Group-level Factors Research Articles

Managing knowledge and sustainability in resource constrained disaster environments

AbstractOrganizations use both tangible and intangible resources for their existence to achieve sustainable development goals. Organizational knowledge mainly comprises of tacit knowledge held by employees. It becomes more critical when the situations are unpredictable, for example in rescue/disaster projects involving human lives at risk. Tacit knowledge utilization has been understudied particularly in such environments bounded by resource constraint and sustainability issues. This qualitative research attempts to fill this gap by collecting data from the knowledge workers in a large public sector non‐profit rescue organization. The study reveals various individual level, group level, organizational level, community level, and situational level factors, which impact the tacit knowledge utilization of rescue workers to properly execute emergency life threatening rescue operations and sustainability issues.

Modeling group-level public sentiment in social networks through topic and role enhancement

Public sentiment within social networks exerts a profound influence on societal dynamics, underscoring the increasing demand for accurate public opinion prediction. Most existing methods predominantly measure sentiment by quantifying user sentiments individually, overlooking group-level factors that crucially contribute to public sentiment. Thus, based on our finding that public sentiment is primarily shaped by user-group interactions and their interplay with evolving topics, we innovatively model the forming process of public sentiment at the group level. In this paper, we propose the Topic and Role Enhanced Group-level Public Sentiment Prediction model (TRESP), capturing the intricate interplay among sentiment, topic, and role. Specifically, an LSTM neural network is firstly leveraged to trace the temporal correlations between topics and sentiment shifts, yielding a topic-informed content sentiment representation. Subsequently, a specially crafted hierarchical attention network captures social and role attributes, representing the overarching social group environment. Finally, we predict future public sentiment by merging the derived group sentiment representation with the group social representation, demonstrating a holistic insight into the sentiment trajectory. Extensive experiments were conducted on two real-world datasets of over 30,000 tweets collected from more than 14,000 users to validate our model. Notably, our model significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art approaches in public sentiment prediction, indicating the importance and effectiveness of encapsulating interactions both within and among user subgroups.

Nonpharmacological treatment for older adults with mild cognitive impairment: Considerations for culturally informed clinical practice and research.

Numerous nonpharmacological treatments (NPTs) have been developed for older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Two forms of cognition-focused NPTs, cognitive rehabilitation (CR) and cognitive training (CT), demonstrate cognitive benefit, but limitations remain regarding the contribution of cultural and demographic factors to study outcome heterogeneity, generalizability to diverse populations, and feasibility. This article aimed to review demographic and culturally informed NPTs and provides recommendations for culturally informed clinical practice and research. We conducted a PubMed review to identify CR and CT interventions that incorporated cultural adaptations. Results from the review, combined with the authors' clinical expertise, were used to identify methodological, demographic, social, cultural, and systemic variables relevant to NPTs. Existing CR and CT studies that included cultural adaptations adopted modifications to language, measures (cognition, function), and lifestyle factors (diet, physical activity) among others. In addition, provider, patient, and group-level factors were then raised to promote inclusivity and increase NPT generalizability. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of research considering cultural and demographic factors when delivering cognition-focused NPTs. Recommendations were generated that incorporated current literature as well as the authors' clinical and research experiences. Culturally informed NPTs are understudied. Social, demographic, and cultural factors may contribute to the heterogeneity of outcomes, lack of generalizability of findings to diverse groups, and application of intervention to said groups. Several tools are available and can focus on broadening collection of information regarding patients' identities, social network, adapting to literacy level and linguistic diversity needs, and responding to social and structural determinants of health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Dissonance between posts of health agencies and public comments regarding COVID-19 and vaccination on Facebook in Northern California.

