Level Of Social Cognition Research Articles

Associations between physiological responses to social-evaluative stress and daily functioning in first-episode schizophrenia

Schizophrenia (SZ) is associated with impaired adaptive functioning, including difficulties managing the demands of independent living, work, school, and interpersonal relationships. Prior studies have linked the physiological stress response with less effective coping in daily life. Differences in stress-response tendencies may also support heterogeneity in daily functioning in SZ. The present study examined two established measures of the stress response in patients with first-episode SZ. Salivary cortisol was included as an index of hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal response. Vagal suppression (VS), a measure of stress-related reduction in heart rate variability, was used to assess parasympathetic flexibility. Greater cortisol response and VS to social-evaluative stress were predicted to be associated with better functioning in SZ over and above relationships with social cognition and neurocognition, two well-established predictors of functional outcome. Thirty-eight first-episode SZ outpatients and 29 healthy comparison subjects (HC) provided social cognitive, neurocognitive, and physiological measurements before and after the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Although SZ and HC did not differ on VS to the TSST, patients exhibited significant associations between VS and functioning across all four domains of the Role Functioning Scale. Furthermore, greater VS predicted more effective functioning with friends, beyond the contributions associated with social cognition and neurocognition, and strengthened the positive effects of higher levels of social cognition on independent living/self-care. VS elicited by social-evaluative stress in the laboratory may reflect stress-response tendencies in daily life that are relevant for daily functioning in first-episode SZ.

Social Cognition in Neuropsychiatric Disorders in Pediatric Age

Objective: The purpose of our study was to assess social cognition in adolescents and children with epilepsy or Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) compared to typical individuals. It was verified whether the age of onset, duration and drug therapy of epileptics can influence this ability and if there is a correlation between Social Cognition, intelligence and executive functions. Methods: This is an observational cross-sectional study that included a total of 125 subjects between 7 and 16 years (62 with focal epilepsy and 63 with SLD). The control group included 32 healthy subjects. Study subjects were evaluated with neuropsychological tools to evaluate executive functions (EpiTrack Junior), Social Cognition (NEPSY-II), and intelligence; a nonverbal cognitive test (Raven's Matrices) was used in subjects with Epilepsy, while WISC-IV was administered to SLDs. Results: the groups of subjects scored significantly lower than the controls in Social Cognition. The results showed a positive correlation between affect recognition scores and executive function in both groups. In patients with epilepsy the deficit in Affect Recognition appeared to be linked with early age of onset of epilepsy, long term of disease and lack of non-verbal intelligence; a high frequency of seizures, on the other hand, was related to poor performance in the Theory of Mind (ToM). In the SLD group there was no correlation between social cognition and intellectual level. Conclusions: The results of our study suggest that individuals with focal epilepsy or SLD have deficits in the recognition of facial emotions and ToM compared to their peers. In epilepsy group, the Social Cognition deficit seems to be linked to characteristics of epilepsy, particularly the deficits in the recognition of facial emotions seems linked to problems in nonverbal intelligence and in executive function. In the SLD group, however, the ability to recognize emotions was correlated only with executive functions.

Social Cognition and Sense of Belonging among Institutionalized Schizophrenic Patients

Context: Schizophrenia is one of the perilous mental health problems. It hinders the patient’s capability of thinking clearly, making life decisions, managing their emotions, and building healthy relationships.
 Aim: This study aimed to explore the relationship between social cognition and sense of belonging among institutionalized schizophrenic patients.
 Methods: The study used a descriptive research design to achieve the aim of this study. This research carried out in the inpatient unit of Minia Hospital for Mental Health and Addiction Treatment. A convenient sample of 100 institutionalized schizophrenic patients recruited in the current study. Three tools used to collect data of this study include socio-demographic and medical data questionnaire, Observable Social Cognition Rating Scale, and Sense of Belonging scale.
 Results: The main findings of this study revealed that more than three fourth of schizophrenic patients had low levels of social cognition, and sense of belonging. There was a significant positive relationship between social cognition and sense of belonging of institutionalized schizophrenic patients.
 Conclusion: The current study concluded that institutionalized schizophrenic patients have a positive connection between their social cognition and a sense of belonging. Recommendations: The study recommended that, schizophrenic patient in a very high need for psycho-educational program for improving their cognitive abilities, which will improve their social cognition and interaction with others and enhance their sense of belonging.

