Lopez and Andrews (1987) interpreted career indecision as an indicator of the inadequate psychological separation of adolescents from their parents. However, various empirical studies have not managed to clearly demonstrated evidence of a relationship between systemic family variables and career indecision. This investigation, which involves a sample of 418 adolescents of both sexes in the 12th grade of secondary school, analyzed the relationship between conflictual and emotional independence and two dimensions of career indecision: developmental indecision and generalized indecision. As a principal methodology of statistical analysis, a canonical correlation analysis, one for each gender, was used. There were no relationships between the two sets of variables. The results were interpreted in light of the fact that some subjects could be classified as foreclosure in terms of identity status. A model of career decision status is proposed.

This study highlighted the importance of addressing adult attachment dispositions and caregiving to understanding the relational processes implicated in caregiver burden. The results support the conclusion that men's adult attachment orientations and caregiving patterns toward their female partners with breast cancer are relevant contributors to men's perceptions of caregiver burden.

While a considerable number of studies have focused on factors driving employees to voluntarily participate in training programs, much less is known on this topic with regard to the unemployed population, in particular the older unemployed, who often are in a vulnerable labor market position due to educational deficits and skills obsolescence. This study proposes and investigates a serial mediator model of older unemployed individuals’ training intentions grounded in propositions from social cognitive theory and the theory of planned behavior as well as prior models of employee involvement in training. The results, based on cross-sectional questionnaire data from 176 unemployed Portuguese individuals aged 40+, suggest that age, education, and proactivity have an indirect effect on training intentions via learning self-efficacy and training-related outcome expectations. Age was also directly related to stronger training intentions. These results may be useful for interventions aiming to encourage older unemployed individuals’ participation in training.

This study demonstrated that CHX-CPC-Zn and CHX-triclosan-Zn have significant and similar effects in reducing VSC levels, which persist for at least 5 h. Such effects were independent of previous MPC, which failed to improve on the results of mouthrinse use alone.

This study presents the adaptation of the Uncertainty Response Scale (Greco & Roger, Pers. Individ. Differ, 31:519-534, 2001) to Portuguese. This instrument was administered to a non-clinical community sample composed of 1596 students and professionals, allowing a thorough validity and invariance analysis by randomly dividing participants into three subsamples to perform: an exploratory factor analysis (sample one: N = 512); a preliminary confirmatory factor analysis to identify the final solution for the scale (sample two: N = 543); and the confirmatory factor analysis (sample three: N = 541). Samples two and three were also used for multi-group analysis to assess measurement invariance, invariance across gender, sociocultural levels, and students versus active professionals. Results showed the scale reflects the original factorial structure, as well as good internal consistency and overall good psychometric qualities. Invariance results across groups reached structural invariance which provides a confident invariance measurement for this scale, while invariance across gender and sociocultural levels reached metric invariance. Accordingly, differences between these groups were explored, by comparing means with multi-group analysis to establish the scale's sensitivity toward social vulnerability, by demonstrating the existence of statistically significant differences regarding gender and sociocultural levels on how individuals cope with uncertainty, specifically in terms of emotional strategies, as a self-defeating strategy. Thus, females scored higher on emotional uncertainty, as well as low sociocultural levels, compared with higher ones. Therefore, it is proposed that this scale could be a sound alternative to explore strategies for coping with uncertainty, when considering social, economic, or other environmental circumstances that may affect them.

Os líderes influenciam o comportamento individual e organizacional, incluindo a dimensão ética, sendo igualmente influenciados pela suas expetativas, interpretações e interações com os outros (Glynn & Jamerson, 2006; Kellerman, 2004).Frequentemente intervêm em diferentes contextos éticos, o que torna difícil para as pessoas "boas" tomarem boas decisões em situações más" (Glynn & Jamerson, 2006, p. 154).A liderança ética pode ser considerada como a "demonstração de conduta normativamente adequada através de ações pessoais e das relações interpessoais, assim como a promoção de tal conduta para os liderados através de uma comunicação bidireccional, reforço e tomada de decisão" (Brown, Trevino & Harrison, 2005, 9.120).O estudo aqui apresentado teve como objetivo desenvolver uma escala de liderança ética (Hanges & Dickson, 2004) para líderes portugueses com base na adaptação e validação da escala realizada por De Hoog e Den Hartog (2008).Os resultados obtidos evidenciam qualidades psicométicas adequadas, com um valor elevado de consistência interna. As análises fatoriais exploratórias revelam uma estrutura que aponta para a existência de dois fatores para a escala definidos como Liderança Ètica e Liderança Despótica que integram as respetivas dimensões.Importa, futuramente realizar uma análise da estabilidade das escalas com outra amostra por forma a verificar-se a consistência do s valores obtidos.

This study combines two recognized theoretical frameworks in the (un)employment literature -the latent deprivation model and the vitamin model -and aims to better understand the relations between the perceived quality of the psychosocial environment and psychological wellbeing in older adults. The sample comprised 300 Portuguese adults (aged between 40 and 65), grouped as employed, unemployed engaged in training and unemployed not in training. The employed reported better well-being than the other groups, and the unemployed in training showed lower distress than those who were not. Additionally, features from both frameworks were found to be related to well-being. These findings highlight the merit of taking both theories into account to better understand the well-being of older individuals, and may be useful for the design of interventions aiming to enhance well-being and overcome some of the negative aspects of unemployment.

This article argues that understanding uncertainty in contemporary societies and its psychosocial consequences is possible through a transdisciplinary perspective. This integrates sociological, psychological, economic and political dimensions. To address this, we offer a critical theoretical reflection that draws on diverse conceptual perspectives within the social sciences. In recent years, in psychological research, uncertainty has been mainly analysed as an intrapsychic phenomenon and as a psychological trait through the concept of (in)tolerance of uncertainty. In contrast, we argue for a psychosocial analysis of uncertainty, considering its socio-economic and political origins, thereby challenging its trait-like analysis. For example, we highlight the inputs of attachment theory for the understanding of uncertainty, connecting it to Marris’s thesis of an unequal distribution of uncertainty and of the power to cope with it (1996). This analysis of uncertainty integrates psychological dimensions with social ones within contemporary western societies, proposing the use of the concept of psychosocial uncertainty. The consequences of uncertainties impact upon employment, relationships and communities, where we can locate the social origins of depression, anxiety, distrust, victim-blaming or lack of cohesion in communities. Besides precarity at work, we now face precarious forms of living, endangering the fundamental processes of psychic and social individuation. Finally, we locate the social origins of uncertainty and its psychological consequences within the responsibilities of social sciences. Drawing on psychology, from social and community psychology to clinical and organizational psychology, we query the relationship between theory and practice. Underpinning this argument is an appreciation of Marris’s contribution to the construction of ‘politics of collaboration/association and reciprocity, as opposed to politics of disempowering uncertainty/dissociation’.