Positive Bivariate Correlations Research Articles

Dissociative Experiences, Borderline Personality Disorder Features, and Childhood Trauma: Generating Hypotheses from Data-Driven Network Analysis in an International Sample

ABSTRACT Dissociation is a multifaceted phenomenon that occurs in various mental disorders, including borderline personality disorder (BPD), but also in non-clinical populations. Severity of childhood trauma (abuse, neglect) plays an important role in the development of dissociation and BPD. However, the complex interplay of different dissociative symptoms, BPD features, and self-reported childhood trauma experiences is not yet fully understood. Graph-theoretical network analysis can help to better understand such multivariate interrelations. Objective: This study aimed to investigate associations between self-reported dissociation, BPD features, and childhood trauma experiences using a graph-theoretical approach. Data was collected online via international mental health platforms and research sites. N = 921 individuals (77.4% female) were included; 40% reported pathological levels of dissociation. Variables were assessed with established psychometric scales (Dissociative Experiences Scale; Personality Assessment Inventory Borderline Features Scale; Childhood Trauma Questionnaire) and analyzed within a partial correlation network. Positive bivariate correlations between all variables were found. When accounting for their mutual influence on each other, dissociation was predominantly connected to BPD features with effect sizes between rp = .028 and rp = .126, while still showing a slight unique relationship with physical neglect (rp = .044). Findings suggest close associations between dissociative experiences and BPD features. While childhood trauma plays an important role in the development of dissociation and BPD, its recall may not fully explain their current co-occurrence. Prospective studies are needed to shed more light on causal pathways to better understand which factors contribute to dissociation and its link to BPD (features).

Facilitators and barriers for implementation of health programmes with Māori communities.

Addressing health inequities that Māori (Indigenous peoples) communities face in New Zealand is a key aim of researchers and practitioners. However, there is limited understanding of the implementation processes and outcomes of health programmes for addressing these inequities. The aim of this study was twofold: (a) to identify correlates of implementation outcomes and (b) to identify facilitators and barriers to implementation effectiveness. The study involved a concurrent mixed method approach. Through an online survey, 79 participants with experience in implementing a health programme with a Māori community identified outcomes and processes of the programme. Additionally, nine Māori community providers shared their perceptions and experience of facilitators and barriers to implementation effectiveness through an in-depth interview. The quantitative and qualitative findings were integrated to address the aims of the study. For the first aim, we identified two key outcomes: overall health impacts and sustainability. Three of the variables had significant and positive bivariate correlations with health impacts: cultural alignment, community engagement, and individual skills. The only significant correlate of sustainability was evidence-based. For the second aim, participants described four facilitators (leadership, whanaungatanga [relationships], sharing information, digestible information) and four barriers (system constraints, lack of funding, cultural constraints, lack of engagement) to effective implementation. Overall, leadership, aligning culture, and building on whanaungatanga, while getting financial resources and systems support, are the core elements to supporting implementation efforts in Māori communities.

Longitudinal processes among humility, social justice activism, transcendence, and well-being.

Existing research shows positive associations between humility and well-being, and between civic engagement and well-being. Rarely have humility, civic engagement, and well-being been examined together. We build off of previous cross-sectional findings and a prior longitudinal study that used three waves of data and found significant positive bivariate correlations between humility and the presence of life purpose across time points. Extending these previous findings, we used six waves of data obtained from graduate students at 18 seminaries across North America (N = 574; Mage = 31.54; 46.7% female; 65.3% White) to explore the dynamic associations among humility and life purpose, along with horizontal transcendence (an indicator of the attitudinal dimension of civic engagement) and social justice activism (an indicator for the behavioral dimension). We explored reciprocal short-run processes and dynamic long-run effects using a general cross-lagged panel model. We found robust evidence for a reciprocal influence between the presence of life purpose and horizontal transcendence, and long-run effects for initial levels of life purpose to influence later levels of horizontal transcendence. We also found long-run effects for the influence of initial levels of life purpose on later levels of humility, and initial levels of social justice activism on later levels of horizontal transcendence. Implications center on the use of the findings for planning future one-time life purpose and social justice interventions to affect changes in humility and horizontal transcendence.