Associating of mother’s health literacy with sunlight protective behaviors of teenage children: application of social cognitive theory

ABSTRACTThe relative contributions of health literacy to promote health-related behaviors and characteristics of social cognition are still equivocal, and relevant information is limited. We aimed to examine the effect of the mother’s health literacy level on their teenage children’s sun protective behaviors based on social cognitive theory. This was a cross-sectional study of 202 women who had children between 12 and 18 year-old and they live in Sabzevar, Iran. The Test of Functional Health Literacy in adults (TOFHLA) questionnaire and sun protective behavior questionnaire based on structures of the social cognitive theory were used to collect data. Multiple statistical tests (correlation and the regression analysis) were analyses to examine whether the health literacy level of mothers associated with sun protective behaviors of their children. The results showed health literacy level of mother was positively significantly (p < 0.01) correlated with all constructs of social cognitive theory and teens’ performance to avoid sunlight (r = 0.242, P < 0.01). Likewise, the self-efficacy showed the strongest correlation with a health literacy level of the mother (r = 0.360, p < 0.01), and with the performance of the teenagers (r = 0.282, p < 0.01). Linear regression showed that all constructs of social cognitive theory and health literacy level of mothers predicted 34.9% of teenage children’s sunlight protective behaviors. Health literacy level of mother and constructs from social cognitive theory are significantly supported determinants of sun protective behaviors and could be considered in developing and designing educational interventions program to facilitate a healthy active lifestyle.

Depressive Disorders and Religious Engagement in Very Old People.

Objective: To examine associations between religious engagement and depressive disorders in very old people. Method: This cross-sectional study uses data from the Umeå 85+/Gerontological Regional Database (GERDA) study. Every other 85-year-old, every 90-year-old, and everyone more than 95 years from eight municipalities in northern Sweden and Finland were invited: 1,014 persons accepted participation. Data were gathered using questionnaires and assessment scales during structured home visits. Results: The prevalence of depressive disorders was 35.8%. In a logistic regression model, several factors were adjusted for, such as demographic variables including social factors, diseases, and cognitive and physical functional level. A high level of self-reported religious engagement was independently associated with not having depressive disorders (odds ratio [OR] = 0.58, confidence interval [CI] = [0.38, 0.89]). After stratifying by gender, religious engagement was only significant for women (OR = 0.49, CI = [0.29, 0.82]). Discussion: There is an association between a high level of religious engagement and being free from diagnosis of depressive disorders among very old women.

Integrating Latina/o ethnic determinants of health in research to promote population health and reduce health disparities.

Social determinants of health (SDOH) such as environmental conditions and the nature of social settings have become highly influential in public health policy-making circles worldwide, yet they may not address clearly the role of ethnicity in health processes. Drawing from the National Institutes of Health's disparity research frameworks, this papers illustrates a set of variables that are advanced as having a unique role in disparities experienced by ethnic populations and Latina/os, in particular. The proposed ethnic determinants of health tap environmental, community, and social-cognitive levels of analyses and are defined as variables that have discernable differences-relative to other subpopulations-in their levels or in the way that they impact health. Health process models illustrate that ethnic determinants such as racism, family cultural norms and cultural change, and ethnic identity can, for example, mediate ethnic health disparities or condition (moderate) the levels of impact that SDOH have on health outcomes. Qualitative research analyses also strengthen ethnic and SDOH research by diversifying researchers' a priori assumptions and methodological limitations imposed by quantitative approaches. The expected dividends of the proposed Latina/o ethnic determinants of health research agenda amount to the generation of research that clarifies the role of ethnicity in SDOH and population health processes that are highly influential in ongoing regional and national health agendas. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The Poor in Thomas Gray’s Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard: Critical Discourse Analysis Approach

The research deals with the problems of poverty with the aim of revealing the situation of rural people experiencing various shortages throughout their daily needs. This poem is also a personal picture of the poet seeing by firsthand the situation of the marginalized people. Through critical discourse analysis by means of Van Dijk model consisting of three dimensions, namely text, social cognition and social context, the picture of the poor in the poem can be seen clearly. The data used are lines of Stanza No. 13 as a representation of the whole poem. The method used is descriptive qualitative. The results of the research indicate that knowledge or education is not limited to one group, but for all; but in practice the poor do not always get the opportunity to obtain proper education. The voice of the poor is not heard; therefore, they are bound by circumstances and cannot do much. In connection with critical discourse analysis, at the level of text, the general theme is the death and fate of the people on the periphery of the society. In the data related, the theme is the absence of opportunities for the poor to get education; the storyline starts from the causes and consequences of poverty and in the microstructure level there are syntactic and lexicon elements. The level of social cognition describes the close relationship between the poet and the elegy and of social conditions pictures the historical background of the text production.