Public health crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have prompted a need for health agencies to improve their disease preparedness strategies, informing their communities of new information and promoting preventive behaviors to help curb the spread of the virus. We ran unsupervised machine learning and emotion analysis, validated with manual coding, on posts of health agencies (N = 1588) and their associated public comments (N = 7813) during a crucial initial period of the COVID-19 pandemic (January 2020 to February 2021) among nine different counties with a higher proportion of vaccine-hesitant communities in Northern California. In addition, we explored differences in concerns and expressed emotions by two key group-level factors, county-level COVID-19 death rate and political party affiliation. We consistently find that while health agencies primarily disseminated information about COVID-19 and the vaccine, they failed to address the concerns of their communities as expressed in public comment sections. Topics among public audiences focused on concerns with the COVID-19 vaccine safety and rollout, state mandates, flu vaccination, and frustration with politicians, and they expressed more positive and more negative emotions than health agencies. Further, there were several differences in primary topics and emotions expressed among public audiences by county-level COVID-19 death rate and political party affiliation. While this research serves as a case study, findings indicate how local health agencies, and their audiences, discuss their perceptions and concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and may inform health communication researchers and practitioners on how to prepare and manage for emerging health crises.

“Not a cookie cutter situation”: how neurodivergent students experience group work in their STEM courses

BackgroundAlthough group work is increasingly used in STEM courses and may lead to improved academic outcomes, there is evidence that some implementations of group work may lead to unintended barriers for certain students’ learning. Despite the growing number of neurodivergent undergraduate students, there is limited research on neurodivergent students’ experiences with group work in STEM courses. To address this knowledge gap, the current research investigated the experiences of 22 neurodivergent undergraduate students with group work in STEM courses at a range of institution types and in a variety of STEM disciplines. Participants shared experiences with in-class and out-of-class group work assignments for lecture and laboratory courses.ResultsThrough inductive thematic coding of semi-structured interview transcripts, we identified seven themes impacting participants’ experiences. Three themes were individual level: personal characteristics that participants associated with their neurodivergence; strategies for academic success (with subthemes of organization/time management, adaptive communication, and self-advocacy); and beliefs on group work’s value. Four themes were group level/classroom level: group dynamics; role in group (including leadership roles); the competitive culture within STEM; and recommendations for instructors. Through a social-relational perspective on disability, we proposed a model showcasing how group and classroom factors serve as supports or barriers to neurodivergent students’ full participation in group work, as well as to their sense of belonging. Using the seven themes we articulated, we outlined a set of practices for designing group work assignments. In addition, we propose how pairing inclusive assignment design with instructor reflection and articulating anti-ableist values can support neurodivergent student belonging by disrupting discourses of normalcy in STEM.ConclusionsAs one of the first studies exploring the impact that group work in STEM courses has on neurodivergent undergraduates, this work may inform reimaginations of group work practices to better address the needs of neurodivergent STEM students and support a more inclusive culture in STEM classrooms. In addition, our conceptual model may serve as the basis for future research regarding interactions between individual-level and group-level factors associated with neurodivergent students’ learning through group work and other active learning practices.

Evidence of interrelated cognitive-like capabilities in large language models: Indications of artificial general intelligence or achievement?

Large language models (LLMs) are advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems that can perform a variety of tasks commonly found in human intelligence tests, such as defining words, performing calculations, and engaging in verbal reasoning. There are also substantial individual differences in LLM capacities. Given the consistent observation of a positive manifold and general intelligence factor in human samples, along with group-level factors (e.g., crystallised intelligence), we hypothesized that LLM test scores may also exhibit positive inter-correlations, which could potentially give rise to an artificial general ability (AGA) factor and one or more group-level factors. Based on a sample of 591 LLMs and scores from 12 tests aligned with fluid reasoning (Gf), domain-specific knowledge (Gkn), reading/writing (Grw), and quantitative knowledge (Gq), we found strong empirical evidence for a positive manifold and a general factor of ability. Additionally, we identified a combined Gkn/Grw group-level factor. Finally, the number of LLM parameters correlated positively with both general factor of ability and Gkn/Grw factor scores, although the effects showed diminishing returns. We interpreted our results to suggest that LLMs, like human cognitive abilities, may share a common underlying efficiency in processing information and solving problems, though whether LLMs manifest primarily achievement/expertise rather than intelligence remains to be determined. Finally, while models with greater numbers of parameters exhibit greater general cognitive-like abilities, akin to the connection between greater neuronal density and human general intelligence, other characteristics must also be involved.

