic (biopsychosocial) perspective on the understanding of health can reduce mortality (von kanel, 2008). the scientists should develop practical predictors of psychological outcomes of child traumas to prevent re-traumatization in children. the limited research to date assessing risk for ongoing distress after trauma exposure has identified some indicators of risk but no reliable way to gauge whether a given family’s child will recover on his or her own or will require some intervention. more research is needed in this area, including the development of well-validated risk assessment tools that can be feasibly implemented in diverse settings and for diverse traumatic events and that will help identify the high-risk children and who are in need of clinical services (dehon, 2006; sumner, 2015). if a child is active, emotional, difficult to control, naughty, this does not prevent him/her from developing within the framework of the norm and becoming a full member of society (he/ she knows how to communicate with peers, make friends, etc.), in this case his/her increased activity is not connected with a medical diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (adhd). a simple way to distinguish attention deficit hyperactivity disorder from a child with increased mobility is to analyze the child’s behavior in different situations. often a child behaves badly close to their parents – the child is overactive and emotional, naughty and hysterical. but, according to the reviews of the teachers of the kindergarten or nanny, the child is quite calm and stable (bonander, 2016). this difference in the behavior of the child is a signal for parents: it is they who must adjust their behavior in relation to this child. with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (adhd), the child behaves the same under different conditions: in any place, in any company, under any circumstances, he/she exhibits the main symptoms (shaw, 2011; bonander, 2016). when a child has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, it cannot be collective, it cannot adequately respond to attempts to communicate with it, it is difficult for it to understand communication, it cannot learn, etc. even with careful observation of the child, the parent or the guardian will not be able to determine if he/she is really sick. (faraone, 1996). 2019, 23, 153–164 p.neuropsychological and/or psychological factors of children’s traumatic behavior under the age of 10 years 155 attention deficit hyperactivity disorder can be correctly determined only by a child psychiatrist or child psychologist (morein-zamir, 2008). we should know what kind of treatment is necessary to be effective for children and how to work with parents. we need to determine whether commonly-used treatment and intervention approaches, such as supportive therapy and play therapy, are effective and, if so, for whom. similarly, the use of medication to address trauma-related symptoms and reactions in trauma-exposed youth is very poorly understood. progress in these areas would enable us to add more evidence-based treatments to our repertoire. we also need intervention development that targets riskenhancing and buffering influences on children’s trauma reactions. as interventions are developed and evaluated, we need to understand how to match the type, intensity, and duration of the treatment to the needs of children and families over time. finally, we need to understand whether current treatments can be used with children and families across diverse types of trauma, diverse developmental levels, and in diverse environments and cultural contexts, or whether they need adaptation. two particular gaps in intervention are noteworthy. first, we have almost no information on the effectiveness of interventions for the early or acute phase of trauma recovery. second, there are gaps in our treatments for those exposed to pervasive, widespread, or chronic trauma (shi, 2015). finally, we need to determine how to disseminate the evidencebased treatments we already have so that they are readily accessible to mental health professionals across the country. practical, flexible, and feasible tools that professionals can use to augment their current practice are greatly needed (worrell, 2006). a significant number of children are exposed to traumatic life events. a traumatic event is one that threatens injury, death, or the physical integrity of self or others and also causes horror, terror, or helplessness at the time it occurs. traumatic events include sexual abuse, physical abuse, domestic violence, community and school violence, medical trauma, motor vehicle accidents, acts of terrorism, natural and human-made disasters, suicides, and other traumatic losses. in community samples, more than two thirds of children report experiencing a traumatic event by age 16. however, estimates of trauma exposure rates and subsequent psychological sequelae among children and youth have varied depending on the type of sample, type of measure, informant source, and other factors. ekaterina zakharchuk, evgeniy dotsenko, tamara khvesko, julia andrejeva 156 potentially traumatic events affect large numbers of children. in 2006, 7.9 million u.s. children received emergency medical care for unintentional injuries (from motor vehicle crashes, falls, fires, dog bites, near drowning, etc.), and more than 400,000 for injuries sustained due to violence. race and ethnicity, poverty status, and gender affect children’s risk of exposure to trauma. for example, significantly more boys than girls are exposed to traumatic events in the context of community violence, and serious injury disproportionately affects boys, youths living in poverty, and native american youths. it is more common than not for children and adolescents to be exposed to more than a single traumatic event. children exposed to chronic and pervasive trauma are especially vulnerable to the impact of re-traumatization. when children and families come to the attention of helping professionals, the identified trauma may not be the one that is most distressing to the child. for this reason, gathering a thorough, detailed history of trauma exposure is essential (sumner, 2015). after exposure to a trauma distress is almost universal. children vary in the nature of their responses to traumatic experiences. the reactions of individual may be influenced by their developmental level, cultural factors, previous trauma exposure, available resources, and preexisting child and family problems. however, nearly all children and adolescents express some kind of distress or behavioral change in the acute phase of recovery from a traumatic event. not all short-term responses to trauma are problematic, and some behavior changes may reflect adaptive attempts to cope with a difficult or challenging experience. many of the reactions displayed by children and adolescents who have been exposed to traumatic events are similar or identical to behaviors that mental health professionals see on a daily basis in their practice. these include the development of new fears, separation anxiety (particularly in young children), sleep disturbance, nightmares, sadness, loss of interest in normal activities, reduced concentration, decline in schoolwork, anger, somatic complaints, and irritability. functioning in the family, peer group, or school may be impaired as a result of such symptoms. therefore, when working with children who may display these types of reactions, the clinician must make a careful assessment of possible exposure to trauma (ylvisaker et al., 2005). in addition to injury characteristics, environmental factors have been considered. when injury severity, family psychiatric history, socioeconomic status, and family 2019, 23, 153–164 p.neuropsychological and/or psychological factors of children’s traumatic behavior under the age of 10 years 157 functioning were examined simultaneously, only family functioning was significantly associated with adhd symptoms, with poor family functioning associated with more severe adhd symptoms (megan e., narad, 2018). me thods and participants participants: a total of 350 people, including 50 children with repeated (≥ 2) injuries (experimental group), 50 children with one injury (comparison group), 50 children without injuries (control). the average age of the participants was 6.8 years (74.2 percent of boys and 25.8 percent of girls).the youngest participant was 5 years old, and the oldest was 10 years old. of the 200 adults (aged 25–75 years), these were parents, grandparents, guardians and teachers. the study was conducted in tyumen, russia, in the regional clinical hospital, in schools and kindergartens. children and adults participated in interviews and testing from 2016 to 2019. the research program was supported by the russian foundation for basic research, project number 19-31-27001. instruments of the research: standard neuropsychological tests a. v. semenovich, detection hyperactivity criteria according to p. baker and m. alvord’s tests, b. s. volkova and n. v. volkov’s questionnaire, psychological portrait of a parent/teacher by g. v. rezapkina tests. and author’s techniques: standardized interviews: “how do i see my child in our family”, “subjective evaluation of parents of their type of education”. for the convenience of statistical analysis, encoded responses were used in accordance with the methods used. in the methodology “subjective assessment by parents of their type of upbringing”, parents evaluate on a scale from 0 to 7 points, which corresponds to their relationship with the child. to assess risk factors in accordance with the parenting style, we used the logic described in the methodology “analysis of family relationships” (eidemiller and justickis, 2008). the evaluation method is a subjective scale, as in the dembo-rubinstein method (prikhozhan, 1988). in most cases we interviewed with parents, doctors, psychologists, educators. projective tests for children: “drawing a nonexistent animal” by dukarevich, “family sociogram” by eidemiller (rajgorodskij, 2000; eidemiller, 2008). projective methods for children made it possible to determine (according to the author’s norms of interpretation for each method) the presence of signs in the child. those characteristics that ekaterina zakharchuk, evgeniy dotsenko, tamara khvesko, julia andrejeva 158 were identified during data processing were encoded 1, their absence was designated 0. measured parameters. in children: the total number of injuries, activity (physical), psycho-emotional state, individual characteristic features, of nervous systems assessment, self-confidence, anxiety, hostility, interests, fears, aggression, decision-making, the ability to assess potentially dangerous situations. in adults: psycho-emotional state, parent’s style of upbringing, family relationships, ability to understand children, priority values, level of subjective control, affection, parent’s attitude to the child’s injuries. the results the statistical significance of the differences between the three groups of children (experimental group, comparison group, control) was evaluated. in accordance with the purpose of the article, several scales were selected that, when processing the results, showed the presence of statistically significant differences (see table 1). the data obtained during the study were processed using the software system statistica 10. statistical significance was set at p<0.05 (mann-whitney u-test). table 1. characteristics of children from the examined groups (mean±standard deviation). characteristic method children groups 1.with re-injuries (n=50) 2.with one injury (n=50) 3.without injuries (n=50) 1. parental hyperprotection subjective evaluation of parents of their type of education 5.82±0.47 4.62±0.621 3.64±0.951 2. children’s needs subjective evaluation of parents of their type of education 3.36±0.16 4.24±0.291 5.14±0.211 3. duties in children subjective evaluation of parents of their type of education 3.42±0.22 4.33±0.481 5.36±0.341 2019, 23, 153–164 p.neuropsychological and/or psychological factors of children’s traumatic behavior under the age of 10 years 159 characteristic method children groups 1.with re-injuries (n=50) 2.with one injury (n=50) 3.without injuries (n=50) 4. requirements to the child subjective evaluation of parents of their type of education 2.94±0.34 4.48±0.281 5.38±0.371 5. sanctions toward a child for misconduct subjective evaluation of parents of their type of education 5.33±0.21 4.52±0.351 3.95±0.291 6. child аnxiety kinetic drawing of his family 0.50±0.08 0.30±0.021 0.25±0.031 7. feeling of inferiority in the family drawing a nonexistent animal 0.30±0.06 0.20±0.041 0.15±0.021 8. emotional rejection family sociogram 0.61±0.11 0.42±0.081 0.25±0.111 for analysis, we divided the characteristics under discussion into 2 groups: 1 group (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) and 2 group (6, 7, 8). in group 1, we included characteristics that determine the state of relations with parents. obviously, there is a careless attitude of parents to the children who made up the experimental group. in children (experimental group) there is a noticeable number of states of destabilization and personality dysfunction. parents protect their children (1) (experimental group) but needs and requirements are not met (2), responsibilities and requirements are not high (3.4). please note that in children with 1 injury, the values are intermediate. this indicates serious contradictions in relations with parents in the group of children (experimental group). in group 2, we included characteristics of the personal state of children. this can be described as disorientation and stress. noted in the experimental group of children were high anxiety in the child, a feeling of emotional rejection, as well as a feeling of inferiority arising in these children. under these conditions, children find themselves in a state of conflicting imbalance. there was both increased activity (hyperactivity) and a chronic desire to remove the contradiction given by parents (high search activity). thus, table 1 cont. ekaterina zakharchuk, evgeniy dotsenko, tamara khvesko, julia andrejeva 160 we are not talking about diseases, but about the state of increased motor activity (pseudo-hyperactivity) in children of the experimental group. discussion the true hyperactivity disorder was revealed in no more than 5–7% of children, whom their parents and sometimes pediatricians consider hyperactive. thus, mainly we deal with pseudo-hyperactivity, so to reduce the risk of injury it is necessary to differentiate between two types of pathogenic factors: minimal brain dysfunction (biological) and parental behavior (social) (eidemiller and justickis, 2008; shaw et al., 2011; jacobson et al., 2018). in more than 90% of cases, pathogenic factors were revealed in the parent-child relationship. unlike children with false hyperactivity, children with true hyperactivity disorder have some kind of mental dysfunction as a rule. behavioral disorders in these children are connected with poor movement, coordination, insufficient fine motor skills, impaired mutual movement coordination and moderate ataxia, emotional lability, some developmental delay, difficulties in perception and assimilation of educational material, speech defects, mild neurological disorders (draper and ponsford, 2007; faraone et al., 1996). the pathogenesis of hyperactivity disorder is probably based on adequate information processing leading to the fact that various visual, sound, and emotional stimuli become excessive for the child, causing anxiety, irritation and aggressiveness. malfunctions of the activating function of the reticular formation determine secondary disorders of the neurotransmission metabolism of the brain. more often than in the general pediatric population, speech disorders are observed in truly hyperactive children (jacobson et al., 2018). in our research, traumatic behavior refers to behavior of any participants in a situation that increases the risk of a child to be injured. participants in a traumatic situation are not only the children themselves but their parents or other people involved in contact with children in different social institutions (kindergarten, school etc.) (draper et al., 2007; bonander et al., 2016). a child tries to cope with both biological (less often) and social (mainly) factors by means of his activity. the more problems the child faces, the more “hyper” is manifested in its activity. parents do not realize, that the traumatic behavior of their children is mainly caused by intra-family 2019, 23, 153–164 p.neuropsychological and/or psychological factors of children’s traumatic behavior under the age of 10 years 161 factors (micro-social circumstance) such as daily routine, parent’s relationship style with family members, individual characteristics of children etc. parents think the reasons for the high level of injuries by the children [are found] in their high motor activity, anxiety and curiosity, imperfect motor skills and coordination of movements, as well as in reduced sense of danger (dehon, 2006). doctors encounter unconscious resistance from family members who avoid to recognize the problem as systemic, and to accept responsibility for the difficulties in the family, and for the child injury as well. our psychological research reveals that relationships between family members may be causes for re-injuries in children. conclusions 1. parental disorganization of the living space of their children and irresponsible attitude to the injuries of their children: there is disorganized daily routine, uncertainty of the rules and daily requirements, connivance in behavior and unexpectedly undue punishments. the vagueness of requirements and inconsistency of parents encourage the child to strengthen his/her daily activities, trying to find the missing supports. the increased activity of the child is interpreted by mistake as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (adhd). 2. the effect on a child of secondary benefits from a primary unintentional injury: as a result, a stable semantic pattern is formed, which finds its behavioral expression in the high activity and risk of the child. that creates the prerequisites or implicit readiness for re-traumatizing of the child and an unconscious perception that any injury or illness is good. thanks to a re-injury, the child achieves some secondary benefits: structured daily life (the daily routine is organized by parents, taking into account the implementation of all necessary medical procedures); parents take into account the needs of the ill child, partly reducing requirements for him/her; parents and child get closer to each other emotionally and physically (parents take care of him/her during the difficult period of life). as a result, every injury allows the child to compensate the absence of attention of parents, at least partly. 3. when working with patients and families with a history of re-injures in children, the assessment of family functioning, the identification ekaterina zakharchuk, evgeniy dotsenko, tamara khvesko, julia andrejeva 162 of families at risk and the development of programs to promote healthy family functioning to achieve positive results should be integrated into clinical practice. this information can also be useful before a traumatic event, and thus can be used in a preventative format. it is important for adults to know that children understand and respond to traumatic events based on their developmental level. parental expectations need to be consistent with what is typical for their child’s age. if the individuals in a child’s support system understand his or her behavior and distress as normal reactions to abnormal events, they can better support the child during the recovery period. references alisic, e., zalta, a. k., van wesel, f., larsen, s. e., hafstad, g. s., hassanpour, k. & smid, g. e. 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(2006). disgarmonichnoe razvitie detej i podrostkov: klinicheskij i social’nyj aspect [disharmonious development of children and adolescents: a clinical and social aspect]. krasnoyarsk. 249 p. loeb, j., stettler, e. m., gavila, t., stein, a. & chinitz, s. (2011). the child behavior checklist ptsd scale: screening for ptsd in young children with high exposure to trauma. journal of traumatic stress, 24(4), 430–434. morein-zamir, s., hommersen, p., johnston, c., & kingstone, a. (2008). novel measures of response performance and inhibition in children with adhd. journal of abnormal child psychology, 36, 1199–1210. max, j. e., schachar, r. j., levin, h. s. et al. (2005.) predictors of secondary attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder in children and adolescents 6 to 24 months after traumatic brain injury. j. am. acad. child adolesc. psychiatry, 44(10), 1041–1049. narad, m. e., kennelly, m., zhang, n., wade, s. l., yeates, k. o., taylor, h. g., epstein, j. n., & kurowski, b. g. 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(2016). the effects of stress and social support on externalizing behaviors among children in military families. deviant behavior, 37(3), 246–262. shaw, p., gilliam, m., liverpool, m. et al. (2011). cortical development in typically developing children with symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity: support for a dimensional view of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. am. j. psychiatry, 168(2), 143–51. shi, x., shi, j., wheeler, k. k., stallones, l., ameratunga, s., shakespeare, t., ... & xiang, h. (2015). unintentional injuries in children with disabilities: a systematic review and meta-analysis. injury epidemiology, 2(1), 21. von kanel, r. (2008). psychological distress and cardiovascular risk. journal of the american college of cardiology, 52(25), 2163. world health organization. (2008). world report on child injury prevention. http:// www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/child/injury/world_report/en/ ekaterina zakharchuk, evgeniy dotsenko, tamara khvesko, julia andrejeva 164 worrell, s. s., koepsell, t. d., sabath, d. r., gentilello, l. m., mock c. n., & nathens a. b. (2006). the risk of re-injury in relation to time since first injury: a retrospective population-based study. j. trauma. 60 (2), 379–384. jacobson, l. a., crocetti, d., dirlikov, b., slifer, k., denckla, m. b., mostofsky, s. h., & mahone, e. m. (2018). anomalous brain development is evident in preschoolers with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. journal of the international neuropsychological society, 24(6), 531–539. vaikų iki 10 m. tr aumatinio elgesio neuropsichologiniai ir psichologiniai ypatumai ekaterina zakharchuk , evgeniy d otsenko, tamara khvesko university of tyumen, russian federation julija andrejeva klaipėdos universitetas, lietuva santrauka. yra daug vaikų, kurie gyvenime tampa neįgalūs (alisic et al., 2014; cohen, 2009; draper, 2007). istorinėje vaikų teisių apsaugos konvencijoje, kurią ratifikavo beveik visos pasaulio vyriausybės, teigiama, jog kiekvienas vaikas turi teisę į saugią aplinką ir apsaugą nuo traumų. trauminė situacija ir jos pasekmės susijusios su įvairiais psichologiniais faktoriais (shi, 2015), kurie siejami su vaiko aplinka ir socialine situacija, kurioje vaikas dalyvauja (bonander, 2017; gregorovski, 2013; loeb et al., 2011). tyrimo tikslas – atskleisti mikrosocialinius faktorius, kurie susiję su pakartotina 5–10 metų vaikų trauma: (pseudo) hiperaktyvumo susirgimų ypatumus, sąveiką tarp suaugusiųjų, besirūpinančių vaikais, traumuotų vaikų šeimos kasdienius įpročius. tyrimo metodai ir dalyviai – tiriamieji (n=350; 74,2 proc. berniukų ir 25,8 proc. mergaičių) buvo atrinkti iš bendro rusijos gyventojų skaičiaus. jauniausias tyrimo dalyvis buvo 5 metų, vyriausias – 10 metų. tyrimas atliktas tiumenės (rusija) regioninėse klinikinėse ligoninėse, mokyklose, vaikų darželiuose 2016–2019 metais. išvados: tikro hiperaktyvumo sutrikimai buvo nustatyti daugiau negu 5 proc. vaikų. be to, pastebėta ir pseudohiperaktyvumo atvejų. kad būtų galima sumažinti vaikų traumų atvejų, būtina išskirti du patogeninius veiksnius, susijusius su traumomis: minimalią vaikų smegenų disfunkciją (biologinis) ir tėvų elgesį (socialinis). reikšminiai žodžiai: retraumatizacija, vaikų sužalojimai, tarpdisciplininė sąveika, psichologiniai veiksniai, šeimos aplinkybės. received: 2019-03-25 accepted: 2019-10-17 contents editorial note scientific publications chandra díaz, po hu, douglas r. tillman, david d. hof concepts influencing attitudes and beliefs toward mental health issues in a teacher education program kamonwan tangdhanakanond, teara archwamety teachers’ misconceptions and current performance in implementing student portfolio assessment in elementary schools in thailand andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė importance of length of studying and attitudes toward others for life satisfaction marija aušraitė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė the relationship between irrational relationship beliefs and conflictresolution strategies in young adulthood tadas vadvilavičius, aurelija stelmokienė development of scenarios for leadership psychology research to reveal the relationships between leaders’ dark triad traits and full range leadership styles laura alčiauskaitė, liuda šinkariova psychometric properties of the lithuanian version of the acceptance ofdisability scale revised (ads-r): pilot study christina l. chasek, judith a. nelson, rochelle cade, kristin page, bryan stare,george stoupas advocating for adolescent substance use recovery: an alternative model ekaterina zakharchuk, evgeniy dotsenko, tamara khvesko, julia andrejeva neuropsychological and/or psychological factors of children’s traumatic behavior under the age of 10 years information the 22nd international symposium in psychology at unk & vmu: abstracts contributors reviewers 2019 instructions for authors 139 1 address for correspondence: university of nebraska kearney; kearney, ne 68849, tel: 618660-4386, e-mail: vuph@unk.edu mokslo straipsniai issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.14.7 a snapshot of technology integration training in teacher education programs phu vu university of nebraska kearney, usa peter fadde southern illinois university carbondale, usa abstract. background and purpose. there is not a consensus on how teacher candidates in teacher training programs are prepared to teach with technology. while the national association of state boards of education (2012) held that the training of teachers “too often has not kept pace with advances in technology or new ways of learning” and that educators were not being prepared to use technology effectively in classroom, the american association of colleges for teacher education (2013) indicated that almost all of the teacher candidates are well prepared to integrate technology into their instruction. aim and method. this study took a snapshot of 83 teacher training programs in two states: illinois and nebraska to identify how their teacher training programs prepared their candidates to teach with technology. keywords: technology integration, pre-service teacher training, teacher education programs. introduction it has been generally accepted that technology integration in k-12 education is a necessity in the digital age (ertmer, 2005; hew & brush, 2007). therefore, teacher education programs must decide if and how to offer technology integration training. however, there is not a consensus on how teacher candidates in teacher education programs are prepared to teach with technology. while the national association of state boards of education (2012) held that the training of teachers “too often has not kept pace with advances in technology or new ways of learning” and 140 phu vu, peter fadde that educators were not being prepared to use technology effectively in classroom, the american association of colleges for teacher education (2013) indicated that almost all of the teacher candidates are well prepared to integrate technology into their instruction. in addition, as the second author’s home department initiated a restructuring of the teacher education program (tep), the question emerged of how other teacher education programs really address technology integration training, given the disagreement between the two reports by very prestigious professional associations. to that end, this study examined whether and how certified teps in two midwestern states, illinois and nebraska, include a technology integration course into their program by examining their 2013 teacher education program curricula. background the value of technology integration in public education cradler, mcnabb, freeman, and burchett (2002) note that the center for applied research in educational technology (caret) collected evaluation and research findings about how technology integration in classrooms significantly affected learners’ academic performance in relation to three main curricular goals: 1) higher-order thinking and problem solving skills; 2) high achievement in learning content areas, and 3) workforce preparation. other research has echoed what cradler et al. found. for instance, goldberg, russell, and cook (2003) reported that students who used computers when learning to write were not only more engaged and motivated in their writing, but also produced work that was of greater length and higher quality. this finding was especially significant at the secondary level. similarly, o’dwyer, russell, bebell, and tucker-seeley (2005) found positive impact of technology on students’ performances in english language. in their study, in which both prior achievement and socioeconomic status of 986 fourth graders were controlled, students who used technology at school more frequently to edit their papers were likely to have higher total english language test scores and higher writing scores on fourth grade test scores on the massachusetts comprehensive assessment system (mcas) english/language arts test. the role of technology integration training for teachers’ technology competences among the most decisive factors contributing to the success of technology integration in classrooms are the teachers (o’bannon & international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 141 2014, 14, 139–150 p. judge, 2004; sandholtz, 2001; sheingold, 1991; siegel, 1995; silverstein, frechtling, & miyoaka, 2000; sivin-kachala & bialo, 2000). however, the technology integration training of teachers has long been an issue. for example, a survey commissioned by the office of technology assessment revealed that more than half of teacher education graduates who participated in the survey indicated they were not prepared or poorly prepared to teach with technology (willis, austin, & willis, 1994). approximately 25% of teachers said that they were minimally prepared and the remainder rated themselves as prepared to a certain degrees. a more recent study by mccannon and crews (2000) revealed that technology integration training was often insufficient or nonexistent for in-service teachers. in addition, the technology training that was offered focused on showing pre-service teachers how to operate audio-visual equipment but not how to integrate technology into their teaching. the ceo forum on education (2001) reported a rise in teacher use of computers between 1998 and 2000, but only 33% of teachers surveyed felt they were either well or very well prepared to use technology within their classrooms. the majority of teachers (53%) felt somewhat prepared and 10% felt not at all prepared to use technology in their classrooms. in 2001, the national center for education statistics (nces) revealed that only 33% of teachers felt ready to use computer-related devices in their teaching, while even fewer (20%) felt well prepared to infuse technology into their instruction. although many of these studies are up to 25 years old, little seems to have changed as the latest findings from project tomorrow’s report in 2013 indicates that many pre-service teachers felt they were not well prepared to teach with technologies in classroom and that their technology training mainly focused on simple management tools. the question, then, is how teachers can be better prepared, as preservice teachers, to integrate technology into their teaching. a large body of literature confirms that technology integration training is a fundamental factor in teachers’ positive attitudes toward technology integration in their teaching and the desire to use technology in their classroom (becker, 2001; christensen, 2002; mccannon & crews, 2000; reynolds & morgan, 2001; u.s. department of education, 2005; yildirim, 2000). in her study, christensen (2002) concluded that technology integration training seems to strongly influence teachers’ attitudes toward technology use in the classroom and that training appears to promote meaningful use by teachers. in line with christensen’s conclusion, becker (2001) identified teachers’ own technical expertise 142 phu vu, peter fadde and professional experience in technology integration as being among the most influencing factors that determine whether teachers will effectively integrate technology into their teaching. approaches to technology integration training for in-service teachers according to zhao and bryant (2006), offering technology training for teachers was important, but selecting training types were even more important. zhao and bryant asserted that technology training that simply emphasized teaching basic computer skills was unlikely to result in the successful integration of technology in the curriculum. to successfully incorporate technology into the classroom, teachers needed to take intensive curriculum-based technology training that could get them beyond the attainment of basic computer skills to activities that instruct them how to seamlessly infuse technology into their teaching. carlson (2002) confirmed that providing teachers with technology integration training is the decisive factor for infusing technology into classrooms. however, according to carlson, the training should include the following three components: (1) initial training that prepares teachers to effectively make use of a variety of educational resources, (2) seminars, and short course in-service trainings that develop technology competen ces and how to integrate technologies into the classroom, and (3) ongoing pedagogical and technical support and assistance for in-service teachers in order to address their daily teaching responsibilities. teacher education programs’ primary role would seem to be delivering initial training on effective uses of technologies and resources. approaches to technology integration training for pre-service teachers teacher education programs are employing a variety of approaches to technology preparation for pre-service teachers. these approaches can be presented in different formats such as a stand-alone course, workshops, modeling, field-based, integration into teacher education coursework, collaborations among pre-service and in-service teachers, and a combination of all these strategies. according to kay (2006), research on the effectiveness of these approaches has not resulted in any convincing evidence, and there remains no accepted “best practice” for preparing teachers to use technology among educators and researchers. among those approaches, technology integration across teacher education coursework and a standalone course are two common international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 143 2014, 14, 139–150 p. approaches in teacher education programs. in the approach of technology integration across the curriculum, technology training is included or embedded into content area teaching of specific coursework. for instance, a mathematics instructor may integrate technologies into his or her mathematics lesson and model how to use those technologies so that pre-service teachers will learn not only about mathematics concepts but also how to use technologies to teach mathematics. many researchers have concluded that modeling the use of technologies as teaching and learning devices in colleges’ courses was among effective ways to help pre-service teachers understand the potential of technology in education and learn how to integrate tech nology into their classroom (howland & wedman, 2004; rosaen, hobson, & khan, 2003). however, one of the challenges to this approach, according to hall (2006), is that teacher education programs heavily rely on teacher educators’ technology readiness and their attitude toward the use of technology in education. to make this approach successful, faculty members in teacher education programs need to be technologycompetent and willing to integrate technology into their curriculum. however, the u. s. faculty survey (2012) revealed that, while professors are growing more comfortable using technology in their research and professional development, they are not as comfortable including technology in their teaching practices. there are numerous reasons why professors do not integrate techno logy into their teaching as much as into their research and professional development. wedman and diggs (2001) explained that the current reward system in u.s. higher education does not commonly recognize innovation in classroom instruction. in most promotion and tenurerelated decisions in the higher education system, changing instructional practices to model technology infusion in classroom only benefits faculty members if they have publications. to have an effective cross-curriculum approach teacher education programs need to 1) have techno logycompetent faculty members who are willing to incorporate techno logies into their curriculum and model how to use technologies in classroom; and 2) have a reward mechanism that encourages faculty members to use technologies in their teaching. another rationale behind infusion of technology into teacher education coursework is that many educators made an assumption that pre-service teachers who were in teacher education programs after the year 2000 would be more likely to be familiar with technology, and 144 phu vu, peter fadde therefore more willing and able to use technology in their teaching (hall, 2006). however, researchers showed that, although those preservice teachers who were born and are living in the digital age are more comfortable with technologies, they are not necessarily more willing to integrate them into their teaching practices (russell, bebell, o’dwyer, & o’connor, 2003). pre-service teachers need to learn how to use and integrate technologies into their teaching in a systematic way because they cannot automatically envision their everyday technology tools as necessary to their classroom instruction (keren-kolb & fishman, 2006). there seem to be forces, both from the direction of teacher educators’ limited incentives and from the direction of pre-service teachers’ limited knowledge, that work against the effectiveness of cross-curriculum approaches to technology integration training. the other major approach to technology integration training is through providing a standalone course. betrus and molenda (2002) remar ked that this approach can be traced back to the 1920s. their survey in 2000 indicated that 80% of 100 deans of teacher education programs reported that their programs included a standalone technology integration training course for pre-service teachers. betrus (2012) conducted the same survey in 2010 with 35 deans and the found that 64% of teacher education programs offered a standalone technology integration training course. in this study, instead of conducting surveys to collect data to examine whether and how teacher training programs prepare the teacher candidate for technology use in their future teaching, we closely examined teacher education program curricula. method both the websites of illinois state board of education and nebraska department of education list approved teacher education programs in their states. based on the websites of illinois state board of education (2013), illinois has 77 higher education institutions offering teps. based on websites of nebraska department of education (2013), nebraska has 16 higher education institutions offering teps. accessing the web pages of each institution, we searched the course offerings of those teacher education programs to identify any technology integration training courses in the curricula. our first challenge in this research was that different teacher education programs have different course names related to technology integration training. for example, one teacher education program international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 145 2014, 14, 139–150 p. names a technology course edu 310: computers in education; another teacher education program lists tep 305: technology for teaching. in cases, where we could not be sure from the course name, we examined the course description to decide whether the course is related to technology integration training. for instance, when we found a course named ece 330instructional technology in a teacher education program, we were not sure whether the course specifically addresses integrating technology in teaching. the course description reads: “this is an introductory survey course, with emphasis on appropriate ways to use technology across the early childhood curriculum. students learn computer literacy and its use in early childhood education through hands-on activities, such as word processing, databases, graphics and instructional software appropriate for young children, software evaluation, hardware selection, telecommunications, and integration of technology into early childhood education classroom practice.” based on this description, we counted this course as a technology integration training course. findings and discussion technology integration courses in teps in illinois state out of 77 teacher education programs approved by the illinois state board of education, we could not get access to the curricula of two teacher education programs to decide whether they have a course related to technology training for their pre-service teachers. therefore, the actual total number of approved teacher education programs in this study is 75. figure 1, below, shows the percentage of teacher education programs in the illinois state we reviewed that have at least one course related to technology integration training figure 1. percentage of teacher education programs in illinois offering a standalone technology integration training course 25 % 75 % no technology course technology course 146 phu vu, peter fadde figure 2. numbers of credit hours for technology training courses in teacher education programs in illinois as shown in figure 1, only 19 out of 75 teacher education programs (25%) in the illinois state currently offer a stand-alone technology integration training course for their pre-service teachers. this number is far less than what betrus (2012) reported about the prevalence of technology-training courses in teacher education programs, either in 2000 (80%) or in 2010 (64%). among the 19 teacher education programs having a standalone technology integration training course, 14 out of 19 programs (74%) offer a three-credit hour course. the rest of teacher education programs with a technology integration training course offer courses of 0.5 credit hour, 1 credit hour, 2 credit hours, or 4 credit hours. technology integration courses in teps in nebraska state out of 16 teacher education programs approved by the nebraska department of education (2013), 14 teps (87.5%) have a technology training course in the curricula for their pre-service teachers. two teps (12.5%) do not have a technology training course. among 14 teps which are offering a technology training course, 13 teps offer a three-credit hour course while one tep offers a one-credit hour course. figure 3 and 4 below are the summary of the data. in reporting that only 19 out of 75 teacher education programs (25%) in the illinois state offer a standalone technology integration training course, we do not assume that the other teacher education programs in the illinois state do not provide any technology training for their pre-service teachers. this also applies to teps in the nebraska state. 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 1 1 2 14 1 0.5 credit hour 01 credit hour 02 credit hours 03 credit hours 04 credit hours international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 147 2014, 14, 139–150 p. some teps may integrate technology training across their curriculum and those embedded trainings are not explicitly stated or included in the curriculum. however, it is also possible that some of the 75% of teps in the illinois state and 12.5% of teps in the nebraska state which do not offer a standalone course may not offer any specific technology integration training either. this exploratory study addressed the question of whether what has been reported in the literature nationwide about technology integration courses is reflected in the teacher education programs in two states of illinois and nebraska. we observed a wide difference between the percentage of teacher education programs in illinois offering a technology training course (25%) and that of teacher education programs in nebraska offering a technology training course (87.5%). while the percentage of 87.5% in the nebraska is above the national survey of teacher education programs offering a technology 12.5 % 87.5 % no technology course technology course 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 13 1 2 3 credit hours 1 credit hour no credit figure 3. percentage of teacher education programs in nebraska offering a standalone technology integration training course figure 4. numbers of credit hours for technology training courses in teacher education programs in nebraska 148 phu vu, peter fadde training course (64%), the percentage of only 25% of teacher education programs in illinois offering a technology training course is much lower than what was reported in the betrus’ study. we have several follow-up questions to pursue in future studies. one question is whether analysis of the curricula of teacher education programs nationally, as represented on program websites, would reveal a difference in results based on methodology or if, in fact, illinois teacher education programs take a substantially different approach to technology integration training than nebraska teacher education programs and nationwide. another question for further research is whether the large majori ty of illinois teacher education programs that do not offer a standalone technology integration course instead have a demonstrable commitment to technology integration training within and across methods courses (cross-curriculum) or if technology integration is not explicitly included in their teacher education curricula. the ultimate question is how these different approaches to technology integration training within their teacher education programs (standalone, cross-curriculum, no designated coursework) effect how well teachers in illinois and nebraska are prepared to teach with technology. future research may include a survey of in-service teachers in illinois and nebraska who graduated from one of the approved teacher education programs in the states to dig more deeply into the question of how the type of technology integration training of pre-service teachers relates to in-service teachers’ reporting of their preparation for integrating technology into their teaching. references betrus (2012). historical evolution of instructional technology in teacher educa-tion programs: a ten-year update. techtrends, 56 (5), 42–45. betrus, a. k., & molenda, m. 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(2006). can teacher technology integration training alone lead to high levels of technology integration? a qualitative look at teachers’ technology integration after state mandated technology training. electronic journal for the integration of technology in education, 5, 53–62. žvilgsnis į technologijų integraciją mokytojų rengimo programoje phu vu nebraskos universitetas (kearney), jav peter fadde šiaurės ilinojaus universitetas (carbondale), jav santrauka. mokslinė problema. nėra galutinai aišku, kaip ketinantys tapti mokytojais formalaus mokymo metu turėtų būti ruošiami naudotis technologijomis. nors nacionalinė valstijų švietimo tarybų asociacija (2012) teigia, kad mokytojų rengimas „per dažnai nepataiko koja į koją su technologijų pažanga ar naujais mokymo metodais“ ir kad mokytojai nerengiami, kaip efektyviai galėtų panaudoti technologijas pamokose, tačiau amerikos mokytojų švietimo koledžų asociacija (2013) deklaruoja, kad beveik visi būsimi mokytojai yra gerai pasirengę integruoti technologijas mo kydami vaikus. tikslas ir metodas. šiame tyrime aptariamos 83 mokytojų rengimo programos dviejose jav valstijose – ilinojuje ir nebraskoje, siekiant nustatyti, kaip mo -kytojų rengimo programose numatyta būsimus mokytojus mokyti integruoti technologijas į mokymo procesą. pagrindiniai žodžiai: technologijų integracija, mokytojo kvalifikacijos įgijimas, mokytojų rengimo programa. received: 20-02-2014 accepted: 04-07-2014 91 1 adresas susirašinėti: vilniaus universitetas. universiteto g. 9/1, lt-01513 vilnius, lietuva, tel. +370 5 266 76 05, el. p.: gintautas.valickas@fsf.vu.lt teisėjų patiriamas stresas ir jo įveikos ypatumai urtė gudaitė, gintautas valickas1 vilniaus universitetas, lietuva santrauka. mokslinė problema. nors tyrėjai ir skiria gana daug dėmesio teisėsaugos pareigūnų (pirmiausia policininkų) patiriamam stresui, kol kas mažai žinoma apie teisėjų patiriamą stresą. mūsų šalyje dar nėra atlikta tyrimų, siekiant įvertinti, kiek streso patiria teisėjai, kokios situacijos jiems sukelia daugiausia streso, kokias įveikos strategijas jie taiko dažniausiai. tai yra svarbu, norint sumažinti neigiamą streso poveikį teisėjų priimamiems sprendimams, justicijos sistemos darbo efektyvumui ir teisingumo įgyvendinimui. straipsnio tikslas – ištirti teisėjų dėl darbo specifikos patiriamą stresą, jo šaltinius ir taikomas įveikos strategijas. metodika. tyrime dalyvavo 98 įvairių mūsų šalies teismų teisėjai (65 moterys ir 33 vyrai). patiriamas stresas buvo matuojamas mūsų sukurtu teisėjų patiriamo streso klausimynu. viena jo dalis vertino įvairių stresorių sukeliamą įtampą, kita – susidūrimo su šiais stresoriais dažnumą. remiantis tiriančiąja faktorine analize, klausimyno teiginiai buvo suskirstyti į penkias skales, kurių cronbacho α svyravo nuo 0,875 iki 0,961. rezultatai. didžiausią (stiprų) stresą teisėjams sukelia sąveika su politikais, žiniasklaida ir piliečiais, o kitos keturios situacijų grupės – vidutinio stiprumo stresą. teisėjų patiriamas stresas yra susijęs su lytimi, teismo tipu, taip pat amžiumi ir darbo stažu. tyrime dalyvavę teisėjai dažniausiai taiko problemos sprendimo, rečiausiai – vengimo įveikos strategiją, be to, kuo daugiau streso jie patiria, tuo labiau yra linkę taikyti s ocialinės paramos įveikos strategiją. išvados. remiantis gautais duomenimis galima teigti, kad patiriamas stresas teisėjams yra aktuali problema, kuriai turėtų būti skiriamas didesnis teismų vadovų dėmesys. pagrindiniai žodžiai: teisėjų patiriamas stresas, stresoriai, streso įveikos strategijos. įvadas norint suprasti, kaip stresas veikia profesinės (ir kitos) veiklos efektyvumą, reikia atsižvelgti į individualius veiksnius, kurie įsiterpia tarp stresoriaus ir atsakomosios reakcijos. vienas žymiausių streso tyrėjų lazarusas pabrėžia, kad įvairūs poveikiai gali nesukelti streso tol, kol pats žmogus neįvertina jų kaip keliančių grėsmę (lazarus, folkman, 1984). mokslo straipsniai issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.15.5 urtė gudaitė, gintautas valickas 92 atsižvelgiant į tai, stresą galima apibūdinti kaip asmens ir aplinkos ryšį, kuris paties asmens suprantamas kaip viršijantis turimus išteklius, galimybes ir keliantis grėsmę jo gerovei (folkman ir kt., 1986; lazarus, folkman, 1984). be to, šis ryšys tarp žmogaus ir aplinkos nėra statiškas, jis nuolat kinta, sąveikaujant žmogui ir aplinkai (folkman ir kt., 1986; lazarus, 1990; lazarus, 2000; scherer, drumheller, 1993). profesinio streso padariniai, kuriuos patiria ir pavieniai asmenys, ir organizacijos, skatina tyrėjus domėtis streso šaltiniais, jo dinamika ir įveikos būdais. ypač daug dėmesio skiriama tam tikrų profesijų atstovams, kurie, palyginti su kitais, patiria daugiau streso dėl savo darbo specifikos. pavyzdžiui, kaip pažymi daugelis autorių, teisėsaugos pareigūnų profesinė veikla yra viena iš stresiškiausių (alexander, walker, 2000; brough, williams, 2007; brown, campbell, 1994; carter, 2006; conroy, hess, 1992; geok-choo ir kt., 2008; keinan, malach-pines, 2007; liebert, 1991). teisėsaugos pareigūnai, palyginti su kitų profesijų atstovais, patiria daugiau streso todėl, kad jų darbas pasižymi tam tikrais specifiniais ypatumais: jie dažnai patenka į gyvybei pavojingas situacijas, turi ir gali panaudoti tarnybinį šaunamąjį ginklą, bendrauja su priešiškai nusiteikusiais arba stiprų stresą išgyvenančiais asmenimis, priima labai atsakingus sprendimus, jų veiksmus nuolat vertina vadovybė ir žiniasklaida, jie patiria stip rų visuomenės spaudimą (pvz., reikalaujama visada išlikti nešališkiems, nepriekaištingai elgtis ne tik tarnyboje, bet ir laisvalaikiu), susiduria su centralizuotu valdymu, ribota savo veiksmų laisve ir t. t. tiesa, kol kas daugiausia tyrimų atliekama su policijos pareigūnais, o teisėjų, prokurorų, įkalinimo įstaigų arba probacijos tarnybų pareigūnų patiriamam stresui skiriama daug mažiau dėmesio. kita vertus, nekyla abejonių, kad tyrėjų dėmesio nusipelno ne tik policijos, bet ir kitų teisėsaugos pareigūnų patiriamas stresas. pavyzdžiui, teisėjai (taip pat kaip ir policijos pareigūnai) priskiriami didžiausios rizikos profesinei grupei, kurios atstovai gali patirti įvairius nuolatinio streso sukeliamus neigiamus padarinius (carter, 2006; ciocoiu ir kt., 2011). šie padariniai savo ruožtu gali būti reikšmingas veiksnys, darantis neigiamą poveikį visai justicijos sistemai ir teisingumo įgyvendinimui (flores ir kt., 2009). todėl svarbu plėtoti teisėjų patiriamo streso tyrimus, analizuoti streso šaltinius, padarinius ir taikomus įveikos būdus. nors kol kas nėra išskirtos bendros teisėjų streso šaltinių klasifikacijos, tyrėjai sutinka, kad teisėjų savijautai ir darbo kokybei daro įtaką ir specifiniai (tiesiogiai susiję su jų darbo ypatumais), ir bendri (teisėjams international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 93 2014, 15, 91–110 p. ir kitų profesijų atstovams) streso šaltiniai. prie specifinių stresorių galima priskirti būtinybę priimti labai svarbius sprendimus, nerimą dėl to, kad priimtą sprendimą gali pakeisti aukštesnės instancijos teismas, atliekamo vaidmens „perkrovimą“ arba dviprasmiškumą, atskirtį nuo visuomenės dėl teisėjo profesijos specifiškumo, nagrinėjamų bylų pobūdį (pvz., baudžiamosios bylos, susijusios su itin žiauriais nusikaltimais), priešišką ir agresyvų proceso dalyvių elgesį ir pan. (eells, showalter, 1994; miller, flores, 2007). be to, teisėjams gali sukelti stresą įvairūs bendri stresoriai – viršvalandžiai, per didelis darbo krūvis, neigiamas visuomenės požiūris, didesnis žiniasklaidos dėmesys (šiuolaikinė žiniasklaida siekia suintriguoti skaitytoją, pateikti sensaciją, todėl teismas ir teisėjai šiuo požiūriu yra labai lengvas taikinys), netinkamos darbo sąlygos ir pan. (eells, showalter, 1994; miller, flores, 2007; zimmerman, 2006). reikia pridurti, kad teisėjų, kaip ir kitų profesijų atstovų, patiriamam stresui gali daryti įtaką amžius, lytis, darbo stažas, konkretus darbo pobūdis ir pan. tačiau vienas svarbiausių veiksnių, nuo kurio priklauso išgyvenamo streso laipsnis, yra taikomos įveikos strategijos (folkman, maskowitz, 2004; lazarus, folkman, 1984). taigi teisėjui nuolat susiduriant su vienais ar kitais stresoriais, jo darbo kokybė gali beveik nenukentėti, jeigu jis taikys efektyvius streso įveikos būdus. apibendrinant galima pasakyti, kad, nors tyrėjai streso problematikai apskritai ir teisėsaugos pareigūnų patiriamam stresui konkrečiai skiria daug dėmesio, kol kas mažai žinoma apie teisėjų patiriamą stresą (tai galėjo lemti teisėjų padėties išskirtinumas ir dėl to kylantys sunkumai atlikti empirinius tyrimus). mūsų žiniomis, lietuvoje dar nebuvo atlikta tyrimų, siekiant įvertinti teisėjų patiriamą stresą ir jo įveiką. kita vertus, menkas žmonių pasitikėjimas teismais (viešųjų apklausų duomenimis), žiniasklaidoje pateikiamas neigiamas teisėjų įvaizdis (valickas, jarutienė, 2014) leidžia manyti, kad mūsų šalies teisėjai gali patirti nemažai streso. kitose šalyse gautus (kol kas negausius) tyrimų duomenis pritaikyti lietuvos teisėjams yra sudėtinga dėl šalies socialinės, politinės, kultūrinės ir teisinės aplinkos skirtumų. atsižvelgiant į tai, buvo iškeltas toks mūsų tyrimo tikslas – ištirti teisėjų dėl darbo specifikos patiriamą stresą, jo šaltinius ir taikomas streso įveikos strategijas. siekėme atsakyti į šiuos tyrimo klausimus: a) kiek streso patiria mūsų šalies teisėjai ir kokios situacijos sukelia jiems didžiausią stresą; b) kokias streso įveikos strategijas dažniausiai taiko teisėjai ir kaip jos susijusios su patiriamu stresu; c) ar patiriamas stresas yra susijęs su teisėjų sociodemografinėmis charakteristikomis. urtė gudaitė, gintautas valickas 94 metodika tiriamieji. tyrime dalyvavo teisėjai, sutikę savanoriškai atsakyti į elekt roniniu būdu išsiųstus klausimynus. iš viso klausimynai buvo išsiųsti 724 teisėjams (jų elektroninio pašto adresai paimti iš atitinkamų teismų tink lalapių), iš jų 110 sutiko dalyvauti tyrime, užpildė klausimynus ir juos atsiuntė nurodytu elektroninio pašto adresu. taigi tyrime dalyvavo 15,19 proc. visų lietuvos teisėjų. 12-os respondentų atsakymai nebuvo analizuojami, nes jie atsakė ne į visus pateiktus klausimus. tarp tyrimo dalyvių buvo 65 moterys ir 33 vyrai, bendras respondentų amžiaus vidurkis 45,99 (sd = 7,93) metų. daugiau kaip trys ketvirtadaliai (78,8 proc.) tyrimo dalyvių buvo susituokę, beveik du trečdaliai (65,3 proc.), atliekant tyrimą, dirbo viename iš didžiųjų šalies miestų (vilniuje, kaune, klaipėdoje, šiauliuose, panevėžyje), o trečdalis (33,7 proc.) – kituose šalies mies tuose. vidutinis tyrime dalyvavusių teisėjų darbo stažas – 10,20 (sd = 6,33) metų. daugiausia tyrimo dalyvių dirbo apylinkės teismuose ir daugiau kaip pusė jų sprendė įvairaus pobūdžio bylas (žr. 1 lentelę). 1 lentelė. teisėjų (n = 98) pasiskirstymas, atsižvelgiant į teismą, kuriame jie dirba, ir jų sprendžiamų bylų pobūdį table 1. distribution of judges‘ (n = 98) by the court type they work in and the case type they work with teismo rūšis proc.* apylinkės teismas 83,7 apygardos teismas 6,1 apygardos administracinis teismas 6,1 lietuvos vyriausiasis administracinis teismas 2,0 lietuvos apeliacinis teismas 1,0 dažniausiai sprendžiamos bylos baudžiamosios 10,2 civilinės 28,6 administracinės 8,2 baudžiamosios ir civilinės 5,1 baudžiamosios ir administracinio teisės pažeidimo 14,3 baudžiamosios, civilinės ir administracinės 2,0 baudžiamosios, administracinės ir administracinio teisės pažeidimo 2,0 baudžiamosios, civilinės ir administracinio teisės pažeidimo 18,4 baudžiamosios, civilinės, administracinės ir administracinio teisės pažeidimo 8,2 civilinės ir administracinio teisės pažeidimo 3,0 * vienas tyrimo dalyvis nepateikė duomenų apie tai, kokiame teisme jis dirba international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 95 2014, 15, 91–110 p. įvertinimo būdai šiam tyrimui atlikti buvo sukurtas teisėjų patiriamo streso klausimynas. pradinis klausimyno teiginių sąrašas parengtas remiantis per pokalbius su teisėjais surinkta medžiaga (šie pokalbiai apie patiriamą stresą vyko per teisėjų kvalifikacijos kėlimo kursus), taip pat jau atliktų teisėjų patiriamo streso tyrimų rezultatais. paskui šį teiginių sąrašą peržiūrėjo 5 ilgametę darbo patirtį (darbo stažo vidurkis – 13,2 metų) turintys teisėjai. atsižvelgiant į jų pasiūlymus, iš sąrašo pašalinti teiginiai, kurie, vertintojų manymu, rodo nesvarbius streso šaltinius, patikslinti nepakankamai tiksliai suformuluoti teiginiai, taip pat sąrašas papildytas keliais naujais teiginiais. galiausiai buvo sukurtas pirminis teisėjų patiriamo streso klausimyno variantas, kurį sudarė 67 teiginiai. tiriamieji turėjo užpildyti dvi šio klausimyno dalis, kuriose buvo po 67 teiginius (iš viso jiems pateikta 134 teiginiai). pirmoji klausimyno dalis vertino įvairių stresorių sukeliamą įtampą, antroji – susidūrimo su šiais stresoriais dažnumą per pastaruosius šešis mėnesius. siekdami nustatyti klausimyno faktorių struktūrą (išskirti jį sudarančias skales), apklausę tiriamuosius, atlikome pirmosios klausimyno dalies gautų duomenų tiriančiąją faktorinę analizę, taikėme principinių komponenčių metodą, turintį varimax sukinį, nustatėme penkių faktorių sprendimą. tai, kad duomenys gerai tinka faktorinei analizei, rodo gautas kaizerio, meyerio ir olkino rodiklis – 0,854 ir bartletto testo sferiškumo kriterijus (χ² = 6256,279, p < 0,001) (čekanavičius, murauskas, 2002). mūsų pasirinkti penki faktoriai paaiškina 66,455 proc. duomenų išsibarstymo (žr. 2 lentelę). 2 lentelė. teisėjų patiriamo streso klausimyno duomenų faktorinės analizės rezultatai (n = 98) table 2. factor analysis results of “judges‘ experienced stress” questionnaire data (n = 98) faktoriai tikrinės reikšmės dispersijos, % suminis, % 1 12,544 20,906 20,906 2 8,302 13,837 34,743 3 7,272 12,119 46,863 4 6,590 10,984 57,847 5 5,165 8,609 66,455 urtė gudaitė, gintautas valickas 96 analizuojant klausimyno teiginius, buvo atsižvelgiama į šiuos svarbiausius momentus: 1) kokią faktorinę apkrovą turėdami jie patenka į kiek vieną faktorių (tam tikrą teiginį konkrečiam faktoriui priskyrėme tada, kai jo faktorinė apkrova tame faktoriuje viršijo 0,4 ribą ir buvo didesnė už atitinkamą apkrovą kituose faktoriuose; 2) ar konkrečiam faktoriui priskirti teiginiai yra susiję pagal prasmę. pirmajam faktoriui priskirtų teiginių apkrovos svyravo nuo 0,522 iki 0,872 (jį pavadinome išorinių stresorių faktoriumi), antrajam faktoriui – nuo 0,428 iki 0,759 (jį pavadinome specifinių vidinių stresorių faktoriumi), trečiajam faktoriui – nuo 0,408 iki 0,829 (jį pavadinome konfliktiškų santykių su bendradarbiais ir įvairiomis aplinkybėmis faktoriumi), ketvirtajam faktoriui – nuo 0,442 iki 0,719 (jį pavadinome konfliktiškų santykių su proceso dalyviais faktoriumi) ir penktajam faktoriui – nuo 0,421 iki 0,819 (jį pavadinome klaidų ir nežinojimo faktoriumi). remiantis statistiniais ir prasminiais kriterijais, iš klausimyno buvo pašalinti septyni teiginiai (1, 2, 10, 17, 48, 66, 67), atsakymai į juos tolesnėje duomenų analizėje nebuvo naudojami. taigi galutinį klausimyno variantą sudarė dvi dalys, kuriose buvo po 60 teiginių (iš viso klausimyną sudarė 120 teiginių). kiekvienos klausimyno dalies teiginiai buvo suskirstyti į penkias skales: išorinių stresorių (šią skalę sudaro 14 teiginių; jai priskirtos situacijos, kurios atspindi stresą sukeliančią teisėjų sąveiką su politikais, žiniasklaida ir piliečiais), specifinių vidinių stresorių (šią skalę sudaro 17 teiginių; jai priskirtos situacijos, susijusios su teisėjų darbo specifika), konfliktiškų santykių su bendradarbiais ir įvairiomis aplinkybėmis (šią skalę sudaro 11 teiginių; jai priskirtos situacijos, atspindinčios konfliktiškus santykius su teismo pirmininku, kitais teisėjais, policijos pareigūnais ar prokurorais, taip pat netinkamos darbo sąlygos, laiko trūkumas poilsiui ir laisvalaikiui ir pan.); konfliktiškų santykių su proceso dalyviais (šią skalę sudaro 9 teiginiai; jai priskirtos situacijos, kurios atspindi stresą sukeliančią teisėjų sąveiką su bylininkais ir advokatais); klaidų ir nežinojimo (šią skalę sudaro 9 teiginiai; jai priskirtos situacijos, atspindinčios teismo sekretoriaus ar paties teisėjo padarytas klaidas, informacijos trūkumą, priimant svarbius sprendimus, nepakankamą specifinių norminių aktų žinojimą ir pan.). klausimyno skalių vidiniam patikimumui nustatyti naudota cronbacho α (žr. 3 lentelę). international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 97 2014, 15, 91–110 p. 3 lentelė. teisėjų patiriamo streso klausimyno skalių patikimumas table 3. reliability of “judges‘ experienced stress” questionnaire scales skalė teiginių skaičius cronbacho α išorinių stresorių 14 0,961 specifinių vidinių stresorių 17 0,944 konfliktiškų santykių su bendradarbiais ir įvairiomis aplinkybėmis 11 0,875 konfliktiškų santykių su proceso dalyviais 9 0,934 klaidų ir nežinojimo 9 0,917 kaip matyti iš 3 lentelėje pateiktų duomenų, visų klausimyno skalių vidinis patikimumas yra aukštas, taigi gauti rezultatai rodo, kad klausimynas tinkamas tyrimams atlikti. vertindami teisėjų patiriamą stresą, skaičiavome išvestinį rodiklį, daugindami konkrečios situacijos sukeliamos įtampos ir jos pasireiškimo dažnio įverčius. kadangi ir tam tikros situacijos sukeliama įtampa, ir jos pasireiškimo dažnumas buvo vertinamas taikant penkių balų skalę, išvestinio streso rodiklio reikšmės svyravo nuo 1 iki 25 balų (pvz., jeigu konkrečios situacijos sukeliama įtampa buvo įvertinta 2, o jos pasireiškimo dažnis – 4 balais, išvestinio streso rodiklio reikšmė bus 8). streso įveikos vertinimo klausimynas. teisėjų taikomoms streso įveikos strategijoms įvertinti naudojome patobulintą valicko ir grakausko keturių faktorių streso įveikos klausimyną (grakauskas, valickas, 2006; valickas ir kt., 2010). šį klausimyną sudaro 24 teiginiai, suskirstyti į keturias streso įveikos skales: socialinės paramos, problemų sprendimo, emocinės iškrovos ir vengimo (kiekvieną skalę sudaro 6 teiginiai). patikrinę šių skalių vidinį patikimumą, nustatėme tokias cronbacho α reikšmes: socialinės paramos (α = 0,833), problemų sprendimo (α = 0,794), emocinės iškrovos (α = 0,438), vengimo (α = 0,601). kadangi emocinės iškrovos skalės cronbacho α yra mažesnė už 0,5, toliau šios skalės duomenys nebuvo analizuojami. urtė gudaitė, gintautas valickas 98 tyrimo rezultatai teisėjų patiriamas stresas. analizuodami gautus rezultatus, pirmiausia apskaičiavome išskirtų skalių vertinimo vidurkius (žr. 4 lentelę). kadangi vertindami teisėjų patiriamą stresą skaičiavome išvestinį rodiklį, kurio reikšmės galėjo svyruoti nuo 1 iki 25 balų, buvo išskirtas šio intervalo 33,33 procentilis (lygus 5,64 balo) ir 66,66 procentilis (lygus 9,83 ba lo). atsižvelgdami į tai, išskyrėme tokius patiriamo streso reikšmių intervalus: a) nuo 1 iki 5,64 balo (silpnas stresas); b) nuo 5,65 iki 9,83 balo (vidutinis stresas); c) nuo 9,84 iki 25 balų (stiprus stresas). 4 lentelė. teisėjų patiriamo streso klausimyno skalių vertinimo vidurkiai table 4. mean scores of “judges‘ experienced stress” questionnaire scales‘ evaluation skalė minimalus vertinimas maksimalus vertinimas vertinimo vidurkis standartinis nuokrypis išorinių stresorių 2,36 24,36 11,25 5,80 specifinių vidinių stresorių 1,71 16,82 9,67 4,20 konfliktiškų santykių su bendradarbiais ir įvairiomis aplinkybėmis 1 15,55 6,75 3,71 konfliktiškų santykių su proceso dalyviais 2,22 19,11 8,26 4,43 klaidų ir nežinojimo 1,22 15,78 6,49 3,26 gauti rezultatai atskleidė, kad teisėjams didžiausią (stiprų) stresą sukelia sąveika su politikais, žiniasklaida ir piliečiais (išorinių stresorių skalės vertinimo vidurkis – 11,25, sd = 5,80). prie didžiausią stresą sukeliančių išorinių situacijų galima priskirti teismų (teisėjo) autoriteto žeminimą žiniasklaidoje (m = 15,03, sd = 7,39), viešus politikų pasisakymus nepagrįstai priekaištaujant teisėjams (m = 14,87, sd = 7,46), tendencingą teismų darbo pristatymą spaudoje ir per televiziją (m = 14,37, sd = 7,66), taip pat neigiamą visuomenės požiūrį į teismus ir teisėjus (m = 13,57, sd = 7,19). santykinai mažiausią stresą teisėjams sukelia šie išoriniai stresoriai: bendravimas su žiniasklaidos atstovais (m = 6,63, sd = 5,52), international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 99 2014, 15, 91–110 p. išankstinis žiniasklaidos susidomėjimas nagrinėjama byla (m = 7,41, sd = 4,92), nepagrįsti žiniasklaidos priekaištai dėl priimtų procesinių sprendimų (m = 9,78, sd = 7,10) ir nepagrįsti žiniasklaidos kaltinimai dėl per daug švelnių teismų sprendimų nusikaltėliams (m = 9,96, sd = 7,32). visos kitos situacijų grupės teisėjams sukelia vidutinio stiprumo stre są. tarp jų pirmiausia reikia išskirti situacijas, susijusias su teisėjų darbo specifika (specifinių vidinių stresorių skalės vertinimo vidurkis – 9,67, sd = 4,20). šiuo atveju tiriamiesiems didžiausią stresą sukelia per didelis darbo krūvis (m = 15,89, sd = 7,15), pernelyg įtempta darbotvarkė teisme (m = 14,85, sd = 6,84), laiko trūkumas, norint detaliai susipažinti ir objektyviai įvertinti visą bylos medžiagą (m = 14,23, sd = 6,53), taip pat tai, kad tenka atlikti keletą darbų vienu metu (m = 13,14, sd = 6,27). mažiausią stresą sukeliančios darbo situacijos buvo tokios: žiaurių nusikaltimų (ypač vaikams) nagrinėjimas (m = 5,48, sd = 4,39), su smurtu susijusių įrodymų byloje peržiūra (pvz., nužudymo įrankiai, sudarkyto aukos kūno nuotraukos) (m = 5,59, sd = 4,72), seksualinių nusikaltimų nagrinėjimas (m = 5,63, sd = 4,69) ir būtinybė apsispręsti dėl kardomosios priemonės taikymo (m = 5,78, sd = 3,84). konfliktiški santykiai su proceso dalyviais, palyginti su dviem pirmosiomis situacijų grupėmis, sukelia tiriamiesiems dar mažesnį stresą (konfliktiškų santykių su proceso dalyviais skalės vertinimo vidurkis – 8,26, sd = 4,43). prie didžiausią stresą sukeliančių šios grupės situacijų galima priskirti susidūrimą su konfliktiškais (m = 10,58, sd = 6,16) ir priešiškai prieš teisėją nusiteikusiais ir agresyviais bylininkais (m = 10,44, sd = 6,47), taip pat neprognozuojamą bylininkų elgesį teismo posėdžio metu (m = 9,00, sd = 6,03), o prie sukeliančių mažiausią stresą – suinteresuotų asmenų skundus, dėl kurių tenka aiškintis ir gaišti laiką (m = 7,07, sd = 4,59), neprognozuojamą advokato elgesį teismo posėdžio metu (m = 7,55, sd = 5,37) ir susidūrimą su užsispyrusiais bylininkais (m = 7,75, sd = 5,37). paskutinės dvi situacijų grupės sukelia mūsų tirtiems teisėjams panašų ir santykinai mažiausią stresą (konfliktiškų santykių su bendradarbiais ir įvairiomis aplinkybėmis skalės vertinimo vidurkis – 6,75, sd = 3,71, o klaidų ir nežinojimo – 6,49, sd = 3,26). didžiausią stresą iš konfliktiškų santykių su bendradarbiais ir įvairiomis aplinkybėmis situacijų grupės tiriamiesiems sukelia laiko trūkumas poilsiui bei laisvalaikiui (m = 13,54, urtė gudaitė, gintautas valickas 100 sd = 7,63) ir bendravimui su artimaisiais (m = 12,65, sd = 7,70), taip pat neigiamas darbo poveikis šeiminiam gyvenimui (m = 9,64, sd = 7,69), o mažiausią stresą sukelia konfliktiški santykiai su kitų teisėsaugos institucijų pareigūnais (pvz., policininkais ir prokurorais) (m = 3,33, sd = 2,52), konfliktiški santykiai su kitais teisėjais (m = 3,55, sd = 3,43) ir per maža teismo pirmininko rodoma pagarba (m = 3,65, sd = 4,47). galiausiai iš klaidų ir nežinojimo situacijų grupės teisėjams didžiausią stresą sukelia abejonės, ar priimamas sprendimas yra teisingas (m = 8,38, sd = 6,23), supratimas, kad gali padaryti klaidą ir priimti neteisingą sprendimą (m = 8,20, sd = 6,40), taip pat informacijos trūkumas priimant svarbius sprendimus (m = 7,36, sd = 5,14), o mažiausią stresą sukelia prieštaringos teismo ekspertų išvados (m = 4,70, sd = 3,81), teismo sekretorės daromos klaidos (m = 5,55, sd = 3,49) ir nepakankamas specifinių norminių aktų žinojimas (m = 5,64, sd = 3,84). teisėjų patiriamo streso ir įvairių sociodemografinių charakteristikų ryšiai. toliau analizavome klausimyno skalių vertinimus, atsižvelgdami į tiriamųjų lytį, šeiminę padėtį, miestą ir teismo tipą, kuriame jie dirba, sprendžiamų bylų pobūdį, amžių ir darbo stažą. gautų duomenų skirstinys normalus, todėl taikėme parametrinę statistiką. pasirodo, kad teisėjos moterys patiria daug daugiau streso negu teisėjai vyrai: statistiškai reikšmingi skirtumai tarp moterų ir vyrų rezultatų buvo nustatyti keturiose iš penkių klausimyno skalių (taikėme studento t kriterijų dviem nepriklausomoms imtims) (žr. 5 lentelę). tiesa, galima pastebėti, kad nors išorinių stresorių skalės rezultatai tarp vyrų ir moterų statistiškai reikšmingai nesiskiria, moterys vis tiek patiria daugiau streso negu vyrai. palyginus teisėjų, dirbančių viename iš didžiųjų šalies miestų (vilniuje, kaune, klaipėdoje, šiauliuose, panevėžyje) arba kituose šalies miestuose, rezultatus, statistiškai reikšmingų patiriamo streso skirtumų nenustatyta. tačiau buvo rastas statistiškai reikšmingas skirtumas tarp teisėjų, dirbančių apylinkės ir apygardos teismuose, dėl konfliktiškų santykių su proceso dalyviais sukeliamo streso: teisėjai, dirbantys apylinkės teismuose, patiria statistiškai daugiau streso negu teisėjai, dirbantys apygardos teismuose (t = 8,383, p < 0,05) (taikėme studento t kriterijų dviem nepriklausomoms imtims). international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 101 2014, 15, 91–110 p. 5 lentelė. vyrų ir moterų teisėjų patiriamo streso klausimyno skalių vertinimas table 5. evaluation of male and female „judges‘ experienced stress“ questionnaire scales skalė n lytis vidurkis t reikšmės p reikšmės išoriniai stresoriai 33 vyrai 9,99 –1,664 0,101 64 moterys 12,01 specifiniai vidiniai stresoriai 31 vyrai 7,91 –2,984 0,004 61 moterys 10,59 konfliktiški santykiai su bendradarbiais ir įvairiomis aplinkybėmis 33 vyrai 5,74 –2,086 0,041 60 moterys 7,39 konfliktiški santykiai su proceso dalyviais 33 vyrai 6,89 –2,433 0,017 64 moterys 9,01 klaidos ir nežinojimas 33 vyrai 5,59 –2,097 0,040 61 moterys 7,02 skirtumų tarp teisėjų patiriamo streso, atsižvelgiant į jų šeiminę padėtį, rasta nebuvo (taikėme dispersinės analizės (anova) kriterijų). kadangi teisėjų pasiskirstymas pagal dažniausiai sprendžiamų bylų rūšį yra labai įvairus (žr. 1 lentelę), mėginome juos sugrupuoti į stambesnes kategorijas (išbandėme kelis grupavimo variantus), tačiau statistiškai reikšmingų skirtumų tarp skirtingas bylas sprendžiančių teisėjų patiriamo streso taip pat nenustatėme (taikėme dispersinės analizės (anova) kriterijų). siekdami įvertinti teisėjų patiriamo streso, amžiaus ir darbo stažo ryšius, atlikome gautų duomenų koreliacinę analizę (taikėme pearsono koreliacijos koeficientą). buvo nustatyta, kad, didėjant teisėjų amžiui, didėja ir jų patiriamas stresas dėl išorinių stresorių, specifinių vidinių stresorių ir konfliktiškų santykių su proceso dalyviais, o didėjant teisėjų darbo stažui – stresas, kurį teisėjams sukelia konfliktiški santykiai su proceso dalyviais (žr. 6 lentelę). urtė gudaitė, gintautas valickas 102 6 lentelė. teisėjų patiriamo streso ir jų amžiaus bei darbo stažo sąsajos table 6. correlations between judges‘ experienced stress, their age and work experience skalė amžius darbo stažas išorinių stresorių 0,259* 0,084 specifinių vidinių stresorių 0,277* 0,161 konfliktiškų santykių su bendradarbiais ir įvairiomis aplinkybėmis 0,213 0,105 konfliktiškų santykių su proceso dalyviais 0,272* 0,226* klaidų ir nežinojimo 0,168 0,120 * p < 0,05 detaliau analizuodami gautus duomenis palyginome, ar skiriasi skirtingo amžiaus ir stažo teisėjų patiriamas stresas. teisėjus suskirstėme į tris amžiaus grupes: a) 29–40 m., b) 41–50 m., c) 51–62 m. buvo rastas statistiškai reikšmingas skirtumas, lyginant konfliktiškų santykių su proceso dalyviais skalės vertinimų vidurkius (f = 3,684, p < 0,05, taikytas tukey kriterijus). gauti rezultatai atskleidė, kad jauniausios amžiaus grupės tiriamieji (29–40 m.), palyginti su vyriausiais (51–62 m.), patiria mažiau streso dėl konfliktų, kylančių su teismo proceso dalyviais. teisėjus pagal jų darbo stažą suskirstėme į keturias grupes: a) 1–5 m., b) 6–10 m., c) 11–15 m., d) 16–34 m. išnagrinėjus skirtingą darbo stažą turinčių tiriamųjų atsakymus, nustatyti statistiškai reikšmingi skirtumai lyginant išorinių stresorių (f = 3,398, p < 0,05) ir konfliktiškų santykių su proceso dalyviais (f = 3,549, p < 0,05, abiem atvejais taikytas tukey kriterijus) skalių vertinimo vidurkius. gauti rezultatai atskleidė, kad mažiausią darbo stažą (1–5 m.) turintys teisėjai, palyginti su turinčiais didesnį darbo stažą (6–10, 11–15 m.), patiria mažiau streso tiek dėl išorinių stresorių, tiek dėl konfliktiškų santykių su proceso dalyviais. teisėjų taikomos streso įveikos strategijos. analizuodami gautus keturių faktorių streso įveikos klausimyno rezultatus, iš pradžių apskaičiavome atskirų streso įveikos skalių vertinimo vidurkius (žr. 7 lentelę; kaip jau minėjome, emocinės iškrovos skalės rezultatų neanalizavome dėl jos mažo vidinio patikimumo). international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 103 2014, 15, 91–110 p. 7 lentelė. streso įveikos klausimyno skalių vertinimo vidurkiai table 7. mean scores of “stress coping” questionnaire scales‘ evaluation skalė minimalus vertinimas maksimalus vertinimas vertinimo vidurkis standartinis nuokrypis socialinės paramos 1,33 5 3,19 0,828 problemų sprendimo 2,5 5 4,01 0,604 vengimo 1,67 4,17 2,88 0,584 išanalizavus streso įveikos klausimyno skalių vertinimus, nustatyta, kad jie tarpusavyje statistiškai reikšmingai skiriasi (f (2,93) = 131,69, p < 0,05; wilk’s lambda = 0,261): teisėjai dažniausiai taiko į problemos sprendimą nukreiptą streso įveikos strategiją (m = 4,01), rečiau – socialinės paramos (m = 3,19), o rečiausiai – vengimo strategiją (m = 2,88) (taikėme blokuotų duomenų (angl. repeated measures) anova ir bonferoni kriterijus). išanalizavus streso įveikos klausimyno skalių vertinimus, atsižvelgiant į tiriamųjų sociodemografines charakteristikas (lytį, šeiminę padėtį, miestą, teismo tipą, kuriame jie dirba, sprendžiamų bylų pobūdį, amžių ir darbo stažą), nustatyta, kad teisėjai, dirbantys apygardos teismuose, palyginti su dirbančiais apylinkės teismuose, dažniau taiko vengimo strategiją (t = –2,948, p < 0,05) (gautų duomenų skirstinys normalus, todėl taikėme studento t kriterijų dviem nepriklausomoms imtims). daugiau statistiškai reikšmingų skirtumų tarp skirtingomis sociodemografinėmis charakteristikomis pasižyminčių tiriamųjų taikomų streso įveikos strategijų nustatyti nepavyko. teisėjų patiriamo streso ir taikomų įveikos strategijų ryšiai. galiausiai analizavome, kaip įvairiose situacijose tiriamųjų patiriamas stresas yra susijęs su jų taikomomis įveikos strategijomis. nustatyta, kad vengimo skalės įverčiai statistiškai reikšmingai susiję su išorinių stresorių, specifinių vidinių stresorių, konfliktiškų santykių su bendradarbiais ir įvairiomis aplinkybėmis, taip pat klaidų ir nežinojimo skalės įverčiais. socialinės paramos skalės įverčiai statistiškai reikšmingai susiję su išorinių stresorių, specifinių vidinių stresorių ir klaidų ir nežinojimo skalės įverčiais, o problemų sprendimo skalės įverčiai – tik su specifinių vidinių stresorių skalės įverčiais (žr. 8 lentelę; visais atvejais taikytas pearsono koreliacijos koeficientas). urtė gudaitė, gintautas valickas 104 8 lentelė. teisėjų patiriamo streso ir taikomų įveikos strategijų sąsajos table 8. correlations between judges‘ experienced stress and applied coping strategies skalės streso įveikos strategijos socialinės paramos problemos sprendimo vengimo išorinių stresorių 0,218* 0,132 0,268** specifinių vidinių stresorių 0,358* 0,219* 0,209* konfliktiškų santykių su bendradarbiais ir įvairiomis aplinkybėmis 0,190 0,203 0,280** konfliktiškų santykių su proceso dalyviais 0,158 0,008 0,197 klaidų ir nežinojimo 0,423** 0,188 0,268** * p < 0,05, ** p < 0,01 išanalizavus, kaip skirtingo stiprumo stresą patiriantys tiriamieji vertino keturių faktorių streso įveikos klausimyno teiginius, nustatyta, kad: 1) stiprų stresą dėl išorinių stresorių (f = 3,360, p < 0,05), taip pat dėl konfliktiškų santykių su bendradarbiais ir įvairiomis aplinkybėmis (f = 3,145, p < 0,05) patiriantys teisėjai, palyginti su patiriančiais vidutinio stiprumo stresą, dažniau taiko socialinės paramos strategiją; 2) stiprų stresą dėl specifinių vidinių stresorių patiriantys teisėjai, palyginti su patiriančiais silpną stresą, dažniau taiko socialinės paramos strategiją (f = 5,237, p < 0,05); 3) stiprų ir vidutinį stresą dėl klaidų ir nežinojimo patiriantys teisėjai, palyginti su patiriančiais silpną stresą, taip pat dažniau taiko socialinės paramos strategiją (f = 8,714, p < 0,05) (visais atvejais taikytas tukey kriterijus, žr. 9 lentelę). statistiškai reikšmingų ryšių tarp problemos sprendimo ir vengimo įveikos strategijų taikymo, atsižvelgiant į teisėjų patiriamo streso stiprumą, nustatyta nebuvo. international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 105 2014, 15, 91–110 p. 9 lentelė. teisėjų patiriamo streso ir socialinės paramos įveikos strategijos taikymo sąsajos table 9. correlations between judges‘ experienced stress and the application of „social support“ coping strategy skalės socialinės paramos skalė n streso stiprumas vidurkis f reikšmės p reikšmės išoriniai stresoriai 14 silpnas 3,28 3,360 0,03931 vidutinis 2,88 51 stiprus 3,34 specifiniai vidiniai stresoriai 20 silpnas 2,73 5,237 0,00727 vidutinis 3,18 45 stiprus 3,42 konfliktiški santykiai su bendradarbiais ir įvairiomis aplinkybėmis 41 silpnas 3,11 3,145 0,04836 vidutinis 3,06 16 stiprus 3,65 konfliktiški santykiai su proceso dalyviais 37 silpnas 3,05 1,594 0,20830 vidutinis 3,16 30 stiprus 3,41 klaidos ir nežinojimas 44 silpnas 2,86 8,714 0,00036 vidutinis 3,33 14 stiprus 3,76 taigi gauti rezultatai rodo, kad, atsižvelgiant į teisėjų patiriamo streso stiprumą, daugumoje atvejų (keturiais iš penkių) teisėjai daug dažniau taiko vieną streso įveikos strategiją – socialinės paramos (kuo daugiau streso patiria, tuo dažniau taiko šią įveikos strategiją). urtė gudaitė, gintautas valickas 106 rezultatų aptarimas galima sakyti, kad mūsų tyrimo rezultatai leidžia patvirtinti ankstesnių studijų duomenis (carter, 2006; ciocoiu ir kt., 2011; miller, flores, 2007) ir rodo, kad teisėjus galima priskirti didesnės rizikos grupei, kurios atstovai patiria stiprų ir vidutinio stiprumo profesinį stresą. nustatyta, kad didžiausią (stiprų) stresą teisėjams sukelia išorinių stresorių grupė – sąveika su politikais, žiniasklaida ir piliečiais. viena vertus, tai atitinka ir kitose šalyse gautus rezultatus, nes teisėjai visame pasaulyje sulaukia išskirtinio žiniasklaidos, visuomenės ir politikų dėmesio, kuris yra neišvengiamas dėl teisėjų profesijos specifiškumo. kita vertus, lyginant užsienio tyrėjų ir mūsų tyrimo rezultatus, galima pastebėti, kad lietuvos teisėjai daugiausia streso patiria dėl sąveikos su politikais, žiniasklaida ir piliečiais, o kitų šalių – dėl didelio darbo krūvio, sąveikos su teismo proceso dalyviais, itin sudėtingų ir žiaurių bylų nagrinėjimo (chamberlain, miller, 2008; eells, showalter, 1994; flores ir kt., 2009; sanford, 2004). tai galima paaiškinti susidariusia tam tikra mūsų šalies visuomenės ir teismų priešprieša, nepasitikėjimu teismais ir teisėjais, didesniu žiniasklaidos domėjimusi rezonansinių bylų eiga, kai tai neretai perauga į teismų „puolimą“, taip pat politikų ir valdžios atstovų pasisakymais, kritikuojančiais teismų priimtus sprendimus. situacijos, susijusios su teisėjų darbo specifika, mūsų tyrimo dalyviams sukelia vidutinio stiprumo stresą. kartu reikia pasakyti, kad viena šios grupės situacija – per didelis darbo krūvis, palyginti su visomis kitomis situacijomis, sukelia teisėjams daugiausia streso. tai sutampa su kitų autorių atliktų tyrimų rezultatais, rodančiais, kad teisėjams tenkantis per didelis darbo krūvis yra vienas stipriausių stresorių, galinčių daryti įtaką jų darbo kokybei, fizinei ir psichinei savijautai (ciocoiu ir kt., 2011; flores ir kt., 2009; lusting ir kt., 2008). visos kitos situacijų grupės teisėjams taip pat sukelia vidutinio stiprumo stresą. tyrime dalyvavusios teisėjos, palyginti su teisėjais vyrais, patyrė daugiau streso, susidurdamos su keturiomis (iš penkių) situacijų grupėmis. šie rezultatai patvirtina kitų tyrimų rezultatus, rodančius, kad moterys, nesvarbu, koks jų atliekamas profesinis vaidmuo (pvz., teisėjos, policijos pareigūnės, mokytojos), išgyvena daugiau streso nei vyrai (bandzevičienė ir kt., 2011; flores ir kt., 2009; he ir kt., 2002; sliskovic, maslic sersic, 2011). be to, nustatyta, kad kuo teisėjai yra vyresni, tuo daugiau streso jiems international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 107 2014, 15, 91–110 p. sukelia išoriniai, specifiniai vidiniai stresoriai bei konfliktiški santykiai su proceso dalyviais (ši situacijų grupė sukelia daugiau streso ir didėjant teisėjų darbo stažui). galima manyti, kad vyresniame amžiuje teisėjai gali tapti jautresni įvairiems stresoriams dėl sumažėjusio atsparumo jų poveikiui, patiriamų sveikatos problemų ar nelankstaus streso įveikos strategijų taikymo (manfredi, pickett, 1987). tai, kad teisėjai dažniausiai taiko problemų sprendimo, o rečiausiai – vengimo įveikos strategiją, buvo galima tikėtis, nes jų darbo specifika skatina, sprendžiant įvairaus pobūdžio bylas ir problemas, vadovautis racionaliu protu (o problemų sprendimo strategija apima situacijos analizę, iškilusių sunkumų sprendimo paiešką, sprendimo įgyvendinimo planavimą ir pan.). kita vertus, nors vengimo strategija taikoma rečiausiai, ji yra reikšmingai susijusi su keturiomis (iš penkių) stresą sukeliančių situacijų grupėmis. tai rodo, kad teisėjai, susidūrę su įvairiais stresoriais, kartais tiesiog stengiasi nukreipti dėmesį nuo iškilusios problemos ir imtis kitų dalykų. susidūrimas su specifiniais vidiniais stresoriais yra reikšmingai susijęs su visų įveikos strategijų taikymu, o tai gali liudyti, kad ši stresorių grupė, siekiant neutralizuoti jų poveikį, reikalauja didžiausio teisėjų lankstumo. be to, svarbu pažymėti, kad kuo daugiau streso patiria teisėjai, tuo dažniau jie taiko socialinės paramos įveikos strategiją (patiriant stiprų stresą, keturiose iš penkių stresą sukeliančių situacijų grupių padažnėja socialinės paramos strategijos taikymas). tai reiškia, kad stiprus stresas verčia teisėjus ieškoti problemos sprendimo būdų tariantis su kitais žmonėmis, kurie gali juos suprasti ir padėti įveikti iškilusius sunkumus (instrumentinė socialinė parama), taip pat siekiant kitų žmonių emocinio palaikymo (emocinė socialinė parama). išvados galima sakyti, kad tyrime dalyvavę teisėjai patiria stiprų ir vidutinį profesinį stresą. didžiausią (stiprų) stresą teisėjams sukelia sąveika su politikais, žiniasklaida ir piliečiais, o kitos keturios situacijų grupės (situacijos, susijusios su teisėjų darbo specifika, konfliktiški santykiai su proceso dalyviais, konfliktiški santykiai su bendradarbiais ir įvairiomis aplinkybėmis, taip pat klaidos ir nežinojimas) – vidutinio stiprumo stresą. teisėjų patiriamas stresas yra susijęs su lytimi (moterys patiria daug daugiau streso negu vyrai), teismo tipu (apylinkės teismuose dirbantys 108 urtė gudaitė, gintautas valickas teisėjai, palyginti su dirbančiais apygardos teismuose, patiria daug stipresnį stresą dėl konfliktiškų santykių su proceso dalyviais), taip pat amžiumi ir darbo stažu (didėjant tiek amžiui, tiek darbo stažui, didėja ir patiriamas stresas). tyrime dalyvavę teisėjai dažniausiai naudoja į problemos sprendimą orientuotą streso įveikos strategiją, rečiausiai – vengimo strategiją. kuo daugiau streso patiria teisėjai, tuo labiau jie yra linkę taikyti socialinės paramos įveikos strategiją. gauti duomenys leidžia manyti, kad patiriamas stresas teisėjams yra gana aktuali problema, kuriai turėtų būti skiriamas didesnis teismų vadovų dėmesys. literatūra alexander, d. a., walker, l. g. 