The present study, based on the work of Dweck (2000) and her description of helpless and mastery-orientated children, was designed to find a new, simple and economic way of assessing helplessness while testing a child's intelligence. Two hundred and thirty-two Austrian grammar-school children, previously classified as either helpless or…

The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of group work as a strategy for attribution retraining and improving students' motivational styles. Students were first categorised into one of three motivational styles: learned helplessness, self-worth motivation and mastery orientation. In the intervention procedure, selected students…

Background: Young people with intellectual disabilities seem to be at increased risk of developing mental health problems. The present study set out to examine the impact such difficulties can have on parents. Method: Semi-structured in-depth interviews were carried out with 13 parents and one adult sibling of 11 young people with intellectual…

This research examined the role of mothers' cognitions about children's self-control in their responses to children's helplessness. Mothers and their four-year-old children (N = 109) were asked to work on a difficult task in the laboratory. Mothers' hostility and warmth as well as children's helpless (vs. mastery) behavior were coded every minute.…

This paper presents a qualitative study that used classroom observations, faculty interviews, and student interviews to investigate the meaning and importance of seven non-cognitive variables to a cohort of developmental writing students at an urban community college. The variables studied included finances, study management, college surroundings,…

Background: Little research has examined interactions between self-reported dispositional and experimentally manipulated situational group orientations in their effect on self-regulation. Aims: The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of dispositional and situational learning goal orientation on children's self-efficacy and engagement…

Parents of children with developmental delays consistently report higher levels of child behavior problems and also parenting stress than parents of typically developing children. This study examined how mothers' positive beliefs influence the relation between children's behavior problems and mothers' parenting stress among families of children…

The article uses learned helplessness as a model for better understanding burnout experienced by teachers of exceptional children. Comparisons are made between the treatment for learned helplessness and parallel strategies for preventing burnout, including helping educators to set realistic goals and recognize the control which they do have.…

Mothers who exhibited high illusory control showed increased susceptibility to learned helplessness when they tried to solve a child-care task. The early attributional and behavioral style characteristic of high illusory control may be a precursor to overcontrolling, interfering behaviors during the toddler years. (RH)

Optimal therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) follows logically from an understanding of etiological models describing the development and maintenance of the disorder. Accordingly, the present article provides a brief overview of PTSD with particular attention paid to etiology. Exposure-based interventions have consistently been shown…

The purpose of this investigation was to examine overweight students' perceptions of and experiences in physical education. Specifically, the applicability of learned helplessness as a framework to understand their experiences was explored. Participants were seven female and five male high school students whose body mass index was at or higher…

Visual impaired adolescents have mixed emotions, that is feelings of helplessness, confusion, disbelief, powerlessness, fear, shamefulness and anxiety. They generally consider themselves as inferior beings. They are beset by predominantly negative images and view themselves as either a source of trouble or in trouble. In bringing this view, one of…

The present study focuses on motivational constructs and their effect on students' academic achievement within an existing statistics course. First-year Health Sciences students completed a questionnaire that measures several motivational constructs: dimensions of causal attributions, outcome expectancy, affect, and study behaviour, all with…

This study set out to identify the kinds of achievement orientations that adolescents show, and to examine the kinds of antecedents and consequences the use of a particular orientation has. The participants were 734 Swedish adolescents (335 boys and 399 girls) who filled in questionnaires measuring their achievement beliefs and behaviors,…

In this article I will discuss the impact of my 2-year-old son's diagnosis and treatment of leukaemia. I will outline the background to being told he had leukaemia before describing the family dynamics that emerged during this time for me, my husband and our other child. My story will focus on managing the practicalities of a long stay in hospital…