Volume 3, Issue 1, 2013

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The Romanian CES-D Scale: A promising instrument for clinical and non-clinical use
Stevens, M. J., Constantinescu, M. P., Uscătescu, L., Ion, C.B., Butucescu, A., & Sandu, C. G. Pages 7-21Author(s): Andreea Butucescu , Lavinia Uscătescu , Petru-Madalin Constantinescu , Bogdan Cezar Ion , Cristina Gabriela Sandu , Michael J. Stevens
Language: English
Subject(s): Psychology
Issue: III - 1/2013
Page Range: 7-21
No. of Pages: 15

Keywords: CES-D; test adaptation; clinical assessment

Summary/Abstract: Since its inception, the Center of Epidemiologic Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977) has been a widely used instrument for screening depressive symptoms in the general population, as well as in clinical settings. The CES-D has also been the focus of empirical investigation, translation, and adaptation across the globe, and was shown to have good psychometric properties. Until now, there has been no empirical attempt to translate and adapt the instrument in Romania. In two studies, the CES-D was translated into Romanian using the ‘translation-back-translation’ method (Brislin, 1970). The equivalence of the translated version was tested using Butcher and Gur’s (1974) bilingual test-retest technique as per International Test Commision requirements (Hambleton & Patsula, 1999). Additionally, test-retest and internal consistency reliabilities were calculated. The results established a suitable translation and good reliability for the instrument. In the second study, we provide evidence of the concurrent and convergent validity of the Romanian CES-D.
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Home environment as a predictor of psychological well being among adolescents
Jagpreet Kaur Pages 22-33Author(s): Jagpreet Kaur
Language: English
Subject(s): Psychology
Issue: III - 1/2013
Page Range: 22-33
No. of Pages: 12
Keywords: psychological well being; home environment; adolescents
Summary/Abstract: The main objective of this study was to explore the relationship between psychological well being and home environment of adolescents in a sample of 260 adolescents from Patiala district of Punjab. The results of a correlation analysis revealed a positively significant relationship of psychological well being with protectiveness, conformity, reward and nurturance dimensions of home environment among adolescents. However, a negatively significant relationship of psychological well being with control and punishment dimensions of home environment among adolescents was observed. A stepwise multiple regression analysis was run to examine the extent to which the various dimensions of home environment contributed to the variability in psychological well being among adolescents. The results indicated that only the conformity, reward and nurturance dimension of home environment were the significant predictors of psychological well being among adolescents. These results of the study have implications for counselors, teachers and parents.
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Students’ choice of optional subjects
Peter, K. & Banciu, V. Pages 34-42Author(s): Viorica Banciu, Karla Peter
Language: English
Subject(s): Psychology
Issue: III - 1/2013
Page Range: 34-42
No. of Pages: 9
Keywords: choice; optional
Summary/Abstract: When a young person enters the university and becomes a student, he/she will have to deal with a number of important issues. He/she must attend classes and seminars that are frequently organized very differently from those he/she was used to in secondary education; also, he/she has to sit through them without being forced to learn during the semester, and furthermore he/she can choose some of the materials they wish to study (engaging in a written agreement to abide by certain rules and disciplines to participate the chosen courses). This paper aims to highlight the manner in which students from different academic levels and from different specializations choose the optional courses and also to analyze the manner in which the students are informed about them before the process of selection is carried out.
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Summary/Abstract: Parents and teachers are part of the micro system that influences the psychological and behavioral development of children. The socialization theory of Baumrind showed that, in general, parental influence is expressed most adequately through an authoritative style, which is characterized by high support and control, as well as autonomy granting. There is evidence that an authoritative parenting style facilitates positive psychological and behavioral development of children. In addition, recent research has shown that features of an authoritative parenting style characterizes some other types of relationships. One is the teacher-student relationship in the formal educational system. In general, the tendency of the public school system was mainly to develop children’s knowledge and skills, and unfortunately, one of the contexts of learning, which is, teacher-student relationship, was mostly overlooked. The hypothesis that the teacher-student relationship resembles the parent-child relationship was formulated and, that is because of the common features of the authoritative style. The purpose of this study is to present a short review of the literature concerning the impact of authoritative features of teachers upon the psycho-behavioral functioning of students, as well as to bring some evidence concerning the similarities between parents’ and teachers’ relationship with children.
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Page Range: 54-63

No. of Pages: 10

Keywords: behavioral dependence; computer; internet; psychological health

Summary/Abstract: The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between behavioral dependence to the computer and the internet and psychological health. The sample is composed of all girl and boy students from high schools in Torbat-e-Jam. According to the Crazy & Morgan formula, the sample size was calculated to be 356 persons who were selected by the stage cluster sampling method. The measurements tools included: 1. General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), composed of 28 items included in 4 subtests, physical symptoms, anxiety, disorder in social performance and depression; 2. Generalized problematic internet use scale (GPIUS), composed of 29 items grouped into 7 aspects of internet problematic use, such as temper changes, social benefits, obligatory use, time consuming, seclusion, interpersonal control, negative outcomes. The data was analyzed using the Pierson correlation coefficient and its significance test. The summary of tests indicated that dependence to the computer and internet resulted in a type of isolation, seclusion, and mental engagement for students. Behavioral dependence to the internet in addition to physical disorders has a direct relationship to anxiety, social action and depression.
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No. of Pages: 10

Keywords: motivation; self-efficacy; cognitive engagement

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of teaching self-efficacy on students’ cognitive engagement. The sample size consisted of 50 high school students, 25 in each experimental and control groups; the sampling method we used was of a random cluster multiple-stage type. The measurement instrument was the Cognitive Engagement Questionnaires (Greene & Miller, 1996) which were administered as a pre-test for both groups. After this initial stage of testing, only the experimental group received a 15 session teaching course in self-efficacy. After the training, a post-test using the aforementioned instrument was realized for both groups. The gathered data was analyzed by calculating the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) coefficient. The results of the study indicated that the teaching of self-efficacy has had a significant effect on students’ cognitive engagement. Teaching self-efficacy enables students to be positively influenced by cognitive strategies, which they can employ to guide their learning.
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The explanatory value of the factors included in a complex model of predicting adolescents’ and pre-adolescents’ behavioral disorders
Chisăliţă, D. & Podea, D. Pages 74-88Author(s): Delia Podea, Diana Chisăliţă
Language: English
Subject(s): Psychology
Issue: III - 1/2013
Page Range: 74-88
No. of Pages: 15
Keywords: delinquency; conduct disorder; personality; psychopathology; prevention
Summary/Abstract: The study proposes the identification of the factors with predictive value for the development of a behavioural disorder and a set of antisocial behaviours included in the concept of juvenile delinquency. There were 231 teenagers and pre-teenager with ages between 11 and 18 years old. After the identification of the predictive factors for the development of behaviour disorder, a screening instrument for the teenagers prone to development of delinquent behaviours was realized in order to detect from time the juvenile delinquency.
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