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(2010). patobulinto keturių faktorių streso įveikos klausimyno psichometriniai rodikliai. psichologija, 41, 96–110. zimmerman, i. m. (2006). helping judges in distress. judicature, 90 (1), 10–15. stress and coping peculiarities among judges ur tė gudaitė, gintautas valickas vilnius university, lithuania summary. background. despite the large scientific interest in stress experienced by law enforcement officers (especially by police officers), it is little known about the stress experienced by judges. there has not been any research work conducted in lithuania to evaluate how much stress do judges experience, what situations are the most stressful and what stress coping strategies they usually apply. such studies are important for reducing the negative effects caused by stress on judges’ decision making, effectiveness of the justice system functioning and justice implementation. the aim of the study is to investigate judges’ job specific stress, its’ causes and used coping strategies. methods. ninety-eight lithuania‘s judges from different type of courts participated in the investigation (65 female, 33 male). stress was measured by our „judges‘ experienced stress“ questionnaire of which one part was designed to evaluate the tension caused by different stressors, and the other part – the frequency of encountering with these stressors. using explorative factor analysis the questionnaire statements’ were categorised into the five different scales, which cronbach‘s alfa was varying from 0,875 to 0,961. results. the largest stress experienced by judges was induced by interactions with politicians, media and citizens, while the other four groups caused moderate stress. the judges’ experience of stress is related with the sex, court type, age and work experience. they are most likely to apply the problem solving coping strategy, least likely – avoidance coping strategy. furthermore, the more stress they have to deal with, the more likely they apply the social support coping strategy. conclusion. the gathered data suggests that stress is a relevant topic for judges, and court leaders should give more attention to it. keywords: judges’ stress, stressors, stress coping strategies. gauta: 2014-07-22 priimta: 2014-10-27 47 2014, 15, 47–68 p. 1 adresas susirašinėti: vilniaus universiteto klinikinės ir organizacinės psichologijos katedra, univer siteto 9/1, lt-01513 vilnius, el. p.: lina.gervinskaite@fsf.vu.lt elgesio sunkumų turinčių paauglių mentalizacijos ypatumai lina gervinskaitė-paulaitienė1, rasa barkauskienė vilniaus universitetas, lietuva santrauka. problema. mentalizacija – tai savo ir kitų žmonių elgesio supratimas atsižvelgiant į jų vidines psichikos būsenas (allen ir kt., 2008). keliama prielaida, kad mentalizacijos sunkumai siejasi su psichopatologija. pradedama domėtis elgesio problemų turinčių vaikų (sharp, 2008; ha ir kt., 2011) ir suaugusiųjų mentalizacijos ypatumais (bateman, fonagy, 2008), siekiant atskleisti galimas mentalizacijos sunkumų ir tarpasmeninių problemų sąsajas, nustatyti pagrindinius elgesio sunkumų turinčių asmenų mentalizacijos ypatumus ir tuo remiantis pagrįstai organizuoti intervencijas. vis dėlto tyrimų, atskleidžiančių, kokiais mentalizacijos ypatumais pasižymi paaugliai, turintys elgesio sunkumų, trūksta. šio darbo tikslas – atskleisti paauglių, turinčių elgesio sunkumų, mentalizacijos ypatumus. metodai. tyrime dalyvavo 40 socializacijos centruose ugdomų paauglių ir 45 paaugliai, lankantys vidurines mokyklas. remiantis auklėtojų ir tėvų pateikta informacija, taikant aseba grupės klausimynus (achenbach ir rescorla, 2001), atrinkti 36 paaugliai, pasižymintys elgesio sunkumais, ir 40 paauglių, neturinčių elgesio sunkumų. norint suprasti, kokie mentalizacijos ypatumai būdingi paaugliams, turintiems elgesio sunkumų, specialiai šiam tyrimui sukurtas metodas – situacinės istorijos (si), leidžiantis vertinti, kaip paaugliai aiškina kitų žmonių elgesį. tyrime taip pat naudotas minčių skaitymo iš akių testas (baron-cohen ir kt., 2001), vertinantis kito žmogaus vidinių būsenų atpažinimą iš akių srities. rezultatai ir išvados. tyrimo rezultatai rodo, kad turinčių elgesio sunkumų paauglių į kitus žmones nukreipta mentalizacija yra prastesnė nei paauglių, neturinčių elgesio sunkumų. aiškindami kito žmogaus elgesį šie paaugliai prasčiau identifikuoja jo patiriamą emociją ir elgesio intenciją ir prasčiau atpažįsta vidines kito žmogaus būsenas. kartu nustatyta, kad tie elgesio sunkumų turintys paaugliai, kurie geba tiksliau paaiškinti kito žmogaus elgesio priežastis, tiksliau atpažįsta ir kito žmogaus vidinę būseną. pagrindiniai žodžiai: mentalizacija, elgesio paaiškinimai, emocijų identifikavimas, vidinių būsenų atpažinimas, elgesio problemos, paauglystė. mokslo straipsniai issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.15.3 lina gervinskaitė-paulaitienė, rasa barkauskienė 48 įvadas mentalizacija – tai savo ir kitų žmonių elgesio supratimas atsižvelgiant į jų vidines psichikos būsenas (allen ir kt., 2008). gana tiksli mentalizacija yra vienas svarbių sėkmingos raidos, vidinio ir tarpasmeninio funkcionavimo veiksnių. plėtodami šį požiūrį, mentalizacijos teorijos autoriai (pvz., fonagy, bateman ir bateman, 2011) kelia prielaidą, kad vienokie ar kitokie mentalizacijos sunkumai visuomet siejasi su psichopatologija. kol kas daugiausia empirinių tyrimų nagrinėja ribinį asmenybės sutrikimą turinčių asmenų mentalizacijos sunkumus (fonagy, bateman, 2003; lecours, bouchard, 2011). remiantis mentalizacijos teorija ir šių tyrimų rezultatais, kuriamos psichologinės intervencijos, skirtos kaip tik ribinį asmenybės sutrikimą turintiems asmenims. jų naudą rodo efektyvumo tyrimai (bateman, fonagy, 2008, 2009). šių intervencijų efektyvumas skatina kelti klausimą apie galimybes mentalizacijos teorija grįstas intervencijas taikyti kitų psichologinių sunkumų atvejais. siekiant pagrįstų ir efektyvių intervencijų, svarbu tyrimais atskleisti mentalizacijos sunkumus, būdingus žmonėms, turintiems kitų psichologinių sunkumų. pradedama domėtis elgesio problemų turinčių vaikų (sharp, 2008; ha ir kt., 2011) ir suaugusiųjų mentalizacijos ypatumų (bateman, fonagy, 2008) sąsaja su šių asmenų patiriamais tarpasmeniniais sunkumais. pirmieji tyrimų rezultatai rodo (sharp, 2008; ha ir kt., 2011), kad galima daryti prielaidas apie prastesnę elgesio sunkumų turinčių vaikų mentalizaciją tarpasmeninėse situacijose, vis dėlto tyrimų, galinčių atskleisti, kokiais mentalizacijos ypatumais pasižymi paaugliai, turintys elgesio sunkumų, trūksta. taigi šiuo tyrimu siekiama nagrinėti į kitus nukreiptą mentalizaciją (kai aiškinamas kitų žmonių elgesys), kurios svarbiausi elementai yra kitų žmonių elgesio intencijų (ketinimų) ir emocijų identifikavimas aiškinant elgesį ir vidinių būsenų atpažinimas. mentalizacijos samprata mentalizacija lemia, kad kitas žmogus yra suprantamas kaip asmuo, turintis vidinį pasaulį, jausmus, mintis ir troškimus (fonagy ir kt., 2004). kartu tai ir gebėjimas suprasti save, savo mintis, jausmus, elgesį ir tinkamai reguliuoti juos sąveikaujant su kitais žmonėmis. mentalizacija yra kompleksinis gebėjimas, kurį galima apibūdinti remiantis skirtingomis international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 49 2014, 15, 47–68 p. dimensijomis. viena dimensijų išskiriama pagal tai, kieno elgesį bandoma suprasti – savo paties (tai į save nukreipta mentalizacija) ar kito žmogaus (į kitą nukreipta mentalizacija). remiantis kita dimensija, mentalizacija apibūdinama atsižvelgiant į tai, kiek ji vyksta intuityviai, automatiškai, o kiek sąmoningai, stengiantis. dažnai mentalizacijos procesas yra intuityvus, automatiškas, jis vyksta be sąmoningos kontrolės ar valios pastangų. autoriai (pvz., allen, 2006) šį mentalizacijos aspektą pavadina implicitine mentalizacija. kitame šios dimensijos poliuje yra eksplicitinė, sąmoninga, kontroliuojama mentalizacija. tai galvojimas, kalbėjimas, pasakojimas apie vidines būsenas, jų refleksija (allen ir kt., 2008). nors implicitinis ir eksplicitinis poliai nurodo du skirtingus mentalizacijos aspektus, jie nėra visiškai atskiri ar nesuderinami, žmonės dažnai pereina iš implicitinės į eksplicitinę mentalizaciją ar atvirkščiai, o kartais mentalizuoja abiem būdais (choi-kain, gunderson, 2008). darant prielaidas (tiek implicitiškai, tiek eksplicitiškai) apie savo ir kito žmogaus elgesį, svarbu remtis ir išorinio (fizinio), ir vidinio (psichikos) pasaulio informacija (pvz., tiek matomu elgesiu, tiek viduje išgyvenamais jausmais). sėkminga mentalizacija leidžia suprasti, kad vidinis pasaulis nėra tolygus išoriniam ir kad yra išorinės ir vidinės realybės ryšys (fonagy ir kt., 2004). sunkumai suprantant kitą žmogų gali atsirasti tuomet, kai jo elgesys interpretuojamas remiantis arba tik fiziniais elgesio ženklais, arba kai visiškai neatsižvelgiama į juos, fizinę realybę ir vidinis pasaulis interpretuojamas pernelyg plačiai. mentalizacijos gebėjimas yra būdingas kiekvienam žmogui (allen ir kt., 2008), tačiau jis gali būti ištobulintas skirtingu lygmeniu ir ne visada vienodai sėkmingai taikomas. žmogus, pasižymintis gana gera mentalizacija, susidurs su situacijomis, kuriose jis netiksliai supras savo ar kito žmogaus elgesį, tačiau kol tokios situacijos yra retokos, jos nesudaro didelių vidinio ir tarpasmeninio gyvenimo sunkumų ir neturi sąsajų su psichopatologija. apie mentalizacijos sunkumų ir psichopatologijos sąsajas pradedama svarstyti tuomet, kai žmogus nuolat netiksliai supranta savo ir kitų žmonių vidinį pasaulį, negeba įsivaizduoti kito žmogaus perspektyvos ar pažvelgti į save iš šalies. mentalizacijos gebėjimas yra labai svarbus raidos pasiekimas, ku ris vystosi palaikant prieraišumo santykius su tėvais (ar kitais artimiausiais globėjais) kūdikystėje ir vaikystėje (bateman, fonagy, 2008), o įtvirtinamas paauglystėje. šiuo tarpsniu kartu su sparčiai besivystančiais kognityviniais, emociniais gebėjimais mentalizacijos galimybės plečiasi. lina gervinskaitė-paulaitienė, rasa barkauskienė 50 nors mentalizacijos raidai didžiulę reikšmę turi vaikystės prieraišumo santykiai, mentalizacija gali būti lavinama ir vėlesniuose gyvenimo etapuose, palaikant prieraišumo santykius su tėvais, bendraamžiais ar per psichologines intervencijas (fonagy ir kt., 2004). elgesio sunkumai ir mentalizacijos ypatumai elgesio sunkumų turintiems paaugliams būdinga agresija, kitų žmonių teisių nepaisymas, nuosavybės gadinimas (hill, 2002), jų elgesys turi poveikį bendruomenei, visuomenei, kurioje tokie paaugliai gyvena. mentalizacijos teorijos autoriai daro prielaidą, kad destruktyvus į kitą žmogų nukreiptas elgesys gali atsirasti, kai bendraujant su kitu žmogumi nėra daromos prielaidos apie jo išgyvenamas emocijas, jam kylančias mintis, jis nelaikomas vidinį pasaulį turinčiu subjektu, t. y. jis nementalizuojamas (fonagy, 2003). į kitą žmogų nukreiptos mentalizacijos stoka gali lemti kitų žmonių dehumanizavimą ir pažeminimą, nepriskiriant jiems subjektyvių psichinių išgyvenimų ir negebant galvoti apie juos daugiau kaip fizinius objektus (fonagy, 1998). net ir tada, kai kitas žmogus yra suprantamas kaip vidinį pasaulį turintis subjektas, gali pasireikšti elgesio sunkumų turinčių žmonių į kitus asmenis nukreiptos mentalizacijos iškraipymai, kito žmogaus emocijų, minčių numatymas gali būti naudojamas socialinės manipuliacijos ar destruktyvaus elgesio tikslais (sharp, 2006). vienas svarbių į kitus nukreiptos mentalizacijos aspektų – kito žmogaus elgesio intencijų (ketinimų) priskyrimas ir numatymas, remiantis išoriniame pasaulyje pastebimu elgesiu (fonagy ir kt., 2007). stebėdamas kito žmogaus elgesį ir siekdamas jį suprasti, stebintysis daro prielaidas apie tai, kokie ketinimai slypi už matomo elgesio. nuo to, kokią intenciją asmuo priskiria kitam žmogui, priklauso, kaip jis reaguos, elgsis su tuo žmogumi. elgesio sunkumų turintys vaikai gali suprasti kitus žmones, tačiau yra linkę daryti netikslias prielaidas apie kitų žmonių ketinimus (sharp, 2006; ha ir kt., 2011). netinkamai mentalizuojantys asmenys priskiria negatyvias intencijas kitiems, kai tokių intencijų nėra, ir sunkiai keičia savo lūkesčius apie kitus žmones (twemlow ir kt., 2005). dodge’s (1993) agresyvių vaikų tyrimai atskleidžia, kad susidūrę su bendraamžiais, ku rių intencijos neaiškios, koduodami informaciją jie selektyviai reaguoja į elgesio ženklus, rodančius priešišką bendraamžio nusiteikimą, ir ignoruoja situaciją švelninančius ženklus. tai byloja, kad agresyvūs vaikai international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 51 2014, 15, 47–68 p. prasčiau geba identifikuoti kito žmogaus intenciją lyginant su neagresyviais vaikais. antras svarbus į kitus žmones nukreiptos mentalizacijos aspektas – emocijų identifikavimas, t. y. nustatymas, kokią emociją išgyvena kitas žmogus stebimoje situacijoje. de wied ir bendraautorių (2005) tyrimai rodo, kad, reaguodami į kito žmogaus situaciją, vaikai, turintys elgesio sunkumų, nurodo mažiau teisingų emocinių reakcijų, pasižymi didesniais emocijų identifikavimo netikslumais. vaikai, turintys aukštesnį eksternalių simptomų lygį, aiškindami emocijas, dažniau remiasi pavieniais, o ne keletu elgesio ženklų, o tai rodo mažiau ištobulintą ir išlavintą emocinį supratimą lyginant su vaikais, kurie pasižymi žemesniais sunkumų įverčiais (casey, 1996). bohnert ir kolegos (2003) taip pat nurodo, kad vaikams, pasižymintiems agresyviu elgesiu, būdingas prastesnis gebėjimas identifikuoti emocijų priežastis. vis dėlto nėra aišku, ar abu minėti mentalizacijos aspektai susiję tarpusavyje. siekiant suprasti kito žmogaus vidines būsenas, svarbu gebėti atpažinti ir neverbalinę emocijų, intencijų, minčių išraišką. tikslus veido išraiškų pažinimas padeda suprasti kitų žmonių emocijas ir intencijas (fairchild ir kt., 2009), suteikia esminę informaciją socialinėms sąveikoms (guyer, 2007). hallerbackas su kolegomis (2009) nurodo, kad gebėjimas suvokti kito žmogaus veido išraišką gali palengvinti gebėjimą susieti atpažintą išraišką ir kontekstą bei formuoti pagal tai atitinkamus lūkesčius apie žmogaus būseną, o tai taip pat yra mentalizacijos dalis. netikslus kito žmogaus veido išraiškos atpažinimas gali sukelti sunkumų tiksliai suprasti, kokią emociją patiria žmogus, kokia yra vidinė jo būsena. analizuodami skirtingų tyrimų duomenis, cappadocia ir kolegos (2009) nurodo, kad vaikai, turintys eksternalių sunkumų, prasčiau atpažįsta emocijas iš veido išraiškų. jones (2007) teigia, kad asocialūs paaugliai vaikinai yra ne tik linkę netiksliai interpretuoti emocines veido išraiškas, bet ir neteisingai nustatyti žmonių žvilgsnio kryptį. sharp (2008) nurodo, kad paaugliai, turintys elgesio sunkumų, prasčiau geba atpažinti ne tik emocijas, bet ir mintis iš veido išraiškos. fairchildo ir kolegų (2009) tyrimų duomenys sutampa su anksčiau minėtais autoriais, tačiau kartu rodo, kad gerokai prasčiau veido išraiškas atpažįsta kaip tik tie paaugliai, kurių elgesio sunkumai prasidėjo ypač anksti. vis dėlto veido išraiškų atpažinimo tyrimai nėra vienareikšmiai. yra tyrimų, kuriuose neatrandama statistiškai reikšmingų skirtumų tarp veido išraiškų supratimo lyginant elgesio sunkumų turinčius ir neturinčius vaikus (guyer, 2007; pajer ir kt., lina gervinskaitė-paulaitienė, rasa barkauskienė 52 2010). atsižvelgiant į nevienareikšmius tyrimų rezultatus svarbu toliau tyrinėti elgesio sunkumų turinčių paauglių vidinių būsenų atpažinimą iš veido išraiškų, įtraukiant šį aspektą į mentalizacijos ypatumų tyrimus. apibendrinant teorines žinias ir empirinius tyrimus galima daryti prielaidas apie paauglių, turinčių elgesio sunkumų, mentalizacijos aspektus. tyrimai rodo, kad elgesio sunkumai susiję su prastesniu kito žmogaus patiriamų emocijų supratimu ir stebimo elgesio intencijos nustatymu, tačiau neaišku, ar emocijų ir intencijų supratimas yra susiję. nevienareikšmiai elgesio sunkumų turinčių asmenų vidinių būsenų supratimo iš veido išraiškų tyrimų rezultatai palieka neatsakytą klausimą, ar šie paaugliai susiduria su sunkumais suprasdami vidines būsenas iš veido srities. kartu išryškėja tyrimų, kuriuose visi minėti mentalizacijos aspektai būtų vertinami kartu, stoka. taigi šiuo tyrimu siekiame analizuoti keletą mentalizacijos aspektų kartu, t. y. elgesio intencijos ir patiriamos emocijos identifikavimą aiškinant kito žmogaus elgesį, vidinių būsenų nustatymą iš veido išraiškos. keliame prielaidas, kad paaugliai, turintys elgesio sunkumų, prasčiau nei jų bendraamžiai, neturintys elgesio sunkumų, aiškindami kitų žmonių elgesį, identifikuos kito žmogaus elgesio intencijas ir patiriamas emocijas bei ne taip tiksliai atpažins žmonių vidines būsenas iš jų veido išraiškos. metodai tyrimo dalyviai tiriamieji yra 76 paaugliai (38 mergaitės ir 38 berniukai), jų amžius – 13–17 m. (m = 15,25, sd = 1,25). 36 paaugliai ugdomi socializacijos centruose (t. y. specialios paskirties bendrojo lavinimo mokyklose, vykdančiose vidutinės priežiūros priemonę); 40 paauglių mokosi įprastose bendrojo lavinimo mokyklose. tyrime išskiriamos dvi grupės: tiriamoji ir palyginamoji. toliau detaliau aprašomas jų sudarymas. tiriamoji grupė. renkant tiriamąją grupę socializacijos centruose buvo gautas direktorių susitikimas atlikti tyrimą. tyrime kviesti dalyvauti paaugliai ir klasės auklėtojai, kurių prašyta įvertinti paauglių patiriamus sunkumus. pedagogai buvo pasirinkti, nes dėl įstaigos ypatumų diduma paauglių itin retai matosi su tėvais, dėl to pastarieji negali pateikti informacijos apie tiriamųjų sunkumus. iš viso tyrime sutiko dalyvauti 53 vaikai (20 mergaičių ir 33 berniukai). 13 paauglių (berniukų) pasitraukė iš tyrimo jį atliekant. kviečiant paauglius į tyrimą, buvo užtikrinama galimybė international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 53 2014, 15, 47–68 p. bet kuriuo metu pasitraukti iš tyrimo nepateikus priežasties, todėl analizuoti pasitraukimo priežasčių neturime galimybės. 4 paauglių (2 mer gaičių ir 2 berniukų), ugdomų socializacijos centruose, duomenys nebu vo įtraukti į analizę, nes pagal elgesio vertinimą jie nepasižymėjo elgesio sunkumais, t. y. jų įverčiai nepateko į rizikos arba klinikinę zonas (vertinant pagal aseba grupės klausimynų normas (žukauskienė, kajokienė, vaitkevičius, 2012)). taigi tiriamąją grupę sudaro 36 paaugliai (amžiaus vidurkis – 15,19; sd = 1,2), iš jų 18 mergaičių (amžiaus vidurkis 15,56; sd = 1,1) ir 18 berniukų (amžiaus vidurkis 14,83; sd = 1,3). visi šios grupės paaugliai turi akivaizdžių elgesio sunkumų, patenkančių į rizikos arba klinikinę zonas. palyginamoji grupė. sudarant palyginamąją grupę išdalyti 75 informuoti sutikimai kartu su elgesio vertinimo klausimynu tėvams. 24 vokų negauta, 6 vaikų tėvų komplektai atmesti, nes buvo netinkamai užpildyti. tinkamai klausimynus užpildė 45 bendrojo lavinimo mokyklas lankantys paaugliai ir jų tėvai. siekiant, kad palyginamoji grupė neturėtų elgesio sunkumų, į tolesnę analizę neįtraukti 5 paauglių, kurie, tėvų vertinimu, pasižymėjo elgesio sunkumais (3 mergaitės ir 2 berniukai), duomenys. taigi palyginamojoje grupėje yra 40 paauglių (amžiaus vidurkis – 15,3; sd = 1,27), 20 mergaičių (amžiaus vidurkis – 15,7; sd = 1,13) ir 20 berniukų (amžiaus vidurkis – 14,9; sd = 1,3). visų šioje grupėje esančių paauglių elgesio sunkumai neperžengia normos (vertinant pagal aseba grupės klausimynų normas (žukauskienė, kajokienė, vaitkevičius, 2012)). tyrimo eiga tyrimas atliktas 3 socializacijos centruose ir 2 bendrojo lavinimo mokyklose (1 mieste ir 1 kaime). tyrimo eiga socializacijos centruose. atvykus į socializacijos centrus, paaugliams buvo papasakojama apie tyrimą ir prašoma jame dalyvauti, siekiant gauti informuotą jų sutikimą. paaugliai turėjo galimybę atsisakyti dalyvauti tyrime ar pasitraukti iš tyrimo kada panorėję. viename iš socializacijos centrų tyrimas vyko per pamokas, kitame – metu, skirtu įvairiems privalomiems darbams, trečiame – laisvalaikio valandomis. klausimynai buvo pildomi individualiai, mažose grupelėse. apie tyrime dalyvavusius vaikus mokytojų / auklėtojų buvo prašoma užpildyti mokytojo įvertinimo klausimyną (6–18) (trf6/18, achenbach ir rescorla, 2001). lina gervinskaitė-paulaitienė, rasa barkauskienė 54 tyrimo eiga bendrojo lavinimo mokyklose. per mokytojus vaikams perduota informacija apie būsimą tyrimą ir raštiškas kreipimasis su tyrimo pristatymu bei prašymu jame dalyvauti, taip pat vokai tėvams, kuriuose buvo informuoto sutikimo forma ir 6–18 metų vaiko elgesio aprašas tėvams (cbcl6/18, achenbach ir rescorla, 2001). paauglių tyrimas vyko per pamokas iš anksto suderinus su mokytojais. įvertinimo būdai mokyklinio amžiaus vaikų aseba klausimynų (achenbach system of empirically based assesment) cbcl6/18 ir trf6/18 versijos.tyri mui naudotos dvi lietuviškosios aseba grupės klausimynų versijos: 6–18 metų vaiko elgesio aprašas (child behavior checklist, cbcl6/18, achenbach ir rescorla, 2001) ir mokytojo įvertinimo klausimynas (6–18) (trf 6/18, achenbach ir rescorla, 2001). lietuvos imčiai šie klausimynai standartizuoti žukauskienės ir kajokienės (2003). cbcl pildė vaikų, lankančių bendrojo lavinimo mokyklas, tėvai. trf pildė vaikų, ugdomų socializacijos centruose, mokytojai / auklėtojai. šie klausimynai mūsų tyrime buvo skirti elgesio sunkumams įvertinti ir tiriamosios bei palyginamosios grupės atrankai. kiekvieną klausimyną sudaro 112 teiginių, leidžiančių įvertinti vaiko elgesio ir emocinius sunkumus, kurių kiekvienas vertinamas 3 balų skale: 0 – jei teiginys neteisingas, 1 – jei iš dalies ar kartais teisingas, 2 – jei dažnai ar labai dažnai teisingas per pastaruosius šešis mėnesius. šiame tyrime, norint atrinkti tiriamąją ir kontrolinę grupes, naudojamas bendros eksternalių problemų (apimančių agresyvaus elgesio ir taisyklių laužymo skalių rezultatus) skalės įvertis. žukauskienė, kajokienė (2006) nuro do, kad skalių patikimumas geras (taisyklių laužymo cronbacho α reikšmės: cbcl – 0,83; trf – 0,84; agresyvaus elgesio cronbacho α reikšmės: cbcl – 0,88; trf – 0,92; eksternalių sunkumų cronbacho α reikšmės: cbcl – 0,92; trf – 0,93). cbcl6/18 ir trf6/18 versijose yra sutampančių teiginių, kurie leidžia gauti mokytojų ir tėvų informaciją apie tuos pačius vaiko ypatumus. vertinant paauglių elgesio sunkumus remtasi kaip tik šiais teiginiais. minčių skaitymo iš akių testas (vaikų versija) (sutrumpintai – akių testas) (the children’s version of the reading the mind in the eyes test, baron-cohen ir kt., 2001). testas vertina respondento gebėjimą atpažinti žmogaus vidines būsenas, remiantis žmogaus akių srities nuotrauka. international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 55 2014, 15, 47–68 p. testas susideda iš 28 nuotraukų. kiekvienai nuotraukai pateikiami keturi žodžiai, apibūdinantys žmogaus vidines būsenas (pvz., susimąstęs, prislėgtas, susijaudinęs, laimingas). respondentas prašomas pasirinkti vieną iš keturių nurodytų žodžių, kuris geriausiai atspindi, ką nuotraukoje nufotografuotas žmogus jaučia, galvoja ar kokia yra jo būsena. vienas iš pateikiamų keturių apibūdinimų yra teisingas. kiekvienas teisingas atsakymas vertinimas vienu balu ir testo įvertis yra teisingų atsakymų suma. šis testas buvo sukurtas autizmo spektro sutrikimų turinčių žmonių tyrimams, vėliau tarp daugelio kitų sričių pradėtas naudoti ir mentalizacijos teorijoje mentalizacijai vertinti. laikoma, kad daugiau teisingų atsakymų nurodo geresnę mentalizaciją (sharp ir kt., 2009; vrouva, fonagy, 2008). testo psichometrinės charakteristikos rodo jį esant tinkamą naudoti tyrimuose (baron-cohen ir kt., 2001; rueda ir kt., 2013). tyrime įvertintas testo patikimumas (cronbacho α) yra 0,73. leidimas versti ir naudoti akių testą (vaikų versiją) gautas iš testo autorių. situacinės istorijos (si). siekiant įvertinti, kaip paaugliai supranta ir aiškina kitų žmonių elgesį, šiam tyrimui buvo sukurtos 9 trumpos istorijos, kuriose aprašoma situacija ir joje dalyvaujančio veikėjo elgesys. isto rijos buvo kuriamos remiantis vrouvos, fonagy (2008) naudojamu, bet dar neplatinamu mentalizacijos istorijų metodu paaugliams ir sharp, croudace’s ir goodyerio (2007) sukurtų pradinio mokyklinio amžiaus vaikams skirtų trumpų istorijų su paveikslėliais, vaizduojančiais vaikų interakcijas, idėjomis. situacinėse istorijose aprašomas veikėjų elgesys, išoriškai matoma reakcija, tačiau nėra nuorodų į vidinius išgyvenimus. situacijose kyla konfliktas, nesusipratimas, susiklosto tokios aplinkybės, kurios pagrindiniam veikėjui sukelia neigiamus jausmus, taip pat aprašomas matomas veikėjo elgesys. paauglių prašoma atsakyti į klausimą, kaip jie mano, kodėl pagrindinis veikėjas taip pasielgė. kaip nurodo fonagy, gergely ir target (2007), vienas iš gebėjimų, būtinų mentalizacijai, yra gebėjimas daryti išvadas, numatyti ir priskirti psichikos būse nas kitiems žmonėms remiantis matomais elgesio ženklais. todėl paauglių atsakymai į klausimą apie galimas nurodyto veikėjo elgesio prie žastis suteikia galimybę įvertinti paauglio mentalizacijos gebėji mą išskiriant du aspektus – emocinės kito žmogaus būsenos identifikavimą ir jo elgesio intencijos paaiškinimą. mentalizacijos gebėjimas yra itin svarbus emociškai intensyviose, su artimais santykiais susijusiose situacijose. be to, situacijos turi būti nenutolusios nuo paauglių gyvenimo kasdienybės, nes svarbu, kad paaugliai lina gervinskaitė-paulaitienė, rasa barkauskienė 56 gebėtų įsijausti į situacijas ir remdamiesi vaizduote nurodyti galimas elgesio priežastis. dėl šių priežasčių istorijos buvo kuriamos pasitelkiant paauglius kaip ekspertus. istorijų kūrimas vyko trimis etapais. 1 etapas. nestruktūruotas interviu su paaugliais (n = 4). per interviu buvo siekiama surinkti informacijos apie aktualias paauglių gyvenimo situacijas, kuriose jie patiria neigiamų emocijų, patenka į konfliktus, nesusipratimus ir pan. ši informacija buvo naudojama kaip pagrindas istorijoms kurti, nes svarbu, kad istorijos būtų artimos paauglių gyvenimui ir paaugliams keltų neigiamas emocijas. po šio etapo buvo sukurta 15 istorijų, kelios jų turėjo porą galimų skirtingų pabaigų, kelios nebaigtos (aprašyta situacija, tačiau nenurodomas veikėjo elgesys). 2 etapas. sukurtos 15 istorijų buvo pateiktos 2 paaugliams vertinti. aptarta, kiek istorijos jiems atrodo įtikinamos, realios, vertinant kiekvieną istoriją paprašyta atsakyti į klausimą apie galimas pagrindinio vei kėjo elgesio priežastis. paaugliai taip pat išsakė savo pastabas dėl si tuacijų aprašymo, veikėjų elgesio aprašymų, pasiūlė skirtingų galimų situaci jų pabaigų. atsižvelgiant į gautas pastabas, istorijos buvo koreguojamos. 3 etapas. 14 pataisytų istorijų (keletas turėjo porą galimų pabaigos variantų) buvo pateiktos 5 paaugliams vertinti. jų paprašyta atsakyti į klausimą apie galimas veikėjo elgesio priežastis, nurodyti, kiek įtikima jiems atrodo situacija, pateikti savo pastabas, komentarus, vertinimus. po šio etapo paliktos pakoreguotos 9 istorijos. toliau pateikiamas istorijos pavyzdys: „per kūno kultūros pamoką tomas ir klasės draugai žaidė krepšinį. vienas bendraklasis kęstas pasišaipė iš to, kaip tomas varosi kamuolį, kad tai daro ne kaip visi. vėliau vaikinai žaidė futbolą ir tomas pradėjo šaipytis iš kęsto, kad šis keistai bėga per aikštelę. kaip galvoji, kodėl tomas taip pasielgė?“ pagal sudarytą kodavimo protokolą vertinami atsakymai į po kiekvienos istorijos užduodamą klausimą: „kaip galvoji, kodėl pagrindinis veikėjas taip pasielgė?“ atsakymai vertinami pagal dvi kategorijas: emocijos identifikavimas (ar teisingai nurodoma, kokią emociją veikėjas galėjo patirti) ir elgesio intencijos identifikavimas (ar teisingai nurodoma, kokia veikėjo elgesio intencija, ketinimas, noras, tikslas). sukurta vertinimo instrukcija, pagal kurią koduojami paauglių atsakymai. ir emocijų, ir intencijų identifikavimas vertinamas 1 (teisingai nurodyta) ar 0 (neteisingai arba nenurodyta) balu. bendras emocijų identifikavimo balas gali international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 57 2014, 15, 47–68 p. svyruoti nuo 0 iki 9, bendras elgesio intencijų identifikavimo balas – nuo 0 iki 9. taip pat skaičiuojamas bendras elgesio paaiškinimo balas sudedant emocijos ir elgesio identifikavimo balus, jis gali svyruoti nuo 0 iki 18. didesnis balas reiškia tikslesnį elgesio paaiškinimą. apskaičiuotas dviejų ekspertų (pirmos straipsnio autorės ir kvalifikuotos psichologės, susipažinusios su mentalizacijos teorija) respondentų atsakymų į klausimus apie istorijų veikėjų elgesį kodavimo suderinamumas. emocijų identifikavimo vertinimo suderinamumui gautas cohen kappos koeficientas 0,832 (p < 0,01), intencijos identifikacijos vertinimo suderinamumui – 0,639 (p < 0,01). rezultatai siekiant palyginti kito žmogaus elgesio priežasčių aiškinimo (paaiškinimuose atsiskleidžiančią emocijų identifikavimą, elgesio intencijos identifikavimą) ir vidinių būsenų atpažinimo iš akių srities tikslumą tarp tiriamosios ir palyginamosios grupių, skaičiuoti teisingų atsakymų vidurkiai, standartiniai nuokrypiai (1 lentelė). šių kintamųjų įverčių skirstiniai abiejose grupėse palyginti pritaikius manno–whitney kriterijų. gauta, kad tiriamoji grupė statistiškai reikšmingai prasčiau nei palyginamoji atpažįsta žmogaus vidinę būseną iš jo akių srities (p < 0,01). taip pat gauta, kad tiriamoji grupė, remdamasi aprašytomis situacijomis, statistiškai reikšmingai prasčiau nei palyginamoji paaiškina kito žmogaus elgesio priežastis (p < 0,01), prasčiau identifikuodama kito žmogaus emocijas (p < 0,01) ir elgesio intencijas (p < 0,01). 1 lentelė. elgesio priežasčių aiškinimo ir vidinių būsenų atpažinimo įverčių palyginimas tarp grupių table 1. differences between groups in behavior reasons explanation and internal state identification tiriamoji (n = 36) palyginamoji (n = 40) manno–whitney u testas m sd m sd p akių testas 17,28 5,18 20,7 2,97 401,0 0,001 emocijos identifikavimas 3,42 2,33 5,45 2,18 383,0 0,000 intencijos identifikavimas 1,19 1,28 2,38 1,33 364,0 0,000 si bendras įvertis 4,61 2,74 7,82 2,23 278,0 0,000 lina gervinskaitė-paulaitienė, rasa barkauskienė 58 siekiant įvertinti sąsajas tarp vidinių būsenų atpažinimo iš akių srities ir elgesio priežasčių paaiškinimų identifikuojant emociją ir intenciją pritaikyta spearmano koreliacija. iš 2 lentelės matome, kad tiriamojoje grupėje gauta teigiama vidutinio stiprumo statistiškai reikšminga koreliacija tarp akių testo įverčio ir emocijos identifikavimo istorijoje įverčių (r = 0,473, p < 0,01). tai rodo, kad paauglių, turinčių elgesio sunkumų, tikslesnis kito žmogaus vidinės būsenos atpažinimas iš akių srities nuotraukų yra susijęs su tikslesniu emocijos identifikavimu, kai reikia remtis aprašytu žmogaus elgesiu. taip pat rastas statistiškai reikšmingas ryšys tarp šio testo įverčių ir elgesio intencijos identifikavimo (r = 0,352, p < 0,01). tiriamosios grupės paaugliai, tiksliau atpažįstantys vidinę būseną iš akių srities, teisingiau identifikuoja veikėjo elgesio intencijas aprašytose situacijose. 2 lentelė. sąsajos tarp elgesio priežasčių aiškinimo ir vidinių būsenų atpažinimo tiriamųjų imtyje table 2. correlations between explanations of behavior reasons and identification of internal states tiriamoji grupė (n = 36) palyginamoji grupė (n = 40) akių testas si bendras įvertis emocijos identifikavimas akių testas si bendras įvertis emocijos identifikavimas si bendras įvertis 0,575** 0,251 emocijos identifikavimas 0,473** 0,874** 0,380* 0,801** intencijos identifikavimas 0,352* 0,501** 0,126 –0,089 0,309 –0,271 *p < 0,05, **p < 0,01 vertinant bendrą istorijų veikėjų elgesio paaiškinimo įvertį tiriamojoje grupėje gaunama stipri, statistiškai reikšminga koreliacija su veikėjo emocijos identifikavimu (r = 0,874, p < 0,01). statistiškai reikšminga stipri koreliacija (r = 0,801, p < 0,01) tarp šių kintamųjų gaunama ir palyginamojoje grupėje. tiriamojoje grupėje gauta statistiškai reikšminga, bet silpnesnė teigiama koreliacija tarp bendro istorijų veikėjų elgesio paaiškinimo įverčio ir elgesio intencijos identifikavimo (r = 0,501, p < 0,01). palyginamojoje grupėje šių kintamųjų koreliacija statistiškai international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 59 2014, 15, 47–68 p. nereikšminga. vadinasi, ir turinčių, ir neturinčių elgesio sunkumų paauglių kito žmogaus elgesio paaiškinimas yra stipriai susijęs su žmogaus patiriamos emocijos identifikavimu, o elgesio intencijos identifikavimas – su tikslesniu bendru elgesio paaiškinimu yra susijęs tik paauglių, turinčių elgesio sunkumų grupėje. analizuojant ryšį tarp elgesio paaiškinimuose atsiskleidžiančio emocijų identifikavimo ir elgesio intencijos identifikavimo tiriamojoje ir palyginamojoje grupėse gautos silpnos, statistiškai nereikšmingos koreliacijos. paaugliai, nurodantys tikslią veikėjo patiriamą emociją, nebūtinai teisingai nurodys ir jo elgesio intenciją. siekiant įvertinti sąsajas tarp eksternalių sunkumų ir vidinių būsenų atpažinimo tikslumo iš akių srities bei elgesio paaiškinimo tikslumo (emocijų ir intencijų identifikavimo) buvo pritaikyta spearmano koreliacija. visoje grupėje rastos neigiamos statistiškai reikšmingos koreliacijos tarp taisyklių laužymo, agresyvaus elgesio ir bendrų eksternalių elgesio sunkumų ir vidinių būsenų atpažinimo iš žmogaus akių srities, kito žmogaus elgesio paaiškinimo tikslumo, tiek identifikuojant emociją, tiek elgesio intenciją (3 lentelė). tai rodo, kad paaugliai, turintys daugiau elgesio sunkumų, prasčiau atpažįsta vidinę žmogaus būseną iš jo akių srities, ne taip tiksliai paaiškina kito žmogaus elgesio priežastis, prasčiau identifikuoja už elgesio slypinčią emociją ir elgesio intenciją. 3 lentelė. elgesio sunkumų ir elgesio priežasčių aiškinimo bei vidinių būsenų atpažinimo sąsajos visoje tiriamųjų imtyje (n = 76) table 3. correlations between conduct difficulties and explanations of behavior reasons and identification of internal states in full sample (n = 76) taisyklių lauž ymo p agresyvaus elgesio p eksternalių sunkumų p akių testas –0,387** 0,001 –0,415** 0,000 –0,437** 0,000 emocijos identifikavimas –0,376** 0,001 –0,420** 0,000 –0,443** 0,000 intencijos identifikavimas –0,436** 0,000 –0,355** 0,002 –0,418** 0,000 sim bendras įvertis –0,528** 0,000 –0,478** 0,000 –0,547** 0,000 *p < 0,05, **p < 0,01 lina gervinskaitė-paulaitienė, rasa barkauskienė 60 analizuojant elgesio sunkumų ir mentalizacijos kintamųjų sąsajas tiriamojoje ir palyginamojoje grupėse pritaikytas spearmano koreliacijos koeficientas. palyginamojoje grupėje nerasta jokių statistiškai reikšmingų elgesio sunkumų ir minėtų kintamųjų koreliacijų. tiriamojo je grupėje nustatyta statistiškai reikšmingų sąsajų, kurios pateikiamos 4 lentelėje ir aptariamos toliau. 4 lentelė. tiriamosios grupės (n = 36) elgesio sunkumų ir elgesio priežasčių aiškinimo ir vidinių būsenų atpažinimo sąsajos table 4. correlations between conduct difficulties and explanations of behavior reasons and identification of internal states in the study group (n = 36) taisyklių laužymo p agresyvaus elgesio p eksternalių sunkumų p akių testas –0,097 0,573 –0,374* 0,025 –0,299 0,076 emocijos identifikavimas –0,042 0,807 –0,306 0,070 –0,227 0,183 intencijos identifikavimas –0,050 0,773 –0,359* 0,032 –0,274 0,106 sim bendras įvertis –0,164 0,340 –0,453** 0,006 –0,359* 0,032 *p < 0,05, **p < 0,01 vertinant taisyklių laužymo skalei priskiriamų elgesio sunkumų ir mentalizacijos aspektų sąsajas, gautos neigiamos silpnos statistiškai nereikšmingos koreliacijos. tai rodo, kad tiriamosios grupės elgesio sunkumai, priklausantys taisyklių laužymo subskalei, nėra susiję su vidinių būsenų identifikavimo tiek remiantis akių sritimi, tiek aprašytu elgesiu tikslumu. vertinant agresyvaus elgesio ir mentalizacijos aspektų sąsajas, gautos neigiamos koreliacijos. agresyvesni paaugliai prasčiau atpažįsta vidines kito žmogaus būsenas iš akių srities (r = –0,374, p < 0,05). statistiškai reikšmingas neigiamas ryšys taip pat gautas tarp didesnio agresyvaus elgesio lygio ir veikėjo elgesio intencijos identifikavimo įverčių (r = –0,359, p < 0,05). taip pat gauta statistiškai reikšminga neigiama koreliacija tarp agresyvaus elgesio ir bendro elgesio paaiškinimo balo international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 61 2014, 15, 47–68 p. (r = –0,453, p < 0,01). tai rodo, kad paaugliai, kurių agresyvumo lygis aukštesnis, prasčiau aiškina žmonių elgesį, identifikuodami galimas vidines elgesio priežastis. rezultatų aptarimas tyrimu siekta atskleisti elgesio sunkumų turinčių paauglių į kitus žmones nukreiptos mentalizacijos ypatumus, analizuojant kito žmogaus elgesio priežasčių paaiškinimus ir vidinių būsenų atpažinimą remiantis veido išraiškomis. mūsų tyrimas atskleidė, kad paaugliai, turintys elgesio sunkumų, pasižymi prastesne mentalizacija: prasčiau nei jų bendraamžiai, neturintys elgesio sunkumų, aiškina kito žmogaus elgesio priežastis ir atpažįsta vidines būsenas iš akių srities. pirma, šie paaugliai, remdamiesi kito žmogaus elgesio aprašymu, ne taip tiksliai identifikuoja to žmogaus patiriamą emociją. de wied ir bendraautoriai (2005) nurodo panašius savo tyrimų rezultatus, atskleisdami, kad netikslus emocijų identifikavimas reaguojant į kito žmogaus situaciją yra būdingas elgesio sunkumų turintiems vaikams. analizuojant tyrimo dalyvių atsakymus apie kito žmogaus elgesio priežastis išryškėja casey (1996) tyrime nustatyta tendencija, t. y. vaikai, kurie pasižymi aukštesniu eksternalių simptomų lygiu, bandydami suprasti kitų žmonių emocijas, dažniau linkę remtis pavieniais, konkrečiais, o ne keletu elgesyje atsispindinčių ženklų, galinčių lemti prastesnį kito žmogaus emocijų identifikavimą. tai galima iliustruoti paauglių atsakymų apie istorijų veikėjus pavyzdžiais. vienoje iš istorijų nurodomi du veikėjo elgesio aspektai („inga prisipažino savo draugei justinai, kad jai patinka vienas klasės draugas, ir paprašė niekam apie tai nepasakoti. per kitą pertrauką visos klasės mergaitės žinojo apie ingos simpatiją ir garsiai pasišaipė iš jos. inga ėmė tai neigti, o su justina visiškai nekalbėjo. kaip galvoji, kodėl inga taip elgėsi?“). norint tiksliai identifikuoti veikėjo emocijas reikėtų atsižvelgti į abu elgesio aspektus, nes jie nurodo galimas skirtingas veikėjo patiriamas emocijas. tačiau tarp paauglių, turinčių elgesio sunkumų, atsakymų dažni buvo tokie kaip „nes draugė išdavė paslaptį“, „supyko“, „buvo gėda, kad jai patinka klasės draugas“. jie rodo, kad atsižvelgta tik į vieną ar į kitą elgesyje atsispindintį ženklą ir dėl to netiksliai nurodoma, kokias emocijas veikėjas patiria. tarp paauglių, neturinčių elgesio sunkumų, lina gervinskaitė-paulaitienė, rasa barkauskienė 62 atsakymų buvo daugiau tokių, kurie rodo, kad paauglys pastebėjo abu elgesio aspektus ir jais rėmėsi nurodydamas veikėjo patiriamą emociją (pvz., „buvo gėda prieš kitus ir ji pyko ant draugės“, „buvo nemalonu ir pikta, <...> gėda“). kitas svarbus aspektas, aiškinant elgesį yra elgesio intencijos numatymas, supratimas, koks ketinimas slypi už matomo elgesio. sharp (2006) nurodo, kad elgesio problemų turintys vaikai yra linkę daryti netikslias prielaidas apie kitų žmonių intencijas. tai patvirtina mūsų tyrimo rezultatai, rodantys, kad šie paaugliai prasčiau identifikuoja kito žmogaus elgesio intencijas ir atsakydami į klausimus apie galimas veikėjo priežastis apskritai daug rečiau identifikuoja intencijas. anksčiau minėtame istorijos pavyzdyje apie ingą ir justiną tarp elgesio sunkumų turinčių paauglių buvo tokių netikslių atsakymų apie intencijas, pvz., „dėl to, kad inga irgi norėjo pasišaipyti“. siekdami atskleisti paauglių, turinčių elgesio sunkumų, mentalizacijos ypatumus, kėlėme klausimą, ar du aptarti aspektai aiškinant kito žmogaus elgesį yra susiję, ir darėme prielaidą, kad elgesio aiškinimas atsižvelgiant tiek į emocijas, tiek į intencijas rodys tikslesnę mentalizaciją. tyrimo rezultatai atskleidžia, kad vis dėlto reikšmingų emocijos ir intencijos identifikavimo sąsajų nėra tiek elgesio sunkumų turinčių, tiek neturinčių paauglių imtyse. atsižvelgiant į mentalizacijos kompleksiškumą, galima daryti išvadą, kad šie mentalizacijos aspektai nėra susiję. labai svarbu atkreipti dėmesį ir į kitus galimus rezultatų paaiškinimus. tokie rezultatai gali būti susiję su tuo, kad abiejų grupių paaugliai sunkiau identifikavo intencijas ir elgesio priežasčių paaiškinimas buvo daug stipriau susijęs su tiksliu emocijos identifikavimu. be to, rezultatai gali būti susiję ir su tyrimo metodo ypatumais (nebuvo tiesiogiai prašoma nurodyti, koks ketinimas gali slypėti už elgesio). tolesniuose tyrimuose būtų svarbu įvertinti emocijos ir intencijos identifikavimo ryšį naudojant patobulintus vertinimo metodus. analizuojant, kaip elgesio sunkumų turintys paaugliai atpažįsta vidines būsenas iš žmogaus akių srities, nustatyta, kad šie paaugliai daro daugiau klaidų nurodydami, ką kitas žmogus gali galvoti, jausti, kokia gali būti jo būsena. šios srities nevienareikšmių tyrimų rezultatų kontekste mūsų rezultatai dera su tyrimais, rodančiais, kad elgesio sunkumų turinčių paauglių gebėjimas atpažinti emocijas iš veido išraiškų yra prastesnis (pvz., cappadocia ir kt., 2009; fairchild ir kt., 2009). svarbu paminėti, kad international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 63 2014, 15, 47–68 p. tyrimo rezultatai yra panašūs į sharp (2008) pateikiamus duomenis, kurie gauti vertinant šį mentalizacijos aspektą tuo pačiu vertinimo būdu. taigi galime daryti išvadą, kad paaugliams, turintiems elgesio sunkumų, būdinga prastesnė į kitus žmones nukreipta mentalizacija, kai reikia remtis neverbaline informacija. tyrimo rezultatai taip pat leidžia analizuoti implicitinį (kai kito žmogaus psichinės būsenos suprantamos intuityviai, nebandant verbaliai paaiškinti, ką ir kodėl išgyvena kitas žmogus) ir eksplicitinį mentalizacijos (kai sąmoningai aiškinamas kito žmogaus elgesys) pasireiškimo būdus. elgesio priežasčių supratimas, emocijų identifikavimas, elgesio intencijos identifikavimas apima eksplicitinę mentalizaciją. vidinių būsenų atpažinimas žmogaus veide nurodo implicitinę mentalizaciją. choi-kainas, gundersonas (2008) nurodo, kad abu šie būdai dažnai naudojami kartu ir gali būti tarpusavyje susiję, o fonagy, batemanas ir bateman (2011), plėsdami galimų sąsajų aptarimą, teigia, kad žmonės, turintys psichologinių sunkumų, gali pasižymėti netolygumais implicitiniame ir eksplicitiniame mentalizacijos poliuose. mūsų tyrime elgesio sunkumų turinčių paauglių grupėje atsiskleidžia implicitinės ir eksplicitinės mentalizacijos sąsajos. šios grupės paauglys, gebantis sąmoningai tiksliau paaiškinti kito žmogaus elgesio priežastis, geba tiksliau atpažinti žmogaus vidinę būseną, kai sąmoningo paaiškinimo nereikalaujama. taigi elgesio sunkumų turinčių paauglių duomenys patvirtina skirtingų mentalizacijos būdų sąsajas, tačiau šioje grupėje nepasitvirtina fonagy, batemano ir bateman (2011) kelta prielaida apie galimą sąmoningos ir intuityvios mentalizacijos netolygumą. įdomūs rezultatai išryškėja analizuojant neturinčių elgesio sunkumų paauglių duomenis, kuriuose gaunamas ryšys tarp implicitinės ir eksplicitinės emocijų mentalizacijos yra silpnesnis, o elgesio intencijų supratimo ir implicitinės mentalizacijos reikšmingo ryšio nėra. lygindami abi grupes, matome, kad elgesio sunkumų turinčių paauglių mentalizacija prastesnė ir kad eksplicitinė ir implicitinė mentalizacija yra susijusi, o neturinčių sunkumų paauglių abu mentalizacijos būdai nėra tvirtai susiję, nors bendri mentalizacijos rodikliai aukštesni. tyrime elgesio sunkumai buvo vertinami ir bendru įverčiu, atskirai išskiriant taisykles laužantį elgesį ir agresyvų elgesį. elgesio sunkumų turinčių paauglių grupėje išryškėjo, kad agresyvus elgesys yra susijęs su prastesne mentalizacija. aukštesnis agresyvumas siejasi su mažes niu tikslumu atpažįstant kito žmogaus vidines būsenas iš akių srities lina gervinskaitė-paulaitienė, rasa barkauskienė 64 ir paaiškinant kito žmogaus elgesio priežastis. rezultatai patvirtina fonagy (2003), alleno (2006) teorines prielaidas, kad sėkmingos mentalizacijos, nukreiptos į kitą žmogų, trūkumas yra susijęs su smurtu, agresija, kito žmogaus pažeminimu. paauglių pateiktų atsakymų apie veikėjų elgesio priežastis analizė atskleidė pateikiamų paaiškinimų skirtumus ne tik tarp grupių, bet ir pačiose grupėse. tyrimo dalyviai, atsakydami į klausimus apie kito žmogaus elgesį, turėjo remtis vaizduote, kuri, alleno, fonagy ir batemano (2008) teigimu, vaidina svarbų vaidmenį mentalizuojant, kai reikia gebėti ne tik įsivaizduoti skirtingas perspektyvas, bet ir jas pagrįsti realybe. be to, labai svarbus buvo ir gebėjimas vaizduotėje numatomas galimas istorijų veikėjų elgesio priežastis pagrįsti tikrove – tokia, kokia ji aprašyta situacijose, ir tokia, su kokia susiduria patys paaugliai. fonagy, gergely ir target (2007) nurodo, kad kiekvieno žmogaus gebėjimai įsivaizduoti yra skirtingi, todėl tai gali lemti skirtingas išvadas apie kitų žmonių mintis ir jausmus. atsakymuose vieni paaugliai pateikia plačius, detalius paaiškinimus, išvadas daro remdamiesi aprašytomis situacijomis. pavyzdžiui, aiškindami istorijos veikėjos viktorijos, kuri sumaišė dienas ir neatnešė auklėtojai gėlių bei tądien stengėsi vengti auklėtojos, elgesį, pateikia tokius paaiškinimus: „galbūt jai buvo gėda, kad susimaišė, kad neatnešė gėlių. viktorija bijojo būti įvertinta auklėtojos nelabai gerai, pasirodyti nemandagi“ arba aiškindami kitą istoriją: „ingą išdavė draugė, dėl to ji su ja nekalbėjo, ji pyko. o viską neigė, nes ji nežinojo, kokia to vaikino reakcija bus į tai, kad ingai jis patinka, galbūt ta inga labai drovi ir gėdijasi savo jausmų.“ kiti paaugliai pateikia išvadas, kurios atrodo nepakankamai pagrįstos, per daug nutolusios nuo aprašytų situacijų. tokie atsakymai taip pat buvo dažnesni tarp paauglių, turinčių elgesio sunkumų. pavyzdžiui, aiškindami viktorijos elgesį, jie sako „nes nemėgo klasės vadovės“, „nes neturėjo pinigų“, „auklėtoja buvo bloga“. svarbu pažymėti, kad šio tyrimo rezultatai apsiriboja nedidele tirta imtimi, kuri yra specifinė tuo, kad tiriamosios grupės paaugliai ugdomi socializacijos centruose. šie paaugliai dėl savo elgesio yra patekę į teisėsaugos akiratį, jiems pritaikyta vidutinės priežiūros priemonė, dėl kurios apribojamos jų laisvės, gyvenimo ir ugdymo aplinka yra itin specializuo ta. tai išskiria tiriamuosius iš kitų elgesio sunkumų turinčių paauglių. siekiant suprasti, kokie mentalizacijos ypatumai būdingi įvairiems elgesio sunkumų turintiems paaugliams, būtų svarbu tyrinėti elgesio sunkumų international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 65 2014, 15, 47–68 p. turinčius paauglius, gyvenančius su tėvais ir lankančius bendrojo lavinimo mokyklas. tai suteiktų galimybę patikrinti, ar rasti šiame tyrime rezultatai atspindi ir paauglių, kurie turi elgesio sunkumų tik psichologiniu ar psichiatriniu, bet ne teisiniu požiūriu mentalizacijos ypatumus. fonagy, batemanas ir bateman (2011) nurodo, kad vertinant mentalizaciją svarbu suprasti, jog ji nėra statiškas ar vienpusiškas gebėjimas ar bruožas. kaip ji bus pritaikyta realioje situacijoje, priklauso nuo daugelio situacijos veiksnių. šiame tyrime nustatyti mentalizacijos ypatumai atskleidžia, kiek paaugliai geba mentalizuoti, kai yra prašomi tai daryti atlikdami užduotis, tačiau nebuvo vertinami skirtingų situacinių veiksnių (pvz., streso, santykių, kuriuose reikia mentalizuoti, emocijų, kurias reikia suprasti, ir pan.) poveikis mentalizacijai. remdamiesi šio tyrimo rezultatais, negalime daryti apibendrinimų kasdienio gyvenimo situacijoms, veikiamoms skirtingų konteksto veiksnių. šiame tyrime dėmesys buvo skirtas į kitus žmones nukreiptos mentalizacijos tyrinėjimui. rasti elgesio sunkumų, ypač agresyvaus elgesio, ir mentalizacijos sunkumų skirtumai ir sąsajos rodo, kad ši tyrimų kryptis yra svarbi. tolesniuose tyrimuose siekiant atskleisti visapusišką elgesio sunkumų turinčių paauglių mentalizacijos ypatumų vaizdą būtų itin vertinga įtraukti ir metodus, leidžiančius vertinti į save nukreiptos mentalizacijos ypatumus. išvados elgesio sunkumų turintys paaugliai, aiškindami kito žmogaus elgesio priežastis, prasčiau nei paaugliai, neturintys elgesio sunkumų, identifikuoja kito žmogaus patiriamą emociją ir jo elgesio intenciją. elgesio sunkumų turintys paaugliai prasčiau nei tokių sunkumų neturintys bendraamžiai atpažįsta kito žmogaus vidines būsenas iš jo akių srities. du mentalizacijos aspektai, t. y. elgesio priežasčių paaiškinimo tikslumas ir vidinių būsenų atpažinimas iš akių srities, yra susiję. tie elgesio sunkumų turintys paaugliai, kurie tiksliau atpažįsta vidines būsenas iš akių srities, geba tiksliau paaiškinti kito žmogaus patiriamą emociją ir elgesio intenciją. lina gervinskaitė-paulaitienė, rasa barkauskienė 66 literatūra achenbach, t. m., rescorla, l. a. (2001). manual for the aseba school-age forms & profiles. burlington, vt: university of vermont, research center for children, youth, & families. allen, j. g. (2006). mentalizing in practice. in j. g. allen, p. fonagy (ed.) handbook of mentalization-based treatment. chichester: john wiley, p. 3–30. allen, j. g., fonagy, p., bateman, a. w. (2008). mentalizing in clinical practice. arlington: american psychiatric publishing. baron-cohen, s., wheelwright, s., spong a., scahill v., lawson j. (2001) are intuitive physics and intuitive psychology independent? a test with children with asperger syndrome. journal of developmental and learning disorders, 5, 47–78. bateman, a., fonagy p. (2008). comorbid antisocial and borderline personality disorders: mentalization-based treatment. journal of clinical psychology, 2 (64), 181–194. bohnert, a. m., cmic, k. a., lim, k. g. 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(2007). the parent-infant dyad and the construction of the subjective self. journal of child psychology and psychiatry, 48 (3), 288–328. guyer, a. e., mcclure, e. b., adler, a. d., brotman, m. a., rich, b. a., kimes, a. s., pine, d. s., ernst, m., leibenluft, e. (2007). specificity of facial expression labeling deficits in childhood psychopathology. journal of child psychology and psychiatry, 48 (9), 863–871. ha, c., sharp, c., goodyer, i. (2011). the role of child and parental mentalizing for the development of conduct problems over time. eur child adolesc psychiatry, 20, 291–300. hallerback, m. u., lugnegard, v., hjarhag, f., gillberg, c. (2009). the reading the mind in the eyes test: test – retest reliability of a swedish version. cognitive neuropsychiatry, 14 (2) 127–143. hill, j. (2005). conduct disorders. psychiatry, 4 (7), 57–60. holmes j. (2005) notes on mentalizing – old hat or new wine? british journal of psychotherapy, 22 (2). jones, a. p., forster, a. s., skuse, d. 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(2005). a developmental approach to mentalizing communities: i. a model for social change. bulletin of the menninger clinic, 69 (4), 265–281. lina gervinskaitė-paulaitienė, rasa barkauskienė 68 walton, a., flouri, e. (2010). contextual risk, maternal parenting and adolescent externalizing behavior problems: the role of emotion regulation. child: care, health and development, 36 (2), 275–284. de wied m., gispen-de wied, c,. van boxtel a. (2010). empathy dysfunction in children and adolescents with disruptive behavior disorders. european journal of pharmacology, 626, 97–103. žukauskienė, r, kajokienė, i., vaitkevičius, r. (2012). mokyklinio amžiaus vaikų aseba klausimynų (cbcl6/18, trf6/18, ysr11/18) vadovas. vilnius. mentalization in adolescents with conduct problems lina ger vinskaitė -paulaitienė, r asa b arkauskienė vilnius university, lithuania summary. problem. mentalization refers to an individual‘s ability to understand their own and others’ behaviour in relation to mental states (allen et al., 2008). authors of mentalization theory raise the assumption that mentalization difficulties are related to different forms of psychopathology. in order to reveal probable relationships between mentalizing difficulties and interpersonal problems, researchers and practitioners are starting to analyse mentalization in children (sharp, 2008, ha et al., 2011) and adults (bateman, fonagy, 2008) with conduct difficulties. these studies are important in identifying main mentalization difficulties and in providing the basis for well-grounded interventions. nevertheless, there are not enough studies exploring mentalization characteristics in adolescents with conduct problems. the aim of this study was to identify characteristics of mentalization in adolescents with conduct problems. methods. 40 adolescents from children socialization centers’ and 45 adolescents from secondary schools participated in the study. based on aseba trf6/18 and cbcl6/18 scales scores 36 adolescents with conduct problems and 40 adolescents having no conduct problems were selected for main research. the method measuring how adolescents explain behavior of other people (mentalize), was designed for this study. the eyes test (baron-cohen et al., 2001) assessing participants’ ability to infer mental states from the eyes region was also used in the study. results and conclusions. the results showed that mentalization in relation to others was worse in adolescents with conduct problems. these adolescents showed inferior ability to identify emotions and intentions in another person when they were asked to give explanations for another persons’ behavior. their ability to infer correct mental states from the eyes’ region was worse as well. the results showed that adolescents, who were able to explain another person’s behavior more accurately, were able to infer more correct mental states from the eyes’ region. keywords: behavior explanations, internal states identification, emotion recognition, conduct difficulties, adolescence. gauta: 2013-12-16 priimta: 2014-10-27 psichologijos_zurnalas_21.indd international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2017 / 21 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.21.3 scientific publications how do emotional, cognitive and social health resources rel ate to health behaviour? the c ase of lithuania andrius šmitas1, loreta gustainienė vytautas magnus university, lithuania abstract. introduction. in most research studies, health is analysed from the unidimensional perspective, e.g. medical studies are usually based on the biomedical model, which posits that health is an absence of illness, and that illness is caused by abnormality within the body. in this model, mental phenomena are not important, an individual has no or little responsibility on one’s health, and the treatment of a disease in most cases is passive (wade, halligan, 2004). the who (1948) definition of health suggests that health is not only the absence of illness, but also a good subjective and social state, i.e. health is a multidimensional, biopsychosocial construct. therefore, alongside the analysis of the biological aspects of health, there is also a need to study the relationship between psychosocial aspects (resources) of health and health behaviour. the aim of the study is to explore the links between different emotional (feelings of depression, sadness, anxiety, happiness), cognitive (beliefs that other people are helpful, supportive, trustful) and social (religiousness, meeting with friends, participation in social activities, possibilities to discuss private, intimate questions) health resources and their relation to health behaviour (eating fruits, vegetables, smoking status, number of cigarettes, alcohol use frequency, amount of alcohol consumed on workdays and weekends, physical activity) in a representative sample of lithuanian males and females. research methods and participants. single-item questions generated by experts from the european social survey round 7 were used to assess the emotional, cognitive and social health resources and health behaviour. the research sample (n=1865) was drawn from the general population in lithuania (40.2 percent of males and 59.8 percent of females). the mean age of participants was 49.59 (sd=18.29). the youngest participant was 15 years old and the oldest one was 92. participants were interviewed in 2014. the data was analyzed using pearson’s correlation coefficient ρ. statistical significance was set at p> .05. results. in lithuanian males, more frequent participation in social activities is connected to more 1 address for correspondence: andrius šmitas, vytautas magnus university, department of psychology. jonavos g. 66-327, lt-44191, kaunas, lithuania. e-mail: binaris@gmail.com https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.21.3 mailto:binaris@gmail.com 58 andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė frequent alcohol use and a greater amount of consumed alcohol, but it has no correlation with smoking or the number of cigarettes smoked. in lithuanian females, more frequent participation in social activities is related to more frequent alcohol use and more frequent smoking, but it is not connected to the number of cigarettes smoked or the amount of consumed alcohol. the results of this study confirm that social environment might affect individual health behaviour not only positively, but also negatively. discussion. it is evident that the levels of emotional and cognitive health among lithuanian males and females are lower than in non-postsoviet (scandinavian, western europe) countries (smitas, gustainiene, 2017). this data suggests that health behaviour may be negatively affected not only by personal (emotional and cognitive) health, but also by social aspects of health. there is a common misconception that more frequent participation in social activities positively affects a person’s health (novek, menec, tran, bell, 2013), however, our evidence suggests the opposite, i. e. in the case of men, more frequent participation in social activities results in more frequent alcohol use,while in the case of women, it results in more frequent cigarette smoking. conclusions. more frequent participation in social activities by lithuanian males is connected to more frequent alcohol use and more frequent smoking in lithuanian females. lower levels of emotional and cognitive health were also related to less favourable health behaviour. further studies are needed to explore the links between social and behavioural health-related variables. keywords: emotional, cognitive, social health resources, health behaviour, lithuania, european social survey. introduc tion health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (who constitution, 1948). this definition of health suggests that health is not only the absence of illness, but also a good subjective and social state, i.e. health is a multidimensional – a biopsychosocial – construct. in most research studies health is analysed from a unidimensional perspective, e.g. medical studies are usually based on the biomedical model, which posits that health is an absence of illness, and that illness is caused by abnormality within the body. mental phenomena are not important, an individual has no or little responsibility on one’s health, and the treatment of a disease in most cases is passive (wade, halligan, 2004). however, other researchers claim that the biomedical model of health is not comprehensive enough and this can be observed in the increasing morbidity rates – despite the advances of treatment methods and modern technologies, the prevalence of various diseases has been 59 2017, 21, 57–70 p.how do emotional, cognitive and social health resources relate to health behaviour? the case of lithuania on the rise and, according to the world health organization’s forecast, mortality rates will increase globally by 2030 (mathers, 2008). some authors suggest that only holistic (biopsychosocial) perspective to the understanding of health can reduce mortality (von kanel, 2008). still, the links between different modalities of health have not been explored in a comprehensive manner. for example, it is believed that participation in social activities (aspect of social health) is beneficial to various aspects of physical health, such as lower risk to develop dementia, lower mortality in a 12-year period (novek, menec, tran, bell, 2013). however, these results are based on older adults, but not on general population. according to the social cognitive theory (bandura, 2004) health is closely related to cognitive and social resources. some data shows that trusting other people has links to better health, while social isolation relates negatively to health (d’hombres, rocco, suhrcke, mckee, 2010). however, this data was gathered in countries such as belarus, ukraine, armenia, kirgizia, georgia, and it is possible that in more democratic countries there will be a significant difference in these relationships in comparison to the co-called post-soviet countries. furthermore, this study treats the concept of health as subjectively perceived general health, rather than objective health or health related behaviour; as a result, it remains unclear how exactly social resources relate to certain types of health. the authors also suggest that in countries with low health status (life expectancy) it could be useful to look for the ways to improve the situation by stepping over the boundaries of traditional health (d’hombres, rocco, suhrcke, mckee, 2010). the life expectancy of lithuanians is the third-last among european union countries (united nations, 2007). it is also known that, for example, alcohol use is a major public health threat in post-soviet countries, and the mechanisms thatcontribute to that phenomena are not clear (grigoriev, jasilionis, stumbrys, stankuniene, shkolnikov, 2017). health risk behaviour is understood as a form of behaviour which negatively affects a person’s health and which can be changed (centers of disease control and prevention, 2017). lack of physical activity, tobacco use, excessive alcohol use and poor nutrition are major factors that cause illness, suffering and premature death (centers of disease control and prevention, 2017). physical activity can be defined as bodily movement which enhances health (office of disease prevention 60 andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė and health promotion, 2008). smoking can be defined as the practice of burning tobacco and inhaling the smoke. poor nutrition can be defined as insufficient, over-sufficient or poorly balanced diet, and alcohol use can be defined as ingestion of drinks that contain alcohol. research on health-related behaviour (such as fruit and vegetable consumption) is fragmented and rare, but even these rare studies show that about 90 per cent of lithuanian males and females should consume more fruits and vegetables (petkeviciene, kriaucioniene, 2005); the study also suggests that only half of the boys and onefifth of the girls are sufficiently physically active (zaborskis, raskilas, 2011). these studies did not examine possible predictors of these behaviours, but it is also known that in most cases advice to do or not do something without a deeper knowledge on the specific phenomena is usually ineffective with adults. health behaviours also interrelate with each other – e. g. it is widely accepted that people under the influence of alcohol are more likely to smoke, and recent studies suggest that nicotine suppresses aversive, sleep-promoting effect of alcohol; this effect explains why people under the influence of alcohol are also more likely to smoke (sharma, lodhi, sahota, thakkar, 2015). other studies also reveal possible links between exercising and fruit and vegetable consumption; however, this data was based on older adults of mexican nationality (doubuva, garcia, castaneda, cuevas, 2016). thus, the aim of the study is to explore how the relationship between different emotional (feelings of depression, sadness, anxiety, happiness), cognitive (attitudes towards other people being helpful, supportive, reliable) and social (religiousness, meeting with friends, participation in social activities, possibilities to discuss private, intimate questions) health resources relate to health behaviour (eating of fruits, vegetables, smoking status, number of cigarettes smoked, frequency of alcohol consumption, amount of alcohol consumed on workdays and weekends, physical activity) in a representative sample of lithuanian males and females. materials and me thods the data from the european social survey, ess, (www.europeansocialsurvey.org) round 7 was used to assess links between emotional, http://www.european-socialsurvey.org http://www.european-socialsurvey.org http://www.european-socialsurvey.org 61 2017, 21, 57–70 p.how do emotional, cognitive and social health resources relate to health behaviour? the case of lithuania cognitive and social health resources and health behaviour. the european social survey (ess) is an academically driven cross-national survey conducted every two years across europe since 2001. the survey measures the attitudes, beliefs and behaviour patterns of diverse populations in more than 20 nations. ess has been monitoring social change in europe since 2002. the data is freely available on the website and can be used for non-commercial purposes. the data and documentation can be accessed by a round (year), theme or by country. the data is available for download and online analysis. the ess questionnaire consists of a collection of questions which can be classified into two main parts – a core section and a rotating section. the core section (also referred to as the ‘core module’) focuses on a range of different themes that are largely the same in each round. the rotating section (also known as ‘rotating modules’) covers specific themes, which are sometimes repeated in later rounds of the ess. survey questions have been created by experts; every module includes theoretical background as well as the argumentation for the need of research. according to the survey requirements, sampling must be representative for people aged 15 and over, strict random probability methods must be used at every stage, and substitution of non-respondents is not permitted at any stage. participants research sample was drawn from the general population of lithuania and consists of 1865 participants, 750 (40.2 %) of whom were males and 1115 (59.8 %) were females. the mean age of the participants was 49.59 (sd=18.29). the youngest participant was 15 years old and the oldest one was 92. participants were interviewed in 2014. instruments the dataset is compiled from questions that measure the following aspects (resources) of health: a) emotional: depression – “in the past week, how much time did you spend feeling depressed?”, sadness – “in the past week, how much time did you spend feeling sad?”, 62 andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė anxiety – “in the past week, how much time did you spend feeling anxious?”, happiness – “in the past week, how much time did you spend being happy?”, where 1 means that the subject felt that way none or almost none of the time, and 4 all or almost all of the time; b) cognitive: opinion that people can be trusted – “most people can be trusted, or is it true you can‘t be too careful when dealing with people?”, opinion that people can be helpful – “most of the time people try to be helpful, or are they mostly looking out for themselves?” opinion that people can be supportive – “most people would try to take advantage of you if they got the chance, or would they try to be fair?”, where 0 means that a person thinks that most people would try to take advantage of them, you cannot be too careful, and 10 means the opposite; c) social: religiousness – “regardless of whether you belong to a particular religion, how religious would you say you are?”, social meetings – “how often do you meet socially with friends, relatives or work colleagues?”, participation in social activities – “compared to other people of your age, how often would you say you take part in social activities?”, possibilities to discuss private, intimate questions – “how many people, if any, are there with whom you can discuss intimate and personal matters?”. health behaviour was measured by such questions as: fruit eating – “how often do you eat fruit, excluding drinking juice?“, vegetable eating – “how often do you eat vegetables or salad, excluding potatoes?“, smoking status – “which of the descriptions on this card best describes your smoking behaviour?“, number of cigarettes – “how many cigarettes do you smoke on a typical day?“, frequency of alcohol consumption – “in the last 12 months, that is since [month, year], how often have you had a drink containing alcohol? 63 2017, 21, 57–70 p.how do emotional, cognitive and social health resources relate to health behaviour? the case of lithuania this could be wine, beer, cider, spirits or other drinks containing alcohol.“, amount of alcohol on workdays – “grams of alcohol consumed, last time drinking on a weekday, monday to thursday“, grams of alcohol on weekends – “grams of alcohol consumed, last time drinking on a weekend, friday to sunday“, physical activity – “on how many of the last 7 days did you walk quickly, do sports or other physical activity for 30 minutes or longer? “ (european social survey; 2015; ess, 2014). procedure and data analysis for data analysis, imb spss statistics version 20.0 software package was used. outliers were removed before data analysis. the relationship between the variables’ data was analyzed using pearson’s correlation coefficient ρ. statistical significance was set at p> .05. results statistically significant correlations between health behaviour and cognitive, social and emotional resources of health in lithuanian males are presented in table 1. analysis of the data showed that cognitive resources were related to higher consumption of fruit and vegetables, more favourable smoking status, lower frequency of alcohol use, lower quantities of alcohol and cigarettes (in drinkers and smokers). participation in social activities was connected to more frequent alcohol use, greater amount of consumed alcohol, higher physical activity and less frequent consumption of fruits and vegetables. religiousness had a link with favourable smoking status, alcohol use frequency, and lower number of cigarettes (in smokers). notably, resources of negative emotional health were related to lower consumption of fruits and vegetables. feelings of sadness and depression were connected to lower physical activity, depression was also associated with more frequent use of alcohol and cigarettes, and with higher amount of alcohol and greater number of cigarettes. conversely, higher scores on happiness were related to higher consumption of fruit 64 andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė table 1. links between health behaviour and cognitive, social and emotional resources of health in lithuanian males (n=750, ess data) health resources health behaviour fruit consumption vegetable consumption physical activity smoking status frequency of alcohol use number of cigarettes (only in smokers) amount of alcohol on workdays (only in drinkers) amount of alcohol on weekends (only in drinkers) cognitive reliability of others -0,183*** -0,144*** 0,106** 0,131*** -0,187*** -0,168*** -0,083* supportiveness of others -0,155*** -0,170*** 0,141** 0,133*** -0,136* -0,202*** -0,13*** helpfulness of others -0,172*** -0,127*** 0,15*** 0,189*** -0,218*** -0,189*** -0,102** social religiousness 0,105** 0,088* -0,13** meeting with friends -0,189*** -0,173*** 0,203*** -0,099** possibilities to discuss -0,222*** -0,195*** 0,235*** participation in social activities -0,211*** -0,225*** 0,15*** -0,148*** 0,095* 0,105* emotional depression 0,211*** 0,198*** -0,094* -0,105** -0,1** 0,276*** 0,184*** 0,088* sadness 0,159*** 0,209*** 0,191*** loneliness 0,156*** 0,219*** -0,118** 0,115* 0,13** 0,086* happiness -0,291*** -0,172*** 0,141*** 0,135*** 0,138*** -0,173*** -0,14*** *= p<.05 ** = p <.01 ***= p<.001 and vegetables, higher physical activity, more favourable smoking and alcohol use status, lower number of cigarettes and alcohol (in users). links between health behaviour and cognitive, social and emotional resources of health in lithuanian females are presented in table 2. 65 2017, 21, 57–70 p.how do emotional, cognitive and social health resources relate to health behaviour? the case of lithuania table 2. links between health behaviour and cognitive, social and emotional resources of health in lithuanian females (n=1115, ess data) health resources health behaviour fruit consumption vegetable consumption physical activity smoking status frequency of alcohol use number of cigarettes amount of alcohol on workdays amount of alcohol on weekends cognitive trustfulness of others -0,165*** -0,166*** supportiveness of others -0,075* -0,098** -0,189* helpfulness of others -0,072* social religiousness -0,108*** 0,208*** 0,129*** -0,085* meeting with friends -0,199*** -0,163*** 0,146*** -0,112*** -0,131*** possibilities to discuss -0,208*** -0,193*** 0,202*** -0,115*** -0,163*** 0,129*** participation in social activities -0,217*** -0,157*** 0,171*** -0,15*** -0,203*** 0,09* emotional depression 0,233*** 0,194*** -0,071* 0,074* 0,083* sadness 0,148*** 0,156*** 0,114** loneliness 0,211*** 0,16*** -0,68* 0,087* 0,117** happiness -0,265*** -0,182*** 0,164*** *= p<.05 ** = p <.01 ***= p<.001 analysis of the results (see table 2) showed that, in females, the opinions that people could be trusted, were helpful and supportive were related to higher frequency of vegetable consumption. opinions that 66 andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė people could be trusted and that people were supportive were also tied to higher frequency of fruit consumption. the belief that people are supportive also had a connection to smaller quantities of smoked cigarettes (in smokers). higher scores on religiousness were related to lower physical activity, alcohol use frequency, more favourable smoking status, and lower amount of consumed alcohol on weekends (in drinkers). greater possibilities to discuss private, intimate questions and more frequent meetings with friends and participation in social activities were related to higher rate of fruit and vegetable consumption, higher physical activity, more frequent alcohol use, and less favourable smoking status. also, possibilities to discuss and participation in social activities were related to higher amount of alcohol on workdays and weekends, respectively. resources of negative emotional health (feeling of depression, loneliness, sadness) were found to have a link with less frequent fruit and vegetable consumption; feelings of depression and loneliness were related to lower physical activity and lower alcohol use frequency; however, all three of these resources had a correlation with higher amount of alcohol on workdays (in drinkers). higher degree of happiness was linked to more frequent fruit and vegetable consumption and higher physical activity. discussion the study results revealed that cognitive, social and emotional resources of health had contrasting links to health behaviour in lithuanian male and female residents. previous studies (smitas, gustainiene, 2017) showed that lithuanian males and females’ levels of emotional and cognitive health were lower than that of the countries without soviet experience (i.e. scandinavian, western european countries). this study confirmed that social, emotional, and cognitive health resources were related to health behaviour. it is apparent that less favourable health behaviour negatively affects health. the study also showed that lower levels of emotional and cognitive health were related to less favourable health behaviour as well. significantly, these resources were more pronounced in the male subsample. evidently, according to the data of the united nations, compared to other males in the european union, the life expectancy of lithuanian men is higher only than that of the latvians 67 2017, 21, 57–70 p.how do emotional, cognitive and social health resources relate to health behaviour? the case of lithuania and estonians (united nations, 2007). a possible explanation could be that, as levels of emotional and cognitive health resources are lower in lithuanian population, this results in less favourable health behaviour which, subsequently, causes premature death. the data from other countries also suggests that social trust has a positive connection to subjective health in general (d’hombres, rocco, suhrcke, mckee, 2010), and it is possible to claim that currently social trust is related not only to subjectively perceived health, but also to a more robust indicator of health: health related behaviour. the most surprising association was between social resources of health and alcohol use – more frequent participation in social activities was linked to more frequent alcohol use and higher quantities of consumed alcohol. while other studies demonstrate that taking part in social activities positively affects physical health (novek, menec, tran, bell, 2013), evidence from this study suggests some other, possibly cultural, aspects: higher participation is social activities is associated with less favourable health behaviour, i.e. increased alcohol consumption. this may be explained by the fact that alcohol use was highly tolerated in lithuania for a long time and alcohol use at work or at social gatherings was a common practice. some authors find that alcohol-related mortality in post-soviet countries is a major public health threat, but determinants of this phenomenon are poorly understood (grigoriev, jasilionis, stumbrys, stankuniene, shkolnikov, 2017). other evidence suggests that higher participation and low social trust is related to lower subjectively perceived health in the sample of older adults (numella at al., 2008) and the data from this study possibly demonstrates the link between low social trust and higher participation and higher consumption of alcohol both in frequency and quantity (especially in the sample of males), while other studies show gender differences in trust – the reaction to trust in men is somewhat less intense than in women (riedl, hubert, kenning, 2010). this possibly means that females are more likely to trust others than males. more studies are needed to explore the cultural connection between health resources and health behaviour. nevertheless, as a limitation of the present study, it should be noted that resources of physical health, such as blood pressure, heart rate and glucose levels, were not analyzed, because of the lack of data. 68 andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė however, health behaviours that are closely linked to physical health were analyzed. references bandura, a. 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(2011). lietuvos mokinių fizinio aktyvumo pokyčiai 1994–2010 metais. visuomenės sveikata, 3(54), 78–86. k aip emociniai, kognit y viniai ir socialiniai sveik atos ištekliai susiję su sveik atai nepal ankiu elgesiu? lie tuvos at ve jis andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė vytauto didžiojo universitetas, lietuva santrauka. problema. sveikata dažniausiai analizuojama iš vienakryptės perspektyvos, pavyzdžiui, medicinos moksluose vyraujantis biomedicininis tyrimų modelis teigia, kad sveikata yra ligos nebuvimas, o liga yra sukelta tam tikrų organinių pokyčių, kurie pasireiškia žmogaus kūne. psichikos reiškiniai iš esmės yra nesvarbūs, sergantis asmuo iš esmės nėra atsakingas už savo sveikatą, o ligos gydymas dažniausiai yra pasyvus (wade, halligan, 2004). tačiau, remiantis pasaulio sveikatos organizacijos duomenimis, sergamumas ir mirtingumas didėja nepaisant gydymo metodų, technologijų pažangos, ir prognozuojama, kad iki 2030 metų mirtingumas toliau didės visame pasaulyje (mathers, 2008). manoma, kad tik visapusis požiūris į sveikatą gali sumažinti mirštamumą (von kanel, 2008). tyrimų rezultatai rodo, kad apie 90 proc. lietuvos vyrų ir moterų turėtų vartoti daugiau vaisių ir daržovių (petkeviciene, kriaucioniene, 2005), pusės berniukų ir keturių merginų iš penkių fizinis aktyvumas yra per mažas (zaborskis, raskilas, 2011), bet šie tyrimai paprastai apsiriboja siūlymais valgyti daugiau vaisių bei daržovių ir daugiau fiziškai judėti. šie siūlymai dažniausiai neduoda apčiuopiamo rezultato, jei į juos nėra labiau gilinamasi. šio tyrimo tikslas – nustatyti lietuvos vyrų ir moterų reprezentatyvios imties ryšius tarp skirtingų emocinių (prislėgtumo, nerimastingumo, liūdnumo ir laimingumo), kognityvinių (nuostatų, kad kiti žmonės linkę padėti, palaikyti, yra patikimi) ir socialinių (religingumo, susitikimų su draugais, dalyvavimo socialinėje veikloje, galimybės pasikalbėti apie asmeninius, artimus 70 andrius šmitas, loreta gustainienė klausimus) sveikatos išteklių ir sveikatai nepalankaus elgesio (vaisių ir daržovių vartojimo dažnio, rūkymo statuso, surūkomų cigarečių skaičiaus, alkoholio vartojimo dažnio, alkoholio kiekio darbo dienomis ir savaitgaliais, fizinio aktyvumo). metodai. atliekant tyrimą naudoti europos socialinio tyrimo duomenys ir ekspertų sukurti klausimai. tyrimo imtis buvo sudaryta iš lietuvos bendrosios populiacijos ir apima 1865 tyrimo dalyvių duomenis. tyrime dalyvavo 750 (40,2  %) vyrų ir 1115 (59,8  %) moterų. tyrimo dalyvių amžiaus vidurkis – 49,59 (sd =18,29) metų. rezultatai. tyrimo duomenų analizė parodė, kad tarp lietuvos vyrų dažnesnis įsitraukimas į socialinę veiklą siejasi su dažnesniu ir gausesniu alkoholio vartojimu, bet nėra susijęs su rūkymu ar surūkomu cigarečių skaičiumi rūkančiųjų imtyje. tarp lietuvos moterų dažnesnis įsitraukimas į socialinę veiklą siejasi su dažnesniu alkoholio vartojimu, dažnesniu rūkymu, bet nesusijęs su surūkomų cigarečių skaičiumi ar suvartoto alkoholio kiekiu vartojančiųjų imtyse. iš tyrimo duomenų matome, kad socialinė aplinka su sveikata susijusį asmens elgesį veikia ne tik teigiamai, bet ir neigiamai. diskusija. ankstesnių tyrimų rezultatai parodė, kad tarp lietuvos vyrų ir moterų emociniai bei kognityviniai sveikatos ištekliai yra žemesni, palyginti su skandinavijos, vakarų europos (ne posovietinio bloko) valstybėmis (smitas, gustainiene, 2017). šios analizės rezultatai parodė, kad ne tik asmeniniai (emociniai, kognityviniai) sveikatos ištekliai, bet ir socialiniai sveikatos ištekliai gali neigiama linkme paveikti su sveikata susijusį elgesį. įprasta manyti, kad dažnesnis įsitraukimas į socialinę veiklą teigiamai veikia asmens sveikatą (novek, menec, tran, bell, 2013), bet šio tyrimo duomenys rodo priešingai – dažnesnis įsitraukimas į socialines veiklas vyrų imtyje siejasi su dažnesniu alkoholio vartojimu ir su dažnesniu rūkymu moterų imtyje. išvados. dažnesnis įsitraukimas į socialines veiklas siejasi su dažnesniu alkoholio vartojimu vyrų imtyje, o moterų imtyje – su dažnesniu rūkymu. reikšminiai žodžiai: emociniai, kognityviniai ir socialiniai sveikatos ištekliai, su sveikata susijęs elgesys, lietuva, europos socialinis tyrimas. received: 02 11 2017 accepted: 05 12 2017 9 scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2017 / 20 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.20.1 emotional expressivit y of alcohol dependent patients in different stages of motivation to refuse alcohol justina slavinskienė1, 1department of psychology, vytautas magnus university, justina.slavinskiene@vdu.lt kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė department of psychology, vytautas magnus university, kristina.zardeckaite-matulaitiene@vdu.lt abstract. objective. the aim of this study is to evaluate differences in emotional expressivity according to the motivation to refuse alcohol in a sample of alcohol dependent patients. methods. the study sample consists of 142 alcohol-dependent patients (96 males and 46 females) undergoing treatment in lithuania, kaunas centre for addictive disorders. emotional expressivity, motivation to refuse alcohol and alcohol dependency are measured by lithuanian versions of the stages of change readiness and treatment eagerness scale (socrates), five expressivity facet scale and audit test. results. highly motivated alcohol-dependent males express more positive and negative emotions; also, they have significantly higher expressive confidence and higher emotional impulse intensity than those alcohol-dependent males with low motivation to refuse alcohol. highly motivated alcohol-dependent females have higher emotional impulse intensity and they express more positive emotions comparing to low motivated females. conclusions. increased motivation to refuse alcohol is significantly related to some positive aspects of emotional expressivity. highly motivated alcohol-dependent patients (both males and females) show higher emotional impulse intensity and higher expression of positive emotions. so, applied psychosocial interventions make significant changes in emotional expressivity and this perhaps is significant for the development of new perception of alcohol dependency and for making behavioural changes. keywords: emotional expressivity, motivation to refuse alcohol, alcohol dependency. 1 address for correspondence: justina slavinskienė, vytautas magnus university, department of psychology, jonava str. 66, kaunas, lithuania. e-mail: justina.slavinskiene@vdu.lt. mailto:justina.slavinskiene%40vdu.lt?subject= mailto:kristina.zardeckaite-matulaitiene@vdu.lt mailto:justina.slavinskiene@vdu.lt justina slavinskienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė 10 introduc tion the european union (eu) is the region with the highest alcohol consumption in the world. alcohol consumption is the third leading risk factor for disease and mortality in lithuania like in many european countries (e. g. poland, luxembourg, spain, estonia and germany) (anderson, møller, galea, 2012). the similar situation is noted in the united states of america, where excessive alcohol consumption is the third leading cause of death, accounting for 80,000 deaths per year (oecd, 2013). however, lithuania is one of the leading european countries in terms of consumed alcohol quantities (štelemėkas, 2014). even though there is a global strategy how to deal with the harmful use of alcohol, through direct (e.g. medical services for alcohol related health problems) and indirect (e.g. the dissemination of information on alcohol-related harm) measures (anderson, møller, galea, 2012). nevertheless, alcohol consumption still remains one of the most relevant worldwide health problems. a conscious decision to use or not to use alcohol is based on alcoholrelated expectations (dai, sternberg, 2004; németh et. al., 2011). these alcohol-related expectations are related to expected positive changes in emotional state and behaviour while consuming alcohol (dai, sternberg, 2004; philippot, kornreich, blairy, 2011). it is found that alcohol-dependent people usually consume alcohol because of present expectations to suppress the negative emotions and to enhance the positive ones (lyvers et. al., 2010). however, it is stated that an ability to perceive, interpret, regulate or express emotions adequately and an ability to identify others emotions degenerate by the increase usage and longevity of alcohol consumption (cordovil de sousa uva et. al., 2009). despite of alcohol-related expectations, alcohol-dependent patients are incapable of identifying and differentiating their emotions as well as controlling them without alcohol intake (kun, demetrovics, 2010). however, long-lasting decrease in physical health, psychological and social well-being due to alcohol consumption, is usually the main reason for seeking professional help and motivation to refuse alcohol. according to tran-theoretical model (prochaska, diclemente, 1982), miller & tonigan (1996) proposed that there are three stages (ambivalence, problem identification and action-taking stage), that should be passed through in order to refuse alcohol and to change alcohol-related 2017, 20, 9–22 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 11 behaviour. this is an ongoing process from stage to stage until the behaviour is no longer alcohol-related (heather, smailes, cassidy, 2008). also, there is an assumption that decision to refuse alcohol and change alcohol-related behaviour has a significant emotional aspect. by integrating appraisal theory (bippus, young, 2012), two-factor theory of emotions (reisenzein, 1983), gross & john (1997) proposed that emotional expressivity is a natural behavioural reaction (behavioural strategies) that is used in response to emerging emotions. therefore, motivation to refuse alcohol and changes in alcohol-related behaviour are significantly related to changes in emotional expressivity. while considering the pros and cons of frequent harmful alcohol consumption, at the ambivalence stage the alcohol-dependent patients are not motivated and not ready to change alcohol-related behaviour (vilela et. al., 2008). it could be assumed that at the ambivalence stage, higher expression of negative emotions and higher emotional impulse intensity are related to more positive alcohol-related expectations. at the next, problem identification stage, alcohol-dependent patients experience more and more negative outcomes of problematic alcohol consumption. therefore, positive alcohol-related expectations change into negative ones (hallgren, moyers, 2011). perhaps, at the problem identification stage, alcohol-dependent patients perceive the emotional expression inadequacy. as the result, the masking of emotions increases and emotional impulse intensity still remains high. at the third, actiontaking stage, alcohol-dependent patients are sober for a certain period of time and have high motivation to refuse alcohol. the third stage is related to development of new behavioural strategies how to recognize and identify emotions, and how to express them adequately. there is an assumption that when alcohol-dependent patients have high motivation to refuse alcohol, they take active actions not to consume alcohol. as a result, positive changes appear in emotional expressivity: a decrease of emotional impulse intensity, an increase of positive emotional expressivity and expressive confidence (kashubeck, christensen, 1992). so, the mechanism of alcohol dependency and motivation to refuse alcohol are theoretically based and broadly analysed. however, so far, no studies are found defining the differences in emotional expressivity of alcohol-dependent patients. also, it still remains unclear if differences in emotional expressivity depend on different motivation to refuse alcohol justina slavinskienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė 12 and change alcohol-related behaviour. there is a lack of empirical-based information in this particular field. therefore, the comprehensive analysis of differences in emotional expressivity and its relation to motivation in alcohol consumption refusal, in a sample of lithuanian alcohol-dependent patients, could broaden psychological understanding of alcohol dependency in general and particularly in lithuania. the results may imply some ideas of how to work more effectively with alcohol-dependent patients in order to achieve long-lasting changes in their alcoholrelated behaviour and emotional functioning. also, this analysis could encourage some ideas on how to implement interventions for alcoholdependent patients. thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate the differences in emotional expressivity according to motivation to refuse alcohol in a sample of alcohol dependent patients. materials and me thods study design and subjects a cross-sectional study is conducted in lithuania, kaunas centre for addictive disorders in 2013, from february to april. kaunas centre for addictive disorders is one of five this type of centres, where all addictions are treated in two ways: either using medications in detoxification sector or applying psychosocial interventions (individual and groups meetings, twelve-step program, aa meeting) in the rehabilitation program. the aim of applied psychosocial interventions is to enhance motivation to refuse alcohol consumption or drugs by changing the way of thinking, emotional expression and behaviour strategies. the sample of this study is mostly represented by kaunas centre for addictive disorders patient cohort. also, it may be represented by one fifth of lithuanian population with alcohol dependency problems. a self-administered questionnaire is used in a sample of 142 alcohol dependent patients (detailed information is presented in table 1). all patients have been invited to participate in this study if they have not consumed alcohol for at least 5 days. a detailed explanation of the study aims and ethical aspects of the study have been provided for participants before filling the questionnaire. 2017, 20, 9–22 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 13 measurements emotional expressivity is assessed by five expressivity facet scale (gross, john, 1998). 62-item inventory evaluates the five different aspects of emotional expressivity: expressive confidence, positive expressivity, negative expressivity, masking of emotions and emotional impulse intensity. on the likert’s scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) respondents are asked to choose one of the score. higher scale scores indicate higher level of different emotional expressivity aspects. the internal validity of 5 scales is sufficient (cronbach α ranged from .61 to .85). motivation to refuse alcohol consumption is evaluated using the stages of change readiness and treatment eagerness scale (socrates) (miller, tonigan, 1996). 19-item inventory measures three levels of readiness to change addictive behaviour: the ambivalence, the recognition and taking steps. respondents are asked to choose the most acceptable score using likert’s scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). higher scores indicate higher readiness to refuse alcohol consumption. the internal validity of 3 scales is sufficient (cronbach α ranged from .51 to .91). however, one question in the ambivalence scale has been eliminated in order to heighten scale reliability. alcohol dependence is measured by audit test (the alcohol use disorders identification test) (saunders et. al., 1993). 10-item test evaluates hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption, as well as alcohol dependence. respondents who score 8 points or less are considered as having no problems with alcohol consumption. however, those respondents, who score 13–15 points and more, are considered as alcohol-dependent patients. the internal validity of this scale is sufficient (cronbach α – .65). additionally, demographic data is obtained and includes subject’s gender, age, level of education, duration of alcohol consumption and treatment conditions (medical detoxification or the twelve-step rehabilitation program). all versions of lithuanian questionnaires were adapted following the standard translation and back translation procedures. statistical methods statistical analysis has been executed using the statistical package spss for windows, version 17.0. descriptive statistics is applied for justina slavinskienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė 14 the presentation of study population characteristics. the kolmogorov smirnov test is used for the assessment of the normality distribution of the quantitative data. cluster analysis is used in order to group alcohol-dependent patients by stages of motivation to refuse alcohol. the paired sample student’s t test is used in order to establish differences of psychological characteristics in alcohol-dependent patients. an analysis of the differences is executed in alcohol-dependent men and alcoholdependent women group separately. the data are presented as n, mean ± std. deviation, or percentage (%) as respectively indicated. the differences are considered statistically significant at the level p<.05. results demographic characteristics of alcohol-dependent patients, participated in this survey, are presented in table 1. the majority of the participants is alcohol-dependent males, averagely 42 years old, who have secondary or higher education and about 14 years of alcohol consumption experience. most of them have detoxification treatment. no significant differences are observed in comparison of alcohol-dependent males and alcohol-dependent females age, education and duration of table 1. characteristics of the study population. characteristic value p gender males 96 (67.6%) females 46 (32.45%) – age, mean, years, (min-max) 42.6, (22–70) 44.6, (27–63) .338 education (n, %) not finished secondary secondary specialized secondary higher education 10 (10.4%) 32 (33.9%) 31 (32.3%) 23 (24%) 3 (6.5%) 13 (28.3%) 21 (45.7%) 9 (19.6%) .466 treatment condition (n, %) detoxification rehabilitation program (12-steps) 54 (56.3%) 42 (43.8%) 18 (39.1%) 28 (60.9%) – the average of alcohol consumption (years) 14.2 13.3 .558 audit test (mean of scores± std. deviation) 26.16±4.5 23.54±5.9 .011* * significance level α=.05 2017, 20, 9–22 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 15 average alcohol consumption (p>α). however, according to the score of audit test, both, alcohol-dependent males and females have an alcohol dependency. alcohol-dependent males have more pronounced alcohol dependency that alcohol-dependent females (p<.05). according to the previous research (haley, 2009; lü, wang, 2012; miller, tonigan, 1996) it is important to analyse if motivation to refuse alcohol and emotional expressivity aspects differ in alcohol-dependent males and females. therefore, the results of inter-comparison analysis (student’s t test) are presented in table 2. table 2. comparison of psychological variables in a sample of alcoholdependent male and alcoholdependent female. motivation to refuse alcohol gender n mean ± std. deviation) p recognition alcohol-dependent males 96 29.45±3.7 .317 alcohol-dependent females 46 30.15±4.2 ambivalence alcohol-dependent males 96 16.47±2.2 .085 alcohol-dependent females 46 17.17±2.2 taking steps alcohol-dependent males 96 29.19±7.0 .102 alcohol-dependent females 46 31.30±7.47 emotional expressivity expressive confidence alcohol-dependent males 96 44.77±15.9 .330 alcohol-dependent females 46 47.54±15.6 positive expressivity alcohol-dependent males 96 58.08±13.7 .024* alcohol-dependent females 46 63.78±14.3 negative expressivity alcohol-dependent males 96 41.25±12.0 .188 alcohol-dependent females 46 44.07±11.47 emotional impulse intensity alcohol-dependent males 96 42.28±9.8 .001* alcohol-dependent females 46 48.78±9.1 masking alcohol-dependent males 96 51.39±11.3 .914 alcohol-dependent females 46 51.17±10.0 * significance level α=.05 there are no significant differences in motivation to refuse alcohol consumption between two alcohol-dependent patients groups. justina slavinskienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė 16 the results of differences in emotional expressivity imply that alcohol dependent males and females have the same expressive confidence (p>.05), negative expressivity (p>.05) and masking of emotions (p>.05). however, alcohol-dependent females have significantly higher positive expressivity (p<.05) as well as higher emotional impulse intensity (p<.05) than alcohol-dependent males. therefore, the main analysis of differences will be made in alcohol-dependent males and females separately. motivation to refuse alcohol is a dynamic process (korcha et. al., 2011; miller, tonigan, 1996). therefore, the same person can not be assigned to one particular stage (miller, tonigan, 1996). in order to evaluate the relationship between emotional expressivity and motivation to refuse alcohol in a sample of alcohol dependent patients, firstly the cluster analysis is conducted (table 3). the aim of cluster analysis is to divide alcohol-dependent patients, according to stages of motivation to refuse alcohol. table 3. cluster analysis of motivation to refuse alcohol. n (%) ambivalence recognition taking steps cluster 1 87 (61.3%) 15.51±1.89 27.28±2.79 25.20±4.85 2 55 (38.7%) 18.58±1.41 33.47±1.91 37.27±2.63 cluster analysis shows that according to stages of motivation to refuse alcohol there are two main groups: low motivation to refuse alcohol (cluster 1) and high motivation to refuse alcohol (cluster 2). more than a half (61.3%) of alcohol-dependent patients belong to the group of low motivation to refuse alcohol. 38.7% alcohol-dependent patients belong to the group of high motivation to refuse alcohol. detailed distribution according to gender is presented in table 4. finally, in order to evaluate emotional expressivity differences between two groups of alcohol-dependent patients, inter-comparison analysis (student’s t test) is made. the analysis is conducted in alcoholdependent male and female groups separately, according to group of motivation to refuse alcohol. the results are presented in table 4. 