Becoming a Psychotherapist: Learning Practices and Identity Construction Across Communities of Practice

Within a perspective that views groups as communities of practice and sites of construction of knowledge, learning, and identity, this article aims to explore the contribution that participation in different groups over the course of one’s life provides to the development of the professional practices of psychotherapist trainees enrolled in the C.O.I.R.A.G. school, an Italian graduate program in group psychotherapy. Through qualitative analyses of 10 semi-structured interviews, our study empirically shows that by participating in groups, the trainees not only learn the practices of that group but also develop a sort of meta-learning which takes place across groups. The results highlight that: (1) Transversality, duration, and informality are found to be the group properties with the highest formative value; and (2) Learning practices across different groups have common characteristics: are organized around complex topics of group life (e.g., how to manage conflicts, how to join and leave groups, etc.), began in early group experiences, are in continuous evolution, are associated with a critical event, and a negative affect. At the same time, it seems that these critical events are exactly what triggered and sustained the learning practices. Data from the interviews also showed how professional identities are constructed as the outcome of learning in different communities of practice. The study outlines how the experience made in different groups is elaborated in and through meaningful self-narratives, highlighting them as a fundamentally collective and culturally shaped sense-making process. Overall, these results contribute to a better understanding of learning processes as situated and jointly constructed through multiple group participations over time. Furthermore, they contribute to highlighting the role of self-narratives as a primary way through which trainees shape their identity as self-reflexive professionals who are competent in reading group dynamics. Directions for future research and suggestions for psychotherapist training paths are outlined in the conclusions.

Does Learning English Require Grit? Examining the Differential Effects on Grades in Core Subjects

Research indicates that beliefs on the locus of the primary source of learning can have negative effects on learning behaviors in school (Mercer & Ryan, 2011). To an increasing extent, young people in Sweden acquire English outside school through different cultural practices (Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2012). At the same time, students lack enthusiasm in English lessons, which can lead to a reduced investment of effort in the language classroom (Henry, 2014). However, learning a language requires both interest and effort. In psychological research, the capacity of showing consistency in interest and perseverance to achieve a goal, such as learning a language, is defined as grit (Duckworth et al., 2007). Studies investigating the association between grit and language achievement remain scarce. The present study contributes to filling this gap by investigating whether the effects of grit differ across different performance domains (i.e., English, Swedish and Mathematics). An additional purpose is to investigate whether there are differential effects of grit for subgroups of students with different SES, achievement levels, and gender. A total of 4646 compulsory school students born in 1992 were extracted from the Evaluation Through Follow-up Database (ETF). Multiple-group path analysis was used to examine the mechanisms of the grit facets (i.e., interest and perseverance) across time and subgroups. While both interest and perseverance predicted grades in Swedish and Mathematics, interest alone predicted grades in English. The low SES high achieving group also showed higher consistency in interest and perseverance than the other groups, indicating that grit could be more valuable in face of adversities.

Scale length does matter: Recommendations for measurement invariance testing with categorical factor analysis and item response theory approaches

In social sciences, the study of group differences concerning latent constructs is ubiquitous. These constructs are generally measured by means of scales composed of ordinal items. In order to compare these constructs across groups, one crucial requirement is that they are measured equivalently or, in technical jargon, that measurement invariance (MI) holds across the groups. This study compared the performance of scale- and item-level approaches based on multiple group categorical confirmatory factor analysis (MG-CCFA) and multiple group item response theory (MG-IRT) in testing MI with ordinal data. In general, the results of the simulation studies showed that MG-CCFA-based approaches outperformed MG-IRT-based approaches when testing MI at the scale level, whereas, at the item level, the best performing approach depends on the tested parameter (i.e., loadings or thresholds). That is, when testing loadings equivalence, the likelihood ratio test provided the best trade-off between true-positive rate and false-positive rate, whereas, when testing thresholds equivalence, the χ2 test outperformed the other testing strategies. In addition, the performance of MG-CCFA’s fit measures, such as RMSEA and CFI, seemed to depend largely on the length of the scale, especially when MI was tested at the item level. General caution is recommended when using these measures, especially when MI is tested for each item individually.

