Quantitative Empirical Studies Research Articles

Process Evaluations of Diabetes Self-Management Programs: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

To conduct a systematic review of process evaluations (PEs) of diabetes self-management programs (DSMPs). An electronic search using Medline (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), CINAHL (Ensco), Academic Search (Ebsco), and APA PsycInfo (Ebsco). Peer-reviewed, empirical quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-method studies were included if they (1) were a traditional, group-based DSMP, (2) involved adults at least 18 years with T1DM or T2DM, (3) were a stand-alone or embedded PE, and (4) published in English. The following process evaluation outcomes were extracted: fidelity, dose delivered, dose received, reach, recruitment, retention, and context. Additional items were extracted, (eg, process evaluation type, data collection methods; theories; frameworks or conceptual models used to guide the process evaluation, and etc). Due to heterogeneity across studies, studies were synthesized qualitatively (narratively). Sixty-eight studies (k) in 78 articles (n) (k = 68; n = 78) were included. Most were mixed methods of low quality. Studies were typically integrated into outcome evaluations vs being stand-alone, lacked theoretical approaches to guide them, and incorporated limited outcomes such as dose received, reach, and retention. Future research should 1) implement stand-alone theoretically grounded PE studies and 2) provide a shared understanding of standardized guidelines to conduct PEs. This will allow public health practitioners and researchers to assess and compare the quality of different programs to be implemented.

Travel behaviour of shared mobility users: a review of empirical evidence

ABSTRACT In recent decades, shared mobility has gained prominence as a sustainable alternative in transport, yet a comprehensive understanding of its effects on travel behaviour remains limited. This paper provides a narrative review of quantitative empirical studies, focusing on car-sharing and bike-sharing, and revisits the magnitude of the effects on four indicators: public transport use, active transport use, auto dependence, and auto ownership. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal perspectives are considered, examining variances in trip characteristics. Shared mobility users tend to rely less on private vehicles and increase cycling, with varying effects on transit use and walking. Car-sharing typically replaces private vehicles for non-commuting trips, while bike-sharing mainly competes with rather than complements public transport, especially for shorter commutes. The longitudinal effects of shared mobility appear more limited than those observed in cross-sectional analyses, indicating that shared mobility can potentially lead to a positive trend in travel mode shifts over time, albeit slowly. Additionally, this study highlights differences in shared mobility outcomes between Australia and other global contexts, exploring potential reasons for these discrepancies. Integrating shared mobility and other transport paradigms requires long-term strategies to shape travel behaviour towards multimodality, offering a continuum of choices covering most daily trips without private vehicles.

Digital Self-Monitoring Tools for the Management of Gestational Weight Gain: Protocol for a Systematic Review.

Gestational weight gain (GWG) exceeding the recommendations of the Institute of Medicine (in the United States) is associated with numerous adverse maternal and infant health outcomes. While many behavioral interventions targeting nutrition and physical activity have been developed to promote GWG within the Institute of Medicine guidelines, engagement and results are variable. Technology-mediated interventions can potentially increase the feasibility, acceptability, and reach of interventions, particularly for pregnant women, for whom integration of interventions into daily life may be critical to retention and adherence. Previous reviews highlight GWG self-monitoring as a common intervention component, and emerging work has begun to integrate digital self-monitoring into technology-mediated interventions. With rapid advances in technology-mediated interventions, a focused synthesis of literature examining the role of digital self-monitoring tools in managing GWG is warranted to guide clinical practice and inform future studies. The proposed review aims to synthesize the emerging research base evaluating digital GWG self-monitoring interventions, primarily focusing on whether the intervention is effective in managing GWG. Depending on the characteristics of the included research, secondary focus areas will comprise intervention recruitment and retention, feasibility, acceptability, and differences between stand-alone and multicomponent interventions. This protocol was developed following the PRISMA-P (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols) guidelines for systematic review protocols. The proposed review would use a planned and systematic approach to identify, evaluate, and synthesize relevant and recent empirical quantitative studies (reported in English) examining the use of digital weight self-monitoring tools in the context of technology-mediated interventions to manage GWG in pregnant US adults, with at least 2 instances of data collection. Literature eligible for inclusion will have a publication date between January 2010 and July 2020. The Effective Public Health Practice Project Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies will be used to assess the methodological quality of included studies across various domains, and results will be synthesized and summarized per the synthesis without meta-analysis guidelines. The initial queries of 1150 records have been executed and papers have been screened for inclusion. Data extractions are expected to be finished by December 2023. Results are expected in 2024. The systematic review that will be generated from this protocol will offer evidence for the use of digital self-monitoring tools in the management of GWG. The planned, focused synthesis of relevant literature has the potential to inform the use of digital weight self-monitoring tools in the context of future technology-mediated interventions to manage GWG. In addition, the planned review has the potential to contribute as part of a broader movement in research toward empirically supporting the inclusion of specific components within more extensive, multicomponent interventions to balance parsimony and effectiveness. PROSPERO CRD42020204820; https://tinyurl.com/ybzt6bvr. PRR1-10.2196/50145.

