Browsing by Author "Taylor J"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    An evaluation of the Opening Minds Scale for Health Care Providers
    (American Psychological Association, 2025-03-03) Daguman EI; Taylor J
    Health workers hold stigmatizing attitudes toward people with mental distress, and contact-based interventions have been developed to address these attitudes. However, measures used to evaluate interventions have mixed validity support, including measures developed with service user involvement. The present study intended to provide a psychometric examination of one such measure, the 15-item Opening Minds Scale for Health Care Providers (Kassam et al., 2012; Modgill et al., 2014). With 286 health worker participants from a paid academic survey platform, including 19 retest samples, the focus was on addressing methodological limitations of previous psychometric evaluations. Current data demonstrated mixed fit to the known correlated three-factor structure (standardized root-mean-square residual [SRMR] = .057, root-mean-square error of approximation [RMSEA] = .054, comparative fit index = .754, Tucker–Lewis fit index = .897) and poor fit with the unidimensional model (SRMR = .080, RMSEA = .084, comparative fit index = .418, Tucker–Lewis fit index = .755). Data fitting to the bifactor solution (a structure comprising a general factor and three lower order factors) was attempted but did not converge. Scores had strong internal consistency (ωt = .73–.86), very weak test–retest reliability (r = −.46 to .21), and weak to moderate albeit statistically significant support for the interrelationship between the factors (rs = .32–.55). There is some evidence to consider the 15-item Opening Minds Scale for Health Care Providers as a viable measure of stigmatizing attitudes. However, further robust and transparent evaluations are still needed to surface better validity support.
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    Facebook intrusion as a mediator between positive capital and general distress: A cross-cultural study
    (Frontiers Media, 2021) Taylor J
    Background: Social networking sites (SNSs) play an important role in many aspects of life nowadays, and it seems to be crucial to explore their impact on human well-being and functioning. The main aim of the study was to examine the mediating role of Facebook intrusion between positive capital and general distress. Positive capital was considered as comprising self-esteem, ego-resiliency, and self-control, while general distress was seen as having three dimensions: depression, anxiety, and stress. Methods: The sample consisted of N = 4,495 participants (M = 22.96 years, SD = 5.46) from 14 countries: Australia, Cyprus, Greece, Hong Kong, Lithuania, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Russia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and United States. We used the following methods: the Facebook Intrusion Questionnaire (FIQ), the Self-Esteem Scale (SES), the Brief Self-Control Scale (SCS), The Ego Resiliency Revised Scale and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21). Results: We found that Facebook intrusion was a mediator between self-esteem and general distress and between self-control and general distress. Limitations: The present study was based on a cross-sectional study, and the measures used were self-report measures. The majority of the participants were recruited using convenience sampling. Conclusions: The present findings contribute to a better understanding on how the social media have impact on individual mental health. Implications for future studies are discussed.
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    Let's talk about sexuality and relationships
    (New Zealand Psychological Society, 2009) Buckley L; Salisbury R; Taylor J; Harvey ST
    Overseas research on sexual and relational disorders is varied and widespread. However, relatively little is known about such problems in New Zealand. The present study describes a cohort of clients seen by the Sex Therapy New Zealand service in one year, with a particular focus on the presenting symptoms in relation to existing models of sexual functioning problems. The therapists of the 46 clients who consented to participate completed a short questionnaire about the client and the therapy process. The key finding was that therapists identified relational problems as central to the sexual problem, while these issues were not identified in the referral. A larger study on sexual problems in New Zealand is needed to replicate and extend the results of this study, with a view to developing an integrated diagnostic, assessment, and treatment model for sexual and relationship problems.
