Measuring implicit associations with behaviours to improve resident mood:development of implicit association tasks for nursing home care providers

Objective: To develop and evaluate instruments for measuring implicit associations of nursing home care providers with behaviours aimed at improving resident mood. Method: Study 1 (N = 41) followed an iterative approach to develop two implicit association tasks measuring implicit attitude (positive versus negative valence) and motivation (wanting versus not wanting) regarding mood-improving behaviours, followed by an evaluation of the content validity for target stimuli representing these behaviours. In Study 2 (N = 230), the tasks were assessed for stimulus classification ease (accuracy and speed) and internal consistency. A subsample (n = 111) completed additional questionnaires to evaluate convergent validity (with self-reported attitudes towards depression, altruism, and mood-improving behaviours), and discriminant validity (against social desirability), and repeated the tasks after 2 weeks to assess test-retest reliability. Results: Content validity indexes for target stimuli were satisfactory. Error rates were acceptable for attribute stimuli, but exceeded the 10 % limit for target stimuli. Response times for all stimuli exceeded the 800-millisecond threshold. Both tasks demonstrated good internal consistency but poor test-retest reliability. Regarding convergent validity, both tasks significantly correlated with altruism, the implicit attitude task associated with self-reported mood-improving behaviours, and the implicit motivation task correlated with the behavioural scale of attitudes towards depression. Discriminant validity was supported as neither task was significantly associated with social desirability. Conclusions: The implicit association tasks show potential for measuring implicit associations with mood-improving behaviours of care providers, offering an innovative pathway for exploring processes influencing caregiving behaviours. However, limitations in psychometric properties were identified, aligning with challenges observed in similar measures.</p

Effectiveness of Moral Developmental Interventions for Youth Engaged in Delinquent Behavior:A Meta-Analysis

There is vast empirical evidence showing that juvenile delinquency is associated with delays in moral development, including moral judgment, empathy, and self-conscious emotions (guilt and shame). Consequently, interventions have been developed that target moral development of juvenile delinquents to reduce criminal offense recidivism. However, a comprehensive synthesis of studies examining the effectiveness of these interventions was not yet available. The present meta-analysis of (quasi-)experimental research therefore examined the effects of interventions that target moral development of youth engaged in delinquent behavior. Interventions that targeted moral judgment (11 studies and 17 effect sizes) showed a significant and small-to-medium effect on moral judgment (d = 0.39), with intervention type as a significant moderator, but no significant effect on recidivism (d = 0.03; 11 studies and 40 effect sizes). No (quasi-)experimental studies were found that targeted guilt and shame in juvenile offenders, and an insufficient number of studies (i.e., only two) were found to conduct a meta-analysis of interventions that target empathy. The discussion focuses on potential ways to improve moral development interventions for youth engaged in delinquent behavior, and provides suggestions for future research.</p

Validity assessment of early retirement claimants:Symptom overreporting on the Beck Depression Inventory–II

Objectives: The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) is a commonly used clinical measure; however, it contains no method to assess validity of self-report. The primary objective of this research was to examine the possibility of cut scores on the BDI-II indicating possible invalid symptom report in forensic neuropsychological evaluations. Secondary objectives were to explore the utility of education specific cut scores and the effects of the criterion for invalid symptom report. Methods: Two hundred and seventeen early retirement claimants (age range 19–64 years) presenting for forensic neuropsychological examination were considered for this study. Invalid symptom report was determined based on two independent self-report symptom validity tests. Further, all individuals completed the BDI-II as part of their routine assessment battery. Results: Individuals with invalid symptom report (30.9%) showed significantly higher BDI-II scores compared to individuals passing symptom validity assessment. ROC analysis supports the utility of the BDI-II to differentiate valid from invalid symptom report, AUC = 0.822, SE = 0.032, p &lt;.001, 95%-CI = 0.760–0.884. A BDI-II cut score of 38 points reached a desired level of 0.90 specificity with 0.58 sensitivity. Secondary analysis indicated that the recommended cut score may vary depending on the educational level of the examinee. Further, results seem to be largely robust against the chosen criterion for invalid symptom report. Conclusion: The BDI-II appears to be a useful adjunct embedded validity indicator in forensic neuropsychological evaluations.</p

Fed-GWAS:Privacy-preserving individualized incentive-based cross-device federated GWAS learning

The widespread availability of DNA sequencing technology has led to the genetic sequences of individuals becoming accessible data, creating opportunities to identify the genetic factors underlying various diseases. In particular, Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) seek to identify Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNPs) associated with a specific phenotype. Although sharing such data offers valuable insights, it poses a significant challenge due to both privacy concerns and the large size of the data involved. To address these challenges, in this paper, we propose a novel framework that combines both federated learning and blockchain as a platform for conducting GWAS studies with the participation of single individuals. The proposed framework offers a mutually beneficial solution where individuals participating in the GWAS study receive insurance credit to avail medical services while research and treatment centers benefit from the study data. To safeguard model parameters and prevent inference attacks, a secure aggregation protocol has been developed. The evaluation results demonstrate the scalability and efficiency of the proposed framework in terms of runtime and communication, outperforming existing solutions.</p

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Nirsevimab for Preventing Respiratory Syncytial Virus-Related Lower Respiratory Tract Disease in Dutch Infants:An Analysis Including All-Infant Protection

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the cost effectiveness of nirsevimab, a recently authorized monoclonal antibody (mAb) for the prevention of lower respiratory tract disease (LRTD) caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), in comparison with the standard practice involving palivizumab for high-risk infants during their first RSV season in the Netherlands. Methods: A static cost-effectiveness model was populated for the Netherlands to evaluate different immunization strategies for nirsevimab over a single RSV season from a societal perspective. The model considered the most recently published RSV incidence data (average incidence from 2006 to2018), costs (adjusted to the 2023 price year), and associated health effects. Extensive scenario analyses were conducted to explore various strategies, and sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the model’s robustness. Results: In the base-case scenario, all-infant protection—a strategy of in-season with catch-up immunization for all infants—nirsevimab has the potential to prevent numerous RSV-related cases, including 2333 hospitalizations and 150 intensive-care admissions, in the overall population compared with the standard of care. Nirsevimab appears to be cost effective under this strategy with an economically justifiable acquisition price for nirsevimab of €220 at a willingness-to-pay threshold of €50,000 per quality-adjusted life-year. Sensitivity analyses indicate a 52% probability that nirsevimab is cost effective at this threshold. Comparison of different vaccination strategies revealed that the all-infant protection approach was the one that prevented the higher number of cases. Conclusions: This study indicates that universal infant immunization with nirsevimab has the potential to be cost effective and significantly reduces the burden of RSV among Dutch infants. These findings underscore the importance of implementing effective protective measures against RSV-LRTD, reducing the pressure on the healthcare system during the RSV season.</p

From Breakers to Builders:The Role of Bug Bounty Hunters in Strengthening Organizational Cybersecurity

Services rendered by bug hunters have increasingly become an indispensable component of the security culture of organizations. By pre-emptively locating vulnerabilities in their information systems, organizations reduce the risk and the potential impact of cyberattacks. Numerous studies have been conducted on this phenomenon; however, the motivational factors driving bug bounty hunters remain underexplored. The present paper aims to further investigate the factors that affect the behavioral intentions of bug hunters by empirically studying 386 computer security professionals across the world. We found that the attitudes behind bug hunters’ intentions are formed by exposure as well as their curiosity regarding the topic, which in turn is modulated by their intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. Our study further highlights the impetus behind effective management of cybersecurity personnel.</p