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Previous research suggested the negative implications of fatalism for mental health. The present study addressed more nuanced associations between fatalism and mental health by taking the multidimensionality of fatalism and socioeconomic status (SES) into consideration. Students in an introductory undergraduate course (208 included; mean age: 19.3 [SD = 3.9]) completed an online questionnaire related to demographic characteristics, fatalism, and mental health. Their data was analyzed using sets of regression models to examine whether the five dimensions of fatalism, such as helplessness and (low) internality, mediated the associations of SES with depressive symptoms and perceived stress and whether SES moderated the associations between each fatalism dimension and these mental health outcomes. The mediation was found for helplessness, but not for the other fatalism dimensions, in which lower SES predicted higher helplessness, which in turn predicted greater depressive symptoms and perceived stress. In addition, the moderation of SES was found only for the association between internality and depressive symptoms: internality predicted greater depressive symptoms for those with lower SES. This indicated negative implications of internality contrary to previous findings. The present study also highlighted the importance of specifically addressing helplessness, rather than fatalism in general, as a potential risk factor for mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Media multitasking has brought concerns (e.g., lower productivity and performance) in multiple settings including college classrooms. The present study examined the behavior of texting in the classroom (TIC) by applying the behavioral economic demand theory while taking college students' different attitudes and behaviors of TIC into consideration. Undergraduate students (109 females and 73 males for valid data, whose average age was 19.4 [SD = 2.5]) completed questionnaires on demographic characteristics, TIC-related attitude and behavior, and a demand task with a hypothetical scenario, which aimed to quantify the value of social rewards from text messaging with demand intensity (i.e., excessiveness) and elasticity (i.e., persistence). A cluster analysis identified four distinct subgroups who had varying levels of attitude (i.e., perceiving TIC as appropriate or inappropriate) and frequency of TIC: Inappropriate-Low-Frequency, Inappropriate-High-Frequency, Appropriate-Moderate-Frequency, and Appropriate-High-Frequency subgroups. The subsequent analysis revealed that demand intensity and elasticity of the Inappropriate-Low-Frequency subgroup were significantly lower and higher, respectively, than those of the Inappropriate-High-Frequency and Appropriate-High-Frequency subgroups. In addition, in supplemental analyses of multiple regression, demand intensity, but not elasticity, significantly predicted frequencies of TIC. Considering these findings, excessive valuation of social rewards from text messaging, particularly characterized by its demand intensity, appears to play an important role in the frequency of TIC. The present study contributes to the literature on media multitasking by suggesting excessive valuation as a potential factor related to TIC and providing practical implications that can help explore effective interventions tailored for distinct types of college students who have varying TIC-related attitudes and behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both personality and contexts may account for media multitasking in the college classroom. As this area of research was lacking, the present study examined which personality traits would be associated with in-class media multitasking in different contexts of text messaging. Undergraduate students (83 males and 65 females; average age: 20.0 [SD = 4.3]) completed a questionnaire on demographic characteristics, general text-messaging behavior, and Big Five personality traits as well as a delay-discounting task. This task had two hypothetical scenarios in which participants received either an urgent text message from their significant other (Significant Other condition) or a non-urgent message from a casual friend (Casual Friend condition), and they rated their likelihood of immediately replying to the message during the class versus waiting to reply until the class was over. For each of the conditions, hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine whether personality traits predicted the likelihood of waiting, after controlling for demographic characteristics and general text-messaging behavior. Whereas only conscientiousness independently predicted the likelihood of waiting in the Significant Other condition (β =.20, p =.033), only agreeableness independently predicted the likelihood in the Casual Friend condition (β =.27, p =.002). These findings contribute to the sparse literature on links of personality traits and in-class media multitasking by highlighting the possible context-dependent aspects of these links. The findings also indicate potential directions of future research including exploring approaches to reducing media multitasking in the college classroom while taking both personality and specific contexts into consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the relation among mobile phone use in the college classroom and Big Five personality traits, which had not been addressed in previous research. Undergraduate students (83 males and 92 females) whose average age was 20 (SD = 5.1) completed questionnaires on demographic characteristics, mobile phone use, impulse control, and Big Five personality traits. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine whether each personality trait made a unique contribution in predicting mobile phone use in the classroom after taking into consideration the contribution of impulse control in this prediction. The results show that impulse control and conscientiousness are significant, independent predictors of in-class mobile phone use over and above each other after controlling for demographic characteristics and general mobile phone use. These results suggest that some aspects of conscientiousness unexplained by impulse control may also be related to media multitasking in the college classroom, and the present study sheds light on the importance of continued research on the relation between conscientiousness and in-class media multitasking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The longitudinal associations of primary and secondary control with two distinct aspects of happiness including hedonic/subjective and eudaimonic/psychological well-being had not been fully studied. The present study aimed to contribute to the literature by examining these associations and their age differences. Using data from the second and third waves of the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS; N = 4963, aged 28 to 84 at baseline), the present study conducted structural equation modeling analyses to examine whether one primary control strategy (persistence in goal striving) and two secondary control strategies (positive reappraisals and lowering aspirations) predicted residualized changes in the latent constructs of subjective well-being (SWB) and psychological well-being (PWB) and whether there were age differences in these associations. The results indicate that persistence in goal striving and lowering aspirations overall predicted changes in PWB while none of the control strategies did for SWB, but some age differences were found. Whereas these differences somewhat varied for the outcomes of SWB and PWB, the findings indicate tendencies for older individuals compared to younger individuals of more negative (or less positive) associations of persistence in goal striving and more positive (or less negative) and more negative associations of positive