Prevalence of self-reported diabetes, hypertension and heart disease in individuals seeking State funding in Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies

AbstractObjectiveDiabetes, hypertension and heart disease inflict a heavy health burden on the Caribbean Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. This study assessed the prevalence of self- reported diabetes, hypertension and heart disease in lower socioeconomically placed individuals accessing welfare grants.MethodData collected between July 2008 and June 2009 were analyzed from 14,793 responses. The survey sought information on education, average monthly income, health, housing, and household facilities.ResultsSelf-reported disease prevalence was 19.5% (95% CI: 18.9–20.2) for diabetes mellitus; 30.2% (95% CI: 29.5–30.9) for hypertension; and 8.2% (95% CI: 7.7–8.6) for cardiac disease. Diabetes and cardiac disease had equivalent gender frequency; hypertension was more prevalent in women (p<.001). Disease prevalence was highest in Indo-Trinidadians, married and divorced subjects, non-Christians and increased with age. Those with primary education alone were at greatest risk.ConclusionTrinidad and Tobago have a high prevalence of hypertension, diabetes and heart disease. Hypertension showed gender specificity in women. Prevalence was highest in Indo-Trinidadians, increased with age, and primary education alone was a risk factor. Interventions to arrest the high prevalence of chronic non-communicable diseases to promote wellness are needed in Trinidad and Tobago

Copycat Crime Dynamics: The Interplay Of Empathy, Narrative Persuasion And Risk With Likelihood To Commit Future Criminality

Prior research on media and violence suggests that youths with low empathy and high sensitivity to narrative persuasion are at particular risk of criminogenic media. The motivation to copycat behavior and level of risk criminality are predictors of the likelihood to commit future criminality (LCFC). This study assesses the relationship among empathy, narrative persuasion, risk, media influence, need for cognition (NFC), copycat motivation, and the LCFC. Utilizing a sample of 373 respondents across three categories, detention center, high-and low-risk schools (Mage = 16.5, SD = 1.6), face to face interviews were conducted with a standardized questionnaire. Findings from a structural equation model (SEM) indicate that risk and copycat motivation have the strongest positive direct relationship with LCFC. Empathic concern and narrative persuasion were inversely and positively related, respectively, to copycat motivation. Findings are discussed in context of their implications and past research

Social comparison: A review of theory, research, and applications

Social comparisons—comparisons between the self and others—are a fundamental mechanism influencing people’s judgments, experiences, and behavior. Psychological research supports the notion that people constantly engage in social comparisons. Arguably, whenever they receive information about how others are, what others can and cannot do, or what others have achieved and have failed to achieve, they are inclined to relate this information to themselves (Dunning & Hayes, 1996). Likewise, whenever they want to know how they themselves are or what they themselves can and cannot do, they are likely to do so by comparing their own characteristics, fortunes, and weaknesses to those of others. One indicator for this robustness of social comparison is that people may sometimes even engage in comparisons with others who do not yield relevant information concerning the self (Gilbert et al., 1995). Another sign of the importance of social comparisons is their power in eliciting universal human emotions. We may feel pride when we succeed in outperforming competitors, marvel in admiration about the excellence of other but may also feel the pain of envying them (Crusius & Lange, 2017; Smith, 2000; Steckler & Tracy, 2014). Because comparisons with others are such an essential human proclivity, it may not be surprising that social comparison is a highly studied topic within social psychology. Three broad questions have guided this research: Why do people engage in social comparisons? To whom do they compare themselves? How do social comparisons influence the self

Trinidadian And U.S. Citizens\u27 Attitudes Toward Domestic Violence And Their Willingness To Intervene: Does Culture Make A Difference?

In this study, Trinidadian (n = 194) and U.S. (n = 290) citizens were compared on their attitudes toward domestic violence (DV) as well as their willingness to intervene in five distinct DV contexts (when the DV involved an immediate family member, extended family member, a friend, neighbor, and a coworker). The results indicated that Trinidadians were modestly, albeit statistically significantly, more tolerant of DV compared to U.S. citizens - a finding that was accounted for primarily by age differences between the two national groups. Also, Trinidadians reported being significantly less willing to intervene in DV involving a friend, neighbor, and coworker than U.S. citizens, even after controlling for differences in sociodemographic variables. Regarding gender, women expressed significantly less tolerance for DV than men across nationality. Diverse interpretations of these findings are discussed in the context of culture. © 2006 Sage Publications

Preventive And Punitive Criminal Justice Policy Support In Trinidad: The Media\u27S Role

An unresolved research question regarding crime and justice policy is the relationship between an individual\u27s media consumption and their support for punitive and preventive criminal justice policies. The relationship between media, crime, and justice is under-examined in countries other than the United States and Britain and the relationship between media and criminal justice policy support remains less than fully understood in all locales. In response, an examination of a media- policy relationship in a Western democracy not previously studied was conducted. Based on data from an October 2005 national telephone survey of Trinidad and Tobago residents, this study measured support for punitive and preventive criminal justice policies in association with crime and justice media consumption and worldviews. Multivariate analysis showed that, for Trinidadians, support for punitive policies was significantly related to perceiving television crime dramas as realistic and crime news as accurate. For preventive policy support, the same media factors plus the level of exposure to crime dramas on television were significant. Overall, media were found to play similar but not especially strong roles in support levels for both punitive and preventive criminal justice policies. © The Author(s) 2011

From imitation to intimidation - A note on the curious and changing relationship between the media, crime and fear of crime

Although a connection between media reports and dramatizations of crime and peoples' fear of crime is intuitively attractive, an actual relationship has been discovered surprisingly infrequently. This study (which analyses the quantitative responses of 167 respondents, and the qualitative responses of a sub-sample of 64 of them) is no exception. The qualitative material indicates that respondents' perceptions and interpretations are more important than the frequency of media consumption and/or any objective characteristics of media material