Levels Of Physical Contact Research Articles

Psychosocial and health stressors during the COVID-19 pandemic and their association with sleep quality

Objective We investigated how psychosocial and health stressors and related cognitive-affective factors were differentially associated with sleep quality during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic Methods and Measures Adults living in Florida (n = 2,152) completed a Qualtrics survey in April-May 2020 (Wave 1). Participants (n = 831) were reassessed one month later (Wave 2; May-June 2020). At Wave 1, participants reported their level of physical contact with someone they care about, presence of a pre-existing chronic disease, employment status, loneliness, health worry, and financial distress. At Wave 2, participants rated their quality of sleep and insomnia symptoms. Results Loneliness, but not health worry or financial distress, directly predicted worse sleep quality. Lack of physical contact was indirectly associated with worse sleep quality via greater levels of loneliness. Further, results showed the presence of a pre-existing chronic disease was associated with both greater health worry and worse sleep quality. Conclusion Loneliness was the sole cognitive-affective predictor of worse sleep quality when controlling for other psychosocial factors. As expected, adults living with a chronic disease reported impaired sleep quality. Understanding the processes influencing sleep quality during a significant time of stress is important for identifying risk factors, informing treatment, and improving sleep health beyond the pandemic.

No pain, no gain? Associations of athletic participation with capability for suicide among college students.

Suicide is a leading cause of death among college students. In order to advance understanding of suicide risk factors in this population, the present study provides a theoretically grounded test of associations between experiences in sports and both facets of capability for suicide (i.e., fearlessness about death and pain tolerance). Secondarily, the present study aimed to explore possible distinctions between subjective and objective pain tolerance. Undergraduate students (N=153) completed the study at a single timepoint. A pressure algometer was used to measure objective pain tolerance, and self-report questionnaires assessed subjective pain tolerance, fearlessness about death (FAD), sports participation, sports-related injuries, level of contact in sport, and weight manipulation practices for sport. Athletes had greater capability for suicide (i.e., higher objective and subjective pain tolerance and greater FAD) relative to non-athletes. Sports-related injuries were positively associated with both FAD and subjective pain tolerance, and level of contact in sport was positively associated with FAD. Objective and subjective pain tolerance were moderately correlated. Sports-related injuries and level of physical contact in athletics are associated with the facets of capability for suicide among college student athletes. Discrepancies in results between subjective and objective pain tolerance suggest important distinctions between these constructs.

Integration of earth observation and census data for mapping a multi-temporal flood vulnerability index: a case study on Northeast Italy

Climate sciences foresee a future where extreme weather events could happen with increased frequency and strength, which would in turn increase risks of floods (i.e. the main source of losses in the world). The Mediterranean basin is considered a hot spot in terms of climate vulnerability and risk. The expected impacts of those events are exacerbated by land-use change and, in particular, by urban growth which increases soil sealing and, hence, water runoff. The ultimate consequence would be an increase of fatalities and injuries, but also of economic losses in urban areas, commercial and productive sites, infrastructures and agriculture. Flood damages have different magnitudes depending on the economic value of the exposed assets and on level of physical contact with the hazard. This work aims at proposing a methodology, easily customizable by experts’ elicitation, able to quantify and map the social component of vulnerability through the integration of earth observation (EO) and census data with the aim of allowing for a multi-temporal spatial assessment. Firstly, data on employment, properties and education are used for assessing the adaptive capacity of the society to increase resilience to adverse events, whereas, secondly, coping capacity, i.e. the capacities to deal with events during their manifestation, is mapped by aggregating demographic and socio-economic data, urban growth analysis and memory on past events. Thirdly, the physical dimension of exposed assets (susceptibility) is assessed by combining building properties acquired by census data and land-surface characteristics derived from EO data. Finally, the three components (i.e. adaptive and coping capacity and susceptibility) are aggregated for calculating the dynamic flood vulnerability index (FVI). The approach has been applied to Northeast Italy, a region frequently hit by floods, which has experienced a significant urban and economic development in the past decades, thus making the dynamic study of FVI particularly relevant. The analysis has been carried out from 1991 to 2016 at a 5-year steps, showing how the integration of different data sources allows to produce a dynamic assessment of vulnerability, which can be very relevant for planning in support of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.

