The amount of burnout symptoms among 736 nurses (mean age=31. 1, 18 to 74) was examined in relation to support resource and job stress. The amounts of burnout and job stress were assessed by the Japanese-translated MBI and NJSS, respectively. To evaluate the support resources, the subjects were asked to identify confidants with whom they talked about his or her own job stress. The nurses who had the confidants on the outside of their workplace showed significantly higher score of emotional exhaustion than those who had only on the inside, when the levels of stress associated with interpersonalenvironment inside their workplace was high. The nurses who had the confidants only on the outside of their workplace and those who had no confidants showed significantly higher score of depersonalization than those who had on the inside, when the levels of stress associated with interpersonal environ mentinside their workplace was moderate. These results suggest that seeking social support only outside their workplace related to the high degree of the burnout, when the interpersonal problem inside their workplace was stressful.

View full abstract

[in Japanese]

View full abstract

A questionnaire survey of clinical psychologists (N=285) was carried out to investigate their understanding of the causes of the breakdown of classroom discipline, the current situation of interventions, and effective response to the problem. The results indicated that 68% of respondents had observed the phenomenon, and that it was now becoming a major area of concern for clinical psychologists. The main results were as follows.(1) Bullying was seen as a cause of the breakdown of class room discipline in many cases, or mentioned as having occurred following chronic cases.(2) Clinical psychologists who had actually intervened in such cases answered that team teaching and individual interventions, in the form of consultations for teachers and parents had proved effective.(3) In explaining the phenomenon and cases had intervened, many responses mentioned the existence of children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder or Learning Disability. They surmised that children's emotional disturbance and their lack of social skills, and their maladjustment to group action were likely causes of the breakdown of classroom discipline. It was revealed that there was a distortion on understandings about the phenomenon and supposed that the existence of children with emotional and problemsin the class, who seem to be as if they were ADHD.

View full abstract