SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Goals”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 253 records · Page 14Linked to original sources

PubMed2003

Automatic for the people: how representations of significant others implicitly affect goal pursuit.

Five studies are presented that explore how representations of significant others may automatically affect goal pursuit. Specifically, evidence is presented that suggests goals may be primed by one's representation of a significant other and that this priming may be moderated by one's closeness to this other individual. It is also shown to be affected by the number of different goals associated with this person. The greater the number of goals associated with a significant other, the less likely this individual will invoke any 1 goal very strongly. Such goal priming is shown to have implications for the extent to which goals are pursued (as seen through task persistence and performance) as well as the extent to which they are inhibited or ignored (especially when an individual is associated with a goal unrelated to a current pursuit).

Achievement↗

PubMed2006

College student drinking and meaning in the pursuit of life goals.

The current study was designed to examine the association between risky alcohol use and life goals among college students. Introductory psychology students completed a questionnaire that included measures of typical life goals and alcohol use behavior. Students listed their 5 most typical life goals and rated them each on a series of dimensions from which 2 factors were derived (i.e., Goal Meaning, Goal Efficacy). Hierarchical regression analyses showed that the lower levels of goal meaning were associated with more heavy episodic use of alcohol and alcohol-related negative consequences. Results are consistent with motivational models of drinking that depict alcohol use as a function of satisfaction from other life goals. Findings support the importance of understanding college student drinking within the broader context of life goal appraisal.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Are unrealistic weight loss goals associated with outcomes for overweight women?

OBJECTIVE: To examine cross-sectional correlates of current, goal, and dream weight and their prospective associations with weight loss in treatment. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Goal and dream weights, demographic characteristics, and psychosocial factors were assessed by self-report questionnaire in 302 adult women enrolled in a weight loss trial. Height and weight were assessed at baseline, after 8 weeks of active treatment, and at 6- and 18-month follow-up. Regression techniques examined associations among baseline, goal, and dream weights, psychosocial factors, and treatment outcomes. RESULTS: On average, goal and dream weight losses were unrealistically high (-24% and -30%, respectively). High goals were associated with greater expected effort and greater expected reward but were not associated with psychological distress. Goal and dream weight losses were only weakly associated with behavioral or weight outcomes. An association between higher dream weight losses and greater weight loss at 18 months was the only outcome result to reach statistical significance. DISCUSSION: Results suggest that lack of realism in weight loss goals is not important enough to justify counseling people to accept lower weight loss goals when trying to lose weight.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2000

The perceived relative worth of reaching and maintaining goal weight.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the perceived relative worth of reaching and maintaining a self-selected goal weight, for obese and non-obese individuals. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SUBJECTS: Twenty-five obese treatment-seekers (age 41.0 y, BMI 42.5) and a community sample of 31 obese (age 40.8 y, BMI 32.2) and 64 non-obese participants (age 32.4 y, BMI 23.4). MEASUREMENT: An 18-item forced-choice questionnaire evaluating what participants would hypothetically sacrifice to reach and maintain their goal weight. RESULTS: Most obese treatment-seekers would hypothetically endure much to achieve their desired weight. For example, 88% or more would forego a job promotion, retiring with full-pay, eliminating the national debt, or winning their dream house or car or an all-expense-paid vacation, and smaller majorities would suffer loss of half their income or a job demotion. Many non-treatment-seeking obese would forfeit future rewards to reach goal weight, but fewer would incur negative events. About a third of non-obese participants would forgo certain positive events, but few would suffer an adverse event to achieve goal weight. Within the combined obese sample, females viewed attaining goal weight as more important than did males, but there were no significant racial differences. An index of overall worth of weight goal was related positively to current weight and BMI and negatively to goal weight as percentage of current weight (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Excessive value may be placed on attaining less than realistic weight goals, particularly but not exclusively by treatment-seeking and heavier obese people and those who desire greater weight loss. Clinicians should take this phenomenon into consideration, and public health initiatives should attempt to place body weight in a more balanced perspective.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Effect of unexpected outcomes and causal attributions on key workers' expectancies of goal attainment.

