Changes In Attitudes Research Articles

Self-reported determinants for subjective financial distress: a qualitative interview study with German cancer patients

ObjectivesPatient-reported financial effects of a tumour disease in a universal healthcare setting are a multidimensional phenomenon. Actual and anticipated objective financial burden caused by direct medical and non-medical costs as...

Lessons for communication strategies during health emergencies from a COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes and practices study in an informal settlement in Mumbai, India

The COVID-19 pandemic provided lessons for health policies across the globe. We assessed the knowledge, attitudes and practices of vulnerable populations in an informal settlement in Mumbai, India, during the pandemic. We discuss the viability and effectiveness of communication strategies based on these results and offer suggestions for policy modifications regarding awareness generation and behavioral change during health emergencies. The study was conducted through a telephone survey among 460 respondents (233 men and 226 women) from April to May 2021. Television (94%) and family (70%) were the most common sources of information, but they were not the most trusted. Most respondents were aware of the causes and preventive measures of COVID-19, including vaccination. However, this awareness did not always result in changes in attitudes and behavior- 66% perceived low or no risk to COVID-19, while 93% did not consider it essential to wear masks in workspaces and 78% did not sanitize their hands before entering workspaces. More respondents were concerned about loss of employment (53%) than about their physical (10%) or mental (4%) health. The study highlights the need for context-specific communication strategies for vulnerable populations. This includes providing reliable and accessible sources of information, emphasizing accuracy and detail, and adopting a holistic and multidimensional approach to awareness and information sharing.

Interprofessional Debrief on Racism, Equity, and Microaggressions (I-DREAM): Using Simulation to Change Awareness, Attitudes, and Abilities Across an Institution.

Effective diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) education is imperative to combat bias across health care organizations. The authors evaluated the effectiveness of interprofessional, simulation-based DEI training in improving clinicians' awareness, attitudes, and abilities regarding bias, racism, inclusion, microaggressions, and equity in the workforce. From October 2021 to June 2022, interprofessional clinicians at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, completed the Interprofessional Debrief on Racism, Equity, and Microaggressions (I-DREAM) training. Participants underwent small group training that included debriefing prerecorded simulations depicting language barriers, microaggressions, and other biased interactions. They were offered optional surveys before training, after training, and at 3-month follow-up. Participants' awareness and attitudes of the events were assessed. Additional data were collected from monthly use of telephone interpreter services. A total of 1,811 interprofessional participants completed the I-DREAM training. Through user-generated codes, 759 presurveys and postsurveys and 276 presurveys and 3-month follow-up surveys were linked. Among these participants, 451 (60%) witnessed bias events before training and 629 (83%) after training (odds ratio [OR], 9.37; 95% CI, 5.77-15.22; P < .001), and 278 (37%) reported personally experiencing these events before training vs 496 (66%) after training (OR, 7.86; 95% CI 5.45-11.33; P < .001). Participants reporting confidence responding to bias events increased from 388 (45%) to 556 (73%) (OR, 3.28; 95% CI, 2.52-4.27; P < .001). At 3 months, 199 participants (72%) continued to express confidence in responding (OR, 3.98; 95% CI, 2.56-6.18; P < .001). Use of language interpretation increased during training (mean difference in calls per month, 261; 95% CI, 124-398; P < .001; mean difference in minutes per month, 2,249; 95% CI, 616-3,882; P = .009). I-DREAM training was associated with improved clinicians' awareness of bias events in the workplace, confidence in ability to respond to these events, and delivery of language-equitable care.

Live Music for Mental Health: A Pilot Study of How Concerts Influence Mental Health Stigma, Empathy, and Resource Utilization.

Mental illness, affecting one in eight people worldwide, is often exacerbated by stigma-which can result in self-stigmatization, isolation, and loneliness and negatively impact access to health care, education, and social connection. Previous research has found that stigma is best reduced through a combination of education about the stigmatized population and intentional contact with individuals from that population. Studies also note the benefits of community-based, culturally-relevant interventions and cultural experiences such as live music. Thus, this study posited that community-centered sources of contact and education, such as live music concerts, could offer effective, sustainable opportunities to reduce stigma and increase empathy about mental illness. To explore this approach, researchers evaluated Sound Mind Live's "Road to Recovery" (RtR) program, which addresses mental health stigma by training musicians to discuss the topic from stage, and by providing concert attendees with resources to improve education, awareness, and access to mental health supports. This pilot study evaluated RtR's impacts on stigma, empathy, knowledge, and actions related to mental illness. Using a pre-/post-survey design at two concerts in New York City, researchers measured changes in participants' attitudes, behaviors, and understanding of mental health issues. Findings indicate that concert attendance reduced stigma and negative behavioral assumptions related to mental illness, increased affective empathy, improved knowledge about mental illness, and increased attendees' likelihood of seeking support. This study informs further use of community-based arts experiences to address stigma, cultivate empathy and social connection, and improve care access.