Investigating nurses' professional identity construction in two health settings in New Zealand

<p>The increasing nursing shortage experienced in healthcare institutions alongsidethe communicative issuesrelated to multiculturalnursing teams have placed nurses at the centre of the stage in a growing body of healthcare-related research. In this context, the values, beliefs and conceptualizations which characterize a nurse‘s professional identity play a significant role in organizational life since they guide nurses‘ decisions on the kind of clinical practices they adopt and influence their work performance. However, there islittle empirical evidence on how nurses discursivelyconstruct their professional identity.To date most sociolinguistic research on professional identity in healthcare environments has focused on the power asymmetries characterising doctor-patient, doctor-nurse and nurse-patient discourse, largely disregarding nurse-nurse interaction. Thus, moving away from the traditional approach taken to this area of enquiry, this thesis considershow nurses from an array of ethnic backgrounds construct their professional identity throughdiscursive practices as they interact with other nurses in workplace meetings. The data for this study involve nurses and nurse managers in a ward of a public healthcare institution andata private healthcare institution in New Zealand. The data consist of audio and video recordings of four roster and five handover meetings from the hospital and four clinical and four staff meetings from the clinic, collected by employing Interactional Sociolinguistics as a methodological approach which provides anethnographic lensand afocus on context and culture. To investigate professional identity construction, the analysis takes a theoretical stance which draws on social constructionismand social identity theoryand exploresprofessional identity as it emerges within the boundaries of local interaction and practices. Nurses‘ professional identity formation is consideredin three interactional contexts, namely, voicing and responding to complaints, displaying professional expertise, and negotiating professional values. Findings demonstratethat nurses index multiple group membership alignments as a way to ̳indirectly‘ voice direct complaints and to respond to them in community-appropriate ways as they build in-group solidarity and rapport, and observe interactants‘ face needs.In addition, considerations ofthe use of question-answer adjacency pairs, medical jargon and rationality of case presentation show how expertise construction belongs in a dynamic continuum which is actively transited by nurses as they construct themselves and others as more or less expert on differentaspects of professional practice. Consideringnurses‘ expert claims astemporary, nurses are shown to construct multiple self and other subject positions at the local and wider community levels in order to achieve different interactional goals.This thesis also shows how, when evaluating professional practice, nurses negotiate their professional values at both local and wider community levels by indexing multiple group alignments and displaying expertise that positively construct their professional stance,and by using persuasion techniques that ascribe preferred professional images with the aim of standardising professional practices. Overall, theresearch highlights the partial nature of identity construction as other-initiatedclaims cause nurses to re-consider their stance in order to orienttowards a preferred professional image of themselves, makingsituationally motivated selections of their discursive resources to craft their identity claims.</p>

Investigating nurses' professional identity construction in two health settings in New Zealand

<p>The increasing nursing shortage experienced in healthcare institutions alongsidethe communicative issuesrelated to multiculturalnursing teams have placed nurses at the centre of the stage in a growing body of healthcare-related research. In this context, the values, beliefs and conceptualizations which characterize a nurse‘s professional identity play a significant role in organizational life since they guide nurses‘ decisions on the kind of clinical practices they adopt and influence their work performance. However, there islittle empirical evidence on how nurses discursivelyconstruct their professional identity.To date most sociolinguistic research on professional identity in healthcare environments has focused on the power asymmetries characterising doctor-patient, doctor-nurse and nurse-patient discourse, largely disregarding nurse-nurse interaction. Thus, moving away from the traditional approach taken to this area of enquiry, this thesis considershow nurses from an array of ethnic backgrounds construct their professional identity throughdiscursive practices as they interact with other nurses in workplace meetings. The data for this study involve nurses and nurse managers in a ward of a public healthcare institution andata private healthcare institution in New Zealand. The data consist of audio and video recordings of four roster and five handover meetings from the hospital and four clinical and four staff meetings from the clinic, collected by employing Interactional Sociolinguistics as a methodological approach which provides anethnographic lensand afocus on context and culture. To investigate professional identity construction, the analysis takes a theoretical stance which draws on social constructionismand social identity theoryand exploresprofessional identity as it emerges within the boundaries of local interaction and practices. Nurses‘ professional identity formation is consideredin three interactional contexts, namely, voicing and responding to complaints, displaying professional expertise, and negotiating professional values. Findings demonstratethat nurses index multiple group membership alignments as a way to ̳indirectly‘ voice direct complaints and to respond to them in community-appropriate ways as they build in-group solidarity and rapport, and observe interactants‘ face needs.In addition, considerations ofthe use of question-answer adjacency pairs, medical jargon and rationality of case presentation show how expertise construction belongs in a dynamic continuum which is actively transited by nurses as they construct themselves and others as more or less expert on differentaspects of professional practice. Consideringnurses‘ expert claims astemporary, nurses are shown to construct multiple self and other subject positions at the local and wider community levels in order to achieve different interactional goals.This thesis also shows how, when evaluating professional practice, nurses negotiate their professional values at both local and wider community levels by indexing multiple group alignments and displaying expertise that positively construct their professional stance,and by using persuasion techniques that ascribe preferred professional images with the aim of standardising professional practices. Overall, theresearch highlights the partial nature of identity construction as other-initiatedclaims cause nurses to re-consider their stance in order to orienttowards a preferred professional image of themselves, makingsituationally motivated selections of their discursive resources to craft their identity claims.</p>

