1,721,012 research outputs found
A biopsychosocial model of diabetes self-management: mediators and moderators
Full text linkDiabetes mellitus (diabetes), an endocrine disorder, is in epidemic proportions globally, threatening the well being of people affected and challenging health care systems. In the main, diabetes warrants adjustments to lifestyle and therapeutic interventions simply to self-manage the condition. Research in self-management of diabetes has targeted socio-cognitive theory and espoused self-efficacy as the main driver of self-management. More recently, self-regulatory theory has focused on illness representations and argued they are the force underpinning goal directed behaviours. Research to-date has tended to adopt one or other of the prevailing theoretical models to the exclusion of key concepts in other explanatory health behaviour models. Studies are lacking in demonstrating a comprehensive exploration of the interrelationships between self-regulatory skills inherent in self-management, illness representations and self-efficacy with other potential health behaviour determinants. In this thesis, it was postulated that an integrated biopsychosocial model of self-management was warranted to account for the complexities of human understanding and interactions within a naturalistic setting.
The purpose of this dissertation was to develop and substantiate a conceptual model of diabetes self-management integrating key concepts from health behaviour theories within a structure of four broad determinants of health behaviour, which were: personal traits, diabetes traits, socio-environmental factors and health contextual factors. Specifically, determinants associated with diabetes self-management behaviours and the predictors for its success for those with type 1 and type 2 diabetes was sought. In order to substantiate the proposed integrated model a cross-sectional design, using quantitative survey methodology, was undertaken. Structural equation modelling allowed interrelationships in the integrated model to be explored simultaneously and advanced model testing thus far in the field. The study involved males (n = 504) and females (n = 519), aged over 18 years (M = 63.90, SD = 13.89) who had a diagnosis of either type 1 or type 2 diabetes and who resided in Western Australia.
Model testing substantiated the integrated biopsychosocial model proposed and was relatively parsimonious, making the application of the findings to a clinical setting possible. Key predictors for both types of diabetes were: self-efficacy, diabetes distress, diabetes traits, self-determination support by health care professionals and to some extent age of the person with diabetes. In addition, locus of control by doctors was important for type 2 diabetes and marital status and socio-economic status for type 1 diabetes. The presence of emotional distress had a negative effect on interrelated factors, emphasising the criticality of its assessment and management by health professionals if self-management is to be achieved. Illness representations had low or minimal predictive power, refuting claims that it is responsible for the initiation of goal directed behaviours.
The integrated model, a first of its kind in the Australian context, contributes to existing knowledge in diabetes self-management through its attention to contextualising the self-regulatory individual within their personal, social and health environment. In particular it makes explicit the distinguishing integrated predictors for type 1 and type 2 diabetes previously unknown in the adult population. Through the understanding of predictors, the health sector is better placed to target predictors in supporting self-management
Teacher emotions: relational antecedents and consequences
No full textAlthough teaching is an emotional endeavor, research on teacher emotions is a quite new field in empirical research. From previous research we know that interactions with students are a main source of teacher emotions. The present study explores the relevance of the quality of the teacher-student relationship, resulting from their interactions, for teacher emotions. Furthermore it addresses the consequences of positive emotional experiences of teachers on quality indicators of instruction as well as on teacher occupational well-being. 132 secondary teachers participated in the study. Using questionnaires, they rated their experienced joy, anger, and anxiety during classroom instruction, which the literature has identified as quality indicators of the teacher-student relationship, autonomy support in the classroom, and occupational well-being (e.g., satisfaction in the job). Teacher-student relationship was conceptualized as a multi-dimensional construct containing an interpersonal and a professional dimension, assessed by the factors closeness, student engagement, and lack of discipline. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that an affective bond formed with students (=closeness) was the strongest predictor of teachers’ joy, and anxiety (negative relation), whereas lack of discipline in class best predicted teachers’ anger experiences. Student engagement was also a significant predictor of teacher anger and joy. Consecutive SEM analyses showed that teacher emotions impacted teachers’ occupational well-being to a strong degree whereas the relevance of autonomy supportive strategies as indicators of instructional quality was significantly weaker. Overall, this suggests that models of teacher emotions should pay increased attention to positive relationships between students and teachers as relevant antecedents of teacher emotions
Die Bedeutung der Lehrer-Schüler-Beziehung für die Emotionen der Lehrpersonen, deren Unterrichtsverhalten und berufliches Wohlbefinden
No full textLehrpersonen erleben die unterschiedlichsten Emotionen beim Unterrichten (Schutz, 2014). Diese Emotionen sind zum einen multikausal bestimmt und hängen von der Beurteilung der beruflichen Situation in Bezug auf Arbeitsbedingungen, Wertschätzung und den Interaktionen im Klassenzimmer ab; zum anderen beeinflussen sie das berufliche Wohlbefinden und das Unterrichtsverhalten (Frenzel, 2014). Bisher gibt es jedoch wenige gesicherte empirische Befunde zu LehrerInnenemotionen. Insbesondere quantitative Studien, die auf eine Generalisierbarkeit der Erkenntnisse abzielen und Emotionen als Kernvariablen untersuchen, fehlen. Hier setzt die vorliegende Studie an.