Before and Besides Werktreue: (Re)inventing Operatic Staging at the 1930s Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

Abstract This article examines the role played by the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino as a kind of cultural laboratory for experiments in operatic staging in 1930s Italy. Founded in 1933, Florence's opera and arts festival was a key testing ground for ‘modern’ approaches both to set and costume design and to opera direction, two areas in which northern Europe (especially Germany) is normally held to have led the way, and through which the Maggio helped to reinvent Italian mise-en-scène as an act of independent, artistic creation. Setting the festival's overall project in the context of 1930s aesthetic, philosophical, and cultural debates about theatre, opera, and cinema, and drawing on a rich archive of as-yet-unexplored primary source materials, the article retraces an intellectual and cultural history of Italian staging c. 1930 that resonates productively with several present-day critical and scholarly concerns: from changing attitudes to the nineteenth-century operatic canon, to the early stirrings of Regietheater, to the intertwining histories of opera and film.

Disentangling effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests on implicit anti-Black bias.

Terror Management Theory (TMT) holds that mortal threats bolster people's desire to support their worldviews, which may contribute to increased outgroup bias. In 2020, two events likely increased mortality salience and death anxiety: COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests that followed George Floyd's murder. We used Project Implicit data to investigate their impact on implicit anti-Black bias, controlling for demographic variables. Study 1 (N=82,639) found a decrease in anti-Black bias from April 1-May 20, 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, indicating that increased mortality salience amid the pandemic failed to increase anti-Black bias. Study 2 (N=96,957) examined anti-Black bias and death anxiety across two seven-week periods prior to (April 1-May 20, 2020) and during the BLM protests (May 27-July 15, 2020). Death anxiety increased during the protests, while anti-Black bias decreased. Conservatives showed no link between death anxiety and anti-Black bias, yet showed a decrease in bias once the protests began. Liberals showed the TMT-predicted relation between death anxiety and increased bias, however this relation weakened during the protests. Notably, these attitude changes in the context of a mass social movement differ from predominant conservative shift and worldview defense patterns in prior work on attitude change amid social crisis. Collectively, our results failed to link mortality salience with outgroup bias but suggest a role for other factors including social movements, intergroup empathy, and social solidarity in reducing bias.

Obstacles in Recovery of Dower in Bangladesh

Dower, a crucial element of marital agreements in Bangladesh and other Muslim societies, refers to the financial or property rights a wife is entitled to from her husband. Moreover, it plays a crucial role to enhance women’s financial security and economic independence, particularly in the event of divorce, widowhood. In Islam, a balanced societal structure is promoted through a clear division of responsibilities: women traditionally manage household affairs, while men are tasked with providing for the family’s financial needs. In Bangladesh, the right to dower is safeguarded by law, recognizing it as a binding obligation on the husband. This article examines the practical challenges in recovering dower within the Bangladeshi context and recommends enhancing awareness among wife and husband regarding their respective religious, legal, and social responsibilities in fulfilling dower obligations. The author presumes that addressing the challenges in recovering dower require multilateral approaches involving collaborations between the government, judicial activism, civil societies, religious institutions and community leaders. Moreover, increasing public awareness, reforming statutory frameworks and advocating for changes in the societal attitude to deprive women from this significant right are all inevitable for mitigating the barriers towards recovery of dower rights of Bangldeshi women.

Clinical experience with the third-generation antipsychotic brexpiprazole in the treatment of schizophrenia spectrum disorders in a psychiatric inpatient settings

Objective: to summarize the clinical experience of the antipsychotic brexpiprazole in the treatment of schizophrenia spectrum disorders in a psychiatric hospital.Materials and Methods. A group of 26 patients (16 women; 61.5%) aged 19 to 64 years (mean age 35.73±9.33) with leading delusional, hallucinatorydelusional, manic-delusional, depressive-delusional or depressive-paranoid symptomatology constituted the study material. Patients were followed up for 6 weeks after brexpiprazole administration. The severity of psychotic symptomatology was assessed by selected items of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Rating Scale (PANSS). The General Clinical Impression Scale (CGI) was used for objective assessment of the patients' condition: the severity of condition subscale (CGI-S) and the mental status dynamics subscale (CGI–I). Patients' satisfaction with therapy was assessed in the dynamics of treatment and after the end of the follow-up period.Results. Brexpiprazole was administered both on admission to hospital (65.4%) and after prior antipsychotic therapy (34.6%). The range of maximum doses was 2 to 4 mg per day. Side reactions were registered in 3 cases (11.5%), and only in one case it required withdrawal of the drug. Statistically significant improvement of mental state by the 7th day of therapy was registered for the majority of PANSS items (Delirium, Suspiciousness, Agitation, Anxiety, Tension, Aggressiveness). A statistically significant decrease in the severity of mental state according to CGI was observed from the second week of therapy. A distinct dynamics of change of attitude to therapy towards positive attitude to therapy was established (p=0,029).Conclusions: clinical experience of brexpiprazole use in psychiatric inpatient settings demonstrated good results both in terms of therapy efficacy and safety, which allows us to evaluate the drug as promising for use in the treatment of psychotic exacerbations and maintenance therapy of patients with schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

