Determinants of condom use among currently married men in Zambia

HIV is one of the leading health threats and cause of morbidity and mortality in Zambia. Among many preventive measures, condom use is the most effective methods of preventing HIV. The aim of this study was to investigate factors associated with condom use among currently married men in Zambia. Secondary data from the 2013 Zambia Demographic Health Survey was used. Results from binary logistic regression analysis showed that condom use is associated with being young (β = -0.71, p < 0.001), being rich (β = 0.25, p < 0.05), paying for sex (β = 0.42, p < 0.001), perceiving risk of contracting HIV (β = 0.38, p < 0.001), and believing in the efficacy of condom use as a protective measure against HIV (β = 0.24, p < 0.01). Condom use in Zambia is associated with socio-demographic characteristics and habits of adult males. Therefore, prevention measures aimed at increased the use of male condoms should integrate social demographic characteristics and habits of adult males to be effective.Keywords: Condom use, married men, determinants, Zambi

Cultural variability and consistency in adolescents’ emotional regulation and relationship with their parents: data from Argentina, Ghana, India and Zambia

The aim of the current study was to examine the relationship between parent–child relationship and emotional regulation in adolescents across four countries regarding: (a) mother–child relationship; (b) father–child relationship; (c) adolescents’ emotion regulation; and (d) the relationship between mother–child/father–child close relationships and adolescents’ emotion regulation. Sex differences were also considered in the analysis. The sample of 270 Zambian, 216 Argentinian, 200 Ghanaian, and 180 Indian adolescents answered The Experience in Close Relationship Questionnaire and the Emotional Regulation Questionnaire. Results revealed cultural differences in the way adolescents perceived their relations with parents. Zambian adolescents were more likely to perceive their relationship as avoidant compared to Ghanaian, Argentina and Indian. Consistent with literature, Zambian and Argentinian adolescents who perceived their parents as avoidant were likely to use less cognitive appraisal as an emotion regulation strategy. Finally, Argentinian adolescents who used expressive suppression were also likely to perceive their parents as avoidant

Correlates of fear of hypoglycemia among patients with type 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus in outpatient hospitals in Zambia

Background: Severe hypoglycemia is a burdensome complication of diabetes mellitus that can induce fear of hypoglycemia and contribute to suboptimal glycemic control. The challenge is to achieve and maintain adequate glycemic control while avoiding episodes of severe hypoglycemia. The purpose of the study was to determine how common fear of hypoglycemia was in Zambian out-patients with diabetes and also to explore correlates of fear of hypoglycemia. Methods: One hundred fifty-seven individuals with types 1 and 2 diabetes participated in the study. Fear of Hypoglycemia Scale, Diabetes Self-Care Inventory, Problem Areas in Diabetes, and the Major Depression Inventory were completed. Multiple linear regression models were computed to assess the association between fear of hypoglycemia and psychological factors. Results: About 19% [16.3% type 1 and 12.6% type 2] of individuals with diabetes based on item endorsement expressed fear of hypoglycemia especially among individuals with type 1 diabetes. After controlling for demographic variables, diabetes self-care (ß = 0.24, p < 0.05), and diabetes specific distress (ß = 0.41, p < 0.001) were associated with fear of hypoglycemia. Conclusion: Fear of hypoglycemia was common and was positively associated with diabetes specific emotional distress and diabetes self-care. Interventions to avert fear of hypoglycemia are needed while optimizing glycemic control through managing diabetes care and emotion distress in individuals with diabetes

Measurement invariance of the Brief Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale among adolescents and emerging adults across 23 cultural contexts

Abstract: There is hardly any cross-cultural research on the measurement invariance of the Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scales (BMSLSS). The current article evaluates the measurement invariance of the BMSLSS across cultural contexts. This cross-sectional study sampled 7,739 adolescents and emerging adults in 23 countries. A multi-group confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit of configural and partial measurement weights invariance models, indicating similar patterns and strengths in factor loading for both adolescents and emerging adults across various countries. We found insufficient evidence for scalar invariance in both the adolescents’ and the emerging adults’ samples. A multi-level confirmatory factor analysis indicated configural invariance of the structure at country and individual level. Internal consistency, evaluated by alpha and omega coefficients per country, yielded acceptable results. The translated BMSLSS across different cultural contexts presents good psychometric characteristics similar to what has been reported in the original scale, though scalar invariance remains problematic. Our results indicate that the BMSLSS forms a brief measure of life satisfaction, which has accrued substantial evidence of construct validity, thus suitable for use in cross-cultural surveys with adolescents and emerging adults, although evaluation of degree of invariance must be carried out to ensure its suitability for mean comparisons

