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Students’ reasons for attending university are likely to impact their participation, academic engagement, and learning outcomes. This study aims to investigate undergraduate students’ motivations for attending a South African university and its association with specific socio-demographic factors. The study used a cross-sectional survey design. Participants were undergraduate students (N= 220) who completed a socio-demographic survey and the Student Motivations for Attending University Questionnaire-Revised scale. Descriptive statistics, correlations, and analysis of variance were used to determine associations between the study variables. The reasons for attending university were significantly related to racial identity, student generational status, parental educational status, and family characteristics. Students in their first and second years of study were motivated to attend university to prove their self-worth. Students who identified as Black as well as those coming from a single- or double-parent household and students whose parents had a school-level education were more likely to attend university to help their families. The findings suggest that students are motivated beyond the immediate benefits of employment and personal earnings and that the upliftment of their families is a central reason for attending university. For universities striving to connect with their students, understanding students’ motivational orientation can inform intervention efforts aimed at enhancing retention and throughput.

Identifying the factors that contribute to differential vulnerability in the face of adversity is key to psychology fulfilling its mandate as a helping profession. One such factor, fortitude, which is described as the psychological strength to manage adversity and to stay well, has consistently been linked to psychological well-being. The objective of the research was to statistically integrate studies examining the relationship between fortitude and the indices of psychological well-being by using a meta-analysis. We used a random-effects model for the meta-analysis. In addition to the overall effect size, we examined publication bias and the moderating role of age and methodological quality. We also performed a subgroup analysis to compare between studies with positive and negative indicators of psychological well-being. In addition, we used robust variance estimation to account for effect-size dependencies, as some studies have reported more than one correlation coefficient. A total of 13 studies reporting 35 correlation coefficients pertaining to the relationship between fortitude and the indices of psychological well-being were extracted. The meta-analysis revealed a significant overall effect (r= .44, p< .001). The results also indicated that age and methodological quality did not influence the effect size. Subgroup analysis indicated that the overall effect size for studies that used positive indicators (r= .49, p< .001) was higher than that for studies that used negative indicators (r= .36, p< .001). In addition, no visual or statistical evidence of publication bias was observed. The robust variance estimation results also confirmed that the effect-size dependencies did not influence the overall effect size. The study results provide strong evidence regarding the association between fortitude and psychological well-being. This finding has several implications for promoting mental health and suggests that interventions aimed at building fortitude can be leveraged to mitigate psychological distress.

Despite the societal increase in mental health disorders during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, many individuals were able to cope effectively with new mental health challenges. The heterogeneity in responses to adversity underscores the influence of protective factors in promoting coping behaviour. The current study investigates fortitude as a potential protective resource by examining the potential direct, mediating, and moderating roles of fortitude in the relationship between perceived vulnerability to disease, fear of COVID-19, and indices of psychological well-being. Participants (n= 355) were schoolteachers who completed the Perceived Vulnerability to Disease Questionnaire, Fear of COVID-19 Scale, Fortitude Questionnaire, UCLA Loneliness Scale, trait scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Beck Hopelessness Scale, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Path analysis indicated that fortitude had a health-sustaining effect that was evident in its association with all indices of psychological well-being. Fortitude also mediated the relationship between perceived vulnerability to disease and depression, anxiety, and loneliness. In addition, fortitude moderated the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and depression. The significant moderating and mediating effects of fortitude on psychological outcomes support its potential for counterbalancing the negative mental health impacts of COVID-19. Interventions aimed at enhancing fortigenic appraisals of self and others may prove beneficial in promoting psychological well-being.

COVID-19 has impacted negatively on the lives and academic activities of university students. This has contributed to increasing levels of psychological distress among this population group. Intrinsic and contextual factors can mediate the psychological impact of the pandemic. The study focuses on sense of coherence and ego-resilience as potential protective factors on indices of psychological distress and life satisfaction. Participants were undergraduate students (N= 337) at a South African university who completed six self-report questionnaires, namely, the Beck Hopelessness Scale, the University of California Los Angeles Loneliness Scale, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, the Sense of Coherence Scale, the Ego-Resilience Scale, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. To examine the direct and mediating effects of sense of coherence and ego-resilience on psychological distress, structural equation modeling was used. Compared to previous research, greater psychological distress was found in the current sample. Moreover, while the hopelessness–life satisfaction relationship was only partially mediated by protective factors, the depression–life satisfaction relationship was fully mediated by sense of coherence and ego-resilience. The direct association between ego-resilience as well as sense of coherence and life satisfaction was significant, suggesting that these factors have a health-sustaining role.