A mixed method evaluation of a novel targeted health messaging intervention to promote COVID-19 protective behaviours and vaccination among Black and South Asian communities living in the UK (The COBHAM study).

To evaluate an intervention (a film and electronic leaflet) disseminated via text message by general practices to promote COVID-19 preventative behaviours in Black and South Asian communities. We carried out a before-and-after questionnaire study of attitudes to and implementation of COVID-19 preventative behaviours and qualitative interviews about the intervention with people registered with 26 general practices in England who identified as Black or South Asian. In the 108 people who completed both questionnaires, we found no significant change in attitudes to and implementation of COVID-19 preventative behaviours, although power was too low to detect significant effects. A key qualitative finding was that participants felt they did not 'belong' to the group targeted by the intervention. Interventions targeting ethnic minorities in the UK need to acknowledge the heterogeneity of experience and circumstances of the target group so that people feel that the intervention is relevant to them.

The effects of social media content on the use of beautifying photo applications among Chinese young adults

ABSTRACT Drawing upon the objectification theory, this study explores the associations between idealized exposure on social media and self-objectification through favorable attitudes toward the ideal body and the associations between self-objectification, self-surveillance, and the use of beautifying photo applications among a Chinese sample. We administered an online cross-sectional survey with 409 Chinese respondents and used structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses. There are several notable insights. First, we found that idealized exposure on social media was significantly associated with favorable attitudes toward ideal body images. Second, changes in attitudes toward the ideal body are positively associated with individuals’ self-objectification, which positively affects the usage of beautifying photo applications as well as self-surveillance. In other words, beautifying photo applications is a significant contribution to the objectification literature in understanding new ways that individuals are subjected to conforming to societal standards of attractiveness. Several research gaps are identified, and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Conspiracy beliefs and democratic backsliding: Longitudinal effects of election conspiracy beliefs on criticism of democracy and support for authoritarianism during political contests

AbstractThere are widespread concerns that conspiracy theories undermine democracies. But do conspiracy beliefs increase criticism of democracy and/or support for authoritarianism? Or are antidemocratic people more likely to endorse conspiracy beliefs? To answer these important questions, we collected longitudinal data during two concurrent democratic elections—the 2020 US Presidential Election (N = 609) and the 2020 General Election in New Zealand (N = 603). Random intercept cross‐lagged panel models tested whether conspiracy beliefs affect criticism of democracy in general, as well as support for authoritarianism, and both direct and representative democracy, specifically. There was little evidence that conspiracy beliefs temporally preceded changes in attitudes toward democracy or support for any specific form of government. Instead, people who supported authoritarianism more subsequently endorsed stronger conspiracy beliefs. The results suggested that, in the context of electoral contests (e.g., elections), antidemocratic people are more likely to endorse conspiracy beliefs rather than conspiracy beliefs fostering antidemocratic views.

Effectiveness of the 10 Essentials Workshop Program in Changing Attitudes Toward Suicide Among Mental Health Professionals

Effectiveness of the 10 Essentials Workshop Program in Changing Attitudes Toward Suicide Among Mental Health Professionals

P0388 Can intestinal ultrasound guide us in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease?

