Frequency Of Social Interactions Research Articles

SOCIAL INTERACTION AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS: A COMPARISON OF MID- TO LATER-LIFE SAME- AND DIFFERENT-SEX COUPLES

Abstract Social interaction with family and friends plays a crucial role for individual mental health with notable gendered patterns. Yet, previous studies fall short in explaining how the frequency of social interactions change over time for women and men in same-sex and different-sex married couples and how such change may influence depressive symptoms from midlife to late adulthood. Using dyadic longitudinal data from the Health and Relationships Projects (HARP), we examine patterns of change in social interaction frequency over a 6-year period for mid-to-later life U.S. women and men in same-sex and different-sex marriages (n = 616 individuals; 320 couples) and their subsequent associations with depressive symptoms. We use mixed-effects multilevel modeling and find that the frequency of social interaction with family members decreased over a period of 6 years for same-sex couples (i.e. women married to women; men married to men), but not different-sex couples. Frequency of social interaction with friends also decreased, but only for men married to men. Decreased social interaction with family members was associated with increased depressive symptoms for women married to women, but not men married to men or different-sex couples; decreased social interaction with friends was associated with increased depressive symptoms for men married to men only. Taken together, these findings illustrate how change in social interaction frequency influences mental health within marriage from mid-to-later life and underscores the importance of including same-sex couples when considering both gender differences in such linkages.

TARGETING SOCIALLY ISOLATED OLDER ADULTS: THE INTERNET-BASED CONVERSATIONAL ENGAGEMENT TRIAL (I-CONECT)

Abstract Social isolation is a risk factor for dementia. In the recently completed randomized controlled trial named I-CONECT (www.i-conect.org; ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02871921), we investigated the impact of frequent social interactions via webcam/internet on the cognitive function and emotional well-being, recruiting socially isolated older adults aged 75 and above. Participants in the experimental group engaged in semi-structured conversations with interviewers, prompted by daily themes and associated pictures, 4 times per week (30 minutes/session) for 6 months. The control group received only brief weekly phone check-ins. A total of 186 subjects (86 with normal cognition, 100 with mild cognitive impairment [MCI]) were randomized. We earlier reported that global cognitive function (the primary outcome), as measured by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), improved by nearly 2 points in the MCI experimental group compared to the control group at 6 months (effect size: Cohen’s d = 0.73) (Dodge et al., 2024, doi: 10.1093/geront/gnad147). Functional MRI data suggested a trend toward increased connectivity in the dorsal attention network favoring the experimental group. Social satisfaction improved in both groups. Our new results not reported in the topline results paper include: (1) Participants in the experimental group increased the frequency of their social interactions over time compared to the control group, and (2) Individual Treatment Response analysis showed that participants in the top 30% of responders could delay cognitive decline by 6 months or more. We will summarize all findings from this trial thus far and discuss future directions.

Does personality moderate the association between social involvement and personal recovery in psychosis?

ObjectiveSocial factors are central in personal recovery (PR) and treatment of psychosis. However, weak associations between social involvement and PR were found. We aimed to replicate this weak association, and test whether it was explained by a moderating effect of neuroticism and extraversion.MethodThis cross-sectional study included 284 psychotic disorder patients. PR was assessed using the Recovery Quality of Life (ReQoL) questionnaire. Social involvement with a formative measure of the frequency of social interaction, and neuroticism and extraversion with the NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI).ResultsA small direct effect of social involvement on PR (β=−0.24, p < 0.001) was found, explaining 6% of the variance in PR. The addition of neuroticism (β=−0.60, p < 0.001) predicted 41% of variance in PR; extraversion (β = 0.34, p < 0.001) predicted 16%. We did not observe a moderating effect of neither neuroticism (β=-0.06, p = 0.232), nor extraversion (β = 0.01, p = 0.956).ConclusionThe weak association between social involvement and PR could not be explained by the moderating effect of neuroticism or extraversion. The increase in explained variance in PR implies that neuroticism is associated with PR in a direct and clinically relevant way. This emphasizes the importance of attending to negative emotions and underlying stressors in treatment of psychosis.

The impact of the development level of rural e-commerce on the depressive symptoms among rural older adult individuals.

