Changes In Beliefs Research Articles

The Role of Spirituality and Beliefs in the Future in the Mental Health of Chinese Adolescents During the Pandemic

Abstract This study first investigated the changes in spirituality and beliefs in the future among mainland Chinese adolescents pre- and post-COVID-19 outbreak. Then it examined the impact of these two positive youth development attributes on the mental health of Chinese youth during the pandemic. Junior secondary school students and their parents from five schools in Sichuan, China participated in a two-wave longitudinal study. At Wave 1, 7,008 students (age = 12.94 ± 1.73 years; 48.64% female) and 6,778 parents (age = 39.21 ± 5.85 years; 52.62% female) completed the survey. At Wave 2, surveys were completed by 6,164 students (48.51% female) and their parents (51.50% female). In Wave 2, students showed lower levels of spirituality and future beliefs compared to Wave 1. Spirituality at Wave 1 was linked to reduced depression, anxiety, internet addiction, and behavioral problems at Wave 2. In addition, it reduced the adverse effects of COVID-related PTSD on depression and anxiety among adolescents. Beliefs in the future at Wave 1 were associated with decreased depression and internet addiction at Wave 2 and moderated the negative effects of COVID-related PTSD on students’ behavioral problems at Wave 2. Real-life challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, may influence the development of spirituality and beliefs in the future among young Chinese adolescents. A high level of spirituality and positive beliefs about the future may protect adolescents from the detrimental effects the pandemic could have on their mental health.

Past socio-political transitions away from coal and gas show challenges and opportunities ahead

Abstract Transitioning away from fossil fuels presents substantial challenges, given the growing mismatch between pledges submitted to international climate negotiations and the mitigation strategies that limit warming to below 1.5 °C or 2 °C presented in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report. The scientific case for phasing out coal-fired electricity is clear, and many countries are progressing towards this. However, despite widespread concerns about risks and trade-offs, natural gas is often considered a bridge fuel, and there is currently no progress towards phasing down its capacity. Previous work on the political feasibility of coal phase-out only considered limited socio-political factors, missing the importance of governance quality and policies supporting the energy transition. There is even more limited understanding of factors associated with gas phase-down, while Europe and North America fall behind trajectories required to limit warming below 1.5 °C. We use multivariate regression and clustering analyses on over four decades of data to investigate the drivers and synergies of coal and gas transitions. This reveals opportunities to overcome fossil fuel lock-in through renewable energy expansion, energy policy reforms, and power market restructuring. Countries with greater reliance on fossil fuel infrastructure and workforce face additional difficulties in phase out. Social factors such as higher belief in climate change are positively linked with more ambitious coal phase-out efforts. However, disentangling these links for gas remains difficult given the limited historical evidence of phase-down progress. We identify four archetypes (Coal Reliance, Gas Reliance, Limited Policy, and Transition Underway) that illustrate different ways countries have transitioned from coal and gas over time. These provide blueprints for potential future transitions in other countries. Recognizing the diverse social, political, and institutional factors that shape transitions can inform the design of politically relevant future scenarios.

Machine learning identifies key individual and nation-level factors predicting climate-relevant beliefs and behaviors

While numerous studies have examined factors associated with climate-friendly beliefs and behaviors, a systematic, cross-national ranking of their key correlates is lacking. We use interpretable machine learning to quantify the extent to which different climate-relevant outcomes (climate change belief, policy support, willingness to share information on social media, and a pro-environmental behavioral task) are predictable and to rank 19 individual- and nation-level predictors in terms of their importance across 55 countries (N = 4635). We find notable differences in explained variance for the outcomes (e.g., 57% for climate change belief vs. 10% for pro-environmental behavior). Four predictors had consistent effects across all outcomes: environmentalist identity, trust in climate science, internal environmental motivation, and the Human Development Index. However, most of the predictors show divergent patterns, predicting some but not all outcomes or even having opposite effects. To better capture this complexity, future models should include multi-level factors and consider the different contexts (e.g., public vs private) in which climate-related cognition and action emerge.