Abstract Background Intestinal Ultrasonography (IUS) is a useful method for monitoring inflammatory bowel disease. The role of Shear Wave Elastography (SWE) and the relationship with other parameters indicating activity are not yet well understood. Methods The aim was to describe the ultrasound characteristics observed in a cohort of patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) and the changes in therapeutic attitude derived from the results of this imaging test. To evaluate the usefulness of SWE in patients with intestinal strictures to detect fibrosis in comparison with analytical and ultrasound parameters of inflammatory activity. We conducted a single-center, retrospective, observational study of a baseline study including IUS examinations performed in CD patients between May 2022 and February 2023. Results We included 63 IUS in CD patients (60.9% male; mean age 43 ± 17 years). The mean HBI-score was 2.77 (± 2.6). A change in therapeutic approach was made in 32.8% of cases following IUS. Stricture was found in 22 IUS (34.9%), with a mean length of 5.6 ± 2.59 cm. Fat wrapping was observed in 40.9% of cases, and loss of wall stratification in 9.1%. Median SWE of the stricture was 9.05. Calprotectin is directly related to the Limberg scale (p&amp;lt;0.001) and indirectly with the SWE value (p&amp;lt;0.05). Inverse correlation between Limberg scale and SWE value (p&amp;lt;0.05) was observed. Conclusion intestinal ultrasonography facilitates a proactive monitoring in CD because immediate changes in therapeutic approach can be made. The combination of the Limberg scale and the SWE value allow the definition of intestinal strictures. Comparative studies are needed to clarify the usefulness in predicting the degree of fibrosis.

Outdoor environmental education as a nature-based solution for “education” and “environment”: a new conceptual framework and its pilot application in a coastal community case study in Taiwan

Nature-based solutions (NbS) have recently gained significant attention in coastal research. NbS are generally defined as actions aimed at safeguarding, sustainably managing, and restoring natural or altered ecosystems to address societal challenges while simultaneously promoting human well-being and biodiversity benefits. In this paper, I introduced a novel concept of NbS, where environmental education (EE) serves as a solution for both “education” and the “environment.” I designed an outdoor EE curriculum focused on land crab conservation to enable students to make practical contributions to current issues, based on scientific research within a traditional fishery community. Additionally, I developed a conceptual framework, the PPEF framework (Preparation, Practice, Evaluation, and Future), which explores how EE can function as an NbS for both education and the environment. I also used students’ self-reports to assess their learning outcomes, exploring changes in knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral intentions toward coastal conservation. I believe that the new concept and framework can make valuable contributions to society by benefiting students, local residents, and the environment, thereby enhancing both people and nature.

Connecting education and persuasion: insights from cognitive structure among college students in a pollinator conservation course

There are long traditions of research on the implications of cognitive structure for education and persuasion, respectively. Even though both are vital for understanding pro-environmental attitude and behavior change, however, these literatures have rarely been brought into conversation. As a preliminary step in this direction, the present study explored connections between cognitive structure and behavior change among college students participating in a semester-long course on bee conservation. Concepts central to students’ thinking about bee conservation were identified in two ways: via associative attitude networks and via semantic networks. Attitude network structure was fairly stable, but showed some notable changes due to class participation. Furthermore, both networks were partially successful in identifying concepts strongly associated with behavior change over time, though each also made incorrect predictions. With continued refinement, the results suggest that a structure-focused approach may have promise as a foundation for improved strategies to promote pro-environmental behavior change.

Perceptions of science, science communication, and climate change attitudes in 68 countries – the TISP dataset

Science is integral to society because it can inform individual, government, corporate, and civil society decision-making on issues such as public health, new technologies or climate change. Yet, public distrust and populist sentiment challenge the relationship between science and society. To help researchers analyse the science-society nexus across different geographical and cultural contexts, we undertook a cross-sectional population survey resulting in a dataset of 71,922 participants in 68 countries. The data were collected between November 2022 and August 2023 as part of the global Many Labs study “Trust in Science and Science-Related Populism” (TISP). The questionnaire contained comprehensive measures for individuals’ trust in scientists, science-related populist attitudes, perceptions of the role of science in society, science media use and communication behaviour, attitudes to climate change and support for environmental policies, personality traits, political and religious views and demographic characteristics. Here, we describe the dataset, survey materials and psychometric properties of key variables. We encourage researchers to use this unique dataset for global comparative analyses on public perceptions of science and its role in society and policy-making.

Autonomy-Supportive Classroom Climate and Attitudes Towards Social Participation: A Practice in Mixed-Grade Classes in a Japanese Elementary School

This study focuses on the relationship between an autonomy-supportive classroom climate and changes in attitudes towards social participation in mixed-grade classes. The research field involved the learning activities conducted in a Japanese elementary school. Learning activities were carried out in mixed-grade classes, and the children engaged in problem solving with their peers from different grades in collaboration with the local community. It was hypothesized that a perceived autonomy-supportive classroom climate would affect attitudes towards social participation and that this effect would be mediated by intrinsic motivation and reflection. Participants were 163 third- and fourth-grade children from mixed-grade classes. Data were collected repeatedly over a three-year period through a questionnaire survey. Latent growth curve modeling analyses revealed that an autonomy-supportive classroom climate was related to intrinsic motivation, which in turn, was related to reflection. Additionally, intrinsic motivation and reflection predicted the initial level of attitudes towards social participation. Intrinsic motivation was negatively related to the extent of change in attitudes towards social participation. These results suggest that an autonomy-supportive classroom climate promotes children&amp;rsquo;s positive attitudes towards social participation. In mixed-grade classes, teachers must create classrooms in which children can support each other&amp;rsquo;s autonomy.