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential role of three COVID-19-related variables (i.e., risk perception, knowledge, and behaviour) on four indices of pandemic-related mental health (i.e., anxiety, depression, loneliness, and hopelessness). In total, 337 participants completed four self-report questionnaires: selected subscales of the World Health Organisation’s COVID-19 Behavioural Insights Tool, UCLA Loneliness Scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory–Trait Scale, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and Beck Hopelessness Scale. In addition to descriptive statistics and intercorrelations, structural equation modelling was used to compare three models of the potential role (predictor or moderator/mediator) that the three abovementioned COVID-19-related variables could play in psychological wellbeing. The results showed high levels of psychological distress among the current sample. Generally, better knowledge of COVID-19 and engaging in protective behaviours were found to be related to lower levels of psychological distress, whereas increased risk perception was found to be associated with increased feelings of loneliness, anxiety, and depression. It was also found that behaviour mediated the effect of knowledge on psychological wellbeing, suggesting that while publicising information about COVID-19 remains necessary, providing the public with a means to engage in protective behaviours is central for promoting psychological wellbeing.

Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has been found to have a negative impact on both physical wellbeing and mental health. Increased risk perception of contracting the virus has been associated with adverse psychological outcomes and reduced life satisfaction. However, susceptibility to psychological distress is influenced by personality-related characteristics. This study focuses on fortitude as a potential protective factor. The aim of this study is to investigate the parallel and serial mediating roles of fortitude, loneliness, and depression in the relationship between risk perception and life satisfaction. The participants were young adults (N= 337) who have completed five self-report questionnaires: University of California Los Angeles Loneliness Scale, Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, Fortitude Questionnaire, Satisfaction with Life Scale, and COVID-19 Risk Perception Scale. Descriptive statistics were generated, and structural equation modelling was used to examine the parallel and serial mediating roles of loneliness, depression, and fortitude. Positive associations were found between risk perception and loneliness and depression, and fortitude was found to mediate the relationship between risk perception and life satisfaction, between loneliness and life satisfaction, and between depression and life satisfaction. The overall serial mediation was also found to be significant, thereby supporting the hypothesis that those who perceive themselves to be at a risk of contracting COVID-19 have higher loneliness scores, which in turn is associated with higher depression scores. These findings confirm that fortitude is a salient protective factor and suggest that improving the perception of the ability to manage the risk of infection can enhance psychological wellbeing.

This study investigates loneliness, anxiety, and life satisfaction among a sample of young adults in South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the role of fortitude in the interrelationship between these variables. Fortitude refers to the psychological strength to manage stress and stay well, and it is derived from positive appraisals of self, family, and support from others. Participants included 337 young adults who completed four self-report questionnaires: the UCLA Loneliness Scale, the State-Trait Anxiety Scale, the Satisfaction with Life scale, and the Fortitude Questionnaire. Stepwise regression analysis was performed to determine the direct, indirect, mediating, and moderating role of fortitude on psychological outcomes. The results demonstrated unprecedented levels of anxiety, loneliness, and reduced life satisfaction among the sample. These levels were significantly higher than those encountered in previous studies in other contexts, as well as in studies of similar populations conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Women reported higher levels of psychological distress than men. The results confirmed the mediating role of fortitude; however, they also suggested that the predictors (loneliness and anxiety) are the mediated pathways and fortitude is causally antecedent to loneliness and anxiety. These findings suggest a looming mental health crisis among young adults in South Africa and identify potential targets for intervention efforts. A strengths-based approach that focuses on enhancing individuals’ appraisals of coping and support may serve to build fortitude and potentially mitigate adverse mental health outcomes.