What do we know about religion and interreligious peace? A review of the quantitative literature

AbstractInterreligious relations remain an important dimension of human coexistence and we currently observe an increase in religiously motivated violence and discrimination. Hence, we need to better understand determinants of interreligious peace. Building on a new concept of interreligious peace which includes but exceeds the absence of interreligious physical violence, we provide a systematic review of 83 quantitative empirical studies examining religious determinants of interreligious physical violence, hostile attitudes, threat perceptions, trust, and cooperation. We find that religious ideas foster or hinder interreligious peace depending on their content. Religious identities have negative effects but must be considered in context. Evidence regarding the role of religious practice is mixed and the role of religious actors and institutions remains understudied. Our results show the need for (1) more conceptual clarity, (2) replications in different contexts, (3) research on dimensions of religion beyond identities, and (4) a better integration of different strands of literature.

Considering genres in gendered and racialized cultural capital

Despite their essential role in conceptualizing cultural capital, genres have been left out of most quantitative empirical studies in this research tradition. Based on data from the French Ministry of Education with measures of detailed genre consumption for reading and TV watching, this article uses multiple correspondence analysis to show differences in consumption by gender, race/ethnicity, and class, and uses Blinder-Oaxaca decompositions to explore how gender and ethnic/racial GPA gaps can be explained with attention to cultural genres. Findings suggest that variations in consumption can both play to the advantage or detriment of girls and minorities, with perhaps gendered practices having an exacerbated effect on grades in certain cases and conformity to school norms being particularly rewarded for children of immigrants. Ultimately, results call for attention to genres to nuance our understanding of all-encompassing indicators of cultural capital as also gendered and racialized.

Including families in schizophrenia treatment: a systematic review

The family as one of system support for schizophrenia treatment in the primary care setting has been a challenge in integrating family services into mental health. This study aimed to review the urgent of family involvement during the treatment of schizophrenia in health mental services using the Family-Centered Care approach. A systematic review was performed using the population, intervention, comparison, outcome, study design (PICOS) framework within Scopus (27 articles), ProQuest (151 articles), Science Direct (93 articles), EBSCO (124 articles), and Springer (149 articles) published databases in the last five years using the keywords of “Family- Centered Care, nursing, AND Schizophreni*”. The articles were empirical quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods studies published within 2017- 2021 where study participants were clinically diagnosed with schizophrenia and intervention approaches were within the scope of family involvement. Twenty-four articles met the inclusion criteria for review. Evidence supports a professionally engaged relationship between patients, families, and providers with open knowledge exchange, communication, and collaboration. Family-centered care requires empathy, understanding, respect, and empowerment to choose, control decisions, and empower in the treatment of schizophrenia. This study concludes the importance of family involvement in the treatment of schizophrenia from the start. Health care providers help families through the admissions process.

Writing a useful empirical journal article

The impact of research depends on how well readers can understand and use published reports, yet as researchers we often fail to consider what our readers need. Instead, we structure reports to match a socially accepted, but often inappropriate, standard design – the “hourglass”. In this essay, I suggest that when writing a report, we should adjust our reporting style to suit our target readers. I outline four reporting templates for quantitative empirical studies that are suited to differing reader needs.

The Association of Moral Injury and Healthcare Clinicians’ Wellbeing: A Systematic Review

Research focused on elucidating moral injury amongst healthcare workers (HCWs) is essential due to the deep connection with morality and individuals’ overall wellbeing. Examining moral injury provides an avenue through which researchers can connect individual experiences with systemic level causes (i.e., structural power imbalances between clinicians and health systems) to better study workplace wellbeing. The omnipresence of the COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the need to study moral injury. This paper describes a systematic review conducted using PRISMA-P guidelines to answer the question, “what is the association between moral injury and professional wellbeing and mental health amongst healthcare workers.” Twelve databases were searched to identify specified studies. This study’s criteria included: (1) articles published through December 2022; (2) qualitative and quantitative empirical studies; (3) articles written in English; (4) articles including moral injury; and (5) articles including at minimum one other measure of professional or personal wellbeing. The initial search produced 248 articles, and 18 articles were ultimately included in the final review. To confirm that no articles were left out of this study, the first author of each included article was contacted to inquire about any additional works that met the inclusion criteria of this study. The elements of the 18 included articles described in this review are discussed. The results indicate that moral injury is associated with both professional wellbeing factors and mental health outcomes. Further theoretical development, including (professional- and identity-based) exploratory research on moral injury, and evidenced-based interventions for moral injury are needed.