Associations between neighbourhood social cohesion and subjective well-being in two different informal settlement types in Delhi, India: a quantitative cross-sectional study

ObjectivesTo evaluate the relationships between neighbourhood cohesion and subjective well-being (SWB) in two different informal settlement types.DesignCross-sectional analysis of a community-based survey.SettingCommunities in two districts, Sanjay Colony, Okhla Phase II...

Problematic Online Behaviors Among Gamers: the Links Between Problematic Gaming, Gambling, Shopping, Pornography Use, and Social Networking

The aim of the current study was to investigate how problematic online gaming, problematic online gambling, problematic online shopping, problematic online pornography use, and problematic online social networking are associated with each other in bivariate and multivariate, network analytic analyses in an international gamer population. The effective sample comprised 4,416 gamers (age M = 23.31, SD = 6.72; 94% male). Participants filled out the specific problematic Internet use scales on gaming, gambling, shopping, pornography, and social networking. The results showed that problematic online gaming yielded small-to-medium positive bivariate correlations with other problematic behaviors. However, the exploratory graph analysis showed that all Internet-based problematic behaviors were separate entities. Finally, problematic online gaming yielded the highest scores, followed by problematic online social networking, gambling, and pornography. While gaming was the most prevalent Internet-based problematic behavior among gamers, the results further suggested that the other Internet-based problematic behaviors investigated may co-occur despite being considered separate entities.

Toward Nonbinary Nuance in Research and Care: Mapping Differences in Gender Affirmation and Transgender Congruence in an Online National U.S. Survey.

Purpose: To close gaps in transgender health research, we mapped trends in gender affirmation processes (i.e., social, legal, and psychological transitions) that are unique among nonbinary (NB) transgender adults when compared with transgender women (TW) and transgender men (TM).Methods: Data were drawn from the Columbia Trans Empowerment Survey (N=707), an online national study conducted between 2014 and 2015 in the United States. We used one-way analysis of variance tests, chi-square tests, Kruskal–Wallis tests, and post hoc analyses to estimate differences in gender affirmation processes and transgender congruence between: (1) NB adults, n=271, 38%; (2) TW, n=291, 41%; and (3) TM, n=145, 21%. We then identified bivariate correlations between variables of interest.Results: In the full sample (n=707), we found significant positive bivariate correlations between pursuing gender affirmation and transgender congruence. In terms of demographics, NB participants were significantly more likely to be queer (42.1%), polyamorous (25.5%), unemployed (44.8%), and younger (median=22) than TW and TM. They also reported taking significantly fewer gender affirmation processes, with significant differences between the three groups in terms of particular experiences. The NB participants also reported significantly lower rates of transgender congruence, specifically lower appearance congruence though similar gender identity acceptance.Conclusion: The NB transgender adults in this sample report unique identity-related characteristics, including significantly lower rates of medical/social transition as well as decreased transgender congruence. These data are among the first to describe unique pathways by which NB adults, TW, and TM may pursue gender affirmation and interact with providers as they navigate congruence, transition, and well-being.

Anthropogenic impacts on isotopic and geochemical characteristics of urban streams: a case study in Wuhan, China.

Urbanization and human activities have significantly modified the geochemical signatures of urban streams worldwide. However, the geochemical characteristics of urban streams in Wuhan, one of the core cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China, remain largely unstudied. Here, we examined the stable isotopes and geochemistry of urban streams at 73 locations in the central districts in Wuhan during May 2019. Maps of isotopic signatures reflected a non-free-flowing state in part of the urban stream system in Wuhan. A lower DO and a higher EC level were found in urban streams relative to the adjacent Yangtze River. The Na+, K+, and Cl- concentrations in urban streams were > 3.0 times as high as those in the Yangtze River, and there was a slight increasing trend between 1.1 and 1.4 times for other major ions. The mildly elevated Fe concentration (1.3 times) and markedly elevated Mn concentration (> 5.0 times) were observed in urban streams. Spearman's correlation analysis indicated strong positive bivariate correlations among Na+, K+, and Cl- in urban streams, and an urban geochemical principal component was identified by principal component analysis. Plotting Na/(Na + Ca) versus total dissolved solids (TDS) indicated a potential risk of "urban stream syndrome." These findings can enhance the knowledge of anthropogenic impacts on current urban stream water quality and provide reference for the restoration and improvement of water ecology functions of the urban stream system in Wuhan.

