A looming mental health pandemic in the time of COVID-19? Role of fortitude in the interrelationship between loneliness, anxiety, and life satisfaction among young adults

This study investigates loneliness, anxiety, and life satisfaction among a sample of young adults in South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the role of fortitude in the interrelationship between these variables. Fortitude refers to the psychological strength to manage stress and stay well, and it is derived from positive appraisals of self, family, and support from others. Participants included 337 young adults who completed four self-report questionnaires: the UCLA Loneliness Scale, the State-Trait Anxiety Scale, the Satisfaction with Life scale, and the Fortitude Questionnaire. Stepwise regression analysis was performed to determine the direct, indirect, mediating, and moderating role of fortitude on psychological outcomes. The results demonstrated unprecedented levels of anxiety, loneliness, and reduced life satisfaction among the sample. These levels were significantly higher than those encountered in previous studies in other contexts, as well as in studies of similar populations conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Women reported higher levels of psychological distress than men

Unequal relationships in high and low power distance societies: a comparative study of tutor - student role relations in Britain and China

This study investigated people's conceptions of an unequal role relationship in two different types of society: a high power distance society and a low power distance society. The study focuses on the role relationship of tutor and student. British and Chinese tutors and postgraduate students completed a questionnaire that probed their conceptions of degrees of power differential and social distance/closeness in this role relationship. ANOVA results yielded a significant nationality effect for both aspects. Chinese respondents judged the relationship to be closer and to have a greater power differential than did British respondents. Written comments on the questionnaire and interviews with 9 Chinese academics who had experienced both British and Chinese academic environments supported the statistical findings and indicated that there are fundamental ideological differences associated with the differing conceptions. The results are discussed in relation to Western and Asian concepts of leadership and differing perspectives on the compatibility/incompatibility of power and distance/closeness

Conversion of patellofemoral arthroplasty to total knee arthroplasty: A matched case-control study of 13 patients

Background and purpose The long-term outcome of patellofemoral arthroplasty is related to progression of femorotibial osteoarthritis with need for conversion to total knee arthroplasty. We investigated whether prior patellofemoral arthroplasty compromises the results of total knee arthroplasty

Repairing Trust in Organizations and Institutions: Toward a Conceptual Framework

Trust plays a fundamental role in facilitating social exchange, yet recent global events have undermined trust in many of society’s institutions and organizations. This raises the pertinent question of how trust in organizations and institutions can be restored once it has been lost. The emerging literature on trust repair is largely focused at the micro level, with limited examination of how these processes operate at the macro level and across levels. In this introductory essay, we show how the papers in this special issue each advance our understanding of macro-level trust repair. We draw on these papers, as well as the extant interdisciplinary literature, to propose an integrated conceptual model of six key mechanisms for restoring trust in organizations and institutions, highlighting the merits, limits and paradoxes of each. We conclude that no single mechanism can be relied on to rebuild organizational trust and identify a future research agenda for advancing scholarly understanding of organizational and institutional trust repair

Isolated patellofemoral osteoarthritis: A systematic review of treatment options using the GRADE approach

Background and purpose The optimal treatment for isolated patellofemoral osteoarthritis is unclear at present. We systematically reviewed the highest level of available evidence on the nonoperative and operative treatment of isolated patellofemoral osteoarthritis to develop an evidenced-based discussion of treatment options

The controversy of patellar resurfacing in total knee arthroplasty: Ibisne in medio tutissimus?

Early arthroplasty designs were associated with a high level of anterior knee pain as they failed to cater for the patello-femoral joint. Patellar resurfacing was heralded as the saviour safeguarding patient satisfaction and success but opinion on its necessity has since deeply divided the scientific community and has become synonymous to topics of religion or politics. Opponents of resurfacing contend that the native patella provides better patellar tracking, improved clinical function, and avoids implant-related complications, whilst proponents argue that patients have less pain, are overall more satisfied, and avert the need for secondary resurfacing. The question remains whether complications associated with patellar resurfacing including those arising from future component revision outweigh the somewhat increased incidence of anterior knee pain recorded in unresurfaced patients. The current scientific literature, which is often affected by methodological limitations and observer bias, remains confusing as it provides evidence in support of both sides of the argument, whilst blinded satisfaction studies comparing resurfaced and non-resurfaced knees generally reveal equivalent results. Even national arthroplasty register data show wide variations in the proportion of patellar resurfacing between countries that cannot be explained by cultural differences alone. Advocates who always resurface or never resurface indiscriminately expose the patella to a random choice. Selective resurfacing offers a compromise by providing a decision algorithm based on a propensity for improved clinical success, whilst avoiding potential complications associated with unnecessary resurfacing. Evidence regarding the validity of selection criteria, however, is missing, and the decision when to resurface is often based on intuitive reasoning. Our lack of understanding why, irrespective of pre-operative symptoms and patellar resurfacing, some patients may suffer pain following TKA and others may not have so far stifled our efforts to make the strategy of selective resurfacing succeed. We should hence devote our efforts in defining predictive criteria and indicators that will enable us to reliably identify those individuals who might benefit from a resurfacing procedure. Level of evidence V