A Bibliometric Review ofJournal of Financial Counseling and PlanningBetween 1990 and 2022

In 1990, the Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning (JFCP) was established. The journal publishes academic research on consumer financial decision-making, financial education, counseling, and planning. This article reviews the journal’s contents published during the period 1990–2022. It analyzes JFCP’s publication trends, citation statistics, significant themes, authors’ collaborations, keywords, and contributions to the literature of consumer finance. Most studies employed Life Cycle Hypothesis and Expected Utility Theory. JFCP publishes mostly US-based quantitative empirical studies. JFCP’s eight knowledge themes are credit card behavior; financial literacy and financial behavior; financial risk tolerance; financial education, and financial behavior; financial distress and financial self-efficacy; financial well-being; workplace financial education and financial help-seeking behavior, and JFCP’s retrospection. Among JFCP’s articles, the most used keywords selected by authors are “survey of consumer finances” and “financial literacy.” This study also describes the author, country, and concept networks.

Transdiagnostic factors in symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress: a systematic review

The current systematic review sought to identify quantitative empirical studies that focused on the transdiagnostic factors of intolerance of uncertainty, emotional dysregulation and rumination, and their relation with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The overall research aim was to examine the relationship between these transdiagnostic factors and their relation with depression and PTSD symptoms. The systematic review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Out of the 768 articles initially identified, 55 met the inclusion criteria for the current review. The results determined that intolerance of uncertainty is indirectly related to depression and PTSD symptoms, mainly through other factors including emotion dysregulation and rumination. Additionally, emotional dysregulation is a significant predictor of both depression and PTSD symptoms. Rumination is a robust factor related to depression and PTSD symptoms, this relationship was significant in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. This review provides evidence on the transdiagnostic factors of intolerance of uncertainty, emotional dysregulation and rumination in the relationship with depression and PTSD symptoms.

Triple-A supply chain and firm performance relationship: a meta-analysis

ABSTRACT The triple-A supply chain (SC) is characterised as agile, adaptable, and aligned that help firms achieve competitive advantage in the business environment, but few studies have examined their impact on firm performance. This meta-analysis provides a generalised overview of this relationship, based on the extant empirical evidence. Via a systematic literature review, 63 peer-reviewed quantitative empirical studies were carefully identified with 63 usable effect sizes. This meta-analytic study confirms that triple-A SC is positively associated with firm performance, including in the areas of aggregate, business, and operational performance. The findings reveal that each dimension of triple-A SC (agility, adaptability, and alignment) contributes to overall firm performance. Moreover, performance measurement, industry type, and economic region moderate the relationship between triple-A SC and firm performance. Significant implications can be drawn for business managers or practitioners by displaying how to build a triple SC to improve firm performance.

THE USE OF INERTIAL DEVICES IN WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL: EXPLORATORY SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

The aim of the study was to conduct an exploratory systematic review related to Wheelchair Basketball, and the use of inertial devices as a novel tool to quantify internal and external load during training sessions and matches. For the search of scientific manuscripts, the following keywords were used, in English: “Basketball”, “Wheelchair” and “Inertial device”; and, in Spanish: “Baloncesto”, “Silla de ruedas” and “Dispositivo inercial”. The databases used were Web of Science and Google Scholar. Also, to limit the search, a series of document inclusion and exclusion criteria were established, to collect the most appropriate manuscripts for the subject under study. Twelve scientific papers were selected, which were classified according to the variables predetermined by the researchers. The largest number of publications related to the subject is produced in 2019, and they are mainly Quantitative empirical studies. Therefore, it is interesting to increase scientific knowledge in the WB.

Strategic internal communication for effective internal employer branding

PurposeAlthough internal communication is perceived as one of the crucial elements for favorable internal evaluation of an employer brand (EB), the importance of internal communication for EB advocacy has been insufficiently theoretically problematized and related empirical evidence is almost non-existent. In this paper, the relationship between employees' satisfaction with internal communication and their perceptions of their employers' attractiveness is explored.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire-based field research study was conducted on a sample of 3,457 Croatian employees. The Internal Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire (ICSQ) (Tkalac Verčič et al., 2009) and the Employer Attractiveness (EmpAt) Scale (Berthon et al., 2005) were used for assessing internal communication satisfaction (ICS) and employer attractiveness (EA).FindingsFindings reveal that respondents' overall satisfaction with internal communication in their organizations is significantly positively related with the overall attractiveness they assign to their employers, that all explored ICS dimensions are significant for the overall EA, and that each ICS dimension is significant for at least one EA dimension. The most relevant ICS dimensions for EA are “satisfaction with feedback” and “satisfaction with communication climate”.Originality/valueA conducted large sample study is among the first quantitative empirical studies that proved that employees who are satisfied with internal communication are likely to see their employers as attractive. Moreover, findings point toward internal communication endeavors which add more value to developing an attractive internal EB.

