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Over the past decades, plagiarism has been classified as a multi-layer phenomenon of dishonesty that occurs in higher education. A number of research papers have identified a host of factors such as gender, socialisation, efficiency gain, motivation for study, methodological uncertainties or easy access to electronic information via the Internet and new technologies, as reasons driving plagiarism. The paper at hand examines whether such factors are still effective and if there are any differences between German and Slovene students’ factors influencing plagiarism. A quantitative paper-and-pencil survey was carried out in Germany and Slovenia in 2017/2018 academic year, with a sample of 485 students from higher education institutions. The major findings of this research reveal that easy access to information-communication technologies and the Web is the main reason driving plagiarism. In that regard, there are no significant differences between German and Slovene students in terms of personal factors such as gender, motivation for study, and socialisation. In this sense, digitalisation and the Web outrank national borders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Training and competing despite underlying health problems is a common social practice in sport. Adolescent elite athletes are particularly vulnerable to possible health consequences of this risky behavior due to their very sensitive developmental stage. Conceptualizing this phenomenon of playing hurt as sickness presenteeism, and taking the concept of absence/presence legitimacy into account, this paper analyzes the propensity of adolescent elite athletes to compete in the face of health problems. The central aim is to empirically identify characteristics of elite sport subcultures which affect athletes’ willingness to compete hurt (WCH). Materials & methods Based on a comprehensive sample of 1138 German elite adolescent athletes from all Olympic sports (14–18 years), the paper applies classification tree analysis to analyze the social and individual determinants of the WCH. Results Determinants on three hierarchical levels were identified, including type of sport, perceptions of social pressure, coach's leadership style and athletes' age. The group with the highest WCH were athletes from technical sports who have a coach with an autocratic leadership style. Second was athletes from ball games, and those in aesthetic and weight-dependent sports, aged between 17 and 18 years old. The lowest mean WCH-score, by some distance, occurred amongst the group of endurance and power sports athletes who experienced no direct social pressure to play hurt. Conclusions The findings enhance our understanding of absence/presence legitimacy in highly competitive social contexts and contribute to the development of more effective target-group-specific health prevention programs for young athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The news media is a key source for health and medical information, and relies to a large degree on material from press releases (PR). Medical universities are key players in the dissemination of PRs. This study aims to 1) explore the relation between the quality of press releases (PRs) from medical universities and their corresponding news stories (NSs) and 2) to identify the likelihood that specific scientific and interest-raising measures appear or are omitted in PRs and NSs. Methods and findings: In this retrospective study using quantitative content analysis, PRs (n = 507) from 21 medical universities in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the USA and the UK were retrieved. Of all PRs, 33% had media coverage, resulting in 496 NSs. With two codebooks, 18 scientific (e.g. reporting the study design of the study correctly) and 7 interest-raising measures (e.g. words like ‘ground-breaking’) were evaluated in the PRs and NSs. For all measures the percentage of presence in NSs and PRs was calculated, together with a Mean PR Influence Factor. Quality of PRs and NSs was defined as a score, based on 12 of the 18 scientific measures. Mean (SD) NS quality score was 6.5 (1.7) which was significantly lower than the PR score of 8.0 (1.5). The two quality scores were significantly correlated. Quality measures that were frequently omitted included reporting important study limitations (present in 21% of PRs, 21% of NSs), funding (59% of PRs, 7% of NSs) and conflicts of interest (16% of PRs, 3% of NSs). We did not evaluate the quality of the scientific papers (SPs), and can therefore not determine if the quality of PRs and NSs is associated with the quality of SPs. Conclusions: This large study of medical university press releases and corresponding news stories showed that important measures of a scientific study such as funding and study limitations were omitted to a very large extent. The lay public and health personnel as well as policy makers, politicians and other decision makers may be misled by incomplete and partly inaccurate representations of scientific studies which could negatively affect important health-related behaviours and decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An exclusion system for gambling arcades has been introduced recently in the state of Hesse. The aim of this paper is to identify significant predictors that are useful in explaining the variation of exclusions between different Hessian communities. Next to socio-demographic factors, we control for three different accessibility variables in two models: the number of electronic gambling machines (EGMs) in model I, and the number of locations and density of gambling machines at a location in model II. We disentangle the association between EGMs and exclusions of model I into a location and a clustering effect. Considering the socio-demographic variables, the explanatory power of our cross-sectional models is rather low. Only the age group of the 30-39 years old and those who are not in a partnership (in model I) yield significant results. As self-exclusion systems reduce availability for the group of vulnerable players, this analysis provides evidence for the assumption that the two groups-pathological gamblers and vulnerable players-seem to have little overlap concerning sociodemographic characteristics. The accessibility variables, on the other hand, turn out to be significantly associated with the number of exclusions. All three of them are statistically significant and their association is positive. The results of model II show that the location effect is more pronounced then the clustering effect of EGMs, i.e. the effect of an additional single-licensed arcade on the number of exclusions is stronger than the increase in the number of license at one