The ability to inhibit behavior is known to be an important predictor for future successes in life. Following up on Mischel’s marshmallow experiment in 1970, this study investigated how to improve...Show moreThe ability to inhibit behavior is known to be an important predictor for future successes in life. Following up on Mischel’s marshmallow experiment in 1970, this study investigated how to improve children’s self-control. An adaptation of the Standford marshmallow test was used in this research to measure delay of gratification (part of self-control). 228 families were selected to participate in this study. The Video-feedback Intervention to Promote Positive Parenting – Twins (VIPP-Twins) targeted 82 families with children from eight to twelve years old, to increase the children’s ability to delay gratification. This intervention targeting parents decreases the duration of intervention and would depend less on the intrinsic motivation of children than behavioral and attentional interventions targeting children often used in the past. It was hypothesized that children improve more in delaying gratification in the randomized VIPP-Twins intervention group than children in a randomized control group, in which parents did not receive an intervention. Also, because of ambiguous results in previous literature, it was investigated whether there was a gender difference in delay of gratification and the effectivity of the VIPP-Twins intervention. This study found no statistically significant effects. A methodological adaptation of the measurement of delay of gratification in this study could be adopted in future research. Multiple assessment methods of inhibition could be used to better highlight the gender differences in self-control present in previous literature.Show less
Depression and/or anxiety affect approximately one third of the Dutch population at least once in their lifetime. Cross-sectional research has shown the relationship between elevated depression and...Show moreDepression and/or anxiety affect approximately one third of the Dutch population at least once in their lifetime. Cross-sectional research has shown the relationship between elevated depression and/or anxiety symptoms and low scores on memory function. However, there is a scarcity of data on the effects of depression and/or anxiety on memory decline over time. Thus, Multilevel growth curve modelling was applied to assess associations between depression, anxiety and memory. We used nationally representative data from older adults in The Netherlands that participated in the LASA-study, that encompasses data on predictors and consequences of aging. The final sample included 4056 individuals, aged 55 – 86 and 51.3% female. Model B (main effects) showed a negative effect of depression on memory and a positive effect of anxiety on memory. Model C and D dealt with the rate of change and the acceleration of rate of change. Among the focal predictors, only depression and age significantly affected the staring rate of change in memory. The effect of anxiety on the initial rate of change in memory was non-significant and could not be generalized. The effect of measurement point (mp) on the starting rate of change, does not depend on the combination of values for depression and anxiety. Within model D, only age turned out to affect the (positive) starting rate of change and the de-acceleration of this starting rate of change. Relatively older people tend to start off with a somewhat lower positive rate of change in memory and are more likely to have a stronger decline of this rate of change over time. The effect of depression on the starting rate was still negative and had the same direction in model D as in model C, but depression lost its significance in model D. Also, it had a non-significant effect on the de acceleration of the rate of change. Anxiety, as in model C, did not contribute significantly to model D in any way. The interaction between depression and anxiety was non-significant and did not contribute. In conclusion, memory decline is not accelerated in people with high levels of depression and/or anxiety. Only older age and sex have effect on memory decline over time. Further research could take additional variables into account in predicting memory decline, such as dementia, since depression and anxiety are highly prevalent in patients with dementia and it is plausible that early AD is one of the most important factors in age-related memory decline. Further research could take other variables into account, such as dementia, other cognitive functions, education, lifestyle, health-risks, heart disease, diabetes. Moreover, further distinctions in the variables could be made, such as the difference in effects on memory decline between late-onset depression (LOD) and early-onset depression (EOD).Show less
Background - The Generalised Unsafety Theory of Stress, a novel stress explanation, considers the stress response as a default mode of the body, which is always active independently from stressors...Show moreBackground - The Generalised Unsafety Theory of Stress, a novel stress explanation, considers the stress response as a default mode of the body, which is always active independently from stressors unless it is inhibited based on perceiving safety. GUTS suggests there are compromised domains where stress is chronically released despite a lack of clear stressors, and the organism is unable to inhibit the stress mechanism mostly because of perceiving generalised unsafety around. One of these compromised domains is believed to be urban environments as they cannot provide sufficient signs of safety, and they mainly consist property of strangers. Natural environments in