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The cognitive adaptability and resiliency employment screener (CARES): tool development and testing.Frontiers in Psychiatry 2023To decrease psychological risk for content moderators, the study initiated the first steps of developing a robust employment screening tool, namely, the Cognitive...
INTRODUCTION
To decrease psychological risk for content moderators, the study initiated the first steps of developing a robust employment screening tool, namely, the Cognitive Adaptability and Resiliency Employment Screener.
METHOD
The study consisted of three phases with 4,839 total participants.
RESULTS
In Phase 1, a set of 76 items were developed and tested via exploratory factor analysis, yielding three factors (i.e., Psychological Perseverance & Agility, Rumination & Emotional Lingering, and Expressiveness & Sociability) and also reducing the scale to 68 items. In Phase 2 through confirmatory factor analysis, the three-factor structure showed good fit (CFI = 0.92, RMSEA = 0.05) and demonstrated sufficient overall reliability. In Phase 3, the convergent validity and divergent validity of the tool were established relative to constructs such as resilience, cognitive control and flexibility, emotion regulation, and optimism.
DISCUSSION
Altogether, the findings revealed that the scale demonstrated good psychometric properties that, pending future studies, may serve as a promising employment screener for content moderators.
PubMed: 37840784
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1254147 -
Journal of Mid-life Health 2023Menopausal transition phase is a difficult time in a woman's life. Many factors such as age, socioeconomic status, education, ethnic cultural, and body physique...
BACKGROUND
Menopausal transition phase is a difficult time in a woman's life. Many factors such as age, socioeconomic status, education, ethnic cultural, and body physique determine the presence of menopausal symptoms. This study helps us to understand the severity and perseverance of menopausal symptoms in women of this locality.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The aim of the study was to find distribution and severity of menopausal symptoms by self-rated Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) through different transition phases of menopause in women aged between 40 and 60 years.
METHODOLOGY
It is a hospital-based observational study. All the participants answered an 11-item MRS questionnaire.
RESULTS
Out of 300 participants, 106 belonged to premenopausal state, 111 to perimenopausal state, and 83 were postmenopause. Overall, 47% of participants had one or the other menopausal symptoms. Most of them had mild-to-moderate symptoms. Only 3% had severe symptoms. Somatic subscale was the maximum reported symptoms in our study group. The most common symptom was physical and mental exhaustion (55%) and the least common was sexual problems (8%). Difficulty in sleeping and bladder symptoms were more and statistically significant in postmenopausal group where as hot flushes and irritability were more common in perimenopausal group.
CONCLUSION
Somatic subscale symptoms are more common than urogenital or psychosocial subscales. Postmenopause women manifested higher symptoms than premenopause or perimenopause group women and most were mild to moderate in severity in women visiting our hospital.
PubMed: 38312772
DOI: 10.4103/jmh.jmh_81_23 -
Frontiers in Psychiatry 2023The concept of emotional dysregulation (ED) has recently gained interest in the scientific literature and is commonly defined as the inability to use the modulatory... (Review)
Review
The concept of emotional dysregulation (ED) has recently gained interest in the scientific literature and is commonly defined as the inability to use the modulatory mechanisms involved in emotion regulation, resulting in a functioning meaningfully below the baseline. Even though the data available are still limited, an increasing number of studies have hypothesized a promoting role for some of the core features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the development of ED, in particular being repetitive behaviors, social difficulties and alexythimia. In this framework, the purpose of this study was to review the literature that is currently available about presence and correlates of ED in young adults with autism spectrum conditions as well as to offer some insights about possible implications for illness trajectories. The data reported seems to point to a shared etiology between ED and repetitive/restricted ASD symptoms, with perseveration features serving as the foundation for the inability to control one's emotions. In this context, a neurodevelopmental basis for ED could be consistent with the transnosographic conceptualization of ASD, which hypothesizes a potential neurodevelopmental basis for several psychiatric disorders, whose autistic traits would be the phenotypical presentation.
PubMed: 37791135
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1234518 -
Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) Oct 2023The present study explored the utilization of verbal fluency (VF) cognitive strategies, including clustering, switching, intrusions, and perseverations, within both...
