The effects of childhood abuse on symptom complexity in a clinical sample: Mediating effects of emotion regulation difficulties

The purpose of the present study was to first examine whether childhood abuse predicts symptom complexity, as indicated by the number of clinically elevated scales on the MMPI-2 in an adult clinical sample. Secondly, we investigated whether emotion regulation difficulties mediated the relationship between childhood abuse and symptom complexity. A total of 162 adult outpatients not presenting with psychotic symptoms completed the Korean Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (K-CTQ), Life Events Checklist (LEC), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), and Korean Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2). Partial correlation analysis results indicated that after controlling for the presence of adulthood trauma, childhood abuse was associated with more symptom complexity, or more clinically elevated scales on the MMPI-2. Furthermore, structural equation modeling results showed that emotion regulation difficulties partially mediated the relationship between childhood abuse and symptom complexity. These findings indicate that individuals who had experienced childhood abuse evidence simultaneous presentation of diverse clinical symptoms.     

Online Media Relations as an Information Subsidy: Quality of Fortune 500 Companies' Websites and Relationships to Media Salience

This study probes relationships among corporate financial resources, web-based corporate media relations, and media attention to corporations to determine whether online media relations functions as an effective information subsidy in the agenda-building process. It compares the quality of online press rooms of Fortune 500 companies with the number of news articles about those same companies published by five major news outlets in the United States. A causal model was supported predicting that resource-rich companies have better-operating online newsrooms with more diverse informational and interactive components, which in turn generate more news stories about the companies. This result suggests that the effectiveness of corporate Web activities depends on financial and professional resources and contradicts earlier expectations that the dominance of resource-rich organizations in communication would be undermined by the Internet.     

Movement Pattern and Parameter Learning in Children

Reduced feedback during practice has been shown to be detrimental to movement accuracy in children but not in young adults. We hypothesized that the reduced accuracy is attributable to reduced movement parameter learning, but not pattern learning, in children. A rapid arm movement task that required the acquisition of a motor pattern scaled to specific spatial and temporal parameters was used to investigate the effects of feedback (FB) frequency (100% vs. 62% faded) on motor learning differences between 19 school-age children and 19 young adults. Adults and children practiced the task for 200 trials under the 100% or faded FB condition on Day 1 and returned on Day 2 for a no-FB retention test. On the retention test, children who practiced with reduced feedback performed with greater temporal parameter errors, but not pattern error, than children who received frequent feedback. Motor skill learning in children is influenced by feedback frequency during practice that affects parameter learning but not pattern learning.     

Information networks and social media use in public diplomacy: a comparative analysis of South Korea and Japan

This article examines how South Korean and Japanese public diplomacy organizations employ digital media to embrace the principle of ‘networked public diplomacy’ through analyses of the web and social media practices. A network analysis was used to map interorganizational information networks among core public diplomacy organizations in each country. To reveal the key organizations' communication strategies on Facebook, a content analysis was also conducted. The findings indicate that Japan had a strong internal network infrastructure achieved through dispersed connections and partnerships; however, Korea had a centralized network, including a limited number of dominant actors. The results of content analysis suggest that both South Korea and Japanese public diplomats focused on promoting their cultural products and national values through their use of texts and visual images. In addition, user profile analysis gaged the degree of users' engagement in the organizations' profiles and identified the demographic features of users. Comparative data suggest the Korean public diplomacy organization was more successful at attracting and engaging with foreign public than the Japanese public diplomacy organization. These results imply that although these two countries had similar sociopolitical backgrounds and perspectives of public diplomacy, they had distinct forms of internal information networks, communication strategies, and social networking performances with public.     

Academics' commitment and job satisfaction: Tenure- vs. non-tenure-track in South Korea

This study analyses academics' commitment and job satisfaction according to full-time non-tenure-track (FTNT) and full-time tenure-track (FTT) in South Korea's changing academic environment. Data were collected from the 2018 Academic Profession in the Knowledge-Based Society Survey. One-way analyses of variance show no statistically significant differences in professional commitment (PC) and organisational commitment (OC) between FTNT and FTT academics, but FTNT academics exhibit significantly lower job satisfaction. Hierarchical linear regression models indicate that OC positively relates to job satisfaction, but PC is not statistically significantly associated with job satisfaction. This study argues that work conditions and stable positions are important factors in job satisfaction, though committed academics are likely to remain with the profession and organisation. These findings have implications for the treatment of academics and for university hiring and promotion procedures in today's changing academic environment.     

Intelligence,achievement, and visual-motor performance among learning disabled and emotionally impaired children

This study investigated the performance of Learning Disabled (LD) and Emotionally Impaired (EI) children on intelligence, achievement, and visual-motor tests. An attempt was made to find patterns of performance and/or specific variables that would aid in identification and differentiation of these two groups. Eighty elementary school children were selected on the basis of their placement within either a learning disability or emotionally impaired classroom, according to the specifications of Michigan Mandatory Special Education Guidelines. The LD group consisted of 38 subjects and the EI group of 42. All of the children were tested on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R), Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT), and the Minnesota-Percepto-Diagnostic Test (MPD). In addition, age and sex were investigated. The data were analyzed by discriminant function analysis and stepwise multiple regression analysis. A cutoff score was established that significantly separated the LD and EI children. It was also established which of the test scoring variables used were the best predictors.     

Professional Characteristics and Teacher Professionalism of Secondary School Teachers

Questionnaire responses from 338 secondary school teachers were analysed to relate teachers' professional characteristics (comprising teaching experience, professional development, and academic and professional qualifications) to teacher professionalism, defined in terms of the two dimensions, teaching competence and commitment to teaching. The Professional Development and Teacher Professionalism Instrument (PDTPI) was devised to measure professional development and teacher professionalism. Inferential statistical techniques employed in the study showed that the variable, teaching experience, was not related to teacher professionalism. Professional development, on the other hand, was found to be an important variable, with the mean teacher professionalism scores between the “high” and “low” professional development groups being significantly different. The study also found that academic qualification was not related to teacher professionalism. However, teachers who had higher professional qualifications were found to possess a higher degree of teacher professionalism.