This thesis aimed to test the effects of stressful life events (adversity) on changes in adolescent adaptive capacity, that is, the ability of an individual to deal with his or her environment. Adaptive capacity was measured both in terms of temperament and in terms of physiological responses to a laboratory stress task. The main findings point out that adolescents who are exposed to stressful...

This two-wave study examined work engagement as a function of personal resources and emotionally demanding conditions at work. We hypothesized that personal resources (self-efficacy and optimism) buffer the effect of emotional demands and emotion-rule dissonance on work engagement. Furthermore, we expected that emotional demands/dissonance boost the effect of personal resources on work engagement. One-hundred sixty-three employees, who provide service to customers, participated at both measurement times.

The introduction of the Internet has made it very easy to gain information on any topic imaginable. The downside of this development is that it has become much harder to evaluate the credibility of this information, as it is often unclear who the author is. In this dissertation, the way Internet users evaluate the credibility of online information is studied, with a focus on the relationship between user characteristics and information features. The online encyclopedia Wikipedia is used as a case -study.

Research consistently shows that incarcerated juveniles and adults experience high levels of prior traumatic experiences and stressful life events. Yet there is a gap in the literature addressing incarcerated older adults' life-course experiences of traumatic and stressful life events and their initial and current subjective interpretations of these events. Given that untreated trauma has been linked to decreased health and mental well-being, and recidivism, the current study attempts to address this gap.