The Impact of Firearm Levels on Homicide Rates: the Effects of Controlling for Cultural Differences in Cross-National Research

We analyze the largest set of nations (n = 55) with a valid measure of gun ownership levels ever used to test the effect of national gun levels on homicide rates. We control for measures of national culture to better isolate the effects of firearm availability. We find that, while national gun levels have a significant positive bivariate correlation with homicide rates, once one controls for violence-related cultural differences between nations, the association disappears. With this larger, more diverse set of nations, the U.S. is not influential – gun levels are unrelated to homicide rates regardless of whether it is included in the analysis.

Predictors of life satisfaction among Hispanic/Latino immigrants in non-metropolitan communities in the Midwest

ABSTRACT The United States is changing demographically, and Hispanics/Latinos are the largest minority group in the country. Often, Hispanics/Latinos are the driving force behind population stabilization and growth in non-metropolitan areas. Examining life satisfaction among Hispanic/Latino immigrant residents is critical to ensuring the viability of these communities. The purpose of this study was to explore life satisfaction among Hispanic/Latino immigrants in non-metropolitan communities in the Midwest. The sample included 206 participants (M age = 39 years old; 61.1% female). Results indicated that life satisfaction was rated high. There were significant positive bivariate correlations between life satisfaction and sense of community, perceived safety, and good health, and there was a significant negative bivariate correlation between life satisfaction and discrimination. The linear regression model showed that sense of community, perceived safety, and community of residence were significant predictors of life satisfaction. This study has implications for community development initiatives in rural areas with immigrant residents.

Relationship between Psychosocial Impairment, Food Choice Motives, and Orthorexic Behaviors among Polish Adults.

Orthorexic behaviors correlate not only with health motives when choosing food but may also coexist with psychosocial impairment. The aim of this study was to assess the motives of food choice and psychosocial impairment among adults with orthorexic behaviors through the use of ORTO-15 and ORTO-7. The data for the study were collected from a sample of 1007 Polish adults through a cross-sectional quantitative survey conducted in 2019. The respondents were asked to complete the ORTO-15 questionnaire, the Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ), and the Clinical Impairment Assessment (CIA). Orthorexic behaviors were measured using both the 15-item and the shorter 7-item version of the ORTO questionnaire. To determine the factors coexisting with the orthorexic behaviors, linear regression models were developed. The scores of both ORTO-15 and ORTO-7 correlated positively with the global CIA scores and the scores of personal, cognitive, and social impairments, but compared to the ORTO-7 scores, the ORTO-15 scores showed weaker correlations with the global CIA score and individual CIA scales. Orthorexic behaviors measured with ORTO-15 correlated positively with such food choice motives as health, natural content, and weight control; whereas orthorexic behaviors measured with ORTO-7 showed positive bivariate correlations only with two food choice motives: health and weight control. In regression models, sensory appeal, age, and education lower than secondary were associated inversely with orthorexic behaviors measured by both the ORTO-15 and the ORTO-7. In conclusion, the obtained results confirm that orthorexic behaviors are associated with a higher score regarding health motivation and cause an increase in psychosocial impairment. In addition, orthorexic behaviors are associated with greater importance of body weight control, which confirms the relationship between orthorexic behaviors and other eating disorders (ED), such as anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN). However, similar motives for food choice displayed by the groups with higher scores of the ORTO-15 and the ORTO-7 and strong correlation between results obtained from both tools confirmed the similarity between these two questionnaires, thus revealing the weak psychometric properties also of the shorter seven-item version of the ORTO. Future studies on food motives, psychosocial impairment, and orthorexic behaviors should consider using other tools for measuring orthorexic behaviors.

