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Objective: The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) is widely used to screen for anxiety and depression. A large literature is citable in support of its validity, but difficulties are increasingly being identified, such as inexplicably discrepant optimal cutpoints and inconsistent factor-structures. This article examines whether these problems could be due to the construction of the HADS that poses difficulties for translation and cross-cultural use. Methods: Authors’ awareness of difficulties translating the HADS were identified by examining 20% of studies using the HADS, obtained by a systematic literature search in Pubmed and PsycINFO in May 2012. Reports of use of translations and validation studies were recorded for papers from non-English speaking countries. Narrative and systematic reviews were examined for how authors dealt with different translations. Results: Of 417 papers from non-English speaking countries, only 45% indicated whether a translation was used. Studies validating translations were cited in 54%. Seventeen reviews, incorporating data from diverse translated versions, were examined. Only seven mentioned issues of language and culture, and none indicated insurmountable problems in integrating results from different translations. Conclusion: Initial decisions concerning item content and response options likely leave the HADS difficult to translate, but we failed to find an acknowledgment of problems in articles involving its translation and cross-cultural use. Investigators’ lack of awareness of these issues can lead to anomalous results and difficulties in interpretation and integration of these results. Reviews tend to overlook these issues and most reviews indiscriminately integrate results from studies performed in different countries. Cross-culturally valid, but literally translated versions of the HADS may not be attainable, and specific cutpoints may not be valid across cultures and language. Claims about rates of anxiety and depression based on integrating cross-cultural data or using the same cutpoint across languages and culture should be subject to critical scrutiny. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In health-related research, an increasing number of clinical assessment tools are translated and cross-culturally adapted for cross-national and cross-cultural studies and comparisons. However, when translating and cross-culturally adapting clinical assessment tools for use across new countries, cultures, or languages, we must follow a thorough method to reach semantic, idiomatic, experiential, and conceptual equivalences between translated and original versions. Therefore, in this study, we translated and cross-culturally adapted the Protocolo MBGR (Marchesan, Berretin-Felix, Genaro, and Rehder) from Brazilian Portuguese into English, following international guidelines, and named it "MBGR Protocol." To verify its content validity, we used the Content Validity Index. Results indicated excellent content validity: a Scale-Content Validity Index of 0.96 and 97% of all translation units with an Item-Content Validity Index of 1.00. Also, to prove its face validity and confirm whether it worked in the target population's linguistic-cultural setting, we used it with 35 subjects. Again, results demonstrated excellent face validity: in the pretest, 91% of all translation units were considered comprehensible and clear; in the pilot test, 98% of all translation units were considered comprehensible and clear. Thus, we concluded that the MBGR Protocol is promising to enhance the uptake of studies in Orofacial Myology worldwide and support researchers and health professionals in assessing and diagnosing orofacial myofunctional disorders in children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly. Also, it may support evidence-based practice and assist in standardizing assessment and diagnostic criteria. The MBGR Protocol should have its psychometric properties tested before being used in clinical practice or scientific research. Therefore, future studies are needed, and collaborations among researchers from South and North American countries are encouraged to create an international network and advance with knowledge and skills in the Orofacial Myology discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A previous study by Chen demonstrates a correlation between languages that grammatically mark future events and their speakers' propensity to save, even after controlling for numerous economic and demographic factors. The implication is that languages which grammatically distinguish the present and the future may bias their speakers to distinguish them psychologically, leading to less future-oriented decision making. However, Chen's original analysis assumed languages are independent. This neglects the fact that languages are related, causing correlations to appear stronger than is warranted (Galton's problem). In this paper, we test the robustness of Chen's correlations to corrections for the geographic and historical relatedness of languages. While the question seems simple, the answer is complex. In general, the statistical correlation between the two variables is weaker when controlling for relatedness. When applying the strictest tests for relatedness, and when data is not aggregated across individuals, the correlation is not significant. However, the correlation did remain reasonably robust under a number of tests. We argue that any claims of synchronic patterns between cultural variables should be tested for spurious correlations, with the kinds of approaches used in this paper. However, experiments or case-studies would be more fruitful avenues for future research on this specific topic, rather than further large-scale cross-cultural correlational studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Trust is regarded as a necessary component for the smooth running of society, although societal and political modernising processes have been linked to an increase in mistrust, potentially signalling social and economic problems. Fukuyama developed the notion of ‘high trust’ and ‘low trust’ societies, as a way of understanding trust within different societies. The purpose of this paper is to empirically test and extend Fukuyama’s theory utilising data on interpersonal trust in Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, Australia and Thailand. This paper focuses on trust in family, neighbours, strangers, foreigners and people with a different religion. Methods: Cross-sectional surveys were undertaken in 2009–10, with an overall sample of 6331. Analyses of differences in overall levels of trust between countries were undertaken using Chi square analyses. Multivariate binomial logistic regression analysis was undertaken to identify socio-demographic predictors of trust in each country. Results: Our data indicate a tripartite trust model: ‘high trust’ in Australia and Hong Kong; ‘medium trust’ in Japan and Taiwan; and ‘low trust’ in South Korea and Thailand. Trust in family and neighbours were very high across all countries, although trust in people with a different religion, trust in strangers and trust in foreigners varied considerably between countries. The regression models found a consistent group of subpopulations with low trust across the countries: people on low incomes, younger people and people with poor self-rated health. The results were conflicting for gender: females had lower trust in Thailand and Hong Kong, although in Australia, males had lower trust in strangers, whereas females had lower trust in foreigners. Conclusion: This paper identifies high, medium and low trust societies, in addition to high and low trusting population subgroups. Our analyses extend the seminal work of Fukuyama, providing both corroboration and refutation for his theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Google Books Ngram Viewer (Google Ngram) is a search engine that charts word frequencies from a large corpus of books and thereby allows for the examination of cultural change as it is reflected in books. While the tool's massive corpus of data (about 8 million books or 6% of all books ever published) has been used in various scientific studies, concerns about the accuracy of results have simultaneously emerged. This paper reviews the literature and serves as a guideline for improving Google Ngram studies by suggesting five methodological procedures suited to increase the reliability of results. In particular, we recommend the use of (I) different language corpora, (II) cross-checks on different corpora from the same language, (III) word inflections, (IV) synonyms, and (V) a standardization procedure that accounts for both the influx of data and unequal weights of word frequencies. Further, we outline how to combine these procedures and address the risk of potential biases arising from censorship and propaganda. As an example of the proposed procedures, we examine the cross-cultural expression of religion via religious terms for the years 1900 to 2000. Special emphasis is placed on the situation during World War II. In line with the strand of literature that emphasizes the decline of collectivistic values, our results suggest an overall decrease of religion's importance. However, religion re-gains importance during times of crisis such as World War II. By comparing the results obtained through the different methods, we illustrate that applying and particularly combining our suggested procedures increase the reliability of results and prevents authors from deriving wrong assumptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After being the standard plant propagation protocol for decades, cultures of Arabidopsis thaliana sealed with Parafilm remain common today out of practicality, habit, or necessity (as in co-cultures with microorganisms). Regardless of concerns over the aeration of these cultures, no