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The stereotypical image of the profession is poor with accountants appearing in the popular media as either the object of satire or the criminally inclined expert who deceives the public for self-gain. Extant research on the portrayal of the stereotypic accountant is limited in two ways: (1) existing research assumes a unitary concept by inferring a dominant image when the accountant stereotype is multifaceted; and (2) it is unclear from existing research whether the dominant image results from perceived character traits or the duties undertaken by accountants. This paper relies on qualitative methods of data analysis to unpack the elements that underpin stereotypical images in accounting to develop a framework of external perceptions that distinguishes one image from another. The framework is constructed on two broad criteria that comprise accountants (personality traits and physical characteristics) and accounting (task functionality). The interplay of these two criteria creates four subtypes representing positive (Scorekeeper and Guardian) and negative (Beancounter and Entrepreneur) interpretations of the two basic categorizations: bookkeeper and business professional. Further analysis revealed four primary dimensions (Ethics and Sociable, Skill and Service) that underlie the construction of the subtypes. In general, the ‘Scorekeeper’ rates more highly than the ‘Beancounter’ on ‘Ethics and Sociable’ and the ‘Guardian’ rates more highly than the ‘Entrepreneur’ on ‘Ethics’. Accounting researchers and the profession could benefit from understanding how stereotypical perceptions are constructed and managed.

It is a research priority to identify modifiable risk factors to improve the effectiveness of childhood obesity prevention strategies. Research, however, has largely overlooked the role of child temperament and personality implicated in obesogenic risk factors such as maternal feeding and body mass index (BMI) of preschoolers. A systematic review of relevant literature was conducted to investigate the associations between child temperament, child personality, maternal feeding and BMI and/or weight gain in infants and preschoolers; 18 papers were included in the review. The findings revealed an association between the temperament traits of poor self-regulation, distress to limitations, low and high soothability, low negative affectivity and higher BMI in infants and preschool-aged children. Temperament traits difficult, distress to limitations, surgency/extraversion and emotionality were significantly associated with weight gain rates in infants. The results also suggested that child temperament was associated with maternal feeding behaviours that have been shown to influence childhood overweight and obesity, such as using restrictive feeding practices with children perceived as having poor self-regulation and feeding potentially obesogenic food and drinks to infants who are more externalizing. Interestingly, no studies to date have evaluated the association between child personality and BMI/weight gain in infants and preschoolers. There is a clear need for further research into the association of child temperament and obesogenic risk factors in preschool-aged children.

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Health coaching is a promising strategy for health improvements; however, future research should ensure clarity in reporting intervention details, clearer definitions of health coaching/theoretical bases, consistency in reporting BCTs, and the inclusion of process variables as outcome measures.

The use of scales to measure constructs in populations or contexts other than that in which they were established is highly controversial. Despite this, the use of scales without reference to “local” psychometric data is still widespread. In this study we examined the factor structure of the short 21-item form of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS-21), when it was applied to adolescent samples recruited from high schools in Australia (N = 371), Chile (N = 448), China (N = 558), and Malaysia (N = 388). Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the purported three-factor structure of the DASS-21 was supported in each location with structural invariance across locations. While convergent and divergent validity studies are required to support this finding, the DASS-21 appears to be suitable for use with adolescents in these locations.