Helping women to stop smoking during pregnancy is a major priority for health professionals and e... more Helping women to stop smoking during pregnancy is a major priority for health professionals and evidence suggests that financial incentives can be effective. With the aim of maximising the benefits and minimising unintended negative consequences, this paper gives a brief review of evidence about using financial incentives for smoking cessation during pregnancy, with a special emphasis on how financial incentives work. The review showed that financial incentives can increase pregnant women’s capability, opportunity and motivation to stop smoking. The evidence supports five specific recommendations about how financial incentives should be used in future to reduce smoking during pregnancy, including measures to increase public acceptability. These recommendations can contribute to updating published UK policy for smoking cessation during pregnancy, including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline on stopping smoking in pregnancy and after childbirth (PH26).
Journal of Further and Higher Education, Nov 1, 2009
This paper reports three studies about preparing Further Education (FE) students for the transiti... more This paper reports three studies about preparing Further Education (FE) students for the transition to Higher Education (HE) by improving their understandings of HE assessment criteria. In study 1, students and tutors in both FE and HE were interviewed for a qualitative analysis of their understandings and expectations about assessment criteria. In study 2, students in FE and HE completed questionnaires measuring self-rated understanding and ability about assessment criteria, and beliefs about essay writing. Studies 1 and 2 both showed that FE students were more confident than HE students about their understanding and ability in relation to assessment criteria, but FE students' understandings suggested more surface approaches to learning and more naïve epistemological beliefs. In study 3, a workshop intervention to improve FE students' understandings of HE assessment criteria was evaluated in a comparative longitudinal trial. The intervention reduced FE students' self-rated understanding and ability, and promoted more sophisticated beliefs about essay writing, by comparison with students who received standard tuition. We concluded that interventions to develop more realistic understandings of what is required in academic writing could be used to prepare FE students more effectively for the transition to HE.
In an exploratory postal survey of 711 drivers stratified by age, sex, annual mileage, and accide... more In an exploratory postal survey of 711 drivers stratified by age, sex, annual mileage, and accident involvement, decision-making style was measured using a Decision-Making Questionnaire (DMQ) and driving style was assessed using a Driving Style Questionnaire (DSQ). Responses to 21 items of the DMQ formed seven independent and internally coherent dimensions according to a principal components (PC) analysis. These were labelled: control, thoroughness, instinctiveness, social resistance, hesitancy, perfectionism, and idealism. PC analysis also revealed that responses to 15 items of the DSQ formed six independent dimensions of driving style. These were labelled: speed, calmness, social resistance, focus, planning, and deviance. Multiple regression analysis indicated that drivers of 60 years and under who scored lower on thoroughness were at greater risk of a traffic accident and that this relationship was mediated by faster driving. This relationship was independent of age, sex, annual mileage, and all other factors measured. In the drivers over 60 years, lower thoroughness, greater hesitancy, and faster driving were independently associated with higher accident rates independent of all other factors measured. The results provide preliminary support for the view that people import aspects of their general decision-making style into the driving situation, and that in so doing they put themselves at differential risk of having a road traffic accident.
this paper is concerned with the question of whether accidents can be sensibly classified accordi... more this paper is concerned with the question of whether accidents can be sensibly classified according to the driving behaviour involved. the database used for this exercise was a postal survey of 714 drivers who had previously formed part of the trrl's national driver survey. from the survey, it was discovered that 120 drivers had had an accident in the past year; and they were asked to describe their most recent accident using a standard report form. the first major subdivision of accidents was 'active' versus 'passive'. this distinction did not seek to establish blame, but rather whether from the information provided there was anything the driver could have done in the circumstances to avoid the accident. the 79 active accidents were then examined to see whether they could be classified further. in the event a large proportion of the accident descriptions appeared to indicate a primary role either for excess speed, or a failure to look at or notice some crucial element in the traffic environment. drivers with speed accidents rated poor control on their part as significantly more important than did drivers with observation accidents. they also rated poor road surface as a more important contributory factor (see table 6). the potential utility of the speed versus observation distinction is shown in table 6 by the fact that the two categories of accident are associated with different values on a number of key variables. speed accidents were associated with greater damage and injury severity. drivers with speed accidents were more likely to engage in deviant driving behaviour and to drive fast. they were considerably younger and had much less driving experience than did drivers with observation accidents. it is concluded that accident descriptions can be reliably and usefully classified with a simple methodology and that there is some reason to believe that this classification bears some resemblance to actual accidents. a broadly- based classification system, not based on blame, may be one solution. in addition, it may be possible to identify specific accident scenarios which occur with sufficient frequency to make it worth targeting specific countermeasures on them. for the covering abstract of this conference, see irrd 845356.