Group-informed attentive framework for enhanced diabetes mellitus progression prediction.

The increasing prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) as a global health concern highlights the paramount importance of accurately predicting its progression. This necessity has propelled the use of deep learning's advanced analytical and predictive capabilities to the forefront of current research. However, this approach is confronted with significant challenges, notably the prevalence of incomplete data and the need for more robust predictive models. Our research aims to address these critical issues, leveraging deep learning to enhance the precision and reliability of diabetes progression predictions. We address the issue of missing data by first locating individuals with data gaps within specific patient clusters, and then applying targeted imputation strategies for effective data imputation. To enhance the robustness of our model, we implement strategies such as data augmentation and the development of advanced group-level feature analysis. A cornerstone of our approach is the implementation of a deep attentive transformer that is sensitive to group characteristics. This framework excels in processing a wide array of data, including clinical and physical examination information, to accurately predict the progression of DM. Beyond its predictive capabilities, our model is engineered to perform advanced feature selection and reasoning. This is crucial for understanding the impact of both individual and group-level factors on deep models' predictions, providing invaluable insights into the dynamics of DM progression. Our approach not only marks a significant advancement in the prediction of diabetes progression but also contributes to a deeper understanding of the multifaceted factors influencing this chronic disease, thereby aiding in more effective diabetes management and research.

Multilevel analysis of early initiation of breastfeeding in Ethiopia.

Breast milk is the ideal food for the infant and is associated with various public health benefits for both the infant and the mother. The recommended time for early initiation of breastfeeding is within one hour after birth. The prevalence of early initiation of breastfeeding was lower than the plan of the Ethiopian Ministry of Health Sector Development program. Thus, the main objective of this study was to identify individual and group-level factors associated with the early initiation of breastfeeding in Ethiopia. Secondary data on children was obtained from the 2019 Ethiopia mini-demographic and health survey. The survey was a population-based cross-sectional study and was downloaded from the Measure Demographic and Health Survey website (http://www.measuredhs.com). The study included a random sample of 2,125 last-born infants who were born within 24 months before the survey. A multilevel binary logistic regression analysis was employed to identify the factors associated with the early initiation of breastfeeding in Ethiopia. Statistical data was analyzed using the Statistical Analysis System (SAS 9.4). The prevalence of early breastfeeding initiation was 72%. The higher preceding birth interval (AOR = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.1076, 1.5451), the higher gestational age of infants (AOR = 1.38, 95% CI: 1.2796, 1.4782), the higher number of antenatal care visits (AOR = 1.26, 95% CI: 1.2340, 1.2934), delivery at a health facility (AOR = 1.60, 95% CI: 1.4585, 1.7515), vaginal delivery (AOR = 1.11, 95% CI: 1.1019, 1.1123), mothers with primary education (AOR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.0204, 1.2738), mothers with secondary education (AOR = 1.54, 95% CI: 1.4678, 1.6190), and mothers with higher education (AOR = 2.62, 95% CI: 2.2574, 3.0526) were associated with higher odds of early initiation of breastfeeding. Being a rural dweller (AOR = 0.63, 95% CI: 0.5684, 0.7038) and the age of mothers (AOR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.3921, 0.4894) were associated with lower odds of early initiation of breastfeeding. Since the prevalence of early initiation of breastfeeding was minimal among rural mothers who delivered their child by caesarean section, this study strongly suggests special supportive care for these mothers.