location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blood transfusions belong to standard and commonly utilised biomedical procedures. Jehovah's Witnesses' transfusion refusals are often referred to in bioethical and medical textbooks. Members of this globally active religious organisation do not, however, challenge biomedical diagnosis and treatment as such. A result of both their trust in and their interpretation of the Bible, they question only this medical treatment. In spite of the global presence of this religious community and its uniformly practised teachings, including those pertaining to blood, experiences and choices of Jehovah's Witness patients have been understudied. Drawing on a nine-month fieldwork with Jehovah's Witnesses and physicians in Germany (mainly in Berlin) between 2010 and 2012, the paper addresses treatment choices made by Witness patients and their relationship with physicians. In light of the long tradition of 'medical heterodoxy' established in German culture and society, Germany constitutes an ideal point of departure for such a study. By utilising the concept of 'medical landscape' it is argued that Jehovah's Witnesses in my field site find themselves at the intersection of different medical landscapes: in the 'immediate' surroundings of the German healthcare system that is open to different 'treatment modalities', and that of the United States, which favours biomedicine. The paper also argues that Jehovah's Witnesses' position towards blood transfusions can further be used as a lens to shed light on the German (bio)medical landscape itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban soil sealing has negative impacts on ecosystem services through the loss of urban green. Besides protecting urban green from further sealing by proper urban planning, the efficiency of soil sealing management depends on residents and practitioners. This paper investigates the efficiency of strategies motivating urban dwellers to contribute to a less-space-consumption behavior, to green their roofs or unseal unused paved areas through a survey conducted in Munich and Leipzig, Germany. Moreover, the paper identifies the supply and demand of ecosystem services and living quality aspects along a sealing gradient to prove how compact cities of high living quality should look. Results suggest that information plays a vital role for residents to reduce soil sealing and the supply of a high living quality, including sufficient recreational areas and reduction in motorized traffic promotes compact cities. To guarantee a high acceptance of residents towards compact cities, the paper suggests applying a sealing gradient taking into account the importance and satisfaction of built-up environment qualities based on the concept of ecosystem services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Measuring socioeconomic inequalities in health and health care, and understanding determinants of such inequalities, are critical for achieving higher equity in health. Equity in health is a prerequisite for public health and welfare. The aim of the paper is (1) to quantify inequality in diabetes morbidity patterns over patients’ entire life span, and (2) to compare levels of inequality measured through income and educational level, respectively, as proxies for socioeconomic status (SES). Method: Historic individual register data on the entire Danish diabetes population alive in 2011 were gathered. Cox survival analysis and a concentration index decomposition approach were applied to analyse relevant morbidity indicators reflecting patients’ health state at diagnosis and throughout their lives with diabetes. Results: Patients with high education have approximately 26% lower mortality hazard when diagnosed with diabetes and 10–15% lower hazard of developing complications as compared with patients with short education. The outcome variables: ‘severe complications at diagnosis’ and ‘years with severe complications’ inhibit the highest negative concentration index value, indicating that morbidity is concentrated among the lower SES groups, whereas the outcome variables ‘years without complications’ and ‘duration of diabetes’ concentrate among the socioeconomically better-off patients. Conclusions: Significant differences in diabetes patients’ morbidity patterns and survival indicate that diabetes impacts harder on patients of lower SES; these patients experience more severe complications and die earlier. Hence to reduce inequality in health, it is important to invest in efforts targeted towards socially vulnerable groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a standardized instrument to evaluate patients’ stress reactions has become more important in daily clinical routines. Different signs or symptoms of stress are often unilaterally explored: the physiological, psychological or social aspects of stress disorders are each viewed on a single dimension. However, all dimensions afflict patients who have persistent health problems due to chronic stress. Therefore, it is important to use a multidimensional approach to acquire data. The ‘Psycho-Physiological-Stress-Test’ (PPST) was established to achieve a comprehensive understanding of stress and was further developed at the Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin in collaboration with the Psychological Department of Freie Universität Berlin. The PPST includes a series of varying stress phases, embedded in two periods of rest. Physiological and psychological parameters are simultaneously measured throughout the test session. Specifically, the PPST activates the sympathetic stress axis, which is measured by heart rate, blood pressure, respiration depth and rate, electro dermal activation and muscle tension (frontalis, masseter, trapezius). Psychological data are simultaneously collected, and include performance, motivation, emotion and behavior. After conducting this diagnostic test, it is possible to identify individual stress patterns that can be discussed with the individual patient to develop and recommend (outpatient) treatment strategies. This paper introduces the PPST as a standardized way to evaluate stress reactions by presenting the results from a sample of psychosomatic inpatients (n = 139) who were treated in Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany. We observed that the varying testing conditions provoked adjusted changes in the different physiological parameters and psychological levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accessible summary In German institutions for people with mental illness, some woman lived and worked as 'housemothers'. In the 20th century, they played a very important role. This paper is based on interviews with people who lived in these institutions and looks at their experiences of a place where carers and