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    Maternal depressive symptoms in and beyond the perinatal period: Associations with infant and preschooler sleep
    (Oxford University Press on behalf of Sleep Research Society, 2024-10-29) Carter ML; Paine S-J; Sweeney BM; Taylor J; Signal TL
    Study Objectives (1) To describe sleep in infancy and early childhood among children born to mothers with and without clinically significant depressive symptoms, and (2) to explore the relationships between maternal depressive symptoms and sleep patterns and problems during infancy and early childhood. Methods Secondary analysis of longitudinal data from the Moe Kura: Mother and Child, Sleep and Wellbeing in Aotearoa/New Zealand study. Data were collected in pregnancy (T1), 12 weeks postpartum (T2), and 3 years post-birth (T3). Participants were 262 Māori and 594 non-Māori mother–child dyads. Chi-square and independent t-tests measured bivariate associations between maternal mood (T1, T2, and T3) and child sleep characteristics (T2 and T3). Binary logistic regression models examined longitudinal and concurrent associations between maternal depressive symptoms and infant and preschooler sleep. Adjusted models accounted for key socio-demographic variables, as well as infant sleep variables in preschooler models. Results Bivariate associations were found between prior and concurrent depressive symptomology and many of the infant and preschooler sleep outcomes. In adjusted models, prenatal depressive symptoms remained independently associated with shorter-than-recommended sleep durations in preschoolers. In these models, concurrent depression was also associated with night waking, night LSRSP, and perceived sleep problems at 12 weeks postpartum, and CSHQ-determined and perceived sleep problems at 3 years post-birth. Conclusions Longitudinal and cross-sectional associations were found between maternal depressive symptoms and child sleep. Sleep appears to be one pathway by which maternal depression confers risk for suboptimal child health outcomes. Findings support the need for earlier and better maternal mental health services.
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    Performing smart sexual selves: A sexual scripting analysis of youth talk about internet pornography
    (SAGE Publications, 2023-01-22) Healy-Cullen S; Morison T; Taylor J; Taylor K
    In this article, we explore young New Zealanders’ use of sexual scripts in talk about Internet pornography (IP) to perform ‘smart’ sexual selves. Using sexual scripting theory, as developed by feminist discursive psychologists, our analysis of interview data generated with 10 youth (aged 16–18 years) highlights two commonly constructed sexual identities across youth talk; (i) the proficient Internet pornography user, and (ii) the astute Internet pornography viewer. The way these young people talk about portrayals of sexuality and gender in IP – and their ability to discern its artifice – suggests they are savvy consumers who are capable of using IP as a cultural resource (e.g. for learning, entertainment) while at the same time acknowledging it as a flawed representation of sex and sexuality. We discuss the implications of our findings for strengths-based sexuality education that supports sexual agency, proposing a justice-orientated approach grounded in the notion of ethical sexual citizenship.
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    Polish adaptation of the driving and riding avoidance scale
    (Versita, 2013) Blachnio A; Przepiórka A; Sullman M; Taylor J
    Driving anxiety is a relatively undervalued topic of research, despite the fact that it can have a substantial detrimental impact on an individual’s life. The prevalence of driving anxiety in motor vehicle crash (MVC) survivors has been found to range from 18-77%. Although driving anxiety can develop without crash involvement, no information currently exists on the prevalence of driving anxiety in the general population. One barrier to gathering this information is that most of the instruments are designed to measure driving anxiety in MVC survivors. However, the Driving and Riding Avoidance Scale (DRAS; Stewart & St. Peter, 2004) is one instrument that shows promise as a more general measure of driving anxiety, although previous research has noted the need for some minor adaptations (Taylor & Sullman, 2009). Therefore, the present study investigated the psychometric properties of an adapted version of the DRAS and the level of driving anxiety amongst a sample of 210 Polish participants. Internal consistency for the overall DRAS was .91 and ranged from .77 to .85 for the subscales. Factor analysis of the DRAS resulted in two clear factors, with the first containing driving avoidance items and the second consisting solely of riding avoidance items. Therefore it appears that the DRAS can be a useful measure of driving avoidance in samples drawn from the general population as well as MVC survivors.
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    What does it mean to be ‘porn literate’? Perspectives of young people, parents and teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand
    (Taylor and Francis Group, 5/04/2023) Healy-Cullen S; Morison T; Taylor J; Taylor K
    Porn literacy education is a pedagogical strategy responding to youth engagement with pornography through digital media. The approach is intended to increase young people's knowledge and awareness regarding the portrayal of sexuality in Internet pornography. However, what being 'porn literate' entails, and what a porn literacy education curricula should therefore include, is not a settled matter. Recognising the importance of end-user perspectives, 24 semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents, teachers and young people in Aotearoa (New Zealand) and analysed via critical, constructionist thematic analysis. Participants drew on a developmentalist discourse and a discourse of harm to construct porn literacy education as a way to inoculate young people against harmful effects, distortions of reality, and unhealthy messages. In addition to this dominant construction of porn literacy education, we identified talk that to some extent resisted these dominant discourses. Building on these instances of resistance, and asset-based constructions of youth based on their agency and capability, we point to an ethical sexual citizenship pedagogy as an alternative approach to porn literacy education.