Veal calves management in Québec, Canada: Part I. Association between passive immunity transfer at arrival and health disorders

Morbidity and mortality remain important concerns for veal production which traditionally involves very young calves being transported directly from dairy farms to calf-raising facilities or sold through auction markets from dairy farms. There are few studies that examine the relationship between transfer of passive immunity and health outcomes in veal production in Québec. The objective of this study was to investigate the risk factors associated with morbidity and mortality in milk and grain-fed veal facilities in Québec. Between October 2017 and December 2018, a prospective cohort study was conducted on 59 batches of milk- and grain-fed veal calves from Montérégie and Centre du Québec regions in Québec, Canada. A total of 30 calves per batch were randomly sampled for the transfer of passive immunity (TPI) status using the Brix refractometer (serum threshold ≥ 8.4%). Throughout the production cycle, arrival, treatment, mortality, and slaughter records of each batch of calves were extracted and used to quantify individual- and group-level risk factors. Morbidity and mortality were modelled through generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) using a logit link, as function of categorical variables (individual inadequate TPI, arrival season, purchasing sites, and arrival weights) and a continuous variable (proportion of inadequate TPI in the batch). Given that the health and performance data are usually collected retrospectively under commercial settings, incomplete data was recognized as a potential issue. Thus, multiple imputation models were used. From 59 batches where 1729 calves were sampled for measuring TPI, 1084 calves had a serum Brix% < 8.4% giving a prevalence of 62.7% of inadequate TPI. The prevalence of morbidity and mortality in those 59 batches were not associated with the batch-level inadequate TPI prevalence. On the other hand, individual calves with inadequate TPI had higher odds of morbidity (OR: 1.56; 95% CI: 1.2–2.05, P = 0.001) compared to those calves with adequate TPI. Odds of mortality, on the other hand, were not significantly affected by inadequate TPI (OR:1.27; 95% CI: 0.74–2.18, P = 0.3). Calves arriving to the facility during the winter season had lower odds of mortality than those arriving in fall (OR:0.16; 95% CI: 0.03–0.78, P = 0.02). In conclusion, this study suggests that inadequate TPI, as assessed upon arrival in veal farms, remains an important concern for negative health outcomes in veal calves.

Composite healthy lifestyle, socioeconomic deprivation, and mental well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: a prospective analysis

The adverse psychological and social impacts of COVID-19 pandemic are well characterized, but the role of composite, modifiable lifestyle factors that may interact to mitigate these impacts is not. The effect of socioeconomic deprivation on these lifestyle risks also remains unclear. Based on a nationally representative, longitudinal cohort, we assessed the association between a combination of pre-pandemic lifestyle factors and mental health conditions during pandemic, and the contribution of deprivation to it. Composite lifestyle factors included BMI, smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical activity, sedentary time, sleep duration, and fruit and vegetable intake, with lifestyle scores and lifestyle categories calculated for each participant. Symptoms of depression and anxiety, and personal well-being were assessed by validated scales during the pandemic. Socioeconomic deprivation was characterized by both individual-level (income, wealth, and education) and group-level factors (Index of Multiple Deprivation). Of the 5049 eligible participants (mean [SD] age, 68.1 [10.9] years; 57.2% were female) included in the study, 41.6% followed a favorable lifestyle, 48.9% followed an intermediate lifestyle, and 9.5% followed an unfavorable lifestyle. Compared with favorable lifestyle category, participants in the intermediate and unfavorable lifestyle category were at increased risk of mental health conditions, with the hazard ratio (HR) for trend per increment change towards unfavorable category of 1.17 (95% CI 1.09–1.26) for depression, 1.23 (1.07–1.42) for anxiety, and 1.39 (1.20–1.61) for low well-being. A significant trend of lower risk for mental health conditions with increasing number of healthy lifestyle factors was observed (P < 0.001 for trend). There were no significant interactions between lifestyle factors and socioeconomic deprivation for any of the outcomes, with similar HRs for trend per one increment change in lifestyle category observed in each deprivation group. Compared with those in the least deprived group with favorable lifestyle, participants in the most deprived group adherent to unfavorable lifestyle had the highest risk of mental health outcomes. These results suggest that adherence to a broad combination of healthy lifestyle factors was associated with a significantly reduced risk of mental health conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lifestyle factors, in conjunction with socioeconomic deprivation, independently contribute to the risk of mental health issues. Although further research is needed to assess causality, the current findings support public health strategies and individual-level interventions that provide enhanced support in areas of deprivation and target multiple lifestyle factors to reduce health inequalities and promote mental well-being during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