The relationships between social participatory roles and cognitive engagement levels in online discussions

AbstractUnderstanding the relationship between social interaction patterns and cognitive engagement levels has critical implications on collaborative learning theory, pedagogy, and technology. This study used a multi‐method approach to examine the relationship between students' social participatory roles and cognitive engagement levels within asynchronous online discussions. Results showed that students' social participatory role was a critical indicator of cognitive engagement level. Socially active students made more cognitive contributions to knowledge inquiry and knowledge construction. But there were exceptions: after taking leadership roles (i.e., discussion designers and facilitators), some students moved from peripheral participation to active participation. Second, there was a progressive development process: individual students' deep‐level knowledge inquiry could trigger peer interaction, which could further advance group knowledge construction. Third, students had a tendency to keeping social‐cognitive engagement patterns throughout discussions. Based on the result, this study proposed implications for collaborative learning theory, pedagogy support, and tool development.

Animal Biopolitics: How Animals Vote

The social research about group decision-making in the human societies has received recent contributions from studies reached in the field of ethology and Game theory. Comparative data revealed the adoption of symbolic systems for vote expression and the consensus achievement in other social species. The wide diffusion of the voting procedure—as a sign of an ecological rationality– in species with different social organizations and cognitive levels, requires a new interpretation of the consensus issue assuming a new evolutionary biopolitical perspective, for the survey of the sociality and in particular of the effects of linguistic rationality on the human group decision-making .

Social cognition moderates the relationship between neurocognition and community functioning in bipolar disorder

BackgroundSchizophrenia (SZ) studies suggest that neurocognition predicts functional outcome and that social cognition mediates this relationship. Bipolar disorder (BD) patients also have cognitive, social, and functional impairments but the relationship among these factors in BD is not well established. We assessed whether social cognition modulates the influence of neurocognition on community functioning in BD, as found in SZ. Methods200 BD patients and 49 healthy controls (HC) were administered and compared on a battery of tests assessing neurocognition, social cognition, and community functioning. We conducted a series of regression analyses to investigate potential mediation or moderation of social cognition on the relationship between neurocognition and community functioning. ResultsBD patients performed worse on neurocognitive domains of processing speed, attention, verbal learning, and global neurocognition. Also, BD patients performed worse on theory of mind, the social cognition composite score, and community functioning. Neurocognition did not significantly predict functional outcome in our BD sample. However, we found a moderating effect of social cognition: among patients with poor social cognition, better neurocognition was associated with better community functioning, a relationship not seen in BD patients with good social cognition. LimitationsThe study was limited by a relatively small HC group and assessing one subtype of functioning status. ConclusionsThe relationship between neurocognition and community functioning in BD may be dependent on social cognition status, implying the presence of social cognitive heterogeneity. Results may be relevant to choosing proper treatment interventions depending on the patient's social cognitive level.

Moving towards novel multidisciplinary approaches for improving elderly quality of life: The emerging role of telemedicine in Sicily

Introduction Elderly care is a worldwide social and economic challenge for the public health system, and it requires the development of new management strategies. Telemedicine provides an innovative approach towards elderly care, especially for those with chronic diseases. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the potential role of a multidisciplinary telemedicine approach for improving elderly quality of life. Methods Twenty-two participants received weekly vital parameter monitoring and nutritional counselling, biweekly psychological counselling and a monthly consultation with a neurologist. The neuropsychological assessment included the Mini Mental State Examination, the Activities of Daily Living, the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Short-Form Health Survey, and was administered at enrolment (T0) and at the end of the study (T3). The nutritional evaluation included haematochemical examinations of glycaemia, total cholesterol, and triglycerides at baseline (T0) and every four months (T1, T2, T3). Results Significant differences in Activities of Daily Living, Geriatric Depression Scale and all domains of the Short-Form Health Survey were observed between baseline and the end of the study. The haematochemical parameters showed obvious changes over time, especially in cholesterol values, and the patients with hypercholesterolaemia and hypertriglyceridaemia showed a reduction in body mass index. Moreover, we found that the haematochemical values were moderately correlated with the Activities of Daily Living, Geriatric Depression Scale and Short-Form Health Survey scores. Conclusion Telemedicine can be a suitable tool for caring for elderly people more efficiently by promoting the remission of depressive symptoms and improving social functioning, cognitive levels and nutritional habits to prevent vascular diseases and exacerbations of pre-existing chronic illness.