In the context of China, where the demographic trend of population aging intertwines with the rapid advancement of information digitalization, rural older adult individuals, who are part of a vulnerable population, are witnessing a deteriorating depression status. The proliferation of rural e-commerce, which fuels the digital economic revolution in rural areas, is concurrently affecting the depressive symptoms among rural older adult individuals. This study uses longitudinal data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) and applies a multi-period Difference-in-Differences (DID) model to explore how rural e-commerce affects the depressive symptoms among rural older adult individuals. The findings indicate that the development of rural e-commerce can indeed improve the depressive symptoms among rural older adult individuals, with a particularly pronounced effect on those residing in the eastern and central regions of China, as well as those who do not live with their children. The mechanism analysis indicates that e-commerce improves depressive symptoms among rural older adult individuals by enhancing social interaction frequency and increasing financial support by children. Based on these insights, we recommend a targeted approach to implementing e-commerce policies in rural areas, focusing on innovative methods to improve the depressive symptoms among rural older adult individuals.

How does teaching experience impact brain processes underlying the theory of mind? Study on primary school educators

ABSTRACT Despite its importance for daily social interactions, few studies have explored interindividual differences in the Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities of healthy adults. We used Children’s False-Attribution (CFA), Children’s False-Beliefs (CFB), and Belief-Desire Reasoning tasks, along with fMRI-based assessments, in a comparative analysis of ToM among primary school teachers (PST; n = 27), skilled in social interactions with children, and matched controls (MC; n = 24), who lacked such experience. PST demonstrated slower reaction times than MC in Adult and Child false-belief stories of CFB. However, no other behavioral differences between the groups and between-group differences were observed at the brain level. Both groups presented similar valence ratings for stories in the CFA. Notably, fMRI analysis revealed a group-by-condition interaction effect in the right lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). In PSTs, OFC activation decreased during negative false-attribution stories regarding children compared to stories related to adults, whereas MC demonstrated an opposite activation pattern. Between-group differences in right lateral OFC activity possibly signify a neural efficiency effect secondary to frequent social interactions of PSTs, unlike the MCs, with children in the working environment. These results underscore the significance of everyday social experiences in the functional plasticity of ToM networks.

Loneliness and Health in Nurses: Scoping Review

Purpose: This study was a scoping review designed to identify research trends in loneliness and health targeting for domestic and foreign nurses. Methods: The methodological framework was based on a previous work by Arksey and O’Malley. The studies reviewed were found through electronic databases, such as RISS, PubMed, and CINAHL. The period of the data was from January 2000 to December 2021. Results: The 6 studies were reviewed. The loneliness of nurses was found to be experienced when the frequency of social interaction with leaders and colleagues was low, when missing camaraderie and sense of belonging, when work felt meaningless, and when social support level was low. Additionally, loneliness raised levels of depression, anxiety, and stress level while lowered well-being level, and that was shown to have harmful effects for health, such as burnout and fatigue. Also, it was found that loneliness lowered nurses’ job satisfaction and increased their turnover rate. Conclusion: Further development of nurses’ loneliness management program is needed. Also, it is suggested that the additional studies to verify causal relationship and mechanism between loneliness and health are required.

Monitoring the Mental State of the Elderly in the Community Based on Machine Learning

The rapid aging of the population has brought increasing attention to the mental health of elderly individuals. This study focuses on the mental well-being of elderly residents in several communities in Beijing. Through comprehensive surveys conducted in key communities with significant elderly populations, this paper gathered data to assess their mental health status. Subsequently, this paper employed various machine learning models, including Random Forest, Support Vector Machine, and XGBoost, to classify and predict mental health outcomes. The findings of this paper indicate that the Random Forest model outperformed the other models in accurately identifying mental health issues. Key predictors included factors such as whether the individual had received psychological counseling, age, social support, physical health status, and frequency of social interactions. This study provides empirical evidence that can guide healthcare providers and policymakers in developing more effective mental health management strategies for the elderly.

