Deepening, Bridging, and Moving Minds in Stressful Times

Structural differences between open and direct communication in an online community

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effectiveness of a training programme on constructive thinking skills in reducing the psychological defeatism level and attitude towards intellectual extremism among university students and to examine the continuity of its effectiveness after the follow-up period. A quasi-experimental research design with one training and one control group and three measurements (pre, post and follow-up) was used. Twenty students participated in the research with 12 in the experimental group and 8 in the control group. The training programme on constructive thinking skills was applied to the experimental group over a period of 16 sessions. No application was conducted on the control group. The psychological defeatism scale, the attitude towards intellectual extremism scale and the constructive thinking scale were applied to the participants. Data were analysed by Mann–Whitney and Wilcoxon tests. The findings of this research indicated that the training programme on constructive thinking skills has caused a significant decrease in the experimental group's psychological defeatism and attitude towards intellectual extremism levels. Besides, there were no significant differences between the mean scores of the experimental group in the post and follow-up measurements of the psychological defeatism and the attitude towards intellectual extremism a month later. Research findings were discussed within the context of the related literature and some suggestions were provided for researchers and stakeholders. Keywords: Attitude towards intellectual extremism, constructive thinking skills, psychological defeatism, university students.

It is often the case that a single person belongs to multiple communities and expresses different opinions by community. However, the lack of consistency of his opinions is subject to criticism when they are uncovered. Recently, opinion formation mainly occurs in online communities instead of real communities and this affects the opinion formation environment as follows: 1) the inconsistency of opinions is easily disclosed because many online communities are not closed, and 2) there are some people too sensitive to such inconsistency. These become social pressures making people rather silent in communities and cause many phenomena including silent majority/vocal minority and opinion polarization. It is important to clarify how these changes affect opinion formation processes. Our goal is to reveal the dynamics of opinion formation in multiple communities, considering the dilemma of people between the adaptation to each of communities and the lack of consistency. We make an agent based model based on the Bounded Confidence Model on multiplex network structures. The model is novel in considering conflict between agent's different opinions across multiple communities. As a result of simulation, it is found that probability of disclosure of the lack of consistency could cause opinion formation processes differently by how agents are sensitive to the lack of consistency. Only when agents do not overreact to the lack of consistency, the larger the probability of disclosure is, the smaller the variation of opinions within communities becomes. On the other hand, when agents overreact to the lack of consistency, the mechanism of opinion formation is different. Furthermore, we reveal the mechanism of the influence of social pressure to the opinion formation processes. These results can explain real world phenomena and offer suggestions for the facilitation of consensus formation in the age of Internet.

This paper studies the impact of movement and interactions of individuals on opinion dynamics and polarisation within a two-dimensional (2D) space. By extending the Attraction-Repulsion Model (ARM), we explore how agents form opinion clusters based on geographic constraints and social interactions. Our model illustrates that individuals with similar opinions tend to form like-minded groups, with higher visibility leading to fewer, larger clusters. Conversely, low tolerance drives high polarisation. Geographic constraints result in larger clusters centralising to avoid conflicts, while smaller clusters remain peripheral. Additionally, as the number of opinion dimensions increases, fewer clusters form, indicating that a broader range of opinions leads to fewer, larger groups. This study provides insights into the feedback loop between agent movements and opinion polarisation, providing insights on the mechanisms behind social segregation and the formation of echo chambers. Furthermore, these findings are crucial for understanding and addressing societal issues such as political polarisation, misinformation spread, and the dynamics of social cohesion. Our research contributes to the field of opinion dynamics by highlighting the significant role of physical space and movement in shaping collective opinions and social structures, offering a comprehensive framework for future studies on the interplay between mobility, opinion formation, and polarisation.

The objective is to explore the mind map communication mode used in the emergency department combined with the SBAR standard to reduce the occurrence of handover defects and adverse events. 180 cases of emergency treatment and patient observation from January to June 2021 were selected and studied. According to the time of admission, the selected patients were divided into observation group and control group (90 cases). The control group adopts the traditional handover mode, and the observation group thinks. The map is combined with the SBAR standard communication mode to handover; compared; and observed the two groups of nurse's handover quality scores, handover problems and adverse events, handover defects, mastery of the patient's condition and understanding of critical illness, and nursing satisfaction. The quality scores of nurses in the control group were significantly higher than those in the observation group; the incidence of adverse events in the observation group was 8.9%, and the incidence of handover problems was 2.2%, which was significantly lower than that of the control group. The mastery score of the observation group was significantly higher than that of the control group; the nursing satisfaction of the observation group was 90% significantly higher than that of the control group. The handover defect rate of 56.7% in the control group was significantly higher than that in the observation group. The nurses in the observation group had a 98.9% understanding of the critically ill patients' condition than in the control group. All the above items are statistically significant, P < 0.05. The combined communication mode of SBAR standard and mind map used in the emergency department can improve the quality of handover, reduce adverse events and handover problems, clear patient conditions, higher patient satisfaction, and lower handover defect rate, and nurses' critically ill patients have a higher understanding of the condition, and this communication method is worthy of clinical promotion.