Fortitude refers to the psychological strength to manage adversity and stay well. It is derived from adaptive cognitive appraisals of self, family, and social supports and has consistently been identified as a protective factor in psychological well-being. This study undertakes a scoping review of empirical research on the Fortitude Questionnaire, which was developed to assess levels of fortitude. The aims of the study were to categorize and catalogue studies that have used the Fortitude Questionnaire, identify the variables that have been linked to the scale, and determine the extent to which prior research has replicated the Fortitude Questionnaire’s psychometric properties. Arksey and O’Malley’s five-stage framework for scoping reviews was followed to review studies published between January 1999 and March 2020. A total of 51 studies met the inclusion criteria. The scoping review found that the Fortitude Questionnaire has been used in different contexts and among various sample groups across the lifespan, including vulnerable and high-risk populations. The scale has demonstrated sound reliability and studies have confirmed its factor structure. The scale has also been used as an independent, dependent, and intervening variable. Fortitude has been linked to positive and negative indicators of well-being, and intervention studies have indicated that fortitude is amenable to change. The findings of this scoping review provide a foundation for the development of appraisal restructuring programmes and interventions.

The psychological and emotional risks associated with providing care to traumatized populations have been largely overlooked in the literature on non-professional trauma counselling in South Africa. Non-professional or lay trauma counsellors are frontline service providers and typically the first point of contact for people in community contexts who have experienced traumatic events. The main aim of this study was to investigate the professional quality of life including compassion satisfaction, secondary traumatic stress, and burnout of a sample (N= 146) of lay trauma counsellors in the Western Cape Province. Demographic factors including age and gender were found to be significant. Older age was associated with compassion satisfaction while younger age predicted burnout. Male lay trauma counsellors were more likely to report high burnout and high secondary traumatic stress compared with their female counterparts. The study underscores the need for organizations to incorporate prevention and intervention approaches to mitigate the negative psychological impact of working with trauma. Male lay trauma counsellors and younger counsellors may particularly benefit from interventions that encourage debriefing.

Advancing research into aggressive behaviour in South Africa necessitates a range of suitable measuring instruments. The Aggression-Problem Behavior Frequency Scale is one such instrument that has been extensively used in diverse settings. The authors of the Aggression-Problem Behavior Frequency Scale present it as a multidimensional scale that purports to measure physical, non-physical, and relational aggression. Despite the widespread use of the scale as a three-factor scale, the psychometric properties, specifically the factor structure of the instrument, have not been examined either globally or in South Africa. This article reports on the reliability, factor structure, and dimensionality of the Aggression-Problem Behavior Frequency Scale among a sample of Black South African adolescents. The scale demonstrated a high level of reliability both in terms of coefficient alpha and coefficient omega. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a second-order factor model and a bifactor model demonstrated a better fit than a one-factor model. Despite the superiority of fit of the two models, bifactor indices demonstrated that the Aggression-Problem Behavior Frequency Scale is essentially unidimensional. First, Omega Hierarchical Subscale indicated a significant reduction in the reliability of the subscales after partitioning out the variance attributable to the general factor (total aggression). Second, the percentage of common variance explained by the total scale was 75% with only 25% attributable to the three subscales. While the findings of the study tentatively confirmed the suitability of the Aggression-Problem Behavior Frequency Scale for use in South Africa, the results indicate that there is no empirical basis for the use of subscale scores and that the Aggression-Problem Behavior Frequency Scale is essentially unidimensional.

The issue of adolescent aggression and violence has received significant attention in the literature. Normative beliefs about the acceptability of aggressive behaviour have been identified as central in influencing aggression. The Normative Beliefs about Aggression Scale was developed to identify cognitive beliefs about the acceptability of aggressive behaviour. The scale has been extensively used in research on child and adolescent aggression and has consistently demonstrated that normative beliefs account for variances in adolescent aggressive behaviour, predict aggression, and mediate the relationship between risk factors and aggression among this population group. Despite extensive use of this scale in other contexts, information is lacking on its psychometric properties. A full analysis of the factor structure of the Normative Beliefs about Aggression Scale has not yet been conducted. This study presents the first test of the factor structure of the full instrument and confirms that the Normative Beliefs about Aggression Scale is a reliable instrument when used in the South African context. The results point to the multidimensional nature of beliefs about aggression and provide an important foundation for future research into correlates of aggressive behaviour in different cultural contexts.

