Pre-dialysis patients' perceived autonomy, self-esteem and labor participation: associations with illness perceptions and treatment perceptions. A cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Compared to healthy people, patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) participate less in paid jobs and social activities. The aim of the study was to examine a) the perceived autonomy, self-esteem and labor participation of patients in the pre-dialysis phase, b) pre-dialysis patients' illness perceptions and treatment perceptions, and c) the association of these perceptions with autonomy, self-esteem and labor participation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Patients (N = 109) completed questionnaires at home. Data were analysed using bivariate and multivariate analyses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results showed that the average autonomy levels were not very high, but the average level of self-esteem was rather high, and that drop out of the labor market already occurs during the pre-dialysis phase. Positive illness and treatment beliefs were associated with higher autonomy and self-esteem levels, but not with employment. Multiple regression analyses revealed that illness and treatment perceptions explained a substantial amount of variance in autonomy (17%) and self-esteem (26%). The perception of less treatment disruption was an important predictor.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Patient education on possibilities to combine CKD and its treatment with activities, including paid work, might stimulate positive (realistic) beliefs and prevent or challenge negative beliefs. Interventions focusing on these aspects may assist patients to adjust to CKD, and ultimately prevent unnecessary drop out of the labor market.</p

Acidic Extracellular pH Promotes Activation of Integrin αvβ3

Acidic extracellular pH is characteristic of the cell microenvironment in several important physiological and pathological contexts. Although it is well established that acidic extracellular pH can have profound effects on processes such as cell adhesion and migration, the underlying molecular mechanisms are largely unknown. Integrin receptors physically connect cells to the extracellular matrix, and are thus likely to modulate cell responses to extracellular conditions. Here, we examine the role of acidic extracellular pH in regulating activation of integrin [alpha]v[beta]3. Through computational molecular dynamics simulations, we find that acidic extracellular pH promotes opening of the [alpha]v[beta]3 headpiece, indicating that acidic pH can thereby facilitate integrin activation. This prediction is consistent with our flow cytometry and atomic force microscope-mediated force spectroscopy assays of integrin [alpha]v[beta]3 on live cells, which both demonstrate that acidic pH promotes activation at the intact cell surface. Finally, quantification of cell morphology and migration measurements shows that acidic extracellular pH affects cell behavior in a manner that is consistent with increased integrin activation. Taken together, these computational and experimental results suggest a new and complementary mechanism of integrin activation regulation, with associated implications for cell adhesion and migration in regions of altered pH that are relevant to wound healing and cancer.National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (U.S.) (Award Number T32EB006348)Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Collamore-Rogers Fellowship)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (NIH Cell Migration Consortium Grant U54-GM069668)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (CAREER Award)Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (BioSystem and Micromechanics (BioSyM) Interdisciplinary Research Group

Childhood emotional trauma and cyberbullying perpetration among emerging adults: a multiple mediation model of the role of problematic social media use and psychopathology

Research suggests that a small minority of social media users experience problems as a result of their online use. The purpose of the present study was to examine the association of cyberbullying perpetration and problematic social media use with childhood emotional trauma, Cluster B (narcissistic, histrionic, antisocial, and borderline) personality traits, dissociative experiences (DEs), depression, and self-esteem in a nonclinical undergraduate sample. A total of 344 university students volunteered to complete a questionnaire that included measures on the aforementioned dimensions. Thirty-eight percent of the participants had emotional neglect and 27% had emotional abuse, while 44% of them demonstrated at least one cyberbullying perpetration behavior. Results indicated that cyberbullying perpetrators had higher scores on problematic social media use, dissociative experiences, Cluster B traits, depression and childhood emotional trauma, and lower on self-esteem. Path analysis demonstrated that, while adjusting for gender and age, childhood emotional trauma was directly and indirectly associated with cyberbullying perpetration via Cluster B traits. Moreover, depression and dissociation were directly associated with problematic social media use. The findings of this study emphasize the important direct role of childhood emotional trauma and pathological personality traits on cyberbullying perpetration

Upper-secondary educational trajectories and young men’s and women’s self-esteem development in Switzerland

Adolescents’ self-esteem is an important indicator of their successful development and their well-being. This paper investigates the impact of educational trajectories on the development of women’s and men’s self-esteem from mid to late adolescence in Switzerland. We posit that cooling-out processes after educational failure, leading to a decrease in self-esteem, are more frequent among women than men attributable to particular institutional characteristics of the stratified educational system in Switzerland and gender differences in the salience of social comparison. Analyses are based on the middle cohort of the Swiss Survey of Children and Youth (COCON). The first three survey waves (2006–2009) were conducted when the respondents were 15, 16 and 18 years old. Self-esteem development was examined by using latent growth-curve models. Analyses show a boost of self-esteem both at the mean-level and the intra-individual level for all adolescents. However, the impact of educational success or failure in the years following the transition to post-compulsory education differs by gender. The evidence suggests that women’s self-esteem development is more affected by educational attainment than men’s