Predicting posttraumatic growth in breast cancer survivors.

Wide variability exists with respect to how breast cancer survivors respond to common psychological and psychosocial challenges of their disease, ranging from posttraumatic stress disorder to posttraumatic growth. This cross-sectional study examined contextual, disease-related, and intraindividual predictors of posttraumatic growth in 224 randomly selected breast cancer survivors. A series of hierarchical regression analyses found that age at diagnosis, marital status, employment, education, perceived intensity of disease, and active coping accounted for 34%, 35%, and 28% of the variance in growth in relationships with others, new possibilities, and appreciation for life. These findings suggest that a more comprehensive model of growth will be helpful in understanding the various factors that play a role in breast cancer survivors' perception of psychological and psychosocial growth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship of hope in the future and perceived school climate to school completion.

This study examined the impact of hope in the future and school climate as protective factors in school dropouts and graduates. Participants consisted of 97 students (males and females, aged 14-21 yrs) at risk for not completing school in an urban area. At-risk status was determined by student assignment to a continuation high school, a special placement for students who had had numerous infractions at regular high schools. Retrospectively, dropouts rated perceived school climate significantly lower than graduates, and graduates rated the importance of attending college significantly higher than dropouts. Dropouts and graduates who left school after the study was conducted did not report differences on the risk factors measured, nor did they differ on perceived school climate or the importance of attending college. However, hope in the future significantly predicted dropout versus graduate status for these participants. Results are discussed as describing differences in retrospective versus prospective reports, and as evidence of the utility of the risk/resilience paradigm in school completion research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dieting: False Hope or Falsely Accused?

Comments on the article by J. Polivy and P.C. Herman (see record 2002-15790-001) regarding false hopes of self-change. In this comment, the author suggests that at lease 7 major adjustments are needed. Because the original authors used research on dieting to support their thesis, the validity of their arguments rests in part on the validity of their assumptions about dieting. These comments focus on those assumptions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group Cohesiveness, Group-Derived Collective Self-Esteem, Group-Derived Hope, and the Well-Being of Group Therapy Members.

I. D. Yalom's (1995) hypothesis that group therapy cohesiveness is the precursor to the development of group-derived collective self-esteem (CSE), hope for the self (HS), and psychological well-being (personal self-esteem and depression) was tested. Participants were 102 university counseling center group therapy clients from process (n = 54) and theme (n = 48) groups. Path analyses supported Yalom's theory that cohesiveness is the primary group factor and that it directly related to curative group factors such as CSE and HS. Additional path analyses showed that the relationship between group therapy CSE and personal self-esteem was moderated by HS, such that a significant relationship between CSE and personal self-esteem was no longer found once HS was entered into the model. Implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hope, self-efficacy, and functional recovery after knee and hip replacement surgery.

Objective: To test hypothesized relations between hope and self-efficacy for rehabilitation to depression and functional ability reported by individuals receiving joint replacement surgery. Study Design: Community-dwelling older adults (N = 100) from an orthopaedic clinic were administered measures of hope, self-efficacy for rehabilitation, pain, depression, body mass index (BDI), and mental status 1 month prior to their joint replacement surgery. These measures were completed by 62 participants 6 weeks after surgery. Demographic, health information, and functional outcome measures were obtained by medical personnel pre- and postsurgery. Main Outcome Measures: Functional outcome measures (Harris Hip and Knee Society Scores) and depressive symptomatology. Results: Hope was significantly predictive of presurgery depression, but it was not predictive of depression or functional ability after surgery. Higher levels of self-efficacy were predictive of lower postsurgery depression scores. Conclusions: Results imply that social-cognitive constructs may have utility in the prediction of emotional adjustment before and after joint surgery, but they may have limited value in anticipating functional abilities following these surgeries. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hope-focused practices during early psychotherapy sessions: Part II: Explicit approaches.

An avalanche of research on hope over the last 30 years consistently points to the benefits of hope in living and human change processes. Common factors models name hope as one of four key factors accounting for client change across psychotherapeutic models. While research provides evidence for the importance of hope, little research examines how hope is understood and practiced. This paper, the second in a two-part series, examines hope-focused interventions of 5 hope-educated psychotherapists with 11 clients early in the therapy sequence. Two categories characterized the overall findings: implicit and explicit hope-focused interventions. The first paper in this series addressed implicit hope-focused interventions. This second paper focuses on explicit hope-focused interventions (i.e., using the word hope, hoping, etc.). Explicit use of hope in therapy was found to address: (a) multiple dimensions of hope (i.e., cognitive, behavioral, emotional, relational); (b) psychoeducational hope interventions; and (c) framing problems as threats to hope. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

辛克莱·罗斯及其《中午时分的灯》(英文)

加拿大作家罗斯的小说多数以大草原为背景 ,描写草原人的生活斗争。罗斯擅于把内外景融为一体 ,而外景反射出人物的内心世界。小说《中午时分的灯》中所描写的“灯”象征着男主人公保罗的希望。然而 ,灯最终被风吹灭 ,这意味着保罗希望的破灭     

Hope-focused practices during early psychotherapy sessions: Part I: Implicit approaches.

Hope is recognized as one of four key factors contributing to psychotherapeutic change across a variety theoretical approaches (Hubble, Duncan, & Miller, 1999), especially early in the psychotherapeutic sequence. To date little research has looked at how hope is translated into specific practices by psychotherapists during psychotherapy sessions. This case study employed basic interpretive inquiry (Merriam, 1998) to explore the hope-focused practices of five hope-educated psychotherapists with 11 clients early in the therapy sequence. Two categories characterize the overall findings, that is, implicit and explicit hope-focused practices. This first paper in a two-part research report focuses on implicit hope-focused interventions. Implicit hope-focused interventions were those practices identified by therapists as addressing client hope without employing the word hope explicitly. Implicit hope practices addressed two key aspects of therapy, (a) attending to therapeutic relationship, and (b) fostering client perspective change. The second paper in this series examines findings regarding explicit hope-focused interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

基于利益的Agent理性研究

Agent间的合作和竞争一直是多Agent研究的热点之一。该文充分考虑到了利益在Agent的理性选择中所起的重要作用,利用引进利益算子和时间信息的BLH系统定义了两种长期利益,并讨论了混合长期利益和当前利益的Agent社会中不同道德理性Agent之间的合作关系。为了避免采用传统的可能世界语义所造成的一些诸如无法定义多重算子联用的缺陷,BLH系统采用了映射语义。     

在绝望中寻找希望——影片《当幸福来敲门》的解读

追求卓越,创造奇迹,在绝望中寻找希望,人生终将辉煌。影片《当幸福来敲门》中男主人公克里斯在贫困的绝境中不放弃希望,经过不懈的努力抓住机遇,最终追求到他的幸福,达到人生的辉煌。通过对主人公成功轨迹的分析,希望对现代社会竞争压力日益增大的人们有所启示。