Daily relatedness predicts positive shifts in world beliefs: Implications for psychological well-being and affective tendencies.

Primal world beliefs-beliefs about the general character of the world-are linked to psychological well-being, yet little is known about what drives changes in these beliefs. This study examined whether daily relatedness-rewarding, intimate, and responsive social interactions-predicts shifts in primal world beliefs over a year. In a dyadic study of romantic couples (N = 235 couples and 6,411 daily observations), daily relatedness predicted more positive world beliefs 1 year later. Specifically, positive interactions with close ties (i.e., familiar and close interaction partners), romantic relationship satisfaction, and perceived partner responsiveness contributed to these shifts. However, the quality of interactions with weak ties (i.e., unfamiliar or distant partners) did not predict changes in world beliefs. Moreover, positive changes in world beliefs partially explained the prospective effects of daily relatedness on greater well-being and lower depressed affect over the year. These findings provide novel support for retrospective models of world belief change, highlighting the role of everyday interpersonal experiences in shaping fundamental views of the world. They also suggest that more positive world beliefs may partially explain why relatedness promotes well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Navigating groundlessness: An interview study on dealing with ontological shock and existential distress following psychedelic experiences.

Psychedelic induced mystical experiences have been largely assumed to drive the therapeutic effects of these substances, which may in part be mediated by changes in metaphysical beliefs. However, there is growing evidence that psychedelic experiences can also trigger long lasting distress. Studies of persisting difficulties suggest a high prevalence of ontological challenges (related to the way people understand reality and existence). We conducted semi-structured interviews with 26 people who reported experiencing existential distress following psychedelic experiences. We explored the phenomenology of participants' difficulties and the ways they navigated them, including what they found helpful and unhelpful in their process. Thematic analysis revealed that participants experienced persistent existential struggle, marked by confusion about their existence and purpose and preoccupation with meaning-making. Along with cognitive difficulties stemming from the ungrounding of their prior frameworks for understanding, participants' ontologically challenging experiences also had significant emotional, social, bodily and other functional impact. Participants managed to alleviate their distress primarily through 'grounding': practices of embodiment and the social and cognitive normalisation of their experience. Our findings suggest that psychedelic experiences act as pivotal mental states that can facilitate transformative learning processes, challenging and expanding the ways individuals make meaning. This research contributes to the growing field of psychedelic integration by exploring the complex pathways through which people reestablish coherence and grow following ontologically challenging psychedelic experiences.

"The child of your fellow is your child": Building on existing protective norms to engage men as caregivers; qualitative findings from an exploratory evaluation of an edutainment intervention to prevent age-disparate transactional sex.

Evidence on the importance of engaging men in preventing violence against women and girls has increased over the past decade, yet efforts often focus on men as partners rather than caregivers. This paper examines qualitative data from an evaluation of the Learning Initiative on Norms, Exploitation and Abuse radio drama intervention aimed at preventing age-disparate transactional sex in Tanzania's Shinyanga region. We delivered the drama to households on flash drives and led structured household discussion sessions. We conducted in-depth interviews with 18 adult men caregivers before (September 2021) and after the intervention (December 2021) and used thematic analysis and the framework method to examine indications of change in attitudes, beliefs, norms and behaviours. Findings provided practical lessons for future interventions aiming to engage men, specifically as caregivers, and demonstrated promising indications of change. We found that the home-based delivery of the intervention coupled with household discussions led to high engagement from men. This engagement fostered expansion of participant's conceptualisation of fatherhood to include discussing (age-disparate transactional) sex with adolescent girls, as well as with other men in the community, with the goal of protecting girls. We also found that the drama led to an expansion of the existing norm that it is everyone's responsibility within a community to protect girls, to include protecting girls from age-disparate transactional sex; highlighting the success of norms programming that reinforces existing positive norms rather than introducing new norms. This study highlights the potential for edutainment using a variety of acceptable and relatable characters and storylines to model positive behaviours performed by men, and home-based, discussion-oriented approaches to foster meaningful change. Finally, this study's findings offer valuable insights for developing effective strategies to engage men in violence prevention, while ensuring they remain accountable to the needs and priorities of women and girls.