How student perceptions of stuffy air and unpleasant odour are associated with students’ well-being: Cross-level interaction effects of school climate

It has been suggested that group-level factors affect how perceived indoor air quality (IAQ) is associated with well-being. Therefore, we analysed how student-perceived social climate at the school-level modified the student-level association between student-perceived unpleasant odour/stuffy air and well-being. The well-being indicators were seven self-reported anxiety symptoms (such as nervous, anxious, or on edge) and two somatic symptoms (headache and tiredness). We analysed a representative sample of Finnish school students (N = 678 schools, N = 71,392 students) by using multilevel modelling and testing cross-level interactions. At the student-level, both unpleasant odour and perceived stuffy air were significantly but weakly associated with increased anxiety and somatic symptoms. At the school-level, these IAQ indicators were significantly but weakly associated with increased anxiety and moderately with somatic symptoms. Furthermore, a good social climate at the school-level modified the student-level association between perceived stuffy air and anxiety symptoms. Those students who reported stuffy air were more anxious if they studied in a school with poor social climate than good social climate. Our results provide robust evidence that group-level factors may differently modify the relationships between different IAQ indicators and components of well-being.

Holding the Space: Individual- and Group-level Factors Predicting Member Retention in Gender-Sexuality Alliances.

Involvement in extracurricular groups is associated with positive outcomes for youth. Gender-Sexuality Alliances (GSAs) are school-based clubs that may provide benefits to sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth and their allies, yet little is known about what factors predict member retention. The current study explores individual- and group-level predictors of youth's sustained or discontinued membership in GSAs during a school year. Participants were 410 youth (Mage = 15.56; 83% sexual minority; 57% cisgender female; 70% White) and 50 advisors in 32 GSAs purposively sampled across Massachusetts who completed surveys at the beginning and end of the school year. Sexual minority youth and youth who took on more leadership roles at the beginning of the year were less likely to have left their GSA by the end of the school year. Youth who perceived higher levels of social support from their GSA trended less likely to leave their GSA as well, although the association was not significant. Youth who engaged in more advocacy were more likely to have left. Youth in GSAs with greater structure to their meetings were less likely to discontinue their membership; specifically, having a meeting agenda was uniquely predictive of member retention. Implications for GSA inclusivity and practices to promote retention within GSAs and similar social justice-oriented clubs are discussed.

Regional variation of potentially inappropriate medication use and associated factors among older adults: A nationwide register study

BackgroundCertain medications should be used with caution in older persons, which challenges rational prescribing. Potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) are defined as medicines whose potential risk of harm typically outweighs the clinical benefits in geriatric population. Earlier studies have found regional differences in PIM use, but the factors underlying this phenomenon are unclear. ObjectiveTo compare prescription PIM prevalence among Finnish hospital districts and determine which population characteristics and factors related to social and health care are associated with regional variation. MethodsThis nationwide register study was based on the Prescription Centre data on all people aged ≥75 years in 2017–2019. Hospital district (n = 20) characteristics were drawn from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare's, Finnish Medical Association's, and Finnish Medicines Agency's publicly open data. PIMs were defined according to the Finnish Meds75+ database. A linear mixed-effect model was used to analyze potential associations of regional characteristics with PIM prevalence. ResultsPrevalence of PIMs varied between 16.4% and 24.8% across regions. The highest prevalence was observed in the southern regions, while the lowest prevalence was on the west coast. Hospital district characteristics associated with higher PIM prevalence were higher share of population living alone, with excessive polypharmacy, or assessed using the Resident Assessment Instrument, shortage of general practitioners in municipal health centers, and low share of home care personnel. Waiting time in health care or share of population with morbidities were not associated with PIM use. Of the total variance in PIM prevalence, 86% was explained by group-level factors related to hospital districts. The regional variables explained 75% of this hospital-district-level variation. ConclusionsPIM prevalence varied significantly across hospital districts. Findings suggest that higher PIM prevalence may be related to challenges in the continuity of care rather than differences in health care accessibility or share of the population with morbidities.

