Relevant Personal Characteristics Research Articles

Prediction of Hearing Help Seeking to Design a Recommendation Module of an mHealth Hearing App: Intensive Longitudinal Study of Feature Importance Assessment.

Mobile health (mHealth) solutions can improve the quality, accessibility, and equity of health services, fostering early rehabilitation. For individuals with hearing loss, mHealth apps might be designed to support the decision-making processes in auditory diagnostics and provide treatment recommendations to the user (eg, hearing aid need). For some individuals, such an mHealth app might be the first contact with a hearing diagnostic service and should motivate users with hearing loss to seek professional help in a targeted manner. However, personalizing treatment recommendations is only possible by knowing the individual's profile regarding the outcome of interest. This study aims to characterize individuals who are more or less prone to seeking professional help after the repeated use of an app-based hearing test. The goal was to derive relevant hearing-related traits and personality characteristics for personalized treatment recommendations for users of mHealth hearing solutions. In total, 185 (n=106, 57.3% female) nonaided older individuals (mean age 63.8, SD 6.6 y) with subjective hearing loss participated in a mobile study. We collected cross-sectional and longitudinal data on a comprehensive set of 83 hearing-related and psychological measures among those previously found to predict hearing help seeking. Readiness to seek help was assessed as the outcome variable at study end and after 2 months. Participants were classified into help seekers and nonseekers using several supervised machine learning algorithms (random forest, naïve Bayes, and support vector machine). The most relevant features for prediction were identified using feature importance analysis. The algorithms correctly predicted action to seek help at study end in 65.9% (122/185) to 70.3% (130/185) of cases, reaching 74.8% (98/131) classification accuracy at follow-up. Among the most important features for classification beyond hearing performance were the perceived consequences of hearing loss in daily life, attitude toward hearing aids, motivation to seek help, physical health, sensory sensitivity personality trait, neuroticism, and income. This study contributes to the identification of individual characteristics that predict help seeking in older individuals with self-reported hearing loss. Suggestions are made for their implementation in an individual-profiling algorithm and for deriving targeted recommendations in mHealth hearing apps.

Accounting for the association between socioeconomic status and youth political participation: A twin family study

AbstractPolitical participation (PP) has been found to be associated with socioeconomic status (SES) indicators, most strongly with educational attainment. At the same time, previous research has been inconclusive regarding potentially biasing effects of personality and cognitive characteristics on this association. In the present study, we investigated the association between different forms of youth PP and attained SES, taking youth's and parents' individual characteristics into account. We used data from 983 German twin families with same‐sex twin pairs of emerging adults (aged 21–25) that provided information on electoral, nonelectoral individual and collective political participation as well as on youth's and their parents relevant personality and cognitive characteristics. After adjusting for youth's and parents' individual characteristics, regression analyses showed educational attainment and household income to be solely significantly associated with emerging adults' electoral political participation. Genetically informative analyses revealed confoundedness due to shared environmental factors for electoral PP and due to genetic factors for individual and collective PP. Depending on the form of PP, the covariance between attained SES indicators and youth's PP mostly or fully overlapped with variance in political interest, general cognitive ability, and/or openness to experience. Findings are discussed against the backdrop of genotype‐environment interplay.