people with mental illness lived together., Housemothers often spent decades living and working in the institutions. There are three main phases to their development: (1) 'Setting out as bride: borrowed power and domination'; (2) 'Realizing one's potential as a housemother: applied power and domination'; and (3) 'Leaving the housemother function: lost power and domination'., The findings show that the housemothers often felt that they did not get enough recognition for what they did from the deacons. Deacons in Germany are ministers in the Protestant Church who also have special training in social care. Housemothers did not just do housework; they were also caregivers who played a decisive role in resource-oriented care. The concepts of power and domination are very important here., The historical concept of houseparents helps us understand the current discussion about new forms of residential care homes and psychiatric care., Abstract In the 20th century, houseparent families represented a significant resource in the long-term care of people with mental illnesses and physical disabilities in diaconical care settings in Germany. In theory, such families could therefore be understood as a type of institutional family: groups which occasionally use familial patterns of reciprocity but are not themselves families. As little empirical material on life in institutional families existed, a qualitative study was undertaken to explore the experiences of contemporary witnesses, particularly those who had experienced the duties and responsibilities of housemothers in the second half of the 20th century. This paper has combined the experiences of residents ( n= 8) and biological children of houseparents ( n= 5) from a qualitative study ( n= 42). The qualitative study took a grounded theory approach, with the phenomena of power and domination forming the central category. The findings show that life in houseparent families of the time was shaped by rules which the family members had to obey. This study explores a highly controversial area which is of great relevance for current mental health nursing practice: the power relations in diaconal families. This demonstrates the importance of integrating autonomy and empowerment into everyday communal life and contributes to professional nursing practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Against the background of well-described associations between oral and general health, collaboration between dentists and general practitioners (GP) is crucial to provide therapeutic and preventive patient care. However, in the German health system, GPs and dentists are organizationally separated, implying that interprofessional collaboration can only occur informally and on a voluntary basis. Given the scarce evidence of interprofessional collaboration between dentists and GPs, an explorative study was conducted. This paper outlines the findings of this study with regard to GPs' and dentists' experiences and expectations of interprofessional collaboration.Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with GPs (n = 15) and dentists (n = 13) from three structurally different regions in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. The interview guide included questions on occasions, expectations and experiences of interprofessional collaboration. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using qualitative content analysis according to Mayring.Results: Both GPs and dentists reported perceived knowledge deficits of the other profession with regard to medication, particularly anticoagulants and bisphosphonates, as well as systemic and general respectively dental diseases. Expectations regarding the scope of collaboration diverge: whereas dentists were interested in extending collaboration, most GPs saw no need for collaboration.Conclusions: The perceived medical knowledge deficits of the other profession as well as divergent expectations concerning the scope of collaboration hinder profound and regular interprofessional collaboration between GPs and dentists. These perceived knowledge deficits may be rooted in the separate education of dentists and GPs in Germany. Fostering interprofessional education is a promising way to improve cooperation between GPs and dentists in the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excessive alcohol consumption is one of the most important lifestyle factors affecting the disease burden in the Western world. The results of treatment in daily practice are modest at best. The aim of the RESCueH programme is to develop and evaluate methods, which are as practice-near as possible, and therefore can be implemented quickly and easily in everyday clinical practice. It is the first clinical alcohol programme to be transatlantic in scope, with implementation in treatment centers located in Denmark, Germany and the US. The RESCueH programme comprises 5 randomized controlled trials, and the studies can be expected to result in (1) more patients starting treatment in specialized outpatient clinics, (2) a greater number of elderly patients being treated, (3) increased patient motivation for treatment and thus improved adherence, (4) more patients with stable positive outcomes after treatment and (5) fewer patients relapsing into harmful drinking. The aim of this paper is to discuss the rationale for the RESCueH programme, to present the studies and expected results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates a case study of memory transformation. It looks at an 80-year sequence of complex interactions by which a single tragedy, the transatlantic flight and deadly crash in Germany (now Poland) of two American-Lithuanian pilots, which occurred 17 July 1933, was turned into a lasting phenomenon, a powerful myth (re)shaped by competing memory regimes. A general discussion on memory management and the cultural politics related to this event correlates with the topical issues of the ongoing search for a new conception, or the sense of history as a tool for configuring the future of Lithuania, as well as of some other Eastern European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The objective of this paper is to understand how the public's beliefs in five countries may change as more families have direct experience with Alzheimer's disease. The data are derived from a questionnaire survey conducted by telephone (landline and cell) with 2678 randomly selected adults in France, Germany, Poland, Spain, and the United States. The paper analyzes the beliefs and anticipated behavior of those in each country who report having had a family member with Alzheimer's disease versus those who do not. In one or more countries, differences were found between the two groups in their concern about getting Alzheimer's disease, knowledge that