In the first of a two part series of articles I argued that "character building" in outdoor adventure education (OAE) is a flawed concept. This, the second article, examines the persistence of the idea of character building in OAE in the face of strong evidence that outdoor experiences cannot change personal traits. I examine how the…

This study investigated elements of school environments that explain variance in burnout scores in a sample of university graduates from Brisbane, Australia, two years after they commenced work as teachers. Using a longitudinal survey methodology, 79 beginning teachers completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) on four occasions over a two-year…

We examined a brief program aimed at preventing anxiety and other problems in early childhood. Participants (N = 734, age 3-6 years) were drawn from 25 preschools across Brisbane, Australia. Assessments occurred four times over 14 months, with a diagnostic interview at follow-up. Parent and teacher reports included information on child…

Australia is a much sought-after destination of study for many thousands of international university students. However, tertiary study brings with it many challenges that may potentially precipitate psychological distress in international students. Psychological distress may be experienced in various ways. The aim of this study was to investigate…

Medicine is a profession with a long history of research and high standards of methodological rigour and evidence-based decision making. These standards are being transferred into medical education. Universities are starting to collect high-quality data on their admissions systems. This has not been a short-term proposition. Medical courses are…

Purpose: To draw on a structured review of the literature on formalised mentoring programs for principals with the purpose of exploring their nature and the positive and negative outcomes for the parties involved. Design/methodology/approach: The methodological approach utilised in this paper was a structured review of the literature which is a…

Surveyed 85 students, 72 medical patients, and 66 state employees to assess the relationships between personality dimensions and child-rearing. Results indicated that parents of extraverts were performance-oriented and stimulating, parents of high psychoticism scorers were unstimulating and unaffectionate, and parents of high neuroticism scorers…

Uses the Big Five personality factors as a framework for examining the expected personality characteristics of individuals who are alcohol-dependent. Results help explain prior findings about the social handicap of problem drinking with regard to making friends, dating, marriage, and working. Findings have potential use in alcohol-problem…

The authors attempted to identify (a) the coping strategies used by employment service case managers in Queensland, Australia, and (b) the strategies that could be beneficial in reducing the relatively high burnout levels that have been observed in this population. Significant gender differences in coping styles were found, and an association…

Context and Purpose: Between 2002 and 2006 New South Wales was in the grip of the worst drought for more than 100 years. Financial hardships have led governments to declare "Exceptional Circumstances." Little social research has investigated the impact of drought on children. For this study, children from rural and remote regions of New…

Investigated dream content of 104 dreams from nine terminally ill patients with estimated life expectancy of one year or less. Found differences between dreams of terminally ill and dreams of physically healthy individuals, suggesting an adaptive withdrawal and process of social and emotional disengagement by terminally ill individuals. (Author/NB)

Develops measures of individual differences in attribute centrality, investigates convergent validity, and explores differences in central and noncentral attribute functions within same person. University students in three countries completed questionnaires. Four relative centrality measures correlated with information required to make decisions…

Examined joint effects of perceptions of family functioning, venturesomeness, anger, and Eysenckian psychoticism (P) on adolescent violence and vandalism/theft among 282 14-year olds. Found that adolescents' perceptions of family and their venturesomeness and anger were differentially related to violence and vandalism/theft for both males and…

Describes a series of evaluations of gender pairs of New Zealand English, Australian English, American English, and received-pronunciation-type-English English voices by over 400 students in New Zealand, Australia, and the United States. Twenty-two personality and demographic traits were evaluated by Likert-scale questionnaires. Results are…

Proposes a methodology for examining career preferences, which uses perceptual mapping techniques and external preference analysis to assess the attributes individuals believe are important. A study of 158 business students' career preferences suggested the methodology can be useful in analyzing reasons for career preferences. (WAS)