An exploratory study was undertaken to investigate the relationship between emotional intelligence based on Mayer and Salovey's (1990) trait model of emotional intelligence and cognitive thinking styles based on the theory of mental selfgovernment. Emphasis was placed on the influence of emotional intelligence and thinking styles on choice of study field. Participants were 309 students from a Gauteng university. Students registered with the humanities (n=99), management (n=41), sciences (n=131) and engineering (n=38) faculties were compared on the Schutte Self-Report Inventory for emotional intelligence (Schutte et al., 1998) and on the Thinking Styles Inventory (Sternberg & Wagner, 1992). A relationship was found between complex and creative thinking styles and high emotional intelligence. Results from the stepwise multiple regression analysis procedures indicated that the subscales of thinking styles could be significant predictors of emotional intelligence. Students from different faculties were found to have the same level of emotional intelligence and similar thinking styles. / Psychology / MA (Social Sciences) (Psychology)

Objetivo: Apresentar o desenvolvimento, a validação e a aplicação do Questionário Qualiaids de Monitoramento da Adesão ao Tratamento Antirretroviral ou Web Adherence Qualiaids Questionnaire (WebAd-Q), um instrumento de autorrelato para monitorar a adesão de pacientes sob tratamento em serviços públicos de HIV no Brasil. Métodos: O WebAd-Q contém três perguntas sobre horário, medicamentos e doses tomadas na última semana. Foi construído a partir de entrevistas e grupos focais com 38 pacientes. Após pilotada, sua versão eletrônica teve a validade testada em estudo para o qual foram convidados 90 pacientes maiores de 18 anos, sob terapia antirretroviral (TARV) há pelo menos três meses. Os pacientes foram orientados a utilizar frascos com monitoramento eletrônico por 60 dias. O questionário foi respondido no sexagésimo dia por duas vezes, com intervalo mínimo de uma hora. A adesão foi também mensurada por contagem de comprimidos e entrevista de autorrelato. A carga viral de cada paciente foi obtida nos registros do serviço. Analisou-se a concordância entre as respostas ao WebAd-Q, a correlação com carga viral e a associação com outras medidas de adesão. Após o estudo de validação, o WebAd-Q foi empregado em uma pesquisa nacional para medir a adesão dos pacientes à TARV nos serviços de HIV/aids do SUS. Foram sorteados 55 serviços de diversas características institucionais de todo o país. Após o convite aos serviços, o WebAd-Q foi instalado em computadores e respondido por pacientes eleitos sistematicamente conforme chegada aos serviços. Resultados: Entre os 90 pacientes convidados, 75 (83,3%) responderam o WebAd-Q. Não foram relatadas dificuldades em responder ao questionário. O tempo médio de resposta foi 5,8 minutos. O conjunto das três questões do WebAd-Q obteve uma concordância de 88%, com Kappa de 0,74 (IC95% 0,56 - 0,92, p < 0,0001). A correlação da escala de não adesão do WebAd-Q e a carga viral foi de 0,42 (p < 0,0001). A questão 2 (medicamentos) teve o melhor desempenho, associando-se com todas as outras medidas, com exceção da contagem de comprimidos para 60 dias. Na aplicação nacional, ao todo 2424 pacientes responderam ao WebAd-Q. Todos conseguiram completar o questionário sem dificuldades. O sistema eletrônico apresentou poucas falhas e o questionário foi bem recebido por pacientes e pelos profissionais dos serviços. Conclusões: O WebAd-Q atendeu a todos os quesitos considerados relevantes para a validação de questionários, foi bem entendido por pacientes, obteve uma boa concordância, apresentou uma correlação moderada com a carga viral e associação com as medidas concorrentes. Portanto, mostrou propriedades satisfatórias para o monitoramento da adesão em serviços de HIV / Objective: To present the development, validation and application of the Web Adherence Qualiaids Questionnaire (WebAd-Q), a tool to monitor self-reported adherence among patients receiving care in Brazilian public HIV healthcare facilities. Methods: The WebAd-Q contains three questions regarding dosing time, drugs and doses taken on the last week. It was developed through interviews and focus groups with 38 patients. After piloted, the electronic version was submitted to statistical validity with 90 adult patients receiving antiretroviral therapy for at least three months. Patients were instructed to use event monitoring bottles for 60 days. The WebAd-Q was completed at the 60th day. Adherence was also measured by pill counting and self-report interview. Viral load was obtained from patient records. Concordance was analyzed, as well as correlations with viral load and associations between adherence measures and the WebAd-Q. After the validation study, the WebAd-Q was submitted to a national survey to measure adherence to antiretroviral therapy in HIV facilities from the Brazilian health system. Fifty-five sites were selected among different institutional characteristics. At these sites, the WebAd-Q was installed in computers and completed by patients chosen systematically as they arrived at the facilities. Results: Among 90 patients invited to participate in the study, 75 (83.3%) completed the WebAd-Q. No difficulties to answer the questionnaire were reported. Mean answer time for the WebAd-Q was 5.8 minutes. The three questions presented a concordance of 88% and Kappa of 0.74 (IC95% 0.56 - 0.92, p < 0.0001). The correlation obtained with viral load was 0.42 (p < 0.0001). The question regarding drugs taken had a better performance, with significant associations with all other adherence measures, except for pill counting for 60 days. At the application study, 2424 patients completed the questionnaire without difficulties. The electronic system presented few glitches and the questionnaire was welcomed by patients and healthcare professionals. Conclusions: The WebAd-Q complied with all aspects considered relevant for the validation of self-reported questionnaires. It was well understood by patients and presented a good concordance, moderate correlation with viral load and association when compared to concurrent adherence measures. Therefore, the questionnaire adequate proprieties to monitor adherence in HIV healthcare facilities