2017, 20, 9–22 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 17 table 4. differences in emotional expressivity in 2 groups of motivation to refuse alcohol. alcohol-dependent males alcohol-dependent females low motivation high motivation p low motivation high motivation p n (%) 63 (65.6%) 33 (34.4%) 24 (52.2%) 22 (47.8%) expressive confidence 41.59 50.85 .006 43.79 51.64 .089 positive expressivity 55.33 63.33 .006 57.54 70.59 .001 negative expressivity 38.29 46.91 .001 43.33 44.86 .657 emotional impulse intensity 40.5 45.97 .007 46.25 51.55 .049 masking 51.30 51.55 .921 52.88 49.32 .235 * difference is significant at the level α=.05; the results of our study (table 4) reveal that highly motivated alcohol-dependent males have significantly higher expressive confidence (p=.006) as well as higher emotional impulse intensity (p=.007) than alcohol-dependent males with low motivation to refuse alcohol. highly motivated males express more positive (p=.006) and negative (p=.001) emotions, too. also, the results show that highly motivated alcohol-dependent females have higher emotional impulse intensity (p=.001), and they express more positive emotions (p=.049). there are no significant differences between low and highly motivated alcohol-dependent females’ expressive confidence (p>α) and negative expressivity (p>α). additionally, there are no differences in low and highly motivated alcoholdependent males and females masking of emotions (p>α). discussion and conclusion the main findings of this study show that highly motivated alcoholdependent patients have higher emotional impulse intensity and they express more positive emotions than alcohol-dependent patients with low motivation to refuse alcohol. higher emotional impulse intensity of alcohol dependent patients may show one aspect of changing process that is caused by applied interventions at the centre of addictive justina slavinskienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė 18 disorders. although, there is an indirect causal relation: still we can assume that psychosocial treatment of alcohol dependency possibly is significant for learning to recognize as well as to find new ways of emotions expression (atwell, abraham, duka, 2011). changes in alcohol consumption motivation appear because of changes in behaviour, which is caused by improved cognitive assessment of emotion (gross et. al., 1997). the previous studies showed that those alcohol-dependent patients who get complex treatment may easily express emotions, especially positive ones’ (raistrick, heather, godfrey, 2006). however, the results of current study show that only alcohol-dependent and highly motivated males express more negative emotions, and they express more confidence in the context of emotional functioning. these findings confirm the assumptions of earlier studies that alcoholdependent patients tend to express more negative but not positive emotions (philippot, kornreich, blairy, 2011). even more, we could assume that highly motivated alcohol-dependent patients are enhanced to experience and release all negative emotions they have been suppressing by drinking for many years. uncontrolled and more frequent alcohol consumption is one of maladaptive ways to suppress negative emotions and to reduce the intensity of them (verning, orsillo, 2009). an unexpected result that alcohol-dependent and highly motivated males have more expressive confidences, further extend the understanding of gender differences in emotional expressivity. stereotypically it is claimed that males are strong and silent, strictly controlling the emotional expressivity (lü, wang, 2012). however, it could be stated that males, even alcohol-dependent ones’, tend to express emotions in a rational, adequate for a situation, flexible way (gross, john, 1998). those alcohol-dependent males, who have a chance to speak about experienced emotions may express them more freely with lower possibility to suppress them by risky behaviour (haley, 2009). therefore, empathy and social support from specialists and more importantly from family are the main key of expressive confidence as well as higher motivation to refuse alcohol. finally, the results of this study do not confirm an assumption that there are differences in low and highly motivated alcohol-dependent males and females masking of emotions. these results may appear because half of alcohol-dependent patients, participated in this study, got detoxification (medical) treatment and no psychological support 2017, 20, 9–22 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 19 or a chance to analyse reasons of alcohol consumption. as a result, it could be assumed that alcohol-dependent patients, especially at the beginning of treatment, tend to mask their emotions because they do not know how to express them adequately (philippot, kornreich, blairy, 2011). however, the current results allow to state that masking of emotions is significantly related to one kind of risky behaviour – alcohol dependency, frequent alcohol consumption in a large quantity (naghavi, redzuan, 2011). even more, it could be hypothesis that masking of emotions is related to lower self-confidence and higher negative attitude towards oneself and others (gross, john, 1998). this study has certain strengths as well as some limitations and future suggestions. firstly, the study design does not allow to make causality statements about motivation to refuse alcohol and emotional expressivity. therefore, longitudinal study in a sample of alcohol-dependent patients would allow to evaluate causality relation and stability of psychological changes. secondly, it would be useful to replicate this study by including more psychological (e.g. personal traits) and social (e.g. social support from family) variables that are important for understanding changes in emotional expressivity as well as motivation to refuse alcohol. also, it would be valuable to replicate this study in other four centres for addiction disorders. it would be useful in order to apply obtained tendencies to entire alcohol-dependent population in lithuania as well to compare these tendencies against other countries. these future suggestions are significant for improvement of psychosocial interventions for alcohol-dependent patients. acknowledgements the authors are grateful to the kaunas centre for addictive disorders staff and patients involved in the study for their support. conflict of interest this study is supported by the project “promotion of student scientific activities” (vp1-3.1-šmm-01-v-02-003) from the research council of lithuania. this project is funded by the republic of lithuania and european social fund under the 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[dissertation] the lithuanian university of health sciences (lsmu), kaunas, lithuania. retrieved may 18, 2016 from http://vddb.library.lt/fedora/get/ltelaba-0001:e.02~2014~d_20140904_150421-41383/ds.005.0.01.etd https://www.scribd.com/document/161577187/gender-and-emotional-intelligence https://www.scribd.com/document/161577187/gender-and-emotional-intelligence https://www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/health-at-a-glance-2013.pdf https://www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/health-at-a-glance-2013.pdf http://www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/nta_review_of_the_effectiveness_of_treatment_for_alcohol_problems_fullreport_2006_alcohol2.pdf http://www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/nta_review_of_the_effectiveness_of_treatment_for_alcohol_problems_fullreport_2006_alcohol2.pdf http://www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/nta_review_of_the_effectiveness_of_treatment_for_alcohol_problems_fullreport_2006_alcohol2.pdf http://vddb.library.lt/fedora/get/lt-elaba-0001:e.02~2014~d_20140904_150421-41383/ds.005.0.01.etd http://vddb.library.lt/fedora/get/lt-elaba-0001:e.02~2014~d_20140904_150421-41383/ds.005.0.01.etd justina slavinskienė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė 22 verning, p. m., & orsillo, s. m. (2009). psychophysiological and self-reported emotional responding in alcohol-dependent college students: the impact of brief acceptance/mindfulness instruction. cognitive behavior therapy, 38, 174 –183. doi: 10.1080/16506070902767563. vilela, f. a., jungerman, f. s., laranjeira, r., & callaghan, r. (2008). the transtheoretical model and substance dependence: theoretical and practical aspects. revista brasileira de psiquiatria, 31, 362–369. nuo alkoholio prikl ausomų žmonių emocijų r aiškos skirtumai, esant skirtingoms mot y vacijų stadijoms atsisakyti vartoti alkoholį justina slavinskienė, kristina žardeckaitė -matulaitienė vytauto didžiojo universitetas santrauka. tyrimo tikslas. tyrimo tikslas – įvertinti nuo alkoholio priklausomų žmonių, esančių skirtingose motyvacijos stadijose atsisakyti vartoti alkoholį, emocijų raiškos skirtumus. tyrimo metodai. tyrime dalyvavo 142 nuo alkoholio priklausomi žmonės (96 vyrai ir 46 moterys), kurie tyrimo metu gydyti kauno apskrities priklausomybės ligų centre. tyrimo metu buvo naudotas anoniminis savižina paremtas klausimynas, kurį sudarė lietuviška penkių emocijų raiškos aspektų skalė (gross, john, 1998), pasirengimo keistis ir noro gydytis skalė (miller, tonigan, 1996) bei audit testas (sounders ir kt., 1993), įvertinantis priklausomybę nuo alkoholio. rezultatai. nuo alkoholio priklausomi vyrai, pasižymintys aukšta motyvacija atsisakyti vartoti alkoholį, pasižymėjo ne tik reikšmingai didesne teigiamų ir neigiamų emocijų raiška, reikšmingai didesniu pasitikėjimu savo emocijų raiška, bet ir stipresniu emocinių impulsų intensyvumu nei žema motyvacija atsisakyti vartoti alkoholį pasižymintys nuo alkoholio priklausomi vyrai. nuo alkoholio priklausomos moterys, pasižyminčios aukšta motyvacija atsisakyti vartoti alkoholį, pasižymėjo ne tik stipresniu emocinių impulsų intensyvumu, bet ir didesne teigiamų emocijų raiška nei nuo alkoholio priklausomos moterys, pasižyminčios žema motyvacija atsisakyti vartoti alkoholį. išvados. didesnė motyvacija atsisakyti vartoti alkoholį yra reikšmingai susijusi su teigiamais emocijų raiškos aspektais. motyvuoti atsisakyti alkoholio priklausomi nuo jo vyrai ir moterys pasižymi stipresniais emociniais impulsais, jie išreiškia daugiau teigiamų emocijų. todėl galima daryti prielaidą, jog gydymo metu taikomos psichosocialinės intervencijos, orientuotos į motyvacijos atsisakyti vartoti alkoholį didinimą, yra reikšmingos emocijų raiškos pokyčiams. tai itin svarbu siekiant priklausomų nuo alkoholio asmenų elgesio bei suvokimo apie priklausomybę alkoholiui pokyčio. reikšminiai žodžiai: emocijų raiška, motyvacija atsisakyti vartoti alkoholį, priklausomybė nuo alkoholio. received: 24 10 2017 accepted: 26 10 2017 9 mokslo straipsniai issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.14.1 „paauglio streso klausimyno“ lietuviškos versijos kai kurios psichometrinės charakteristikos aistė šiukštienė klaipėdos psichikos sveikatos centras margarita pileckaitė -markovienė 1 lietuvos edukologijos universitetas santrauka. problema. nors per pastaruosius keturis dešimtmečius daugėja tyrimų apie paauglių patiriamą stresą, lietuvoje paauglių patiriamo streso tema yra dar mažai tyrinėta. trūksta standartizuotų paauglių patiriamo streso vertinimo metodikų. tyrimo tikslas – įvertinti „paauglio streso klausimyno“ lietuviškosios versijos kai kuriuos psichometrinius rodiklius (patikimumą ir validumą). metodai. tyrime dalyvavo 286 15–17 metų paaugliai. paauglių patiriamam stresui tirti naudotas „paauglio streso klausimynas“ („adolescent stress questionnaire“) (byrne et al., 2007). jo patikimumas buvo tikrina mas taikant vidinio suderinamumo metodą, pakartotinį matavimą, o konstrukto validumas – taikant tiriančiąją faktorinę analizę. rezultatai. tyrimo metu buvo išskirta 11 faktorių, kurie savo turiniu panašūs į originalią australų klausimyno versijos faktorių struktūrą. tyrimo rezultatai patvirtino vidutinį vidinį ir ganėtinai aukštą išorinį klausimyno patikimumą. konstrukto validumo įrodymus pateikė tiriančioji faktorinė analizė. atsižvelgiant į gautus rezultatus, reikėtų atlikti išsamesnius tyrimus dėl klausimyno validumo ir patikimumo patikrinimo. pagrindiniai žodžiai: paaugliai, stresas, „paauglio streso klausimyno“ patikimumas ir validumas. įvadas per pastaruosius keturis dešimtmečius streso ir jo įveikos tyrimai susilaukė didelio psichologų dėmesio (plunkett et al., 2000; seiffge-krenke, 1 adresas susirašinėjimui: lietuvos edukologijos universitetas, ugdymo mokslų fakulteto psichologijos didaktikos katedra, studentų gatvė 39, vilnius 08106, el. p. margarita.pileckaite.markoviene@leu.lt. aistė šiukštienė, margarita pileckaitė-markovienė 10 2001; suldo, 2008). išanalizavus literatūrą, galima matyti, jog autoriai skirtingai apibrėžia stresą ir remiasi skirtingomis streso sampratomis. šiame darbe bus remtasi m. l. caltabiano ir bendraautorių (2008, cit. pgl. moksnes et al., 2010) pasiūlyta streso sąvoka. autoriai stresą apibrėžia kaip sąlygą, kuomet žmogaus / aplinkos pokyčiai skatina individą suvokti ryšio tarp susiklosčiusios situacijos reikalavimų ir asmens biologinių, psichologinių bei socialinių sistemų neatitikimą. iš šios streso sąvokos apibrėžimo matome, kad stresas apima tiek biologinius, tiek ir psichologinius bei socialinius aspektus. paauglystė dažniausia įvardijama kaip padidinto streso laikotarpis, kuomet vyksta fiziniai, psichiniai, emociniai, kognityviniai bei socialiniai pokyčiai, kurie sukelia vidinius konfliktus (murberg, bru, 2004; vaičiulienė, 2004; žukauskienė, 1997). ir ūmus, ir lėtinis stresas yra susijęs su įvairių fizinės ir psichinės sveikatos problemų etiologija ir eiga vaikystėje ir paauglystėje (grant et al., 2003, 2004). pabrėžiama, kad labai svarbu yra suprasti paauglių patiriamo streso kilmę ir dėl to kylančias problemas (grant et al., 2003), paauglių naudojamus streso įveikos būdus (seiffgekrenke, 2001) tam, kad geriau suprastume streso poveikį paauglių sveikatai (grant et al., 2003; seiffge-krenke, 2001). įtempta gyvenimo patirtis, įskaitant pagrindinius įvykius, yra grėsmė gerai savijautai. apytiksliai 25 % paauglių patiria bent vieną stresorių. daž niausia paauglių patiriamas stresas yra siejamas su mokykla (zimmergembeck, skinner, 2008), bendraamžių patyčiomis, problemomis su mokytojais, akademiniais (mokymosi) ir tarpasmeniniais santykiais, pavyzdžiui, konfliktais ar problemomis su tėvais, broliais, seserimis ar bendraamžiais (donaldson et al., 2000). palyginus su vaikais, paaugliai susiduria su nauja galinčia gąsdinti ar iššūkių pilna socialine patirtimi. tai turi reikšmės vėlesnei paauglystei socialiniu pereinamuoju laikotarpiu (pvz., išvykimas iš namų, mėgstamos profesijos ar darbo paieškos) (zimmergembeck, skinner, 2008). taip pat paauglystėje patiriamas stresas gali būti susijęs su susirūpinimu ateitimi (nurmi et al., 1994). paauglystėje kylantis stresas apima ir kitas sritis, tokias kaip tapatumo formavimasis (nepasitenkinimas kūno pokyčiais, išvaizda, išryškėjusiais charakterio bruožais ir savybėmis), lėtinės ligos, tėvų skyrybos, smurtas (seiffge-krenke et al., 2009), mokyk los keitimas, padidėję akademiniai reikalavimai ir kt. (suldo et al., 2008). taigi labai svarbu suprasti sąlygas, kurioms esant kyla stresas (plunket et al., 2000). international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 11 2014, 14, 9–28 p. tyrimo aktualumas. šiuo metu lietuvoje nėra standartizuotų paauglių patiriamo streso vertinimo metodikų, nors dažnai naudojami streso vertinimo klausimynai (kontroliniai sąrašai, ar interviu). plačiausiai naudojamas metodas, vertinant paauglių patiriamą stresą, yra „gyvenimo įvykių klausimynas“, skirtas paaugliams (coddington, 1972). pastebima, kad metodinės priemonės, skirtos patiriamam stresui įvertinti, gali būti kritikuojamos dėl kelių priežasčių: 1) kai kurios suaugusiesiems skirtos priemonės buvo pritaikytos paauglių populiacijoms, todėl sudėtinga išskirti paaugliams būdingų stresorių unikalumą (markevičiūtė, 2003); 2) kiti buvo sukurti atsižvelgiant į streso pasekmes: tokiu būdu apribojamas galimų ištirti stresinių įvykių skaičius ir rūšys (obelenis ir kt., 2006; laskytė ir kt., 2008; kušlevič-veršekienė, pukinskaitė, 2009). d. g. byrne ir bendraautoriai (2007) atkreipė dėmesį į tai, kad vis dėlto reikia naujos priemonės, kurioje būtų atsižvelgiama į paauglių patiriamų stresorių unikalumą. tam, kad galėtume įvertinti stresą paauglystėje, reikalinga validi ir patikima vertinimo priemonė. atkreipiant dėmesį į šias problemas buvo sukurtas „paauglio streso klausimynas“ („the adolescent stress questionnaire“). pirminę klausimyno versiją sudarė 31 teiginys, atspindintis 7 paauglių patiriamo streso aspektus (byrne et al., 1995). šis klausimynas buvo taikomas tiriant paauglių rūkymo pradžios, alkoholio ir kitų narkotinių medžiagų vartojimą bei su sveikata susijusį elgesį (byrne, mazanov, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003; byrne, reinhart, 1998). buvo atsižvelgta į paauglių išsakytas pastabas, kad kai kurie stresoriai yra svarbūs paauglystėje, tačiau jie nebuvo įtraukti į klausimyną (pvz., problemos kurios yra susijusios su išsilavinimu ateityje). atkreiptas dėmesys ir į tai, ar tikrai visi teiginiai yra tinkami paaugliams nuo 13 iki 19 metų. klausimyno patvirtinančioji faktorinė analizė paneigė pirminę originalią faktorių struktūrą (byrne et al., 1995) ir parodė, jog instrumentas nėra stabilus, todėl jį reikėjo iš esmės peržiūrėti. 2007 m. šis klausimynas buvo peržiūrėtas pridedant naujų teiginių, atlikus tyrimus su focus grupe. paaugliai turėjo atsakyti į klausimus apie dažnai pasitaikančius stresorius, kuriuos jie patiria kasdieniame gyvenime. jie analizavo problemas ir iššūkius, susijusius su paauglyste ir darančius poveikį jiems arba jų bendraamžiams. 20 iš 31 teiginių buvo palikti tokie patys. dviejų teiginių prasmė taip pat palikta tokia pati, pakeista tik jų formuluotė. remiantis focus grupės metodologija, buvo sukurti 36 nauji teiginiai. ištyrus 1039 (13–18 metų) paauglius išskirta 10 faktorių, atspindinčių su paauglių stresoriais susijusią patirtį (į faktorių aistė šiukštienė, margarita pileckaitė-markovienė 12 struktūrą nebuvo įtraukti 3 teiginiai). galutinę klausimyno versiją sudaro 58 teiginiai, apimantys tam tikras situacijas ar įvykius, kuriuos paaugliai gali suvokti kaip keliančius stresą (išsamesnis klausimyno skalių apibūdinimas pateikiamas tyrimo metodų dalyje). klausimyno skalės reikšmingai koreliavo tarpusavyje. buvo gautas geras klausimyno pakartotinio tyrimo patikimumas. klausimyno skalės teigiamai koreliavo su nerimu ir depresija bei neigiamai su pasitikėjimu savimi. nustatyti skirtumai tarp lyčių (merginos patyrė daugiau streso nei vaikinai dėl 7 iš 10 stresinių situacijų: stresas namų aplinkoje; stresas dėl veiklos mokykloje; stresas dėl romantinių santykių; stresas dėl bendraamžių spaudimo; stresas dėl sveikos su mokytojais; stresas dėl didėjančios suaugusiųjų atsakomybės). pavyko atrasti tik keletą tyrimų, kurių metu buvo vertinamos „paauglio streso klausimyno“ (byrne et al., 2007; moksnes et al., 2010) psichometrinės charakteristikos. norvegijoje ištirti 723 13–18 metų moksleiviai, išskirti 9 faktoriai, atspindintys paauglių patiriamą stresą. atlikus tiriamąją faktorinę analizę į klausimyną nebuvo įtraukti 6 teiginiai. streso skalių įverčiai teigiamai reikšmingai koreliavo su depresija ir nerimu bei neigiamai su pasitikėjimu savimi (p < 0,001). taip pat nustatyta, kad merginoms buvo būdingi aukštesni streso rodikliai nei vaikinams. faktorinės analizės duomenimis, nė vienas iš australiškosios versijos faktorių nebuvo visiškai atkartotas, tačiau dauguma teiginių atspindėjo tuos pačius faktorius ir buvo panašūs savo turiniu. vidinis patikimumo rodiklis svyravo nuo 0,70 iki 0,89. gautos skalės koreliavo tarpusavyje vidutiniu arba stipriu ryšiu (moksnes et al., 2010). norvegijoje atliktas pakartotinis tyrimas, kur tikrintas šioje šalyje išskirto 52 teiginių klausimyno versijos patikimumas ir validumas. išskirti 7 norvegiškosios versijos klausimyno faktoriai: 1) stresas dėl sąveikos su tėvais ir mokytojais; 2) stresas dėl bendraamžių spaudimo; 3) stresas namų aplinkoje; 4) stresas dėl romantinių santykių; 5) stresas dėl mokyklos lankymo; 6) stresas dėl mokyk los / laisvalaikio konflikto; 7) stresas dėl veiklos mokykloje. kiti rezultatai (moksnes, espnes, 2011) apie klausimyno validumą ir patikimumą buvo panašūs į u. k. moksnes ir bendraautorių (2010) atlikto tyrimo rezultatus. tačiau kitame tyrime, kuriame dalyvavo įvairių šalių paaugliai, nustatytas tik vidutinis vidinis šio klausimyno patikimumas (cronbach alpha reikšmės svyravo nuo 0,57 iki 0,88), o pakartotinio tyrimo patikimumas nebuvo pakankamas (p reikšmės svyravo nuo 0,45 iki 0,84). patvirtinančiosios faktorinės analizės rezultatai rodė vidutinį pasirinkto modelio international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 13 2014, 14, 9–28 p. tinkamu mą. kaip ir norvegijoje atlikto (moksnes et al., 2010), taip ir šio tyrimo duomenimis, merginoms buvo būdingi aukštesni streso rodikliai nei vaikinams (vriendt, 2011). nors klausimyno kūrėjai (byrne et al., 2007 m.) pateikė empirinių įrodymų apie gerą klausimyno validumą ir patikimą, tačiau kitose šalyse atlikti tyrimai rodo, kad klausimyno patikimumo ir validumo rodikliai ne visada yra pakankami (vriendt, 2011). taigi galima daryti prielaidą, kad minėti klausimyno rodikliai labai priklauso nuo kultūrinių skirtumų, todėl būtina patikrinti lietuviškosios klausimyno versijos psichometrinius rodiklius (patikimumą ir validumą). atsižvelgiant į paauglių patiriamo streso įvertinimo būdų stygių lietuvoje, buvo nuspręsta atlikti tyrimą, kurio tikslas – įvertinti „paauglio streso klausimyno“ lietuviškosios versijos kai kuriuos psichometrinius rodiklius (patikimumą bei validumą). metodai tiriamieji, tyrimo procedūra ir eiga. tyrime dalyvavo 286 (15–17 me tų) paaugliai iš šilutės pirmosios gimnazijos, vilniaus simono stanevičiaus pagrindinės mokyklos ir vilniaus žemynos gimnazijos. iš jų – 108 (37,8 %) vaikinai ir 178 (62,2 %) merginos. iš bendros imties 112 paauglių dalyvavo pakartotiniame tyrime. daugiausia tyrime dalyvavusių paauglių buvo 16 metų amžiaus –143 (50 %), kitą dalį tiriamųjų sudarė 15 me tų paaugliai (n = 60, 21 %) ir 17 metų paaugliai (n = 83, 29 %). tiriamiesiems atrinkti buvo naudojama patogioji tikslinė atranka (martišius, 1999). gavus minėtų mokyklų vadovų sutikimą, tyrimas buvo organizuojamas pamokų metu, prieš tai susitarus su atskirų dalykų mokytojais. mokiniams buvo išdalinti prašymai tėvams apie jų vaikų dalyvavimą tyrime, kuriuos tėvai turėjo patvirtinti parašu. tyrime nedalyvavo mokiniai, kurių tėvų sutikimas nebuvo gautas (n = 13). apklausa vidutiniškai truko 15 min. tyrimas buvo atliekamas 2009 m. sausio–gegužės mėnesiais. tyrimo metodai. tyrime naudotas „paauglio streso klausimynas“ („adolescent stress qustionnaire“ [asq]) (byrne et al., 2007). leidimą versti ir adaptuoti klausimyną lietuvių kalba gavo m. pileckaitė-markovienė. atlikta dviejų etapų vertimo procedūra. suderinus ver timą su vienu iš klausimyno autorių byrne ir gavus autoriaus leidimą, klausimyną leista adaptuoti. „paauglio streso klausimyno“ psichometrinės savybės lietuvoje dar nebuvo tyrinėtos. aistė šiukštienė, margarita pileckaitė-markovienė 14 „paauglio streso klausimynas“ sudarytas iš 58 teiginių, apibūdinančių įvairias stresines situacijas. tiriamųjų prašoma, kaip įmanoma tiksliau įvertinti, kokio dydžio stresą sukėlė išvardinti dalykai ar situacijos per pas kutinius 12 mėnesių. teiginius prašoma įvertinti pagal 5 balų likert‘o skalę, pagal tokias reikšmes: 1 – visiškai jokio streso (man nesvarbu); 2 – šiek tiek streso; 3 – vidutiniškas stresas; 4 – pakankamai didelis stresas; 5 – labai daug streso. patiriamo streso rodiklis svyruoja nuo 58 iki 290 balų (byrne et al., 2007). originalioje versijoje išskiriama 10 klausimyno skalių: 1) stresas namų aplinkoje (sudaro 10 teiginių tokių, kaip 1 teiginys „tarpusavio nesutarimai tarp tavęs ir tėvo“); 2) stresas dėl veiklos mokykloje (sudaro 8 teiginiai, pvz., 5 teiginys „dalykų, kurių tu nesupranti mokymasis“); 3) stresas dėl mokyklos lankymo (sudaro 3 teiginiai, pvz., 33 teiginys „privalomas mokyklos lankymas“); 4) stresas dėl romantinių santykių (sudaro 5 teiginiai, pvz., 17 teiginys „kai tave ignoruoja arba atstumia žmogus, su kuriuo norėtumei būti“); 5) stresas dėl bendraamžių spaudimo (sudaro 7 teiginiai, pvz., 8 teiginys „kai tavo draugai tave teisia“); 6) stresas dėl sąveikos su mokytojais (sudaro 7 teiginiai, pvz., 18 teiginys „tarpusavio nesutarimai tarp tavęs ir mokytojų“); 7) stresas dėl neapibrėžtumo ateityje (sudaro 3 teiginiai, pvz., 7 teiginys „susirūpinimas dėl savo ateities“); 8) stresas dėl mokyklos / laisvalaikio konflikto (sudaro 5 teiginiai, pvz., 19 tei ginys „laiko malonumams trūkumas“); 9) stresas dėl finansinio spaudimo (sudaro 4 teiginiai, pvz., 22 teiginys „pinigų stoka įsigyti norimiems pirkiniams“); 10) stresas dėl didėjančios suaugusiųjų atsakomybės (sudaro 3 tei giniai, pvz., 11 teiginys „būtinumas augant prisiimti naujas pareigas šeimoje“) (byrne et al., 2007). statistiniai duomenų analizės metodai. statistinė duomenų analizė buvo atliekama naudojant spss (angl. statistical package for social science) programos 17.0 versiją. naudojant tiriamąją faktorinę analizę, apskaičiuotos faktoriams priskirtų streso teiginių faktorinės apkrovos. gautiems kintamiesiems įvertinti buvo naudojami aprašomosios statistikos metodai. apskaičiuoti įverčių aritmetiniai vidurkiai (m), jų standartiniai nuokrypiai (sd). statistiniam išskirtų klausimyno skalių ryšiui įvertinti taikytas pearson koreliacijos koeficientas (r). klausimyno patikimumas buvo ver tinamas skaičiuojant skalių cronbach alpha vidinio suderinamumo koeficientus. international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 15 2014, 14, 9–28 p. tyrimo rezultai „paauglio streso klausimyno“ lietuviškos versijos faktorinė struktūra. norint įvertinti, ar „paauglio streso klausimyno“ (byrne et al., 2007) vidinė struktūra atitinka originalią klausimyno versiją, buvo tikrinamas klausimyno struktūrinis validumas atliekant tiriamąją faktorinę analizę. faktorinė duomenų analizė buvo atliekama trim etapais. pirmasis duomenų apdorojimo etapas. buvo analizuojama koreliacijų tarp faktorių ir teiginių matrica. buvo peržiūrėta, ar nėra neigiamų koreliacijų ir ar koreliacijos statistiškai reikšmingai skiriasi nuo nulio. nagrinėjamu atveju visos koreliacijos yra teigiamos ir reikšmingai skiriasi nuo nulio. atlikus faktorinę analizę (buvo taikytas pagrindinių komponenčių metodas, ašių sukimas varimax) išskirta 16 faktorių, kurių tikrinė reikšmė didesnė už vienetą. jie paaiškina 66,21 % visos duomenų dispersijos. kaizerio, mejerio ir olkino (kmo) rodiklis lygus 0,880, tai reiškia, kad duomenys gerai tinka faktorinei analizei (čekanavičius, murauskas, 2001). bartleto sferiškumo kriterijus – p < 0,05. taigi gauti rezultatai akivaizdžiai parodė, kad kintamieji yra tarpusavyje reikšmingai susiję ir duomenų aibė gerai tinka faktorinei analizei. kintamojo stebėjimų tinkamumo matai (msa) yra 0,732–0,929 ribose, tai reiškia, kad visi kintamieji tinka faktorinei analizei. kaip parodė kintamųjų bendrumai, kurie yra 0,508–0,859 ribose, atrinktose pagrindinėse komponentėse, išliko pakankamai daug informacijos apie kintamąjį. tačiau buvo aptikta, kad 3 teiginiai (28 – „kai tavo draugai tave teisia“; 38 – „pinigų stoka įsigyti norimiems daiktams“; 42 – „smulkmeniškų taisyklių mokykloje paisymas“) nebuvo įtraukti į jokį faktorių, o kai kuriuos faktorius sudarė ne daugiau kaip du teiginiai (xii faktorius – 41 „įkyrios mokytojų pastabos apie tavo išvaizdą“; 49 – „įkyrios tėvų pastabos apie tavo išvaizdą“; xiv faktorius – 4 „negalėjimas iš dalies arba visiškai kontroliuoti savo gyvenimo“; 51 – „nepakankami finansiniai ištekliai poreikiams“ (51 priklauso dar ir viii faktoriui, todėl nebuvo šalinamas iš sąrašo); xv faktorius – 15 „mokyklos materialinės bazės silpnumas“; 21 – „tarpusavio nesutarimai tarp tavęs ir brolių, seserų“; xvi faktorius – 17 „kai tave ignoruoja arba atstumia žmogus, su kuriuo norėtum būti“; 2 – „kai tavęs nepriima rimtai“). todėl tie teiginiai buvo pašalinti iš sąrašo. taigi iš pirminio sąrašo buvo pašalinta 10 teiginių. antrasis tyrimo etapas. tyrimo duomenys buvo apdoroti taikant tokius pat metodus kaip ir pirmajame tyrimo etape. atlikus faktorinę aistė šiukštienė, margarita pileckaitė-markovienė 16 analizę, buvo išskirta 12 faktorių, kurių tikrinė reikšmė didesnė už vienetą. jie paaiškina 63,457 % visos duomenų dispersijos. kmo rodiklis lygus 0,879. bartleto sferiškumo kriterijus – p < 0,05. taigi gauti rezultatai akivaizdžiai parodė, kad kintamieji yra tarpusavyje reikšmingai susiję ir duomenų aibė gerai tinka faktorinei analizei. kintamojo stebėjimų tinkamumo matai (msa) yra 0,803–0,930 ribose, tai reiškia, kad visi kintamieji tinka faktorinei analizei. kaip parodė kintamųjų bendrumai, kurie yra 0,464–0,803 ribose, atrinktose pagrindinėse komponentėse, išli ko pakankamai daug informacijos apie kintamąjį. kadangi vieną faktorių (xii faktorius – 11 „būtinumas augant prisiimti naujas pareigas namuose“; 13 – „taikymasis su smulkmeniškomis taisyklėmis namuose“) sudarė du teiginiai, buvo nutarta juos pašalinti iš sąrašo. trečiasis tyrimo etapas. po kruopščios atrankos, remiantis statistiniais ir prasminiais kriterijais, buvo palikti 46 teiginiai. trečiojo tyrimo etapo metu atlikta galutinė faktorinė duomenų analizė. atlikus faktorinę duomenų analizę, buvo gautas gana didelis kmo rodiklis – 0,881. 11 anksčiau išskirtų faktorių paaiškino 62,574 % duomenų dispersijos. kaip matome iš tyrimo duomenų, didžiausią dispersijos dalį (25,638) paaiškina pirmasis faktorius stresas, dėl bendraamžių spaudimo (žr. 3 lentelę). bartleto sferiškumo kriterijus – p < 0,05. taigi gauti rezultatai akivaizdžiai parodė, kad kintamieji yra tarpusavyje reikšmingai susiję ir duo menų aibė gerai tinka faktorinei analizei. kintamojo stebėjimų tinkamumo matai (msa) yra 0,802–0,928 ribose, tai reiškia, kad visi kintamieji tinka faktorinei analizei. „paauglio streso klausimyno“ lietuviškos versijos teiginių faktorinės apkrovos rodo, jog dauguma teiginių koreliuoja daugiau nei su viena skale ir tai patvirtina teiginių ir faktorių tarpusavio bendrumą. matome, kad keleto teiginių faktorių apkrovų skirtumai labai panašūs, taigi teiginiai gali būti priskirti keliems faktoriams (1 teiginys gali būti priskirtas vi ir xi faktoriui; 7 teiginys – ii ir x faktoriui, 10 teiginys – ii ir viii faktoriui, 14 teiginys – vi ir xi faktoriui; 24 teiginys – i ir vi faktoriui; 48 teiginys – iv ir ix faktoriui). šiuo atveju gana sudėtinga priskirti teiginį konkrečiai skalei. nurodoma, kad jei tą patį kintamąjį paaiškina keli faktoriai, tada kintamąjį priskiriame tam, kuris geriau tinka pagal prasmę (čekanavičius, mu rauskas, 2002). remiantis tyrėjų nuožiūra, minėti teiginiai buvo priskirti international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 17 2014, 14, 9–28 p. labiau pagal prasmę tinkančiam faktoriui. toks neatitikimas galėtų būti aiškinamas duomenų specifiškumu, faktorių tarpusavio koreliacijomis arba tuo, kad atsakymą į šį teiginį lemia daugiau negu vienas reiškinys. visais kitais atvejais faktorių apkrovų skirtumai gana tiksliai leidžia susieti teiginius su konkrečiais faktoriais. esant panašaus stiprumo atskirų teiginių koreliacijoms su visais faktoriais, kiltų sunkumų (žr. 1 lentelę). kaip parodė kintamųjų bendrumai, kurie yra 0,464–0,804 ribose, atrinktose pagrindinėse komponentėse išliko pakankamai daug informacijos apie kintamąjį. pirmasis faktorius atspindi paauglių sunkumus bendraujant su bendraamžiais, taip pat šiam faktoriui priskirti teiginiai apima su fiziniu brendimu susijusius pokyčius bei pasitenkinimą jais, siekiant neišsiskirti iš bendraamžių (stresas dėl bendraamžių spaudimo). antrajam faktoriui priskirti teiginiai yra susiję su mokyklinio krūvio sunkumais bei per dideliais mokytojų lūkesčiais (stresas dėl veiklos mokykloje). trečiajam faktoriui priskirti teiginiai atspindi sunkumus, susijusius su romantinių santykių kūrimu bei jų palaikymu (stresas dėl romantinių santykių). ketvirtasis faktorius apima teiginius apie sunkumus, patiriamus šeimoje, namų situacijos kontrolės ir pasitikėjimo stoką ir dėl to kylantį stresą (stresas namų aplinkoje). penktasis faktorius atspindi sudėtingą sąveiką su mokytojais ir konfliktus, susijusius su laisve ir kontrole mokyklos aplinkoje (stresas dėl sąveikos su mokytojais). šeštasis faktorius apima teiginius apie stresą, kuris kyla dėl konflikto tarp įsipareigojimo mokytis ir laisvalaiko turėjimo (stresas dėl mokyklos / laisvalaikio konflikto). septintasis faktorius apima stresą, kuris susijęs su patirtimi mokykloje. į jį patenka ir teiginys apie nepasitenkinimą, kad reikia anksti keltis į mokyklą (stresas dėl mokyklos lankymo). aštuntasis faktorius atspindi teiginius apie tai, kad finansiniai ištekliai nesutampa su materialiais poreikiais (stresas dėl finansinio spaudimo). devintasis faktorius susijęs su teiginiais apie tėvų ir kitų suaugusiųjų supratimo ir pasitikėjimo stoką bei didelius tėvų lūkesčius (stresas dėl didėjančios suaugusiųjų atsakomybės). dešimtasis faktorius atspindi teiginius apie neužtikrintumą dėl ateities bei paties asmens spaudimą sėkmingai pirmauti (stresas dėl neapibrėžtumo ateityje). vienuoliktajam faktoriui priskirti teiginiai susiję su stresu, kylančiu dėl taisyklių, kurių privalo laikytis paaugliai namuose ir mokykloje (stresas dėl taisyklių laikymosi). aistė šiukštienė, margarita pileckaitė-markovienė 18 1 le n te lė . l ie tu vi šk os io s „p aa u g lio s tr es o kl au si m yn o“ v er si jo s te ig in ių fa kt or ių a n al iz ės s vo ri ai t a b le 1 . f ac to r lo ad in g s fo r th e a d ol es ce n t st re ss q u es ti on n ai re l it h u an ia n v er si on sk al ės / t ei g in ia i fa kt o ria i 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 b en d ra am ži ų s p au d im as fi zi ni o br en di m o po ky či ai 0, 73 0 pa si te nk in im as s av o iš va iz da 0, 71 4 ta rp us av io n es ut ar im ai ta rp t av ęs ir b en dr aa m ži ų 0, 68 1 sp au di m as n ei šs is ki rt i i š be nd ra am ži ų 0, 59 6 er zi ni m ai d ėl to , k ad n es i t ok s (ia ), ka ip v is i 0, 50 9 įk yr io s be nd ra am ži ų pa st ab os a pi e ta vo iš va iz dą 0, 50 0 0, 43 7 m o ky kl in is k rū vi s pe r d id el i m ok yt oj ų lū ke sč ia i 0, 74 2 pe r d id el i d ar bd av io lū ke sč ia i 0, 68 7 m ok yk lin io k rū vi o įv ei ki m as 0, 64 9 ka i k ur ių m ok om ųj ų da ly kų s un ku m ai 0, 48 7 0, 41 8 d al yk ų, k ur ių t u ne su pr an ti, m ok ym as is 0, 46 9 r o m an ti n ia i s an ty ki ai su ta rim as s u va ik in u / m er gi na 0, 78 6 n ut ra uk ti sa nt yk ia i s u va ik in u / m er gi na 0, 76 8 pa st an go s ge rie m s sa nt yk ia m s su v ai ki nu / m er gi na p al ai ky ti 0, 73 6 la ik o, p ra le is ti ka rt u su v ai ki nu / m er gi na , s to ka 0, 72 1 st re sa s še im o je ta rp us av io n es ut ar im ai ta rp t av ęs ir tė vo 0, 79 9 g in ča i n am uo se 0, 76 9 ta rp us av io n es ut ar im ai s u m am a 0, 72 2 n es ut ar im ai ta rp tė vų 0, 48 2 0, 42 1 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 19 2014, 14, 9–28 p. są ve ik a su m o ky to ja is su ta rim as s u m ok yt oj ai s 0, 71 0 n au d in go ir s av al ai ki o at ga lin io ry ši o iš m ok yt oj ų ne ga vi m as 0, 68 1 ta rp us av io n es ut ar im ai ta rp t av ęs ir m ok yt oj o 0, 63 2 m ok yt oj ų p ag ar b os t au s to ka 0, 57 9 iš kl au sy m o, s up ra ti m o iš m ok yt oj ų p us ės s to ka 0, 52 4 m o ky kl o s / l ai sv al ai ki o k o n fl ik ta s la is vė s st ok a 0, 78 0 pe r d au g na m ų d ar b ų 0, 73 5 n ep ak an ka m ai la ik o už si ėm im am s p o p am ok ų 0, 55 6 n ep ak an ka m ai la ik o la is va la ik io u žs iė m im am s 0, 48 6 la ik o m al on um am s tr ūk um as 0, 45 5 m o ky kl o s la n ky m as sp au d im as m ok yt is 0, 82 7 pr iv al om as m ok yk lo s la nk ym as 0, 82 2 m ok yk lo s la nk ym as 0, 43 2 v ii i f ak to ri u s fi n an sa i n ep ak an ka m i fi na ns in ia i i št ek lia i p or ei ki am s 0, 68 5 bū ti nu m as u žs id irb ti p in ig ų sa vo p or ei ki am s p at en ki nt i 0, 68 2 sp au d im as d irb ti , k ad g au tu m p in ig ų 0, 68 2 d ar b as tr uk d o m ok yk lin ei v ei kl ai ir p oi ls iu i 0, 53 4 ix fa kt o ri u s sa n ty ki ai s u s u au g u si ai s su p ra ti m o iš tė vų p us ės s to ka 0, 70 0 pe r d id el i t ėv ų lū ke sč ia i 0, 59 6 pa si ti kė jim o iš s ua ug us ių jų p us ės s to ka 0, 41 1 0, 53 7 aistė šiukštienė, margarita pileckaitė-markovienė 20 x fa kt o ri u s su si rū p in im as a te it im i sp re nd im o ap ie to lim es nį d ar b ą ar m ok ym ąs i p riė m im as 0, 40 4 0, 66 7 d id el ių re ik al av im ų sa u kė lim as 0, 63 1 su si rū p in im as d ėl s av o at ei ti es 0, 62 1 x i f ak to ri u s ta is yk lių la ik ym as is g yv en im as n am uo se (s u tė va is ) 0, 66 5 kė lim as is a nk st i r yt e 0, 52 4 d al yk ų, k ur ie t au n eį d om ūs , m ok ym as is 0, 46 7 su si ka up im as la b ai il ga m la ik ui p am ok ų m et u 0, 32 2 0, 33 7 2 le n te lė . a ts ki rų p aa ug lių st re so k la us im yn o lie tu vi šk os v er si jo s f ak to rių ta rp us av io są sa jo s ta b le 2 . c or re la tio ns b et w ee n a do le sc en t s tr es s q ue st io nn ai re ’s l ith ua ni an v er si on in di vi du al fa ct or s sk al ės 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1 . b en d ra am ži ų sp au d im as r 2 .v ei kl a m ok yk lo je r 0, 46 6 3 .r om an ti ni ai s an ty ki ai r 0, 36 0 0, 27 9 4 .s tr es as n am ų ap lin ko je r 0, 37 6 0, 23 3 0, 41 0 5 .s ąv ei ka s u m ok yt oj ai s r 0, 42 9 0, 49 1 0, 40 0 0, 42 9 6 .m ok yk lo s / l ai sv al ai ki o ko nfl ik ta s r 0, 38 6 0, 53 2 0, 38 5 0, 32 9 0, 46 4 7 .m ok yk lo s la nk ym as r 0, 29 0 0, 46 6 0, 23 8 0, 15 1 0, 37 2 0, 48 6 8 .f in an si ni s sp au d im as r 0, 41 7 0, 32 0 0, 40 2 0, 34 5 0, 41 9 0, 43 1 0, 32 0 9 .s ąv ei ka s u su au gu si ai s r 0, 42 8 0, 35 5 0, 43 5 0, 47 8 0, 49 4 0, 48 5 0, 45 0 0, 45 2 10 .n eu žt ik rin tu m as a te it yj e r 0, 37 4 0, 49 3 0, 28 6 0, 34 3 0, 37 9 0, 42 3 0, 35 1 0, 33 1 0, 35 0 11 .t ai sy kl ių la ik ym as is r 0, 33 3 0, 41 6 0, 25 8 0, 26 6 0, 42 4 0, 46 5 0, 47 8 0, 32 0 0, 40 8 0, 32 8 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 21 2014, 14, 9–28 p. „paauglio streso klausimyno“ lietuviškos versijos skalių tarpusavio ryšiai. atskirų klausimyno skalių įverčių vidurkių tarpusavio koreliacijos (buvo taikytas pear sono koreliacijos koeficientas) pateikiamos 2 lentelėje. tyrimo duomenimis, atskiros klausimyno skalės statistiškai patikimai (p < 0,05) koreliuoja tarpusavyje. vidutinio ir aukšto stiprumo koreliacijos patvirtina vidinį klausimyno validumą. 4 lentelėje pateikti klausimyno skalių įverčių vidurkiai. 3 lentelė. išskirtų faktorių tikrinės reikšmės ir paaiškinamos dispersijos dalis table 3. eigenvalues of yielded factors and part of explainable variance skalės tikrinė reikšmė paaiškinamos dispersijos % paaiškinamos dispersijos kumuliatyvinis % bendraamžių spaudimas 11,793 25,638 25,638 veikla mokykloje 3,001 6,523 32,161 romantiniai santykiai 2,317 5,037 37,198 stresas namų aplinkoje 1,867 4,059 41,256 sąveika su mokytojais 1,696 3,688 44,944 mokyklos / laisvalaikio konfliktas 1,629 3,542 48,486 mokyklos lankymas 1,576 3,426 51,912 finansinis spaudimas 1,372 2,982 54,894 sąveika su suaugusiais 1,304 2,835 57,729 neužtikrintumas ateityje 1,173 2,551 60,280 taisyklių laikymasis 1,055 2,293 62,574 „paauglio streso klausimyno“ lietuviškos versijos vidinis suderinamumas. patikimumui įvertinti buvo skaičiuotas cronbach alpha koeficientas. r. pukėno (2009) teigimu, testą galime laikyti pakankamai patikimumu, kai skalių vidinio suderinamumo koeficientas yra lygus ar didesnis kaip 0,7. klausimyno vidinio suderinamumo įvertis lygus 0,868. tačiau 11 klau simyno skalių įverčiai žemesni. cronbach alpha reikšmės svyruoja nuo 0,575 (stresas dėl taisyklių laikymosi) iki 0,826 (stresas, dėl romantinių santykių). palyginimui lentelėje pateikiamos ir originalaus klausimyno versijos patikimumo rodikliai (žr. 5 lentelę). aistė šiukštienė, margarita pileckaitė-markovienė 22 4 lentelė. „paauglio streso klausimyno“ lietuviškos versijos skalių įverčių vidurkiai ir standartiniai nuokrypiai table 4. means and standard deviation of adolescent stress questionnaire lithuanian version skalės įverčių vidurkiai standartinis nuokrypis bendraamžių spaudimas 11,52 4,60 veikla mokykloje 13,46 3,98 romantiniai santykiai 9,87 4,28 stresas namų aplinkoje 10,20 3,97 sąveika su mokytojais 10,30 3,88 mokyklos / laisvalaikio konfliktas 13,95 4,62 mokyklos lankymas 6,55 3,13 finansinis spaudimas 7,56 3,20 sąveika su suaugusiais 6,84 2,81 neužtikrintumas ateityje 8,81 2,85 taisyklių laikymasis 8,98 3,20 5 lentelė. „paauglio streso klausimyno“ lietuviško (lt) ir originalaus (australiško) (aus) variantų skalių vidinis suderinamumas (cronbah‘o alpha) table 5. internal consistency of adolescent stress questionnaire lithuanian version and original (australian) adolescent stress questionnaire (cronbach’s alpha) skalės lt aus bendraamžių spaudimas 0,79 0,88 veikla mokykloje 0,76 0,88 romantiniai santykiai 0,82 0,86 stresas namų aplinkoje 0,79 0,92 sąveika su mokytojais 0,78 0,87 mokyklos / laisvalaikio konfliktas 0,78 0,86 mokyklos lankymas 0,79 0,68 finansinis spaudimas 0,73 0,83 santykiai su suaugusiais 0,72 0,62 neužtikrintumas ateityje 0,68 0,82 taisyklių laikymasis 0,58 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 23 2014, 14, 9–28 p. pirmosios ir pakartotinės apklausos rezultatų palyginimas. išorinis klausimyno patikimumas buvo tikrinamas klausimyną pateikiant du kartus (antrasis tyrimas darytas po savaitės) tai pačiai imčiai (112 paauglių). buvo skaičiuojamas pirmosios ir pakartotinės apklausos skalių įverčių pearsono kore liacijos koeficientas. 6 lentelė. lietuviškos (lt) ir originalios (australiškos – aus) klausimyno versijų skalių stabilumo įvertinimas (testas-retestas) table 6. evaluating scales’ stability of adolescent stress questionnaire lithuanian version (lt) and original (australian aus) adolescent stress questionnaire (test-retest) skalės lt aus bendraamžių spaudimas r 0,72** 0,86** veikla mokykloje r 0,72** 0,81** romantiniai santykiai r 0,83** 0,84** stresas namų aplinkoje r 0,83** 0,88** sąveika su mokytojais r 0,74** 0,80** mokyklos / laisvalaikio konfliktas r 0,71** 0,81** mokyklos lankymas r 0,68** 0,86** finansinis spaudimas r 0,73** 0,68** sąveika su suaugusiaisiais r 0,90** 0,77** neužtikrintumas ateityje r 0,69** 0,79** taisyklių laikymasis r 0,76** **p < 0,01 statistiškai reikšmingos koreliacijos rodo pakankamą klausimyno skalių pastovumą (p < 0,01). palyginimui lentelėje pateikiamos ir australiško (aus) klausimyno versijos pirmojo ir pakartotinio tyrimo rezultatai. aistė šiukštienė, margarita pileckaitė-markovienė 24 rezultatų aptarimas tyrimo metu buvo atlikta d. g. byrne ir bendraautorių (2007) pasiūlytos „paauglio streso klausimyno“ lietuviškos versijos duomenų faktorinė analizė. išskirta 11 faktorių, kurie yra panašūs į originalią australų klausimyno versijos faktorių struktūrą. gauti lietuviškos klausimyno versijos skirtumai susiję su faktorių skaičiumi ir pačia faktorių struktūra, susidedančia iš 46 teiginių ir 11 tarpusavyje susijusių faktorių, paaiškinančių 62,57 % dispersijos. klausimyno autoriai išskyrė 10 faktorių (byrne et al., 2007), o norvegijoje atlikto tyrimo metu išskirti 9 faktoriai (moksnes et al., 2010). du faktoriai savo struktūra (t. y. stresas dėl mokyklos / laisvalaikio kon f likto ir stresas dėl neapibrėžtumo ateityje) visiškai atitiko australų klausimyno versijoje faktorių sudarančių teiginių struktūrą. nepaisant to, dauguma lietuviškos klausimyno versijos faktorių yra panašūs savo turiniu ir todėl buvo panašiai pavadinti, kaip ir australų versijos. lyginant su australų versija palikti 9 tokie patys pavadinimai: stresas dėl bendraamžių spaudimo, stresas dėl veiklos mokykloje, stresas dėl romantinių santykių, stresas namų aplinkoje, stresas, dėl sąveikos su mokytojais, stresas dėl mokyklos / laisvalaikio konflikto, stresas dėl mokyklos lankymo, stresas dėl finansinio spaudimo, stresas neužtikrintumo ateityje. buvo išskirti du faktoriai, kurie pavadinti: stresas dėl sąveikos su suaugusiais bei stresas dėl taisyklių laikymosi. tai, kad kai kurie lietuviškos klausimyno versijos teiginiai lėmė naujus faktorius, o kai kurie teiginiai išvis nebuvo įtraukti į jokius faktorius, parodo, kad faktorių struktūra tiek lietuvoje, tiek ir australijoje gali skirtis, tai nulemia faktorių reikšmių skirtumus. taigi lietuvių paauglių patiriamas stresas gali skirtis nuo australų paauglių patiriamo streso. paaiškinti esminį modelio kitimą nėra lengva, tačiau kai kuriuos iš šių skirtumų iš dalies galima paaiškinti tuo, kad paaugliai gyvena skirtinguose geografiniuose regionuose ir patiria skirtingus gyvenimo įvykius. taigi jie gali patirti skirtingus veiksnius ir įvairių lygių stresas gali turėti skirtingą svorį. pabrėžiama, jog skirtingose visuomenėse gyvenantys paaugliai gali būti nevienodai jautrūs įvairiems stresoriams. akcentuojama, kad kultūriniai skirtumai gali turėti įtakos skirtingam gyvenimo įvykių interpretavimui (merchant, 2001). nors kai kurie stresoriai būdingi įvairioms international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 25 2014, 14, 9–28 p. kultūroms (plunkett et al., 2000), tikėtina, kad paaugliai, gyvenantys lietuvoje, gali patirti daugiau streso dėl tam tikrų gyvenimo įvykių negu gyvenantys australijoje. galima daryti prielaidą, kad skirtingiems tyrimo rezultatams įtakos galėjo turėti ir nevienoda tiriamųjų imtis bei skirtingas tiriamųjų amžius (byrne et al., 2007 tyrimo metu ištirta >1000 13–18 me tų amžiaus paauglių). vidinis skalių patikimumas svyruoja nuo 0,826 iki 0,575. jis yra šiek tiek žemesnis palyginus su australų klausimyno versijos skalių patikimumu, kur skalių patikimumas svyruoja nuo 0,62 iki 0,92 (byrne et al., 2007). r. pukėnas (2009) nurodo, jog cronbach alpha reikšmės gerai sudarytam klausimynui turi būti didesnės negu 0,7. šie rodikliai leidžia teigti, kad pirmų devynių faktorių teiginių tarpusavio koreliacija pakankamai aukšta, o dešimto ir vienuolikto faktorių teiginius dar reikėtų šiek tiek patobulinti. klausimyno skalių pakartotinio tyrimo (testo-retesto) analizė atskleidė pakankamą vertinimo stabilumą. analizuojant „paauglio streso klausimyno“ lietuviškos versijos atskirų faktorių tarpusavio ryšį, nustatytos šiek tiek aukštesnės koreliacijos už tas, kurias pateikia klausimyno autoriai. autorių atliktame tyrime skalių tarpusavio ryšys pasiskirsto intervale 0,005–0,038 (byrne et al., 2007), o šiame tyrime 0,151–0,486. silpnos ir vidutinės skalių tarpusavio koreliacijos rodo gerą metodikos vidinį suderinamumą. aukštesnės koreliacijos būtų nuoroda į duomenų multikolinearumą. šiuo atveju tiriamoji faktorinė analizė duomenų multikolinearumo neatskleidžia (koreliacijos koeficientų absoliutiniai dydžiai mažesni už 0,7), todėl, galima teigti, jog skalių ir klausimyno tarpusavio koreliacijos yra patikimos. d. g. byrne ir bendraautorių (2007) atlikto tyrimo metu gautos ir neigiamos koreliacijos. autorių duomenimis, skirtingi stresoriai gali skirtingai veikti tarpusavyje (pvz., nustatyta, kad stresas, dėl mokyklos / laisvalaikio konflikto neigiamai koreliavo su stresu dėl mokyklos lankymo). šio tyrimo metu, priešingai, koreliacijos tarp skirtingų klausimyno skalių yra teigiamos. norvegų autorių atliktame tyrime skalių tarpusavio koreliacijos pasiskirsto intervale 00,39–0,065 ir taip pat buvo teigiamos (moksnes et al., 2010). galima būtų išskirti ir kai kuriuos tyrimo ribotumus. adaptuojant klausimyną australijos populiacijos paaugliams, į tyrimą buvo įtraukti 13–18 metų paaugliai. tyrimo, atlikto lietuvoje, metu pasirinkta siauresnė paauglių amžiaus grupė (15–17 metų). lieka neaišku, ar lietuviškoji aistė šiukštienė, margarita pileckaitė-markovienė 26 klausimyno versija yra patikima ir validi metodika kitų amžiaus grupių paaugliams. originalios klausimyno versijos (byrne et al., 2007) kriterinis validumas buvo vertinamas aiškinantis, kaip klausimynas yra susijęs su kitais aspektais: nerimu, depresija ir pasitikėjimu savimi. šio tyrimo metu lietuviškos klausimyno versijos kriterinis validumas nebuvo tikrinamas. galima būtų teigti, kad tyrimas yra žvalgomojo pobūdžio, todėl, norint pritaikyti klausimyną praktiniam naudojimui, reikia toliau tęsti klausimyno tinkamumo naudoti vertinimą, tikrinant jo patikimumą ir 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(1997). jaunesniojo ir vyresniojo mokyklinio amžiaus vaikų tarpusavio santykiai. psichologija, 16, 85–99. some psychometric properties of adolescent stress questionnaire, lithuanian version aistė šiukštienė klaipėda mental health centre margarita pileckaitė -markovienė lithuanian university of educational sciences summary. background. adolescence is very often named as period when physical, mental, emotional, cognitive and social changes happen, and these changes cause inner conflicts and stress. considering fact that there was an obvious lack of adolescent stress evaluation methods in lithuania, it was decided to conduct a research. aim of this research was to evaluate some psychometric properties (i.e. reliability and validity) of adolescent stress questionnaire, lithuanian version. methodology. adolescent stress questionnaire (byrne et al., 2007) was used for the research. the questionnaire is made of 58 statements that describe various stressful situations. participants were asked to evaluate as precise as possible, how strong was the stress they have suffered over the past year due to the mentioned issues and situations. the research included 286 15–17-year-old adolescents. 112 adolescents from general sample participated in test-retest research. results. results of the research confirmed quite high internal and external reliability of the questionnaire. factor analysis delivered proofs of content validity. out of 46 statements of the questionnaire 11 interdependently related factors were excluded that explain 62.57 percent of dispersion. analysis of test-retest of questionnaire scales revealed sufficient stability of evaluation (p<0.01). conclusion. findings showed that adolescent stress questionnaire was characterized by average internal reliability and sufficient structural validity. it is purposeful to proceed evaluation of this questionnaire’s eligibility, by checking its reliability and validity. keywords: adolescents, stress, adolescent stress questionnaire reliability and validity. gauta: 2013-06-15 priimta: 2014-05-12 95 2013, 13, 139–158 p. metacognitive components in learning to learn approaches stéphanie frenkel 1 university of liège, belgium abstract. background. numerous students are having school difficulties linked to the way they learn. some people speak of a “metacognitive deficit”. we refer to a “sleeping potential” instead. be it psychologists, teachers or parents, all wish to develop their skills in order to help these students. this is the case in primary and secondary school. the educa + project is intended to provide possible solutions. purpose. the aim of this paper is to present a metacognitive and cognitive theory of learning to learn, which will (a) explain why numerous students are having school difficulties, and (b) predict the success of the educa + project. keywords: metacognition, school, student, potential, dynamic assessment. context the demand for clinical consultations concerning learning difficulties is increasing steadily. at the present time, numerous field workers are concerned about the fate of students with learning difficulties and/or experiencing school failure or even school dropout. of course, this is not new. several causes have been mentioned: the transition from primary to secondary school (bronselaer, 2010; hirrt, 2004), a cognitive deficit (aubret, blanchard & sontag, 2006; giasson, 2005; ocde, 2011) or a metacognitive deficit (grangeat, 1999; lumbelli, 2001; poissant, poëllhuber & falardeau, 1994; rozencwajg, 2003). more or less successful initiatives emerged here and there. however, one has to admit that the psycho-pedagogical teams are most often helpless when facing these field realities as they lack tools and expertise. mokslo straipsniai issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.14.5 1 address for correspondence: université de liège, département de psychologie: cognition et comportement, unité de psychologie scolaire, bâtiment b38 – rue de l’aunaie, 30, b-4000 liège, belgium, e-mail s.frenkel@ulg.ac.be, telephone 0032 4 366 36 02. 96 stéphanie frenkel studies show high rates of school failure, mostly in secondary school (i.e., repeating in secondary school: from 7 to 20.8%). the transition years are said to be the most problematic. thus in the first year of secondary school, 17% of the students repeat their year (against 7% in the first year of primary school), (agers, 2009). this primary/secondary school transition is a key-stage which can bring about new difficulties at school for the pupil (e.g., distance from home, numerous teachers, stricter schedules, necessity for personal organization skills). however, this alone does not entirely explain these learners’ difficulties (vianin, 2009). “… he failed in many subjects … she has learning difficulties … he has no strategy … her learning methods are inadequate … he does not know how to learn … she is badly organized … she always does things at the last minute … he is not autonomous …”. these are all adults’ comments regarding the above-mentioned children and teenagers. in fact, their common feature is, generally, that they have what we can call a “sleeping potential”. it means that the student does not use his/her learning potential fully and has not fully developed his/ her metacognitive abilities. theoretical background introduction metacognitive abilities play a central role in learning (e.g., frenkel & deforge, in press; giasson, 2001; grangeat, 1999; hessels & hesselsschlatter, 2010; lumbelli, 2003; poissant et al., 1994; rozencwajg, 2003; veenman, kok & blöte, 2005) and thus in successful school learning (büchel, 2013a, 2013b; van der stel & veenman, 2010; wang, haertel & walberg, 1994). however, studying them requires that we clarify what is meant by “metacognition” and “metacognitive abilities”. the term «metacognition» has been defined in various ways. these definitions show several components without any consensus being reached concerning their nature and number (anderson, nashon & thomas, 2009; livingston, 1997; noël, 1997; veenman, hout-wolters & afflerbach, 2006; vianin, 2009). they use heterogeneous terms, leading numerous authors to consider the concept as «fuzzy» (e.g., akturk & sahin, 2011; brown, 1987; hacker, 1998). international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 97 2014, 14, 95–112 p. metacognition is defined by flavell as «one’s knowledge concerning one’s own cognitive processes and outcomes or anything related to them (…) the active monitoring and consequent regulation and orchestration of these processes in relation to the cognitive objects or data on which they bear, usually in the service of some concrete goal or objective» (flavell, 1976, p. 232) and more globally as a «cognition about cognitive phenomena» (flavell, 1979, p. 906). these two aspects of knowledge and control (we will refer to them later) are found in the definitions proposed by brown (19872), efklides (2001) and noël (1997); the last two referring to the model of nelson and narens (1990). although there seems to be general agreement on these two aspects of (a) knowledge about cognition and (b) mechanisms of regulation in the definition of metacognition, their link with the psycho-affective variants at stake in learning is only of recent interest (see berger & büchel, 2012 for more details). thus, although the interdependence between motivational beliefs and metacognition was reported as early as in the 1970s (e.g., brown, 1978), the reciprocal influence of these variants was only recently considered and studied in the field we are interested in. this was the case notably in the framework of the self-regulated learning theories. two main components emerged from the first works carried out by flavell and brown (and their respective teams): metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive strategies. considering other works on metacognition leads us to lay emphasis on a third component: metacognitive experiences. metacognitive knowledge metacognitive knowledge is defined as part of our knowledge about the world which has a relationship with individuals as cognitive beings and with their various aims, tasks, actions and cognitive experiences (flavell, 1979). three major categories were distinguished: person, task and strategy. most metacognitive knowledge results from the interaction or combination among two or three of these categories. in the 1990s, paris and winograd (1990a, 1990b) dealt with metacognitive knowledge via the notion of self-appraisal. this notion 2 this double aspect of metacognition was already present in baker & brown (1980). 98 stéphanie frenkel includes personal reflections about the state of one’s knowledge and abilities. the authors distinguish the declarative type of knowledge (what you know), procedural type (how you think) or conditional type (when and why to apply knowledge and strategies). this allows us to know what we know, to know how we know it, and to know why and when to use this knowledge or apply the strategies (jacobs & paris, 1987; paris, lipson & wixson, 1983)3. this categorization of metacognitive knowledge was also mentioned by schraw and moshman (1995) then pintrich, wolters and baxters (2000). the latter included it in the category of metacognitive knowledge related to flavell’s strategies (1979). the authors then postulate the existence of metacognitive knowledge (a) of self, (b) of tasks and contexts and (c) of cognition and cognitive strategies; subdividing the last category into declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge. the distinction between the three categories proposed by flavell (1979) can also be found in the works of büchel and other members of his team (e.g., büchel, 1996; büchel, berger & kipfer, 2011). in the field of self-regulated learning theories, berger and büchel (2013), among others, specify this by including too-often forgotten psycho-affective aspects in the global approach of learning. they distinguish knowledge relating to oneself (our motivation, emotions, and cognition), relating to the type of task (pre-knowledge of contents, level of difficulty of contents and reasons for the level of difficulty) and relating to cognitive and metacognitive strategies. according to these authors, it is not necessary to subdivide the last category, nor to postulate metacognitive knowledge of the conditional type. they consider that a strategy is, by definition, procedural and that a procedure includes the conditions necessary for its own implementation (büchel, 1991). this last conception allows us to account for the interrelation between cognitive, metacognitive, and psycho-affective aspects in 3 if we take the example of cumulative rehearsal: (a) i know that this strategy is useful for me in order to memorize a word list (declarative knowledge), (b) i know that, in order to use it, i have to do so as early as the first word and that, practically, i repeat the word i have just heard after those i heard previously (procedural knowledge) and (c) i know that this strategy is adapted to an auditory presentation of words, that it is only useful if the list contains a limited number of words and that, if the list is too long, i will have to give it up and use another one (conditional knowledge). international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 99 2014, 14, 95–112 p. learning and thus in the building of metacognitive knowledge. moreover, it provides an operational grid for the identification and development of the learner’s metacognitive knowledge. metacognitive strategies metacognitive strategies are defined as activities used to regulate and oversee learning (brown, 1987). these self-regulatory mechanisms are put into place while performing a task by individuals we will name «active learners» (baker & brown, 1980; campione, brown & ferrara, 1982). brown (1987) was one of the first to mention metacognitive strategies under the term of activities used to regulate learning. from his viewpoint, these strategies refer to planning activities (predicting outcomes, scheduling strategies…), monitoring activities (monitoring, testing, revising and re-scheduling one’s strategies for learning) and checking outcomes (evaluating the outcome of any strategic actions compared with criteria of efficiency). paris and winograd (1990a, 1990b) also refer to metacognitive strategies via the term self-management. they define that term by specifying that it concerns metacognition in action and how metacognition can orchestrate cognitive aspects of problem solving. they distinguish planning (selective coordination of cognitive means in order to reach a cognitive goal), evaluation (evaluation of the unfolding of cognition while performing the task) and regulating (progress monitoring, revision and/or modification of plans and strategies used depending on the results), (jacobs & paris, 1987). although they use different terms (activities, process vs. metacognitive strategies), more recent conceptions – dating from the 2000s – agree on the presence of planning, of a form of continuing control (sometimes called guidance, supervision or regulation which allows constant checking and adjustments, if necessary) and a final control carried out at the end of a task and which bears on the results obtained (büchel, 2001, 2007; büchel et al., 2011; martin, doudin & albanèse, 2001; vianin, 2009). even if we can find this forecast aspect in martin et al. (2001), when they refer to the “expectations of results obtained”, only vianin (2009) and büchel et al explicitly mention anticipation. transfer allows generalization in 100 stéphanie frenkel the sense of the implementation of knowledge and skills acquired to another context than that in which the acquisition took place. it is present in the conceptions of martin et al. (2001) and of vianin (2009). in büchel et al.’s conception, transfer is not considered as a metacognitive strategy (büchel 2007, 2013a, 2013b; büchel et al., 2011). in our work, we consider metacognitive strategies as self-regulatory mechanisms of cognitive functioning. these are general strategies intervening in all «problem-solving situations», in the term’s largest conception. it groups school learning and vocational training situations, ordinary professional situations, or situations of daily life and hobbies. anticipation and planning are meant as strategies of preparation of learning. continuing control and evaluation (i. e., final control) are stra tegies of supervision of learning. regarding transfer (i.e., generalization), there is a general consensus to admit that it allows to generalize knowledge, know-how and soft skills inside a field, and, on the other hand, in other fields. in this sense and through its interrelations with anticipation, transfer also allows to regulate cognitive functioning. however, it is not because it regulates cognitive functioning that it is de facto a metacognitive strategy. of course, preparation for the transfer of strategies is one of the didactic aspects in metacognition teaching (büchel, 1990). metacognitive experiences thanks to the model of nelson and narens (1990), the interest also focused on a third component of metacognition: monitoring (which led us to reconsider metacognitive experiences). according to these authors, thanks to monitoring – and through a flow of information going back to it – the meta-level is informed by the object-level of the unfolding of the cognitive process. the authors distinguish two kinds of monitoring they make operational through different metacognitive judgments formed by the learner. these metacognitive judgments are the expression of introspective reports done by the learner in relation to his/her learning (cf. léonesio & nelson, 1990; nelson & narens, 1990, 1994 for more details). notably basing himself on this model, noël (1997) distinguishes three stages in metacognition: mental process (which includes, among international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 101 2014, 14, 95–112 p. others things, the learner’s conscience of cognitive activities he carries out or their product), judgment (which bears on the cognitive activity or on the mental product of this activity) and decision (which can be to modify or not the cognitive activities, their product or any other aspect of the situation depending on the metacognitive judgment formed. this last step can lead the learner to undertake one or several regulatory actions of his/her cognitive activity. these two aspects of the mental process (noël, 1997) and metacognitive judgment (nelson & narens, 1990; noël, 1997) refer, on the one hand, to the earliest definition of the metacognitive experiences of flavell (1979) and, on the other hand, to those recently proposed by efklides and by büchel and other members of his team. the latter have explicitly introduced the implication and influence of psycho-affective factors on the metacognitive elements (laying an emphasis on motivational factors). these experiences are named “metacognitive” in the sense that they are the product of a cognition monitoring process (efklides, 2001). efklides (2008, p. 279) defined metacognitive experiences as being “what the person is aware of and what she or he feels when coming across a task and processing the information related to it”. in this conception, it refers to an online awareness when given a task; the metacognitive experiences then acting as an interface between the learner and the task (efklides, 2006). they can thus manifest themselves before, while, or after the task is processed and they influence causal attributions of the person (metallidou & efklides, 2001). on this basis, efklides proposed two categorizations of metacognitive experiences. the first makes a distinction between metacognitive feelings, metacognitive judgments and online task specific knowledge, (cf. efklides, 2006 for more details). the second categorization lays on the three main phases of task processing. it leads the author to distinguish metacognitive experiences in relation with task representation, cognitive processing, and performance (cf. efklides, 2011 for more details). it evokes the three functional loops defined by feuerstein, rand, hoffman and miller (1980) whose efficiency will enable the automation of knowledge and know-how: input (exploration and information intake), elaboration (mobilization of knowledge stocked in long-term memory) and output (control of actions’ implementation). 102 stéphanie frenkel very recently, berger and büchel (2012, p. 96) defined metacognitive experiences as being «subjective feelings and judgments relating to the learner’s «present» cognitive undertaking (which is the one taking place during the task); they are the interface between the learner and the task». thus they make the link between cognition, motivation and feelings (büchel, 2013b). metacognitive experiences play a central role in cognitive functioning and in self-regulated capacities. we will come back to this point further in this paper. metacognitive and cognitive theory of learning to learn interrelations between metacognitive components in order to shed light on the essential role played by the three main components of metacognition, our study is based, among other sources, on works previously mentioned and more particularly those of büchel and other members of his team (e.g., büchel, 2007, 2013a; büchel & büchel, 2009). in this perspective, metacognitive knowledge is at the basis of metacognitive strategies which lead and co-ordinate (and thus trigger) cognitive strategies as well as cognitive processes (figure 1). indeed, in order to be efficient and to use the specific strategies needed to solve a problem efficiently, it is necessary for the student to anticipate the task difficulties, plan his/her strategy and check its implementation (büchel, 1995). learners use a strategy because they know that it will help them to reach their goal (metacognitive knowledge), therefore they plan to use this strategy (metacognitive strategy) and implement it in a concrete way (cognitive strategy). before implementing metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive strategies, one has to have acquired them. indeed, these metacognitive abilities are not innate and have to be learned (e.g., klein, 1991; vianin, 2009). in order to do that, the learner must have had the opportunity to acquire and practice them. in this way, environment1 has to be an incentive and provoke metacognitive experiences. one of its roles is to 1 the term is used here in its largest meaning. international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 103 2014, 14, 95–112 p. fig. 1. metacognitive and cognitive theory of learning to learn lead the learner into “moving off their own centre” and give them the opportunity to think about their own functioning: that is, adopt a meta stance. it is through these metacognitive experiences that the learner will be able to (a) build, develop and activate his metacognitive abilities and also (b) develop his strategic repertoire. what does the theory explain and predict? the theory described above may explain why numerous students are having school difficulties. these are mostly linked to the way they learn: they do not use efficient methods. therefore, it would be necessary to teach them how to learn. many “learning to learn” approaches have appeared over time. however, in general, they do not enable the student to (a) reflect on his/her own learning behavior, (b) build up greater self-awareness (including psycho-affective characteristics), (c) improve general strategies such as anticipation, planning, continuing control and evaluation, and (d) develop his/her strategic repertoire (e.g., active memorizing, understanding instructions, external memory strategies). in fact, the majority of existing approaches do not work on a metacognitive level. if we really want the student to set up an efficient learning method 104 stéphanie frenkel and be able to adapt to the teachers’ requests (which evolve over time), it is essential, in our opinion, to work on a metacognitive level as well. the theory described above may be used to predict future success of the educa + project because its purpose is to design products which will, on the one hand, enable field workers to detect “sleeping” potential among students, and, on the other hand, to help them develop a more efficient learning behavior. what is educa +? educa + is at the crossroads between several disciplines and based on wide field experience. its objective is to increase the expertise of “front line” field workers by developing specific products such as tools, training courses, services, and a website (frenkel, in press). this will notably enable them to develop their expertise, detect “sleeping” potential, diagnose, give advice when necessary, intervene (prevention and remediation) and use the tools efficiently. two types of tools are being designed. on the one hand, assessment tools (tests allowing to put forward the learner’s strengths and weaknesses as well as the scope of his/her “sleeping potential”). on the other hand, intervention tools (short prevention vs. remediation programs). this also includes training courses and services. the creation of a website also aims to reinforce the actions of educa + (personalized access depending on the internaut’s profile: students, parents, professionals). products the products arise from various disciplines: developmental psychology, cognitive education, cognitive sciences, clinical psychology, syste mic applied to the school field, neuro-cognitive and behavioral approach. . tools. test for dynamic assessment (complete version for psychologists, abridged version for teachers). intervention tools: «reading comprehension (second year of secondary school, mainstream education)» (metacognitive remediation programme cen tered on reading comprehension strategies) and prevention programmes for primary school (centered on metacognitive abilities improvement); international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 105 2014, 14, 95–112 p. . training courses. main themes: specific learning impairments, differential diagnosis, tools for leading school activities, understanding and improving metacognitive abilities... target public: psychologists, speech therapists, people working in cpms (see below), teachers, parents, pedopsychiatrists; . website. on-line test, personalized coaching, downloadable files, post training follow-up platform… partnerships there are four main partners: . the cpms. the purpose of the social, psychological and medical centers (cpms) is to improve the students’ psychological, psychopedagogical, medical and social conditions in order to offer them the best chances of developing harmoniously all the aspects of their person so as to take on their role as responsible and autonomous citizens. the cpms contribute to the education process of the students all along their school years, by favoring the implementation of means which will enable them to improve themselves continuously. with a view to lifelong guidance, these centers provide support to students in the positive building of their life project: personal, educational, and professional. in belgium, each school is linked to a cpms. . assess group1. this firm is specialized in competencies assessment, pedagogical engineering, training impact assessment, and in developing technological support for assessment (mainly throughout their web-based platform docimo, optical markup reading and voting system). its consultants are academics involved in international projects and work on the basis of proven scientific models both in the literature and on the field. it is active on the belgian, french and swiss market. . interface entreprises-ulg2. this interface between companies and the university is an internal service from the university of liège (ulg) set up to organize and implement the economic part of the 1 http://www.assess-group.be. 2 http://www.interface.ulg.ac.be. 106 stéphanie frenkel university’s third mission: service to the community. today, the interface entreprises-ulg is responsible for setting up collaborations between companies and the university, developing the results of research, managing intellectual property, involving the university in regional development, and organizing continuing education in the technological and scientific fields. . pr. fredi büchel (university of geneva). he participates in this project as the main scientific partner. he brings his expertise in the creation of learning tests and metacognitive intervention material. he is also involved in the scientific assessment of diagnosis and intervention tools. this is partly related to programs and materials he developed for the training of practitioners, the delf/delv metacognitive intervention program (büchel & büchel, 1995, 2011) and the qsa diagnosis tool (büchel et al., 2011). the complementarity of these partnerships will enable the educa + project to reach its objectives. the cpms reinforce the expertise of the educa + team, enable privileged access to the field (collection of in formation and testing of products) and a better spreading of information. assess group and the interface entreprises-ulg bring entrepreneurial expertise and enable a high quality supervision in the possible setting up of a spin-off. besides, assess group brings this expertise as a consultant in the field of human resources and education in order to develop a commercial approach within the educa + project. conclusion led by the school psychology unit1 of the university of liège, the educa + project is both part of the clinical activities of the unit (atelier d’apprentissage2) and its research activities on intellectual functioning in learning situations, the prevention of school difficulties and the setting up and standardization of tools designed to assess and remedy learning difficulties. 1 http://www.fapse.ulg.ac.be/web/pscol/. 2 http://www.fapse.ulg.ac.be/cms/c_319405/psychologie-scolaire. international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 107 2014, 14, 95–112 p. by building these innovative tools, our research will try to provide a better definition of the cognitive, metacognitive and psycho-affective aspects that play an essential role in the emergence of school difficulties linked to the learning method. identifying, formalizing and implementing these aspects will, hopefully, make it possible to prevent learning difficulties and also to evaluate and attempt to remedy them. one of our aims is to facilitate the creation of new training courses contents and to increase the efficiency of the pedagogical methods concerned. the services proposed will thus be more relevant to meet the field needs and enable students to use their learning potential fully and develop it further. these are the objectives educa +. acknowledgments: educa + is a research project funded by wallonia (spw, belgium). references ager (administration générale de l’enseignement et de la recherche scientifique). 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(1990a). how metacognition can promote academic learning and instruction. in b. f. jones & l. idol (eds.), dimensions of thinking and cognitive instruction (p. 15–51). hillsdale, nj: erlbaum. paris, s. g., & winograd, p. (1990b). promoting metacognition and motivation of exceptional children. remedial and special education, 11 (6), 7–15. doi: 10.1177/074193259001100604. pintrich, p. r., wolters, c. a., baxter, g. p. (2000). assessing metacognition and selfregulated learning. in j. c. impara, l. l. murphy, & g. schraw (eds.), issues in the measurement of metacognition: complete work (p. 43–98). lincoln, ne: buros institute of mental measurements. poissant, h., poëllhuber, b., & falardeau, m. (1994). résolution de problèmes, autorégulation et apprentissage. canadian journal of education, 19, 30–44. rozencwajg, p. (2003). metacognitive factors in scientific problem-solving strategies. european journal of psychology of education, 18, 281–294. doi: 10.1007/bf03173249. schraw, g., & moshman, d. (1995). metacognitive theories. educational psychology review, 7, 351-371. doi: 10.1007/bf02212307. van der stel, m., & veenman, m. v. j. (2010). development of metacognitive skillfulness: a longitudinal study. learning and individual differences, 20, 220–224. veenman, m. v. j., van hout-wolters, b. h. a. m., & afflerbach, p. (2006). metacognition and learning: conceptual and methodological considerations. metacognition and learning, 1 (1), 3–14. doi: 10.1007/s11409-006-6893-0. veenman, m. v. j., kok, r., & blöte, a. w. (2005). the relation between intellectual and metacognitive skills in early adolescence. instructional science, 33, 3, 193–211. doi : 10.1007/s11251-004-2274-8. vianin, p. (2009). l’aide stratégique aux élèves en difficulté scolaire. comment donner à l’élève les clés de sa réussite? bruxelles, belgique: de boeck université «pratiques pédagogiques». wang, m. c., haertel, g. d., & walberg, h. j. (1994). what helps students learn? educational leadership, 51 (4), 74–79. 112 stéphanie frenkel metakognityviniai komponentai mokymosi mokytis požiūriu stéphanie frenkel lježo universitetas, belgija santrauka. įvadas. daugeliui besimokančiųjų iškyla sunkumų mokykloje. tai susiję su tuo, kaip jie mokosi. kartais tai įvardijama kaip „metakognityvinis deficitas“. straipsnyje remiamasi „neatskleisto potencialo“ požiūriu. psichologai, mokytojai ar tėvai – visi jie stengiasi plėtoti savo įgūdžius, kad galėtų padėti besimokantiesiems. taip yra pradinėse ir vidurinėse mokyklose. educa+ projektas skirtas galimiems sprendimams surasti. tikslas. šio straipsnio tikslas – pateikti metakognityvinę ir kognityvinę mokymosi mokytis teorijas, kurios (a) paaiškins, kodėl daug mokinių turi mokymosi sunkumų ir (b) leis numatyti educa+ projekto sėkmę. pagrindiniai žodžiai: metakognicija, mokykla, mokinys, potencialas, dinaminis įvertinimas. received: 11-06-2013 accepted: 04-07-2014 psichologijos_zurnalas_21.indd scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2017 / 21 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.21.1 towards the well-being of voc ational teachers: the role of personalit y char ac teristics kristina kovalčikienė1 aleksandras stulginskis university, lithuania abstract. background: the success of teaching practices and teachers’ well-being largely depends not only on the curriculum, but also on the teachers’ personality characteristics. on the other hand, teachers’ perception about their own profession, themselves and others in the occupation leads to increased quality of education. therefore, it can be assumed that teachers’ personality traits are among the most significant determinants of their professional identity that foster holistic psychological wellbeing. purpose: the purpose of the study is to investigate the big five personality traits as predictors of professional identity of the vocational teachers in lithuania. method: the sample consisted of 346 teachers from the lithuanian vocational training system. the big five inventory (bfi; benet-martinez & john, 1998; john, donahue, & kentle, 1991; john, naumann, & soto, 2008) was used to measure the teachers’ personality traits. vocational teachers’ professional identity was measured using the teachers’ professional identity questionnaire (beijaard, verloop, & vermunt, 2000). also, questions on demographic variables were used in the study. results: personality traits of agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience were significant predictors of vocational teachers’ professional identity. teachers’ professional identity, which consists of distinct aspects of expertise (subject matter experts, didactical experts, and pedagogical experts), is analyzed. conclusion: the results support the importance of vocational teachers’ personality traits for their professional identity. the results can help the researchers deepen their understanding of the importance of the teachers’ personality for their well-being. the study results can also provide teachers with a more comprehensive awareness of their professional identity. keywords: professional identity, personality traits, vocational teachers, well-being. 1 address for correspondence: kristina kovalčikienė, aleksandras stulginskis university, centre of cultural communication and education, department of philosophy, psychology and vocational education. universiteto g. 10-617, lt-53361, kaunas distr., lithuania. e-mail: kristina.kovalcikiene@asu.lt https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.21.1 mailto:kristina.kovalcikiene@asu.lt kristina kovalčikienė 10 introduc tion in today’s classrooms, teachers have broader societal functions and play much more professional roles than ever before (choy, wong, chong, & lim, 2014; goodyear & dudley, 2015; voinea & palasan, 2014; wilkins, mohamed, & smith, 2011). moreover, the teacher’s main role in the society has also been changed – from less of a transmitter of knowledge toward more of a facilitator of learning (goodyear & dudley, 2015; živkovic, 2013). there is evidence that the teacher’s personality influences teaching practices and outcomes. personality traits are identified as an important factor in the teachers’ work activities (klassen & tze, 2014; buela & mamman, 2015) because they describe stable individual characteristics, which determine personal behavior in professional field (mount, barrick, scullen, & rounols, 2005). congruent identity is a part of psychological well-being (rothausen, henderson, arnold, & malshe, 2015). associations between identity and well-being have been confirmed by a considerable amount of previous research (e.g. cosgriff, 2017; cox, brett-maclean, & courneya, 2016; day & kington, 2008; kosic & dimitrova, 2017; mcnair, 2017; morrison, 2013; pellegrino, 2015; tang & ferguson, 2014). identity is a key element in the understanding of a person’s strivings for health and well-being (sharma & sharma, 2010). development of professional identity is inseparable from both personal and professional well-being. for example, professional isolation, absence of professional dialogue and support, results in the deterioration of personal and professional well-being (morrison, 2013). according to acton and glasgow (2015), educating teachers about the key facets of wellbeing is essential in order to preserve and sustain the teaching profession, thus enabling greater possibilities for professional success. core elements of identity and well-being include purpose, trajectory, relatedness, expression, acceptance, and differentiation (rothausen et al., 2015). previous research has proven that teachers’ identity has significant impact on various teaching-related consequences. teachers’ professional identity is the basis for meaning making (chong, 2011; day, kington, stobart,  & sammons, 2006), self-efficacy (day et al., 2006; yaminali & pooma, 2012), motivation (day et al., 2006; komba, anangisye,  & katabaro, 2013; lee  & yin, 2011; marcelo, 2009), commitment (day et 2017, 21, 9–28 p.towards the well-being of vocational teachers: the role of personality characteristics 11 al., 2006; komba et al., 2013; marcelo, 2009), job satisfaction (day et al., 2006; komba et al., 2013; marcelo, 2009), decision making (chong, 2011; monrouxe, 2010), and work efficiency (alsup, 2006; beijaard et al., 2000; chong & low, 2009; chong, 2011; day et al., 2006). also, the teacher’s professional identity impacts one’s perception of teaching as a career choice (chong, 2011). it is argued that this perception largely influences teachers’ teaching methods and their approach to the professional development (chong  & low, 2009; chong, 2011). moreover, teachers’ perceptions of their own professional identity affect their willingness to cope with educational change and to implement innovations in their teaching practices (beijaard et al., 2000). studies have revealed links between teachers’ professional identity and the ability to promote educational change (chong & low, 2009; chong, 2011), changes both inside and outside school (alsup, 2006; beijaard et al., 2000). hence, the awareness of vocational teachers’ professional identity is crucially important. professional identity can foster holistic psychological wellbeing and be utilized as an instrument (komba et al., 2013; marcelo, 2009) of teachers’ motivation, commitment, satisfaction, etc. various influential factors (individual and contextual) have been explored in previous studies (e.g. beijaard et al., 2000; lee & yin, 2011; smit, fritz, & mabalane, 2010; yamin-ali & pooma, 2012). however, there is a lack of research exploring the links between vocational teachers’ professional identity and their personality traits. the scientific contribution includes several aspects. first, the vocational teachers’ professional identity is being studied. it is believed that the professional identity of vocational teachers differs from that of the other teachers, because the former in large part are practitioners (come from practice) and choose the teaching profession as their second career. second, it is assumed that stable personality traits of vocational teachers might be associated with different types of professional identity. compared with other works in the field, this study focuses on antecedents of professional identity, while previous papers highlighted the consequences of professional identity (e.g. commitment, job satisfaction, decision making, teaching practices, etc.). thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate if the personality traits of vocational teachers might be predictors of their professional identity. kristina kovalčikienė 12 background teacher’s professional identity identity is defined as a complex and multidimensional construct which includes many roles that a teacher performs in different social contexts (day & kington, 2008). beijaard (1995) defined the teacher’s professional identity as an answer to the question “what a teacher is?”