Initial analysis of the spatial correlation between the incidence of COVID-19 and human development in the municipalities of the state of Ceará in Brazil.

To analyze the spatial distribution of the incidence of COVID-19 and its correlation with the municipal human development index (MHDI) of the municipalities of Ceará. This is an ecological study with data recovered from the 15th epidemiological week and the 19th one of the year 2020 using the MHDI and the COVID-19 incidence coefficient for each municipality as variables. The univariate spatial correlation and the bivariate one were analyzed using the TerraView and GeoDa softwares. The incidence of COVID-19 has spatial dependence with moderate positive correlation and the formation of high-high clusters located in the metropolitan region of Fortaleza and municipalities in the north region. The lowest incidence was a low-low cluster in the south and west regions. There was a positive bivariate correlation between MHDI and the incidence of COVID-19 with the formation of a cluster in the metropolitan region of Fortaleza. The uneven mapping of COVID-19 and its relationship with MHDI in Ceará can contribute to actions to regional combat the pandemic.

Individual predictors of tactical planning performance in junior military officers

ABSTRACTThis exploratory study examined the influence of personal and psycholinguistic factors on tactical planning performance in a convenience sample of Australian Army personnel. Sixty male junior officers undertaking a tactical training course completed self-report measures of decision-making style, problem-solving appraisal, personality, and tactical planning expertise. A measure of general cognitive ability was sourced from participants’ military records. During the course, officers completed several tactical planning exercises that were assessed by course instructors, and an overall measure of tactical planning performance was derived. Psycholinguistic data was derived from participants’ thought processes elicited during an analogous planning exercise using a written think-aloud protocol. Automatic linear modeling analyses identified the combination of greater expertise and intuitive decision-making style, less spontaneous decision-making style and problem-solving confidence, younger age, and greater use of words relating to risk and past-focused concepts in their thought records, as significant predictors of better tactical planning, accounting for 55% of the variance in performance. Additionally, general cognitive ability, conscientiousness, and rational decision-making style shared moderate positive bivariate correlations with planning performance. This research has identified individual factors that contribute to tactical mission planning, along with future research avenues, which may inform the training of military commanders at the tactical level.

Molecular Docking Analysis of 120 Potential HPV Therapeutic Epitopes Using a New Analytical Method

The accurate modelling and scoring of protein–peptide (Pr–Pe) complexes are determining factors in the drug discovery studies by molecular docking. However, there are three main problems with Pr–Pe docking methods: high flexibility of protein and peptide molecules, scoring of generated models, and integrative modelling. In this study, we introduced a new analytical method for ranking epitopes to reduce scoring and integrative modelling problems. At first, we docked 120 potential epitopes from E5, E6 and E7 oncoproteins from human papillomavirus (HPV) 16, 18, 31 and 45 against ten HLA-I and six HLA-II molecules using two servers, CABS-dock (a template-free method (TFM)) and GalaxyPepDock (a template-based method (TBM)). Then, we weighted the early (original) docking scores by involving the population coverage (PC) of the HLA molecules and integrated all the weighted scores earned by each peptide to calculate a single weighted-integrated (W-I) docking score per each peptide to rank them. Our findings showed that there are positive bivariate correlations between the results of applied servers, with Pearson correlation coefficient averages (r) 0.385 and 0.525, as well as, R square averages (r2) 0.148 and 0.275 for the original and W-I scores, respectively (p < 0.01). These statistics indicated that the W-I scores, analyzed by the new method, have more correlation and predictability power than original scores. Generally, this new analytical method can be considered as an effective solution to improve the ranking of epitopes in similar studies to avoid obtaining more false results or even true results but without appropriate PCs. Additionally, our high-score epitopes are valuable candidates for further experimental validating studies, targeting the treatment of HPV-mediated cancers.

