Motives for Facebook use in an Australian sample

A survey of 209 Australians (17-69 years) was conducted to examine the motives for Facebook use, and how these factors related to individuals' belonging, self-esteem, control, and meaning. An initial factor analysis identified four distinct factors underlying motives for Facebook use: meeting people, relationship maintenance, monitoring relationships, and seeking information. These four factors extend previous research and help clarify the key reasons for Facebook use. Further analyses found that participants' age was negatively correlated with each of the motives for Facebook use factors. Multiple regressions were performed with each of the four motives regressed on age, gender, and the individuals' belonging, self-esteem, control, and meaning. All four of these variables contributed significantly to the prediction of factor 1 (meeting people). Only belonging was a significant predictor of factor 2 (relationship maintenance) and factor 3 (monitoring relationships). Both self-esteem and belonging were significant predictors of factor 4 (seeking information). This study included general community members and not just undergraduate students and therefore has wider applicability than previous research. Facebook use seems to be closely related to individuals' belonging across a wide age range

Counseling men: treatment recommendations from Australian men’s therapists

Many of the contemporary treatment recommendations and guides for adapting therapy for men originates from the context of the United States. This qualitative study invited 15 Australian therapists, who advertised themselves as working with men, to describe their recommendations for male-friendly counseling. Three themes and 14 subthemes were identified, each explained from an understanding of their male client group’s experiences and common male norms. The themes included ensuring a safe space, to enact masculinity-informed respect, and to enhance client awareness and motivation. Therapists’ suggestions for working with Australian men were congruent with recommendations in the existing literature; however, variations were noted in how traditionally masculine or feminine-consistent their emphasis was

Cultural awareness and sensitivity: foundational experiences in a Level 1 Psychology course

USQ students enrolled in the Psychology undergraduate program take a Level 1 course entitled 'Cross-cultural and Indigenous Psychology' which addresses the intercultural communication competency. Its major assignment entails a guided reflection exercise, based on an interaction the student had in one of the on-line discussion forums. Students are to report their cognitions and emotions, and to link their responses to an implicit cultural theory and an actual construct covered in the course (e.g., stereotyping). Providing opportunities to engage in practical experiences are complicated by the fact that USQ attracts a significant enrolment in the external mode, whereby students complete all elements of the course on-line. The proposed project is designed to prepare students for the major assignment and highlight opportunities to develop cultural awareness and sensitivity. Two videos are used as stimulus material (i.e. an exchange between acquaintances in South Korea, and how fresh seafood can be served in a Japanese restaurant). Students are to record their immediate thoughts and corresponding emotions, and trace back to a point in their early life where these thoughts and/or emotions were first generated. Discussion points to help student better understand Korean food sharing tradition (video 1) and Japanese tradition of eating raw fish (video 2) are included which highlight differences between Collectivistic/Individualistic cultures; and behaviours/practices associated with specific social-political-geographic-economiccultural factors. Through this experiential learning and discussions, students noted an enriched and more holistic appreciation of culture and their cultural identify which help them approach other cultures with greater confidence and humility

The Australian Handbook for Careers in Psychological Science

Despite psychology being one of the most popular undergraduate programs, students often report not knowing how training in psychology relates to careers. With chapters written by experts across Australia, this book explores just some of the many ways that students can apply their training in psychological science across a variety of careers and sectors

Bioengineered temporomandibular joint disk implants : study protocol for a two-phase exploratory randomized preclinical pilot trial in 18 black merino sheep (TEMPOJIMS)

©David Faustino Ângelo, Florencio Gil Monje, Raúl González-García, Christopher B Little, Lisete Mónico, Mário Pinho, Fábio Abade Santos, Belmira Carrapiço, Sandra Cavaco Gonçalves, Pedro Morouço, Nuno Alves, Carla Moura, Yadong Wang, Eric Jeffries, Jin Gao, Rita Sousa, Lia Lucas Neto, Daniel Caldeira, Francisco Salvado. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 02.03.2017. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Research Protocols, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://www.researchprotocols.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.Preclinical trials are essential to test efficacious options to substitute the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disk. The contemporary absence of an ideal treatment for patients with severe TMJ disorders can be related to difficulties concerning the appropriate study design to conduct preclinical trials in the TMJ field. These difficulties can be associated with the use of heterogeneous animal models, the use of the contralateral TMJ as control, the absence of rigorous randomized controlled preclinical trials with blinded outcomes assessors, and difficulties involving multidisciplinary teams.This study was granted by Portuguese Grunenthal Foundation and by Secção Regional Oeste da Ordem dos Médicos. This publication was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the following projects: UID/Multi/04044/2013 and PTDC/EMS-SIS/7032/2014.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Unexpected decline in tuberculosis cases coincident with economic recession -- United States, 2009