investigation has explored the CO2 transport inside these cultures and its effect on the plants. Thereby, it was impossible to assess whether Parafilm-seals used today or in thousands of older papers in the literature constitute a treatment, and whether this treatment could potentially affect the study of other treatments. For the first time we report the CO2 concentrations in Parafilm-sealed cultures of A. thaliana with a 1 minute temporal resolution, and the transcriptome comparison with aerated cultures. The data show significant CO2 deprivation to the plants, a drastic suppression of photosynthesis, respiration, starch accumulation, chlorophyll biosynthesis, and an increased accumulation of reactive oxygen species. Most importantly, CO2 deprivation occurs as soon as the cotyledons emerge. Gene expression analysis indicates a significant alteration of 35% of the pathways when compared to aerated cultures, especially in stress response and secondary metabolism processes. On the other hand, the observed increase in the production of glucosinolates and flavonoids suggests intriguing possibilities for CO2 deprivation as an organic biofortification treatment in high-value crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Due to changes in Polish society resulting from a significant inflow of immigrants to Poland, the need to develop the cultural competences of various professional groups who have contact with immigrants in their work has increased. These groups should include healthcare professionals, especially because of the significant increase in the number of culturally diverse patients. Therefore, medical education in Poland has had to rapidly adapt to this novel situation. For instance, the teaching process should be now more focused on the development and evaluation of the cultural competences of prospective health care workers. However, there is still a lack of standardized, valid and reliable instruments to assess cross-cultural competences among healthcare professionals. The purpose of the present paper was to describe, for the first time, the translation, adaptation, and psychometric evaluation of the Polish version of the Cross-Cultural Competence Inventory. Methods: Across two studies, we examined psychometric properties of the Cross-Cultural Competence Inventory (CCCI) such as reliability (i.e. internal consistency, test-retest reliability, factor structure) and validity (i.e. theoretical, criteria, convergent). In the first study, 408 participants (75% were healthcare professionals) completed the Polish version of the CCCI and the Positive/Negative Attitude Towards Culturally Divergent People Questionnaire. In the second study, 317 participants (97% were healthcare professionals) completed the CCCI twice, with an interval of at least 22 days. In addition, across two study sessions, participants completed questionnaires constructed to measure (a) cultural intelligence, (b) need for cognitive closure, (c) emphatic sensitiveness, (d) emotional intelligence, (e) self-esteem, (f) social desirability, and (g) personality. Finally, to additionally examine the theoretical validity, 36 professional cross-cultural competence trainers completed the CCCI during a one-session study. Results: Our findings confirm the reliability and validity of the CCCI. More precisely, in study 1 we proved the theoretical validity and reliability (i.e. internal consistency) of the CCCI. While the assumed structure did not fit the data well, all items were significantly related to the general factor, thus providing strong support for the usage of the total score of the CCCI. In study 2, we additionally estimated the test-retest reliability and theoretical, criterion and convergent validity. Across two studies we were able to successfully confirm these psychometric properties. The reliability was satisfactory and ranged from .83 to .86. We also observed a high and significant positive correlation between CCCI and the Cultural Intelligence Scale, which measures a concept similar to the one measured by CCCI. In addition, a significant relationship between intercultural competences (CCCI) and other variables such as personality, empathic sensitivity, emotional intelligence, self-esteem (positive correlations) and the need for cognitive closure (mainly negative correlation) were demonstrated. Conclusions: The obtained results support the usage of the CCCI questionnaire in scientific research, such as, for example, among healthcare professionals (nurses, doctors) and students of medical fields (nursing, medicine). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the pursuit of socially sustainable water and sanitation infrastructure for all people by discovering statistically robust relationships between Hofstede’s dimensions of cross-cultural comparison and the choice of contract award types, project type, and primary revenue sources. This analysis, which represents 973 projects distributed across 24 low- and middle-income nations, uses a World Bank dataset describing high capital cost water and sewerage projects funded through private investment. The results show that cultural dimensions explain variation in the choice of contract award types, project type, and primary revenue sources. These results provide empirical evidence that strategies for water and sewerage project organization are not culturally neutral. The data show, for example, that highly individualistic contexts are more likely to select competitive contract award types and to depend on user fees to provide the primary project revenue stream post-construction. By selecting more locally appropriate ways to organize projects, project stakeholders will be better able to pursue the construction of socially sustainable water and sewerage infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It is unclear what biopsychosocial factors influence the impact of NAFLD on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and if these factors are equally important predictors between different nationalities. Methods: HRQoL (CLDQ) was measured in both Southern European (Spain, n = 513) and Northern European (United Kingdom -UK-, n = 224) cohorts of patients with NAFLD in this cross-sectional study. For each cohort, participant data were recorded on histological grade of steatohepatitis, stage of fibrosis and biopsychosocial variables. Regression analysis was used to explore which of these variables predicted HRQoL. Moderated mediation models were conducted using SPSS PROCESS v3.5 macro. Results: Participants with severe fibrosis reported more fatigue, systemic symptoms and worry, and lower HRQoL than those with none/mild fibrosis, regardless of place of origin. In addition, body mass index (BMI) and gender were found to be significant predictors of HRQoL in both Spanish and UK participants. Female gender was associated with worse emotional function, higher BMI and more fatigue, which predicted lower participants' HRQoL. UK participants showed more systemic symptoms and worry than Spanish participants, regardless of liver severity. The negative effects of gender on HRQoL through emotional function, BMI and fatigue were reported to a greater degree in UK than in Spanish participants. Conclusions: UK participants showed a greater impairment in HRQoL as compared to Spanish participants. Higher fibrosis stage predicted lower HRQoL, mainly in the Spanish cohort. Factors such as female gender or higher BMI contributed to the impact on HRQoL in both cohorts of patients and should be considered in future multinational intervention studies in NAFLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior cross-cultural studies have demonstrated differences among Eastern and Western cultures in memory and cognition along with variation in neuroanatomy and functional engagement. We further probed cultural neuroanatomical variability in terms of its relationship with memory performance. Specifically, we investigated how memory performance related to gray matter volume in several prefrontal lobe structures, including across cultures. For 58 American and 57 Taiwanese young adults, memory performance was measured with the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) using performance on learning trial 1, on which Americans had higher scores than the Taiwanese, and the long delayed free recall task, on which groups performed similarly. MRI data were reconstructed using FreeSurfer. Across both cultures, we observed that larger volumes of the bilateral rostral anterior cingulate were associated with lower scores on both CVLT tasks. In terms of effects of culture, the relationship between learning trial 1 scores and gray matter volumes in the right superior frontal gyrus had a trend for a positive relationship in Taiwanese but not in Americans. In addition to the a priori analysis of select frontal volumes, an exploratory whole-brain analysis compared volumes—without considering CVLT performance—across the two cultural groups in order to assess convergence with prior research. Several cultural differences were found, such that Americans had larger volumes in the bilateral superior frontal and lateral occipital cortex, whereas Taiwanese had larger volumes in the bilateral rostral middle frontal and inferior temporal cortex, and the right precuneus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past research has shown that culture can form and shape our temporal orientation–the relative emphasis on the past, present, or future. However, there are mixed findings on how temporal orientations vary between North American and East Asian cultures due to the limitations of survey methodology and sampling. In this study, we applied an inductive approach and leveraged big data and natural language processing between two popular social media platforms–Twitter and Weibo–to assess the similarities and differences in temporal orientation in the United States of America and China, respectively. We first established predictive models