The present study examined the association between having a child with a disability or chronic illness and parental identity processes (commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration of commitment) over one year. The study involved 1275 emerging adult parents (62.0% mothers, 38.0% fathers) aged 18–30 (M = 26.11, SD = 2.99), including 249 parents of children with disabilities or chronic illnesses. Multigroup Latent Growth Curve Modeling (LGCM) was used to estimate growth trajectories (intercepts and slopes) of parental identity processes across three waves. The results showed no significant mean-level change over time in any parental identity process. At baseline, parents of children with disabilities or chronic illnesses reported significantly lower commitment and significantly higher reconsideration of commitment than parents of typically developing children, whereas the difference in in-depth exploration was not significant. These findings indicate relative stability of parental identity over one year and highlight between-group differences linked to raising a child with a disability or chronic illness.
he purpose of this study was to assess the severity of parental burnout among parents of children with disabilities and chronic illness. It was hypothesized that parents of children with disabilites/ilnesses would be characterized by higher levels of parental burnout and that their child’s disability and chronic illness would moderate the relationship of parental burnout with sociodemographic factors. The study was conducted with 254 parents (Mage = 35.37; SDage = 5.80) with children aged from 1 month to 35 years, 22% of whom had a child with a disability or chronic illness. The Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA) questionnaire was used to verify the research hypotheses. The correlation analyses conducted showed that parents of children with disabilities had higher levels of parental burnout, and as the degree of constraints related to the child’s difficulties increased, the level of parental burnout increased. The results of moderation analyses showed that the relationship between the number of children and parental burnout was statistically significant. Similar relationships were not found concerning the relationship of parental burnout and having a child under five or the gender of the parent. The study indicates that there are relationships between having a child with a disability or chronic illness, the degree of their impairment, and parental burnout.
630 Polish psychotherapists participated in a study examining their opinions regarding possible legal regulation of the psychotherapy profession. Participants completed a survey using a five-point Likert scale to rate the favourability of certain issues for inclusion in the legal regulation of the profession of psychotherapy such as patient rights, rights relating to the profession, establishing a professional regulatory body, and other issues. Regardless of the psychotherapeutic approach, the most beneficial outcome of legal regulation of the psychotherapist’s profession was the guarantee of the right to patient confidentiality in relations with state authorities and the establishment of unambiguous criteria for waiving it. The participants were also unanimous regarding the most unfavourable effects of regulation, such as increased control over the activities of psychotherapists, mainly by state authorities, which suggests that they prefer a professional self-governing body. Despite differences between psychotherapeutic approaches on specific issues that have been examined here, Polish psychotherapists see a need for legal regulation of their profession. The results are important not only in the context of mental health deterioration but also given that legal regulations for the psychotherapy profession vary worldwide, and in many countries discussions are ongoing.
Sense of personal identity plays a key role in shaping life satisfaction and mental health, but our knowledge of this relationship in adulthood is still limited. There have also been no studies on whether these relationships in adulthood are culturally specific or similar across cultures. Thus, the present study aimed to understand better how identity processes in the vocational, parental, and romantic domains are related to life satisfaction and severity of depressive symptoms in adults from five culturally diverse countries: United States (N = 467), South Africa (N = 306), Japan (N = 600), Poland (N = 456) and Israel (N = 488). The analysis showed significant differences in the intensity of identity processes between countries, with Japan and Poland having the lowest level of commitment and the highest level of reconsideration of commitment across different domains, whereas the United States and South Africa showed stronger in-depth exploration and commitment. Israel occupied an intermediate position, notable for its high commitment in the parenting domain. Overall, the results showed the rather universal significance of a mature identity – identity commitment was associated with higher life satisfaction and lower depressive symptoms and reconsideration of commitment with lower life satisfaction and higher depressive symptoms in all countries. However, some country differences were also observed, suggesting that social context and cultural values may influence the importance of particular identity domains. The study highlights the importance of integrating cultural context in analyses of identity in adulthood and provides a basis for further research in this area.
Emotional closure refers to the subjective sense that a personally significant past event has been resolved, allowing it to be integrated into autobiographical memory with reduced emotional disturbance. The Need for Emotional Closure Scale (NECS) was developed to assess individual differences in the motivation to achieve such resolution. Across two studies, we evaluated the psychometric properties and convergent validity of the NECS in a Polish sample. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a four-factor structure, and the scale demonstrated good internal consistency. Convergent validity was examined through associations with rumination, need for cognitive closure (Studies 1 and 2), intolerance of uncertainty (Study 1), and the frequency of involuntary autobiographical memories and future thoughts assessed via both self-report and laboratory paradigms (Study 2). Emotional closure tendencies were positively associated with rumination and intolerance of uncertainty. Although NECS scores were significantly related to self-reported frequency of involuntary mental time travel, no significant associations were observed for laboratory- based measures. Additionally, NECS subscales showed distinct patterns of association with dimensions of need for cognitive closure, supporting their conceptual differentiation. Overall, these findings provide evidence for the validity of the NECS and highlight the role of emotional closure in shaping autobiographical memory and spontaneous mental time travel.
