An Analysis of the Relationship between Humor Styles and Depression

The present study examined the relationship between humor styles and depression using two methods of examination: (1) the mean humor style differences between individuals who reported that they had been diagnosed with depression versus those who did not report being depressed; and (2) a short scale assessing depressed affect. Participants were 878 adult Australians. With respect to mean differences, depressed individuals were found to use self-defeating humor more, and self-enhancing humor less than non-depressed adults. When the depressed affect scale score was analyzed, negative correlations were found between depressed affect and both positive styles of humor, affiliative and self-enhancing. Additionally, a positive correlation was found between depressed affect and both aggressive and self-defeating humor. These results hope to shed light on the uses of humor in depressed individuals, and to further research to understand how humor can be used to improve or hurt depressive outcomes

Humor styles and the ten personality dimensions from the Supernumerary Personality Inventory

BACKGROUND The present study examines the relationship between humor styles and the 10 Supernumerary Personality Inventory (SPI) traits to understand how humor styles correlate with personality dimensions “beyond the Big Five” model. Humor styles and the personality dimensions of the SPI have yet to be explored. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore how humor styles correlate with traits outside of conventional personality models, in order to better understand humor expression related to personality traits. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE The data were from 693 adult participants (135 men and 560 women) from North America. RESULTS All four humor styles positively correlated with the SPI humorousness scale. The two positive humor styles, affiliative and self-enhancing, had significant positive correlations with the egotism SPI scale. The two negative humor styles, aggressive and self-defeating, had significant positive correlations with the SPI scales of seductiveness and manipulativeness and significant negative correlations with the integrity scale from the SPI. A sub-group of the sample (n = 471) also completed a Big Five personality measure. For this sample, the variance due to the Big Five was regressed out of the SPI scales. CONCLUSIONS The correlations between the SPI residuals and the humor style scores decreased from the unaltered SPI scale scores except for the aggressive humor style correlations, which were less affected, suggesting that this dimension of humor may have some variance “beyond” the Big Five

A Digital-First Health Care Approach to Managing Pandemics: Scoping Review of Pandemic Self-triage Tools

BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, many patient-facing digital self-triage tools were designed and deployed to alleviate the demand for pandemic virus triage in hospitals and physicians’ offices by providing a way for people to self-assess their health status and get advice on whether to seek care. These tools, provided via websites, apps, or patient portals, allow people to answer questions, for example, about symptoms and contact history, and receive guidance on appropriate care, which might be self-care. ObjectiveThis scoping review aimed to explore the state of literature on digital self-triage tools that direct or advise care for adults during a pandemic and to explore what has been learned about the intended purpose, use, and quality of guidance; tool usability; impact on providers; and ability to forecast health outcomes or care demand. MethodsA literature search was conducted in July 2021 using MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Cochrane databases. A total of 1311 titles and abstracts were screened by 2 researchers using Covidence, and of these, 83 (6.76%) articles were reviewed via full-text screening. In total, 22 articles met the inclusion criteria; they allowed adults to self-assess for pandemic virus, and the adults were directed to care. Using Microsoft Excel, we extracted and charted the following data: authors, publication year and country, country the tool was used in, whether the tool was integrated into a health care system, number of users, research question and purpose, direction of care provided, and key findings. ResultsAll but 2 studies reported on tools developed since early 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies reported on tools that were developed in 17 countries. The direction of care advice included directing to an emergency room, seeking urgent care, contacting or seeing a physician, being tested, or staying at home and self-isolating. Only 2 studies evaluated tool usability. No study demonstrated that the tools reduce demand on the health care system, although at least one study suggested that data can predict demand for care and that data allow monitoring public health. ConclusionsAlthough self-triage tools developed and used around the world have similarities in directing to care (emergency room, physician, and self-care), they differ in important ways. Some collect data to predict health care demand. Some are intended for use when concerned about health status; others are intended to be used repeatedly by users to monitor public health. The quality of triage may vary. The high use of such tools during the COVID-19 pandemic suggests that research is needed to assess and ensure the quality of advice given by self-triage tools and to assess intended or unintended consequences on public health and health care systems