Syftet med studien var att undersöka sambandet mellan Mental Health Literacy (MHL) och psykologisk ohälsa och hälsa via variablerna emotionell och fysisk utmattning, ångest, depression, muskeldysmorfi, välbefinnande inom idrott, harmonisk passion samt tvångsmässig passion. Det specifika syftet var att undersöka om MHL kan predicera psykologiska hälsa och ohälsa. Tidigare studier har visat signifikanta samband mellan idrottares Mental Health Literacy (MHL) och deras psykologiska hälsa, där forskning indikerar att låga nivåer av MHL leder till försämrad psykologisk hälsa jämfört med de som skattar hög MHL (Kutcher et al., 2016). I föreliggande studie användes en kvantitativ longitudinell forskningsdesign där sammanlagt 70 idrottare deltog i åldrarna 15–35 år (M= 23.7, SD= 5.69). Deltagarna rekryterades via ett tillgänglighetsurval och besvarade en enkät vid två mättillfällen, vilket innehöll sex frågeformulär. Resultatet indikerar att det inte finns något samband över tid mellan MHL och psykologisk hälsa hos idrottare. Detta indikerar att varken låga eller höga nivåer av MHL kan predicera en idrottares kommande psykologiska hälsa. Resultatet i föreliggande studie belyser att det finns goda skäl till mer forskning kring sambandet mellan MHL och psykologisk hälsa inom idrotten. / The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between Mental Health Literacy (MHL) and psychological health and illness through the variables emotional and physical exhaustion, anxiety, depression, muscle dysmorphia, well-being in sports, harmonious and obsessive passion. More specifically, the purpose was to investigate whether MHL can predict psychological health and illness. Previous studies have shown a significant relationship between athletes' Mental Health Literacy (MHL) and their psychological health, the research indicates that low levels of MHL lead to poorer psychological health compared to those who rate high MHL (Kutcher et al., 2016). A quantitative longitudinal research design was used in this study and a total of 70 athletes aged 15–35 years participated (M = 23.7, SD = 5.69). Participants were recruited via an availability sample and answered a questionnaire on two measurement occasions, which contained six questionnaires. The results indicate that there is no relationship over time between MHL and psychological health. More specifically, the results indicate that neither low or high levels of MHL can predict an athlete's future psychological health. The results of the present study highlight that there are good reasons for more research about the relationship between MHL and psychological health in sports.

Thèse de doctorat présentée en vue de l'obtention du doctorat en psychologie - recherche (Ph.D) / La santé psychologique est une composante essentielle au bon fonctionnement quotidien des individus. Celle-ci est influencée par plusieurs facteurs, dont leur emploi. Un employé possédant une bonne santé psychologique n’est pas seulement fondamental pour son propre bien-être, mais également pour les objectifs de l’organisation qui l’emploie. Effectivement, un employé qui vit beaucoup de bien-être psychologique au travail est plus satisfait de son emploi et est plus productif et efficace à la tâche. A contrario, un employé en détresse psychologique à son travail est à risque de développer plusieurs troubles psychologiques, dont la dépression, le burnout et l’anxiété, menant à plusieurs comportements indésirables et à un roulement du personnel accru. La résilience est un phénomène permettant aux employés de mieux gérer les conséquences toxiques des adversités caractéristiques du milieu organisationnel sur leur santé psychologique en protégeant leur bien-être et en limitant les impacts négatifs sur leur détresse psychologique. Les objectifs de cette thèse sont donc de rapporter les principales lacunes de la littérature scientifique au sujet des liens entre la résilience et la santé psychologique en milieu organisationnel et de proposer un modèle prédictif de la santé psychologique chez les directions et directions adjointes des établissements scolaires francophones. Le premier article est une revue de portée qui cartographie la connaissance scientifique sur les liens statistiques directs et indirects entre la résilience et deux facteurs de santé psychologique : le bien-être et la détresse psychologique. Cet article recueille les résultats d’études sur un large éventail d’emplois et de pays d’origine. Plusieurs biais et lacunes en lien avec la validité externe sont observés. La majorité des études proviennent des pays catégorisés WEIRD, étudient les emplois du secteur de la santé et sont motivées par l’arrivée d’une catastrophe telle que la pandémie au COVID-19. Le deuxième article propose un modèle prédictif du bien-être et de la détresse psychologique chez les directions et directions adjointes d’établissements ii scolaires francophones ontariennes et québécoises. Le modèle stipule que le climat de travail, la résilience et les habiletés politiques sont des inducteurs directs du bien-être et de la détresse. Le modèle proposé est également comparé à un modèle alternatif basé sur la théorie de conservation des ressources. Selon l’analyse acheminatoire, le modèle proposé représente le mieux les données et le climat de travail et la résilience prédisent statistiquement le bien-être et la détresse psychologique. La résilience est également le meilleur prédicteur de la santé psychologique. / Psychological health is an essential component for the proper daily functioning of individuals. This is influenced by several factors, including their work. An employee with good psychological health is not only fundamental