Aprendizagem Profissional Docente em uma Comunidade Investigativa: a Pesquisa da Própria Prática e o Desenvolvimento Profissional de uma Formadora

Results are presented from a research of own practice developed in the post-doctoral process, with the participation of an Inquiry Community, with the aim of understanding professional learning and contributions to the professional development of Teacher Educator’s. The aim was to answer: “How did participation in an investigative community contribute to a professional development of a Teacher Educator’s?” The research is of a qualitative nature, with an interpretative paradigm and was carried out through observation and active participation in the inquiry community, where the teacher education process took place. It was concluded that different perspectives and practical approaches, adopted in teacher education processes, when shared and experienced in an inquiry community, boost “metacognitive reflection”, the change of beliefs and professional teaching learning about the nature of teaching and learning in mathematics.

Global warming’s “Six Americas” among Iowa farmers: exploring differential attitudes towards climate change and agriculture

Agricultural production in the U.S. Midwest faces pressure to adapt to the negative impacts of climate change (e.g., extreme precipitation, drought) and to mitigate farms’ greenhouse gas emissions. Research has found that farmer attitudes toward and concern about climate change are highly variable and heterogenous. To explore variation in attitudes towards climate change, we have utilized the Six Americas Super Short Survey (SASSY), a four-item questionnaire that types individuals into six “types” based on their climate change beliefs and attitudes, with 1,039 Iowa farmers. This novel application of the SASSY typology method found that 22% of Iowa farmers aligned with the dismissive type, 20% were doubtful, 7% were disengaged, 23% were cautious, 16% were concerned, and 12% were alarmed. We also explored variation in farmers’ attitudes towards agricultural impacts and risks; we find that the SASSY correlates with attitudes towards more specific agricultural issues as they relate to climate change.

Measuring preservice teacher beliefs about mathematics and mathematics teaching: an evaluation of the TEDS-M beliefs scale

Abstract Debates about effective teaching practices, whether explicit instruction or inquiry-based, have resurfaced. A recent national report on teacher education in Australia has strongly advocated for explicit modelling as one of the effective pedagogical practices. There is a need for a valid instrument to examine preservice teachers’ beliefs and whether they are changing. Different approaches have been utilised to conceptualise and measure beliefs, including survey tools for large-scale studies. One of the influential beliefs surveys was developed in the Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M) international study to measure preservice teachers’ beliefs across 17 countries. The purpose of the current study is to validate the instrument in a sample of 760 preservice teachers from two universities in a metropolitan area in Australia. The results show that the preservice teachers in Australia tend to endorse the beliefs of mathematics as a process of inquiry more than mathematics as a collection of facts and rules. In addition, the preservice teachers tended to support the active role of students in learning mathematics but only 12.33% endorsed learning mathematics through teacher direction. The confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory structural equation modelling showed that a four-subscale structure with the deletion of one item in the achievement subscale provides a reliable model. In addition, the results suggest that the use of an average of responses across items in each of the subscales is appropriate in reporting the data. The survey may provide a useful tool to examine changes in beliefs about teaching pedagogy and practice as policy recommendations regarding high-impact teaching practices become more deeply embedded in initial teacher education programs.

Evidence for the efficacy of humanizing narratives to promote support for harm-reduction policies in the United States

BackgroundPrior work has suggested that harm-reduction policies (HRPs) are influenced by beliefs that the public hold about drug use. The current studies sought to explore if controllability beliefs about addiction are linked with such support for heroin-oriented HRPs and whether aspects of humanizing narratives may be effective in heightening support for HRPs.MethodsTwo studies administered in the United States (total N = 536) used survey designs to assess the causal effects of humanizing narratives on HRP support and controllability beliefs (Study 1) and the specific effect of mortality outcomes on HRP support (Study 2).ResultsResults showed that while humanizing narratives did appear to elicit changes in controllability beliefs, this did not translate to changes in HRP support. Study 2 found that changes in HRP support were elicited by emphasizing the potential mortality affiliated with long-term heroin use.ConclusionsThe current research suggests that, although controllability beliefs do explain HRP support, targeting controllability may not be an effective approach for messaging campaigns. Instead, the more severe mortality outcomes of long-term heroin use may be the more effective strategy to employ in public health messaging campaigns seeking to elicit HRP support.