Changes in social environment impact primate gut microbiota composition

BackgroundThe gut microbiota (GM) has proven to be essential for both physical health and mental wellbeing, yet the forces that ultimately shape its composition remain opaque. One critical force known to affect the GM is the social environment. Prior work in humans and free-ranging non-human primates has shown that cohabitation and frequent social interaction can lead to changes in GM composition. However, it is difficult to assess the direction of causation in these studies, and interpretations are complicated by the influence of uncontrolled but correlated factors, such as shared diet.ResultsWe performed a 15-month longitudinal investigation wherein we disentangled the impacts of diet and social living conditions on GM composition in a captive cohort of 13 male cynomolgus macaques. The animals were in single housing for the first 3 months of the study initially with a variable diet. After baseline data collection they were placed on a controlled diet for the remainder of the study. Following this diet shift the animals were moved to paired housing for 6 months, enabling enhanced social interaction, and then subsequently returned to single housing at the end of our study. This structured sequencing of diet and housing changes allowed us to assess their distinct impacts on GM composition. We found that the early dietary adjustments led to GM changes in both alpha and beta diversity, whereas changes in social living conditions only altered beta diversity. With respect to the latter, we found that two particular bacterial families — Lactobacillaceae and Clostridiaceae — demonstrated significant shifts in abundance during the transition from single housing to paired housing, which was distinct from the shifts we observed based on a change in diet. Conversely, we found that other bacteria previously associated with sociality were not altered based on changes in social living conditions but rather only by changes in diet.ConclusionsTogether, these findings decouple the influences that diet and social living have on GM composition and reconcile previous observations in the human and animal literatures. Moreover, the results indicate biological alterations of the gut that may, in part, mediate the relationship between sociality and wellbeing.

Factors Influencing Depression in People with Disabilities:Individual and Interpersonal Levels

Abstract Depression is an increasingly important social problem, and this also applies to the disabled, a health-vulnerable group. Although the distribution and influencing factors of depression may be different among the disabled population (young adults vs. the elderly, older adults with disabilities vs. disabilities due to old age), only the high prevalence of depression among the disabled is generally reported. This study seeks to determine the distribution and influencing factors of depression in disabled people according to sociodemographic standards. This study employed data from the 2021 Panel Survey on People with Disabilities (National Unit Survey) to investigate the influence of individual-level factors (health behaviors, health level, environment) and interpersonal-level factors (social network) on depression. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed while controlling for demographic sociological factors and disability characteristic factors. The experience of depression was among elderly disabled individuals (age 50+: 40.9%) than younger ones (age 19-49: 36.1%), and in disability with aging (49.3%) versus aging with disabilities (39.2%) (P &amp;lt; 0.05). Chronic diseases, daily living assistance, living environment, and emotional support from family and neighbors affected both young and elderly disabled individuals. Specifically, among the elderly disabled, exercise frequency (aOR=0.78; [CI]0.63-0.97), social network size (aOR=0.87; [CI]0.82-0.93), and social interaction frequency (aOR=0.68; [CI]0.51-0.91) were significant. Disability with aging was influenced by exercise frequency (aOR=0.29; [CI]0.09-0.95) and emotional support (aOR=0.37; [CI]0.17-0.77) from peers. older adults with disabilities were affected by not only individual-level factors (exercise frequency) but also both functional (emotional support) and structural (size of social network, frequency of meetings) aspects of their interpersonal social networks. Key messages • Depression experiences among older adults with disabilities are influenced by both functional and structural social networks. • Developing depression prevention strategies for people with disabilities requires a customized approach that takes into account age-specific characteristics.

Evaluating a WeChat-Based Intervention to Enhance Influenza Vaccination Knowledge, Attitude, and Behavior Among Chinese University Students Residing in the United Kingdom: Controlled, Quasi-Experimental, Mixed Methods Study.

University students, who often live in close quarters and engage in frequent social interaction, face a heightened risk of influenza morbidity. Still, vaccination rates among this group, particularly Chinese students, remain consistently low due to limited awareness and insufficient access to vaccinations. This study examines the effectiveness of a cocreated WeChat-based intervention that targets mainland Chinese university students in the United Kingdom, aiming to improve their knowledge, attitude, and behavior (KAB) toward seasonal influenza vaccination. A quasi-experimental mixed methods design was used, incorporating an intervention and comparison group, with baseline and follow-up self-reported surveys. The study was conducted from December 19, 2022, to January 16, 2023. The primary outcome is the KAB score, which was measured before and after the intervention phases. System-recorded data and user feedback were included in the analysis as secondary outcomes. A series of hypothesis testing methods were applied to test the primary outcomes, and path analysis was used to explore the relationships. Our study included 596 students, of which 303 (50.8%) were in the intervention group and 293 (49.2%) were in the control group. The intervention group showed significant improvements in knowledge, attitude, and intended behavior scores over time, whereas the control group had only a slight increase in intended behavior scores. When comparing changes between the 2 groups, the intervention group displayed significant differences in knowledge and attitude scores compared to the control group, while intended behavior scores did not significantly differ. After the intervention, the actual vaccination rate was slightly higher in the intervention group (63/303, 20.8%) compared to the control group (54/293, 18.4%). Path analysis found that the intervention had a significant direct impact on knowledge but not on attitudes; knowledge strongly influenced attitudes, and both knowledge and attitudes significantly influenced intended behavior; and there was a strong correlation between intended and actual behavior. In the intervention group, participants expressed a high level of satisfaction and positive review of the content and its use. This study demonstrates how a WeChat intervention effectively improves KAB related to seasonal influenza vaccination among Chinese students, highlighting the potential of social media interventions to drive vaccination behavior change. It contributes to the broader research on digital health intervention effectiveness and lays the groundwork for tailoring similar interventions to different health contexts and populations.