from annotation data and used them to classify a larger set of English Twitter sentences (NTW = 1,549,136) and a larger set of Chinese Weibo sentences (NWB = 95,181) into four temporal catetories–past, future, atemporal present, and temporal present. Results show that there is no significant difference between Twitter and Weibo on past or future orientations; the large temporal orientation difference between North Americans and Chinese derives from their different prevailing focus on atemporal (e.g., facts, ideas) present (Twitter) or temporal present (e.g., the "here" and "now") (Weibo). Our findings contribute to the debate on cultural differences in temporal orientations with new perspectives following a new methodological approach. The study's implications call for a reevaluation of how temporal orientation is measured in cross-cultural studies, emphasizing the use of large-scale language data and acknowledging the atemporal present category. Understanding temporal orientations can guide effective cross-cultural communication strategies to tailor approaches for different audience based on temporal orientations, enhancing intercultural understanding and engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the factor structure and measurement invariance of the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ) across American and Chinese samples. Results based on the mean and covariance structure analyses supported configural invariance, metric invariance and scalar invariance across groups. Latent means analyses revealed that American sample had significantly higher mean scores on task and ego orientations than the Chinese sample. The findings suggest that the TEOSQ is a valid and reliable instrument in assessing achievement motivation across these two diverse populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the foods we eat and the houses we construct, to our religious practices and political organization, to who we can marry and the types of games we teach our children, the diversity of cultural practices in the world is astounding. Yet, our ability to visualize and understand this diversity is limited by the ways it has been documented and shared: on a culture-by-culture basis, in locally-told stories or difficult-to-access repositories. In this paper we introduce D-PLACE, the Database of Places, Language, Culture, and Environment. This expandable and open-access database (accessible at ) brings together a dispersed corpus of information on the geography, language, culture, and environment of over 1400 human societies. We aim to enable researchers to investigate the extent to which patterns in cultural diversity are shaped by different forces, including shared history, demographics, migration/diffusion, cultural innovations, and environmental and ecological conditions. We detail how D-PLACE helps to overcome four common barriers to understanding these forces: i) location of relevant cultural data, (ii) linking data from distinct sources using diverse ethnonyms, (iii) variable time and place foci for data, and (iv) spatial and historical dependencies among cultural groups that present challenges for analysis. D-PLACE facilitates the visualisation of relationships among cultural groups and between people and their environments, with results downloadable as tables, on a map, or on a linguistic tree. We also describe how D-PLACE can be used for exploratory, predictive, and evolutionary analyses of cultural diversity by a range of users, from members of the worldwide public interested in contrasting their own cultural practices with those of other societies, to researchers using large-scale computational phylogenetic analyses to study cultural evolution. In summary, we hope that D-PLACE will enable new lines of investigation into the major drivers of cultural change and global patterns of cultural diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study investigated the features of cross-cultural recognition of four basic emotions "joy–neutral (calm state)–sad–anger" in the spontaneous and acting speech of Indian and Russian children aged 8–12 years across Russian and Tamil languages. The research tasks were to examine the ability of Russian and Indian experts to recognize the state of Russian and Indian children by their speech, determine the acoustic features of correctly recognized speech samples, and specify the influence of the expert's language on the cross-cultural recognition of the emotional states of children. The study includes a perceptual auditory study by listeners and instrumental spectrographic analysis of child speech. Different accuracy and agreement between Russian and Indian experts were shown in recognizing the emotional states of Indian and Russian children by their speech, with more accurate recognition of the emotional state of children in their native language, in acting speech vs spontaneous speech. Both groups of experts recognize the state of anger via acting speech with the high agreement. The difference between the groups of experts was in the definition of joy, sadness, and neutral states depending on the test material with a different agreement. Speech signals with emphasized differences in acoustic patterns were more accurately classified by experts as belonging to emotions of different activation. The data showed that, despite the universality of basic emotions, on the one hand, the cultural environment affects their expression and perception, on the other hand, there are universal non-linguistic acoustic features of the voice that allow us to identify emotions via speech. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early life environments afford infants a variety of learning opportunities, and caregivers play a fundamental role in shaping infant early life experience. Variation in maternal attitudes and parenting practices is likely to be greater between than within cultures. However, there is limited cross-cultural work characterising how early life environment differs across populations. We examined the early life environment of infants from two cultural contexts where attitudes towards parenting and infant development were expected to differ: in a group of 53 mother-infant dyads in the UK and 44 mother-infant dyads in Uganda. Participants were studied longitudinally from when infants were 3– to 15–months-old. Questionnaire data revealed the Ugandan mothers had more relational attitudes towards parenting than the mothers from the UK, who had more autonomous parenting attitudes. Using questionnaires and observational methods, we examined whether infant development and experience aligned with maternal attitudes. We found the Ugandan infants experienced a more relational upbringing than the UK infants, with Ugandan infants receiving more distributed caregiving, more body contact with their mothers, and more proximity to mothers at night. Ugandan infants also showed earlier physical development compared to UK infants. Contrary to our expectations, however, Ugandan infants were not in closer proximity to their mothers during the day, did not have more people in proximity or more partners for social interaction compared to UK infants. In addition, when we examined attitudes towards specific behaviours, mothers' attitudes rarely predicted infant experience in related contexts. Taken together our findings highlight the importance of measuring behaviour, rather than extrapolating expected behaviour based on attitudes alone. We found infants' early life environment varies cross-culturally in many important ways and future research should investigate the consequences of these differences for later development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies on self-enhancement bias used self-report measures to investigate individual and cultural differences in well-being. In the current research, we took a behavioral approach to analyze positive and negative perception tendencies between European Canadians, Asian Canadians and Koreans. In Study 1 and 2, participants were asked to bet on their expectation of success on a given task and then perform the task. The betting behaviors and actual performance were used to quantify positive and negative perception tendencies. In Study 1, we did not find cultural differences in positive and negative illusions. Positive self-perceptions were also not associated with higher self-reported well-being. In Study 2, we employed the same research design as Study 1, and we included a measure of perceived desirability to examine whether perceived desirability of the performance tasks are related to the two illusions indices. The results from Study 2 replicated the findings from Study 1, and perceived desirability did not influence the results. Our findings suggest that North Americans do not always exhibit more positive self-perceptions than Asians, suggesting that North Americans do not always view the self through rose-colored lenses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To compare health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and symptom burden following meningioma resection in patients from two samples from Australia and India. This will add to the body of data on the longer-term consequences of living with a meningioma in two socio-economically and culturally different countries. Methods: The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Core Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-C30), Brain Neoplasm Module (QLQ-BN20) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were administered to 159 Australian and 92 Indian meningioma patients over 24 months postoperative. A linear mixed model analysis identified differences between groups over time. Results: Australian patients reported better physical functioning in the early months after surgery (T1: mean diff: 19.8, p<0.001; T2: mean diff: 12.5, p = 0.016) whereas Indian patients reported better global HRQoL (mean: -20.3, p<0.001) and emotional functioning (mean diff:-15.6, p = 0.020) at 12–24 months. In general, Australian patients reported more sleep and fatigue symptoms while Indian patients reported more gastro-intestinal symptoms over the 2-year follow-up. Future uncertainty and symptoms common for brain tumour patients were consistently more commonly reported by patients in Australia than in India. No differences for depression and anxiety were identified. Conclusion: This is the first cross cultural study to directly compare postoperative HRQoL in meningioma patients. Some differences in HRQoL domains and symptom burden may be explained by culturally intrinsic reporting of symptoms, as well as higher care support from family members in India. Although there were differences in some HRQoL domains, clinically meaningful differences between the two samples were less common than perhaps expected. This may be due to an Indian sample with high literacy and financial resources to afford surgery and follow up care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This study aimed to examine the prevalence of delays and borderline impaired performance for Brazilian girls and boys and the differences in the motor trajectories (locomotor and ball skills) of girls and boys (3- to 10-years-old) across WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrial, Rich, and Democratic) countries and Brazil–a low- and middle-income country (LMIC). Methods: We assessed 1000 children (524 girls; 476 boys), 3- to 10.9-year-old (M = 6.9, SD = 2.1; Girls M = 6.9, SD = 2.0; Boys M = 6.9, SD = 2.1), using the Test of Gross Motor Development-3. Using systematic search, original studies investigating FMS in children using the TGMD-3 were eligible; 5 studies were eligible to have the results compared to the Brazilian sample. One sample t-test to run the secondary data from Irish, American, Finnish, and German children (i.e., mean, standard deviation). Results: The prevalence of delays and borderline impaired performance was high among Brazilian girls (28.3% and 27.5%) and boys (10.6% and 22.7%). The cross-countries comparisons showed significant (p values from.048 and <.001) overall lower locomotor and ball skills scores for Brazilian children; the only exceptions were skipping, catching, and kicking. We observed stability in performance, across countries, after 8-years-old, and no ceiling effects were found in the samples. Conclusions: The Brazilian sample emphasized the need for national strategies to foster children's motor proficiency. Differences in motor opportunities may explain the differences in motor trajectories between children in WEIRD and LMIC countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advancement in technology especially in the field of artificial intelligence has opened up novel and robust ways to reanalyze the many aspects of human emotional behavior. One of such behavioral studies is the cultural impact on the expression and perception of human emotions. In-group advantage makes it easy for the people of the same cultural group to perceive each other's emotions accurately. The goal of this research is to re-investigate human behavior regarding expression and perception of emotions in speech. The theoretical basis of this research is grounded on the dialect theory of emotions. For the purpose of this study, six datasets of audio speeches have been considered. The participants of these datasets belong to six different cultural areas. A fully automated, machine learning-based framework i.e. Support Vector Machine (SVM) is used to carry out this study. The overall emotion perception for all six cultural groups supports in-group advantage, whereas emotion wise analysis partially supports the In-group advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers often use moral dilemmas to investigate the specific factors that influence participants' judgments of the appropriateness of different actions. A common construction of such a dilemma is the Trolley Problem, which pits an obvious utilitarian solution against a common deontological dictum to not do harm to others. Cross-cultural studies have validated the robustness of numerous contextual biases, such as judging utilitarian decisions more negatively if they require contact with other individuals (contact bias), they force others to serve as a means to an end (means bias), and if they require direct action rather than inaction (omission bias). However, such cross-cultural research is largely limited to studies of industrialized, nation-state populations. Previous research has suggested that the more intimate community relationships that characterize small-scale populations might lead to important differences, such as an absence of an omission bias. Here we contribute to this literature by investigating perceptions of Trolley Problem solutions among a Mayangna/Miskito community, a small-scale indigenous population in Nicaragua. Compared to previously sampled populations, the Mayangna/Miskito participants report higher levels of acceptance of utilitarian solutions and do not exhibit an omission bias. We also examine the justifications participants offered to explore how Mayangna/Miskito culture might influence moral judgments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time preferences are central to human decision making; therefore, a thorough understanding of their international differences is highly relevant. Previous measurements, however, vary widely in their methodology, from questions answered on the Likert scale to lottery-type questions. We show that these different measurements correlate to a large degree and that they have a common factor that can predict a broad spectrum of variables: the countries' credit ratings, gasoline prices (as a proxy for environmental protection), equity risk premiums, and average years of school attendance. The resulting data on this time preference factor for N = 117 countries and regions will be highly useful for further research. Our aggregation method is applicable to merge cross-cultural studies that measure the same latent construct with different methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research conducted on the cross-cultural perception of music and its emotional content has established that emotions can be communicated across cultures at least on a rudimentary level. Here, we report a cross-cultural study with participants originating from two tribes in northwest Pakistan (Khow and Kalash) and the United Kingdom, with both groups being naïve to the music of the other respective culture. We explored how participants assessed emotional connotations of various Western and non-Western harmonisation styles, and whether cultural familiarity with a harmonic idiom such as major and minor mode would consistently relate to emotion communication. The results indicate that Western concepts of harmony are not relevant for participants unexposed to Western music when other emotional cues (tempo, pitch height, articulation, timbre) are kept relatively constant. At the same time, harmonic style alone has the ability to colour the emotional expression in music if it taps the appropriate cultural connotations. The preference for one harmonisation style over another, including the major-happy/minor-sad distinction, is influenced by culture. Finally, our findings suggest that although differences emerge across different harmonisation styles, acoustic roughness influences the expression of emotion in similar ways across cultures; preference for consonance however seems to be dependent on cultural familiarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aims to collect data about the prevalence of cyberbullying and the role of self-esteem, empathy, and social skills in predicting cybervictimization and cyberaggression in two different countries: Spain and Ecuador. Additionally, it compares the similarities found in both countries. A wide sample of adolescents from Secondary Education (N = 24943; mean age = 13.92; SD = 1.30, girls = 49.9%) from both countries (Spain = 14,206 and Ecuador = 10,737) took part by filling in a set of self-reports. Weighted analyses and structural equation models were used. The results revealed that 8.8% were cybervictims, 3.1% were cyberaggressors and 4.9% cybervictims-cyberaggressors in Spain; whereas 8.7% were cybervictims, 5.1% were cyberaggressors and 14.3% were cybervictims-cyberaggressors in Ecuador. Cybervictimization could be predicted in both countries by means of self-deprecation and social skills, although the meaning of some skills was different depending on the country. Cyberaggression could be predicted in both countries by means of empathy, assertiveness, and conflict-resolution skills, as well as by communicative and relational skills. Self-deprecation was a predictor of cyberaggression only in Spain. These results are discussed, and educational inferences are drawn for prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, a new rapid assay for the detection of tcdB gene of Clostridioides difficile was developed using the GENECUBE. The assay can directly detect the tcdB gene from stool samples without a purification in approximately 35 minutes with a few minutes of preparation process. We performed a prospective comparative study of the performance of the assay at eight institutions in Japan. Fresh residual stool samples (Bristol stool scale ≥5) were used and comparisons were performed with the BD MAX Cdiff assay and toxigenic cultures. For the evaluation of 383 stool samples compared with the BD MAX Cdiff assay, the sensitivity, and specificity of the two assays was 99.0% (379/383), 98.1% (52/53), 99.1% (327/330), respectively. In the comparison with toxigenic culture, the total, sensitivity, and specificity were 96.6% (370/383), 85.0% (51/60), and 98.8% (319/323), respectively. The current investigation indicated the GENECUBE Clostridioides difficile assay has equivalent performance with the BD MAX Cdiff assay for the detection