Bacteriologic Profile, Antibiotics Resistance Pattern, and Outcomes of Patients Admitted to Lancet General Hospital from June 2022 to June 2023: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Background: Prior studies indicated increased antimicrobial resistance in Ethiopia, with related health, economic, and environmental costs. Knowing an institutions and population microbiologic profile allows for proper antibiotic treatment, which substantially impact patients’ outcomes such as healthcare related costs, morbidity, and mortality. The current study assessed the bacteriologic profile, resistance pattern, and treatment outcome in Lancet General Hospital.
 Method: A retrospective cohort study on the bacteriologic profile, antibiotics resistance pattern, and outcome of patients was done on 128 eligible patients who were admitted to Lancet General Hospital from June 2022 to June 2023. Data from all hospitalized patients with culture-confirmed infection were analyzed. SPSS version 26.0 was used to analyze the data. Association between independent and dependent variables was analyzed using binary logistic regression model.
 Results: Gram-negative bacteria were recovered in 77% of the cases. Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase producing Enterobacteriaceae was found in 37.5% (54) isolates and carbapenem resistant bacteria were identified in 27.8% of patients. In-hospital mortality from multidrug resistant bacterial infection was 14.8%. Age ≥ 65 years, presence of septic shock, and presence of carbapenem-resistant bacteria were independently associated with increased in-hospital mortality.
 Conclusion: High number of resistant microorganisms was isolated, and increased mortality was documented from infections caused by carbapenem-resistant bacteria. Multi-center studies should be done to determine the extent of resistant organisms in health facilities throughout the country.epidemiology, and the findings should be factored into clinical decision making and program design for disease prevention, screening, and treatment. It also calls for further prospective research to learn more about the conditions in the context of additional relevant personal and clinical characteristics

Risk Factors and Determinants of Pulmonary Function Impairments in Chronic Respiratory Diseases in Ethiopia: A Hospital-based Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction: Chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) are diseases of the airways and lung parenchyma. Although they are leading causes of morbidity and mortality globally, chronic respiratory diseases have received relatively little public attention. This study aimed to characterize the common chronic respiratory diseases, along with their lung function and possible determinants in symptomatic patients attending clinics at Bishoftu General Hospital, Ethiopia.
 Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the outpatient department of Bishoftu Hospital from June 2019 to March 2020. Consecutive adult patients aged 18 and above with chronic respiratory symptoms (lasting more than 8 weeks) and no evidence of active tuberculosis were recruited. Questionnaires were used to collect data on demographics, symptoms, diagnoses, and potential risk factors. Lung function was measured by spirometry. Allergic status was assessed through allergen skin prick testing with standard allergens. 
 Results: A total of 170 participants were recruited, with the majority being female (102, 60.0%). The mean age was 49 years (SD=16). The most common symptoms reported were wheezing in the last twelve months 156 (91.8%), cough 138 (81.2%) and severe exertional breathlessness 137 (80.6%). Thirty-nine (22.9%) participants were either active or passive smokers. Half of the patients (50.3%) were exposed daily to vapors, dust, gases, or fumes and 58 (34.3%) were exposed to biomass smoke. In total, 138 (81.2%) had a positive allergen skin prick test. Chronic bronchitis (49.1%) and asthma (36.1%) were the most common clinical diagnoses. Classification of lung function revealed 23 (15%) normal, 29 (19%) obstructive, 36(23.5%) restrictive and 61(39.9%) mixed obstructive/ restrictive patterns. Airflow obstruction (FEV1/FVC ratio) was independently associated with increasing age (p<0.05), exertional breathlessness (p<0.001), previous history of asthma (p<0.05), BMI (p<0.05), and doctordiagnosed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (p<0.001) and asthma (p<0.05).
 Conclusion: This study demonstrated a high burden of abnormal lung function in patients attending clinics due to chronic respiratory symptoms. Increasing age, exertional breathlessness, prior diagnosis of asthma, BMI, and clinically diagnosed COPD and asthma were independently associated with obstructed lung function. These find ings highlight the critical need for spirometry services to identify lung abnormalities in patients with chronic respiratory symptoms. Epidemiology, and the findings should be factored into clinical decision making and program design for disease prevention, screening, and treatment. It also calls for further prospective research to learn more about the conditions in the context of additional relevant personal and clinical characteristics.