Assessing SARS-CoV-2 Testing Adherence in a University Town: Recurrent Event Modeling Analysis.

Healthy Davis Together was a program launched in September 2020 in the city of Davis, California, to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and facilitate the return to normalcy. The program involved multiple interventions, including free saliva-based asymptomatic testing, targeted communication campaigns, education efforts, and distribution of personal protective equipment, community partnerships, and investments in the local economy. This study identified demographic characteristics of individuals that underwent testing and assessed adherence to testing over time in a community pandemic-response program launched in a college town in California, United States. This study outlines overall testing engagement, identifies demographic characteristics of participants, and evaluates testing participation changes over 4 periods of the COVID-19 pandemic, distinguished by the dominant variants Delta and Omicron. Additionally, a recurrent model is employed to explore testing patterns based on the participants' frequency, timing, and demographic characteristics. A total of 770,165 tests were performed between November 18, 2020, and June 30, 2022, among 89,924 (41.1% of total population) residents of Yolo County, with significant participation from racially or ethnically diverse participants and across age groups. Most positive cases (6351 of total) and highest daily participation (895 per 100,000 population) were during the Omicron period. There were some gender and age-related differences in the pattern of recurrent COVID-19 testing. Men were slightly less likely (hazard ratio [HR] 0.969, 95% CI 0.943-0.996) to be retested and more likely (HR 1.104, 95% CI 1.075-1.134) to stop testing altogether than women. People aged between 20 and 34 years were less likely to be retested (HR 0.861, 95% CI 0.828-0.895) and more likely to stop testing altogether (HR 2.617, 95% CI 2.538-2.699). However, older age groups were less likely to stop testing, especially those aged between 65-74 years and 75-84 years, than those aged between 0 and 19 years. The likelihood of stopping testing was lower (HR 0.93, 95% CI 0.889-0.976) for the Asian group and higher for the Hispanic or Latino (HR 1.185, 95% CI 1.148-1.223) and Black or African American (HR 1.198, 95% CI 1.054-1.350) groups than the White group. The unique features of a pandemic response program that supported community-wide access to free asymptomatic testing provide a unique opportunity to evaluate adherence to testing recommendations and testing trends over time. Identification of individual and group-level factors associated with testing behaviors can provide insights for identifying potential areas of improvement in future testing initiatives.

Tribalism and tribulations: The social costs of not sharing fake news.

Fake news can foster political polarization, foment division between groups, and encourage malicious behavior. Misinformation has cast doubt on the integrity of democratic elections, downplayed the seriousness of COVID-19, and increased vaccine hesitancy. Given the leading role that online groups play in the dissemination of fake news, in this research we examined how group-level factors contribute to sharing misinformation. By unobtrusively tracking interactions among 51,537 Twitter user dyads longitudinally over two time periods (n = 103,074), we found that group members who did not conform to the behavior of other group members by sharing fake news were subjected to reduced social interaction over time. We augmented this unique, ecologically valid behavioral data with another digital field study (N = 178,411) and five experiments to disentangle some of the causal mechanisms driving the observed effects. We found that social costs were higher for not sharing fake news versus other content, that specific types of deviant group members faced the greatest social costs, and that social costs explained fake news sharing above and beyond partisan identity and subjective accuracy assessments. Overall, our work illuminates the role of conformity pressure as a critical antecedent of the spread of misinformation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Research on the factors influencing college students’ energy-use behavior in dormitories: group-level factors and time factors