of tcdB gene of C. difficile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does music penetrate cultural differences with its ability to evoke emotion? The ragas of Hindustani music are specific sequences of notes that elicit various emotions: happy, romantic, devotion, calm, angry, longing, tension and sad. They can be presented in two modes, alaap and gat, which differ in rhythm, but match in tonality. Participants from Indian and Non-Indian cultures (N = 144 and 112, respectively) rated twenty-four pieces of Hindustani ragas on eight dimensions of emotion, in a free response task. Of the 192 between-group comparisons, ratings differed in only 9% of the instances, showing universality across multiple musical emotions. Robust regression analyses and machine learning methods revealed tonality best explained emotion ratings for Indian participants whereas rhythm was the primary predictor in Non-Indian listeners. Our results provide compelling evidence for universality in emotions in the auditory domain in the realm of musical emotion, driven by distinct acoustic features that depend on listeners’ cultural backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prejudiced attitudes and political nationalism vary widely around the world, but there has been little research on what predicts this variation. Here we examine the ecological and cultural factors underlying the worldwide distribution of prejudice. We suggest that cultures grow more prejudiced when they tighten cultural norms in response to destabilizing ecological threats. A set of seven archival analyses, surveys, and experiments (∑N = 3,986,402) find that nations, American states, and pre-industrial societies with tighter cultural norms show the most prejudice based on skin color, religion, nationality, and sexuality, and that tightness predicts why prejudice is often highest in areas of the world with histories of ecological threat. People’s support for cultural tightness also mediates the link between perceived ecological threat and intentions to vote for nationalist politicians. Results replicate when controlling for economic development, inequality, conservatism, residential mobility, and shared cultural heritage. These findings offer a cultural evolutionary perspective on prejudice, with implications for immigration, intercultural conflict, and radicalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aims at assessing the validity and reliability of the Spanish version of the Lysholm score, a widely used instrument for assessing knee function and activity level after ligament injuries. Methods: Ninety-five participants (67.4% male, 22±5 years) completed the questionnaire twice within 7 days and a subsample of 42 participants completed a test-retest reliability. Reliability, validity and feasibility psychometric properties were studied. The validity of the questionnaire was analysed using ceiling and floor effects. Factor structure and construct validity were analysed with the SF-36, the Hip and Knee Questionnaire (HKQ) and one leg jump test (OLJT). Results: Criterion validity with the SF-36 Physical State was moderate (r = 0.50 and p<0.01), poor and inverse relationship (r = -0.31, p<0.01) with HKQ and positive moderate (r = 0.59, p<0.01) with OLJT. Measurement error from MDC90 was 3.9%. Exploratory factor analysis demonstrated a one-factor solution explaining 51.5% of total variance. The x2 test for the one-factor model was significant (x2 = 29.58, df = 20, p < 0.08). Test-retest reliability level was high (ICC2.1 = 0.92, p<0.01) and also the internal consistency (α = 0.77). Conclusion: The Spanish Lysholm score demonstrated that it is a reliable and valid instrument that can be used to assess knee function after ligament injuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between the constructs of perceived control and symptoms of mood disorders has been demonstrated. The current study evaluates cultural values both as an individual difference moderating variable and as one of the mechanisms through which the association between perceived control and mood disturbances may operate. The hypotheses were examined with a sample of 615 participants recruited in Saudi Arabia. Participants completed measures of perceived control, individualism and collectivism, and symptoms of depression and bipolar disorder. In general, the results supported a model in which higher levels of perceived control promote a less symptomatic mood state. In most cases, cultural values positively mediated the relationship between perceived control and mood disturbance with lower symptom levels predicted. However, when the components of perceived control were examined separately, high perceived mastery together with highly individualistic values predicted higher levels of bipolar symptoms. In this sample, there was less evidence of cultural values moderating the control–mood disturbance relationship. Only one moderator relationship was identified, which showed low control linking to higher symptom levels only in those who disagreed with individualistic values. Overall, our data are in agreement with the notion that pre-existing cultural values have an important effect on mood disorder symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a cross-cultural study of the relationship among the subsistence strategies, the environmental setting and the food sharing practices of 22 modern small-scale societies located in America (n = 18) and Siberia (n = 4). Ecological, geographical and economic variables of these societies were extracted from specialized literature and the publicly available D-PLACE database. The approach proposed comprises a variety of quantitative methods, ranging from exploratory techniques aimed at capturing relationships of any type between variables, to network theory and supervised-learning predictive modelling. Results provided by all techniques consistently show that the differences observed in food sharing practices across the sampled populations cannot be explained just by the differential distribution of ecological, geographical and economic variables. Food sharing has to be interpreted as a more complex cultural phenomenon, whose variation over time and space cannot be ascribed only to local adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Low back pain (LBP) is highly prevalent in Nigeria and is more devastating in rural Nigeria due to adverse living and working conditions, reinforced by maladaptive illness beliefs. There is a need to develop measures for assessing such beliefs in this population. This study aimed to cross-culturally adapt the Fear Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ) and test its psychometric properties in mixed rural and urban Nigerian populations with chronic LBP. Methods: Translation, cultural adaptation, test–retest, and cross-sectional psychometric testing. FABQ was forward and back translated by clinical/non-clinical translators. A review committee evaluated the translations. Twelve people with chronic LBP in a rural Nigerian community pre-tested the questionnaire. Cronbach’s alpha assessing internal consistency; intra-class correlation coefficient and Bland–Altman plots assessing test–retest reliability; and minimal detectable change were investigated in a convenient sample of 50 chronic low back pain sufferers in rural and urban Nigeria. Construct validity was examined using Pearson’s correlation analyses with the eleven-point box scale and Igbo Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (Igbo-RMDQ), and exploratory factor analysis in a random sample of 200 adults with chronic low back pain in rural Nigeria. Ceiling and floor effects were investigated in all samples. Results: Amendments allowed interviewer-administration. Item 8 was modified to ‘I have a compensation or gains I get from having my pain’ as there is no benefit system in Nigeria. Igbo phrase for ‘physical activity’ could also mean ‘being active’, ‘moving the body’ or ‘moving about’ and was used in the items with ‘physical activity’. The Igbo-FABQ had good internal consistency (α = 0.80–0.86); intra class correlation coefficients (ICC = 0.71–0.72); standard error of measurements (3.21–7.40) and minimal detectable change (8.90–20.51). It correlated moderately with pain intensity and disability, with a two-factor structure and no floor and ceiling effects. Conclusions: Igbo-FABQ is valid, reliable, and can be used clinically and for research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With worldwide prevalence rates between 10% and 20%, mental illness in children and adolescents is an issue for which culturally sensitive screening tools are needed. The Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a commonly used measure that has been translated into numerous languages, although some research suggests issues with cross-cultural validity. Only four other studies have tested the Spanish-language SDQ in Latin America. In this study, we aimed to help fill this gap by assessing the factor structure of the parent or teacher version of the Spanish-language SDQ (for children ages 4–17) with 967 parent or other caregiver respondents of primary school-aged children (ages 4 to 17) in the Department of Intibucá, Honduras. When unable to find a good fitting factor model previously identified in the literature, we conducted split sample exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), along with measurement invariance testing with the best fitting EFA-extracted model based on gender for caregiver respondent and child gender. Results showed that while many EFA models had a good fit, CFI and TLI was < .90 for all extracted models when confirmed in the second sample with CFA. We then modified the best fitting extracted three-factor, 24-item model, which dropped item 15, by allowing select item residuals to correlate, increasing CFI and TLI to > .90 for female child gender. This modified three-factor model was partially invariant for configural