Prevalence and factors associated with difficulty and intention to quit smoking in Switzerland

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Recent data indicate a slight decrease in the prevalence of smoking in Switzerland, but little is known regarding the intention and difficulty to quit smoking among current smokers. Hence, we aimed to quantify the difficulty and intention to quit smoking among current smokers in Switzerland. METHODS: Cross-sectional study including 607 female and 658 male smokers. Difficulty, intention and motivation to quit smoking were assessed by questionnaire. RESULTS: 90% of women and 85% of men reported being "very difficult" or "difficult" to quit smoking. Almost three quarters of smokers (73% of women and 71% of men) intended to quit; however, less than 20% of them were in the preparation stage and 40% were in the precontemplation stage. On multivariate analysis, difficulty to quit was lower among men (Odds ratio and 95% [confidence interval]: 0.51 [0.35-0.74]) and increased with nicotine dependence and number of previous quitting attempts (OR=3.14 [1.75-5.63] for 6+ attempts compared to none). Intention to quit decreased with increasing age (OR=0.48 [0.30-0.75] for [greater than or equal to]65 years compared to <45 years) and increased with nicotine dependence, the number of previous quitting attempts (OR=4.35 [2.76-6.83] for 6+ attempts compared to none) and among non-cigarette smokers (OR=0.51 [0.28-0.92]). Motivation to quit was inversely associated with nicotine dependence and positively associated with the number of previous quitting attempts and personal history of lung disease. CONCLUSION: Over two thirds of Swiss smokers want to quit. However, only a small fraction wishes to do so in the short term. Nicotine dependence, previous attempts to quit or previous history of lung disease are independently associated with difficulty and intention to quit

A comparative evaluation of the effects of trait Emotional Intelligence and emotion regulation on affect at work and job satisfaction

The study examined the associations of trait Emotional Intelligence (EI) and emotional regulation with affect and satisfaction at work. Participants were 475 educators who completed the Bar-On EQ-i, the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and measures of affect at work and job satisfaction. Analyses were conducted separately in two age-groups. Among the EI branches only general mood had consistent predictive value for affect at work. Emotion regulation had unique predictive power for affect and job satisfaction for the younger age group. There was minimal evidence for emotion regulation being a mediator between EI and affect at work in either age group. These findings suggest that trait EI and emotion regulation may refer to distinct processes and have implications for evaluating the ever increasing research on EI in organisations. Copyright © 2007 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd

Resilience and occupational well-being of secondary education teachers in Greece

We investigated Greek secondary teachers’ resilience and occupational well-being. We aimed to detect the role of participants’ demographic characteristics and schools’ characteristics, as well as the relationship of teachers’ resilience with their occupational well-being. Two hundred and one secondary teachers from fifteen secondary schools participated. Resilience Scale (Wagnild & Young, 1993) was used to measure the teachers’ resilience and their occupational well-being was measured by the relative scale of Saaranen, Tossavainen, Turunen, Kiviniemi and Vertio (2007). Results revealed that the urbanisation level of the school seemed to affect resilience as well as occupational well-being. Teachers’ scientific specialisation seemed to be related to their resilience levels. Furthermore, teachers’ resilience correlates positively with their occupational wellbeing. Apparently, research on teachers’ resilience and occupational well-being may be fruitful and enrich their future preparation with educational and consultative interventions that could be beneficial for the educator, the organisation, and the students’ progress. © 2018, Western Australian Institute for Educational Research Inc. All rights reserved

Predictors of excessive internet use among adolescents in Greece after the economic recession: The role of psychopathology, parental rearing practices, self-efficacy and internet-related activities

This research aims to highlight and understand the factors associated with excessive internet use. The population studied consisted of 904 students, aged 12 to 18 years. The study was conducted in Magnesia prefecture of central Greece, in a period after the economic recession, and participants came from a large urban area, a prefecture's capital, a municipal unit of the prefecture's capital and an island. Students were provided with the following questionnaires: Internet Addiction Test (IAT), Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children (SEQ-C), and Egna Minnen av Barndoms Uppfostran: "My Memories of Upbringing" for Children (EMBU-C). Participants were asked to fill out questionnaires about sociodemographic characteristics and the use of online activities. The findings indicated that 14.1% of students were excessive internet users, and social media was the principal reason for using the internet. Excessive internet users had increased symptoms of psychopathology, control-overprotection, rejection, anxious rearing, and decreased academic, emotional, social self-efficacy, and emotional warmth. Finally, the increased symptoms of psychopathology and parents' rejection were the predictive factors in excessive internet use. In conclusion, Greek adolescents participating in this study are susceptible to excessive internet use. Most importantly, rejection as a parental rearing practice and adolescents' psychopathology seemed to impact the development of addictive behavior and should be taken into consideration by future research. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

The subtle-blatant distinction of ethnic prejudice among ethnic majority chidren

Research on ethnic prejudice among children is important for contemporary multicultural schools seeking to enhance communication among students from different ethnic groups and provide effective intercultural education. Current scientific discourse points to the appearance of new implicit forms of prejudice, witnessed in modern multicultural societies, while traditional explicit prejudice tends to decline. However, empirical studies concerning the blatant-subtle distinction of prejudice in children are scarce. This paper examines ethnic prejudice in 329 ethnic majority preadolescents (aged 10-13 years) attending 10 urban and rural schools in central Greece. Data were collected using questionnaires constructed on the basis of focus group discussions with children, in addition to sociometric tests. Findings support the subtle-blatant distinction of prejudice in children and indicate that although blatant prejudice expressed as personal rejection is indeed low, perceptions of ethnic minority groups as a 'problem' for school life, as well as subtle prejudice, are substantial. Ethnic minority children are less popular and stigmatizing behaviour is common. Intimacy with an ethnic minority classmate is associated with lower levels of blatant prejudice at the individual level but the other forms of prejudice are not affected. © 2013 Taylor & Francis