Violence to staff in psychiatric hospitals

INTRODUCTION: Being exposed to violence at workplace is threatening to healthcare staff. Increasingly violence has been cited by nurses as the most important reason for leaving nursing profession. The current study aims to study the status of violence against medical staff of psychiatric hospitals affiliated to Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. METHODOLOGY: This study is a descriptive-applied research which studied 151 nurses working in Farabi and Khorshid hospitals in 2015. The tool for information gathering which was a standardized questionnaire on “workplace violence against medical staff” was filled in by the respondents. The study's questionnaire includes demographic information and two types of violence and abuse: physical and emotional (verbal aggression, bullying, racial, and ethnic). Chi-square test, t-test, and analysis of variance and logistic regression tests were used for statistical data analysis of answers. RESULTS: The results indicate that 58.9% of nurses have experienced physical violence while 81.4%, 32.4%, and 7.3% have been exposed to verbal violence, workplace bullying, and racial and ethnic violence, respectively. The most cases of violence have been perpetrated by patients and their families or companions. There was not a significant relation between likelihood of being exposed to different types of workplace violence and the hospital, level of physical contact with patient, and patient gender. CONCLUSION: Given the rate of reported violence in medical centers, the health authorities should make every effort to reduce healthcare-related abuse and violence through using of proper preventive strategies, proper management, taking safety measures, and increasing public awareness about all aspects of the issue.

Seasonal variations in physical contact amongst domestic sheep and the implications for disease transmission

Contact networks can provide useful insights into animal behaviour and have the potential to quantify the spread of disease. Successful control of livestock diseases requires an understanding of how they spread amongst animals and between premises. Whilst movement records can provide valuable data on potential between-farm spread, the within-group dynamics of livestock are not well quantified; without this knowledge it is difficult to fully exploit knowledge about one-to-one transmission (such as insights gained from small scale experiments). Here the physical contact structure of domestic sheep (Ovis Aries) flocks is determined for different stages in the breeding cycle. Three observational studies were carried out on conventionally managed flocks, consisting of approximately thirty Dorset/cross sheep grazing a large paddock: a flock with young (newborn) lambs and their mothers; the flock when the lambs were older (nearly weaned); and a flock of ewes outside of the lambing season. Networks were constructed and key centrality measures calculated for all direct physical and proximal contacts. Proximity networks with conventional sheep flocks appear to be dense, but physical contacts have a more complex structure with strong variations determined by stages in the breeding cycle. There was a significant difference in the level of physical contact within those flocks with lambs and those without, and also as a result of the age of lambs. A clear reduction in between-ewe contact was observed amongst individuals with young, but there was an overall increase in connectivity in such flocks as a result of contacts involving lambs. Results are considered applicable to different sized flocks, given the known social behaviour of sheep and the experimental protocol used.

Social Contact Patterns in Vietnam and Implications for the Control of Infectious Diseases

BackgroundThe spread of infectious diseases from person to person is determined by the frequency and nature of contacts between infected and susceptible members of the population. Although there is a long history of using mathematical models to understand these transmission dynamics, there are still remarkably little empirical data on contact behaviors with which to parameterize these models. Even starker is the almost complete absence of data from developing countries. We sought to address this knowledge gap by conducting a household based social contact diary in rural Vietnam.Methods and FindingsA diary based survey of social contact patterns was conducted in a household-structured community cohort in North Vietnam in 2007. We used generalized estimating equations to model the number of contacts while taking into account the household sampling design, and used weighting to balance the household size and age distribution towards the Vietnamese population. We recorded 6675 contacts from 865 participants in 264 different households and found that mixing patterns were assortative by age but were more homogenous than observed in a recent European study. We also observed that physical contacts were more concentrated in the home setting in Vietnam than in Europe but the overall level of physical contact was lower. A model of individual versus household vaccination strategies revealed no difference between strategies in the impact on R 0.Conclusions and SignificanceThis work is the first to estimate contact patterns relevant to the spread of infections transmitted from person to person by non-sexual routes in a developing country setting. The results show interesting similarities and differences from European data and demonstrate the importance of context specific data.

Diagnosing child sex abuse: A research challenge.

