In the last few decades expatriation to East Asia and China in particular has become an important phenomenon investigated by research studies. Undoubtedly, expatriates face multiple emotional challenges during their stay in China, such as adjustment, cultural adaptation, work related difficulties, language barriers and family separation. The present study aimed to explore in depth the specific psychological needs of expatriates based on their personal subjective opinion from a Counselling Psychology perspective. A narratively informed Thematic Analysis design was used and conversational interviews conducted to generate accounts of the phenomenon of expatriation and the emotional challenges people faced due to a change of country and culture. Five main themes were identified and special emphasis was given to the subthemes which consisted the new and unique findings of the current thesis: I) Emotional Challenges: a) emotional difficulties, b) positive challenges, c) the challenge of the unknown and d) repatriation. As coping strategies, emphasis was given to a) social network, b) the importance of the family, and c) professional support. The issue of adjustment, which included three subthemes a) adjustment to daily life b) living conditions and c) work satisfaction was also discussed. The fourth theme, Personality, included two subthemes: a) Traits and b) Personal Development. The final theme was cultural differences, which included three subthemes: a) communication and interaction with locals, b) cultural differences at work and c) culture shock. The study found that emotional challenges have both positive and negative impacts on the life and well-being of expatriates. Common emotional difficulties identified were anxiety, distress, depression, loss, cultural isolation and loneliness, while positive aspects included working towards better professional and personal development. The study also identified social interaction as the main expatriate coping strategy and community counselling work was suggested as a form of support. Personality traits were identified as an important variable which can have a significant influence on emotional challenges as a form of coping strategy. A detailed account of the issues concerning adjustment to daily life was also discussed. Emphasis was also given to work adjustment as a coping strategy and cultural differences was discussed as a form of emotional difficulties. The contribution of the current qualitative research is discussed and further clinical interventions are suggested.

Magister Commercii - MCom / Research (Sartain et al., 2006) indicates that engagement demands a more thoughtful way to address the everyday realities of organisational life. The current research endeavours to elucidate the relationship between emotional intelligence and work engagement amongst leaders in a financial service organisation undergoing change. / South Africa

This thesis explores the interaction between well-being and environmental volunteering. Focusing on five case study groups across Scotland, the emotional, social and physical well-being impacts of active environmental volunteer work are examined. Through an extensive ethnographic approach incorporating in-depth interviewing, participant observation and focus group work the thesis highlights the importance of studying the initial and continuing motivations for individuals to participate in environmental volunteering. This retains a particular focus on emotional and embodied volunteer experiences, exploring the importance of tasks and landscapes on the volunteering encounters. In considering the meaning of volunteering, the thesis also explores linkages of community and citizenship and how individuals frame and understand their volunteering, especially in relation to the environmental aspects of the work. This speaks directly to academic themes of embodiment, human-nature interactions, emotional geographies and social capital. The studentship was an ESRC-CASE funded project, with the CASE partner being Forestry Commission Scotland. The research takes place within a dynamic political context that encompasses current research and work on volunteering and natural environment encounters within Scotland and the UK as a whole. The thesis looks to inform ongoing policy relevant debates on environmental volunteering within both the Forestry Commission Scotland and the Scottish Government.

The purpose of this content analysis study was to identify opportunities embedded in selected reading programs that facilitate the development of social and emotional competencies in the context of literacy instruction. These competencies have been shown to strengthen academic performance and help children learn skills that accelerate success inside and outside of the classroom. The content analysis examined three commonly used third-grade core reading programs to identify content that focuses on social and emotional competencies and instructional processes important in teaching social and emotional skills to children. The study also sought to identify content and instructional processes that might be strengthened in the curriculum to provide greater opportunities for social and emotional growth. As a part of the investigation of core reading programs, current market information was used to identify the most recent editions of the most widely used core reading programs in the U.S.

I researched the history of emotional trauma and its portrayal in modern media and Shakespearean plays and created a film based on my personal experience with the topic. This film utilizes Shakespearean song and monologue from Hamlet and Macbeth to narrate the inner journey of a girl working through emotional trauma. We follow her as she feels the impact of her trauma in her body and as she tries to hide it from her friends and maintain a normal facade. This film does contain a fictionalized portrayal of an anxiety attack, so viewer discretion is advised. This project does not claim to be a comprehensive and complete narrative for anyone dealing with emotional trauma: it is a deeply personal experience and affects every person differently. I drew inspiration from my own struggles with emotional trauma for this film and the reflection of my experience that I found in these Shakespearean monologues.

Parents of transgender children face challenges when their children come out, including fear of negative reaction toward the parents and their transgender child by community members, concerns about social status in the community or religious organizations, and concerns about the inability of the transgender child to build his or her own family. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to investigate the emotional experiences of parents regarding their acceptance or rejection of their transgender child. Rohner's parental acceptance-rejection theory provided the framework for the study. Data were collected from parents (N = 13) who attended Parents and Friends of Gay and Lesbian support groups from various areas in the United States or who were identified through snowball sampling using semistructured interviews and a demographic questionnaire. Data were coded and analyzed to identify themes in parental responses to their transgender children coming out, which were either negative, neutral, positive, or mixed. Results indicated that even parents with negative emotions supported and loved their children unconditionally. Findings may be used to develop supportive interventions for parents coping with their transgender child's transition.