Objectives Different studies have reported the association between perceived stress and unhealthy diet choices. We aimed to determine whether there is a relationship between perceived stress and fat intake among undergraduate medical students. Methods/Principal findings A cross-sectional study was performed including first-year medical students. The outcome of interest was the self-report of fat intake assessed using the Block Screening Questionnaire for Fat Intake (high vs. low intake), whereas the exposure was perceived stress (low/ normal vs. high levels). The prevalence of high fat intake was estimated and the association of interest was determined using prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Models were created utilizing Poisson regression with robust standard errors. Data from 523 students were analyzed, 52.0% female, mean age 19.0 (SD 1.7) years. The prevalence of high fat intake was 42.4% (CI: 38.2%–46.7%). In multivariate model and compared with those with lowest levels of stress, those in the middle (PR = 1.59; 95%CI: 1.20–2.12) and highest (PR = 1.92; 95%CI: 1.46–2.53) categories of perceived stress had greater prevalence of fat intake. Gender was an effect modifier of this association (p = 0.008). Conclusions Greater levels of perceived stress were associated with higher fat intake, and this association was stronger among males. More than 40% of students reported having high fat consumption. Our results suggest the need to implement strategies that promote decreased fat intake.

Introduction Numerous preventive programmes have emerged, and need to be investigated to determine their effects on the normal population. Earlier studies have shown a decrease in depressive symptoms, positive effects on children’s disruptive behaviour problems, and an improvement in parental competence. About a fifth of the parents in previous studies had problem-oriented (targeted) reasons for enrolment, whereas the rest of the parents had general (universal) reasons. The results of those studies suggest that the programmes are cost effective in terms of Quality-Adjusted Life Years. Aim Four sub-studies were performed, and their aims were to investigate the effect of parental training programmes (PTPs) in a naturalistic setting on parents’ mental health in the general population, to investigate how PTPs affect parents’ sense of parental competence, to investigate how PTPs affect parental stress and analyse the parents open questions about the PTPs, and to investigate the feasibility and to measure the effect on depression, anxiety, and social problems of two preventive school programmes for pupils in grade 7. Method In a longitudinal quantitative study in a real-world setting, 279 parents from the general population in northern Sweden participated in five PTPs. A comparison group of 702 parents without intervention was included. Simultaneously, a community sample of 59 pupils in grade 7 participated in two preventive school programmes. Both studies were conducted from 2010 to 2013. Parents were assigned to professionally supported interventions that included 5-10 two-hour sessions. Respondents filled in a web-based questionnaire with the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), the Parents Sense of Competence (PSOC) for parents who had children aged 0-17 years, and the Swedish Parenthood Stress Questionnaire (SPSQ) for parents who had children aged 0-10 years. The intervention groups’ results were compared to comparison group of 702 parents from northern Sweden that had not participated in any parental training programme. In the school study, one of the preventive programmes was an ongoing programme called “Life-Skills”, and the other was an implemented Canadian programme called “Choosing Healthy Actions and Thoughts” (CHAT). The pupils completed a test battery including the Sense of Coherence (SOC), the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI), and the Youth Self-Report (YSR) instruments. Follow up of the parental programme study was done six months after the post-intervention measure, and follow up of the school study was at one year. Results The improvements in GHQ were statistically significant for the mean of the 279 parents in the intervention group compared to the mean of a comparison group of the 702 parents who did not receive