Goal planning is an integral part of the role of the key worker in services for people with intellectual disability. The present study investigated the effect of the Weiner stability-expectancy principle on unexpected outcomes in goal planning. Four hundred and twenty-two actual goal attainment scales were constructed, with each scale describing the key workers' expected levels of outcome. Two hundred and twenty-six (54%) unexpected outcomes, both successful and unsuccessful, were then rated by key workers to provide a causal explanation for each outcome. These explanations were then grouped according to whether the attributions represented stable or variable causes. Finally, key workers were asked to provide a new expectancy rating to forecast future goal attainment. Two predictions from Weiner's model were confirmed by statistical analysis: (1) that success attributed to stable factors would lead to higher revised forecasts of goal attainment than success attributed to variable factors; and (2) that failure attributed to stable factors would lead to lower revised forecasts of goal attainment than failure attributed to variable factors. The results of the present study confirm that stability attributions do alter key workers' revised forecasts of goal attainment. The results are discussed in terms of the possible consequences for key worker behaviour, such as goal abandonment, differential treatment of service users and the need for a knowledgeable approach to performance appraisal by managers.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Targeted goal setting: helping nurses manage a turbulent work environment.

Nurses in a mid-sized Midwestern US hospital were surveyed to investigate the interrelationships among workplace locus of control [WLOC], preference for proximal and distal goals, and goal setting behaviour. Correlational results found preliminary support for the idea that knowledge regarding an individual's WLOC orientation may help supervisors optimize goal setting with their nursing staff. Nurses with an internal WLOC engaged in more long-term, short-term, and overall goal setting behaviour compared to their external WLOC counterparts. Nurses with an internal WLOC also reported a greater preference for working with distal goals and perceived greater control over setting their goals compared to nurses with an external WLOC orientation. Contrary to expectations, supervisors were not more likely to possess an internal WLOC orientation or set more goals compared to non-supervisory personnel. Nursing supervisors did, however, perceive themselves as having significantly greater control over goal setting than non-supervisors. Based upon these findings, recommendations are proposed to help nursing supervisors work with their staff to optimize performance.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2002

[Therapy goal setting in patients with psychological stress in orthopaedic and cardiac rehabilitation].

OBJECTIVES: To study goal-setting for patients with psychological stress in orthopaedic and cardiac rehabilitation centres. DESIGN: A questionnaire assessing patients' somatic, functional and psychosocial status ("IRES"-questionnaire) was administered to 3109 patients with musculoskeletal diseases and 1670 patients with cardiovascular diseases from a total of 26 rehabilitation centres at their admission and discharge. For all patients, physicians filled in the "Physician's Sheet" ("Arztbogen") that assesses patient-specific goals of therapy. RESULTS: Nearly 50 % of the patients suffered from psychological stress at their admission. Of the patients with high psychological stress (higher than in 90 % of the general population) only 11.1 % (musculoskeletal diseases) and 3.4 % (cardiovascular diseases) were diagnosed as having a mental disorder (ICD-10 diagnosis in the range of F00 - F99). High psychological stress reported by patients themselves is associated with only a small increase of goal setting in psychological therapy documented in the "Physician's Sheet". The most important factors that influence the predefinition of psychological goals of therapy are high multimorbidity, an ICD-10 diagnosis in the range of F00 - F99, low age, high motivation for rehabilitation and being a woman. However, statistically significant differences between rehabilitation centres in the predefinition of psychological goals of therapy were detected. It can be assumed that differences in concepts of therapy are responsible for this finding. CONCLUSION: The results show that physicians use the patient's self-assessments of their psychological stress only to a small extent while planning psychosocial interventions and care. The predefinition of goals in a context of "forced" consideration of patients self-assessments leads to a higher degree of consistency between patients' judgements and goal settings. It also shows a slightly higher predictive power for rehabilitation effects than the predefinition of goals of therapy without noticing patients' self-assessments. This demonstrates the usefulness of a patient-centred screening instrument for psychological stress in orthopaedic and cardiac rehabilitation.

Aged↗

PubMed2001

Early goal-directed therapy in the treatment of severe sepsis and septic shock.

