Title: Utilization of physical activity to the influence of the health of top managerr Author: Bc. Martin Vojáček Supervisor: Prof. Ing. Václav Bunc CSc. Objective: Author of the diploma thesis Utilization of physical activity to the influence of the health of top managers deals with health issues stemming from the specific nature of the job of top managers. A key issue is the work related stress and its impact on the health of managers. The negative effects of stress and poor lifestyle are "lifestyle diseases" such as diabetes, obesity, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, disorders of the musculoskeletal system, burnout syndrom and chronic fatigue syndrome. Appropriately chosen physical activity based on the temperament can reduce risk, mitigate health problems and prevent the development of disease in all the aforementioned cases. The research survey conducted for 6 months on a group of five top managers attending in Fitness Slavia showed that exercise programs individually prepared on the basis of temperament have a positive impact both on mental and physical health of top managers. Methods: In this thesis these methods are used: measuring and testing, interviews, observation, study of specific literature and research. Results: The results obtained should help formulate the basis of the next...

The relation between temperament and happiness in children aged 8-12 was examined. Participants included 311 students in Grades 4-6 and their parents, recruited from public and private schools in the Central Okanagan. Parents rated their children’s temperament using the Emotionality, Activity, and Sociability (EAS) Temperament Survey (Buss & Plomin, 1984) and rated their children’s happiness using a single-item measure. Children rated their own temperament using the EAS Temperament Survey and the Piers- Harris Self Concept Scale for Children, Second Edition (Piers-Harris 2) (Piers & Herzberg, 2002). Children also rated their own happiness using a single-item measure, the Oxford Happiness Scale, Short Form (Hills & Arygle, 2002), and the Subjective Happiness Scale (Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 1999). Confirmatory factor analyses established that parent and child ratings on the EAS Temperament Survey conformed to the four-factor structure proposed by Buss and Plomin (1984). Multiple regression analyses revealed that temperament accounted for between 9-29% of the variance in children’s happiness depending on the rater (i.e., parents vs. children) and the measure of happiness. Individual temperament variables that predicted a unique amount of the variance of children’s happiness over and above the combined effect of all temperament variables varied with the rater of children’s temperament (i.e., parents vs. children) and with the measure of happiness. Children who were more social, less shy, less emotional, and more free from anxiety rated themselves, and were rated by others, as happier. Children who scored higher on the activity temperament rated themselves, and were rated by others, as happier. The results of the current study parallel results of research investigating the relation between happiness and personality in adults. It establishes a strong relation between temperament and happiness, and iii supports the use of self-reports with children. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The relation between temperament and happiness in children aged 8-12 was examined. Participants included 311 students in Grades 4-6 and their parents, recruited from public and private schools in the Central Okanagan. Parents rated their children’s temperament using the Emotionality, Activity, and Sociability (EAS) Temperament Survey (Buss & Plomin, 1984) and rated their children’s happiness using a single-item measure. Children rated their own temperament using the EAS Temperament Survey and the Piers- Harris Self Concept Scale for Children, Second Edition (Piers-Harris 2) (Piers & Herzberg, 2002). Children also rated their own happiness using a single-item measure, the Oxford Happiness Scale, Short Form (Hills & Arygle, 2002), and the Subjective Happiness Scale (Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 1999). Confirmatory factor analyses established that parent and child ratings on the EAS Temperament Survey conformed to the four-factor structure proposed by Buss and Plomin (1984). Multiple regression analyses revealed that temperament accounted for between 9-29% of the variance in children’s happiness depending on the rater (i.e., parents vs. children) and the measure of happiness. Individual temperament variables that predicted a unique amount of the variance of children’s happiness over and above the combined effect of all temperament variables varied with the rater of children’s temperament (i.e., parents vs. children) and with the measure of happiness. Children who were more social, less shy, less emotional, and more free from anxiety rated themselves, and were rated by others, as happier. Children who scored higher on the activity temperament rated themselves, and were rated by others, as happier. The results of the current study parallel results of research investigating the relation between happiness and personality in adults. It establishes a strong relation between temperament and happiness, and iii supports the use of self-reports with children. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The presented dissertation consists of both a quantitative part and a qualitative part. The quantitative part deals with the relationship between 5-HTTLPR S/L, MAOA H/L, and COMT Val158Met polymorphisms, the stress reaction of new-born infants after a heel stick blood draw (measured by determining salivary cortisol at three time points) and temperament assessed at age three months by Rothbarth's Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised in a sample of 84 infants. Observed polymorphisms were related both to the course of the stress reaction and to temperament. The short allele of serotonin transporter polymorphism was connected to higher scores in the secondary scale of Negative Affect and lower scores in the secondary scale of Attention/Regulation. Homozygotes for the more active allele of MAOA polymorphism (HH) had the lowest scores in Negative Affect compared to both of the remaining groups, they also had higher scores in the secondary scale of Extraversion and Attention/Regulation and a greater decrease of cortisol in comparison to HL heterozygotes. The presence of low-active L allele predisposed their carriers to higher scores in Negative Affect and lower scores in Attention/Regulation. LL homozygotes had the highest increase of cortisol after a heel stick blood draw. The Met allele of COMT Val158Met polymorphism was connected to higher Extraversion and Attention/Regulation and a greater cortisol decrease. It was possible to predict all three secondary scales of IBQ-R from the stress reaction after the heel stick blood draw. Negative Affect was predicted by a higher increase and a lower decrease of cortisol. Extraversion and Attention/Regulation were predicted by a greater cortisol decrease. The magnitude of cortisol decrease partially mediated the influence of COMT Val158Met polymorphism on Extraversion. The qualitative part of the dissertation is a multi-casuistic study of six couples parenting infants with difficult temperaments. It is based on semi-structured interviews that were analysed in accordance with qualitative procedures. The most difficult infant displays to manage were unsoothable crying in the first six months and early sleeplessness and a later escalation of sleeping problems. Mothers were esentially not able to gain control over the amount of crying, but some of them managed to influence their experience to achieve a greater acceptance of it. To do this, it was necessary for them to eliminate their feelings of failure in the parental role. The parents' biggest dilemma concerning their infants' sleeping problems was whether to use the "cry it out" strategy or not to manage them. For some parents parenting a difficult infant was an opportunity to re-evaluate their approach to parenting and the parental role, significantly broadening the concept of both. Caring for a difficult infant significantly strained the marital relationship; four couples experienced marital crisis during the care of their child. The father's involvement in infant care seemed very important in this respect. Insufficient involvement led to dissatisfaction in the mother, the way the mother communicated her demands further influenced the marital relationship. Particular behaviour that the mother understood as the father's involvement in infant care emerged.