This paper describes a study examining the psychometric properties of a new social deviance scale... more This paper describes a study examining the psychometric properties of a new social deviance scale (the Social Motivation Questionnaire) and the extent to which scores on this scale are associated with risky driving styles and accident proneness. The study also measures the driver's Type A behaviour pattern and decision making style, in order to examine the extent to which social deviance correlates with accident risk independently of such variables. A correlational design method was used. The data was obtained from the following sources: a) Self report measures of thoroughness, accident risk, driving speed, driving violations, age, sex and annual mileage from a survey of 711 drivers carried out in December 1988/January 1989, and in a follow up survey of 433 drivers in December 1990/January 1991; b) Self report measures of mild social deviance, Type A behaviour pattern, driving speed and driving violations obtained by questionnaire in a follow up carried out in 1990. A total of 108 subjects provided complete information on all measures at all time points. The results indicate that the new scale of social deviance, which focuses on motivation to pursue self interest at the expense of others was indeed associated with increased accident proneness. This was partly mediated by faster driving. Social deviance may also be related to accident risk through an increased tendency to engage in deviant driving behaviour. For the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD 853013.
Do individuals with Chronic Pain show attentional bias to pain-related information? An early stag... more Do individuals with Chronic Pain show attentional bias to pain-related information? An early stage systematic review of the eyetracking evidence. The Cognitive Psychology Bulletin, (4), 37-45. CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk
Purpose This study aims to reflect on ways that the experiences of vulnerable users of drug and a... more Purpose This study aims to reflect on ways that the experiences of vulnerable users of drug and alcohol services can inform social work practice and policy to improve treatment engagement and mitigate negative responses to interventions. Design/methodology/approach The research used semi-structured interviews and photovoice in an interpretative phenomenological analysis of the experiences of people in treatment for drug or alcohol problems whose child was the subject of a Child Protection or Child in Need order. Findings The research gave insights into participants’ experiences of loss of control, unfairness and stigma. Participants described how they felt powerless in the social services system and were afraid to be open and honest with practitioners for fear of having their children removed. Practical implications The research highlighted the need for more training and professional development for social work practitioners to address power imbalance issues, and the need to promote...
Background: Many people with end-stage chronic kidney disease continued attending clinical centre... more Background: Many people with end-stage chronic kidney disease continued attending clinical centres for dialysis despite the risk of contracting COVID-19 and developing severe disease. Aims: To assess the impact of COVID-19 on patients' adjustment and wellbeing. Methods: Some 40 people (18 female, 22 male) receiving in-centre haemodialysis reported COVID-19-related adverse impacts on treatment and rated their COVID-19-related concerns, then completed the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 and four scales of the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Form. Findings: The most common adverse impacts were staff shortages/changes and impaired interaction with staff/patients. Of the sample, 32.4% were severely depressed, 14.7% severely anxious and 18.9% severely stressed. Participants who had tested positive for COVID-19 were more depressed and reported more adverse impacts. Older and married/cohabiting participants had better adjustment and wellbeing. Conclusions: The results help ...
Background: The ability to appropriately process social stimuli such as facial expressions is cru... more Background: The ability to appropriately process social stimuli such as facial expressions is crucial to emotion regulation and the maintenance of supportive interpersonal relationships. Cognitive Bias Modification Tasks (CBMTs) are being investigated as potential interventions for those who struggle to appropriately process social stimuli. Aims: Two studies aimed to assess the effectiveness of a novel computerised 'Compassion Game' CBMT compared with a validated 'Self-Esteem Game' (Study 1, n=66) and a Neutral Control Game (Study 2, n=59). Method: In each study, baseline, post-task, and one-month follow-up measures of 3 self-reported forms of self-criticism (inadequate self, hated self, and self-reassurance) were used to examine the benefits of two weeks' attentional training. Results: Analyses show that the novel Compassion Game significantly reduced inadequate self-criticism at post and one-month follow-up (Studies 1 and 2) and increased self-reassurance (Study 1). Results also show that the Self-Esteem (Study 1) and the Neutral Control Game (Study 2), which also used social stimuli, produced reductions in inadequate selfcriticism. Conclusions: Results suggest that training one's attention toward social stimuli can improve inadequate selfcriticism. Implications for the use of compassionate stimuli in such CBMTs are discussed.