Correlates of fear of hypoglycemia among patients with type 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus in outpatient hospitals in Zambia

Background: Severe hypoglycemia is a burdensome complication of diabetes mellitus that can induce fear of hypoglycemia and contribute to suboptimal glycemic control. The challenge is to achieve and maintain adequate glycemic control while avoiding episodes of severe hypoglycemia. The purpose of the study was to determine how common fear of hypoglycemia was in Zambian out-patients with diabetes and also to explore correlates of fear of hypoglycemia. Methods: One hundred fifty-seven individuals with types 1 and 2 diabetes participated in the study. Fear of Hypoglycemia Scale, Diabetes Self-Care Inventory, Problem Areas in Diabetes, and the Major Depression Inventory were completed. Multiple linear regression models were computed to assess the association between fear of hypoglycemia and psychological factors. Results: About 19% [16.3% type 1 and 12.6% type 2] of individuals with diabetes based on item endorsement expressed fear of hypoglycemia especially among individuals with type 1 diabetes. After controlling for demographic variables, diabetes self-care (ß = 0.24, p \u3c 0.05), and diabetes specific distress (ß = 0.41, p \u3c 0.001) were associated with fear of hypoglycemia. Conclusion: Fear of hypoglycemia was common and was positively associated with diabetes specific emotional distress and diabetes self-care. Interventions to avert fear of hypoglycemia are needed while optimizing glycemic control through managing diabetes care and emotion distress in individuals with diabetes

The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale: Cross-national measurement invariance and convergent validity evidence.

Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) is a widely used measure that captures somatic symptoms of coronavirus-related anxiety. In a large-scale collaboration spanning 60 countries (Ntotal = 21,513), we examined the CAS’s measurement invariance and assessed the convergent validity of CAS scores in relation to the fear of COVID-19 (FCV-19S) and the satisfaction with life (SWLS-3) scales. We utilized both conventional exact invariance tests and alignment procedures, with results revealing that the single-factor model fit the data well in almost all countries. Partial scalar invariance was supported in a subset of 56 countries. To ensure the robustness of results, given the unbalanced samples, we employed resampling techniques both with and without replacement and found the results were more stable in larger samples. The alignment procedure demonstrated a high degree of measurement invariance with 9% of the parameters exhibiting noninvariance. We also conducted simulations of alignment using the parameters estimated in the current model. Findings demonstrated reliability of the means but indicated challenges in estimating the latent variances. Strong positive correlations between CAS and FCV-19S estimated with all three different approaches were found in most countries. Correlations of CAS and SWLS-3 were weak and negative, but significantly differed from zero in several countries. Overall, the study provided support for the measurement invariance of the CAS and offered evidence of its convergent validity while also highlighting issues with variance estimation.The work of Jorge Gaete was supported by Agencia Nacional de Investigacion y Desarrollo-Millennium Science Initiative Program, GrantNCS2021_081. The work of Adrian Stanciu was supported by GESIS-Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences. The work of Shanu Shukla, Martina Klicperova-Baker, and Iva Polackova Solcova was supported by Narodni plan obnovy (NPO) "Systemic Risk Institute," Grant LX22NPO5101, funded by the European Union-Next Generation European Union (Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports, NPO: EXCELES). The work of Hrant M. Avanesyan was supported by the financial support of the RA Science Committee, Project 21T-5A203. The work of Breeda McGrath was supported by American Psychological Association Division 48, Small Grants Program. The work of Judyta Borchet was supported by the Foundation for Polish Science, Scholarship START 006.2022. The work of Rubia Carla Formighieri Giordani was supported by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico/CNPq), Project 401749/2022-3