BACKGROUND: Goal-directed therapy has been used for severe sepsis and septic shock in the intensive care unit. This approach involves adjustments of cardiac preload, afterload, and contractility to balance oxygen delivery with oxygen demand. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of early goal-directed therapy before admission to the intensive care unit. METHODS: We randomly assigned patients who arrived at an urban emergency department with severe sepsis or septic shock to receive either six hours of early goal-directed therapy or standard therapy (as a control) before admission to the intensive care unit. Clinicians who subsequently assumed the care of the patients were blinded to the treatment assignment. In-hospital mortality (the primary efficacy outcome), end points with respect to resuscitation, and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II) scores were obtained serially for 72 hours and compared between the study groups. RESULTS: Of the 263 enrolled patients, 130 were randomly assigned to early goal-directed therapy and 133 to standard therapy; there were no significant differences between the groups with respect to base-line characteristics. In-hospital mortality was 30.5 percent in the group assigned to early goal-directed therapy, as compared with 46.5 percent in the group assigned to standard therapy (P = 0.009). During the interval from 7 to 72 hours, the patients assigned to early goal-directed therapy had a significantly higher mean (+/-SD) central venous oxygen saturation (70.4+/-10.7 percent vs. 65.3+/-11.4 percent), a lower lactate concentration (3.0+/-4.4 vs. 3.9+/-4.4 mmol per liter), a lower base deficit (2.0+/-6.6 vs. 5.1+/-6.7 mmol per liter), and a higher pH (7.40+/-0.12 vs. 7.36+/-0.12) than the patients assigned to standard therapy (P < or = 0.02 for all comparisons). During the same period, mean APACHE II scores were significantly lower, indicating less severe organ dysfunction, in the patients assigned to early goal-directed therapy than in those assigned to standard therapy (13.0+/-6.3 vs. 15.9+/-6.4, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Early goal-directed therapy provides significant benefits with respect to outcome in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock.

APACHE↗

PubMed1997

Goal difficulty, anxiety and performance.

This study reports a detailed investigation of the interaction between goal setting, anxiety and perceptuo-motor performance. Forty-four subjects completed familiarization, control and treatment conditions in which they were required to perform a series of perceptual speed trials. In the control condition, subjects were assigned a vague, general goal of 'do your best', whilst in the treatment condition, increasingly difficult, specific goals were assigned. During each condition, subjective goal difficulty, goal acceptance, performance, cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety and self-confidence were examined. The results suggested that the manipulation of the control and treatment conditions were successful. In the treatment condition, an increase in cognitive anxiety and a reduction in self-confidence accompanied increasing goal difficulty but these remained stable in the control condition. Performance was greater when 'do your best' as opposed to 'very easy' goals were assigned, but this situation was reversed when 'very hard' goals were assigned. The results of these laboratory-based findings are discussed with particular reference to the implications for practitioners in applied settings.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Goal orientation profile differences on perceived motivational climate, perceived peer relationships, and motivation-related responses of youth athletes.

The aims of this study were twofold: (a) to determine if dispositional achievement goal orientation profiles that are reported in the literature would be observed in a sample of youth athletes, and (b) to examine potential achievement goal orientation profile differences on perceptions of the motivational climate, perceptions of peer relationships, and motivation-related responses. Male soccer players (n=223) aged 9-12 years (mean=10.9, s=0.6) completed a multi-section questionnaire containing assessments of dispositional goal (task, ego) orientations, the perceived task- and ego-involving features of the motivational climate, perceived peer acceptance and friendship quality (positive friendship quality, conflict), perceived ability, soccer enjoyment, and satisfaction with one's performance and the team. Four profiles were observed that closely matched those observed by Hodge and Petlichkoff (2000), though in the present study a lower proportion of participants exhibited achievement goal profiles consisting of relatively high ego orientation. Achievement goal profile differences were found for all variables except positive friendship quality, with a general trend for those reporting relatively lower task goal orientation to exhibit less adaptive responses. Overall, the findings support achievement goal frameworks (e.g. Nicholls, 1989) and suggest that further examination of dispositional achievement goals may afford a deeper understanding of social relationships and motivational processes in youth sport.

Achievement↗

PubMed1996

Antecedents of state goals in age-group swimmers: an interactionist perspective.