the disease is fatal, awareness of certain symptoms, and support for increased public spending. The results suggest that as more people have experience with a family member who has Alzheimer's disease, the public will generally become more concerned about Alzheimer's disease and more likely to recognize that Alzheimer's disease is a fatal disease. The findings suggest that other beliefs may only be affected if there are future major educational campaigns about the disease. The publics in individual countries, with differing cultures and health systems, are likely to respond in different ways as more families have experience with Alzheimer's disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In 1916, shortly after his move from Breslau to Hamburg, William Stern wrote in a letter dated October 10 and addressed to his colleague and friend, the Freiburg philosopher Jonas Cohn, that the second volume of a planned three-volume series setting forth that comprehensive system of thought called ‘critical personalism’ was “essentially finished.” He wrote further that that work, in combination with a “little booklet” (Broschüre) titled Psychology and Personalism (Die Psychologie und der Personalismus) should “fashion a bridge” between his philosophical and psychological teachings. Due to a paper shortage in Germany during World War I, the larger of the two works mentioned by Stern in this letter would not actually appear until 2 years later. The “little booklet,” however, could be published sooner, and in fact appeared in 1917. What follows is a translation of that work. It sets forth the principle tenets of critical personalism in a relatively concise and accessible way, and is thus not only worthy of attention in its own right but also offers readers of this Special Issue helpful background for the papers that follow. I am very grateful to Lothar Laux and Karl-Heinz Renner for their careful reading of an earlier draft of my translation against the original publication. As native speakers of German, Laux and Renner made numerous suggestions that I gladly implemented in the interest of improving the quality of the translation. For such infelicities as remain I take full responsibility. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, I would like to describe how the clinical understanding of phenomena like anger, hate and aggression can be enriched by concepts derived from infant research and attachment theory. In doing so, I will draw on my own individual psychological and psychoanalytical point of view. In modern individual psychology, as it is understood in Germany, there are certainly psychoanalysts who tend to favour not just Adler's theories, but also those of Melanie Klein or Wilfried Bion above all, just as there are those who favour the self-psychological approach (and, of course, there are other theories as well). Therefore, it goes without saying that I do not claim to represent the definitive perspective of individual psychology in my work: in individual psychology, as in psychoanalysis, there are, after all, different opinions, theories and preferences which sometimes may be predominant in specific countries. I believe that we essentially gain overall from this pluralism of theories, in spite of the dangers that may be associated with it (such as confusion of language, diffusion of identity of school-specific concepts, undifferentiated pragmatism, etc.). Openness is, in my opinion, a very important characteristic of individual psychological theory. On the other hand, pluralism of theories does not, after all, exclude the focal points of scientific interest and the understanding of clinical phenomena, and I would like to concentrate on some of these focal points in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author builds on recent geographical approaches to the investigation of scientific experimentation. While a number of studies have explored the various sites of scientific practice and the role of space in the constitution of experimental matters of fact, far less attention has been directed toward the cultural geographies of experimental science and the extra scientific zones in which modes of experimental practice were themselves developed and contested. Drawing on the reception of professional psychiatry in interwar Berlin (1919–1933), the author traces an alternative set of ‘experimental systems’ which seized on and countered the credibility of psychiatric expertise. The focus is on a series of modernist experiments in interwar Germany which actively reconfigured psychiatric science as a series of critical aesthetic interventions themselves tasked with performing ‘scientific experiments’. The paper is triangulated around three case studies, which chart the multiple traffickings between psychiatric experimentation and modernist art. The first revisits the traumatic reenactments of Berlin Dada in the broader context of mechanized war, rationalized work, and metropolitan life. The second explores the psychotechnical techniques that were crucial to the operations of Brechtian epic theatre, and the third case study explores the relationship between clinical therapy and modernist fiction as it came to characterize the work of Alfred Döblin during the 1920s. The paper concludes with further reflections on the significance of the ‘modern experimental turn’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the diversity in patients' experience of biomedicine and contrasts it with the normative view characteristic of health professionals. Ethnographic fieldwork among Polish migrant women in London, Barcelona and Berlin included interviews about their experiences with local healthcare and health professionals. Themes drawn from the narratives are differences between the cities in terms of communication between patients and health professionals, respect for patients' choices and dignity, attitudes to pregnancy and birth (different levels of medicalization), and paediatric care. It is argued that patients continuously negotiate among their own views and expectations based on previous experiences and knowledge from personal communication; internet forums and publications; and the offer of medical services in the countries of their settlement. Patients experience pluralism of therapeutic traditions within and outside bio-medicine. In turn, representatives of bio-medicine are rarely aware of other medical practices and beliefs and this leads to various misunderstandings. By highlighting the pluralism of medical practices in European countries and the increasing mobility of patients, this case study has useful implications for medical anthropologists and health professionals in a broader Western context, such as raising sensitivity to different communication strategies and a diversity of curing traditions and expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition of unknown aetiology, characterised by widespread pain, sleep disturbances, and fatigue. In this paper we examined the relationship metacognitions and the impact of Fibromyalgia in a German sample, detailing the translation and validation of a self-report metacognitive instrument.Methods: The Metacognitions about Symptoms Control Scale (MaSCS) was translated into German using the back-forward translation process. A total of 348 patients (316 female and 26 male) with Fibromyalgia contributed data to the study to test the structure and psychometric properties of the MaSCS.Results: Confirmatory factor analyses, informed by modification indices, resulted in a 16-item scale consisting of two factors pertaining to positive and negative metacognitions about symptoms control. Further analyses revealed that both factors had good internal consistency. Correlation analyses established convergent validity, indicating that both factors were significantly associated with: (1) established positive and negative metacognitions scales; and (2) with symptoms severity in Fibromyalgia. Regression analyses revealed that positive metacognitions about symptoms control significantly predicted impairment in physical functioning while negative metacognitions about symptoms control significantly predicted the overall Fibromyalgia impact value, when controlling for stress, anxiety, and depression and a general metacognitions.Conclusion: The findings support the potential relevance of metacognitions, and utility of the German version of MaSCS, in examining the role of metacognitions in Fibromyalgia and other chronic health conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sentiment analysis techniques are increasingly used to grasp reactions from social media users to unexpected and potentially stressful social events. This paper argues that, alongside assessments of the affective valence of social media content as negative or positive, there is a need for a deeper understanding of the context in which reactions are expressed and the specific functions that users' emotional states may reflect. To demonstrate this, we present a qualitative analysis of affective expressions on Twitter collected in Germany during the 2011 EHEC food contamination incident based on a coding scheme developed from Skinner et al.'s (2003) coping classification framework. Affective expressions of coping were found to be diverse not only in terms of valence but also in the adaptive functions they served: beyond the positive or negative tone, some people perceived the outbreak as a threat while others as a challenge to cope with. We discuss how this qualitative sentiment analysis can allow a better understanding of the way the overall situation is perceived – threat or challenge – and the resources that individuals experience having to cope with emerging demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today's global challenges necessitate the cooperation of the international community. In two studies, this paper investigates global identity and absolute moral standards as two important predictors of solidarity and collective action intentions. In Study 1 ( N = 450), we found evidence for parallel direct effects of global identity and absolute standards on intergroup solidarity and indirectly on collective action intentions. Similar, albeit weaker, effects were found for real behavior (a donation). Study 2 ( N = 124) experimentally manipulated participants' moral standard. Participants in the absolute standard condition were more willing to participate in collective action than participants who were experimentally focused on a gradual standard. Additionally, Study 2 replicated the indirect effects of global identity and absolute moral standards that we found in Study 1. The results show the important role of global identity and absolute moral standards as independent motivators of collective action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents results on the intergenerational transmission of interpersonal problems. Ninety-eight German mothers, fathers, and their young adult offspring completed the German version of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP-D64), which is conceptually based on the assumption of a circumplex structure of eight interpersonal problems. Model learning and psychodynamic theories were used to formulate assumptions about possible intergenerational similarity and dissimilarity, as well as about effects of family and societal context. The results showed the highest intergenerational correlations for three of the eight interpersonal problems in the IIP-D64, namely nonassertiveness, overly strong accommodation, and self-sacrificing tendencies. Intergenerational similarity was found only for mother-offspring dyads for two other problems: domineering and vindictiveness tendencies. No significant intergenerational similarity was found for coldness, social inhibition, or intrusiveness. In-depth analyses revealed higher similarities in families in which at least one parent had an overall IIP-64 score equal to or more than one standard deviation from the norm sample mean (as opposed to families where both parents had overall IIP-64 scores closer to the normative German mean). The findings are tentatively interpreted as suggesting that intergenerational transmission occurs only for problems on one axis of the interpersonal circumplex, i.e., the agency axis, but not for problems on the communality axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focusses on coping strategies employed by children and adolescents with diagnosed short stature, assesses the impact of socio-demographic and clinical characteristics on coping, examines the relationship between coping and health related quality of life (QoL) and investigates the role of coping strategies in mediating the relationship between height and QoL. Coping with a disease (CODI) and quality of life in short stature youth (QoLISSY-QoL) questionnaires were completed by 137 short-statured children and adolescents between 8 and 18 years, participating in the crosssectional European QoLISSY study. Clinical and socio-demographic data were collected to examine differences in coping via variance and regression analyses, associations between CODI and QoLISSY were inspected using correlation and mediation analyses. Most frequently employed coping strategies in the CODI were 'Acceptance' and 'Wishful Thinking', with 'Emotional Reaction' used least. Significant effects of age, diagnosis and treatment status on coping strategies were detected. CODI scales 'Acceptance' and 'Distance' were associated with higher QoLISSY-QoL scores, 'Emotional Reaction' and 'Wishful Thinking' with lower scores. Coping strategies predicted 