The present study explored the utilization of verbal fluency (VF) cognitive strategies, including clustering, switching, intrusions, and perseverations, within both semantic (SVF) and phonemic (PVF) conditions, across a continuum of neurocognitive decline, spanning from normal cognitive ageing (NC) to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and its subtypes, amnestic (aMCI) and non-amnestic (naMCI), as well as AD. The study sample was derived from the Hellenic Longitudinal Investigation of Aging and Diet (HELIAD) cohort. The sample included 1607 NC individuals, 146 with aMCI (46 single-domain and 100 multi-domain), 92 with naMCI (41 single-domain and 51 multi-domain), and 79 with AD. Statistical analyses, adjusting for sex, age, and education, employed multivariate general linear models to probe differences among these groups. Results showed that AD patients exhibited poorer performance in switching in both VF tasks and SVF clustering compared to NC. Similarly, the aMCI group performed worse than the NC in switching and clustering in both tasks, with aMCI performing similarly to AD, except for SVF switching. In contrast, the naMCI subgroup performed similarly to those with NC across most strategies, surpassing AD patients. Notably, the aMCI subgroup's poor performance in SVF switching was mainly due to the subpar performance of the multi-domain aMCI subgroup. This subgroup was outperformed in switching in both VF tasks by the single-domain naMCI, who also performed better than the multi-domain naMCI in SVF switching. No significant differences emerged in terms of perseverations and intrusions. Overall, these findings suggest a continuum of declining switching ability in the SVF task, with NC surpassing both aMCI and AD, and aMCI outperforming those with AD. The challenges in SVF switching suggest executive function impairment associated with multi-domain MCI, particularly driven by the multi-domain aMCI.
Topics: Humans; Alzheimer Disease; Cognitive Dysfunction; Cognition; Executive Function; Neuropsychological Tests
PubMed: 37893577
DOI: 10.3390/medicina59101860 -
Critical Care (London, England) May 2024Critical illness syndromes including sepsis, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and acute kidney injury (AKI) are associated with high in-hospital mortality and... (Review)
Review
Critical illness syndromes including sepsis, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and acute kidney injury (AKI) are associated with high in-hospital mortality and long-term adverse health outcomes among survivors. Despite advancements in care, clinical and biological heterogeneity among patients continues to hamper identification of efficacious therapies. Precision medicine offers hope by identifying patient subclasses based on clinical, laboratory, biomarker and 'omic' data and potentially facilitating better alignment of interventions. Within the previous two decades, numerous studies have made strides in identifying gene-expression based endotypes and clinico-biomarker based phenotypes among critically ill patients associated with differential outcomes and responses to treatment. In this state-of-the-art review, we summarize the biological similarities and differences across the various subclassification schemes among critically ill patients. In addition, we highlight current translational gaps, the need for advanced scientific tools, human-relevant disease models, to gain a comprehensive understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying critical illness subclasses.
Topics: Humans; Critical Illness; Sepsis; Acute Kidney Injury; Respiratory Distress Syndrome; Biomarkers; Precision Medicine
PubMed: 38812006
DOI: 10.1186/s13054-024-04959-3 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2023This study examines grit as psychological mindsets that explain the link between self-regulatory employability attributes and perceived employability competency...
INTRODUCTION
This study examines grit as psychological mindsets that explain the link between self-regulatory employability attributes and perceived employability competency expectations in a sample of South African adults ( = 308).
METHODS
A quantitative, cross-sectional research design approach was used to collect primary data.
RESULTS
Results of a mediation analysis through structural equation modelling revealed grit as an important mechanism to strengthen the association between employability attributes (career agility, cultural ingenuity, proactive career resilience) and employability competency expectations (autonomy/leadership skills and personal employability qualities).
DISCUSSION
This study makes an important contribution to the role of learning and training through understanding the role of grit in enhancing prospects of employability. This study further adds to the grit literature, highlighting the role that grit plays in the contemporary employment context. Practical implications include supportive practices that strengthen individual workers' grit when confronted with the turbulent changes of today's work world.
PubMed: 38090181
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1298299 -
Scientific Reports Oct 2023Memory function declines in normal aging, in a relatively continuous fashion following middle-age. The effect of aging on decision-making is less well-understood, with...
Memory function declines in normal aging, in a relatively continuous fashion following middle-age. The effect of aging on decision-making is less well-understood, with seemingly conflicting results on both the nature and direction of these age effects. One route for clarifying these mixed findings is to understand how age-related differences in memory affect decisions. Recent work has proposed memory sampling as a specific computational role for memory in decision-making, alongside well-studied mechanisms of reinforcement learning (RL). Here, we tested the hypothesis that age-related declines in episodic memory alter memory sampling. Participants (total N = 361; ages 18-77) performed one of two variants of a standard reward-guided decision experiment with additional trial-unique mnemonic content and a separately-administered task for assessing memory precision. When we fit participants' choices with a hybrid computational model implementing both memory-based and RL-driven valuation side-by-side, we found that memory precision tracked the contribution of memory sampling to choice. At the same time, age corresponded to decreasing influence of RL and increasing perseveration. A second experiment confirmed these results and further revealed that memory precision tracked the specificity of memories selected for sampling. Together, these findings suggest that differences in decision-making across the lifespan may be related to memory function, and that interventions which aim to improve the former may benefit from targeting the latter.