Creative Subprocess Frequencies and Their Relation to Personal Characteristics and Product Creativity: Insights from a Drawing Task Think Aloud Study

ABSTRACTMost research on the creative process has focused on idea generation, and the prevalence and influence of many other creative subprocesses remain poorly understood. To clarify different subprocesses' respective roles in creative work, this study investigated their frequencies and associations with creativity‐related personal characteristics and product creativity. Undergraduate students (n = 266) articulated their creative thought processes via the think aloud method while completing an open‐ended drawing task and completed questionnaires assessing creativity‐relevant personal characteristics. Drawings were rated for creativity by quasi‐expert judges. Transcripts were coded using an a priori coding scheme informed by models of the creative process, including generation (14%), elaboration (26%), association (9%), selection (4%), evaluation (13%), anchoring (13%), metacognition (7%), and filler (14%). Subprocess frequencies correlated minimally with measures of personal characteristics, although several significant, albeit weak, relationships emerged. A hierarchical regression analysis indicated that the best predictors of drawing creativity were aesthetic fluency, the frequency of anchoring, time spent on task, and, marginally, the frequency of generation. Together, these results provide insight into how relevant personal characteristics and subprocess engagement contribute to drawing creativity and highlight the particular importance of anchoring, which involves monitoring and refining task‐related goals and constraints, throughout the creative process.

Pattern of cutaneous neoplasms and associated factors at a tertiary teaching hospital pathology center in Ethiopia: An eight-year histopathological review

Background: Cancer is the leading cause of death globally and is on the rise in Africa. Cutaneous neoplasms are becoming increasingly common worldwide. Understanding the pattern of this disease is essential for developing data-driven preventive, screening, and treatment services. However, there are limited studies in Ethiopia so far. Therefore, the study aimed to assess the pattern and associated factors of cutaneous neoplasm among patients with histopathologically confirmed biopsy results at a tertiary teaching hospital in Ethiopia from March 2014 to October 2022.Methods: A retrospective record review study was conducted among 1006 patients with histopathologically confirmed cutaneous neoplasms from the biopsies that were assessed at St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College. Data was summarized using frequencies, percentages, median (interquartile range), and graphs. To identify significant factors associated with malignant cutaneous neoplasm, a multivariable binary logistic regression model was fitted, where Adjusted Odds ratio (AOR), 95% CIs for AOR, and p-values were used for interpretation of results.Result: From the 1006 cases, 265 (26.3%, 95%CI=23.5%-29.3%) were malignant, of which sarcoma (26.0%) and squamous cell carcinoma (25.7%) were the most frequent and found to be prevalent in younger (19-29 years) and older (≥60 years) patients, respectively. The trunk was the commonest site (54.2%) for all the malignancies, especially sarcoma (80.4%). Age was found to be a significant exposure that is associated with the development of malignant cutaneous neoplasm for those ≥30 years as compared with those ≤18 years, with the odds increasing with age (AOR=2.66, 95% CI=1.10,6.45 for 30-39 years, AOR=4.98, 95% CI= 2.01,12.36 for 40-49 years, AOR=5.33, 95% CI=2.15,13.22 for 50-59 years and AOR= 6.62, 95% CI=2.79,15.66 for ≥60).Conclusion: The prevalence of malignant cutaneous neoplasm is higher than previously reported in the country and the malignancy pattern and distribution are different from what is known so far. This could signal a shift in disease epidemiology, and the findings should be factored into clinical decision making and program design for disease prevention, screening, and treatment. It also calls for further prospective research to learn more about the conditions in the context of additional relevant personal and clinical characteristics

How to measure mental illness stigma at work: development and validation of the workplace mental illness stigma scale.

The study objective was to design a new theoretically driven multidimensional scale for the use in the empirical measurement of stigmatizing attitudes towards persons with mental illness within the return-to-work process as this integral part of vocational reintegration has been widely neglected by scholars so far. Therefore, we developed and validated a 21-item instrument to comprehensively measure the three-factorial structure of stigmatizing attitudes (affect, cognition, behavior) across two studies (overall N = 251). In both studies the new scale proved to be highly internally consistent, and its proposed three-factor structure was equally supported across the two studies. Convergent and discriminant validity were demonstrated by moderate and high correlations or zero correlations with pertinent measures. Furthermore, construct validity of the new scale was supported by significant positive associations with relevant personality characteristics within stigma research. The WMISS is the first instrument to measure mental health stigma specifically within the return-to-work-process and demonstrates strong psychometric properties. Inclusion of this scale in future research can help facilitate understanding of mental illness stigma within the occupational sector and assist with targeted intervention development.