any intervention. This suggests that evidence-based PTPs enhance parental well-being even for parents without problems. The intervention group showed a statistically significant improvement in parental competence compared to the comparison group over time. The intervention itself had a significant effect on parental satisfaction, but the efficacy effect was not sustained when taking into account potential confounders. In the SPSQ, the intervention group was smaller due to the fact that the instrument was not validated for children over the age of 10 and one of the parental training groups was only for parents of teenagers. A reduction of stress in the sub-scale of health problems was detected, but no other subscale showed the intervention to have a significant effect when controlling for confounding variables. In the school study, both programmes had good feasibility according to the stake- holders and had several positive mental health outcomes over time. Compared to Life-Skills, CHAT had more significant positive effects on reducing anxious/depressive symptoms and girls experienced significant positive effects on reduced anxious/depressive behaviour, while boys reduced their aggressive behaviours. Conclusions Earlier studies indicate that PTPs enhance perceived parental competence among referred parents. The present study shows that PTPs applied in the general population might also enhance perceived parental benefits such as improved health and satisfaction, suggesting that PTPs can be an important preventive strategy to enhance parenthood. The results suggest that parents who feel a need to increase their parenting competence might participate in PTPs based on lower scores than the comparison control group both before and after the intervention. The school-based programme shows that schools may be a suitable arena for preventive programmes because there was a significant short-term improvement in depression symptoms. Further studies need to explore how parents’ participation in PTPs affects children’s mental health in the general population in quantitative longitudinal studies in real-word settings. There is also a need for bigger studies and RCTs on school preventions and on how children’s health develops naturally in the population.

Die Arbeit gliedert sich in fünf Teile. An ein Überblickskapitel, in welchem aktuelle Modelle und Verfahren zur Erfassung Emotionaler Intelligenz vorgestellt werden, schließen sich drei empirische Studien (englischsprachig) an. In diesen werden Zusammenhänge von Fähigkeitstests und Selbstberichtverfahren zur Erfassung emotionaler Fähigkeiten in Bezug auf sozial relevante Faktoren wie Lebenszufriedenheit, Konfliktlösefähigkeiten und Freundschaft untersucht. Darüber hinaus wird geprüft, inwieweit sich Patienten verschiedener Störungsbilder von einer psychisch gesunden Kontrollgruppe als auch untereinander in ihren gezeigten emotionalen Fähigkeiten unterscheiden. Die Arbeit endet mit einer Integration der Ergebnisse dieser drei Studien. Insbesondere wird dabei auf die Probleme aktueller Verfahren zur Erfassung Emotionaler Intelligenz mittels Selbstbericht und Fähigkeitstest eingegangen. Aufgrund der konzeptionellen Nähe von Sozialer Intelligenz und Emotionaler Intelligenz werden mögliche Integrationspunkte dieser beiden Forschungsfelder benannt. Ebenso werden mögliche alternative Erfassungsmethoden aufgezeigt. / This dissertation is devided into five parts. An introductory chapter explains actual self-report questionnaires and ability tests to assess emotional intelligence. The following three chapters present empirical data looking at relations between self-report measures and ability tests and important variables of social functioning like life satisfaction, conflict-management abilities, and friendship. Moreover, in another study we looked at differences between and within inpatients with different kinds of mental disorders and a clinically healthy control group. The final chapter integrates findings and conclusions focusing on the problems assessing emotional intelligence with self-report questionnaires and ability tests. As social intelligence and emotional intelligence are conceptionally related possible areas of collaborative work are discussed. Furthermore, alternative ways of assessing emotional abilities are highlighted.