Objective To evaluate the effects of AIDET (Acknowledge, Introduce, Duration, Explanation, Thanks) communication mode in the modified electroconvulsive therapy. Methods Firstly, according to the procedure of the modified electroconvulsive therapy, we established the standard phrases of AIDET communication mode. Secondly, 100 cases of hospitalized psychiatric patients from August to October 2013 accepted the modified electroconvulsive therapy and were divided into the control group and the observation group, with 50 cases in each. The control group used the traditional lecture-style communication, while the observation group was given the AIDET communication processes and standard terms. The anxiety of two groups before and after the treatment was compared by the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA), in addition with the treatment adherence and the satisfaction of nursing. Results Comparison of the HAMA scores in the two groups before the treatment was not significantly different (P>0.05). After using the two different communication modes, the HAMA scores of somatic anxiety, mental anxiety and the total score of the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (t=5.99, 6.51, 10.87, 10.23, 6.19, 7.94, respectively; P<0.05). The treatment adherence and the satisfaction with nursing of the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group (Z=5.77, χ2=7.16, respectively; P<0.05). Conclusions The AIDET mode of communication can effectively reduce the patient′s anxiety, and improve the patients′ adherence, treatment compliance and satisfaction. Key words: Modified electroconvulsive therapy; AIDET communication; Anxiety; Satisfaction

Several academic institutions have favored email as a mode of communication since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this research was to see how effective the Operation EMAIL, a techno-pedagogical intervention in enhancing the email writing skills of first-year education students. The study employed a quasi-experimental research design utilizing pre-test and post-test and involving control and experimental groups. The online action program involved 13 participants from the experimental group and 13 participants from the control group. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data gathered in the study. The results revealed that the participants gained low scores in their pre-test. After the post-test, the participants under the control group only gained a little increase in their scores while the participants under the experimental group significantly gained higher scores. Finally, there is a significant difference in the post-test scores between the control and experimental group. In conclusion, the Operation EMAIL is effective in enhancing the email writing skills of the first-year education students.

Objective To explore the influences of situation-background-assessment-recommendation communication mode for caring behavior and caring load of hemodialysis patients home caregivers. Methods A total of 216 caregivers who took care of hemodialysis patients were selected in our hospital for treatment and were averagely divided into observation group (implement personalized education plan for nursing education) and control group (implement routine nursing education). We compared caring behavior and caring load between two groups by LC-GADs and caregiver′s pressure load scale. Results The 5 abstract behavior dimensions in patients of observation group including endorsement, evaluation, guidance, form a regular, keep balance were (3.25±0.52), (3.58±0.41), (3.49±0.50), (3.21±0.71), (3.45±0.48) which were higher than those of the control group, the differences were statistically significant (t=-7.364, -4.011, -9.025, -4.254, -3.896; P<0.01); the specific behavior scores in observation group were significantly higher than that of control group as well (P<0.01). In the observation group, emotions and economic stress, the body and personal time pressure, psychological pressure and family relationship were (1.82±0.35), (1.93±0.35), (1.85±0.54) and (1.68±0.45) which were lower than those of the control group (t=4.365, 3.563, 3.657, 4.615; P<0.01). Conclusions Caregivers of hemodialysis patients receive situation-background-assessment-recommendation communication mode which can obviously improve caregivers caring behavior, reduce caregivers caring load, and improve the quality of care. Key words: Hemodialysis; Caregivers; Caring behavior; Caring load