. according to the author, identity can generally be defined as “who or what someone is, the various meanings people can attach to themselves, or the meanings attributed by others” (p.  34). teachers’ professional identity reflects how they see themselves and other teachers in this profession (marcelo, 2009; van veen & sleegers, 2009). professional identity includes not only professional knowledge and skills, but also the fundamental norms and values characterized by the profession (danielewicz, 2001). therefore, professional identity is often interpreted through one’s personal understanding of who one is as a teacher and understanding of what kind of teacher one would like to become. the concept of teacher’s professional identity reflects the complexity of the teaching profession where personal and professional dimensions interact (akkerman  & meijer, 2011). ibarra (1999) also defined professional identity as an integration of personal and professional roles. according to the author, professional identity involves relatively stable beliefs, values, motives and experience. chong (2011) notes that the teacher’s professional identity reflects how a person perceives the teacher’s role and what is his or her attitude towards the students, teaching and learning. teacher’s professional identity consists of a number of identity elements, such as self-image, work motivation, responsibilities, self-esteem, perception of teaching, subject and subject pedagogy (lee & yin, 2011; van veen & sleegers, 2009). it also encompasses teaching-related self-efficacy, teaching philosophy, behavior, competence and readiness (yamin-ali & pooma, 2012). although professional identity is considered to be a relatively stable characteristic of a person, most authors agree that the teacher’s professional identity is flexible (e.g. chong, 2011; chong & low, 2009; komba et al., 2013; marcelo, 2009; olsen, 2008), because it is constantly being developed in the face of new contexts and relationships. additionally, teacher’s professional identity is multifaceted (beijaard et al., 2004; 2017, 21, 9–28 p.towards the well-being of vocational teachers: the role of personality characteristics 13 komba et al., 2013; marcelo, 2009; smit et al., 2010). it is composed of sub-identities which are not necessarily linked (komba et al., 2013; marcelo, 2009). komba and colleagues (2013) have specified three basic characteristics that describe the teacher’s professional identity: (a) expertise in one’s area of specialization, (b) moral integrity, and (c) expertise in didactical terms. beijaard and others (2000) proposed a similar structure of the teacher’s professional identity concept which is based on many years of research in this field. according to the authors, teachers derive their professional identity from the ways they see themselves as (a) didactical experts, (b) pedagogical experts, and (c) subject matter experts. in research and teaching practices in europe, “these are common concepts to indicate what a teacher should know and be able to do” (beijaard et al., 2000, p. 751). definitions of these concepts are described below. the teacher as a subject matter expert. traditionally, knowledge of the subject is the base of a teacher’s professional knowledge. it is generally accepted that the teacher is required to have a deep and thorough understanding of the subject that is being taught. however, teaching is much more than just transmission of knowledge. this concept of teaching takes sufficient account of the complexity of the teaching profession. new conceptions of the teacher include such roles as a classroom manager, a facilitator of learning etc. (beijaard et al., 2000). therefore, knowledge of the subject is only one element in the construction of the teacher’s professional identity. the teacher as a didactical expert. models of teaching define the relevant aspects of teaching: how to plan, execute, and evaluate lessons. however, the models of teaching do not uncover the complete complexity of teaching in practice, because “the main tasks here are initiating, guiding, and influencing students’ thinking activities, and gradually transferring control over the learning process from the instructor to the learner” (beijaard et al., 2000, p. 752). the teacher as a pedagogical expert. teaching cannot be reduced only to its didactical side (a technical or instrumental action). this must be related to the pedagogical side, where ethical or moral aspects should be taken into account (beijaard et al., 2000). positive pedagogical relationship between students and teachers is considered to be an essential condition for effective teaching and learning (mcinerney & mcinerney, kristina kovalčikienė 14 2006). teachers experienced 30 % fewer problems related to the teaching subject if they had high-quality teacher-student relationships (marzano & marzano, 2003). effective teacher-student relationship concerns the teacher’s behavior: cooperation with students, understanding students’ needs, teacher’s involvement or engagement with students. positive pedagogic teacher-student relationships have a significant effect on student learning, classroom management, accommodating diversity, and showing care and concern (choy et al., 2014). students are motivated when they believe that their teachers care about them academically and personally (fuhrman, 2010). according to garrett (2010), students are more likely to adhere to the rules of the classroom when they believe their teachers care about them. teachers face many dilemmas, for example: how to deal with deviant student behavior or how to diagnose and help students overcome the problems that arise as a result of divorce or sexual abuse (beijaard et al., 2000). teachers need to handle students’ cultural diversity present in today’s classrooms, as well as academic diversity, such as different learning styles and motivational levels (choy et al., 2014). it can be presumed that the pedagogical side of teaching is more important than the subject matter side and the didactical side of teaching. the professional identity is a process that cannot be separated from the development of the personality. professional identity is formed in the context of personality development and professional activity processes. furthermore, teacher’s personality traits are analyzed as factors that influence the formation of professional identity. teacher’s personality personality traits are identified as important factors in various daily situations and in the working life, because they define stable personal characteristics and determine personal behavior (mount et al., 2005). previous studies have confirmed the importance of personality traits for various professional results and processes. for example, personality traits have an important role in career decision-making self-efficacy (hartman & betz, 2007), career satisfaction (lounsbury et al., 2004), work performance (rusbadrol et al., 2015), training efficiency (fatemi et al., 2015) etc. also, personality traits have an influence on professional 2017, 21, 9–28 p.towards the well-being of vocational teachers: the role of personality characteristics 15 identity formation (žydžiūnaitė  & crisafulli, 2011). research on the relationship between identity and personality traits aims to reveal how identity depends on stable inner personal characteristics (hirschi, 2012). one of the most significant theories that explain the structure of personality is the big five model of personality. this model is the result of several decades’ worth of research on this topic (john et al., 2008; zhang, 2002) and covers five broad domains which define human personality and account for individual differences (costa & mccrae, 1992; john et al., 2008). the big five model of personality includes personality traits of openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. conscientiousness of the teacher comprises the abilities to plan, organize, pose, formulate and implement the aims (john et al., 2008; o’connor & paunonen, 2007; žukauskienė  & barkauskienė, 2006). the results of pandey’s and kavitha’s (2015) research revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between conscientiousness and selfefficacy. also, teachers’ conscientiousness is related to the students’ achievement motivation (hart et al., 2007). neuroticism comprises the emotional stability and degree of negative emotions. this personality trait reflects the tendency to experience unpleasant emotions (fear, sadness, anger, frustration, guilt and dissatisfaction) (costa & mccrae, 1992; john et al., 2008; žukauskienė  & barkauskienė, 2006). neuroticism is negatively related to self-efficacy (rusbadrol et al., 2015), or performance (pandey & kavitha, 2015), ineffectiveness of career planning (hartman & betz, 2007) and avoiding to actively make career-related decisions (wang et al., 2006). openness to experience comprises an imaginativeness, aesthetic sensitivity, curiosity, and interest in the inner and outer world (john et al., 2008; žukauskienė & barkauskienė, 2006). this factor is related to the pleasure of new experiences (costa & mccrae, 1992), career satisfaction (lounsbury et al., 2004), self-actualization by seeking creative and intellectual outcomes (hartman & betz, 2007). also, openness to experience is related to job performance (rusbadrol et al., 2015) and self-efficacy (pandey & kavitha, 2015). agreeableness factor is described by compassion, forgiveness, and sincerity (costa  & mccrae, 1992; john et al., 2008; žukauskienė  & barkauskienė, 2006). people who have a high degree of agreeableness kristina kovalčikienė 16 are oriented towards the development of interpersonal relationships by helping others to live a meaningful life (hartman & betz, 2007). agreeableness has a relative influence on the prediction of emotional intelligence of teachers (iruloh & ukaegbu, 2015) and is related to job performance (rusbadrol et al., 2015) and self-efficacy (pandey & kavitha, 2015). extraversion reflects the person’s sociability, activeness and optimism (costa & mccrae, 1992; žukauskienė & barkauskienė, 2006). extraverts are energetic, talkative, and assertive. they get their energy from interacting with others (john et al., 2008). extraversion, as well as agreeableness, predicts emotional intelligence of teachers (iruloh & ukaegbu, 2015). a more thorough understanding of the significance of personality traits for the teacher’s professional identity is relevant, because different professional roles require different skill sets and attitudes that are tied to personality. not every teacher can be an inspiring and motivating leader who can recognize what a student needs and integrate the personally meaningful information into the curriculum. educational organizations put more and more importance on personality when looking for new candidates to fill a job position or considering the opportunities of promotion. in this light, analysis of the predictive value of the teachers’ personality traits for their professional identity was chosen in this article. me thod participants the sample consisted of 346 respondents (27.6 % of men and 72.4 % of female) from the lithuanian vocational training system. the vast majority of the respondents were between 50 and 59 years of age (38.2 %), other age groups were distributed as follows: 18–29 years  – 5.2 %, 30–39 years – 17.3 %, 40–49 years – 21.1 %, 60 years and more – 17.3 %. the vast majority of teachers have a university education (79.2 %), others have a higher non-university education (13 %), 4 % of respondents indicated special secondary education or vocational education. more than two-thirds (71.7 %) of the participants reported that they teach vocational subjects, 18.8 % are teachers of general subjects, and 5.5 % teach both. most of the vocational teachers have a teaching qualification 2017, 21, 9–28 p.towards the well-being of vocational teachers: the role of personality characteristics 17 (63.9 %) and a senior teacher’s qualification category (47.4 %). most of the participants are technology (48.6 %) and social sciences (23.1 %) representatives (also, humanities  – 12.7 %, physical sciences – 6.6 %, agriculture – 4.3 %, biomedicine – 0.6 %, 1.7 % specified multiple fields, and 2.3 % did not answer). the greater part of the study participants work in vocational schools (56.9 %) and vocational training centers (41.9 %). the participants have solid work experience: 50.6 % have more than 20 years. most teachers (50 %) are working full-time or more (27.5 %). procedure the research employs quantitative research strategy. data collection was conducted in 2016. the research was implemented in april and may. using the probability cluster selection method, 27 vocational schools (which comprise a third of all 90 currently operating state and non-state vocational schools) were randomly selected for the research in 10 regions of the country. the research data was processed using spss (statistical package for social sciences). the selected reliability level is p < .05. the distribution of variables is close to normal distribution, the asymmetry and excess coefficients satisfy the normality conditions, the sample is large, therefore the parametric criteria were selected for the statistical analysis. measures professional identity. teachers’ professional identity questionnaire (beijaard et al., 2000) was used to measure the vocational teachers’ professional identity: subject matter expert, pedagogical expert, and didactical expert. the questionnaire consists of 18 items (6 for each dimension). the instrument was translated (dutch-lithuanian and lithuaniandutch) and used with permission from the author (d. beijaard). teachers were asked to what extent they agreed with the items on a four-point scale (ranging from 1 – “disagreement“, to 4 – “complete agreement”). some examples of the items used: “the subject i studied determined my decision to become a teacher” (a subject matter item); “in my lessons, i pay a lot of attention to varied learning activities” (a didactical item); “as a teacher, i serve as a model for the way students mix with each other” (pedagogical item). kristina kovalčikienė 18 according to beijaard and colleagues’ (2000) approach to teacher’s professional identity, the descriptions of didactical, pedagogical, and subject matter expert are provided below. a didactical expert is a teacher who bases his/her profession on knowledge and skills related to the planning, execution, and evaluation of teaching and learning processes (the value of cronbach’s alpha is .692). a pedagogical expert is a teacher who bases his/her profession on knowledge and skills required in order to support the students’ social, emotional, and moral development (cronbach’s alpha is .684). a subject matter expert is a teacher who bases his/her profession on the knowledge and skills of the subject matter (cronbach’s alpha is .617). previous studies supported the reliability and validity of the instrument (beijaard et al., 2000). in previous studies, the internal consistency of the scales was similar and ranged from .58 to .68 (beijaard et al., 2000). personality traits. personality traits of vocational teachers were measured using big five inventory (bfi; benet-martinez & john, 1998; john et al., 1991, 2008). it is a self-report inventory designed to measure five personality traits: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience. the questionnaire’s translation into lithuanian was approved by the scholars of the department of psychology of vytautas magnus university. the questionnaire is comprised of 44 short phrases based on trait adjectives that respondents had to evaluate in the 5-point likert scale (from 1  – “strongly disagree” to 5 – “strongly agree”). in this study, the reliability of the big five scales (cronbach’s alpha) varies from .69 to .82 (extraversion – .692; conscientiousness – .704; agreeableness – .617; neuroticism – .686; openness to experience – .816). demographic variables. as demographic variables, the participants reported their age, gender, education, qualification category, etc. results vocational teachers’ perceptions of their professional identity based on the three aspects of teacher expertise are distributed as follows: the teachers see themselves more as subject matter (m = 3.40, sd = .40) and pedagogical (m = 3.36, sd = .39) experts and less as didactical experts 2017, 21, 9–28 p.towards the well-being of vocational teachers: the role of personality characteristics 19 (m = 3.29, sd = .40). using the t-paired test criteria, a comparison of the differences in the professional identities of vocational teachers is provided in table 1. table 1. vocational teachers’ professional identity comparison: differences between pairs pair mean sd pair differences t test df p mean sd 1 pedagogical expert 3.36 .39 .067 .32 3.85 345 p < .001 didactical expert 3.29 .40 2 didactical expert 3.29 .40 –.104 .35 –5.58 345 p < .001 subject matter expert 3.40 .40 3 pedagogical expert 3.36 .39 –.037 .32 –2.10 345 .036 subject matter expert 3.40 .40 the analysis of the independent samples t-test was performed in order to verify whether the professional identity differs depending on the teachers’ gender, age and other socio-demographic characteristics. when comparing vocational teachers by their gender, the only significant difference was found in the teachers’ scores for the scale of pedagogical expert (table  2). the results indicate that a greater number of female rather than male teachers perceive themselves as pedagogical experts (p < .05). table 2. vocational teachers’ professional identity comparison by gender variable gender n mean sd df t-test cohen’s d p didactical expert males 93 19.39 2.45 334 –1.700 –.21 .15 females 243 19.89 2.37 pedagogical expert males 93 19.71 2.57 334 –2.184 –.26 .03 females 243 20.33 2.21 subject matter expert males 93 20.21 2.15 334 –.812 –.10 .57 females 243 20.45 2.50 no statistically significant variances were found in the analysis of vocational teachers’ professional identity differences by age. no statistically significant differences were found when analyzing the teachers’ kristina kovalčikienė 20 professional identity according to their education or qualification category. what this means is that the teachers’ professional identity is similar among teachers with different socio-demographic characteristics. the most expressed personality traits of vocational teachers are agreeableness (m = 3.91, sd = .50) and conscientiousness (m = 3.90, sd = .56). personality traits of extraversion and openness to experience are also strongly expressed: scores are above the mean value of the scale (respectively: m = 3.59, sd = .52 and m = 3.51, sd = .45). the least expressed trait is neuroticism (m = 2.56, sd = .61). multiple linear regression analyses were used in order to clarify the importance of vocational teachers’ personality traits for their professional identity. the regression characteristics revealed that all models have a statistically significant prognostic value (table  3). personality traits of agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience explain from 15.5 to 21.9 percent variation of professional identity. table 3. summar y of regression analysis: personality traits in the prediction of professional identity predicted variables r² f-test df standardized beta cohen’s dextraversion agreeableness conscientiousness neuroticism openness to experience didactical expert .219 19.08** 5 .004 .066 .314** –.018 .215** .28 pedagogical expert .155 12.46** 5 .055 .112* .158** .015 .227** .18 subject expert .155 12.45** 5 –.001 .122* .202** .040 .227** .18 note: **p < .01; *p < .05. regression analysis revealed that conscientiousness and openness to experience predict vocational teachers’ perception as didactical experts. the agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience have statistically significant prognostic value in vocational teachers’ perception of pedagogical experts and subject matter experts. 2017, 21, 9–28 p.towards the well-being of vocational teachers: the role of personality characteristics 21 regarding the results of the analysis of variance, additional regression analysis for males and females (pedagogical expert) was performed. the results revealed that men’s personality traits of consciousness (p < .01) and openness to experience (p < .01) predict their perception as pedagogical experts. conversely, for women, only openness to experience (p < .05) is a predictor of pedagogical expertise. discussion most of the vocational teachers in this study saw themselves as subject matter experts. teachers who scored high on subject matter expertise tend to pay attention to the content of teaching subjects (innovation, curriculum issues, development of subject area competencies). above all, teachers who scored high on subject matter expertise tend to refer to the transmission of knowledge as the core of their work. previous findings indicate that for many teachers their perceptions of professional identity shift specifically from subject matter expertise to didactical and pedagogical expertise during their careers (beijaard et al., 2000). additionally, it was found that females are more of pedagogical experts than males. it can be assumed that females are more sociable and altruistic compared with males. according to knox (2006), females are more oriented toward relationships, while males tend to be more autonomous, thus their identities are different. in this study, it was assumed that teachers’ personality traits may be related with their perceptions of professional identity. the results suggest that conscientiousness and openness to experience personality traits are very important for the teachers’ identification with their professional roles. this means that planning, organizing, need for affiliation, task vacation and similar processes (conscientiousness), as well as imagination, attention to inner feelings, aesthetic sensitivity, intellectual curiosity, and interest in the inner and outer world (openness to experience) are the features of vocational teachers that are the most important for their professional identity. this confirms the previous research findings that teachers’ personality traits of conscientiousness and openness to experience are important for the teachers’ positive work-related outcomes (hart et al., 2007; fatemi at al., 2015; pandey & kristina kovalčikienė 22 kavitha, 2015; rusbadrol et al., 2015). the results also revealed that the personality trait of agreeableness contributes to the prediction of pedagogical and subject matter expertise. teachers who score high in agreeableness are oriented towards the development of interpersonal relationships by helping others to live a meaningful life (hartman & betz, 2007). this enhances the understanding that teachers (pedagogical experts) serve as the model for the way students interact with each other, but subject matter knowledge and skills are the basis for the teaching/ learning processes. the teaching profession is exceptional for its importance to the public, because the teacher’s activities and personality characteristics directly affect each of its members. fatemi and colleagues (2015) emphasize that it is of crucial importance to highlight that the teachers’ attitudes toward their own profession, professionalism, ideology and beliefs derived from their background may also influence behavior and performance in class. the findings of this study provide implications towards the vocational teachers’ profession and the vocational schools. most of all, the implications of the obtained association between vocational teachers’ professional identity and their personality traits are important for the discussion on the conceptualization of the professional identity of vocational teachers. also, the results are important for the implementation of professional development of teachers in vocational schools. limitations this study has a several limitations that should be mentioned. the main limitation is related to the methodology of the study. although the theory of big five personality traits is widely recognized in the world, and its instrument (bfi) of measuring the main five traits of personality is widely used in scientific research, the question arises: are 44 questions enough to measure the personality traits? in future research, it would be useful to consider other instruments to assess personality traits. also, teachers’ professional identity questionnaire (beijaard et al., 2000) was used to measure vocational teachers’ professional identity. the mentioned instrument was designed and used in a sample of teachers, and given the specifics of vocational teachers, the 2017, 21, 9–28 p.towards the well-being of vocational teachers: the role of personality characteristics 23 instrument might be not the most suitable for the current sample. in addition, although the size of the sample is large, the effect sizes are small. for this reason, the results should be evaluated critically and analogous studies are needed. conclusions the current study is an attempt to examine the association between professional identity and personality traits among lithuanian vocational teachers. the presented empirical research indicated that most vocational teachers see themselves as subject matter experts who are an authority in a particular area of teaching. taking into account the specifics of vocational education and training system, these results are not surprising since the purpose of vocational training institutions is to help a person to acquire qualification and very specific competences related to a certain profession. besides, the findings of the study revealed that vocational teachers’ personality traits of agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience were linked to teachers’ professional identity. the results support the importance of stable personal characteristics of vocational teachers for their identification with a particular professional role. among other things, this is relevant for those entering the teaching profession. it is recommended to consider and to evaluate not only knowledge, but also individual personality characteristics that are required in a teacher’s profession. measures of personality traits could be used in teacher preparation and vocational schools in order to improve their admissions or to make better hiring decisions. it is certain that future research in this area is needed in order to better understand the associations between teachers’ personality and teaching practices. references acton, r., & 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(2011). universiteto studentų profesinį tapatumą lemiantys veiksniai. profesinis rengimas: tyrimai ir aktualijos, 20, 168–179. profesijos mokytojų gerovės link: asmenybės char ak teristikų reikšmė kristina kovalčikienė aleksandro stulginskio universitetas santrauka. problema. mokymo praktikos sėkmė ir mokytojų gerovė daugiausia priklauso ne tik nuo mokymo turinio, bet ir nuo mokytojų asmenybės ypatumų. be to, mokytojų suvokimas apie savo profesiją, save ir kitus su ta profesija susijusius žmones lemia ugdymo kokybę. todėl keliama prielaida, kad mokytojų asmenybės bruožai yra vieni svarbiausių veiksnių, turinčių reikšmę mokytojų profesiniam identitetui, kuris neabejotinai yra mokytojų psichologinės gerovės sąlyga. tyrimo tikslas – ištirti profesijos pedagogų asmenybės bruožų prognostinę vertę jų profesinio identiteto prognozei lietuvoje. tyrimo metodai. imtį sudarė 346 lietuvos profesinio mokymo sistemoje dirbantys pedagogai. „didžiojo penketo“ inventorius (bfi, benet-martinez ir john, 1998; john, donahue ir kentle, 1991, john, naumann ir soto, 2008) buvo naudotas profesijos pedagogų asmenybės bruožams įvertinti. profesijos mokytojų profesinis identitetas buvo matuojamas naudojant mokytojų profesinio identiteto klausimyną (beijaard, verloop ir vermunt, 2000). rezultatai. profesijos mokytojų profesinį identitetą reikšmingai prognozuoja tokie asmenybės bruožai, kaip sąžiningumas ir kristina kovalčikienė 28 atvirumas patyrimui. taip pat analizuojami profesijos mokytojų profesinio identiteto atskirų komponentų (profesiniai vaidmenys: dalyko ekspertas, didaktikos ekspertas ir pedagogikos ekspertas) sąsajos su asmenybės bruožais. išvada. rezultatai patvirtina profesijos mokytojų asmenybės bruožų svarbą jų profesiniam identitetui. rezultatai gali padėti mokslininkams gilinti supratimą apie mokytojų asmenybės svarbą jų gerovei. tyrimo rezultatai taip pat gali padėti mokytojams geriau suprasti jų profesinį identitetą. reikšminiai žodžiai: profesinis identitetas, asmenybės bruožai, profesijos mokytojai, gerovė. received: 03 05 2017 accepted: 05 12 2017 113 vadovo įgalinančio elgesio ir struktūrinio įgalinimo reikšmė darbuotojų psichologiniam įgalinimui mantas tvarijonavičius 1, dalia b agdžiūnienė vilniaus universitetas, lietuva santrauka. problema. darbuotojai, kuriems suteikiamos naujos atsakomybės, noriai jas įgyvendina tada, kai jaučiasi psichologiškai įgalinti – teigiamai vertina savo profesinę kompetenciją, savarankiškai sprendžia darbo klausimus, yra iniciatyvūs. lietuvoje psichologinio įgalinimo reiškinys beveik nėra tyrinėtas, todėl aktualu analizuoti jo raišką, organizacinio ir vadovavimo lygmens prognostinius veiksnius, jų ypatumus skirtingo pareigybinio lygio darbuotojų grupėse. tyrimo tikslas – ištirti darbuotojų psichologinio įgalinimo raišką ir sąsajas su vadovo įgalinančiu elgesiu bei struktūriniu įgalinimu. metodika. tyrimo instrumentai: lietuviškas psichologinio įgalinimo klausimynas (tvarijonavičius ir bagdžiūnienė, 2013), vadovo įgalinančio elgesio klausimynas (ahearne ir kt., 2005), struktūrinio įgalinimo klausimynas (laschinger ir kt., 2001). tyrime dalyvavo 280 keturiolikoje organizacijų dirbančių specialistų (n = 205) ir vidurinės grandies vadovų (n = 75). rezultatai. tyrimas parodė, kad vadovo įgalinantis elgesys ir struktūrinis įgalinimas prognozuoja psichologinį įgalinimą; vadovo įgalinantis elgesys ir struktūrinis įgalinimas su darbuotojų psichologiniu įgalinimu siejasi tiesiogiai, taip pat egzistuoja sąveika tarp vadovo įgalinančio elgesio ir struktūrinio įgalinimo bei jo dimensijų, prognozuojant darbuotojų psichologinį įgalinimą; egzistuoja specialistų ir vadovų psichologinio įgalinimo prielaidų skirtumai. išvados. vidurinės grandies vadovai jaučia didesnį psichologinį įgalinimą nei specialistai. tiesioginio vadovo įgalinančio elgesio vaidmuo darbuotojų psichologiniam įgalinimui yra didesnis esant žemo struktūrinio įgalinimo sąlygoms; specialistų grupėje psichologinį įgalinimą prognozuoja galimybės panaudoti gebėjimus ir įgyti naujų, informacijos prieinamumas, tiesioginio vadovo pasitikėjimas ir autonomijos suteikimas, o vadovų grupėje – tik iššūkius keliantis darbas, galimybės panaudoti gebėjimus. pagrindiniai žodžiai: psichologinis įgalinimas, vadovo įgalinantis elgesys, struktūrinis įgalinimas, specialistai, vadovai. 1 adresas susirašinėjimui: vilniaus universitetas, filosofijos fakultetas, klinikinės ir organi zacinės psichologijos katedra, universiteto 9/1, 01513, vilnius, lietuva, el. p. mantas@ovc.lt. mokslo straipsniai issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.14.6 114 mantas tvarijonavičius, dalia bagdžiūnienė įvadas psichologinio įgalinimo samprata ir struktūra pirmą kartą terminas „įgalinti“ (angl. empower) literatūroje paminėtas xvii a. anglų rašytojo h. l‘estrange ir reiškė „suteikti įgaliojimus“ (angl. authorise), o socialiniuose moksluose ši sąvoka pradėta vartoti xx a. antroje pusėje (lincoln ir kt., 2002). moksliniai tyrimai parodė, kad, siekiant aukštų rezultatų, nepakanka tik suteikti darbuotojams įgaliojimus, svarbu, kad jie jaustųsi psichologiškai įgalinti savarankiškai priimti kasdieninės veiklos sprendimus, spręsti jų atsakomybės ribose kylančias problemas, t. y. ne tik žinotų apie suteikiamus įgaliojimus, bet ir gebėtų ir norėtų juos įgyvendinti (spreitzer, 1995; spreitzer ir kt., 1999; menon, 2001). šios koncepcijos ištakos sietinos su j. r. hackman ir g. r. oldham „patirtu prasmingumu“ (thomas ir velthouse, 1990), a. bandura saviveiksmingumu (spreitzer, 1995; lee ir koh, 2001), vidine motyvacija (deci, 1972), išmoktu bejėgiškumu (ashforth, 1990; lee ir koh, 2001). tyrimai rodo, kad darbuotojai, kurie jaučiasi stipriai psichologiškai įgalinti, yra labiau įsipareigoję organizacijai (ahmad ir kt., 2010), jų vidinė užduoties motyvacija aukštesnė (zhang ir bartol, 2010), pasitenkinimas darbu didesnis (laschinger ir kt., 2004), geresni darbo veiklos rezultatai (spreitzer, 1995; quinn ir spreitzer, 1997; spreitzer, 2007). psichologinį įgalinimą autoriai apibrėžia dvejopai: kaip procesą ar ba kaip darbuotojo būseną. j. a. conger ir r. n. kanungo (1988) bei k. w. thomas ir b. a. velthouse (1990) psichologinį įgalinimą apibrėžia kaip procesą, kurio rezultatas yra darbuotojo galios patyrimas. šie autoriai teigia, kad bendrą darbuotojo galios patyrimą formuoja aplinkos įvykiai (pavyzdžiui, darbuotojui sudaryta galimybė atlikti naują užduotį) ir subjektyvus tų įvykių vertinimas (pavyzdžiui, darbuotojas suvokia, kad užduotis yra prasminga, o jis pats turi kompetencijos atlikti šią užduotį ir laisvės pasirinkti, kaip ją atlikti). kiti autoriai (spreitzer, 1995; menon, 2001) psichologinį įgalinimą apibrėžia kaip darbuotojo būseną. perfrazuojant s. t. menon (2001), psichologinio įgalinimo būsena yra tarsi proceso momentinė nuotrauka, atskleidžianti tam tikrą psichologinio įgalinimo dimensijų derinį konkrečiu momentu. psichologinio įgalinimo kaip būsenos tyrimuose išskiriami du aspektai. pirmasis – darbuotojo asmeninės „meistrystės“ (angl. mastery) suvokimas pagal tai, ar jis sugeba atlikti savo darbus ir užduotis (kanter, international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 115 2014, 14, 113–138 p. 1977), kiek jis turi kompetencijos (žinių, patirties, įgūdžių), kiek jis savo veiksmais suvokia realiai darantis poveikį bendriems rezultatams (spreitzer, 1995; menon, 2001). antrasis, energizuojantis, būsenos aspektas suteikia meistrystei kryptį, skatina imtis veiksmų ir dėti pastangas. (thomas ir velthouse, 1990; conger ir kanungo, 1988). visiškai psichologiškai įgalintam darbuotojui turėtų būti būdingi ir meistrystės, ir energijos elementai, kurie išskiriami kaip dimensijos psichologinio įgalinimo struktūroje. pavyzdžiui, spreitzer (1995) išskyrė keturias psichologinio įgalinimo dimensijas: 1) prasmė – darbo vaidmens reikalavimų ir darbuotojo įsitikinimų bei vertybių atitikimas; 2) suvokta kompetencija; 3) autonomi ja – suvokimas, kad darbuotojas pats gali inicijuoti ir reguliuoti savo veiklas; 4) poveikis – darbuotojo suvokimas, kiek jis gali daryti įtakos strateginiams, administraciniams ir veiklos rezultatams darbe. menon (2001) aprašė tris psichologinio įgalinimo komponentus: 1) organizacijos tikslų internalizavimas; 2) suvokta asmeninė kompetencija; 3) suvokta kontrolė – darbuotojo suvokimas, kiek jis yra savarankiškas, planuodamas ir atlikdamas darbus, kiek jis turi laisvės ir įgaliojimų sprendimams priimti. šiame darbe psichologinis įgalinimas, remiantis lietuvoje atliktu tyrimu, apibrėžiamas kaip vidinė darbuotojo būsena, kurią charakterizuoja penkios dimensijos: darbo prasmė, entuziazmas darbe, įtaka sprendimų priėmimui, autonomija darbe ir pasitikėjimas kompetencija (tvarijonavičius ir bagdžiūnienė, 2013)1. psichologinio įgalinimo padariniai individualaus lygmens psichologinio įgalinimo pasekmės siejamos su darbuotojų nuostatomis apie darbą – pasitenkinimu darbu (laschinger ir kt., 2004), įsipareigojimu darbui (wagner ir kt., 2010), įsitraukimu į darbą (laschinger ir kt., 2009). užduočių lygmeniu prie psichologinio įgalinimo pasekmių priskiriama vidinė užduoties motyvacija (zhang ir bartol, 2010), aukštesni užduočių atlikimo rezultatai (ahearne ir kt., 2005), inovatyvumas (knol ir kt., 2008; wagner ir kt., 2010), kūrybiškumas vykdant užduotis (zhang ir bartol, 2010), proaktyvumas (m. winkler ir kolegos (16-ojo eawop kongreso medžiaga, 2013)). psichologinis įgalinimas tiesiogiai ar per tarpinius kintamuosius siejamas ir su grupės, padalinio ar įmonės rezultatais (spreitzer, 1996; spreitzer, 2007; fernandez ir moldogaziev, 2011). organizacijos lygmeniu prie psichologinio 1 dimensijų aprašymas pateikiamas pristatant metodiką. 116 mantas tvarijonavičius, dalia bagdžiūnienė įgalinimo pasekmių priskiriamas įsipareigojimas organizacijai (ahmad ir oranye, 2010), nuosatata proaktyviai keisti darbo aplinką (spreitzer ir kt., 1999, spreitzer, 2007). vadovų psichologinio įgalinimo padariniai siejami ne vien su jų po žiūriu į darbą bei organizaciją, jie pasireiškia kaip pavaldinių psichologi nį įgalinimą bei jo pasekmes įtakojantis veiksnys. pavyzdžiui, g. m. spreitzer ir kolegų (1999) tyrimai atskleidė, kad didesniu psichologiniu įgalinimu pasižymintiems vidurinės grandies vadovams labiau būdingas į poky čius nei į esamos situacijos išlaikymą orientuotas vadovavimo stilius (transformacinis vadovavimas), kuris savo ruožtu siejasi su didesniu pavaldinių pasitenkinimu darbu, stipresniu įsipareigojimu organizacijai (bass, 1999; stelmokienė ir endriulaitienė, 2009). kitaip tariant, ne tik vadovai, kuriems būdingas didesnis psichologinis įgalinimas, patiria su tuo susijusių teigiamų padarinių (didesnis pasitenkinimas darbu, įsipareigojimas organizacijai, veiklos produktyvumas ir kt.), bet ir jų pavaldiniai (didesnis pasitenkinimas darbu, įsipareigojimas organizacijai). psichologinio įgalinimo prielaidos tyrimuose analizuojama didelė psichologinio įgalinimo prielaidų įvairovė – individualios darbuotojų charakteristikos, darbo ypatumai, grupės darbo organizavimas, organizacinio lygmens veiksniai, o ypatingas dėmesys pastaraisiais metais pirmiausia skiriamas tiesioginio vadovo įgalinančio elgesio (angl. empowering leader behavior) charakteristikoms (ahearne ir kt., 2005; zhang ir bartol, 2010) ir struktūrinio įgalinimo (angl. structural empowerment) veiksniams (laschinger, 2001; wilson, 2011). vadovo įgalinantis elgesys. pasak n. a. peterson ir p. w. speer (2000), vadovas pavaldinius įgalina dvejopai: santykių prasme (vadovas deleguoja įgaliojimus, padrąsina pavaldinių atsakomybę ir iniciatyvą); motyvacine prasme (vadovas skatina pavaldinių tikėjimą savo kompetencija ir sugebėjimais). vadovo įgalinančio elgesio koncepcija integruoja šias įgalinančio vadovavimo prielaidas. autoriai (arnold ir kt., 2000, pgl. ahearne ir kt., 2005) vadovo įgalinantį elgesį apibrėžia kaip procesą, kuriuo sukuriamos sąlygos, didinančios darbuotojo savęs efektyvumo ir kontrolės suvokimą, ir šalinamos sąlygos, kuriančios bejėgiškumo jausmą darbe. m. ahearne ir kolegų (2005) teigimu, vadovo įgalinantis elgesys apima keturis aspektus: pavaldinių darbo prasmingumo international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 117 2014, 14, 113–138 p. didinimą, jų įtraukimą į sprendimų priėmimą, pasitikėjimą aukštais rezultatais ir autonomijos suteikimą. tyrimų, kuriuose būtų analizuojamas vadovo įgalinančio elgesio poveikis psichologiniam įgalinimui, nėra daug, tyrėjai labiau gilinasi į tiesiogines sąsajas tarp vadovo įgalinančio elgesio ir jo padarinių – darbuotojų nuostatų, elgesio. pavyzdžiui, nustatytas vadovo įgalinančio elgesio teigiamas ryšys su darbuotojų įsitraukimu į darbą ir neigiamas – su ketinimu išeiti iš darbo (van schalkwyk ir kt., 2010). psichologinis įgalinimas kaip tarpinis kintamasis nustatytas sąsajose tarp įgalinančio vadovo elgesio ir darbuotojų kūrybiškumo bei vidinės užduoties atlikimo motyvacijos (zhang ir bartol, 2010). s. t. menon (2001) taip pat akcentuoja, kad vadovo įgalinantis elgesys neturėtų turėti jokios įtakos pavaldiniams, kol jie nejaučia psichologinio įgalinimo. struktūrinis įgalinimas. struktūrinis įgalinimas apibrėžiamas kaip individo supratimas apie jį supančią įgalinančią darbo aplinką (laschinger ir kt., 2009, wagner ir kt., 2010). r. m. kanter (1977) teigia, kad struktūrinis įgalinimas darbo aplinkoje apima trijų tipų formalias organizacines sąlygas: pirma, kurios leidžia darbuotojui atlikti darbą prasmingais būdais, antra, kuriomis apibrėžiama darbuotojo pozicija ir jai suteikiamos galios, ir, trečia, – priemones, kuriomis siekiama suteikti papildomų galių darbuotojams. struktūrinio įgalinimo tyrimuose autoriai dažniausia analizuoja r. m. kanter (1977) teorijos pagrindu išskirtas keturias struktūrinio įgalinimo formas: galimybes, informaciją, resursus ir paramą (laschinger ir kt., 2009, wagner ir kt., 2010). nustatyta, kad struktūrinis įgalinimas stipriu teigiamu ryšiu susijęs ir su vadovų, ir su darbuotojų psichologiniu įgalinimu (laschinger ir kt., 2001, cit. pgl. wagner ir kt. 2010). h. k. s. laschinger ir kolegų (2004) longitudinis tyrimas rodo, kad per trejus metus įvykę struktūrinio įgalinimo pokyčiai reikšmingai nulėmė psichologinio įgalinimo pokyčius. taip pat nustatyta, kad ir psichologinis, ir struktūrinis įgalinimas teigiamais ryšiais susiję su inovatyviu elgesiu (knol ir van linge, 2008), su darbuotojų pasitenkinimu darbu ir įsipareigojimu organizacijai (ahmad ir oranye, 2010). specialistų ir vadovų psichologinis įgalinimas vadovams suteikiama daugiau formalių galių organizacijos struk tūroje, lyginant su žemesnių pareigų darbuotojais, tačiau ar tai reiškia, kad jų psichologinis įgalinimas yra aukštesnis? tyrimų, kuriuose būtų 118 mantas tvarijonavičius, dalia bagdžiūnienė gilinamasi į specialistų ir vadovų psichologinio įgalinimo ypatumus, nėra daug. skirtingo pareigybinio lygio darbuotojų psichologinio įgalinimo raiškos skirtumai dažniausiai aiškinami skirtumais formaliuose pareigybiniose įgaliojimuose. pavyzdžiui, m. kanter (1977) nurodo, kad aukščiausiose vadovų grandyse koncentruojama daugiau galios ir valdžios, b. harley (1999) teigimu, organizacijose darbuotojų disponuojama galia stipriai skiriasi priklausomai nuo darbuotojo vietos organizacinėje struktūroje – kuo aukštesnis vadovas, tuo daugiau jis turi galios ir autonomijos kontroliuoti savo darbą. r. hamid ir kolegos (2012) nurodo esant reikšmingų psichologinio įgalinimo skirtumų, priklausomai nuo darbuotojo užimamos pozicijos organizacijoje. kiti autoriai (pavyzdžiui, g. m. spreitzer, 1995), lygindami specialistų ir vidurinės grandies vadovų psichologinį įgalinimą, statistiškai reikšmingų skirtumų nenustato. pabrėžtina, kad kol kas nepakankamas dėmesys skiriamas ir skirtingo pareigybinio lygio darbuotojų psichologinio įgalinimo prielaidų tyrimui. tyrimų apžvalga rodo, kad, siekiant darbuotojų aukšto psichologinio įgalinimo, svarbu nagrinėti jo raišką, struktūrinio ir vadovavimo lygmens prielaidas bei jų sąveiką, prognozuojant psichologinį įgalinimą, psichologinio įgalinimo bei jo prielaidų ypatumus, atsižvelgiant į darbuotojų pareigybinį lygį. tyrimo tikslas – ištirti darbuotojų psichologinio įgalinimo raišką ir sąsajas su vadovo įgalinančiu elgesiu bei struktūriniu įgalinimu. tyrimo uždaviniai: 1. išnagrinėti darbuotojų psichologinio įgalinimo raišką ir vadovo įgalinančio elgesio bei struktūrinio įgalinimo reikšmę, prognozuojant darbuotojų psichologinį įgalinimą. 2. atskleisti struktūrinio įgalinimo reikšmę ryšiui tarp vadovo įgalinančio elgesio ir psichologinio įgalinimo, t. y. sąveiką tarp vadovo įgalinančio elgesio ir struktūrinio įgalinimo bei jo dimensijų, prognozuojant darbuotojų psichologinį įgalinimą. 3. išnagrinėti specialistų ir vadovų psichologinio įgalinimo raišką, prielaidas, vadovo įgalinančio elgesio bei struktūrinio įgalinimo sąveiką, prognozuojant specialistų ir vadovų psichologinį įgalinimą. international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 119 2014, 14, 113–138 p. tyrimo metodika tyrimo dalyviai. tyrime dalyvavo 280 darbuotojų iš 14 lietuvoje veikiančių organizacijų, vyrai sudarė 45 %, moterys – 55 %, specialistai – 73,2 %, vidurinės grandies vadovai – 26,8 % (toliau tekste – vadovai). privataus sektoriaus darbuotojų buvo 80,9 %, valstybinio – 14,8 %, nevyriausybinio – 4,3 %. magistro išsilavinimą turinčiųjų buvo 32,5 %, bakalauro – 31,1 %, likusiųjų išsilavinimas – žemesnis nei bakalauro. iki vienerių metų darbo stažą turinčiųjų buvo 17,9 %, 1–5 metus – 45,7 %, daugiau kaip 5 metus – 36,4 %. iki 29 metų amžiaus tiriamieji sudarė 48,9 %, 30–39 metų – 31,5, daugiau kaip 40 metų – 19,6 %. kintamieji ir vertinimo priemonės. psichologiniam įgalinimui įvertinti buvo naudojamas lietuviškas psichologinio įgalinimo klausimynas (tvarijonavičius ir bagdžiūnienė, 2013). faktorinė principinių komponenčų analizė su varimax pasukimu (bartleto sferiškumo kriterijaus p < 0,001, kmo = 0,918) išskyrė penkis psichologinio įgalinimo faktorius (skales): . prasmė – darbuotojo tikėjimas tuo, ką jis daro darbe, darbo pras mingumo suvokimas, jo reikšmė asmeninių ilgalaikių tikslų atžvilgiu (teiginio pavyzdys „mano darbas man atrodo prasmingas“, skalės cronbach α = 0,900); . entuziazmas – darbuotojo entuziastingas nusiteikimas ir užsidegimas dirbant, noras dėti papildomų pastangų (teiginio pavyzdys „aš entuziastingai atlieku savo darbą“, skalės cronbach α = 0,936); . sprendimų priėmimas – darbuotojo suvokimas, kad jis gali priimti sprendimus darbo aplinkoje, kad gali daryti įtaką sprendimams (teiginio pavyzdys „kai reikia, aš galiu priimti sprendimus darbe“, skalės cronbach α = 0,848); . autonomija – darbuotojo suvokimas, kad jis gali savarankiškai priimti sprendimus, nusistatyti darbo tikslus ir pasirinkti, kaip jų siekti (teiginio pavyzdys „aš galiu pats koreguoti, kaip atlieku savo darbą“, skalės cronbach α = 0,828); . pasitikėjimas kompetencija – darbuotojo suvokimas, kad jis yra kompetentingas deramai atlikti savo darbą, gali įveikti sunkumus ir pasiekti reikiamų rezultatų (teiginio pavyzdys „aš esu kompetentingas tinkamai atlikti savo darbą“, skalės cronbach α = 0,887). 120 mantas tvarijonavičius, dalia bagdžiūnienė bendras klausimyno cronbach α = 0,944. kiekvieną skalę sudaro 5 teiginiai, atsakymai vertinami rangine skale nuo 1 („visiškai nesutinku“) iki 6 („visiškai sutinku“). įgalinančiam vadovo elgesiui vertinti buvo naudotas m. ahearne ir kolegų (2005) vadovo įgalinančio elgesio klausimynas, kurį sudaro keturios skalės: . prasmingumo didinimas – kiek vadovas padeda darbuotojui suprasti, kaip jo tikslai, veikla ir veiklos rezultatai siejasi su or ga nizacijos tikslais, veikla ir rezultatais (3 teiginiai, pavyzdys „mano vadovas padeda man suprasti mano darbo reikšmę visos organizacijos efektyvumui“); . įtraukimas į sprendimų priėmimą – kiek vadovas priima sprendimus kartu su pavaldiniais (2 teiginiai, pavyzdys „mano vadovas priima daug sprendimų kartu su manimi“); . pasitikėjimas aukštais rezultatais – kiek vadovas yra užtikrintas, kad pavaldiniai susidoros su užduočių reikalavimais (2 teiginiai, pavyzdys „mano vadovas tiki, kad aš galiu susidoroti su sunkiomis užduotimis“); . autonomijos suteikimas – kiek vadovas leidžia darbuotojams veikti savarankiškai (3 teiginiai, pavyzdys „mano vadovas leidžia man darbą atlikti man priimtinu būdu“). visos keturios skalės suformuoja bendrą vadovo įgalinančio elge sio rodiklį. gavus autorių leidimą, teiginiai buvo išversti į lietuvių kalbą, atliktas atgalinis vertimas į anglų kalbą. teiginiai vertinami 7 rangų ska le, nuo „visiškai nesutinku“ iki „visiškai sutinku“. faktorinė principinių komponenčų analizė su varimax pasukimu (bartleto sferiškumo kriteri jaus p < 0,001, kmo = 0,899) išskyrė keturis autorių nurodomus vadovo įgalinančio elgesio faktorius. autorių pateikiamas bendras klausimy no cronbach α = 0,88, prasmingumo didinimo skalės 0,76, dalyvavimo priimant sprendimus skalės 0,92, pasitikėjimo aukštais rezultatais skalės 0,90, autonomijos suteikimo skalės 0,86. šiame tyrime gauti skalių cronbach α atitinkamai yra 0,941; 0,935; 0,922; 0,893. bendras klausimyno cronbach α = 0,943. struktūrinis įgalinimas vertintas h. k. s. laschinger ir kolegų (2001, 2009) struktūrinio įgalinimo klausimynu, kurį sudaro 12 teiginių, suformuojančių keturias skales. gavus autorių leidimą, teiginiai buvo išversti international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 121 2014, 14, 113–138 p. į lietuvių kalbą, atliktas atgalinis vertimas į anglų kalbą, patikslintos kelios formuluotės lietuviškame klausimyno variante, resursų skalė papildyta teiginiu „kiek turite kitų darbui atlikti reikiamų resursų?“. struktūrinio įgalinimo klausimyno skalės: . galimybės – kiek darbuotojas suvokia turįs tokių galimybių kaip iššūkius keliantis darbas, galimybė panaudoti turimus gebėjimus ir įgyti naujų. (3 teiginiai, pavyzdys „kiek savo darbe turite galimybių įgyti naujų įgūdžių ir žinių?“); . informacija – kiek prieinama informacija apie platesnį orga nizacijos kontekstą – bendrą situaciją, tikslus, vertybes (3 teiginiai, pavyzdys „kiek jūsų darbe jums prieinama informacija apie dabartinę organizacijos situaciją?“); . parama – kiek darbuotojui suteikiama patarimų, grįžtamasis ryšys apie veiklą (3 teiginiai, pavyzdys „kiek darbe sulaukiate naudingų užuominų ar patarimų, kaip spręsti problemas?“); . resursai – kiek suteikiama pakankamai laiko užduotims atlikti, laikina pagalba, kiti reikiami resursai (4 teiginiai, pavyzdys „kiek darbe turite laikinos pagalbos, kai ji reikalinga?“). visi teiginiai vertinami 5 rangų skale, nuo „nėra“ iki „daug“. faktorinė principinių komponenčų analizė su varimax pasukimu (bartleto sferiškumo kriterijaus p < 0,001, kmo = 0,854) išskyrė keturis autorių nurodomus struktūrinio įgalinimo faktorius. autorių pateikiamas bendras klausimyno cronbach α = 0,89, galimybių skalės 0,81, informacijos skalės 0,80, paramos skalės 0,89, resursų skalės 0,84. šiame tyrime gauti skalių cronbach α atitinkamai yra 0,817; 0,894; 0,834; 0,806. bendras klausimyno cronbach α = 0,890. tyrimo eiga. tyrimas buvo atliktas 2013 metais anketinės apklausos būdu, naudotas patogiosios imties metodas. dalyvavimas tyrimuose buvo savanoriškas, respondentų anonimiškumas užtikrintas. duomenų analizė. duomenys analizuoti programiniu paketu spss statistics 20. išnagrinėta rodiklių raiška bendroje grupėje ir atsižvelgiant į socialines demografines tyrimo dalyvių charakteristikas, atlikta kintamųjų hierarchinė regresinė, daugialypė regresinė bei moderacinė analizė. 122 mantas tvarijonavičius, dalia bagdžiūnienė rezultatai išnagrinėjus tiriamų rodiklių raišką, atsižvelgiant į socialines demografines ir organizacines charakteristikas, nustatyta, kad psichologinio įgalinimo, vadovo įgalinančio elgesio ir struktūrinio įgalinimo vertinimai nesiskiria tyrimo dalyvių grupėse pagal lytį, amžių, darbo patirtį, išsilavinimą ir organizacijos tipą, skirtumai nustatyti tik pagal darbuotojų pareigas (žr. 1 lentelę). 1 lentelė. kintamųjų minimalios ir maksimalios reikšmės, vidurkiai ir standartiniai nuokrypiai bendroje, specialistų ir vadovų grupėse table 1. range, averages and standart deviations of variables in total, specialists‘ and managers‘ samples tyrimo kintamieji min max bendra grupė n = 280 specialistai n = 205 vadovai n =75 specialistų ir vadovų grupių vidurkių skirtumai m sd m sd m sd stjudento t p psichologinis įgalinimas 1 6 4,46 1,00 4,32 1,01 4,84 0,92 –3,936 0,000 prasmė 1 6 4,58 1,29 4,44 1,30 4,96 1,21 –3,039 0,003 entuziazmas 1 6 4,51 1,24 4,40 1,27 4,80 1,12 –2,428 0,016 sprendimų priėmimas 1 6 4,21 1,25 3,99 1,21 4,81 1,15 –5,079 0,000 autonomija 1 6 4,13 1,23 4,01 1,23 4,48 1,17 –2,867 0,004 pasitikėjimas kompetencija 1 6 4,85 1,03 4,74 1,08 5,14 0,82 –2,883 0,004 struktūrinis įgalinimas 1 5 3,44 0,73 3,39 0,73 3,58 0,74 –1,972 0,050 galimybės 1 5 3,78 0,93 3,67 0,97 4,08 0,74 –3,317 0,001 informacija 1 5 3,32 1,11 3,18 1,06 3,70 1,18 –3,540 0,000 parama 1 5 3,35 0,98 3,37 0,95 3,29 1,06 0,595 0,552 resursai 1 5 3,34 0,84 3,35 0,85 3,33 0,82 0,115 0,909 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 123 2014, 14, 113–138 p. vadovo įgalinantis elgesys 1 7 4,97 1,42 4,88 1,41 5,23 1,41 –1,854 0,065 prasmingumo didinimas 1 7 4,92 1,71 4,85 1,72 5,13 1,68 –1,213 0,226 įtraukimas į sprendimus 1 7 4,03 1,78 3,86 1,77 4,51 1,75 –2,723 0,007 pasitikėjimas 1 7 5,37 1,55 5,31 1,54 5,52 1,58 –1,005 0,316 autonomijos suteikimas 1 7 5,39 1,46 5,30 1,48 5,63 1,39 –1,650 0,100 vadovų grupėje bendro psichologinio įgalinimo ir visų jo dimensijų vertinimai yra aukštesni nei specialistų, jie aukščiau vertina galimybę daryti įtaką sprendimų priėmimui, autonomiją darbe, labiau pasitiki savo profesine kompetencija. vadovai, lyginant su specialistais, aukščiau vertina ir struktūrinį įgalinimą, kuris apima suteikiamų galių, galimybių panaudoti gebėjimus ir įgyti naujų, informacijos apie platesnį organizacijos kontekstą prieinamumo aspektus. tiesioginio vadovo įgalinančio elgesio bendrasis rodiklis bei prasmingumo didinimo, pasitikėjimo ir autonomijos suteikimo dimensijų rodikliai grupėse pagal pareigas nesiskiria, išskyrus įtraukimą į sprendimų priėmimą: vadovai šį aspektą vertina aukštesniais įverčiais nei specialistai. visi tyrimo kintamieji tarpusavyje susiję teigiamais koreliaciniais ryšiais, spearman koreliacijos koeficientai kinta nuo 0,144, p < 0,05, iki 0,641, p < 0,001. siekiant nustatyti vadovo įgalinančio elgesio ir struktūrinio įgalinimo dimensijas, prognozuojančias darbuotojų psichologinį įgalinimą, pirmiausia bendroje tyrimo dalyvių grupėje buvo patikrinti du hierarchinės regresijos modeliai. pirmajame patikrintas trijų pakopų regresijos modelis, palaipsniui įtraukiant vadovo įgalinančio elgesio (1 pakopa), struktūrinio įgalinimo (2 pakopa) bendrus rodiklius bei tyrimo dalyvių socialines demografines charakteristikas (lytis, amžius, išsilavinimas, stažas organizacijoje ir pareigos) (3 pakopa) (žr. 2 lentelę). 124 mantas tvarijonavičius, dalia bagdžiūnienė 2 lentelė. hierarchinės regresijos modelis, prognozuojant psichologinį įgalinimą bendroje grupėje, kai nepriklausomi kintamieji – vadovo įgalinančio elgesio ir struktūrinio įgalinimo bendrieji rodikliai table 2. hierarchical regression model predicting psychological empowerment in total sample (independent variables – total scores of empowering leader behavior and structural empowerment) nepriklausomi kintamieji psichologinis įgalinimas standartizuoti β (beta) prognostinių kintamųjų koeficientai 1 pakopa 2 pakopa 3 pakopa vadovo įgalinantis elgesys 0,744*** 0,445*** 0,407*** struktūrinis įgalinimas 0,391*** 0,414*** socialiniai demografiniai kintamieji lytis –0,036 amžius 0,001 išsilavinimas 0,108* stažas organizacijoje 0,112* pareigos 0,076 r2 0,554 0,617 0,659 ∆ r2 0,554*** 0,063*** 0,042*** f (1;228) = 282,734*** (2;227) = 182,822*** (7;222) = 61,179*** n = 280 * p < 0,05, ** p < 0,01, *** p < 0,001 gauta, kad vadovo įgalinantis elgesys paaiškina 55,4 %, o įtraukus struktūrinį įgalinimą – 61,7 % psichologinio įgalinimo duomenų sklaidos. darbuotojų psichologinį įgalinimą geriausiai prognozuoja vadovo įgalinantis elgesys ir struktūrinis įgalinimas, nes trečioje pakopoje, įtraukus į modelį socialines demografines charakteristikas, paaiškintų psichologinio įgalinimo duomenų dalis išauga nežymiai, t. y. iki 65,9 % (skirtumas 4,2 %). antrajame trijų pakopų hierarchinės regresijos modelyje buvo įtrauk tos keturios vadovo įgalinančio elgesio dimensijos (įtraukimas į sprendimus, autonomijos suteikimas, prasmingumo didinimas ir pasitikėjimas) (1 pakopa), keturios struktūrinio įgalinimo dimensijos (parama, international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 125 2014, 14, 113–138 p. galimybės, resursai ir informacija) (2 pakopa) ir socialinės demografinės charakteristikos (lytis, amžius, išsilavinimas, stažas organizacijoje ir pareigos) (3 pakopa) (žr. 3 lentelę). 3 lentelė. hierarchinės regresijos modelis, prognozuojant psichologinį įgalinimą bendroje grupėje, kai nepriklausomi kintamieji – vadovo įgalinančio elgesio ir struktūrinio įgalinimo dimensijos table 3. hierarchical regression model predicting psychological empowerment in total sample (independent variables – dimensions of empowering leader behavior and structural empowerment) nepriklausomi kintamieji psichologinis įgalinimas standartizuoti β (beta) prognostinių kintamųjų koeficientai 1 pakopa 2 pakopa 3 pakopa vadovo įgalinančio elgesio dimensijos prasmingumo didinimas 0,034 –0,076 –0,061 įtraukimas į sprendimus 0,097 0,034 0,012 pasitikėjimas 0,446*** 0,356*** 0,338*** autonomijos suteikimas 0,265*** 0,184* 0,185** struktūrinio įgalinimo dimensijos galimybės 0,326*** 0,301*** informacija 0,203*** 0,169*** parama –0,035 0,015 resursai 0,020 0,037 socialiniai demografiniai kintamieji lytis –0,045 amžius –0,007 išsilavinimas 0,041 stažas organizacijoje 0,063 pareigos 0,064 r2 0,599 0,707 0,719 ∆ r2 0,599*** 0,108*** 0,012 f (4;224) = 83,616*** (8;220) = 66,463*** (13;215) = 45,386*** n = 280 * p < 0,05, ** p < 0,01, *** p < 0,001 126 mantas tvarijonavičius, dalia bagdžiūnienė vadovo įgalinančio elgesio dimensijos paaiškina 59,9 %, o įtraukus struktūrinio įgalinimo dimensijas – 70,7 % psichologinio įgalinimo duomenų sklaidos. psichologinį įgalinimą statistiškai reikšmingai prognozuoja vadovo pasitikėjimas ir autonomijos darbuotojams suteikimas (vadovo įgalinančio elgesio dimensijos) bei galimybių panaudoti gebėjimus, įgyti naujų suteikimas ir informacijos prieinamumas (struktūrinio įgalinimo dimensijos). socialinių demografinių kintamųjų įtraukimas statistiškai reikšmingai nepadidino psichologinio įgalinimo rodiklio duomenų sklaidos. tikrinant, kokios vadovo įgalinančio elgesio ir struktūrinio įgalinimo dimensijos prognozuoja skirtingo pareigybinio lygio darbuotojų psichologinį įgalinimą, buvo atlikta tiriamų rodiklių daugialypė regresinė analizė specialistų ir vadovų grupėse (žr. 4 lentelę). 4 lentelė. psichologinio įgalinimo prognostiniai veiksniai specialistų ir vado vų grupėse table 4. predictors of psychological empowerment in specialists‘ and managers‘ samples nepriklausomi kintamieji psichologinis įgalinimas standartizuoti β (beta) prognostinių kintamųjų koeficientai specialistai n = 205 vadovai n = 75 vadovo įgalinančio elgesio dimensijos prasmingumo didinimas 0,013 –0,107 įtraukimas į sprendimus 0,026 –0,009 pasitikėjimas 0,317*** 0,341 autonomijos suteikimas 0,160* 0,291 struktūrinio įgalinimo dimensijos galimybės 0,287*** 0,284** informacija 0,296*** 0,183 parama –0,155 –0,003 resursai 0,086 0,001 r2 0,653 0,684 f (8;195) = 45,877*** (8;66) = 17,892*** * p < 0,05, ** p < 0,01, *** p < 0,001 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 127 2014, 14, 113–138 p. 5 l e n te lė . v ad ov o įg al in an či o el g es io i r st ru kt ū ri n io į g al in im o b ei j o d im en si jų s ąv ei ka , p ro g n oz u oj an t d ar b u ot oj ų p si ch ol og in į į g al in im ą t a b le 5 . i n te ra ct io n b et w ee n e m p ow er in g le ad er b eh av io r an d s tr u ct u ra l e m p ow er m en t a n d it ‘s d im en si on s in p re d ic ti n g p sy ch ol og ic al e m p ow er m en t in t ot al s p ec ia lis ts ‘ a n d m an ag er s‘ s am p le s ps ic ho lo gi ni s įg al in im as be nd ra g ru pė n = 2 80 sp ec ia lis ta i n = 2 05 va do va i n = 7 5 b p r2 ∆ r2 b p r2 ∆ r2 b p r2 ∆ r2 vį e × sį –0 ,1 04 4 0, 00 0 0, 67 6* ** 0, 02 3* ** –0 ,1 18 2 0, 00 0 0, 66 70 ** * 0, 02 9* ** –0 ,0 71 0 0, 18 9 0, 69 00 ** * 0, 01 0 vį e × sį g al im yb ės –0 ,1 00 7 0, 00 0 0, 68 63 ** * 0, 02 7* ** –0 ,1 17 1 0, 00 0 0, 67 24 ** * 0, 03 7* ** –0 ,0 85 7 0, 06 6 0, 71 22 ** * 0, 01 9 vį e × s į i nf or m ac ija –0 ,0 90 8 0, 00 0 0, 64 99 ** * 0, 02 5* ** –0 ,1 19 7 0, 00 0 0, 65 11 ** * 0, 04 2* ** –0 ,0 15 7 0, 72 0 0, 64 92 ** * 0, 00 1 vį e × s į p ar am a –0 ,0 84 4 0, 00 1 0, 61 21 ** * 0, 01 8* ** –0 ,1 06 5 0, 00 1 0, 60 01 ** * 0, 02 9* ** –0 ,0 32 3 0, 50 3 0, 65 46 ** * 0, 00 3 vį e × s į r es ur sa i –0 ,1 25 6 0, 00 0 0, 62 79 ** * 0, 03 4* ** –0 ,1 29 8 0, 00 0 0, 61 50 ** * 0, 03 8* ** –0 ,1 23 0 0, 04 0 0, 66 05 ** * 0, 02 8* * p < 0 ,0 5; * * p < 0 ,0 1; * ** p < 0 ,0 01 vį e – va d ov o įg al in an ti s el ge sy s, s į s tr uk tū rin is įg al in im as 128 mantas tvarijonavičius, dalia bagdžiūnienė specialistų grupėje psichologinį įgalinimą statistiškai reikšmingai prognozuoja tiesioginio vadovo pasitikėjimas ir autonomijos darbuotojams suteikimas, galimybės panaudoti gebėjimus, juos ugdyti, informacijos apie bendrą situaciją organizacijoje, jos tikslus, vertybes prieinamumas. šioje grupėje vadovo įgalinančio elgesio ir struktūrinio įgalinimo dimensijos paaiškina 65,3 % psichologinio įgalinimo duomenų sklaidos. vadovų grupėje psichologinį įgalinimą prognozuoja vienintelis struk tūrinio įgalinimo aspektas, t. y. vadovo suvokimas, kiek jis turi tokių galimybių, kaip iššūkius keliantis darbas, galimybė panaudoti savo profesinius gebėjimus. nepriklausomi kintamieji paaiškina 68,4 % psichologinio įgalinimo duomenų sklaidos. aukštesnio lygio vadovų įgalinantis elgesys, o taip pat informacijos suteikimas, parama ir išteklių prieinamumas (struktūrinio įgalinimo dimensijos) neturi tiesioginių sąsajų vidurinės grandies vadovų psichologiniam įgalinimui. struktūrinis įgalinimas formuoja sąlygas, kurios gali stiprinti arba silpninti vadovo įgalinančio elgesio sąsajas su darbuotojų psichologiniu įgalinimu, o šių sąlygų reikšmę galima nustatyti naudojant moderacinę analizę (bennet, 2000). ji buvo atlikta, siekiant išanalizuoti vadovo įgalinančio elgesio ir struktūrinio įgalinimo bei jo dimensijų sąveiką, prognozuojant psichologinį įgalinimą bendroje grupėje ir specialistų bei vadovų grupėse. socialiniai demografiniai rodikliai įtraukti į modelį kaip papildomi prognostiniai kintamieji (žr. 5 lentelę). bendroje ir specialistų grupėse gauti rezultatai rodo, kad tiesioginio vadovo įgalinantis elgesys stipriau prognozuoja darbuotojų psichologinį įgalinimą, kai bendro struktūrinio įgalinimo ir atskirų struktūrinio įgalinimo dimensijų (galimybės, informacija, parama, resursai) lygis yra žemesnis. vadovų grupėje sąveika pasitvirtino tik struktūrinio įgalinimo dimensijos – resursų – atžvilgiu: tiesioginio vadovo įgalinantis elgesys stipriau prognozuoja vadovų psichologinį įgalinimą tik esant žemo resursų lygio sąlygoms, tuo tarpu vadovo įgalinančio elgesio ir galimybių suteikimo, informacijos bei paramos dimensijų sąveika, prognozuojant vadovų psichologinį įgalinimą, nėra reikšminga. bendroje grupėje gauti vadovo įgalinančio elgesio prognostiniai svo riai (b reikšmės), kai bendras struktūrinio įgalinimo rodiklis ir kiekviena jo dimensija turi aukštą ir žemą reikšmes, pateikiami 1–5 paveiksluose). international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 129 2014, 14, 113–138 p. 1 pav. vadovo įgalinančio elgesio ir struktūrinio įgalinimo sąveika, prognozuojant darbuotojų psichologinį įgalinimą (bendra grupė) figure 1. interaction between empowering leader behavior and structural empower ment in predicting psychological empowerment ( total sample) ***p < 0,001; **p < 0,01; *p < 0,05 2 pav. vadovo įgalinančio elgesio ir struktūrinio įgalinimo galimybių dimensijos sąveika, prognozuojant darbuotojų psichologinį įgalinimą (bendra grupė) figure 2. interaction between empowering leader behavior and structural empowerment opportunity dimension in predicting psychological empowerment (total sample) ***p < 0,001; **p < 0,01; *p < 0,05 ps ic ho lo gi ni s įg al in im as 6 5,5 5 4,5 4 3,5 3 2,5 2 žemas vadovo įgalinantis elgesys aukštas vadovo įgalinantis elgesys žemas struktūrinis įgalinimas aukštas struktūrinis įgalinimas b = 0,180*** b = 0,339*** 6 5,5 5 4,5 4 3,5 3 2,5 2 ps ic ho lo gi ni s įg al in im as žemas struktūrinis įgalinimas-galimybės aukštas struktūrinis įgalinimas-galimybės b = 0,243*** b = 0,438*** žemas vadovo įgalinantis elgesys aukštas vadovo įgalinantis elgesys 130 mantas tvarijonavičius, dalia bagdžiūnienė 3 pav. vadovo įgalinančio elgesio ir struktūrinio įgalinimo informacijos dimensijos sąveika, prognozuojant darbuotojų psichologinį įgalinimą (bendra grupė) figure 3. interaction between empowering leader behavior and structural empowerment information dimension in predicting psychological empowerment (total sample) ***p < 0,001; **p < 0,01; *p < 0,05 4 pav. vadovo įgalinančio elgesio ir struktūrinio įgalinimo paramos dimensijos sąveika, prognozuojant darbuotojų psichologinį įgalinimą (bendra grupė) figure 4 interaction between empowering leader behavior and structural empowerment support dimension in predicting psychological empowerment (total sample) ***p < 0,001; **p < 0,01; *p < 0,05 6 5,5 5 4,5 4 3,5 3 2,5 2 ps ic ho lo gi ni s įg al in im as žemas vadovo įgalinantis elgesys aukštas vadovo įgalinantis elgesys b = 0,273*** b = 0,480*** žemas struktūrinis įgalinimas-informacija aukštas struktūrinis įgalinimas-informacija 6 5,5 5 4,5 4 3,5 3 2,5 2 ps ic ho lo gi ni s įg al in im as žemas vadovo įgalinantis elgesys aukštas vadovo įgalinantis elgesys b = 0,316*** b = 0,481*** žemas struktūrinis įgalinimas-parama aukštas struktūrinis įgalinimas-parama international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 131 2014, 14, 113–138 p. 5 lentelėje ir 1–5 paveiksluose pateikti duomenys atskleidžia, kad vadovo įgalinantis elgesys stipriau prognozuoja darbuotojų psichologinį įgalinimą, kai struktūrinio įgalinimo sąlygos yra nepakankamos. darbuotojų psichologinis įgalinimas yra labiau išreikštas, kai tiesioginis vadovas padeda darbuotojui suprasti, kaip jo tikslai, veikla ir veiklos rezultatai siejasi su organizacijos tikslais, veikla ir rezultatais, įtraukia darbuotojus į sprendimų priėmimo procesą, parodo, kad pasitiki pavaldinių aukštais rezultatais, sudaro galimybes veikti savarankiškai. ypatingai išauga vadovo įgalinančio elgesio svarba tuomet, kai organizacija nesudaro pakankamų stuktūrinio įgalinimo sąlygų turimiems profesiniams gebėjimams panaudoti ir naujiems įgyti; nesuteikia informacijos apie platesnį nei individualus darbas kontekstą organizacijoje, bendrą situaciją, tikslus, vertybes; neaprūpina visam darbui reikalingais ištekliais; nesuteikia pakankamos paramos patarimų, grįžtamojo ryšio apie veiklą formomis. 5 pav. vadovo įgalinančio elgesio ir struktūrinio įgalinimo resursų dimensijos sąveika, prognozuojant darbuotojų psichologinį įgalinimą (bendra grupė) figure 5. interaction between empowering leader behavior and structural empowerment resources dimension in predicting psychological empowerment (total sample) ***p < 0,001; **p < 0,01; *p < 0,05 6 5,5 5 4,5 4 3,5 3 2,5 2 ps ic ho lo gi ni s įg al in im as žemas vadovo įgalinantis elgesys aukštas vadovo įgalinantis elgesys b = 0,306*** b = 0,518*** žemas struktūrinis įgalinimas-resursai aukštas struktūrinis įgalinimas-resursai 132 mantas tvarijonavičius, dalia bagdžiūnienė rezultatų aptarimas tyrime dalyvavusių darbuotojų psichologinis įgalinimas yra aukštesnis už vidutinį, vadovai jaučiasi labiau įgalinti, lyginant su darbuotojais, kurie užima nevadovaujančias pozicijas. bendras struktūrinis įgalinimas ir galimybių bei informacijos dimensijos aukščiau vertinami vadovų grupėje, tuo tarpu tiesioginio vadovo įgalinantis elgesys abiejose pareigų grupėse vertinamas vienodai, išskyrus įtraukimo į sprendimų priėmimą rodiklį, kuris yra aukštesnis vadovų grupėje. tai, kad vadovai jaučia turį daugiau galimybių nei specialistai dirbti iššūkius keliantį darbą, jiems prieinama daugiau informacijos apie platesnį nei individualus darbas kontekstą organizacijoje, gali būti viena priežasčių, dėl kurios vadovai jaučiasi labiau psichologiškai įgalinti nei darbuotojai. psichologinį įgalinimą prognozuoja ir vadovo įgalinantis elgesys, ir struktūrinis įgalinimas, tačiau ne visos šių rodiklių dimensijos. psichologiniam įgalinimui svarbiausios tiesioginio vadovo įgalinančio elgesio dimensijos yra vadovo pasitikėjimas, kad darbuotojas susidoros su užduočių reikalavimais, ir autonomijos darbuotojui suteikimas. struktūrinio įgalinimo dimensijos, prognozuojančios psichologinį įgalinimą, yra šios: galimybės atlikti iššūkių keliantį darbą, panaudoti turimus gebėjimus, įgyti naujų ir informacijos apie organizacijos situaciją, tikslus, vertybes prieinamumas. gauti rezultatai papildo psichologinio įgalinimo prielaidų tyrimus. kaip rodo j. i. j. wagner ir kolegų (2010) metaanalizė ir kitų autorių (laschinger ir kt., 2001; zhang ir bartol, 2010) tyrimai, yra įprasta gauti rezultatus, rodančius, kad visos struktūrinio įgalinimo ir vadovo įgalinančio elgesio dimensijos prognozuoja psichologinį įgalinimą. pavyzdžiui, d. l. corsun ir c. a. enz (1999), tyrę paramos vaidmenį psichologiniam įgalinimui, nustatė, kad ne paremianti organizacinė aplinka, o paremiantys ir palaikantys bendradarbiai prognozuoja psichologinį įgalinimą. mūsų tyrime parama (struktūrinio įgalinimo dimensija) apima visų šaltinių (tiek vadovo, tiek bendradarbių) patarimus ir grįžtamąjį ryšį apie veiklą; gauti rezultatai rodo, kad tokia parama yra susijusi, bet neprognozuoja psichologinio įgalinimo. ši sritis reikalauja tęsti tyrimus ateityje. specialistų grupėje psichologinį įgalinimą prognozuoja tiesioginio vadovo pasitikėjimas ir autonomijos darbuotojams suteikimas (vadovo įgalinantis elgesys), o taip pat galimybės panaudoti gebėjimus, juos ugdyti, informacijos apie organizacijos bendrą situaciją, tikslus, vertybes international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 133 2014, 14, 113–138 p. prieinamumas (struktūrinis įgalinimas). tuo tarpu vidurinės grandies vadovų grupėje psichologinį įgalinimą prognozuoja vienintelis struktūrinio įgalinimo aspektas – vadovo suvokimas, kiek jis turi galimybių dirbti iššūkių keliantį darbą, panaudoti profesinius gebėjimus. aukštesnių vadovų įgalinančio elgesio bei kitos struktūrinio įgalinimo dimensijos šiame tyrime vidurinės grandies vadovų psichologinio įgalinimo neprognozuoja. mūsų žiniomis, autoriai nėra publikavę darbų, kuriuose būtų lyginamos specialistų ir vadovų psichologinio įgalinimo prielaidos. gauti rezultatai iš dalies papildo šią tyrimų sritį. psichologinio įgalinimo raiškos ir veiksnių skirtumus specialistų ir vadovų grupėse pirmiausia galima paaiškinti aukštesne vadovų pozicija organizacijoje. pavyzdžiui, papildomos informacijos apie organizacijos situaciją, vertybes, tikslus, autonomijos suteikimas yra aukštesnio psichologinio įgalinimo prielaida specialistams, bet ne vadovams, kuriems jų pozicija savaime suteikia daugiau įgaliojimų, jiems prieinama platesnė informacija nei žemesnio lygio darbuotojams (furnham, 2001), vadovai turi daugiau galių ką nors pakeisti organizacijoje (kanter, 1977; harley, 1999). be to, gali skirtis ir vadovų bei specialistų motyvavimo strategijos (wilson, 2011). įdomūs rezultatai gauti apie sąveiką tarp vadovo įgalinančio elgesio ir struktūrinio įgalinimo bei jo dimensijų, prognozuojant darbuotojų psichologinį įgalinimą. tyrimas parodė, kad šios prielaidos formuoja psichologinio įgalinimo veiksnių sistemą: vadovo įgalinantis elgesys stipriau prognozuoja specialistų psichologinį įgalinimą, kai bendro struktūrinio įgalinimo ir atskirų struktūrinio įgalinimo dimensijų (galimybės, informacija, parama, resursai) lygis yra žemesnis. kitaip tariant, tiesioginio vadovo įgalinantis elgesys yra stipriau susijęs su darbuotojų psichologiniu įgalinimu, kai organizacija suteikia mažiau struktūrinio įgalinimo sąlygų. tokiu atveju vadovo įgalinantis elgesys tampa ypatingai svarbus psichologiniam įgalinimui ir gali bent iš dalies kompensuoti žemas struktūrinio įgalinimo sąlygas. vidurinės grandies vadovų grupėje ši sąveika buvo gauta vienos iš struktūrinio įgalinimo dimensijos – resursų – atžvilgiu. tiesioginio vadovo įgalinantis elgesys stipriau prognozuoja vadovų psichologinį įgalinimą esant žemam resursų lygiui, kai organizacija nepakankamai aprūpina vidurinės grandies vadovus darbui reikalin gais ištekliais (laiko resursai, žmogiškieji, kiti ištekliai). tiesioginio vadovo įgalinantis elgesys reikšmingai susijęs su vadovų psichologiniu įgalinimu ribotų išteklių situacijose. 134 mantas tvarijonavičius, dalia bagdžiūnienė tyrimo reikšmė, ribotumai ir tolesnių tyrimų kryptys tyrimo rezultatai atskleidžia ne tik kai kuriuos darbuotojų psichologinio įgalinimo veiksnius, bet ir jo raiškos ypatumus, atsižvelgiant į darbuotojų pareigybinį lygį, struktūrinio įgalinimo ir vadovo įgalinančio elgesio sąveiką, prognozuojant psichologinį įgalinimą. tolesniuose tyrimuose vadovaujančių darbuotojų psichologinį įgalinimą tikslinga tirti didesnėje imtyje, analizuoti ne tik bendro psichologinio įgalinimo, bet ir jo atskirų aspektų formavimo prielaidas. išvados 1. vidurinės grandies vadovai jaučia didesnį psichologinį įgalinimą nei specialistai: vadovų grupėje bendras psichologinio įgalinimo rodiklis ir prasmės, entuziazmo, autonomijos, sprendimų priėmimo ir pasitikėjimo kompentencija dimensijų rodikliai reikšmingai didesni nei specialistų grupėje. 2. vadovo įgalinantis elgesys ir struktūrinis įgalinimas tiesiogiai siejasi su darbuotojų psichologiniu įgalinimu. dvi vadovo įgalinančio elgesio dimensijos (pasitikėjimas pavaldinio galimybėmis susidoroti su užduotimis ir autonomijos suteikimas) bei dvi struktūrinio įgalinimo dimensijos (galimybės dirbti iššūkių keliantį darbą, panaudojant turimus gebėjimus ir įgyjant naujų, bei informacijos apie platesnį nei individualus darbas kontekstą prieinamumas) yra susijusios su labiau išreikštu psichologiniu įgalinimu. 3. egzistuoja struktūrinio įgalinimo ir vadovo įgalinančio elgesio sąsajų su psichologiniu įgalinimu skirtumų specialistų ir vadovų grupėse. specialistų grupėje psichologinį įgalinimą prognozuoja didesnės galimybės, labiau prieinama informacija (struktūrinis įgalinimas), didesnis vadovo pasitikėjimas ir autonomijos suteikimas (vadovo įgalinantis elgesys). vadovų psichologinį įgalinimą prognozuoja tik iššūkius keliantis darbas, suteikiamos galimybės panaudoti gebėjimus ir įgyti naujų (struktūrinio įgalinimo galimybių dimensija). 4. egzistuoja sąveika tarp vadovo įgalinančio elgesio ir struktūrinio įgalinimo bei jo dimensijų, prognozuojant darbuotojų psichologinį įgalinimą: labiau išreikštas tiesioginio vadovo įgalinantis international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 135 2014, 14, 113–138 p. elgesys yra susijęs su aukštesniu darbuotojų psichologiniu įgalinimu tuomet, kai organizacija suteikia mažiau struktūrinio įgalinimo sąlygų. vadovaujant specialistams, vadovo įgalinantis elgesys stipriau susijęs su darbuotojų psichologiniu įgalinimu, kai visos tirtos struktūrinio įgalinimo sąlygos (galimybės, informacija, parama, resursai) yra nepakankamos, tačiau vidurinės grandies vadovų atveju jų tiesioginių vadovų įgalinančio elgesio sąsajos su psichologiniu įgalinimu stiprėja tik dėl nepakankamų išteklių. literatūra ahearne, m., mathieu, j., rapp a. 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(2010). job insecurity, leadership empowerment behaviour, employee engagement and intention to leave in a petrochemical laboratory. sa journal of human resource management, 18 (1), 1–7. wagner, j. i. j., cummings, g., smith, d. l., olson, j., anderson, l., warren, s. (2010). the relationship between structural empowerment and psychological empowerment for nurses: a systematic review. journal of nursing management, 18, 448–462. wilson, j. h. (2011). freedom at work: psychological empowerment and selfleadership. international journal of business and public administration, 8 (1), 106–124. winkler, m., heinze, j., brodbeck, f. (2013). multilevel effects of transformational leadership on employee proactivity. 16-ojo europos darbo ir organizacinės psichologijos asociacijos (angl. european association of work and organizational psychology, eawop) kongreso “imagine the future world: how do we want to work tomorrow” (2013 05 22–25, vokietija, muenster) medžiaga. zhang, x., bartol, k. m. (2010). linking empowering leadership and employee creativity: the influence of psychological empowerment, intrinsic motivation, and creative process engagement. academy of management journal, 53 (1), 107–128. the impact of empowering leader behavior and structural empowerment on employee psychological empowerment mantas tvarijonavičius, dalia b agdžiūnienė vilnius university, lithuania abstract. background. employees will be highly motivated to fulfill new responsibilities, when they actually feel psychologically empowered, i.e. would positively evaluate their own professional competence, wish to solve job related problems independently and show initiative at work. in lithuania, the phenomenon of psychological empowerment was virtually not examined yet; therefore it is highly relevant to analyze its expression, diversity of contributing factors and their characteristics in managers and specialists. the aim of the study was to examine the expression of 138 mantas tvarijonavičius, dalia bagdžiūnienė psychological empowerment and its relation with empowering leader behavior and structural empowerment. method. three methodologies were used in this study: the questionnaire of psychological empowerment (tvarijonavičius ir bagdžiūnienė, 2013), the questionnaire of empowering leader behavior (ahearne et al., 2005), and the questionnaire of structural empowerment (laschinger et al., 2001). there were 280 participants in this study: specialists (n=205) and middle managers (n=75), working in 14 organizations in lithuania. results. the results of the study revealed that empowering leader behavior and structural empowerment predicted employee psychological empowerment; empowering leader behavior and structural empowerment predicted employee psychological empowerment directly; also there was an interaction between empowering leader behavior and structural empowerment and its’ dimensions when predicting psychological empowerment; the empowerment predictors for specialists and managers differed. conclusions. the psychological empowerment of middle managers was higher than of the specialists. the role of empowering leader behavior on psychological empowerment was higher in the conditions of low structural empowerment; the psychological empowerment predictors for specialists were: opportunity to use current and acquire new skills, information about the status of the organization, trust demonstrated be a direct manager, and autonomy for the work provided; while the psychological empowerment of middle managers was only predicted by the opportunity to use current and acquire new skills. keywords: psychological empowerment, empowering leader behavior, structural empowerment, specialists, managers. gauta: 2013-11-14 priimta: 2014-05-19 23 scientific publications international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2017 / 20 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.20.2 the changes of self-effic ac y and perceived social support of addic ted to alcohol women and men during treatment period milda cibulskytė 1, vytautas magnus university loreta zajančkauskaitė-staskevičienė vytautas magnus university abstract. background. in order to develop an effective alcohol and other psychoactive substance use prevention programs and improving addiction treatment methods, it is useful to determine the evolution of specific psychological factors of addiction disease during treatment. the aim of the research is to determine the changes in selfefficacy and perceived social support of alcohol-addicted men and women during the treatment. method. the study included 101 alcohol-addicted persons, receiving treatment at kaunas county centre for addictive disorders (kccad) according to the minnesota 12-step program. the study used m. chesney coping self-efficacy scale, r. m. young, t. p. s. oei & p. a. hasking drinking refusal self efficacy questionnaire – revised, g. d. zimet, n. w. dahlem, s. g. zimet & g. k. farley multidimensional scale of perceived social support, c. m. hart, t. d. ritchie, e. g. hepper & j. e. gebauer the balanced inventory of desirable responding short form. results. the overall self-efficacy, drinking refusal self-efficacy and perceived social support of alcohol-addicted men and women at the end of treatment was higher than at the start of treatment. changes in the overall self-efficacy, drinking refusal self-efficacy and perceived social support do not differ in alcohol-addicted men and women in the course of treatment. the results showed that there is a link between the overall self-efficacy, drinking refusal self-efficacy and perceived social support in alcohol-addicted women and men both at the start and at the end of treatment, when the participants age ranges from 40 to 59 years. a link has also been found between the overall self-efficacy and perceived social support after the treatment among the participants aged from 18 to 39 years. the linear regression model showed that a change in drinking refusal self-efficacy in women can be predicted in regard to their perceived social support change, drinking refusal self-efficacy before treatment and perceived social support before 1 for contact: milda.cibulskyte@gmail.com. http://milda.cibulskyte@gmail.com milda cibulskytė, loreta zajančkauskaitė-staskevičienė 24 treatment. a change in drinking refusal self-efficacy in men can be predicted with regard to their drinking refusal self-efficacy before treatment and the change in the overall self-efficacy. keywords: overall self-efficacy, specific self-efficacy, drinking refusal self-efficacy, perceived social support, alcohol-addicted persons. introduc tion when developing the primary-tertiary prevention programs for alcohol abuse, it is essential to know which of the more or less expressed psychological personality factors guide an alcohol-addicted person to feel that he is able to control alcohol consumption, and to believe that he may refuse alcohol and do not drink. one of the methods of doing this is to examine the alcohol-addicted persons by measuring how specific psychological factors change in the course of treatment for alcohol addiction. the research has shown (jaruševičienė, valius, veryga & žemaitis, 2009; kalasauskas, klumbienė, veryga & petkevičienė, 2011) that alcohol consumption can be also determined by the cognitive motivational factors as expectations, motives, coping strategies, self-efficacy or perceived social support (baltrušaitytė & bulotaitė, 2011). although there are some studies, evidencing that more strongly expressed self-efficacy and perceived social support are related to drinking refusal of alcoholaddicted persons, there is a lack of research, measuring the change of self-efficacy and perceived social support in the course of treatment in case of specific treatment for alcohol addiction. self-efficacy refers to the belief of an individual that he can perform the actions well (legkauskas, 2009). it is argued that self-efficacy is a general attitude of an individual towards his abilities, however, it is usually associated with specific action (specific self-efficacy) (lemme, 2003). there is some research, demonstrating the relationship between more strongly expressed self-efficacy and behaviour that is more favourable for health or more successful healing processes during treatment (cain, bardone-cone & abramson, 2008). according to the research, more strongly expressed overall self-efficacy is associated with more favourable attitude both towards yourself and environment: the research shows that more strongly expressed overall self-efficacy is related with higher life satisfaction (abiola & salako, 2014). 2017, 20, 23–40 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 25 perceived social support refers to trust, positive attitude or potentially beneficial activity, demonstrated by the people, who are important for an individual, and it has positive effect on both physical and mental health (lemme, 2003). the research shows the link between more strongly expressed self-efficacy and more strongly expressed perceived social support in general and in the processes of recovery (haga, ulleberg & slinning, 2012). attributes of self-efficacy and perceived social support of alcohol-addicted persons. the research provides evidence that more strongly expressed overall self-efficacy is associated with better skills of refusal to drink (baltrušaitytė & bulotaitė, 2011). higher drinking refusal self-efficacy is associated with rarer alcohol consumption (cicognani & zani, 2011; baltrušaitytė & bulotaitė, 2011). the research shows that selfassessment and self-efficacy of alcohol-addicted persons is higher at the end than at the start of the treatment (loeber, croissant, heinz, mann & flor, 2006; cigasaitė, dirsienė & zajančkauskaitė-staskevičienė, 2010). psychoactive substances-addicted persons, characterized by different expression of drinking refusal self-efficacy, have different perceptions of their disease. what is more, their self-control and motivation to discontinue drinking also differs (zhang, feng & geng, 2016). psychoactive substances-addicted persons tend to overestimate their drinking refusal self-efficacy, self-control and motivation to discontinue drinking. those surveyed who underestimate their drinking refusal self-efficacy more tend to underestimate their self-control and motivation to discontinue drinking. the same research found the relationship between drinking refusal self-efficacy and perceived social support: more strongly expressed perceived social support is typical for the persons whose drinking refusal self-efficacy is lower. there were more relapse cases in the sample with less expressed drinking refusal self-efficacy (zhang, feng & geng, 2016). the research results show that selection to consume alcohol by the persons in the course of treatment for alcohol addiction also depends on the factors of their social environment, for example, family, professional field (bojack, 2014). in treatment for alcohol addiction, the success depends on the person who provides the perceived social support to the addicted person (bacharach, bamberger & biron, 2010; mendoza, perry & derrick, 2015). the research demonstrates that abuse of psychoactive milda cibulskytė, loreta zajančkauskaitė-staskevičienė 26 substances is related with more strongly expressed perceived social support by friends and significant relatives other than family members (gázquez, pérez-fuentes & molero, 2016). those alcohol-addicted persons with higher education and more strongly expressed social support by the family get involved in addiction treatment programmes easier (alexinschi, chirita & manuela, 2015). furthermore, the research demonstrates that the more strongly expressed perceived social support, the less expressed is his depression and tendency to consume alcohol (peirce & frone, 2000). similar results were found in the study of young people: less expressed perceived social support was positively related with experienced negative emotions and positively related with intensity of alcohol consumption (hussong & hicks, 2001). meanwhile, another research proved that the persons with less expressed perceived social support are characterized by worse stress relief skills, which is positively related with problematic alcohol consumption (mccreary & sadava, 1998). the research suggests that lower expression of alcohol-related problem is related with more strongly expressed perceived social support, thus, it is likely that perceived social support and expression of alcoholrelated problem of the alcohol-addicted persons should change in the course of treatment, while growing expression of self-efficacy and perceived social support potentially predicts successful treatment of alcohol-addicted persons. the research demonstrates that application of minnesota twelvestep program in treatment significantly lowered the feelings of patients’ self-accusation for their alcohol addiction and increased the feelings of self-control, recovery from addiction (morojele & stephenson, 1992). the alcohol-addicted teenagers, who took part in minnesota 12-step program, were surveyed: one of them completed the program, while others failed; 53% of the teenagers, who had completed the program, remained sober during the first year after treatment, while 28% of the teenagers, who had not completed the program (had terminated it earlier), remained sober during the first year after treatment (winters & stinchfield, 2000). the research proved the effectiveness of minnesota 12-step program before outpatient treatment for alcohol addiction. there is some research demonstrating that abstinence after minnesota 12-step program is predicted not only by addiction treatment, but also by patients’ 2017, 20, 23–40 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 27 post-treatment care, their satisfaction with treatment and a number of contact interventions during the treatment (bodin & romelsjö, 2006). as it has already been mentioned, although the main aim of treatment for alcohol addiction – abstinence – is not always reached, after the treatment, the personality changes do occur in other fields: the research revealed that mental well-being of alcohol-addicted persons, subject to minnesota 12-step program, was more strongly expressed 28 days after the treatment than before the treatment (berglund & berggren, 2004). the aim of this research – to determine how the self-efficacy and perceived social support of the alcohol-addicted males and females change during the course of treatment. tested hypotheses: 1. the overall self-efficacy, drinking refusal self-efficacy and perceived social support of alcohol-addicted persons at the end of treatment is higher than at the start of treatment. 2. higher overall self-efficacy and drinking refusal self-efficacy of the alcohol-addicted males and females are related with higher perceived social support both at the beginning and at end of the treatment. 3. higher change in drinking refusal self-efficacy is predicted by perceived social support, drinking refusal self-efficacy, the change in overall self-efficacy and the change in perceived social support of the alcohol addicted males and females. me thodology of research methodology of research. m. chesney, coping self-efficacy scale, 2006. the scale includes 26 items helping to reveal the belief, whether a person can and whether he is responsible for his abilities in certain life situations. each item is scored from 0 to 10, where 0 means “cannot do at all”, 10 – “certain can do”. higher score shows more strongly expressed overall self-efficacy. internal consistency of the scale during the first survey was .957, during the second one – .971. r. m. young, t. p. s. oei & p. a. hasking, drseq-r – drinking refusal self efficacy questionnaire – revised, 2005. the answers of the subjects were scored in likert scale from 1 (i am sure i would drink) milda cibulskytė, loreta zajančkauskaitė-staskevičienė 28 to 6 (i am sure i would not drink). the scale includes 3 subscales: social pressure (shows that a person faces social pressure to consume alcohol), emotional relief (shows that a person seeks for emotional relief while drinking), and opportunistic (person’s drinking refusal self-efficacy in situations, where it is usual to consume alcohol). higher subscale estimates show more strongly expressed drinking refusal self-efficacy. internal consistency of the scale during the first survey was .961, during the second one – .963. g. d. zimet, n. w. dahlem, s. g. zimet & g. k. farley, multidimensional scale of perceived social support, 1988. the scale includes 12  statements measuring perceived social support from family, friends and other significant persons. the respondent evaluates each statement from 1 to 7: from 1= very strongly disagree to 7= very strongly agree. higher score means more strongly expressed perceived social support. internal consistency of the scale during the first survey was .920, during the second one – .936. c. m. hart, t. d. ritchie, e. g. hepper & j. e. gebauer, the balanced inventory of desirable responding short form – bidr-16, 2015. this scale helps to assess self-deceptive enhancement and impression management (paulhus & reid, 1991). internal consistency of the scale during the first survey was .685, during the second one – .770. internal consistency of all the scales in the present study was calculated using cronbach’s α coefficients. cronbach’s α for the all scales was from .685 to .971. permissions to use all scales in lithuania were obtained from the original authors. subjects. the survey was attended by 101 alcohol-addicted persons, who took part in minnesota 12-step program in the centre for addictive disorders: 33 females and 68 males from 18 to 59 years old (average age was 39 years old). the period of alcohol addiction of the subjects was from 3 months to 35 years (average was 9 years). most of the surveyed males and females are with secondary education, and married. the subjects were selected by using convenience purposive sampling on the basis of the following criteria: • a person is addicted to alcohol and is treated under minnesota 12-step program; • a person accepts to take part in the research. 2017, 20, 23–40 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 29 research procedure. the research was carried out from june, 2016 to april, 2017. approval of commission of research ethics of vytautas magnus university was obtained. the subjects signed the forms of informed consent. the subjects filled the same questionnaires twice: at the beginning of the treatment (on the first or second day of treatment) and on the last day of treatment. questionnaire filling used to take approximately 30 min. data was analysed with spss 16.0. results while comparing overall self-efficacy, drinking refusal self-efficacy and perceived social support of males and females before treatment and after treatment and the changes of these indicators, no statistically significant differences were found in the groups of males and females and in the groups of persons with higher and lower education. thus, further analysis of research data was performed in the general sample of males and females, except the cases, when the changes in self-efficacy, drinking refusal self-efficacy and perceived social support were analysed. upon comparing overall self-efficacy, drinking refusal self-efficacy and perceived social support before treatment and after treatment in various age groups, it might be stated that overall self-efficacy after treatment (t=2,132 and p=.035) and perceived social support after treatment (t=2,076; p=.041) are more strongly expressed in the group of younger persons (from 18 to 39 years old). it was found that drinking refusal self-efficacy after treatment is more strongly expressed in case of those surveyed with longer duration of addiction (t=-2.021; p=.046). the differences of overall self-efficacy, drinking refusal self-efficacy and perceived social support both before treatment and after treatment were analysed by taking into account the results of the socially desirable responding scale. the results of this scale were divided into two groups, according to how strong the indicator of socially desirable responding is expressed. those subjects with higher indicator of socially desirable responding were characterized by more strongly expressed drinking refusal self-efficacy at the beginning of the treatment than the subjects with lower indicator of socially desirable responding (t=-3.278; p=.001). no milda cibulskytė, loreta zajančkauskaitė-staskevičienė 30 other differences were found, considering socially desirable responding of the surveyed persons. change in overall self-efficacy and drinking refusal self-efficacy of alcohol-addicted persons in the course of treatment. the results of the first survey were compared with the results of the second survey by using the paired samples t test (see table 1). table 1. comparison of overall selfefficacy and drinking refusal selfefficacy means of alcoholaddicted persons in the course of treatment. mean standard deviation standard error mean t p overall self-efficacy at the start of treatment 156.94 41.58 4.14 -7.21 .001 overall self-efficacy at the end of treatment 184.02 44.94 4.47 drinking refusal self-efficacy at the start of treatment 81.77 23.82 2.38 -4.66 .001 drinking refusal self-efficacy at the end of treatment 91.85 20.88 2.09 as it might be seen, overall self-efficacy and drinking refusal self-efficacy is more strongly expressed after treatment than before treatment. there is a change in perceived social support of alcohol-addicted persons in the course of treatment. the averages of perceived social support before treatment and after treatment were compared by using the paired samples t test (see table 2). table 2. comparison of perceived social suppor t of alcohol means of addicted persons in the course of treatment mean standard deviation standard error mean t p perceived social support at the start of treatment 61.20 16.27 1.62 -4.23 .001 perceived social support at the end of treatment 66.16 15.25 1.52 perceived social support of those surveyed was more strongly expressed after treatment than before treatment. 2017, 20, 23–40 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 31 relationship between overall self-efficacy, drinking refusal self-efficacy and perceived social support of alcohol-addicted persons. as differences were found in overall self-efficacy, drinking refusal self-efficacy and perceived social support in different age groups, hypothesis 1 was tested in age groups (table 3). table 3. relationship between overall selfefficacy, drinking refusal selfefficacy and perceived social suppor t of alcoholaddicted persons at the beginning of treatment and at the end of treatment in different age groups. age groups perceived social support at the start of treatment correlation p perceived social support at the end of treatment correlation p overall self-efficacy at the start of treatment 18–39 40–59 .223 .453 .093 .002 overall self-efficacy at the end of treatment 18–39 40–59 .480 .503 .001 .001 drinking refusal selfefficacy at the start of treatment 18–39 40–59 .195 .351 .143 .021 drinking refusal selfefficacy at the end of treatment 18–39 40–59 .067 .701 .617 .001 as table 3 shows, the relationship between overall self-efficacy and perceived social support before treatment is found in the age group from 40 to 59 years old, while the relationship after treatment is presented in both age groups. the relationship between drinking refusal self-efficacy and perceived social support before treatment is also found in the age group from 40 to 59 years old, and this relationship remains unchanged after treatment. prediction of change in drinking refusal self-efficacy of alcoholaddicted males and females. seeking to test the hypothesis whether the change in drinking refusal self-efficacy during the course of treatment can be predicted on the basis of perceived social support, drinking refusal self-efficacy, the change in overall self-efficacy and the change in perceived social support, linear regression was applied. demographic indicators and the indicator of socially desirable responding did not improve the model, therefore, they were not included into the final one. milda cibulskytė, loreta zajančkauskaitė-staskevičienė 32 the results were calculated separately in the groups of males and females. the models are statistically significant when p<.001. table 4. coefficients of prognostic equation of the change in drinking refusal selfefficacy of alcoholaddicted males and females. gender r r square adjusted r square standard error of the estimate women .800 .640 .589 16.493 men .702 .493 .461 14.264 considering determination coefficient, it might be seen that 64% of the dispersion in female sample, and 49% of the dispersion in male sample can be explained by linear regression equations. table 5. prognostic equation of the change in drinking refusal selfefficacy in female sample. model b unstandardized coefficients standard error standardized coefficients beta t p constant 2.545 16.150 .158 .876 change of perceived social support 1.158 .373 .444 3.102 .004 drinking refusal selfefficacy at the start of treatment -.481 .117 -.511 -4.108 .001 perceived social support at the start of treatment .612 .223 .355 2.740 .011 change of overall self-efficacy .102 .082 .168 1.243 .224 taking into account the point estimates, it might be stated that as the change in the perceived social support of females increases by one point, while the change in drinking refusal self-efficacy increases by 1.158 point; as drinking refusal self-efficacy before treatment increases by one point, the change in drinking refusal self-efficacy decreases by .481 point; as perceived social support before treatment increases by one point, the change in drinking refusal self-efficacy increases by .612 point. 