Basierend auf dem Modell der LehrerInnenemotionen (Frenzel, 2014) gehen wir davon aus, dass Lehrpersonen danach streben, positive Beziehungen zu SchülerInnen aufzubauen (Klassen et al., 2012). Dieses Streben kann auch auf das Grundbedürfnis von Menschen nach positiven Sozialbeziehungen im Allgemeinen zurückgeführt werden (Baumeister & Leary, 1995).
Die vorliegende Studie überprüft die Frage, inwieweit die Qualität der Lehrer-Schüler-Beziehung die Emotionen von Lehrpersonen beim Unterrichten vorhersagen kann. Entsprechend eines kognitiven Ansatzes der Emotionsentstehung wird die Selbstwirksamkeitsüberzeugung der Lehrkräfte als mögliche Mediatorvariable berücksichtigt. Zusätzlich werden die Konsequenzen von LehrerInnenemotionen untersucht. Es wird angenommen, dass positive LehrerInnenemotionen die Autonomieunterstützung im Unterricht erhöhen; eine Variable, die aus Sicht der Selbstbestimmungstheorie einen zentralen Faktor von Unterrichtsqualität darstellt. Des Weiteren sollten positive LehrerInnenemotionen zu einem höheren beruflichen Wohlbefinden beitragen.
132 Gymnasiallehrpersonen aus Österreich wurden zu den zentralen Konstrukten auf Basis von überwiegend bewährten Skalen der empirischen Bildungsforschung (Emotionen, Selbstwirksamkeit, Beziehung zu den SchülerInnen, Autonomieunterstützung und berufliches Wohlbefinden) befragt. Sie wurden ebenso aufgefordert, für sie emotional erlebte konkrete Interaktionssituationen mit SchülerInnen zu beschreiben (Fokus: Angst, Ärger und Freude). Als Datenanalyseverfahren wurde die Strukturgleichungsmodellierung gewählt. Die offenen Fragen wurden mit Hilfe der qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse nach Mayring (2010) ausgewertet.
Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Beziehung zu den SchülerInnen sehr eng mit dem emotionalen Erleben der Lehrpersonen assoziiert war. Die Selbstwirksamkeitsüberzeugung zeigte sich als (partielle) Mediatorvariable. Es ergab sich kein direkter Link zwischen den LehrerInnenemotionen und der Autonomieunterstützung; allerdings wurde diese durch die LehrerInnenselbstwirksamkeit vorhergesagt. Die Beziehung zwischen den LehrerInnenemotionen und dem beruflichen Wohlbefindens war sehr stark ausgeprägt. Die Situationsbeschreibungen stützen die Bedeutung der Lehrer-Schüler-Beziehung für die LehrerInnenemotionen (z.B. wird Ärger sehr häufig durch nicht-erfüllte Erwartungen, z.B. durch disziplinär auffälliges Verhalten, ausgelöst); sie erweitern die Befunde insofern, als auch die positive Entwicklung von einzelnen SchülerInnen – im Sinne eines „(Über-sich-hinaus-)Wachsens“ – häufig als emotionsauslösend, vor allem Freude auslösend, beschrieben wurde.