reappraisals and lowering aspirations, respectively, with these outcomes. The present study suggested potential directions of future research aimed at further examining the role of primary and secondary control for happiness and exploring potential interventions to promote happiness, for example, by modifying primary and/or secondary control for adults of different ages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personal growth is essential in the lives of adults of any age and is associated with a variety of well-being outcomes. Building on previous research on psychosocial factors associated with personal growth, the present study aimed to investigate whether and how psychosocial factors (including working, generativity, positive interpersonal relationships, and spirituality) could affect aging adults' personal growth longitudinally. Using three waves of Midlife in the United States data from adults with baseline ages of 20–75, two-level hierarchical linear modeling analyses were conducted to examine the effects of psychosocial factors as well as age and gender on levels and trajectories of personal growth over the span of nearly two decades. All the factors predicted levels of personal growth while positive relationships and generativity had larger effects relative to the others. In addition, some of the effects were moderated by baseline age or passage of time (i.e., aging). Particularly, the moderated effects involving positive relations were multifaceted. Among those with less positive relationships, older people's levels of personal growth remained lower than younger people over time. However, among those with more positive relationships, older people reported lower growth initially but the age difference was no longer confirmed two decades later. In other words, having positive relationships appeared to become increasingly important for aging adults to maintain higher personal growth. These findings suggest shifts in life priorities that could influence personal growth among aging adults, and the implications can be informative for future research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invasive mammals include good tree climbers that use tree cavities for resting and nesting. Tree cavities are important but limited resources in most forests; thus, some invasive mammals can be serious competitors for native cavity-using species, especially cavity-nesting birds. Despite the potential impact, such inter-class competition has rarely been considered. We examined the possibility of resource competition for tree cavities between the invasive raccoon Procyon lotor and the native Ural owl Strix uralensis. Both species are nocturnal and use tree cavities during daytime. We assessed an overlap in cavity use for both species as an indication of potential competition by monitoring 341 cavities during their breeding season in a natural park in Hokkaido, Japan. Of 341 potentially available cavities, raccoons and Ural owls used 37 and 32, respectively. The characteristics of 58 cavities used by raccoons or owls were compared to 49 random cavities to determine if they selected cavities with certain characteristics. As predicted from a large amount of tree cavities and a low raccoon density in this managed forest, we did not find direct evidence of competition, such as physical interaction, intrusion to cavities, or habitat segregation. Cavity types used by both species overlapped considerably in terms of height, entrance size, depth, and other characteristics: their habitats were widely overlapped. Further, in four cavities, one species was replaced by the other. Given the similar habitat requirements, the invasive raccoon could be a potential competitor for Ural owl when raccoon density increases and/or cavity availability decreases, which is the case for many forests in Japan. This study suggests that potential threats of resource competition among not only closely but also distantly related taxa should be taken into consideration when studying the impacts of invasive species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Routine spinal fusion techniques have involved removal of all soft tissues and articular facets, decortication of all posterior elements, and application of bone graft to the fusion area. Bone grafting has been performed mainly using the patient's own bone (autograft bone), most commonly from the iliac crest. The use of autograft bone is accompanied by complications or problems because of harvesting and donor-site morbidity. Several studies have already reported the use of allograft bone in scoliosis surgery. However, these studies are small series with short-term follow-up. Method: Twenty-two patients with scoliosis who underwent posterior spinal fusion and pedicle-screw-alone fixation using banked allograft bone obtained from the regional bone bank in Japan were analyzed. The average age at surgery was 13 years 5 months. The average follow-up was 2 years 7 months, and the average age at the last follow-up was 15 years 6 months. Scoliosis curves were divided into two groups (single curve group and double curve group). Results: For the single curve group, the average preoperative coronal curve measured 78° (48°-85°) and the postoperative curve measured 22° (8°-35°), with no loss of correction at the last follow-up. For the double curve group, the average preoperative thoracic curve measured 64° (48°-85°) and the lumbar curve measured 42° (38°-60°). The average postoperative thoracic curve measured 12° (8°-34°) and lumbar curve measured 15° (8°-32°), with no significant loss of correction at the last follow-up. No patients had clinical complaints in the region of surgery at 9 months after surgery and thereafter. There were no complications including loss of correction, nonunion, infection and instrumentation failure. At the last follow-up, patients/parents were interviewed and asked to complete an outcome satisfaction questionnaire. They were asked to rate the outcome as very satisfactory, satisfactory, neither satisfactory nor unsatisfactory, unsatisfactory, or very unsatisfactory. Seventeen patients (77%) were very satisfied, four patients (17%) were satisfied, and one patient (6%) was neither satisfied nor unsatisfied. Autograft bone and banked allograft bone appear to yield comparable results and clinical outcomes. Conclusion: However, in Japan, various expenses accrue to supply a safe and premium quality of banked allograft bone. Financial issue must be resolved as soon as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Repair for mitral commissural prolapse can represent a challenging surgical problem. Although there are various reports of repair for mitral commissural prolapse, the technique is not necessarily simple. There are few reports of repair by the edge-to-edge suture for commissural prolapse, and the results are not entirely clarified. We report the application and early and intermediate outcome of this technique for mitral commissural prolapse. From January 1999 to April 2005, a total of 12 patients with commissural prolapse due to degenerative disease were operated on using the edge-to-edge technique. The patients were seven men and five women with a mean age of 48.5 years. The mechanism of the regurgitation was chordal rupture in nine patients and chordal elongation in three patients. There were no in-hospital deaths or complications. Postoperative echocardiography demonstrated that regurgitation had disappeared in nine patients, was trivial in two patients, and was mild in one patient. During the follow-up period (mean 49.8 ± 22.0 months) all patients lived vigorously, and no recurrence or aggravation of regurgitation or valve-related complications were observed. It seems that the edge-to-edge technique for mitral commissural prolapse due to degenerative disease is a technically simple, highly effective procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]