Factors Related to Burnout in Arab Social and Community Development Workers
The nature of social and community development work leaves the workers at the risk of experiencing burnout and emotional difficulties. The aim of this study was to explore the relationships between burnout and empathy, emotional dissonance, self-compassion and type of work (voluntary, paid) amongst social and community development workers. We hypothesised that high levels of empathy, high levels of self-compassion, low levels of emotional dissonance and fewer hours of paid work would be significant predictors of low levels of burnout. The sample consisted of 315 participants from Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Tunisia. Participants completed an online survey that includes the following measures: Maslach Burnout Inventory, Interpersonal Reactivity Index, Self-compassion Scale, and Emotional Dissonance Subscale from Frankfurt Emotion Work Scale. Correlation and regression analyses were performed to examine the relationships between the variables. The findings showed that empathy was not significantly correlated to burnout, however a positive correlation was observed between personal accomplishment and perspective taking. Self-compassion was strongly and negatively correlated with burnout. Emotional dissonance was negatively correlated with burnout, and it was the strongest predictor of burnout amongst the studied variables. Paid work hours were positively related to emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and personal accomplishment while voluntary work hours were not related to any of burnout components. The present study indicates novel findings, and contributes to the literature by highlighting the key role of personal emotional regulation in predicting burnout amongst social and community development workers.
Participants completed an online Qualtrics-based survey which includes the following four measures: Burnout. The scores of burnout were assessed by the Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS). The MBI-HSS is a 22-item self-reported measure that comprises three subscales: Emotional Exhaustion (9 items), Depersonalisation (5 items) and Personal Accomplishment (8 items). Emotional Exhaustion (EE) refers to the feeling of being drained emotionally and physically. Depersonalisation (DP) stands for the negative inordinately attitude towards job-related aspects. Personal Accomplishment (PA) refers to the feelings of efficiency, productivity and competence achievements in the job. (Maslach et al., 2001; Maslach, & Jackson, 1996). All answers are rated on a seven-point scale that ranges from 0 “never” to 6 “every day”. Subscales produce separate scores that are calculated as the following: for EE and DP scores the high scores represent high levels of burnout. For PA the high scores represent low levels of burnout (Maslach & Jackson, 1981). Empathy. The scores of empathy were assessed by Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) scale. The IRI is a multidimensional scale that has 28 items rated on a 5-point Likert scale that ranges from 1 “Does not describe me well” to 5 “Describes me very well”. The measure comprised of four 7-item sub-scales. Only three subscales were used for the study. These subscales are Perspective Taking (PT) which represents the ability to conceive the psychological perspective of others. Empathic Concern (EC) measures the feelings of warmth and compassion and towards others. Personal Distress (PD) looks into "self-oriented" feelings of stress and apprehension as a reaction to the miserable conditions of others (Davis, 1980). Previous studies have reported high levels of validity and reliability of the scale (Davis, 1983; 1994; Fernández, Dufey, & Kramp, 2011). Emotional dissonance. The scores of emotional dissonance were measured using the subscale of the Frankfurt Emotion Work Scale. This scale has been extensively validated, and it is a five-item Likert scale ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (always). A sample item is: “How often in your job do you have to display emotions that do not agree with your true feelings?” (Zapf, Vogt, Seifert, Mertini, & Isic, 1999). The Cronbach alpha for the scale was .848 (Kundu, S., & Gaba, 2017). Self-compassion. The scores of self-compassion were measured using the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS)which consisted of 26 items rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from “Almost never” (1) to “Almost always” (5). The scale asks the participants on how often do they behave in the stated manner. An example statement is “I’m disapproving and judgmental about my own flaws and inadequacies”. The scale has six subscales: Self-Kindness, Self-Judgment, Common Humanity, Isolation, Mindfulness and Over-identified scales. The instrument has high inter-correlations between each of the six subscales, and it has an excellent internal consistency reliability and a good test-retest reliability. The coefficient alpha of the scale was .92 (Neff, 2003a). To ensure the maximum validity of the responses, a safety question was added to each questionnaire to ensure that the respondent is paying attention and not providing random answers. A sample item “Some people might provide random answers for this survey, which effects the research results very negatively. Just to make sure that you are not answering randomly, please select the answer number 1 (Never). Thank you”. For the purpose of the study, both Arabic and English versions were used in all the measures. The original language of the instruments was English. For the MBI-HSS the Arabic version was adopted from Hamaideh, (2011) who translated the entire instrument into Arabic and reported high internal consistency, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was .84 for the total scale, .91 for EE, .84 for DP and .88 for PA. For the current study, the internal consistency was .86. Emotional dissonance, IRI and self-compassion scales were translated into Arabic by a professional English/Arabic translator. Additionally, a backward translation was done by another professional English/Arabic translator, and the two versions were compared by the researcher. All the translated measures were accurate and correspondent with the original English scales. The translated forms reported high internal consistency which was calculated by the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The internal consistency was .86 for self-compassion, .76 for IRI and .70 for emotional dissonance. Design The study was comprised of one online Qualtrics-based survey that was sent to all the participants. Based on the study hypotheses the independent variable is burnout, and the dependent variables are self-compassion, empathy, emotional dissonance and type of work. Procedure Ethical approval for the study was acquired from the ethics committee at Lancaster University. Participants were initially told that the study was designed to investigate what pressures do workers in social and community development field face, and how do they feel about their work, themselves, people they work with and others in general. The actual aim was hidden initially to ensure maximum genuine and unbiased answers. Information sheets included the study objectives, description of the measures and how much time each one takes, the confidentiality of the data, participation eligibility, the voluntary participation, and the researcher contact information. Consent forms were displayed on the online survey before the initiation of the measures. Additionally, debriefing forms were given to the participants following the completion of the survey. Debriefing forms stated the actual purpose of the study as well as the study design. The survey was completed within 20-30 minutes approximately. Analysis Pearson’s Correlation and regression analysis were conducted to examine the study’s hypotheses. Regression analysis was chosen according to the nature of the variables which were continuous variables. Additionally, the number of paid and voluntary work hours were included as covariates, since dividing the participants into two groups (volunteers and workers) was not possible because most of the participants were doing both voluntary and paid work at the same time. All statistical analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics software (Version 23).
Gender identity, attitudes, and bystander intervention
Gender prejudice Feminist identity Feminist theory three partite model of violence.
Identifying as a feminist and demonstrating a commitment to feminist activism has suggested an increased likelihood of engaging in bystander interventions in sexist situations in women university students (Brinkman et al., 2015), and awareness about gender prejudices as a result of undertaking women studies and/or diversity courses seems to relate to an increased involvement in feminist activity (Stake & Hoffmann, 2001). Together with this, confrontational responses to prejudicial attitudes can be perceived as a means for decreasing stereotypic responding (Mallett, Ford & Woodzicka, 2016;; Czopp, & Monteith, 2003). For this research levels of exposure to feminist research and self- identification as feminist were examined to determine its effect on sexism levels, and the ability to identify sexism on given hostile and benevolent sexist scenarios. Likewise, the responses participants have given in the past when witnessing sexism was also recorded, and then analyzed to determine correlations between a confrontational response, exposure to feminism, and the strength of feminist identity participants self-identify with. Gender differences were also analysed. Results revealed that participants with high levels of exposure to feminist had significant lower levels of only benevolent sexism. Further analysis also suggests that those with exposure to feminist theory are significantly more likely to identify sexism in hostile sexist scenarios than are those with no exposure. Exposure to feminist theory also increases the likelihood to have a stronger feminist identity. Significant gender differences were also found. Application of these findings and recommendations for future research is further discussed.
