Browsing by Author "Tarrant RA"

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    Getting through: Children's effective coping and adaptation in the context of the Canterbury, New Zealand earthquakes of 2010-2012
    (Massey University, 1/06/2017) Tarrant RA; Mooney M; Paton D; Johal S; Johnston D
    Children may experience distress and can become vulnerable as the result of a disaster. However, recent research suggests that children experiencing such adversity can address adversity by employing their capacities to adapt. The present study investigates how children coped effectively with a disaster, the Canterbury, New Zealand earthquakes of 2010-2102, and identifies strategies, processes, and resources that promoted effective coping and adaptation. Semistructured interviews took place with 38 children from three different age groups, with 31 parents, and with 11 teachers and principals from five Canterbury schools. Children were interviewed twenty months after the first earthquake, during an ongoing aftershock sequence, and six selected children were interviewed again sixteen months later. Thematic analysis of interview data identified multiple, inter-connected coping strategies and resources in the children that were fundamental to their post-disaster adaptation. Children coping effectively employed a repertoire of diverse coping strategies in a flexible and pertinent manner. Three key strategies employed by the children were emotional regulation, positive reframing, and problem-solving. Sixteen months later, the children had shifted their focus away from coping with earthquakes to coping with everyday problems. It is expected that findings from this study will contribute to future interventions for promoting effective coping and adaptation by children.
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    What have sport and music performance taught us about test anxiety
    (Psychological Publishing, 2010) Tarrant RA; Leathem JM; Flett RA
    Professional athletes and performing artists require peak performance at critical times, as their careers and livelihoods depend on sustained success. Likewise examination candidates aim for high levels of performance in examinations that are important to their particular educational and vocational paths. In many areas of performance where there is something of high value at stake for the performer, anxiety can increase and, at times, compromise the quality of the performance outcome. The present article comments on the four components of performance anxiety: physiological, cognitive, affective, and behavioural, and three major influential factors. The four components describe the nature of performance anxiety, but can also interact to create a spiralling cycle of anxiety with the potential to impact on the performance. Three major influential factors are discussed (personality variables; experience, including preparation and performing; and situational variables). Lessons learned from investigative studies of performance anxiety in sport and music performance are discussed, and parallels drawn with test anxiety.