Topics: Middle Aged; Humans; Longevity; Reinforcement, Psychology; Reward; Learning; Memory, Episodic; Decision Making
PubMed: 37813942
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-44107-5 -
Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences 2023To develop and test the psychometric properties of the Pakistani Critical Thinking Dispositions Scale.
OBJECTIVE
To develop and test the psychometric properties of the Pakistani Critical Thinking Dispositions Scale.
METHODS
In the item generation phase, constructs of the scale were identified through an in-depth literature review and items were written to measure the constructs. Following this, input of the experts was obtained for content validity index. In the item reduction phase, psychometric properties were measured. Initially, the scale was administered to 580 study participants during May 2018-2020 after approval from the institutional review board. Data was analyzed through SPSS v21, AMOS v21 and Omega extension.
RESULTS
First phase identified 54-items for seven constructs including contextual perspective, perseverance, reflection, intellectual integrity, creativity, open-mindedness, and inquisitiveness. Second phase determined KMO test value of 0.974 and Bartlett's test (P-Value < 0.001). The second-order confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit model explaining 73.37% total variance. Parsimony and baseline comparison indices were favorable. Alpha and Omega value of 42-items was 0.869.
CONCLUSION
Pakistani Critical Thinking Dispositions scale owning seven constructs and 42-items is valid, reliable, and feasible to use in undergraduate nursing education. However, its utilization in other healthcare disciplines can be tested.
PubMed: 37680803
DOI: 10.12669/pjms.39.5.6832 -
Brain Communications 2023Though phonemic fluency tasks are traditionally indexed by the number of correct responses, the underlying disorder may shape the specific choice of words-both correct...
Though phonemic fluency tasks are traditionally indexed by the number of correct responses, the underlying disorder may shape the specific choice of words-both correct and erroneous. We report the first comprehensive qualitative analysis of incorrect and correct words generated on the phonemic ('S') fluency test, in a large sample of patients ( = 239) with focal, unilateral frontal or posterior lesions and healthy controls ( = 136). We conducted detailed qualitative analyses of the single words generated in the phonemic fluency task using categorical descriptions for different types of errors, low-frequency words and clustering/switching. We further analysed patients' and healthy controls' entire sequences of words by employing stochastic block modelling of Generative Pretrained Transformer 3-based deep language representations. We conducted predictive modelling to investigate whether deep language representations of word sequences improved the accuracy of detecting the presence of frontal lesions using the phonemic fluency test. Our qualitative analyses of the single words generated revealed several novel findings. For the different types of errors analysed, we found a non-lateralized frontal effect for profanities, left frontal effects for proper nouns and permutations and a left posterior effect for perseverations. For correct words, we found a left frontal effect for low-frequency words. Our novel large language model-based approach found five distinct communities whose varied word selection patterns reflected characteristic demographic and clinical features. Predictive modelling showed that a model based on Generative Pretrained Transformer 3-derived word sequence representations predicted the presence of frontal lesions with greater fidelity than models of native features. Our study reveals a characteristic pattern of phonemic fluency responses produced by patients with frontal lesions. These findings demonstrate the significant inferential and diagnostic value of characterizing qualitative features of phonemic fluency performance with large language models and stochastic block modelling.
PubMed: 38046096
DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcad318 -
Psychiatry Investigation Feb 2024Impulsivity is a multifaceted construct that plays an important role in various problem behaviors in children and adolescents. The purpose of this study was to validate...
OBJECTIVE
Impulsivity is a multifaceted construct that plays an important role in various problem behaviors in children and adolescents. The purpose of this study was to validate a Korean version of the short UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale for Children.
METHODS
Participants were 330 children (166 female) from 2 elementary schools in Korea and 94 attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) children (23 female) from two major hospitals. The Korean short UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale for Children (UPPS-P-C) (20 items), Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 6-18 (CBCL 6-18), and Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11) were administered. 107 children from the control group were retested 6 months later.
RESULTS
Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) conducted in the control group supported a 5-factor hierarchical model in which 1) positive and negative urgency factors are loaded on a higher-order factor of general urgency; 2) lack of perseveration and lack of premeditation factors are loaded on a higher-order factor of lack of conscientiousness; and 3) sensation seeking remained as a separate dimension. Reliability analysis demonstrated that the 5 factors of the Korean short UPPS-P-C had acceptable internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Lack of premeditation and lack of perseveration subscales showed significant correlations with measures of problem behaviors in CBCL and all the subscales were correlated with the BIS-11. The ADHD group showed significantly higher scores in lack of premeditation, lack of perseveration, positive urgency, and negative urgency subscales.
CONCLUSION
This study indicates that the Korean version of short UPPS-P-C has adequate reliability and validity. It may be a valid tool to assess impulsivity of healthy children as well as ADHD.
PubMed: 38433420
DOI: 10.30773/pi.2023.0277