Measurements Vignettes Exercise. The vignettes exercise presented participants with 15 scenarios, of which 5 were hostile sexism scenarios, 5 were benevolent sexism scenarios, and 5 were neutral scenarios. The participants were asked 3 questions after reading each vignette. First, they were asked if the scenario presented involved sexism, which was evaluated with a 5 point Likert scale from “strongly disagree” to “strongly disagree”. Secondly, the participants were asked to rate the seriousness of the event, with a 6 point Likert scale which rated from “not applicable”, “not at all serious” to “very serious”. The third question asked participants to pick the type of phenomena that best described the scenario from 8 different choices, which included “hostile or negative comments about women”, “reproduction of the idea that women are not complete without a significant other”, and “the scenario does not describe a situation that involves sexism”, among others that derived from Glick and Fiske ́s (1996) definitions of sexism. Examples for the vignettes (see Appendix A) were taken from Mallett, Ford, and Woodzicka (2016), McCarty, and Kelly (2015), Durán, Moya, & Megías, (2011), Kato et al. (2011), Expósito, Herrera, Moya, and Glick (2010), and Sibley and Wilson (2004). Experiences of Gender Prejudices Instrument. Past experiences of gender prejudice were measured using Brinkman et al’s (2015) Experience of Gender Prejudices Instrument. Participants were asked to identify the last time they were in a situation in which they witnessed a woman being the target of sexism (see Appendix B). They were asked to pick which scenario best described the type of sexism witnessed from 7 options that included “hostile or negative comments about women” and “reproduction of the idea that women are not complete without a significant other”. They were then asked how they reacted to the situation, and if they intervened what their motivation had been. The participant ́s reactions to the sexism situation were coded as either ́confrontational ́ or ́non-confrontational ́, and as ́not applicable ́ in two occasions. Responses “tried to help the victim”, “ignored the person/people”, “left the situation”, “responded indirectly, but in a way I hoped would end the situation”, “used a nonverbal gesture to express that I was offended (ex. rolled my eyes, gave them a dirty look, etc.)”, “said something to the instigator(s) to express my thoughts/feelings”, and “used a physical response to express my thoughts/feelings (ex. slap the instigator)” were classified as confrontational. Responses “ignored the person/people”, “left the situation”, and “nothing” were coded as non-confrontational. Where participants reported a confrontational response, their motivations to intervene were again sought. Participants were presented with a list of 8 options which included “wanted to do my duty as a man by being chivalrous / wanted to do my duty as a woman by being nice”, “wanted to help a person in distress”, “wanted to stop the sexist behaviour because is wrong”, and “other”. Their motivations were then coded as “feminist goal”, “non-feminist goal”, “neutral” and “other”. The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI). The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI; Glick & Fiske, 1996) is a measure of modern sexism in participants. It comprises 22 statements, such as “men are incomplete without women” and “women exaggerate problems they have at work”, which participants evaluate on a 5 point Linkert scale, from “disagree strongly” to “agree strongly” (see Appendix C). The mean of all 22 items was obtained, closer means to 5 equals higher levels of sexism. The ASI also measures two sub-scales, the mean of 11 items was used to generate a hostile sexism score and the mean the other 11 items generated a benevolent sexism score. Demographic Information. Demographic information was collected relating to each participant ́s gender, age, and year in University (see Appendix D). Participants were also asked to quantify the hours of exposure to teaching on gender-related topics during their undergraduate and/or postgraduate studies on the following scale, from 0 hours, to 1-10, 10-20, 20-40, 40-60 or 60(+). Participants were also asked if they self-identified as feminist or not, and the strength of their identification as feminist was measured on a 5 point Likert scale, from “I strongly identify as a feminist” to “I strongly do not identify as a feminist”. The Demographic Information Questionnaire also measured, on a 5 point Likert scale, the degree to which participants identified with feminist goals and the degree to which they agree that the transformation of gender relations is needed in order to achieve gender equality. Design The study adopted a survey design and the variables measured are as follow: Independent and participant variables: Gender, age, feminist identity, strength of feminist identity, feminist goal, sexism and exposure to feminist theory. Dependent variables: Bystander intervention, identification, and evaluation of different forms of sexism, ambivalent sexism scale. Procedures Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the Psychology department research ethics committee at Lancaster University on May 26th 2017. Once ethical approval was gained, the participants’ recruitment stage began. Participants answered an invitation to complete an online survey which was hosted on the Qualtrics platform (2017). First, participants read the Participant Information Sheet (see Appendix E), and then completed the consent form (Appendix F). Then, participants answered the Vignettes exercise, followed by the “Experiences of Gender Prejudice Instrument” (Brinkman et al., 2015), then they were asked to fill “The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory” (Glick & Fiske, 1996), to finish with the Demographic Information Questionnaire. After answering the participants were debriefed (Appendix G) through the same platform. Completion of the survey typically took 20-30 minutes. Results Section: Demographic information Table 1 shows the demographic data relating to the gender of the participants and identification as feminist; the category “rather not say” was excluded from all the analysis of the gender variable owing to nil response. From the total of participants, 56 self-identified as feminist (68.3%) and 26 said they did not self-identify as feminist (31.7%). Chi-square analysis revealed significant gender differences in self-identification as feminist X2(1,81)=4.858, p<.05, significantly more female 77.4% participants reported being feminist than did male 53.6% participants. Effect of exposure to feminist theory, effect of gender, and interactions The purpose of this study was to look the effect of exposure to feminist theory, the effect of gender, and the effect of the interaction between gender and exposure to feminist theory on the sexism levels of the participants, on recognition of sexist scenarios and on their responses to witnessing sexism in their lives. The effect of exposure to feminist theory to the strength of self-identification as feminist was also measured. Effect of exposure to feminist theory, effect of gender, and interactions on sexism levels Participants were asked to quantify in hours their exposure to feminist research/teaching, then their answers were coded as “exposure” and “no exposure” and results were compared. Sexism was measured with the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (Glick & Fiske, 1996), which provides three measures; the ambivalent (or overall) sexism levels, benevolent sexism levels and the hostile sexism levels. The levels of sexism were calculated for each participant, higher numbers indicating higher levels of sexism.
Carer adaptation to childhood epilepsy: The role of the Epilepsy Specialist Nurse.
Positive carer adaptation to childhood epilepsy is essential as poor adaptation can be detrimental to child behaviour outcomes. Fulfilment of carer psycho social and informational need is important to facilitate successful adaptation to childhood epilepsy. The role of the Epilepsy Nurse Specialists (ESN) is well suited to meet psychosocial need and so ESNs are hypothesised to improve carer adaptation and in turn child behaviour. This study investigated carer adaptation in geographical areas in the north of England with and without ESN provision using telephone interviews with carers of children with epilepsy. It was found that ESN provision had no significant effect on carer adaptation, psycho social needs of the carer, or child behaviour. Reasons for why no effect was found is attributed to the significant difference in condition severity and comorbidity between the groups that require more complex care needs. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.