The experience of oocyte donation pregnancy and early motherhood in Greece: a longitudinal, phenomenological study

ABSTRACT Background It has not been investigated how Greek women who have undergone oocyte donation experience pregnancy and early motherhood. Aim To explore the experience of women who have a child without a genetic link during pregnancy and after birth. Methods Nine pregnant women aged 32 – 49 (M = 40.8 years) who conceived their child through oocyte donation participated in the study. Four semi-structured interviews were conducted with each woman, one in each trimester and one 5–7 months after birth. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, and a phenomenological interpretative analysis was undertaken. Results Three main themes emerged: ‘In the beginning’ (experience and difficulties at first trimester); ’The prenatal bond compensates for the absence’ (progress of pregnancy and acceptance of non-genetic link); ‘‘It’s my, mine but…’ (experienced early motherhood after delivery). This qualitative study reveals changes in initial perceptions and beliefs about the importance of a genetic link during pregnancy and after childbirth. The prenatal bond and early parental care seem to have helped to accept the absence of genetic affinity. However, younger women even after giving birth expressed the hope of having a child genetically related to them. Also, some concerns that initially exist reappear after the child is born. Conclusion The study’s findings have important implications for Assisted Reproduction Centers (ARC) professionals to understand the needs and worries of women who decide to conceive through oocyte donation. In addition, the study offers women considering oocyte donation an insight into the experiences of other women who already have a child.

A Computationally Grounded Framework for Cognitive Attitudes

We introduce a novel language for reasoning about agents' cognitive attitudes of both epistemic and motivational type. We interpret it by means of a computationally grounded semantics using belief bases. Our language includes five types of modal operators for implicit belief, complete attraction, complete repulsion, realistic attraction and realistic repulsion. We give an axiomatization and show that our operators are not mutually expressible and that they can be combined to represent a large variety of psychological concepts including ambivalence, indifference, being motivated, being demotivated and preference. We present a dynamic extension of the language that supports reasoning about the effects of belief change operations. Finally, we provide a succinct formulation of model checking for our languages and a PSPACE model checking algorithm relying on a reduction into TQBF. We present some experimental results for the implemented algorithm on computation time in a concrete example.

Associations between religiosity and climate change beliefs and behaviours in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)

Individual actions are crucial to mitigating the impact of anthropogenic climate change. Understanding the factors shaping individuals’ climate beliefs and behaviours is therefore essential to help encourage sustainable action among the public. One such factor is religion, which – based on theoretical expectations and prior literature – could influence climate beliefs and behaviours, either positively or negatively. To understand the impact of religion in more detail, we used data from two generations of a large-scale longitudinal population-based UK birth cohort study (the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children; ALSPAC). We explored whether a range of religious/spiritual beliefs and behaviours (religious belief, identity and attendance, in addition to latent classes of religiosity) were associated with a number of climate beliefs and behaviours (e.g., belief in, and concern over, climate change, and pro-environmental actions taken for climate change reasons), adjusted for a range of sociodemographic confounders. Analyses were repeated in three cohorts: the study offspring, their mothers, and the mother’s partners. Overall, we observed a broadly ‘U’-shaped or ‘J’-shaped association between religiosity and climate beliefs and behaviours in the parental generation; participants with intermediate levels of religiosity displayed the lowest levels of belief, concern and behaviours, while the most religious participants displayed similar, and sometimes greater, awareness and actions relative to the least religious. These patterns were not replicated in the offspring generation, with little relationship observed between religion and climate questions. These results indicate a complex association between religion and climate beliefs and behaviours, which varies depending on the religion exposure, the climate outcome, and the generation. The reason for these findings is uncertain, although they perhaps suggest that, among the highly religious in the older generation, religious attendance may promote positive climate beliefs and behaviours.