and scalar models between child genders. Configural and scalar models would not converge for adult genders. Of note, metric models were not produced in Mplus related to items’ cross-loading on more than one factor. These findings suggest that the SDQ Spanish language parent or teacher version may not perform optimally cross-culturally in this area of Honduras. Future research should confirm these findings with other Honduran populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worries about possible harmful effects of new technologies (modern health worries) have intensely been investigated in the last decade. However, the comparability of translated self-report measures across countries is often problematic. This study aimed to overcome this problem by developing psychometrically sound brief versions of the widely used 25-item Modern Health Worries Scale (MHWS) suitable for multi-country use. Based on data of overall 5,176 individuals from four European countries (England, Germany, Hungary, Sweden), Ant Colony Optimization was used to identify the indicators that optimize model fit and measurement invariance across countries. Two scales were developed. A short (12-item) version of the MHWS that represents the four-factor structure of the original version and an ultra-short (4-item) scale that only measures the general construct. Both scales show that overall levels of health worries were highest in England and Hungary, but that the main reason for concern (e.g. electromagnetic radiation or food related fears) differs considerably between these countries. This study also shows that even if measurement invariance of translated self-report instruments across countries is problematic, it can be optimized by using adequate item selection procedures. Differences of modern health worries across countries and recommendations for cross-cultural research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although a wide range of needs assessment tools for cancer patients have been developed, no standardized and commonly accepted instruments were recommended to use in clinical care. This systematic review was conducted to assess the quality of psychometric properties of needs assessment tools among cancer patients in order to help oncology healthcare professionals select the most appropriate needs assessment tools in routine clinical practice. Methods: Searches were conducted in the electronic databases of PUBMED from 1966, CINAHL from 1960, EMBASE from 1980 and PsychINFO from 1967 as well as additional sources. The quality of psychometric properties of the recruited needs assessment tools was evaluated using the agreed quality criteria for measurement properties of health status questionnaires. Results: Thirty-seven studies which evaluated the psychometric properties of 20 needs assessment tools were identified. Internal consistency was tested in 32 studies with 9 studies indicating negative rating and 4 studies intermediate rating. Less than half of the studies (13 studies) assessed test-retest reliability, and only 4 studies reported positive rating. Content validity was the most tested psychometric property appraised in 33 studies and indicated positive rating in all the evaluated studies. Structural validity was adequately evaluated in 28 studies with 23 studies reporting intermediate rating. More than half of the studies (29 studies) tested hypothesis testing and 13 studies were rated positive. Cross-cultural validity results were obtained in 13 studies with 7 studies showing negative rating. No data was available on measurement error and criterion validity. Only one study appraised responsiveness and showed intermediate rating. The Supportive Care Needs Survey-Short Form (SCNS-SF) is the most widely used instrument for needs assessment in cancer patients. It had strong evidence for internal consistency, content validity, structural validity and hypothesis testing, and moderate evidence for reliability and cross-cultural validity. Cancer Survivors’ Unmet Needs Measure (CaSUN) reported strong or moderate evidence for internal consistency, reliability, content and structural validity, and hypothesis testing. Furthermore, Supportive Cancer Care Needs Assessment Tool for Indigenous People (SCNAT-IP) had strong evidence for content validity, and moderate evidence for internal consistency, structural validity and hypothesis testing. Conclusions: Despite several needs assessment tools exist to assess care needs in cancer patients, further improvement of already existing and promising instruments is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A growing body of research indicates that cross-cultural competence in nurses can improve migrant patients’ health-related outcomes, but little is known about the potential benefits of cross-cultural competence on the nurses’ own well-being. Objective: To examine whether cross-cultural competence (empathy, skills, positive attitudes, and motivation) is associated with perceived time pressure at work, psychological distress, and sleep problems among registered nurses in Finland, and whether there are differences in these potential associations between native and foreign-born nurses. Methods: The present cross-sectional study was based on a sample of 212 foreign-born nurses licensed to practice in Finland and a random sample of 744 native Finnish nurses. Data were collected with a questionnaire and analyzed using multiple linear regression and structural equation modeling (SEM). Results: Of all four dimensions of cross-cultural competence, only empathy was associated with perceived time pressure (β = –0.13, p = .018), distress (β = –0.23, p < .001), and sleep problems (β = –0.14, p = .004) after the adjustment for gender, age, employment sector, and frequency of interacting with patients and colleagues from different cultures. There were no differences between native and foreign-born nurses in these observed associations (all ps > .05). Conclusions: Cross-cultural empathy may protect against perceived time pressure, distress, and sleep problems in both native and foreign-born nurses. Thus, the promotion of this component of cross-cultural competence among nursing personnel should be encouraged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ritualized actions are common in daily life, and prevalent across cultures. Adults have been shown, under experimental conditions, to treat objects subjected to ritualized action as special and different relative to objects subjected to non-ritualized action. Similarly, children as young as 4, are sensitive to ritualized actions–frequently reproducing such actions at high fidelity. The current cross-cultural experiment attempts to extend existing findings among two culturally distinct groups of children with regard to object-directed rituals. We predicted that children’s preference for a reward would be influenced by ritualized action (but not non-ritualized action). Over two trials we presented children in Australia (N = 93; mean age = 6.03 years, SD = 2.07 years) and Vanuatu (N = 109; mean age = 6.13 years, SD = 1.96 years) with two identical rewards, which was either subjected to ritualized action or non-ritualized action. Contrary to previous findings among adults, ritualized action did not influence children’s preference for a reward. We frame the current results in the context of socially relevant group rituals, and discuss the implications for both wider theory and methods. We conclude with a call for pre-registered replications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As organizational research turned its focus to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), interest also grew in the individual’s perspective on CSR. When looking for cross-cultural comparisons of the effects of CSR, measurement invariance is of utter importance as a questionnaire might not be equivalent in all investigated samples and thus bias results. We examined a previously published questionnaire assessing different aspects of personal CSR ratings. Factorial validity and measurement invariance was tested by means of confirmatory factor analysis and Bayesian structural equation modeling in five samples (total N = 1120): 2 US-American, 2 German, and 1 English-speaking Indian sample. In an exploratory-confirmatory approach, the originally proposed factor structure was altered to finally comprise four facets of CSR: employee-related CSR, environmental CSR, philanthropy and customer-related CSR. Measurement invariance tests showed evidence for small differences of the English and German version as well as significant divergences of the measurement model in the Indian sample. In conclusion, we show the validity of the questionnaire for a circumscribed Western context but are hesitant about further transfers. Future research on perception of CSR in non-western contexts might depend on new and tailored questionnaires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Connectedness to Nature Scale has been used in many different countries and settings. However, no one has yet tested the equivalence of these measures. Equivalence of measures has been the subject of much research in recent years, due to the importance of measuring in the same way when comparing between different groups. The present work studied the differential item functioning (DIF) of the CNS in a Spanish group and a North American group of respondents, using two different methods of detecting DIF. It also evaluated the overall equivalence of the scale. The results reveal differential functioning in most items, and only configural invariance is given. Thus, we suggest a reappraisal of the scale when comparing results from different countries since otherwise the conclusions drawn might be incorrect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Rotator Cuff Quality of Life Index (RC-QOL) is a scale designed to evaluate the impact of rotator cuff (RC) disorders on the general quality of life of patients. Our