1. Parent Response to Child Illness (PRCI). Participants were assessed in three outcome measures. 2. Parent Report of Psychosocial Care Scale (PRPCS). The second area of assessment was carers' perceived need for information and support. 3. Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL). The third measure is a measure of child behaviour using the CBCL (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001). 4. Hague Seizure Severity Scale (HASS). Participants were also asked to provide information relating to their child's seizure severity, their mental health and demographic information so intergroup comparisons could be made. 5. General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Mental health of the carer was assessed using the short form of the GHQ (Goldberg & Hillier, 1979). 6. Demographic Information. Additionally participants were asked to complete a questionnaire containing demographic information, and also information relating to age of seizure onset, time of last seizure, seizure frequency, anti-epileptic drug (AED)therapy and adherence to this medication.
Testing The Validity of Videogame Modifications for Psychological Research
An experiment consisting of 40 participants sampled from both Lancaster University and the Sefton area investigated the validity of using video game modifications (Mods) to construct more reliable testing methods for video game research. Mods are additions to video game code that allow the manipulation of various otherwise unattainable features. It is typical of research in this area to use two different games when attempting to manipulate one variable, this often results in a failure to compare like for like leaving various extraneous variables unaccounted for. Building upon the work of Böche (2009), this present research uses a program Garry’s Mod to construct identical variations that were relatable to popular current games while attempting to manipulate a single variable, violence. Participants played both an antisocial and prosocial variation of the same game and were asked to fill out a survey documenting their opinions on the game and its traits. It was predicted that while features such as graphics, maps, difficulty and the player’s performance in the game would not differ, the self reported violence participants experienced between variations would significantly differ. Predicted trends were observed in ratings of violence t(39) = -22.06, p < .001 and whether the player character’s actions were perceived as prosocial t(39) = -14.64, p < .001. Contrary to predictions, participant’s reported enjoyment t(39) = -4.55, p< 0.001 and the similarity of the game mission to the current game market t(39) = -6.37, p < 0.001 also differed significantly between variations. The implications are discussed throughout the paper.
Participants were randomly allocated into two groups. The first group (“antisocial first”) played and answered questions concerning the antisocial version before then playing and answering questions concerning the prosocial version. The order was reversed for participants in the second group (“prosocial first”). Antisocial first. The group that played as soldiers first consisted of 14 males and 6 females. The ages of this sample ranged from 18 to 31 years with a mean of 22.25 and a standard deviation of 2.49. Prosocial first. A group of 14 males, 5 females and one individual who abstained from recording gender played the medic scenario first. The ages ranged from 19 to 26 years, with a mean of 22.3 standard deviation of 1.87. Task, Materials and Apparatus Several specialized items were required to set up and conduct this research. In order to attract participants, an email was sent to the Psychology students of Lancaster University as well as several flyers positioned around the department (See Appendix). These adverts offered a chance to win a £20 Amazon gift card for participation and provided individuals with the e-mail of researchers in order to set up meetings. Hardware. Data was collected using a Macbook Pro with a 13 inch screen. The laptop had a 2.5 GHz (Gigahertz) dual core processor, 4 GB (Gigabytes) of RAM (Random Access Memory), 500 GB Hard Drive memory space and an Intel HD Graphics 4000 graphics card. As well as the Macbook, an apple MagSafe power adapter, a wired optical mouse, a mouse mat and a USB powered laptop cooling pad were used (See Appendix). Software. The Macbook Pro operated the Mountain Lion operating system by Apple and several programs were required to run this experiment. Questionnaires concerning demographic information and perceptions of video games were created using an online research suite, Qualtrics. The questionnaire consisted of three sections (See Appendix). Firstly, participants were asked to input their demographic information such as age and gender, and information relating to their video game playing habits (“If you play video games, please tell us the name of your favourite video game?”, “Please tell us approximately how many hours per week you spend playing your favourite game?”). Some questions had pre-written responses, for example, the question regarding a participant’s gender could be answered as ‘☻ Male’, ‘☻ Female’ or ‘☻ Prefer not to say’. However, some questions were purposefully left open to response (e.g. How many hours a week do you spend playing video games?). The second and third section of the survey asked each individual to give responses to questions about the game they had previously played. These two sections were identical but the order of each item had been randomised in an attempt to reduce demand characteristics. The questions of most importance to the current study regarded how violent the participant felt the game they played was, as well as whether the actions of the video game character they controlled could be considered as prosocial or antisocial. Each question measured responses using a 7-point Likert scale beginning at 0 (“not at all”) and ending with 6 (“completely”). The first exception to this rule was that the question ‘To what extent was your virtual character behaving in a prosocial or antisocial manner?’ by using a scale beginning at -3 and ending with 3. The second exception to this rule was an item asking participants to read the Pan European Game Information (PEGI) definitions for age ratings of video games while asking them to estimate an age rating for the game they had previously played, the scale for this question was a 6-point Likert scale with the options 3+, 7+, 12+, 16+, 18+. To both construct and run the video game, the first program required was ‘Steam’ a digital video game client created by the company Valve to sell and store video games. Using Steam, Garry’s Mod was purchased to create and edit virtual environments and video game levels through a user-friendly interface featuring weapons, characters, miscellaneous objects and commands. A second game, Counter-Strike, was downloaded using Steam and provided the virtual environments that participants played in. Using Garry’s Mod, two versions of a game were created. In each version, there were 20 non-player characters (NPCs) scattered around the map for the player to locate and interact with; both variations had NPCs in the same starting location and a limited area in which they were allowed to move. When playing as a soldier, participants were told they had been sent to an enemy base and were tasked to eliminate all forces inside using the SMG. Whereas the medic scenario began under the pretence that the player character was a doctor sent to a quarantined facility to treat contaminated patients using a medikit. Players were informed to expect hostility during the antisocial variation, but were also made aware that 20 health vials scattered around the map to prevent the death of their virtual character. For the medic scenario, participants were informed that quarantined individuals purposefully avoid contact with their character, meaning they would often have to pursue the patient to administer treatment. Participants received no indication from the game as to whether an NPC had previously been treated; however, there was no penalty for giving the same NPC treatment twice. Design The study consists of a 2 level within-subject design whereby the independent variable is the version of the video game being played by: the soldier version or the medic version. Though both game environments have been designed to be identical, when individuals play as a solider they are asked to find and kill 20 enemy targets, whereas in while playing as a medic they are required to find and treat 20 contaminated patients. Procedure Having displayed interest in taking part in the study, participants were contacted by researchers to arrange a time and location to meet. Once a quiet area that would support the use of a computer with a Wi-Fi connection was found, participants were seated at a desk 20 cm from the MacBook. Before proceeding, participants were given a Participant Information Sheet (Appendix), which informed them that their participation was voluntary, that they could withdraw at any time and that their data was both anonymous and confidential. Participants were then provided with and asked to sign a consent form (see Appendix). Participants were given a 5-minute tutorial on the video game controls and mission aims. Participants then completed the demographic questionnaire, which was presented to them on the laptop. Participants indicated their name, gender, age and video game playing habits (see Appendix). Once the demographic questionnaire had been completed, participants played the first version of the video game. Participants in the soldier-first condition played the antisocial version requiring them to shoot other virtual characters. Participants explored using only the keyboard buttons ‘A’, ‘W’, ‘S’, ‘D’ and the mouse, each individual navigated an unfamiliar map searching for 20 NPCs and interacted with them using the left mouse button. A time limit of ten minutes was given for both play throughs while the researcher monitored the amount of soldiers killed or patients saved. After each variation was completed, participants answered a questionnaire on their experience playing the game, such as how similar was the mission given to them compared to games they usually play or how violent they felt the game was. Both questionnaires asked the same 9 questions, however the order in which these were presented was randomised in an attempt to reduce demand characteristics. After completing both games and their corresponding questionnaires, participants received a debriefing sheet outlining the expected findings and participants were given the chance to ask any questions they had about the study. Lastly, each individual was thanked for taking part and asked to provide a method of contact so that they might be informed if they won the Amazon gift card. Every participant agreed to have his or her data statistically analysed. Raw data was collected from Qualtrics and exported into an excel file, observations taken on video game performance (e.g number of patients saved) was added manually by the researchers. The dataset was then exported as a .csv file to be investigated using R Studio.
