Gender, Age, and Cross-Cultural Invariance of Brief Inventory of Thriving Among Emerging Adults

This study tested factorial structure, reliability as well as gender, age, and cultural measurement invariance of the Brief Inventory of Thriving (BIT). Data were collected from 981 Italian, Portuguese, and Chinese emerging adults. Results showed that BIT scores were reliable, mono-dimensional, and suitable to assess thriving across different populations.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Development and validation of a multidimensional motivations to study abroad scale (MMSAS) among European credit mobility students

The aim was to establish and validate the Multidimensional Motivations to Study Abroad Scale (MMSAS) to measure university Credit Mobility Students’ (CMSs) reasons (e.g., academic, cross-cultural, personal growth) for studying abroad. The instrument was administered to a multi-language sample of 1333 European CMSs. The final measure included 27 items. Results supported nine factors for the English (both for native English speakers and the version for non-native English speakers), French, German, Italian, and Spanish versions; invariance across languages was demonstrated and evidence for construct validity is provided. Further research should explore the relevance of this measure to other populations (e.g., other languages, degree mobility students) and determine the relationship with students’ experiences and behaviours abroad. Abbreviations MMSAS, Multidimensional Motivations to Study Abroad Scale; CMS, Credit Mobility Students Keywords Motivations; Study abroad; Credit mobility programmes; Scale development; Confirmatory factor analysis; Scale invarianc

Perception of COVID-19 on the Employment and well-being Among Young Adults

Faculty advisor: Abigail Gewirtz; Research PI: Joyce SeridoDuring emerging adulthood (EA, 18-30 years old), individuals are expected to become financially self-sufficient, and the most common pathway is through employment. Many EAs were struggling to secure stable employment. As a result, EAs are taking longer to become financially self-sufficient and many continue to rely on family financial support in the third decade of life. The economic impact of COVID-19 restrictions on employment made it even more difficult for EAs. Specifically, many young workers lost their job, meanwhile some others are still employed but had significant income loss. The current study examined the impact of job loss and income loss due to COVID-19 on EAs worldwide by collecting data from 2,282 participants across six countries. Guided by the stress appraisal theory and life course theory, we conceptualized COVID-19 as a turning point, which created stressors such as job loss and income loss that disrupted the lives of EAs. We found that stressors such as job loss and income loss are associated with psychological well-being as well as general and future financial well-being. Specifically, this association was mediated by EAs’ primary appraisal, which was indicated by whether they perceived the pandemic as an opportunity or misfortune

How culturally unique are pandemic effects? Evaluating cultural similarities and differences in effects of age, biological sex, and political beliefs on COVID impacts

Despite being bio-epidemiological phenomena, the causes and effects of pandemics are culturally influenced in ways that go beyond national boundaries. However, they are often studied in isolated pockets, and this fact makes it difficult to parse the unique influence of specific cultural psychologies. To help fill in this gap, the present study applies existing cultural theories via linear mixed modeling to test the influence of unique cultural factors in a multi-national sample (that moves beyond Western nations) on the effects of age, biological sex, and political beliefs on pandemic outcomes that include adverse financial impacts, adverse resource impacts, adverse psychological impacts, and the health impacts of COVID. Our study spanned 19 nations (participant N = 14,133) and involved translations into 9 languages. Linear mixed models revealed similarities across cultures, with both young persons and women reporting worse outcomes from COVID across the multi-national sample. However, these effects were generally qualified by culture-specific variance, and overall more evidence emerged for effects unique to each culture than effects similar across cultures. Follow-up analyses suggested this cultural variability was consistent with models of pre-existing inequalities and socioecological stressors exacerbating the effects of the pandemic. Collectively, this evidence highlights the importance of developing culturally flexible models for understanding the cross-cultural nature of pandemic psychology beyond typical WEIRD approaches

Defining Moments in Medical History – Nurses' Narratives of their Everyday Experiences of a Key 20th Century Historical Event – the First Use of Antibiotics

This article provides illustrations of how West Yorkshire nurses described their experiences of new technologies during their working lives in the 1940s. This paper focuses on nurses’ experiences of using the first antibiotics. The narratives are from life story oral history interviews which provided a rich collection of nurses’ memories. Ten extracts from four of the transcripts are used to provide an insight into how these drugs were used and how the nurses viewed their impact. Methodological and theoretical issues of using oral history and life story approaches in nursing are explored. Concluding issues relate to how nurses as health care professionals perceived their ‘everyday life’ experiences in ‘ordinary’ settings and how they interpreted their past experiences of major historical health care moments

Emerging adulthood features and criteria for adulthood : Variable- and person-centered approaches

Reaching adulthood is the aim of the transition to adulthood; however, emerging adults differently define both adulthood and the transitional period they are living. Variable-centered and person-centered approaches were integrated in the present paper to investigate if the criteria used to define adulthood are linked to how emerging adults perceive the transitional phase they are going through. Participants were 1513 emerging adults (53.60% female; 807 university students and 706 young workers), aged from 19 to 30 years. Participants completed self-report measures about dimensions of emerging adulthood and criteria for adulthood. Main results revealed that, according to the variable-centered approach, criteria of adulthood and dimensions of emerging adulthood are only slightly associated, while the person-centered approach revealed that people who have a composite view of adulthood are also less probably perceiving their emerging adulthood as a period characterized by a lack of possibilities. Implications and future lines of research are discussed