Journal Articles

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/7915

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Subject: search.filters.subject.17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 18
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    Modeling evacuation decisions in the 2019 Kincade fire in California
    Kuligowski, ED; Zhao, X; Lovreglio, R; Xu, N; Yang, K; Westbury, A; Nilsson, D; Brown, N
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    Risk perception and knowledge of protective measures for flood risk planning. The case study of Brindisi (Puglia region)
    (2022-09-01) Santoro, S; Totaro, V; Lovreglio, R; Camarda, D; Iacobellis, V; Fratino, U
    Floods are among the most frequent natural hazards, and flood risk management is a paramount task when planning solutions to reduce their impact on communities. In the last decades, policy makers' actions for flood risk management have been redirected from purely physical self-protective measures towards integrated management strategies by including social components. Assessing flood risk perception and the level of knowledge of citizens regarding protective measures is becoming a pillar for generating innovative flood integrated management strategies. This study aims to highlight multiple aspects which can influence flood risk management in urban areas, providing a preliminary assessment of citizens’ flood risk perception and knowledge of protective measures. Proposed methodology is based on E-survey in order to gather data and Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests to analyze them and has been applied to the case study of Brindisi (Puglia region, Southern Italy). The results suggest that flood risk perception depends on intrinsic components of individuals, mainly related to trust in public strategies and risk communication. It depends on hazard proximity but is uniformly distributed over the whole city, demonstrating that the perception of flood risk can not be related only to river floods. Knowledge of protective measures appears uniformly low by category of citizens and territorial area, particularly for teenagers. The methodological approach has allowed to bring out how the different nature of floods could produce a spatial and social heterogeneity in citizens’ flood risk perception and knowledge of protective measures, revealing latent risk features useful for supporting flood risk planning.
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    Barriers and facilitators to implementation of healthy food and drink policies in public sector workplaces: a systematic literature review.
    (19/06/2023) Rosin M; Mackay S; Gerritsen S; Te Morenga L; Terry G; Ni Mhurchu C
    CONTEXT: Many countries and institutions have adopted policies to promote healthier food and drink availability in various settings, including public sector workplaces. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this review was to systematically synthesize evidence on barriers and facilitators to implementation of and compliance with healthy food and drink policies aimed at the general adult population in public sector workplaces. DATA SOURCES: Nine scientific databases, 9 grey literature sources, and government websites in key English-speaking countries along with reference lists. DATA EXTRACTION: All identified records (N = 8559) were assessed for eligibility. Studies reporting on barriers and facilitators were included irrespective of study design and methods used but were excluded if they were published before 2000 or in a non-English language. DATA ANALYSIS: Forty-one studies were eligible for inclusion, mainly from Australia, the United States, and Canada. The most common workplace settings were healthcare facilities, sports and recreation centers, and government agencies. Interviews and surveys were the predominant methods of data collection. Methodological aspects were assessed with the Critical Appraisal Skills Program Qualitative Studies Checklist. Generally, there was poor reporting of data collection and analysis methods. Thematic synthesis identified 4 themes: (1) a ratified policy as the foundation of a successful implementation plan; (2) food providers' acceptance of implementation is rooted in positive stakeholder relationships, recognizing opportunities, and taking ownership; (3) creating customer demand for healthier options may relieve tension between policy objectives and business goals; and (4) food supply may limit the ability of food providers to implement the policy. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that although vendors encounter challenges, there are also factors that support healthy food and drink policy implementation in public sector workplaces. Understanding barriers and facilitators to successful policy implementation will significantly benefit stakeholders interested or engaging in healthy food and drink policy development and implementation. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO registration no. CRD42021246340.
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    Sleep health in later life: Interviews exploring experiences, attitudes and behaviours of older people
    (Cambridge University Press, 21/04/2022) Crestani F; Williams G; Breheny M; Tupara H; Cunningham C; Gander P; Gibson R
    Sleep is vital for health and wellbeing across the lifecourse. Ethnic differences have been observed with regards to the prevalence and predictors of self-reported sleep problems. An understanding of sleep experiences with ageing and across ethnicities is required to better support older people. Open-ended interviews were conducted with 23 people living in Aotearoa/New Zealand aged 61-92 years (12 MAori and 11 non-MAori) concerning current sleep status, changes over their lifecourse and personal strategies for supporting good sleep. Participants typically expressed satisfaction with current sleep (usually pertaining to duration) or feelings that sleep was compromised (usually pertaining to waking function). Comparisons to a socially perceived 'ideal' sleep were common, with sleep transitions presented as a gradual and accepted part of ageing. Participants resisted medicalising sleep disruptions in older age. While participants were aware of ways to enhance their sleep, many acknowledged engaging in practices that undermined it. Unique insights from some MA ori participants indicated that sleep disruptions were not so readily pathologised compared to Western views and that sleeplessness could provide opportunity for cultural or spiritual connection. Common narratives underpinning the themes were: 'You don't need as much sleep when you're older', 'Sleep just fits in' and 'Having the time of my life'. Findings provide personal experiences and cultural interpretations relating to sleep and ageing. This provides the foundation for future participatory research to co-design sleep health messages which are meaningful for ageing well across ethnicities.