Abstract Child sex abuse increasingly is recognised as a societal problem that can no longer be ignored. In this paper definitions, prevalence, trends, assessment, and available diagnostic procedures are described and critically evaluated. It is argued that the lack of reliable diagnostic procedures remains one of the main difficulties in dealing effectively with the detrimental effects of CSA on the or adult. The research challenge to find effective alternative procedures is outlined. Key words: sex abuse (CSA), diagnosis, disclosure, assessment. Introduction Child Sex Abuse (CSA) is a social problem that demands vigorous scrutiny and formal investigation. Although some form of incest taboo has existed across most cultures, the sexual abuse of children has been denied, condoned, and sanctioned throughout history. Over the last decade research in the area of CSA has increased exponentially and has attracted increasing attention not only from health professionals (Miller & Veltkamp, 1995) but also from public, legal, and media interest. Issues surrounding CSA include the veracity of the reports, the extent of the short-term and long-term negative effects on the child, and the controversy over therapeutic interventions to help overcome the long-term negative effects of CSA. Sexual abuse of children includes many types of sexual trauma, from single attacks by strangers to long-term incestuous relationships with a parent or close relative. In this paper, the term sexual abuse will be used to denote all types of sexual victimization, whereas incest will be used only with respect to sexual experiences between individuals related by blood or by marriage, with whom such activity is prohibited by virtue of societal taboos. Problems with definitions Despite efforts to promote a uniform criterion for defining CSA, there are still variations in the definitions adopted by professionals and researchers working in the field. The definition of CSA varies on several dimensions, for example, the level of physical contact, the age of the victim, the age of the perpetrator, the age difference between the victim and the perpetrator, and issues to do with consent. Legally CSA may be defined as any activity, before the age of legal consent, for sexual gratification of an adult or significantly older child (Rappley & Woolford, 1998, p. 49), while most commonly CSA is defined as: ... the involvement of dependent and immature children or adolescents in sexual activities they do not fully understand and to which they are unable to give informed consent, and which violate social taboos of family roles. (Helfer & Kempe, 1976, p.60). By-and-large researchers agree that the definition of CSA should not be confined to actual physical violation of a by rape, as this will adversely affect reported cases. Importantly definitional differences can markedly affect prevalence rates (Haugaard & Emery, 1989; Russell, 1984; Wyatt, 1985; Wyatt & Peters 1986). In the Irish context, Ward (1997) extended the definition of sexual abuse to include exposure to pornography, sexual exhibitionism, perverse activities, and viewing of sexual acts. Also included is a range of sexual contact between adults and children from fondling, oral-genital contact, digital penetration, (all of which do not leave any physically detectable traces), to intercourse. Furthermore, it is widely agreed that any definition of CSA should include the use of power over the child, for example, threats and/or exploitation of relationships that include an authority differential or some kind of dependence, no matter what the age of the abuser or abused. Once all these factors are included in the definition a different picture of prevalence rates emerges. Prevalence Over the last two decades the United Kingdom and Ireland, like most other countries worldwide, have witnessed a substantial increase in the number of reported incidents of CSA (Benedeck & Schetky, 1987; Dammeyer, 1998; Haugaard & Emery, 1989; Lamb, 1994; Wood, Orsak, Murphy, Cross, 1996). …

Sex differences in observers' reactions to a nurse's use of touch

We tested the notion that male and female observers would have different reactions to the use of touch by a nurse towards a patient in a hospital situation. If males are socialized to favor autonomy and independence and females to favor nurturance and caring, it was assumed that male subjects would rate a nurse as less supportive and competent if a nurse touched a patient. The results (based on reactions to photographs manipulating the level of physical contact that occurred between a nurse and a patient) were generally consistent with these predictions. While the subjects' sex moderated reactions to the nurse-initiated touch, there was an overall pattern for observers to react more favorably to the nurse who used touch compared to no touch in interacting with a patient. The results suggest that nurses and health professionals who use touch in interacting with patients may be judged in part by the attitudes of males and females about the use of touch.

Use of self-recording to maintain staff-resident interaction.

The study was designed to increase levels of staff-resident interaction on a long-stay residential ward for mentally retarded women. Ward nursing staff implemented self-recording techniques to record behavioural training targets with individual residents. Targets included social and self-help skills, with long term goals of improved independent functioning and increased socialisation. Levels of physical contact, verbal interaction and appropriate target activities with residents showed a steady increase over a 3-month period, with no adverse effect upon levels of direct health care activities. The benefits of self-recording methods are discussed with reference to issues of maintenance and generalisation.