A repeated-measures examination of organizational stressors,perceived psychological and physical health,and perceived performance in semi-elite athletes

ABSTRACT

Organizational stressors can undermine the psychological well-being and performance of athletes. Less is known, however, about how these relationships unfold over time and whether organizational stressors can impact upon perceived physical health. The current study, therefore, used a repeated-measures design to examine relationships between organizational stressors with components of perceived psychological (anxiety and depression) and physical (illness symptoms and missed training days via illness) ill-health, and perceived performance at the within-person level. Twenty-three semi-elite female rowers completed monthly measures of study variables for six-months. Multilevel models indicated that selection-related stressors positively predicted symptoms of perceived psychological and physical ill-health, and negatively predicted perceived performance. Conversely, coaching stressors negatively predicted symptoms of perceived psychological ill-health. Logistics and operations stressors positively predicted perceived performance, whereas goals and development stressors negatively predicted perceived performance. These findings demonstrate for the first time that, with a repeated-measures design, organizational stressors can predict components of perceived physical and psychological ill-health, and perceived performance at the within-person level in athletes. From a practical perspective, practitioners should incorporate these findings when diagnosing the need for, developing, and optimally implementing primary and secondary stress management interventions.     

The relative difficulty of signed arithmetic story problems for primary level deaf and hard-of-hearing students

This study determines the relative difficulty and associated strategy use of arithmetic (addition and subtraction) story problems when presented in American Sign Language to primary level (K-3) deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Results showed that deaf and hard-of-hearing students may consider and respond to arithmetic story problems differently than their hearing peers, with the critical dimension in problem difficulty being based on the operation typically used to solve the problem, not the story within the problem. The types of strategies used by the students supported the order of problem difficulty. The visual-spatial nature of the problem presentation appeared not to assist the deaf and hard-of-hearing students in solving the problems. Factors that may have contributed to this pattern of problem difficulty are discussed so that educators can better align mathematics instruction to the thinking of the deaf child.     

Managing the consultant and the client: A two-handled crosscut saw

This article focuses on managing the client and the concultant with a performance appraisal process. The authors use their current practical experiences to consider the management of an effective client-consultant relationship. Dorothy writes from her perspective as a training director and user consultants and Maureen from her experience as an independent consultant providing management training and consulting services in the Metropolitan Washington area.     

美国教育博士学位的背景与发展

本文简要记载美国基础教育在改革大环境中对领导管理人员专业培训的需要,以皮博迪学院教育博士学位的定位框架和规格标准为例,在治学宗旨、办学对象、教学方式等方面综述当前美国学术界对教育博士的定位和改良的探讨,为中国高校探索教育领导管理专业学位的设置和发展提供参考.     

在中国国家图书馆建馆100周年庆祝大会上的致辞

各位嘉宾、各位朋友： 下午好。 非常荣幸受邀参加此次中国国家图书馆百年馆庆的盛大活动。很高兴能够来到这里,这也是我担任国际图联主席以来的首次正式访问。中国国家图书馆是亚洲乃至世界上最大的图书馆之一。它也是世界上最大的中文文献藏家。众所周知,     

The KAIZEN Leader: Continuously Improving Administration

Organizations need high levels of human performance from all personnel, including leaders. Unfortunately, standard organizational practices in selecting and promoting leaders reinforce behaviors that interfere with high performance from them and those they supervise. The leap from current performance levels to high performance must occur in incremental steps based on a theory of management that requires nothing less than cultural and personal change. This article defines the term “KAIZEN” and describes the changes leaders must make in their attitudes and behavior if they are to create continuously improving organizations.     

Team Shared Cognitive Constructs: A Meta‐Analysis Exploring the Effects of Shared Cognitive Constructs on Team Performance

Sharing similar cognitive structures among team members is one key element for the collective to solve problems and work more efficiently (DeChurch & Mesmer‐Magnus, 2010). Research has shown that team cognition is positively associated with team performance in both organizational and educational settings. Team shared cognition constructs are relatively new constructs and have been identified in the literature as team mental models, shared mental models, information sharing, transactive memory systems, cognitive congruence, and group learning. Cannon‐Bowers and Salas (2001) called for better measures of shared cognition to be developed, partially through the integration of shared cognition measures across disciplines. The purpose of this meta‐analysis is to look at these six team cognition constructs in an effort to help identify which measure, if any, results in predicting team performance best. Results indicated that information sharing was statistically significant compared to team mental memory and group learning, and marginally significant compared to transactive memory systems. Additionally, shared mental models and cognitive congruence showed higher associations with performance compared to team mental models, group learning, and transactive memory systems.