A Cross-Cultural Study of Children's Perceptions of Selected Religious Concepts

This study was undertaken to explore perceptions of religious concepts in a sample of preschool children from three cultural settings, namely, Kuwait, the United States, and India. Participants were 219 children from one Kuwaiti public kindergarten, one private American kindergarten, and one private Indian preschool in the State of Kuwait. Several questions on general religious concepts such as God, angels, heaven, hell, the devil, and death were asked; responses were coded and analyzed to discuss the selected religious concepts with reference to the sociocultural factors in the three cultures.Cette étude porte sur les perceptions de concepts religieux d'un échantillon d'enfants de la maternelle, dans trois milieux culturels différents, soit le Koweït, les États-Unis et l'Inde. Les participants, 219 enfants, provenaient d'une maternelle publique au Koweït, une maternelle privée aux Etats-Unis et une maternelle indienne et privée dans l'État du Koweït. On a posé aux enfants plusieurs questions générales touchant des concepts religieux tels Dieu, les anges, le ciel, l'enfer, le diable et la mort. Les réponses ont été codées et analysées pour pouvoir en discuter par rapport à des facteurs socioculturels pertinents aux trois cultures

Analysis of testwiseness components: A quasi-experimental approach

The primary purpose of this study was to assess the specific effects of the four test-independent components of testwiseness (TW), namely, time-using, error-avoidance, guessing, and deductive reasoning on test performance. Four research questions were examined in the study: (1) Are there any significant differences among the four test-independent components of TW? (2) Could training in only one component affect test performance? (3) If training in one component is not enough, how many are needed? (4) What is the most effective order of the four components? The study used a counterbalanced design. The sample consisted of 126 high school graduates who were assigned to one of the four treatment or control groups. Results suggested that there are no significant differences among the four components; that training in only one component cannot improve test performance; that the training should include at least two of the components; and that the order of the components, as produced by the design of this study, does not make a significant difference with respect to test performance

The Accuracy of Body Mass Index and Gallagher’s Classification in Detecting Obesity among Iranians

Background: The study was conducted to examine the comparability of the BMI and Gallagher’s classification in diagnosing obesity based on the cutoff points of the gold standards and to estimate suitable cutoff points for detecting obesity among Iranians. Methods: The cross-sectional study was comparative in nature. The sample consisted of 20,163 adults. The bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) was used to measure the variables of interest. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive power (PPV), and negative predictive power (NPV) were used to evaluate the comparability of the two classification methods in detecting obesity. Results: The BMI wrongly classified 29% of the obese persons as overweight. In both classifications, as age increased, the accuracy of detecting obesity decreased. The Gallagher’s classification is better than MBI in detecting obesity in men with the exception of those older than 59 years. In females, the BMI was better in determining sensitivity. In both classifications, either female or male, an increase in age was associated with a decrease in sensitivity and NPV with the exception of the BMI for the 18 year olds. Gallagher can correctly classify males and females who are less than 40 and 19 years old, respectively. Conclusion: Gallagher’s classification is recommended for non-obese in both sexes and in obese males younger than 40 years old. The BMI is recommended for obese females. The suitable cutoff points for the BMI to detect obesity are 27.70 kg/m2 for females and males, 27.70 kg/m2 for females, and 27.30 kg/m2 for males

The interaction effect of body mass index and age on fat-free mass, waist-to-hip ratio, and soft lean mass

Background: Research has shown that body mass index (BMI) does not take into consideration the gender and ethnicity. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the interaction effect of the BMI and age on fat-free mass (FFM), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and soft lean mass (SLM). The secondary purpose was to evaluate the practical significance of the findings by examining effect sizes. Materials and Methods: The study was comparative in nature and employed a factorial design. Due to nonexperimental nature of the investigation, no causal inferences were drawn. The nonprobability sample consisted of 19,356 adults. Analysis of the data included factorial analysis of variance, analysis of simple effects, calculation of mean difference effect sizes, and data transformation. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 22 was employed for the purpose of data manipulation and analysis. Results: The BMI by age interaction effects on FFM, F (10, 19,338) = 28.26, P < 0.01, on WHR, F (10, 19,338) = 18.46, P < 0.01, and on SLM, F (10, 19,338) = 14.65, P < 0.01, was statistically significant and ordinal in nature. Analysis of the effect sizes, ranging from 0.30 to 1.20, showed that the BMI and age influenced the WHR but their interaction effects on FFM and SLM, ranging from 0.04 to 0.36 and 0.03 to 0.33, respectively, were mainly negligible. Conclusion: Based on the examination of the statistical and practical significance of the results, it is concluded that the BMI and age together can influence the WHR but their interaction effect on the FFM and SLM is questionable

A Comparative Study of Cocaine-Treatment Completers and Dropouts

This study compared matched groups of completers and dropouts from residential treatment for cocaine abuse on a range of outcome measures, including cocaine and alcohol use, stress, coping, and social support characteristics. The most striking finding of this study was that treatment dropouts differed from treatment completers on only 2 of 14 dependent measures reflecting substance use, stress, coping, and social support characteristics during two 3-month follow-up periods. Both dropouts and completers demonstrated large decreases in cocaine and alcohol use from pretreatment to the first follow-up period. Completers and dropouts did not differ in level of substance use during either follow-up period

Development and Evaluation of the Revised Alcohol Evaluation Instrument

This study reports on the development of a revised version of the Alcohol Evaluation Instrument (ALCEVAL-R). Items in the four major areas of the ALCEVAL-R were factor analyzed separately and relationships among factors were examined. Results suggest that the ALCEVAL-R measures clinically meaningful aspects of the alcoholic patient's occupational and social status, and reveals important dimensions of alcohol consumption and of the personal and social consequences of alcohol abuse

Cognitive Motivations for Drinking among Alcoholics: Factor Structure and Correlates

The aims of this study were to: a) Identify factors reflecting reasons for drinking and expectancies regarding the effects of drinking among inpatient alcoholics; b) Examine the relationship between these cognitive "motivations" for drinking and both patterns of alcohol consumption and various personal and social consequences of consumption. The factors which emerged relate to negative mood reduction, positive mood enhancement, and social functioning. Although the factors identified in this investigation were not associated with quantity of alcohol consumed, small to moderate associations were found between scores on three of four factors and a variety of adverse physical and occupational consequences of alcohol abuse

Factors Affecting Aggressiveness among Young Teenage Girls: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Adolescence is a period of transition for developmental and social domains that may also be accompanied by behavioral problems. Aggressive behavior may be a mental health concern for young teens and is defined as a behavioral and emotional trait that may be distressing for others. This study aimed to understand the factors associated with aggressiveness among young teenage girls. A cross-sectional study was conducted among a sample of 707 female middle school-aged students using multistage random sampling in Tabriz, Iran. The variables of interest were aggressiveness, general health status, happiness, social acceptance, and feelings of loneliness. Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the data. Low parental support, low satisfaction with body image, high sense of loneliness, and lower perceived social acceptance were found to be the factors influencing aggressiveness. The current study found that the school environment, home environment, individual and interpersonal factors all play a part in aggressiveness. As a result, the contributing elements must be considered when creating and executing successful interventions to improve this population’s psychological well-being