A great degree of interindividual variability has been established in measures of psychophysical olfactory performance and odor awareness in both children and adults. Previous studies have suggested the possibility that one of the factors that might contribute to this variability might be the degree of odor exposure in everyday contexts. In the present study, we hypothesized that children exposed to a greater variety of odors on a more frequent basis would exhibit higher odor identification and odor awareness scores. We have found an effect of odor exposure on the children's olfactory knowledge as reflected in their reports of olfactory behavior, but not olfactory abilities. In so doing, we replicated some of the previous findings in the literature of female over male advantage in the olfactory domain. Namely, we report that girls showed a more profound understanding of their olfactory environment and a greater degree of olfaction-oriented behavior, which was not accounted for by a gender difference in verbal fluency. Nevertheless, girls did not outperform boys on either of the measures of olfactory performance. Semi-longitudinal and longitudinal studies in verbally proficient children, employing both self- and parental reports of children's odor exposure and repeated olfactory testing, might...

Kwan, John, Kenny, Bond, and Robins conceptualize self-enhancement as a favorable comparison of self-judgments with judgments of and by others. Applying a modified version of Kwan et al.’s approach to behavior observation data, we show that the resulting measure of self-enhancement bias is highly reliable, predicts self-ratings of intelligence as well as does actual intelligence, interacts with item desirability in predicting responses to questionnaire items, and also predicts general life satisfaction. Consistent with previous research, however, self-ratings of intelligence did not become more valid when controlling for self-enhancement bias. We also show that common personality scales like the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale reflect self-enhancement at least as strongly as do scales that were designed particularly for that purpose (i.e., “social desirability scales”). The relevance of these findings in regard to the validity and utility of social desirability scales is discussed.

Prospective memory (PM) refers to a person’s ability to remember to do something in the future. It is a complex behaviour that is essential for the daily functioning of young and old alike. Despite its importance in everyday life, few studies have sought to examine the role of personality on PM performance using a multi-trait multi-method approach in young adults. The current study aimed to investigate the differential roles of the Big 5 personality traits on event- and time-based PM performance using multiple measurement methods. In addition, the study aimed to add to the current PM and personality literature by addressing several of the identified methodological limitations of the literature as outlined by Uttl and colleagues (2013). Results demonstrated few strong relationships between PM subtypes (event and time-based) performance indicators, though performance on the lab-based event-based PM task was stronger than on the lab-based time-based PM task even after controlling for ongoing task performance. Participants were also found to perform better on lab-based rather than naturalistic PM tasks. Naturalistic and self-report PM measures were significantly related to each other, but not to lab-based PM. Regarding personality, the relationship between specific personality traits and PM performance differed depending on the PM subtype and/or measurement method being investigated with conscientiousness, memory aid strategy use, and substance use engagement being found to best predict self-reported PM errors in daily life. The current study demonstrated that each PM measurement method taps into different aspects of behavioural and cognitive functioning. Without the use of all three measurement methods, whilst also considering the individuality of the client, researchers and clinicians may be doing a disservice to individuals with true PM difficulties as they may overlook important factors contributing to their poorer performance. / Graduate

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