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Since 1953, through the cooperation of state and local health departments, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has collected information on incident cases of tuberculosis (TB) disease in the United States. In 2009, TB case rates declined -11.4%, compared to an average annual -3.8% decline since 2000. The unexpectedly large decline raised concerns that TB cases may have gone unreported. To address the unexpected decline, we examined trends from multiple sources on TB treatment initiation, medication sales, and laboratory and genotyping data on culture-positive TB.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We analyzed 142,174 incident TB cases reported to the U. S. National Tuberculosis Surveillance System (NTSS) during January 1, 2000-December 31, 2009; TB control program data from 59 public health reporting areas; self-reported data from 50 CDC-funded public health laboratories; monthly electronic prescription claims for new TB therapy prescriptions; and complete genotyping results available for NTSS cases. Accounting for prior trends using regression and time-series analyses, we calculated the deviation between observed and expected TB cases in 2009 according to patient and clinical characteristics, and assessed at what point in time the deviation occurred.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The overall deviation in TB cases in 2009 was -7.9%, with -994 fewer cases reported than expected (<it>P </it>< .001). We ruled out evidence of surveillance underreporting since declines were seen in states that used new software for case reporting in 2009 as well as states that did not, and we found no cases unreported to CDC in our examination of over 5400 individual line-listed reports in 11 areas. TB cases decreased substantially among both foreign-born and U.S.-born persons. The unexpected decline began in late 2008 or early 2009, and may have begun to reverse in late 2009. The decline was greater in terms of case counts among foreign-born than U.S.-born persons; among the foreign-born, the declines were greatest in terms of percentage deviation from expected among persons who had been in the United States less than 2 years. Among U.S.-born persons, the declines in percentage deviation from expected were greatest among homeless persons and substance users. Independent information systems (NTSS, TB prescription claims, and public health laboratories) reported similar patterns of declines. Genotyping data did not suggest sudden decreases in recent transmission.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our assessments show that the decline in reported TB was not an artifact of changes in surveillance methods; rather, similar declines were found through multiple data sources. While the steady decline of TB cases before 2009 suggests ongoing improvement in TB control, we were not able to identify any substantial change in TB control activities or TB transmission that would account for the abrupt decline in 2009. It is possible that other multiple causes coincident with economic recession in the United States, including decreased immigration and delayed access to medical care, could be related to TB declines. Our findings underscore important needs in addressing health disparities as we move towards TB elimination in the United States.</p

Motives for Facebook use in an Australian sample

A survey of 209 Australians (17-69 years) was conducted to examine the motives for Facebook use, and how these factors related to individuals' belonging, self-esteem, control, and meaning. An initial factor analysis identified four distinct factors underlying motives for Facebook use: meeting people, relationship maintenance, monitoring relationships, and seeking information. These four factors extend previous research and help clarify the key reasons for Facebook use. Further analyses found that participants' age was negatively correlated with each of the motives for Facebook use factors. Multiple regressions were performed with each of the four motives regressed on age, gender, and the individuals' belonging, self-esteem, control, and meaning. All four of these variables contributed significantly to the prediction of factor 1 (meeting people). Only belonging was a significant predictor of factor 2 (relationship maintenance) and factor 3 (monitoring relationships). Both self-esteem and belonging were significant predictors of factor 4 (seeking information). This study included general community members and not just undergraduate students and therefore has wider applicability than previous research. Facebook use seems to be closely related to individuals' belonging across a wide age range

Improving online student feelings of support and sense of belonging by interaction alerts

Universities are increasingly promoting online courses to their students and this has become a popular options for students who live geographically distant from a local campus or who may be working and unable to attend on-campus classes. However, connections with peers and course examiners may be lacking, or online students may find it difficult to approach their examiner. This research describes the experiences of a course examiner using an online interaction alert in a 2nd year psychology course to enhance online interactions. A flashing alert showed that the course examiner was online and students could directly message the examiner through a special forum set up for this purpose rather than the email system. Initial feedback suggests that this alert did increase the sense of support students experienced from the examiner

Threat and opportunity: the impact of social inclusion and likeability on anonymous feedback, self-esteem, and belonging

The aim of the study was to extend previous research on feedback giving behaviour by investigating whether (a) recalling a previous experience of social inclusion or exclusion prior to providing performance feedback to a likeable or less likeable feedback recipient impacts on anonymous performance evaluations, and (b) people experience a change in self-esteem and belonging after providing anonymous feedback. Two hundred and forty-one participants took part in the online study. Participants were asked to either recall a previous experience of social inclusion, social exclusion, or what they had eaten in the past 48 hours (control). They were then asked to evaluate a book review attributed to either a likeable or relatively less likeable target. Hypotheses 1 and 2 were not supported such that performance feedback was not positively modified regardless of feedback recipient likeability. Hypothesis 3 was not supported such that self-esteem and belonging did not increase after providing performance feedback. However, subsequent analyses demonstrated that there is a complex interaction between the social inclusion manipulation and feedback recipient likeability on changes in self-esteem and belonging after providing feedback. The theoretical implications of the findings as well as the practical implications will be discussed

More science than art: understanding and reducing defensiveness in the face of criticism of groups and cultures

In this chapter we also focus on the delivery of negative feedback but not at the level of individual performance. Rather, we focus on the equally delicate (but far less researched) question of how to best deliver negative feedback at the group or cultural level. What are the psychological and rhetorical factors that determine how people respond when somebody criticizes a group to which they belong, for example their country, their profession, or their religion