This thesis describes the relationship between adult attachment style, coping strategies, identity development and perception of social support. 107 participants answered four self-report questionnaires examining their attachment style, coping strategies, identity development status and perception of social support. Correlation analyses were used. Results showed secure attachment to significantly positively correlate with identity moratorium and to negatively correlate with identity foreclosure. Avoidant attachment significantly positively correlated with denial and mental disengagement and negatively correlated with seeking social support. Individuals with high avoidant attachment scores were more likely to have high scores for identity diffusion, more likely to perceive fewer available social supports and were less likely to be satisfied with this support. Anxious ambivalence positively correlated with denial and mental, behavioural and alcohol/drug disengagement, and negatively correlated with active and planning which are pro-active coping strategies. Anxious ambivalence positively correlated with identity diffusion and negatively with identity foreclosure. Individuals with high anxious ambivalence scores were more likely to be dissatisfied with social support. Overall, secure attachment was found to correlate with acknowledging the need for an identity search. Insecure attachment was found to relate to less effective coping methods, to correlate with not acknowledging the need for an identity search and dissatisfaction with social support. Results are considered in terms of attachment styles and applications, for example in therapeutic settings.

Our personality and the way we cope with stress are two factors that are important in the development of psychological distress. The current study explored the relationship between personality, coping styles and psychological distress in 201 students from the University of Canterbury. Participants completed the Temperament Character Inventory - Revised (TCI-R; Cloninger et al., 1994), the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS; S.H. Lovibond & P.F. Lovibond, 1995) and the Coping Orientation of Problem Experience (COPE; Carver, Scheier, Weintraub, 1989). The study showed that participants with high harm avoidance and low self-directedness reported increased stress, anxiety and depression, while low harm avoidance and high self-directedness appeared to be a protective factor against the development of distress. Avoidant coping was shown to be the most maladaptive coping style as it was associated with increased stress, anxiety and depression, while problem-focused coping appeared to reduce depressive symptoms. Strong associations were also found between personality and coping styles, as individuals with high reward dependence were more inclined to engage in emotion-focused coping, while high self-directed individuals engaged in more problem-focused coping. High harm avoidance was associated with avoidant coping, resulting in greater distress than either predictor alone. The current study suggests that our personality and the coping styles we employ may influence whether we experience stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms. Furthermore, the association between personality and coping styles suggests that individuals with maladaptive personalities (e.g. high harm avoidance) are at a greater risk for experiencing psychological distress as they are more likely to use a maladaptive coping style such as avoidant coping.

There is a paucity of research into traumatic incidents concerning police workers (Hart et al. 1995). There are also few studies relating the prolonged and repetitive exposure to traumatic stressors, or 'sequential trauma' (Gersons and earlier 1990; 1992). Whilst it was acknowledged that organisational stress contributes to adaptive or maladaptive well being, dependent on transactional variables between the person and their environment, it was also argued that further along the stress continuum, there exists gross stress reactions similar to Post Traumatic stress Disorders (PTSD; DSM-IIIR; American Psychiatric Association 1989) and newly revised PTSD criterion (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association 1994). However PTSD exclusively relates to a single event of overwhelming magnitude (Davidson and Foa 1991), whilst sequential trauma relates to mUltiple event exposure (Peters-Bean 1990b; 1996). It was argued that the magnitude of stimuli in trauma is not as important as the management of the trauma. Rather trauma is an artefact of person-environment transactions and the operation of 'traumatic signatures' which can be used adaptively or maladaptively in certain scenarios. Models of sequential trauma were proposed and tested. These notions are discussed in relation to three studies: an interview booklet survey (N=89); a Metropolitan Police Survey (N=134) and a Main U.K. Forces Survey (N=528) Results and implications for police workers and further research was discussed. It was found that trauma signatures may possibly assist in the processes involved with encountering trauma, primary and secondary appraisal mechanisms, coping post-event and physiological and psychological well-being with reference to individual and organisational outcomes.

Each year, organizations invest billions of dollars in large information systems (IS) that support business processes. These systems are implemented with the hope that they will bring increased efficiency and productivity to operations, decision making, and collaboration, thus strengthening competitive advantage in an increasingly aggressive global marketplace. Unfortunately, empirical evidence demonstrates that despite prodigious investment in these systems, their purported benefits often lag behind expectations, or fail to materialize at all. While many causes may contribute to these failures, a common theme in empirical studies is that information systems are rarely infused into individuals' work practices, thus undermining their benefits to the organization. IS infusion refers to the degree to which the technology is fully integrated into an individual's or organization's work systems. Although theoretical and practical interest in IS infusion is growing, little is understood about the factors that lead to IS infusion at the individual level.This dissertation integrates research and theory in information systems acceptance, adaptation, and infusion to develop a theoretical model of IS infusion at the individual level. To test the model, a survey instrument was developed and tested at the health care facility of a large public university. The revised survey was then deployed at a large technology firm in the northwestern United States, from which 195 individual responses were obtained. Results indicate that adaptation behaviors engaged in by IS users significantly impact the degree to which they infuse the IS in their work. Moreover, these adaptation behaviors are shaped by cognitive appraisals of the IS, which are, in turn, influenced by key acceptance-related IS perceptions.This study contributes to research by integrating previously disparate theories into a holistic framework of individual-level IS infusion. For practice, this research sheds light on specific factors that contribute to IS adaptation and infusion, thereby assisting IS managers to promote these outcomes within their organization.