National Identity of chinese overseas student
Since 21st century, with the development of global and China’s economy, an increasing number of Chinese students preferred study abroad. Chinese oversea students are very special group. They were influenced by the traditional Chinese culture and education. They also accept Western education and thought. This research aims to investigate whether the study-abroad experience will affect Chinese oversea students’ national identity. 35 Chinese students who are studying in UK and 35 Chinese students who are studying in China completed the questionnaire which assessed national identity. All questionnaires sent to the participants by email. According to the results of this study, Chinese students who are studying in UK did not show significant differences in national identity by compared with the Chinese students who are studying in China. Results of current study also indicated that Chinese students’ ethnocentrism scores were marginally higher than Chinese oversea students.
The national identity was assessed using the National Identity Scale. The National Identity Scale has five factors: membership, private, public, Identity and comparison. On a 7-point Liker Scale, participants reported their agreement (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree) with items. Ethnocentrism was measured with the Revised Ethnocentrism Scale, on a 5-point Liker scale, participants indicated their agreement (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree) with statements.
Recalling Memories of Childhood Bullying: Links Between Early Victimisation and Anxiety in Adulthood
Objectives: This study investigated the relationship between retrospective reports of bullying (primary school, secondary school and general experiences of bullying) with social anxiety (SAD), generalised anxiety (GAD) and grit (perseverance). Method: Demographic information was obtained from participants (n=147) as well as measures from primary school bullying, secondary school bullying and general bullying experiences utilising the Retrospective Bullying Questionnaire (RBQ; Schafer et al., 2004). The Social Phobia Inventory (Connor et al., 2000) measured social anxiety in participants, the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (Meyer et al., 1990) assessed general anxiety and the Grit Test (Duckwoth et al., 2007) evaluated participant’s determination. Results: There was evidence that primary school bullying was associated with higher levels of GAD whilst higher levels of SAD were associated with general bullying experiences. There was no evidence to suggest that the individual difference measure of grit impacted upon anxiety for participants. The results support previous studies which have linked anxiety disorders in adulthood to earlier experiences of bullying
In the Retrospective Bullying Questionnaire (RBQ) (Schafer et al., 2004), there are a number of sections, three of which were used in this study. The first looks at bullying in primary school, the second at bullying in secondary school and the third section at general bullying behaviour. The general bullying behaviour section concentrated on the long-term effects of any bullying the participants had experiences of in primary or secondary school. This section asked such questions as “Do you ever have dreams or nightmares about the bullying events?” and “Do you ever feel distressed in situations which remind you of the bullying event(s)?” (appendix A). This questionnaire was subject to intensive pilot studies by Schafer et al. (2004) and insight was gained from the success of Rivers (2001) study which also utilised a retrospective measure. Reliability of the RBQ was assessed in the Schafer et al. study, which found a good level of test-retest reliability (Spearman correlation coefficients, primary school r=.88, secondary school r=.87). The Social Phobia Inventory is a 17-item self-report questionnaire (Connor et al., 2000) that screens for social anxiety disorder and assesses the acuteness of such a disorder. The measure has three subsections which evaluate key symptoms of SAD: fear of social situations, avoidance of social situations and physiological discomfort within social situation. Each item is rated on a scale from zero to four. Scores ranged from 0 to 68, and a cut off score of 19 or above distinguishes between healthy controls and SAD sufferers. The SPIN has previously demonstrated good internal consistency as well as suitable test-retest reliability. The Penn State Worry Questionnaire (Meyer, Miller, Metzger & Borkovec, 1990) is a 16-item questionnaire which has been considerably utilised in existing studies to measure generalised anxiety disorder in participants. This questionnaire has been shown to differentiate between different anxiety disorders, e.g. General anxiety sufferers score higher than phobics (Meyer et al., 1990). The scoring for questions 1, 3, 8, 10 and 11 were reverse scored for the analysis. Each answer is scored on a five point likert-type scale ranging from 1= not at all typical to 5= very typical. The scores could range from 16 to 80 where the average score in a “normal” student population was 49. The average score in a GAD population was 68 for men and women (Hawkins, 2008). The Grit Test (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, & Kelly, D.R. (2007) is 12-item questionnaire which considers how ‘gritty’ a person you are. It looks at how you face challenges as a person and what your reaction to them is. The scores are added up and divided by 12. The maximum score on this scale is 5 (extremely gritty), and the lowest scale on this scale is 1 (not at all gritty). This measure was included as a personality measure to explore if there are any links between what type of person you are, and whether this affects if you are bullied or not. Procedure Following the briefing sheet, participants received a consent form to inform them of the nature of the study, their participation requirements, and their right to withdraw should they so wish. Once consent was gained, participants were asked to provide some demographic information on the following: gender, age, educational achievement, relationship status, ethnicity and employment status. For the purposes of analysis, females were coded as 1, whilst males were coded as 2. Questionnaires made up the materials for this research project. Once participants had completed these they were informed of the end of the study and given more insight into the nature of the study. Participants were also given helplines and details of advisory websites, where they could go if they felt they had been affected by the nature of the research. The information for two journal articles whose research has facets of the current research were given, so that participants could gather more information if they so wished
Assessing Inference Making in Listening Comprehension in Children in Special Education
Successful listening comprehension involves making accurate inferences to interpret the meaning of a story. We assessed inference making in listening comprehension of children in special education in years 4, 5, and 6 (n=12). Children listened to short stories and answered questions to assess local and global coherence inference after each story. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed no significant main effects for children’s first responses for presentation type (whole, segmented) and inference type (local, global). However, after children had received prompts a significant main effect of inference type was shown with children performing better on global than local coherence inferences. Correlational analysis revealed no significant correlations between IQ and inference type but there was a stronger correlation between verbal IQ and inference type than non-verbal IQ and inference type. An independent t-test revealed no significant effect of diagnostic group on IQ or inference type but children in the Autism group performed better than children in the MLD group on both IQ measures and the MLD group scored better on both inference types. We conclude that inference type is important to consider when setting and asking comprehension questions along with the use of prompts to portray and assess children’s full comprehension ability.