The role of social interaction in farmers’ water-saving irrigation technology adoption: testing farmers’ interaction mechanisms

In rural areas, neighborly relationships are complex, and farmers’ behaviors are largely influenced by neighborly interactions. The promotion of agricultural technologies should not overlook the social interactions between farmers. Based on survey data from farmers in Minqin, China, this paper explores the role of overall social interaction and its various dimensions in farmers’ adoption of water-saving irrigation technology, focusing on the testing of three interactive mechanisms during the technology adoption process. The goal is to provide scientific policy suggestions for government when promoting agricultural technologies. The results show the following: social interaction promotes the adoption of water-saving irrigation technology among farmers; among the four dimensions of social interaction, the depth and frequency of social interaction facilitate the adoption of these technologies; social interaction promotes technology adoption through endogenous interaction mechanism, situational interaction mechanism, and social norm mechanism, with situational interaction mechanism and social norm mechanism playing a more significant role; social interaction has a stronger impact on farmers with longer farming experience and higher irrigation costs. Therefore, the government should emphasize the important role of social interaction in the adoption of agricultural technologies and accelerate the diffusion of these technologies through fostering technical exchanges among farmers, cultivating demonstration households, and implementing differentiated promotion strategies.

English as a Lingua Franca in Short-term Study Abroad Contexts and Implications for Pre-departure Training

Short-term study abroad (STSA) programmes can provide English language learners important exposure to linguistic diversity and variability associated with English as a lingua franca (ELF). Emphasising the importance of ELF in these programmes highlights how students can navigate and benefit from linguistically diverse environments. This paper examines connections between the reported social interaction patterns of 18 Japanese university students during STSA and ELF perspectives using a qualitative analysis of their reflective writing from before departure, upon return, and nine months post-STSA. The research showed how multilingual encounters can shape students’ ELF perspectives. Supplementary survey data revealed further insight into the character and frequency of STSA social interactions, including ELF use with other international students on linguistically diverse programmes. The findings are used to in the development of suggestions for pre-departure STSA training to prepare students for communication in multilingual settings.

ChatGPT is likely reducing opportunity for support, friendship and learned kindness in research

Abstract Large language models (LLM) have proved to be highly popular since the release of ChatGPT, leading many researchers to explore their potential across multiple fields of scientific research. In a recent Perspective, Cooper et al. (2024) highlight a set of benefits and challenges for the use of LLMs in ecology, emphasising their value to coding in research and education. While we agree that the ability of LLMs to assist in the coding process is remarkable, researchers should be conscious that this capability is likely changing the lived experience of primarily computational researchers, especially early career ecologists between Masters and Postdoctoral career stages. In particular, since the release of ChatGPT, the authors of this paper have noticed a marked reduction in the frequency of social interactions emergent from coding and statistics queries. These questions are highly likely still being asked, but now often exclusively to a LLM. Further research is needed to fully understand the effect of LLMs on the lived‐experience of researchers and students. For primarily computational researchers, ChatGPT is likely reducing emergent opportunity for support, friendship and learned kindness. Group leaders should recognise this and foster deliberate within‐group communication and collaboration.