"The more I think about it, the less I like it": Effects of elaboration, narrative transportation, and freedom threat on the effectiveness of HPV vaccination advocacy messages.

Approximately 80 million US adults-one in four-are infected with the human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes cancers of the cervix in women, cancers of the anus, penis, and throat in men, and genital warts in both sexes. Although HPV vaccinations are safe, effective, easily affordable, and readily available, a substantial percentage of parents resist recommendations to vaccinate their children against HPV. The current study tests the effects of different vaccination advocacy message strategies on attitudes toward HPV vaccination. Study participants (N=963) were randomly assigned to one of four message conditions (a narrative story, an informational fact sheet, an appeal from an expert spokesperson, or an identical appeal from a nonexpert spokesperson) and assessed for change in attitude toward HPV vaccination along with levels of elaboration, narrative transportation, and freedom threat caused by the messages. Analyses showed that the messages' effects on attitude change were mediated by transportation and moderated by freedom threat. With the informative, expert, and nonexpert messages, increased message engagement produced increased freedom threat. With the narrative message, increased message engagement produced reduced levels of freedom threat. For risk communicators and planners of health interventions, the results suggest benefits for using a nonexpert advocacy message when levels of message engagement are expected to be low and using a story-based narrative advocacy message when levels of message engagement are expected to be high.

Improving general practitioners’ approaches to functional somatic syndromes: a pilot training program with a focus on compassion and communication

BackgroundFunctional somatic syndromes are common in primary care and represent a challenge for general practitioners (GPs), with a risk of deterioration in the doctor-patient relationship, and of compassion fatigue on the part of the physician. Little is known about how to teach better management of these symptoms.MethodsThe aim of our scientific team was to develop a training session about functional somatic syndromes for GPs, with the objective to improve the therapeutic attitude of the participants. The first session of the training was constructed as a pilot session, followed by a qualitative study to complete content validation. The educational framework of the training session is multimodal and includes theory on the pathophysiology of functional somatic syndromes, communication skills, and introspective learning including an introduction to compassion meditation. 20 physicians attended the pilot training session. 10 of them participated in the qualitative study. The qualitative study consisted of five individual semi-structured interviews and one focus group of five persons, investigating the impact of the training session on the clinical practices, as perceived by the participants. The interviews were analysed through an inductive method inspired by Malterud’s systematic text condensation strategy.ResultsWe identified three main themes in the responses of the participants: (1) the crucial issue of putting a name to chronic psychosomatic suffering; (2) the importance of self-compassion for physicians; (3) changes in therapeutic attitude fostering a reconciliation between “self” and “care”. Participants expressed a need for more regular meetings of this type. The opportunity to share their negative feelings about therapeutic relationship within a peer group, with compassionate supervision of the trainers, seemed to play an important role in the improvement of their self-compassionConclusionA multimodal teaching session seems to help the physicians to feel more comfortable and competent when treating patients with functional somatic syndromes. Including compassion meditation in the teaching seems a promising tool to prevent compassion fatigue.

Transforming Children's Attitudes Toward Insects Through In-School Encounters.

Each year, the Department of Entomology at Virginia Tech hosts an entomology-themed outreach event known as Hokie BugFest. This on-campus, festival-sized experience aims to educate the public about insects and other arthropods through hands-on activities, games, displays, and live arthropods. In 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hokie BugFest and similar large public events were cancelled. In response, the department launched Hokie BugFest on the Go, which offered smaller-scale, in-person learning opportunities during these closures. Instead of hosting the community on campus, Virginia Tech's Department of Entomology brought live arthropods, university experts, and the exciting science of entomology directly into schools, fostering small-group, hands-on learning experiences. In 2022, a playful assessment was added to the traveling outreach program to measure changes in student attitudes and perceptions of insects and other arthropods before and after the program. The assessment also gauged students' favorite arthropods after seeing, and in some cases handling, them live during the program. Assessment results revealed valuable insights into how hands-on, applied learning experiences can shift children's attitudes toward arthropods. Results showed that even after expressing trepidation and fears, students' knowledge and comfort levels with insects and other arthropods increased as they interacted and learned throughout the program. These findings underscore the value of using engaging, hands-on, small-group approaches when designing entomology-themed outreach events for young audiences and offer guidance for future programs.