Participants The participants were 12 children from years 4, 5 and 6 aged between 8 and 11 (N=12, 3 girls and 9 boys, M=9.67, SD=0.99) from a special needs school in the North West of England. All children had a statement of special educational needs including; Autism, Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, Moderate Learning Disability, Nonans Syndrome, Fetal Vulprate Syndrome and Speech and Language Impairment. All children were verbal with English as their first language. Consent was provided by parents/ carers, the Head of School and each class Teacher. Measures IQ Task The WISC IV was used to determine children’s IQ levels. Children completed one verbal and one non-verbal measure of IQ. The verbal measure was a vocabulary task, children were first shown pictures of items and asked what this is, progressing onto words asking, what does this mean? Children could score either 0, 1 or 2 points depending on the accuracy of their definitions according to the WISC IV manual. There were 36 items, increasing in difficulty, and testing stopped when children answered 5 questions incorrectly in a row. The non-verbal measure was a block design task, this comprised of 14 items starting with simple designs progressing to more difficult designs. Children had to copy patterns either demonstrated by the experimenter for the first 3 patterns or presented in picture format for the following items. There were time constraints for each pattern starting with 30s progressing in length for the more difficult items to 120s. Once children had failed to complete 3 patterns in a row, testing ended. Listening comprehension task The listening comprehension task was taken from Freed and Cain (2016) devised by the Language and Reading Research Consortium (LARRC) (2015). The full set of materials comprised 6 short stories however, for the current study only 4 stories were used: Grandma’s Birthday, The Game, New Pet and A Family Day Out. The stories were all topics appropriate to this age group. There were 8 questions paired with each story assessing both local and global coherence inferences; 4 of each. With questions either asked throughout the stories (segmented format) or at the end of the stories (whole format). In 2 of the sessions, stories were presented in a whole format and in the other 2 sessions, the stories were presented in a segmented format. All the stories were pre-recorded by Freed and Cain (2016) and delivered on PowerPoint presentation on the researcher’s laptop to ensure consistent delivery of the stories regarding pace and word emphasis. All stories were available in a whole and a segmented format. The format in which children listened to the stories was counterbalanced based on children’s IQ levels from low to high. • Whole story format. Children listened to the full story and at the end were asked 8 comprehension questions. The delivery of each whole formatted story followed the same format. • Segmented story format. Children listened to the story in 5 segments. After each segment the child was asked either 1 or 2 questions with 8 questions in total. The delivery of each segmented story followed the same format. The average length of the story was 157 words, there were no pictures included in the PowerPoint which the story recordings were presented on. This was to avoid children using the pictures to help them answer the questions. Children were provided with verbal prompts if incomplete answers were given to direct them to the correct answer. If children were still unable to answer full knowledge checks were provided, see Table 1. All prompts were pre-written to ensure all children received the same level of prompting. Procedure Pre-test The IQ assessments were implemented individually in a quiet room in two separate sessions. Each session lasted between 10 and 15 minutes depending on how many questions/ trials they completed. First children completed the vocabulary test then in a separate session completed the non-verbal measure, block design. Main assessment Children were presented with 4 short stories on 4 separate occasions, each story paired with 8 questions. Each story had to be completed in a separate session due to the attention and engagement levels of the children being tested. Each session lasted approximately 10 minutes depending on children’s accuracy and speed of answering. The procedure was explained to the children at the beginning of each session using a script to ensure consistency. They were informed that they would either be asked questions throughout the story or at the end of the story.
Accessing Cortical Hyperexcitatbility and Its Predisposition Using Two Types of Measurements
This study aimed to explore in depth about the cortex hyperexcitability. In order to do so, the study will use the pattern glare task and three questionnaires. These three questionnaires include the Cortex Hyperexcitability Index II, Cardiff Anomalous Perceptions scale, and the Multi-Modality Unusual Sensory Experiences Questionnaire. The pattern glare task induces on-spot hallucinations and distortions, while the questionnaires measure the long-term daily unusual sensory experiences one may have experienced. In this study, both the questionnaires and the task measured the same underlying factor, the cortex hyperexcitability. In the sense that it was hypothesized that the predisposition of seizure-like hallucinations and distortions and of daily-based hallucinations and anomalous experiences should be associated in a particular way. The pattern glare task had two blocks in the experiment, one with a blindfold and the other without. They were presented to participants in different orders to counterbalance the order effect. In between the two blocks, the participants answered the three questionnaires. The result of the study showed no significant effect of the blindfold, suggesting that wearing the blindfold for five minutes neither increased the sensitivity of the eyes nor the visual cortex. Most of the relationships between the pattern glare and questionnaires failed to be significant. The investigation on the association between the predispositions of the two types of hallucinations also failed to show any significance, only MUSEQ and pattern glare has a significant correlation. The migraine and migraine with aura groups appeared to be more sensitive to the phosphene phenomena. Their sensitivity, though the results were not significant, could be clearly observed through descriptive statistics. Although the results and findings failed to prove the research hypothesis, probably due to the main limitation of the poorly presented stimuli, the current study to some extent was able to expand the current understanding of cortex hyperexcitability demonstrated by the previous works, and further offered more possibilities for future studies.
Along with the pattern glare task, there were three more questionnaires used in the study, these are MUSEQ (Mitchell et al., 2017), CAPS (Bell et al., 2006), and CHI II (Fong et al., in press). This study has been ethically approved by the Department of Psychology in Lancaster University on 11th May 2018. Participants The current study screened participants before they could take part in the experiment, the screening standard is whether they have been diagnosed with photosensitive epilepsy, epilepsy, or that they recently had a brain or eye surgery. This criterion was created as the viewing of the striped pattern of particular spatial frequencies may induce seizures in patients with photosensitive epilepsy (Wilkins et al., 1984). It turned out none were excluded due to disease or had a history of diseases. There was a total of 43 participants who took part in the study. Among them, 15 were males and 28 were females. The age ranged from 19 to 36, with a standard deviation of 2.92, and around half of the participants were native English speakers. The six participants who self-reported having a migraine or a migraine with aura were noted before the study, as the pattern glare task may induce or intensify their symptoms, which can cause visual discomfort, visual distortions, or a headache. Among the six participants who reported they had migraineur, three of them were migraineurs with aura. Stimuli and Procedure The current study used stimuli that were printed onto cards, and the stimuli were presented to the participants from around 50 cm away at eye level. The patterns were the same size at 20mm * 15 mm, all in black and white, and with the shape of the ellipse. According to the given conditions, the visual angle was calculated to be 12.84 degrees. The three questionnaires were all printed on paper, and the participants were asked to read aloud their answers instead of writing it down. The plain black blindfold which participants were asked to wear during the study was bought from the drugstore. Material There were three different patterns used in this study, the spatial frequency gratings for these patterns are 11 cpd (cycles-per-degree), 3 cpd, and 0.7 cpd respectively. All the patterns were achromatic, with a fixation dot in the centre of them. After each of the stimulus was presented, there were 17 questions which the participants had to answer. The questions asked about the intensity of the anomalous visual phenomena, the types of visual hallucinations, and whether they have a headache or dizziness after the experiment. The materials were adapted from the previous works of Braithwaite et al. (2014). The three questionnaires in between the two blocks of stimuli presentations were MUSEQ, CAPS, and CHI II. MUSEQ (Mitchell et al., 2017) has 43 items of six factors, including Auditory, Visual, Olfactory, Gustatory, Bodily sensations, and Sensed presence; the measurement is a five-point Likert scale which targets the frequency of USE. CAPS (Bell et al., 2006) has 32 items, also addressing the anomalous experiences from different modalities. For each item, if the participants confirmed that they have had related experiences, they then rated their experiences out of three five-point scales on distress, intrusiveness, and frequency. CHI II has 30 items, and each one will be questioned about its frequency and intensity. The