for their own well-being, but also for the objectives of the organization that employs them. Indeed, an employee who experiences a lot of psychological well-being at work is more satisfied with their job and is more productive and efficient at work. Conversely, an employee in psychological distress is at risk of developing several psychological disorders, including depression, burnout, and anxiety, leading to several undesirable behaviors and increased staff turnover. Resilience is a phenomenon that allows employees to better manage the toxic consequences of the adversities characteristic of the organizational setting on their psychological health by protecting their well being and limiting the negative impacts on their psychological distress. The objectives of this thesis are therefore to report the gaps in the scientific literature on the links between resilience and psychological health in an organizational setting and to propose a predictive model of psychological health among principals and vice-principals of French-speaking schools. The first article is a scoping review that maps scientific knowledge on the direct and indirect statistical links between resilience and the two factors of psychological health: well-being and psychological distress. This article collects the results of studies on a wide range of jobs and countries of origin. Several shortcomings and biases are observed. The majority of studies come from countries categorized as WEIRD, study jobs in the health sector and are motivated by the arrival of a disaster such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The second article proposes a predictive model of well-being and psychological distress among principals and vice-principals of French-speaking schools from Ontario and Québec. The model states that work climate, resilience and political skills are direct drivers of well-being and distress. The proposed model is also compared to an alternative model based on the resource conservation theory. According to the path analysis, the proposed model best fits the data, and work climate and resilience statistically predict well-being and psychological distress. Resilience is also the best predictor of psychological health.

For 30 years researchers have studied Expressive Writing (EW) - writing emotionally about a trauma 3-5 times for 15-30 minutes, while controls (CW) objectively write about, most often, time management. Previous research has documented associations, in the trauma condition, between flexible use of pronouns and physical health, or between trauma writing and improvement of working memory (WM). The main aim of the current study was to see if there is a relation between flexible use of first-person pronoun singular (“I”) in EW and improved results on WM test, as well as on quality of life and self-reported illness. In an Internet study participants were recruited through convenience and snowball sampling and randomly divided on conditions. The final sample consisted of 10 participants each in EW and CW: 13 women, 6 men and 1 non-binary, 21-69 years, most of them well educated. Outcome measures were WM test (Automated version of Operation Span Task; AOSPAN), self-reported quality of life (Brunnsviken Brief Quality of Life; BBQ) and self-reported illness (days of symptoms and restricted activities). JASP was used for the statistics. A measure of flexible use of the Swedish pronoun “jag” (“I”) was tested and found to associate with significant improvements in AOSPAN results only; unexpectedly within the whole sample. On condition one significant result was found: EW improved their quality of life. The increase in AOSPAN results is discussed, as well as writing instructions and baseline assessments. The small sample with self-reported health measures and online WM test limited the study. Replications of the results are needed. / I 30 år har forskare studerat Expressivt skrivande (EW) - att skriva känslomässigt om ett trauma 3-5 gånger à 15-30 minuter. Kontrollbetingelsen (CW) har ofta bestått av att objektivt beskriva sin tidsanvändning. Tidigare forskning har i traumabetingelsen påvisat samband mellan en flexibel användning av pronomen och fysisk hälsa, eller mellan traumaskrivande och förbättrade resultat på test av arbetsminne (WM). Huvudsyftet med den föreliggande studien var att se om det finns ett samband mellan en flexibel användning i EW av pronomenet första person singular (”jag”) och förbättrade resultat på arbetsminnestest, samt på livskvalitet och självrapporterad ohälsa. Tio deltagare vardera deltog i experiment- respektive kontrollgruppen: 13 kvinnor, 6 män och 1 icke-binär, 21-69 år; de flesta välutbildade. Deltagarna rekryterades genom bekvämlighets- och snöbollsurval och fördelades slumpvis till betingelserna. En internetstudie genomfördes, med utfallsmåtten arbetsminnestest (Automated version of Operation Span Task; AOSPAN), självskattad livskvalitet (Brunnsviken Brief Quality of Life; BBQ), samt självskattad ohälsa (dagar med symptom respektive med begränsade aktiviteter). JASP användes för de statistiska analyserna. Ett mått för flexibel användning av det svenska pronomenet ”jag” testades och visade sig vara associerat med signifikanta förbättringar enbart av AOSPAN-resultatet, men förvånande nog inom hela urvalet. I övrigt hittades endast en skillnad mellan betingelserna, nämligen att experimentgruppen signifikant förbättrade sin självskattade livskvalitet. Ökningen av AOSPAN-resultaten diskuteras, liksom skrivinstruktioner och baslinjeskattningar. Studien begränsades av ett litet urval, självskattade hälsomått och nätbaserat arbetsminnestest. Replikationer av resultaten är nödvändiga.