AbstractPromoting energy-saving behavior among college students in dormitories is conducive to improving the energy efficiency of college buildings. As students in the same dormitory need to share the energy-using equipment and expenses, they will inevitably influence each other by their energy-use behaviors, and this interaction process will gradually reach a certain stable state with the passing of the time spent with roommates. However, the existing research on the influencing factors of energy-use behaviors often focuses on individual subjective characteristics while overlooking the influence of group and time factors. Therefore, this paper incorporates interpersonal relationship and group identity into the theory of planned behavior, and considers the time spent with roommates as the moderating variable to build a model of factors influencing college students’ energy-use behaviors in their dormitories. Empirical data were collected by a questionnaire survey with 768 respondents, and generalized ordered logit regression was used to analyze the research model. The results reveal that the factors that influence students’ energy-use behaviors will change with the time spent with roommates. When the time spent with roommates is 0–1 year, interpersonal relationships, group identity, comfort, individual norms, and environmental concerns are significant influences. When the time spent with roommates is 1–2 years, environmental concerns will no longer have an effect; however, energy-use costs and energy-use habits will be added. When the time spent with roommates is 2–3 years, interpersonal relationships, individual norms, group identity, and energy-use costs will no longer have any influence, but subjective norm will be added.

Factors associated with attendance to a participatory gender training programme – A secondary analysis of data from the MAISHA study

Participatory gender training is often included in programmes aimed at preventing intimate partner violence (IPV) in low- and middle-income countries. Higher attendance is associated with greater benefit. Using data from two trials, conducted in Tanzania from 2014 to 2019 (MAISHA study), we retrospectively examined associations between individual and group-level factors and attendance at a gender training intervention, among women in established microfinance groups (CRT01, n = 528), and in newly-formed neighbourhood groups (CRT02, n = 629). High attendance was defined as participation in 7 or more of 10 sessions. More women were high attenders in CRT02 (81.74 %) than CRT01 (66.67 %). In both trials, older age was positively associated with attendance (CRT01: adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 2.43, 95 %CI: 1.42–4.15, p = 0.001 and CRT02: aOR: 2.00, 95 %CI: 1.10–3.61, p = 0.023). In CRT01 only, past IPV victimization was positively associated with attendance (aOR: 1.71, 95 %CI: 1.07–2.73, p = 0.024), while secondary education and larger group size were negatively associated with attendance (aOR: 0.59, 95 %CI: 0.36–0.97, p = 0.038 and aOR: 0.38, 95 %CI: 0.19–0.75, p = 0.006 respectively). There was limited evidence of associations between factors examined and attendance in CRT02. Programme implementers should consider potential barriers to women’s engagement and implement strategies to support participation, particularly for younger women, given their increased risk of IPV.

Using a unified model of TPB, NAM and SOBC to understand students’ energy-saving behaviors: moderation role of group-level factors and media publicity