Discordant umbilical arteries in the umbilical cord entanglement: a light microscope study

Objective The present study aimed to examine the histopathological diagnosis of the umbilical artery discordance in cases with single or multiple umbilical cord entanglement and pregnancy outcomes. Methods The vascular structure of the umbilical cord, histopathological findings of the placenta and obstetric outcomes were retrospectively examined in 50 cases. The cases were divided into two groups by the number of cord entanglement (single-multiple) and their histopathological findings and neonatal Apgar scores were assessed. Results Out of 50 cases, 38 (76%) had single and 12 (24%) had multiple cord entanglement. In 50 cases, the mean gestational age was 39.16±1.06 weeks, neonatal Apgar scores were 8.7±0.58 at 1 minute and 9.64±0.56 at 5 minute. No statistically significant difference was detected between single and multiple groups in terms of gestational age (p=0.79), 1-minute Apgar score (p=0.832) and 5-minute Apgar score (p=0.656). In histopathological examination, the diameters of umbilical arteries 1 and 2 were found to be 0.11±0.12, 0.09±0.05 µm, respectively in the single group (p=0.756) and 0.13±0.14, 0.06±0.02 µm, respectively in the multiple group (p=0.131). When the umbilical arterial diameters were compared by group, the diameter of the umbilical artery 2 was detected 0.09±0.05 µm in the single and 0.06±0.02 µm in the multiple group and statistically significant difference was detected (p=0.037). Out of 50 cases, placental hypoxia finding was detected as chorangiosis only in 10 cases (2 multiple, 8 single). Conclusion Umbilical artery discordance was detected in cases with multiple umbilical cord entanglement. However, poor pregnancy outcome was not observed in any of the cases. When multiple cord entanglement is seen during obstetric examination, umbilical artery discordance must be remembered and investigated, and also maternal-fetal condition should be considered.

Examining Measurement Invariance of Depression among Male and Female in Chinese Older Adults

Depression of older adults is an important public health concern. With the increasing popularity of cross-cultural research and comparison studies, researchers are facing a difficult problem: responses to the depression scales obtained from different population groups may not always be comparable. This study examines the measurement invariance of the 10-item version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale across male and female in Chinese older adults. Data are drawn from the baseline wave of the China Health and Retirement Survey (CHARLS), a national survey conducted biennially with a sample of the Chinese population who are 45 years of age or older. The final sample size includes 15,977 respondents; 53.2% of whom are female. The mean age for the sample is 58.3 (SD = 10.2). Measurement invariance (MI) tests based on Multiple Group Categorical Confirmatory Factor Analyses (MGCCFA) was performed. Results show that full scalar model was not supported, and question items invariant across groups were identified. These results indicate that any mean comparisons of CES-D across Chinese male and female older adults not accounting for the noninvariance in the items could be biased, highlighting the importance of performing MI tests before conducting mean comparisons across groups.

Associations Between Age-Related Changes in Positive Affect and Physical Functioning: The Role of Education

Increasing research points to the relevance of educational attainment for positive emotional experiences and physical functioning across adulthood. However, little is known about how age-related developments in positive affect and physical functioning differ by educational attainment. This study used longitudinal data of 10,893 individuals (60–80 years) from the Health and Retirement Study to examine whether educational attainment moderates trajectories of positive affect and physical functioning and their interrelations over 12 years. Initial results from multiple-group bivariate growth models revealed that individuals with less formal education have lower positive affect and poorer physical functioning at baseline. There was, however, no evidence that longitudinal changes in positive affect, longitudinal changes in physical health, and coupled changes between both variables varied with educational attainment. These initial findings suggest that lower educational attainment is primarily related to lower levels of positive affect and physical functioning, but not to greater age-related declines or their interrelations.

Older Adult Health and Remission of Risky Drinking and Alcohol Use Disorder: A Lifespan-Developmental Study

Older-adult drinking is a growing public-health concern. As part of a larger project investigating older adulthood by contrasting this with other adult developmental periods, this study used longitudinal U.S.-representative data to test bidirectional associations between drinking and health, emphasizing aging-related health concerns as potential mechanisms of remission from risky/problem drinking. In multiple-group cross-lag models, we found that effects of poor self-reported health on drinking reductions increased with age, reached significance around midlife, and were strongest in older adulthood. However, a caveat revealed by additional Markov transition models was that these effects did not extend to relatively severe older-adult drinkers (indexed by DSM-5 AUD). In some instances, poor health even predicted less older-adult AUD remission. Altogether, findings support the notion of aging-related health concerns as important mechanisms of older-adult drinking reduction; but highlight a need to understand barriers to these mechanisms among severe older-adult drinkers, in part toward guiding lifespan-developmentally-informed interventions.