Objective To explore the application and the effect of the situation-background-assessment-recommendation (SBAR) communication mode in the transfer and the handover of surgical patients. Methods One hundred patients who had orthopedic surgeries from June 2015 to December 2015 were included into the control group. They were managed with the traditional method for the surgical transfer and handover. One hundred patients who had orthopedic surgeries from January 2016 to June 2016 were included into the research group. They were managed with the SBAR communication mode for the surgical transfer and handover. The success rate of the surgical transfer and handover, the satisfaction of medical workers, the incidence of adverse events and the average time of the surgical transfer and handover in the patients in the 2 groups were compared. Results In the surgical transfer and handover, the incidence of adverse events such as falling down from bed, the pipeline disconnection, the fluid extravasation, the disease exacerbation in the research group was 2.0%, which was significantly less compared to the control group (20.0%) (χ2=2.020, P<0.05) . The average time of the surgical transfer and handover in the research group was (8.5±5.5) min, which was significantly shorter compared to the control group (11.7±8.5) min (t=3.025, P<0.05) . Conclusions The application of the SBAR communication mode in the transfer and handover in surgical departments can effectively reduce adverse events and shorten the time of the surgical transfer and handover. It also improves the efficiency of the surgical transfer and handover, ensures patients' safety and promotes the satisfaction. Key words: Surgery; Situation-background-assessment-recommendation communication mode; Transfer and handover; Adverse events

Dynamics of bounded confidence opinion in heterogeneous social networks: Concord against partial antagonism

Objective: To explore the application of CICARE communication mode in the communication between nurses and patients in the endocrinology nurses. Methods: A total of 40 internship nurses from the hospital endocrinology department from January 2018 to June 2018 were selected as the research objects. The survey nurses communicated with the patients in their daily work. They were divided into two groups, each with 20 cases. The observation group Based on the knowledge and trust model, the CICARE communication model was designed according to the characteristics of the hospital. The control group received traditional communication training and compared the training effects of the two groups. Result: After the training, the scores of communication ability between the two groups of nurses were significantly different. The scores of the observation group were higher than those of the control group (P<0.05). Before the training, there was no statistically significant difference in the scores of the nurses and patients in the two groups. (P>0.05), after the training, the score of the observation group was higher than that of the control group (P<0.05). The scores of satisfaction between the two groups and the family members were significantly different. The scores of the observation group were higher than those of the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: The CICARE communication mode is applied to the communication training of nurses and patients in the endocrinology internship nurses, which can significantly improve the clinical communication ability of nurses and improve the satisfaction of patients and their families. It is worthy of promotion and application.

Worldwide at least 100 million people are thought to have prevalent cardiovascular disease (CVD). This population has a five times greater chance of suffering a recurrent cardiovascular event than people without known CVD. Secondary CVD prevention is defined as action aimed to reduce the probability of recurrence of such events. Drug interventions have been shown to be cost-effective in reducing this risk and are recommended in international guidelines. However, adherence to recommended treatments remains sub-optimal. In order to influence non-adherence, there is a need to develop scalable and cost-effective behaviour-change interventions. To assess the effects of mobile phone text messaging in patients with established arterial occlusive events on adherence to treatment, fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events, and adverse effects. We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, the Conference Proceedings Citation Index - Science on Web of Science on 7 November 2016, and two clinical trial registers on 12 November 2016. We contacted authors of included studies for missing information and searched reference lists of relevant papers. We applied no language or date restrictions. We included randomised trials with at least 50% of the participants with established arterial occlusive events. We included trials investigating interventions using short message service (SMS) or multimedia messaging service (MMS) with the aim to improve adherence to medication for the secondary prevention of cardiovascular events. Eligible comparators were no intervention or other modes of communication. We used standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane. In addition, we attempted to contact all authors on how the SMS were developed. We included seven trials (reported in 13 reports) with 1310 participants randomised. Follow-up ranged from one month to 12 months. Due to heterogeneity in the methods, population and outcome measures, we were unable to conduct meta-analysis on these studies. All seven studies reported on adherence, but using different methods and scales. Six out of seven trials showed a beneficial effect of mobile phone text messaging for medication adherence. Dale 2015a, reported significantly greater medication adherence score in the intervention group (Mean Difference (MD) 0.58, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.19 to 0.97; 123 participants randomised) at six months. Khonsari 2015 reported less adherence in the control group (Relative Risk (RR) 4.09, 95% CI 1.82 to 9.18; 62 participants randomised) at eight weeks. Pandey 2014 (34 participants randomised) assessed medication adherence through self-reported logs with 90% adherence in the intervention group compared to 70% in the control group at 12 months. Park 2014a (90 participants randomised) reported a greater increase of the medication adherence score in the control group, but also measured adherence with an event monitoring system for a number of medications with adherence levels ranging from 84.1% adherence to 86.2% in the intervention group and 79.7% to 85.7% in the control group at 30 days. Quilici 2013, reported reduced odds of non-adherence in the intervention group (Odds Ratio (OR) 0.43, 95% CI 0.22 to 0.86, 521 participants randomised) at 30 days. Fang 2016, reported that participants given SMS alone had reduced odds of being non-adherent compared to telephone reminders (OR 0.40 95% CI 0.18 to 0.63; 280 patients randomised). Kamal 2015 reported higher levels of adherence in the intervention arm (adjusted MD 0.54, 95% CI 0.22 to 0.85; 200 participants randomised). Khonsari 2015 was the only study to report fatal cardiovascular events and only reported two events, both in the control arm. No study reported on the other primary outcomes. No study reported repetitive thumb injury or road traffic crashes or other adverse events that were related to the intervention.Four authors replied to our questionnaire on SMS development. No study reported examining causes of non-adherence or provided SMS tailored to individual patient characteristics.The included studies were small, heterogeneous and included participants recruited directly after acute events. All studies were assessed as having high risk of bias across at least one domain. Most of the studies came from high-income countries, with two studies conducted in an upper middle-income country (China, Malaysia), and one study from a lower middle-income country (Pakistan). The quality of the evidence was found to be very low. There was no obvious conflicts of interest from authors, although only two declared their funding. While the results of this systematic review are promising, there is insufficient evidence to draw conclusions on the effectiveness of text message-based interventions for adherence to medications for secondary prevention of CVD. Sufficiently powered, high-quality randomised trials are needed, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

