Psychological Adjustment

In the present study, we examined sexual knowledge, sexual behavior, and psychological adjustment of adolescents with blindness. The sample included 36 Dutch adolescents who are blind, 16 males and 20 females. Results of the interviews revealed no problems regarding sexual knowledge or psychological adjustment. Sexual behavior however, was more at risk. Adolescents with blindness had less sexual experiences and were older in having sexual experiences compared with youth without disabilities in the Netherlands. Subgroup analysis showed that boys with blindness scored higher on self-esteem if they had sexual intercourse. If boys perceived their family as overprotective they less often experienced sexual intercourse. Furthermore, if boys reported more family opposition, they more often had experienced sexual intercourse. These results were not found for girls in this sample. We would like to recommend to youth with visual impairments to be active in leisure activities, outside their homes, in the presence of peers.

Given the growing numbers of bicultural individuals in the United States and around the world, bicultural identity integration (BII) is an important construct that helps researchers to better capture the diversity within this group. In this chapter, we organize and summarize the limited literature on individual differences in bicultural identity, with a special focus on BII. First, we discuss and define biculturalism and cultural identity in general. Second, we introduce individual differences in bicultural identity and the ways in which these differences have been studied. Third, we define BII, summarize research on this construct, and introduce the latest applications of BII theory to other areas of identity research. In unpacking the construct of BII, we first define it along with its components (harmony and blendedness) and nomological network. We also discuss what we believe to be the process involved in integrating one’s dual cultural identities. We then present correlates of BII, including self-group personality perceptions, culturally related behaviors and values, and sociocultural and psychological adjustment. Finally, we discuss how BII relates to other important social-cognitive constructs, such as cultural frame switching or code switching. We end with a brief overview of the latest applications of BII theory (e.g., to gay identity) and suggestions for future research on bicultural identity. In summary, our goal for this chapter is to introduce BII and to help readers understand the importance of culture in identity.

A review of 2,647 studies of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) yielded 476 potential candidates for a meta-analysis of predictors of PTSD or of its symptoms. From these, 68 studies met criteria for inclusion in a meta-analysis of 7 predictors: (a) prior trauma, (b) prior psychological adjustment, (c) family history of psychopathology, (d) perceived life threat during the trauma, (e) posttrauma

A growing body of research suggests that the authoritative style of parenting is not always necessarily associated with optimum psychological and social outcomes among adolescents. This paper analyzed the relationships between parenting styles and adolescents' psychological adjustment using a two-dimension four-typology model of parenting styles, with the aim to determine which style of parenting Authoritative vs. indulgent was associated with optimum psychological adjustment outcomes among Spanish adolescents. Parenting styles were measured with the Parental Acceptance-Rejection/Control Questionnaire (Rohner, 1990). The outcome measures were six indicators of psychological adjustment measured with the Personality Assessment Questionnaire (Rohner, 1990). Multivariate Analyses of Variance (MANOVAs) were conducted with a sample of 489 Spanish children. Results suggest that adolescents of indulgent families do perform equal or even better in measures of psychological adjustment tha...

Given the growing numbers of bicultural individuals in the United States and around the world, bicultural identity integration (BII) is an important construct that helps researchers to better capture the diversity within this group. In this chapter, we organize and summarize the limited literature on individual differences in bicultural identity, with a special focus on BII. First, we discuss and define biculturalism and cultural identity in general. Second, we introduce individual differences in bicultural identity and the ways in which these differences have been studied. Third, we define BII, summarize research on this construct, and introduce the latest applications of BII theory to other areas of identity research. In unpacking the construct of BII, we first define it along with its components (harmony and blendedness) and nomological network. We also discuss what we believe to be the process involved in integrating one’s dual cultural identities. We then present correlates of BII, including self-group personality perceptions, culturally related behaviors and values, and sociocultural and psychological adjustment. Finally, we discuss how BII relates to other important social-cognitive constructs, such as cultural frame switching or code switching. We end with a brief overview of the latest applications of BII theory (e.g., to gay identity) and suggestions for future research on bicultural identity. In summary, our goal for this chapter is to introduce BII and to help readers understand the importance of culture in identity.

This study investigated the relationship between academic self-efficacy and psychological adjustment among 2821 students (grades 7 to 12) who were selected from all Omani school districts. It also aimed at exploring the predictive possibility of academic self-efficacy by psychological adjustment, and identifying the differences in academic self-efficacy and psychological adjustment according to gender and age. Two scales of academic self-efficacy and psychological adjustment were applied in order to obtain study data, after verifying their validity and reliability. The results showed statistically significant differences due to gender and class in both academic self-efficacy and psychological adjustment. Moreover, results of the multiple regression analysis showed that the adaptive adjustment subscale was the only significant predictor of academic self-efficacy and contributed with a percentage of (15.2%) in explaining the difference in students' scores in the academic self-efficacy scale.

Two studies investigated the association between affective personality and individuals' stress, mood, affective state and coping behavior. In Study I, involving 75 participants from different occupations, type of affective personality was influenced by individuals' expressions of positive affect (PA), negative affect (NA), anxiety, depression, dispositional optimism and energy. Female participants expressed higher levels of anxiety. In Study II, involving 139 participants from different occupations, type of affective personality was influenced by individuals' expressions of PA, NA, cognitive, emotional, physical, social and spiritual coping, dispositional optimism, anxiety and depression, stress, work stress and partnership relations. Female participants expressed higher levels of anxiety, stress and energy, emotional and spiritual coping, work stress, work burden and total work-related stress. Linear regression indicated that positive affect was predicted by dispositional optimism (Study I) and by coping resources, partnership relations and energy (Study II), whereas depression (Study I) and stress (Study II) were counter-predictive. Negative affect was predicted by stress (Study I and II), anxiety (Study I) and work stress (Study II), whereas dispositional optimism (Study I and II) was counter-predictive. These findings suggest the involvement of affective personality types and the contribution of gender in the expressions of stress, mood, affective state and coping behavior by working individuals.