The family side of work-family conflict: A literature review of antecedents and consequences

Objective: To review the empirical literature on family antecedents and consequences of work-family conflict. Background: Over the last decades, family living and working life have changed profoundly, affecting families' needs and expectations towards reconciliation, as well as perceptions of work-family conflict. Previous reviews of the relevant literature in this flourishing field of research have predominantly focused on the work side of sources and consequences of these conflicts. However, a review of the family side of work-family conflict is still missing. Method: The review of the existing literature followed the guidelines of "PRISMA - Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses." 100 quantitative empirical studies were identified by relevant keywords, including research between 1988-2021. Results: The review of international and interdisciplinary empirical evidence remarkably shows the heterogeneity in research on family antecedents and consequences of work-family conflict in the directions of family-to-work and work-to-family. In addition, the findings of existing studies are inconsistent, if not ambivalent. However, the review also demonstrates a growing body of literature that considers or even focuses on the family side of work-family conflict. Conclusion: The family plays an essential role in reconciling the private and the working life, as it is a source of conflict and a resource for dealing with conflicts at the same time.

A systematic review of the factors associated with athlete burnout in team sports

ABSTRACT Athlete burnout is a psychological syndrome with substantial negative consequences, including depression and sport dropout. It has been linked to a range of factors, some of which may vary across different sport-types. This review is the first to synthesise variables examined in relation to burnout in team-sports specifically. An online search of seven relevant databases yielded 59 papers examining 123 burnout correlates. Eligible papers were peer-reviewed, quantitative empirical studies, which assessed burnout using the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire. Results are reported in-line with PRISMA guidelines. Weighted meta-analysis (WMA) assessed the strength of the relationship between burnout dimensions and 18 variables examined across ≥3 samples. A narrative synthesis of the remaining cross-sectional, longitudinal and mediating/moderating relationships provides a comprehensive overview of the literature. Burnout displayed a negative relationship with autonomy, competence, relatedness, self-determined motivation, positive affect, autonomy supportive coach, harmonious passion, self-oriented perfectionism and social support, and a positive relationship with amotivation, negative affect, obsessive passion, socially-prescribed perfectionism, ego-involving climate, playing experience and controlling coach style in the WMA. Some variability in relationships was identified across the dimensions of burnout. The results highlight the key factors associated with the dimension of burnout in team sports, which may inform targeted intervention strategies.

Advancing the field of employee assistance programs research and practice: A systematic review of quantitative studies and future research agenda

The COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated the critical role of organizational support for the workforce. An employee assistance program (EAP) represents an inclusive strategy which organizations adopt to provide supportive and empathic care to help employees overcome undesirable situations. To date, we have limited knowledge of what EAP issues have been researched from the human resource management (HRM) perspective and what theoretical underpinning these studies have used. This article systematically reviews quantitative empirical studies on EAPs. Drawing upon 115 articles from 72 journals across 40 years (1981–2020), we trace the evolutionary trend of the construct of EAP and shed light on the internal link of EAP with HRM. After summarizing research themes, methods, theories, and approaches to the evaluation of EAPs, we identify pitfalls in the current research and contribute to extending the field by proposing several research agendas for future investigation.

Evaluation of the Synergy Degree of Watershed Collaborative Governance: A Case Study of Taihu Basin, China

Owing to the publicity and externality of watershed governance, collaborative governance among cities has become an inevitable choice to improve watershed governance performance and promote sustainable development of watersheds. Existing studies have provided many enlightenment on promoting watershed collaborative governance (WCG), while most of them investigated WCG from single or several dimensions with scanty quantitative empirical studies. Against this background, this study aims to establish a comprehensive WCG research framework involving multiple phases and diverse actors to empirically measure the synergy degree of WCG. Specifically, this study constructs a WCG index system composed of resource investment, open cooperation, and performance supervision subsystems that involves actors of government, enterprise, and the public. Using the complex system synergy model, an empirical analysis is performed to evaluate the synergy degree of Taihu Basin collaborative governance among and within cities in Jiangsu province, China during 2014–2020. The results reveal that the Tai Basin collaborative governance among cities was still in the run-in adaptation stage, which was primarily constrained by the discrete open cooperation subsystems among cities. The synergy degree of Taihu Basin collaborative governance within cities presented significant differences. Several targeted implications are proposed according to the results. This study provides a comprehensive index system for synergy degree measurement of WCG and could offer effective guidance for policymakers to design effective strategies for improving WCG performance.

