Teen Dating Violence among Italian High School Students: A Quantitative Study on Gender Differences

Healthy relationships involve trust, integrity, respect, and cooperation. Unfortunately, teen dating violence is a serious problem and there has been a consensus that it has severe consequences on the victims’ physical and psychological health. It can negatively influence the development of healthy sexuality, intimacy, and identity of adolescents as they transition into adulthood. This study examined the gender differences in teen dating violence among 336 Italian adolescent students from four secondary schools in Reggio Emilia, aged 14 to 20 years. The study used questionnaires for data collection and the results revealed that both genders have a significantly greater acceptance of control behavior when compared to their acceptance of aggressive behavior. In addition, boys accepted interpersonal violence more than girls. A Significant high percentage of girls reported victimization, with physical, emotional, and threatening violence perpetrated more against them. Most of the teens were aware of TDV among peers, and an experience of TDV was among the causal attributions mentioned. Others reported the fear of losing a partner and reaction to a provoking behavior. The recommendations drawn included the importance of addressing masculinity models that see aggressiveness as part of their gender identity and the relevance of raising awareness of control behaviors as antecedents of teen dating violence

Do Pandemics Still Cause Mental Health Problems and Social Stigma? The case of COVID-19 in Egypt

Background: Globally, COVID-19 has caused panic, fear, depression, and anxiety, especially in the absence of knowledge regarding the causes and complications of the disease, along with its high rates of morbidity and mortality. This bundle of negative emotions may trigger acts of prejudice, discrimination, negative social behaviors, and stigmatization. Aim: To examine general mental health and its impact on the social stigma associated with COVID-19 among general population in Egypt. Methodology: The study was conducted using an online cross-sectional survey. A ‘snowball’ sampling was used to recruit 501 participants. This study utilized three tools, including Socio-demographic Data Sheet, General Health Questionnaire, and COVID-19 related Social Stigma Scale. Results: The study confirms a highly statistically significant direct relationship between mental health problems and social stigma: specifically, mental health significantly impacted social stigma toward COVID-19. Besides, there is a highly statistically significant inverse relationship between social stigma and educational level. However, unlike other research studies, this study shows that social stigma associated with the COVID-19 health crisis seems entirely uncommon in Egypt. Conclusion: Overall, the study subjects reported having no mental health problems during COVID-19 and have no stigma towards COVID-19. Except for the timing of data collection, these unexpected findings might be explained by the fact that most of the studied sample (59.1%) reported having a close family member infected by COVID-19. Keywords: COVID-19, Mental health, Social stigma, General population

Reliability of magnetic susceptibility weighted imaging in detection of cerebral microbleeds in stroke patients

AbstractObjectiveWe investigated the reliability of susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) in detecting cerebral microbleeds in stroke patients which predicts future recurrence and judges thrombolytic drugs.MethodsA total of 124 patients referred from stroke unit underwent conventional MRI and SWI. Two observers reviewed twice the SWI separately to identify presence, anatomical location and count of cerebral microbleeds. Inter and intraobserver agreement were calculated using Kappa statistics.ResultsIn SWI, intraobserver agreement for presence of CMBs in any brain location was almost perfect for both observers (K=0.86, p<0.01, 95% CI=0.83–0.89) (K=0.94, p<0.01, 95% CI=0.92–0.96), the interobserver agreement was almost perfect for first and second times (k=0.95, p<0.01, 95% CI=0.94–0.96), (k=0.84, p<0.01, 95% CI=0.8–0.89). Intraobserver agreement was almost perfect for the identified CMBs in each of the three main brain locations : lobar (k=0.9, p<0.01 95% CI=0.8–1), deep (k=0.81 p<0.01, 95% CI=0.71–0.91) and infratentorial (k=0.95 p<0.01, 95% CI=0.9–1).ConclusionSWI is an important reliable technique allows accurate detection of CMBs occurring in association with hemorrhage in acute and chronic stroke and should be included in the protocols for assessment of stroke to help in choice of proper treatment and prediction of future attacks