The relation between temperament and happiness in children aged 8-12 was examined. Participants included 311 students in Grades 4-6 and their parents, recruited from public and private schools in the Central Okanagan. Parents rated their children’s temperament using the Emotionality, Activity, and Sociability (EAS) Temperament Survey (Buss & Plomin, 1984) and rated their children’s happiness using a single-item measure. Children rated their own temperament using the EAS Temperament Survey and the Piers- Harris Self Concept Scale for Children, Second Edition (Piers-Harris 2) (Piers & Herzberg, 2002). Children also rated their own happiness using a single-item measure, the Oxford Happiness Scale, Short Form (Hills & Arygle, 2002), and the Subjective Happiness Scale (Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 1999). Confirmatory factor analyses established that parent and child ratings on the EAS Temperament Survey conformed to the four-factor structure proposed by Buss and Plomin (1984). Multiple regression analyses revealed that temperament accounted for between 9-29% of the variance in children’s happiness depending on the rater (i.e., parents vs. children) and the measure of happiness. Individual temperament variables that predicted a unique amount of the variance of children’s happiness over and above the combined effect of all temperament variables varied with the rater of children’s temperament (i.e., parents vs. children) and with the measure of happiness. Children who were more social, less shy, less emotional, and more free from anxiety rated themselves, and were rated by others, as happier. Children who scored higher on the activity temperament rated themselves, and were rated by others, as happier. The results of the current study parallel results of research investigating the relation between happiness and personality in adults. It establishes a strong relation between temperament and happiness, and iii supports the use of self-reports with children. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. / Graduate Studies, College of (Okanagan) / Graduate

The aim of this study was to explore temperament, psychopathology and quality of life (QOL) in adolescents born at extremely low birth weight (ELBW), i.e., < 1000g. ELBW adolescents (N = 15) completed the Revised Cheek and Buss Scale and Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview 5.0.0 (M.I.N.I.), while their legal guardians completed a biographical questionnaire and the Short Form 12 version 2. The median age of the sample was 13 SD = 2.526 years (60% male) and all participants spoke English. ELBW adolescents with social phobia (n = 6) were more shy (p = .041) and had poorer mental health-related QOL (p = .041) than those without such symptoms. The results suggest that ELBW could be a predisposing factor for increased shyness and psychological disorders including social phobia. Planning of interventions for ELBW individuals should therefore include strategies to prevent or mitigate the effects of these factors in adolescence / Psychology / M. A. (Clinical Psychology)

The humanitarian sector is in need to prioritize its human resources. Inadequate recruitment processes, aid workers that enter the field unprepared, failed interrelationships and team dissatisfaction leads to poorer work quality, poorer health, and a high employee turnover that are costly for the field, and negative on the side of accountability to the beneficiaries of aid. In order to address these problems the study is investigating the use of a personality type system tool developed by the researcher, the 4mpt-system (4 major personality types-system),that tentatively is constructed as a tool to be applied within human resources in the humanitarian sector to access individual preferences and character traits that would facilitate in addressing the issues mentioned above. The data is gathered via in-depth semi-structured interviews of 7 informants working in the international humanitarian sector. The first objective is to study the reliability and validity of the 4mpt-system. The second objective is to study what information that could be accessed via the 4mpt-system tool from the 7 informants participating in the study. The result of the study would demonstrate that all of the informants could be assigned to a specific temperament type via a qualitative data analyze method designed from the 4mpt-system and that the temperaments affected the informants to a large extent (from motivations and skills to organisational preferences and personal belief systems). Further, the answers of the informants matched the theoretical definitions of the traits assigned to the temperament types by Keirsey (1998) and Fisher (2009), which was a positive indication for a good validity of the 4mpt-system. By verifying the similarity between the answers of informants assigned to the same temperament type, validity was further confirmed. The results of the study supported the reliability and validity of the 4mpt -system. The type of information that could be accessed via the 4mpt-system in the study was among other the motivation for beginning in the humanitarian field, work task preferences, professional skills, problem-solving approaches, decision making processes, likes and dislikes with work and work tasks, organisational structure preference, preference for working directly in the field or working from the office, and general outlooks and personal belief systems.

