Established Psychosocial Factors Research Articles

Is grit worth the investment? How grit compares to other psychosocial factors in predicting achievement

In this study, I examined the internal consistency and structural validity of scores on the Short Grit scale, Academic Self-Concept scale, and Engagement scale in a sample of 1154 urban adolescent high school students. I also assessed how much of GPA’s variance is explained by grit, academic self-concept, and educational engagement. Results suggested that the scores on all three scales were structurally sound and internally consistent. However, grit and engagement explained considerably less of GPA’s variance in this urban sample than academic self-concept. Therefore, this study’s findings indicate that school improvement and intervention programs might be more effective if they are focused on increasing more established psychosocial factors like academic self-concept rather than grit.

Measuring Emotional Intelligence Enhances the Psychological Evaluation of Chronic Pain.

The assessment of emotional factors, in addition to other psychosocial factors, has been recommended as a means of identifying individuals with chronic pain who may not respond to certain pain treatments. Systematic reviews of the evidence regarding the prediction of responsiveness to a treatment called the spinal cord stimulator (SCS) have yielded inconclusive results. Emotional intelligence is a term which refers to the ability to identify and manage emotions in oneself and others and has been shown to be inversely associated with emotional distress and acute pain. This study aims to investigate the relationship between emotional intelligence, chronic pain, and the more established psychosocial factors usually used for SCS evaluations by clinical psychologists in medical settings. A sample of 112 patients with chronic pain on an acute hospital waiting list for SCS procedures in a pain medicine service were recruited. Psychological measures were completed including: a novel measure of emotional intelligence; usual measures of emotional distress and catastrophizing; and a numerical rating scale designed to assess pain intensity, pain-related distress, and interference. As predicted, findings revealed significant associations between most of the measures analyzed and current pain intensity. When entered into a simultaneous regression analysis, emotional intelligence scores remained the only significant predictor of current pain intensity. There are potential clinical, ethical, and organizational implications of emotional intelligence processes partially predicting pain in patients on a waiting list for a medical procedure. These results may offer new insight, understanding, and evaluation targets for clinical psychologists in the field of pain management.