Browsing by Author "Lopez, Shane J."
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- ‘‘Building hope for the future’’: A program to foster strengths in middle-school studentsPublication . Marques, Susana C.; Lopez, Shane J.; Ribeiro, José Luís PaisThe authors investigated the effectiveness of a 5-week hope-based intervention designed to enhance hope, life satisfaction, self-worth, mental health and academic achievement in middle school students. The study includes a sample of 31 students from a community school, a matched comparison group of 31 students, and 2 secondary groups— guardians and teachers of the students’ intervention group. Students completed a questionnaire packet that included demographic information, the Portuguese versions of the Children’s Hope Scale, Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale, Mental Health and Self-Worth Scales. Academic achievement was obtained from school records. At baseline, groups are statistically similar on the variables of interest. At post-test the intervention group had enhanced hope, life satisfaction and self-worth. In the intervention group, benefits in hope, life satisfaction and self-worth were maintained at the 18-month follow up. Results suggest that a brief hope intervention can increase psychological strengths, and participants continue to benefit up to 1-year and 6-months later.
- Estabilidade temporal das escalas de esperança para crianças e de satisfação com a vida para estudantesPublication . Marques, Susana C.; Ribeiro, José Luís Pais; Lopez, Shane J.A Esperança e a Satisfação com a Vida são variáveis individuais que reflectem uma natureza disposicional. Têm recebido atenção especial quanto ao papel que desempenham na construção de um desenvolvimento humano positivo e como potenciais contributos para o desenvolvimento de outros comportamentos e atitudes positivas. Tendo como base as características e potencialidades destas variáveis, consideramos avaliar a estabilidade destas variáveis ao longo do tempo. O objectivo deste estudo é avaliar a estabilidade das respostas às escalas de Esperança e de Satisfação com a Vida para estudantes após um período de 6 meses numa população de crianças e adolescentes. Participaram 367 estudantes que constituíram uma amostra de conveniência, 53,1% do sexo feminino, com idade M = 11,78 (entre os 10 e os 15 anos) e escolaridade M = 6,98 (entre o 6º e 8º ano). O material utilizado foi a “Escala de Esperança para Crianças” e a “Escala de Satisfação com a Vida para Estudantes”. Os resultados mostram que o coeficiente de fidelidade teste-reteste é de 0,60 para a escala de Esperança e de 0,69 para a escala de Satisfação com a Vida para Estudantes. Os resultados suportam a premissa teórica de que a Esperança e a Satisfação com a Vida compreendem propriedades de componentes traço. O desenho longitudinal deste estudo introduz um acréscimo temporal significativo, comparativamente a estudos conduzidos anteriormente e acrescenta um indicador de fidelidades aos estudos de validação das versões portuguesas das respectivas escalas. São discutidas implicações dos resultados encontrados. ------ ABSTRACT ------ Hope and satisfaction with life are individual difference variables with a dispositional nature. They receive special attention related to their importance of building on human positive development and as potentials contributors to the development of other positive behaviours and attitudes. In this later regard, having as foundation the characteristics and potentialities of hope and satisfaction with life, we consider relevant to evaluate the stability of these variables across time. The goal of the study is to evaluate the students hope and satisfaction with life scores over a 6 months period. The study include a convenience sample of 367 individuals from the community (53.1% females; age M = 11.78 years, range 10-15 years). Participants completed a questionnaire packet that included the Portuguese versions of the “Children Hope Scale” (CHS; Snyder et al., 1997) and “Students’Life Satisfaction Scale” (SLSS; Huebner, 1991). Results show that the testretest stability coefficient is .60 for the CHS and .69 for the SLSS. The results support the theoretical premise that hope and satisfaction with life demonstrates some trait-like properties. The longitudinal design of this study, in which hope and satisfaction with life scores were reassessed after a 6 month period, is a significant increase in comparison to previous studies that have assessed test-retest stability after a 1-, 2-week or 1-month interval. Implications of these findings are discussed. Keywords: Children and adolescents, Hope, Satisfaction with life, Test-retest reliability.
- The role of positive psychology constructs in predicting mental health and academic achievement in children and adolescents: A two-year longitudinal studyPublication . Marques, Susana C.; Ribeiro, José Luís Pais; Lopez, Shane J.This longitudinal study presents the first examination of the relation between positive psychology constructs, mental health and academic achievement of students in Portugal. Using a sample of 367 middle-school students, the study revealed that crosssectional and longitudinal patterns of correlations between positive variables were consistent with expectations for the most part and suggested that hope, life satisfaction and self-worth have meaningful relations with mental health and academic achievement. In addition, no significant changes were found between the variables in study across the administrations and throughout the two cohorts, and all the variables in study demonstrate moderate to high stability across a 1- and 2-year time frame. Hope predicts students’ academic achievement, and life satisfaction was the strongest predictor of mental health, over 2-years. The implications of the findings are discussed with reference to prior studies and for future research.