A prospective, longitudinal and observational study, using a non-clinical population of mother-child dyads was conducted to evaluate the contribution of family-environmental factors in predicting child food avoidance and feeding problems across early childhood. The contribution of maternal feeding practices, mealtime structure and interactional behaviour during mealtimes, were explored in predicting child food avoidance between 2 and 5 years, whilst also evaluating the role of maternal psychopathology and child temperament. This thesis also assessed the validity of maternal reports of child eating behaviour and feeding practices by obtaining independent observations of these constructs, and explored the longitudinal stability and continuity of both independent observations and maternal reports of child eating behaviour and maternal feeding practices. Concurrently and prospectively, observations of mothers eating with their child, displaying high sensitivity, low control, and more positive emotion and verbalisation during mealtimes predicted less avoidant child eating behaviour. Reports of mothers providing a healthy food-related home environment, encouraging balanced food intake, and involving their child in food planning, in addition to a less emotional child temperament, were also significant longitudinal predictors of less avoidant child eating behaviour. Maternal descriptions of their child s eating behaviour were validated by independent observations; however maternal descriptions of their own feeding practices were not. Child eating behaviour and maternal feeding practices were predominantly stable and continuous across early childhood, with the exception of child difficulty to feed and maternal pressure to eat which decreased between the ages of 3 and 4. This thesis demonstrates many interesting and novel findings but primarily through the utilisation of observational and longitudinal data it demonstrates the important causal contribution of family-environmental factors in the development of food avoidant eating behaviours during early childhood.

The relationship between measures of temperament, growth performance, and social hierarchy in finishing beef cattle were explored in two experiments. In experiment 1, high OCS (objective chute score) steers had periods of significantly higher ADG (P < 0.01), but OCS had no relationship with dominance ranking (P > 0.47). Conversely, slow exit velocity (EV) correlated with higher ranking (P ≤ 0.06), but EV had no relationship with performance (P > 0.37) in a competitive environment. Rank showed no relationship with performance (P > .58). In experiment 2, steers with fast EV had periods of decreased growth (P ≤ .06), intake (P ≤ .06), and gain:feed (G:F; P = 0.02). There were no interactions between EV, OCS, and monensin or between EV and monensin. Monensin and EV together, however, significantly impacted overall (days 0 – end) G:F (P = 0.02) and gain (P = 0.05). Overall, these studies further confirm the idea that EV affects performance as does OCS in concert with monensin. Moreover, it further confirms that different measures of temperament correlated to different aspects of performance and should not be lumped together under the general term “temperament” when describing its relationship with performance.

Increased rates of involuntary culling as a consequence of poorer health and fertility had led to the conclusion that dairy cows appear to be less “robust” or adaptable than in the past. A way to address these concerns in breeding programs could be to select for health and welfare by including appropriate traits in a broader breeding index. However, it is important to consider any consequences that such breeding goals may have on dairy cow temperament and welfare. There were two phases to this study. The main objective of phase I was to develop tests for measuring responsiveness to humans and novelty, aggression at the feedface and sociability in dairy cows for use on commercial farms. To allow these tests to be used on commercial farm, they must be short in duration, non-invasive and not disruptive to the daily farming routine, while at the same time allowing comparisons between an individual cow’s responses in a number of similar situations. Results from this study suggested that a standardised human approach test and a stationary visual object are reliable tests for measuring responsiveness of dairy cows to changes in their environment. Measuring behaviour at the feedface proved to be an effective measure of between cow aggression. Inter-animal distance, position in relation to the herd, behavioural synchrony and presence at the feedface proved accurate measures of sociability. The remaining part of the study (Phase II) focussed on assessing how the implantation of a breeding index can affect the temperament of dairy cows on commercial farms. The tests developed were then recorded on 402 first lactation Holstein-Friesian dairy cows selected from sires that scored high (HI) and low (LO) for robustness (health, fertility and longevity traits) to produce two treatment groups on 33 commercial farms. For the purpose of this thesis, only the results from the assessment of aggressiveness are presented. Continuous focal sampling was used to record aggressive behaviour during feeding of the HI and LO cows within the herd. Cows from the HI group were involved in more aggressive interactions, initiated more aggression and received more aggression than cows from the LO group. There was a strong influence of management factors influencing aggression such as the quality of stockmanship, feedface design and nutrition. In conclusion, daughters from sires scoring high for robustness may be expressing a greater ability to maintain position at the feedface during an aggressive interaction. This highlights the importance of assessing the correlated effects of selective breeding, in this case for robustness, on behavioural traits.