Predicting smokers' non-compliance with smoking restrictions in public places

Objective: The present study aimed to identify the predictors of non-compliance with smoking restrictions among Greek college student smokers. Differences in attitudes to smoking bans and tobacco control policies between current smokers and non-smokers were also examined. Methods: Data were collected from college students (n = 229, mean (SD) age 21.27 (3.15) years). Measures included tobacco dependence, attitudes to tobacco control policies, outcome expectancy and normative beliefs. Results: The majority of current smokers reported noncompliance with existing restrictions. Logistic regression analysis showed that non-compliance was significantly predicted by (less) anticipated regret from tobacco-related health harm, tobacco dependence and perceived prevalence and social acceptability of smoking. Analysis of variance indicated that current non-smokers held significantly more positive attitudes to smoking bans and tobacco control policies than current smokers. Conclusions: Smoking was highly prevalent, and more than half of current smokers reported not complying with existing regulations in public places. Smokers' attitudes to smoking bans and tobacco control policies did not have an effect on compliance behaviour. Future policies to promote compliance with smoking restrictions in Greece should target health-related anticipated regret, and perceived social norms

The intellectual capital - environmental practices, performance and their relationships in the Romanian banking sector

Purpose – This paper reviews the knowledge assets that can be capitalized for successful Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) implementation in the Romanian banking industry. GSCM is defined as the company’s ability to understand and manage the environmental risks along the Supply Chain (SC) (Carter and Rogers,2008). Banks are very much members of the SCs (McKenzie and Wolfe, 2004), called to integrate the environmental management into both operational and core commercial activities and to manage the environmental risk in their supply chain (FORGE Group,2000; International Finance Corporation, 2006; UNEP Finance Initiative, 2009a). Intellectual capital, or the ‘stock’ of knowledge-based equity firms hold, is recognized as a key contributor to their competitiveness (Bontis et al., 1999), which may act as a driver of environmental pro-activeness (Bernauer et al., 2006; Wu et al., 2007), as well as an obstacle in the process to design and implement GSCM (Post and Altman, 1994; Baresel-Bofinger et al., 2007), while organizational learning is seen as the key component in overcoming the organizational obstacles to environmental changes (Post and Altman, 1992; Post and Altman, 1994; Anderson and Wolff, 1996). Design/methodology/approach – This research paper describes the empirical results of a cross-sectional design employed in a sample of 41 banks operating in Romania with the purpose a. to explore the stage of designing and implementing GSCM practices in the Romanian banking sector; b. to determine which GSCM practices tend to be followed the most, c. which are the bank managers’ perceived benefits from implementing GSCM practices, as well as perceived obstacles in GSCM implementation in the banking sector; and d. what is the relationship between the aforementioned variables. For these purposes several statistical analyses were used, including both descriptive and inferential statistics. Originality/value – This is the first study looking for GSCM issues in the Romanian banking industry. The results of this research provide insights into what extent knowledge assets could be capitalized for successful Green Supply Chain Management implementation in the Romanian banking industry. Furthermore, it is increasing the ecological awareness, the theoretical and managerial insights for an effective implementation of GSCM practices in the banking sector. The analysis reveals that GSCM practices (especially practices in the immaterial flow) are strongly and significantly correlated with perceived benefits and pressures. However,this should be addressed in future research because the present study offers only correlational data and cannot establish causation. The study also concludes that bank’s size and foreign/Romanian ownership do not influence at all the level of GSCM practices implementation and related perceptions (pressures, obstacles,benefits) in the Romanian banking sector. Practical implications – The findings of this paper point to the conclusion that the banking sector in Romania is at a somehow advanced stage of ecological adaptation in the physical flow and at an early stage in the immaterial and commercial flows. Based on the literature and study’s findings, regarding the role that the management of intellectual capital and knowledge flow plays, several recommendations are proposed for enhancing the implementation process of GSCM practices in the banking industry in Romania