Lessons learned on social health integration: evaluating a novel social health integration and social risk-informed care online continuing professional development course for primary care providers

BackgroundAdjusting clinical care to account for social risks and needs is vital to patient-centered care, but little attention has been paid to implementing it in routine practice. Kaiser Permanente co-designed and developed a continuing professional development (CPD) course to orient providers to adjustment activities, or social risk-informed care. We evaluated the dissemination and implementation of this course.MethodsWe evaluated the dissemination and implementation of the online CPD using the RE-AIM implementation framework and the Kirkpatrick model of evaluation for training and learning programs. Administrative records and completion reports were generated to track dissemination and completion. A pre- and post-survey design was utilized to assess provider changes in knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and self-efficacy in delivering social risk-informed care, and semi-structured interviews were conducted to describe effectiveness of the online CPD, adoption of social risk-informed care, and sustainability of the online CPD and other Kaiser Permanente social health integration initiatives.ResultsFrom April 2022-February 2023, 82 individuals completed the online CPD; 52 participants completed the pre-survey and 38 completed the post-survey. A total of 17 interviews were conducted over two phases of qualitative data collection (passive dissemination versus active dissemination). Interviewees felt the online CPD provided foundational knowledge in social health and social risk-informed care but requested more region- and role-specific resources. They also identified several systems-level barriers to social health integration.ConclusionsCo-designing medical education courses with various stakeholders is vital to ensuring relevant and effective educational material. However, high-quality, intentionally designed educational material needs to be complemented with multifaceted and targeted implementation strategies to achieve intended provider behavior change and improved patient outcomes.

Escape Game to Promote Students' Mental Health Outcomes in the Aftermaths of COVID-19 Pandemic: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Study Evaluating a Cocreated Intervention.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the protracted lockdowns have heavily impacted university students' mental health. Digital Escape Games represent a good means to reach students and propose them solutions for their psychological well-being. This study aimed to evaluate a cocreated digital Escape Game on students' mental health in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, called EscapeCovid Game. The evaluation of the effectiveness of this stand-alone intervention concerns mental health outcomes (mental health literacy, appraisal and change of beliefs about mental health, management of emotions, and development of coping strategies) and the appreciation and relevance of the game. A randomized controlled trial with pre- and posttest data collection (online questionnaires with validated scales) is conducted among 500 students in Bordeaux, France, to evaluate the EscapeCovid Game cocreated with students, researchers, health professionals, and web developers. A subsample of students is randomly selected for responding to a semistructured interview following a mixed methods design. Recruitment is done through mail invitations from student associations and presentations in university classes. Half of the sample of the trial plays the Escape Game, while the other half receives an email with mental health-related information. Within the game, students discuss their personal experiences. The text is further used for the qualitative analyses. The whole study is carried out online. The EscapeCovid Game has been developed, tested, and finalized by the end of March 2023. As of November 4, 2024, a total of 191 students have answered the baseline questionnaire (90 intervention vs 101 control). A total of 23 students have played the game and 53 are in the control arm. Among participants, by the end of September 20, 2023, twenty were interviewed (10 intervention and 10 control) reaching sample saturation. According to preliminary results, the EscapeCovid Game has had a positive impact on all defined outcomes, while the email has been effective in increasing knowledge on resources available and on coping strategies and meditation techniques. We expect the trial to be completed by the end of June 2025. The mixed methods findings of this study are due to demonstrate the effectiveness of the EscapeCovid Game in improving students' mental health outcomes. Preliminary results from the qualitative substudy are promising: in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, this intervention is intended to promote players' mental health through gamification, knowledge transfer, and a learning-by-doing approach. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06720792; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06720792. DERR1-10.2196/64068.