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Sammanfattning   Ambulanssjuksköterskan arbetar idag i stressiga, krävande miljöer och ska då fatta snabba, korrekta beslut som kan vara livsavgörande för en svårt sjuk patient. Om en individ upplever att dennes yrkessituation inte kan kontrolleras eller hanteras kan personen till slut reagera med uppgivenhet, detta är en definition av långvarig stress.   Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur litteraturen identifierar och beskriver upplevelser av stress hos ambulanssjuksköterskor och vilka preventiva interventioner som finns idag för att hantera ambulanssjuksköterskans stress i samband med traumatiska möten av svårt sjuka patienter. Metoden för studien var en deskriptiv litteraturstudie där artiklar hämtades via Google Scholar, Medline via PubMed och Cinahl.   Resultatet av denna studie visade att det i de flesta fall saknas en strategi för att möta den yrkesrelaterade stress som ambulanssjuksköterskor utsätts för. För att kunna upptäcka och undvika symtom på stress behövs mer preventiva interventioner och uppföljningar före eller i direkt anslutning till en kritisk händelse. Det behövs mer forskning i ämnet och fåtalet artiklar uppvisar förslag angående djupgående hjälpmedel för stresshantering och stressrelaterade sjukdomar.   Slutsats Att ambulanssjuksköterskan i sitt arbete upplever stress och är tvungen att hantera den är ett faktum. För att komma åt detta problem behövs både engagemang och preventiva strategier av arbetsgivare för att stötta ambulanssjuksköterskan i hanteringen av stressupplevda situationer. / Abstract   The paramedic nurse today works in stressful, demanding conditions, and is constantly forced to make quick, correct decisions vital for a critically ill patient. Should an individual experience a work environment, which cannot be handled or controlled, the ultimate reaction is one of complete resignation. This is a symptom of prolonged stress. The purpose of this study is to examine how scholarly literature identifies and describes stress experiences among paramedic nurses. It also aims to evaluate the means of preventive interventions currently available to manage stress symptoms arising from traumatic encounters with severely ill patients. Method: This study is a literature review based on scientific articles collected from Google Scholar, Medline via Pubmed, and Cinahl.   The outcome of this study showed that, in most cases, there is a lack of means to meet the work-related stress that paramedic nurses are exposed to. In order to detect and avoid stress symptoms, more preventive interventions and monitoring are needed – both before and directly following critical situations. In the academic literature examined, the need for further research within this field is obvious, but there are few suggestions of any long-term preventive conclusions against stress and stress-related diseases.   Conclusion: Paramedics experience stress in their work and are forced to successfully cope with it. Employers have to take action to actively engage in these issues, and provide strategies to support the paramedic nurse in managing stressful situations.

It has been acknowledged for some time that personal experience, relationship and emotional factors are important aspects of difficulties in learning to read and write; however there is still little research carried out in this area. This thesis explores the way in which eight adults make sense of their difficulties with reading and writing and identification of dyslexia; and their process of developing more positive self-perceptions and coping strategies. The study is guided by standpoint theory, with priority given to participants’ perceptions about difficulties in reading and writing rather than to academic and/or practitioner perspectives. Analysis of interviews is carried out through a life history methodology that identifies discourses of dyslexia in order to situate the way difficulties are understood and addressed. The discourses include four identified by Pollak (2005) and identification of six additional discourses of dyslexia that were present in both the literature review and at least half of the participant interviews. In the analysis, use of these discourses is mapped alongside the life story of each participant using the Model of Vocational Success (MVS) (Gerber et al. 1992) as a framework for classifying the development of positive self-perceptions and coping mechanisms. The participants’ life histories reveal that, without identification of dyslexia, difficulties with reading and writing are most often attributed by others such as teachers, peers and/or parents to low intelligence and/or lack of effort. Some participants rejected this understanding and others internalised it. Experience of ‘niche’ where the participant found themselves to be successful in a specific context best supported the development of positive self-perceptions and coping strategies before identification of dyslexia. Identification of dyslexia provided a means of making sense of difficulties, bolstered self-belief in intelligence, and initiated changes in support and personal motivation which, for the majority of participants, were notably beneficial. This PhD makes a number of unique contributions to knowledge about dyslexia, particularly through its prioritization of the voice of dyslexic people over professional voices. The identification of six additional discourses of dyslexia contributes to knowledge about the way difficulties with reading and writing can be understood and talked about, and exploration of how these discourses link to the MVS contributes knowledge about the advantages and disadvantages of these discourses to dyslexic people. The discourse ‘Hemispherist’ (Pollak 2005) was found to offer the most opportunity for dyslexic adults to develop positive self-perceptions and take constructive action to compensate for difficulties.