Ozempic (Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist) in Social Media Posts: Unveiling User Perspectives through Reddit Topic Modeling

© 2024 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for the Study of Emerging Drugs. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Semaglutide, a Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist marketed under the brand name Ozempic, is originally prescribed for diabetes treatment and obesity management. However, healthy individuals without a medical cause use Ozempic without medical supervision to improve their physical appearance - a trend that has proliferated through social media, news coverage, and relevant celebrity endorsements. Thus, exploring social media posts can provide insight into understanding individuals’ experiences, beliefs, motivation, as well as misconceptions about Ozempic. To do so, this study utilizes BERTopic, a natural language processing approach for topic modeling, to analyze 46,491 Reddit posts from three subreddits (r/ozempic, r/ozempicforweightloss, r/semaglutide) dated between April 2019 and December 2023. The analysis revealed various discussion topics, including using Ozempic for weight loss, dosaging, insurance denial due to lack of a diabetes diagnosis, weight loss tracking, and side effect management. Overall, the overarching theme centered on the off-label use of Ozempic and its GLP-1 agonist counterparts for weight loss purposes. Moreover, awareness on the health hazards associated with the off-label and unsupervised use of Ozempic as an image enhancer do not frequently appear in the social media discussions. These findings, supported by a dynamic topic modeling analysis, offer ecological insights into the experiences and opinions of community members in Ozempic-related subreddits, reinforcing the growing evidence of the drug's increasing popularity for weight management as well as the role played by social media. The study also shows how information campaigns about the health risks associated with the off-label use of Ozempic by healthy individuals without a medical cause may help counterbalance the lack of risk awareness detected in social media discussions.Peer reviewe

Support for smoke-free policies in the Cyprus hospitality industry

Objectives The present study used attitudinal and behavioural indicators to measure support for smoke-free policies among employers and employees in the hospitality industry in Cyprus. Methods A representative sample of 600 participants (95 % response rate) completed anonymous structured questionnaires on demographic variables, smoking status, exposure to second-hand smoke at work and related health beliefs, social norms, and smoke-free policy support. Results Participants were predominantly males (68.3 %), with a mean age of 40 years (SD = 12.69), and 39.7 % were employers/owners of the hospitality venue. Analysis of variance showed that employers and smokers were less supportive of smoke-free policies, as compared to employees and non-smokers. Linear regression models showed that attitudes towards smoke-free policy were predicted by smoking status, SHS exposure and related health beliefs, and social norm variables. Logistic regression analysis showed that willingness to confront a policy violator was predicted by SHS exposure, perceived prevalence of smoker clients, and smoke-free policy attitudes. Conclusions SHS exposure and related health beliefs, and normative factors should be targeted by interventions aiming to promote policy support in the hospitality industry in Cyprus

Versión portuguesa de la Escala de Estado de Ansiedad en Educación Física: Propiedades psicométricas y su asociación con el sexo, edad y actividad física extracurricular

El objetivo de este estudio fue la traducción y adaptación cultural de la escala PESAS en portugués, evaluar sus propiedades psicométricas, e investigar los efectos del género, la edad y la actividad física extracurricular, en las diferentes dimensiones de PESAS (ansiedad somática, procesos cognitivos y preocupación). La muestra fue de 496 estudiantes (221 varones, 275 mujeres) con edades comprendidas entre 13 y 21 años (M = 15,71, SD = 1,34). El análisis factorial confirmatorio confirmó una adecuada validez factorial de la estructura multidimensional original de tres factores (procesos cognitivos, ansiedad somática y preocupaciones/miedos). Las estudiantes reportaron niveles más altos en las dimensiones de la ansiedad, en comparación con los varones. Los practicantes de actividad física extracurricular revelaron niveles más bajos de los procesos cognitivos y preocupaciones/miedos. La edad correlacionó negativamente con los procesos cognitivos y la ansiedad somática. Estos resultados apoyan el uso de la versión portuguesa de la escala PESAS y proporcionan información adicional sobre el estado de ansiedad en la educación física escolar