Chair-work is an experiential method used within compassion-focused therapy (CFT) to apply compas... more Chair-work is an experiential method used within compassion-focused therapy (CFT) to apply compassion to various aspects of the self. This is the first study of CFT chair-work and is focused on clients' lived experiences of a chair-work intervention for self-criticism. Twelve participants with depression were interviewed following the chair-work intervention and the resulting data was examined using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Three superordinate themes were identified: 'embodiment and enactment', 'externalizing the self in physical form' and 'emotional intensity'. The findings suggest the importance of accessing and expressing various emotions connected with self-criticism, whilst highlighting the potential for client distress and avoidance during the intervention. The role of embodying, enacting and physically situating aspects of the self in different chairs is also suggested to be an important mechanism of change in CFT chair-work. The findings are discussed in terms of clinical implications, emphasizing how core CFT concepts and practices are facilitated by the chair-work process.
This article explores the emotional experiences of drug- and/or alcohol-using parents who have ch... more This article explores the emotional experiences of drug- and/or alcohol-using parents who have child protective Social Services involvement. Research suggests that protective processes can reduce children’s experience of poor outcomes whilst parents undergo treatment for substance misuse. Semi-structured interviews combined with photovoice and journal writing were used to generate data. Eight UK-based parents participated. Each was accessing drug or alcohol treatment and had a child who was the subject of a child protection intervention. The resulting data from the seventeen interviews were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Key findings are presented within four themes. The first two outline parents’ perceptions of themselves and how they felt they were viewed by others. Themes 3 and 4 focus on specific emotions: anger and frustration; fear and guilt. The research identifies the complex nature of parental emotions surrounding drug/alcohol misuse when soc...
Helping women to stop smoking during pregnancy is a major priority for health professionals and e... more Helping women to stop smoking during pregnancy is a major priority for health professionals and evidence suggests that financial incentives can be effective. With the aim of maximising the benefits and minimising unintended negative consequences, this paper gives a brief review of evidence about using financial incentives for smoking cessation during pregnancy, with a special emphasis on how financial incentives work. The review showed that financial incentives can increase pregnant women’s capability, opportunity and motivation to stop smoking. The evidence supports five specific recommendations about how financial incentives should be used in future to reduce smoking during pregnancy, including measures to increase public acceptability. These recommendations can contribute to updating published UK policy for smoking cessation during pregnancy, including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline on stopping smoking in pregnancy and after childbirth (PH26).
Journal of Further and Higher Education, Nov 1, 2009
This paper reports three studies about preparing Further Education (FE) students for the transiti... more This paper reports three studies about preparing Further Education (FE) students for the transition to Higher Education (HE) by improving their understandings of HE assessment criteria. In study 1, students and tutors in both FE and HE were interviewed for a qualitative analysis of their understandings and expectations about assessment criteria. In study 2, students in FE and HE completed questionnaires measuring self-rated understanding and ability about assessment criteria, and beliefs about essay writing. Studies 1 and 2 both showed that FE students were more confident than HE students about their understanding and ability in relation to assessment criteria, but FE students' understandings suggested more surface approaches to learning and more naïve epistemological beliefs. In study 3, a workshop intervention to improve FE students' understandings of HE assessment criteria was evaluated in a comparative longitudinal trial. The intervention reduced FE students' self-rated understanding and ability, and promoted more sophisticated beliefs about essay writing, by comparison with students who received standard tuition. We concluded that interventions to develop more realistic understandings of what is required in academic writing could be used to prepare FE students more effectively for the transition to HE.
