Andrew J. Howell

College Students Who Have an Eveningness Preference Report Lower Self‐Control and Greater Procrastination

Previous research suggests a possible link between eveningness and general difficulties with self‐regulation (e.g., evening types are more likely than other chronotypes to have irregular sleep schedules and social rhythms and use substances). Our study investigated the relationship between eveningness and self‐regulation by using two standardized measures of self‐regulation: the Self‐Control Scale and the Procrastination Scale. We predicted that an eveningness preference would be associated with poorer self‐control and greater procrastination than would an intermediate or morningness preference. Participants were 308 psychology students (mean age=19.92 yrs) at a small Canadian college. Students completed the self‐regulation questionnaires and Morningness/Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) online. The mean MEQ score was 46.69 (SD=8.20), which is intermediate between morningness and eveningness. MEQ scores ranged from definite morningness to definite eveningness, but the dispersion of scores was skewed toward more eveningness. Pearson and partial correlations (controlling for age) were used to assess the relationship between MEQ score and the Self‐Control Scale (global score and 5 subscale scores) and Procrastination Scale (global score). All correlations were significant. The magnitude of the effects was medium for all measures except one of the Self‐Control subscales, which was small. A multiple regression analysis to predict MEQ score using the Self‐Control Scale (global score), Procrastination Scale, and age as predictors indicated the Self‐Control Scale was a significant predictor (accounting for 20% of the variance). A multiple regression analysis to predict MEQ scores using the five subscales of the Self‐Control Scale and age as predictors showed the subscales for reliability and work ethic were significant predictors (accounting for 33% of the variance). Our study showed a relationship between eveningness and low self‐control, but it did not address whether the relationship is a causal one.

Flourishing: Achievement-related correlates of students’ well-being

Keyes (2005) operationalized flourishing as elevated emotional, psychological, and social well-being. The current study predicted that flourishing among undergraduate students (N = 397) would have adaptive cognitive and behavioral achievement-related correlates. Results showed that students classified as flourishing (21.4% of the sample), relative to those classified as moderately mentally healthy (59.4%) or as languishing (19.1%), were less likely to adopt an entity view of ability or to procrastinate and were more likely to endorse mastery-approach goals, to report high self-control, and to report high grades. Results are cast in terms of possible accounts of the relationship between well-being and achievement-related functioning.

Adolescent offenders and stages of change.

Two hundred twenty-five adolescent offenders completed the Stages of Change Scales (SOCS; E. A. McConnaughy, J. O. Prochaska, & W. F. Velicer, 1983), which were designed to measure 4 stages of psychological and behavioral change. The goals of this research were to obtain norms among adolescent offenders for the SOCS, to examine the factor structure of the SOCS, and to investigate the convergent and discriminant validity of the SOCS by examining associations among these scales and the Paulhus Deception Scales (PDS; D. L. Paulhus, 1994, 1999) and Multidimensional Anger Inventory (MAI; J. M. Siegel, 1986). Means and alpha coefficients for the SOCS were similar to those reported in a previous normative clinical sample of adult patients. However, relatively large intercorrelations among the 4 scales of the SOCS, and results from factor analyses of SOCS items, suggested that fewer than 4 factors represented the SOCS items among our sample of adolescent offenders. Patterns of correlations with the PDS and with the MAI provided convergent and discriminant validity for the SOCS. Implications of the findings for research and clinical practice are discussed.

Sleep Quality, Sleep Propensity and Academic Performance

We examined associations between measures of sleep propensity on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, sleep quality on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and academic performance by GPA and grades in introductory psychology for 414 students. In the total sample, neither sleep propensity nor sleep quality correlated with GPA or introductory psychology grades. However, among students carrying a full course load, those reporting poor sleep quality performed less well on academic measures than those reporting a better quality of sleep. Further research is needed to assess the moderating influence of overall demands of daytime functioning on the association between sleep quality and academic performance.

Online Discussion and College Student Learning: Toward a Model of Influence

Abstract As technology revolutionizes instruction, conceptual models of influence are necessary to guide implementation and evaluation of specific applications such as online peer discussion. Students in an educational psychology course analyzed five case studies that applied and integrated course content. Some students (n= 42) used WebCT Discussionsto submit their case studies; other students (n= 82) submitted written case-study analyses to their instructor. Unexpected WebCT server difficulties allowed for analysis of the impact of technology malfunction on student learning. At the beginning of the course, the groups did not differ from each other. Subsequent differences between the groups suggested benefits of online discussion until the point at which the technology malfunctioned. A model of the influence of online peer discussion is generated from the data and includes proposed mechanisms by which student learning is both positively and negatively affected by the utilization of instructional technology.