ANALISIS WACANA KRITIS TERHADAP FATWA BAHTSUL MASA’IL TENTANG PEREMPUAN

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;This article examines the fatwa of Bahtsul Masa’il on women using Critical Discourse Analysis. Two matters of research problem is how Bahtsul Masa’il fatwa on women and how the Critical Discourse Analysis of the fatwa Bahtsul Masa’il about women. There are twelve fatwa on women decided by Bahtsul Masa’il forum, seven of which talk about the role of women in the public world. They were analyzed using Critical Discourse Analysis framework involving three levels of analysis, namely text, social cognition and context. Texts of Bahtsul Masa’il decision on women represent women as being vulnerable to libel and can bring slander. Women are also represented as weak creatures who need supervision and protection of men. Fatwa text that is bias arises from the procedure of making fatwa which highly favor the yellow book. While the yellow book itself tends to put women in the private sphere and look down on women. In addition, the frame of the community producing Bahtsul Masa’il fatwa (religious leader and religius students) are also the result of the internalization of norms and values of yellow book as the idol at the pesantren. In context level, the fatwa which tends to give a negative identity toward women is born out of the context of the patriarchal society.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Reciprocity in autistic and typically developing children and adolescents with and without mild intellectual disabilities.

The assessment of autism in individuals with mild intellectual disabilities (MID) is complicated because of the overlap between autistic traits and intellectual limitations. Impaired social emotional reciprocity is a core diagnostic criterion for autism. However, it is unknown whether reciprocal behaviour differs between MID individuals with or without an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study explored differences in reciprocal behaviour of 35 children and adolescents with MID (intelligence quotient 50-85): 15 with ASD (ASD-MID) and 20 with typical development (TD-MID) using the Interactive Drawing Test (IDT). ASD-MID participants showed a lower quality of reciprocal behaviour compared with TD-MID participants. The difference in quality of reciprocal behaviour between ASD-MID and TD-MID participants was not significantly related with Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test scores and thus not attributable to verbal capacity. The IDT is likely to reflect the child's inclination to display reciprocal behaviour in everyday situations, as its scale scores were meaningfully associated with the level of social cognition assessed with the Social Responsiveness Scale. Thus, the IDT seems well suited for measuring impairments in reciprocal behaviour in children and adolescents with MID.

An Assessment of the Social Cognitive Predictors of Exclusive Breastfeeding Behavior Using the Health Action Process Approach

In the United States rates of exclusive breastfeeding duration remain exceedingly low. Exclusive breastfeeding is a complex learned behavior that is influenced by social cognitive, interpersonal, and structural level factors. Interventions are needed that address factors at multiple levels of the social‐ecological model. This study was designed to examine the social cognitive predictors of exclusive breastfeeding behavior in a sample of low‐income women attending the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) breastfeeding peer counseling program and enrolled in the LATCH study. The objectives were to examine whether: (1) the theoretical model, the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA), fit the data well; (2) planning mediated the effect of intentions and maintenance self‐efficacy on exclusive breastfeeding; and (3) recovery self‐efficacy mediated the association between maintenance self‐efficacy and exclusive breastfeeding behavior. Outcome expectancies, action self‐efficacy and intentions were assessed prenatally at baseline in N = 119 participants. Maintenance self‐efficacy, planning, recovery self‐efficacy and breastfeeding behavior were measured at two weeks post partum. Structural equation modeling with mean and variance adjusted Weighted Least Squares estimation was used to examine the applicability of the HAPA model to the data.Participants were on average 27.5 (SD = 5.4) years of age, 151.0 (SD = 44.5) pounds and 23.6 (SD = 2.9) weeks gestation at recruitment. More than three‐quarters self‐identified as Hispanic, 68.1% were single, never married, 71.6% lived with their partner, and over 60.0% preferred to speak English. Over 60.0% had other children at home and 53.5% had previous breastfeeding experience. Factor loadings ranged from 0.54 to 0.99 and all indicator variables loaded significantly on their hypothesized constructs (p &lt; 0.001). Correlations between latent constructs were weak or moderate, with a few exceptions. Action self‐efficacy and intentions were highly correlated (r = 0.82; p &lt; 0.001), as were maintenance and recovery self‐efficacy (r = 0.78; p &lt; 0.001). The hypothesized model fit the data well CFI = 0.97, TLI = 0.96, and RMSEA of 0.05 (90% CI: 0.03, 0.06; p = 0.70). Planning (0.55; p = 0.006), maintenance self‐efficacy (−0.87; p = 0.028), and recovery self‐efficacy (0.64; p = 0.026) each significantly predicted exclusive breastfeeding behavior. Planning and recovery self‐efficacy mediated the association between maintenance self‐efficacy and exclusive breastfeeding (Indirect effect of planning = 0.31; p = 0.028, and indirect effect of recovery self‐efficacy = 0.50; p = 0.046). Planning did not emerge as a mediator between intentions and behavior. These results demonstrate the utility of the HAPA model in predicting exclusive breastfeeding behavior among low‐income women attending WIC. LATCH is a theoretically sound text messaging intervention that can be used to enhance breastfeeding self‐efficacy and planning through the WIC breastfeeding peer counseling process.Support or Funding InformationThis project has been funded with Federal funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service through grant WIC NEI‐12‐TX to Baylor College of Medicine to Dr. Rafael Pérez‐Escamilla at Yale University. The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the view or policies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