60 % of the QoLISSY-QoL variance. Relationships between height deviation and QoLISSY-QoL were mediated by the coping strategies of 'Wishful Thinking' and 'Distance'. Findings suggest that coping efforts vary with socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, that protective coping strategies in terms of QoL can be identified and that coping mediates the relationship between short stature and QoL. Future longitudinal research should focus on the adaptive function of coping in relation to QoL over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the course of implementing the UN CRPDquestions arise as to which services for children with special language and communication needs currently exist, and what systemic changes may be necessary. Objectives: The research project will first examine the status quo of services in schools for children and adolescents with special language and communication needs, as well as the working conditions of health care professionals. The survey will later be repeated in order to document future developments. For international comparison, the survey will be conducted in different countries. This paper focuses on results from Germany. Methodology: The main question is: What professional services for children and young people with special language and communication needs exist i in schools of participating countries? The Method of choice is a quantitative and qualitative online survey with repetitive measurement times. The three existing professional groups in Germany are compared: academic and college level speech therapists, and special education teachers specialized on language and communication needs. Results: The results for Germany show great similarity of the two speech therapists groups, but differences between these two groups and the special education teachers specialized on language and communication needs. Therapists tend to work with individual mainstream students outside of the school environment, with treatment rarely linked with the curriculum. Only 15.9 % of the therapists also work in schools, and only 8.8 % in the classroom. Special education teachers specialized on language and communication needs inherently provide group- and classroom-based intervention, particularly for children with special education needs. 76.3 % of these teachers offer speech therapy, linked mostly with the lessons. Almost all work directly in the classroom (92.4 %). Their educational methods show greater diversity than those of speech therapists. Conclusions: In the context of inclusion, due to their diversity, both speech therapists and special education teachers specialized on speech language impairments, will contribute as systemic resources with specific strengths to a functioning educational system in Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Avoiding inequality of opportunities based on individual characteristics such as sex, race or disability is of central concern for social policy. One of the most important aspects of social inclusion is integration into working life. In Germany, a comprehensive system of vocational rehabilitation has been developed aiming to integrate disabled people into the labour market. This paper contributes to a better understanding of exclusion and inclusion mechanisms related to employment participation of disabled people through the application of concepts from systems theory. We identify the societal part systems influencing these mechanisms and structure them using a multi-level approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines differences in work restrictions of midlife family carers of older people in terms of prevalence, gender and explanatory variables, in six European countries: Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. A sample of 2,897 carers aged 45–64 was extracted from the EUROFAMCARE (Services for Supporting Family Carers of Older People in Europe: Characteristics, Coverage and Usage) European project database, in order to analyse four possible work restrictions experienced in connection with the activity of care-giving: the reduction of working hours; giving up working; difficulties in career developments and forced occasional work. The results show that work restrictions are experienced differently between countries especially by women: they are reported to a higher degree in the United Kingdom, Germany and Greece, less so in Italy, and seldom in Poland and Sweden. Gender differences within countries are not so marked. Country differences are explained in the light of the different welfare regimes characterising the countries under investigation, in order to elucidate how policy makers may act to improve working carers' conditions through appropriate policies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: We examine how the declarative-conceptual general pedagogical knowledge (GPK) assessed via a paper-and-pencil test can be understood as a premise for early career teachers' ability to notice and interpret classroom situations assessed via video-vignettes. Longitudinal data from TEDS-M conducted in 2008 at the end of teacher education and a follow-up study in Germany in 2012 is used. Teachers' skills to notice and interpret differ. Interpreting correlates with the current level of GPK, whereas noticing does not. GPK at the end of teacher education neither predicts noticing nor interpreting, which suggests teachers' cognitions are reorganized during the transition into teaching. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper examines the role of the belief in a just world as a personal resource when people are faced with the adverse consequences of inflation and financial crises by presenting results from two longitudinal studies. The first study, based on responses from 262 German residents, found that participants with a strong personal belief in a just world perceived a lower economic impact in light of price increases following a tax increase. This effect remained stable after controlling for the socioeconomic variables of gender, age, household income, and education. The second study, based on a sample of 177 German residents, found that residents with a strong personal belief in a just world perceived a lower economic impact in light of the global subprime mortgage crisis. Again, this effect remained stable after controlling for the socioeconomic variables of gender, age, household income, and education. Furthermore, the personal belief in a just world influenced perceived economic impact over time and the relationship between personal belief in a just world and perceived economic impact was partially mediated by differences between life satisfaction in the future as measured in a first wave and current life satisfaction as measured in a second wave. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognizing the ageing of populations and expected increase in prevalence of dementia, the necessity of research involving persons with dementia is widely agreed upon. Autonomy is key to nursing home residents' well-being and quality of life, but this phenomenon has not been thoroughly assessed from the residents' perspective. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate perceived autonomy of nursing home residents. Data on 560 randomly selected residents in 40 nursing homes in two German federal states were generated by face-to-face interviews, psychological and physical assessments, analysis of nursing records, and acquisition of institutional parameters. This paper reports on a subsample ( n = 179) that met screening requirements, including subjects with and without mild cognitive impairment ( Mini Mental Status Examination score 30-18), who completed the Hertz Perceived Enactment of Autonomy Scale ( HPEAS). The mean score of HPEAS was 101.1 ± 14.5 (range 54-122). In our population, Cronbach's alpha was 0.89. Scores in HPEAS were not related to demographical factors but positively associated with increasing self-efficacy and absence of pain. The novel findings contribute to an understanding of autonomy from the residents' perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of some of the German expressionist films produced in the early twentieth century enables us point to the existence of common and recurring themes such as the voluntary submission of individuals, the mass manipulation by leaders, the split personality, and the double. Although such issues seem to refer, at first, only to the characters' psychological disorders, Sigfried Kracauer seeks to demonstrate the relationship between the topics covered in expressionist films and Germany's social reality in the postwar period. In this perspective, the aim of this paper is to discuss the relationship between aspects of the individual psychic reality, especially alienation, mental alienation, and estrangement produced by social reality. It puts together the strange (Das Unheimliche) discussed by Freud, the concept of estrangement (Entfremdung) by Marx, and the effect of estrangement in art (Verfremdungseffekt) by Bertolt Brecht, discussed by Herbert Marcuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I discuss three small observations that I have made in the course of my years of working with English-speaking patients in Berlin. First, I will show how the experience of moving from one country to another tends to increase the likelihood of the use of primitive defence mechanisms as a protection against the difficulties of everyday life and in relationships in the new country. Second, I suggest that moving around the world has become a significant component of modern living in a globalised world. The danger of this social development is an increase in the use of splitting and in the use of ‘psychic retreats’ [Steiner, J. (1993).Psychic retreats. London: Routledge] in an attempt to uphold an idealised inner and outer world without pain or conflict. Third, I would like to underline the importance in psychoanalysis of helping the patient to mourn the losses he has experienced (the loss of his home country but also inner losses), and accepting the ‘facts of life’ [Money-Kyrle, R. (1971). The aim of psychoanalysis.International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 52, 103–106] which he had previously denied, with the aim of integrating past and present, inner fantasy and outer reality, and the various experiences of self that he has made in his various countries. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper seeks to analyze the influence of the weather on a person's self-reported life satisfaction. On a theoretical level, it is claimed that 'nice' weather can improve the affective well-being of a person. Given this, it is argued that affects can, in turn, have an impact on that person's general assessment of his or her life. In particular, it is expected that people would report a higher life satisfaction on days with unambiguously 'nice' weather. Data from three German large-scale surveys are used to test empirically to what extent self-reported life satisfaction is determined by the weather. All in all, the results are mostly consistent with the initial hypothesis. In all three samples those respondents surveyed on days with exceptionally sunny weather reported a higher life satisfaction compared to respondents interviewed on days with 'ordinary' weather. In two out of three samples, this difference was statistically significant. Hence, the supposed sunshine effect on peoples' life satisfaction does indeed exist. Implications of these findings are discussed in a conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on "Performing Emotions," a conference that focused on the relationship between emotions and politics in Europe from the early modern period to the modern period. It took place in Berlin, Germany from June 23-25, 2011. Papers presented at the conference discussed topics such as the rule of the Spanish Queen Isabella, the political movements in the 17th century, and how the uniforms of German Schutz Staffel (SS) soldiers contributed to their identity.

Existing studies consistently find a gap in further education between high- and low-skilled workers, implying a gap in formal training between high- and low-skilled classes. In this paper, we hypothesize that the most important reasons for differences between social classes in further education participation are grounded in job characteristics rather than worker characteristics. This is in line with theoretical foundations of the construction of the widely used Erikson-Goldthorpe-Portocarero (EGP) class scheme and related classifications, such as the new European Socio-Economic Classification (ESeC) scheme that we apply in our analyses. We explore the importance of different job characteristics for the explanation of the class gap with a dataset providing detailed information about the jobs of more than 20,000 German employees. The tasks performed and the technologies used in the job are found to be of particular importance. Both are able to explain much of the variation in training activity between different class positions and different educational levels. We discuss the implications of our results for social inequality. Our conclusion is that much of the variation of training incidents between classes comes from the very simple fact that they carry out different jobs. This should always be taken into account when inequality in training between individuals is examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generally accepted date of the origin of psychology history is dated to the year 1879 when Wilhelm Wundt created his psychological laboratory at the Leipzig University. This paper brings some less known circumstances of the foundation and operation of the first world's psychological laboratory. Also the impact of Wilhelm Wundt's work on the experimental psychology field is being discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increase in interest for German scientific psychology followed the rise of liberalism in late nineteenth-century Spain. This paper deals with Spanish scholars' endeavors to participate in German psychology: It outlines the intellectual and institutional background of Spanish preoccupation with German philosophy and psychology, and deals with the personal experience and testimony of two Spanish philosophers, Eloy Luis André and Juan Vicente Viqueira López, who traveled to Leipzig, Berlin, and Göttingen between 1909 and 1914 to gain firsthand experience in the nascent science of psychology in Germany at that time. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the social and psychological aspects of a stunt pulled by the German newspaper "Berliner Morgenpost" in November 1919, during the Weimar Republic government, when the paper staged a contest simulating a manhunt in order to encourage citizens of Berlin, Germany to keep watch for crime. Reporter Egon Jacobsohn played the criminal and a reward was offered for the first person to make a citizens' arrest. Power structures, citizens' agency, and law enforcement in Germany are discussed, as well as Social Democratic President Friedrich Ebert and the conditions of the Versailles Treaty.

Between 2001 and 2004, an initially innovative proposal of a German immigration law was transformed into a rather conservative piece of legislation. This paper systematically analyses media discourse during this period. A content analysis of five prominent German newspapers reveals that media attention to the issue of immigration in the context of the new law fluctuated considerably and that different models of argumentation were mobilised in different stages of the debate. While economic arguments occurred with consistent frequency, arguments stressing the dangers of immigration were used mainly in the context of other world events, such as the attacks in Madrid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methodological issues in psychology consist of a key aspect for the scientific development of the discipline. In this paper I elaborate on the reasons why I partially agree with Toomela’s ideas, and why I also disagree with some of his arguments. The convergence refers to the need for a radical change concerning the widespread use of methodologies that has been typical of mainstream psychology, which still flavors too positivist and pseudo-quantitative, overlooking the central relevance of theory for scientific development. The divergence resides in Toomela’s insistence to oppose what he designates as “the North American” to “the German–Austrian” scientific thinking: from my perspective, the misuse of cultural categories can only lead to misguided and unconstructive dichotomies that entails a naïve concept of culture, and do not contribute to scientific development. From a contemporary systemic approach, complex issues deserve more sophisticated analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the perception of Kaiser Wilhelm II by the British foreign policy élite from the mid-1880s to 1914. Drawing on regular diplomatic reporting by Britain's representatives abroad as well as a wide range of private papers, it examines a series of seemingly minor incidents, which nevertheless played a significant role in shaping British establishment views of the last German Emperor. One of the key elements of British élite perceptions was the Kaiser's assumed, rumoured, and frequently commentedupon mental instability. The article seeks to demonstrate that Wilhelm's idiosyncrasies were of greater significance in the formulation of British policy towards Germany than has been previously acknowledged. British concerns about the Kaiser's flawed personality did not arise sporadically in response to his better known “outbursts” but were constantly present. As such they did not simply mirror the manifold problems with which Anglo-German relations were increasingly fraught after the turn of the century. On the contrary, the Kaiser's perceived public and private persona was one of these problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the aftermath of food scandals, household perceptions about the health risks posed by failures in food safety play a central role in determining their mitigating behavior. A stream of literature has shown that factors including media coverage of a scandal, risk perceptions, trust in food safety information, and consumption habits matter. This paper deviates from the standard assumption of a homogeneous response to media information across all households exposed to a food scandal. Instead, we present an innovative multi-method approach to investigate the impacts of household heterogeneity in underlying psychological and behavioral, media usage patterns and consumption habits on poultry demand in the aftermath of the 2011 German dioxin scandal. The analysis employs weekly retail purchase and matching survey data for 6133 households covering pre and post scandal periods. The supplementary survey data elicits household respondent's risk perceptions and risk attitudes, product label and media information behavior. Initial factor and cluster analysis identify household segments based on psychographic and behavioral indicators. We then estimate a correlated random effect Tobit model to account for clustered household responses to quantify the influence of media effects distinguishing between short-term risk mitigation behavior and longer-term habit persistence. Our results confirm significant heterogeneity in household's media-induced risk-mitigation responses to the dioxin scandal across three clusters. However, we find that habit persistence in the form of consumption preferences for the affected products were able to largely compensate for demand-reducing media effects across household clusters. Considering heterogeneity in household's risk mitigation behaviors to food scandals holds implications for policy makers and food industry alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author comments on the suggestion that a work of translation intervenes - and should actually be fostered - between psychoanalytic theories, models and idioms by Gail Reed in a paper presented at the International Psychoanalytical Association's Congress in Berlin, Germany, in 2007. The author believes that the suggestion is right in more than one way, provided the many levels at which translation occurs and the many meanings this notion conveys are considered.