The formation of emotional stability of students in physical education

One of the directions for improving the training of future specialists in higher education institutions is the formation of professionally relevant personality characteristics. Emotional stability is one of these characteristics. Physical education and sport are one of the few spheres of life of modern students in which this issue can be effectively resolved. The authors provide data on the positive impact of specially organized physical education classes on the formation of such emotional stability in students.

Personal Traits of the People Who Help: The Case of Bystanders to Violence against Women.

Within the context of emergency situations, the terms witness or bystander are used to refer to individuals involved in oppressive incidents who are neither the victim nor the perpetrator. Among the different types of emergency situations, our study focuses on violence against women (VAW). In keeping with current efforts in the scientific literature on bystander intervention and the evidence currently available, the main focus of this study is to analyze some personal factors that reflect the characteristics or experiences of bystanders and that could have a bearing on their predisposition to help victims of VAW (i.e., empathy, a just world belief system, and expectations of self-efficacy) and later analyze the possible relationship between these personal characteristics and gender or previous experience as a VAW bystander. An opportunity sample of 546 Spanish participants (73.4% women and 26.6% men) between 18 and 56 years of age took part in this study and fill out a sociodemographic data sheet, a questionnaire to evaluate the experience as violence witness designed ad hoc, and the Characteristics of People who Help Questionnaire scale (CPHQ). The results obtained indicate that CPHQ could constitute an adequate measure for the three dimensions analyzed. Female participants are significantly more empathetic than males, but in the case of a just world belief and expectations of self-efficacy the results showed no gender-related differences. Additionally, only a just world belief was clearly influenced by having been a bystander to some form of VAW. In conclusion, this study contributes a proposal for an evaluating instrument featuring three relevant personal characteristics in the development of helping behaviors, presenting some results of interest regarding empathy, a just world belief, and expectations of self-efficacy and their relationship with gender or previous experiences as VAW bystanders. These results obtained suggest an initial path toward future research in the development of interventions with bystander participation in our environment.

Physical activity time and lifestyle correlates of cardiovascular disease status in older adults in Accra

AimThe maintenance of physical activity (PA) over the life course is considered a hallmark for ageing well, but individuals who practice PA also often pursue lifestyles (e.g., smoking) that may inhibit the medicinal impact of PA on them. PA is said to protect against cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), but the literature has little to say about the impact of PA on the risk of CVDs when it is associated with lifestyle factors, comorbidities, and personal characteristics. This study aimed to assess the association between PA time and CVDs, with relevant lifestyle factors, comorbidities, and personal characteristics treated as covariates.Subject and methodsThe study’s population was retired and working older people aged 60 years or more in Accra, Ghana. A total of 686 individuals responded to self-reported questionnaires. Pearson’s chi-square test and binary logistic regression were used to present findings.ResultsThe study found that the risk of having one or more CVDs increases as time spent in moderate and vigorous PA increases, whereas individuals who drank alcohol a few days a week or most days a week are respectively 2 (OR = 2.415; p = 0.037) and 22 (OR = 21.933; p = 0.000) times more likely to have one or more CVDs compared to those who never drank alcohol.ConclusionHealth education should not only encourage PA maintenance but should also make individuals aware of the need to avoid unhealthy behaviours to maximize the positive effect of PA on health.

Risky decision-making strategies mediate the relationship between amygdala activity and real-world financial savings among individuals from lower income households: A pilot study