2017, 20, 23–40 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 33 table 6 prognostic equation of the change in drinking refusal selfefficacy in male sample. model b unstandardized coefficients standard error standardized coefficients beta t p constant 36.156 9.008 4.014 .000 change of perceived social support .214 .180 .139 1.192 .238 drinking refusal selfefficacy at the start of treatment -.429 .092 -.487 -4.689 .001 perceived social support at the start of treatment .045 .129 .039 .351 .727 change of overall self-efficacy .197 .059 .355 3.329 .001 table 6 demonstrates that in case of males, statistically significant relationship is found between drinking refusal self-efficacy, the change in overall self-efficacy and the change in drinking refusal self-efficacy. the point estimates show that as drinking refusal self-efficacy before treatment increases by one point, the change in drinking refusal self-efficacy decreases by 4.689 points; as the change in overall self-efficacy increases by one point, the change in drinking refusal self-efficacy increases by 3.329 points. thus, higher change in drinking refusal of females is predicted by higher change in perceived social support, lower drinking refusal selfefficacy before treatment and more strongly expressed perceived social support before treatment. higher change in drinking refusal of males is predicted by lower drinking refusal self-efficacy before treatment and higher change in overall self-efficacy. discussion the research comparing cognitive-behavioural coping skills therapy, motivational enhancement therapy, and 12-step therapy program was carried out. all these 3 therapy forms were applied for alcoholaddicted persons with the aim to reach abstinence. in the first year after treatment, there was statistically insignificant difference in abstinence milda cibulskytė, loreta zajančkauskaitė-staskevičienė 34 level among the patients with different psychological interventions. meanwhile, three years after treatment, the percentage of abstinence level was highest among the patients subject to 12-step therapy (36%), than the patients subject to motivational enhancement therapy (27%), and finally, the patients of cognitive-behavioural coping skills therapy (24%) (süss, 2004). although the research proved that male gender and low drinking refusal self-efficacy is associated with higher quantity of consumed alcohol (baltrušaitytė, bulotaitė, 2011), and in case of disease, perceived social support of females is more strongly expressed than the one of males (svirušytė, zajančkauskaitė – staskevičienė, 2013). our research did not find any statistically significant differences between overall self-efficacy, drinking refusal self-efficacy and perceived social support in different gender samples. while comparing the aforementioned indicators in separate age groups, it was revealed that more strongly expressed overall self-efficacy and perceived social support after treatment was typical for younger age group (from 18 to 39 years old). thus, it might be stated that treatment in minnesota 12-step program is characterized by higher impact on overall self-efficacy and perceived social support of younger age alcohol-addicted persons. this impact is also related with duration of alcohol addiction. the research involving the alcohol-addicted participants of minnesota 12-step program in lithuania revealed that self-assessment of alcohol-addicted persons is related with duration of addiction: the longer the addiction, the more strongly expressed negative self-assessment (cigasaitė, dirsienė & zajančkauskaitė–staskevičienė, 2010). furthermore, positive self-assessment after minnesota 12-step program was more strongly expressed than before treatment (cigasaitė, dirsienė & zajančkauskaitė–staskevičienė, 2010). thus, the results showed that drinking refusal self-efficacy after treatment was statistically significantly higher for the persons whose duration of addiction was longer (more than 108 months). the research, carried out in great britain, where the change in selfefficacy was compared in the course of treatment of alcohol-addicted persons in two ways, demonstrated that there is no statistically significant difference in the way of treatment for alcohol addiction – in both cases, self-efficacy to discontinue drinking of alcohol-addicted persons increased (loeber, croissant, heinz, mann & flor, 2006). this research revealed that both drinking refusal self-efficacy and perceived social 2017, 20, 23–40 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach 35 support were more strongly expressed after treatment in minnesota 12-step program than before treatment. furthermore, analysis of the scientific literature demonstrated that although 12-step program promotes the alcohol-addicted persons to recognize that they are no longer in control of their lives, it also gives them the belief that there is the power above them, which provides them with capacities to refuse alcohol (dossett, 2013). thus, it might be argued that minnesota 12-step program is effective in increasing overall self-efficacy, drinking refusal self-efficacy and perceived social support of alcohol-addicted persons. it might be assumed that all psychological interventions (individual psychological counselling, group psychotherapy, relaxation), provided by minnesota 12-step program, contribute to increasing self-efficacy and perceived social support. it is presumed that treatment among people with the same addiction and continuous care of the staff increased perceived social support of those surveyed. the research demonstrates the relationship between perceived social support and drinking refusal self-efficacy of the alcohol or drugaddicted persons (majer, callahan & stevick, 2016). meanwhile, this research showed that overall self-efficacy and drinking refusal self-efficacy of alcohol-addicted persons is related with their perceived social support both before treatment and after treatment in the group of older age (from 40 to 59 years old). however, overall self-efficacy of those alcoholaddicted persons, whose age is from 18 to 39 years old, is related with their perceived social support only after treatment. following these results of the research, it might be stated that minnesota 12-step program had higher impact on self-efficacy and perceived social support of younger subjects than older ones. it was verified by comparing the changes in overall self-efficacy, drinking refusal self-efficacy and perceived social support in different age groups. thus, it is evident that the changes in overall self-efficacy and perceived social support of younger age persons (from 18 to 39 years old) are statistically significantly higher than in case of older persons. it was sought to find out which of the psychological factors, measured in research, allow predicting higher change in drinking refusal selfefficacy in the samples of males and females. it was determined that the change in drinking refusal self-efficacy of females can be predicted by considering their perceived social support before treatment, drinking milda cibulskytė, loreta zajančkauskaitė-staskevičienė 36 refusal self-efficacy before treatment and the change in perceived social support. in case of males, drinking refusal self-efficacy can be predicted on the basis of their drinking refusal self-efficacy before treatment and the change in overall self-efficacy. conclusions 1. the overall self-efficacy, drinking refusal self-efficacy and perceived social support of alcohol-addicted men and women at the end of treatment was higher than at the start of treatment. 2.1. higher overall self-efficacy after treatment of younger alcoholaddicted persons is related 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(2013). lėtinį skausmą patiriančių asmenų įsitikinimų apie skausmą sąsajos su emocijų reguliacija ir socialiniu palaikymu [the relationships between pain attitudes and emotion regulation and social support among persons who experience chronic pain]. jaunųjų mokslininkų psichologų darbai [research of young scientists in psychology], 2, 18–21. winters, k., c., stinchfield, r., d., opland, e., weller, ch. & latimer w., w. (2000). the effectiveness of the minnesota model approach in the treatment of adolescent drug abusers. addiction, 4, 601–612. https://dx.doi.org/ 10.1046/j.1360-0443.2000.95460111.x. zhang, y., feng, b., geng, w., owens, l. & xi, j. (2016). “overconfidence” versus “helplessness”: a qualitative study on abstinence self-efficacy of drug users in a male compulsory drug detention center in china. substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy, 11(29), 1–13. https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/ s13011-016-0073-2. nuo alkoholio prikl ausomų moterų ir vyrų saviveiksmingumo ir suvokiamo socialinio pal aikymo pokyčiai gydymo me tu milda cibulskytė, loreta zajančkauskaitė-staskevičienė vytauto didžiojo universitetas santrauka. problema. siekiant sukurti efektyvias alkoholio bei kitų psichoaktyviųjų medžiagų vartojimo prevencijos programas bei tobulinti priklausomybės ligų gydymo būdus, naudinga nustatyti, kaip kinta konkretūs psichologiniai veiksniai priklausomybės ligos gydymo metu. tyrimo tikslas – nustatyti, kaip kinta nuo alkoholio priklausomų moterų ir vyrų saviveiksmingumas ir suvokiamas socialinis palaikymas gydymo metu. metodika. tyrime dalyvavo 101 nuo alkoholio priklausomas asmuo, gydomas stacionare pagal minesotos 12 žingsnių programą. tyrime naudota: m. chesney bendro saviveiksmingumo skalė (coping self-efficacy scale), r. m. young, t. p. s. oei, p. a. hasking, atsisakymo vartoti alkoholį saviveiksmingumo klausimynas – pataisyta versija (drinking refusal self efficacy questionnaire – revised), g. d. zimet, n. w. dahlem, s. g. zimet, g. k. farley suvokiamo socialinio palaikymo skalė (multidimensional scale of perceived social support), c. m. hart, t. d. ritchie, e. g. hepper, j. e. gebauer socialinio pageidaujamumo skalė (the balanced inventory of desirable responding short form – bidr-16). išvados. nuo alkoholio priklausomų moterų ir vyrų bendrasis saviveiksmingumas, atsisakymo vartoti alkoholį saviveiksmingumas bei jų suvokiamas socialinis palaikymas gydymo pabaigoje aukštesni nei gydymo pradžioje. nuo alkoholio priklausomų moterų ir vyrų bendro saviveiksmingumo, atsisakymo vartoti alkoholį saviveiksmingumo bei jų suvokiamo socialinio palaikymo pokyčiai gydymo http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1360-0443.2000.95460111.x http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1360-0443.2000.95460111.x http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13011-016-0073-2 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13011-016-0073-2 milda cibulskytė, loreta zajančkauskaitė-staskevičienė metu nesiskiria. tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad nuo alkoholio priklausomų jaunesnių asmenų aukštesnis bendras saviveiksmingumas po gydymo susijęs su aukštesniu jų suvokiamu socialiniu palaikymu po gydymo, o nuo alkoholio priklausomų vyresnių asmenų aukštesnis  bendras saviveiksmingumas ir aukštesnis  atsisakymo vartoti alkoholį saviveiksmingumas susiję su aukštesniu jų suvokiamu socialiniu palaikymu tiek prieš gydymą, tiek po gydymo. moterų didesnį atsisakymo vartoti alkoholį saviveiksmingumo pokytį prognozuoja didesnis suvokiamo socialinio palaikymo pokytis, mažesnis atsisakymo vartoti alkoholį saviveiksmingumas prieš gydymą ir didesnis suvokiamas socialinis palaikymas prieš gydymą. vyrų didesnį atsisakymo vartoti alkoholį saviveiksmingumo pokytį prognozuoja mažesnis atsisakymo vartoti alkoholį saviveiksmingumas prieš gydymą ir didesnis bendro saviveiksmingumo pokytis. reikšminiai žodžiai: bendras saviveiksmingumas, atsisakymo vartoti alkoholį saviveiksmingumas, suvokiamas socialinis palaikymas, nuo alkoholio priklausomi asmenys. received: 14 08 2017 accepted: 08 11 2017 51 time pressure, social work stressors and blood pressure in a team of seven it-workers during one week of intense work maria undine kott witz, maurice lachappelle, achim elfering 1 university of bern, switzerland abstract. background. in the field of information technology (it) time pressure is common. working with tight deadlines together on the same task increases the risk of social stressors referring to tensions and conflicts at work. purpose. this field study tested both the association of time pressure and social stressors with blood pressure during work. method. seven employees – staff of a small it enterprise – participated in repeated ambulatory blood pressure measurements over the course of one week. time pressure and social stressors at work were assessed by questionnaire at the beginning of the study. results. multilevel regression analyses of 138 samples re vealed higher levels of time pressure to be related to marginally significant increases in mean arterial blood pressure at noon and in the afternoon. in addition, higher levels of social stressors at work were significantly associated to elevated mean arterial pressure in the afternoon. conclusion. findings support the view that threats to the social self play an important role in occupational health. keywords: work stress, it-work, blood pressure. introduction in it work working with tight deadlines – is common for many employees. the time pressure that results from the need to meet a specific deadline seems to be one of the most important factors associated with it-work stress (sethi, king, & quick, 2004). in addition, in it-work and other service occupations time pressure at work seems to have increased in the eu (kompier, 2006; paoli & merllié, 2005) and in switzerland (grebner, berlowitz, alvarado, & cassina, 2011). in switzerland, the percentage mokslo straipsniai issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.14.3 1 address for correspondence: institute of psychology, university of bern, fabrikstrasse 8, ch-3012 bern, switzerland., e-mail achim.elfering@psy.unibe.ch. 52 maria undine kottwitz, maurice lachappelle, achim elfering of workers who reported having to work regularly (at least 25% of their working time) at high speed increased from 72% in 2005 (graf et al., 2007) to 85% in 2011 (grebner et al., 2011). there is now consensus for time pressure and other adverse working conditions to affect physiological as well as psychological health (for review see de lange, taris, kompier, houtman, & bongers, 2003; nixon, mazzola, bauer, krueger, & spector, 2011; semmer, mcgrath, & beehr, 2005). thereby, stress often precedes health impairment and refers to an imbalance of goals or needs, and possibilities of an exchange between person and the environment – in other words, it’s a result of prolonged psychological strain (semmer & udris, 2007). adverse work conditions like time pressure are called work stressors for they increase the likelihood of employees to experience stress (beehr & franz, 2008). in occupational health psychology there are several ways to assess the impact of work stressors on stress (e.g., semmer, grebner, & elfering, 2004). assessing both stressors and stress by self-report implies the danger of inflated effects due to common method variance (podsakoff, mackenzie, lee, & podsakoff; but see also semmer et al., 2004). to avoid common method variance the current study on work stress includes self-report assessment of stressors and measurement of blood pressure at work as indicator of the bio-physiological stress reaction. cardiovascular activation as bio-physiological stress reaction in general, the bio-physiological stress reaction activates the organism. it covers a person’s energy needs and thereby encourages the person to cope with daily demands. according to allostatic load model (mcewen, 1998), the adaption of the organism (the so-called allostasis; sterling & eyer, 1988) is central within the scope stress reaction; especially, this refers to the interaction of available and required energy for sustainment and coping with demands (mcewen & wingfield, 2010). the activation of the physiological stress system contains a chain of physiological and psychological changes for the organism to adapt to the stressful situation. amongst others, the following release of hormones and messengers results in an increased energy supply to deal with the situation. thus, physiological stress reaction is functional unless it is long-lasting and not aligned to the stressful situation. however, in case of a long-term hyperactivity (e.g., according to prolonged strain) the organism could be damaged (e.g., chrousos & gold, 1992). 53 2014, 14, 51–70 p.international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris work stressors, blood pressure and health previous research has shown work related stress to be a risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality (backé, seidler, latza, ross nagel, & schumann, 2012; kivimäki, et al., 2012). specifically, stressors at work have been found to be positively associated with increased blood pressure during leisure time (at home and while sleeping), as well as at work (clays, leynen, de bacquer, kornitzer, kittel, karasek, et al., 2007; van egeren, 1992). elevated blood pressure has been found to be associated with overtime at work (hayashi, kobayashi, yamaoka, & yano, 1996; rau, 2006; but see also dahlgren et al., 2006). maina et al. (2011) found an unpleasant work schedule as well as an imbalance between a person’s effort and the received reward to be associated with increased blood pressure. in the pittsburg healthy heart project investigation kamarck et al. (2005) found daily fluctuations as well as between-person variability of work related stressors (among these social conflicts, task demands) to be significantly and independently associated with changes in blood pressure. over and above, ilies, dimotakis, and de pater (2010) found workload to be positively associated with blood pressure and low daily well-being. an important aspect regarding data on organizational health is the hierarchical data structure. employees are nested within work groups – working together, sharing important aspects of their work life (like demands, goals, etc.). furthermore, it-work tends to be performed by groups rather than individual persons (wilson & sheetz, 2010). group members are social beings, and the extent to which one feels accepted and esteemed by others is of great importance for well-being (leary & baumeister, 2000). social stressors at work, in the sense of social animosities, conflicts, unfair behaviour, and a negative group climate may represent a threat to that drive (dormann & zapf, 2002; spector & jex, 1998). thus, social stressors at work can be considered to be particularly strong, and stressful when workers who have to cooperate closely – as in it-work. the present study this study aims to investigate prevalence of work related stressors (in terms of inter-individual differences) and the association with blood pressure across one week of intense work. most of the previous research had to infer from samples within organizations but did not investiga te whole units. thus, results often suffered from sampling bias. this 54 maria undine kottwitz, maurice lachappelle, achim elfering exploratory study relied on complete staff of a small it company and the basic assumption was that work r lated stressors are positively as sociated with blood pressure, including mean arterial pressure (map) as a composite measure of systolic (sbp) and diastolic (dbp) blood pressure. hence, two different kinds of work-related stressors were investigated, time pressure and social stressors: as time pressure can be considered relevant on in it-work we expect it to be positively associated with blood pressure levels at work (hypothesis 1). as the need for cooperation in it-work is high and the group is working on the same task, social stressors that include tensions and conflict at work should be positively associated with blood pressure levels at work (hypothesis 2). method sample the sample included seven employees (one woman and six men) – the complete staff – of a small it enterprise. the average age was 25.4 years (sd = 3.0 years), ranging from 22 to 31 years. three of them lived with a partner, all participants were unmarried, and none of them had children. regarding education, two participants had a university degree (28.6%), three participants were still studying at university (42.8%), and two people had completed apprenticeship (28.6%). altogether, all participants have worked for at least five years and at least two years in the current position. participants were programmers, electro nic engineers, clerks, and web designers. the employment ranged from 60% to full-time. during the data collection, all participants were full-time present and worked predominantly on the same project during the week of observation. design general work related time pressure and social stressors were assessed by general questionnaire at the beginning of the study. additionally, daily blood pressure was measured ambulatory across one week. to be confident that all individuals processed the same order, the field study took place within the same period of time. blood pressure of six participants was assessed within the same week. because of vacation planning, blood pressure of one person was assessed during a previous week. the investigation took place at the beginning of the year, which was reported to be particularly stressful. international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 55 2014, 14, 51–70 p. ambulatory blood pressure measurement participants were instructed to install the cuff of the blood pressure monitor on the dominant arm two inches above the elbow. to ensure the comparability between measurements, participants were told to sit and to hold the arm to the body so that the cuff is at the level of the heart during data recording. daily blood pressure measures were aggregated to two averaged values. the measure included a lunch period from 11 am to 1 pm and the afternoon reading a period of 4 pm to 6 pm. both periods were chosen because of circadian process (larkin, 2005). artefacts (defined for systolic blood pressure (sbp) and diastolic blood pressure (dbp) as any of the following: sbp < 50 mmhg, sbp > 250 mmhg, dbp > sbp, dbp < 30 mmhg, dbp > 150 mmhg; see rau, 2006) were excluded. the number of aggregate measures varied from three to seven because of missing values due to artefacts. ambulatory blood pressure was automatically recorded (blood pressure monitor spacelabs© model 90207; readings taken by the korotkoff method). in ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, the spacelabs 90207 often is referred to as the “gold standard” (e.g., mago metschnigg, mair, & hitzenberger, 2001). the blood pressure device was programmed to measure every 30 minutes. if a measurement failed it was automatically repeated five minutes later. the size of cuff was selected depending on arm circumference ranging from 24–32 cm. mean arterial blood pressure (map) was calculated as mean of sbp and dbp. self-report questionnaire data the participants completed a short questionnaire asking for their general time pressure at work and social stressors at work. time pressure was assessed by a short self-report version of the instrument for stress oriented task analysis (ista; semmer, zapf, & dunckel, 1995). the scale contains four items (e.g., “how often do you have to work faster than normal in order to complete your work?”). items have to be answered on a 5-point likert scale that ranging from 1 (very seldom / never) to 5 (very often). cronbach alphas usually ranged from 0.71 to 0.82 (jacobshagen, 2006). we calculated test-retest reliability using a time lag of six months. test-retest reliability of time pressure was 0.90. social stressors were measured with an 8-item scale developed by frese and zapf (1987; e.g., “one has to pay for the mistakes of others”). the items refer to several aspects of relationships and social climate at work, (e.g., a negative group climate, 56 maria undine kottwitz, maurice lachappelle, achim elfering conflicts with co-workers and supervisors, and social animosities). they had to be rated on a 5-point likert scale ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”. cronbach alphas reported ranged between 0.79 to 0.84 for different samples (e.g., age and tenure; frese & zapf, 1987). however, these states are known to show considerable fluctuations over time (zuckerman, 1983) and thus the rather long 6-month time lag lowers the retest estimate in our sample to 0.56. statistical analyses blood pressure was assessed on daily level and nested within individuals. therefore, more precisely analytical methods can be used, since the measurements are not independent of each other and are also available at different levels of analysis. to deal with this data structure, a multilevel approach was employed (hox, 2002). multilevel analysis is regarded as an extension of linear regression analysis (gavin & hofmann, 2002; nezlek, schroeder abé & schütz, 2006). it enables to separate the variance of each level. regarding daily level (level 1), the dependent variable in the multilevel regression analysis is map as well as sbp and dbp, respectively. the individual level (level 2) analysis in the multilevel approach investigates the degree to which these intercepts and slopes can be predicted by time pressure (model 1) and social stressors (model 2) when controlling for rest day dummy coded at level 1. additionally, in model 3 time pressure, social stressors, and rest day were included. all level 2 predictors are centered at their grand mean. data were analyzed using the mlwin multilevel statistics program (version 2.20, rasbash, steele, browne, & prosser, 2010). as all hypotheses were directional, alpha was set to 0.05, one-tailed. results descriptive statistics are presented in table 1. mean levels of mean arterial pressure at noon ranged between 72.67–114.00 mmhg and in the afternoon between 68.33–119.33 mmhg across the week. table 2 presents the results of multilevel analyses at noon and table 3 presents results within the afternoon. to analyze whether participants’ mean arterial pressure differed between persons and across the week, we calculated a null model (variance components model), which yielded estimates of 0.88 for level 2 variance and 0.22 for level 1 variance at noon international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 57 2014, 14, 51–70 p. t a b le 1 . m ea n v al u es , s ta n d ar d d ev ia ti on s an d c or re la ti on s b et w ee n s tu d y va ri ab le s m ea n sd (1 ) (2 ) (3 ) (4 ) (5 ) (6 ) (7 ) (8 ) (1 ) s bp 1 13 0. 24 11 .6 7 .8 4* * .8 9* * .8 6* * .7 8* * .7 9* * (2 ) d bp 1 78 .3 1 11 .7 1 .9 4* * .9 7* * .8 5* * .9 1* * .8 9* * (3 ) m a p1 95 .3 8 11 .3 1 .9 8* * .9 9* * .8 7* * .9 0* * .8 9* * (4 ) s bp 2 12 8. 59 12 .5 7 .9 7* * .9 0* * .9 3* * .9 2* * .9 5* * (5 ) d bp 2 76 .7 8 13 .3 6 .9 3* * .9 9* * .9 8* * .8 7* * .9 7* * (6 ) m a p2 93 .8 7 12 .6 2 .9 5* * .9 9* * .9 9* * .9 1* * .9 9* * (7 ) t im e pr es su re 3. 25 0. 83 .5 0 .6 0 .5 6 .3 9 .6 0 .6 0 (8 ) s oc ia l s tr es so rs 1. 54 0. 19 .5 8 .6 7* .6 6* .4 5 .6 6* .6 4 .3 0 n ot e. n = 1 38 b lo od p re ss ur e m ea su re m en ts o f f ro m 7 p ar ti ci p an ts . * < .0 5, * * < .0 1, o ne -t ai le d . 1 b lo od p re ss ur e as se ss ed a t n oo n; 2 b lo od p re ss ur e as se ss ed in th e af te rn oo n. c or re la ti on s b el ow th e d ia go na l r efl ec t t he b et w ee np er so n as so ci at io ns o f t he a ve ra ge d le ve l 2 va ria b le s. c or re la ti on s ab ov e th e d ia go na l r efl ec t t he w it hi np er so n as so ci at io ns o f t he le ve l-1 v ar ia b le s. 58 maria undine kottwitz, maurice lachappelle, achim elfering t a b le 2 . l in ea r m u lt ile ve l m od el s pr ed ic ti n g s ys to lic b lo od p re ss u re (s bp ), d ia st ol ic b lo od p re ss u re (d bp ), a n d m ea n a rt er ia l p re ss u re (m a p) a t n oo n sb p d pb m a p es tim at e se t es tim at e se t es tim at e se t m od el 1 in te rc ep t 12 9. 91 4. 19 31 .0 0* 78 .5 0 3. 81 20 .5 7* 95 .5 2 3. 66 26 .1 3* re st d ay a 1. 13 2. 80 0. 41 -1 .4 3 2. 02 -0 .7 1 -1 .5 0 2. 21 -0 .6 8 tim e pr es su re 5. 15 5. 45 0. 95 8. 13 4. 97 1. 64 † 7. 77 4. 75 1. 64 † m od el 2 in te rc ep t 12 9. 90 4. 07 31 .8 9* 78 .5 0 3. 55 22 .1 2* 95 .5 1 3. 48 27 .4 6* re st d ay a 1. 03 2. 79 0. 37 -1 .5 3 2. 02 -0 .7 6 -1 .6 3 2. 21 -0 .7 4 so ci al s tr es so rs 26 .2 1 23 .4 5 1. 12 40 .4 1 20 .4 5 1. 98 * 37 .4 3 20 .0 3 1. 87 † m od el 3 in te rc ep t 12 9. 90 4. 34 29 .9 1* 78 .5 0 3. 32 23 .6 2* 95 .5 1 3. 27 29 .2 0* re st d ay a 1. 08 2. 80 0. 39 -1 .4 7 2. 02 -0 .7 3 -1 .5 5 2. 21 -0 .7 0 tim e pr es su re 3. 69 5. 93 0. 62 5. 91 4. 54 1. 30 5. 74 4. 46 1. 29 so ci al s tr es so rs 21 .2 4 26 .2 6 0. 81 32 .4 5 20 .1 0 1. 62 † 29 .7 0 19 .7 8 1. 50 n ot es . n = 3 8 b lo od p re ss ur e m ea su re m en ts f ro m 7 p ar ti ci p an ts ; e st im at e = fi xe d u ns ta nd ar d iz ed r eg re ss io n p ar am et er e st im at e; s e = st an d ar d e rr or ; t = tva lu e; * ≤ .0 5, † < .1 0, o ne -t ai le d . a c on tr ol le d fo r r es t d ay d um m y co d ed o n le ve l 1 . international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 59 2014, 14, 51–70 p. t a b le 3 . li n ea r m u lt ile ve l m od el s pr ed ic ti n g s ys to lic b lo od p re ss u re ( sb p) , d ia st ol ic b lo od p re ss u re ( d bp ), a n d m ea n a rt er ia l p re ss u re (m a p) in t h e af te rn oo n sb p d bp m a p es tim at e se t es tim at e se t es tim at e se t m od el 1 in te rc ep t 12 7. 81 4. 31 29 .6 5* 76 .7 8 4. 23 18 .1 5* 93 .8 8 4. 13 22 .7 4* re st d ay a 1. 58 1. 73 0. 91 0. 19 1. 76 0. 11 -0 .9 9 1. 78 -0 .5 6 tim e pr es su re 7. 13 5. 59 1. 28 9. 24 5. 48 1. 69 † 8. 06 5. 35 1. 51 † m od el 2 in te rc ep t 12 7. 79 4. 07 31 .4 2* 76 .7 6 3. 92 19 .5 7* 93 .8 6 3. 76 24 .9 9* re st d ay a 1. 59 1. 73 0. 92 0. 20 1. 76 0. 11 -0 .9 8 1. 78 -0 .5 5 so ci al s tr es so rs 36 .6 4 23 .3 7 1. 57 † 45 .8 6 22 .5 3 2. 04 * 42 .0 9 21 .5 6 1. 95 * m od el 3 in te rc ep t 12 7. 80 4. 14 30 .8 6* 76 .7 7 3. 62 21 .2 0* 93 .8 7 3. 64 25 .8 1* re st d ay a 1. 57 1. 73 0. 91 0. 16 1. 76 0. 93 -1 .0 0 1. 78 -0 .5 6 tim e pr es su re 5. 09 5. 63 0. 90 6. 73 4. 92 1. 37 5. 71 4. 94 1. 16 so ci al s tr es so rs 29 .7 8 24 .9 9 1. 19 36 .8 0 21 .8 1 1. 69 † 34 .3 9 21 .9 0 1. 57 † n ot es . n = 4 3 b lo od p re ss ur e m ea su re m en ts f ro m 7 p ar ti ci p an ts . e st im at e = f ix ed u ns ta nd ar d iz ed r eg re ss io n p ar am et er e st im at e; s e = st an d ar d e rr or ; t = tva lu e; * ≤ .0 5, † < .1 0, o ne -t ai le d . a c on tr ol le d fo r r es t d ay d um m y co d ed o n le ve l 1 . 60 maria undine kottwitz, maurice lachappelle, achim elfering and 0.86 level 2 and 0.24 level 1 variance in the afternoon. thus, 22% to 24% of the variance was attributable to within-person and 86% to 88% of the variance in blood pressure was attributable between persons, indicating multilevel modelling to be appropriate. time pressure is positively associated with map (hypothesis 1). zero-order correlations between time pressure and any measure of blood pressure at noon or in the afternoon were not significant (see table 1). in multilevel analysis, with control of rest day levels, higher levels of time pressure were marginally significant related to higher levels of map at noon (b = 7.77, se = 4.75, p < 0.10, table 2) and in the afternoon (b = 8.06, se = 5.35, p < 0.10, table 3). social stressors are positively associated with map (hypothesis 2). zero-order correlations reveal social stressors to be positively rela ted to dbp at noon and in the afternoon, as well as to map at noon (table 1). in multilevel analysis, controlled for rest day levels, higher levels of social stressors were marginally significant related to higher levels of map (b = 37.43, se = 20.03, p < 0.10, table 2) and significantly positively related to dbp (b = 40.41, se = 20.45, p < 0.05, table 2) at noon. additionally, social stressors were positively related to map (b = 42.09, se = 21.56, p < 0.05, table 3) and to dbp in the afternoon (b = 45.86, se = 22.53, p < 0.05, table 3). furthermore, the effect of social stressors on map in the afternoon remained marginally significant when additionally controlling for time pressure (b = 34.39, se = 21.90, p < 0.10, table 3). discussion seven employees – the workforce of a small it enterprise – who worked on the same project were studied during an intense working week at the beginning of the year. to our knowledge this the first ambulatory field study in occupational health psychology that holistically addresses work stress in a small it company. the study confirms the view that social stressors as well as time pressure contribute to work stress that manifests in raised cardiovascular activation at work. according to team perspective, employees who share the same team and work on the same task should share a considerable amount of job strain too (see semmer, grebner, & elfering, 2004). however, beside team level that reflects a shared strain because of the common task and work goal, individual level might also be of particular importance when social relations and leadership are concerned (e.g., hunziker et al., 2011). international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 61 2014, 14, 51–70 p. employees with higher levels of time pressure as well as higher levels of social stressors showed a tendency to enhanced cardiovascular activation throughout. the zero-order correlations between stressors at work and blood pressure levels are impressive and may – in part – be due to reliable and work-representative blood pressure measurement, i.e. continuous blood pressure assessment across several working days using the most reliable ambulatory equipment. in fact, ambulatory assessment of blood pressure across days yields more reliable estima tes of blood pressure levels than few point measurements (pickering, shimbo, & haas, 2006). the association found between work stressors and blood pressure levels was in line with previous findings. facing high work demands, a higher – but not too high – level of cardiovascular activation may reflect a challenge appraisal and activation of resources that promoted successful coping with work demands (elfering & greb ner, 2012). especially with respect to social stressors, increased blood pressure might be functional to keep attention to the task at hand and to prevent social stressors to capture attention that is needed to adequately perform work tasks in time. the arterial baroreflex is seen as homeostatic control of blood pressure (gianaros, onyewuenyi, sheu, christie, & critchley, 2012). according to the baroreceptor hypothesis sensory information is recorded as a function of the prevailing blood pressure. the activity of the baroreceptors due to increased blood pressure is accompanied by a variety of cognitive changes that mitigate the effects of aversive stimulation (ehlert, 2003) and permits attention to be kept focused on the work task at hand. this activation may be effective in the short-term but includes risks in the long-term. in the end the costs of work including may accumulate when recovery processes are incomplete and precede a loss of efficiency (berset, semmer, elfering, amstad, & jacobshagen, 2009; pereira, meier, & elfering, 2013; semmer, grebner, & elfering, 2010). moreover, on the background on rising levels of time pressure one has to ask whether time stressors have become chronic, yet. although the association found between time pressure and blood pressure is meaningful, our results are clearer for social stressors at work than for time pressure. this is in line to previous research evaluative threat and ambulatory blood pressure (e.g., smith, birmingham, & uchino, 2012). in addition both stressors are usually interrelated. this is a common finding because time pressure may impede communication and 62 maria undine kottwitz, maurice lachappelle, achim elfering information policies and increase the probability of role conflict (hacker, 2003). thus, along with expectation in our regression analysis control for time pressure did weaken the association between social stressors and blood pressure. the staff of the it enterprise was young, healthy, well-educated and without children and the association between work stressors and health indicators might have been underestimated given that recent findings indicate a closer association between work stressors and health for those who already experience a loss of health resources (kottwitz, meier, jacobshagen, kälin, elfering, & semmer, 2012). our results – although some are only marginally significant – still refer to practical implications. meanwhile, due to a systematic intensification of work, psychosocial workload has increased, and as a consequence, recovery time and recovery opportunities presumably have shortened (härmä, 2006; kompier, 2006). thus, to stop this trend work design should reduce time pressure and breaks should be rigorously protected also in order to reduce safety threats (elfering, grebner, & de tribolet-hardy, 2013). with respect to person-oriented intervention the usefulness of time management training to reduce time pressure at work is under debate (sallinen, 2003). according to sonnentag and bayer (2005) the most important starting point, is to reduce psychosocial work stress that arises not only from time pressure but also from social stressors, a second point is to improve resources, e.g., job control (elfering, grebner, gerber, & semmer, 2008; kottwitz, grebner, semmer, tschan, & elfering, 2014) and a third one is to improve recovery from work (berset et al., 2009). based on their effort-recovery theory model (meijman & mulder, 1998) one would suggest associations between work stressors and indicators of strain to be closer in the second half of working time when – under conditions of time pressure – supplemental resources must be activated to meet work demands. accordingly the main effect of social stressors and time pressure on map at noon was only marginally significant, but social stressors were significantly associated with increased map in the afternoon. this reflects a delay in the cardiovascular activation to the end of the work day. in the long run, this might affect recovery after work is done (e.g., by affecting psychological detachment, fatigue, and sleep; dahlgren, kecklund, & åkerstedt, 2005; sonnentag, kuttler, & fritz, 2010). international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 63 2014, 14, 51–70 p. limitations our study has some advantages worth to be reported. one major advantage is the use of a complete staff of a small it-enterprise, excluding sampling bias. a second advantage is the combination of data of different sources, i.e. questionnaire self-report data and physiological data. by combining data of different sources we avoided the problem of common method variance in assessment (semmer et al., 2004). prediction of intra-individual change in blood pressure controlled for person characteristics that influence the cardiovascular activation when differences between persons are analysed (e.g., bmi or demographic characteristics like gender and age). however, there are also several limitations to our study. first, our sample size was rather small, which implies limited power and therefore an extended risk to miss a significant effect. there is need for replication of this pilot study. within the scope of field studies, the natural setting accounts for the small sample size; however, blascovich and tomaka (1996) claimed physiological assessment of arousal to take place within appropriate but arbitrary situations. thus, the natural setting is an advantage too. second, assessing work related stressors on a general level represents a limitation in that more specific assessment of work related stressors may yield stronger results. note that this study investigated social stressors at work, which constitutes only a subset of social stressors people experience in life. private social stressors may impact well-being also at work when employees are easily involved in their private problems by interrupting phone calls, mails, etc. hence, future research should include social stressors in private life in addition to social stressors at work to evaluate the total and specifically work-related contribution of social stressors on blood pressure at work (grebner, elfering, semmer, kaiser-probst, & schlapbach, 2004). work stressors like social stressors and time pressure have daily and weekly variations (e.g., schwartz & stone, 1993; sonnentag, 2001; totterdell, wood, & wall, 2006) that should be considered. future field studies of work related stressors and cardiovascular reactivity should also investigate the impact of daily work hassles like barriers and failure in programming, etc. (klumb, elfering, & herre, 2009). 64 maria undine kottwitz, maurice lachappelle, achim elfering conclusion the present study highlighted the importance of social work relations and the perception of social stressors within the same it organization. persons who perceived comparatively more social stressors tend to reveal higher levels of blood pressure – in part independently from time pressure. given associations between ambulatory blood pressure and risk of cardiovascular disease, the findings support elaborated conceptual models of threats to the social self – or stress as offence to self (e.g. semmer, jacobshagen, meier, & elfering, 2007) – as a potentially important influence on physical health. references backé, e.-m., seidler, a., latza, u., rossnagel, k., & schumann, b. 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(1983). the distinction between trait and state scales is not arbitrary: comment on allen and potkay’s’ on the arbitrary distinction between traits and states’. journal of personality and social psychology, 44, 1083–1086. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.44.5.1083. laiko stoka, socialinio darbo stresoriai ir kraujo spaudimas septynių it darbuotojų komandos intensyvaus darbo savaitės laikotarpiu maria undine kott witz, maurice lachappelle, achim elfering berno universitetas, šveicarija santrauka. įvadas. informacinių technologijų (it) srityje laiko stoka yra dažnas reiškinys. atliekant terminuotas užduotis, kai darbą reikia atlikti griežtai per nustatytą trumpą laiką didėja socialinių stresorių rizika, tokia, kaip įtampa ir konfliktai darbe. tikslas. šiuo praktiniu tyrimu siekta nustatyti laiko stokos ir socialinių stresorių ryšį su kraujo spaudimu darbo metu. metodas. septyniems nedidelės it įmonės darbuotojams savaitės laikotarpiu buvo matuojamas kraujo spaudimas. laiko stoka ir socialiniai stresoriai buvo vertinami tyrimo pradžioje. rezultatai. 138 atvejų daugialypė regresinė analizė atskleidė ryšį tarp aukštų laiko stokos rodiklių ir nežymiai padidėjusio kraujo spaudimo vidurdienį ir po pietų. be to, aukšti socialinių stresorių darbe rodikliai siejosi su padidėjusiu kraujospūdžiu po pietų. išvados. tyrimo rezultatai patvirtina nuomonę, kad grėsmė socialiniam žmogaus aspektui vaidina svarbų vaidmenį profesinėje sveikatoje. pagrindiniai žodžiai: stresas darbe, informacinės technologijos (it), kraujo spaudimas. received: 11-05-2013 accepted: 07-04-2014 29 mokslo straipsniai issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.14.2 psycho-educational intervention for adolescents tija kriščiūnaitė 1 mykolas romeris university, lithuania roy m. kern vytautas magnus university, lithuania abstract. background. adolescence is considered as a period of difficulties and challenges. it is the period of life of many changes. it may cause stress for adolescents, which in turn may have negative impact on adolescent’s mental health and wellbeing. psycho-educational groups for adolescents are one of the common interventions to help them to cope and gain necessary life skills. various psycho-educational group interventions and life skills programs have been developed and used to assist adolescents to cope with the challenges of life. the authors of the programs claim that they are creating new content to address the needs of youth. however, upon closer examination there are many similarities related to the constructs and interventions proposed many years ago by alfred adler and his followers. the aim of this article was to compare theoretical principles of individual psychology with the constructs proposed by various psycho-educational programs for adolescents but with a more intense focus on the now popular lerner’s positive youth development model. method. a literature review was conducted to explore the similarities of the principles of individual psychology and contemporary psycho-educational interventions. results and conclusions. the conclusions of analysis of the review of literature indicated that a number of the theoretical constructs of the lerner’s positive youth development model and other psycho-educational programs have been proposed many years ago by adler and his followers. examples of psycho-educational programs based on the principles of individual psychology were also reviewed. the authors propose that the theory of individual psychology may serve as a viable theory base for adolescent intervention programs that lack a theoretical base. it is also proposed that regardless of interventions studies need to be conducted to support the efficacy of the models. keywords: adolescence, intervention, programs, positive psychology, individual psychology. 1 address for correspondence: mykolo romerio universitetas, socialinės politikos fakultetas, psichologijos institutas, ateities g. 20, v-239, lt-08303, vilnius; el. p. tikrisciunaite @gmail.com , tel. 8 672 96181. 30 tija krišč¡ūnaitė, roy kern introduction adolescence challenges for many years adolescent development has been considered as a time of significant challenges and change. it is a critical period of human development marked by changes in the person’s cognitive, physical, psychological, social development which impacts the adolescents’ relationships with peers and adults. all these developmental events and changes increase the probability that youth will be faced with a number of life decisions that may cause confusion and stress and other difficulties in their lives (lakin & mahoney, 2006; reinherz & paradis et al., 2003; pathak & sharma et al., 2011). it may lead to negative consequences for adolescent’s mental health and well-being. approximately 25% of adolescents have at least one stressful experience in their lives such as death of family member or other traumatic event. a number of these stressors are related to school and interpersonal relationships. school stressors include bullying, learning difficulties, and challenging relationships with teachers (zimmer-gembeck & skinner, 2008). other interpersonal stressors include conflicts with parents, peers, siblings, and the challenges related to securing a compatible relationship with a boy or girl friend. these stressors have significant impact on the adolescent’s mental health related to emotional and behavioral problems (bartels & beijsterveldt et al., 2011; pathak & sharma et al., 2011; rabbani & mahmoudi-gharaei et al., 2012). this is documented by research. reinherz & paradis et al. (2003) claimed that during the transition to adulthood 23.2% of adolescents suffer from depression. one fifth of adolescents experience anxiety at one time or another during this period of rapid changes (deb & chatterjee et al., 2010). this is not surprising in that, according to paus et al. (2008) the peak age of onset for many psychiatric disorders is adolescence. though not all adolescents may experience these psychological consequences related to these physical, psychological and social changes, professionals agree that most adolescents could benefit from psycho-educational strategies that focus on the life skills of goal setting, problem solving, collaboration and the ability to obtain and seek social support (beveridge & berg, 2007; fomeris & danish et al., 2007). though there are various theoretical perspectives such as psychodynamic, social-cognitive, behavioral, or constructivism approaches to international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 31 2014, 14, 29–50 p. explain adolescent development and psycho-educational interventions, this article will focus on the contributions of the individual psychology of alfred adler. the theory proposes that people are creative social embedded human beings who employ a number of ways to reach their goals and solve the problems of life. of critical importance in the theory is it focus on the importance of the social context and that a number of adolescent and adults problems in life are related to finding one place with others or belonging. that means many of the skills needed for successful transition for adolescence to adulthood are available within the social context of the world around them. relevance and originality of the paper: adolescents face a variety of difficulties related to this period of development which could be addressed in a variety of ways. one of these ways of assisting the adolescent through these stressful periods could be through participation in psycho-educational groups. researchers suggest various psycho-educational interventions for adolescents of different backgrounds that could be helpful to deal with these adolescent stressors (chaudhary & mehta, 2012; hayes & morgan, 2005; kowalenko & wignall et al., 2002). a number of these programs claim they are original approaches. little attention by authors, however, is used to explain the underpinnings of psychological principles and theory related to the core concepts that use a base for their psicho-educational programs. in this article the authors question and discuss a number of the concepts related to their originality of some of these concepts. are they really new ideas or are creators of these programs using different terminology to explain psychological principles and theory which were created many years ago? if this is the case we ask a second question which is, would it not be more efficient to base their programs on theories and psychological principle already developed as oppossed to claiming there model or psycho-educational program consist of new concepts and theory? during this review and analysis of literature adolescents development will be discussed from perspective of individual psychology. then the most popular psychoeducational programs for adolescents will be evaluated and presented from the perspective of individual psychology with special attention to lerner’s 5 c model based programs. finally, lerner’s 5 c model will be compared with psycho-educational programs of individual psychology as well as recommendations for practitioners. 32 tija krišč¡ūnaitė, roy kern adolescence development from an individual psychology perspective each person is a unique human being who has his/her own mind, feelings, needs, values and plans for the future. speaking in terms of individual psychology the individual creates his own lifestyle which was adler’s term for personality. according to adler (1956), life style is the basic construct that defines personality. he claims that the child forms this lifestyle by the age of five. the child develops his/her beliefs, values and problem solving strategies related to his lifestyle based on his/her subjective experiences in his/her family of origin. adler’s idea about life style development within this within this social context has similarities to bateson’s cybernetic model of the system theories approach where each person can influence others’ behavior (guddemi, 2011). adler’s explanation about the formation of life style have much in common with present day social constructivism movement and a variety of other current day psychological approaches such as time limit or brief therapy, cognitive systemic, and psycho-educational approaches (watts, 2000). it shows that adler theory is still valid and is a strong theoretical base for many of other contemporary theories. although adler proposed that the child’s lifestyle is stable one could raise the following question. if the lifestyle is created by the age of five with limited cognitions within the context of the social interactions in the family of origin, how does the individual integrate within this style all of the biopsychosocial changes that occur in the teenage years? one answer to this question is that though the life style remains stable, the individual can change the ways he/she is reaching his/her life’s goals (ansbacher & ansbacher, 1956). each individual has an inborn potential of creativity. it helps the adolescent to manage his/her inferiority feelings and ways of adjusting to the social environment. creativity also helps the individual to find the best ways of reaching personal goals. however, the ability of the individual to reach one’s personal goals in a functional way in society is related to what adler referred to as the degree of social interest that the child has acquired in their family of origin: “social interest is the true and inevitable compensation for all the natural weakness of individual human beings. social feeling and social adjustment are the right and normal compensations” (ansbacher & international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 33 2014, 14, 29–50 p. ansbacher, 1956). social interest is not inborn, but it is an innate potential which has to be consciously developed. alfred adler’s concept of social interest is the cornerstone of his theoretical formulations related to mental health (ansbacher & ansbacher, 1956). it is important for the person’s psychological well-being, and the lack of the appropriate level of social interest may be associated with psychological difficulties and some forms of psychopathology (mozdzierz & greenblatt et al., 2007). adler viewed social interest as a universal, cross-cultural, innate potential of each human being that requires development throughout life. the results of this developmental process are expressed through cooperative, communal living. social interest is an evaluative attitude toward life expressed through empathic understanding of others. adler noted that the innate capacity for social interest is essential for the achievement of harmonious social living and ability to empathize and identify with others. he was certain enough in his convictions about the centrality of social interest that he posited a direct relationship between social interest and mental health. if so, then adolescence as a sensitive and flexible period of human development, and from a neurological perspective, the problems solving portion of the adolescent brain is still developing. this might be a favorable time to nurture the development of social interest of the adolescent. though adler does not provide extended descriptions in his writing of adolescent development, he does provide a clear view in a few words of his ideas on this developmental stage. from an individual psychology perspective, the greatest challenge for adolescents is the same challenge faced by all age groups: finding a place of belonging and importance within a complex social world. in their quest for significance, adolescents rely on the skills, abilities, and assumptions about the world that they have developed thus far in life. in striving to be significant, adolescents can utilize socially useful constructive or socially useless destructive methods (eckstein & rasmussen et al., 1999). adler viewed adolescence as a period when the child is striving to prove that he/she is no longer a child. many of the expressions and behaviors exhibited in adolescence are focused on the individual attempting to prove they are of equal status of the significant adults in their lives. many children at this time may begin to smoke, to use bad language, and to stay out late at night. some of them may reveal unexpected oppositions to their 34 tija krišč¡ūnaitė, roy kern parents. what direction the adolescent chooses in achieving independence and equality is dictated by the level of social interest and learning from the family of origin. the child’s experiences in the family can be positive or negative in relation to which behaviors they choose to use to find their place within any given social context. if the child is abused, neglected, rejected or shamed, he or she may choose to act out in violent ways, withdraw from others, or participate in high risk behaviors. however many of these oppositional behaviors may also be viewed as po sition and are reflective of the adolescent wishing to emphasize their need for independence (popkin, 2000). therefore, adolescence could be a difficult time for parents too. this idea fits nicely with system theories approach where each individual has a power to influence others (laszlo & krippner, 1997). maybe for this reason, adolescents experience a decline in the desire for companionship with their parents and increased number of conflicts with them (shehata & ramadan, 2010). maybe that is why so many parents (and teachers) also look to adolescence as a very difficult period marked with increased risk of problems or, in other words, refer to the adolescent period as the “hormonally handicapped” years (eckstein & rasmussen et al., 1999). coupled with the development of social interest is the construct of viewing all behavior of adolescents within the social context of society. this context impacts the child development and determines which seed of his/her character grows and which withers (popkin, 2000). therefore, the behavior of the individual must be ultimately understood from a social context perspective. within this social context adolescents are required to constantly interact with peers, teachers, and family members. those interactions significantly influence the adolescent’s development (lubenko & sebre, 2007; cakir & aydin, 2005). being an interactive member of this social context forces the adolescent to find the most effective ways of collaborating with others. this is how he/she himself can find out the best way to reach his/her personal goals and implement the tasks of life. the social context and social interactions that one encounters would also parallel to some degree the construct of social interest as described in individual psychology (sweitzer, 2005). thus, the influences that the teenagers acquire from social interaction are very important for their successful development. the teachers, parents and counselors can help adolescents to go through this period of life and become international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 35 2014, 14, 29–50 p. mature and responsible people. we propose that one valuable way for the adolescent to make these important transitions is by participating in psycho-educational interventions programs, where they have an opportunity to get to know themselves, interact with other within a social context and develop social interests. dreikurs (1968, cit. acc. balhmann & dinter, 2001) a contemporary of adler proposes that to benefit from these interactions the adolescent must be involved with individuals who are encouraging. the importance of encouragement adler believed that every person has an inborn potential to development of social interest and is motivated to reach his/her individual goals in a variety of ways. to nurture social interest in youth the adolescent must experience large doses of encouragement which then provides the courage for the adolescent to face the challenges of life (ansbacher & ansbacher, 1956). this encouragement is most valuable if it is provided by significant other such as parents, teachers, and peers. encouragement is viewed as a very important factor for individual development and the nurturing of social interest. encouragement strengthens a person’s confidence and his/her sense of self. it is a key to personal growth and development. as a result of encouragement, a person develops feelings that he/she belongs, which then provides him/her with the psychological resources to contribute to others within society. individual’s psychology interventions are orientated to encourage clients and help them believe in their own strengths and abilities. encouragement can be learned and its value for creating better society is huge (balhmann & dinter, 2001). it is everything that a person does that makes another person to feel better, function more effectively, have greater self-confidence, and have a greater willingness to contribute to the well-being of others and society in general (balhmann & dinter, 2001). therefore, apart from a personal goal, encouragement also has a social goal. encouragement is more than just being positive. it is also not simply the denial or repression of the negative things in life. encouragement is seeing both the positive and the negative and consciously choosing to pay attention to the positive, knowing that doing so is more beneficial in life than focusing on the negative. it must include mutual 36 tija krišč¡ūnaitė, roy kern respect, equality, understanding, and faith in self and others (azoulay, 1999). the principle of equality includes listening to children and accepting their rights and opinions. it is important to understand feelings and hidden reasons behind behavior and to check these out with the child. faith is the communication of a belief in the child’s strength and ability. many adolescents think that they only have a sense of belonging if they adhere to certain requirements of others such as making good marks, being better than brother or sister, being faster, smarter, more creative, thinner, taller, and so on. many have the impression that they do not belong and that they are unable to develop their full potentials and to contribute fully to society. this discouragement needs to be remedied by encouraging people to develop satisfying, psychologically healthier, and more fulfilling lives (balhmann & dinter, 2001). encoura gement is considered by adlerian therapists and educators as perhaps the most important technique available for the promotion of change in that it is the belief by some authors that, most interpersonal problems are the result of discouragement (carns & carns, 1998). encouragement is a tool that affects the child’s view of self and the world. thus encouragement is used to validate a specific belief system in children (e.g., that they are capable or that cooperation is good) (dreikurs & grey, 1968, cit. acc. balhmann & dinter, 2001) which then leads to positive behaviors with others. adolescents’ belief system may be changed using encouragement which is one of the key ingredients in a variety of psycho-educational programs. psycho-educational programs for adolescent development the review to follow is a representative sample judged by the authors of this article as the most representative of the field of psychoeducational programs and not a review of all programs. there is a range of interventions programs which aimed to help adolescents to cope with divorce, illness, drugs, alcohol, smoking and sex behavior. some of these programs are designed to teach life skills, coping strategies, and selfunderstanding a sample of these programs are low-element challenge course (lecc), the pen resiliency program (prp), adolescents coping with depression course (cwd-a), adolescents coping with emotion program and various life skills (ls) programs such as “goal”, “helping adolescents to cope” or “life skills education program”. international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 37 2014, 14, 29–50 p. these programs include activities such as cooperative tasks building, role playing discussion groups related to enhancing adolescent self-esteem (chaudhary & mehta, 2012), improving coping with negative emotional problems (kowalenko & wignall et al., 2002; hayes & morgan, 2005), pro-social behavior, general adjustment at home, with peers and teachers (srikala & kumar, 2010), solving life problems and social support (fomeris & danish et al., 2007). the adolescent coping with depression course (clarke & lewinsohn et al., 1990) was created to help adolescents to manage their emotions, understand themselves, and express themselves in and appropriate way with others. adolescents are invited to collaborate with others to participate in activities that they can perform best. in this way adolescents can receive encouragement for psychological growth (balhmann & dinter, 2001). adolescent’s coping with depression course seems to be effective in changing negative adolescent’s thoughts to more positive ones (kaufman & rohde et. al., 2005). the purpose of pen resiliency program is to enhance adolescent‘s resilience and improve overall well-being in youth. the major part of penn resiliency program (cutuli & chaplin et al., 2006) helps adolescents to improve their social skills. it also helps adolescents to develop interaction skills to help them to be more effective members of their peer group and community at large. in this program participants are encouraged to seek social support and question their perfectionistic thoughts and behaviors. the prp program can be used to reduce adolescents’ anxiety, behavioral problems and depression symptoms (reivich & gillham, 2010; cardemila & reivich et. al., 2007). though not referenced in the content of the program, a number of the group dynamics, social skills, social support, and working on belief systems of adolescents are similar to many of the principles inherent in the theory of individual psychology. another program which reflects principles of individual psychology and behavioral, cognitive, and affective components and designed to promote positive change is the low-element challenge course. this group-oriented program helps participants learn to share responsibility, develop cooperative problem-solving skills, increase self-confidence and well-being (glass & myers, 2001). lecc’s has as a primary goal to improve the individual’s self-concept through elements of trust building, goal setting, and problem solving. structured group exercises 38 tija krišč¡ūnaitė, roy kern require participants to share responsibility and solve problems as a team. it keeps focus on cooperation and this is similar to social interest, a phenomenon that forms the foundation of healthy behavior. the lecc program encourages participants to create a cohesive group that makes each member feel that they belong to the group and helps them develop a positive self-worth. it is achieved by cooperation demonstrated among the participants. these are very similar to individual psychology goals for interventions. another important commonality is the encouragement component of the program. in lecc encouragement is used to strengthen relationships among group members by suggesting that they can be successful in the challenges as well as in life. the process focuses on success and skills rather than focusing on failure or lack of ability (glass & myers, 2001). research shows that after participating in lecc, adolescents were more able to cooperate with each other and apply their skills in solving everyday life problems (glass & myers, 2001). lecc is also efficacious in increasing group cohesion, collaboration and self-disclosure (glass & benshoff, 2002). in individual psychology terms, these results may be interpretated as increasing adolescents‘ social interest. model of positive youth development one of the most popular contemporary approaches to adolescent’s development is lerner’s positive youth development (pyd) model or more specifically lerner’s 5 c model. it has emerged over the past 20 years and now its popularity has become used in other countries. this theoretical model includes not only recommendations of methods to lead psycho-educational groups but also involves a broader view of adolescent development. to address the question or statement proposed earlier in the article that some programs may have many similarities to past theories and in particular the theory of individual psychology, the authors have selected this model to build a case to support this assumption. there are a number of studies (jelicica & bobeka et al., 2007; lerner & lerner, 2011; schwartz & phelps et al., 2010) that indicate the significance of pyd model related intervention programs as it relates to mental health of adolescents. however, it appears to lack any systematic theoretical position that would add credibility to its assumptions of adolescents’ international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 39 2014, 14, 29–50 p. development. this brings into question whether this model is really new or simply a mixture of long forgotten personality and psychological theories which are not clearly addressed in the content of the model. briefly, the tenets of the pyd model are designed to address ado lescents’ strengths and inner resources. it includes a view that each human being has a potential to change (bowers & li et al., 2010). it also attempts to empower adolescents and their sense of community (lakin & mahoney, 2006). in the pyd intervention, adolescents are seen as resources to be developed rather than problems to be managed (lerner & lerner, 2008). the pyd model is a systemic approach in that it views development throughout the life span as a prod uct of relations between the individual and others within their particular social context. the pyd accents the potential that individuals have for systematic change across life which means that adolescents’ development can be significantly altered in a positive way by factors in different social environments (lerner & lerner, 2008). in many ways the assumptions of the pyd model parallel assumptions set forth in the constructs of the positive psychology movement. positive psychology also accents the human strengths. like the pyd model, positive psychology is the study of the conditions and processes that contribute to the flourishing or optimal functioning of people, groups, and institutions (gable & haidt, 2005). it means that the pyd model should have a great value for adolescents’ developmental trajectories and for the community. to follow are some insights on the similarities of the model to the individual psychology of alfred adler. individual psychology interventions and lerner’s 5c’s model approach lerner’s pyd model views adoles cence through the lens of system theories and thereby proposes that one should view the process throughout the life span and that adolescent behavior is a product of the individuals and world. it is a holistic approach similar to individual psychology. the model also emphasizes the important of the adolescent to feel empowered and to cooperate with others (lerner & lerner, 2008). this is similar with adler’s thoughts about social interest. it also emphasizes importance of collaboration among human beings. the healthy individual is the one who lives in society and works for its benefit. whether he wants it or not, society derives a certain advantage from his 40 tija krišč¡ūnaitė, roy kern work. development of social interest is very important for the individual’s well-being, because group life proved to be a necessity (ansbacher & ansbacher, 1956). it alone enabled man, through a division of labor, to solve problems in which individual as such would have been condemned to failure. the importance of encouragement and empowerment is also mentioned: “if a child is to draw together his powers and overcome his difficulties, there must be a goal for his movements outside of himself, a goal based on interest in reality, interest in others, and interest in cooperation.” – (ansbacher & ansbacher, 1956). in the pyd model, relationships with others are also viewed as one of significant factors for youth mental health. relations between the developing individual and the multiple levels of his or her context are believed to be the basic processes of development. this is similar to one of the major assumptions of individual psychology that the life style of a child is strongly influenced by his experience in his family, and later in broader social context outside the home, in school, work and other social settings. both models of adolescent behavior emphasize that healthy, positive development is an outcome of the bidirectional, person-context system (zimmerman & phelps et al., 2008). therefore, successful adolescent development can be promoted by making a supportive environment for adolescents. it can be realized by intervention programs for adolescents. interventions programs for adolescents based on the principles of individual psychology and learner’s 5 c models also have much in common. the main interventions of pyd are based on what the author refers to the “five cs” model (see the table 1). table 1. comparison of basic concepts of adler’s individual psychology based interventions and lerner’s pyd model 5 c’s theorist a. adler l. lerner model e 5 groups crucial cs 5 c groups basic concepts of theory/ model education capability competence equality courage character empowerment self-worth confidence empathy belongingness connection encouragement encouragement compassion aims of psycho-educational models social interest social interest contribution (6 c sum of 5 cs) international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 41 2014, 14, 29–50 p. the five cs, proposed by the author, state that these five characteristics enable an adolescent to make an optimal, or idealized, transition to the adult world. such a youth will become a generative adult, a person who simultaneously makes productive contributions to himor herself, to family and community. from these five cs the author proposes that the individual will develop a sixth c which involves contributing to society (lerner & alberts, et al., 2006). the crucial cs model proposed by bettner (bettner & lew, 1989; cit. acc. bettner & shifron, 2003) is very similar to lerner’s “five c” model. the crucial cs model is based on adler’s writings. it emphasizes a person’s self-worth, the person’s ability to connect and feel capable, feel important and confident in his/her abilities. it also encourages adolescents to use they creative potentiality. this model can be taught to children, adolescents and adults (bettner & lew, 1989, cit. acc. bettner & shifron, 2003). the basic aim of this model is to help adolescents develop coping and development skills based on each of the critical cs. when comparing the lerner cs and critical cs many similarities could be seen. for example, “i believe i have a place or i belong” is similar to lerner’s c of connection “i believe that i can do it”, which is capable in crucial c model. this is identical to lerner’s c of competence. it means a positive view of one’s actions in specific areas, including social, academic, cognitive, health, and vocational. social competence refers to interpersonal skills (e.g., conflict resolution). academic competence refers to school performance as shown, in part, by school grades, attendance, and test scores. cognitive competence refers to cognitive abilities (e.g., decision making). health competence involves using nutrition, exercise, and rest to keep oneself fit. vocational competence involves work habits and explorations of career choices (lerner & lerner, 2008). this is a broad definition of competence in that it includes all parts of life, and appears to be broader than bettner’s and lew’s (1989) model. it fits well, however, with adler’s view of creativity, because to be capable or, in other words, have competences means to have the courage to do things in a different way (shifron & bettner, 2003). it also means managing one’s environment and pursuing individual goals. the critical c of “i believe i can make a difference”. is similar to lerner’s c of confidence which is described as an internal sense of overall positive self-worth and self-efficacy. “i believe i can handle it” becomes courage. courage could be viewed as lerner’s character and compassion/caring which 42 tija krišč¡ūnaitė, roy kern means respect for societal and cultural norms, possession of standards for correct behaviors, a sense of right and wrong (morality), and integrity and a sense of sympathy and empathy for others. this is like adler’s view of social interest. the person’s ability to be empathetic depends on the level he/she has of social interest (ansbacher & ansbacher, 1956). the person needs courage in order to be productive and to adapt well in society. development of social interest without courage is impossible. both of these models are considered as cornerstones of emotional wellbeing of adolescents (lew, 2002; gestsdottir & lerner, 2007). when one or more of the crucial cs is missing, feelings of discouragement emerge. these feelings interfere with development of social interest. you cannot be available to others when you are feeling alienated, unnecessary or inferior. with courage, children are more likely to develop respect for self and others and find creative solutions to various problems. encouraged adolescents know how to contribute to others from their “private treasures” (strengths), and thus feel a part of the group. the task of the adult is to trigger the youngster’s talents and to show them how they are needed and can contribute to their families, friends, schools and communities (shifron & bettner, 2003). there are other interventions based on adlerian principles that can be used for adolescent empowerment and promotion of mental health. research on the pyd emphasizes the importance of empowerment for healthy adolescents’ development (scales & benson et al., 2011; russell & muraco et al., 2009; travis & ausbrooks, 2012). an adlerian based intervention created by two individuals in north america has a similar focus. the e5 group intervention created by w. wingett and a. milliren (2008) also highlights the value of empowerment. personal empowerment to meet the challenges in life occurs in the group atmosphere characterized by equality, empathy, encouragement and education. in this model like lerner’s five c, adolescents are viewed as active agents who can solve the challenges of living and create solutions to their problems. it can be done more effectively and efficiently if adolescents have an accurate understanding of themselves, their assets, strengths, and resources and know how to use them to improve the quality of their lives and thus, the lives of others. this model also is very similar with lerner’s five cs and theoretical base of positive youth development. in the context of the e5 groups, “empowerment” is defined as the process international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 43 2014, 14, 29–50 p. of increasing personal and interpersonal potential to create the opportunity for individuals to improve their life situations because they are creative and can do it. people need to be able to move from a sense of “can’t do” to a sense of “can and will do”. these adlerian principles of e5 are similar to lerner’s c of competence. it includes abilities of finding creative solutions in problematic area of life. c of confidence is expressed when people can understand themselves and others in a realistic fashion by focusing on their strengths and inner resources. in this way people can be able to meet the challenges of living. the e5 group model emphasizes the principle of equality. equality here is defined as different people having the same status and being treated in the same way within a group setting, particularly in the areas of respect and dignity. empathy demonstrates an understanding of the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of another individual or individuals as seen through their eyes. this fits with lerner’s c of connection when one’s feel a part of contributing human relationships. it is, like adler said, why people are socially embedded, they are social beings who want to belong, find their places in the world, and they want to develop a senses of meaning and significance. this is similar to the two lerner’s cs of character and caring for others. it means respecting societal and cultural rules, successful adaptation in society, and having morality norms (bowers & li et al., 2010). this fits with the definition of social interest, because social interest is also the successful adaptation to the challenges of living resulting in a self-perception of contribution, cooperation, and connection (wingett & milliren, 2008). though the e5 model is relatively new with no empirical research testimonials by past participants are encouraging. according to the authors, past participants indicate that they believe it enhances ways of developing social interest as well as problem solving skills in adolescents. w. wingett and a. milliren (2008) noticed that after e5 group participation individuals increased their ability to identify the assets, strengths, resources, and creativity of other individuals and themselves. group members actually became more focused on the positive and reported that they also improved in that capacity with friends and family members. it means that group members actually learn how to contribute to others by verbalizing the assets, strengths, resources, and creative abilities of other individuals. there is a tremendous feeling of empo44 tija krišč¡ūnaitė, roy kern werment and self-worth as one hears the list of strengths read to them. group members experience an environment of social equality based on empathic listening and positive feedback. because group members encourage others and are encouraged by others, they develop a skill that can be incorporated in all areas of life such as work or school, friends, and family. as a result, e5 group participation helps to provide members with an increased sense of connection with other people. though reports by the authors of the benefits of the group model are positive, the model at this point lacks an empirical base. discussion and conclusions a review of the literature indicated there are a number of psychoeducational programs that have been developed for adolescents. our review indicated that a number of these programs have some empirical base but with little theoretical base to anchor their findings. we have attempted to build the case that a number of these programs, and one in particular, could be enriched by reviewing the way the principles of individual psychology are quite similar to principles expanded in their programs and maybe of value to support their programs in the future. to demonstrate this idea we chose one of the most known current psychoeducational programs for adolescents and propose its similarity to constructs developed many years ago by alfred adler. analysis of literature revealed, that lerner’s five c model has much in common with adlerian interventions for adolescents. two basic conclusions could be made. first, many of the contemporary models used to create adolescents development programs, we believe, have their base in individual psychology. second, a number of the so called new directions of psychology science are not that different from the ideas proposed by adler many years ago. this means that adler was possibly closest to the “truth” about human development. our literature review poses the following question. could it be that something labeled as “new and original” by some authors of psycho-educational programs may simply be a case that they are not completely cognizant of one or more theoretical positions developed many years ago? for example, adler’s theory and techniques related to individual psychology were developed many years before lerner’s 5 c model but our analysis of the international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 45 2014, 14, 29–50 p. model demonstrated a large number of overlapping principles. we propose there is nothing wrong to use “old” ideas for creating and finding really new things, but still, it should be documented or referenced from where the initial ideas have evolved. it does, however, support that the theory of individual psychology has merit in that a current psycho-educational model for adolescents has so much in common with the theory developed many years ago. recommendations it is proposed that the practitioners consider the value of the theory of individual psychology when creating psycho-educational interventions with adolescents. keeping in mind individual psychology concepts and principles of human development programs for adolescents could be made more efficacious by orientating activities in the group into promotion of self-esteem and changing a person’s life style by reconstructing his/her primary experience and world view into a more positive one. second, a research based theory like individual psychology may provide practitioners and researches with a strong theoretical base to measure some of the constructs being taught in the psycho-educational programs. to conclude, programs and principles discussed in this article could be used as a basis for promoting adolescents’ mental health by use in individual and group settings. we propose that careful analysis of classical theories and contemporary psychological models should be integrated so as to promote a deeper understanding of adolescent personality and human behavior. the similarities revealed in this article between individual psychology and psycho-educational interventions could be used to plan research related to effective interventions for adolescents in the future. we propose that regardless of the proposed program a strong theoretical base is paramount to promote not only the mental health of participants but also provide researches with ways of empirically promoting evidenced based findings in the future. 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(2008), positive and negative developmental trajectories in u.s. adolescents: where the positive youth de velopment perspective meets the deficit model, research in human development, 5 (3), 153–165. wingett, w., & milliren, a. (2008), psycho-educational e5 groups for use in schools, the journal of individual psychology, 64 (4), 494–507; watts, r. e. (2000), entering the new millenium: is individual psychology still relevant?, the journal of individual psychology, 56 (1), 21–32. 