The aim of this research is to develop guidelines for a psycho-educational programme to enhance the self-actualisation of retired people. To do this, an investigation was undertaken to determine how to enhance self-actualisation during retirement, through an understanding of the: • phenomenon of retirement; • concept of self-actualisation; • challenges that hamper adjustment and self-actualisation during retirement; • factors which assist retirees in overcoming challenges and achieving self-actualisation; and • the role of psycho-educational programmes in enhancing self-actualisation during retirement. The literature study sought to promote such an understanding through the investigation of writings and research findings. The qualitative investigation attempted to provide a contextual understanding of the above, through an exploration of the retirement experiences of a selected group of retirees living in George (and surrounding area), South Africa. The findings served as the basis for guidelines for a psycho-educational programme to enhance the self-actualisation of retired people. / Psychology of Education / M.Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

La présente thèse de doctorat porte sur la relation entre la perception de la justice organisationnelle, l’émission de comportements inadaptés au travail et la santé psychologique des individus au travail. En plus de développer un outil de mesure des comportements inadaptés au travail et d’entreprendre un processus de validation de celui-ci, le présent travail propose que les comportements inadaptés au travail puissent occuper un rôle soit protecteur ou explicatif dans la relation qui unit la perception de la justice organisationnelle avec la santé psychologique des individus au travail. Au sein de cette thèse, le premier article recense la documentation scientifique quant aux variables de la perception de la justice organisationnelle, de l’émission des comportements inadaptés au travail et de la santé psychologique des individus au travail, ainsi que les liens qui unissent ces variables. Aussi, les modèles conceptuels des rôles modérateur et médiateur des comportements inadaptés au travail sont proposés au sein de la relation entre la perception de la justice organisationnelle et la santé psychologique des individus au travail. Le deuxième article a pour objectif de développer un outil de mesure des comportements inadaptés au travail et de tester ses propriétés psychométriques. Ainsi, des analyses statistiques exploratoires et confirmatoires ont été effectuées. Afin d’appuyer la valeur critériée de l’outil proposé, une analyse corrélationnelle a été réalisée avec le critère de l’adaptation. Certaines valeurs psychométriques de l’outil sont validées par les résultats obtenus. Le troisième article examine empiriquement les modèles conceptuels des rôles anticipés des comportements inadaptés au travail dans la relation entre la perception de la justice organisationnelle et la santé psychologique des individus au travail. La perception de la justice organisationnelle a été vue sous les composantes distributive, procédurale, informationnelle et interpersonnelle. De son côté, la santé psychologique des individus a été observée par le biais des éléments du bien-être et de la détresse psychologique au travail. Les différentes analyses de régressions multiples hiérarchiques ont permis d’observer l’absence du rôle modérateur des comportements inadaptés au travail. Pour sa part, l’utilisation du test de Sobel a démontré la présence du rôle médiateur des comportements inadaptés au travail dans certaines relations. Plus exactement, celles-ci sont la relation entre la justice interpersonnelle et le bien-être psychologique au travail, la relation entre la justice interpersonnelle et la détresse psychologique au travail, ainsi que la relation entre la justice distributive et la détresse psychologique au travail. Finalement, la conclusion de la thèse présente une synthèse des résultats et expose les limites et pistes de recherches futures. / The present doctoral thesis treats of the relation between perception of organizational justice, emission of misbehaviours at work, and individuals’ psychological health at work. In addition to developing and undertaking a validation process for a measuring scale of misbehaviours at work, the present thesis proposes that these behaviours may occupy either a protective or an explicative role in the relationship that unites the perception of organizational justice with individuals’ psychological health at work. Within the thesis, the first article lists scientific literature concerning the perception of organizational justice, the emission of misbehaviours at work, and individuals’ psychological health at work. This article also includes a revue of links that unite the variables presently at study. Following this review, two conceptual models about possible roles played by misbehaviours at work in the relationship between perception of organizational justice and individuals’ psychological health at work are developed. More precisely, these models are conceptualisation of the moderating and mediating roles of inadequate work behaviours. The second article’s goal is the development of a measuring scale for misbehaviours at work and testing its psychometric proprieties. In this context, exploratory and confirmatory statistical analyses were made. Also, in order to support the criterion value of the proposed tool, a correlation analysis was made with the criteria of adaptation. The results showed that certain psychometric values were validated. The third article empirically examines the conceptual models developed about the possible roles played by misbehaviours at work in the relationship between perception of organizational justice and individuals’ psychological health at work. Organisational justice perception was analysed under distributive, procedural, informational and interpersonal components. As for individuals’ psychological health at work, it was observed through the psychological well-being and distress elements. The different multiple hierarchical regression analyses helped observe the absence of a moderator role for misbehaviours at work. Using the Sobel test showed the presence of a mediator role for misbehaviours at work in the relationship between the interpersonal organizational justice component and well-being, as well as psychological distress at work. This same test highlighted the mediator role of misbehaviours at work in the relationship between the distributive component of organizational justice and the psychological distress at work of individuals. Finally, the conclusion of this thesis presents a synthesis of the results and highlights the limits and future research ideas.