Lower financial savings among individuals experiencing adverse social determinants of health (SDoH) increases vulnerabilities during times of crisis. SDoH including low socioeconomic status (low-SES) influence cognitive abilities as well as health and life outcomes that may perpetuate poverty and disparities. Despite evidence suggesting a role for financial growth in minimizing SDoH-related disparities and vulnerabilities, neurobiological mechanisms linked with financial behavior remain to be elucidated. As such, we examined the relationships between brain activity during decision-making (DM), laboratory-based task performance, and money savings behavior. Participants (N = 24, 14 females) from low-SES households (income<$20,000/year) underwent fMRI scanning while performing the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART), a DM paradigm probing risky- and strategic-DM processes. Participants also completed self-report instruments characterizing relevant personality characteristics and then engaged in a community outreach financial program where amount of money saved was tracked over a 6-month period. Regarding BART-related brain activity, we observed expected activity in regions implicated in reward and emotional processing including the amygdala. Regarding brain-behavior relationships, we found that laboratory-based BART performance mediated the impact of amygdala activity on real-world behavior. That is, elevated amygdala activity was linked with BART strategic-DM which, in turn, was linked with more money saved after 6 months. In exploratory analyses, this mediation was moderated by emotion-related personality characteristics such that, only individuals reporting lower alexithymia demonstrated a relationship between amygdala activity and savings. These outcomes suggest that DM-related amygdala activity and/or emotion-related personality characteristics may provide utility as an endophenotypic marker of individual’s financial savings behavior.

Teaching with digital games: How intentions to adopt digital game‐based learning are related to personal characteristics of pre‐service teachers

AbstractDespite many known educational benefits of digital game‐based learning, teaching with digital games is not yet a common practice in formal education. The role that digital game‐based learning might play in future school teaching can be explored by examining the behavioral intentions of pre‐service teachers as the ultimate gatekeepers. In this survey study, 402 pre‐service teachers from German‐speaking universities had participated. Multiple regression analyses were applied to examine the role of pre‐service teachers’ personal characteristics in their intention to integrate digital games into two educational contexts. For both educational contexts, we identified perceived usefulness and curriculum relatedness of digital games as key factors in pre‐service teachers' intention to teach with digital games. We also found differences in explained variance and relevant personal characteristics between educational contexts. Overall, we discuss how teaching with digital games could become a common practice if particular characteristics of pre‐service teachers are already addressed in teacher education. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Several conceptual and empirical works have synthesized diverse educational benefits of teaching with digital games and digital game‐based learning. Teaching with digital games poses several infrastructural and technological challenges for teachers. Whether teaching with digital games becomes a common practice is related to the intention of teachers who act as gatekeepers for effective educational approaches. What this paper adds Insights into relations between intentions to teach with digital games and personal characteristics among pre‐service teachers as future gatekeepers. The intentions of pre‐service teachers to teach with digital games show particularly strong relations to a small set of personal characteristics. The relations between the intentions of pre‐service teachers and their personal characteristics may vary between educational contexts. Implications for practice and policy The usefulness and curriculum relatedness of digital games in different educational contexts should be made clear to pre‐service teachers. Teacher education could better prepare pre‐service teachers for their future role as gatekeepers by providing key experiences and competences regarding teaching and learning with digital games. Policy makers could support teaching with digital games by advancing digital game‐based learning in teacher education and by reducing known barriers related to teaching with digital games.

Vertical micro-segregation: is living in disadvantageous lower floors in Athens’ apartment blocks producing negative social effects?

This article estimates the effect of vertical segregation – across floors of apartment buildings – on educational attainment in the metropolitan area of Athens. This context offers an opportunity to evaluate and discuss the complementarity between horizontal segregation (across neighbourhoods) and vertical segregation. Using census microdata, we observe that the share of individuals dropping out of school early is much higher for young residents of disadvantageous lower-floor apartments than for those living in upper floors. This gap remains significant after controlling for all relevant personal, household, and neighbourhood characteristics. This result suggests an effect of vertical segregation on educational outcomes in addition to neighbourhood effects and individuals’ socio-economic status. Moreover, the findings of this article corroborate the claim that the target for public policies to increase social mix is not enough to address inequalities at the local level.

Exploring niche construction in sport coaching: an ecological dynamics analysis

ABSTRACT In this article we challenge deterministic practices on learning and development, biased towards individual properties of learners (e.g., genetic endowment) and knowledge acquisition (e.g., internal representations). These traditional approaches typically fail to account for environmental influences which may interact in unique ways with relevant personal characteristics of learners. To challenge these deterministic approaches, we present a conceptual framework that combines niche construction theory and ecological dynamics, positioning behaviour at the ecological level of analysis where highly skilled behaviour emerges from the individual-environment system. To substantiate this conceptual framework, we investigate the insights and experiential knowledge of professional sports coaches on their practice designs. Results revealed how athletes and coaches value the capacity to modify athlete-environment interactions influencing opportunities for action in a practice context. This novel conceptual framework can inform the designs of contemporary learning and development practices that positively influence the evolution of skilled behaviours in different individuals.