50 tija krišč¡ūnaitė, roy kern psichoedukacinės intervencinės programos paaugliams tija kriščiūnaitė mykolo romerio universitetas, lietuva roy m. kern vytauto didžiojo universitetas, lietuva santrauka. įvadas. paauglystė dažnai yra siejama su įvairiais iššūkiais ir sunkumais. tai laikotarpis, kuomet paaugliai susiduria su įvairiais pokyčiais, kurie sukelia stresą, o tai gali neigiamai paveikti jų psichinę sveikatą ir gerovę. psichoedukacinės grupės paaugliams yra vienas iš būdų, galinčių padėti įveikti su pokyčiais susijusius sunkumus ir įgyti gyvenimo įgūdžių. egzistuoja daugybė įvairių gyvenimo įgūdžių ugdymo programų, skirtų padėti paaugliams įveikti kylančius gyvenimo iššūkius. šių programų kūrėjai tvirtina, kad jos yra paremtos naujais ir šiuolaikiškais metodais, atitinkančiais paauglių poreikius. tačiau pažvelgus atidžiau galima pastebėti daugybę panašumų, susijusių su individualiosios psichologijos konstruktais, kurie a. adlerio teorijoje egzistavo jau prieš daugelį metų. tyrimo tikslas. šios literatūros apžvalgos tikslas yra palyginti individualiosios psichologijos principus su daugelyje psichoedukacinėse programose paaugliams naudojamais konstruktais, skiriant ypatingą dėmesį šiandien vis populiarėjančiam lernerio pozityvios jaunimo raidos modeliui. metodika. siekiant atskleisti panašumus tarp individualiosios psichologijos principų ir šiuolaikinių psichoedukacinių programų paaugliams buvo atlikta literatūros apžvalga. rezultatai ir išvados. literatūros analizė atskleidė, kad daugybė teorinių lernerio pozityvios jaunimo raidos modelio konstruktų ir kitų psichoedukacinių programų principų buvo pasiūlyti prieš daugelį metų adlerio ir jo pasekėjų. taip pat buvo apžvelgtos psichoedukacinės programos paaugliams, paremtos individualiosios psichologijos principais. individualiosios psichologijos teoriniai principai gali būti naudojami kaip perspektyvi teorinė bazė, pagrindžiant psichoedukacinės programas paaugliams. tačiau, nepaisant intervencijose naudojamų modelių, reikalingi tolimesni tyrimai, pagrindžiantys psichoedukacinių programų paaugliams efektyvumą. pagrindiniai žodžiai: paauglystė, intervencinės programos, pozityvioji psichologija, individualioji psichologija. received: 07-18-2013 accepted: 07-04-2014 psichologijos_zurnalas_21.indd the importance of social trust for the predic tion of well-being of lithuanians and lithuanian emigr ants rasa markšaitytė1, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, laura šeibokaitė, auksė endriulaitienė vytautas magnus university, lithuania abstract. objective. recent studies have confirmed that social trust is one of the most important correlates of well-being in different populations and contexts. however, there is a lack of research on this relationship in the context of migration. therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the importance of several social trust indicators for well-being of lithuanians and lithuanian emigrants and to compare this relationship in both groups taking into account their social and demographic characteristics. methods. one thousand two hundred and nine lithuanians (52.2 % lithuanian emigrants; 19.9 % males) participated in the cross-sectional online survey on a voluntary basis. emotional, social, and psychological well-being was measured using the short form of mental health continuum questionnaire (mhc-sf, keyes, 2009). the sense of general trust in people and social trust in different governmental and public institutions was measured using 12 separate questions based on the european social survey. results. lithuanian emigrants reported higher trust in institutions and higher emotional, social, and psychological well-being; meanwhile, non-migrants had higher general trust in people compared to emigrants. higher trust in various institutions was an important factor in the prediction of higher emotional, social, and psychological well-being of lithuanian emigrants and of higher psychological well-being of lithuanians who stayed in their home country. emotional and social well-being of non-migrants was explained by higher general trust in people, higher trust in institutions and higher levels of family income. social trust variables showed the highest predictive value in all regression models. conclusion. thus, social trust (especially trust in institutions) is an important predictor of well-being in lithuanians and lithuanian emigrants. keywords: trust in people; trust in institutions; emotional well-being, social well-being; psychological well-being; emigrants. international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2017 / 21 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.21.4 scientific publications 1 address for correspondence: rasa markšaitytė, vytautas magnus university, department of psychology. address: jonavos g. 66-328, lt-44191, kaunas, lithuania. rasa.marksaityte@vdu.lt https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.21.4 mailto:rasa.marksaityte@vdu.lt 72 rasa markšaitytė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, laura šeibokaitė, auksė endriulaitienė introduc tion the relationship between social trust and well-being is a relatively new topic in scientific literature. nevertheless, over the past decade, social trust has been confirmed to be one of the most important positive correlates of well-being in different populations and contexts (agampodi, agampodi, glozier, & siribaddana, 2015; algan & cahuc, 2013; hamilton, helliwell, & woolcock, 2016; helliwell, huang, & wang, 2014, 2016b; helliwell & putnam, 2004; helliwell & wang, 2011; hudson, 2006; lucchini, bella, & crivelli, 2015; mironova, 2015; portela, neira, & del mar salinas-jiménez, 2013; rodríguez-pose & von berlepsch, 2014), sometimes even more important than economic or financial wealth (algan & cahuc, 2013; helliwell et al., 2016b; helliwell & wang, 2011; ram, 2010). moreover, helliwell and colleagues (2011, 2014) as well as rodríguezpose and von berlepsch (2014) concluded that high social trust determines the rise in well-being at both individual and national levels, but not vice versa. thus, it seems that such research results implicate a rather obvious conclusion for all governments and all policy makers: building up trust and stronger social ties in the communities would bring economic growth to the countries and personal happiness to their citizens. still, this recommendation should be regarded with some caution. firstly, the importance of social trust to well-being was found to be stronger and more important in high trust (elgar et al., 2011; helliwell et al., 2016b; poortinga, 2006) and high income countries (calvo, zheng, kumar, olgiati, & berkman, 2012; ram, 2010; yip et al., 2007), whereas in the countries of low income, higher income predicted well-being better than trust (ram, 2010). secondly, most of the studies reported in this article were conducted in the countries of western europe (e.g. elgar et al., 2011; lucchini et al., 2015; poortinga, 2006), north and south america (e.g. agampodi et al., 2015; bjørnskov, 2008; ram, 2010), or asia (e.g. meng & chen, 2014; yamaoka, 2008), while the research on social trust and well-being in eastern european and especially in post-soviet countries is still lacking. as social trust is a two-dimensional phenomenon that encompasses general trust in the people of the society where one lives and trust in various governmental, political or public institutions of the country (helliwell et al., 2016b, 2016c; mironova, 2015; portela et al., 2013; sarracino, 73 2017, 21, 71–92 p.the impor tance of social trust for the prediction of well-being of lithuanians and lithuanian emigrants 2010), usually post-soviet societies are described as less trusting both in people and local institutions (algan & cahuc, 2013; bjørnskov, 2007; mironova, 2015). the repressive communist regime in these countries ruined the fundamental organization of the society and later high rates of corruption, unstable development of economy and different societal transitions increased inequalities and continued disrupting peoples’ trust in each other and their new governments after the regime collapsed (bjørnskov, 2007; woolfson, 2010). authors report that income inequality is the most important factor for the decrease of social trust (bjørnskov, 2007; helliwell et al., 2016b; ram, 2010; rothstein & uslaner, 2005), which is especially relevant to most eastern european countries (bjørnskov, 2007) and to lithuania as a post-communist society. taking into consideration that social trust is also culture dependent (algan & cahuc, 2013; dinesen, 2011, 2012; helliwell et al., 2016b, 2016c; herreros & criado, 2009; hudson, 2006; uslaner, 2008), the analysis of the specifics of the relationship between social trust and well-being in separate eastern european countries becomes very important. furthermore, developing economies in low or middle income countries are characterized by lower levels of well-being too (ram, 2010). lithuanians report not only low levels of social trust (algan & cahuc, 2013; bjørnskov, 2007; sarvutyte & streimikiene, 2010; valickas & justickis, 2004), but also satisfaction with life, which in lithuania also remains very low compared to other neighbouring countries (diener, oishi, & lucas, 2003; helliwell, huang, & wang, 2015; measuring and reporting on europeans’ wellbeing, 2015; polgreen & simpson, 2011; second european quality of life survey, 2010; woolfson, 2010). to be sure, limited improvement in subjective well-being and some of the lowest welfare indicators in europe are not in line with the country’s rather successful economic development during the last decades (rakauskienė & lisauskaitė, 2015). moreover, helliwell and colleagues (2015) reported a decrease in subjective happiness which lithuania underwent in 2012–2014 compared to 2005–2007, while an increase of subjective evaluation of life was observed in neighbouring countries with similar societal and economic conditions. lithuania has experienced very high rates of emigration – still the highest among all european countries (ambrozaitienė, 2009; ratha, eigen-zucchi, & plaza, 2016; sipavičienė, 2006; sipavičienė & stankūnienė, 74 rasa markšaitytė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, laura šeibokaitė, auksė endriulaitienė 2013). according to official statistics, approximately 940,000 lithuanians have emigrated to live and/or work abroad since 1990, which constitutes up to 25.4 % of the country’s total population in the 1990s (sipavičienė & stankūnienė, 2013). on average, 44,200 lithuanians per year have declared their emigration during the last six years. although it was expected that emigration would decrease after 2010, unfortunately the numbers are still on the rise: 36,600 people emigrated in 2014, followed by 44,500 in 2015, and 50,300 in 2016. the most popular destinations for emigration remain the same: 42–49 % of lithuanian emigrants choose the united kingdom, up to 15 % emigrate to ireland, and approximately 5–7 % choose norway or germany as their destination countries (migration department of the republic of lithuania, 2017; statistics lithuania, 2017). the high emigration rates cannot be explained only by economic factors and could also be seen as indicators of dissatisfaction with life in lithuania. migrants themselves declare the desire to improve their quality of life as the main reason for their migration as well (frank, hou, & schellenberg, 2016; groenewold, de bruijn, & bilsborrow, 2006; ivlevs, 2015; kalir, 2005; kasnauskienė, 2006; mara, & landesmann, 2013; massey et al., 2007). additionally, migration is usually directed towards countries of higher prosperity and wealth. recent studies have shown that emigrants are happier and report higher well-being after migration compared to their home populations (fanninh, haase, & o‘boyle, 2011; frank et al., 2016; helliwell, bonikowska, & shiplett, 2016a; measuring and reporting on europeans’ wellbeing, 2015; melzer, 2011; nowok, van ham, findlay, & gayle, 2013; stillman, gibson, mckenzie, & rohorua, 2015; tabor & milfont, 2011). this is especially valid for work migrants (switek, 2016) and those who migrated from low or middle “happy” countries (helliwell et al., 2016a). meanwhile, the analysis of satisfaction with life scores between immigrants and host country populations revealed no differences (frank et al., 2016; helliwell et al., 2016a; senik, 2014). in addition, host countries are usually characterized by higher social trust with higher support for fair and well-run governmental institutions, clearly functioning political or social systems, greater social support and ethnic diversity (herreros & criado, 2009), which also creates the conditions for the increase in the emigrants’ well-being. however, in that case it is difficult to explain the contradiction that migrants from low trust countries bring their mistrust to host societies (the migration footprint 75 2017, 21, 71–92 p.the impor tance of social trust for the prediction of well-being of lithuanians and lithuanian emigrants effect for trust is about one-third that of the effect of local conditions; dinesen, 2012; helliwell et al., 2016c; herreros & criado, 2009) and consequently should not achieve higher well-being, when in actuality immigrants report the same levels of trust (helliwell et al., 2016c) as well as an increase of well-being after migration. of course, the trust in political and public institutions is mainly influenced by the quality of these institutions in the host country and the footprint effect in this case is not observed (helliwell et al., 2016b, 2016c; hudson 2006; ivlevs, 2015; portela et al., 2013). still, this relationship between social trust and wellbeing remains unexplored in the context of migration. thus, this study aimed to evaluate the importance of several social trust indicators for the well-being of lithuanians and lithuanian emigrants and to compare this relationship in both groups taking into account their social and demographic characteristics. based on previous research we hypothesize that lithuanian emigrants would report higher levels of well-being as well as higher institutional trust, meanwhile their general trust in people would be similar to the levels of general trust in lithuania. on the other hand, the emigrants’ general trust in people might be dependent on the duration of their residence in the host country with no differences for short term migration and higher trust for longer periods of living abroad. it is expected that both types of higher social trust together with higher income would predict higher well-being in lithuanian emigrants and non-migrants. the last issue that should be addressed in this article is the understanding of well-being. it has to be stated that different concepts such as happiness (e.g. algan & cahuc, 2013; frank et al., 2016; helliwell, et al., 2014; 2016b; helliwell & putnam, 2004; hudson, 2006; mota, pereira, 2008; nowok et al., 2013; ram, 2010; stillman et al., 2015), satisfaction with life (e.g. elgar et al., 2011; frank et al., 2016; helliwell et al., 2016a, 2016b; ivlevs, 2015; lucchini et al., 2015; mara & landesmann, 2013; mironova, 2015; mota & pereira, 2008; ram, 2010), subjective well-being (e.g. helliwell et al., 2016a; nowok et al., 2013; stillman et al., 2015; yip et al., 2007) and sometimes even mental health (e.g. agampodi et al., 2015; elgar et al., 2011; meng & chen, 2014; poortinga, 2006; stillman et al., 2015; yamaoka, 2008; yip et al., 2007) were used synonymously as indicators of well-being in all studies reported above. usually all these phenomena were measured using separate questions that represent 76 rasa markšaitytė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, laura šeibokaitė, auksė endriulaitienė the cognitive and emotional evaluation of the individuals’ overall satisfaction with their life (diener, 2000; diener et al., 2002; frank et al., 2016). however, some studies report that well-being is a multidimensional construct (keyes & lopez, 2002; measuring and reporting on europeans’ wellbeing, 2015). thus in this study we employ the concept of keyes and lopez (2002) and measure three separate (although correlated; linley, maltby, wood, osborne, & hurling, 2009; mcdowell, 2010) aspects of well-being: (1) emotional well-being, which reflects positive affect, satisfaction with life as a whole, and feeling of interest; (2) social well-being, which covers positive attitude towards society, social acceptance and social contribution; and (3) psychological well-being, which refers to such dimensions as positive relations with others, purpose in life, selfacceptance, and personal growth. it is expected that trust in people and especially institutional trust would be more important for emotional and social well-being compared to psychological well-being regardless of individual experience of migration. to summarize, the aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between social trust and emotional, social, and psychological well-being in lithuanian emigrants and non-migrants when controlling for sociodemographic characteristics. three hypotheses are tested here: first, lithuanian emigrants reported higher level of social trust (institutional and interpersonal) and well-being. second, trust in institutions and people, together with the income, explain the higher levels of well-being in lithuanian emigrants and non-migrants. third, the role of trust in institutions and people will be more important for emotional and social well-being rather than for psychological well-being in both emigrant and non-migrant groups. me thods sample and procedure one thousand two hundred and nine lithuanians (aged from 18 till 70 years) participated in the cross-sectional self-reported online survey on a voluntary basis. the snowball method was used to invite respondents to participate in the study via social networks (e.g facebook, 77 2017, 21, 71–92 p.the impor tance of social trust for the prediction of well-being of lithuanians and lithuanian emigrants twitter etc.) as well as invitation letters to the registered communities of lithuanian emigrants in different countries. the total sample consisted of 631 (52.2 %) lithuanian emigrants and 578 (47.8 %) respondents living in lithuania. two hundred and forty males (mean age m = 33.11 years, sd = 9.95) and 969 females (mean age m = 34.42 years, sd = 10.42) participated in the study. however, the study sample is not representative compared to the population: according to statistics lithuania (2017), men constitutes 54.6 % of the lithuanian emigrant population and 46 % of the population living in lithuania, while only 20 % of the study sample were males. furthermore, study participants might be younger compared to the population, as 57.8 % of the participants were aged from 18 to 34, while the same age group makes up less than 50 % of the country’s population. although the gender and age structure of the participants does not correspond to population indicators, no gender (χ2 = .253, p = .615) or age (t = -.707, p = .432) differences between the lithuanian emigrants and non-migrants participating in the study were found. thus, the conclusions about the links between study variables in both groups would be valid, but their generalisability would be limited. four hundred and forty-four (70.4 %) lithuanian emigrants and 340 (59.0 %) non-migrants were married or had a partner (χ2 = 17.001, p < .001). two hundred and eighty-two (45.1 %) emigrants and 208 (36.6 %) respondents in lithuania had under-aged children (χ2 = 8.883, p = .003). three hundred and ninety-one (62.0 %) lithuanian emigrants and 436 (75.6 %) non-migrants reported university education (χ2 = 25.811, p < .001). 78.9 % of the respondents (503 emigrants and 450 non-emigrants; χ2 = 0.714, p = .438) indicated having a paid job. lithuanian emigrants reported living in 25 different countries; however, the largest number of them were from norway (32.0 %), the uk (29.1 %), denmark (7.5 %) and ireland (5.6 %). it should be noted here that this distribution represents the principal migration destinations from lithuania, but the participation from norway is overrepresented in this sample (compared to 7 % of all lithuanian emigrants) and participation from the united kingdom is underrepresented (compared to 47 % of all lithuanian emigrants) (migration department of the republic of lithuania, 2017; statistics lithuania, 2017). the duration of the 78 rasa markšaitytė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, laura šeibokaitė, auksė endriulaitienė residence in a foreign country ranged from .5 to 24 years (mean length m = 6.00 years, sd = 4.42). measures the short form of mental health continuum questionnaire (mhc-sf, keyes, 2009) was used to measure the well-being of the study participants. the lithuanian translation of the instrument was adapted from the long version of the tool, which was translated into lithuanian with the authors’ permission (tukanaitė, 2009). this is a self-reported questionnaire which consists of 14 items scored on a five-point likert-type scale (ranging from 1 = “never” to 5 = “daily”) that measure three components of well-being: emotional well-being (3 items; e.g. “during the past month, how often did you feel interested in life?“; cronbach’s alpha .824); social well-being (5 items; e.g. “during the past month, how often did you feel that the way our society works made sense to you?“; cronbach’s alpha .797); and psychological well-being (6 items; e.g. “during the past month, how often did you feel that your life has a sense of direction or meaning to it?“; cronbach’s alpha .883). sense of social trust was measured with 12 separate questions based on the european social survey. three items were related to general trust in people (e.g. “most people can be trusted”; cronbach’s alpha .875) and 9 items referred to trust in different governmental, political, and public institutions (cronbach’s alpha .887): parliament, politicians, police, neighbours, colleagues, legal, healthcare, and educational systems in the country of present residence. all items were scored on the scale from 0 = “i do not trust at all” to 10 = “i totally trust”. higher scores of all scales reflect higher levels of well-being and trust. demographics included variables of gender, age, education level, family status (married/single), number of under-aged children, job status, family income, and duration of the residence in a foreign country. results the kolmogorov-smirnov test revealed that all scales differed significantly from normal distribution (value ranged from .076 to .173, 79 2017, 21, 71–92 p.the impor tance of social trust for the prediction of well-being of lithuanians and lithuanian emigrants p < .001), but skewness and kurtosis values all ranged from −1 to 1 (skewness value ranged from −.143 to −.946, kurtosis value ranged from −.053 to .897) therefore parametric statistics was used for all analyses. student’s t test was used in order to compare scores of social trust and well-being between lithuanian emigrants and those who stayed in lithuania (see table 1). emigrants reported lower trust in people and higher trust in governmental and public institutions in the country of current residence compared to non-migrants. moreover, lithuanian emigrants indicated higher levels of emotional, social and psychological well-being than natives in lithuania. table 1. descriptive statistics and differences between lithuanian emigrants and non-migrants in social trust and well-being. variables group n mean sd t p general trust in people emigrants 631 12.72 7.6 -7.222 < .001 non-migrants 576 15.61 6.3 trust in institutions emigrants 628 60.27 17.5 12.104 < .001 non-migrants 575 49.13 14.4 emotional well-being emigrants 620 11.75 2.2 6.489 < .001 non-migrants 567 10.87 2.4 social well-being emigrants 620 16.28 4.6 8.724 < .001 non-migrants 567 14.02 4.4 psychological well-being emigrants 620 23.69 4.7 5.889 < .001 non-migrants 567 22.09 4.7 afterwards, several linear regression analyses were conducted. all five regression models were significant (p < .001) and explained from 3.5 % to 11.5 % of the tested variables’ variance (see table 2). the regression analyses revealed that the same differences in social trust and well-being between emigrants and those who stayed in lithuania also remained significant when controlling for other socio-demographic variables. additionally, some socio-demographic variables were found to be important to the explanation of these differences. higher social trust in people was related to the fact of living in lithuania, older age, having high education and higher level of family income; conversely, higher trust in institutions was explained only by being an emigrant and 80 rasa markšaitytė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, laura šeibokaitė, auksė endriulaitienė higher levels of family income. being an emigrant, along with having under-aged children and higher family income, were significant predictors for higher emotional well-being. higher social well-being was related to older age and the same fact of being an emigrant and higher level of family income. the difference in psychological well-being was explained only by the place of current residence – the fact of being an emigrant. as the duration of residence in the host country might be related to social trust or well-being of emigrants, the correlations between these variables were calculated. contrary to the expectations, the results revealed no significant correlations between the years of emigration and general trust in people (r = .023, p = .630), trust in governmental and public institutions (r = -.010, p = .828), emotional (r = .042, p = .379), social (r = .005, p = .911) and psychological (r = .043, p = .364) well-being. table 2. linear regression models for predicting the differences between lithuanian emigrants and non-migrants in social trust and well-being when controlling for socio demographic variables. dependent variable predictors trust well-being in people r2 = .090** in institutions r2 = .115** emotional r2 = .056** social r2 = .075** psychological r2 = .035** beta beta beta beta beta group (non-migrants) .227** -.278** -.085* -.211** -.141** gender (female) .043 -.018 .043 .038 .054 age .159** .029 .025 .103** .050 family status (single) -.008 .027 -.050 .030 -.038 under-aged children (yes) -.010 .021 .062* .000 .016 education (high) .091** .012 -.046 .056 -.035 having paid job (no) .014 -.015 .015 -.006 -.004 family income .100** .094** .125** .085* .029 * p < .05; ** p < .01 81 2017, 21, 71–92 p.the impor tance of social trust for the prediction of well-being of lithuanians and lithuanian emigrants finally, the importance of general trust in people and trust in various institutions for the well-being of the study participants was analysed, taking into account their social and demographic characteristics. the linear regression models of emotional well-being for lithuanian emigrants and lithuanian non-migrants were significant (respectively f = 4.157; df = 10; p < .001 and f = 10.544; df = 9; p < .001), but the explanation value of the models was not high (8.9 % and 14.9 % of variance respectively; see table 3). higher emotional well-being of emigrants was explained by higher trust in institutions and the fact of having under-aged children. the emotional well-being of non-migrants was related to higher trust in different institutions as well as greater general trust in people and higher family income. the regression models for the prediction of social well-being revealed the highest explanation indicators (18.4 % for emigrants and 22.7 % for residents of lithuania) and were significant too: f = 9.674; df = 10; p < .001 and f = 17.570; df = 9; p < .001, respectively. better social well-being of lithuanian emigrants was found to be related to higher trust in governmental and public institutions and having a higher education. greater trust in various institutions together with greater trust in people, older age and higher family income showed significant predictive value for the higher social well-being in the group of lithuanian non-migrants (table 3). higher trust in various governmental and public institutions was an important correlate of higher psychological well-being of lithuanian emigrants (f = 2.651; df = 10; p = .004) as well as non-migrants (f = 7.002; df = 9; p < .001). additionally, the fact of being married (or in relationship) and not having a higher education explained the better levels of psychological well-being of the participants who lived in lithuania (table 3). however, the explanation value of both models was the lowest (only 5.8 % of the variance for lithuanian emigrants and 10.5 % of variance for lithuanians who stayed in their country). 82 rasa markšaitytė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, laura šeibokaitė, auksė endriulaitienė table 3. linear regression models for the explanation of social trust ’sto the well-being of lithuanian emigrants and non-migrants. dependent variable predictors emotional well-being social well-being psychological well-being lithuanian emigrants r2 = .089** non migrants r2 = .149** lithuanian emigrants r2 = .184** non migrants r2 = .227** lithuanian emigrants r2 = .058** nonmigrants r2 = .105** beta beta beta beta beta beta general trust in people -.005 .160** -.064 .202** -.015 .090 trust in institutions .242** .172** .400** .282** .215** .181** gender (female) .014 .035 .053 .005 .059 .048 age .047 -.027 .028 .104* .016 .020 family status (single) -.079 -.089 .020 -.008 .020 -.166** under-aged children (yes) .117* -.006 .036 -.025 .092 -.050 education (high) -.032 -.080 .160** -.036 .012 -.123** having a paid job (no) .012 .007 -.028 -.016 .007 -.036 family income -.027 .197** -.024 .136** .001 .071 duration of emigration .009 – .006 – .031 – * p < .05; ** p < .01 discussion studies on the impact of social capital and societal bonding in the community to the increase in subjective well-being have become of high interest in recent years and social trust was found to be one of the most important correlates in this relationship (agampodi et al., 2015; algan & cahuc, 2013; helliwell et al., 2016b; helliwell &wang, 2011; ram, 2010; etc.). thus, this study aimed to evaluate the importance of social trust to the emotional, social and psychological well-being of lithuanians and lithuanian emigrants and to compare this relationship in both groups, 83 2017, 21, 71–92 p.the impor tance of social trust for the prediction of well-being of lithuanians and lithuanian emigrants since there is a lack of research on this relationship in the context of migration. as expected, lithuanian emigrants reported higher institutional trust; however, their general trust in people was lower compared to nonmigrants. contradictory to the hypothesis, the emigrants’ general trust in people was not also linked to the duration of their residence in the host country. these results confirm the previous findings that trust in clearly functioning governmental or public institutions is more closely connected to the state policy towards its inhabitants and faster adaptation to different life circumstances than to general trust in people (algan & cahuc, 2013; delhey & newton, 2003, 2005; helliwell et al., 2016b, 2016c; hudson, 2006; uslaner, 2008). lithuanians have relatively low trust in governmental, political, or public institutions of their country (sarvutyte & streimikiene, 2010; valickas & justickis, 2004). the study also revealed lower institutional trust of non-migrants. in other words, the major problem of lithuanian society is low trust at macro level, but not the trust in the closest social environment. the unexpected difference in general trust in people by lithuanian emigrants and non-migrants might be related to different conditions that those two groups are in. research shows that those who belong to the majority of the country’s population are more trusting of people (delhey & newton, 2005; hooghe, reeskens, stolle, & trappers, 2009), and migrants are the minority, which usually faces various challenges of adaptation to a new country such as higher isolation and non-acceptance of locals, lower involvement in the community or neighbourhood, lower quality and quantity of social networks (fanning et al., 2011; helliwell & wang, 2011; tinghog, hemmingsson, & lundberg, 2007). furthermore, migrants usually have relatively low income compared to the locals (bask, 2005; denktas, koopmans, birnie, foets, & bonsel, 2009; tinghog et al., 2007), and this feeling of inequality might even diminish their trust in people, as income inequality was found to be a very important factor for low social trust, especially in high income countries (bjørnskov, 2007; helliwell et al., 2016b; ram, 2010; rothstein & uslaner, 2005). the importance of higher level of income for better general trust in people (as well as for trust in institutions) was also confirmed in this study. this research confirmed the previous findings that lithuanian emigrants report higher emotional, social, and psychological well-being 84 rasa markšaitytė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, laura šeibokaitė, auksė endriulaitienė compared to those who stayed in lithuania (fanning et al., 2011; frank et al., 2016; helliwell et al., 2016a; measuring and reporting on europeans’ wellbeing, 2015; melzer, 2011; nowok et al., 2013; stillman et al., 2015; switek, 2016; tabor & milfont, 2011); and these differences remain significant even after controlling for other socio-demographics. indeed, emigrational status was the most important factor determining the differences in well-being between lithuanian emigrants and nonmigrants; however, higher level of family income was found to be the second important variable for greater well-being in both groups. thus, these results confirm the idea that emigration (especially from low income countries) might help people to achieve higher well-being and better living conditions (helliwell et al., 2016b; melzer, 2011; stillman et al., 2015; switek, 2016). unfortunately, the study design prevents from identifying whether the well-being of emigrants really increased after their migration or if the emigrants from lithuania initially had higher levels of well-being and were more satisfied with their life (measuring and reporting on europeans’ wellbeing, 2015). taking into account the fact that migrants very often indicate the improvement of their well-being to be the most important reason for their migration (frank et al., 2016; groenewold et al., 2006; ivlevs, 2015; kalir, 2005; kasnauskienė, 2006; mara & landesmann, 2013; massey et al., 2007), it could be assumed that migrants might report high levels of well-being just to justify their migration (even regardless of their real-life circumstances). nevertheless, these study results confirm the idea that lithuanian emigrants have a more positive psychological portrait compared to those who stayed in lithuania (šeibokaitė, endriulaitienė, & markšaitytė, 2009a, 2009b). based on the literature review, it was hypothesized that greater general trust in people and trust in institutions together with higher income would predict better emotional, social, and perhaps psychological well-being in both lithuanian emigrants and non-migrants. however, the results confirmed quite different and contradictory prediction models in both groups. higher emotional (satisfaction with life as a whole), social (positive social acceptance and contribution to the society), and psychological (feelings of self-acceptance, personal growth) well-being of lithuanian emigrants was predicted by greater trust in various governmental and public institutions, but not by general trust in people or income level. these results show that clearly functioning governmental, 85 2017, 21, 71–92 p.the impor tance of social trust for the prediction of well-being of lithuanians and lithuanian emigrants political, or public institutions provide better social support to their users, people gain a better understanding of their responsibilities and opportunities, consequently, trust in these institutions increases, and this is the reason why emigrants start feeling better. moreover, lithuanian emigrants live in high-trust countries where the importance of other variables (except trust) for well-being decreases (elgar et al., 2011; helliwell et al., 2016b; poortinga, 2006) and emigrants adopt the values and views of the host country. as expected, higher emotional and social well-being of lithuanians living in their home country was explained by higher trust in institutions, higher general trust in people and higher levels of family income. the results confirmed previous findings that income, not only social trust, is a very important variable for the explanation of well-being in low income countries (agampodi et al., 2015; helliwell et al., 2016b; mota & pereira, 2008; ram, 2008; yip et al., 2007). additionally, locals probably expect more support from the entire society of their country as well as from the people around them, and consequently general trust in people is an important predictor of their well-being. higher psychological well-being of lithuanian non-migrants was predicted by greater degree of trust in governmental and public institutions, by the family status of “having a partner or spouse”, and (unexpectedly) by lower levels of education. this means that people in lithuania (especially those with high abilities and high expectations) see many institutional barriers to their self-actualization, goal achievement, and personal growth. thus, regression analysis also confirmed lower trust in lithuanian governmental, political, or public institutions and dissatisfaction with their malfunctioning (sarvutyte & streimikiene, 2010; valickas & justickis, 2004). summarising study results, it can be concluded that social trust variables, especially high trust in governmental, political, or public institutions, were found to be the most important predictors of well-being among other study variables, while income was the second significant predictor of well-being (when income showed any relevance). however, it should be noted that predictive values of all models were quite low: 5.8 – 22.7 percent of well-being variance. moreover, the models that predicted the well-being of lithuanians who lived in their home country had slightly higher predictive value compared to those that explained 86 rasa markšaitytė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, laura šeibokaitė, auksė endriulaitienė the well-being of lithuanian emigrants. thus, future research should include some other psychological variables that might be important to the relationship between social trust and well-being in the context of migration, especially personality traits (that might determine quite consistent differences in the evaluations of life circumstances) and work related variables (such as work related attitudes or satisfaction with work or an employer). besides, these results might be limited because the study sample is not representative, especially as lithuanian emigrants from norway are overrepresented and emigrants from the uk are underrepresented compared to official statistics. usually, norway has the highest indicators of social trust and well-being among all countries in the eu and the world, and the united kingdom is ranked in the 7-11 place in the same rankings (algan & cahuc, 2013; helliwell et al., 2015; measuring and reporting on europeans’ wellbeing, 2015). of course, this could have an impact on greater levels of social trust and well-being of the emigrants participating in the study. still, this impact should not be very high, as both norway and the uk belong to the same group of highest levels of either trust or well-being, whereas lithuania is usually much lower in the same rankings. thus, the results of this study represent the basic differences between lithuanian emigrants and non-migrants, even though the generalization of these results for the population level is limited. acknowledgment the study was funded by a grant from the research council of lithuania (grant no. mip-007/2013) for the project “psychological well-being of lithuanian emigrants and lithuanians living in lithuania: interaction of person and environment”. references agampodi, t. c., agampodi, s. b., glozier, n., & siribaddana, s. 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(2007). does social capital enhance health and well-being? evidence from rural china. social science & medicine, 64(1), 35–49. socialinio pasitikė jimo svarba lie tuvoje bei emigr acijoje gy venančių žmonių gerovei r asa markšait ytė, kristina žardeckaitė -matulaitienė, laura šeibokaitė, auksė endriulaitienė vytauto didžiojo universitetas, lietuva santrauka. tyrimo tikslas. pastaruoju metu nustatyta, kad socialinis pasitikėjimas yra vienas svarbiausių veiksnių, formuojančių gerovę skirtingose populiacijose ir įvairiomis sąlygomis. tačiau migracijos kontekste socialinio pasitikėjimo ir gerovės sąsajų tyrimų vis dar nepakanka. šiuo tyrimu siekiama įvertinti skirtingų socialinio pasitikėjimo rodiklių svarbą lietuvos gyventojų ir lietuvių emigrantų gerovei, atsižvelgiant į socialines ir demografines tiriamųjų charakteristikas. tyrimo metodai. tyrime dalyvavo 1209 lietuviai (52,2  % iš jų buvo lietuviai emigrantai; 19,9  % buvo vyrai), tiriamųjų apklausa vyko internetu. emocinė, socialinė ir psichologinė gerovė matuota trumpąja psichikos sveikatos kontinuumo skale (mhc-sf, keyes, 2009). socialiniam pasitikėjimui žmonėmis ir pasitikėjimui institucijomis įvertinti, remiantis europos socialiniu tyrimu, buvo pasirinkta 12 klausimų. rezultatai. emigracijoje gyvenantys lietuviai labiau pasitikėjo įvairiomis institucijomis, jų emocinė, socialinė ir psichologinė gerovė buvo aukštesnė nei likusių gyventi lietuvoje, o pastarieji, lyginant su lietuviais emigrantais, nurodė stipresnį socialinį pasitikėjimą žmonėmis. aukštesnė emocinė, socialinė ir psichologinė emigrantų gerovė, taip pat ir aukštesnė psichologinė lietuvos 92 rasa markšaitytė, kristina žardeckaitė-matulaitienė, laura šeibokaitė, auksė endriulaitienė gyventojų gerovė buvo susijusi su stipresniu pasitikėjimu įvairiomis institucijomis. aukštesnę emocinę ir socialinę lietuvos gyventojų gerovę paaiškino stipresnis pasitikėjimas žmonėmis, stipresnis pasitikėjimas institucijomis ir didesnės šeimos pajamos. visuose regresijos modeliuose socialinio pasitikėjimo rodiklių aiškinamoji vertė buvo didžiausia. išvada. socialinis pasitikėjimas (o ypač pasitikėjimas įvairiomis institucijomis) yra svarbus lietuvos gyventojų ir emigrantų gerovės veiksnys. reikšminiai žodžiai: pasitikėjimas žmonėmis, pasitikėjimas institucijomis, emocinė gerovė, socialinė gerovė, psichologinė gerovė, emigrantai. received: 15 10 2017 accepted: 05 12 2017 71 mokslo straipsniai issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.14.4 motinų ir kūdikių sąveikų ir motinų asmenybės savybių ryšys r aminta vaiciukevičė 1 mykolo romerio universitetas danguolė čekuolienė, roma jusienė vilniaus universitetas santrauka. problema. pastaruosius keletą dešimtmečių atlikti gausūs tyrimai ir praktinės studijos nekelia abejonių ankstyvojo motinos ir jos kūdikio ryšio svarba vėlesnei raidai, sėkmingam psichologiniam ir socialiniam funkcionavimui (degnan, henderson, fox, rubin, 2008). analizuota ir aprašyta daugybė šio ryšio kokybę aiškinančių veiksnių. tačiau motinos asmenybės savybės, kurios yra vienas stabiliausių asmenybę, taigi ir elgesio ir sąveikų modelius, nusakančių konstruktų, tyrinėtos nepakankamai. todėl šiame tyrime ir siekėme aiškintis motinų–kūdikių sąveikų ir motinų asmenybės savybių sąsajas. metodika. tyrime dalyvavo 26 motinų ir kūdikių poros. motinų asmenybės bruožai vertinti, remiantis neo -ffi klausimynu (costa, mccrae, 1999). motinų ir kūdikių sąveikos – stebėjimo metodu, koduojant filmuotą medžiagą laisvo žaidi mo ir bendros užduoties metu. kodavimo sistema sudaryta orientuojantis į keturis motinų ir kūdikių sąveikas apibūdinančius konstruktus: 1) motinų vadovavimas kūdikių dėmesiui (tomasello, 1992); 2) motinų bendradarbiavimas (pagal m. d. ainsworth (1969) motinų jautrumo skalę); 3) motinų grįžtamasis ryšys (lewis, 1993); 4) motinų emocinis tonas. tyrimo rezultatai. motinų neurotiškumo bruožas teigiamai siejosi su tuo, kaip motinos seka kūdikių dėmesį bei su motinų teigiamu grįžtamuoju ryšiu. motinų ekstraversijos bruožas teigiamai siejosi su kūdikių dėmesio nukreipimu laisvo žaidimo metu, neigiamai siejosi su motinų džiugiu ir teigiamai su motinų irzliu emociniu tonu bendros užduoties metu. motinų sąmoningumo bruožas neigiamai siejosi su motinų verbaliniu bendradarbiavimu ir teigiamu grįžtamuoju ryšiu bendros užduoties metu. motinų atvirumo bruožas neigiamai siejosi su motinų verbaliniu trukdymu ir teigiamai su jų džiugiu emociniu tonu laisvo žaidimo metu. remiantis šio tyrimo rezultatais, galime patvirtinti keltas prielaidas, jog motinų individualios asmenybės savybės siejasi su jų bendravimu su vaikais. pagrindiniai žodžiai: motinų asmenybės bruožai, motinų ir kūdikių sąveikos, ankstyvųjų santykių raida. 1 adresas susirašinėjimui: socialinių technologijų fakultetas, mykolo romerio universitetas, ateities g. 20, lt-08303 vilnius, tel. nr. +370 610 67047, el. p. raminta@seimospsichologija.lt. 72 raminta vaiciukevičė, danguolė čekuolienė, roma jusienė įvadas pirmaisiais kūdikio gyvenimo metais labai svarbų vaidmenį vaidina motina ir bendravimas su ja. l. a. roggman ir kt. (2000) kėlė prielaidas, kad motinų ir kūdikių sąveikų kokybė siejasi su tolimesne jų tarpusavio santykių raida bei funkcionavimu. nepaisant to, kad motinų ir kūdikių sąveikos plačiai nagrinėjamos tyrimuose ir pripažįstama jų svarba kūdikio raidai, mažiau dėmesio skirta, kaip kai kurios individualios tėvų charakteristikos susijusios su kūdikių ir tėvų bendravimu bei atsispindi jų tarpusavio sąveikose. j. belsky (1984) vienas iš pirmųjų savo pasiūlytame tėvystės modelyje kėlė mintį apie tai, kad globėjų ir tėvų bendravimui su vaiku turi įtakos daug veiksnių: patys tėvai kaip individai (jų asmenybė), vaiko individualios charakteristikos bei platesnis socialinis kontekstas, kuriame atsiduria tėvų ir vaiko santykiai (pvz., sutuoktinių tarpusavio santykiai, jų socialinis tinklas, profesija). kaip vieną svarbiausių veiksnių autorius išskyrė tėvų asmenybę. remiantis šiuo modeliu atlikta nemažai tyrimų ieškant sąsajų tarp motinų asmenybės savybių ir jų vaikų auklėjimo. daugelyje jų motinų asmenybė vertinama remiantis penkių faktorių modeliu (angl. five factor model), kuriame išskiriami penki asmenybės bruožai: neurotiškumas, ektraversija, sutarumas, sąmoningumas ir atvirumas (costa, mccrae, 1999). tyrimuose randama, kad skirtingi motinų asmenybės bruožai siejasi su skirtingais bendravimo su vaiku aspektais. tačiau tokių tyrimų nėra daug, o jų rezultatai gana nenuoseklūs. remiantis p. prinzie ir kt. (2009) metaanalizės rezultatais, aukštus ekstraversijos, sutarumo, sąmoningumo ir atvirumo bruožų įverčius turintys ir žemus neurotiškumo įverčius turintys tėvai buvo linkę įsitraukti į šiltą (jautrų) ir vaiko poreikius atitinkantį bendravimą. tokie tėvai geriau gebėjo inicijuoti ir išlaikyti pozityvias sąveikas su vaiku, jautriau reagavo į jo signalus, gebėjo sukurti pastovią ir vaiko poreikius atitinkančią aplinką. tėvai, kurie turėjo labiau išreikštą sutarumo bruožą ir mažiau išreikštą neurotiškumo bruožą, labiau paremdavo savo vaikų autonomiją, buvo mažiau linkę pasiduoti frustracijai, susierzinti ir patirti distresą (prinzie, dekovic, belsky, reijntjes, stams, 2009). skirtinguose tyrimuose aptinkamos nevienareikšmės motinų ekstraversijos bruožo ir bendravimo su vaiku sąsajos: vienur randama, kad šis motinų asmenybės bruožas siejasi su didesne motinų kontrole (smith, international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 73 2014, 14, 71–94 p. 2010), o kitur, – kad motinų ekstravertiškumas susijęs su mažesniu motinų galios naudojimu (kochanska, clark, goldman, 1997), didesniu jų jautrumu (clark, kochanska, ready, 2000), dažniau reiškiamomis teigiamomis emocijomis sąveikose su kūdikiais (koenig, barry, kochanska, 2010). c. l. smith (2010) kelia prielaidą, kad motinos, turinčios aukštą socialinių sąveikų poreikį (t. y. labiau išreikštą ekstraversijos bruožą), gali nepakankamai patenkinti šį savo poreikį bendraudamos su kūdikiais, nes pastarieji dėl savo raidos ypatybių dar nesugeba būti pakankamai aktyviais socialiniais partneriais. taigi, siekdamos patenkinti socialinės stimuliacijos poreikį, šios motinos gali tapti labiau vadovaujančios ir kontroliuojančios sąveikose su kūdikiais. l. šarkinaitės ir kt. (2007) atliktas tyrimas taip pat rodo, kad motinos, pasižyminčios introversyviu išgyvenimo tipu, būdavo jautresnės savo kūdikiams. tokius rezultatus tyrimo autorės aiškino tuo, kad „introvertės motinos yra jautresnės dėl siekio kurti intymius, artimus santykius, t. y. jos labiau įsigilina į bendravimą su kūdikiu, atiduoda daugiau savęs, neskuba, yra stabilesnės ir ramesnės“ (šarkinaitė, čekuolienė, kalinauskienė, 2007, p. 61). mažesnį ekstravertiškų motinų jautrumą tyrimo autorės aiškino retesniu jų polinkiu priimti negatyvius išgyvenimus, dėl ko jos gali būti linkusios iškraipyti kūdikių signalus, priskirti jiems savo motyvus ir būti mažiau jautrios (šarkinaitė, čekuolienė, kalinauskienė 2007). nevienareikšmiai rezultatai randami ir tiriant motinų neurotiškumo ir jų sąveikų su vaikais sąsajas. dažniau randama, kad motinų neurotiškumas siejasi su mažiau pozityviais motinų–kūdikių sąveikų aspektais, t. y. tokios motinos yra labiau linkusios kontroliuoti savo kūdikius, būna mažiau jautrios jų signalams, bendraudamos su jais dažniau patiria neigiamų emocijų (clark, kochanska, ready, 2000; koenig, barry, kochanska, 2010). sąsajas tarp motinų neurotiškumo ir neigiamų bendravimo su kūdikiais aspektų gali paaiškinti kito tyrimo rezultatai: buvo rasta, kad neurotiškos motinos mano esančios mažiau kompetentingos, patiria mažesnį pasitenkinimą motinyste (bornstein, hahn, haynes, 2011). pagaliau aptinkama, kad ne tik neurotiškų motinų bendravimas su kūdikiais pasižymi neigiamais aspektais, bet ir jų kūdikiai dažniau turi elgesio ir emocinių sunkumų: motinos, kurios buvo mažiau emociškai stabilios, t. y. labiau neurotiškos, suteikdavo mažiau paramos savo kūdikiams ir jie dažniau pasižymėdavo agresyviu elgesiu (van aken, junger, verhoeven, van aken, dekovic, denissen, 2007), taip pat didesniu neigiamu emociniu jautrumu ir socialiniu atsargumu, t. y. uždarumu, drovumu (degnan, henderson, 74 raminta vaiciukevičė, danguolė čekuolienė, roma jusienė fox, rubin, 2008). tačiau kiti tyrėjai pateikia prieštaraujančių rezultatų: neurotiškos motinos gali būti jautresnės kūdikio patiriamam stresui (zeifman, 2003). dažnai neurotiškumo bruožas siejamas su didesniu depresiškumu, nors pagal teorinį šio bruožo apibrėžimą neurotiškumas atspindi polinkį emocionaliai reaguoti (angl. emotional reactive) (costa, mccrae, 1999). galbūt neurotiškų motinų emocionalumas kaip tik leidžia joms būti labiau jautrioms kūdikio poreikiams bei empatiškoms. j. belsky ir n. barends (2002) teigė, kad nėra aišku, kaip tėvų sąmoningumo bruožas siejasi su vaikų auklėjimu, nes tyrimuose rečiau randamos sąsajos su šiuo bruožu, bet kėlė hipotezę, kad dėl savo polinkio į organizuotumą tokie tėvai turėtų būti linkę sukurti struktūruotą ir labiau atitinkančią kūdikio poreikius aplinką. tyrimuose randama, kad motinos su stipriau išreikštu sąmoningumo bruožu dažniau sekdavo ir stebėdavo kūdikio veiklą (kochanska, friesenborg, lange, martel, 2004), taip pat, kad motinos su aukštais sąmoningumo bruožo įverčiais pasižymėjo gausesnėmis žiniomis apie kūdikius (jų psichologinius, fizinius poreikius bei raidos ypatumus), dažniau įsitraukdavo į diadines ir ekstradiadines sąveikas (kuomet į sąveikas įtraukiamas išorėje esantis objektas), brandesnius simbolinius žaidimus (bornstein, hahn, haynes, 2011), palaikydavo vaikų nepriklausomybės siekį, dažniau rodydavo teigiamas emocijas vaikui (metsapelto, pulkkinen, 2003), rečiau nurodydavo, kad jų vaikas turi elgesio sunkumų (prinzie, onghena, hellinckx, grietens, ghesquiere, colpin, 2004). kitame tyrime nustatyta, kad motinų sąmoningumo bruožas siejosi su motinų kontrole ir polinkiu riboti kūdikių veiklą (olsen, martin, halverson, 1999). galbūt motinos, turinčios labiau išreikštą sąmoningumo bruožą, yra jautresnės kūdikio signalams ir labiau seka jo atliekamą veiklą, bet kartu tokių motinų polinkis kelti aukštus standartus sau ir aplinkai gali paskatinti jas kontroliuoti savo kūdikių elgesį taip, kad jis atitiktų jų keliamus tikslus? analizuojant sąsajas tarp motinų sutarumo ir bendravimo su kūdikiais, rasta, kad turinčios aukštus sutarumo įverčius motinos yra labiau linkusios reikšti teigiamas emocijas, naudoti kognityvinę stimuliaciją, t. y. skaityti kūdikiui, aiškinti įvairius dalykus, yra jautrios kūdikio poreikiams bei rečiau reiškia neigiamas emocijas sąveikų su kūdikiu metu (belsky, crnic, woodworth, 1995), tačiau motinos su stipriau išreikštu sutarumo bruožu dažniau nurodydavo, kad jų vaikai turi elgesio sunkumų (prinzie, onghena, hellinckx, grietens, ghesquiere, colpin, 2004). international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 75 2014, 14, 71–94 p. tyrimų, kuriuose būtų nagrinėjamos motinų–kūdikių sąveikos pereinant iš kūdikystės į ankstyvąją vaikystę nėra daug. šis raidos tarpsnis (maždaug nuo 12 iki 36 mėnesio, angl. toddlerhood) svarbus, nes jo metu vyksta spartūs pokyčiai, kurie kelia nemažai iššūkių ir kūdikiams, ir tėvams (edwards, 1995). vienas svarbiausių raidos aspektų šiuo laikotarpiu yra kūdikio autonomijos siekimas ir noras tyrinėti pasaulį. tai atsiranda dėl augančių kūdikio fizinių galimybių nutolti nuo motinos ir pačiam atlikti daugelį veiksmų, taip pat vis gerėjančių pažintinių gebėjimų (seiffer, hoffning, 1997). taigi tėvų reakcija į tokius kūdikio elgesio pokyčius tampa labai svarbi. dar vienas svarbus raidos uždavinys antraisiais kūdikio gyvenimo metais yra savikontrolės įgūdžių lavinimas, kuomet kūdikis mokosi paklusti tėvų reikalavimams ir atidėti veiksmų atlikimą. šis laikotarpis pasižymi perėjimu nuo išorinės prie vidinės elgesio kontrolės (feldman, greenbaum, yirmiya, 1999). su kūdikį supančio pasaulio tyrinėjimu ir autonomijos siekiu siejasi ir kai kurie specifiniai motinų–kūdikių sąveikų aspektai. pirmiausia, tai motinos ir kūdikio bendras dėmesys (angl. joint attention). pastarasis gali būti apibūdinamas kaip triadiniai mainai, kuriuose abu (kūdikis ir motina) suvokia vienas kito dėmesį trečiam objektui ar įvykiui. bendro dėmesio epizodai atsiranda nuo 7–9 mėnesio, kuomet kūdikis pradeda suprasti save ir kitus kaip turinčius psichines būsenas ir tarp motinos ir kūdikio pradeda rastis intersubjektyvus susietumas, atsiranda susiderinimas tarp motinos ir kūdikio psichinių būsenų (stern, 1985). m. tomasello (1992) iškėlė dėmesio sekimo hipotezę (angl. attentional mapping hypothesis), kurioje išskyrė dvejopą tėvų sąveikos su kūdikiu stilių: kūdikio dėmesio sekimą ir kūdikio dėmesio nukreipimą. kūdikio dėmesio sekimas apibūdina sąveikas, kuomet tėvai seka kūdikio dėmesio fokusą. tai labiau tinka bendraujant su vyresniais kūdikiais ir vaikais nei kalbant apie dėmesio nukreipimo stilių, nes vyresni kūdikiai yra aktyvesni ir patys inicijuoja sąveikas (hirschmann, kastner-koller, deimann, aigner, svecz, 2011). motina sekdama kūdikio dėmesio fokusą tuo pačiu patenkina kūdikio autonomijos siekimo poreikį, t. y. leidžia kūdikiui pačiam inicijuoti veiklas, laisvai tyrinėti pasaulį. dar vienas svarbus motinų–kūdikių sąveikos aspektas yra motinų bendradarbiavimas. ainsworth (1969) motinų bendradarbiavimą su kūdi kiais siejo su saugaus prieraišumo formavimusi. motinos bendradarbiaujantis elgesys skatina kūdikio autonomijos siekimą ir, priešingai, 76 raminta vaiciukevičė, danguolė čekuolienė, roma jusienė trukdantis ir besikišantis elgesys rodo motinos negebėjimą patenkinti kūdikio poreikį siekti autonomijos. antraisiais kūdikio gyvenimo metais besirandančią savikontrolę galima glaudžiai sieti su tėvų duodamais nurodymais bei teikiamu grįžtamuoju ryšiu. m. lewis (1993) analizavo teigiamo ir neigiamo grįžtamojo ryšio ypatumus, atskirdamas grįžtamąjį ryšį, kuris vertina vaiką kaip asmenybę, ir ryšį, kuris vertina vaiko elgesį. kūdikiai patiria pasididžiavimą, kai sėkmė priskiriama konkrečiai vaiko veiksmui ar veiksmo rezultatui, pvz., „puikus darbas“. kai nesėkmė apibendrintai priskiriama vaiko savybėms, o ne konkrečiam elgesiui, vaikai patiria gėdą, pvz., „tu esi blogas berniukas“. tokiu atveju kūdikis save patį suvokia kaip nesėkmingą, o ne savo elgesį vertina kaip netinkamą. dažnai, kuomet tyrimuose ieškoma sąsajų tarp motinų asmenybės savybių ir jų auklėjimo strategijų, kaip svarbus kintamasis įtraukiamas motinų emocinis tonas. randama, kad aukšti ekstraversijos, sutarumo, sąmoningumo ir atvirumo bruožų įverčiai yra susiję su teigiamomis motinų emocijomis (smith, spinrad, eisenberg, gaertner, popp, maxon, 2007), o motinų neurotiškumas – su jų neigiamomis emocijomis sąveikų me tu (belsky, crnic, woodworth, 1995; kochanska, clark, goldman, 1997). lietuvoje tyrimų, analizuojančių įvairius kūdikių–motinų sąveikų aspektus, tėra vienas kitas. ypač, kai kalbama apie sąveikų analizę pasitelkiant ne įprastus popieriaus ir pieštuko, o stebėjimo metodus. todėl apie lietuvos motinų ir kūdikių sąveikas būtent tokio pobūdžio mokslinės medžiagos iš tiesų turime labai menkai. kitas aktualus šio tyrimo aspektas platesnis, reikšmingas ne tik lietuvos kontekste. nors kūdikių sąveikų tyrinėjimais plačiai domimasi jau ne vieną dešimtmetį, tačiau ilgą laiką šiose analizėse buvo susitelkiama ties gana siauromis sąveikų ir įvairių su tėvų ar motinu elgesiu susijusių kintamųjų sąsajomis. pastaruoju metu itin susidomėta ir netiesioginiais ankstyvosios kūdikio patirties veiksniais (tokiais kaip motinos asmenybės savybės) ir tuo, kaip tai galime išskirti ir pastebėti būtent jų kasdienės sąveikos metu. tai neabejotinai aktualu psichikos sveikatos veiksnių ir ankstyvosios intervencijos kontekste. pagaliau, toks detalizuotas ir specifinis sąveikų nagrinėjimas naudingas ir praktiniu požiūriu. paskutiniuosius du dešimtmečius asmens savasties ir jo santykių raidos ir netgi psichoterapijos proceso supratimas plėtėsi remiantis motinų–kūdikių sąveikas nagrinėjančiais tyrimais. taigi pagrininternational journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 77 2014, 14, 71–94 p. dinis mūsų tyrimo tikslas ir buvo panagrinėti, kaip motinų asmenybės bruožai siejasi su motinų elgesiu sąveikose su kūdikiu. remiantis atliktų tyrimų rezultatais bei teoriniu belsky (1984) vaikų auklėjimo modeliu savo tyrime keliame prielaidas, kad: a) motinų neurotiškumas ir ekstravertiškumas teigiamai siesis su kūdikių dėmesio nukreipimu, motinų trukdymu ir neigiamu grįžtamuoju ryšiu bei jų irzliu ir liūdnu emociniu tonu; b) motinų sąmoningumas, sutarumas ir atvirumas teigiamai siesis su kūdikio dėmesio sekimu, motinų bendradarbiavimu, teigiamu ir koreguojančiu grįžtamuoju ryšiu bei motinų neutraliu tonu sąveikų metu. metodika tyrimo dalyviai šiame tyrime analizuojami mokslininkų grupės projekto „kūdikių ir mažų vaikų psichikos ir fizinės sveikatos tyrimas“ duomenys (projektas finansuotas lietuvos mokslo tarybos, sutarties nr. mip-147/20100, projekto vadovė doc. dr. roma jusienė). vykdant projekte numatytą tyrimą siekta aiškintis svarbiausius vienerių metų amžiaus vaikų raidos aspektus bei jų sąsajas su artimiausia mažų vaikų aplinka, tai yra šeimos psichologinėmis ir socialinėmis charakteristikomis, santykiais su tėvais ar kitais globėjais. iš daugiau nei dviejų šimtų projekto tęstiniame tyrime nuo kūdikio gimimo dalyvaujančių šeimų tikslingai atrinkta imtis (33 pusantrų metų amžiaus vaikų ir jų motinų) sąveikų tyrimui. praėjus keliems mėnesiams po sąveikų tyrimo su motinomis buvo susisiekta, prašant užpildyti asmenybės klausimyną. dalis šių motinų neužpildė skilties apie asmenybės bruožus, todėl šiame straipsnyje analizuojama 26 motinų ir jų kūdikių porų, apie kurias yra visa reikalinga informacija. kadangi buvo siekiama tirti ir aprašyti normalios raidos kūdikių įprastas sąveikas su motinomis, šiam tyrimui buvo atrinktos motinos, pagimdžiusios sveikus išnešiotus kūdikius, turėjusios nekomplikuotą nėštumą ir gimdymą, pasižymėjusios mažais depresiškumo po gimdymo įverčiais, ištekėjusios. motinų amžius svyravo nuo 25 iki 45 metų (m = 30,31, sd = 4,25), kūdikių – nuo 14 iki 18 mėnesių (m = 15,41, sd = 1,05), iš jų buvo 13 mergaičių ir 13 berniukų. 20 motinų turėjo aukštąjį universitetinį išsilavinimą ir 6 – aukštąjį neuniversitetinį išsilavinimą, visos motinos pasirinko mo78 raminta vaiciukevičė, danguolė čekuolienė, roma jusienė tinystės atostogas dvejiems metams. 18 kūdikių buvo pirmagimiai šeimoje, o 8 – ne pirmagimiai. tyrime dalyvavusios motinų ir kūdikių poros buvo iš kauno apskrities. tyrimo metodika kūdikių ir motinų sąveikų analizė atlikta remiantis stebėjimo metodu. stebėjimo duomenys koduojami iš vaizdo įrašų. motinų ir kūdikių sąveikų filmavimai atlikti tiriamųjų namuose. juos atliko 5 tyrėjos, psichologijos bakalauro bei magistro programų studentės. visos jos buvo apmokytos, kaip atlikti stebėjimą ir filmavimus, kiekviena tyrėja gavo kūdikio ir motinos stebėjimo metodinius nurodymus ir protokolus, kuriais turėjo vadovautis atlikdama tyrimą. tyrėjos iš anksto susisiekdavo su motinomis telefonu ir susitardavo dėl vizito tyrimo dalyvių namuose. filmavimai vykdavo dienos metu, vizito laikas buvo derinamas atsižvelgiant į kūdikio dienos režimą (miegą ir maitinimą). vizitas į motinos ir kūdikio namus trukdavo iki 1 val. keliolika minučių skiriama susipažinimui su motina ir kūdikiu, paaiškinimui, kaip ir kas vyks. po to filmuojamos visos situacijos iš eilės: laisvas žaidimas ir bendros užduoties atlikimas. tyrėjos kūdikiams ir motinoms pateikdavo vienodus žaislų rinkinius, kurie buvo atrinkti specialiai šiam tyrimui. sąveikų stebėjimui buvo pasirinktos dvi situacijos – laisvo žaidimo ir bendros struktūruotos užduoties atlikimo. laisvo žaidimo stebėjimas – bene dažniausiai kūdikių ir motinų sąveikų analizėje naudojama situacija. neribojami ir spontaniški motinos veiksmai laisvo žaidimo metu atskleidžia susiklosčiusią autentišką jos ir kūdikio bendravimo patirtį. tai suteikia tyrėjams galimybę lanksčiai panaudoti turimą medžiagą atsakant į labai įvairius konkretaus (šiuo atveju ir mūsų) tyrimo klausimus. tuo tarpu struktūruotos užduoties atlikimas ir bendras užduoties formulavimas (tiesiog padėti kūdikiui ką nors atlikti) leidžia giliau ir subtiliau atskleisti motinos vadovavimo stilių bendradarbiaujant su kūdikiu. tai savu ruožtu gali reikšmingai papildyti motinos asmenybės savybių analizę ir yra labai svarbu kaip tik šio tyrimo kontekste. laisvam žaidimui kūdikiui ir motinai pasiūloma keletas kūdikio amžiui tinkamų žaislų. motinai pasirinkus labiausiai įprastą žaidimų vietą ar kambarį, prašoma pažaisti su pateiktais žaislais taip, kaip įprastai žaidžia. žaidimo ir filmavimo trukmė – 10 min. international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 79 2014, 14, 71–94 p. bendros struktūruotos užduoties metu motinai ir kūdikiui duodamos dvi užduotys (viena paskui kitą): motina instruktuojama padėti kūdikiui sudėti piramidę, po to – dėlionę. abiejų užduočių atlikimui (ir filmavimui) skiriama po 3 min. vertinti motinų ir kūdikių sąveikų kokybę buvo sudaryta kodavimo sistema, kurioje išskirti keturi bendravimo ypatumus apibrėžiantys konstruktai: motinų vadovavimas kūdikio dėmesiui, motinų bendradarbiavimas, motinų grįžtamasis ryšys ir motinų emocinis tonas sąveikų su kūdikiu metu. filmuotos medžiagos kodavimą atliko šio straipsnio autorės raminta vaiciukevičė ir danguolė čekuolienė, remdamosis sudaryta kodavimo sistema. motinų vadovavimas kūdikio dėmesiui buvo vertinamas intervalų kodavimo strategijos metodu iš įrašų laisvo žaidimo metu, intervalo truk mė – 15 s. šis konstruktas buvo išskirtas remiantis m. tomasello (1992) dėmesio sekimo hipoteze (angl. attentional mapping hypothesis) bei n. hirschmann ir kt. (2011) sukurta intakt kodavimo sistema. išskiriamos dvi pagrindinės strategijos: kūdikio dėmesio sekimas ir dėmesio nukreipimas. kūdikio dėmesio sekimo strategiją sudaro keturios smulkesnės kategorijos: . veiksminis kūdikio dėmesio sekimas: motina įsitraukia į kūdikio atliekamą veiklą žaisdama kartu su kūdikiu. . verbalinis kūdikio dėmesio sekimas: motina komentuoja kūdikio veiksmus, įvardija juos ir jų pasekmes ir (arba) įvardija objektus, su kuriais kūdikis žaidžia. . veiksminis ir verbalinis kūdikio dėmesio sekimas: sujungia prieš tai abi minėtas kategorijas, t. y. motina palaiko kūdikio dėmesį tiek veiksmais, tiek bendraudama verbaliniu būdu. . pasyvus kūdikio dėmesio sekimas: motina žvilgsniu seka kūdikio atliekamas veiklas, kaip jis žaidžia, tačiau jokių aktyvių veiksmų neatlieka, nekomentuoja kūdikio žaidimo. kūdikio dėmesio nukreipimo strategija: motina bando nukreipti kūdikio dėmesio fokusą nuo jo tuo metu atliekamos veiklos. išskiriama dar viena kategorija, kai nėra bendro dėmesio. 80 raminta vaiciukevičė, danguolė čekuolienė, roma jusienė motinų–kūdikių sąveikų epizodai buvo filmuojami pakankamai trum pą laiką (laisvo žaidimo trukmė – 10 min.), o kūdikio dėmesio sekimo strategijos yra net keturios, kurios per trumpą stebėjimo (ir filmavimo) laiką galėjo neatsiskleisti. tolimesnėje analizėje kūdikio dėmesio sekimo stra tegijos bus analizuojamos ir atskirai, ir sujungus į vieną bendrą strategiją. motinų bendradarbiavimo kategorijoms vertinti buvo pasirinkta intervalų kodavimo strategija iš įrašų bendros struktūruotos užduoties metu, intervalo trukmė – 10 s. šiam konstruktui analizuoti buvo pasirink ta trumpesnė intervalo trukmė, nes struktūruotos užduoties metu buvo intensyvesnės motinų ir kūdikių sąveikos. remiantis viena iš ainsworth (1969) pasiūlytų motinų jautrumo skalių – bendradarbiavimo ir trukdymo – buvo išskirtos motinų bendradarbiavimo ir trukdymo kategorijos. motinų bendradarbiavimą sudaro trys smulkesnės kategorijos: . motinų veiksminis bendradarbiavimas: motina veiksmais padeda arba paskatina kūdikį atlikti užduotį. . motinų verbalinis bendradarbiavimas: motina kūdikiui padeda atlikti užduotį pasiūlydama, kokie galėtų būti jo tolimesni veiksmai, arba paskatina žodžiais. . motinų veiksminis ir verbalinis bendradarbiavimas: motina padeda ir (arba) paskatina kūdikį atlikti užduotį tiek veiksmais, tiek žodžiais. motinų trukdymą sudaro trys smulkesnės kategorijos: . motinų verbalinis trukdymas: motina duoda direktyvias komandas ir nurodymus nepaisant, kad kūdikis tuo metu atlieka kitus veiksmus, arba sako draudimus, siekdama nutraukti kūdikio atliekamus veiksmus. . motinų veiksminis trukdymas: motina savo veiksmais apriboja kūdikio atliekamą veiklą, siūlo atlikti kitus veiksmus neatsižvelgdama į kūdikio atliekamą veiklą arba veiksmais įsikiša į kūdikio atliekamą veiklą. . motinos veiksminis ir verbalinis trukdymas: kuomet motino trukdo vaiko atliekamai veiklai tiek verbaliai, tiek veiksmais (sujungia prieš tai abi minėtas kategorijas). motina pasyviai stebi: motina neįsitraukia nei verbaliai, nei veiksmais į vaiko atliekamą užduotį. motinų grįžtamasis ryšys buvo koduojamas bendros struktūruotos užduoties metu, vertinimui buvo pasirinkta įvykių fiksavimo strategija. international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 81 2014, 14, 71–94 p. remiantis m. lewis (1993) save įvertinančių emocijų modeliu buvo išskirtos penkios grįžtamojo ryšio kategorijos: neigiamas apibendrintas grįžtamasis ryšys (motina negatyviai komentuoja kūdikio atliekamus veiksmus įvardindama neigiamas kūdikio asmens savybes, nepaisant jos emocinio balso tono, t. y. jis gali būti tiek pozityvus, tiek negatyvus, tiek neutralus, pvz., „tu esi toks tinginys“); neigiamas grįžtamasis ryšys apie veiksmus arba veiksmų rezultatą (kai motina negatyviai atsiliepia apie kūdikio atliktą specifinį veiksmą ar to veiksmo rezultatą, balso tonas taip pat negatyvus, pvz., „šita detalė turi būti ne čia!“); teigiamas apibendrintas grįžtamasis ryšys (kai motina pozityviai atsiliepia apie kūdikio atliekamus arba atliktus veiksmus įvardindama kokias nors pozityvias jo asmenines savybes, pvz.: „tu esi toks protingas berniukas“), teigiamas grįžtamasis ryšys apie veiksmus ar veiksmų rezultatus (kai motina pozityviai atsiliepia apie kūdikio atliktą specifinį veiksmą (-us) ar to veiksmo (-ų) rezultatą, pvz., „tu teisingai įdėjai detalę“) ir koreguojantis grįžtamasis ryšys (motina kalba neigiamai, kritikuoja kūdikio veiksmus ir skirtingai nuo neigiamo grįžtamojo ryšio – kūdikio veiksmus ar veiksmų rezultatą, jos balso tonas išlieka pozityvus, pvz., „šita detalė čia netinka“ ). motinų grįžtamojo ryšio kategorijos yra keturios ir jos gali nepakankamai gerai atsiskleisti per pakankamai trumpas motinų–kūdikių sąveikas, tad toliau jos bus analizuojamos tiek pavienės, tiek sujungus į stambesnius vienetus: motinų teigiamas grįžtamasis ryšys (sujungia teigiamą apibendrintą grįžtamąjį ryšį ir teigiamą grįžtamąjį ryšį apie veiksmus ar veiksmų rezultatus) bei neigiamas grįžtamasis ryšys (sujungia neigiamą apibendrintą grįžtamąjį ryšį ir neigiamą grįžtamąjį ryšį apie veiksmus ar veiksmų rezultatus). motinų emocinis tonas buvo koduojamas laisvo žaidimo ir bendros struktūruotos užduoties metu atskirai, vertinimui buvo pasirinkta intervalų kodavimo strategija, intervalo trukmė – 15 s. išskirtos keturios emocinio tono kategorijos: džiugus emocinis tonas (motinos balso tonas džiugus, ji šypsosi, maloniai ir šiltai bendrauja su kūdikiu, teigiama veido išraiška); irzlus emocinis tonas (motina atrodo suirzusi ar pikta, jos balso ir veido išraiška pikta ar suirzusi); liūdnas emocinis tonas (motina atrodo liūdna, jos balso tonas liūdnas, prislopintas, veido išraiška liūdna); neutralus emocinis tonas (motinos veido išraiška neutrali, jos veidas atrodo ramus, balso tonas lygus, ramus, neutralus). 82 raminta vaiciukevičė, danguolė čekuolienė, roma jusienė motinų ir kūdikių sąveikos buvo analizuojamos telkiant dėmesį į numatytus konstruktus: motinų vadovavimo kūdikių dėmesiui strategijos, motinų bendradarbiavimo strategijos, motinų grįžtamasis ryšys ir motinų emocinis tonas sąveikų su kūdikiu metu. motinų vadovavimo kūdikio dėmesiui, motinų bendradarbiavimo ir motinų emocinio tono konstruktai buvo vertinami procentais, t. y. kiek kiekvieno konstrukto kategorija procentais buvo išreikšta kitų to konstrukto kategorijų atžvilgiu. motinų grįžtamasis ryšys buvo vertinamas apskaičiuojant kiekvienos šio konstrukto kategorijos absoliutų skaičių. motinų neigiamo apibendrinto grįžtamojo ryšio kategorija buvo pašalinta iš tolimesnės duomenų analizės, nes nei karto nebuvo užfiksuota. siekiant patikrinti stebėjimo duomenų patikimumą, 10 (38 %) tiriamų jų porų įrašai laisvo žaidimo ir bendros užduoties metu buvo įvertinti kito stebėtojo, kuris nebuvo susipažinęs su tyrimo tikslais ir keliamomis tyrimo hipotezėmis. antras stebėtojas buvo apmokytas naudotis sudaryta kodavimo sistema. buvo apskaičiuotas dviejų vertintojų sutapimas pagal j. m. sattler (1992) pateiktą dviejų vertintojų vertinimo procentinio sutapimo formulę: motinų dėmesio sekimo konstrukto – 74,0 %; motinų bendradarbiavimo – 78,1 %; motinų emocinio tono – 76,3 %. motinų grįžtamojo ryšio kategorijoms koduoti buvo pasirinkta įvykių fiksavimo strategija. duomenų, surinktų remiantis šia strategija, patikimumas vertinamas pagal įvykių fiksavimo procentinio sutapimo formulę (sattler, 1992). buvo gauti tokie dviejų vertintojų vertinimų suderinamumai kiekvienai grįžtamojo ryšio kategorijai atskirai: motinų teigiamas grįžtamasis ryšys apie veiksmus ar veiksmų rezultatą – 83,9 %, motinų teigiamo apibendrinto grįžtamojo ryšio – 79,3 %, motinų neigiamo grįžtamojo ryšio apie veiksmus ar veiksmų rezultatą – 80,0 %, motinų korekcinio grįžtamojo ryšio – 81,0 %. kaip matome, bendras dviejų vertintojų sutapimas yra pakankamai aukštas visoms motinų ir kūdikių sąveikas vertinančioms kategorijoms. motinų asmenybės bruožai įvertinti neo–ffi (costa, mccrae, 1989) (angl. neo five factor inventory) klausimynu (t. y. neo pi-r s formos versija). klausimyną sudaro penkios skalės po 12 klausimų, kurių kiekvienas įvertinamas nuo 1 („visiškai nesutinku“) iki 5 („visiškai sutinku“) balų. išskiriamos penkios skalės: neurotiškumas (t. y. polinkis patirti neigiamas emocijas); ekstravertiškumas (t. y. draugiškumas, visuomeniškumas ir international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 83 2014, 14, 71–94 p. stimuliacijos siekimas); atvirumas (t. y. atvirumas patirčiai, kuris apima aktyvią vaizduotę, estetinį jautrumą, dėmesį jausmams ir pan.); sutarumas (apima altruistiškumą, užuojautą ir siekį padėti kitiems); sąmoningumas (apima aukštą impulsų kontrolę ir gebėjimą valdyti savo troškimus) (bagdonas, barkauskienė, kairys, liniauskaitė ir kt., 2012). vu specialiosios psichologijos laboratorijos sudaryta redakcinė grupė išvertė ir adaptavo neo-ffi metodiką lietuvoje 2012 metais (bag donas ir kt., 2012). sutikimas naudotis šia metodika buvo gautas iš metodikos mokslinio redaktoriaus prof. a. bagdono. neo-ffi klausimyno skales pagal metodikos reikalavimus apskaičiavo apmokytas tyrėjas dr. antanas kairys. patikimumas ir validumas. šiame tyrime neo-ffi skalių patikimui ir validumui patikrinti buvo apskaičiuotas vidinis suderinamumas (cronbacho alpha), kuris buvo pakankamai geras visoms skalėms, atsižvelgiant į tai, kad imtis buvo nedidelė: neurotiškumo – 0,89; ekstraversijos – 0,80; atvirumo – 0,69; sutarumo – 0,58; sąmoningumo – 0,79. taip pat atliekant neo-ffi adaptaciją lietuvoje, remiantis amžiaus ir lyties kriterijumi buvo sudaryta reprezentatyvi adaptacinė imtis (n = 715). siekiant patikrinti struktūrinį validumą, atlikta faktorinė duomenų analizė ir naudota principinė komponentų analizė su varimax sukiniu (kmo = 0,869; bartlett’s χ2 = 11140,67, p < 0,001). remiantis atlikta statistine analize, buvo išskirti penki faktoriai, kurie paaiškino 36,4 % dispersijos bei visi teiginiai atitinkamuose faktoriuose turėjo bent 0,2 svorį (bagdonas, barkauskienė, kairys, liniauskaitė, valickas, žukauskienė, 2012). rezultatams apdoroti buvo naudojama kompiuterinė statistinė programa spss 17.0. siekiant sužinoti, kaip motinų asmenybės bruožai siejasi su jų sąveikomis su kūdikiais, buvo pasirinktas koreliacijas įvertinantis neparametrinis kriterijus – spearman ranginės koreliacijos koeficientas. 84 raminta vaiciukevičė, danguolė čekuolienė, roma jusienė rezultatai pirmiausia atlikome motinų asmenybės bruožų ir jų vadovavimo kūdikių dėmesiui strategijų koreliacinę analizę. rasti tokie statistiškai reikšmingi ryšiai tarp motinų asmenybės bruožų ir motinų vadova vimo kūdikio dėmesiui strategijų: motinų ekstraversija siejosi su kūdi kių dėmesio nukreipimu, o sujungus motinų dėmesio sekimo strategijas, bend ras kūdikio dėmesio sekimas siejosi su motinų neurotiškumu (žr. 1 lentelę). 1 l e n te lė . m ot in ų a sm en yb ės b ru ož ų i r m ot in ų v ad ov av im o kū d ik ių d ėm es iu i st ra te g ijų są sa jo s (s p ea rm an r ) t a b le 1 . r el at io n s b et w ee n m at er n al p er so n al it y tr ai ts a n d m ot h er s‘ a tt en ti on d ir ec ti n g st ra te g ie s (s p ea rm an r ) sk al ės pa sy vu s d ėm es io se ki m as ve ik sm in is d ėm es io se ki m as ve rb al in is d ėm es io se ki m as ve ik sm in is ir ve rb al in is d ėm es io se ki m as d ėm es io se ki m as d ėm es io n u kr ei p im as be n d ro d ėm es io n eb u vi m as m ot in ų ne ur ot iš ku m as 0 ,2 48 –0 ,3 14 0, 15 0 0 ,3 05 0, 42 3* – 0, 33 3 – 0, 20 1 m ot in ų ek st ra ve rs ija – 0, 06 2 0 ,3 42 – 0, 33 2 –0 ,1 03 –0 ,3 19 0, 44 6* 0, 22 3 m ot in ų su ta ru m as 0 ,0 86 0, 09 6 – 0, 04 6 –0 ,1 06 –0 ,0 60 0 ,0 31 – 0, 23 7 m ot in ų at vi ru m as – 0, 01 9 0 ,1 68 0 ,0 41 0, 08 2 0, 12 9 – 0, 33 3 – 0, 13 1 m ot in ų są m on in gu m as 0 ,1 30 0 ,2 68 – 0, 19 3 – 0, 07 7 –0 ,1 14 0, 07 3 0, 03 3 * ko re lia ci jo s ko ef ic ie nt as s ta ti st iš ka i r ei kš m in ga s, k ai p < 0 ,0 5 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 85 2014, 14, 71–94 p. buvo rasti du statistiškai reikšmingi ryšiai tarp motinų asmenybės bruožų ir jų bendradarbiavimo: didesni motinų sąmoningumo bruožo įverčiai siejosi su mažesniu motinų verbaliniu bendradarbiavimu, o motinų atvirumas siejosi su mažesniu verbaliniu trukdymu (žr. 2 lentelę). 2 l e n te lė . m ot in ų a sm en yb ės b ru ož ų i r m ot in ų b en d ra d ar b ia vi m o ka te g or ijų s ąs aj os (s p ea rm an r ) t a b le 2 . r el at io n s b et w ee n m at er n al p er so n al it y tr ai ts an d m ot h er s‘ co op er ati on (s p ea rm an r ) sk al ės m o tin ų ve ik sm in is b en d ra d ar b ia vi m as m o tin ų ve rb al in is b en d ra d ar b ia vi m as m o tin ų ve ik sm in is ir ve rb al in is b en d ra d ar b ia vi m as m o tin ų ve ik sm in is tr u kd ym as m o tin ų ve rb al in is tr u d ym as m o tin ų ve ik sm in is ir ve rb al in is tr u kd ym as m o ti n ų p as yv u s st eb ėj im as m ot in ų ne ur ot iš ku m as 0 ,0 57 0 ,2 93 – 0, 02 4 –0 ,0 09 – 0, 16 3 – 0, 22 5 0 ,2 35 m ot in ų ek st ra ve rs ija – 0, 35 8 – 0, 36 2 0 ,1 47 0 ,1 08 0, 13 6 0, 28 0 – 0, 10 7 m ot in ų su ta ru m as – 0, 06 3 – 0, 17 3 0 ,1 57 – 0, 09 0 – 0, 13 1 – 0, 02 2 – 0, 04 0 m ot in ų są m on in gu m as – 0, 25 7 – 0, 50 0* * 0, 09 5 0 ,1 28 0, 19 3 0, 24 8 0 ,0 67 m ot in ų at vi ru m as –0 ,1 53 0, 36 9 0 ,0 19 – 0, 13 1 – 0, 42 8* 0 ,1 21 0, 09 8 * ko re lia ci jo s ko efi ci en ta s st at is ti šk ai re ik šm in ga s, k ai p < 0 ,0 5 ** k or el ia ci jo s ko efi ci en ta s st at is ti šk ai re ik šm in ga s, k ai p < 0 ,0 1 atlikus koreliacinę motinų asmenybės bruožų ir grįžtamojo ryšio teikimo analizę (žr. 3 lentelę), paaiškėjo, kad motinų neurotiškumas susijęs su motinų teigiamu grįžtamuoju ryšiu apie kūdikio veiksmus ar tų 86 raminta vaiciukevičė, danguolė čekuolienė, roma jusienė veiksmų rezultatą. sujungus teigiamo grįžtamojo ryšio kategorijas, buvo rasta, kad motinų neurotiškumas taip pat siejosi su motinų teigiamu grįžtamuoju ryšiu, o motinų sąmoningumo bruožo įverčiai buvo susijęs su retesniu motinų teigiamu grįžtamuoju ryšiu (žr. 3 lentelę). 3 le n te lė . m ot in ų a sm en yb ės b ru ož ų ir m ot in ų g rį žt am oj o ry ši o są sa jo s (s p ea rm an r ) t a b le 3 . r el at io n s b et w ee n m at er n al p er so n al it y tr ai ts a n d m at er n al fe ed b ac k (s p ea rm an r ) sk al ės m o tin ų t ei g ia m as g rįž ta m as is ry šy s ap ie kū d ik ių v ei ks m u s ar v ei ks m ų re zu lt at ą m o tin ų t ei g ia m as ap ib en d rin ta s g rįž ta m as is r yš ys m o tin ų te ig ia m as g rįž ta m as is ry šy s m o tin ų te ig ia m as g rįž ta m as is ry šy s m o tin ų n ei g ia m as g rįž ta m as is r yš ys ap ie k ū d ik ių v ei ks m u s ar v ei ks m ų re zu lt at ą m o tin ų ko re g u o ja n tis g rįž ta m as is r yš ys m ot in ų ne ur ot iš ku m as 0 ,4 03 * – 0, 02 3 0, 46 1* 0, 46 1* 0 ,0 88 – 0, 03 4 m ot in ų ek st ra ve rs ija – 0, 19 0 0, 08 4 –0 ,2 46 –0 ,2 46 – 0, 10 8 –0 ,0 91 m ot in ų su ta ru m as – 0, 17 0 – 0, 02 1 –0 ,2 29 –0 ,2 29 – 0, 04 7 0 ,1 10 m ot in ų są m on in gu m as – 0, 32 8 – 0, 05 9 –0 ,4 06 * –0 ,4 06 * – 0, 03 2 0 ,0 42 m ot in ų at vi ru m as – 0, 36 8 – 0, 00 8 –0 ,2 89 –0 ,2 89 – 0, 00 7 – 0, 00 7 * ko re lia ci jo s ko ef ic ie nt as s ta ti st iš ka i r ei kš m in ga s, k ai p < 0 ,0 5 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 87 2014, 14, 71–94 p. 4 le n te lė . m ot in ų a sm en yb ės b ru ož ų ir m ot in ų e m oc in io to n o la is vo ž ai d im o ir b en d ro s st ru kt ū ru ot os u žd u ot ie s m et u s ąs aj os (s p ea rm an r ) t a b le 4 . r el at io n s b et w ee n m at er n al p er so n al it y tr ai ts a n d m ot h er s‘ e m ot io n al to n e d u ri n g fr ee p la y an d s tr u ct u re d t as k (s p ea rm an r ) sk al ės m o tin ų n eu tr al u s em o ci n is t o n as m o tin ų d ži u g u s em o ci n is t o n as m o tin ų ir zl u s em o ci n is t o n as m o tin ų li ū d n as em o ci n is t o n as la is va s ža id im as be n d ra u žd u o tis la is va s ža id im as be n d ra u žd u o tis la is va s ža id im as be n d ra u žd u o tis la is va s ža id im as be n d ra u žd u o tis m ot in ų ne ur ot iš ku m as 0, 02 9 0, 13 4 0, 01 6 0, 23 2 –0 ,2 14 –0 ,2 81 – 0, 24 7 –0 ,3 44 m ot in ų ek ts ra ve rs ija 0, 13 1 –0 ,2 30 –0 ,2 62 –0 ,3 93 * 0, 23 8 0, 40 1* 0 ,2 06 0 ,2 46 m ot in ų su ta ru m as – 0, 20 7 – 0, 19 0 0 ,3 31 0, 22 1 – 0, 10 7 0 ,0 17 – 0, 05 5 – 0, 12 0 m ot in ų są m on in gu m as –0 ,2 14 – 0, 05 4 0 ,0 74 – 0, 31 4 – 0, 08 2 0, 18 8 0, 06 9 0, 14 2 m ot in ų at vi ru m as –0 ,1 61 0 ,1 79 0 ,4 83 * 0 ,3 00 – 0, 34 3 –0 ,0 96 –0 ,3 49 – 0, 25 4 * ko re lia ci jo s ko efi ci en ta s st at is ti šk ai re ik šm in ga s, k ai p < 0 ,0 5 ketvirtoje lentelėje pateikti statistiškai reikšmingi ryšiai tarp motinų asmenybės savybių ir jų emocinio tono sąveikų su kūdikiu metu. motinų ekstraversija siejosi su retesniu džiugiu ir su dažnesniu irzliu jų emociniu tonu bendros užduoties metu. motinų atvirumas siejosi su motinų džiugiu emociniu tonu laisvo žaidimo metu. 88 raminta vaiciukevičė, danguolė čekuolienė, roma jusienė rezultatų aptarimas šiuo tyrimu atskleidėme, kad motinos, kurios turėjo labiau išreikštus neurotiškumo bruožo įverčius, dažniau sekė kūdikio dėmesį bei teikė teigiamą grįžtamąjį ryšį apie kūdikio veiksmus ar tų veiksmų rezultatą. motinos, kurios turėjo labiau išreikštą ekstraversijos bruožą, dažniau nukreipdavo kūdikio dėmesį. jų emocinis tonas rečiau būdavo džiugus bei dažniau irzlus bendros struktūruotos užduoties metu. motinos, kurios turėjo labiau išreikštą sąmoningumo bruožą, su kūdikiais rečiau bendradarbiavo verbaliniu būdu ir rečiau teikė teigiamą grįžtamąjį ryšį. motinos, kurios turėjo labiau išreikštą atvirumo bruožą, rečiau trukdė verbaliai ir dažniau jų emocinis tonas laisvo žaidimo metu buvo džiugus. gautos priešingos keltai prielaidai sąsajos tarp motinų neurotiškumo bruožo ir kūdikių dėmesio sekimo strategijų, motinų teigiamo grįžtamojo ryšio ir teigiamo grįžtamojo ryšio apie kūdikio veiksmus ar veiksmų rezultatą. tyrimuose dažniausiai motinų neurotiškumo bruožas siejamas su labiau negatyviais sąveikų aspektais – motinos rečiau patirdavo teigiamas ir dažniau neigiamas emocijas sąveikose su kūdikiais, buvo mažiau kognityviai stimuliuojančios ir mažiau jautrios kūdikio signalams, labiau kontroliuojančios (belsky, crnic, woodworth, 1995; kochanska, clark, goldman, 1997; koenig, barry, kochanska, 2010; smith, 2010). galime pasvarstyti, kodėl mūsų randamos sąsajos nesutampa su kitų tyrėjų rastomis sąsajomis. galbūt tokios sąsajos galėjo atsirasti dėl specifinių kūdikių reakcijų į motinų elgesį. dar ainsworth (1969) aprašydama jautrumo skales iškėlė idėją, kad kūdikiai dėl nuolatinio motinų kišimosi į jų veiklą gali tapti pasyvesni jų tarpusavio sąveikose. tuomet motinoms nebelieka galimybės ar reikalo trukdyti kūdikių veiklai ir jų elgesys tampa pozityvesnis ir inicijuojantis sąveikas. panašiai gali atsitikti ir su dėmesio nukreipimo strategijomis: galbūt motinos, turinčios aukštus neurotiškumo bruožo įverčius, labiau linkusios nukreipti kūdikių dėmesį, o kūdikiai, bandydami prisitaikyti prie tokio motinų elgesio, per tam tikrą laiką tampa pasyvesni. tuomet tokie kūdikiai mažiau inicijuoja patys naujas veiklas, tad motinoms lieka mažiau galimybių nukreipti kūdikių dėmesį nuo jų atliekamos veiklos. šiame tyrime nebuvo analizuojamas kūdikių elgesys ir reakcijos į motinų veiksmus, tačiau tolesniuose tyrimuose būtų svarbu įtraukti ir kūdikio elgesio bei reakcijų stebėjimą. dėl panašių priežasčių gali atsirasti ir sąsajos tarp motinų neurotiškumo bruožo ir teigiamo grįžtamojo ryšio. galbūt motinos, turinčios aukštus neurotiškumo bruožo įverčius, buvo linkusios teikti teigiamą grįžtamąjį ryšį savo kūdikiams. tai taip pat galėjo sustiprinti kūdikių iniciatyvą ir international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 89 2014, 14, 71–94 p. taip sumažinti neigiamo grįžtamojo ryšio apie savo veiksmus ar veiksmų rezultatus galimybę. beje, kaip žinome, individai su labiau išreikštu neurotiškumo bruožu yra labiau linkę būti nerimastingi, susirūpinę, nuogąstaujantys (costa, mccrae, 1984, cit. plg. bagdonas, barkauskienė, kairys, linauskaitė, valickas, žukauskienė, 2012). galbūt dėl savo padidėjusio nerimastingumo ir susirūpinimo tokios motinos yra jautresnės kūdikių signalams ir pastabesnės kūdikių veiklai. dėl to jos geriau sugeba sekti kūdikių dėmesio fokusą bei jautriau įsitraukti į kūdikių veiklą, nenukreipdamos jų dėmesio. panašūs rezultatai gauti atlikus kitą tyrimą: nustatyta, kad motinos, turinčios aukštus neurotiškumo įverčius, jautriau reaguodavo į kūdikio patiriamą stresą (zeifman, 2003). gali būti, kad neurotiškos motinos yra empatiškesnės vaiko poreikiams ir siunčiamiems signalams. kaip jau minėjome, ekstraversijos bruožas siejosi su kūdikių dėmesio nukreipimo strategija bei retesniu džiugiu motinų emociniu tonu ir dažnesniu irzliu emociniu tonu bendros struktūruotos užduoties metu. šie rezultatai iš dalies patvirtina mūsų keltą prielaidą ir taip pat siejasi su kitų tyrimų rezultatais, kuriuose atsispindėjo tai, kad motinų aukšti ekstraversijos bruožo įverčiai siejosi su labiau kontroliuojančiu auklėjimo stiliumi (smith, 2010) bei aukštu neigiamu emocingumu (kochanska, clark, goldman, 1997). galbūt iš tiesų, kaip teigia smith (2010), motinos, kurios turi aukštą socialinės stimuliacijos poreikį (t. y. turi aukštus ekstraversijos bruožo įverčius), gali nepakankamai patenkinti savo poreikį bendraudamos su kūdikiais, kurie dar nesugeba būti visaverčiais socialiniais partneriais. svarbu atkreipti dėmesį ir į tai, kad visos mūsų tyrime dalyvavusios motinos pasirinko išeiti vaiko priežiūros atostogų dvejiems metams. galbūt ekstravertiškesnės motinos ilgai būdamos namuose su vaiku patiria didesnę frustraciją, nes jų gyvenimas auginant vaiką nėra toks socialiai aktyvus. tad tokių motinų polinkis nukreipti kūdikio dėmesį gali sietis su tuo, kad jos labiau stengiasi kontroliuoti kūdikio elgesį ir patenkinti savo bendravimo poreikį. motinų ekstravertiškumo sąsajos su polinkiu mažiau reikšti džiugų emocinį toną ir dažniau reikšti irzlų emocinį toną gali sietis su nepasitenkinimu dėl nepatenkinto bendravimo poreikio. taip pat tokios sąsajos gali sietis ir su šarkinaitės ir kt. (2007) prielaida, kad ekstravertės motinos yra linkusios nepriimti patirties, susijusios su negatyviais išgyvenimais. tai gali jas paskatinti iškraipyti kūdikio signalus ir priskirti jiems savo motyvus, t. y. būti mažiau jautrioms savo kūdikiams. mažesnis motinų jautrumas atspindi motinų netinkamą kūdikio signalų supratimą: tokios motinos gali neįvertinti kūdikio įsitraukimo į tuo metu atliekamą veiklą ir bandyti nukreipti jo dėmesį į naują veiklą. pastebėtina ir tai, kad motinų ekstraversija siejosi su jų emociniu tonu tik bendros 90 raminta vaiciukevičė, danguolė čekuolienė, roma jusienė užduoties metu, o ne laisvo žaidimo metu. visai galimas dalykas, kad ekstraversija pasižyminčios mamos labiau orientuotos į rezultatą ir joms svarbiau yra tinkamai atlikti užduotį, todėl patiria daugiau susierzinimo kaip tik šioje, o ne laisvo žaidimo situacijoje. mūsų tyrime motinos, turėjusios aukštus sąmoningumo įverčius, mažiau bendradarbiavo su kūdikiu ir rečiau teikė teigiamą grįžtamąjį ryšį. šie rezultatai iš dalies susiję su kito tyrimo, kuriame buvo gauta, kad motinų labiau išreikštas sąmoningumo bruožas siejasi su jų naudojamu ribojančiu kūdikius auklėjimo stiliumi, t. y. naudojama didesne kontrole kūdikio atžvilgiu (olsen, martin, halverson, 1999). motinos, turinčios aukštus sąmoningumo bruožo įverčius, turėtų būti linkusios turėti aukštus standartus, siekti savo tikslų. galbūt tokios motinos dažniau kontroliuoja kūdikius sąveikų metu, kad jie elgtųsi taip, kad atitiktų jų keliamus tikslus, todėl tokioms motinoms gali būti sunkiau bendradarbiauti su kūdikiais atliekant bendrą užduotį. taip pat dėl aukštų standartų turėjimo tokioms motinoms kūdikio pastangos atlikti užduotį gali atrodyti vis nepakankamos (dažniau pastebimos kūdikio daromas klaidos), todėl jos gali mažiau teikti teigiamą grįžtamąjį ryšį. beje, zeifman (2003) rado, kad motinos, turinčios žemesnius sąmoningumo bruožo įverčius, buvo jautresnės kūdikio patiriamam stresui. tyrimo autoriai kelia prielaidas, kad sąmoningumo bruožu išsiskiriantys tėvai gali labiau vertinti kitas gyvenimo sritis, pavyzdžiui, darbą, dėl ko jie gali būti mažiau jautrūs (zeifman, 2003). mūsų tyrime didesni motinų atvirumo bruožo įverčiai siejosi su retesniu jų verbaliniu trukdymu bei su dažnesniu džiugiu emociniu tonu laisvo žaidimo metu. šios sąsajos iš dalies sutampa su kitų tyrimų rezultatais, kuriuose buvo rastos teigiamos sąsajos tarp motinų atvirumo bruožo ir jų šilto ir vaiko poreikius atitinkančio auklėjimo (prinzie, dekovic, belsky, reijntjes, stams, 2009), vaikų nepriklausomybės siekio palaikymo, teigiamų emocijų rodymo vaiko atžvilgiu (metsapelto, pulkkinen, 2003). atrodo, kad tokios motinos yra mažiau linkusios varžyti kūdikius verbaliai ir trukdyti jų atliekamai veiklai, duodamos griežtus nurodymus. jos labiau skatina kūdikio autonomijos siekį bei reiškia džiugias emocijas sąveikose su kūdikiais. galbūt dėl savo polinkio mėgautis naujomis patirtimis, gebėjimo prisitaikyti šios motinos sugeba būti lankstesnės sąveikose ir labiau mėgaujasi jomis. įdomu tai, kad motinų atvirumo bruožas siejosi su džiugiu emociniu tonu tik laisvo žaidimo metu. gali būti, kad bendros struktūruotos užduoties metu motinos patiria daugiau iššūkių ir joms sunkiau išlikti džiugiomis tokiose sąveikose. tyrime nenustatyta sąsajų tarp motinų sutarumo asmenybės bruožo ir motinų sąveikų su kūdikiais savybių. sąsajos tarp motinų sutarumo asinternational journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 91 2014, 14, 71–94 p. menybės bruožo ir teigiamų auklėjimo aspektų dažniau randamos tiriant motinas, kurios augina jau vyresnius vaikus (coplan, reichel, rowan, 2009; haan, prinzie, dekovic, 2009). galbūt motinų sutarumo asmenybės bruožas aktualesnis, kai vaikai vyresni. be to, kituose tyrimuose buvo vertinami auklėjimo stiliai. gali būti, kad mūsų vertintos motinų sąveikos su kūdikiais savybės atspindi kiek kitus jų bendravimo aspektus. svarbu pastebėti, kad mūsų tyrimo imtis nėra didelė, todėl gauti rezultatai turėtų būti atsargiai interpretuojami platesniame kontekste. be to, svarbu atkreipti dėmesį, kad visos tyrime dalyvavusios motinos turėjo aukštesnįjį arba aukštąjį išsilavinimą ir gyveno su kūdikio tėvu. tokie veiksniai taip pat gali turėti įtakos motinų sąveikoms su kūdikiu. tolimesniuose tyrimuose didesnė ir įvairesnė imtis (pvz., į tiriamųjų grupę įtraukiant ir motinas iš rizikos grupės) galbūt atskleistų platesnį motinų ir kūdikių sąveikų sąsajų su asmenybės savybėmis spektrą. atlikus tyrimus aiškėja, kad motinų depresiškumas, partnerio smurtas, socialinės paramos trūkumas siejasi su mažiau jautriu ir labiau trukdančiu motinų elgesiu motinų–kūdikių sąveiku metu (driscoll, easterbrooks, 2007). klausimas, kokia būtų tam tikrų asmenybės savybių reikšmė sąveikoms su kūdikiu, esant kitiems rizikos veiksniams? tolimesniuose tyrimuose būtų svarbu įtraukti ir kūdikių charakteristikas, siekiant geriau suprasti svarbius veiksnius, susijusius su motinų– kūdikių sąveikų savybėmis. pavyzdžiui, randama, kad motinų asmenybės savybių sąsajos su kūdikių temperamentu gerai prognozuoja motinų bendravimą su kūdikiais (clark, kochanska, ready, 2000). apibendrinant galima teigti, kad mūsų tyrimo rezultatai patvirtina belsky (1984) tėvystės modelyje keltas prielaidas, jog motinų individualios asmenybės savybės siejasi su jų bendravimu su vaikais. šiame tyrime gauti rezultatai ne visuomet sutampa su kitų tyrėjų gautais rezultatais, todėl būtų svarbu ir toliau plėsti tyrimus šioje srityje, įtraukiant ir anksčiau minėtus papildomus kintamuosius. literatūra ainsworth, m. d. 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(2010). multiple determinants of parenting: predicting individual differences in maternal parenting behavior with toddlers. parenting: science and practice, 10, 1–17. smith, c. l., spinrad, t. l., eisenberg, n., gaertner, b.m., popp, t. k., maxon, e. (2007). maternal personality: longitudinal associations to parenting behavior and maternal emotional expressions toward toddlers. parenting: science and practice, 7 (3), 305–329. stern, d. n. (1985). the interpersonal world of the infant: a view from psychoanalysis and developmental psychology. new york: basic book. šarkinaitė, l., čekuolienė, d., kalinauskienė, l. (2007) motinų jautrumo kūdikio signalams ir asmenybės savybių sąsajos. psichologija, 35, 25–35. tomasello, m. (1992). the social bases of language acquisition. social development, 1, 68–87. 94 raminta vaiciukevičė, danguolė čekuolienė, roma jusienė van aken. c., junger, m., verhoeven, m., van aken, m. a. g., dekovic, m., denissen, j. j. (2007). parental personality, parenting and toddlers‘ externalizing behaviours. european journal of personality, 21, 993–1015. zeifman, d. m., (2003) predicting adult responses to infant distress: adult characteristics associated with perceptions, emotional reactions and timing of intervention. infant mental health journal, 24 (6), 597–612. relation between mother – infant interactions and mothers‘ personality traits r aminta vaiciukevičė 1, danguolė čekuolienė 2, roma jusienė 2 1mykolas romeris university, lithuania, 2vilnius university, lithuania abstract. background. a lot of studies emphasize the importance of early mother – infant relationships for further infant development, successful psychological and social functioning (degnan, henderson, fox, rubin, 2008). there are described many factors which explain quality of this relationship. however, there are not enough studies, that investigate relations between mothers‘ personality traits, which are most stable construct describing personality, and mother – infant interactions. aim of this study is to identify relations between variuos aspects of mother – infant interactions during play situation and mothers‘ personality traits. materials and methods. participants were 26 mothers and their one and a half year old infants. mothers‘ personality traits were evaluated by neo five factor inventory (costa, mccrae, 1999). videotaped observation of mother – infant free play and structured joint task was used for exploration of mother – infant interactions. four major dimensions of mother – infant interactions were analysed: (1) mother‘s attention – directing strategies (tomasello, 1992); (2) mother‘s cooperation (ainsworth, 1969); (3) maternal feedback (lewis, 1993); (4) mothers‘ emotional tone. results. several associations between mathers‘ personality and dimensions of mother – infant interactions were found: mothers‘ neuroticism was positively related to attention following strategy during free play and positive feedback during structured task. mothers‘ extraversion was positively related to infant‘s attention switching strategy during free play. higher extraversion was also related to less joyful and more irritable emotional tone during structured task. mothers‘ conscientiousness was negatively linked to mothers‘ verbal cooperation and positive feedback during structured task. mothers‘ openness to experience was negatively related to mothers‘ verbal interference during structured task and positively related to mothers‘ joyful emotional tone during free play. the findings of this study allow to confirm assumptions that mothers‘ individual personality traits are related to mother – infant interactions. keywords: mothers‘ personality traits, mother – infant interactions, early relationship development gauta: 2013-07-01 priimta: 2014-04-07 9 2014, 15, 9–32 p. mokslo straipsniai issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.15.1 1 adresas susirašinėti: mykolo romerio universiteto socialinės politikos fakulteto psichologijos institutas, ateities g. 20, v–239, lt-08303 vilnius, el. p.: tikrisciunaite@gmail.com paauglių identiteto formavimosi ir santykių su tėvais sąsajos. sisteminė literatūros apžvalga tija kriščiūnaitė1 mykolo romerio universitetas, lietuva santrauka. problema. asmenybės siekimas save apibrėžti ir atsakyti į klausimą, kas aš esu, yra natūralus žmogaus poreikis, kuris vykstant biopsichosocialiniams pokyčiams paauglystėje tampa itin reikšmingas. pasak eriksono (1968), svarbiausias raidos uždavinys paauglystėje yra teigiamai išspręsti vaidmenų sumišimo krizę. tyrimuose dažnai akcentuojama, kad stabilus, tvirtas identiteto jausmas siejamas su geresniais paauglio psichikos sveikatos rodikliais. santykiai su tėvais taip pat susiję su geresne paauglio emocine ir psichologine savijauta, tačiau mokslinėje literatūroje tyrimų, nagrinėjančių paauglio identiteto formavimosi ir santykių su tėvais ryšius, yra labai mažai. gauti šios srities rezultatai prieštaringi ir menkai paaiškinantys identiteto formavimosi ir santykių šeimoje mechanizmus, taigi nėra aišku, kaip santykiai su tėvais susiję su paauglių identiteto formavimusi. tyrimo tikslas yra analizuoti ir apibendrinti šeimos santykių aspektus, darančius įtaką paauglių raidai, ir paauglių identiteto formavimosi sąsajas, apibendrinti gautus rezultatus ir aptarti veiksnius, galinčius paveikti šiuos ryšius. metodika. sisteminė literatūros apžvalga. rezultatai. sisteminės literatūros analizė atskleidė, kad paauglių identiteto formavimuisi didžiausią įtaką daro šeimos santykių klimatas ir tėvų elgesys su paaugliu, analizuojamas per auklėjimo stilių koncepciją. tačiau prieštaringi tyrimai rodo, kad paauglių identiteto formavimosi ir santykių su tėvais sąsajos nėra iki galo aiškios ir čia reikia naujų empirinių tyrimų, kuriuose būtų atsižvelgiama į tarpinių kintamųjų, galinčių veikti šiuos ryšius, buvimą. pagrindiniai žodžiai: identitetas, paauglystė, santykiai šeimoje. įvadas paauglystė dažnai yra vertinama kaip metas, kai kartu su vykstančiais biopsichosocialiniais pokyčiais asmuo turi įgyti įgūdžių ir ištobulinti gebėjimus, kurių reikės norint tapti produktyviu suaugusiuoju (lakin, mahoney, 2006). pagrindinė užduotis, tenkanti paaugliui šiame raidos etape, yra sukonstruoti savo identiteto jausmą, rasti tinkamą socialinę tija kriščiūnaitė 10 aplinką ir megzti prasmingus santykius su kitais žmonėmis, kurie paaug lystėje taip pat sparčiai keičiasi (chen, lay ir kt., 2007). kokybiški santykiai su kitais žmonėmis (walsh, harel-fisch ir kt., 2010) ir suformuotas identiteto jausmas (dumas, lawford ir kt., 2009) siejami su geresne paauglio sveikata ir psichologine gerove. identiteto sąvoką galima tyrinėti remiantis įvairiomis teorijomis. literatūroje dažnai nagrinėjamas paauglių tautinis ir lytinis identitetas, taip pat galima aptikti straipsnių, analizuojančių religinį, kultūrinį ar tam tikrų specifinių mažumų grupių (pavyzdžiui, homoseksualų, tam tikra liga sergančiųjų) identitetą. visos šios identiteto rūšys yra svarbios siekiant suprasti ir prognozuoti asmens elgesį, tačiau nagrinėjant paauglių identiteto raidą populiariausia yra eriksono teorija. pasak šio mokslininko (1968), identitetas – tai esminis asmenybės struktūrą organizuojantis vienetas, kuris vystosi ir užtikrina asmenybės tęstinumo, vientisumo ir unikalumo pajautimą sąveikaudamas su kitais žmonėmis. taip pat jis leidžia asmeniui likti autonomiškam bendraujant su aplinkiniais. erikso no identiteto sąvoka gali būti apibūdinama ir kaip stabilumo įgijimo, integracijos, savasties atpažįstamumo sau ir kitiems sintezė (amini, jafari, 1992). teigiamai išspręsta paauglių vaidmenų sumišimo krizė skatina asmenį integruoti visus savęs suvokimo vaizdus į vientisą asmeninį identitetą ir sustiprina įvairių jo prisiimtų vaidmenų atlikimą (erikson, 1963), tad pasiektas identitetas siejamas su mažesniu paauglių psichosomatinių ir neurotinių simptomų išreikštumu (chen, lay ir kt., 2007), mažesniu nerimastingumu (crocetti, klimstra ir kt., 2009), mažesniu depresyvumu ir polinkiu į savižudybę (ramgoon, bachoo ir kt., 2006), didesne psichologine gerove (sandhu, singh ir kt., 2012), geresniu savęs vertinimu (waterman, 2007), lankstesniu emociniu prisitaikymu (dumas, lawford ir kt., 2009) ir didesniu emociniu stabilumu (crocetti, rubini ir kt., 2008). taigi literatūroje gana dažnai nagrinėjamos identiteto ir paauglių psichikos indikatorių sąsajos. paauglystėje psichikos sveikatai reikšmingą įtaką daro ir santykiai su kitais žmonėmis, tačiau labai mažai tyrimų telkiasi į tai, kaip šios socialinės sąveikos veikia paauglio raidą (hill, bromell ir kt., 2007). nors paauglio gyvenime svarbūs yra santykiai su draugais ir bendraamžiais (shehata, ramadan, 2010), šeima vis dar lieka pagrindinė institucija, turinti didžiausią įtaką vaiko gerovei (grossmann, grossmann, 2009; lewis, lamb, 2003). deja, labai mažai tyrimų nagrinėja, kokį poveikį santykiai šeimoje turi paauglio ir jo identiteto raidai, todėl aktualu analizuoti santykių šeimoje ir paauglių vystymosi aspektų ryšius. international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 11 2014, 15, 9–32 p. tyrimų rezultatai rodo, kad geri santykiai su tėvais siejami su sėkminga paauglio raida (malekpour, 2007), emocine ir psichologine gerove (giannakopoulos, dimitrakaki ir kt., 2009), mažesne psichoaktyviųjų medžiagų vartojimo (ledoux, miller ir kt., 2002) ir antisocialaus elgesio rizika (dekovic, wissinkb, meijer, 2004), geresniu savęs vertinimu ir bend ra sveikatos būkle (ryan, russell ir kt., 2010). paauglystėje siekdami didesnio autonomiškumo, paaugliai naujai įvertina savo ir tėvų vaidmenis, persvarsto taisykles ir lūkesčius (collins, laursen, 2004). paauglys siekia iš naujo įsitvirtinti šeimoje ir performuoti savo vaidmenį joje, ypač tėvų ir vaikų santykį (hill, bromell ir kt., 2007). tačiau paaugliai nėra patenkinti savo identitetu, todėl ieško autonomijos (emocinės ir elgesio) atsiskirdami nuo tėvų, nors tėvai ir santykiai su jais paaugliams vis dar svarbūs (chan, chan, 2008). taigi galima daryti išvadą, kad santykiai su tėvais šeimoje turi reikšmingos įtakos paauglio identiteto formavimuisi. tyrimo problema ir aktualumas. daugelis psichosocialinio identiteto formavimąsi nagrinėjančių teorijų netyrinėja eksternalių ir internalių veiksnių ryšių ir poveikio identiteto formavimuisi. socialinio identiteto ir išmokimo teorijos pabrėžia socialinių sąveikų svarbą (hogg, reid, 2006; bandura, 1977), identiteto stiliaus – kognityvinių funkcijų – reikšmę (smits, doumen ir kt., 2011). dauguma asmenybės teorijų, kuriose žmogaus savęs suvokimo arba asmenybės sąvokos gali būti laikomos artimomis identiteto jausmui, akcentuoja įgimto potencialo, vidinių savybių svarbą (freud, 1916; adler, 1927). eriksono (1968) psichosocialinio vystymosi teorija dažniausiai pasitelkiama nagrinėjant paauglių identiteto formavimosi ypatumus. nors jis ir teigė, kad žmogaus raida yra psichosocialinė savo prigimtimi, tuo tarsi sujungdamas įgimtus (vidinius) ir socialinius (išorinius) veiksnius, mokslininkas neaprašė mechanizmų, dėl kurių veikimo paauglys gali suformuoti (arba nesuformuoti) savo identitetą. jo teorijoje identitetas pateikiamas tarsi natūralus asmenybės raidos „produktas“, kurį sveika asmenybė turi pamažu ištobulinti, tačiau šiandien vis populiarėjantis sisteminis požiūris į žmogų leidžia teigti, kad socialinės sąveikos turi didelę reikšmę asmenybės formavimuisi. apžvelgus pastarojo dešimtmečio mokslinius straipsnius ir atlikus sisteminę analizę, teigtina, kad tyrimų, kuriuose būtų nagrinėjamos paauglių identiteto formavimosi ir santykių su tėvais sąsajos, literatūroje aptinkama labai mažai, o straipsniuose pateikiami prieštaringi rezultatai leidžia sakyti, kad šie ryšiai nėra iki galo aiškūs ir išsamiai ištirti. taip pat nėra aišku, kokie veiksniai turi didžiausią įtaką šiems ryšiams. nagrinėti šeimos santykių aspektus, galinčius nulemti sėkmingą paauglystės raidos krizės tija kriščiūnaitė 12 sprendimą, yra aktualu siekiant rasti veiksmingus pagalbos paaugliui ir jo šeimai būdus, padedančius efektyviai funkcionuoti visuomenėje ir išsaugoti psichologinę bei socialinę šeimos gerovę. taigi šios sisteminės literatūros analizės tikslas yra nagrinėti šeimos santykių aspektus ir paauglio identiteto formavimosi sąsajas. darbo uždaviniai: . apibendrinti gautus rezultatus paauglių identiteto vystymosi ir šei mos santykių kontekste; . aptarti psichosocialinius veiksnius, galinčius paveikti paauglių san tykių su tėvais ir psichosocialinio identiteto formavimosi ryšius. tyrimo medžiaga ir metodai įtraukimo į sisteminę apžvalgą kriterijai. į sisteminę apžvalgą įtraukti tie tyrimai, kuriuose buvo nagrinėjama paauglių identiteto raida remiantis eriksono teorija ir įvairių santykių aspektų su tėvais sąsajos. taip pat pateko tie straipsniai, kuriuose aprašomas atliktas empirinis tyrimas kliniškai sveikų paauglių populiacijoje. į sisteminę apžvalgą neįtraukti aprašomojo pobūdžio straipsniai, kuriuose nepateikiama empirinių duo menų ir aptariamas paauglių identiteto vystymasis nesiremia eriksono teorija, o nagrinėjama tik paauglių lyties, rasės ar tautinio identiteto for mavimasis. kiti įtraukimo į analizę kriterijai buvo straipsnių prieinamu mas, kalba ir publikavimo metai: pateko tik laisvai prieinami vi sateks čiai straipsniai anglų ir lietuvių kalbomis, publikuoti 2000–2013 m. duomenų rinkimas. ieškant straipsnių naudotos kompiuterinės bib liografinės duomenų bazės ebsco, „medline“, „social psychology network“. straipsnių paieška atlikta pagal įvairius šių raktažodžių derinius: identity, adolescent*, relationship*, parent*, family. rasta 74 straipsniai anglų kalba: 64 – ebsco duomenų bazėje, 6 – „medline“, 4 – „social psychology network“. lietuvių kalba straipsnių pagal raktažodžius nebuvo aptikta. peržvelgus rastų straipsnių pavadinimus ir santraukas atmesti tie straipsniai, kuriuose paauglių identitetas nenagrinėjamas remiantis eriksono ir / ar marcios teorija (lyties, rasės, tautinis, religinis ar tam tikrų specifinių grupių, pavyzdžiui, įvaikintų vaikų, identitetas). taip pat atmesti aprašomojo ar analitinio pobūdžio straipsniai, kuriuose nepateikta autorių atlikto empirinio tyrimo rezultatų. tyrimų kokybės įvertinimas ir duomenų gavimas. kadangi publikacijų, nagrinėjančių identiteto raidą pagal eriksono ir marcios teorijas bei santykių su tėvais kriterijus, nėra daug, stengtasi įtraukti kuo daugiau turimų straipsnių, todėl į sisteminę apžvalgą pateko visi straipsniai, atitinkantys international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 13 2014, 15, 9–32 p. kokybės įvertinimo kriterijus. dėl šios priežasties sisteminėje analizėje paauglystės laikotarpis analizuojamas neskirstant jo į ankstyvosios, vidurinės ir vėlyvosios paauglystės periodus. tyrimų kokybė vertinta pagal šiuos kriterijus: . paauglių identiteto raida analizuojama remiantis eriksono ir / ar marcios identiteto vystymosi teorija; . straipsnyje pateikiama informacija apie tirtą populiaciją; . tyrime nagrinėjama kliniškai sveikų paauglių populiacija; . aiškiai apibrėžiamos nagrinėjamos sąvokos; . pateiktas naudojamų įvertinimo instrumentų patikimumas ir aprašymas; . aiškiai aprašomas tyrimo organizavimas ir atlikimas; . straipsnyje aiškiai pateikiami gauti rezultatai ir išvados; iš straipsnių atrinkti duomenys apie tirtos paauglių populiacijos amžių ir naudotos metodikos patikimumą. taip pat duomenys apie paauglio šeimos santykių ar santykių su tėvais aspektus ir gautos empirinio tyrimo išvados, kaip santykių su tėvais aspektai siejasi su paauglio identiteto formavimusi. kadangi daugumoje į sisteminę analizę įtrauktų straipsnių, vertinant paauglių identiteto formavimosi ir santykių su tėvais ryšius, buvo naudojamos skirtingos metodikos ir atliekami skirtingi statistinės analizės būdai, metaanalitiniai skaičiavimai nebuvo atliekami. rezultatai į sisteminę analizę pagal nustatytus duomenų įtraukimo kriterijus pateko 13 straipsnių. pagrindinės tyrimų charakteristikos pateikiamos 1 lentelėje. į sisteminę analizę įtrauktuose straipsniuose paauglių identiteto raida daugiausia vertinama naudojant ego identiteto statusų klausimyno išplėstinę versiją (eomeis-2) (iš 13 straipsnių 8: nr. 