Over the past five decades, universities across the globe have been subjected to powerful forces of change that have impacted their definition, governance and funding structures, and managerial practices. In South Africa, the reform process was amplified by the country’s apartheid legacy and the political and socio-economic realities. Consequently, the transformation has resulted in the corporatisation of universities and the re-engineering of the academic profession into a managed profession that brought about a changed work environment with less secure conditions of employment, more expectations and increased work pressure, with diminished autonomy. The changed and changing South African higher education environment has had and continues to have its effects on academic employees’ well-being, health and morale. Limited research has investigated the sense of purpose and meaning and psychological health of academic employees. Moreover, there is an absence of empirical studies that have reported on the development and evaluation of a brief group-based meaning-centred intervention that focuses on both the sense of purpose and meaning, and psychological health of academic employees. The primary aim of the study was to first explore the meaning and/or meaning frustration embedded in the academic employee experience, in order to develop and empirically assess a brief group-based meaning-centred intervention in a higher education setting. The intervention was articulated from a logotherapy perspective of Viktor Frankl’s system of psychotherapy. An intervention mixed methods design, consisting of four interdependent phases, was used to pursue the aim of the study. The phase one qualitative single case study was used to explore and describe the sense of meaning and/or meaning frustration embedded in academic employees’ experiences. This was used as a means of developing and supporting the intervention that was implemented in the phase three quantitative quasi- experimental single-group pre/post test study. Phase two was thus an applied phase where the intentional mixing of the qualitative and quantitative phases took place. Likewise, phase four was an applied phase since it was used to draw conclusions based on the integration of the phase one findings and the phase three results. The results of the quantitative study indicated that the majority of academic employees who participated in the study had a sense of definite purpose and meaning (MPIL-post = 114.59, SDPIL-post = 18.04) and psychological health, despite the changed and changing HE landscape. The main finding suggests that a logotherapy brief group-based intervention, with a strong cognitive restructuring component, may have a positive impact on the sense of purpose and meaning of academic employees, whilst reducing the presence of symptoms of depression, post traumatic stress, binge eating and panic. The experience of purpose and meaning in work, and adaptive psychological coping, was related to academic employees’ sense of making a difference in students’ development, the appreciation they have received from students, their freedom of choice, their view of work as a calling, the unique benefits of working in HE, meaning beyond the meaning in the moment (ultimate meaning) and making a difference in colleagues’ (staffs’) lives. Llimitations in the study are noted and recommendations are made to formalise existential analysis as a research method of meaning informed organisational assessment. / Psychology / Ph. D. (Counselling Psychology)

The aim of this research is to develop guidelines for a psycho-educational programme to enhance the self-actualisation of retired people. To do this, an investigation was undertaken to determine how to enhance self-actualisation during retirement, through an understanding of the: • phenomenon of retirement; • concept of self-actualisation; • challenges that hamper adjustment and self-actualisation during retirement; • factors which assist retirees in overcoming challenges and achieving self-actualisation; and • the role of psycho-educational programmes in enhancing self-actualisation during retirement. The literature study sought to promote such an understanding through the investigation of writings and research findings. The qualitative investigation attempted to provide a contextual understanding of the above, through an exploration of the retirement experiences of a selected group of retirees living in George (and surrounding area), South Africa. The findings served as the basis for guidelines for a psycho-educational programme to enhance the self-actualisation of retired people. / Psychology of Education / M.Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)