Research on Quality of Work, Media use, Autism and School

01/10/2014

72

Chamber of Labor

Georges Steffgen; Philipp E. Sischka

Chamber of Labor, infas – Institut für angewandte Sozialwissenschaft

The labour market has undergone a number of developments in recent decades, such as the delocalisation of production, the development of non-permanent and part-time work, the introduction of new technologies and an increased demand of flexible employees with varied skills. In order to analyse the consequences of these labour market developments for the employee’s quality of work and well-being, there is the necessity of extending purely economic work quality indicators by psychosocial indicators that focus on the work itself, as well as employees’ evaluation of these characteristics. Therefore, the goal of the quality of work research project was to develop a new multidimensional instrument, which focuses on different quality of work components (e.g., degree of autonomy, working under time pressure) that reflects an altered work reality. The modelling of the quality of work Index was guided by the following criteria among others:
• the main aspects of work contribute clear and direct to employees well-being (outcome of quality of work)
• the indicators are defined, constructed and anonymously computed at the individual level,
• a composite index is created based on a system of aggregated indicators, (on the basis of equal weights),
• the collected data is based on self-assessments of employees (self-reported, mostly subjective)
• the data is collected on an annual periodicity in one country/culture,
• only issues which are related to quality of work were considered.
The project started in 2013 with the aim to analyse the development of the quality of work in Luxembourg annually. Therefore, between 1500 and 2500 employees working in Luxembourg are regularly interviewed via computer-assisted telephone interview and report information about different quality of work components.

https://www.csl.lu/de/gesundheit-und-sicherheit-am-arbeitsplatz/quality-of-work-index-luxembourg/

01/02/2022

48

FNR-AFR

Gary L. Wagener; André Melzer

André Schulz (UL)

In this doctoral project, we are testing the relations between video game (VG) effects and stress: Are VG effective for acute or long-term stress reduction, and do violent vs. non-violent VG differ in this regard? Do personality-related factors like the Dark Tetrad have a moderating role?

01/09/2020

45

Luxembourg’s National Research Fund (FNR)

Andreia Costa; Maïte Franco; Georges Steffgen; Adelheid Hu; James Gross

Stanford University

Academic success is determined by numerous individual and socio-economic factors that are difficult to control and some children perform worse than their capacities would predict. Among these, many autistic children often have worse academic outcomes than expected given their cognitive abilities which can create repercussions in their life outcomes and well-being that can extend to adolescence and adulthood. Even though the research on the reasons for the academic underachievement of children with autism is scarce, we hypothesize that it may be due to external factors such as pedagogical practices as well as individual factors such as the children’s socio-emotional difficulties. Indeed, research with neurotypical children shows that problems with emotion regulation are linked to impairments in cognitive processes that lead to poorer academic performance and autistic children have frequent emotion regulation difficulties. Furthermore, teachers report that autistic children present frequent behavioural and emotional problems in the classroom. In addition, language and cognitive processes are interconnected and emotions can foster that relation. Therefore, proficiency in different languages and the language in which multilingual children express their emotions may have an impact on cognitive processes such as children’s memory. Given Luxembourg’s multilingual context, it is important to understand the potential effects emotions and language can have in children’s cognitive and academic performance. The aim of this project is to first assess the link between emotional ability and multilingualism, to cognitive and academic performance among autistic and neurotypical children. Second, it aims to understand how the expression of emotions in different languages (mother tongue vs second language) can affect the academic and cognitive performance of children. The results of the ASA project will enable to better understand factors affecting the academic underachievement of children with autism and define strategies to tackle it.

https://www.fnr.lu/projects/academic-success-in-autism-the-impact-of-emotions-and-multilingualism/

https://autisme.uni.lu/en/reussite-scolaire-en/

01/06/2023

24

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Viktoriia Gorbunova, Georges STEFFGEN, Laura MOTTET

Zhytomyr State Ivan Franko University ; “Mental health for Ukraine Project” (MH4U), implemented by GFA Consulting Group GmbH in collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.

The study is focused on further development and adjustment of the Universal Mental Health Training (UMHT) for frontline professionals to respond to war-related (posttraumatic stress reactions, including depressed mood, anxiety, adaptational difficulties etc.) and post-war recovery needs in Ukraine. The UMHT is a specialised educational program founded on evidence-based practices. Its main aim is to convey basic mental health knowledge and skills to police officers, emergency responders, social workers, educators, pharmacists, priests, and other professionals who interact daily with people in need of mental health support. UMHT covers the 18 most prevalent mental health disorders throughout lifespan development, which are defined accordingly to DSM-5: depressive disorder, intellectual disability, panic disorder, post-traumatic/acute stress disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, social anxiety disorder, disruptive, impulse-control, and conduct disorders, autism spectrum disorder, delirium, separation anxiety disorder, specific phobias and agoraphobia, illness anxiety disorder, feeding and eating disorders, elimination disorders, sleep-wake disorders, substance-related disorders, gambling disorder, neurocognitive disorders. The training offers a 5-step response model as a standard frame for interaction with people with mental health issues and is suitable for different types of frontline workers. The UMHT steps go one by one as a chain of action (recognize mental health condition, validate a condition with a person, give support, refer for professional help, ensure that professional service is received). The steps and actions are adjusted for every mental condition. All the nuances are highlighted on the appropriate step with the support of the evidence-based recommendation, the primary sources for which were NICE guidelines.

01/01/2023

72

htw saar

Förster, C., Fontaine, J., & Böhmer, M.

htw saar

Linguistic competence is a key skill that represents a decisive educational indicator for child development. However, the alarming results of school entry examinations of the federal states in Germany indicate that an enormous need for support is necessary here. The German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth therefore launched nationwide initiatives focusing on language education by kindergarten teachers and specialist staff in day-care centres. So far, however, there is no evidence that such an approach is actually effective. In a first step this gap shall be closed with this interdisciplinary project. In addition, we would like to shed some light on the kindergarten teachers’ assessment competencies, i.e., their competence to assess the children’s language development accurately. In a second step, based on third-party funding the view shall be expanded to the Luxemburgish day-care system with a focus on multilingualism. The overall project is to be assigned to research with a mixed method approach.