Finances and Well-Being: A Dynamic Equilibrium Model of Resources.

This study of 513 Dutch farmers tested a dynamic equilibrium model of resources (an extension of the conservation of resources theory; S. E. Hobfoll, 1989, 1998, 2001). With structural equation modeling, the advantages of a 3-wave longitudinal design were comprehensively used, such as addressing bidirectional causal effects and within-individual vs. between-individual change. This allowed for a careful analysis of the management function of resources in the stress process. Results showed that well-being had stronger within-person stability than finances. Increased levels of financial problems temporarily increased psychological distress but not self-reported illness. Conversely, farmers with higher stable baselines of psychological distress also had higher baselines of self-reported illness and experienced more negative changes in their financial situation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interoceptive Sensitivity and Self-Reports of Emotional Experience.

People differ in the extent to which they emphasize feelings of activation or deactivation in their verbal reports of experienced emotion, termed arousal focus (AF). Two multimethod studies indicate that AF is linked to heightened interoceptive sensitivity (as measured by performance on a heartbeat detection task). People who were more sensitive to their heartbeats emphasized feelings of activation and deactivation when reporting their experiences of emotion over time more than did those who were less sensitive. This relationship was not accounted for by several other variables, including simple language effects. Implications for the role of interoception in experienced emotion and the validity of self-reported emotion are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Credit Constraints and Price Expectations of Homeowners

This paper examines the effect of credit constraints on the sale price expectations of homeowners. We extend the results of Genesove and Mayer (1997) by using a sample of mover and non-mover families living in the Netherlands—a country without formal down-payment requirements. We find that homeowners who are more credit constrained expect to sell their house for a higher price. Homeowners already seem to compensate for credit constraints at the very first stages of the transaction process. These results imply that the findings of Genesove and Mayer (1997) are much more generally applicable than previously considered.     

Body composition and self-perceived health and fitness among indoor sports participants

Abstract

This paper examines (1) the responses of participants in specific indoor sports to questions regarding their self-perceived health and fitness, and (2) the relation betweeen these responses and body composition. A representative sample of indoor sports participants (n = 4308; 2938 male and 1370 female) from six cities in the United Kingdom responded to a questionnaire concerned with their self-perception of health and fitness. Height and weight was established from self-report and a body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Seventy eight percent of males and 85% of females reported their health as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’. Less than 2% of the sample reported their health as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’. However, only 67% of males and 67% of females reported their fitness as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’. Again, the proportion of the sample reporting ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ fitness was low; less than 4%. The question on health was compared with a recent general population survey and this yielded markedly more ‘unfavourable’ results; only 72% of males and 70% of females reported their health as being ‘good’ or ‘excellent’. A comparison of the response category groups for BMI showed significant differences between the ‘poor’ and ‘fair’ groups but not between the ‘good’ and ‘excellent’ groups.

It is concluded that: (1) indoor sports participants regard their health and fitness highly, but their fitness less so than their health; (2) adiposity tends to be associated with poorer perceptions of health and fitness; (3) women sports participants perceive their health more highly than others of the same age compared with men, yet the reverse is true of fitness.     

The Adult Attachment Interview and self-reports of attachment style: An empirical rapprochement.

Although 10 studies have been published on the empirical overlap of the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and measures of self-reported attachment style, results in this literature have been inconsistently interpreted in narrative reviews. This report was designed as a rapprochement of the AAI and attachment style literatures and includes 3 studies. Study 1 (combined N = 961) is a meta-analytic review showing that by J. Cohen's (1992) criteria (mean r = .09), the association between AAI security and attachment style dimensions is trivial to small. Study 2 (N = 160) confirms meta-analytic results with state-of-the-art assessments of attachment security and also examines attachment dimensions in relation to the Big 5 personality traits. Finally, Study 3 is an investigation of 50 engaged couples that shows that developmental and social psychological measures of attachment security predict somewhat distinct--though theoretically anticipated--aspects of functioning in adult relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of measured and self-reported anthropometric information among firefighters: implications and applications

This study evaluated the accuracy of self-reported body weight and height compared to measured values among firefighters and identified factors associated with reporting error. A total of 863 male and 88 female firefighters in four US regions participated in the study. The results showed that both men and women underestimated their body weight ( ? 0.4 ± 4.1, ? 1.1 ± 3.6 kg) and overestimated their height (29 ± 18 , 17 ± 16 mm). Women underestimated more than men on weight (p = 0.022) and men overestimated more than women on height (p < 0.001). Reporting errors on weight were increased with overweight status (p < 0.001) and were disproportionate among subgroups. About 27% men and 24% women had reporting errors on weight greater than ± 2.2 kg, and 59% men and 28% women had reporting errors on height greater than 25 mm.

Practitioner Summary: This study along with literature revealed that the self-reported approach is not a sustainable option for anthropometric surveys, even for gathering data from physically active professional groups, such as firefighters, who presumably are knowledgeable of their body dimensions. Self-reported anthropometric information is undependable in important population subgroups.     

Use of portable ladders – field observations and self-reported safety performance in the cable TV industry

Abstract

Portable ladders incidents remain a major cause of falls from heights. This study reported field observations of environments, work conditions and safety behaviour involving portable ladders and their correlations with self-reported safety performance. Seventy-five professional installers of a company in the cable and other pay TV industry were observed for 320 ladder usages at their worksites. The participants also filled out a questionnaire to measure self-reported safety performance. Proper setup on slippery surfaces, correct method for ladder inclination setup and ladder secured at the bottom had the lowest compliance with best practices and training guidelines. The observation compliance score was found to have significant correlation with straight ladder inclined angle (Pearson’s r = 0.23, p < 0.0002) and employees’ self-reported safety participation (r = 0.29, p < 0.01). The results provide a broad perspective on employees’ safety compliance and identify areas for improving safety behaviours.

Practitioner Summary: A checklist was used while observing professional installers of a cable company for portable ladder usage at their worksites. Items that had the lowest compliance with best practices and training guidelines were identified. The results provide a broad perspective on employees’ safety compliance and identify areas for improving safety behaviours.     

Epidemiological comparisons of problems and positive qualities reported by adolescents in 24 countries.

In this study, the authors compared ratings of behavioral and emotional problems and positive qualities on the Youth Self-Report (T. M. Achenbach & L. A. Rescorla, 2001) by adolescents in general population samples from 24 countries (N = 27,206). For problem scales, country effect sizes (ESs) ranged from 3% to 9%, whereas those for gender and age ranged from less than 1% to 2%. Scores were significantly higher for girls than for boys on Internalizing Problems and significantly higher for boys than for girls on Externalizing Problems. Bicountry correlations for mean problem item scores averaged .69. For Total Problems, 17 of 24 countries scored within one standard deviation of the overall mean of 35.3. In the 19 countries for which parent ratings were also available, the mean of 20.5 for parent ratings was far lower than the self-report mean of 34.0 in the same 19 countries (d = 2.5). Results indicate considerable consistency across 24 countries in adolescents' self-reported problems but less consistency for positive qualities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)