The positive link between executive function and lifetime cannabis use in schizophrenia is not explained by current levels of superior social cognition

There has been a growing link between a history of cannabis use and neurocognitive performance in patients with schizophrenia. Fewer neurocognitive deficits may be a marker of the superior social cognition needed to obtain illicit substances, or cannabis use may indicate a distinct path to schizophrenia with less neurocognitive vulnerability. This study sought to determine whether the relationship of cannabis use and executive function exists independently of social cognition. Eighty-seven patients with schizophrenia were administered measures of social cognition and executive function. Social cognition was assessed using the Bell-Lysaker Emotion Recognition Test to measure affect recognition, and the Eyes and Hinting Tests to measure theory of mind. Executive function was assessed by the Mental Flexibility component of the Delis-Kaplan Executive Functioning Scale. The relations between the variables were examined with structural equation modeling. Cannabis use positively related to executive function, negatively related to affect recognition, and had no relationship with theory of mind. There were no indirect effects of other illicit substances on amount of regular cannabis use. Alcohol use was related to worse affect recognition. The relationship between cannabis use and better executive function was supported and was not explained by superior social cognition

The comparison of executive functions, social cognition and plasma oxytocin level between mothers of schizophrenia patients and healthy control: Searching for a new endophenotype

Objective: Previous studies documented that there were a variety of endophenotypes that helped to diagnose as well as to predict functionality and treatment response. There is little, if any research that focused on investigating biochemical endophenotypes. Besides, the studies that include executive functions and social cognition, which were accepted as endophenotypes, have different results. In studies involving schizophrenia patients, the deficiency of oxytocin was found to be the most important hormone that would affect the treatment process. However, there have been no endophenotype studies that investigated the role of oxytocin hormone in the treatment process of schizophrenia patients. The purpose of the present study was twofold: (a) to detect new endophenotypes, and (b) to test endophenotypes that were previously found by focusing on the schizophrenia patients’ mothers. Methods: The participants were the healthy mothers of schizophrenia patients and healthy control group. They took the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale vocabulary subtest, respectively. In addition, participants’ blood samples were collected to include the level of plasma oxytocin as a biochemical in the data analyses. Results: Results revealed that there was a significant difference in plasma oxytocin levels for the healthy mothers of schizophrenia patients and the healthy control group. Low level of plasma oxytocin level was found to be the only significant factor that differentiates the patients’ mothers and the healthy control group. When the results of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test that measures executive functions, and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test that measures social cognition were analyzed, no significant differences were found between the groups. Discussion: Our findings showed that oxytocin hormone could be a new endophenotype for schizophrenia. However, there is still a need for studies that focus on the investigation of detecting new endophenotypes.

Autonomy in individual behavior under multimedia information

The myriad changes that have accompanied modernization --- the "big data" era, rapid technological advancement, societal transformations on both large and small scales --- pose severe challenges to individual, autonomous decision-making behavior, which is vital to the formation of a network public opinion environment. According to the Yerkes-Dodson law between cognition and pressure and prospect theory, we built a model to investigate the impact of cognitive resilience on the individual, autonomous behavior choices. We utilized the model to investigate changes in individual choice behavior from the perspective of catastrophe theory, and propose several network control strategies accordingly. Results indicated that individuals who demonstrate high levels of sensitivity to information and knowledge show relatively strong cognitive resilience. We also found that the catastrophe model explains the mechanism of change in individual choice behavior better than traditional models. Finally, we found that under the same situational factors, individuals with strong cognitive resilience maintain a high level of autonomy in when posed with challenges related to social cognition, and that controlling the level of social cognition in networks is an efficient way to manage individual behavior on the whole.