Self-disgust, loneliness and mental health outcomes in older adults: An eye-tracking study

© 2020 Background: Self-disgust has been associated with loneliness and mental health difficulties in clinical and non-clinical populations, but there is limited research on the role of self-disgust in loneliness and mental health outcomes in older adults. Methods: In Study 1 (N = 102; M age = 68.4 years, SD = 10.9, 68% females) we used a cross-sectional survey to explore the association between loneliness, self-disgust and mental health outcomes. In Study 2 (N = 80; M age = 68.8 years, SD = 11.4, 57% females) we used eye-tracking to investigate attentional vigilance, maintenance and avoidance in individuals with high (vs. low) self-disgust. Results: In study 1 we found that self-disgust mediated the associations of loneliness with anxiety and depressive symptoms, and in study 2 it was demonstrated that older adults with high (vs. low) self-disgust displayed attentional avoidance to their own faces, compared to the faces of unknown others, a process that may perpetuate loneliness. Limitations: The cross-sectional design used in Study 1 limits our potential to make causal inferences. Additionally, both studies included a wide age range of older adults. Conclusions: Our findings are novel and highlight the importance of self-disgust experiences in the context of loneliness and mental health outcomes in older adults. Implications for practice and interventions against loneliness in this age group are discussed

Driving self-regulation and risky driving outcomes

Self-regulation has been associated with risky driving outcomes in the past but there are no available measures to assess driving-specific self-regulatory capacity. The present study assessed the association of a newly developed driving self-regulation measure with driving violations, errors, and lapses. Overall, 330 UK drivers completed measures of risky driving outcomes, driving anger, trait impulsivity, sensation seeking, normlessness, domain-general trait self-regulation plus a new unidimensional measure of Driving Self-Regulation Questionnaire (DSRQ-16). Bivariate correlation analysis indicated that the DSRQ-16 showed expected associations with both driving-related outcomes and factors, as well as with impulsivity traits and general self-regulation. Bootstrapped hierarchical linear regression models showed that the DSRQ-16 was significantly associated with driving violations, errors, and lapses after controlling for the effects of other relevant predictors. This is the first study to demonstrate the association of driving-specific self-regulation with risky driving behaviour, driving anger, impulsivity and related personality traits. Driving-specific self-regulation may present a novel target for road safety interventions, as well as a theoretically relevant component of models of risky driving behaviour

Smoking behaviour predicts tobacco control attitudes in a high smoking prevalence hospital: A cross-sectional study in a Portuguese teaching hospital prior to the national smoking ban

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Several studies have investigated attitudes to and compliance with smoking bans, but few have been conducted in healthcare settings and none in such a setting in Portugal. Portugal is of particular interest because the current ban is not in line with World Health Organization recommendations for a "100% smoke-free" policy. In November 2007, a Portuguese teaching-hospital surveyed smoking behaviour and tobacco control (TC) attitudes before the national ban came into force in January 2008.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Questionnaire-based cross-sectional study, including all eligible staff. Sample: 52.9% of the 1, 112 staff; mean age 38.3 ± 9.9 years; 65.9% females. Smoking behaviour and TC attitudes and beliefs were the main outcomes. Bivariable analyses were conducted using chi-squared and MacNemar tests to compare categorical variables and Mann-Whitney tests to compare medians. Multilogistic regression (MLR) was performed to identify factors associated with smoking status and TC attitudes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Smoking prevalence was 40.5% (95% CI: 33.6-47.4) in males, 23.5% (95% CI: 19.2-27.8) in females (p < 0.001); 43.2% in auxiliaries, 26.1% in nurses, 18.9% among physicians, and 34.7% among other non-health professionals (p = 0.024). The findings showed a very high level of agreement with smoking bans, even among smokers, despite the fact that 70.3% of the smokers smoked on the premises and 76% of staff reported being frequently exposed to second-hand smoke (SHS). In addition 42.8% reported that SHS was unpleasant and 28.3% admitted complaining. MLR showed that smoking behaviour was the most important predictor of TC attitudes.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Smoking prevalence was high, especially among the lower socio-economic groups. The findings showed a very high level of support for smoking bans, despite the pro-smoking environment. Most staff reported passive behaviour, despite high SHS exposure. This and the high smoking prevalence may contribute to low compliance with the ban and low participation on smoking cessation activities. Smoking behaviour had greater influence in TC attitudes than health professionals' education. Our study is the first in Portugal to identify potential predictors of non-compliance with the partial smoking ban, further emphasising the need for a 100% smoke-free policy, effective enforcement and public health education to ensure compliance and promote social norm change.</p