Adverse childhood experiences, adult emotional eating, and the role of self-compassion.

Adverse childhood experiences, adult emotional eating, and the role of self-compassion.

Role of risk perception and climate change beliefs in adoption of climate-resilient agricultural practices in Saudi Arabia

Role of risk perception and climate change beliefs in adoption of climate-resilient agricultural practices in Saudi Arabia

Behavior of Young Music Consumers Towards Music Competitions and Reality Shows: A Case of Pepsi Battle of The Bands

This research analyzes the attitudes and tendencies of young music consumers towards music competitions and reality shows, particularly Pepsi Battle of the Bands (BOTB), a known reality show in Pakistan owned by PepsiCo. The applied quantitative approach employs a One-group Pretest-posttest research design for an evaluation of a cohort of Bachelor of Science Students from a randomly selected sample of thirty-two students, with gender-balanced factors in mind. The essence of this design is that it gives a chance to measure the changes in beliefs or feelings before and after the exposure to the intervening factors, in this specific case - the edited showreel with scenes from the earlier season of BOTB. Rigorous statistical analysis is the procedure to fetch results, retrieve the data, treat it with paired t-tests, and then compare the means with the help of the SPSS software. The analysis shows a significant difference between the age and the pretest scores, which statistical data confirms, so a multitude of factors are the cause of their feeling. Despite the difference in the range of age, the average pretest scores of various age levels are similar to each other, implying a consistent attitude on the similar variables expressed. The p-value (<0.001) creates a more certainty of the projection. This study offers insight into the complex issues of young music consumers and shows that individual differences, context, and the environment are important examining points. As music franchises, music reality shows, and competitions are growing, this study is in line with the consumers' interest in this topic in Pakistan.

Form-Meaning Relations in Russian Confirmative and Surprise Declarative Questions.

Declarative questions (DQs) are declarative sentences used as questions. As declaratives, they differ from information-seeking polar questions (ISQs) in their syntax, and as biased questions, they differ from polar questions because they can convey various epistemic stances: a request for confirmation, surprise, or incredulity. Most studies on their intonation typically compare just one subtype to ISQs. In this paper, we present a production study where participants pronounced ISQs, confirmative and surprise DQs, and assertions in Russian. We analyzed the pitch and duration of the target utterances, as these prosodic cues proved to be important in the formal markedness of various biased question types across languages. A principal component analysis (PCA) on the pitch contours shows that DQs bear the same rise-fall contour as ISQs, but its peak falls on the stressed syllable of the last word of the sentence instead of the verb. The intonation of surprise DQs differs from that of confirmative ones in that they also exhibit a slight peak on the subject. Pitch alone is thus enough to distinguish the four utterance types tested. The PCA analysis was also used to identify higher-level trends in the data (principal components), two of which appear to correspond to core semantic properties, namely belief change and commitment. In addition to intonation, speaker commitment also correlates with utterance duration.

On the Consistency between Belief Revision and Belief Update

Belief revision and belief update are two fundamental and well-studied processes of belief change. In the present article, we introduce a consistency principle which dictates that the revision and update policies employed by a rational agent are not independent, but ought to be related in a certain coherent way. We formalize our consistency principle both axiomatically and semantically, and we establish a representation result explicitly connecting the two formalizations. Furthermore, we show that two important concrete types of belief change, namely uniform belief change and parametrized-difference belief change, serve as proof-of-concept examples for the introduced consistency principle, as they fully comply with it. Additionally, we identify an intriguing property of uniform belief change in which revision and update become indistinguishable when an epistemic input contradicts the initial state of belief, as both processes produce identical outcomes. Lastly, it is shown that, unlike parametrized-difference belief change, uniform belief change is incompatible with Parikh’s notion of relevance. Consequently, building on previous results, it is demonstrated that parametrized-difference belief change is relevance-sensitive — indicating that the proposed principle of consistency is compatible with relevance — while uniform belief change is not.