Work organisation, bullying and intention to leave in the hospitality industry

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine relationships between work organisation, bullying and intention to leave (ITL) in the Australian hospitality industry, using pressure, disorganisation and regulatory failure (PDR) to measure work organisation.Design/methodology/approachCross-sectional survey data were collected from 72 workers in Australian accommodation hotels. They were aged 20-65 years (M=38.26, SD=12.60) and 57.1 per cent were female. The proposed path model was tested with the Mplus (v.7) statistical package using Hayes’ (2009) procedure for mediation analysis.FindingsThere were positive bivariate correlations between all variables. The path model indicated that disorganisation and regulatory failure had direct positive associations with bullying. Financial pressure and bullying had direct positive associations with ITL.Research limitations/implicationsThe small sample may not be representative and the cross-sectional design and self-report data risk common method variance effects and preclude attributions of causality. Future studies should use more representative samples and longitudinal designs to address common method variance issues and facilitate causal inferences.Originality/valueBullying and turnover are significant problems in the hospitality industry, but the contribution of work organisation variables is poorly understood. The present study provides promising preliminary evidence on the potential role of PDR as an antecedent of both bullying and ITL.

Comparison of Spatio-Temporal Variations of Various Pollutants Levels at Residential, Industrial and Vehicular Sites of Lahore, Pakistan

Nowadays air over major cities has become over burdened with gases produced by automobiles throughout the world. The present study was conducted to investigate and monitor the ambient air quality. The results indicated the following mean concentrations (μg/m3): PM2.5 (138.25, 214.5, 234.5), NO2 (218, 170.4, 230.9), SO2 (196.5, 184.3, 189), CO (108.5, 82.04, 81.7) and O3 (680.2, 525.38, 590.5) for residential, industrial and vehicular sites in the respective order. Most of the pollutants were found to increase in winter except SO2 and CO which showed high concentrations in spring and autumn respectively. The results suggested that there was strong positive bivariate correlation being observed between each pair of pollutants (PM2.5, NO2, SO2, CO and O3 with p<0.01 or p<0.05). Pearson Correlation is applied to evaluate the correlation between different pollutants. The results depicts that increased concentration levels of pollutants (PM2.5, NO2) being observed at vehicular site on the other hand elevated concentration level of pollutants (SO, CO, O3) was seen at residential site.

Up for Grabs? Sexual Objectification as a Mediator Between Women's Alcohol Use and Sexual Victimization.

Sexual objectification, the tendency to reduce women to their bodies, body parts, or sexual functions for use by others, has been theorized to set the stage for more severe acts of violence but has been largely absent from the existing sexual victimization literature. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of sexual objectification in mediating the well-established link between women's alcohol use and sexual victimization. A large sample of undergraduate women ( N = 673) reported their alcohol use (frequency and quantity), experiences of sexual objectification (body evaluation and unwanted explicit sexual advances), and sexual victimization. Results indicated positive bivariate correlations among all study variables. Path analyses showed that mild forms of sexual objectification (body evaluation) mediated the link between the frequency of alcohol use and more extreme forms of sexual objectification (unwanted advances). Furthermore, the combined effect of sexual objectification (body evaluation and unwanted advances) mediated the link between alcohol use (frequency and quantity) and sexual victimization. The current findings are among the first to evaluate sexual objectification as a mechanism in the link between alcohol use and sexual victimization. Results suggest that efforts to prevent alcohol-related sexual violence may benefit from addressing sexual objectification.

Vigorous Physical Activity is Positively Correlated With Grade Point Average in College-Age Females