Теория конструктов разного уровня Н. Либерман и Я. Троупа

H. Lieberman’s, and J. Troup’s Construal-Level Theory of Psychological Distance is widely known in the English sources of social psychology. Wherein, it is used to explain various phenomena and cognitive memory research, perception and categorization. The review describes the basic tenets of the theory, concerning the relationship of psychological distance and the level of constructs. A brief description and basic key studies of different topics within the theory are included. The importance of the theory constructs at different levels of social cognition is stressed. Basic concepts of the theory are given to describe and explain various phenomena of social cognition. The key researches in the field of the theory are described to deal with such phenomena as the fundamental attribution error, the prediction of social events, behavioral intentions, self-control, goals and means of action. In conclusion, issues that remain unsolved at the present stage of development of the theory are discussed. The study was implemented in the framework of the Basic Research Program at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in 2016, and partially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), grant 15-06-02233 A., “Automatic activation of actions with objects: control mechanisms and conditions of occurrence”.

Psychosocial Risk Assessment in Patients Receiving Ventricular Assist Devices Does not Correlate with Outcomes

Background: There are published criteria to optimize patient selection and improve outcomes in patients receiving VAD therapy. Socioeconomic and issues are also explored before ventricular assist device (VAD) placement. However there are no specific psychosocial guidelines to help identify the appropriate VAD patient to maximize outcomes. Therefore, we seek to determine how socioeconomic and psychosocial factors impact this population. Methods: We performed retrospective electronic chart review of 78 consecutive patients who received Ventricular Assist Device Support at our institution from 2009 to 2015. Demographic characteristics, insurance type, income, education level, psychosocial risks and marital status were included in the analysis. The rates of mortality, VAD related infection, and readmission were compared. We used SPSS to calculate Pearson’s Chi square analysis to compare categorical variables and an independent samples T-test for continuous variables. All patients were risk-assessed by a specially trained social-work team prior to surgery and were given low, intermediate or high risk scores. We did Kaplan-Meier Curves to evaluate survival. Results: Our study population consisted of 56 (70%) males. The population consisted of 32 (40%) white, 35 (43.8%) black, 7 (8.8%) Hispanic, and 6(7.5%) other races. Ten (12.5%) had less than high school education, 24 (30%) had high school equivalent education, 14 (17.5%) had higher education, and 32 (40%) had an unknown education level. Four (5%) were uninsured, 32 (40%) had Medicare, 6 (7.5%) had Medicaid, 30 (37.5%) had private insurance, and 8 (10%) were unknown. Forty (50%) had diabetes, 61 (76.3%) had hypertension, 13 (16.3%) had COPD, 41 (51.2%) had Hyperlipidemia, 43 (53.8%) had renal disease and 46 (57.5%) had known coronary artery disease. All the socioeconomic factors examined and the psychosocial risk score showed no overall effect over survival, infection or re admission rate. Conclusion: In our population, income, education level, psychosocial risk category and, insurance type had no effect on outcomes in patients with VADs. Specific psychosocial guidelines to help better evaluate and risk stratify patients prior to VAD are needed. The appropriate level of social support, education, cognition and other psychosocial aspects that effect outcomes and survival in this patient population need to be better defined.

Sınıf Öğretmeni Adaylarının Birleştirilmiş Sınıf Kavramına İlişkin Metaforları

The purpose of the present study was to determine the teacher candidates’ perceptions related to ‘multigrade classes’ concept through metaphors. The study was conducted with the students who studied at their fourth (final) year in the Primary School Teaching Program, Faculty of Education at University of Bayburt in 2013-2014 academic year. The participants of the study were composed of 78 teacher candidates in total, 36 of them were girls and 42 of them were boys. The data collected in the research were obtained through an interview form in which there was an incomplete sentence like “The multigrade classes resemble…because ...” In the process of collecting data, the teacher candidates were asked to write metaphors related to multigrade classes with the first justifications coming to their minds. In this study, phenomenology design, one of the qualitative research methods, was used and the research data were analyzed by means of the content analysis technique. According to the findings, the teacher candidates developed 60 different and valid metaphors in total about multigrade classes. The metaphors were classified under six different conceptual categories. These categories were classified in the form of multigrade classes as diversity in social-cognitive level and abilities, the process of challenging struggle, complementary-supportive service environment, source of life, family atmosphere and hierarchical order. It was found that the most preferred metaphors developed by the teacher candidates were extended family, family, flower garden, lush forest and Ashura