Association Between LGB Sexual Orientation and Depression Mediated by Negative Social Media Experiences: National Survey Study of US Young Adults.

BackgroundLesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) persons are disproportionately affected by depression and have high social media use rates. Negative social media experiences may modify depressive symptoms among LGB persons. We sought to assess the potential influence of negative social media experiences on the association between LGB orientation and depression.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to assess the potential influence of negative social media experiences on the association between LGB orientation and depression.MethodsWe performed a web-based survey of a national sample of US young adults aged 18-30 years. We assessed the respondents’ LGB orientation, negative social media experiences, and depression using the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire. We used generalized structural equation modeling to assess both the direct and indirect effects (via negative social media experiences) of LGB orientation on depression while controlling for relevant demographic and personal characteristics.ResultsWe found a conditional indirect effect (ab path) of LGB orientation on depressive symptoms via negative social media experience (a: observed coefficient 0.229; P<.001; bias-corrected bootstrapped 95% CI 0.162-0.319, and b: observed coefficient 2.158; P<.001; bias-corrected bootstrapped 95% CI 1.840-2.494). The results show that among LGB respondents, for those who reported negative social media experiences in the past year, a 1 unit increase in these experiences was associated with a 0.494 unit increase in depressive symptomatology.ConclusionsOur results suggest that higher rates of depression among LGB young adults are partially explained by negative social media experiences; these results could help inform future patient/provider conversations about mental health risk and protective factors related to social media use. Reducing these experiences and increasing positive social media experiences among LGB persons may mitigate depressive symptomatology in this population.

Critical thinking, creativity and study results as predictors of selection for and successful completion of excellence programmes in Dutch higher education institutions

ABSTRACT In this article, we examine how critical thinking and creativity of students, in addition to study results, are related to their chance of being selected for an excellence programme, and whether these student characteristics determine successful completion of their participation in an excellence programme. Between 2016 and 2019, over 1000 students from five higher education institutions in the Netherlands filled in questionnaires to collect information on their study results and relevant background and personality characteristics, and took part in tests to measure their critical thinking and creativity skills. The results of the empirical analysis show that critical thinking has a positive effect on the chance of being selected for an excellence programme, net of study results, which are also positively related to participation in an excellence programme. Creativity only plays a marginal role in the selection process. With regard to successful completion of an excellence programme, none of the considered variables of interest has a significant effect.

Do stays abroad increase intercultural and general competences, affecting employability?

With a globalized and growing world market, companies and educational institutions are getting more and more ambitious to re-orient their work patterns to the international level. Universities reacted to the demands of the globalized economy for flexibility and adaptability by the internationalization of their study programs. Research question: Do stays abroad and therefore intercultural experiences of students actually promote occupational competences and personal development? Design: In order to investigate this relationship, an online survey was employed, and a sample of N = 367 students, who had spent at least one semester abroad before, was recruited. The questions were aimed at measuring characteristics of the participants’ stays abroad, as well as occupational engagement, resilience, intercultural competence personality characteristics related to job performance. Results: The findings suggest that experience abroad can partly enhance employability by serving as an additional job qualification. The results reveal that people who have experienced a stay abroad show higher work and study commitment and are more ambitious regarding their work. Furthermore, people with experience abroad show higher levels of resilience. They are more active concerning problem solving and have higher abilities to maintain emotional distance to work. Additionally, people show the more cultural intelligence the longer they stay abroad. Regarding the manifestation of cultural intelligence, the contact quality with the host country nationals played a significant role. It was evinced that higher contact quality is associated with higher values of cultural intelligence. Regarding occupational performance capacity, the results highlight that participants with a stay abroad are more dominant in an occupational context, i.e., they are more oriented towards superiority above others. Value: The present study contributes to the understanding of relevant personal skills and characteristics in intercultural contexts and of how personality might affect the process of becoming more competent. By demonstrating that stays abroad can increase certain work-related competences for students this study indicates that companies and educational institutions should spend more recourses on fostering experiences abroad of students and workers, in order to stay in tune with the requirements of globalization.