THE PLIGHT OF BANGLADESHI UNDERTRIAL PRISONERS IN INDIA: A CRISIS OF JUSTICE

The largest group of foreign national inmates in India is Bangladeshi inmates. Bangladeshis made up 68.8% of the 5,168 foreign national prisoners housed at the end of 2018, according to data provided by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). It is important to consider the high number of prisoners from Bangladesh in India when considering their shared history, as well as the frequent movements and social interactions across their porous borders. Following India's partition in 1947 and again during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, there was a significant migration from Bangladesh to India. The Assam Accord was signed in 1985 as a result of the significant outcry over the flood of Bangladeshi migrants in Assam. In the 2005 case of Sarbananda Sonowal v. Union of India, the Supreme Court of India invalidated the Illegal Migrants (Determination of Tribunal) Act, 1983, which established the processes for identifying and removing illegal migrants from Assam. The court ruled that the Act violated Articles 14 and 355 of the Indian Constitution. The publication of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam on August 31, 2019, which excluded 1.9 million people as citizens of India, has brought the topic of detention and deportation of illegal migrants back into the public eye. This research paper is an attempt to examine the reasons behind the imprisonment of Bangladeshi undertrial prisoners in India particularly in some cases even if they have completed more than half of the sentences provided under the law for those offences and to find out some remedial measures for those who for some reason have came to India and thereafter, have never been able to return to their country of origin.

Plant metabolites modulate social networks and lifespan in a sawfly.

Social interactions influence disease spread, information flow and resource allocation across species, yet heterogeneity in social interaction frequency and its fitness consequences are still poorly understood. Additionally, the role of exogenous chemicals, such as non-nutritive plant metabolites that are utilised by several animal species, in shaping social networks remains unclear. Here, we investigated how non-nutritive plant metabolites impact social interactions and the lifespan of the turnip sawfly, Athalia rosae. Adult sawflies acquire neo-clerodane diterpenoids ('clerodanoids') from non-food plants and this can serve as a defence against predation and increase mating success. We found intraspecific variation in clerodanoids in natural populations and laboratory-reared individuals. Clerodanoids could also be acquired from conspecifics that had prior access to the plant metabolites, which led to increased agonistic social interactions. Network analysis indicated increased social interactions in sawfly groups where some or all individuals had prior access to clerodanoids, while groups with no prior access had fewer interactions. The frequency of social interactions was influenced by the clerodanoid status of the focal individual and that of other conspecifics. Finally, we observed a shorter lifespan in adults with prior clerodanoid access when grouped with individuals without prior access, suggesting that social interactions to obtain clerodanoids have fitness costs. Our findings highlight the role of intraspecific variation in the acquisition of non-nutritional plant metabolites in shaping social networks. This variation influences individual fitness and social interactions, thereby shaping the individualised social niche.

Self-Reported Perceptions of Patients and Staff on Participation and Verbal and Social Interactions in High-Security Forensic Psychiatric Care in Sweden.

Studies suggest that experiences of patient participation, as described by both patients and staff, are associated with a significant caring relationship of high quality. This study aimed to investigate staffs' and patients' self-reported perceptions on participation and the frequency and importance of verbal and social interactions in high-security forensic psychiatry. The questionnaire Verbal and Social Interactions (VSI) was used together with the subscale Participation from Quality in Psychiatric Care (QPC). The study was conducted at a large forensic psychiatric clinic in Sweden. Staff and patients rated the frequency of VSI differently while reporting the same perceived degree of patient participation. All categories of VSI were significantly correlated with perceived level of participation with medium or small effect size for the patients. Patients' perceived participation seems to depend on verbal and social interaction within the specific categories 'Showing interest in the patients' feelings, experiences, and behavior' and 'Helping the patients establish structure and routines in their everyday life'. There was, however, a negative association for the latter. The results give a better understanding of what kind of interactions that affect patients' perceived level of participation. Patient participant is a prioritised area for development in forensic psychiatry. The study contributes to a better understanding of what types of interactions that affect the perceived level of participation, while at the same time, it shows important similarities and differences between patient and staff perspectives.

Single-Person Households among the Socially Vulnerable Elderly Population: A Comparative Study of Housing, Living Habits, and Social Environments in Selected Neighborhoods of Seoul for the Prevention of Solitary Deaths

Solitary deaths, where individuals die alone and are isolated from the society, have emerged as a major social issue in South Korea. This study aimed to analyze the characteristics, perceptions, and living environments of socially vulnerable groups at risk of solitary deaths, focusing on comparing two neighborhood areas with different housing types to understand regional differences. In-depth interviews were conducted with 100 single-person households in the low-rise residential area of Sadang 4-dong and the public rental apartment area of the Gayang 5 apartment complex. The survey analysis revealed significant regional differences in factors that could influence the prevention of solitary deaths, including the connectivity between units within buildings, visual isolation, the control of appropriate indoor environments, and the frequency of social interactions. Although the Gayang 5 apartment complex, a public rental housing which is over 30 years old, offers advantages in residential safety and building maintenance compared to the low-rise residential area, this positively impacts aspects like housing satisfaction and increased social interactions. Single-person households living in multi-family and multi-household housing in low-rise residential areas generally experience poorer living environments, highlighting the need for more detailed services. These services should include enhanced support for heating and cooling costs, strengthened care services, and improved social networks. For preventing solitary deaths, region-specific strategies and screening tools are required to tailor interventions more effectively.