In an exploratory postal survey of 711 drivers stratified by age, sex, annual mileage, and accide... more In an exploratory postal survey of 711 drivers stratified by age, sex, annual mileage, and accident involvement, decision-making style was measured using a Decision-Making Questionnaire (DMQ) and driving style was assessed using a Driving Style Questionnaire (DSQ). Responses to 21 items of the DMQ formed seven independent and internally coherent dimensions according to a principal components (PC) analysis. These were labelled: control, thoroughness, instinctiveness, social resistance, hesitancy, perfectionism, and idealism. PC analysis also revealed that responses to 15 items of the DSQ formed six independent dimensions of driving style. These were labelled: speed, calmness, social resistance, focus, planning, and deviance. Multiple regression analysis indicated that drivers of 60 years and under who scored lower on thoroughness were at greater risk of a traffic accident and that this relationship was mediated by faster driving. This relationship was independent of age, sex, annual mileage, and all other factors measured. In the drivers over 60 years, lower thoroughness, greater hesitancy, and faster driving were independently associated with higher accident rates independent of all other factors measured. The results provide preliminary support for the view that people import aspects of their general decision-making style into the driving situation, and that in so doing they put themselves at differential risk of having a road traffic accident.
this paper is concerned with the question of whether accidents can be sensibly classified accordi... more this paper is concerned with the question of whether accidents can be sensibly classified according to the driving behaviour involved. the database used for this exercise was a postal survey of 714 drivers who had previously formed part of the trrl's national driver survey. from the survey, it was discovered that 120 drivers had had an accident in the past year; and they were asked to describe their most recent accident using a standard report form. the first major subdivision of accidents was 'active' versus 'passive'. this distinction did not seek to establish blame, but rather whether from the information provided there was anything the driver could have done in the circumstances to avoid the accident. the 79 active accidents were then examined to see whether they could be classified further. in the event a large proportion of the accident descriptions appeared to indicate a primary role either for excess speed, or a failure to look at or notice some crucial element in the traffic environment. drivers with speed accidents rated poor control on their part as significantly more important than did drivers with observation accidents. they also rated poor road surface as a more important contributory factor (see table 6). the potential utility of the speed versus observation distinction is shown in table 6 by the fact that the two categories of accident are associated with different values on a number of key variables. speed accidents were associated with greater damage and injury severity. drivers with speed accidents were more likely to engage in deviant driving behaviour and to drive fast. they were considerably younger and had much less driving experience than did drivers with observation accidents. it is concluded that accident descriptions can be reliably and usefully classified with a simple methodology and that there is some reason to believe that this classification bears some resemblance to actual accidents. a broadly- based classification system, not based on blame, may be one solution. in addition, it may be possible to identify specific accident scenarios which occur with sufficient frequency to make it worth targeting specific countermeasures on them. for the covering abstract of this conference, see irrd 845356.
This paper describes a study examining the psychometric properties of a new social deviance scale... more This paper describes a study examining the psychometric properties of a new social deviance scale (the Social Motivation Questionnaire) and the extent to which scores on this scale are associated with risky driving styles and accident proneness. The study also measures the driver's Type A behaviour pattern and decision making style, in order to examine the extent to which social deviance correlates with accident risk independently of such variables. A correlational design method was used. The data was obtained from the following sources: a) Self report measures of thoroughness, accident risk, driving speed, driving violations, age, sex and annual mileage from a survey of 711 drivers carried out in December 1988/January 1989, and in a follow up survey of 433 drivers in December 1990/January 1991; b) Self report measures of mild social deviance, Type A behaviour pattern, driving speed and driving violations obtained by questionnaire in a follow up carried out in 1990. A total of 108 subjects provided complete information on all measures at all time points. The results indicate that the new scale of social deviance, which focuses on motivation to pursue self interest at the expense of others was indeed associated with increased accident proneness. This was partly mediated by faster driving. Social deviance may also be related to accident risk through an increased tendency to engage in deviant driving behaviour. For the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD 853013.
Do individuals with Chronic Pain show attentional bias to pain-related information? An early stag... more Do individuals with Chronic Pain show attentional bias to pain-related information? An early stage systematic review of the eyetracking evidence. The Cognitive Psychology Bulletin, (4), 37-45. CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk
Purpose This study aims to reflect on ways that the experiences of vulnerable users of drug and a... more Purpose This study aims to reflect on ways that the experiences of vulnerable users of drug and alcohol services can inform social work practice and policy to improve treatment engagement and mitigate negative responses to interventions. Design/methodology/approach The research used semi-structured interviews and photovoice in an interpretative phenomenological analysis of the experiences of people in treatment for drug or alcohol problems whose child was the subject of a Child Protection or Child in Need order. Findings The research gave insights into participants’ experiences of loss of control, unfairness and stigma. Participants described how they felt powerless in the social services system and were afraid to be open and honest with practitioners for fear of having their children removed. Practical implications The research highlighted the need for more training and professional development for social work practitioners to address power imbalance issues, and the need to promote...
