Search results for "Behavioral sciences"
showing 9 items of 139 documents
Worsening of pre-existing psychiatric conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic
2020
This study anonymously examined 2,734 psychiatric patients worldwide for worsening of their pre-existing psychiatric condition during the COVID-19 pandemic. Valid responses mainly from 12 featured countries indicated self-reported worsening of psychiatric conditions in 2/3rd of the patients assessed that was validated through their significantly higher scores on scales for general psychological disturbance, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression. Female gender, feeling no control of the situation and reporting dissatisfaction with the response of the state during the COVID-19 pandemic, and reduced interaction with family and friends increased the worsening of pre-existing psychiatri…
Mental Health Impact of COVID-19: A global study of risk and resilience factors
2020
AbstractThis study anonymously screened 13,332 individuals worldwide for psychological symptoms related to Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic from March 29th to April 14th, 2020. A total of n=12,817 responses were considered valid with responses from 12 featured countries and five WHO regions. Female gender, pre-existing psychiatric condition, and prior exposure to trauma were identified as notable risk factors, whereas optimism, ability to share concerns with family and friends like usual, positive prediction about COVID-19, and daily exercise predicted fewer psychological symptoms. These results could aid in dynamic optimization of mental health services during and following CO…
Development of healthy eating habits early in life. Review of recent evidence and selected guidelines
2011
Encouraging healthy eating habit development early in life is a way to prevent the onset of diet-related diseases. This review focuses on the period ranging from the beginning of complementary feeding until the age of 3 years. Its first objective was to review relevant themes in the most recent literature on the development of healthy eating habits in this period. Its second objective was to evaluate to what extent international and national feeding guidelines cover these themes. Analysed guidelines included WHO, European Network for Public Health Nutrition, US and two European national guidelines (UK and France). They were evaluated using a 4-pt scale and compared. Well-covered themes in c…
Interhemispheric inhibition during mental actions of different complexity.
2013
International audience; Several investigations suggest that actual and mental actions trigger similar neural substrates. Yet, neurophysiological evidences on the nature of interhemispheric interactions during mental movements are still meagre. Here, we asked whether the content of mental images, investigated by task complexity, is finely represented in the inhibitory interactions between the two primary motor cortices (M1s). Subjects' left M1 was stimulated by means of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) while they were performing actual or mental movements of increasing complexity with their right hand and exerting a maximum isometric force with their left thumb and index. Thus, we sim…
Unfair play? Video games as exploitative monetized services: An examination of game patents from a consumer protection perspective
2019
Video games as a consumer product have changed significantly with the advent of in-game purchasing systems (e.g., microtransactions, ‘loot boxes’). This review examines consumer protections related to in-game purchasing by anticipating some of the potential design strategies that might contribute to higher risk consumer behavior. Attention was directed towards the analysis of patents for potential in-game purchasing systems, with 13 identified on Google Patents. The design features were analysed in relation to the consumer rights and guarantees described in the terms of use agreements of the patent assignees. The analysis revealed that some in-game purchasing systems could be characterized …
Selecting the special or choosing the common? A high-powered conceptual replication of Kim and Markus’ (1999) pen study
2022
Kim and Markus (1999) found that 74% of Americans selected a pen with an uncommon (vs. common) color, whereas only 24% of Asians made such a choice, highlighting a pronounced crosscultural difference in the extent to which people opt for originality or make majority-based choices. The present high-powered study (N = 729) conceptually replicates the results from Kim and Markus (1999; Study 3). However, our obtained effect size (r = .12) is significantly weaker than that of the original study (r = .52). Interestingly, given the globalization of mass media and the rapid economic progress of many Asian cultures during the last decades, a larger proportion of Chinese, but not American, participa…
From Sequences to Variables : Rethinking the Relationship between Sequences and Outcomes
2021
Sequence analysis is increasingly used in the social sciences for the holistic analysis of life-course and other longitudinal data. The usual approach is to construct sequences, calculate dissimilarities, group similar sequences with cluster analysis, and use cluster membership as a dependent or independent variable in a regression model. This approach may be problematic, as cluster memberships are assumed to be fixed known characteristics of the subjects in subsequent analyses. Furthermore, it is often more reasonable to assume that individual sequences are mixtures of multiple ideal types rather than equal members of some group. Failing to account for uncertain and mixed memberships may l…
PERSOC: A Unified Framework for Understanding the Dynamic Interplay of Personality and Social Relationships
2011
The interplay of personality and social relationships is as fascinating as it is complex and it pertains to a wide array of largely separate research domains. Here, we present an integrative and unified framework for analysing the complex dynamics of personality and social relationships (PERSOC). Basic principles and general processes on the individual and dyadic level are outlined to show how personality and social relationships influence each other and develop over time. PERSOC stresses the importance of social behaviours and interpersonal perceptions as mediating processes organized in social interaction units. The framework can be applied to diverse social relationships such as first en…
Taking on the “Dark Side” : Coping With Technostress
2020
Technostress is stress that individuals experience due to their use of information technology. It is associated with critical workplace consequences including reduced productivity. While the negative consequences are well known, what is less understood is how individuals can cope with technostress to alleviate them. We report on two studies that explain how organizational IT users can cope with technostress. The first is a qualitative study conducted in the U.K., by interviewing thirty executives/knowledge workers. Here, we identified seven coping behaviors that individuals engage in, in response to technostress. The second is a survey of 846 U.S. employees who use IT in their workplace. He…