The purpose of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of a newly devised instrument, the Adolescent Health Promotion scale (AHP), a 40-item Likert-type self-report instrument used to detect unhealthy lifestyles in adolescents. Content validity was considered to be supported based on the findings of previous studies and the observations of a panel of 14 content experts. This study examined the construct validity and reliability of the instrument. The psychometric properties of the AHP, including item analysis, factor analysis, and reliability measures, were assessed based on the responses of 1,128 Taiwanese adolescents. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measures and Bartlett's sphericity test showed that the samples met the criteria for factor analysis. Factor analysis yielded a six-factor instrument that explained 51.14% of the variance in the 40 items. The six factors were social support, life appreciation, health responsibility, nutritional behaviors, exercise behaviors, and stress management. The Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient for the total scale was 0.932, and alpha coefficients for the subscales ranged from 0.75 to 0.88. The results of this study indicate that the AHP has good construct validity and reliability in Taiwanese and that its use by school health nurses to assess adolescent health promotion programs is warranted.

No abstract

The psychological benefit of gratitude has been well demonstrated in previous studies. However, when we examined these studies closely, we found that the moderators were rarely investigated, suggesting that further work is needed to explore the boundaries of gratitude In this regard, the authors have proposed that ambivalence over emotional expression might be a potential moderator that would inhibit the beneficial effect of gratitude on well-being. Two studies were conducted to examine our hypothesis. Study 1 consisted of 353 Taiwanese college students who completed the Gratitude Questionnaire-Taiwan version (GQ-T), Ambivalence over Emotional Expression Questionnaire (AEQ), and one question about subjective happiness. We found that ambivalence over emotional expression significantly moderated the effect of gratitude on happiness. To validate our findings in Study 1, 233 Taiwanese college students were recruited for Study 2, and they completed the GQ-T, AEQ, subjective happiness short-form UCLA loneliness scale, as well as the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Both studies demonstrated that ambivalence over emotional expression moderated the relationship between gratitude and well-being indexes. Simply stated, the authors found that across the two independent samples, among students who are high in ambivalence over emotional expression, the beneficial effect of gratitude on subjective happiness was inhibited. However, the moderating pattern for loneliness and depression was contrary to our expectations, indicating that high ambivalence over emotional expression does not inhibit gratitude. Possible explanations and implications for social relationships and emotional expression are discussed.

No abstract

PurposeStudies have reported negative effects of felt accountability on employees' extra-role behavior. Deviating from that focus, this study proposes that leadership plays a role in shaping the implications of felt accountability for employees' extra-role behavior. We propose that under high transformational leadership, felt accountability can motivate employees to engage in task-relevant information elaboration and facilitate innovative work behavior, a form of extra-role behavior that seeks to improve the work environment.Design/methodology/approachWe conducted a pilot study to validate measurements of felt accountability and task-relevant information elaboration in a sample of 202 employees. We then conducted the main study using a time-lagged, multisource survey design with a sample of 120 supervisor–employee pairs.FindingsThe results from the main study reveal that the association between felt accountability and task-related information elaboration is positive and stronger when transformational leadership is higher. Furthermore, task-relevant information elaboration positively predicts innovative work behavior. Finally, when transformational leadership is higher, the mediation effect of task-relevant information elaboration on the association between felt accountability and innovative work behavior is stronger.Originality/valueOur study indicates that felt accountability can have positive implications for employees' extra-role behavior contingent on leadership styles. In contrast to previous studies that emphasize the negative implications of felt accountability on employees' behavior, our study depicts when and why felt accountability can have positive implications on employees' behavior.