study aims to adapt the RC-QOL into Chinese and to assess its reliability, validity and responsiveness in Chinese patients with RC disorders. Methods: First, we developed the Chinese version of RC-QOL (C-RC-QOL) through a five-step procedure. Next, the recruited patients gave three rounds of responses to the C-RC-QOL, Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 (SF-36) and Oxford Shoulder Score scales (OSS). Then, we calculated the Cronbach’s alpha, standard error of measurement (SEM), minimally detectable change (MDC), intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC), Pearson's correlation coefficient (r), effect size (ES) and standardized response mean (SRM) to evaluate the reliability, validity and responsiveness of the C-RC-QOL respectively. The unidimensionality of each subscale was assessed by principal component analysis (PCA) of the residuals. Results: Overall, 124 patients with RC disorders successfully completed the first two rounds of the scales, and 108 patients completed the last round of the scales. Good or excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.953) was found in the overall scale and subscales of the C-RC-QOL, and good or excellent test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.854) was found as well. The SEM and MDC values of the C-RC-QOL were 4.6 and 12.8 respectively. Moderate, good or excellent correlations (r = 0.452–0.839) were obtained between the physical subscales of the C-RC-QOL and the OSS, as well as the physical subscales of the SF-36; similar results were obtained between the emotion subscale of the C-RC-QOL and the mental subscales of the SF-36 (r = 0.490–0.733), which, illustrated the good validity of the C-RC-QOL. In addition, high responsiveness was observed in the overall scale and subscales of the C-RC-QOL (ES = 1.77, SRM = 1.98). The unidimensionality of five subscales was respected according to PCA of the residuals. Conclusions: The C-RC-QOL scale is reliable, valid and responsive for the evaluation of Chinese-speaking patients with RC disorders and it would be an effective instrument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An international sample of 2754 selfies uploaded to Instagram that form part of the Selfiecity () research project (selfies originating from Bangkok, Berlin, London, Moscow, New York, and Sao Paolo) were examined to assess the existence of facial prominence differences in depictions of males and females and the variability of facial prominence among cultures. Results show that gender stereotypical bias resulting in greater facial prominence in depictions of men is present in selfies. The control of image creation and selection for publication by the persons presented in the images do not diminish this gender based bias. Also, when gender is controlled, significant differences exist in facial prominence among different cultures. Comparisons with various socio-cultural indicators indicate possible correlations of gender stereotypical bias to self-expression values, freedom of choice, people’s influence on government’s decisions, protection of freedom of speech and people’s influence on issues in the professional and communal environment. This research does not find a correlation of gender based bias in selfies with gender equality or inequality measures among cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Symptomatic hyperventilation (SH) is a pathological condition that manifests with breathlessness, dyspnea, light-headedness, anxiety, and paresthesia. However, little is known about the prevalence of SH and its association with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a young population. The Nijmegen questionnaire (NQ), which measures severity of SH, had not previously been cross-culturally translated into Korean. In this study, the NQ was cross-culturally translated into Korean (KNQ), using translation and back-translation methods. To examine the reliability and validity levels of the KNQ, as well as its association with HRQoL, 237 college students (21.38 ± 2.45 years) were asked to complete the KNQ, the Korean version of the general health questionnaire (K-GHQ-30) and the short form-36 (K-SF-36). The KNQ showed satisfactory reliability (Cronbach’s α = 0.878). In the construct validity test, four factors (neuropsychological, respiratory, neurogastrointestinal, and neuromuscular) were extracted (% of total variance = 59.8). Using a KNQ cut-off score of 23 points, the prevalence of SH was 22.8%. Physical and mental HRQoL levels estimated by the K-GHQ-30 score and the 8 subscale scores of the K-SF-36 were lower in the SH group than in those of the non-SH group. It is concluded that the cross-culturally translated KNQ is reliable and valid, and management of SH may prevent a reduction in physical and mental HRQoL in a young population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We examined the equivalence of the individual and the country-level factor structure of the Belief in a Zero-Sum Game (BZSG) scale, a tool designed to measure antagonistic beliefs about social relations (i.e., perceived social antagonism) in the struggle for limited resources. Aims: In this article we focused on a test of construct isomorphism in a multilevel modeling approach. It was hypothesized that the BZSG measure satisfies all requirements for a strong level of configural isomorphism, and thus that it is useful to investigate BZSG at both the individual and the country levels. The relationships between the BZSG at a country level with other macro-socio-economic indicators were also investigated. Method: Multilevel confirmatory factor analysis (MCFA) was carried out on a cross-country sample composed of 11,368 participants from 43 different countries. We also used the country-level latent BZSG factor in each country as an indicator of a property that we attributed to a particular culture: cultural dimension (collectivism-individualism), macroeconomic indicators (GDP per capita and GNI per capita) and macrosocial indicators (Human Development Index and Democracy Index) describing societies. Results: The results revealed an isomorphic factor structure of perceived social antagonism (measured by BZSG scale), defined in terms of the equivalence factor structure at the both individual and country levels. Furthermore, the relationship between the perceived social antagonism, gross national income per capita, and collectivism were confirmed. Conclusions: Our study supports the usefulness of the BZSG scale for cross-cultural comparison, in the case of its isomorphic structure. At the country level, antagonistic beliefs emerge in hierarchical collectivist societies with lower income. The main contribution of this article is the presentation of the test of construct isomorphism. We made an effort to present a full perspective on construct isomorphism putting together two different but very recent approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The assessment of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is important for health outcomes research, disease modeling studies and comparisons of different healthcare interventions. Yet, only a few tools are available to assess HRQoL in 0-1-year-old infants. Furthermore, there is a need for an instrument able to assess HRQoL with a single, standardized, overall score in the first year of life. Here we described the development of the Infant health-related Quality of life Instrument (IQI), a generic, preference-based instrument that can be administered through a mobile application for assessing HRQoL in 0-1-year-old infants. Methods: A multi-step development process began by extracting candidate health concepts from relevant measures identified by two literature searches. Next, three panels, with experts from Asia, Europe, New Zealand and United States of America, and two surveys, with primary caregivers in New Zealand, Singapore, and the United Kingdom, evaluated the relevance of the candidate health concepts, organized them into attributes based on their similarities, explored alternative attributes and generated response scales. Additional interviews assessed the cross-cultural interpretability, parents’ understanding of health attributes, and the usability of the mobile application. Results: The final list of 7 health attributes included in the IQI consisted of sleeping, feeding, breathing, stooling/poo, mood, skin, and interaction. The users’ experiences with the mobile application were generally positive. Conclusions: The IQI is the first generic, preference-based, instrument designed to assess overall HRQoL in 0-1-year old infants. It is short and easy-to-administer through a mobile application. Moreover, close attention was paid to the opinions of the infants’ primary caregivers during the instrument and mobile application development process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overconfidence is sometimes assumed to be a human universal, but there remains a dearth of data systematically measuring overconfidence across populations and contexts. Moreover, cross-cultural experiments often fail to distinguish between placement and precision and worse still, often compare population-mean placement estimates rather than individual performance subtracted from placement. Here we introduce a procedure for concurrently capturing both placement and precision at an individual level based on individual performance: The Elicitation of Genuine Overconfidence (EGO) procedure. We conducted experiments using the EGO procedure, manipulating domain, task knowledge, and incentives across four populations—Japanese, Hong Kong Chinese, Euro Canadians, and East Asian Canadians. We find that previous measures of population-level overconfidence may have been misleading; rather than universal, overconfidence is highly context dependent. Our results reveal cross-cultural differences in sensitivity to incentives and differences in overconfidence strategies, with underconfidence, accuracy, and overconfidence. Comparing sexes, we find inconsistent results for overplacement, but that males are consistently more confident in their placement. These findings have implications for our understanding of the adaptive value of overconfidence and its role in explaining population-level and individual-level differences in economic and psychological behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Well-functioning physician-patient communication is central to primary care consultations. An increasing demand on primary care in many countries to manage a culturally diverse population has highlighted the need for improved communication skills in intercultural consultations. In previous studies, intercultural consultations in primary care have often been described as complex for various reasons, but studies exploring physician-patient interactions contributing to the understanding of why they are complex are lacking. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore intercultural physician-patient communication in primary care consultations, generating a conceptual model of the interpersonal interactions as described by both the patients and the physicians. Using grounded theory methodology, 15 residents in family medicine and 30 foreign-born patients, the latter with Arabic and Somali as native languages, were interviewed. The analysis generated a conceptual model named circling the undefined, where a silent agreement on issues fundamental to the core of the consultation was inadequately presumed and the communicative behaviors used did not contribute to clarity. This could be a possible contributory cause of the perceived complexity of intercultural consultations. Identifying what takes place on an interpersonal level in intercultural consultations might be a first step towards building a common ground for increased mutual understanding, thereby bringing us one step closer to sharing, rather than circling the undefined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A systematic review of research published in English was conducted across seven electronic databases in psychology, health and social sciences. The aim was to ascertain the nature of mental health care workers’ constructions about culturally and linguistically diverse individuals in order to facilitate provision of culturally appropriate service delivery and multicultural training. The constructs and perspectives of 5,870 mental health workers with regards to minority populations are represented across the 38 studies included. Key themes comprised: Aetiology of Constructions; Content of Constructions, Factors that Influence Constructions; Implications for Cultural Competence, Implications for the Therapeutic Alliance, Recommendations for Training, Recommendations for Practice and Recommendations for Research. The therapeutic alliance was most at risk when practitioners displayed low levels of cultural competency and high levels of racial and ethnic blindness. The changing and increasingly multicultural context within most countries means that mental health systems and workers need to prepare for an increasing range of culturally and linguistically diverse clients in need of support. Recommendations are explored for training, practice and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Applicant recruitment is an essential part of a residency program’s activities with valuable resources dedicated to ensuring its success. Most programs design interview days based on a mix of tradition, budget availability and perception of applicant preferences. There is a paucity of available data on preferences of applicants for interview days. Objective: We sought to investigate Internal Medicine applicant preferences for a residency recruitment day in aggregate and stratified by medical school background: United States vs. International Medical School Graduate. Methods: A survey was developed and used in a cross-sectional study of Internal Medicine categorical and preliminary medicine candidates. Applicants ranked different facets of the interview day using a Likert scale. Variables included interview type, start time, length of interview day, number of interviews, length of each interview, background of interviewers, types of questions, interaction time with residents, month of interview, and components of interview day. Results: 265 applicants received the surveys and 215 completed them correctly (81%). Overall, applicants tended to favor an 8–9 am start time (81.9%) and an optimal duration of four hours (82.8%). The interview was the most preferred component of the day (80.0%) with one-on-one (98.1%) and 15–30 min (95.3%) interviews preferred. Several statistically significant differences were found between the United States and International students as well as Categorical and Preliminary applicants. Conclusion: Our findings offer insights into various factors of the interview day that may appeal to Internal Medicine candidates. This information will be useful to graduate medical education departments engaged in recruitment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) is currently one of the most widely used measures in both research and clinical practice for assessing depression. Although the psychometric properties of the scale have been well established through many studies worldwide, so far there is no study examining the validity and reliability of BDI-II in Republic Dominican. The purpose of the present study was twofold: (a) to examine the latent structure of BDI-II by testing several competing models proposed in the literature; and (b) to provide evidence of validity and reliability of the BDI-II in Republic Dominican. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a bifactor model with a general depression factor and three specific factors consisting of cognitive, affective and somatic showed the best fit to the data. Internal reliability was moderate to high for all subscales and for the total scale. Scores on BDI-II discriminated between clinical and general population, supporting for external validity. Practical implications are discussed and suggestions for further research are also made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) are cognitively complex activities related to independent living in the community. Robust IADL scales are needed, however the psychometric properties of instruments have been little evaluated. There is no validated instrument for Sri Lankan older populations. Sri Lanka has the highest proportion of older people in South Asia with rapid population ageing. Therefore, it is essential to have standard instruments to assess activity limitations. We aimed to cross-culturally adapt the original Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale from English to Sinhala and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Sinhala version. Methods: Cross-cultural adaptation of the instrument was performed. The instrument was validated in a sample of 702 community-dwelling older adults aged 60 years and above in Sri Lanka. Reliability (internal consistency and inter-rater reliability) was assessed. Construct validity of the scale was evaluated by performing exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and testing convergent and divergent validity. Results: The Lawton IADL scale was successfully adapted to Sri Lankan context. Internal consistency of the scale was very high (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.91). Very good inter-rater reliability was observed with very good agreement for all items. Inter-class correlations for overall IADL score ranged from 0.57 to 0.91. Results of the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported the unidimensionality of the scale. Goodness of fit indices in confirmatory factor analysis were in acceptable range (CFI = 0.98, SRMR = 0.06, NNFI = 0.97). Strength of associations were significant and in the expected direction. Results of the known group validity were also significant, confirming the convergent and divergent validity. Conclusion: The Lawton IADL scale was successfully translated and culturally adapted to Sinhala language. The Sinhala version demonstrated excellent reliability and construct validity. Given good psychometric properties, this scale would be recommended for use in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research and development increasingly apply participatory approaches that involve both stakeholders and scientists. This article presents an evaluation of German and Tanzanian researchers’ perceptions during their activities as part of a large interdisciplinary research project in Tanzania. The project focused on prioritizing and implementing food-securing upgrading strategies across the components of rural food value chains. The participants involved during the course of the project were asked to provide feedback on 10 different research steps and to evaluate eight core features related to the functioning and potential shortcomings of the project. The study discriminated among evaluation differences linked to culture, gender, and institutional status. Perceptions differed between Tanzanian and German participants depending on the type and complexity of the participatory research steps undertaken and the intensity of stakeholder participation. There were differences in perception linked to gender and hierarchical status; however, those differences were not as concise and significant as those linked to nationality. These findings indicate that participatory action research of this nature requires more targeted strategies and planning tailored to the type of activity. Such planning would result in more efficient and satisfactory communication, close collaboration, and mutual feedback to avoid conflicts and other problems. We further conclude that it would be advisable to carefully incorporate training on these aspects into future project designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]