A theoretical tenet of 'goal perspective' theory that has received little research attention has been the nature of the relationship between the person and the environment with respect to predicting task and ego involvement in sport. This study therefore integrated both dispositional and situational criteria in order to examine their relative ability to predict 'state' goals of task and ego involvement in a sample of age-group swimmers (n = 214). The Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ) and several single-item assessments of goal orientation represented the dispositional measures, and these were completed away from the race environment. The situational antecedents of task and ego involvement were assessed by the 11-item Race Context Questionnaire (RCQ), which was administered to the swimmers within 1 h of their main event at their county championships. The RCQ also assessed the extent to which the performer had set task and ego goals for the upcoming race (i.e. 'state' goals). Factor analysis of the RCQ revealed four factors which cumulatively accounted for 65.3% of the variance: social/personal perceptions of ability; perceived state goal preference of significant others; race outcome value; and perceived readiness. Moderated hierarchical regression analyses revealed separate main effects as well as significant interactions between the dispositional and situational predictors of the different goal types. Specifically, social perceptions and race-specific criteria were the major predictors of ego involvement, whereas the level of task orientation combined with the above situational factors seemed to exert greater influence in determining the intensity of task involvement in age-group swimmers. These findings alert researchers to the importance of applying an interactionist perspective to the examination of 'state' goals.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

Achievement goals, beliefs about the causes of success and reported emotion in post-16 physical education.

The main aim of this study was to examine whether goal orientations of male and female adolescents involved in an optional post-16 physical education (PE) programme were related in a conceptually consistent manner with their beliefs about the causes of success in PE. We also determined relationships between these achievement goal-belief dimensions and reported enjoyment and boredom within PE classes. Participants (n = 171) in a sixth-form college PE programme completed an inventory assessing their task and ego goal orientations, beliefs about the determinants of success in PE, and emotion in PE activities at college. Separate factor analyses of goal orientations and beliefs for male and female students revealed two goal-belief dimensions. The first dimension showed ego orientation was linked to the view that ability and deceptive tactics lead to success. The second dimension suggested task orientation was associated with the belief that success is the result of hard work and effort. This task goal-belief factor was found to be more strongly correlated with enjoyment in PE among female students than among males. For boys, the task goal-belief factor was correlated significantly and negatively with boredom in PE, but this was not the case for girls. No significant relationships emerged between the ego goal-belief factor and reported emotion in PE among the male and female participants. Facilitating task involvement and beliefs about causes of success that are fundamentally under personal control may, therefore, promote positive affective experiences in sixth-form PE, especially among female students.

Achievement↗

PubMed1999

The rehabilitation process for the geriatric stroke patient--an exploratory study of goal setting and interventions.

PURPOSE: The aim was to describe and analyse the rehabilitation process of the geriatric stroke patient from two perspectives; the treatment goals expressed by the staff and the patient and the treatment interventions chosen by the physiotherapist and occupational therapist. A secondary aim was to test whether the process, treatment goals and interventions could be classified according to the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps (ICIDH). METHOD: Qualitative interviews were performed with patients and personnel; diaries were used to register treatment interventions. The 30 interviews were categorized according to the goals expressed by physiotherapists, occupational therapists, physicians and patients. The diaries (n = 22) were analysed to describe how treatment interventions were connected in time, at what levels (impairment, disability and handicap) the interventions were directed, and finally, whether certain decisions were made in order to change the rehabilitation process. RESULTS: The patients talked more about attaining their pre-stroke status than about their goals. The therapists set goals according to functional level, whereas the doctors expressed themselves in general terms. Three patterns of rehabilitation processes were found: one with clearly identified decision points, one with a set programme which was not changed through the process, and one where the goal was changed according to changes in medical status. CONCLUSIONS: The patient does not participate in the goal-setting process, and the vaguely expressed goals are not measurable. The rehabilitation process and reason for discharge demonstrate different patterns. Treatment interventions, if related to the ICIDH, give a clear picture of the process, though certain interventions do not fit in the classification.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed1993

Validity of goal attainment scaling in infants with motor delays.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine (1) content validity of goal attainment scaling (GAS), (2) the responsiveness of GAS compared with a behavioral objective, and (3) concurrent validity of GAS and the Peabody Developmental Gross Motor Scale. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Two motor goals were developed for two consecutive 3-month periods for 21 infants with motor delays. The goals were put into behavioral objective and GAS formats and scored by independent examiners. Content validity was examined by having 10 physical therapists rate 10 randomly selected GAS-formatted goals on three dimensions: (1) the importance of the goal for motor development and function, (2) whether the expected progress was achievable, and (3) whether each of the four levels of change was clinically important. RESULTS: Between 77% and 88% of the therapists' ratings for each dimension met the criterion for content validity. The ratings did not differ significantly among the therapists for any of the three dimensions. Change that could not be measured with the behavioral objective format was measured with the GAS format for 61% of the goals, including 73% of the goals in which the behavioral objective was achieved. Correlations between GAS T-scores and Peabody gross motor age-equivalent change scores were not significant. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION: The results support content validity and the responsiveness of GAS, and provide evidence that GAS and the Peabody Scale measure different aspects of motor development. Goal attainment scaling is recommended for use in clinical practice and in treatment outcomes research.