Die Ergebnisse werden mit Bezug zur bisherigen Forschung und hier vor allem bezogen auf das Modell der LehrerInnenemotionen nach Frenzel diskutiert, und es werden Implikationen für die Praxis abgeleitet
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Exploring intercultural interactions on a university campus through the lens of a local student: A multidimensional, multi-theoretical analysis
Full text linkModern-day universities are sites of unprecedented levels of cultural diversity, thus affording plentiful opportunities for intercultural interactions to occur. However, research from nations across the sector consistently suggests a pattern of limited intercultural contact among students on university campuses. Further, there is emerging evidence that this pattern is heightened among local students, with research suggesting that local students are less likely to engage in intercultural interactions than their international peers. The implications of this limited contact are concerning, suggesting that many local students are being denied the cognitive, affective and educational benefits that intercultural interactions can generate. However, the issue also raises a broader question: why, in a climate of unprecedented levels of cultural diversity and global mobility, are intercultural interactions on campus constrained in their frequency and depth?
Using a variety of qualitative methods and theoretical lenses, this research provides insight into how local students conceptualise, perceive and experience intercultural interactions on an Australian university campus. Participants were first-year students (n=27) representing a range of academic disciplines. Students were recruited for the study at the beginning of the academic year and participated in two semi-structured interviews (at the beginning and the end of their first study period) in which students’ subjective accounts of their intercultural interaction experiences were elicited.
The use of several conceptual lenses (including cultural identity, ethnorelativism and ethnocentrism, cultural awareness, structure and agency, and context) and theoretical paradigms (including Bourdieu’s Social Field Theory, Mezirow’s Transformative Learning Theory, Allport’s Intergroup Contact Theory, Tajfel and Turner’s Social Identity Theory and Phinney’s Model of Ethnic Identity Development) not only provided different views into the data, but different ways of seeing it, ensuring fine-grained, nuanced insight into the many and varied ways students perceived, understood and ultimately experienced intercultural interactions. Further, the development of a theoretically-informed and inductively-generated coding framework allowed the systematic and rigorous analysis of students’ accounts of their positive intercultural interactions across affective, behavioural and cognitive dimensions including agency, self-disclosure, duration, contexts, and cultural interest.
Positive intercultural interactions were revealed to be complex, multidimensional, and situated phenomena shaped by numerous, layered and often competing intrapersonal and structural dimensions. The findings highlighted the criticality of students’ cultural awareness and understandings in shaping intercultural interaction outcomes. Students who demonstrated higher levels of cultural awareness and ethnorelativist understanding were found to experience interactions at deeper levels of experience than students displaying lower levels of cultural awareness, and ethnocentric understanding. While the research highlighted the potential of transformative intercultural interactions to foster intercultural growth and cultural awareness, its related finding that students who entered an intercultural interaction possessing high levels of cultural awareness were more likely to benefit from intercultural interactions than students possessing low levels was noteworthy. Nuanced insights into the role of student agency (operationalised as the initiation of an intercultural interaction) in mediating intercultural interaction outcomes were also revealed, the findings suggesting that deep level intercultural interactions and intercultural transformation could still occur when agency was not exercised, provided other dimensions were present in the interaction. Related, a student’s failure to exercise agency may not necessarily reflect a lack of interest in culture and diversity, but could suggest contextual factors. Finally, the simultaneous adoption of two ethnic identity theoretical lenses in the analysis of students’ accounts allowed systematic relationships between how students conceptualised and understood their ethnic identity, and the depth at which they experienced an interaction, to be revealed.
From a higher education perspective, the findings of this research suggest that the cultural frames and understandings that students bring to university campuses might not simply mediate their intercultural interaction experiences, but also reinforce and perpetuate their existing levels of cultural understanding, thereby possibly constraining their intercultural growth. Related, institutional policies and practices vis-à-vis pedagogy and curriculum were also found to militate against meaningful intercultural interactions and intercultural learning, with this research highlighting the need for higher education institutions to engage in systemic and systematic curriculum and pedagogical redesign to effect changed frames of cultural awareness. Institutions could also consider broadening the range of academic, linguistic, social and cultural capitals that are valued on their campuses so that they are more representative and inclusive of the cultural diversity that is present in its learning and teaching structures, this potentially affording intercultural interactions
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