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    Testing the relevance, proximal, and distal effects of psychosocial safety climate and social support on job resources: A context-based approach
    (Taylor and Francis Group, 2019-01-01) Chin Chin Lee M; Lunn J
    Building on and extending the proximal-distal theoretical framework of motivation, we investigated the relevance of the role and effectiveness of psychosocial safety climate (PSC) and social support as contextual factors in assisting faculty members’ and university students’ cognitive and emotional resources. Three hundred and fifty faculty members (N = 175) and university students (N = 175) from 37 departments of 15 universities in Malaysia participated in this dual-rater multi-level study. Data analysis involved Hierarchical Linear Modeling. Individual-level analyses showed that social support influences faculty members’ and university students’ job resources. Cross-level analyses showed that PSC was effective in providing job resources to faculty members, but only to university students’ emotional resources. Between PSC and social support, PSC showed lesser influence as compared to social support. There was a stronger influence of PSC and social support on the provision of emotional resources to both faculty members and university students as compared to cognitive resources. In conclusion, positive organizational factors such as PSC and social support are important in affecting faculty members and university students’ job resources, especially emotional resources.
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    The Cannabis Use Problems Identification Test (CUPIT): Development, reliability, concurrent and predictive validity among adolescents and adults
    (John Wiley & Sons, 2010) Bashford J; Flett R; Copeland J
    AIMS: To describe the empirical construction and initial validation of the Cannabis Use Problems Identification Test (CUPIT), a brief self-report screening instrument for detection of currently and potentially problematic cannabis use.DESIGN: In a three-phase prospective design an item pool of candidate questions was generated from a literature review and extensive expert consultation. The CUPIT internal structure, cross-sectional and longitudinal psychometric properties were then systematically tested among heterogeneous past-year users.PARTICIPANTS: Volunteer participants were 212 high-risk adolescents (n = 138) and adults (n = 74) aged 13-61 years from multiple community settings.MEASUREMENTS: The comprehensive assessment battery included several established measures of cannabis-related pathology for CUPIT validation, with DSM-IV/ICD-10 diagnoses of cannabis use disorders as criterion standard.FINDINGS: Sixteen items loading highly on two subscales derived from principal components analysis exhibited good to excellent test-retest (0.89-0.99) and internal consistency reliability (0.92, 0.83), and highly significant ability to discriminate diagnostic subgroups along the severity continuum (non-problematic, risky, problematic use). Twelve months later, baseline CUPIT scores demonstrated highly significant longitudinal predictive utility for respondents' follow-up diagnostic group membership. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis identified a CUPIT score of 12 to be the optimal cut-point for maximizing sensitivity for both currently diagnosable cannabis use disorder and those at risk of meeting diagnostic criteria in the following 12 months.CONCLUSIONS: The CUPIT is a brief cannabis screener that is reliable, valid and acceptable for use across diverse community settings and consumers of all ages. The CUPIT has clear potential to assist with achievement of public health goals to reduce cannabis-related harms in the community.
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    Effects of eHealth literacy on general practitioner consultations: A mediation analysis
    (JMIR Publications, 16/05/2017) Schulz PJ; Fitzpatrick MA; Hess AC; Sudbury-Riley L; Hartung U
    Objective: We propose and test two potential mediators of the negative effect of eHealth literacy on health care utilization: (1) health information seeking and (2) gain in empowerment by information seeking. Methods: Data were collected in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States using a Web-based survey administered by a company specialized on providing online panels. Combined, the three samples resulted in a total of 996 baby boomers born between 1946 and 1965 who had used the Internet to search for and share health information in the previous 6 months. Measured variables include eHealth literacy, Internet health information seeking, the self-perceived gain in empowerment by that information, and the number of consultations with one’s general practitioner (GP). Path analysis was employed for data analysis. Results: We found a bundle of indirect effect paths showing a positive relationship between health literacy and health care utilization: via health information seeking (Path 1), via gain in empowerment (Path 2), and via both (Path 3). In addition to the emergence of these indirect effects, the direct effect of health literacy on health care utilization disappeared. Conclusions: The indirect paths from health literacy via information seeking and empowerment to GP consultations can be interpreted as a dynamic process and an expression of the ability to find, process, and understand relevant information when that is necessary.