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13). kiti vertinimo instrumentai, matuojantys paauglių identiteto vystymąsi, taip pat buvo sukurti eriksono ir marcios apibrėžiamam paauglių psichosocialiniam identitetui ir jo būsenoms matuoti. paauglių santykiai su tėvais daugiausia buvo vertinami matuojant šeimos santykių charakteristikas (8 straipsniai: nr. 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 11, 12, 13), taip pat buvo vertinama paauglių prieraišumo prie tėvų (4 straipsniai: nr. 4, 7, 8, 9) ir paauglių auklėjimo aspektai (5 straipsniai: nr. 3, 5, 10, 11, 12). visų analizuojamuose straipsniuose naudojamų metodikų patikimumas yra tinkamas naudoti psichologiniuose tyrimuose grupiniams palyginimams (cronbacho α > 0,5). tija kriščiūnaitė 14 1 le n te lė a n al iz u oj am ų s tr ai p sn ių t ir to s p op u lia ci jo s ir n au d ot ų m et od ik ų c h ar ak te ri st ik os t a b le 1 t h e p op u la ti on a n d t h e m et h od s u se d in a n al yz ed s tu d ie s id en tif ik ac ijo s n u m er is a u to ria i, m et ai im tis ti ria m ų jų a m ži u s (m et ai s) n au d o to s ve rt in im o m et o d ik o s m et o d ik ų p at ik im u m as 1 2 3 4 5 n r. 1 d . s an dh u b. s . s un in de r, t. n . k un dr a (2 01 2) n = 2 10 , (9 9 be rn iu ka i, 11 1 m er ga ič ių ) 17 –2 0, m (b er n. ) = 1 8, 5 4 (s d = 0 ,9 2) , m (m er g. ) = 1 8, 77 , (s d = 0 , 9 5) eg o id en tit et o st at us ų kl au si m yn as (iš pl ės tin ė ve rs ija , e o m ei s2) , (b en ni on , a da m s, 1 98 6) še im os s an ty ki ų in ve nt or iu s (s he rr y, s in ha , 1 98 7) c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,7 9 c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,7 n r. 2 m . s ye d, i. se iff ge -k re nk e (2 01 3) n = 9 8 ir jų tė va i m = 1 4, 7 (s d = 1 ,3 8) id en tit et o st at us o in te rv iu (is i; m ar ci a, 1 96 6) še im os s an ty ki ų (k lim at o) s ka lė (f es , m oo s, m oo s, 1 98 1) ka pp a nu o 0, 76 ik i 0 ,8 0 c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,8 1, 0 ,8 5, 0, 82 p aa ug lių v er si ja ; c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,8 6, 0 ,8 8, 0, 84 – m am ų ir 0, 80 , 0 ,8 8, 0, 83 – tė vų v er si ja n r. 3 c . e . s ar to r, j. y ou ni ss (2 00 2) n = 1 01 2 15 –1 9 id en tit et o pa si ek im as : e rik so no p si ch os o ci al in io v ys ty m os i i nv en to riu s (e ps i) (r os en th al ir k t., 1 98 1) ta rp as m en in ių s an ty ki ų sk al ė (b ar be r, sh ag le , 1 99 2) el ge si o ko nt ro lė s ir m ok yk lo s m on ito rin go sk al ės (b ar be r, o ls en , s ha gl es , 1 99 4) c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,8 48 c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,8 60 c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,8 38 ir 0, 79 0 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 15 2014, 15, 9–32 p. n r. 4 a . j . f ab er , a . e . e d w ar d s, k. s . b au er , j. w et ch le r (2 00 3) n = 1 57 st ud en ta i, vė ly vo si os p aa ug ly st ės (1 821 , t ik sl us ti ria m ųj ų am ži us ne p at ei kt as ) eg o id en ti te to s ta tu sų k la us im yn as (iš p lė st in ė ve rs ija , e o m ei s2 (b en ni on , a d am s, 1 98 6) st ru kt ūr in io š ei m os b en d ra vi m o sk al ė (s fi sr, p er os a, h an se n, 1 98 1) pr ie ra iš um o p rie tė vų ir b en d ra am ži ų in ve nt or iu s (ip pa , a rm sd en , g re en b er g, 19 87 ) c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,7 7 c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,7 1 c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,9 ir 0 ,9 4 n r. 5 s. g . c ak ir, g . a yd in (2 00 5) n = 4 03 16 –1 9, m = 1 7, 2 eg o id en ti te to s ta tu sų k la us im yn as (iš p lė st in ė ve rs ija , e o m ei s2 (b en ni on , a d am s, 1 98 6) tė vų p ož iū rio s ka lė (p a s, l am ho m , m ou nt s, s te in he rg , d om hu sc h, 1 99 1) c ro nb ac ho α p os ka lė se nu o 0, 57 ik i 0 ,8 4 c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,6 7 n r. 6 a . v an h oo f, q . a . r aa ijm ak er s, y. v an b ee k, w . h al e, l . a le va (2 00 7) n = 1 94 12 –1 8, m = 1 4, 7 (s d = 1 ,2 ) tę st in um o la ik e id en ti te to k la us im yn as (v an h oo f, ra ai jm ak er s, 2 00 2) le uv en o še im os k la us im yn as (l fq , k og ir kt .,1 98 7) , m at uo ja š ei m os d is or ga ni za ci ją (s us is ka ld ym ą) ir s ut el kt um ą c ro nb ac ho α – ne p at ei kt a c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,8 4 ir 0, 82 n r. 7 r. l . m ul lis , s. g ra f, g . a . k . m ul lis (2 00 9) n = 2 34 13 –1 8 m = 1 5, 97 , (s d = 1 ,3 4) eg o id en ti te to s ta tu sų k la us im yn as (iš p lė st in ė ve rs ija , e o m ei s2, b en ni on , a d am s, 1 98 6) pr ie ra iš um o p rie tė vų k la us im yn as (p bi , pa rk er , t up lin g, b ro w n, 1 97 9) , s ud ar o d vi p os ka lė s: rū p es ti s ir p er d id el ė ap sa ug a (a ng l. ov er pr ot ec tio n) c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,7 5 c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,8 8 ir 0, 74 tija kriščiūnaitė 16 n r. 8 j. l ub en ko , s. s eb re (2 00 7) n = 1 14 (4 6 b er ni uk ai , 68 m er ga it ės ) 17 –1 9, m = 1 7, 7 eg o id en ti te to s ta tu sų k la us im yn as (iš p lė st in ė ve rs ija , e o m ei s2 (b en ni on , a d am s, h ug , 1 98 7) pr ie ra iš um o p rie tė vų ir b en d ra am ži ų in ve nt or iu s (ip pa , a rm sd en , g re en b er g, 19 87 ) še im os k lim at o (a p lin ko s) s ka lė (f es , m oo s, m oo s, 2 00 2) a ts ki ro se p os ka lė se : c ro nb ac ho α = n uo 0 ,6 2 ik i 0 ,7 7 c ro nb ac ho α = n uo 0 ,7 5 ik i 0 , 8 8 c ro nb ac ho α = n uo 0 ,6 1 ik i 0 , 7 8 n r. 9 s. n aw az (2 01 1) n = 5 50 , (3 00 b er ni uk ų, 25 0 m er ga ič ių ) 17 –2 5 pr ie ra iš um o p rie tė vų ir b en d ra am ži ų in ve nt or iu s (ip pa -r , a rm sd en , g re en b er g, 19 87 ) eg o id en ti te to s ta tu sų k la us im yn as (iš p lė st in ė ve rs ija ), (e o m ei s, b en ni on , a d am s, 1 98 6) c ro nb ac ho α = 0 , 9 3 c ro nb ac ho α = 0 , 9 2 n r. 10 t. d um as , h . l aw fo rd , t. t ie u, m . p ra tt (2 00 9) n = 8 96 (5 44 m er ga it ės , 35 2 b er ni uk ai ) m = 1 7, 4 (s d = 0 ,8 0) a ut or it et in go a uk lė jim o sk al ė (l am b or n, m ou nt s, s te in b er g, d or nb us ch , 1 99 1) be nd ro š ei m os fu nk ci on av im o sk al ė (m cm as te r) , p oz it yv au s au kl ėj im o in d ek sa s eg o id en ti te to s ta tu sų k la us im yn as (iš p lė st in ė ve rs ija , e o m ei s, b en ni on , a d am s, 1 98 7) c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,8 0 (g rie žt um o p os ka le i) ir 0, 87 (j au tr um o va ik o p or ei ki am s p os ka lė je ) c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,9 2 c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,8 4 c ro nb ac ho α = n uo 0, 46 ik i 0 ,7 0 (k ai k ur io se p os ka lė se ) international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 17 2014, 15, 9–32 p. n r. 11 s. j . s ch w ar tz , h . p an ti n, g . p ra d o, s. j. s za p oc zn ik (2 00 5) n = 1 81 (9 2 b er ni uk ai , 89 m er ga it ės tė va i / g lo b ėj ai (1 8 vy rų , 16 3 m ot er ys ) m = 1 2, 7 (s d = 0 ,6 9) ; m = 4 0, 7 (s d = 6 ,5 ) tė vy st ės įg ūd ži ų sk al ė, tė vų ir p aa ug lių ve rs ijo s (g or m an -s m it h, t ol an , z el li, h ue sm an n, 1 99 6) tė vų ir p aa ug lių e fe kt yv au s b en d ra vi m o sk al ė (b ar ne s, o ls on , 1 98 5) še im os s an ty ki ų sk al ė (t ol an , g or m an sm it h, z el li, h ue sm an n, 1 99 7) er ik so no p si ch os oc ia lin io v ys ty m os i in ve nt or iu s (r os en th al ir k t., 1 98 1) c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,8 4 (t ėv ų ve rs ija ), c ro nb ac ho α = 0 , 87 (p aa ug lių v er si ja ) c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,5 01 ir 0, 76 c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,8 2 ir 0, 66 c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,8 3, 0 ,6 9 n r. 12 s. j . s ch w ar tz , c . a . m as on , h . p an ti n, j. s za p oc zn ik (2 00 9) n = 2 50 13 –1 4 še im os s an ty ki ų sk al ės s ut el kt um o ir p ar am os p os ka lė s (t ol an , g or m an -s m it h ir kt ., 19 97 ) tė vy st ės p ra kt ik os s ka lė s p oz it yv au s au kl ėj im o ir tė vų įs it ra uk im o p os ka lė s (g or m an -s m it h, t ol an ir k t,. 1 99 6) er ik so no p si ch os oc ia lin ių s ta d ijų in ve nt or ia us id en ti te to v ie nt is um o ir d ifu zi jo s p os ka lė s (r os en th al ir k t., 1 98 1) c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,8 5 ir 0, 53 c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,8 7 ir 0, 78 c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,8 3 ir 0, 69 n r. 13 z. y ou se fi (2 01 2) n = 3 30 (b er ni uk ai ) 15 –1 7 še im os fu nk ci on av im o sk al ė (b lo om , 1 98 5) eg o id en ti te to s ta tu sų k la us im yn as (iš p lė st in ė ve rs ija , e o m ei s2 (b en ni on , a d am s, 1 98 6) c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,7 7 c ro nb ac ho α = n uo 0 ,5 9 ik i 0 ,8 3 tija kriščiūnaitė 18 į sisteminę analizę įtrauktų tyrimų rezultatų ir analizuojamų santykių su tėvais aspektų sąsajos pateikiamos 2 lentelėje. kadangi daugeliu atvejų paauglių identiteto raida buvo matuojama naudojant eomeis metodiką, kuri atspindi marcios teorinį identiteto būsenų skirstymą, bet ši raida buvo apibrėžiama remiantis eriksono teorija, teigiamai išspręsta identiteto integracijos krize laikyta paauglio pasiekto identiteto ir pasiekto identiteto be įsipareigojimų būsenos. nepasiekto identiteto jausmą, pasak marcios, atskleidžia identiteto difuzijos ir moratoriumo būsenos. iš analizuojamuose straipsniuose gautų tyrimų išvadų galima teigti, kad daugumoje atvejų (9 straipsniai: nr. 1, 3, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13) gautos statistiškai reikšmingos paauglių identiteto raidos ir santykių su tėvais aspektų sąsajos. pasiektas identitetas siejasi su tėvų padrąsinimu, emocine parama, pagalba sprendžiant svarbius socialinius ir su mokykla susijusius klausimus (sartor, youniss, 2002), šeimos sutelktumu ir emociniu įsitraukimu į bendravimą vienas su kitu, bei mažu konfliktiškumu (van hoof, raaijmakers ir kt., 2007; schwartz pantin ir kt., 2005; lubenko, sebre, 2007), tėčio rūpinimusi paaugliu (mullis, graf ir kt., 2009), prieraišumu prie tėvų (mergaitėms) (nawaz, 2011), nuosekliu, pozityviu auklėjimu (dumas, lawford ir kt., 2009). identiteto būseną taip pat greičiau pasiekia tie paaugliai, kurie jaučia, kad jų tėvai juos priima tokius, kokie jie yra, tačiau mergaičių identiteto pasiekimo netyrinėjanti būsena siejasi ir su atšiauriu tėvų požiūriu į paauglį, kai tėvai nėra aktyviai įsitraukę į paauglio gyvenimą (sandhu, suninder ir kt., 2012). identiteto pasiekimo netyrinėjanti būsena siejasi su šeimos sutelktumu, demokratiniu bendravimo stiliumi šeimoje (yousefi, 2012). cakir, aydin (2005) tyrimo rezultatai buvo prieštaringi: tiek autoritetingas, tiek laisvesnis auklėjimo stilius siejosi su paauglių identiteto pasiekimo netyrinėjančia būsena, o nagrinėjant kitus statusus reikšmingų tėvų auklėjimo stiliaus ir paauglio identiteto būsenų statusų sąsajų neaptikta. kituose analizuojamuose straipsniuose (nr. 2, 4, 5, 7) statistiškai reikšmingų identiteto pasiekimo būsenų ir santykių su tėvais aspektų sąsajų nerasta. identiteto pasiekimo būsena neturi statistiškai reikšmingų sąsajų su šeimos santykių klimatu (syed, seiffge-krenke, 2013), prieraišumu prie mamos, tėvų santykiais šeimoje (faber, edwards ir kt., 2003), paauglių emocine priklausomybe nuo tėvų ir jų savarankiškumo skatinimu (mullis, graf ir kt., 2009), taip pat prieraišumu prie tėvų ir bendraamžių berniukų imtyje (nawaz, 2011). international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 19 2014, 15, 9–32 p. 2 le n te lė s an ty ki ų š ei m oj e ir s u t ėv ai s są sa jo s su p aa u g lių id en ti te to fo rm av im u si t a b le 2 in te rr el at io n s of r el at io n sh ip s w it h p ar en ts a n d t h e fa m ily a n d a d ol es ce n t id en ti ty fo rm at io n id en tif ik ac ijo s n u m er is a u to ria i, m et ai ve rt in am i s an ty ki ų su t ėv ai s as p ek ta i ty rim o iš va d o s st at is tin is re ik šm in g u m as ko m en ta ra i 1 2 3 4 5 n r. 1 d . s an dh u b. s . s un in de r, t. n . k un dr a (2 01 2) ta i, ka ip p aa ug lia i s uv ok ia s av o tė vų p ož iū rį į j uo s. t ry s pa gr in di ni ai as pe kt ai m am ai ir tė vu i a ts ki ra i: pa au gl io p riė m im as , s us ite lk im as į p aa ug lio e lg es į i r v en gi m as . m am os p riė m im as te ig ia m ai s ie ja si su id en tit et o pa si ek im u. ve ng ia nt is tė vų p ož iū ris s ie ja si su d id es ni u id en tit et o pa si ek im u m er ga itė m s. ta ip pr ie št ar in gi re zu lta ta i n r. 2 m . s ye d, i. se iff ge -k re nk e (2 01 3) še im os s an ty ki ų di m en si jo s: ta rp as m en in ių s an ty ki ų, a sm en in io au gi m o ir si st em os p al ai ky m o. še im os s an ty ki ų kl im at as n ėr a re ik šm in ga s pr ed ik to riu s, nu le m ia nt is p aa ug lio id en tit et o vy st ym ąs i. n e n r. 3 c . e . s ar to r, j. y ou ni ss , 20 02 ta rp as m en in ia i s an ty ki ai s u tė va is , ap im an ty s be nd ra vi m o, p ar am os ir ko nf lik tiš ku m o as pe kt us b ei tė vų ko nt ro lę (a ng l. so ci al m on ito rin g, sc ho ol m on ito rin g) . m on ito rin ga s ir em oc in ė pa ra m a te ig ia m ai s ie ja si s u id en tit et o pa si ek im o bū se na . i de nt ite to pa si ek im ą sk at in a tė vų p ad rą si ni m as sa vi re fle ks ija i i r n ep rik la us om am m ąs ty m ui p oz ity va us ir n uo ši rd au s be nd ra vi m o su tė va is k on te ks te . ta ip tija kriščiūnaitė 20 n r. 4 a . j . f ab er , a . e . e dw ar ds , k. s . b au er , j. w et ch le r (2 00 3) st ru kt ūr in io š ei m os b en dr av im o sk al ė pa ga l m in uc hi ną , m at uo ja tė vų ir v ai kų b en dr av im o rib as , em oc in į i r k og ni ty vi nį p rie ra iš um ą pr ie tė vų . pr ie ra iš um as p rie m am os ne si si ej a re ik šm in ga i s u id en tit et o bū se no s pa si ek im u. p rie ra iš um as pr ie tė vo te ig ia m ai s ie ja si s u id en tite to p as ie ki m o bū se na ir di fu zi jo s st at us u. st ip ri tė vų k oa lic ija n ei gi am ai s ie ja si su d ifu zi jo s ir m or at or iu m o bū se no m is , t ač ia u su id en tit et o pa si ek im o bū se na – n e. n e ta ip / n e pr ie št ar in gi re zu lta ta i n r. 5 s. g . c ak ir, g . a yd in (2 00 5) tė vų p ož iū ris į pa au gl į i r i r s ąs aj os su id en tit et o st at us ai s, ta ip p at tė vų a uk lė jim o st ili us (a ut or ite tin ga s, n es irū pi na nt is ir le id ži an tis ), pr iė m im o / į si tr au ki m o ir ko nt ro lė s / s up er vi zi jų d im en si jų p ov ei ki s. pa au gl ia i, ku rie s uv ok ia s av o tė vu s ka ip a ut or ite tin gu s ir le id ži an či us , d až ni au p as ie ki a id en tite to n et yr in ėj an či ą bū se ną ki to m s id en tit et o bū se no m s re ik šm in gų s ki rt um ų ta rp au kl ėj im o st ili au s ir id en tit et o bū se nų są sa jų n ea pt ik ta . ta ip n e pr ie št ar in gi re zu lta ta i n r. 6 a . v an h oo f, q . w . r aa ijm ak er s, y. v an b ee k, w . h al e, l. a le va (2 00 7) še im os s an ty ki ų ch ar ak te ris tik os (e m oc in is įs itr au ki m as , su te lk tu m as ). ku o te ig ia m ia u še im a ch ar ak te riz uo ja m a, tu o la bi au in te gr uo ta s pa au gl ių id en tit et as ir m až ia u pa tir ia m a pa ty či ų. ku o da ug ia u še im os s ut el kt um o ir em oc in io įs itr au ki m o, tu o la bi au in te gr uo ta s pa au gl io as m en in is id en tit et as . ta ip international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 21 2014, 15, 9–32 p. n r. 7 r. l . m ul lis , s. g ra f, a . k . m ul lis (2 00 9) pa au gl ių e m oc in ės n ep rik la us o m yb ės n uo tė vų , t ėv ų rū pe st in gu m o ir pa au gl ių s av ar an ki šk um o sk at in im o su vo ki m as , t ai , k ai p pa au gl ia i s uv ok ia s av o ir tė vų sa nt yk iu s. tė či o rū pe st in gu m as te ig ia m ai si ej as i s u id en tit et o pa si ek im o bū se na , m am os rū pe st is – a tv irk šč ia i ki ti še im os s an ty ki ų ki nt am ie ji su id en tit et o pa si ek im o ar d ifu zi jo s bū se no m is n es is ie ja s ta tis tiš ka i re ik šm in ga i. ta ip n e pr ie št ar in gi re zu lta ta i n r. 8 j. l ub en ko , s. s eb re (2 00 7) še im os s an ty ki ų kl im at as ir įv ai rū s jo a sp ek ta i ( ko nf lik tiš ku m as , s ut el ktu m as , š ei m os v er ty bi ų, p as ie ki m ų, m or al ės o rie nt ac ija ir p an .) be i pr ie ra iš um o sa nt yk ia i. m er ga ič ių id en tit et o bū se na g al i bū ti nu sp ėj am a še im os s ut el kt um o ir m až o ko nf lik tiš ku m o. b er ni uk ų id en tit et o bū se na g al i b ūt i n us pė ta še im os v er ty bi ų ir da ug ia u pa si ek im ų or ie nt ac ijo s. ta ip ly či ų sk irt um ai n r. 9 s. n aw az ( 2 01 1) pr ie ra iš um as p rie tė vų ir b en dr aam ži ų. eg zi st uo ja s ta tis tiš ka i r ei kš m in gi te ig ia m i r yš ia i t ar p pa au gl ių p rie ra išu m o pr ie tė vų ir b en dr aa m ži ų be i pa si ek to id en tit et o bū se no s. t ač ia u ši e ry ši ai y ra g an a ne st ip rū s (0 ,1 1* * pr ie ra iš um as p rie tė vų , 0 ,2 0* * pr ie ra išu m as p rie b en dr aa m ži ų) ir s ta tis tiš ka i n er ei kš m in gi b er ni uk ų im ty je . ta ip n e ly či ų sk irt um ai pr ie št ar in gi re zu lta ta i n r. 10 t. m . d um as , h . l aw fo rd , t. t ie u, m . w . p ra tt (2 00 9) po zi ty vu s, a ut or ite tin ga s pa au gl ių au kl ėj im as . n uo se kl us p oz ity vu s au kl ėj im as , da rn ūs s an ty ki ai š ei m oj e yr a te ig ia m ai s us iję s u id en tit et o pa si ek im o bū se na ir n ei gi am ai s u di fu zi jo s ir m or at or iu m o bū se na . ta ip tija kriščiūnaitė 22 n r. 11 s. s ch w ar tz , h . p an tin , g . p ra do , s. s za po cz ni k (2 00 5) še im os fu nk ci on av im as , s ąv ei ko s še im oj e. ef ek ty vu s še im os fu nk ci on av im as te ig ia m ai s ie ja si s u pa au gl io id en tit et o vi en tis um u ir ne ig ia m ai s u id en tit et o di fu zi ja . ta ip n r. 12 s. j . s ch w ar tz , c . a . m as on , h . p an tin , j. s za po cz ni k (2 00 9) še im os s an ty ki ų po ky či ai , da ra nt ys p ov ei kį id en tit et o vy st ym ui si . še im os s an ty ki ai g al i n us pė ti id en tit et o di fu zi ją . t oj e gr up ėj e, k ur id en tit et o di fu zi ja m až ėj a su la ik u, da ug ia us ia y ra m er ga itė s, o k ur di dė ja – b er ni uk ai . š is ry šy s yr a nu ose kl us ta rp ly či ų. š ei m os s an ty ki ų pa ge rė jim as s ie ja si s u su m až ėj usi a id en tit et o di fu zi ja ir a tv irk šč ia i. ta ip ly či ų sk irt um ai n r. 13 z. y ou se fi (2 01 2) še im os fu nk ci on av im o va id m uo fo rm uo ja nt is id en tit et ui , š ei m os fu nk ci on av im o ve ik sn ia i. d em ok ra tin is š ei m os s til iu s, š ei m os id ea liz ac ija ir s ut el kt um as n us pė ja id en tit et o ne ty rin ėj an či ą pa si ek im o bū se ną . a ut or ita rin is š ei m os s til iu s ir or ga ni zu ot um as n us pė ja m or at oriu m o st at us ą. š ei m os o rg an iz uo tu m as , r el ig in ė or ie nt ac ija ir a ut or ita tini s sa nt yk ių s til iu s nu sp ėj a di fu zi jo s bū se ną . ta ip international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 23 2014, 15, 9–32 p. rezultatų aptarimas daugelis klasikinių psichologijos teorijų ir tyrimų (dwairy, achoui, 2010; deng, roosa, 2007; van ryzin, nowicka, 2013; hunter, katz ir kt., 2011; baril, crouter ir kt., 2007; grossmann, grossmann, 2009; lewis, lamb, 2003; bowbly, ainsworth 1991) teigia, kad didžiulį vaidmenį žmogaus raidai turi šeima ir joje gaunamas patyrimas. vienas svarbiausių raidos uždavinių paauglystėje yra psichosocialinio identiteto integracijos pasiekimas (erikson, 1968). tačiau apibendrinus sisteminės literatūros analizės rezultatus galima teigti, kad paauglio identiteto formavimosi ir šeimos santykių veiksnių ryšiai nėra iš esmės aiškūs. literatūroje šios sąsajos plačiai netyrinėtos, o gauti rezultatai dažnai yra prieštaringi. pagal išskirtus atrankos kriterijus iš į analizę įtrauktų 13 straipsnių 5 (nr. 1, 4, 5, 7, 9) pateikia prieštaringus rezultatus, kai tame pačiame tyrime nagrinėjami paauglių santykių šeimoje aspektai tuo pat metu siejasi tiek su identiteto pasiekimo, tiek su identiteto difuzijos būsenomis. kai kuriuose nagrinėtuose tyrimuose gauti skirtingi rezultatai taip pat atskleidžia šios srities problematikos akivaizdumą. apibendrinus sisteminės literatūros analizės rezultatus galima teig ti, kad paauglio psichosocialinio identiteto formavimuisi didelę įtaką daro du pagrindiniai santykių su tėvais aspektai: šeimos santykių klimatas (van hoof, raaijmakers ir kt., 2007; schwartz, pantin ir kt., 2005; lubenko, sebre, 2007; yousefi, 2012) ir tėvų auklėjimo būdas (dumas, lawford ir kt., 2009; sandhu, suninder ir kiti, 2012; sartor, youniss, 2002; cakir, aydin, 2005). šeimos santykių klimatas gali būti apibrėžiamas kaip konstruktas, leidžiantis konceptualizuoti ir tyrinėti santykius šeimoje. jis apima tokias šeimos santykių charakteristikas kaip ekspresyvumą (kiek šeimos nariai jaučiasi laisvi atvirai išreikšti savo jausmus ir emocijas), susitelkimą (kiek šeimos nariai jaučiasi įsipareigoję ir atsidavę šeimai kaip socialiniam vienetui) ir konfliktiškumo lygį, nurodantį, kiek tarp šeimos narių reiškiasi pyktis ir agresyvumas. auklėjimas yra sudėtinga kompleksinė veikla, apimantį daugelį elgesio su vaiku aspektų, darančių įtaką jo raidai. minėtini tokie aspektai kaip tėvų įsitikinimai, požiūris į vaiką, vertybės, lūkesčiai, tikslai ir, žinoma, elgesys. tėvų požiūris į paauglį sukuria emocinį klimatą, kuriame tėvų elgesys parodo, kaip jie kontroliuoja paauglį, ir drauge atspindi jų tarpusavio santykį (carlo, mcginley ir kt., tija kriščiūnaitė 24 2007). šis santykis su paaugliu psichologijoje įvardijamas kaip tėvų naudojamo auklėjimo stiliaus koncepcija. su identiteto pasiekimo būsena siejamas pozityvus, autoritetingas auklėjimo stilius. jį naudojantys tėvai pripažįsta, kad paauglys yra lygus jiems ne intelektualiai ar patirtimi, bet savo kaip žmogaus verte, todėl su juo elgiasi pagarbiai, išlaikydami laisvės ir atsakomybės pusiausvyrą (stienberg, 2011, cit. pagal yousefi, 2012). toks auklėjimas padeda vaikui perimti tėvų vertybes, vaidmenis ir požiūrį, o tai galėtų būti siejama su paauglių pasiekto identiteto be įsipareigojimų būsena, nes autoritetingas tėvų auklėjimas padeda paaugliui identifikuotis su savo tėvais ir internalizuoti jų pasaulėžiūrą (cakir, aydin, 2005). autoritetingas tėvų auklėjimo stilius, kai tėvai lieka įsitraukę į santykį su paaugliu, neprimesdami jam savo nuostatų, suteikdami jam paramą, kai šis renkasi įsitikinimus ir asmeninius tikslus, yra gyvybiškai svarbus paaugliui norint pasiekti asmeninio identiteto jausmą ir išsiugdyti psichologinę autonomiją nuo tėvų. nors paaugliai ir pasirenka praleisti didžiąją laiko dalį su bendraamžiais, tėvų prieinamumas ir parama užtikrina saugumą formuojantis jų identitetui ir leidžia paaugliams aktyviai tyrinėti pasirinkimų galimybes. tėvų emocinė parama paaugliui apima dėmesio skyrimą, padrąsinimą, išklausymą ir laiko leidimą kartu (sartor, youniss, 2002). taigi kai tėvų ir paauglių santykiai yra geri, tėvai turėtų būti gana lankstūs, kad paauglys galėtų saugiai įsitraukti į identiteto tyrinėjimų procesą ir pasiekti savo autonomiškumą neprarasdamas emocinio ryšio su tėvais. tačiau tyrimo rezultatai (cakir, aydin, 2005) parodė, kad ir autoritetingas, ir leidžiantis auklėjimo stilius yra statistiškai reikšmingai susijęs su paauglių identiteto pasiekimo netyrinėjančia būsena. tėvai, kurie taiko leidžiantį auklėjimo stilių, suteikia paaugliui daug laisvės ir nekontroliuoja jo elgesio (piko, balazs, 2012; kerr, stattin ir kt., 2012). šiltas santykis su tėvais, priėmimo jausmas galbūt galėtų paskatinti paauglį perimti ir tėvų vertybes bei vaidmenis, netyrinėjant alternatyvių identiteto pasirinkimo galimybių. su identiteto difuzijos būsena siejamas autoritarinis santykių šeimoje ir su paaugliu stilius (yousefi, 2012). naudojantys šį auklėjimo stilių tėvai reikalauja paauglio paklusnumo ir yra linkę priversti paklusti jų disciplinai ir nustatytoms taisyklėms. tokie tėvai kelia didžiulius reikalavimus paauglio elgesiui, tačiau per mažai prisiima atsakomybės už paauglių poreikių patenkinimą (stienberg, 2011, cit. pagal yousefi, 2012). patiriančiam tėvų spaudimą, nepagrįstus reikalavimus ir international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 25 2014, 15, 9–32 p. kontrolę paaugliui, kurio autonomiškumo poreikis vis didėja, gali būti sunku tenkinti tėvų nurodymus, suvokti save ir vidinius savo poreikius, o tai savo ruožtu gali sukelti identiteto difuziją. kitas aspektas, darantis įtaką paauglių identiteto raidai, yra šeimos santykių klimatas (van hoof, raaijmakers ir kt., 2007; schwartz, pantin ir kt., 2005; lubenko, sebre, 2007; yousefi, 2012). pasak eriksono (1982), sveikas identiteto vystymasis paauglystėje reikalauja tokių santykių su tėvais, kurie užtikrina asmeninę laisvę priimant sprendimus, tuo pat metu palaikydami reikalingą emocinį artumą, o tai atsispindi paauglio šeimos santykiuose. šeimos narių parama, propaguojamas autonomiškumas ir asmeninis augimas skatina paauglio ego identiteto raidą (syed, seiffge-krenke, 2013), o šeimos sutelktumas gali užtikrinti emocinę paramą ir saugumo jausmą tyrinėjant identiteto pasirinkimo alternatyvas (van hoof, raaijmakers ir kt., 2007), tad šeimos sutelktumas gali būti siejamas tiek su identiteto pasiekimo, tiek su identiteto pasiekimo netyrinėjančia būsenomis (yousefi, 2012). pasak schwartzo, masono ir kitų (2009), kuo labiau patobulėja šeimos santykiai, tuo labiau mažėja paauglių identiteto difuzijos būsena. šeimos funkcionavimo patobulinimas taip pat gali padėti išvengti elgesio problemų paauglystėje ir tiesiogiai, ir mažinant identiteto difuziją (schwartz, pantin ir kt., 2005). taigi pozityviomis charakteristikomis pasižymintis šeimos santykių klimatas gali padėti paaugliui suformuoti asmeninio identiteto jausmą, suteikti erdvę tyrinėti ir susipažinti su kitokiu nei jo šeimos gyvenimo būdu, idėjomis ar požiūriu, pačiam nuspręsti ir pasirinkti tai, kas atrodo priimtiniausia. kituose analizuojamuose straipsniuose (nr. 2, 4, 5, 7) statistiškai reikšmingų identiteto pasiekimo būsenų ir santykių su tėvais aspektų sąsajų nerasta. identiteto pasiekimo būsena statistiškai reikšmingai nesisieja su šeimos santykių klimatu (syed, seiffge-krenke, 2013), prieraišumu prie mamos, tėvų santykiais šeimoje (faber, edwards ir kt., 2003), paauglių emocine priklausomybe nuo tėvų ir jų savarankiškumo skatinimu (mullis, graf ir kt., 2009), taip pat prieraišumu prie tėvų ir bendraamžių berniukų imtyje (nawaz, 2011). trijuose straipsniuose (nr. 4, 5, 7) pateikiami rezultatai yra prieštaringi, pavyzdžiui, kai prieraišumas prie tėvo teigiamai siejasi ir su identiteto pasiekimo, ir su difuzijos būsenomis (faber, edwards ir kt., 2003), ar tuomet, kai tėvo rūpestis paaugliu padeda jam pasiekti identiteto būseną, o mamos rūpestis – ne. sandhu, suninderis ir kt. (2012) gauna priešingus rezultatus – mamos rūpinimasis paaugliu tija kriščiūnaitė 26 yra svarbesnis jo identiteto raidai nei tėvo. mullis, chatterjee ir kt. (2009) nustatė, kad nei šeimos sutelktumas, nei mažas konfliktiškumas ir kiti šeimos santykių kintamieji taip pat nesisieja statistiškai reikšmingai su identiteto būsenomis. abejonių kelia ir nawazo (2011) tyrimo rezultatai, nes nustatyti prieraišumo prie tėvų ir pasiekto identiteto ryšiai yra labai nestiprūs (r = 0,11), nors statistiškai reikšmingi. taigi nors daugumoje analizuojamų straipsnių buvo rastos statistiškai reikšmingos santykių su tėvais ir identiteto būsenų sąsajos, dėl minėtuose tyrimuose esančių prieštaravimų galima teigti, kad iš tikrųjų tai, kaip santykiai su tėvais ir šeimoje veikia paauglio identiteto formavimąsi, nėra iki galo aišku. pateikta tyrimų apžvalga rodo, kad paauglių identiteto formavimąsi veikia šeimos santykių klimatas ir tėvų auklėjimo pobūdis. tačiau kyla klausimų, kokie veiksniai galėtų nulemti santykius šeimoje ir paauglių tėvų auklėjimo būdo pasirinkimą. tėvų auklėjimo pobūdis ir šeimos santykių klimatas atspindi kontrolės ir paramos / įsitraukimo dimensijas, kurios apima emocinio artimumo ir individualumo, šeimos narių autonomiškumo aspektus. tėvai, kurie naudoja autoritetingą auklėjimo stilių, geba gerbti ir priimti paauglį tokį, koks jis yra, tuo pat metu nubrėždami aiškias jo elgesio ribas ir suteikdami paaugliui galimybę rinktis priimant sprendimus ir padedant jam prisiimti atsakomybę už savo elgesį (stienberg, 2011, cit. pagal yousefi, 2012). tokie paaugliai geriau emociškai prisitaiko ir patiria didesnę psichologinę gerovę (bell, bell, 2005; dumas, lawford ir kt., 2009). toks auklėjimas, kai tėvai suteikia vaikui pakankamai paramos ir kontroliuoja juos atsižvelgdami į jų amžių, padeda išsiugdyti autonomiškumo ir saugumo jausmus paauglystėje, o tai savo ruožtu leidžia paaugliams jaustis patogiai formuojant savąjį identitetą ir prisiimant įsipareigojimus (dumas, lawford ir kt., 2009). taigi paauglio identiteto formavimuisi santykiuose su tėvais svarbiausi yra emocinio artumo ir laisvės ugdyti savo autonomiškumą aspektai, tačiau nėra aišku, kokie asmenybiniai veiksniai galėtų nulemti šiuos aspektus tėvų ir paauglių santykiuose. viena iš asmenybinių charakteristikų, tyrinėjamų šeimos santykių kontekste, yra asmens savidiferenciacijos lygis. savidiferenciacija siejama su adaptyviu asmens funkcionavimu aplinkoje (jenkins, buboltz ir kt., 2005), mažesniu nerimastingumu (skowron, dendy, 2004), didesne psichologine gerove (skowron, stanley, shapiro, 2009; skowron, 2004). boweno (1978) sukurta savidiferenciacijos sąvoka apibūdina asmens gebėjimą international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 27 2014, 15, 9–32 p. atskirti save kaip atskirą autonomišką individualybę nuo kitų asmenų, taip pat atskirti savo mąstymą ir jausmus. turintis aukštą savidiferenciaciją asmuo suvokia ir atskiria savo mintis, nuomonę, pasaulėžiūrą nuo kitų žmonių, bet geba suprasti ir kito žmogaus poziciją, nuomonę, jausmus, moka juos analizuoti, priimti ir integruoti į savo patyrimą. toks asmuo geba dalytis savo išgyvenimais, jausmais, nuomonėmis ir drauge gerbti kitų unikalumą, pripažinti egzistuojančius tarpusavio skirtumus, juos priimti ir nesiekti pakeisti kito žmogaus. jis suvokia savo autonomiškumo ir kontrolės ribas, geba prisiimti atsakomybę už savo elgesį (bowen, 1978). šios asmenybinės charakteristikos yra panašios į autoritetingą auklėjimo stilių naudojančių tėvų apibūdinimą ir pozityvių šeimos santykių klimato aspektus, kai šeimoje yra gerbiamas narių autonomiškumas ir taip pat jaučiamas emocinis artumas ir parama, o tai atspindi aukštą šeimos sutelktumo lygį. aukštą savidiferenciacijos lygį turintiems asmenims būdingas gebėjimas atskirti savo emocijas ir mintis nuo kitų leidžia jiems ne tik laisvai reikšti savo jausmus, bet ir suprasti kitų šeimos narių išsakomas emocijas. paauglio identiteto integracija (teigiamai išspręsta krizė, pasiektas identitetas), remiantis eriksono (1968) teorija, gali būti apibūdinama tokiais aspektais kaip asmenybės pastovumo, autonomiškumo, savo bruožų, mąstymo ir jausmų suvokimas (goth, foelsh ir kt., 2012). gebėjimas suprasti ir atskirti savo mintis ir jausmus, suvokti autonomiškumo ribas taip pat yra savidiferenciacijos aspektai. taigi galima kelti prielaidą, kad galbūt savidiferenciacijos lygis galėtų būti vienas iš mediatorių, nulemiančių paauglių identiteto formavimosi ir santykių su tėvais ryšių kryptį ir stiprumą. išvados paauglių santykiai su tėvais, darantys poveikį paauglių identiteto formavimuisi, daugiausia atsiskleidžia per auklėjimo stilių ir šeimos santykių klimatą, tačiau dėl gaunamų prieštaringų rezultatų paauglių identiteto formavimosi ir santykių su tėvais sąsajos nėra iki galo aiškios. asmenybiniai veiksniai, galintys nulemti paauglių santykių su tėvais kokybę ir identiteto formavimąsi, nėra aiškūs. remiantis boweno (1978) šeimos santykių teorija, vienas tokių veiksnių galėtų būti asmens savidiferenciacijos lygis, tačiau šiems ryšiams išsiaiškinti reikalingi empiriniai tyrimai, nagrinėjantys paauglių psichosocialinio identiteto formavimosi, santykių su tėvais šeimoje ir savidiferenciacijos sąsajas. tija kriščiūnaitė 28 literatūra adler, a. 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(2010). parents, teachers and peer relations as predictors of risk behaviors and mental well-being among immigrant and israeli born adolescents. social science & medicine, 70, 976–984. tija kriščiūnaitė 32 interrelations of adolescent‘s identity formation and relationships with parents. a systematic review tija kriščiūnaitė mykolas romeris university, lithuania abstract. background. it is very important to define the self for every person. answering the question “who i am?” is a natural need of human beings. in adolescence due to biopsychosocial changes this question becomes even more important. according to erikson (1968), the most important task of adolescence is to resolve identity versus role confusion crisis. researches highlight that stable, coherent identity is related with better adolescent‘s mental health indicators. relationships with parents is also linked with better emotional and psychological well-being of adolescents. however, there is a lack of researches that investigates interrelationships between adolescent‘s identity formation and relationships with parents and there are many condradictions in researches on this area. the aim of this study was to analyse and summary aspects of family relationships and adolescent‘s identity formation. it was also seeked to evaluate results of this review and question the factors which may influence these interrelations. methods. a systematic literature review. results and conclusions. results of systematic literature review revealed that adolescents identity formation is influenced by family climate and parenting styles. many contradictions were found between analized studies. it means, that links between adolescents identity formation and relationships with parents are not clear completely. new empirical researches are needed in this area. the mediators which could influenced interrelationships between adolescent‘s identity formation and relationships with parents are needed to be found and investigated. keywords: identity, adolescents, family relationships. gauta: 2013-11-08 priimta: 2014-03-10 psichologijos_zurnalas_21.indd international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2017 / 21 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.21.5 scientific publications the role of psychosocial fac tors in self-r ated successful aging in a sample of lithuanian elderly people loreta gustainienė1, miglė burauskaitė, kristina klemenytė vytautas magnus university, lithuania abstract. background and purpose. successful aging has been one of the most popular concepts in the gerontological literature over the last few years. at present, there is no universally accepted definition of what the term “successful aging” means, and which factors are associated with it. this study aimed to assess the role of psychological and social factors in self-rated successful aging in older adults. methods. 396 older adults participated in this study. the mean age of the respondents was 67,1 ± 5,8 (age range 60–84). data was collected using self-rated successful aging scale (gwee et al., 2014); rapid assessment of physical activity (topolski et al., 2006); scale of activity and psychological well-being in older people (warr et al., 2004); a short scale for measuring social support in the elderly (kempen, eijk, 1995); geriatric spiritual well-being scale (dunn, 2008); the satisfaction with life scale (diener, emmons, larsen, griffin, 1985); subjective age identity scale (hubley, 2014). results. older adults characterized as more subjective successful agers had a significantly higher level of social and physical activity, social support, life satisfaction, happiness, spirituality, satisfaction with the living standards, younger subjective age identity and better self-rated health. better self-rated health, younger subjective age identity, higher level of life satisfaction, intellectual social activity and learning, better subjective eating habits, higher number of grandchildren and having a job were the best independent predictive factors of self-rated successful aging. conclusions. the best predictive factors (social) of self-rated successful aging were higher level of intellectual social activity and learning, having a job and higher number of grandchildren; the best predictive factors (psychological) of self-rated successful aging were higher level of life satisfaction, younger subjective age identity, better self-rated health and eating habits. keywords: aged, successful aging, older age, multidimensional approach. 1 address for correspondence: loreta gustainienė, faculty of social sciences, department of psychology. address: jonavos g. 66-332, lt-44191, kaunas, lithuania. e-mail: loreta.gustainiene@vdu.lt https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.21.5 mailto:loreta.gustainiene@vdu.lt 94 loreta gustainienė, miglė burauskaitė, kristina klemenytė introduc tion around the 1960s, the population of the world experienced a period of rapid ageing. demographic changes led to increasingly sophisticated medical devices, improving nutritional and sanitary conditions, declining mortality and fertility rate (ageing in the twentyfirst century, 2012). in the developed countries, this process has already been going on already for decades, while in the developing world it is a relatively new phenomenon. currently, 12 percent of the world’s population is older than 60 years. it is estimated that by 2050 this number will reach 21 percent (united nations, 2013). lithuania is also observed in the aging population. in early 2016, people aged 60 and older represented 24.92 percent (lithuanian department of statistics, 2015) of the total population. the european commission predicts that over the next few decades the number of older persons will increase even more, while the proportion of young and working-age population will decrease (european commission, 2015). changes occur with aging, elderly people experience difficulties that have negative effect on them; this has long encouraged the gerontological research to place greater emphasis on negative aspects of aging (fernandez-ballesteros, 2011). recently, this approach has been under attack and is considered to be risky; for this reason, more studies that analyze successful aging factors are needed. the aim is to achieve a more realistic and comprehensive understanding of old age, and to eliminate negative stereotypes and their consequences for individuals and society (fernandez-ballesteros, 2011). thus, the increasing number of retirement-age population has resulted in greater focus on the person’s psychological, social and physical well-being, and in the efforts to facilitate the older people’s aging in a healthier and more successful manner. criteria of successful aging the interest in successful aging phenomena peaked after the publication of research by rowe and kahn in 1987. the authors identified three criteria for successful aging low risk of illness and disability; high cognitive and physical functioning; active engagement (rowe, kahn, 1997). over the last 30 years, numerous studies have been done on this 95 2017, 21, 93–112 p.the role of psychosocial factors in self-rated successful aging in a sample of lithuanian elderly people topic in an attempt to understand the phenomenon and to define the criteria for successful aging. but until now this topic has remained dominated by many contradictions and ambiguities. at the given moment there is no consensus on what constitutes successful aging and how to define this concept. different authors choose to analyze and involve different criteria. hence, what is or is not successful aging remains a contentious issue. the first theories described successful aging as a universal phenomenon and held that the aging of each person is understood identically. however, due to the increasing number of research, the perspective has shifted, and now successful aging is seen as a lifelong process composed of different areas, while each person is perceived individually (jopp et al., 2015). whether or not a person is aging successfully is determined on the basis of operationalization. in research, successful aging is defined by one or multiple criteria, such as life satisfaction (gureje, oladeji, abiona & chatterji, 2014) or happiness (villar, 2015); chronic disease and absence of disability; active involvement in social activities (fernández-ballesteros et al., 2011; carr, weir, d. azar, n. r. azar, 2013); and self-rated health evaluation as healthy, relatively healthy or completely healthy (li et al., 2014). in some cases, there are more criteria based on previous studies according to which people are divided into successful and unsuccessful agers; others include people’s own opinions expressed after being asked with what they associate successful ageing. in addition, there are some cultural differences in the evaluation of success, i.e., how an individual perceives and assesses his or her personal health, what is important in life and what aging successfully means. eastern cultures put more emphasis on family ties and spiritual values than on financial stability, while the latter is important in western cultures (jopp et al., 2015). however, due to the differences in operationalization of successful aging, it is difficult to generalize the results and to compare them with those in other countries. however, one of the cross-cultural comparative studies of successful aging has notably examined the variation in the number of successful agers by using the same operationalization concept of successful aging, i.e., based on biomedical criteria provided by rowe and kahn (hank, 2011). the category of a country’s prosperity also included the participants’ income and education. the study involved 14 european countries (austria, germany, 96 loreta gustainienė, miglė burauskaitė, kristina klemenytė sweden, denmark, poland and others) and israel. it was found that aging is more successful for people who are younger, have higher education, and are male. furthermore, the results showed differences between countries, for example, only one in fifty poles achieves the criteria of successful aging, while in denmark, one in five danes does. in the countries with better living conditions or higher welfare rates, such as denmark, sweden, or the netherlands, the percentage of successfully aging people is higher compared with countries in which the level of prosperity is lower, for example, poland and the czech republic. however, according to rowe and kahn, the operationalization of the concept of successful aging in this study is quite limited and overly medical.a definition of successful aging which emphasizes only the perception of successful aging is limited. the concept of successful aging should be well defined and operationalized so that persons with illnesses or various disabilities and the elderly would have the possibility to be included in a successful aging group (cosco et al., 2013; araujo, ribeiro, teixeira, paul, 2015). it is appropriate to assess what aging means for older people, how they understand the success, and identify the most important aspects related to the “success” (fagerstrom, aarsten, 2013). recently, medical definitions of successful aging have been expanded to include psychosocial factors (cosco, 2015). natural, age-related changes are influenced by other factors, such as diet, activity, personal habits, such as smoking, social support, happiness etc. deeper understanding of psychosocial factors in relation to self-rated successful aging would help to identify modifiable factors in an individual’s behaviour or environment. there is also the question of whether the criteria selected by the researchers can be reconciled with the self-rated successful aging by the elderly? thus there is the need for analysis of scientific literature and quantitative research which would complement the previous qualitative studies (jankunaitė, naujaniene, 2012; mockus, zukaite, 2012; mockus, sondaite, butenaite, 2013) that have involved self-rated successful aging (jeste et al., 2013). in this research, successful aging is defined by each person’s individually experienced process, involving perceived physical, psychological and social well-being (fagerstrom, aarsten, 2013; martin et al., 2014; peterson, martin, 2015). nevertheless, the study’s main focus is on the psychological and social factors. 97 2017, 21, 93–112 p.the role of psychosocial factors in self-rated successful aging in a sample of lithuanian elderly people factors related to successful aging a review of scientific literature has revealed that the concept of successful aging is usually understood as multidimensional and includes a variety of factors (jopp et al., 2015). most older adults also believe that successful aging consists of various aspects (phelan et al., 2004; iwamasa, iwasaki, 2011). though the aspects most commonly studied in literature are physical (jopp et al., 2015), it was also found thatsuccessful aging is related to other factors: subjective mental health (jopp et al., 2015), health-related behaviour smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, diet (parslow et al., 2011; jopp et al., 2015), cognitive skills, education, income, lifestyle (parslow et al., 2011; jopp et al., 2015), communication with family members, friends, neighbours and other people (olesen, berry, 2011), social activity (volunteering, religious practices, learning, interest in politics, current events and so on). cosco et al. (2014) have carried out an analysis of various scientific articles dividing the components into three areas: biomedical (physical functioning, chronic illness, disability, cognitive functioning, longevity), psychosocial (personal resources, social activity, life satisfaction, wellbeing, autonomy), and additional factors (the environment, finances). most of the articles are based on the biomedical criteria, and three of the most significant ones are presented by rowe and kahn high physical and cognitive functioning and low probability of diseases and disabilities. in such cases, the researchers focus on physical factors, while psychological and social aspects become less important. however, successful aging is a complex phenomenon influenced by many different factors – physical, social, psychological etc. – and it covers both positive and negative experiences of older people and a subjective evaluation of successful aging (martin, kelly, kahana, 2014; fagerstrom, aarsten, 2013; peterson, martin, 2015). successful aging research has been conducted in north america and eastern europe, but the baltic countries, including lithuania, receive less attention (cosco et al., 2014). there has been only one qualitative study in lithuania (jankunaite, naujaniene, 2012), which examined the experience and perception of successful aging by seven people aged from 68 to 74 years. the preconditions of successful aging were identified: material wealth, which is important as it gives older people a sense 98 loreta gustainienė, miglė burauskaitė, kristina klemenytė of security and satisfaction with life; good health, which helps them to maintain independence and allows to engage in various activities; maintenance of social relations, which reduces the feeling of loneliness; and social activity, which provides enjoyment, satisfaction with life, and helps to maintain health. therefore, physical and psychosocial kinds of well-being are both important for older people. in various countries of the world, a number of trials have been carried out to determine which factors are related to or predict successful aging. the question is, on what grounds would it be important to examine the relationship between successful aging and psychological and social factors? first, an overview of the scientific research does not explicitly affirm which psychosocial factors are associated with successful aging. second, the relations of psychological and social factors to successful aging often vary in different countries, therefore, research in every culture is required to be conducted in order o gain a more detailed understanding of successful aging (cosco et al., 2014; villar, 2015; araujo et al., 2015). finally, many studies concerning successful aging do not precisely involve selfrated successful aging and its connection to psychosocial factors. other age groups are also tested, i. e., persons much younger than 60 years old. different research methods are used, and in some studies, the same factors are defined as successful aging results, and in other cases are described as processes (cosco, 2015). because of a discovered inconsistency between the evaluation of successful aging by older adults and the criteria defined by the authors, further research is needed in order to determine which factors are associated with self-rated successful aging and to predict them so that later these factors could be supported. literature analysis has revealed numerous contradictions in the studies of successful aging. separate successful aging factors were analyzed focusing on biomedical indicators for a long time. however, a growing scientific interest in successful aging phenomena and more detailed research revealed that successful aging consists of more than one specific aspect. while they have been frequently criticized, the successful aging criteria presented by rowe and kahn are the most frequently discussed in scientific literature. however, other researchers try to improve and expand rowe and kahn’s model, including not only health and social factors, but also psychological ones. 99 2017, 21, 93–112 p.the role of psychosocial factors in self-rated successful aging in a sample of lithuanian elderly people based on studies, successful aging models and the prevailing theories, it can be noted that successful agers most often are perceived as healthy, active and satisfied with life (or happy). onthe other hand, there is no consensus on the definition of successful aging. lately older adults have been asked to evaluate their successful aging and inquired about the health, social and psychological indicators that are the most related to their successful aging. for this reason, the purpose of the current study was to assess the role of psychological and social factors in selfrated successful aging in older adults. me thod participants and procedure the study involved 396 respondents from senior associations, societies and organizations such as third age universities in kaunas, ignalina, marijampolė, jonava and birštonas towns. the return rate from this sample was 94.3 %. the mean age of the respondents was 67.1 ± 5.8 (between the ages of 60 and 84). 308 (77.8 %) women and 88 (22.2 %) men were interviewed. the majority of the respondents had a higher education (70 %) and were unemployed (70.2 %). slightly more than a half (54.8 %) of the participants were married or living with a partner. the survey was conducted from january to march in 2016. the respondents were sampled using the convenience sampling method. questionnaires were self-administered, followed by the explanation about the purpose of research, completion of instructions and assurance of confidentiality. the participants filled out the questionnaires after lectures and seminars conducted in the organizations and associations or at home. measures self-rated successful aging. participants were asked to rate their own degree of successful aging on a scale from 1 to 10 (1 – least successful, 10 – most successful). a higher score means higher self-rated successful aging. in this work, those who rated themselves 7 or higher are referred to as subjectively more successful agers, while those who gave themselves a rating of less than 7 are deemed to be subjectively less successful agers. 100 loreta gustainienė, miglė burauskaitė, kristina klemenytė rapid assessment of physical activity (rapa) (topolski et al., 2006). the questionnaire was designed to measure physical activity levels from sedentary to regular vigorous physical activity among adults older than 50 years. it is a nine-item questionnaire with the response options of yes or no. the total score of the first seven items is from 1 to 7 points, with the respondent’s score categorized into one of five levels of physical activity: 1 = sedentary, 2 = underactive, 3 = regular underactive (light activities), 4 = regular underactive, and 5 = regular active. the rapa could be used without the authors’ permission. scale of activity and psychological well-being in older people (warr, butcher, robertson, 2004). participants were asked to indicate how often they take part in the following activities, with six responses (0 – never, 1 – occasionally (about once a month or less often), 2 – quite often (about once a fortnight), 3 – often (about once a week), 4 – very often (about two to four times a week) and 5 – extremely often (more than four times a week). activities: family and social; church and charity; home and garden; reflection and learning; music and drama; sports. mean frequency of the activities was computed and the number of activities done by the person was examined. in this study, cronbach alpha of this scale was .770. permission to use and translate this scale was obtained from the author. a short scale for measuring social support in the elderly (ssl12-i) (kempen, van eijk, 1995). ssl12-i is a scale designed to assess the level of social support. it consists of 12 items divided into three subscales with four items each: social support in problem situations, esteem support, and everyday support. ssl12-i was developed using a fourpoint likert scale from 1 = “seldom or never” to 4 = “very often”. higher scores mean higher level of social support. in this study, cronbach alpha of the total scale was .889. permission to use and translate this scale was obtained from the author. the satisfaction with life scale (diener et al., 1985). this scale is a 5-item instrument developed to assess people’s global cognitive judgments of satisfaction with life. the respondents indicate how much they agree or disagree with each item on a 7-point scale (ranging from 1 – strongly disagree to 7 – strongly agree). higher scores represent higher satisfaction with life. the scale can be used without permission. in this study, cronbach alpha of the total scale was .884. 101 2017, 21, 93–112 p.the role of psychosocial factors in self-rated successful aging in a sample of lithuanian elderly people subjective age identity scale (hubley, 2014). this scale is a 5-item instrument designed to evaluate how old the older adults typically feel. physical, social, mental, outward, and ideal age was measured by asking them whether they felt (1) much younger, (2) somewhat younger, (3) about the same, (4) somewhat older, or (5) much older than their chronological age in each of these areas. the items were combined into a single mean score on the subjective age scale. higher score means older subjective age. in this study, cronbach alpha of the total scale was .904. permission to use and translate this scale was obtained. geriatric spiritual well-being scale (dunn, 2008). this scale is designed to assess the spiritual well-being of older adults. it consists of 16 items divided into four subscales with four items each: affirmative selfappraisal, connectedness, altruistic benevolence, and faith pathways. geriatric spiritual well-being scale was developed using a six-point likert scale with responses ranging from 1 = “strongly disagree” to 6 = “strongly agree”. consequently, higher scores reflect a higher level of spiritual wellbeing. two subscales were used in this research: affirmative self-appraisal and faith pathways. in this study, cronbach alpha of the total scale was .818. permission to use and translate this scale was obtained. the questionnaire also included queries about sociodemographic factors, chronic diseases, disability, visits to the doctor per year, self-rated health, health behaviours (alcohol consumption, smoking and eating habits), happiness and satisfaction with the living standards. descriptive statistics were used to describe the sample of this study and to assess the role of psychological and social factors in self-rated successful aging in older adults. binary logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the influential factors of self-rated successful ageing. student’s t-test was used for the comparison of two independent groups. x2 criterion was also used to determine differences between distinct factors. data was analysed using ibm spss statistics 23. results prevalence of self-rated ageing the mean score of self-rated successful ageing was 7 (sd = 2.3). 274 (69.2 %) of the respondents scored 7 or more. the respondents were divided into two groups based on the score of their perception 102 loreta gustainienė, miglė burauskaitė, kristina klemenytė of successful aging: 1) persons who scored ≥7 were regarded as more successfully ageing respondents; 2) respondents who scored <7 were considered to be not so successfully ageing. 247 (69.2 %) respondents were assigned to group 1, and 122 (30.8 %) to group 2. most of the older people who self-rated themselves as successfully ageing live in marijampolė (20.46 %); have lower than higher education (about 42 %); are not single, i. e. are married or live with a partner (about 38 %). a greater part of older adults in group 1 have one or two chronic diseases (about 42 %), and around 15 % of those in group 1 have disabilities. according to the self-rated health evaluation, 38.39 % of subjectively successfully ageing older adults see themselves as not very healthy. social and psychological predictors of subjectively (selfrated) successful ageing in order to assess the prognostic value of social and psychological variables towards successful ageing, a binary logistic regression model was composed. the model included the following social variables: social support, social activity, paid work, satisfaction with personal level of financial situation, spirituality, perceived age, satisfaction with life, self-rated health, physical activity, smoking and alcohol consumption. the model included sociodemographic variables as well (age, sex, marital status, education, place of residence, number of children and grandchildren). the variable happiness was excluded from the model due to multicollinearity with subjective successful ageing. subjective successful ageing as the dependent variable in the logistic regression model was coded 0 – less successful ageing, 1 – more successful ageing. the model was finalised after excluding the statistically insignificant variables (table 1). the final regression model is statistically significant (χ2 (11) 114,475, p<0,001). cox-snell r2 = 0.267, nagelkerke r2 = 0.377. cook‘s value <1. hosmer-lemeshow’s goodness-of-fit test (χ2 (8) 10.801, p = 0.213) shows the model’s compatibility with the data. prediction accuracy is 78.9 %. prediction accuracy of subjectively more or less successful ageing was 53.1 % and 90.2 %, respectively. 103 2017, 21, 93–112 p.the role of psychosocial factors in self-rated successful aging in a sample of lithuanian elderly people table 1. relationship between subjectively successful ageing and psychosocial variables independent variables b se wald p or 95 % ci lower upper greater satisfaction with life 0,066 0,027 5,753 0,016 1,068 1,012 1,127 perceived age -0,078 0,032 6,117 0,013 0,925 0,870 0,984 greater satisfaction with economical situation 0,051 0,036 1,959 0,162 1,052 0,980 1,130 health-related nutrition (0 – not healthy) 12,397 0,006 healthy (1) 1,110 0,482 5,303 0,021 3,036 1,180 7,811 partially healthy (2) 0,912 0,449 4,123 0,042 2,489 1,032 6,001 partially unhealthy (3) -0,342 0,574 0,356 0,551 0,710 0,231 2,187 greater number of grandchildren 0,161 0,079 4,108 0,043 1,174 1,005 1,372 employment (0 – not employed) 0,815 0,332 6,016 0,014 2,260 1,178 4,335 smaller cities (0 larger) -0,350 0,288 1,478 0,224 0,705 0,401 1,239 not quite healthy/ill (0– very good health/ good health/ healthy) -0,701 0,347 4,085 0,043 0,496 0,251 0,979 more often engaged in intellectual activities and learning 0,097 0,043 5,004 0,025 1,102 1,012 1,199 constanta -1,457 1,103 1,744 0,187 0,233 b – regression coefficient; se – standard error; os – odds ratio; ci – confidence intervals. differences in the evaluations of life satisfaction, subjective age identity, healthier eating habits, as well as in the number of grandchildren, employment status, self-rated health, intellectual activity and the learning coefficients are statistically significant (p<α), i. e. these variables help to separate the older adults who are subjectively ageing in a more successful and not so successful manner. hence, as life satisfaction increases, chances of subjectively successful ageing increase 1.068 times and, with greater number of grandchildren, 1.174 times. employed respondents likewise have 2.260 times greater chances of subjective successful ageing. worse self-rated health decreases subjective successful ageing 0.496 times, and when a person feels older than his chronological age, chances of subjective successful ageing are also diminished. older adults 104 loreta gustainienė, miglė burauskaitė, kristina klemenytė who evaluate their eating habits as healthy or partly healthy and are involved in intellectual activity or learning more often, i. e. read books, take courses orother learning related classes, go to the library, cinema, concerts, museums etc., have greater chances of subjective successful ageing. discussion there are some variations regarding successful ageing in the literature. some researchers consider the score of successful ageing to be no less than 7 (hank, 2011), while others do not imply any specific criteria at all (jeste et al., 2013; gwee et al., 2014). research findings suggest that successfully ageing (scoring 7+) senior respondents make up from 60 to 92 % (jeste et al., 2013; martin et al., 2014). based on literature analysis, we considered 7+ to be the lowest score for perceived successful ageing. we found that older adults who even have disabilities or one or several chronic diseases perceive their ageing as more successful. similar tendencies were also shown in other studies (nosraty et al., 2012; martin et al., 2014; katz, calasanti, 2015). literature analysis revealed that it is not possible to unambiguously specify which factors are the cause of successful ageing and which are the result. for example, self-rated health, happiness and the level of life satisfaction in some cases are considered to be the criteria of successful ageing, and in other cases they are seen as prognostic factors. subjectively (self-rated) successful ageing in this study was chosen as a factor of successful ageing because of the prevalent contradictions in the scientific literature concerning the definition of successful ageing and its constituting factors. therefore, older adults were able to reflect what success meant to them and to evaluate their success in ageing. we also aimed to determine the social and psychological factors that affect subjectively successful ageing the most. logistic regression analysis showed that, out of all socioeconomic variables, only being occupied and having more grandchildren predicted subjectively more successful ageing. having more grandchildren might be related to retaining closer social relationships and receiving more social support (olesen, berry, 2011), which is very important in older age and is related to the experienced feeling of happiness (nosraty et al., 105 2017, 21, 93–112 p.the role of psychosocial factors in self-rated successful aging in a sample of lithuanian elderly people 2012; cho et al., 2015). bordone and arpino (2015) found that women of older age who had more grandchildren felt younger than their actual age and more needed in the family. being employed could be related to higher levels of individual standards of living, probably because employed people of older age are usually more active, receive more social support and are therefore more satisfied with life (gustainienė, banevičienė, 2014). contrary to other findings, gender, age, marital status, education, and the number of children did not predict self-rated successful ageing (nosraty et al., 2012; jeste et al., 2013; dahany et al., 2014; gureje et al., 2014). some researchers did not reveal any significant relationship between sociodemographic factors and successful ageing (pruchno et al., 2010; araujo et al., 2015). these variations in findings might be due to the variations in selected criteria, cultural differences as well as disparities in the distribution of respondents by age and sex. on the other hand, one may claim that such sociodemographic variables as age, sex, marital status, etc. are not equally important in predicting self-rated successful ageing. research studies as well as political documents often stress the importance of social activity and social support for people of older age (who, 2002; nakahara, 2013; sims et al., 2014; wolff et al., 2014). our findings are a bit surprising in this respect because no relationship between successful ageing and social activity and social support was observed. logistic regression results revealed only intellectual activity and learning to be related to self-rated positive ageing. other findings also confirm the importance of learning in older age (miežytė-tijūšienė, bulotaitė, 2012; tam, 2014). learning as well as other intellectual activities induce cognitive stimulation and help a person maintain his/her productive functioning, maintaining mental and social skills. it is obvious that lifelong learning in older age is essential. inconsistency of the present findings and other studies demonstrating the relationship between social support and social activity (howie et al., 2014; wolff et al., 2014; araujo et al., 2015) can be explained by disengagement (henry, 1965) and socioemotional selectivity (carstensen et al., 2003) as well as by the model of baltes and baltes (1990). according to disengagement theory, older people are naturally less active than, for instance, middle-aged ones, and this is not necessarily negatively related 106 loreta gustainienė, miglė burauskaitė, kristina klemenytė to successful ageing. according to baltes and baltes model, we can assume that in older age people reduce the number of their activities and maintain only those which they find meaningful and the most important for them. therefore, further research should include not the number of activities but rather the satisfaction with these activities. the present findings are in line with research by fernandez-ballesteros et al. (2011) where social activity and social support vaguely predicted successful ageing. it is believed that social support raises tension, causes stress, the feeling of dependence on others and doubt in one’s value for some older adults. some older adults, especially those who are physically disabled, feel uncomfortable when they are not able to support others in the same way as they are supported (fernandezballesteros et al., 2011). moreover, older people at times receive support that at the given moment is not as important or required and is not necessarily fulfilling for them, and it even may have a negative affect (sims et al., 2014). the frequency of the received support was assessed in this research; however, according to the socioemotional selectivity theory (carstensen et al., 2003), older adults interact less frequently and maintain fewer relationships with people who are not very close to them, and the quality of the relationships and the support becomes more significant. therefore, future studies should take into consideration the frequency of the received support and the satisfaction with it. in this study, psychological factors that predict subjective successful ageing were better life satisfaction, younger subjective age identity, better self-rated health, and better subjective eating habits. it is evident that older adults’ health is connected to more successful subjective ageing. better self-rated health may influence a person’s activeness (mockutė, 2012; jankūnaitė, naujanienė, 2012) and life satisfaction (hsu, 2015). however, study results indicate that a lot of older adults who consider themselves to be not quite healthy or ill subjectively are more successful agers. health is only one of the ageing aspects and its lack can be compensated by other psychosocial factors (baltes, baltes, 1990). higher level of life satisfaction for older adults may be a protective element, facilitating health care and reducing chances of depression (fernandezballesteros et al., 2011; hsu, 2015). younger subjective age identity is one of coping strategies among older adults that contribute to better adjustment to the changes of physical health. other studies suggest that 107 2017, 21, 93–112 p.the role of psychosocial factors in self-rated successful aging in a sample of lithuanian elderly people younger subjective age identity is connected to better self-rated health, higher levels of social activity and overall sense of happiness (wurm et al., 2013; choi et al., 2014). subjective successful ageing was not predicted by higher spirituality or by higher satisfaction with the living standards. previous research also indicates no relationship between subjective successful ageing and financial status (cho et al., 2015) or spirituality (vahia et al., 2011). in this study, we may predicate that other psychosocial factors have had a significant effect on subjective successful ageing among older adults. according to baltes and baltes (1990) model, older adults who are not financially secure seek opportunities to compensate it. spirituality may be simply perceived as a way which does not necessarily promote successful ageing. out of all the health-related factors that were included in this study, only better subjective eating habits had predictive value to subjective successful ageing. tyrovolas et al. (2014) also found a relation between better subjective eating habits and subjective successful ageing. authors state that older adults who have healthier eating habits live in larger cities, have higher education and more information about the importance of a healthy diet. accordingly, promotion of healthy eating habits among older adults, in accordance with recommendations of the world health organization, may improve prevention of non-infectious diseases, e. g., cardiovascular disease, diabetes. on the other hand, merely one question was present in this study concerning a person’s subjective opinion about healthy eating habits and more detailed (including objective rates) research is needed. limitations and implications for future research a few limitations that might have influenced the results should be mentioned. first, non-representative sample of participants prevented the results from being generalized. second, most of the participants were active people from the third age university and members of various artistic and seniors’ associations that potentially had influenced the results. nevertheless, about 30 % of older adults were subjectively not so successful at ageing and that is why certain comparisons among subjectively more and less successfully ageing participants were possible. 108 loreta gustainienė, miglė burauskaitė, kristina klemenytė certainly, larger sample size would be an advantage. furthermore, most of the participants were women and adults younger than 70 years old. including more men and adults older than 85 is necessary. finally, the study was based on the respondents’ subjective responses and no objective factors were included, e. g., evaluation of older adults’ physical and cognitive functions, which may be considered in future studies. regardless of limitations, the study results exposed the importance of psychological and social factors to subjective successful ageing. additionally, this study may contribute to further and more detailed, e. g., longitudinal, studies on the subject of successful ageing. references ageing in the twenty-first century: a celebration and a challenge. 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(2013). how do negative self-perceptions of aging become a self-fulfilling prophecy? psychology and aging, 28(4), 1088–1097. 112 loreta gustainienė, miglė burauskaitė, kristina klemenytė psichologinių ir socialinių veiksnių reikšmė subjek t y viai vertinamam sėkmingam senė jimui lie tuvos vyresnio amžiaus žmonių imt yje loreta gustainienė, miglė burauskaitė, kristina klemenytė vytauto didžiojo universitetas, lietuva santrauka. mokslinė problema. pastaruosius dešimtmečius sėkmingo senėjimo tema yra dažna mokslinėje literatūroje, tačiau iki šiol nėra aišku, kaip apibrėžti šį reiškinį ir kokie veiksniai labiausiai prognozuoja sėkmingą senėjimą. be to, dažniausiai vertinami tyrėjų išskirti kriterijai, o vyresnio amžiaus žmonių retai klausiama, kaip jie supranta sėkmingą senėjimą. tyrimo tikslas – nustatyti psichologinių ir socialinių veiksnių reikšmę vyresnio amžiaus žmonių subjektyviai vertinamam sėkmingam senėjimui. metodika. tyrime dalyvavo 396 respondentai (308 moterys ir 88 vyrai), gyvenantys ignalinos, jonavos, birštono, marijampolės ir kauno miestuose. tiriamųjų amžius – nuo 60 iki 84 metų (amžiaus vidurkis – 67,1±5,8). atliekant tyrimą buvo taikyti šie metodai: subjektyviai vertinamo sėkmingo senėjimo skalė (gwee et al., 2014); vašingtono sveikatos universiteto fizinio aktyvumo lygio (intensyvumo) vertinimo klausimynas (topolski et al., 2006); pagyvenusių žmonių veiklos ir psichologinės gerovės skalė (warr et al., 2004); socialinės paramos skalė (kempen, van eijk, 1995); geriatrinė dvasinės gerovės skalė (dunn, 2008); pasitenkinimo gyvenimu skalė (diener et al., 1985); subjektyvaus amžiaus tapatumo skalė (hubley, 2014). be to, pateikti sociodemografiniai klausimai ir klausimai apie sirgimą lėtinėmis ligomis, neįgalumą, apsilankymų pas gydytoją per vienerius metus skaičių, subjektyviai vertinamą sveikatą, alkoholio vartojimo, rūkymo dažnumą, pasitenkinimą pragyvenimo lygiu, laimingumą. tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad subjektyviai sėkmingiau senstantys vyresni žmonės, palyginti su ne taip sėkmingai senstančiais, yra labiau socialiai aktyvūs, jie dažniau gauna socialinę paramą, patiria didesnį pasitenkinimą gyvenimu ir pragyvenimo lygiu, yra laimingesni, dvasingesni, subjektyviai suvokia jaunesnį amžių, pasižymi geresne subjektyviai vertinama sveikata, didesniu fiziniu aktyvumu, jie vertina savo mitybą kaip palankesnę sveikatai. subjektyviai sėkmingesnį senėjimą labiausiai prognozuoja dažnesnis užsiėmimas intelektine veikla ir mokymusi, turimas mokamas darbas ir didesnis vaikaičių skaičius, subjektyviai suvokiamas jaunesnis amžius, didesnis pasitenkinimas gyvenimu, geresnė subjektyviai vertinama sveikata ir savo mitybos kaip palankesnės sveikatai vertinimas. išvados. subjektyviai sėkmingesnį senėjimą labiausiai prognozuojantys socialiniai veiksniai yra šie: dažnesnis užsiėmimas intelektine veikla ir mokymusi, turimas mokamas darbas ir didesnis vaikaičių skaičius. subjektyviai sėkmingesnį senėjimą labiausiai prognozuojantys psichologiniai veiksniai yra tokie: didesnis pasitenkinimas gyvenimu, subjektyviai suvokiamas jaunesnis amžius, geresnė subjektyviai vertinama sveikata ir savo mitybos kaip palankesnės sveikatai vertinimas. reikšminiai žodžiai: senatvė, sėkmingas senėjimas, vyresnis amžius, daugiadimensis po žiūris. received: 25 01 2017 accepted: 05 12 2017 111 2014, 15, 111–131 p. 1 adresas susirašinėti: vytauto didžiojo universitetas, jonavos g. 66, tel. 8 672 4 69 62, el. p.: psichologei.dovilei@gmail.com intervencijų, paremtų kognityvineelgesio terapija, efektyvumas vaikų ir paauglių pykčio ir agresyvaus elgesio kontrolei. sisteminė literatūros analizė dovilė valiūnė1 vytauto didžiojo universitetas, lietuva santrauka. problema. dažnas pyktis ir agresyvus elgesys yra būdingas mokyklinio amžiaus vaikams (reyes ir kt., 2003). paauglių pykčio kontroliavimo problemos susijusios su įvairiais sunkumais mokykloje (humphrey, brooks, 2006; schwartz ir kt., 2006; feindler, engel, 2011). taigi paauglių pyktis ir agresija lieka svarbia tyrinėjimo problema mokyklose (fives ir kt., 2011). yra nemažai tyrimų, nagrinėjančių intervencijų veiksmingumą pykčiui ir agresyviam elgesiui. atliktos metaanalizės parodė, kad intervencijos, paremtos kognityvine-elgesio terapija, efektyvios, tačiau daugumoje jų nebuvo atskirai nagrinėjama vaikų ir paauglių populiacija. taip pat matomas intervencijų efekto dydžių, skaičiuojamų skirtingose metaanalizėse, skirtumas. dažnai apibendrinami senesni nei 15 metų tyrimai ir pastebima, kad nemažai tyrimų turi vertinimo ir metodologinių trūkumų (beck, fernandedez, 1998; bennet ir kt., 2000; sukhodolsky, 2004; saini, 2009; feindler, engel, 2011). taigi akivaizdus poreikis atlikti sisteminę literatūros analizę naujausių efektyvumo tyrimų, kurie apima intervencijas, grįstas kognityvine-elgesio terapija, vaikų ir paauglių pykčiui ir agresyviam elgesiui mažinti. tyrimo tikslas – išnagrinėti tyrimus, kuriuose analizuojamas intervencijų, paremtų kognityvine-elgesio terapija, efektyvumas vaikų ir paauglių pykčiui ir agresyviam elgesiui mažinti, įvertinti poveikio programų efektyvumą ir atrasti šių tyrimų metodologinius skirtumus. metodika. sisteminė literatūros analizė. rezultatai. nemažai nagrinėjamų tyrimų parodė, kad grupinės intervencijos, paremtos kognityvineelgesio terapija, nesvarbu, kokia jų trukmė, yra efektyvios paveikiant daugumos vaikų ir paauglių pykčio ir agresyvaus elgesio apraiškas. tačiau esama prieštaringų rezultatų ir tam tikrų metodologinių trūkumų. taip pat akivaizdus poreikis nagrinėti aplinkos ir asmenybinių kintamųjų svarbą intervencijų efektyvumui. pagrindiniai žodžiai: intervencija, kognityvinė-elgesio terapija, efektyvumas, pyktis, agresyvus elgesys. mokslo straipsniai issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.15.6 dovilė valiūnė 112 įvadas paauglystėje vyksta didžiausios permainos, susijusios su asmens psichosocialine, kognityvine ir fizine raida. šis amžiaus tarpsnis – tai permainų, mokymosi, adaptacijos laikotarpis, per kurį asmenys įgyja žinių, įgūdžių, reikalingų sprendžiant svarbius klausimus vėliau gyvenime. įvairūs sunkumai, su kuriais susiduria paauglys, lemia vystymąsi ir asmens gebėjimus susidoroti su problemomis ateityje (krisstensson, 2005; tilindienė, 2006). pyktis yra visiems būdinga ir natūrali emocija, tačiau pykčio nekontroliavimas gali būti ženklas, įspėjantis apie galimus sunkumus (feindler, engel, 2011; puskar ir kt., 2008). paauglius dažnai apima pykčio proveržiai, kuriuos jie siekia nuslopinti. pyktis gali būti išreiškiamas verbaliniu arba fiziniu būdu, nukreipiant agresiją į kitus žmones ar aplinkos daiktus, taip pat pyktis gali būti užgniaužiamas (reyes ir kt., 2003; daniel ir kt., 2009). taigi netinkamai išreiškiamas pyktis gali sietis su įvairiais sunkumais agresoriui, aukai ir aplinkai. paauglių pykčio kontroliavimo sunkumai susiję su nemažai problemų mokykloje. mokiniams, kuriems sunkiai sekasi kontroliuoti pyktį, gresia iškristi iš mokyklos, jie patiria mokymosi bėdų (humphrey, brooks, 2006; schwartz ir kt., 2006). paaugliai, turintys elgesio ir emocijų kontrolės sunkumų, dažniau ir intensyviau išgyvena baimę, baimei įveikti naudoja neveiksmingas strategijas ir baimės pojūtį stiprina įsivaizduojamu bejėgiškumu (jokūbpreikšas ir bubnys, 2013). paaugliai, kurie nekontroliuoja savo pykčio, yra linkę nusikalsti, jie dažniau piktnaudžiauja priklausomybę keliančiomis medžiagomis, gali anksti susilaukti vaikų, patiria depresiją vėliau gyvenime (wienclaw, 2009). nekontroliuojantys savo pykčio asmenys gali turėti socialinio prisitaikymo sunkumų ar pasižymėti asocialiu elgesiu ateityje (feindler, engel, 2011). taip pat pyktis susijęs su didesne savižudiško elgesio rizika (daniel ir kt., 2009). pykčio patyrimas ir išraiška stipriai susijusi su patyčiomis (madaan, 2012). patyčios yra dažna problema mokyklose. remiantis pasaulio sveikatos organizacijos duomenimis, 2009–2010 m. lietuva pirmavo europoje pagal patyčių patyrimą (šukytė, 2014). zaborskis ir vareikienė (2008) nustatė, kad patyčios mokykloje susijusios su blogesniu moksleivių savo sveikatos vertinimu, menkesniu pasitenkinimu gyvenimu, somatiniais nusiskundimais, psichoaktyviųjų medžiagų vartojimu. taigi pastaraisiais metais paauglių pyktis ir agresija tapo svarbia tyrinėjimo problema mokyklose (fives ir kt., 2011). pirmiausia psichikos sveiinternational journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 113 2014, 15, 111–131 p. katos centrų ir švietimo įstaigų specialistai stengiasi suprasti veiksnius, susijusius su paauglių pykčiu ir agresija (fives ir kt., 2011). taip pat domimasi įvairiomis intervencijomis, kurios efektyviausiai padėtų paaug lius mokyti pykčio kontrolės. dažniausiai taikomos intervencijos, kuriomis siekiama mokyti paaug lius kontroliuoti pyktį, remiasi kognityvine-elgesio teorija (charlesworth, 2008). viena šios teorijos prielaidų yra ta, kad asmens mintys, išorinių įvykių interpretacija veikia emocijų ir elgesio pasireiškimą. kai situacija suvokiama kaip priešiška, vaikas linkęs elgtis agresyviai (knorth ir kt., 2007). kognityvine-elgesio teorija paremtos intervencijos moko atpažinti ir susieti mintis, emocijas, fiziologinius pokyčius ir elgesį (sukhodolsky ir kt., 2004; feindler ir kt., 2003). tokio tipo intervencijos gali būti taikomos ir individualiai, ir grupėje. kuri intervencijos forma efektyvesnė, priklauso nuo kliento ypatumų. tačiau pollocko ir kymissis (2001) tyrimas atskleidė, kad grupinės intervencijos yra efektyvios ar net efektyvesnės už individualias sprendžiant daugumą problemų, susijusių su pykčiu. darbas grupėje mažina izoliacijos, kurią jaučia vaikas ar paauglys, turėdamas problemų, kilusių dėl pykčio kontrolės stokos jausmą. didesnį grupinės intervencijos efektyvumą dwivedi ir gupta (2000) aiškino remdamiesi dodge’s socialinio keitimosi modeliu: tikėtina, kad išmoktas įgūdis per pratybas bus teigiamai įvertintas kitų bendraamžių. paauglys ar vaikas, norėdami būti teigiamai įvertinti, kartos išmoktą įgūdį grupėje ir kitur. taigi šiame darbe į literatūros analizę įtraukiami tyrimai, kurie remiasi intervencijos taikymu grupėje. beckas ir fernandedeza 1998 m. atliko vieną pirmųjų metaanalizių, kuria siekė apibendrinti grupinės kognityvinės-elgesio terapijos efektyvumą pykčio kontrolei gerinti. autoriai rėmėsi 50 studijų, atliktų 1981– 1993 m., iš jų 15 apima vaikus ir paauglius. tyrimas atskleidė, kad kognityvinė-elgesio terapija yra efektyvi mažinant pykčio pasireiškimą (beck, fernandedez, 1998). tačiau iš šio tyrimo neaiškus kognityvinės-elgesio terapijos poveikis atskirai vertinant vaikus ir paauglius. taip pat į metaanalizę buvo įtraukti tyrimai, kurie turėjo tam tikrų metodologinių trūkumų, pavyzdžiui, nebuvo kontrolinės grupės, maža tiriamųjų imtis. butlerio ir kt. (2006) metaanalizė atskleidė, kad kognityvinė-elgesio terapija yra efektyvi norint mažinti streso, panikos, socialinės fobijos simptomus, tačiau mažinant pykčio pasireiškimą pasiekiamas tik vidutinis efektas. į šį tyrimą nebuvo įtrauktas atskiras kognityvinės-elgesio terapijos poveikio nagrinėjimas vaikų ir paauglių pykčiui ir agresijai. kitame metaanalizės dovilė valiūnė 114 tyrime apie kognityvinės-elgesio terapijos efektyvumą pykčio kontrolei buvo naudojami tik suaugusių asmenų duomenys (saini, 2009). kadangi pykčio kontrolės ir išmokimo aspektai vyresniame amžiuje ir paauglystėje skiriasi, verta atsižvelgti į tiriamųjų amžių. candelaria ir fedewa (2012) atliko metaanalizę, nukreiptą į pykčio kontrolės intervencijų efektyvumą vaikų ir paauglių socialiniams ir emociniams aspektų pokyčiams. iš viso buvo įtraukta 60 tyrimų, atliktų 1979– 2010 m. tyrimai apėmė įvairias pykčio kontrolės ir kitas impulsų valdymo programas, parengtas mokykloms. šio tyrimo apskaičiuotas efekto dydis yra tik – 0,27. galima teigti, kad intervencijos mažai prisidėjo prie vaikų ir paauglių neigiamų emocijų ir elgesio mažinimo, ypač mokant mokinius kontroliuoti save ir pykčio išraiškas. taigi nagrinėjant atskirai intervencijų poveikį vaikų ir paauglių pykčio ir agresijos valdymui, matomas mažas efektyvumas, lyginant tyrimus, atliktus su suaugusiais asmenimis. taip pat ši metaanalizė neanalizavo atskirai intervencijų, paremtų kognityvine-elgesio terapija. bennetas ir kt. (2000) metaanalizėje naudojo 1974–1998 m. duomenis ir konstatavo, kad kognityvine-elgesio terapija grįstos intervencijos turi mažą poveikį asmenų, jaunesnių nei 18 m., asocialiam elgesiui. sukhodolsky (2004) nustatė vidutinį intervencijos poveikį vaikų ir paauglių pykčiui mažinti. taigi skirtingose metaanalizėse išryškėja nevienodi efekto dydžiai vertinant intervencijų efektyvumą vaikų ir paauglių sunkumams, susijusiems su pykčio nekontroliavimu. pastebima, kad agresyvių mokinių nemažėja, nors ir daugėja tyrimų apie pykčio kontrolę. tai aiškinama tuo, kad tradicinės pykčio kontroliavimo programos nepakankamai veiksmingos mažinant agresyvų elgesį ar smurtą (burt ir kt., 2010; humphrey, 2008). tradicinės pykčio kontrolia vimo intervencijos per daug orientuotos į agresyvų elgesį, neatsižvelgiama į aplinką, kurioje agresyvus elgesys pasireiškia. taip pat pykčio kontroliavimo grupėse ignoruojamas prosocialus elgesys, akcentuojant netinkamą elgesį (burt ir kt., 2013). nemažai diskusijų kelia ir kontroliavimo mechanizmas. anot berkovitzo (2012), savęs reguliavimo reakcija ga li turėti neigiamų padarinių, pavyzdžiui, gali išryškėti neadekvatus tarpasmeninis santykis (dėl negebėjimo vienu metu kontroliuoti savęs ir tinkamai reaguoti į situaciją). taigi kyla abejonių dėl intervencijų pobūdžio ir ar verta akcentuoti agresyvų elgesį; kaip tinkamai mokyti mokinius rea guoti į socialinę situaciją, kai reikia skirti laiko pykčiui kontroliuoti. todėl svarbu analizuoti naujausius tyrimus, kurie vertina intervencijų efektyvumą pykčio kontrolei. international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 115 2014, 15, 111–131 p. aprašyti metaanalizės tyrimai pasitelkia senesnius kaip 15 metų duomenis. taip pat nemažai tyrimų turi vertinimo ir metodologinių trūkumų, gaunami skirtingi rezultatai apskaičiuojant efekto dydį intervencijų veiksmingumui. dėl to padidėja poreikis analizuoti naujausius efektyvumo tyrimus, jų gaunamus rezultatus ir tyrimo atlikimo ypatumus. todėl šiame darbe į sisteminę literatūros analizę įtraukiami 2004–2014 m. tyrimai. svarbu atskleisti, kokioms problemoms, susijusioms su pykčiu, intervencijos yra efektyvios. taip pat įvertinti tyrimo dizainą ir kitus metodologinius aspektus, kurie gali būti susiję su rezultatų patikimumu. taikant intervencijas svarbu prisiminti, kad agresyvus elgesys dažnai pasireiškia ne tik dėl to, jog asmuo nežino, kaip tinkamai išreikšti pyktį, bet ir todėl, kad agresija teikia tam tikrą naudą. viena iš naudų yra ta, kad agresyviai besielgiantis asmuo sumažina įtampą, kilusią dėl pykčio (bresin, 2013). todėl nagrinėjant intervencijų efektyvumą mažinant pykčio pasireiškimą svarbu įtraukti įvairias dimensijas, susijusias su pykčiu. šios dimensijos gali apimti agresyvų elgesį, priešiškumą ir pan. (saini, 2009). tad darbe į analizę įtraukiamos įvairios skalės, susijusios su pykčio kontrole. darbo tikslas – išnagrinėti tyrimus, kuriuose analizuojamas intervencijų, paremtų kognityvine-elgesio terapija, efektyvumas vaikų ir paauglių pykčio ir agresyvaus elgesio mažinimui, įvertinti poveikio programų efektyvumą ir nustatyti šių tyrimų metodologinius skirtumus. tyrimo metodas šiame darbe atliekant sisteminę literatūros analizę remiamasi standartais prisma. jie padeda tyrėjams tinkamai planuoti sisteminę literatūros paiešką, analizę ir rezultatų pateikimą. įtraukimo į sisteminę apžvalgą kriterijai. į sisteminę apžvalgą įtraukti tyrimai, kuriuose buvo nagrinėjamos grupinės intervencijos, pagrįstos kognityvine-elgesio terapija, poveikis pykčiui ar agresyviam elgesiui. tyrimas, atsižvelgiant į šį kriterijų, buvo laikomas tinkamu, jeigu remtasi kognityvinės-elgesio teorijos principu, kad mintys, fiziologija, emocijos ir elgesys yra susiję, ir jeigu mokoma vaikus ir paauglius susieti mintis su reakcijoms. jei tyrime buvo taikomas kombinuotas metodas, bet remtasi minėta kognityvinės-elgesio teorijos prielaida, tyrimas buvo įtrauktas į analizę. įtraukiami tie straipsniai, kuriuose aprašomas atliktas tyrimas vaikų ir paauglių populiacijoje. kiti įtraukimo į analizę kriterijai buvo straips dovilė valiūnė 116 nių prieinamumas, kalba ir publikavimo metai: įtraukti tik laisvai pri einami visateksčiai recenzuojami straipsniai anglų kalba, publikuoti 2004–2014 m. duomenų rinkimas. ieškant straipsnių buvo naudojamos kompiu terinės bibliografinės duomenų bazės eric (rasta 88 straipsniai; 4 tinkami), „medline“ (rasta 45 straipsniai; 0 tinkamų), „masterfile premier“ (rasta 24 straipsniai; 0 tinkamų), „socindex“ (rasta 34 straipsniai; 2 tinkami), „academic search complete“ (rasta 105 straipsniai; 4 tinkami), „education search complete“ (rasta 67 straipsniai; 1 tinkamas). šių bib liografinių duomenų bazių pasirinkimą lėmė tai, kad visose jose yra socia linių mokslų straipsnių. straipsnių paieška buvo atlikta pagal raktažodžių matricą, įvestą į duomenų bazių paieškos lauką. sudarant raktažodžių matricą buvo surašomas žodžių ir jų sinonimų, kurie siejasi su keliamu šiame darbe tikslu, sąrašas. taip pat į raktažodžių matricą įvestas žvaigždutės simbolis, reiškiantis, kad bus ieškoma žodžių, turinčių tą pačią šaknį kaip pažymėtas žvaigždute žodis. be to, pasinaudota duomenų bazių išplėstine paieška, pažymint, kad į paiešką būtų įtraukiami pateiktų raktažodžių sinonimai. naudojama raktažodžių matrica: intervention* or program* and aggression* or anger* and efficiency* or effect* or changes* and cognitive* or behavioral* and children* or adolescents* or student* or pupils*. raktažodžių matrica palengvina straipsnių atranką, nes naudojamos duomenų bazių paieškos sistemos sukurtos taip, kad atpažįsta „and“, „or“ ir žvaigždutės simbolius. todėl atrenkami visi straipsniai, kuriuose aptinkami įvairūs šių raktažodžių ir jų sinonimų deriniai. peržvelgus rastų straipsnių pavadinimus atmesti tie, kurie nesirėmė kognityvine-elgesio terapija grįstomis intervencijomis, vertino suaugusių asmenų pokyčius, kuriuose nebuvo tikrinamas intervencijos efek tyvumas. į sisteminę apžvalgą nebuvo įtraukiami straipsniai, tyrinėję intervencijos poveikį vaikams ir paaugliams, turintiems intelektinių gebėjimų sunkumų. peržvelgus visateksčius straipsnius atmesti tie, kuriuose nebuvo aprašytos naudojamos intervencijos, taikomos intervencijos nesirėmė kognityvine-elgesio terapija, nebuvo aprašomas empirinis tyrimas, tiriamieji turėjo autizmo sutrikimų, intervencija nukreipta ne į pykčio ir agresyvaus elgesio mažinimą. iš straipsnių atrinkti duomenys apie tirtos vaikų ir paauglių populiacijos imties dydį, sudėtį, amžių, intervencijos trukmę, tipą, naudotas metodikas, naudotų metodikų patikimumą, tyrimo dizainą (1 lentelė). taip international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 117 2014, 15, 111–131 p. pat buvo atrinkti duomenys apie straipsnyje analizuojamos interven cijos, grįstos kognityvine-elgesio terapija, poveikį tirtiems aspektams, pagrindinės išvados, efekto dydis, jei jis buvo pateikiamas (2 lentelė). 