Workplace bullying has escalated among U.S. workers, and aside from its mental and physical toll, it can affect productivity, absenteeism, and turnover. Researchers have identified the primary causes of workplace bullying as envy, leadership disregard, a permissive climate, organizational culture, and personality traits. This non experimental, quantitative study investigated the predictors of workplace bullying at the target level, and specifically examined if target EI, age, gender, and/or race/ethnicity predicts experienced workplace bullying. Participants (N = 151) 18 years or older with one year of work experience were recruited from the WBI database, a newspaper column, public presentations, and a blog. Participants completed the Negative Acts Questionnaire to assess experienced workplace bullying, the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (Short Form) to assess EI, and a demographic questionnaire. A Pearson's correlation and multiple regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses. Global trait EI and the 4 trait EI factors of well-being, self-control, emotionality, and sociability were not statistically significantly related to workplace bullying. Further, EI, age, gender, and race/ethnicity were also not related to workplace bullying. Further research is suggested, to include examining organizational effects on workplace bullying. The implications for social change it that resources currently allocated for target can be more appropriately directed toward supervisors and the organization's culture.

The purpose of this study was to examine affective changes which result from injury in female collegiate gymnasts, using the Profile of Mood States (POMS) instrument (McNair, Lorr, & Droppleman, 1971 ). Twelve female gymnasts, comprising the Utah State University gymnastics team, completed the POMS twice per month for four months during their 1986-87 competitive season . A comparison group of 12 non-athlete female college students, matched with the gymnasts by age, year in school, and major, completed the POMS on the same schedule as the gymnasts. Injury was defined as orthopedic damage to the gymnast's body as a result of participation in gymnastics, another sport-related activity, or a non-sport-related accident, which forced the gymnast to miss one week of gymnastics practice or one competitive event. Pre- and post-injury POMS profiles were analyzed by visual inspection. Of the four gymnasts who sustained injuries during the season, two exhibited significant POMS profile changes. One gymnast who did not participate during the 1986-87 season, due to an injury sustained the previous year, produced POMS profiles which fluctuated in anticipation of, and in response to, her visits to physicians treating her injury. Comparisons using 1 tests of POMS factor scores of the non-injured gymnasts with those of the non-athlete college students indicated no significant differences between the two groups. Visual comparisons were conducted to ascertain if non-injured gymnasts' POMS profiles were similar to the "iceberg" profile found by Morgan (1979) in his study of elite athletes. Thirty-six percent of the gymnasts' POMS profiles had the iceberg configuration, as compared to 20 percent of the non-athletes' profiles. Since three of the five (60 percent) of the injured gymnasts in this study had significant changes in POMS factor scores, the hypothesis that injury can produce substantial affective changes in female collegiate gymnasts was supported . Additional research should be conducted to replicate and extend these results and to explore options for optimal treatment of injured athletes. Further comparisons between POMS profiles of both injured and healthy elite, professional, and collegiate athletes is recommended.

Disordered sleep is strongly linked to depression, but reasons for this are not well understood. One possibility is that this link is partially explained by deficits in the emotional processing system. This model is substantiated based on the strong link between sleep and emotions, as well as ties between affect and depression. Therefore, this study tested whether various emotional and non-emotional deficits mediated the link between poor sleep quality and depression. Two hundred undergraduate students were recruited via an online university system. Participants completed self-report scales of depression, sleep quality, emotion recognition, and affective response to pre-tested pleasant or unpleasant stimuli. Mediation models were tested for viable emotion and non-emotion mediators, as well as using other mediators as covariates. The indirect effect for all models was tested using bootstrapping. Only affective response to unpleasant stimuli emerged as a significant mediator of the relationship between sleep quality and depression and accounted for 5% of the variance in that relationship; it remained a mediator after controlling for non-emotion related mediators. Recently, sleep problems have gained attention due to serious consequences for public health, including a strong association with psychological disorders. This study was a first step in testing pathways by which disordered sleep leads to increases in depression symptoms. In our sample, blunted emotional responding to unpleasant images partially accounted for the link seen between sleep and depression. Future research may aim to extend the study of process and pathway-related models, particularly in the realm of emotional responding in the relationship between sleep and depression.

acase@tulane.edu / Agencies declare the development of social and emotional skills critical to child development, and research on outcomes of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programming supports this claim. Despite the growing number of resources for educators, the day-to-day realities of individual school environments provide countless obstacles to implementation of SEL programs and initiatives. Without proper implementation, programs may not produce the desired student outcomes. Administrative support has been identified as a key factor underlying effective implementation, and while this seems to be a concrete way to increase SEL outcomes, the construct lacks a clear definition. This makes it difficult to identify which aspects of administrative support for SEL are the most important, and what mechanisms underlie the provision of support for SEL. Because there is no academic definition to guide school administrators in what supports to provide for effective implementation, it is necessary to research this construct. The current study seeks to do so by listening to the voices of those closest to the work of implementation, administrators and teachers themselves. By determining what supports stakeholders perceive necessary to successfully implement SEL in the context of a specific school site, the study aims to identify salient components of administrator support and create an emic definition to guide implementation. / 1 / Laura C. Cornell