Design, Implementation and Evaluation of an Innovative Pilot Intervention to Improve the Family Quality of Life of Children with Specific Learning Disabilities-A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: The high prevalence of learning disabilities among children confirm that learning disabilities are surprisingly common. In the absence of routine screening, many children still go undetected with a huge individual and family burden, while at the same time, the findings of existing interventions are conflicting. This study reports on the design, implementation and evaluation of an innovative pilot intervention aiming at improving the quality of life of the family of children with specific learning disabilities. Method: For the purposes of this study, we ran a randomized controlled trial employing an experimental research design with two groups (intervention and control). The study population comprised parents of children with specific learning disabilities. Out of the 71 individuals that were eligible for randomization, 42 were allocated to the intervention, and 29 to the control group. A brief parenting intervention model was employed, aiming at improving parenting skills through a stepwise process. The intervention included four skill building sessions conducted over a period of 6 weeks. "Parenting style" (including three dimensions: "Authoritative", "Authoritarian" and "Permissive") and "Family Quality of life" (including five dimensions: "Family Interaction", "Parenting", "Emotional Well-being", "Physical/Material Wellbeing" and "Disability-Related Support") were employed as the outcome measures of this study. Two validated questionnaires were used to measure the study outcomes: "the Parenting Style Questionnaire" and the "Family Quality of Life Scale (FQOL) Questionnaire". The questionnaires were applied at the pre- and post-intervention level. Findings: An analysis showed that except for the "permissive parenting style", the intervention and control group had statistically significant differences in all the "Parenting style" and the "Quality of life" dimensions at the post-intervention level. In the intervention group, none of the study dimensions improved at a statistically significant level at the post-intervention level compared to pre-intervention level. According to the cluster analysis, which re-examined successful vs. unsuccessful cases, the intervention was found to have an effect on the average values of all the "quality of life" and "parenting style" dimensions, except for the "Authoritarian Parenting Style". Conclusions: The study offers evidence on the dimensions of parenting and quality of life mostly affected by a brief intervention as well as on the feasibility, practicality and acceptance of such interventions in local communities.

Translation and Psychometric Evaluation of the Health Orientation Scale in a Greek Speaking Sample (Greece-Cyprus).

INTRODUCTION: The examination of the impact of personality on physical health outcomes is valuable in health psychology. Health Orientation Scale (HOS) is a 50-item questionnaire developed to evaluate a persons' health orientation. AIM: To examine the Health Orientation Scale (HOS) psychometric properties in a community Greek-speaking sample in Greece and Cyprus. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted, which lasted three months. Participants were 358 people between 18-73 years old (Mage = 34, SD = 9.35). There were 86 men (24.1%) and 271 women (75.9%). The first step included the translation of the HOS. Next, a composite questionnaire was distributed to the participants, including demographic data, Health Orientation Scale, Health Locus of Control Scale, Life Orientation Test-Revised, Body Appreciation Scale (BAS), and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS v. 25. RESULTS: A three-factor structure similar to that found in the original validation was supported. Except for the "External Health Control" subscale (α=.46), the rest nine subscales of the HOS had good/excellent internal consistency, ranging from .76 to .87. Test-retest reliability of the ten subscales of the HOS was also adequate, ranging from r=.69 to .94. Concerning its construct (convergent and discriminant) validity, many significant correlations were found between the ten subscales of the HOS and Health Locus of Control, Life Orientation Test-Revised, Body Appreciation Scale (BAS), and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). CONCLUSION: The HOS is a valuable instrument to health psychologists and could be used for research and clinical purposes to assess people's health orientation.

Management of organisational changes in a case of de-institutionalisation.

PURPOSE: This paper seeks to explore the development of a discharge programme in one learning disability hospital in Scotland. The study aims to concentrate on organisational developmental changes in that institution. The model of the management during the discharge programme was investigated. The aim of the study is to explore how the discharge programme developed, as seen under the lens of organisational change, in order to find out what kind of model of management is more suitable in similar programmes. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: A case study was employed. Data were collected by means of interviews. The interviews followed a structured format. The sample of the study had to be a purposive sample and the method of snowball sampling was used; finally, 28 interviews were conducted. A grounded approach was adopted for the data analysis. The software program QSR "NUD*IST" (version "N6") was used as a technical tool, in order to facilitate the data analysis. FINDINGS: The findings of this study show that various management models were adopted in the four phases of the discharge programme. These different models represent a "quest" by the institution's management regarding the most appropriate model for managing the discharge programme. This study shows that this goes on continuously in organisations under transition until they settle down to a more permanent state. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: It was concluded that management models, which are composed of characteristics from the organic theory of organisational management, could apply in discharge programmes. The data gathered enabled the researcher to arrive at a model of management which is suitable for managing organisational changes in discharge programmes, the named "stakeholder management model".

Applying the concept of lifestyle in association with aggression and violence in Greek cohabitating couples.

The current study investigated the role of lifestyle as a significant factor related to the aggression and violence between cohabitating partners. Based on previous research, lifestyle was defined as a special reflection of socialization into society and working life, where different lifestyles should also be able to produce different patterns of socialization into people's roles as partners. It was found that gender and years of cohabitating were significantly related to Emotional aggression and Sexual violence; lifestyle patterns were associated with specific forms of violence. More specifically, the lifestyles of Pleasure & Elegance and the one of Culture-Intellectualism were found to promote Emotional aggression. Also, the lifestyle of Yuppies/Workaholic and that of Physical activities stimulated the appearance of Sexual violence between partners. Moreover, individuals with Tradition-Religiousness lifestyle were more likely to show lower levels of Physical & Sexual violence while the adherents of the Substance abuse lifestyle pattern appeared to have an inclination towards Physical & Sexual Violence. Finally, the occurrence of one form of violent behaviour was likely to be related to the other forms of violent behaviour.