A growing body of evidence suggests that regular physical activity is positively correlated to academic achievement in children and adolescents. Among college students, few studies have examined the relationship between overall physical activity levels and academic achievement - generally reflected in grade point average. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine if typical weekly physical activity (PA) levels were correlated with academic performance among full-time college-aged females during the spring semester. METHODS: Thirty full-time, female (18-23 years) students enrolled in one of several upper Midwest universities, and who did not participate in a varsity sport, were recruited for the study. Walking and moderate and vigorous intensity PA (METs/week) were assessed by the validated International Physical Activity Questionnaire short form (IPAQ). Grade point average (GPA) was obtained by self-report questionnaire, along with age, year in school, number of classes in spring semester, class hours per day, study hours per day, and working (employment) hours per week. RESULTS: The participants reported a mean GPA of 3.2 (±0.4), were enrolled in 4.2 (±0.5) semester courses and studied 2.8 (±1.0) hours per day. The participants reported the following METs per week of activity: 1436.1 (±739.2) walking, 244.7 (±695.6) moderate intensity PA, 1877.3 (±1438.6) vigorous intensity PA, and 3566.7 (±2005.1) total PA. After controlling for hours studying, there was a significant positive bivariate correlation between GPA and total physical activity METs (r=0.802; p =0.00), as well as GPA and vigorous-intensity PA METs (r=0.783; p=0.00). However, there was no significant correlation between GPA and walking or moderate intensity PA METs. These correlations were present before controlling for study time. CONCLUSIONS: We showed that typical weekly total and vigorous-intensity physical activity levels were positively associated with GPA among full-time female college students. In addition to the positive health benefits, these results suggest that vigorous intensity physical activity may be an important component in higher academic achievement among female college students. The underpinnings of this relationship should be further examined in future studies.

Discrepancies in Parents-Adolescents Conflicts across Gender: A Step Forward in Validation of Conflict Behavior Questionnaire-44

The research is aimed to test construct validity of Conflict Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ-44) using confirmatory factor analysis. Additionally, potential gender invariance is tested as a result of item sensitivity of scale. Following the back translation method, data of 494 adolescents (girls=203, boys=291) was collected from different institutes of Lahore, Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Sample age ranged 11-23 years with Mean age ±SD (19.25, ±2.33 years). Construct validation was tested by conducting confirmatory factor analysis using Mplus Version 6.12. Results presented good model fit of Conflict Behavior Questionnaire-44 for a two components model and all items loaded well on their respective scales. Cronbach's Alpha of the two components (i.e., .73 and 89) suggested that scales are reliable. Significant positive bivariate correlation with issue check list (i.e., r=.24; and r=.26, p<.01, for Appraisal of parents, and Appraisal of dyads respectively) evidenced the convergent validity whereas significant negative bivariate correlation with Authoritative Father (i.e., r=-.39, and r=-.34; p<.01) and Authoritative Mother (i.e., r=-.34, and r=-.37; p<.01 ) for Appraisal of parents, and Appraisal of dyads respectively evidenced criterion related validity of CBQ-44 adolescent version. Though CFA across gender also showed good fit of the model to the data (i.e., χ 2

The Impact of Firearm Levels on Homicide Rates: The Effects of Controlling for Cultural Differences in Cross-National Research

We analyze the largest set of nations (n=55) with a valid measure of gun ownership levels ever used to test the effect of national gun levels on homicide rates. We control for measures of national culture and human development to better isolate the effects of firearm availability. We find that, while national gun levels have a significant positive bivariate correlation with homicide rates, once one controls for violence-related cultural differences and development level between nations, the association disappears. Thus, national rates of firearms ownership show no evidence of increasing national homicide rates.

The Relationships among Health Locus of Control and Resilience, Social Support and Health Promoting Behavior in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Coronary Artery Diseases

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships among health locus of control, resilience, social support, and health promoting behavior in patients with coronary artery diseases. Methods: This study utilized a descriptive correlational design using a survey method. The subjects were 165 coronary artery disease patients at the cardiology out-patient clinic of the C university hospital. Data were collected through Health Locus of Control Scale, Resilience Scale, ENRICHD Social Support Instrument, Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient and hierarchial regression. Results: There were significant positive bivariate correlations of health promoting behavior with internal health locus of control, doctors health locus of control, resilience and social support respectively, and correlation between resilience and social support. Among predictors, internal health locus of control (β=.28), social support (β=.28) and resilience (β=.25) had statistically significant influences on health promoting behavior. Conclusion: These results proposed that internal health locus of control, social support and resilience have important influences on health promoting behavior. Nursing interventions to enhance internal health locus of control, resilience and social support might be essential for patients with coronary artery disease in order to promote their health behaviors.