Background: Many people with end-stage chronic kidney disease continued attending clinical centre... more Background: Many people with end-stage chronic kidney disease continued attending clinical centres for dialysis despite the risk of contracting COVID-19 and developing severe disease. Aims: To assess the impact of COVID-19 on patients' adjustment and wellbeing. Methods: Some 40 people (18 female, 22 male) receiving in-centre haemodialysis reported COVID-19-related adverse impacts on treatment and rated their COVID-19-related concerns, then completed the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 and four scales of the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Form. Findings: The most common adverse impacts were staff shortages/changes and impaired interaction with staff/patients. Of the sample, 32.4% were severely depressed, 14.7% severely anxious and 18.9% severely stressed. Participants who had tested positive for COVID-19 were more depressed and reported more adverse impacts. Older and married/cohabiting participants had better adjustment and wellbeing. Conclusions: The results help ...
Background: The ability to appropriately process social stimuli such as facial expressions is cru... more Background: The ability to appropriately process social stimuli such as facial expressions is crucial to emotion regulation and the maintenance of supportive interpersonal relationships. Cognitive Bias Modification Tasks (CBMTs) are being investigated as potential interventions for those who struggle to appropriately process social stimuli. Aims: Two studies aimed to assess the effectiveness of a novel computerised 'Compassion Game' CBMT compared with a validated 'Self-Esteem Game' (Study 1, n=66) and a Neutral Control Game (Study 2, n=59). Method: In each study, baseline, post-task, and one-month follow-up measures of 3 self-reported forms of self-criticism (inadequate self, hated self, and self-reassurance) were used to examine the benefits of two weeks' attentional training. Results: Analyses show that the novel Compassion Game significantly reduced inadequate self-criticism at post and one-month follow-up (Studies 1 and 2) and increased self-reassurance (Study 1). Results also show that the Self-Esteem (Study 1) and the Neutral Control Game (Study 2), which also used social stimuli, produced reductions in inadequate selfcriticism. Conclusions: Results suggest that training one's attention toward social stimuli can improve inadequate selfcriticism. Implications for the use of compassionate stimuli in such CBMTs are discussed.
Chair-work is an experiential method used within compassion-focused therapy (CFT) to apply compas... more Chair-work is an experiential method used within compassion-focused therapy (CFT) to apply compassion to various aspects of the self. This is the first study of CFT chair-work and is focused on clients' lived experiences of a chair-work intervention for self-criticism. Twelve participants with depression were interviewed following the chair-work intervention and the resulting data was examined using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Three superordinate themes were identified: 'embodiment and enactment', 'externalizing the self in physical form' and 'emotional intensity'. The findings suggest the importance of accessing and expressing various emotions connected with self-criticism, whilst highlighting the potential for client distress and avoidance during the intervention. The role of embodying, enacting and physically situating aspects of the self in different chairs is also suggested to be an important mechanism of change in CFT chair-work. The findings are discussed in terms of clinical implications, emphasizing how core CFT concepts and practices are facilitated by the chair-work process.
This article explores the emotional experiences of drug- and/or alcohol-using parents who have ch... more This article explores the emotional experiences of drug- and/or alcohol-using parents who have child protective Social Services involvement. Research suggests that protective processes can reduce children’s experience of poor outcomes whilst parents undergo treatment for substance misuse. Semi-structured interviews combined with photovoice and journal writing were used to generate data. Eight UK-based parents participated. Each was accessing drug or alcohol treatment and had a child who was the subject of a child protection intervention. The resulting data from the seventeen interviews were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Key findings are presented within four themes. The first two outline parents’ perceptions of themselves and how they felt they were viewed by others. Themes 3 and 4 focus on specific emotions: anger and frustration; fear and guilt. The research identifies the complex nature of parental emotions surrounding drug/alcohol misuse when soc...
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Papers by James Elander