Objective To explore the influence of the communication mode of “Acknowledge, Introduce, Duration, Explanation, and Thanks (AIDET)” on the postoperative recovery and quality of life of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. Methods Sixty patients with percutaneous coronary intervention in our hospital from April 2019 to April 2021 were selected. The patients were randomly divided into a control group (n = 30) and research group (n = 30). The control group received integrated medical and nursing rounds, and the research group received integrated medical and nursing rounds combined with AIDET communication mode. The scores of nursing satisfaction, cardiac function, self-nursing ability, short-term prognosis, and quality of life were compared between the two groups. Results In the comparison of nursing satisfaction between the two groups, the satisfaction of the research group was low in 1 case, moderate in 6 cases, and high in 27 cases, with a satisfaction rate of 96.67%. In the control group, there were 7 cases with low satisfaction, 10 cases with moderate satisfaction, and 13 cases with high satisfaction, with a satisfaction rate of 76.67%. The nursing satisfaction of the research group was higher than that of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). After intervention, the cardiac function of the two groups was improved. The LVEF and LVESVI of the research group were higher than those of the control group, while the WMSI of the research group was lower than that of the control group (P < 0.05). In the comparison of self-nursing ability, the self-nursing maintenance, self-nursing management, self-nursing confidence, and total score of self-nursing in the research group were significantly higher than those in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The incidence rates of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), revascularization, arrhythmia, heart failure, cardiogenic shock, and cardiac death in the research group were obviously lower than those in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). After intervention, the scores of quality of life of the two groups decreased, and the scores of physiological function, psychological function, social function, and health self-cognition in the research group were lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusion Medical and nursing integrated ward rounds combined with AIDET communication mode can effectively improve the prognosis of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention to promote the establishment of a harmonious nurse-patient relationship. The patients' self-care ability is able to be effectively enhanced.

Current approaches explain the effects of news frames on judgments in terms of cognitive mechanisms, such as accessibility and applicability effects. We investigated the emotional effects of two news frames—an “anger” frame and a “sadness” frame—on information processing and opinion formation. We found that the two frames produced different levels of anger and sadness. Furthermore, the anger frame increased the accessibility of information about punishment and the preference for punitive measures in comparison with the sadness frame and the control group. In contrast, the sadness frame increased the accessibility of information about help for victims and the preference for remedial measures. More importantly, these effects were mediated by the anger and sadness that were elicited by the news frames.

The authors examine the dynamics of public opinion formation and change around a sitting president and their implications for reelection contests. Because of the biases inherent in information processing and the information environment, two distinct, but simultaneous, effects of citizen learning during a presidential term are expected. For those with prior opinions of the president, learning contributes to more polarized evaluations of the president. For those initially uncertain about the president, learning contributes to opinion formation about the president. Because the gap in uncertainty generally favors the incumbent over a lesser‐known challenger, races with an incumbent presidential candidate are typically marked, perhaps paradoxically, by both a polarization of public opinion and an incumbency advantage.