Showing papers by "Ralf Schwarzer published in 1996"

Predicting teacher burnout over time: Effects of work stress, social support, and self-doubts on burnout and its consequences

Abstract: This longitudinal study examined antecedents and consequences of psychological burnout among 362 teachers and school administrators. Antecedents included red tape, disruptive students and lack of supervisor support. Consequences of burnout included heart symptoms and depressive mood. Respondents completed questionnaires sent to them at their schools at two points in time, one year apart. LISREL analyses indicated that the predictors had significant relationships with burnout levels one year later, and that burnout served as a mediator between the predictors and emotional and physical health outcomes.

Anxiety, stress, and coping: 1988–1996

Abstract: (1996). Anxiety, stress, and coping: 1988–1996. Anxiety, Stress & Coping: Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. i-i.

Psychosocial differences between occasional and regular adolescent users of Marijuana and Heroin

Abstract: Data on marijuana and heroin use were obtained from 969 adolescents in Hong Kong, part of them being offenders. Very high drug use prevalence rates were found, which is due to the unique population studied. All but two of the heroin users were incarcerated youth. Drug use frequencies were highly associated with psychosocial variables such as sensation seeking, peer drug use, family drug use, susceptibility to peer pressure, perceived control to gain access to drugs, intention to try other substances, and perceived adverse consequences of drug use. Interactions were found indicating, for example, that regularly marijuana using girls and occasionally heroin using girls were characterized by higher levels of sensation seeking and susceptibility to peer pressure than their male counterparts. Polysubstance use was generally related to high levels of psychosocial vulnerability factors. The exclusive use of marijuana was associated with high susceptibility to peer pressure and with perceived control to gain access to drugs. The findings reflect a complex interplay of psychosocial variables with substance use in adolescents that, however, cannot be generalized beyond this particular sample in Hong Kong.

Social bonding and loneliness after network disruption : A longitudinal study of east German refugees

Abstract: After the 1989 breakdown of the communist system, 235 East Germans were interviewed three times during the two years following their transition to West Berlin. In moving to the west, the migrants had to deal with various stressors, among them the lack of social ties in their new environment. Fortunately, the number of their new friends increased steadily, and loneliness declined. These changes, however, differed between sexes and age groups. Men made more friends than women, in particular same-sex friends, whereas women knitted ties with both sexes. The young built larger networks than the intermediate age group. Loneliness emerged as an inhibiting factor in the bonding process. The study demonstrates how well these refugees coped with a social crisis. It also examines the roles that loneliness and social bonding played in the readjustment process.

Anticipating stress in the community: Worries about the future of hong kong

Abstract: The transition from British to Chinese rule in 1997 is a unique example of a predictable stressful event that affects the community of Hong Kong in various ways. The present paper describes the historical and political context preceding this transition characterized by high sociopolitical volatility, as suggested by some objective data (e.g., emigration) and subjective data (e.g., opinion surveys). Psychometric items designed to assess threat/worry, challenge/self-efficacy, and benefit were administered to two groups, a large random sample of the ethnic Chinese Hong Kong population and a sample of Chinese university students. About half the random sample reported to be seriously concerned about the future after 1997, whereas in the student sample only about one fifth did so. Neither group expected advantages from the political transition. The students felt somewhat less challenged or less self-efficacious in dealing successfully with the upcoming event. In discussing these findings it is argued that first-year students might have other concerns shortly after being admitted to college as opposed to the average population, which might be more involved in sociopolitical matters.