Trisha L. Raque-Bogdan

The Motivation to Serve Others: Exploring Relations to Career Development

The current study explored the relation between service motivation, or the desire to serve others through one’s future career, and vocational outcomes across two studies. In the first study, using a sample of 225 undergraduate students, an instrument was developed to measure service motivation that demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity, strong internal consistency reliability, and strong test—retest reliability. In the second study, with a sample of 265 undergraduate students, service motivation was found to correlate positively with career decision self-efficacy, career adaptability, and career optimism and to correlate negatively with career indecision. Post hoc analyses found career optimism to fully mediate the relationship between service motivation and career indecision. These findings suggest that students who feel a stronger desire to use their future career to serve others will be more optimistic regarding their career future. Implications for research and practice are considered.

A Social Cognitive Perspective on Coping With Cancer Theory, Research, and Intervention

With increases in the number of cancer survivors, many persons now experience cancer as a chronic disease followed by adaptation to a new reality of what is normal in their lives. In response, cancer survivorship researchers have begun attending to the multidimensional needs of survivors, including the need to promote optimal psychological adaptation and health. Theoretical models of well-being that account for the complexity of survivorship issues are needed. We present a social cognitive model of restorative well-being as a framework for reviewing recent research on coping with early stage adult cancer (i.e., stages I and II) and optimizing post-treatment adjustment. We focus on research on cancer-related coping strategies, efficacy beliefs, personality traits, and environmental supports, which have been linked to adjustment outcomes and which may inform psychosocial interventions. By grounding this research in a theoretical base, we highlight the potential for counseling psychologists’ contributions to cancer survivorship research.

Putting the positive in health psychology: A content analysis of three journals

This content analysis investigated the inclusion of positive psychological constructs in research published in three leading health psychology journals. A list of positive constructs relevant to health psychology was compiled and their inclusion in these journals was examined. It was found that although there has been a sharp increase in recent years, only 3 percent of all articles published (114 of 3789) included the study of overtly positive constructs. The constructs that have been most and least studied in health psychology were identified and are discussed. This analysis provides insight into the foundations of positive health psychology and identifies future directions.

Measuring Individual Research Productivity: A Review and Development of the Integrated Research Productivity Index.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate methods of measuring individual research productivity for counseling psychologists. Using the 60 members of the Journal of Counseling Psychology editorial board, the authors computed a comparison of 6 popular indices of productivity, revealing considerable levels of positive skewness, kurtosis, and overlap with each other. Combining the strengths of the 6 indices, the authors developed a new productivity index entitled the Integrated Research Productivity Index (IRPI). The IRPI measures individual productivity by statistically combining an individuals author-weighted publications, average times cited by other publications, and years since first publication into a comprehensive score. Productivity values and IRPI scores for 3 groups of counseling psychologists (Tyler Award recipients, Kuder Award recipients, and Division 17 Presidents) were computed to provide evidence of discriminant validity among the indices. In contrast to the other measures examined, the IRPI accounts for productivity per year and years in the field and assesses mean citation count per article as opposed to total citation count, thus yielding similar scores for Tyler (lifetime) and Kuder (early career) research award recipients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

Relational Health, Ethnic Identity, and Well-Being of College Students of Color A Strengths-Based Perspective

Within the framework of relational-cultural theory, the current study examined how relational health and ethnic identity contribute to overall well-being in a sample of college students of color. A total of 229 students completed measures of relational health, ethnic identity, indicators of subjective well-being (SWB), and perceptions of physical health. Canonical correlation analyses revealed two patterns of relationships between the variable sets: (a) students who reported lower scores in ethnic identity and in peer, mentor, and community relationships, also demonstrated lower SWB and fewer days in good health, and (b) students who reported high relational health in peer and mentor domains, but lower scores for ethnic identity, had higher reports of both positive and negative affect, as well as both good and poor health. These preliminary findings reflect the complexity of how ethnic identity and relational health differentially predict the well-being of college students of color. The implications of these findings for counseling psychologists are discussed.

