Theory of mind and attentional bias to facial emotional expressions: A preliminary study

Theory of mind ability has been associated with performance in interpersonal interactions and has been found to influence aspects such as emotion recognition, social competence, and social anxiety. Being able to attribute mental states to others requires attention to subtle communication cues such as facial emotional expressions. Decoding and interpreting emotions expressed by the face, especially those with negative valence, are essential skills to successful social interaction. The current study explored the association between theory of mind skills and attentional bias to facial emotional expressions. According to the study hypothesis, individuals with poor theory of mind skills showed preferential attention to negative faces over both non-negative faces and neutral objects. Tentative explanations for the findings are offered emphasizing the potential adaptive role of vigilance for threat as a way of allocating a limited capacity to interpret others’ mental states to obtain as much information as possible about potential danger in the social environment

Factorial invariance of the Patient Health Questionnaire and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire.

The UK's Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme uses the Patient Health Questionnaire Depression Scale (PHQ-9; Kroenke, Spitzer, & Williams, , J. Gen. Intern. Med., 16, 606) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7; Spitzer et al., , Arch. Intern. Med., 166, 1092) to assess patients' symptoms of depression and anxiety respectively. Data are typically collected via telephone or face-to-face; however, no study has statistically investigated whether the questionnaires' items operate equivalently across these modes of data collection. This study aimed to address this omission

Development Needs of Middle Managers In Higher Education Institutions: A Case Study of A Post 1992 New University in UK

Development of staff by Human Resources (HR) department in any organisation is crucial to implement its strategy, operations, goals and for eventual success. Similarly, in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) the Middle Managers (MM) are drivers who execute organisation vision, mission and contribute towards its desired attainment. MM job titles at faculty level include Deans, Head of Departments, Subject leaders and Principle lecturers/Programme leaders. However, evidenced from contemporary literature, changes and challenges transpiring in HEIs sector is influencing and generating tremendous pressures and workloads for MM to work effectively and efficiently in their respective roles. Therefore, the fortitude of this study is to explore this phenomenon and capture true MM Development Needs (DN) and propose a conceptual model. In stage one (qualitative stage), a semi structured interview protocol was derived from 2 pilot semi structured interviews and literature review theoretical model. A meso case study (sub cases and individual embedded cases) of a UK Post 1992 university was conducted with 23 semi-structured interviews lasting an hour each. 14 interviews were analysed in rich detail. The major findings depict 251 themes from the qualitative data analysis categorised under 6 main categories. To validated and cross compare the themes, 9 collected interviews were audio listened to verify and validate the findings. In summary, based on stage 1 results, there is a gap in the development programmes provided by HR in HEIs, and MM requirements. Future study in Stage two (quantitative stage), will further explore MM development needs via pilot testing a survey questionnaire in the same post 1992 HEI before disseminating it externally to 141 UK HEIs providers (Gov. UK, 2017) for validation prior to proposing the final development model

Child-father attachment in early childhood and behavior problems: A meta-analysis

This meta-analytic study examined the associations between child-father attachment in early childhood and children's externalizing and internalizing behavior problems. Based on 15 samples (N = 1,304 dyads), the association between child-father attachment insecurity and externalizing behaviors was significant and moderate in magnitude (r = 0.18, 95% CI: 0.10, 0.27 or d = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.20, 0.55). No moderators of this association were identified. Based on 12 samples (N = 1,073), the association between child-father attachment insecurity and internalizing behaviors was also significant, albeit smaller in magnitude (r = 0.09, 95% CI: 0.02, 0.15; or d = 0.17, 95% CI: 0.03, 0.31). Between-study heterogeneity was insufficient to consider moderators. When compared to the effect sizes of prior meta-analyses on child-mother attachment and behavior problems, the quality of the attachment relationship with fathers yields a similar magnitude of associations to children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Results support the need to consider the role of the attachment network, which notably includes attachment relationships to both fathers and mothers, to understand how attachment relationships contribute to child development

Effects High-Cost Health Insurance and the Uninsured Middle-Class Families of Essex County, New Jersey

AbstractThousands of middle-class families living in Essex County, New Jersey, cannot afford health insurance, but little is known about their experiences regarding this lack. The purpose of this research study was to explore the lived experiences of uninsured middle-class families who could not afford state or any other type of health insurance in Essex County, New Jersey. The theoretical framework for this study was based on Smith’s rational choice theory. The research question explored the lived experiences of uninsured middle-class families. Purposeful sampling was used in this phenomenological study to select 10 participants from families residing in Essex County with either a single-parent, two-parent, grandparent(s), or other nonparent(s) who had custody of and were responsible for a child or children. Participants must have resided in Essex County and (a) had a combined income between $50,000 and$80,000 from 2020 to 2022, (b) did not currently and had not had health insurance for at least 1 year prior to recruitment into the study, (c) read and fluently spoke English, and (d) were between 26 and 64 years old. Individual interviews were conducted with Zoom using a researcher-developed instrument. Coding was done using thematic analysis to identify data patterns. The participants repeatedly shared that the premium of health insurance was too high. The potential implications of positive social change from this study include promoting affordable health programs that can provide low-cost to medical care, which could lower death rates, create better health outcomes, and improve the lives of middle-class families in Essex County, New Jersey, to enhance their peace of mind

A mediation meta-analysis of the role of maternal responsivity in the association between socioeconomic risk and children's language

This meta-analysis tested maternal responsivity as a mediator of the association between socioeconomic risk and children's preschool language abilities. The search included studies up to 2017 and meta-analytic structural equation modeling, allowed us to examine the magnitude of the indirect effect across 17 studies (k = 19). The meta-analysis included 6433 predominantly White, English speaking children (Mage  = 36 months; 50% female) from Western, industrialized countries. All paths in the model were statistically significant, notably, the indirect effect was significant (b = -.052), showing that maternal responsivity may be a proximal intervening variable between socioeconomic risk and children's language development. Moderator analyses found that the indirect effect was stronger for sensitive parenting than warmth and when parenting was assessed in the family home

A history of Bedford, New Hampshire for use in seventh and eighth grades.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Identifying the Common Elements of Early Childhood Interventions Supporting Cognitive Development in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Psychosocial interventions for infants and young children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have great potential, but there is a large and diverse range of techniques and procedures used within them, which poses challenges to evaluating and adapting them for scale-up. Our objective was to review psychosocial interventions conducted in LMICs to improve young children’s cognitive outcomes, and identify common techniques used across effective interventions. We systematically searched for relevant reviews using academic databases (PsycINFO, Web of Science, PubMed) and subject-specific databases (EPPI Centre, WHO Global Health Library, UNICEF Publications Database) for publications dated up to March 2021. Reviews of psychosocial interventions aimed at parents and children in LMICs, measuring child cognitive outcomes, were eligible. Study selection was performed in duplicate. Review characteristics and effectiveness data were extracted, with a proportion checked by a second reviewer. AMSTAR2 was applied to assess review strength. The PracticeWise coding system was used to distil practice elements from effective interventions. We included ten systematic reviews demonstrating evidence of effectiveness. Comprehensive interventions of higher intensity and longer duration yielded better results. From these reviews, 28 effective interventions were identified; their protocols and/or linked publications were coded for common practice elements. Six elements occurred in ≥ 75% of protocols: attachment building, play/pretend, psychoeducation, responsive care, talking to baby, and toys use. Interventions and reviews were highly heterogenous, limiting generalizability. LMIC-based psychosocial interventions can be effective in improving children’s cognitive development. Identifying common practice elements of effective interventions can inform future development and implementation of ECD programs in LMICs

Cancer - Cell survival guide

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/62618/1/431035a.pd