Predicting Stock Market Performance

Abstract. Gender and personality traits influence risk proneness in the context of financial decisions. However, most studies on this topic have relied on either self-report data or on artificial measures of financial risk-taking behavior. Our study aimed to identify relevant trading behaviors and personal characteristics related to trading success. N = 108 Caucasians took part in a three-week stock market simulation paradigm, in which they traded shares of eight fictional companies that differed in issue price, volatility, and outcome. Participants also completed questionnaires measuring personality, risk-taking behavior, and life stress. Our model showed that being male and scoring high on self-directedness led to more risky financial behavior, which in turn positively predicted success in the stock market simulation. The total model explained 39% of the variance in trading success, indicating a role for other factors in influencing trading behavior. Future studies should try to enrich our model to get a more accurate impression of the associations between individual characteristics and financially successful behavior in context of stock trading.

Influence of Entrepreneurial Traits on the Performance of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Lagos State, Nigeria

Factors such as political instability, government policies, infrastructural inadequacy and entrepreneurs’ non-possession of relevant personal characteristics are connected on the high failure rate of small businesses in Nigeria. On the back of these identified problems the study focused on Influence of entrepreneurial traits on the performance of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in Lagos State., Specifically, resilience, innovativeness, drive for achievement, and risk taking propensity were the entrepreneurship traits examined in relation to the performance of SMEs in Lagos state. Primary source of data through a questionnaire was used to achieve the stated objectives. Random sampling method was used to collate data of 125 entrepreneurs who participated in the study. Frequency tables and percentages were used for data presentation and the Regression analysis was used to test the formulated hypotheses, with the aid of statistical package for social sciences (version 21.0). The study summarised that there are significant relationships between the tested traits and the growth of SMEs in Nigeria. The study recommended that owner/ entrepreneurs should individually improve their skills in these critical traits’ areas. In addition, the government should provide institutional support in terms of training and development. Government should also create an enabling environment for business to thrive, through provision of infrastructures.

Mentors' self-assessed competence in mentoring nursing students in clinical practice: A systematic review of quantitative studies.

To examine registered nurses' self-evaluation of their competence in mentoring nursing students in clinical practice. Clinical mentors have significant roles and responsibility for nursing students' clinical learning. Moreover, the mentors' role is becoming increasingly important internationally, as the role of nurse teachers in mentoring students in clinical practice has declined. However, in most EU countries there are no specific educational requirements for clinical mentors, although they need targeted education to increase their competence in mentoring nursing students. The systematic review of quantitative studies was designed according to guidelines of the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination and PRISMA protocol. Studies published during 2000-2019 that met inclusion criteria formulated in PiCOS format were systematically reviewed by three independent reviewers. CINAHL (Ebsco), PubMed (MEDLINE), Scopus, ERIC and Medic databases were used to retrieve the studies. Three independent reviewers conducted the systematic review process. The studies were tabulated, thematically compared and narratively reported. In total, 16 peer-reviewed studies met the inclusion criteria. The studies identified various dimensions of mentors´ competence and associated environmental factors. Generally, participating mentors rated competences related to the clinical environment, mentoring, supporting students' learning processes and relevant personal characteristics fairly high. They also rated organisational practices in their workplaces, resources in the clinical environment and their mentor-student and mentor-stakeholder pedagogical practices, as respectable or satisfactory. The results indicate considerable scope for improving mentors' competence, particularly through enhancing organisational mentoring practices and relevant resources in clinical environments. Pedagogical practices of mentors in relations with both students and stakeholders should be enhanced to improve future nurses' learning. This systematic review addresses a gap in knowledge of mentors' self-evaluated competence that could assist the formulation of effective educational programmes for mentors internationally and improving clinical environments.