A Variable-Centered and Person-Centered Evaluation of Emotion Regulation and Distress Tolerance: Links to Emotional and Behavioral Concerns

Distress tolerance and emotion regulation deficits are associated with many emotional and behavioral concerns and may be important deficit areas for college students especially during the transition to college. However, little is known about how distress tolerance and emotion regulation relate to each other or what typical profiles of these deficit areas might be. We took a variable-centered (i.e., exploratory factor analysis) and a person-centered approach (i.e., latent profile analysis) to identify the overlap and distinctiveness of distress tolerance and emotion regulation deficits and then evaluated how the profiles related to several emotional and behavioral concerns. Participants were undergraduates (N = 627; age M = 20.23, SD = 1.40; 60 % female; 47 % European-American) who completed an online assessment. The exploratory factor analysis of distress tolerance and emotion regulation subscales demonstrated three factors with one factor corresponding to distress tolerance and two factors defined by emotion regulation. Subscales demonstrated significant multidimensionality across the factors. The latent profile analysis with distress tolerance and emotion regulation subscales produced three profiles corresponding to “Functional”, “At Risk”, and “Challenged” levels of distress tolerance and emotion regulation abilities. Internalizing symptoms (i.e., depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and suicidal ideation) had significantly higher symptom severity in the “At Risk”, and “Challenged” profiles than in the “Functional” profile. ADHD symptoms and hostility showed a similar pattern. Conduct problems and substance use were much less related to the deficit profiles. Implications for the etiology of mental health, for prevention and treatment of college students are discussed.     

Homophobic Name-Calling Among Secondary School Students and Its Implications for Mental Health

Although homophobic verbal victimization has been associated with negative mental health outcomes, little actually is known about its general prevalence and relationship to mental health among adolescents. In addition, the relationship of homophobic name-calling to mental health in gender non-conforming adolescents is not well understood. This study examined the relationship between homophobic verbal victimization and mental health in adolescents, accounting for their sexual orientation and level of gender non-conformity. Survey data was collected from 513 adolescents (ages 11–17) who attended eight schools in and around Amsterdam, the Netherlands; 56.7 % of the participating adolescents were female and 11.1 % reported same-sex attractions. As hypothesized, male adolescents and those with same-sex attractions were more likely to report victimization from homophobic name-calling than were their female and non-same-sex attracted peers. Contrary to expectations, homophobic name-calling was not independently associated with psychological distress after controlling for gender, sexual attractions, gender non-conformity, and other negative treatment by peers. The hypothesis that homophobic name-calling would be more strongly associated with psychological distress in male, same-sex attracted, and gender non-conforming adolescents was also not supported. The results suggest that same-sex attracted and gender non-conforming youth are particularly vulnerable to homophobic name-calling, in the Netherlands as in other contexts, but also that other forms of peer victimization may be more strongly related to mental health.     

Woman's hour at the women's library

This article, written by a BBC Producer, describes a Woman's Hour Radio Four programme that was broadcast from the new Women's Library, London Guildhall University, on Thursday 31 January 2002 to celebrate the Library's opening.     

Staff Selection in the Australian Public Service: A History of Social Closure

This paper argues that recruitment and promotion within the Australian Public Service (APS) have historically exemplified the practice of 'social closure'. Three periods of AP'S staff selection that correspond to what Halligan and Power identify as the bureaucratist/technicist, administrationist and political management models of executive branch regime are identified. Social closure in each instance was based on educational credentials or lack thereof. These practices have been justified in terms of various 'ideologies of promotion'. Such ideologies tend to reflect the ideal or material interests of social groups rather than the skill requirements of administrative work. The current form of social closure based on economics degrees illustrates this phenomenon. Accordingly, greater recognition of the value of non-economics degrees is required.     

To click or not to click: E‐learning for the public sector

Abstract: E‐learning is being mooted as a cheap and effective way to provide public servants and public‐sector organizations with the continuous learning opportunities required to recruit and retain good employees and improve organizational outcomes. This article draws on the extensive literature on e‐learning and the authors' experience with the development and delivery of e‐learning to examine a number of issues that public‐sector managers should consider before embracing e‐learning. The article begins by sorting out what e‐learning is, what forms it can take and how significant a phenomenon it has become in the private and public sectors in Canada and elsewhere. Emerging Canadian government e‐learning strategies are noted. The authors argue that much existing formal e‐learning material is ineffective and set out criteria for identifying viable e‐learning approaches. The claim that e‐learning provides enhanced access to training is critically examined. The authors also argue that the adoption of e‐learning will radically affect the organization of training and its relationship to the wider organization. Finally, the authors critically examine the issue of whether or not e‐learning is cheaper than face‐to‐face instruction. They contend that e‐learning can reduce training delivery costs in some circumstances but that the costs associated with developing and delivering effective e‐learning will be substantial. Sommaire: On a dit que l'apprentissage en ligne est un moyen efficace et peu coûteux offrant aux fonctionnaires des possibilités de formation continue qui permettront aux organismes du secteur public de recruter et de retenir du personnel qualifié et ainsi d'améliorer leurs résultats organisationnels. Cet article repose sur la documentation concernant l'apprentissage en ligne et l'expérience des auteurs en matière d'élaboration et de prestation de cette méthode d'enseignement afin d'examiner un certain nombre de questions que les gestionnaires du secteur public devraient étudier avant de les adopter. L'article commence par expliquer l'apprentissage en ligne sous ses différentes formes et l'importance de ce phénomène dans les secteurs privé et public au Canada et ailleurs. Les nouvelles stratégies d'apprentissage en ligne du gouvemement canadien sont mentionnées. Les auteurs affirment qu'une grande partie de la documentation officielle sur la question est inefficace et ils présentent des critères pour determiner les méthodes d'apprentissage en ligne qui ont des chances de réussir en matière de formation. Ils examinent d'un œil critique si cette méthode d'enseignement foumit en fait un meilleur accès è la formation. L'article laisse éggalement entendre que l'adoption de l'apprentissage en ligne transformera radicalement la planification de la formation et ses relations avec l'organisation plus vaste. Enfin, les auteurs examinent attentivement la question de savoir si oui ou non l'apprentissage en ligne est moins coûteux que l'enseignement en personne. Ils soutiennent que cette méhode peut permettre de réduire les coûts de prestation de la formation dans certaines circonstances mais que les coûts associés à l'élaboration et à la prestation de l'apprentissage en ligne efficace seront considérables.     

Without fear or favour,affection or ill will: addressing gender bias in NSW judicial education

This article traces how gender equality has evolved conceptually and provides an overview of the educational initiatives in place for raising gender awareness among members of the NSW judiciary. The author gives examples of gender bias and explores some of the seminal policy and legislative responses at state and federal levels during the reformist decades of the 1970s to the 1990s. North American jurisdictions played an important role in raising judicial awareness of gender bias in the 1980s, with this issue coming to prominence in Australia in the 1990s. The author describes the work of the Judicial Commission of NSW in this area, including training sessions on gender equality, both discrete and as part of integrated education initiatives; its involvement with the National Judicial Orientation Program; and the launch of its Equality before the Law Bench Book in 2006.     

The War with the Ottoman Empire: The Centenary History of Australia and the Great War,Volume 2

The War with the Ottoman Empire: The Centenary History of Australia and the Great War, Volume 2. By Jeffrey Grey (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2015), pp.x + 238. 16 Maps. AU$59.95 (cloth).