measurement is a seven-point Likert scale, with zero as never or not intense and six as all the time or extremely intense. The questionnaire is the recently updated version of the original CHI, and the 30 items in it can be loaded onto three non-overlapping factors, includes heightened visual sensitivity and discomfort (HVSD), aura-like hallucinatory experience (AHE), and distorted visual perception (DVP). For the MUSEQ and CAPS, the original unrevised questionnaire was used during the experiments, however, only parts of the answers given was used in the analysis. This decision was made as the data analysis would be too complicated to take all the factors into consideration, especially when they are just partially related to the research question. Therefore, for the MUSEQ questionnaire, only Visual, Auditory, and Bodily modality were analysed, and for CAPs, the primary concern is exclusively about the temporal lobe experience factor. For the non-blindfold block, all three stimuli were presented; but for the blindfold block, only the medium and high CPD stimuli were included. The low frequency stimulus is excluded because it was too mild to induce any hallucination on the participants. Including it in the blindfold condition is more for its suggestibility; participants who have given a high rating for the low frequency stimulus may produce unreliable scores on the other measures as well (Wilkins et al., 1984). Therefore, participants with too high low PG value would be excluded from the analysis. Procedure Prior to the experiment, the participants were asked to sit in a specific spot where the distance between them and the stimuli was fixed at around 50cm. Then they were given the information sheet and consent form, which contained the information they needed to know in order to proceed with the study. On the consent form, there was a list of questions asking about specific medical conditions including epilepsy, photosensitive epilepsy, neuro and eye surgery, and migraine and migraine with aura. The researchers then confirmed that the participants did not suffer or had suffered from those conditions before the experiment could take place. The first phase of the experiment was the pattern glare test that comprised of two blocks, one with the blindfold and the other without. Participants were labelled with a number which was used as their order of participation. Participants with odd numbers had non-blindfold block first, and the ones with even numbers had blindfold block first. The numbering and manipulation of the block presentation were kept unknown from the participants. The blindfold block contained two stimuli presentation, one was the medium spatial frequency (SF), and the other was the high SF. The reason why the low SF one was not included is that it worked as a control in the non-blindfold block, as there is minor to no effect of this stimulus (Braithwaite et al., 2013, 2015). The blindfold wearing was prior to the presentation of the stimuli; thus, participants wore the blindfold for five minutes before the blindfold block. After the participants finished viewing each pattern, they would answer the 17 questions about the associated visual distortions. They were asked to read aloud the answers and the answers would be immediately recorded using a computer. There was no break in between each trial, and the participants would keep on viewing the next one once they finished all the questions. In between the two stimuli present blocks, the participants were asked to finish the three questionnaires: MUSEQ (Mitchell et al., 2017), CAPS (Bell et al., 2006) and CHI II (Braithwaite et al., in press). It takes approximately 20 minutes to complete the three questionnaires. After the questionnaires are completed, the next block of stimuli was presented with a blindfold or no blindfold respectively. After both of the blocks and the three questionnaires were completed, the debrief sheet was given to participants at the end of the experiment. The entire process took about 30 minutes for a native English speaker, for participants who speak English as their second language, the duration took slightly longer, at around 35 to 40 minutes.
Investigating the Effects of Challenging Behaviour on the Sibling Relationship: Influenced by Behaviour Topography and Shaped by Attributions of Controllability?
Challenging behaviour (CB) displayed by individuals with an intellectual disability (ID) is consistently identified as a stressor on the relationship that they have with their typically developing (TD) sibling. Given the potentially damaging effects of CB on the quality of the sibling relationship and the wellbeing of the TD sibling, understanding the cognitions that underpin TD siblings’ emotional and behavioural responses to CB is essential to direct sibling-targeted psychoeducational interventions. This study considered whether siblings’ responses to CB vary according to behavioural topography. Further, the study considered whether any effects detected were shaped by attributions made by TD individuals regarding the controllability of their siblings’ CB. Thirty-eight siblings of individuals with ID, and 36 participants with a nondisabled sibling, completed a web-based questionnaire measuring participants’ positive and negative affect towards their sibling, the nature of their sibling’s CB, and controllability perceptions regarding their sibling’s CB. The results of this study reiterate that CB is a stressor on the sibling relationship, with externally directed CB (i.e. aggression, destruction) eliciting greater negative affect in siblings compared to internally directed behaviours (i.e. self-injury). However, it could not be concluded with an appropriate level of significance (i.e. p<.05) that this was due to participants perceiving their siblings as more in control of their externally directed behaviours. These findings may have resulted from the diverse nature of the participant group. Further research is required to examine specific differences in the emotional impact of each type of challenging behaviour (and then subsequently, whether any differences detected arise due to contrasting perceptions of behaviour controllability).
Participants Seventy-four TD individuals who had a sibling completed this study. Participants were allocated to one of two conditions according to whether they had a sibling with an ID, or did not (i.e. their sibling was TD). There were 38 participants who had a sibling with ID (82% female, Mage=27.32, SD=9.65) and 36 participants with a TD sibling (92% female, Mage=28.61, SD=10.81); ranging between 13 to 60 years old. Siblings diagnoses are reported in Table 1. Table 1: Diagnoses of participants' siblings Participants were recruited on a voluntary basis through social media advertisements posted by the researcher and by disability organisations (who also sent emails to their followers), and through word of mouth. The researcher developed a digital research flyer summarising study’s purpose and procedure, distributed as described above. To incentivise participation, participants had the option to enter themselves in a prize draw for a £20 Amazon voucher upon completion of the study. A minimum participation age was determined after inputting the text of each questionnaire included in the study into Coh-Metrix (Version 3.0; Graesser, McNamara, Louwerse & Cai, 2004): a web-based software tool assessing the cohesion and coherence of a text. Coh Metrix provides an index of readability by generating the reading age of a piece of text, and the reading age determined of the questionnaires was “grade six”; indicating that 10/11-year-olds should have the ability to comprehend and respond to questions. Thus, it was decided that the questionnaires were suitable for TD individuals aged 12 or above. Consent was gained from all those over 16 years of age, and parental consent for and assent from those aged 12-15 years of age (see “Ethical Considerations” below for further information). Design The study was of a correlational design, investigating the relationship between the following continuous variables: the quality of the sibling relationship, CB displayed by the sibling with ID, attributions of controllability made by participants in respect to their sibling’s behaviour, and participants’ general relational abilities. As part of further analysis, the intention was to examine whether there were effects of having a brother/sister with a disability, gender, and birth order (i.e. whether participants were older/younger than their sibling) (all between-subjects factors) on the sibling relationship. Materials During this study, four self-report questionnaires were administered to all participants: the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) (Watson, Clark & Tellegen, 1988) (Appendix A), the Behavioral Problems Inventory (Short Form) (BPI-S) (Rojahn, Matson, Lott, Esbensen, & Smalls, 2001) (Appendix B), the Controllability Beliefs Scale (CBS) (Dagnan, Grant & McDonnell, 2004) (Appendix C), and Social Competence and Close Friendship subscales taken from the Harter Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (Harter, 2012) (Appendix D). The development and presentation of the questionnaires was done using online Qualtrics software (Qualtrics, Provo, UT). The Harter Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (Harter, 2012) is a multidimensional measure of how young people evaluate their scholastic, social, athletic, and job competencies, as well as physical appearance, romantic appeal, behavioural conduct, and close friendship. However, for the purposes of this study, only the subscales regarding social competence and close friendship were included to detect an individual’s general ability in forming and maintaining relationships with others, which might be a confounding influence on detecting the quality of the sibling relationship. Furthermore, the phrasing of the questionnaire was deemed suitable for both adult and adolescent participants. The questions are presented as two clauses (e.g. "Some people know how to make others like them, but…”, and “Some individuals do not know how to make others like them”). Participants