contrast are believed to provide signs of safety and therefore decrease stress levels. Using meta-analysis, this current research aimed to find and summarize evidence from existing studies reporting that urban environments are associated with increased levels of stress, Method - In total, 12 studies, collected from Web of Science database, were included in six meta-analyses conducted on heart rate variability (high frequency, low frequency/high frequency), saliva cortisol, blood pressure (systolic and diastolic), and heart rate data of healthy adult participants during and after exposure to urban and natural environments. Results - Statistically significant increased heart rate was found after a walk in the urban environment (g = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.20; 0.50, p <0.0001). High frequency heart rate variability was significantly lower after an urban walk(unknown baseline balance group: g = -0.33, 95% CI: -0.55; -0.11; baseline balanced: g = -2.52, 95% CI: -3.25; -1.78). Low frequency heart rate variability was significantly higher during the urban walk (unknown baseline balance group: g = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.49; 1.80; baseline balanced: g = 2.52, 95% CI: 1.78; 3.26). Subgroup analyses and funnel plots for heart rate variability showed a possible small-study effect in the baseline balanced groups. Blood pressure and cortisol measurements showed no significant effect and were ambiguous because of high heterogeneity and small number of included studies. Conclusions - Heart rate variability and heart rate measures indicated a higher stress level in urban than in natural environments providing an example of prolonged stress without stressors, explainable by GUTS. For blood pressure and cortisol no such evidence was provided. However, the results should be carefully interpreted because of high between-study heterogeneity and other limitations of these studies. Further research into stress measurements and effects of natural and urban environment on stress are required to provide reliable evidence.Show less
Many non-profit organisations employ not only volunteers, but also paid workers, to achieve their organisational objectives. This research examines whether the volunteers of a non-profit...Show moreMany non-profit organisations employ not only volunteers, but also paid workers, to achieve their organisational objectives. This research examines whether the volunteers of a non-profit organisation report appraisal and autonomous respect, job satisfaction and intent to remain a volunteer with the organisation, when they perceive that the paid workers of the organisation display self-sacrifice on behalf of the organisation and interactional justice. The research had a cross sectional survey design and the participants were volunteers working with paid workers in a non-profit organisation (a hospice; N = 52 hospice volunteers). Multiple regression analyses were conducted to test the hypotheses about direct effects. Among volunteers, autonomous and appraisal respect were found positively and directly related to job satisfaction. Additionally, among volunteers, interactional justice received from the paid workers of the organisation was found positively and directly related to autonomous respect, appraisal respect, and job satisfaction. Furthermore, among volunteers, perceived self-sacrifice on behalf of the organisation by the paid workers of the organisation was found directly and positively related to appraisal respect. Thereafter, a mediation regression analysis was conducted to test the hypothesis about the indirect effect. The mediation regression analysis showed that among volunteers, interactional justice received from the paid workers of the organisation relates positively and indirectly to job satisfaction through appraisal respect as a mediator. The theoretical and practical implications, as well as the limitations and suggestions for further research, are discussed.Show less
The aim of the present study is to answer the questions “Whether a poorer doctor-patient relationship predicts a greater need for further training in Medically Unexplained Symptoms (MUS)?” and ...Show moreThe aim of the present study is to answer the questions “Whether a poorer doctor-patient relationship predicts a greater need for further training in Medically Unexplained Symptoms (MUS)?” and “Whether previous MUS training (either during the medical degree or afterwards) is associated with a better doctor-patient relationship?”. This quantitative study was based on a national cross-sectional online survey of Dutch GPs in 2018. Participants were GPs who consented to take part in the survey and completed all 10 items of the DDPRQ-10 and the MUS schooling questions (N=248). Binary logistic regression analysis and point-biserial correlations were used to investigate the relationship between the GPs’ experience of the doctor-patient relationship and schooling for MUS. The results showed that firstly, while MUS schooling after the medical degree was linked with a better doctor-patient relationship, MUS training during the medical degree was not. Secondly, the doctor-patient relationship did not predict the GPs’"self-reported need for additional MUS schooling. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that GPs would benefit from receiving further MUS training after completing the medical degree as this is associated with a better doctor-patient relationship. Furthermore, this study highlights the need for further research looking at the variables that predict the need for further MUS schooling as this could help inform MUS training programs for GPs and improve the care of patients with MUS.Show less