Researchers have paid limited attention to the role of adaptive cognitive appraisals in conferring resilience. In this study, we demonstrate the influence of positive appraisals of problem-solving ability and social support on mental health outcomes. A random sample of students at a university in South Africa (n= 322) participated in the study. They completed the Perceived Stress Scale, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Problem-Solving Inventory, the Beck Hopelessness Scale, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Mediation analysis found that problem-solving appraisal and social support jointly and separately mediated the effects of perceived stress on hopelessness. The combined effect of social support and problem-solving appraisal on life satisfaction was significant; however, only social support was found to mediate the relationship between perceived stress and life satisfaction. The findings indicate that adaptive appraisals of self and others are potential sources of resilience that can buffer individuals from the adverse impact of stressful life events.

This study aimed to evaluate the transportability of cognitive therapy (CT) for rape survivors with PTSD to South African conditions. Ten local treatment outcome studies investigating the transportability of CT were identified and appraised. The common elements of CT for PTSD including psychoeducation, exposure therapy and cognitive restructuring of trauma-related appraisals were found to be transportable to local contexts. Contextual factors that can complicate treatment delivery were also identified namely exposure to multiple traumatic events, HIV, absence of safety and support in the external environment and language barriers. The augmentations made to an existing evidence-based treatment protocol to address these contextual factors are described.

South African society is characterised by a high prevalence of exposure to traumatic events that can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder. In treating post-traumatic stress disorder, mental healthcare providers are tasked with ensuring that their practice is evidence based. However, existing evidence indicates that the rates of adoption of evidence-based practice are generally poor. The promotion and implementation of evidence-based practice into routine clinical settings requires an understanding of the attitudes of mental healthcare providers towards these practices. This study investigated attitudes towards evidence-based practice in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. Participants were 60 mental healthcare providers (clinical/counselling psychologists, social workers, and registered counsellors) in the Western Cape Province working predominantly with trauma survivors. Participants completed a demographic survey and the Attitude Towards Evidence-Based Practice Scale, adapted to assess for attitudes towards the adoption of evidence-based practice in relation to the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. Overall, participants reported favourable attitudes towards evidence-based practice in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. Statistical analysis revealed that occupation, age, and gender significantly correlated with attitudes. Social workers and registered counsellors were more likely to report adopting evidence-based practice for post-traumatic stress disorder compared to clinical and counselling psychologists. Older participants and women also reported more favourable attitudes towards evidence-based practice. The implications of these findings are discussed.

AbstractThis is a systematic case study of the assessment and treatment of Anna (43), a woman presenting with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following a drug-facilitated sexual assault that occurred over twenty years earlier. She was also diagnosed with avoidant personality disorder. Treatment with cognitive therapy for PTSD and social phobia was supplemented by imagery rescripting (IR) of memories of childhood trauma within a schema therapy approach. The study documents how her intrusive memories of the rape were potentiated by early maladaptive schemas that developed in response to abusive and neglectful parenting. Within a broader narrative, three examples of IR are described which show how, as an emotion-focused intervention, this approach discloses deeper memories and emotional states that are distressing and traumatic and allows them to be transformed through a healing process that is organic and displays what Bohart and Tallman (2010) call “self-organizing wisdom.”

The current study examines the potential mediating role of professional identification of school teachers in the relationship between psychological distress and teaching satisfaction. Professional identification is the extent to which an individual identifies with a professional group, including the values, beliefs, and commitment the individual has in relation to the professional group. Professional identification has been linked to negative work outcomes, such as job performance and turnover intentions, as well as to adverse mental health outcomes. In the context of education, professional identification is the extent to which teachers identify with the teaching profession. Participants (N = 355) were school teachers in South Africa who completed the Center for Epidemiological Depression Scale, the Beck Hopelessness Scale, the Professional Identification Scale, and the Teaching Satisfaction Scale. Structural equation analysis showed that professional identification plays a fully mediational role in the relationship between psychological distress and teaching satisfaction. Interventions that strengthen teachers’ identification with the teaching profession should be considered a priority.