are able to select whether each clause is “really true for me” or “less true for me”, though are required to make the one selection out of four options across both clauses that is most self-descriptive. These responses are coded into a 4-point scale, with “1” representing poorer social/friendship abilities, and some items are negatively coded. Sufficient levels of validity and reliability of the Profile have been reported within a range of population groups (e.g. Donnellan, Trzesniewski & Robins, 2015; Rose, Hands, & Larkin, 2012). A modified version of the PANAS (Watson et al. 1988) was used to assess participants’ feelings towards their brother/sister with a disability, which were then used to infer the quality of the sibling relationship i.e. greater positive affect would indicate a positive and fulfilling sibling relationship, whilst greater negative affect would indicate poor sibling relationship quality. The PANAS is a self-report questionnaire that consists of two separate scales containing emotion-based items that encapsulate positive and negative affect. Participants were asked to think about their sibling and whether they had felt each emotion towards them, rating this on a 5-point scale to specify how often they feel that emotion, ranging from 1 (very slightly or not at all) to 5 (extremely often). Higher total scores on each scale indicated greater positive/negative affect. “Total negative affect” and “total positive affect” scores were obtained for each participant; whereby higher scores pertain to greater affect. The PANAS has been widely utilised to measure variation in affect, and previous research investigating its psychometric properties concludes it to have high reliability and validity across many populations (e.g. Merz, Malcarne, Roesch, Ko, Emerson, et al., 2013; Bakhshipour & Dezhkam, 2006). In this study, certain items of the PANAS were adapted to ensure that they were recognisable to younger participants; for example, “hostile” and “strong” were changed to “angry” and “happy”, respectively. The items “jittery”, “active” and “determined” were excluded as the researcher did not view them as relevant to the sibling relationship. Nevertheless, statistical analysis revealed that internal consistency remained, with the positive and negative affect scales showing high reliability in the current sample, Cronbach’s αnegative=.87; Cronbach’s αpositive=.93. The BPI-S (Rojahn et al. 2001) is a psychometrically sound behaviour rating instrument (Rojahn, Rowe, Sharber, Hastings, Matson, et al., 2012; Mascitelli, Rojahn Nicolaides, Moore, Hastings et al., 2015) constituting a series of items referencing examples of CB. When completing the BPI-S, respondents consider whether a specific individual (in this study, participants’ sibling) engages in a behaviour, and then rate its frequency on a 1-to-6-point scale; corresponding to responses ranging from “never” to “daily”. The original BPI-S also contains a severity-rating subscale; however, this was excluded from the study, as rating the severity of behaviour was deemed to be too complicated for younger participants to judge. The BPI-S contains questions relating to three types of problem behaviours: self-injurious, stereotypic, and aggressive/destructive behaviours. For the purposes of this study, the behavioural items of the BPI-S were grouped and scored according to whether they constituted IDB (i.e. self-injury) or EDBs (i.e. aggression and destruction). Items referencing stereotyped behaviour were excluded, as it was not possible to neatly categorise them into IDB or EDB. As an addition to the questions of the BPI-S, an opportunity for “free text” was included immediately after, whereby participants could describe any behaviours of concern that were not specified by the questionnaire and rate their frequency. Total scores for the BPI-S were obtained, as well as separate total scores for IDB and EDB frequency, whereby higher scores represent a greater number of incidences of CBs. Lastly, the CBS (Dagnan et al., 2004) is a 15-item measure designed to capture participants’ perceptions regarding an individual’s (in this case, their siblings’) control over their CB. Responses are scored on a 1-to 5-point scale, corresponding to ‘disagree strongly’, ‘disagree slightly’, ‘unsure’, ‘agree slightly’ and ‘agree strongly’. Ten items are worded such that agreement reflects participants attributing high control over behaviour (e.g. ‘They are trying to wind me up’). In contrast, five items are phrased whereby agreement indicates participants attributing low control over behaviour (e.g. ‘They don’t mean to upset people’); thus, these items are reversed scored. A “total CBS” score was calculated for each participant, with higher scores pertaining to perceptions of greater control over behaviour. Moreover, Dagnan et al. (2004) report good internal reliability, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.89. Demographic information relating to participants’ age, gender, birth order (i.e. were they older/younger than their sibling) and the diagnosis of their disabled sibling (if their brother/sister was disabled) was collected prior to participants completing the questionnaires. Procedure After receiving expressions of interest from prospective participants and confirming they had a sibling (with or without an ID), the researcher issued a participant information sheet detailing the nature and aims of the study. Both groups of siblings followed the same study procedure but received participant information sheets that were relevant to their role in the study. The researcher also provided a weblink to the online consent form hosted by Qualtrics. Once participants completed the consent form, they answered demographic questions and generated a participant code to ensure anonymity of responses. Participants were informed prior to the study commencing that they could withdraw at any time, either by closing the webpage or by contacting the researcher and asking to be removed from the dataset. Initially, participants responded to items of the Close Friendship and Social Competence subscales of the Harter Self Perception Profile. Following completion of these questions, participants then completed the PANAS, BPI-S and CBS (in that order). Upon finishing the CBS, participants who had a sibling with ID proceeded to a debrief form that outlined the study in detail and provided contact information for support organisations (if needed following discussion of their encounters with CB). Control participants received a debrief form detailing their role in determining the baseline/typical sibling relationship. The procedure differed slightly for participants aged under 16 years old. With one exception, who contacted the researcher directly (but ultimately could not participate due to lack of parental consent), this group expressed their desire to participate through their parents contacting the researcher. In response, the researcher sent a consent form for a parent/guardian to complete, giving their permission for their child to participate in the study. Two participant information sheets were also provided; one for parents and another simplified version of the adult participant information sheet for individuals under 16 years old. Once the researcher had received the completed consent form, the weblink to the study was emailed. It was stressed to parents that, though they may wish to support their child in understanding the questions of the study, they should refrain from guiding their child’s answers. After clicking the weblink, younger participants completed an assent form and were informed about the participation withdrawal procedures, if required. The presentation of the questionnaires was the same as for those aged 16 years old and above. However, the debrief form was simplified in its language and content to ensure it was accessible to younger participants. Contact information for organisations who could support this group of participants specifically was also provided. Additionally, younger participants with a non-disabled sibling received a simplified version of the adult participant debrief form relevant to their role in the study. After reading the debrief sheet, all participants were given the opportunity to enter into a prize draw for a £20 Amazon voucher. The study lasted roughly 15-20 minutes. All participant information sheets, consent forms and debrief sheets are listed in Appendices E – S. Ethical Considerations This study was reviewed and approved by the Psychology Department Research Ethics Committee at Lancaster University. The topic of this study revolved around participants’ experiences of CB, which could involve reflection upon sensitive experiences (including those of violence and destructive behaviour) that elicit negative psychological reactions (such emotional upset, worry, stress, and shame). Furthermore, the minimum age specified for participants is 12 years old, so some participants recruited would be minors (i.e. a vulnerable participant group). In case the discussion of CB experiences elicited negative psychological reactions in participants, contact information for sources of wellbeing support was given as part of the study debrief for both young and adult participants (e.g., talking to a trusted family member or a teacher; information and contact details for free services such as Childline, the Samaritans, The CB Foundation etc.). Offering access to support services was particularly important to younger participants, who may not feel able to speak to their parents about any issues they have. Furthermore, consent was required from all participants over the age of 16. If a participant indicated being under the age of 16, consent was sought from a parent/guardian, whilst assent was obtained from all 12-to-15-year-old participants. Consent and assent were monitored throughout the study. All participants were given sufficient opportunity to understand the nature, aims and expected outcomes of research participation. Complex technical information was suitably adapted so that participants aged under 16 years old could give consent to the extent that their capabilities allowed.