Impact of the Digital Transformation of Small- and Medium-Sized Listed Companies on Performance: Based on a Cost-Benefit Analysis Framework

The ultimate goals of digital transformation, which is the only means of realizing the sustainable development of current enterprises, are to achieve cost reduction, efficiency improvement, and innovation for enterprises. However, there are limited empirical quantitative studies on the investment costs and impact of organizational performance related to the digital transformation of small- and medium-sized listed companies. This study first uses Excel VBA to sort the digital transformation panel data of 319 small- and medium-sized listed companies in China’s Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share markets from 2007 to 2020. Thereafter, Stata, a general-purpose statistical software package, is used to analyze the impact of digital transformation on the performance of small- and medium-sized listed companies. The results show that the digital transformation of small- and medium-sized listed companies has a positive correlation with operational performance, and an inverted U-shaped relationship with innovation performance; however, the U-shaped relationship with financial performance is not significant. For small- and medium-sized listed companies to promote digital transformation, first, it must help the organization to improve its internal operational efficiency; second, it can optimize and improve the organization’s financial efficiency; and finally, through innovative efficiency, the organization can continue to develop steadily and improve its organizational resilience.

[Patient Factors in Offender Treatment: Personality, Therapy Motivation and Outcome].

Using a systematic literature review according to the PRISMA criteria, patient factors of offenders were related to forensic outcomes. Searches were conducted in the PsycInfo and PSYNDEX databases; further relevant studies were taken from the bibliographies of studies that met the selection criteria. Only quantitative empirical studies for the period 1990-2021 were included. Findings from 31 studies on patient factors (personality, therapy motivation, therapy expectation, satisfaction with therapy) are reported. Patient factors could not always be consistently associated with outcomes. The clearest correlations were found between the expression of anti- or dissocial personality traits and/or psychopathy and (negative) therapy outcomes. Traits usually associated with antisocial developments (impulsivity, anger, rage, hostility) in some cases also correlated negatively with therapeutically desirable outcomes. Patient motivation for therapy should generally have a positive impact on the likelihood of successful forensic therapies, but not all relevant studies pointed in this direction. No studies were identified on the relationships between therapy expectancy or satisfaction and outcome. Based on general psychotherapy research, we suggest that offender therapy could benefit from broader approaches to studying therapy effectiveness.

A scoping review of frameworks in empirical studies and a review of dissemination frameworks

BackgroundThe field of dissemination and implementation (D&I) research has grown immensely in recent years. However, the field of dissemination research has not coalesced to the same degree as the field of implementation research. To advance the field of dissemination research, this review aimed to (1) identify the extent to which dissemination frameworks are used in dissemination empirical studies, (2) examine how scholars define dissemination, and (3) identify key constructs from dissemination frameworks.MethodsTo achieve aims 1 and 2, we conducted a scoping review of dissemination studies published in D&I science journals. The search strategy included manuscripts published from 1985 to 2020. Articles were included if they were empirical quantitative or mixed methods studies about the dissemination of information to a professional audience. Studies were excluded if they were systematic reviews, commentaries or conceptual papers, scale-up or scale-out studies, qualitative or case studies, or descriptions of programs. To achieve aim 1, we compiled the frameworks identified in the empirical studies. To achieve aim 2, we compiled the definitions from dissemination from frameworks identified in aim 1 and from dissemination frameworks identified in a 2021 review (Tabak RG, Am J Prev Med 43:337-350, 2012). To achieve aim 3, we compile the constructs and their definitions from the frameworks.FindingsOut of 6017 studies, 89 studies were included for full-text extraction. Of these, 45 (51%) used a framework to guide the study. Across the 45 studies, 34 distinct frameworks were identified, out of which 13 (38%) defined dissemination. There is a lack of consensus on the definition of dissemination. Altogether, we identified 48 constructs, divided into 4 categories: process, determinants, strategies, and outcomes. Constructs in the frameworks are not well defined.Implication for D&I researchThis study provides a critical step in the dissemination research literature by offering suggestions on how to define dissemination research and by cataloging and defining dissemination constructs. Strengthening these definitions and distinctions between D&I research could enhance scientific reproducibility and advance the field of dissemination research.