1 pav. straipsnių įtraukimo į sisteminę analizę atrankos etapai figure 1. the selection of stages of articles to systematic analysis rezultatai į sisteminę analizę pagal nustatytus kriterijus buvo įtraukta 11 straips nių. straipsnių įtraukimo į sisteminę analizę atrankos etapai pateikia mi 1 pav. dauguma nagrinėtų straipsnių naudojo kiekybinį tyrimo me todą (williams, waymouth ir kt., 2004; gundersen, svartdal, 2006; kisiel ir kt., 2006; augimeri ir kt., 2007; niwoski ir kt., 2009; karatas, gokcakan, 2009; jordans ir kt., 2010; sutcu ir kt., 2010; normantaitė ir kt., 2013), du – kombinuotą, t. y. straipsnyje rezultatai buvo gaunami kiekybiniais ir kokybiniais tyrimo metodais (humphrey, brooks, 2006; wheatley, murrihy ir kt., 2009). sisteminėje analizėje buvo nagrinėjami rezultatai, gauti naudojant kiekybinius tyrimo metodus. pagrindinės tyrimų charakteristikos pateikiamos 1 lentelėje. duodama informacija apie tyrimų charakteristikas ne visur vienoda, nes tyrimų autoriai rezultatus pristato skirtingai. identifikuojami straipsniai duomenų bazėse (n = 363) visateksčiai tinkami straipsniai (n = 36) įtraukiamos studijos į sisteminę analizę (n = 11) įtraukiamos studijos į sisteminę analizę (n = 11) visateksčiai straipsniai atmetami dėl: – naudojama intervencija nesirėmė kognityvine-elgesio terapija (n = 8) – tyrime nėra aprašyta intervencija (n = 2) – tiriamieji turi autizmo spektro sutrikimų (n = 2) – nėra aprašomas empirinis tyrimas (n = 12) – intervencija nukreipta ne į pykčio ir agresyvaus elgesio mažinimą (n = 1) atmetami pasikartojantys straipsniai (n = 17) dovilė valiūnė 1 le n te lė . a p ra šo m oj i t yr im ų c h ar ak te ri st ik ų a n al iz ė t a b le 1 . d es cr ip ti ve a n al ys is o f t h e ch ar ac te ri st ic s of s tu d ie s a u to ria i, m et ai im tis a m ži u s (m et ai s) in te rv en ci jo s tr u km ė, tip as m et o d ik o s, jų p at ik im u m as ty rim o d iz ai n as s. w ill ia m s, m . w ay m ou th , e. l ip m an , b. m ill s, p. e va ns (2 00 4) 68 re sp on de nt ai (5 6 be rn iu ka i, 12 m er ga ič ių ) 7– 13 ta ik yt a nu ot ai ko s m ok ym ų pr og ra m a, pa re m ta k et (t em pe rta m in g pr og ra m ) 8 sa va ič ių g ru pi nė in te rv en ci ja m ok ini am s, tr uk m ė – 1 va la nd a pe r d ie ną p o pa m ok ų, g ru pė s dy di s 4– 8 va ik ai ; 3 s es ijų tė vų g ru pi nė s pr at yb os p er 1 , 4 , 8 v ai kų p ro gr am os s av ai te s. bu vo m ok om a: s av ęs s up ra tim o; e lg es io pa da rin ių n um at ym o; p ro bl em ų sp re nd im o įg ūd ži ų. t ėv ai ta ip p at b uv o m ok om i pa dr ąs in ti va ik ų te ig ia m us p ok yč iu s. va ik ų py kč io a pr aš as (c ia ), 21 k la us im as m ok ini am s, v id in is p at ik im um as = 0 ,9 6. va ik ų pr ie ši šk um o ap ra ša s, tė va m s (c h i), 34 k la us im ai tė va m s, v id in is p at ik im um as = 0 ,8 2. vi en a gr up ė, pr ie š ty rim ą ir po jo a tli ek am i m at av im ai k. g un de rs en , f. s va rt da l (2 00 6) 65 re sp on de nt ai (4 9 be rn iu ka i, 16 m er ga ič ių ) ek sp er im en tin ė – 47 ; ko nt ro lin ė –1 8 m er ga ič ių am ži au s vi du rk is – 14 ,1 ; be rn iu kų – 12 ,6 ta ik yt i a gr es ijo s ke iti m o m ok ym ai , pa re m ti ke t (a gg re ss io n ra pl ac em en t tr ai ni ng ). 24 s es ijo s, g ru pi nė s pr at yb os . m ok om a py kč io k on tr ol ės įg ūd ži ų, m or al in io s up ra tin gu m o. va ik ų ir pa au gl ių p av oj in go e lg es io a pr aš as , t ėv ų ir m ok yt oj ų ve rs ijo s ( ca d bi ) ( bu rn s, 20 01 ); cr on ba ch o α = 0 ,9 0 – m ok yt oj ų ve rs ija ; c ro nb ac ho α = 0 ,9 4 – tė vų v er si ja . so ci al in ių įg ūd ži ų ve rt in im o sk al ė (s sr s) (o gd en , 20 03 ); cr on ba ch o α = 0 ,7 9 – m ok yt oj ų ve rs ija ; cr on ba ch o α = 0 ,9 2 – tė vų v er si ja . d vi g ru pė s (e ks pe rim en tin ė, ko nt ro lin ė) , p rie š ty rim ą ir po jo at lie ka m i m at av im ai n . h um ph re y, a . g . b ro ok s (2 00 6) 12 re sp on de nt ų (4 m er ga itė s, 8 be rn iu ka i) 13 –1 4 ta ik yt a py kč io k on tr ol ia vi m o ko gn ity vi nė -e lg es io in te rv en ci ja (c og ni tiv ebe ha vi ou ra l a ng er m an ag em en t i nt er ve nt io n) . 6 pr at yb os p o 1 va la nd ą pe r 4 s av ai te s. bu vo m ok om a pr ob le m ų sp re nd im o įg ūd ži ų. pe rž iū rė ta r ut te rio m ok yk lin io a m ži au s va ik ų sk al ė m ok yt oj am s (r rt s) . n eb uv o pa m in ėt as ga ut as v id in is p at ik im um as . st eb ėj o te ra pe ut as . p us ia u st ru kt ūr uo ta s in te rv iu su m ok in ia is a pi e jų m in tis , j au sm us ir p at irt į d aly va uj an t p ro gr am oj e. vi en a gr up ė, pr ie š 4 sa va ite s; pr ie š ty rim ą ir po jo , p o 4 sa va ič ių ki ek yb in ia i m ata vi m ai ; s te bė jim as – in te rv en ci jo s la ik ot ar pi u; in te rv iu iš ka rt po p ro gr am os ta ik ym o international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 2014, 15, 111–131 p. c. k is ie l, m . b la us te in , j. sp in az zo la , c. s . s ch m id t, m . z uc ke r, b. k ol k (2 00 6) 14 0 re sp on de nt ų: 77 – e ks pe rim en tin ė (4 1, 3 pr oc . m er ga i či ų, 5 8, 7 pr oc . b er ni uk ų) g ru pė ; 6 3 – ko nt ro lin ė gr up ė (4 6, 8 pr oc . m er ga i či ų, 5 3, 2 pr oc . b er ni uk ų) 8– 11 ta ik yt a pr ev en ci nė p ro gr am a u rb an . im pr ov . 9 sa va iti nė s se si jo s, v ie no s tr uk m ė –7 5 m in . b uv o m ok om a sp re nd im ų pr iė m im o, k on fli kt ų va ld ym o įg ūd ži ų, ly de ry st ės , b en dr ad ar bi av im o, im pu ls ų ko nt ro lė s, g yn im os i, ve rt yb ių iš si gr yn ini m o. so ci al in ių įg ūd ži ų ve rt in im o sk al ė (g re sh am ir el lio t, 19 90 ) ( ss rs ) – m ok in ių ir m ok yt oj ų ve rs ija . vi di ni s pa tik im um as p as is ki rs tė 0 ,8 0– 0, 96 . ja un uo lių k on tr ol ės in ve nt or iu s (m cc ub bi n, th om ps on ir e lv er , 1 99 6) (y ci ) – m ok in ia m s. cr on ba ch o α = 0 ,8 6. įs iti ki ni m ų ap ie a gr es i ją kl au si m yn as (h ue sm an n, g ue rr a, z el li ir m ill er , 19 92 ) ( n ba ) – m ok in ia m s. v id in is p at ik im um as 0, 65 –0 ,8 5. d vi g ru pė s (e ks pe rim en tin ė, ko nt ro lin ė) , p rie š ty rim ą ir po jo at lik ti m at av im ai l. a ug im er i, d . p . f ar rin gt on , ch . j . k oe gl , d . m . d ay (2 00 7) 32 re sp on de nt ai (2 4 be rn iu ka i, 8 m er ga itė s) 12 ta ik yt a pr og ra m a „s us to k da ba r i r pl an uo k“ , p ar em ta k et (s to p no w a nd pl an uo k) . 12 s av ai či ų pr og ra m a, k ur ią s ud ar o: 1) s av ęs k on tr ol ia vi m o ir pr ob le m ų sp re nd im o įg ūd ži ų m ok ym as m ok ini am s; 2 ) t ėv ų m ok ym ai ; 3 ) š ei m ų ko nsu lta vi m as ; 4 ) i nd iv id ua li pa ga lb a m oki ni am s si ek ia nt i p ad ėt i s us id ra ug au ti; 5) a ka de m in ė pa ga lb a. va ik ų el ge si o ap ra ša s (a ch en ba ch , 1 99 1) (c bc l) – tė va m s. k la us im yn o pa tik im um as ne bu vo p at ei kt as . d vi g ru pė s (e ks pe rim en tin ė, ko nt ro lin ė) , p rie š ty rim ą ir po jo ; po 3 m ėn .; po 6 m ėn .; po 1 2 m ėn .; po 1 8 m ėn . a .w he at le y, r. m ur rih y ir kt . (2 00 9) 8 re sp on de nt ai (7 b er ni uk ai , 1 m er ga itė ) 13 –1 5 ta ik yt as a gr es ijo s ko nt ro lia vi m o m ok ym ų ku rs as , p ar em ta s ke t. 16 s av ai či ų gr up in ė in te rv en ci ja . pr ob le m ų sp re nd im o įg ūd ži ai , s av ęs pa ži ni m as , k on fli kt ų sp re nd im as , šv ie či am oj i v ei kl a ap ie p yk tį ir ag re si ją , s av ęs k on tr ol ia vi m as . a tli kt a ko ky bi nė d uo m en ų an al iz ė, d uo m en im s su rin kt i n au do ta s st ru kt ūr uo ta s in te rv iu m et oda s su tė va is , m ok yt oj ai s. g al ių ir s un ku m ų kl au si m yn as (s d q ) ( g oo dm an , 19 97 ) t ėv am s ir m ok yt oj am s. vi en a gr up ė, 3 m ėn . p rie š ty rim ą ir po jo a tli kt i m at av im ai d . n iw os ki , p. b ut tn er , u . p et er m an n (2 00 9) 24 re sp on de nt ai (2 1 be rn iu ka s, 3 m er ga itė s) . ek sp er im en tin ė – 12 ; ko nt ro lin ė – 6 7– 11 ta ik yt a ko m bi nu ot a in te rv en ci nė pr og ra m a, p ar em ta k et . iš p ra dž ių 8 –1 3 in di vi du al ių s es ijų ; v ėl ia u 6– 12 s es ijų g ru pi ni ų pr at yb ų, p o gr up in ių pr at yb ų 8 sa va ič ių tr uk m ės s tip rin an ty s se m in ar ai . 4 tė vų k on su lta ci jo s, a pt ar ia nči os š ei m os s an ty ki us . ta ik om a re la ks ac ijo s, v ai dm en ų ža id im ai , an al iz uo ja m os k on fli kt in ės s itu ac ijo s, m ok om a pr os oc ia la us e lg es io , p yk či o ko nt ro lė s. a ch en ba ch o va ik ų el ge si o ve rt in im o m et od ik a, tė vų v er si ja (c bc l) , ( a ch en ba ch , 1 99 1) . c ro nb ach o α pa si sk irs tė n uo 0 ,7 3 ik i 0 ,9 3. a ch en ba ch o va ik ų el ge si o ve rt in im o m et od ik a, m ok yt oj ų ve rs ija (t rf ) ( a ch en ba ch , 1 99 1) . c ro nb ac ho α pa si sk irs tė n uo 0 ,7 4 ik i 0 ,9 6. a gr es yv ių re ak ci jų m od el ių k la us im yn as (e a s) (p et er m an ir k t., 2 00 0) . c ro nb ac h α be rn iu ka m s 0, 87 , m er ga itė m s 0, 86 . g al ių ir s un ku m ų kl au si m yn as (s d q ) ( g oo dm an , 19 97 ) t ėv am s ir m ok yt oj am s. c ro nb ac ho α p as isk irs tė n uo 0 ,7 2 ik i 0 ,8 3. d vi g ru pė s (e ks pe rim en tin ė, ko nt ro lin ė) , p rie š ty rim ą ir po jo ; be k on tr ol in ės gr up ės : po 5 m ėn ., po 1 0 m ėn . m ata vi m ai dovilė valiūnė z. k ar at as , z. g ok ca ka n (2 00 9) 36 re sp on de nt ai , 12 k on tr ol in ėj e; 12 e ks pe rim en tin ėj e 9 kl . m ok ini ai (1 4– 15 m .) ta ik yt os k og ni ty vi nė sel ge si o te ch ni ko s. 10 s es ijų , t ai ka nt k og ni ty vi nę -e lg es io te ra pi ją . 1 4 se si jų – p si ch od ra m a, g ru pi ni ai s em in ar ai . r el ak sa ci jo s, v ai dm en ų ža id im ai . a gr es ijo s sk al ė (c an ns , 2 00 2) – pa ko re gu ot as b us so ir p er ry a gr es ijo s kl au si m yn o va ria nt as . k la us im yn o pa tik im um as ne ap ra šy ta s. tr ys g ru pė s (2 e ks pe rim en tinė s, k on tr ol in ė) , pr ie š ty rim ą ir po jo , p o 16 s av . m at av im ai m . j . d . j or da ns , i. h . k om pr oe , w . a . t ol , b. a . k oh rt , n . p . l ui te l, r. d . m ac y, j. j on g (2 01 0) 32 5 re sp on de nt ai (1 67 b er ni uk ai , 15 8 m er ga itė s) . ti ria m oj i g ru pė – 16 4 re sp on de nt ai (9 1 m er ga itė , 73 b er ni uk ai ); ko nt ro lin ė – 16 1 re sp on de nt as (6 7 m er ga itė s, 94 b er ni uk ai ) 11 –1 4 ta ik yt a ko m bi nu ot a in te rv en ci nė p ro gr am a, p ar em ta k et . 5 sa va ič ių 1 5 se si jų in te rv en ci ja , v ie no s in te rv en ci jo s tr uk m ė – 60 m in . b uv o si ek ia m a su m až in ti ps ic ho so ci al in es pr ob le m as , m ok an t k on tr ol ės įg ūd ži ų, pr os oc ia la us e lg es io d ep re si jo s įv er tin im o kl au si m yn as (b irl es on , 19 81 ) ( d sr s) . g al ių ir s un ku m ų kl au si m yn as (g oo dm an , 1 99 7) (s d q ). va ik ų ne rim o kl au si m yn as (b irm ah er t, 19 99 ) ( sc a re d -5 ). va ik ų fu nk ci ni o bl og ėj im o kl au -s im yn as (b ol to n, ta ng , 2 00 2 (c fi ). va ik ų vi lti es s ka lė (s ny de r, 19 97 ) ( c h s) . fi zi nė s ag re si jo s po sk al ė iš (b us s ir pe rr y, 1 99 2) ag re si jo s kl au si m yn o. vi sų k la us im yn ų vi di ni o pa tik im um o vi du rk is – 0, 89 1. d vi g ru pė s (e ks pe rim en tin ė, ko nt ro lin ė) , p rie š ty rim ą ir po jo iš ka rt a tli kt i m at av im ai s. t . s ut cu , a . a yd in , o . t . s or ia s (2 01 0) 40 re sp on de nt ų (2 2 m er ga itė s, 18 b er ni uk ų) , 19 – ti ria m oj oj e, 21 – k on tr ol in ėj e 12 –1 4 ta ik yt a ko gn ity vi nė -e lg es io te ra pi jo s pr og ra m a. 12 s es ijų , v ie no s se si jo s tr uk m ė 90 m in . b uv o ug do m a su pr as ti sa ve ir st im ul us , k el ia nč iu s ne ig ia m as em oc ija s, e m oc ijų k on tr ol ės įg ūd ži ų. py kč io b ūs en os b ru ož o iš ra iš ko s in ve nt or iu s (s ta xi ) ( sp ie lb er ge r, 19 83 ) – tė vų fo rm a. p os ka lių vi di ni s pa tik im um as p as is ki rs tė n uo 0 ,7 9 ik i 0 ,8 5. va ik ų ve ik sm ų te nd en ci jo s sk al ė (c at s) (d el ut y, 19 79 ). c ro nb ac ho α – 0 ,8 3 d vi g ru pė s (e ks pe rim en tin ė, ko nt ro lin ė) , p rie š ty rim ą ir po jo , p o 6 m ėn . m at av im ai d . n or m an ta itė , a . p er m in as (2 01 3) 28 6 re sp on de nt ai . ek sp er im en tin ė – 12 9 (5 4 be rn iu ka i, 75 m er ga itė s) ; ko nt ro lin ė – 13 5 (7 8 be rn iu ka i, 57 m er ga itė s) 13 –1 7 ta ik yt a su tr um pi nt a py kč io k on tr ol ia vi m o pr og ra m a, p ar em ta k et (t he a rt of se lf co nt ro l). 5 se si jo s, g ru pi nė s pr at yb os . d ar ba s su m ot yv ac ija , p yk či o ko nt ro lė , r el ak sa ci ja , re ag av im o bū da i, ko nf lik tų s pr en di m o bū da i. a gr es ijo s kl au si m yn as (a q ) ( bu ss ir p er ry , 1 99 2) . c ro nb ac ho α p as is ki rs tė n uo 0 ,5 52 ik i 0 ,8 07 . d vi g ru pė s (e ks pe rim en tin ė, ko nt ro lin ė) , p rie š ty rim ą ir iš ka rt po jo m at av im ai international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 121 2014, 15, 111–131 p. dauguma tyrimų turėjo kontrolines grupes (kisiel ir kt., 2006; gundersen, svartdal, 2006; augimeri ir kt., 2007; niwoski ir kt., 2009; karatas, gokcakan, 2009; jordans ir kt., 2010; sutcu ir kt., 2010; normantaitė ir kt., 2013), trys tyrimai turėjo tik vieną – eksperimentinę – grupę (williams, waymouth ir kt., 2004; humphrey, brooks, 2006; wheatley, murrihy ir kt., 2009). visuose tyrimuose atlikti bent du matavaimai: prieš intervencijos taikymą ir po intervencijos taikymo, penki tyrimai tyrė ilgalaikį intervencijos poveikį (humphrey, brooks, 2006; augimeri ir kt., 2007; niwoski ir kt., 2009; karatas, gokcakan, 2009; sutcu ir kt., 2010). berniukų buvo daugiau nei mergaičių, tik keturiuose tyrimuose berniukų ir mergaičių buvo panašiai (kisiel ir kt., 2006; jordans ir kt., 2010; sutcu ir kt., 2010; normantaitė ir kt., 2013). tačiau kai kuriuose tyrimuose (jordans ir kt., 2010; d. normantaitė ir kt., 2013) nevienodai pasiskirstęs berniukų ir mergaičių skaičius kontrolinėje ir eksperimentinėje grupėse. taigi tik dviejuose tyrimuose kontrolinė ir eksperimentinė grupės tolygios pagal berniukų ir mergaičių pasiskirstymą (kisiel ir kt., 2006; sutcu ir kt., 2010). tyrimuose dominavo nedaug tiriamųjų, tik trijuose tyrimuose tiriamųjų buvo daugiau nei 100 (kisiel ir kt., 2006; sutcu ir kt., 2010; normantaitė ir kt., 2013). septyniuose tyrimuose buvo apklausti tiriamojo aplinkos asmenys: tėvai ir / arba mokytojai (williams, waymouth ir kt., 2004; gundersen, svartdal, 2006; humphrey, brooks, 2006; kisiel ir kt., 2006; augimeri ir kt., 2007; niwoski ir kt., 2009; wheatley, murrihy ir kt., 2009; sutcu ir kt., 2010). trijuose tyrimuose tėvai dalyvavo mokymuose (williams, waymouth ir kt., 2004; augimeri ir kt., 2007; niwoski ir kt., 2009), intervencijų trukmė grupėse pasiskirstė nuo 5 iki 24 sesijų, tiriamųjų amžius – nuo 7 iki 17 m. į sisteminę analizę įtrauktų analizuojamų intervencijų, grįstų kognityvine-elgesio terapija, tyrimų rezultatai pateikiami 2 lentelėje. kiekybinių tyrimų rezultatai atskleidžia, kad intervencijos, pagrįstos kognityvine-elgesio terapija, turėjo teigiamą poveikį tam tikriems nagrinėtiems aspektams: vaikų pykčiui, priešiškumui, agresyviam elgesiui, elgesio sunkumams, socialiniams aspektams, prosocialiam elgesiui, pykčio bruožui, delinkventiniam elgesiui (williams, waymouth ir kt., 2004; gundersen, svartdal, 2006; humphrey, brooks, 2006; niwoski ir kt., 2009; wheatley, murrihy ir kt., 2009; karatas, gokcakan, 2009; jordans ir kt., 2010; sutcu ir kt., 2010; normantaitė ir kt., 2013). tačiau nagrinėjamų reiškinių pokyčiai matomi ne visuose stebimuose reiškiniuose. nerasta dovilė valiūnė 2 le n te lė . i n te rv en ci jo s, g rį st os k og n it yv in eel g es io t er ap ija , p ov ei ki s n ar in ėj am ie m s as p ek ta m s f ig u re 2 . t h e ef fe ct o f i n te rv en ti on b as ed o n c og n it iv eb eh av io ra l t h er ap y to r es ea rc h a sp ec ts a u to ria i, m et ai st eb im i k in ta m ų jų p o ky či ai ty rim o iš va d o s ef ek to d yd is s. w ill ia m s, m . w ay m ou th , e. l ip m an , b. m ill s, p. e va ns (2 00 4) va ik ų py kt is įv ai rio se s itu ac ijo se , pr ie ši šk um as , a gr es yv us e lg es ys va ik ų py kt is , p rie ši šk um as , a gr es yv us e lg es ys po in te rv en ci jo s st at is tiš ka i r ei kš m in ga i s um až ėj o. va ik ų py kt is – 0 ,6 9 a gr es yv us e lg es ys – 0 ,3 9 pr ie ši šk um as – 0 ,5 6 k. g un de rs en , f. s va rt da l ( 20 06 ) el ge si o su nk um ai b en dr au ja nt s u su au gu si ai s as m en im is ir b en dr aa m ži ai s; so ci al in ia i į gū dž ia i; in te rn al ūs , e ks te rn al ūs su nk um ai po in te rv en ci jo s su m až ėj o el ge si o su nk um ų, pa di dė jo s oc ia lin ių g eb ėj im ų ba la i t ėv ų ir m ok yt oj ų ve rt in im u. po in te rv en ci jo s ne pa si ke itė s oc ia lin ia i į gū dž ia i, ka i v er tin a pa ty s va ik ai . n eb uv o pa te ik ta n . h um ph re y, a . g . b ro ok s (2 00 6) n eg at yv ių e m oc ijų p as ire iš ki m o da žn is , el ge si o ko nt ro lė , n ed ėm es in ga s / h ip er ak ty vu s el ge sy s – be nd rie ji el ge si o su nk um ai , pr os oc ia us e lg es ys be nd rie ji el ge si o su nk um ai , p ro so ci al us e lg es ys st at is tiš ka i r ei kš m in ga i s ky rė si p al yg in us m at av im ą pr ie š in te rv en ci ją ir p o jo s. be nd rie ji el ge si o su nk um ai s ta tis tiš ka i r ei kš m in ga i s ky rė si p al yg in us m at av im ą iš ka rt p o in te rv en ci jo s ir po jo s pr aė ju s 4 sa va itė m s, p ro so ci al us e lg es ys st at is tiš ka i r ei kš m in ga i n es is ky rė . n eb uv o at ra st a st at is tiš ka i r ei kš m in gų s ki rt um ų ne dė m es in go / hi pe ra kt yv au s el ge si o po sk al ės e. be nd rų jų e lg es io s un ku m ų – 0, 40 pr os oc ia la us e lg es io – 0 ,6 2 c . k is ie l, m . b la us te in , j. s pi na zz ol a c . s . s ch m id t, m . z uc ke r, b. k ol k (2 00 6) so ci al in ia i į gū dž ia i, el ge si o su nk um ai , ak ad em in ė ko m pe te nc ija , k on tr ol ės s til ia i, įs iti ki ni m ai a pi e ag re sy vų e lg es į į va iri os e si tu ac ijo se bu vo a pt ik ta s st at is tiš ka i r ei kš m in ga s sk irt um as el ge si o su nk um ų at žv ilg iu p ro so ci al au s el ge si o po -s ka lė se , k ai v er tin a m ok yt oj ai , ta či au , k ai v er tin o m ok in ia i, ši os e po sk al ėj e ne bu vo ap tik ta s ta tis tiš ka i r ei kš m in go s ki rt um o. n eb uv o pa te ik ta l. a ug im er i, d . p . f ar rin gt on , c h. j . k oe gl , d . m . d ay (2 00 7) a gr es yv us , d el in kv en tin is e lg es ys pa si ek ta s st at is tiš ka i r ei kš m in ga s sk irt um as a gr es yva us ir d el in kv en tin io e lg es io s ka lė se įv ai riu la ik ot ar pi u. a gr es yv au s el ge si o po p ro gr am os ta ik ym o – 0, 79 ; p ra ėj us 6 m ėn . – 0, 93 ; p o 12 m ėn . – 0 ,5 6; po 1 8 m ėn . – 1 ,1 9 international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 2014, 15, 111–131 p. a . w he at le y, r. m ur rih y ir kt . ( 20 09 ) la nk om um as , e m oc in ia i s im pt om ai , h ip er ak ty vu s el ge sy s, s an ty ki ų su b en dr aa m ži ai s pr ob le m os , p ro so ci al us e lg es ys in te rv en ci jo s m et u ši ek ti ek p ag er ėj o m ok in ių la nk om um as m ok yk lo je , n et in ka m as e lg es ys ta po re te sn is . tė vų v er tin im u, d vi ej ų va ik ų sa nt yk ia i p ag er ėj o su be nd ra am ži ai s, m ok yt oj ų ve rt in im u – tik v ie no v ai ko . n eb uv o pa te ik ta c . n iw os ki , p. b ut tn er , u . p et er m an n (2 00 9) ek st er na lū s su nk um ai (d el in kv en tin is , ag re sy vu s el ge sy s; d ėm es io p ro bl em os , so ci al in ės p ro bl em os ); ag re sy vu s el ge sy s įv ai rio se s itu ac ijo se ; e m oc in ia i s im pt om ai , hi pe ra kt yv us e lg es ys , s an ty ki ų su b en dr aam ži ai s pr ob le m os , b en dr os io s pr ob le m os , pr os oc ia lu s el ge sy s n ep as te bė ta s ta tis tiš ka i r ei kš m in gų p ok yč ių c bc l po sk al ės e. tė vų v er tin im u, p o in te rv en ci jo s su m až ėj o so ci al in ių ir be nd rų jų p ro bl em ų pa si re iš ki m as , p ad id ėj o pr os oci al us e lg es ys . m ok yt oj ų ve rt in im u, s um až ėj o va ik ų so ci al in ės pr ob le m os ir s te bi m a ag re sy va us e lg es io m až ėj im o te nd en ci ja . so ci al in ės p ro bl em os s d q – 1 ,0 9, be nd ro si os p ro bl em os s d q – 1 ,0 9, sa nt yk ia i s u be nd ra am ži ai s sd q – 0, 51 . pr os oc ia liu s el ge sy s a d q – 0 ,9 4, so ci al in ės p ro bl em os t rf – 0 ,7 8 z. k ar at as , z. g ok ca ka n (2 00 9) a gr es yv us e lg es ys , p rie ši šk um as , f iz in ė ag re si ja , v er ba lin ė ag re si ja , n et ie si og in ė ag re si ja po in te rv en ci jo s su m až ėj o va ik ų be nd ri ag re si jo s, fiz in ės a gr es ijo s, p rie ši šk um o, n et ie si og in ės a gr es ijo s ba la i. ko gn ity vi nė -e lg es io in te rv en ci ja e fe kt yv es nė m až ina nt a gr es yv ų el ge sį n ei p si ch od ra m a. po ky či ai p o in te rv en ci jo s iš lie ka p o 16 s av ai či ų. n eb uv o pa te ik ta m . i . d . j or da ns , i. h . k om pr oe , w . a . t ol , b . a . k oh rt , n . p . l ui te l, r. d . m ac y, j . j on g (2 01 0) fu nk ci ni s bl og ėj im as , v ilt is , d ep re si jo s si m pt om ai , p si ch ol og in ia i s un ku m ai , pr os oc ia lu s el ge sy s, n er im as , a gr es ija bu vo ra st as s ta tis tiš ka i r ei kš m in ga s pr os oc ia la us e lg esi o sk irt um as p si ch ol og in ių s un ku m ų, a gr es yv au s el ge si o po sk al ės e. m er ga itė m s in te rv en ci ja p ad ar ė di de sn į p ov ei kį p ro so ci al au s el ge si o po sk al ės įv er či am s ne i b er ni uk am s, b er ni uk ai p o in te rv en ci jo s pa si ek ė ge re sn ių re zu lta tų p si ch ol og in ių s un ku m ų ir ag re si jo s po sk al ėj e ne i m er ga itė s. v yr es ni v ai ka i p as ie kė a uk te sn ių re zu lta tų v ilt ie s sk al ėj e ne i j au ne sn i. n eb uv o at ra st a st at is tiš ka i r ei kš m in gų s ki rt um ų ki to se sk al ės e ve rt in an t p ag al ly tį ir am ži ų. fu nk ci ni s bl og ėj im as – 0 ,5 8; p ro oci al us e lg es ys – 0 ,4 4; p si ch ol og in ia i su nk um ai – 0 , 4 1; d ep re si jo s si m pto m ai – 0 ,4 6; n er im as – 0 ,2 7 s. t . s ut cu , a . a yd in , o . s or ia s (2 01 0) py kč io b ru ož as , p yk či o iš or in ė iš ra iš ka , py kč io k on tr ol ė; u žs is py rę s, a gr es yv us , pa kl us nu s el ge sy s po in te rv en ci jo s su m až ėj o py kč io b ru ož o iš re ik št um as , py kč io iš or in ė iš ra iš ka , a gr es ija – š ie p ok yč ia i i šl ie ka įv er tin us ti ria m us m ok in ių a sp ek tu s po 6 m ėn . n eb uv o pa te ik ta d . n or m an ta itė , a . p er m in as (2 01 3) py kt is , p rie ši šk um as , v er ba lin ė ag re si ja , fiz in ė ag re si ja po in te rv en ci jo s be rn iu ka m s ir m er ga itė m s su m až ėj o fiz in ė, v er ba lin ė ag re si ja , p al yg in ti su k on tr ol in e gr up e. po in te rv en ci jo s su m až ėj o m er ga ič ių p yk tis , p al yg in ti su k on tr ol in e gr up e, o b er ni uk ų ne pa si ke itė . n es te bi m as p ok yt is p rie ši šk um o po sk al ėj e, p al yg in ti su k on tr ol in e gr up e. n eb uv o pa te ik ta dovilė valiūnė 124 pokyčio achenbacho vaikų elgesio vertinimo metodikos poskalėse, priešiškumo, agresyvaus elgesio, verbalinės agresijos, prosocialaus elgesio, hiperaktyvumo, negatyvių emocijų poskalėse (wheatley, murrihy ir kt., 2009; niwoski ir kt., 2009; wheatley, murrihy ir kt., 2009; karatas, gokcakan, 2009; normantaitė ir kt., 2013). taigi lyginant tyrimus matomi prieštaringi rezultatai – vieni tyrėjai randa intervencijos poveikį tam tikriems aspektams, kiti neaptinka šių pokyčių. taip pat analizuojant atskirai kai kuriuos tyrimus (gundersen ir svartdal, 2006; niwosk ir kt., 2009), aptinkamas prieštaravimas vertinant rezultatus, gautus iš skirtingų šaltinių. tėvų ir mokytojų vertinimu, po intervencijos pagerėjo vaikų socialiniai įgūdžiai, tačiau analizuojant pačių vaikų rezultatus, tokių pokyčių nematoma; taip pat tėvai pastebi, kad vaikai mažiau patiria eksternalių ir internalių sunkumų, bet mokytojai tokių pokyčių nepastebi (gundersen, svartdal, 2006; niwosk ir kt., 2009). daugumoje tyrimų nebuvo pateikiami efekto dydžiai (gundersen, svartdal, 2006; kisiel ir kt., 2006; wheatley, murrihy ir kt., 2009; karatas, gokcakan, 2009; sutcu ir kt., 2010; normantaitė ir kt., 2013). diskusija sisteminėje literatūros analizėje buvo nagrinėjami tyrimai, kurie rėmėsi kognityvine-elgesio terapija. pagrindiniai teoriniai kognityvinės-elgesio terapijos požiūriai į pykčio kontrolę grindžiami becko kognityvine-elgesio terapija, elliso racionalia emocine elgesio terapija ir meichenbaumo kognityviniu-elgesio perstruktūravimu. šie teoriniai požiūriai turi ne tik skirtumų, bet ir panašumų. jie aiškina, kad netinkamas elgesys atsiranda dėl neadaptyvių minčių (charlesworth, 2008). todėl šiame darbe nebuvo atskirai analizuojamos intervencijos pagal jų kognityvinės-elgesio teorijos požiūrius. į analizę įtraukti tyrimai, kurie rėmėsi kognityvinės-elgesio teorijos principu, kad mintys, fiziologija, emocijos ir elgesys yra susiję, ir jeigu mokoma vaikus ir paauglius susieti savo mintis su reakcijoms. tačiau tiriamos intervencijos tarpusavyje skyrėsi taikomomis technikomis, mokymo metodais, metodologiniais aspektais. analizuotose intervencijose gausu įvairių mokymo būdų. tyrimuose buvo naudojamos relaksacijos, vaidmenų žaidimai, analizuojamos konfliktinės situacijos, mokoma prosocialaus elgesio, pykčio kontrolės, atpažinti pojūčius, mintis, emocijas, elgesį ir pan. international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 125 2014, 15, 111–131 p. kiekybinių tyrimų rezultatai atskleidžia, kad intervencijos turėjo tei giamą poveikį tam tikriems nagrinėtiems aspektams: vaikų pykčiui, priešiškumui, agresyviam elgesiui, elgesio sunkumams, socialiniams aspektams, prosocialiam elgesiui, pykčio bruožui, delinkventiniam elgesiui (williams, waymouth ir kt., 2004; gundersen, svartdal, 2006; humphrey, brooks, 2006; niwoski ir kt., 2009; wheatley, murrihy ir kt., 2009; karatas, gokcakan, 2009; jordans ir kt., 2010; sutcu ir kt., 2010; normantaitė ir kt., 2013). taigi galima teigti, kad intervencijos yra efektyvios siekiant sumažinti pyktį, agresyvų elgesį. pykčio kontroliavimo intervencijos, paremtos kognityvine-elgesio terapija, laikomos vienomis efektyviausių – jos apima fiziologinius, mąstymo ir elgesio aspektus (sukhodolsky ir kt., 2004; feindler ir kt., 2003). tokio tipo intervencijomis siekiama mokyti paauglius geriau suprasti savo fiziologiją, mąstymą ir elgesį supykus, išmokyti, kaip nusiraminti, atpažinti veiksnius, sukėlusius pyktį, ir kaip tinkamai jį išreikšti (feindler ir kt., 2003). tačiau intervencijos poveikis būdingas ne visiems pykčio kontroliavimo aspektams. tėvų ir mokytojų vertinimu, po intervencijos pagerėjo vaikų socialiniai įgūdžiai, tačiau analizuojant pačių vaikų rezultatus, tokių pokyčiu nematoma; taip pat tėvai pastebi, kad vaikams sumažėjo eksternalių ir internalių sunkumų, bet mokytojai tokių pokyčių nepastebi (gundersen, svartdal, 2006; niwosk ir kt., 2009). šių skirtumų galėjo atsirasti dėl to, kad niwoski ir kt. (2009) savo tyrime intervencijas taikė ir tėvams, taigi didesnis įsitraukimas, mokymasis konstruktyviai spręsti konfliktus, savo emocijų supratimas gali lemti akivaizdžius pozityvius vaikų elgesio pokyčius. analizuojami straipsniai apėmė grupinių intervencijų efektyvumo tyrimus. pollockas ir kymissis (2001) atskleidė, kad grupinės intervencijos yra efektyvios dirbant su vaikais ir paaugliais, turinčiais agresyvaus elgesio problemų. dažnai paaugliai, turėdami pykčio ir agresyvaus elgesio sunkumų, susiduria su bendravimo problemomis, taigi darbas grupėje sumažina izoliacijos jausmą, leidžia pajusti priklausomumo tam tik rai grupei pojūtį. dwivedi ir gupta (2000) ištyrė, kad grupinė interven cija yra efektyvesnė už individualią. goldsteinas ir kt. (1986) taip pat nustatė, kad siekiant išugdyti paaugliui socialinius įgūdžius (tai labai svarbu norint kontroliuoti agresyvų elgesį), geriausiai dirbti grupėje, kurioje per patirtį galėtų tuos įgūdžius perimti. taigi nors dirbant grupėje tarp dalyvių gali kilti konfliktų, mokymasis vienas iš kito, galėjimas įgūdžius taikyti per patirtį, bendraamžių palaikymas lems grupinės intervencijos efektyvumą. dovilė valiūnė 126 analizuojamų grupinių intervencijų trukmė buvo labai įvairi – nuo 5 iki 24 sesijų. bennetto ir gibbonso (2000) tyrimo rezultatai atskleidė, kad sesijos trukmė ir intensyvumas nesusiję su pykčio kontroliavimo programų efektyvumu. taigi galima sakyti, kad sesijų trukmė nėra pagrindinis veiksnys, lemiantis programų efektyvumą, nes ir trumpalaikės intervencijos gali būti efektyvios. analizuojami tyrimai patvirtina besharato ir pourbohloolo (2012) pastebėjimą, kad trūksta tyrimų, apimančių asmenybinius ir socialinius kintamuosius, kurie susiję su pykčio kontrole. šiuos kintamuosius svarbu tyrinėti, nes atsižvelgiant į tiriamųjų skirtumus intervencijos gali būti nevienodai efektyvios (howels ir kt., 2008). taigi aplinkos ir asmenybinių veiksnių tyrinėjimas padėtų parinkti efektyviausią pagalbos būdą atsižvelgiant į individualius skirtumus. be to, pykčio raiška, kontroliavimo būdai ir normos skirtingose kultūrose yra vis kitokios (burt ir kt., 2010; novin ir kt., 2011). taigi išsamesnis šios srities tyrinėjimas leistų teikti efektyvesnę pagalbą ir prisidėtų prie platesnio pykčio ir agresijos suvokimo skirtingose kultūrosee. analizuotuose tyrimuose dalyvavo daugiau berniukų nei mergaičių (williams, waymouth ir kt., 2004; gundersen, svartdal, 2006; wheatley, murrihy ir kt., 2009; karatas, gokcakan, 2009). tyrimai atskleidžia, kad berniukams dažniau nei mergaitėms pasireiškia tiesioginė agresijos forma ir fizinė agresija, bet mergaitės dažniau naudoja netiesioginę agresijos formą (amedahe, owusu-banahene, 2007). crickas (1998) analizavo mergaičių ir berniukų požiūrį į tam tikras agresijos formas. mergaičių požiūriu, netiesioginė agresija yra daug stipresnė ir labiau paveikianti nei tiesioginė agresija, o berniukai, priešingai, tiesioginę agresiją vertino kaip kenksmingesnę. tai rodytų, kad ir berniukai, ir mergaitės pasirenka tokias agresijos formas, kurios jiems atrodo veiksmingesnės ar sukeliančios daugiau žalos. šis pastebėjimas rodytų, kad berniukų ir mergaičių agresyvumas nesiskiria, skiriasi tik agresyvumo raiškos forma dėl skirtingo žalos supratimo. todėl svarbu nagrinėti atskirai intervencijos poveikį ir berniukams, ir mergaitėms. tyrimai turi tam tikrų metodologinių trūkumų. nors 8 iš 11 tyrimų buvo išskirtos ir eksperimentinė, ir kontrolinė grupės, iš šių aštuonių tyrimų šešiuose nebuvo analogiškos eksperimentinės ir kontrolinės grupės. stebima tendencija, kad tyrėjai į eksperimentinę grupę įtraukia daugiau respondentų nei į kontrolinę arba šių grupių sudėtis pagal lytį ir amžių neatitinka. anot kardelio (2002), norint palyginti dvi grupes reikia international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 127 2014, 15, 111–131 p. siekti šių grupių ekvivalentiškumo, nes antraip susiduriama su sunkumais interpretuojant rezultatus. taip pat ne visi tyrimai pateikia apskaičiuotus efekto dydžius. remiantis sistemine literatūros analize, galima daryti prielaidą, kad grupinės intervencijos, paremtos kognityvine-elgesio terapija, yra efektyvios mažinant daugelį su pykčio nekontroliavimu susijusių sunkumų vaikų ir paauglių populiacijoje. taikant intervenciją jaunesniems kaip 13 metų paaugliams, rekomenduojama į mokymus įtraukti ir tėvus (williams, waymouth ir kt., 2004; kisiel ir kt., 2006; jordans ir kt., 2010). intervencijos trukmė neturi didelio poveikio efektyvumui. svarbu, kad intervencija apimtų visus komponentus, kuriais grindžiama kognityvinė-elgesio teorija. vaikai ir paaugliai turi būti mokomi atpažinti savo mintis, emocijas, fiziologiją ir tai susieti su elgesio pasireiškimu. relaksacijų ir konfliktų sprendimų įgūdžių mokymas gali padėti pasiekti didesnį efektyvumą mažinant vaikų ir paauglių problemas, susijusias su negebėjimu kontroliuoti pyktį. nors po intervencijos ir buvo pokyčių, akivaizdus poreikis toliau atlikti tyrimus, kurie vertintų grupinių intervencijų, paremtų kognityvine-elgesio terapija, efektyvumą. tyrėjai turėtų įtraukti psichosocialinius kintamuosius, siekdami suprasti pykčio kontroliavimo mechanizmą. psichosocialinių veiksnių nagrinėjimas padėtų atskleisti, kokios sąlygos leidžia pasiekti didžiausią efektyvumą. taip pat tyrėjai turėtų atsižvelgti į ankstesnių tyrimų metodologinius trūkumus ir siekti jų išvengti. efektyvumo tyrimuose svarbu įtraukti kontrolinę grupę, parinkti tiriamųjų skaičių, kuris reprezentuotų populiaciją, lyginamos grupės tarpusavyje turėtų būti homogeniškos. atsižvelgiant į metodologinius reikalavimus, rezultatai bus patikimesni. taip pat rekomenduotina tyrimuose pateikti efekto dydį, kuris leistų įvertinti intervencijos poveikio stiprumą. išvados grupinės intervencijos, paremtos kognityvine-elgesio terapija, yra efektyvios padedant mažinti vaikų ir paauglių sunkumus, susijusius su pykčiu ir agresyviu elgesiu. trūksta tyrimų, nagrinėjančių aplinkos ir asmenybinių kintamųjų svarbą intervencijų efektyvumui. stinga tyrimų, nagrinėjančių intervencijos, grįstos kognityvine-elgesio terapija, poveikį mergaičių pykčiui ir agresyviam elgesiui. dovilė valiūnė 128 tyrimai turi metodologinių trūkumų, įvertinant intervencijos, grįstos kognityvine-elgesio terapija, efektyvumą (maža tiriamųjų imtis, nėra kontrolinės grupės, lyginamos heterogeniškos grupės, nėra pateikiamas efekto dydis). literatūra amedahe, f. k., owusu-banahene, n. o. 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(2009). aggression management training for youth in behavioural schools. youth studies australia, 28 (1), 29–36. wienclaw, r. (2009). crime and violence in schools. crime and violence in schools – research starters sociology, 1–6. williams, s., waymouth, m., lipman, e., mills, b., evans, p. (2004). evaluation of a children’s temper-taming program. the canadian journal of psychiatry, 49 (9), 607–612. zaborskis, a., vareikienė, i. (2008). patyčios mokykloje ir jų sąsajos su moksleivių sveikata bei gyvensena. medicina, 44 (3), 232–238. international journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 131 2014, 15, 111–131 p. effectiveness of the cognitive-behaviour therapy based interventions to children’s and adolescents’ anger and aggressive behaviour. systematic analysis d ovilė valiūnė vytautas magnus university, lithuania summary. problem. aggressive behaviour and anger is frequent among school-aged children (reyes at al., 2003). adolescents’ inability to control their anger may be largely related with many problems at school (humphrey, brooks, 2006; schwartz at al., 2006; feindler, engel, 2011). thus, adolescents’ aggression and anger remains important research problem aiming to prevent consequences caused by anger and aggression (fives at al., 2011). many investigations analyzing the effect of interventions to anger and aggression have been performed. the results of meta-analyzes have shown that interventions based on cognitive-behaviour therapy are effective but most of the investigations did not analyze separately children’s and adolescents’ population; the difference between the measures of the effect of different interventions counted in various meta-analyzes was not researched; most summarized investigations are often older than fifteen years and most of them tend to have various evaluation and methodological shortcomings (beck, fernandedez, 1998, bennet at al., 2000; sukhodolsky, 2004; saini, 2009, feindler, engel, 2011). thus, a need to perform systematic analysis of the literature, encompassing the effectiveness of the cognitivebehaviour therapy based interventions, including most recent investigations, arises. the aim of the research is to carry out systematic analysis of the literature describing the investigations of the cognitive-behaviour therapy based interventions’ influence on children’s and adolescents’ anger and aggressive behaviour. the method applied in the research is systematic analysis of the literature. the results revealed that in most of the cases group interventions based on cognitive-behaviour therapy, disregarding their length, were effective in altering children’s and adolescents’ anger and aggressive behaviour sub-scales’ results. nevertheless, some controversial results and methodological shortcomings were observed. in addition, the need to analyze environmental and personal variables for intervention effectiveness must be included. keywords: intervention, cognitive-behaviour therapy, effectiveness, anger, aggressive behaviour. gauta: 2014-09-04 priimta: 2014-10-27 psichologijos_zurnalas_21.indd does politic al ac tivism induce subjec tive wellbeing: e vidence from ess data ligita šarkutė1 vytautas magnus university, lithuania abstract. background. there are quite a few studies about the connection between political activism and subjective wellbeing. the main problem is that most of such research has been done using student samples but not all the population. purpose. the purpose of this study was to analyse the connection between political activism and subjective wellbeing using representative sample of the european population. the main research question is whether political activism is positively related to subjective wellbeing. methods and data. this article is based on european social survey data of the 6th round, mainly on the data of the rotating module “personal and social wellbeing” and core modules “media and social trust” and “politics”. interviews were carried out with 54 673 respondents aged 15 and over in 29 european countries. the method of statistical data analysis was the correlation analysis of measures of political activism and measures of subjective wellbeing (pearson’s r coefficient). results. results indicated statistically significant correlations between the indicators of political activism and dimensions of subjective wellbeing. conclusions. political activism induces subjective wellbeing and is a prerequisite to feeling good. all the indicators of subjective wellbeing correlated with at least two indicators of political activism. these correlations were mainly positive, with a few exceptions of unconventional political activism. the strongest positive and statistically significant correlations between the indicators of political activism are with items of community wellbeing and supportive relationships. keywords: political participation, personal wellbeing, social wellbeing, happiness, europe. international journal of psychology: biopsychosocial approach 2017 / 21 issn 1941-7233 (print), issn 2345-024x (online) https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.21.2 scientific publications 1 address for correspondence: ligita šarkutė, vytautas magnus university, faculty of political science and diplomacy, department of public administration. v. putvinskio g. 23, lt-44243, kaunas, lithuania. e-mail: ligita.sarkute@vdu.lt https://doi.org/10.7220/2345-024x.21.2 mailto:ligita.sarkute@vdu.lt 30 ligita šarkutė introduc tion even aristotle considered political participation as the defining feature of citizenship, referring to the human being as, first of all, ‘a political animal’. aristotle defined a citizen as a person who has the right (exousia) to participate in deliberative or judicial office – in athens, citizens had the right to attend the assembly, the council, and other bodies, or to sit on juries (miller, 2017, summer). furthermore, aristotle’s views on the connection between the well-being of the political community and that of the citizens who make it up presuppose that citizens must actively participate in politics if they are to be happy and virtuous (clayton, 2004). this logic would further suggest that the scope of political engagement and activism might be positively related to their well-being (duvall and dotson, 1998). the idea of interrelatedness between political participation and the wellbeing of a community served as the stimulus to examine how the subjective wellbeing is related to political activism on an individual level. political participation and political activism were widely analysed by milbrath (1965), verba and nie (1972), verba, nie and kim (1978), barnes et al. (1979), putnam (1993), brady (1998), van deth (2014), norris (2002; 2003; 2007; 2011). recently the modes of participation in digital media (norris, 2001; bennett and segerberg, 2013; theocharis, 2015) and creative participation (van deth, 2010) have been getting a lot of attention from researchers. subjective wellbeing is also a rather popular topic among scholars from the fields of psychology, sociology and economics both at theoretical (diener, 1984; diener, 1994; andrews and robinson, 1991; chamberlain, 1988; kahneman and krueger, 2006; schimmack, 2008) and empirical (emmons, 1986; andrews, 1991; chamberlain and zika, 1992; vittersø et al., 2010) level. studies are planned according to different philosophical approaches to wellbeing – the hedonic approach, which emphasizes positive feelings (kahneman et al., 1999), the eudaimonic approach, which emphasizes positive functioning (sen, 1996), or a combination of both (ryan and deci, 2001; kashdan et al., 2008). still, there is a shortage of research about the connection between wellbeing and political activism. as barker and martin (2011, p. 9) have noticed, even though civic participation can have a positive impact on 31 2017, 21, 29–56 p.does political activism induce subjective wellbeing: evidence from ess data happiness (which is one of the components of wellbeing) through the process of involvement, the evidence supporting these assumptions is quite limited and there have been few relevant studies conducted on this subject. stutzer and frey (2006) found a link between political participation and subjective wellbeing while studying the swiss voting behaviour. according to their study, citizens in cantons with higher opportunities for participation report significantly greater levels of wellbeing. blais and gélineau (2007) found that voting in an election increases individual satisfaction levels – these results were based on the data collected from a survey of canadian citizens. a study carried out by weitzshapiro and winters (2008) presents evidence that people who vote in south american presidential elections report greater life satisfaction than those who do not. a more extensive analysis concentrating specifically on the connection between political activism and hedonic, eudaimonic and social well-being was carried out by klar and kasser (2009): two online surveys using a sample of college students and a national sample of activists demonstrated that several indicators of activism were positively associated with measures of subjective wellbeing. with the help of the sample of college students, klar and kasser (2009, p. 755) also explored the possible causal role of activism by measuring wellbeing after the subjects either engaged in a brief activist behaviour, a brief nonactivist behaviour, or no behaviour and found out that the subjects who did the brief activist behaviour reported significantly higher levels of subjective vitality than the subjects who engaged in the non-activist behaviour. nevertheless, the aforementioned studies have two serious limitations reported by the authors themselves – none of the samples were truly representative and the possibility remains that the use of e-mail recruitment and online surveys biased the samples as well. a sample of college students was also employed in a study by wraylake et al. (2016) where the link between civic engagement and wellbeing was analysed from the perspective of the self-determination theory, separately examining helping, environmental behaviour, volunteering and charitable donations. according to this theory, intrinsic pursuits – including community-oriented behaviours – lead to higher wellbeing because they fulfil basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness (deci and ryan, 2000, cit. wray-lake et al., 2016). using 32 ligita šarkutė daily dairy design, wray-lake et al. (2016) demonstrated that volunteering, environmental behaviour and helping others positively predicted wellbeing both on daily level and on aggregated level across days, but charitable donations linked to wellbeing only at average aggregated level across days. wray-lake et al. (2016) also recommend that, in order to better understand the connection between wellbeing and civic engagement, the latter should be disaggregated into specific behaviours. because there are very few studies about the connection between political activism and subjective wellbeing, their shortage justifies the relevance of this article. the main problem is that most similar research has been done using student samples but not all the population. additionally, these studies were carried out mainly in national contexts and therefore without a comparative dimension. the main aim of this article is to analyse the connection between political activism and subjective wellbeing by utilising a representative sample of the european population. the fact that this kind of analysis, which uses a representative sample, has never been done before, contributes to the novelty of the article. based on the presupposition that political participation might increase happiness via the establishment and development of relationships, and because forms of participation that involve continuous interaction on matters of mutual interest can increase individual satisfaction (barker and martin, 2011, p. 9), the main research question is whether political activism is positively related to subjective wellbeing. this question is further analysed using the data from the 6th round of the european social survey. this data is available without restrictions for non-profit purposes via http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org. in accordance with data protection regulations in the participating countries, only anonymous data is available to users. concept of political activism the definition of political activism should be derived from the concept of political participation – both of these terms are sometimes used as synonyms. however, political activism has wider meaning than political participation. according to brady (1999, p. 737, cit. thomassen, 2011, p. 194) almost all definitions of political participation include four basic concepts: activities or actions, ordinary citizens, politics and influence. a typical definition of political participation is proposed by verba, nie and kim (1978, p. 46), who recognize it as the “activities by private citizens http://www.eu-ropeansocialsurvey.org http://www.eu-ropeansocialsurvey.org http://www.eu-ropeansocialsurvey.org 33 2017, 21, 29–56 p.does political activism induce subjective wellbeing: evidence from ess data that are more or less directly aimed at influencing the selection of governmental personnel and/or the actions they take”. those actions refer to political actions, not to political attitudes. furthermore, these actions should address political institutions or certain government policies and actions. political participation always refers to actions of ordinary citizens and not of politicians or government officials. as for the element of influence, according to brady (1999, p. 737–738), it does not include actions such as getting information about politics by reading a newspaper or watching television or being contacted by others with an appeal to get involved in political activity, because these actions are not attempts to influence politics. political participation thus refers simply to activity that is intended to influence government actions – either directly, by affecting the making or implementation of public policy, or indirectly, by influencing the selection of people who make those policies (kaase, 2012). in “political action”, barnes et al. (1979) discuss different political actions available to citizens and introduce the terms of conventional and unconventional political participation. conventional political participation refers to mainstream, everyday political participation and includes traditional and expected modes of political participation, such as voting, donating to a political campaign or volunteering for a campaign and similar political actions. unconventional political participation refers to activities that are sometimes considered to be inappropriate but are not illegal – e.g. boycotts, demonstrations and protests. according to barnes et al. (1979, cit. matonyte, 2012), the level of participation can be seen as a continuum – at one extreme are people who have no interest in politics at all (who do not vote, petition, or protest, do not read newspapers and never volunteer) and at the other extreme are active citizens (who are interested in politics, vote, are involved in political parties, trade unions, nongovernmental organisations and similar associations). between these two extremes, most citizens participate through conventional electoral events and more or less understand political issues and occasionally try to have an impact on them. returning to the definition of political activism, this article follows the concept developed by norris (2002; 2003; 2007; 2011). norris (2011) defines political activism as the ways in which citizens participate, the processes that lead them to do so, and the consequences of these acts. political activism, according to norris (2011), consists of voting in 34 ligita šarkutė elections, conventional activism and contentious politics. conventional activism includes such non-electoral activities as contacting public officials, working in party or action group and being a member of a political party. contentious politics means working in other organisations (not in political parties) and associations that mainly represent interests of different kinds, signing a petition, participating in lawful demonstrations, boycotting certain products or wearing campaign badges or stickers. the last component of political activism is similar to unconventional political participation. voting in elections and actions of conventional political participation are conceived as citizen-oriented repertoires, and actions of unconventional political participation are seen as cause-oriented repertoires (norris, 2003). in this article, the concept of political activism also includes interest in politics. the argument is that political interest is a prerequisite and motivational factor of political activism (norris, 2007) and it also requires some effort. as noted by thomassen (2011, p. 185), in order to reach their political goals, post-materialists are bound to be strongly interested in politics. concept of subjective wellbeing the concept of subjective wellbeing originates from the works of diener (1984; 1994; 2000) and his colleagues (1985; 1992; 1995). in his highly influential psychological bulletin article “subjective well-being”, diener (1984) describes subjective wellbeing as people’s longer-term levels of pleasant affect, lack of unpleasant affect and life satisfaction. affect includes facial, physiological, motivational, behavioural and cognitive components (diener, 1994). people’s subjective wellbeing has usually been conceptualised in terms of people’s emotional responses (good or bad feelings) and their cognitive or evaluative responses such as satisfaction (kahneman et al, 1999; diener, 1984; veenhoven, 2000, cit. european social survey, 2013, p. 2). it is also stated that measuring negative reactions such as depression or anxiety give an incomplete picture of people’s wellbeing so it is necessary to measure life satisfaction and positive emotions as well (diener, 1994). research on wellbeing can be divided into two general groups that are based on its type: hedonic wellbeing and eudaimonic wellbeing. the hedonic viewpoint mainly focuses on positive feelings and is frequently equated with happiness and greater life satisfaction (ryan and deci, 2001, 35 2017, 21, 29–56 p.does political activism induce subjective wellbeing: evidence from ess data p. 161). eudaimonic viewpoint is mostly concerned with psychological wellbeing, which can be described in terms of a fully functioning person and usually is operationalized as happiness and meaningfulness or as a set of wellness variables such as self-actualization and vitality (ryan and deci, 2001, p. 161). the eudaimonic approach typically includes concepts such as autonomy or self-determination, interest and engagement, positive relationships, and a sense of meaning, direction or purpose in life (european social survey, 2013, p. 2). the six widely used dimensions of wellbeing, derived from developmental psychology and psychodynamic theory, were proposed by ryff (1989). these dimensions comprise autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations, purpose in life and self-acceptance. deci and ryan (2000, cit. european social survey, 2013, p. 2), whose findings were based on humanistic approach and the perspective of psychological ‘needs’, emphasised such dimensions of wellbeing as autonomy, competence and relatedness. scheier and carver (2003) demonstrated that optimism is also important for successful functioning and subjective wellbeing. seligman’s (2002, cit. european social survey, 2013, p. 2) core concepts of pleasure engagement and meaning combined hedonic wellbeing with key aspects of aristotle’s theory of eudaimonia (‘happiness’, ‘flourishing’) and csikszentmihalyi’s (1988, cit. european social survey, 2013, p. 2) work on ‘flow’. the level of subjective wellbeing is identified using the indicators of not only personal, but also social wellbeing as well. the corner-stone of social wellbeing is a theory of social capital suggested by putnam (2000) which demonstrates the importance of social connections to subjective wellbeing. researchers of social capital tend to usually employ objective measures of social connectedness, showing that average levels are linked to happiness and satisfaction. halpern (2010) describes social capital as ‘the hidden wealth of nations’. putnam (2000) identified two types of social capital: bonding (meaning ‘thick’ ties to individuals you know well) and bridging (meaning ‘thin’ ties to individuals and organizations with whom you can come into contact and who are total strangers) social capital. the way an individual relates to others and to their society is a key aspect of their subjective wellbeing (european social survey, 2013, p. 5). but the centrality of social support for good interpersonal relationships is not the only aspect important to subjective wellbeing: supporting others is also essential (brown et al., 1988, cit. european social survey, 2013, p. 5). 36 ligita šarkutė me thods this article is based on the data from the 6th round of european social survey (ess). ess is an academically driven cross-national survey which has been conducted across europe every two years since its establishment in 2001. the survey measures the attitudes, beliefs and behavior patterns of diverse populations in more than thirty nations (http://www. europeansocialsurvey.org/about/). in this article, the data of the rotating module “personal and social wellbeing” and the core modules “media and social trust” and “politics” is analysed. data collection method and procedure ess is a multi-country survey based on face-to-face interviews which are conducted with newly selected, cross-sectional samples. in the 6th round, ess covered 29 countries: albania, belgium, bulgaria, cyprus, czech republic, denmark, estonia, finland, france, germany, hungary, iceland, ireland, israel, italy, kosovo, lithuania, netherlands, norway, poland, portugal, russian federation, slovakia, slovenia, spain, sweden, switzerland, ukraine and united kingdom. the survey involved strict random probability sampling and a minimum target response rate of 70 % (ess round 6: european social survey, 2016, p. 8). the average duration of the interviews was one hour. the field work period is august 2012 –december 2013. participants interviews were carried out with 54  673 respondents. respondents of the ess were persons aged 15 and over, residents within private households, regardless of their nationality, citizenship, language or legal status, in the countries presented in the previous paragraph. the composition of the sample by gender: males – 45.6 %, females – 54.4 %. the composition of the sample by age: 15–29 years – 19.6 %; 30–39 years – 15.6 %; 40–49 years – 16.9 %; 50–59 years – 17.1 %; 60–69 years – 15.8 %; 70 years and over – 15.0 %. measures of political activism the concept of political activism was measured via the dimensions of political interest and political participation, which are a part of the http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/about/ http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/about/ 37 2017, 21, 29–56 p.does political activism induce subjective wellbeing: evidence from ess data core modules of the ess. the measurement of political interest is based on people’s self-rating of their political interest. according to thomassen (2011, p. 193) it is a straightforward, well tested and economic way of assessing political interest (b1 in table 1). political participation covers items of both conventional and unconventional participation. conventional political participation includes electoral activity, e.g. voting in elections (b1 in table 1), and non-electoral actions, such as contacting politicians or government officials (b11) and working in a political party or action group (b12). unconventional political participation encompasses such actions as working in other organisations (not political parties) and associations (b13), signing a petition (b15) or boycotting certain products (b17), and such campaign activities as wearing or displaying campaign badge or sticker (b14) and taking part in lawful demonstrations (b16). respondents of ess were asked how often they have been involved in the aforementioned activities during the last twelve months and if they had voted in the last national election (see table 1). moreover, the index of political activism was computed according to the respondents’ answers to questions b1–b17. table 1. measures of political activism variables (ess question number in brackets) values and categories how interested in politics (b1) 1=very interested, 2=quite interested, 3=hardly interested, 4=not at all interested voted in the last national election (b9) 1=yes, 2=no, 3=not eligible to vote contacted a politician or government official (b11); worked in a political party or action group (b12); worked in another organisation or association (b13); wore or displayed a campaign badge/sticker (b14); signed a petition (b15); took part in a lawful public demonstration (b16); boycotted certain products (b17): last 12 months 1=yes, 2=no index of political activism – computed from b1–b17: each item of political activism counted as 1 if present (min=0, max=9; how interested in politics (b1) was also recoded as follows: values 1 and 2 mean that interest in politics is present, values 3 and 4 mean that interest in politics is not present). 0 to 9 source: ess round 6: european social survey (2016a). 38 ligita šarkutė measures of subjective wellbeing following the existing studies (e.g. vittersø, et al., 2010) which suggest that wellbeing is a multidimensional concept, this concept is accurately deconstructed in the ess by asking far more questions than just one regarding how happy the respondents are. the concept of subjective wellbeing was measured via the dimensions of evaluative wellbeing, emotional wellbeing, functioning, vitality, community wellbeing and supportive relationships (jeffrey et al., 2015), which are a part of the ess rotating module “personal and social wellbeing” questionnaire. additionally, a few questions from the core modules are included in the measuring process. evaluative wellbeing is measured via the concepts of satisfaction with life (b20 in table 2) and overall happiness (c1). feeling satisfied and/ or happy with one’s life overall are general evaluative measures of experienced wellbeing (european social survey, 2013, p. 25). emotional wellbeing is measured via the concept of emotions because positive and negative emotions are a core part of experienced wellbeing (european social survey, 2013, p. 23) and recent emotions are assessed (from the past week, see table 2). the concept of emotions is operationalised using three sub-concepts of calmness, anxiety and depression. calmness (d15 in table 2) is a low arousal aspect of positive mood, characterised by the absence of agitation or excitement, anxiety (d14) is a negative mood condition distinct from depression and characterised by fear and concern, depression (d5, d8, d10, d11) is a well-established way of measuring wellbeing in terms of mental health (european social survey, 2013, p. 23–25). all these three sub-concepts of emotions are consistent with the ces-d scale – a short self-report scale designed to measure depressive symptomatology in the general population (radloff, 1977). functioning is measured via the concepts of resilience, meaning and purpose, autonomy, engagement, competence, self-esteem and optimism. resilience generally refers to positive adaptation in the context of risk or adversity and this concept is operationalised using two subconcepts of stress resistance (d30 in table 2) and bouncing back (d19). stress resistance describes functioning well during a time of significant adversity and bouncing back refers to returning to, and the speed of 39 2017, 21, 29–56 p.does political activism induce subjective wellbeing: evidence from ess data the return to, a previous level of good functioning following difficult times or severely disturbing experiences (european social survey, 2013, p. 11–12). meaning and purpose refers to people’s concerns with the purpose, predictability, and comprehensibility of each of their own lives and this concept is operationalised using two sub-concepts of meaning and purpose in daily activities (d23) and orientation to the future (d35). the former sub-concept examines whether or not people find that what they do in their everyday lives is worthwhile and how they cope with the demands of their environments. the latter, orientation to the future, shows to what extent people have a sense of direction in their lives and are able to orient their daily activities and life plans to the future (european social survey, 2013, p. 12–13). autonomy (d16) relates to shaping one’s life or activities and to the freedom from control of other people (european social survey, 2013, p. 14). engagement is intended to capture trait emotions that facilitate active involvement and motivate individuals to pursue complex life goals and to develop their potential. engagement is measured via items of engagement during everyday life (d31–33) such as interest, absorption and enthusiasm using the scales adapted from the basic emotions trait test (european social survey, 2013, p. 15). competence refers to a sense of general capability, as well as cognitive capability, and this concept is operationalised using three sub-concepts of opportunity to demonstrate competence (d17), a sense of accomplishment (d18) and a sense of competence (d25). opportunity to demonstrate competence focuses on the occasions to demonstrate personal strengths and abilities during daily activities, a sense of accomplishment focuses on experiencing a sense of accomplishment from daily activities and a sense of competence is a measure of ‘pure’ competence (european social survey, 2013, p. 16–18). self esteem refers to feelings and attitudes towards oneself; it encompasses liking or feeling good about oneself and being confident. the concept of self-esteem is measured via self-acceptance (d3, d4), which focuses on the internally oriented aspect of self-esteem, liking or feeling good about oneself (european social survey, 2013, p. 22). optimism refers to positive feelings or evaluations about the future, both long and short term, and it has both an emotion element (hopefulness) and a cognitive element (positive expectation) (european social survey, 2013, 40 ligita šarkutė p. 21). the concept of optimism is measured via optimism about personal future (d2), which refers to positive evaluations about one’s personal future. vitality dimension of wellbeing is measured via the concept of vitality, which refers to feeling alive and alert and also the lack of tiredness and chronic pain. this concept is operationalised using the sub-concept of feeling full of energy (d13 in table 2) and a few items from the depression scale based on ces-d inventory (d6, d7, d12). a sub-concept of feeling full of energy focuses on the extent to which people feel like they have a lot of energy, and this is assessed in the recent period. furthermore, the quality of sleep and the ability to get going and effortfulness are measured in order to identify the respondents’ vitality. community wellbeing is measured via the concept of thin relationships as described by putnam (2000). the measures of thin social relationships capture the quality of bridging social capital – the relationships with individuals beyond those closest to you, the ones who are from a wider circle of other friends and relatives, work colleagues, acquaintances and others (european social survey, 2013, p. 28). the concept of thin relationships is operationalised using three sub-concepts of perception of local support (d21 in table 2), sense of local belonging (d27), and social trust (a3–a5). perception of local support measures perceptions of how much the people in the respondent’s local area help each other, including all types of support; sense of local belonging measures the sense of belonging to people in the local area in terms of attachment and identification; social trust measures the extent to which the respondents expect fairness from other people and how they trust others (european social survey, 2013, p. 28–30). supportive relationships are measured via the concept of thick relationships as proposed by putnam (2000). the measures of thick social relationships capture the quality of bonding social capital – the relationships with individuals you know well and the people closest to you, i.e. close family and friends (european social survey, 2013, p. 26). the concept of thick relationships is operationalised using four sub-concepts of reciprocity in social exchange (d36 in table 2), feeling appreciated (d29), sources of support (c3) and loneliness (d9). reciprocity in social exchange is a balance between giving and taking in relevant 41 2017, 21, 29–56 p.does political activism induce subjective wellbeing: evidence from ess data social relationships and is a universal principle guaranteeing stability and justice of social exchange; feeling appreciated measures the extent to which people feel they are valued, recognised, respected and acknowledged by others close to them; sources of support demonstrate the degree to which people feel they have others who support them emotionally; loneliness is identified using one item from the basic emotions trait test: the scale of depression measures feelings of loneliness and can therefore be seen as measuring a key element of negative affect related to thick relationships (european social survey, 2013, p. 26–27). table 2. measures of subjective wellbeing variables (ess question number in brackets) values and categories evaluative wellbeing how satisfied with life as a whole (b20) 0 to 10, where 0=extremely dissatisfied, 10=extremely satisfied how happy you are (c1) 0 to 10, where 0=extremely unhappy, 10=extremely happy emotional wellbeing felt sad (d11); felt depressed (d5); enjoyed life (d10); were happy (d8); felt anxious (d14); felt calm and peaceful (d15): how often in the past week 1=none or almost none of the time, 2=some of the time, 3=most of the time, 4=all or almost all of the time functioning free to decide how to live my life (d16); little chance to show how capable i am (d17); feel accomplishment from what i do (d18); feel what i do in life is valuable and worthwhile (d23); always optimistic about my future (d2); there are lots of things i am good at (d25), in general feel very positive about myself (d3); at times feel as if i am a failure (d4); when things go wrong in my life it takes a long time to get back to normal (d19) 1=agree strongly, 2=agree, 3=neither agree nor disagree, 4=disagree, 5=disagree strongly interested in what you are doing (d31); absorbed in what you are doing (d32); enthusiastic about what you are doing (d33): how much of the time 0 to 10, where 0=none of the time, 10=all of the time 42 ligita šarkutė have a sense of direction in your life (d35) 0 to 10, where 0=not at all, 10=completely deal with important problems in life (d30) 0 to 10, where 0=extremely difficult, 10=extremely easy vitality felt everything was done as an effort (d6); sleep was restless (d7); could not get going (d12); had a lot of energy (d13): how often in the past week 1=none or almost none of the time, 2=some of the time, 3=most of the time, 4=all or almost all of the time. community wellbeing most people can be trusted or you can’t be too careful (a3) 0 to 10, where 0=you can’t be too careful, 10=can be trusted most people try to take advantage of you, or try to be fair (a4) 0 to 10, where 0= most people would try to take advantage, 10= most people would try to be fair most of the time people are helpful or mostly looking out for themselves (a5) 0 to 10, where 0= people mostly look out for themselves, 10= people mostly try to be helpful feel people in local area help one another (d21) 0 to 7, where 0= not at all, 7= a great deal feel close to the people in local area (d27) 1=agree strongly, 2=agree, 3=neither agree nor disagree, 4=disagree, 5=disagree strongly supportive relationships how many people with whom you can discuss intimate and personal matters (c3) 0=0, 1=1, 2=2, 3=3, 4=4–6, 5=7–9, 6=10 or more feel appreciated by people you are close to (d29) 0 to 10, where 0=not at all, 10=completely receive help and support from people you are close to (d36) 0 to 6, where 0=not at all, 6=completely felt lonely, how often in the past week (d9) 1=none or almost none of the time, 2=some of the time., 3=most of the time, 4=all or almost all of the time source: ess round 6: european social survey (2016a). data analysed in this article includes aspects both of hedonic (d5– d8, d10–d15) and eudaimonic (personal level: d2–d4, d16–d19, d23, table 2 cont. 43 2017, 21, 29–56 p.does political activism induce subjective wellbeing: evidence from ess data d25, d30–d33, d35; social level: a3–a5, d9, d21, d27, d29, d36, c3) wellbeing and also overall evaluation of subjective wellbeing (b20, c1). methods of statistical analysis the data analysis method employed in the research is statistical analysis. correlation analysis of the measures of political activism and the measures of subjective wellbeing was carried out, calculating pearson correlation coefficient, also referred to as the pearson’s r. results data shows that almost all correlations between items of political activism and components of evaluative dimension of wellbeing are statistically significant (see table 3). the one exception is voting in elections. both the satisfaction with life and overall happiness are positively related2 to dimensions of political activism. though these correlations are statistically significant, they are still very weak. the strongest correlations are between both aspects of evaluative wellbeing and working in other organisations (not in political parties) or associations. the vast majority of correlations between the sub-dimensions of emotional wellbeing and the indicators of political activism are statistically significant and, with one exception, positive (see table 3). voting in elections is not related to two items from the depression scale – enjoying life and being happy in the past week – and to anxiety. working in political parties or action groups is not connected to being sad in the past week, anxiety and calmness. calmness also has no relation to contacting politicians or government officials, wearing or displaying campaign badges or stickers and boycotting products. there are no correlations between being happy in the past week and wearing or displaying campaign badges or stickers and also participating in lawful demonstrations. the strongest correlation, which is negative, is between feeling sad and the interest in politics. 2 the minus sign can mislead here, because the lower values of the items of political activism (except the overall index of political activism) mean higher engagement in political activities – for more information see table 1. this comment also applies to table 4 and table 5. 44 ligita šarkutė table 3. correlation between evaluative and emotional dimensions of wellbeing and indicators of political activism (pearson’s r) dimensions of wellbeing and ess survey items indicators of political activism in te re st ed in p ol iti cs vo te d in e le ct io n co nt ac te d a po lit ic ia n or g ov er nm en t o ffi ci al w or ke d in a p ol iti ca l pa rt y or a ct io n gr ou p w or ke d in a no th er o rg ani za tio n or a ss oc ia tio n w or e or d is pl ay ed a ca m pa ig n ba dg e/ st ic ke r si gn ed a p et iti on to ok p ar t i n a la w fu l de m on st ra tio n bo yc ot te d pr od uc ts in de x of p ol iti ca l ac tiv is m evaluative dimension of wellbeing how satisfied with life as a whole -.080** -.006 -.021** -.014** -.116** -.037** -.075** -.015** -.069** .108** how happy you are -.069** -.008 -.035** -.021** -.108** -.035** -.083** -.031** -.075** .113** emotional dimension of wellbeing felt sad, how often in the past week .078** .032** .031** .003 .075** .012** .065** -.012* .060** -.090** felt depressed, how often in the past week .079** .036** .027** .012* .067** .019** .060** .012** .044** -.088** enjoyed life, how often in the past week -.049** .007 -.019** -.022** -.048** -.019** -.030** -.013** -.039** .055** were happy, how often in the past week -.012** .003 -.012* -.012** -.043** -.004 -.017** -.002 -.012* .029** felt anxious, how often in the past week .054** -.001 .016** .007 .099** .025** .062** .014** .055** -.079** felt calm and peaceful, how often in the past week -.057** -.019** -.001 -.004 -.052** .001 .013** .015** -.005 .030** *p< .05; ** p< .01. source ess round 6: european social survey round 6 data (2012). weighted data: design weight and population size weight are used. 45 2017, 21, 29–56 p.does political activism induce subjective wellbeing: evidence from ess data there are only a few correlations between political activism and functioning dimension of wellbeing that are not statistically significant. wearing campaign badges or stickers is not related to autonomy, engagement during everyday life, orientation to future and stress resistance (see table 4). signing a petition has no relation to optimism about personal future and both positive and negative aspects of self-acceptance. correlations between boycotting products and autonomy, as well as optimism about personal future and the positive aspect of self-acceptance, are not statistically significant too. participation in lawful demonstrations is not related to optimism about personal future and contacting politicians or government officials is not related to autonomy. the strongest correlations in the group of functioning items exist with interest in politics. table 4. correlation between functioning dimension of wellbeing and indicators of political activism (pearson’s r) dimensions of wellbeing and ess survey items indicators of political activism in te re st ed in p ol iti cs vo te d in e le ct io n co nt ac te d po lit ic ia n or g ov er nm en t o ffi ci al w or ke d in a p ol iti ca l p ar ty o r ac tio n gr ou p w or ke d in a no th er o rg an iza tio n or a ss oc ia tio n w or e or d is pl ay ed a c am pa ig n ba dg e/ st ic ke r si gn ed a p et iti on to ok p ar t i n a la w fu l de m on st ra tio n bo yc ot te d pr od uc ts in de x of p ol iti ca l a ct iv is m free to decide how to live my life .056** .034** .003 .012* .010* .001 -.016** -.020** -.008 -.019** little chance to show how capable i am -.124** -.047** -.058** -.037** -.118** -.031** -.093** -.027** -.080** .143** feel accomplishment from what i do .073** .051** .040** .030** .081** .021** .042** .013** .056** -.094** interested in what you are doing, how much of the time -.117** -.058** -.055** -.036** -.093** -.022** -.051** -.023** -.079** .123** 46 ligita šarkutė absorbed in what you are doing, how much of the time -.093** -.063** -.046** -.037** -.064** -.004 -.023** -.031** -.038** .091** enthusiastic about what you are doing, how much of the time -.068** -.045** -.043** -.034** -.057** -.015** -.018** -.018** -.015** .071** feel what i do in life is valuable and worthwhile .091** .089** .068** .049** .078** .032** .058** .039** .061** -.125** have a sense of direction in your life -.108** -.054** -.036** -.031** -.089** -.009 -.040** -.009* -.059** .103** always optimistic about my future .065** -.028** .024** .031** .062** .018** -.002 .003 -.005 -.038** there are lots of things i am good at .094** .034** .065** .039** .075** .027** .089** .056** .098** -.131** in general feel very positive about myself .050** -.013** .043** .042** .049** .018** -.008 .018** -.003 -.042** at times feel as if i am a failure -.052** -.038** -.014** -.019** -.021** .010* -.006 -.013** -.016** .044** when things go wrong in my life it takes a long time to get back to normal -.098** -.018** -.050** -.021** -.089** -.029** -.085** -.032** -.072** .116** deal with important problems in life -.105** -.041** -.034** -.035** -.045** -.002 -.027** .021** -.025** .076** *p< .05; ** p< .01. source ess round 6: european social survey round 6 data (2012). weighted data: design weight and population size weight are used. table 4 cont. 47 2017, 21, 29–56 p.does political activism induce subjective wellbeing: evidence from ess data one sub-dimension of the vitality dimension of wellbeing is exceptional: the quality of sleep in the past week (see table 5). this item, which is one of the components of the stress measuring scale, has only two statistically significant correlations, which are negative, with indicators of political activism. these indicators are interest in politics and working in other organisations (not in political parties) and associations. another two statistically insignificant correlations are between effortlessness and contacting politicians or government officials and between feeling full of energy and signing a petition. the strongest correlation, which is negative, is between one item from the depression measuring scale – could not get going – and interest in politics. in the dimension of community wellbeing, only a few correlations with indicators of political activism are statistically insignificant (see table 5). one item from the group of social trust variables – trust in people’s helpfulness – is not related to wearing campaign badges or stickers and participating in lawful demonstrations. there also are no statistically significant correlations between the sense of local belonging and signing a petition or boycotting products. the strongest correlation, which is positive, is between the trust in other people and the interest in politics, working in other organisations (not in political parties) and associations, signing a petition. the vast majority of correlations between the sub-dimensions of supportive relationships’ dimension of wellbeing and the indicators of political activism are statistically significant (see table 5). only reciprocity in social exchange is not related to contacting politicians or government officials, wearing campaign badges or stickers and participating in lawful demonstrations. the last item is also not related to loneliness. the strongest statistically significant correlations, which are positive ones, exist mainly between sources of support (number of persons with whom you can discuss intimate and personal matters) and almost all items of political activism. the strongest positive statistically significant correlations within the index of political activism, which is an aggregated measure of all items of political activism, are with sub-dimensions of social wellbeing – both the community wellbeing and supportive relationships. these sub-dimensions are trust in other people and sources of support. 48 ligita šarkutė table 5. correlation between vitality, community wellbeing and suppor tive relationships’ dimensions of wellbeing and indicators of political activism (pearson’s r) dimensions of wellbeing and ess survey items indicators of political activism in te re st ed in p ol iti cs vo te d in a n el ec tio n co nt ac te d a po lit ic ia n or go ve rn m en t o ffi ci al w or ke d in a p ol iti ca l p ar ty or a ct io n gr ou p w or ke d in a no th er o rg an i za tio n or a ss oc ia tio n w or e or d is pl ay ed a c am pa ig n ba dg e/ st ic ke r si gn ed a p et iti on to ok p ar t i n a la w fu l de m on st ra tio n bo yc ot te d pr od uc ts in de x of p ol iti ca l a ct iv is m vitality dimension of wellbeing felt everything did as effort, how often in the past week .048** .039** .006 .015** .044** .024** .035** .017** .030** -.063** sleep was restless, how often in the past week .019** -.009 -.009 -.001 .030** -.001 -.007 -.005 -.005 -.009 could not get going, how often in the past week .108** .051** .044** .027** .082** .012** .071** .018** .080** -.117** had a lot of energy, how often in the past week -.041** .020** -.025** -.029** -.047** -.010* .004 .015** -.019** .031** community wellbeing dimension of wellbeing most people can be trusted or you can’t be too careful -.132** -.057** -.070** -.051** -.126** -.064** -.128** -.060** -.090** .177** most people try to take advantage of you, or try to be fair -.104** -.027** -.028** -.018** -.096** -.016** -.094** -.022** -.073** .119** 49 2017, 21, 29–56 p.does political activism induce subjective wellbeing: evidence from ess data most of the time people are helpful or mostly looking out for themselves -.059** -.022** -.021** -.011* -.066** -.002 -.060** .004 -.035** .071** feel people in local area help one another -.025** -.040** -.006 -.015** -.069** .004 -.032** -.009** -.027** .057** feel close to the people in local area .018** .094** .027** .048** .063** .011* .006 .026** -.001 -.065** supportive relationships dimension of wellbeing how many people with whom you can discuss intimate and personal matters -.136** .006** -.060** -.053** -.161** -.062** -.157** -.083** -.147** .193** feel appreciated by people you are close to -.088** -.051** -.029** -.026** -.077** -.013** -.059** -.019** -.082** .108** receive help and support from people you are close to -.033** -.041** .005 .011* -.044** .002 -.043** .001 -.051** .054** felt lonely, how often in the past week .084** .054** .030** .014** .067** .010* .063** .008 .059** -.097** *p< .05; ** p< .01. source ess round 6: european social survey round 6 data (2012). weighted data: design weight and population size weight are used. table 5 cont. 50 ligita šarkutė discussion as mentioned in the introduction, almost none of the previous studies on the connection between happiness and political activism (e. g. klar and kasser, 2009; wray-lake’s et al., 2016) were based on truly representative samples and some of them were biased by online surveying. certain studies concentrated only on one or a few indicators of political activism (e. g. stutzer and frey, 2006; blais and gélineau, 2007; weitz-shapiro and winters, 2008). analysis of the data of the european social survey, based on a truly representative sample of the european population, supported the findings by klar and kasser (2009), who identified that several indicators of activism were positively associated with measures of subjective wellbeing, and wray-lake’s et al. (2016) study results, which showed the link between civic engagement and wellbeing. thus, it can be claimed that political activism is positively related to subjective wellbeing. nevertheless, a few exceptions exist which should be discussed further. in the case of the emotional dimension of subjective wellbeing, there are also three cases against the conclusion that political activism is positively related to subjective well-being: positive correlation between participating in lawful demonstrations and feeling sad and negative correlation with calmness. calmness is also negatively related to signing petitions. analysis of the functioning dimension of subjective wellbeing revealed existing negative correlations of voting in an election with optimism about personal future and the positive aspect of selfacceptance. another case is negative correlation between taking part in lawful demonstrations and autonomy, as well as between the former and stress resistance. furthermore, negative correlations exist between signing a petition and autonomy, and a positive correlation emerged between wearing campaign badges or stickers and the negative aspect of self-acceptance. in the vitality dimension of wellbeing, negative correlations exist between feeling full of energy and voting in elections and participating in lawful demonstrations. analysis of the dimension of supportive relationships unveiled a negative correlation between sources of support and voting in elections, as well as a negative correlation between reciprocity in social exchange and working in political parties or action groups. 51 2017, 21, 29–56 p.does political activism induce subjective wellbeing: evidence from ess data the above findings confirm that unconventional political participation (or contentious politics), mainly connected to protesting against an existing policy course or actions, is related to lower values of different indicators of subjective wellbeing. becoming involved in protest actions like participation in lawful demonstrations, boycotting products and signing a petition, is positively related to negative emotions or negative aspects of functioning. these findings confirm klar and kasser’s (2009, p. 773) statement that people engaged in unconventional political actions feel a greater sense of injustice and hopelessness, which not only makes them less satisfied with their life, but also impels them to more extreme activist behaviours. so it can be presumed that those whose subjective wellbeing is lower tend to protest in order to change the situation. another aspect which requires more thorough research is the correlation between the component of subjective wellbeing and voting in elections. this indicator in many cases had no significant correlations with sub-dimensions of subjective wellbeing (this was especially the case with the evaluative and emotional dimension of wellbeing). since political activity is primarily a social phenomenon, the finding that the strongest positive statistically significant correlations within the aggregated index of political activism were with sub-dimensions of social wellbeing – both the community wellbeing and supportive relationships. these sub-dimensions are trust in other people and sources of support and correspond to thin and thick societal ties accordingly. thus, data shows that both bridging and bonding social capital (putnam, 2000) are crucial in order to be politically active. possibly, this is the reason why voting has a weaker relation to political activism because it is the least social behavior by nature. study limitations the main study limitation is related to the chosen method of statistical analysis, which did not show the causation. it remains unknown whether political activism is the cause or the outcome of subjective wellbeing. consequently, further research should follow in this direction. additionally, it should be mentioned that even though the majority of the correlations between different aspects of wellbeing and political activism are statistically significant they are still very weak. 52 ligita šarkutė conclusions 1. political activism induces subjective wellbeing and is a prerequisite to feeling good. each of the indicators of subjective wellbeing correlated with at least two out of nine indicators of political activism, and these correlations were mainly the positive ones. the exception is unconventional political activism, which in certain cases was related to lower values of different indicators of subjective wellbeing. one possible explanation is that unconventional political activism is connected to protesting against an existing policy and people engaged in such activities feel a greater sense of injustice and hopelessness. nevertheless, all the statistically significant correlations were quite weak. 2. political activism is positively correlated with all the dimensions of wellbeing: evaluative wellbeing, emotional wellbeing, functioning, vitality, 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(2010). was hercules happy? some answers from a functional model of human well-being. social indicators research, 95, 1–18. weitz-shapiro, r., winters, m. (2008). political participation and quality of life. inter-american development bank, research department, working paper #638. retrieved from http://services.iadb.org/wmsfiles/products/ publications/1519961.pdf. http://www.europeansocialsurvey http://services.iadb.org/wmsfiles/products/ 56 ligita šarkutė wray-lake, l., dehaan, c., ryan, r., shubert, j. (2016). linking civic engagement and well-being in a daily diary study: the role of psychological needs satisfaction. paper presented at the biennial meeting of the society for research on adolescence, baltimore, april 2, 2016. retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299597041_linking_civic_ engagement_and_well-being_in_a_daily_diar y_study_the_role_of_ psychological_needs_satisfaction. ar politinis ak t y vumas sk atina subjek t y vią gerovę: k ą rodo europos socialinio t yrimo duomenys ligita šarkutė vytauto didžiojo universitetas, lietuva santrauka. įvadas. yra tik keletas studijų apie politinio aktyvumo ir subjektyvios gerovės ryšį. pagrindinė problema ta, kad dauguma panašių tyrimų atlikta naudojant studentų, bet ne visos populiacijos imtis. tikslas. tyrimo tikslas – išanalizuoti ryšį tarp politinio aktyvumo ir subjektyvios gerovės remiantis reprezentatyvia europiečių populiacijos imtimi. pagrindinis tyrimo klausimas – ar politinis aktyvumas yra teigiamai susijęs su subjektyvia gerove. metodai ir duomenys. šis straipsnis grindžiamas europos socialinio tyrimo 6-osios bangos duomenimis, konkrečiai – kintančių klausimų modulio „asmeninė ir socialinė gerovė“ ir nuolatinių klausimų modulių „žiniasklaida ir socialinis pasitikėjimas“ bei „politika“ duomenimis. 29-iose europos valstybėse buvo atlikta interviu su 54  673 respondentais, vyresniais nei 15 metų. statistinės duomenų analizės metodas – koreliacinė politinio aktyvumo indikatorių ir subjektyvios gerovės indikatorių analizė (pearsono r koeficientas). rezultatai. buvo rastos statistiškai reikšmingos koreliacijos tarp politinio aktyvumo indikatorių ir subjektyvios gerovės dimensijų. išvados. politinis aktyvumas skatina subjektyvią gerovę ir yra geros savijautos sąlyga. visi subjektyvios gerovės indikatoriai yra susiję bent su dviem politinio aktyvumo indikatoriais. šios koreliacijos dažniausiai yra teigiamosios, tačiau rasta keletas išimčių nekonvencinio politinio aktyvumo atvejais. stipriausios teigiamosios statistiškai reikšmingos koreliacijos užfiksuotos tarp politinio aktyvumo indikatorių ir bendruomeniškumo bei tarpasmeninių santykių kintamųjų. reikšminiai žodžiai: politinis aktyvumas, subjektyvi gerovė, socialinė gerovė, laimė, europa. received: 11 03 2017 accepted: 12 12 2017 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299597041_linking_civic_