Assessing levels of knowledge, compliance with preventive measures and behavioral adjustments to the ‘new normal’ of COVID-19: Empirical evidence from Ghana

Countries have managed COVID-19 infection and mortality differently. Ghana, a resource-constrained country, with a poorer healthcare system, had fewer infections and more recoveries than high-income countries. Although an acculturation framework is commonly discussed in relation to individuals adapting to a new society, we used it to understand how people adapt to rapid changes orchestrated by the COVID-19 pandemic. From pre-pandemic to post-pandemic era, we see a change from the ‘old normal’ to the ‘new normal’. Thus, we sought to understand how people were living their lives under the ‘new normal’. Data was gathered from 416 adults on their attitudes towards obedience to authority, compliance with COVID-19-related activities, and changes in the extent of carrying out these activities three and nine months into the pandemic. COVID-19 acculturation strategies were also assessed. Descriptive and inferential analyses showed that most Ghanaians obeyed authorities and followed the preventive measures. However, after five months of the peak period, compliance dropped, and behavioral fatigue increased significantly. Regarding the acculturation strategies integration, which involves keeping old health care practices and adopting new ones, improved behavioral adjustment the most followed by separation (i.e., rejecting the new health care practices and holding on strongly to the old ones) and assimilation (i.e., rejecting old health care practices and adopting new ones). Marginalization which encompasses rejecting both old and new health care practices was the least. These results suggest that integration strategy had a significant positive impact on behavioral adjustment compared to assimilation and separation strategies.publishedVersio

COVID-19, ICT literacy, and Mental Health of University Students: A Three-Country Study

We ran a cross-national project examining the mental health of university students in Ghana, South Africa, and the United States against the backdrop of a surge in the digitalization of teaching at universities in these countries wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic

Perceived Job Insecurity and Psychological Distress: The Moderating Role of Work Values

The changing nature of work these days has brought about issues of psychological well-being of employees affected by organizational change. The present study investigated the moderating effect of work values on the relationship between perceived job insecurity and psychological distress among 202 junior employees of selected public and private organizations in Ghana. Results showed that there is a positive relationship between perceived job insecurity and psychological distress whereas work values moderate this relationship. This implied that employees who value extrinsic aspects of work were highly distressed when job insecurity is also perceived to be high. Results were discussed with reference to the frameworks of psychological contract and latent deprivation theories as well as reviewed literature. The practical implication of the finding is that in times of organizational change, managers or change agents should manage negative feelings associated with the uncertainty of future continuance of one’s job and invest in human resource management practices that increase extrinsic values which could ultimately lead to employee psychological well-being

Does personality predict a likelihood display of organisational citizenship behaviours among university students? Empirical evidence from Ghana

Organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) has received extensive research attention among the employed populations. But is it possible that people who are yet to be employed can display intentional OCB? Numerous studies have linked OCB to many factors including personality. We, therefore, set out to examine the association between personality traits on the likelihood of engaging in citizenship behaviours among undergraduate students. Using a cross-sectional survey design, data was gathered from 1009 students comprising 537 males and 472 females, with a mean age of 23 (SD=2.98 years) from the University of Ghana through purposive sampling. A questionnaire consisting of validated scales such as the 50-item International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) and the OCB Checklist (OCB-C) were employed to measure the ‘Big Five’ personality traits and the likelihood of OCB respectively. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that sex and age were related to the likelihood of OCB such that male and older students were more willing to engage in OCB. Among the personality traits, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and intellect had significant relationships with the likelihood of OCB. This study shows that both demographic and personal characteristics such as personality traits are associated with students’ likelihood of engaging in OCB

HSP70 polymorphisms in first psychotic episode drug-naïve schizophrenic patients

The aim of this study is to investigate differences in HSPA8 polymorphisms between first-episode psychotic (FEP) schizophrenic patients and healthy participants after adjustment for temperamental personality traits

Connexins and pannexins: At the junction of neuro-glial homeostasis & disease

In the central nervous system (CNS), connexin (Cx)s and pannexin (Panx)s are an integral component of homeostatic neuronal excitability and synaptic plasticity. Neuronal Cx gap junctions form electrical synapses across biochemically similar GABAergic networks, allowing rapid and extensive inhibition in response to principle neuron excitation. Glial Cx gap junctions link astrocytes and oligodendrocytes in the pan-glial network that is responsible for removing excitotoxic ions and metabolites. In addition, glial gap junctions help constrain excessive excitatory activity in neurons and facilitate astrocyte Ca2+ slow wave propagation. Panxs do not form gap junctions in vivo, but Panx hemichannels participate in autocrine and paracrine gliotransmission, alongside Cx hemichannels. ATP and other gliotransmitters released by Cx and Panx hemichannels maintain physiologic glutamatergic tone by strengthening synapses and mitigating aberrant high frequency bursting. Under pathological depolarizing and inflammatory conditions, gap junctions and hemichannels become dysregulated, resulting in excessive neuronal firing and seizure. In this review, we present known contributions of Cxs and Panxs to physiologic neuronal excitation and explore how the disruption of gap junctions and hemichannels lead to abnormal glutamatergic transmission, purinergic signaling, and seizures

Sustainable human resource management and job satisfaction—Unlocking the power of organizational identification: A cross‐cultural perspective from 54 countries

International audienceSustainable human resource management is gaining importance in organizations due to its role in developing a sustainable work environment and well‐being. This paper discusses the relationship between employee perceptions of sustainable human resource management and job satisfaction in 54 countries. We propose that sustainable HRM is positively associated with job satisfaction but that this relationship is moderated by employees' identification with the organization and country‐level individualism–collectivism. Thus, we suggest national culture functions as a second‐level moderator of the relationship of sustainable HRM with organizational identification on job satisfaction. Findings from the multi‐level analyses using data from 14,502 employees nested within 54 countries provided support for our hypotheses, namely that employee perceptions of sustainable HRM were positively associated with job satisfaction and that this relationship was more pronounced for employees with lower levels compared to higher levels of organizational identification in individualistic rather than collectivistic countries. These findings bear important implications for both theory and practice