Smoke-free policies and non-smokers’ reactions to SHS exposure in small and medium enterprises

Introduction: Non-smoker employees can significantly improve the existing smoke-free policies in the workplace by asserting their right for smoke-free air and confronting smoker colleagues. The aim of the study was to assess the psychological and social drivers of non-smokers' readiness to assert their right for smoke-free air in the workplace. Materials and Methods: Twenty-six small-and-medium enterprises (SME) with diverse background were randomly selected, and 284 employees agreed to participate in the study. Our study focused on the responses of 85 non-smokers (M age = 34 years, SD = 7.98, 84.2% worked in indoor offices). A cross-sectional design was used and participants completed a structured anonymous questionnaire assessing background and demographic characteristics, and psychosocial predictors of assertiveness intentions. Results: Although more than half of non-smokers reported they were often/almost always bothered by exposure to SHS, roughly one third of them reported having asked their colleagues not to smoke at work. Regression analysis showed that the effects of distal predictors (i.e. annoyance due to SHS exposure) were mediated by past behaviour, attitudes (protection motivation beliefs), social norms, and self-efficacy. Conclusions: Health beliefs related to SHS exposure, and concerns about workplace health and job performance, social norms and self-efficacy can increase the assertiveness of non-smokers in workplace settings. Related campaigns should focus on communicating normative messages and self-efficacy training to empower non-smoker employees to act assertively towards protecting their smoke-free rights

The therapeutic potential of attentional bias modification training for insomnia: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

The efficacy of attentional bias modification (ABM) as a treatment for anxiety and depression has been extensively studied with promising results. Despite some evidence of sleep-related attentional biases in insomnia, only a small number of studies, yielding mixed results, have examined the application of ABM in insomnia. This study specifically aims to determine whether ABM can reduce (i) the presence of an attentional bias for sleep-related threatening words; (ii) insomnia symptom severity; (iii) sleep onset latency; and (iv) pre-sleep cognitive arousal amongst individuals with insomnia compared to a non-treatment control group of individuals with insomnia. We propose a randomised controlled trial of 90 individuals from the general population who meet the criteria for Insomnia Disorder. Following an initial examination for the presence of a sleep-related attentional bias using the dot-probe paradigm, participants will be randomised to an online attentional bias modification training condition, or to a standard attentional bias task (non-treatment) control condition. Both conditions will be delivered online by a web platform. All participants allocated to the non-treatment control group will be offered ABM training once the study is complete. The primary outcome will be the attentional bias indices of vigilance and disengagement and self-reported insomnia symptoms, sleep onset latency and pre-sleep cognitive arousal. Attentional bias and insomnia symptoms will be assessed at baseline (day 1) and post-treatment (2 days after the final training session: day 9). Insomnia symptoms will be again assessed at follow-up (day 16). Secondary outcomes include examining whether sleep associated monitoring and worry are related to a sleep-related attentional bias in insomnia, and whether such reports reduce following ABM. All main analyses will be carried out on completion of follow-up assessments. The trial is supported by the Department of Psychology, Sociology and Politics at Sheffield Hallam University. This study will extend the research base examining the efficacy of attentional bias modification for insomnia. ISRCTN ( ISRCTN11643569 , registered on 5 June 2018)