A Match Made in Heaven? The Effect of Congruency Between Accent and Promoted Product in Radio Adverts
Research consistently shows that accents are powerful social cues used in our everyday interactions as well as in advertisements; they can change how we perceive others and potentially also associated products or brands. Recent studies have explored the effect of congruency between the accent of the speaker in adverts and the country-of-origin of the advertised products. Yet the findings from research on the congruency effect is mixed and sparse. Therefore, this study investigated further into the effect of congruency. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions. The study employed a 2 (Accent: Northern English vs. Italian) x 2 (Product: fish and chips vs. pizza) between participant design. In doing this, two adverts had a congruent accent-product pair (e.g., Northern English speaker advertising a fish and chips brand) and two ads were accent-product incongruent (e.g., Northern English speaker advertising a pizza brand). After listening to the ads, participants then completed a questionnaire which measured participants’ brand memory, attention to the ad, purchase intentions, perceived similarity to the speaker and evaluations of the brand, advert and speaker. The results showed no congruency effect, however other striking findings were revealed that will be discussed in this paper.
This study used a 2 (Accent: Northern English vs. Italian) x 2 (Product: fish and chips vs. pizza) between subject design. The dependant variables were participants’ attention to the ad, memorability of the advertised brand name, purchase intentions, evaluations of the speaker, and attitude towards the ad and brand. Additionally, the evaluations of the speaker included their perceived warmth, competence, sociointellectual status, aesthetic qualities, and dynamism traits. Participants Through opportunity sampling, 82 participants were recruited. This sample comprised of 29 males and 53 females. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions. The participants’ age ranged from 19 to 65 (Mage = 25.5 years, SDage = 10.8). All but one participant were native speakers of English. Materials Radio Advertisements. For this experiment, four radio adverts were created (see Appendix A). Two ads were accent-product congruent (Italian accent and pizza, Northern English accent and fish and chips) and two ads were accent-product incongruent (Italian accent and fish and chips, Northern English accent and pizza). In order to create the adverts, two male speakers were recruited. One of the speakers spoke with an authentic Northern English accent and one of the speakers spoke with an authentic Italian accent, both spoke at similar paces with no major differences in their tone of voice. Questionnaire. The questionnaire used in the experiment was created via the survey software, Qualtrics. The questionnaire took approximately 10 minutes to complete. The items and scales used to measure the dependent variables are discussed below. Brand attitude. Participants’ attitude towards the advertised brand was measured using a 4-item, 7-point bipolar scale used in Liu, Wen, Wei. and Zhao’s (2013) study (ɑ = .92). See Appendix B for the full subscale. Ad attitude. Participants’ attitude towards the advert subscale was taken from Lalwani, Lwin, and Li’s (2005) study. The participants were asked to rate the radio advert using 4-items with 7-point bipolar scales (ɑ = .87). See Appendix C. Attention to the ad. Also taken from Lalwani et al.’s (2005) study, were 3- items with 7-point likert scales to measure participants’ attention to the ad (ɑ = .24). The Cronbach’s alpha score was low however removing items did not increase the alpha significantly to represent a robust measure. See Appendix D. Purchase intentions. In addition, based on the scales used in Hornikx, van Meurs, and Hof’s (2013) research, the questionnaire included 3-items with 7-point bipolar scales to measure participants’ purchase intentions (ɑ = .88). See Appendix E. Competence and warmth. The questionnaire included questions which measured the perceived competence and warmth of the speaker. The 9-items for competence (ɑ = .90) and 9-items for warmth (ɑ = .92) were presented together. The scale used for the items were 7-point likert scales (1= Strongly Disagree, 7= Strongly Agree), taken from Rudman and Glick’s (1999) study. The list of items used can be found in Appendix F and G, respectively. Socio-intellectual status, aestheticism and dynamism. Also, the questionnaire included the Speech Dialect Attitudinal Scale by Mulac (1975, 1976). This consisted of 12-items (four items for each subscale) with 7-point bipolar scales measuring the participants’ perceived socio-intellectual status (ɑ = .85), aestheticism (ɑ = .85), and dynamism of the speaker (ɑ = .76). See Appendix H. Similarity. To measure participants’ perceived similarity to the speaker in the ad, the questionnaire included 3-items with 7-point likert scales (ɑ = .80) taken from Lalwani et al.’s (2005) questionnaire. See Appendix I. Manipulation check. The questionnaire examined if participants correctly identified the accent used by the speaker in the ad. Participants were asked “What was the accent of the speaker in the ad?”. Memorability of the brand name. At the end of the questionnaire the participants were asked the open-ended question “Please write down the product’s brand name that was advertised in the radio ad you listened to.”. Additional questions. The questionnaire included additional questions which investigated whether any factor other than accent affected participants’ responses. These questions consisted of 7-point bipolar scales, 7-point likert scales, unipolar scales, and open-ended questions (see Appendix J). The questions measured the comprehensibility of the speaker in the ad, participants’ attitudes towards the accent, accent of the participant, likability of the advertised products, hunger, and native language of the participant. The questionnaire also asked demographic questions. Procedure After giving the informed consent, participants were randomly assigned to an experimental condition and sent the link to the Qualtrics questionnaire. At the beginning of the questionnaire the radio ad was played followed by the questions. The order in which the items were presented were brand attitude, ad attitude, attention to ad, purchase intentions, warmth, and competence, socio-intellectual status of speaker, aestheticism of speaker, dynamism of speaker, similarity to speaker, comprehensibility of speaker, accent of the speaker, attitude towards the ad, accent of the participant, likeability of the advertised product, frequency of eating advertised product, hunger of participant, participants’ first language, brand name memorability, and finally followed by the demographic questions. On completion of the questionnaire, participants were thanked and debriefed. Analysis A multivariate ANOVA was used to test the main and interaction effects of accent and product on participants’ evaluations. Also, separate univariate ANOVAs were conducted to explore if there were any covariate effects on participants attention to the ad, brand memorability, evaluations of brand, ad or speaker. The covariate variables were participants’ perceived similarity to the speaker, comprehensibility of the speaker, participants’ attitude towards the speaker’s accent, hunger, frequency of, and likability of eating the advertised product.