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    Engagement in Vice Food and Beverage Consumption: The Role of Perceived Lack of Control
    (Wiley, 2022) Lunardo R; Jaud D; Jaspers E
    Prior research has established a link between lacking control over one's life, the resulting stress, and the maladaptive outcome of eating disorders. However, such research has left unexamined the exact link among perceptions of control, stress, and unhealthy food choices. This study aims to fill this gap by identifying the exact sequence linking these variables and explaining why stress induced by low control leads to engagement in vice food consumption. Based on self-licensing theory, we predict that a perceived lack of control indirectly prompts people to engage in vice food and beverage consumption, because a lack of control leads to higher personal stress and, consequently, a need to escape through self-indulgence. Across one survey-based study in France and two experiments (in the United States and the United Kingdom), we find consistent support for our hypothesis. The results support the prediction that a perceived lack of control increases the consumption of unhealthy foods and beverages. Specifically, when consumers feel a lack of control over their life, they experience stress, seek an escape from this stress, and end up self-indulging through the consumption of vice food and beverages. For public policy-makers and brand managers, the results suggest that having people perceive more control over their life is of particular importance to staying healthy.
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    Genomic signatures of cooperation and conflict in the social amoeba
    (1/01/2015) Ostrowski EA; Shen Y; Tian X; Sucgang R; Jiang H; Qu J; Katoh-Kurasawa M; Brock DA; Dinh C; Lara-Garduno F; Lee SL; Kovar CL; Dinh HH; Korchina V; Jackson LR; Patil S; Han Y; Chaboub L; Shaulsky G; Muzny DM; Worley KC; Gibbs RA; Richards S; Kuspa A; Strassmann JE; Queller DC
    © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. Summary Cooperative systems are susceptible to invasion by selfish individuals that profit from receiving the social benefits but fail to contribute. These so-called "cheaters" can have a fitness advantage in the laboratory, but it is unclear whether cheating provides an important selective advantage in nature. We used a population genomic approach to examine the history of genes involved in cheating behaviors in the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum, testing whether these genes experience rapid evolutionary change as a result of conflict over spore-stalk fate. Candidate genes and surrounding regions showed elevated polymorphism, unusual patterns of linkage disequilibrium, and lower levels of population differentiation, but they did not show greater between-species divergence. The signatures were most consistent with frequency-dependent selection acting to maintain multiple alleles, suggesting that conflict may lead to stalemate rather than an escalating arms race. Our results reveal the evolutionary dynamics of cooperation and cheating and underscore how sequence-based approaches can be used to elucidate the history of conflicts that are difficult to observe directly.
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    Transformation and time-out: The role of alcohol in identity construction among Scottish women in early midlife
    (Elsevier, 2015) Emslie C; Hunt K; Lyons AC
    Despite the increase in drinking by women in early midlife, little alcohol research has focused on this group. We explore how alcohol is associated with the construction of gender identities among women aged 30-50 years in the west of Scotland, United Kingdom. We draw on qualitative data from 11 focus groups (five all-female, six mixed-sex) with pre-existing groups of friends and work colleagues in which women and men discuss their drinking behaviours. Analysis demonstrated how alcohol represented a time and space away from paid and unpaid work for women in a range of domestic circumstances, allowing them to relax and unwind. While women used alcohol to construct a range of identities, traditional notions of femininity remained salient (e.g. attention to appearance, drinking 'girly' drinks). Drinking enabled women to assert their identity beyond the roles and responsibilities often associated with being a woman in early midlife. For example, some respondents with young children described the transformative effects of excessive drinking which allowed them to return temporarily to a younger, carefree version of themselves. Thus, our data suggest that women's drinking in early midlife revolves around notions of 'idealised' femininity but simultaneously represents a way of achieving 'time out' from traditional female responsibilities such as caring for others. We consider these findings within a broader social and cultural context including alcohol marketing, domestic roles and motherhood and their implications for health promotion.