PurposeThis study aims to integrate the theory of planned behavior (TPB), norm activation model (NAM) and stimulus–organism–behavior–consequences theory (SOBC) with the moderators to investigate the main determinants of energy-saving behaviors as well as how group-level factors and media publicity significantly facilitate the energy-saving intention-behavior linkage among dormitory students in higher education institutions (HEIs).Design/methodology/approachA valid sample of 325 dormitory students resided in universities of Vietnam and a three-step analysis approach via SPSS 28.0 and AMOS 25.0 were used to test the hypothesized model.FindingsThis study yields that external stimuluses (subjective norms and perceived behavioral control) positively and strongly stimulate energy–energy attitude, while internal stimuluses (ascription of responsibility, awareness of consequences) arouse personal norms. Both internal and external stimuluses were found to have serially mediation effects on energy-saving behaviors via attitude toward energy saving, personal norms and energy-saving intention. Remarkably, group interaction and media publicity exert prominent positive moderation effects on the energy-saving intention–behavior relationship.Practical implicationsThe findings of this research can be valuable for HEIs and policymakers to inspire university students’ energy conservation behavior for sustainable development goals.Originality/valueThis study contributed to the proenvironmental literature by adopting the SOBC paradigm that strengthens the integration of TPB and NAM models to explore the main determinants of dormitory students’ energy-saving behaviors, explain the underlying mediation mechanisms of organisms and behavioral responses and illustrate the moderation role of group-level factors and media publicity.

Examining construction group’s safety attitude resilience under major disruptions: An agent-based modelling approach

The construction industry is undergoing a series of disruptions and industrial changes. In disturbances of major events, construction workers’ safety attitude is at risk of being sabotaged due to factors such as resource reallocations, job insecurity, and mental pressure. The extend of such impact on the safety attitude by the disruptive event is complicated and complex as it depends on individual, group and external factors. This research extended and applied successfully the resilience engineering theory to model the response-recovery process of individual workers’ safety attitude under disruptions. With data collected from questionnaire surveys, an agent-based model was built to describe the dynamic changes of safety attitude under disruptions. The model examined the influence of factors at individual, group and external environmental aspects on both response and recovery stages. The results showed that construction workers’ safety attitude was resilient under external disruptions, and group and external level factors determined the length of recovery process, while individual factors determined if the safety attitude could be eventually fully recovered. When the safety parameters decreased by 28%, the construction group’s average safety attitude would not fully recover, unless compensated by the learning adaptability (LA) increasing by 10%. Furthermore, the results revealed that a high level of group interactions (doubled active-ratio) absorbed the external disruptions and the influence on construction workers with high degrees (doubled centre-value) had greater impact on the overall safety attitude resilience. This research shed lights on developing managerial suggestions to cope external disruptions and maintain the positive and stable safety attitude.

The Uniform of Women’s Gymnasium Employees in the Vision of the Heads of Institutions in Kyiv Educational District (late 19th — early 20th century)

Modern-day clothing is an all-encompassing marker of social identities. We deepen the usual political economic and socio-demographic analysis of Ukrainian society with a cultural one, which acquires a significant mobilizing resource. The source base of the study is the materials of clerical correspondence of the trustee of Kyiv educational district with the heads of women’s educational institutions and the Heads of the Pedagogical Councils of the female gymnasiums and pro-gymnasiums of the Ministry of National Education regarding the introduction of uniforms for women who worked in women’s secondary education institutions. The hermeneutic method and the constructivist tradition of discourse analysis, as well as the latest approaches of Western feminist theory, were identified as research methods for the implementation of research tasks. Gender-specific experience should become an integral part of historical knowledge. The opinions of heads of women’s educational institutions of the Kyiv educational district regarding the introduction of uniforms for their female employees were studied. It was established that the absolute majority (95.65 %) of managers supported the proposal, as well as the fact of wearing uniforms by staff in some female gymnasiums without sanction from above. Self-affirmation of female teachers in the service took place through fashionable clothes, which contrasted with their small salary. Self-affirmation of female teachers in the service took place through fashionable clothes, which contrasted with their small salary. The latent dissatisfaction of the bosses with the fashion of female educators in institutions was revealed. It is substantiated that the “highly desirable / useful” introduction of uniforms to female educators was caused by individual and group level factors. The socio-economic and corporate-ethical motives of the chiefs prove the difficult gender relations in the teaching teams, which the uniform of female employees of gymnasiums and pro-gymnasiums had to correct. The recommended uniforms of female educators provided for the functional parameters of its cut, the minimization of decorative details and, most importantly, the dark blue color of the fabric.