Child, Preschool↗

PubMed1999

The use of questionnaires to assess achievement of course goals in medical students' longitudinal community-based clinical experiences.

PURPOSE: To examine the usefulness of questionnaires for assessing achievement of course goals in medical students' longitudinal community-based clinical experiences. METHOD: In 1997, the authors surveyed 114 first-year students and their preceptors in a longitudinal community-based program at The Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University. The questionnaire used a Likert scale to assess students' and preceptors' pre-course expectations for achieving specific course goals and their post-course perceptions of having met those goals. The students also rated global learning and satisfaction during each office preceptor session, and faculty assessed the students' physical examination skills at the end of the course. RESULTS: For all goals assessed, the preceptors scored their students' achievement of course goals significantly higher than did the students themselves (p < .01). The students invariably scored their post-course perceptions of having achieved the goals lower than they did their pre-course expectations (p < .001). Before the course, the preceptors were confident in their ability to teach the curricular material; this confidence remained after the course. Global learning and satisfaction scores were high and all students performed satisfactorily in the demonstration examination. CONCLUSIONS: Students and preceptors may not agree on students' achievement of course goals. Furthermore, despite students' high ratings of global satisfaction and learning, and despite their satisfactory performance of physical examination skills, their ratings of post-course performance may be affected by pre-course expectations. The authors suggest that questionnaires assessing students' and preceptors' perceptions of students' achievement of specific goals should be independently verified before making decisions to modify objectives and activities in these kinds of courses.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

In search of the organismic valuing process: the human tendency to move towards beneficial goal choices.

We attempted to test Rogers' concept of the organismic valuing process (OVP) by assessing changes in peoples' goal choices over time. When changes occur, are they more or less random, or do people tend to move towards goals that are more likely to be beneficial, both for themselves and others? "Beneficial" goals were defined as goals typically associated with subjective well-being (SWB) and with prosocial behavior--specifically, we focused on the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic goal contents. In three studies, participants tended to move towards intrinsic goals and/or away from extrinsic goals over periods ranging from 20 minutes to 6 weeks. These changes were not reducible to social desirability nor to the differing motives underlying differing goal contents, did not vary for persons of different value-types, and had not changed when participants were retested a third time. We conclude that people may have a positive bias toward changing their minds in directions most likely to be SWB enhancing.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Adjustment, depression, and minimal goal setting: the moderating effect of performance feedback.

In this study I tested hypotheses about changes in expectancy and minimal goal statements and the relations of these variables to adjustment. Seventy-seven male college students completed the Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank and the Beck Depression Inventory and subsequently received success or failure feedback on tasks for which they provided expectancy and minimal goal statements. Expectancies and minimal goals changed differently, relative to each other, as a function of performance feedback. Modest relations of adjustment and dysphoria with minimal goals were found, but these were moderated by performance feedback: Under failure, poorer adjustment and greater dysphoria were associated with higher minimal goals; under success, poorer adjustment and greater dysphoria were associated with lower minimal goals, contrary to a widely held hypothesis. Moreover, although the effects of adjustment and dysphoria on minimal goal setting were similar in strength and direction, these effects were independent of each other. Thus, adjustment-minimal goal relations must be understood in light of situational parameters and may reflect two processes, only one of which is related to mood.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Can a self-propelled box have a goal? Psychological reasoning in 5-month-old infants.

Some researchers have suggested that infants' ability to reason about goals develops as a result of their experiences with human agents and is then gradually extended to other agents. Other researchers have proposed that goal attribution is rooted in a specialized system of reasoning that is activated whenever infants encounter entities with appropriate features (e.g., self-propulsion). The first view predicts that young infants should attribute goals to human but not other agents; the second view predicts that young infants should attribute goals to both human and nonhuman agents. The present research revealed that 5-month-old infants (the youngest found thus far to attribute goals to human agents) also attribute goals to nonhuman agents. In two experiments, infants interpreted the actions of a self-propelled box as goal-directed. These results provide support for the view that from an early age, infants attribute goals to any entity they identify as an agent.

Cognition↗