Published student ratings of instruction: Revealing and reconciling the views of students and faculty

The authors surveyed students (N = 396) and faculty (N = 156) at a 2-year college to determine their views toward publishing student ratings of instruction. Students favored published ratings of instruction, whereas faculty did not. Students cited many advantages of published ratings and rated the likelihood of potential benefits as high relative to faculty. In contrast, faculty cited numerous disadvantages of published ratings and rated the likelihood of potential costs as high relative to students. The authors discuss reasons for the contrasting views of students and faculty and offer suggestions for reconciling them.

The Nature of Happiness: Nature Affiliation and Mental Well-Being

It has been over 25 years since E. O. Wilson (Biophilia. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1984) wrote Biophilia, in which he argued for an evolved inclination among humans to affiliate with nature. Psychologists have examined both restorative and additive effects of nature-related experiences on health and well-being. We review correlational and experimental studies showing associations between nature affiliation (or nature immersion) and positive markers of mental health. The research evidence converges on the conclusion that nature involvement is good for us. We discuss future lines of research concerning mediators and moderators of the relationship between nature and well-being, the role of technologically mediated nature experiences, and the development of nature-related interventions aimed at boosting well-being.

Flourishing Among Children and Adolescents: Structure and Correlates of Positive Mental Health, and Interventions for Its Enhancement

Past research on child and adolescent mental health has focused upon outcomes characterized by the absence of ill-health, such as the absence of substance abuse or depression. In contrast to this pathology or deficit model, we review research focused upon positive indicators of youth mental health, such as the presence of happiness or engagement. We first describe the complete state and dual-factor models of mental health, in which mental health and mental disorder are viewed as separate but (inversely) related dimensions of functioning. We then review evidence in support of these conceptualizations. Next, we examine predictors of youth’s scores on the mental health dimension of functioning, such as need satisfaction, character strengths, benefit finding, engagement, and nature involvement. We then turn to interventions aimed at boosting scores on the mental health dimension, including hope-enhancing interventions and those emphasizing mindfulness and gratitude expression. We conclude by examining additional conceptualizations of the interplay of mental health and mental disorder dimensions of functioning in youth, and offer suggestions for areas of future investigation.

Enhanced Psychological Health Among Chronic Pain Clients Engaged in Hope-Focused Group Counseling

Researchers have begun to evaluate interventions intended to enhance hope in various populations. Chronic pain is a pervasive problem with significant psychosocial consequences. This article presents studies that examined the extent to which a hope-focused group counseling intervention enhances hope and well-being in two community-based samples of participants (N =10 and N = 24) experiencing chronic pain. A pilot study (Study 1a) and a main study (Study 1b) both used a one-group, pretest–posttest design to determine whether participants experienced changes regarding their hope, well-being, acceptance of pain, and catastrophizing of pain. Both studies showed that participants experienced numerous and significant changes from pre- to post-intervention, including improvements in well-being and pain acceptance in Study 1a and improvements in hope, well-being, and catastrophizing cognitions in Study 1b. Self-reported pain severity, assessed only in Study 1a, did not change. We discuss implications for practice, study limitations, and potential lines of hope-related inquiry for future research.

Eco-Existential Positive Psychology: Experiences in Nature, Existential Anxieties, and Well-Being

Numerous scholars have explored the notion that our relationship with nature is essential to our well-being, and some have suggested that we have an evolved inclination to affiliate with nature. A substantial body of research supports these hypotheses, and demonstrates both the restorative and additive capacity of affiliating with nature. This article posits that experiences with the natural environment play a fundamentally important role in addressing the 6 existential anxieties of identity, happiness, isolation, meaning in life, freedom, and death—a perspective that we call Eco-Existential Positive Psychology. Moreover, we propose that affiliating with nature affords us the opportunity to be fully flourishing human beings. This article provides supporting evidence for Eco-Existential Positive Psychology via an interdisciplinary literature review.