A Diversity–Distraction–Dependency System as a Positive Human Factor in Crews’ Interplanetary Missions

In successful scenarios of missions to the Moon and Mars, humans develop multi-factorial systems through adapted behaviors to build cohesive multi-national crews with their individual features. We assume that frequencies of social interactions, social orientations, and facial vs. collateral expressions change according to mixed-culture and mixed-gender crew characteristics and as a function of the crewmember’s grouping at the same time and in the same place. The ethological method, with the phases of observation, description, and quantification of behavioral manifestations, was applied to the SIRIUS program and MARS-500 program. This involved simulating a 120-day confinement, a 240-day confinement, and a 520-day confinement in a multi-module facility. Focus was made on the meal area, sports area, and leisure area. We investigated the full nationality–gender-varied crew and the crewmember’s attendance and localization for distractive or festive activities during their free time. Social optimization declined and then grew in a temporal dynamic. Global behavioral distribution showed differences according to the duration of experiments during collective time. As a result, a system based on crew diversity, crew distraction, and crewmembers’ inter-dependence should be considered as a positive human factor in the process of adaptation with the goal of enhancing the well-being of future interplanetary crews.

P36: Impact of developing cognitive decline on life satisfaction in Japanese older adults: the Arakawa Geriatric Cohort Study

Objectives: The relationship between cognitive decline and life satisfaction in older adults remains unclear. This study aimed to examine whether older adults with normal cognition at baseline, who developed cognitive decline (i.e., mild cognitive impairment or dementia) over a five-year period, experience lower life satisfaction compared to those who remained cognitively intact.Methods: The present longitudinal study was conducted in the Arakawa Ward, Tokyo, Japan. Among the initial 1,099 community-dwelling older adults who were between 65 to 84 years old in 2016, we analyzed data from 628 participants who were cognitively intact at baseline and remained in the study at follow-up (2022–2023) with complete data. The effect of developing cognitive decline on life satisfaction, measured by the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), was examined using a linear mixed model. In addition to developing cognitive decline, fixed effects included time, sex, age, education, depression (indicated by the Geriatric Depression Scale scores above 5), living status (living alone), and frequency of social interactions. The intercept and participants were treated as random effects.Results: At follow-up, 87 participants were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment and 7 with dementia. Overall, the mean SWLS score experienced a slight but statistically significant decrease over the five-year period (18.14 ± 5.27 at baseline and 17.75 ± 5.27 at follow-up, p = 0.02 as determined by a paired t-test). The linear mixed model analysis revealed that developing cognitive decline was not significantly associated with life satisfaction (p = 0.93). Notably, living alone and being in a depressive state were significantly associated with higher SWLS scores (p = 0.003 and p &lt; 0.001, respectively).Conclusions: Life satisfaction did not significantly decline in older adults who developed cognitive decline compared to those who remained cognitively intact. The unexpected findings that individuals living alone and those experiencing depressive states reported higher life satisfaction may indicate potential adaptive mechanisms, whereby these individuals might have developed strategies to find joy in everyday life. Further research is warranted to replicate these results and to explore the underlying factors or potential resilience mechanisms contributing to these findings.

Surviving at a Falling Transportation Industry with the Help of Emotional Relationship with your Customers

Introduction Public intercity transportation is an example of a rapidly evolving industry. In developing countries, we observe the increasing popularity of airlines, whereas bus lines start to lose their significance. Methods The successive bankruptcy of bus companies, which have made a large amount of investment and provided significant employment, is a case worth examining. This article offers a case study from the Turkish public intercity transportation industry in which a bus company distinguishes itself by becoming a love brand with the relationship it establishes with its customers. The case shows that the emotional relationship established during the ups and downs of sectors have become insurance that protects companies during the downturn. Results To support our argument, we estimated the occupancy rates of bus companies based on characteristics such as ticket price, travel time, existence of catering service, social media interaction, and year of establishment. We found that the significant variables explaining occupancy rates are the companies' founding year and positive social media interaction frequency. Conclusion In an estimation where even the price is not a significant variable at the 0.01 level, the significance of the above-mentioned variables shows that relationship-based dynamics can be important demand determinants in a conventional transportation sector.