Peres Academic Center

About: Peres Academic Center is a education organization based out in Tel Aviv, Israel. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Loneliness & Social support. The organization has 80 authors who have published 179 publications receiving 1566 citations.

A Focused Intervention for 1st-Year College Students: Promoting Hope, Sense of Coherence, and Self-Efficacy

Abstract: Many students experience elevated psychological distress during their 1st year at college. Within the salutogenic paradigm (A. Antonovsky, 1987), sense of coherence (SOC), self-efficacy, and hope (in terms of hope theory; C. R. Snyder, 2002) are considered as protective factors in the demanding academic system. Study goals were to examine the outcomes of a focused workshop for 43 students, targeting the promotion of hope, sense of coherence, and self-efficacy for enhancing students’ academic adjustment as expressed through their grades. Results revealed an effect over the 3 measurement time-points (before the workshop, immediately after it, and after 1 month), as well as the interactions of time and hope levels. Although their mean grades were not statistically different before the intervention, students who achieved higher levels of hope following the workshop got higher grades in the semester following the intervention. SOC and self-efficacy scores were significantly related both to hope levels...

Predictors of PTSD trajectories following captivity: A 35-year longitudinal study

Abstract: Although war captivity is a potent pathogen for psychiatric illness, little is known about the long-term trajectories of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among ex-prisoners of wars (ex-POWs). This study aimed to assess the long-term trajectories of PTSD and their predictors following war captivity. Three follow-ups (1991, 2003, 2008) were conducted over 35 years of 164 Israeli ex-POWs and185 comparable combatants from the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Ex-POWs reported higher PTSD rates than controls at all three assessments. Four trajectories of PTSD were identified: chronic PTSD, delayed PTSD, recovery and resilience. The majority of POWs reported delayed PTSD, while the majority of controls were classified as resilient. While PTSD rates remained relatively stable over time among controls, a steep increase in rates was observed among POWs between 1991 and 2003, followed by stabilization in rates between 2003 and 2008. Finally, subjective experience of captivity was the variable that best distinguished between the resilience and PTSD groups of ex-POWs, followed by participation in previous wars and negative life events during childhood. War captivity carries long-lasting psychiatric implications, even decades after release. Aging processes, as well as unique stressors that exist in Israel, may account for the elevated PTSD rates found here.

COVID-19-Related Economic Anxiety Is As High as Health Anxiety: Findings from the USA, the UK, and Israel.

Abstract: As the COVID-19 outbreak peaks, millions of individuals are losing their income, and economic anxiety is felt worldwide. In three different countries (the USA, the UK, and Israel: N = 1200), the present study addresses four different sources of anxiety: health-related anxiety, economic-related anxiety, daily routine-change anxiety, and anxiety generated by social isolation. We hypothesized that, economic anxiety would have a similar or greater effect, compared to health anxiety. Results show that in all three countries, the levels of economic and health anxiety were essentially equal, and both surpassed routine-change and isolation anxiety. Although the COVID-19 crisis originated in the health field, this study emphasizes the need to move from a generalized concept of anxiety to specific types of distress, most notably economic anxiety. Economic anxiety results in serious mental and physical health problems and should be attended to by clinical professionals and by policy makers.

The Proposed Changes for DSM-5 for SLD and ADHD International Perspectives—Australia, Germany, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Spain, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and United States

Abstract: This article presents an international perspective of the proposed changes to the DSM-5 for learning disabilities (LD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) across ten countries: Australia, Germany, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Spain, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We provide perspectives of the present situation for youth with LD and youth with ADHD and describe the legislation, prevalence rates, and educational systems that serve students with disabilities in the respective countries. We also present a discussion of the expected impact of the proposed changes for the diagnosis of LD and ADHD in each country.

Personal Resources, Hope, and Achievement Among College Students: The Conservation of Resources Perspective

Abstract: The current study examines the relationships of students’ grades and goal achievement to changes in three personal resources (hope, self-efficacy and optimism), before and following participation in a focused hope intervention. According to Hobfoll’s (Am Psychol 44:513–524, 1989) conservation of resources paradigm, people attempt to amass and protect personal resources (i.e., aspects of the self linked to resiliency), and existing resources can be mobilized in pursuit of further resources and achievements. The goal of the study was to identify individual differences related to changes in these resources and their relationships with academic achievement over time. Based on Snyder’s (The psychology of hope. Free Press, New York, 1994) Hope Theory, and augmented by concepts drawn from self-efficacy and optimism theories, 83 first-year college students participated in a focused hope intervention workshop. The results highlight individual differences in hope levels. Particularly, we found an interaction of time and hope levels on academic achievement. Students who achieved higher levels of hope following the workshop attained higher grades in the semester following the intervention, even though mean grades were not statistically different before the intervention. Optimism and self-efficacy scores both increased immediately following the workshop, but displayed different trajectories at follow-up. Hope manifested more consistent relationships than optimism or self-efficacy with grades over time. The implications of these changes for future research as well as for intervention in educational systems are discussed.