Social Cognitive Predictors of Mexican American High School Students’ Math/Science Career Goals:

This study tested a social cognitive model of math/science career goals in a sample (N = 258) of Mexican American high school students. Familism and proximal family supports for math/science careers were examined as predictors of math/science: performance accomplishments, self-efficacy, interests, and goals. Results showed that the hypothesized model provided an adequate fit to the data. Familism predicted performance accomplishments and perceived family supports while perceived family supports predicted self-efficacy and goals. The final model explained 63% of the variance in interests and 53% of the variance in goals. Mediation tests showed that person-cognitive variables explained the relationships between contextual variables and goals. Contrary to hypotheses, interests did not predict goals and proximal family supports did not moderate the relationship between interests and goals. Results are discussed in terms of incorporating culture-specific values into interventions aimed at enhancing the math/science career interests and goals of Mexican American high school students.

Counseling Health Psychology: Assessing Health Psychology Training Within Counseling Psychology Doctoral Programs

Training directors of American Psychological Association–approved counseling psychology doctoral programs completed a questionnaire assessing (a) student and faculty involvement in health-related research, practice, and teaching; (b) health-related research conducted by students and faculty; and (c) programs’ expectations and ability to increase health training opportunities. Statistical comparisons suggest that a high frequency of programs name health psychology as an area of emphasis, offer specialized health psychology training, and provide health-psychology-related practica. Many reported faculty and student interest and involvement in health psychology training and research. Yet few faculty in these programs identified themselves as counseling health psychologists. Results suggest that there is interest in health psychology within counseling psychology training programs but that only a minority of programs has developed structured curricula in the area. Given counseling psychology’s unique emphasis on prevention, well-being, multiculturalism, and social justice, counseling psychology programs are well suited to developing counseling health psychology curricula.

International women physicians' perspectives on choosing an academic medicine career

Concerns about recruiting physicians into academic careers is an international issue. A qualitative study with United States (US) women physicians revealed insights into how, when, and why physicians choose an academic career in medicine. The current study explored international women physicians’ perspectives on their career choice of academic medicine and determined if different themes emerged. We expanded the 2012 study of US women physicians by interviewing women physicians in Canada, Pakistan, Mexico, and Sweden to gain an international perspective on choosing an academic career. Interviews were thematically analyzed against themes identified in the previous study. Based on themes identified in the study of US physicians, qualitative analysis of 7 international women physicians revealed parallel themes for the following areas:Why academic medicine? Fit; People; Aspects of academic health centre environment.How the decision to enter academic medicine was made? Decision-making style; EmotionalityWhen the decision to enter academic medicine was made? Practising physician; Fellowship; Medical student.Work-life balance, choosing academic medicine by default, serendipity, intellectual stimulation, mentors, research and teaching were among the areas specifically highlighted. Conclusion: Parallel themes exist regarding how, why, and when US and international women physicians choose academic medicine as a career path.

Career Aspirations and the First Generation Student: Unraveling the Layers With Social Cognitive Career Theory

Abstract: Undergraduate students who are the first in their immediate family to go to college represent a unique population on campus deserving special attention to their educational and career development needs. We explored career development characteristics of first-generation college students and compared them to those who are not first-generation, using Lent, Brown, and Hackett’s (1994) social cognitive career theory as a theoretical base. Findings indicated significant differences between the 2 groups, and the importance of college self-efficacy and college outcome expectations for the career aspirations of first-generation college students.

The Relationship Among Infertility, Self-Compassion, and Well-Being for Women With Primary or Secondary Infertility

The experience of infertility can cause distress in many women, and there is a dearth of research that addresses infertility type (i.e., primary or secondary) and strengths-based constructs, such as self-compassion. Although the prevalence of secondary infertility (i.e., experiencing infertility after having a child) is significantly greater than primary infertility (i.e., experiencing infertility without having prior children), the majority of infertility studies utilize samples of only women with primary infertility so that the voices of women with secondary infertility are largely uncaptured. The current study of 119 women experiencing primary infertility and 53 women experiencing secondary infertility explored the well-being of women with primary or secondary infertility, finding that both samples report similar levels of self-compassion, subjective well-being, and global fertility-related stress and that women with primary infertility report greater levels of fertility-related social concern. Self-compassion mediated the relation between the need for parenthood and subjective well-being for women with primary or secondary infertility. Further, self-compassion mediated the relation between social concern and subjective well-being for both groups of women, which may be especially important, given the stigmatized social identity and social isolation of those experiencing infertility. Self-compassion might serve as an emotional regulation strategy and a form of resiliency against feelings of self-blame or blame by society for infertility.