Adults’ Resilience in the Light of Measurement Methods

The aim of the article is to present different approaches to understanding resilience as well as to point out possibilities for research in this area. A broad list of measurement tools for researching adults in terms of resilience, resilience related factors and mental health is presented. Examples of standards and criteria are presented, which can be helpful in the process of constructing further studies, with the aim of finding a common field of research and further possibility of generalizing conclusions. The article also presents examples of longitudinal research and research conducted in the experimental paradigm. It concludes with the necessity for further empirical and applied research on resilience, especially involving the three levels: cognitive, emotional and behavioural.

Choosing a career path is an important decision made in the course of life, a developmental task which every individual faces. Career indecision, however, is a challenge that has plagued young people who do not know the career options they have, or lack vital information on oneself that will help them make a course choice. Some factors that play a role in career decision including career guidance, interest-based personality and systemizing were investigated to predict students’ course choice. The study involved 248 participants who completed the survey online. Results revealed that both the utility and deficiency subscales of career guidance did not predict the course choice. Enterprising personality type predicted course choice only when career guidance and interest-based personality were considered (OR = 6.36, p = .03, 95% CI = [1.11, 36.41]). However, topography subscale of systemizing predicted course choice, noting a decreasing odds of falling within the humanities category (OR = .64, p = .01, 95% CI = [.44, .91]). The study shows that career indecision is still one of the major developmental challenges that an individual faces while growing up, thus career counsellors are expected to play a vital role in providing solutions to these challenges by providing insightful guidance to individuals from an early stage.

The last decades brought us a deeper reflection on the role of the future and thinking about it in our lives in psychology. Numerous studies supplied us with much empirical evidence on how crucial the role of thinking about one’s future is to human behavior and to general development. Making predictions about one’s future is one type of prospective activity. These predictions (vision) may be related to many areas of life, e.g., intimate relationship, work, being a parent. The current study aimed to develop a quantitative, self-report measure of the extension of the vision of own parenting (VOP). Findings from the first study (N = 450, M [age in years] = 20.82, SD = 2.81) resulted in reducing initial 105-item version to the 85-item one. Findings from the second study, with a different sample (N = 352, M [age in years] = 19.57, SD = 2.48), resulted in 78-item (divided into eleven scales) version of the Vision of Own Parenting Questionnaire (VOPQ). These results were supported by confirmatory factor analysis. The internal reliability of the VOPQ was assessed across two studies, and was found to be high (α = .72 - .89). The criterion validity was established in the second study, whereby the VOPQ subscales were demonstrated to be associated with future time perspective, empathy, and life values. The VOPQ represents a valid, psychometrically sound, and novel method of assessing the extension of the vision of own parenting and parenting valuing.

The role of attachment and filial maturity dimensions in predicting expectations of filial caregiving was investigated on a sample of 296 (186 females) prospective caregivers aged 26 to 60. Consistent with previous studies, attachment avoidance negatively predicted the filial caregiving expectations. These effects were partially mediated by filial comprehending, which predicted higher self-expectations in providing assistance to the parent. Filial distancing was proven to be a negative predictor of caregiving expectations, although in low relation with attachment avoidance. Findings suggest the importance of further exploration, as well as the importance of the concept of filial maturity in the context of filial responsibilities and long-term parent-child relations.

The Polish-Mother’s Pattern of Functioning as a Correlate of Parental Burnout and Following Selected Parental Myths. Preliminary Research Results

The pattern of the functioning of a Polish mother, based on the cognitive component of her stereotype shared by mothers, combines certain features, behaviors and devotion to the family. “Parenting myths”are parents’beliefs about the necessity to give their child all the best and ensure a happy childhood. It was assumed, that both self-sacrificing for children and being guided by myths can lead to women’s overburdening with parental role. Three methods were used: the Identification with a Polish Mother Questionnaire, the Selected Parental Myths Questionnaire and Polish version of the Parental Burnout Assessment. 284 mothers (aged 19–55) took part in the research. Preliminary results showed that the degree of identification with the characteristics of the Polish-Mother was negatively correlated with parental burnout symptoms, but positively with following parental myths.

Strategies for Coping with Stress and the Well-Being of Socially Isolated Seniors during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The theory of selective optimization with compensation (SOC), developed by Paul Baltes, and a relational position in the psychological analysis of stress were chosen as the basis for the assumptions of the research study reported on in this article. Additionally, it was assumed that a sense of well-being in seniors may be reduced by crises, which are a response to difficult and unexpected life events. The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between selected strategies of coping with stress and the well-being of seniors during the period of forced social isolation that was introduced in the spring of 2020 during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The participants of this on-line study consisted of 190 late adulthood individuals with a mean age of 68.7 (SD = 5.24). The measurement tools included assessment of the following areas: perceived stress (PSS-10), ways of coping with stress (MINI COPE), the sense of efficacy (GSES) and life satisfaction (SWLS).

The results showed that the most common coping methods in the group of seniors studied were active coping, planning, positive revaluation and acceptance. Correlation-regression analysis showed that the level of stress of seniors during a pandemic negatively depends on a sense of efficacy and two ways of coping with stress which include acceptance and active coping, and positively depends on a denial and psychoactive substance use.